Welcome to the Stars Hollow Health and Fitness weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.
Stroke Risk Higher in Hour After ‘Happy Hour’
July 15, 2010 — Just one drink — whether beer, wine, or hard liquor — may double your risk of stroke in the hour after your cocktail hour, according to a new study in Stroke. A few hours later, however, your risk seems to return to its previous level.
Numerous studies have shown that moderate alcohol consumption– no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women — may provide some important health benefits including lower risk for heart disease and stroke. To keep moderate drinking in perspective, a drink is defined as one 12-ounce beer, 4 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits, or 1 ounce of 100-proof spirits.
July 15, 2010 — Genetic research may help explain the link between smoking and cancer, cardiovascular disease, and a host of other diseases.
In the largest study of its kind, researchers confirmed that exposure to cigarette smoke dramatically altered genes in a wide range of negative ways, including those previously linked to tumor growth, inflammatory disease, and immune system suppression.
The investigators identified 323 genes that were significantly changed by cigarette smoke.
Antibiotics could help control malaria: study
(Reuters) – People at high risk of malaria may benefit from taking a cocktail of antibiotics as a preventative step, according to the results of a study in mice.
Scientists from Britain, Germany and Kenya said the drugs could prompt healthy people to develop a natural immunity to malaria parasites, providing protection against future malaria infections.
The researchers said that a natural immunization technique like this could only be used in specific settings, where malaria seasons are high risk but relatively short, and where those in danger could be sure to take the protective medicines before being infected.
“The best application for this would be in areas where there is highly seasonal malaria transmission like in the savannah areas of Mali and Burkina Faso, where the malaria transmission only occurs for a short period but is extremely intense,” said Steffen Borrmann, from the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Kilifi, who worked on the study.
U.S. groups target 20 possible causes of cancer
(Reuters) – The American Cancer Society and three federal agencies named 19 chemicals and shift work on Thursday as potential causes of cancer that deserve more investigation.
The group published a report with the backing of international experts who said the 20 potential causes they identified had fairly good evidence that they may be a danger and deserved more follow-up.
Most are familiar names, such as chloroform, formaldehyde and polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, but the list includes indium phosphide, a relatively new compound used in making flat-screen televisions.
All have been classified as possible carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer or IARC, the United Nations cancer agenc
Don’t dump Avandia, diabetes groups urge patients
(Reuters) – Three influential groups of doctors who treat diabetes urged patients not to stop taking Avandia, saying on Thursday that while news about the controversial drug may be frightening, it would be worse to suddenly stop taking it.
A panel of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended, but with substantial divisions, that GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug stay on the market, despite worries that it may raise the risk of heart attacks.
The experts agreed the drug, known generically as rosiglitazone, raised concerns about heart risks but also agreed it did not seem to raise the risk of death.
Certain genes linked to kidney disease in blacks
Reuters) – A gene that appears to protect people from sleeping sickness in Africa also appears to make black Americans four times more likely to develop kidney disease, U.S. and Belgian researchers reported on Thursday.
Their findings shed light on why U.S. blacks are far more likely than whites to suffer from kidney disease and could potentially lead to new treatments or even preventive measures.
Dramatic rise in painkiller drug abuse: U.S. officials
(Reuters) – U.S. officials reported a 400 percent increase over 10 years in the proportion of Americans treated for prescription painkiller abuse and said on Thursday the problem cut across age groups, geography and income.
The dramatic jump was higher than treatment admission rates for methamphetamine abuse, which doubled, and marijuana, which increased by almost half, according to figures from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Farm, food service jobs tied to heart disease risk
(Reuters Health) – Americans in certain lines of work, including transportation, food service and farming, may have a relatively high rate of risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and stroke, a new study finds.
At the other end of the spectrum, researchers found, health professionals, scientists and artists are among those with the lowest rates of so-called metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome refers to a collection of risk factors for diabetes, heart disease and stroke — including abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides (another type of blood fat).
The syndrome is typically diagnosed when a person has three or more of those conditions, and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a major study, found that it can double the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Living near traffic pollution tied to heart deaths
(Reuters Health) – Middle-aged and older adults who live near high-traffic roads may have a heightened risk of dying from heart disease — but the odds seem to go down if they move to a less-traveled neighborhood, a new study finds.
The findings do not prove that traffic pollution is the reason for the excess heart disease deaths, researchers say. But they do add to evidence tying vehicle-produced pollutants to the risk of dying from heart problems.
In May, the American Heart Association (AHA) released a report stating that recent studies have “substantially strengthened” the evidence that air pollution from traffic, industry and power generation is a risk factor for heart attack, stroke and deaths from cardiovascular causes.
U.S. cancer group endorses newer breast cancer drugs
(Reuters) – The American Society of Clinical Oncology issued new guidelines on Monday for the use of hormone-based breast cancer drugs called aromatase inhibitors.
They said most breast cancer patients past menopause should consider taking an aromatase inhibitor at some point, either right after surgery or after two to three years of the drug tamoxifen.
“Women can take up to five years of an aromatase inhibitor therapy,” ASCO said in a statement to be published in the group’s Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The Claim: To Repel Mosquitoes, Use a House Fan
Studies have found that wind is an effective method against mosquitoes and other airborne pests. The reason seems obvious: it prevents them from circling and landing on you, like a windstorm keeping a plane from its descent. But that is not entirely the case. A fan dilutes and disperses the carbon dioxide you exhale. Carbon dioxide is one of the major chemicals that attract mosquitoes. The wind from a fan also cools you off. Sweat, lactic acid and body heat attract mosquitoes – factors that a fan can help minimize.
Unapproved Qualaquin Use Is Risky
July 13, 2010 — The FDA has issued a new warning about the use of the malaria drug Qualaquin (quinine sulfate) to prevent or treat nighttime leg cramps, stating that it can cause serious side effects.
The adverse side effects prompted Philadelphia-based AR Scientific, which markets the drug, to develop a risk management plan aimed at educating the public and health care professionals about the potential risks, according to the FDA.
Qualaquin has never been approved by the FDA to prevent or treat nighttime leg cramps. At least 38 cases of serious side effects from taking the drug were reported between April 2005 and Oct. 1, 2008, the FDA says in a news release.
Healthcare overhaul mandates free preventive care
(Reuters) – A range of preventive care services will soon be available at no extra cost to consumers under new health insurance plans, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.
Under the new rules, insurance companies will be required to cover mammograms, immunizations, colonoscopies and other preventive services without charging customers through a deductible or a co-payment.
The new requirements, included in the landmark healthcare overhaul that Congress passed in March, are among a number of measures in the law intended to reduce health care costs.
“Unfortunately, too many Americans don’t get the preventive care they need to stay healthy and keep healthcare costs down for all of us,” said Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services.
U.S. advisers say keep Glaxo’s Avandia on the market
Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s diabetes drug Avandia should be allowed to stay on the market but with additional warnings, U.S. health advisers recommended on Wednesday, easing a threat of further costly litigation that could have followed a ban.
A majority of the 33-member panel of outside experts found data raised concerns about heart attacks associated with the widely used pill, but not enough to warrant its withdrawal from the market.
The Food and Drug Administration will make the final decision in the coming months and the agency usually follows recommendations from its advisory committees.
Gulf Oil Spill Information for Pregnant Women
Although the oil may contain some chemicals that could cause harm to an unborn baby under some conditions, the CDC has reviewed sampling data from the EPA and feels that the levels of these chemicals are well below the level that could generally cause harm to pregnant women or their unborn babies. The effects that chemicals might have on a pregnant woman and her unborn baby would depend on many things: how the mother came into contact with the oil, how long she was in contact with it, how often she came into contact with it, and the overall health of the mother and her baby.
People, including pregnant women, can be exposed to these chemicals by breathing them (air), by swallowing them (water, food), or by touching them (skin). If possible, everyone, including pregnant women, should avoid the oil and spill-affected areas. Generally, a pregnant woman will see or smell the chemicals in oil before those chemicals can hurt her or the baby. The EPA and CDC are working together to continue monitoring the levels of oil in the environment. If we begin to find levels that are more likely to be harmful, we will tell the public. For up-to-date information on monitoring data along the Gulf Coast, please visit EPA’s website.
Salsa, guacamole dips tied to food poisoning: CDC
(Reuters) – Contaminated salsa and guacamole dips are common causes of food poisoning in restaurants, and food workers need to take greater care, researchers told a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meeting on Monday.
They said nearly one of every 25 traceable outbreaks of foodborne disease between 1998 and 2008 began with one of the increasingly popular dips, which are made using onions, tomatoes, peppers, avocados, herbs and other ingredients.
Groups Find Trauma Rule for Veterans Lacking
A new federal regulation that is intended to make it easier for veterans to receive disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder is coming under fire from some of the advocates who had pushed for it.
The rule, which takes effect Tuesday, eliminates a requirement that veterans document specific events like firefights or bomb blasts that might have caused their P.T.S.D., whose symptoms include emotional numbness, anxiety, irritability and flashbacks. Such documentation was often difficult or even impossible to find, veterans groups say.
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At issue is a provision saying that a final determination on whether a veteran’s disorder is tied to service – instead of, say, a car crash – can be made only by a physician or psychologist working for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Advocates have urged the department to allow private clinicians to make those determinations as well.
Department officials say the provision is intended to ensure consistency in examinations. They assert that mental health clinicians affiliated with the department are likely to have greater experience with P.T.S.D. and be better able not only to detect it but also weed out “malingerers.”
Diabetes Drug Maker Hid Test Data on Risks, Files Indicate
In the fall of 1999, the drug giant SmithKline Beecham secretly began a study to find out if its diabetes medicine, Avandia, was safer for the heart than a competing pill, Actos, made by Takeda.
Avandia’s success was crucial to SmithKline, whose labs were otherwise all but barren of new products. But the study’s results, completed that same year, were disastrous. Not only was Avandia no better than Actos, but the study also provided clear signs that it was riskier to the heart.
But instead of publishing the results, the company spent the next 11 years trying to cover them up, according to documents recently obtained by The New York Times. The company did not post the results on its Web site or submit them to federal drug regulators, as is required in most cases by law.
Obesity pill works but safety is a concern: FDA
(Reuters) – The first potential new prescription weight-loss pill in more than a decade helps people shed pounds, U.S. health regulatory staff said, but they are still concerned about potential safety issues.
Analysts largely shrugged off the Food and Drug Administration’s concerns, and shares of Qnexa maker Vivus Inc jumped more than 15 percent on Tuesday after the agency’s staff said the experimental drug appeared to work.
New guideline says MRI best for diagnosing stroke
(Reuters) – A kind of scan called an MRI is much better for diagnosing stroke than a CT scan, the American Academy of Neurology said in new guidelines released on Monday.
Magnetic resonance imaging or MRI detected strokes 83 percent of the time, compared to just 26 percent for computed tomography or CT scans, the group advised.
“While CT scans are currently the standard test used to diagnose stroke, the Academy’s guideline found that MRI scans are better at detecting ischemic stroke damage compared to CT scans,” Dr. Peter Schellinger of the Johannes Wesling Clinical Center in Minden, Germany, who led the team writing the new guidelines, said in a statement.
Two-step vaccine may offer “universal” flu jab
(Reuters) – A two-step flu vaccine using DNA to “prime” the immune system and then a traditional seasonal influenza vaccine may be able to protect against all strains of the virus — providing a long-sought “universal” flu vaccine, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
The team at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is already testing the new vaccine in people and says the results of tests in mice, ferrets and monkeys suggest the industry may finally be able to dump the cumbersome process of making fresh flu vaccines every year.
“This is the first step, conceptually, toward a good shot at a universal vaccine,” NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a telephone interview.
Safer sex by Africa’s young drives HIV rates down
(Reuters) – Young people in Africa are leading a “revolution” in HIV prevention and driving down rates of the disease by having safer sex and fewer sexual partners, the United Nations AIDS program said on Tuesday.
The prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS is falling among young people in 16 of the 25 countries most affected by the disease, a study by UNAIDS found, with many of them on track to hit a 25 percent reduction target in HIV/AIDS rates in 15- to 24-year-olds by the end of the year.
Study Measures Gestational Diabetes Risk
uly 12, 2010 — Pregnant women who develop gestational diabetes during their first pregnancy are at increased risk for developing this condition in their second or third pregnancies, a study shows.
The study, published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, alsoshows the risk increases with each pregnancy that is complicated by gestational diabetes.
There are about 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes in the U.S. each year, and it affects about 4% of all pregnancies, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Bad hot flashes? Try dropping a few pounds
(Reuters Health) – Overweight women who suffer from bothersome hot flashes may find some relief by losing some weight, hints a new study published today.
In the study, women who participated in a program that encouraged them to exercise more and eat less improved their hot flashes more that a group with little weight-loss coaching.
“We’re pretty excited to have this evidence that … women who lose weight can improve their symptoms,” study chief Dr. Alison Huang of the University of California, San Francisco, told Reuters Health.
Morning-after pill use varies widely overseas
(Reuters Health) – In 11 European countries where the morning-after pill is widely available, its use by sexually active 15-year-olds varies widely, with the highest use among the French, researchers report.
After analyzing information from more than 2000 sexually active 15-year-old girls, European researchers led by A. Gaudineau of the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France, found that nearly nine percent of the girls surveyed had used the morning-after pill after their last sexual encounter.
Gout drug colchicine safe in pregnancy: study
(Reuters Health) – The gout drug colchicine is safe for women to take during pregnancy, report researchers from Israel.
In addition to the debilitating joint disorder gout, the inflammation-fighting drug colchicine has been used for decades to prevent and treat familial Mediterranean fever, a rare genetic condition that mostly strikes people of Jewish, Armenian, Arabic or Turkish ancestry, Dr. Asher Ornoy of the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem and colleagues explain.
Consistent condom use may cut men’s HPV risk
(Reuters Health) – Men who use condoms every time they have sex are less likely to harbor the virus that causes genital warts than those who are less consistent about protection, a new study finds.
The results, reported in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, may not sound surprising. However, some past studies have suggested that condoms may do little to protect men from infection with human papillomavirus, or HPV.
uly 15, 2010 — Despite repeated warnings about the potentially negative effects on children who watch too much television, nearly 20% of 2-year-olds in Oregon watch TV or videos two or more hours daily, the CDC says.
CDC and Oregon Public Health Division officials analyzed 2006-2007 data from the Oregon Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey involving 1,868 respondents, finding that 19.6% of 2-year-olds spend two hours or more watching TV or videos.
Sniffing insulin may help memory lost to Alzheimer’s
Reuters) – Squirting insulin up the noses of patients with early forms of Alzheimer’s disease showed signs of improving their memory, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
Patients who got the treatment for four months showed improvements in tests of memory recall that lasted for two months.
“We believe our results are very promising and they warrant future trials,” said Dr. Suzanne Craft of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the University of Washington in Seattle, who presented her findings at a meeting of the Alzheimer’s Association in Honolulu.
A small company with a new brain scan for detecting plaque, the hallmark physical sign of Alzheimer’s disease, presented its results on Sunday at an international conference in Hawaii, and experts who attended said the data persuaded them that the method works.
Until now, the only definitive way to diagnose Alzheimer’s has been to search for plaque with a brain autopsy after the patient dies. Scientists hope the new scanning technique, described June 24 in The New York Times’s series “The Vanishing Mind,” will allow doctors to see plaque while the patient is still alive, improving diagnosis and aiding research on drugs to slow or stop plaque accumulation.
Higher vitamin E intake tied to lower dementia risk
(Reuters Health) – Older adults who get plenty of vitamin E in their diets may have a somewhat lower risk of developing dementia than those who consume less of the nutrient, a study published Monday suggests.
Researchers found that among 5,400 Dutch adults age 55 and older, the one-third who reported the highest vitamin E intake from food were 25 percent less likely to develop dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, over the next decade than the third with the lowest intakes.
Low vitamin D increases risk of dementia in elderly
(Reuters) – Older people with low levels of vitamin D appear more likely to have problems with memory, learning and thinking, suggesting low vitamin D could give an early warning for dementia risk, scientists said on Monday.
Researchers from Britain, Italy and the United States studied 850 Italians aged 65 or older and found that those who were severely vitamin D deficient were 60 percent more likely to experience substantial general cognitive decline, and 31 percent more likely to experience problems with mental flexibility.
“This is the first study to identify a clear link between low vitamin D levels and cognitive decline,” said David Llewellyn of the Peninsula Medical School at Britain’s Exeter University, who led the study.
Match service aims to speed Alzheimer’s research
(Reuters) – A new online service designed to match Alzheimer’s patients with clinical trials may help address a big bottleneck in developing new drugs — a lack of people to test them on, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates there are more than 100 clinical trials in Alzheimer’s drugs and dementia taking place, and dozens more experimental drugs that will soon be ready to test. Yet too few people sign up for the studies.
Buddhist Meditation Boosts Concentration Skills
July 15, 2010 — People who learn how to meditate using Buddhist techniques not only may find a bit of peace in life, but also can improve their attention and focus a new study shows.
Psychologist Katherine A. MacLean, PhD, and other researchers, signed up 30 people with an average age of 49 to go on a three-month meditation retreat in Colorado. Another 30 people in a comparison group went on a similar retreat.
The participants studied meditation techniques, such as concentrating on breathing, with Buddhist scholar and co-researcher B. Alan Wallace, PhD, of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies.
Suicide tied to air pollution and asthma
(Reuters Health) – Air pollution and asthma symptoms may increase suicide risk, two new studies from Asia suggest.
According to Taiwanese researchers, as many as 1 in 14 suicides among Taiwanese youth may have been caused by asthma, a condition that affects about 10 percent of children.
“It points out another negative part of air pollution,” said Dr. Wayne Katon, a psychiatrist at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Emotional Troubles for ‘Cyberbullies’ and Victims
July 6, 2010 — New research sheds important light on the prevalence, extent, and consequences of “cyberbullying” as well as some of the emotional and physical characteristics of cyberbullies and their victims. Both the cyberbullies and those who they bully online are more likely to report a host of physical and mental problems, according to a new study in the July issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
A relatively new phenomenon, cyberbullying is defined as “an aggressive intentional act carried out by a group or individual using electronic forms of contact repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself,” according to the study.
The increase in cyberbullying dovetails with the explosion in the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices by children.
Mediterranean diet may not protect against asthma
(Reuters Health) – Countries on the Mediterranean might enjoy low asthma rates, but their typical diet shouldn’t take the credit, suggests a new study.
“At the moment, we cannot give definitive advice about any protective effect of diet on asthma,” said study co-author Dr. F.J. Gonzalez Barcala of the Hospital de Pontevedra in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. “But we are sure that more research is needed on the topic.”
People have speculated that a diet rich in fish, fruits and vegetables, which is typical of countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, could help explain why asthma is so much less common in these places compared to other parts of the world. For example, less than 10 percent of Spanish 13- and 14-year-olds have the chronic lung disease, compared to nearly a quarter of similarly aged British kids.
Slow and steady might not win the weight-loss race
(Reuters Health) – If you’re trying to lose weight and keep it off, new research suggests you take up a diet and exercise plan that will help you lose a big chunk of weight right off the bat.
Some doctors and dieticians think that losing lots of weight fairly quickly makes it more likely that dieters will gain most of it back, and so they often encourage overweight and obese patients to lose weight in small increments.
But scientists have found that no matter how much weight people initially lose, they seem to gain back a similar percentage of that weight over the next year.
“I think there is more of a myth that if people do this very slowly they’re going to ultimately be able to lose more weight,” Dr. Deborah Tate, a clinical psychologist who studies obesity at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who was not involved with the research, told Reuters Health.
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