Health and Fitness News

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. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

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.

These perfect protein packages (each large egg has six grams of complete protein and just 71 calories) take minutes to prepare. Like omelets and frittatas, scrambled eggs make a great setting for vegetables. Generally, the vegetables are cooked first, then the eggs are added to the hot pan and stirred until scrambled. Mexican cooks add eggs to a seared tomato salsa for the iconic huevos a la Mexicana, while Tunisians make a spicy scrambled egg dish with onions, sweet and hot peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. Simpler, milder scrambled egg dishes can be made with whatever produce lingers in your refrigerator, like mushrooms, zucchini or greens.

Americans Still Reaching for the Salt Shaker

Study Shows No Reduction in U.S. Salt Intake Over the Past 4 Decades

Oct. 20, 2010 — Despite constant pleas by public health experts to hold the salt, the sodium intake of the U.S. population hasn’t decreased over the past 46 years, according to a new review.

Most of us eat a lot more sodium than is recommended, says researcher Adam Bernstein, MD, ScD, a research fellow in the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Aspirin May Cut Colon Cancer Deaths

Study Shows Long-term, Low-Dose Aspirin Cuts Risk of Aggressive Colon Cancer

Oct. 22, 2010 – Long-term use of low-dose aspirin reduces colon cancer risk, U.K. researchers find.

Low-dose aspirin takers have a 24% lower risk of colon cancer and a 35% lower risk of dying from colon cancer, find University of Oxford researcher Peter Rothwell and colleagues.

“The new findings on the effect of low-dose aspirin should be included in advice given to the public,” Rothwell says in a news release.

Diabetes Could Surge in U.S. by 2050

CDC Projects Diabetes Rates Could Grow to 1 in 3 Americans

Oct. 22, 2010 — As many as one in three Americans could develop diabetes by 2050 unless a significant dent is made in the obesity epidemic, according to the latest CDC projections.

As it stands, one in 10 Americans has diabetes, but this could double — or even triple — by 2050 if current trends continue. These trends include the aging of the population, increasing rates of obesity, the fact that people with diabetes are living longer, and increases in the number of people belonging to minority groups at high risk for diabetes.

“The numbers are alarming,” says Ann Albright, PhD, RD, director of the CDC’s division of diabetes translation.

Smoking Raises Surgery Risks

Smokers Nearly 40% More Likely Than Nonsmokers to Die After Surgery, Study Finds

Oct. 19, 2010 — Smokers who undergo surgery are more likely than nonsmokers to have complications or to die shortly after surgical procedures, according to a new study.

The risk of death within 30 days of a wide variety of surgeries was nearly 40% higher in smokers than in nonsmokers, says Alparslan Turan, MD, associate professor of anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic. He presented his findings today at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in San Diego.

Drugs May Cut Risk of Colorectal Cancer

Analysis Shows Link Between the Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs and Reduced Cancer Risk

ct. 18, 2010 — An analysis of 22 studies involving about 2.5 million people shows a significant association between using cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins and a reduced risk for colorectal cancer.

The analysis shows there was a 12% reduction of colorectal cancer risk among statin users. Also, the longer patients used statin drugs, the greater their reduction in risk for colorectal cancer.

The findings are based on a review of 22 studies published through October 2009 and were presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s (ACG) 75th Annual Scientific meeting in San Antonio.

Medical Errors Persist Despite Safeguards

Errors in Diagnosis, Communication, Judgment Blamed for Wrong-Patient, Wrong-Site Medical Mistakes

Oct. 18, 2010 — Serious medical mistakes, like performing a medical procedure on the wrong person or wrong site, continue to occur despite recently implemented preventive measures.

A new study shows 25 cases of procedures performed on the wrong person and 107 cases of procedures performed on the wrong site occurred in a 5 1/2-year period in Colorado, resulting in at least one death and several complications.

Some Dental Treatment Is Linked to Heart Risk

Study Shows Short-Term Risk After Invasive Dental Procedures

Oct. 18, 2010 — Heart attack and stroke risk may rise in the month following invasive dental treatments such as tooth extractions, a study shows.

The risk returns to normal levels within six months, according to the study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

This is not the first time oral health and heart health have been linked, and the likely culprit is inflammation.  The theory is that bacteria from periodontal infection can enter your bloodstream. Once this occurs, the bacteria accumulate along the blood vessels, causing inflammation, which can make people more vulnerable to heart attacks and stroke.

Low Vitamin D Levels for Skin Cancer Patients

Study Shows People With Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome More Likely to Have Vitamin D Deficiency

Oct. 18, 2010 — Protecting your skin from the sun to help prevent skin cancer may have an unhealthy side effect: vitamin D deficiency.

A new study shows vitamin D deficiency is increasingly common among people with a genetic predisposition to sun-related skin cancers known as basal cell nevus syndrome.

Researchers found people with basal cell nevus syndrome were three times more likely to have low vitamin D levels than the general population.

Few docs recognize “chronic” Lyme disease

(Reuters Health) – Despite lots of media attention, “chronic” Lyme disease is only recognized by a small group of doctors in Connecticut, where the tick-borne infection was first discovered.

That’s according to a new statewide survey, reported in the Journal of Pediatrics, that found just two percent of doctors in Connecticut said they had diagnosed and treated the controversial chronic version of the disease.

If you are online a lot, “you think every doctor in Connecticut believes in chronic Lyme,” said Dr. Henry Feder, of the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, who worked on the study.

4 Baby Deaths Spur Graco Stroller Recall

Strangulation, Entrapment Risk for 2 Million Older Graco Strollers

Oct. 20, 2010 — The strangulation deaths of four babies has led Graco to recall 2 million Quattro and MetroLite brand strollers.

The deaths aren’t recent. They occurred between 2003 and 2005. That bothers Donald Mays, senior director of product safety for Consumer Reports.

“This troubles me very much. It seems to me way too long before Graco recalled these products,” Mays tells WebMD. “It seems that for this company there are lots of cases where injuries mounted before something was done.”

FDA: Prostate Cancer Drugs Raise Diabetes, Heart Risk

New Warnings for Eligard, Lupron, Trelstar, Viadur, Zoladex

Oct. 20, 2010 — A class of drugs used to treat advanced prostate cancer raises patients’ risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, the FDA today warned.

The five drugs, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, are approved for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. They are:

   * Eligard

   * Lupron

   * Trelstar

   * Viadur

   * Zoladex

All of the drugs will stay on the market but will be required to carry new label warnings.

The risk that the drugs will trigger diabetes or heart disease/stroke appear small, the FDA says. But recent studies suggest that doctors should monitor blood sugar levels and watch for signs of heart disease in men taking these drugs.

Cribs Recalled, Most Sold at Kmart

40,000 Cribs Recalled Due to Potential for Suffocation or Injuries From Falls

Oct. 22, 2010 — About 40,000 drop-side cribs, including 34,000 Heritage cribs sold only at Kmart, have been recalled over entrapment, suffocation, and fall hazards.

No children have died, but there have been 23 reported injuries from the cribs in the latest recall.

The danger is that the cribs’ drop sides can detach or malfunction, causing the drop-side rail to partially detach. Children can get trapped in the space, resulting in strangulation, suffocation, cuts, bruises, and falls.

Frozen Peas Recalled Due to Glass Fragments

Pictsweet Recalls Frozen Peas That Were Sold in Walmart and Kroger Stores

Oct. 18, 2010 — About 24,000 pounds of frozen green peas and other vegetables supplied by the Pictsweet Co. of Bells, Tenn., are being recalled from Walmart and Kroger stores because the products sold in 12-ounce containers may contain broken glass.

Pictsweet says in a statement on the FDA’s web site that the recall is voluntary and was issued after it learned that some packages may contain glass fragments, which the company’s statement says “may cause injury” if eaten.

Quake-hit Haiti battles cholera epidemic, 150 dead

(Reuters) – Quake-hit Haiti and its aid partners fought on Friday to stem a cholera epidemic that has killed over 150 people and sickened hundreds, with experts saying more cases could be expected before it was contained.

Although the main outbreak area was north of Port-au-Prince, which bore the brunt of the January 12 earthquake, humanitarian agencies were on high alert to prevent the disease from spreading to crowded survivors’ camps in the capital.

Haiti: 135 dead, more than 1,000 sick from disease outbreak

ST. MARC, Haiti (AP) – An outbreak of severe diarrhea has killed at least 135 people in rural central Haiti and sickened hundreds more who overwhelmed a crowded hospital Thursday seeking treatment. Health workers suspected the disease is cholera, but were awaiting tests.

Hundreds of patients lay on blankets in a parking lot outside St. Nicholas hospital in the port city of St. Marc with IVs in their arms for rehydration. As rain began to fall in the afternoon, nurses rushed to carry them inside.

Doctors were testing for cholera, typhoid and other illnesses in the Caribbean nation’s deadliest outbreak since a January earthquake that killed as many as 300,000 people.

Catherine Huck, deputy country director for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the Caribbean nation’s health ministry had recorded 135 deaths and more than 1,000 infected people.

New malaria estimate says 205,000 die in India

Reuters) – Malaria kills around 205,000 people in India each year, more than 13 times the estimate made by the World Health Organization, researchers said on Thursday.

WHO, the public health arm of the United Nations, estimates that approximately 15,000 people a year die from malaria in India, and 100,000 adults worldwide.

MRSA superbug much more common in U.S. than UK

(Reuters Health) – The antibiotic-mocking MRSA bacteria seem to be thriving better in the US than in the UK, according to new government data.

They show Americans are more than six times as likely as Britons to contract the superbug in the community, although rates of hospital infections are about the same.

“This is the first time we compared rates of MRSA bloodstream infections between US and England,” said Dr. Fernanda Lessa, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. “So, the findings are new to us.”

HRT-Related Breast Cancer Is More Advanced

Study Examines Breast Cancer Risk Tied to Hormone Replacement Therapy

Oct. 19, 2010 — Breast cancers tied to the use of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women tend to be diagnosed at a more advanced and deadly stage.

That’s according to the latest research from the landmark Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study on combined estrogen-plus-progestin hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and breast cancer risk.

Early results from the WHI study in 2002 caused the study’s intervention phase to be stopped early due to an increased risk of breast cancer among the participants taking HRT, compared to those taking a placebo.

Low Testosterone Raises Heart Death Risk

Study Shows Men With Heart Disease Die Sooner if Testosterone Levels Are Low

Oct. 19, 2010 – Men with heart disease die sooner if their testosterone levels are low, a U.K. study shows.

It’s becoming clear that low testosterone is a risk marker for heart disease in men. Now it appears low testosterone predicts worse outcomes in men who already have heart disease.

What isn’t clear is whether low testosterone causes or worsens heart disease — and whether testosterone replacement therapy would help.

Food Allergies Linked to Asthma Risk

Study Also Shows Children Are at Greater Risk for Food Allergies Than Adults

Oct. 20, 2010 — About three of every 100 people in the U.S. have at least one food allergy, and the presence of a food allergy may raise their risk of asthma, a study shows.

The study, which appears in the October issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, is the largest to offer a national snapshot of food allergy prevalence.

Children are at greater risk for food allergy than adults, and black male children are particularly at risk, the study shows.

“This gives us a good perspective, and the prevalence number is pretty solid,” says study researcher Andy Liu, MD, an allergist at National Jewish Health in Denver.

Teen Car Crash Deaths Decline

Graduated Driver Licensing Programs May Be Behind Dip in Teenage Traffic Deaths, Researchers Say

Oct. 21, 2010 — Teenage traffic deaths declined nearly 17% in 2009 from 2008 for youths aged 15 to 19, the CDC says in a new report. That’s about 500 fewer deaths, for a total of about 3,000.

The CDC, in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for Oct. 22, says that the traffic death rate has improved partly because of graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs. Such programs extend the period for learner’s licenses, place driving restrictions on young drivers, and limit the number of passengers allowed in their vehicles.

Not only did the national teenage traffic death rate decline in 2009 for 15- to 19-year-olds, but drivers aged 16 and 17 involved in fatal crashes declined 38% between 2004 and 2008, to a rate of 16.7 per 100,000 people, the MMWR report says.

Obesity in Kids Rises Around the World

Study Shows Developed Nations Have Highest Percentage of Obese Children  

Oct. 21, 2010 — The proportion of young children who are overweight or obese has increased about 60% in the past 20 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) says in a new report.

The WHO says that in 1990, 4.2% of kids under age 5 were overweight or obese, but that figure grew to 6.7% in 2010.

What’s more, researchers say the prevalence will likely hit 9.1% in 2020, and that the problem is worse in developed nations than in developing ones.

Teen Birth Rates Highest in Southeast

CDC Report Shows Mississippi Has Highest Teenage Birth Rate and New Hampshire the Lowest

Oct. 20, 2010 — Teenage birth rates are highest in states across the Southern part of the country and lowest in the Northeast and upper Midwest, the CDC says in a new report.

Teen birth rates in 2008 ranged from less than 25 per 1,000 young women between 15 and 19 in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont to more than 60 per 1,000 in Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, according to a report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Vitamin B12 Linked to Lower Alzheimer’s Risk

Study Suggests Vitamin B12 May Reduce Levels of an Amino Acid Linked to Alzheimer’s

Oct. 18, 2010 — Vitamin B12 may help protect the brain against Alzheimer’s disease, according to new evidence that suggests the vitamin and an amino acid called homocysteine may both be involved in the development of Alzheimer’s.

High levels of vitamin B12 in the blood are already known to help reduce levels of homocysteine, which has been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss, and stroke. But researchers say the relationship between homocysteine and vitamin B12 levels and Alzheimer’s disease risk has been unclear.

Anxiety Plays Role in Pain After Surgery

Even in Those With Low Pain Sensitivity, Anxiety Counts

ct. 19, 2010 — Having the form of a gene associated with low sensitivity to pain may not automatically protect people from developing chronic pain after surgery, a new study suggests.

“Even if you have the form of this gene that is thought to protect, it didn’t protect from this kind of chronic pain [after surgery],”  says researcher Craig Hartrick, MD, director of anesthesiology research at Beaumont Hospitals, Royal Oak and Troy, Mich., and discipline director for pharmacology, Oakland University’s William Beaumont School of Medicine, Rochester, Mich.

Rather, anxiety seems to play a role in whether people suffer chronic pain after surgery, he says.

He presented the findings at Anesthesiology 2010, the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in San Diego.

 Study: Fish Oil Doesn’t Affect Postpartum Depression

Nor Does Fish Oil Boost Children’s Learning

Oct. 19, 2010 — Taking fish oil (DHA)  supplements during pregnancy, widely thought to help mothers’ moods and children’s cognitive skills, does not appear to reduce the risk of postpartum depression of mothers or boost the language development and cognitive skills of their children, according to a new Australian study.

”Our data suggest that there is no need for apparently healthy pregnant women to take DHA supplements,” says researcher Maria Makrides, PhD, deputy director of the Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute and professor of human nutrition at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Coffee, Tea Linked to Lower Brain Cancer Risk

Researchers Say Antioxidants in Coffee and Tea May Explain Possible Reduction in Risk

Oct. 22, 2010 — Drinking about a half cup or more of coffee or tea per day is associated with a 34% reduction in the risk for glioma, a type of brain tumor, researchers report.

Researchers led by Dominique Michaud, DSc, an investigator at Brown University, and colleagues analyzed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition longitudinal study, which includes more than 410,000 people from nine countries who were followed for about 8.5 years.

Are Cortisone Shots for Tendon Injuries Worth It?

Study: Shots Provide Short-Term Relief but Inferior in Long Term

Oct. 21, 2010 — Corticosteroid injections, better known as cortisone shots, provide short-term pain relief for tendon problems such as tennis elbow but may be worse than other treatments later on, according to a new analysis.

“We have shown strong evidence that corticosteroid injection is beneficial in the short term for treatment of tendinopathy, but is worse than other treatment options in the intermediate and long terms,” says researcher Bill Vicenzino, PhD, professor of sports physiotherapy at the University of Queensland in St. Lucia, Australia.

Marathon man: How not to hit the wall

(Reuters) – Marathon runners can train for months to condition for the big race, yet struggle to finish if they exhaust stores of carbohydrates too quickly, a phenomenon known as “hitting the wall.”

A new formula by a marathon runner and student at Harvard and MIT gives elite runners and marathon enthusiasts a more exact way to calculate just how many carb calories they need to take to stay in the 26.2 mile race.

“About 40 percent of marathon runners hit the wall,” said Benjamin Rapoport, a student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, whose study appears in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Computational Biology.