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.
You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.
Heart Disease, Stroke Deaths Down
Still, Too Many Americans at High Risk for Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke, Researchers Say
Dec. 15, 2010 — Fewer people are dying from cardiovascular disease and stroke since the late 1990s, but the economic toll remains high and the number of inpatient cardiovascular procedures performed to treat the illness has increased, according to a report.
Every year, the American Heart Association, in conjunction with the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and other federal agencies, pools the latest data to see where the nation is in winning the war against cardiovascular disease, the number No. 1 in the U.S.
Inhaled Steroids May Increase Diabetes Risk
Study: Steroid Inhalers for Breathing Problems May Slightly Increase Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Dec. 14, 2010 — Using inhaled corticosteroids to treat chronic breathing problems may slightly increase a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a new study finds.
The study’s authors say the increase in risk probably doesn’t outweigh the benefits to people taking daily puffs of inhaled corticosteroids to control asthma.
But researchers are worried about the threat of diabetes when these medications are used to ease breathing in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, a condition for which the benefits of inhaled corticosteroids are less clear.
“For asthma, I’m not as concerned because they are so effective. They keep people out of the emergency room. They save lives,” says lead author Samy Suissa, PhD, director for the center of clinical epidemiology at Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.
Smoking Raises Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk
Study Suggests Smoking Is a Major Cause of RA
Dec. 13, 2010 — Add severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to the list of diseases linked to cigarette smoking.
Findings from a study, which appear in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, suggest that smoking accounts for more than a third of cases of the most common form of RA and for more than 50% of RA diagnoses among people who are genetically susceptible to the development of this disease.
Lack of Sleep Hurts Your Looks
In Study, People Who Got Enough Sleep Were Said to Look Healthier, More Attractive
Dec. 14, 2010 — Get enough sleep tonight and you’ll look better tomorrow — and healthier and more bright-eyed to boot.
This finding from a small Swedish study suggests that there’s now hard science to support the long-held belief that sufficient rest produces “beauty sleep.”
Up to now, “the concept of beauty sleep has lacked scientific support,” the study authors write.
Researchers in Europe enrolled 23 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 31 to take part in the study. Each was photographed on two occasions — once after normal sleep of eight hours, and once after being deprived of sleep (31 hours of being awake after five hours of sleep).
Remote eye screening can help diabetics
(Reuters Health) – Eye clinics that screen diabetics who don’t make it into a specialist’s office may help identify eye problems early on, new study findings report.
A review of recent research found that relatively simple exams by non-specialists who don’t dilate the pupils are accurate at spotting early cases of the diabetes-related eye disorder known as diabetic retinopathy.
This type of screening “offers a quick, convenient and cost-effective way to screen for diabetic retinopathy,” study author Dr. Hugh Taylor at the University of Melbourne in Australia told Reuters Health.
Lower education level tied to heart failure risk
(Reuters Health) – The less education people have, the greater their risk of eventually developing chronic heart failure, a large new study finds.
Researchers say lower education levels are basically a stand-in for people’s overall economic condition, and that their findings add to evidence connecting poverty to heart disease.
The results, they add, also suggest that heart failure prevention for lower income people needs to begin early in life.
Stem cells used to make pancreas, gut cells
(Reuters) – Stem cells can be transformed into the pancreatic cells needed to treat diabetes and into complex layers of intestinal tissue, scientists demonstrated in two experiments reported on Sunday.
In one, a team turned immature sperm cells into pancreatic tissue, while another team turned embryonic stem cells into complex layers of intestinal tissue.
Both studies show new ways to use stem cells, which are the body’s master cells and which can come from a variety of sources.
FDA to reexamine metal dental fillings
(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators are seeking a second opinion on whether mercury-containing dental fillings pose a risk to dental patients, especially children and pregnant women.
Food and Drug Administration officials said that while there are no new scientific findings on such silver-colored cavity fillings, it wants feedback on methods it used to weigh available data and decide last year that the metal alloy is safe.
Tainted food sickens 48 mln each year: CDC
(Reuters) – Foodborne illnesses kill 3,000 Americans every year and make 48 million sick, and most are never identified, U.S. health officials reported on Wednesday as Congress prepared a major food safety overhaul.
Norovirus is by far the most common disease-causing germ, accounting for 5.5 million infections a year, or 58 percent of diagnosed illnesses, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Salmonella, which has caused a number of high-profile nationwide outbreaks of illness, comes second, causing 1 million infections a year, or 11 percent of the total.
“CDC estimates that each year roughly 1 out of 6 Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases,” the agency said.
Vioxx harmful even after patients stopped taking it
(Reuters Health) – Merck’s withdrawn painkiller Vioxx may have continued to cause blood clots and perhaps deaths even after patients dropped it, U.S. researchers said Monday.
The drug was recalled by Merck in 2004 after a colon-polyp prevention study showed it increased the risk of heart disease and death in users. But over the five years it was on the market, researchers estimate it caused nearly 40,000 deaths.
The new findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, are based on data made available by Merck during multibillion-dollar litigation against the company.
Major push could end malaria deaths by 2015: WHO
(Reuters) – The world could stop malaria deaths by 2015 if massive investment is made to ramp up control measures, including wider use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
Progress has been made over the decade, with deaths estimated to have dropped to 781,000 last year from nearly one million in 2000, the WHO said in its World Malaria Report 2010.
German doctors declare “cure” in HIV patient
(Reuters) – German researchers who used a bone marrow transplant to treat a cancer patient with the AIDS virus, have declared him cured of the virus — a stunning claim in a field where the word “cure” is barely whispered.
The patient, who had both HIV infection and leukemia, received the bone marrow transplant in 2007 from a donor who had a genetic mutation known to give patients a natural immunity to the virus.
Nearly four years after the transplant, the patient is free of the virus and it does not appear to be hiding anywhere in his body, Thomas Schneider of Berlin Charite hospital and colleagues said.
With Mammograms, Timing May Matter
For Women Who Get Regular Mammograms, Scheduling the First Week of Cycle Seems Best, Study Finds
Dec. 14, 2010 — Women who have regular mammograms should consider paying attention to when they are scheduled. New research finds the timing of mammograms could affect the accuracy of results.
”Try to schedule it during the first week of your menstrual cycle,” says researcher Diana Miglioretti, PhD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, who led the study. “The first day of your menstrual cycle is the day you start to bleed.”
Breast-Conserving Therapy Better Than Mastectomy?
Breast Cancer Patients Live Longer After Breast-Conserving Therapy, Study Shows
Dec. 17, 2010 (San Antonio) — In a surprising finding, a large study suggests that women with early breast cancer who undergo breast-conserving therapy live longer than those who have a mastectomy.
Still, both treatments work well, with about 93% of 62,770 women who had lumpectomy followed by radiation — and 87% of 51,507 women who had a mastectomy — alive more than four years after diagnosis.
“We found that lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy is very safe for women of all ages with early-stage breast cancer,” says E. Shelley Hwang, MD, MPH, a breast cancer surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco.
Screening for Ovarian Cancer Saves Few Lives
New Model Suggests Screening Less Useful Than Previously Thought
Dec. 13, 2010 — Like breast cancer, the survival rate for ovarian cancer can be high when the disease is detected early, before it spreads.
But unlike breast cancer, early detection of ovarian cancer is rare.
The long search for effective screening strategies to identify ovarian cancer in average-risk women before symptoms occur has proved disappointing.
Now a new understanding of the complexity of the disease further dims hopes for effective early screening in the near future, Duke University researchers say.
New Genes Linked to Endometriosis
Genetic Variants Affect Women’s Risk of Developing Endometriosis, Researchers Say
Dec. 13, 2010 — Women with one of two genetic variants may be more likely to develop endometriosis, according to a new study that may offer new clues about the cause of the mysterious condition.
Researchers say it’s the first study to show a genetic link to the disorder that affects between 6% and 10% of women of childbearing age.
Endometriosis is the abnormal growth of cells similar to those found inside the uterus on other areas of the body, such as the ovaries and bowel. The growths can lead to inflammation, pelvic pain, painful menstrual periods, and infertility in some women.
“We’ve known for some time that endometriosis is heritable, but until now we have been unable to find any robust genetic variants that influence a woman’s risk of developing the disease,” researcher Krina Zondervan, a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellow at the University of Oxford in England, says in a news release.
Men With Breast Cancer Face Worse Prognosis
Men Often Diagnosed at Later Stages, Have Higher 15-Year Death Rates, Researchers Say
Dec. 13, 2010 (San Antonio) — Men who are diagnosed with breast cancer are more likely than female patients to die in the next 15 years, researchers report.
“This may be due to a difference in tumor characteristics and treatment,” says study leader Hui Miao, a PhD candidate at the National University of Singapore.
Male breast cancer is rare, accounting for less than 1% of all breast cancers in the U.S. Given its scarcity, few studies have assessed its prognosis “and we know of no recent studies looking at trends in survival,” Miao tells WebMD.
Gene markers may make prostate test more accurate
(Reuters) – Scientists have found a way to personalize a common prostate cancer test by looking at genetic variations, which should make it more accurate in predicting a man’s risk of developing the disease.
Screening using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests is controversial at the moment because it is difficult to define normal PSA levels, so cancer is missed in some men while others get false positive results.
Improving the accuracy of the test by customizing it to individual genetic profiles should catch more men with cancer who currently slip through the net, and avoid unnecessary biopsies in those at low risk, researchers said on Wednesday.
Increase in SIDS on New Year’s Day
Study Suggests Drinking by Caregivers May Play a Role in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Dec. 17, 2010 — New Year’s Day brings a dramatic spike in cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and researchers say New Year’s Eve drinking by caregivers may be to blame.
An analysis of almost 130,000 SIDS cases nationwide over more than three decades revealed a 33% increase in deaths on New Year’s Day.
More babies die of SIDS on New Year’s Day than on any other day of the year, University of California, San Diego sociology professor David Phillips, PhD, tells WebMD.
Smoking bans may benefit kids with asthma
(Reuters Health) – Children with asthma who live in areas with “smoke-free” laws may suffer fewer bouts of coughing and wheezing as a result, a new study suggests.
The findings, reported in the journal Pediatrics, add to evidence that smoking bans in workplaces, restaurants and bars have produced health benefits. But until now, most research has focused on adults.
In the current study, researchers found that children and teenagers who lived in U.S. counties with smoke-free laws were no less likely to have asthma than kids in counties without such laws.
Gene scan shows childhood brain cancer is different
(Reuters) – A study of the genetic map of brain tumors in children shows they have many fewer mutations than similar tumors in adults — meaning it may someday be easier to treat them, researchers reported on Thursday.
The study of medulloblastoma, the most common type of brain cancer in children, also turned up some new mutations, the researchers reported in the journal Science.
“These analyses clearly show that genetic changes in pediatric cancers are remarkably different from adult tumors,” Dr. Victor Velculescu of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, whose team led the study, said in a statement.
Young kids with asthma may lag in reading skills
(Reuters Health) – Young children who start school with asthma may lag behind their peers in developing reading skills, a new study suggests.
The findings, according to researchers, do not prove that asthma per se is the reason for the gap. But they say it is possible that the lung disease affects young children’s ability to keep up with their peers when it comes to reading.
The study followed 298 New Zealand children through their first year of school. Just over half of the children with asthma had fallen at least six months behind their peers in reading achievement at the end of the year. That compared with a little more than one-third of children without asthma.
Study Gives ‘Striking’ Snapshot of Stroke Prognosis
Two-Thirds of Medicare Patients Face Death, Hospital Readmission in Year After Stroke
Dec. 16, 2010 — Nearly two-thirds of Medicare patients who are discharged after having a stroke will die or be readmitted to the hospital within a year, according to a new study in the journal Stroke.
The findings are “striking,” says study author Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, the Eliot Corday Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Science and the director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center in Los Angeles.
Alzheimer’s study finds HDL good for brain, too
(Reuters) – In addition to being good for the heart, high levels of so-called “good” cholesterol may protect against Alzheimer’s disease, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
They found people over 65 who had the highest levels of high-density lipoprotein or HDL were 60 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease over four years than people with the lowest HDL levels.
And it did not seem to matter if people had high HDL levels naturally or if they took widely used drugs called statins to increase “good” cholesterol levels, the researchers found.
Protein reversed memory loss in Alzheimer’s mice
(Reuters) – Boosting levels of a memory-related protein reversed memory loss in mice with Alzheimer’s disease, a finding that could lead to new approaches to treating people, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
They said raising levels of CREB-binding protein (CBP) — a protein needed to create long-term memories — improved memory in mice bred to develop Alzheimer’s, a fatal brain-wasting disease that affects memory, thinking, behavior and the ability to handle daily activities.
“We can reverse the learning and memory deficits by increasing the level of this protein called CBP,” said Salvatore Oddo of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, whose study appears in the in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Interactions cause seniors to drop antidepressants
(Reuters) – More than half of older Americans taking an antidepressant for the first time were already taking another drug that could interact with it and cause side effects, researchers reported on Friday.
And a quarter of patients who suffered side effects stopped taking antidepressants altogether, the study by a team at Thomson Reuters, the University of Southern California, Sanofi Aventis and elsewhere found.
“We found a concerning degree of potentially harmful drug combinations being prescribed to seniors,” Dr. Tami Lee Mark of Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters, said in a statement.
Many Adults Report Troubled Childhood Experiences
Exposure to Difficulties During Childhood Could Increase Risk of Health Problems in Adulthood, Researchers Say
Dec. 16, 2010 — More than half of adults surveyed reported experiencing one or more difficult childhood experiences, such as domestic violence or verbal abuse, indicating that troubled childhood experiences could be common, according to a CDC study.
Adverse childhood experiences, such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, parents going through a divorce, a family member being in jail, and being mentally ill or abusing drugs, have been associated with an increased risk for several health problems, including heart disease, depression, cancer, and diabetes. By identifying and documenting the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), health care providers can boost their efforts in child abuse prevention and other parenting programs as a means to reduce ACEs.
When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD
(Reuters Health) – Chris Cramer, 62, was a fledgling war correspondent when one spring day 30 years ago he got much closer to the battle than he’d ever intended.
Just back from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, his boss at the BBC had asked him to fly to Tehran, where militants were holding dozens of Americans hostage at the U.S. embassy.
But as he went to pick up his visa in London on April 30, 1980, he jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire: Six gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy, taking Cramer and 25 other people hostage.
“I lasted two days before I became sick — well, I actually feigned a heart attack to get out,” said Cramer, now global editor of multimedia at Reuters in New York.
While the experience left his body unscathed, his mental health was in tatters.
Goodbye to folic acid deficiency?
(Reuters Health) – A scan of the Canadian population reveals that, thanks largely to fortified foods, almost no one is deficient in folic acid, and forty percent have relatively high — maybe even too high — levels of the B vitamin in their blood.
Despite the lack of deficiency, however, 1 in 5 women of childbearing age did not carry in their blood the amount of folate (the natural form of folic acid) recommended to prevent birth defects, the benefit for which the vitamin is best known.
So while many men, the elderly, and children may have a lot of folic acid, Canadian women of childbearing age often don’t have enough, and should continue to take supplements, study author Cynthia Colapinto of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute told Reuters Health.
Is marriage bad for your physical fitness?
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People who stay single, or become single again by divorce, may be somewhat more physically fit than those in wedded bliss, a new study suggests.
The research, which followed nearly 8,900 adults over several years, found that both men and women who got married during that time tended to experience a dip in cardiovascular fitness, as measured by treadmill tests.
In contrast, men who got divorced during the study saw a modest increase in their fitness levels.
The findings, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, do not prove that a change in marital status directly causes the change in fitness — for better or worse.
Staying active really does beat middle-age spread
(Reuters Health) – People who keep up an active lifestyle into middle-age gain fewer pounds and inches over time — and the benefit may be even greater for women than men, a new study finds.
The fact that consistently active people gain less weight over the years may not come as a surprise. But little in the way of research evidence actually supported that notion.
Most studies on physical activity and weight have focused on exercise as a way to shed excess pounds, rather than a way to ward off the padding that so commonly creeps up with age.
The new study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that becoming active at a young age, and then keeping it up, can indeed thwart mid-life love handles
High vitamin D may not protect against frailty
(Reuters Health) – Older women with low blood levels of vitamin D may have an increased risk of frailty — but the high vitamin D levels that some experts recommend may offer no special protection, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that among 6,300 elderly women followed for 4.5 years, those with relatively low blood levels of vitamin D at the outset — below 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) — were somewhat more likely to become frail than those with higher circulating levels of the vitamin.
However, there was no evidence of any extra benefit from having vitamin D levels at or above 30 ng/mL — a level that some researchers have advocated for optimal health.
“People tend to assume that more is better,” said lead researcher Dr. Kristine E. Ensrud, of the University of Minnesota and VA Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Less sugar, equal taste from healthy cereal
(Reuters Health) – Kids who start the day with a bowl of sugary cereal are consuming almost twice the sugar they would take in eating healthier options — which, incidentally, they would be just as happy with, a new study finds.
Specifically, kids served sugary cereal poured themselves more than 24 grams of refined sugar. Those given low-sugar cereals were more likely to reach for table sugar, but still consumed about half the amount of sugar overall — and more fruit.
Plus, kids who ate either sugary or low-sugar cereals were equally likely to say they enjoyed their breakfast.
Obesity Linked to Lower Vitamin D Levels
Researchers Suggest Obese People May Need More Vitamin D in Their Diet
Dec. 17, 2010 — New research adds to the evidence linking obesity with lower levels of vitamin D, and the finding could help explain why carrying extra pounds raises the risk for a wide range of diseases, researchers say.
The study suggests that people who are obese may be less able to convert vitamin D into its hormonally active form.
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