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.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

This week the New York Times did an insightful article about the first responders and Emergency Room staff at the University Medical Center in Tuscon, AZ with interviews of the Paramedics and Trauma Surgeons. It is graphic and may make some a little squeezy but it gives the reader a new perspective on what we, in Emergency Medicine, are often confronted with and the split second decision making that’s involved. It is well worth reading. I congratulate them on a job well done.

Whole grains have higher fiber content than pasta and white rice, and because they’re slowly digested, they have less impact on blood levels of insulin than refined grains. They also bring more nutritional value. So if you’re mulling over ways to get more grains into your diet, think soups.

Even light soups can be transformed into more of a main dish with the addition of whole grains. Add quinoa to your garlic soup or bulgur to chicken broth. You can cook the grains separately and add them to the soup, or cook them right in the broth with the other ingredients. The grains will be particularly tasty, as they’ll absorb the flavors in the broth.

Sitting for Too Long Is Bad for Your Health

Taking Even Short Breaks From Sitting Is Good for Your Heart, Waist

Jan. 12, 2011 — We all know that regular exercise is good for our health and too much sitting isn’t ideal. Now a new study suggests it’s not just the length of time we spend sitting down but the number of times we get up during that time that can influence our health.

The study, published online in the European Heart Journal, examined the total length of time people spent sitting down and breaks taken in that time, together with various indicators of risk for heart disease, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, and inflammatory processes that can play a role in the blocking of arteries.

It suggests that plenty of breaks, even if they are as short as one minute, seem to be beneficial.

Heart Failure: All ARBs Aren’t the Same

Study Suggests Higher Death Risk in Losartan Patients

Jan. 11, 2011 — Blood pressure drugs in the class known as angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) reduce mortality in patients with heart failure, but new research suggests that not all work equally well.

Heart failure patients in Sweden who took the drug candesartan (Atacand) had a lower risk of death than patients who took the drug losartan (Cozaar).

The analysis included more than 30,000 patients enrolled in a Swedish heart failure registry.

At one year, 90% of patients taking candesartan were still alive, compared to 83% of patients taking losartan. After five years, 61% of candesartan patients and 44% of losartan patients were living.

The study appears Jan. 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Shingles Vaccine Cuts Disease Risk 55%

Shingles Risk Cut for All Age Groups and in People With Chronic Disease, Researchers Found

Jan. 11, 2011 — The herpes zoster vaccine, better known as the shingles vaccine and recommended for adults 60 and older, cuts the risk of getting the painful disease by 55%, new research finds.

“Compared to childhood vaccines, people would [probably] think 55% is not too impressive, because many childhood vaccines are in the range of 80% to 90% [effective],” says researcher Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.

However, he tells WebMD, the 55% risk reduction ”is pretty high compared to other adult vaccines.”

Surgical checklists might cut malpractice claims

(Reuters Health) – Surgical checklists not only save lives by preventing medical errors, they could also make a big dent in medical malpractice claims, Dutch researchers say.

Scouring data from the largest medical liability insurer in the Netherlands, they found nearly a third of the claims arose from mistakes that likely would have been caught by a checklist.

Putting a price tag on the medical liability system is difficult, but one 2010 study estimated it costs the U.S. more than $55 billion annually, or 2.4 percent of the country’s healthcare spending.

In addition, experts say tens of thousands of Americans die every year due to medical errors — most of which are related to surgery, according to the Dutch report.

Device treatment may silence ringing in the ears

(Reuters) – A new treatment that retrains part of the brain that processes sound may help silence tinnitus — a ringing in the ears that afflicts 10 percent of senior citizens and more than 40 percent of military veterans, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

They said a device that stimulates the vagus nerve in the neck while simultaneously playing different sounds for several weeks helped eliminate the condition in a group of rats.

A trial of the treatment in humans is set to start in Europe this year, said Dr. Navzer Engineer of MicroTransponder, a medical device company affiliated with The University of Texas at Dallas, whose study appears in the journal Nature.

FDA Warns of Acetaminophen in Prescription Pain Drugs

Percocet, Vicodin, Other Combination Pills to Get Dose Limit, “Black Box’ Warning

Jan. 13, 2011 – The FDA is warning about the dangers of acetaminophen in popular prescription pain drugs, but did it go far enough?

Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is found in a wide range of over-the-counter and prescription drugs. At normal doses, when not taken with alcohol, acetaminophen is a very safe drug. But it’s easy to take too much — a big mistake that can lead to serious liver damage.

Damage can occur when a person with normal liver function takes 4,000 milligrams or more of acetaminophen in a single day. That’s easy to do if a person is taking several medications and is not aware that each contains a powerful dose of acetaminophen.

The result: some 56,000 emergency-room visits, 26,000 hospitalizations, and 458 deaths a year. Acetaminophen is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S., causing some 1,600 cases a year.

Pets in Bed: More Dangerous Than Bedbugs?

Sleeping With Dogs, Cats Linked to Disease, Infections, Parasites

Jan. 14, 2011 — We’re all having nightmares about bedbugs, but your bed pets may be the real danger.

In the U.S, surveys indicate that up to 56% of dog owners and 62% of cat fanciers regularly fall asleep with their pets in their bed. Reports from the U.K., Netherlands, France, and Japan suggest that this isn’t a peculiarly American quirk.

But those cuddly pets harbor some icky germs, worms, and cooties, note Bruno B. Chomel, DVM, PhD, of the University of California, Davis, and Ben Sun, DVM, of the California Department of Health.

“Sharing our resting hours with our pets may be a source of psychological comfort, but … sharing is also associated with risks,” they write in the current issue of the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Haitians recall 2010 quake “hell” as death toll raised

(Reuters) – Haiti mourned more than 300,000 victims of its devastating 2010 earthquake on Wednesday in a somber one-year anniversary clouded by pessimism over slow reconstruction and political uncertainty.

Revising upwards previous death toll estimates from the January 12 quake of around 250,000, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said the recovery of additional bodies over the year put the total figure at “over 316,000 people killed”.

He spoke at a news conference with former U.S. President and U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton after thousands of Haitians, many wearing white in mourning, attended poignant memorial services around the battered Caribbean country.

Drug-resistant malaria could spread fast, expert warns

(Reuters) – Drug-resistant malaria could spread from southeast Asia to Africa within months, putting millions of children’s lives at risk, a leading expert warned on Wednesday.

Nicholas White, professor of tropical medicine at Mahidol University in Bangkok, called for a war before it is too late on the malaria strain resistant to the drug artemisinin that first emerged along the Thai-Cambodian border in 2007.

This longer-to-treat form of malaria is suspected of breaking out along the Thai-Myanmar frontier and in a province of Vietnam, where tests are under way to confirm it, but the great fear is of it reaching Africa.

“It is a time bomb, it is ticking. It has the potential of killing millions of African children,” White told Reuters.

Talk therapy may help tough-to-treat depression

(Reuters) – An experimental malaria vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline provides African children with long-lasting protection, though its effectiveness declines slightly over time, according to trial data published on Friday.

Scientists conducting the mid-stage trial at the Kenya Medical Research Institute said results showing the shot offered 46 percent protection for 15 months meant it had “promise as a potential public health intervention against childhood malaria in malaria endemic countries.”

Seasonal flu deaths more than double in Britain

(Reuters) – The number of deaths in a seasonal flu epidemic that has swept Britain since October more than doubled to 112 on Thursday, up from 50 a week earlier, figures from the Health Protection Agency showed.

Of the 112 confirmed deaths, 95 had the H1N1 flu strain that spread around the world as a pandemic in 2009 and 2010, officials said.

The majority of those who died were under 65 years old and nine cases were in children under 14. Since October, there have been six deaths in children under five.

Flu Is Widespread in 11 States

CDC Says 4 States Have a High Level of Flu Activity

Jan. 14, 2011 – Don’t put off your flu shot any longer: The winter flu season has arrived.

While only four states have high levels of flu activity, the seasonal illness is widespread across 11 states. And there’s evidence of outbreaks in several U.S. cities.

Sadly, four children died of flu in the first week of January, the latest week for which CDC data is available. So far, the 2010-2011 flu season has claimed the lives of eight children. There were 282 U.S. pediatric deaths during last year’s flu pandemic, 133 in the 2008-2009 season, and 88 in the 2007-2008 season.

Hospitals in 122 U.S. cities report that deaths from “pneumonia and influenza” — a statistic that reflects flu activity — are at the epidemic level. They’ve been on the upswing since just before Christmas.

Asthma a Problem for Millions

About 25 Million People in U.S. Have Asthma, Study Finds

Jan. 12, 2011 — Asthma takes a heavy toll on Americans, causing thousands of deaths and sending nearly 2 million people to emergency rooms for treatment each year, a new report finds.

In addition, asthma prevalence is higher among females, children, African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, people living below the poverty level, and residents of the Northeast and Midwest, says the report by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

1 in 12 Women Will Have Autoimmune Disease

Study Estimates Lifetime Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Other Autoimmune Diseases

Jan. 11, 2011 — One in 12 women and one in 20 men in the U.S. will develop some sort of autoimmune disease in their lifetime, according to new estimates.

Inflammatory autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), are relatively common conditions, especially among adults aged 50 and older.

Researchers say the risk of developing an autoimmune disease depends on a number of factors, including age and gender, but until now there hasn’t been an easy-to-understand average risk over a person’s lifetime for adults in the U.S.

Back-to-Back Pregnancies May Increase Autism Risk

Researchers Say Closely Timed Pregnancies May Deplete Mothers of Key Nutrients, Such as Folate

an 10, 2011 — Children born within one year of an older sibling may be three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism, according to a new study in the February issue of Pediatrics.

The study calls attention to interpregnancy interval (IPI), the duration between pregnancies, as a potential risk factor for autism. In the past, much focus has been on environmental triggers of autism such as vaccines as opposed to maternal physiological triggers such as the womb environment.

If the new findings are confirmed and proven to be related to maternal depletion of key nutrients such as folate, it may be possible to prevent autism with nutritional supplements, the study authors and autism experts suggest.

Strategy for Incontinence From Prostate Cancer Surgery

Study Shows Benefits of Behavioral Therapy in Reducing Incontinence Episodes

Jan. 11, 2011 — Pelvic-floor-muscle exercises along with other bladder control strategies, such as keeping a diary and monitoring your daily fluid intake, can help halve weekly incontinence episodes among men with prostate cancer who have had surgery to remove their prostate gland (radical prostatectomy), a study shows.

The new findings appear in the Jan. 12 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Higher Blood Pressure in Kids Whose Parents Smoke

Smoke Exposure Affects Children’s Future Heart Health

Jan. 10, 2011 — Parents who smoke around their preschool-aged children may increase their kids’ risk of having higher blood pressure at that young age compared to children who have parents who do not smoke, according to research published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The study, performed by German researchers from the University of Heidelberg in Germany, is the first to show that environmental nicotine exposure can increase the blood pressure of children as young as 4 and 5 years old. And researchers say smoke exposure is likely to have a similar effect on the blood pressure of children in the U.S.

Early Antibiotics Help Ear Infections in Young Children

Study Leaders Predict Changes in the Current Watch-and-Wait Approach

Jan. 12, 2011 — Young children with ear infections recover faster and more completely if doctors give antibiotics right away rather than waiting to see if the kids get better on their own.

The findings come from two clinical trials, one in the U.S. and one in Finland. For young children with middle ear infections — otitis media — both studies found immediate antibiotic treatment far superior to watchful waiting.

Current treatment recommendations in the U.S., Canada, and Europe allow for a watch-and-wait approach to suspected middle ear infections in young children. Change is coming, predicts study leader Alejandro Hoberman, MD, of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Sesame and nut allergies may often strike together

(Reuters Health) – Compared to children without peanut or tree nut allergies, kids who have both these allergies may also be more likely to develop an allergy to sesame seeds, a small study suggests.

The researchers linked a history of dual allergic reactions to peanuts and tree nuts with a 10-fold higher risk of allergy to sesame seeds – the tiny seeds that are commonly found in hummus and on hamburger buns.

The researchers also looked for a link between nut allergies and coconut allergies, but they did not find one.

Tai Chi May Prevent Falls Among Seniors

New Guidelines Suggest Reducing Certain Medications Also May Improve Balance in Seniors

Jan. 13, 2011 — Updated guidelines from the American Geriatrics Society and the British Geriatrics Society recommend interventions such as the slow-motion Chinese martial art tai chi along with medication reviews to help prevent falls among the elderly.

The guidelines, which appear in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, were last updated in 2001.

Fewer Americans Have AMD

Less Smoking, Healthier Lifestyles May Be Warding Off Vision-Robbing Eye Disease in Older Adults, Researchers Say

Jan. 10, 2011 — Fewer adults in the U.S. are developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), possibly because of healthier lifestyles, researchers report in this month’s Archives of Ophthalmology.

AMD is an eye disease that gradually makes it difficult to see fine details, such as numbers on a watch or letters on a street sign. It is a leading cause of vision loss among people aged 60 and older, according to the National Eye Institute. Smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, and a family history of AMD increase your chances of developing the disease.

Talk therapy may help tough-to-treat depression

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — People with long-lasting depression may benefit from talk therapy when other treatment methods such as antidepressant drugs alone aren’t working, suggests a new study. But the topic needs more research, the authors say – and they also point out that talk therapy isn’t accessible or affordable for everyone.

About 15 million adults in America suffer from major depressive disorder – serious cases of depression that last more than two weeks – in any given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Most people who are diagnosed with major depressive disorder get prescribed an antidepressant rather than going straight into talk therapy, explained Dr. Ranak Trivedi, the lead author on the current study from the University of Washington School of Public Health.

Healthy Hearts in Mediterranean Lands? Maybe Not

Study in a Spanish City Shows Heart Risks That Are Similar to U.S. and U.K.

Jan. 13, 2011 — For years, the Mediterranean diet, well-known for its heart-healthy effects, has evoked images of dining tables laden with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, red wine, and a splash of olive oil — with those who follow the diet protected against heart attacks and other cardiovascular ailments.

However, a new study that looked at more than 2,000 urban Spanish adults challenges the thinking that people in Mediterranean countries all enjoy healthy diets and lifestyles.

Taking 10,000 Steps a Day May Lower Diabetes Risk

Study Shows Building Up to 10,000 Steps a Day May Lead to Weight Loss and Better Insulin Sensitivity

Jan. 14, 2011 — Building up to 10,000 steps a day can help control weight and may reduce diabetes risk, suggests new research in the journal BMJ.

Of 592 middle-aged Australian adults, those who increased the number of steps they took during a five-year period and built up to 10,000 steps per day had a lower body mass index, less belly fat, and better insulin sensitivity than their counterparts who did not take as many steps daily during the same time period.

A hallmark of diabetes, insulin resistance occurs when the body’s cells stop responding as well to the action of the hormone insulin, which helps the body use blood sugar (glucose) for energy. The pancreas tries to compensate by producing more insulin, but ultimately fails to keep pace. As a result, excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream, setting the stage for diabetes.