Welcome to the Stars Hollow Health and Fitness News 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.
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If you’re stuck in a summer heat wave and can’t imagine firing up the stove, think tofu. Enjoy it cold, with dipping sauces or in a sandwich. This week I’m presenting a selection of sauces, which you can make up in advance and have on hand in the refrigerator. You might want to sear or grill the tofu first, but I am even more likely to enjoy my tofu uncooked, spread with or dipped into a sauce. It provides high-quality protein in a very light package that’s just right for hot summer days. Even the sodium in these recipes may be welcome if you are dealing with very hot weather.
~Martha Rose Shulman~
This hearty sandwich consists of tofu dipped in a delicious cilantro-spiked marinade, briefly baked, then topped with a roasted corn relish.
This sweet and pungent mixture also makes a nice dip for crudités or spring rolls.
Tofu With Hot Chipotle Barbecue Sauce
Don’t throw out the spicy adobo that canned chipotles are packed in: It gives this dish a real kick.
This mixture works as a marinade or dipping sauce for pan-seared, grilled or plain cold tofu.
Tofu With Orange Miso Peanut Sauce
Pomegranate molasses, a Middle Eastern food, is a guest star in this otherwise Asian production.
Task Force Updates EKG Recommendations
by Kathleen Doheny
Low-Risk People Without Symptoms Do Not Need EKG, Group Says
July 30, 2012 — If you’re at low risk for heart disease and don’t have symptoms such as chest pains, you do not need a routine electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG), according to updated guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
If you are at intermediate or high risk but don’t have symptoms, there is not enough evidence to say one way or the other whether an EKG will help predict heart disease, says Joy Melnikow, MD, PhD, a member of the task force.
The updated recommendations focus on a specific group, Melnikow says. “This recommendation addresses people without any symptoms of heart disease who are coming to their doctor to find out what they need to do to be healthier.”
The task force is an independent panel of experts that considers multiple sources of evidence and makes recommendations about preventive services and tests.
How Renting Instead of Owning Can Hurt Your Asthma
by Salynn Boyles
Renters Less Likely Than Homeowners to Follow Recommendations
Aug. 3, 2012 — The real estate crash may be having a surprising effect on the health of some Americans with asthma.
A survey of people with allergic asthma found that renters are less likely than homeowners to make changes to minimize exposures to the allergens that trigger their breathing problems.
Allergens such as dust mites, pet dander, pollen, and mold are common asthma triggers. More than half of people with asthma in the U.S. are allergic to something in their environment.
Taking steps to minimize exposure to these environmental triggers in the home is an important component of asthma control, but renters took these steps less often than homeowners.
The study, published in the August issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, found that while 91% of homeowners made recommended changes, just 63% of renters did.
Sleep Helps Vaccines Work: Study
by Kathleen Doheny
Sleeping Less Than 6 Hours Nightly Linked to Lower Immune Response, Researchers Find
Aug. 1, 2012 — People who regularly get more than seven hours of sleep a night are more likely to respond to vaccination against hepatitis B compared to those who get in less than six hours, according to new research.
The differences were surprising, says researcher Aric Prather, PhD, a clinical health psychologist and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley.
“People who slept less than six hours on average were 11.5 times more likely to be unprotected [after the vaccine] than those who slept more than seven hours,” he says.
He looked at the immune response to the hepatitis B vaccine in healthy adults.
Hepatitis B, a serious infection that affects the liver, is the cause of death each year for about 2,000 to 4,000 in the U.S., according to the CDC.
The study is published in Sleep.
Generic Singulair Approved
by Daniel J. DeNoon
FDA: 10 Generic Drugmakers Approved to Make Montelukast Tablets
Aug. 3, 2012 — The FDA today gave 10 generic drugmakers approval to start making generic versions of Singulair (montelukast sodium), the popular asthma and allergy drug.
Onion Recalls Continue
by Daniel J. DeNoon
Listeria in Cut Onions Triggers Recalls of Salads, Salsas, Dips, More
Aug. 2, 2012 — Tons of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods have been recalled because of listeria contamination at a California onion plant.
Gills Onions of Oxnard, Calif., processes more than 90,000 tons of red and yellow onions per year. A wide variety of products use the plant’s chopped, slivered, and peeled onions.
How many products? A flood of recalls followed Gills’ July 25 announcement expanding an earlier recall to include all onions made at the plant. As of Aug. 2, there have been at least 15 separate recalls, involving major brands such as Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Whole Foods, and Publix.
Foods containing the onions have ranged from fresh salsa to chicken salad to bean dip. All of the recalls, including a description of all the products, their sell-by dates, and product codes, are available on an FDA web site.
CDC: New Smoking Patterns Are Cause for Alarm
by Matt McMillen
Cigars and Other Non-Cigarettes Rise in Popularity
Aug. 2, 2012 — People light up fewer cigarettes these days, but the number of cigars and the amount of pipe tobacco used for roll-your-owns smoked each year is on the rise.
And, while the total amount of tobacco consumption continues to drop, that decline is slowing. Between 2010 and 2011, tobacco use dropped by less than 1%. The reason may be economical, at least in part, as industry has figured out ways around taxes meant to discourage smoking.
“The data suggest that certain smokers have switched from cigarettes to other combustible tobacco products, most notably since a 2009 increase in the federal tobacco excise tax that created tax disparities between product types,” write the authors of the report, part of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for Aug. 3.
New Swine Flu Outbreak Worries CDC
by Daniel J. DeNoon
12 Infected by Pigs in Last Week; No Ongoing Human Spread So Far
Aug. 3, 2012 — With 16 new human cases in the last three weeks — 12 in the last week alone — an outbreak of a variant strain of swine flu is giving CDC officials the jitters.
What worries officials is that the new flu, officially called variant type A H3N2 or H3N2v, carries the M gene from the human H1N1 pandemic flu bug. This gene makes it easier for flu bugs to infect humans and spread among them.
Seal Flu: Next Pandemic Threat?
Virulent New Flu Subtype Killed New England Seals
July 31, 2012 — A new and virulent subtype of flu bug has emerged among harbor seals in New England, researchers report.
Over a four-month period beginning last September, 162 harbor seals were found dead or dying along the coast of New England. An investigation by renowned virus hunter W. Ian Lipkin, MD, of Columbia University, identified the killer: a mutant flu bug transmitted to the seals by sea birds.
West Nile Virus: Questions and Answers
by Sonam Vashi
How to Stay Safe This Summer as West Nile Spreads
July 30, 2012 — How extensive is the threat of West Nile Virus this summer, and how can you help protect yourself from it? WebMD asked the CDC’s medical epidemiologist Marc Fischer, MD.
Well, so far this year, some areas of the country are experiencing substantially more activity than they have in recent years.
As of July 24, when we pulled our last report, 35 states in the U.S. have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes. To date, there have been 113 human cases of West Nile virus disease [this season], including two deaths, and most of these cases have been reported from South-Central states, which include Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
More Moms Breastfeeding
by Denise Mann
CDC Report Card Shows Largest 1-Year Increase in Nursing Rates in 10 Years
Aug. 1, 2012 — The health benefits of breastfeeding are widely publicized, and it seems that this message is gaining traction. A new breastfeeding report card from the CDC shows that more new moms in the U.S. are choosing to breastfeed their babies.
Just shy of 77% of moms started breastfeeding in 2009, up from 74.6% in 2008. This is the largest one-year increase in breastfeeding rates in 10 years. The number of women who were still breastfeeding at six months increased from 44.3% in 2008 to 47.2% in 2009. And the number of mothers breastfeeding at 12 months out was also on the rise.
The new study provides the most recent data available, but preliminary reports suggest that the breastfeeding rate continues to rise.
Anti-Estrogen Combo Better for Late Breast Cancer
by Salynn Boyles
Patients Taking Arimidex With Faslodex Survived Longer
Aug. 1, 2012 — Older women with the most common type of metastatic breast cancer may soon have a new treatment option that may improve their survival.
A new study shows that postmenopausal women with advanced disease treated with a combination of two anti-estrogen therapies lived longer than women who took one drug followed by another.
The study is the first to show that combination hormonal therapy can slow disease progression and improve survival in advanced breast cancer, says researcher Kathy Albain, MD, of Loyola University Medical Center.
The research appears in the Aug. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Health Reform: No-Cost Contraception Starts Today
by Lisa Zymosky
Health Reform Law to Extend 8 Free Preventive Health Services — From Birth Control to Breastfeeding Support — to 47 Million Women
Aug. 1, 2012 — Today ushers in a new provision of the health reform law that makes additional preventive health services — from contraception to HPV testing — available for free to an estimated 47 million women.
Women with health plans that start on or after Aug. 1, 2012, must now be allowed access to eight new preventive health services with no co-pays or deductibles. The eight new services available starting today are:
- Well-woman visits
- Gestational diabetes screening
- Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling
- FDA-approved contraception, including contraceptive education and counseling
- Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling
- HPV DNA testing for women aged 30 or older
- Counseling for sexually active women about sexually transmitted infections
- HIV screening and counseling for sexually active women
CDC: Military Veterans Report Poorer Health
by Matt McMillen
Disparities More Pronounced Beginning at Age 45
Aug. 2, 2012 — Men who served in the military carry a heavier health burden than non-veterans. According to a CDC report released today, veterans are significantly more likely to have two or more chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, as well as other health problems.
Nearly 1 in 5 vets between the ages of 45 and 54 reported at least two chronic conditions compared to less than 15% of non-veterans. Close to 1 in 3 former service members who are 55 to 64 said they had more than one chronic disease compared to one-quarter of men who never served.
“The effects of military service on physical and psychological health, especially after extended overseas deployments, are complex,” write the researchers. “There may also be long-term consequences of military service for the health and health care utilization of veterans as they age.”
The report was produced by the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the CDC. It draws on data from the 2007-2010 National Health Interview Survey, and it covers veterans aged 25 to 64, directly comparing their health with that of non-veterans.
Time Outside May Reduce Nearsightedness in Kids
by Jennifer Warner
Spending More Time Outdoors May Lessen the Risk of Myopia in ChildrenAug. 3, 2012 — Spending more time outside may help protect children’s eyesight.
New research suggests that increasing the amount of time children spend outdoors may reduce the risk of developing myopia, or nearsightedness.
Nearsightedness is a common vision problem in which objects in the distance appear blurred and out of focus. The condition can usually be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, or eye surgery.
Although nearsightedness is easily corrected, researchers say there is currently no widely used method to reduce the risk of developing the condition or slow its progression.
Researchers say that encouraging children to spend more time outside may be a new way to protect their eyesight and reduce the risk of myopia. Their findings would need to be confirmed by further studies.
Fitter Kids, Better Grades?
by Kathleen Doheny
Fitter Middle School Students Scored Better on Math, Reading Tests, Researchers Find
Aug. 3, 2012 — Fitter kids do better on school tests, according to new research that echoes previous findings.
The fitter the middle school students were, the better they did on reading and math tests, says researcher Sudhish Srikanth, a University of North Texas student. He presented his research Friday at the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting in Orlando.
Cataract Surgery May Help Prevent Hip Fractures
by Jennifer Warner
Having Surgery to Correct Cataracts May Protect Against Hip Fractures in Older People
July 31, 2012 — Helping older people see more clearly may help to lower their risk for falls and potentially disabling hip fractures.
A new study shows having surgery to correct cataracts may reduce the risk of hip fractures among elderly people by up to 23%.
Falls and the resulting bone fractures are a major cause of disability and death among the elderly. Researchers say fall-related injuries cost the U.S. more than $10 billion in health care costs in 2000.
The results suggest cataract surgery may be a cost-effective way to reduce the risk of falls and hip fractures among older adults.
“Cataract surgery has already been demonstrated to be a cost-effective intervention for visual improvement,” researcher Victoria Tseng, MD, of Brown University, and colleagues write in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “The results in this study suggest the need for further investigation of the additional potential benefit of cataract surgery as a cost-effective intervention to decrease the incidence of fractures in the elderly.”
Even Mild Anxiety May Shorten a Person’s Life
by Brenda Goodman, MA
Study: Low Levels of Anxiety or Depression Are Tied to an Increased Risk of Death
July 31, 2012 — Psychological distress, even at relatively low levels, is linked to an increased risk of death, a large new study shows.
Distress is a measure of psychological health that takes into account symptoms of anxiety or depression.
The study found that people frayed by even slight distress, meaning they sometimes stayed awake at night worrying or had trouble concentrating on tasks, for example, were about 20% more likely to die over a 10-year period compared to people who reported no such symptoms.
That was true even after researchers adjusted their results to account for unhealthy behaviors that often accompany anxiety and depression, like smoking and excessive drinking. They also accounted for things like exercise, weight, and diabetes.
Ryan Lochte’s Olympic Training Included Beer Kegs
Champion Swimmer Favors ‘Strongman’ Exercises
July 30, 2012 — Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte credits a beer keg and a giant boat chain with helping him win the United States’ first gold medal of the London games.
Lochte powered past teammate Michael Phelps and the rest of the field Saturday to easily win the 400-meter individual medley on the first full day of the summer Olympics.
His next two performances were less impressive: He lost the lead in the 400-meter relay Sunday, costing the U.S. the gold, and he came in fourth in the 200-meter freestyle on Monday.
But with some of his strongest events yet to come, Lochte could still end up being one of the biggest stories of the London games.
Exercise May Fight Depression in Heart Failure
by Brenda Goodman, MA
Regular Aerobic Activity Improves Mood About as Well as Antidepressants, Talk Therapy
July 31, 2012 — Exercise helps people with heart failure feel a bit better, physically and emotionally, a new study shows. It may also lower a person’s risk of dying or winding up in the hospital.
Up to 40% of people with heart failure grapple with depression. The combination often leads to poor health outcomes. One study found seriously depressed people with heart failure were more than twice as likely to die or be hospitalized over the course of a year compared to other people with heart failure who weren’t depressed.
“Whenever patients are more depressed, their motivation goes down. Their ability to keep up with their doctors’ recommendations goes down. Their ability to get out and do basic physical activities like walking goes down,” as does their health, says David A. Friedman, MD, chief of Heart Failure Services at North Shore-LIJ Plainview Hospital in New York. “It’s a vicious cycle.”
Do You Need a Gluten-Free Diet? Probably Not
by Brenda Goodman, MA
Most on Gluten-Free Diets Don’t Have Celiac Disease, Study Shows
Aug. 1, 2012 — For a lot of people, gluten-free diets are more trend than treatment, a new study shows.
The study estimates that 1.8 million Americans have celiac disease. Another 1.6 million are on gluten-free diets, the recommended treatment for celiac disease. Yet there’s almost no overlap between the two groups.
“So here’ we’ve got this kind of irony where those who need to be on [a gluten-free diet] aren’t on it, because they don’t know they have it. And those who are on it probably don’t need to be on it, at least from a medical point of view,” says researcher Joseph A. Murray, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “It’s a little frustrating.”
The study is based on data collected through the government’s NHANES survey, which takes regular snapshots of the health of the U.S. population.
Curry Compound May Lower Diabetes Risk
by Denise Mann
Small Study Suggests Curcumin May Play a Role in Diabetes Prevention
July 31, 2012 — Curcumin, the substance found in the spice turmeric that gives curry its color, may lower risk of type 2 diabetes, a small new study suggests.
All of the people in the study had been diagnosed with prediabetes. But according to the findings, none of the participants who took capsules of curcumin for nine months developed type 2 diabetes. By contrast, 16.4% of those who received a placebo did develop type 2 diabetes during the study period.
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