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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Last month I had a reunion in Provence with friends who discovered this magical region of France with me more than 30 years ago. It was a true southern French vacation – we relaxed, we went to the market, we cooked. Market stalls were piled high with summer squash, tomatoes and eggplant, green beans – both regular ones and the flat ones that we call romano beans and that my Provençal market labeled cocos – onions of all kinds, braids of plump pink garlic, and leeks. [..]
When you’re summering in Provence, it’s easy to put vegetables seasoned with the thyme, rosemary and savory that grows everywhere at the center of your plate every day. But it’s also easy to do that here.
~Martha Rose Shulman~
The market tomatoes, green beans, peppers, cucumbers and lettuces were irresistible, and we would have been happy to dine on this iconic Provençal salad every day.
Farro Salad With Tomatoes and Romano Beans
A variety of wheat berry called petit épeautre is one of the traditional grains in the inland Provençal regions. It’s like farro but slightly softer.
Elizabeth’s Braised Leeks With Parmesan
The leeks are braised in wine and water or stock until soft and golden, then topped with Parmesan and run under a broiler, so you get a crunchy layer on top of soft cooked leeks.
Sabine’s Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
You can use the same filling for stuffed tomatoes. The bread is soaked in milk, so if you have some stale bread lying around, this is a great use for it.
Risotto With Eggplant and Tomatoes
You could make a different dish with tomatoes and eggplant every day of the summer in Provence.
Statin Diabetes Risk Limited to Those at High Risk
by Salynn Boyles
Even These Patients Benefited, With Fewer Heart Attacks, Strokes, and Deaths, Study Finds
Aug. 9, 2012 — The benefits of taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs outweigh the risks even among people who are likely to develop diabetes, researchers report.
They studied data from a 2008 study, publishing the results in The Lancet.
“From my perspective, the clinical message is very simple,” says researcher Paul M. Ridker, MD, of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “The cardiovascular benefits of statins outweigh the diabetes hazard even in those with the highest risk for developing diabetes.”
Pill Instead of a Needle May Soon Be Option for RA
by Brenda Goodman, MA
Studies Show a New Kind of Drug Works at Least as Well as a Current RA Biologic and Is Effective as a Stand-Alone Treatment
Aug. 8, 2012 — A new pill may soon offer people with rheumatoid arthritis an alternative to the injections and intravenous infusions that many rely on to treat their disease.
The drug, tofacitinib, is a twice-daily pill that works by turning down the body’s immune attack on its own joints and organs. It works in a slightly different way than currently available treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, or RA.
“It’s pretty important and pretty exciting, and some have described it as a biologic drug in a pill,” says Jeffrey R. Curtis, MD, MPH, director of the Arthritis Clinical Intervention Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Curtis worked on early trials of the treatment, but was not involved in the current research.
Gum Disease More Common in People With RA
by Denise Mann
Gum Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis More Likely to Be Severe
Aug. 8, 2012 — People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be up to four times more likely to have gum disease than people without this autoimmune disease. What’s more, gum disease is often more severe in people with RA, a new study suggests.
The findings, which appear in the Annals of Rheumatic Disease, add to a growing body of evidence linking oral health to systemic diseases including RA.
During RA, the body’s immune system misfires against its own joints and tissues, causing inflammation, joint damage, and pain.
Can TB Vaccine Stop Type 1 Diabetes?
by Daniel J. DeNoon
New Study Suggests Old Vaccine Can Treat Long-standing Diabetes
Aug. 8, 2012 — Can an 80-year-old TB vaccine cure diabetes?
Maybe. A small clinical study found “proof of principle” that the BCG tuberculosis vaccine might help adults with long-standing type 1 diabetes.
Over a decade ago, Denise Faustman, MD, PhD, and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School showed that the BCG vaccine worked in diabetic mice. By stimulating positive immune responses, the vaccine stopped the haywire immune responses that cause diabetes. Once this happened, the animals’ insulin-making cells regenerated.
Obesity Paradox: Thin Not in for Type 2 Diabetes?
by Brenda Goodman, MA
Normal Weight in People Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes Tied to Higher Risk of Early Death
Aug. 7, 2012 — People who are overweight or obese when they are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes appear to live longer than people whose body weight is normal when their disease is detected, a new study shows.
Obesity increases the risks for illness and early death. Despite this, doctors have long puzzled over why bigger patients with certain chronic diseases seem to fare better than those who are thin. This so-called “obesity paradox” has been noted in patients with kidney disease, heart failure, and high blood pressure.
The new study, which is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests the protective effect of a higher body mass index (BMI) may also extend to people with type 2 diabetes. BMI is a measure of size that accounts for both height and weight.
Week-Long Speech Therapy May Improve Stuttering
by Denise Mann
Study Shows Brain Changes After Speech Therapy
Aug. 8, 2012 — A week-long, intense course of speech therapy may help reduce stuttering, a new study shows. What’s more, improvements in speech corresponded with actual brain changes documented on MRI scans.
In the study of 28 people who stuttered and 13 who did not, stutterers who participated in speech therapy three times a day for one week improved compared with stutterers who did not get the speech therapy.
As part of the therapy, participants repeat two-syllable words and then read words they are shown. None of these exercises were timed. People who stuttered performed better on stuttering tests and stuttered syllables less frequently after the therapy.
Brain scans taken at the beginning and end of the week-long trial showed improvements in brain regions involved in stuttering. Specifically, strength of signals in an area called the cerebellum, which was increased before therapy among people who stuttered, were reduced to the same level as what was seen in the brains of people who did not have stutters, once the therapy ended.
The findings appear in Neurology.
Blood Pressure Drugs and Lip Cancer: A Link?
by Kathleen Doheny
Certain Hypertension Medicines May Boost Risk of Lip Cancer: Study
Aug. 7, 2012 — Some high blood pressure medicines, when taken long term, may increase the risk of lip cancer in white people, according to new research.
The list includes commonly used drugs such as the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HydroDIURIL, Microzide, others) and the ACE inhibitor lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril).
The finding, however, is buffered with some reassurance. “I want to emphasize that lip cancer is rare,” says Gary D. Friedman, MD, an emeritus researcher and former director of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. He led the study.
Lip cancer rarely spreads, he says. It is usually recognized early and treated promptly.
Fainting May Run in the Family
by Brenda Goodman. MA
Being Prone to Passing Out May Be Passed Down in Our Genes
Aug. 6, 2012 — A common kind of fainting appears to run in families, a new study of twins shows.
About 1 in 4 people will faint at some point in their lives. Fainting is a sudden, brief loss of consciousness after blood pressure drops to the brain. Sometimes, that loss of blood pressure happens for internal reasons — dehydration or heart problems, for example.
But puzzlingly, people sometimes black out in response to some kind of outside-the-body trigger, like the sight of blood or after some kind of emotional upset. This is called vasovagal syncope.
8 Tons of Kids’ Lunch Wraps Recalled Over Listeria
by Daniel J. DeNoon
Recall of Armour ‘Active Packs’ Turkey, Ham Wraps Marketed to Kids
Aug. 6, 2012 — Just as a new school year begins in many areas, some 8 tons of “Active Packs” kids’ lunches have been recalled due to possible contamination with listeria bacteria.
No illnesses have been reported. Listeria can cause serious, sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and people with weakened immune systems.
Incurable Gonorrhea Threat Forces Drug Change
by Daniel J. DeNoon
Shot Now Needed to Cure Common Sexually Transmitted Disease
Aug. 10, 2012 — Gonorrhea just got a little more painful to treat — but at least it’s still treatable.
For now, at least. The common sexually transmitted disease has become resistant to all but one class of antibiotic: the cephalosporins. An alarming worldwide rise in resistance even to these last-ditch drugs raises the specter of untreatable gonorrhea.
To buy time, the CDC this week changed a recommended U.S. treatment. Instead of getting a single Suprax (cefixime) pill, patients now should be treated with a shot of ceftriaxone antibiotic and one of two oral antibiotics (azithromycin or doxycycline).
That’s not all. Patients now should return to their health care provider a week later to make sure they’re cured. Anyone still infected likely carries drug-resistant gonorrhea and needs further treatment.
“This change is a critical preemptive strike to preserve … our last proven treatment option,” said Kevin Fenton, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “Changing how we treat infections now may buy the time needed to develop new treatment options.”
New Swine Flu Outbreak: Case Count Rising
by Daniel J. DeNoon
145 Cases in People So Far, 90% Are Kids
Aug. 9, 2012 — The case count in the ongoing outbreak of new swine flu has jumped from 12 cases last week to at least 145 cases, the CDC announced today.
Even while the CDC was making the announcement, Indiana health officials reported seven new cases. That brings the total to 152 cases — and counting.
Dubbed H3N2 variant or H3N2v, the virus causing the outbreak is a swine flu bug that more easily infects humans than the swine flu viruses previously circulating in pigs. All cases this year are in people who had direct contact with live pigs. You cannot get the virus from eating pork.
Asthma Drug Helps Kids Avoid Sleep Apnea Surgery?
by Denise Mann
Small Study Suggests Singulair Can Improve Sleep Apnea Symptoms in Some Kids
Aug. 7, 2012 — A new study suggests that a common asthma drug may be able to help children with sleep apnea avoid surgery.
Children with obstructive sleep apnea may be tired by day, have trouble paying attention in school, and have other behavioral problems because they are not getting enough quality sleep at night.
Surgery to remove the tonsils and adenoids is often recommended, but many parents are reluctant to subject their kids to any type of surgery.
New research in the September 2012 issue of Pediatrics suggests an allergy and asthma drug — montelukast (Singulair, which just went generic) — may lessen symptoms in children with non-severe apnea and potentially allow them to skip the surgery.
Cholesterol Levels Have Gone Down in Kids, Teens
by Salynn Boyles
Rising Obesity Levels, Dropping Cholesterol Levels Have Researchers Looking for Answers
Aug. 7, 2012 — Cholesterol levels have improved among children and teens in the United States over the past two decades, despite rising obesity rates during the same period, the CDC says.
Researchers analyzed data on more than 16,000 children and teens enrolled in a national health survey for the study, which appears in the Aug. 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Few U.S. Kids Using Correct Car Safety Restraints
by Cari Nierenberg
Study Suggests Many Young Passengers Sitting in Front Seats; 98% of Children Stop Using Booster Seats After Age 7
Aug. 7, 2012 — When children are passengers in cars, trucks, and vans, low numbers of them are using car safety restraints appropriate for their age group, a new study shows.
Researchers also found that many youngsters may be at an increased risk of injury during a motor vehicle accident because they are sitting in the front seat of cars at ages when they shouldn’t be and when seat belts might not fit them — if they are worn at all.
“The most important finding from this study is that, while age and racial disparities exist, overall few children are using the restraints recommended for their age group, and many children over 5 are sitting in the front seat,” says Michelle Macy, MD, in a news release. She is a pediatrician specializing in emergency medicine at the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Vitamin D Deficiency Common in Sick Kids
by Salynn Boyles
Study: Critically Ill Children With Low Vitamin D Had Worse Outcomes
Aug. 6, 2012 — Vitamin D deficiency is common among very sick children, and it is associated with worse outcomes, two new studies show.
In both studies, critically ill children deficient in the vitamin were more likely than those with adequate blood levels of vitamin D to be sicker and have longer hospital stays.
Earlier studies have linked vitamin D deficiency with worse outcomes in critically ill adults, and the new findings suggest that the same thing may be true for children, researchers say.
However, it is not yet clear if screening sick children for vitamin D deficiency and treating those who are deficient with supplements can improve their outcomes.
“We certainly think this is something that deserves further study,” says pediatric critical care specialist Kate Madden, MD, of Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School.
Drug May Slow Memory Loss in Early Alzheimer’s
by Brenda Goodman, MA
Medication Approved to Treat Patients With HIV May Do Double Duty for Dementia
Aug. 6, 2012 — A drug that’s already been approved by the FDA for use in HIV patients may also help slow the decline of memory and mental function experienced by people who are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
The drug, Egrifta, stimulates the release of human growth hormone from the brain’s pituitary gland. It was approved by the FDA in 2010 to help correct the abnormal distribution of body fat that often occurs in patients who live with HIV.
A new study published in the Archives of Neurology suggests it may also slow memory loss in people who have mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition that often precedes full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.
Hoarders’ Brains Overwhelmed by Decisions
by Matt McMilllen
Imaging Study Points to Disorder Distinct From Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Aug. 6, 2012 — Two brain regions go on high alert when hoarders must decide whether to keep something they own or throw it away.
In a new study in Archives of General Psychiatry, brain images of those regions show that hoarders respond quite differently when making such decisions than people with obsessive compulsive disorder and people without any mental disorder.
“That brain network goes into hyperdrive, starts freaking out,” says researcher David Tolin, PhD, a psychologist at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Conn. “The task seems to overload the network.”
Walking for Exercise: Americans Making Strides
by Matt McMillen
Still, Less Than Half of Adults Meet Federal Exercise Guidelines
Aug. 7, 2012 — No exercise is more popular than walking, and more people walk these days than they did five years ago, according to a new CDC report.
Nonetheless, the majority of adults still need to increase the amount of exercise they get each week in order to meet federal health guidelines. Nearly a third of American adults still get no exercise at all.
“Fifteen million more American adults were walking in 2010, and that’s a great first step,” CDC director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, told reporters during a news briefing. “It’s a great way to get started meeting the 2 1/2 hours per week of physical activity.”
And, Frieden says, people who walk are more likely to meet that goal; 60% of walkers get the recommended amount of exercise each week, about twice as many as those who don’t walk.
Buttered Popcorn Flavoring Linked to Alzheimer’s
by Daniel J. DeNoon
Diacetyl in Butter Flavoring, Beverages May Build Brain Plaque
Aug. 8, 2012 — The flavorant that adds buttery taste to foods and a smooth feel to beverages may also trigger Alzheimer’s disease, new studies suggest.
The flavorant, diacetyl, already is linked to lung damage in people who work in microwave popcorn factories. This led many microwave popcorn makers to stop using diacetyl in their products. But now other workers exposed to diacetyl — and possibly consumers as well — may face another scary risk.
University of Minnesota drug-design expert Robert Vince, PhD, and colleagues find that diacetyl causes brain proteins to misfold into the Alzheimer’s-linked form called beta amyloid. Moreover, the popcorn butter flavorant can pass through the blood-brain barrier and can inhibit the brain’s natural amyloid-clearing mechanisms.
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