Welcome to the Stars Hollow Gazette‘s 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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Spinach is the green that comes to mind for light summer dishes. It’s available year-round both at farmers’ markets and supermarkets, wilts in minutes, and afterward keeps well in the refrigerator.
In summer, you can use it for cold soups or quick omelets, or combine it with seasonal tomatoes in easy pastas. Spinach contains iron, vitamin A and vitamin C, manganese, folate, calcium, potassium and a variety of other nutrients.
One thing to note: The sodium content can be high in some brands of bagged spinach. A 3-ounce serving of Dole organic baby spinach, for example, contains 135 milligrams of sodium. The same amount from Fresh Express contains 65 milligrams. The difference may have to do with the solution that certain commercial producers use to wash the spinach.
If you do use bagged baby spinach, check the values on the package. A 3-ounce serving (85 grams) should not have more than 70 milligrams of sodium.
What Keeps Moles From Becoming Melanomas?
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Protein that suppresses tumor puts brakes on further cell division
Aug. 7, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A major genetic factor that prevents moles from turning into deadly melanoma skin cancer has been pinpointed by researchers.
It’s long been known that a mutation in the BRAF gene causes moles to start growing, but it wasn’t understood why they stop growing.
HIV Cells Duplicate Even When Treatments Work
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Antiretroviral therapy may affect progression of disease, but virus doesn’t disappear
Aug. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) — HIV can continue to multiply in patients who are responding well to antiretroviral therapy, U.K. researchers say.
Treatment advances over the last 30 years mean that HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — is suppressed to almost undetectable levels in many patients, and they can live a long and healthy life. It was believed that after many years of successful therapy, a patient’s body would naturally rid itself of HIV.
Kidney Problems Linked to Brain Disorders: Study
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Reduced blood flow likely to blame, researcher suggests
Aug. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Kidney problems can increase the risk of brain disorders, a new study finds.
The findings suggest that protecting kidney health may also benefit the brain, the researchers said.
They studied data from more than 2,600 people in the Netherlands, and found that poor kidney function was strongly associated with decreased blood flow to the brain. They also saw an increased risk of stroke and memory and thinking problems (dementia) in people with kidney problems.
Weight-Loss Surgery’s Benefits May Fade With Time
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay
Little is known about the long-term effects of bariatric procedures, experts say
Aug. 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Although weight-loss surgery may produce initial dramatic weight loss and improve type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests that in the long run, many people regain weight and see their diabetes return.
In fact, in the first year after an operation called sleeve gastrectomy, patients lost 77 percent their excess weight. But by the fifth year they regained weight, bringing their weight loss to only 56 percent. Also, 51 percent of patients saw type 2 diabetes disappear in the first year. By the fifth year, only 20 percent were still free of type 2 diabetes, researchers said.
Too Few Heart Attack Patients Get Cardiac Rehab?
By Amy Norton, HealthDay
Home-based programs could provide alternative for those unable or unwilling to travel, researchers suggest
Aug. 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Cardiac rehabilitation programs are considered a key part of recovering from a heart attack — but only a small minority of patients ever attend one, a new study finds.
Of the thousands of older Americans who’d suffered a heart attack in the study, only about 62 percent were referred to a cardiac rehab program, researchers found. And just one-third of those patients actually went.
Crohn’s Disease, Colitis Tied to Anxiety in Study
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Women at greater risk of this ‘double jeopardy,’ researcher says
Aug. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — People with inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, have an increased risk for an anxiety disorder, especially women, a new study suggests.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of disorders that cause chronic inflammation of the digestive tract.
FDA Approves New Rosacea Treatment
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
When applied to skin, foam helps heal pimples, bumps of common skin condition
Aug. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A new prescription treatment for the common skin condition rosacea was approved on Monday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Rosacea is a chronic disease that causes redness and pimples on the skin. In most cases, it affects only the face. Rosacea is most common in women and people with fair complexions, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Urine Test Might Find Pancreatic Cancer Early
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay
But expert says whether it will improve outcomes not proven yet
Aug. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Scientists report that they have developed a urine test that may detect pancreatic cancer at an early stage.
Usually, symptoms of this deadly disease do not appear until it is at an advanced stage and has spread, and little can be done to save the patient. Researchers have been looking for a way to screen people for pancreatic cancer in the hopes that early detection might lead to effective treatment.
Fecal Matter in Lakes, Rivers From Septic Tanks?
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Experts had assumed that soil would help to filter human waste
Aug. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Septic tanks don’t prevent fecal bacteria from seeping into rivers and lakes, according to a new study that dispels a widely held belief that they can.
“All along, we have presumed that on-site wastewater disposal systems, such as septic tanks, were working,” Joan Rose, a water expert at Michigan State University, said in a university news release.
Better Control of These Germs Could Save Many Lives
By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay
Hospitals, health departments, long-term care facilities must share information, report says
Aug. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — An immediate, focused effort to halt the spread of antibiotic-resistant germs could save tens of thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of new infections over the next five years, a new government report suggests.
As many as 37,000 lives could be saved, and 619,000 new infections prevented, if community health departments and health care facilities form tight support networks to quickly identify and address emerging outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, said report author Dr. John Jernigan.
Younger Hysterectomies Tied to Heart Disease Risks
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Obesity was the cardiovascular disease risk factor most strongly linked with the procedure at all ages
associated with an increased likelihood of cardiovascular risk factors and disease, especially among younger women, a new study suggests.
Mayo Clinic researchers looked at data from more than 7,600 women. Half of the group had a hysterectomy, while the other half (the “control” group) didn’t have the procedure.
This Treatment Better for Early Breast Cancer
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Treatment offers fewer side effects and better quality of life, researchers say
Aug. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A shorter course of radiation therapy is better for women with early stage breast cancer, according to a new study.
Specifically, it found that those who received higher doses of whole breast radiation over a shorter period of time had fewer side effects and a better quality of life than those who received smaller doses of radiation over a longer period of time.
Experimental Gel Could Cut Genital Herpes Risk
By Amy Norton, HealthDay
But follow-up study of the gel for HIV prevention yields disappointing results
Aug. 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A drug applied as a vaginal gel may substantially cut women’s risk of contracting genital herpes, a common and incurable sexually transmitted infection.
That’s the conclusion of a study published in the Aug. 6 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found that the gel, applied vaginally before and after sex, halved women’s risk of infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2.
Office Temperature Settings May Have a Gender Bias
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Middle-aged man is target of heating, cooling standards, researchers say
Aug. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Heating and cooling system settings in office buildings are based on men’s needs and could result in excess energy use, a new study suggests.
Temperature standards in office buildings are based in part on the resting metabolic rate of a 154-pound, 40-year-old man, the researchers say. These standards may overestimate the amount of heating or cooling women require to be comfortable, they report in the Aug. 3 online issue of the journal Nature Climate Change.
Vitamin D Won’t Strengthen Older Women’s Bones
By Alan Mozes, HealthDay
No increases seen in bone density, muscle mass or mobility, no matter the dose Aug. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — High doses of vitamin D do not appear to protect postmenopausal women from the dangers of osteoporosis, new research indicates.
“While high-dose vitamin D did indeed increase calcium absorption, the increase was only 1 percent and [it] did not translate into gains in spine, hip or total body bone mineral density,” said study author Dr. Karen Hansen.
Bodybuilder Supplement Abuse a Growing Concern
By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay
Study finds more men using them to achieve ‘perfect’ body, may qualify as new eating disorder
Aug. 7, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Women striving for the “perfect” body have struggled with eating disorders for years, but researchers report that a new sort of eating disorder is emerging among men.
Fitness buffs who are obsessed with bodybuilding, and the bulging biceps and “six-pack” abs it produces, are overusing supplements to the point that the practice might qualify as a new kind of eating disorder, the researchers said.
A Man’s Meat Intake Might Influence His Fertility
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Couples undergoing IVF treatments fared worse if his consumption of processed meats was high
Aug. 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Attention, men: Your favorite meats might be helping or harming your fertility, a new study suggests.
While the research can’t prove cause and effect, it shows that men involved in fertility treatment who ate a lot of processed meats — bacon, sausage and the like — had poorer success, while those who ate more chicken or other poultry had better outcomes.
This May Boost Advanced Prostate Cancer Survival
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay
Adding chemotherapy to hormone therapy added 14 months to patients’ lives in study
Aug. 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Chemotherapy at the start of hormone therapy can extend the lives of men with prostate cancer that has spread beyond the gland, a new study finds.
Over nearly 29 months of follow-up, men with advanced prostate cancer who received the combination therapy lived almost 14 months longer than men who received only hormone therapy (58 months versus 44 months), researchers said.
Brain Scans Show Benefits of Reading to Kids
By Amy Norton, HealthDay
Those who heard stories regularly showed more activity in areas linked to word meanings, imagination
Aug. 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Brain scans reveal that preschoolers whose parents read to them regularly show more activity in key areas of their brains.
Reading to young children is well known to have benefits, including better language skills. And experts already urge parents to have a regular story time with their kids, starting at birth. It’s been assumed that the habit feeds youngsters’ brain development.
Time-outs Work: Curbing Preschoolers’ Bad Behavior
By Amy Norton, HealthDay
New look at the evidence supports ‘time-outs,’ withholding privileges or toys in some cases
Aug. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Parents should be open to using a range of tactics for managing their preschoolers’ behavior problems — including “time-outs,” a set of new studies suggests.
When it comes to disciplining young children, there are two broad camps. Some popular advice books and websites emphasize “positive parenting,” where time-outs and other punishments are discouraged.
Schools Start Too Early for Kids to Sleep Enough
By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay
Less than 18 percent of high schools, middle schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later
Aug. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Five out of six middle and high schools in the United States start the day too early, which keeps students from getting the sleep they need, a new government report finds.
Middle and high schools should aim for a start time no earlier than 8:30 a.m. to help kids get enough sleep, according to a policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics last year.
Active As Teen, Free of Diabetes In Later Life?
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Findings showed insulin resistance peaks in early adolescence, so exercise crucial during this period
Aug. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) — High levels of physical activity during the early teen years might reduce the risk of diabetes later in life, a new study suggests.
The research included 300 children who were checked for insulin resistance every year from ages 9 to 16. Insulin resistance is a condition that leads to high blood sugar and is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Program Promising for Young Adults With Autism
By Emily Willingham, HealthDay
PEERS involves patients and caregivers to maintain social support and guidance
Aug. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A special program for adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) improved their social skills, a new study finds.
Because autism research tends to focus on therapies for younger children, the study’s attention to this older age group is unusual, said lead author and program founder Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Head Injury and Long-Term Attention Issues in Kids
By Kathleen Doheny, HealthDay
Study says brief lapses in attention can persist, even if brain injury is mild
Aug. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Children who suffer even mild brain injuries may experience momentary lapses in attention long after their accident, new research finds.
The study of 6- to 13-year-olds found these attention lapses led to lower behavior and intelligence ratings by their parents and teachers.
The Most Effective Way to Protect an Aging Brain
By Brenda Goodman, MA, WebMD Health News
Researchers have known for some time that exercise is good for aging brains. The latest studies, though, are adding some finer points to that message: While exercise appears to work best before memory fades, it also benefits people who’ve already gotten dementia. And it seems to help not just with Alzheimer’s disease, but also with vascular dementia, a kind of memory loss that’s caused by “silent” strokes in the brain.
Three studies presented at the recent meeting of the Alzheimer’s Association in Washington D.C. detailed the effects. Exercise lowered levels of toxic tau proteins and increased blood flow in the brains of people with early memory changes that put them at risk for dementia. Four months of intense exercise improved symptoms like anxiety, irritability, and depression in people with Alzheimer’s, though it didn’t help their memories. But 6 months of exercise did improve memory and thinking in people diagnosed with vascular dementia.
Dementia Meds May Lead to Harmful Weight Loss
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Patients can lose 10 pounds or more, researchers find
Aug. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A class of drugs widely used to treat dementia — called cholinesterase inhibitors — could cause harmful weight loss in some patients, a new study suggests.
These medications include Aricept (donepezil), Razadyne (galantamine) and Exelon (rivastigmine).
Spicing Up Your Meals Might Extend Your Life
By Alan Mozes, HealthDay
Regularly eating chili peppers, other hot foods linked to lower risk of death during study periodAug. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Some like it hot, and a new study finds that folks who favor spicy foods might also have a lower risk of premature death.
The study was based on a large multi-year food analysis. It found that adults who reported eating spicy foods — such as fresh and dried chili pepper — as little as three days per week were less likely to die during the study period than those who consumed such foods less than once a week.
Could Too Many Refined Carbs Make You Depressed?
By Alan Mozes, HealthDay
Study found postmenopausal women who ate more processed foods faced higher risk of mood disorder
Aug. 7, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Refined carbohydrates — such as those found in white bread, white rice and sodas — may harm more than the waistlines of older women. New research shows that eating too much of these highly processed foods might also raise their risk of depression.
Luckily, the opposite also appears to be true: The analysis also found that those who ate lots of whole grains, vegetables, fruits and dietary fiber appeared to see their risk for depression drop.
Skipping Breakfast Bad Idea for Type 2 Diabetics
By Serena Gordon, HealthDay
Missing morning meal could raise blood sugar levels the rest of the day, study says
Aug. 7, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Running out the door without eating breakfast isn’t a good idea for anyone, but new research suggests that for people with type 2 diabetes, skipping the morning meal may wreak havoc on blood sugar levels for the rest of the day.
In a small clinical trial, researchers found that when people with diabetes skipped breakfast, their lunchtime blood sugar levels were 37 percent higher than on a day they ate breakfast. And blood sugar levels were still higher at dinnertime on the day the study volunteers skipped breakfast — 27 percent higher, the study said.
How ‘Bad’ Fat Can Turn Into ‘Good’ Fat
By Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Intense stress, like severe burns, triggered the switch, but drugs might be able to mimic the effect
Aug. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Unhealthy white fat can be transformed into calorie-burning brown fat, researchers report.
Finding a way to burn calories without having to increase physical activity levels could prove crucial in fighting obesity and the health problems it causes, according to researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Previous studies have shown that when brown fat is “switched on” in people, it increases metabolism and lowers blood sugar levels.
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