Study: Common HIV Drug May Boost Suicide Risk

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A medication commonly used to treat HIV appears to double the risk that patients will develop suicidal thoughts or take their lives, new research contends.

The finding concerns the anti-HIV drug efavirenz, which is marketed as Sustiva.

Prior investigations indicated that efavirenz might boost suicide risk because of a negative impact on the central nervous system. The new investigation is the first to pinpoint a link to suicidal thoughts, attempts and completion, the researchers said.

"Efavirenz is a very important and effective antiretroviral medication that is the foundation for much of HIV therapy worldwide," said study co-author Dr. Joseph Eron, of the University of North Carolina Center for AIDS Research at Chapel Hill.

"Our study demonstrated a clear association between efavirenz and suicidality," he said.

Although that risk seems very small, he said, it appears to be persistent, lasting as long as patients take the drug. Antiretroviral treatment typically is lifelong, helping people with the AIDS-causing virus live healthier lives.

"Clinicians should be aware of this ongoing risk, and talk to their patients to assess suicidality," Eron added. That means looking for any history of depression or suicidal thoughts or attempts, the study noted.

For the study, published in the July issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers analyzed data from four previous antiretroviral investigations conducted between 2001 and 2010.

Nearly three-quarters of study participants were men, with an average age of 37. Roughly one-third had a history of psychiatric problems or had been treated with some form of psychiatric medication in the month before joining one of the studies.

Taken together, more than 3,200 HIV patients had been receiving treatment that included efavirenz, while nearly 2,100 were taking antiretroviral combinations that didn't include the drug.

Patients were tracked for a little less than two years on average.

The research team concluded that the risk for suicide among the efavirenz group was roughly twice that of the non-efavirenz group.

Suicide risk was observed for 62 patients, 47 of whom were taking efavirenz, the study authors reported.

Of nine recorded suicides, eight were in the efavirenz group, the investigators found. But the researchers didn't prove that efavirenz causes suicidal behavior, they only found an association between the two.

Based on the findings, Eron and his colleagues said patients and physicians would be well-advised to consider the increase in suicide risk when deciding whether or not to begin or continue a treatment containing efavirenz.

"In settings where alternative therapies are not available, the benefits of efavirenz-based therapy with management of depression will usually outweigh the risks of no treatment, especially for people with low CD4 cell counts," he said. Declining CD4 cell counts indicate the immune system is weakening.

However, "good alternatives to efavirenz exist for patients who may need to start, or to switch to, another therapy," Eron added.

Dr. Jeffrey Laurence, senior scientific consultant for programs at the AIDS research advocacy organization amfAR in New York City, agreed.

"This is certainly a very powerful HIV drug, and it's been the backbone of a one-pill-a-day treatment, which is very popular, particularly among newly diagnosed patients," Laurence said.

"But since it was first approved it's been known that it provokes all sorts of psychiatric manifestations, particularly nightmares," he added.

Other effective treatments for the AIDS-causing virus exist, including pills that can be taken in a similar one-a-day fashion, he said.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1k7NI07

HIV Prevention Drug Truvada Might Lower Genital Herpes Risk, Too

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A combination drug used to treat and prevent HIV -- Truvada -- may have an additional benefit: lowering the risk of a genital herpes infection, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that African heterosexuals who were at risk of getting HIV from their partners were about 30 percent less likely to get infected with genital herpes if they took the drug tenofovir alone or with emtricitabine. Truvada is made from the combination of these two drugs.

The study isn't likely to lead physicians to use tenofovir -- alone or in combination with emtricitabine -- solely to prevent herpes, one infectious-disease specialist said.

"No one is going to use tenofovir specifically to reduce herpes. There are some side effects and the drug is not cheap. It will only be used as prevention for HIV -- not herpes -- for high-risk people," said Dr. Myron Cohen, associate vice chancellor for Global Health at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, who's familiar with the new research.

Still, "it is beneficial that oral tenofovir can reduce the risk of acquiring genital herpes as well as HIV," said study lead author Dr. Connie Celum, director of the International Clinical Research Center at the University of Washington, especially considering that genital herpes boosts the risk of HIV infection.

Previous research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has suggested that the use of Truvada, along with other preventive measures such as consistent condom use, can cut the risk of HIV transmission by as much as 90 percent.

The current study is part of research initially launched to gain a greater understanding of how tenofovir can be used to prevent HIV infection. HIV and herpes infections often occur together. And previous research suggested that a vaginal gel made with tenofovir could cut the risk of genital herpes by about 50 percent, according to background information in the new study.

That led the researchers to wonder if oral tenofovir alone or as part of Truvada could help prevent herpes infections, too.

The type of herpes the researchers looked for in this study was herpes simplex 2 (HSV). This type of herpes is a common cause of genital herpes, according to the CDC. Herpes simplex 1 is another type of herpes, and it commonly causes cold sores, according to the CDC.

The new study tracked almost 1,500 adults who randomly received tenofovir, tenofovir with the AIDS drug emtricitabine (Truvada), or a placebo. None of the study participants had HIV or herpes simplex 2 when the study began. Researchers monitored the participants from the initial enrollment period of 2008 to 2010, until 2011.

The risk of getting herpes simplex 2 was reduced by 24 percent for those taking tenofovir alone, and by 36 percent for those taking the Truvada combination, compared to those taking placebo.

Those results aren't strong enough to warrant the use of tenofovir alone or in combination solely for herpes prevention, according to Cohen. He added that tenofovir "is not designed to reduce herpes acquisition."

So why does it matter if tenofovir prevents genital herpes? Because it's a very common infection and can pave the way for other medical problems.

"About 20 percent of adults in the U.S. have genital herpes infection, and about 50 percent of adults in Africa," study lead author Celum said. "Previous studies have indicated that genital herpes increases the risk of becoming HIV-infected by about two-fold."

The cost of the tenofovir combination drug is about $100 a year in Africa and $1,000 per month in the United States, she said.

The next step for research is to determine if tenofovir can provide protection against HIV and herpes when administered through vaginal and rectal gel and in a vaginal ring, she said. Researchers also want to know if the drug can prevent people with HIV from getting herpes.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1k7NHJs

Most Women Don't Need Regular Pelvic Exams, New Guidelines State

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The annual pelvic exam has long been a routine part of women's health care, but new guidelines say there's no good reason for it.

The recommendations, laid out by the American College of Physicians (ACP), advise against pelvic exams for women who aren't pregnant and have no symptoms of a potential problem.

The reason? There's no good evidence the screening exams benefit women, the ACP said.

"I think a lot of women will be relieved by this [recommendation], especially since it's based on scientific evidence," said Dr. Linda Humphrey, a member of the ACP's Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee, which devised the new advice after reviewing 32 studies on the benefits and harms of routine pelvic exams.

Humphrey stressed that the new guidelines apply only to pelvic exams, and that women should continue to have cervical cancer screenings.

For decades, American women have routinely had a yearly pelvic exam. The aim, doctors have said, is to spot cancers of the pelvic organs, infections, and abnormalities such as ovarian cysts or uterine fibroids.

But the ACP team found that no studies have actually tested the accuracy of pelvic exams in screening for most of those conditions.

The researchers did find three studies focused on screening for ovarian cancer in average-risk women. And there was no evidence of a benefit. One study did, however, find that 1.5 percent of women screened ended up having unnecessary surgery.

A larger number of studies tried to weed out the potential harms of routine pelvic exams.

Across eight surveys, anywhere from 11 percent to 60 percent of women called pelvic exams painful or uncomfortable. And in seven studies, 10 percent to 80 percent of women cited fear, anxiety or embarrassment.

One concern, Humphrey said, is that some women will skip their annual "well-woman" visit altogether, just to avoid the pelvic exam.

So how did pelvic exams become so routine in the absence of evidence? "In medicine, a lot of things have been done because we think they might help," Humphrey said.

"The reasoning behind why clinicians are doing it has never been very clear," said Dr. George Sawaya, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

Instead, the pelvic exam is more like a "ritual" than an evidence-based practice, said Sawaya, who cowrote an editorial published with the new guidelines in the July 1 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The reason women have the exam yearly is because it has been traditionally coupled with Pap testing for cervical cancer, Sawaya noted. However, experts no longer recommend annual Pap tests, and instead say women at average risk of cervical cancer can have them every three years, starting at age 21.

Humphrey added that if women want to be screened for a sexually transmitted disease, like gonorrhea or chlamydia, that can be done with a urine test or vaginal swab instead of a pelvic exam.

The ACP represents U.S. internists, but many women get their pelvic exams from gynecologists -- who have their own professional guidelines, last updated in 2012.

Those guidelines, from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), are much less direct: On one hand, ACOG says all women age 21 and older should have an annual pelvic exam. But the guidelines go on to acknowledge that "no evidence supports or refutes" the annual screening exam -- and that the decision is ultimately up to women and their doctors.

A spokesperson for ACOG said the group did not want to make a "blanket statement" against an exam that might benefit "a lot of women." And in a written statement, ACOG said its guidelines "complement" the new ones from the ACP.

According to Sawaya, the ACP research review does leave questions open. For one, none of the studies looked at the accuracy of pelvic exams in screening for noncancerous growths.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1k7NHcl

Childhood Malnutrition Linked to High Blood Pressure Later in Life: Study

By Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Young children who are severely malnourished may be at greater risk for having high blood pressure later in life, new research suggests.

Poor nutrition starting before birth to the age of 5 may affect the development of the heart, the study authors reported.

"If nutritional needs are not met during this time, when structures of the body are highly susceptible to potentially irreversible change, it could have long-term consequences on heart anatomy and blood flow later in life," study senior author Terrence Forrester, UWI Solutions for Developing Countries at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, said in an American Heart Association news release.

"We are concerned that millions of people globally who suffer malnutrition before or after birth are at increased risk of hypertension in later life," Forrester said.

However, it's important to note that while this study showed an association between malnourishment in childhood and a higher blood pressure as an adult, it didn't prove that too little food in childhood was the cause of the higher blood pressure.

The researchers examined 116 adults who were malnourished as children growing up in Jamaica. Specifically, they assessed their height, weight and blood pressure. The researchers also performed echocardiograms or imaging tests to evaluate their heart function.

The researchers compared the results with information compiled on 45 men and women who were not malnourished as children. All of the adults in the study were between ages 20 and 39 years.

The study revealed the adults who had not been adequately nourished as children were at greater risk for high blood pressure. Those who grew up without enough food had higher diastolic blood pressure -- that's the bottom number in a blood pressure reading.

Adults who were malnourished as children also had greater resistance to blood flow in smaller blood vessels. And, their hearts pumped less efficiently.

The researchers warned that high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Although childhood hunger is most prevalent in developing countries, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that 8.3 million children lived in homes where there may not have been enough food to meet their needs in 2012.

The study was published online June 30 in the journal Hypertension.

More information

The World Health Organization provides more information on childhood nutrition.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/V4noym

Many U.S. Vets Suffer Chronic Pain, Take Narcotic Painkillers: Study

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly half of U.S. soldiers returning home are caught in the grip of chronic pain, with a substantial number of them relying on addictive narcotic painkillers to help them cope, a new study finds.

About 44 percent of the members of an Army infantry brigade reported chronic pain even three months after returning from their tour of duty in Afghanistan or Iraq, nearly double the estimate for the civilian population. Civilian chronic pain rates are about 26 percent.

Soldiers also are nearly four times more likely than civilians to use prescription narcotics to treat their pain, according to the report published online June 30 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. About 15 percent of soldiers in the brigade reported using narcotic painkillers within the last month, compared to 4 percent of civilians.

"War is really hard on the body," said study author Lt. Cmdr. Robin Toblin, a clinical research psychologist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md. "People come home with a lot of injuries, and as you can imagine they experience a lot of pain. There seems to be a large unmet need of management, treatment and assessment of chronic pain."

Combat injuries appear to be the main cause of chronic pain among returning soldiers. The study defined chronic pain as pain lasting 90 days or more. Those who have endured a combat injury are nearly three times more likely to report chronic pain and twice as likely to take narcotic painkillers, the researchers reported.

Soldiers also were twice as likely to report chronic pain if they suffer from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Toblin and her colleagues collected their data in 2011, using confidential surveys filled out by almost 2,600 soldiers in the same infantry brigade.

Another expert welcomed the study.

"This gives us the first complete snapshot of an entire battalion. It really highlights the extent of the problem the Department of Defense is presented with, in terms of better managing pain," said Dr. Wayne Jonas, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and president and CEO of Samueli Institute, a non-profit health research organization.

Among the soldiers reporting chronic pain, 48 percent said their pain had lasted a year or longer, and 55 percent said they suffered daily or constant pain.

It's likely that soldiers' chronic pain is undertreated, given that chronic pain is undertreated in the civilian population, said Jonas, who wrote an editorial accompanying Toblin's study.

"In the military, pain is seen as a sign of weakness so many people don't report it," he said. "It's being undertreated, and it's being treated too often using medications that aren't meant to be used on a long-term basis."

Toblin and Jonas were troubled by the heavy use of narcotic painkillers, particularly since 44 percent of the soldiers reporting use of painkillers said they had little to no pain during the previous month.

"This might imply that opioids are working to mitigate pain, but it is also possible that soldiers are receiving or using these medications unnecessarily," the researchers wrote in their report.

Military medical officials struggle to balance the need for pain management against the risks of addiction, Toblin said.

"You want to be able to treat people appropriately for their pain, but you don't want them to become addicted," she said.

Painkillers have become "fast food for pain management," Jonas said. "When you need pain relief, you can throw something at it, but it's not necessarily good for you to use them all the time."

Jonas said the defense department has started looking into other techniques for handling pain, such as yoga, tai chi or music therapy.

"You can train people in these things, and they can learn to self-manage their pain, rather than just pop a pill," he said.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/V4nohR

Bad Weather May Dampen Will to Exercise

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Local weather affects Americans' levels of exercise and their risk for obesity, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that adults in counties with hot summers are less physically active and more likely to be obese, especially if the summers are also humid or rainy.

Adults also get less exercise and are more likely to be obese in counties where winters are especially cold, according to the researchers at the University of Texas at Austin.

They said their findings -- published in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health -- help explain why people in certain regions of the United States are more likely to be obese than those in other areas.

Many of the counties where exercise levels are lowest and obesity rates highest are in the Southeast, where summers are hot and wet, and many of the counties with the highest levels of exercise and the lowest obesity rates are in the mountain West, where summers are cool and dry, the researchers noted.

"Living in Texas as I do, the results really resonated for me," study co-author Paul von Hippel, an assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs, said in a university news release.

"Around June or July here, it starts getting hard to think about going outside for a jog -- or even a brisk walk -- after work, which is close to the hottest part of the day. You have to come up with a strategy for staying active in the summer. Are you going to get out in the early morning, which is the coolest part of the day? Are you going to swim? Or are you going to do something indoors, like basketball or ice skating or just walking on a treadmill?"

City planners and developers who want to encourage physical activity need to take local weather into account.

"Some planners are more thoughtful about that than others," von Hippel said. "A great example of thoughtful planning is the hike-and-bike trail along Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Tex. It's shady, it's next to water and it attracts thousands of walkers, runners and bikers on the hottest summer days."

The impact of local weather on obesity remained even after the researchers controlled for other factors, such as urban sprawl, population characteristics, parks, stores and restaurants.

"In a sense, the importance of weather is obvious, but we looked at some other 'obvious' things, and they didn't pan out," von Hippel said.

"For example, going in we knew that Coloradans were exceptionally thin and active, so we expected to find that hills and mountains encourage physical activity. But it turns out that terrain matters very little for activity or obesity. In some mountainous areas, like Colorado, people are very active, but in others, such as West Virginia, they aren't."

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about physical activity.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1jDDX9S

Nursing Home Care May Be Out of Reach for Many Aging 'Boomers': Study

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- With higher rates of illness but fewer adult children to care for them, many of America's baby boom generation may find themselves unable to pay for the nursing home care they need, a new study warns.

Already, a growing number of older Americans are developing chronic diseases but can't cover the costs of long-term care in a nursing facility, the U.S. National Institute on Aging-funded report says.

The statistics represent "an approaching crisis in caregiving," Richard Suzman, director of the NIA's Division of Behavioral and Social Research, said in an agency news release.

"Baby boomers had far fewer children than their parents. Combined with higher divorce rates and disrupted family structures, this will result in fewer family members to provide long-term care in the future," Suzman explained. "This will become more serious as people live longer with conditions such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's."

The analysis of national data revealed that chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease and diabetes rose among older Americans between 1998 and 2008.

By 2008, 41 percent of older adults had three or more chronic conditions, 51 percent had one or two, and only 8 percent had none, according to the NIA-funded Census Bureau study.

While rates of smoking and excessive drinking have fallen among Americans aged 65 and older, the percentage of overweight and obese seniors has risen, the report notes. Between 2003 and 2006, 72 percent of older men and 67 percent of older women were overweight or obese.

Obesity boosts the risk of diabetes, arthritis, mobility problems and even death, according to the report.

The NIA investigation also looked at the costs of nursing home care and older Americans' ability to pay for it. In 2010, the average cost of a private room in a nursing home was $229 a day -- or almost $84,000 per year.

However, the NIA team calculated that less than one-fifth of seniors can afford to live in a nursing home for more than three years, and nearly two-thirds can't afford even one year.

Medicare covers short-term nursing home care for older and disabled patients after they've been hospitalized, and Medicaid covers long-term nursing home care for low-income seniors who qualify. In 2006, Medicaid paid for 43 percent of long-term nursing home care.

This all means that "most of the long-term care provided to older people today comes from unpaid family members and friends," Suzman said.

There are currently more than 40 million Americans who are 65 and older, and that number is expected to grow to 83.7 million (one-fifth of the U.S. population) by 2050, according to the study.

"We hope this report will serve as a useful resource to policymakers, researchers, educators, students and the public at large," Enrique Lamas, the Census Bureau's associate director for demographic programs, said in the news release.

More information

There's more on healthy aging at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1r7qFds

Inhaled Medication Afrezza Approved to Treat Diabetes

By Scott Roberts, HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- An inhaled medication, Afrezza (human insulin), has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat adults with diabetes. The rapid-acting, inhaled insulin is designed to be used within 20 minutes of beginning a meal, the agency said.

Diabetes affects an estimated 25.8 million people in the United States, including 7 million who haven't been diagnosed, the FDA said in a news release. Serious complications could include heart disease, blindness and damage to the nerves and kidneys.

Afrezza's safety and effectiveness were evaluated in clinical studies involving more than 3,000 people, of whom about two-thirds had type 2 diabetes and the rest had type 1 diabetes.

The drug is not meant to replace long-acting insulin, and must be used in combination with long-acting insulin in people with type 1 disease, the FDA said. It should not be used to treat diabetic ketoacidosis or by smokers, the agency added.

Afrezza has a boxed label warning that users with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could develop a respiratory condition called acute bronchospasm. The drug, therefore, shouldn't be used by people with COPD or other forms of chronic lung disease such as asthma, the FDA said.

The most common side effects of the drug are hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), cough and throat pain or irritation.

The FDA said it ordered several post-approval studies to evaluate the drug's use among children and the potential risk of developing lung cancer.

Afrezza is manufactured by MannKind Corp., based in Danbury, Conn.

More information

To learn more about this approval, visit the FDA.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1r7qEGk

Sperm Donor Age May Not Affect Infertility Treatment Success: Study

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A sperm donor's age doesn't affect the chances of a live birth resulting from fertility treatments using donor sperm, a new study says.

There is emerging evidence that sperm quality declines as men age. However, the new study's findings support previous research showing that a couple's chances of having children are much more dependent on the age of the female than of the male, researchers said.

The results also show that the quality of donor sperm -- rather than the donor's age -- is the important factor in the success of fertility treatments, the study authors said.

"It's sperm quality rather than male age that matters," said principal investigator Dr. Meenakshi Choudhary, from the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.

The researchers analyzed more than 39,000 first fertility treatment cycles with donated sperm that were performed in the United Kingdom between 1991 and 2012. The treatment included either in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or donor insemination.

The live birth rate from IVF was about 29 percent among women ages 18 to 34 and about 14 percent among women over age 37. However, there was no link between the live birth rates in these two age groups and the age of the sperm donors.

Similar findings were made for donor insemination, according to the study that's to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, in Munich, Germany. Research presented at meetings are generally considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"Our results suggest that, up to the age of 45, there is little effect of male age on treatment outcome, but sperm donors are a selected population based on good sperm quality," Choudhary said in a society news release.

"Our study shows that we are good at selecting the right sperm donors with the right sperm quality -- and that's why we found no difference in live birth rate despite the increasing age of sperm donors. This confirms the view that a man's age doesn't matter in achieving a live birth provided his sperm quality is good," she said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Human Health and Child Development has more about infertility treatments.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1z2A1cP

'Sexting' Linked to Sex in Middle School

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Middle school students who send sexually explicit text messages and photos to one another are more likely to have sex than those who don't "sext," a new study finds.

A survey of young teens in Los Angeles found that 40 percent who'd sent explicit messages or photos said they'd been sexually active compared to just 5 percent of other kids with cellphones that could display text messages.

"The surprise is that for younger kids -- 11- to 13-year-olds -- sexting is not an alternative to real-life sexual activity. It's actually a part of it," said study author Eric Rice, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

"Also, kids who reported 100 or more text messages per day were much more likely to report sexting, so being an excessive texter may be an indication of risky behaviors," Rice added.

"Sexting" refers to sexually explicit messages sent via computer or cellphone -- in this case with or without images. Some sexts may just be explicitly flirtatious, while others include nudity.

Experts disagree about the level of risk posed by "sexting," and there's no definitive proof that the electronic messages are a gateway to early sexual activity.

"Sexting isn't harmful unto itself, but it can have harmful implications," Rice said. "It can ruin reputations and cause legal problems and may encourage kids to be more sexually active."

For the study, researchers surveyed more than 1,300 students aged 10 to 15 in the Los Angeles school district in 2012. Among those who answered questions about their ethnicity and sexuality, 60 percent were Latino and 96 percent were heterosexual.

The researchers adjusted their statistics so they'd better reflect the ethnic makeup of the school district.

More than two-thirds of the students owned their own cellphone. Three-fourths had access to a cell phone that could display text messages, according to the study, published online June 30 and in the July print issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Only a minority of kids with access to texting admitted to sexting. Twenty percent said they'd received a sexually explicit message or photo, and 5 percent said they'd sent one.

But young teens who received sexts were six times more likely to report having had sex, defined as either oral, vaginal or anal intercourse, according to the study.

Those who sent sexts were about four times more likely to report sexual activity.

The study has caveats, however. For one thing, self-reported information may be biased. "Sexual behavior is notoriously difficult to measure because you're relying on people reporting about themselves," said Amy Hasinoff, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Denver, who studies sexting.

Hasinoff cautions parents not to worry excessively about kids who spend a lot of time texting. "I don't know that texting a lot is a particular problem," she said.

"We need to think of cellphones as a way that kids communicate. You'd never say kids are talking to their classmate too much at recess, or that they used 1,000 words at recess, and that's excessive," she added.

What should parents do?

"Start talking to your kids about sexting early. If you suspect that your child is sexting, be aware that he or she is probably also sexually active," study author Rice said.

"Remember that teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases can be prevented, but teens need to be educated in thoughtful ways by parents, teachers and pediatricians," Rice added.

The study says parents may wish to "openly monitor" their kids' cellphones. But Hasinoff said "that sends the exact wrong message."

Parents should talk about the importance of privacy and serve as role models, she said. "We want to be teaching kids to respect the privacy of other kids and develop the sense that privacy really matters," she explained.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1nWHnpr

Health Tip: Washing Food

Health Tip: Healing After Baby is Born

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

from http://ift.tt/1iI5r3f

A look at how West Africa is combating Ebola

By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — The Ebola outbreak in three West African countries is already the deadliest to date with 635 cases and 367 fatalities, and is expected to be the longest on record, as some of the poorest countries in the world scramble to confront the fatal disease.

The World Health Organization says there is an "urgent need" to coordinate the response across the borders and is convening a meeting in Accra, Ghana on July 1 with the three countries involved as well as other nations that experienced outbreaks in the past.

There is no cure for the deadly disease caused by the Ebola virus which has an incubation period of two to 21 days and starts with fever and fatigue before descending into headaches, vomiting, violent diarrhea and then multiple organ failure and massive internal bleeding.

Ebola was first reported in 1976 in Congo and is named for the river where it was recognized. The virus can be transmitted through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person, or objects that have been contaminated with infected secretions. The American Center for Disease Control says the disease most likely reaches humans from infected wildlife, with fruit bats being the most likely candidate.

Ebola kills more than half of its victims and treatment largely consists of keeping the patient hydrated as the disease runs its course.

Combating Ebola is a matter of stopping its spread by educating people on how to protect themselves and isolating the sick and dead — since corpses are still contagious — and figuring out who the infected had contact with in order to isolate them as well.

___

GUINEA

The first case of the outbreak was identified in Guinea on March 21 and since then there have been a total of 396 cases with 280 fatalities as it has spread beyond the remote rural areas to the capital city of Conakry. Experts say the outbreak may have begun as far back as January. Ebola typically begins in remote places and it can take several infections before the disease is identified, making a precise start date virtually impossible to pin down.

Education has been the main strategy of fighting the spread and Guinea has used radio and television spots telling people how to stay safe from the disease and urging them to immediately go to hospitals if they are sick.

One of the main goals is to explain to people how to deal with the dead: Washing the corpse of a victim before burial, as is customary, can transmit the disease.

Volunteers, including survivors of the disease have been recruited in the campaign to educate people, which is also targeting community and religious leaders.

With the help of Doctors without Borders, treatment centers have been set up in the outbreak areas and the World Health Organization has worked to boost the capacity of the labs needed to confirm the virus's presence.

___

LIBERIA

Soon after the outbreak was identified in Guinea, it appeared just across the border in neighboring Liberia on March 30, though since then this small nation has been the least hit with just 63 cases and 41 fatalities.

The Health Ministry has set up treatment centers and started a public service campaign to slow the spread of the disease, including training health professionals to use protective clothing while forbidding hospitals to turn away patients with Ebola symptoms.

They also have forbidden possible victims to be buried without being first tested and issued a death certificate to ensure that there is proper reporting of who has been affected by the disease and who they have been in contact with.

___

SIERRA LEONE

Ebola was identified in Sierra Leone in late May just as it had been hoped the outbreak in Guinea and Liberia was winding down. It has since spread to at least two districts with 176 cases claiming at least 46 lives.

Like the other countries, Sierra Leone formed a national task force with daily meetings and set up treatment centers in the affected areas.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1wVfp4h

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

from http://ift.tt/1n1l47w

Prepare for Summer Sports to Avoid Injury

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

SATURDAY, June 28, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Cold-weather couch potatoes beware: You could be at risk for injuries if you don't properly prepare and ease into such summer activities as golf, tennis and running, an expert says.

"It's important to warm up, stretch and ease into exercise to prevent sports injuries," Dr. Barry Root, chairman of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Glen Cove Hospital in Glen Cove, N.Y., said in a hospital news release.

Sprains, strains, twists, and muscle and tendon tears and pulls are among the most common types of injuries.

Root offered the following sports injury prevention tips:

• Warm up properly. For example, swing a golf club a few times to warm up hips or shoot some baskets to loosen up muscles and joints.


• Stretch before running, golfing or cycling.


• Try to do different types of activities to use different muscle groups.


• Wear the appropriate footwear and clothing for the sport.

"People who take part in regular activities can develop overuse injuries, when they push their bodies past the limit; these conditions accumulate over time and the body is signaling to take it easy," Root said.

"If you have a more significant injury, such as a torn ligament in your knee, you'll have to immediately stop what you're doing on the tennis or basketball court and seek medical help," he advised.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about sports safety.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1q0zbJo

FDA Approves Inhaled Diabetes Medication

By E.J. Mundell, HealthDay Reporter

SATURDAY, June 28, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- People with type 1 or 2 diabetes now have a new means of getting their medication, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval on Friday of the first inhaled medicine for the blood sugar disease.

The drug, Afrezza, "is a new treatment option for patients with diabetes requiring mealtime insulin," Dr. Jean-Marc Guettier, director of the Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an agency news release on Friday.

He said that Afrezza's approval "broadens the options available for delivering mealtime insulin in the overall management of patients with diabetes who require it to control blood sugar levels."

Diabetes falls into two main categories: type 1, an autoimmune illness which is often inherited and involves a dysfunction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas; and type 2, which develops over time and is tied closely to obesity. Between 90 percent and 95 percent of diabetes cases are of the type 2 variety, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The FDA estimates that almost 26 million Americans -- about 8.3 percent of the population -- now live with diabetes, which can lead to dangerous complications such as heart disease, vision loss and nerve and kidney problems. Many patients must take injected insulin daily to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

Afrezza's approval came after a study involving more than 3,000 people -- approximately 1,000 with type 1 diabetes and nearly 2,000 with the type 2 form of the illness.

For people with type 1 disease, researchers compared the effectiveness of Afrezza in adult patients against that of fast-acting insulin (aspart), used in both cases alongside basal insulin (long-acting insulin). Over 6 months, the combo of long-acting insulin and Afrezza met required treatment effectiveness in terms of blood sugar control, the FDA said.

For patients with type 2 diabetes, researchers combined Afrezza with standard diabetes pills and compared the use of the inhaled drug at mealtimes against the use of standard medications plus a placebo. At six months, the Afrezza-plus-standard medications combination produced better results overall, the FDA said.

The agency stressed that Afrezza should never substitute for long-acting insulin, and patients with type 1 diabetes must use the drug in combination with long-acting insulin. Smokers should avoid Afrezza, as well, the agency said, and the drug is not to be used in the treatment of a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis.

People with certain lung conditions should also not use Afrezza, due to a dangerous complication called acute bronchospasm. For this reason, the FDA has ordered a warning be placed on the product's labeling to caution people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from using the drug. The FDA is also advising that people with asthma avoid Afrezza for the same reason.

According to the agency, the most common side effects from Afrezza were hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), cough, and throat pain or irritation.

The FDA is also ordering that "post-marketing studies" be conducted to track the safety and effectiveness of Afrezza in children, and to see if there is any connection between the use of Afrezza and any lung cancers.

Afrezza is manufactured by MannKind Corporation of Danbury, Conn.

More information

For more on type 1 and type 2 diabetes, head to the American Diabetes Association.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1vhadF8

Dance Those Cares Away!

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Dancing can reduce seniors' knee and hip pain and also improve their walking, a new, small study finds.

The research involved 34 seniors, average age 80, who all had pain or stiffness in their knees or hips as a result mainly of arthritis. The participants -- mostly women -- were assigned to a group that danced for 45 minutes up to two times a week for 12 weeks or to a control group that did not dance.

By the end of the 12 weeks, those who danced had less pain in their knees and hips and were able to walk faster, said Jean Krampe, an assistant professor of nursing at Saint Louis University and lead author of the study.

The use of pain medicines fell by 39 percent among seniors in the dance group but rose 21 percent among those who did not dance, she noted.

The findings about walking speed are important, she added, because seniors who walk too slowly are more likely to fall, be hospitalized or require care from others.

"Doctors and nurses recognize gait speed as the sixth vital sign that can help us predict adverse outcomes for older adults," Krampe said in a university news release.

"Walking just a little more rapidly can make enough of a difference for a person to get across the street more quickly or get to the bathroom faster, which keeps them functional and independent. In our study, those who danced didn't walk dramatically faster, but they had a meaningful change in their walking speed," she added.

The study was published recently in the journal Geriatric Nursing.

"Dance-based therapy for older adults needs to be gentle, slow and include options so it can be performed standing or sitting, because their fatigue or pain level can change day to day," Krampe explained.

More information

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has more about seniors and exercise.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1qRBmRg

Chimpanzees Show Strong Musical Preferences

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Like humans, chimpanzees appear to have strong musical preferences, researchers report.

Chimpanzees seem to like the rhythm of music from Africa and India, but they try to avoid Japanese music.

The findings may help improve understanding of how people's musical preferences evolved, according to the authors of the study in the June 23 online issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition.

"Our objective was not to find a preference for different cultures' music. We used cultural music from Africa, India and Japan to pinpoint specific acoustic properties," study co-author Frans de Waal, of Emory University, said in a journal news release.

"Past research has focused only on Western music and has not addressed the very different acoustic features of non-Western music. While nonhuman primates have previously indicated a preference among music choices, they have consistently chosen silence over the types of music previously tested," said de Waal.

The researchers played African, Indian and Japanese music to chimps in large outdoor enclosures. When the African and Indian music was playing, the chimps spent much more time in areas where they could best hear the music.

When the Japanese music was played, the chimps spent more time in locations where it was difficult or nearly impossible to hear the music.

The Japanese music had regular strong beats, which is also typical of Western music. Previous research has shown that chimps prefer silence to Western music. The African and Indian music played in the study had extreme ratios of strong to weak beats.

"Chimpanzees may perceive the strong, predictable rhythmic patterns as threatening, as chimpanzee dominance displays commonly incorporate repeated rhythmic sounds such as stomping, clapping and banging objects," de Waal said.

The findings offer "compelling evidence that our shared evolutionary histories may include favoring sounds outside of both humans' and chimpanzees' immediate survival cues," study author Morgan Mingle, of Emory and Southwestern University in Austin, said in the news release.

"Our study highlights the importance of sampling across the gamut of human music to potentially identify features that could have a shared evolutionary root," Mingle noted.

More information

The University of Washington has more about music and the brain.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1nQlnwk

Winning Attitude on the Field Translates to Career Success

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Adults who were elite high school athletes tend to win competitions for top jobs, according to a new study.

The researchers found that people who played a varsity high school sport are viewed as having more self-confidence and leadership skills than those who took part in other high school activities.

Former varsity athletes were also much more likely to be involved in volunteerism and charitable activities, according to the study published online in the Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies.

"Participation in competitive youth sports 'spills over' to occupationally advantageous traits that persist across a person's life," lead researcher Kevin Kniffin, a postdoctoral research associate at Cornell University's Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, said in a university news release.

"In our study of late-career workers, those who earned a varsity letter more than 50 years ago do demonstrate these characteristics more than others -- plus, they donate time and money more frequently than others and possessed great prosocial behavior in their 70s, 80s and 90s," Kniffin said.

More information

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers sports safety tips for young athletes.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1m5u4aL

Nearsightedness Linked to More Schooling

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Higher levels of education are associated with a greater risk for nearsightedness, according to new research.

People who are nearsighted have trouble seeing things in the distance.

The researchers said this is the first population-based study to suggest that environmental factors may be more important than genetics in the development of nearsightedness, formally known as myopia.

For the study, the researchers looked at more than 4,600 Germans, ages 35 to 74, and found that 24 percent of those who had not completed high school were nearsighted, compared with 35 percent of high school and vocational school graduates, and 53 percent of college graduates.

The researchers at the University Medical Center in Mainz, Germany, also found that people who spent more years in school had worse nearsightedness, with the severity increasing for each year of schooling.

The investigators also assessed the effect of genetics on nearsightedness, but concluded that it had much less impact on the severity of nearsightedness than education level, according to the study published online June 26 in the journal Ophthalmology.

The findings suggest, but don't prove, a link between nearsightedness and level of education.

The findings also suggest that one way to reverse rising rates of nearsightedness worldwide could be to encourage young people to go outside more often, the researchers said. They noted that research involving children and young adults in Asia and Denmark showed that more time outdoors is associated with less nearsightedness.

"Since students appear to be at a higher risk of nearsightedness, it makes sense to encourage them to spend more time outdoors as a precaution," study lead author Dr. Alireza Mirshahi said in a journal news release.

Nearsightedness affects about 42 percent of Americans, while the rate is up to 80 percent in developed Asian nations, according to the news release.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about nearsightedness.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1m5u0I5

Season's Change Can Bring on Cluster Headaches

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly 1 million Americans face the threat of cluster headaches since summer officially arrived, an expert says.

That's because people's biological rhythms are linked with the Earth's rotation, according to Dr. Brian Grosberg, director of the Montefiore Headache Center in New York City.

Cluster headaches occur close together and often on the same day. On average, they last 30 minutes to three hours. About 80 percent of people with cluster headaches experience them for 12 weeks each year, often during seasonal changes.

"Cluster headache, also known as 'suicide headache,' is a neurological disorder characterized by severe pain behind or around one's eye," Grosberg said in a Montefiore news release. "It is one of the most painful conditions a person can experience, even more incapacitating than a migraine."

He offered the following advice for those who get cluster headaches:

• Don't drink alcohol or smoke during cluster headache periods.


• Taking the hormone melatonin can help regulate sleep-wake cycles and correct imbalances in the body that might be linked to the headaches.


• During a cluster headache, some people find relief by breathing 100 percent (pure) oxygen for 10 to 15 minutes.


• Talk to your doctor about prescription medicines that might help relieve the pain.


• It's also a good idea to talk to a headache specialist about different remedies.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about cluster headache.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1qPSV4b

Teens Who Prefer Menthols Are Heavier Smokers: Study

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who use menthol cigarettes are heavier smokers than those who smoke non-menthols, a new study finds.

Researchers analyzed data from a 2010-11 survey of more than 4,700 Canadian high school students who smoked and found that one-third of them smoked menthol cigarettes.

Menthol cigarette users smoked an average of 43 cigarettes a week, compared with 26 per week among those who did not smoke menthol cigarettes, the researchers found.

And teens who smoked menthol cigarettes were nearly three times more likely than other teen smokers to say they intended to continue smoking in the next year.

"The appeal of menthol cigarettes among youth stems from the perception that they are less harmful than regular cigarettes," study author Sunday Azagba, a scientist at the Propel Center for Population Health Impact at the University of Waterloo in Canada, said in a university news release. "The minty taste helps mask the noxious properties, but the reality is that they are just as dangerous as any unflavored cigarette."

The study, published in the June issue of the journal Cancer Causes and Control, only shows an association between menthol cigarettes and heavier smoking, not a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Still, the findings are worrisome, said Azagba.

"There is a growing concern that the high popularity of menthol cigarettes among youth may hinder the recent progress in preventing other young people from smoking because many of them may experiment with menthol rather than unflavored brands," Azagba said.

Nearly one in 10 Canadian students in grades 10 to 12 is a smoker, the researchers said.

Moving forward, Azagba said, it's clear that new laws are needed to ban all added flavors in all tobacco products.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more about menthol cigarettes.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1qPSQxa

For Heat Stroke Victims, Cool First, Then Transport

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- As the hottest months of the year approach, experts are urging coaches and paramedics to change how they treat athletes suffering from heat stroke.

New guidelines released Friday by the National Athletic Trainer's Association (NATA) say heat stroke victims need immediate cooling before they are taken to a hospital.

"We're trying to get people to realize that's how you save people's lives from heat stroke," said Douglas Casa, director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut.

"That's a paradigm shift in medicine. Heat stroke is the only medical condition that you can think of where we're telling people to treat the person first on site before you transfer them to the hospital," said Casa, who is also the chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute.

Korey Stringer was an NFL player for the Minnesota Vikings who collapsed and died from heat stroke in 2001 during a preseason practice. His wife donated money she received in a settlement from the NFL to start a foundation aimed at saving others from his fate.

In heat stroke, a person's core body temperature rises above 104 degrees. Their skin feels hot, and their behavior is altered. They may seem agitated, aggressive or confused. They could also experience a headache, nausea or vomiting, according to NATA.

Casa says that if you can get a person's core temperature down within 30 minutes of their collapse, you can save their life. But too often, the wait for an ambulance and ride to the hospital delays this cooling.

He recommends that all high school teams keep an inexpensive Rubbermaid tub filled with ice and water on the sidelines for players who get into trouble during practice. So far, only one state, Arkansas, has mandated use of such immersion tubs. Arkansas' mandate was prompted by recent heat stroke deaths.

Exertional heat stroke is heat stroke that strikes after physical activity, and it typically affects people who labor in the heat like farmworkers and highway crew members. It also strikes athletes going into intense preseason practices who may not be used to sizzling summer temperatures, according to the NATA.

"A lot of the high school sports programs are getting more and more serious. A lot of times they mimic college programs, but a lot of time they don't have the safety precautions in place," Casa said.

And Casa says modern life means many kids spend their summer in the comfort of air conditioning before hitting record hot temperatures for hours at a stretch.

"These are kids who are never outside during the summer time. They're not heat-acclimatized. They live completely and do most of their working out in air-conditioned environments. So when they take the field in August, it's their first warm weather workout in the last 11 months," he said.

In addition to the 'cool first, transport second' rule, the new guidelines urge coaches to start preseason workouts slowly, in minimal gear, allowing for frequent water breaks to reduce the chances of heat emergencies.

And there are some new technologies coming that may one day help athletes beat punishing temperatures, such as special gloves and shirts to help control body temperatures.

Researchers at the University of Connecticut tested the effects of a new hand-cooling gloves. Thirteen healthy males in their 20s walked quickly on a treadmill in full football gear for 90 minutes.

Every 15 minutes or so, some of the volunteers took a break to wear the new hand cooling gloves. The devices, really more like rubber sleeves, have a vacuum pump to help bring blood to the surface of the skin while cold water circulates through the sleeve to cool it. They wore the gloves for three minutes at a stretch. The study was designed to mimic the kind of breaks athletes might get on the playing field.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1jshDQv

Sounds of Summer May Threaten Your Hearing

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Some of the most common sounds of summer -- such as outdoor concerts, fireworks and construction -- can pose a threat to your hearing if you don't take steps to protect yourself, an expert warns.

"Once hearing is damaged, it cannot be repaired," Jyoti Bhayani, a certified audiologist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, Ill., part of Loyola University Health System, said in a Loyola news release.

Ten percent of Americans have hearing loss that affects their ability to understand normal speech. While aging is the most common cause, excessive noise can also damage hearing.

"Hearing loss due to excessive noise is totally preventable, unlike hearing loss due to old age or a medical condition," she added.

Earplugs are recommended for prolonged exposure to noise levels of 85 decibels and above, such as: lawnmowers and shop tools (90 decibels); chainsaws and drills (100 decibels); power saws (110 decibels); loud rock concerts (115 decibels); race cars (130 decibels); and fireworks/jet engine takeoff (150 decibels).

It's a good idea to buy earplugs and keep them in your purse, backpack or briefcase so that you can use them whenever you're exposed to loud and continuous noise. If you don't have earplugs handy, you can use your hands or a scarf to cover your ears, Bhayani said.

Ear buds for listening to music are a major threat to young people's hearing, according to Bhayani.

"Three in five Americans, especially youth, are prone to develop hearing loss due to loud music being delivered via ear buds," she said in the news release. "Hearing aids have yet to become status symbols so young people need to wise up and turn the volume down on their ear buds," she added.

Swimmer's ear is another common problem during the summer.

"Swimmer's ear is caused by painful membrane swelling due to trapped moisture in the outer ear," Bhayani explained. "Multicolor customized plugs for swimming are available and a good investment to avoid painful, or costly, ear infections."

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders has more about preventing noise-induced hearing loss.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1vdAnZa

Grief in Pregnancy May Trigger Obesity in Adulthood

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Unborn children of mothers exposed to severe stress are more likely than others to grow up overweight or obese, even if that stress occurred months before pregnancy, a new Danish study has found.

Children whose biological fathers died while they were in the womb were twice as likely to become obese as adults, because of the stress of bereavement on their mother, the study authors said.

But children also had an increased risk of adult overweight or obesity if their mothers experienced the death of a close relative up to six months prior to their conception.

A mother's response to stress apparently has long-term effects on the child she carries, said study senior author Carsten Obel, an associate professor of public health at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark.

"That maternal stress can influence the development of the fetal stress system seems quite plausible," Obel said. "Cortisol -- the end product of the stress system -- influences the storage of fat, and if this system is programmed to more storage early in life this may very well be a factor in development of obesity."

The researchers based their findings on the medical records of nearly 120,000 Danish men born between 1976 and 1993 and subsequently examined for military service between 2006 and 2011.

To examine the effects of stress, they focused on men born to mothers who lost a close relative just before or during their pregnancy. Close relatives included their partner, another child, a sibling or the mother's parents.

"Our reactions to stress are dependent on personality and other factors, but losing a close relative is believed to be a stressful event to everyone," Obel said.

Young men whose mothers had been bereaved had different degrees of increased risk of overweight and obesity depending on the relationship of the relative to the mother, the researchers found.

Overall, men had a 15 percent higher risk of being overweight if their mothers experienced the death of a close relative in the months prior to conception. They had a 13 percent higher risk of being overweight if a close relative died while they were in the womb.

If the woman had lost her husband, her son had double the risk of becoming overweight or obese in adulthood, the findings showed.

The researchers found no association between adult overweight or obesity and any stress a mother experienced following the birth of her child.

This latest study, published online recently in the journal PLoS ONE, adds to a growing stack of evidence that stress before and during pregnancy can have a long-term impact on the child's health in adulthood, said Dr. Youfa Wang, chair of epidemiology at the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University at Buffalo in New York.

"If mothers are under psychological or physical stress, that may impact the interchange of nutrients and biochemicals between the mother and the fetus," Wang said.

This interplay can affect the development and future function of the baby's organs. "For example, some organs may become more efficient. Later on, when those babies grow up as adults, those physical changes will put them at some risk of certain diseases," he said.

However, it's difficult to say how intense the stress must be to have an effect on a developing fetus, Obel said.

"We do not know if more moderate levels of stress as well as indicators of physiological stress may have a similar effect, but we are currently testing this out," he said.

Also, experts point out that this research doesn't prove that grief during pregnancy predisposes an unborn child to obesity. Many other factors may come into play.

In the meantime, women who are pregnant or attempting pregnancy should do their best to limit stress in their lives, Wang said.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1lvWJ7x

Surgery Doubted as a Migraine Reliever

FRIDAY, June 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Migraine surgery is increasingly touted as a potential "cure" for the debilitating headaches, but researchers say the evidence just isn't there to support those claims.

In an analysis of two studies on migraine trigger "deactivation" surgery, researchers found multiple flaws in the study methods. What's more, they say, the surgery carries risks and high costs not covered by insurance, and doesn't jibe with what's known about the underlying causes of migraine.

"The surgery is, first of all, unproven. Second, permanent side effects are not uncommon," said Dr. Paul Mathew, a neurologist and headache specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Those lingering problems include persistent itching and numbness in areas affected by the surgery -- which is typically offered by plastic surgeons, not headache specialists.

Mathew, who led the research analysis, was scheduled to present his findings this week at the American Headache Society's annual meeting in Los Angeles. Until published in a peer-reviewed journal, the findings should be considered preliminary.

Around 10 percent of the world's population complains of migraines, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Migraines typically cause intense, throbbing pain on one side of the head, along with sensitivity to light and sound, and sometimes nausea and vomiting.

Generally speaking, headache specialists are skeptical of migraine surgery, which also goes by terms such as "nerve decompression" and "trigger point release." The approach was pioneered more than a decade ago by an Ohio plastic surgeon, Dr. Bahman Guyuron, after he found that some patients who had facial "rejuvenation" procedures reported a side effect: relief from migraines.

Since then, plastic surgeons have developed a few approaches to migraine surgery, depending on where they determine the "trigger" to be. The surgeon might remove portions of muscle in the forehead or back of the neck; tissue inside the nose, or a segment of the trigeminal nerve -- one of the nerves running from the brain to the face and mouth.

Increasingly, centers offering migraine surgery are popping up across the United States, with some marketing it as a "cure," Mathew said.

A few small studies reported in plastic surgery journals have found that a majority of patients report pain relief after migraine surgery. But the research contains too many flaws to judge its true effectiveness, Mathew said.

The two studies he analyzed are the largest and most widely cited. One involved 75 patients, with 49 receiving surgery and the rest undergoing "sham" surgery; the other followed 79 patients for five years after surgery.

The success rates appeared high. In the first study, 84 percent of surgery patients reported a 50 percent reduction in their migraines. But so did 58 percent of those who underwent the phony procedure.

More important, Mathew found, it was unclear how patients were selected for surgery, or whether they were using migraine medications before or after the procedure. The studies also measured treatment "success" in ways that aren't standard for headache research.

"It's an invasive procedure that has risks, it's expensive, and it's unproven," said Dr. Audrey Halpern, a headache specialist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "On its face, we should be skeptical."

Plus, the approach does not fit with the biology of migraine, Halpern and Mathew said.

Researchers have found that migraine is a gene-related disorder that involves dysfunction in the brain. People who suffer migraines can have various "triggers" that set off an attack -- such as disrupted sleep, certain foods, or fluctuations in estrogen related to women's menstrual periods. But the underlying issue is "deep in the brain," Mathew said.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1vdAmob

Health Tip: Keep High Schoolers Safe During Sports

Health Tip: Find a Healthy Balance Between Office and Home

More countries adding graphic warnings to smokes

By MARGIE MASON, Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia became the newest country to mandate graphic photo warnings on cigarette packs on Tuesday, joining more than 40 other nations or territories that have adopted similar regulations in recent years. The warnings, which showcase gruesome close-up images ranging from rotting teeth and cancerous lungs to open tracheotomy holes and corpses, are an effort to highlight the risks of health problems related to smoking. Research suggests these images have prompted people to quit, but the World Health Organization estimates nearly 6 million people continue to die globally each year from smoking-related causes. The tobacco industry has fought government efforts to introduce or increase the size of graphic warnings in some countries. Here are a few places where pictorial health warnings have made headlines:

____

INDONESIA:

THE LAW: 40 percent of pack covered by graphic photos.

TIMING: Deadline to be on shelves was June 24.

BACKGROUND: Many tobacco companies missed Tuesday's deadline to comply with the new law requiring all cigarette packs in stores to carry graphic warning photos. Indonesia, a country of around 240 million, has the world's highest rate of male smokers at 67 percent and the second-highest rate overall. Its government is among the few that has yet to sign a World Health Organization treaty on tobacco control.

____

AUSTRALIA:

THE LAW: No cigarette brand logos permitted; graphic health warnings required on 75 percent of front and 90 percent of back.

TIMING: Plain packaging law went into effect in 2012.

BACKGROUND: Australia became the first country in the world to mandate plain cigarette packs with no brand logo or colors permitted. Instead, the packs are solid brown and covered in large graphic warnings. Tobacco companies fought the law, saying it violated intellectual property rights and devalued their trademarks, but the country's highest court upheld it. Figures released this month by the country's Bureau of Statistics found that cigarette consumption fell about 5 percent from March 2013 to the same period this year. The World Trade Organization has agreed to hear complaints filed by several tobacco-growing countries, but other governments have expressed interest in passing similar laws. Smokers make up 17 percent of Australia's population.

____

UNITED STATES:

THE LAW: No graphic pictures on packs.

TIMING: The government stepped away from a legal battle with tobacco companies in March 2013.

BACKGROUND: There are currently no pictorial warnings on cigarette packs in the U.S. After the tobacco industry sued, a Food and Drug Administration order to include the graphic labels was blocked last year by an appeals court, which ruled that the photos violated First Amendment free speech protections. The government opted not to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but will instead develop new warnings. About 18 percent of adult Americans smoke.

____

PHILIPPINES:

THE LAW: Graphic warning legislation approved this month requires 50 percent of bottom of the pack to be covered by graphic warnings.

TIMING: Legislation awaits president's signature.

BACKGROUND: The Philippines is expected to join a handful of other countries that put graphic warnings at the bottom of their packs, meaning they are not visible when displayed on store shelves. Anti-smoking advocates say labels on the bottom of the packs are less effective, and have denounced tobacco industry involvement in the implementation process. Health officials said around 17 million people in the country of 96 million, or 18 percent, smoked in 2012.

____

URUGUAY:

THE LAW: Graphic warnings cover 80 percent of packs.

TIMING: Regulations implemented in 2010.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1wDV9nr

Gluten-Free Diet May Lift the 'Fog' of Celiac Patients, Study Says

THURSDAY, June 26, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The "brain fog" experienced by many celiac disease patients seems to improve as their intestines heal after adopting a gluten-free diet, a small new study suggests.

Australian scientists found that banishing gluten -- a protein found in wheat, barley and rye that causes intestinal inflammation in those with celiac disease -- led to better scores in attention, memory and other brain functions over the course of a year.

Experts cautioned, however, that those without celiac disease who choose to go gluten-free -- a current diet trend -- can't expect clearer thinking to result. While more research is needed, they said, it appears that systemic inflammation common to celiac patients consuming gluten is to blame for subtle thinking problems, not gluten itself.

"Maintaining a gluten-free diet is essential not only for [celiac patients'] physical well-being, but for mental well-being also," said study author Dr. Greg Yelland, an adjunct senior lecturer in gastroenterology at Monash University in Clayton. "Given the extent of anecdotal data, we would have been surprised not to have found evidence of minor cognitive [brain] impairment in untreated celiac disease patients."

The study appears in the July issue of the journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

An inherited autoimmune disorder affecting about one in 133 Americans, celiac disease damages the small intestine and interferes with nutrient absorption when gluten is consumed. An estimated 83 percent of those with the disorder are either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with another problem, according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.

Yelland and his colleagues administered tests measuring memory, visual-spatial ability, attention, information processing and motor function in 11 newly diagnosed celiac patients. Blood tests gauging antibodies to gluten also tracked the condition of participants' small intestines, and medical procedures (endoscopies and biopsies) evaluated celiac-specific damage to the small bowel.

Over 12 months, all participants closely followed a gluten-free diet. As researchers observed improvements in patients' intestinal damage and gluten antibody levels, they also noted statistically significant improvements in tests assessing verbal fluency, attention and motor function.

Yelland noted that the phenomenon of "brain fog" is also reported by chemotherapy patients, pregnant and breast-feeding women, and those with fibromyalgia.

"This study has shown that 'brain fog' does exist in untreated celiac disease," Yelland said. "The mechanism for the cognitive impairments associated with 'brain fog' are as yet unknown . . . [but] it would seem unlikely that it specifically involves the ingestion of gluten, but rather some underlying factor such as systemic inflammation."

Dr. Eamonn Quigley, medical director of Houston Methodist Hospital's Center for Digestive Disorders, called the new research "probably one of the best studies that has looked at impaired cognitive function in celiac disease."

He agreed with Yelland that patients with many health issues use the term to describe "just not being on top of their game."

"My interpretation [of the study results] is that whatever defect in the intestine is allowing this brain fog to develop is being resolved" by not eating gluten-containing foods, said Quigley, who wasn't involved in the research.

Dr. Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, said research on gluten is still "nascent," with scientists only recently beginning to tease out its effects in those with and without celiac disease.

More information

The Celiac Disease Center at the University of Chicago offers more about celiac disease.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1m2Gtfm

Philip Morris Int'l to sell Marlboro HeatSticks

By MICHAEL FELBERBAUM, AP Tobacco Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Philip Morris International Inc. is hoping to capitalize on the growing appetite for alternatives to traditional smokes like e-cigarettes with a new Marlboro-branded product that heats tobacco rather than burning it.

The world's second-biggest tobacco company on Thursday detailed its plans to release the Marlboro HeatSticks in cities in Japan and Italy later this year, with further expansion plans in 2015.

The products represent another run at improving heating technologies that failed when originally introduced in the 1990s.

The short, cigarette-like sticks are heated to maximum of 660 degrees Fahrenheit (350 degrees Celsius) in a hollow pen-like device called iQOS (pronounced EYE-cohs) to create a tobacco-flavored nicotine vapor. Unlike popular e-cigarettes that use liquid nicotine, HeatSticks contain real tobacco, a point the company believes will make them more attractive to cigarette smokers.

It's one of several so-called "reduced-risk" products Philip Morris International plans to test as the industry diversifies beyond traditional cigarettes amid declining demand.

Products like the HeatSticks "represent a potential paradigm shift for the industry, public health and adult smokers," CEO Andre Calantzopoulos said during an investor day presentation Thursday.

The company, based in New York and Switzerland, has spent about $2 billion over more than a decade on development of the products and expects that iQOS would boost its profit by $700 million when sales reach 30 billion units.

The overseas Marlboro maker announced plans in January to invest up to 500 million euros (about $680 million) for two plants in Italy to make the products.

On Tuesday, the company said in addition to its own cigarette alternatives, it purchased U.K.-based e-cigarette maker Nicocigs Ltd. Financial terms were not disclosed.

In the 1990s, the contraptions that heat tobacco rather than burning it didn't pass muster with smokers. Even though the products left no lingering odor and didn't produce ashes, they tasted different than cigarettes and were more difficult to use.

Now, a surging e-cigarette industry has tobacco companies hoping for a resurgence of the technologies that some argue are less harmful than lighting up.

With the health risks associated with traditional cigarettes and changes in societal expectations, it's no wonder many of the world's 1 billion smokers want to quit or try other tobacco alternatives. In the U.S., nearly half of the nation's 42 million adult smokers try to quit each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In more recent years, much of the attention to quitting has steered away from nicotine gum and patches to electronic cigarettes, which many smokers credit with helping them kick the habit.

HeatSticks build on Accord — a product with a clunky pager-like heater in which smaller cigarettes were inserted — that was test-marketed in the late 1990s by Philip Morris USA, which spun off its international business in 2008 and is owned by Richmond, Virginia-based Altria Group Inc.

One of its other products in development resembles Eclipse, a cigarette introduced by competitor R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in the mid-1990s that used a carbon tip that heated tobacco after being lit by a lighter.

"Smokers then considered Eclipse to be a very foreign, very different, very novel concept in smoking, where today, compared to electronic cigarettes, tobacco heating cigarettes are much more familiar," said J. Brice O'Brien, head of consumer marketing for Reynolds.

Reynolds hasn't announced plans to reinvigorate Eclipse, but it is still in limited distribution and one of the top-selling brands in the cafeteria at the company's Winston-Salem, North Carolina, headquarters.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1miPjQl

After Stroke, Spouse May Also Need Care

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 26, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- If your spouse has a stroke, and the two of you disagree about the rate of recovery, your own health might suffer, a new study finds.

The caregiving spouse is at increased risk for emotional distress and depression if the couple has different perceptions of the post-stroke progress, researchers found.

Stroke care needs to switch from focusing only on the patient to regarding the patient and spouse as one unit, suggested Michael McCarthy, a social work researcher at the University of Cincinnati.

"How the spouse is doing matters in the equation," McCarthy said.

"They need as much care, if not more in some ways, as the patient," he added. "We need to bring partners together in the rehabilitation process, to align each person's expectations and perceptions in order to achieve the best outcomes."

His study included 35 couples in which one spouse had suffered a stroke within the past three years. The patients and their spouses were interviewed separately about the stroke survivor's recovery, including their ability to do daily tasks, and their memory and problem-solving skills.

Compared to the stroke survivors, the spouses felt that the recovery was going much slower. This difference was associated with depression in the spouses.

"So if the wife has a stroke and she believes, for example, that she can still drive but her husband doesn't -- the difference in their perception is predictive of the husband's emotional distress," McCarthy said in a university news release.

"We were able to quantify and capture a different kind of worry and stress that caregiving spouses can experience and connect it to their outcomes," he added.

The study was recently published online in the journal Aging & Mental Health.

The degree of difference in how couples view stroke recovery is important in assessing the risk of depression in spouses of stroke survivors, said McCarthy. And if a spouse develops depression, it can "cycle back" onto the stroke survivor, he noted.

Some evidence suggests that wives may be particularly susceptible to worry in such cases, as well as spouses in strong, fulfilling relationships, McCarthy said.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about stroke rehabilitation.

Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from U.S. News - Health http://ift.tt/1pF6Xlg