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Get Daily Leg Therapy Support Hosiery

2011-08-12T02:20:00.000-07:00

Youths take their legs for granted for walking, running, jumping, swimming, and naturally for dancing. Their legs are there to do their specific job and usually it is done quite well. But as we age and have to do sedentary office work, for example, the reduced activity coupled with the height of our body requires that blood has to be pulled back up from resting your legs to your upper torso. This alone should not be a problem, but it is aggravated by being sedentary for hours on and besides other medical conditions that can also affect circulation.

It is well documented in the medical books that the majority of older people have one of several disorders in the blood veins of their legs, which range from minor complaints like a chronically tired feeling in the legs, or the incidence of pains or swollen ankles, and then extending to the more serious conditions like deep vein thrombosis, lymphedemia, blood clots, etc. In most conditions of this sort there can be general relief obtained through wearing graduated-strength compression support hosiery. These therapeutic garments provide needed support to lower the discomfort and promote correct circulation of blood. The type of support hosiery available now has been made to appear much more stylish than in the past, and can even be construed as a fashion statement, even though they are actually acting as a medical device to yield much needed support and therapy.

Certain other situations exist that also can benefit from this kind of support. One of them comes up when taking long trips in a plane or other vehicle where motion is restricted. Another is the case of edema found in late pregnancy. These conditions are not usually chronic but are more transient and often pass given time. If a condition requires that a support stocking is used, the products available can give you the highest degree of compression treatment, if required. Several levels of supporting strengths are available and you may select the type that best fits your case. The different grades and types of support stocking are described in greater detail on the website. The featured ones from Sigvaris use a special two-layer covering process that provides a therapeutic four-way stretch, which makes them far more comfortable to wear than other types, yet without forfeiting a stylish appearance. Click to visit the support hosiery online product guide and to find out how these products can send your legs on a well-deserved holiday, after so many years of faithful service walking, dancing, jumping and running.

http://www.mylasiciliana.com/health-tips/get-daily-leg-therapy-support-hosiery.htm

Sun and Sunbeds at UV Band

2011-08-12T02:14:00.000-07:00

Sun and sunbeds are sweet dreams of people who want a restful holiday. But you must take care of some health risks; especially cancer risks.

Here an article of world health organization:

"The desire to acquire a tan for fashion or cosmetic purposes has led to a large increase in the use of artificial tanning sunbeds in, mostly, developed countries. Use of sunbeds for tanning continues to increase in popularity, especially among young women.

Sunbeds used in solariums, and sun tanning lamps, are artificial tanning devices that claim to offer an effective, quick and harmless alternative to natural sunlight. However, there is growing evidence that the ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted by the lamps used in solariums may damage the skin and increase the risk of developing skin cancer.

Some 132 000 cases of malignant melanoma (the most fatal kind of skin cancer) and over two million cases of other skin cancers occur worldwide each year. One in every three cancers diagnosed worldwide is a skin cancer. Most skin cancers are attributable to over-exposure to natural UV radiation. A fact sheet indicating the adverse health consequences from natural (i.e., sun) UV exposure issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) can be found at the link to the right.

This fact sheet is the complement of the above, providing information on artificial sources of UV. Primary among these artificial sources is sunbeds, and this fact sheet looks at the health consequences of sunbed usage and how they can be managed. Information for this fact sheet comes from WHO sponsored meetings and workshops, recent scientific literature, reviews by WHO Member States and the recommendations of international NGOs"

Heal the world shoes

2011-08-12T02:10:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of mail about heal the world shoes. Our web blog isn't related with heel the world. That company has own microblog. If you wanna see it:

http://heeltheworld.tumblr.com/

Tattoos and HIV acceptance

2011-08-11T02:14:00.000-07:00

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

August 10, 2011 -- Updated 1330 GMT (2130 HKT)

Portland, Oregon (CNN) -- As he puts a straw in his fruit smoothie, Michael Lee Howard accidentally knocks over the cup, spilling the seaweed-colored liquid. "Well, it happens," he says. As he collects the smoothie overflow in the plastic lid, he exposes the tattoos on his wrists: a biohazard symbol on the right and a radiation symbol on the left.

Howard might not have come across as such a calm person in late 2005, when he found out he was HIV positive. After his diagnosis, he felt "dirty" in his own skin, and feared infecting others if he so much as cut his hand. Getting the wrist tattoos helped him in his journey toward self-acceptance. Howard is one of many people living with HIV who have chosen to get tattoos to represent living with the disease. They say these tattoos help start conversations, reduce stigma and serve as reminders of how living with HIV has changed their lives.

Tattoos like Howard's biohazard symbol are especially common in men who have sex with men, the subpopulation that bears the highest burden of new HIV infections in the United States. Men who have sex with men accounted for 61%, or 29,300, new HIV infections in 2009, federal health officials said last week. And although the number of new HIV cases has remained stable in the general population, new infections rose among young, black gay and bisexual men from 2006 to 2009. It was also among men having sex with men that U.S. doctors first realized, in 1981, that there was a never-before-seen disease that could destroy the immune system. That disease came to be known as human immunodeficiency virus.

"In the gay male community, we think about it (HIV) a lot more because it attacked our community first. It's wiped out a number of us," said William Conley of Pollock Pines, California. His tattoo, a biohazard symbol with the Celtic motif of a crown of thorns circling around it, means he's winning the fight against this disease.

Identification and awareness

"You're not a victim. You're a champion, you are a survivor, and that's the biggest part of the tattoo," Conley said. The origins of HIV-related tattoos are murky, but the biohazard symbol is recognized in connection with HIV among many gay men, said David Dempsey, clinical director at the Alexian Brothers Bonaventure House in Chicago and The Harbor in Waukegan, Illinois, both transitional living facilities for HIV-positive individuals recovering from alcohol and substance dependence.

"It's to let other men know that they're HIV-positive so that they don't have to come out and say it," he said. In situations of anonymous sex, it can signal status to potential partners and, in that sense, may help with prevention, because unprotected sex with an HIV-infected individual can spread the disease, he said.

For those with HIV, seeing someone else with a biohazard symbol is a sign this is another person living with the disease who might provide support, Conley said, like a "secret identification code."

There are less cryptic HIV tattoos, too. Dempsey has a red AIDS ribbon tattoo on his chest, which he chose even before he became HIV-positive (the organization Visual AIDS created the ribbon symbol in 1991). Dempsey has been a social worker in the HIV community for 11 years, and wanted to show solidarity with people living with the disease, as well as raise awareness.

In 1986, when AIDS was just starting to be recognized as a deadly illness transmitted through sex and intravenous drug use, conservative author William F. Buckley Jr. suggested HIV-positive people get tattoos to protect others. He wrote in The New York Times, "Everyone detected with AIDS should be tattooed in the upper forearm, to protect common-needle users, and on the buttocks, to prevent the victimization of other homosexuals."

Some HIV-positive individuals may have gotten tattoos in resistance to Buckley's article, said Richard Sawdon Smith, professor of photography and AIDS cultures at London South Bank University in the United Kingdom, who has been HIV-positive since 1994. This is not an oft-cited reason among people with tattoos today, although many of the people who got HIV in the '80s and may have gotten tattoos then have since died.

Another theory is that certain ACT UP activists sported biohazard tattoos in their massive demonstrations in the late '80s and early '90s, but founder Larry Kramer said he hasn't heard of these tattoos or of the organization's participation in the practice.

Kids and social networking: Pros and cons

2011-08-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

Post this, comment on that. Social media are a part of the daily routines of many adults and children. And the identifiable pros and cons of social networking among kids are beginning to emerge, according to a presentation at the American Psychological Association meeting.

"While nobody can deny that Facebook has altered the landscape of social interaction, particularly among young people, we are just now starting to see solid psychological research demonstrating both the positives and the negatives," saidLarry D. Rosen, Ph.D., professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and technology researcher.

Rosen says ongoing research and preliminary results of studies suggest a few trends in kids.

On the plus side: In a world full of distractions, social networking and technology can provide tools for teaching in a way that engages and captivates young minds. Online social networking can also help young people learn how to socialize with their peers; users also show more "virtual empathy."

"It's almost like social networks are training wheels for life in a lot of ways - it teaches you to express empathy and see how people respond," Rosen said. "It teaches you to also just develop your sense of self of who you are. You float things out on a wall post on Facebook and then sit back and look at the comments that you get. It's a place where you can grow and develop."

However, the downside is becoming apparent, too. According to studies, middle school, high school and college students looking at Facebook at least one time during a 15-minute study break made lower grades. In addition, many young Facebook users show more tendencies to be narcissistic.

"It's a continual onset of I, me, mine," he said. "Your comments back and forth to people all reflect on you, not them."

The new research suggests that overuse of media and technology can negatively affect health of children and teens, especially with psychological disorders- making users more likely to experience anxiety and depression.

"Everything you do on social networks, you're doing behind the safety of a screen," he said. "You're not paying attention...there's a real flesh and blood human being at the other end of cyberspace and your words might have consequences for that person."

Rosen suggests not having a computer program to monitor the child's social networking behaviors. He says parents who have such programs are wasting their time.

"As soon as you start monitoring your kids electronically, two things are going to happen," he said. "One- they are going to stop trusting you. Two- within five seconds, they'll find a workaround on the Internet to get around whatever electronic device you have installed."

"If you establish trust with your kids, which you do by having discussions with them about technology and about what they're doing, then they will come to you when something comes up that they're uncomfortable with," Rosen said.

But he says parents need to be aware of the latest technologies and trends in websites and applications that kids use.

Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and attending physician at Texas Children's Hospital, writes often about social media.

"As a parent, probably the best thing we can do for our teens is try to provide a solid example of how to balance our personal and our digital lives," Vartabedian said. "I think this technology is all here to stay. It's not going anywhere but the relationship that we share with that technology is something that we can influence and we can influence early on in life."

Vartabedian says it is OK to put software on a computer to monitor social networking. He says parents have a responsibility to know what their kids are doing.

"There will always be ways for kids to get around what we do to watch and listen to them," he said. "But we still have a responsibility as parents to put our best foot forward and openly discuss what's appropriate, online and off."

What are your thoughts?

CNNHEALTH

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/06/kids-and-social-networking-pros-and-cons/

Erectile dysfunction? Try losing weight

2011-08-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

(Health.com) -- Viagra gets the job done, but it's a quick fix. For many men, weaning themselves off the little blue pill and finding a longer-lasting solution to their sexual dysfunction may require hitting the gym and putting down the doughnuts.

A new Australian study, published Friday in the "Journal of Sexual Medicine," found that losing just 5% to 10% of body weight over a two-month period improved the erectile function -- and revved up the sex drives -- of obese men with diabetes.

The study was very small (it included just 31 men), so the results should be taken with a grain of salt. But the findings are yet another reminder that obesity and erectile dysfunction (ED) often go hand in hand.

Excess weight -- especially excess belly fat -- can affect sexual function in many ways; it can interfere with the body's ability to supply blood to the penis, for instance, and it can cause testosterone production to plummet.

And though the research on weight loss and sexual dysfunction is still emerging, there's growing evidence that men who get active, eat healthier foods, and pare a few pounds will see their sex lives improve -- not to mention their overall health.

In fact, doctors express hope that the promise of an improved sex life will finally get through to all the overweight and obese men who haven't responded to dire warnings about heart disease, diabetes and stroke."You talk all the prevention you want," says Kevin Billups, M.D., an associate professor of urology at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis. "When I talk about restoring penile health, I have their attention. When a patient comes to see him about ED, one of the first things Billups tells him to do is to stand up and look at his belly. "If you can't see your penis," he says, "that's a problem."

Psychological association calls for legalization of gay, lesbian marriage

2011-08-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

By Alden Mahler Levine, CNN

(CNN) -- The American Psychological Association is calling on state and federal officials to stop anti-gay legal measures and to legalize same-sex marriage

The scientific and professional organization's guiding body voted unanimously at its annual meeting this week in Washington to declare its support for "full marriage equality for same-sex couples."

The resolution "clarifies the Association's support for same-sex marriage" in light of new research, the group said. A similar resolution in 2004 opposed discrimination against same-sex relationships, but refrained from a more formal policy recommendation.Dr. Clinton Anderson, APA associate executive director, said that the timing of the resolution is an indirect result of several states' legalization of marriage.

"We knew that marriage benefits heterosexual people in very significant ways, but we didn't know if that would be true for same-sex couples," said Anderson, who is also director of the APA's Office on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns.

The research, Anderson said, indicates that marriage "does confer the same sense of security, support, and validation" to same-sex couples as to heterosexual ones.

Now that six U.S. states permit same-sex marriage, researchers have been able to conduct studies with those couples.

Maggie Gallagher, chairman of the board of the National Organization for Marriage, takes issue with the assertion that legalizing same-sex marriage would improve community acceptance of homosexuality.

The resolution also points to evidence that ongoing political debate about marriage creates stress for gay men and lesbians and perpetuates stigmas and prejudice about their communities. This stress can make people physically and psychologically sick, the APA says, calling the link between stress and illness "well established."

Both the National Organization for Marriage and the APA are skeptical of one solution to the gay-marriage debate: civil unions. Rhode Island NOM executive director Chris Plante is quoted in a press release on the NOM website calling the move "nothing more than a Trojan Horse that will usher in same-sex marriage sooner rather than later." Elsewhere on its website, NOM calls for dealing with legal and economic benefits separately from any discussion of marriage or unions"

There is no evidence that gay teens are better off in Massachusetts, a state that has gay marriage, than they are in Wisconsin, a state which has passed a marriage amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman," she said in an e-mail response to CNN

Gallagher continued, "The release of this statement is unfortunately going to undermine confidence in APA statements generally, I would predict."

"That's the analysis that we've come to and why we've decided to support full marriage equality -- because domestic partnership or civil union will still convey the message that same-sex couples are not as good."

The APA also feels that civil unions miss the mark.

"Anything other than marriage is, in essence, a stigmatization of same-sex couples. Stigma does have negative impacts on people," Anderson said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/08/04/psychologists.gay.marriage/index.html

New H.I.V. Cases Steady Despite Better Treatment

2011-08-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

Published: August 3, 2011

Despite years of great progress in treating AIDS, the number of new infections with the virus that causes it has remained stubbornly around 50,000 a year in the United States for a decade, according tonew figures released on Wednesday by federal officials.

The American epidemic is still concentrated primarily in gay men, and is growing rapidly worse among young black gay men.

That realization is causing a rift in the AIDS community. Activists say the persistent H.I.V. infection rate proves that the government prevention policy is a flop. Federal officials are on the defensive even as they concede that the epidemic will grow if prevention does not get better, which they know is unlikely while their budgets are being cut.

And some researchers believe it is impossible to wipe out a fatal, incurable disease when it is transmitted through sex and carries so much stigma that people deny having it and avoid being tested for it.

Looking back, epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe that new cases peaked at 130,000 a year in the 1980s, sank slowly during the ’90s and reached a plateau at 50,000 around the year 2000.

Larry Kramer, a longtime AIDS activist and the author of “The Normal Heart,” a play about the epidemic’s early days, said: “It means I don’t see an AIDS policy, and I don’t see anyone in charge. It’s so dispiriting that it’s hard to find something to say about it. How many times can you yell ‘Help!’ without ever getting anywhere?”

Both Dr. Kevin Fenton, chief of AIDS prevention for the C.D.C., and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, chief of AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health, took issue with Mr. Kramer’s interpretation. While both agreed that 50,000 new annual infections was, in Dr. Fauci’s words, “a great concern,” both pointed to some areas where substantial progress had been made. They said that new studies were seeking ways to get more people tested and treated early in the course of the illness, which would make them less infectious and drive transmission rates down.

“The C.D.C. is absolutely not resting,” Dr. Fenton said. “It was a major accomplishment to drop infections from 130,000 to 50,000, and we’re dealing with an epidemic that is dynamic.”

But, he conceded, 50,000 is an “unacceptably high level,” and without better prevention efforts “we’re likely to face an era of rising infection rates.”

Philip Alcabes, a public health epidemiologist at Hunter College in Manhattan, noted that 50,000 is close to the number of Americans who die in road accidents each year — almost 40,000 — “and in some ways, we consider dying on the road an ordinary thing.”

By contrast, he said, nearly one million Americans a year die of heart disease and strokes.

“So it’s not clear that prevention is a failure,” he said. “The average adult’s chances of encountering H.I.V. infection — 0.02 percent a year — are rather low. It’s not reasonable to expect that a sexually transmitted virus will disappear in America, or anywhere else. But I agree with Larry Kramer that there has been a dearth of new policy ideas.”

For most risk groups, infection rates are stable, with 61 percent of cases contracted through gay or bisexual sex, 27 percent through heterosexual sex and 9 percent through drug injections.

But they are increasing rapidly in one subgroup: young gay black men. Black teenage boys who realize they are attracted to men are often too poor to move to gay-friendly cities like San Francisco or New York, researchers said, and often must keep their homosexuality hidden from relatives and friends, making it more likely they will have furtive, risky sex.

They often lack health insurance, meaning they do not get checkups where a doctor might suggest testing. And while new surveys find that they use condoms at about the same rates as young gay white and Hispanic men, sex tends to stay within racial groups and more older black gay and bisexual men are infected. Also, untreated syphilis, whose sores open a path for H.I.V., is more common among blacks.

The National Institutes of Health is supporting studies in the Bronx, Washington and other heavily black urban areas seeking new ways to reach these men, Dr. Fauci said. Results will be ready in two or three years.

Prevention has worked for two groups, Dr. Fenton said. The number of women infecting their children at birth or through breast-feeding has dropped to only 100 a year from about 1,300 two decades ago. In that respect, the United States is like Africa: scarce public clinics focus on women and children, and many poor women see a doctor only when pregnant.

Also, the number of infections through drug use has dropped 80 percent, although that may be a result of changing fashions among addicts: Fewer inject heroin and more smoke or inhale heroin, crack, crystal meth and cocaine or swallow prescription opiates like OxyContin. Only needle-sharing passes virus-tainted blood.

Chris Collins, director of public policy for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, said the decade-long persistence of 50,000 infections “shows that we’ve failed to target prevention services adequately and have not gotten treatment coverage in many communities that would bring down community viral loads.”

A recent study has shown that getting people on antiretroviral drugs early makes them 96 percent less likely to infect others, so there is a growing outcry for “test and treat” — shorthand for actively seeking out gay men and those injecting drugs and asking them to get tested, and then helping them find medical care if they have the disease.

Dr. Fauci and Dr. Fenton said there was no discussion now of making such tests mandatory — as, for example, syphilis tests once were for marriage licenses.

San Francisco and Vancouver, British Columbia, have lowered new infection rates, Mr. Collins noted. But how applicable those lessons are to the United States as a whole is debatable; both cities have very small black populations, and Vancouver’s success relies partly on a government-approved center where drug addicts can shoot up under the eyes of a nurse and without fear of arrest — an experiment unlikely to be repeated in the United States.

The new C.D.C. figures are based partly on a new blood test that can tell recent infections from old ones, said Joseph Prejean, who led the team that made the new estimates. The test, invented in 2005 and nicknamed the “BED test,” for the B, D and E viral subtypes it uses, measures H.I.V. antibodies in the blood relative to total antibodies. That ratio rises rapidly from infection to about six months, then levels off, he said.

Dr. Alcabes, who was once a harsh critic of C.D.C. estimates, said he believed the new numbers were as accurate as they could get. “They’ve done an enormous amount of number-crunching with stupefying amounts of detail,” he said.

A version of this article appeared in print on August 4, 2011, on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: New H.I.V. Cases Remain Steady Over a Decade.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/health/04hiv.html?_r=1&ref=health

New Product Detects Date Rape Drug in Cocktails

2011-08-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

by Catherine Robertson, Last updated August 05, 2011

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an estimated one in six women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime, 73 percent of which know their assailants. These startling statistics may have been what prompted Israeli scientists to develop a sensor which they say can detect two of the most commonly used date rape drugs with 100 percent accuracy.

Co-creater of the device and chemistry professor at Tel Aviv University, Fernando Patolsky says, "It samples a very small volume of the drink and mixes it with a testing solution that causes a chemical reaction that makes the solution cloudy or colored, depending on the drug."

According to Patolsky, the sensor, that resembles a drink stirrer, should cost less than a drink and can be reused multiple times. The sensor alerts the user by turning on a small red light when GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) or Ketamine are present in the drink. The team hopes to add Rohypnal—“roofies”—to these within a year.

Patolsky and partner Michael Ioffee agree that ensuring a fast, reliable and affordable product is not an easy feat however they are passionate about prevention and safety in order to prevent rape. Date rape drugs are commonly used to put a person under a sedative or hypnotic effect. Data from the U.S. Department of Justice reports that in 2007, nearly 200,000 women were raped in the United States due to the help of date rape drugs, though only 16 percent reported the incident.

"Preventing it is the best thing to do," said Patolsky, who has three young daughters. "I hope it will be sold in bars, in pharmacies."

http://www.healthnews.com/en/articles/2dVJJqgA171OO61_$6gCjm/New-Product-Detects-Date-Rape-Drug-in-Cocktails-/

New Recommendations Suggest Women Need Fewer Pap Tests

2009-11-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

For the second time this week, medical experts have issued revised guidelines for women’s cancer screenings. On Monday, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advised that women wait until age 50 to begin mammography screening, after which they should be checked every other year instead of annually as the previously established guidelines recommended. And on Friday, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued revised guidelines for cervical cancer screening, recommending that women in the U.S. wait until age 21 to have their first Pap test and follow-up testing every two to three years depending on a woman’s age—revisions the ACOG says are based on studies that suggest earlier and more frequent testing causes more harm than good.

The Pap test has been used for more than 50 years to find changes in the cells of the cervix that could lead to cancer. Prior recommendations called for cervical cancer screening to begin three years after a woman became sexually active or by age 21, whichever came first, with annual follow-up testing. But under the new ACOG guidelines, women should get their first Pap test at age 21, regardless of the onset of intercourse, with re-testing once every two years until age 30. Women 30 and older who’ve had three consecutive negative tests and no abnormal history should be re-screened only once every three years. Guidelines for older women remain unchanged. After no abnormal Pap result for 10 years and three or more negative results consecutively, women can stop the test at age 65 or 70.

“We really felt that the downsides of more frequent screening outweighed any benefits,” said Dr. Alan G. Waxman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of New Mexico, who drafted the new guidelines. “More testing is not always more intelligent testing.” Waxman explains that while the rate of infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer, is high in sexually active teens, the immune system of younger women typically clears HPV within one or two years. He added that recent research has shown that procedures to remove precancerous tissue weaken the cervix, increasing the risk of preterm birth.

Dr. Jennifer Milosavijevic, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, supports the guideline changes. “Women do not get cervical cancer first. They acquire HPV, the sexually transmitted virus that causes precancerous abnormalities of the cervix and cervical cancer. It takes years to progress from an HPV-infection to full-blown cervical cancer,” Milosavijevic said. “These new guidelines will allow us to avoid doing unnecessary procedures on the sexually active adolescent female.”

Dr. Milosavijevic says changing the screening interval does not mean that more cervical cancers will be missed, adding that most women who die from cervical cancer were either screened infrequently or not at all. In fact, some doctors feel the new screening guidelines do not go far enough. “There is ample evidence that screening earlier than 25 years is only costly with many false positives,” said Dr. Diane Harper of the University of Missouri-Kansas, who specializes in HPV infections. “The rest of the world is going to an every-five-or-six-year screening interval ... and ACOG is now just endorsing the three-year interval for HPV negative and Pap negative (women).”

In the last 30 years, cervical cancer rates in the United States have dropped more than 50 percent, due largely to widespread use of the Pap test. Rates will probably drop even further due to newer vaccines like Gardasil, which are now approved for girls and women ages 9 to 26 for prevention of HPV. But ACOG says since the vaccines won’t affect cervical cancer rates for 15 to 20 years, they did not play a role in the new screening guidelines. And because such vaccines don’t protect against all types of HPV, Pap tests are and will still be necessary.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 11,270 new cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2009, and the disease will cause 4,070 deaths.

HEALTHNEWS

About 100,000 Cancer Cases Each Year Due to Obesity

2009-11-21T13:13:00.000-08:00

This year, an estimated 1.47 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer, and more than 562,000 will die of it. Two major classes of factors influence the incidence of cancer: hereditary and environmental. Hereditary factors, such as inherited genetic mutations, come from our parents and account for about 5 percent of all cancers. Environmental factors, which include tobacco use, certain infectious agents, certain medical treatments, excessive sun exposure, and exposures to cancer-causing agents known as carcinogens that exist as pollutants in our air, food, water and soil, account for an estimated 75-80 percent of cancer cases and deaths. Obesity is also an environmental factor that is clearly associated with increased risk for developing many cancers, causing more than 100,000 cases of cancer in the U.S. each year, according to a recent study from researchers at the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR).

Using findings from an AICR and World Cancer Research Fund report released earlier this year and the latest U.S. cancer incidence data, the researchers were able to calculate the exact percentage of specific cancers that are caused by excess body fat. Specifically, 49 percent of endometrial (uterine) cancers, approximately 20,700 cases, could be prevented if people maintained a healthy weight. That number is followed by 35 percent, or 5,800 cases, of esophageal cancer; 28 percent, or 11,900 cases, of pancreatic cancer; 24 percent, or 13,900 cases, of kidney cancer; 21 percent, or 2,000 cases, of gallbladder cancer; 17 percent, or 33,000 cases, of breast cancer; and 9 percent, or 13,200 cases, of colon cancer. “This is the first time that we’ve put real, quantifiable case numbers on obesity-related cancers,” said Glen Weldon, the American Institute for Cancer Research educational director.

“We now know that carrying excess body fat plays a central role in many of the most common cancers,” said Dr. Laurence Kolonel, Deputy Director of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii and AICR/WCRF expert panel member. He explains that fatty tissue, also known as adipose tissue, produces hormones that could play a role in promoting cancer cells. For instance, fat cells produce estrogen, which is now known to be a factor in breast and endometrial cancer. Studies have also shown that being overweight reduces the effectiveness of the immune system. And Kolonel says not only does obesity increase the risk of cancer, it also makes treatment more difficult and has an adverse impact on survival.

Dr. Michael Thun, vice president emeritus at the American Cancer Society, said that while the new research “helps to communicate the magnitude of the problem, it does not propose potential solutions.” He says people who are concerned about this issue should try to balance the calories they take in every day with those their body expends.

The American Cancer Society’s most recent nutrition and physical activity guidelines, published in 2006, emphasize the importance of weight control, physical activity, and dietary patterns in reducing cancer risk. Because social environment is clearly a powerful influence on diet and activity habits, the guidelines include an explicit Recommendation for Community Action to promote the availability of healthy food choices and opportunities for physical activity in schools, workplaces, and communities.

Currently, nearly a third of Americans have a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 30, which places them in the overweight category, and more than 26 percent are obese, defined as having a body mass index of 30 or higher. BMI is equal to weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. For example, a person who is 5 feet 5 inches tall becomes obese at 180 pounds.

healthnews

Seniors Can Enjoy Sex Into Their 80s

2009-11-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

Yep, you heard it right. Today’s senior citizens are proving that you can enjoy sex well into your 80s. During a survey, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, conducted by the University of Chicago, men and women ranging in the ages of 57 to 85 were asked questions regarding their sexual activity over the past year. Based on the information gathered, it seems some men and women are enjoying their sex lives well into their later years.

Face-to-face interviews were conducted from mid-2005 to March 2006 involving 1,550 women and 1,455 men, in the privacy of their own homes. While around half of those evaluated admitted to having at least one disturbing sexual situation, around 68 percent of the men and 42 percent of the women said they had sex over the past year. During the survey, the researchers considered factors such as age, race, marriage status, and education levels. Participant’s physical and mental health, and their happiness or lack of with their relationship, were all considered risk factors for sex problems.

Participants were asking during the study some of their sexual problems they may have experienced. To help define participant’s sex problems, researchers defined several as a guide. They included lack of or lower sex drive, erection problems, vaginal dryness, problems with early orgasm or never reaching climax, pain during sex, lack of pleasure, and if they were worried about sexual performance. Each participant was asked how much the problems bothered them.

Urinary tract infections seem to be a key player in causing several of the problems both women and men experience with their sex lives, based on the study. Women seem to have more problems than men with sex, because of their tendency to have more urinary tract infections as well as STDs or sexually transmitted diseases. STD’s, lead to women being four times more likely to having sexual pains and three times as likely to have vaginal dryness. Men with STDs had five times the chances of having unpleasant side effects while having sex. Whether you are 18 and at your prime sexual peak or 80 and winding down, medication and illness can affect your desire to have sex, as well as your physical ability. Anxiety also seemed to be a key trouble maker for both groups.

Dr. Virginia Sadock, the director of the program for human sexuality at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City said, “It’s definitely whether you’re elderly or 'wellderly' that makes a difference” and “illness and medications make a difference in sex lives.”

Some people may think sex lives will eventually fizzle out, and they may. However, based on the new study, you may be physically and mentally able to enjoy your sex life well into your 80’s. There are some 80 year olds in better health than those at 60. Sex lives can be squed by ones physical and mental well being as well as factors such as weight, habits like smoking or drinking, health issues and medications that may hinder ones ability to enjoy sex. Edward Leumann, the lead author of the survey, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, stated “It’s not age per se; that when you get to 80 it’s all over with.”

HEALTHNEWS

Sexy High-Heeled Shoes Can Be a Pain in the Foot

2009-11-13T05:13:00.001-08:00

Ladies may feel and look great in high-heeled shoes, but their feet may not feel quite so happy. Many women forgo comfort for that little extra sexy appeal of high-heeled shoes and, even if you find heals more comfortable than flats, they are rarely the best option for your feet.

A newly released study illustrates that those people who wore or wear high-heeled shoes, or less supportive shoes, were much more likely to experience hind foot pain, a pain found around the heel of a person’s foot. While there have been previous studies that have demonstrated links between the type of shoe a person chose to wear and foot pain, most of the previous studies were very small and honed in on one specific foot problem, according to researchers leading the new study. The new study, recently released in Arthritis Care & Research, illustrated that people who wore or wear unsupportive footwear such as sandals, high heals, or slippers are more likely to suffer from foot pain later in life. The study found that even though a shoe may feel comfortable now, if the shoe is not supportive, there could be consequences later in life.

The study, headed by lead author Alyssa B. Dufour, with the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife, investigated over 3,300 foot examination records of men and women that participated in the Framingham Study, started in 1948. The study found that nearly 64 percent either of women who reportedly had worn high heels, pumps or sandals regularly at some time during their lives, had experienced hind foot pain. While there were 19 percent of the men and 29 percent of the women that experienced some sort of foot pain, researchers were unable to link the men’s issues to a shoe support problem, mainly because only two percent wore shoes deemed bad shoes.

For the study, researchers classified shoes in three groups: a good shoe, such as sneakers; an average shoe, including work boots or rubber-soled shoes; and poor shoes, those that lack support, such as high heels, sandals and slippers. Participants involved in the study answered questions as to where their foot pain was experienced and if the pain was in one or both feet. They were asked questions in regards to the types of shoes that were worn at different stages in their lives. The stages were broken down by ages including 20-29, 30-44, 45-64, 65-74, and over 75. Women who reportedly wore good shoes compared to those that wore average shoes in their pasts, were 67 percent less likely to report heal pain.

According to Dufour, foot and toe symptoms are one of the top 20 reasons adults from 65 to 75 years old see a physician. While we all want to look our best, we need to consider the consequences of what we put on our feet, not only presently, but also in our future. Based on the new research, there is definitely a benefit to wearing more supportive footwear. Ladies, while this study focused on foot pain there are other side affects of high-heels, including causing the toes to taper inward and can lead to calf muscles being smaller. Rethink wearing those unsupportive shoes regularly, and opt for the more comfortable supportive shoes. It just may save you several trips to the doctor down the line and agonizing pain.

HEALTHNEWS

WHO Report Identifies Disparities in Women’s Health Treatment

2009-11-13T05:11:00.000-08:00

Clearly, women are different than men; not only in anatomy but in the way they think, express emotion, and interact. Men and women are also different in matters of sickness and health. For example, each of the sexes displays different symptoms of heart attack. Chest pain is most common in men, while women’s symptoms are usually subtler, characterized by abdominal pain, nausea, and fatigue. Men and women also absorb and excrete some drugs in different ways and at different rates, and certain drugs are more effective in women while others have more severe side effects in women than in men. But still, the idea of equating women and men’s health persists, simplifying women’s health treatment to the point of triggering dangerous consequences.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that despite the fact that women provide the bulk of health care, whether in the home, the community or the health system, they are being “denied a chance to develop their full human potential” because many of their critical medical needs are ignored. The agency’s latest report entitled “Women and health: today’s evidence tomorrow’s agenda” attempts to emphasize the unequal health treatment women face throughout their lifetime. “What this report has measured is the profound impact that social status has on the health of women and girls,” said Margaret Chan, WHO’s Director-General. “As the report reveals, the obstacles that stand in the way of better health for women are not primarily technical or medical in nature; they are social and political, and the two go together.”

According to the report, even though women live six to eight years longer than men they tend to “receive poorer quality care throughout their lives, particularly as teenagers and elderly people.” Globally, HIV, pregnancy-related conditions, and tuberculosis continue to be major killers of women aged 15 to 45. In many countries, sexual and reproductive health services tend to focus exclusively on married women and ignore the needs of adolescents and unmarried women. Service can also be very difficult to access for other marginalized groups of women such as sex workers, intravenous drug users, ethnic minorities and rural women.

As women age, noncommunicable diseases, such as heart attack and stroke, become the major causes of death and disability, particularly after the age of 45. Women tend to develop heart disease later in life than men, and because they show different symptoms from men, cardiovascular disease is often undiagnosed in women. Other major problems in older age, often untreated, include poor vision, hearing loss, arthritis, depression and dementia.

The report also compares the health of women with different socio-economic status. Lack of access to education, decision-making positions and income may limit women’s ability to protect their own health and that of their families. For example, the risk posed by HIV is compounded in cultures that limit women’s knowledge about the disease and their ability to negotiate safer sex. Another main cause of death among girls aged 15 to 19 in developing countries is pregnancy-related complications, with unsafe abortions accounting for a large number of such deaths. Low-income nations also have minimal screening and treatment services for cervical cancer, the second-most common type of cancer in women. “Women who do not know how to protect themselves from such infections, or who are unable to do so, face increased risks of death or illness,” the report said. “So do those who cannot protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy or control their fertility because of lack of access to contraception.”

The report calls for reform, both within and outside the health sector, to better meet the needs of women. But Dr. Chan says we will not see significant progress as long as women are regarded as “second-class citizens” in many parts of the world. “In so many societies, men exercise political, social and economic control,” she said. “The health sector has to be concerned. These unequal power relations translate into unequal access to health care and unequal control over health resources.”

HEALTHNEWS

Cancer Patients with Dense Breasts Face Greater Risk of Disease Recurrence

2009-11-13T05:10:00.000-08:00

Women who have dense breasts, and undergo lumpectomies for the treatment of breast cancer, are at a greater risk of a recurrence of the disease. In fact, breast cancer patients with more dense breasts are four times as likely to have their cancer return than women with less dense breasts.

The new information comes from research performed by Steven A. Narod, M.D., of the Women's College Hospital in Toronto, and colleagues. According to Dr Narod, “The composition of the breast tissue surrounding the breast cancer is important in predicting whether or not a breast cancer will return after surgery.” The study report can be found in the journal Cancer.

The researchers analyzed data on 335 breast cancer patients having an average age of 63.5 years, who had undergone lumpectomies for the removal of cancerous tumors from their breasts. Findings revealed that for women having more dense breasts, the risk of the cancer recurring over 10 years was more than four times higher at 21 percent than the 5 percent average. In addition, women who did not receive radiation as part of their initial treatment faced an even higher risk (40 percent) of a tumor recurrence that puts them at an 8 times greater likelihood of developing the disease again.

With the use of mammography, about one in three of the women in the study were found to have large amounts of dense tissue in their breasts. Breast density was discovered to be higher among the younger women in the study, and these women were less likely to be postmenopausal than the others. Of the total number of women in the study, 99 had low-density breasts with dense tissue in less than 25 percent of the breast, 107 had intermediate density in 25 percent to 50 percent of the breast, while 129 women had high-density breasts with more than 50 percent density.

Although it is not known why the density of a woman’s breast has an impact on the risk of developing cancer, it is known that high breast density can reduce the sensitivity of a mammogram by causing a masking effect. In addition, it is the belief of the researchers that the hormonal profile of denser breast tissue makes it more susceptible to cancer. Although Dr Narod noted that breast density has been found to be modifiable to some extent by physical activity and hormone therapy, the researchers cautioned that it is not clear whether these measures would impact the risk of breast cancer recurrence.

Due to this significant increase in risk for cancer recurrence, the researchers maintain that women having more dense breasts should undergo additional treatment after surgery to decrease the chances of the cancer returning. On the other hand, since radiation therapy appeared to eliminate the increased risk for cancer recurrence, they also acknowledged that the findings are an indication that women with low-density breasts may be able to safely avoid radiation. However, they also cautioned that because the study was small, further research will be necessary determine if this is the case.

According to The American Cancer Society an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2009, and of these 40,170 lives will be lost. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, other than skin cancer. It is also the second leading cause of cancer death among women, after lung cancer. About 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer at some time during life, and about 1 in 35 will lose the battle against the disease.

HEALTHNEWSa

Staying Healthy: Healthy Habits for Men

2009-11-05T23:56:00.001-08:00

Juggling jobs, relationships, social obligations, bills, and staying on top of a healthy gym routine is a lot to handle. As a woman, trying to find the time to eat better seems to be the last thing on my list and it can’t be much easier for men. Here are a few tips for making men’s lives a little bit better from morning to night:

Eat Breakfast
Eating breakfast everyday keeps your metabolism in check, your weight down, and your cravings at bay. Filling up on fiber early on keeps you satisfied throughout the day. Dr. Oz recommends oatmeal with dried fruits, nuts, and his own personal touch…flaxseed oil.

Work through Pain
Sometimes taking the load off of a sore back, neck, or legs is worse for you than if you work through the pain. Experts suggest that nursing your pain isn’t always the best course of action because resting can weaken your muscles and you may lose strength over time. If you haven’t pulled any muscles or slipped any discs, take an anti-inflammatory pain reliever and stay on your feet.

Snack like a Squirrel
You don’t have to hoard nuts for the winter, but grabbing a handful during the middle of the day can actually keep you healthier than eating a bag of chips or waiting until dinner to satisfy your food cravings. Full of omega-3 fatty acids, these are the type of proteins we look for in our diets from fish, also known as good fats.

Sweat is Your Friend
While walking to the office or public transit is eco-friendly and cost efficient, chances are you don’t get the full cardio effect until you do your time on the treadmill. Sweat away your toxins and reduce your blood pressure and risk of heart attack by switching up your routine; the wetter the better. Tacking on weight training makes your body work harder to bulk up and lose any extra pounds that may be damaging to your frame. Aside from looking better to your partner, you may feel better and be able to get more sleep, more on that later. For more stamina, find a workout buddy!

Be Friendly
When men get stressed, they often clam up and don’t tend to talk about their problems. Women, on the other hand, can usually tell a story until their lips bleed. With more stress in the world than ever, it’s no wonder your body may not be feeling up to par. Grab a beer—or your partner—and tell them what’s on your mind, sharing may just save your life or keep the stress away.

Save for a Rainy Day
Like the harmful stressors everyone puts upon themselves at any moment, a lot of these have to deal with financial woes. If you are able, sock away some of your paycheck every month to save for a rainy day or an emergency by investing some of that worth in a separate savings account you can run to if you need to, but put your own limits on how you are allowed to spend it. Down the road, merely thinking about how to spend that extra cushion you set aside can make even the gloomiest day perk up a bit.

Go Between
We have all been conditioned to learn that brushing your teeth two times a day is the normal but in order to keep your oral health at its best, go deeper with floss. Your best bet is to floss before bedtime to clean the bacteria from the hard to reach spots in your mouth so it doesn’t grow into a problem overnight.

Sleep like a Baby
If you are a parent, you understand the importance of getting a child to go to bed at a certain time every night in order to keep their mind and body stable and free from grouchiness. You should treat your sleeping patterns the same way. Set a bed time and keep it—at least during the work week—and get at least seven hours of sleep. Professionals advise that sleeping regularly can stave off calories and stress because being groggy can incur bad decisions like eating greasy food or sucking down your usual morning coffee in half the time.

Maintaining Healthy Cholesterol Levels May Lower Risk of Prostate Cancer

2009-11-05T23:55:00.001-08:00

Men who keep their cholesterol levels in check may decrease their chances of developing prostate cancer, in addition to keeping their heart healthy, as science has already shown. In fact, two recent studies indicate that maintaining healthy levels of cholesterol may be a good form of cancer prevention.

In one study, results showed that men who retained healthy levels of cholesterol in the range below 200 actually cut their risk of developing high-risk prostate tumors by more than 50 percent in comparison to men with high ranging cholesterol levels. In the second study, findings showed that men with high levels of good (HDL) cholesterol were slightly less likely to develop prostate cancer in any form, compared to men with very low HDL cholesterol levels.

The studies were recently published in the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research called Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. Both studies support prior research indicating that by limiting fats in the bloodstream, the risk of cancer can be lowered.

According to Elizabeth Platz of Johns Hopkins University who led the first study, “There might be this added benefit to keeping cholesterol low.” For the study, Platz’s team analyzed data of 5,586 men aged 55 and older that came from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial conducted back in the 1990s. All of these men had been a part of the placebo group during the trial.

Among the group, a total of 60 of the men developed high-risk, aggressive tumors that are known to grow and spread quickly. By comparing cholesterol levels of all the men in the group, it was revealed that those men with cholesterol levels under 200 had a 59 percent less chance of developing one of these high-risk tumors than those men having high levels of cholesterol.

Platz acknowledged that cholesterol levels had no significant effect on the overall incidence of prostate cancer in the study. However, she pointed out that the association between low cholesterol levels and a reduced incidence of aggressive disease “is a notable reduction which is not often seen for prostate cancer.”

Although the decrease in risk is highly significant, it must be noted that the researchers could not account for the number of men in the study who were taking cholesterol-lowering medications such as statin drugs, which include such name brands as Lipitor, Zocor, and Crestor. Therefore, some of the reduction in risk may have been due to the use of such drugs rather than from generally having low cholesterol levels.

The results of the second study are based on data gathered over 18 years from following more than 29,000 Finnish men who were taking various vitamins and nutrients to test whether or not they could lower their risk for cancer. All of the participants in the study were smokers. According to study leader Dr. Demetrius Albanes of the National Cancer Institute, findings showed that those men having the highest levels of HDL cholesterol were 11 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than those with lowest levels.

In a statement, Albanes said, “Our study affirms that lower total cholesterol may be caused by undiagnosed cancer.” He then added, “In terms of a public health message, we found that higher levels of good cholesterol seem to be protective for all cancers.”

Researchers from both studies agree that further research is necessary to confirm findings, as well as to identify the molecular mechanisms behind the association.

In the United States, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men. It is estimated that over 192,000 new cases will develop this year alone, and of those, the disease will claim 27,360 lives.

Hosiery for Health

2009-10-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

A pantyhose has been known to enhance the legs and overall appearance of a woman. However, a pantyhose can also be of use for women who are not after the improved look and feel of leg wear, but for the health benefits they can get from wearing a pantyhose. Control top pantyhose and bodyshapers are made to enhance a woman’s silhouette. There are also stockings made of a blend of nylon and spandex to make the legs seem more toned. A medical support pantyhose operates on the same principle, for reasons that are much more than just aesthetics.

Using a medical support pantyhose for varicose veins
Varicose veins have been a long-standing problem for women across all body types. Though an opaque pantyhose can hide this leg problem, varicose veins are much more than just unsightly blemishes.

Varicose veins may occur in people who have vascular or circulatory problems that are either genetic or congenital in nature. Varicose veins may also appear in people who have acquired vascular problems through time and even through pregnancy. People in jobs that require them to stand up for long periods of time are often the most susceptible to develop varicose veins. Varicose veins develop when blood flow towards the heart has been impeded by blockages and gravity. Blood is being pulled downward, towards the ankles. Often, varicose veins may just be unsightly problems, but in extreme cases may cause pain, discomfort, and even skin ulcers around the areas of the swollen veins.

Benefits of wearing a medical support pantyhose
Doctors prescribe supports stocking and hosiery to people afflicted with varicose veins caused by congenital vascular diseases such as thrombophlebitis to help lessen the pain and improve circulation.
A medical support pantyhose works through compression that improves blood circulation in the legs. Most medical support pantyhose are tight around the ankle areas, same with areas that blood pools down to. By ensuring that there is a tight fit in the ankle area, blood is stimulated to flow upwards in the right direction. Blood flow is further regulated as the fit or compression decreases as it goes up to the whole leg of the hose.

Wearing medical support pantyhose is not only beneficial for older women who have developed varicose veins and circulatory problems, but also for pregnant women. Due to the added weight of the baby, most pregnant women develop swollen lower limbs as blood also pools downwards. A medical support pantyhose not only aids in regulating the blood circulation in the legs. The added control top found in most maternity pantyhose also help lift up the tummy portion.

Sources:
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Medline Plus

Brief shocks may deliver AIDS vaccines better

2009-10-27T15:29:00.001-07:00

By Tan Ee Lyn

PARIS (Reuters) - Brief electric shocks may help the body better respond to certain kinds of experimental AIDS vaccines, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

They used a device that looks like a handgun to inject vaccine along with three brief electrical pulses to open up cell membranes so that the vaccine can get inside.

Sandhya Vasan of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York said the technique, called electroporation, may be particularly useful in delivering DNA vaccines, which use an infectious agent's own genetic material to elicit an immune response.

"With a brief pulse of electricity, our cell membrane temporarily opens up and allows a lot more of the DNA to get inside. The reason why DNA vaccines by themselves don't trigger A powerful immune response is because most of it (DNA) does not get inside our cells," Vasan told Reuters in an interview.

In their study, Vasan and her colleagues used a relatively weak experimental DNA vaccine designed in 2001 using four genes from an AIDS virus circulating in China.

When the vaccine was given by injection alone, only 25 percent of participants developed any immune response. But in its latest trial in 2007-2009 when the same vaccine was delivered using electroporation, the immune response appeared far stronger, Vasan told a meeting of AIDS vaccine researchers in Paris.

"We improved the response rate, improved the duration of the response and it also improved the breadth of the response. There were four different genes of the virus, for the highest dose, people were responding to 3 or even 4 of the genes," Vasan said.

The study involved 40 people divided into five groups of eight. Three groups were given the vaccine in varying doses with the electric pulse. The fourth group was given placebos with electricity while the fifth was given the highest dose with a conventional injection.

Results later showed that those who got conventional injections had no immune response, while three out of the eight people given the lowest dose plus electrical pulse formed a response and everyone given the highest dose electroporally had immune response.

"This is the first clinical trial of electroporation in healthy volunteers for a preventative vaccine. It can be applied to many diseases, many vaccines, not just for HIV," Vasan said.

Her group plans to go into Phase 2 trial delivering another, stronger DNA vaccine through electroporation.

Researchers are struggling to develop an AIDS vaccine that can protect people from being infected with the fatal and incurable virus. While dozens are in the works, only one vaccine has shown any efficacy at all and researchers are not sure how strong the effect actually is.

People often develop some kind of immune response to HIV vaccines but this does not correlate into being protected, and scientists do not fully understand why not.

(Editing by Maggie Fox)

Gene therapy experiment restores sight in a few

2009-10-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

By Phil Furey

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Nine-year-old Corey Haas can ride his bike alone now, thanks to an experimental gene therapy that has boosted his fading vision with a single treatment.

The gene therapy helped improve worsening eyesight caused by a rare inherited disease called Leber congenital amaurosis, or LCA, which makes most patients blind by age 40.

Twelve treated patients, including Corey, now have better vision, their doctors told a joint meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology in San Francisco on Saturday.

"All 12 patients given gene therapy in one eye showed improvement in retinal function," Dr Katherine High of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and colleagues wrote in a report to be released at the same time by the Lancet medical journal.

LCA causes the retina to degenerate and the researchers found that the younger the patient treated with the therapy, the better the effects.

"Before, I used to ride my bike just in front of the house and now I just ride around the neighborhood with no one watching," Corey told a news conference.

While the experiment was meant mostly to show the treatment was safe, it showed remarkably strong effects, High and Dr Jean Bennett of the University of Pennsylvania found.

"This study reports dramatic results in restoring vision to patients who previously had no options for treatment," said High. "These findings may expedite development of gene therapy for more common retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration."

BATTERED FIELD

They could also help restore the tarnished image of gene therapy, battered by the death of an 18-year-old volunteer in a clinical trial in 1999 and cases of leukemia in a few young children treated in France.

"The study by Bennett and co-workers will further boost gene therapy trials and provide hope for patients with inherited blindness and other genetic disorders," Dr Frans Cremers and Dr Rob Collin of Nijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands wrote in a commentary.

A faulty gene means patients with LCA start to lose their vision in childhood. There is no treatment.

High, Bennett and colleagues worked with 12 volunteers, aged 8 to 44. They reported on three of the adult patients in April of 2008.

They designed a harmless virus, called an adeno-associated virus, to carry corrective DNA directly into the eyes. The gene they used, called RPE65, is mutated in up to about 16 percent of LCA patients and the normal gene restored light-sensitive pigments in the retina at the back of the eye.

The treatment did not restore normal eyesight to any of the patients but half are no longer legally blind. "The clinical benefits have persisted for nearly two years since the first subjects were treated with injections of therapeutic genes into their retinas," Bennett said.

Four children aged 8, 9, 10, and 11 can now walk unaided.

Corey's father, Ethan Haas, from Hadley, New York, said they embraced the experiment.

"You start to think of what could happen -- he could go completely blind. And then it's like, well, he may go blind in the future anyway because it's degenerative, so I decided to try it now and see if we could stop it and correct it," Haas said.

Corey's mother, Nancy Haas, said it was worth the risk.

"It's hard to see a child not be able to play like he should with his other friends, and then to have shortly after surgery, he's out there with his friends, playing, being able to see things coming from his peripheral vision, noticing other kids," she said, beginning to cry.

"It's all worth it."

(Writing and reporting by Maggie Fox in Washington; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

Swine Flu Declared a National Emergency

2009-10-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday President Obama declared the H1N1 flu, also known as the swine flu, a national emergency. The move allows Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary to quicken the regulatory process for health providers if they are besieged with cases of the swine flu, by waiving certain regulations.

The declaring of a federal emergency, according to White House officials, was not because there has been a major increase in the number of H1N1 cases, even though the numbers have been increasing gradually. The move was to help health care facilities when they become inundated with cases of H1N1. This will allow them the ability to make quick moves to contain H1N1 flu cases, including moving patients diagnosed with the virus to a designated area of their facility or moving them to another treatment facility, such as a nearby armory. Declaring a national emergency can also allow some of the restrictions placed on Medicare and Medicaid patients to be removed.

According to the president’s declaration of a national emergency, cases of the swine flu do continue to grow across the country, and “the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities.” The waiver could remove the chances of a hospital being overwhelmed by cases of the swine flu and allow hospitals to set up off-site locations where anyone with symptoms of the swine flu would go for treatment. Public health experts said the move by the president is a relief, even though health services are not strained yet, the cases have continued to increase significantly during the month of October.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention between August 30th and October 17th there have been 2,416 deaths attributed to the swine flu, and the virus has already led to at least 21,823 Americans being hospitalized. Prior to that time, from April through August, there were 593 deaths and 9,079 hospitalizations. The virus is now considered active and spreading in 46 states,

While the more seasonal flu virus mostly affects the elderly, the swine flu tends to affect children. The number of children the U.S. has already lost to the swine flu is more than usually die during the entire flu season. Pregnant women, young adults and children seem to be more at risk.

Officials initially had hoped to have at least 120 million doses of swine flu vaccines available by mid-October, but there have been some production problems and only 16 million doses have been made available.

The government is taking some rather large measures to help when treating H1N1, including the now-established emergency. Do not panic, because the declaration was not because of a huge surge in cases of the flu. The move was a proactive step to help hospitals if they are inundated with a large number of flu cases due the virus continuing to grow across the U.S. While the number of H1N1 flu vaccines available is less than what had been expected, there are some available and more are due for arrival. Call your doctor or health department to schedule a vaccine today.

Pregnancy Weight Harder to Lose for Obese Women

2009-10-24T04:18:00.001-07:00

We all know how important it is to be healthy while you are pregnant, but even more so for women who are obese. Given the high rate of obesity, new guidelines have been issued recommending that the heavier a woman is, the less weight she should gain during pregnancy.

In research that was made public today, Kaiser Permanente confirmed that women who are obese and gain more weight than they should during pregnancy are much more likely to keep the weight on after giving birth. Nearly three out of four women that participated in the study gained more than 15 pounds during pregnancy and, on average, these women retained 40 percent of the extra weight a full year after they gave birth.

Dr. Kimberly K. Vesco, M.D., said, “Younger women and first-time mothers were the most likely to gain too much weight. The extra weight increased the risk for complications like hypertension, diabetes, preeclampsia, C-sections, and birth injuries.”

Approximately half of the pregnant women in the United States today are either overweight or obese, which is up from about 25 percent four decades ago. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) that is 30 or more, and for most women that means carrying at least 30 extra pounds for their size. Normal weight is considered to be a BMI of 18.5-24.9, and overweight is considered to be 25-29.9. For example, a woman that is 5-foot, 2-inches tall who weighs approximately 135 pounds would be considered at the upper limit of the normal range (BMI = 25), and at 165 pounds she would be considered overweight (BMI = 30). A woman that is 5-foot 7-inches tall would be considered normal weight up to 160 pounds (BMI = 25) and considered obese at 195 (BMI = 30).

A total of 1,656 women that had a BMI of 30 or over at the beginning of their pregnancies were enrolled in this newly published study. The women were then followed for up to 18 months after their delivery.

Some previous studies suggest that infants that are born to obese women, who don’t gain much weight during their pregnancy, will have fewer delivery complications and better outcomes than the infants that were born to women who gained more weight than is recommended. The Kaiser research team began recruitment for a study to examine whether very obese women and their infants fare better when they gain no weight at all during pregnancy.

Victor Stevens, Ph.D. and the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research senior investigator, said that the “Healthy Moms” study, which was funded by a $2.2 million dollar grant from the federal government, will include women that are between 50 to 100 pounds above their normal weight at the start of their pregnancy. He stated, “These are not women with just a few pounds to lose. These are women who are carrying so much extra weight that it is a risk to themselves and their baby.”

Half of the women who were recruited for the study will receive standard care, which includes a single counseling session that will discuss nutrition and diet. The other half of the women will receive more intensive counseling to help teach them strategies for healthy eating and they will be able to attend weekly support sessions designed to reinforce positive behaviors. Those women will also be give personalized eating plans that will restrict their calorie intake to about 2,000 a day. The main goal is for these women to be within 30 percent of their pre-pregnancy weight after they deliver.

Stevens said, “The new IOM guidelines call for gaining no more than 20 pounds, but for women who are very obese this may not be the best advice. We want to see if outcomes are better if these women gain no weight or even lose some weight.”

Male Immunization with Gardasil Not Deemed Cost Effective

2009-10-23T11:59:00.001-07:00

Although Gardasil has been proven to protect against two strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause cervical cancer, as well as two additional strains that cause genital warts, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has voted against its use as a routine immunization for boys and men. However, the committee did vote, almost unanimously, to allow doctors to recommend the vaccine be given to males to reduce their likelihood of acquiring genital warts.

HPV is a sexually transmitted pathogen that is believed to cause approximately 70 percent of all cervical cancers. In addition, HPV has been associated with more rare forms of cancer of the throat, genitals and anus, as well as genital warts. Studies have found Gardasil not only to be safe, but also to be nearly 100 percent effective in preventing pre-cancerous cervical lesions from the four HPV strains that it targets. In addition, findings have shown that Gardasil is far more effective in females when given before they become sexually active.

Since first being approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006 for use in females, the issue of whether or not to use Gardasil for males has been strongly debated. Advocates for use of Gardasil as a routine immunization among males believe that widespread use of the vaccine may reduce cervical cancer rates, since males commonly transmit HPV to females.

Although in early October the FDA approved the Gardasil vaccine for use among males aged 9 through 26, results of a study conducted in the same month revealed that immunization among males was not cost effective, as costs would outweigh the health benefit of the vaccine. Now, the results of the final vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has apparently put this issue to rest. The vaccine will not be approved for boys as part of the childhood immunization schedule.

The pivotal study published in the British Medical Journal made a comparison between a female-only vaccination program and a co-ed vaccination program. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health performed the analysis. According to lead researcher Jane Kim, an assistant professor of health decision science, “This study found that while vaccine coverage and efficacy are high in girls, including boys in an HPV vaccination program generally exceeds what the U.S. typically considers good value for money.”

The basis of a good value was deemed as having cost-effectiveness ratios ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per quality-adjusted life year, or the cost of the vaccine versus the number of added years someone would gain by getting the vaccine. By assuming lifelong protection among 75 percent coverage, the routine vaccination of girls who were 12 years of age was found to be a good value at less than $50,000 per quality adjusted life year. However, by adding boys of the same age, the cost-effectiveness ratio was increased to over $100,000 per quality adjusted life year.

Currently, the CDC recommends Gardasil for girls ages 11 and 12, and for women ages 13 to 26, who have not been vaccinated for the prevention cervical cancer. The disease claims 4,000 female lives annually in the United State alone.

Declining Money Management Skills May Be Sign of Impending Alzheimer’s

2009-10-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

If you’re 30 years old and having trouble managing your finances, it could be a sign you need to rethink your budget and perhaps seek professional guidance to get back on track and strengthen your financial skills. On the other hand, if you’re 65 and suffer from mild memory problems, a decline in your money management skills could signal progression toward Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Alabama in Birmingham arrived at the conclusion after comparing the money management skills of 87 people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to 76 people with no memory problems. They measured the participant’s skills at the beginning of the study and again a year later using a tool called the Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI), which looks at preparing and paying bills, understanding a bank statement and balancing a checkbook, identifying fraud situations, counting coins and currency, and buying groceries.

During the study period, 25 participants progressed to Alzheimer’s disease. Their FCI scores showed a 6 percent decline from the start of the study, and their skills in managing a checkbook dropped by 9 percent. The 62 people with MCI who did not progress to Alzheimer’s and the control group maintained their FCI scores throughout the year. “Our findings show that declining financial skills are detectable in patients with mild cognitive impairment in the year before their conversion to Alzheimer’s disease,” said lead study author Professor Daniel Marson, of the neurology department and the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University. “Doctors should proactively monitor people with MCI for declining financial skills and advise them and their caregivers about steps they can take to watch for signs of poor money management.”

Marson also had advice for caregivers to avoid negative financial events. “Caregivers should consider overseeing a person’s checking transactions, contacting the person’s bank to find money issues, such as bills being paid twice, or become co-signers on the checking account so that both signatures are required for checks written above a certain amount,” he said. “Online Banking and bill payment services are also good options,” he added.

Dr. Susanne Sorenson, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, agreed that this could be a useful indicator for doctors supporting people with memory problems. “Everyone struggles now and then to divide a restaurant bill or total up a checkbook,” she said. “However, this study suggests that if you already experience significant memory problems and start to notice a decline in your financial skills it could be a sign of developing dementia.”

Every 70 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s. There are 10 classic warning signs of the disease: memory loss, difficulty performing familiar tasks, problems with language, disorientation to time and place, poor or decreased judgment, problems with abstract thinking, misplacing things, changes in mood or behavior, changes in personality, and loss of initiative. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, but there are treatments that can slow the development of symptoms. These treatments work best when started early on in the course of the disease, and have less of an effect later on.

The study appears in the September 22 issue of Neurology.

Learning to Surf the Internet Gives Brain a Boost

2009-10-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

In recent years, new technologies have allowed scientists to gain a greater understanding of how the human brain ages and why, to pinpoint the parts of the brain that function or fail as a person ages, to predict when an older person is in the early stages of cognitive decline, and to find effective ways to prevent this decline. Previous studies have shown that mental exercise, especially learning new things or pursuing intellectually stimulating activities can increase the efficiency of cognitive processing and preserve mental functions. And scientists say learning to surf the Internet may be the latest way to exercise the mind and keep it strong.

A new study shows older adults who learn to search for information online experience a surge of activity in key decision-making and reasoning centers of the brain. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles compared brain activity in different regions of the brain in 24 healthy adults aged 55 to 78. Prior to the study, half the participants used the Internet daily, while the other half had very little experience.

An initial brain scan of those with little Internet experience showed brain activity in the regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities. After the first scan, participants went home where they conducted Internet searches for one hour a day for a total of seven days over a two-week period. These searches involved using the web to answer questions about various topics by visiting different websites and obtaining information.

A second brain scan conducted on participants with minimal online experience after the home Internet searches demonstrated activity of the same regions of the brain as the first scan, but there was also activity in the middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, areas of the brain known to be important in working memory and decision making—activity patterns very similar to those seen in the group of experienced Internet users.

The results suggest Internet training and searching online could potentially enhance brain function and cognition in older adults. “We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing Internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function,” Dr. Gary Small, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, said in a news release. Previous research by the UCLA team found that searching online resulted in a more than twofold increase in brain activation in older adults with prior experience, compared with those with little Internet experience.

Most experts now embrace the “use-it-or-lose-it” approach to brain functioning. “We found a number of years ago that people who engaged in cognitive activities had better functioning and perspective than those who did not,” said Dr. Richard Lipton, a professor of neurology and epidemiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and director of the Einstein Aging Study. “Our study is often referenced as the crossword-puzzle study —that doing puzzles, writing for pleasure, playing chess and engaging in a broader array of cognitive activities seem to protect against age-related decline in cognitive function and also dementia.”

The UCLA team says additional studies are needed to help identify aspects of online searching that generate the greatest levels of brain activation, as well as the impact of the Internet on younger individuals.

The findings were presented October 19 at the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, Illinois.