Human health info: 2009

TENS Gets Thumbs Down as Back Pain Treatment

Guidelines Say Portable Device That Applies Electric Current Doesn't Relieve Low Back Pain
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

A widely used, somewhat controversial treatment for chronic low back pain is not effective and cannot be recommended, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) now says.

Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation, or TENS, is a pocket-sized, battery-operated device that sends electric currents to the nerves via electrodes with the goal of treating pain.

TENS has been used for pain relief for four decades, but studies evaluating its effectiveness have been mixed.

A review of the available research assessing the use of TENS for pain led to the newly published recommendation against its use for chronic low back pain, says neurologist and guideline co-author Richard M. Dubinsky, MD, MPH, of Kansas University Medical Center.

"From the systematic review of the literature, based on the strength of the studies, we can say that TENS does not work for low back pain," he tells WebMD.
Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Tylenol Recall Expands

Nauseating 'Moldy' Odor From Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

A nauseating "moldy" odor has sickened some people using Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplet 100-count bottles with red EZ-Open caps.

Tylenol maker McNeil PPC Inc. has recalled all of this product, which is easily recognized by its distinctive red cap. The new recall expands a five-lot recall of the product announced last November.

McNeill says consumers reported the product had "an unusual moldy, musty, or mildew-like odor" linked to symptoms of nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea."

So far, all of these health events "were temporary and non-serious," McNeill says in a news release.

The source of the odor appears to come from the breakdown product of a chemical used to treat the wooden pallets on which the product's packaging materials were transported and stored.

The chemical linked to the odor, 2,4,6-tribromoanisole, is produced when fungi break down a commonly used fungicide called 2,4,6-tribromophenol. The full health effects of 2,4,6-tribromoanisole are not known.

Consumers who purchased the products should immediately stop using them and contact McNeil for a refund or replacement. McNeil can be reached on its web site or by telephone at 888-222-6036 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Any adverse reactions linked to the product should be reported to the FDA MedWatch program at 800-FDA-0178 or online at www.fda.gov/medwatch.

All of the recalled products carry the UPC #0045-0838-21 and the Code #8382100. The lot numbers of the recalled products are 07CMC011, 07DMC022, 07DMC024, 07FMC032, 07FMC033, 07GMC038, 07GMC039, 07HMC045, 07HMC051, 07HMC053, 07JMC064, 07JMC069, 07JMC070, 07JMC071, 07XMC055, 07XMC058, 07XMC062, 08AMC002, 08AMC005, 08CMC026, 08DMC029, 08EMC037, 08EMC039, 08FMC044, 08FMC045, 08GMC050, 08GMC053, 08GMC063, 08GMC065, 08JMC103, 08JMC109, 08JMC110, 08JMC111, 08KMC124, 08KMC127, 08KMC131, 08KMC132, 08XMC093, 08XMC094, 08XMC095, 09AMC010, 09CMC041, 09EMC075, 09EMC079, 09EMC076, 09GMC096, 09GMC097, 09GMC099, 09JMC118, 09JMC126, 09KMC133, 09KMC134, 09XMC114, and 09XMC116.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

What Are the Symptoms of Fibromyalgia?

Symptoms of fibromyalgia include:

* Chronic muscle pain, muscle spasms or tightness, weakness in the limbs, and leg cramps
* Moderate or severe fatigue and decreased energy
* Insomnia or waking up feeling just as tired as when you went to sleep
* Stiffness upon waking or after staying in one position for too long
* Difficulty remembering, concentrating, and performing simple mental tasks
* Abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, and constipation alternating with diarrhea (irritable bowel syndrome)
* Tension or migraine headaches
* Jaw and facial tenderness
* Sensitivity to one or more of the following: odors, noise, bright lights, medications, certain foods, and cold
* Feeling anxious or depressed
* Numbness or tingling in the face, arms, hands, legs, or feet
* Increase in urinary urgency or frequency (irritable bladder)
* Reduced tolerance for exercise and muscle pain after exercise
* A feeling of swelling (without actual swelling) in the hands and feet
* Painful menstrual periods
* Dizziness

Fibromyalgia symptoms may intensify depending on the time of day -- morning, late afternoon, and evening tend to be the worst times, while 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. tends to be the best time. They may also get worse with fatigue, tension, inactivity, changes in the weather, cold or drafty conditions, overexertion, hormonal fluctuations (such as just before your period or during menopause), stress, depression, or other emotional factors.

If the condition is not diagnosed and treated early, symptoms can go on indefinitely, or they may disappear for months and then recur.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Missing Birth Control Pills

I Forgot to Take My Birth Control Pills. What Should I Do?

If you forget to take a birth control pill, take it as soon as you remember. If you don't remember until the next day, go ahead and take 2 pills that day. If you forget to take your pills for 2 days, take 2 pills the day you remember and 2 pills the next day. You will then be back on schedule. If you miss more than 2 birth control pills, call your health care provider for instructions. Those instructions may be to take one pill daily until Sunday and then start a new pack or to discard the rest of the pill pack and start over with a new pack that same day.

Any time you forget to take a pill, you must use another form of birth control until you finish the pill pack. When you forget to take a birth control pill, you increase the chance of releasing an egg from your ovary. However, if you forget to take any of the last 7 out of the 28 day pills you will not raise your chance of pregnancy since these pills contain only inactive ingredients. If you miss your period and have forgotten to take one or more pills, get a pregnancy test. If you miss two periods while taking the cyclic birth control pills (those that have the "inactive" pills at the end of the pill pack) even though you have taken all your pills on schedule, you should get a pregnancy test.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Spices May Prevent Breast Cancer

Compounds Found in Black Pepper and Curry Powder Appear to Thwart Growth of Early Cells That Lead to Breast Cancer
By Kelli Miller Stacy
WebMD Health News

A new study suggests that compounds found in black pepper and curry powder help halt the growth of stem cells that give rise to breast cancer.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center applied piperine, found in black pepper, and curcumin, the main ingredient in the curry spice turmeric, to breast cancer cells in a laboratory dish. The spices, when used in combination, reduced the number of stem cells but did not harm normal breast cells.

“If we can limit the number of stem cells, we can limit the number of cells with [the] potential to form tumors,” Madhuri Kakarala, MD, PhD, RD, clinical lecturer in internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and a research investigator at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, says in a news release.

Stem cells have the potential to develop into many different cell types. Cancerous stem cells are believed to fuel tumor growth. Some researchers believe that controlling or even curing cancer involves targeting stem cells.

The study team discovered that piperine enhanced curcumin's effects. Curcumin and piperine are dietary polyphenols. Polyphenols are known to have anti-inflammatory and other protective properties. Together, the two spices prevented the breast cancer-initiating stem cells from regenerating and producing new cancer cells, a process called self-renewal. Yet the compounds appeared to have no effect on the normal cell development process.

“This shows that these compounds are not toxic to normal breast tissue,” Kakarala says. “The concept that dietary compounds can help is attractive, and curcumin and piperine appear to have very low toxicity.”

The spice solution in this experiment was about 20 times more potent than the individual spices found in a typical diet. Because piperine and turmeric have not been tested in patients at risk for breast cancer, the study team does not encourage supplement use at this time. They plan to conduct a clinical trial to determine the safe dose of curcumin and piperine in people.

This year in the United States, doctors will diagnose 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Drunk? Coffee Won't Get You Sober

Caffeine May Boost Alertness, but It Won't Get You Sober, Study Finds
By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News

Gulping down coffee won’t sober you up if you’re drunk, but it may make you awake enough to be dangerous, new research suggests.

Researchers draw that conclusion from laboratory experiments on mice, in which caffeine made drunken rodents more alert but didn’t reverse learning problems caused by alcohol.

Their study is published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience.

“The myth about coffee’s sobering powers is particularly important to debunk because the co-use of caffeine and alcohol could actually lead to poor decisions with disastrous outcomes,” Thomas Gould, PhD, of Temple University and one of the study authors, says in a news release. “People who have consumed only alcohol, who feel tired and intoxicated, may be more likely to acknowledge that they are drunk.”

Gould tells WebMD in an email that "coffee may reduce the sedative effects of alcohol, which could give the false impression that people are not as intoxicated as they really are."

But caffeine’s effect as a stimulant may create the illusion in intoxicated people that they are alert and competent enough “to handle potentially harmful situations, such as driving while intoxicated or placing themselves in dangerous social situations,” Gould says.

He and colleague Danielle Gulick, PhD, now of Dartmouth College, gave groups of young adult mice various doses of alcohol and caffeine by injection prior to learning a maze. A comparison group of mice was given only saline solution.

Alcohol increased movement and reduced anxiety and learning in the mice in proportion to doses given, the researchers say. The drunken mice became more relaxed and moved around more, but learned significantly less than animals given only saline.

The scientists tested three aspects of behavior -- the ability to learn which part of a maze to negotiate in order to avoid exposure to a bright light or sound; anxiety, which was reflected by time spent exploring the maze’s open areas, and general locomotion.

The drunken mice learned significantly less well than the sober ones in trying to avoid the frightening bright light or loud noise.

The doses of caffeine given to the mice were the equivalent of one to six or eight cups of coffee for humans.

When caffeine and alcohol were given together, the alcohol blocked caffeine’s ability to make the mice more anxious, but caffeine failed to reverse the negative effects that alcohol has on learning, according to Gould and Gulick.

The alcohol calmed caffeine-caused jitters in mice, leaving them less able to avoid threats, the authors say. The researchers write that although a combination of caffeine and alcohol consumed by people “may increase alertness during intoxication, and decrease the awareness of intoxication, there may be no equivalent rescue of learning. Thus, drinkers may consumer more alcohol when they are also consuming caffeine.”

“The bottom line is that, despite the appeal of being able to stay up all night and drink, all evidence points to serious risks associated with caffeine-alcohol combinations,” Gould says in the news release.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Divorce Has Lasting Toll on Health

Even With Remarriage, Disease Risk Elevated
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

Divorce and the death of a spouse frequently have long-term negative consequences for health, even in people who remarry, new research shows.

It is clear that a recent divorce or widowhood is associated with an increase in poor health and depression in the near term, but the new study is one of the first to examine its effects on health years and even decades later.

Compared to married people who had never been divorced or widowed, those who had were more likely to experience long-term health problems.

Specifically:

* Those who were divorced or widowed were 20% more likely to have heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or another chronic condition.
* They were also 23% more likely to have mobility problems, such as difficulty climbing stairs or walking short distances.
* Those who were divorced or widowed but then remarried still had 12% more chronic health conditions and 19% more mobility problems than married people who had never experienced divorce or the death of a spouse; but they were only slightly more likely to report depression.

Divorce Has Long-Term Impact

Sociologist and study co-author Linda J. Waite, PhD, of the University of Chicago tells WebMD that divorce and widowhood appear to have a more long-term influence on physical health than on mental health.

“Mental health seems to be much more responsive to your current state,” she says. “But if you ignore your physical health by not exercising, eating right, or seeing the doctor when you are sick, that can have a lasting impact. And that is what people tend to do when they lose a marriage to divorce or death.”

In the study, 8,652 people between the ages of 51 and 61 were surveyed about their health and past and current medical status.

Three out of four respondents were married at the time they were surveyed. Just over half (55%) had never been divorced or widowed and 21% were remarried following a divorce or death of a spouse.

Compared to married people who had never been divorced or widowed, people who had lost a spouse to death or divorce but were not remarried at the time they were surveyed were 22% more likely to have chronic health conditions and 27% more likely to have mobility issues.

They were also twice as likely as divorced or widowed people who were remarried to have chronic health problems.

The study appears in the September issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. (www.webmd.com)

All Slim-Fast Cans Recalled

Possible Bacterial Contamination Spurs Recall of All Ready-to-Drink Slim-Fast Canned Products
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News

All Slim-Fast ready-to-drink canned products are being recalled because of possible contamination with Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that may cause diarrhea and possibly nausea and/or vomiting.

Unilever United States, Inc. issued the voluntary recall in cooperation with the FDA.

"The probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote," states a Unilever news release. Unilever says it issued the recall "out of an abundance of caution" based on its quality testing of Slim-Fast ready-to-drink (RTD) products in cans.

The recall involves all ready-to-drink Slim-Fast products sold in cans, regardless of flavor, "Best-By" date, lot code, or UPC number.

The recall doesn't include any other Slim-Fast products, such as powdered shakes, meal bars, or snack bars.

The recalled cans are sold individually or packaged in paperboard cartons containing four, six, or 12 steel cans that are marked "11 FL OZ (325 mL)" each.

Unilever urges people to immediately discard Slim-Fast ready-to-drink products in cans and call the company at 800-896-9479 for a full refund. Unilever's Consumer Services Center is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time. A recorded message is available around the clock, every day.

Unilever states that it "is in the process of identifying and correcting the production issue, and will resume production and shipping of the product when the issue has been addressed and corrected."

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Aluminum Can Tabs Still Pose Health Risks

Researchers Say Changes in Design Haven't Prevented Accidental Ingestion
By Charlene Laino
WebMD Health News

The aluminum can manufacturers' move to make the tabs on cans harder to ingest is apparently too easy to swallow.

The so-called stay-tabs were developed to prevent accidental ingestion of the pull-tabs that preceded them. But young people are still swallowing them, says Lane F. Donnelly, MD, director of biodiagnostics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

If you fiddle with the stay-tab, it can easily break off," he said, while demonstrating how the tabs are easily separated from the cans with a couple of twists.

"Then, you may place it in the can, forget, and end up swallowing it," he tells WebMD.

Swallowing foreign objects, be it a penny or a can tab, can injure the GI tract, causing bleeding or other problems. Surgery is sometimes required.

About three decades ago, manufacturers began refitting beverage cans with the stay-tabs, after research showed that children were swallowing pull-tabs. One study revealed two cases of accidental ingestion and one case of aspiration after children swallowed pull-tabs that had been dropped into the cans.

The new study, presented here at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), suggests that the new tabs "have not reduced the number of ingestions," Donnelly says.
Children Still Swallowing Stay-Tabs

Donnelly and colleagues identified 19 cases of inadvertent stay-tab ingestion at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center from 1993 to 2009.

"If we have 19 cases at one institution, it's probably a much bigger problem nationwide," he says.

The children's ages ranged from 1 to 18 years. "We were surprised that most of them were teenagers," Donnelly says.

Of the 19 cases in the study, only four of the stay-tabs could be spotted on X-rays.

Donnelly showed a series X-rays, demonstrating how a penny that had been accidently ingested was easily viewed, but how it was nearly impossible to see the aluminum tabs.

Connelly says that none of the 19 youths suffered breathing problems or vomiting or required further treatment. But there is always a risk of internal bleeding because of the sharp edges on the breakaway tabs, he says. There's also a risk of the tab causing obstructions, he says.

One of the children was sent home with instructions "not to suck on can tabs" when drinking beverages.

"A better education campaign is needed," Connelly says.

Joseph Tashjian, MD, president of St. Paul Radiology in Minnesota and moderator of a news briefing, says that the new tabs are "a substantial step forward" from the old pull-tabs.

"They are rounded -- not as sharp," he says. With the original pull-tabs, surgery was sometimes required to remove the devices after accidental ingestion, he notes.

Still, further research is needed to make them safer, Tashjian says.

"We probably need some changes in can design -- cans that keep the tabs better attached," Donnelly says.

Source & Picture: http://children.webmd.com

Diabetes Rate May Double by 2034

Cost of Treating the Disease Set to Triple, Researchers Say
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

If nothing is done, the number of Americans with diabetes will nearly double in the next 25 years and spending on the disease will nearly triple, a new study shows.

An aging population combined with a dramatic rise in obesity has created a perfect storm for diabetes in the U.S., researchers say.

"A perfect storm is a good way to look at it," study researcher Elbert S. Huang, MD of the University of Chicago tells WebMD. "If things stay the way they are right now we will have massive increases in diabetes incidence in this country over the next two decades."

By 2034, as many as 44 million Americans will have diabetes, up from 23 million today, according to the new projections, published in the November issue of the American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes Care.

The cost of caring for diabetes patients is projected to rise from $113 billion to $336 annually, and that is before adjusting for inflation.

These costs will outpace the increase in cases because more diabetes patients will be older and sicker and will require more expensive medical care, experts say.

Is Your Type 2 Diabetes Under Control? Get Your Health Score
Trouble for Medicare

Age is one of the biggest risk factors for type 2 diabetes, and the transition of baby boomers from middle to old age will drive much of the increase, the study shows.

As a result, by 2034, half of all direct spending in diabetes care is projected to occur in the Medicare population.

About 8 million Americans covered by Medicare now have diabetes and it cost $45 billion to treat them in 2009.

The number of diabetes patients whose treatment is paid for by Medicare is projected to nearly double to 14.6 million in the next 25 years, and the cost of caring for them is expected to quadruple.

By 2034, annual Medicare spending on diabetes care is projected to rise to $171 billion.

Although little can be done about the aging of the population, much can be done about the other major risk factor for type 2 diabetes -- obesity.

About 65% of Americans are overweight, and about one-third are obese, the CDC says.

The obesity rate among adults in the U.S. doubled between 1980 and 2004, but it appears to have leveled off since then.

The new diabetes model developed by the Huang and colleagues predicts a slight decline in obesity rates in the U.S. over the next two decades.
Target Obesity, Change the Future

All agree that a bigger decline in obesity, achieved though successful public health initiatives, could make a huge difference.

The future projected in the newly published study does not have to become reality, experts say.

"The cost of doing nothing is clearly going to be quite high," study co-researcher Michael O'Grady, PhD, said in a news conference. "To do nothing right now is going to cost billions and billions of dollars."

Source & Picture: diabetes.webmd.com

MRSA Strain on the Rise in Hospitals

Study Shows Community-Associated MRSA Is Spreading in Health Care Facilities
By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News

A potentially dangerous and rapidly spreading strain of the "superbug" MRSA poses a much greater public health threat than previously thought, new research shows.

Community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) is spreading in hospitals and other health care facilities, according to a study in the December issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The CA-MRSA strain of superbug can be picked up in fitness centers, schools, and other public places, and is increasing the already significant burden of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in hospitals, the researchers report.

CA-MRSA and hospital-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) are bacteria resistant to most common antibiotics.

HA-MRSA infections occur mostly in hospitals and other health care settings, including dialysis centers and nursing homes, and often strike mostly older adults, people having invasive medical procedures, and people with weakened immune systems.

CA-MRSA is a leading cause of serious skin and soft tissue infections, entering the body through scrapes and cuts, the researchers say.

The study, which analyzed data from more than 300 microbiology labs across the U.S., found a sevenfold increase in the proportion of CA-MRSA in outpatients between 1999 and 2006.

This community-associated strain is making its way into hospitals, the researchers say, increasing threats to patient safety because patients and their doctors move back and forth between inpatient and outpatient units of hospitals.

"This emerging epidemic of community-associated MRSA strains appears to add to the already high MRSA burden in hospitals," Ramanan Laxminarayan, PhD, MPH, a senior fellow at Extending the Cure, a project at the Resources for the Future think tank in Washington, D.C., says in a news release.

This major increase in CA-MRSA, the researchers say, has become a major concern.

Over the length of the study, the scientists report finding that the proportion of MRSA had increased more than 90% among outpatients with staph, and now accounts for more than 50% of all Staphyloccus aureus infections.

This was due, the findings suggest, almost entirely to an increase in CA-MRSA strains.

Similar increases in inpatients suggest these strains are spreading rapidly into hospitals.

"MRSA has generally been a significant problem only in hospitals," says Eili Klein, MA, the lead author of the report and also a researcher at Resources for the Future. "But the findings from this study suggest there is a significant reservoir in the community as well."

This suggests that the increased cases of CA-MRSA are causing that bug to spread from the community into hospitals, Klein says.

Hospitals need to take steps to stop this by stepping up infection control procedures, the researchers say, adding that the best way to contain MRSA and other superbugs is through surveillance and regular efforts aimed at infection control.

"Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has become a major problem in U.S. hospitals already dealing with high levels of hospital-associated MRSA," the researchers write. They conclude that "more rapid diagnostic methods are urgently needed to better aid physicians" in fighting MRSA. (www.webmd.com)

Baked Fish Beats Fried for Omega-3 Boost

Study Shows Baked Fish Is Better for Heart Health Than Fried, Salted, or Dried
By Charlene Laino
WebMD Health News

When it comes to reaping the heart-healthy benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in fish, it often comes down to how you prepare it, a study shows.

"The take-home message is that it's better to bake or boil the fish instead of frying it," says study researcher Lixin Meng, MS, a doctoral candidate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. And adding a dash of low-sodium soy sauce will enhance the heart-healthy benefits, she tells WebMD.

Eating salted, dried, or fried fish, on the other hand, is not beneficial, Meng says. "But if it’s a fun occasion and you really want fried fish, do it the Japanese way -- stir-fry, rather than deep-fry it."

If the idea of eating fish, no matter how it's prepared, turns you off, take heart: Other researchers report they've genetically engineered soybean plants to produce oil that boosts levels of certain omega-3 fatty acids in the blood.

"This soybean oil could be an effective alternative to fish oil as a source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids," says researcher William Harris, PhD, chief of cardiovascular health research at the University of South Dakota's Sanford School of Medicine in Sioux Falls.

Both new studies were presented at the American Heart Association's (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2009.
Omega-3s Cut Heart Risk

The AHA recommends eating at least two servings of fatty fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids like DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) a week to protect against heart disease, says AHA spokeswoman Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, a nutritionist at Tufts University.

Salmon, sardines, tuna, halibut, and mackerel are among the fish that are richest in omega-3s.

"How you cook the fish, the type of fish, and the amount of fish you consume [all impact its health-health benefits], but not enough attention has been placed on the best way to ensure you get enough of the fatty acids in your diet," says Lichtenstein, who was not involved with the work.

To help fill in the knowledge gap, Meng and colleagues examined the source, type, amount, and frequency of dietary omega-3 consumption among men and women in different ethnic groups.

The study involved 82,243 men and 103,884 women, ages 45 to 75, in Los Angeles and Hawaii. The participants represented five major ethnic groups: African Americans, whites, Hispanics, Japanese-Americans, and native Hawaiians. None suffered from heart disease at the start of the study.

Over the next 10 years, 2,604 of the men and 1,912 of the women died from heart disease.

When the men on the study were divided into five groups depending on their omega-3 intake, those in the highest group consumed an average of about 3.3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids daily. Men in the lowest group consumed about 0.8 grams a day.

Men in the highest group of omega-3 intake had a 23% lower risk of dying due to heart disease than those in the lowest group, the study showed.

Men of white, Japanese, and Hispanic descent appeared to get more benefits from omega-3s than African-American or Hawaiian men, possibly because of how they cook the fish or genetic predisposition, Meng says.

In women, the link between omega-3 fatty acid intake and heart disease wasn't as strong, she says.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Drug May Boost Women's Sexual Desire

Study Shows Flibanserin Increases Satisfying Encounters for Women With Low Libido
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News

An investigational drug that didn't perform well as an antidepressant appears to slightly boost sexual desire as well as the number of satisfying sexual encounters in women with lagging libidos, a study shows.

The research was presented this week at the 12th Congress of the European Society for Sexual Medicine in Lyon, France.

Some wonder if the drug, called flibanserin, will be the new ''female Viagra," but critics say the effect is minimal. Meanwhile, the manufacturer is planning additional clinical trials and expanding the participant pool to include older women.

The big news, according to those who studied flibanserin? "There is something that works on the neurotransmitters in the central nervous system to alter sexual desire in a positive way," says John M. Thorp Jr., MD, McAllister distinguished professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, and a principal investigator for the U.S. trials.

Source & Picture: www.women.webmd.com

Staying Healthy in Tough Times

Try these cheap ways to boost health in a bad economy.
WebMD Feature
By Peter Jaret
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD

With the economy ailing, lots of us are looking for ways to save money. Unfortunately, we may be looking in all the wrong places.

Scrimping and saving by putting off doctor’s visits? Not filling that prescription because it costs too much? Letting your gym membership lapse? Any one of those decisions could end up costing you dearly in the long run.

Luckily, there are plenty of cheap and effective ways to stick with a healthy lifestyle even in the face of an ailing economy.
Can’t afford that pricey gym membership?

That’s no excuse for becoming inactive. "You don’t have to go to a gym to get the wide range of health benefits of exercise," says Steven Blair, PhD, professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina.

Fitting in just 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity activities -- walking, gardening, even doing housework -- substantially reduces the risk of chronic diseases, according to the latest federal physical activity guidelines. Building and maintaining muscle strength may take a little more ingenuity. One option: learn a set of basic calisthenics that include push-ups, sit-ups, deep knee bends, and leg lifts. Another alternative: buy an inexpensive set of stretch bands, which can be used to do dozens of strength-building exercises.
Having trouble stretching your food budget?

A limited food budget is no reason to reach for junk food. "Some of the healthiest foods out there are actually the least expensive," says Kathy McManus, PhD, director of inpatient nutrition services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. A few examples:

* Beans. They’re a great low-calorie source of fiber and protein. And they cost pennies a serving, especially if you buy dried beans and soak them yourself. Add beans to pasta sauce, chili, or soup. Or serve them as a side dish, seasoned with your favorite spices.
* Peanuts. Rich in protein and heart-healthy oils, peanuts are a relatively inexpensive and filling snack. The lowest priced peanuts are typically found in the bulk food aisle.
* Homemade breakfast cereal. Instead of buying an expensive packaged cereal, make your own by combining whole oats and other grains, raisins, nuts and seeds bought in bulk
* Make-them-yourself beverages. Save money by skipping expensive bottled beverages and make your own by brewing up tea for iced tea or adding a splash of fruit juice to carbonated water.
* Frozen vegetables. If fresh vegetables are too expensive, head for the freezer aisle. “Because vegetables are flash frozen soon after being harvested, they may contain higher levels of antioxidants than fresh vegetables that are a day or two old,” says Allyson Mitchell, PhD, a crop scientist at the University of California at Davis. Another option: raise your own vegetables. More and more people are gardening, which offers not only a harvest of healthy foods but also a way to stay fit.

Cooking at home instead of eating out is another way to save money and stay healthy, especially when you skip processed foods and cook from scratch. Home-cooked meals tend to be lower in fat and salt than restaurant offerings. Surveys show that people who eat at home are less likely to be overweight or obese.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Healthy Cats

Cat Gets H1N1 Swine Flu
Iowa Cat Got Pandemic Flu Bug From Owners
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

A sick Iowa pet is the latest evidence that cats can carry the H1N1 swine flu virus.

The pandemic flu bug was detected in a sick, 13-year-old Iowa cat after two members of the family that owns the cat fell ill, the Iowa Department of Health reported yesterday.

The cat -- and both humans -- recovered from their illnesses.

"It's not unexpected news ... we know that influenza viruses can be transmitted between humans and animals," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner tells WebMD.

The Iowa cat was taken to the veterinary college at Iowa State University, where tests of a nasal swab confirmed the cat was infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus.

"Just because the virus was found in a sick cat doesn't mean the virus was the cause of the cat's illness," Atlanta veterinarian Megan Hilf, VMD, tells WebMD.

Even so, the CDC warns people with flu-like symptoms to avoid giving the virus to their best friends.

"If people are sick and have pets and they are concerned, then we suggest they follow the same steps we tell them to follow when it comes to preventing spread to other humans: Cover coughs and sneezes, frequently wash your hands, and try to distance yourself from your pet until you have been without fever for 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medicine," Skinner says.

Can cats carry H1N1 swine flu and transmit it to people or to other pets? Maybe, says Drew Weigner, DVM, a feline specialist in Atlanta.

"There is currently no evidence that cats can transmit H1N1 to people," Weigner tells WebMD. "While there is currently no evidence that cats can transmit H1N1 to cats or other pets, it would not be surprising to find transmission from one cat to another -- but this is not yet known to have occurred."

Cats do readily become infected with another worrisome flu bug -- the deadly H5N1 bird flu. Fortunately, that killer virus has not become widespread in either cats or humans. And the H5N1 virus is very different from the H1N1 swine flu virus.

In fact, Weigner says, cats rarely get infected with any kind of flu virus.

"What is often referred to as 'cat flu' is actually a syndrome describing an upper respiratory infection with several different viruses such as herpesvirus and calicivirus," he says.

A 2007 study of blood samples collected from 1999 to 2005 from 60 domestic and 51 free-roaming cats in and around Milan, Italy, showed no indication that any of the animals had ever been infected with any flu virus.

But if a cat does get a human flu bug, what symptoms would it have?

"Since only one cat has been confirmed to be infected with H1N1, it remains to be seen how this virus affects cats," Weigner says. "One would expect infected cats to have a fever and upper respiratory symptoms including sneezing and eye or nasal discharge. The most important point is that any cat exhibiting signs of illness should be examined by your veterinarian as soon as possible."

Weigner and Skinner note that other animals have picked up H1N1 swine flu from humans, including pigs, birds, and ferrets. H1N1 swine flu is a human virus not known to be circulating in pigs.

The diagnosis of swine flu infection in the Iowa cat was a collaboration between the Iowa Department of Public Health; Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine; the Center for Advanced Host Defenses, Immunobiotics, and Translational Comparative Medicine, the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Lands Stewardship Animal Industry Bureau.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Foods to Help You Feel Better

6 ways to add mood-boosting foods to your diet.
By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD
WebMD Feature

Are you feeling down in the dumps? Are you irritated at how often you’ve been irritable?

Perhaps it’s time to look at the foods and drinks you consume to see if they are trashing your mood. Nutrition experts say that the foods you eat can help you feel better -- or feel worse -- in the short-term and the long-term.

* Meal-to-meal and day-to-day, keeping your blood sugars steady and your gastrointestinal (GI) tract running smoothly will help you feel good and energetic. If your blood sugars are on a roller-coaster ride -- hitting highs and lows from too much sugar and refined flour – you are more likely to feel out of sorts. This is also true if your gastrointestinal system is distressed due to intense hunger from a fad diet or constipation because you aren’t getting enough fiber and water.
* Week-to-week and month-to-month, keeping your body healthy and disease-free makes good moods more likely. For example, key nutrients you get in certain foods can influence the levels of feel-good hormones such as serotonin. Other nutrients can help prevent inflammation so blood circulates well to all of your organs.

“Eating a heart healthy diet -- high in fiber and low in saturated fat -- is a great place to start to boost your mood. There isn’t any question about it, says Diane M. Becker MPH, ScD, director of the Center for Health Promotion at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Conversely, “a high-fat, high-glycemic load meal can make you physically feel dysfunction in your body. People who eat this type of meal tend to feel bad and sleepy afterwards,” she says.
6 Tips for Foods and Beverages That Help You Feel Good
1. Seek out foods rich in vitamin B12 and folic acid (folate).

What’s special about chili made with kidney beans and lean beef? Or a light chicken Caesar salad made with skinless chicken breast and romaine lettuce? Or grilled salmon with a side of broccoli?

All these dishes feature one food that is rich in folic acid (folate) and another that is rich in vitamin B12. These two vitamins appear to help prevent disorders of the central nervous system, mood disorders, and dementias, says Edward Reynolds, MD, at the Institute of Epileptology, King’s College, London.

The link between higher food intakes of folate and a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms crosses cultures, too. A recent study confirmed this association in Japanese men.

Folic acid is usually found in beans and greens. Vitamin B12 is found in meats, fish, poultry, and dairy.

Other dishes that feature B-12 and folic acid-rich foods include:

* A burrito or enchilada made with black beans plus beef, chicken, or pork
* A spinach salad topped with crab or salmon
* An egg white or egg substitute omelet filled with sauteed spinach and reduced-fat cheese

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Diabetes on the Rise in U.S.

Survey Shows About 26 Million Americans Have Diabetes
By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News

Diabetes cases are rising rapidly in the U.S., with the disease afflicting 11.3% of American adults in the third quarter of 2009, according to a new Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index survey. That's an increase from 10.4% in the first quarter of last year.

That means about 26 million Americans have diabetes. Gallup-Healthways notes if current trends continue, more than 37 million will be living with the disease by the end of 2015.

Not coincidentally, the survey shows the U.S. obesity rate is up about 1 percentage point in quarter-over-quarter comparisons to 2008.

According to Gallup-Healthways, Americans who are obese are almost three times as likely as those who aren't to be diagnosed with diabetes.

"The upward trends in obesity rates almost certainly play a substantive role in the increase in diabetes rates over the same time period," the survey states. "More than one-fifth of obese adults [have diabetes]" -- or 21.2%, compared to 7.4% of non-obese people of comparable ages.

The survey, echoing results of many studies, says one of the best ways to reduce obesity is to exercise. Between January and September 2009, it reports a sharply higher incidence of diabetes among those who didn't exercise at least a half hour on any given day in the previous week.

According to Gallup-Healthways:

* 8% percent Americans with diabetes exercised at least 30 minutes a day, four to six times per week.
* 9.5% exercised at least half an hour daily in the previous week.
* 15% did not exercise at least 30 minutes in the week before they were surveyed.

"While exercise is seasonal and is expected to climb in the warmer months, year-over-year comparisons reveal a 2009 decline of 2.7 points in the percentage of American adults who say they are exercising at least 30 minutes three or more times per week, compared with 2008," according to Gallup-Healthways.

The 10 states with the highest increases in obesity from 2008-2009 have, on average, also seen a related increase of 0.5 percentage points in diabetes incidence, the survey shows. These states are Wyoming, Alaska, Minnesota, Maine, Idaho, Tennessee, Iowa, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Texas.

The 10 states whose obesity rates have remained unchanged or decreased since 2008 have seen an average reduction in reported diabetes incidence of 0.3 percentage points. These states -- Delaware, Montana, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Louisiana, Virginia, Missouri, Nevada and Florida -- provide examples for future study to learn more about managing diabetes nationally, according to Gallup-Healthways.

The report was based on telephone interviews with 623,538 adults, 18 or older, conducted from January to September 2009 and has a sampling error of +/- 0.3 percentage points.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Officials: Stay Calm on Swine Flu Vaccine

Swine Flu Vaccine Gap Is Closing, Health and Homeland Secretaries Say
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

The H1N1 swine flu vaccine demand/supply gap is closing, two top administration officials said today.

The promise came in a joint appearance by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, held to soothe U.S. frustrations over the slow rollout of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine program.

H1N1 swine flu continues to sweep the nation -- and so do complaints about long lines and insufficient vaccine supplies.

"This is not a situation that calls for panic," Napolitano said. "The protection of the country as a whole is under way. ... The thing we have to do now is work our way through the sequence of events. That sequence is that states have opened 150,000 vaccination sites, and every day that goes by, more vaccine is being made available."

Napolitano and Sebelius said they understood Americans' frustrations over the slower-than-predicted availability of H1N1 swine flu vaccine. But they defended the decision to ship vaccine doses as soon as they became available, rather than waiting for production of enough vaccine to ensure a smooth-running program.

Sebelius noted that the original plan had been to start the vaccination program around Oct. 15. But advisory panels made up of nongovernment flu and infectious-disease experts urged the administration to release H1N1 swine flu vaccine as soon as possible.

"We made the decision when some early vaccine became available to push it out the door, even though it was in much smaller quantities than we had anticipated," Sebelius said. "Since Oct. 5, when we began vaccinating Americans, more than 23 million doses have become available and more is being processed every day. ... That pace is picking up. The early problems and production challenges have been fixed."

Those problems include:

* Early "seed" viruses did not grow well on hens' eggs.
* The yield of viral antigen per egg -- the key ingredient in a vaccine -- was lower than expected.
* Glitches plagued new "fill and finish" production lines manufacturers had added to speed vaccine production.
* Each state has a different plan for how to provide vaccine to its citizens. Some states were less prepared than others.

Such problems are the rule, and not the exception, for a biologic product that is made via a 50-year-old process.

"There is no question that production started more slowly than anyone would have liked, but frankly, many things that could have gone wrong actually have gone right," Sebelius said. "We want folks to remember that a safe and effective vaccine was the primary goal, and we have arrived at that end goal. The supply to states is steadily growing."

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Build the Body You Want

Here's a sign of the times: You can actually hire people to come to your house and organize your closets. They'll also do your garage, your attic, and the shed in your backyard. These people are tough on pack rats. They ask questions like "Why do you have this box of dog leashes, but no dog?"

My job isn't all that different. As a trainer, if I see something in a client's workout -- or my own -- that doesn't belong there, I get rid of it. If I see a redundant exercise, it's gone. Disorganized workout? I organize it. And if I see a client doing a program he got out of some old bodybuilding magazine, I throw the whole thing out and start over.

I can't come to your gym and fix your workout (or organize your closets). But I can tell you what you need to know to organize your own regimen, based on your goals, your available time, and your experience. I'll even throw in six sample body building workouts for beginner through advanced lifters. Now, about those closets . . .
Goals

I assume the closet lady would start by asking, "What do you need this closet to do for you?" Me, I'd ask the same question, substituting the word "workout" for "closet." Usually, these goals fall into three categories:

Lose weight: If you're a beginner, start with a circuit routine in which you do 10 to 12 exercises one after the other, 10 to 15 repetitions per set, with little or no rest in between. Do two or three circuits.

If you're more advanced, try supersets. In these, you do two exercises back-to-back, rest 60 seconds, and then repeat once or twice. There are many ways to do supersets, but for fat loss, I'd like to see you use as much muscle as possible. One way is to pair exercises that work completely different muscles, such as squats and seated rows.

Build muscle: For most men, I recommend exercises that allow you to do eight to 12 repetitions per set. You can do them as straight sets-complete a set, rest about 60 seconds, do the next set of the same thing, and keep going that way until you've finished all your sets and are ready to move on to the next exercise.

If you have more experience, try supersets, but not the way you did them for fat loss. Pair synergistic exercises-two moves that work the same muscles. Usually, the first is a compound move to work a lot of muscles, the second a single-joint exercise to focus on one large muscle. So barbell bench presses might be followed by dumbbell flies. Shoulder presses could lead in to lateral raises.

Gain strength: There's no secret here-heavy weights, low repetitions (usually three to five per set for the most important moves, such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses), and longer rest (up to 4 minutes) between sets. You don't have to do every exercise this way, of course. Start with low reps on your main moves, then do more repetitions with lighter weights and shorter rest periods on less important ones.

Source & Picture: www.menshealth.com

HPV Vaccine Gardasil OK'd for Boys

FDA Approves Gardasil to Help Prevent Genital Warts in Boys and Young Men
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News

The FDA has approved the vaccine Gardasil to help prevent genital warts in boys and young men.

Gardasil is now approved for males ages 9 to 26 for the prevention of genital warts caused by two human papillomavirus (HPV) strains: HPV 6 and HPV 11.Those are two of the four HPV strains that Gardasil targets.

In September, an FDA advisory panel recommended Gardasil's approval to prevent genital warts in boys and young men. The vaccine wasn't up for consideration to help prevent cancer in males or to curb transmission of the HPV virus, which is sexually transmitted, to women.

Gardasil is not yet on the CDC's schedule of recommended vaccines for males. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will discuss that possibility at a meeting next week.

Gardasil, which is made by the drug company Merck, already has FDA approval for use in girls and young women ages 9 to 26. In females, HPV can cause cervical cancer.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

U.S. Pregnancy Rate Is Dropping

CDC Report Shows the Abortion Rate Also Declined Between 1990 and 2005
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News

The U.S. pregnancy rate dropped by 11% from 1990 to 2005, a new CDC report shows.

According to that report, there were an estimated 6.4 million pregnancies in the U.S. in 2005, which works out to a rate of 103.2 pregnancies per 1,000 women ages 15-44, compared to a rate of 115.8 pregnancies per 1,000 women ages 15-44 in 1990.

The 2005 pregnancy rate is close to the nation's pregnancy rate in 1976, when the CDC started tracking pregnancy data.

Other findings, published in the CDC's National Vital Statistics Report, include:

* Women in their 20s had the highest pregnancy rates from 1990 to 2005.
* Pregnancy rates dropped by 8% for married women and by 11% for unmarried women during 1990-2005.
* Pregnancy rates dropped for teens during 1990-2005, with a greater decline for teens ages 15-17, compared to older teens.

The data do not include the 2006 rise in teen birth rates reported earlier this year.

The estimated 6,408,000 pregnancies in the U.S. in 2005 include 4.14 million live births, 1.21 million induced abortions, and 1.06 million miscarriages or other fetal losses.

The abortion rate fell during the years studied. Among married women, seven out of 1,000 pregnant women got an abortion in 2005, down from 11 per 1,000 pregnant women in 1990. Among unmarried women, 31 per 1,000 pregnant women got abortions in 2005, compared to 48 per 1,000 in 1990.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Staying Healthy in Tough Times

Try these cheap ways to boost health in a bad economy.
WebMD Feature
By Peter Jaret
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD

6 Reasons Why Your Cold Lingers

Why Your Cold Won't Go Away, and What to Do About it
By Lisa Zamosky
WebMD Feature

It’s almost an annual rite of passage: Winter comes and despite your best efforts, you catch a cold. In today’s fast-paced world, it’s hard to slow down for a mere case of the sniffles. Many of us try to work straight through our colds and hope that, with minimal effort, the symptoms will get better quickly. Although that may sometimes be the case, it can also happen that pesky cold symptoms leave us feeling drained for what seems like an eternity.

Cold symptoms can vanish in as little as two days. Seventy percent of people who catch a cold feel better within a week, says Gary Rogg, MD, an internal medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. But it is not unusual to suffer from symptoms of the common cold for as long as two weeks.

Sometimes, it’s the things we do - or don’t do - that leave us feeling ill for longer than we expect. Why does your cold seem to be hanging on for longer than it should? Here are six possible reasons.
1. Lack of Rest

Sleep plays an important role in our immune system. In fact, a study published earlier this year in the Archives of Internal Medicine demonstrated that people who got less than seven hours of sleep per night were nearly three times more likely to catch a cold than were people who slept for eight hours or more.

Once you do have a cold, it will also take longer for it to clear up if you don’t get adequate rest.

"Most of society in general doesn’t want you calling in sick; they look down on you if you use your sick days," Rogg says. "But when you're sick, the ideal thing is to stay home and stay away from people and rest it out."
2. Low on Fluids

Fluids play an important part in your healing process as well. If your cold won’t go away, consider drinking more water, Gatorade, or juice.

A lack of fluids can cause discomfort and dehydration, particularly because your water demands increase when you’re sick, given the loss of fluids from drainage. In some circumstances, a lack of fluids in your system might contribute to prolonging your symptoms.

By drinking extra water when you’re sick, you’ll help to flush congestion out of your system, says Peter Katona, MD, associate clinical professor of infectious diseases at the University of California Los Angeles Health System.

"Increasing the amount of fluid in your system actually allows the mucus trapped in your nose and chest to flow better," Katona says.

But be warned, Rogg says. Drinking a lot of water, or taking an over-the-counter medicine such as Mucinex, which helps to loosen and thin the mucus that causes congestion rather than drying it out, may cause you to feel worse initially because the mucus is increasing in volume. Although this often creates more pressure, ultimately the mucus causing your discomfort will drain better than if you keep taking medications that dry you out.

"It’s like honey on the table you don’t clean up right away," Rogg says. "You squeeze water on it first. Then it comes off easier." (www.webmd.com)

10 Foods Most Likely to Make You Sick

Leafy Greens, Eggs, and Tuna Are Among Foods Mostly Like to Cause Food-borne Illness
By Todd Zwillich
WebMD Health News

Here's a surprise: Some of the healthiest foods may also be the most likely to cause food-borne illness.

That's the conclusion in a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). The report shows leafy greens, sprouts, and berries are among the most prone to carry infections or toxins.

"We don't recommend that consumers change their eating habits," says Caroline Smith DeWaal, the CSPI's head of food safety programs. Instead, the group is trying to point out vulnerabilities in the nation's food safety system as it lobbies Congress to beef up enforcement.

The group analyzed CDC data on food illness outbreaks dating back to 1990. They found that leafy greens were involved in 363 outbreaks and about 13,600 illnesses, mostly caused by norovirus, E. coli, and salmonella bacteria.

The rest of the top 10 list included:

* Eggs, involved in 352 outbreaks and 11,163 reported cases of illness.
* Tuna, involved in 268 outbreaks and 2,341 reported cases of illness.
* Oysters, involved in 132 outbreaks and 3,409 reported cases of illness.
* Potatoes, involved in 108 outbreaks and 3,659 reported cases of illness.
* Cheese, involved in 83 outbreaks and 2,761 reported cases of illness.
* Ice cream, involved in 74 outbreaks and 2,594 reported cases of illness.
* Tomatoes, involved in 31 outbreaks and 3,292 reported cases of illness.
* Sprouts, involved in 31 outbreaks and 2,022 reported cases of illness.
* Berries, involved in 25 outbreaks and 3,397 reported cases of illness.

It is unclear how many of the outbreaks can be blamed on the foods themselves. The CDC's database can't discriminate between outbreaks caused by tomatoes, for example, vs. those caused by other ingredients in a salad. Foods like potatoes are almost always consumed cooked, so it is unlikely that potatoes themselves caused 108 outbreaks.

Still, Smith DeWaal called the list "the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to food-borne illnesses in the U.S. Not all outbreaks are reported to public health authorities. In addition, the analysis focused only on foods regulated by the FDA; that leaves out beef, pork, poultry, and some egg products, which are policed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"Consumers always want to know what they should do to avoid getting sick," says Sarah Klein, lead author of the report. She recommends "defensive eating," including keeping food cold and cooking it thoroughly, chilling oysters and avoiding them when raw, and avoiding raw eggs or using them in homemade ice cream.

Several bills that are circulating in Congress aim to crack down on food safety by requiring all food producers to keep written safety plans and giving the FDA more power to inspect plans and enforce rules.

"In a relative scale our food supply remains quite safe," says Craig Hedberg, a professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. The CDC says 76 million Americans get sick from food-borne illnesses each year.

"Because most people don't experience a bad outcome from a lapse in good behavior it's difficult to enforce," he says.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Autism May Be More Common Than Thought

Survey Shows 1 in 91 Children May Have Autism Spectrum Disorder
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News

About 1% of U.S. children, or about one in 91, may have autism or an autism spectrum disorder, according to two new national surveys.

The new estimate is a dramatic increase from the previously accepted number of one in 150. But experts who discussed the findings of the two new surveys -- one released today and the other due out before year's end -- urged caution in interpreting the new information about the developmental disorders.

A new survey by the CDC found that about 1% of U.S. children are affected by an autism spectrum disorder, says Ileana Arias, PhD, deputy director of the CDC.

No further details were available on the CDC survey, due to be released in full later this year.

The same prevalence, however, was found in the survey released today, says Michael D. Kogan, PhD, of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration. With his colleagues, Kogan drew on data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, a telephone survey of parents jointly conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the CDC.

The parents of more than 78,000 children ages 3 to 17 were asked if their child had ever been diagnosed with autism or other disorders on the spectrum, such as Asperger's syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder. If parents answered yes, they were then asked if their child currently had an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and if so, how severe the condition was -- mild, moderate, or severe.

In all, 1,412 said their children had ever been diagnosed with an ASD, and 913 said their child still had the condition. Next, Kogan's team took the number of children in the survey with ASD and the total number of children surveyed and computed estimates of autism spectrum disorder prevalence based on the general population.

''We estimate that the prevalence of ASD among children 3-17 in 2007 was around 110 in 10,000,'' Kogan says. "What this translates to is about one in every 100."

The survey also showed that white non-Hispanic children were more likely than black non-Hispanic or multiracial children to have the diagnosis, he says. Boys were four times as likely as girls to have ASD.

About 38% of the parents said they had been told previously their child had an ASD but that the child did not currently have the condition. The survey results are published in the journal Pediatrics.
Interpreting the New Autism Data

Experts are not certain what to make of the findings but urged caution in interpreting them. "In ASD, we don't know if the change in the numbers over time is a change in the actual condition," Arias says, or to other factors.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Drinking Water Quality: What You Need to Know

Most of us don’t think about the water we drink. We turn on a tap, fill a glass, and drink. But how much water do you really need to drink every day? Is the water you're drinking safe or would bottled water be safer? What can you do if your tap water suddenly became contaminated? Read on to find out how much you know about the drinking water in your own home.
How Much Water Do You Need?

Your body weight is more than 50% water. Without water, you couldn’t maintain a normal body temperature, lubricate your joints, or get rid of waste through urination, sweat, and bowel movements.

Not getting enough water can lead to dehydration, which can cause muscle weakness and cramping, a lack of coordination, and an increased risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. In fact, water is so important that a person couldn’t last more than five days without it.

So how much water do you need? Enough to replace what you lose daily through urination, sweating, even exhaling. And your need for replacing water increases:

* In warm or hot weather
* With vigorous physical activity, such as exercise or working in the yard
* During bouts of illness, especially if you are vomiting or have diarrhea

You often hear that you need to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day. In 2004, the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board recommended that women actually need 91 ounces of water daily, and men need 125 ounces.

The good news is if you’re healthy, you don’t really need to keep track of how much you drink. You can get enough water each day by drinking when you’re thirsty and consuming fluids like soup and drinks, with your meals. Just keep in mind that if you’re going to do something strenuous, like playing sports or running, you’ll need extra water before, during, and after.
Water Quality: Is Tap Water Safe?

You need to stay hydrated, that’s clear, but is the tap water in your home safe? It is if the water comes from a public water system in the United States, such as one run and maintained by a municipality. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to monitor all public water systems and sets enforceable health standards regarding the contaminants in drinking water.

When drinking water leaves a treatment plant on its way to your house, it must meet strict safety standards. That doesn’t mean that your water is free of all contaminants, but that the levels of any contaminants don’t pose any serious health risk.

Of course, accidents can happen. If the water supply becomes contaminated by something that can cause immediate illness, the supplier must promptly inform you. Suppliers also need to offer alternative suggestions for safe drinking water. In addition, they have 24 hours to inform customers of any violation of standards that could have major impact on health following a short-term exposure.

Source: www.women.webmd.com

Mean Girls: Why Girls Bully and How to Stop Them

Researchers are gaining more and more insights into what drives girl bullies -- and why they so desperately need help.
By Susan Davis
WebMD the Magazine - Feature

When I was in seventh grade, Helen arrived in my New England town. We locals had never seen anything like her. She was from New Jersey. She wore hip-hugger bell-bottoms, knew sexy line dances, smoked cigarettes, and had actually kissed a boy.

She was also mean. She befriended me initially -- perhaps because I lived next door and she needed a friend. But once she realized I was a shy bookworm, she dropped me. Then she laughed at my clothes (in my face) and started rumors about me (behind my back).

Eventually I learned to ignore her. But the pain of her rejection haunted me for years. It even made me distrustful of "girl groups" long into adulthood.

The topic of girl bullying is not new. Dozens of lay books and scholarly journals have explored the ways "relational aggression -- tactics such as exclusion, rumor mongering, and Internet harassment -- can damage girls' self-esteem. But only recently have researchers begun looking at what bullying does to the bullies themselves. The news is not good.
The Impact of Bullying

In the short term, girl bullies often are rejected by peers and lack meaningful relationships, notes Charisse Nixon, PhD, co-author of Girl Wars: 12 Strategies That Will End Female Bullying and an assistant professor of developmental psychology at Pennsylvania State University in Erie.

In the long term, "these girls learn to manipulate people like chess pieces," Nixon says. "Unfortunately, this can harm their ability to have meaningful relationships and successful careers."

Some characteristics of a girl bully are jealousy, feelings of superiority, poor impulse control, and lack of empathy. Nixon believes girls bully when their basic needs of "ABCs, and me" -- acceptance (by self), belonging (among others), control, and meaningful existence -- are thwarted. "These needs apply to everyone," she notes, "children and adults." People will do what they need to do to get those needs met.
Prevent Bullying

Whatever the cause of bullying, researchers are now focusing on prevention -- including counseling to get at the root of the need to bully; teaching healthy communication skills; and introducing schoolwide antibullying programs.

What should you do if your daughter is accused of being a bully? Psychologist Charisse Nixon, PhD, offers these tips and advises seeking counseling if the behavior continues.

Discuss perspective. "Developmentally, adolescents often have no idea how their behavior hurts others."

Model healthy ways of dealing with conflict . "As grown-ups we are often unconscious of the ways we ourselves bully, like the way we gossip behind people's backs. But girls pick up on all that," says Nixon.

Make sure her basic needs are being met. These include acceptance and a sense of belonging. "If she's not getting what she needs, she'll find a destructive way to cope."

No antibullying programs -- or even caring adults -- existed to help my tormentor, Helen, who, I realized later, was having a hard time herself. She had just moved to a new school and her parents were divorced. No doubt she put me down to give her own social standing a leg up. It's a shame she had no better way.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

Living to 100 to Become Common?

Report Predicts Most Babies Born Since 2000 in Wealthy Countries Will Live to 100
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News

Reaching the age of 100 may become pretty ordinary for most babies born in rich countries since 2000, according to a new report.

"If the pace of increase in life expectancy in developed countries over the past two centuries continues through the 21st century, most babies born since 2000 in France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., the USA, Canada, Japan, and other countries with long life expectancies will celebrate their 100th birthdays," states the report, published in The Lancet.

The report comes from researchers including Kaare Christensen, MD, of the Danish Aging Research Centre at the University of Southern Denmark.

Christensen and colleagues note that life expectancy in most developed countries keeps rising and shows no sign of slowing down. But they also point out that it remains to be seen if obesity, which has also been rising, will put the brakes on rising life expectancies.

Christensen's team predicts that societies will stop looking at life as consisting of three phases -- childhood, adulthood, and old age -- and start dividing "old age" into a "third age (young old)" and a "fourth age (oldest old)."

"Very long lives are not the distant privilege of remote future generations -- very long lives are the probable destiny of most people alive now in developed countries," write the researchers.

Will people be healthy in their "fourth age"? It may be too soon to tell.

Christensen and colleagues say there is "sparse" data on health among people age 85 and older. But they also point to earlier detection and better treatment of many conditions, including cancer and heart disease.

For the record, Japan has the world's longest life expectancy -- 83 years for babies born in 2007, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Life expectancy is 77.9 years for U.S. babies born in 2007, according to preliminary data from the CDC.

Source & Picture: www.webmd.com

100 Worst Cities for Fall Allergies

McAllen, Texas, Tops the Asthma and Allergy Foundation's 2009 List of Fall Allergy Capitals
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News

McAllen, Texas, is the worst city in the U.S. this year for fall allergies, according to the new list of "fall allergy capitals" selected by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

Cities are ranked based on four factors: prevalence data, seasonal pollen, allergy medicine use per patient, and the number of board-certified allergists per patient.

Here is the full list of all 100 fall allergy capitals:

1. McAllen, Texas
2. Wichita, Kan.
3. Louisville, Ky.
4. Oklahoma City
5. Jackson, Miss.
6. Dayton, Ohio
7. Augusta, Ga.
8. Tulsa, Okla.
9. Knoxville, Tenn.
10. Little Rock, Ark.
11. Madison, Wis.
12. San Antonio
13. Dallas
14. New Orleans
15. Baton Rouge, La.
16. Charlotte, N.C.
17. St. Louis
18. Birmingham, Ala.
19. El Paso, Texas
20. Virginia Beach, Va.
21. Memphis, Tenn.
22. Chattanooga, Tenn.
23. Des Moines, Iowa
24. Austin, Texas
25. Greensboro, N.C.
26. Omaha, Neb.
27. Columbia, S.C.
28. Philadelphia
29. Kansas City, Mo.
30. New York
31. Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
32. Richmond, Va.
33. Indianapolis
34. Allentown, Pa.
35. Cape Coral, Fla.
36. Bakersfield, Calif.
37. Nashville, Tenn.
38. Grand Rapids, Mich.
39. Syracuse, N.Y.
40. Tucson, Ariz.
41. Houston
42. Buffalo, N.Y.
43. Tampa, Fla.
44. Charleston, S.C.
45. Columbus, Ohio
46. Lakeland, Fla.
47. Riverside, Calif.
48. Orlando, Fla.
49. Toledo, Ohio
50. Atlanta
51. Milwaukee, Wis.
52. Detroit
53. Washington, D.C.
54. Jacksonville, Fla.
55. Las Vegas
56. Providence, R.I.
57. Scranton, Pa.
58. Los Angeles
59. Cincinnati
60. Pittsburgh
61. Sarasota, Fla.
62. Baltimore
63. Oxnard, Calif.
64. Akron, Ohio
65. Phoenix
66. Rochester, N.Y.
67. Modesto, Calif.
68. Albuquerque, N.M.
69. Palm Bay, Fla.
70. Hartford, Conn.
71. Boise City, Idaho
72. Chicago
73. New Haven, Conn.
74. Fresno, Calif.
75. Minneapolis
76. Lancaster, Pa.
77. Harrisburg, Pa.
78. San Francisco
79. Springfield, Mass.
80. Raleigh, N.C.
81. Youngstown, Ohio
82. San Jose, Calif.
83. Cleveland
84. Denver
85. Daytona Beach, Fla.
86. Bridgeport, Conn.
87. Colorado Springs, Colo.
88. Worcester, Mass.
89. Portland, Maine
90. Miami
91. Boston
92. Stockton, Calif.
93. Ogden, Utah
94. Salt Lake City
95. Sacramento, Calif.
96. Greenville, S.C.
97. San Diego
98. Seattle
99. Albany, N.Y.
100. Portland, Ore.

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