Health Shorts

March 2007

Exercising Outside: Use Your Head
Whatever the season, make a cap or hat part of your outdoor exercise outfit. With many blood vessels and not much flesh, the head is a prominent place to lose body heat. Wearing a head covering will lock in some of this heat during exercise outside in cold weather. A cap or floppy hat will also protect your head and face from the ultraviolet rays of the sun, which can damage the skin and increase the risk of skin cancer during extended outdoor sessions.
[SOURCE: Kenneth Cooper, M.D., “Exercising in the Heat,” WebMD Live Events Transcript, July 13, 2003]

More Moles Equal Greater Risk
Moles, freckles, brown spots and growths on the skin are nearly always harmless. However, if you have numerous moles–more than 100–you have a greater risk of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer.

Skin cancer often develops out of a new mole or a change in a present one. It’s a good idea to get to know your skin well so you can spot any changes and report them to your doctor or a dermatologist. The danger signs are ABCDE:

  •  Asymmetry–the two halves do not match,
  • Border–an uneven border with scallops or notches,
  •  Color–a number of different shades of brown, tan, black, red, white or blue,
  • Diameter–larger than that of a pencil eraser,
  • Evolving–in size, shape, elevation. Bleeding, itching or crusting.
[SOURCE: The Skin Cancer Foundation, “Melanoma.’]

Heart Risk Seen in Older Runners
It’s reasonable to assume that a healthy male over age 50 who has trained for and completed five marathon races (26.2 miles) over the last five years should be free of the worry of heart disease. Such may not be the case, according to a study presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association [November, 2006].

Of 108 male marathon runners in the study given a coronary calcium scan, 36 percent had scores over 100–considered a sign of increased risk of a heart attack. Among a control group of non-runners, only 22 percent had similar scores.

Author of the study, Dr. Stefan Mohlenkamp of Essen, Germany is a runner himself and cautioned that the study was not an excuse to quit exercising but may indicate a risk associated with high endurance competitive exercise for some individuals. The patients will be followed for five years to evaluate the reliability of the coronary calcium score in predicting heart problems.
[SOURCE: Bloomberg News, “Heart Risk Seen in Older Marathoners,” New York Times Health, November 14, 2006]

Steroids for Asthma Won’t Pump You Up

If you’re taking inhaled steroids for asthma, you don’t have to worry about getting huge muscles like those of top-level athletes accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.

The antiinflammatory drugs prescribed for asthma and other medical conditions are corticosteroids. The performance-enhancing drugs that build muscle mass are anabolic steroids.
[SOURCE: Norman Edelman and Jerome Bettis, “Asthma Control: Know Your Score,” WebMD Live Events Transcript, March 29, 2005]

Asthma Symptoms Not Always Typical
As most Americans know, the signs of an asthma attack are shortness of breath, tightness in the chest and wheezing. Sometimes, however, the disease presents with other symptoms that are not always recognized as asthma. These include:
  • rapid breathing,
  • sighing,
  • fatigue or inability to exercise as usual,
  • difficulty sleeping,
  • anxiety or poor concentration,
  • chronic cough.
Symptoms may vary with the individual or at different times with the same person.

To complicate matters further, some disorders such as heart failure, bronchitis and vocal cord dysfunction can cause wheezing and other symptoms that are easily mistaken for asthma.
[SOURCE: Michael Smith, M.D., “Asthma Complexities,” MedicineNet, May, 2006]

Fall, Winter Are the Cruelest Seasons

When you have asthma, fall and winter tend to be the cruelest seasons. Emergency department visits for asthma are generally lowest during the summer, highest during the fall and winter. Although allergens may be in the air during the spring, other irritants likely to bring on an asthma attack include cold, moist air, air pollution and viral infections–all of which are more common during the winter months.

Exercise challenge tests given to a group of 17-year-old subjects in Israel found that positive results during the summer were less than half those in other seasons.
[SOURCE: Shmuel Goldberg, et al, “Sensitivity of Exercise Testing for Asthma in Adolescents is Halved in the Summer,” Chest, October, 2005]


Cleanliness Helps Manage Allergies
For children with asthma symptoms brought on by exposure to cat allergens, frequent washing of sheets proved to be an effective strategy, according to a recent study. Combined with removal of stuffed animals and use of dust-proof covers for the mattress and pillows, the frequent washing resulted in a 49-fold reduction in allergen levels in the bedroom.

Among factors contributing to higher levels of cockroach allergens were food leftovers, exposed food, dirty pots and leaks in the kitchen.
[SOURCE: T.T. Perry, et al, “Room-Specific Characteristics of Suburban Homes as Predictors of Indoor Allergen Concentrations,” Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2006; 97:628-635]

Six Ways To Keep Your BP in Check
Evidence from large studies have identified six major lifestyle changes that are effective in preventing or lowering high blood pressure:
  •  regular moderate physical activity,
  • normal body weight,
  • limited alcohol consumption,
  • sodium reduction,
  •  increased potassium intake and
  • a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products.
[SOURCE: Norman M. Kaplan, M.D., “Lifestyle Modifications for Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension,” J Clin Hypertens 6(12):716-719, 2004]


Bipolar Patients at Risk of Weight Gain
Persons with bipolar disorder, whether they are being treated or not, are at risk of weight gain and the health risks associated with excess weight. The disorder itself is often associated with abdominal fat, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome. In addition, many medications used over the long term to control mood swings have weight gain as a side effect.

In one study of patients hospitalized with bipolar disorder, 56 percent had metabolic syndrome, often a precursor to type 2 diabetes. Prevalence in the general population is 25 percent.
[SOURCE: Dale A. D’Mello, “Prevalence and Consequences of Metabolic Syndrome in Bipolar Disorder,” Psychiatric Times, January 1, 2007]

Bipolar in Children Increasing
Bipolar disorder has been diagnosed in substantially larger numbers of adolescents and children over the past decade. The increase is believed to be due primarily to changing definitions and recognition that mania in youth may be seen as irritability, reckless behavior, aggression and explosive outbursts. These symptoms are also common with other problems such as attention deficit disorder, conduct disorder and substance abuse.

Once thought to be rare among children, bipolar disorder is now believed to have a prevalence of about one percent in younger age groups. There is controversy, however, about how broadly to define the criteria for diagnosis.
[SOURCE: AACP Official; Action, “Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, January, 2007]

Americans Eating Less Fat
But More Calories and Sodium
Over the past 20 years, Americans have listened to dietary advice given them and are now eating less total fat, saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. They are also consuming more calories and have a higher sodium intake than 20 years ago, according to data from the University of Minnesota Heart Survey published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association [February, 2007].

The researchers found that Americans are eating more fruits and vegetables but not enough fish to meet recommended levels. A “worrisome finding” was that improvement in the diet seems to have leveled off over the past five years after 15 years of steady progress.
[SOURCE: Lisa Harnack, et al, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, February, 2007; reported by Megan Rauscher, Reuters Health]

Read Labels for Sodium Content Too

Americans have become accustomed to checking product labels for saturated fats and trans fats, but how about sodium?

A report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found widely varying sodium content in various products including salad dressing and bottled spaghetti sauce.

One bottle of Caesar salad dressing, for example, listed 165 milligrams more sodium per tablespoon than another bottle. Bottled spaghetti sauces varied by as much as 500 milligrams per half cup. You can control the sodium content by making your own salad dressing and spaghetti sauce.
[SOURCE: Miranda Hitti, “Check Nutrition Labels, Advises New Report,” WebMD Medical News, August 17, 2005]

Eating Fish Reduces Heart Risk
Eating omega-3-rich fish once or twice a week will reduce your risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke by 36 percent–about the same benefit as that gained from taking a cholesterol-lowering statin. That was the conclusion of an analysis of studies on fish and health conducted by Harvard researchers and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association [October 18, 2006].
[SOURCE: Harvard Women’s Health Watch, February, 2007]

Archive

August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
April 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
Decmber 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
April 2002
November 2006


The information on this site is intended to increase your awareness and understanding of specific health issues. It should not be used for diagnosis or as a substitute for health care by your physician.