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Oddities, musings and news from the world of health
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Age may have its advantages in endurance sports
Endurance sports such as ultra-marathons, ultra-triathlons and cycling marathons have exploded in popularity over the years. Among them is the grandaddy of the genre, the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, which began in 1974 and meanders through ...
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Mommy
sports
Fitness
Parent training boosts medication effect for autism
Life with a child who has a pervasive developmental disorder such as autism or Asperger's syndrome is often a storm of tantrums, irritability, impulsive behavior and obstinacy — a challenge that has child psychiatrists ...
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Mommy
Autism
Swine flu declined slightly last week, but watch out for Thanksgiving, CDC says
Pandemic H1N1 influenza activity declined slightly last week, with only 43 states reporting widespread activity, compared with 46 states the week before, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this morning.
Even ...
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Mommy
Swine Flu
Have some sodium with that turkey alternative
Just in time for the pre-Thanksgiving shopping run comes a nutritional comparison of various meatless "turkeys." Fascinating stuff...
Take a look at this chart offered up by the American Dietetic Assn. The first thing that pops out ...
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Mommy
Nutrition
Here's who should really worry about cervical cancer, doctors say
The new cervical cancer screening recommendations might worry some women accustomed to getting screened every year. They shouldn’t, most doctors say.
Today's story: Group recommends less frequent Pap tests
The women who should be ...
And from the California swine-flu front lines...
So what's the H1N1 flu situation here in California, you might well ask, having safely gotten, or given up on getting, a vaccination? Or perhaps the immunization issue was rendered moot by those days of fever and chills and pathetic moaning, and now ...
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Mommy
Swine Flu
Health
The new mammogram recommendations: Task force member speaks up
Individualize, individualize, individualize. That's one message from the new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force report on mammograms that created such a ruckus this week. Though the recommendations have been painted by some as a blanket Ptth! to ...
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Mommy
What's in a name? Legislation would end use of the term 'mental retardation'
We health bloggers and reporters think about words a lot and care about using the right ones. So we were interested when we heard that a legislative proposal offered in the U.S. Senate recently would outlaw further use of the terms ...
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Mommy
Term
For pregnant women with MS or epilepsy, some good news
Researchers at Stanford University have found that women with multiple sclerosis or epilepsy have only a slightly higher risk of abnormal fetal growth and C-section delivery compared with women without the conditions. Let's repeat, only a slightly ...
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Mommy
pregnant
Pregnancy
Company seeks FDA permission to conduct clinical trial using human embryonic stem cells
Patients with a rare eye disease could be the first to be treated with human embryonic stem cells .
Advanced Cell Technology Inc ., a Santa Monica-based biotech company with labs in Massachusetts, announced today that it has asked the U.S. Food ...
Deaths following swine flu immunization not linked to vaccine, the WHO says
There have been about 40 deaths worldwide among people who have recently been vaccinated against pandemic H1N1 influenza, but there is no evidence the deaths are related to the vaccine, officials from the World Health Organization said today. At ...
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Mommy
Vaccine
Immunization
Swine Flu
Spray-on anesthetic prevents premature ejaculation in U.S. trials
The first U.S. trials of a spray-on anesthetic for the penis showed that it increased the time to ejaculation nearly five-fold, providing the first good solution for premature ejaculation, researchers reported today. The findings are very similar to ...
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Mommy
Sex
That mammogram fracas: The American College of Radiology wants a reversal
That poor old U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
They're asked to assess the science on mammograms, they duly do so and come out with advice that's unpopular — advice that suggests regular mammograms are not advisable for most women ...
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Mommy
Prematurity: California gets a C, the nation a D
The March of Dimes has just released its 2009 Premature Birth Report -- and California continues to do badly. Its premature birth rate is 10.9%, up from 10.7% in 2008. It gets a C.
The nation as a whole, which has a pre-term birth rate of ...
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Mommy
March of Dimes
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wades into the mammogram fray
The reaction to this week's U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation against regular mammograms for women under 50 was swift, emotional and highly public. Today, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius weighed in, ...
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Mommy
healthcare
Health
Don't blame Starbucks: Cops may have poorer health due to night shifts
Midnight shift workers often find it hard to get enough quality sleep on a consistent basis. Police officers are not exempt, often working late shifts and overtime as part of their job.
A new study finds that their schedule may cause cops to ...
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Mommy
Health
Starbucks
childhood obesity
KISS ex-drummer Peter Criss had breast cancer
News that former KISS drummer Peter Criss, he of the Catman persona, suffered breast cancer has provoked new interest in the subject of male breast cancer, a rare but potentially fatal tumor.
Men have only a small amount of breast ...
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Mommy
breast cancer
Swine flu cases drop on college campuses for first time
For the first time this academic year, college campuses have reported a significant drop in cases of influenza-like illness, generally assumed to be pandemic H1N1 influenza, according to the American College Health Assn. Unfortunately, the ...
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Mommy
Swine Flu
Health
Is a wonder pill necessarily wonderful for people with Down syndrome?
Scientists are hard at work developing a cure for the genetic disorder Down syndrome . But even if they succeed, nearly 60% of parents whose children have Down syndrome might take a pass.
In a survey conducted by researchers from the psychiatry ...
Cold virus may have caused 2007 AIDS vaccine trial failure
One of the biggest disappointments in AIDS research was the failure of Merck & Co.'s STEP trial of an experimental AIDS vaccine, which was terminated prematurely in 2007 when it became apparent that the vaccine seemed to increase the number of ...
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Mommy
Vaccine
AIDS
To fight inflammation with food
Inflammation -- a ramped-up immune system -- seems to be linked to chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease, and even the very fact of aging. Some foods, it turns out, promote inflammation. Others damp it down.
Shara Yurkiewicz, our ...
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Mommy
More evidence that Transcendental Meditation helps the heart
Transcendental Meditation has been around for many years and is perhaps the most scientifically tested of all forms of meditation. Two studies presented this week add to the evidence that this form of stress reduction benefits people with heart ...
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Mommy
Folic acid and cancer: New data might add to suspicion or, better, to discussion
We're not trying to pick on folic acid, honest. As food additives go, the synthetic version of vitamin B9, aka folate, is one of the more noble ones, widely credited -- heralded even -- for reducing the rate of neural tube birth defects. But we ...
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Mommy
Folic Acid
Nutrition
Sleep problems and age: Not necessarily bedmates, say sleep docs
Patients over 65 -- and sometimes their doctors -- often behave as if sleep problems are as inevitable a part of aging as aches and wrinkles. It doesn't have to be that way, says a group of leading sleep doctors. But to get help, physicians ...
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Mommy
Sleep problems
Prescriptions for Tamiflu and other swine flu antivirals up 6%
U.S. prescriptions for Tamiflu, Relenza and two other antiviral drugs used in the fight against pandemic H1N1 influenza totaled 587,960 in the week ending Oct. 30, a 5.9% increase from the week before, according to Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions ...
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Mommy
Swine Flu
Don't like those new mammogram recommendations? You're not alone.
When it comes to mammograms, not only can reasonable minds disagree, they can all legitimately do so while arguing for the greater good. One would think ... The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against regular ...
Criminal behavior may be hard-wired in the brain, researchers find
Are some people born criminals?
Increasing evidence from neuroscience suggests that many aspects of antisocial behavior can be traced to dysfunctional brains. For instance, brain scans of prisoners suggest the circuitry involved in fear ...
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Mommy
Even ancient Egyptians suffered hardening of the arteries, CT scans show
CT scans of Egyptian mummies, some as much as 3,500 years old, shows evidence of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, which is normally thought of as a disease caused by modern lifestyles, researcher said today. "Atherosclerosis is ...
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Mommy
Dr. Oz
U.S. cholesterol levels going down
The development of statins, a class of drugs that lower bad cholesterol, have made a big effect. A study published today found that the prevalence of American adults with high levels of LDL cholesterol (that's the bad kind) fell by about ...
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Mommy
Rapid, irregular heartbeats while exercising may not spell doom
The feeling can be scary: While exercising, the heart begins to beat quickly and irregularly for a short period of time. No wonder, then, that many people who experience it stop working out, afraid that they might have a heart attack.
Despite ...
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Mommy
Fitness
FDA says don't use Prilosec or Nexium with Plavix
The Food and Drug Administration warned today that patients taking the blood-thinning drug Plavix should avoid taking the acid reflux medications Prilosec and Nexium because they can interfere with Plavix's activity, reducing its efficacy by ...
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Mommy
FDA
New heart-assist device significantly improves survival in heart failure patients
Mechanical pumps originally designed to supplement the pumping action of a failing heart and keep the patient alive until a transplant could be found have taken a major step toward becoming a permanent treatment, a development that could ...
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Mommy
Now for a look at non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a diagnosis that could increase
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, has reportedly begun treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the body's lymphatic system. This is not his first battle with cancer. Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease -- a ...
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Mommy
Do these genes make my heart seem big? Study finds a gene for empathy
In the long-running nature-nurture debate over what makes us who we are, chalk up a new victory for nature.
A study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found a single coding variation in the human genome ...
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Mommy
Gene
Autism
New drug stimulates sexual desire in women in clinical trial
An experimental non-hormonal drug helped women increase their sexual desire and satisfaction and reduced the distress associated with lack of desire, researchers reported today. The clinical trial in 1,378 premenopausal women will provide the ...
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Mommy
Sex
Come Medicare Part D time (which is now), don't feel daunted -- help is at hand
Already the clock is ticking down toward the end of the enrollment -- and re-enrollment -- period for Medicare Part D. It opened Sunday and will end Dec. 31.
Need help figuring out what your drug needs are? We'll be offering advice in the Health ...
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Mommy
Health
Screen a heart, save a life
The tragedy of a young athlete dying is sometimes compounded by the discovery that he or she had an undiagnosed heart condition. And while those deaths due to heart rhythm disturbances are rare in young people (about 3,000 a year), some health ...
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Mommy
sports
Study points to increasing food allergies among children
Almost 4% of American children have food allergies, according to a sweeping analysis of the problem published today in the journal Pediatrics .
The study is the first to make a broad estimate of the prevalence of food allergies among U.S. ...
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Mommy
Food Allergies
Girls and young women have higher rates of both chlamydia, gonorrhea
Today, we get new data on chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis infections in the United States. And it appears that girls and young women age 15 to 19 -- especially African American girls and women -- are at considerable risk; they have the highest ...
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Mommy
Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
Sex
Softeners in plastics may affect masculinity in young boys, study says
Boys born to mothers who have above-normal levels of the controversial chemicals known as phthalates in their urine are less likely to exhibit masculine behavior, a new study has found. Phthalates, which block the activity of male hormones such as ...
Five Genzyme products for rare diseases found contaminated, but not a big danger
Vials of five drugs produced by Genzyme Corp. of Framingham, Mass., have been found to be contaminated with tiny particles of steel, rubber or fiber, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The drugs are not being recalled, but the agency and ...
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Mommy
Vytorin trial shows little or no benefit against heart disease
For the second time in as many years, a large clinical trial has found that the key ingredient in the heavily advertised drug Vytorin provides little or no benefit in preventing heart disease compared to much less expensive generic drugs and that it ...
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Mommy
Tissue engineers make penises for rabbits; humans next
North Carolina researchers have grown erectile tissue in the lab for rabbit penises, a feat that could have broad applications for adult males who have had damage to their organs and for children with congenital abnormalities. Eventually, the ...
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Mommy
Sex
New drug could boost women's libido
Women may soon have their own version of men's little blue pill for enhancing sexual appetite, according to the Bloomberg news service.
The experimental drug, called flibanserin, was originally developed in the 1990s by Germany's ...
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Mommy
Libido
Sex
FDA questions caffeine in alcoholic beverages
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday took the first step toward banning alcoholic beverages that contain caffeine, sending letters to nearly 30 manufacturers of such products giving them a month to prove that the products are safe.
The drinks ...
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Mommy
FDA
Caffeine
More tips from the Pantry Raid
Our nutritional makeover series "Pantry Raid" most recently took us to the home of Mission Viejo resident Kristy Noble and her sons, Scott, 14, and Robert, 17. The Nobles face time and money limitations familiar to lots of families that ...
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Mommy
Nutrition
Now 'Coke is it' on the London Underground
Ah, those London buskers: penniless music students sawing away on Vivaldi or earnest lads thrashing out Dylan classics as commuters throng down packed subway tunnels like so many frenetic gerbils. Now, thanks to an arrangement between the Coca ...
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Mommy
Gene therapy strengthens monkeys' muscles, may eventually work for human diseases
Injecting a gene into thigh muscles of a monkey's leg greatly increased muscle mass and strength, a finding that could have potential application in a variety of human diseases that involve muscular weakening, researchers reported this week in the ...
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Mommy
Gene therapy
Rodent of the Week: Drug shows effect on lung cancer tumors
Small-cell lung cancer is a disease sorely in need of better therapies. Now a study in mice has found a promising drug that may enter clinical trials in humans within a year.
One in five people with lung cancer has small-cell lung cancer. The ...
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Mommy
Fertility procedures do not delay cancer treatment, study finds
Women under 40 who are diagnosed with breast cancer often face the additional burden of losing their fertility due to the cancer treatment. If treatment is likely to cause future infertility, women may wish to undergo a procedure to harvest eggs ...
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