Too Much Sleep Triggers Migraines

About 12% of the population, or 36 million Americans, suffer from migraine headaches, according to the AHS.

Although most people with migraines have one or two attacks a month or less, about 3% of the population has chronic migraines, which occur at least 15 days each month.

Dodick says understanding the molecular pathways that trigger migraines or cause occasional migraines to become chronic could lead to better drugs to treat or prevent them.

Although getting enough sleep is important for people with migraines, having a sleep routine is even more critical, he says.

Just as too little sleep can trigger migraine headaches, so can too much sleep at one time.

"That's why 'Saturday morning' migraines are so common," he says. "If someone with migraines who gets up during the week at 6 a.m. sleeps in on Saturday, this can cause a migraine."

The same is true for irregular afternoon naps or any disruption in the regular sleep pattern.

"Sleep routine is very important," Dodick says. "People with migraines need to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time every day. If they get up at 6 a.m. during the week they need to do the same thing on Saturday and Sunday."

SOURCES: American Headache Society 52nd Annual Scientific Meeting, Los Angeles, June 24-27, 2010.

Paul L. Dunham, PhD, Missouri State University, Center for Biomedical & Life Sciences, Springfield, Mo.

David Dodick, MD, president, American Headache Society; professor of neurology, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix.

News release, American Headache Society.

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12 Mouthwatering Meatless Meals

Meat-free, but flavor-packed

Looking for a way to save money? Meatless meals are less expensive, and plant-based diets may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. These 12 vegetarian recipes will wow your taste buds without hurting your wallet.

Ravioli With Tomatoes, White Beans, and Escarole

This recipe combines Mediterranean spices and white beans to get a protein-packed pasta.

Ingredients: Four-cheese ravioli, great Northern beans, diced tomatoes, basil, oregano, red pepper, fresh escarole or spinach, grated Asiago cheese

Calories: 329

source: www.health.com

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Obesity Rates Jump in 28 States

Americans are continuing to get fat, with obesity rates nudging upwards in 28 states over the past year, a new report shows.

“More than two-thirds of states now have adult obesity rates above 25 percent,” Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, said during a Tuesday news conference. “Back in 1991, not that long ago, not a single state had an obesity rate above 20 percent. There’s been a dramatic change in a relatively short period.”

“Obesity is one of the biggest public health crises in the country,” Levi added. “Rising rates of obesity over past decades is one of the major factors behind skyrocketing health care costs in the U.S., one-quarter of which are related to obesity.”

Mississippi weighed in for the sixth year in a row as the fattest state, with 33.8 percent of its adults obese, while Alabama and Tennessee tied for second (31.6 percent). The other top 10, also concentrated in the south, were West Virginia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arkansas, South Carolina and Michigan tying with North Carolina for 10th place (29.4 percent).

Michigan was the only state in the top 11 not in the South, an anomaly perhaps explained by the state’s economy.

“Michigan certainly has been very hard hit, not just in the recent recession, but in the last decade or so,” Levi explained.

And, as the report also shows, income is a major driver of the obesity epidemic. More than 35 percent of adults bringing in less than $15,000 a year were obese, vs. only 24.5 percent in the over-$50,000 income bracket.

The healthiest states in terms of weight were congregated in the Northeast and West. Colorado (19.1 percent) came in first, followed by Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, Rhode Island, Utah, Montana and New Jersey. The District of Columbia was the only region to experience a decline in obesity rates.

In addition to geographic and economic differences, this year’s report also focused on racial and ethnic disparities, finding that blacks and Latinos bear the brunt of the obesity problem. Blacks and Latinos outweighed whites in at least 40 states plus D.C.

“Just over 30 percent of African-Americans and nearly 40 percent of Latino children are overweight versus 29 percent of white children,” Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and chief executive officer of PolicyLink, said during the teleconference.

As with adults, this puts them at higher risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease.

Racial/ethnic differences are closely intertwined with economic inequalities.

“The link between poverty, race and obesity is undeniable,” Glover Blackwell said. “For example, Mississippi, the poorest state in nation with an African-American population of more than 37 percent, has the highest obesity rate of any state and highest proportion of obese children.”

Poor and minority neighborhoods lack safe streets and parks in which to exercise and many are also so-called “food deserts.”

“Twenty-three million African-Americans do not have access to a grocery store within a mile of where they live, and only 8 percent of African-Americans live in a census tract with a grocery store,” Glover Blackwell said.

A poll on childhood obesity included in this year’s report found that 16.4 percent of children aged 10 to 17 are obese and 18.2 percent are overweight. Although the rates are troubling, the trend may have stabilized, the report said.

But the issue is at least getting on the radar, with 80 percent of Americans saying they believe “childhood obesity is a significant and growing challenge for the country.”

Some glimmers of hope have also appeared on the horizon, including “three major developments at the federal level,” Dr. James Marks, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said during the teleconference. “This includes First Lady Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ program; health care legislation that includes support for obesity-related projects; and many states and communities have mandated nutritional standards for school meals and snacks as well as foods sold in schools.”

“In the last few years, promising programs and policies have increased exponentially, but our response as a nation has yet to fully match magnitude of problem,” Levi said.

The report was co-authored by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

More information

The Trust for America’s Health has the full report.

SOURCES: June 29, 2010, teleconference with: Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director, Trust for America’s Health; James Marks, M.D., senior vice president, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and chief executive officer, PolicyLink; F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010

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Save our environment with green biofuel technology

People are now continuously searching for green and clean coal biofuel technology. A good news come from N-Viro International which support this green technology. They convert various types of waste into beneficial alternative fuel products. Their coal clean fuel product of course will help us to save our green environment.

Enviro owns patented technologies to convert various types of waste into beneficial alternative fuel products. Waste-to-energy is the process of creating energy in the form of electricity or heat from the incineration of waste source. waste to energy is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes produce electricity directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.

Some alternative energy companies are now developing new ways to recycle waste by generating electricity from landfill waste and pollution. To reduce more pollution, we may use opportunity fuels. This is any type of fuel that is not widely used, but has the potential to be an economically viable source of power generation.

Watch this video to get more information about renewable energy from Enviro Technology

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Why We Must Reduce Health Care Costs

Health care costs continue to rise, with no end in sight. But many people aren't aware of what accounts for those costs and where the money goes. However, such awareness is key to finding ways to bring costs down.

Where does the money go?

Here are the major categories of health care costs in the U.S. as reported in 2007:
* Hospitals: 32%
* Health insurance administration and profits: 13%
* Medications: 10%
* Physician income: 9%
* Physician expenses: 7%
* Clinical laboratory services: 5%


Private health insurance

The overhead costs and profits of private health insurance is just one of the reasons for my disappointment that a health reform bill, now being considered in Congress, will likely have no type of public insurance option. In contrast to these large costs for private insurance, administrative overhead for Medicare is only about three percent. Of course, anyone who has tried to deal with private insurance companies can express plenty of other objections about them. It is evident that their total attention is to bottom line profit rather than to any real interest in providing for the health of their policy holders.

New medications and increasing longevity

Scientific advances have led to the availability of many new medications that may prolong life or at least reduce suffering. Medications are likely to become an even larger fraction of the health care budget because of their high development costs, the extraordinary effectiveness of some, and the increasing longevity of individuals. Although many patients take these largely insurance-covered costs in stride, they still contribute significantly to the overall cost of health care.

Nonetheless, some savings are possible. If physicians were more aware of the costs of drugs, they might be able to prescribe equally effective, less costly alternatives. Physicians tend to prescribe the newest drug for high blood pressure, for example, even though it is more expensive and no more effective than earlier medications. Not infrequently a physician may acquiesce to a patient's request to get a drug they have heard about in a television ad-for example, the highly touted Plavix which is far more expensive and not necessarily any better than aspirin in many situations.

Physician income reasonable

It seems reasonable to me that we physicians share about nine percent of the pie. Although physician incomes have not fallen, studies show that on average they need to spend more working time to maintain such incomes. However, what is not evident from the nine percent figure is the unfair discrepancy in reimbursements, which pay big bucks to specialists for procedures and far less to the internist or general practitioner who carries out the evaluation and long term management of patients. Interventive cardiologists may deny it, but it's easy to understand how their income from an angioplasty procedure may lead them to recommend it even though angioplasty prolongs life no more than non-invasive medical treatment in people with stable coronary heart disease.

Physician expenses and insurance claims

Physician expenses include obvious things such as rent and salaries for a receptionist and nurse, but physicians also spent 10 to 15 percent of their gross income for billing and collection, preparing a variety of insurance forms (often requiring hiring an additional person), and an average of three hours a week on the phone or corresponding with insurance claims adjusters. The cumulative cost of the time physicians spend in these interactions with insurers is estimated at $23 to $31 billion annually. The costly and time consuming tasks of paperwork and completing multiple insurance forms weigh heavily in physician dissatisfaction and early retirements.

Laboratory tests... more to come

The rising number of laboratory tests ordered by physicians continue to be of concern to both the medical community and the public.

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Prevention of Specific Infectious Diseases

Description:
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a rod-shaped bacterium that can cause disseminated disease but is most frequently associated with chronic pneumonia. Transmission occurs when a contagious patient coughs, spreading the bacilli through the airborne route to a person sharing the same air space. The exposed person may acquire latent infection (sometimes abbreviated LTBI) or, depending on host factors, tuberculosis disease. Both conditions can usually be treated successfully with medications (1).

Multi-drug resistant or MDR-TB is TB resistant to at least two of the most effective drugs, isoniazid and rifampin (also called first-line drugs). XDR-TB is resistant to at least these two drugs and three of the six second-line drugs used to treat MDR-TB.



Occurrence

In many other countries, tuberculosis is much more common than in the United States, and it is an increasingly serious public health problem (2). Although MDR-TB occurs globally, it appears to be rare compared to drug-sensitive TB. XDR-TB is of particular concern among HIV-infected or other immunocompromised persons (see Maps 4-13, 4-14).
Risk for Travelers

To become infected, a person usually has to spend a relatively long time in a closed environment where the air was contaminated by a person with untreated tuberculosis who was coughing and who had numerous M. tuberculosis organisms (or tubercle bacilli) in secretions from the lungs or larynx. Infection is generally transmitted through the air; therefore, there is virtually no danger of its being spread by dishes, linens, and other items that are touched, or by most food products. However, it can be transmitted through unpasteurized milk or milk products (e.g., some cheeses) obtained from infected cattle (1). Documented sites of XDR-TB include crowded hospitals, prisons, homeless shelters, and other settings where susceptible persons come in contact with infected persons with TB disease.

Travelers who anticipate possible prolonged exposure to tuberculosis (e.g., those who could be expected to come in contact routinely with hospital, prison, or homeless shelter populations) should be advised to have a tuberculin skin test or QuantiFERON TB-Gold test (QFT-G) before leaving the United States (1,3). If the result is negative, they should have a repeat test approximately 8-10 weeks after returning (4,5). Because persons with HIV infection are more likely to have an impaired response to the test, travelers should be advised to inform their physicians about their HIV status. Except for travelers with impaired immunity, travelers who have already been infected are unlikely to be reinfected (1).

Travelers who anticipate repeated travel with possible prolonged exposure or an extended stay over a period of years in an endemic country should be advised to have a baseline two-step tuberculin test or a single-step QFT-G (4). If the baseline test is negative, annual screening would identify recent infection, which should prompt medical evaluation to exclude disease and treatment for latent infection.

CDC and state and local health departments have published the results of six investigations of possible tuberculosis transmission on commercial aircraft. In these six instances, a passenger or a member of a flight crew traveled on commercial airplanes while contagious with tuberculosis. In all six instances, the airlines were unaware that the passengers or crew members had tuberculosis. In two of the instances, CDC concluded that tuberculosis was probably transmitted to others on the airplane. The findings suggested that the risk of tuberculosis transmission from an infectious person to others on an airplane was greater on long flights (8 hours or more). The risk of exposure to tuberculosis was higher for passengers and flight crew members sitting or working near an infectious person because they were more likely to inhale droplets containing M. tuberculosis bacteria (6).

Based on these studies and findings, WHO issued recommendations to prevent the transmission of tuberculosis in aircraft and to guide potential investigations. The risk of tuberculosis transmission on an airplane does not appear to be greater than in any other enclosed space. To prevent the possibility of exposure to tuberculosis on airplanes, CDC and WHO recommend that persons known to have infectious tuberculosis travel by private transportation (that is, not by commercial airplanes or other commercial carriers), if travel is required. CDC and WHO have issued guidelines for notifying passengers who might have been exposed to tuberculosis aboard airplanes (6). Passengers concerned about possible exposure to tuberculosis should be advised to see their primary health-care provider for evaluation.


read more http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/yellowBookCh4-TB.aspx

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The Power of Positive Reinforcement

When you're faced with a challenge, a little positive self-talk goes a long way. Learn how to find your own success mantra.

Studies back up the benefits of positive self-talk: Research suggests that consistently replacing negative thoughts with optimistic ones may improve your outlook, reduce stress and lift your self-esteem. Here's how to come up with a motivating personal mantra you can rely on again and again:

1. First, envision your ideal life, then come up with an encouraging phrase that makes it sound as if what you desire is already a reality. Instead of "I hope tomorrow is better," try "I believe that tomorrow will be a better day."

2. Repeat your mantra whenever you start to badmouth yourself ("I'm such a loser!"). You'll retrain your brain to focus on the positive, not the negative. Share your successful mantras on our Happiness forum.

3. Can't think of a mantra that doesn't make you feel silly? Try one of these:

"I choose to love and appreciate myself and others."
"I am grateful for the good and wonder in my life."
"I can make healthy choices and be the architect of my future."
"I forgive my flaws and celebrate my strengths."

Source: http://health.yahoo.com/

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Treatment of Tuberculosis

The recommendations in this document are intended to guide the treatment of tuberculosis in settings where mycobacterial cultures, drug susceptibility testing, radiographic facilities, and second-line drugs are routinely available. In areas where these resources are not available, the recommendations provided by the World Health Organization, the International Union against Tuberculosis, or national tuberculosis control programs should be followed.

What's New In This Document

* The responsibility for successful treatment is clearly assigned to the public health program or private provider, not to the patient.
* It is strongly recommended that the initial treatment strategy utilize patient-centered case management with an adherence plan that emphasizes direct observation of therapy.
* Recommended treatment regimens are rated according to the strength of the evidence supporting their use. Where possible, other interventions are also rated.
* Emphasis is placed on the importance of obtaining sputum cultures at the time of completion of the initial phase of treatment in order to identify patients at increased risk of relapse.
* Extended treatment is recommended for patients with drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis who have cavitation noted on the initial chest film and who have positive sputum cultures at the time 2 months of treatment is completed.
* The roles of rifabutin, rifapentine, and the fluoroquinolones are discussed and a regimen with rifapentine in a once-a-week continuation phase for selected patients is described.
* Practical aspects of therapy, including drug administration, use of fixed-dose combination preparations, monitoring and management of adverse effects, and drug interactions are discussed.
* Treatment completion is defined by number of doses ingested, as well as the duration of treatment administration.
* Special treatment situations, including human immunodeficiency virus infection, tuberculosis in children, extrapulmonary tuberculosis, culture-negative tuberculosis, pregnancy and breastfeeding, hepatic disease and renal disease are discussed in detail.
* The management of tuberculosis caused by drug-resistant organisms is updated.
* These recommendations are compared with those of the WHO and the IUATLD and the DOTS strategy is described.
* The current status of research to improve treatment is reviewed.

read more http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5211a1.htm

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Need some extra income, just blogging with bloggerwave

Do you have a blog and want to make some extra money? This is a great opportunity to make money from your blog. Bloggerwave call blogger to be partner and make money from blogging.

Bloggerwave is aiming to be Europes biggest advertsing media on blogs and you can help us grow so more and more jobs will come. This is not free, you will be paid for each review you post on your blog.


Do you haven't any blog, just make your own blog now. It's very easy, you can can use free hosting and domain for your blog or the paid one. Just make your blog, post anything you want, then join Bloggerwave to earn extra income.

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Lessons in Home Cooking

The most healthful meal is the one you cook at home. But for those of us skilled at the art of takeout, the idea of cooking in our kitchens is daunting. Who has time after a busy day to shop, chop, prepare and cook?

The Times’s food writer Mark Bittman always makes cooking look easy as author of the weekly Minimalist column and his new blog Bitten. He’s also the author of several cookbooks, including “How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food.'’ I recently spoke with Mark about the how-to’s of home cooking, his favorite ingredients and a lot about beans.

Why do you think so many people find it tough to cook regularly at home?

I think there are a couple of lost generations. In the years after the war it became less and less popular to cook and more and more common to do things conveniently. Especially people born after 1960 or after, when reentering the workforce and using canned and frozen microwave stuff — they just didn’t see their mothers cooking.

For those of us who want to cook more, what’s your advice for getting started?

I would say start with a decent cookbook. Pick something you really like, and make the effort to be successful; you want positive reinforcement. Read the recipe carefully, set aside the time and make sure you’ve got the ingredients and the equipment and really walk yourself through it. What takes you two hours the first time may only take 15 minutes the third time.

What supplies should I always have in my kitchen? Are there any special pots or pans I need?

In “How To Cook Everything,” there are lists of what you need for your pantry and a list of the equipment. You can start with three or four pans, a couple different utensils. And you can start with 10 or 15 ingredients. The list includes pasta and rice, canned beans and tomatoes, spices, olive oil, eggs and butter, long-keeping vegetables like onions, potatoes and garlic and canned stock. You have to start with the right ingredients, and you have to invest a little money and a fair amount of time.

But that is usually the problem for most people. They say they don’t have time to cook. I know I often don’t.

Well, whatever it takes to get food on the table, you have to do something. I’m not saying calling the Chinese takeout guy is harder than cooking. But all things considered, it’s not that much different. Yesterday morning I woke up and cooked beans while getting ready to come to work. I got home really late, like at 7:45 p.m. I reheated the beans, washed some lettuce and broiled a piece of fish. I had stuff on the table in 15 minutes. People say, “I have no time.” It’s like exercise: you have to want to do it.

For me the worst part of cooking is shopping for groceries and figuring what ingredients I need for a meal.

These days I cook a lot of things that are already in the house. I eat a lot of eggs, vegetables, beans and pasta. A lot of people think cooking is complicated. But this is the thing. Once you learn what you’re doing you realize it’s not. As I said, I woke up yesterday and made beans. Even if you take a can of beans and throw it in a pot with cherry tomatoes (you don’t even have to cut them up), some garlic and olive oil — there’s nothing wrong with that. Broil a piece of fish, wash some lettuce, and you have a fine meal. If your kids don’t like fish, then use shrimp or a piece of meat. I’ve gotten so used to cooking simply I almost never do anything else. Even when people come over for dinner — they get the same things I cook for myself. If I made what I just described to you and you were coming over for dinner, you’d probably think, “He cooked. How nice.'’ People worry about this too much.

How many different types of meals should we know how to make? Is variety important?

Whatever makes you happy. If you know how to broil a piece of fish or meat, if you know how to make a stir-fry and a couple pasta dishes and maybe a rice dish, and if you know how to deal with beans and make a salad, at that point you are well on your way.

When you are cooking, do you ask yourself whether it’s healthy, or do you just want it to taste good?

I always thought if you were aware of what you were putting in your mouth you’re not going to eat badly. Nobody can cook what they cook in fast-food joints and restaurants, in general, because you just don’t have the same ingredients. But if you looked at what it means to put a half a cup of butter in a dish, you would just look and say, “I’m going to use less.'’ When you cook yourself, you just don’t put the same kind of crappy things in there that people put in food that is prepared for you.

Do you have a favorite ingredient?

I go through an awful lot of olive oil, a stunning amount. I’m eating a lot of legumes.

You’ve talked a lot about beans. How do you cook them? Don’t you have to soak them?

You don’t have to soak them, but it makes it faster if you do. If you soak small dried beans overnight, I wager you could get them most of the way cooked by the time you and your daughter got out of the house in the morning. There’s a lot of stuff you can start and stop in the morning, especially beans and grains.

I have to confess, I’m not much of a bean eater. Maybe I need to start. Why are you such a fan?

It’s the flavor, the satisfaction, the non-meatness, the high-fiberness. When you get into cooking you start to see the subtle differences among things. At first I didn’t know anything about fish, then I learned 50 species, and then it mattered if it was bay scallops or sea scallops or pink scallops. That’s where I’m at these days with vegetables and legumes. I didn’t pay much attention to cooking them for most of my adult life, and now I’m starting to understand the subtle differences.

Okay, so what beans should we all be trying?

Chickpeas are the best. Now I’m into these huge beans called gigantes. You eat three of them and it’s like you had a small potato. But you can take a pound of chickpeas, cook them on a Saturday and stick them in the refrigerator tossed with olive oil, and you can eat them all week long.

Do you have a particular food indulgence?

I have a lot of friends in the food business, so I get my share of treats. At home it’s almost like I’m happy with pretty much everything I cook. It’s not that it’s so great. It’s the knowledge that I put something together, it’s simple and I put something on the table and there we are, sitting and eating it. It’s something I’ve loved doing for a long time, and I’m still into it.

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Pizza for Breakfast? Yes!

I know what you're thinking: pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can crack open last night's leftovers in the a.m. if you want to.

I know lots of women who skip breakfast, and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don't have time, others think they're "saving" calories by eliminating a meal, still others just don't like breakfast food.

But the bottom line is, eating in the morning is crucial when you're trying to trim down. "Eating just about anything in the range of 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all," says SELF contributor Katherine Brooking, R.D., who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year's SELF Challenge. And even pizza can be healthy if it's thin-crust, loaded with veggies, and you stick to one slice.

Breakfast is one meal I never miss (my favorite morning combo includes Fage nonfat yogurt topped with fresh fruit and low-carb granola, yum!), and the same goes for most weight loss success stories.

Research shows that eating breakfast revs up your metabolism, keeps you from overeating later in the day and may even help sleekify your abs. Researchers at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles found that breakfast skippers have bigger tummies than those who regularly have a morning meal.

So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of pals who end up forgoing it altogether to have just coffee or cola. I say, try heating up last night's leftovers-it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it!

Bonus: I find if I tell myself, "You can always eat it tomorrow," I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it...you may save yourself some prebedtime calories. And watch your body reap the fat-burning benefits. What are your favorite breakfast foods?

Source: http://health.yahoo.com

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The Easiest Diet Secret

Produce, especially the veggie variety, is a dieter’s best friend. When people eat veggies with a meal, they consume a full 20 percent fewer calories overall — and still feel satisfied afterward, a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals.

I know that all that chopping and cooking feels like a drag, but it’s easier than you think to work in five cups of the fresh stuff a day.

At breakfast, have a fruit “smush” made with a medley of fresh berries and yogurt (the lean protein fills me up). Then, at lunch, have a great big salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, peas or whatever your favorite veggies are. Add grilled chicken or another lean protein to hold off afternoon hunger.

Start dinner with a veggie-packed soup, like minestrone, and make a side dish that you love (I’m a big fan of steamed spinach with a little salt). I also love ratatouille (especially in summer), but if you don’t have time for that, heat up some frozen veggies and sprinkle them with Parmesan or lemon juice for an easy, delicious, healthy side. My favorite brand of frozen veggies is from Cascadian Farm.

Source: health.yahoo.com

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Telling smokers "age" of lungs helps them quit

Smokers are more likely to kick the habit if they are told how "old" their lungs are, a British study found on Friday.

The concept of lung age -- measured by comparing a smoker's lungs to the age of a healthy person whose lungs function the same -- has helped patients better understand how smoking damages health, researchers had already found.

But that information is also effective in convincing smokers to quit, said Gary Parkes, a family physician in Hertfordshire outside London, who led the study published in the British Medical Journal.

"Telling smokers their lung age significantly improves the likelihood of them quitting smoking," Parkes and his colleagues wrote.

Smoking kills about four million people each year, according to the World Health Organization. Tobacco is highly addictive and the leading preventable cause of both cancer and heart disease.

The study in five general medical practices outside London involved 561 long-term smokers older than 35 and began with a simple test to record the volume and rate at which the volunteers exhaled air from the lungs.

One group received no detailed information about their results while the other people were given their lung age, shown a diagram of how smoking ages the lungs and told that quitting would slow the rate of damage.

Everyone was also strongly encouraged to quit and offered help to do so. One year later, saliva tests showed that 13 percent of the smokers told their lung age had quit while only 6 percent of people in the other group had stopped.

"Anybody who had good, understandable information seemed more inclined to give up," Parkes said. "The reason may be people had dreaded the worst and realized it was still worthwhile giving up."

The study counters research showing such health information does not prod them to quit and underscores the benefits of early screening because 16 percent of the people in the study had undiagnosed emphysema, Parkes said.

Giving people this kind of information could represent a cheap and easy way to get people to stop smoking and reduce smoking-related health problems that are putting pressure on health systems to treat.

"The cost, if you like, is certainly within the economic framework of a good deal," Parkes said.

Reuters
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; editing by Maggie Fox and Philippa Fletcher)

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Popcorn ingredient causes lung disease: U.S. study

A chemical used to give butter flavor to popcorn can damage the lungs and airways of mice, U.S. government experts reported on Thursday.

Tests on mice show that diacetyl, a component of artificial butter flavoring, can cause a condition known as lymphocytic bronchiolitis, said the team at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The condition can lead to obliterative bronchiolitis -- or "popcorn lung" -- a rare and debilitating disease seen in workers at microwave popcorn packaging plants and at least one consumer.

At least two microwave popcorn makers -- ConAgra Foods Inc and Weaver Popcorn Co Inc -- have said recently they would stop using diacetyl.

Laboratory mice made to inhale diacetyl vapors for three months developed lymphocytic bronchiolitis, the NIEHS team said.

"This is one of the first studies to evaluate the respiratory toxicity of diacetyl at levels relevant to human health," Daniel Morgan at NIEHS, whose team led the study, said in a statement.

Writing in the journal Toxicological Sciences, the researchers said findings suggest that workplace exposure to diacetyl contributes to the development of obliterative bronchiolitis.

The hard-to-treat condition causes vague symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath, and steadily worsens, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Congress has been working on a bill to order quick action by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to limit exposure to diacetyl. The House of Representatives passed a bill last year but the Senate has not acted.

The Food and Drug Administration said last September it was investigating a report of a man who came down with the life-threatening disease after eating several bags of butter-flavored microwave popcorn each day.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Will Dunham and John O'Callaghan)

Copy Right Reuters

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Psychological scars: the hidden legacy of Iraq

NEW YORK (AFP) - Suicides, family breakups, depression and social stigma are just some of the hidden legacies of the Iraq war among the more than one million US troops who have served in the campaign.

While nearly 4,000 American troops have been killed in the war and more than 29,000 have been wounded, those who escape physical injury still stand a high chance of developing psychological scars that may stay with them for life.

Some have watched comrades die or witnessed unspeakable carnage, while others may have found it hard to come to terms with the trauma of killing.

A report last month focused on the psychological toll on troops from the 10th Mountain Division based in New York state, one of the most deployed brigades in the US Army since the September 11 attacks of 2001.

The study, by the group Veterans for America, found that the mental health care provided for soldiers did not meet the psychological burden they had suffered during repeated deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Sooner or later, and likely sooner, we're going to hit the wall and something will have to change," said Bobby Muller, the founder of Veterans for America and a former Marine paralyzed while serving in Vietnam in 1969.

The report criticized a Pentagon policy of extending tours of duty from 12 to 15 months and insufficient time between deployments to recuperate as key factors in the high level of mental problems among returning US troops.

On its most recent deployment, the 10th Mountain Division's second brigade combat team lost 52 troops killed in action, while a further 270 were wounded, out of a total troop strength of around 3,500 soldiers.

The figures reveal the unit's soldiers to be five times more likely to be killed in action than the average soldier serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the report -- a major psychological stress on the troops.

The study found troops in the unit reported low morale, spousal abuse and attempted suicides. And yet, troops had to wait up to two months for an appointment with a mental health expert once they returned, it said.

A separate report by the Army released earlier this month found that soldiers on their third or fourth combat deployment were at particular risk of suffering mental health problems.

Major General Gale Pollock, the Army's deputy surgeon general, said the results simply "show the effects of a long war."

A similar report by the Army's Mental Health Advisory Team released in 2007 found that 28 percent of soldiers who had been in high-intensity combat were experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, or acute stress.

It also found that the percentage of soldiers with severe stress, emotional, alcohol or family problems had risen more than 85 percent since the invasion of Iraq five years ago.

In January, the Army said suicide rates had soared over the past three years, attributing the rise to strains on family relationships.

"I think it's a marker of the stress on the force," said Colonel Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatric consultant to the army's surgeon general.

According to the figures, more than 2,000 soldiers tried to take their own lives or injure themselves in 2006, compared to about 375 in 2002.

Yet another study by the Defense Department in June last year found that more than one third of active Army personnel who returned from combat experienced some degree of mental health problems.

However, according to some campaigners, the numbers could under-state the true scale of psychological problems, given that some troops are reluctant to admit to trauma, for fear of being stigmatized or overlooked for promotion.

Veterans for America said it considered that military commanders also wielded too much influence in the treatment of psychological problems.

In response to that report, the military at Fort Drum, the home of the 10th Mountain Division, acknowledged some shortcomings while characterizing elements of the study as misrepresenting the true picture.

"While we've made great strides this year to increase our mental health provider capacity, we acknowledge the shortage of mental health providers, not just here but across America," unit commander Major General Michael Oates said.

"We welcome the opinions of outside interest groups, but we're more interested in well-researched solutions to these problems," spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Paul Swiergosz added in a statement.

Copy Right AFP. By James Hossack - Sun Mar 16.

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Lifestyle and Cholesterol Levels

When is it time to use medication for high cholesterol, and what are the best choices?

For elevated triglycerides, I suggest a three-month commitment to reduce the sugar and simple starches in your diet. This means lowering consumption of foods like potatoes, white rice, pasta, and baked goods, and replacing them with smaller quantities of whole grains like brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, and bright-colored vegetables and fruits.

It also means cutting down on sugary drinks, like soda. If that doesn't lower your triglycerides below 150 mg/dl, it's time to think about medications-and that's in addition to your dietary modifications, not instead!

Niacin, one of the B vitamins, is an effective and appealing treatment for many people concerned about high triglycerides, because it is a fairly natural approach. Over-the-counter forms of niacin are usually not strong enough, so a high-dose prescription version is usually used.

The only problem is that such high doses often cause redness and sweating in the face and upper chest (called a flushing reaction). Using a slow-release form of niacin and taking some aspirin before each dose sometimes helps.

Fibrates are also useful for lowering triglycerides. The two most widely used are gemfibrozil and fenofibrate. The most common side effect is upset stomach, but most people aren't too bothered by that. Rarely, the fibrates can cause irritation of the liver, which gets better quickly when the medicine is stopped.

Statins also lower triglyceride levels, but not nearly as well as niacin and fibrates.

If a high LDL is your main problem, you should reduce your dietary fat intake. If that's not good enough after three months, then I suggest taking a statin.

There are several to choose from, and your doctor can help select the best one for you. Many people know that they have to avoid grapefruit when taking a statin, but there is one exception-pravastatin is not affected by grapefruit, although it is one of the weaker statins.

The most common side effects are irritation of the liver or muscles, but these problems happen to less than 1 in 1,000 people taking a statin, and resolve promptly when you stop taking it.

One of the most exciting things about statins is that, besides lowering your LDL level, they also appear to directly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. The specific reason for this is not yet understood. It is not known if any other methods of lowering cholesterol have the same kind of additional protective benefit.

If a statin plus dietary change still doesn't get you to your LDL goal, you might benefit from adding ezetemibe. This medicine blocks absorption of LDL cholesterol from your intestines.

It doesn't have much effect when used by itself, but ezetemibe is very powerful in combination with a statin, and almost never causes any side effects.

A few other medicines are occasionally prescribed to lower cholesterol, but these four (niacin, fibrates, statins and ezetimibe) are among the best and the most commonly used.

There are a few natural products advertised to lower cholesterol. The FDA issued a warning in August 2007 that two of the most common, red rice yeast and policosanol, often contain a cholesterol-lowering drug, lovastatin, as the main active ingredient. So you may be fooling yourself if you think these are safer than a prescribed statin just because they are "natural".

Garlic, fish oil, and a variety of other products are sometimes advertised as lowering cholesterol, too. My general attitude is that if an alternative product or natural substance is truly harmless, I have no objection to giving it a try. But always work with your doctor to monitor whether such products are really working and to make sure they aren't causing any side effects.

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© 2007 Johns Hopkins University. All Rights Reserved. This article from Johns Hopkins University is provided as a service by Yahoo. All materials are produced independently by Johns Hopkins University, which is solely responsible for its content.

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Pessimism Deadly for Heart Patients?

Outlook Affects Survival, Study Shows, So Look on the Bright Side

Keeping a positive attitude is good for your health, and if you are a heart patient it just may save your life, new research suggests.

A study of patients with heart disease followed for six to 10 years found that those with pessimistic beliefs about their recovery were twice as likely to die during that timeframe as those who felt more optimistic.

The research was presented this week in Baltimore at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, a group dedicated to the research of the interaction between the mind and body.

"This study is one of the first to examine how a patient's attitude toward their disease affects their health over the long term, and ultimately their survival," says lead researcher John C. Barefoot, PhD.
Mind and Body Connection

Barefoot, Redford B. Williams, MD, and colleagues from Duke University Medical Center conducted psychological assessments on 2,825 patients hospitalized for heart disease.

The patients were asked to describe their expectations about their ability to recover from their illness and regain a normal life.

During six to 10 years of follow-up, 978 of the patients died, with 66% dying of heart disease.

Patient expectations about their disease course were highly related to survival, with patients who had the most pessimistic views dying at twice the rate of those who were most optimistic.

After controlling for factors that could influence survival, including disease severity, functional status, and depression, the death rate among the most pessimistic patients was still 30% higher than the most optimistic, Williams tells WebMD.

"Negative outlook was an independent predictor of poor outcomes," he says. "And there seems to be something protective about having a more optimistic attitude that makes you feel that you are going to be OK."

He says patients with positive expectations may be more likely to make lifestyle changes and follow treatment regimens prescribed by their doctors.
The Impact of Stress

Another possible explanation is that positive thoughts may lessen the damaging effects of stress on the body.

A separate study presented by the Duke researchers at the Baltimore meeting examined this theory.

Researchers conducted personality profiles on 327 healthy people to determine if they were more inclined to exhibit positive or negative emotions. They then conducted tests designed to assess the study participants' physiological responses to stress.

People identified as being more positive were found to have significantly lower increases in blood pressure during stress than people who were negative.

They also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol within 30 minutes of waking — a time in which levels tend to be high.

"It's not just that negative emotions are harmful," lead researcher Beverly H. Brummett, PhD, tells WebMD. "There seems to be something about the experience of having more positive emotions. They seem to act as a buffer against bad health outcomes."

Brummett says interventions like meditation, behavioral therapy, and regular exercise may help people with naturally gloomy dispositions change their outlook.

But cardiologist Donald LaVan, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, is not so sure.

LaVan, who is a spokesman for the American Heart Association, tells WebMD that very soon after the introduction of heart bypass surgery, cardiologists began to recognize that more optimistic patients fared better in terms of recovery and even survival.

This recognition led to the advent of the Zipper Club, a volunteer group made up of former heart surgery patients who help current patients deal with the emotional aspects of their illness.

LaVan says studies like the ones presented at the Baltimore meeting help advance the understanding of how emotions affect health.

"The conclusions are not too surprising, but the question becomes, 'Can you do anything to change someone's attitude?'" he says. "Maybe you can to some degree, but my clinical experience tells me that if a patient is walking around with a big black cloud over his head there's not much you can do about it."


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SOURCES: American Psychosomatic Society annual meeting, March 12, 2008, Baltimore. John C. Barefoot, PhD, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. Redford B. Williams, MD, division head, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. Beverly H. Brummett, PhD, research professor, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. Donald LaVan, MD, spokesman, American Heart Association; clinical associate professor of medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

© 2008 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.

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Breast Cancer Gene Ringleader Found

Gene, Called SATB1, Orders Other Breast Cancer Genes Into Action and Dims Anticancer Genes.

Breast cancer experts have a new prime suspect among breast cancer genes, and that finding could lead to new breast cancer treatments.

The breast cancer gene in question, called SATB1, bosses other breast cancer genes and hushes anticancer genes.

The result: breast cancer grows and spreads aggressively when SATB1 is active. And when SATB2 is silenced, breast tumors slow down.

Those findings come from lab experiments done in test tubes and mice; further studies are needed in people.

To put SATB1's influence in perspective, the new lab tests show that switching off SATB1 affected more than 1,000 genes.

The researchers report that SATB1 isn't just active in advanced breast cancer; it may also be on the prowl in early-stage breast tumors, before cancer spreads from the breast to nearby lymph nodes.

In addition to being a potential target for new breast cancer treatments, SATB1 might predict the odds that early-stage breast cancer will spread, according to the researchers.

They included Hye-Jung Han, PhD, and Terumi Kohwi-Shigematsu, PhD, of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.

The study appears in the March 13 edition of Nature.


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By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News

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What's a Normal Blood Pressure?

A wealth of information is available about blood pressure, and sometimes the most important points get lost or confused. Although we often hear announcements in the press about new or revised blood-pressure guidelines, the basic facts haven't really changed much over the past several decades.

Blood pressure is measured by two numbers. The systolic pressure (the "top" number) is the highest pressure inside your arteries, measured at the moment when your heart is contracting.

It's the active part of a heartbeat. In contrast, the diastolic pressure (the "bottom" number) is the lowest pressure in your arteries, measured while your heart is relaxing between beats.

Experts have long debated whether the systolic or diastolic pressure is more important for health. The current evidence suggests that the systolic is a little more important, but the simple answer is that both numbers matter.

Let's review some of the basic facts about blood pressure.

Normal blood pressure is 120/80 or below. I'm often asked, "What is a normal blood pressure for my age?" The answer is much simpler than most people realize: Less than 120/80. While it's true that blood pressure tends to rise with age, that's no reason to feel complacent: Such a rise will always carry with it an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and other complications of high blood pressure (hypertension).

Blood pressure normally varies throughout the day, often by 40 points or more. Exercise and stress are especially likely to increase it, while relaxation and sleep will usually lower it. Standing up or talking, for example, can increase blood pressure by 10 or more points. Even simply worrying about blood pressure will increase it. If your blood pressure is only high when you're exercising or when you're at the doctor's office, that's okay. But if it's high even part of the time in routine situations, that is abnormal and deserves treatment.

High blood pressure is anything above 120/80. However, mild elevations beyond those numbers only slightly increase the risk of significant health problems. We generally don't prescribe medication to bring down blood pressure until the systolic reaches 140 or the diastolic reaches 90. The exception is for people with diabetes or impaired kidney function, in whom we use medication for anything above 130/80. That's because people with diabetes and kidney disease are already at higher risk for heart attack and stroke.

Treating high blood pressure takes more than just medication. If your blood pressure is ever above 120/80, you can improve your overall health by lowering it, even if you don't need medication. Losing weight, exercising regularly, and limiting your sodium (salt) and alcohol intakes are proven ways of reducing blood pressure. Such treatments don't cost any money and the only side effect is likely to be improved health!

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© 2007 Johns Hopkins University. All Rights Reserved. This article from Johns Hopkins University is provided as a service by Yahoo. All materials are produced independently by Johns Hopkins University, which is solely responsible for its content.

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Pet Allergies: Making It Work

With a few changes you can keep your companion animal -- and manage your pet allergies, too.

Do pet allergies have you wheezing and sneezing -- again? Well, there are over 132 million good reasons for that.

That's the number of cats and dogs living in U.S. homes as of 2002, says the American Veterinary Medical Association. And while these four-legged friends are by far the most common companion animals in America, they aren't the only creatures behind the exasperating symptoms of pet allergies.

The Cause of Pet Allergies: Protein

You'll find pet dander on just about every warm and fuzzy critter we bring in to our homes: from cats and dogs, to birds, hamsters, and ferrets. And just about anything with dander has the potential to bring susceptible people down with a suite of allergy symptoms, says allergist Asriani Chiu, MD.

But it's not a pet's hair, or even the flaky, dandruff-like dander itself, that causes allergies. Instead "it's a specific protein in the dander that people are allergic to," says Chiu, associate professor of pediatrics and medicine (allergy/immunology) at the Medical College of Wisconsin. "With any allergy, from hay fever to peanut allergies, it's always a protein in the substance that you're reacting to."

Pet allergy-producing proteins -- called allergens -- are also found in your pet's urine and saliva. Add to this the fact that these proteins are tiny, easily airborne, and ubiquitous, and it explains why some people can develop pet allergy symptoms simply by walking into an empty room.

What are the most common symptoms of pet allergies? "I get a stuffy nose and runny eyes, very much like seasonal allergies," says Anthony Herrig, an Oregon web developer with cat allergies. Other symptoms can range from mild -- itchy throat, nasal congestion, and sneezing -- to a more severe, asthma-like response, including coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
Why Pet Allergies Hit You

Usually, not everyone in a family or household is allergic to pets. Just as you have your mom's smile or dad's laugh, you may have inherited your family's genetic predisposition to allergies. Add to this a higher risk of developing allergies to pets if you have other allergies or asthma, and it's clear why you may be alone in your congestion. What's not clear just yet, says Chiu, is why one person can have mild symptoms, while another is laid low with an acute, asthma-like response.

Fortunately, there's a lot you can do to manage pet allergies -- no matter how they affect you. But before you try the following tips, it's a good idea to make sure you really are allergic to dander. If you're not positive you are allergic to dogs, cats, or other pets, visit an allergist, who can help identify which specific allergen is triggering your symptoms.
Tips to Help You Cope With Allergies and Pets

Though the best way to find relief from allergies is to avoid exposure to what you're allergic to, you can have your precious pets and live well, too. Allergists and pet allergy sufferers offer these tips:


Pet Allergies Tip 1: Change Your Environment

* Keep Your Bedroom Pet-Free. Something as simple as making your bedroom a pet-free sanctuary "can significantly decrease levels of allergens" in that space, says Alan Goldsobel, MD, a spokesman for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Goldsobel also suggest switching to special bedding designed to be less permeable to allergens.
* Consider a HEPA Filter . HEPA filters remove tiny airborne pollutants, like dust mites, pollen, and pet dander, from the air you breathe. "Dander is so airy and light that HEPA filters can filter it out of the air," reducing your exposure, Chiu tells WebMD. Within a given area stand-alone filters are typically more effective than a whole-house HEPA system, Chiu adds. As for those air de-ionizers/purifiers often hawked on late-night infomercials, they may make allergies worse by releasing harmful ozone gas.
* Learn to Love Housework. "I try to vacuum the bedroom frequently and change furnace filters to reduce the dander in the air," says Herrig. Other allergy sufferers tackle pet allergies by shampooing rugs regularly, changing people and pet bedding frequently, wiping down walls where pets rub, and dusting often. And to reduce the number of places where allergens can build up, Goldsobel suggests converting to hard-surface floor and minimizing the amount of upholstered furniture in your home

Pet Allergies Tip 2: Change Yourself

* Wash Your Hands . Some people bathe their companion animals in an effort to reduce pet dander, but this approach is "very transient" Goldsobel tells WebMD. While washing does decrease the amount of shed allergens, the effect lasts mere days -- while the cat's bad mood may last far longer! More effective is giving yourself a scrub by washing hands and face frequently.
* Mediate With Medication. Over-the-counter allergy medications, such as antihistamines, can relieve mild allergy symptoms like nasal congestion and itchy eyes, but they won't help asthma-type symptoms, such as wheezing and chest tightness. Talk to your primary care physician or an allergist if you think you'll benefit from prescription allergy medication.
* Consider Allergy Shots. If you know you'll be around pets long-term -- for example, your young kids have a new puppy -- you might want to consider allergy shots. These shots are also called allergy vaccines. Allergy shots help you develop protective antibodies so that you won't have an allergic reaction when exposed to an allergen. Allergy shots require patience, however. It can take almost a year of weekly injections before you convert to monthly maintenance doses, then another 3-5 years of monthly shots before you no longer have allergy symptoms -- and need no more medication.
* Understand Your Environment. No matter how religiously you clean, you'll still be exposed to dander. Pet allergens are "sticky," making it easy for people to carry them on their clothes. This explains why you'll find them in places that have no pets, such as schools, workplaces, and pet-free homes.
* Expand Your Definition of "Pet." If, after Fido or Fifi have passed on, you still crave a pet's companionship, think creatures without feathers or fur. Allergy experts recommend turtles, geckos, lizards, snakes, fish -- even tarantulas.

Finally, "don't give up hope," says Anthony Herrig. With a few lifestyle changes and a little help, you can enjoy pets all your life!

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By Wendy C. Fries
WebMD Feature

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