Personal Health
Joel P. Rutkowski, Ph.D., Editor
May 1, 2006
- Hip exercises aid common knee problem
- Cholesterol-lowering food combo effective
- High Rate of Sleep Apnea in Down Syndrome Kids
- Probiotic yogurt aids in eliminating ulcer bug
- Gene Protects Against Diabetes, Heart Disease
- Home exercise may aid heavy heart failure patients
- Asthma Drug Might Help Fight Heart Failure
- High blood pressure tied to hot weather in infancy
- Researchers Will Test 'Fat-Dissolving' Therapy Claims
- Dry Eye Strikes Many Menopausal Women
- Diet change may improve ovary disease outcomes
- Obesity Driving Diabetes Epidemic
- Chronic fatigue may have genetic basis
- Pituitary Hormone May Be Linked to Osteoporosis
- Blood tests effective in detecting latent TB: study
- Insulin Pump Also Monitors Blood Sugar
- Health Tip: Begin an Exercise Program
- Health Tip: Prevent Heartburn
- Fatal ODs on Rx Meds a Growing Problem
- Cognitive decline in elderly linked to slow gait
- Hiccups a possible sign of cancer: study
- Steroid Therapy Fails Patients With Deadly Lung Disease
- Alzheimer's up on 2004 list of
- Hormones boost breast cancer risk for black women
- Cell-Growth 'Switch' Holds Clues to Cancer
- Lower-intensity exercise may melt more pounds
- Health Tip: What to Expect From Gallbladder Surgery
- Teens not learning lesson from mom's skin cancer
- Cornea Scratches Don't Need Eye Patches
- Signs of long-term problems seen in teens' dieting
- Skin cancer epidemic underway in the US
- Natural Protein Might Ward Off Obesity
- Experts Suggest Spacing Pregnancies
- Health Tip: Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy
- Unhappy marriage may harm older adults' health
- Health Tip: Living With MS
- Mushrooms Are Unlikely Source of Vitamin D
- Preeclampsia a risk factor for future stroke
- Education Level Linked to Heart Disease: Study
- Depression not tied to diabetes control in elderly
- Blood Sugar Control Boosts Diabetics' Recovery After Surgery
- Whites fare poorly with HIV and hepatitis C
- Half of Older Diabetics Go Without Key Heart Drugs
- Breast implants don't affect cancer risk: study
- Elderly Cancer Survivors at Disability Risk
- No brain damage from dental fillings, studies show
- Mediterranean Diet May Help Prevent Alzheimer's
- TV time linked to overweight risk for some kids
- Younger Moms' Kids Get Longevity Edge
- Obesity Finds Niche in American Marketing
- Free Guidebooks Make for Heart-Healthy
- Women with diabetes breast-feed despite obstacles
- Chronic Stress May Help Cause Depression
- McDonald's to Tout Healthier Menu Choices
- Fewer Mammograms May Boost Black Women's Breast Cancer Risk
- Assisted reproduction kids do well psychologically
- Study Finds Activity Key in Weight Gain
- Evista as good as tamoxifen for breast cancer: study
- Melanoma That Recurs More Prevalent Than Thought
- Warmer Weather Brings Wheezing, Sneezing
- Needling Away Wrinkles
- Experts Push for Rosacea Awareness
- More Doctors Shunning Cumbersome Casts
Friday, April 21, 2006
Hip exercises aid common knee problem
By Amy Norton
Reuters Health
Friday, April 21, 2006
People with chronic knee pain known as patellofemoral pain syndrome may find relief from exercises that strengthen and stretch the hip muscles, research suggests.
In a study of 35 adults with the condition, researchers found that when patients were able to increase their hip strength and flexibility through physical therapy, their knee pain significantly diminished.
Patellofemoral pain occurs under and around the kneecap, and often worsens after activity or long periods of sitting with the knees bent. As it moves, the kneecap tracks along the groove of the thigh bone, and incorrect alignment between these bones is thought to play a major role in patellofemoral pain.
Typically, therapy for patellofemoral pain focuses on the kneecap - akin to bringing the "train back on the track," explained Timothy Tyler, a physical therapist at
In contrast, he told Reuters Health, exercises for the hip muscles - which stabilize the thighbone and pelvis - essentially "bring the track back to the train."
For their study, published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, Tyler and his colleagues followed 35 patients who went through six weeks of physical therapy for patellofemoral pain. The regimen focused on strengthening and improving flexibility in various muscles that act on the hip.
Overall, the study found, the therapy was successful for two-thirds of the patients, and strengthening the hip flexors -- muscles that bring the thigh and torso toward each other - was a key to success.
Of the 26 knees that were treated successfully, strength in the hip flexor muscles improved by an average of 35 percent. On other hand, in all cases where patellofemoral pain did not improve, there was no gain in hip flexor strength.
Patients also benefited from boosting their flexibility -- namely, in muscles that flex the hip and in the iliotibial band, a long stretch of connective tissue that runs along the outer thigh, from the hip to just below the knee.
"Hopefully, this will spread,"
Source: American Journal of Sports Medicine, April 2006.
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
HealthDay News
Friday, April 21, 2006
FRIDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- As the Bush administration puts the final touches on a massive response plan for a potential avian flu pandemic, experts -- including top-level administration officials -- are predicting that if and when the avian flu reaches American shores, it's not likely to be the disaster most once feared.
"It is impossible to predict whether we're going to have an H5N1 [the current strain of avian flu] pandemic and, if so, how severe it's going to be," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told HealthDay.
Fauci had earlier told the Associated Press that he thought it "very unlikely that there is going to be the type of situation [here that] we see everywhere, from
That sentiment was echoed by Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Speaking to attendees at a recent meeting in
For Fauci, however, planning for a worst-case scenario remains a necessity, even if, realistically, it is highly unlikely to transpire.
"We, the public health people, in order to make sure that we don't tragically undershoot our preparedness, must assume that the worst-case scenario will occur even though the fact is there really is no guarantee that it will occur," Fauci said. "The American people should not be worried. They should execute some degree of reasonably intelligent, non-panicky, non-hysterical preparedness, which really means 'have a plan for your family.'"
Another expert believes panic over a possible pandemic is unwarranted.
Dr. Marc Siegel, author of False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear and a clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine in
"The whole problem with the topic is the blurring of the distinction between birds and people. I'd be worried if I was a bird -- maybe. But not even all birds should be worried," Siegel said.
The current H5N1 virus has generated more fear than normal because of its virulence and ease of transmission among flocks of domestic birds, said Dr. Alan I. Hartstein, professor of clinical medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
So far, bird flu has killed 110 people in nine countries, the lion's share in
Human casualties remain largely confined to
That fear may be intensified with the looming threat that migrating birds may soon bring the virus to American shores. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
There's no question that this is a very serious infection -- for birds. "This is a pretty bad one, probably the worst one we've seen in birds, but that doesn't correlate to what's going to happen to humans," Siegel said.
But the fact remains that what people are seeing is still the bird flu, he said.
"The threat to people is minimal," Siegel said. "In
So far, the virus has shown no ability to jump from human to human. To gain that ability, it would need to undergo genetic mutations.
"Any influenza virus that can cause a pandemic must gain the ability to be easily transmitted from person to person," said Hartstein. "Thus far, the H5N1 viruses do not have this capability and cannot cause a pandemic."
There may not even be much of a threat to poultry, as long as
Said Fauci, "Would I be surprised if sometime in the future a migratory bird somewhere within the borders of the
So, is the
Not at all, Hartstein said.
There were three flu pandemics last century. "The threat of a new influenza pandemic is real and thought to be inevitable at some point in time," Hartstein said. "People can only guess when this will occur."
One question is whether the plan will include the elements many experts deem crucial.
"When I think of human preparedness, I think of long-term preparedness," Siegel said. "We need to improve how we make vaccines using 21st century technology so that, instead of reacting, we could anticipate a threat." Wetlands also need to be preserved, he added, so that migratory birds have a place to go that is geographically removed from poultry.
"We're better off now than we were six months ago, and it's extremely likely that six months or a year from now we'll be even better prepared," Fauci said. "Is anybody in the world optimally prepared for the worst-case scenario? The answer is an unqualified no."
More information
For more on bird flu, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cholesterol-lowering food combo effective
By Anne Harding
Reuters Health
Friday, April 21, 2006
Eating four cholesterol-lowering foods each day can cut cholesterol levels as effectively as taking a first-generation statin drug, Canadian researchers report.
The only side effects seen with the diet, which includes large quantities of fiber and soy along with plant sterols and almonds, was "mild weight loss," the study's lead author, Dr. David J. A. Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital in
"We're hoping to make cholesterol control within the grasp of the average person more than it has been," he added. "The advice that's been offered so far has left many people with no option other than to take a statin."
Jenkins' research, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is unique because some participants had previously participated in a study of statins, so he and his colleagues were able to compare the effects of diet and drugs in the same person.
The researchers instructed 66 people with high cholesterol to eat seven servings of foods containing viscous fiber -- for example, a slice of oat bran bread, or two teaspoons of psyllium, or two cups of raw eggplant; seven servings of foods rich in soy protein, such as a cup of soy beverage or a soy burger; 5 teaspoons of margarine containing plant sterols; and 42 grams, or 1.5 ounces, of almonds.
Study participants were able to consume close to the required amount of almonds and plant sterols, but had a tougher time eating the full amount of fiber and soy. Fifty-five people completed the yearlong study.
At 12 weeks, participants' level of "bad (LDL) cholesterol had dropped by 14 percent. One year later, it remained 13 percent below pre-study levels. Just under one third of study participants had LDL cholesterol reductions greater than 20 percent.
Among the study participants who slashed their bad cholesterol more than 20 percent -- who, Jenkins and his team hypothesized, had adhered most closely to the diet --there was no difference in the results seen with the diet and with statin treatment.
The 20 percent-plus reduction is similar to that seen with first-generation statin drugs, Jenkins and his team note, which have been linked to a 25 percent to 35 percent reduction in death from heart disease.
He and his colleagues conclude that diets like those used in the study will become increasingly attractive to people who choose not to take statins for personal reasons or who experience side effects from the drugs, especially as more foods containing soy, fiber, almonds and plant sterols become available.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2006.
High Rate of Sleep Apnea in Down Syndrome Kids
HealthDay News
Friday, April 21, 2006
FRIDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- Abnormal sleep patterns and obstructive sleep apnea affect more than half of children with Down syndrome, but parents may not know whether their children have these problems, U.S. researchers report.
Based on the findings, they also advise that all parents of youngsters with Down syndrome get their child's sleep patterns tested by polysomnography by age 3 or 4.
Researchers at the Cincinnati Children's
The results showed that that 32 (57 percent) of the children had abnormal polysomnography results and evidence of obstructive sleep apnea. When the researchers included an elevated "arousal index" (10 or more disturbances in sleep per hour), they found that 80 percent of the children had abnormal results.
Reporting in the April Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, they also noted that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep should make up 25 percent to 30 percent of sleep time in children younger than age five. Only nine of the children in this study spent more than 25 percent of their sleep time in REM sleep, however.
As part of the study, the children's parents were asked to complete surveys about their youngsters' sleep habits. Of the 35 parents who completed surveys, 69 percent reported that their children had no sleep problems -- even though 54 percent of those parents' children had abnormal polysomnography results.
Abnormal polysomnography results were found in 36 percent of children whose parents did report sleep problems in their children.
The findings lead the
More information
The National Down Syndrome Society has more about Down syndrome and health.
Probiotic yogurt aids in eliminating ulcer bug
By Megan Rauscher
Reuters Health
Friday, April 21, 2006
The stomach bug Helicobacter pylori is the cause of most stomach ulcers, so doctors often try to eradicate the trouble-maker with antibiotic therapy. When this doesn't work, as is the case 10-23 percent of the time, a yogurt may help, according to a study conducted in
Specifically, eating yogurt containing the beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium (AB-yogurt) before trying a second round of combo antibiotic therapy can improve its efficacy in eradicating residual H. pylori, the researchers found.
"The pretreatment can decrease the bacterial loads of H. pylori," Dr. Bor-Shyang Sheu from
Sheu and colleagues randomly assigned 138 patients, in whom the ulcer bug persisted after triple-antibiotic therapy, to quadruple-antibiotic therapy with or without four preceding weeks of taking AB-yogurt daily.
The investigators report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that H. pylori decreased significantly more in the yogurt pretreatment group compared with the quadruple therapy-only group.
Ultimately, the eradication rate of H. pylori was 91 percent in the yogurt-plus-quadruple therapy group compared with 77 percent in the other.
"These findings," conclude the authors, "provide support for the ingestion of AB-yogurt for 4 weeks before the start of quadruple therapy ... thus obtaining improved rescue efficacy after failed triple therapy."
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2006.
Gene Protects Against Diabetes, Heart Disease
By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter
HealthDay News
Friday, April 21, 2006
FRIDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- People lucky enough to carry a variant in a single gene get added protection against both type 2 diabetes and heart disease, a new study finds.
Individuals with the trait aren't immune from the conditions, researchers say, but a study of nearly 7,900 subjects found that they are as much as 48 percent less likely to suffer from either illness.
"This gives us insight into how heart disease and diabetes may develop," said co-author Eric Rimm, an associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in
Scientists don't think diabetes and heart disease are inherited, but genes can play a major role, they say. "We do know there are genes that make people more susceptible to becoming diabetic if they're exposed to the right environmental factors," Rimm said. Specific genes have also been linked to heart disease.
In mice, a gene variation appears to provide protection against type 2 diabetes and clogged arteries. In the new study, Rimm's team examined the medical and genetic records of 7,899 people to see if the variation did the same thing for humans.
The study findings appear in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A total of 4.3 percent of the people studied had one copy of the variant gene, Rimm said.
These people appear to have won a kind of genetic lottery, because levels of triglycerides -- a potentially dangerous type of blood fat -- were 12 percent lower in their blood than in the other subjects. Their risk of heart disease was also 34 percent lower, and if they were obese, their risk for type 2 diabetes was 48 percent less than that of obese individuals who did not carry the gene variant.
Rimm suspects that the genetic variation helps control molecular signals that influence how triglycerides circulate in the blood.
What next? It's possible that a better understanding of the genetics of diabetes and heart disease could lead to more effective treatments, Rimm said. "If you could emulate what this form of this gene is doing, maybe you could lower someone's risk of heart disease or diabetes by copying the same type of physiological effects," he added.
The research raises another possibility: genetic tests that could alert people if they have a higher likelihood of getting diabetes later in life.
Ideally, "if you know in advance that you're at risk, that would make people think and give them the opportunity to protect themselves," said Dr. Larry C. Deeb, the American Diabetes Association's president-elect of medicine and science.
After all, he said, diabetes is largely preventable.
More information
Learn how to prevent diabetes at the American Diabetes Association.
Home exercise may aid heavy heart failure patients
Reuters Health
Friday, April 21, 2006
A home-based exercise program for overweight or obese patients with advanced heart failure results in significant weight loss after six months, researchers in
It's well established that exercise is important for long-term weight control for overweight people, Dr. Lorraine S. Evangelista, of the
To look into this, the researchers assigned 99 heart failure patients, classified as at least overweight, to a low-level, home-based exercise program or to a comparison "control" group. The participants' average age was 53 years, and most were male, white and married, according to the report in the American Journal of Cardiology.
Those in the exercise program were asked to walk for 45 minutes at least four times a week at a speed that raised their heart rate to 60 percent of maximum. After six weeks, a light resistive training component was added to the exercise regimen.
Compared with individuals in the control group, those in the exercise group had significant weight reduction after 6 months, with a weight loss of 14 pounds versus a bit more than half a pound among the controls.
Moreover, significantly fewer hospital admissions occurred in the exercise-group patients compared with the control-group patients -- average 0.63 versus 1.07, respectively.
Modest weight loss of 5 percent or more was associated with higher exercise levels at 6 months, as well as decreased levels of depression and hostility, Evangelista and colleagues report.
Nonetheless, the authors note in their article that others have found that being overweight doesn't seem to raise the odds of heart failure patients dying, and that involuntary weight loss in severe heart failure is a poor sign. They therefore conclude that the benefits of deliberate weight loss are uncertain.
Source: American Journal of Cardiology, March 15, 2006.
Asthma Drug Might Help Fight Heart Failure
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
HealthDay News
Friday, April 21, 2006
FRIDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- Body builders sometimes turn, illicitly, to the asthma drug clenbuterol to help them bulk up, but now researchers say the drug might also help heart failure patients stay strong without the need for heart transplant.
The first
The trial, which is a precursor to bigger trials, is an example of how far doctors will go to find solutions to the growing problem of heart failure.
And like many other avenues of research, the promise is still a faint one.
"We've learned the hard way that any pharmacological intervention in this very fragile group of patients needs to be studied very cautiously and thoroughly," cautioned Dr. Ann Bolger, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and professor of medicine at the
The end step for many heart failure patients is a heart transplant. But with a worldwide shortage of organ donors, many patients have to survive on heart pumps. Is there a way to avoid both heart pumps and transplants? Possibly, the experts say.
"The idea is to one day develop strategies to promote cardiac recovery while patients are supported with a heart pump. That would obviate the need for heart transplants," said Dr. Simon Maybaum, medical director of the Center for Advanced Cardiac Therapy and the Cardiac Transplant and Assist Device Program at
Maybaum was lead author of the study, which was presented recently at a meeting of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation in
"We're looking for ways to make the transition off the pump and potentially go forward from there," Bolger added. "We need more tools to save lives."
Studies done by one British center found that clenbuterol resulted in significant improvement in cardiac function in patients with heart pumps awaiting heart transplants. In fact, the pumps could be taken out in more than half of the patients, meaning they no longer were in need of transplant. Those studies used doses 20 times those typically used by asthma patients and athletes.
Clenbuterol is not approved in the
Maybaum, however, managed to obtain permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conduct a small pilot study using high-dose clenbuterol.
There were two parts to the study: The first tested high-dose clenbuterol in heart pump patients. The second focused on whether the drug in lower doses would improve muscle function and quality of life in heart failure patients without heart pumps (those with milder heart failure). Seven patients completed the study.
Clenbuterol did increase skeletal muscle mass and strength, and was safe at the doses given -- 10 to 15 times that usually taken by asthmatics and athletes. There was no significant change in heart function. However, Maybaum pointed out that the study was not designed to look at this.
Data from the second part of the study is still blinded to researchers, and therefore not yet available.
The next step will be to conduct a multi-center trial in the
However, some experts voiced major concerns.
"Patients in heart failure have a pretty broad spectrum of responses to all kinds of therapies, so we have to be very careful. In some situations, this type of drug can be very dangerous with respect to arrhythmias, blood pressure changes and even stroke," Bolger said. "Medications that seem to give the heart an extra boost sometimes make patients feel better, but increase early mortality."
On the other hand, Bolger added, muscle-building strategies including physical fitness, have already been shown to benefit heart failure patients.
Even the study authors were cautious about the odds of success.
"Whenever there are such novel results which have the potential to dramatically affect such a difficult disease process, we go into the research with a mixture of excitement and skepticism," Maybaum acknowledged. "We're optimistic that we will find solution, but we're not sure which one will bear out. We will definitely live in an era where we will be able to repair the heart as opposed to replace it."
More information
For more on heart failure, head to the American Heart Association.
High blood pressure tied to hot weather in infancy
Reuters Health
Friday, April 21, 2006
People who were born during hot, dry years seem to have higher blood pressures, a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology indicates.
The link could be the occurrence of dehydration in infancy. "Animal studies suggest that severe dehydration in infancy results in greater sodium retention and a taste for salty foods throughout life," Dr. Debbie A. Lawlor, of the University of Bristol, UK, and colleagues explain.
This effect may be a result of "natural selection over generations produced by the survival advantage associated with the ability to retain sodium and hence water in the face of severe dehydration." However, in contemporary life, the retention of sodium in response to environmental conditions may have a down side, such as elevated blood pressure.
To investigate the link between climate conditions in infancy and adult blood pressure, Lawlor's group evaluated 3964 randomly selected
The researchers found that those who experienced the hottest and driest summers in the first year of life were more likely to have suffered severe infant diarrhea and dehydration than those who experienced cooler and wetter summers.
Also, a high average summer temperature in the first year of life correlated with a higher systolic blood pressure (the upper reading) in adulthood. Conversely, higher average summer rainfall was linked to a lower adult systolic blood pressure.
"If established, our hypothesis would have important public health implications," Lawlor's team concludes, by "highlighting the importance of avoiding dehydration in infancy not just for short-term health improvement but also for benefits to long-term cardiovascular health."
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology, April 1, 2006.
Researchers Will Test 'Fat-Dissolving' Therapy Claims
HealthDay News
Friday, April 21, 2006
FRIDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- An increasingly popular "fat-dissolving" treatment called mesotherapy, better known as Lipodissolve, promises to help users drop weight -- but is it safe, and does it really work?
To find out, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) announced Friday it is launching a double-blind placebo study focused on the treatment. They made the announcement at the annual meeting of the Aesthetic Society in
Mesotherapy was developed as a separate medical specialty in
The treatment involves the injection of various compounds into the skin in order to break down fat cells, but the absence of proper protocols and regulation of this therapy may put patients at risk. The goal of the study is to provide doctors and patients with more specific and standardized protocols, as well as more information about the possible risks and benefits of this therapy.
"Our goal is to provide physicians and their patients with the information they need to make good decisions. Currently, we cannot endorse the injection of phosphatidylcholine, sodium deoxycholate, or any drugs, vitamins, plant extracts or hormones into subcutaneous fat as practiced in mesotherapy/Lipodissolve treatments, because we don't have enough clinical data or FDA approval to support their use," Dr. Mark Jewell, ASAPS president, said in a prepared statement.
The study was designed by the Aesthetic Society and funded by the Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation. The findings are expected to be published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, the peer-reviewed journal of the ASAPS.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases offers advice on selecting a safe and effective weight loss program.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Dry Eye Strikes Many Menopausal Women
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
HealthDay News
Thursday, April 20, 2006
THURSDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- While 62 percent of older women experience dry eye, only 16 percent know it's linked to menopause, a new survey shows.
"The prevalence of dry eye is very high, and growing," said Phyllis E. Greenberger, president and chief executive officer of the Society for Women's Health Research. "Dry eye impacts the quality of life, as well as the physical health, of 10 million Americans each year."
The survey, which was released Thursday and sponsored by the Society for Women's Health Research, polled 304 menopausal and perimenopausal women about dry eye.
Of those women who had experienced dry eye, only 59 percent had spoken to their doctor about the condition, the survey found. When it came to treatment for dry eye, 58 percent had tried over-the-counter eye drops to ease their symptoms.
Approximately 3.2 million American women over the age of 50 are affected by chronic dry eye, Greenberger said. "For many women, dry eye is related to the change in hormone levels of menopause," she noted.
Since risk of dry eye increases with age, the number of people affected will increase as the population ages. Many more women suffer from dry eye than men. In fact, dry eye is about two to three times more common in women.
Dry eye results from insufficient tear production, excessive tear evaporation, or from the production of toxic tears, which can be caused by inflammation. The condition can be a mild, episodic feeling of discomfort associated with exposure to dry, hot or windy environments. But it can also be a chronic condition that can lead to increased risk of infection or visual impairment. Chronic dry eye can impact the quality of life, interfering with reading, work, using a computer and night driving.
"Dry eye is a part of the aging process for all of us," said Dr. Laurie Barber, a professor of ophthalmology at the
These factors include medications and diseases patients may have, including autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Symptoms may include irritation, burning, stinging, discomfort, grittiness, foreign body sensation, blurred vision and sensitivity to light, Barber said.
"If not treated, persistent visual problems may haunt the patient and decrease the ability to complete daily activities," Barber said.
Treatments for dry eye are based not only on disease, but also on the cause of the disease. There are three main treatment options -- artificial tears, prescription therapies and surgery. One of the latest therapies is a prescription that increases tear production in patients with dry eye resulting from inflammation, Barber said.
In some cases, when inflammation is the cause of dry eye, treatment can include topical cyclosporin, Barber said. In addition, nutrition may play a role in treatment. Recent studies have found that omega-3 fatty acids -- found in fatty fish like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon -- may also be of benefit in treating the condition, Barber noted.
One expert agrees that dry eye is a growing health problem.
"Dry eye can be caused by conditions such as lacrimal gland disease that affects tear production, or conditions that decrease corneal sensation, such as LASIK eye surgery, long-term contact lens wear and diabetes," said Dr. Jeffrey P. Gilbard, of the Department of Ophthalmology at
Dry eye is becoming more common, Gilbard said. "If somebody has sandy, gritty irritation of a foreign body sensation that has been around for more than three months and gets worse as the day goes on, they have dry eye until proven otherwise," he said.
Gilbard, who invented an eye drop and nutritional supplement specifically to treat dry eye, believes using drops and increasing the intake of omega-3 fatty acids, which appear to fight inflammation and increase tear production, is the preferred treatment.
"If you have symptoms of dry eye, you should go to an eye doctor to find out why," Gilbard said.
More information
The National Library of Medicine can tell you more about dry eye syndrome.
Diet change may improve ovary disease outcomes
Reuters Health
Thursday, April 20, 2006
The fertility problems and hormone irregularities that plague women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may improve on a low-carbohydrate diet, according to a new study.
In polycystic ovary syndrome, a woman's ovaries develop multiple cysts. Symptoms can include excessive hairiness, obesity, menstrual abnormalities, and infertility. PCOS is also believed to increase the likelihood of developing diabetes.
The lead investigator of the current study, Dr. Crystal C. Douglas, told Reuters Health, "Our results suggest that a moderate reduction in dietary carbohydrate may decrease insulin, and over time, this dietary modification may lead to improvements in the metabolic and reproductive outcomes in women with PCOS, independent of weight loss."
Douglas, at the
The 11 women who were available for follow-up had each been put on three different diets for 16-day periods, separated by two 3-week "washout" periods, according to the team's report in the March issue of Fertility and Sterility.
The regimens consisted of a standard diet made up of about 56 percent carbohydrate, 31 percent fat and the rest protein; an enriched monounsaturated fatty acid diet with about 55 percent carbohydrate, 33 percent fat and the remainder protein; and a reduced carbohydrate diet with about 43 percent carbohydrate and 45 percent fat and the rest consisting of protein.
Compared with the standard diet, the low-carbohydrate diet lowered insulin levels. In addition, the usual jump in insulin in response to glucose was reduced after the low carbohydrate diet compared with the enriched monounsaturated fatty acid diet.
No differences were seen in circulating reproductive hormones.
Given these findings, the researchers conclude that dietary management may be a useful addition to PCOS treatment. As they explain, high insulin levels are thought to contribute to the hormone abnormalities seen with PCOS, so reduced insulin could lead to an improved hormone profile.
Source: Fertility and Sterility, March 2006.
Obesity Driving Diabetes Epidemic
By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter
HealthDay News
Thursday, April 20, 2006
THURSDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- America's obesity epidemic is definitely driving the nation's type 2 diabetes epidemic, says a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While other factors play some role in the rapidly increasing number of people with diabetes, obesity is the major factor in the trend, said Linda S. Geiss, lead author of the study, published in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The study, based on concrete numbers drawn from the entire country, backs up what experts have long believed, said Geiss, a statistician with the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation.
"Most incidence studies [of diabetes] have been done on samples that aren't representative of the
Geiss and her research team looked at statistics from the National Health Interview Survey, an ongoing nationwide in-person survey of about 40,000 households. They zeroed in on the years 1997 to 2003 to look for trends in the incidence of diagnosed diabetes in adults aged 18 to 79. Each year, about 31,000 adults were asked whether a health professional had told them they had diabetes. Not included was gestational diabetes, a type that occurs during pregnancy.
Participants were asked how old they were when their diabetes was diagnosed. The researchers had access to information about height and weight so they could compute the participants' body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height to weight). A BMI of 25 and above is termed overweight; 30 and higher is considered obese.
Excess weight and inactivity are risk factors for type 2 diabetes, in which the body doesn't properly use the hormone insulin, which is crucial for converting sugars and starches in the blood into fuel for the body.
The incidence of diagnosed diabetes rose 41 percent from 1997 to 2003 among the study participants, Geiss found.
About 20 million Americans have diabetes, although many do not yet know it, according to the American Diabetes Association.
About two-thirds of American adults are now overweight or obese, according to the National Institutes of Health. In 1960, 13 percent of adults were obese, but by 2000, nearly 31 percent were.
Geiss wanted to determine, however, if the rise in diabetes might be due at least partially to better detection methods allowing for earlier diagnosis. "If we were doing a better job, we would be detecting it earlier and when people are healthier."
But from 1997 to 2003, those diagnosed with diabetes were not healthier or younger. Increased detection of diabetes "could be part of the answer," she said, "but not the whole answer. It doesn't seem to be a major factor. Most of the increase in diabetes occurred in those with a BMI of 30 or above. In 2003, 59 percent of the newly diagnosed were at a BMI of 30 or above. Another 30 percent were overweight, with a BMI of 25 to under 30. All together, 89 percent of the [new] cases were either overweight or obese."
The study findings will not surprise experts, said Mary Austin, a diabetes educator and a researcher at Henry Ford Health System in
"These findings are very reflective of what we see around the world,"
Her Advice? Know your risks and do something about them. "If you are not at your ideal body weight and are not active, over time, you have a risk of diabetes,"
The oft-repeated message holds here, she said. Keep your weight at a healthy level and get regular, moderate exercise.
Geiss added: "Recent studies have shown we can prevent diabetes in those with risk factors, just with moderate lifestyle changes. Those include cutting down on daily calories for weight loss, if necessary, and getting activity into each day."
More information
To find out if you are at risk of diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association.
Chronic fatigue may have genetic basis
By Megan Rauscher
Reuters Health
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Results from the largest study of chronic fatigue syndrome to date suggests that there are specific genes and gene activity patterns that make some people more prone to develop the disorder.
During a telebriefing Thursday, Dr. William C. Reeves, head of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said: "For the first time ever, we have documented that people with CFS have certain genes that are related to those parts of brain activity that mediate the stress response and that they have different gene activity levels."
He explained the gene patterns seen in these people "are related to their body's ability to adapt to challenges and stresses that occur throughout life, such as infections, injury, trauma or adverse events."
By way of background, Reeves noted that CFS was first recognized in the late 1980s and "we are still learning a lot about it." The condition is characterized by medically and psychiatrically unexplained symptoms that include fatigue, problems with sleeping, memory and concentration, and pain.
At least one million Americans have the debilitating disorder, and the costs to society are staggering. "The average family in which someone suffers CFS forgoes about $20,000 a year in lost earnings and wages," Reeves said.
The new findings, published in the medical journal Pharmacogenomics, are based on 227 CFS patients who underwent detailed clinical evaluations and extensive blood testing that included an assessment of genetics and the activity level of 20,000 genes. The objective was to identify factors that could have caused or be related to CFS.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, said the results of the study are "a very important step forward in the field of chronic fatigue research."
CFS is a controversial topic, with some doctors thinking it is a mental rather than physical condition. Gerberding noted that "this is the first credible evidence of a biological basis for chronic fatigue syndrome. It reflects the remarkable confluence of a number of scientific advances really coming to bear on a problem of great importance to many people around the
Knowing there is a biologic basis for CFS will help researchers identify more effective ways to diagnose the illness and come up with more effective treatments including cognitive behavioral therapy, medications or a combination of both.
Source: Pharmacogenomics, April 2006.
Pituitary Hormone May Be Linked to Osteoporosis
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
HealthDay News
Thursday, April 20, 2006
THURSDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- A hormone produced by the pituitary gland may play a role in bone loss in postmenopausal women, challenging the notion that declining estrogen levels are solely responsible for the problem.
High levels of the hormone, pituitary-derived follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), caused an increase in bone loss in mice. And mice who lacked either the FSH hormone or its receptor became resistant to bone loss, even if they showed evidence of estrogen deficiency.
The findings open up the possibility that therapies other than estrogen to treat or prevent bone loss may one day be possible. Estrogen-replacement therapy is not an ideal solution because it has been linked to a heightened risk of breast cancer, especially when administered in combination with the hormone progestin.
"In essence, we're revisiting the pathophysiology of bone loss, attributing it not simply to loss of estrogen but to the accompanying elevation of FSH which occurs during menopause," said study author Dr. Mone Zaidi, a professor of medicine and physiology and director of the Mount Sinai Bone Program, at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "The importance is that you could actually prevent bone loss without using a load of estrogen."
For now, however, the report, which appears in the April 21 issue of Cell, poses more questions than it answers.
"I personally think this is beautiful work and asks a lot of questions," said Dr. J. Christopher Gallagher, a professor of medicine and endocrinology at Creighton University School of Medicine in
Osteoporosis, a condition in which bones became more fragile and likely to break, affects nearly 45 million women globally, including 8 million in the
So far, the broken balance has been attributed exclusively to loss of estrogen after menopause.
"It has really become virtually gospel that estrogen loss in women after menopause leads to bone loss," Zaidi said.
However, there were some holes in that theory. In some animal studies, taking away estrogen did not always result in bone loss, Zaidi said.
About two years ago, Zaidi's group discovered that thyroid-stimulating hormone, a sister hormone to FSH, affected bone remodeling.
Prior to menopause, FSH's role is to trigger egg development in women and to stimulate production of estrogen by the ovaries. As women get older, however, their estrogen levels decline. At that point, the pituitary gland attempts to restore estrogen levels by releasing more FSH.
"There's a feedback control between estrogen and FSH," Zaidi explained. "As estrogen falls, FSH rises."
In the new study, Zaidi and his colleagues showed that mice lacking FSH or its receptor did not experience bone loss, even if the ovaries were not producing estrogen.
Because this was an animal study, however, more research on humans is necessary.
"The next step would be to have a small molecule or antibody to mop up FSH in circulation and see if bone loss can be prevented," Zaidi said. "If that is the case, we have a new target" for prevention and treatment strategies.
Gallagher added: "It is an interesting clinical question because we've always ignored the height of FSH in postmenopausal women. We're going to need some prospective data, and I don't know of any studies currently looking at that. These are important questions."
More information
The National Osteoporosis Foundation has more on this disease.
Blood tests effective in detecting latent TB: study
Reuters
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Blood tests could be more effective in detecting people with latent tuberculosis than the standard skin test, Italian researchers said on Friday.
Many people with latent TB infection never develop the respiratory disease but detecting cases and providing treatment will be a key to eradicating the illness that kills 2 million people worldwide each year, according to public health experts.
Scientists at the