Happiness Makes For A Healthy Heart

March 13, 2010 by mark · 1 Comment

Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in most industrialized countries

People who are usually happy and enthusiastic are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend to be glum, scientists said last month, and boosting positive emotions could help cut heart health risks.

Researchers said their observational study was the first to show an independent relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease, but stressed that more work was needed before any treatment recommendations could be made. Read more

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Fitness Resolutions

January 5, 2010 by mark · Leave a Comment

It comes down to establishing a routine that you enjoy and sticking to it

New Year’s resolutions: We make them, we break them, we make them again.

So it’s no surprise that “Get Fit” tops many of the same lists year after year.

Fitness experts say if you’re serious about shaping up this time, start by trading in your impossible dreams for some attainable goals.

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Holiday Heart; Eye To Eye

December 3, 2009 by mark · Leave a Comment

Eye surgery: it’s not just Lasik anymore

Cold weather and some holiday- related behaviors can exacerbate existing heart conditions, and deaths from heart disease hit their peak every December and January, with spikes on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, according to a University of California-San Diego study.

There are several weather-related factors that affect heart heath, Dr. Cam Patterson, chief of cardiology and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said. Exposure to cold weather can increase blood pressure, which stresses the heart. Blood also becomes thicker in the cold, which can increase the risk of clotting. And lower temperatures lead the blood vessels to constrict, which reduces blood flow. All three of those factors can combine to spell disaster for someone with heart disease, he said.

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Tracking the Virus

November 2, 2009 by mark · Leave a Comment

It is important to vaccinate children against influenza to slow the spread in the community

Results of tens of thousands of flu tests indicate that the pandemic H1N1 virus is spreading from school-aged children to the rest of the U.S. population, makers of the tests say.

Quest Diagnostics, which makes a commercially available test that can confirm swine flu infection, said the findings suggest many more adults will be infected with the new H1N1 influenza.

“Based on tests performed since Quest Diagnostics began offering H1N1 testing in May 2009, children between the ages of five to 14 have experienced higher overall rates of H1N1 positivity than any other age group,” the company said in its report.

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Think Pink

October 6, 2009 by mark · Leave a Comment

One of the earliest signs of breast cancer can be an abnormality that shows up on a mammogram before it can be felt

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States, aside from skin cancer. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among women in the United States this year. An estimated 40,170 women are expected to die from the disease in 2009 alone. Today, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States.

If you’re worried about developing breast cancer, or if you know someone who has been diagnosed with the disease, one way to deal with your concerns is to get as much information as possible. In this issue of LA Health News you can get breast cancer prevention tips (“Beating Breast Cancer,” on page 10) and read about the debate regarding soy consumption and breast cancer (“Soy Cancer Controversy,” on page 13).

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Killing Cancer Stem Cells

September 7, 2009 by mark · Leave a Comment

Cancer is the No. 2 killer of Americans, with about 560,000 deaths annually

Researchers have found a chemical that can kill breast cancer stem cells — a kind of master cancer cell that resists conventional treatment and may explain why many cancers grow back.

Finding ways to destroy these cells could make cancer far easier to cure. “There is a lot of evidence to suggest now that these cells are responsible for many of the recurrences that are observed after treatment has stopped,” Piyush Gupta of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Broad Institute, whose study appears in the journal Cell, said in a telephone interview last month. Read more

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New Stem Cell Rules Loosen Some Restrictions

August 4, 2009 by mark · Leave a Comment

Stem cells can transform medicine, with new understanding of how to regenerate tissues destroyed by d1sease

The government released final rules last month governing federally funded research on human embryonic stem cells, loosening some requirements that scientists said could have cost them a decade of work. But the new rules keep many of the restrictions on the research. Federal funds may not be used to actually make the cells using human embryos — only to work with them after someone else has made them.

In March, President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research that had been put into place by his predecessor, former president George W. Bush. He asked the National Institutes of Health to draw up new guidelines. Supporters say work on the cells can transform medicine, with new understanding of how to regenerate tissues destroyed in diabetes, by injuries and by diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Opponents say it is wrong to destroy human embryos for any reason and the issue has become a politically divisive one. But over the years Congress reached a middle ground, with many social conservatives, such as Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, saying they could support such research if it used embryos left over at fertility clinics.

“The guidelines reflect the broad public support for federal funding research using human embryonic stem cells created from such embryos based on wide and diverse debate on the topic in Congress and elsewhere,” the new rules said. The new rules limit such research to these in vitro fertilization or IVF leftovers. They also establish stringent “informed consent” rules meant to make clear to the people whose eggs and sperm were used to make the embryos what they will and will not be used for. The new guidelines also loosen restrictions on using human embryonic stem cells made in other countries.

The rules prohibit federal funding of embryos made by cloning, using a human egg only in a process called parthenogenesis, and those created specifically for research. They do not affect what scientists do using private funds or state funds. Representatives Diana DeGette, a Democrat, and Michael Castle, a Republican, have said they would introduce legislation broadening the guidelines further.

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Overcoming Boomeritis

July 3, 2009 by mark · Leave a Comment

Fifty may be the new thirty, but baby boomers’ bodies haven’t heard the news.

Orthopedic surgeons are seeing a “tidal wave” of 45-to 64-year-olds suffering from exercise-related injuries they’ve dubbed “boomeritis,” Dr. Ray Monto, a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), told Reuters Health.

Exercise- and exercise equipment-related injuries sent more than 166,000 people in this age group to the emergency room, clinic or doctor’s office in 2008, according to the US Consumer Products Safety Commission.

These injuries are largely due to people not giving themselves enough time to rest up after tough workouts, according to Monto, an orthopedic surgeon practicing in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. “You can’t beat yourself up the way you did when you were 20 because it takes longer to recover,” he said.

Middle-aged people today are a lot more active than their parents were, he added, which is a good thing. “We’re basically fitter and more athletic now longer into our lives than we ever were.”

But, he added, older athletes need to take a few precautions to protect themselves from injuries like rotator cuff tears, tendonitis and stress fractures. Monto and AAOS offer the following tips:

Get a doctor’s OK. Check with your physician before starting any type of exercise program. This is especially important if you’ve sustained athletic injuries in the past. Your doctor can make sure your heart is healthy, and offer advice on sports and activities that fit your fitness level.

Mix it up. Don’t do the same workout day after day. “The problem is not running or biking, it’s doing everything every day,”

Monto said. For example, instead of running 5 miles every day, an older athlete could try logging 8 miles every other day, and doing something completely different on the days in between.

Work on your flexibility. Monto said he’s increasingly recommending that his older patients take up yoga. And it’s crucial to stretch and warm up before a workout, and cool down and stretch again, the AAOS advises.

Feed your body. Eat well and take calcium and vitamin D supplements daily to keep your muscles and bones healthy.

Get some tips. Taking lessons in your sport of choice can help improve your form and reduce your injury risk.

Stay balanced. Make sure your exercise regimen includes a mix of cardiorespiratory workouts, strength training, and flexibility exercises.

Give it a rest. After a particularly tough workout, give yourself a couple of days to recover, and be sure to schedule days off into your exercise regimen.

Mark Ariel
Editor-In-Chief

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