Health News

Better use of antibiotics could be key to fighting ‘superbugs’

Better use of antibiotics could help fight the infection Clostridium difficile – the super bug.

A team from the University of Leeds, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and Oxford University, mapped all cases of Clostridium difficile (C.diff) in Oxfordshire over a three-year period (2008 to 2011).

C. diff causes severe diarrhoea, cramps and sometimes life-threatening complications, and has traditionally been thought to be transmitted within hospitals from other sick C.diff patients.

The research found that less than one in five cases of the so called ‘hospital superbug’ were likely to have been caught from other hospital cases of C.diff, where the focus of infection control measures has been.

By assessing the genetic variation between C.diff cases, the team identified those cases that were matched and were likely to be linked. By adding hospital records and the community movements of each case, they worked out if that transmission was likely to have happened as a result of hospital or patient contact.

Source: sify.com

Omega-3 fatty acids not tied to women’s mental sharpness

Women who consume plenty of omega-3 fatty acids may not have better thinking and memory skills as a result, according to a new study.

Some researchers have suggested that fatty acids found in fish and fish oil supplements might protect against memory loss.

But studies trying to test that theory have been “all over the place,” said Dr. Jennifer G. Robinson from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, senior author of the new report.

“There’s nothing really convincing, (in) one direction or the other,” she told Reuters Health.

To address the uncertainty, she and her colleagues analyzed data collected as part of the large Women’s Health Initiative trial focused on hormone replacement therapy.

For the new study, they compared women’s fatty acid levels to their performance on six years’ worth of thinking and memory tests.

The study included 2,157 women ages 65 to 80, and Robinson’s team looked at their levels of two omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The researchers also adjusted for the effects of hormone therapy in the women who were taking it.

On seven kinds of thinking and memory tests, Robinson and her colleagues found no differences between the one-third of women with the lowest omega-3 levels and the one-third with the highest levels.

That was after also taking into account other health and lifestyle factors, like whether women smoked and how much they exercised.

The tests measured women’s short-term memory for numbers and pictures and their ability to recognize shapes that are flipped or rotated, for example.

Scores on those exams did decline gradually over time, but there was no link between a woman’s omega-3 levels and how far or fast her scores fell, the study team reports in Neurology.

Robinson said Women’s Health Initiative participants tended to be healthy and well-educated, which may have bolstered their “cognitive reserve” and protected against memory loss – even without extra omega-3 fatty acids. It’s possible, she added, that the fatty acids would make a bigger difference among less-advantaged women.

Or, it may be that researchers would have to measure fatty acids over longer periods of time to see a link with thought processing. The blood levels used here probably only reflect diet over several months, she said.

“It’s just one snapshot, one point in time,” Robinson said. “The feeling as we look at all these chronic diseases … is it’s really what happens over your lifetime that’s important in terms of diet and physical activity.”

Alan Dangour, who has studied fatty acids and memory at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said omega-3s are important for brain development early in life. But after that, the data get a bit fuzzier.

“There is no good evidence to support the consumption of omega-3 supplements to promote or maintain cognitive health in later life,” Dangour, who wasn’t involved in the new research, told Reuters Health in an email.

“However, omega-3 fatty acids are an important part of the diet and may have other health benefits,” he said.

Source: Zee News

Breastfeeding Concerns Prevalent Among New Mothers

Almost all new mothers experience breastfeeding concerns in the early postpartum period, and these are associated with stopping breastfeeding, according to a study published online Sept. 23 in Pediatrics.

Erin A. Wagner, from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues characterized breastfeeding support, intentions, and concerns in a cohort of 532 expectant primiparas who were followed-up through 60 days postpartum.

The researchers found that there were 4,179 breastfeeding concerns reported in 2,946 interviews, which could be grouped into 49 subcategories and nine main categories. At day three, 92% of participants reported at least one concern, with the most common concerns being difficulty with infant feeding at breast (52%), breastfeeding pain (44%), and quantity of milk (40%). Concerns correlated significantly with increased risk of stopping breastfeeding and with use of formula, with the peak adjusted relative risk at day three. The largest population attributable risks (PARs) for stopping feeding were infant feeding difficulty on day seven (adjusted PAR, 32%) and milk quantity at day 14 (adjusted PAR, 23%).

“Breastfeeding concerns are highly prevalent and associated with stopping breastfeeding,” the authors write. “Priority should be given to developing strategies for lowering the overall occurrence of breastfeeding concerns and resolving, in particular, infant feeding and milk quantity concerns occurring within the first 14 days postpartum.”

Source: http://www.empr.com/breastfeeding-concerns-prevalent-among-new-mothers/article/313173/#

Walnuts may prevent diabetes and heart disease

Eating walnuts daily can ward off diabetes and heart disease in at-risk individuals, a new study has found.

Researchers from the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in Connecticut found daily intake of 56 g of walnuts improves endothelial function in overweight adults with visceral adiposity.

The study included a sample of 46 adults aged 30-75. Participants had a Body Mass Index larger than 25, and a waist circumference exceeding 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women.

They were also required to be non-smokers, and all exhibited one or more additional risk factors for metabolic syndrome, a precursor of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The group was randomly assigned to two 8-week sequences of either a walnut-enriched ad libitum diet or an ad libitum diet without walnuts. Those chosen for the walnut diet were instructed to consume 56 g of shelled, unroasted English walnuts per day as a snack or with a meal.

“We know that improving diets tends to be hard, but adding a single food is easy,” explained Dr David Katz, Director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center and lead author of the research team.

“Our theory is that if a highly nutritious, satiating food like walnuts is added to the diet, there are dual benefits: the benefits of that nutrient rich addition and removal of the less nutritious foods,” Katz said. The research found that daily intake of 56 g of walnuts improves endothelial function in overweight adults with visceral adiposity.

“The primary outcome measure was the change in flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery,” researchers said. “Secondary measures included serum lipid panel, fasting glucose and insulin, Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance values, blood pressure, and anthropometric measures.

“FMD improved significantly from baseline when subjects consumed a walnut-enriched diet as compared with the control diet. Beneficial trends in systolic blood pressure reduction were seen, and maintenance of the baseline anthropometric values was also observed. Other measures were unaltered,” they said. The study is published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

Source: Indian Express.com

Hot exercise classes catching on like fire

Mimi Benz discovered her fervor for hot exercise by accident. She had taken heated yoga classes but had never thought to combine high temperatures with her true passion, indoor cycling, until the air conditioning broke during a cycling class at her gym.

From that first hot ride, she was hooked.

“I loved it,” says Benz, explaining that with a heated workout she didn’t have to waste time warming up. “It improves blood flow throughout your body, so you go into a high-calorie burn more quickly. And it feels really good afterwards.”

In 2011, Benz opened the Sweat Shoppe, a heated indoor cycling studio in North Hollywood.

“I wasn’t sure how people would respond, so in the beginning we had half heated classes and half non-heated classes.” But the demand for heated classes was so high that by 2013 they’d eliminated non-heated rides from the schedule.

As the demand for hot workouts continues to rise, heated studios are popping up all over, offering everything from traditional Bikram yoga, which started the hot exercise trend with a regimented sequence of yoga postures performed in a 105-degree room with 40% humidity, to hot power yoga, hot Pilates and hot barre. Some classes even incorporate hot weightlifting.

Bikram’s static poses can be sustained at over 100 degrees, but more dynamic classes are typically in the 95-degree range, and the Sweat Shoppe’s SweatCycle classes top out at 85 degrees. “If you go hotter, that’s nuts” and not safe, says Benz.

The allure of heat

As for why people love the heat so much, Benz says it’s partly a psychological response to sweat streaming from your pores. “People feel they’ve accomplished more if they’re drenched. It is very addictive; a lot of our clients can’t cycle anywhere else because they’re so used to riding in a heated environment.”

Laurel Hilton, a writer and hot-yoga enthusiast from Mill Valley, Calif., agrees that once you go hot it’s hard to go back. “I’m addicted to sweating. In the heat you get a sort of exhausted euphoria. You almost feel like you’re floating during practice. Without heat, it’s just not the same experience.”

After becoming acclimated to high temperatures, working out in the heat gets easier. “It’s the same thing any football coach knows,” says Craig Crandall, director of the Thermoregulation Laboratory at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. “When you take [players] out in the beginning of the season, you can’t work them out hard. They’ll die.” But give them a chance to acclimate, and they’ll be able to push themselves.

Another reason people are attracted to heated workouts: If a heat-acclimated person does the usual workout in a cool environment, it will be a breeze in comparison, says Benz.

Does heat make a better workout?

Though many heated exercise champions believe they’re burning more calories because their hearts are beating faster, that’s not true, says Crandall. “It’s oxygen uptake that determines the number of calories burned, not heart rate.” When people exercise in the heat, they lose blood volume as they sweat, so the amount of blood ejected per heart beat decreases. To compensate, the heart rate increases. For a given workload, a person’s heart rate will always be higher in the heat.

“We know exercising in heat will cause a slightly higher oxygen uptake, but [the difference is] very small, less than 10%,” and likely to be offset by a decreased workload, Crandall says.

Another common misconception is that sweating profusely “detoxifies” the body. “That’s silliness,” says Crandall. “I don’t know of any toxins that are released through sweat.” He adds that the function of sweating is to cool you down, not clean you out.

So is there any physiological benefit to working out in the heat? Crandall says the benefit is heat acclimation itself, which improves sweating efficiency, increases blood flow to the skin and expands blood volume, bringing more blood to the muscles.

There is some evidence that heat acclimation can boost athletic performance. A 2010 study looking at elite cyclists found that those who added a 10-day heat training regimen to their normal training routine saw a 7% increase in their performance. The performance-boosting effects lasted one to two weeks after heat exposure.

But Santiago Lorenzo, the study’s lead author, former Olympic decathlete and a professor of physiology at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pa., cautions, “The results we saw apply to highly trained cyclists. How to translate this to someone of average fitness or a weekend warrior? Chances are it would still work—but we need studies to confirm that.”

Safety during heated exercise

“Even if you’re running in the desert or an area with high humidity, you still usually have a draft to cool you off,” says Shannan Lynch, director of education for Mad Dogg Athletics Inc. “But when you sit in a heated room without airflow, the temperature can get dangerously hot.”

The conditions can lead to reduced blood flow to your skin, thus less cooling, and eventual heat exhaustion or even heat stroke. Warning signs include a dry mouth, headache, increasing fatigue, nausea and dizziness.

If you exercise in the heat, Lynch says, replace the fluid that you lose. Weigh yourself before and after. American College of Sports Medicine guidelines recommend that people drink 20 to 24 ounces of water or sports beverage for every pound they lose.

As far as contraindications for heated exercise, “If you have any kind of heart condition, only try it after you get the green light from a physician,” Lynch says, adding. “Pregnant women should not be exercising in a heated environment.”

Source: http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-sweat-it-20130914,0,522826.story

Questioning Steroid Shots for Back Pain

Injecting steroids into the area around the spinal cord, known as an epidural, is the most commonly used treatment for back pain, but a new review of studies suggests that injecting any liquid, even plain saline solution, works just as well.

Researchers pooled the results of 43 studies involving more than 3,600 patients who got various kinds of injections for back pain. As they expected, they found some evidence that epidural steroid injections provided more relief than steroid injections into the muscles.

But the study, published online in Anesthesiology, also found that there was little difference between the amount of relief provided by steroidal and non-steroidal epidural injections.

The researchers suggest that any liquid injected epidural can help reduce inflammation, enhance blood flow to the nerves and clean out scar tissue.

“Epidural steroid injections may provide modest relief for up to two months in people with back pain due to nerve inflammation,” said the senior author of the study, Dr. Steven P. Cohen, a professor of anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins.

But steroids have side effects, and “most of the short-term benefit seems to be not from the steroids, but from the local anesthetic and saline, which may ‘calm’ inflamed nerves that send pain signals,” said Dr. Cohen. “Doctors should consider significantly reducing the steroid dose, or even not using steroids in patients who are at high risk.”

Source: nytimes.com

Global Warming Slowdown Hinders Climate Treaty Effort

More than ever, scientists say they’re convinced the Earth’s climate is warming. Yet lawmakers are struggling to do anything about it because the pace of change has unexpectedly slowed.

The data has caused a United Nations panel to lower predictions of the pace of global temperature increases by 2100, according to draft documents obtained by Bloomberg ahead of publication due on Sept. 27. Still, the most complete assessment of climate science in six years also is likely to conclude that melting ice will make sea levels rise faster than previously projected.

The findings muddy the picture about how much carbon dioxide output is affecting the climate, giving ammunition to those who doubt the issue needs urgent action. Skeptics have succeeded in “confusing the public,” said Michael Jacobs, who advised the U.K. government on climate policy until 2010.

“It’s been a very organized campaign by climate skeptics, using the very, very tiny number of scientists who don’t agree with the almost unanimous view of everybody else and inflating small uncertainties into apparently major challenges to the scientific consensus,” Jacobs said. “One of the challenges of the panel this year is to convince the media, politicians and the public that there is this extraordinarily widespread consensus on the major facts about climate change.”

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com

5 surprising ways to prevent migraines

When it comes to migraines, the best offense is a good defense. If are suffering from a migraine, you are probably more than willing to try any migraine medication or unusual home remedy in the hope of getting some sort of migraine relief. Many migraine sufferers find that it is easier and more effective to prevent a migraine from happening in the first place than trying to treat the pain and nausea of a full blown migraine headache once it occurs. The best treatment for migraine relief is migraine prevention.

The problem with finding a definitive migraine medication or preventative treatment for migraines is that all migraine sufferers are unique and have different migraine triggers and causes. For example, the treatments for migraine prevention that keep me from having a migraine for months and even years at a time have not, unfortunately, worked for my sister.

If you suffer from migraines, the key is to keep trying until you find a treatment for migraine prevention that works for you.

 1: Lifestyle changes are the best treatment for migraine prevention.

The most important strategy in the war against migraines is avoiding a migraine attack in the first place. To prevent migraines, you need to figure out what your own personal migraine triggers are and avoid them religiously.

Common migraine triggers include chocolate, red wine, cheese and caffeine. Keep a diet diary to discover your migraine triggers. Avoiding migraine triggers in your diet is an effective treatment for migraine prevention.

Certain smells can also trigger a migraine headache. My sister, for example, stopped wearing perfume and asked her friends and family to do the same when they planned to spend time with her. That helped a little, but it was not enough.

However, when she stopped buying any type of scented soaps, shampoo, lotion, laundry detergent and other cleaning products and got rid of her flowering houseplants, it made an even bigger difference. You may not think of the original scent of Tide, for example, as being perfumed, but it is. Being around those low level smells meant that my sister was exposed to one of her migraine triggers all the time; for her, buying unscented everything is an effective treatment for migraine prevention.

 2: Natural herbal remedies for migraine prevention.

For centuries, migraine sufferers have been using natural herbal remedies to prevent and treat migraine headaches. If you suffer from migraines, you might want to try traditional herbal remedies to prevent migraines.

Natural herbal remedies such as feverfew and ginko biloba that increase blood circulation and decrease the constriction of blood vessels, especially in the brain, are good herbal treatments for migraine prevention. In fact, daily doses of feverfew has been shown in British medical studies to reduce not only the frequency of migraine attacks, but also the intensity of migraine headaches when they do occur, especially when taken in conjunction with white willow.

Ginger, a natural powerhouse and home remedy staple, is well known for preventing and reducing the nausea that all too often accompanies a migraine headache. Ginger can also be used as a treatment for migraine prevention.

 3: Vitamin supplements can be used to prevent migraine headaches.

You might also want to consider taking over the counter vitamins and supplements from preventative migraine relief. Coenzyme Q10, magnesium and vitamin B2 have all been shown to be helpful treatments for migraine prevention.

 4: OTC Migraine medications can help stave off a full blown migraine attack.

If, despite your best efforts, you do feel a migraine headache coming on, your best strategy is to stop it in its tracks.

Excedrin Migraine is a popular over the counter (OTC) migraine medication. It contains acetominphen, aspirin and caffeine, and many migraine sufferers have found that Excedrin Migraine works when taken at the first sign of a migraine. However, if caffeine is one of your migraine triggers, Excedrin Migraine not the migraine medication for you.

I personally find OTC naproxen (ie. Aleve) be effective if taken immediately, as well as over the counter sinus medications that combine pain relief with antihistamines and decongestants.

Finally, many migraine sufferers, men included, have found that OTC medications designed for menstrual problems are also effective for migraine relief.

 5: Prescription medications for migraine prevention.

If you have tried the typical lifestyle changes, herbal migraine prevention medications and over the counter migraine drugs listed above, you may need to talk to your doctor about at migraine relief from prescription migraine prevention medications.

Currently, there are only four migraine medications approved by the FDA for use in preventing migraine headaches. Two- Topamax (topiramate) and Depakote ER (divalproex sodium)- are neuronal stabilizing agents, or anticonvulsants originally developed for seizure disorders. The other prescription medications approved for migraine prevention are Blocadren (timolol) and Inderal (propranolol), which are beta blockers originally developed for treating heart disease and high blood pressure

These migraine medications provided relief from migraines to many sufferers, but they can have side effects. Topomax, for example, has been shown to cause birth defects, kidney stones, acute myopia (nearesightedness) and glaucoma, which can lead to blindness.

Doctors may prescribe certain medications off label for preventative migraine relief. “Off label” means prescribing a medication approved for something else for the treatment of migraines. Antihistimines, antidepressants and blood pressure medications have all been prescribed by doctors in the hope that they will prevent migraines.

Other brands of beta blockers and anticonvulsants that have not specifically been approved by the FDA for migraine prevention have been successful when used as preventive migraine medications, as well as Botox, muscle relaxants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) generally prescribed for arthritis, and medications usually used in the treatment of ADD.

As always, you should make sure to talk to your doctor before using prescription medications as a treatment for migraine prevention.

Source: health.com

Vitamin B could help reduce risk of stroke

Taking Vitamin B supplements may help to reduce the risk of stroke, according to a new study.

Researchers found that across 14 studies taking vitamin B reduced the risk of having a stroke by around seven per cent.

Vitamin B, which actually consists of a group of 8 vitamins, are generally found in fortified cereals along with meat such as tuna, liver and fruit such as bananas.

Processed foods such as bread, however, tend to contain low levels of B vitamins and so many health experts encourage taking supplements.

Previous studies have revealed conflicting findings for whether vitamin B supplements can help guard against stroke or heart attack. Some have even shown it can increase the risk.

However, researchers at Zhengzhou University in China analyzed 14 clinical trials, involving nearly 55,000 participants.

They found there was a seven per cent lower risk of stroke among those taking the supplements.

There were 2,471 patients suffered strokes but the studies also showed vitamin B resulted in lower levels of a molecule involved in blood clotting called homocysteine.

The authors, whose findings are published in the journal Neurology, said: “Our analysis demonstrated that homocysteine lowering therapy with B vitamin supplementation significantly reduced stroke events.”

However, the researchers found vitamin B supplementation did not have a significant impact on reducing the risk of heart attack.

They also found that folic acid, which is also known as Vitamin B9, could reduce the benefits of taking other vitamin B supplements.

However, many health experts have been pushing to have folic acid added to bread to help ensure pregnant women get enough of the nutrient as it can protect against neurological diseases such as spina bifida in their children.

The researchers also found vitamin B12, which is a common supplement, did not appear to have any impact on stroke risk at high doses.

Previous studies have shown that vitamin B3 can help to improve recovery in patients who have suffered a stroke.

Dr Xu Yuming, another of the authors behind the study, said: “Based on our results, the ability of vitamin B to reduce stroke risk may be influenced by a number of other factors such as the body’s absorption rate, the amount of folic acid or vitamin B12 concentration in the blood, and whether a person has kidney disease or high blood pressure.

“Previous studies have conflicting findings regarding the use of vitamin B supplements and stroke or heart attack.

“Some studies have even suggested that the supplements may increase the risk of these events.”

“Before you begin taking any supplements, you should always talk to your doctor.”

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Beat insomnia with yoga, Ease Stress, and Relieve Pain

If you’ve already tried everything from a warm bath to a warm glass of milk but you’re STILL lying awake counting sheep, wellness expert Peggy Hall has another tip that could help you get a good night’s sleep.

The next time you find yourself lying awake at night, grab your yoga mat: , relieve stress, and ward off aches and pains that can keep you tossing and turning. Closing your eyes and breathing long, slow breaths can have a sedating effect on the body, says Sara Ivanhoe, featured instructor on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab. “I’ve had trouble sleeping since I was an infant,” she says. “One of the reasons I got into yoga is because I wanted to learn to relax on command.”
“As a yoga instructor, I’ve developed two easy and effective yoga moves that anyone can do,” says Peggy. “Whether you’re a yoga pro or have never done yoga before!”

The first move she recommends is what she calls “Sleeping Beauty”:

  • Sit on the bed and place two pillows or a folded blanket to your left side.
    Bend your knees toward the pillows and let your feet go to your right.
    Place your chest and side of your head on the blanket. Close your eyes
    and relax for five to eight breaths. Repeat on the other side.
  • Why this works: According to the traditions of yoga, when you lie on your
    back, your brain tends to stay more alert, so it’s not conducive to falling
    asleep. But when you’re face down or curled up, your brain senses a
    drawing in and a calming down. If you like to sleep on your back,
    that’s fine — just start out on your side until you get drowsy, then you
    can turn over.

Peggy’s second move is the “Whole Body Blast”:

  • Lie on your bed, face up.
  • Tense your whole body, making fists, and clench every muscle tight. Hold this position and hold your breath for a few seconds, then release everything. Repeat a total of three times. Peggy says that this helps squeeze out the last remaining bits of physical and emotional tension that can lead to insomnia.

“You’re going to feel such a sense of relief after doing these simple moves,” says Peggy, “that your body is naturally going to enter the sleep zone so you can wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day!”

Source: Americanownews.com