Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.
Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can't, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.
You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.
Hot Days, Cold Noodles
Some people just don't get hungry during a heat wave, but I'm not one of them. During the last run of hot weather I craved cold Asian noodles; I loved the way they were both cooling and filling, and the way they served as a vehicle for refreshing vegetables like cucumbers and crisp shredded cabbage. Asian noodles don't need to be cooked al dente the way Italian pasta does, so they won't suffer from being cooked ahead, tossed with a little sesame oil or dressing and refrigerated for a day or two. This is really helpful when the weather's hot and you're hungry. You reach into the refrigerator and grab a bowl of noodle salad that is no worse for wear from having been there for a day.
~Martha Rose Shulman~
Soba and Herb Salad With Roasted Eggplant and Pluots
I love the contrast of the savory/spicy and fruity/sweet here.
Cold Sesame Noodles With Cucumber and Sweet Pepper
Both udon and soba noodles work in this mildly spicy salad.
Cellophane Noodle Salad With Cabbage
A refreshing Thai noodle salad.
Korean Buckwheat Noodles With Chilled Broth and Kimchi
Inspired by a signature Korean noodle dish, there are a variety of ways to make this recipe, depending on your preferences.
Chicken Noodle Salad With Creamy Sesame Dressing
A substantial salad that makes for a delicious summer meal.
General Medicine/Family Medical
BP Cuff Before Heart Surgery Cuts Heart Damage: Study
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Procedure is safe, cheap and simple, researchers say
Aug. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Inflating a blood pressure cuff on a patient's upper arm just before heart bypass surgery reduces heart damage and may improve long-term survival, according to a new study.
This practice, called "remote ischemic preconditioning," involves using the blood pressure cuff to briefly cut off, and then restore, blood supply to an area of the body distant from the heart, such as the arm.
The study appears in the Aug. 17 issue of The Lancet.
1 Exercise Session Won't Bring Good Night's Sleep
by Alan Mozes, HealthDay
Study found there is no quick fix for insomnia when it comes to working out
Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- If you decide to hit the gym in hopes that a quick dose of exercise will cure your insomnia, a new study suggests that will not be enough.
While adopting an exercise programdid ultimately help some insomniacs sleep better, the scientists found the impact was far from immediate.
Eye Study May Lead to Help for Some Vision Loss
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Findings shed light on how people with macular degeneration might learn to adapt more quickly
Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- The system that controls eye movements in humans is highly adaptable and can make changes within a few hours when something interferes with a person's ability to see, according to a new study.
The researchers said their findings may suggest new ways to help people with age-related macular degeneration better cope with vision loss. The disease causes progressive loss of so-called "foveal" vision, leading to visual impairment and blindness.
Study Challenges Theory About Brain Behavior
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
MRI scans don't indicate that one hemisphere dominates or affects personality
Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Brain scans show no evidence that people are predominately right- or left-brained, researchers report.
The new findings challenge the widely held belief that people use one side of their brain more than the other, and that this influences their personality traits. For example, left-brained people are said to be logical and detail-oriented, while right-brained people are creative and thoughtful.
Controversial Theory Behind Possible MS Cause Refuted
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Canadian researchers report that blocked veins in head, neck don't prompt autoimmune disease
Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- New research finds that there is no evidence that multiple sclerosis is associated with reduced or blocked blood flow in the veins of the head or neck.
The study results challenge a controversial theory that a condition called chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) -- a narrowing of veins that drain blood from the brain and upper spinal cord -- is associated with MS. The theory also holds that patients would benefit from using balloon angioplasty or stents to widen the veins, a treatment called liberation therapy.
More Drugs Show Promise in Fighting Hepatitis C
by Amy Norton. HealthDay
Faldaprevir and deleobuvir are part of effort to develop treatments that avoid harsh side effects
Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental drug duo may cure some cases of the liver disease hepatitis C, without the severe side effects of standard therapy, a new clinical trial suggests.
The study, of 362 people with chronic hepatitis C, found that the new drugs -- combined with one older drug -- cleared the virus from up to 69 percent of patients. And that was without having to use interferon, a difficult-to-take injection drug that is part of the current therapy.
Experts said the findings, published in the Aug. 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, are another step forward in vastly improving hepatitis C treatment.
Colon Cancer Linked to Mouth Infection?
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Study suggests pathway from oral bacteria to colon cells
Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- An infection from a common type of mouth bacteria can contribute to colorectal cancer, a new study suggests.
The bacteria, called Fusobacterium nucleatum, can attach to colon cells and trigger a sequence of changes that can lead to colon cancer, according to the team at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine.
Prompt Surgery May Be Best for Heart Valve Leak
by Dennis Thompson, HealthDay
Study findings challenge policy of 'watchful waiting' for people with mitral valve regurgitation
Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- People with a leaky heart valve will live longer if surgeons repair the leak promptly, even if the patient isn't feeling any symptoms, a new study finds.
Doctors usually employ a strategy of "watchful waiting" when treating healthy people who have mitral valve regurgitation, which is backflow leakage through the valve that separates the two chambers on the left side of the heart.
Early Dementia Risk Factors Can Show Up in Teens
by Steven Reinberg, HealthDay
Alcohol abuse topped the list in large study of Swedish men
Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Swedish researchers have identified nine risk factors -- many occurring during a person's teens -- that are tied to early onset dementia.
The good news is that several of these symptoms and behaviors can be prevented or treated, experts noted.
Early onset (or young-onset) dementia occurs before the age of 65. Alcohol abuse was the most important risk factor found in the study, said lead researcher Peter Nordstrom. "In contrast, the influence of hereditary factors, that is dementia in the parents, was very small."
Best Heart Failure Patients for Pacemakers: Study
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Two key measures separated those who would benefit from those who would not
Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- New research pinpoints how to spot which heart failure patients are most likely to benefit from getting a pacemaker.
Previous research has shown that receiving a pacemaker can improve symptoms and reduce the risk of hospital readmission and death in some heart failure patients. One-third to one-half of heart failure patients who receive a pacemaker do not improve, however, according to background information in the study.
Being able to identify which patients would be helped most by a pacemaker is important because the surgery to implant the devices is expensive and carries risks, the study authors said.
Having More Siblings Might Lower Your Divorce Risk
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Past experience with family dynamics may help you navigate marriage, study authors theorize
Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- The more brothers and sisters you have, the less likely you are to get divorced, a new study contends.
Each sibling that a person has -- up to seven -- reduces the likelihood of divorce by 2 percent. The findings come from an analysis of data collected from about 57,000 people in the United States between 1972 and 2012.
Although having more than seven siblings provided no additional protection, it didn't hurt either, according to the study, which is scheduled to be presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in New York City.
Warnings/Alerts/Guidelines
Baby Boomers Need Hepatitis C Test, CDC Study Confirms
by Steven Reinberg, HealthDay
Routine testing urged to prevent liver damage
Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Baby boomers -- the generation known for sex, drugs and rock and roll -- are the most likely Americans to develop hepatitis C, and too many of them aren't tested until it's too late to prevent liver damage, U.S. health officials reported Thursday.
A survey of nearly 5,000 hepatitis C patients found that three-quarters were born between 1945 and 1965 -- the post-war baby boom years -- and almost half had not been screened until symptoms surfaced.
Seasonal Flu/Other Epidemics/Disasters
Obesity's Death Toll May Be Higher Than Thought
by Dennis Thompson, HealthDay
Study shows 18 percent rate of related deaths in U.S. adults aged 40 and up, compared to earlier estimates of 5 percent
Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have vastly underestimated the number of deaths caused by obesity in the United States, a new report reveals.
Obesity accounts for 18 percent of deaths among black and white Americans between the ages of 40 and 85, according to a study published online Aug. 15 in the American Journal of Public Health. Previous estimates had placed obesity-related deaths at only 5 percent of all U.S. mortalities.
Women's Health
Infertility Rate Declines Among U.S. Couples
by Steven Reinberg, HealthDay
CDC report challenges perception that problem is growing as more women seek treatment
Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Despite the rise in fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization, infertility rates have actually decreased among U.S. women of childbearing age, a government report released Wednesday shows.
Infertility "decreased slightly but significantly, from 8.5 percent of married women to 6 percent of married women," between 1982 and 2010, said study author Anjani Chandra.
Induced Labor Linked to Raised Risk of Autism, Study Suggests
by Denise Mann, HealthDay
Male children seem to be most vulnerable, researchers report
Aug. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Inducing or helping along labor in pregnant women may raise the risk for having a child with autism, particularly if that child is a boy, a new study suggests.
Experts, including the Duke University researchers, are quick to caution that there are often overriding medical reasons to induce or augment labor that should not be ignored because of any potential risk of autism.
Men's Health
High-Tech Prostate Scan May Boost Cancer Detection
by Dennis Thompson, HealthDay
Combo of ultrasound and MRI zeroes in on tumors, helping some men avoid biopsy, experts say
Aug. 16 (HealthDay News) -- An innovative fusion of MRI and ultrasound might be a better way to detect and assess prostate cancer, while helping men avoid unnecessary biopsies, researchers say.
The technology blends real-time imaging from both MRI and ultrasound devices, allowing doctors to more accurately direct the biopsy needle that draws cell samples from suspected tumors.
"This approach does detect cancers that can go missed by standard biopsy," said Dr. Art Rastinehad, assistant professor of urology and radiology and director of Interventional Urologic Oncology at Hofstra University-North Shore LIJ School of Medicine in Hempstead, N.Y.
18-Year Study Finds Drug Cut Prostate Cancer Risk
by Dennis Thompson, HealthDay
Follow-up focused on finasteride, the active ingredient in Proscar and hair-loss drug Propecia
Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- A drug used to treat enlarged prostate and male pattern baldness also reduces a man's risk of prostate cancer by nearly a third, according to a large new study.
The findings on nearly 19,000 men also overturn earlier concerns that treatment with finasteride -- the agent in the prostate drug Proscar and the hair-loss drug Propecia -- might promote the development of more virulent prostate cancers in men who contract the disease, researchers said.
Pediatric Health
New Genetic Clues to Severe Childhood Epilepsy
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Exome sequencing technique may lead to discoveries about many diseases, researchers say
Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- A new technique used to identify genes associated with severe forms of childhood epilepsy could be used to find and confirm other gene mutations that cause neurological disorders, researchers report.
The scientists performed a technique called exome sequencing to search for non-inherited gene mutations associated with epilepsy in 264 children whose parents do not have epilepsy. They identified 25 such mutations in six genes: two new genes and four that had been previously linked with epilepsy.
The two forms of epilepsy associated with these gene mutations are called infantile spasms and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, according to the study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and published Aug. 7 in the journal Nature.
Childhood Tummy Aches May Be Tied to Adult Anxiety
by Denise Mann, HealthDay
Study looked at young adults a decade later
Aug. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Stomach pain is a common childhood complaint, and now a new study suggests it may place some kids at higher risk for anxiety disorders or depression as adults.
The researchers compared 332 young adults, aged around 20, who had abdominal pain as children to 147 participants who did not. Of those who had suffered from stomach pain, 51 percent had an anxiety disorder during their lifetime, and 30 percent had one currently. By contrast, only 20 percent of adults without stomach pain as children had an anxiety disorder.
Kids With Autism Outperformed Others on Math Test
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Parents might be reassured by focusing on children's strengths, researcher says
Aug. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Children with autism and average IQs consistently did better on math tests than non-autistic children in the same IQ range, according to a small new study.
The superiority in math skills among children with autism was tied to patterns of activation in a particular area of the brain, an area normally associated with recognizing faces and visual objects.
ADHD and Texting Double Trouble for Teen Drivers
by Brenda Goodman, HealthDay Reporter
One proposed solution: technology that cuts off cellphone when engine is on
Aug. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Teens with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are worse drivers than their peers who don't have ADHD and texting only compounds their problems on the road, a new study shows.
What's more, texting behind the wheel is so distracting it makes normal teens drive as poorly as those who have ADHD, underscoring the danger to any driver of trying to text and operate a car at the same time, the researchers noted.
Aging
Alzheimer's Research Takes a New Turn
by Dennis Thompson, HealthDay
Study suggests that gummed-up synapses -- not plaque -- may be at the root of aging brain diseases
Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- A protein that accumulates in healthy aging brains could prove to be the culprit behind the natural forgetfulness that comes with growing old as well as advanced neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, according to a new study.
The protein, known as C1q, accumulates on the brain's synapses as people age, potentially gumming up the works, said Dr. Ben Barres, professor and chair of neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine and senior author of the study, published Aug. 14 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Famous Face Test May Spot Early Dementia
by Alan Mozes, HealthDay
Researchers say inability to name icons like Einstein or Elvis might signal primary progressive aphasia
Aug. 12 (HealthDay News) -- What do Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, John F. Kennedy and Oprah Winfrey all have in common? Widespread fame. And now new research suggests that middle-aged Americans who fail to recognize or name them and their like may suffer from a specific type of early onset dementia.
Called primary progressive aphasia, this particular form of dementia tends to initially strike men and women between the ages of 40 and 65. It is principally known for disrupting language skills, making it difficult for patients to understand or find the right words when trying to articulate their thoughts.
Mental Health
Genetic Overlap Seen in Five Mental Disorders
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Strongest link between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, researchers say
Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Five major mental disorders share common inherited genetic variations, a new study finds.
The overlap is highest between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (15 percent), moderate between bipolar disorder and depression and between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression (about 10 percent), and lowest between schizophrenia and autism (3 percent
Could Facebook Habit Make You Less Happy?
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Life satisfaction dropped as use increased among young adults, study found
Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Despite all the virtual socializing and "liking" involved, using Facebook is actually associated with a decline in happiness, according to a small new study.
"On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection," lead author Ethan Kross, a social psychologist at the University of Michigan, said in a university news release.
Nutrition/Diet/Fitness
Mediterranean Diet May Counter Genetic Risk of Stroke
by Randy Dotinga, HealthDay
People who consumed plenty of nuts or olive oil fared better in study
Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Mediterranean diets heavy in two foods -- olive oil and nuts -- are linked to a lower rate of strokes in older people whose genetic makeup boosts their risk of diabetes, according to a new study.
The research suggests but doesn't conclusively prove that the diet lowers or even eliminates the extra risk of stroke, perhaps by lowering the rate of diabetes. Still, "our work has placed a solid step on the ladder of personalized nutrition and successful health," said study co-author Jose Ordovas, director of the nutrition and genomics laboratory at Tufts University's USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.
Mediterranean Diet May Help Thwart Type 2 Diabetes
by Robert Preidt, HealthDay
Low-carb diets also were associated with reduced risk
Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- A Mediterranean-style diet and low-carbohydrate diets may help reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
Based on eating habits in Greece, southern Italy and Spain, a Mediterranean diet consists largely of fish, fruits, vegetables, beans, high-fiber breads, whole grains and olive oil. This eating plan also limits red meat, cheese and sweets.
For the study, published Aug. 15 in the journal Diabetologia, researchers followed more than 22,000 people in Greece for about 11 years. During that time, about 2,300 of them developed diabetes.
Kindergartners' Soda Intake Linked to Aggression in Study
by Amy Norton, HealthDay
Nearly half of urban 5-year-olds consume soft drinks every day, their mothers say
Aug. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Five-year-olds who drink soda every day may have more behavior problems than kids with soda-free diets, a new study of U.S. children suggests.
After looking at nearly 3,000 urban families, the researchers found that 5-year-olds' scores on a standard measure of aggression tended to climb along with their soft drink intake.
Kindergartners who downed four or more servings per day were particularly aggressive, based on mothers' reports. They were twice as likely as other kids to get into fights or destroy property, and also displayed more attention problems than children who didn't drink soda.
The findings were reported Aug. 16 in the Journal of Pediatrics.
Healthy Eating Might Ward Off Pancreatic Cancer
by Steven Reinberg, HealthDay
Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- In a study of more than 500,000 Americans, those who ate a healthy diet reduced their risk for pancreatic cancer by 15 percent.
The diet used in the study followed federal dietary guidelines from 2005 and recommended eating a variety of nutritional foods and limiting saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt and alcohol.
"Maintaining a healthful diet has many potential health benefits," said lead researcher Hannah Arem, from the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
Heavy Coffee Drinking Tied to Shorter Lives for Younger Adults in Study
by Randy Dotinga, HealthDay
Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Hold the java and listen up: A new study suggests that people under 55 who drink four or more cups of coffee a day are more likely to die early than others.
Skeptical experts cautioned that the study of over 40,000 adults has major limitations and the findings don't show that coffee actually causes an early death. But study co-author Dr. Carl Lavie, professor of medicine at the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, believes there's reason to be worried if you down a lot of joe.
But experts say research has many limitations
Researchers found a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains cut risk by 15 percent