Category Archives: Cancer

Statins linked to muscle pain, sprains

Cholesterol-lowering drugs could be tied to more muscle problems than researchers previously believed, a new study hints. Researchers compared two groups of similar people enrolled in military health insurance and found those taking a statin were about 10 percent more likely to have muscle pain, sprains or strains. Past studies have tied the popular cholesterol drugs to muscle weakness as well as the rare muscle-wasting disease rhabdomyolysis. The new study expands on those findings and suggests the muscle-related side effects of statins might be broader, researchers said. However, they don't prove statins caused the pain and injuries seen among some patients. “I would strongly recommend that no one should stop taking statins based on this study… simply because statins have been life-saving for many patients,” said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Ishak Mansi. However, he said side effects including muscle injuries are something to think about for people who are discussing with their doctor whether they really need to be on a statin. And they're another reason to try to maintain a healthy lifestyle - including exercising and not smoking - to avoid needing drugs in the first place, he added. Mansi, from the VA North Texas Health Care System in Dallas, and his colleagues compared the health records of two groups of patients who were the same age and had the same types of medical conditions. People in one group had been prescribed a statin in late 2004 and 2005; those in the other group never took statins during the study period. The researchers tracked the medical records of each of those patients - about 14,000 in total - through early 2010 for signs of muscle problems. They found 87 percent of statin users had some type of muscle or joint problem - including arthritis and muscle injuries - compared to 85 percent of people who didn't take a statin. Strains, sprains and dislocations, in particular, were reported for 35 percent of people on a statin, compared to 32.5 percent of those not taking a cholesterol-lowering drug. And medical records showed muscle pain among 73.5 percent of statin users, versus 71.5 percent of non-users, Mansi's team reported in JAMA Internal Medicine. Mansi said those proportions are a bit higher than usual both in the statin and non-statin groups - possibly because his study included military members and veterans, who are more likely to get injured. The researchers calculated that 37 people would have to be treated with statins for one more to have a muscle strain or sprain, and 58 people for one more case of muscle or joint pain. About one-quarter of U.S. adults aged 45 and older take statins to protect against heart attacks and strokes. The drugs are especially recommended for people with diabetes or a history of cardiovascular problems. Dr. Paul Thompson, chief of cardiology at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, said his own research suggests about 5 percent of people will have muscle problems related to statin use. “We think it's a much bigger problem than it's given credit for,” Thompson, who wasn't involved in the new study, said. However, he said, those muscle problems don't seem to be permanent. “I encourage people to not worry about the possibilities of muscle troubles,” he said. “If they get muscle troubles, we'll stop the drug, and it will go away.” Mansi agreed that people “don't need to be excessively worried” about muscle pain or injuries tied to statins, but that they're something to consider. “Patients need to discuss with their doctors the benefit-risk ratio of statins for them specifically,” he said.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/05/statins-linked-to-muscle-pain-sprains/

Tips for eating healthy while traveling

Summertime is vacation time – from road trips and family reunions to long flights, making healthy food choices can sometimes seem impossible. But by following a few guidelines and doing a little bit of prep work, you can easily make healthy choices on even the most exotic vacation. Fill your suitcase The last thing you want to do when you first arrive is go shopping for healthy snacks. Instead, prepare snack-sized baggies that you can easily throw into your beach bag or pocket. Keep all the small baggies together by storing them in a larger plastic storage bag. Some great choices include trail mix with dried fruits and nuts, individual packets of nut butters, dehydrated kale chips, dried coconut slices and your favorite jerky. When choosing jerky, make sure to look for brands with no added preservatives, and be creative so you don’t get bored by trying salmon or turkey jerky instead of beef. Even a can of sardines, wild salmon or tuna can be made into a quick meal in a pinch. Air travel Make sure to eat a healthy, protein-packed meal right before leaving to cut down on the temptation of airport fast food, or take a light meal with you. Small frozen gel packs are great for keeping snacks cool for a few hours and usually have no trouble getting through security. Look for sets that are sold for diaper bags since they tend to be streamlined and don’t take up much space. Choose snacks that are nutrient-dense so you don’t need a large quantity to fill you up. Veggie sticks and cheese cubes, avocado slices, fresh coconut slices and hard-boiled eggs are easy to eat without utensils. Apples and bananas are usually easy to find and make a great snack when paired with a packet of nut butter. Road trips Investing in a small cooler will greatly reduce your chances of giving in to the drive-through window. Fill it with fresh fruit, veggie sticks, hard-boiled eggs, chicken-avocado salad and sandwiches. When making sandwiches, choose sprouted, or whole-grain bread – or wrap it all up in a lettuce leaf for a grain-free option. Look for deli meats that are free of nitrates and preservatives, add some lettuce and sliced avocado as a healthy fat instead of mayonnaise. Make sure you layer any condiments (pickles, mustard, and tomatoes) between the protein slices so the bread, or lettuce wrap, doesn’t get soggy. Homemade oatmeal cookies or granola bars made with a touch of honey and filled with dried fruits and nuts make a great kid-friendly snack on the go. If you get caught hungry at a gas station, choose high-protein snacks such as sunflower seeds, nuts, fruit and nut bars or a banana. Restaurants Of course you want to indulge on vacation, but indulging at every meal may make it harder to get back into your healthy routine when you get back home. Choose one meal a day, or every two days, as an indulgence, and skip the breadbasket so you’re not tempted to fill up on empty calories before the meal. Choose grilled, broiled, steamed, roasted, baked or poached for your proteins and ask for vegetables to be steamed so they don’t end up floating in oil. Try ordering a salad with olive oil and fresh lemon juice as an appetizer and choose an appetizer for a main course, or choose two appetizers for your dinner. It’s a great way to try different things without going overboard. Hotels Hotel breakfasts tend to offer a lot of high-sugar, high-carbohydrate items such as pancakes and processed cereals. Choose high-protein eggs instead and add veggies to your omelet if you can. Try finding a hotel with a fridge or request that the mini bar be emptied before you arrive so that you can use it during your stay. Stock it with perishables such as fresh veggie sticks, berries, organic full-fat yogurt, kefir and organic cheese. Pack your own individual oatmeal breakfasts in plastic baggies. Add old-fashioned rolled oats, cacao nibs, shredded coconut, dried cherries, slivered almonds and even some whey protein. Pour the mixture into a bowl covered with water or coconut milk the night before, store it in the fridge and your breakfast will be waiting for you in the morning.Jacqueline Banks is a certified holistic health counselor and busy mother. & Her focus is on helping other busy moms in all stages of motherhood keep themselves and their little ones healthy and happy. & She uses natural and organic solutions to solve individual health problems and promote clean living. Check out her website at www.jbholistic.com.& & source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/05/tips-for-eating-healthy-while-traveling/

Obesity surgery-diabetes study shows pros and cons

Obesity surgery worked much better at reducing and even reversing diabetes than medication and lifestyle changes in one of the most rigorous studies of its kind. But the researchers and others warn that possible serious complications need to be considered. The yearlong study indicates that the most common weight-loss surgery, gastric bypass, can effectively treat diabetes in patients with mild to moderate obesity - about 50 to 70 pounds overweight, the researchers reported Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Other studies have shown the operation can reverse diabetes in severely obese patients, although sometimes the disease comes back. About a third of the 60 adults who got bypass surgery in the new study developed serious problems within a year of the operation, though some cases were not clearly linked with the surgery. That rate is similar to what's been seen in previous studies. But for the most serious complications - infections, intestinal blockages and bleeding - the rate was 6 percent, slightly higher than in earlier research. The most dangerous complication occurred in one patient when stomach contents leaked from the surgery site, leading to an overwhelming infection, leg amputation and brain injury. Lead author Dr. Sayeed Ikramuddin, an obesity surgeon at the University of Minnesota, called that case “a fluke.” A journal editorial says such devastating complications are rare, but that “the frequency and severity of complications ... is problematic” in the study and that the best way to treat patients with both obesity and diabetes “remains unknown.” A research review in the journal said more long-term evidence on risks and benefits is needed to determine if obesity surgery is an appropriate way to treat diabetes in patients who aren't severely obese - at least 100 pounds overweight. More than 20 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes; most are overweight or obese. Diabetics face increased risks for heart disease and strokes, and poorly controlled diabetes can damage the kidneys, eyes and blood vessels. About 160,000 people nationwide undergo various types of obesity surgery each year. Bypass surgery, the type studied, involves stapling the stomach to create a small pouch and attaching it to a lower part of the intestines. The American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery says obesity surgery is safe and that the death rate is less than 1 percent, lower than for gallbladder and hip replacement surgery. The study involved 120 patients at five hospitals in New York, Minnesota and Taiwan. All patients got medicines for diabetes, obesity, cholesterol and/or high blood pressure. They all were advised to cut calories and increase physical activity. Sixty patients also had surgery, and the two groups were compared after one year. The surgery group lost on average nearly 60 pounds and 75 percent lowered blood sugar levels to normal or near normal levels. The non-surgery group lost an average 17 pounds and just 30 percent reached the blood-sugar goal. The surgery group also needed less medication after the operation. The researchers say the diabetes changes were likely due to the weight loss but that hormonal changes affecting blood sugar may have contributed. The surgery group showed a trend toward having less high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol - both major risk factors for heart disease, although those between-group differences could have been due to chance. Ikramuddin, the lead author, said the study results don't mean that all mildly obese diabetics should have obesity surgery, but that “in the correct patient, surgery might be an important thing to consider.”source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/05/obesity-surgery-diabetes-study-shows-pros-and-cons/

New app provides health info straight from doctors

Being in the dark about your health can be very unsettling, so people often turn to the Internet for answers. But sometimes, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction on web sites. To help people get better answers to their biggest health questions, two physicians developed a free new app called iTriage. The app’s content is written by a team of doctors and health professionals, and the information available on the app has been reviewed by Harvard Medical School, according to iTriage’s web site. The app includes tools to check symptoms, explore possible causes, research medications and even find a doctor. Additionally, a section on the app called My iTriage allows users to store their personal health records and insurance information. The iTriage app is a useful tool, but if you’re sick, be sure to seek professional help. For more information go to iTriageHealth.comsource : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/05/new-app-provides-health-info-straight-from-doctors/

Dear Kim Kardashian, read this before you eat your placenta

It never ceases to amaze me how many expectant mothers sensationalize their pregnancies for publicity. And we all know the 'mother' of all publicity seekers’ whose name starts with a “Kim” and ends with “Kardashian.” Perhaps all the bad press she’s been getting about her looks throughout her pregnancy has finally gotten to her. On Sunday's season premiere of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” the 32-year-old reality star revealed she might be interested in eating her own placenta after her baby girl is born, in order to help her look younger. Kim, I want to preface this article by reminding you of an old adage that I think applies here: Don't kill the messenger. For years, I’ve been hearing that some patients, after giving birth, request to keep their placentas — though I’ve never actually had this experience in my own practice. Some of these patients desire to keep their placentas for cultural reasons. However, a growing trend is on the rise of new moms that actually want to eat them. A couple of years ago, a feature in New York Magazine called “The Placenta Cookbook,” took an in-depth look at the placentophagia fad from the professional placenta-preparer, to the women who call on her for services. Aside from profiling some of the people who take part in this trend, the article included anecdotal recipes and tips to enjoy the afterbirth delicacy — and even shared step-by-step instructions on how to prepare placental capsules in an attempt to preserve the nutritional value thought to be contained in the tissue. Beyond this particular article, various websites exist where mothers discuss how to drain the blood from the tissue and exchange recipes ranging from roast placenta to placenta lasagne. The growing popularity of this phenomenon has to do with the belief that consuming the placenta may offer a new mother certain health benefits, although there are no scientific studies to back up these claims. For example, some people believe that the placenta can help with the treatment of postpartum depression, or “baby blues.” It has been suggested in the past that postpartum depression in some patients is spurred by the quickly shifting levels of female hormones after giving birth, and that by eating the placenta, the hormones will stabilize and postpartum depression can therefore be prevented. Another thought is that the placenta can offer some degree of pain relief due to certain chemicals contained within the tissue. In ancient Chinese medicine, placental extracts are commonly mixed with herbs taken to relieve pain, stimulate milk production, and even to cure impotence. As it turns out, humans are actually one of the only mammals that don’t regularly eat their own placentas. Some researchers believe it must be because the placenta offers some fundamental biological advantage. It is known to contain high levels of things like iron, vitamin B-12 and certain hormones. But before jumping on the placenta bandwagon, I must admit that I myself have failed to find any concrete benefits to eating your own placenta. The medical community rarely comments on this practice, to be honest. In hospitals, the placenta has always seen as a biohazardous material. Remember that this is human tissue, and in theory, it could carry infectious diseases. However, these days, many hospitals are actively looking into procedures for handling patients who request to take home their placenta after birth. Do the doctors give it to her? Do they package it neatly and present it along with the newborn baby? Surprisingly, it appears that as long as certain medical criteria are met — such as both the patient and placenta being healthy — many hospitals will comply with the growing number of requests. Now, I’m no lawyer, but I don’t think there are any legal implications that would apply to prevent a mother from taking a placenta. Certainly there have been isolated cases where patients have been denied their placentas and challenged the hospitals. In 2007, Anne Swanson took her case to court after a Las Vegas hospital refused to fulfill her request to take home her placenta and won. Actually, Las Vegas seems to be a hotbed of placental-eating activity – so much so that researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas did a small survey of 200 postpartum mothers who consumed their placentas and found that 95 percent of them reported improvements in their recovery and lactation. The researchers admit that the results may be due to the placebo effect, but plan to study the phenomenon more in-depth in the future.  So this is my final take: If you want to eat your placenta because you believe in its supposed health benefits, go right ahead. Just be aware that this material has to be handled with care, and you have to protect those around you from being exposed to any tissue waste that you may find unsuitable for consumption. Finally, please, keep it away from my dinner table.  source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/placenta-its-whats-for-dinner/

Scientists find potential new clues for identifying breast cancer risk

Dr. David Gilley’s laboratory at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and Dr. Connie Eaves’ laboratory at the BC Cancer Agency’s Terry Fox Laboratory in Vancouver, Canada, collaborated to determine how telomeres are regulated in different types of normal breast cells. …

Secretary Sebelius, stop hiding behind bureaucratic rules and save a child’s life

Many are calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to allow Sarah Murnaghan, a 10-year-old girl dying of cystic fibrosis, to be allowed on the adult organ transplant list.  According to current federal policy, the minimum age for her to be included on the list is 12. Currently, Sarah cannot receive an adult lung transplant until the available organs are offered to adult patients first. Of course, Secretary Sebelius could always make an exception by allowing this girl to be put on the transplant list.  Exceptions to federal regulations are made every day by the Department of Health and Human Services, whether you’re talking about the use of non-FDA approved drugs to treat cancer or the use of new technical equipment for surgical therapies. In this specific case, however, we’re talking about saving a child whose only hope is to compete among other patients for a transplant.  It is a perfect example of how rules are sometimes meant to be changed – or broken completely – especially when you’re talking about saving a person’s life. Secretary Sebelius has only ordered a revision of the policy, which could take a lengthy amount of time – something Sarah does not have.  To me, this shows lack of leadership and, certainly, lack of compassion.  Doctors and nurses make instant decisions when it comes to helping others in need, and I believe that someone who is in charge of the largest health care agency on the planet should have a more proactive approach when dealing with these kinds of emergency situations. The field of medicine has changed dramatically when it comes to the surgical techniques that transplant surgeons use.  From minimally invasive therapy to partial organ transplants, new technical miracles continue to develop. Therefore, the argument that an adult organ may not be usable in a 10-year-old is no longer valid, and certainly open for discussion in our clinical community.  As reports have told us, Sarah’s surgeons do agree that in her case, an adult transplant just might work. The rule not allowing a child to be eligible for a transplant from an adult organ until the age of 12 is archaic, and it should not have taken a case like this for Secretary Sebelius – whose tenure has lasted for the past four years – to ask for a revision today. I agree with many who have said that this child is a victim of age discrimination.  But I also agree that Sarah has been ignored by our federal health leaders and has been placed in a bureaucratic Neverland.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/secretary-sebelius-stop-hiding-behind-bureaucratic-rules-and-save-childs-life/

Tests reveal 66-year-old who lived as a man actually is a woman

A 66-year-old who lived his whole life as a man was given a surprising diagnosis after visiting the doctor in Hong Kong with a swollen abdomen - he was a woman. Doctors realized the patient was female after they found the swelling came from a large cyst on an ovary, the Hong Kong Medical Journal reported. The condition was the result of two rare genetic disorders. The subject had Turner syndrome, which affects girls and women and results from a problem with the chromosomes, with characteristics including infertility and short stature. But he also had congenital adrenal hyperplasia, increasing male hormones and making the patient, who had a beard and a “micropenis”, appear like a man. “Were it not due to the huge ovarian cyst, his intriguing medical condition might never have been exposed,” seven doctors from two of the city's hospitals wrote in the study published on Monday. The doctors said there have been only six cases where both genetic disorders have been reported in medical literature. Turner Syndrome on its own affects only one in 2500 to 3000 females. Click for more from news.com.au. source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/hong-kong-man-66-finds-out-woman/

Company sells breast milk flavored lollipops

Mothers looking to give their children a unique, yet familiar, candy treat are in luck.  A lollipop company based in Austin, Texas called Lollyphile is offering new Breast Milk Lollipops, meant to mimic the flavor of a mother’s milk. According to Lollyphile’s website, numerous mothers shared their breast milk with the company’s “flavor specialists,” until they were able to turn the flavor into a candy. “I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but it seems like all of my friends are having babies these days,” Jason Darling, the owner of Lollyphile, said in a statement. “Sure, the kids are all crazy cute, but what slowly dawned on me was that my friends were actually producing milk so delicious it could turn a screaming, furious child into a docile, contented one. I knew I had to capture that flavor.” Lollyphile maintains that the lollipops do not contain any actual breast milk, joking that it would require “armies of pumping women.”  Other eccentric lollipops available from Lollyphile include Absinthe Lollipops and Chocolate Bacon Lollipops. “Any company can make up nostalgic flavors,” said Darling of the breast milk lollies. “We'd like to think that we're tapping into a flavor our customers loved before they even knew how to think.” For more information on Lollyphile, visit their website.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/company-sells-breast-milk-flavored-lollipops/

Thinking differently: Autism patients in demand by employers

Some call it neurological diversity, others see it as autism's fight back. People diagnosed as “on the spectrum” are suddenly in demand by employers seeking a competitive advantage from autistic workers more used to being considered disabled than special. Expressing a belief that “innovation comes from the edges”, German computer software giant SAP last month launched a recruitment drive to attract people with autism to join it as software testers. A week later, U.S. home financing firm Freddie Mac advertised a second round of paid internships aimed specifically at autistic students or new graduates. The multinationals both say they hope to harness the unique talents of autistic people as well as giving people previously marginalized in the workforce a chance to flourish in a job. “Only by employing people who think differently and spark innovation will SAP be prepared to handle the challenges of the 21st Century,” SAP's board member for human resources, Luisa Delgado, said as she announced the plan. For Ari Ne'eman, president of the Washington DC-based Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and a member of the U.S. National Council on Disability, the moves are welcome and well overdue. It's high time autism fought back, he told Reuters in a telephone interview. “We need to see neurological diversity in much the same way as we've seen workplace diversity efforts in the past on the basis of race, gender and sexual orientation,” he said. “We're now seeing a growing level of interest in this.” Autistic spectrum disorders, including Asperger's syndrome or high-functioning autism, are thought to affect around 1 percent of the population worldwide. The disorders are caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors and can range from severe mental retardation with a profound inability to communicate, to relatively mild symptoms combined with some high levels of function such as those seen in people with Asperger's. Among the core features of autism are poor communication skills and social difficulties. In high-functioning autism, features such as intense or obsessive focus and unwavering attention to detail are also common. These latter qualities, experts say, as well an ability to approach an issue in a different way - often a creative or counterintuitive one - make autistic people potentially attractive as employees in large corporations. “Historically, there seemed to be a certain perception of this population as being incapable of performing corporate level work,” Freddie' Mac's diversity manager Stephanie Roemer told Reuters. “In reality people on the spectrum offer so much to an organization ... willing to think outside of the box and view this cadre of talent as a 'value add'.” Obsession and success Joshua Kendall, author of “America's Obsessives”, which argues that some of history's greatest American business and political leaders became successful partly because of obsessive personality traits, says the firms that get in first on this trend are likely to reap rewards. “These big companies aren't doing it out of the kindness of their heart; they are doing it because they now realize they've been missing something,” he said in a telephone interview. He said the crucial question if such recruitment drives are to prove successful and sustainable is how much society will seek to accommodate people who think differently, or how much it would seek to “cure” them of their disorder. “These are people who have traditionally been labeled as disabled. So do we want to treat them, or do we want to allow them to be as they are and adapt to them?” SAP says its global autism recruitment drive, which aims to employ 650 autistic people - around 1 percent of its workforce - by 2020, comes after successful pilot projects in India and Ireland. It is a collaborative project with Specialisterne, a Danish consultancy that gets people with autism into jobs where they can shine. Ne'eman says so far most of the firms expressing interest in autistic workers tend to be in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. In future, he says he hopes their success will encourage others to take notice. “Many of us can and do succeed in a wide variety of professions,” he said. “I, for instance, am an autistic person working in politics and public policy, which is certainly not a stereotypical field.” In Britain, only 15 percent of adults with autism are in full-time employment, says Carol Povey, a director at the UK's National Autistic Society - a fraction, she adds, of those who could contribute to the world of work. In the United States, according to Ne'eman, studies of the working lives of autistic people have not been done, so no comparable data is available. “It's great to see organizations not just doing from corporate social responsibility, but actually recognizing there is a good business case behind having more people with autism in the workforce,” Povey said. “These people will contribute to the effectiveness and growth of the business.” Yet autism campaigners, and the firms seeking to recruit people on the spectrum, know there will be problems, too. Povey notes that “the social aspects of being in a workplace or office may pose particular challenges” for autistic recruits. “They may be great at doing the task in hand, but really struggle when it comes to 'water cooler moments' or lunchtime. “In fact they may even make other colleagues feel inadequate or awkward. They are unlikely to get involved in the banter of the workplace, and more likely to just get on with the job.”source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/thinking-differently-autism-patients-in-demand-by-employers/