Research Offers Promise for Cirrhosis Treatment

New findings about the inner workings of cells may be bringing scientists one step closer to reversing the scarring of the liver known as cirrhosis.

Currently, the best treatment for advanced cirrhosis is a liver transplant, an option that's often not available. But newly released research with mice suggests that a drug-based strategy could reprogram cells and make it "feasible to treat it [cirrhosis] and prevent it without a transplant," said study lead author Martina Buck, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego.

There's no guarantee, however, that the treatment will work in humans. And Buck said it could take at least five to 10 years for a drug to reach the market if a pharmaceutical company became interested in pursuing it.

But the research might also lead to new treatments for other conditions that lead to excess tissue scarring, such as viral hepatitis, fatty liver disease, pulmonary fibrosis, scleroderma and burns, the study authors said.

At issue is scarring in the liver, an organ that filters out toxins and breaks down medications. The scarring is a "natural healing process," Buck said, but overuse of alcohol and diseases like hepatitis can make the scarring become chronic and lead to major health problems like cancer.

In the new study, Buck and her colleagues focused on liver cells that transform into scar tissue when activated. They used mice with severe liver fibrosis that was brought about by chronic exposure to a toxin known to cause liver damage. Next, they genetically engineered mice to activate a protein that provides protection against scarring.

The researchers found that the protein seemed to protect the mice from scarring, and "if you wait until [a mouse] has cirrhosis before you treat him, he will actually regress. It's not just a preventive thing. It's an actual treatment," Buck said.

The study was published Dec. 26 in the journalPublic Library of Science Online.

Research into the workings of liver cells in people suggests that the treatment might also work in humans, Buck said. Potentially, the treatment could be converted into a drug that could be given orally or intravenously, she said.

Dr. Scott Friedman, chief of the Division of Liver Diseases at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, said that while the study is useful, it's "not a major breakthrough" considering the many research projects in a similar stage of development.

Still, he said, it "builds on 20 years of very exciting research" that looks at how cells create scarring in the liver.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

University of Minnesota Developing Cyanide Antidote

University of Minnesota researchers are developing a fast-acting antidote to the deadly poison cyanide.

The scientists say their treatment is effective on mice. They hope to start human trials within three years.

The body already is able to detoxify the small amounts of cyanide that occur naturally in pitted fruits and other foods. Researcher Steven Patterson says the new antidote works with the body's natural protections.

Concerns over the potential use of cyanide as a chemical weapon by terrorists led to the federal funding of the research. But firefighters might benefit most of all from the antidote because building fires produce large amount of the poison.

Researchers hope their antidote becomes part of a standard kit given to first responders.

Source: http://wkbt.com/

7 Medical Myths That Might Have Your Doctor Duped

Medical myths abound. For Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician at the Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis, the last straw was hearing an ominous radio report that warned parents that strangers might try to poison their kids on Halloween. "There hasn't been one documented case of a stranger actually doing that," Carroll says. (He adds that the few Halloween candy poisoning cases that have occurred have involved the child's family, not strangers.) The radio story prompted Carroll and a fellow pediatrician, Rachel Vreeman of the Indiana University School of Medicine, to start looking for other common, unsubstantiated beliefs. They found numerous examples and have just published a report in the British Medical Journal naming seven common medical misconceptions and laying out the evidence for why they're not true.

1. We Use Only 10 Percent of Our Brain. People have been spouting this "fact" since 1907, but numerous brain-imaging studies have shown that no area of the brain is completely inactive.
2. Drink at Least Eight Glasses of Water a Day. We've all heard that we're supposed to drink before we're thirsty and that our pee should be as clear as mineral water, but most of us get plenty of water from food and other drinks. Drinking water when you're thirsty makes sense, but eight glasses is setting the bar too high for many people.
3. Hair and Fingernails Continue to Grow After Death. Makes for creepy fiction, yes, but actually it's the retraction of desiccating skin that makes the nails or hair of a cadaver appear to be growing. Real growth requires complex hormonal regulation, which stops at death.
4. Shaving Hair Causes It to Grow Back Faster, Darker, and Coarser. No, no, and no. Newly sprouted hair looks dark because it has had minimal exposure to sun or chemicals, and it seems coarse because shaved hair lacks the finer taper seen at the ends of unshaven hair.
5. Reading in Dim Light Ruins Your Eyesight. Dim light may force you to strain or squint your eyes, most ophthalmologists say, but it does not cause any eye damage.
6. Eating Turkey Makes You Drowsy. Tryptophan, an amino acid that's linked to mood control and can cause drowsiness, is found in turkey meat. But chicken and ground beef contain similar amounts, and pork and Swiss cheese contain even more tryptophan per gram. Any large meal can induce sleepiness by decreasing blood flow to the brain.
7. Mobile Phones Are Dangerous in Hospitals. Not one death caused by the use of a cellphone in a hospital has ever been reported, according to Carroll and Vreeman, though equipment malfunctions occasionally have been. Research actually suggests that allowing physicians to use cellphones inside hospitals reduces the risk of medical error and injury.

Source: health.usnews.com

Sex Education Found to Help Teenagers Delay Sex

Teenagers who have had formal sex education are far more likely to put off having sex, contradicting earlier studies on the effectiveness of such programs, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

They found teenage boys who had sex education in school were 71 percent less likely to have intercourse before age 15, and teen girls who had sex education were 59 percent less likely to have sex before age 15.

Sex education also increased the likelihood that teen boys would use contraceptives the first time they had sex, according to the study by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

"Sex education seems to be working," Trisha Mueller, an epidemiologist with the CDC who led the study, said in a statement. "It seems to be especially effective for populations that are usually at high risk."

Mueller's team looked at a 2002 national survey of 2,019 teens aged 15 to 19.

They found teen boys who had sex education in school were nearly three times more likely to use birth control the first time they had intercourse. But sex education appeared to have no effect on whether teen girls used birth control, the researchers found.

Black teenage girls who had sex education in school were 91 percent less likely to have sex before age 15.

The researchers did not evaluate the content of sex education programs, including whether students were taught about contraception or about abstinence only.

Earlier studies, which relied on data from the 1970s through the 1990s, suggested sex education did little to persuade teens to delay sex.

The researchers said they think the difference may be that sex education in the United States is now more widespread and is being taught at earlier ages.

"Unlike many previous studies, our results suggest that sex education before first sex protects youth from engaging in sexual intercourse at an early age," they wrote.

Source: www.reuters.com

Study Says Green Tea May Cut Prostate Cancer Risk

Drinking green tea may reduce the risk of advanced prostate cancer, according to a study by researchers at Japan's National Cancer Center.

It said men who drank five or more cups a day might halve the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer compared with those who drank less than one cup a day.

"This does not mean that people who drink green tea are guaranteed to have reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer," said Norie Kurahashi, a scientist who took part in the study.

"We are just presenting our results. But the study does point to the hope that green tea reduces the risk of advanced prostate cancer."

Prostate cancer is much less common among Asian men than Western men, and that may be partly due to the effects of the high consumption of green tea in Asia, the study said.

But it said further studies are needed to confirm the preventive effects of green tea on prostate cancer, including well-designed clinical trials.

The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, compiled data from 50,000 men aged 40-69 over a period of up to 14 years from 1990.

Cancer Research UK says on its Web site that a study of almost 20,000 Japanese men published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2006 found no relationship between green tea and prostate cancer.

Source: uk.reuters.com

Severe Psoriasis May Up Risk of Death

Study Shows Patients With Severe Psoriasis Die Earlier

Psoriasis is not generally thought of as life-threatening, but it just might be for those with the severest forms of the disease.

People with severe psoriasis had a 50% increased risk of death compared with people without the inflammatory skin disease in a newly reported study.

Men with severe psoriasis died an average of 3.5 years earlier than men without the condition, while women with severe psoriasis died 4.4 years earlier than women without psoriasis.

Having mild psoriasis was not associated with an increased risk of death, and the researchers did not have information on causes of death.

But researcher Joel M. Gelfand, MD, says the findings make it clear that patients with severe psoriasis are at greater risk than has been realized.

"To put this in perspective, this finding suggests that more years of life are lost related to severe psoriasis than to severe hypertension," he tells WebMD.

Psoriasis and Death

As many as 7.5 million Americans have psoriasis, according to the National Institutes of Health.

About 80% to 85% of patients have mild to moderate psoriasis, while 15% to 20% have more extensive skin involvement. These patients generally require treatment with systemic medications like the drugs methotrexate and cyclosporine or newer biologics such as Enbrel, Remicade, and Humira.

Using a national medical records database from the U.K., Gelfand and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine identified 133,568 patients with mild psoriasis, defined as having a diagnosis of psoriasis but no history of treatment for the condition.

An additional 3,951 patients were identified with severe psoriasis.

For each patient, up to five people without psoriasis who visited doctors for other causes were used for comparison.

During the study period, the death rate among patients with severe psoriasis was almost twice as high as in patients without psoriasis (21.3 deaths per 1,000 individuals per year vs. 12 deaths per 1,000 individuals per year).

During the study period, patients with severe psoriasis had a 50% increased risk of death compared with those without psoriasis. Those with milder psoriasis didn't have an increased risk of death compared to those without psoriasis.

The study appears in the December issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Is Inflammation to Blame?

Earlier research by Gelfand and others found that people with severe psoriasis are at increased risk for a wide range of chronic conditions, including heart disease.

Psoriasis is now widely believed to be an autoimmune disease involving inflammation and the accelerated growth of skin cells and blood vessels, which produce the swollen, red lesions characteristic of the condition.

"One theory is that this chronic inflammation impacts other organs and systems within the body," Elizabeth Horn, PhD, of the International Psoriasis Council tells WebMD.

Inflammation within the body is increasingly recognized as a major contributor to a host of life-threatening conditions.

"We know that chronic inflammation is bad for a variety of organs and that it is probably involved in a number of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes," Gelfand says.

Horn says the latest research should serve as a wake-up call to patients and their doctors that severe psoriasis is a serious disease.

"We are learning that there is something happening in people with severe psoriasis that may not be happening with milder forms of the disease," she says.

Horn and Gelfand agree that patients with severe psoriasis need to be especially vigilant about taking care of their overall health.

"It is very important for these patients to see their internist regularly, to have age-appropriate screenings, and to have their cardiovascular risks assessed and treated, if necessary," Gelfand says.

Source: www.webmd.com

10 'Healthy' Foods That Aren't So Healthy

Ever wonder why you can’t lose weight even though you’re eating “healthy?”

More than likely it’s because you’re misinformed as to what really constitutes healthy food, nutritionist and dietician Tanya Zuckerbrot told Foxnews.com.

“When I see some of the food choices people make I wonder if it’s just that people don’t care,” said Zuckerbrot, author of the F-Factor Diet. “But I really think it’s just that people don’t know what’s good for them and what’s not.”

Here are 10 healthy foods that aren’t:

Olive oil: Sure it’s a heart-healthy monounsaturated oil, but it’s also rich in calories and fat. “Oil is oil,” Zuckerbrot said.

“Whether it’s olive oil or some other kind of oil, it still has 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon. You’re better off using a pat of butter (for bread) than dipping it in olive oil because the bread sops up the oil like a sponge. So a little bit of butter is better than a lot of olive oil.”

Tuna fish: Think that tuna sandwich is a light lunch? Think again. The average overstuffed tuna sandwich served in a restaurant contains 700 calories and 43 grams of fat.

The reason? The mayo. “Tuna fish has just 35 calories per ounce and it’s full of omega-3s, but mayonnaise has 100 calories per tablespoon,” Zuckerbrot said. “You’re better off having a turkey or even a roast beef sandwich. Even chicken salad is better than tuna salad, because tuna is so fine there’s a lot more surface area for the mayonnaise to fill.”

Granola: The term granola may be used to describe health-conscious people, but the cereal itself is actually quite fattening. That’s because granola cereals often contain oils, including high in saturated fat coconut oil, sugar, nuts and other high calorie foods.

“Something like Fiber One has 60 calories per half cup and 14 grams of fiber versus a half cup of granola, which was 240 calories, 5 to 10 grams of fat and just 3 grams of fiber,” Zuckerbrot said, adding that fiber is the key to feeling full and satiated.

Organic food: Organic food may be preservative and pesticide free, but that doesn’t mean it’s also calorie-free, said Zuckerbrot. “I mean they make organic potato chips so what does that tell you,” she said.

Sushi: Tuna sashimi is very healthy. A California roll or tempura roll, not so much, said Zuckerbrot.

“Japanese food is inherently healthy, but when you Americanize it and start adding things like cream cheese and avocado, that’s when you run into problems,” she said.

Tuna sashimi, for example, has about 35 calories and 1 gram of fat per ounce. But a spicy tuna roll has 290 calories and 11 grams of fat, and a tempura roll has 320 calories and 17 grams of fat. “You’re better off going with tuna sashimi, miso soup (36 calories) and a salad (35 calories with a tablespoon of non-creamy ginger dressing).”

Pizza: “Yes the sauce is high in lycopene, but all the lycopene in the world is not going to convince me pizza is a heart-healthy food,” Zuckerbrot said. “And mozzarella cheese is a good source of calcium, but it’s also high in calories.”

An average slice of pizza sold in New York City has between 600 and 700 calories. A more traditional slice, about one-twelfth of a pie, has between 300 and 400 calories, said Zuckerbrot. “And most people eat at least two slices to feel satisfied,” she said. “Your best bet is to eat one slice and get a salad or a cup of minestrone soup on the side so that you feel satisfied and save on the calories.”

Frozen diet meals: Sure Lean Cuisine and Weight Watcher frozen entrees are fairly low in calories and convenient, but they’re also highly processed and high in sodium.

“I understand the convenience factor, but most of these meals have more than 600 milligrams of sodium and the portions are really small and they’re not really satisfying,” Zuckerbrot said. “So you eat one for dinner and then by 9:00 you’re hungry again. You’re better off eating a slice of whole wheat bread with some light sauce and light mozzarella or an egg white omelet with some vegetables.”

Protein bars: Another convenient food, but not very nutritious. Zuckerbrot describes protein bars as her least favorite food and said they are basically glorified candy bars. They’re also often high in calories, fat and do little to satisfy a person’s hunger.

A better choice, said Zuckerbrot, is hitting the salad bar and grabbing lots of lettuce, artichokes and broccoli, topped with plain balsamic vinegar. For 100 to 200 calories, you get a lot more for a lot less calories.

Pretzels: They’re low in fat and low on nutrition. “They’re basically empty calories,” Zuckerbrot said. “Inherently, pretzels themselves are not unhealthy, but they’re basically all sugar so they’ll make you hungrier and you’ll gain weight as a result of over-eating."

Fat-free, sugar-free muffins: Regardless of whether a muffin is fat free or sugar free, they still usually have around 600 calories, according to Zuckerbrot.

“It’s nothing but cake in disguise, especially these double chocolate chip-type muffins,” she said. “But even bran muffins, they’re very dense, very high in calories. The same thing goes for scones. People think that because they’re not sweet, they’re healthy. But scones are full of butter.”

Source: www.foxnews.com

Japanese Doctor Makes Stem Cell Breakthrough

The debate about using embryonic stem cells for medical research has been known to be a very passionate topic for millions of people, both of whom are for and those who are against the research. There have been many proven positive results from the previous exams that have been created, that is was important to Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, a Japanese doctor, to create a stem cell reproduction that did not involve actual stem cells.

For the last eight years, Dr. Yamanaka has been searching for a means in seeing is such a result would be feasible. Today, Dr. Yamanaka is pleased to announce that he is indeed one of the many new researchers that have found that there is new evidence to support that there can be reproduction and healing for millions of people through adult skin cells versus embryonic skin cells. The function of the adult skin cells is known to work just the same, and have the same healing properties. This is thought to believe that it will be helpful for those that will not be able to receive medical attention otherwise, especially with all of the large debates that are always at hand for the embryonic stem cells.

This new revelation is said to be one of the best revelations in medical history in the last few years, as it will be able to assist those that need the medical attention, but all without having to be a hassle on others. This discovery is said to not only be of benefit for the United States people, but for also the county of Japan, where the doctor is from. This is because the country has fallen behind on medical advancements, and such a discovery is though to be not only beneficial for all, but a step ahead for Japan.

Source: www.dbtechno.com

Six Reasons to Have Sex Every Week

Studies show that regular sex (with all due precautions taken) provides a host of surprising health benefits.

Sex is good for adults. Indulging on a regular basis—at least once a week—is even better. Research links sex (with all safer-sex precautions taken) to an astonishing array of physiological benefits, from longevity to pain relief. Many studies don't address whether the health bonus comes from the act itself or from the corresponding emotional intimacy, but the bottom line is that getting physical has some great side effects—especially for women. Here are six ways that sex boosts your health:

1. It Fights Colds and Flu. Sexual intercourse once or twice a week raises the body's level of the immune-boosting antibody immunoglobin A by a third, according to research at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania.

2. It's a Beauty Treatment. In a study at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Scotland, a panel of judges viewed participants through a one-way mirror and guessed their ages. Those who looked seven to 12 years younger than their age (labeled "superyoung") were also enjoying lots of sex—four times a week, on average. OK, maybe they were having so much fun because they looked young. But it's likely the sex was helping, researchers say. One reason is that it raises a woman's estrogen level, which helps make hair shiny and skin supple.

3. It Burns Calories. A little over four calories a minute, or the equivalent of four Hershey's kisses in a half hour of love. Think of it as part of your weekly exercise regime, and burn, baby, burn.

4. Yes, Honey, I Have a Headache. For a woman a migraine might actually be a reason for making love rather than avoiding intercourse: the increase in endorphins and corticosteroids during arousal and orgasm is analgesic.

5. It Promotes Regular Menstrual Cycles. A series of studies by behavioral endocrinologist Winnifred Cutler and colleagues at Columbia and Stanford universities found that women who have intercourse at least weekly (except during their period) cycle more regularly than abstainers or the sporadically active. (Related research found that lesbian lovemaking also smoothes out menstrual cycles.) Cutler argues that intimacy is essential, not orgasms: "Regular exposure to a loving partner has extraordinary effects on health and well-being."

6. It Can Prevent Accidents. Women use the muscles of the pelvic floor to stem the flow of urine. As they age, they need to keep these strong to avoid peeing accidentally. The same muscles are exercised during intercourse, and as with all muscle-building programs, the benefits require consistency.

And if you're too tired to have sex, check out our By the Numbers on napping for tips on getting a little extra shut-eye during the day.

Source: www.newsweek.com

Try Honey For Kids' Coughs, Study Says

www.cbsnews.com

Maybe Grandma Was Right: New Study Says Honey At Bedtime Can Calm A Child's Cough

A little bit of honey, taken before bedtime, may ease coughing in children.

Pennsylvania State University researchers reported that news based on 130 children with coughs.

On average, the kids were 5 years old (age range: 2 to 18) and had had a cough from colds for about four days.

When the kids saw a doctor about their cough, the parents rated the severity of the kids' cough symptoms, including frequency of coughing and effects on sleep.

Ian Paul, MD, and colleagues sent the parents home with one of three treatments:

• A dose of dextromethorphan, a drug used in many over-the-counter cough suppressants
• A dose of buckwheat honey
• No treatment

The parents gave the children their assigned treatment half an hour before bedtime. The next morning, the parents again rated their children's symptoms.

Honey ranked highest, followed by dextromethorphan, and the placebo was in last place in terms of cough relief.

A closer look at the data shows that honey trumped no treatment. But honey's slim lead over dextromethorphan may have been due to chance.

Honey's benefits may be due to its antioxidants and microbe-fighting effects, Paul's team notes. They add that dark honeys, such as buckwheat honey, tend to be rich in antioixdants and that further studies are needed to check their findings.

Few kids had side effects from the treatments, though mild hyperactivity, nervousness, and insomnia were reported in five kids in the honey group, two children in the over-the-counter medicine group, and none in the placebo group.

Children less than 12 months old should not be fed honey since it can cause botulism in infants.

The study, funded by the National Honey Board, appears in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

No-Carb Diet May Curb Prostate Cancer

In Lab Tests On Mice, Prostate Tumors Grow Slower With No-Carbohydrate Diet

www.cbsnews.com

Forgoing carbohydrates may slow the growth of prostate cancer, according to preliminary lab tests in mice.

The researchers aren't making dietary recommendations for men. But they say the topic deserves further study.

"This study showed that cutting carbohydrates may slow tumor growth, at least in mice," Duke University urologist Stephen Freedland, MD, says in a news release.

"If this is ultimately confirmed in human clinical trials, it has huge implications for prostate cancer therapy through something that all of us can control, our diets," says Freedland, who plans to start such trials next year.

Freedland's team split 75 mice into three groups:

• Low-fat diet: 12 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 72 percent carbohydrate
• Western diet: 40 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 44 percent carbohydrate
• No-carb diet: 84 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 0 percent carbohydrate

The no-carb diet was modeled on a special diet sometimes given to prevent seizures in children with epilepsy, Freedland's team notes.

After 24 days on the diets, the mice got an injection of human prostate cancer cells.

The mice on the no-carb diet outlived the mice on the Western diet. The no-carb mice also had tumors that were a third smaller after 51 days than the mice on the Western diet.

Tumor growth and survival were similar for the mice on the low-fat and no-carb diets.

"One could argue that the [no-carb] diet provides no advantage and future studies should focus on a low-fat diet," the researchers write in today's online edition of The Prostate.

But they suggest that the no-carb diets may have other advantages, such as greater weight loss and lower levels of a tumor-promoting chemical.

The study's limits include the fact that it only involved mice and its relatively short time span.

Whether the findings apply to people - and the long-term effects - remain to be seen.

As Freedland's team notes, the no-carb diet used in their study was very high in fat, and high-fat diets have been linked to greater risk of prostate cancer, heart disease , and other health problems.

The type of fat may make a difference. For instance, Freedland and colleagues got different results in a past study that used corn oil as mice's main source of fat rather than milk fat or lard.

Other researchers have shown that intensive diet and lifestyle changes may slow prostate cancer without requiring anyone to give up carbohydrates.

Anti-Smoking Injection Shows Promise

A vaccine designed to keep nicotine from reaching the brain may help people quit smoking.

The Associated Press reports that a preliminary study of 301 longtime smokers found that recipients of Nabi Pharmaceutical's NicVAX were more than twice as likely to quit smoking as people who got a placebo.

However, "twice as likely" is a loaded number: 15 percent compared to 6 percent. That's good, but not great -- and nearly a third of trial participants dropped out. On the other hand, the production of anti-nicotine antibodies correlated with reduced cigarette use, and even people who didn't quit still smoked less.

The WiSci verdict: promising, but there's a long way to go.

High-Fat, High-Protein Atkins Diet Increase Risk Of Heart Disease

www.allheadlinenews.com

The high-fat, high-protein and low-carbohydrate Atkins diet of eggs, meat and cheese may put the followers at risk for heart disease in just one month, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the University of Maryland say the popular diet raises your "bad" cholesterol and damages the blood vessels thus increasing the risk of heart disease.

Dr. Michael Miller, lead author of the study said, "I think the Atkins diet is potentially detrimental for cardiovascular health, if maintained for a long duration and without attempts to lose weight."

"A stabilizing Atkins diet is not the way to go," he added.

After putting 26 people on three diets, the high-fat Atkins and the low-fat South Beach and Ornish diets, researchers found that the Atkins Diet raised the study subjects' bad cholesterol by an average of 16 points.

It also brought on symptoms of hardening of the arteries, a precursor to strokes or heart attacks. However, the subjects had better lab tests on the other two diets.

The Ornish Diet lowered their bad cholesterol by 25 points, while the South Beach Diet lowered it by 10 points. The conditions of their arteries also improved on both diets.

Though the Atkins diet does help in losing weight but the experts say the consumption of saturated fats are not good for heart health. In addition, many people experience rebound weight gain which is not good. The results were presented at this week's annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Fla.

Trouble sleeping? Here are some tips

www.chron.com

We all need sleep, but many of us have difficulty getting it for one reason or another. About one-third of adults suffer from insomnia, according to the National Institutes of Health. So instead of taking that nap, check out some of the sleep tips Dr. Aparajitha Verma, a neurologist at the Methodist Neurological Institute's Sleep Disorders Center, shared with Houston Chronicle reporter Alexis Grant.

Q: Some parents give their children warm milk to help them fall asleep. Does that really work?

A: There are no documented studies. But the whole philosophy is that having a warm cup of milk or tea raises your body temperature a little bit, enough so it would help you fall asleep.

Q: What time should I stop drinking coffee to allow myself to sleep well that night?

A: The general rule is (caffeine) stays (in your body) for five to seven hours. If you are taking a cup of coffee around 6 p.m. at work because you're trying to stay until 7, guess what — you can't fall asleep at 9 or 10.

Q: Is it safe to use over-the-counter sleep medicine every night?

A: I'm not a big fan of using hypnotics, like sleeping pills. There have been studies that showed that (certain OTC sleep medicines), after four or five days of taking it every day, it loses its effect. After a while, you get dependent on it and you develop tolerance.

Q: Should adults avoid taking naps?

A: If you are very tired and you feel that the naps help, those are good. But anything more than 15- to 20-minute naps, (ask yourself) why you need to take those naps. Are you sleep-deprived? If you're taking long naps, multiple times of the day, you need to know why.

Q: What's your opinion of the snooze button?

A: It's not good because whatever sleep you're getting is very distracted, very interrupted. You wake up feeling more tired. If you are hitting the snooze button, that tells you that you are sleep-deprived. You need to change your lifestyle to go to bed early.

Q: How much sleep should the average adult get?

A: Seven to eight hours, on average, is a good night's sleep. Less than six hours has been shown to be clearly associated with obesity (and so has) more than nine hours.

Q: How long should it take an adult to fall asleep?

A: Anywhere from five to 15, to the max of 20 minutes. If you're in bed for 20 to 30 minutes or longer, turning, tossing in bed, you have a problem.

Q: What tips can you offer for getting a good night's sleep?

A: Try to stick to a standardized sleep schedule. Go to bed at the same time, try to wake up at the same time.

Have wind-down time. If your usual bedtime is 10:30, half an hour or so before that, try to do something that's nonstimulating. Read a book in another room.

Try not to do clock-watching. If you're always looking at the clock, I tell patients, set an alarm in the next room or turn your alarm around or put a blanket on it.

If you're in bed for 20 minutes or longer, if you're not able to fall asleep, I typically tell my patients to leave the room, go to another room, sit down somewhere quiet, and do something that's nonstimulating — whatever calms you down.

Use your bedroom only to sleep. No reading in bed, no eating in bed, no watching TV in bed. If you have computers or TVs in your bedroom, please take them out. You need to train your mind to associate bed with sleeping and nothing else.

Q: Is sleep apnea — when normal air flow is obstructed — the same as snoring?

A: There are people who can just have snoring without sleep apnea, but that's less likely in adults. If you snore or if you're obese and if you have daytime complaints — sleepy, tired during the day — there's a high chance that you have sleep apnea. The most common cause is obesity. Kids who have big tonsils and adenoids are also at risk.

It's no longer "Oh, my grandpa snores, my dad snores, everybody snores. It's just a noise, and it doesn't bother me." Patients who have obstructive sleep apnea are at a higher risk of developing high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, strokes and sudden nocturnal death.

Q: What's the best way to get someone to stop snoring?

A: You have to go seek medical attention. There's no quick fix. All these breathe-easy and whatever strips and the pillows and mattresses might work, but there's no harm in making sure you don't have other symptoms (of apnea).

Q: What are the most common causes of insomnia?

A: Psychiatric conditions, followed by medical conditions. Psychiatric disorders that are associated with insomnia. The first one is anxiety disorder; the second is depression.

Q: What about for those of us who fall asleep but can't stay that way?

A: For middle-aged men and women, sleep apnea is the most common cause. Anxiety and depression, if they're not well-treated. Acid reflux disease is very common.

Q: Got any suggestions for going back to sleep?

A: If that happens more than two or three times per night, you need medical attention to find out what's waking you up.

Q: What causes insomnia in kids?

A: Number one is sleep apnea, where they're having difficulty breathing in. That wakes them up multiple times and they don't like that feeling, so they don't want to go to sleep. The second thing is restless leg syndrome, which also is very prevalent in children but very underdiagnosed.

High Blood Pressure May Vary By Season

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Study Shows Higher Doses Of Medication May Be Needed In Winter

If you're being treated for hypertension, take note: Your blood pressure is more likely to return to normal levels in summer than in winter, a new study shows.

The findings suggest that people with high blood pressure may need higher doses of medication or even different drugs in the winter months, says researcher Ross D. Fletcher, MD, chief of staff at the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The researchers analyzed the electronic health records of 443,632 veterans with high blood pressure treated at 15 VA hospitals throughout the U.S. over a five-year period.

Blood pressure was nearly 8 percent less likely to return to normal in the winter than in the summer, the study showed.

"In all cities, there was a seasonal variation that didn't seem to be related to outside temperature," Fletcher says.

Whether you're in San Juan, Puerto Rico, or Anchorage, Alaska, "every summer it gets better and every winter it gets worse," he tells WebMD.

One hopeful trend: In each of the 15 cities studied, the number of people with hypertension whose levels returned to normal rose an average of 4 percent per year, Fletcher says.

The findings were reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

Understanding Your Blood Pressure Reading

"Normal" blood pressure is a measurement of less than 120/80; pre-hypertension is a blood pressure reading in which the top number is in the range of 120-139 and the bottom number is in the range of 80-89.

In the study, people with readings of more than 140 over 90 on three separate days were considered to have high blood pressure.

Explaining the Seasonal Gap

Fletcher says that weight and exercise may play a role in the seasonal variations. "People gain weight in the winter and lose weight in the summer. People tend to exercise more in the summer and less in the winter," he says.

Blood pressure rises with weight gain and falls with weight loss, says American Heart Association spokesman Jonathan Halperin, MD, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Halperin notes that other studies have shown that blood pressure and heart disease rates can vary over the course of a day.

Heart attacks, for example occur more commonly in the morning, he says, while blood pressure tends to drop at night. "But to my knowledge, this study is the first to show seasonal variations," Halperin tells WebMD.

Blood Pressure in Summer and Winter

Halperin advises doctors and patients to be more attentive to blood pressure in winter months.

"If a person has borderline readings in the summer, he should think about being screened again in six months to make sure blood pressure hasn't dropped further," he says.

If blood pressure does dip in the winter, a more potent treatment regimen should be considered, Fletcher says.

"Our goal is to get as many people to below 140 over 90 as possible," he says.

The other 13 VA hospitals studied were in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Fargo, N.D., Honolulu, Houston, west Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C.

Sleepless nights linked to obesity in children

www.guardian.co.uk

By Alok Jha

Scientists have found that getting a good night's sleep reduces a child's chances of being obese.

Every additional hour of sleep a night a child gets at the age of eight or nine reduces the risk of obesity at the age of 11 or 12 by 40%.

Julie Lumeng of the University of Michigan, who led the research, said that getting more than nine hours 45 minutes of sleep lowered the chances of obesity in later life significantly.

"Many children aren't getting enough sleep, and that lack of sleep may not only be making them moody or preventing them from being alert and ready to learn at school, it may also be leading to a higher risk of being overweight," said Dr Lumeng. The study appears in this month's issue of the journal, Pediatrics.

Though scientists are not certain how sleep would directly affect a child's weight, Dr Lumeng said well-rested children may be more energetic and more likely to go out and play, rather than lying around watching TV. Tired children may seek out food when they become irritable or moody, she added.

According to Eve Van Cauter, an endocrinologist at the University of Chicago who was not involved in the new research, lack of sleep can disrupt the production of two hormones involved in regulating appetite.

Her own experiments show that sleep-deprived adults produced more ghrelin, a hormone that promotes hunger, and less leptin, a hormone that signals fullness.

Dr Lumeng's team analysed details of sleep, height and weight of 785 children when they were eight and again when they were 11. The children came from 10 US cities and were part of a larger federal study. On average, the eight-year-olds got about nine-and-a-half hours' sleep but some slept as little as seven hours and others as much as 12.

Of the children that slept 10-12 hours a night, 12% were obese by the time they were 11. Of those that slept less than nine hours at eight, 22% were obese a few years later. The research team controlled their experiment for other obesity risk factors, such as the children's body mass index when younger, but acknowledged that the parents' weight and behaviour - which may also have an influence on a child's weight - had not been taken into account.

Jodi Mindell ,of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's sleep centre , said there were many reasons for encouraging good sleep habits, such as success in school. "I don't want parents to think, 'If I get her to sleep, she's not going to be overweight'. I think this is a small piece in the picture."

Dr Lumeng's study concluded: "Our findings also provide additional support for policies that propose later school start-times. The very early school start-times for US adolescents have raised concerns in the paediatric community because of their apparent adverse impact on sleep duration and, consequently, children's general academic and behavioural functioning."

Cocktails of alcohol and energy drinks a dangerous combo

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According to new research mixing energy drinks with alcohol is a dangerous combination.

A new study, involving more than 4,000 students, has found that drinking cocktails of alcohol and energy drinks doubles the risk of clubbers getting hurt or being taken advantage of sexually.

Energy drinks such as Red Bull, Irn-Bru 32 and Lucozade, often contain high levels of caffeine and other ingredients, and mixing them with alcohol has become a popular way of boosting energy levels in order to keep dancing all night.

The researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centre in the United States, questioned 4,271 college students about their drinking habits and the consequences.

It was found that of those who had drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days, a quarter (24 per cent) said they had consumed energy cocktails; when their behaviour was compared with students who did not mix alcohol and energy drinks, the group were twice as likely to be hurt or injured after drinking, twice as likely to need medical attention and twice as likely to travel with a drunken driver.

This group also faced double the risk of either taking sexual advantage of someone else, or being taken advantage of themselves.

The cocktails also seemed to affect the amount they drank as in a typical drinking session, those on mixed drinks drank up to 36 per cent more than the other students and also reported twice as many episodes of weekly drunkenness.

Dr Mary Claire O'Brien, lead researcher for the study, says they knew anecdotally that college students mix energy drinks and alcohol in order to drink more, and to drink longer.

But Dr O'Brien says they were surprised that the risk of serious and potentially deadly consequences is so much higher for those who mix energy drinks with alcohol.

According to Dr O'Brien mixing caffeine (a stimulant) with alcohol (a depressant) equates to "getting into a car and stepping on the gas pedal and the brake at the same time".

She says students whose motor skills, visual reaction times, and judgment are impaired by alcohol may not perceive that they are intoxicated as readily when they're also ingesting a stimulant, as while the symptoms of drunkenness are reduced the drunkenness is not.

Dr O'Brien says some energy drinks contain as much as 300 milligrams of caffeine and has called for students to be informed of the risks of mixing alcohol with energy drinks.

Experts say there is currently very little information on the consequences of mixing alcohol with energy drinks and young people, need clear guidance on what impact different levels of drinking can have.

Energy drinks often contain a mixture of ingredients, such as caffeine, vitamins and herbs and products such as guarana, ginseng and ginkgo biloba; many also have high levels of sugar to help boost energy levels.

But caffeine remains the main energy-boosting ingredient, with an average energy-drink containing about the same amount as a small cup of coffee; about 65 per cent of energy-drink users are under the age of 35.

There has been criticism over the potential health effects of drinking large amounts of caffeine and France has banned the sale of the popular Red Bull brand following the death of an 18-year-old who played basketball shortly after consuming several cans of the drink; an inquest ruled that he died from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limits caffeine to 65 milligrams per serving of a food or beverage but as energy drinks are currently not regulated by the FDA, they can contain as much as 300 milligrams of caffeine in a single serving.

Dr O'Brien was speaking at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Washington DC.

Adults With Diabetes Doing Better Prevention Job

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U.S. studies show they're keeping good track of daily blood sugar levels, while avoiding heart disease

Fewer American adults with diabetes are developing cardiovascular disease, and more of them are closely monitoring their blood sugar levels, according to new U.S. government research released Thursday.

Two U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies, published in the CDC's weekly journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, delivered the good news on the first day of National Diabetes Awareness Month.

One study of diabetes patients aged 35 and older found that the self-reported prevalence of cardiovascular disease decreased by more than 11 percent between 1997 and 2005. Cardiovascular disease among black adults with diabetes, who tend to have higher diabetes rates than whites or Hispanics, decreased by more than 25 percent during the period.

The study also found a 14 percent reduction (31.1 percent to 26.7 percent) in self-reported cardiovascular disease among adults ages 35 to 64 with diabetes. This age group accounts for the majority of all new diagnosed cases of diabetes among adults.

The overall decrease may be due to declining rates of such cardiovascular disease risk factors as smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, along with increased use of such preventive treatments as daily aspirin, said the researchers, who analyzed self-reported data from the National Health Interview Survey.

Heart disease and stroke account for about 65 percent of deaths in people with diabetes. Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die of heart disease than adults without diabetes.

"While the trends in this report are very encouraging, it is important that we continue to take steps to help prevent and control diabetes, which will also aid in the fight against cardiovascular disease," study lead author Nilka Burrows, of the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation, said in a prepared statement.

The second study found that adults with diabetes who checked their blood glucose levels at least once a day increased by more than 22 percent between 1997 and 2006.

An analysis of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance system revealed that more than 63 percent of adults with diabetes checked their blood glucose at least once daily in 2006, surpassing the 61 percent goal outlined in the federal government's Healthy People 2010 program.

Control of blood glucose is critical for managing diabetes and preventing diabetes-related complications such as heart disease, foot and leg amputation, and retinopathy, which can lead to blindness, researchers noted.

"People are taking better advantage of a tool that can aid in making critical decisions about how to treat their diabetes. Continued education about diabetes self-management can help ensure that people have the knowledge to continue -- or start -- taking steps to prevent or control diabetes," study lead author Liping Pan said in a prepared statement.

In 2005, according to CDC statistics, approximately 21 million persons in the United States had diabetes.

Keep slim or risk cancer

Report ties meat, body fat to cancer

www.guardian.co.uk

Even people of a healthy weight should slim if they want to reduce their risk of developing cancer, a landmark study advised today.

Everyone should aim to be as slim as possible without being underweight, said the World Cancer Research Fund.

Its analysis of 40 years of international research into the links between lifestyle and cancer also advised that people should not eat processed meat, such as ham and bacon, gain no weight after 21 years of age, and avoid drinking alcohol.

The researchers found "convincing" evidence that excess body fat can cause six different types of common cancers, including those of the breast, bowel and pancreas.

They said that to enjoy maximum protection against cancer everyone should be at the lower end of the healthy weight range.

Sir Michael Marmot, who chaired the expert panel, said: "We are recommending that people aim to be as lean as possible within the healthy range, and that they avoid weight gain throughout adulthood.

"This might sound difficult, but this is what the science is telling us more clearly than ever before. The fact is that putting on weight can increase your cancer risk, even if you are still within the healthy range.

"So the best advice for cancer prevention is to avoid weight gain, and if you are already overweight then you should aim to lose weight."

People with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.5 to 24.9 are considered to be within a healthy weight range. Those with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered "overweight", while anyone with a 30+ rating is classified as clinically obese.

But the study said the risk of cancer rises as people get nearer to a BMI of 25 and everyone should try to be as close to the lower end of the weight range as possible.

The researchers said body fat was a key factor in the development of cancer, claiming that its links to cancer are much stronger than generally realised.

The report is based on an analysis of 7,000 cancer studies published since the 1960s, and includes recommendations from a panel of 21 world-renowned scientists.

The report concludes there is strong evidence that excess body fat is a trigger for cancers of the oesophagus, pancreas, bowel, kidney, the lining of the womb, and breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

The survey also links diet to the risk of developing certain cancers, particularly those of the bowel.

The researchers particularly warned against eating processed meat, including ham, bacon, pastrami, salami, and frankfurters.

The study also found a strong link between eating red meat and colorectal cancer and recommend that people consume no more than 500g of cooked red meat a week.

All alcoholic drinks should be avoided to protect against cancer, but the study acknowledged that modest consumption was said to have a protective benefit for heart disease. Alcohol was particularly linked to mouth, oesophagus and breast cancers.

Mothers are advised to breastfeed exclusively for six months and to continue with complementary breastfeeding after that to protect against breast cancer and "probably" protect their child against obesity later in life. The most recent data shows that in 2004 nearly a quarter of men and women in England were obese, as well as 10% of girls and 8% of boys aged under 20.

A government report published earlier this month warned that if trends continue some 60% of UK men, 50% of women and a quarter of all children could be clinically obese by 2050.

Funny Diet and Weight Loss Stories

Study: 1 in 10 men had overlapping sex partners, raising HIV risk

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A University of North Carolina study shows that one in every ten men observed in a 1-year period had overlapping sexual partnerships, which could be a contributing factor in the spread of HIV.

The UNC researchers also found that the prevalence of concurrent sexual partnerships was higher among black and Hispanic men than in other groups. Those men also are likely to have had sex with other men, and to have female sexual partners who also have concurrent sexual partnerships.

The findings were based on data collected from 4,928 men during a 2002 survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study is published in the December 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Photo by ABC News

Vitamin D Won't Help Prevent Most Cancers

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High blood levels of vitamin D did not lower the overall cancer death rate in a long-term study, researchers report.
However, they did note a marked reduction in colorectal cancer deaths linked to the vitamin.

The findings, by a team from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, run counter to some earlier data suggesting that vitamin D might help prevent malignancy.

"Over the past several years, a number of publications have suggested that vitamin D can reduce deaths from various forms of cancer," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. "This is a further bit of evidence that leads us to call for further investigations before we make recommendations for the general population."

Even the finding that the vitamin might lower colon cancer risk merits further study, added Lichtenfeld, who was not involved in the research. "We have called for further research to see if vitamin D does or does not reduce deaths from cancer," he said. "We do not have sufficient evidence at this time to make a recommendation, for example, that people increase their intake of vitamin D to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer."

In their study, the NCI team looked at data on almost 17,000 participants in the third Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who were followed for anywhere from six to 12 years. There were 536 deaths from cancer in the group during that time.

The study found no relationship between overall cancer deaths and circulating blood levels of vitamin D, said the report, published in the Oct. 30 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

However, people with higher levels of circulating vitamin D had a 72 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer mortality than those with lower levels, the report found.

These numbers can't be taken to mean that vitamin D prevents colorectal cancer because the study was not large enough and didn't run long enough to provide definitive information, said Cindy Davis, a program director in the NCI nutrition sciences research group and co-author of an accompanying editorial.

"Cancer is a very long process, and there is an even longer period between incidents of mortality," Davis said. "There was only a very small number of cancer deaths. If there is a relationship, this study is not large enough to show one."

Some other studies have given evidence that vitamin D may provide protection against colon cancer, but others have not, she noted.

In addition, Davis added, "We don't know what the optimum level of vitamin D is, we don't know whether genetics might affect the benefits, and we need to consider interactions with other dietary components. Some people may be put at risk. Evidence suggests an increase in kidney stones [with excess vitamin D], and while a kidney stone is not cancer, it is a problem."

The current recommendation for vitamin D is 200 International Units a day, Davis said, and "I believe that when possible, people are better off meeting their nutritional needs through diet rather than through supplements."

Some foods, such as milk, are fortified with vitamin D, and the nutrient can be found in some fish and fish oils, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The skin also manufacturers vitamin D upon exposure to sunlight.

D. Michal Freedman, the NCI epidemiologist who led the study, said its main finding "was the lack of a relationship between total cancer deaths and vitamin D levels." Freedman downplayed the colorectal cancer data as "a secondary finding."

"The study doesn't address the issue of the effects of vitamin D in the blood," Freedman said. "The issue of what people should be taking in terms of vitamin D involves a lot of other factors."

In a related study published in the same issue of the journal, a team at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, found that treatment with a derivative of vitamin A might help reduce former smokers' risk of developing lung cancer.

Patients who received the derivative, called 13- cis-retinoic acid, displayed reduced lung cell growth of the type that might later form cancers, the team reported.

Report: Heart Disease Patients Getting Younger

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Medco Health Solutions said more young adults are now using cholesterol drugs and blood pressure drugs than ever.

Experts said there are a couple of reasons young people are using these medications, including obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

But doctors are much more aggressive these days in preventing heart attacks and stroke.

Not long ago, a heart attack nearly took Laura Younger's life.

"When I stood up to leave the room, that's when I collapsed, and my heart stopped," she said.

Paramedics got her heart beating again, and Younger got smart about diet and exercise.

New data show many young adults could benefit from her example.

According to Medco, between 2001 and 2006, the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs jumped 68 percent among its 20- to 44-year-old customers. The rates rose from 2.5 percent to more than 4 percent, or roughly 4.2 million Medco customers.

Blood pressure drugs increased in that age group from 7 percent to 21 percent in the same time period, totaling roughly 8.5 million.

Medco said they believe the epidemic of obesity and overweight young people is the reason more are using cholesterol and blood pressure medication.

Meanwhile, heart disease prevention experts are happy young adults are asking for the medications before they have a heart attack or stroke.

However, they said they should first work to increase their exercise, get a better diet and lose weight.

It's better to take action before you need medications. But experts said once patients start taking medications, they usually stay on them.

Israeli leader to have surgery for early-stage prostate cancer

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JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert revealed Monday that he had been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and would undergo surgery, but he said his condition was not life-threatening and he would stay on the job.

"According to what my doctors have told me, it is a matter of a microscopic growth that hasn't spread and can be removed by a short surgical procedure," Olmert said at a news conference.

He said he had been told there would be no need for radiation or chemotherapy.

Olmert said the surgery was planned "in the next few months," and an aide said it would not occur before U.S.-sponsored peace talks set to begin in November or December in Annapolis, Md.

Olmert, 62, said that while he was not legally obliged to disclose information about his medical condition, he wanted to bring it promptly to the public's attention on his own initiative.

Olmert had a biopsy on Oct. 19 and received the results about a week later, said Dr. Shlomo Segev, one of his physicians.

Olmert took office in January 2006 after his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, suffered a stroke. Sharon has remained in a coma ever since, and his case prompted demands for full medical disclosure by the prime minister.

Boiled Nuts Help Protect Against Illness

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By DEANNA BELLANDI, Associated Press Writer

For lovers of boiled peanuts, there's some good news from the health front. A new study by a group of Huntsville researchers found that boiled peanuts bring out up to four times more chemicals that help protect against disease than raw, dry or oil-roasted nuts.

Lloyd Walker, chair of Alabama A&M University's Department of Food and Animal Sciences who co-authored the study, said these phytochemicals have antioxidant qualities that protect cells against the risk of degenerative diseases, including cancers, diabetes and heart disease.

"Boiling is a better method of preparing peanuts in order to preserve these phytochemicals," Walker said.

The study will appear in Wednesday's edition of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The other co-authors in the study are A&M researchers Yvonne Chukwumah and Martha Verghese, as well as University of Alabama in Huntsville researcher Bernhard Vogler.

Walker said peanuts and other plants use phytochemicals for things such as helping avoid disease and insect attacks.

"These things are not nutrients; at the same time they have health benefits to humans," he told The Birmingham News. "The trick is to keep those health benefits, not to process them out of the foods."

According to Walker, water and heat penetrate the nuts, releasing beneficial chemicals to a certain point. Overcooking the nuts destroys the useful elements.

Alabama is third in the nation in the amount of peanuts produced with a crop valued at more than $67 million last year.

America Aims Having Smoke-free Workers to Save Medical Bills

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Several business houses in America are conducting help-programmes to encourage their workers to stop smoking in order to reduce their medical bills.

A recent survey indicated that one-third of companies with at least 200 workers offered smoking cessation as part of their employee benefits package.

The companies have to spend as much as 900 dollars to give a participant free nicotine patches and drugs to ease withdrawal.

Phone sessions with smoking addiction counselors can cost more than the estimated 16,000 dollars including the additional lifetime medical bills that a typical smoker generates, according to federal health data.

That federal figure does not count the costs of absenteeism or the drain on productivity when smokers periodically duck outside for a cigarette, New York Times newspaper reported.

With business employers accounting for about 650 billion dollars of the nation's 2 trillion dollar annual medical bill, companies have monetary incentive to get workers leave smoking.

United Parcel Service began offering a smoking cessation program in February to the estimated 13 percent of its employees who use tobacco.

''We decided this was the time to do this,'' said UPS health and productivity manager Judy Pirnie Smith.

The Union Pacific railroad adopted the program two years ago that helped cut the smoking rate to about 17 per cent of its work force.

''Tobacco cessation has been the hot topic for the last year,'' National Business Group on Health president Helen Darling said.

The programmes are another example, along with various other corporate wellness efforts like weight management and diabetes control, of how private employers are taking health care reform into their own hands.

There are more than 44 million smokers in the United States.

The habit is blamed for 435,000 premature deaths annually, and adds more than 75 billion dollars to annual spending on health care, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

''The number of people who enroll in the programs and then slip back into smoking in the first three months is high,'' said Watson Wyatt Worldwide benefits consulting firm executive Bruce C Kelley, adding that, ''people who quit for 12 months the recidivism rate is very low.''

Hypertension Drugs May Prevent and Treat Alzheimer’s, Study Finds

Drugs commonly used to treat hypertension, may be successful in preventing Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

In the study, researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that geriatric patients who are being treated for high blood pressure with hypertenstion drugs may cut their risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers studied more than 1,500 drugs currently available to treat other disorders to determine the effectiveness of the drugs in preventing Alzheimer’s. They found that of the 55 drugs studied, seven drugs used to treat hypertension were the most effective.

Researchers found that the drugs prevented beta-amyloid production, a fragment of protein in the brain that is usually eliminated but forms a kind of plaque, or blockage, in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients.

The drugs may also prevent further deterioration in those who are already afflicted with Alzheimer's, according to the study. One drug, Valsartan, was given to Alzheimer’s diseased mice, at a three or four times lower than the normal dosage for humans, and the drug still prevented further production of this blockage in the brain.

The effectiveness of hypertension drugs in preventing this blockage in the brain may help identify future treatments that can prevent cognitive deterioration and dementia in Alzheimer’s patients, according to researchers. However, studies on human patients is necessary.

"The use of these drugs for their potential anti-Alzheimer’s disease role is still highly experimental, and at this stage we have no clinical data beyond phenomenological observation in humans" said Dr. Pasinetti, director of the Center of Excellence for Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Alzheimer's disease at Mount Sinai. "We need to complete preventive and therapeutic clinical trials in the near future if we are to identify certain anti-hypertensive drugs with anti beta-amyloid antioligomeric activities, which will need to be prescribed at dosages that do not interfere with blood pressure in normotensive Alzheimer’s disease patients."

Girls to Get Cervical Cancer Jab

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Girls aged 12 to 13 are to be vaccinated to help protect against cervical cancer, the Scottish Government has said. A "catch-up" immunisation campaign for older teenage girls aged up to 18 is also planned to be launched from next September.

A Scottish Government spokesman said the vaccination campaign will extend over several years.

By the time it is completed, it is hoped around 120,000 girls in Scotland under 18 will have taken part. Some estimates of the cost of each jab have been put at ?250, resulting in a potential bill of ?30 million for the country.

Similar vaccination measures have been announced by the Department of Health in England, with a catch-up campaign starting for girls older than 13 from Autumn 2009. But health chiefs in Scotland are hoping to bring forward vaccinations for girls older than 13 a year in advance.

The Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are still looking at how this will work, but we want to move to the catch-up campaign as soon as possible. We are hoping to start it in the autumn of 2008, but it might be that it stretches out over a few years."

The girls will be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV causes around 70% of cases of cervical cancer, which kills more than 1,000 women in the UK each year.

The jab, which is not compulsory and is most likely to be delivered in schools, is expected to revolutionise the approach to beating the disease. It is thought the vaccine will be given in three doses over a six-month period.

Earlier this year the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that vaccines should be introduced routinely for girls aged around 12 to 13 years. Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon also committed the new government to introducing the HPV vaccine, subject to an independent review of the costs to the NHS.

In Scotland the lifetime risk of a woman developing cervical cancer is one in 124. During 2004, 282 new cases were diagnosed and 102 women died of cervical cancer in the country.

Study: Hypnosis Works to Treat Hospitalized Smokers

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Patients who are hospitalized may be more likely to quit smoking with the help of hypnotherapy, according to researchers.

A study, conducted by the North Shore Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital in Salem, Mass., found that more patients were likely to quit smoking after six months, compared to patients who used nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or those who wanted to quit on their own, which is known as going "cold turkey." Researhers also found that patients who were admitted to the hospital with cardiac disease were three times more likely to quit smoking than those with pulmonary (lung) problems.

Researchers studied 67 patients with cardio and pulmonary diseases who wanted to quit smoking. The patients were divided into four groups, based on their preferred method of treatment, including: 14 using hypnotherapy; 19 using an NRT; 18 using an NRT and hypnotherapy; and 16 who wanted to quit "cold turkey".

The control group received brief counseling while other groups received intensive counseling, which included a free supply of NRT and/or a free hypnotherapy session within seven days of discharge. Follow-up telephone calls at 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 26 weeks after discharge were also made.

Those patients who received hypnotherapy were also taught to do self-hypnosis and were given special hypnosis tapes to play at the end of the session.

At the end of the 26 weeks, following discharge, 50 percent of the patients who were treated with hypnotherapy were nonsmokers, compared with 50 percent of nonsmokers in the NRT/hypnotherapy group, 25 percent in the control group, and 15.78 percent in the NRT group.

“Our results showed that hypnotherapy resulted in higher quit rates compared with NRT alone,” Faysal Hasan, MD, North Shore Medical Center said. “Hypnotherapy appears to be quite effective and a good modality to incorporate into a smoking cessation program after hospital discharge.”

Patient data, based on cardio or pulmonary diagnosis, showed that patients admitted with cardiac problems were more likely to quit smoking at 26 weeks (45.5 percent) than patients who were admitted with a pulmonary problem (15.63 percent).

“Patients admitted with coronary symptoms may have experienced ‘fear and doom’ and decided to alter a major health risk to their disease when approached about smoking cessation,” Dr. Hasan said. “In contrast, pulmonary patients admitted for another exacerbation may not have felt the same threat. They likely felt they can live for another day and continue the smoking habit.”

Another Bird Flu Death In Indonesia

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Bird flu has claimed another victim in Indonesia bringing the country's death toll from the deadly virus to 89.

The latest case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu was in a four-year-old girl who died on Monday after being admitted to hospital two days earlier.

A health ministry official says the child was from Tangerang, west of the capital Jakarta, and had been suffering from a fever; she died after being transferred to Persahabatan hospital in Jakarta.

Health officials are investigating the case, and reports from the health ministry's bird flu centre say four chickens had previously died in the child's neighbourhood.

Almost all cases of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu have been the result of contact with sick fowl and the virus is endemic in the bird populations in most parts of Indonesia.

Millions of Indonesians keep chickens in their backyards which live in close proximity with humans.

Authorities have struggled to impart the most basic precautionary measures to rural areas in particular where people are often reluctant to disclose or cull infected birds.

The vast archipelago has suffered 110 confirmed cases of the disease in humans, with more fatalities than any other country.

According to the World Health Organisation to date there have been 204 deaths and 332 cases globally since 2003.

Experts fear that if a mutation takes place in the virus enabling it to pass between humans, a pandemic affecting millions could be triggered and Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, at present appears the ideal location for that to happen.

The more the virus infects humans the more likely it is to mutate.

Whole Grain Cereal Reduces Heart Failure Risk

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Results of a new study find that eating whole grain cereals can reduce a person's risk of developing heart failure.

It has long been known that eating cereal with whole grains could reduce one's blood pressure and risk of having a heart attack, but now according to U.S. researchers they can also reduce the risk of heart failure.

For their study, Djousse and colleagues studied the breakfast habits of more than 21,000 male doctors with an average age of 53.7 years for nearly 20 years.

They found that men who ate 1 bowl of whole grain cereal per day, had a 28% reduced risk of developing heart failure compared to men who did not.

"Eating half a cup to a cup of whole grain breakfast cereal may help lower your blood pressure. It may help lower your risk of diabetes and heart disease," said Dr. Luc Djousse of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

"This study adds another piece to the puzzle. It may also lower your risk of heart failure," he added.

According to the CDC each year, an additional 550,000 cases of heart failure are reported in America.

The condition occurs when the heart becomes weak, and is unable to pump blood as efficiently as it is supposed too.

The Global Problem of Obesity

www.webmd.com

More Than Half of Those in Worldwide Study Overweight or Obese

By Salynn Boyles

The obesity epidemic is actually a worldwide pandemic that has global implications for health and disease, new research shows.

In one of the largest studies ever to examine obesity rates across the globe, researchers found that more than 60% of men and 50% of women were either overweight or obese.

They concluded that obesity is a growing problem in all regions of the world, even among traditionally lean Asian populations.

"The study shows that excess body weight is pandemic, with one-half to two-thirds of the overall study population being overweight or obese," researcher Beverley Balkau, PhD, of the French health service INSERM, says in a news release.

Obesity Worldwide

The study involved 69,409 men and 98,750 women from 63 countries across five continents evaluated by their primary care doctors for body weight, height, cardiovascular disease (heart disease or stroke), diabetes, and waist circumference. The U.S. was not included in the study.

Waist circumference is now considered an important marker of obesity-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. A waist circumference of more than 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women is considered a risk factor for these diseases.

The people in the study had visited their doctor on one of two specially designated days in which detailed information on weight, height, waist circumference, and disease history were collected for the trial, providing a snapshot of the prevalence of obesity worldwide.

Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from the weight and height measurements. BMI looks at a person's weight in relation to height and is used to determine obesity and overweight. Forty percent of men and 30% of women met the criteria for being overweight, meaning they had a BMI of 25 to 29.9.

Fully a quarter of men and women met the BMI definition of obese (BMI of 30 or greater), but obesity rates did differ by region, ranging from a low of 7% among men and women living in southern and eastern Asian countries to a high of 36% among men and women living in Canada.

Just under one in three men and almost half of the women had waist circumferences of more than 40 and 35, respectively, putting them at higher risk for heart disease and diabetes.

The rate of diagnosed heart disease among male and female study participants was 16% and 13%, respectively. A total of 13% of men and 11% of women had known diabetes.

The men and women in the study with the largest waists were more than twice as likely as those with the smallest waists to have heart disease.

Diabetes risk was three times higher for the quarter of men with the biggest waists and almost six times higher for women, compared with the quarter of the study population with the smallest waists.

The study is published in the latest issue of the American Heart Association (AHA) journal Circulation.

Reversing the Obesity Trend

While people living in southern and eastern Asia fared better than other populations in terms of obesity and waist circumference, the researchers point out that this is not necessarily reassuring because their rates of obesity are also rising.

American Heart Association spokesman Gerald Fletcher, MD, of the Jacksonville branch of the Mayo Clinic, tells WebMD that the study provides important confirmation of the global reach of obesity.

"We have known that obesity is a worldwide problem, but this is the largest study yet to actually show this," he says.

Balkau and colleagues conclude that unless the trend is reversed, the rise in obesity will result in major increases in sickness and death from related diseases like diabetes.

Fletcher agrees, adding that major public health initiatives are needed to address the problem.

"We have seen that such initiatives can work to reduce cigarette smoking," he says. “We have to have the same kind of commitment to make a difference in obesity rates."

Funny Diet and Weight Loss Stories

New Blood Test Can Detect Cigarette Smokers Who Lie About Thier Habbit

www.allheadlinenews.com

Nidhi Sharma

People who hide a cigarette habit can easily be caught now. Researchers have found a new blood test that identifies levels of carbon monoxide in a person to determine whether someone is a smoker or not.

The device, pulse cooximeters detects levels of carbon monoxide in patients and firefighters, a U.S. study found. It can also be used to detect carbon monoxide levels in people who smoke, thus educating patients about the effects of smoking.

Study author Dr. Sridhar P. Reddy of St. Clair Pulmonary and Critical Care, St. Clair, Mich., said, "It starts a conversation to make people more and more aware of what smoking can do to them and to give them more information about why they should quit, instead of a boring sermon every time."

If smokers knew their blood carbon monoxide levels, they might be more motivated to quit smoking or never start in the first place. Reddy said.

Pulse oximeter is a device that's placed over the fingertip and measures oxygen levels in the blood by passing light waves into the skin. The device costs $4,000-$5,000 and measures the level of carbon monoxide in hemoglobin.

It accurately spotted up 95 percent of all smokers when Reddy looked only at those who had a 6 percent or higher level of carbon monoxide.

Though the device doesn't detect every smoker but Reddy said it can be used to detect light or heavy smokers.

The findings were presented at Chest 2007, the 73rd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians in Chicago.

Risk factors of breast cancer

www.jamaica-gleaner.com

THE RISK of developing breast cancer should be of concern to women and men alike. There are several risk factors associated with breast cancer. You may be curious to know what a risk factor is. A risk factor is anything that increases your chance of developing diseases such as arthrosclerosis, diabetes and cancers.

Some risk factors, such as age, race and gender, cannot be changed as they are linked to the person. Other risks are linked to cancer-causing factors in the environment. Today, with the increase in lifestyle diseases, several risk factors for cancers are triggered by lifestyle and personal behaviour. These include diet, smoking, alcohol consumption and sedentary lifestyle.

Age

The breast cancer risk factors that you will not be able to change include age, race and gender. As you age, your risk of breast cancer increases. At age 55 and over, two of every three women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, five to 10 per cent of breast cancers are hereditary. The fact that mother or father had the disease increases the likelihood of getting breast cancer. By a process of mutation, genes change and when inherited from a parent the risk of breast cancer increases.

Abnormal genes

The most common inherited mutations are those of the BRCA1 or BRCA 2 genes. These are normally responsible for preventing cancer by making proteins that help the cells from growing abnormally. When these abnormal genes are inherited, they increase the risk of breast cancer in woman at a younger age by 80 per cent compared to those women who are not born with mutated genes.

Persons who are at risk of breast cancer through inheriting mutated genes may be anxious to have genetic testing done. However, it is important to weigh the risks and benefits of genetic testing. Consultations should be done with a genetic counsellor or a qualified doctor before genetic testing is done.

Late pregnancy

Women who have no children or had their first child after age 30 may have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer. Early pregnancy and having multiple children reduces the risk of breast cancer in women.

The debate is on as to whether birth control pills increase the risk of breast cancer. Some studies have shown that the use or oral contraceptives may slightly increase breast cancer risk in women but the risk declines once the use of contraceptives is stopped. You should discuss the use of oral contraceptives and their risk factors for breast cancers with your doctor before you start to use them.

Menopause

Menopause brings changes in hormones and it may be necessary to resort to hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) to help relieve the symptoms associated with menopause and to prevent thinning of the bones (osteoporosis). For women who still have their uterus (womb), a combination of the hormones progesterone and estrogen is usually prescribed. Estrogen alone can increase the risk of uterine cancer so progesterone is combined to reduce this risk. For women who have had a hysterectomy and no longer have a uterus, estrogen alone may be prescribed in what is known as estrogen replacement therapy (ERT).

However, the American Cancer Society reports that large studies have found an increased risk of breast cancer in women on combined postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT). Combined PHT also increases the likelihood of finding the cancer in a more advanced stage, possible because it reduces the effectiveness of mammograms.

Alcohol

Alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer and the risk increases with amount of alcohol consumed. Women who drink two to five alcoholic drinks daily have about one and a half times the breast cancer risk compared with women who drink no alcohol. In addition to cancer of the breast, alcohol consumption is known to increase the risk of cancers in the mouth, throat, esophagus and liver.

An overweight or obese woman increases her risk of breast cancer, especially after menopause when the ovaries stop making estrogen, leaving fat tissues to produce most of the estrogen. With more fat tissue from being overweight, estrogen levels increase as well as the likelihood of breast cancer. It is advisable to maintain a healthy weight throughout the life cycle balancing food intake with physical exercise.

Exercise

It is well established that exercise reduces the breast cancer risk. Studies have shown that as little at 1.25 to 2.5 hours per week of brisk walking will reduce a woman's risk of breast cancer by 18 per cent. It is recommended that to reduce your risk of breast cancer you engage in 45 to 60 minutes of intentional physical activity at least five days a week.

Though not conclusive among researchers, it is strongly believed that fat in the diet increases the risk of breast cancer. It has been found that the incidence of breast cancer is less in countries with a diet low in total fat and saturated fat. Further research is taking place to better understand the effect of the types of fat in the diet and the breast cancer risk. It is recommended that fats from plant sources be consumed and that the diet should include five or more servings of fruit and vegetables each day. Whole grains should be eaten over processed grains and the consumption of processed and red meats should be limited.

Unfounded theories

There are email rumours that underarm antiperspirants may cause breast cancer due to chemicals absorbed through the skin which interfere with lymph circulation causing toxins to build up in the breast and eventually results in breast cancer. Also unfounded, is another email rumour that under wire bras may cause breast cancer by obstructing lymph flow. Silicone breast implants do not pose a cancer risk, but scar tissue may develop in the breasts. Implants make it harder to see breast tissue in mammograms.

A fairly recent finding indicates that women, who work at nights, for example nurses on a night shift, are at greater risk for breast cancer. It is believed that this may be due to a disruption in melatonin, a hormone affected by light.

There is enough conclusive evidence of the risk factors that cause breast cancer. Your responsibility is to check your breasts each month. At the first sign of any abnormality, check with your doctor. A mammogram should be part of your annual medical examination.

FDA: Sudden Hearing Loss Linked To Erectile Dysfunction Drugs

money.cnn.com

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it's approved new erectile dysfunction drug labels to more prominently display the potential risk of sudden hearing loss.

The labeling change - first reported by CNBC - applies to Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) Viagra, Eli Lilly & Co.'s (LLY) Cialis, Levitra marketed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK), Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP) and Bayer AG (BAY). The agency said the change will also apply to Pfizer's Revatio, a drug with the same active ingredient as Viagra that's used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.

The FDA said it found a total of 29 reports of sudden hearing loss among patients taking the erectile dysfunction drugs. The agency said the search of its adverse-events database was prompted by a case report in medical literature of a patient with sudden hearing loss who was taking Viagra. Such adverse-event reports, which are filed to the FDA by drug companies, doctors and patients, does not mean a particular drug has caused a problem.

The FDA said hearing loss was also reported in a few patients in clinical trials of these drugs. The FDA said in most cases the sudden hearing loss occurred in one ear.

All of the drugs fall into a category of drugs known as PDE5 inhibitors.

"Though no causal relationship has been demonstrated, FDA believed that the strong temporal relationship between the use of PDE5 inhibitors and sudden hearing loss in these cases warranted revisions to the product labeling for the drug class," the FDA said in a statement posted on its Web site.

The agency noted that hearing loss is commonly reported in an aging population, especially in patients with risk factors for erectile dysfunction. "However, sudden hearing loss is an uncommon event at any age," the agency said.

Bicycle-Related Injuries a Big Concern for Kids

www.ivanhoe.com

New research reveals bicycle injuries are more common in children and adolescents than previously believed.

Researchers from Columbus Children’s Hospital in Ohio analyzed data from the 2003 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s Kids’ Inpatient Database. They looked at hospitalization for bicycle-related injuries according to patient demographics, type of injury, total hospital charges, and length of hospital stay.

Results show bicycle-related injuries lead to nearly $200 million a year in hospital inpatient costs. Gray Smith, M.D., Dr.PH., from The Ohio State University College of Medicine, was quoted as saying, “Bicycles are associated with more childhood injuries than any other consumer product except the automobile. The high rate of hospitalization and use of healthcare resources identified in our study supports the need for increased attention to bicycle-related injuries.”

Researchers report motor vehicles were involved in about 30 percent of bike-related hospitalizations, and the link with motor vehicles increased among older children. Researchers also found one-third of kids who landed in the hospital for a bicycle-related injury had a traumatic brain injury - a statistic that could be lowered by consistent use of bike helmets. Dr. Smith reports, “The findings from our study can be used to promote targeted prevention strategies to lessen the severity of injury and the number of deaths resulting from pediatric bicycle-related injuries. We know that bicycle helmets can reduce the risk of brain injury by up to 85 percent. We need to increase efforts to promote helmet use by children riding bicycles.”

The current study reveals about 10,700 children are hospitalized for a bicycle-related injury each year. Statistics show children and adolescents age 20 and younger make up more than 50 percent of approximately 85 million bicycle riders in the United States.

Amoeba Warning Signs To Be Posted

www.azcentral.com

Signs warning of the dangers of a rare amoeba will be posted at Lake Havasu, suggesting swimmers take precautions such as plugging their noses when they dive.

The City Council decided to take the action after last month's death of Aaron Evans, 14, who doctors believe was infected with the microscopic amoeba, Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye), while swimming at the lake.

"I'm happy with it," said Keith Evans, Aaron's grandfather. "It shows they're stepping up."

The city will post the signs 1 mile from the lakefront. Arizona and California share jurisdiction on the remaining lake frontage, along with county and state agencies and Indian tribes.

Mohave County also is considering posting signs and the Board of Health will take up the matter next month.

The signs the city plans to post will warn against dangers including "drowning, physical injuries and illnesses caused by amoebas and bacteria, which exist naturally," according to city staff.

The signs direct bathers not to inhale water through their mouth and nose, and to avoid diving into murky or shallow water.

Human infection by the amoeba is extremely rare but almost always fatal, with six deaths, including Evans, reported this year in the U.S. When inhaled, the single-cell creature at attaches itself to the olfactory nerve, then makes its way to the brain.

City Manager Richard Kaffenberger said Tuesday that he believes the city should take the lead role in encouraging a multistate educational campaign about the amoeba.

Besides posting signs, the city may also run public service announcements during periods when the amoeba becomes active, city spokesman Charlie Cassens said.

Parental Heart History Critical For Both Genders

www.chicagotribune.com

By Melissa Healy

When a man suffers a heart attack at a young age, klaxons sound and red flags flutter for his son. Pointing to a son's inherited risk of going down the same road, physicians probably will urge him to stay away from cigarettes, watch his weight and exercise regularly. And there's growing evidence that that advice prompts many men to take heed - especially the recommendation to exercise.

But do alarm bells sound for the female child of a premature heart attack victim - and does she hear them? A study in the September issue of the American Heart Journal suggests the answers are no and no. The study establishes that although the daughters of families with premature heart disease are at higher risk of developing heart disease themselves, they either are failing to get that message or not bothering to heed it.

Between ages 30 and 50, these women are more likely to be overweight and to smoke than are their female peers without a family history of heart disease. Further, they are only slightly more likely to exercise and, overall, appear less inclined than men are to shape up when an immediate blood relative is stricken with heart problems.

"Women seem to feel they have a get-out-of-jail-free card when it comes to heart disease," says Dr. Alexis Anvekar, a Pasadena, Calif.-based internist and American Heart Association spokeswoman. "They seem to feel that it's a man's disease."

The American Heart Journal study looked at data collected on 2,400 people as part of the Dallas Heart Study, which surveyed and examined about 6,000 Texas residents to track the incidence and development of heart disease. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center internal medicine specialist Dr. Amit Khera and colleagues looked at how men and women, with and without histories of heart disease, compared on measures of cardiovascular risk factors, arterial blockage as detected on scans, and their reports of exercise activity and tobacco use.

The data supported the long-held belief that women generally have lower levels of plaque and fatty buildup in their arteries. But closer inspection showed that among those women with a family history of premature heart disease, the concentration of arterial plaque and fatty deposits was twice that of women with no such family history. And these women's atherosclerosis was on par with that of men with no family history of heart disease. A family history of heart disease, in effect, wiped out the biological protection against heart disease most females enjoy.

"Having a family history kind of turned a woman into a man biologically," said Khera, the study's senior author.

Along with vulnerable genes, parents with heart disease tend to pass down to their children unhealthful habits. As a result, both men and women with a family history of heart disease were more likely than their same-sex peers without such a history to smoke, weigh too much and (for women but not men) to be sedentary.

But for men, the differences were typically narrow, suggesting that many men with family histories of heart disease had rejected unhealthful habits in an effort to reduce their risk.

There was little evidence that women in the same situation had made such changes.

Khera suggests that, with major public campaigns to educate women to heart disease risks, things might be a little different now than three to five years ago, when the Dallas snapshot was taken. But he said women with family heart disease history - as well as their doctors - still have far to go.

"People are finally getting the message, and women are often more compliant, " when told they must change their ways, Khera says. But if a woman is to be saved from her father's disease, he adds, she needs to get the message, get the treatment and make the changes that could make the difference.