Weight Loss Diet And Exercise: May 5, 2013

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Brain Scans May Explain Thinking, Memory Problems in Some MS Patients

Study found more damaged white matter in brains

By Denise Mann

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, March 6 (HealthDay News) -- Besides problems with gait and vision, people who have multiple sclerosis often complain they have trouble remembering things, and now new research may explain why.

According to a small study from the Netherlands, people with MS who report memory and thinking problems have more extensive damage to the white matter in their brains than their counterparts with MS who don't report such problems.

Up to 70 percent of all people with MS will experience a mental decline at some point, said study author Hanneke Hulst at the VU University Medical Center, in Amsterdam. And the new research "confirmed that cognitive symptoms in MS have a biological basis," Hulst said.

The findings were published online March 6 in Neurology.

MS is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body attacks myelin, a fatty substance that insulates the nerve fibers of the central nervous system. The brain's white matter is surrounded by myelin. Symptoms range in severity and may include problems with gait, balance, vision, memory and thinking abilities.

To get a better picture of what was going on in the brains of people with MS, Hulst and colleagues used a new type of brain scan called diffusion tensor imaging along with traditional MRI scans on 20 people with MS-related thinking problems, 35 people with MS whose thinking ability was not affected by the disease and 30 people without MS.

More damage appeared in the brain's white matter of people with MS who reported memory and thinking impairments than in those who had MS but no such complaints about mental declines: 76 percent vs. 49 percent, respectively. This was especially apparent in areas of the brain charged with memory, attention and concentration, the researchers said.

"Imaging can now be used to capture a wider spectrum of changes in the brains of people with MS, and will therefore help determine more accurately whether new treatments are helping with all aspects of the disease, including cognitive [mental] impairment," Hulst said. "Unfortunately, at the moment there are no treatments available to prevent or cure cognitive problems in MS."

Dr. Steven Mandel, a neurologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said the new study validates some of the complaints he hears from people with MS. "The test is not ready for prime time, but in the future, it can help us sort out how impaired these individuals are in regard to everyday life and daily living." It may also serve as a marker to assess whether a treatment is making a difference, he said.

Dr. Fred Lublin, director of the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, said that memory and thinking problems are common in people with MS, but they are usually subtle.

"People with MS are more aware of [these problems] than are the people around them," Lublin said. Still, he added, "this is an important finding that helps us better understand how cognitive impairment occurs and therefore can be a marker for treatments in the future."

More information

Learn more about how MS affects memory and concentration at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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Health Tip: Do I Need a Cardiac Stress Test?

Title: Health Tip: Do I Need a Cardiac Stress Test?
Category: Health News
Created: 3/8/2013 8:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/8/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Health Tip: Teach Kids In-Line Skating Safety

Title: Health Tip: Teach Kids In-Line Skating Safety
Category: Health News
Created: 3/8/2013 8:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/8/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Leonardo DiCaprio waves to fans in South Korea

Leonardo DiCaprio threw some serious waving shapes to entertain onlookers at the premiere of the movie in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday

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Petroleum Jelly Tied to Vaginal Infection Risk in Study

Use of such products doubled odds of bacterial vaginosis, researchers find

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) -- Women who use petroleum jelly vaginally may put themselves at risk of a common infection called bacterial vaginosis, a small study suggests.

Prior studies have linked douching to ill effects, including bacterial vaginosis, and an increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases and pelvic inflammatory disease. But little research has been conducted on the possible effects of other products some women use vaginally, said Joelle Brown, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the new study.

She and her colleagues found that of 141 Los Angeles women they studied, half said they'd used some type of over-the-counter product vaginally in the past month, including sexual lubricants, petroleum jelly and baby oil. Almost as many, 45 percent, reported douching.

When the researchers tested the women for infections, they found that those who'd used petroleum jelly in the past month were more than twice as likely as non-users to have bacterial vaginosis.

Bacterial vaginosis occurs when the normal balance between "good" and "bad" bacteria in the vagina is disrupted. The symptoms include discharge, pain, itching or burning -- but most women have no symptoms, and the infection usually causes no long-term problems.

Still, bacterial vaginosis can make women more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. It also sometimes leads to pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause infertility.

The new findings, reported in the April issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, do not prove that petroleum jelly directly increased women's risk of bacterial vaginosis.

But it's possible, said Dr. Sten Vermund, director of the Institute for Global Health at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn.

Petroleum jelly might promote the growth of bad bacteria because of its "alkaline properties," explained Vermund, who was not involved in the study.

"An acidic vaginal environment is what protects women from colonization from abnormal organisms," Vermund said.

He noted that many studies have now linked douching to an increased risk of vaginal infections. And that may be because the practice "disrupts the natural vaginal ecology," Vermund said.

Normally, the vagina predominantly contains "good" bacteria that produce hydrogen peroxide. And experts say that this natural environment "cleans" the vagina; women do not need special products to do it.

Yet many women continue to douche, using products that may contain irritating antiseptics and fragrances. Up to 40 percent of U.S. women aged 18 to 44 douche regularly, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"The frequency with which American women use unnecessary and harmful intravaginal products is unfortunate," Vermund said.

It's not certain that douching, itself, causes infections, but the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises women against the practice.

The current findings are based on a group of racially diverse women who agreed to screening for sexually transmitted diseases. Slightly more than one-quarter were HIV-positive.

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Processed Meat May Play a Part in Early Death: Study

It found those who ate the most increased their risk of dying prematurely by 44 percent

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, March 6 (HealthDay News) -- Grilled hot dogs and sausages may be tasty treats at ball games and picnics, but a new study of nearly 450,000 people finds that eating too much processed meat might shave years off your life.

Those who ate the most processed meat increased their risk of dying early by 44 percent. In broader terms, if people ate less processed meat, the number of premature deaths overall would drop by almost 3 percent, Swiss researchers reported.

"Our recommendation is to limit processed meat intake to less than an ounce a day," said study author Sabine Rohrmann, head of the division of cancer epidemiology and prevention at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich.

The researchers could only show an association between eating processed meat and an increased risk of dying early, and not a cause-and-effect link. There are, however, some reasons to believe the association may be real, the scientists said.

"We know of some potential mechanisms that probably all contribute," Rohrmann said. "Meat is rich in cholesterol and saturated fat, which may be the link with coronary heart disease."

Processed meat is also treated with nitrates to improve durability, color and taste. "However, it also causes the formation of carcinogens. These are linked to the risk of colorectal and stomach cancer," Rohrmann said.

In addition, high iron intake from meat may lead to an increased risk for cancer, she said.

Another expert noted that previous research supports the link between processed meat and health problems.

"A wide array of studies have linked meat intake to higher rates of chronic disease," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center in New Haven, Conn.

Eating relatively more meat likely means eating fewer plant foods, which protect against chronic disease, he said.

"The case for us eating mostly plants is strong," Katz said. "But those inclined can eat meat without harming their health, provided they choose wisely and steer clear of bologna."

For the study, which was published online March 6 in the journal BMC Medicine, Rohrmann and an international team of investigators collected data on nearly 450,000 men and women. At the start of the study, none of the participants had had cancer, a heart attack or stroke. The researchers also collected data on diet, smoking, exercise and weight.

By the middle of 2009, more than 26,000 of those in the study had died.

"Mortality is increased when we compare those participants who eat more than 40 grams per day of processed meat to those who have 10 to 20 grams per day," Rohrmann said.

The higher the consumption, the higher the risk. "For the highest consumption group (those who consume at least 160 grams of processed meat per day) mortality was 44 percent higher compared with those who eat little meat (10 to 20 grams a day)," she said.

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