Want Tots Without Allergies? Try Sucking on Their Pacifiers

Study suggests transferring adult bacteria to infants' mouths through saliva may train immune system to ignore allergens

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- A new Swedish study suggests that parents who want to protect their infants from developing allergies should try a simple approach to introducing their children to the wide world of microbes: Just pop their pacifiers into their own mouths before giving them back to their babies.

Although that may sound disgusting or even risky to some, researchers found that the transfer of oral bacteria from adults to infants seems to help train the immune system to ignore germs that don't pose a threat.

"The immune system's purpose is to differentiate between harmless and harmful," said Dr. Ron Ferdman, a pediatric allergist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. "If your immune system is not presented with enough microbes, it just defaults to doing harmful attacks against things that are not harmful, like food, cat dander or dust mites."

A report released last week from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics showed that the number of American children with allergies has increased dramatically in recent years: about 13 percent have skin allergies and 17 percent have respiratory allergies.

The Swedish researchers set out to learn whether very early microbial exposure during the first months of life affects allergy development. They found that children whose parents sucked on their pacifiers to clean them were less likely to have asthma, eczema and sensitivity to allergens than children whose parents did not clean the pacifiers this way.

The authors concluded that parental sucking of their baby's pacifiers may help decrease the risk of allergy caused by transfer of microbes through the parent's saliva.

For the study, published online May 6 in the journal Pediatrics, 206 pregnant women in Sweden were initially recruited as participants, and 187 of their infants were included in the research. The scientists sought families with at least one allergic parent to see if they could identify a different immune response in the children.

The researchers studied the transfer of microbes in the parents' saliva by fingerprinting bacterial DNA in 33 infants' saliva, of which 21 had parents who sucked on their pacifiers.

A total of 187 babies were followed until the child was 18 months old, and 174 were followed until they were 36 months old. The researchers chose to evaluate the children at those specific points in time because some diseases, such as eczema, develop early in life, said Dr. Bill Hesselmar, an associate professor at Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, in Gothenberg, Sweden.

Introducing solid foods into an infant's diet did not seem to affect the study results, Hesselmar said. "We found differences in the oral microbial flora already at 4 months of age, at an age when most children are still on breast milk."

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Toning Down On Sodium

I'm having a pretty big problem with sodium, and it's hard for me to avoid since a lot of products in my house have a lot of sodium ( I'm 16 and I live with my family, and I also don't do the shopping). Are there any suggestions of how I should eat less sodium, because I think that might be what the problem in my weight loss might be.

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Superfood of the Week: Edamame

Edamame, that mildly sweet and oh-so pop-able snack also known as soybeans is a protein-packed powerhouse. And although you may most frequently see it tableside at your local Japanese restaurant, they're good for way more than that. A mere half-cup of these legumes will provide a whopping 9 grams of fiber, 11 grams of protein plus a hefty dose of antioxidants, all for just 120 calories. It should come as no surprise, then, that edamame's been a staple of the Asian diet for many years now. Try one of these delicious recipes to enjoy the slimming superpowers of soy.

Edamame Hummus: Give your traditional chickpea hummus a protein boost with this fun twist on the Mediterranean classic. The white beans and fresh parsley add great flavor to this smooth and creamy dip, too. Serve with whole-grain pita chips or carrots for extra crunch.Nutty Pasta with Edamame Pesto: This delicious dish requires minimal effort but tastes like it's from a fancy restaurant -- seriously. The pesto is a unique combination of fresh mint, roasted almonds, olive oil and edamame that pairs perfectly with fiber packed whole-wheat pasta. Feel free to use fresh basil if you don't have mint on hand. Bonus: Try the leftovers chilled for lunch the next day!Edamame Lo Mein: Forget the unhealthy takeout version and go for this healthier twist on the yummy Asian classic, complete with whole-wheat noodles, peppers, carrots and (you guessed it) lots of edamame. With all that protein, you don't even have to add chicken or shrimp.

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Image Credit: Conde Nast Archive

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measuring?!

Hi. I started calorie count 3 weeks ago. It is such a great app. I found out that I really didn't know how much I was eating. I just want to know if you all still measure everything, or do you pretty much know by sight how much everything is after measuring so often? I have been counting and measuring everything. I want to continue making sure my calories are what they should be even after I have lost my last few pounds. Will I be measuring forever? I don't mind, just curious how u do it. With every bowl of cereal, every morning? Etc.

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Girls May Need Fewer Gardasil Shots, Study Suggests

Preteens appear to get same protection with two doses of HPV vaccine as young women who get three

By Brenda Goodman

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Preteen girls may get the same immune response against human papillomavirus (HPV) with two doses of vaccine as young women get with the full three-shot series, a new study suggests.

HPV is a sexually transmitted infection that causes cervical cancer, the second biggest cancer killer in women around the world.

The HPV vaccine, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006, is given in a three-shot series. The first and second doses are given one to two months apart, followed by a third dose six months later.

Current government guidelines advise parents to vaccinate boys and girls against HPV starting at age 11. That's partly to ensure they're protected against HPV before their first sexual encounter, but it's also to take advantage of biology.

"The immune response wanes with age. So the younger you are, the better immune response you have," said Dr. Jessica Kahn, a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio. Kahn wrote an editorial on the study, but she was not involved in the research.

Although HPV vaccines are considered highly effective, fewer than one-third of U.S. teens receive all three doses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Immunization Survey of Teens.

Doctors have wondered if a different dosing schedule might save money and time while still providing the protection of the three-dose regimen.

To find out, researchers in Canada, where vaccines are delivered through school-based programs, randomly assigned 520 girls aged 9 to 13 to receive either two or three doses of the Gardasil vaccine, which protects against four HPV strains. The girls who got two doses got their shots six months apart. The girls who got three doses got the vaccines on the regular schedule.

The younger girls were compared to 310 young women aged 16 to 26 who got three doses of the vaccine on the regular schedule.

Researchers took blood samples to measure the number of antibodies made against each viral strain. They continued to take blood samples over time to see how long the antibody response might last.

The younger girls who got two doses of vaccine appeared to make at least as many antibodies against the HPV strains as the teens and young women did on the three-dose regimen. And their protection appeared to last just as long, up to three years after they started their shots, according to the study, published April 30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers cautioned that while the antibody response to two doses of the vaccine looks promising, it doesn't prove that the shorter course actually protected against viral infections or cancers. A much longer study is under way to test that.

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Snack Time: Healthy Chips and Dip

Chips and dip are so addictive, right? It's not like you can have one and stop. It usually turns into a major munch fest. But, fear not: If you choose the right chips and dip, you can enjoy this perfect snacktime pairing guilt-free. A satisfying combo that I discovered recently is Tribe's brand-new, limited-edition Everything Hummus and Pepperidge Farm's Gluten-Free Baked Naturals Tortilla Chips. Here's the low-down on each of these snacktime staples that seriously satisfy.

Tribe Everything Hummus: If you like everything bagels, you'll love this new hummus flavor from Tribe. They've added a variety of snackable textures and flavors to their classic creamy hummus including sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic and onion. Not only is it super tasty, but you can feel good about your decision to dive into this dip, too. That's because like all Tribe hummus, it's kosher-certified, gluten-free, vegan-friendly and free of artificial flavors, preservatives, cholesterol, hydrogenated oils and high-fructose corn syrup.Pepperidge Farm Gluten-Free Baked Natural Tortilla Chips: Anyone who has to follow a gluten-free diet or just wants a healthier crunchy snack will love Pepperidge Farm's first gluten-free additions to its Baked Naturals lineup, with plain tortilla and nacho cheese flavors. - Simply Tortilla and Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips. Made with quality ingredients like stone ground corn and 16g whole grain per serving, Baked Naturals Tortilla Chips contain 43 percent less fat than the average tortilla chip. (That would be 8 g per serving versus PF's 4.5 g per serving.) Crunch away, y'all!

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Will Losing Weight Help With Acne?

I've had moderately bad acne, and I'm just wondering if it would help clear up my face. I'm going to try and lose the weight either way, but I was just wondering if it would help or not.

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Urologists' Group Issues Updated Guidelines on PSA Test

FRIDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- New guidelines from the nation's leading group of urologists on the controversial PSA test for prostate cancer highlight the importance of discussions between a man and his doctor.

Especially for men in their late 50s and 60s, the usefulness of the blood test may have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, according to new recommendations from the American Urological Association (AUA).

One expert called the new guidelines "a paradigm shift" in prostate cancer detection.

Dr. Louis Potter, chairman of radiation medicine at North Shore-LIJ Health System in New Hyde Park, N.Y., said the recommendations mark a move to more "personalized health management, where risk and age are balanced against the value of screening."

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening is a test that measures the level of a key marker for prostate cancer in the blood. In general, the higher the level of this protein, the more likely it is that a man has prostate cancer, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

The value of the PSA test has recently come into question, however, with several studies suggesting it causes men more harm than good -- spotting too many slow-growing tumors that, especially in older patients, may never lead to serious illness or death. In 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an influential government-appointed panel, advised against the routine use of the PSA test for prostate cancer.

The new AUA guidelines are more nuanced. The group does recommend against the PSA test for men under age 40 or for those aged 40 to 54 at average risk for prostate cancer.

The AUA says, however, that men aged 55 to 69 should talk to their doctors about the risks and benefits of PSA screening and make a decision based on their personal values and preferences.

Routine PSA screening is not recommended for men over age 70 or any man with less than a 10- to 15-year life expectancy.

The best evidence of benefit from PSA screening was among men aged 55 to 69 screened every two to four years. In this group, PSA testing was found to prevent one death a decade for every 1,000 men screened. But this benefit could be much greater over a lifetime, the guidelines noted.

The guidelines also said PSA screening could benefit men in other age groups who are at higher risk of prostate cancer due to factors such as race and family history. These men should discuss their risk with a doctor and assess the benefits and potential harms of PSA testing.

The new guideline updates the AUA's 2009 Best Practice Statement on Prostate-Specific Antigen and was announced at the association's annual meeting in San Diego on Friday.

"There is general agreement that early detection, including prostate-specific antigen screening, has played a part in decreasing mortality from prostate cancer," Dr. H. Ballentine Carter, who chaired the panel that developed the guidelines, said in an AUA news release.

There is more and better data about PSA screening available today than there was in 2009, so it is "time to reflect on how we screen men for prostate cancer and take a more selective approach in order to maximize benefit and minimize harms," Carter said.

One expert said the revised guidelines made sense.

"I think these guidelines are quite appropriate given the [slow-growing] nature of many prostate cancers," said Dr. Erik Goluboff, an attending urologist in the department of urologic oncology at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

He agreed that discussions between a patient and his doctor on the PSA test are "extremely important."

"It has become increasingly evident that many, if not most, men diagnosed with early prostate cancer will never need treatment and can be spared the potentially devastating side effects of treatment such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction," Goluboff said.

Some men, including black patients and patients with a family history of prostate cancer, may still decide to undergo PSA testing, he added. "This is in contrast to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, where a blanket statement that PSA screening is bad, regardless of individual patient risk, was made," Goluboff said.

A better test that pinpoints aggressive, life-threatening prostate tumors might be developed in the future, to better guide patients. "Hopefully, with discovery of better tumor markers, aggressive prostate cancers can be distinguished from [slow-growing] ones and only patients who need to will receive treatment," Goluboff said.

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Louis Potters, M.D, chair, radiation medicine, North Shore - LIJ Health System, New Hyde Park, NY; Erik Goluboff, M.D., attending urologist, department of urologic oncology, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City; American Urological Association, news release, May 3, 2013

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Subway sandwiches

Subway has all their calories posted on their menu sign in the store. I use it to help me order. But the other day as I ate their sandwich, I read the info printed on their napkins. It says that their advertised calorie amounts for the sandwiches doesn't include any cheese or condiments. Has anyone else noticed that?

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Study Supports Broader Access to Lap-Band Weight-Loss Surgery

THURSDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- The Lap-Band weight-loss procedure should not be restricted only to patients who are very severely obese, a new study suggests.

Still, some experts disagreed, saying further research will be needed before the procedure is used in a wider range of patients.

The Lap-Band is a strategy in which an adjustable band is placed around the upper part of the stomach in order to create a pouch. The newly-created pouch restricts how much food a patient can eat at one time and helps reduce appetite.

In 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Lap-Band for use in patients who are very severely obese (a body-mass index of 40 or higher) and for patients who are severely obese (BMI of 35 to 39.9) with an obesity-related condition such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

BMI is a measurement of body fat based on a ratio of weight to height. Obesity is typically defined as a BMI of 30 or above.

Since the 2001 approval of the device, the FDA has expanded the Lap-Band's approval for use in obese patients with a BMI of 30 to 39.9 who have at least one obesity-related condition (for example, diabetes or high cholesterol levels).

Allergan, the device's maker, funded the new study. In the study, researchers performed the Lap-Band procedure on 149 patients who had a BMI of 35 to 39.9 and did not have an obesity-related condition or who had a BMI of 30 to 34.9 (moderately obese) with at least one obesity-related condition.

One year after undergoing the procedure, nearly 85 percent of the patients had lost at least 30 percent of their excess body weight, with an average excess weight loss of 65 percent. About 66 percent of the patients were no longer obese.

Obesity-related conditions improved for many of the patients, including 64 percent of those with high cholesterol, 59 percent of those with high blood pressure and 85 percent of those with diabetes. Most side effects of the procedure were mild to moderate and resolved within a month.

The patients' results a year after the procedure were maintained or improved at two years, according to the study, which was published online May 2 in the journal Obesity.

"Patients in our study had been obese for an average of 17 years," study author Dr. Robert Michaelson, of Northwest Weight Loss Surgery in Everett, Wash., said in a journal news release. "They tried numerous other weight-loss methods and finally reached out for surgical treatment when they were wary of the repetitive failures at maintaining weight loss."

"The results of this study convinced the FDA that early intervention in the continuum of obesity is the right thing to do: Treat before people go on to develop serious conditions [related to] obesity," Michaelson said.

In addition, the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery issued a position statement endorsing weight-loss surgery for patients with moderate obesity who have not had success with non-surgical methods of weight loss.

"The next step is to get the private insurers and Medicare, who continue to rely on guidelines established in 1991, to review the incontrovertible literature, take down the barriers to the necessary treatment for this disease, and offer the hope of a cure to 27 million Americans," Michaelson said.

In an editorial accompanying the study, however, experts said the long-term benefits and risks of this procedure in people with a BMI lower than 40 still need to be determined. They also noted that studies have shown that very severely obese people who have had the Lap-Band procedure often begin to regain weight about two years after the surgery.

There are also concerns that serious side effects are common, including reports of device removal rates as high as 50 percent, said Dr. David Arterburn, of the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, and Dr. Melinda Maggard, of the University of California, Los Angeles.

The two experts added that, "the study was funded by the device company, who had input into the study design, and all the authors were paid for their work, again raising the concern of bias in collecting and interpreting the results."

Until longer-term data on the benefits and harms of the procedure are available, the use of the Lap-Band procedure in patients with a BMI of 30 to 35 should be limited to clinical trials, they said.

But another expert supported the use of the Lap-Band in people other than the very obese.

"In my clinical experience it is in this subgroup [of less obese patients] that I find the band most effective," said Dr. Mitchell Roslin, chief of obesity surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

"Many larger patients do not respond to the band making them eat slower, and only have effect when the band is overly tightened," Roslin said. "This leads to issues that ultimately can result in removal. For patients that are smaller, the results, in my opinion, will be better. For those with severe morbid obesity, I find the [stomach] stapling procedures superior."

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Mitchell Roslin, M.D., chief of obesity surgery, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Obesity, news release, May 2, 2013

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Rita Ora at the British Designers Collective Launch at Bicester Village

Fashion chameleon Rita Ora can DO any style and make it her own - today, she's doing ladylike the Rita way - in a bold orange dress and kick-ass sandals, topped off with bouffant hair. 

See Rita's Superga Campaign

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can't be bothered to eat?!?

Has anyone ever had this???? I'm eating and I'm not full or anything but I stop as I sort of don't feel like I can continue. Does anyone know how ro bear this? I know I sound lazy but when I say I can't be bothered it's not like laziness it's like my brain is telling me I can't keep chewing. Maybe it's just a vicious circle where I don't have enough energy or something?? Help would be appreciated :)

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General Anesthesia Not Linked to Raised Risk for Dementia

WEDNESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Despite previous concerns, older people who receive general anesthesia are not at greater risk of developing long-term dementia or Alzheimer's disease, a new study says.

The study, by researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., involved 900 patients over the age of 45 who had dementia, a disease that affects brain functions such as memory, language, problem-solving and attention. All of the participants were residents of Olmsted County, Minn., from 1985 to 1994.

These patients were compared to other people of similar ages living in the area who did not develop dementia during that time frame.

About 70 percent of the study participants in both groups underwent surgery that required general anesthesia. Among patients who had already been diagnosed with dementia, there were no signs that their symptoms got worse due to receiving general anesthesia. Among those who did not have dementia, there was no evidence that they developed the disease after receiving general anesthesia, the investigators found.

The researchers concluded that general anesthesia does not increase elderly patients' long-term risk for dementia.

"It's reassuring we're adding to the body of knowledge that there is not an association of anesthesia and surgery with Alzheimer's," study senior author Dr. David Warner, a pediatric anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic, said in a Mayo news release. "There are a lot of things to worry about when an elderly person has surgery, but it seems that developing Alzheimer's isn't one of them."

The study was published in the May 1 online edition of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Mayo Clinic, news release, May 1, 2013

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Myth-buster: why you should definitely get a spray tan before your next holiday

I'm pretty pale. I sparkle in the light like Edward Cullen. There's nothing I love more than getting back from a holiday and having a bit of a golden glow (what better excuse to go make-up-free for a while?). But those first few days of stepping out into the sun, uncovered for the first time in a year, glowing brighter than the sun, can be terrifying. So surely a quick spray tan before your flight is the best option?

Many people think not. Several people I told I was getting a tan before my last holiday recoiled in horror. 'But won't it go streaky in the pool?' 'What if you come back paler than when you leave?' 'You know you can't tan through a spray tan, right?'

There are a lot of myths surrounding pre-holiday spray-tanning, so in the name of journalism (/wanting to be bronzed on day one of my Barbados holiday) I paid a visit to the brilliant Jules Heptonstall at St Tropez for an all-over spray of the new Sensitive tan. I boarded the plane 36 hours later looking perfectly bronzed. I was just hoping I'd come home looking exactly the same colour. 

                                                                                  ****

…I pretty much did. Maybe even more golden, in fact. And contrary to the copious warnings, my tan didn't go streaky, I did tan, and, most importantly of all, I didn't feel like Edward Cullen when I stepped out onto the beach on day one.

On previous holidays, I've felt so pale on arrival that I've been tempted to panic-tan (read: panic-burn). This is, obviously, a terrible idea. This year, because I already had a tan (whilst not real) I wasn't in such a hurry to get a bit of colour on my pasty limbs, so I was as careful as a pale-skinned English girl in Barbados should be (factor 30+ with hourly reapplication). The St Tropez colour gradually faded away while my sun tan built up underneath, switching places at an unnoticed point mid-holiday. It really was quite marvellous.

So there you have it: it isn't a bad idea to get a spray-tan pre-holiday. Need more convincing? St Tropez tanner to the stars Jules Heptonstall gives us his view on this issue (of unquestionable importance).

A lot of people think that getting a spray tan before going on holiday is a bad idea - why do you think that is and is it true or false?
False. Getting a spray tan before you go on holiday gives you that summer glow before you've had your week away - my clients describe it as 'taking the edge off'. It's important to remember that a spray tan will offer no protection from the sun and as your spray tan fades, your real tan will develop if you're out in the sun. A top tip is to use St. Tropez Aftersun Lotion, £15 with a hint of self tan - its creamy texture is brilliant for soothing your skin and it's enriched with self tan so it actually gives you a deeper glow. My holiday essential!

True or false, you can't get a tan through a spray tan?
False. A spray tan offers no protection from UVA or UVB rays, so you will still tan but you will also need to wear sun cream too.

How can you stop your tan going streaky in the sea/pool?
Don't go in the pool while your self tan is still developing - it's important to make sure you've washed off all the guide colour beforehand. I try to not go in the pool on the first day and use a sun cream that's formulated to work with a spray tan and keep it topped up for longer (St.Tropez SPF 30 With Tan Enhancer For Body, £20 - formulated with melanin activating ingredient Melanobronze as well as being designed not to strip a spray tan).

Is there a risk that you'll come back paler than you left?
It all depends on how much tanning in the sun you are wanting to do! If you are tanning every single day on your holiday you'll come back with a deeper tan, but if you're holiday is more of a night time break, then you'll come back slightly paler. If it's a worry, just apply a bit of St. Tropez Self Tan Mousse, £20.43 the night before you're due to go back to work - no one will ever know the difference!

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Homemade french fries

I had a hankering for really good fries for a steak fries combo. I found the longest russet at the grocery store and hand cut it, then heated my light olive frying oil up close to smoke and fried for about 2 minutes. Seasoned with some coarse salt, chopped fresh rosemary and thyme and black pepper. Delicious with the beef.

The calorie counting on this is tricky since cc doesn't have a food entry for hand cut fresh French fries. There is an entry for oreida 3/8" straight cut fries showing 120 calories for 3 oz, which is close enough for me.

What's surprising is that this only used up about a quarter of the potato, so the rest of the uncooked fries are in salt water for a few more meals.

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