FDA: Lower Ambien's Dose to Prevent Drowsy Driving

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved new, lower-dose labeling for the popular sleep drug Ambien (zolpidem) in an effort to cut down on daytime drowsiness that could be a hazard while performing certain tasks such as driving.

The move follows the FDA's request to manufacturers in January that drugs containing zolpidem carry instructions that lower the recommended dose and provide more safety information to patients.

"FDA has approved these changes because of the known risk of next-morning impairment with these drugs," the agency said in a statement released Tuesday on its website.

Sleep medications containing zolpidem include Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar and Zolpimist, as well as generic versions of Ambien and Ambien CR.

"The purpose of the lowering is to help decrease the risk of next-morning impairment of activities that require alertness," Dr. Ellis Unger, director of the Office of Drug Evaluation I at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said at the time of the agency's request to manufacturers. "We're particularly concerned about driving. A large fraction of the population drives and driving is an inherently dangerous activity."

Lowering the nighttime dose means there will be less residual drug in the blood by the time the person wakes up. Extended-release forms of the drugs tend to stay in the body longer, the FDA said.

The FDA has told manufacturers that recommended doses for women should be cut in half, from 10 milligrams to 5 milligrams for immediate-release products (Ambien, Edluar and Zolpimist) and from 12.5 mg to 6.25 mg for extended-release products (Ambien CR).

For men, the agency has asked manufacturers to change the labeling to recommend that doctors and other health-care professionals consider prescribing lower doses, meaning 5 mg for immediate-release products and 6.25 mg for extended-release products.

In explaining the different recommendations for men and women, Unger said that "women appear to be more susceptible to risk for next-morning impairment because they eliminate zolpidem from their bodies more slowly."

It's not clear why women eliminate the substance from their bodies more slowly than men.

Although there have been reports of adverse events, including motor vehicle accidents possibly related to zolpidem, the link has not and probably cannot be definitely established, Unger said.

The changes were spurred by new driving-simulation studies showing that currently prescribed levels of drugs containing zolpidem may be high enough to impair alertness the next day, he explained.

The FDA will be requiring driving-simulation studies for new sleep medications, and it is assessing other insomnia medications on the market. Eventually, Unger said, "we want driving data on all sleep medications."

Unger emphasized that next-day impairment is not limited to medications containing zolpidem but to all sleep medications.

"For all sleep medications, doctors should prescribe and patients should take the lowest dose," he said.

People taking any kind of sleep medication should not change their dose without first talking to their health-care professional, he stressed.

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: May 14, 2013, news release, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Feb. 14, 2013, statement, FDA; Jan. 10, 2013, news conference with Ellis Unger, M.D., director, Office of Drug Evaluation I, Office of New Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

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FDA: Lower Ambien's Dose to Prevent Drowsy Driving

Blood levels from nighttime dose of sleep aid can remain too high the next morning, agency says

By Amanda Gardner

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved new, lower-dose labeling for the popular sleep drug Ambien (zolpidem) in an effort to cut down on daytime drowsiness that could be a hazard while performing certain tasks such as driving.

The move follows the FDA's request to manufacturers in January that drugs containing zolpidem carry instructions that lower the recommended dose and provide more safety information to patients.

"FDA has approved these changes because of the known risk of next-morning impairment with these drugs," the agency said in a statement released Tuesday on its website.

Sleep medications containing zolpidem include Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar and Zolpimist, as well as generic versions of Ambien and Ambien CR.

"The purpose of the lowering is to help decrease the risk of next-morning impairment of activities that require alertness," Dr. Ellis Unger, director of the Office of Drug Evaluation I at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said at the time of the agency's request to manufacturers. "We're particularly concerned about driving. A large fraction of the population drives and driving is an inherently dangerous activity."

Lowering the nighttime dose means there will be less residual drug in the blood by the time the person wakes up. Extended-release forms of the drugs tend to stay in the body longer, the FDA said.

The FDA has told manufacturers that recommended doses for women should be cut in half, from 10 milligrams to 5 milligrams for immediate-release products (Ambien, Edluar and Zolpimist) and from 12.5 mg to 6.25 mg for extended-release products (Ambien CR).

For men, the agency has asked manufacturers to change the labeling to recommend that doctors and other health-care professionals consider prescribing lower doses, meaning 5 mg for immediate-release products and 6.25 mg for extended-release products.

In explaining the different recommendations for men and women, Unger said that "women appear to be more susceptible to risk for next-morning impairment because they eliminate zolpidem from their bodies more slowly."

It's not clear why women eliminate the substance from their bodies more slowly than men.

Although there have been reports of adverse events, including motor vehicle accidents possibly related to zolpidem, the link has not and probably cannot be definitely established, Unger said.

The changes were spurred by new driving-simulation studies showing that currently prescribed levels of drugs containing zolpidem may be high enough to impair alertness the next day, he explained.

The FDA will be requiring driving-simulation studies for new sleep medications, and it is assessing other insomnia medications on the market. Eventually, Unger said, "we want driving data on all sleep medications."

Unger emphasized that next-day impairment is not limited to medications containing zolpidem but to all sleep medications.

"For all sleep medications, doctors should prescribe and patients should take the lowest dose," he said.

People taking any kind of sleep medication should not change their dose without first talking to their health-care professional, he stressed.

View the original article here

Can I lower my blood pressure without taking medication?

Posted June 28, 2013, 2:00 am

My blood pressure medication has side effects that are difficult to tolerate. What else can I do to lower my BP?

If you’re a regular reader of this column, you’ve heard me say more than once that diet and exercise sometimes can eliminate the need for medications for a variety of conditions. That’s true — and it surely is true for high blood pressure.

However, sometimes diet, exercise and stress management lower blood pressure only part of the way. Medications may still be necessary. Every medicine ever invented can cause side effects in some people. But the other side of that coin is that medicines often do not cause side effects. And just because one medicine causes side effects does not mean that another will.

Fortunately, there are many different medicines to treat high blood pressure. In my experience, you can usually find a blood pressure medication that is both effective and free of side effects. But even when that’s true, it’s still important to get back to basics: a healthy lifestyle.

A healthy lifestyle is the cornerstone for preventing and treating hypertension. It may allow you to lower your medication dose or stop taking medication altogether. At the very least, you’ll feel better:

First and foremost, if you smoke, quit. Your blood pressure will start to decrease within hours after your last cigarette. Your doctor can recommend resources to help you quit.Another important step is to reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Being overweight or obese itself raises your blood pressure.Even if you don’t need to lose weight, eating the right foods can make a difference. The key features of a blood-pressure-friendly diet include plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains; several servings daily of low-fat dairy products; some fish, poultry, dried beans, nuts and seeds; and minimal red meat, sweets and sugar-laden beverages. Also try to limit your sodium intake to less than 1.5 grams of sodium per day. You can find the sodium content of prepared foods on the Nutrition Facts label.Limiting alcohol can help. Have no more than two drinks per day if you’re male, or one drink per day if you’re female. That’s drinking in moderation. Drinking in moderation may even help lower blood pressure, while drinking more can definitely raise blood pressure.Regular exercise lowers high blood pressure. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on all or most days of the week. Examples include walking or riding a stationary bike. Regular exercise is a potent tonic for lowering your blood pressure — even if you don’t lose weight.Finally, relax. Ongoing stress raises your blood pressure. Learn relaxation techniques, such as meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing or yoga. I have a patient who took up tai chi several years ago and does it daily. I can’t prove there’s a connection, but I can tell you that her blood pressure has never been so low, and she says she feels great. window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({appId: "199616670120169", status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true});}; (function() { var e = document.createElement("script"); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js"; document.getElementById("fb-root").appendChild(e);}());

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Some Types of Skin Cancer Linked to Lower Chances of Alzheimer's

A weak immune response might allow skin cancer but protect brain from inflammation, expert suggests

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- There's some good news for people who have had certain kinds of skin cancer: A new study suggests that their odds of developing Alzheimer's disease may be significantly lower than it is for others.

People who had non-melanoma skin cancer were nearly 80 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than people who did not. The association was not found with other types of dementia.

To understand the possible association between skin cancer and Alzheimer's, it is important to know that people have a combination of cells that are multiplying and others that are dying, explained study author Dr. Richard Lipton, a professor of neurology, epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. The research was published online May 15 in the journal Neurology.

"When cell division gets out of control, we call that cancer. And when specific populations of brain cells die, we call that Alzheimer's," Lipton said. "So, there is a balance between cell division [growth] and cell death. If you have an individual with an increased risk of cell division over cell death, that may be linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer's."

The finding was intriguing to one expert.

"It's fascinating that we can get clues about what's going on in the brain by looking at the periphery [skin]," said Terrence Town, a professor in the physiology and biophysics department at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States; there were more than 2 million new cases in 2012, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

What could be causing the possible association between skin cancer and a reduced risk of Alzheimer's?

"Either developing skin cancer is a marker for some biological process that protects against Alzheimer's or environmental factors may play a role," Lipton said. Genetics could be a factor, as could lots of outdoor physical activity and exercise, although Lipton cautioned people to avoid too much sun exposure and wear sunscreen.

Others think the link may be directly related to how the lowered immune response of skin cells in skin cancer corresponds to a similar immune response in the brain.

"This research is another piece of evidence that tells us that peripheral inflammation [in the skin] is very important in Alzheimer's disease," Town said. He thinks that people who develop non-melanoma skin cancers don't have an immune response in their skin, and thus develop skin cancers, because an immune response may be critical to fighting skin cancer. But that benefits them when it comes to developing Alzheimer's disease.

"This reduced inflammatory response that was permissive to the skin cancer was perhaps beneficial in the brain," said Town.

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Secondhand Smoke Tied to Lower 'Good' Cholesterol in Teen Girls

Living with smokers may raise risk for heart disease, study suggests

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Exposure to secondhand smoke at home appears to lower teen girls' levels of the "good" cholesterol -- the substance that reduces heart disease risk, researchers report.

The new study included more than 1,000 male and female teens, aged 17, in Australia who had blood tests to check their levels of "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. While "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol creates a build-up that can block blood vessels, HDL plays a positive role by clearing excess cholesterol from the bloodstream.

The researchers also examined information about smoking in the teens' households beginning before they were born, when their mothers were 18 weeks into their pregnancies. Forty-eight percent of the study participants had been exposed to secondhand smoke at home, according to the study in the May issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

"In our study, we found 17-year-old girls raised in households where passive smoking occurred were more likely to experience declines in HDL cholesterol levels," lead author Dr. Chi Le-Ha, of the University of Western Australia, said in a news release from the Endocrine Society.

"Secondhand smoke did not have the same impact on teenage boys of the same age, which suggests passive smoking exposure may be more harmful to girls. Considering cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women in the western world, this is a serious concern," Le-Ha added.

The findings suggest that exposure to secondhand smoke in childhood may be a more significant risk factor for women than men.

"We need to redouble public health efforts to reduce young children's secondhand smoke exposure in the home, particularly girls' exposure," Le-Ha stated in the news release.

The association seen in the study does not prove that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between secondhand smoke exposure in girls and low levels of HDL cholesterol.

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Exercise May Lower Older Women's Risk for Kidney Stones

FRIDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Anybody who's ever had kidney stones knows how painful they can be.

Now, a new study suggests that getting more exercise may reduce older women's risk for kidney stones.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, Georgetown University and University of Washington School of Medicine analyzed data from more than 85,000 postmenopausal women in the United States and found that higher levels of physical activity seemed to lower the risk of kidney stones by as much as 31 percent.

The amount of exercise -- not the intensity -- is the key factor in reducing kidney stone risk, according to the study scheduled for Saturday presentation at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, in San Diego.

The researchers also said that reducing the amount of high-calorie foods they consume could cut postmenopausal women's risk of kidney stones by more than 40 percent.

"Kidney stones are a very common health condition, and as with most health conditions, prevention is key," AUA spokesman Dr. Kevin McVary said in an association news release.

"While we know diet is one of several factors that can promote or inhibit kidney stone development, this study shows lifestyle changes such as exercise can also help prevent stones from forming in postmenopausal women. Further research is needed to understand if this observation is accurate for other demographics," he noted.

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Each year, kidney stones send more than 3 million Americans to a health care provider and more than half a million to an emergency department, according to the news release. Obesity is known to be a strong risk factor for kidney stones.

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: American Urological Association, news release, May 3, 2013

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Health Tip: Lower Your Blood Pressure

(HealthDay News) -- High blood pressure increases a person's risk for heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and congestive heart failure.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers this advice for people whose pressure is too high:

Cut back on salt in your diet, and increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.Get plenty of regular exercise.Lose weight if you're overweight or obese.Don't smoke, and limit alcohol intake.Take any prescribed blood pressure medication as directed. Talk to your doctor if you have side effects from any medication.

-- Diana Kohnle
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Too Much Texting, Facebook Time May Lower College Women's Grades

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) -- Media use is a serious distraction for college freshmen, with a new study finding young women devote up to 12 hours daily on pursuits such as texting, posting status updates and surfing the web.

And the more time spent using media, the research suggests, the worse their academic performance.

"The implication of these results would seem to be that reducing college students' media use might improve their academic performance," said study lead author Jennifer Walsh, an assistant professor at the Miriam Hospital Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine in Providence, R.I.

"However, given the central role media play in the lives of young people, this may not be a practical goal for educators and parents," Walsh added. Instead, she said, professors might try to integrate social media into their classrooms to remind students of assignments, suggest resources and connect them with classmates.

For the study, which was published in the April 11 online issue of the journal Emerging Adulthood, researchers surveyed nearly 500 female freshmen at a university in the northeastern United States.

They were asked to recall how they spent their prior week in terms of 11 activities: watching television or movies; listening to music; surfing the Internet; social networking; texting; talking on the phone; reading magazines, newspapers or non-school-related books; and playing video games.

GPA results were collected in January and June. The women were also asked to grade their academic confidence and to note potential problems such as lack of sleep, use of drugs or alcohol, and failure to attend class or complete homework.

When the likelihood of multi-tasking was taken into account (using media while engaging in other non-media-related activities), the authors found the students were devoting nearly 12 hours a day on average to media-based activities.

And those with more media usage were more likely to report behaviors likely to hurt their academic performance. The exceptions: listening to music and reading newspapers were linked to higher grades.

Walsh said it's not possible to draw a direct cause-and-effect relationship between excessive technology use and poor academic performance. More research is needed to do that, she said.

One communications expert challenged the findings, calling them misleading.

"It is absolutely not the case that college women spend nearly half their day using media," said Jeffrey Hall, an associate professor in the department of communication studies at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence. Previous research has found that almost 30 percent of media time involves multi-tasking -- such as listening to music while texting, he said. If that figure were applied to this research, women would have spent closer to nine hours daily on media use. Hall called this "a more reasonable estimate."

Walsh said it's unknown whether the findings apply to male freshmen, given that this research focused solely on women.

"However, young women and men tend to spend approximately the same amount of time using media, and thus we might expect media to interfere with men's academic success in similar ways," she said.

Hall agreed. "There is no reason to believe that these results wouldn't apply to males, but there is also not research in this particular article to say that they would," he said. "We just don't know."

The research team's theories as to how cell phone use and social networking might be linked to worse academic performance do have merit, Hall added.

"Consider the fact that making priorities is very hard for students," he said. "And social networking is extremely compelling. Students feel that Facebook friends' comments on your status update can't wait, but class preparation can."

The other explanation, Hall said, "is that students who don't have the personalities that naturally lead them to be prepared for class are most vulnerable to the temptations of [social networking]. I think both are quite likely."

There is stronger evidence that cell phone use is directly and negatively associated with spring GPA than is social networking, Hall said.

"In some of my own research, students who talk on their cell phones more to close friends report feeling entrapped by the always-on nature of their mobile device," Hall said.

"They get the good part -- feeling close to and well connected to friends, a priority for young women especially," he said. "But [they get] the bad part too -- feeling trapped and guilty and unable to switch off."

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Jennifer Walsh, Ph.D. assistant professor, Miriam Hospital Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, Providence, R.I.; Jeffrey Hall, Ph.D., associate professor, communication studies, University of Kansas, Lawrence; April 11, 2013 Emerging Adulthood, online

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Short Strolls After Meals May Lower Diabetes Risk

Walking 15 minutes three times a day was better for blood sugar levels than one 45-minute walk, small study found

By Kathleen Doheny

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults at risk for getting diabetes who took a 15-minute walk after every meal improved their blood sugar levels, a new study shows.

Three short walks after eating worked better to control blood sugar levels than one 45-minute walk in the morning or evening, said lead researcher Loretta DiPietro, chairwoman of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, D.C.

"More importantly, the post-meal walking was significantly better than the other two exercise prescriptions at lowering the post-dinner glucose level," DiPietro added.

The after-dinner period is an especially vulnerable time for older people at risk of diabetes, DiPietro said. Insulin production decreases, and they may go to bed with extremely high blood glucose levels, increasing their chances of diabetes.

About 79 million Americans are at risk for type 2 diabetes, in which the body doesn't make enough insulin or doesn't use it effectively. Being overweight and sedentary increases the risk. DiPietro's new research, although tested in only 10 people, suggests that brief walks can lower that risk if they are taken at the right times.

The study did not, however, prove that it was the walks causing the improved blood sugar levels.

"This is among the first studies to really address the timing of the exercise with regard to its benefit for blood sugar control," she said. In the study, the walks began a half hour after finishing each meal.

The research is published June 12 in the journal Diabetes Care.

For the study, DiPietro and her colleagues asked the 10 older adults, who were 70 years old on average, to complete three different exercise routines spaced four weeks apart. At the study's start, the men and women had fasting blood sugar levels of between 105 and 125 milligrams per deciliter. A fasting blood glucose level of 70 to 100 is considered normal, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The men and women stayed at the research facility and were supervised closely. Their blood sugar levels were monitored the entire 48 hours.

On the first day, the men and women did not exercise. On the second day, they did, and those blood sugar levels were compared to those on the first day.

The men and women were classified as obese, on average, with a body-mass index (BMI) of 30. The men and women walked on a treadmill at a speed of about three miles an hour (a 20-minute mile, which DiPietro described as the lower end of moderate).

The walks after meals reduced the 24-hour glucose levels the most when comparing the sedentary day with the exercise day.

A 45-minute morning walk was next best.

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lower abs and love handles

Hi. My problems are def my lower abs and obliques can anyone tell me a couple of exercises that will help tone them? Thanks

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Even Mild Weight Loss May Lower Diabetes Risk in Obese Teens

Study worked with adolescents and their families to boost activity, healthy eating

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Obese teens don't need to lose large amounts of weight to lower their risk of developing diabetes, according to a new study.

Researchers found that obese teens who reduced their body-mass index (BMI) by 8 percent or more had improvements in insulin sensitivity, a measure of how well the body processes insulin and an important risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. BMI is a measurement of body fat based on height and weight.

"This threshold effect that occurs at 8 percent suggests that obese adolescents don't need to lose enormous amounts of weight to achieve improvements," study co-author Dr. Lorraine Levitt Katz, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Diabetes Center for Children at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a hospital news release.

"The improvements in insulin sensitivity occurred after four months of participating in a lifestyle-modification program," Katz said.

The study included 113 teens, aged 13 to 17, whose average BMI at the start of the study was 37.1. People with a BMI of 35 to 40 are classified as severely obese. None of the teens had type 2 diabetes at the start of the study, but their obesity placed them at high risk to develop the disease in the future.

The teens were put on a weight-loss program that used family-based lifestyle changes. They and their parents were taught about healthy eating habits and encouraged to increase their levels of physical activity. The teens and their parents attended weekly group counseling sessions and the parents were encouraged to support their children's lifestyle changes and to be healthy-lifestyle role models.

The study, published online May 24 in the Journal of Pediatrics, reinforces the importance of lifestyle changes in helping teens lose weight, the researchers said.

They also noted that the 8 percent reduction in BMI needed to improve insulin sensitivity is "achievable" and easy for doctors to track.

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Eating Peppers Tied to Lower Parkinson's Risk, Study Finds

Vegetables that contain nicotine may offer some protection, research suggests

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Eating vegetables that naturally contain nicotine, such as peppers and tomatoes, may reduce your risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a new study.

Previous research has found that smoking and other types of tobacco use are associated with a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, and it is believed that nicotine provides the protective effect. Tobacco belongs to a plant family called Solanaceae and some plants in this family are edible sources of nicotine.

This new study included nearly 500 people who were newly diagnosed with Parkinson's and another 650 unrelated people who did not have the neurological disorder, which is typically marked by tremors and other movement problems. The study participants provided information about their tobacco use and diets.

In general, vegetable consumption had no effect on Parkinson's risk. The more vegetables from the Solanaceae plant family that people ate, however, the lower their risk of Parkinson's disease. This association was strongest for peppers, according to the study, which was published May 9 in the journal Annals of Neurology.

The apparent protection offered by Solanaceae vegetables occurred mainly in people with little or no prior use of tobacco, which contains much more nicotine than the foods included in the study.

"Our study is the first to investigate dietary nicotine and risk of developing Parkinson's disease," Dr. Susan Searles Nielsen, of the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a journal news release. "Similar to the many studies that indicate tobacco use might reduce risk of Parkinson's, our findings also suggest a protective effect from nicotine, or perhaps a similar but less toxic chemical in peppers and tobacco."

Nielsen and her colleagues recommended further studies to confirm and extend their findings, which could lead to ways to prevent Parkinson's disease.

Although the study found an association between consumption of certain nicotine-containing foods and lower risk of Parkinson's, it could not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Still, one Parkinson's expert called the study "intriguing."

"It provides further evidence of how diet can influence our susceptibility to neurological disease -- specifically Parkinson's disease," said Dr. Kelly Changizi, co-director of the Center for Neuromodulation at the Mount Sinai Parkinson and Movement Disorders Center in New York City. "Patients often ask what role nutrition plays in their disease, so it's very interesting that nicotine in vegetables such as peppers may be neuroprotective."

Another expert said more research into the role of nicotine in Parkinson's disease is already underway.

"The observation that cigarette smokers have a reduced risk for Parkinson's disease has long been known, and has raised the idea that nicotine may reduce the risk for [the illness]," said Dr. Andrew Feigin, who is investigating the illness at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y.

"A nicotine skin patch is currently being tested in patients with early Parkinson's disease," he said.

The illness occurs due to a loss of brain cells that produce a chemical messenger called dopamine. The symptoms of the disease include loss of balance, slower movement and tremors and stiffness in the face and limbs. There is currently no cure for the disorder. Nearly 1 million Americans -- and 10 million people worldwide -- have Parkinson's, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation.

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Vitamin D Supplements Tied to Lower Blood Pressure in Blacks

Study found modest, but significant, drops depending on dosage

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- Black Americans who take vitamin D supplements may significantly lower their blood pressure, a new study suggests.

"Compared with other races, blacks in the United States are more likely to have vitamin D deficiency and more likely to have high blood pressure," said lead researcher Dr. John Forman, an assistant professor of medicine at the renal division of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

But among the black study participants, three months of supplemental vitamin D was associated with a drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) of up to 4 mm Hg, the researchers found.

"If our findings are confirmed by other studies, then vitamin D supplementation may be a useful means of helping black individuals lower their blood pressure," Forman said.

Dr. Michael Holick, a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine, said that vitamin D may lower blood pressure by causing blood vessels to relax, allowing for more and easier blood flow.

In addition, because many black Americans are deficient in vitamin D, taking a supplement may benefit their health even more, said Holick, who was not involved with the study.

"We are now beginning to believe that a lot of the health disparities between blacks and whites are due to vitamin D deficiency, including the risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancers and even infectious disease," he said.

Diet and sunlight are two natural sources of vitamin D in humans. However, having dark-colored skin cuts down on the amount of vitamin D the skin makes, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

For the study, published online March 13 and in the April print issue of the journal Hypertension, Forman's team randomly assigned 250 black participants to one of three doses of vitamin D supplements or an inactive placebo.

After three months, the researchers found that those taking 1,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day saw their systolic blood pressure drop by 0.7 mm Hg. For those taking 2,000 IU, the drop was 3.4 mm Hg, and for those taking 4,000 IU, systolic pressure dropped by 4 mm Hg.

In contrast, those receiving the placebo saw their systolic blood pressure rise by 1.7 mm Hg, the researchers noted.

Forman said the gains from supplemental vitamin D were significant, but modest. In addition, there were no changes in diastolic blood pressure among those in any group.

Systolic blood pressure is pressure in the arteries when the heart beats. Diastolic blood pressure, the bottom number, is pressure in the arteries between heart beats, the study authors pointed out.

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Some Types of Skin Cancer Linked to Lower Chances of Alzheimer's

A weak immune response might allow skin cancer but protect brain from inflammation, expert suggests

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- There's some good news for people who have had certain kinds of skin cancer: A new study suggests that their odds of developing Alzheimer's disease may be significantly lower than it is for others.

People who had non-melanoma skin cancer were nearly 80 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than people who did not. The association was not found with other types of dementia.

To understand the possible association between skin cancer and Alzheimer's, it is important to know that people have a combination of cells that are multiplying and others that are dying, explained study author Dr. Richard Lipton, a professor of neurology, epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. The research was published online May 15 in the journal Neurology.

"When cell division gets out of control, we call that cancer. And when specific populations of brain cells die, we call that Alzheimer's," Lipton said. "So, there is a balance between cell division [growth] and cell death. If you have an individual with an increased risk of cell division over cell death, that may be linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer's."

The finding was intriguing to one expert.

"It's fascinating that we can get clues about what's going on in the brain by looking at the periphery [skin]," said Terrence Town, a professor in the physiology and biophysics department at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States; there were more than 2 million new cases in 2012, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

What could be causing the possible association between skin cancer and a reduced risk of Alzheimer's?

"Either developing skin cancer is a marker for some biological process that protects against Alzheimer's or environmental factors may play a role," Lipton said. Genetics could be a factor, as could lots of outdoor physical activity and exercise, although Lipton cautioned people to avoid too much sun exposure and wear sunscreen.

Others think the link may be directly related to how the lowered immune response of skin cells in skin cancer corresponds to a similar immune response in the brain.

"This research is another piece of evidence that tells us that peripheral inflammation [in the skin] is very important in Alzheimer's disease," Town said. He thinks that people who develop non-melanoma skin cancers don't have an immune response in their skin, and thus develop skin cancers, because an immune response may be critical to fighting skin cancer. But that benefits them when it comes to developing Alzheimer's disease.

"This reduced inflammatory response that was permissive to the skin cancer was perhaps beneficial in the brain," said Town.

View the original article here

Coffee and Green Tea May Help Lower Stroke Risk

By Nicky Broyd
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Sheena Meredith, MD

March 15, 2013 -- Green tea and coffee may help lower your risk of having a stroke, especially when both are a regular part of your diet, according to new research.

The study looked at the green tea and coffee drinking habits of more than 82,000 Japanese adults, ages 45 to 74, for an average of 13 years. Researchers found that the more green tea or coffee people drink, the lower their risk of having a stroke.

The results have been published in Stroke: The Journal of the American Heart Association.

Tea and coffee are the most popular drinks in the world after water, suggesting that these results may apply in other countries, too.

Previous limited research has shown green tea's link to lower death risks from heart disease, but it has only touched on the association with lower stroke risks. Other studies have shown inconsistent connections between coffee and stroke risks.

The new study found:

People who drank at least 1 cup of coffee daily had about a 20% lower risk of stroke compared to those who rarely drank it.People who drank 2 to 3 cups of green tea daily had a 14% lower risk of stroke, and those who had at least 4 cups had a 20% lower risk, compared to those who rarely drank it.People who drank at least 1 cup of coffee or 2 cups of green tea daily had a 32% lower risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, compared to those who rarely drank either beverage. Intracerebral hemorrhage happens when a blood vessel bursts and bleeds inside the brain. About 13% of strokes are due to this condition.

Researchers adjusted their findings to account for age, sex, and lifestyle factors like smoking, alcohol, weight, diet, and exercise. Green tea drinkers in the study were more likely to exercise than non-drinkers.

Dale Webb, DPhil, director of research and information at the U.K.'s Stroke Association, says in an email: "We welcome this study, which suggests that the benefits of antioxidants in coffee and green tea may offset the potential harm from caffeine. The results demonstrate higher consumption of green tea and coffee might reduce the risks for stroke, especially for intracerebral haemorrhage.

"We would like to see further research to understand the underlying biological mechanisms for these findings."

It's unclear how green tea affects stroke risks. A compound group known as catechins may provide some protection, as they have an antioxidant anti-inflammatory effect.

Some chemicals in coffee include chlorogenic acid, which is thought to cut stroke risks by lowering the chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

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Daily Aspirin Linked to Lower Risk for Deadly Skin Cancer in Women

Title: Daily Aspirin Linked to Lower Risk for Deadly Skin Cancer in Women
Category: Health News
Created: 3/11/2013 10:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/11/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Daily Aspirin Linked to Lower Risk for Deadly Skin Cancer in Women

Large study found up to 30 percent reduced odds of developing melanoma

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) -- Older women who take an aspirin regularly may be lowering their risk of developing the deadly skin cancer melanoma, a new study suggests.

And the longer postmenopausal women take aspirin, the more melanoma risk appears to diminish.

The effect is only seen with aspirin, not with other pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), the researchers noted.

For the study, the research team collected data on nearly 60,000 white women who were part of the Women's Health Initiative, a long-term national study. The women, aged between 50 and 79, were asked about what medications they took and other lifestyle preferences.

Over 12 years of follow-up, the investigators found that women who took aspirin had a 21 percent lower risk of developing melanoma compared to women who didn't take aspirin.

But it's too soon to make firm conclusions, a researcher cautioned.

"Aspirin could be potentially used to prevent melanoma, but a clinical trial is needed," said lead author Dr. Jean Tang, an assistant professor of dermatology at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif.

This type of population-based study can only show an association between aspirin and the reduced risk for melanoma, not that aspirin actually helps prevent it.

Tang doesn't believe women should start taking aspirin solely to try to prevent melanoma. "It's too early to say this," she said.

It is possible that aspirin's anti-inflammatory properties might be responsible for lowering the risk of melanoma, Tang suggested. "Aspirin may also promote cell death of melanoma cells," she added.

Whether a protective effect also occurs in men is not known, said Tang, who plans to look at that in her next study.

The new report was published in the March 11 online edition of Cancer.

The study found that women who took aspirin for at least five years had their melanoma risk drop by 30 percent, compared to women who didn't take aspirin.

To try to isolate the effect of aspirin on melanoma, Tang's group accounted for other factors such as skin tone, tanning and use of sunscreen.

Each year in the United States there are nearly 77,000 new cases of melanoma and more than 9,000 deaths from it, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

One expert doesn't see any problem taking aspirin to prevent melanoma, especially for people with a family history of the disease.

Prolonged use of aspirin is not without risks, including stomach bleeding, but the benefits of preventing melanoma outweigh the risk for vulnerable people, said Dr. Michele Green, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She praised the new research.

"I think it's fantastic. It's really a remarkable study," Green said.

"If you have a family history of melanoma, I don't see any downside of taking aspirin for this," she said. "I would urge my patients who have a family history of melanoma to take aspirin based on this study."

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Certain Diabetes Medications May Lower Heart Failure Risk

Study found people taking newer drugs were 44 percent less likely to be hospitalized with the condition

By Maureen Salamon

HealthDay Reporter

SUNDAY, March 10 (HealthDay News) -- A newer class of diabetes drugs may offer an extra benefit: A new study suggests these medications lower the odds of suffering heart failure.

Researchers from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that patients taking so-called GLP-1 drugs -- including brand-name medications such as Byetta, Januvia and Victoza -- were more than 40 percent less likely to be hospitalized for heart failure than patients prescribed other blood sugar-lowering medications. GLP-1 diabetes drugs have been in use for only the last several years and are considered second-line treatments after well-established medications such as metformin, physicians said.

"I don't think we can say this will magically prevent all heart failure deaths, but the strength of the association warrants more investigation," said study author and cardiologist Dr. David Lanfear. "Heart failure is a very common disease . . . but something about diabetics make them definitely at increased risk for developing heart failure."

The study is to be presented Sunday at the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting in San Francisco. Evidence presented at medical meetings has not been peer-reviewed and is considered preliminary.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, about 6 million Americans suffer from heart failure, which occurs when the heart can't efficiently pump blood through the body. Diabetics, who now number 25 million in the United States, are between two and four times more likely than those without the condition to die of heart disease, which includes heart attacks, heart failure and other cardiac problems.

In the retrospective study, Lanfear and his colleagues examined data from more than 4,400 patients taking diabetes medications between 2000 and 2012. About 1,500 were taking GLP-1 medications and nearly 3,000 were not.

Over an average nine-month follow-up period, patients taking GLP-1 medications were 41 percent less likely than others to be hospitalized with heart failure. Additionally, these patients were 44 percent less likely to be hospitalized for any reason, and 80 percent less likely to die of any cause.

But neither Lanfear nor a doctor not involved with the research could point to reasons why this newer class of diabetes drugs seems to dampen the risk of heart failure.

"We don't know the mechanism yet. It's under active investigation," Lanfear said. "There are clues, but they would be a guess."

Lanfear noted that of the total 20,000 patients at Henry Ford Hospital identified as taking diabetes drugs during the study period, only about 1,500 were taking GLP-1 medications, or about 7 percent.

"We were surprised a little bit by the strength of the association [between the GLP-1 drugs and lower heart failure], but the results still need to be confirmed by other studies," he said. "We can't take this as an endorsement of these drugs."

Calling the study promising, Dr. David Friedman, chief of heart failure services at North Shore-LIJ's Plainview Hospital in Plainview, N.Y., said future research should be prospective instead of analyzing past data.

"Heart failure is a huge problem among diabetics. Every year, there are about a half-million new heart failure patients, and a tremendous portion are those who've survived heart attacks and a fair number have diabetes," Friedman said.

"With diabetes and obesity issues constantly on the radar now, and with the onset of more heart failure cases, we need to find more novel approaches," he added. "If we can improve outcomes in this way, we'll have more hope for these patients."

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Allergy 'Rescue' Shots May Work Better in Lower Thigh of Overweight Kids

Title: Allergy 'Rescue' Shots May Work Better in Lower Thigh of Overweight Kids
Category: Health News
Created: 2/25/2013 2:36:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 2/26/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Open Windows, Lower Risk for Preterm Birth: Study

Title: Open Windows, Lower Risk for Preterm Birth: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 2/14/2013 4:36:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 2/15/2013 12:00:00 AM

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