Older, Cheap Drug May Cut Suicide Risk for People With Mood Disorders

Review of data finds that lithium benefits people with depression, bipolar illnesses

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- A new review of data suggests than an old and inexpensive drug, lithium, may help lower suicide risk in people with mood disorders such as depression or bipolar disorder.

"The study provides further evidence that one of the most effective psychiatric medications for preventing suicide in patients with mood disorders is also one of our oldest," said one expert not connected to the research, Dr. Andrew Kolodny, chairman of psychiatry at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City.

According to background information from the researchers, people with mood disorders have a 30 times higher risk of suicide compared to the general population.

Treatment with mood-stabilizing drugs such as lithium, anticonvulsants or antipsychotics can help maintain mood within normal limits, but their role in suicide prevention has been unclear, according to background information in the review, which was published online June 27 in the journal BMJ.

The review was led by Andrea Cipriani, of the department of psychiatry at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. His team analyzed the results of 48 clinical trials involving more than 6,600 people.

The researchers found lithium to be linked with a 60 percent reduction in the risk of suicide and other causes of death compared with people who took a placebo.

They also found that lithium may reduce the risk of self-harm in people with mood disorders. "[The review] reinforces lithium as an effective agent to reduce the risk of suicide in people with mood disorders," the team said.

How the drug works to cut suicide risk remains unclear. Lithium may reduce relapses of mood disorders, but there also is "some evidence that lithium decreases aggression and possibly impulsivity, which might be another mechanism mediating the anti-suicidal effect," the researchers said.

The drug has many side effects, however, so the researchers said doctors "need to take a balanced view of the likely benefits and harm of lithium in the individual patient."

Dr. Robert Dicker, associate director of the Child/Adolescent Psychiatry Division at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y., called the new study "a great reminder that lithium offers tremendous benefits in treating patients with mood disorders and suicide."

But Kolodny said the drug is not used as often as it could be. "Lithium, which is generic and not promoted by pharmaceutical companies, tends to be under-prescribed," he said. "Hopefully, this study will help change that."

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over 40 need to loose 50 lbs lets focus on the first 10% for now. I need support and people with the same goals

Hi

I am 47

CW 189

BBM 33

Height 5.3

GW 136 although I would be sooo happy with 140

looking for people with similar goals. It used to be easy to loose weight but always had problems with maintaining it. Since over 40 loosing weight is a real struggle. I need support

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Swimming Pools May Pose Hazard for People With Heart Devices

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- With summer approaching, researchers caution that swimming pools may pose a risk to patients with irregular heartbeats who've received implantable defibrillators.

The issue: a danger that electrical currents linked to standard pool utilities such as lighting may "leak," causing a defibrillator to misread the status of a patient's heart.

Implanted cardioverter defibrillators continuously monitor and control a patient's heart rhythm.

"How common this is, we don't know," said Dr. John Day, second vice president of the Heart Rhythm Society, a group representing arrhythmia specialists. "It's quite possible that there's underreporting going on, because when we see patients and we see noise recorded on their device we can't account for where it's coming from."

The concern stems from a few recent incidents that have been documented. In two cases, people with defibrillators experienced device misreadings while in a private family or hotel pool, and in another two cases, people experienced unwarranted shocks from their defibrillators while in public pools.

The cases all involved younger arrhythmia patients between the ages of 8 and 23. However, the investigators said there's no reason to believe that patients of all ages would not face a similar risk if they had such devices.

"I don't want to be an alarmist, because I do think we would have heard about this sort of thing happening much more often than we have if it were a really widespread problem," said study lead author Dr. Daniel Shmorhun, a pediatric cardiologist-electrophysiologist with Children's Cardiology Associates, an affiliate of the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin.

"The nice thing about defibrillators is that they put a time-stamp on all activity," he noted. "So we were able to ask questions and delve into this after two patients came in with interference noise on their devices. And we found that both had been in pools at the time their defibrillators read the interference."

Shmorhun and co-author Dr. Arnold Fenrich are slated to present their findings at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting taking place this week in Denver. Findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Arrhythmia is a chronic condition in which the heart's electrical system has the potential to go awry -- on occasion beating too fast, too slow, or irregularly. While many instances of arrhythmia pose little harm, severe cases can be life-threatening.

For such patients, implanted defibrillators can be life-savers, continuously surveying a patient's heartbeat for signs of trouble and instantaneously correcting for problems as they arise by sending out a corrective electrical pulse.

In the new study, Shmorhun and Fenrich reviewed the cases of two female patients (one aged 8 years and one aged 23 years), in which their defibrillators registered so-called "noise reversions" directly linked to time spent in swimming pools.

In each case their devices picked up the reversion, classified it as an outside interference, reverted to a mode that actively ignored noise, and thereby prevented any accidental shock.

After the lighting system was repaired in the family pool in which the 8-year-old had swam, the girl did not experience any further defibrillator trouble, the researchers said. The older patient, however, simply decided to no longer use public pools, and has experienced no further problems.

Others were not so lucky. For example, in the past year a 21-year-old male -- a competitive college swimmer and lifeguard -- experienced not one but two shocks while swimming in a public pool. "He remembers that he had his back against the pool wall, quite close to lights in water," said Shmorhun. "And as he was moving away from the light he got shocked."

Shmorhun and Fenrich believe that low-level electrical current leaking from swimming pool wiring might be an "underappreciated cause" of unwarranted defibrillator shocks.

"Water is an attractive source for electrical activity," Shmorhun explained. "We don't think there would be an issue at all in, say, the ocean or bay. But in a pool, where you have wires coming into the water from the outside, from the house, from an aging utility system, or an improperly grounded system, there is a potential for this kind of problem. Or if a pool is not properly bonded -- meaning the pool circumference is not intact -- there could be a problem," he noted.

"I'm not sure anybody can really predict up front what pools are an issue, and there's no practical means by which to easily test pools for this," Shmorhun added. "At the same time, we don't know the overall incidence, although three cases in the Austin area in one year seems like a lot to me. But at minimum, [defibrillator] patients need to be counseled about the risk."

For his part, Heart Rhythm Society vice president Day said the finding should not deter patients from swimming.

"We want our cardiac patients to be physically active. We don't want to restrain them and we don't want to create alarm," Day said.

"But in each of these cases we had these underwater pool lights that had an alternating current pool leak that could trigger a shock," noted Day, who is also director of Heart Rhythm Services at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah. "So, I think we certainly need pool safety. And clinically this is just one more thing that should be considered as a potential source of a problem for any patient with an implantable defibrillator."

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: John Day, M.D., second vice president, Heart Rhythm Society, and director, Heart Rhythm Services at Intermountain Medical Center, Murray, Utah; Daniel Shmorhun, M.D., pediatric cardiologist-electrophysiologist, Children's Cardiology Associates (affiliated with Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas), Austin, Texas; May 8, 2013, Heart Rhythm Society meeting, Denver

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Half of People With Hepatitis C Don't Complete Needed Tests: CDC

TUESDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Only about half of Americans who are infected with hepatitis C undergo follow-up testing to determine if they are still infected, federal officials reported Tuesday.

"Many people who test positive on an initial hepatitis C test are not receiving the necessary follow-up test to know if their body has cleared the virus or if they are still infected," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an agency news release.

"Complete testing is critical to ensure that those who are infected receive the care and treatment for hepatitis C that they need in order to prevent liver cancer and other serious and potentially deadly health consequences," Frieden said.

A blood test, called an antibody test, is used to check if a person has ever been infected with hepatitis C. For people who have had a positive result, a follow-up test -- called an RNA test -- can determine if they are still infected so they can receive necessary care and treatment.

Some people's bodies can clear hepatitis C infection on their own, but about 80 percent of people with hepatitis C remain infected and can develop major health problems.

In this study, researchers analyzed data from eight regions across the United States. Only 51 percent of the hepatitis C patients reported in these regions had a follow-up test, according to the Vital Signs report from the CDC.

"Hepatitis C has few noticeable symptoms, and left undiagnosed it threatens the health of far too many Americans -- especially baby boomers," Dr. John Ward, director of the CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis, said in the news release. "Identifying those who are currently infected is important because new effective treatments can cure the infection better than ever before, as well as eliminate the risk of transmission to others."

About 3 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, and as many as 75 percent do not know they are infected. The study found that 67 percent of all reported cases of current hepatitis C infection were among baby boomers, which includes people born from 1945 through 1965.

All people born in the United States during those years should be tested for hepatitis C, the CDC advised. The agency also recommended testing for other people at increased risk, including injection-drug users and people who received blood transfusions or organ transplants before widespread screening of the blood supply began in 1992.

May is Hepatitis Awareness Month, and May 19 is National Hepatitis Testing Day.

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, news release, May 7, 2013

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Insurance Loss Hampers Young People With Asthma

MONDAY, April 22 (HealthDay News) -- The loss of health insurance is the main reason asthma care for young people deteriorates after age 18, according to a new study.

Certain social factors -- such as leaving school and no longer having adult supervision -- also contribute to the decline in care, according to Harvard Medical School researchers.

"This study suggests that expanding insurance coverage will help many young adults with asthma receive the care they need," study leader Kao-Ping Chua, a staff physician in the division of emergency medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, said in a Harvard news release. "But it also points to the importance of addressing other socially mediated factors in this population."

"Aside from the lack of financial protection, uninsurance poses fewer health risks to young adults than for older adults because they are generally healthy," study senior author J. Michael McWilliams, an assistant professor of health care policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in the news release.

"But for young people with asthma -- or other conditions amenable to medical care -- it's important to understand and address the barriers to care," he added.

The researchers looked at data from nearly 2,500 asthma patients, aged 14 to 25, in order to determine if they had a regular care provider, if they visited that provider at least once a year, if they used asthma medications and if they made emergency-room visits.

Patients under age 18 were more likely to use primary care and asthma medications, while those over 18 were more likely to make emergency-room visits and have problems getting care and medications due to cost.

The loss of health insurance explained 32 percent of the decline in the use of primary care by patients over age 18 and between 47 percent and 61 percent of the increase in their cost-related problems getting care and medications, according to the study, which was published recently in the journal Pediatrics.

Under the federal Affordable Care Act, young adults whose parents have private insurance will be eligible to continue receiving coverage on their parents' policies until they are 26. But, the researchers said, since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states do not have to extend similar coverage to people on Medicaid, low-income young adults will be left out.

Health insurance, however, is not the only problem, they added.

"Young people with asthma need to work with their care providers to create transition plans from pediatric to adult care that take into account their medical and social history," Chua said.

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Harvard Medical School, news release, April 22, 2013

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Insurance Loss Hampers Young People With Asthma

Harvard researchers report on impact of health insurance in youths' disease management

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 22 (HealthDay News) -- The loss of health insurance is the main reason asthma care for young people deteriorates after age 18, according to a new study.

Certain social factors -- such as leaving school and no longer having adult supervision -- also contribute to the decline in care, according to Harvard Medical School researchers.

"This study suggests that expanding insurance coverage will help many young adults with asthma receive the care they need," study leader Kao-Ping Chua, a staff physician in the division of emergency medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, said in a Harvard news release. "But it also points to the importance of addressing other socially mediated factors in this population."

"Aside from the lack of financial protection, uninsurance poses fewer health risks to young adults than for older adults because they are generally healthy," study senior author J. Michael McWilliams, an assistant professor of health care policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in the news release.

"But for young people with asthma -- or other conditions amenable to medical care -- it's important to understand and address the barriers to care," he added.

The researchers looked at data from nearly 2,500 asthma patients, aged 14 to 25, in order to determine if they had a regular care provider, if they visited that provider at least once a year, if they used asthma medications and if they made emergency-room visits.

Patients under age 18 were more likely to use primary care and asthma medications, while those over 18 were more likely to make emergency-room visits and have problems getting care and medications due to cost.

The loss of health insurance explained 32 percent of the decline in the use of primary care by patients over age 18 and between 47 percent and 61 percent of the increase in their cost-related problems getting care and medications, according to the study, which was published recently in the journal Pediatrics.

Under the federal Affordable Care Act, young adults whose parents have private insurance will be eligible to continue receiving coverage on their parents' policies until they are 26. But, the researchers said, since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states do not have to extend similar coverage to people on Medicaid, low-income young adults will be left out.

Health insurance, however, is not the only problem, they added.

"Young people with asthma need to work with their care providers to create transition plans from pediatric to adult care that take into account their medical and social history," Chua said.

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People Happier When They Get More Sex Than Their Friends: Study

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- A hefty chunk of your happiness may depend on whether you believe you're having as much sex as your peers are, new research suggests.

The findings raise the possibility that conversations with friends about sex -- plus reading all those sexual surveys in popular magazines -- create a perception about how much sex you should be having. If you have more, the study's theory goes, you are more likely to be happier. If you have less, the reverse holds true.

However, the researcher pointed out that perceptions about sex vary, and so do reactions to it. "Obviously, we're dealing with statistical averages here," said study author Tim Wadsworth, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "I'm sure there are lots of people who aren't having any sex, and are leading incredibly happy lives."

And it's possible, although Wadsworth discounts the idea, that some other factor better explains the differences in happiness that seem to be linked to perceptions of keeping up with everyone else in the bedroom.

The study doesn't closely track people over a period of time, nor is it based on extensive personal details about their lives. Instead, it relies entirely on surveys of English-speaking adults in the United States from 1993 to 2006. The responses of more than 15,000 people were studied.

At issue: Do people's perceptions of their happiness as judged by survey responses (happy, pretty happy, not too happy) differ, depending on whether they're having as much sex as people similar to them do?

Wadsworth said he decided to study the question because previous research has indicated that getting richer doesn't contribute as much to happiness as people might think. Instead, as people get wealthier, they simply compare themselves to a wealthier group of peers and may still feel like they don't measure up.

The study found that the same thing happens with sex. The more sex people have, the happier they are. And if they think they're having more sex than people in their peer group are having -- even if they don't actually know how much sex their friends and colleagues are having -- their happiness goes up even more.

The study design relies on a complicated statistical analysis and doesn't allow the amount of differences in happiness to be expressed in simple terms. But the findings told the story: People who were having sex at least once a week were 44 percent more likely to report a higher level of happiness than those who had not had sex for a year. However, people who were having sex two to three times a month but believed their peers were doing it once a week were 14 percent less likely to report a higher level of happiness.

Is it possible that happy people just have more sex than their peers? That the happiness comes first and then (not surprisingly) more sex? Wadsworth believes his study debunks that possibility.

And how would you even know how much sex your peers are having, to develop more or less happiness by comparing yourself to them? Wadsworth said conversations about sex (especially among women) and certain magazines like Men's Health and Cosmopolitan give ideas.

Andrew Oswald, a professor of economics at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom who studies happiness, called the study interesting. "We know that humans care deeply about things like their relative income and relative body weight. Apparently those concerns extend to the bedroom as well," he said. "You just can't take the human out of humans."

However, he cautioned, "in all statistical studies of this kind, it is difficult to reach the standards of causal proof that would be produced by proper randomized controlled trials. I imagine that one day investigators will try to run such experiments, even in the sensitive area of sexual behavior and human happiness, and it will be sensible for society to think through the ethical requirements for such research."

What to do with the findings?

"We tend to compare ourselves to people who are more successful than we are," Wadsworth said. "They tend to have a drain on people's sense of well-being. If we're aware of that process, it gives us some control over the emotional content of our lives."

The study appeared recently in the journal Social Indicators Research.

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Tim Wadsworth, Ph.D., associate professor, sociology, University of Colorado at Boulder; Andrew Oswald, Ph.D., professor, economics, University of Warwick, U.K.; February 2013, Social Indicators Research

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Brain Changes Seen in Relatives of People With Alzheimer's

By Denise Mann
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 17 (HealthDay News) -- If Alzheimer's disease runs in your family, you may be more likely to have brain changes associated with the disorder even before symptoms such as memory and thinking problems occur, according to new research.

An estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, a number expected to increase dramatically as the baby boomer generation ages. The Alzheimer's Association predicts that the number of people aged 65 and older with the condition will reach 7.1 million by 2025.

To get a better handle on risk for Alzheimer's disease, researchers at Duke University looked at brain scans of more than 250 adults aged 55 to 89. Some had no signs of memory or thinking problems, while others did.

The researchers also analyzed genes and other markers in spinal fluid that are known to help predict Alzheimer's risk. A variation in the APOE gene was seen among those participants who were at greater risk for earlier onset of Alzheimer's.

Individuals who had a parent or sibling with Alzheimer's disease showed silent brain changes, the study found.

Specifically, close to 50 percent of healthy participants with a positive family history would have met the criteria for early Alzheimer's disease based on measurements of their cerebrospinal fluid, but just 20 percent of those without a family history would have fulfilled such criteria. The findings appear online April 17 in the journal PLoS ONE.

"In early-onset Alzheimer's disease, the genetics are much more clear-cut and we can test family members and know if they will develop Alzheimer's," said senior author Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a professor of psychiatry and medicine at Duke.

It is not as clear-cut, however, when it comes to later-onset Alzheimer's, Doraiswamy said. "The genetics are much more complex, and although we know these individuals are at a slightly greater risk, we don't know when they start developing silent brain changes," he said. "[The new study is] documenting very clearly that asymptomatic family members have twice the rate of silent brain changes and that these changes happen in certain pathways known to be related to Alzheimer's disease."

The findings may help advance research that seeks to prevent Alzheimer's disease by using drugs, he said, and it's not a reason to panic and start to think the worst if you have a family history of the disease. "The findings don't suggest you should worry any more or any less," he said.

Although the study found an association between having a family history of Alzheimer's and showing brain changes related to the disease, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

"Having a family history does not mean you will get Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer's division at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. You may be at a higher risk for developing it, but it is not predestined, said Isaacson, who was not involved with the new study.

"Make brain-healthy choices now to help lower this risk," he suggested. "We know that if it is good for the heart it is good for the brain." Such choices include engaging in regular physical activity and eating a healthy low-fat diet.

"It's also important to keep your brain fit by doing something you enjoy -- whether crossword puzzles or learning a foreign language -- every day," Isaacson said.

"If you have a family history, get educated and informed about positive lifestyle choices and consider taking part in an Alzheimer's prevention trial," he said. "We can finally say 'Alzheimer's disease' and 'prevention' in the same sentence, and that is a great thing."

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: P. Murali Doraiswamy, M.D., professor of psychiatry and medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.; Richard Isaacson, M.D., director, Alzheimer's division, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; April 17, 2013, PLoS ONE

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Brain Changes Seen in Relatives of People With Alzheimer's

Study finding doesn't mean you'll get the disease if family members have it, experts stress

By Denise Mann

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 17 (HealthDay News) -- If Alzheimer's disease runs in your family, you may be more likely to have brain changes associated with the disorder even before symptoms such as memory and thinking problems occur, according to new research.

An estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, a number expected to increase dramatically as the baby boomer generation ages. The Alzheimer's Association predicts that the number of people aged 65 and older with the condition will reach 7.1 million by 2025.

To get a better handle on risk for Alzheimer's disease, researchers at Duke University looked at brain scans of more than 250 adults aged 55 to 89. Some had no signs of memory or thinking problems, while others did.

The researchers also analyzed genes and other markers in spinal fluid that are known to help predict Alzheimer's risk. A variation in the APOE gene was seen among those participants who were at greater risk for earlier onset of Alzheimer's.

Individuals who had a parent or sibling with Alzheimer's disease showed silent brain changes, the study found.

Specifically, close to 50 percent of healthy participants with a positive family history would have met the criteria for early Alzheimer's disease based on measurements of their cerebrospinal fluid, but just 20 percent of those without a family history would have fulfilled such criteria. The findings appear online April 17 in the journal PLoS ONE.

"In early-onset Alzheimer's disease, the genetics are much more clear-cut and we can test family members and know if they will develop Alzheimer's," said senior author Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a professor of psychiatry and medicine at Duke.

It is not as clear-cut, however, when it comes to later-onset Alzheimer's, Doraiswamy said. "The genetics are much more complex, and although we know these individuals are at a slightly greater risk, we don't know when they start developing silent brain changes," he said. "[The new study is] documenting very clearly that asymptomatic family members have twice the rate of silent brain changes and that these changes happen in certain pathways known to be related to Alzheimer's disease."

The findings may help advance research that seeks to prevent Alzheimer's disease by using drugs, he said, and it's not a reason to panic and start to think the worst if you have a family history of the disease. "The findings don't suggest you should worry any more or any less," he said.

Although the study found an association between having a family history of Alzheimer's and showing brain changes related to the disease, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

"Having a family history does not mean you will get Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer's division at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. You may be at a higher risk for developing it, but it is not predestined, said Isaacson, who was not involved with the new study.

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The Morning Scoop: The 100 Most Influential People of 2013, Twitter #music Launches and More!

TIME has released it's annual list of the 100 most influential people. This year's roundup includes music mogul Jay-Z, Jennifer Lawrence, and activist Malala Yousafzai. [TIME]

Twitter #music launches today! The app, available both on your desktop and your phone, "uses Twitter activity, including Tweets and engagement, to detect and surface the most popular tracks and emerging artists," according to the social media site. [Mashable]

Need a vacay? If you can't jet to the Carribean, try one of their beauty secrets to feel like you're on the islands. [You Beauty]

Navigate your Facebook News Feed with ease thanks to these four tricks. A caveat: They won't work on your iPad or iPhone. [Lifehacker]

At last night's Boston Bruins game, the entire crowd joined in the singing of the National Anthem. Watch it below! [YouTube]

Image Credit: WWD/George Chinsee

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Obesity Does Slow People Down, Study Confirms

Women may be caught in cycle of fatigue, lack of self-esteem, expert says

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) -- Women who struggle with chronic obesity end up engaging in less and less routine physical activity, new research shows, confirming what may seem obvious to some.

The investigating team acknowledged that their observation so clearly aligns with conventional wisdom that it would be hard to describe it as "rocket science." But they say theirs is the first study to rigorously establish what most scientists have long presumed to be the case: that obesity does indeed have a negative impact on an individual's activity habits.

"An abundance of research has focused on factors that increase [the risk for] obesity, due to the many chronic diseases and conditions associated with it," said study lead author Jared Tucker, currently a senior epidemiologist at the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. "And rightly so."

"However, physical inactivity is also independently associated with many of the same chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes," Tucker added. "But we don't often think about factors that influence activity levels."

Tucker was a graduate student when the research, reported online recently in the journal Obesity, was conducted.

"Our study suggests that obesity likely increases the risk of reducing physical activity levels in women," Tucker said. "Therefore, it appears that physical inactivity and obesity may be involved in a feedback loop, in which lower levels of activity lead to weight gain, which then leads to lower levels of activity."

To explore how obesity could depress activity levels among women, the authors focused on more than 250 middle-aged women living in the Mountain West region of the United States. Roughly half the participants were diagnosed as obese.

Rather than ask the women to self-report their activity routines -- a study method that can undermine reliability -- the team attached belt-strapped accelerometers to all the study participants. The small device measures movement of various accelerations and intensities. For a week, all the women were told to wear the straps throughout their day, except when exposed to water, such as while showering.

On average, the women wore the straps for nearly 14 hours out of the 15-hour daytime period (defined as 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.). This allowed the team to assess total time spent engaged in daily light, moderate or vigorous physical activity.

Body composition assessments were conducted just before the accelerometer monitoring began and again 20 months later. In turn, after the 20-month re-assessment, the women were again asked to wear the accelerometers for another week of activity monitoring.

The result: Among the obese participants, physical activity was found to drop by 8 percent overall over the course of the 20-month study period. This was equivalent to a loss of 28 active minutes per week, the researchers said.

View the original article here

Obesity Does Slow People Down, Study Confirms

Women may be caught in cycle of fatigue, lack of self-esteem, expert says

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) -- Women who struggle with chronic obesity end up engaging in less and less routine physical activity, new research shows, confirming what may seem obvious to some.

The investigating team acknowledged that their observation so clearly aligns with conventional wisdom that it would be hard to describe it as "rocket science." But they say theirs is the first study to rigorously establish what most scientists have long presumed to be the case: that obesity does indeed have a negative impact on an individual's activity habits.

"An abundance of research has focused on factors that increase [the risk for] obesity, due to the many chronic diseases and conditions associated with it," said study lead author Jared Tucker, currently a senior epidemiologist at the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. "And rightly so."

"However, physical inactivity is also independently associated with many of the same chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes," Tucker added. "But we don't often think about factors that influence activity levels."

Tucker was a graduate student when the research, reported online recently in the journal Obesity, was conducted.

"Our study suggests that obesity likely increases the risk of reducing physical activity levels in women," Tucker said. "Therefore, it appears that physical inactivity and obesity may be involved in a feedback loop, in which lower levels of activity lead to weight gain, which then leads to lower levels of activity."

To explore how obesity could depress activity levels among women, the authors focused on more than 250 middle-aged women living in the Mountain West region of the United States. Roughly half the participants were diagnosed as obese.

Rather than ask the women to self-report their activity routines -- a study method that can undermine reliability -- the team attached belt-strapped accelerometers to all the study participants. The small device measures movement of various accelerations and intensities. For a week, all the women were told to wear the straps throughout their day, except when exposed to water, such as while showering.

On average, the women wore the straps for nearly 14 hours out of the 15-hour daytime period (defined as 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.). This allowed the team to assess total time spent engaged in daily light, moderate or vigorous physical activity.

Body composition assessments were conducted just before the accelerometer monitoring began and again 20 months later. In turn, after the 20-month re-assessment, the women were again asked to wear the accelerometers for another week of activity monitoring.

The result: Among the obese participants, physical activity was found to drop by 8 percent overall over the course of the 20-month study period. This was equivalent to a loss of 28 active minutes per week, the researchers said.

View the original article here

People commenting on weight loss are annoying.

I am recovering from bulimia. I was never too bad but that was something that I've struggled with for many years.

Now I truly enjoy running and working out. By eating healthy, and in smaller portions and working out 4-5 times a week, I have lost about 18 pounds in 3 months. I feel confident and am proud of myself for this.

However people started commenting on my weight loss lately and it is a trigger for me. I usually just say "thank you" and change the subject but it is getting under my nerves as it gets too often these days. I feel sudden yet familiar pressure that I have to keep the weights off "no matter what", and think about my failed attempts in the past. (I've lost and gained weights many times before by both healthy and unhealthy ways.)

How do you deal with those people? I am not talking about those who simply say "you look great", but those who are so in your face about something that is not their business.

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Any recommendations from all of you super fit people?

Hello! I decided to wander over to this forum for my question. I had my third baby last October. He was my largest baby by far and my lower back really took a beating(well worth it!). I'd like some recommendations on lower back exercises. I've tried planks and my back does feel better for a very short time. The pain is sharp and occurs at different times, with different movements. It's not always the same. Thanks in advance!

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Hi!! I'm new... need some advice, supporters and people to support!

Hi there!! My name is Chan?l. I'm a 23 year old female student from South Africa. I'm in a long term relationship that makes me extremely happy. I have no children, but plenty of brothers and sisters!! My favourite colours are grey and charcoal.

My favourite movie genre is drama and I love psychological thrillers! I like reading and any outdoor activies.

My favourite snacks are muffins and yoghurt and I love ice tea and red wine. My biggest obstacle is my studies; it is extremely stressful, tiring and time consuming. Thus, I tend to eat when I have time and whatever is available. My current weight is 60,8kg and my goal weight is 56kg. I have lost 1,2kg in a week so far!! (62kg to 60,8kg)

My least favourite chores are sweeping the floors and mopping them.

I found Calorie Count on the internet. Actually, I stumbled upon it after researching diets. I'm happy to be part of this community!!

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Brain Differences Seen in People With Migraines

MRI study suggests changes occur in areas associated with pain

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) -- People who suffer migraines may have certain structural differences in pain-related areas of the brain, a new study suggests.

Using MRI scans, researchers found that in specific brain regions related to pain processing, migraine sufferers showed a thinner and smaller cortex compared to headache-free adults. The cortex refers to the outer layer of the brain.

It's not clear what it all means. But the researchers suspect that certain aspects of brain development may make some people more vulnerable to developing migraines -- and that migraine attacks create further changes in the brain.

The surface area of the brain "increases dramatically" during fetal development, while the thickness of the cortex changes throughout life, explained senior researcher Dr. Massimo Filippi.

"We speculate that migraine patients might have a sort of cortical 'signature' -- abnormal cortical surface area -- which could make them more susceptible to pain and abnormal processing of painful stimuli," said Filippi, a professor of neurology at the University Vita-Salute's San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan.

Once migraines develop, they may alter the thickness of the brain's cortex, Filippi explained.

A neurologist who was not involved in the study said it "adds to the growing body of knowledge that patients with migraine have brains that not only function differently, but may actually look different structurally as well."

That's important because it helps "legitimize" migraine as a neurological disorder associated with "real structural changes in the brain," said Dr. Matthew Robbins, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Headache Center, in New York City.

Worldwide, an estimated 11 percent of people have had a migraine in the past year. Migraines typically cause intense, throbbing pain on one side of the head, along with sensitivity to light and sound, and sometimes nausea and vomiting.

About 30 percent of people with recurrent migraines also have sensory disturbances right before their head pain hits. Those disturbances, known as "aura," are usually visual -- like seeing flashes of light or blind spots.

No one knows precisely what causes migraines, but they do seem to involve abnormal brain activity and -- like the new study suggests -- abnormal brain structure.

The findings, published online March 26 in Radiology, come from MRI scans of 63 adults with migraines, and 18 migraine-free men and women.

Filippi's team found that the migraine brain was complicated. In some areas, the cortex was thicker, but in others -- including pain-processing areas -- the cortex was thinner, versus migraine-free adults.

And there were also differences among migraine sufferers. The exact location of the cortex abnormalities tended to differ between the half of patients who had aura and the half who did not.

According to the researchers, those structural differences might help explain why the two forms of migraine manifest differently.

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People With High Blood Pressure May Crave Salt

It's important to resist these cravings, study author says

By Maureen Salamon

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- High-salt diets have long been linked to high blood pressure, but new research finds that those with the condition may have a far greater preference for salty foods than those with normal blood pressure.

In a small study of older adults, researchers from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil found that participants with high blood pressure, or hypertension, favored bread dusted with the highest concentration of salt more than twice as much as those with normal blood pressure. Adding other seasonings to the salted bread, however, diminished the preference for salt across both groups.

The question remains: Are people with high blood pressure naturally drawn to salty foods, making them more prone to the condition?

"This is difficult to answer, but I believe that the genetic factor to salt appetite can be the beginning of the process," said study author Patricia Villela, a nutritionist and doctoral student at the university. "I was surprised by the fact that added seasonings may have changed the preference of the elderly, decreasing [their] appetite for salt."

The study was scheduled to be presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hypertension, in San Francisco. Research presented at scientific conferences has typically not been peer-reviewed or published, and results are considered preliminary.

About 67 million American adults -- roughly one in three -- have high blood pressure, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as do nearly 1 billion people worldwide. The condition puts people at risk for heart disease, kidney damage, strokes and vision loss, among other health problems.

Villela and her team analyzed 44 seniors with an average age of 73, including 16 with normal blood pressure readings. All were initially given three pieces of French bread with varying amounts of salt on each. In that test, 68 percent of participants with high blood pressure preferred the bread with the highest concentration of salt, compared with 31 percent of those with normal blood pressure.

Fifteen days later, participants underwent a similar test, but this time other seasonings had been added to the salted bread. In that case, only 14 percent of patients with hypertension and none with normal blood pressure favored the bread with the highest salt content.

Dr. Domenic Sica, president-elect of the American Society of Hypertension, said the findings may have been influenced by the limited number of patients involved.

"The concept of taste retraining in hypertensive patients, either young or old, is at the foundation of this [research] and is studied in a creative manner," said Sica, a professor of internal medicine and nephrology at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond. "How rapidly salt preference fell in this study is surprising, and may relate to the small number of subjects studied and a possible training effect."

Some previous studies have pointed to a genetic predisposition to craving salty foods, Villela said, and although there is no way of knowing who may have this predisposition, patients should know it is important to avoid salt despite the cravings.

"[In future research], it would be important to demonstrate that changes in habits can be maintained in the long term and the effect of these changes is reducing cardiovascular risk," she said.

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Pain a Common Problem for People With COPD

Narcotic pain relievers frequently used by patients with chronic lung condition, study finds

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients experience a significant amount of pain, new research suggests.

Pain levels are nearly on par with the kind of discomfort experienced by many osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis patients, according to the study, which is scheduled for presentation Tuesday at the American Thoracic Society annual meeting in Philadelphia.

"Several studies have found high rates of pain medication use among COPD patients, and pain has also been an important determinant of overall health status and quality of life in COPD," study author Melissa Roberts, a senior research associate at the Lovelace Clinic Foundation in Albuquerque, N.M., said in a society news release.

The researchers analyzed data on nearly 8,000 COPD patients over the age of 40. Nearly 16,000 other men and women not diagnosed with COPD also were included in the study. All were enrolled between 2006 and 2010 in the same managed-care insurance system in the southwestern United States.

Pain levels among the participants were determined by reviewing diagnostic codes and pain medication prescriptions as noted in their medical records. COPD patients were found to have more chronic pain indicators and used more pain meds, including both long- and short-acting opioid (narcotic) drugs.

The pain experienced among COPD patients did not appear to be a direct function of their airflow obstruction.

"We found the prevalence of chronic pain among adults with chronic disease to be almost twice as high as among individuals without chronic disease," Roberts said. "Among those with chronic disease, individuals with COPD were similar to those with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis in their experience of pain, but with even greater use of opioids."

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

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Discovery could someday help people with diabetes make more insulin

Posted May 24, 2013, 3:11 pm

A lot is known about diabetes. But a discovery that could change how this disease is treated shows just how much more there is to learn.

A team of Harvard Medical School researchers has discovered a hormone made by liver and fat cells that signals the body to make more insulin-producing beta cells. A report of their work appears in this month’s issue of the prestigious scientific journal Cell.

For the team’s leader, Dr. Douglas Melton, research on the subject of diabetes is personal as well as professional. In 1993, his six-month-old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Since then Melton, who is co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, has turned his considerable research skills to learning how diabetes happens and how it might be cured.

In type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks the pancreas, a spongy little organ that sits below the stomach. The attack destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. Without enough insulin, muscle cells can’t absorb sugar from the bloodstream. Sugar levels rise in the blood, causing havoc throughout the body. Untreated type 1 diabetes can be deadly. Even with treatment, usually daily injections of insulin, type 1 diabetes often leads to heart disease, vision problems, and nerve problems.

In the more common type 2 diabetes, the muscles resist that action of insulin, causing blood sugar to rise. As the pancreas churns out more and more insulin, the beta cells can eventually become burned out.

Over the years, Melton and his colleagues made a surprising discovery: the pancreas could make new beta cells, even in people with type 1 diabetes. “Old” pancreas cells can divide, forming young ones. Unfortunately, the pancreas isn’t naturally able to make enough new beta cells to make up for those killed by diabetes.

Melton and colleagues reasoned that there might be some chemical signal that prompts beta cells to divide and increase. The Cell paper details their search for and discovery of such a signal in mice. It’s a hormone the team called betatrophin. This hormone, made by liver and fat cells, travels through the blood to the pancreas. There, it prompts existing beta cells to grow and divide, making new beta cells.

In mice with diabetes, turning on the production of betatrophin by liver and fat cells caused an increase in beta cells and a dramatic improvement in blood sugar.

It will, of course, take much more research in mice—and then in humans—to determine if this newly discovered hormone can serve as a treatment for diabetes. So it’s too soon to get excited that the discovery of betatrophin will translate directly into a new treatment for diabetes.

This work is just the latest example of an even larger scientific discovery that has played out over the past two decades. We are learning that the human body has much greater power to naturally repair itself than we once imagined. Scientists all over the world are working to discover ways to stimulate the body’s own natural healing mechanisms, as Dr. Melton and colleagues are doing.

In the United States, this work and other important investigations are threatened by the “sequester,” which is cutting funding for medical research. It would be a shame for an important discovery like Melton’s to languish because of political infighting. Regardless of what you think about federal spending in general, if you share my view that we should not be cutting funding for health research and public health, you could do what I have done. Write your representatives in Congress to restore cuts in medical research.

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People With Type 1 Diabetes at Risk of Thyroid Disease

Link between 'sister diseases' is rooted in immune system problem, expert says

By Serena Gordon

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- People who have type 1 diabetes are more likely than others to develop an autoimmune thyroid condition.

Though estimates vary, the rate of thyroid disease -- either under- or overactive thyroid -- may be as high as 30 percent in people with type 1 diabetes, according to Dr. Betul Hatipoglu, an endocrinologist with the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. And the odds are especially high for women, whether they have diabetes or not, she said, noting that women are eight times more likely than men to develop thyroid disease.

"I tell my patients thyroid disease and type 1 diabetes are sister diseases, like branches of a tree," she said. "Each is different, but the root is the same. And, that root is autoimmunity, where the immune system is attacking your own healthy endocrine parts."

Hatipoglu also noted that autoimmune diseases often run in families. A grandparent may have had thyroid problems, while an offspring may develop type 1 diabetes.

"People who have one autoimmune disease are at risk for another," explained Dr. Lowell Schmeltz, an endocrinologist and assistant professor at the Oakland University-William Beaumont School of Medicine in Royal Oak, Mich.

"There's some genetic risk that links these autoimmune conditions, but we don't know what environmental triggers make them activate," he explained, adding that the antibodies from the immune system that destroy the healthy tissue are different in type 1 diabetes than in autoimmune thyroid disease.

Hatipoglu said that people with type 1 diabetes are also more prone to celiac disease, another autoimmune condition.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, destroying them. Insulin is a hormone that's necessary for the metabolism of carbohydrates in foods. Without enough insulin, blood sugar levels can skyrocket, leading to serious complications or death. People who have type 1 diabetes have to replace the lost insulin, using shots of insulin or an insulin pump with a tube inserted under the skin. Too much insulin, however, can also cause a dangerous condition called hypoglycemia, which occurs when blood sugar levels drop too low.

The thyroid is a small gland that produces thyroid hormone, which is essential for many aspects of the body's metabolism.

Most of the time, people with type 1 diabetes will develop an underactive thyroid, a condition called Hashimoto's disease. About 10 percent of the time, Schmeltz said, the thyroid issue is an overactive thyroid, called Graves' disease.

In general, people develop type 1 diabetes and then develop thyroid problems at some point in the future, said Hatipoglu. However, with more people being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in their 30s, 40s and 50s, Schmeltz said, it's quite possible that thyroid disease can come first.

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