Plastics Chemical BPA Common in 'Preemie' ICU: Study

Title: Plastics Chemical BPA Common in 'Preemie' ICU: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 2/22/2013 10:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/22/2013 12:00:00 AM

View the original article here

Medical Groups Warn About Unnecessary Tests

Dozens of types of tests and treatments are too often recommended by doctors when patients don't need them, according to a warning issued Thursday by a coalition of leading medical groups in the United States.

This unnecessary care wastes time and money and sometimes causes harm to patients, according to the organizations that represent more than 350,000 doctors, the Associated Press reported.

The Choosing Wisely Coalition said patients need to ask their doctors, "Do I really need that?". The coalition was formed by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation.

Too many people "think that more is better, that more treatment, more testing somehow results in better health care," Dr. Glen Stream, former president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, told the AP. "That really is not true."

The academy contributed to this year's list of 90 examples of potentially needless care, which adds to 45 examples included on last year's list. Among the newly-added warnings:

Don't screen for a clogged neck artery in healthy people with no stroke signs. It could lead to risky surgery for a blockage that would cause no harm.Don't try feeding tubes in people with advanced dementia. Helping them eat is a better approach.Don't routinely give heartburn medicine to infants with reflux. This treatment hasn't been proven effective in babies and could cause side effects.Don't prescribe opioid painkillers for migraines except as a last resort. Opioids can carry the risk of addiction and can actually worsen migraines. Instead, use more migraine-specific drugs.Don't induce labor if a pregnant woman misses her due date and both mother and baby are doing fine.

View the original article here

Magazine Terms & Conditions

Read below for GLAMOUR's Terms & Conditions

Continue reading...

View the original article here

Blood Thinners May Boost Survival for Prostate Cancer Patients: Study

Title: Blood Thinners May Boost Survival for Prostate Cancer Patients: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 2/21/2013 2:36:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 2/22/2013 12:00:00 AM

View the original article here

Health Tip: Help Prevent Constipation

Title: Health Tip: Help Prevent Constipation
Category: Health News
Created: 2/22/2013 8:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/22/2013 12:00:00 AM

View the original article here

Flu Vaccine Fell Short for Seniors This Season: CDC

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- The flu vaccine has fallen markedly short of expectations for older Americans this winter, offering this vulnerable population protection against the most virulent strain of flu virus just 9 percent of the time, U.S. health officials reported Thursday.

Even among the general population, the vaccine's effectiveness was just 56 percent, which is considered slightly below average, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Complicating matters, the 2012-13 season has turned out to be one of the more severe flu seasons in recent years because of the presence of the H3N2 virus -- a strain associated with severe bouts of influenza.

"This was really a worse-than-average flu season," said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner. "It hit the elderly particularly hard. We saw a lot of hospitalizations and, unfortunately, a lot of deaths of the elderly."

"For reasons we don't fully understand, the efficacy rate in those 65 and older against H3N2 was lower than what we would like," he said.

This makes it even more important for the elderly, even if they've been vaccinated, to seek treatment early with antiviral drugs like Tamiflu when they come down with the flu, Skinner said.

Dr. Marc Siegel, associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, agreed that it's "not an ideal vaccine, but it offers a public health advantage -- it's worth taking."

"The reason this vaccine is not that effective for the elderly is because it's hard for the elderly to mount an immune response," he added.

The vaccine is most effective against influenza B viruses, reaching a level of 67 percent protection both overall and among seniors, the CDC report showed.

"The message is we need better vaccines," Skinner said.

Skinner noted that vaccination is still the best protection against the flu, because even if you get sick the vaccine may make the illness milder.

"If people use these numbers not to get vaccinated, I think that will be a tragedy," Skinner said. "Some protection is certainly better than no protection at all."

The findings were published Feb. 22 in the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

This flu season has caused high hospitalization rates, with seniors accounting for 50 percent of all those admitted for the flu.

"This is the highest hospitalization rate [for seniors] since 2003, and may be the highest ever," Siegel said.

Also, nearly 10 percent of deaths up to Feb. 9 have been attributed to the flu or pneumonia associated with the flu. Again, the elderly were hit the hardest, Skinner said.

Sixty-four children have died from flu this season. That number is precise, because the federal government keeps track of pediatric flu deaths. No such count is kept on adults. Typically, approximately 25,000 Americans die from the flu every year, according to the CDC.

Skinner said this year's flu season started early, but seems to be winding down. "But we'll see if that trend continues," he added.

More information

For more on the flu, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

View the original article here

Relationship Worries Can Make You Sick

By Kathleen Doheny

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Feeling insecure and frequently anxious about your romantic relationship can actually harm your health, new research contends.

The feelings may boost levels of a stress hormone and lower your immune system, according to Ohio State researchers.

In their study, married couples who were often anxious about their relationship -- wondering if their partner truly loved them, for example -- had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and lower levels of T-cells, which are important in the immune system to fight off infections, lead author Lisa Jaremka said.

"These concerns about rejection and whether or not you are truly cared for do have physiological consequences that could, in the long-term, negatively affect health," said Jaremka, a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University's Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research.

The study was recently published online and will appear in an upcoming print issue of Psychological Science.

Jaremka said she was not describing the normal now-and-then concerns about a relationship. "Everybody has these thoughts and feelings sometimes," she said. "They are a natural part of being in a relationship."

But for the highly anxious, she added, "it's a chronic thing."

Jaremka studied 85 couples, all married for an average of more than 12 years. Most were white. Their average age was 39. All the partners reported their general anxiety levels and symptoms, and answered questions about their marriage and about their sleep quality.

The couples were generally healthy. Those with wives who were expecting a baby, or who drank excess alcohol or caffeine or had health problems affecting the immune system were all excluded.

The couples provided saliva samples over three days and blood samples twice. From these, the research team measured levels of cortisol and T-cells.

Participants with higher levels of anxiety about the marriage produced about 11 percent more cortisol than those with lower anxiety levels. Spouses with higher anxiety levels had between 11 percent and 22 percent lower levels of T cells than those with less anxiety.

Jaremka said the two findings are likely linked, because cortisol can hamper production of T-cells.

The study found a link or association between relationship anxiety and the body's stress and immune response, but cannot prove cause and effect.

While the study did not track whether the highly anxious partners got sick more often, the link is reasonable, Jaremka said, based on other research about the ill effects of chronically high stress hormone levels.

"A lot of the negative consequences of high cortisol are beyond the common flu," she said. Rather, she added, high level have been linked to heart problems, sleep problems, depression and other conditions.

Another expert who also studies attachment styles said the link between attachment anxiety and stress is not new, but the link to immune system function is newer. And it is "not that surprising," said Jeni Burnette, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Richmond, in Virginia.

View the original article here