Thursday, December 16, 2010

Health : Kids Are Getting Amped on Caffeine, Even at Age 5

Health : Kids Are Getting Amped on Caffeine, Even at Age 5

Kids Are Getting Amped on Caffeine, Even at Age 5

Posted: 16 Dec 2010 03:32 PM PST

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Health Buzz: New Research May Explain Why Some People Develop Staph Infections

Posted: 16 Dec 2010 09:43 AM PST

 New Research Sheds Light on Human Susceptibility to Staph Infections

 Scientists have long been mystified by why and how Staphylococcus aureus, which kills 10,000 Americans each year, strikes certain people and not others. New research suggests the bacteria are fueled by human hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. Hemoglobin contains the iron that staph bacteria need to grow and spread, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. Not all human hemoglobin is ideal for staph microbes, however; some people may have slight genetic variations that alter the makeup of their hemoglobin, making them resistant to infection, the researchers say. These variations could someday help doctors identify who is most susceptible, so preventive measures can be taken. "Staph is the worst infectious threat to public health," lead researcher Eric Skaar of Vanderbilt University Medical Center told The New York Times. "It is the No. 1 cause of heart infections and skin infections, the No. 1 cause of soft tissue infections. It is a big cause of pneumonia. It is the No. 1 hospital-acquired infection." Skaar's team also discovered why the bacteria prefer to attack humans over animals: human hemoglobin is easiest to latch onto.

An Update for People on Medicare
 
The Medicare open enrollment period closes at the end of December, and seniors, like everybody else, will be affected by newly implemented provisions of the health reform law. For starters, they will no longer have until the end of March to test a different Medicare plan and switch out if they find it unsatisfactory. Now, while they'll have until February 15 to try out a plan, they can change only if they decide to go from Medicare Advantage, which provides comprehensive healthcare coverage, to traditional Medicare, which covers hospital visits and has separate plans for doctor visits and drugs. This change may be a nuisance for the many beneficiaries whose Advantage plans have closed this year, forcing them to find new coverage, U.S. News reports.

 The range of benefits seniors can expect will change, too; dental or vision coverage might go away, for example, to compensate for the long list of preventive services, such as colorectal cancer screenings and bone density testing, that insurers must now provide without co-pays or deductibles. Beneficiaries will be entitled to a free doctor visit to get a "personalized prevention plan" and a "comprehensive risk assessment." A government review board will determine by March what those terms mean, says Tricia Neuman, director of the Medicare Policy Project at the Kaiser Family Foundation. [Read more: An Update for People on Medicare.]

 Is the Internet Bad for Brain Health?

 Web users, pay attention: In The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, author Nicholas Carr contends that Web surfing is rewiring our minds, breaking our focus and creativity along the way, U.S. News's Michael Morella reports.

 "The computer screen bulldozes our doubts with its bounties and conveniences," Carr writes. "It is so much our servant that it would seem churlish to notice that it is also our master." Surveying the latest research in neuroscience and psychology—while mixing in philosophy and media history—Carr argues that digital distractions prey on our attention and ability to form new memories, thus preventing our minds from tapping their full intellectual and creative potential. Though some researchers believe that bouncing around the Web gives the mind valuable mental exercise, Carr worries that persistent multitasking just might "impede our ability to control our thoughts." [Read more: Is the Internet Bad for Brain Health?]

 

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Health Highlights: Dec. 16, 2010

Posted: 16 Dec 2010 06:59 AM PST

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Health Buzz: 48 Million Americans Get Sick From Food Each Year

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 03:38 PM PST

Food Poisoning Sickens 48 Million Americans Annually, Kills 3,000

One in every six Americans gets sick from foodborne illnesses each year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control. Among those who fall ill, 128,000 end up in the hospital and 3,000 die. The figures, which the agency says are the most accurate to date, give officials a better understanding of just how big a problem food poisoning is—and they're not happy. "Foodborne illnesses and deaths are preventable, and as such, are unacceptable," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in a press release, in which she emphasized the need for "intensifying" efforts in prevention and passing food-safety legislation. The report also sheds light on which pathogens most frequently sicken Americans, including: salmonella, norovirus, and E. coli O157.

Salmonella, recently in the spotlight for causing a massive egg recall, is a particularly serious illness. A few crucial tips can help prevent infection, U.S. News's Nancy Shute reported in 2009.

From: New Salmonella Outbreak: Here's How to Reduce Your Risk

Eat well-cooked food. In recent years, some of the nastiest food poisoning outbreaks have been caused by fresh fruit and veggies—canteloupes and jalapeño peppers in 2008, and spinach in 2006. Washing doesn't solve the problem, since pathogens can get inside the nooks and crannies of a cantaloupe rind, for example. There's also evidence that leafy greens and tomatoes can slurp bacteria into their cells along with water, either in the field or during processing. As Doug Powell, director of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University, says: "Washing's not enough. You gotta cook it." If you're worried, sautéed spinach is a better bet than salad. Cooking meats thoroughly eliminates pathogens common in chicken and ground beef.

Don't presume that organic means safe. Organic standards don't deal with bacteria, and in the nasty 2006 E. coli outbreak in spinach, organic spinach was among the culprits. Many organic foods are now grown overseas, where oversight is skimpy at best. So, buying organic is no excuse to slack off on safe food handling practices.

Keep a squeaky-clean kitchen. Chicken is one common food that's almost always contaminated with bad bugs, and it's easy to spread the bacteria to other foods via knives, cutting boards, and hands. Food-safety experts recommend keeping raw chicken and meats away from foods that aren't going to be cooked, and washing cutting boards and utensils with hot soapy water. Some cooks use a bleach rinse on cutting boards, while others reserve a cutting board for raw meats only. This primer on common sources of food poisoning gives the lowdown on banishing bad bugs from the kitchen.

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Health Buzz: Beauty Sleep Is No Myth

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 09:05 AM PST

 Too Little Sleep Can Hurt Your Appearance, Study Suggests

 Want to look more attractive? Get a good night's sleep. People are perceived as being less attractive and more unhealthy when they're sleep-deprived than when they're well-rested, according to a study published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal. Swedish researchers photographed 23 volunteers on two occasions: Once, after getting eight hours of sleep, and again after being kept awake for 31 hours following five hours of sleep. None of the participants wore makeup, and all were equally clean-shaven. More than 60 untrained observers then rated all of the photos, and participants were judged to be 4 percent less attractive, 6 percent less healthy, and 19 percent more tired when they were sleep-deprived. "We propose that sleep is a cheap and effective beauty treatment, both acutely and in the long-term," lead researcher John Axelsson told MSNBC.com. "Sleep should be seen as the body's natural beauty treatment and a clear alternative or complement to other beauty treatments."

 Orthorexia: An Unhealthy Obsession With Healthy Eating

 At the beginning, the goal seems innocent, smart even: a vow to eat more whole grains, or more fruits and vegetables. But healthy eating can turn rigid and confining, wiping out whole categories of food one by one—first anything with additives, perhaps, then maybe nonorganic produce, and then another and another. It can become decidedly unhealthy. The focus on quality and purity can deteriorate into orthorexia, a term coined in 1996 by physician Steven Bratman to describe a "fixation on righteous eating." Like anorexia and bulimia, it can wreak serious damage on the health of someone trapped in the obsession, U.S. News reports.

 "Orthorexia boils down to someone who is very, very concerned with eating what they consider the perfect diet," says Joy Jacobs, a clinical psychologist with the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine. "This is someone who takes healthy eating to an extreme and feels good about it. These people often have a sense of moral superiority." While others abuse their bodies, they know better. [Read more: Orthorexia: An Unhealthy Obsession With Healthy Eating.]

 Work Out Now, Weigh Less in Middle Age

 Everybody knows the importance of exercise in keeping weight down. What's more surprising is that physical activity in the present may prevent weight gain many years into the future, according to a study out Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers who followed 3,554 people over two decades found that men who stayed highly active gained six pounds less on average after 20 years than their low-activity counterparts did. For women, the difference was a whopping 13 pounds. Waistlines were trimmer for both sexes in the high-activity groups as well. Those studied began as 18- to 30-year-olds. Their 38- to 50-year-old selves showed that consistent commitment to physical activity may mean fewer pounds tacked on during the years notoriously threatened by jiggly bellies.

 Highly active, moreover, doesn't necessarily mean marathoning or pumping iron for an hour, U.S. News's Kurtis Hiatt reports. While the study used a complex formula that assigned scores according to how long, how often, and how intense the participants' activities were, highly active was equivalent to spending roughly 2½ hours a week getting your heart pumping, like in a sport, brisk walking, or even gardening, says Arlene Hankinson, lead author of the study and an instructor in the department of preventative medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. [Read more: Work Out Now, Weigh Less in Middle Age.]

 

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