The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Diabetes cuts about 8.5 years off the life span of the average 50-year-old compared to a 50-year-old without diabetes, new research indicates.
The study also shows that older adults with diabetes have a lower life expectancy at every age compared to people who do not have the disease. For example, researchers say, the difference at age 60 is 5.4 years; it’s one year by 90.
The findings come from a new report commissioned by the National Academy on an Aging Society and was supported by Sanofi-aventis U.S., a pharmaceutical company. It was based on data provided by the Health and Retirement Study, a survey of more than 20,000 Americans over age 50 done every two years by the University of Michigan.
Slideshow: Type 2 Diabetes Overview
Increase in Diabetes
“Given the rise in diabetes among boomers and seniors, these findings are alarming,” Greg O’Neill, PhD, director of the National Academy on an Aging Society, says in a news release. “They paint a stark picture of the impact of diabetes and its complications on healthy aging.”
The study shows a significant increase over the past decade in the percentage of adults over age 50 with diabetes, from 11% of non-Hispanic whites in 1998 to 18% in 2008, coinciding with an alarming obesity epidemic affecting most population groups.
The increase among adult non-Hispanic blacks has been even more alarming, from 22% to 32% in the past 10 years, study researchers say.
Compared to older adults without diabetes, patients with the disease are less likely to be employed and more likely to have other health problems, such as heart disease, depression, and disabilities that get in the way of normal life activities, the researchers say.
Scott M. Lynch, PhD, of Princeton University’s Office of Population Research, analyzed data on more than 20,000 adults over the age of 50. The study, described as a “profile,” was written by Nancy Maddox, MPH, a co-founder of Maren Enterprises, a consulting firm specializing in technical and promotional writing in the field of public health.
Many Don’t Realize They Have Diabetes
The researchers say at least 7.8% of the U.S. population, or some 23.6 million people, have diabetes, including 5.7 million who don’t know they do.
The study also shows that:
23.1% of people 60 and older, or 12.2 million people, have diabetes.
By 2034, this number will increase to 44.1 million.
By the same year, 14.6 million people who are Medicare-eligible will have the disease.
Annual diabetes-related spending is expected to reach $336 billion in 2034, which is almost three times the amount spent in 2009.
In 2007, diagnosed diabetes cost the U.S. an estimated $116 billion in direct medical costs and $58 billion in reduced productivity.
People with diabetes are responsible for about 20% of U.S. health care expenditures.
By 2025, more than half of people with diabetes will be 65 and older, and if this trend continues, it will become primarily a geriatric disease. In 2000, people 65 and older accounted for 40% of U.S. diabetes cases.
The prevalence of diabetes is projected to more than double between 2005 and 2050 for U.S. residents 20 to 64 and increase 220% for people between 65 and 74. For people 75 and older the prevalence is expected to increase 449%.
Diabetes is more common among non-whites; African-Americans are more likely to develop the disease than either whites or Hispanics.
African-Americans are more likely to die from diabetes than either Hispanics or whites. The overall diabetes mortality rate is 41% higher for Hispanics than for whites and 113% higher for non-Hispanic blacks than for whites.
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Every Excess Pound Gained Raises Risk of Death
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Your risk of death rises steadily with every overweight pound you gain, a huge study funded by the National Institutes of Health confirms.
Even if you don't smoke and are in otherwise good health, your risk of death goes up 31% with every 5-point increase in BMI, a measure of body mass based on weight and height.
Just being a little bit overweight increases death risk. Compared to those with a normal-range BMI of 22.5 to 24.9:
A BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 increased death risk by 13%
A BMI of 30.0 to 34.9 increased death risk by 44%
A BMI of 35.0 to 39.9 increased death risk by 88%
A BMI of 40.0 to 49.9 increased death risk by 251%
Those figures are for women who do not smoke and who have no underlying disease. The risks are similar for men, note Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, DPhil, of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues.
"We conclude that for non-Hispanic whites, both overweight and obesity are associated with increased all-cause mortality," they conclude. "All-cause mortality is generally lowest within the BMI range of 20.0 to 24.9."
BMI measured before age 50 had the strongest effect on death risk.
Being underweight may also increase death risk, but it's not clear whether underlying, undetected disease might account for this finding.
The study pooled data from 19 long-term studies that followed 1.46 million white adults for five to 28 years.
The strong statistical significance of the findings suggest that an earlier study of the impact of obesity on death risk -- which was scary enough -- may have underestimated the problem. That study found that adult obesity cut life expectancy by four years. The new data show that obesity has a much greater effect on life span.
"In our study, there were more than five times as many deaths among participants in the highest obesity categories (BMI of 35-0 to 39.9 and 40.0 to 49.9) than in previous studies, because severe obesity had become more common," Berrington de Gonzalez and colleagues note.
Smoking and chronic disease have an enormous effect on death risk. To isolate the effects of obesity, the researchers calculated death risk for nonsmokers who reported no underlying disease.
The findings appear in the Dec. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Your risk of death rises steadily with every overweight pound you gain, a huge study funded by the National Institutes of Health confirms.
Even if you don't smoke and are in otherwise good health, your risk of death goes up 31% with every 5-point increase in BMI, a measure of body mass based on weight and height.
Just being a little bit overweight increases death risk. Compared to those with a normal-range BMI of 22.5 to 24.9:
A BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 increased death risk by 13%
A BMI of 30.0 to 34.9 increased death risk by 44%
A BMI of 35.0 to 39.9 increased death risk by 88%
A BMI of 40.0 to 49.9 increased death risk by 251%
Those figures are for women who do not smoke and who have no underlying disease. The risks are similar for men, note Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, DPhil, of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues.
"We conclude that for non-Hispanic whites, both overweight and obesity are associated with increased all-cause mortality," they conclude. "All-cause mortality is generally lowest within the BMI range of 20.0 to 24.9."
BMI measured before age 50 had the strongest effect on death risk.
Being underweight may also increase death risk, but it's not clear whether underlying, undetected disease might account for this finding.
The study pooled data from 19 long-term studies that followed 1.46 million white adults for five to 28 years.
The strong statistical significance of the findings suggest that an earlier study of the impact of obesity on death risk -- which was scary enough -- may have underestimated the problem. That study found that adult obesity cut life expectancy by four years. The new data show that obesity has a much greater effect on life span.
"In our study, there were more than five times as many deaths among participants in the highest obesity categories (BMI of 35-0 to 39.9 and 40.0 to 49.9) than in previous studies, because severe obesity had become more common," Berrington de Gonzalez and colleagues note.
Smoking and chronic disease have an enormous effect on death risk. To isolate the effects of obesity, the researchers calculated death risk for nonsmokers who reported no underlying disease.
The findings appear in the Dec. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Finger Length a Clue to Prostate Cancer Risk
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew
Men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger are at a lower risk of prostate cancer than those with a finger pattern the other way round, according to a new study in the British Journal of Cancer.
The relative length of the first and third fingers is set before birth, and it is thought to relate to the levels of sex hormones the baby is exposed to in the womb. Babies exposed to less of the male sex hormone testosterone are more likely to have longer index fingers.
Finger Length and Prostate Cancer
Over a 15-year period, researchers from The University of Warwick and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) collected data on finger length in 1,524 patients with prostate cancer as well as 3,044 healthy people. Men were shown pictures of hands with different finger lengths and asked to identify the one most like their own right hand.
The most common finger length pattern, seen in more than half the men in the study, was a shorter index than ring finger. Men whose index and ring fingers were the same length (about 19%) had a similar prostate cancer risk to those with a shorter index than ring finger. However, men whose index fingers were longer than their ring finger were 33% less likely to have prostate cancer.
Risk reduction was even greater in men aged under 60, say the researchers, who found that this younger group were 87% less likely to be in the prostate cancer group.
Testosterone Exposure
The researchers believe that being exposed to less testosterone before birth helps protect against prostate cancer later in life. The phenomenon is thought to occur because the genes HOXA and HOXD control both finger length and development of sex organs.
“Our results show that relative finger length could be used as a simple test for prostate cancer risk, particularly in men aged under 60,” says joint senior author Professor Ros Eeles from the ICR and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. “This exciting finding means that finger pattern could potentially be used to select at-risk men for ongoing screening, perhaps in combination with other factors such as family history or genetic testing.”
The study was funded by Prostate Cancer Research Foundation and Cancer Research UK.
Diagnosing Prostate Cancer
Helen Rippon, head of research at The Prostate Cancer Charity in the U.K., says in an emailed statement: “Diagnosis of prostate cancer is not a simple affair and the best blood test we have, known as a PSA test, tells us only that something might be wrong with the prostate, not whether it is cancerous or not. Anything that adds to our knowledge about whether a man is likely to develop prostate cancer or not is to be welcomed, especially when it is something as easy as looking at the length of his fingers.
“This research also adds to the growing body of evidence that the balance of hormones we are exposed to before birth influences our health for the rest of our lives.”
Rippon says men who check their hands and find they have a shorter index finger should not be unduly concerned. “They share this trait with more than half of all men and it does not mean they will definitely develop prostate cancer in later life,” she says.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger are at a lower risk of prostate cancer than those with a finger pattern the other way round, according to a new study in the British Journal of Cancer.
The relative length of the first and third fingers is set before birth, and it is thought to relate to the levels of sex hormones the baby is exposed to in the womb. Babies exposed to less of the male sex hormone testosterone are more likely to have longer index fingers.
Finger Length and Prostate Cancer
Over a 15-year period, researchers from The University of Warwick and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) collected data on finger length in 1,524 patients with prostate cancer as well as 3,044 healthy people. Men were shown pictures of hands with different finger lengths and asked to identify the one most like their own right hand.
The most common finger length pattern, seen in more than half the men in the study, was a shorter index than ring finger. Men whose index and ring fingers were the same length (about 19%) had a similar prostate cancer risk to those with a shorter index than ring finger. However, men whose index fingers were longer than their ring finger were 33% less likely to have prostate cancer.
Risk reduction was even greater in men aged under 60, say the researchers, who found that this younger group were 87% less likely to be in the prostate cancer group.
Testosterone Exposure
The researchers believe that being exposed to less testosterone before birth helps protect against prostate cancer later in life. The phenomenon is thought to occur because the genes HOXA and HOXD control both finger length and development of sex organs.
“Our results show that relative finger length could be used as a simple test for prostate cancer risk, particularly in men aged under 60,” says joint senior author Professor Ros Eeles from the ICR and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. “This exciting finding means that finger pattern could potentially be used to select at-risk men for ongoing screening, perhaps in combination with other factors such as family history or genetic testing.”
The study was funded by Prostate Cancer Research Foundation and Cancer Research UK.
Diagnosing Prostate Cancer
Helen Rippon, head of research at The Prostate Cancer Charity in the U.K., says in an emailed statement: “Diagnosis of prostate cancer is not a simple affair and the best blood test we have, known as a PSA test, tells us only that something might be wrong with the prostate, not whether it is cancerous or not. Anything that adds to our knowledge about whether a man is likely to develop prostate cancer or not is to be welcomed, especially when it is something as easy as looking at the length of his fingers.
“This research also adds to the growing body of evidence that the balance of hormones we are exposed to before birth influences our health for the rest of our lives.”
Rippon says men who check their hands and find they have a shorter index finger should not be unduly concerned. “They share this trait with more than half of all men and it does not mean they will definitely develop prostate cancer in later life,” she says.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
How to Manage Food Allergies in Children
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew
Pediatricians play a key role in preventing and treating food-related allergic reactions among school-aged children, and can help implement plans concerning the way food allergies are managed in the school setting, according to a clinical report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Food allergies are estimated to affect about one in 25 school-aged children. Research suggests that as many as 18% of children with food allergies experience a reaction while in school, indicating that the school environment is an important place to help prevent and treat allergic responses. Food allergy is also a common trigger of anaphylaxis, a possibly life-threatening reaction to a particular food.
Published in the December issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the report includes:
Advice for pediatricians on diagnosing and documenting any potential life-threatening food allergies, including identifying any food that might truly be life-threatening.
Developing and writing down age-appropriate management and emergency response plans and including children, parents, and school officials in the planning process.
Determining whether a health care professional, such as a nurse, is available to help the child in the event of a reaction at school.
Prescribing self-injectable epinephrine and, if schools permit and if age-appropriate, allowing children to carry their own epinephrine in the event of an emergency, such as outside of the school cafeteria, because delays in treatments have been linked to fatalities.
Teaching children and their families how to use and store medication properly.
Informing children, families, and schools how to identify signs of anaphylaxis and how to best respond to expedite treatment.
Understanding the school’s anaphylaxis response protocols. The report notes that 25% of anaphylaxis cases that occur in schools are among children without a previous diagnosis of food allergy.
Building Partnerships
“Partnerships with students, families, school nurses, school physicians, and school staff are important for individualizing effective and practical care plans,” the authors write.
The report did not include infants, toddlers, and preschool age children, since these children are cared for in a variety of settings and would require their own set of prevention and treatment guidelines.
According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, an advocacy group, an estimated 3 million children have food allergies. Eight foods account for 90% of all food allergies in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (such as almonds and walnuts), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. Food allergies account for more than 300,000 ambulatory care visits per year among children.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Pediatricians play a key role in preventing and treating food-related allergic reactions among school-aged children, and can help implement plans concerning the way food allergies are managed in the school setting, according to a clinical report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Food allergies are estimated to affect about one in 25 school-aged children. Research suggests that as many as 18% of children with food allergies experience a reaction while in school, indicating that the school environment is an important place to help prevent and treat allergic responses. Food allergy is also a common trigger of anaphylaxis, a possibly life-threatening reaction to a particular food.
Published in the December issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the report includes:
Advice for pediatricians on diagnosing and documenting any potential life-threatening food allergies, including identifying any food that might truly be life-threatening.
Developing and writing down age-appropriate management and emergency response plans and including children, parents, and school officials in the planning process.
Determining whether a health care professional, such as a nurse, is available to help the child in the event of a reaction at school.
Prescribing self-injectable epinephrine and, if schools permit and if age-appropriate, allowing children to carry their own epinephrine in the event of an emergency, such as outside of the school cafeteria, because delays in treatments have been linked to fatalities.
Teaching children and their families how to use and store medication properly.
Informing children, families, and schools how to identify signs of anaphylaxis and how to best respond to expedite treatment.
Understanding the school’s anaphylaxis response protocols. The report notes that 25% of anaphylaxis cases that occur in schools are among children without a previous diagnosis of food allergy.
Building Partnerships
“Partnerships with students, families, school nurses, school physicians, and school staff are important for individualizing effective and practical care plans,” the authors write.
The report did not include infants, toddlers, and preschool age children, since these children are cared for in a variety of settings and would require their own set of prevention and treatment guidelines.
According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, an advocacy group, an estimated 3 million children have food allergies. Eight foods account for 90% of all food allergies in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (such as almonds and walnuts), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. Food allergies account for more than 300,000 ambulatory care visits per year among children.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Eating Orange and Dark Green Veggies Linked to Longer Life
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Your parents knew what they were talking about when they told you to eat your vegetables, though they probably should have specified which ones.
A new study has found that diets rich in orange and dark green veggies like carrots, green beans and sweet potatoes may result in less disease and a longer life.
Researchers believe that the potential for a longer, disease-free life is due to the alpha-carotene in those foods, which, like beta-carotene, is a carotenoid antioxidant and may stop oxidative damage to cells and DNA.
"Because of the multiple constituents within these vegetables, there is a plethora of benefits of getting them in the natural food forms and eating plenty of them," nutritionist Douglas Husbands told AOL Health. "That should be one of the foundations of people if they want to live a healthy and long life."
Dark green vegetables like beans, spinach, kale, bok choy, swiss chard and collard greens are rich in folates and many other essential nutrients, Husbands said -- and eating them doesn't only boost your own health but that of future generations.
"They work to turn on many good genes and turn off many bad genes," he said. "Studies are continuing to show that dark green vegetables most definitely can influence a healthier life and potentially a longer life also. The research on this is just overwhelming."
Dr. Chaoyang Li of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his colleagues based their findings on the previously-established link between good health -- including less cancer and heart disease -- and eating certain fruits and vegetables.
Li told Reuters Health that his team wanted to find out specifically what components in vegetables have benefits and how they work. Recent studies have suggested that beta-carotene pills have no concrete positive effects, he said.
The researchers looked at data on more than 15,000 people participating in a wide-scale national nutrition survey. The subjects had given blood samples, as well as information on their medical histories and lifestyles at the start of the 14-year study.
By the end of the study period, almost 4,000 participants had died. Li and his colleagues determined that the more alpha-carotene the subjects had in their systems at the beginning of the survey, the lower their chances of disease and death, Reuters reported. Those with the highest amounts of the antioxidant in their blood had as much as a 39 percent lower risk of dying than participants with the lowest levels of alpha-carotene.
The findings, published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, stayed the same even after researchers took other risk factors into account, including age and smoking. They also remained steady when the rates of death due to cancer and heart disease were analyzed.
But the study results don't provide solid evidence that alpha-carotene is what leads to a longer life and less disease, according to the authors.
"Alpha-carotene may be at least partially responsible for the risk reduction," Li told Reuters. "However, we are unable to rule out the possible links of other antioxidants or other elements in vegetables and fruits to lower mortality risk."
Could Fruits and Vegetables Save Your Life? How to Steam Vegetables Girl, 7, Must Eat Only Fruits, Vegetables or Risk Brain Damage Husbands said it isn't just alpha-carotene that is responsible for the health benefits seen in the research.
"You can't simplify it or (see) one carotenoid as a magic bullet because you're going to get spurious results," he told AOL Health. "It's the mix."
Howard Sesso of the Harvard School of Public Health said it's difficult to differentiate between the benefits of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene since carrots and some of the other vegetables in question tend to contain both.
"Alpha-carotene has a lot of overlapping chemical properties with beta-carotene, as well as the same perceived mechanisms of effect," he told Reuters Health. "It's hard to disentangle the two from each other. They tend to travel together."
Li said there have been previous lab experiments showing that alpha-carotene is a more potent preventer of brain, skin and liver cancer than its beta relative, according to Reuters.
No matter what is behind the findings, Sesso said they're hopeful.
"We don't know how this is going to translate into practice yet, but it is encouraging," he said. "If nothing else, these results reinforce the point that there is likely little downside to increasing your fruit and veggie intake."
And there is little debate about the enormous health benefits of vegetables, particularly the dark green and orange variety, according to Husbands.
"That's some of the cheapest health care people can buy," he said.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Your parents knew what they were talking about when they told you to eat your vegetables, though they probably should have specified which ones.
A new study has found that diets rich in orange and dark green veggies like carrots, green beans and sweet potatoes may result in less disease and a longer life.
Researchers believe that the potential for a longer, disease-free life is due to the alpha-carotene in those foods, which, like beta-carotene, is a carotenoid antioxidant and may stop oxidative damage to cells and DNA.
"Because of the multiple constituents within these vegetables, there is a plethora of benefits of getting them in the natural food forms and eating plenty of them," nutritionist Douglas Husbands told AOL Health. "That should be one of the foundations of people if they want to live a healthy and long life."
Dark green vegetables like beans, spinach, kale, bok choy, swiss chard and collard greens are rich in folates and many other essential nutrients, Husbands said -- and eating them doesn't only boost your own health but that of future generations.
"They work to turn on many good genes and turn off many bad genes," he said. "Studies are continuing to show that dark green vegetables most definitely can influence a healthier life and potentially a longer life also. The research on this is just overwhelming."
Dr. Chaoyang Li of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his colleagues based their findings on the previously-established link between good health -- including less cancer and heart disease -- and eating certain fruits and vegetables.
Li told Reuters Health that his team wanted to find out specifically what components in vegetables have benefits and how they work. Recent studies have suggested that beta-carotene pills have no concrete positive effects, he said.
The researchers looked at data on more than 15,000 people participating in a wide-scale national nutrition survey. The subjects had given blood samples, as well as information on their medical histories and lifestyles at the start of the 14-year study.
By the end of the study period, almost 4,000 participants had died. Li and his colleagues determined that the more alpha-carotene the subjects had in their systems at the beginning of the survey, the lower their chances of disease and death, Reuters reported. Those with the highest amounts of the antioxidant in their blood had as much as a 39 percent lower risk of dying than participants with the lowest levels of alpha-carotene.
The findings, published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, stayed the same even after researchers took other risk factors into account, including age and smoking. They also remained steady when the rates of death due to cancer and heart disease were analyzed.
But the study results don't provide solid evidence that alpha-carotene is what leads to a longer life and less disease, according to the authors.
"Alpha-carotene may be at least partially responsible for the risk reduction," Li told Reuters. "However, we are unable to rule out the possible links of other antioxidants or other elements in vegetables and fruits to lower mortality risk."
Could Fruits and Vegetables Save Your Life? How to Steam Vegetables Girl, 7, Must Eat Only Fruits, Vegetables or Risk Brain Damage Husbands said it isn't just alpha-carotene that is responsible for the health benefits seen in the research.
"You can't simplify it or (see) one carotenoid as a magic bullet because you're going to get spurious results," he told AOL Health. "It's the mix."
Howard Sesso of the Harvard School of Public Health said it's difficult to differentiate between the benefits of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene since carrots and some of the other vegetables in question tend to contain both.
"Alpha-carotene has a lot of overlapping chemical properties with beta-carotene, as well as the same perceived mechanisms of effect," he told Reuters Health. "It's hard to disentangle the two from each other. They tend to travel together."
Li said there have been previous lab experiments showing that alpha-carotene is a more potent preventer of brain, skin and liver cancer than its beta relative, according to Reuters.
No matter what is behind the findings, Sesso said they're hopeful.
"We don't know how this is going to translate into practice yet, but it is encouraging," he said. "If nothing else, these results reinforce the point that there is likely little downside to increasing your fruit and veggie intake."
And there is little debate about the enormous health benefits of vegetables, particularly the dark green and orange variety, according to Husbands.
"That's some of the cheapest health care people can buy," he said.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Acetaminophen Not Linked to Liver Damage in Kids
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call" with Dr. Asa Andrew:
A review of the medical literature indicates that despite a reported association between liver toxicity and acetaminophen use, the risk of children developing any kind of liver damage after taking the everyday painkiller at recommended dosing is less than 0.01%.
Acetaminophen overdosing is associated with liver toxicity in children and adults, but in this study, researchers led by Eric J. Lavonas, MD, from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, wanted to evaluate the risk of standard acetaminophen doses. Looking at data on 32,414 children, from newborns to young adults, they found that not a single child who took acetaminophen therapeutically showed signs of liver disease, received antidotes or transplantation, or died.
Combing the Medical Literature
Using medical data sources dating back to 1950, Lavonas and his team included 62 clinical studies and case reports in their analysis. The trials occurred in both the industrialized and developing worlds, and children treated in private practices, hospitals, intensive care units, and clinics. The children were treated with a standard dose of acetaminophen that did not exceed 4 grams during a 24-hour period -- a dose that is in line with FDA recommendations for children. In most cases, acetaminophen was used to treat pain, such as postoperative pain or infection. Children received acetaminophen orally, by intravenous infusion, as a suppository, and by feeding tube.
Liver complications were reported in 10 children out of the entire study population. Among this group, two children who discontinued acetaminophen use were found to have had acute viral hepatitis. The findings were published in the December issue of Pediatrics.
Acetaminophen is, for many people, a medicine cabinet staple. The drug has been available over-the-counter in pediatric formulations since 1959. According to the authors, it is the most common pain reliever administered to American children. Every week, an estimated 11.1% of the 73.7 million children in the U.S. receive acetaminophen.
The authors note that the question of causality, particularly with greater doses of acetaminophen, remains unclear. However, the overall risk of liver toxicity to children who take doses that fall within FDA recommendations appears quite low. “Few reports contain sufficient data to support a probable causal relationship,” the researchers write.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa On Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
A review of the medical literature indicates that despite a reported association between liver toxicity and acetaminophen use, the risk of children developing any kind of liver damage after taking the everyday painkiller at recommended dosing is less than 0.01%.
Acetaminophen overdosing is associated with liver toxicity in children and adults, but in this study, researchers led by Eric J. Lavonas, MD, from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, wanted to evaluate the risk of standard acetaminophen doses. Looking at data on 32,414 children, from newborns to young adults, they found that not a single child who took acetaminophen therapeutically showed signs of liver disease, received antidotes or transplantation, or died.
Combing the Medical Literature
Using medical data sources dating back to 1950, Lavonas and his team included 62 clinical studies and case reports in their analysis. The trials occurred in both the industrialized and developing worlds, and children treated in private practices, hospitals, intensive care units, and clinics. The children were treated with a standard dose of acetaminophen that did not exceed 4 grams during a 24-hour period -- a dose that is in line with FDA recommendations for children. In most cases, acetaminophen was used to treat pain, such as postoperative pain or infection. Children received acetaminophen orally, by intravenous infusion, as a suppository, and by feeding tube.
Liver complications were reported in 10 children out of the entire study population. Among this group, two children who discontinued acetaminophen use were found to have had acute viral hepatitis. The findings were published in the December issue of Pediatrics.
Acetaminophen is, for many people, a medicine cabinet staple. The drug has been available over-the-counter in pediatric formulations since 1959. According to the authors, it is the most common pain reliever administered to American children. Every week, an estimated 11.1% of the 73.7 million children in the U.S. receive acetaminophen.
The authors note that the question of causality, particularly with greater doses of acetaminophen, remains unclear. However, the overall risk of liver toxicity to children who take doses that fall within FDA recommendations appears quite low. “Few reports contain sufficient data to support a probable causal relationship,” the researchers write.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa On Call" or log onto www.drasa.com
Most Shocking Health Stories of 2010
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Chilean Miners Survive 69 Days Below GroundOn August 5, the historically unstable San Jose gold and copper mine in northern Chile caved in while 33 miners were working. The miners were widely assumed dead, but on August 22, a note was pulled up through a borehole: We are OK in the refuge, the 33 said. Against all odds, the men were alive 2,000 feet below the surface. But it could take several months to reach them. From then on, the miners, who had spent 17 days rationing out spoonfuls of tuna fish and milk, captivated the world with their remarkable survival skills and discipline. For more than two months, they lived in a 165-square-foot cavern below the earth as Chilean President Sebastian Pinera called in experts from across the world to assist in the delicate rescue process. Using a thin tube to send supplies like nutrient-packed gels, food, water, medication, oxygen, and even empanadas and cigarettes, doctors and health officials nursed the men back to health. Psychologists above monitored the miners and talked to them about their anxiety and fear on a telephone. On October 12, as the entire world tuned in, the miners ascended one by one in a special capsule over the course of 24 hours. Three miners had immediate surgery for dental problems, while others were treated for tooth infections and corneal problems. One miner recovered from pneumonia, while two others had a respiratory condition from breathing in silica dust. But all expect a full physical recovery.
Baby Smokes 40 Cigarettes a Day but Manages to QuitTwo-year-old Indonesian toddler Aldi Suganda soared to international fame when a video of him chain-smoking cigarettes went viral. The pudgy toddler was filmed expertly holding a cigarette between his index and middle finger and exhaling. Soon, people from around the world were in an uproar, and the story expanded: The kid really did have a habit to the tune of 40 cigarettes a day and threw violent temper tantrums when he couldn't get his fix. His fish merchant parents had allowed Aldi to wander the market as they worked. One day, they found their then 11-month-old smoking "like an adult," according to his mother. Anti-smoking organizations note that while Aldi's case is dramatic, many children in Indonesia smoke due to the government's lack of health education and lax oversight of tobacco company advertising. After news crews arrived at their door, Aldi's parents enrolled the child in a smoking cessation program. In September, officials announced that Aldi had quit smoking.
Bret Michaels' Brain HemorrhageOn April 12, Bret Michaels -- former Poison lead singer and bandanna-wearing reality TV star -- was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Just two weeks later on April 23, the rocker began complaining of an excruciating headache after a day of vomiting. In fact, the headache was a symptom of a massive brain hemorrhage, which landed Michaels in the ICU in critical condition. Michaels, a diabetic, emerged from the ordeal in good sprits, blogging that there were "hot nurses taking care of me." Then on May 2, Michaels felt numbness and pain on a side of his body and was diagnosed with a hole in his heart, which is treatable. Since his release from the hospital, Michaels has reconciled with his on-again, off-again girlfriend and the mother of his children. The man who has made a career of being a player says he's considering marriage because he feels he has been given a "second chance."
Rash of Cancer Hoaxes -- and an Acid HoaxAshley Anne Kirilow, pictured right, shaved her head, plucked her eyebrows, starved herself to look like a cancer patient and founded a bogus cancer research charity to take in $30,000. Jessica Vega tricked friends, family and even her new husband into believing she had terminal leukemia, apparently in order to score a free wedding dress, honeymoon and jewelry. Carol Lynn Schnuphase drugged her healthy 12-year-old son and shaved his head so that he appeared to have cancer. Bethany Storro said a stranger threw acid in her face but later admitted the disfiguring attack was self-inflicted. The year has been a big one for health hoaxes -- usually the result of mental illness or sociopathic tendencies, experts theorize. "This could be a combination of self-mutilation and Munchausen syndrome," AOL Health's Mental Health Specialist Dr. Daniel Carlat said of Storro. "Prisons are filled with people like this," Dr. Neil I. Bernstein said of Kirilow, noting that antisocial personality disorder is a likely diagnosis for such a person. The afflicted repeatedly break the law; disregard the safety of others; lie, steal or fight constantly; and generally violate social norms to take advantage of the system. Neither Carlat nor Bernstein treats any of those accused of health hoaxes.
Mom-to-Be Cut in Half to Remove CancerCanadian Janis Ollson, pictured right, was called a "miracle mom" after she survived an experimental operation during which she was literally cut in half and sewn back together while she was pregnant. Three years ago, while pregnant with her second child, Ollson was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a form of untreatable bone cancer. She had suffered extreme back pain that she and doctors assumed was sciatica. Since the cancer was diagnosed after it had spread through her bones, surgeons at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., determined that they would need to remove her leg, lower spine and half of her pelvis -- a procedure performed only on cadavers before. The doctors' main challenge was how to put Ollson back together again and they succeeded. Ollson went forward with the surgery, receiving a prosthetic leg and pelvis. She snowmobiles; grocery shops; drives an ATV; and uses a wheelchair, crutches or a walker to get around. "There's some purpose to all this whether I know it or not," she told the Winnipeg Free Press.
Gay Teen Suicide EpidemicIn September 2010, at least six gay youth -- some as young as 13 -- committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied. Perhaps the most well-known case concerns Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University who jumped off a bridge after learning that his sexual encounter with another man had been streamed live on the Internet by his roommate. Though LGBT teens have long been far more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers, the September suicides led to public outrage directed at bullies, gay-shaming churches, and unsupportive school administrators and parents. "Stigmatizing someone for being gay is like criticizing them for having brown hair," Carlat told AOL Health. "It is really a relic of another era." Journalist Dan Savage began an online campaign called "It Gets Better," aimed at decreasing the sense of isolation and hopelessness many young LGBT people experience. LGBT adults were encouraged to produce and upload home videos that repeated a single message: Life gets better; don't end yours now.
First Full Face Transplant a SuccessA Spanish farmer had accidentally blown off his entire face in a gun accident five years ago, but surgeons in Barcelona successfully gave him an entirely new set of features. Oscar, 31, who did not reveal his last name, had been unable to eat solid foods, speak or breathe independently since 2005. In March, he underwent a 24-hour surgery, during which doctors transplanted a donor face, including a jaw, nose, muscles, teeth, eyelids and nose onto Oscar's head. The surgery was the first of its kind (previous face transplants have been partial). In July, Oscar appeared at a press conference to reveal his masklike new face. Though in the preliminary stages of an estimated 18 months of physical therapy and recovery, Oscar could drink liquids, eat soft foods and speak -- and he even grew beard hair on his new chin. He was ready to do "little things, like walking down the street without anyone looking at him or sitting down for a meal with his family," his sister said.
More Than a Half Billion Eggs Recalled Due to Salmonella ConcernsConsumers were disgusted by the factory-farming truths that August's large-scale egg recall brought to light. The contaminated eggs had come out of Iowa -- mainly from the major distributor Wright County Egg -- and had sickened nearly 2,000 people across the country. News reports showed that Wright County Egg, which supplied wholesalers throughout the country, had a troubling past. The owner, Austin "Jack" DeCoster, has sold salmonella-tainted eggs before, causing a 1987 outbreak at a New York City hospital that sickened 500 chronically ill and elderly patients, killing nine. His company has been accused of providing unsafe working conditions, committing environmental violations, harassing workers, hiring illegal immigrants and violating health codes. During the recent recall, investigators found salmonella in bone meal used in feed for young birds. Some of DeCoster's farms had manure piles, dead rodents, dead maggots and flies. Workers failed to follow anti-contamination protocol. But jaded experts doubted that any significant changes would be implemented after the initial outrage. "Food tends to be the poor stepchild for the FDA," Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, told AOL Health. "There have been numerous outbreaks over [the] last five or six years that focused congressional attention, but we've been waiting over a year for the Senate to act."
Health Effects of Haiti's EarthquakeThe January 12 earthquake devastated Haiti, an already-fragile country, killing and severely injuring hundreds of thousands and rendering 1.5 million people homeless in the dense, impoverished capital of Port-au-Prince. But afterwards, things got even worse for the survivors, as a major public health crisis descended. Because much of Haiti's already unsteady infrastructure (including hospitals) was destroyed in the quake, patients with abrasions and broken bones, which would be easily fixed in a more developed country, were at risk for infection, blood clots and death. Those with more severe conditions often went without medical care for days or weeks, and people with limbs that may have been salvaged with quick, efficient care often were forced to undergo amputations. Doctors and medical supplies were unable to make their way through destroyed roads. Drinking water was contaminated, and sanitation systems were broken, allowing raw sewage to flow freely. Malnutrition, dehydration, fever and diarrhea swept the makeshift camps, where many shelters were constructed of salvaged plastic and sticks. People living in the shelters were particularly vulnerable to mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria and dengue fever during the rainy season; one doctor in a Brazilian field hospital reported a 1,000 percent rise in malaria cases after the earthquake. Currently, a cholera outbreak threatens to sweep through the tent cities, where, 10 months after the earthquake, nearly 1.3 million people still live.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Chilean Miners Survive 69 Days Below GroundOn August 5, the historically unstable San Jose gold and copper mine in northern Chile caved in while 33 miners were working. The miners were widely assumed dead, but on August 22, a note was pulled up through a borehole: We are OK in the refuge, the 33 said. Against all odds, the men were alive 2,000 feet below the surface. But it could take several months to reach them. From then on, the miners, who had spent 17 days rationing out spoonfuls of tuna fish and milk, captivated the world with their remarkable survival skills and discipline. For more than two months, they lived in a 165-square-foot cavern below the earth as Chilean President Sebastian Pinera called in experts from across the world to assist in the delicate rescue process. Using a thin tube to send supplies like nutrient-packed gels, food, water, medication, oxygen, and even empanadas and cigarettes, doctors and health officials nursed the men back to health. Psychologists above monitored the miners and talked to them about their anxiety and fear on a telephone. On October 12, as the entire world tuned in, the miners ascended one by one in a special capsule over the course of 24 hours. Three miners had immediate surgery for dental problems, while others were treated for tooth infections and corneal problems. One miner recovered from pneumonia, while two others had a respiratory condition from breathing in silica dust. But all expect a full physical recovery.
Baby Smokes 40 Cigarettes a Day but Manages to QuitTwo-year-old Indonesian toddler Aldi Suganda soared to international fame when a video of him chain-smoking cigarettes went viral. The pudgy toddler was filmed expertly holding a cigarette between his index and middle finger and exhaling. Soon, people from around the world were in an uproar, and the story expanded: The kid really did have a habit to the tune of 40 cigarettes a day and threw violent temper tantrums when he couldn't get his fix. His fish merchant parents had allowed Aldi to wander the market as they worked. One day, they found their then 11-month-old smoking "like an adult," according to his mother. Anti-smoking organizations note that while Aldi's case is dramatic, many children in Indonesia smoke due to the government's lack of health education and lax oversight of tobacco company advertising. After news crews arrived at their door, Aldi's parents enrolled the child in a smoking cessation program. In September, officials announced that Aldi had quit smoking.
Bret Michaels' Brain HemorrhageOn April 12, Bret Michaels -- former Poison lead singer and bandanna-wearing reality TV star -- was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Just two weeks later on April 23, the rocker began complaining of an excruciating headache after a day of vomiting. In fact, the headache was a symptom of a massive brain hemorrhage, which landed Michaels in the ICU in critical condition. Michaels, a diabetic, emerged from the ordeal in good sprits, blogging that there were "hot nurses taking care of me." Then on May 2, Michaels felt numbness and pain on a side of his body and was diagnosed with a hole in his heart, which is treatable. Since his release from the hospital, Michaels has reconciled with his on-again, off-again girlfriend and the mother of his children. The man who has made a career of being a player says he's considering marriage because he feels he has been given a "second chance."
Rash of Cancer Hoaxes -- and an Acid HoaxAshley Anne Kirilow, pictured right, shaved her head, plucked her eyebrows, starved herself to look like a cancer patient and founded a bogus cancer research charity to take in $30,000. Jessica Vega tricked friends, family and even her new husband into believing she had terminal leukemia, apparently in order to score a free wedding dress, honeymoon and jewelry. Carol Lynn Schnuphase drugged her healthy 12-year-old son and shaved his head so that he appeared to have cancer. Bethany Storro said a stranger threw acid in her face but later admitted the disfiguring attack was self-inflicted. The year has been a big one for health hoaxes -- usually the result of mental illness or sociopathic tendencies, experts theorize. "This could be a combination of self-mutilation and Munchausen syndrome," AOL Health's Mental Health Specialist Dr. Daniel Carlat said of Storro. "Prisons are filled with people like this," Dr. Neil I. Bernstein said of Kirilow, noting that antisocial personality disorder is a likely diagnosis for such a person. The afflicted repeatedly break the law; disregard the safety of others; lie, steal or fight constantly; and generally violate social norms to take advantage of the system. Neither Carlat nor Bernstein treats any of those accused of health hoaxes.
Mom-to-Be Cut in Half to Remove CancerCanadian Janis Ollson, pictured right, was called a "miracle mom" after she survived an experimental operation during which she was literally cut in half and sewn back together while she was pregnant. Three years ago, while pregnant with her second child, Ollson was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a form of untreatable bone cancer. She had suffered extreme back pain that she and doctors assumed was sciatica. Since the cancer was diagnosed after it had spread through her bones, surgeons at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., determined that they would need to remove her leg, lower spine and half of her pelvis -- a procedure performed only on cadavers before. The doctors' main challenge was how to put Ollson back together again and they succeeded. Ollson went forward with the surgery, receiving a prosthetic leg and pelvis. She snowmobiles; grocery shops; drives an ATV; and uses a wheelchair, crutches or a walker to get around. "There's some purpose to all this whether I know it or not," she told the Winnipeg Free Press.
Gay Teen Suicide EpidemicIn September 2010, at least six gay youth -- some as young as 13 -- committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied. Perhaps the most well-known case concerns Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University who jumped off a bridge after learning that his sexual encounter with another man had been streamed live on the Internet by his roommate. Though LGBT teens have long been far more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers, the September suicides led to public outrage directed at bullies, gay-shaming churches, and unsupportive school administrators and parents. "Stigmatizing someone for being gay is like criticizing them for having brown hair," Carlat told AOL Health. "It is really a relic of another era." Journalist Dan Savage began an online campaign called "It Gets Better," aimed at decreasing the sense of isolation and hopelessness many young LGBT people experience. LGBT adults were encouraged to produce and upload home videos that repeated a single message: Life gets better; don't end yours now.
First Full Face Transplant a SuccessA Spanish farmer had accidentally blown off his entire face in a gun accident five years ago, but surgeons in Barcelona successfully gave him an entirely new set of features. Oscar, 31, who did not reveal his last name, had been unable to eat solid foods, speak or breathe independently since 2005. In March, he underwent a 24-hour surgery, during which doctors transplanted a donor face, including a jaw, nose, muscles, teeth, eyelids and nose onto Oscar's head. The surgery was the first of its kind (previous face transplants have been partial). In July, Oscar appeared at a press conference to reveal his masklike new face. Though in the preliminary stages of an estimated 18 months of physical therapy and recovery, Oscar could drink liquids, eat soft foods and speak -- and he even grew beard hair on his new chin. He was ready to do "little things, like walking down the street without anyone looking at him or sitting down for a meal with his family," his sister said.
More Than a Half Billion Eggs Recalled Due to Salmonella ConcernsConsumers were disgusted by the factory-farming truths that August's large-scale egg recall brought to light. The contaminated eggs had come out of Iowa -- mainly from the major distributor Wright County Egg -- and had sickened nearly 2,000 people across the country. News reports showed that Wright County Egg, which supplied wholesalers throughout the country, had a troubling past. The owner, Austin "Jack" DeCoster, has sold salmonella-tainted eggs before, causing a 1987 outbreak at a New York City hospital that sickened 500 chronically ill and elderly patients, killing nine. His company has been accused of providing unsafe working conditions, committing environmental violations, harassing workers, hiring illegal immigrants and violating health codes. During the recent recall, investigators found salmonella in bone meal used in feed for young birds. Some of DeCoster's farms had manure piles, dead rodents, dead maggots and flies. Workers failed to follow anti-contamination protocol. But jaded experts doubted that any significant changes would be implemented after the initial outrage. "Food tends to be the poor stepchild for the FDA," Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, told AOL Health. "There have been numerous outbreaks over [the] last five or six years that focused congressional attention, but we've been waiting over a year for the Senate to act."
Health Effects of Haiti's EarthquakeThe January 12 earthquake devastated Haiti, an already-fragile country, killing and severely injuring hundreds of thousands and rendering 1.5 million people homeless in the dense, impoverished capital of Port-au-Prince. But afterwards, things got even worse for the survivors, as a major public health crisis descended. Because much of Haiti's already unsteady infrastructure (including hospitals) was destroyed in the quake, patients with abrasions and broken bones, which would be easily fixed in a more developed country, were at risk for infection, blood clots and death. Those with more severe conditions often went without medical care for days or weeks, and people with limbs that may have been salvaged with quick, efficient care often were forced to undergo amputations. Doctors and medical supplies were unable to make their way through destroyed roads. Drinking water was contaminated, and sanitation systems were broken, allowing raw sewage to flow freely. Malnutrition, dehydration, fever and diarrhea swept the makeshift camps, where many shelters were constructed of salvaged plastic and sticks. People living in the shelters were particularly vulnerable to mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria and dengue fever during the rainy season; one doctor in a Brazilian field hospital reported a 1,000 percent rise in malaria cases after the earthquake. Currently, a cholera outbreak threatens to sweep through the tent cities, where, 10 months after the earthquake, nearly 1.3 million people still live.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Heightened Sense of Smell Linked to Obesity
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:
We all know our noses can often lead us into temptation when it comes to food.
Would you really eat all that popcorn at the movie theater if that buttery smell was not wafting out into the street? But for people who are obese, sense of smell may play a bigger role than we realize in causing them to eat too much.
A new study from researchers at the University of Portsmouth in Great Britain has demonstrated that people with a higher body mass index also have a much more heightened sense of smell compared to thin people, particularly following a full meal. The research, published in the journal Chemical Senses last month, may help explain why overweight people eat more.
Leady study author Dr. Lorenzo Stafford says that that keener sense of smell may lead an overweight person to keep eating even though he or she is already full. The study included 64 volunteers asked to take tests in smelling ability both before and after eating a complete meal.
Dr. Lisa M. Davis, vice president of research and development with Medifast Inc., a physician-developed weight-loss system, reviewed the British study and told AOL Health that while it might seem counterintuitive, that heightened sense of smell following food consumption may actually help most people know that they are full so they stop eating.
"But for those with a higher BMI, greater olfactory sensitivity to the smell of food may actually foster the continuation of eating, as opposed to causing them to stop eating like individuals with a healthy BMI," Davis adds. "Obese consumers with a higher BMI have more of a drive to eat high fat, high sugar and highly palatable foods, which is consistent with a heightened taste sensitivity for these foods."
Davis goes on to explain that the opioid receptors in the brain drive the palatability of food, while dopaminergic receptors drive motivation for obtaining good tasting food to eat. "Studies have shown that obese individuals tend to have a dysfunction among these regulatory systems," she says.
But all of this begs the question as to whether obesity is driving the heightened sense of smell or whether the heightened sense of smell is driving one to eat more, leading to obesity. Davis says it's not a question she can answer, "but it makes a fascinating area of future research."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
We all know our noses can often lead us into temptation when it comes to food.
Would you really eat all that popcorn at the movie theater if that buttery smell was not wafting out into the street? But for people who are obese, sense of smell may play a bigger role than we realize in causing them to eat too much.
A new study from researchers at the University of Portsmouth in Great Britain has demonstrated that people with a higher body mass index also have a much more heightened sense of smell compared to thin people, particularly following a full meal. The research, published in the journal Chemical Senses last month, may help explain why overweight people eat more.
Leady study author Dr. Lorenzo Stafford says that that keener sense of smell may lead an overweight person to keep eating even though he or she is already full. The study included 64 volunteers asked to take tests in smelling ability both before and after eating a complete meal.
Dr. Lisa M. Davis, vice president of research and development with Medifast Inc., a physician-developed weight-loss system, reviewed the British study and told AOL Health that while it might seem counterintuitive, that heightened sense of smell following food consumption may actually help most people know that they are full so they stop eating.
"But for those with a higher BMI, greater olfactory sensitivity to the smell of food may actually foster the continuation of eating, as opposed to causing them to stop eating like individuals with a healthy BMI," Davis adds. "Obese consumers with a higher BMI have more of a drive to eat high fat, high sugar and highly palatable foods, which is consistent with a heightened taste sensitivity for these foods."
Davis goes on to explain that the opioid receptors in the brain drive the palatability of food, while dopaminergic receptors drive motivation for obtaining good tasting food to eat. "Studies have shown that obese individuals tend to have a dysfunction among these regulatory systems," she says.
But all of this begs the question as to whether obesity is driving the heightened sense of smell or whether the heightened sense of smell is driving one to eat more, leading to obesity. Davis says it's not a question she can answer, "but it makes a fascinating area of future research."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Number of Uninsured Americans Nears 47 Million
The following artilce will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call, with Dr. Asa Andrew:
The government says the number of uninsured Americans is now nearly 47 million, up about 7 percent from 2006. And a large percentage of people say they have put off health care for conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
However, the rate of uninsured has not increased significantly in recent years. That's in part because the population has also been growing and because the proportion of uninsured children has been shrinking.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report this week on the uninsured based on tens of thousands of in-person interviews for the years 2006 through early 2010. The number of people who said they were uninsured at the time they were interviewed is up from almost 44 million in 2006.
People also were asked if they had been without health insurance at some point in the previous year. About 59 million said yes.
Last year, more than 40 percent of uninsured adults said they recently skipped some medical care because of cost.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
The government says the number of uninsured Americans is now nearly 47 million, up about 7 percent from 2006. And a large percentage of people say they have put off health care for conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
However, the rate of uninsured has not increased significantly in recent years. That's in part because the population has also been growing and because the proportion of uninsured children has been shrinking.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report this week on the uninsured based on tens of thousands of in-person interviews for the years 2006 through early 2010. The number of people who said they were uninsured at the time they were interviewed is up from almost 44 million in 2006.
People also were asked if they had been without health insurance at some point in the previous year. About 59 million said yes.
Last year, more than 40 percent of uninsured adults said they recently skipped some medical care because of cost.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Exercise May Cut Endometrial Cancer Risk
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Exercising 150 minutes or more every week may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer by a third, according to a study.
Researchers led by Herbert Yu, MD, MSc, PhD, associate professor at Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn., compared 668 women with endometrial cancer with 665 women of the same age who did not have the disease. Women answered questionnaires about their lifestyles, environment, and physical and recreational activities.
Based on the survey results, the researchers found that:
Women who exercised 150 minutes a week or more had a 34% reduction in endometrial cancer even after adjusting for other factors such as body mass index (BMI), a measurement of height and weight.
When looking at BMI and activity levels, women who were active and had a BMI of 25 or less showed an even greater reduction at 73%.
Women who were of a normal weight but inactive had a 55% lowered risk, whereas women who were overweight and active had a 38% reduced risk.
The findings were presented at the Ninth Annual American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference held in Philadelphia.
Researchers said the results suggest that both exercise and BMI levels affect endometrial cancer risk and that they also reaffirm earlier findings showing an independent association between exercise and a lowered risk for endometrial cancer.
The CDC recommends adults ages 18 to 64 get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups on two or more days a week.
Endometrial cancer is a cancer that forms in the lining of the uterus. The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be 43,470 new cases and 7,950 deaths from endometrial cancer in the U.S. in 2010.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Exercising 150 minutes or more every week may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer by a third, according to a study.
Researchers led by Herbert Yu, MD, MSc, PhD, associate professor at Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn., compared 668 women with endometrial cancer with 665 women of the same age who did not have the disease. Women answered questionnaires about their lifestyles, environment, and physical and recreational activities.
Based on the survey results, the researchers found that:
Women who exercised 150 minutes a week or more had a 34% reduction in endometrial cancer even after adjusting for other factors such as body mass index (BMI), a measurement of height and weight.
When looking at BMI and activity levels, women who were active and had a BMI of 25 or less showed an even greater reduction at 73%.
Women who were of a normal weight but inactive had a 55% lowered risk, whereas women who were overweight and active had a 38% reduced risk.
The findings were presented at the Ninth Annual American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference held in Philadelphia.
Researchers said the results suggest that both exercise and BMI levels affect endometrial cancer risk and that they also reaffirm earlier findings showing an independent association between exercise and a lowered risk for endometrial cancer.
The CDC recommends adults ages 18 to 64 get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups on two or more days a week.
Endometrial cancer is a cancer that forms in the lining of the uterus. The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be 43,470 new cases and 7,950 deaths from endometrial cancer in the U.S. in 2010.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
Family History Underused as Predictor of Future Illness
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Dr. Asa on Call " with Dr. Asa Andrew:
Make Grandma spill the beans: Uncovering all the diseases that lurk in your family tree can trump costly genetic testing in predicting what illnesses you and your children are likely to face.
It may sound old-fashioned, but a Cleveland Clinic study comparing which method best uncovered an increased risk of cancer helps confirm the value of what's called a family health history.
All it costs is a little time questioning your relatives, yet good family health trees are rare. A government survey estimated less than a third of families have one -- and time-crunched doctors seldom push their patients to remedy that.
"I view family health histories as back to the future," says Dr. Charis Eng, a cancer geneticist at the Cleveland Clinic's Genomic Medicine Institute. "It's the best kept secret in health care."
Holiday gatherings can be a good chance to gather the information, as can reunions or even funerals. The U.S. Surgeon General operates a free website -- https://familyhistory.hhs.gov -- that helps people create a family health history and share it electronically with relatives and their doctor.
However you do it, get the scoop on both sides of the family, says another study of 2,500 women. Researchers found that women not only know less about the health of their paternal relatives, they tend to dismiss the threat of breast cancer if it's on Dad's side.
"It's a risk no matter what," says Dr. Wendy Rubinstein of Chicago's NorthShore University Health System, who presented the research last week at a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.
Far too often, a family health history consists of whatever you happen to jot down on that clipboard in the doctor's waiting room. Mom hasn't confided her soaring cholesterol? Can't recall what killed Aunt Mary? Don't realize that the hunched back of Grandma and her sisters could foreshadow your osteoporosis? Or maybe Dad never mentioned that in his 40s he survived the prostate cancer that killed his own father.
Looking for patterns of familial illness can predict someone's brewing health risks, so gaps can be a problem.
How does a good history compare with those online genomic testing services -- sold without a doctor's prescription for hundreds of dollars -- that analyze DNA glitches and predict people's predisposition to various diseases?
To find out, the Cleveland Clinic's Eng recruited 44 people -- 22 patients in her family cancer clinic and their spouses -- for a family health history and a saliva test from one of those genomic services, Navigenics, to calculate their risk for colon cancer and breast or prostate cancer.
Both approaches classified about 40 percent of participants as having above-average risk - but they picked the same people only about half the time. For example, the genomic screening missed all nine people with a strong family risk of colon cancer, five of whom Eng's clinic gave extra scrutiny to prove they carried a specific gene mutation.
"A patient might have done this testing and been very reassured and not come to medical care," she told last week's geneticists' meeting.
On the other hand, Navigenics listed eight men at risk for prostate cancer when their family history predicted a risk no higher than average.
Why the difference? No matter the brand, genomic screening takes a broad look at DNA variations, including some that scientists aren't sure play a big role. Yet it often doesn't include high-profile gene mutations that are linked for specific diseases and can require more specialized testing, Eng explains.
Navigenics didn't return a call for comment.
"Family history remains the best genetic tool we have, but health care providers are not taking advantage" of it, says Dr. Maren Scheuner of the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Los Angeles, who is leading a pilot project to add family cancer histories to the VA's electronic medical records at two area clinics.
Popularity may be growing. The surgeon general's office counts nearly 30,000 new visitors a month to its "My Family Health Portrait" Web site since summer, about a third of whom return, suggesting they're compiling an electronic family health tree.
Chicago's Rubinstein, who is testing a next-generation tool, found that women's newly created family health histories include much more information than was in their regular medical charts -- even if they did need a nudge about the paternal side.
"It's not uncommon to think, 'I look like one parent, that affects the illness I'm going to get,'" Rubinstein says. "Generally that's not the case."
Because genes seldom are destiny, a family health tree also should reflect shared environmental or lifestyle factors that can further affect an inherited risk, says James O'Leary of the nonprofit Genetic Alliance, which just won government funding to help spread family health histories to community health centers that serve the poor.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or online at www.drasa.com
Make Grandma spill the beans: Uncovering all the diseases that lurk in your family tree can trump costly genetic testing in predicting what illnesses you and your children are likely to face.
It may sound old-fashioned, but a Cleveland Clinic study comparing which method best uncovered an increased risk of cancer helps confirm the value of what's called a family health history.
All it costs is a little time questioning your relatives, yet good family health trees are rare. A government survey estimated less than a third of families have one -- and time-crunched doctors seldom push their patients to remedy that.
"I view family health histories as back to the future," says Dr. Charis Eng, a cancer geneticist at the Cleveland Clinic's Genomic Medicine Institute. "It's the best kept secret in health care."
Holiday gatherings can be a good chance to gather the information, as can reunions or even funerals. The U.S. Surgeon General operates a free website -- https://familyhistory.hhs.gov -- that helps people create a family health history and share it electronically with relatives and their doctor.
However you do it, get the scoop on both sides of the family, says another study of 2,500 women. Researchers found that women not only know less about the health of their paternal relatives, they tend to dismiss the threat of breast cancer if it's on Dad's side.
"It's a risk no matter what," says Dr. Wendy Rubinstein of Chicago's NorthShore University Health System, who presented the research last week at a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.
Far too often, a family health history consists of whatever you happen to jot down on that clipboard in the doctor's waiting room. Mom hasn't confided her soaring cholesterol? Can't recall what killed Aunt Mary? Don't realize that the hunched back of Grandma and her sisters could foreshadow your osteoporosis? Or maybe Dad never mentioned that in his 40s he survived the prostate cancer that killed his own father.
Looking for patterns of familial illness can predict someone's brewing health risks, so gaps can be a problem.
How does a good history compare with those online genomic testing services -- sold without a doctor's prescription for hundreds of dollars -- that analyze DNA glitches and predict people's predisposition to various diseases?
To find out, the Cleveland Clinic's Eng recruited 44 people -- 22 patients in her family cancer clinic and their spouses -- for a family health history and a saliva test from one of those genomic services, Navigenics, to calculate their risk for colon cancer and breast or prostate cancer.
Both approaches classified about 40 percent of participants as having above-average risk - but they picked the same people only about half the time. For example, the genomic screening missed all nine people with a strong family risk of colon cancer, five of whom Eng's clinic gave extra scrutiny to prove they carried a specific gene mutation.
"A patient might have done this testing and been very reassured and not come to medical care," she told last week's geneticists' meeting.
On the other hand, Navigenics listed eight men at risk for prostate cancer when their family history predicted a risk no higher than average.
Why the difference? No matter the brand, genomic screening takes a broad look at DNA variations, including some that scientists aren't sure play a big role. Yet it often doesn't include high-profile gene mutations that are linked for specific diseases and can require more specialized testing, Eng explains.
Navigenics didn't return a call for comment.
"Family history remains the best genetic tool we have, but health care providers are not taking advantage" of it, says Dr. Maren Scheuner of the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Los Angeles, who is leading a pilot project to add family cancer histories to the VA's electronic medical records at two area clinics.
Popularity may be growing. The surgeon general's office counts nearly 30,000 new visitors a month to its "My Family Health Portrait" Web site since summer, about a third of whom return, suggesting they're compiling an electronic family health tree.
Chicago's Rubinstein, who is testing a next-generation tool, found that women's newly created family health histories include much more information than was in their regular medical charts -- even if they did need a nudge about the paternal side.
"It's not uncommon to think, 'I look like one parent, that affects the illness I'm going to get,'" Rubinstein says. "Generally that's not the case."
Because genes seldom are destiny, a family health tree also should reflect shared environmental or lifestyle factors that can further affect an inherited risk, says James O'Leary of the nonprofit Genetic Alliance, which just won government funding to help spread family health histories to community health centers that serve the poor.
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for "Dr. Asa on Call" or online at www.drasa.com
U.S. Adult Obesity Rate Expected to Climb to 42 Percent
The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:
While recent estimates have claimed that as many as a third of Americans are obese, that isn't the worst of it. According to a new study out of Harvard University, the U.S. population is going to keep getting fatter until 42 percent of adults can claim the title of "obese." And the reason for the increase may be as simple as who we hang out with.
Obesity is defined as weighing 20 percent or more above ideal body weight or having a body mass index of 30 or higher. BMI is figured by taking a person's weight in pounds times 703 and dividing it by height in inches squared. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not only are a third of Americans obese, but another third are overweight, which is defined as a BMI of 25 or more.
Researchers at Harvard concluded that people who socialize with people who are obese are more likely to become obese as well. The study used mathematical modeling with data from the Framingham Heart Study to determine that obesity appears to spread, almost the same way an infectious disease does. The research was published in the most recent issue of PLoS Computational Biology.
"We don't know what's at work here," lead study author Alison Hill, a graduate student in biophysics at Harvard, told AOL Health. "This study opens up an interesting new area." Hill says there's a lot of room for speculation, including the idea that people may adopt the habits of friends or that socializing with overweight people shifts a person's own sense of what represents a social norm.
The only problem with that kind of reasoning is that slimness doesn't have the same contagious effect, according to the study. Hill is quick to note, however, that her background is mathematical modeling, and she has no expertise in the biological factors that lead to obesity.
Dr. Michael Wolfe, chairman of the Department of Medicine at MetroHealth in Cleveland, doesn't buy the idea that this study will hold up scientifically. "I'm a basic scientist for a reason," he told AOL Health. "In these kinds of studies, you'll find the exact opposite next week." He feels it's true that one's social network will influence one's size, regardless of whether that network is thin or fat.
"If everyone around you is obese, it becomes more socially acceptable to be obese," he explains. "Aberrant behavior is more acceptable when others do it."
So does this study mean you should dump your fat friends? Well, not exactly. "A more positive way to look at it is that it's in your own best interest to help your friends lose weight," says Hill. That means if you and your girlfriends typically bond over pizza and ice cream, perhaps a few shared laps around the park might serve all of you better.
Hill said she would also like to emphasize that the social factors that lead to obesity don't appear to be nearly as significant as environmental factors. That means that regardless of how big your friends are, your own eating and exercise habits, genetic make-up and overall health still play the biggest role in what numbers you'll see when you step on that scale.
Wolfe says we all need to make an effort to fight our basic biology, which has designed us to be absorbers and storers of fat. "If you're full, stop eating," he says. "Put your utensils down between bites. Eat more slowly. And never waste calories on drinks."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
While recent estimates have claimed that as many as a third of Americans are obese, that isn't the worst of it. According to a new study out of Harvard University, the U.S. population is going to keep getting fatter until 42 percent of adults can claim the title of "obese." And the reason for the increase may be as simple as who we hang out with.
Obesity is defined as weighing 20 percent or more above ideal body weight or having a body mass index of 30 or higher. BMI is figured by taking a person's weight in pounds times 703 and dividing it by height in inches squared. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not only are a third of Americans obese, but another third are overweight, which is defined as a BMI of 25 or more.
Researchers at Harvard concluded that people who socialize with people who are obese are more likely to become obese as well. The study used mathematical modeling with data from the Framingham Heart Study to determine that obesity appears to spread, almost the same way an infectious disease does. The research was published in the most recent issue of PLoS Computational Biology.
"We don't know what's at work here," lead study author Alison Hill, a graduate student in biophysics at Harvard, told AOL Health. "This study opens up an interesting new area." Hill says there's a lot of room for speculation, including the idea that people may adopt the habits of friends or that socializing with overweight people shifts a person's own sense of what represents a social norm.
The only problem with that kind of reasoning is that slimness doesn't have the same contagious effect, according to the study. Hill is quick to note, however, that her background is mathematical modeling, and she has no expertise in the biological factors that lead to obesity.
Dr. Michael Wolfe, chairman of the Department of Medicine at MetroHealth in Cleveland, doesn't buy the idea that this study will hold up scientifically. "I'm a basic scientist for a reason," he told AOL Health. "In these kinds of studies, you'll find the exact opposite next week." He feels it's true that one's social network will influence one's size, regardless of whether that network is thin or fat.
"If everyone around you is obese, it becomes more socially acceptable to be obese," he explains. "Aberrant behavior is more acceptable when others do it."
So does this study mean you should dump your fat friends? Well, not exactly. "A more positive way to look at it is that it's in your own best interest to help your friends lose weight," says Hill. That means if you and your girlfriends typically bond over pizza and ice cream, perhaps a few shared laps around the park might serve all of you better.
Hill said she would also like to emphasize that the social factors that lead to obesity don't appear to be nearly as significant as environmental factors. That means that regardless of how big your friends are, your own eating and exercise habits, genetic make-up and overall health still play the biggest role in what numbers you'll see when you step on that scale.
Wolfe says we all need to make an effort to fight our basic biology, which has designed us to be absorbers and storers of fat. "If you're full, stop eating," he says. "Put your utensils down between bites. Eat more slowly. And never waste calories on drinks."
To hear more of Dr. Asa Andrew, join him for Dr. Asa on Call or log onto www.drasa.com
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