I have always held out that an airplane is not
a flying petri dish and you are not more likely to get infections.
Traveling, especially to new places, does expose you to different
viruses and bacteria than you might have
adapted to; which is why many people do get sick on these vacations.
But it is probably not related to the air travel. Check out this
article:
Article in Wired
One of the concerns about routine mammography
is that there are many false positives that lead to unnecessary biopsies
and issues. This occurs to ensure we catch all cancers, but has led to
some recommendations of decreased screening when looking at a risk/benefit profile.
I recently mentioned the improved accuracy of the 3-D mammogram. More
accurate and specific, as many of you know, is the MRI of the breast.
However, until now this took 30-45 minutes and was very expensive. Most
insurance companies require complex pre-approval processes.
Now
a group in Germany have developed a 3 minute breast MRI which is more
accurate and produces much less false positive results than standard
mammograms. Presumably the cost will be closer to existing mammograms.
If this is the case, there is the potential that the rapid breast MRI
will replace current mammograms!
Chicken pox is a relatively innocuous disease in children. Yet we now require vaccination. Many have wondered why this is?
In a recent study, researchers reviewed the incidences of complications of chicken pox since the
vaccine use has become widespread. Although rare, there were cases of
brain inflammation (encephalitis) and seizures with resulting permanent
neurological damage with the disease; these do not seem to occur with
the vaccine. As well, especially in adults, there were severe and often
life threatening complications such as blood infections (sepsis),
pneumonia, joint and bone infections and bleeding.
Furthermore,
in people whose immunity is suppressed, chicken pox can be fatal. This
includes HIV patients as well as many people undergoing treatment for
cancer.
Based on our current knowledge, the vaccine for chicken
pox (also known as varicella) is safer than getting the disease and
spreading it.
Do Lipid Blood Tests need to be Fasting?
Most physicians recommend that you fast for 12 hours or so before
checking your cholesterol or lipids. But is this absolutely necessary?
Researchers compared the LDL and HDL cholesterol levels as well
as the predictive values of these in patients fasting and non-fasting
and found there was little difference. We know that triglyceride levels
are very sensitive to eating, but it seems that triglyceride lowering
and levels are not useful in predicting or preventing heart disease.
Because certain foods can lead to high non-fasting sugar and
triglyceride levels which can lead to repeat testing, you should try to
avoid eating for at least 4 hours before a blood test, and avoid fatty
foods the day prior.
New drug for Insomnia - Is It Really different?
A new drug has been recently approved for insomnia. Suvorexant tablets
(marketed as Belsomra), works on a different pathway than traditional
sedatives and you will likely see a blast of TV advertisements.
But is it really so different? Yes and no - it does work on different
pathways so may be effective in people in whom previous drugs did not
work well. However it has many of the similar issues of existing
medications.
It may lead to dependence so that you cannot fall
asleep without it. In addition, it carries a risk for behaviors such as
driving, eating, having sex, and making phone calls while not fully
awake.
It may be marketed as "a new approach", which it is, but it really is not that different.
Many of us have seen Howie Mandel shake hands
with a fist pump; he has a phobia about germs and thinks that is a more
hygenic way to say hello.
So researchers decided to test that out. And it is true! One of
them (probably a medical student!) dipped his hand in a bacterial
broth, then fist pumped, high fived or shook the hand of another who was
wearing a latex glove. Then the glove was analyzed for bacteria.
A high five reduced transmission by 50% and fist pump by 90%.
I still shake hands; but wash frequently!
I have often waxed poetic on the benefits of
daily fruits and vegetables. And so researchers continue to publish
studies showing how they benefit us!
In the latest study they found that the more fruits and vegetables people consumed each day (up to five total servings), the lower the risk for death for any reason.
In particular, for consumption of five servings versus no servings daily,patients had a 25% lower risk of death.
Two servings of fruit and three of vegetables appeared to provide the
most benefits. Interestingly this was mostly related to cardiovascular
death rates; there was no difference in cancer rates in this study
(although there has been in others)
So perhaps Pink Floyd should change their song to "you can't have your pudding if you don't eat your fruits and vegetables!"
Most of us have heard about the scandal of
Lance Armstrong using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to help win his
record seven Tour de Frances. And many can understand the pressure he was under as a professional athlete.
However these days even teen athletes are subject to extreme pressure
to perform and win from parents and coaches. This is manifesting in
increased use of PEDs. And we all know teens do feel immortal!
In findings released last week by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
teen use of Growth Hormone increased in 2013 to 11% from 5% in 2012.
That's more than 1 in 10 teen athletes! And as more use the drug we can
expect the rate to increase due to the need for others to compete.
We need to continue to educate our teen athletes; and make these drugs more difficult to obtain!
We all know exercise is important. Usually 20
minutes a day are the guidelines. But a recent study showed that only 5
minutes a day of running; or 15 minutes of brisk walking was sufficient to decrease cardiovascular mortality by 45%!
The biggest risk was heat stroke in hotter climates. It is amazing how
many runners I see while I am cycling in Las Vegas jogging up the hills
in the hot dry desert climate. I hope they all drink enough water!
I try and ride my bicycle at least 3-4 hours a week. What do you do?
