The Simple Way To Boost Your Heart Health By 46%

By Marygrace Taylor

Photo credit: Jenny Acheson

If the inner tube that’s usually in the pool during those lazy, hazy days of summer is now firmly around your middle, here’s some news that’ll help deflate it and strengthen your heart in the process.

Daily exercise reduces your risk for heart failure by a whopping 46%, according to a big new study published in the journal Circulation. From 1997 to 2010, Swedish researchers tracked the exercise habits and heart failure rates of nearly 40,000 adults (all of whom were healthy at the outset). The more active folks were, the lower their risk of heart failure. And while any amount of exercise was better than none, those with the lowest heart failure risk did either 60 minutes of moderate activity (e.g., walking) or 30 minutes of vigorous activity (e.g., running) every day.

From: http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/daily-exercise-improves-heart-health-46

Aromatherapy May Ease Work Stress

Aromatherapy could help relieve work-related stress among oncology nurses, according to the results of a small study.

When an essential oil was diffused in the nurses station at James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, the nurses reported being less affected by tension, worry, and demands.

"A patient who had a diffuser in her room was saying how much it helped her; that's how we got the idea of seeing whether it could help our staff," Kelly Tomlinson-Pinkham, MSN, RN, OCN, told Medscape Medical News.

>READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE to learn about research that shows that complementary alternative medicine approaches, including aromatherapy, can help ease psychological stress.

Searching for You, using those paid sites to find people info

Finding information about someone has never been easier, thanks to Google. But, have you ever been tempted to pay for one of those "people search" websites to see what you can really find out about someone?

FactFinder 12 wanted to find out, so we paid for subscriptions to two of those services, Spokeo and Intelius. We then set up at the Wichita Public Library to see what we could learn about some volunteers.

The websites found relatives, jobs, email and home addresses, home values, age, race and education level. There was even a section for court records.

READ ON to find more detail how public records are available from 

Most Fitness Apps Don't Use Proven Motivational Techniques

If you downloaded a fitness app and didn't become a workout ninja, it may be that the app lacked the scientifically tested motivational techniques that would help get you off the couch.

Instead, most popular fitness apps focus more on teaching you how to do the exercise, according to researchers at Penn State University who analyzed the 200 top apps.

"You need motivational support to turn that knowledge into action," saysDavid Conroy, a kinesiology professor at Penn State who led the study, which was published Tuesday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

And that's where most of the 200 apps examined fell flat.

READ MORE to find out which apps used motivational rewards from Health News From NPR

Ocular Sealant Superior to Sutures After Cataract Surgery

BOSTON —The ocular ReSure Sealant (Ocular Therapeutix) provides a convenient, safe, and effective alternative to sutures after cataract surgery, according to results from a pivotal phase 3 randomized trial.

Corneal wound leaks are common after cataract surgery; the rate is as high as 85%, said Terry Kim, MD, professor of ophthalmology at the Duke University Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina.

"Even perfectly constructed wounds can be compromised with internal or external pressure or manipulation," he said.

Dr. Kim, who was among several speakers describing results with the ReSure Sealant, presented the findings here at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery 2014 Symposium.

The sealant, a synthetic polyethylene glycol hydrogel, was approved by US Food and Drug Administration in January. It is the first gel sealant approved in the United States to prevent wound leaks after cataract surgery.

> READ MORE to find out about the cost/risk/benefit tradeoffs from medscape.com

Antibiotics Often Used Inappropriately for Catheter-Associated Bacteriuria

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Clinicians often don't know how to manage catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria, so they overtreat it with antibiotics, a new survey suggests.

"We found that health care providers' cognitive biases, or mental shortcuts, are set incorrectly," said principal investigator Dr. Barbara W. Trautner of the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

"Certain cues ingrained during medical training, such as elevated white blood cells in the urine being diagnostic of urinary tract infection (UTI) in young women, are being applied incorrectly to patients with urinary catheters. These incorrect mental shortcuts lead to over-diagnosis of UTI in hospitalized patients with urinary catheters," she told Reuters Health by email.

>LEARN MORE about education and better methods to avoid overtreatment from medscape.com 

Diabetes Mellitus Due to Food Additives and Pollution?

The most commonly noted causes for the rise in diabetes mellitus are obesity and overeating but could food additives and pollution contribute? Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90-95% of all diabetes cases. In 2000, 171 million people worldwide had diabetes and that is expected to increase to 366 million by 2030. This epidemic has received a lot of attention but the fact remains that there is zero evidence that diabetes mellitus results from overeating and a sedentary lifestyle.

The problem with this disease, and many others, is that the mechanisms involved are so complex that approaches to managing the rise are more treatment-based than prevention-based.  The current model explaining type 2 diabetes assumes, without true evidence, that insulin resistance precedes elevated insulin levels. Hyperinsulinemia is thought to be the body’s compensatory response to insulin resistance but there is no understood mechanism by which such resistance triggers secretion.

In 2012, a meta-analysis published by the American Diabetes Association proposed that food additives may trigger type 2 diabetes. The study takes a critical view of the current disease model and the commonly blamed culprits: obesity, overeating, and an inactive lifestyle. Though the authors are of the opinion that hypersecretion of insulin is the catalyst of insulin resistance they conclude that there are likely many factors which could contribute.

READ MORE to find out previous medical conclusions were not scientifically based from  

The Trouble With Rice

 Consumers have already become alarmed over reports of rice-borne arsenic in everything from cereal bars to baby food. Some food manufacturers have stepped up screening for arsenic in their products, and agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration now recommend that people eat a variety of grains to “minimize potential adverse health consequences from eating an excess of any one food.”

But it’s not just arsenic and cadmium, which are present in soil both as naturally occurring elements and as industrial byproducts. Recent studies have shown that rice is custom-built to pull a number of metals from the soil, among them mercury and even tungsten. The findings have led to a new push by scientists and growers to make the grain less susceptible to metal contamination.

The highest levels often occur in brown rice, because elements like arsenic accumulate in bran and husk, which are polished off in the processing of white rice. The Department of Agriculture estimates that on average arsenic levels are 10 times as high in rice bran as in polished rice.

> READ MORE to find our where the levels are highest from the nytimes.com

More Smoking Equals Lower Quality of Life

ORLANDO, Florida ― Smoking cigarettes, even for a short time, is associated with a significantly lower quality of life (QoL), new research suggests.

A review of 54 studies that assessed QoL in relation to smoking showed that taking up smoking even for a brief duration was associated with lower physical, mental, and social functioning and increased depression.

"The message is important to get across to clinicians and to smokers and may help people quit," lead author Matthew Goldenberg, DO, from Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona, told Medscape Medical News.

"We are trying to change the perception that our patients with mental illness or co-occurring addictions have about smoking. They feel that smoking actually helps their nerves and calms them down, when in fact it actually has a negative impact on their quality of life, even if they've been smoking for a few weeks or months," he added.

>READ MORE about the study from medscape.com

What's So Bad About E-Cigarettes?

The Food and Drug Administration says it plans to regulate e-cigarettes, along with cigars and other tobacco products. Health advocates say it’s about time, but many “vapers” who use e-cigarettes say regulation will damage a product that’s a far safer substitute for cigarettes.

“The FDA has over stepped their boundaries,” supporters wrote in an online petition posted this week. “Do Not, allow the FDA to take control of a life saving product .”

Even health experts agree that electronic cigarettes, which deliver nicotine in a heated mist of water, glycerin and propylene glycol, might be useful in helping people who want to quit smoking. So where’s the harm in them?

Mostly, it’s the unknown, the FDA says. “We can’t even tell you what the compounds are in the vapor,” FDA’s Mitch Zeller told reporters.

>READ MORE about risks to youth and watch Dr Nancy Snub out Myths at NBCNews

Marijuana Use Linked to Rising Cardiovascular Events

TOULOUSE, FRANCE — Researchers in France are warning that marijuana use may increase the risk of cardiovascular events, particularly in younger adults, with fatal consequences^[1].

Their concerns stem from a review of reports made to the French Addictovigilance Network between 2006 and 2010 indicating that almost 2% of reported events concerned cardiovascular complications. What's more, the average age of the people with CV complications was 34, with the number of cardiovascular complications tripling over the study period.

"The general public thinks marijuana is harmless, but information revealing the potential health dangers of marijuana use needs to be disseminated to the public, policymakers, and healthcare providers," lead author Prof Émilie Jouanjus(Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, France) commented in a press statement. This is especially important, given the growing move toward decriminalization of the drug and its use as medical treatment.

>LEARN MORE about the study from medscape.com

Upping Coffee Consumption Protects Against Type 2 Diabetes

The first study to examine whether a change in the amount of tea or coffee consumed has any effect on the subsequent risk for type 2 diabetes among healthy individuals has found that it does, at least for coffee. And the effects become apparent within a relatively short period of time, 4 years.

In this new observational analysis of 3 large US cohorts, those who increased their intake by around one-and-a-half cups of regular coffee per day, on average, had an 11% lower risk for type 2 diabetes over the following 4 years, compared with people who did not alter the amount of coffee they drank, report Shilpa N. Bhupathiraju, PhD, department of nutrition, Harvard Public School of Health, Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues in the study, published online April 24 in Diabetologia.

> READ MORE on how much coffee and large study from medscape.com

Your Guide to Pain Relief

Got sore muscles or a raging headache? Before you reach for that bottle in your medicine cabinet for pain relief, know what you're taking -- and what side effects it might cause. Always read the label and follow directions before taking any medication.



Pain relievers come in two main varieties. Acetaminophen (Panadol, Tylenol) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs -- better known as NSAIDs -- both help to relieve pain and reduce fever. NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), aspirin, and naproxen sodium (Aleve). Pain relievers come in many forms, including: tablets, caplets, gelcaps, and liquids.

>READ THE FULL ARTICLE for the OTC guide at webmd.com

>VIEW VIDEOS ON PAIN RELIEF PRESCRIPTIONS at webmd.com

5 Sketchy Things We Still Don’t Know About E-Cigarettes

The FDA has cracked down on e-cigs by asserting its regulatory power and proposing a ban on sales to minors

On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) flexed its regulatory muscles and extended its authority over more tobacco products, including the highly debated electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes. In the announcement, the agency said it now has jurisdiction over items that meet the statutory definition of tobacco products—which includes e-cigarettes, pipe tobacco, and hookah tobacco, among others. The FDA says it also plans to crack down on e-cigarettes by proposing a ban of their sale to people under 18 and by requiring health warnings on packaging.

The UK already has stiff regulations on e-cigarettes and some cities in the U.S., like Los Angeles, have bannedthem in several public places. The trouble with e-cigarettes is that they are so new, and there’s not enough evidence to definitively determine either how effective they are at helping people quit smoking—or the health risks associated with inhaling vaporized nicotine. Here are five things we are still scratching our heads over.

> READ FULL ARTICLE to learn about the facts of  electronic cigarettes FROM TIME

Spinal Corticosteroids Run Risk of Severe Neuro Effects

Epidural injections of corticosteroids to relieve pain — a widespread, off-label use — run the rare risk for blindness, stroke, paralysis, and death, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today.

The FDA is requiring manufacturers of corticosteroids to revise drug labels to include this warning.

In today's announcement, directed at anesthesiologists and pain management physicians, the agency said it has not established the effectiveness and safety of epidural administration of corticosteroids such as hydrocortisone and methylprednisolone. As a consequence, "the FDA has not approved corticosteroids for such use."

>READ MORE for advising from the FDA at medscape.com

15-Minutes or less Visits Take Toll on Doctor-Patient Relationship

 Patients – and physicians – say they feel the time crunch as never before as doctors rush through appointments as if on roller skates to see more patients and perform more procedures to make up for flat or declining reimbursements. 

It’s not unusual for primary care doctors’ appointments to be scheduled at 15-minute intervals. Some physicians who work for hospitals say they’ve been asked to see patients every 11 minutes. 

And the problem may worsen as millions of consumers who gained health coverage through the Affordable Care Act begin to seek care — some of whom may have seen doctors rarely, if at all, and have a slew of untreated problems.

“Doctors have one eye on the patient and one eye on the clock,” said David J. Rothman, who studies the history of medicine at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.

By all accounts, short visits take a toll on the doctor-patient relationship, which is considered a key ingredient of good care, and may represent a missed opportunity for getting patients more actively involved in their own health. There is less of a dialogue between patient and doctor, studies show, increasing the odds patients will leave the office frustrated.

>READ FULL ARTICLE about the struggle for control from medscape.com

What Is the Invisible vaccine Threat?

Over the past few years, an increasing number of parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children -- for religious reasons, for philosophical reasons, and for various other reasons. More and more children are now being potentially exposed to these vaccine-preventable diseases, and the consequences have been what one would have predicted. Last year, we had 189 cases of measles in this country; as of March 22, 2014, we have had about 80 cases, and thus we could have twice the number of cases this year as last year. In addition, we are seeing more cases of pertussis, more cases of mumps, and more cases of bacterial meningitis. This has been a constant discussion, a discussion in the media, and in many different forms of the media.

>VIEW FULL ARTICLE at medscape.com

Reduced Salt Intake Lowers BP, Improves Stroke and Heart Disease Mortality Rates

LONDON, UK – Efforts to reduce salt intake in the UK are likely to have contributed to a significant reduction in blood pressure as well as ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke mortality over a recent eight-year period, according to a new analysis^[1].

From 2003 to 2011, average salt intake declined 15% and systolic blood pressure declined by 2.7 mm Hg in individuals not taking antihypertensive medications. Over the same time period, there was a significant 42% reduction in stroke mortality and 40% reduction in IHD mortality, report investigators.

>READ FULL REPORT from medscape.com

Brain Foods

Medscape's 2-part Brain Food slideshow series looked at how what we eat can benefit the brain. From salmon cutting stroke risk to coffee curbing depression, the data are copious. But the past couple of years have seen countless studies also looking at how certain foods and dietary patterns can impair neurologic and psychiatric function. Based primarily on Medscape Medical News coverage and expert opinion, this slideshow examines recent data on what foods we should potentially avoid in the interest of preserving our cognitive capacities, and fending off -- or at least slowing -- diseases of the brain

SEE SLIDE SHOW from medscape.com

Low Back Pain: What Can You Do?

You may feel like resting, but moving is good for your back. Exercises for lower back pain can strengthen back, stomach, and leg muscles. They help support your spine, relieving back pain. Always ask your doctor before doing any exercise for back pain. Depending on the cause and intensity of your pain, some exercises may not be recommended and can be harmful.

SEE SLIDE SHOW from medscape.com

READ ARTICLE on Using Exercise to Ease Low Back Pain