Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Bedbug Issues

Bedbugs are back with a vengeance, but what some people are doing to get rid of them might be putting their family in danger.

In a nutshell, they are using the wrong pesticides.

Bedbugs are becoming a bigger nuisance across the country and Colorado is no exception. A recently released Terminix study found that Denver was the number 6 most infested city in the nation. And with Colorado Springs being a short distance away, you can bet we aren't that far behind. The problem is that more of these bugs are becoming resistant to common pesticides so are tougher to get rid of.

But the Environmental Protection Agency just issued a warning against the use of pesticides meant for outside use being used indoors, something it seems more desperate homeowners are trying. In addition to the obvious increased chance of pesticide poisoning from using too strong of chemicals indoors, experts are also blaming some house fires on people misusing highly flammable garden and lawn chemicals inside to try and get rid of the bugs.

So, their recommendations are to read the entire label before applying a pesticide and to closely follow directions. Also, make sure the pesticide you're using is made specifically for bedbugs.

Getting rid of bedbugs is important but not worth poisoning your family or causing your house to catch fire.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Benefits of Black Rice

Foods rich in antioxidants, like blueberries and acai, pack a powerful healthy punch. But one food choice might be better and is certainly less expensive.

Have you ever heard of black rice? My guess is you soon will because this inexpensive grain has plenty of healthy antioxidants in it.

You've probably eaten white and brown rice at one time or another. Of the two, brown rice is much healthier for you. Both come from the same grain of rice. When the outer hull is removed, you get brown rice. If more processing is done, then you get white rice.

But black rice is what they first start off with, before any processing is done. And that rice contains many more antioxidants than most of us thought. Researchers at Louisiana State Agricultural Center found that a spoonful of black rice bran contains more antioxidants than a similar spoonful of blueberries. And as an added benefit, the spoonful of rice also has less sugar and more vitamin E and fiber.

Although black rice takes a little longer to prepare than white or brown rice, the extra time is worth the health benefits you get. And my guess is that you'll start seeing it more and more in your local grocery store.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Importance of the "Sunshine Vitamin"

The "sunshine vitamin" might be more important than most of us thought.

We've known for some time that many of us walk around not having enough vitamin D in our bodies. Part of the reason is because we don't get as much sunshine as we used to, and part of the reason is that our diet isn't as good as it should be. But for years most experts thought that lack of vitamin D only meant poor bone health.

Now we know vitamin D is much more important and a new discovery is showing just how "super" this vitamin really is and how damaging not having enough of it can be. Scientist have just found that vitamin D plays a role in over 200 genes in our bodies. And these genes are ones that control everything from cancer to diabetes to multiple sclerosis.

The problem is that many of us don't have enough of this vitamin. The easiest way to get vitamin D is from sunshine but you also have to balance that with your risk of skin cancer. Most experts say 15 minutes of sun a day is enough to resupply your vitamin D needs. Also, making sure fortified foods, like cereal, milk, yogurt and tuna are included in your diet can help.

The important point is to get enough of this important vitamin to stay healthy and if your diet isn't doing it, you might want to think about taking a supplement to boost those levels.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Water Diet

Want to lose a little bit of weight? How about the "water" diet?

The secret is in "when" you drink the water---and the weight loss results were pretty impressive!

I think just about everyone has tried one type of a diet or another. But the problem is they are either too confusing, too expensive or involve eating things you simply don't want to eat. But this new trick for losing weight could be as simple as drinking a couple of glasses of water before you sit down for a meal.

Researchers found that when people drank two glasses of water before eating they ended up eating around 90 calories less. And over a five week period that helped them lose five pounds more than dieters who didn't drink the water.

Part of the reason this happens is because the water helps fill the stomach so, by the time you sit down, your body isn't telling you to eat quite as much. And the beauty of water is, unlike sweetened drinks and sodas, it doesn't have any calories whatsoever.

So, to lose weight the easy way, you might want to grab those two glasses of water before picking up that fork and knife.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Teens & Hearing Loss

Just because your teenager doesn't seem to be listening to you doesn't mean they're ignoring you. They might not be able to hear you.

More teenagers have hearing loss these days and you can probably blame it on the way they listen to music.

A new national study found that a remarkable one in five children, aged 12 to 19, had hearing problems. And although experts can't pinpoint the exact cause, teenagers more often than not have lost their hearing in the high frequency range. This type of hearing loss comes from exposure to noises like those made by an iPod or other personal music device. Teenagers tend to listen to music this way at a high volume and over time, that music can hurt their hearing.

In this case, high frequency hearing loss means the teenager won't be able to hear all words clearly and that can interfere with learning and even casual conversations. The best way to help keep your child's hearing intact is a lot easier said than done. On most iPods and other music devices you can set a volume limit. Although this might not work for older kids, you can talk with them about how permanent hearing damage is. A good rule of thumb for them is to keep the volume low enough so someone standing next to them can't hear anything coming from the music player.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Making The Most Of Your Docotor's Visit

Have you ever gone to your doctor only to walk out of the office remembering a question or two you forgot to ask?

Here are some clues on how to make the most of that visit.

The reality is that medical appointments these days aren't very long. And that means getting a lot of information passed back-and-forth during that time. But without a little homework on your part, you might end up missing some of the important information you went to the doctor in the first place for.

One thing you can do to help is to keep a medical journal. Write down as many details as you can think of about what's wrong with you and any circumstances surrounding that issue. For instance, you have a sore throat---does it hurt worse in the morning or during the day, is it bad all the time or worse when you swallow, are you having a cough along with the throat issue? I tell my patients that any diagnosis is like detective work and these clues can go a long way in helping you doctor solve the issue?

Also write down any questions you have about your condition and about your overall health and take that paper with you to your doctor's visit. That way you won't forget that question you had the day before your visit.

And at the end of the visit, when you get a prescription, ask about alternatives to the medication, including generics, and any side effects you need to keep an eye out for.

These tips should help make sure next time you walk out of your doctor's office you aren't doing the forehead slap--thinking "I should have asked about this".

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Brand Name VS. Generic Drugs

When it comes to medicines we've all seen the commercials about a new powerful drug. But is that drug any better than a cheaper generic?

For most medications, the answer is no! Drug companies spend a lot of money to get you to notice their new brand name medicine. But most of these medicines also have a generic twin that costs considerably less. And most drugs have "cousins" of a different class that are close but not exactly the same as the brand name drug.

But how well do these twins or cousin drugs work. It turns out, they work just as well, at least when it comes to controlling your blood pressure.
A long term study, following more than 33 thousand patients with high blood pressure found that after eight or more years of follow-ups, a simple generic diuretic blood pressure pill was as effective and in some cases even better at preventing death from stroke or heart failure, both problems related to high blood pressure.

The bottom line here is that the latest greatest brand name medicine you see advertised might not be the only one that would work for your condition, and it might not even be the best for you. Your best bet is to talk with your doctor about all your prescribed medicines and ask this simple question:" Is there a cheaper generic medicine I can take that would be as good or better than the one I'm on now"?

Monday, August 16, 2010

Walking Off School Stress

Getting back into the school routine can be stressful for some kids. But that stress is something they might be able to just walk off.

What we are talking about is just walking to school in the morning, that might do them a whole day's worth of good.

We can all remember stressful days at school. Turning in homework, taking planned tests and the ever dreadful "pop" quiz can add to the stress. But so to can the social parts of school, wearing the right clothes, having the right lunch, all those things that don't seem important now but were pretty much all you thought about during the school day when you were young.

Unfortunately, those stresses can add up and experts are getting more concerned about it since we are finding out that heart disease is a process that starts in early childhood. So getting that stress under control is important.

And it looks like one simple way to do that is by having them walk to school in the morning. Researchers tested stress levels while taking a quiz in both boys and girls that either rode or walked to school. Those "riding" to school had a 3 times greater rise in blood pressure and reported feeling more stressed than the walkers.
So to help you kid better handle the stress that's always going to go hand in hand with school, have them walk if they can. And while you're at it, walk with them, it'll do you a world of good as well.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Chosing The Right Backpack

It's that time of the year again. Time to start getting your kids ready for school. That means buying supplies and something to carry them in, usually a backpack.
How can you can make sure you get the right kind for your kids?

That backpack they use might be causing more pain than you think. Nowadays, kids are lugging more and more supplies back and forth to school. One popular way is with a backpack. Unfortunately, that same pack might be the main reason up to half of teens 15-16 years old complain of back pain.

Most doctors and physical therapists recommend a backpack weigh no more than 15% of a student’s body weight. That means it shouldn’t weigh more than 15lbs for a 100 pound person. And even if someone weighs more, the pack still shouldn't be more than 20 pounds.

But besides making sure it doesn’t weigh too much, there are other things that can help keep it comfortable.

Make sure it has 2 wide, padded shoulder straps and that both straps are always used. And teach them to stand up straight when using a pack. If they’re leaning forward or hunching over, it probably weighs too much.

And try and convince them to not carry anything they don't need, just bring home the necessities.

Encourage your kids to let you know if they have any back pain, or if they get numbness or tingling in their arms. That's a sign of a heavy pack, or one not used correctly.

The key here is to make sure their homework doesn’t turn into a bigger pain then they already think it is.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Girls Starting Puberty Earlier

Girls seem to be starting puberty earlier than ever. Sometimes even as young as 7 or 8. Puberty normally happens between ages 10 and 14 for girls and 12 to 16 for boys.

A new study, just published in the journal Pediatrics, found that girls hitting puberty before the age of 10 is much more common than it was over the past two decades. After looking at over 1,200 girls ages 6 to 8, researchers found a much higher percentage of black, white and Hispanic girls showing early development of breasts and pubic hair.

Researchers found that at age 7, 10% of white girls and 23% of black girls started to develop breasts. Those numbers are about double what they were back in 1997. The problem with early puberty is that it can lead to emotional problems and a greater risk of developing breast cancer later in life.

As to why this is happening, researchers point to the increasing amount of obesity in this young age group or even exposure to estrogen and other compounds in the environment. Their best recommendation is to make sure your daughter eats a healthy diet, has family meals and if she does develop early puberty----discuss with her what that means as far as her sexuality in the coming years.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Our Behavior Set By 1st Grade

Who we are now is something that might go back as far as first grade.

It's looking more and more like our personalities, even when we're gray haired, gets set in place when we are kids.

Think back to your first years in school and the classmates you had. Some were talkative, others pushy and others shy. Chances are they are still that way well into adulthood.

Researchers of a newly released study say that how we behave in 1st grade is a very strong predictor of how we will behave later on in life. They looked at how teachers rated over two thousand children's behavior back in the 1960's then checked up on these same kids forty years later as adults.

Even they were surprised by the closeness of personality traits. They reported in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science some examples. Those children identified as verbally fluent, meaning very talkative, tended to be middle age adults who displayed interest in intellectual matters, tried to control situations and had a high degree of intelligence. Impulsive students ended up being adults that spoke loudly and were talkative. On the other hand, those rated low on impulsivity ended up being timid adults who tended to be insecure.

So, it seems that it's tough to change what's already set in motion by first grade.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

When To Worry About Cholesterol

The big question is, when should you start worrying about your cholesterol? It's probably sooner than you'd think.

In the case of cholesterol you might think of it as "the younger, the better." Right now government guidelines call for 20-year-olds to have their cholesterol checked, then retested every five years. If it's high, especially LDL, the bad cholesterol, it gets treated. But if it's only borderline, it sometimes gets ignored by doctor and patients during young adulthood.

But new research is showing this could be a very unhealthy move. In a recent 20-year study, researchers found the collective effect of even modestly abnormal cholesterol levels over the years increased the risk of having signs of heart disease by the age of 45. Now experts are thinking the exposure your body gets to even slightly elevated levels of cholesterol during young adulthood does matter---and can lead to lasting damage to your heart and blood vessels in middle age.

Right now LDL levels are considered good if under 100. But researchers in this study found the magic number in young adults seemed to be 70. They think we, as doctors, need to be more aggressive with both children and young adults than we've done in the past, especially if their cholesterol is in that borderline range. But instead of starting off with medications, they do recommend diet and exercise as the first choice to try and get a young adults cholesterol down as low as possible.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

"Dirty Dozen" In Dietary Supplements

Millions of Americans take dietary supplements, but some of what they are taking could be risky.

We are talking about some of the ingredients in popular over-the-counter supplements. Consumer Reports just issued a warning about what some are calling the "dirty dozen" ingredients you should avoid.

These ingredients have side effects that most consumers don't know about but that experts say can cause heart, liver and kidney problems. The issue, according to Consumer Reports, is that most consumers might not realize that manufacturers of these supplements don't have to show they are safe or effective before putting them on the shelf. The FDA, which does regulate the safety of drugs and medicines, doesn't have much authority over these types of supplements.

The ingredients being listed as ones you should avoid include aconite, bitter orange, chaparral, colloidal silver, coltsfoot, comfrey, country mallow, germanium, greater celandine, kava, lobelia and yohimbe.

If you are taking any of these supplements your best bet is have an honest, open talk with your doctor about how risky they are to your health. The same goes for any other supplement or herb you're taking, since they might have side effects you aren't aware of, or could even be interfering with medication you are already taking.

Monday, August 2, 2010

New Weight Loss Drug

There might be new hope in the weight loss battle that's both safe and effective.

We've heard this promise so often that it's hard not to turn a deaf ear, but this time, researchers might have found a diet pill that both works and doesn't seem to have a lot of side effects. It's called Contrave.

One thing that separates this from other diet pills is that it's actually a combination of two different medications, naltrexone and buproprion, both medications that have been around for a few years. Naltraxone is used normally used to treat addictions, like smoking, and buproprion, which goes by the brand name wellbutrin, treats depression. But by combining these two medications into one pill, researchers have found a treatment that helped participants in a clinical trial lose, on the average, 6.1 percent of their body fat in one year. Researchers involved in the study thinks this pill is effective because the two drugs target different brain areas important to weight loss at the same time.

Although there were some side effects, including nausea, headache and dizziness, researchers said there were no signs of the depression or suicidal thoughts that came with other weight loss pills.

This medication is still in clinical trial but if results pan out, it could help shed some of those unwanted pounds in the near future.