Could the way a person walks be a clue to the start of dementia?
It looks like the way someone walks, or more precisely changes in how they walk, may be an early sign of Alzheimer's Disease. And since finding Alzheimer's early on can mean starting treatment earlier, that treatment might be more successful.
A new study just presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference has found that certain subtle changes in how someone walks gave researchers clues about who might be developing early dementia.
Here's how that connection works. The brain controls how we walk by communicating among different areas. If that communication gets interfered with, then someone might start to have very small changes in the way they walk. And one reason it might get interfered with is because of Alzheimer's.
In a recent study out of the Mayo Clinic, researchers found that certain types of changes were more likely to mean early Alzheimer's. Those who started walking with a lower cadence and velocity along with a decrease in the length of the stride also ended up having more dementia.
The good news is that this is a very inexpensive test that can be done outside the clinical environment. If you notice a loved one slowing down and taking smaller walking strides over what they normally used to do, you might want to bring it up to the doctor to see if more robust testing is needed.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
New Diet Drug
The FDA has approved a new diet drug. But how effective and, more importantly, how safe is it?
The drug is now called qsymia; formerly qnexa.
Qsymia was approved because it did prove to be effective at helping overweight or obeses study participants lose up to 10% of their body weight. And along with diet and exercise, the manufacturers of this medicine say it could go a long way toward alleviating health problems associated with obesity, like diabetes and high blood pressure.
But this medicine, like all medicines, has side effects. It was initially disapproved back in 2010 because of heart and psychiatric side effects. At that time, the FDA thought those side effects were bad enough to not approve the drug. But now the FDA has approved qsymia for obese or overweight people with a body mass index, BMI, over 27 who also suffer from weight related health conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes. In this case, the FDA has most likely felt the benefits of losing weight using qsymia outweighed the potential dangerous side effects.
The key here is to use the medicine in conjunction with diet and exercise. It's not a magic pill by any stretch of the imagination. For many using this pill, they might need to be on it long term since coming off of it could mean putting the weight right back on. And it's not expected to be covered by most insurance companies, at least not yet.
The drug is now called qsymia; formerly qnexa.
Qsymia was approved because it did prove to be effective at helping overweight or obeses study participants lose up to 10% of their body weight. And along with diet and exercise, the manufacturers of this medicine say it could go a long way toward alleviating health problems associated with obesity, like diabetes and high blood pressure.
But this medicine, like all medicines, has side effects. It was initially disapproved back in 2010 because of heart and psychiatric side effects. At that time, the FDA thought those side effects were bad enough to not approve the drug. But now the FDA has approved qsymia for obese or overweight people with a body mass index, BMI, over 27 who also suffer from weight related health conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes. In this case, the FDA has most likely felt the benefits of losing weight using qsymia outweighed the potential dangerous side effects.
The key here is to use the medicine in conjunction with diet and exercise. It's not a magic pill by any stretch of the imagination. For many using this pill, they might need to be on it long term since coming off of it could mean putting the weight right back on. And it's not expected to be covered by most insurance companies, at least not yet.
Lose Weight, Keep A Diary
Do you want to lose a pound or two? Keeping a diary might help.
We're particularly talking about keeping a food diary, a food journal. That might be one key to losing a few pounds.
Losing weight is something most of us want to do at some time or another. But often that can be easier said than done. Part of the reason might be that we aren't ever really sure how much we are eating. And that's where a food journal comes into play.
Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle looked at how successful different self monitoring techniques were at helping overweight or obese volunteers lose weight.
They found that by keeping a food journal, eating out less and not skipping meals during the day helped the most. Those eating out even once per week didn't lose as much weight. That may be because we tend to eat more and higher calorie meals when we eat out. Those skipping meals are probably also more likely to grab high calorie snacks during the day.
But one of the more successful techniques used to lose weight in this study was using a food journal. Since we often don't accurately remember what we ate during the day the food journal will help keep us honest. That means writing down everything you eat, meals and snacks. And it doesn't matter where you write it down. Use a smart phone app, a piece of paper or even a small note pad. What matters is keeping track of what you eat during the day. You'll be surprised at how all the little things you eat add up to a lot of calories and those extra pounds none of us want.
We're particularly talking about keeping a food diary, a food journal. That might be one key to losing a few pounds.
Losing weight is something most of us want to do at some time or another. But often that can be easier said than done. Part of the reason might be that we aren't ever really sure how much we are eating. And that's where a food journal comes into play.
Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle looked at how successful different self monitoring techniques were at helping overweight or obese volunteers lose weight.
They found that by keeping a food journal, eating out less and not skipping meals during the day helped the most. Those eating out even once per week didn't lose as much weight. That may be because we tend to eat more and higher calorie meals when we eat out. Those skipping meals are probably also more likely to grab high calorie snacks during the day.
But one of the more successful techniques used to lose weight in this study was using a food journal. Since we often don't accurately remember what we ate during the day the food journal will help keep us honest. That means writing down everything you eat, meals and snacks. And it doesn't matter where you write it down. Use a smart phone app, a piece of paper or even a small note pad. What matters is keeping track of what you eat during the day. You'll be surprised at how all the little things you eat add up to a lot of calories and those extra pounds none of us want.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Kids Save You From Colds
Parenting is one of the most important jobs you could ever do. But sometimes being a parent also means having more colds floating around the house.
Being a parent has its good parts and its not so good parts. But now it looks like having children might actually protect you from catching a cold.
As we say in medicine, children tend to be a walking petri dish. In other words, they pick up just about every cold and flu out there, especially during the winter months. And when they pick them up, they bring them home.
But a new study, just published in Psychosomatic Medicine, has found that, believe it or not, parents actually have a lower risk of catching a cold because of their children. This happened even after the parents in the study had the cold virus sprayed directly into their noses. So, even though the virus was in their body, they were less likely to get colds than non parents. And this protection from colds went up with the number of kids in the house.
Although researchers aren't exactly sure why this is happening, they think it might have to do with our responses to infections and things in our bodies known as cytokines that give us immunity to things like colds. Parents tend to have cytokines that worked better at fighting off the common cold.
So this next cold and flu season if you don't get sick, you might just want to thank your children.
Being a parent has its good parts and its not so good parts. But now it looks like having children might actually protect you from catching a cold.
As we say in medicine, children tend to be a walking petri dish. In other words, they pick up just about every cold and flu out there, especially during the winter months. And when they pick them up, they bring them home.
But a new study, just published in Psychosomatic Medicine, has found that, believe it or not, parents actually have a lower risk of catching a cold because of their children. This happened even after the parents in the study had the cold virus sprayed directly into their noses. So, even though the virus was in their body, they were less likely to get colds than non parents. And this protection from colds went up with the number of kids in the house.
Although researchers aren't exactly sure why this is happening, they think it might have to do with our responses to infections and things in our bodies known as cytokines that give us immunity to things like colds. Parents tend to have cytokines that worked better at fighting off the common cold.
So this next cold and flu season if you don't get sick, you might just want to thank your children.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Live Longer? Stand More
Do you want to live a longer, healthier life? Maybe standing more is the answer.
It looks like the more you sit during the day, the more likely you are to die early on.
Decades ago, hardly anyone sat all day long. But now we sit in the car on our way to work, then sit at work all day, then sit to get back home. And once we're home, we sit to watch TV.
Now it looks like all of that sitting is taking its toll.
Researchers just found that there is a link between how much time we spend standing every day and our chances of dying. They found that if we could limit sitting to under 3 hours a day, then we'd live 2 years longer. And you can add another 1.4 years by cutting back TV time to less than 2 hours a day as well.
The thinking is that sitting decreases your overall physical activity and can affect your metabolic function during the day --- that can increase your changes of an early death. And since most of our sitting during the day happens at work, making small changes might help. Like getting up to talk to coworkers instead of emailing or calling them, taking a small walk during your lunch break and standing up for a few minutes every hour can all help contribute to the amount of time you stand during the day.
So when you can, stand up, or better yet, walk around. That could make all the difference in the world, especially later in life.
It looks like the more you sit during the day, the more likely you are to die early on.
Decades ago, hardly anyone sat all day long. But now we sit in the car on our way to work, then sit at work all day, then sit to get back home. And once we're home, we sit to watch TV.
Now it looks like all of that sitting is taking its toll.
Researchers just found that there is a link between how much time we spend standing every day and our chances of dying. They found that if we could limit sitting to under 3 hours a day, then we'd live 2 years longer. And you can add another 1.4 years by cutting back TV time to less than 2 hours a day as well.
The thinking is that sitting decreases your overall physical activity and can affect your metabolic function during the day --- that can increase your changes of an early death. And since most of our sitting during the day happens at work, making small changes might help. Like getting up to talk to coworkers instead of emailing or calling them, taking a small walk during your lunch break and standing up for a few minutes every hour can all help contribute to the amount of time you stand during the day.
So when you can, stand up, or better yet, walk around. That could make all the difference in the world, especially later in life.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Dogs, Cats & Your Child's Health
Want to help your children grow up healthy? Maybe the answer is to get a dog or cat.
It looks like dogs and cats might actually protect children from illness, especially during the first year of life.
A new study looked at children from birth to 12 months to see how many respiratory infections they had and how bad those infections were. Researchers found that having dogs and/or cats in the house also cut down on how bad these respiratory infections were. Of the two, having a dog in the house gave the children the lowest risk of infection. Cats came next. And those with kids without a cat or a dog had the highest risk of a respiratory infection during that first year of life.
Experts think this is because having pets in the house during these early months helps mature the immune system. And by having a more mature immune system that allows these children to better fight off respiratory problems. With dogs in particular, the more contact children had with them, the better protection they had.
So if you own a cat or a dog, or are thinking of getting one, and have small children, besides getting some life lessons in caring for animals, your children might also get some protection from the normal respiratory problems all kids get.
It looks like dogs and cats might actually protect children from illness, especially during the first year of life.
A new study looked at children from birth to 12 months to see how many respiratory infections they had and how bad those infections were. Researchers found that having dogs and/or cats in the house also cut down on how bad these respiratory infections were. Of the two, having a dog in the house gave the children the lowest risk of infection. Cats came next. And those with kids without a cat or a dog had the highest risk of a respiratory infection during that first year of life.
Experts think this is because having pets in the house during these early months helps mature the immune system. And by having a more mature immune system that allows these children to better fight off respiratory problems. With dogs in particular, the more contact children had with them, the better protection they had.
So if you own a cat or a dog, or are thinking of getting one, and have small children, besides getting some life lessons in caring for animals, your children might also get some protection from the normal respiratory problems all kids get.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Sleep & Your Immune System
Our immune system is important for keeping us healthy, but something most of us don't get is also needed to keep it healthy.
It turns out that among other things, poor sleep can drastically affect your immune system.
Most of us know that with a strong immune system, we stand the best chance of fighting off the almost constant onslaught of cold and flu illnesses. But sometimes our immune system isn't strong enough to fight the fight. And that usually means we get a cold, the flu or some other illness.
Part of the reason our immune system gets overwhelmed is because of things going on in our lives that help weaken it, like excess stress or other illnesses. But now we are finding out just how important sleep is in keeping our immune system strong.
A new study found that sleep deprivation caused the body to produce white blood cells which were an indication that the body was undergoing stress. This stress takes a toll on the body's immune system. Prior research has also shown that a lack of sleep can also increase a person's chances of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and even increase your chances of becoming obese.
So although sleep is important to staying awake the next day at work or school, it's also important to staying healthy and to keeping a strong immune system going.
It turns out that among other things, poor sleep can drastically affect your immune system.
Most of us know that with a strong immune system, we stand the best chance of fighting off the almost constant onslaught of cold and flu illnesses. But sometimes our immune system isn't strong enough to fight the fight. And that usually means we get a cold, the flu or some other illness.
Part of the reason our immune system gets overwhelmed is because of things going on in our lives that help weaken it, like excess stress or other illnesses. But now we are finding out just how important sleep is in keeping our immune system strong.
A new study found that sleep deprivation caused the body to produce white blood cells which were an indication that the body was undergoing stress. This stress takes a toll on the body's immune system. Prior research has also shown that a lack of sleep can also increase a person's chances of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and even increase your chances of becoming obese.
So although sleep is important to staying awake the next day at work or school, it's also important to staying healthy and to keeping a strong immune system going.
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