Health Tip: What's Causing My Muscle Cramps?

'modId':'mediatabs_nmid_1_conv_prom','isPreLoad':0,'enableMediaTabEvent':0,'pageSize':12,'numFriends':null,'notificationCount':0,'property':'News','learnMorePath':'/activity-learn-more/','friendbarNotification':'0','friendbarRollup':'0','moduleConf':YAHOO.Media.Facebook.ModuleConf,'friendIdList':

View the Original article

IUD Use Tied to Modest Weight Loss

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Women who use an intrauterine device (IUD) as birth control may not have to worry about gaining weight after the device is implanted, new research suggests.

Researchers compared the medical records of 223 women aged 15 to 44 who were using two different types of IUDs, following them for up to two years later.

About half of the women had a non-hormonal IUD containing copper while others used a hormonal IUD that released low levels of a progestin hormone called levonorgestrel (LNG) every day.

Women in both groups appeared to lose about 1 percent of their body weight in the first and second years of having an IUD.

The study was scheduled to be presented Monday at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists annual meeting in San Diego.

"We really expected to see weight gain, and we didn't even expect that there would be weight loss," said study author Dr. Erika Kwock, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Santa Clara.

Although previous research has not found associations between hormonal or non-hormonal IUDs and weight gain, Kwock thought that the women in her study would put on pounds "just because over time people tend to gain weight regardless of contraception," she said.

However, Kwock pointed out that the weight loss among the women in her study is probably not a reliable result. Her study did not include enough women to allow for a statistical analysis to show that the women actually shed pounds.

Still, "the numbers are encouraging that there is not a weight difference for LNG IUDs and copper IUDs," Kwock said.

Dr. Jill Rabin, head of urogynecology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., said, "This study is interesting because it opens the door for more questions and more research."

But there were not enough women in the study to know if the IUDs were associated with weight changes, Rabin added.

"People are always worried about weight gain whenever you mention a hormone, even though weight gain is miniscule in our experience," Rabin said. "But I don't think we've answered the question, certainly not with the LNG, and not even with oral contraceptives."

Many women in the study received Kaiser insurance through work, Kwock said. Otherwise they were diverse and probably representative of the women nationwide, she added.

Kwock and study co-author Dr. Julie Livingston looked at a number of factors in the Kaiser medical records of these women, such as weight, age, race, medical conditions that might cause them to gain weight (such as diabetes and thyroid disease) and whether they were taking an antidepressant.

They found no differences for any of these factors between LNG and copper IUD users.

In addition, weight loss, albeit small, seemed to be similar between the LNG and copper IUD users; however this result might not be real, Kwock again cautioned.

Many women start on an IUD after they have had a baby, so Kwock and Livingston compared the proportion of women in each group who had received their IUD within two months of childbirth but found no differences.

The weight loss that the researchers saw in each group was not just due to the fact that some of the women were losing their "baby fat", Kwock said.

"A lot of the doctors we work with really recommend IUDs for new moms because they are busy and they don't have time to remember to take pills," Kwock said.

"One of my favorite forms of birth control is the LNG because it has so many benefits -- women get lighter periods and have less cramping, while the copper IUD can actually make periods more heavy," Kwock said.

However, some patients prefer copper IUDs and it really depends on the patient, Rabin said.

More than with IUDs, women really worry about gaining weight on the pill, and while this cannot be ruled out, most research does not find this to be the case, said Laureen Lopez, a family planning researcher at FHI 360 in Durham, N.C.

"We've concluded that women need to have more appropriate counseling. A lot of people unfortunately gain weight over time, and you need to look at dietary patterns and exercise and not blame a contraceptive for which there may be little evidence," Lopez said.

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

To learn more about IUDs, visit the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

View the Original article

Health Highlights: May 8, 2012

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

HIV Prevention Pill Effective: FDA

The drug Truvada appears to be a safe and effective way to protect healthy people against HIV infection, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration review of clinical trial results.

The positive findings were posted Tuesday on the agency's website in advance of an FDA advisory panel meeting scheduled for Thursday. The panel will discuss whether to recommend approval of Truvada for people who are at risk for contracting HIV through sexual intercourse, the Associated Press reported.

The daily pill could become the first drug approved to protect high-risk patients from infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

A three-year study found that daily doses of Truvada reduce the risk of HIV infection in healthy gay and bisexual men by 44 percent, when accompanied by condoms and counseling. Another study found that the drug cut HIV infection by 75 percent in heterosexual couples in which one partner had HIV and the other did not, the AP reported.

Despite the positive findings, the FDA scientists emphasized that Truvada must be taken daily to be effective.

At Thursday's advisory panel meeting, there will be separate votes on whether the drug should be approved for: gay and bisexual men; men or women in relationships with HIV-positive partners; other people at risk for HIV infection through sexual activity, the AP reported.

The FDA typically follows the advice of its expert panels.

Truvada is already approved to manage HIV and some doctors currently prescribe the drug to protect healthy people against HIV infection. FDA approval would give drugmaker Gilead Sciences formal consent to market Truvada for the new use.

While Truvada appears effective in helping prevent HIV infection, some experts say that condoms are the best defense against HIV/AIDS and that a prevention pill is not a pharmaceutical equivalent, the AP reported.

-----

Amped is Newest Type of 'Bath Salts' Drugs

A new type of synthetic drug called Amped is being used by people in Virginia to get high, according to state officials.

It's likely that people in other parts of the United States are also using the drug, which is touted as a ladybug attractant and falls into the street category of "bath salts," according to ABC News.

There have been at least six reported cases of people ingesting the chemical compound in Eastern and Central Virginia, Virginia Poison Center Director Dr. Rutherfoord Rose said.

Bath salts -- which are often disguised as incense, plant foods and cleaners -- have amphetamine-like qualities and boost blood pressure and heart rate. Amped is the latest of these types of drugs to be sold on the Web and in convenience stores, ABC News reported.

"Despite laws that have outlawed certain chemicals within these drugs, chemists easily change a chemical or molecule within the compound to give it a similar or more potent property, and, because it is a different chemical entity, it is no longer illegal," Rose said.

-----

Teen Drivers Much More Likely to Die When Carrying Teen Passengers: Study

Teen drivers are much more likely to die in a crash when they have teen passengers in the car, while that risk falls dramatically when they have an adult passenger, a new study says.

The analysis of U.S. government data on teen crashes from 2007 to 2010 revealed that a 16- or 17-year-old driver's risk of death per mile driven increases 44 percent when there is one passenger younger than 21 and no older passengers, the Associated Press reported.

The risk doubles when carrying two passengers younger than 21 and quadruples when carrying three or more passengers younger than 21, according to the study by the Automobile Association of America's Foundation for Traffic Safety.

On the other hand, a teen driver's risk of dying in a crash is 62 percent lower when they have a passenger aged 35 or older, the AP reported.

-----

Abbott Fined $1.5 Billion Over Marketing of Seizure Drug

U.S. officials announced Monday that Abbott Laboratories has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $1.5 billion over allegations that it marketed the anti-seizure drug Depakote for unapproved uses.

A strategy of systematically marketing the drug for purposes that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration was carried out by top officials at Abbott, U.S. Attorney Timothy Heaphy said at a Justice Department news conference, the Associated Press reported.

Depakote is approved for treating bipolar disorder, but Abbott admitted to marketing the drugs for unapproved uses, including treatment of schizophrenia, autism and agitated dementia. The company engaged in this strategy from 1998 to at least 2006, according to Heaphy.

In a separate announcement, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said a $100 million settlement had been reached with Abbott over consumer claims in 45 states and the District of Columbia. The claims involved Abbott's marketing of Depakote for unapproved uses.

-----

14 People in U.S. Sickened by Tainted Dog Food

At least 14 people across nine states have been sickened by dog food tainted by Salmonella, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday.

"Multiple brands of dry pet food produced by Diamond Pet Foods at a single manufacturing facility in South Carolina have been linked to some of the human Salmonella infections," the CDC said in a news release.

No deaths have been reported, the agency said, but five people have been hospitalized in connection with the recalled dog.

By state, the number of cases is as follows -- Alabama (1), Connecticut (1), Michigan (1), Missouri (3), North Carolina (3), New Jersey (1), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania (1), and Virginia (1).

"Consumers should check their homes for recalled dog food products and discard them promptly," the CDC said. "People who think they might have become ill after contact with dry pet food or with an animal that has eaten dry pet food should consult their health care providers."

-----

View the Original article

U.S. Report Outlines Strategies to Prevent Obesity

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- The United States' progress against the battle of the bulge has been slow, but certain strategies could speed obesity prevention efforts, a new report concludes.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) on Tuesday outlined five recommendations with the greatest potential to prevent obesity.

Those recommendations come not a moment too soon: On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released startling statistics on obesity that predicted 42 percent (or 32 million more people) of the American population would be obese by 2030, while 11 percent would be severely obese. The price tag for the associated health care costs: $550 billion.

The IOM strategies include: integrating physical activity into people's daily lives; making healthy food and beverage choices available everywhere; changing marketing about nutrition and physical activity; using schools to promote healthy weight; and urging employers and health care professionals to support healthy lifestyles.

The committee that wrote the report assessed more than 800 obesity-prevention recommendations and identified those that could be used together most effectively to accelerate obesity prevention.

Specific strategies include:

Requiring at least 60 minutes per day of physical education and activity in schools.Creating industry-wide guidelines regarding which foods and beverages can be marketed to children and how the marketing should be done.Taking full advantage of doctors' influence to promote obesity prevention among patients.Increasing the availability of lower-calorie, healthier children's meals in restaurants.

"As the trends show, people have a very tough time achieving healthy weights when inactive lifestyles are the norm, and inexpensive, high-calorie foods and drinks are readily available 24 hours a day," report committee chairman Dan Glickman, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said in an IOM news release.

"Individuals and groups can't solve this complex problem alone, and that's why we recommend changes that can work together at the societal level and reinforce one another's impact to speed our progress," added Glickman, who also is executive director of congressional programs at the Aspen Institute, an international nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C.

The IOM report was released as part of the CDC's Weight of the Nation conference in Washington, D.C.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains how to achieve a healthy weight.

View the Original article

Cancer Cells in Bloodstream Show Great Diversity: Study

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- There is a great deal of genetic diversity in cells shed by cancerous tumors into the bloodstream, a new study has found.

Some cells have genes that enable them to lodge themselves in new locations, helping the cancer spread between organs, while other cells have different patterns of gene expression that might make them more benign or less likely to survive in other locations in the body.

Some circulating tumor cells even express genes that could predict their response to a specific cancer treatment, the researchers said.

"Within a single blood draw from a single patient, we're seeing

View the Original article

T-Shirt, Gift Card Giveaways Raise Blood Drives' Success

'modId':'mediatabs_nmid_1_conv_prom','isPreLoad':0,'enableMediaTabEvent':0,'pageSize':12,'numFriends':null,'notificationCount':0,'property':'News','learnMorePath':'/activity-learn-more/','friendbarNotification':'0','friendbarRollup':'0','moduleConf':YAHOO.Media.Facebook.ModuleConf,'friendIdList':

View the Original article

Home Birth Poses Danger for Higher-Risk Pregnancies: Study

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- A five-year study of home births in Oregon found an elevated rate of deaths among babies that had to be transferred to the hospital because something went wrong during the delivery.

However, experts said this doesn't necessarily mean that home births are dangerous. Many of the babies and mothers had conditions that put them at higher risk of complications, such as preeclampsia (high blood pressure during birth) or breech position (when the baby is feet first instead of head first).

The researchers looked at medical records on 223 home births in Oregon from 2004 to 2008, in which the babies were transferred to a hospital because of problems during or right after delivery. Eight babies died, according to the study to be presented Tuesday at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) annual meeting in San Diego.

Three of the babies were in the breech position; four of the mothers had preeclampsia; and two mothers delivered postdate, usually defined as a pregnancy of 42 weeks or longer (40 weeks is generally considered full-term).

Of the eight deaths, one infant had congenital defects "not compatible with life," Dr. Stella Dantas, of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwest Permanente, P.C. Physicians and Surgeons in Beaverton, Ore., and colleagues noted in an ACOG news release. All of the women except one were assisted by a licensed midwife.

"Our study showed that each of the neonatal deaths had higher . . . risk conditions associated, such as breech, hypertensive disorders, meconium

View the Original article

That Long Commute May Be Harming Your Health

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Now there's another reason to hate your commute.

New research has found that the longer your driving time between home and office, the less likely you are to exercise, the more your waistline widens and the worse your overall heart health becomes.

The findings come from a study of nearly 4,300 workers in Texas cities whose daily commute times were compared to their odds of various health risk factors.

"Previous studies have looked at sedentary behavior like TV viewing and total time spent driving," said study lead author Christine Hoehner, an assistant professor in the division of public health sciences at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "But we wanted to look specifically at commuting distance, since it's an important part of people's daily routine."

"What we found ... is that long commutes can take away from exercise and are associated with high blood pressure, higher weight and generally lower fitness levels," Hoehner said. "This may make a lot of sense, because it's extremely intuitive. But it nonetheless suggests that longer commutes are really getting under the skin and affecting people's health."

The findings appear in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

According to the researchers, the number of workers driving to work by private car more than doubled between 1960 and 2000, increasing from more than 41 million to nearly 113 million. The average distance traveled to work also has grown in recent years, from nearly nine miles in 1983 to more than 12 miles in 2001, the researchers said.

The new study focused on adult Texans living in either the Dallas/Fort Worth or Austin regions.

No participant had a history of heart attack, stroke or diabetes, and none were pregnant. All were employed in jobs that required a commute of some kind.

At some point between 2000 and 2007, all participants underwent comprehensive medical exams, including treadmill runs designed to assess their heart and lung fitness. They also reported their level of daily exercise during the three months prior to the study.

The team found that people with the longest commuting distances also tended to exercise less than those with short commutes. They also had lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, a higher body-mass index (a measure of body fat based on height and weight), a wider waistline and higher blood pressure.

Specifically, commutes of 10 miles or more were linked to higher blood pressure levels, while those of more than 15 miles were linked to higher odds of obesity and a lower likelihood of meeting public-health physical-activity recommendations, the team found.

These trends didn't disappear even after the researchers factored in time spent exercising, which suggests that there is something about the commute itself -- outside of its impact in lowering exercise rates -- that harms cardiovascular health.

"This would suggest that drivers of long distances are burning fewer calories overall, even if they are exercising the same amount as drivers of shorter distances," Hoehner said. "Although we didn't measure it, stress is also a possible mechanism at play, especially if commuters are faced with travel congestion."

What to do? "People can't easily move closer to their job or change their job ... which means commuting by car is different from other types of

View the Original article

Sperm Collide Along Liquid Maze on Way to Fertilize Egg

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Sperm cells navigate the complex fluid-filled channels of the female reproductive tract by crawling along walls and swimming around corners, a new study reveals.

And although millions of sperm cells are ejaculated, the few that actually reach an egg collide frequently along the way.

This new insight on how sperm travel could help scientists develop new treatments for infertile couples, say British researchers who injected the cells into hair-thin microchannels, or mini-mazes, to identify which sperm are the fastest swimmers and why.

"In basic terms, how do we find the 'Usain Bolt' among the millions of sperm in an ejaculate," study author Dr. Jackson Kirkman-Brown, lead in reproductive biology at the University of Birmingham and science lead at the Birmingham Women's Fertility Centre, said in a news release.

"Sperm cell following walls is one of those cases when a complicated physiological system obeys very simple mechanical rules," study leader Dr. Petr Denissenko, at the University of Warwick's School of Engineering, said in the news release.

As described by the researchers, the sperm's journey sounds more like a bumper car ride than a smooth swim upstream.

"When the channel turns sharply, cells leave the corner, continuing ahead until hitting the opposite wall of the channel, with a distribution of departure angles, the latter being modulated by fluid viscosity," the researchers said. "Specific wall shapes are able to preferentially direct motile cells."

The researchers concluded their findings could help scientists developing treatments for infertility to identify the strongest sperm cells.

The findings appear online in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health provides more information on infertility.

View the Original article

Probiotic Products May Prevent Antibiotic-Linked Diarrhea

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Consuming probiotic-rich foods may decrease the risk of diarrhea for patients who are taking antibiotics, a new study suggests.

Probiotics are live microorganisms that are found naturally in foods such as yogurt and are believed to provide health benefits.

About 30 percent of patients who take antibiotics will experience diarrhea because the drugs disrupt gastrointestinal microbes, and diarrhea is one of the main reasons people don't adhere to antibiotic treatment.

"Diarrhea is a common problem in patients receiving antibiotic therapy and may limit their use," said Dr. David Bernstein, chief of hepatology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. Bernstein was not involved in the new study.

"While these antibiotics treat the underlying infection, they also alter the normal gut

View the Original article

Could Eating Fast Increase Diabetes Risk?

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Eating too quickly may raise your risk of diabetes, a small, preliminary study suggests.

Researchers from Lithuania compared 234 people with type 2 diabetes and 468 people without the disease and found that those who gobble down their food were 2.5 times more likely to have diabetes than those who take their time while eating.

Study participants with diabetes also were more likely to have a higher body-mass index (a measurement of body fat based on height and weight), and to have much lower levels of education than those without diabetes, the researchers said.

The findings were set for presentation this week at the joint International Congress of Endocrinology and European Congress of Endocrinology in Florence, Italy.

"The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing globally and becoming a world pandemic," study leader Lina Radzeviciene, of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, said in a European Society of Endocrinology news release. "It appears to involve interaction between susceptible genetic backgrounds and environmental factors. It's important to identify modifiable risk factors that may help people reduce their chances of developing the disease."

Although the study found an association between eating fast and incidence of diabetes, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about diabetes risk factors.

View the Original article

Screening Women for Domestic Violence Could Help Prevent Abuse

background:url(http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/a/5b/a5ba32682eb601fb573b57542c19b9c1.png);width:115px;height:25px;margin-left:50px;margin-top:7px

View the Original article