Fast-Food Calorie Labeling Not Working: Study

More visible signage could tip scales toward healthier eating

From: http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20161128/fast-food-calorie-labeling-not-working-study-finds?src=RSS_PUBLIC

TX Reports 1st Likely Case of Local Zika Infection

Woman had no travel-related risk factors, CDC says

From: http://www.webmd.com/news/20161128/texas-reports-1st-likely-case-of-local-zika-infection?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Think you're too old for a mammogram? Think again

In the latest round of a long-running medical debate, a large mammogram study suggests "the benefit continues with increasing age up until 90"

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mammogram-breast-cancer-screening-not-too-old/

Man with lung disease finishes marathon towing oxygen tank

Evans Wilson walked the entire 26.2-mile race Sunday to raise money and awareness for pulmonary fibrosis

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/seattle-marathon-evans-wilson-lung-disease-towing-oxygen-tank/

What Is Segmented Sleep?

Find out whether it's a good idea to break up your nighttime slumber into two shifts.

From: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/what-is-segmented-sleep?src=RSS_PUBLIC

This is Christina. This Is Diabetes

Christina thrives on a busy, on-the-go lifestyle. But because of her schedule and frequent business travel away from her home in Seattle, her eating habits were often sporadic. “I would eat whatever was convenient, whether that’s something great like a steak tartar or whether it was McDonald’s French fries,” Christina says. “My food diet reflected my lifestyle and how busy I was.”

One day, Christina began experiencing unusual symptoms.  Diabetes runs in their family, so she asked her doctor to run a blood test.

Christina says her doctor was hesitant because she didn’t display any of the typical risk factors for type 2 diabetes. She was young and she wasn’t overweight. Christina told her doctor, “Just humor me. Let’s do the test.”

It’s a good thing Christina persisted; her A1C was 16.7 percent—about three times the normal level. In addition, Christina was at risk for a heart attack and needed to be put on heart medication right away.

After her type 2 diagnosis, Christina knew she needed to alter her habits. This is her story.

During American Diabetes Month^® we’re sharing the stories of people affected by diabetes, just like Christina. What do YOU want the world to know about this disease?

If you or someone you know is living with diabetes, share your story during November using #ThisIsDiabetes. And learn more at http://diabetes.org/adm.

From: American Diabetes Association http://diabetesstopshere.org/2016/11/28/this-is-christina/

Alzheimer's Protein Plaques May Also Harm Heart

Deposits can cause patients' heart muscle to stiffen, keeping it from pumping properly, study suggests

From: http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20161128/alzheimers-protein-plaques-may-also-harm-the-heart?src=RSS_PUBLIC

3 Keys to Cutting Your Risk of Heart Failure

Guarding against obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes at middle age may slash risk, study finds

From: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/heart-failure/news/20161128/3-keys-to-cutting-your-risk-of-heart-failure?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Do I Really Need to Floss My Teeth?

Have you heard that you don’t need to floss your teeth? You might not want to quit that habit just yet.

From: http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/features/to-floss-or-not-to-floss?src=RSS_PUBLIC

New Way to Detect Brain Injury in NFL Players?

The goal: to spot early signs of concussion-related head trauma

From: http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20161128/researchers-explore-way-to-detect-brain-injury-in-nfl-players?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Never Too Old for a Mammogram?

Researchers find benefits for some women up to the age of 90

From: http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20161128/never-too-old-for-a-mammogram?src=RSS_PUBLIC

'I want veterans to feel honored'

Calling himself a patriotic person with staff members in his dental office whose spouses are members of the armed services, Dr. John Gammichia said making his annual day of service one to support veterans was an obvious choice.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2016-archive/november/i-want-veterans-to-feel-honored

MyPlate, MyWins: Real Solutions from Real Families

From: USDA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8KsDHCPrwY

Jolinda's Story

From: Mayo Clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfN4kaaUhRs

New HIV vaccine trial could hold "great promise"

Scientists say the vaccine could be “the final nail in the coffin” for the disease, if it is successful

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hiv-aids-vaccine-hvtn-702-trial-south-africa/

Martial arts can pose serious dangers for kids

A top pediatricians' group warns of risk of concussions, suffocation, neck and spine injuries from sparring

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/martial-arts-can-pose-serious-dangers-for-kids/

Dr. Gregory Poland discusses Zika virus and genetically modified mosquitoes

From: Mayo Clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEJLN7MH0yA

USDA Expands Public-Private Partnerships to Create Economic Opportunities through Regional Food Supply Chains

ELGIN, Texas, Nov. 28, 2016 - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Lillian Salerno today announced three new public-private partnerships that will create economic opportunities in Elgin, Texas; Fresno, Calif.; and Chicago. The Food LINC partnerships will help community leaders and private philanthropic partners develop regional food supply chains that drive job growth and increase farm income while helping to meet consumer demand for regionally produced food.

From: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2016/11/0249.xml&contentidonly=true

'We're all about overcoming barriers'

In 1984, when Dr. Stephen Shuman was two years out of dental school, he began working at a county health department in Illinois to provide dental care for nursing home residents and developmentally disabled adults. But he'd never had specific training in treating these patients.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2016-archive/november/were-all-about-overcoming-barriers

Elder Abuse Often Missed In ER

Up to 1 in 10 seniors affected, but harm or neglect can be difficult to identify, geriatric specialist says

From: http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20161125/elder-abuse-often-missed-in-er?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Consider Eye Safety When Choosing Kids' Toys

As holiday shopping season kicks off, here are tips on buying toys and sports-related items

From: http://www.webmd.com/children/news/20161124/consider-eye-safety-when-choosing-kids-toys?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Diabetics Can Keep Disease Complications at Bay

Vascular expert urges regular doctor visits, eye exams, healthy lifestyle

From: http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20161124/diabetics-can-keep-disease-complications-at-bay?src=RSS_PUBLIC

A Little Alcohol Each Day May Cut Your Stroke Risk

But drinking doesn't curb risk of every kind of stroke, and heavy drinking increases the danger, study finds

From: http://www.webmd.com/stroke/news/20161124/a-little-alcohol-each-day-may-cut-your-risk-of-stroke?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Story by Story Episode 11: Pharmacogenomics and Drug/Gene Alerts

From: Mayo Clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH9OxRCKIKg

Sexually transmitted infections on the rise

Recently I saw a young woman in my clinic for her annual exam. As usual, I asked her if she would like to be tested for sexually transmitted infections, and then we reviewed the “menu” of options: we could collect a swab of her cervix for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomonas, and a PAP smear for human papillomavirus. We could collect blood for HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis, and herpes. We discussed the pros and cons and details of testing — not everyone wants every test. But she cheerfully consented to all of it, and when the results came back positive for chlamydia, she was shocked.

“But I had no symptoms!” she exclaimed.

Like most primary care providers, I am a huge fan of screening for STIs and believe every patient should be asked at every annual exam if they would like to be tested, even if they feel fine. Why? Because most people don’t even know that they are infected.

How many people actually have a sexually transmitted infection?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published its summary of reportable sexually transmitted infections in the United States over the past year, and it is not good. Rates of every reportable STI, which includes chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, have all increased significantly; all told, we are seeing a 20-year record high in the number of these cases.* What’s extra concerning is that it is the third year in a row that these rates have increased.

Chlamydia is king, with over 1.5 million cases in 2015, a 6% increase from 2014. Gonorrhea follows with 400,000 cases, a 13% increase. These infections can result in pelvic inflammatory disease, which is a major cause of infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and chronic pelvic pain. A pregnant woman with chlamydia can pass it to her baby; the baby can then develop serious eye and lung infections. The people at highest risk were young people between the ages of 15 and 24; they accounted for over two-thirds of the cases of chlamydia. This is why the CDC has been recommending that every sexually active woman under age 25 be screened.

There were 24,000 cases of syphilis, which may the most harmful of the three, and this was a whopping 19% increase. Gay and bisexual men remain at highest risk for syphilis and gonorrhea, though there were also significant increases in syphilis among women, as well as in congenital syphilis, which is spread from infected mothers to their newborns. Untreated syphilis can lead to blindness, paralysis, and dementia in adults, and seizures or stillbirth in babies. The CDC recommends that every pregnant woman be tested for syphilis, and sexually active gay and bisexual men should be tested for syphilis annually.

Barriers to preventing the spread of STIs

If someone doesn’t know that they are infected, they can’t get treated. If they don’t get treated, they may have sex with many partners, or without a condom, and spread the infection. So, screening tests like the ones we offer at the annual exam are important for the prevention of new infections.

Many people can’t access clinics like mine. They may be young people worried about what their parents may think. They may be uninsured, under-insured, or undocumented. That’s where the “safety net” comes in. These are the free or lower-cost clinics that focus on STI diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. But since 2003, there has been a slow and steady decrease in funding for these safety-net clinics, and we are paying a serious price for that now.

CDC officials blame the surge in STIs on these budget cuts: they point out that over 40% of health departments have reduced their clinic hours and tracking of patients, and at least 20 STI clinics flat-out closed in the past few years due to lack of funds.

Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, points out that, “STI prevention resources across the nation are stretched thin, and we’re beginning to see people slip through the public health safety net.”

Combine this decrease in public health clinics with the rise in popularity of dating apps like Tinder and Grindr, and ongoing inconsistent condom use, and we have a huge problem.

Keys to preventing STIs

Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis can be prevented with condoms, and cured with antibiotics. And all can present with minimal symptoms, or none at all.

Sexual education programs that include instruction about condom use have been shown to help youth to delay first sex and use condoms when they do have sex. But, only 35% of U.S. high school students are taught how to correctly use a condom in their health classes. So it’s not surprising that among teens, only about a third of males and nearly half of females reported that they or their partner did not use a condom the last time they had sex.

What can we do about this? Obviously, we need to better fund our public health clinics. Anyone who is or has been sexually active needs to go get tested. We need to push for comprehensive sexual education in schools. Parents should talk openly with their kids about sex and STIs, and ensure that they have access to confidential medical care. We need to promote safe, protected sex through consistent condom use for everyone. These interventions are all cheaper and better than ongoing rampant infection.

*What about other STIs, like herpes and trichomonas? These were not included in the report, as they are not reportable in the same way. However, the CDC estimates that there are 20 million new STI cases yearly, costing the U.S. health care system approximately $16 billion.

The post Sexually transmitted infections on the rise appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

From: Monique Tello, MD, MPH http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/sexually-transmitted-infections-on-the-rise-2016112810653

Story by Story Episode 12: Familial Hypercholesterolemia

From: Mayo Clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7DBHgr_gxg

OMS : Violence contre les femmes - Renforcer la réponse du système de santé

From: World Health Organization http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuizNPowuMY

Depression during pregnancy: You're not alone

From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/depression-during-pregnancy/art-20237875

Now hear this, men: Hearing aids can be a life changer

Chalk one up for exasperated women everywhere. Odds are the older men in their lives actually don’t hear them and need a hearing aid. Some estimates suggest that by age 65, about one-third of men need hearing aids. However, only half of this group wears them.

Why men tend to resist hearing aids

“Men tend to avoid hearing aids because of their negative imagery,” says Dr. Steven Rauch, an otologist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear. “To them, hearing aids symbolize declining age and health and that their best years are behind them.”

While some men can get by without a hearing aid, they need to consider the potential impact hearing loss has on their life, relationships, and even cognitive health. “Left untreated, hearing loss is associated with higher risks for social isolation, depression, dementia, and reduced physical activity,” says Dr. Rauch.

If you think you might need a hearing aid, get tested

The first step to knowing whether you need a hearing aid is to get your hearing checked by a certified audiologist. (Ask your doctor for a recommendation.) Hearing tests measure loudness and clarity of sound — how loud the sound needs to be for you to hear it and how clear the sound is.

People with normal hearing can hear sounds with a loudness between zero and 25 decibels (dB). When the softest sounds you can hear are louder than 30 dB, you may be missing a significant amount of speech and are probably a candidate for a hearing aid.

It is important to note that hearing aids are amplifiers — they make sounds louder, but not clearer. If you have trouble understanding speech in a noisy environment (a clarity problem), there are ways to improve communication without a hearing aid. For example, when speaking with someone, sit face-to-face and reduce background noise, like the TV, or distractions, like reading the paper. Be fully focused and engaged. “Ask the person not to shout, but to speak more slowly and more clearly in order to hyper-enunciate words,” says Dr. Rauch.

If you do have a hearing problem…

Age-related hearing loss and noise-induced hearing loss tend to affect both ears equally. If hearing loss occurs in one ear but not the other, it could be a result of a stroke, infection, or tumor, and requires a medical evaluation, says Dr. Rauch.

People with single-sided hearing loss, or hearing loss that is different in each ear, are less likely to benefit from a hearing aid in the bad ear. “These people seem to have trouble fusing the electronic sound of a hearing aid with the normal sound in the opposite ear,” says Dr. Rauch.

Hearing aids also have a learning curve. “If you’ve had a gradual, progressive hearing loss over a period of years, your brain is out of practice processing and filtering the full spectrum of normal sounds, so it needs time to adjust,” says Dr. Rauch. Wear your hearing aids for about an hour daily and then gradually increase your time over a few weeks. You don’t have to wear them all the time either. Put them in only when you need to, but the more you use them, the quicker you will adjust.

Also, be aware that not everyone finds hearing aids pleasurable. “They make everything louder — voices, noises, sounds — and some may find it overwhelming in places with a lot of stimulus like restaurants and crowds,” says Dr. Rauch. “They are usually more helpful in quieter environments.”

Factors to consider when hearing aid shopping

• A hearing aid center offers a better range of features, options, and prices than a franchise, which often has limited choices.
• A single aid can cost from $3,000 to $4,000, although most vendors offer a discount for the second one.
• Medicare and most other insurance plans don’t cover hearing aids, but the Veterans Administration might.
• Check the consumer protection laws regarding hearing aids for your state.
• The average hearing aid lasts about five years.

The post Now hear this, men: Hearing aids can be a life changer appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

From: Matthew Solan http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/now-hear-men-hearing-aids-can-life-changer-2016112510674

Depression during pregnancy: You're not alone

From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/depression-during-pregnancy/art-20237875

Depression during pregnancy: You're not alone

From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/depression-during-pregnancy/art-20237875

Now hear this, men: Hearing aids can be a life changer

Chalk one up for exasperated women everywhere. Odds are the older men in their lives actually don’t hear them and need a hearing aid. Some estimates suggest that by age 65, about one-third of men need hearing aids. However, only half of this group wears them.

Why men tend to resist hearing aids

“Men tend to avoid hearing aids because of their negative imagery,” says Dr. Steven Rauch, an otologist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear. “To them, hearing aids symbolize declining age and health and that their best years are behind them.”

While some men can get by without a hearing aid, they need to consider the potential impact hearing loss has on their life, relationships, and even cognitive health. “Left untreated, hearing loss is associated with higher risks for social isolation, depression, dementia, and reduced physical activity,” says Dr. Rauch.

If you think you might need a hearing aid, get tested

The first step to knowing whether you need a hearing aid is to get your hearing checked by a certified audiologist. (Ask your doctor for a recommendation.) Hearing tests measure loudness and clarity of sound — how loud the sound needs to be for you to hear it and how clear the sound is.

People with normal hearing can hear sounds with a loudness between zero and 25 decibels (dB). When the softest sounds you can hear are louder than 30 dB, you may be missing a significant amount of speech and are probably a candidate for a hearing aid.

It is important to note that hearing aids are amplifiers — they make sounds louder, but not clearer. If you have trouble understanding speech in a noisy environment (a clarity problem), there are ways to improve communication without a hearing aid. For example, when speaking with someone, sit face-to-face and reduce background noise, like the TV, or distractions, like reading the paper. Be fully focused and engaged. “Ask the person not to shout, but to speak more slowly and more clearly in order to hyper-enunciate words,” says Dr. Rauch.

If you do have a hearing problem…

Age-related hearing loss and noise-induced hearing loss tend to affect both ears equally. If hearing loss occurs in one ear but not the other, it could be a result of a stroke, infection, or tumor, and requires a medical evaluation, says Dr. Rauch.

People with single-sided hearing loss, or hearing loss that is different in each ear, are less likely to benefit from a hearing aid in the bad ear. “These people seem to have trouble fusing the electronic sound of a hearing aid with the normal sound in the opposite ear,” says Dr. Rauch.

Hearing aids also have a learning curve. “If you’ve had a gradual, progressive hearing loss over a period of years, your brain is out of practice processing and filtering the full spectrum of normal sounds, so it needs time to adjust,” says Dr. Rauch. Wear your hearing aids for about an hour daily and then gradually increase your time over a few weeks. You don’t have to wear them all the time either. Put them in only when you need to, but the more you use them, the quicker you will adjust.

Also, be aware that not everyone finds hearing aids pleasurable. “They make everything louder — voices, noises, sounds — and some may find it overwhelming in places with a lot of stimulus like restaurants and crowds,” says Dr. Rauch. “They are usually more helpful in quieter environments.”

Factors to consider when hearing aid shopping

• A hearing aid center offers a better range of features, options, and prices than a franchise, which often has limited choices.
• A single aid can cost from $3,000 to $4,000, although most vendors offer a discount for the second one.
• Medicare and most other insurance plans don’t cover hearing aids, but the Veterans Administration might.
• Check the consumer protection laws regarding hearing aids for your state.
• The average hearing aid lasts about five years.

The post Now hear this, men: Hearing aids can be a life changer appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

From: Matthew Solan http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/now-hear-men-hearing-aids-can-life-changer-2016112510674

Depression during pregnancy: You're not alone

From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/depression-during-pregnancy/art-20237875