12/06/17

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Study links birth control pills to breast cancer

A new study out Wednesday looked into the link between birth control pills and breast cancer. Dr. Jon LaPook explains.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/study-links-birth-control-pills-to-breast-cancer/

Birth control pills slightly raise risk of breast cancer, study suggests

About 140 million women use some type of hormonal contraception, including about 16 million in the United States

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/birth-control-pills-modestly-raise-risk-of-breast-cancer-study-suggests/

Smoggy air may make daily walk a health hazard

Taking a walk outside may do more harm than good if you live in a neighborhood with smoggy air, a new study shows

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/smoggy-air-may-make-daily-walk-a-health-hazard/

Some Use LSD As Brain Boost, But Dangers Remain

There is a growing trend of people using small amounts of LSD to boost creativity and production.

From: https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20171206/some-use-lsd-as-brain-boost-but-dangers-remain?src=RSS_PUBLIC

New Breast Cancer Drug May Help Younger Women, Too

Adding a new drug to standard treatment can slow the progression of advanced breast cancer in younger women, a new clinical trial has found.

From: https://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20171206/new-breast-cancer-drug-may-help-younger-women-too?src=RSS_PUBLIC

EPA publishes separator guidelines

The Environmental Protection Agency on Dec. 1 published a series of frequently asked questions to help dentists comply with the agency's dental amalgam separator rule.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/december/epa-publishes-separator-guidelines

Bugs in the Christmas Tree? Shake, Relax, Decorate

A report that trees could contain thousands of bugs has customers shaking their trees.

From: https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20171206/bugs-in-the-christmas-tree-shake-relax-decorate?src=RSS_PUBLIC

FDA approves diabetes drug that also helps with weight loss

The new therapy, a once-a-week shot, appears to be more effective than a popular daily diabetes pill, a study shows

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-approves-ozempic-diabetes-drug-that-also-helps-with-weight-loss/

Diphtheria is spreading fast in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Diphtheria is spreading fast in Cox’s Bazar

From: http://www.who.int/entity/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/diphtheria-spreading-bangladesh/en/index.html

17 million babies worldwide breathing toxic air, UN warns

Toxic air pollution can have devastating health effects for young children, including putting their brain development at risk

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/17-million-babies-worldwide-breathing-toxic-air-unicef-report/

Mayo Clinic Minute: Kids with high blood pressure

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mop0Z0y3K00

USDA-ARS ENTOMOLOGISTS “TURN UP THE BASS” ON VINEYARD PESTS

From: USDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDivjBZ71B8

Can shoveling snow put your heart at risk?

Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling

When it comes to heart disease, there’s lots of advice. There are heart-healthy diets and exercise programs to follow. Of course, if you smoke, you’re urged to stop. For those at highest risk or who already have heart disease, there are medications to take and monitoring of your condition to keep track of.

A recent study suggests that for people who are at high risk for heart disease or who already have it, there’s a bit of new advice: don’t shovel snow.

Shoveling snow and heart attack

According to past estimates, about 100 people — mostly men — die during or just after shoveling snow each year in the US. Many more are admitted to the hospital with chest pain or other heart problems. This latest research further explored the details of this connection. Researchers correlated admissions to the hospital and deaths due to heart attack the day after it snowed in Canada during the years 1981 to 2014. This included more than 128,000 hospital admissions and more than 68,000 deaths due to heart attack. Here’s what they found:

The deeper the snow, the more men were admitted for heart attacks. For example, for snowfalls of more than eight inches, there was a 16% increase in hospital admissions compared to days with no snow.
The deeper the snow, the more men died of heart attacks. A 34% increase was observed the day after an eight-inch snowfall, and higher rates were noted when even more snow fell.
Similar observations were made for duration of snowfall. The longer it snowed, the higher the rates of heart attack and related deaths among men.
A link between snowfall and heart attack was not observed among women.

The findings of this study were not limited to people who already knew they had heart disease or who had risk factors for it. The link between snowfall and heart attack was observed even among people with no cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking or high blood pressure.

It’s worth noting that this study did not ask these patients whether they actually shoveled snow. So, it’s possible that the connection between snowfall and heart trouble has nothing to do with shoveling snow. Perhaps there is some other snow-related risk factor, such as the use of a snow blower that is the real culprit, but I’m having a hard time coming up with other plausible explanations. Can you?

Why should this be?

The link between snowfall and heart attack is appealing for several reasons.

Shoveling snow (or perhaps other means of snow removal, including pushing a heavy snow blower) can raise your heart rate and blood pressure more quickly and more dramatically than many other types of exercise.
Snow shoveling requires use of arm muscles, which for most people is more strenuous than other exercise.
Snow removal happens in a cold environment. That’s important because cold temperatures may cause blood vessels to constrict.
Many snow shovelers are ordinarily sedentary. The sudden, strenuous workout may tax a system that is not prepared for it.

And, as mentioned, there is no obvious or highly likely alternative explanation. Previous research has also raised the possibility that snow shoveling increases the risk of cardiac events.

Still, this study cannot prove a causal link between snow shoveling and heart attack. In addition, it cannot rule out a link for women as well. The authors suggest the lack of a connection for women observed in this study may have been due to fewer women shoveling snow.

So what?

Considering that cardiovascular disease affects more than 27 million people in the US and takes more than 600,000 lives each year, eliminating snow shoveling-related heart attacks and deaths would have only a small impact. Even so, if shoveling snow can trigger heart trouble, this study suggests that not shoveling may represent a preventive strategy worth consideration, especially for those at highest risk.

So, if you have snow where you live and you’re on the fence about whether to hire the neighborhood kid to shovel your walk, this new research may give you a reason to give him or her the job.

The post Can shoveling snow put your heart at risk? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

From: Robert H. Shmerling, MD https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-shoveling-snow-put-your-heart-at-risk-2017120612887

New medical implant the answer to chronic pain?

Spinal nerve stimulators use electrical pulses to block the pain signal to the brain; this summer the FDA approved one about the size of a pacemaker

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/spinal-cord-stimulator-could-replace-prescription-painkillers/

Spinal cord stimulator offers drug-free alternative for chronic pain

A promising new high-tech medical device, which the FDA recently gave the go-ahead to, could help some move away from prescription painkillers. Dr. Tara Narula followed one mother's journey after she was sidelined with crippling pain from minor leg surgery.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/spinal-cord-stimulator-offers-drug-free-alternative-for-chronic-pain/

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