Elixir

Cold and flu season is a challenging time for any parent, especially those with a sick kid in-tow, but doctors at the University of Michigan are encouraging parents to skip over-the-counter cough and cold medications for children under the age of 6.
Esther Yoon, M.D., general pediatrician at the University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, says findings by the Food and Drug Administration shows that such medications potentially can have serious side effects on the smallest of children – symptoms include hives, drowsiness, difficulty breathing and even death.

“Some 7,000 children end up in the emergency room each year because of problems associated with these medicines,” Yoon says.
Nearly two-thirds of these incidents arose when children drank medication while unsupervised, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Many problems have also resulted from administering improper doses.So what’s a parent to do? According to Yoon, to lessen pain from productive coughs or throat pain, use over-the-counter acetaminophen and ibuprofen in age-appropriate doses.

To relieve symptoms, Yoon recommends the following:

• For blocked noses, parents should use nasal saline drops and a bulb suction to loosen up and remove mucus or have the child blow their nose.

• For coughs, the child should be given a teaspoon of honey or corn syrup if over the age of 1. Have the child drink warm fluids like water, apple juice and chicken broth to help with coughing.

• Take the child into the bathroom and run a hot shower. The steam relaxes the airways and helps with coughing spasms.

• Increase the humidity in the home to help reduce nasal congestion and coughing.

According to a new study published in to an article published in Chest, the peer-reviewed medical journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, the use of Vicks VapoRub on infants and toddlers could exacerbate symptoms.

The study found that the rub actually can stimulate mucus production and spark inflammation of the airways, making it difficult for children to fight off chest congestion.

According to the article posted at the Chicago Tribune, a spokeswoman for Vicks believes the product to be safe.

“We have conducted human safety studies in over 1,000 children, 1 month to 12 years of age,” Harrell said to the Tribune. “We did not see any of the types of adverse events . . . mentioned in this paper.”

A little extra weight around the middle isn’t cause to buy new jeans – it’s cause to rethink overall health.

“There are two types of belly fat. One is subcutaneous, or right beneath the skin – the fat you can pinch and try to diet away before bathing suit season,” says Dr. Tim Church, professor of preventative medicine at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. “From a medical standpoint, it doesn’t concern us as much as the deeper visceral fat that surrounds the liver and other abdominal organs.The more visceral fat you have, the more at risk your health is.”

Heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and gallstones have all been linked to visceral fat, and recent research has expanded that list to include the development of

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia later in life. “Visceral fat is a toxic fat that produces harmful substances that cause inflammation, disrupting blood flow to the heart and possibly the brain, which could be one reason for its link to dementia,” says epidemiologist Rachel Whitmer of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, Calif., who led the study.

Making matters worse, belly fat might have the capacity to reproduce itself. Canadian researchers found abdominal blubber produces a hormone that prompts the development of cells that turn into fat.

The upside: Visceral fat responds to diet and aerobic exercise (30 minutes six days a week) more readily than subcutaneous fat, and stress reduction and adequate rest can hasten results.

“The link between stress and fat is well-established,” says exercise physiologist Tiffany Crate,  TLC Fitness Consulting, Chicago. “Stress hormones like cortisol block weight loss because, despite adequate or excess calories, the body interprets prolonged stress as a famine and goes into hoarding mode.”

Her prescription for shedding that toxic spare tire is simple: Eat less, move more, rest up and chill out.

Wake up every day at 6 a.m. Deliver a report at a staff meeting at 10 a.m. Eat lunch at 12:15 p.m. Surf the Web for tomorrow’s weather at 3 p.m. Take a 4-mile run at 5:45 p.m. Eat dinner at 7 p.m. Go to sleep at 9 p.m.

Why do we choose to do what we do when we do it? Or are we actually really “choosing” at all?

In her book “Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body” (Houghton Mifflin, 2007), science writer Jennifer Ackerman takes the reader on a 24-hour day-trip into the human body as it goes through the motions of work, play, refueling and rest.

From the arousal of the senses in the morning to the reverie of sleep and dreams, Ackerman uncovers the latest findings about the cause and effect of everyday experiences, from stress, fear and fatigue, to sex, exercise and learning. The better we understand our bodies and what’s going on inside them, she attests, the easier it is to maximize the mental and physical potential of each day.

“Most of us are aware of the obvious 24-hour rhythm in our sleep and wake patterns, but we also have daily rhythms in body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, levels of stress hormones and sex hormones, alertness and even in the workings of the individual cells of our liver, heart, lungs and blood,” Ackerman says. “These rhythms are produced by our internal circadian clocks, little oscillating timekeepers in our bodies.”

In fact, says J. David Glass, Ph.D., a professor of biological sciences at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, the human body actually has thousands of these small circadian clocks “ticking” away within the endocrine system. Each one functions independently to produce a desired result (digestion, exertion, cell renewal, etc.), but they also are synchronized among themselves for optimal efficiency, output and health. For instance, hunger usually hits at a time when your temperature is higher and therefore more capable of metabolizing food. It’s not simply a matter of being more focused or less weak – there really are, as Ackerman points out, better and worse times of day for certain activities such as eating a big meal, napping, proofreading a manuscript, exercising, going to the dentist, taking medication for your rheumatoid arthritis or even making important decisions.

At the helm of this intricately choreographed ballet is a special part of the brain called the supra-chiasmatic nucleus (SCN); although one could argue that the real master of ceremonies is the sun.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, Washington, D.C., exposure to light stimulates a nerve pathway from the retina in the eye to the SCN in the brain. It sets off a regulated pattern of activities such as raising body temperature and releasing stimulating hormones like cortisol, while also stemming the release of other hormones like melatonin, which is associated with sleep onset, until many hours later when darkness arrives.

One of the interesting aspects of this daily journey, Ackerman points out, is that the body usually experiences a dip in energy during the afternoon, usually between 1 and 3 p.m.

“This is what I call the ‘Doldrums,’” Ackerman says. “When the fog of sleepiness drifts into cloud thinking and you function about as well as if you had quaffed a couple of beers.”

Contrary to what you might think, this drowsiness is not related to what you ate for lunch. No one knows exactly why we experience this afternoon trough, says Ackerman, but some scientists suspect it arises from two opposing processes that reach equilibrium about this time – the homeostatic sleep mechanism, which registers increasing sleep debt, and the circadian alerting mechanism, which has been growing in strength from its low at 3 or 4 a.m.

“Throughout the day, there’s this push-pull process going on – the need for sleep versus the drive for wakefulness,” Ackerman explains. “Around midday, the accumulating pressure for sleep is powerful and the wake signal hasn’t achieved adequate strength to offset sleepiness, so we feel this mountain of drowsiness.”

This natural ebb in energy means the early afternoon is not the best time to, say, give a lecture. Ackerman actually recommends taking an afternoon nap if at all possible – a common occurrence in Spain and other Latin cultures. Research shows that even 15 or 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon boosts alertness, mood and productivity later in the day.

Once you make it through these hours, your energy starts to rise again, and it is then, in the later afternoon or evening, that you are most likely to maximize your athletic performance. The circadian alerting system is strong, your body temperature is at its highest, your muscles are powerful, your joints are flexible, you breathe your easiest and your heart pumps more efficiently.  It’s also when your perception of your own exertion is lowest, so your workout doesn’t feel as difficult.

But keep in mind that this schedule is heavily dependent on normal sleep patterns and proper exposure to light. Without regular light exposure at the right times, the SCN can literally lose its way, making it harder for your body to renew itself mentally and physically.

According to Glass, people who upset their circadian rhythms by working night shifts, such as nurses or factory workers, often suffer from more physical ailments, have more family problems, are more likely to have unhealthy diets, are more prone to alcoholism and have significantly higher rates of morbidity.

“When night shift workers walk out to their cars after work, they experience real sunlight, which confuses their clocks and can make it hard for them to get proper rest,” Glass says. “To make matters worse, they want to socialize with their families during normal hours on weekends and then return to work on Monday night, which is very hard to do because their bodies can’t adjust to the new schedule fast enough. Getting off-track makes them less productive, and more prone to accidents.”

The real crux of the matter is that it is incredibly important to get enough sleep (seven to nine hours), and regularly. As long as plentiful, quality sleep is taken care of, individual circadian rhythms can actually differ.

“Some people are larks,” Ackerman explains, “happily up in the early morning, happily asleep by 8:30 or 9 p.m. – just as an owl is revving up for a long night of wakefulness.

There can be as much as six hours’ difference in the circadian cycles of extreme morning and extreme evening types.”

According to Ackerman, most people fall somewhere in between, with the majority of

Americans tending toward owlishness. (You can find out your own lark/owl chronotype by going to a link on Ackerman’s Web site:  www.jenniferackerman.net.) Our circadian rhythms are shaped by small variations in the genes that run our clocks, as well as age and daily exposure to light, both natural and artificial. We may have more owls in our society because of our exposure to nighttime artificial light, which delays our body clocks. If you are looking to “reset” your SCN in order to perform at an optimal level in a nine-to-five world, accomplish more and be your healthiest, the experts agree that exposure to morning light can help advance your clock.

“A brisk walk in the morning can also be just as effective because it boosts Serotonin,” Glass says, “and some people find that taking Melatonin (3 mg tablets) is helpful because it can aid in a more restful sleep. On the other hand, studies have found that both alcohol and marijuana effectively ‘blind’ the body clock to light, thereby disrupting your rhythms, so avoid heavy intake.”

We can’t add more hours to the day, but if we do our best to listen to our bodies and synchronize our actions with our biological rhythms instead of forcing them to follow unnatural routines, when it comes to energy and health, maybe we can turn back the clock.

It may still be your arms, legs and lungs that are doing the work, but the new “intelligent” fitness machines on the market are like virtual personal trainers, taking all the guess work out of achieving optimal fitness and making boring, ineffectual workouts a think of the past.

Most treadmills allow you to test your heart rate or select from a variety of pre-set workouts (hills, intervals, weight loss), but many new models are upping the ante. The Platinum Club Series treadmill from Life Fitness has gotten personal with a virtual trainer, which both motivates and educates users over the duration of their workout. Push a button and a male or female trainer appears on the integrated LCD touch screen and advises the user on every aspect of the workout, from describing workout programs to updates on workout statistics including distance, time and calories burned.

“The virtual trainer takes the intimidation out of beginning a new workout, helps users choose the best workout to meet their goals and provides ongoing encouragement while exercising,” says Bob Quast, vice president of brand management for Life Fitness.

Many new machines on the market now offer iPod integration, which allows users to plug in and charge their iPods, control their iPod playlists from the console and watch iPod-delivered video on the equipment’s large LCD screen. Users can also store customized workouts on a USB memory stick they plug directly into the treadmill so they can view and select a workout program on the integrated LCD screen. At the end of the workout, they can save the results on the USB stick and track progress over time online.

The demand for tech-savvy workout has led Curves, the women’s-only gym, to create the CurvesSmart full body fitness training system, which can tell the person exercising, qualitatively, if she isn’t doing enough work.

Users initially are weighed and measured, and they have their blood pressure taken; this information is then entered into a computer and the member is given a scanning tag with a computer chip in it, explains Becky Frusher, director of corporate communications for Curves International. The user then does the full 30-minute Curves circuit (including hydraulic weights machines, interspersed with brief bouts of cardio, such as marching in place) two times – the first time to see how fast she can do three reps of each move; the second time to test her range of motion. Finally, a personalized exercise profile will be created, which customizes the workout for her body, dictating how much effort it is healthy for her to expend.

Once the member’s fitness profile is established, she selects from one of four programs, including Fit ‘ n’ Trim, Muscle Size ‘n’ Strength, Cardio and the most difficult program, Endurance, and then moves through the circuit accordingly. As she scans her ID card at each machine, a series of colored lights will tell her how well she’s doing. If she’s working out at a level within her personalized training zone, she gets a green light; if she isn’t working out to her full potential, she gets a yellow light; if she overdoes it, the light is red. (There is also a set of lights for range of motion.) Periodically the member will monitor her pulse at an integrated Recovery Stepper machine, and if her pulse is too high, the subsequent machines will have her pause in order to bring her heart rate back into a healthy range.

Afterward, the member goes to a computer kiosk and uploads the information from her workout, where she can see where she did well and where she had a difficult time in this workout, how many calories she burned, how much residual energy she could have used to make her workout more powerful and her progress as compared to her 10 previous workouts. The computer will then inform her if she should stay where she is, move up or actually move back down – the system includes beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, all with varying degrees of difficulty within the level.

“You’ll realize that you really have to get your game on, or you will be sent back to an easier level,” Frusher says. “You have to put the effort in by responding to the lights, but the beauty is that you can never ceiling.” In fact, an initial study found that the fittest athletes at Baylor University were able to burn up 522 calories in 30 minutes when they did the circuit at maximum calorie burn.

Now if only these smart machines could dispense pre-workout smoothies and give you a post-workout massage, they’d be just about perfect.

A stroke requires immediate hospital care, but most Americans don’t recognize the symptoms of this potentially deadly “brain attack.” This widespread lack of awareness often results in long-term disabilities that could have been prevented.

A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 13 states and the District of Columbia reveals that most people can’t identify the five most common symptoms of stroke, which include sudden confusion or trouble speaking; numbness, weakness or paralysis of the face or appendages, especially on one side; sudden vision impairment; dizziness and loss of balance; and severe headache.

Less than 44 percent of respondents in the 2005 survey correctly identified all five stroke symptoms, though awareness of individual symptoms ranged from 60.4 percent for severe headache to 92.6 percent for numbness or weakness.

These findings are concerning because prompt treatment is necessary to save brain tissue after a stroke occurs. With each passing minute, 2 million brain cells die, increasing the risk of permanent brain damage, disability and death.

When the cells die, abilities controlled by that area of the brain, such as speech, movement or memory, are impaired or lost. In the U.S., stroke is leading cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of death, killing 160,000 people each year, according to the National Stroke Association, Centennial, Co.

“Strokes cut off blood and oxygen flow to the brain, and the brain does not tolerate long periods of oxygen deprivation,” says Dr. Shalini Bansil, medical director, Overlook Hospital stroke center, Summit, N.J.

Stroke does not afflict just the elderly. Healthy, active individuals in their 20s and 30s suffer strokes, as well, Bansil says.

For the best possible outcome following a stroke, a clot-dissolving medication called tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, must be administered within three hours of the onset of symptoms.

“It’s kind of like Drano for the brain — it takes away the clog,” says Diane Mulligan, vice president of communications for the National Stroke Association.

Beyond that three-hour window, only hospitals with comprehensive stroke centers can provide advanced interventional procedures, such as mechanically removing the clot causing the stroke, to stall or reverse damage to the brain. (Visit www.stroke.org to locate your nearest stroke center.)

“Someone who is wheeled in unable to walk, speak or see has a shot, with prompt, appropriate treatment, to literally walk out of the hospital within two days with no disabilities,” Mulligan says. “Unfortunately, it takes the average American 12 to 24 hours to get to the hospital, which is a disaster.”

To determine if someone is having a stroke, think F-A-S-T:

Face: Can the person smile? Does the face droop on one side?

Arms: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

Speech: Can the person repeat a simple sentence, such as “The sky is blue,” without skipping or slurring words?

Time: If a person has difficulty with any of these things, call 911 and get to the nearest stroke center or emergency room FAST.

It’s time to get a little nutty everyday. The Chicago Tribune recently reported that a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine says eating a handful of nuts a day for a year may help undo the risk factors for heart disease, but it must be done while eating a Mediterranean diet which is rich in fruit, vegetables and fish.

The Spanish researchers found that adding nuts worked better to decrease metabolic syndrome, a combination of health risks that includes high blood pressure and abdominal obesity, than increasing olive oil in a Mediterranean diet, which overall worked better than those people who ate a low-fat diet did.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the study of 1,2000 people from the ages of 55 to 80 were randomly assigned one of three diets. The first group ate a low-fat diet, the second group ate a Mediterranean diet with extra nuts, and the third group ate a Mediterranean diet and added extra olive oil to their diet.

The people who improved the most were told to eat about three whole walnuts, seven or eight whole hazelnuts and seven or eight whole almonds. They didn’t lose weight on average, but more of them succeeded in reducing belly fat and improving their cholesterol and blood pressure. Researchers say nuts help people feel full while also increasing their body’s ability to burn fat.

According to the American Heart Association, 50 million Americans have metabolic syndrome. Although experts say that Americans should be cautioned since adding nuts to a Western diet, or a diet filled with too many calories and junk food, could lead to weight gain and more risks.

Who knew that being blue could lead to a larger jean size? According to a new study in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, older adults with symptoms of depression appear more likely to gain abdominal fat, but not overall fat, over a five-year period.

Participants were screened for depression at the beginning of the study and their overall and abdominal obesity was recorded and the same process was done after five years. Measures of overall obesity included body mass index and body fat percentage, while abdominal obesity was assessed using waist circumference, sagittal diameter (distance between the back and the highest point of the abdomen) and visceral fat (fat between the internal organs).

At the beginning of the study, 4 percent of participants had depression and the percentage grew up to 15 percent at the study’s end. After adjusting for sociodemographic and other characteristics associated with weight changes, depression was associated with an increase in visceral fat over five years.

Researchers say there are several mechanisms by which depression might increase abdominal fat like chronic stress and depression, which may activate lead to increased levels of the hormone cortisol and leads to the accumulation of visceral fat.

South of the chin, it’s pretty obvious where a woman plumps up during pregnancy. Less noticeably, her gums become swollen, too. Not only are puffy gums painful, but they also pose a risk to the unborn baby.

During pregnancy, blood vessels expand throughout the body, including the gums, says Dr. Dana Keiles, who practices dentistry in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Enlarged vessels make the gums tender and more likely to bleed.

On top of that, about 50 percent of women experience pregnancy gingivitis, a gum disease caused by elevated hormone levels, according to the American Academy of Periodontology. The hormones react with plaque at the gum line, causing inflammation. Studies show that women with gum disease are more likely to give birth prematurely or bear full-term babies with low birth weights, which puts the infants at risk of developing serious health problems such as cerebral palsy, blindness and deafness. In addition, a study published in the April 2008 issue of the Journal of Dental Research suggests that women with gum disease are more likely to develop gestational diabetes.

The transfer of bacteria from a mother’s mouth to her unborn child and the rest of her body is probably to blame for these systemic health problems; however, other factors such as stress may come into play as well, says Dr. Jennifer Holtzman, assistant professor of clinical dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

In the general population, gum disease has been linked to heart disease and stroke.

“The best way to prevent and control gum disease is to make sure you clean the plaque off your teeth,” Holtzman says, adding that there are over-the-counter “disclosing agents” people can buy to dye and reveal any bacteria they missed while brushing and flossing.

Keiles recommends that women undergo a thorough dental exam if they are planning to get pregnant and that they have their teeth professionally cleaned every three months once they’re expecting.

She also recommends that pregnant women who suffer morning sickness or nausea rinse their mouths out if they vomit because stomach acid can damage tooth enamel.

“There’s a saying, ‘Have a baby, lose a tooth.’ It’s an old wives’ tale,” she says, “but there are a lot of hormonal things going on during pregnancy that can cause serious problems, so it’s important to practice good oral hygiene.”

Spreading some holiday cheer can make the season bright for you, for you, for you and, yes, for you.

According to a study publishing in the British Medical Journal, happiness spreads through a social network, traveling from one person to another and even to people up to three degrees removed.

“Scientists have been interested in happiness for a long time,” says James Fowler, associate professor in political science at the University of California, San Diego. “They’ve studied the effect of everything from winning the lottery to losing your job to getting sick, but they never before considered the full effect of other people. We show that happiness can spread from person to person to person in a chain reaction through social networks.” His research partner Nicholas Christakis, M.D, a professor of medical sociology in the department of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, says, “One of the key determinants of human happiness is the happiness of others. An innovative feature of our work was exploring the idea that emotions are a collective phenomenon and not just an individual one.”

Fowler and Christakis used data from the Framingham Heart Study to recreate a social network of 4,739 people whose happiness was measured from 1983 to 2003. To assess the participants’ emotional wellbeing, they relied on answers to four items from the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale: “I felt hopeful about the future”; “I was happy”; “I enjoyed life”; and “I felt that I was just as good as other people.”

Their research shows that happiness loves company. Happy people tend to cluster together, and, on the surface, people with more social contacts seem generally happier. However, Fowler and Christakis observe that what matters there is not just the total number of connections but the number of happy ones.

According to Fowler and Christakis, happiness spreads in a social network up to three degrees of separation.

You are 15 percent more likely to be happy if directly connected to a happy person; 10 percent if it’s the friend of a friend who is happy; and 6 percent if it’s the friend of a friend of a friend.

To be happier, Fowler suggests to take greater responsibility for your own happiness because it affects dozens of others.

“The pursuit of happiness is not a solitary goal. We are connected, and so is our joy,” Fowler says.