Test Endurance Athletes for Heart Woes While They Exercise: Study

WEDNESDAY, June 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Endurance athletes should be tested for potentially deadly heart rhythm problems when they are exercising rather than resting, and the tests should include the right ventricle as well as the left ventricle, a new study says.

Some athletes who participate in endurance events such as marathons and triathlons may have heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias) that can cause sudden death.

A team of researchers from Australia and Belgium found that important signs of rhythm problems in the heart’s right ventricle can only be detected during exercise, according to the study published June 3 in the European Heart Journal.

Currently, most routine assessments of athletes with suspected heart rhythm problems are done when the patients are resting, and the focus is on the left ventricle, the investigators said.

“You do not test a racing car while it is sitting in the garage. Similarly, you can’t assess an athlete’s heart until you assess it under the stress of exercise,” study author Dr. Andre La Gerche, head of sports cardiology at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and visiting professor at University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium, said in a journal news release.

He and his colleagues tested the performance of the hearts of 17 endurance athletes with right ventricular arrhythmias, 10 athletes without heart problems, and seven nonathletes.

Heart function during rest was similar in all three groups, as was left ventricular function during exercise. However, right ventricular function during exercise was different among the athletes with arrhythmias compared to the other two groups.

“By measuring the blood pressure in the lungs and the body during exercise we have shown that the right side of the heart has to increase its work more than the left side of the heart. Hence, the right side of the heart is a potential ‘weak link’ in athletes,” La Gerche said.

“In the normal healthy athletes, the right side of the heart was able to manage the increased work requirements. In the athletes with arrhythmias, the right side of the heart was weak during exercise, it could not handle the increase in work and we could detect problems accurately that were not apparent at rest,” he explained.

“The dysfunction of the right ventricle during exercise suggests that there is damage to the heart muscle. This damage is causing both weakness and heart rhythm problems. Whilst the weakness is mild, the heart rhythm problems are potentially life threatening,” La Gerche concluded.

The findings show that “assessment of the right ventricle should form an integral component of risk assessment in athletes presenting with potentially lethal rhythm disturbances,” Dr. Sanjay Sharma, of St. George’s University of London and medical director of the London Marathon, and Abbas Zaidi, a research fellow at St. George’s, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

More information

The American Heart Association has more about arrhythmia.

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Anti-Vaccine Parents Cluster in Rich, White Areas

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Parents who cite “personal beliefs” to get their children exempted from routine vaccinations are typically white and well-to-do — at least in California, a new study finds.

The results, published June 1 in Pediatrics, confirm what other studies have suggested: Anti-vaccine sentiment in the United States appears strongest among wealthier white families.

But the study also found another pattern that surprised experts: California schools with high rates of personal-belief exemptions often had high rates of exemptions for medical reasons, too.

“There’s no clear explanation for why that would be,” said Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who was not involved in the study.

But the concern, he added, is that some children exempted for medical reasons could be put at risk if their classmates are not vaccinated against diseases like measles, mumps, whooping cough and chickenpox.

Normally, when a small number of people remain unvaccinated, they are still protected by the “herd immunity” that builds when most people in a community are immunized.

But if enough parents delay or skip vaccinating their children, that herd immunity could be compromised, explained Margaret Carrel, one of the researchers on the new study and an assistant professor at the University of Iowa.

In fact, U.S. health officials have blamed personal-belief exemptions for helping to fuel this year’s measles outbreak.

As of May 1, 169 people in 20 states and Washington, D.C., had been sickened by measles, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The main outbreak was traced to Disneyland, in California.

The CDC says it probably began with an unvaccinated traveler who became infected in another country before visiting the amusement park, where he or she encountered other unvaccinated people.

In the United States, all states require children to receive numerous routine vaccinations. But every state also allows exemptions for medical reasons. That includes children with severe allergies to vaccine ingredients, and those with a weakened immune system — from cancer or cancer treatment, for example.

In addition, 20 states permit personal-belief exemptions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

California is one of them, but that could soon change. Earlier this month, the state senate passed a bill that would ban parents from seeking vaccine exemptions for nonmedical reasons. It was not clear whether Gov. Jerry Brown would sign off on it.

Opponents of the restriction argue that parents should be able to choose for their own children.

Offit disagreed. “If vaccines actually caused the problems that these people claim, then they would have an argument,” he said. “But personal-belief exemptions are based on risks that don’t exist.”

Most famously, the purported link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism came from a fraudulent 1998 study, and many studies since have shown no such risk.

And whenever parents choose not to vaccinate their children, it’s not just a personal decision, Offit said.

“You don’t have the right to put other people at risk,” he said. “This is something that affects all of us.”

Carrel agreed. “Vaccines protect not only an individual child but the children around them, and they constitute an enormous public good,” she said.

For the study, Carrel’s team used state records to look for “clusters” of personal-belief exemptions for kindergartners at over 5,000 California schools. They found many such clusters across Northern California and in wealthy coastal areas outside of Los Angeles and other large cities.

Those schools typically had relatively large percentages of white students. The exemption “hotspots” also had a higher proportion of private or charter schools, compared to areas of the state with low rates of personal-belief exemptions.

The patterns at individual schools ranged hugely. Some had no kindergartners with personal-belief exemptions, while others had rates as high as 79 percent.

Medical exemptions were less common, going as high as 19 percent in some schools.

What’s worrying, Carrel said, is that certain schools with high rates of medical exemptions also had high rates of personal-belief waivers.

“Our findings do reflect the concern of many parents whose children require a [medical exemption], that the herd immunity protection that they depend on may be compromised,” Carrel said.

But why was there such overlap at some schools? Carrel said it’s not clear.

Offit, however, speculated on a possible explanation: Parents at those schools are more likely to get a doctor to give their child a medical exemption, legitimate or not.

While the study looked only at California, Offit said he thinks similar patterns of demographics on parents would show up in other states as well.

More information

The CDC has more on vaccine safety.

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One Home Remedy for Allergies That Just Doesn’t Work

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Can drinking cayenne tea help with my allergies?

The essential ingredient in cayenne pepper is capsaicin, which is used for many things, from rubs that treat sore muscles to pepper sprays used for self-defense. It is also found in certain nasal sprays to alleviate congestion in people with sinus issues. But, sadly, there is no research to support the claim that drinking it in hot tea will help with your allergies.

At the very least, if the tea is spicy enough, it may trigger a runny nose in the same way that eating spicy foods can, and this might bring some minor relief if your allergies are stuffing you up. People who’ve tried it say that it’s like a “clearing-out.”

But I don’t recommend following their lead. Aside from being only a temporary solution, the spiciness of the tea can upset your stomach. Plus, if it’s making your nose run, there’s the possibility that it will backfire by adding more mucus. What you really want is prevention. If you haven’t already, see an allergist to determine exactly what your triggers are so you can avoid them. And, if needed, take an antihistamine or use a steroid nasal spray daily to get ahead of stuffiness.

Health‘s medical editor, Roshini Rajapaksa, MD, is assistant professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine and co-founder of Tula Skincare.

RELATED: 

24 Ways to Allergy-Proof Your Home

20 Ways to Stop Allergies

11 Unexpected Allergy Triggers

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The 9 Highest-Calorie Meals at Chain Restaurants

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So you’re headed out to a chain restaurant and want to pick the healthiest one. Red Lobster should be good, right? Seafood’s low in calories, high in protein, and full of good-for-you omega-three fatty-acids, right?

Think again.

While seafood can indeed boast all those nutritional perks, Red Lobster itself just had the dubious honor of being the “winner” of the 2015 Xtreme Eating Awards, held yearly by the Center for the Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) to highlight the chain restaurant menu items with the highest calorie, saturated and trans fat, sodium, and added sugar counts. Head to the Lobster for a Create Your Own Combination meal—with a Traditional Lobsterita to drink, natch—and you could down 3,600 cals in one sitting. That’s over a third more than the 2,000 calories the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends the average woman eat per day.

RELATED: 25 Fattening Foods You Should Never Eat

“They’ve taken seafood, which is a generally healthy meal, and turned it into this abomination. But what was so shocking to me is that the Lobsterita has 890 calories alone,” says Paige Einstein, RD, a registered dietician with the CSPI, a non-profit health advocacy group focusing on nutrition and food safety that’s been conducting the Xtreme Awards since 2007. “So you’re adding on to your meal almost half a day’s worth of calories just in a drink.”

In vetting the menus for more than 200 chain restaurants, Einstein and her team were looking for not only high-calorie offenders but also those that were dangerously high in fat, sodium, and added sugars. The USDA recommends limiting your total fat intake to 25 to 35% of your daily calories (that is, 44 to 78 grams) and your saturated fat intake to less than 7% (or 16 grams); the American Heart Association (AHA) suggests you consume no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugars (25 grams) a day, and the AHA and CSPI alike recommend you limit sodium intake to no more than 1500 milligrams a day.

“Restaurant meals are really a problem,” Einstein says. “People eat most of their meals outside of the home. It’s important for them to know that the average entrée, dessert, and appetizer averages 1,000 calories.” In fact, some of the items in the CSPI report packed more than a week’s worth of sodium and saturated fat.

RELATED: 13 Shockingly Salty Foods

Check out their full list of honorees (or, rather, “dishonorees,” as the CSPI calls them):

IHOP Chorizo Fiesta Omelette

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

Eggs are good for you, right? Yep–but not when you stuff them with chorizo and cheese, top ’em with chili, and accompany them with three pancakes with syrup to boot.

Calories: 1,990
Fat: 121 grams
Saturated fat: 42 grams
Sodium: 4,840 milligrams
Added sugar: 60 grams
How to burn it off: Clean house for eight hours

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit 3 Meat Plate

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

As if three fatty meats—Polish sausage, pork ribs, and beef brisket—weren’t enough to spell heart attack on a plate, heap on sides of fried onion and mac and cheese, a massive container of sweet tea, and a cone of the free soft-serve ice cream. It all adds up to more than a day’s worth of calories and nearly eight days’ worth of artery-clogging saturated fat.

Calories: 3,816
Fat: 190 grams
Saturated fat: 133 grams
Sodium: 6,834 milligrams
Added sugar: 149 grams
How to burn it off: Run for five hours

RELATED: 11 Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Belly Fat

Outback Steakhouse Herb Prime Rib

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

Prime rib, indeed: This 1-lb slab of meat plus sides (a dressed baked potato and classic blue cheese wedge salad) is the nutritional equivalent of having ordered three 10 oz. ribeye steaks and three sides of garlic mashed potatoes at the same restaurant (and that’s assuming you only ate half the warm loaf of bread they gave you with a light schmear of butter).

Calories: 2,404
Fat: 169 grams
Saturated fat: 71 grams
Sodium: 3,565 milligrams
Added sugar: 35 grams
How to burn it off: Do 10 hours of office work

The Cheesecake Factory Louisiana Chicken Pasta

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

Compared to some of the other winners on this list, bowtie pasta served with chicken, mushrooms, peppers, and onions doesn’t seem so bad. Bread the chicken with a heavy Parmesan crust and drown the pasta in a sauce rich with butter and heavy cream, though, and you wind up with 80 grams of saturated fat—that’s a four-day supply in one bowl.

Calories: 2,370
Fat: N/A
Saturated fat: 80 grams
Sodium: 2,370 milligrams
Added sugar: N/A
How to burn it off: Go biking for six hours

SONIC Pineapple Upside Down Master Blast

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

Talk about a meal in a glass: At 2020 calories, this large milkshake is actually three full meals in a plastic cup.

Calories: 2,020
Fat: 95 grams
Saturated fat: 61 grams
Sodium: 2,090 milligrams
Added sugar: 225 grams
How to burn it off: Dance for five hours

Red Lobster Create Your Own Combination

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

Grilled shrimp, sautéed shrimp, steamed shrimp—all light and healthy forms of the little crustacean. When slathered in toasted coconut, fried, and tossed in cream sauce, as it is in the Parrot Isle, Walt’s Favorite, and Linguine Alfredo preparations, though, that good-for-you shrimp becomes a fatty gut bomb. Toss in Red Lobster’s take on a margarita, a Caesar salad, french fries, and one Cheddar Bay Biscuit, and you’ll need to be rolled out of the restaurant, practically on a stretcher. (And who sticks to just one Cheddar Bay Biscuit?!)

Calories: 3,660
Fat: 101 grams
Saturated fat: 4,174 grams
Sodium: 6,860 milligrams
Added sugar: N/A
How to burn it off: Garden for nine hours

RELATED: 13 Ways to Stop Drinking Soda for Good

Uno Pizzeria & Grill 2 For $12 Pick & Choose

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

Take the baked ziti, leave the deep-dish pizza for one of the salads on the Pick & Choose menu instead. Otherwise, you’re basically eating three dinners in one—and getting over three days’ worth of sodium, too.

Calories: 2,190
Fat: 143 grams
Saturated fat: 49 grams
Sodium: 5,420 milligrams
Added sugar: 16 grams
How to burn it off: Walk briskly for six hours

The Cheesecake Factory Warm Apple Crisp

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

You could be forgiven for thinking this fruit-based dessert would be the rare healthy dessert option at The Cheesecake Factory. But you would be completely wrong. In fact, this apple crisp—which comes loaded with two scoops of ice cream, a mountain of whipped cream, and caramel sauce—contains more calories than any slice of cheesecake on The Cheesecake Factory’s menu. In fact, you could eat two slices of their Original Cheesecake for the same number of cals. Yes, you read that correctly.

Calories: 1,740
Fat: N/A
Saturated fat: 48 grams
Sodium: N/A
Added sugar: N/A
How to burn it off: Golf for seven hours

Steak ‘n Shake 7X7 Steakburger ‘n Fries

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

Photo: Paige Einstein/CSPI

What’s better than a burger? Try seven burger patties stacked with seven slices of American cheese on a fluffy bun. Then wash it down with a Chocolate Fudge Brownie milkshake that’s nearly 1,000 calories on its own. Better yet—don’t.

Calories: 2,290
Fat: 129 grams
Saturated fat: 67 grams
Sodium: 4,980 milligrams
Added sugar: 138 grams
How to burn it off: Play racquetball for three hours

RELATED: 10 Easy Ways to Slash Sugar from Your Diet

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Chantix Study Finds Little Evidence to Support Suicidal, Criminal Warnings

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 2, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The quit-smoking drug Chantix (varenicline) doesn’t increase the risk of suicidal behavior, mental illness, criminal acts or traffic accidents, European researchers say.

A study of more than 69,000 Swedes who used the smoking aid found no evidence for these worries, some of which led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to place its strongest warning on the drug’s label in 2009.

“Some of the concerns about the safety of Chantix are not supported by evidence,” said lead researcher Dr. Seena Fazel, a senior research fellow in the psychiatry department at the University of Oxford in England. And some concerns may have been overstated, he added.

However, among participants with a history of psychiatric problems, the study found a small increased risk of mood changes and anxiety.

And several U.S. health experts said they’re reluctant to prescribe Chantix because of unwanted side effects, such as nightmares.

Chantix, approved by the FDA in 2006, is a twice-a-day pill intended to ease nicotine withdrawal. It works by blocking the effects of nicotine on the brain.

Fazel said the FDA and similar agencies issued warnings based on individual patient reports of suicidal feelings and depression, not on clinical trials that can spot these problems in wider populations.

For example, because of concerns about higher risk for traffic accidents, use of Chantix is restricted or prohibited for pilots, air traffic controllers, truck and bus drivers, and certain military personnel, Fazel said. “Our study questions that,” he said.

For the study, published June 2 in BMJ, researchers collected data on 69,757 people in Sweden who were prescribed Chantix between 2006 and 2009. When the investigators looked for psychiatric or criminal behaviors linked to the drug, they found it was not associated with significant increases in suicidal behavior, criminal acts, car accidents, traffic offenses or psychosis.

The study was observational in nature, however, not one that looks at cause and effect.

While patients and their doctors may be relieved by the study findings, the drug is still associated with unwanted side effects, two American experts said.

“In our program, patients who use Chantix do not report suicidal thoughts or attempts, criminal activity, or traffic accidents and offenses,” said Patricia Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y.

“Some, however, were unable to tolerate the nausea or vivid dreams that accompanied the medication,” Folan noted.

This study may encourage more doctors to prescribe Chantix, Folan said. But doctors should closely monitor patients and educate them about potential adverse reactions to the drug, she added.

Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, doesn’t prescribe Chantix. “In the handful of times I prescribed Chantix, patients reported bad dreams and nightmares, so I stopped using it,” he said.

These dreams were so bad that patients could not tolerate them, he added.

Horovitz said he prefers nicotine replacement therapy to help people quit, not antidepressants or drugs such as Chantix that affect the brain.

The FDA has also warned that the Pfizer drug can increase the risk of heart problems and reduce tolerance to alcohol. In rare cases, the drug also has been linked to seizures.

More information

For more on quitting smoking, visit the American Lung Association.

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Bullied Teens at Risk for Later Depression, Study Finds

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 2, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Young teens who are bullied appear to be at higher risk of depression when they reach early adulthood, according to new research.

“We found that teenagers who reported being frequently bullied were twice as likely to be clinically depressed at 18 years,” said Lucy Bowes, a researcher at the University of Oxford in England, who led the research.

The researchers found an association, not a definitive cause-and-effect relationship, Bowes said. “In our type of study, we can never be certain that bullying causes depression,” she explained. “However, our evidence suggests that this is the case.”

To explore the possible link, the investigators used data on nearly 4,000 teens in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a community-based group born in the United Kingdom. At age 13, all completed a questionnaire about bullying. At 18, they were assessed for depression.

The study found that nearly 700 teens said they had been bullied “often” — more than once a week — at age 13. Of those, nearly 15 percent were depressed at age 18. More than 1,440 other teens reported some bullying — one to three times over a six-month period — at age 13. Of these, 7 percent were depressed at age 18. In comparison, only 5.5 percent of teens who weren’t bullied were depressed at age 18.

Bowes also found the often-bullied teens tended to stay depressed longer than others. For 10 percent of those often-bullied who became depressed, the depression lasted more than two years. By comparison, only 4 percent of the never-bullied group had long-lasting depression.

Among the bullying tactics, name calling was the most common type, experienced by more than one-third of the teens. About one of four had their belongings taken. About 10 percent were hit or beaten up. Most never told a teacher and up to half didn’t tell a parent. But up to three-quarters did tell an adult if the bullying was physical, according to the study published in the June 2 online edition of the BMJ.

Bowes noted that other studies have found the same bullying-depression link. If it does prove to be a causative factor, she added, bullying may account for 30 percent of those who develop depression in early adulthood.

In addition, the link held even when factors such as mental and behavioral problems and stressful live events were taken into account, Bowes said.

The research did not look at why bullying might increase the risk of depression or why some teens appear more vulnerable.

The study findings ring true in practice, said Gilda Moreno, a clinical psychologist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and Baptist Hospital in Miami, who reviewed the findings.

Children who are bullied over time may develop a ”learned helplessness,” she said. “It’s not having the skills to stand up to the bullying. That’s what may lead to the depression.”

Because bullied children often don’t tell their parents or teachers, Bowes said that parents need to be aware of potential signs. If a child is reluctant to go to school, parents should talk about why and ask about their relationships with friends, she suggested.

Bowes said parents should also believe their child if he or she complains about bullying, and follow up with the school administrators.

Loners are more likely than others to get picked on, Moreno added. Parents can encourage their kids to develop friendships, she said, to foster a kind of core support group.

More information

To learn more about bullying, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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7 Things to Know Before Trying Crossfit

Photo: Getty Images

Crossfit is a lot like cilantro or Keeping Up With The Kardashians—you either love it or loathe it. Throwing barbells in the air, doing hundreds of pull ups, loud grunting, and a “paleo” diet—it’s not for everyone. But to the legions of committed Crossfitters hitting the rings right now as I write this, there is no better way to sweat. And the truth is, many who loathe it often just haven’t tried it yet.

Crossfit isn’t as frightening as you might think. In fact, it’s a great way to become stronger, lose weight, and yes, it can even be fun!

The heart-pounding workouts, sense of community, and amazing results are what keep people coming back for more, but you can’t truly know if it’s right for you until you give it a go and see for yourself. If you’re thinking about coming over to the other side, here are 7 things you should know before you take your first Crossfit class.

RELATED: How to Become an Exercise Addict

Anyone can do it, but not everyone should do it

Crossfit is hardcore. It is a high-intensity style of working out, and while anyone can do it, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. At the end of the day, the only workout program you’ll stick to is one that you enjoy. If you don’t enjoy Crossfit, then don’t force yourself to do it. Keep trying until you find something fun for you.

Crossfit Lingo

Crossfit might as well have it’s own dictionary. Like learning a new language, it’s easiest to learn when you’re immersed in the environment, but we’ll give you a head start with this cheat sheet:

Box: Crossfit gyms are called “boxes”

WOD: Stands for Workout of the Day. This changes daily and is typically posted on a white board before class or on the Box’s website.

AMRAP: As many rounds as possible. This is a workout style that means you’ll complete as many rounds as possible of a series of exercises in an allotted time that is given by the coach.

RELATED: 17 Ways to Lose Weight When You Have No Time

Various names of people you don’t know: There are several benchmark WOD’s in Crossfit that are named after women (Helen, Fran, and Mary, for example). The creator of Crossfit did this because he said they “wreak havoc,” which is okay if you can deal with that subtle hint of sexism. There are also another set of WOD’s called Hero WOD’s that are named after fallen soldiers (like Murph and McCluskey).

How to find a good coach

Do your homework before joining a Crossfit box. Not all are created equal and having a good coach will make or break your experience. Read their reviews, ask friends for referrals and see if you can try a class or two before you join to make sure it’s a good fit.

Injuries are rare, but they do happen

While a lot of hype has surrounded Crossfit and the potential injuries that can occur, as long as you’re in good hands and have a good coach, the risk is minimal. A good coach will know how quickly you should be progressing and will pay attention to your form to make sure you’re moving properly. Especially because you’ll be doing AMRAP in some cases, you have to listen to your body as well. Never push past your limit, and always stop or take breaks when you need.

With that said, expect a few blisters and bruises. Crossfit workouts are tough and it’s nearly impossible to come out completely unscathed. The good news is that these minor issues will likely go away within your first few classes. In the meantime, feel free to show off your battle wounds!

RELATED: 7 Double-Duty Workout Moves You Need to Try

Most Crossfitters are women

Surprised? While Crossfit may seem like “a man’s world”, over 60% of the Crossfit population is comprised of women, according to numbers from The American Council on Exercise.

Your classmates will become your friends

One of the best aspects of Crossfit is having the opportunity to be a part of a tight-knit community. Crossfit classes are a great way to make new friends, cheer on and be cheered on by your fellow athletes.

It can be pricey

Crossfit is fairly expensive when you compare it to a regular gym membership. However, unlike a regular group fitness setting, Crossfit classes are meant to be coached, not taught. This means that your coach should be going around to each person in the room and spending some one-on-one time with them in every class. The value for what you’re paying for (expect $100-$300 per month) can be worth it for those who can afford it when you look at the type of attention you’re getting from your coaches.

RELATED: 10 Fitness Trackers Worthy of a Spot on Your Wish List

Found this article helpful? Check out The Pros and Cons of Running on a Treadmill

Jennifer Cohen is a leading fitness authority, TV personality, entrepreneur, and best-selling author of the new book, Strong is the New Skinny. With her signature, straight-talking approach to wellness, Jennifer was the featured trainer on The CW’s Shedding for the Wedding, mentoring the contestants to lose hundreds of pounds before their big day, and she appears regularly on NBC’s Today, Extra, The Doctors, and Good Morning America. Connect with Jennifer on Facebook, Twitter, G+ and on Pinterest.

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Blood Thinners OK for Cancers That Spread to Brain, Study Finds

TUESDAY, June 2, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Blood-thinning drugs are safe for treating blood clots in patients with cancer that has spread to the brain from other areas of the body, according to new research.

Cancer normally increases a person’s risk of blood clots, the study authors explained in a news release from the American Society of Hematology. When a cancer patient develops a clot, a blood thinner — also called an anticoagulant — is often added to the cancer treatment regimen to prevent the risk of blood clots traveling to the lungs. Such a clot can be fatal.

However, if cancer spreads from other parts of the body to the brain (called brain metastases), doctors are hesitant to prescribe blood thinners because of concern they might cause bleeding in the head, which is already a risk for these patients, the study authors added.

The new findings show that the use of blood thinners in these patients is safe, the researchers said.

“While it is a very common clinical scenario to treat a patient with a metastatic brain tumor who also develops a blood clot, before this study there was very little data to inform the difficult decision of whether or not to anticoagulate these patients,” senior author Dr. Jeffrey Zwicker, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in the news release.

“Our findings, which demonstrate that current practice is safe, should reassure physicians that anticoagulants can be safely administered to patients with brain metastases and a history of blood clots,” he added.

The study included almost 300 patients with brain metastases and blood clots. The patients were randomly selected to take a blood thinner called enoxaparin (Lovenox) or to take no blood thinners. Just over 100 people took the blood thinner, according to the researchers.

After 12 months, the incidence of bleeding in the head was 44 percent for people taking the blood thinner. In those who didn’t take the drug, 37 percent experienced bleeding in the head. This was not a statistically significant difference, the researchers said.

The investigators found a high bleeding rate among all of the study patients — between 20 percent and 50 percent. The researchers said this shows that bleeding in this group of patients is more common than previously thought.

The study was published online recently in the journal Blood.

More information

The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has more about blood thinners.

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6 Fun Summer Activities That Will Seriously Tone Your Abs

Photo: Getty Images

Crunches, planks, bicycles—bo-ring. Yes, they’re all effective at working your core. But so do some way-more-fun summer activities (think hula-hooping and stand-up paddle boarding) that just so happen to tone your abs in a similar way. Both routes to a six-pack can be effective, but personally, I’d rather get some serious enjoyment out of the process too, especially when it’s nice out.

Agree? Check out these sports that secretly strengthen your core—chances are, you won’t even realize you’re getting an ab workout as you’re doing them (though the burn the next day will probably clue you in).

RELATED: 24 Fat-Burning Ab Exercises (No Crunches!)

Hula-hooping

You’ve got to really move your middle to keep the hoop spinning, so it makes total sense that this seemingly-silly activity might seriously target your tummy. And a new, small study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research proves just that. Thirteen women were asked to use a weighted hula hoop for five days a week for six weeks, for two minutes on the first day and then for longer and longer stints until they were hooping for 15 minutes a day starting in week three. The result: The women lost 3.4 centimeters from their midsections and 1.4 centimeters from their hips, on average.

Stand-up paddleboarding

“All you have to do is get on a board and you will understand how your core is involved—it’s all about balance, and to stay upright your core is engaged the entire time,” says Chris Freytag, a fitness instructor in Minneapolis and founder of gethealthyu.com. If you’re a newbie, Freytag suggests starting on your knees, which lowers your center of gravity and still works your middle, and then moving up to standing when you feel comfortable for maximum perks.

RELATED: 7 Yoga Poses to Do While Stand Up Paddleboarding

Kayaking

Just because you’re sitting doesn’t mean you’re not working your stomach. “The majority of your body’s strength while paddling comes from the core, so while it feels like an upper-body exercise, it begins in your abdominals and lower back,” says Ramona Braganza, celebrity fitness trainer and creator of the 321 Training Method. Plus, your body rotation when paddling targets your obliques, too.

Beach volleyball

This classic summer sport is all about moving side-to-side and up-and-down to get the ball. All that quick lateral movement works your middle like crazy. On top of that, “the unstable surface of the sand gets your stabilizing muscles activated,” Braganza notes. Try playing with only a few people, rather than seven or eight folks on each side, which will force you to move more—and burn more.

RELATED: 17 Easy Ways to Burn Calories This Summer

Treading water

“Treading water, or really doing any water sport in general such as swimming or snorkeling without fins, can improve your core and provides a lot of cardiovascular benefits,” says Braganza. And that’s important, she says, because it’ll burn off any fat hiding sculpted muscles underneath.

Rollerblading

To stay balanced, you have to rely on a strong midsection to keep you upright. You’re also burning lots of calories as you roll, which is great for fat-melting purposes, Braganza says.

RELATED: 24 Awesome Group Workouts That Don’t Feel Like Exercise

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Vitamin D, Calcium Don’t Reduce Menopause Symptoms

TUESDAY, June 2, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Vitamin D and calcium supplements don’t help ease the symptoms of menopause, a new study says.

The research is part of the Women’s Health Initiative, a long-term clinical trial of menopausal women, and included more than 34,000 U.S. women between the ages of 50 and 79. The women were followed for an average of nearly six years to track more than 20 menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes, fatigue, sleep problems and emotional problems.

Half of the women took daily vitamin D and calcium supplements while the others took placebo pills. The average number of menopausal symptoms in both groups was the same — slightly more than six.

Also, both groups had similar scores on overall measures of sleep problems, fatigue and emotional well-being, according to the study.

The results were published June 1 in the journal Maturitas.

“Our study suggests that women should not rely on vitamin D and calcium supplements to relieve menopausal symptoms, but there are important caveats,” lead author Dr. Erin LeBlanc, an investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, said in a Kaiser news release.

“The average age of the women at the start of our study was 64, but the average age of menopause is 51, and it’s around that time that the most severe symptoms usually occur,” she noted.

“If we want to understand vitamin D’s effects on the most severe symptoms of menopause, we need to do a study in younger women,” LeBlanc concluded.

In a previous study, LeBlanc found no significant link between low levels of vitamin D in women’s blood and menopausal symptoms.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about menopause.

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