Health | 100 Tips

Blood Pressure May Be Key to Brain Hemorrhage Recurrence

TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2015 (HealthDay News) — People who survive a brain hemorrhage, also known as a bleeding stroke, may be at higher risk for another one if they don’t control their blood pressure, a new study warns.

“Survivors are at high risk for recurrence and [the findings] support the hypothesis that aggressive blood pressure control may reduce this risk substantially,” wrote a team led by Dr. Jonathan Rosand of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The findings are published in the Sept. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

While rarer than “blockage” type strokes that involve a clot, bleeding strokes are “the most devastating and least treatable form of stroke,” according to Dr. Stephan Mayer, director of neurocritical care at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.

Mayer, who was not involved in the new study, said that “we have known for decades that untreated high blood pressure is the most important cause of bleeding into the brain.”

In their research, Rosand’s team tracked outcomes for more than 1,100 people who suffered an intracerebral hemorrhage — a type of stroke in which bleeding occurs directly into the brain.

All of the patients survived at least 90 days. They were followed for up to 37 months and had their blood pressure checked at three, six, nine and 12 months, and then every six months.

During the follow-up, 146 recurrent bleeding strokes were recorded among the patients.

The rate of a second hemorrhage was higher among those whose blood pressure was not under control, the study showed. In fact, the higher the patient’s blood pressure, the greater his or her risk of recurrence, the researchers found.

Another expert agreed that long-term blood pressure control is imperative in preventing a second bleeding stroke.

Randomized clinical trials are needed to assess the benefits and risks of tighter blood pressure control in patients who have survived this type of stroke, they added.

“Survivors of brain bleeds due to high blood pressure must have their blood pressure strictly controlled for the three consecutive years after surviving the cataclysmic event, in order to maximally reduce their odds for a second bleed,” said Dr. Gregory Kapinos, a neurointensivist at the Center for Neurocritical Care at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y.

He added that this remains true “whether the first bleed was at the edges of the brain, which is more likely to recur and more disabling, or deeper inside the brain.”

“Bottom-line is the closer you are to a 90/60 [reading] for your blood pressure after a brain bleed, the better off you are,” Kapinos said.

Things you can do to help manage your blood pressure include getting a doctor’s check-up at least once every three to six months, eating a low-salt diet, and exercising, he added.

More information

The American Heart Association has more about hemorrhagic strokes.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1O5YJPi

Secondhand Smoke in Pregnancy, Youth Tied to Irregular Heartbeat Years Later

By Tara Haelle
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2015 (HealthDay News) — People seem more likely to have atrial fibrillation as adults if they were exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke during childhood or while in the womb, new research suggests.

Atrial fibrillation is a common type of irregular heart rate in which the heart beats too fast, too slow or irregularly, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

“We were surprised to observe the association between secondhand smoke exposure so early in development, potentially even while still in the womb, and the development of an important heart disease that typically doesn’t strike until several decades [later],” said study co-author Dr. Gregory Marcus. He is director of clinical research in the division of cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco.

However, the study only found an association between secondhand smoke and atrial fibrillation, not a cause-and-effect link, Marcus noted.

“It is important to emphasize that this study is insufficient to draw any firm conclusions regarding cause and effect,” he added.

The findings were published online Sept. 1 in the HeartRhythm Journal.

The researchers analyzed survey answers from an ongoing Internet-based study group of nearly 5,000 adults. Twelve percent of them said they had atrial fibrillation.

The researchers then took into account the participants’ risk factors for atrial fibrillation, including race, sex, education level, smoking history, alcohol consumption and history of diabetes and heart problems.

After considering those factors, they found that adults had 37 percent higher odds of atrial fibrillation if either of their parents smoked while the mother was pregnant. The adults had 40 percent higher odds if they lived with a smoker as a child.

Among adults without other risk factors, the link between atrial fibrillation in adulthood with secondhand smoke during pregnancy or childhood was even stronger, the researchers found.

Even though the study can’t prove cause and effect, this greater association in participants without other risk factors “suggests that secondhand smoke may have effects directly relevant to this important arrhythmia,” Marcus said.

The findings were both surprising and disturbing to Dr. Sarah Samaan, a cardiologist at the Baylor Heart Hospital in Plano, Texas.

“The link to atrial fibrillation is unexpected, particularly because the risk begins to rise even as the baby is developing in the mother’s womb,” Samaan said. “It’s disturbing that a parent’s choice to smoke might have such a devastating effect so far into the future.”

Atrial fibrillation is a common cause of strokes, Samaan said, and those with the condition often need to take blood thinner medication or undergo invasive procedures.

She said it seems likely that toxins in tobacco smoke can have a direct impact on development of the heart’s electrical system. Scientists already know from other research about the negative effects children may suffer from exposure to secondhand smoke, she explained.

“Early exposure to smoke not only can cause respiratory problems, but studies have found that it may also predispose individuals to coronary artery disease, substance abuse, hyperactivity and even aggression and criminal behavior,” Samaan said. “Children of smokers themselves are more likely to smoke, which perpetuates all of the associated risks of cancer, heart disease and lung disease.”

Samaan encouraged smokers to talk to their doctor about therapies available to help them quit if they plan to have children.

“Quitting is not easy, but it can be done,” she said. “If you smoke, you absolutely must find a way to quit if you want to give your children the best possible chance at a healthy childhood as well as a healthy adulthood.”

More information

For more on atrial fibrillation, visit the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute website.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1O5YLH7

More Older Americans Falling Prey to Bike Injuries

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2015 (HealthDay News) — It sounds like a fun way to exercise while going easy on aging joints. But new research shows that bicycling may be more risky for older Americans than thought.

Injuries among older bicyclists have jumped dramatically in recent years, investigators from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), found. And they aren’t talking about minor scrapes and bruises.

Between 1998 and 2013, bike injuries among all adults over the age of 18 increased 28 percent, while hospital admissions jumped 120 percent. Head traumas went from 10 percent to 16 percent of all injuries in the same period, the report found.

It turns out that older bicyclists fueled much of the increase in injuries, especially ones that required a trip to the emergency department. Injuries among those over the age of 45 jumped 81 percent in the study period, from 23 percent to 42 percent of total injuries. In addition, hospital admissions increased 66 percent, from 39 percent to 65 percent of total injuries, the findings showed.

“The rise in cycling in adults over 45 appears to be driving both the increase in injuries and [hospital] admissions, suggesting that older individuals are at increased risk for sustaining severe injury while cycling,” said lead researcher Dr. Benjamin Breyer, an associate professor of urology at UCSF.

“As cyclists in the U.S. shift to an older demographic, greater attention is needed in injury prevention measures through improved infrastructure, such as bike lanes, use of personal protective equipment, such as helmets, as well as improved rider and motorist education,” Breyer said.

The report was published Sept. 1 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Jason Vargo, an assistant scientist at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said this latest study adds important data to the discussion of bicycle safety.

In his own study, published last month in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vargo found that the increase in adult ridership had shifted the number of fatal cycling accidents from kids to adults.

While death rates for cyclists younger than 15 fell by 92 percent between 1975 and 2012, death rates for cyclists between the ages of 35 and 74 showed a large increase, the CDC report said.

The largest rise in bike-related deaths occurred among cyclists aged 35 to 54, Vargo’s team found, with the rate nearly tripling between 1975 and 2012. By 2012, men made up 87 percent of all of these bike-related deaths in adults.

More cyclists in cities are competing for the road with automobiles, adding to the increase in accidents, he said.

Inexperienced older riders may also be placing themselves at higher risk for injury, Vargo said. “These are weekend warriors,” he added.

Vargo believes that ways to prevent injuries include dedicated bike lanes and more safe cycling classes.

“In addition, streets should be built with consideration for all modes of transportation,” he said.

“There may come a tipping point when accidents are reduced once drivers become more used to cyclists and cyclists follow the rules more closely,” Vargo added.

For the new bicycling study, Breyer and his colleagues used data from the U.S. National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, a national sample of some 100 emergency departments that gather injury data. The number of bicycle-related injuries in those 18 or older was recorded every two years.

“Bicycles are no longer children’s toys,” Breyer said. “Bikes are increasingly being used by adults as a means of transportation and physical activity.”

More information

Visit the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for more on safe bicycling.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1N7HdNN

More College Kids Smoke Pot Now Than Cigarettes, Survey Finds

TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2015 (HealthDay News) — On college campuses nationwide, daily cigarette smoking appears to be in steep decline while the rate of smoking pot each day climbs, well, higher.

In fact, a new study shows that, for the first time, more U.S. college students (6 percent) now smoke a joint each day than light up a cigarette (5 percent).

The findings are based on 2014 data collected from more than a thousand college students across the country. The Monitoring the Future study, which has tracked trends on college campuses for 41 years, is funded by the U.S. National Institutes on Drug Abuse.

“It’s clear that for the past seven or eight years there has been an increase in marijuana use among the nation’s college students,” study leader Lloyd Johnston, a research professor at the University of Michigan, said in a university news release.

“This largely parallels an increase we have been seeing among high school seniors,” Johnston added.

Marijuana use by college students has been growing steadily since 2006, his team noted.

For example, while about 3.5 percent of students said they smoked pot daily or almost daily in 2007, that number had risen to about 6 percent — about one in every 17 students — in the latest survey.

Other college students are using pot, but less regularly. The research showed that the proportion of college students who said they had used the drug once or more in the previous month rose from 17 percent in 2006 to 21 percent in 2014, while the rate of marijuana within the prior year rose from 30 percent in 2006 to 34 percent in 2014, the study found.

Tobacco smoking has headed in the opposite direction, however. While 19 percent of college kids said they were daily smokers in 1999, only 5 percent said that by 2014, Johnston’s team reported.

The rise in marijuana use on college campuses may be tied to the notion among a growing number of teens and young adults that the drug isn’t dangerous, the team said.

For example, the proportion of American high school graduates aged 19 to 22 who considered marijuana harmful fell from 55 percent in 2006 to 35 percent in 2014, the study found.

But for the first time in years, the study actually recorded a slight drop in the use of illegal substances overall.

“There is some more welcome news for parents as they send their children off to college this fall,” Johnston said. “Perhaps the most important is that five out of every 10 college students have not used any illicit drug in the past year, and more than three quarters have not used any in the prior month.”

The rate at which college students’ said they had used any illicit drug, including marijuana, over the prior year had been rising steadily: from 34 percent in 2006 to 41 percent in 2013. However it fell slightly in the 2014 survey, to 39 percent.

Still, the use of illicit drugs other than pot continues to grow. College students’ use of any illicit drug other than marijuana in the previous 12 months rose from 15 percent in 2008 to 21 percent by 2014, Johnston’s team said. Most of this increase is due to greater illicit use of amphetamines and ecstasy, the researchers said.

Non-medical use of amphetamines over the previous 12 months increased from almost 6 percent in 2008 to 11 percent in 2012, and fell to 10 percent in 2014.

“It seems likely that this increase in amphetamine use on the college campus resulted from more students using these drugs to try to improve their studies and test performance,” Johnston said. For example, some people may try amphetamine-based ADHD medications such as Adderall as a “study aid” to help them focus.

Past-year ecstasy use rose from just over 2 percent in 2007 to almost 6 percent in 2012, and remained about the same in 2014. Cocaine use within the previous 12 months rose from close to 3 percent in 2013 to slightly more than 4 percent in 2014.

“We are being cautious in interpreting this one-year increase, which we do not see among high school students; but we do see some increase in cocaine use in other young adult age bands, so there may in fact be an increase in cocaine use beginning to occur,” Johnston said.

Non-medical use of narcotic drugs — which include prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin — fell from almost 9 percent in 2006 to close to 5 percent in 2014, the report said. Very few college students use heroin, the researchers noted, and use of the drug over the past five years on campuses was lower than in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Non-medical use of tranquilizers decreased from almost 7 percent in 2003 to 3.5 percent in 2014, and rates of use of LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs in 2014 were just over 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively. College students’ use of club drugs and bath salts are very low.

And even though drinking rates remain very high, rates of drunkenness actually fell in 2014.

According to the study, the proportion of students who said they had alcohol at least once in the past month fell from 82 percent in 1981 to 67 percent in 2000 and to 63 percent in 2014. The proportion who said they had gotten drunk over the past month also fell, from 48 percent in 2006 to 43 percent in 2014.

Rates of binge drinking — five or more drinks in a row — within the past two weeks fell from 44 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2014.

However, “despite the modest improvements in drinking alcohol at college, there are still a sizable number of students who consume alcohol at particularly dangerous levels,” Johnston said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about college health and safety.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1N7HdNG

Runner Misses Out on a Medal When She Celebrates Too Soon

Last week American track star Molly Huddle ran down the final stretch of her 10K race at the world championships in Beijing in solid third place. Knowing (or at least thinking) she had locked in the bronze medal, Molly threw up her hands in celebration to cross the finish line—just in time for fellow U.S. runner Emily Infeld to scoop it right out of her hands.

Ugh, painful. Especially when you see her face go from from total elation to complete devastation. In the end, Infeld finished the 6.1-mile run in 31:43.49 while Huddle finished in 31.43.58—a difference of .09 seconds.

“That last half step I let up too much, and Emily was right there the whole time, with just more momentum, and she got that bronze. And so really, this will take a long time to get over,” Huddle explained to Letsrun.com. “I couldn’t hear anything, and I didn’t want to turn around at that point, but then I thought I was clear that last step, but really that’s what it came down to over 10K, it was a step.”

What’s more heart-wrenching is seeing her hug the teammate that bested her as they both look up at the scoreboard.

We hope Huddle doesn’t dwell too much—she’s still one of the best runners in the country, after all—and that she has more opportunities to grab a medal, like say, at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Plus, she is far from alone. Watch these other incredible sports fails.

The hockey player who celebrated too soon

The rugby player who got tackled mid-gloat

The biker who miscounted his laps

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1hv9rnW

This Hair Clip Could Save Your Life

Image: OddityMall

When I take a look at my own personal beauty arsenal and dare to make necessary cuts, I always consider the products and accessories I truly couldn’t live without. Moroccanoil Hydrating Style Cream? Check. Kate Somerville DermalQuench Liquid Lift? Check. L’Oreal Voluminous Waterproof Mascara? Quadruple check. But now I may have met the hair accessory that will actually change my life.

Meet the Leatherdos Hair Clip.

980x

I caught my first glimpse of this multi-tasking survival tool thanks to our friends at Bustle, who note it would slay during the zombie apocalypse, and I knew I had to learn more.

This innocent-from-a-distance hair clip can literally double as any number of tools ranging from a flat phillips screwdriver to a wrench and it will make you feel like a total badass while keeping your hair out of your face.

Seriously, Bear Grylls himself couldn’t have come up with a finer survival tool in the form of a hair accessory. Made of stainless steel, it also features a ruler, knife and can even act as a match holder if you feel the need to set the mood with a little candlelight…without the candle.

And for the low, low price of $9 (available at odditymall.com), it’s well worth the investment.

This article originally appeared on MIMIchatter.com.

MIMI Chatter is an endless stream of beauty content. We bring together the must-knows and the how-tos from your favorite sites, beauty influencers, our editors, and YOU.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1hv9sZ6

Many Say Mental Health Care Is Vital, But Often Tough to Get

TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Although most Americans think mental health care is important, they often believe it’s expensive and hard to get, a new survey shows.

In questioning more than 2,000 adults, nearly 90 percent said they place equal value on mental and physical health. But one-third said mental health care is inaccessible. And 40 percent said cost is a barrier to treatment for many people, the survey found.

Forty-seven percent of respondents thought they have had a mental health condition, but only 38 percent of them had received treatment. Of those who were treated, most thought it was helpful, including 82 percent who got psychotherapy and 78 percent who received medications.

The survey also found that 86 percent of participants knew that mental health disorders such as depression are risk factors for suicide. Only 47 percent knew that anxiety disorders also increase suicide risk, according to the survey.

The survey findings were released Sept. 1 by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. September is Suicide Prevention Month.

Other findings: 55 percent of respondents said they had been affected by suicide in some way; 94 percent believe suicide is preventable; 93 percent said they would take action if someone close to them were considering suicide; and 67 percent said they would tell someone if they were having suicidal thoughts, with women being more likely than men to do so.

“There’s a significant body of research that demonstrates that individuals suffering from anxiety disorders and depression face an increased risk for suicidal thoughts and attempts,” Dr. Mark Pollack, president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), said in an ADAA news release.

Pollack, who is also a professor and chairman of the psychiatry department at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, added that effectively diagnosing and treating anxiety disorders and depression, especially when a person has both, are key to reducing suicide crises.

Survey respondents aged 54 and younger were more likely to have received treatment for a mental health condition than those who were older. Those between 18 and 34 were more likely than older people to consider it a sign of strength to see a mental health professional. Women were more likely than men to have received treatment, and to say they had suffered anxiety and depression. Men were more likely to admit to substance abuse, the survey found.

Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said the findings were encouraging.

“Progress is being made in how Americans view mental health and the important role it plays in our everyday lives,” she said in the news release. “People see the connection between mental health and overall well-being, our ability to function at work and at home, and how we view the world around us. Respondents want to help a loved one by connecting them to the right mental health treatment and support.”

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about mental health.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1JzM0DA

Too Much Weight in Midlife Tied to Earlier Alzheimer’s

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Avoiding middle-age spread could be one way to delay the onset of dementia, a new study hints.

Researchers found that among 142 elderly adults with Alzheimer’s disease, those who were overweight at age 50 tended to develop the memory-robbing disorder earlier.

On average, the study participants were 83 years old when diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. But that age of onset varied according to people’s weight at age 50: For each unit increase in body mass index (BMI), Alzheimer’s set in about seven months earlier, on average.

Other studies have found that obesity may boost the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. But this research suggests it also speeds the onset, said senior researcher Dr. Madhav Thambisetty, of the U.S. National Institute on Aging.

“We think that’s important because one of the goals in Alzheimer’s research is to find ways to delay the onset of the disease,” Thambisetty said.

The study, published online Sept. 1 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, does not prove that obesity, itself, hastens Alzheimer’s.

However, obese adults often have health conditions that have been linked to an increased Alzheimer’s risk, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

In the study, Thambisetty’s team did account for those conditions — plus smoking — and found that a higher BMI at age 50 was still connected to earlier Alzheimer’s onset.

What’s more, brain autopsies showed that Alzheimer’s patients who’d been heavier in middle age generally had more brain “tangles” — twisted strands of protein that build up in the brains of people with the disease.

It’s not clear, however, whether those brain abnormalities are the reason for the earlier Alzheimer’s, Thambisetty said. Plus, he noted, there were some factors that his team could not account for — such as the quality of people’s diets.

That’s important because research has suggested, for instance, that a Mediterranean diet — rich in vegetables, fruit, and “good” fats from olive oil and fish — may help stave off Alzheimer’s, according to the Institute on Aging.

There is also evidence that exercise, both physical and mental, could have a protective effect.

Still, another Alzheimer’s researcher said the bottom line is this: The same factors that affect heart health may also affect brain health.

“This study confirms that there is a bundle of risk factors for Alzheimer’s that we can modify,” said Dr. Malaz Boustani, director of the Center for Brain Care Innovation at Indiana University and a spokesman for the American Federation on Aging Research.

The study findings come from a long-term review of nearly 1,400 older adults who were free of dementia at the outset. Just over 10 percent were eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

The study can’t answer the question of why higher BMI — a calculation of body fat — in middle age was linked to earlier Alzheimer’s onset or to higher levels of brain tangles, Thambisetty said.

But, it’s “plausible” that obesity, itself, contributed, he said.

Many studies, he noted, have found that obesity can cause a state of chronic inflammation in the body, including the brain. And that inflammation might worsen the brain damage seen in people with Alzheimer’s.

While questions remain, there are already many health reasons to avoid mid-life obesity, Boustani pointed out. “This study gives people yet another reason to try to reduce their BMI,” he said.

Of course, he added, losing excess weight at the age of 40 or 50 is “no walk in the park.”

Thambisetty agreed, adding that’s why preventing obesity in the first place is key.

“We know that maintaining a healthy weight throughout life is important for a variety of reasons,” he said. “This study suggests that a healthy BMI, as early as mid-life, could also help delay Alzheimer’s disease.”

More information

The Alzheimer’s Association has advice on maintaining brain health.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1UjVBXl

Too Much Weight in Middle Age Tied to Earlier Alzheimer’s