Side Effects Cause Some to Stop Taking Blood Thinner Brilinta

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Side effects like bleeding or shortness of breath cause some heart attack survivors to stop taking a potentially lifesaving new blood thinner during clinical trials, researchers report.

About one in five people assigned to take the highest dose of the blood thinner Brilinta (ticagrelor) during clinical trials stopped taking the drug due to side effects, the new research found.

Even a lower dose of Brilinta caused one in six patients to stop using the drugs because of side effects.

Researchers classified the majority of side effects as minor, and urged doctors to counsel patients to stay on the medication.

“You can tell a patient that this side effect is not harmful, and if you can tolerate it you will receive benefit from this drug,” said lead researcher Dr. Marc Bonaca, a cardiovascular medicine specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

However, Bonaca admitted that patients may have a hard time seeing these side effects as minor, even if they aren’t life-threatening.

“As doctors, we have to realize bruising and nosebleeds may be a big deal for patients, and we need to make the effort to explain the benefits of the drug,” he said.

The clinical trial and follow-up research was funded in part by the maker of Brilinta, AstraZeneca.

In the study, the researchers found that heart attack survivors who kept taking Brilinta along with aspirin for three years had a 15 percent reduced risk of a second heart attack, stroke or heart-related death.

But researchers also found that a significant number of patients dropped out during the trial due to side effects — 19 percent of those taking 90 milligrams (mg) of Brilinta and 16 percent of those taking 60 mg of the drug, compared with just 9 percent of those assigned a placebo.

The study aimed to examine more closely why people dropped out, Bonaca said.

Most of the patients who stopped taking Brilinta did so during the first year of treatment, researchers found. Those who got through the first year were less likely to drop out.

Nearly 8 percent of high-dose patients dropped out of the trial due to bleeding, and 6.5 percent due to shortness of breath, the study found.

For low-dose patients, 6 percent quit the drug over bleeding and 4.6 percent for shortness of breath, the research showed.

About 85 percent of the shortness-of-breath cases were not serious, the researchers judged. Most of the bleeding cases were either minimal or prompted a person to call their doctor for advice, but did not require medical care, Bonaca said.

Since the drug is effective in preventing future heart problems, Bonaca and his colleagues recommend counseling and education to help patients understand the benefits of Brilinta and tough out the side effects.

That might be a tough sell for some patients, said Dr. Marco Costa, director of the Interventional Cardiovascular Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

“If you have a bleed from your nose every morning, that’s a serious event for a patient even if we would consider it non-life-threatening,” Costa said.

If a patient is adamant about quitting Brilinta, Bonaca said he probably would recommend they switch to another blood thinner such as Plavix (clopidogrel).

Costa urged that future studies look more closely at the reasons why patients stop taking a drug, so doctors can better address the problem and help keep people on their medications.

“We need to understand human behavior, and it’s not just patient counseling, it’s understanding why patients discontinue a therapy,” Costa said.

Costa also raised the question of whether bleeding would subside if people quit taking the aspirin they were assigned alongside Brilinta. Bonaca called that a “critical question,” and said it’s being studied.

The researchers were scheduled to present the findings from the study Tuesday at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. Data and conclusions presented at meetings are generally viewed as preliminary until they’ve been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

For more information on blood thinners, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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Knee Arthritis: Steroid Shots May Not Help Long-Term, Ozone Injections Promising

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Millions of aging Americans are plagued by arthritic knees, and two new studies offer insight into what might — or might not — help curb the condition.

Both studies were presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting in San Francisco.

One study found that a popular therapy, steroid drug injections, do nothing to slow progression of osteoarthritis in the knee. This type of treatment is common, but has never been specifically tested, and there are concerns about its safety, according to a team led by Dr. Tim McAlindon, chief of rheumatology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

His team tracked outcomes for 140 people — mainly overweight white women — with knee arthritis who averaged 58 years of age. The patients received either injections of the steroid triamcinolone hexacetonide, or placebo injections of saline, every three months for two years.

While the steroid injections were deemed to be safe, they did not improve long-term outcomes of pain, mobility or joint damage compared to the placebo, the Boston researchers reported.

But two experts who reviewed the findings said that steroid shots may still have a place in knee arthritis care.

“It is widely accepted that these injections do not alter the natural progression of knee osteoarthritis, but are used for symptom reduction,” noted Dr. Neil Roth, an orthopedic surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

In fact, he said, there is no injection that halts progression of knee osteoarthritis. Presently, however, steroid shots “are helpful in alleviating the pain associated with arthritis inflammation,” Roth said.

Dr. Calin Moucha is chief of adult reconstruction and joint replacement surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He agreed with Roth that “steroid injections should continue to be used for temporary symptom relief in patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis who are trying to postpone knee replacement surgery.”

Moucha also believes that healthy weight loss and “low-impact aerobic physical activity” can help ease the discomfort of knee arthritis.

The Boston researchers agreed that steroid shots may have a place as a short-term method of pain relief. “Additionally, the dose was fairly small [40 milligrams], and we might have seen greater effects with a higher strength formulation,” McAlindon said in a meeting news release.

Other treatments for arthritic knees may be on the horizon, however. A second, small study found that injections of ozone gas into the joint reduced pain and improved movement for people with knee osteoarthritis.

The Brazilian trial included 63 patients who received injections of ozone gas into the knee and a control group of 35 who received injections of air. Previous research has suggested that ozone, a naturally occurring gas, may help reduce inflammation.

The patients who received the ozone gas showed significant improvements in pain, physical function, overall health and quality of life, compared to those in the control group, the researchers said. However, there were no major differences between the two groups in the amount of time it took them to stand up, walk, return and sit.

Researchers Carlos Cesar Lopes de Jesus and Virginia Fernandes Moca Trevisani, of Federal University of Sao Paulo’s Paulista School of Medicine, believe that the ozone injections may ease pain for patients and delay the need for joint replacement surgery.

However, they added that further research is need to confirm these findings and to determine whether ozone could offer an alternative treatment.

Roth agreed that the research is promising but preliminary.

The use of ozone injections is “interesting in concept,” he said, but the study did have some flaws.

“The authors do not differentiate the levels of osteoarthritis for these patients and it is difficult to know if they are testing predominantly lower levels of arthritis,” Roth said. The therapy “certainly needs further study to see what type of patients, if any, would truly benefit from the injection of ozone gas into the knee,” he said.

Experts note that data and conclusions presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about treating knee osteoarthritis.

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Some Kids With Heart Defects Struggle in School

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Children born with heart defects often do worse in school than their peers, a new study finds.

Researchers led by Dr. Matthew Oster of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta analyzed end-of-grade test results for third-grade students in North Carolina public schools between 1998 and 2003.

Compared to other children, those with a congenital heart defect were 40 percent less likely to meet reading proficiency standards, 20 percent less likely to meet math standards, and 50 percent less likely to meet standards in both subjects, the study found.

The researchers also found that 2.8 percent of children with heart defects were held back in third-grade, compared with 1.9 percent of other children.

Two experts in pediatric care who reviewed the new findings weren’t surprised.

“Children with congenital heart disease have long been known to be at increased risk for later problems in school with attention and academic performance,” said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York.

He said that the extent of academic difficulty is often in proportion to the severity of the child’s heart defect. “Fortunately, the risks for later developmental problems are lowest for children with the least complicated and most common forms of congenital heart disease,” Adesman said.

So, “most children with congenital heart disease will not have major academic struggles,” Adesman said, but “parents and clinicians need to be vigilant for academic difficulties in children with a history of complex congenital heart defects.”

Another expert stressed that more must be done to find out the causes of academic performance issues in these kids.

One question: “How much of the associated neurodevelopmental delays derive from side effects of necessary care — such as use of the heart-lung machine during heart surgery — versus resulting from defect-causing genetic issues that can also affect the brain?” said Dr. Bruce Gelb.

“Answers to that will direct physicians as to what strategies to try in order to achieve the best outcomes for children with congenital heart defects,” said Gelb, who directs the Mindich Child Health and Developmental Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

The study was scheduled to be presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando. Findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about congenital heart defects.

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More Women Are Choosing Long-Acting Birth Control

Photo: Getty Images

Of American women who use birth control, the number who choose to use long-acting versions like the intrauterine device (IUD) or implant has significantly increased, according to a new federal report.

New data from the National Center for Health Statistics show that 11.6% of women who used birth control in the U.S. in 2011-2013 chose long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC)—almost double the rate in 2006-2010, when 6% of women using birth control chose these methods. In 2002, the rate was 2%.

Among women using LARC in the most recent report, 10.3% reported using an IUD and 1.3% used an implant.

Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) are highly effective and low maintenance. The failure rate for these methods is around 0.8% for the IUD and 0.05% for the implant—compared to 9% for the pill and 18% for the male condom.

The most popular birth control method in 2011-2013 remained the pill at 26% and female sterilization at 25%. The male condom came in at 15%.

The researchers point out that although practically all sexually active women in the U.S. have used contraception at some point, not everyone uses birth control consistently or correctly. LARC methods don’t require action by the user once inserted, the authors point out (though they don’t protect against sexually transmitted infections).

One of the reasons LARC methods haven’t been as popular as other modes of contraception in the United States is due to flawed versions in 1970s that resulted in brands pulled from the market, as TIME previously reported. Today’s versions are considered safe and effective. LARC has also been expensive compared to some other methods, costing as much as $900 for uninsured women. But contraceptive coverage in the Affordable Care Act has made the IUD less expensive for women, reports the non-profit research group Guttmacher Institute.

The researchers who conducted the new study note that a woman’s choice of birth control method can change over time due to availability and changes in societal fertility patterns. The report authors point out that women are having their first child later in life, and there’s a rise in the number of women having their first child after age 35. “This suggests potential changes over time in the use of contraception by age as first births are delayed,” they write.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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Ways to Instantly Look Better When You’re Sick

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We’ve all been there: hot mess status with a sore throat, unbearable cough, runny nose, under the weather bed-head, and that God-awful migraine. But as sick days become more of a rarity in this crazy world we live in, you sometimes have to pull yourself out of bed, put yourself together in a presentable way and take on the world. Luckily, there are many easy and extremely quick (because who has time to fuss when they’re battling a fever?) beauty tips to liven up your complexion and have you looking good. Well, as good as you can considering the circumstances, because after all — look good, feel good, right?

Highlight Where It Matters

This is a quick and effective fix because one obvious giveaway that you’re not feeling your best is a sullen, lackluster complexion. The solution? Grab your favorite highlighting pen or brightening concealer — and highlight where it matters. Dab a spot of product under the eyes, on the corners of your nose, and the sides of your mouth. Blend out by patting your fingers on each area. You’ve now concealed those pesky under-eye circles, the redness around your nose from all that blowing, and highlighted the corners of your smile for a lifted effect.

L’Oreal Magic Lumi Highlighter Pen; $9.49, target.com
YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Touch; $42, sephora.com
Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer; $28, sephora.com
MAC Pro Longwear Concealer; $21, macys.com
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer; $6.99, drugstore.com

Sculpt Those Brows

You’d be surprised how much an arched, sculpted brow can wake you up. Not only do well-tamed eyebrows make you look put together, a nice arch will give a swift lift of the entire face. Your arches are distressed and unruly from all the time you’ve spent on your pillow — so whether you have naturally full brows (lucky you) or more sparse hairs, a tinted fiber rich brow gel is the quickest way to add color, texture, and shape. Simply brush through and you’re ready to go. And if you’re feeling well enough for the extra step, add a matte brow highlight or concealer under the high points of your arch for a perfectly polished look.

Benefit Gimme Brow; $24, ulta.com
L’Oreal Brow Stylist Plumper; $7.99, target.com
Eyeko Tinted Brow Gel; $24, birchbox.com
Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil; $18, nordstrom.com
Sephora Collection Brow Enhancer; $12, sephora.com

Get Some Glisten Going on Those Cheeks

One of the major ailments of getting sick is dull, dehydrated skin. If you don’t have time to apply a skin-care treatment, you can fake it with a touch of cheek highlight. Any shimmery or luminizing product placed on the high points of your cheekbones will help you fake the illusion of a healthy, dewy complexion. Whenever feeling lackluster, a touch of glow really gives the face life. Opt for a cream for convenience and great texture — apply effortlessly with your ring finger and get ready to take on the day.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector “Poured” in Moonstone; $38, sephora.com
Benefit Watts UP; $30; sephora.com
Josie Maran Argan Enlightenment Illuminizer; $26; sephora.com

Try a Caffeinated Face/Body Scrub

For most people sick in bed, a good shower is the only thing that will truly wake them up. Between the sauna-like steam and refreshing exfoliation, you end up stepping out of the bathroom feeling a new woman. An energizing caffeine-powered scrub is just to thing to revive your senses and clear your head because any caffeinated beauty product tightens and brightens, and leaves you with a delightful tingling sensation, which is perfect to start your day when you’re not feeling 100%. The scent of great coffee? That’s just an added bonus!

Pacifica Kona Coffee and Sugar Detox; $28; ulta.com
Juara Invigorating Coffee Scrub; $38; birchbox.com
Wash with Joe Coffee Mint Invigorating Bodywash; $28, amazon.com

Break Out the Frozen Spoons

Keep two frozen spoons in your freezer at all times for crisis control. When your eyes are swollen from sickness (or any other reason), simply place the frozen spoons on and under your eyes for just a few minutes. This will INSTANTLY de-puff and soothe, faster than any eye cream or treatment ever could. Follow up with some cooling eye drops like Rohto and your eyes will be bright and awake!

Use a Soothing Sheet Mask

Your dehydrated skin will also appreciate when you take time to use a soothing, intensely hydrating sheet mask to give moisture and life back into your face. A sheet mask is kind of like an emergency thirst quencher for your visage, packed with concentrated ingredients/serums to nourish on the worst of days and soothe that feverish head. Simply apply the mask, wear it as long as you can/want, and rub in whatever’s left over after removing.

Sephora Brand Ultra Hydrating and Brightening Rose Mask; $6, sephora.com
Dr. Jart + Dermask Water Jet Soothing Hydra Solution; $6, sephora.com
Tony Moly Tea Tree Face Mask Sheet; $7.50, sephora.com
Tatcha Luminous Deep Hydration Lifting Mask; $95, barneys.com

Cream Bronzer Is Your Friend

Being dull, pale, and tired, you may assume that adding a touch of blush is a quick pick-me-up when you’re sick, but adding any rouge to your cheeks will bring out ANY other redness in your face. So opt for a cream bronzer instead — something that will really warm up your complexion and put some pep in your step. I advise cream because of the easy blend-ability and the fact that its texture isn’t so dry. But if you are comfortable with a powder and brush, you do you! As long as your product of choice is a warm, glowing toned bronzer, you’ll be well on your way to a better looking day!

Tarte Park Avenue Princess Bronzer; $30, sephora.com
Becca Shimmer Skin Perfector “Poured” in Topaz; $38; sephora.com
Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel; $48; nordstrom.com
Make Up Forever Pro Bronze Fusion; $36, sephora.com
Sonia Kashuk Undetectable Cream Bronzer; $11; target.com

A Little Lip Gloss Can Go a Long Way

Dry, cracked lips are a dead giveaway that you’re sick, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how far a little gloss can take you away from that. Try to use a sheer, natural pink close to your lips that is just slightly more pink in color; a nude may wash you out even more, and a red/berry will be too bold for a flu-like gal such as yourself.

Maybelline Color Elixir in Blush Essence; $8.99, ulta.com
Urban Decay Revolution High Color Lip Gloss in Failbait; $22, sephora.com
NARS Lipgloss in Chelsea Girls; $26, saksfifthavenue.com
BITE Beauty Lush Fruit Lip Gloss in Currant; $22, sephora.com
NYX Butter Gloss in Maple Blondie; $5, ulta.com

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.

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Heart Transplant Mental Toll May Be Greater for Women

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Women may have more mental stress after a heart transplant than men, a new study finds.

Heart transplant patients with higher levels of mental stress are less likely to take medications as prescribed and are at higher risk for infection, the researchers noted.

The study looked at 91 heart transplant patients, almost one-third of them women, in the first 100 days after they received their new heart. The researchers found that high levels of depression were experienced by 39 percent of women, compared to 15 percent of men.

High levels of anxiety occurred in more than three-quarters of women, versus 46 percent of men. Women also felt they had less control over their health than men, according to the study that was to be presented Tuesday at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

Health care providers should monitor heart transplant patients — especially women — for signs of mental stress, said researcher Lynn Doering, of the School of Nursing at University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues.

In an American Heart Association news release, the researchers called for the creation of gender-specific programs to assist heart transplant patients as they go through the difficult experience.

Research presented at meetings is usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about heart transplantation.

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Study Finds Blood Test May Detect Concussion in Kids

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A simple blood test may one day be able to detect concussions in children, a new study suggests.

The test, which has already been used in adults, detected traumatic brain injuries in kids 94 percent of the time. More important, a negative result means a CT scan, and the radiation exposure it brings, may not be needed the researchers said.

“When a child comes in with a head injury, we have to decide whether they have a concussion,” said study author Dr. Linda Papa, an emergency medicine physician with Orlando Health in Florida.

“We also have to decide whether the child needs a CT scan,” Papa added. “CT scans are not harmless.”

A CT scan exposes the child’s brain to radiation that can cause damage, Papa explained. “The more we avoid CT scans, the better it is for the patient,” she said.

About 250,000 kids are treated each year for brain injuries such as concussions, according to Papa. A simple test that could take the guesswork out of diagnosing these kids could change the way concessions are identified, she said.

Papa developed the test, but has no financial interest in it. “For my patients, I think it’s going to make a huge difference. I didn’t do this for financial benefit, I did it because I wanted to have a blood test that we could use to help people,” she said.

The study, which was published in the November issue of the journal Academic Emergency Medicine, was funded in part by the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The blood test measures levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). This protein is found in cells that surround neurons in the brain. When the brain is injured, GFAP is released into the bloodstream, making it easy to detect, Papa said.

For the study, 152 children with head injuries were given the blood test and underwent CT scans.

Papa and her colleagues compared the results of the scans with results from the blood test. The blood test was done within six hours after the injury.

CT scans were able to identify patients that had suffered traumatic brain injuries. However, the blood test detected symptoms of concussions even when brain injuries were not visible on the CT scan, Papa said.

The blood test was also able to give doctors an idea of how severe the brain injury was, she said. Levels of GFAP were lower in mild cases, but were much higher in severe cases, she added.

Concussions in children are currently diagnosed by symptoms alone, such as vomiting, balance problems, headaches, blurred vision or feeling groggy.

Papa hopes to develop a mobile test that could be given when and where the injury occurs. This test could be used on the playing field to help coaches, trainers and athletic directors make decisions about whether the child can get back in the game, she said.

The researchers plan to do more study to validate their results in a larger group of children, and they hope a test will be available within the next five years.

“We will have a blood test that will help doctors make better decisions,” Papa said. “Maybe we can stop doing so many CT scans, and prevent damaged brain cells and the increased risk for cancer.”

Dr. John Kuluz, concussion director at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, said that reducing the number of CT scans is a huge benefit of having this test.

“CT scans are expensive and dangerous,” he said. “This test is really going to help us to limit CT scans and improve the reliability of our diagnosis.”

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on concussions.

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Insulin Pumps Give Kids With Type 1 Diabetes Better Blood Sugar Control

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Insulin pumps help improve blood sugar control in children and teens with type 1 diabetes, researchers are reporting.

People with type 1 diabetes no longer produce enough insulin — a hormone necessary for the body and brain to use the carbohydrates in foods as fuel. Before insulin pumps, the only way to replace the lost insulin was through multiple daily injections of insulin.

Insulin pumps use a thin tube that’s inserted under the skin to deliver the missing insulin. Insulin pump sites — that’s where the tubing goes into the skin — typically have to be changed every three days, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). People with diabetes still have to tell the pump to deliver insulin, and how much insulin to deliver. They are not fully automated.

For the new study, researchers looked at three diabetes registries in the United States, Germany/Austria and England/Wales that included 55,000 children and teens with type 1 diabetes. The researchers — led in the United States by Dr. Jennifer Sherr, at Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, Conn. — compared hemoglobin A1C levels among youngsters with type 1 diabetes who used either insulin pumps or insulin injections.

The hemoglobin A1C test provides a two- to three-month average of blood sugar levels. An A1C level of 7.5 percent or less is generally recommended for children and teens with type 1 diabetes, according to the ADA.

The study revealed that mean A1C levels were 8 percent for those using insulin pumps. For those using insulin injections, the study found a mean A1C level of 8.5 percent.

The researchers also found that only 22 percent of kids in ethnic minorities had pumps, compared with 34 percent of non-minority children. In addition, the study authors discovered that girls were more likely to have pumps than boys — 34 percent versus 30 percent.

The study was published in the Nov. 7 online edition of the journal Diabetologia.

Experts say that most children with type 1 diabetes qualify for insulin pump use. But there are wide variations in the availability and use of the devices, the researchers said.

The study authors called for further research into expanding the use of insulin pumps among young patients regardless of age, sex, ethnicity or country.

More information

The American Diabetes Association has more about insulin pumps.

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6 Things to Learn About Head Lice From Heidi Klum’s Experience

Photo: Getty Images

Not even supermodel Heidi Klum can avoid some of the not-so-pleasant ramifications of having four kiddos under the age of 12. Case in point: Getting head lice.

During a sit-down with Ellen DeGeneres recently, the Project Runway host, 42, addressed a recent lice infestation in her home that occurred after the school nurse discovered one of the little parasites in her daughter’s hair. She summed the experience up in one word: “horrible.” (“That’s why I didn’t hug her!” DeGeneres then cracked to the audience.)

Klum says this was the second time her family’s had an issue with the pesky critters—but that’s no big surprise. An estimated six to 12 million infestations occur every year in the United States among children ages 3 to 11, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Plus, new research has revealed that lice in at least 25 states now have genetic mutations that make them resistant to over-the-counter treatments.

Given the growing problem, we thought now’s as good of a time as any to share some myths and facts about head lice.

RELATED: 9 Ways to Detox Your Home

Myth: They’re basically invisible

Klum mentioned how easy the bugs are to miss thanks to their tiny size. While she’s right on the money that lice are indeed difficult-to-spot insects, you can still often find them with the naked eye. A fully grown adult louse is about the size of a sesame seed.

If you do feel the sensation of itchiness or crawling on your scalp (that’s where head lice tend to reside, though, in rare severe cases, they can live on the eyebrows or eyelashes), the CDC also recommends using a fine-toothed comb or magnifying glass to look for any live bugs.

If you or your doctor don’t see any crawling lice, finding the eggs (called nits) firmly cemented close to the base of the hair shafts typically suggests that you’ve got them and should be treated, the CDC states.

Fact: Schools can be a hotbed for lice

When Degeneres asked Klum how she got them, she replied without skipping a beat, “Kids! They get them at school!” And this time, she’s totally right. Children are in fact more inclined to get lice at school, camps, sports outings and sleepovers where more head-to-head contact occurs, allowing the lice to spread, according to the CDC.

Fact: You’re less likely to get head lice from adults

Don’t fear a neighborhood cocktail party—or a talk show visit—just because there’s a lice infestation in your little ones’ school. Though DeGeneres jokingly questioned why Klum wouldn’t just opt out of her appearance and stay home instead, there’s less of a chance you’ll catch them from your mom friends or co-workers.

Why? “Presumably because adults simply don’t engage in the same level of head-to-head contact,” says Seth Orlow, MD, who specializes in pediatric dermatology at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.

But it was smart for the duo to skip the big hug for risk of touching scalps. Direct person-to-person contact is key (adults, too!), he explains, because lice crawl from scalp to scalp. However, don’t be fooled by anyone who says they can leap. “They can sure crawl fast, but they can’t jump,” he adds. (Another fun fact: Your pets can’t get head lice.)

RELATED: Do Selfies Really Spread Head Lice?

Myth: A head lice infestation is a sign of “dirtiness”

Actually, head lice are not associated with poor hygiene at all. “They are equal opportunity parasites,” Dr. Orlow says. Clean or dirty hair, “all they want is some warm blood and a place to mate and lay their eggs,” he adds. (Shudder.)

Myth: Kids with lice can’t go to school

Contrary to popular belief, quarantining yourself isn’t really necessary. In fact, new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics in April say that children found to have head lice can finish the school day, be treated and then return to school the next day.

There are a few reasons why. For one, a nit that is more than a quarter-inch from the hair shaft likely won’t hatch into a louse, or it may just be an egg shell casing. Also, nits that are strongly glued to the hair shafts also unlikely to successfully transfer to someone else.

Says Dr. Orlow, “The point is not to throw [kids] out of school but rather to have them get treated at home that evening.”

RELATED: Keep Lice Off Your Child’s Head

Myth: You need to take drastic measures to get rid of them

Even with the growing resistance to over-the-counter treatments, you don’t need to panic—or spend a ton of money—to rid your kids (and yourself) of these pests.

“There are these fairies that come to the house and brush you for hours and get all these lice out of your hair,” Klum told Degeneres. These “lice fairies” are a real thing; there are professional picker businesses—such as the Lice Lady in Westchester, N.Y. and Hair Fairies, based in New York City—who use special products and tools to remove lice and nits from the head. But they’re really not necessary.

“Some people who have the money and time can hire someone to pick every louse and nit off their child’s head,” Dr. Orlow says. “But when it comes to effectiveness, I’ll vote for one of several available prescription pediculicides,” aka pesticides for lice that are safe for use on kids.

That said, you should also be skeptical of home remedies like attempting to drown lice in mayonaise or olive oil. There’s no scientific evidence that those work. It’s “messy for sure; effective—not so much,” Dr. Orlow says.

The bottom line with head lice: Don’t freak out if you or your children get it. Yes, they’re gross and itchy, but they are not harmful to your health. “Keep it in perspective,” Dr. Orlow concludes. “Yes, it’s an annoyance, and one we can cure.”

RELATED: 20 Ways to Kill Head Lice

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High-Risk Lung Cancer Patients May Benefit From Surgery

TUESDAY, Nov. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Surgery to remove part of the lung can be a safe and effective treatment option for people with early stage lung cancer, even those traditionally considered “high-risk,” a new study finds.

Previous research had suggested that high-risk patients are more likely to have complications or to die after lung surgery. People aged 60 and older, long-term smokers, and people who have other health problems are considered high-risk for partial lung removal surgery, the researchers said.

One in five patients with early stage non-small-cell lung cancer is deemed high-risk or ineligible for lung surgery, according to the study, which was published online Nov. 10 in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

But the new findings show these patients shouldn’t be denied surgery, because they may benefit from it, study leader Dr. Manu Sancheti, from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said in a news release from the journal.

“Our results show that surgical resection is an acceptable treatment option with good results for patients with early stage lung cancer who have been identified as high-risk for surgery,” he said.

The study included 490 early stage lung cancer patients who underwent surgery at Emory between 2009 and 2013. Of those, 180 patients were classified as high-risk.

High-risk patients had slightly longer hospital stays than standard-risk patients — five days versus four days, the study showed. And the postoperative death risk was 2 percent versus 1 percent, respectively, the research revealed.

Three years after surgery, 59 percent of high-risk patients and 76 percent of standard-risk patients were still alive, the study found.

“Importantly, we found that about 20 percent of our patients had cancer that had spread to their lymph nodes, a finding that was unexpected based on the pre-operative imaging tests,” Sancheti said in the news release.

Once the spread of cancer was discovered, these patients were able to undergo chemotherapy, an important adjunct treatment for their cancer stage. But, without surgery, the spread of cancer to the lymph nodes wouldn’t have been discovered, Sancheti explained.

“High-risk patients have a new treatment avenue that previously may have been denied to them. A multidisciplinary team should review each case to determine the best treatment plan for individual lung cancer patients,” Sancheti said.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more about lung cancer.

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