Chronic Drinking Plus Binge Drinking Spurs Rapid Liver Damage in Mouse Study

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Chronic drinking combined with binge drinking quickly damages the liver, and is more destructive than previously thought, a new study with mice suggests.

“Heavy binge drinking by those who habitually consume alcohol is the most common cause of liver damage in chronic alcoholic liver disease,” lead author Shivendra Shukla, a professor of medical pharmacology and physiology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, said in a university news release.

“We know that this behavior causes large fatty deposits in the liver that ultimately impair the organ’s ability to function properly. However, we wanted to understand the mechanism that causes this damage and the extent of the harm,” Shukla said.

“Our research focused on different forms of alcohol abuse and the results of those behaviors,” he explained.

Shukla and his colleagues looked at how chronic alcohol use, repeat binge-drinking episodes, and a combination of both affected the livers of mice over four weeks. Those with both types of alcohol exposure had the highest amounts of liver damage, the investigators found.

Individually, either chronic alcohol use or repeat binge-drinking episodes caused moderate liver damage when compared to mice not exposed to alcohol (the “control” group). “This outcome came as no surprise,” Shukla said.

“However, in the mice exposed to both chronic use and repeat binge episodes, liver damage increased tremendously. Even more shocking was the extent of fatty deposits in the livers of those exposed to chronic plus binge alcohol. It was approximately 13 times higher than the control group,” he said.

While the study found an association between those drinking behaviors and accelerated liver damage, it did not prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Also, effects of animal studies are not always replicated in humans.

Liver damage is not the only health threat associated with chronic and binge drinking, Shukla noted in the news release.

“Drinking alcohol excessively can create an inflammatory response to the liver and other organ systems in the body,” he said. “If those organs work at a lower level of function, then a whole host of physiological processes can be affected. It is important for us to understand the extent of damage caused by alcohol abuse, which also can lead to other health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer.”

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has more about alcohol and your health.

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Heading to a New Year’s Party? Here’s How to Stay Safe

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — New Year’s Day is the worst day of the year for alcohol-fueled car crashes, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

Every year drunk driving accidents claim nearly 10,000 lives in the United States, MADD reports. And holiday parties up the odds you’ll be sharing the road with impaired drivers.

If you’ll be celebrating the new year with friends, MADD offers these tips to ensure a safe start to 2016:

• Choose a designated driver. Identify one person who will stay sober and drive people home.
• Save the number of a local cab service in your cell phone before going out.
• Consider hiring a shuttle or limousine service to transport a group to and from the festivities.
• Make hotel reservations to avoid the need to drive home after a party.
• Organize party activities; games can engage people so they drink less.
• As guests respond to a party invitation, ask how they plan to get home safely.
• Provide plenty of food so guests are not drinking on an empty stomach. Limit salty snacks, however, so people don’t drink more alcohol to quench their thirst.
• Offer nonalcoholic beverages, or “mocktails,” especially for designated drivers.
• Prepare alcoholic punches with a noncarbonated base like juice, to slow absorption into the blood stream.
• If you’re hosting, be prepared to let guests who’ve had too much to drink sleep over or have the number of a taxi company ready.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism provides more on holiday drinking safety.

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ADHD Meds May Raise Risk for Psychotic Side Effects in Some Kids: Study

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Stimulant medications, such as those used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may raise the risk for psychotic side effects among young patients who have a parent with a history of serious mental illness, new research suggests.

The study included 141 children and young adults aged 6 to 21. Nearly two-thirds of those prescribed stimulant medications had a psychotic side effect. These side effects included hallucinations, delusions, hearing voices, and/or perceptual disturbances, the researchers said.

By comparison, psychotic effects affected just over one-quarter of those who had not taken a stimulant drug, the study showed.

“These meds can be extremely helpful, including in kids with a family history of mental illness,” said study lead author Dr. Rudolf Uher. He is an associate professor and Canada research chair in early intervention in the department of psychiatry at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“So this should in no way mean that we should stop using stimulants,” he added.

Uher stressed that doctors have long known that these medications can cause hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms. “[But] what is surprising is the quantity. No one suspected that these side effects could be so common,” he said.

“What it means is that docs need to ask kids about unusual experiences. They do not tell you unless you ask,” Uher explained. “And then, make decisions on risk-benefit balance.”

The study authors said the study’s design didn’t allow them to prove a cause-and-effect relationship, only to find an association between stimulant medications and psychotic symptoms.

The study findings were published online Dec. 30, and in the January print issue of Pediatrics.

ADHD affects between 5 percent and 10 percent of school-aged kids in the United States. Stimulants are considered a first-line treatment for the condition, the study authors said.

For the current investigation, all of the children, and their parents, were from Nova Scotia.

Parents and children underwent psychiatrist-led mental health screenings. Interviews and pharmacy records confirmed whether stimulant medications had been prescribed for the children.

All of the children had at least one parent with a history of major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. Nearly one-quarter of the children were diagnosed with ADHD, according to the report.

About 17 percent of all the children — including half of those diagnosed with ADHD — were prescribed stimulant medications, such as Ritalin (methylphenidate), Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine), or Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine). These medications are known to limit the hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity associated with ADHD, the researchers said.

The children were also interviewed to assess any drug-related “funny feelings” that might represent a psychotic experience.

In the end, the frequency with which stimulants were associated with psychotic events was found to be much higher than indicated by previous research.

That finding prompted the investigators to suggest that the risk for psychotic side effects should no longer be considered rare among such children. They advised doctors to carefully monitor children and teens taking stimulant drugs.

Erin Schoenfelder, an assistant professor with the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, agreed that “it’s useful for practitioners to be aware of heightened risk for certain kids.”

But, she said, more research will be necessary, given that the new study didn’t distinguish between children with mild or severe mental illness. “Which means that we can’t rule out that those kids with severe mental illness were not inherently at higher risk for these side effects, because those with milder difficulties might have been less likely to be prescribed medication in the first place,” Schoenfelder said.

Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., said his own clinical experience suggests that the study findings make sense.

“It seems that stimulant-related psychotic symptoms associated with stimulant treatment are more common, more complex and more extensive among children of parents with mood disorders compared to children whose parents do not have active mental illness,” he said.

“Pediatricians who care for children who have one or more parents with mental illness should be vigilant for the development of psychotic symptoms in these children,” Adesman advised, “especially if stimulant medications are being prescribed.”

More information

There’s more on ADHD at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

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ADHD Meds May Raise Risk for Psychotic Side Effects in Some Kids: Study

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Stimulant medications, such as those used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may raise the risk for psychotic side effects among young patients who have a parent with a history of serious mental illness, new research suggests.

The study included 141 children and young adults aged 6 to 21. Nearly two-thirds of those prescribed stimulant medications had a psychotic side effect. These side effects included hallucinations, delusions, hearing voices, and/or perceptual disturbances, the researchers said.

By comparison, psychotic effects affected just over one-quarter of those who had not taken a stimulant drug, the study showed.

“These meds can be extremely helpful, including in kids with a family history of mental illness,” said study lead author Dr. Rudolf Uher. He is an associate professor and Canada research chair in early intervention in the department of psychiatry at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“So this should in no way mean that we should stop using stimulants,” he added.

Uher stressed that doctors have long known that these medications can cause hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms. “[But] what is surprising is the quantity. No one suspected that these side effects could be so common,” he said.

“What it means is that docs need to ask kids about unusual experiences. They do not tell you unless you ask,” Uher explained. “And then, make decisions on risk-benefit balance.”

The study authors said the study’s design didn’t allow them to prove a cause-and-effect relationship, only to find an association between stimulant medications and psychotic symptoms.

The study findings were published online Dec. 30, and in the January print issue of Pediatrics.

ADHD affects between 5 percent and 10 percent of school-aged kids in the United States. Stimulants are considered a first-line treatment for the condition, the study authors said.

For the current investigation, all of the children, and their parents, were from Nova Scotia.

Parents and children underwent psychiatrist-led mental health screenings. Interviews and pharmacy records confirmed whether stimulant medications had been prescribed for the children.

All of the children had at least one parent with a history of major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. Nearly one-quarter of the children were diagnosed with ADHD, according to the report.

About 17 percent of all the children — including half of those diagnosed with ADHD — were prescribed stimulant medications, such as Ritalin (methylphenidate), Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine), or Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine). These medications are known to limit the hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity associated with ADHD, the researchers said.

The children were also interviewed to assess any drug-related “funny feelings” that might represent a psychotic experience.

In the end, the frequency with which stimulants were associated with psychotic events was found to be much higher than indicated by previous research.

That finding prompted the investigators to suggest that the risk for psychotic side effects should no longer be considered rare among such children. They advised doctors to carefully monitor children and teens taking stimulant drugs.

Erin Schoenfelder, an assistant professor with the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, agreed that “it’s useful for practitioners to be aware of heightened risk for certain kids.”

But, she said, more research will be necessary, given that the new study didn’t distinguish between children with mild or severe mental illness. “Which means that we can’t rule out that those kids with severe mental illness were not inherently at higher risk for these side effects, because those with milder difficulties might have been less likely to be prescribed medication in the first place,” Schoenfelder said.

Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., said his own clinical experience suggests that the study findings make sense.

“It seems that stimulant-related psychotic symptoms associated with stimulant treatment are more common, more complex and more extensive among children of parents with mood disorders compared to children whose parents do not have active mental illness,” he said.

“Pediatricians who care for children who have one or more parents with mental illness should be vigilant for the development of psychotic symptoms in these children,” Adesman advised, “especially if stimulant medications are being prescribed.”

More information

There’s more on ADHD at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

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Can Ovarian Cysts Actually Be Cancerous?

Photo: Getty Images

Can ovarian cysts be cancerous?

Some can be, but the vast majority are not. Ovarian cysts are fluid-filled sacs in or on the ovaries, and they fall into two general categories. The most common type, called functional cysts, occur as a normal part of the menstrual cycle. Every month, your ovaries grow structures called follicles in preparation for releasing an egg. If a follicle doesn’t break open and release an egg, a cyst can form. Many women will get this type of cyst each month; they’re usually small and harmless, and they disappear on their own within two or three menstrual cycles.

RELATED: 12 Facts You Should Know About Ovarian Cysts

You can also develop growths that are unrelated to ovulation. Generally referred to as neoplastic cysts, most are benign. However, in rare cases, one of them may be cancerous. A cyst on the ovary is more likely to indicate cancer if you’ve already gone through menopause. (In general, the risk of ovarian cancer increases as you age; meanwhile, roughly 8 percent of postmenopausal women develop cysts every year.)

Some symptoms of cysts can be nonspecific, but tell your doctor if you’ve experienced pressure or pain, or a feeling of fullness after eating only a small amount. Pelvic exams may help detect and monitor cysts, and ultrasounds and a CA-125 blood test can give better clues as to whether a cyst is cancerous. If a mass persists or continues to grow after more than six to eight weeks, has solid parts or walled sections (rather than being strictly fluid-filled) and its own blood flow, surgery may be the next step.

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

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Painkillers Often Gateway to Heroin for U.S. Teens: Survey

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Three-quarters of U.S. high school students who use heroin first tried narcotic painkillers, a new survey reveals.

Survey results from nearly 68,000 high school seniors provide some clues to heroin’s recent deadly path from the inner city into affluent suburbs and rural communities.

“The more times a teen uses nonprescribed painkiller pills, the greater the risk he or she is at for becoming dependent on the drug,” said lead researcher Joseph Palamar, an assistant professor of population health at New York University.

“People who become dependent on painkiller pills often wind up resorting to heroin use because it’s cheaper and more available than these pills,” Palamar explained.

And white students appear more likely than blacks or Hispanics to travel this route, the research suggests.

More than 12 percent of the high school seniors reported using narcotic painkillers such as Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin. And 1.2 percent reported using heroin, the researchers said.

Recent and frequent nonmedical painkiller use increased the odds that kids had tried heroin: More than 77 percent of teens who reported using heroin had also used narcotic painkillers, also called opioids, Palamar said.

And almost one-quarter of kids who said they’d taken narcotic painkillers more than 40 times also reported heroin use.

Experts say there’s no quick solution.

“The popularity of heroin is increasing, and it’s a big problem,” said Dr. Scott Krakower, assistant unit chief of psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Drug education is paramount, and heroin needs to be controlled, Krakower said. “But that’s hard to do,” he added.

Palamar believes updating drug education programs will help. But kids need to get the message that these drugs put them at risk for addiction and overdose death, he said.

“The biggest problem is that many teens don’t trust drug education in schools or information provided by the government,” Palamar said.

Teens are commonly taught that marijuana is as dangerous as heroin, he said. When they realize that’s not true, they may develop a distrust of all other drug information, he said.

Also, narcotic painkillers present an especially complicated situation, he said.

“Most other drugs are illegal in all contexts, yet these drugs — the most dangerous drugs — are prescribed by doctors and are often sitting there in parents’ medicine cabinets,” Palamar said. “If teens don’t believe warnings about street drugs, then why would they be afraid to use government-approved, pharmaceutical-grade pills?”

Palamar’s recommendation: “We need to educate our educators, and then we need to start giving more honest and accurate information to our teens because what we’re doing now isn’t working.”

Drug education teachers are sometimes less informed than their students “who might have learned from experience or from friends who use,” he said.

The report appeared recently in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

The study data came from the 2009-2013 Monitoring the Future surveys. These annual questionnaires assess the behaviors, attitudes and values of students in 130 public and private U.S. high schools.

Here are other findings from the surveys:

• Girls and teens living with two parents were less likely to use narcotic painkillers and heroin.
• Whites were more likely than black and Hispanic students to use narcotic painkillers or heroin. But blacks and Hispanics were more likely to use heroin without first using painkillers recreationally. This suggests it is primarily white students transitioning from pill use to heroin, the researchers said.

“Teens will be teens, and many teens dabble in a variety of drugs, but narcotic painkillers are one class of drugs they really shouldn’t take recreationally,” Palamar said. “Dependence can sneak up on you pretty quickly.”

Krakower said tighter regulation of narcotic painkillers and drug reformulations that make it harder to get high have contributed to heroin use among people dependent on prescription painkillers.

More information

For more on teen drug abuse, visit HelpGuide.org.

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Just in Time for the New Year, Here Is Oprah’s First Weight Watchers Ad

 

Weight Watchers has debuted its first advertisement featuring Oprah Winfrey since she became a spokesperson for the company in October—and it might make you reach for tissues.

In the video, which was made for Weight Watchers UK, Oprah describes her emotional struggle with weight loss over the years. She delivers a hopeful message that seems to transcend weight loss, extending into a powerful sentiment about triumphing over failures and fighting to achieve a goal that anyone who has struggled with weight can relate to.

RELATED: 57 Ways to Lose Weight Forever, According to Science

“So every time I tried and failed, and every time I tried again, and every time I tried again, has brought me to this most powerful moment to say: ‘If not now, when?'”

Oprah has been candid about her weight loss attempts over the years, and most recently revealed that she was 15-pounds down on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show in mid-October—owing her success to Weight Watchers.

Earlier this month, the company announced a new program designed to shift the focus from weight loss as the ultimate goal. “The way we think about it is that we used to have a very narrow focus on weight, and now weight is one of things we focus on but it’s not the only thing,” Gary Foster, Weight Watchers’ Chief Scientific Officer, explained. “The consumer sentiment is, ‘I still want to lose weight but I’m thinking about in a more holistic way.”

 

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Carbs Fuel Long Runs: Study

TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Carbohydrates, not fats, are the main source of energy for long distance runners, a new study says.

The research from Australia included men who were competitive half-marathoners. They ran on a treadmill at 95 percent of their best half-marathon time until they were exhausted. The men ate before they ran, and were given nicotinic acid during the run to prevent their bodies from using fat stores.

Blocking the body’s access to fat didn’t affect how long the participants could run on the treadmill before they became exhausted, the researchers found. They also noted that a lack of access to fat didn’t affect the body’s use of carbohydrates, which contributed up to 91 percent of the total energy used by the runners.

The study was published recently in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

The findings show that muscles prefer carbohydrates as their fuel source during high-intensity, long-duration runs, according to study author Jill Leckey of the Mary MacKillop Institute of Health Research at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne.

“Competitive runners should focus on dietary strategies that will increase carbohydrate availability before and during competition to optimize race performance in events lasting up to 90 minutes in duration,” Leckey said in a journal news release.

This study focused on competitive runners, but the results can also apply to recreational runners, the researchers said.

“It’s the relative exercise intensity, for instance, the percentage of an individual’s maximal oxygen uptake or maximum heart rate, that determines the proportion of carbohydrate and fat fuels used by the exercising muscles, not simply the pace they are running,” Leckey said.

More information

The University of California, San Francisco offers marathon training tips.

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Researchers: Retract Study That Claimed Nitroglycerin Might Boost Bone Density

TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Some authors of a published study that claimed the heart medicine nitroglycerin might boost bone density in older women have asked that the study be retracted, saying the lead researcher falsified data in the report.

The research was first published in February 2011 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The request for a retraction appeared online Dec. 28 on the journal’s website.

The researchers who published the retraction request said an investigation found that Dr. Sophie Jamal, formerly a researcher with Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, fabricated the data for the study. Jamal isn’t named as an author of the retraction request, which followed a hospital investigation that determined she had manipulated the data in the study, the retraction request stated.

“In a report issued by an investigating committee appointed by Women’s College Hospital, affiliated with the University of Toronto, to investigate, in part, the availability of data relative to this study, the committee concluded, based on objective evidence, that Dr. Jamal had falsified and/or fabricated data and used that data for statistical analysis,” the retraction request said.

“Dr. Jamal was both the first and corresponding author and was responsible for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. None of the other co-authors were involved in the misrepresentation of these data,” the request added. “We regret that the results of this study have been compromised and are committed to correcting the medical literature.”

When the study was published, it reported that applying a small amount of nitroglycerin ointment to the arm each day was linked to a modest increase in bone density. Roughly 240 women, average age 62, were involved in the study.

An October 2015 report in the Toronto Star said all the women in the study had been told the results weren’t accurate. Jamal has resigned as research director of the Centre for Osteoporosis & Bone Health at Women’s College Hospital, and as an associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, the newspaper reported.

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Diabetic Kidney Damage May Start Earlier Than Thought

TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Kidney damage from diabetes may begin much sooner than previously thought, according to a new study.

Researchers found that higher-than-normal blood sugar levels associated with prediabetes increase the risk of kidney abnormalities that could lead to kidney failure.

“Our research shows that the pathological process of kidney injury caused by elevated blood glucose levels starts in prediabetes, well before the onset of diabetes,” study author Dr. Toralf Melsom said in a National Kidney Foundation news release. Melsom is an associate professor and senior consultant in the nephrology department at University Hospital of North Norway.

The study involved over 1,300 patients aged 50 to 62 who were followed for a median of 5.6 years. Of those people, 595 had prediabetes when the study began.

Prediabetes affects up to 35 percent of adults — twice as many people as diabetes, the study authors said. About half of those with prediabetes develop diabetes within 10 years. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease and kidney failure.

After adjusting for certain lifestyle factors and medications, the investigators found that patients with prediabetes had early signs of kidney damage, including high levels of a protein called albumin in their urine.

The kidney problems arise when the body responds to metabolic changes that occur early on due to chronically high blood sugar levels, according to the study published Dec. 29 in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Melsom said prediabetes may be a target for early interventions, such as changes in diet and exercise, to prevent chronic kidney disease.

Previous studies were unable to find a consistent link between prediabetes and kidney damage, but the study authors said they used a more precise method of determining how well the kidneys were working.

“It is estimated that more than 470 million people will have prediabetes by 2030,” Dr. Jeffrey Berns, president of the National Kidney Foundation, said in the news release. “Studies like this underscore how important it is to identify those with prediabetes so lifestyle changes and physician management can potentially stem declines in kidney function.”

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about prediabetes.

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