Special Infant Formulas Don’t Shield Against Asthma, Allergies: Study

TUESDAY, March 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Many parents who worry that their baby is at risk of asthma, allergies or type 1 diabetes may turn to special cow’s milk formulas touted to lower the risk.

But a new review of the data on these “hydrolyzed” infant formulas finds no good evidence that they actually protect children from the autoimmune disorders.

“We found no consistent evidence to support a protective role for partially or extensively hydrolyzed formula,” concluded a team led by Robert Boyle of Imperial College London in England.

“Our findings conflict with current international guidelines, in which hydrolyzed formula is widely recommended for young formula-fed infants with a family history of allergic disease,” the study authors added.

One expert in the United States said the finding casts doubt on the usefulness of these special formula products.

“Allergies and autoimmune diseases [such as asthma and type 1 diabetes] are on the rise and it would be nice if we did have a clear route to preventing them,” said Dr. Ron Marino, associate chair of pediatrics at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y.

“Unfortunately, despite U.S. Food and Drug Administration support [for hydrolyzed formula], the data are not compelling,” he said.

According to the British researchers, many infant feeding guidelines worldwide — including North America, Australasia and Europe — recommend hydrolyzed cow’s milk formula instead of standard infant formula to prevent autoimmune disorders during the first months of life.

Dr. Punita Ponda is assistant chief of allergy and immunology at Northwell Health in Great Neck, N.Y. She stressed that when it comes to infant feeding, breast milk is by far the healthiest option.

However, “current mainstream guidelines for infant formula do recommend that parents consider using hypoallergenic formula if a close family member — like an older brother or sister — has a food allergy,” she said. That was based on prior studies supporting some kind of protective effect, Ponda said.

However, the U.K. team found no consistent evidence to support the recommendations, according to their review published March 8 in the BMJ.

In the study, Boyle’s team looked at data from 37 studies that together included more than 19,000 participants and were conducted between 1946 and 2015.

The investigators found that infants who received hydrolyzed cow’s milk formula did not have a lower risk of asthma, allergies (such as eczema, hay fever, food allergies) or type 1 diabetes compared to those who received human breast milk or a standard cow’s milk formula.

The researchers also found no evidence to support an FDA-approved claim that a partially hydrolyzed formula could reduce the risk of the skin disorder eczema, or another conclusion that hydrolyzed formula could prevent an allergy to cow’s milk.

Both Marino and Ponda believe that, based on the new report, it may be time to revisit guidelines that recommend hydrolyzed formula.

“It is interesting that this [review] also finds conflict-of-interest and bias in many of the published studies” that supported the effectiveness of hydrolyzed formulas, Marino said.

His opinion? “Most kids will have their best shot at a healthy life being raised on human breast milk,” Marino said.

Ponda agreed that “the current recommendations might need to be revised.” And she added, “even if there is no harm in using these formulas, they are often more costly and harder to find in the grocery stores.”

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more on infant formula.

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Short Men, Heavy Women at Lifelong Disadvantage?

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — In terms of getting ahead in life, are small men and heavy women shortchanged?

Yes, claim British researchers who found vertically challenged men and curvy women were less likely to get a higher education, have a good job or make a lot of money.

“There is something about being fatter or being shorter in itself that leads to poor outcomes,” said lead researcher Timothy Frayling, a professor of human genetics at the University of Exeter in England.

A man stunted by genetics is likely to earn $2,100 less annually than a man three inches taller, the researchers determined. In women, 14 extra pounds was linked to the same $2,100 loss in earnings each year.

Established social biases may be to blame, Frayling said. Falling short of cultural expectations may lead these individuals to poor self-image or depression, which could affect how well they do in life, Frayling said.

Or, they may be victims of employer discrimination in a body-conscious world, the study authors suggested. The actual connection isn’t clear.

The study findings are based on genetics that influence height and weight, Frayling said. But genes aren’t destiny, he acknowledged. “There are many overweight women and short men who do very well in life,” he said.

Another expert seconded that thought.

“I don’t want people to get [the message] that what they are born with is what they’re stuck with,” said Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

“I wouldn’t take this study too seriously, but understand that how you’re perceived makes a difference,” she said. How you look may trigger an unconscious bias in others, she explained.

For the study, the researchers used data from the U.K. Biobank to analyze genes known to affect height and weight of 120,000 adults aged 40 to 70. They also studied information that the study participants offered about their lives.

The researchers looked at five measures of socioeconomic status: completing full-time education, level of education, job class, annual household income and the Townsend deprivation index, which is a score of social hardship.

They found that shorter height leads to lower levels of education, job status and income, particularly in men. Similarly, greater weight leads to lower income and greater hardship in women, the study contended.

Commenting on the findings, Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, said “this is an observational study that describes an association between lesser height in men and greater weight in women and a variety of disadvantages in life.”

However, by using genetic markers present even before birth to predict socioeconomic measures, the results may go beyond a mere association, said Katz, who is also president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

But the truth is that variations in height and weight do not directly cause educational levels or income to vary, Katz said.

“What does cause such outcomes is bias or variations in height and weight that cause or evoke that bias,” Katz said.

Neither height nor weight measures human worth, Katz added. “This study is testimony to a culture that knows that, but fails to act accordingly,” he said.

The report was published March 8 in the BMJ.

More information

The American Heart Association has tips on managing your weight.

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Six Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Colon Cancer

TUESDAY, March 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Half of the colon cancer cases in the United States could be prevented if people followed six proven steps to reduce their risk, a cancer and nutrition expert says.

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death, and the third most common type of cancer in the United States. This year, there will be over 134,000 cases of colon cancer, the U.S. National Cancer Institute estimates.

“Research now suggests that 50 percent of colorectal cancers in the United States are preventable each year through diet, weight and physical activity. That’s about 67,200 cases every year,” Alice Bender, head of nutrition programs at the American Institute for Cancer Research, said in an institute news release.

Bender outlined six evidence-based measures you can take to try to lower your risk of developing colon cancer:

• Maintain a healthy weight and control belly fat, which has been linked to increased risk of colon cancer, regardless of body weight.
• Get regular moderate physical activity, which can range from house cleaning to running.
• Eat plenty of high-fiber foods. For every 10 grams of fiber (a bit less than a cup of beans) in your daily diet, your risk of colon cancer falls by 10 percent, Bender said.
• Reduce red meat consumption and avoid processed meats, such as hot dogs, bacon, sausage and deli meats. Ounce for ounce, processed meats boost the risk of colon cancer twice as much as red meat.
• Avoid alcohol or limit your intake to no more than two standard drinks a day for men and one for women, Bender advised.
• Go heavy on the garlic. Evidence suggests that a diet rich in garlic reduces the risk of colon cancer, Bender said.

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and the American Cancer Society recommends that people 50 or older talk with a doctor about colon cancer screening. Screening can detect the cancer before symptoms develop, when it’s easier to treat and survival rates are more favorable.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more on colon cancer.

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Amputee ‘Feels’ With Bionic Fingertip

TUESDAY, March 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A bionic fingertip enabled an amputee to feel different textures, researchers report.

The fingertip was linked to electrodes surgically implanted into nerves in Dennis Aabo Sorensen’s upper arm. Sorenson was able to feel smoothness and roughness with the fingertip, the researchers said.

A machine controlled the movement of the fingertip over pieces of plastic with different rough or smooth patterns. As the fingertip moved over the plastic surfaces, sensors generated electrical signals that were sent to the nerves in Sorensen’s upper arm.

He could tell the difference between smooth and rough textures 96 percent of the time, the researchers said.

The successful test of the bionic fingertip could help speed efforts to develop artificial limbs that provide sensory feedback, according to Silvestro Micera, from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and colleagues.

“The stimulation felt almost like what I would feel with my hand,” Sorensen said in an EPFL news release. “I felt the texture sensations at the tip of the index finger of my phantom hand.”

In addition to benefiting amputees, the technology could also be used to create artificial touch in robots used in surgery, rescue and manufacturing, the scientists said.

Their research was published March 8 in the journal eLife.

More information

The Amputee Coalition has more about limb loss.

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Preventive Mastectomy May Not Boost Sense of Well-Being

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Women with breast cancer who choose to have their unaffected breast removed to potentially prevent a new cancer may not be giving themselves as much peace of mind as they expected, a new study finds.

An increasing number of women are having what’s known as prophylactic mastectomy — a procedure chosen by actress Angelina Jolie when she found out she had a substantially increased risk of developing cancer due to her genes.

The percentage of breast cancer patients in the general U.S. population opting to have a double mastectomy at the time of their initial cancer treatment rose from about 2 percent in 1998 to more than 11 percent in 2011, the researchers said. Women often choose the procedure to reduce their anxiety about a new cancer developing.

However, the decision doesn’t seem to affect overall quality of life, the new research suggests.

“We found that the quality of life for women who chose to remove their healthy breast in addition to the other breast that had cancer was not that different from those who didn’t,” said Dr. Shelley Hwang. She’s a breast surgeon and chief of breast surgery at Duke Cancer Institute at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

While those who had a prophylactic mastectomy and reconstruction surgery reported slightly higher satisfaction in how their breasts looked and felt, and somewhat higher measures of psychosocial well-being (such as feeling confident), the differences between the groups were small, Hwang said.

Hwang’s team surveyed nearly 4,000 women who had a mastectomy, including about 1,600 who had a prophylactic mastectomy. Those who had a prophylactic mastectomy tended to be slightly younger than those who didn’t, the study showed.

Researchers asked the women about sexual well-being, physical well-being, expectations about the surgery and satisfaction with care.

Sixty percent of the prophylactic mastectomy group said they were satisfied with their breasts. And 58 percent of those who didn’t have a prophylactic mastectomy were satisfied, the study found.

Physical well-being was slightly lower in the prophylactic mastectomy group. When the researchers took into account factors such as age and disease stages, they found the prophylactic mastectomy group still reported higher satisfaction with their breasts. And they had slightly higher psychosocial well-being, but no difference in other measures of quality of life.

However, having breast reconstruction had a greater impact on quality-of-life scores than prophylactic mastectomy alone, Hwang found. About 80 percent of those who had prophylactic mastectomy had breast reconstruction surgery — either immediate or delayed, the researchers said.

Women who had breast reconstruction reported greater sexual well-being. They also had higher psychosocial well-being and higher satisfaction with their breasts’ appearance than prophylactic mastectomy alone provided, the study found.

Over time, the differences between the two groups diminished even more, Hwang found. Both groups had increases in the psychosocial well-being measures, even 10 years or more after treatment, the research showed.

For years, experts have known that having prophylactic mastectomy has little impact on reducing deaths among women diagnosed with cancer in only one breast, Hwang said. However, little research has focused on how the prophylactic mastectomy decision improves quality of life, or if it does.

The findings don’t surprise Dr. Veronica Jones. She’s a clinical assistant professor of surgery and a breast surgical oncologist at the City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif. She wasn’t involved in the study but reviewed the findings.

Jones said in her experience, women who decide on prophylactic mastectomy are generally more worried about a new cancer occurring. Both groups of patients, she said, are making the decision based on what they perceive as their risk of a future cancer.

But that risk is low. For the general population, Hwang said, the risk of getting cancer in the opposite breast is less than 5 percent. The general population excludes those with genetic mutations that significantly increase their breast cancer risk, such as the BRCA 1 or 2 mutations, Hwang explained.

Women should ask their providers about their risk of recurrence, Jones said, which can help them make an empowered decision.

And, whatever the initial choice, anxiety is likely to decrease over time.

“As time goes on, I think patients’ worry gets less,” Jones said. “Most patients’ worry goes down after about three years or so.”

The study findings were published online March 7 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

More information

To learn more about risk-reducing surgeries, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

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Here’s What to Know About Meldonium

Photo: Getty Images

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova on Monday announced that she has failed a drug test at the Australian Open because she tested positive for meldonium, a little-known drug that was banned on Jan. 1.

The drug is used in Latvia and other eastern European countries to treat serious heart problems and aid the circulation of oxygen, the BBC reported last month, when Russian professional bicyclist Eduard Vorganov tested positive for the same drug.

Meldonium, also known as mildronate, was developed at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis to help prevent ischemia, which is a vascular disease that can lead to tissue death, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It is also used to treat brain circulation disorders.

The drug improves the users’ mood and allows them to become more active, the National Library of Medicine said. “They become more active, their motor dysfunction decreases, and asthenia, dizziness, and nausea become less pronounced,” it said. Sharapova said she has been taking meldonium for 10 years for health issues.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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Wish Granted: Period-Concealing Bikini Bottoms Exist

Photo: PantyProp

Forgive us for generalizing here but having your period kind of sucks. What’s worse? Menstruating while you’re trying to enjoy a pool or beach day. As if feeling bloated or just plain blech isn’t bad enough, there’s that sinking feeling that maybe you’ll leak or have some freakish period mishap for everyone to see.

Enter PantyProp’s swimwear bottoms, currently available in four different styles with the promise that its absorbent leak guard protection is just what you need to feel confident going in the water this summer. Oh, and you can also discreetly wear a sanitary pad with it—a major coup for those who either can’t or choose not to use tampons.

RELATED: Period Wreaking Havoc on Your Hair? There’s an App For That

It’s almost like Crystal Etienne, the creator and CEO of PantyProp, heard our concerns and delivered the perfect solution. And priced at either $34.99 or $39.99, the SwimProp bottoms are either on target or even more affordable than a lot of mix-and-match swimwear pieces you’ll find on the market. According to Etienne, the swimwear line has gone viral and within two days sold over 3,000 pieces. PantyProp is expecting two more colors to come in from their factory within the next couple of weeks.

“We first only produced the two colors because we wanted to see if people really needed them,” she tells MIMI. “I know I needed them since I am so afraid to go to the beach when I am on my cycle, but that doesn’t mean that everyone would. The market has spoken and proved that it was definitely an item well needed. Once it hit the market, our Live Chat was filled with mothers for their daughters who dreaded the thought of her child inserting a tampon, people going on vacation who didn’t want to ruin good sun fun because of a few leaks. I even had a middle-aged woman at an expo I did last week said she needed it to control her sweaty lady parts while laying in the sun since it has the absorbent liner.”

RELATED: Yep, There’s a Company That Gives Employees PTO During ‘That’ Time of the Month

When Etienne started the company, which first launched period protective panties, she knew all of the categories she wanted to enter into, but though there would be more lag time between introducing new additions to the line. When it was clear that there was a demand for the undies, Etienne wasted no time getting the swimwear into production.

She’s obviously thrilled with the response to the product, but does want to warn sanitary pad users to continue following their regular hygiene protocol.

“It is very safe to swim with a sanitary pad, but most important that you still must change your pad,” says Etienne. “Especially when leaving the water, you should discard and put in a fresh pad immediately. With our products it is so discreet and uncomfortable that it may make you forget that you are actually bleeding, but the reality is—you are. So I just want everyone to still be very clean and fresh, even though you are now discreet and secure.”

This article originally appeared on MIMIchatter.com.

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Vitamin D a No Go for Arthritic Knees, Study Finds

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Vitamin D supplements didn’t relieve pain or slow the progression of knee osteoarthritis in a new study, even though the patients involved had low levels of the vitamin.

Osteoarthritis is a progressive disease, and currently no treatment is available that will stop the loss of cartilage. Eventually, many patients are headed for knee replacements, the Australian researchers said.

“These data suggest a lack of evidence to support vitamin D supplementation for slowing disease progression or structural change in knee osteoarthritis,” said lead researcher Dr. Changhai Ding, a professor at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.

The use of vitamin D supplements to reduce pain and slow the progression of knee osteoarthritis has been controversial in the past, with studies showing conflicting results, he said.

This new study put vitamin D supplements to the test by randomly assigning some osteoarthritis sufferers to receive supplements while others received a placebo. In the context of this type of definitive study, vitamin D failed to have any beneficial effect, Ding’s team found.

Knee osteoarthritis affects about 10 percent of men and 13 percent of women aged 60 and older, according to background information in the report. The study was published in the March 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study findings did not come as a surprise to Dr. Neil Roth, an orthopedic surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

“Osteoarthritis is a progressive disease and any medications patients take, orally or injected, won’t alter the disease,” he said. “The best we can do without a joint replacement is to modify some of the symptoms.”

These treatments include anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers and cortisone injections, he said. These therapies do not stop the disease from getting worse and only relieve some of the symptoms, Roth said.

For the study, Ding and colleagues randomly assigned just over 400 patients with knee osteoarthritis and low vitamin D levels to monthly treatment with either 50,000 International Units of vitamin D a month or a placebo.

Over two years of follow-up, the investigators did not see any difference between the groups in reduced pain, loss of cartilage or improvement in bone marrow in the thigh or shin bone.

“That’s not to say that vitamin D doesn’t play a role in other aspects of bone health — because it does,” Roth said.

It is important for men and women to have the appropriate levels of vitamin D to build and maintain bone mass, he said.

“Vitamin D is an important part of any well-balanced diet,” Roth said. “But the notion that it is going to alter your arthritis and minimize some of the symptoms or the progression isn’t sound. I wouldn’t be taking vitamin D supplements if that’s what your goal is.”

A group that represents the vitamin supplement industry said the study did find slight improvements in some who were given vitamin D supplementation.

“This study demonstrates the potential benefit of vitamin D for patients with knee osteoarthritis as patients supplementing with vitamin D experienced pain reduction and a slightly smaller loss of cartilage over time,” said Andrea Wong, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at the Coucil for Responsible Nutrition. “Even though the numbers are not statistically significant, these are positive trends that should encourage further research.”

More information

Visit the Arthritis Foundation for more on osteoarthritis.

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Most Teens Who Abuse ADHD Meds Get Them From Others

TUESDAY, March 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Abuse of ADHD stimulant drugs such Ritalin or Adderall is on the rise, and a new study finds that most teens who abuse the drugs get them from someone else.

An expanding market for drugs to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), “coupled with the increasing rates of ADHD diagnosis, provides greater availability of these drugs,” study lead author Yanning Wang, from the University of Florida in Gainesville, said in a university news release.

“This raises concerns about the possible non-medical use or abuse of these medications,” which include drugs such Adderall, Concerta and Ritalin, she added. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, when these drugs are abused they can boost blood pressure and heart rate, and interfere with sleep and appetite.

The new study focused on surveys of more than 11,000 American children and teens conducted between 2008 and 2011. Kids were interviewed at places like shopping malls, arcades and skate parks. The children were between the ages of 10 and 18 and came from 10 different cities, the study said.

Two types of ADHD medication users were included: Those who only used the drugs for non-medical purposes, and kids who had a prescription for an ADHD medicine, but might also use the drug in a non-medical way.

About 7 percent of the participants said they had used a prescription stimulant drug in the past 30 days, and more than half said their use was non-medical.

Almost 90 percent of the kids who were abusing an ADHD drug said they had used someone else’s medication, the study found.

More than a third (39 percent) of non-medical use involved kids taking more pills than they had been prescribed. Children also reported smoking, snorting or sniffing the medication instead of taking it by mouth, researchers found.

Teenagers who only used the drug in an abusive way were at higher risk for “conduct problems” at home, and for other forms of substance abuse, Wang’s team found. They were also more likely to have friends that tried other drugs, something Cottler called a “circle of risk-taking.”

“It is so important for physicians and parents to counsel youth who have prescription stimulants to never share their medications,” study co-author Linda Cottler, chair of epidemiology at the University of Florida, said in the news release.

The study was published recently in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse has more on prescription drug abuse.

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Tracksuits Are Back! 3 Stylish New Sets to Wear This Season

The tracksuit is officially the hottest item on the runway—and in our closets. Long before “athleisure” was a thing, these classic coverups were perfectly sporty-yet casual, ideal for both workouts and weekends. Instead of dusting off that Juicy Couture velour (we were tempted, too), snag an update featuring funky colors, feminine cuts and the same ultra-comfy feel we all know and love. Sport the separates together for a coordinated look, or mix and match for your own take on this two-piece.

Adigirl Track Jacket and 3S Rib Pant ($70 and $50; adidas)

Photo: Adidas.com

Tory Sport Color-Block Track Jacket and Color-Block Track Pant ($165 and $135; torysport.com)

Photo: Torysport.com

Adidas by Stella McCartney Essentials Track Top and Woven Track Pant ($275 and $185; adidas.com)

Photo: Adidas.com

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