New Heart Health Guidelines for Women Available

Women still die from cardiovascular disease – partly because women do not receive treatment as often as men. The American Health Association has decided to focus on what it calls “real-world” solutions in its recommendations for heart health for women.

Some of the guidelines are similar to previous recommendations and often may focus on obvious things:

  • Avoiding smoking
  • Obtaining regular exercise
  • Eating a healthy diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and two servings of cold water fish per week
  • Maintaining a healthy weight
  • Obtaining urgent treatment once heart disease is diagnosed

Some of the recommendations involve changes in hoe physicians manage women with heart disease or who may be at risk:

  • Screen patients for depression – a woman with treated depression is more likely to obtain treatment
  • Ask if women are taking their blood pressure and cholesterol medications

There are some new recommendations from the American Heart Association. Women with high cholesterol or high triglyceride levels should consume 1800 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids each day. This is equivalent to eight ounces of salmon or other oily fish; it can also be taken in the form of a capsule. The AHA also suggests that women that suffer from conditions that may put them at higher risk of developing heart disease should be screened for problems. These conditions include rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Women who have had these types of pregnancy complications have increased risks of heart disease. Women who suffered from preeclampsia have twice the risk of having a stroke, heart attack, or blood clot formation in the legs up to 15 years after the pregnancy.

Some treatments that were thought to lower the risk of heart disease have not shown much benefit like hormone replacement therapy, folic acid, and antioxidants.

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Physical Therapy for Stroke Patients Can Be Successful at Home

Intensive home physical therapy for patients who have had a stroke can be as successful as the therapy for people who employ a fancier, high-tech program that uses a treadmill. The walking ability of these patients continues to improve for up to one year after the stroke; the previous belief was that improvement peaked at 6 months after the event.

Surprisingly, people who did not start their rehabilitation until 6 months after the event could still achieve some improvement in walking ability as well.

The results from this study were released during the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference.  This was the largest stroke rehab study even performed in the US and included over 400 people.  One group of patients was assigned to begin locomotor training – which uses a treadmill and a harness that supports the walker’s weight before the participant starts practicing walking – 2 months after the stroke; another group was assigned to begin training 6 months after the stroke. Both of these groups were compared with people who were assigned to a home physical therapy program which tried to enhance flexibility, range of motion, strength, and balance.

All of the patients were evaluated one year after their strokes; researchers found the 52% of participants had achieved similar improvements in ability to walk.  The patients were similar in speed, physical mobility, motor recovery, and social participation.  There was no difference if the person started 2 months after the stroke or 6 months.  The people with home training and the rehab facility training programs both had similar outcomes.

The researchers suggest that since home physical therapy is less expensive and more flexible, this method may be a great way to help stroke survivors get back on their feet.

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Abnormal Hand Movements May Predict ADHD Severity

Recent studies suggest that there may be motor function dysfunction in children with ADHD in addition to problems with learning and attention.

These two studies—published in the February issue of the Neurology journal – explore how the brain and motor functions may establish some ADHD symptoms. Children with ADHD have problems with motor control; this may lead to additional areas of therapy.

In the first study, the scientists evaluated mirror movements in young children with ADHD. Mirror movements mean that when one side of the body moves, the other side moves as well.  These mirror movements tend to disappear as children age. Children with ADHD had more mirror movements than the other children; differences were more obvious for the boys with ADHD. This may mean that mirror movements are part of abnormal development of the motor area of the brain.

The second study demonstrated that the “braking system” for children with ADHD was less efficient than for other children. This braking system is used to stop a person from acting impulsively. In the study, the researchers employed transcranial magnetic stimulation – which uses magnetic pulses to stimulate brain activity — to measure inhibition in the brain and confirmed that these children had inhibitory problems. Inhibition was reduced by around 40%. When looking at the motor development tests, the children with ADHD scored 60% lower than the children without ADHD. The amount of reduced inhibition found in the motor section of the brain actually correlated with the severity of symptoms that parents see.

While these studies were both small, the findings may lead to new targets for treatments of ADHD.  Over time, researchers may be able to subtype ADHD further. However, the coordination issues do not mean that a child has ADHD but may represent other learning problems. These studies are a nice starting point for further study.

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ADHD May be Related to Baby’s Health at Birth

The birth of a baby is an exciting time and can become stressful if the birth does not go as planned. Sometimes, the baby is lethargic and may have low APGAR scores which measure the baby’s health at birth. A recent paper published in the January issue of the Journal of Pediatrics found that these APGAR scores may indicate the risk of developing ADHD in the future.

APGAR scores are measured within the first 5 minutes after birth with a 7 or higher considered normal.

This study evaluated almost 1 million Danish children and found that the lower the APGAR scores, the high the incidence of ADHD. Children who had an APGAR score of 5 or 6 has a 63% higher chance of ADHD than children who had an APGAR of 9 or 10. Children who had an APGAR of 4 or less had a 75% increased risk of developing the condition compared with children with scores of 9 or 10.

The reason for the relationship is not well understood. The low APGAR itself score may be related to some fetal stress that might contribute to ADHD later. During the study, the researchers accounted for other factors like preterm birth, family income, the smoking history of the mother, and education levels when measuring the findings. Preterm birth has been associated with ADHD in other studies – with an unclear rationale as well.

The predictive value of this relationship is not strong enough for clinicians to use – the physicians should not be using this study to inform parents of infants with low APGARs that there is an elevated risk of ADHD. Future studies might be able to clarify this relationship over time. Large population studies may find relationships between the various factors related to ADHD.

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Children with ADHD Have a Variety of Other Problems

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have other difficulties to overcome. Researchers have found that children with ADHD often have other problems like learning disabilities, depression, anxiety, or conduct disorder. These problems make it more likely that these children will struggle at school, repeat a grade or have problems with family relationships.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles completed a survey of the parents of 62,000 school-aged children across the nation in 2007. The children were determined to have ADHD if the parents noted that the child had been diagnosed or currently had ADHD; the parents also asked about other disorders like epilepsy, speech problems or learning disabilities.

About 8% of the children in the survey have ADHD – this translates to about 4 million children aged 6 to 17 in the US with the condition. The children with ADHD were significantly more likely to suffer from a variety of mental and physical conditions. Children from low income homes are also 40% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than children from middle class homes.  The children from the low income homes also have a higher risk of suffering from other medical conditions. About 30% of these children have the associated conditions compared to 8% of the children from more affluent homes.

This study also demonstrates the depth of impact that ADHD can have on a family. More than 80% of children with ADHD who were also diagnosed with 3 or more conditions had failed a grade or have had other problems at school.

Best screening at school may help find these children and help them by dealing with their ADHD and associated conditions. This might give the children a better chance to successfully navigate school and family life. The numbers of children diagnosed with ADHD has increased so improving diagnosis and services to these children will be a priority in education.

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People with ADHD May Be at Higher Risk for Dementia in the Future

People who have attention deficit hyperactive disorder or ADHD are more than three times as likely to develop dementia when they get older. The findings were recently published in the European Journal of Neurology.

This type of dementia is a common form of the disease called dementia with lewy bodies (DLB). Lewy bodies are abnormal protein deposits that collect in nerve cells and disrupt their function. DLB affects approximately 1.3 million people in the United States. The symptoms of this disease include cognitive impairment similar to what happens in people with Alzheimer’s; however, these patients also can suffer from hallucinations, changes in cognition and movement problems not unlike the symptoms that Parkinson’s patients may experience.

In this study, researchers looked at 109 patients with dementia, 251 people with Alzheimer’s and 149 healthy people. The scientists found that 47.8% of the people who have DLB had also had adult ADHD; only 15% of the people with Alzheimer’s or control group had had the condition.  The information about the ADHD symptoms was obtained from the healthy subjects and their direct informants. For study participants who had cognitive impairment, the ADHD history was obtained from direct informants who had known the patient for at least 10 years and relatives that knew the person during childhood.

The link is thought to be a neurotransmitter pathway problem that may be key in the development of both conditions. The researchers think that this study is the first one to look at the relationship between ADHD and dementia.

Everyone is not convinced that the findings in this study are as clear. Some feel that this study found as association between the two conditions but not an issue of cause and effect. Other experts suggest that the conclusion is backwards and should be people with DLB have three times the ADHD symptoms. Either way, more research will be needed to clarify the relationship between ADHD and dementia.

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Traveling with Disabilities

Traveling can be very difficult for people with disabilities. However, proper planning can help you avoid pitfalls and improve the overall experience. Some suggestions to making travel more pleasant:

  • You need to carefully communicate your needs when planning your trip. Discuss what you need with travel, hotel and other vendors when making reservations; this can allow you to arrange for special seating or transportation as needed. Organizations that work with people with disabilities can also help inform you about what accommodations are available at your destinations.
  • Air travel can be challenging if you need bulky accommodations like a wheelchair, oxygen or a walker. You should be aware of your rights when traveling by air; the Department of Transportation has passed rules called the Air Carrier Access Act that prevents discrimination when people with disabilities travel.
  • One concern when traveling is access to health care in the area to which you are traveling; if you have disabilities, you may find that you need some health care during your trip. Health care systems differ from country to country and costs and covered procedures vary in other countries as well. You need to make sure that you have enough prescription medication; you also should consider buying travel health insurance in case you do become ill or need medical evacuation.
  • If you need a service dog in another country, you should check the requirements for that animal. Some countries may require vaccinations before the dog can enter. Hotels or restaurants may not allow the presence of service animals so you should make sure that you have reservations for places that do.
  • Electrical outlets are different in other countries as well. Ventilators, oxygen machines and other devices might require electricity; you need to find out about the voltage in the country so that you can purchase adaptive outlets. You also need to have spare tools to keep your equipment working while traveling.

These are some basic suggestions for traveling with disabilities. Speaking with other people who have traveled to the same location or who have the same disability can also give you some additional tips.

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Restrictive Diet May Help Children with ADHD

Dealing with ADHD can be a challenging situation and may require that you child take medications and go to counseling. A recent study published in The Lancet finds that a restrictive diet for children with ADHD can improve their symptoms and sometimes allow the child to discontinue any medications.

This study was completed at Radboud University Medical School in the Netherlands where the researchers looked at 100 children who were between four and eight years old. One half of the participants followed an elimination diet which removed all known allergens and processed foods for five weeks. The other children formed a control group which received advice on healthy foods.

The symptoms of ADHD decreased in 78% of the children on the elimination diet. The elimination diet included rice, meats, pears, vegetables and water and later wheat, fruits and potatoes. When some of the foods were reintroduced into the diet, the symptoms of ADHD recurred in those children. The foods that the scientists used as a “trigger” were foods that had either high or low levels of IgG; this is an antibody which is thought by some professionals to contribute to food hypersensitivities.

ADHD is a common childhood disorder; parents have long considered sugary foods as a possible problem in this condition. The evidence on that belief has not been proven yet. Recently food additives and preservatives have been thought to be a potential trigger for these children. Food allergies can also cause other types of health issues in children like rashes or asthma; perhaps food sensitivities may cause problems with the way the brain functions as well.

Although the findings from this study may confirm that theory, more questions remain. This diet would require a significant amount of monitoring to maintain and would also require some assistance from a primary care doctor and a dietitian. It was not clear if this diet would be beneficial over the long-term since the trial period was only for five weeks. This diet was only tested on children with ADHD and not children with ADD. More research will be needed to clarify some of these issues.

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Nicotine Addiction May Be a Brain Problem

Many of the health problems can be affected by lifestyle changes such as exercise and eating healthier foods. Another lifestyle change that could improve health outcomes includes smoking cessation. It’s difficult to stop smoking; trying to defeat a nicotine addiction can be extremely challenging. However, researchers have found evidence that nicotine addiction may have specific origins in our brain; this information might help scientists discover better ways to combat this condition.

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida found a pathway in the brain that regulates the desire to smoke. When this pathway operates as it should, the desire to smoke is suppressed. However, when the receptor in the brain was genetically altered, the desire and consumption of nicotine was drastically increased. The brain did not issue the stop impulse after the change. The researchers performed this study in rats but they feel that the findings were applicable in humans. There are similar pathways in the human brain that can indicate a predisposition to nicotine addiction.

Around one-third of Americans have the gene that leads to nicotine cravings and smoking. Smoking is the cause of one in ten deaths in US adults due to heart attacks, lung disease like chronic bronchitis and emphysema and stroke. Nicotine addiction is also the cause of about 90% of the cases of lung cancer and may be related to the development of a variety of different types of cancers throughout the body.

The new research findings may help scientists find different treatment options for people with nicotine addictions. Currently most treatments are directed at nicotine replacement through patches, gum or nasal sprays. Other therapy options include antidepressants, medications to relieve the symptoms of withdrawal like Chantix or behavioral modification therapies. New drugs may work on removing the cravings altogether; the new pathway found in the brain may be a first step in finding more helpful treatments.

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Stopping Hair Loss in Men

For many men, hair loss is inevitable since male pattern baldness is heredity. For others, hair thinning and hair loss can occur as a natural part of aging or because of trauma caused by a disease or injury. In some cases, certain medications can cause hair loss, as can certain treatments such as chemotherapy.

Fortunately, even for those with genetic hair loss tendencies, there is a way to stop hair loss in men. There are over-the-counter preparations, but now there is also a prescription medication —Propecia online. This is a brand name for finasteride.

Finasteride works by making it harder for the body to produce a chemical called 5-Reductase. Reducing the amount of this chemical also means that DHT (Dihydrotestosterone), the hormone that is responsible for hair loss, production is also lessened.Finasteride actually helps grow longer hair; it does not just enable the hair follicles to produce shorter hairs, sometimes known as “peach fuzz” or “seedlings.” And because this medication comes in pill form, as is the case with Propecia, which can be purchased online, it is easy to remember to take it. Like all medications, finasteride does have side effects. These include decreased sex drive and problems achieving an erection.

There are two very important things that should be remembered about Propecia. The first one is that women cannot take this drug, as it can cause birth defects, especially in unborn male children. The second is that this drug can affect PSA screening results, so it is important that a doctor knows it has been prescribed.

Finasteride does require a prescription; however, it can be purchased online without one.If you do this, you can actually compare prices. Doing this can help you save money. You may also be able to get a larger supply of Propecia online. If this is true, even if you have to pay a little more, you won’t have to purchase the drug as often.

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