Tag Archives: HealthDay

Lamenting the noisy neighbor

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Living by airports, highways and other noisy environments could lead to adverse heart health, according to new research. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay 

 

Living in noise-saturated neighborhoods might be more than simply annoying, with new research suggesting it seems to raise the risk for serious heart problems.

 

Chronic noise from traffic and airports appears to trigger the amygdala, a brain region critically involved in stress regulation, brain scans have revealed.

 

Noise is also associated with increased inflammation of the arteries, which is a risk factor for stroke, heart attack and heart disease, said lead researcher Dr. Azar Radfar. She is a research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

 

“We are not the first group talking about noise and cardiovascular disease,” Radfar said. “What we really show here is the mechanism linking noise to major adverse cardiovascular events.”

 

For the study, Radfar and her colleagues analyzed imaging scans of 499 healthy people, looking specifically at their brains and blood vessels.

 

The investigators then used the participants’ home addresses to obtain noise level estimates of their neighborhoods, based on aviation and highway noise data kept by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

 

People in the noisiest neighborhoods had higher levels of activity in their amygdala and more inflammation in their arteries, the researchers found.

 

The research team then followed the study participants for an average 3.7 years, to see if these symptoms of stress would lead to heart problems.

 

The findings showed that people exposed to chronic noise had a greater than threefold risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke or other major cardiovascular event, compared with people who had lower levels of noise exposure.

 

That risk remained elevated even after the researchers accounted for other risk factors, such as air pollution, high cholesterol, smoking and diabetes.

 

But the study could not prove that noise caused heart risks to rise.

 

Still, the amygdala appears to increase heart risk by triggering the release of hormones that fuel blood vessel inflammation, the researchers concluded.

 

Dr. Nieca Goldberg is director of the NYU Langone Tisch Center for Women’s Health in New York City. She said, based on this research, noise is “a link in the chain of cardiovascular risk, and I think it is an interesting question for doctors to ask their patients when assessing their cardiac risk.”

 

Radfar even suggested that people affected by transportation noise might consider soundproofing their homes.

 

On a community level, highway and urban planners can protect the populace by making road-noise barriers a part of road construction, Radfar suggested.

 

And, Goldberg added, if you’re in a noisy neighborhood, you might also want to consider other ways to reduce your stress. These might include yoga, meditation or aerobic exercise.

 

The findings are to be presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Chicago. Such research is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

 

Sidestep these menu minefields

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Did you know that the extra calories in a typical restaurant meal can mean a gain of two pounds a year for those who eat out just once a week? (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Len Canter, HealthDay

 

People with food allergies aren’t the only ones who need to be aware of menu minefields when eating out. If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s important that you don’t fall prey to these temptations.

 

It’s not only supersized meals that can be your diet downfall—restaurant meals, in general, have jumped in size. If you’re not careful, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warns that the extra calories in a typical restaurant meal can mean a gain of two pounds a year for those who eat out just once a week.

 

And, year after year, those pounds can really add up.

 

At breakfast, say no to over-the-top omelets. Eggs are healthy options at any meal, but dishes that smother them in cheese, sausage and other high-saturated fat ingredients can turn a simple 80-calorie egg into a dish with more than 1,000 calories.

 

Steer clear of oversized meat portions. A 3-ounce lean filet is a good once-in-a-while choice, but that tempting 16-ounce slab of prime rib delivers 1,400 calories even before you add in all the trimmings.

 

Pasta-and-protein dishes can more than double the calories of either a simply sauced dish of pasta or a broiled chicken breast, and even more when smothered with cheese or cream sauce.

 

A “personal” pizza sounds like a sensible serving, but it can come with far more calories than one gooey slice, especially if topped with an assortment of cured meats.

 

Chicken wings are one of the worst bangs for your buck because 75 percent of the calories come from fatty skin and breading, and provide little protein.

 

If you crave any of these dishes, make them at home where you can control ingredients and portion sizes.

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Eyes could be the window to predicting Alzheimer’s

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Eye tests could one day make it possible to screen people in their 40s or 50s for early signs of Alzheimer’s, and begin treatment to delay further progression of the disease. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay

 

An eye exam might spot people with Alzheimer’s disease before they show any symptoms, researchers report.

 

“All of us have a small area devoid of blood vessels in the center of our retinas that is responsible for our most precise vision. We found that this zone lacking blood vessels was significantly enlarged in people with pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease,” explained co-principal investigator Dr. Rajendra Apte. He is a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

 

Previous studies have found that the eyes of people who had died from Alzheimer’s showed signs of thinning in the center of the retina and deterioration of the optic nerve.

 

In this new study, Apte’s team used a noninvasive technique called optical coherence tomography angiography to examine the thickness of the retinas and fibers in the optic nerves of 30 people, average age mid-70s, who had no symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

 

A form of the test is available at many eye doctors in the United States.

 

After the eye tests, PET scans and cerebrospinal fluid analyses revealed that about half of the study participants had elevated levels of the Alzheimer’s-related proteins amyloid or tau. So, even though they didn’t have any Alzheimer’s symptoms, these people were likely to develop the disease.

 

“In the patients with elevated levels of amyloid or tau, we detected significant thinning in the center of the retina,” Apte said in a university news release.

 

According to study first author Dr. Bliss O’Bryhim, “This technique has great potential to become a screening tool that helps decide who should undergo more expensive and invasive testing for Alzheimer’s disease prior to the appearance of clinical symptoms.” O’Bryhim is a resident physician in the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences.

 

“Our hope is to use this technique to understand who is accumulating abnormal proteins in the brain that may lead them to develop Alzheimer’s,” she added.

 

It’s believed that Alzheimer’s-related plaques can accumulate in the brain two decades before symptoms appear, so scientists are trying to find ways to detect the disease earlier.

 

Currently, PET scans and lumbar punctures are used to help diagnose Alzheimer’s, but these methods are invasive and expensive.

 

Further research is needed, but this eye test could one day make it possible to screen people in their 40s or 50s for early signs of Alzheimer’s, and begin treatment to delay further progression of the disease, the study authors suggested.

 

The study was published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum HealthBeat.

 

Does human life span really have a limit?

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There are few people who make it to extreme old ages—the influence of good genes and healthy life choices are key. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay

 

The limits of human existence might not be as limited as we have long thought.

 

A person’s risk of death slows and even plateaus above age 105, a new study reports, challenging previous research saying there’s a cutoff point past which the human life span cannot extend.

 

Longevity pioneers lucky enough to make it past the perilous 70s, 80s and 90s could potentially live well into their 110s, if fortune remains on their side, said senior author Kenneth Wachter, a professor of demography and statistics at the University of California, Berkeley.

 

“Our data tell us that there is no fixed limit to the human life span yet in sight,” Wachter said. “Very few of us are going to reach those kinds of ages, but the fact that mortality rates are not getting worse forever and ever tells us there may well be more progress to be made improving survival past the ages of 80 to 90. This is a valuable, encouraging discovery.”

 

Specifically, the study showed that people at age 110 had the same continued chances of survival as those between the ages of 105 and 109—a 50/50 chance of dying within the year and an expected further life span of 1.5 years.

 

This plateau runs counter to the way death risk relentlessly rises as we age from age 40 onward, Wachter said.

 

“If mortality rates kept rising at the rates they rise from age 40 to age 90, then there would be a strong barrier to progress at extreme ages — great diminishing returns to behavioral change or to new medical advances,” Wachter said. “The fact these rates ultimately level out gives hope there’s more leeway for those advances.”

 

The oldest known human on record is Jeanne Calment of France, who died in 1997 at age 122.

Different findings

There’s been ongoing debate about whether there’s a maximum human life span.

 

Last year, researchers at McGill University in Montreal issued a report challenging earlier assertions that human life span peaks at about 115 years.

 

“The statistics aren’t good enough to be able to say you can’t live much longer than that, based on the data we have,” said report author Siegfried Hekimi, chairman of developmental biology at McGill. “It’s simply not good enough to make that claim.”

 

To investigate this further, Wachter and his colleagues tracked the death trajectories of nearly 4,000 residents of Italy who reached age 105 between 2009 and 2015.

 

The investigators found that the odds of survival inexorably decline as a person enters middle and old age.

 

For example, Italian women who reached age 90 had a 15 percent of chance of dying within the year and an expected further life span of six years on average, results showed.

 

But if they made it to 95, their odds of dying within a year increased to 24 percent and their life expectancy dropped to 3.7 years.

 

One might think these odds would continue to increase indefinitely, as people age toward an undefined vanishing point.

 

That’s not what happened, though. The chances of survival instead plateaued once people made it past 105.

 

“The risk of death is very high at 105 years, but next year it’s not higher,” Hekimi said of the new study. “Every year you have the same chance of dying, and every year you can be the one who wins the coin toss.”

 

This plateau likely occurs due to evolutionary selection and the influence of good genes and healthy life choices, Wachter said.

 

“When you look at a group of older people who are all the same age, some are already quite frail and some are robust. There’s a big difference in the level of frailty,” Wachter said.

 

“People who go to college 50th reunions, you just look around you and some people are climbing mountains while some people are walking with canes. Now go 15 to 20 years later, the people who were already frail are the ones who are likely to have died,” he said.

Not enough study participants

So far, looking at the genetics of long-lived people has provided maddeningly few clues for extending overall human life span, Hekimi said.

 

There are just too few people who make it to these extreme old ages, and the genes that seem to be working in their favor vary from place to place, Hekimi said. For example, genes that seem to be supporting extended life span on Okinawa are not the same ones found in England.

 

But this study shows there’s a good chance of extending the survival plateau earlier into the average human life span, making it increasingly likely that more people will survive into their 100s, Wachter said.

 

“It gives us a good piece of hope, because there is now lots of opportunity to look at these bad variants as they are in populations today and to try to understand the interaction of those genetic variants with potential medicines and different health challenges,” Wachter said.

 

“This basic theory could help us inform medical progress and public health progress 10 to 15 years from now as genetic research continues,” he said.

 

Hekimi agreed.

 

“Given that our life span keeps increasing, maybe the plateauing is going to start earlier and earlier,” he said.

 

The new study is published in the June 29 issue of the journal Science.

 

Live your best life for longevity. Browse Spectrum Health’s classes and events to find nutrition and exercise programs that fit your schedule.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

7 tips for managing stress

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Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only 36.9 percent of those suffering receive treatment. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Maura Hohman, HealthDay

 

A little bit of stress can motivate you, but too much might cause an anxiety disorder that can prevent you from living your life to the fullest.

 

If you feel anxious on a daily basis, try making changes to your lifestyle to manage anxiety on your own.

  1. Exercise regularly to release the body’s endorphins, natural feel-good chemicals. Set a goal of 30 minutes at least five days of the week.
  2. Be sure to get enough sleep, typically between 7 and 8 hours every night.
  3. During waking hours, take short breaks from whatever stresses you out. Meditation and listening to music are great ways to clear your head.
  4. Eat healthy and don’t skip meals.
  5. Limit alcohol and caffeine, which can worsen anxiety and trigger panic attacks.
  6. If adjustments to your routine don’t lessen your anxiety, talk to your doctor, especially if anxiety or depression run in your family. You could have an anxiety disorder.
  7. Keep a symptom diary and be alert for the warning signs of an anxiety disorder.

Possible anxiety disorder symptoms include:

  • Constant worry.
  • Avoiding social situations.
  • Panic attacks.
  • Nightmares.

If you’re diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, stay positive. There are many treatments available, such as cognitive behavioral therapy to help you change your thought patterns. Also, there are other types of therapy, medication, and simple adjustments to your daily routine.

 

Most important is finding a therapist you’re comfortable working with and who’s experienced in treating anxiety disorders.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Severe stress may send immune system into overdrive

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Stress disorders are tied to a 36 percent greater risk of developing 41 autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and celiac disease. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay

 

Trauma or intense stress may up your odds of developing an autoimmune disease, a new study suggests.

 

Comparing more than 106,000 people who had stress disorders with more than 1 million people without them, researchers found that stress was tied to a 36 percent greater risk of developing 41 autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and celiac disease.

 

“Patients suffering from severe emotional reactions after trauma or other life stressors should seek medical treatment due to the risk of chronicity of these symptoms and thereby further health decline, such as the increased risk of autoimmune disease,” said lead researcher Dr. Huan Song, from the University of Iceland in Reykjavik.

 

The body’s immune system protects you from disease and infection. But autoimmune diseases turn the body’s natural protection against itself by attacking healthy cells.

 

In comparing people who had stress disorders with more than 1 million people without them, researchers found that stress was tied to a 36 percent greater risk of developing 41 autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and celiac disease. It’s not clear what causes autoimmune diseases, but they tend to run in families. Women, particularly black, Hispanic and Native-American women, have a higher risk for some autoimmune diseases, the researchers said.

 

Song added that treating stress-related disorders may help reduce the risk of developing autoimmune diseases.

 

“There are now several treatments, both medications and cognitive behavioral approaches, with documented effectiveness,” she said.

 

For example, treating patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may help lower the risk for autoimmune disease, especially when taken in the first year after diagnosis, Song said.

 

But she cautioned that because this is an observational study, it’s not possible to prove stress causes autoimmune diseases, only that the two are linked.

 

In the study, Song’s team looked at patients in Sweden diagnosed with stress disorders such as PTSD, acute stress reaction, adjustment disorder and other stress reactions from 1981 to 2013. The researchers compared these individuals with siblings and people in the general population not suffering from a stress disorder.

 

The effects of severe stress have been associated with a variety of health problems, one PTSD expert said.

 

“Many studies have linked stress conditions as well as adverse childhood events, such as trauma and neglect, to future medical problems, including immune problems,” said Mayer Bellehsen. He directs the Unified Behavioral Health Center for Military Veterans and Their Families at Northwell Health in Bay Shore, N.Y.

 

“It is also notable that when people received effective treatment, their risk was lessened,” he added.

 

Although it isn’t known why stress can increase the chances of developing an autoimmune disease, Bellehsen suggested several possible explanations.

 

These include the impact of stress on lifestyle—for example, getting less sleep or increased drug or alcohol use. Stress might also directly affect the immune system, he said.

 

“Regardless of cause, this study adds to the evidence of the link between stress conditions and physical well-being, warranting further attention to the reduction of trauma and other causes of stress conditions, as well as improving treatment of these conditions,” Bellehsen said.

 

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

Have questions about your health or autoimmune diseases? Contact the Spectrum Health Neurology team or the Spectrum Health Allergy/Immunology team for more information or to make an appointment.

 

 

Is stress or PTSD so common in your life that it feels normal? Do you experience stress or PTSD without even realizing it? For additional information, call 616.447.5820 or schedule an appointment with the Spectrum Health Medical Group Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine Program today.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

How to keep anger from getting the better of you

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If you’re arguing with someone, anger can be like earplugs. It keeps you from hearing what the other person is saying and finding middle ground. (For Spectrum Health Beat)

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay

 

Anger isn’t just an emotional reaction—it can affect you physically, too.

 

It’s been shown to raise your risk for heart disease and other problems related to stress—like sleep trouble, digestion woes and headaches.

 

That makes it important, then, to diffuse your anger. Start by figuring out what it is that makes you angry.

 

Researchers from George Mason University, in Virginia, studied just that, and identified 5 common triggers:

  • Other people.
  • Distress—psychological and physical.
  • Demands you put on yourself.
  • Your environment.
  • Unknown sources.

Anger was more intense, the investigators found, when people were provoked by issues with other people or by influences that couldn’t be pinpointed.

 

Once you’ve identified the sources of your anger, take steps to change how your deal with it, the researchers suggested.

 

Decades ago, people often were encouraged to let their anger out. Primal screams and pounding pillows were suggested tactics. Today? Not so much.

 

Studies have shown that therapies that involve letting anger out in a rage don’t really help. They might even make you more angry.

 

Still, it’s important to not keep anger bottled up. But, managing it can keep you from saying or doing things you might regret once the anger has passed.

 

What to do?

 

Start by becoming a calmer person in general. Practice a relaxation technique every day—yoga or mindfulness meditation, for instance.

 

Also develop an anger strategy that you can draw on when you’re in the moment. The idea is to interrupt your response to anger before it gets out of hand and to have a menu of healthier ways to express your feelings.

 

Tactics like time-outs, deep breathing and self-talk can help you calm down and think before acting. Longer-term, reducing your stress level and building empathy skills can help.

 

If you’re arguing with someone, anger can be like earplugs. It keeps you from hearing what the other person is saying and finding middle ground. So instead of acting defensive and trading barbs, hit the pause button.

 

Ask the person to repeat what was said. Then reflect on it before you speak again. Try to figure out the real reason for the argument.

 

This lets you channel the energy of anger into finding a solution.

 

When you’re in a situation you can’t fix—like being stuck in traffic on your way to an appointment—use your rational mind to put the situation in perspective. It’s inconvenient, but more than likely won’t affect your well-being long-term.

 

If you find that you’re angry at forces you can’t identify, consider talking to a mental health therapist. Working together should help you uncover the root of your unhappiness and anger.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

How to start exercising when you’re out of shape

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The easiest way to get started is with walking because it’s low-impact and low-risk, and all you need is a pair of supportive walking or running shoes. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Len Canter, HealthDay

 

Though you may face challenges if you’re carrying excess weight or haven’t been active in a long time, you can still get fit and gain all the benefits that exercise has to offer.

 

The easiest way to get started is with walking because it’s low-impact and low-risk, and all you need is a pair of supportive walking or running shoes.

 

Begin by scheduling one dedicated walk each day, and then find opportunities to take additional steps, like going window-shopping at lunch or walking in place instead of sitting while watching TV. You might like the impetus of a home treadmill, which you can set at a slow speed to start.

Our Take

The most important thing is to set up “accountability measures” like telling loved ones of your goals and scheduling exercise time into your calendar each day, said Phillip Adler, a certified athletic trainer with the Spectrum Health Medical Group Sports Medicine Program.

 

“We all have cell phones: Write it into your schedule and set reminders. That’s the first step,” Adler said.

 

In addition, telling people of your goals creates “that second layer of accountability” because now there are people who expect you to workout and will encourage you to stay on your plan.

Another simple way to exercise at home is to get more dynamic with everyday activities. For example, pick up the pace as you do household chores, and work in sessions that are at least 10 minutes long.

 

You can also dive into exercise by working out in water, whether you swim or take a water fitness class. Water makes you feel lighter and more agile, so many people find it easier to move in a pool than on dry land.

 

Riding a stationary bike is also less strenuous on your body than weight-bearing exercises, even walking. Try a recumbent bike; its seat is lower to the ground and your legs will be extended, which may feel more comfortable to you.

 

Just don’t let enthusiasm put you at risk of burnout by doing too much too soon. Increase the length and the intensity of your workouts at a slow, steady pace as you progress.

 

Learn more about programs, classes and services offered by Spectrum Health Medical Group Sports Medicine and Spectrum Health Healthier Communities.

 

Published with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

For school kids, vaccines are key

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The best way to treat diseases is to prevent them in the first place. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay

 

Be sure to put vaccinations on your children’s back-to-school lists, whether they’re just starting school or heading off to college, experts say.

 

By protecting infants, children and teens from serious diseases, vaccinations also protect families, schools and communities.

 

“The best way to treat diseases is to prevent them in the first place, and the diseases on the vaccine schedule are all preventable for the vast majority of our population,” said David Kimberlin, vice chair of pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

 

“The scientific evidence and public health statistics are comprehensive and compelling—properly scheduled and dosed vaccines are safe and effective, and they’re the reason we don’t see diseases like measles or whooping cough running rampant across our country,” Kimberlin said in a university news release.

 

Kimberlin is the American Academy of Pediatrics’ liaison to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory committee on immunization practices.

 

Immunization requirements vary by state. All have a minimum requirement for dosing each school year to attend public schools. Many require an updated immunization certificate before a child enters any public school or child care center.

 

Here’s what else you should know:

  • All 50 states and the District of Columbia require vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, polio, measles and rubella.
  • 49 states and D.C. also require mumps vaccination.
  • 48 states and D.C. require varicella (chickenpox) vaccination. (Montana and Pennsylvania do not).
  • 45 states and D.C. require hepatitis B vaccination to enter kindergarten. (Alabama, Maine, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota do not).
  • Some states require Hib (Haemophilus Influenzae Type b); PCV (pneumococcal); flu and hepatitits A vaccines to enter kindergarten.

Insurance covers school vaccinations. If you don’t have insurance, your state health department can direct you to services that offer low-cost and/or free immunizations, said Dr. Rachael Lee, an assistant professor in the university’s division of infectious diseases.

 

Vaccinations are available at doctor offices, pharmacies, health centers and local health departments.

 

College students require specific vaccinations and should check with their school to learn which ones they need, university experts said.

 

Life-threatening infections such as meningococcal disease are more common among college-age people, but can be prevented through full vaccination, the experts said.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Is your workplace making you fat?

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Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat

By Serena Gordon, HealthDay

 

The dilemma is all too familiar: It’s Monday morning, you walk into your office and see that someone has left a big box of donuts in the break room. Then, your co-worker tells you there will be cake later for yet another birthday celebration.

 

One thing’s for sure. You’re not alone.

 

A new federal government survey found that about one-quarter of Americans “acquire” nearly 1,300 calories at work every week. Even worse, the survey only included foods people didn’t bring to work themselves, and food they didn’t purchase from outside vendors.

 

“The majority of the calories people got at work, people didn’t pay for—70 percent of the calories were free,” said study co-author Stephen Onufrak, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

The food and beverages that were most commonly obtained at work, he said, were:

  • Coffee
  • Sugar-sweetened soft drinks
  • Sandwiches
  • Tea
  • Cookies
  • Brownies
  • French fries
  • Pizza
  • Salad
  • Water
  • Diet soft drinks

When the researchers looked at the foods by calories, pizza was the leading source of calories obtained at work, followed by sandwiches and regular soft drinks.

 

Onufrak said the foods obtained at work might have been lunch—some workplaces did have onsite cafeterias and foods purchased at an employee cafeteria were included in the survey.

 

The study included more than 5,200 people from a nationally representative group that completed a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey in 2012 and 2013. The volunteers answered questions about the foods they obtained at work over a seven-day period. They only reported food they acquired at work, and they didn’t say whether or not they ate the foods.

 

Onufrak said the survey didn’t ask about what people ate at home, so it’s hard to know for sure if they continued eating foods that were high in refined sugar, salt and empty calories once they left the office. But he said that based on other research he’s done, “a lot of the eating patterns we saw tend to be consistent.”

 

The findings show that employers have an opportunity to improve their workers’ health, he said.

 

“If you look at data on worksite wellness programs, they’re effective at getting people to have healthier behaviors, reducing health care costs and reducing absenteeism. I think encouraging a healthy diet is an essential part of a worksite wellness program,” Onufrak explained.

 

Nutritionist Samantha Heller noted that offering healthy fare could provide a benefit to employers, because employees who eat well “will feel better, will have more energy and can focus better.”

 

Heller, who’s with NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, added, “When we feed our bodies well, our bodies and brains respond. It’s a win-win for the company and the employees.”

 

But what if your workplace doesn’t offer healthy options? The best option may be to bring your own lunch, Heller suggested. That way, you’re in charge of what foods are available to you, and it saves you money.

 

If you don’t bring your own lunch, she said, you should do some scouting to see what healthy food choices are available around your workplace. And it’s a good idea to do this when you aren’t hungry.

 

And what about all those free sweets at work?

 

“People bring a lot of treats to work. People like to feed each other to show affection. But it’s OK to say no to the birthday cake or the brownies. It’s always going to be somebody’s birthday or another celebration. Decide ahead of time that you’re going to say no to treats at work,” Heller advised.

 

Onufrak is scheduled to present the findings at the American Society for Nutrition annual meeting in Boston. Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

 

For help developing better eating habits, visit Spectrum Health Nutrition Counseling or schedule a personalized appointment by calling 616.391.1875.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Honey helps when kids swallow button batteries

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Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay

 

Children who accidentally swallow button batteries should immediately be given honey to reduce their risk of serious injury and death, according to a new study done with pigs.

 

“Button batteries are ingested by children more than 2,500 times a year in the United States, with more than a 12-fold increase in fatal outcomes in the last decade compared to the prior decade,” study co-principal investigator Dr. Ian Jacobs said in a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia news release.

 

“Since serious damage can occur within two hours of ingesting a battery, the interval between ingestion and removal is a critical time to act in order to reduce esophageal injury,” he noted.

 

Jacobs is a pediatric otolaryngologist and director of the hospital’s Center for Pediatric Airway Disorders.

 

When a swallowed button battery reacts with saliva and tissue of the esophagus, it creates a solution that dissolves tissue and can cause severe damage to the esophagus, airway, vocal cords and major blood vessels, the researchers explained.

 

The longer it takes for the battery to be removed, the higher the risk of serious injury.

 

The researchers used live pigs to test if a variety of liquids—including honey, juices, sodas and sports drinks—could provide a protective barrier between a swallowed battery and tissue until the battery is removed. They found that honey and a medication called sucralfate were the most effective.

 

The study was published online in the journal The Laryngoscope, and the findings are being incorporated into the latest National Capital Poison Center Guidelines for management of patients who’ve swallowed button batteries.

 

“Our recommendation would be for parents and caregivers to give honey at regular intervals before a child is able to reach a hospital, while clinicians in a hospital setting can use sucralfate before removing the battery,” Jacobs said.

 

But the researchers said these substances should not be used in children who may have sepsis or perforation of the esophagus, severe allergy to honey or sucralfate, or in children younger than 1 year old due to a small risk of botulism.

 

“While future studies could help establish the ideal volume and frequency for each treatment, we believe that these findings serve as a reasonable benchmark for clinical recommendations,” Jacobs said. “Safely ingesting any amount of these liquids prior to battery removal is better than doing nothing.”

 

The study’s other principal investigator, Dr. Kris Jatana, a pediatric otolaryngologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said the shiny metallic batteries should be stored where toddlers can’t get to them.

 

“Parents and caregivers should check all electronic products in the home and make certain that the battery is enclosed in a compartment that requires a tool to open and periodically check to ensure it stays secure over time,” Jatana said in the news release.

Other uses for honey

Honey is an artisanal food that can be used as a sugar substitute.

 

Lindsey Jelsma, PNP-PC, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, recommends honey for soothing a child’s cough. Jelsma noted, however, that children under the age of 12 months should not get honey—it carries the risk of infant botulism.

Injury and poison prevention

Keep coin lithium battery-controlled devices out of sight and reach of children.

 

Remote controls, singing greeting cards, digital scales, watches, hearing aids, thermometers, children’s toys, calculators, key fobs, tea light candles, flashing holiday jewelry and decorations all contain button batteries.

 

The Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital injury prevention team has compiled information and tips to help you with home safety to limit these dangers.

 

If your child ingests a button battery, call your poison center at 1.800.222.1222 and visit your local emergency room.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Kitchen towels laden with bacteria

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Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay

 

Is your kitchen towel making you sick?

 

The answer could be yes if you use the towel for many purposes, have a large family and are not a vegetarian, according to a new study of germs lurking on towels.

 

Forty-nine percent of the kitchen towels collected for the study were laden with bacteria, and the bacterial count increased with the number of family members and kids, researchers from the Indian Ocean island/nation of Mauritius reported.

 

“Cross-contamination is happening in the kitchen, and those bacteria could reach our food and cause food poisoning,” said lead researcher Susheela Biranjia-Hurdoyal. She is a senior lecturer in the department of health at the University of Mauritius.

 

Specifically, the researchers found that towels used for a variety of tasks—such as wiping utensils, drying hands, holding hot utensils or cleaning surfaces—had more bacteria than towels used for one task. In addition, damp towels had more bacteria than dry ones, the investigators found.

 

Of the 49 samples that were infested with bacteria, 37 percent had Escherichia coli (E. coli), 37 percent had Enterococcus, and 14 percent were infected with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus).

 

For the study, Biranjia-Hurdoyal and her colleagues sampled 100 kitchen towels that had been used for one month. They classified the types of bacteria on the towels and also how much bacteria was present.

 

Higher rates of S. aureus were found among low-income families and those with children, the findings showed. The risk for E. coli was higher in damp towels than dry ones, from towels used for several jobs rather than single-use ones, and from those used in non-vegetarian households.

 

Both E. coli and S. aureus were found at higher rates in families with non-vegetarian diets.

 

E. coli is a normal bacteria found in the intestine and is released in large numbers in human feces. S. aureus is a bacteria found in the respiratory tract.

 

The researchers’ advice? “Avoid humid and multi-usage towels,” Biranjia-Hurdoyal suggested.

 

Kevin Sauer is an associate professor of dietetics at Kansas State University College of Human Ecology in Manhattan, Kansas. He said, “The key advice is to remain attentive to food safety when preparing food in the home, which includes proper hand-washing, avoiding cross-contamination, and cooking and storing foods at the right temperatures.”

 

In a food-handling study he did in 2015, Sauer found that cloth towels were the most contaminated.

 

“However, even when provided with disposable single-use paper towels, participants were still observed using these in a way that led to additional contamination of contact surfaces,” he noted.

 

Sauer advised that people should avoid using towels in place of hand-washing, because they can easily become contaminated with harmful germs from raw meat and poultry juices.

 

“Furthermore, reusing contaminated towels to wipe hands or other surfaces can easily lead to cross-contamination, and therefore should not be reused throughout meal preparation, since they too can contribute to contamination of hands, surfaces or other food products,” Sauer said.

 

Findings from the study were scheduled for presentation at the American Society for Microbiology meeting, in Atlanta. The findings should be considered preliminary because they have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

 

According to Jessica Corwin, MPH, RDN, community nutrition educator for Spectrum Health Healthier Communities, and Kristi Veltkamp, an outpatient dietitian at Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital, we should all follow these key tips to avoid cross-contamination:

  • Always wash your hands with soap and water before preparing or handling food.
  • Keep raw meat, poultry and seafood securely wrapped to prevent any juices from contaminating prepared dishes and raw foods.
  • Take time to rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water. Scrub any firm-skinned produce with a vegetable brush.
  • Avoid re-using towels, platters or utensils that were used with raw meats.

Corwin urges people to follow food safety precautions, even if they ignored them in the past and didn’t feel any ill effects.

 

Not everyone responds to infections the same way. Those most at risk of serious complications include small children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

 

Learn more about services for Digestive Health & Disorders at Spectrum Health.

 

For more tips about food safety in the summer, go to the U.S. Health and Human Services website, foodsafety.gov.

 

Kids can drown quickly and silently

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By American Heart Association, HealthDay

 

Just back from a run with her husband, Laura Metro faced a parent’s worst nightmare: Her 6-year-old daughter, Maison, ran to her screaming, “I think Clay died! I think Clay died!”

 

Metro’s 3-year-old son, who was swimming with family friends, was found at the bottom of the pool with his towel. One friend started CPR—or the closest thing he knew based on what he’d seen on TV—on Clay’s blue, lifeless body.

 

Paramedics arrived and got Clay’s heart beating again. He was taken by helicopter to the hospital and spent two days in a coma before making what Metro calls “nothing short of a miraculous recovery.”

 

“The doctors said, ‘We don’t know why he’s alive,’ ” Metro said. “The only thing—the only thing—we can attribute it to is the bystander CPR. … He didn’t see the inside of a hospital for an hour and a half [after almost drowning]. That was really what did it.”

 

Drowning is the third-leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, accounting for 7 percent of all injury-related deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The agency estimates there are 360,000 annual drowning deaths worldwide.

 

The Metros’ good fortune is anecdotal evidence of the findings from a study, published in the June 2017 edition of the journal Resuscitation, which found that chances for neurological recovery from a near-drowning increase when the victim receives CPR from a bystander.

 

“We would advocate for parents knowing CPR, and particularly if they have a pool, they should become familiar and get trained in mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing,” said Dr. Michael Sayre, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. “Whereas hands-only CPR is typically focused on someone who is not in the water and collapses suddenly for other reasons, people underwater die because of lack of oxygen.”

 

After Clay’s recovery, Metro founded a nonprofit called CPR Party, using the model of at-home shopping parties to encourage people to teach and learn CPR. The lessons aren’t equal to official CPR certification, Metro said, but “they will know what to do and hopefully, we create a bridge to certification. We just give them that basic knowledge to empower them.”

 

About one in five people who die from drowning are 14 years old or younger, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And for every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal injuries, often including brain damage. The numbers are particularly discouraging, experts say, because in many cases, drowning is preventable.

 

“The biggest thing we try to get through to people is you need to maintain constant, active supervision when people are in the water,” said Adam Katchmarchi, executive director of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance. “Regardless of age and swimming ability, you should never swim alone. You should always swim around someone who’s keeping that vigilant watch over the water, whether that be a parent in a backyard pool or whether you’re swimming in a lifeguarded area.”

 

Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat

On its website, the NDPA stresses what it calls “layers of protection,” including swimmer training, facility safety and parental responsibilities designed to prevent drowning. Drowning can happen quickly and silently, without warning, Katchmarchi said.

 

“We’re used to the Baywatch drowning, where people see on TV that someone’s going to be waving their arms and screaming for help,” he said.

 

“An actual drowning victim, when they’re in that 20- to 60-second fight for survival, they’re unable to call for help because all of their energy is being used to keep their head above water. A lot of times they’re bobbing up and down, going under and re-emerging and trying to get air, so it’s really difficult for them to call out for help,” Katchmarchi said.

 

“It’s really easy to say, ‘Oh, I’m watching my kids,’ but you’re scrolling through Facebook or your Twitter feed. … Even if you’re distracted for just a short period of time, it can happen really quickly and really silently.”

 

Get more water safety tips are available from the Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital injury prevention program. You can also sign up for CPR courses through Spectrum Health Healthier Communities.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.