Tips for Safe Snow Fun

SATURDAY, Feb. 28, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Winter sports are a great way to get exercise and fresh air, but they’re not without risks.

In 2013, more than 343,000 people in the United States received medical treatment for winter sports injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Skiing topped the treatment list, with 138,559 injuries. Snowboarding accounted for 95,348 accidents; sledding, more than 63,000; and ice skating, about 47,000.

“When it comes to winter sports, safety starts with knowing and practicing the rules,” Dr. Michael Cheek, a sports medicine specialist and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons spokesperson, said in an academy news release.

Many skiing and snowboarding injuries can be prevented by using proper equipment and getting appropriate training, he pointed out.

“Before hitting the slopes, inexperienced participants should consider taking a lesson [or several] from a qualified instructor to help prepare for the unexpected, like learning how to fall safely,” Cheek said.

Common causes of sledding injuries include collisions at the end of sledding runs and sledding in improper positions.

General winter-sports safety advice includes going out with a partner and staying in sight of each other. Before heading outdoors, tell someone who isn’t joining you about your plans and likely location.

The academy also recommends the following:

• Check the weather before you leave, and pay attention to warnings about storms and severe temperature drops. Make adjustments for icy conditions, deep powder, wet snow and dangerous weather conditions.


• Always carry a cell phone in case of an emergency.


• Wear several layers of light, loose and water- and wind-resistant clothing, and appropriate protective gear such as goggles, helmet, gloves and padding.


• Check that all your equipment, such as ski and snowboard bindings, are in good working order.


• Be sure to warm up before your activity. Cold muscles, tendons and ligaments are at increased risk for injury.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers winter health and safety tips.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1LW3kBv

Belief in Acupuncture Key to Effect on Back Pain, Study Suggests

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Acupuncture for back pain is more likely to help people who believe the treatment will work, new research suggests.

The study included 485 people who received acupuncture for back pain and completed questionnaires before they began treatment, at two and three months into treatment, and then again at six months after treatment.

Patients who had low expectations of acupuncture before they began the therapy gained less benefit than those who believed it would work, according to the researchers at the University of Southampton in England.

The investigators also found that patients who had a positive view of their back pain and felt in control of their condition had less back-related disability while undergoing acupuncture.

The findings, published in the March issue of the Clinical Journal of Pain, showed that “psychological factors were consistently associated with back-related disability,” study author Dr. Felicity Bishop said in a university news release.

“When individual patients came to see their back pain more positively, they went on to experience less back-related disability,” Bishop said.

“In particular,” she explained, “they experienced less disability over the course of treatment when they came to see their back pain as more controllable, when they felt they had better understanding of their back pain, when they felt better able to cope with it, were less emotional about it, and when they felt their back pain was going to have less of an impact on their lives.”

One arthritis doctor said the study findings illustrate an important point.

“This study emphasizes the influence of the placebo effect on pain. The process whereby the brain’s processing of different emotions in relation to their treatment can influence outcome is a really important area for research,” Dr. Stephen Simpson, director of research at Arthritis Research UK, said in the news release.

Arthritis Research UK funded the study.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more about back pain.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1DjdsiW

Hospital Design May Not Boost Patient Satisfaction, Research Suggests

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Hospital design has little effect on patient satisfaction, according to a new study.

Researchers analyzed surveys of more than 5,600 hospital patients in both newly renovated facilities and older facilities.

“Our team wanted to know how important aesthetics are to a patient’s experience with care. So we looked at surveys from patients before and after a move. We then compared those results to satisfaction surveys from patients being cared for on similar units that had not undergone a move to a new facility,” said study author Dr. Zishan Siddiqui. He is an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“We originally thought new and pleasing surroundings would improve patient satisfaction scores with physicians, nurses and overall care, but our study showed this is not the case,” Siddiqui said in a Hopkins news release.

The study appears in the March issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

Some hospital officials believe that improving their facilities to be more patient-focused will automatically improve patient satisfaction.

“Not so. Hospital leaders will have to stop blaming poor patient satisfaction scores on aging buildings and units,” Siddiqui said.

“Although we did see significant improvement in facility-related satisfaction scores [in newer facilities], we did not see significant change in satisfaction related to care, or overall satisfaction, for that matter,” he added.

More effective ways to improve patient satisfaction include training health care providers on personalized care, educating patients, and involving families in care decisions, the researchers said.

More information

The American College of Surgeons has more about doctor personalities and burnout.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1FGLekF

Global Blood Pressure Program Could Save Millions of Lives, Experts Say

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Treating half of people with uncontrolled high blood pressure could prevent 10 million heart attacks and strokes worldwide over 10 years, according to experts.

Most people with uncontrolled high blood pressure (or “hypertension”) are in low- and middle-income countries and have poor access to diagnosis, care and treatment, said the authors of a commentary published Feb. 26 in The Lancet.

In an effort to get those people into treatment and reduce their risk of premature death, a new program called the Global Standardized Hypertension Treatment Project has been launched by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

“Heart disease and stroke are silent killers — on a mass scale. Cardiovascular disease kills more people around the world than all infectious diseases combined,” CDC director and commentary co-author Dr. Tom Frieden, said in a CDC news release.

“Hypertension is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease and the question is not whether treatment of hypertension should be undertaken on a global scale, but how quickly effective programs can be established,” he added.

Each year, high blood pressure kills 9.4 million people worldwide, about the same number as deaths from all infectious diseases. High blood pressure is the leading cause of heart attack and stroke, which are the leading causes of death in the world, according to the experts.

“Hypertension affects some 250 million people in the Americas, and in most countries rates of blood pressure control are unacceptably low,” Dr. Carissa Etienne, PAHO director, said in the news release.

This project holds tremendous potential for reducing early deaths, as well as the damaging economic effects heart disease has around the world, Etienne said.

Even though high blood pressure is probably the easiest chronic non-infectious disease to treat, only 13 percent of the 1 billion people worldwide with high blood pressure have it under control, the experts pointed out.

High blood pressure treatments can be made relatively inexpensive, even for people in low- and middle-income countries, according to the commentary authors.

The new program is based on four principles:

• Developing standardized treatment approaches.


• Recognition that all members of a health care team play a crucial role in controlling blood pressure.


• Elimination of cost barriers for patients and make refilling prescriptions easier.


• Close tracking of patients’ blood pressure and improvements.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about high blood pressure.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1MZQ6qB

When Babies Spit Up, Don’t Panic

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Some babies spit up more than others, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they have a problem, an expert says.

A baby’s stomach is small and can tolerate only small amounts of food. As a baby grows, so does his or her stomach and spitting up becomes less common, explained Dr. Josephine Dlugopolski-Gach, an assistant professor in the department of pediatrics at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Also, the esophageal sphincter — the flap that keeps stomach contents from coming back up — is not fully functional in babies, she explained.

“Babies typically outgrow spitting up by 6 months. This is when the stomach muscles and the flap that keeps food in the stomach matures. Also, when babies start eating more solid foods and sitting up, spit-up becomes less frequent,” Dlugopolski-Gach said in a university news release.

“There are medications to help reduce the discomfort of frequent spitting up, but they usually do not help with how often the child is spitting up. Your pediatrician can help decide if the medication is right for your child,” she said.

You can reduce spitting up by: burping your baby after every 1 to 2 ounces or 5 to 10 minutes of feeding; holding your baby upright for several minutes after feeding; and by putting the baby in a car seat or swing for 30 minutes after feeding, Dlugopolski-Gach suggested.

While normal, spitting up can be a warning sign of a bigger problem if a baby also has poor weight gain, vomits bile or blood, cries constantly and is inconsolable, is lethargic and has decreased urine production or projectile vomiting, Dlugopolski-Gach said.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about spitting up in babies.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1DAldnr

Hepatitis C Infections in Hospitals Show Need for Tight Infection Control Practices

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Two cases of hepatitis C infection that occurred during routine surgeries highlight the need for hospitals to tighten infection control to prevent more transmissions, officials said Friday.

In one case, two New Jersey patients (one of them had hepatitis C) received an injection of the anesthetic propofol from the same medication cart. In the other instance, two Wisconsin patients (one of them had hepatitis C) received kidneys that had been prepared for transplantation on the same machine, according to an article in the Feb. 27 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The source of the infection in the Wisconsin case was not pinpointed, said Gwen Borlaug, coordinator of the HAI Prevention Program at the Wisconsin Division of Public Health, but “we identified breaches in infection control practices in the operating room that likely resulted in the transmission.”

In the New Jersey case, the infection was traced to contaminated equipment that was taken from one operating room to another. Dr. Barbara Montana, medical director of the communicable disease service at the New Jersey Department of Health, said, “Fortunately, these infections can be prevented when health care providers follow basic infection prevention practices.”

According to the CDC, 22 outbreaks of health-care-associated hepatitis infections occurred from 2008 through 2014. Most of the outbreaks occurred in outpatient care centers and long-term care facilities.

These outbreaks typically involved unsafe injection practices, such as using medication vials on multiple patients or reusing needles or syringes, Borlaug said. Other outbreaks have occurred as a result of contaminated items, such as blood sugar testing devices, she said.

“It is imperative to always practice sound infection control measures, such as cleaning and disinfecting used medical equipment and patient care items, and observing safe injection practices,” Borlaug said.

Patients can also play a part in preventing these infections, Montana said.

“Patients should ask questions about infection prevention practices, such as whether health care providers are following good infection prevention practices, including hand washing and using a new needle/syringe for each patient and cleaning equipment between patients,” she said.

Hepatitis C is a virus that attacks the liver. In its chronic form, it affects some 3.2 million Americans, according to the CDC. However, about 75 percent to 85 percent of those with chronic hepatitis C eventually develop acute disease, which can result in serious liver damage and liver cancer.

Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver cancer and the need for liver transplantation, according to the agency.

Unlike its cousins hepatitis A and B, which can be prevented with a vaccine, there is no vaccine for hepatitis C. However, it can be treated.

Until widespread screening of the blood supply began in 1992 in the United States, there was no screening test for the virus. For that reason, the CDC recommends that anyone born between 1945 and 1965 get tested for hepatitis C.

Dr. Marc Siegel, a professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said these cases are likely only the tip of the iceberg and many more such infections occur in hospitals.

“These two cases are reminders of the small amount of hepatitis C virus that is necessary to cause infection and the importance of proper sterilization and handling of all dental and medical equipment at all times, especially amid a national epidemic of viral hepatitis with no vaccine for hepatitis C,” he said.

More information

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

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1BIy2OX

Immune System Changes Tied to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Chronic fatigue syndrome appears to be linked to specific changes in a person’s immune system, particularly increased amounts of chemical messengers that regulate immune responses, researchers report.

The study adds to growing evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome is caused by a malfunctioning immune system, said lead author Dr. Mady Hornig. She is director of Translational Research at the Jerome L. and Dawn Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, in New York City.

The immune system of a new chronic fatigue syndrome patient appears unable to shut down or reduce its response to an infection that has passed, Hornig said.

Instead, the system continues to pump out large amounts of cytokines — chemical messengers that coordinate the response of the immune system’s many cell types.

“Their immune system is no longer resilient and able to bounce back after this cytokine surge” in response to an infection, Hornig said. “We need the system to be regulated, so it shuts off after the disease is gone, and that isn’t happening here.”

Doctors now can look for increased levels of these chemicals in the blood of patients who might have chronic fatigue syndrome, potentially aiding in their diagnosis, she said.

“We may be able to reduce the time it takes to get a diagnosis, and reduce the time it takes to get them some treatment,” Hornig said. Treating chronic fatigue syndrome early could reduce its future impact on patients’ lives, she added.

The new study, published Feb. 27 in the journal Science Advances, comes on the heels of a new Institute of Medicine report that declared chronic fatigue syndrome a “legitimate” illness that should be treated by doctors as a disease rather than an emotional problem.

Between 836,000 and 2.5 million Americans suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, and an estimated 84 percent to 91 percent of people with the disorder are not diagnosed, according to the IOM. Chronic fatigue syndrome tends to strike people in their 40s and 50s, and occurs four times more often in women than men.

“It is so valuable to be able to find something that can help further validate the disease status of this condition,” Hornig said of her team’s results. “It’s a biological disorder, not a psychological one.”

The new study relied on data gathered during two large U.S. studies of chronic fatigue syndrome, involving 298 people diagnosed with CFS and 348 healthy “control” subjects. As part of these studies, participants provided blood samples.

Researchers analyzed the blood sample data, looking at the presence of cells and chemicals related to the immune system.

They noted that distinct increases occurred in the cytokine levels of people who’d been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome for fewer than three years, compared with both the “healthy” controls and people with long-term CFS. The changes are only present early on in the course of disease, and don’t appear in long-term patients.

The results indicate that there are stages of chronic fatigue syndrome, and that new patients likely need treatments different from those who have had CFS for a long time, Hornig said.

“It may be possible to prevent the long-term consequences of this illness by intervening early and dampening down these cytokines,” she said. “It also has implications for the very large population of people who have had this disease for a long time and for whom a different strategy may be important.”

The findings mesh with other recent research that has linked chronic fatigue syndrome to a faulty immune system, said Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, director of the Fatigue & Fibromyalgia Practitioners Network.

“What we see is an initial overdrive of the immune system, suggesting that one or several infections have become chronic, with the immune system being unable to turn itself off,” Teitelbaum said. “So in the early phases of the illness, we see the immune system being on overdrive. As this goes on, the immune system exhausts itself, resulting in widespread, yet ineffective, attacks against many infections.”

People with long-term chronic fatigue syndrome, then, are saddled with worn-out immune systems that struggle to combat even the mild infections that healthy immune system would shrug off quickly, he said.

More information

For more information on chronic fatigue syndrome, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1BIy21k

How Facebook Is Helping Suicidal People

The Risk for Stroke is Greater in People Who Oversleep

Photo: Getty Images

Oversleeping feels like a treat on the weekend, but regularly sleeping too much is actually a sign that there may be a medical problem at play. According to a new study, people who sleep more than eight hours a day have a higher risk for a stroke compared to people who sleep between six and eight hours.

In the new study, published in the journal Neurology, researchers followed nearly 10,000 people between the ages of 42 and 81 for almost 10 years. They recorded both the amount of sleep they typically got each night, as well as whether they had a stroke.

Around seven out of 10 of the men and women slept between six and eight hours, and about one in 10 slept more than eight hours a night on average. The people who slept the most had a 46% higher than average risk of stroke when the researchers accounted for other variables that could contribute to risk. Their risk was about double that of people who reported getting a typical amount of shut eye each night.

Though the study only shows an association, but it’s fairly surprising since in the past, sleep deprivation has been linked to a greater stroke risk, too. The researchers speculate that long nights of sleep may be linked to increased inflammation, which can eventually lead to cardiovascular problems.

“Prolonged sleep might be a useful marker of increased stroke risk in older people, and should be tested further for its utility in clinical practice,” the authors conclude. Stroke isn’t the only risk that’s linked to sleeping too much. Physicians sometimes use sleep duration as a indicator for how well a patient is feeling. Getting too much sleep can often mean something under the hood is off.

“If people are sleeping too much, it’s a bad sign,” says Dr. David Gozal, a pediatric sleep disorders physician at the University of Chicago Medicine. “Very few people can sleep more than what they need. It’s a sign there is an underlying health-related problem, whether it’s depression, cancer, or neurological deterioration. It’s usually not a good thing.” Gozal was not involved in the study.

If you like to sleep in on the weekends, don’t fret. Occasionally spending extra time in bed is likely not a bad sign, experts say, but when it becomes a regular habit, it might be worth checking out. For now, the researchers of the new study say their findings need further investigation, and priority should be given to understanding the underlying mechanisms.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1wrHDSL

In Northeast, Weather Changes May Mean More Ticks, Earlier

By Randy Dotinga

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Ticks in the northeastern United States are showing up earlier in the spring and expanding their range because of warmer temperatures over the past two decades, experts say.

Although the Northeast is currently contending with record-breaking cold, the trend over the past 19 years has been toward warmer temperatures, the researchers explained. And this is enabling black-legged ticks that carry Lyme disease and other infections to begin feeding several weeks earlier than usual, the investigators found.

This could increase the risk for Lyme disease over the coming decades, the researchers said.

“The risk is changing with climate change. We need to prepare ourselves for tick avoidance education earlier in the season,” said research co-author Richard Ostfeld, a senior scientist with the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y.

“The fact of the matter is that avoidance of infected ticks is the only game in town,” Ostfeld said.

The institute sits in the middle of tick country near the Hudson River, about 90 minutes upstate from New York City. In one of two new studies, researchers analyzed statistics gleaned from tens of thousands of mice and chipmunks trapped in the area between 1994 and 2012.

Tick season began earlier by nearly three weeks in warmer years — from early June to late May, Ostfeld said.

Of course it’s tough to definitely prove that climate change is causing a boom in tick populations. But Ostfeld believes that if temperatures continue to climb, tick season may begin even earlier. “Within a few decades, it will shift all the way to early May,” he said.

The nymph stage of development — when ticks are the size of a poppy seed — is when ticks are the greatest threat to humans. Nymphs are “the guys who make us sick and are responsible for the majority of human cases of Lyme disease,” Ostfeld said.

Besides Lyme disease, black-legged ticks can cause babesiosis and anaplasmosis, both potentially life-threatening infections, and encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, the study authors noted.

Lyme disease is a major public health threat in the Northeast and Midwest, the researchers pointed out.

But warming temperatures are making it easier for ticks to survive in higher altitudes and northern areas that would normally be too cold for them, the researchers concluded after reviewing scientific research.

“Lyme is expanding geographically, moving northward and moving up in elevation,” Ostfeld said. This means it’s likely to spread into western New York (Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester), western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), southern Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and the mountains of New England, he said.

Sam Telford, a professor of infectious disease and global health at Tufts University in Boston, praised the study and said it doesn’t exaggerate the risk of climate change.

But Telford cautioned that a lot can happen over decades.

“The Lyme disease epidemic started in the early 1970s, 40 years ago,” he said. “By 2040, we will have a vaccine, and we will have better repellents and insecticides.”

What about this spring in the Northeast? It won’t necessarily be a good year for people who want to avoid Lyme disease, he said.

“A lot of people think the silver lining is that hopefully the ticks will get clobbered because it’s so cold. But we don’t find evidence of cold weather conditions having an effect on tick populations,” Telford said.

Also, he said, a heavy layer of snow can provide a protective blanket for ticks on the ground.

Ostfeld’s advice for keeping ticks at bay once the snow melts: “Use a DEET repellent, the same ones you’d use for mosquitos. Do tick checks if you’ve been out hiking or walking your dog in the woods or shrubs. Pull them off before they bite you for very long. Wear long pants with closed shoes.”

Also, learn about the early symptoms of Lyme disease, he said. These include a rash at the site of the tick bite, fatigue, chills, fever and muscle and joint aches, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The studies were published Feb. 18 in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

More information

For details about Lyme disease, see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1DZUhi2

1 in 5 Preemies With Lung Disease Exposed to Secondhand Smoke

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — High levels of nicotine were found in the hair of many children with premature birth-related lung disease whose parents claimed not to smoke, a new study finds.

The lung disease bronchopulmonary dysplasia often occurs in children who were born prematurely. Not surprisingly, exposure to tobacco smoke can be harmful for children with this condition, according to the researchers.

In this study, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center researchers analyzed nicotine levels in hair samples from 117 children younger than 3. All of the children had been seen at the bronchopulmonary dysplasia clinic between January 2012 and January 2014.

During those visits, parents provided information about the children’s exposure to tobacco smoke at home.

The researchers found that about 20 percent of the children were exposed to tobacco smoke at home. However, 22 percent of the babies who lived in what their parents said were nonsmoking homes had hair nicotine levels similar to children who lived in homes with smoking.

This means that parents provided inaccurate information about smoking in the home or the children were exposed to tobacco smoke somewhere else, according to the study published recently in the journal Pediatrics.

Many of the children live in multi-unit housing where smoking is permitted and may be exposed to tobacco smoke that way, the researchers suggested.

“We found that more than one-fifth of children whose caregivers report nonsmoking households have significant exposure,” Dr. Sharon McGrath-Morrow, a lung specialist and professor of pediatrics, said in a Hopkins news release.

The researchers also found the effects of tobacco smoke exposure were more significant for the children who needed either supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation to breathe. They saw a six- to seven-fold higher risk of hospitalizations and activity limitations when these youngsters showed signs of exposure to smoke.

“Tobacco smoke is a modifiable exposure,” McGrath-Morrow said. “If we could prevent [smoke exposure] in these children, they’d likely have better outcomes.”

She added that she hoped that the study might lead to better ways to protect these vulnerable children.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1LS8QXs

Airport Screenings Miss Roughly Half of Sick Travelers: Study

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) —

Airport screenings for infectious diseases often miss 50 percent or more of sick travelers, mostly because people do not tell the truth about their exposure to illnesses, a new study suggests.

“Honest reporting can not only improve on-site detection, but is essential to enable authorities to follow up with travelers who may have been exposed but have not yet developed symptoms,” wrote researcher and graduate student Katelyn Gostic, from the Lloyd-Smith Lab at University of California, Los Angeles.

Using a mathematical model, researchers from UCLA and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine analyzed airport screenings for six viruses: SARS coronavirus, Ebola virus, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Marburg virus, influenza H1N1, and influenza H7N9.

They found one of the biggest barriers to successful health screenings at airports is a lack of honesty among passengers. This is a particular issue among travelers trying to avoid delays, they noted.

Gaining a better understanding of how infectious diseases progress could help ensure that passengers are asked the appropriate questions in screening surveys, the researchers said. For example, being exposed to a symptomatic Ebola patient is a risk factor for contracting the disease.

At best, 25 percent of people were honest about their exposure to the flu during the 2009 pandemic, the study published recently in the journal eLife showed. The researchers pointed out that some passengers might have even concealed their symptoms with medication.

The study’s authors suggested that policymakers consider devoting more resources to arrival screening, which could reduce the number of missed cases.

“We found that for diseases with a long incubation period such as Marburg and Ebola, taking passengers’ temperature to test for fever is particularly ineffective at the start of an epidemic but does pick up more cases as it stabilizes,” Gostic said. In the early phase of disease epidemics, questionnaires are the most effective way to detect potential illnesses, she added.

Although screening for fevers upon arrival at a destination has been criticized for being ineffective, the study found this method could catch cases that were missed at departure.

When it comes to diseases such as swine flu, which take a shorter time to incubate, Gostic noted that fever screening is the most effective method throughout an epidemic.

Infrared noncontact thermometers do not pick up all fevers, usually only catching them 70 percent of the time, the researchers pointed out.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more information on health screenings at airports.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1DZUj9y

ER Physician Raises Concerns About Powdered Caffeine

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The availability of both alcohol and caffeine in powdered form that can be added to food or drinks has sparked public concern, but one expert says the substances don’t pose equal risks.

Several states, including Pennsylvania, have taken steps to preemptively ban the sale of powdered alcohol, but an emergency specialist warns that powdered caffeine is probably the greater health threat.

“Of the two, caffeine is the more concerning one for me,” Dr. Glenn Geeting, an emergency physician at Penn State Hershey, said in a hospital news release.

One reason for his concern is that powdered caffeine can be easily purchased online. Another is that powdered caffeine is concentrated. A teaspoon of the substance contains roughly the same amount of caffeine as 25 cups of coffee. That’s more than four times the amount that appears safe to consume in a day, according to the Penn State Hershey experts.

The main difference between powdered and liquid alcohol is its packaging. The powder may be more convenient to pack and carry, but it’s not a concentrated form of alcohol. Critics warn however, young people may be tempted to snort it or use powdered alcohol to spike drinks.

The potential for abuse however doesn’t seem any greater than the risks associated with liquid alcohol, according to Geeting.

“For those who are worried about powdered alcohol being smuggled into schools or theaters, it is likely to be harder to hide, more expensive than liquid alcohol and takes at least 30 seconds to dissolve,” he said. “It would be really painful to snort and takes about half a cup of it to get an ounce of alcohol. It seems like it would be easier to just drink a shot.”

Over the past year however, powdered caffeine has caused numerous overdoses nationwide that have resulted in hospitalizations, according to the news release. At least two people died after using the substance, said the Penn State Hershey experts.

“Like any drug, it creates a toxic syndrome, and it can create real problems,” said Geeting. Signs of a caffeine overdose include:

• Rapid or erratic heartbeats


• Agitation


• Vomiting


• Seizures

“While mortality is not very common with powdered caffeine, it is a possibility,” Geeting noted. “I think it is worth using caution.”

Complicating matters, powdered caffeine is considered a dietary supplement, which means it is not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency cautioned consumers against using the substance, to avoid a potential overdose. The FDA also advised parents to be aware of the danger this substance could pose to teens or young adults.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides more information on the dangers associated with powdered caffeine.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1DZUiT6

The Heartwarming Reason Why These Parents Tattooed Birthmarks on Their Legs

Forget the typical skulls or butterfly tattoos: This family went for something a little more meaningful.

When Tanya and Adam Phillips’ daughter Honey-Rae was born with a large, red birthmark running from her right foot all the way up her leg to her back, they were worried she’d grow up feeling self-conscious about it. So the British couple decided to get tattoos that matched their baby’s unique feature.

“We wanted Honey-Rae to feel special, that her birthmark was something to feel proud of and not embarrassed by,” Tanya Phillips told the U.K.’s Mirror. “We knew we had to do something to ensure Honey-Rae grew up knowing she was very much loved.”

RELATED: 18 Habits of the Happiest Families

Tanya, who’s a mom of four, including Honey-Rae, said the first time she saw the birthmark she broke down in tears. “I just sobbed and sobbed knowing my baby was going to be permanently marked for the rest of her life,” she said. “Although in our eyes she was perfect, I knew other people would cruelly point and stare at her.”

Unfortunately, she suspected right. For the first few months of her 18-month-old daughter’s life, the couple always covered up Honey-Rae’s legs to avoid comments and prying eyes. Then one summer day, Tanya took Honey-Rae out shopping in a pair of shorts for the first time, and was heartbroken to see people staring.

“I stood at a check out till, when I saw an old couple whispering and staring at Honey-Rae’s leg,” she said. “I was distraught. It was the first time I had taken her out without covering her up and it confirmed all my worries and fears. People are cruel without even realizing.”

RELATED: How Acts of Kindness Can Make You Happier

That was the deciding moment for the mom and dad, who had already discussed getting matching tattoos for Honey-Rae. As a Christmas present last year, Tanya paid for Adam’s tattoo, a two-and-half-hour-long process, and Adam returned the favor as Tanya’s 40^th birthday present last week.

Tanya said the process was “incredibly painful…but worth every second.”

“When the swelling went down, I showed Honey-Rae, and she gently touched and smiled as she said ‘Match,’ pointing to her own leg,” Tanya said. “If I’d have needed any reassurance that I’d made the right decision that was it. She now constantly touches mine and Adam’s tattoos and then her own birthmark and giggles—I couldn’t be happier.”

RELATED: 22 Ways to Help a Friend With Breast Cancer

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1LS8Syy