There are those who managed to quit and there are those who can’t just leave it alone. The US President Obama is rumoured to still succumb to the nicotine urge every now and then. However, there are some success stories among celebrities. Let us take a look at what inspired them to quit and stay away from cigarettes, as least for the time being.

Gwyneth Paltrow

In an interview with Elle magazine last year, the actress Gwyneth Paltrow revealed her love for smoking, even though she hasn’t smoked in ages.

“Man, I wish smoking didn’t kill you, I’d be smoking right now. I miss it. The last cigarette I smoked was the day I found out I was pregnant with Apple. I had to sit down and smoke one final cigarette. It’s such a beautiful thing. I’m so pissed off it gives you cancer.”

Apple is Paltrow’s eldest child, a daughter who will soon turn 6. She has a younger son Moses who is almost 4.

So why did she give up something she really enjoyed?

“But then, once you have children, if you’ve witnessed a death like I did with my father, you just can’t. I’d never want to put them through what I went through. So I don’t do it. But I’ve decided that when I’m about 70 I’m going to start smoking again. Why not? I can’t wait!”

Kate Hudson

The actress Kate Hudson reported gave up smoking late last year. Her reason – the smell.

“It was starting to drive me crazy! I didn’t like the way the car smelt, or my hair and clothes.”

In addition, there is a family side to her decision.

“It takes you away from the family and the things you’re doing. You don’t realize it at the time. Then when you’re done, you go, ‘Wow, I do so much more in a day – including eat.’”

Hudson has a 6-year old son Ryder, with ex-husband Chris Robinson.

The smell, by the way, is due to third-hand smoke that persists and causes damage for a long time.

Robbie Williams

British pop star Robbie Williams is said to be cutting down on cigarettes as an investment for the future generation. 36-year old Williams is engaged to actress Ayda Field who wants to start a family soon. However, there is mounting evidence that smoking can have some detrimental effects on sperm quality, which lower the chances of pregnancy and increases the chances of health problems for the child. Field has reported forbidden Williams to smoke inside their home. Williams is supposedly down from 60 to 10 sticks a day and is doing his best to kick the habit soon. This, from a star who was known in the past for his excessive consuming of, in addition to cigarettes, alcohol and drugs.

Great Britain has the highest incidence of allergic diseases in the world. And health experts do not know why. In a BBC report, pediatric allergy expert Dr. Adam Fox explains the most common causes of allergies.

Food

Food allergies are on the rise, health experts report. And nuts are the most likely culprit, most especially peanuts. In addition to nuts, milk and eggs are also sources of allergens, and lately, sensitivity to gluten is commonly reported as well. Allergic reaction to food can be mild to severe and can range from skin rashes to gastrointestinal problems to life-threatening anaphylactic reaction. To avoid allergic reaction, choose your food wisely. Pay attention to food labels as they often contain warnings about possible traces of nuts or eggs or gluten.

Dust mites

Millions of dust mites are present in our homes even though we cannot see them with the naked eye. It is not the mites as such that cause the allergic reactions but the fecal pellets and dead bodies of the mites. Allergic reactions to mites may manifestation in wheezing, sneezing and coughing. To minimize dust mites, frequent vacuuming and airing of your home is recommended.

Pets

Pet dander, hair, shed skin and saliva from animals are potential allergens. Allergy to pets can manifest as skin rashes, wheezing, and sneezing. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to avoid this allergy except to avoid hairy pets.

Hay fever

Spring is coming so watch out for hay fever. Pollens from trees and flowers are most likely responsible for allergies in spring time. In summer and early autumn, it’s probably mainly from grass pollen. Many of us are familiar with the symptoms of hay fever: itchy eyes and runny nose. Even avoiding the outdoors doesn’t work out well as pollens do get everywhere.

Unknown cause

Finally, if you are like me, you might be allergic to something but you don’t know what it is. I’ve been tested several times and I’ve tried to keep a diary to pinpoint the cause but never really discovered the culprit. Luckily, the symptoms were usually mild – skin rashes or hives. There have been cases, however, of so-called idiopathic anaphylaxis, severe allergic reactions which can be fatal but whose cause is not known.

At any rate, it is advisable that we should always have antihistamines at home, which are the first-line treatment for allergic reactions. Remember, serious allergic reactions can be fatal and needs emergency medical care.

Ovarian Cancer 2: Biology, Diagnosis And Management

• There has been a lot of hype about colon cleansing lately. There are those who claim that cleansing the colon can help prevent and cure a wide range of conditions from acne to acid reflux and arthritis, from allergies to asthma and colon cancer. Colon cleansing, too, has become a very popular way of losing weight. Health experts, however, warn against these claims which are not supported by scientific proof.

What is the use of our colon?

Our colon is an important part of gastrointestinal tract, specifically the lower part of the large intestine. It plays a key role in the absorption of essential nutrients and minerals and elimination of unnecessary and even toxic waste products.

How does colon cleansing work?

• Colon cleansing advocates believe it to be a good detox program that removes body pollution.
• Colon cleansing supposedly induces rapid weight loss by getting rid of water and stool in a short period of time.

Colon cleansing comes in different forms. Colonic irrigation or colon hydrotherapy entails infusion of water through the rectum into the colon. Some colon cleansing regimens use laxatives.

What are the health risks of colon cleansing?

• Colon emptying as part of cleansing regimen can cause dehydration as well as loss of essential electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium which are necessary for optimal function of nerves and muscles.
• Colon cleansing can disrupt the natural flora (e.g. bacteria) of the gut that helps in digestion and nutrient absorption.
• Although many regimens claim to use natural laxatives, some of these may actually contain harmful substances, such as sodium phosphate which can cause kidney damage and cardiac effects.

According to Dr. John R. Stroehlein, professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition:

“Colon cleansing has been around for a long time, yet no evidence exists that it prevents disease or improves health.”

Does colon cleansing prevent colon cancer?

Lately, there have been claims that colon cleansing can prevent colon cancer. This is, however, a big misconception, according to cancer experts. This misconception is due to the fact that colon cleansing is prescribed as part of preparation for colonoscopy when screening for colon cancer. However, there is no beneficial effect whatsoever in the development of the disease.

Dr. Stroehlein, instead, explains the right way to prevent colon cancer.

“My take-home advice to help prevent colon cancer – and many other cancers – is to follow guidelines about periodic screening, particularly after age 50; eat a healthy diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits and fiber; get regular exercise; use alcohol in moderation; and definitely do not smoke.”

Mayo Clinic experts give us the following precautionary tips:

• Check with your conventional medical providers first, especially if you take any medications or have any health problems.
• Make sure your colon-cleansing practitioner uses disposable equipment that hasn’t been previously used.
• Get a list of specific herbal ingredients and amounts in any colon-cleansing products you use — some herbal supplements can cause health problems.
• Beware of broad or inflated claims that colon cleansing will cure an illness or improve your health.
• Stay well hydrated by drinking lots of fluids while undergoing colon cleansing to prevent dehydration.

Photo credit: stock.xchng

Whatever happened to privacy and doctor-patient confidentiality? Well, if you are the leader of a country like the US, the results of your physical check up is a matter of national importance because it would answer the question: Are physical fit enough to lead and occupy the highest office? Which is why the results of US President Barack Obama’s First Periodic Physical Exam are openly available to the public.

So let us take a look at the tests and results.

Cardiovascular Health

• Body mass index: 23.7
• Heart rate at rest: 56 bpm
• Blood pressure at rest: 105/62 mmHg
• ECG: normal
• Pulse-oximetry: 98%
• Total cholesterol: 209 mg/L
• Good cholesterol HDL: 62 mg/L
• Bad cholesterol LDL:138 mg/L
• Triglycerides: 46
• Homocysteine:11.6
• C-reactive protein (CRP): 0.015
• Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS): 87

Homocysteine is an indicator of coronary heart risk. CRP is a biomarker for inflammation. Total cholesterol level should ideally be below 200 mg/L. The value of 209 mg/L is “borderline” high. The optimal LDL value is less than 100 mg/dL. Desirable HDL value for men is around 60 mg/L. All values are within the normal range except total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.

Cancer screening

• CT-colonography was performed to screen for colorectal cancer. Results: Normal. Follow up screening recommended in 5 years.
• No prostate nodularity or hypertrophy was observed. PSA was within the normal range (0.70).

Other relevant info

• Standard lab tests all normal
• Up-to-date immunizations, flu shots (seasonal and 2009 H1N1 flu), malaria prophylaxis
• Use of nicotine replacement therapy
• EENT: eyes, ears, nose, throat normal
• No other significant illnesses
• No past surgical history

Recommendations

• Continue smoking cessation efforts, a daily exercise program, healthy diet, moderation in alcohol intake, periodic dental care, and remain up-to-date with recommended immunizations.
• Continue modified exercise regimen, and lower extremity muscle strengthening program, for occasional left patella-femoral pain secondary to chronic tendonitis.
• Recommend dietary modification to reduce LDL cholesterol below 130.

Two clinically relevant findings are elevated cholesterol and chronic tendonitis nothing major to be concerned about. Thus, the doctor declared President Obama “fit for duty” and recommended another check up when the President turns 50

What do the health experts outside the White House have to say? Most agree that the President has very good risk factor profile. There is some discussion as to whether he should be prescribed statins or not. However, with his low CRP values, this might not be necessary for the moment.

Dr Howard S Weintraub of New York University School of Medicine tells heartwire:

“I disagree with the president’s physician who says don’t worry, come back in a year in a half. I would want his blood tests repeated in three to six months, and I’d also want to be sure that he is making greater efforts to stop smoking. Our absence of concerns could rapidly change. I don’t want to give him a year or more to bathe his coronaries in atherogenic goop.”

Dr Christopher Cannon of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA:

“His cholesterol is a bit high, but I calculated his Framingham risk score—it is 2%. He apparently had an EBCT, but the exact result has not yet been released. I would be very interested in his calcium score.  If it were 0, then I would likely recommend diet intervention and rechecking. But if his calcium score were elevated, that would suggest that the process of atherosclerosis had started, and a statin would be more reasonable.“

Can you imagine yourself wearing a device that can measure your stress levels? A device that can tell you to stop, slow down, and take a deep breath? A device that may be able to prevent an impending heart attack or stroke?

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) were just testing a prototype the other day. The ETH researcerhs, together with psychologists from the University of Zurich tested the device on 30 volunteers – students who were about to take a rather difficult Math exam. The prototype performed rather well, with an estimated 83% success rate of recognizing “stressed individuals”.

So how does this device work? The device works in different ways and measures several parameters, namely:

• Heart rate
• Respiration rate
• Levels of the stress hormones cortisol in the saliva
• Conductivity of the skin

Heart and respiration rates increase when people are under pressure. The body then produces increased levels of cortisol. Sweating of the palm and the soles of the feet occur, leading to increased conductivity. With these measurements, the device can tell you how stressed you are.

The performance of the prototype was definitely better than a device installed in the students’ chairs which measured the movement of the seated person with the hypothesis that the more movement, the higher is the stress level. The rate of success of the chair-attached device is only 73%.

There is a great potential for an effective stress-measuring device in terms of health care and financial xxx. The currently prototype being tested is kind of bulky with lots of cables and electrodes attached to it. The researchers, however, hope to make the device smaller through miniaturization and wireless technology so that it would be small enough to wear like a watch around the wrist or inserted in your socks.

Measuring stress levels is very important as research evidence has shown stress to be linked to cardiovascular as well as mental health. A small device that can measure different parameters related to stress can help people keep their stress levels under control comparable to how diabetes patients keep their glycemic levels under control by monitoring blood sugar levels. In doing so, stress-related heart attacks and strokes can be prevented and minimized. Do you think we will finally see such a device in the market? Let’s wait and see in 2 to 3 years’ time.

Whereas the Americans are debating about increasing the starting age of mammography screening from 40 to 50, some countries in Europe are debating about getting rid of routine mammogram screening. Let us take the example of Germany, a rather late comer into the mammogram scene. This country only started its mammography program to screen for breast cancer in 2005, for women between 50 and 69 years of age. But now health experts and politicians are asking: is it working?

The respected German newspaper Die Zeit presented a graphical statistics of how mammography works. I did my best to translate this into English.

For every 1000 women screened by mammography in the time period of 20 years, 300 cases will be considered as possibly positive. Of these 300, 100 cases will test positive after additional tests. Further testing by biopsy will confirm that 50 cases are positive for breast carcinoma.

Of those 700 cases which tested negative in the original screening, 15 will actually turn out to be positive for breast carcinoma.

Thus, from the original 1000 women screened, 65 will be eventually diagnosed with breast cancer. Of these 65, 50 will survive and 15 will not, most probably the 15 cases that were not diagnosed in the first place. Of the 50 survivors, only 5 can fully attribute their survivorship to early screening. 40 cases would have survived with or without screening and the remaining 5 would be cases of overdiagnosis.

Thus, the statistical analysis concluded that

• for every 1000 women screened, mammography will eventually save 5 lives.
• 15 cases of false negatives that lead to death are 3 times as high as surviving cases.
• for every life saved by the screening, there is one case of overdiagnosis due to the screening

What is also interesting is the fact that women in Germany seem to be not that keen about mammograms. This, despite the fact that the procedure is paid by the health insurance and despite the fact that the women actually receive an “invitation” for the screening by mail. European Union guidelines recommend that 70% of the women in the age group 50 to 69 should be screened for breast cancer by mammogram. German figure towards the end of 2007 was 52.6%.

Thus, the ongoing debate questions the effectiveness of mammography in early detection of breast cancer and lowering mortality rates. Is it worth the 400 million Euros spent each year? It is a very difficult question to answer. Many would say that saving human lives has no price. Others would argue that the money is better spent on other more serious life-threatening diseases or in developing more reliable and efficient screening methods. What do you think?

Last week, we started the series on salt in our diet. This week, we will continue expounding on this topic. As mentioned last week, 75% of the salt we consume everyday does not come from our salt shaker in the kitchen. It is in the processed that we eat and drink. Look at the labels of the following items you have in your fridge or kitchen pantry:

• Bread
• Breakfast cereals
• Margarine
• Mineral water

Now, you wouldn’t associate these food items with salt, right?

Well, actually they do contain small amounts of salt. My bottle of Evian contains 6.5 mg sodium per liter. My low-fat margarine contains 0.04 g of sodium per 100 g.

But the majority of your salt intake most probably comes from the canned soup, from the chips, or from the burger or pizza you had for lunch.

So why do processed foods contain lost of salt? Researchers give the following probable reasons:

• In developing countries where refrigeration is a problem, salt is used as food preservative.
• In the developed world, “salt makes cheap, unpalatable food edible at no cost”, according to Queen Mary University of London, UK.
• Salt in many meat products bind in water to increase product weight.
• Salty food makes one thirsty, thus promoting the consumption of soft drinks. It is no accident that large snack firms manufacture salty snacks as well as beverages.

Would reducing salt in the food decrease food consumption, thus translating to a loss for food companies? No, according to the researchers. Dietary salt policies expert Dr Feng J He of Queen Mary University explains:

…food companies should have nothing to fear from gradually reducing the salt content of foods… Indeed, the opposite is true: if people eat more healthily, they will live longer and there will be an increased number of consumers.

In fact, some food companies think more progressively and have already initiated low-salt food products. An example is Campbell’s, an American icon when it comes to canned soup. Yet, despite its long history and tradition that dates back to the 1930s, Campbell’s was very open to innovation when it decided to lower the sodium levels in many of its soup brands. The change apparently came about from a 2003 survey of Campbell’s employees themselves which showed more than 50% of employees not serving Campbell’s soup at home partly because of salt concerns.

The world’s biggest soup maker now offers wide range of the so-called heart-healthy soups which are low fat, low cholesterol and lower in sodium. These products are also the proud holder of the heart-check mark of the American Heart Association.

To check for sodium content of your food, processed or otherwise, check out the following:

• USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
• Food Data Chart of the Healthy Eating Club
• Lehigh Valley Hospital Health Network
• Fat Free Kitchen

Even in this day and age, palliative care and euthanasia are still highly sensitive topics, much more so when it comes to terminally ill children. A study by researchers at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute interviewed parents who experienced loss of a child to cancer and brought into the open some revealing aspects about these issues. The study revealed that some parents would prefer to spare their children from pain even it means hastening death.

According to senior author Dr. Joanne Wolfe who is head of the Division of Pediatric Palliative Care at Dana-Farber and Director of Palliative Care at Children’s Hospital Boston:

“The problem is that conversations about these family worries may not always happen. Parents may not have the opportunity to express these feelings and considerations, and as clinicians, we may not be adequately enabling sufficient opportunity for them to talk about their concerns.”

The researchers interviewed parents of pediatric patients at the Dana-Farber, Children’s Hospital Boston, or Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn. who died of cancer. The parents were interviewed about their feeling and behaviors before, during, and even up to more than a year after the death of their child. 13% (1 out of thought of euthanasia and considered asking their child’s health care provider of hastening death. However, only 9% had openly discussed the issue with the health professionals. Five parents eventually requested hastening their child’s death to prevent unnecessary pain and but in only three cases was the request granted, carried out by morphine injection.

Parents were also asked to react to hypothetical vignettes and in case of a child being in uncontrollable pain or irreversible coma, 50% of the respondent parents were in favor of hastening death.

In recent years, the field of palliative care has made progress in helping the terminally ill in the final days of their lives. The emotional and psychological impact on the love ones, however, has also to be considered, especially in parents of young children. The researchers admit that there are gaps in providing palliative care to patients and support to the family, partly because this is an aspect of health care that is necessary given priority when it comes to research funding.

Dr. Wolfe continues:

“We’ve come a long way, because we have a good palliative and supportive care program for children with cancer. [However], I can never promise that their child will be pain free. We still have quite a way to go in figuring out the best way to ease suffering at the end of life.”

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