Staying Healthy : News, products and health information for you and your loved ones.

The rare disease known as Progeria (approximately one case in four million) is a truly sad one that affects children and causes them to age prematurely and at an extremely accelerated rate. Many do not last into their teens. They take on the appearance of older people, with white hair and wrinkles and thinner bones.

There was a study I read about that showed the possibility of certain cancer drugs helping to reverse the cellular damage in the body caused by Progeria. The medicine in question is a family of drugs called FTIs (farnesyltransferase inhibitors). In addition to the team at UCLA that held the study, several other teams of people have noted similar results including researchers at HGSI and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In addition to the FTIs, other newer therapies have showed promise in treating Progeria including RNA interference as well as a drug meant to be used by sufferers of osteoporosis.

Source: The Reuters / CNN

I read today in the news about the possible benefits of very low fat diets for those who have prostate cancer. Heart-related health expert Dr. Dean Ornish, who is somewhat famous for proposing strict vegetarianism combined with lowfat diets and exercise, led an intial study regarding prostate cancer. The study, which was published in The Journal of Urology showed that the participants who followed Ornish’s low fat diet and regimen had a 4 percent decrease in prostate specific antigen (PSA) which is an indicator of the growth of this type of cancer.

Those in the study who weren’t treated by the Ornish method saw an increase of 6 percent in PSA. While the research and results are extremely preliminary, the researchers note that it is promising and because of the multitude of other benefits of a low fat diet (reduction in weight and heart problems) it is definitely something to consider for men who have prostate cancer.

Source: The Associated Press / CNN

I came across the Alzheimer’s Association the other day. Their site is chock full of information about the Alzheimer’s disease including the causes and symptoms of Alzheimer’s, diagnosis and treatment and statistics and myths about it.

They stress making “brain-healthy” life choices and have this pretty cool section about 10 basic ways for “maintaining your brain”. This includes things like exercising all parts of your body (not just your brain), keeping your brain active by games and other activities, protecting your head from injuries and eating healthy while avoiding habits that are unhealthy for your brain like alcohol and drugs.

Source: The Alzheimer’s Association

This was a kind of interesting study involving a huge number of patients in the U.K., over 1000 in fact. The study involved pulmonary artery catheters which are commonly used for monitoring patients in the ICU.

It showed that there were no significant differences as far as mortality rates went in patients that had the catheters inserted and those that did not have them. These devices were first introduced in the 40s and have been used in a large number of patients in the ICU since then. But there was a lot of controversy as to their actual clinical effectiveness.

Source: Medpage Today

Thankfully, I don’t have sleep apnea myself… but I know several people who are afflicted by this debilitating sleep disorder. Basically, you stop breathing completely during normal sleep and this happens over and over again. You also tend to snore quite loudly. This is actually a quite common condition, affecting millions of people.

Now, according to researchers at the University of Louisville there appears to be some promising results for treating obstructive sleep apnea for kids using a drug called montelukast which is actually used to treat asthma. They found that children who were administered showed improvements in sleep disturbances. The anti-inflammatory drug could become an alternative to the current treatment whereby the children’s tonsils and/or adenoids need to be removed.

Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution

Everyone has heard that a good program of walking can be a beneficial fitness plan for just about everyone. But here is an article that actually talks about a study done by researchers at Boulder’s University of Colorado that shows that it may be actually better to walk SLOWER than faster. This sort of flies in the face of many studies that recommend quicker walking, almost like short “walk-sprints”.

Although the researchers aren’t exactly sure why slower walking can help those who are obese more than non-obese persons, they have speculated that it may be because people who are obese utilize completely different body movements when walking. Slower walking was also shown to possibly lower arthritis risks and joint injuries (which makes sense since the pace is slower)

Source: Associated Press / CNN

The benefits of the flouridation of salt are talked about in book by PAHO (Pan Am. Health Org), which is where I found this article. They talk about how salt flouridation can help prevent Dental Caries. I was wondering what dental caries actually was so I looked it up online. Apparently it basically means tooth decay… rotting of teeth. This is the dental condition in which the surface of teeth becomes demineralized and decays because of bacteria. It is very common in children in many countries in Latin America.

Although water flouridation has been used to some extent, the new book explains how flouridation of salt has proven to be very effective costwise and provides a means for reaching many people, particularly in extremely remote locations.

Source: PAHO

I came across a short news article talking about the importance of making sure your pet gets adequate dental care. The news blurb references a veternarian at Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine who notes that it’s important to be proactive when dealing with pet dental problems and to have a good rapport with your own vet regarding your pet’s teeth.

Briefly, the article suggests a few preventive methods for making sure your pet’s teeth don’t become diseased. They recommend testing on a regular basis, prompt treatment for pet dental problems, cleaning to remove tartar buildup from pet teeth, and the use of “dental-friendly” treats in your own home. In particular, using treats that have been shown to help reduce tartar seem like a good bet because you’re probably going to be giving your pet treats anyhow. The article cautions against using toothpaste on pet teeth unless it is the type specially made for them. I’ve seen these pet toothpaste tubes at the pet store and they come in all sorts of flavors.

Source: Newswise