Study: Migraines Are Not a Lupus Symptom

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/31/study-migraines-are-not-lupus-symptom/Despite a commonly-held belief among 

many doctors who treat lupus patients, headaches -- particularly migraines -- are not a manifestation of that disease and should be treated as a separate problem, report researchers in Greece.

Previous studies that found migraines to be more common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may have suffered from methodological errors, said senior author Dr. Dimos Mitsikostas from Athens Naval Hospital, and have led doctors to dismiss headaches as a neurological symptom of lupus.

All participants had similar headache frequencies in the year before the study period, except the lupus patients, who had a significantly higher number of tension-type headaches, the researchers report in the journal Headache.

Results were similar during the year of headache diaries: the three groups suffered comparable numbers of headaches, but chronic tension-type headache continued to occur more often in the lupus patients.

Migraine attacks were less severe and tended to be of shorter duration in lupus patients, whereas the severity of the chronic tension-type headaches was milder among lupus patients than among controls (but similar between lupus and MS patients).

Among both lupus and MS patients, the presence and type of headache could not be related to any other detectable manifestation of the disease, flare-up or cumulative damage.

Lupus patients had higher levels of anxiety and lower quality of life compared to controls and MS patients, and depression status was worse in lupus and MS patients than in controls. None of these features, however, coincided with the presence of headache.

"Although there are always missed points and issues for further evaluation, we feel that this study may be the last one in a long clinical research (path), starting 15 years ago," Mitsikostas concluded. "Yet, no pathophysiological links between SLE and migraine" could be found along the way, he wrote.

Somewhere between 322,000 and one million Americans are believed to have lupus, nine out of 10 of them women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease is difficult to diagnose and there is no cure. Although some symptoms are treatable, approximately one third of deaths among lupus patients occur before age 45.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/31/study-migraines-are-not-lupus-symptom/#ixzz1Wer3Bna3

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/31/study-migraines-are-not-lupus-symptom/#ixzz1Weq8hG91

Coping With C Section Pain.

C section is a procedure where a woman who                        

has to deliver the baby through a surgery. In a C section birth, the lower abdomen of the woman is cut open and an incision is also made into the uterus so that the baby can be removed manually. The umbilical cord is cut from the top, so that the baby can be removed from the womb. Once this is done, the incision is stitched up again with the sutures.

Soon after the baby is born the mothers body is very weak. So, it takes time for the stitches to heal. The cesarean section birth is not painful when the baby is born, but the pain only starts much later.

When the surgery to remove the baby is being performed, the mother is induced with several narcotics and painkiller medications including general anesthesia. The feeling of pain is very low and there fore the mother who is delivering the baby does not feel much. However, when the anesthesia wears off and the painkillers stop taking effect, then the pain starts setting in. if the mother decides to breast fed the baby then the doctors stop painkiller medications for her. However, the side effects are that the mother has to endure a lot more physical pain for healing. However, if she decides not to breast feed, then the doctors will continue to give her pain killers. Nonetheless, always remember that breast feeding is the best thing for your baby.

More Articles :

Need a C-section? Protection from blood clot urged

New advice for pregnant women: If you're getting a C-section, special inflating boots
 strapped on your legs may lower the risk of a blood clot. Hospitals already use these
 compression devices for other major operations, such as hip replacements, and a
growing number have begun offering them for at least some of their cesarean deliveries,
 too.
These clots make headlines every few years when seemingly healthy people collapse
 after long airplane flightsor similar prolonged inactivity. Certain surgeries also can trigger
 a DVT. Earlier this year, tennis star Serena Williams was treated for clots in her lungs 
discovered after foot surgery and cross-country travel.
obstetricians say it's time to make the step routine for most C-sections, which account
 for nearly a third of U.S. birthsThe new recommendations promise to raise awareness
of what is a silent threat not just for pregnant women but for thousands of other people,
too: Blood clots in veins that can masquerade as simple leg pain.Called a DVT, for deep
vein thrombosis, this kind of clot usually starts in the leg or groin. But it can kill if it moves
 up to the lungs, where it's called a pulmonary embolism.Fortunately, pregnancy-related
 deaths are very rare in this country, but when they happen, those clots are one of the
 leading reasons.Yet too few people even know the warning signs, she says: Pain or
swelling in one leg, especially the calf or thigh. Redness or warmth in one spot on the leg.
 If the clot has reached the lung, shortness of breath or chest pain.The new guidelines urge
 obstetricians to closely monitor their patients for DVTs — and to check if they have
additional factors that would put them at extra risk. Women who've had a DVT earlier
 in life, or whose close relatives had one — or who have certain inherited clotting disorders
 — may need anti-clotting medicines throughout the pregnancy, 
say the recommendations, published in the September issue of the journal
Obstetrics & Gynecology.Then there are those compression devices, which slip over
each leg and regularly inflate and deflate, sort of like a massage, to help blood flow more
 briskly.The obstetricians' group acknowledges that there haven't been large studies with
 C-sections to prove how much difference the gadgets could make. But it decided to 
recommend them anyway because in other types of surgery, the devices can cut the clot 
risk by two-thirds, James says.The guidelines recommend strapping them on before the
C-section begins, unless there's no time before an emergency operation or the 
woman is taking anti-clotting medication.Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York
 began using the devices for C-sections a few years ago, and deputy chief medical
officer Dr. Erin Now guidelines for the nation's

NCI Offers Support for Those Affected by Hurricanes or Other Natural Disasters

NCI Offers Support for Those Affected by Hurricanes or Other Natural Disasters

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is committed to helping those who have been affected by hurricanes and other natural disasters.

NCI resources are available to enable cancer care and research to continue even in the face of catastrophic events. Please continue to check this page for essential information updates, which will be provided as NCI continues to track the effect of these events on the patients, clinicians, and researchers we serve.

Telephone Resources

• Call  1-800-4-CANCER  1-800-4-CANCER ( 1-800-422-6237  1-800-422-6237 )
  If people are displaced from their homes due to a disaster situation, the NCI's Cancer Information Service (CIS) can offer assistance on where to receive care. The CIS also provides the latest and most accurate cancer information to patients, their families, the public, and health professionals.
  
  CIS information specialists answer calls Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, in English or Spanish. Callers also have the option of listening to recorded information about cancer 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Internet Resources

• Visit LiveHelp® online chat
  NCI's Cancer Information Service and its LiveHelp program offer online assistance in English Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
• HHS Public Health Emergency
  Health and safety information relevant to hurricanes from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
• CDC (Hurricanes)
  Emergency preparedness and response information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Ready America (Hurricanes)
  Steps you can take to prepare your family, property, or business in the event of a hurricane, from the Ready.gov Web site maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Information for the Research Community

• NCI Contacts for Grantees Affected by Hurricanes or Other Natural Disasters
  Key program staff at the National Cancer Institute that grantees can contact for information and assistance in the event of research disruptions due to a hurricane or other natural disaster.

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Rate Of Teen Vaccination For HPV Lagging

 have a preteen or teen? Make sure they have received the recommended preteen and teen vaccines so they will be protected from serious diseases

Only about half of the teenage girls in the U.S. have rolled up their sleeves for a controversial vaccine against cervical cancer — a rate well below those for two other vaccinations aimed at 

 adolescents.      The vaccine hit the market in 2006. By last year, just 49 percent of girls had gotten at least the first    

of the recommended three shots for human papilloma virus, or HPV, a sexually-transmitted bug that can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. Only a third had gotten all three doses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

In contrast, the CDC said about two-thirds of teens had gotten the recommended shot for one type of bacterial meningitis and a shot for meningitis and tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough.

Granted, it can take many years for a new vaccine to catch on and reach the 90 percent and above range for many longstanding childhood vaccines. But use of HPV vaccine has been "very disappointing" compared to other newer vaccines, said the CDC's Dr. Melinda Wharton.

"If we don't do a much better job, we're leaving another generation vulnerable to cervical cancer later in life," said Wharton.

Why aren't more girls getting HPV shots? The vaccine can be very expensive, and it can be a bit of a hassle. It takes three visits to the doctor over six months.

But sex no doubt has something to do with it, experts said.

Girls are supposed to start the series when they are 11 or 12 before most girls become sexually active. The vaccine only works if a girl is vaccinated before she's first exposed to the virus.

But some parents may misunderstand, thinking their daughters don't need it at such a young age because they aren't sexually active. Others may believe that it would require a discussion about sex and sexuality a talk they may not feel ready to have, some experts said.

The government needs to be more aggressive about changing those perceptions with a major education campaign, Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health, a Washington, D.C.-based research group, said in a statement.

Millions of Americans women and men become infected with HPV each year, though most show no symptoms and clear the virus on their own. But some strains persist and can cause genital warts and cancer. About 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, and about 4,000 die from it, according to CDC statistics.

The new study was based on a 2010 telephone survey of the parents of more than 19,000 adolescents ages 13 to 17, who allowed researchers to check their kids' vaccination records.

Rhode Island and Washington had the highest HPV vaccination rates, both around 70 percent for at least one shot. Idaho had the lowest rates, at about 29 percent.

The study was published online in a CDC publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

 

                                                                                                                                             

Study finds toxic chemicals in pregnant women's bodies

Pregnant women take elaborate steps to protect their 

babies' health, following doctors' orders to avoid alcohol, caffeine, tobacco — even soft cheeses and deli meats.

In spite of these efforts, a new study shows the typical pregnant woman has dozens of potentially toxic or even cancer-causing chemicals in her body — including ingredients found in flame retardants and rocket fuel.

Almost all 268 women studied had detectable levels of eight types of chemicals in their blood or urine, finds the study, published in today's Environmental Health Perspectives. It analyzed data from theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These chemicals include certain pesticides, flame retardants, PFCs used in non-stick cookware, phthalates (in many fragrances and plastics), pollution from car exhaust, perchlorate (in rocket fuel) and PCBs, toxic industrial chemicals banned in 1979 that persist in the environment.

STUDY: Autism risk rises in babies born soon after sibling

Many of these chemicals pass through the placenta and can concentrate in the fetus, says lead author Tracey Woodruff, director of the University of California-San Francisco Program on Reproductive Health and Environment.

Other researchers have discovered some of these chemicals in babies' umbilical cords, Woodruff says.

Some of the chemicals detected in the study have been linked to health problems in other studies.

For example, the Food and Drug Administration has expressed "some concern" that BPA — an estrogen-like ingredient in plastic found in 96% of pregnant women — affects the development of the brain, prostate and behavior in children exposed both before and after birth. Lead and mercury are known to cause brain damage.

The study tested for 163 chemicals. So, as disturbing as the findings are, the study may actually underestimate the number of chemicals circulating through women's bodies, says Sarah Janssen, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group. She's concerned that some of these chemicals may act together to cause more damage than they would alone.

The American Chemistry Council, an industry group, says the findings aren't a cause for concern.

"As part of daily life, our bodies naturally absorb organic and man-made chemicals from our environments, and analytical advances now allow researchers to measure exceedingly minute traces of such substances," spokesman Scott Jensen says. Even the CDC notes that the "mere presence of a chemical in the body does not mean that it will cause effects or disease," he says.

Woodruff says she doesn't want to scare pregnant women but Congress may need to pass tougher environmental laws to reduce their exposure.       

Some of the chemicals detected in the study have been linked to health problems in other studies.

For example, the Food and Drug Administration has expressed "some concern" that BPA — an estrogen-like ingredient in plastic found in 96% of pregnant women — affects the development of the brain, prostate and behavior in children exposed both before and after birth. Lead and mercury are known to cause brain damage.

The study tested for 163 chemicals. So, as disturbing as the findings are, the study may actually underestimate the number of chemicals circulating through women's bodies, says Sarah Janssen, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group. She's concerned that some of these chemicals may act together to cause more damage than they would alone.

The American Chemistry Council, an industry group, says the findings aren't a cause for concern.

"As part of daily life, our bodies naturally absorb organic and man-made chemicals from our environments, and analytical advances now allow researchers to measure exceedingly minute traces of such substances," spokesman Scott Jensen says. Even the CDC notes that the "mere presence of a chemical in the body does not mean that it will cause effects or disease," he says.

Woodruff says she doesn't want to scare pregnant women but Congress may need to pass tougher environmental laws to reduce their exposure.

    

.

By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY

5 toxic chemicals you should banish from your home7 More Household Toxins You Should Banish from Your Home

 G ood, old-fashioned soap and water will kill just as many germs as the antibacterial stuff -- and it won't disrupt thyroid function or harm aquatic life, as some antimicrobial cleansers do.

EMMAUS, PA — Cleaning house doesn’t mean nasty 

chemicals have to pollute your home. Your next home cleaning campaign or daunting do-it-yourself projects can be done without poisoning the air or tainting your local water supply. Most of our safer alternatives will even save you money, too.

Here are five chemical culprits to kick out of your house—and the nontoxic options that should move in instead.

1. Coal-tar driveway sealant: If you plan to seal your blacktop driveway this spring, avoid coal-tar based sealants. They contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, which studies suggest can be carcinogenic, toxic, and mutagenic. When rainwater and other precipitation hit your driveway, the toxic chemicals run off into your yard and into your local drinking water supply. In fact, this situation has been compared to dumping quarts of motor oil right down a storm drain.

More From Rodale.com       7 More Household Toxins You Should Banish from Your Home

Obesity to worsen, weigh heavily on healthcare costs

- Obesity is most widespread in Britain and the United States among the world's leading economies and if present trends continue, about half of both men and women in the United States will be obese by 2030, health experts warned on Friday.Obesity is fast replacing tobacco as the single most important preventablecause of chronic non-communicable diseases, and will add an extra 7.8 million cases of diabetes, 6.8 million cases of heart disease and stroke, and 539,000 cases of cancer in the United States by 2030.
Some 32 percent of men and 35 percent of women are now obese in the United States, according to a research team led by Claire Wang at the Mailman School of Public Health in Columbia University in New York. They published their findings in a special series of four papers on obesity in The Lancet.
In Britain, obesity rates will balloon to between 41-48 percent for men and 35-43 percent for women by 2030 from what is now 26 percent for both sexes, they warned.
"An extra 668,000 cases of diabetes, 461,000 of heart disease and 130,000 cancer cases would result," they wrote               .Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn)

Eating More Nuts And Soy May Help Beat High Cholesterol

If you've got high cholesterol, you know the diet advice: Go easy on foods high in saturated fat like red meat and cheese, and eat lots of fiber and whole grains.

The message still holds up, but researchers say it's time to tweak the message.

A new study finds there's extra benefit in adding plenty of soy, nuts and plant sterols.Plant sterols occur naturally in soybean oil, and are also found in butter substitutes like Take Control and Benecol.

The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association today found that people with high cholesterol who followed diets rich in soy, nuts, and plant sterols, successfully reduced their bad cholesterol levels by an average of 14 percent over 6 months. This compares to people who followed a more standard cholesterol-lowering diet. They reduced their LDL by just 3 percent.

"It's been known for a long time that plant sterols block cholesterol absorption," saysDavid Jenkins of in the study ate about 2 teaspoons a day of Take Control.the University of Toronto, the lead author of the study. The participants in the study ate about 2 teaspoons a day of Take Control .   

 

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