May 20, 2011

New study links pain relievers to erectile dysfunction


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By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY

Men who regularly take pain relievers such as ibuprofen and aspirin may be at increased risk for erectile dysfunction, new research suggests.
Men who use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) three times a day for more than three months are at a 22% increased risk of erectile dysfunction, reports Steve Jacobsen, director of research for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, in this week's Journal of Urology.
"Regular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use is associated with erectile dysfunction beyond what would be expected due to age and other conditions," he says.
More than 30 million people a day take these prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers.
The observational study, which began in 2002, included 80,966 men ages 45 to 69 who were members of Kaiser managed care plans in California. Erectile dysfunction was assessed by questionnaire and NSAID use was determined using pharmacy records and self-reported data.
Regular users were about 2.4 times more likely to have erectile dysfunction than men who didn't use those drugs regularly or at all. Even when the scientists controlled for age, race and ethnicity, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and coronary artery disease among other health problems, a link between
 NSAID use and erection problems still existed, said Jacobsen. A previous smaller study suggested a similar link, but Jacobsen says it's too early to conclude that ibuprofen is the reason for erectile dysfunction. He says that the drugs have many proven benefits, and that men whose doctors have prescribed NSAIDs for other reasons shouldn't cut them short.
The results raise more questions than they answer, says Stephen Kraus, professor and vice chairman of urology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
He says NSAIDs have been shown to reduce risk of heart disease, so the same should be true of erectile dysfunction, which can be linked to circulation problems. "If it works for one, you'd think it should work for the other. But lo and behold, the opposite is what they saw in this study. The question is why?" Kraus says.
The study authors suggest several theories, including that while treating someone to improve blood flow may potentially make erections better, it could also hinder other pathways involved in healthy erectile function.
"It needs to be tested in a clinical trial designed to look at this," Kraus says. He agrees it's premature for men to avoid NSAIDs based solely on this new research.

Less stress, better sleep may help you lose weight

 By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay

Try an all-natural supplement

If you're looking to lose those extra pounds, you should probably add reducing stress and getting the right amount of sleep to the list, say researchers from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland.

In fact, although diet and exercise are the usual prescription for dropping pounds, high stress and too little sleep (or too much of it) can hinder weight loss even when people are on a diet, the researchers report.
"We found that people who got more than six but less than eight hours of sleep, and who reported the lowest levels of stress, had the most success in a weight-loss program," said study author Dr. Charles Elder.
Elder speculates if you are sleeping less or more than recommended and if your stress levels are high, you will not be able to focus on making behavioral changes.
These factors may also have a biological impact, he added.
"If you want to lose weight, things that will help you include reducing stress and getting the right amount of sleep," Elder said.
The report, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is published in the March 29 online edition of the International Journal of Obesity.
In this two-step trial, 472 obese adults were first counseled about lifestyle changes over a 26-week period. Recommendations included cutting 500 calories a day, eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains by following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet approach, and exercising at least three hours a week.
In addition, the researchers asked the participants questions about sleep time, depression, insomnia, screen time and stress.
During this part of the trial, the participants lost an average of almost 14 pounds. The 60% of the participants who lost at least 10 pounds went on to take part in the next phase of the trial. Those in the second phase of the trial continued their diet and exercise program.
Elder's team found the right amount of sleep and stress reduction at the start of the trial predicted successful weight loss. Lower stress by itself predicted more weight loss during the first phase of the trial, they added.
Declines in stress and depression were also important in continuing to lose weight during both phases of the trial, as were exercise minutes and keeping food diaries, Elder's group found.
Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, said that "while we often tend to look at health one condition at a time, the reality is that health is best viewed holistically."
"People who are healthy and vital tend to be healthy and vital not because of any one factor, but because of many. And the factors that promote health — eating well, being active, not smoking, sleeping enough, controlling stress, to name a few —promote all aspects of health," he added.
This study shows that people are more likely to lose weight when not impeded by sleep deprivation, stress or depression, he said.
"Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight probably could have said much the same from personal experience. Similarly, weight loss reduced stress and depression. This, too, is suggested by sense and common experience, as it is affirmed by the science reported here," Katz said.
The important message is that weight loss should not be looked at with tunnel vision, Katz said.
"Improving sleep may be as important to lasting weight control efforts as modifying diet or exercise. Managing stress is about physical health, as well as mental health. This study encourages weight loss in a more holistic context," he said.
Another study presented earlier this month at the American Heart Association scientific sessions held in Atlanta found that people of normal weight eat more when they sleep less.
Columbia University researchers discovered that sleep-deprived adults ate almost 300 calories more a day on average than those who got enough sleep. And the extra calories mostly came from saturated fat, which can spell trouble for waistlines.
The researchers came to their conclusions — which should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal — after following 13 men and 13 women of normal weight. They monitored the eating habits of the participants as they spent six days sleeping four hours a night and then six days sleeping nine hours a night (or the reverse).
"If sustained, the dietary choices made by people undergoing short sleep could predispose them to obesity and increased risk of cardiovascular disease," the researchers wrote in an American Heart Association news release.
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'Pediatrics' study disputes energy-drink claims

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

  Some young people gulp drinks such as Red Bull, Full Throttle and Rockstar to boost their energy, concentration and athletic performance. But the caffeinated energy drinks don't appear to provide the purported benefits and can cause problems, including serious medical complications, says a review of the scientific literature published online today in Pediatrics.
The paper is already drawing criticism from the beverage industry, which says energy drinks have no more caffeine than a cup of coffee and aren't widely used by kids and teens.
Steven Lipshultz, chair of pediatrics at the University of Miami School of Medicine, and colleagues reviewed 121 scientific studies, government reports and media sources on energy drinks — different from sports drinks, vitamin waters and sodas.
Energy drinks usually contain 70 to 80 milligrams of caffeine per 8-oz. serving, more than double many cola drinks. Energy drinks also may contain guarana, a plant that contains caffeine, taurine (an amino acid), vitamins, herbal supplements and sweeteners.
Surveys show that 30% to 50% of teens and young adults consume energy drinks, but "we didn't see evidence that drinks have beneficial effects in improving energy, weight loss, stamina, athletic performance and concentration," Lipshultz says.
And the research shows that children and teens — especially those with cardiovascular, renal or liver disease, seizures, diabetes, mood and behavior disorders and hyperthyroidism — are at a higher risk for health complications from these drinks, says Lipshultz, a pediatric cardiologist.
He encourages pediatricians and parents to talk to kids and teens about whether they should be drinking such beverages.
Maureen Storey of the American Beverage Association, an industry group, said in a statement that "this literature review does nothing more than perpetuate misinformation about energy drinks, their ingredients and the regulatory process."
She says government data indicate that the "caffeine consumed from energy drinks for those under the age of 18 is less than the caffeine derived from all other sources including soft drinks, coffee and teas."
Red Bull said in a statement that the study "largely ignores in its conclusions the genuine, scientifically rigorous examination of energy drinks by reputable national authorities. ... The effects of caffeine are well-known, and as an 8.4-oz. can of Red Bull contains

7 Instant Energy Boosters


Feeling like you need a boost? Here are 7 pick-me-up tricks that will have you re-energized in no time.
1. Get a Whiff of Citrus
The smells of oranges, lemons, and grapefruits have been shown to be energizing, so simply add a slice or two of your favorite to a glass of water. 
Or introduce citrusy scents into your morning routine, since several major beauty brands—Suave, Dove, and Dial, to name a few—now offer citrus-infused, wake-up-the-body washes. For a quick midday refresher, moisten a cotton ball with a few drops of citrusy bergamot oil and inhale.
2. Pull Your Hair
No, really. “If you gently take handfuls of hair and pull the skin away from your scalp to get blood flowing to that area of the head, you can relieve a lot of potentially tiring tension,” says Marlene Merritt, a doctor of Oriental medicine and a nutritionist at the Merritt Wellness Center, in Austin, Texas.
3. Exhale
Flushing out toxins helps the body run more efficiently, which also means you’ll have more energy. Simply lie in bed for two extra minutes in the morning and focus on taking deep breaths, since “many of our toxins are expelled by breathing,” says Karas.
4. Be Nice to a Stranger
“Sure, the sentiment feels a little bumper stickery, but when you do something kind, your energy goes up,” says nutritionist Jonny Bowden, author of The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy. Starbucks customers at drive-throughs around the country have been paying for the next customer behind them in a grassroots acts-of-kindness movement.Find other ideas at actsofkindness.org.
5. Pop a Peppermint
Smelling peppermint “stimulates the trigeminal nerve, which stimulates the area of the brain responsible for arousal and can make you more alert,” says Hirsch. (So that’s how Santa stays up all night).
6. Do Interval Exercise in the Morning
“Researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University, in England, found that exercising before or during lunchtime leads to a more productive workday,” says Karas. 
But don’t spend 45 long minutes on the treadmill at one consistent pace. Bowden notes that alternating bursts of rapid activity, like running, with slower activity, like walking, over the course of about a half hour is a more energizing way to work out than endurance-focused exercise. Finally, in addition to your regular workout, one-minute sets of jumping jacks throughout the day will get your blood flowing.
7. Show Your Hands Some Love
“Take a golf ball and roll it between your desktop and your hand, from the base of the thumb, where your hand webs out, down to the wrist,” says Kevin Kunz, a coauthor of Complete Reflexology for Life. “There’s a really sensitive spot there. Stimulating it will perk you up,” says Kunz.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/16/7-instant-energy-boosters/#ixzz1MvCwuFm6

Binge Drinking May Harm Learning, Memory

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By Matt McMillen-- (Health.com)
.- After a night of partying, it’s not uncommon for college students to wake up with a fuzzy recollection of the evening’s events. But a new study suggests that binge drinking may impair memory in young people long after the hangover has worn off, perhaps because of damage to the hippocampus, a brain region involved in learning.
In the study, which appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, researchers in Spain gave a series of simple language and memory tests to 122 college students between the ages of 18 and 20, roughly half of whom were self-identified binge drinkers. The other half also drank alcohol, but more moderately.
In the first test, for instance, the students read lists of words and then tried to recall as many of them as they could in increasingly difficult exercises. In another, they were told two stories and asked to recount them as accurately as possible.
Binge drinkers performed more poorly than the other group in nearly all the word-based tests, even after the researchers controlled for complicating factors such as a family history of alcoholism, marijuana use, and mental disorders. Compared to their peers, the binge drinkers were more easily distracted by new information, recalled fewer words, and retained about 4% less of the information in the stories.
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The study does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between binge drinking and memory impairment. It’s possible, for instance, that students who struggle with learning and attention might be more prone to binge drink, rather than vice versa.
However, the researchers say, the findings do suggest a “clear association” between binge drinking and difficulty with tasks linked to particular brain regions, especially the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. The hippocampus is especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of alcohol, they write.
Thomas Hicklin, MD, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, says he hopes the study will make college students more aware of the not-so-obvious risks of binge drinking.
“This is an important topic and a multifaceted problem,” says Dr. Hicklin, who counsels many students at the USC Health Care Clinic. “There’s a lot of peer pressure when it comes to binge drinking, but students need to protect their brains.”
If binge drinking does damage the hippocampus—as the study suggests—researchers aren’t certain whether the damage is permanent. “That has not been studied,” Dr. Hicklin says.
The study authors, who are based at the University of Santiago de Compostela, called for long-term studies that would follow groups of students before and after they started—and stopped—binge drinking regularly. Such studies would clarify the effects of heavy drinking on short-term memory as well as academic performance, they write.

Coffee Linked to Lower Risk of Fatal Prostate Cancer

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By Amanda Gardner-- (Health.com)
.- Men who drink a lot of coffee might feel a bit jittery or high-strung, but those side effects may come with a hidden benefit: prostate health. According to a new study, drinking six or more cups of coffee per day can lower a man’s risk of fatal prostate cancer by up to 60%.
A decreased risk of cancer was seen in men regardless of whether they drank decaf or caffeinated, which suggests that the benefit may come from a property in coffee other than caffeine, researchers say.
“Coffee has a lot of different biological effects and several of them seem like they might be relevant for prostate cancer,” says the lead author of the study, Kathryn Wilson, a research fellow in epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston. “It’s an important source of antioxidants and also has positive effects on glucose metabolism and insulin levels, and it’s thought that insulin plays a role in the progression of prostate cancer.”
Coffee also appears to influence levels of testosterone and other sex hormones, which “clearly play a role in prostate cancer,” Wilson adds.
The potentially beneficial effects of coffee have received a slew of attention from researchers in recent years. Coffee consumption has been linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and liver cancer, among other conditions, and just last week, researchers in Sweden reported that women who drank at least five cups a day were at lower risk of developing a certain aggressive type of breast cancer.
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Researchers have previously explored a possible link between coffee and prostate cancer, but those studies have had mixed results and tended to be small. The new study, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is the largest of its kind, involving about 48,000 men.
Wilson and her colleagues analyzed data from the long-running Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which has tracked the relationship between nutritional factors and cancer, heart disease, and other health conditions. Every four years between 1986 and 2006, as part of regular diet questionnaires, the participants reported how much coffee they drank per day.
During the follow-up period (which lasted through 2008), 5,035 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer. In 642 of those cases, the cancer was considered lethal, meaning that the tumors spread or the men died of the disease.
Coffee consumption was linked to only a slightly lower risk of all prostate cancers, but the change in risk was pronounced for lethal cancer. Compared to men who drank no coffee at all, those who drank at least six cups a day had a 60% lower risk, and those who drank one to three cups a day had a 30% lower risk.
As with other questionnaire-based studies of coffee consumption and disease, the results do not prove that coffee directly prevents aggressive prostate cancer. The study shows only an association, although it is a relatively strong one, since the researchers were able to take into account detailed information on the men’s overall diets and other factors that can affect prostate-cancer risk, such as a family history of prostate cancer, smoking, obesity, and physical activity.
Still, Shiuan Chen, PhD, director of tumor cell biology at the City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif., says the evidence isn’t compelling enough for doctors to recommend that middle-aged men up their coffee intake.
“I don’t think it’s any reason for changing habits in the immediate moment,” he says.
Wilson and her colleagues aren’t certain how coffee might fend off aggressive prostate cancers but not others, although they suspect that insulin levels—which respond to coffee intake—are likely involved. “Insulin levels don’t seem to be related to risk of prostate cancer overall, but do seem to be related to the risk of progression of prostate cancer,” she explains.

Antidepresivo Nuevos objetivos reloj biológico


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Por Peeples Lynne--(Health.com)
 - Problemas de sueño y depresión a menudo van de la mano. , Despertar temprano en la mañana, y durante la noche los disturbios insomnio pueden ser síntomas, así como señales de advertencia de la depresión , como también durante el día la fatiga y mucho sueño puede.
Para las últimas décadas, el tratamiento de la depresión se ha centrado en los medicamentos que afectan los niveles de sustancias químicas del cerebro implicadas en el estado de ánimo, como la serotonina. Pero la creciente conciencia de la relación entre los trastornos del sueño y la salud mental ha llevado a los investigadores a poner la mira en un nuevo objetivo para combatir la depresión: de reloj interno del cuerpo.
En concreto, los médicos y las compañías farmacéuticas están investigando el papel de la melatonina, una hormona liberada por el cerebro en respuesta a la oscuridad. Los niveles de melatonina varía, naturalmente, todo el día en lo que se conoce como ritmo circadiano . Cuando está ajustado correctamente, este ritmo nos ayuda a dormir y despertarse en el momento adecuado. Pero cuando se pone fuera de control, que pueden interrumpir la energía, el estado de alerta y estado de ánimo.
Los médicos han prescrito la larga-más de la melatonina contra el insomnio y otros trastornos del sueño, e incluso como un remedio para el jet lag . Aunque hay escépticos, algunos expertos creen que las drogas que imitan los efectos de la melatonina podría estabilizarse al mismo tiempo el reloj interno y ayudar a aliviar la depresión.
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"Hemos estado trabajando con la misma teoría de la depresión desde 1960, se centró en moderar un grupo de químicos que incluyen serotonina, dopamina y norepinefrina," dice el psiquiatra Ian Hickie, MD, del Cerebro y la Mente del Instituto de Investigación de la Universidad de Sydney, en Australia. "Ahora, estamos considerando un concepto completamente diferente de lo que es el problema."
En un artículo publicado esta semana en la revista The Lancet , el Dr. Hickie sugiere que las drogas basadas melatonina podría ser más seguro y más tratamientos efectivos para la depresión que los antidepresivos que se utilizan actualmente. En particular, él y su co-autor de relieve el potencial de un nuevo medicamento llamado agomelatina, una versión sintética de la melatonina, que también aumenta las concentraciones de dopamina y norepinefrina en el cerebro.
El fármaco, conocido como Valdoxan, está aprobado actualmente para el tratamiento de la depresión en Europa y Australia, y puede ser revisado por la Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a principios del año que viene. Tanto el Dr. Hickie y su coautor han recibido financiación de la investigación y el apoyo financiero de otras Servier, la empresa farmacéutica francesa que desarrolló el medicamento.
En los ensayos clínicos, la agomelatina ha mejorado los síntomas de la depresión con mayor eficacia que el placebo, y se ha aparecido a ser tan eficaz como los antidepresivos ampliamente recetada como el Zoloft y Prozac. Muchos pacientes que toman el fármaco también informó de una mejoría del sueño.
La melatonina es un pariente de la serotonina, y mientras la agomelatina se une a los receptores de serotonina, que en realidad no aumentar los niveles de serotonina. Dr. Hickie dice que esto puede incrementar el estado de ánimo sin los efectos secundarios de muchos medicamentos a base de serotonina, que pueden incluir dolores de cabeza, náuseas, aumento de peso, y una pérdida de deseo sexual. "Esa es la verdadera belleza de la misma", dice. "Usted no consigue los efectos secundarios de la serotonina".
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