Month: December 2010

Daycare May Mean Getting Sick Less

Beginning daycare at a younger age may reduce children’s illnesses during the elementary school years, a new study says. The report, published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, tracked 1,2000 children in Quebec from birth through age eight. They found that kids who began attending a daycare program with at least seven other children when they were younger than two-and-a-half initially got sick more – suffering 60% more respiratory tract and ear infections than stay-at-home toddlers. However, these same children then experienced 21% fewer respiratory tract infections and 43% fewer ear infections during their first years in elementary school. The children had, on average, three respiratory infections, one ear infection and one gastrointestinal infection each year. No variance in gastrointestinal infection rates was seen among the different groups of children.

The study’s lead author, Sylvana Cote of the University of Montreal, in Quebec, suggested that being sick more frequently at a younger age may help to build children’s immunity and thus enable them to better protect themselves against infections at a later age.

About one in three children in the U.S. attends an organized childcare program prior to kindergarten.

Vegetarians and Iron

/Iron-oreVegetarians and vegans often worry about the level of iron that they consume, as meat, poultry and fish are all rich sources of this nutrient. In reality, the amount of iron found in beans, leafy green vegetables and enriched cereals comes pretty close to that in meats. Why, then, are vegetarians and vegans often lacking iron in their blood?

Iron comes in two forms: nonheme and heme. Meats and other animal products contain iron in the ‘heme’ form. This form of iron is easily absorbed and stored in the human body. Nonheme iron, on the other hand, is not processed as efficiently in the body, and so it is more difficult to maintain healthy stores of iron with foods that contain it. Also, many vegetarian foods contain phytate, a protein which interferes with iron absorption. Vegetables, grains, soy; all these foods contain such proteins.

Medicare Payment Reduction Helps Eliminate Unnecessary Therapy

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute published an online study which suggests that cuts in payments for Medicare has reduced the amount of treatments done for patients with low-risk prostate cancer.

In contrast, the frequency of use of the same therapy for metastatic prostate cancer was not reduced, according to the new study.

Researchers concluded that the lower Medicare payments probably helped to reduce the amount of over-treatment for low-risk cancer, while not affecting the amount the higher-risk cancer was treated. The amount both types of prostate cancer was treated with androgen suppression therapy more than tripled in the period between 1991 and 1999, even though there was no evidence that this treatment improves the survival rate of persons with the low-risk illness.

In 2004 and 2005 the reimbursement schedule for doctors using androgen suppression therapy was reduced by 64%. The use of the therapy for patients with low-risk prostate cancer fell by 40%. No significant reduction in the use of the therapy for metastatic prostate cancer was observed during those years.

The conclusion by the researchers of the study was that the decline in use of androgen therapy “likely represents a real effect of reimbursement change and not physician awareness of clinical evidence.”

Gene Therapy Helps Children in German Study

Wiskott-Aldrich-syndromeResearchers in Germany were able to use gene therapy to correct a rare blood disorder which affects children to devastating results.

Scientists ‘fixed’ a malfunctioning gene which is the cause of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, a rarely seen but highly serious childhood illness that causes prolonged bleeding from even the mildest of cuts. This disease also leaves children extremely vulnerable to dangerous infections and some cancers.

“The study shows proof-of-principle that gene therapy with stem cells in a genetic disorder like this has strong potential,” added Paul Sanberg, a stem cell specialist who is director of the University of South Florida Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair in Tampa.

Healthy Holiday Eating

TurkeyIt’s already that time of year: time to start planning how to stay in control of your eating during the holiday period. For those determined to maintain a healthy diet despite the overabundance of heavy foods that become available, there are ways to eat properly without depriving yourself of seasonal celebrations.

Instead of depriving yourself, just change the way you approach the ever-present temptations:
Here’s the way to do it:

First, use a smaller plate – and then don’t go back for seconds. You can fill up your plate and so feel that you’ve tasted all the goodies at the holiday dinner, without going overboard.

Modify family recipes: Tradition doesn’t mean that you can’t eat healthfully. Even if your grandmother used chicken fat and gravy, you can substitute applesauce for oil, cottage cheese for sour cream, and other low-fat ingredients, and still cook a delicious menu.

Eat before you go: Instead of starving yourself all day because you’re going to a party in the evening, eat healthy protein-based meals throughout the day so that you won’t be starving and ready to eat everything in sight at the evening event.

Keep Active: No matter how busy the holiday season gets, keep exercising – walk up the stairs in the mall and carry those gifts home from the store by foot if you can!

Forgive Yourself: Do your best. But remember, the holiday season is filled with temptation, so if you don’t keep all your resolutions all the time, that’s okay too.