How Many Drinks Are Too Many for Women?

By Ross Weale

The number of women who drink (and push the limits of safe drinking) is on the rise according to this report by NBC’s Amy Robach. On May 30, Health magazine contributor Roshini Raj, MD, talked with Today show host Meredith Vieira about how alcohol effects women and how much they can drink safely.


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Getting More Exercise, One Step at a Time

By Sean Kelley

Back when I had athletic street cred—as a soccer and rugby player and 5K specialist—I used to scoff at walkers. Although walking might be somewhat better than total lethargy, I failed to see how anyone could devote enough time to plodding around to get the benefit that one does with more aerobic activities. Besides, the mall, where such “exercisers” tended to hang out, is only open for so many hours a day.

At the height of this athletic snobbery, I likened walking for exercise to golfing as a sport: You can break a sweat doing either activity, but they’re not sports.

Of course, I was wrong. Golf is a sport, especially if you walk the course. (I’m still recovering from my last round; with 40 pounds of equipment on your back, walking from the clubhouse to the first tee burns a lot of energy). And walking, I’ve recently discovered, is substantially better for you than I thought. Read More

Health Tip: Your Diet and Sleep

(HealthDay News) -- If you've noticed that you feel particularly sleepy or more energized after eating certain foods, that's because what you eat can have an impact on how well you sleep and how awake you are during the day.

Here are examples of foods that can affect your sleep, courtesy of the National Sleep Foundation:

• Carbohydrate-rich foods, such as pastas and breads, can make you more sleepy.


• Carbohydrates work well with proteins to induce sleepiness, which makes combinations such as peanut butter on toast, cereal with milk, or cheese and crackers good bedtime snacks.


• A large meal can make you more tired, especially one with a lot of carbohydrates.
  Caffeine in foods and beverages is a stimulant that blocks hormones in the brain that make you feel sleepy.


• While alcohol may help you relax and fall asleep in the short term, over the course of the night it inhibits the sleep process and can prevent you from getting deep, restful sleep.

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Marijuana Use Among MS Patients Raises Risk for Cognitive, Mood Problems

(HealthDay News) -- Multiple sclerosis patients who smoke marijuana in search of symptom relief are more likely to suffer cognitive shortfalls and mood disorders, new Canadian research suggests.

A slowing down in the ability to process and remember information is one significant side effect, as is a rise in the rate of depression and anxiety.

"This is a small study, so our findings are preliminary, but the bottom line is that multiple sclerosis patients who smoke cannabis appear to be at an increased risk for cognitive issues, particularly with respect to the speed of their thinking," said study author Dr. Anthony Feinstein, a professor of psychiatry with the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre's department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Feinstein's observations are published in the Feb. 13 online edition of Neurology and are focused exclusively on the impact of smoking marijuana illegally obtained by patients themselves. Medically prescribed marijuana was not studied.

The authors noted that a "significant minority" of multiple sclerosis patients smoke marijuana to combat the tingling, numbness, blindness and paralysis that can accompany the progressive and often disabling nervous system disease.

However, Feinstein's team stressed that scientists have yet to definitively prove that the psychoactive substance -- long linked to psychosis, anxiety and delirium among healthy users -- provides a measurable benefit to the more than 400,000 Americans and 2.5 million people worldwide who suffer from the disease.

The researchers therefore assessed the experience of 140 Toronto-based MS outpatients, 10 of whom had smoked the drug at least once in the previous month and were considered regular marijuana users.

All the patients -- three-quarters of them women -- underwent cognitive and mental health exams by a neurologist and a neuro-psychiatrist. Interviews were also conducted to assess disease severity and course, medications being used, and current disability.

Feinstein and his team observed that while pot smokers were younger, there were no differences between marijuana users and nonusers in terms of gender, education, or MS disease course or duration.

However, MS patients who used marijuana were found to perform 50 percent slower on tests tracking information-processing speed and were more likely than nonusers to have a mental disability of some kind.

Marijuana use was also associated with a greater risk for being depressed or experiencing anxiety. However, the authors were not able to determine whether the drug had triggered such conditions, or if patients had sought out marijuana to help deal with a preexisting emotional issue.

They nonetheless cautioned that smoking marijuana might further raise the risk for experiencing the kind of neuro-psychological impairment that typically occurs among 40 percent to 65 percent of all MS patients.

Feinstein said that he next hopes to gather a much larger pool of patients, while exploring possible differences in the health impact of street-purchased marijuana versus prescribed cannabis.

Meanwhile, Dr. Marshall Keilson, director of neurology at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., said he thinks it best to proceed on a case-by-case basis.

"There are some MS patients who are emotionally disabled from their disease, and if we can use cannabis to help them feel better about the world or life, we should," he said. "We need to always err on the side of doing what's best for our patients. And I don't necessarily believe there is a permanent damage to the brain, based on occasional marijuana use. If they're smoking 10 times a day, yes, there will be damage done. But this goes for excessive alcohol use, too. So, I think we're going to end up somewhere in the middle with this."

More information
For more on multiple sclerosis, visit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Follow-Up Exams Uncover More Iraq Vets With Emotional Woes

(HealthDay News) -- The number of Iraq war veterans needing mental-health care has risen sharply since the U.S. Defense Department began screening them a second time for emotional problems, U.S. military researchers reported Tuesday.

Initial screenings of veterans uncovered 4.4 percent who needed treatment for problems such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But six months later, a second screening found 11.7 percent were in need of mental health care, indicating that it might take several months for emotional disorders to emerge, the study suggested.

"We know mental health problems are a problem for soldiers who have been to war," said lead researcher Dr. Charles S. Milliken, of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. "We are doing a good thing by having erected these screening programs. Between the two screenings, we are finding a large group of soldiers that are having problems."

The findings are published in the Nov. 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

For the study, Milliken and his colleagues collected data on the mental health of 88,235 Iraq war veterans who completed an initial screening and a second screening about six months later. Both screenings included a questionnaire and a short interview with a clinician.

"In the second screening, you do find a larger group of soldiers the first screening completely missed," Milliken said. "It's about twice as big."

The researchers found that more soldiers had mental health problems -- such as PTSD, major depression or alcohol abuse -- during the later screening. In the first screening, 4.4 percent of the soldiers were referred for mental health care, but, after the second screening, 11.7 percent were referred.

Milliken thinks the two-step screening process helps remove the stigma attached to seeking help for emotional problems. "Soldiers are like other young males, they have a stigma about seeking mental health care," he said.

Among all the soldiers screened, 20.3 percent of active duty personnel were referred for mental health care, as were 42.4 percent of reserve soldiers, the study found.

Milliken said he didn't know why the difference exists between the active duty soldiers and the reservists. He speculated, however, that it might have to do with the VA's insurance structure that allows reservists access to free care for service-related health problems.

One expert thinks the new, two-tier system for identifying soldiers with emotional problems is working, but the shear numbers of affected veterans could overburden the VA's health-care system.

"I am not surprised by the rates of PTSD among Iraqi vets," said Dr. Randall Marshall, director of Trauma Studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Marshall said the difference in PTSD rates among active duty and reserve personnel is expected. "Part of what training is meant to do is desensitize soldiers to all the potential experiences on the battlefield, and the reservists have less training and are therefore more vulnerable to war experiences," he said.

Marshall also said that many reservists have had several tours of duty, "which is something they had not signed up for."

Also, many of these part-time soldiers were split from their units, which means they didn't have as much of a support system as active duty personnel, he said.

Marshall sees another major problem developing for returning veterans. Most psychotherapists aren't trained in the best ways to treat PTSD, he said. "You can't assume because it's a VA hospital everyone there has had this kind of training," he said.

In addition, the number of soldiers needing mental health care is straining an already overburdened system.
"If 20 percent of the veterans realize they need help and start to seek treatment, the system will be overwhelmed. Signs are, it already is," Marshall said.

More information
To learn more, visit the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Alcohol Intake on Cardiovascular Health Reviewed

News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Charles Vega, MD

The latest American Heart Association guidelines caution people not to start drinking alcohol if they do not already drink alcohol, according to a review of the advantages and disadvantages of alcohol intake on cardiovascular health published in the August 23 Online First issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"Accumulating scientific evidence indicates that light to moderate drinking done on a daily basis may significantly reduce the risks of coronary heart disease (CHD) and all-cause mortality," write James H. O'Keefe, MD, FACC, and colleagues from the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. "In contrast, excessive alcohol intake and binge drinking are toxic to both the heart and overall health and are the third leading cause of premature death among Americans.

The purpose of the present review is to:
1) outline the specific benefits and risks of alcohol, and the threshold of intake at which drinking becomes a health danger rather than an advantage;
2) detail the mechanisms whereby alcohol confers cardioprotection; and
3) discuss the ideal quantities, drinking patterns, and beverages, and which individuals are most likely to benefit."

Research to date has shown J-shaped relationships between alcohol consumption and several adverse health outcomes, including all-cause mortality, CHD, diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, stroke, dementia, and Raynaud's phenomenon.

Some cardioprotective benefits have been demonstrated for light to moderate alcohol consumption (up to 1 drink daily for women and 1 or 2 drinks daily for men). Most studies have shown that light to moderate drinking is associated with risk reductions for CHD of approximately 30% to 35%.

Alcohol consumed in moderation seems to have an antiatherosclerotic effect, with decreased incidence of peripheral arterial disease and decreased atherosclerotic burden shown by coronary angiography, computerized tomography-detected coronary calcium, and carotid ultrasound.
Like exercise, alcohol consumption seems to be most cardioprotective when done daily and in moderation. However, increasingly excessive consumption is associated with proportional worsening of outcomes.

Because of the beneficial effects on high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, insulin action, and inflammation, light to moderate alcohol intake may be particularly helpful for patients with abnormal glucose metabolism and/or insulin resistance. Light to moderate alcohol intake may be associated with reductions in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes, and a large meta-analysis with 12-year follow-up showed a 30% reduction in new diabetes in those who consumed 1 to 2 drinks daily.

The cardiovascular benefits associated with alcohol consumption protection are thought to be mediated by improvements in insulin sensitivity and HDL cholesterol. The major protective component seems to be the ethanol itself, and not the other ingredients found in different types of alcoholic beverages.

In a meta-analysis incorporating data from more than 1 million participants, consumption of 1 drink daily by women and 1 or 2 drinks daily by men was associated with an 18% reduction in total mortality, but daily intakes of more than 2 drinks in women and 3 drinks in men were associated with dose-dependent increased mortality.

Although low-dose, daily alcohol consumption has been linked to better health than less frequent use, binge drinking increases cardiovascular events and mortality, even in otherwise light drinkers.

"Alcohol should not be universally prescribed for health enhancement to nondrinking individuals owing to the lack of randomized outcome data and the potential for problem drinking," the study authors note. "Alcohol (ethanol) consumption is analogous to the proverbial double-edged sword, and perhaps no other factor in cardiovascular (CV) health is capable of cutting so deeply in either direction depending on how it is used."

Guidelines from the United Kingdom suggest that middle-aged or elderly men and postmenopausal women who drink seldom or never might consider the possibility that light drinking would benefit their health. On occasion, the reviewers have made a similar recommendation to patients who do not smoke and who have no personal or family history of substance abuse and no history of depression or bipolar disorder. However, they argue that light to moderate drinking should not be universally recommended to the general public or even to patients with cardiovascular disease.

As an analogy, they point out that observational data and findings from randomized trials using surrogate endpoints suggested that hormone replacement therapy for women and antioxidant vitamins improved cardiovascular outcomes, whereas later randomized trials with larger samples led to the opposite conclusions. They note that no randomized trials of alcohol for improving clinical outcomes have yet been performed. In observational studies, residual unmeasured confounding factors could be contributing to apparent benefits that seem to be associated with light to moderate drinking.

The investigators further note that heavy drinking has caused significant individual and societal problems and morbidity. In the past 15 years, the rates of alcohol abuse and binge drinking have been increasing, according to the findings of some studies. Alcohol abuse causes 100,000 deaths each year in the United States, and it has been deemed the third largest preventable cause of death.

Excessive alcohol consumption has been associated with increased risks for all-cause mortality, motor vehicle crashes, stroke, cardiomyopathy, cardiac dysrhythmia, sudden cardiac arrest, suicide, cancer (particularly of the breast and gastrointestinal tract), cirrhosis, fetal alcohol syndrome and sleep apnea.

"Sobering statistics warn that moderate daily drinking is a slippery slope that many individuals cannot safely navigate," the study authors conclude. "The latest American Heart Association guidelines caution people not to start drinking if they do not already drink alcohol, because it is not possible to predict in which people alcohol abuse will become a problem. Until we have more randomized outcome data, and tools for predicting susceptibility to problem drinking, it would seem prudent to encourage physicians and patients to focus on more innocuous interventions to prevent CHD."

J Am Coll Cardiol. Published online August 23, 2007.
2007;50:1009-1014.

Health Tip: Causes of Fainting

(HealthDay News) -- Fainting occurs due to a sudden drop in blood flow to the brain, resulting in brief loss of consciousness. Fainting can be accompanied by dizziness or nausea.
Here are some common triggers, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine:

• Straining during urination or a bowel movement.
• Excessive coughing.
• Standing for too long in the same position, or quickly standing up from a lying position.
• Severe pain, stress, fear or emotional distress.
• Excessive bleeding or dehydration.
• Medications used to treat conditions like high blood pressure, anxiety, allergies and nasal congestion.
• Use of drugs or alcohol.
• Low blood sugar.

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Cirrhosis Can Impact Heart Surgery Success

(HealthDay News) -- For patients with cirrhosis, the severity of the disease will predict how well they do after heart surgery, a new study finds.

While milder cases of the liver ailment will have less of an impact on heart surgery outcomes, patients with severe cirrhosis may require alternative approaches to managing their heart disease, according to research published in the July issue of Liver Transplantation.

Cirrhosis is a degenerative disease of the liver that causes a scarring of the tissues, prevents blood flow through the organ and ultimately impairs liver function. It is often brought on by heavy alcohol use, or infection with hepatitis B or C.

While the relationship between the degree of cirrhosis and the success of abdominal surgeries is well known, few studies have examined outcomes for heart surgery, the researchers noted.

In their study, a team led by Dr. Farzan Filsoufi of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City examined data from patients who had heart surgeries at the center between January 1998 and December 2004. They identified 27 patients with cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis prognosis and possibility for success in surgery for cirrhosis patients is characterized according to the "Child-Pugh classification" as A, B or C, with A being the most optimistic outcome and C being the least.

According to the study, there was a 10 percent postsurgical mortality rate for those in class A, an 18 percent mortality for those in class B, and a 67 percent death rate for those in class C.

The rates of complications after the surgery were 55 percent for patients in class B and 100 percent in class C, the researchers added.

Based on the findings, the authors concluded heart surgery can be performed safely and with a good likelihood for survival for cirrhosis patients in class A. They therefore recommended careful selection of heart surgery patients with cirrhosis to help improve the chance of successful outcomes.

Patients with advanced cirrhosis may require alternative approaches to heart surgery, such as medically managing their heart disease until it is possible to perform surgery at the same time as a liver transplant, the researchers wrote.

More information
To learn about liver diseases, visit the American Liver Foundation.

Moderate Drinking May Boost Your Health

(HealthDay News) -- Cheers to your health: Moderate drinkers are more likely to report above average health, compared with lifetime abstainers, light drinkers and heavy drinkers, researchers say.

There is evidence that moderate drinking is associated with reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, injuries and mortality, but for a new study, published in the July/August issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, researchers wanted to find out how different levels of drinkers felt about their health.

"We wanted to see if moderate drinkers are actually feeling better by their own assessment," Michael French, a researcher at the University of Miami, said in a prepared statement.

This study looked at 2002 data from a survey of U.S. households representing more than 31,000 adults. The survey was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The survey contained questions about alcohol consumption, health behaviors and chronic health conditions. Moderate drinking was defined as four to 14 drinks a week for men and four to seven drinks a week for women.

The male participants who reported moderate drinking were 1.27 times more likely to report above-average health, compared with those who were lifetime abstainers and former light drinkers. The moderate drinking women were more than twice as likely as abstainers to report above-average health.

"Our results suggest that a moderate amount of drinking is not necessarily dangerous for most people and may actually be health-promoting," said French.

Moderate drinking may benefit health by helping to ward off cardiovascular disease, particularly hardening of the arteries and stroke caused by blockages in blood vessels, according to Dr. Arthur Klatsky, a researcher and cardiology consultant at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, Calif.

But both French and Klatsky warned that heavy drinking contributes to poor health. "Heavy drinking by everybody's reckoning is bad business for health and social outcomes," Klatsky said in a prepared statement.

More information
The American Heart Association has more about alcohol, wine and cardiovascular disease.

Constipation and Acne

Constipation and acne are two problems affecting hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis.

One hits you on the inside and the other on the outside. Could it be that more is going on with this unlikely pairing than you would first imagine?

When most people become constipated, they assume it’s just a momentary thing and they’ll soon become “regular” again. Likewise, when someone discovers a pimple or rash on their body, they usually throw some kind of drugstore cream on it and hope it goes away.

Usually, after a few days, the skin clears up and life turns back to normal. But it could very well be that constipation is leading to your skin blemishes, and that includes acne!

Constipation and Acne May Indicate Trouble
The human body is comprised mainly of water, about 55 to 60% in most adults. We already know it’s best to drink at least eight 8-oz. glasses of water a day.

If your body isn’t getting enough water, one of the first signs is constipation and acne or other skin blemishes.

Waste hardens within your colon and there are no fluids to lubricate its easy passage out of the body. You may also notice your skin begins to feel dry and cracks in certain places.

The lips, elbows and fingers are some of the first locations to notice the change. Spread all the moisturizer you want, but it’s not going to solve the problem because you must first hydrate from within.

Effects of Constipation
Another reason constipation and acne go hand in hand is the toxic effect constipation has on the body. When you’re constipated, your body isn’t getting rid of all the poisonous toxins normally expelled with a bowel movement. The toxins have nowhere to go, and they begin to accumulate before being reabsorbed into the bloodstream.

Then the toxins course through the body it goes into a state of emergency. The body senses these nasty poisons and begins trying to fight them off, trying to discover a way to detoxify itself. As a failsafe option, the toxins are expelled through the skin; but the acidic nature of the toxins causes the skin to become inflamed and thus develop acne.

If these toxins were left in the body indefinitely, they could eventually intensify to detrimental levels. Some signs you may be poisoning your system include bad breath and excess gas, bloating, depression, headaches, and “brain fog” or feeling like you can’t think clearly, and the aforementioned constipation and acne difficulties.

If your body is functioning properly and you are having regular bowel movements and eating the right foods, there is a very good chance acne can be reduced if not eliminated. Of course, the first step to changing your lifestyle involves becoming better educated. So, what foods, products or advice should one take to begin the transformation to better skin?

Positive Lifestyle Changes
Changing the way you look at food can be difficult, but it can be the most beneficial lifestyle shift you can make. Some foods aid in digestion and some can seize up the process. A high fiber colon healthy diet, with plenty of water consumption for the fiber to absorb in the colon, is one of the keys to controlling constipation and acne.

Foods Good for the Digestive System:
Fiber-rich fruits like apples, prunes, peaches, and raspberries
Fiber-rich vegetables like raw broccoli, cauliflower, kidney and lima beans, carrots, spinach, and Brussels sprouts
Whole grain cereals and breads (not enriched or bleached)
Protein-rich foods like fish, chicken, tofu, nuts, yogurt, and beans
Foods to Avoid:
You can’t have a good list without a bad list, so here are a few things you should avoid:
Caffeinated drinks
Foods with white flour or refined sugar (such as ice cream, cheese, processed foods, pizza, potato chips, etc.)
Heavy meats such as beef or pork
Alcohol
Chocolate

Cleansing the Colon
In order to regain control of your body, you need to clean it out and start fresh. The best way to accomplish this is with a thorough colon cleanse. Cleaning the colon, while it’s not a topic of everyday conversation, is one of the most important things you can do to help maintain your health and allow your body’s immune system to rebuild its strength. With a clean colon, your body can rid itself of the poisonous toxins causing constipation and acne as well as other health problems and skin conditions.

Oxy-Powder® is one of the most widely used colon cleansers; it gently cleans the colon with a unique formula of oxygenated magnesium, citric acid, and germanium-132. It thoroughly cleanses out deep-seated fecal matter, mucous, and sludge, leaving you feeling like a weight has been removed from your body. After removing all the garbage with Oxy-Powder®’s all-natural formula, your body can begin to rebuild a healthy environment within your colon for allowing good bacteria to grow in your digestive system.

As powerful as Oxy-Powder® is, it works gently enough so you don’t have to practically live in the bathroom. Once you finish the initial 7-day cleanse, you can help maintain your colon’s optimal health by following a regular maintenance program.

Helping to keep your body clean from the inside out offers many health benefits—mainly, reducing conditions such as bloating, excess gas, persistent fatigue, blurry vision, feeling heavy or lethargic, being overweight due to the accumulation of waste in the colon, and even chronic constipation.

So follow a healthful diet, stay well hydrated, get plenty of exercise, and be alert for signs such as constipation and acne symptoms as possible indicators something is not right in your normal digestive process.

more info at: http://www.dreddyclinic.com/products/oxypowder.htm

Poor Sleep Contributes to Health Problems

(HealthDay News) -- New studies are discovering just how vital sleep is to overall health.

So, sleep habits should become a standard part of a complete check-up, researchers say.

"There is increasing evidence that there is a very strong relationship between sleep quality and physical and mental health," said Dr. Phyllis C. Zee, a professor of neurology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

"If you have poor health, that is associated with poor sleep. Also, if you have poor sleep, there is an association between that and poor health," Zee said. "What we don't have yet is the research to categorically say that if you improve sleep, you will improve conditions, such as diabetes or hypertension, or other medical conditions."

Still, physicians should be asking their patients about the quality and quantity of their sleep, Zee said. "Sleep should be another vital sign," she said.

Zee wrote an editorial in the Sept. 18 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, a special, themed issue on sleep and its relationship to overall health.

In one study, led by Richard L. Nahin, a senior advisor for scientific coordination and outreach at the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, looked at why people had trouble sleeping and how many were using alternative drugs to help them sleep.

Insomnia and trouble sleeping are most often associated with high blood pressure, heart failure, anxiety and depression, according to a national survey of 31,044 adults. "That's unusual. It had been most often thought that insomnia was quite prevalent on its own, but only 4 percent of the people who said they had insomnia said they had it without any of those conditions," Nahin said.

The researchers also found that 1.6 million Americans are using alternative therapies, such as melatonin to treat their insomnia. "That's quite high when you consider that there is very little reliable data on the efficacy and safety of using the products people are using," Nahin said.

These findings have implications for treating sleep problems, Nahin said.

"Instead of treating the insomnia itself, a health-care provider might be better off treating one of these comorbidities," he said. "In addition, a physician seeing a patient for insomnia should ask if the patient is using any alternative and complementary treatments, because they might upset the treatments the health-care provider wants to apply."

Another study found that people who have sleep-related breathing disorder -- marked by frequent pauses in breathing, labored breathing, or reduced breathing during the night -- were two to 2.6 times more likely to develop depression. Moreover, the odds of depression increased as breathing disorders became more severe, according to researcher Paul E. Peppard and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin.

And a study by French researchers found that people with allergic rhinitis, caused by hay fever and other allergies, have more difficulty sleeping and more sleep disorders than people without allergies. "The results show a significant impact of allergic rhinitis on all dimensions of sleep quality and, consequently, a lower quality of life as reflected by more somnolence [sleepiness]; daytime fatigue and sleepiness; and impaired memory, mood and sexuality, with a significantly increased consumption of alcohol and sedatives in cases compared with the control group," the study authors wrote.

One expert agrees that sleep problems shouldn't be ignored.

"If you think insomnia is an annoyance and merely something you should tough out, that may be a mistake," said Michael L. Perlis, director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at the University of Rochester, in New York. "It may lead you down the path to other morbidities. It would also be a mistake because it's treatable."

Other studies in the same journal issue found that:
· Fewer hours of sleep may contribute to poor health in young adults.
· Those in rural areas who sleep fewer hours appear to weigh more.
· The immune system may play a role in narcolepsy, a disorder characterized by an uncontrollable urge to sleep.
· The immune system may be affected by a lack of sleep that contributes to inflammation and a variety of diseases.

More information
The National Sleep Foundation can tell you more about getting a good night's sleep.

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Coffee Could Protect Liver

Drinking coffee may be related to a reduced risk of developing the liver disease alcoholic cirrhosis, according to a report in a recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Cirrhosis progressively destroys healthy liver tissue and replaces it with scar tissue. Viruses such as hepatitis C can cause cirrhosis, but long-term, heavy alcohol use is the most common cause of the disease in developed countries, according to background information in the article.

Most alcohol drinkers, however, never develop cirrhosis; other factors that may play a role include genetics, diet and nutrition, smoking and the interaction of alcohol with other toxins that damage the liver.

Arthur L. Klatsky, MD, and colleagues at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Oakland, Calif., analyzed data from 125,580 individuals (55,247 men and 70,333 women) who did not report liver disease when they had baseline examinations, between 1978 and 1985.

Participants filled out a questionnaire to provide information about how much alcohol, coffee and tea they drank per day during the past year. Some of the individuals also had their blood tested for levels of certain liver enzymes; the enzymes are released into the blood stream when the liver is diseased or damaged.

By the end of 2001, 330 participants had been diagnosed with cirrhosis, including 199 with alcoholic cirrhosis. For each cup of coffee they drank per day, participants were 22% less likely to develop alcoholic cirrhosis. Drinking coffee was also associated with a slight reduction in risk for other types of cirrhosis.

Among those who had their blood drawn, liver enzyme levels were higher among individuals who drank more alcohol, indicating liver disease or damage; however, those who drank both alcohol and coffee had lower levels than those who drank alcohol but did not drink coffee, with the strongest link among the heaviest drinkers.

Tea drinking was not related to reduced risk in the study, suggesting that it is not caffeine that is responsible for the relationship between coffee and reduced cirrhosis risk. "Previous reports are disparate with respect to whether the apparently protective coffee ingredient is caffeine; in our opinion this issue is quite unresolved," the authors write.

The findings do not suggest that physicians prescribe coffee to prevent alcoholic cirrhosis, the authors continue. "Even if coffee is protective, the primary approach to reduction of alcoholic cirrhosis is avoidance or cessation of heavy alcohol drinking," they conclude. "Assuming causality, the data do suggest that coffee intake may partly explain the variability of cirrhosis risk in alcohol consumers.

Basic research about hepatic coffee-ethanol interactions is warranted, but we should keep in mind that coffee might represent only one of a number of potential cirrhosis risk modulators." This article was prepared by Mental Health Weekly Digest editors from staff and other reports.

Copyright 2006, Mental Health Weekly Digest via NewsRx.com.
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Cure for Hangovers?

Cure for Hangovers?
Provided by: DrWeil.com

Q: This past Friday morning, I got out of bed to find myself with quite a splitting reminder of the night before. Is there anything that can help cure the common hangover? -- Anonymous

A: Alcohol is a strong toxin to both the liver and the nervous system, and it irritates the upper digestive tract and urinary system as well. The morning after a binge, you also feel the effects of dehydration. It certainly seems that everyone has a cure for a hangover: Sailors claim saltwater is the antidote; the Egyptians ate boiled cabbage as a preventive; today, many folks claim it's the "hair of the dog" that'll stop the hammering. Believe what you will.

I probably don't need to say that moderation is the best way to avoid hangovers. It makes sense to imbibe as much water as possible while you're drinking alcohol, to avoid dehydration. Taking aspirin before drinking, though popular, doesn't help. The best and only sure-fire remedy is time: As your body metabolizes the toxic overdose, symptoms subside.

If you have access to pure oxygen in a canister you can try inhaling some to see if it speeds recovery, but I doubt this is practical for most people. I recommend taking a B-complex vitamin supplement plus extra thiamine (100 mgs) to counter the B-vitamin depletion caused by alcohol. But I really don't know of any hangover treatment that works as well as putting time between yourself and the night before.

Be aware that you should pick your poison wisely. Since alcohol is exempt from most labeling requirements, it may contain additives that can trigger asthma, migraines, and other reactions. Whenever possible, choose quality brands. The extra money you pour out for a premium cocktail may tax your wallet, but your liver will thank you.

Some distilled beverages are rich in substances called congeners, toxic impurities that can greatly add to your woes. Bourbon, rum, and cognac are particularly "dirty." Champagne and some sweet wines are also notorious causes of hangovers. Vodka, being just pure alcohol and water, is the cleanest. It's always a good idea to pace yourself, and to eat if you have more than a drink or two.

My drink of choice is sake, which seems pretty clean to me. I don't get a hangover from it, even when I drink more than normal. Kampai!

Andrew Weil, MD

Turning off Cravings for Alcohol?

Turning off Cravings for Alcohol?
Provided by: DrWeil.com

Q: I read an article about a vitamin/pill that reduces cravings for alcohol. What can you tell me about it? -- Anonymous

A: If there were a vitamin or other pill that reliably decreased cravings for alcohol in everyone who needed help, the scientist who discovered the effect probably would win a Nobel Prize.

Over the years, a number of substances have been credited with reducing alcoholic cravings. A few may help some people, but none of them works for everyone:

B vitamins. Research has suggested that alcoholic cravings are due to a deficiency in B vitamins and that supplements may lessen the desire to drink. But these findings, most of which are more than 20 years old, haven't been substantiated over time. Still, because alcohol abuse does deplete B vitamins in general and thiamine in particular, I recommend taking a B-complex vitamin supplement plus extra thiamine (100 mgs).

L-glutamine: Research in both animals and humans suggests that this amino acid can reduce both cravings and the anxiety that accompanies alcohol withdrawal. The study in humans was done in 1957. Participants took either a placebo or one gram of L-glutamine in divided doses, with meals. Results were published in the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol.

Kudzu: Extracts from the root of this weed (pueraria lobata), which is pervasive and invasive in the southern United States, have been recommended as a treatment for alcoholic cravings.

Kudzu is widely used for this purpose by traditional practitioners in China, and some animal studies have shown that it decreases the desire for alcohol. Results of a pilot study in humans published in the February 2000 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine showed that doses smaller than those used in the studies in China failed to help alcoholics abstain from drinking.

Naltrexone: This drug (brand names: ReVia, Depade) reduces the desire for alcohol after you stop drinking. Naltrexone works by blocking the parts of the brain that sense pleasure in response to alcohol. Unlike Antabuse (disulfiram), sometimes used to treat alcoholism, naltrexone doesn't make you sick if you drink alcohol while you're taking it. The drug usually is prescribed temporarily (for 12 weeks or more) to help recovering alcoholics deal with cravings after they've stopped drinking.

A Funny-Looking Tongue?

A Funny-Looking Tongue?
Provided by: DrWeil.com

Q: We adopted a 15-month-girl from China who was only fed formula. She is now 21-months, and she has a geographic tongue. What can we do for this condition? -- Maureen A: Geographic tongue (also known as benign migratory glossitis) is a condition in which the tongue has a map-like appearance due to irregular smooth patches that have lost the tiny, finger-like projections that characterize the surface of a normal tongue. The patches may be red, can change location from day to day and, in some cases, can be sore. Although it can be uncomfortable, geographic tongue is not a serious disorder. Some people worry that it is a sign of oral cancer. It definitely is not.

Unfortunately, we don't know the cause of this problem. In some cases, it may be due to an allergy, and it seems to occur more often in people with psoriasis - in one study, 10 percent of psoriasis patients were affected compared to about 2.5 percent of people without psoriasis. Some cases seem to be triggered by irritation from hot or spicy foods, alcohol, or tobacco, and some may occur in response to stress. There is no specific treatment for geographic tongue. It tends to go away on its own, usually within a month, but may come back periodically. Different areas of the tongue may be affected at different times.

I wouldn't worry about your daughter's geographic tongue. Chances are it will disappear as her nutritional status improves or, if it is stress related, as she becomes more settled and comfortable in her new surroundings. Conventional treatment, if necessary, is topical prednisone, but I would first try DGL powder, a much less toxic licorice derivative.
Andrew Weil, MD

National socialism and medicine -- Joerg gutter, 64560 Riedstadt riedstadt-Dunkelfeld blood picture data base article

National socialism and medicine -- Joerg gutter, 64560 Riedstadt riedstadt-Dunkelfeld blood picture data base article: "During Professor Dr. med. Guenther Enderlein 1916 in Berlin stayed, researched it after the causes of typhoid fever. Here he discovered extremely tiny organisms, which he called Spermite, which could move itself fast in the blood. He observed that these organisms with different kinds of micro organisms connections can to die and become very fast 'invisible then'. It assumed these micro organisms disintegrated by the Spermite into another way of life.
The dark field microscopy helped it to discover the structure of these micro organisms by means of a cycle, which can accept countless variations, in the blood. As long as humans are healthy, these micro organisms live together within the body in a mutually useful connection. Each serious change or degradation of the physical environment (pH value of the blood) for example due to bad nutrition, smoking, consumption of alcohol, damaging chemicals or other factors, could bring however the otherwise innocuous microbes to develop by certain cyclic development phases into illness-releasing forms. It summarized these realizations in its book bacterium Cyclogenie, for which it received international acknowledgments.
The works of another German biologist at attention won about at the same time. Dr. Wilhelm von Brehmer set up a theory about the cancer development, which supported the realizations Enderleins strongly. Already 1933 called Dr. von Brehmer the cancer an illness of the whole body, which closely with the genetic constitution, which Essgewohnheite"

The Caffeine Overdose in Energy Drinks

If you were wondering whether energy drinks were any safer than typical soft drinks, forget it. Energy drinks may contain as much as four times more caffeine than the average sugary sweet drink, according to a new study.

In fact, caffeine levels are so high, researchers believe American energy drinks should be labeled, just as they are in Europe for energy drinks, as high-caffeine products if they exceed 150 mg. per liter. Under that simple guideline, nearly all of the 10 products scientists analyzed would qualify.

Unfortunately, the FDA doesn't require soft drink manufacturers to list the caffeine content on labels, even though there's a standing rule that limits their content to 65 mg. per 12-ounce can. That said, all 19 soft drinks tested in this study contained less caffeine than the FDA standard, and, in some cases, far less than you'd think.

By comparison, most energy drinks contained 65 mg. of caffeine in an 8-ounce serving versus a Coca-Cola or Pepsi with less than half as much in a 12-ounce can. And, one energy drink contained 141 mg. of caffeine, two times more than a double-shot of expresso.

In a separate study, scientists also debunked another myth associated with energy drinks: Consuming them along with alcohol may make you feel more sober than you really are.

No question, energy drinks are no real substitute for eating the right foods, handling stress better and getting more sleep and exercise.

Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Vol. 30, No. 2, March 2006: 112-114
Yahoo News March 29, 2006
MSNBC March 28, 2006

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