Testing It Up

 

 

The Society of Behavioral Medicine’s (SBM) 34th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions took place in San Francisco March 20-23.

Check out my Twitter summary for this event, which is just a snapshot, via Twitter, of some of the things that took place and attendants’ reaction to them.

This year’s meeting had the theme of “Technology: the Excitement and the Evidence,” which explored the many ways that technological innovations are expanding the reach and impact of behavioral medicine.

In sticking with the theme, this year saw the SBM partner with the technology community to promote exchange between private industry and behavioral medicine researchers and practitioners.

Topics discussed included: linking behavior to brain health, using computers to encourage behavior change, using mobile sensors to enhance patient care, using social media to spread health information, and enhancing clinicians’ capabilities to deliver counseling that helps people quit smoking.

Keynote speakers included:

• Dr. BJ Fogg, Founder and Director of Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University;
• SBM President Dr. Alan J. Christensen, a Professor in both the Department of Psychology and Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa;
• Dr. Amy P. Abernethy, an Associate Professor with Duke University Schools of Medicine and Nursing;
• and Dr. Arthur F. Kramer, Director, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Illinois.

 

Finally acknowledging that there may be some concern about the safety of the chemical (which is found in many types of flood related plastics including baby bottles and sippy cups) the FDA pledged that they’d study the chemical far more closely but were unlikely to set any regulations for the chemical. The Department of Health and Human Services has issued recommendations to consumers including one to throw away any scratched cups and bottles with Bisphenol A because small amounts of the chemical can seep out and be ingested by children.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is added to many plastics and liners of canned goods, including liquid baby formula according to studies with lab animals the chemical might increase the risk of developmental problems in some fetuses and young children, along with other negative side effects.

“Recent reports show subtle effects of BPA in lab animals that has raised concerns,’’ William Corr, deputy secretary of Health and Human Services. “We are taking a much closer look,’’

While the FDA maintains that the chemical is safe for use in adults and children it’s now decided to acknowledge that it may not be safe for infants and smaller children.

Massachusetts Congressman Edward J. Markey who is a lead author of a bill to ban BPA in all food and beverage containers, said the announcement was important for keeping young children safe.“The Obama administration is not only restoring science to its rightful place in public health policy decision making, but is also signaling its plans to take bold steps to keep this dangerous chemical out of the reach of children,’’ he said. “It is clear that BPA poses serious health risks.’’

A great understanding of a woman’s fertility is beginning to reveal why 30 is a point where women feel their biological clocks ticking. The study, a partnership between the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews, revealed a better estimate of the number of eggs a woman carries in her ovaries from the point at which she’s conceived to the point at which she goes through menopause. The research marks a precedent in the scientific community, it’s the first time that the human ovarian reserve has ever been followed and correctly catalogued from birth to around age 50 when menopause begins. As a result previously standing theories that the human females eggs were limited to a certain number that gradually declined as she aged have been cemented.

The data was based on British, European and American information on the subject. Apparently a woman’s ovarian reserve peaks at about 20 weeks after conception and gradually declines as she ages and approaches menopause. While previous studies tracked the decline of a woman’s reserve until menopause none had determined information from conception. Based on this research data it has been established that in 95% of women only 12% of all eggs created still remain by the time she reaches the age of 30 and only 3% remain at the age of 40. These findings could have a major effect on fertility treatments and understanding of the way a woman’s body begins to become less fertile as she ages.

Adults who drink large amounts of alcohol are causing serious damage to their health that they could pay for over time. Many of us are aware of the risk of cirrhosis of the liver but many of these other health threats aren’t as well known, take a look.

Cancer

Habitual drinking increases the risk of cancer according to research. Scientists believe the amplified risk is caused when the body converts alcohol into acetaldehyde,  which is a powerful carcinogen. Cancers that are most common in drinkers include the mouth, larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), liver, esophagus, breasts, and colorectal cancer. The risk for these cancers is multiplied if the drinker is also a smoker.

Anemia

Heavy drinking can cause the number of red blood cells to be unusually low this is called anemia. Anemia can set off a series of symptoms which include shortness of breath, fatigue, and lightheadedness.

Gout

Gout is caused by the development of uric acid crystals in the joints of the body. While some cases are hereditary, alcohol and other dietary factors are beginning to be linked as well. If there is already gout present before the drinking becomes dramatically heavy it can get worse as the consumption level increases.

Cardiovascular Disease

Binge drinking makes platelets more likely to form blood clots, which in turn can lead to heart attack and stroke. In fact binge drinking doubles the risk of death among people who survived an initial heart attack. Cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle weakens and eventually fails can also occur.  Ventricular fibrillation, another heart condition can cause muddled twitching in the heart’s main pumping chambers and cause sudden loss of consciousness. If treatment isn’t received soon it can even be fatal.

Nerve Damage

Heavy drinking can result in a form of nerve damage known as alcoholic neuropathy, this produces a painful pins-and-needles feeling in the extremities, constipation, erectile dysfunction muscle weakness, and incontinence, among other problems. Alcoholic neuropathy arises because alcohol is toxic to nerve cells and nutritional deficiencies that come with heavy drinking damage nerve function.

Dementia

As people age, their brains shrink about 1.9% per decade, heavy drinking hastens the shrinkage of certain key regions in the brain, this causes memory loss among other symptoms of dementia. It can also cause slight but potentially weakening deficits in the ability to make judgments, solve problems.

If you’ve ever used the party drug ecstasy you may want to get your health looked at. According to new research users of the drug have 8 times the likelihood of developing sleep apnea as those who hadn’t. This joins the information that ecstasy may harm the mind’s ability to do cognitive thought. Sleep apnea affects an estimated 15 million Americans and is a common disorder that causes pauses in breathing during sleep.

Researchers used a sleep lab to study a group of 71 people who had used at least 25 tabs of the drug recreationally (but were drug free for two weeks prior to the study) and 62 healthy people who hadn’t taken the drug. Users of ecstasy had upwards of eight times the risk of apnea or hypoapnea (shallow breathing) episodes while asleep than those who had no exposure to the drug. While many of those studied had a low grade form of apnea only users of the drug had moderate or severe apnea. Those who had used more of the drug than others also had an increased likelihood of having the problem. The rate of apnea was higher in ecstasy users than even those who were obese.

Ecstasy is a selective brain serotonin neurotoxin, and sleep apnea may be a consequence of this effect, according to the researchers.  “Brain serotonin neurons modulate sleep and breathing patterns through a variety of mechanisms,”

Serotonin is a chemical that helps relay signals from one cell to another and is a part of a variety of psychological and other body functions. According to researchers in the study the drug is a risk factor for sleep apnea in healthy young adults regardless of age, gender, race, and obesity. Both the use of ecstasy and the number of sleep apnea cases have risen to near epidemic levels in recent years and have doctors and scientists concerned for the safety of the public.

A Silicon Valley start-up is claiming that it can help eradicate more than 100 genetic disorders by alerting parents-to-be who have the carrier genes before they conceive. Counsyl, is a company that is selling a test that they claim is  able to tell couples whether they are at risk of having children with a range of inherited diseases, such as  cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs, sickle cell anemia, spinal muscular atrophy and Pompe disease. Once these parents are told about the traits they carry they can move forward using in vitro fertilization combined with genetic testing of the embryos to avoid bearing children who would have these incurable and commonly fatal childhood diseases.

While there are already tests available to look for certain genetic disorders many others aren’t able to be detected by current testing and leave parents in the dark until their child has already become ill. These tests are also very cost prohibitive ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. The Counsyl test costs $349 for an individual or $698 for a couple and analyzes DNA from saliva samples. The test, if it proves effective, could make help many families to overcome long standing fertility and genetic issues that made having children a painful experience. As yet the ability of the tests remain unknown however because no papers have been printed about its results or approach. Despite this Counsyl claims that it has already administered thousands of the tests which are already offered by more than 100 fertility clinics around the country.

Counsyl executives say 35 to 40 percent of people tested are carriers for at least one disease in the test. In about 0.6 percent to 0.8 percent of cases, they say, both members of the couple are carriers for the same disease.

Doctors now say that the popular home version of the fetal monitoring device used by doctors may actually make it more likely a mother will wait to seek treatment than if she had gone without it. The false sense of security these monitors offer is to blame, causing mothers to wait unaware that the machine may not be catching their child’s heartbeat but their own among other dangers. This very thing happened to one mother who waited several days to seek medical help believing that she heard the steady heartbeat of her child, prompting the warning.

Fetal heart monitors are not always valid ultrasound machines and regardless of quality shouldn’t be treated as a valid way to monitor a baby’s safety and wellbeing. Some companies make the entertainment purposes of these machines clear while others don’t, the child’s safety is at risk if the parents don’t seek help when it is needed.

While the fetal heart rate is part of the overall safety and health status of an unborn baby it’s only a small part and without training can very easily be misheard or misconstrued as normal. If there are any major changes in the overall movement of the baby, the way you feel or there are any signs that make you concerned for the safety of your child it’s best to seek medical care right away to verify the health of the child and yourself. While home monitors can be a great way of listening to the child they should be regarded as the entertainment and interaction tools they are.

The A (H1N1) virus is a disease that caused a stir all throughout the world. With many people afflicted with the condition, everybody has to take the necessary precaution. Question is: Who is more susceptible to the disease.

Anyone may actually have the infection. But, there are four groups who are at higher risk from the A (H1N1) virus. These are: the children and elderly; health care providers; people with existing medical conditions; and pregnant women.

Children below the age of 5 and elders 65 years old and above are more susceptible to the condition than individuals in other age groups. This is because their immune systems do not have the required antibodies to prevent the virus from spreading. As for health care providers, the risk is attached to the nature of the job. Since they deal with sick people, their exposure to the condition is increased.

People with medical conditions such as diabetes, chronic pulmonary diseases, cardiovascular disorders and diabetes mellitus are at high risk of acquiring A (H1N1). Additionally, those with hematological and hepatic conditions are also prone to having the disorder. Pregnant women in their third trimester are not exempted from acquiring the condition as well.

For full version of this article, please visit “Who is at Risk from A (H1N1) Virus?“.

Hormonal imbalance, once a condition seen as a problem solely affecting menopausal women, is now a growing concern that afflicts both men and women. The one way by which it can be determined if a person has a hormonal imbalance is by going through hormonal imbalance testing.

Testing for hormonal imbalance has its pros and cons. Among the advantages of testing for hormonal imbalance is that you would know at once whether you are afflicted by it or not. It is not invasive and it can easily tell you indicators about your health and fertility.

However, it also has disadvantages, which include the fact that blood tests can be inaccurate because of many different factors such as stress. Your doctor can also generalize the problem instead of using the results of the test to pinpoint what exactly is causing the hormonal imbalance. Also, hormonal imbalance testing is not exactly cheap.

For full version of this article, please visit “Pros and Cons of Hormone Imbalance Testing“.

Now that the swine flu has begun to affect US citizens many are beginning to relax about the virus thinking that its effects won’t be as serious as first laid out by the World Health Organization earlier this year. For some this presumption may be true but for others who are at much higher risk of developing the virus, like small children, ignoring the early warning signs can be deadly.

What are those signs and what should parents look out for? There are many children who have the virus and come away with little harm but for others the symptoms worsened quickly and overcame them before the parent truly realized anything serious was going on.

If any of the following warning signs develop seek an ER quickly!

• Lack of Thirst
• Fast or Labored Breathing
• Blue Tinged Skin
• Fever Accompanied by Rash
• Grouchiness and Avoidance of Being Handled or Held
• Doesn’t Wake up Easily and Acts Listless and Unresponsive
• Improved Symptoms that Return as Fever and a Worsened Cough

Children who fall under the following categories are at highest risk:

• Are Younger Than 5
• Who Have High Risk Conditions Like Asthma or Other Lung Issues
• Cerebral Palsy
• Neurological Diseases Like Epilepsy
• Liver, Heart or Kidney Problems
• Diabetes

Even if your child has none of these issues keep a very close eye on them if they develop flu symptoms, at least 1/3 of the children who passed away had no underlying health problems to worsen the virus. If at all possible it’s best if you get your child immunized for both types of flu. It’s fine to keep your child home with cold or flu symptoms but if they worsen in any way they should see a doctor as soon as possible.