Building Blocks for Healthy Kidneys
A mother’s deficiency in vitamin A during pregnancy could cause kidney problems for her children later in life, according to a recent study published in Nature Genetics.

Vitamin A and its derivative, retinoic acid, play an important role in kidney development. Animal studies have shown that mice lacking sufficient vitamin A had smaller, malformed kidneys with fewer nephrons. In humans, this could lead to kidney disease and hypertension.

The authors urge women to monitor vitamin A intake during pregnancy to ensure that their babies are adequately nourished. Vitamin A is found in carrots, apricots, broccoli, cantaloupe, pumpkin, spinach, squash, and dark green leafy vegetables.
[SOURCE: “Vitamin A Actives Gene to Guide Kidney Development,” Genomics & Genetics Weekly, March 16, 2001]

UTIs and Kidney Disease
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common during childhood, usually presenting no complications although they can cause permanent scarring in the kidneys. A recent study found that adults who had scarring due to childhood urinary tract infections were more likely to have impaired kidney function than those who had no scarring.

Although this type of impaired kidney function rarely progresses to kidney failure, those who have had numerous urinary tract infections as children should have regular kidney checkups. If renal impairment is caught early, it can be controlled.
[SOURCE: Martin Wennerstrom et al, “Renal function 16 to 26 Years after the First Urinary Tract Infection in Childhood,” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, April 200]

The ER as Family Practice
In a study involving residents of two public housing projects located near a mid-Atlantic hospital, the 453 subjects made 1,554 visits to the emergency room during a two-year period. Visits per person ranged from 1 to 41.

The most common reasons for seeking treatment were respiratory problems (19.6 percent), injuries (14.8 percent) and digestive problems (10.8 percent).

The authors concluded: “As the poor continue to be excluded from major sources of health insurance and fewer and fewer people are covered by Medicaid, the ER is the only certain source of care for many people who otherwise have limited access to health care resources.”
[SOURCE: Karen MacDonald Thompson and Doris F. Glick, “Cost analysis of Emergency Room Use by Low-Income Patients,” Nursing Economics, May, 1999]

Emergency Room Visits Up
Emergency room visits in the United States increased 14 percent from 1992 to 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The hike meant that hospital emergency departments saw an average of 35,000 additional patients per day.

The average wait for a doctor in 1999 was 49 minutes, although the CDC pointed out that there was significant variation in the wait time depending on the hospital and the nature of the injury or illness.

A survey conducted by the American Hospital Association found that 40 percent of hospitals considered their emergency departments to be overcrowded. About 126,000 nursing positions were unfilled.
[SOURCE: Emergency Room Visits Jump 14 Percent,” AP Health, June 25, 2001; “Healthcare Workforce Shortage Already Serious, Reuters Health, June 5, 2001]

New Safety Advisory for Antifungals
Recently developed oral antifungal medications, itraconazole (Sporanox) and terbinafine (Lamisil) are effective treatments for fungal infections of the nails, but both have potentially serious side effects.

The most recent safety advisory issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) points to a “small but real risk” of developing congestive heart failure with use of Sporanox. Persons with a history of congestive heart failure should not take the medication.

Both drugs can, in rare instances, cause severe liver problems, including liver failure and death. The recent advisory notes that these problems have occurred even in persons without preexisting liver disease or other serious medical conditions.
[SOURCE: Deborah Flapan, “Safety Advisory Issued for Systemic Antifungals Sporanox and Lamisil,” Medscape News, May 11, 2001]

DASH Diet Lowers Cholesterol
The DASH diet has been proven to lower blood pressure, and a recent eight-week study of 435 men and women found that it also had a positive effect on total cholesterol, LDL and HDL. Low in saturated fat and cholesterol, the DASH diet calls for four to five servings daily of both fruits and vegetables plus higher than usual quantities of low-fat dairy products.
[SOURCE: “DASH Diet Lowers Total and LDL Cholesterol,” Reuters Medical News, June 22, 2001 from American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July, 2001]

Exercise Is Good for You: What’s New?
Exercise is good for your health. That much is certain, but the details require even more study, according a 300-page supplement to this month’s issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, summarizing decades of research on exercise and health.

The 32 articles in the supplement support the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines advising at least 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity–enough to burn a thousand calories a week. That much exercise will reduce your risk of dying from all causes by 20 to 30 percent.

Most research supports the view that more exercise will reduce your risk even more, with the benefits getting gradually smaller for each incremental increase. Some data–but not enough for definitive proof–suggests that even smaller amounts of exercise might be sufficient.
[SOURCE: Ira Dreyfuss, “Exercise Research Creates Doubts,” Associated Press Health, July 1, 2001]

Prevent Diabetes--Get Plenty of Sleep
If you want to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes, you should eat a healthy diet, exercise and keep your weight under control. A recent study indicates that it’s also a good idea to get plenty of sleep each night.

The study found that persons getting six and a half hours of sleep a night or less secreted more insulin, became less sensitive to it and, as a result, significantly increased their risk of developing diabetes.
[SOURCE: Eve Van Cauter, M.D., et al, American Diabetes Association annual meeting, June 25, 2001, Reuters Health June 26, 2001]

Warts Not To Self Treat
Over-the-counter ointments, lotions, band-aids and creams to remove warts are readily available and generally effective. Don’t use such products, however, on a bump or growth that you’re not sure is a wart. Genital warts require treatment either by a doctor or with a special type of home treatment remedy.
[SOURCE: Sandra Marchese Johnson and Robert T. Brodell, “Warts: A Guide to Their Removal,” Consultant, January, 1999; Kathleen Louden, “Winning the War on Warts: With Patient and Proper Treatment, You Can Conquer These Annoying Foes,” Current Health 2, October, 1998]

Keeping Swimming Pools Safe
How safe is the pool you swim in this summer?
Chlorine is added to swimming pools to kill infectious organisms, but some pathogens are eliminated more rapidly than others. Studies show that Escherichia coli are killed in less than a minute while giardia organisms may take as long as an hour to be destroyed. Cryptosporidium parvum parasites may resist the chlorine for as long as a week. Of 700 cases of cryptosporidial diarrhea reported in Ohio and Nebraska last summer, the illness was strongly associated with swimming at two local private pools.

Doctors point out that patients with diarrhea caused by cryptosporidium will continue to shed organisms even after symptoms have cleared and should stay out of swimming pools for at least two weeks.
[SOURCE: “Protracted Outbreaks of Cryptosporidiosis Associated with Swimming Pool Use–Ohio and Nebraska, 2000,” MMWR Weekly Report, May 25, 2001; A. Zuger, Journal Watch, June 15, 2001]

Who Gets Sunburned?
Who gets sunburned? Persons who don’t use sunscreen, of course. A survey of sun worshiper spending four hours or more at a Texas beach, however, found that even 22 subjects using sunscreen came home with sunburns. Of these, 20 did not reapply sunscreen after swimming, and the other two did not reapply at all.

Eight beach goers surveyed did not get sunburn; all eight used sunscreen according to the American Academy of Dermatology Guidelines: applying it to all exposed skin at least 20 minutes before going into the sun and reapplying it every two hours and after swimming.
[SOURCE: M.W. Wright, et al, “Mechanisms of Sunscreen Failure,” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, May, 2001]

Watch Out for Photosensitivity
If you’re taking nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as naproxen or ibuprofen to treat a sore knee or elbow, you may want to exercise special caution in the sun. NSAIDs are among medications with the potential to make skin more sensitive to ultraviolet rays and cause a photosensitive rash. Other drugs that may cause photosensitivity include antidepressants, antihistamines, cardiovascular drugs, antibiotics and even sunscreens containing benzophenones or PABA.
[SOURCE: “Which Drugs Cause Problems in the Sun?” Harvard Women’s Health Watch, June, 2001]

Why Thunderstorms Trigger Asthma
Some persons with asthma are more likely to have attacks during severe thunderstorms. A study examining asthma epidemics in six Australian towns concluded that the attacks were triggered by changes in airflow patterns–downdrafts of cold air containing high concentrations of particles. When pollen counts were high, downdrafts were even more likely to cause asthma attacks.
[SOURCE: “Thunderstorms and Asthma,” JAMA, June 13, 2001]