Health News - Friday, January 26, 2007
A type of migraine drug can be helpful for patients who suffer from orgasmic headaches, researchers report. But anyone who experiences a severe headache upon orgasm for the first time must seek medical attention to ensure that it is not due to a type of bleeding on the brain called subarachnoid hemorrhage, Dr. Achim Frese of the University of Munster, Germany, and colleagues advise.
About 1 percent of people are believed to have headaches associated with sexual activity at some point in their lives. There are two types of sex-associated headaches: pre-orgasmic, dull headaches that increase with sexual excitement, and orgasmic headaches, which are sudden, severe headaches that occur upon orgasm and can last for hours. Continue reading
Expectant fathers play a bigger role in their child's early development than they may realize and it begins from the moment of conception. Far from being just bystanders during the pregnancy, their relationship with their wife or partner and any stress it may cause can influence their child's brain development.
"The partner really has quite a role to play in how their child turns out even while the mother is pregnant," said Dr Vivette Glover, of Imperial College London. "We found an effect (from stress) on both mental and emotional development," she told Reuters. Continue reading
In a recent study, nearly all the adolescents who participated did not meet federal guidelines for healthy behaviors, researchers said Friday. Only 2 percent of kids ages 11 to 15 met the guidelines for diet, physical activity and sedentary risk behaviors as laid out in Healthy People 2010, a national effort to combat the most preventable health threats Americans face.
The study, published in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, was led by Alvaro Sanchez of the primary care research unit of Bizkaia, Basque Health Service in Bilbao, Spain. In 2006 Sanchez and colleagues looked at data from 878 girls and boys, about 58 percent non-Hispanic white, who were recruited through their primary care settings between 2001 and 2002. The researchers observed physical activity using accelerometers -- a device that measures activity -- and asked families to report the kids' television viewing time, their percent calories from fat and servings of fruits and vegetables. Parents also reported their own behaviors. Continue reading
In a study of normal-weight, overweight and obese adults, researchers found that waist circumference was consistently negatively associated with lung function across all weight categories.
Study chief Dr. Yue Chen of the University of Ottawa told Reuters Health that waist circumference is a better predictor of lung impairment than body mass index (BMI) -- a measure of weight in relation to height used to determine how thin or fat a person is. Obesity is associated with a wide range of health problems including respiratory dysfunction. "In our previous studies, we have found that obesity is associated with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and BMI is an important predictor," Chen said. Continue reading
U.S. Federal health advisers said on Thursday that a five-in-one vaccine for children is both safe and effective. The endorsement improves the chance the Food and Drug Administration will give its stamp of approval to the Sanofi Pasteur vaccine, called Pentacel. The FDA is not required the follow the advice of its outside advisers but usually does.
The vaccine is meant to prevent diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and bacterial infection caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib. Hib disease can cause meningitis, pneumonia and arthritis. The endorsement came even though several FDA advisers questioned the efficacy of the Hib component of the vaccine. The panel recommended follow-up studies on the vaccine if it wins approval. Continue reading
A recent study reveals that smokers who can't quit should exercise. In a study of older women, researchers found a physically active smoker had a 35 percent lower risk of lung cancer than a sedentary smoker.
But Dr. Kathryn Schmitz, the study's lead author, stressed exercising does not give women a free pass to smoke. "The most important thing that smokers can do to reduce the risk of lung cancer is quit smoking," said Schmitz, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Those who quit smoking are 10 to 11 times less likely to develop lung cancer than those who smoke, she said. Continue reading