Many women experience back pain during pregnancy and a new study review suggests an ancient treatment can help. Acupuncture provided significant relief of lower back and pelvic pain, according to an analysis of 10 trials from various parts of the world. The findings were published Nov. 21 in BMJ Open. “Acupuncture significantly improved pain, functional status, and quality of life in women with [lower back/pelvic pain] during the pregnancy,” wrote the researchers, who included Dr. Wei Dong, from the Department of Orthopaedics at the Kunming Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. “Additionally, acupuncture had no observable severe adverse influences on the newborns,” they said in a journal news release. The 10 trials were conducted between 2000 and 2020 in the United States, Sweden, United Kingdom, Spain and Brazil. In all, the trials included 1,040 healthy women. On average, they were in their 17th to 30th week of pregnancy. Each had lower back and/or pelvic pain and were treated by trained acupuncturists, physiotherapists or midwives. Seven of the 10 trials described body acupuncture. The other three described ear lobe acupuncture. The findings varied but trial results for nine studies suggested that acupuncture significantly relieved pain during pregnancy. Four studies reported on the potential of acupuncture to restore physical function, showing significant improvements. In the five studies that recorded impact on quality of life, findings…  read on >  read on >

Shoveling snow is a strenuous workout that poses risks for people with heart conditions. “We have to think of shoveling snow as a pretty significant exertion, like an exercise,” said Dr. Donald Ford, chair of family medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio. “So if you’re going out to exercise, people who have heart conditions or people who have risk for heart conditions, may need to talk to their doctor before they engage in that.” That includes folks with risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, Ford said. The doctor can advise whether shoveling is safe, and if so, how much. If you do get the go-ahead, taking frequent rest breaks is a good idea, Ford said in a clinic news release. Even if you’re in shape, warm up before your first scoop. Stretch out the muscles of the back, arms, shoulders and legs. Do a brief aerobic warmup to get the blood flowing, such as walking in place, hopping up and down, or even spending a few minutes on the treadmill, he suggested. Once you’re outside, lift with your legs — not your back. “Make sure you’re lifting from the center. Keeping your body upright, not reaching over,” Ford said. Using an ergonomic shovel, which has a longer, bent handle, will help prevent back pain, he noted. It enables a…  read on >  read on >

That new television, cabinet or appliance you’re looking to snag on Black Friday or Cyber Monday could bring unexpected dangers to your home. So don’t forget to buy a kit to anchor it to the wall and keep it from tipping over and harming young kids, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) urges. “With the holiday shopping season upon us, it is critical to anchor your new TV or furniture to the wall to help prevent tip-over incidents,” said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric. “Even if a TV or piece of furniture comes without an anti-tip-over kit, you can order them online or purchase them at your local hardware store for $20 or less,” he noted in a commission news release. Since 2000, 581 deaths caused by furniture, TV or appliance tip-overs have happened in the United States. Of those, 472 involved children. Just last month, the CPSC approved a mandatory safety standard for dressers, chests and other clothing storage units. This ensures they meet new minimum stability requirements designed to prevent furniture from tipping over. Until more stable furniture makes its way into the marketplace, the CPSC said consumers should anchor their furniture. You can repair a wall after removing a furniture anchor if you redecorate or move, the commission noted. If anchoring is not an option, it recommended placing TVs on a sturdy, low…  read on >  read on >

Over-the-counter pain relievers like aspirin, Aleve or ibuprofen don’t do a thing to slow the progression of knee arthritis, and might even make things worse, a new study suggests. Knee arthritis patients who regularly took nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) wound up with worse knee inflammation and weakened cartilage, compared to a “control” group not taking the medications, researchers report. “We found that the participants who were taking NSAIDs regularly for four years showed worse results with regard to synovitis,” which is inflammation within the knee, said lead researcher Dr. Johanna Luitjens, a postdoctoral scholar with the University of California, San Francisco’s department of radiology and biomedical imaging. “Also, we saw that the composition of the cartilage was worse in the group of NSAID users compared to the controls,” Luitjens added. NSAIDs block the production of body chemicals that cause inflammation. People regularly pop these pills to provide short-term relief of arthritis pain. Aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) and naproxen sodium (Aleve) are the most common NSAIDs, available over the counter at any pharmacy or grocery store. For this study, Luitjens and her colleagues analyzed data gathered from more than 1,000 participants in a federally funded long-term observational study of knee arthritis. Participants entered the study between February 2004 and May 2006. The researchers compared 277 people who were prescribed NSAIDs regularly for at least a year…  read on >  read on >

Researchers have found a way to safely deliver a steady supply of chemotherapy directly to brain tumors — in what they hope will be an important advance for patients with currently incurable cancers. The treatment involves an implantable pump system that supplies a steady drip of chemo straight to the brain tumor. Researchers have tested it in five patients who had recurrent glioblastoma, a particularly deadly form of brain tumor. They found the system was able to hit patients’ tumors with chemotherapy doses that were 1,000-times higher than is possible with traditional chemo. And there were no significant side effects. The big unanswered question, experts said, is whether the approach can ultimately extend people’s lives. Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer that is diagnosed in about 12,000 Americans each year, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. Adults with the disease typically live for about 15 months after diagnosis. Sens. Edward Kennedy and John McCain both died of the disease. Glioblastoma is very difficult to treat for a number of reasons. For one, it cannot be completely removed with surgery because the tumor has finger-like extensions that interweave with normal brain tissue. “There’s no real boundary between where the tumor starts and healthy brain tissue starts,” said Dr. Adam Sonabend, an associate professor of neurological surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.…  read on >  read on >

Annual lung cancer screening for heavy smokers can provide a big boost in lung cancer survival over the long term, a new study shows. When low-dose CT screening identifies early-stage lung cancer, patients have an 80% chance of surviving 20 years, researchers found. And for some, the odds are as high as 100%. But only 16% of lung cancers are caught early, and more than half of people with lung cancer die within a year of being diagnosed, according to the American Lung Association. The average five-year survival rate is less than 19%. This study shows “how powerful screening is,” said Dr. Andrea McKee, a volunteer spokeswoman for the lung association and chair of radiation oncology at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, Mass. She was not involved in the study. By detecting and treating the cancer when it is small, patients can be effectively cured in the long term, the study authors say. Lung cancer screening, however, is underutilized. A recent lung association report revealed that only 6% of eligible Americans had undergone the screening. In some states, lung cancer screening rates are as low as 1%. Dr. Claudia Henschke, the new study’s lead researcher, pointed out some obstacles to screening. “There’s been talk about too many false positives and radiation. But the radiation dose is very low. It’s less than that of…  read on >  read on >

Vaccines have become a hot topic in the past few years, but a new survey finds many parents aren’t discussing immunization with their child’s doctor. Though a child’s pediatrician has often been the go-to resource on vaccines, the University of Michigan Medicine poll found that 1 in 7 parents have not discussed vaccines with their child’s doctor during the pandemic. While 80% of parents have talked with their child’s pediatrician about immunizations required for school, only 68% have discussed a flu vaccine and only 57% have sought information about a COVID-19 vaccine. “With a new vaccine like COVID, we would expect parents to have a lot of questions and concerns, and we would expect parents to turn to that trusted primary care provider who has guided them through other vaccine decisions for their child,” said Sarah Clark, co-director of the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at University of Michigan Health. “The lower rates of discussions for the COVID vaccine may suggest a downturn in the role of the primary care provider as the go-to source on this topic,” she said in a poll news release. About 6% of parents don’t get any vaccines for their children. The poll discovered that 43% of that smaller group have had no vaccine discussions with any healthcare provider in the past two years. Another 3%…  read on >  read on >