Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

Computer-driven artificial intelligence (AI) can help protect human brains from the damage wrought by stroke, a new report suggests. A computer program trained to look for bleeding in the brain outperformed two of four certified radiologists, finding abnormalities in brain scans quickly and efficiently, the researchers reported. “This AI can evaluate the whole head in one second,” said senior researcher Dr. Esther Yuh, an associate professor of radiology at the University of California, San Francisco. “We trained it to be very, very good at looking for the kind of tiny abnormalities that radiologists look for.” Stroke doctors often say that “time is brain,” meaning that every second’s delay in treating a stroke results in more brain cells dying and the patient becoming further incapacitated. Yuh and her colleagues hope that AI programmed to find trouble spots in a brain will be able to significantly cut down treatment time for stroke patients. “Instead of having a delay of 20 to 30 minutes for a radiologist to turn around a CT scan for interpretation, the computer can read it in a second,” Yuh said. Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States, and is a leading cause of disability, according to the American Stroke Association. There are two types of strokes: ones caused by burst blood vessels in the brain (hemorrhagic), and others that… read on >

Severe sleep apnea is a risk factor for diabetic eye disease that can lead to vision loss and blindness, researchers report. Poor control of diabetes can result in damage to tiny blood vessels at the back of the eye, a condition called diabetic retinopathy. It’s a leading cause of blindness in the United States. In some cases, tiny bulges protrude from the blood vessels and leak fluid and blood into the retina. This fluid can cause swelling (edema) in an area of the retina that enables clear vision and is called macular edema. In this study, researchers in Taiwan examined data from 51 patients over eight years at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei. They found that patients with diabetic macular edema had a much higher rate (80.6%) of severe sleep apnea than those without the eye condition (45.5%). The worse the sleep apnea, the more severe the macular edema, according to the study. The researchers also found that severe sleep apnea was more common patients who required more treatment to control their macular edema. These patients needed at least three medical or laser therapy treatments, according to the study. It was to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), in San Francisco. “Based on these results, we hope that more medical professionals will approach sleep apnea as… read on >

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 16, 2019 Weight-loss surgery before pregnancy may lower obese women’s odds of having a baby with major birth defects, new research suggests. For the study, the researchers examined data on more than 33,000 births in Sweden between 2007 and 2014. Of these, nearly 3,000 children were born to mothers who had a type of weight-loss surgery called gastric bypass before getting pregnant. The rest were born to women who weighed about the same as the others did before weight-loss surgery — more than 260 pounds. Women in the surgery group lost an average 88 pounds and weighed about 181 pounds at their first prenatal checkup. In addition, their use of diabetes medications fell from 9.7% to 1.5%. The risk of major birth defects was about 30% lower in children whose mothers had weight-loss surgery than in those of the obese mothers, the findings showed. The risk of major birth defects was 3.4% in children born to women who had gastric bypass surgery — similar to the 3.5% rate among those born to normal-weight women, the researchers reported. The risk of major birth defects was 4.9% in children born to the women who were still obese, according to the study published Oct. 15 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings challenge long-held concerns that weight-loss surgery could increase the odds of… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Eye gunk, known medically as rheum, is the crust that forms in the corners of your eyes when you wake up in the morning. Sleep crust is a mix of mucus, skin cells, oils and tears shed by the eye during sleep, says the University of Utah. While white or cream colored gunk is normal, yellow or green is not, and can be a sign of conjunctivitis or a chronic eye condition. The school says you should see an ophthalmologist if your eye gunk is discolored.

(HealthDay News) — Injuries at home and at play are preventable, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC mentions these ways to reduce your chances of injury: Wear the proper helmet for your activity. Wear a life jacket when boating. Have your eyes checked. Remove tripping hazards around your home. Learn how to swim. Store medicine out of the reach of children. Take medication only as directed. Place children in a proper booster or car seat. Wear your seatbelt. Walk on a sidewalk.

Sore from a workout? You don’t have to reach for pain relief medicine when ice or heat will help. But when should you go cold and when should you go warm? Ice is the go-to therapy when an injury first happens. It can stop the swelling of a sprained ankle, for instance, and numb the pain. The traditional approach is 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off at first. You might step this down to 20 minutes every two or three hours on the second and third days. If you have a long-term injury, icing the area for 10 to 20 minutes after a workout can be soothing. Ice options include a plastic bag of crushed ice, a reusable ice pack or even a bag of peas that can be refrozen for use again — label it so no one eats them. Whatever you use, always place a thin towel between the ice and your skin to prevent skin damage. Once the swelling of an injury is gone, you can switch to heat. Heat eases discomfort and promotes healing. With a chronic condition like arthritis, it can soothe achy joints and lessen your pain. You can follow the same type of schedule you would when icing. Just as you don’t want to freeze your skin with ice, you don’t want to burn it with heat. So… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Excessive sweating, also known as hyperhidrosis, is a medical condition that happens when a person sweats more than necessary. People with hyperhidrosis sweat when the body does not need cooling, says the American Academy of Dermatology. Many people with hyperhidrosis sweat from their palms, feet, underarms or head. The condition can interfere with daily activities, and cause unsightly sweat marks. Treatment options range from antiperspirants to Botox injections to prescription medicine.

The most common misconception about weight training is that it adds bulky muscle mass, a fear of some women. While elite male lifters can — and want to — get very developed, for most people the result is simply well-toned muscles. Other benefits are increased mobility, more support for your joints and the ability to stay self-sufficient into your late years. As an added bonus, having more muscle can also help you with your weight goal. That’s because the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate and the more calories you burn. Add a calorie cut into the mix and you’ll lose weight. Muscle is denser than fat and it also takes up less room. That’s why you can look leaner yet actually weigh more than someone without muscle definition. To make the most of strength training, lift heavier weights than you think you’re able to. Yes, challenge yourself, staying within safe limits. You don’t want to try to lift a weight you can barely pick up off the weight rack, but most people underestimate the amount they can handle or fail to progress to heavier weights, according to the American Council on Exercise, and that limits the effectiveness of strength training. Keep in mind, too, that you don’t have to spend hours in the gym. All you need are 20 to 30… read on >

SATURDAY, Oct. 12, 2019Fall can be a challenging time of the year for kids with asthma, an expert says. “Although asthma can flare up for a number of reasons, a lot of people with allergies also have asthma, and asthma can be triggered by allergies. So the fall is a tough time for asthmatic sufferers,” said Dr. Gaurav Kumar, a pediatrician at LifeBridge Health in Baltimore. While many kids do well with their asthma during the summer, problems often accompany the return to school. “You go from taking these outdoor summer vacations to now being in a classroom again,” Kumar explained. “So now you’re in contact with people in closed spaces. And of course, what happens is germs are more likely to spread that way. So you could get colds from friends who have colds, and then that becomes a trigger for asthma.” Parents need to make sure their child’s asthma is under control. If a child stopped taking preventive asthma medications regularly during the summer, they should resume daily use now, Kumar advised. Children with asthma should have checkups at least once a year, and in some cases as often as three or four times a year. “An asthma checkup is an opportunity for us to reassess how the year has gone and to make plans in anticipation of what might happen,” Kumar said… read on >