Can sex help improve the health of a Parkinson’s patient? It might — at least for some. So claims a new two-year study that tracked the sexual habits and disease progression among 355 Parkinson’s patients. “This is in line with data showing a close relationship between sexual health and general health, both in healthy individuals and in patients with chronic disease,” said the Italian-British study team, led by Dr. Marina Picillo. She’s an assistant professor at the University of Salerno’s Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Salerno, Italy. Picillo and her colleagues concluded that early-stage male patients who are sexually active do experience “milder” disease progression and a less dramatic loss of motor skills and other disease symptoms, compared with those who don’t. But there’s a hitch. The finding only appears to apply to men. Why? The answer is not clear. But one factor may be that the investigation results were skewed, as twice as many men were enrolled as women (238 men versus 117 women). Beyond that, the study authors pointed out that women experience different Parkinson’s symptoms from men. And women “are less prone to talk about sexual and genital issues due to societal attitudes,” wrote Picillo. Even so, she and her research team said the findings warrant the attention of movement disorder specialists, who might view a patient’s sexual history as a tool…  read on >

Fireworks are a beautiful sight to behold, but they can damage your hearing if you’re not careful. Protecting your hearing should be one of the safety precautions you take when you and your family are at fireworks displays and other events on the Fourth of July, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) says. Fireworks and firecrackers can be as loud as 150 decibels, which is louder than a jackhammer or jet plane take-off. Noise levels of around 75 to 80 decibels are considered safe. The louder the noise, the quicker hearing damage occurs, according to the ASHA. Noise-induced hearing loss is completely preventable, but is irreversible once it occurs, the association warned in a news release. The ASHA offered the following Independence Day hearing safety tips. Use hearing protection. Basic earplugs can be picked up at drug stores and provide hearing protection for most teens and adults. For children, well-fitting earmuffs over earplugs are typically a good idea. Keep your distance. Stay at least 500 feet from loud noise sources such as speakers, a stage, or fireworks launch sites. The closer you are, the greater the risk to your hearing. Plan your exit strategy. If you develop ringing in your ears or any other ear discomfort, you should leave the event. If you continue to have pain or ringing in the ears, or have difficulty hearing,…  read on >

Don’t invite skin cancer to your holiday weekend. As you celebrate America’s independence at beaches, pools or backyard parties, remember that the sun’s damaging rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. — and protecting yourself is a must. “When it comes to sunscreen, people in general don’t put on enough, and they don’t put it on as often as they should,” said Dr. William Huang, a dermatologist at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, N.C. “I tell my patients that it should become routine, like brushing your teeth. You’d feel strange if you didn’t brush your teeth every day, and it should feel strange if you’re not using sunscreen every day,” he said in a health system news release. The sun emits two types of ultraviolet radiation, and both do skin damage. UVA rays contribute to premature wrinkling and aging. UVB damages surface skin cells and contributes to sunburn. But even if you don’t get a sunburn, ultraviolet radiation causes changes in skin DNA that can lead to cancer, Huang said. And everyone — not just people with fair skin — is at risk. “We see skin cancer in people of all ages and skin types,” Huang said. “Ultraviolet radiation is a carcinogen.” And when it comes to skin cancer, UV radiation poses a bigger risk than smoking does for lung cancer, he…  read on >

With school, sports and assorted activities, many kids have little or no free time. That fast-paced lifestyle can actually stifle their development, making them less likely to be self-starters. It could also limit their imagination, an important ingredient in creativity and problem-solving. University of Colorado-Boulder researchers found that kids who spend more time in less-structured activities have better self-directed control and thinking skills than those who spend more time in structured activities. Think of less-structured activities as free play — alone or with friends — reading, drawing and casual social outings. Other research has found value in some completely unstructured time to daydream and let the mind wander. Give your children time, space and some simple tools, like paper and colored pencils, to start their creative juices flowing. Free time allows kids to come up with imaginative ideas and find creative solutions to problems. It encourages qualities such as independent thinking, self-reliance and perseverance — the drive to keep trying if something doesn’t work the first time. So when you’re looking ahead at the weekly calendar, be sure to leave some blocks of time empty. Not sure if your child is overscheduled? The American Academy of Family Physicians lists these common warning signs: Your child is constantly tired. Your child is often grumpy. Your child has developed physical problems like headaches or belly aches. Your…  read on >

The anti-vaccination movement is now a global crisis, an international panel of scientists say, and everyone must do more to combat it. “We are alarmed that the WHO [World Health Organization] this year declared vaccine hesitancy a top-10 international public health problem. This is a man-made, dangerous and wholly unnecessary crisis,” said Dr. Scott Ratzan. He’s founding editor of the Journal of Health Communication. He’s also the founder of the International Working Group (IWG) on Vaccination and Public Health Solutions. The new Salzburg Statement on Vaccine Acceptance, published July 2, has been endorsed by 60 leaders in public health from the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. According to the group, vaccines have prevented hundreds of millions of infectious diseases — such as polio, measles, hepatitis B and meningitis — and save up to 3 million lives a year. They are cost-effective, too. Every U.S. dollar spent on childhood immunization returns up to $44 in benefits, according to the IWG. But in the United States, outbreaks of measles have recently occurred in hotspots where parents have refused to vaccinate their children. In response, some U.S. states have reacted by closing “personal belief” loopholes that allowed parents to not immunize a school-aged child. “The resurgence of potentially life-threatening diseases like measles, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control declared eliminated in the United States in 2000,…  read on >

Kids whose moms don’t get enough sunshine during pregnancy may be more likely to develop learning difficulties, researchers report. The finding stems from data on more than 422,000 school-aged children in Scotland. Low levels of exposure to UVB rays — but not UVA sunlight — during the entire pregnancy was linked to learning disabilities later on. Because only UVB rays were implicated, the researchers suspect the effect relates to insufficient vitamin D production. Exposure to vitamin D in the first trimester of pregnancy is essential for fetal brain development, the researchers said. The percentage of kids with learning disabilities varied by month of conception. It ranged from nearly 17% among children conceived in July to 21% among those conceived in February, March and April, when exposure to sunlight is less. However, the study could not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. “Learning disabilities can have profound life-long effects on both the affected child and their family. The importance of our study is that it suggests a possible way to prevent learning disabilities in some children,” said lead author Jill Pell, director of the University of Glasgow’s Institute of Health and Wellbeing. “Clinical trials are now needed to confirm whether taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy could reduce the risk of learning disabilities,” she said in a university news release. The report was published June 27 in the…  read on >