Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

(HealthDay News) — Spending too much time outdoors without protective sunscreen can take a toll on your skin. Unlike a thermal burn, sunburn may not be immediately noticeable. Symptoms usually start four hours after sun exposure and resolve within a week, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For minor sunburn, the CDC suggests: Treat pain with aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Drink lots of water. Avoid additional sun exposure. Take cool baths or apply cool wet cloths to the burned area.

As electronic cigarettes took off, some worried they would lead teens back to traditional cigarettes. But new research suggests that’s not the case. Vaping has done little to slow or reverse a two-decade decline in the popularity of regular cigarettes among youth, a British study suggests. “Given the important contribution to public health which has been achieved by the ‘denormalization’ of smoking among young people, we need to keep a close eye on anything which might reverse that,” stressed study author Graham Moore. So, could vaping somehow make smoking “cool” again among youth? To find out, Moore’s team analyzed surveys conducted between 1998 and 2015 of roughly 248,000 English, Scottish and Welsh students, aged 13 to 15. The polls revealed that the percentage of teens who had ever tried a cigarette plummeted from 60% in 1998 to just 19% by 2015. The percentage of regular smokers also dropped, from 19% to 5%. That trend continued despite the advent of vaping earlier this decade, the investigators found. “From our conversations with young people, the fact that the rise in experimentation with e-cigarettes was not accompanied by a rise in smoking does make some sense,” added Moore, a reader in the school of social sciences at Cardiff University in Wales. Moore noted that today’s youth “tend to distinguish quite strongly” between smoking cigarettes and using e-cigarettes. For… read on >

Need another reason to stay slim? People who are overweight have a greater risk of dying from pancreatic cancer, especially those who are carrying extra pounds before age 50, a new study suggests. “No matter what the age, there was some increase in pancreatic cancer deaths associated with excess weight. But the association was stronger for excess weight measured in people’s 30s and 40s,” said the study’s lead author, Eric Jacobs, senior scientific director of epidemiology research at the American Cancer Society (ACS). “We’re not completely sure why this is. Weight gain later in life may simply have less time to cause cancer,” he said. Between 2000 and 2015, the rate of pancreatic cancer rose about 15 percent, he said. It’s now the third-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. One reason pancreatic cancer is so deadly is that it often isn’t discovered until it has reached an advanced stage. The disease rarely causes noticeable symptoms, and there are no effective screening tests, according to the cancer society. But a few risk factors for pancreatic cancer can be changed. Smoking, weight and exposure to workplace chemicals are the three known risk factors that can be modified. In the new study, researchers looked at data for almost 1 million U.S. adults with no history of cancer. The participants were enrolled in a nationwide study… read on >

Spring break may mean sun and fun for lots of college kids, but it doesn’t mean they can forget about contact lens care, experts say. Your risk of eye infections increases if you wear contacts and do things such as sleep in them, shower or swim with them in, and not wash your hands before handling them — all of which are more likely to happen when you’re busy enjoying your spring break. The American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Academy of Optometry and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer the following contact lens safety tips for travelers: Pack a spare pair of glasses. Take out your contact lenses before jumping into the water at a beach or pool. Take your contact lenses out before bed, even if you’re up late. Bring enough contact lens supplies with you on your trip. Don’t top off by adding new solution to old. Never wear contact lenses that were not prescribed to you, especially decorative lenses sold at souvenir shops. Always wash your hands with soap and water before touching your contact lenses. Remove your contact lenses and call an eye doctor immediately if you experience redness, pain, tearing, discharge or swelling of your eyes, as well as increased light sensitivity or blurred vision. “Most people don’t think of contact lenses as a medical device, but… read on >

With concern over concussion dangers rising, most U.S. parents now say that they would support bans on tackling in youth football, a new survey shows. Researchers found that of more than 1,000 parents in a national sample, 60 percent were in favor of age restrictions on tackling. Another quarter were in the “maybe” camp. The study, published online April 1 in the journal Pediatrics, dovetails with growing fears about sports-related concussions in children and teenagers. The rate of concussion in youth sports remains fairly low; but research suggests that because so many U.S. kids play sports, it translates to as many as 1.9 million concussions a year among 5- to 18-year-olds. So, various sports organizations have laid out new rules to protect young athletes from head injuries. For example, youth soccer leagues recommend that kids younger than 11 avoid “heading” the ball, while USA Hockey advises against “body checking” for players younger than 13. The issue of tackling in youth football remains debated, though. The new study tried to gauge where parents stand, since their views are crucial, said lead author Dr. Sara Chrisman, of Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Her team found that few parents — 15 percent — were against age restrictions on tackling. And moms and dads were generally on the same page: 58 percent of men and 63 percent of women supported… read on >

A dementia study has led researchers to a brain region that processes spoken, not written, words. Northwestern University researchers worked with four patients who had a rare type of dementia called primary progressive aphasia (PPA), which destroys language. Although able to hear and speak, they could not understand what was said out loud. However, they could still process written words. For example, if they read the word “hippopotamus,” they could identify a picture of a hippo. But if someone said the word “hippopotamus,” they couldn’t point to its picture. Through their tests with these patients, the researchers were able to identify an area in the left brain that appears specialized to process spoken words. “We always think of these degenerative diseases as causing widespread impairment, but in early stages, we’re learning that neurodegenerative disease can be selective with which areas of the brain it attacks,” said senior author Sandra Weintraub. She’s a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and neurology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “The fact that only the auditory words were impaired in these patients and their visual words were untouched leads us to believe we’ve identified a new area of the brain where raw sound information is transformed into auditory word images,” Weintraub explained in a university news release. Because the study included only four patients, the findings are… read on >

An older but still common multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment has an unexpected perk: It not only quells symptoms, but patients may also live longer. New research revealed that patients taking a beta interferon drug for more than three years were likely to live longer than those who took one for a shorter time or who didn’t take one at all. “This study was the first and largest of its kind, and we found that a commonly used drug for MS may prolong life,” said the study’s senior author, Helen Tremlett. She’s the Canada Research Chair in Neuroepidemiology and Multiple Sclerosis at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Beta interferon drugs include Avonex, Betaseron, Extavia, Plegridy and Rebif. Beta interferons were the first disease-modifying drugs available to treat MS. They were introduced in the 1990s to treat relapsing MS. Newer medications are now available, but beta interferons are still widely used, the study authors noted. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system. The symptoms include muscle weakness, trouble with coordination and balance, visual disturbances and problems with thinking and memory. MS can shorten life span an average of six years or more, the study authors said. Dr. Nicholas LaRocca is vice president of Health Care Delivery and Policy Research for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He explained that, in… read on >

You might think of seeing a skin specialist for cosmetic procedures, to freshen skin or to get rid of lines. But do you recognize the signs of problems that need the attention of a skin doctor? Here are some of the most common skin conditions and their warning signs. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. With millions of new cases diagnosed each year, report any suspicious new moles or a change in an existing mole. Do a monthly visual check of your skin using mirrors for hard-to-see areas using the “A-B-C-D-E” test. A mole is worrisome if it: Is Asymmetrical Has a Border with ragged edges Has Color that’s uneven Has a Diameter larger than a pencil eraser Is Elevated or raised Another common — and persistent — skin problem is acne, with its clogged pores and pus-filled pimples. Breakouts can affect people well into their adult years. For acne that doesn’t improve with drugstore products, see a dermatologist not only to clear up skin, but also to avoid permanent scars. Because acne can affect self-esteem, don’t let your kids suffer with it. Acne may not harmlessly just run its course. Constant redness anywhere on the face can be a sign of rosacea. You might see thin blood vessels and pimples but not the blackheads of acne. A… read on >

To take calcium or not to take calcium, that is still the question. In a new study that contradicts earlier research, investigators found that adding calcium to your diet will not raise your risk of a common age-related eye disease. That disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness among Americans aged 65 and older. In the new research, a team from the U.S. National Eye Institute analyzed data from more than 4,700 people in the United States who were followed for an average of 10 years as part of a study on age-related eye disease. None of the participants had AMD at the start of the study. As participants got older, those with the highest intake of calcium from their diet or supplements actually had a lower risk of developing late-stage AMD than those with the lowest calcium intake, the findings showed. The study was published March 21 in JAMA Ophthalmology. “Although the findings suggest that high calcium intake may be protective, the jury is still out on whether people should alter their calcium intake to prevent the onset or progression of AMD,” said lead investigator Dr. Emily Chew. She is director of the division of epidemiology and clinical applications, and deputy clinical director at the eye institute. Chew noted that the apparent protective effect of calcium could… read on >