Sitting a Risk Factor for Death

Daniel J. DeNoon
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July 23, 2010 — Sit at leisure, die at haste, an American Cancer Society study finds.

In the 14-year study, people who spent at least 6 hours of their daily leisure time sitting died sooner than
people who sat less than 3 hours.

And people who both sit a lot and exercise little are at even higher risk of death, find ACS epidemiologist
Alpa V. Patel, PhD, and colleagues.

The effect is stronger for women than for men, but significant for both sexes.

Patel's data come from 53,440 U.S. men and 69,776 women who were 50-74 years old when the study
began in 1992.

Study participants were asked, "During the past year, on an average day (not counting time spent at your
job), how many hours a day did you spend sitting (watching television, reading, etc.)?"

After adjusting for smoking, height/weight, and other factors, Patel's team found that compared to sitting
less than three hours a day, sitting six or more hours a day:

• Increased the death rate by about 40% in women

• Increased the death rate by about 20% in men
• Increased the death rate by 94% in the least active women
• Increased the death rate by 48% in the least active men
It wasn't just that they weren't getting exercise. Patel and colleagues found that sitting itself was
detrimental to health.

Sitting increased risk of cancer death, but the main death risk linked to sitting was heart disease.
"It is beneficial to encourage sedentary individuals to stand up and walk around as well as to reach
optimal levels of physical activity," Patel and colleagues conclude.

The study findings appear in the July 22 early online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

SOURCES:

Patel, A.V. American Journal of Epidemiology, published online July 22, 2010.

News release, American Cancer Society.

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Individuals With Partial Hearing Loss May Benefit from Hybrid

Cochlear Implant
ScienceDaily (Jan. 14, 2011) — Hearing loss can affect anyone at any time.
But it can be especially frightening for someone who suddenly starts to lose
hearing during adulthood. Tom Groves, 77, first noticed his diminishing
hearing when he was in his early 40s. He was unable to hold conversations
with large groups of people, found it nearly impossible to socialize in high-
background noise environments like restaurants. and couldn't enjoy radio, TV
and movies unless they were captioned. Now, Groves is hearing much better
than he has in 30 years, thanks to an experimental hybrid cochlear implant.

See Also:

Health & Medicine

• Hearing Loss
• Disability
• Diseases and Conditions
• Workplace Health
• Eye Care
• Diet and Weight Loss
Reference
• Hearing impairment
• Service dog
• Auditory system
• Eardrum
Northwestern Memorial Hospital is one of nine centers in the U.S., and the only in Illinois, that is
participating in a study investigating the effectiveness of a new cochlear implant device that aims to
restore hearing for individuals with high-frequency hearing loss and functional low-frequency hearing.
This group of patients doesn't meet the criteria for conventional cochlear implants because they have
near perfect residual hearing in low pitches that allows them to perform well on tests used to determine
candidacy for traditional implants. However, their hearing in high pitches is so poor that a hearing aid is
not helpful, making them ideally suited for the hybrid implant, which addresses both issues.
"We are hopeful that the hybrid cochlear implant will provide a subset of people who were previously not
candidates for an implantable device the opportunity to test the device to determine if they can experience
sound again," said Northwestern Medicine neurotologist Andrew Fishman, MD, principal investigator of
the study, staff in the departments of otolaryngology and neurosurgery at Northwestern University's
Feinberg School of Medicine, and Mr. Groves' cochlear implant surgeon. "The potential for patients with a
significant amount of residual hearing, but a large amount of high-frequency hearing loss, to have an
alternative to hearing aids would be a great improvement over what is currently available."
Cochlear implants were FDA approved in 1984 as a treatment option for restoring hearing in people with
severe and profound hearing loss. The surgical implant system is designed to stimulate the auditory nerve
by bypassing damaged parts of the ear. A small battery-operated mini "computer" and microphone are
worn on the outside of the ear and convert sounds into electric signals. The signals are then transmitted
to implant electrodes in the cochlea, which stimulate the nerve endings so sound can be perceived by the
brain.
The hybrid cochlear implant works in the same way as traditional cochlear implants, stimulating nerve
endings in the cochlear so that high-pitched sounds can be heard. In addition, it also involves
amplification for low-pitched sounds, similar to a hearing aid. Like traditional cochlear implants, the hybrid
version is worn outside the ear and converts sounds into acoustic and electric signals.
"The surgical implantation of cochlear devices is typically done on an outpatient basis, and usually with
non-serious complications, aside from mild discomfort following surgery," said Northwestern Medicine
otolaryngologist Alan Micco, MD, co-investigator of the study and chief of otology/neurotology at the
Feinberg School of Medicine. "A few weeks following surgery, the activation process and fine-tuning take
place to determine what audio thresholds work best for the individual, and sounds can usually be
perceived shortly thereafter."
Post-activation evaluations take place at three, six and 12 months following the initial activation process
to assess progress of the cochlear implant. An audiologist will also test the implant to determine if
participants are able to understand words, sentences in noisy and quiet environments, as well as
experience music recognition.
A few months post-surgery, Groves is happy to have some of his hearing restored. "I'm very excited and
encouraged by my experience with the implant. I know I'm hearing better than I have for many, many
years, and for that I'm very grateful."
==================================================
===================================

Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided
byNorthwestern Memorial Hospital.

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The Latest Trend: The Use of Caffeine in Aesthetics

From our double shot, extra hot, non-fat vanilla lattes to new under eye anti-puffiness serums, a jolt of caffeine
has alluring qualities in making our lives more endurable. However, while there is significant study into many of
the benefits of ingested caffeine, the jury is still out on the long-lasting benefits of this “miracle” ingredient,
when topically applied as a part of an anti-aging regiment.
The benefits from the oral intake of caffeine in the many beverages in which it is found: teas, coffee, sodas etc.
has long been the subject of study in the medical and pharmaceutical arenas. Many studies have concluded
that: whether working as a powerful antioxidant within the body, as an active ingredient in the prevention of
Parkinson’s disease or gallstones, or as a possible inhibitor in the development of certain cancers, moderate
consumption of caffeine is generally accepted to do a healthy body more good than harm.
However, consumers are now seeing an increase in caffeine being used topically. This has lead to the
question, eloquently posed by Dr. Bernard Gram founder of SKIN1, “what is the safety and efficacy of topical
caffeine on human skin,” and moreover, as Dr. Linder queries, “what long-term improvement can be expected”
through the topical application of caffeine?
Caffeine in “EyeJuvenation”
Appreciating that scientific data is lacking, caffeine is clearly being heralded as “a new exciting product used in
many topical creams both as an anti-inflammatory product as well as an anti-oxidant.” Dermatologist Dr.
Melissa Babcock explains why caffeine is now finding itself one of the more pre-eminent ingredients in the
cosmetic industry. “First off, caffeine is best known for its ability to cause vasoconstriction (the ability to make
blood vessels smaller) and therein to decrease redness in skin.” Dr. Babcock shares that, “for patients with
rosacea, this can be a wonderful product.” However, she reminds us that “the effects are not long term so the
product needs to be applied daily for best results.
Dermatologist Dr. Jennifer Linder echos the sentiment that “caffeine seems to be one of those “miracle”
ingredients that is getting a lot of hype for the moment.” Especially in support of the trend toward
“EyeJuvenation,” one of the top anti-aging trends identified by the International Association of Physicians in
Aesthetic Medicine (IAPAM). The vasoconstrictive properties of caffeine are being marketed in eye products
designed to reduce puffiness. However, Dr. Linder is equally careful in recognizing that there is “little research
supporting these claims,” and while the short term “benefit” of reduced puffiness can be attributed to an
increase in circulation, “again no studies have been performed for eye-area usage.”
Caffeine Contributes to Cellulite Improvements
In a recent study, coffee was declassified as a diuretic. Previously thought to contribute to fluid loss, coffee
consumption has now been found to be no more effective as a diuretic than water. However, Dr. Linder notes
that, “in studies, caffeine-containing products increased cutaneous microcirculation and reduced the
appearance of cellulite.” Further, Dr. Linder found several studies “on the physiology of cellulite that support
microvascular changes in cellulite-effected tissue.” She is wary, though, that while “these studies show caffeine
increasing microcirculation, topical products cannot typically penetrate the skin and devices like ultrasound may
be needed for proper absorption.”
Amos Lavian, founder of Dermalect Cosmeceuticals, builds upon Dr. Linder comments. He has seen
improvement in clients who use cellulite products which utilize caffeine to reduce the dimpling of cellulite.
Given that cellulite is not a “fat condition”, dimpling that may be caused by vasodilatation may be successfully,
albeit temporarily, improved through the topical application of caffeine containing products. Further, in a Finish
study done in 2000, cellulite products that listed caffeine as “an active ingredient” reported “to reduce thigh
diameter during treatment,” likely resulting in a reduction in the overall breadth of cellulite dimpling.
Caffeine Combats Photoaging
Caffeine has antioxidant properties as well. Antioxidants fight free radicals in the body which damage cells, and
research shows specifically that caffeine can decrease the formation of skin cancers after exposure to UVB
radiation (a component of sun light that leads to the majority of skin cancers). “Caffeine appears to accomplish
this by causing the damaged skin cells to die; therefore, they are unable to divide and form skin cancers,” notes
Dr. Babcock. Moreover, Dr. Gram references similar studies where ultraviolet rays were introduced to skin that
was treated with caffeine. Interestingly, “the caffeine targeted abnormal skin cells to destroy, but kept the
healthy, normal skin cells intact.”
Therefore, “while antioxidants prevent wrinkles but do not treat wrinkles,” comments Dr. Leslie Bauman,
caffeine applied topically as an ingredient in sunscreens or foundations may enhance these products’ ability to
virtually stop photoaging of the skin.
Hairloss
 Dr. Babcock also comments on the use of caffeine in hairloss remedies. “Caffeine has increased hair growth in
vitro (outside the human body). Studies have shown caffeine increased hair growth and prevented the negative
effects of testosterone on hair growth in cultured hairs.”
Equally, Dr. Linder tentatively touts caffeine’s ability to spur hair growth in male pattern baldness. She mentions
a Swiss company Alpecin, whose hair loss restoration products claim that caffeine causes increased hair
growth. In support of Alpecin’s claim, Dr. Linder cited a study from the Department of Dermatology and
Allergology, at the University of Jena, in Germany, that found that caffeine did seem to stimulate hair growth
during in vitro testing. However, in an effort to be duly diligent regarding the long term benefits of caffeine for
hairloss, Dr. Linder cautions that, while this is “a creative use of a ingredient to try to improve an often
frustrating problem, I would need to see more data, clinical results and proof that their delivery vehicle insures
the caffeine is absorbed before making a conclusion.”
Can Caffeine Permanently Turn back the Clock?
Ultimately, after reviewing the findings of many pre-eminent dermatologists and cosmeceutical experts, there
clearly is not enough clinical data to definitively determine whether a product relied upon to wake us up in the
morning can also have a lasting effect on the ravages of time?
Dr. Babcock offers some sage advice to those looking for the fountain of youth in a product containing caffeine.
“People should consider where they buy products with caffeine or other antioxidants. It is important to
determine what the concentration of the active ingredients is. Cosmetic companies understand what
ingredients are popular and try to include them in their products for advertising purposes. Sometimes the levels
of active ingredients are so low that they are ineffective. Products sold in physicians offices many times have
higher concentrations of active ingredients and are better made.”
So the caffeine controversy continues. Enjoy a cup of green tea with breakfast, and afterwards, appreciate that
cellulite cream with caffeine, even if its benefits last only for the few hours you are on the beach.
Jeff Russell, Executive-Director
International Association for Physicians in Aesthetic Medicine (IAPAM)
1-800-219-5108 x705
http://www.IAPAM.com
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5 Daily Brain Exercises

By Dr. Bernard Croisile
Published January 19, 2011
| Askmen.com
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Many men are devoted to exercise to bulk up their bodies, but the phrase “use it or lose it”
applies to more than just the muscles in our bodies -- it also applies to the neural pathways and
connections in our brains.
There are a variety of exercises and activities that can successfully work each of the brain’s five
major cognitive functions on a daily basis.
In addition to the tasks you can perform daily, you can also train your brain
with HAPPYneuron online brain games and a personalized brain fitness program.
Our minds consist of five main cognitive functions:
* memory
* attention
* language
* visual-spatial skills
* and executive function
It’s important to challenge, stimulate and effectively exercise all five areas to stay mentally sharp
as our brains age. Here are 5 daily brain exercises that can help you do this.
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1. Memory
Memory plays a crucial role in all cognitive activities, including reading, reasoning and mental
calculation. There are several types of memory at work in the brain. Taken together, these are
the cognitive skills we may notice most when they begin to fail. To maintain a good memory,
you need to train for it, which can be easier than you think. Listening to music is not only
enjoyable, but by choosing a song you don’t know and memorizing the lyrics, you boost the
level of acetylcholine, the chemical that helps build your brain, and improve your memory skills.
Challenge yourself even more by showering or getting dressed in the dark or using your
opposite hand to brush your teeth. These challenges help build new associations between
different neural connections of the brain.
Improve your memory with this HAPPYneuron game.

2. Attention
Attention is necessary in nearly all daily tasks. Good attention enables you to maintain
concentration despite noise and distractions and to focus on several activities at once. We can
improve our attention by simply changing our routines. Change your route to work or reorganize
your desk -- both will force your brain to wake up from habits and pay attention again. As we
age, our attention span can decrease, making us more susceptible to distraction and less
efficient at multitasking. By combining activities like listening to an audio book with jogging or
doing math in your head while you drive forces your brain to work at doing more in the same
amount of time.
Improve your attention with this HAPPYneuron game.
3. Language
Language activities will challenge our ability to recognize, remember and understand words.
They also exercise our fluency, grammatical skills and vocabulary. With regular practice, you
can expand your knowledge of new words and much more easily retrieve words that are
familiar. For example, if you usually only thoroughly read the sports section, try reading a few in-
depth business articles. You’ll be exposed to new words, which are easier to understand when
read in context or easier to look up on a dictionary site if you are reading the news online. Take
time to understand the word in its context, which will help you build your language skills and
retrieve the word more readily in front of your boss in the future.
Improve your language skills with this HAPPYneuron game.
_________________________________________________________________________
More From AskMen.com:
Memory Sandwiches
Memory Foods
The Brain: 5 Things Men Should Know
Working Out at the Brain Gym
Memory Killers
_________________________________________________________________________
4. Visual-Spatial
We live in a colorful, three-dimensional world. Analyzing visual information is necessary to be
able to act within your environment. To work this cognitive function, try walking into a room and
picking out five items and their locations. When you exit the room, try to recall all five items and
where they were located. Too easy? Wait two hours and try to remember those items and their
locations. The next time you’re waiting on your coworker or friend to arrive, try this mental
exercise. Look straight ahead and note everything you can see both in front of you and in your
peripheral vision. Challenge yourself to recall everything and write it down. This will force you to
use your memory and train your brain to focus on your surroundings.
Improve your visual-spatial skills with this HAPPYneuron game.
5. Executive Function
Without even realizing it, you use your logic and reasoning skills on a daily basis to make
decisions, build up hypotheses and consider the possible consequences of your actions.
Activities in which you must define a strategy to reach a desired outcome and calculate the right
moves to reach the solution in the shortest possible time are actually fun activities you do daily
-- like social interaction and, yes, video games. Engaging in a brief visit with a friend boosts your
intellectual performance by requiring you to consider possible responses and desired outcomes.
Video games require strategy and problem-solving to reach a desired outcome -- like making it
to the final level. “It’s not just Halo, honey; I’m exercising my executive brain functions!”
Improve your executive function skills with this HAPPYneuron game.
Cerebral Workout
As we age, it’s important to flex our mental muscles as well as our physiques. Now that you’re
aware of the five main cognitive functions and how to exercise them, it will be easy to find daily
activities that will help you break a mental sweat and keep your brain in shape. If you need a
little structured help, HAPPYneuron has fun and challenging games to work the brain in all five
areas, as well as a virtual coach to serve as a personal trainer and ensure you get the most
optimal brain workout for you.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/01/18/daily-brain-exercises/#ixzz1BWhqfvSH

====================================================================================================

Antioxidants Cause Fertility Problems In Females

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology; Nutrition / Diet; Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 19 Jan 2011 - 0:00 PST

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Patient / Public: 3 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

Antioxidants are sold over the counter everywhere. They're added to food, drink and face cream. But
according to Prof. Nava Dekel of the Biological Regulation Department, we still don't have a complete
understanding of how they act in our bodies. New research by Dekel and her team, recently published in
theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA(PNAS), has revealed a possible unexpected
side effect of antioxidants: They might cause fertility problems in females.

Common antioxidants include vitamins C and E. These work by eliminating molecules called reactive
oxygen species that are produced naturally in the body. Stress can cause these chemically active
molecules to be overproduced; in large amounts they damage cells indiscriminately. By neutralizing these
potentially harmful substances, antioxidants may, theoretically, improve health and slow down the aging
process.

But when Dekel and her research team including her former and present Ph.D. students Dr. Ketty
Shkolnik and Ari Tadmor applied antioxidants to the ovaries of female mice, the results were surprising:
ovulation levels dropped precipitously. That is, very few eggs were released from the ovarian follicles to
reach the site of fertilization, compared to those in untreated ovaries.

To understand what lies behind these initial findings, the team asked whether it is possible that the
process of ovulation might rely on the very 'harmful' substances destroyed by antioxidants - reactive
oxygen species.

Further testing in mice showed that this is, indeed, the case. In one experiment, for instance, Dekel and
her team treated some ovarian follicles with luteinizing hormone, the physiological trigger for ovulation,
and others with hydrogen peroxide, a reactive oxygen species. The results showed hydrogen peroxide
fully mimicked the effect of the ovulation-inducing hormone. This implies that reactive oxygen species that
are produced in response to luteinizing hormone serve, in turn, as mediators for this physiological
stimulus leading to ovulation.

Among other things, these results help fill in a picture that has begun to emerge in recent years of fertility
and conception, in which it appears that these processes share a number of common mechanisms with
inflammation. It makes sense, says Dekel, that substances which prevent inflammation in other parts of
the body might also get in the way of normal ovulation, and so more caution should be taken when
administering such substances.

Much of Dekel's research has focused on fertility -- her previous results are already helping some women
become pregnant. Ironically, the new study has implications for those seeking the opposite effect. Dekel:
'On the one hand, these findings could prove useful to women who are having trouble getting pregnant.
On the other, further studies might show that certain antioxidants might be effective means of birth
controlthat could be safer than today's hormone-based prevention.'

Dekel and her team are now planning further studies to investigate the exact mechanics of this step in
ovulation and to examine its effect on mice when administered in either food or drink. In addition, they
plan to collect data on the possible link between females being administered antioxidant supplements and
the difficulty to conceive.
Prof. Nava Dekel's research is supported by the M.D. Moross Institute for Cancer Research; the Jeanne
and Joseph Nissim Foundation for Life Sciences Research; the Yeda-Sela Center for Basic Research; the
Willner Family Center for Vascular Biology - Head; the Dwek Family Biomedical Research Fund; the
Phyllis and Joseph Gurwin Fund for Scientific Advancement; and the J & R Foundation. Prof. Dekel is the
incumbent of the Philip M. Klutznick Professorial Chair of Developmental Biology.

Source: Weizmann Institute of Science

Copyright: Medical News Today

Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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Tablet Splitting May Be Inaccurate and Potentially Dangerous

Laurie Barclay, MD
Authors and Disclosures
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January 12, 2011 — The common practice of tablet splitting is a highly inaccurate and potentially
dangerous practice, resulting in large dose deviations, according to the results of a study reported in the
January issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

"Tablet-splitting is widespread in all healthcare sectors and a primary care study in Germany found that
just under a quarter of all drugs were split," lead study author Charlotte Verrue, PharmD, PhD, from the
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ghent University in Belgium, said in a news release. "It is done for
a number of reasons: to increase dose flexibility, to make tablets easier to swallow and to save money for
both patients and healthcare providers. However, the split tablets are often unequal sizes and a
substantial amount of the tablet can be lost during splitting."

The study goal was to quantify the mean deviation from the theoretical weight and the mean weight loss
resulting from tablet-splitting using 3 different splitting methods in widespread use in nursing homes: the
Pilomat splitting device, scissors for unscored tablets or manual splitting for scored tablets, and a kitchen
knife. In 2007, 5 volunteers (an administrative coworker, a laboratory technician, a pharmacy student, and
2 pharmacists) were asked to use these methods to split 8 tablets varying in size and shape. An analytical
balance was used to weigh tablets and tablet parts before and after splitting.

Nearly a third (31%) of the split fragments deviated from recommended dosages by 15% or more, and
14% deviated by more than 25%.

For all tablets tested, the Pilomat splitting device resulted in a statistically significantly lower mean
deviation from theoretical weight compared with the other 2 methods, which did not significantly differ
from each other. This device also resulted in significantly less weight loss than the other 2 methods when
the different tablets were pooled.

"Large dose deviations or weight losses can occur while splitting tablets," the study authors write. "This
could have serious clinical consequences for medications with a narrow therapeutic-toxic range."

Limitations of this study include failure to compare 3 distinct methods, as the second method consisted of
splitting by hand whenever the tablet had a score line or with scissors when the tablet was unscored. In
addition, no nurses were included in the volunteer group, and the clinical effect of the weight deviations
was not investigated.

"On the basis of our results, we recommend use of a splitting device when splitting cannot be avoided
(i.e. for example when the prescribed dose is not commercially available, or when there is no alternative
formulation, such as a liquid)," the study authors conclude. "Nursing home staff performing the splitting
should also be educated in splitting as accurately as possible, and should be aware of the possible
clinical consequences of dose deviations. As for policy implications, we recommend that manufacturers
make it possible to avoid splitting, by introducing a wider range of tablet doses or liquid formulations."

This study "received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit
sectors." The study authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

J Adv Nurs. 2011;67:26-32. Abstract

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