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NUMBER TO KNOW
Health
Cost of cancer
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Adjusting for inflation, medical costs
of cancer have nearly doubled over the
past two decades. In 1987 the total
medical cost of cancer was $24.7
billion. By 2005, the total medical cost
of cancer increased to $48.1 billion.
DID YOU KNOW? Rice University students have found that salad spinners can work as a rudimentary centrifuge to separate blood at medical clinics.
HEALTH
WATCH
Creepin’ in
Poison ivy a nuisance
all over the country
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NEW RESEARCH
How to stick
to your diet
BY KEVIN P. O’CONNOR | GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
uddenly, everything is growing.
Your day lilies are big enough to wave in the wind,
hydrangea are crowding their neighbors and the
maple tree in your backyard is casting shade. And
there, right on the line between sunlight and shade,
is a pretty new plant, three shining burgundy leaves. So you move
in for a closer look.
Oops.
You have just made contact with poison ivy. And you are not
alone.
“I have it right now,” said Manny Arruda, owner of Flamingo
Landscaping of Fall River, Mass. “I know of two or three people
in our business who have it now.
“I’m careful. All I have to do is look at poison ivy and I get a
rash. But sometimes it doesn’t even look like poison ivy. Sometimes it looks like it is dead. Poison ivy is never dead.”
Poison ivy is an American pleasure. It grows in almost every
state. It can flourish in any condition. The plant loves the acid in
the rain, the elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the air, the edges
of clearings in the woods and brush that are abundant in old
cities and new suburbs.
“It’s a problem and it is everywhere,” said Richie Guerreiro,
owner of Copicut Landscaping of Westport, Mass. “You have to
spray it and then snip it and then cut it out. Even then, if you
haven’t killed all of it, it will come back.”
The plant irritates about 70 percent of the population. It catches even the people who are the most careful about it. Poison ivy is
sneaky, the professionals say.
“Poison ivy is good at hiding,” said Mike Estinola, owner of
Mike’s Landscaping of Fall River. “Sometimes you don’t even
know you have pulled it out. Whenever we go to work with a new
customer, we find poison ivy the owner didn’t know about. We almost always find some hidden somewhere.
“I’ve already caught some myself this year. I don’t know where
I got it.”
According to a new study,
dieters who focus on changing their surroundings find
it easier to adhere to their
diet. Understandably, they
also report losing the most
weight.
For the study, 200 participants from the National
Mindless Eating Challenge
were given diet tips from
three distinct categories: 1)
change your environment,
2) change your eating behavior, and 3) change your
food choices.
Dieters who were given
environmental tips stuck to
their diets an average of two
more days per month. What
are some examples of environmental changes? Use
smaller dinner plates, keep
high calorie foods out of
sight, and turn off your television, computer and cell
phones during mealtime.
— Cornell University
S
SENIOR HEALTH
Elderly in facilities
sleep poorly
A study of residents of assisted-living facilities in Los
Angeles showed that 65 percent had clinically significant sleeping problems and
that poor sleep was associated with declining quality of
life and increased depression over a six-month follow-up period.
The most commonly reported factors contributing
to "trouble sleeping" included waking up in the middle
of the night or early morning and the inability to fall
asleep within 30 minutes.
At the initial study visit,
sleeping poorly was associated with lower health-related
quality of life, needing more
help with activities of daily
living (e.g., bathing, dressing, grooming), and more
symptoms of depression.
— Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society
HEALTH TIP
Control healthy
blood pressure
High blood pressure is a
major risk factor for heart
disease, stroke, congestive
heart failure and kidney disease.
You can maintain healthy
blood pressure through
changing your lifestyle or by
combining lifestyle changes
with prescribed medications.
■ Have your blood pressure checked regularly.
■ Maintain a normal body
weight.
■ Keep up physical activity.
■ Follow a healthy eating
plan of a diet rich in fruits
and vegetables, and low in
sodium.
■ Quit smoking.
Poison ivy vine. WIKIMEDIA PHOTO
IF YOU FIND IT
If you work outside and think there is a chance you came in
contact with poison ivy, wash your hands and arms and clean your
tools with alcohol wipes. It wouldn't hurt to wipe down the coats
of your dogs and cats, too — the oil gets on animal fur and can
spread to human skin.
If you clear poison ivy, put on rubber gloves and then cover
those with leather gloves or rubber gloves heavy enough for handling chemicals. Cover your arms and legs. Be careful with your
hands — wiping your brow would be a mistake.
IF YOU START ITCHING
Noticing a red rash within a few days of making contact with
poison ivy? You’ve probably caught it. Other symptoms include
bumps, patches, streaking, or weeping blisters; swelling; and, of
course, itching.
Here are some tips to soothe your skin from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
■ Apply wet compresses, calamine lotion, or hydrocortisone
cream to the skin to reduce itching and blistering.
■ Follow the directions on any creams and lotions. Do not apply
to broken skin, such as open blisters.
■ Oatmeal baths may relieve itching.
■ An antihistamine can be taken to help relieve itching.
■ In severe cases or if the rash is on the face or genitals, seek
professional medical attention. Call 911 or go to a hospital emergency room if a severe allergic reaction is suspected.
Burning questions on stomach acid medications
f you are taking Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium or some other
type of proton pump inhibitor,
you are not alone.
It is estimated that 140 million
prescriptions of these medications
are filled each year. Approximately
$13 billion is spent to buy them.
The purpose of these medications is to reduce the amount of
acid produced by the stomach.
This excessive acid is associated
with a variety of disorders including GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcers and dyspepsia.
Side effects, especially when taken for a short period of time, are
uncommon and may include
headaches, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, abdominal pain and fatigue.
However, a recent article that
I
DR. MURRAY FEINGOLD
discussed the use of these proton
pump inhibitor drugs raised some
concerns.
Although these medications are
very effective in relieving the
symptoms of increased acid in the
stomach, the authors of the article
believe that the majority of times
they are prescribed and used inappropriately.
For example, they do not believe
that these medications should be
used to treat dyspepsia that is not
associated with ulcers.
The researchers also found some
interesting side effects they attributed to taking these medications.
They followed more than
160,000 women between the ages
of 50 and 79 for eight years. The
results of their study showed that
there was an increased risk of developing wrist, forearm and spine
fractures in the proton pump inhibitor group compared to those
who did not take these medications.
There was also an increased rate
of infections with the bacteria
Clostridium difficile, which is the
cause of severe gastrointestinal
symptoms.
For many people, using drugs
such as Prilosec and Nexium have
been very beneficial in helping to
relieve symptoms of so-called
"acid indigestion."
However, if you have been taking these medications for some
time, you should discuss with your
doctor whether or not you really
need to continue to take them.
Perhaps consider discontinuing
them to determine if the symptoms recur.
Before taking any medication
you should always consider the
benefits versus the risks. And remember, taking any drug is associated with a potential risk.
Massachusetts-based Dr. Murray Feingold is the physician in
chief of the National Birth Defects
Center, and medical editor of
WBZ-TV and WBZ radio.