10 ways to take control of your health

If you're ready to take control of your health, start by washing your hands for 15 to 20 seconds, about as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice. Doing this simple act, while avoiding certain behaviors _ smoking, excessive drinking and eating too much _ can dramatically improve your health, said internist William Meller, who specializes in evolutionary medicine in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Prevention goes well beyond the mammograms, prostate screenings or blood tests that we can get at the doctor's office. It's the little steps you take that can keep you healthy.

"Ideally, prevention should also emphasize healthy lifestyles, a practice that isn't only health-conscious, but (is) inexpensive," said James Pivarnik, president of the American College of Sports Medicine. Here are 10 easy ways to get started.

Take a walk. Humans are designed to be on the move, Meller said. "Walking triggers all of our bodily systems: digestion, stress relief, thinking and preparation for sleep."

It's easy, simple, free and confers the benefits of exercise without the
risk of damage from more energetic pursuits, Meller said. Walk every day _
barefoot is fine _ and get a pedometer to track your steps, shooting for a
minimum of 10,000. Stay committed by setting walking dates with a friend.

_Keep a food journal. Writing down everything you eat can double your weight loss, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost," said lead author Jack Hollis, a researcher at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research.

Scribble down your dietary transgressions on a note pad, use an online food journal or send yourself text messages.

"It's the process of reflecting on what you eat that helps us become aware of our habits, and hopefully change our behavior," said Dr. Keith Bachman, a member of The Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute's Weight
Management Initiative.

_Stop drinking soda. Soda and other caloric, sugar-sweetened beverages have contributed to skyrocketing rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

But there's also evidence that drinking diet soda leads to weight gain. Researchers suspect that tricking the brain _ getting sweetness without the calories _ makes you crave more sugar than ever. Your best bet is to stop drinking calories altogether, said obesity specialist Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, founder of Ottawa's Bariatric Medical Institute, a multidisciplinary weight-management center.

His most confused patients seem to be doing everything right but may have two glasses of milk, one glass of juice and one glass of wine a day.

"That's roughly 40 pounds of liquid calories per year," he wrote on his blog, Weighty Matters. Freedhoff's advice: Don't rely on beverages for nourishment.

"A well-balanced diet replete with fruits, vegetables and proteins should satisfy all of one's nutritional needs," he said. "Liquid calories are not satiating and in studies tend only to add calories to a meal."

_Strengthen your muscles. If you want to keep your muscles from weakening as you age, start strength training. It's "the only style of exercise that maintains and increases lean muscle tissue and burns between 22 and 36 calories per day," said personal trainer Jim Karas.

He suggests starting with push-ups for the upper body and lunges and squats for the lower body. "Move slowly, and think about the muscles you are engaging. One slow set of 10 is all you need, but make sure to fail," which means you can't perform another repetition.

_Chill out. Stressed-out people are more vulnerable to colds and other viruses, they take longer to recover from illness, and they gain more weight than their relaxed counterparts, research has shown.

We also know that "the inability to feel in control of stress, rather than the stressful event itself, is the most damaging to immunity," wrote Joan Borysenko in "Mending the Body, Mending the Mind."

Another stress expert, Debbie Mandel, likes to lift weights when her stress levels creep up. "Then I'm ready to reframe negatives into positives to turn stress into strength," said Mandel, the author of "Addicted to Stress." In addition to exercise, deep-breathing techniques, meditation, tai chi and yoga are proven stress relievers.

_Eat out less. We often use restaurants in the same way our parents used supermarkets, one of the main reasons for the dramatic global rise in chronic diseases such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, Freedhoff said.

"Nutrition and calories aren't intuitive," he said. "When restaurant salads can have more calories and fat than a Big Mac, you know you're putting your health at risk. You'll save more than your money by eating meals in. You
might even save your life."

_Be a social butterfly. Human beings are social creatures, if only because we need to reproduce. But research has shown that joining a club or sports team, belonging to a church group or keeping in contact with friends creates
a sense of social identity that can help significantly reduce your risk of having a stroke, dementia and even the common cold.

"We do not outgrow our need for others," according to the MacArthur Foundation Study of Aging in America. "Loneliness breeds both illness and early death."

_Get some sleep. Sleeping well is the single most overlooked factor critical to good health, especially during the flu season, said sleep specialist Dr. Rubin Naiman, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona's Center
for Integrative Medicine. But because focusing on doing all the right things before bed can make it harder to sleep, Naiman suggests lightening things up, perhaps by watching comedy on television before bed.

"Too often sleep is approached with an anxious mind and heavy heart," he said. "Laughter is good medicine _ and good sleep medicine. I recommend it over sleeping pills."

_Eat whole foods. Whole foods _ fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, eggs and whole grains _ are unprocessed and unrefined and typically don't have added sugar, salt or fat. They often have a low glycemic index, which means they don't raise blood sugar and insulin levels as quickly as processed foods.

Choose a baked potato instead of French fries, eat whole wheat bread instead of white bread, or start the day with oatmeal, rather than a sugary breakfast cereal. "I eat as many fresh veggies and fruits as possible and
stay away from anything in a bag, a box or a can," said Yvonne Conte of Syracuse, N.Y., the author of a guidebook to living a happier and healthier life. "When I started this, I lost 22 pounds. And it has stayed off. Best
thing I ever did."

_Find your passion. Do things that bring meaning to your days, said Patricia Boyle, a neuropsychologist in the Alzheimer's Disease Center at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, whose research has shown that having a higher purpose can reduce the risk of death among older adults.

"Purpose is cognitively stimulating, and this is very much along the lines of the adage 'Use it or lose it,' which certainly has merit," said Dr. Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian study.
Read the complete original article here http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/healthyliving/articles/_ways_to_take_control_of_your_health.html

LIPITOR HEART MEDICINE NOW AVAILABLE IN PHILIPPINES AS GENERIC ATORVASTATIN, AVAMAX SAVE MONEY

Pfizer sues Unilab over Lipitor drug

Pfizer sells the anti-hypertensive drug under the trade name Lipitor, and its generic name is atorvastatin calcium. Pascual said the patent of Lipitor in the Philippines will expire in 2012.

Unilab recently released its generic version of the medicine under the brand Avamax.

Pascual said Pfizer has also filed a similar case against the manufacturer of Ator tablets, also an Atorvastatin, which were released in the local market even before Avamax.

She said latest data before the implementation of the MRDP shows that Unilab is the leading pharmaceutical company with a 16.3-percent share of the domestic market, while Pfizer comes in second with a 9.6-percent share. http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business/4530-pfizer-sues-unilab-over-lipitor-drug

READ MORE ABOUT http://www.lipitor.com/content/index.aspx

READ MORE ABOUT ATORVASTATIN GENERIC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atorvastatin

Atorvastatin (INN) (Lipitor, Pfizer), is a member of the drug class known as statins, used for lowering blood cholesterol. It also stabilizes plaque and prevents strokes through anti-inflammatory and other mechanisms.

Read blogs on drugstores and prices of generic medicines and reduced prices regular drugs

Read about Generic Drugstores in the Philippines (has contact details and addresses) including regular drugstores like Mercury, Roses and Watsons. http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/generic-drugstores-in-the-philippines/

Also check many drug prices in the Philippines here http://drugprices.wordpress.com/

U.S. Department of Defense Picks New QuikClot Combat Gauze as First-Line Hemostatic Treatment for All Military Services

Z-Medica Corporation (Z-Medica), a medical products company focused on innovative blood clotting nano-technologies, announced that the United States Department of Defense has selected the company's newest hemostatic product, QuikClot Combat Gauze brand, for all military services as the first-line hemostatic treatment for life-threatening hemorrhage that is not amenable to tourniquet placement.

Bleeding is the number one cause of death for soldiers injured in battle and QuikClot products offer the most effective solution to severe blood loss outside the operating room setting. They have been proven in battlefield use and, with more than one million units deployed, are the leading hemostatic agents in the field.

The Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC) made the decision to recommend QuikClot Combat Gauze after reviewing test reports on a number of hemostatic products. QuikClot Combat Gauze was the only one of these products tested by both the Naval Medical Research Center and the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research. In addition to test efficacy, the committee sited a number of other factors in according QuikClot Combat Gauze the number one position:

• Preference for the gauze delivery format, which is familiar to combat medical personnel.
• Ability of QuikClot Combat Gauze to be shaped to any wound and to reach bleeding vessels in penetrating wounds.
• Ease of removal once hemostasis has been achieved.

"Z-Medica's approach to product innovation has always been to listen to the voice of our customer and to focus our research & development efforts on delivering life-saving products that meet their needs," said Z-Medica CEO Raymond J. Huey. "With QuikClot Combat Gauze we have provided a product that is virtually 100% effective in a very intuitive format that can be applied quickly and simply by anyone."

QuikClot Combat Gauze combines surgical gauze with a proprietary inorganic material that stops arterial and venous bleeding in seconds -- even more rapidly in this format than earlier Z-Medica products. Based on a different mineral than zeolite-based QuikClot products, it generates no heat. It shares the benefit of being inert and non-allergenic. QuikClot Combat Gauze comes in rolls four yards long by three inches wide.

In addition to the military testing, the new product was tested in pre-clinical trials at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the University of Massachusetts Medical School and at various field facilities. It has 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The United States Department of Defense has awarded Z-Medica a $3.2 million grant for large-scale testing of the product on penetrating wounds. These multi-center clinical trials will take place during 2008.

Earlier QuikClot products are in use by all branches of the U.S. Military, by first responders and security agencies across the U.S. and in 36 countries worldwide, with more than a million units in distribution. Z-Medica recently launched its first products for consumers.

Founded in April 2002, Z-Medica Corporation is a medical products company focused on innovative blood clotting technologies -- hemostatic solutions that save lives. QuikClot was developed in cooperation with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command and university hospitals. It represents the first and most effective solution to severe blood loss outside the operating room setting. Z-Medica serves several global vertical markets, including military, first responder, homeland and private security. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Grants & Training added 'hemostatic agent' to its 2006 Authorized Equipment List (AEL), qualifying QuikClot for purchase using grant dollars, subject to each State's administrative agency's approval. And, in 2007, the National Tactical Officers Association gave the company and its new products their coveted official seal of "NTOA member tested and approved". In addition to QuikClot Combat Gauze, the company is fully engaged in accelerating the development and distribution of QuikClot brand hemostatic agent, QuikClot ACS+, QuikClot 1st Response, QuikClot Sport, QuikClot Sport Silver (antimicrobial) and related products.

Z-Medica headquarters is located at 4 Fairfield Blvd., Wallingford, Connecticut 06492. For more information, please call (203) 294.0000 or visit http://www.z-medica.com.

Treating Dementia, but Overlooking Its Physical Toll

Dementia is often viewed as a disease of the mind, an illness that erases treasured memories but leaves the body intact.

But dementia is a physical illness, too — a progressive, terminal disease that shuts down the body as it attacks the brain. Although the early stages can last for years, the life expectancy of a patient with advanced dementia is similar to that of a patient with advanced cancer.

Also called: Senility

Dementia is a word for a group of symptoms caused by disorders that affect the brain. It is not a specific disease. People with dementia may not be able to think well enough to do normal activities, such as getting dressed or eating. They may lose their ability to solve problems or control their emotions. Their personalities may change. They may become agitated or see things that are not there.

Memory loss is a common symptom of dementia. However, memory loss by itself does not mean you have dementia. People with dementia have serious problems with two or more brain functions, such as memory and language.

The lack of understanding about the physical toll of dementia means that many patients near the end of life are subjected to aggressive treatments that would never be considered with another terminal illness. People with advanced dementia are often given dialysis and put on ventilators; they may even get preventive care that cannot possibly help them, like colonoscopies and drugs for osteoporosis or high cholesterol.

“You can go to an intensive-care unit in most places,” said Dr. Greg A. Sachs, chief of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, “and you’ll find people with dementia getting very aggressive treatment.”

The continued focus on treatment to prolong life often means that pain relief is inadequate, and symptoms like confusion and anxiety are worsened. A new study suggests that family members would be far less likely to subject their loved ones to such treatment if they had a better understanding of dementia as progressive, debilitating illness that ultimately shuts down the body after years of mental deterioration.

Dementia causes many problems for the person who has it and for the person's family. Many of the problems are caused by memory loss. Some common signs of dementia are listed below. Not everyone who has dementia will have all of these signs.

• Recent memory loss. All of us forget things for a while and then remember them later. People with dementia often forget things, but they never remember them. They might ask you the same question over and over, each time forgetting that you've already given them the answer. They won't even remember that they already asked the question.
• Difficulty performing familiar tasks. People who have dementia might cook a meal but forget to serve it. They might even forget that they cooked it.
• Problems with language. People who have dementia may forget simple words or use the wrong words. This makes it hard to understand what they want.
• Time and place disorientation. People who have dementia may get lost on their own street. They may forget how they got to a certain place and how to get back home.
• Poor judgment. Even a person who doesn't have dementia might get distracted. But people who have dementia can forget simple things, like forgetting to put on a coat before going out in cold weather.
• Problems with abstract thinking. Anybody might have trouble balancing a checkbook, but people who have dementia may forget what the numbers are and what has to be done with them.
• Misplacing things. People who have dementia may put things in the wrong places. They might put an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl. Then they can't find these things later.
• Changes in mood. Everyone is moody at times, but people with dementia may have fast mood swings, going from calm to tears to anger in a few minutes.
• Personality changes. People who have dementia may have drastic changes in personality. They might become irritable, suspicious or fearful.
• Loss of initiative. People who have dementia may become passive. They might not want to go places or see other people.

Harvard researchers recently followed 323 residents of 22 nursing homes. All had end-stage dementia, meaning that they no longer recognized family members, could speak fewer than six words and were incontinent and bedbound. During the 18-month study period, more than half of the patients died.

During the last three months of life, 41 percent of the patients received at least one “burdensome” treatment, like transport to the emergency room, hospitalization, feeding tubes or intravenous treatments. Advanced dementia patients are particularly prone to infections because of incontinence, risk of bedsores, a depressed immune response and inability to report symptoms.

When the investigators looked more deeply into the reasons for treatment decisions, they discovered stark differences based on what family members knew about dementia. When they understood its progressive and terminal nature, only 27 percent of the patients received aggressive care. For family members who did not understand the disease, the figure was 73 percent.

“When family members understood the clinical course of dementia and the poor prognosis, the patients were far less likely to undergo these distressing interventions,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Susan L. Mitchell, senior scientist at the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston. “Dementia is a terminal illness and needs to be recognized as such so these patients receive better palliative care.”

The study also found that pain control was often inadequate. One in four subjects were clearly suffering from pain, but that number may understate the problem, because the patients were unable to talk about their pain.
Dr. Sachs, at Indiana, notes that care for patients with dementia has changed very little in the past 30 years. As a teenager, he watched his grandmother decline from Alzheimer’s disease. During her final months, she was repeatedly treated for infections and put in restraints or sedated to control agitation.

“Seeing my grandmother in that state was so distressing that my mother eventually stopped taking the grandchildren to visit,” Dr. Sachs wrote last week in an editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine. “My grandmother had little in the way of comfort or company toward the end. In my medical training, I learned how my grandmother’s final months were typical for people dying from dementia.”

A 2005 report from the Alzheimer’s Association showed troubling trends in care at the end of life. In a sweeping review of the medical literature, the investigators found that 71 percent of nursing home residents with advanced dementia died within six months of admission, yet only 11 percent were referred to hospice care, which focuses on comfort rather than active treatment.

Simply transferring a dementia patient from the nursing home to a hospital can lead to confusion, falls or a decline in eating — which in turn, often leads to further aggressive treatment.

Geriatricians say a large part of the problem is that the patients are unable to make their wishes known. In the absence of a living will, family members often struggle with guilt and are afraid to stop aggressive treatment because they do not want to be seen as abandoning a loved one in mental decline.

Dr. Sachs says doctors need to spend more time explaining the prognosis for advanced dementia, making it clear that palliative care does not mean less care.

“We’re not talking about aggressive care versus no care,” he said. “Palliative care is aggressive and attentive and focused on symptom management and support of the patient and family. It’s not any less excellent care.”
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/diseases/articles/well_treating_dementia_but_overlooking_its_physical_toll.html

Here are some additional links to read more

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/dementia.html

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/seniors/mental-health/662.html

LEPTOSPIROSIS 101

Leptospirosis deaths soar to 89
The death toll from leptospirosis reached 89 as cases of the flood-borne disease in Metro Manila and flooded provinces rose tenfold in the past three days, the Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday.

LEPTOSPIROSIS 101

Leptospirosis

• a bacterial infection caused by a corkscrew-shaped bacterium called leptospira
• occurs through direct contact with the urine of infected animals or by contact with a urine-contaminated environment such as surface water, floodwater, soil, and plants
• affects both humans and animals
• leptospira have been found in rats, insectivores, dogs, cats, cattle, pigs and horses
• bacteria enter through broken skins, through eyes, nose or mouth exposed to contaminated water although less frequently through animal bites, handling infected animal tissues or swallowing contaminated food or water
• an occupational hazard for people who work outdoors or with animals, such as rice and sugar-cane field workers, farmers, sewer workers, veterinarians, dairy workers and military personnel
• a recreational hazard to those who swim or wade in contaminated waters. In endemic areas the number of leptospirosis cases may peak during the rainy season and even may reach epidemic proportions in case of flooding.

SYMPTOMS

Incubation period for the bacteria lasts 7 to 12 days. During this period, the following symptoms may be felt (although sometimes it can also be asymptomatic):

• high fever
• severe headache
• chills
• muscle pain
• vomiting
• jaundice
• redness in the eyes
• abdominal pain
• hemorrhages in skin and mucous membranes (including pulmonary bleeding)
• diarrhea
• rash

However, if these aren't treated, they may develop into kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, and respiratory distress.

PREVENTION

• reduce the rat population with the destruction of their habitats -- maintain a clean home
• avoid immersion in natural waters such as rivers, lakes and canals
• avoid immersion in floods
• use protective footwear or clothing when immersion to natural waters or floods is inevitable
• provide clean drinking water

Source: GMA News Research, DO, WHO

Getting Guys to Wash Their Hands

We all know that one of the simplest, best ways to stay healthy is to wash our hands a lot, especially these days during the swine flu pandemic. Some new research out Thursday offers clues to what gets people to actually do it. And guess what? Shame appears to be the best motivation. And, for guys, appealing to the gross-out factor doesn't hurt.

A team of researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine conducted an experiment in which nearly 200,000 people were monitored using electronic sensors installed in service station bathrooms along highways in Britain.

Only about a third of the men washed their hands with soap after using the bathrooms, compared to about 64 percent of the women, the researchers reported in the American Journal of Public Health.

A variety of messages, such as "Water doesn't kill germs, soap does" and "Don't be a dirty soap dodger" were flashed on LED screens at the entrances of the bathrooms to determine how best to motivate people to wash their hands. Most of the messages helped increase hand washing, but "Is the person next to you washing with soap?" turned out to be the best of all, illustrating that people respond the most when they think someone is watching them.

Women tended to respond best to any kind of reminder, while men tended to respond best to messages that invoked disgust, such as "soap it off or eat it later," the researchers found.

The findings were released to coincide with "Global Handwashing Day," which is aimed at improving handwashing around the world to help fight the swine flu pandemic and reduce the spread of germs that cause diarrhea and other diseases. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2009/10/getting_guys_to_wash_their_han.html?hpid=sec-health

My question: why is it customary for males to wash their hands after urination? I never do, which shocks and disgusts some of my guy friends. I bathe daily and wear fresh underpants, so how does my penis get dirty? It's not like I dig a ditch with it. However, my hands might get dirty from daily activities. Is it not more sensible then to wash my hands before touching my clean penis? Is posturination hand washing a throwback to the bad old days, when sex was "dirty" and so, by extension, were sex organs? I'm serious about this. Please advise.

— Tom Sharpley, Los Angeles

Dear Tom:

Good (if elderly) joke. Common (but stupid) attitude. Rank (but important) topic. Some facts: The purpose of washing is not to get pee off your hands. No amount of washing will make you clean. You have to do it anyway.

I've said this before: your boxer-shorts region--from belly button to mid-thigh--is crawling with germs known as coliform bacteria. These bacteria originated in your intestine, and some of them are deadly. Remember punji stakes? They were sharpened sticks that the Vietcong concealed point up along trails and daubed with excrement. If you stepped on one you had a good chance of contracting a fatal infection. Similarly, an otherwise not-so-serious gunshot or knife injury could kill you if it perforated the intestine and allowed coliform bacteria to spread around your abdomen.

But you know this (or at least you ought to). What you may not know is that washing will not make the coliform bacteria go away. They're holed up in the pores of your skin and nothing short of sandblasting--certainly not your morning shower--is going to get them out. Showering merely gets rid of the ones that have strayed onto the surface. The bacteria won't do much harm if they stay put, but when you urinate your fingers come in contact with Mister P. long enough for the coliform bacteria in your pores to hop aboard. Your fingers subsequently touch lots of other infectible items. If you don't wash your hands with soap and water (soap gets rid of the skin oil that the bacteria stick to) . . . hello, Typhoid Mary.

It now dawns on you: jeez, if merely touching my privates is enough to transmit bacteria, it doesn't matter if I pee or not! Just so. Urine itself is actually fairly sterile. Cecil has read reports of it being used during wartime in poor countries as--I'm not making this up--a sort of battlefield Bactine. (U.S. doctors generally blanch at this.) The lesson to draw from this, however, is not that you can go forth dripping (yuck), but rather that just because you didn't pee on your fingers doesn't mean you can skip washing up. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1043/why-are-men-supposed-to-wash-their-hands-after-urination

Stent Aims to Help Stop Erectile Dysfunction

Will Implanted Device Work Where Pills Failed?

People may be used to getting spam e-mails offering discounts on Cialis, Levitra or Viagra, but if a new clinical trial is successful, men with erectile dysfunction may someday be flooded with e-mails for another option: a stent.

Medtronic has begun testing a new pelvic stent it hopes will be able to treat erectile dysfunction.
(Courtesy Medtronic)

Medtronic has begun testing on a new pelvic stent for men who have not been helped by drugs. Investigators will begin with 50 patients at 10 different medical centers.

"This is a common problem. Men many times do not have satisfactory results from first-line medical therapies," said Dr. Krishna Rocha-Singh, director of the Prairie Vascular Institute in Springfield, Ill., who installed the first of the stents in a patient last week.

Singh said erectile dysfunction can also be a sign of larger problems, with potential blockages of major blood vessels.

"Erectile dysfunction could be a symptom of a vascular source," he said, noting that it could be an early sign of what could lead to heart attacks or strokes. "The patients we're treating in our practice [with erectile dysfunction] had the same problem elsewhere in other parts of the body."
By opening up blood flow, Singh explained, stenting might solve some of those problems. However, he pointed out, it remains to be seen which patients would be helped by the stent, a question he hopes the clinical trial will answer.

Other doctors in the field said the device may prove beneficial, but only to a small subset of men.

Best for Younger Men?

Dr. Jerome Richie, the chief of urology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said, "I would foresee this stent as an application for younger individuals who have had traumatic injuries that decrease arterial inflow. Other than that selected group, I do not foresee widespread applicability."

Dr. Ajay Nehra, a professor of urology at the Mayo Clinic, agreed that young men whose erectile dysfunction stemmed from traumatic injury would be the most likely to be helped, and said they may prefer a stenting operation to a pill, since an erection would not feel as medically induced later on.

"Men would ideally like to have natural, spontaneous erection, and that's why the medical device is trying to look at alternative options than pills, per se," said Nehra.

Will There Be Demand?
For many men with erectile dysfunction, the available pills do not help. For that reason, a number of doctors thought the stent could become a commercial success.

"Current ED meds (Viagra, etc.) work in only about half of patients, so if this were effective, it could have substantial impact," said Dr. Martin Sanda, director of the prostate cancer center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

And while a stent may be thought of as invasive, doctors did not think that would be an obstacle if the stent proved to be successful.

"Regarding the potential splash it could make, take a look at the splash Viagra made. If [women are] willing to have surgery for breast implants etc., and men are willing to get penile implants, I would think the potential for this could be huge, if it works and has minimal side effects," said Dr. Lee E. Ponsky, chief of the division of urologic oncology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

"For men [in whom] pills or vacuum devices do not work, this method of drug delivery may be better accepted than the current suppositories or direct injection into the penis. It will be an interesting trial to follow," said Dr. Martha K. Terris, chief of urology at the Augusta VA Medical Center in Georgia.
Other doctors agreed that demand would not be a problem if the trial were successful.

"All men with erectile dysfunction will want to know if they are candidates for the stent," said Dr. Ira Sharlip, a clinical professor of urology at the University of California at San Francisco, and immediate past president of the International Society for Sexual Medicine.

At the same time, he said, "[It] remains to be seen if it works and for whom." Read the complete original article here

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MensHealthNews/medtronic-hopes-pelvic-stent-cure-erectile-dysfunction/story?id=8830521

An update on breast cancer and contraceptive pills

The risk of breast cancer among women who take oral contraceptive pills (OCP) has been studied for a long time. The results of the studies are still controversial—some point to an increase while others to no effect.

Estrogen and breast cancer

It is known fact that the breast tissue is affected by hormones, specifically by estrogen. A very practical way to understand this is when your breasts enlarge just before menstruation and during pregnancy. In both occasions, your hormones are at higher levels than the usual.

The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study caused the great turnaround in the use of hormone replacement for menopausal women because it showed that the use of a combination estrogen and progestin replacement in these women caused an increase in the risk of breast cancer. However, the result among reproductive age group (read: those still menstruating) who take OCP (also a combination of estrogen and progestin) is not as clear cut as in these menopausal women.

The conflicting results

• OCP increases breast cancer. A Scandinavian study reported in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention (Vol.11: 1375-1381) was a prospective study where women who used OCP were followed up from 1991 to1999 and the number of those who developed breast cancer was compared to those who did not. The results showed that breast cancer risk was increased by 60 per cent for women who were still taking the pill while those who stopped for a year or more only had a 20 per cent risk.

• OCP did not increase breast cancer. However, another study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) called Women's Contraceptive and Reproductive Experience (Women's CARE) done between 1994 and 1998 showed there was no increased risk of breast cancer in current or former users of birth control pills.

Other factors which cause breast cancer in OCP takers

• Family history. In a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the result showed a higher risk (up to 11 times) among OCP takers with a strong family history of breast cancer. However, it should be noted that more than half of breast cancer cases occur in those with no family history of the disease.

• Genetics. A study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Vol. 94, No. 23: 1773-1779) looked at the link between OCP and breast cancer in women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. A mutation is a random change in the genetic material. There are two types of mutations in this breast cancer gene called BRCA1 and BRCA2. The study reported that OCP increased breast cancer risk for women with mutations in BRCA1 but not in those with mutations in BRCA2. Among those with no mutations, there seem to be a very low risk.

• Age. There is a study which showed an increased risk of breast cancer in women 45 years and older who were still taking the pill. The probable cause in these women could be that the older OCP preparations had a significantly higher dose of estrogen. In addition, breast cancer is a disease of older women, with more than half in their 60s.

• Length of use. There seem to be an increase risk among those who have taken OCP for long periods of time but the exact length was not specified. Some research have found that if you have stopped taking OCP for at least 10 years, your breast cancer risk returned to the same level as those who have never taken the pills.

Should I take contraceptive pills?

Yes, you can still take the pill, but with caution to those who have a strong family history of breast cancer, found to have mutations in BRCA1 gene and aged 40 or more.

However, the final decision on whether you should take the pill will rely on your own reasons for taking it. OCP by itself will not cause breast cancer, but MAY increase the RISK of developing it. This article is for informational purposes only for a more thorough discussion with your health provider. read the original complete article here http://www.herword.com/healthdesk/main.php?id=ocp

Strengthening bones through regular milk drinking

JUST DAYS after a multinational company restarted its milk campaign for school children, another firm is pushing its milk brand aimed mainly at women.

Unlike men, women are more prone to osteoporosis, a condition that results from low bone density that can result in painful fractures.

To get their message across, Anlene recently held a press conference where guests first underwent a bone density test before they were led to their seats. The test that took less than 10 minutes involved slipping off one’s footwear and placing one’s sole on a contraption that measures bone health with almost 100% accuracy. (Full disclosure: I was in the low risk group meaning there was very little chance of my developing osteoporosis.)

Osteoporosis, however, is not an overnight affliction. In fact, it doesn’t happen over a year. It builds up slowly, without any symptoms, over years of neglecting bone health before finally cracking.

To prevent this, women (and men) are advised to eat a healthy diet rich in essential bone nutrients; exercise daily and take part in weight bearing exercises; limit or avoid altogether smoking, alcohol and caffeine intake; have regular bone checks; and consult a doctor.

Milk, especially one like Anlene that contains Nano-Calcium, is likewise recommended. Nano-Calcium is more than a hundred times smaller than normal calcium allowing for better absorption.

The National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference on Osteoporosis recommends 750 mg of calcium a day for women below 50, and 800 mg for pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women. One glass of Anlene has the calcium equivalent of two glasses of regular milk.

Healthy options

Making healthier choices when it comes to one’s diet and exercising daily are not exactly groundbreaking ideas if one wants to lead a long and healthy life.

As Dr. Leilani Mercado-Asis, president of the Osteoporosis Society of the Philippines Foundation Inc. (OSPFI) said, prevention is the best cure.

"By drinking milk and acquiring these healthy habits, you can strengthen your bones over time, and rely on that strength when the time comes," Ms. Asis said.

The doctor added that milk drinkers should include Vitamin D whether in capsule form or by going under the sun for a few minutes daily.

"Vitamin D allows bones to receive the calcium," Ms. Asis said.

The event was also the venue for the introduction of Anlene’s newest celebrity endorser, former beauty queen Charlene Gonzalez who appears in the commercial that began airing recently on local TV.

"You really have to take care of yourself," Ms. Gonzalez said.

"For the women, if they are happy with their current state, why not experience that for the rest of their life? Get that Anlene habit," she added. — Click this link to read original complete articlehttp://www.bworldonline.com/Weekender100909/main.php?id=health2