Kids, spring, playing outside—and allergies
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BY JENNIFER AMMONS, MD
“Your Child and You”
Lancaster General Health
Ahh, the sounds of spring: Birds chirping, lawn mowers humming, kids outside playing—and sneezing. Unfortunately, seasonal allergies can be part of spring’s arrival for children as well as adults, and it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between allergies and colds.
Here are some things to look for to help make the call:
- Your child’s age
- Itchiness
- Sneezing
- “Allergic salute” (Children with allergies who repeatedly rub their nose with their palm will develop a crease at the end of their nose.)
- Dark circles
- Response to medication
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
Adults need vaccinations too—find out which ones
BY CHRISTOPHER HAGER
“Heart of the Matter”
Lancaster General Health
You probably remember getting shots as a child to protect against polio and DPT (diphtheria, pertussis or whooping cough, and tetanus), but do you know what vaccines you need as an adult?
Vaccinations are not just for kids. What you may not realize is that some of the protection you got from vaccines in your childhood may have worn off in adulthood. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the specific vaccines you need depend on your age, lifestyle, high-risk conditions, your travel plans, and previous immunizations.
In general, you need vaccines to protect you from influenza, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, shingles, pneumonia, and human papillomavirus (HPV). You may also be vaccinated against chicken pox, measles, mumps, and rubella if you haven’t had the diseases to get immunity. Additional vaccines, such as hepatitis, may depend on your lifestyle or other indications.
Discuss what vaccinations you may need the next time you go to your doctor for a checkup. All adults need immunizations to protect against vaccine-preventable diseases, and for seniors, immunization can be a lifesaver. Diphtheria, shingles, flu, pneumonia, and tetanus can be especially serious if your age 65 or older.
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
Does obesity threaten a healthy pregnancy?
BY JENNIFER AMMONS, MD
“Your Child and You”
Lancaster General Health
Being pregnant and being obese can adversely affect you and your baby, but there are steps you can take to help ensure a safe delivery for both of you.
Know the risks
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, obesity (having a body mass index of 30 or more) puts you at increased risk of several pregnancy-related complications, including:
- Gestational diabetes
- Urinary tract and postpartum infections
- Protein in the urine and high blood pressure after 20 weeks of pregnancy (preeclampsia)
- Prematurity or stillbirth
- Problems with labor
- C-sections and an increased risk of post-operative complications
In addition to threats to your own health, obesity carries risks for your baby, most notably an increased risk of having a birth defect, such as a heart condition, a problem with the brain or spinal cord (neural tube defect), and an abnormal buildup of fluid in the brain.
Obese women also are more likely to deliver a baby who is slightly larger than normal, and studies have shown that these babies have a greater risk of childhood obesity.
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
What foods go on the perfect plate?
BY JACQUI ZIMMERMAN
“Healthier Ways”
Lancaster General Health
There is a good reason why the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that you fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables.
That’s the latest guidance from the USDA’s MyPlate, which recently replaced the Food Pyramid.
A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can reduce your risk for many chronic diseases, including heart disease and cancer. People who eat more fruits and vegetables also tend to have healthier body weights.
Fruits and vegetables are loaded with vitamins, minerals and powerful antioxidants. Plus, they are typically low in calories and high in fiber and water, so you fill up on less food.
Think eating more fruits and vegetables is easier said than done? Here are five tips for how you can make over your plate!
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
Menopause and heart disease—a potentially dangerous combination
BY ROSEMARY SEARCH
“Let’s Talk: Menopause”
Lancaster General Health
Has your heart ever started to pound suddenly, scaring you out of your wits because there seems to be no way to slow it down? Bouts of rapid heart beats are a common complaint associated with menopause and perhaps one of the least expected.
Heart disease and menopause, however, are connected. That’s because menopause brings the loss of estrogen, which is believed to have protective effects on the heart and cardiovascular system.
As a result, once you reach natural menopause, your risk of heart disease increases substantially. The numbers tell the story. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women over 40, and after age 50, nearly half of all deaths in women are from of cardiovascular disease. That’s more than deaths from all cancers combined.
How can the loss of estrogen affect your cardiovascular risk?
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
Treating knee pain in a teen-ager
BY JOSH ANDERSON, PT
“Orthopedic Matters”
Lancaster General Health
If you’re a teen-ager experiencing knee pain or know someone who is, it’s probably a condition known as patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). The good news is that it can be treated—and better yet, prevented.
The incidence of PFPS, which is pain in the front of the knee, ranges from 10 percent to 25 percent, according to various researchers and orthopedic clinics.
The condition seems to be more prevalent in adolescents, affecting 20 percent or more of that age group, and in athletes whose sport primarily involves running. Young female athletes are about 2.5 times more likely to experience this type of knee pain than their male counterparts.
Can anything to be done to treat, or better yet, prevent PFPS? The answer to both of these questions is YES!
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
Exercise: Can you get too much of a good thing?
BY DOUGLAS GOHN, MD
“Cardiology Corner”
Lancaster General Health
Spring time has a variety of associations for most people—flowers, Mother’s Day, and graduations to name a few. For endurance athletes, it’s the start of the race season. Can a person exercise too much? The question is being asked after the recent death of a runner in the London marathon and the death of a world champion swimmer from Norway earlier this week.
I am headed to Philadelphia for Sunday’s Broad Street Run, an event that involves 30,000 runners racing 10 miles down the major north-south thoroughfare in center city. The first big race in Philly unfortunately will bring back bad memories of last fall’s marathon when our post-run euphoria was dashed by a commotion at the finish line—the sudden death of a fellow runner.
It was the second death on the course that day, the other a very accomplished triathlete who competed in Ironman distance races (a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run).
On April 22, Claire Squires, a 30-year-old runner died during the London marathon. On Tuesday, May 1, Dale Oen, a 26-year-old Norweigan swimmer and Olympic medal hopeful, died at training camp after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Are these deaths of highly trained athletes the result of an unmasked genetic predisposition, or are they the result of their dedication to training and racing? Can a person exercise too much?
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
Super foods? Flavonoids, stroke, and your brain
BY ADRIANNA ZEC
“Stroke Matters”
Lancaster General Health
Your mother always told you to eat your vegetables, although she may not have known exactly why they’re good for you. Research is giving us answers. Fruits and vegetables can lower blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease and probably some cancers. Now comes another study showing benefits in stroke prevention.
Researchers at the Norwich Medical School in England and Tufts University in Boston have zeroed in on a certain subtype of pigments found in fruits and vegetables, known as flavonoids. This work has shed further light on the link between these foods, reducing stroke risk, and the possible slowing of cognitive decline, or the ability to think, learn, and remember.
Flavonoids are a large group of plant compounds called polyphenols that can be further divided into subclasses. Flavanones, one of these subclasses, was found to be beneficial in reducing stroke risk.
The study, published online in the journal Stroke, followed nearly 70,000 nurses and their dietary habits over 14 years. It paid special attention to how much fruit and vegetables they ate.
Analysis of the nurses’ diets showed that 95 percent of the flavanones they consumed came from citrus fruit and fruit juices, like orange and grapefruit. Women who ate the most flavanone-rich fruits had a 19 percent lower risk of stroke compared to those who ate the least.
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
Generic Lipitor: Does it make a difference?
BY CHRISTOPHER HAGER, MD
“Heart of the Matter”
Lancaster General Health
Lipitor, the world’s biggest-selling drug, became available as a generic (atorvastatin) late last year. Will it change cardiovascular care in the United States? Some experts think it will.
It’s a treatment called neuromodulation, and it is an advanced chronic pain-relieving technique. This therapy sends mild electrical impulses to the spinal cord to intercept pain signals before they reach the brain.
I commonly discuss high cholesterol with my patients in the office setting. While I almost always advise them to work aggressively at diet and lifestyle modifications as a means to lower their cholesterol, I know that many patients are unwilling and/or unable to get to their targets by exercising more frequently and eating healthier.
For those patients with persistently elevated cholesterol, statin medications are very effective at lowering the bad cholesterol levels.
Lipitor is a statin, a class of medications that has revolutionized the treatment of high cholesterol by blocking an enzyme in the liver that the body uses to make cholesterol.
Some 8.7 million Americans take Lipitor to lower their cholesterol. Overall, 32 million Americans are on statin medications.
Depending on the dose you take, Lipitor, combined with diet and exercise, reduces so-called bad cholesterol on average by 39 percent to 60 percent.
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
Neuromodulation: Treatment option intercepts pain signals
BY MADHAVI REDDY, MD
“Pain Matters”
Lancaster General Health
If you’re suffering from chronic pain and can’t get relief from traditional therapies, you may be a candidate for an advanced technique involving electrical impulses sent to the spinal cord.
It’s a treatment called neuromodulation, and it is an advanced chronic pain-relieving technique. This therapy sends mild electrical impulses to the spinal cord to intercept pain signals before they reach the brain.
How it works
When you experience pain, it’s the result of sensations relayed on a pathway from the nerve fibers through the spinal cord to the brain. If we can interfere with the pain signals, we can replace the sensation of pain with another—a tingling, tapping, or wave-like sensation.
Because the therapy involves the implantation of a pacemaker-like device, we first test whether it will work for you with a trial simulation. We’ll place a thin tube-like device with electrical tips into your spine. Using a remote control, you’re in charge of the stimulation, its intensity, and location.
Source: lancastergeneralhealth.org
