Thursday, October 24, 2019
Albany weight loss clinic sees big results with old-fashioned methods: eat better food, less of it, and exercise
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| Dr. Carol Peddicord holds a model representing 5 lbs. of body fat. (Clinton County News photo) |
Dr. Carol Peddicord and pharmacist Arica Collins of Dyer Drug Company came up with the idea for the clinic after seeing how many patients came in looking for a quick fix to lose weight. But the best way to do that is to live a healthier lifestyle, not through a pill or a crash diet, the News reports.
Emphasis on healthier. "We don’t want people to be skinner, we want them to be healthy and live longer," Peddicord told the News. Obesity is a significantly bigger problem in rural areas than in suburban and urban areas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Though the duo first conceived of the clinic because they were worried about children's health, most of their patients are women between the ages of 35 and 58. There are a few high schoolers though, and they're starting to see more men coming in. That's good, Peddicord told the News, because men typically have heart disease earlier in life.
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| Albany, in Clinton County, Ky. (Wikipedia map) |
Though Peddicord was glad to note that the clinic's patients had lost 680 lbs. last month, she told the News that pounds aren't the only thing that matter. Patients have seen other "non-scale victories" such as being able to stop taking insulin for diabetes. "People are losing weight, feeling better and are able to exercise," Peddicord told the News.
Can exercise help treat anxiety?
Chances are good that you, or someone you know, is dealing with anxiety. One in five Americans over 18, and one in three teenagers 13 to 18, reported having a chronic anxiety disorder during the past year. And when I talk to college students, they’re not at all surprised that a whopping 63% of students felt tremendous anxiety during their freshman year, according to a report by the National College Health Association.
The toll of anxiety can be high: it increases a person’s risk for other psychiatric disorders like depression, and can contribute to diabetes and cardiovascular problems. One sobering study shows that people with anxiety tend to be more sedentary and do less intense forms of physical activity, if any. That’s ironic, because lacing up your sneakers and getting out and moving may be the single best nonmedical solution we have for preventing and treating anxiety.
As a psychiatrist who studies the effects of exercise on the brain, I’ve not only seen the science, I’ve witnessed firsthand how physical activity affects my patients. Research shows aerobic exercise is especially helpful. A simple bike ride, dance class, or even a brisk walk can be a powerful tool for those suffering from chronic anxiety. Activities like these also help people who are feeling overly nervous and anxious about an upcoming test, a big presentation, or an important meeting.
How does exercise help ease anxiety?
- Engaging in exercise diverts you from the very thing you are anxious about.
- Moving your body decreases muscle tension, lowering the body’s contribution to feeling anxious.
- Getting your heart rate up changes brain chemistry, increasing the availability of important anti-anxiety neurochemicals, including serotonin, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and endocannabinoids.
- Exercise activates frontal regions of the brain responsible for executive function, which helps control the amygdala, our reacting system to real or imagined threats to our survival.
- Exercising regularly builds up resources that bolster resilience against stormy emotions.
The details
So exactly how much exercise does one need to protect against episodes of anxiety and anxiety disorders? While pinpointing this is not easy, a recent meta-analysis in the journal Anxiety-Depression found that people with anxiety disorders who reported high-level physical activity were better protected against developing anxiety symptoms than those who reported low physical activity. Bottom line: when it comes to treating anxiety, more exercise is better.
If you’re just starting out, don’t despair. Some research also shows that just a single bout of exercise can help ease anxiety when it strikes.
Which type of exercise you choose may not matter greatly. Studies point to the effectiveness of everything from tai chi to high-intensity interval training. People experienced improvement no matter which types of activity they tried. Even general physical activity is helpful. The important thing is to try activities and keep doing them.
To maximize the benefits:
- Choose something enjoyable so you will do it repeatedly, building resilience.
- Work toward getting your heart rate up.
- Work out with a friend or in a group to reap the added benefit of social support.
- If possible, exercise in nature or green space, which further lowers stress and anxiety.
While scientific studies are important, you don’t need to consult a chart, statistics, or an expert to know how good you feel after working up a sweat. Remember those feelings and use them as motivation to do something physical every day. Time to get up and get moving!
Follow me on Twitter @jratey
The post Can exercise help treat anxiety? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Lawmaker files 2 anti-vaping bills; some want a ban on flavors, but sponsor says that should be left up to the feds
By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
A Louisville lawmaker has pre-filed two regulatory bills to combat the surge of youth use of electronic cigarettes in Kentucky, but some say they don't go far enough.
Louisville Republican Rep. Jerry Miller's most recently pre-filed bill would require all retailers or manufacturers of vapor/aerosol products that come with "enhanced cartridges" to register with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and pay a $500 annual licensing fee per location annually.
It would also prohibit retailers and manufacturers from selling such products online, by catalog or by phone; prohibit home delivery by outside vendors; require real-time age verification for purchase through an electronic third-party source no later than Jan. 1, 2021; and call for fines on any person under the age of 18 who tries to purchase vaping products.
WLKY reports that representatives from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and officials from Jefferson County Public School and Greater Louisville, Inc., the regional chamber of commerce, attended Monday's press conference outside Eastern High School in Louisville in support of Miller's bills.
But not all health advocates support the bill as written, largely because it doesn't include language to prohibit flavored e-cigarettes, a proposal that is supported by President Donald Trump.
"Anything short of bold and immediate action by the state to prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including mint and menthol, fails to protect the health of Kentucky’s kids," says a statement from the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Kentucky Voices for Health. "We urge Rep. Miller to amend his bill to adequately address flavored tobacco products and protect our youth.”
Juul, which has been the most popular brand of e-cigarettes by teens, announced on Oct. 17 that it would stop selling its fruit-flavored e-cigarettes in the U.S., though it will continue to sell its mint and menthol products.
The Campaign for Tobacco Free-Kids said in a separate statement that Juul not taking their mint and menthol products off the market shows the company "isn't serious about preventing youth use" of e-cigarettes since they are well aware that preliminary data from the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey shows that 64% of high school students who vape say that menthol and mint is their second most popular flavor behind fruit "and this number is growing all the time."
According to the Kentucky Incentives for Prevention survey, 26.7% of the state's high-school seniors reported they had vaped in the past 30 days in 2018, up from 12.2% in the 2016 survey. Use by sophomores, or 10th graders, increased to 23.2% from 11.3%; use by eighth graders jumped to 14.2% from 7.3%; and sixth-grader use increased to 4.2% from 2.3% over 2016.
Miller told Bailey Loosemore with the Louisville Courier Journal that he recognized the lure of the flavored products to teens and doesn't oppose a ban on them, but said that such a ban needs to take place on a federal level.
"If Washington wants to ban it, fine, that's their deal," he said. "In terms of Kentucky, how we're going to reduce teen vaping, I see it as more effective to regulate it."
Miller has also prefiled a bill that would impose a 27.5% excise tax on e-cigarettes and other vaping products.
On top of the youth vaping epidemic, the cause of vaping-related lung injuries is still unknown. And such injuries have disproportionately affected young people.
As of Oct. 15, 1,478 vaping-related lung injury cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 33 deaths have been confirmed in 24 states. The CDC reports that 15% of the cases were in patients younger than 18 years old, 21% of them were in patients between the ages of 18 and 21 and 18% were in patients between the ages of 21 and 24.
In Kentucky, 28 cases are under investigation, with six of them probable, two of them confirmed and four of them ruled out.
The CDC adds that while they haven't found the exact cause of the lung injuries, "national and state data suggest that products containing THC, particularly those obtained off the street or from other informal sources are linked to most of the cases." THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
The CDC just released a report that analyzed 79 Utah patients who had suffered from what is now called EVALI, for "e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury." The report found that almost all of the patients reported using THC-containing vaping cartridges and most of the THC-containing products contained vitamin E acetate.
The study showed evidence of vitamin E acetate in 17 of 20 THC-containing cartridges, which were provided by six of 53 interviewed patients. The report notes that national data suggests that vitamin E acetate is now a common diluent in THC cartridges.
"The potential role of vitamin E acetate in lung injury remains unknown; however, the identification of vitamin E acetate among products collected from patients in Utah and elsewhere indicates that the outbreak might be associated with cutting agents or adulterants," says the report. "Ascertaining the potential contribution of diluents to the current outbreak will require data from multiple states and analysis at the national level."
Among the 849 lung-injury patients with information on the substances they used in their e-cigarettes, the CDC reports that about 78% of them used THC-containing product, with 31% of those only using THC. About 58% of them reported using nicotine-containing products, with 10% of those reporting that they only used nicotine.
The CDC recommends that at at this time, all persons should not use e-cigarettes or vaping products containing THC. And because the cause or causes of these lung injuries is still not known, "persons should consider refraining from use of all e-cigarette or vaping products."
Kentucky Health News
A Louisville lawmaker has pre-filed two regulatory bills to combat the surge of youth use of electronic cigarettes in Kentucky, but some say they don't go far enough.
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| Rep. Jerry Miller announces his pre-filed vaping bills, aimed at thwarting rampant teen use of e-cigarettes. WLKY photo. |
It would also prohibit retailers and manufacturers from selling such products online, by catalog or by phone; prohibit home delivery by outside vendors; require real-time age verification for purchase through an electronic third-party source no later than Jan. 1, 2021; and call for fines on any person under the age of 18 who tries to purchase vaping products.
WLKY reports that representatives from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and officials from Jefferson County Public School and Greater Louisville, Inc., the regional chamber of commerce, attended Monday's press conference outside Eastern High School in Louisville in support of Miller's bills.
But not all health advocates support the bill as written, largely because it doesn't include language to prohibit flavored e-cigarettes, a proposal that is supported by President Donald Trump.
"Anything short of bold and immediate action by the state to prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including mint and menthol, fails to protect the health of Kentucky’s kids," says a statement from the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Kentucky Voices for Health. "We urge Rep. Miller to amend his bill to adequately address flavored tobacco products and protect our youth.”
Juul, which has been the most popular brand of e-cigarettes by teens, announced on Oct. 17 that it would stop selling its fruit-flavored e-cigarettes in the U.S., though it will continue to sell its mint and menthol products.
The Campaign for Tobacco Free-Kids said in a separate statement that Juul not taking their mint and menthol products off the market shows the company "isn't serious about preventing youth use" of e-cigarettes since they are well aware that preliminary data from the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey shows that 64% of high school students who vape say that menthol and mint is their second most popular flavor behind fruit "and this number is growing all the time."
According to the Kentucky Incentives for Prevention survey, 26.7% of the state's high-school seniors reported they had vaped in the past 30 days in 2018, up from 12.2% in the 2016 survey. Use by sophomores, or 10th graders, increased to 23.2% from 11.3%; use by eighth graders jumped to 14.2% from 7.3%; and sixth-grader use increased to 4.2% from 2.3% over 2016.
Miller told Bailey Loosemore with the Louisville Courier Journal that he recognized the lure of the flavored products to teens and doesn't oppose a ban on them, but said that such a ban needs to take place on a federal level.
"If Washington wants to ban it, fine, that's their deal," he said. "In terms of Kentucky, how we're going to reduce teen vaping, I see it as more effective to regulate it."
Miller has also prefiled a bill that would impose a 27.5% excise tax on e-cigarettes and other vaping products.
On top of the youth vaping epidemic, the cause of vaping-related lung injuries is still unknown. And such injuries have disproportionately affected young people.
As of Oct. 15, 1,478 vaping-related lung injury cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 33 deaths have been confirmed in 24 states. The CDC reports that 15% of the cases were in patients younger than 18 years old, 21% of them were in patients between the ages of 18 and 21 and 18% were in patients between the ages of 21 and 24.
In Kentucky, 28 cases are under investigation, with six of them probable, two of them confirmed and four of them ruled out.
The CDC adds that while they haven't found the exact cause of the lung injuries, "national and state data suggest that products containing THC, particularly those obtained off the street or from other informal sources are linked to most of the cases." THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
The CDC just released a report that analyzed 79 Utah patients who had suffered from what is now called EVALI, for "e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury." The report found that almost all of the patients reported using THC-containing vaping cartridges and most of the THC-containing products contained vitamin E acetate.
The study showed evidence of vitamin E acetate in 17 of 20 THC-containing cartridges, which were provided by six of 53 interviewed patients. The report notes that national data suggests that vitamin E acetate is now a common diluent in THC cartridges.
"The potential role of vitamin E acetate in lung injury remains unknown; however, the identification of vitamin E acetate among products collected from patients in Utah and elsewhere indicates that the outbreak might be associated with cutting agents or adulterants," says the report. "Ascertaining the potential contribution of diluents to the current outbreak will require data from multiple states and analysis at the national level."
Among the 849 lung-injury patients with information on the substances they used in their e-cigarettes, the CDC reports that about 78% of them used THC-containing product, with 31% of those only using THC. About 58% of them reported using nicotine-containing products, with 10% of those reporting that they only used nicotine.
The CDC recommends that at at this time, all persons should not use e-cigarettes or vaping products containing THC. And because the cause or causes of these lung injuries is still not known, "persons should consider refraining from use of all e-cigarette or vaping products."
Three cases of whooping cough have been reported in Lexington high-schools this year; best defense is vaccination
Two cases of whooping cough have occurred in less than a month at a Lexington high school, and another Lexington high school reported a case earlier this month.
Two cases were reported at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and one at Frederick Douglas High School, reports Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Health officials told Honeycutt that this is the ninth confirmed case in Lexington in 2019 and the third for Fayette County Public Schools for the 2019-20 school year.
Whooping cough, known medically as pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory infection spread by coughing, sneezing or close contact. Infected people are most contagious up to about two weeks after the cough begins.
Early symptoms of whooping cough look like a common cold, including runny nose, sneezing, mild cough and low-grade fever. After one to two weeks, long coughing spells develop, which often occur in explosive bursts, sometimes ending with a high-pitched whoop and vomiting. This can go on for up to 10 weeks or more, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Pertussis is most dangerous for babies," says the CDC. "About half of babies younger than 1 who get the disease need care in the hospital."
Vaccination is the best way to prevent the spread of whooping cough, says the CDC. The childhood vaccine is calld DTaP. The whooping cough booster vaccine for adolescents and adults is called Tdap. Both vaccines protect against whooping cough, tetanus and dipthieria.
Infants should receive a series of DTaP immunizations at 2, 4, and 6 months, with boosters at 15-18 months and 4-6 years. Children should then get a single dose of Tdap vaccine at 11 to 12.
Pregnant women should receive a single dose of Tdap during every pregnancy, preferably at 27 through 36 weeks.
Parents of infants and anyone who provides care to an infant should also be immunized against whooping cough. It is recommended that the infant's family members receive a one-time dose of Tdap if they have not already done so.
And although the vaccine is effective, immunity tends to decrease over time, which is why the boosters are so important, says the CDC.
Health officials told Honeycutt that they are working with Fayette County Public Schools to make sure parents are aware of the threat of pertussis. They also recommend preventive antibiotics for high-risk students who were exposed.
High-risk students are those with a chronic illness or weakened immune system and those who live with a family member with a chronic illness or weakened immune system, an infant or a pregnant woman.
Honeycutt reports that school-age children with symptoms of pertussis should stay home from school and go see their health care provider, even if they have previously been vaccinated. Students with probable or confirmed pertussis should remain out of school until they finish their antibiotics.
A county-by-county annual student immunization report shows that 93.5 percent of Kentucky's Kindergarten students have received four or more doses of the DTaP vaccine, with 60% of counties reporting 95% or greater compliance, which lines up with the Healthy People 2020 target measures.
The report found that 92.3% of the state's seventh graders had received one dose of the Tdap booster, with 92.5% of counties reporting 80% or greater compliance; 93.4% of 11th graders were up to date on their Tdap booster, with 92%% of counties reporting 80% or greater compliance; and 94.2% of 12th graders had received one dose of the booster, with 95.7% of counties reporting 80% or greater compliance. The Healthy People 2020 goal for the upper grades is 80% or greater for one dose of Tdap.
In Fayette County, 96.8% of its Kindergarten students are up to date on their whooping cough vaccine, as are 89.5% of its 7th graders, 92.5% of its 11th graders and 93.1% of its 12th graders
Last year in Kentucky, preliminary data shows that Kentucky had 193 cases of whopping cough, which is 4.33 cases per 100,000 people.
Health officials told Honeycutt that this is the ninth confirmed case in Lexington in 2019 and the third for Fayette County Public Schools for the 2019-20 school year.
Whooping cough, known medically as pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory infection spread by coughing, sneezing or close contact. Infected people are most contagious up to about two weeks after the cough begins.
Early symptoms of whooping cough look like a common cold, including runny nose, sneezing, mild cough and low-grade fever. After one to two weeks, long coughing spells develop, which often occur in explosive bursts, sometimes ending with a high-pitched whoop and vomiting. This can go on for up to 10 weeks or more, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Pertussis is most dangerous for babies," says the CDC. "About half of babies younger than 1 who get the disease need care in the hospital."
Vaccination is the best way to prevent the spread of whooping cough, says the CDC. The childhood vaccine is calld DTaP. The whooping cough booster vaccine for adolescents and adults is called Tdap. Both vaccines protect against whooping cough, tetanus and dipthieria.
Infants should receive a series of DTaP immunizations at 2, 4, and 6 months, with boosters at 15-18 months and 4-6 years. Children should then get a single dose of Tdap vaccine at 11 to 12.
Pregnant women should receive a single dose of Tdap during every pregnancy, preferably at 27 through 36 weeks.
Parents of infants and anyone who provides care to an infant should also be immunized against whooping cough. It is recommended that the infant's family members receive a one-time dose of Tdap if they have not already done so.
And although the vaccine is effective, immunity tends to decrease over time, which is why the boosters are so important, says the CDC.
Health officials told Honeycutt that they are working with Fayette County Public Schools to make sure parents are aware of the threat of pertussis. They also recommend preventive antibiotics for high-risk students who were exposed.
High-risk students are those with a chronic illness or weakened immune system and those who live with a family member with a chronic illness or weakened immune system, an infant or a pregnant woman.
Honeycutt reports that school-age children with symptoms of pertussis should stay home from school and go see their health care provider, even if they have previously been vaccinated. Students with probable or confirmed pertussis should remain out of school until they finish their antibiotics.
A county-by-county annual student immunization report shows that 93.5 percent of Kentucky's Kindergarten students have received four or more doses of the DTaP vaccine, with 60% of counties reporting 95% or greater compliance, which lines up with the Healthy People 2020 target measures.
The report found that 92.3% of the state's seventh graders had received one dose of the Tdap booster, with 92.5% of counties reporting 80% or greater compliance; 93.4% of 11th graders were up to date on their Tdap booster, with 92%% of counties reporting 80% or greater compliance; and 94.2% of 12th graders had received one dose of the booster, with 95.7% of counties reporting 80% or greater compliance. The Healthy People 2020 goal for the upper grades is 80% or greater for one dose of Tdap.
In Fayette County, 96.8% of its Kindergarten students are up to date on their whooping cough vaccine, as are 89.5% of its 7th graders, 92.5% of its 11th graders and 93.1% of its 12th graders
Last year in Kentucky, preliminary data shows that Kentucky had 193 cases of whopping cough, which is 4.33 cases per 100,000 people.
Medical News Today: What to know about pica
Pica occurs when people crave and eat nonfood items. In some cases, this behavior can become harmful. This article describes what pica is, lists some possible causes, and explains how best to treat it.
