health magazine 2016

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HealtH Magazine 2016 Page 2 WeeK OF January 24, 2016


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What to dowhen you

get the fluIts really important to stay home

for a number of reasons.r o of h fw h

a person can do tohelp them recover from the flu.

Dr. Susan Rehm

by Melissa ericKsOn | MOre cOntent nOW

While the only thing predictable about the flu is that itsunpredictable, its a cold fact that last years flu season waspretty bad. According to the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, last years flu shot was only 23 percent effective.

Maybe thats why a recent Harris Poll found nearly one-third ofAmericans do not think having a flu shot will help them avoidgetting the flu and less than half, 43 percent, strongly agreethat flu shots will help them avoid getting sick.

Flu strains vary year to year and are constantly changing. The

vaccine is developed months before the illness hits. The successof the flu shot depends on it matching the strain of flu thatdevelops, said Dr. Susan Rehm, vice chair of the department ofinfectious disease and executive director of physician health atCleveland Clinic.

The good news is that this years match seems pretty good,she said. For people skeptical of the flu shots effectiveness,Rehm said, Its zero percent effective if you dont get it.

The flu shot is the best tool we have for preventing the flu. Itreduces the severity of flu symptoms and stops the spread ofthe disease, she said.

The flu is a respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus thatbrings on fever, chills, cough, body aches, fatigue, headaches,runny nose and congestion. Because it shares many symptoms

with the cold, many people confuse the two.The medical community urges people to stay home fromschool, work and running errands when sick to protect others,but theres a disconnect with the general public. The HarrisPoll found that 66 percent of those surveyed said they tryto tough it out and keep going to work, contrary to CDCrecommendations.

Its really important to stay home for a number of reasons,Rehm said. Rest is one of the few things a person can do to

help them recover from the flu, she said. Other good healthhabits include:

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

When coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with atissue. If you dont have a tissue, cough into your upper arm, notinto your hands.

Wash your hands with soap and water or alcohol-based rub to

protect yourself from germs. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth because thats howgerms are spread.

Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drinkplenty of uids and eat nutritious food.

Flu is a serious disease; its not just a cold, Rehm said. If you dodevelop symptoms, give your doctor a call and see if antiviral fludrugs can help. These drugs Tamiflu, Relenza and Rapivab reduce the severity and duration of the flu but should be takenwithin 48 hours of the onset of symptoms for the best results.


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Lice is a common problem. Second only to the common cold,head lice infestation remains the most frequent health issuefacing children ages 3 to 11, with up to 12 million cases reportedin the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention.

While lice is frustrating, its no cause for panic, said Dr. Rupal

Christine Gupta, pediatrician and medical editor for the NemoursFoundation Center for Childrens Health. While a note from schoolsaying a classmate has head lice may worry a parent, its not asign of a classmate being dirty or unhygienic, Gupta said. Whileit is a nuisance that can make a child uncomfortable and itchy,it isnt dangerous. Lice is also treatable with over-the-counter orprescription medicines.

Many school-aged children will get head lice at least onceduring their lifetimes, said Dr. Lauren Ploch, a board certifieddermatologist and member of the American Academy ofDermatology. Since situations of close proximity and sharedbelongings increase the chances that your child may be exposedto head lice, parents should educate your child to avoid sleepinghead-to-head with other children during nap time. Also make sure

that your child avoids using the same hairbrush as classmates,Ploch said.

Treatment

Its best to treat lice as soon as possible to avoid spread, Guptasaid. Lice crawl, they dont fly or jump, so they can crawl fromone childs head to another during head-to-head contact. Theycan also spread if kids share things like towels, hats, combs orbrushes.

Ploch added, Because they can live for one to two days off ofthe human host, they can also be transmitted via contact withsomething that contains hair infected with lice such as pillowsor hoods. If your child does have lice, he or she should not besent home from school.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for a childwith lice to stay at school until the end of the day and avoidhead-to-head contact with other kids, Gupta said. After school,your child can go home, get treated and go back to school thenext morning.

What to look for

Lice are sesame-seed sized, grayish white or tan parasites thatcan be hard to see. Unless the child is pretty heavily infested withlice, its less common to see lice on the skin and more common tosee nits (lice eggs). A school nurse or doctor should be able to tell

you if your child has lice, but with a magnifying glass and a brightlight, you may be able to identify lice yourself, Gupta said.

To check for lice, comb through the childs hair with a fine-toothed or lice comb. Pay special attention to the back of thescalp and behind the ears. Lice may be visible on the hair shafts;they look like small insects and may be crawling along the hairshaft, Ploch said.

You may also notice nits ... These egg nests look like a smallyellow-white ball that is stuck to the hair shaft. Clumps of dandruffslide freely along the hair shaft, but nits are stuck to the shaftof the hair and do not slide easily. This helps to distinguish nitsfrom dandruff.

For treatment, if the child is over 2 months old, the first-linetreatment is an over-the-counter shampoo with permethrin orpyrethrin. I also recommend drying the hair with a hair dryer ona high heat setting as this can assist with killing the louse eggs,Ploch said. If over-the-counter products are ineffective, thensee your physician for a prescription remedy, such as Malathionlotion.

If youve already tried an over-the-counter treatment at homewithout success, take your child to his or her doctor. Dont trymore lice medications at home without a doctors supervisionbecause these can be strong medicines, and using too muchmedication or too often may be harmful to your child, Guptasaid. You do not have to cut off a childs hair if they have lice.

At home, make sure to wash surfaces that the childs head/hairhas contacted.

This may include stuffed animals and blankets. Use hot waterand use the clothing dryer to dry these items. Vacuum all carpetsand clean all floors, Ploch said.


NITPICKY

how to deal with lice


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The flavoring chemical diacetyl was found in more than 75percent of flavored electronic cigarettes and refill liquids testedby researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Two other potentially harmful related compounds were alsofound in many of the tested flavors, which included varietieswith potential appeal to young people such as Cotton Candy,Fruit Squirts and Cupcake, said Joseph Allen, lead author of thestudy and assistant professor of exposure assessment scienceat Harvard.

Diacetyl

Diacetyl, a yellow liquid that smells and tastes like butter, isresponsible for the debilitating respiratory disease bronchiolitisobliterans, more commonly called popcorn lung. The danger

posed by diacetyl has been long known but is not federallyregulated, Allen said.

Its one of three ingredients that is in over 92 percent ofe-cigarettes. We see it in many flavors and it is structurally relatedto many other flavorings, Allen said.

While workers in microwave popcorn manufacturing plantsreceive warnings about the risk of diacetyl, e-cigarette usersdo not. Consumers are unaware of the potential hazard, Allensaid.

The Food and Drug Administration has determined ingredientslike diacetyl are generally recognized as safe to be eaten, butthe National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health saysthey pose different risks when inhaled.

Creating new smokers?E-cigarettes are generally regarded as safer than a conventional

tobacco cigarette, and smokers use e-cigarettes to manage theirdependence on nicotine, said Vaughan Rees, director of HarvardsCenter for Global Tobacco Control.

Switching completely to an e-cigarette might lower the healthrisks associated with smoking and be more cost-effective, butcontinuing to both smoke and vape may not reduce risks and isnot a good alternative to quitting completely, Rees said.

The biggest concern is that a new generation of young peoplewho would not consider smoking because of the risks involvedwill see e-cigarettes as a safer alternative and develop nicotinedependence.

This new generation of vapers may be vulnerable to futuretobacco industry marketing efforts, and it is possible that we

see many unintended tobacco users. This would be a majorsetback in the progress we have made in reducing tobacco-induced diseases, Rees said.

On the other hand, for current smokers e-cigarettes may be alower-risk alternative and may help to reduce the overall harmassociated with tobacco use.

We need product regulations that help smokers reduce theirhealth risk while preventing the initiation of new smokers, Reessaid.

For now, manufacturers are not required to disclose theingredients in e-cigarettes, so there is no way to help peopleidentify potentially harmful constituents.

We hope that the FDA will eventually require manufacturers to

clean up e-cigarettes by eliminating harmful constituents as wellas require disclosure of other ingredients, Rees said.

whats theharm?


risKs OF e-cigarettesstarting tO eMerge


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give thema hand

MAKING THE CHANGETO MEAT FREE


Bacon may be delicious, but studies show that red and especiallyprocessed meat should be avoided as much as possible.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a researchdivision of the World Health Organization, identified red meatas probably carcinogenic, meaning its likely to cause cancer.Eating just 100 grams of red meat per day (about 4 ounces) mayraise a persons risk of cancer that starts in the colon or rectumby 17 percent.

There have been a number of studies in the past few years thathave linked red meat especially processed red meat (bacon,sausage, ham) with increased risk of heart disease, certaintypes of cancer and diabetes, said registered dietitian SharonPalmer, author of The Plant-Powered Diet.

I think that reducing your meat intake is one of the mostpowerful things you can do for your health and the health ofthe planet. Americans eat three times the global rate of meat,so we have a lot of room to cut back, Palmer said.

Helping the planet

Now is a great time to explore better options for health for twomain reasons: health and the environment, said Marion Nestle,the Paulette Goddard professor of nutrition, food studies andpublic health at New York University.

Diets mainly based on plant foods are demonstrably healthier,and animal foods contribute far more to greenhouse gases thando plant foods, Nestle said.

Meat has a very high carbon and water footprint. Animals takeup lots of acreage, use more water and fossil fuels and producemore manure than we can handle in our agricultural system. Butif you eat plants directly from the soil instead of feeding thoseplants to animals, as we do today, then you can cut down thatwater and carbon footprint, Palmer said.

Whole-plant foods offer a range of health benefits.

They contain fiber (only found in the plant world), vitamins,minerals, protein and thousands of phytochemicals (again,only found in the plant world) that act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds and protect health in so many ways.So you get a double whammy when you cut down on meat: Youreduce the intake of saturated fat, dietary cholesterol and toxinslinked with meat processing, and you replace that with more

whole plants, which have myriad health benefits, Palmer said.How to start

Need help to go meatless? Check out the meatlessmonday.comfor tips, recipes and resources to get you going.

Another thing you can do is convert your favorite recipes to bemeat-free. For example, if you have a killer lasagna recipe, skipthe ground beef and fill it with mushrooms and kale. That wayyoure enjoying your favorite foods. You can also do this withTaco Tuesday night. Skip the taco meat and include black beansand lots of fillings like avocado, tomatoes, onions, olives, cilantroand more, Palmer said.

Embrace going meatless by changing the way you think aboutmeal planning.

We always ask ourselves: whats for dinner, and then we gostraight to beef, chicken or fish. What if we instead thought aboutthe plant first? When you ask yourself whats for dinner, start witha plant food, Palmer said.

For people afraid to cut back on meat because they think theyllmiss something, Palmer said there are more than 40,000 speciesof edible plants on the planet and within each species, there canbe a thousand or more varieties.

Just go to the farmers market and see the rainbow of plants.You will never be bored with plants, she said.


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