Ice cream, birthday cake and cookies are typical treats in our kids’ diets, but did you know that 16 percent of children and teens’ daily calories come from added sugar?

It’s no surprise that too much sugar can cause tooth decay, hyperactivity and increase the risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Yet experts say parents have no idea that all that sugar can also cause other chronic— albeit avoidable —health problems.

Cold, cough and allergies
One of the most common effects sugar can have on children are cold-like symptoms, said Dr. Julie L. Wei, a pediatric otolaryngologist at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Fla. Wei said many of her patients complain of chronic runny noses, excessive mucus, cough and symptoms of sinus infections.

Some kids are even diagnosed with allergies, without having any formal testing. They’re prescribed medication but their symptoms may actually be due to too much sugar.

“If we get rid of the symptoms, kids won’t need the medicine,” Wei said.

Croup and acid reflux
Some children even have recurrent episodes of what looks like croup. These children go to bed seemingly healthy, but wake up during the night with a barking cough and trouble breathing.

After she asked about their habits, Wei found that most of these children had a habit of drinking chocolate milk throughout the day. The combination of dairy and sugar takes longer to digest and is highly acidic. This means that food comes back up through the esophagus, touches the vocal cords and causes a laryngospasm.

“It’s like a charley horse of your voice box,” Wei said.

Often times, kids diagnosed with acid reflux are given over-the-counter medications that block the natural stomach secretion of acid and mask symptoms.

“We’re not having a whole generation of children who have some rare disease that they’re making more acid than before,” Wei said. “They are consuming 10 times more acid every single day than they used to.”

Weakened immunity
The body’s microbiome is made up of trillions of good bacteria that digest food, produce vitamins and protect it from germs and disease. But when kids consume too much sugar, it can alter the balance between good and bad bacteria and weaken their immune systems, Wei said. So although your children may still get frequent colds, their symptoms may be reduced if their sugar intake is reduced as well.

Poor diet
Children who snub fruits, vegetables and other healthy fare may not be picky eaters after all. They might just be loading up on too much sugar which can cause stomachaches and poor appetite.

How to cut down:
Reducing the amount of sugar your child consumes is a good idea, whether he has symptoms or not. In March, the World Health Organization proposed new draft guidelines that recommend only 5 percent of the total daily calories in our diets come from sugar. Here are some simple changes you can make.

1. Swap sugar.
“We as parents need to look at smart substitutions because we know that our kids are going to be drawn towards what their peers are eating,” said Jessica Crandall, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

So instead of ice cream, freeze plain Greek yogurt and add fresh fruit or use applesauce instead of sugar when baking.

2. Nix the juice.
Even if the juice box says “100 percent juice,” “organic” or “no sugar added,” it doesn’t mean it’s healthy. In fact, a typical juice pouch has about 22 grams of sugar. Offer water or seltzer instead and add slices of cucumber, berries or orange to taste.

3. Cut down on other liquid sugar. too.
Soda is an obvious one, but sugar can also show up in orange juice, sports drinks and smoothies. Even if your child plays sports, water should be enough to rehydrate.

4. Read labels for sneaky sugars.
The FDA has proposed new food labels to include a line for added sugars, but in the meantime, take a good look at labels. Sugar can hide in unsuspecting foods like pasta sauce, pre-packaged oatmeal, salad dressing, processed foods, and cereal. In fact, a recent report by the Environmental Working Group shows kids’ cereals have 40 percent more sugar than adults’.

5. Be careful about healthy alternatives.
You might think honey and agave are better choices but just because it’s natural, doesn’t mean it’s healthier. Get creative with vanilla extract, cinnamon or nutmeg. Instead of syrup, top pancakes with fresh fruit or almond butter.

“You’re adding flavor without just dumping sugar into it,” Crandall said.

6. Nix yogurt in the evening.
Offer yogurt during the day, not before bedtime. Scan labels to make sure sugar isn’t listed as one of the first few ingredients or offer plain yogurt and add your own fresh fruit instead.

7. Take it slow.
Your kids might not take well to drastic changes in their diets, but if you make it gradual, they’ll eventually come around. Mix a low-sugar cereal with their favorite one until they get used to it. Or buy one less bag of cookies and replace it with a pint of blueberries each week.

8. Teach healthy eating.
It’s important that your kids love how healthy food tastes rather than forcing them to eat it.

“It’s not just about controlling their environment, it’s about teaching them healthier habits so they start engaging in them on their own,” Crandall said.

9. Voice your opinion.
The new school standards for meal programs will help cut down on sugar and some schools even have “sugar-free” campuses. You can advocate for healthier options at your child’s school by supporting initiatives and advocating for healthier options in the cafeteria, vending machines and events.

Source: fox news

India is making steady progress in the field of medical education and advancement. There are hundreds of medical colleges in the country attempting to create a work force for the future. A large number of them are doing a very good job too. Indian medical graduates are respected and admired all over the world for their talent, ability to work hard and adapt to new norms quickly. In terms of technology and its use, India is rapidly bridging the gap with advanced countries. How could India otherwise emerge as a major hub for medical tourism. The challenge now is to disseminate good practice and standardize training so that the “islands of excellence” don’t just remain that.

Options that a fresh pass out medical graduate has in India currently are:

i) To secure a place for further specialist training and competition for these places is intense;
ii) To work in the public sector as Medical Officers where remunerations are pathetic and opportunities for further training and career progression few;
iii) To migrate abroad;
iv) To work as an independent “General Practitioner (GP)”.

Those who undergo further specialist training and those who migrate abroad are fortunate enough to get further training, which will enable them to function effectively in their future professional life. However, the same fate does not befall the rest. They are left to cope by themselves having undergone little formal post-qualification training. This is all the more important in a country where standards of medical education are variable and in many places frankly abysmal. These new entrants are then competing with established experienced players and “quacks” to attract “business”. I have discussed problems of this “market” elsewhere. Here I wish to focus on the training aspects. In most advanced countries, there are mechanisms for all doctors to undergo post-qualification, hands-on, supervised training because a fresh pass out doctor does not have all that it takes to work independently in the increasingly complex world of modern medicine.

For those wishing to work in general practice, it can’t be impossible to develop courses involving further training by seniors in the field. This will ensure that fresh pass out doctors will have somewhere to go for further training, rather than having to fend for themselves. These courses should take into account the unique nature of general practice in India and must have a focus on rural India and the urban poor. There is no reason why private practitioners could not provide this training as long as the standards of training are met. A further reform needed is to start paying our fresh doctors at par with professionals in engineering and management and other walks of life, if we want to continue to attract the best. Public sector remunerations for doctors need radical reforms. At the same time, it should come with a considerably increased expectation from doctors to practice competently and ethically.

It’s not all too easy for those who enter specialist training either. As opposed to a period of 6-10 years that doctors have to train in developed countries to be given license to practice as a specialist, in India we are giving out these certificates of specialist training after 3 years. Most people in the profession know that the person created at the end of this training period is hardly a specialist. Those who are lucky enough to attract further opportunities for training as senior residents are able to get some further training but there is no standardised mechanism for this to happen universally across the country. Furthermore, even if you were lucky enough to get the job of a senior resident, what you earn as a senior resident can only be described as “peanuts”. By not paying these young doctors an adequate and fair remuneration, society is failing in its duty towards them and nudging them towards unethical practices.

Source: India Medical Times

Here’s a roundup of five medical studies published this week that might give you new insights into your health, mind and body. Remember, correlation is not causation — so if a study finds a connection between two things, it doesn’t mean one causes the other.

Good neighbors are good for your heart
A study published Monday in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health suggests your community matters in matters of the heart.

Researchers tracked the cardiovascular health of more than 5,000 seniors with no known heart problems over four years. In 2006, participants in the Health and Retirements Study were asked how much they felt a part of their neighborhood, if they had neighbors who would help them, whether they trusted people in the area and if their neighbors were friendly.

During the study period, 148 of the participants had a heart attack. Researchers found people who reported feeling more “social cohesion” were less at risk.

Tight-knit local communities may help to reinforce and encourage certain types of behaviors that protect against cardiovascular damage, the study authors say.

In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued draft recommendations that encourage pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and young children to eat two to three servings of fish per week to aid fetal and childhood development. This fish should be low in mercury, the FDA said, because mercury can harm the brain and nervous system.

This week food safety experts at Consumer Reports analyzed data from the FDA to find out what kinds of seafood are safe for these populations to eat regularly. They identified 20 types — including salmon, shrimp, domestic crawfish and oysters — that contain low levels of mercury and are safe to eat several times a week.

The experts said pregnant women and children should steer clear of six types of seafood: swordfish, shark, king mackerel, gulf tilefish, marlin and orange roughy. If you are a frequent fish consumer, meaning you eat 24 ounces or more every week, Consumer Reports recommends you avoid those seafood types as well.

Researchers also found that canned tuna contained particularly high levels of mercury, and recommended pregnant women avoid it altogether.

Many new mothers are made aware of their risk for post-partum depression. But having a baby can put both moms and dads at risk for mental health disorders like anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis, says Carrie Wendel-Hummell, who presented her study on perinatal mental health disorders at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association this week.

“(Post-partum depression) has been framed so much as being a hormonal disorder, but the evidence there is actually very limited,” Wendel-Hummell said. “Childbirth itself is a life change and a life stressor, so actually there’s far more evidence that those risk factors are the cause.”

The University of Kansas researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 17 new fathers and 30 new mothers. Many said they experienced stress related to their relationships, family-work balance issues, and struggles with poverty.

Wendel-Hummell encourages new parents to accept help from friends, family and the community during the early stages of their child’s life.

Data shows that screening people with a limited life expectancy for certain types of cancer doesn’t provide any benefit to their health — and that treating any cancer found in these patients can do more harm than good. But seniors at high risk for death are still being screened frequently, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers looked at data from the National Health Interview Survey from 2000 to 2010, on more than 27,000 participants over 64. At least a third of participants with the highest mortality risk had received a recent cancer screening, with 55% undergoing prostate cancer screening.

The analysis also showed that screening was common in participants with less than five years to live, the study authors say.

“It is the physician’s responsibility to tailor treatment to the patient and his cancer,” writes Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society. “Many Americans simply cannot accept that there are cancers that do not need treatment.”
Violent video games may depress your fifth grader

Video games have long been a topic of intense debate. But most of these discussions have focused on how video games affect aggression or violent tendencies.

A new study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking looked instead at video games and depression. Researchers analyzed data from 5,147 fifth-grade students and their caregivers, who participated in another study.

They found students who played high-violence video games for more than two hours a day had significantly more depressive symptoms than those who played low-violence video games for less than two hours a day.

The researchers don’t know if the link between the two is cause-and-effect, meaning the video games cause depression or vice versa. More studies will have to be done to see if the association would last as the students grow older.

Source: cnn

Eating fish is associated with an increase in brain volume, but it is apparently not because of its omega-3 content, a new study has found.

Researchers analyzed data from 260 cognitively normal people, average age 78, who had answered diet questionnaires. They’d also had their blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids measured and their brains scanned.

The researchers found that weekly consumption of baked or broiled fish — but not fried fish — was associated with larger gray matter volumes in areas of the brain responsible for memory and cognition, including areas where amyloid plaques, a sign of Alzheimer’s disease, first appear. The association persisted after controlling for age, sex, race, education, physical activity, body mass index and any tissue damage found on the initial magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain.

The results were the same regardless of omega-3 levels, suggesting that omega-3s were not the determining factor. The study appears in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The lead author, Dr. Cyrus A. Raji, a radiology resident at the Ronald Reagan U.C.L.A. Medical Center, said that eating fish once a week — there was no additional benefit in eating more — and living a generally healthy lifestyle were enough.

“Physical activity, weight control, and so on — these factors influence the brain more than any supplement or any medicine. It’s much more in our control than we thought.”

Source: newyork times

E-cigarettes should be outlawed for minors and only be used as a last resort to quit smoking, the American Heart Association says in a new policy statement. And the Food and Drug Administration should hurry up and regulate them, the group says. “Over the last 50 years, 20 million Americans died because of tobacco. We are fiercely committed to preventing the tobacco industry from addicting another generation of smokers,” Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, says in a statement. “Recent studies raise concerns that e-cigarettes may be a gateway to traditional tobacco products for the nation’s youth, and could renormalize smoking in our society.”

The Food and Drug Administration says it plans to regulate e-cigarettes, along with cigars and other tobacco products. Many “vapers” who use e-cigarettes say regulation will damage a product that’s a far safer substitute for cigarettes. The Heart Association disagrees. “In the years since the FDA first announced it would assert its authority over e-cigarettes, the market for these products has grown dramatically,” Brown said. “We fear that any additional delay of these new regulations will have real, continuing public health consequences.”

Source: nbc news

Using both types of polio vaccine could speed up efforts to free the world of the disease, research suggests.

The oral vaccine is leading the fight to eradicate polio, but trials in India show an additional injection of inactivated virus boosts immunity.

The World Health Organization said the findings, published in the journal Science, were “truly historic”.

The disease, which is spread through contaminated faeces, can cause paralysis and even death.

Fighting polio has been one of the biggest success stories in global health.

In 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in more than 125 countries.

The disease is now widespread in just three countries – Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan – and cases have fallen by more than 99%.

Vaccines
Two drops of the oral vaccine, which contains a weakened polio virus, is the preferred tool in eradication efforts because it is cheap and gives resistance in the digestive tract to lower transmission of the virus.

The injected vaccine works largely in the bloodstream.

“But the oral vaccine is less effective in exactly those places we’d like it to work,” one of the researchers, Prof Nicholas Grassly, of Imperial College London, told the BBC.

It is thought other infections may interfere with the vaccine.

The solution has been multiple vaccination. As part of India’s successful eradication campaign, some children received 30 doses by the age of five.

Source: bbc news