Prevention

Robert Shmerling, M.D.

Driving on Tax Day? Beware the dead-line

Robert Shmerling, M.D., Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publications
Tax time

As Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “nothing is certain but death and taxes.” A new study suggests that death and taxes are more than just unrelated “certainties,” and that one (paying taxes) could lead to the other. Over the last 30 years, an average of 226 Americans died in motor vehicle accidents on the day taxes were due (usually April 15th), compared to 213 on other days. The authors speculated that the increase may be due to distracted driving because of the added stress of tax day, more alcohol drinking, or less sleep. If the JAMA findings are real, staying off the road on tax day could ever so slightly reduce your chances of getting into an accident on the road. But there are other, better ways to keep yourself and others safe while driving every day of the year.

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Howard LeWine, M.D.

$2 drug treatment helps prevent exam-caused pancreas problem

Howard LeWine, M.D., Chief Medical Editor
Internet Publishing, Harvard Health Publications
Pancreas

A test used to give doctors a close-up view of the pancreas, called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), often cause a painful inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis). According to report in the New England Journal of Medicine, a single dose of indomethacin, a powerful nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, can help prevent this post-procedure problem. About half a million Americans have ERCP each year. As many as one in six develop pancreatitis afterward. In a randomized controlled trial that included men and women who had just undergone ERCP, administration of an indomethacin suppository right after the procedure cut the rate of post-ERCP pancreatitis almost in half. Once a person has pancreatitis, the chances he or she will have it again go up. That’s why the New England Journal report is good news for anyone who needs to undergo ERCP.

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P.J. Skerrett

Join in on National Walking Day

P.J. Skerrett, Senior editor, Harvard Health
People walking

Today is National Walking Day. Join the celebration by taking a walk. This particular health observance is sponsored by the American Heart Association (AHA). Although it applies to everyone, it’s really aimed at adults who spend most of the workday sitting. The heart association hopes to get workers out of the office, store, or factory for a 30-minute walk. And not just today, but every day. If you don’t exercise, or do it only now and then, walking is an excellent way to get more physical activity. Just 30 minutes a day of brisk walking (or other moderate exercise), helps your heart, blood vessels, muscles, brain, and the rest of your body. If you don’t usually exercise, use National Walking Day as an invitation to get started. If you do exercise, use the day to invite a friend to get on the path to better health with a walk.

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P.J. Skerrett

FDA won’t ban BPA—yet

P.J. Skerrett, Senior editor, Harvard Health
Food cans

Bisphenol A, or BPA, has been used for decades to make hard plastic water bottles and to coat the inside of food cans. Tiny amounts of BPA migrate from these containers into water or food, and then into people. BPA is thought to mimic the effects of the hormone estrogen, which can interfere with growth and throw off normal hormonal interactions. In 2008, the Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned the FDA to ban the use of BPA in food packaging. The FDA finally responded last week. It denied the petition, saying the organization didn’t provide compelling data to make the case for a ban. The FDA didn’t rule out further action. In the meantime, there are several things you can do to minimize your BPA exposure.

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Howard LeWine, M.D.

Heart’s “fountain of youth” starts flowing early

Howard LeWine, M.D., Chief Medical Editor
Internet Publishing, Harvard Health Publications
Heart-on-fire

If you want to have a healthy heart in your senior years, take care of it while you’re young. In a large study, researchers from Northwestern University found that a 45-year-old man who had normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, who didn’t smoke, and who didn’t have diabetes had just a 1.4% chance of having a heart attack or stroke during the rest of his life. Having one major risk factor boosted the risk 20-fold. The results were similar for men and women, blacks and whites. Lead researcher Donald Lloyd-Jones said that making it to middle age with no heart disease risk factors is like “the fountain of youth for your heart.”

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Anthony Komaroff, M.D.

Social networks can affect weight, happiness

Anthony Komaroff, M.D., Editor in Chief, Harvard Health Publications
Social_network

The new science of social networks is demonstrating how personal interconnections can affect our health. Ideas and habits that influence health for better or for worse can spread through social networks in much the same way that germs spread through communities. An article in the December issue of the Harvard Men’s Health Watch explores how social networks can affect weight and mood. A study of people taking part in the Framingham Heart Study found that among participants who had a friend become obese, their chance of becoming obese rose by 57%. A different study from Framingham showed that happiness can also spread across social networks. Research into social networks could help experts some day use them to improve public health.

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P.J. Skerrett

Pediatricians should ask teens about drug, alcohol use at every visit

P.J. Skerrett, Senior editor, Harvard Health
Teen-and-doctor

Although current recommendations call for pediatricians to ask their adolescent patients about alcohol and drug use at every visit, many don’t. To make it easier for doctors and nurses to do this, the American Academy of Pediatrics has just published a set of questions to guide the confidential conversation, along with advice on what to do with the answers. The first question is a simple one about drug or alcohol use. If the answer is no, the health care provider should praise the teen and encourage him or her to continue making good decisions about health and safety. If the answer is yes, six follow-up questions called the CRAFFT questions) can help separate those who are experimenting from those who may be headed for serious trouble and need more in-depth help.

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P.J. Skerrett

CDC panel says boys should get HPV vaccine, too

P.J. Skerrett, Senior editor, Harvard Health
Boy-being-vaccinated

For the past five years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that all girls and young women be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus that is a key cause of cervical cancer. Members of a CDC advisory panel have now voted unanimously that boys and young men should also get the vaccine. Vaccinating boys and young men against the virus will help prevent its transmission to women, and will also help prevent some of the 7,000 HPV-related cancers that occur in men each year, including cancers of the penis, anus, head, neck, and throat. HPV also causes genital warts in both men and women. The vaccine works best when a child gets it before he or she becomes sexually active.

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P.J. Skerrett

Do chronic diseases have their origins in the womb?

P.J. Skerrett, Senior editor, Harvard Health
Pregnant-woman-fries

Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, asthma, osteoporosis and other common chronic diseases are often blamed on genes, pollution, or the wear and tear caused by personal choices like a poor diet, smoking, or too little exercise. An intriguing hypothesis is that these and other conditions stem from a developing baby’s environment, mainly the womb and the placenta. During the first thousand days of development, from conception to age 2, the body’s tissues, organs, and systems are exquisitely sensitive to conditions in their environment during various windows of time. A lack of nutrients or an overabundance of them during these windows, so the thinking goes, programs a child’s development and sets the stage for health or disease.

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Michael Craig Miller, M.D.

Being mindful can help ease stress

Michael Craig Miller, M.D., Editor in Chief, Harvard Mental Health Letter
Woman-in-field

Many people try to tune out stress. A healthier approach may be to tune in to it. Paying more attention to what is going on around you, not less, is the first step toward cultivating mindfulness, an excellent technique to help you cope with a range of mental and physical problems, including stress. Mindfulness teaches people to be present in each moment. The idea is to focus attention on what is happening now and accepting it without judgment. Mindfulness techniques have been shown to ease stress, prevent major depression from reappearing, alleviate anxiety, and even reduce physical symptoms such as pain or hot flashes.

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