Smoking and Breast Cancer

Smoking may increase women's breast-cancer risk by 6% or more.
USA Today (1/25, Szabo) reports that any history of smoking increases a woman's "chance of breast cancer by 6 percent," according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The analysis, which is "believed to be the largest ever to address the question," is based on data from the Nurses' Health Study and included "more than 111,000 women followed from 1976 to 2006." According to CNN /Health (1/25, Gardner), study participants "reported 8,772 cases of invasive breast cancer during" that 30-year timeframe.
The Los Angeles Times (1/25, Kaplan) "Booster Shots" blog notes that the researchers flagged "polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic amines and N-nitrosamines" found in tobacco smoke as contributors to breast cancer. The risk was higher for women who "started smoking before age 17, smoked at least 25 cigarettes per day at any point in their lives, and smoked for at least 20 years." The risk of breast cancer was 25-percent higher for women who "picked up the habit before age 18, smoked for at least 36 years and smoked at least 26 cigarettes per day."

Yoga Update

Yoga therapy becoming more mainstream in US.
HealthDay (1/24, Thompson) reports, "Yoga may be becoming more of a mainstream approach to Americans' health woes." A growing body of "scientific evidence is building the case that the spiritual balance created by yoga provides proven health benefits." Research has found that yoga can "help people who are dealing with health problems as wide-ranging as back pain, chronic headaches, sleeplessness, obesity, neck aches, upset stomach, anxiety, depression and high blood pressure," said Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate neuroscientist in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The health benefits mainly stem from yoga's focus on "the connection between mind and body," Khalsa said.

Wal Mart Fights Obesity

First Lady, Wal-Mart to fight childhood obesity.
All three television networks covered the announcement that the First Lady and Wal-Mart have forged an agreement geared at preventing childhood obesity. Media sources generally characterized the move as a victory for Mrs. Obama's signature campaign. ABC World News (1/20, story 3, 2:15, Stephanopoulos) reported, First Lady Michelle Obama "announced that Wal-Mart, which sells more groceries than any market in America, is going to change what's on its shelves." On the CBS Evening News (1/20, story 3, 2:10, Couric) the First Lady was shown saying, "I am thrilled about Wal-Mart's new nutrition charter." NBC Nightly News (1/20, story 6, 0:25, Williams) said that Mrs. Obama "has announced she's working with the nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, which promised today to cut prices on fresh fruits and vegetables and to reduce fats, sugars, salt, eliminate transfats in some of its own store brands by the year 2015."
The AP (1/21, Jalonick) reports, "Wal-Mart...says it will reformulate thousands of products to make them healthier and push its suppliers to do the same, joining first lady Michelle Obama's effort to combat childhood obesity. The first lady accompanied Wal-Mart executives Thursday as they announced the effort in Washington." Wal-Mart "plans to reduce sodium and added sugars in some items, build stores in poor areas that don't already have grocery stores, reduce prices on produce and develop a logo for healthier items."
The Washington Post (1/21, Mui, Henderson, Bacon) reports, "Just a few years ago, President Obama refused to shop at Wal-Mart. But his wife now has other ideas." The First Lady said, "When I see a company like Wal-Mart launch an initiative like this, I feel more hopeful than ever before. ... We can improve how we make and sell food in this country." The Washington Times (1/21, Dinan) and the New York Daily News (1/21, Mandell) also cover the story.
Sleep deprivation may result in calorie loss.

Pet Infections

Study suggests pets may transmit infections, illnesses to humans.
HealthDay (1/21, Mott) reports that "seemingly healthy pets can carry parasites, bacteria or viruses that cause mild to life-threatening" illnesses in humans, according to a report in journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Of the 250 zoonotic diseases, "more than 100 are derived from domestic pets," said co-author Dr. Bruno Chomel of the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine. Although disease transmission is "low in comparison to how many people sleep with their pets -- more than half of all US pet owners," Chomel said the "risks are still there." Other infections transmitted to people after sleeping with domestic animals, "kissing them or being licked" by pets include "hookworm, ringworm, roundworm, cat scratch disease and drug-resistant staph infections." The elderly, children "younger than 5-years" old, and people "with HIV/AIDS" or cancer are at the greatest risk.

Vitamin E and PMS

Supplement with vitamin E, essential fatty acids may help reduce PMS symptoms.
WebMD (1/19, Mann) reported, "A supplement containing vitamin E and essential fatty acids may help reduce symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS)," according to a study published in the journal Reproductive Health. "Of 120 women with PMS or the more severe premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), those who took one- or two-gram capsules of vitamin E and a combination of gamma linolenic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and other polyunsaturated acids daily showed marked improvements in their PMS symptoms at six months, compared to women who received dummy pills." Notably, "women who received the higher two-gram dose of the new supplement showed greater improvements in PMS symptoms than those who received the lower one-gram dose," WebMD added.

Video Games and Depression

Prolonged video game playing may increase risk for depression, anxiety.
Bloomberg News (1/16, Lopatto) reported, "About nine percent of children play such long hours of video games that they are pathological gamers, increasing risks of anxiety, depression, bad grades and social phobia," according to a study published online Jan. 17 in the journal Pediatrics. In a two-year study encompassing some 3,034 youngsters in third, fourth, seventh, and eighth grades, researchers found that "the compulsive gamers played for a weekly average of 31 hours compared with 19 for kids not deemed pathological." For study purposes, "gamers are considered pathological when their playing interferes with everyday life, and their behavior is described as being similar to that of gambling addicts, according to background information in the paper."
"Over a two-year period about 84% of those who started out as excessive gamers remained so, indicating that this may not simply be a phase that children go through," the CNN (1/17, Wade) "The Chart" blog reported. "Boys were more likely to show symptoms of excessive gaming."
HealthDay (1/17, Gordon) reported that pathological video gamers appear to "have trouble fitting in with other kids and are more impulsive than children who aren't addicted." And, "once addicted to video games, children were more likely to become depressed, anxious or have other social phobias. Not surprisingly, children who were hooked on video games also saw their school performance suffer." MedPage Today (1/17, Smith) also covered the story.
Sleeping problems may predispose adolescents to later mental health issues. The Wall Street Journal (1/18, Peterson, subscription required) reports that children with chronic sleep problems may have a greater risk for developing mental illness, according to a study in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. The investigators found that of 392 children, those who have problems sleeping between ages 12 and 14 were twice as likely to have suicidal ideation between ages 15 and 17 than those who had no trouble sleeping.

Adults and Mental Illness

As many as one in four US adults may have some form of mental illness, surveys suggest.
The Wall Street Journal (1/14, Bialik, subscription required) "The Numbers Guy" blog reported that as many as one in four US adults may be troubled by some form of mental illness, according to the results of two surveys conducted during the early 1990s and then about ten years later. Psychiatrist Darrel Regier, MD, MPH, director of research at the American Psychiatric Association, said of the surveys' findings, "We were really surprised." Dr. Regier, who is vice chairman of an APA task force working on the updated version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also pointed out that the DSM-V will attempt to separate symptoms of mental illness from its results in an effort to tease out more information about the degree of mental illness.
Group says learning how to identify, help people with mental illnesses should be a common first-aid skill. The Washington Post (1/17, Saslow) reported, "Learning how to identify and help people with mental illnesses should be a first aid skill as common as CPR, according to the Washington-based National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare (NCCBH)." The Post pointed out that "since 2008, the organization has offered 12-hour 'mental health first aid' certification courses nationwide" during which students are provided with "a five-step action plan for identifying individuals in crisis and knowing more about when and how to intervene." Since the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson, AZ, "inquiries about the program have spiked...according to NCCBH spokeswoman Meena Dayak."
Psychiatrist says college mental-health programs overwhelmed by number of students needing help. On its website and on its "Morning Edition" program, NPR (1/17, Neighmond) discussed the fact that "severe mental illness is more common among college students than it was a decade ago, with most young people seeking treatment for depression and anxiety." Child psychiatrist Jerald Kay, MD, who has worked with the American Psychiatric Association's committees on college mental health, explained that today's "college mental health programs are typically overwhelmed with the numbers of students needing help." What's more, despite the presence and availability of mental health counselors, Dr. Kay noted that "most schools have psychiatrists available only a few hours a week -- a dire shortage of specialized help in such a time of great need, he" said, particularly at a time when many institutes of higher learning have had to cut back on their mental-health programs for budgetary reasons.