A new study announced today by the American Academy of Neurology suggests that workers exposed to the industrial chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) were five and a half times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. Researchers studied 99 pairs of twins in which only one of the twins had Parkinson’s disease. Many of those who developed Parkinson’s had a history of exposure to the chemical through various jobs including dry cleaners, machinists, mechanics or electricians. TCE is a common industrial solvent that is widely used to clean grease off of metal parts. This is the first population study that has demonstrated an association between TCE and Parkinson’s. Previously, only case reports existed. These findings will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010. [via Medical News Today]
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is researching the chronic affects of concussions by studying 3,000 ex-NFL players. Concussions can occur in athletes playing any contact sport, even those wearing head protection, and may leave life-long consequences including depression, memory loss and behavioral changes. By using sophisticated imaging techniques that allow them to look down to the level of neurons, researchers noted that players who have had concussions have damaged connections between brain cells. The regions of the brain that appear to be most disrupted in the 41 retired players studied thus far are the same regions which are damaged in early Alzheimer’s disease patients. This may explain why these players experience early cognitive impairment and clinical depression (both are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease). In addition, we already know from posthumous studies of athletes’ brains that concussions can pepper the brain with injuries that resemble brown tangles called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which can cause the brains of players as young as in the 30s to resemble brains of 80 year-olds with dementia. [via CNN]
A new mobile information service announced today aims to provide any mother-to-be (who has a cell phone) with free text messages that will guide her throughout pregnancy and until her child’s first birthday. The service, called Text4baby, was announced in conjunction with all major US wireless carriers and is currently operational. Women who sign up for the service by texting BABY (or BEBE for Spanish) to 511411 will receive free SMS text messages each week, timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth. The text4baby messages are not personalized, but the information in each message is relevant to the mother’s pregnancy timeline or the age of her child. The content will include a comprehensive variety of topics from the CDC and the Health Resources and Services Administration, including tips on immunizations, nutrition, prenatal care, emotional well being, drugs and alcohol, labor and delivery, breastfeeding, mental health, birth defects prevention, car seat safety, exercise and fitness, developmental milestones, family violence, and more. [via Text4baby.org]
In 2003 researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York isolated a gene, called CETP, which is associated with longevity in a population of Ashkenazi Jews. Now, the same researchers have found the gene in an elderly group of racially and ethnically diverse Bronx residents who have been followed for 25 years as a part of the current study on aging. Participants who carried two copies of the favorable CETP gene variant had a 70% reduction in their risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease, compared with participants who carried no copies of this gene. It’s believed that 1 in 5 people carry the CETP gene, but only those who have two copies of it (one from each parent) will inherit its benefits, including an increased likelihood of living to 100 years old. How will this affect us? Scientists are already working on a drug to mimic the effect of the gene. [via Science Daily]
A survey recently released by the American Psychiatric Association has found that American workers are hesitant about seeking mental health care for fear of confidentiality issues and possibly losing status at work. Among the 1,129 people surveyed 76% believed their work status would be damaged by seeking treatment for drug addiction, 73% for alcoholism, and 62% for depression, compared with 55% who thought seeking care for diabetes would affect their work status and 54% for heart disease. In total only about 40% of respondents thought their employers were supportive of employees seeking general and mental health care, which sounds counterproductive, especially since research (and logic) shows that people who receive proper health care are healthier and more productive. [HealthDay/Businessweek]
A study published in the latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, examines the New York City Department of Education’s 2004 decision to eliminate whole and flavored milk from its schools. The study states the substitution of low-fat and fat-free milk for whole milk in schools can greatly reduce students’ consumption of calories and fat and help combat the childhood obesity epidemic (40% of New York City children are obese by the age of 11). This simple change means that a milk-drinking student was exposed to 33 fewer calories and 3.4 fewer grams of fat per school day, which is equivalent to 5,960 fewer calories and 619 fewer grams of fat per year. Initially, the consumption of milk by students declined, but by 2009 had increased to 1.3% above the rate at the start of the initiative. But will decreasing caloric intake from milk reduce overall caloric intake and make a dent in the childhood obesity epidemic? It’s a great idea, but there are many more high-calorie foods out there beyond milk to contend with. [via HealthDay]
A study in this month’s Anesthesia & Analgesics journal suggests that phantom limb pain, pain often experienced by amputees that’s perceived to be in a missing limb, can be alleviated by mirror therapy. Researchers at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego say they were able to reduce phantom pain in some soldiers via this form of therapy in which patients sit with a mirror vertically between their legs and arms so that the limbs are reflected in it. The reflection in the mirror makes it appear like the injured arm or leg is healthy and normal. The theory behind phantom limb pain is that the pain pathways in the brain and spinal cord can recall the traumatic injury, thus the missing limb somehow continues to hurt, despite not being there anymore. In performing mirror therapy, the brain and spinal cord are visually tricked into believing that all of the person’s limbs are intact and without pain, thus reducing brain activity associated with pain and modulating the pain response experienced by the amputee. [via BusinessWeek]
In an effort to curb healthcare spending, some insurance companies have tried to increase copays for outpatient visits in an effort to decrease the overall rate of visits to the doctor’s office. However, a new study from Brown University published in the Jan. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine is showing that this strategy has some unintended consequences. After looking at some Medicare managed care plans that implemented such copay hikes between 2001 to 2006, the researchers noted an increase in hospital usage. Although these plans had 19.8 fewer annual outpatient visits per enrollee, they consequently had 2.2 additional hospital admissions and 13.4 more inpatient days per 100 enrollees. And as we all know being hospitalized is PRICEY. The authors estimate that by increasing outpatient copays in the short term Medicare plans might save $7,150 per 100 enrollees, but inpatient spending would swell by $24,000 per 100 enrollees in the year after the co-payment increase, thus not really saving any money at all. [via Medline Plus]
A new study out of the University of California, Berkeley suggests that chemicals called PBDEs may be making it difficult for women to conceive. PBDEs are chemicals with flame-retardant properties that are found in household items. In fact, nearly all Americans (97%) have PBDEs at detectable levels in their blood. After studying 223 pregnant women and the length of time it took them to conceive, researchers found that those with high levels of PBDEs were up to 50% less likely to get pregnant in a given month compared to women with lower levels. Currently, the majority of what we know about the effects of BPDEs are from studies with mice. Thus, more data is needed before a direct association with human fertility can be made. The study is published in this month’s Environmental Health Perspectives. [via U.S. News]
Two of the world’s foremost metropolitan cities have joined together to fight childhood obesity. In a report titled “A Tale of Two ObesCities” researchers from London Metropolitan University and City University of New York have found demographic similarities between obese children in both cities. Notably, both cities are characterized by high levels of income disparity with the poorest children having the highest rates of obesity. In London 36.3% of children are obese by the age of 11, compared with 40% in New York. The report demonstrates that the two cities can benefit from collaboration and learning from each other’s experiences in combating childhood obesity. The main recommendations of the report include:
- Build active design principles into building codes, housing strategies
-Promote and support urban agriculture as a sustainable and health promoting use of green spaces
-Promote access to places where people can by physically active and promote walking and cycling
-Implement a universal free school meal program with nutritional standards
-Promote research to help cities understand how the beat health inequalities
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About Dr. Steven Chang
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.