September is Fruits and Veggies--More Matters Month

 

When researchers look at how our children are eating, they find that children are eating more fruit but 6 out of 10 children are still not eating enough fruit.  When they looked at the vegetables consumption, they found that 93% of children did not eat enough vegetables.  http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/fruit-vegetables/

If you are wondering how much servings of fruits and vegetables are recommended for a child (by age), check out this website:  http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/fruit-vegetables/

In the News: Kate Middleton suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum

Congratulations to the British royal family.  Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, The Duchess of Cambridge, have announced the pregnancy with their second child.   As Mom Kate did during her first pregnancy, she is suffering with a condition of severe persistent nausea and vomiting called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). 

What is hyperemesis gravidarum? Besides being miserable with excessive nausea and vomiting, women who deal with Hyperemesis gravidarum face the danger of weight loss, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance.  Serious complications can occur and harm both mother and baby.  Prompt diagnosis and treatment is needed to provide the best outcome.  More information can be found at American Pregnancy Association at http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/hyperemesisgravidarum.html

Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation at http://www.helpher.org/hyperemesis-gravidarum/

 

Walking prevents limitations for arthritic joints

When your knees hurt, it’s easy to back off on the exercise.  You want to protect your joints and do not enjoy the pain you deal with.  However, the experts recommend more exercise, not less. So how much exercise is needed to prevent arthritic limitations such as getting out of bed or a chair, climbing stairs or walking?  They recommend walking 6000 steps/day. 

The researchers recognize that many people with osteoarthritis do very little exercise.  A 2013 study showed that 2/3 of Americans do not walk 90 minutes per week. http://www.arthritistoday.org/news/not-walking-with-arthritis-269.php  But what about the “unstructured walking” we do during our day to day lives?  “Unstructured walking” happens when we walk around the house, watering our flower beds. Another example of unstructured walking is when we carry clean clothes from the dryer and put it away in our closet and dresser. Probably everyone does these types of activities.  So how many steps will help keep our joints healthy and prevent limitations?  Researchers looked at almost 1800 people for a period of two years.  Those people who walked 6000 steps/day or more protected their joints better and had fewer limitations.

So, I guess we need to pull out those pedometers (or download a free pedometer app on your iPhone) and see how many steps we take every day.  It would be an interesting experiment.  Hmmm.  I wonder how many steps I make during my work day. http://www.arthritistoday.org/news/walking-protects-against-limitations-348.php?utm_source=MBSnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=OA&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=Aug21

Here’s another great reference for Drug information from the Arthritis Today staff can be found at http://www.arthritistoday.org/arthritis-treatment/medications/drug-guide/?utm_source=MBSnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=DrugFree&utm_content=body1&utm_campaign=Aug2

 

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In the News--Ebola

Have you read the news about Ebola?  This virus found mostly in Africa has killed over 1500.  Earlier (7/31/2014) US health officials warned Americans not to travel to three African countries (Liberia, Guinda, and Sierra Leone).  Two Americans working for a medical mission became ill with Ebola and were transferred back to the US (Emory University in Atlanta for medical care.  Both Americans recovered.  What do we need to know about Ebola?

Ebola is caused by the Filoviridae virus and has been causing illness and death in Africa since 1976.  The experts suspect the first people caught the virus when they ate an infected monkey. Moore, P, The Little Book of Pandemics, Fall River Press (New York, NY, 2009): 29-31.  Another possible carrier is bats.   The current outbreak has killed over 1500 people in western Africa countries.  This virus is a vicious killer; it kills 60-90% of the people infected.  If you want to check out the CDC website on Ebola virus, you can find it at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/guinea/qa.html

The Yahoo News report on 8/2/2014 quoted a doctor/professor and chair in molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University, as “low-risk situation for general US population…Ebola is not spread like the cold or the flu… It’s transmitted by very close contact with people who are sick or with their bodily secretions, such as blood, urine or feces.”  This Yahoo article can be found at

https://www.yahoo.com/health/how-ebola-is-spread-from-human-to-human-93513417302.html

I noticed a recent communication from CDC expanded to “body secretions.”  

This week’s news involved the successful treatment using a experimental vaccine on 18 monkeys infected with the Ebola virus.  The National Institutes of Health will begin enrolling volunteers for the ebola vaccine beginning this week. 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/testing-on-experimental-ebola-vaccine-to-begin-in-u-s-1409241094?KEYWORDS=ebola+vaccine

Many people (including medical professionals) are concerned with this disease.  Needless to say, many people are watching this situation as it evolves.