Health News

REPORTING POINT EXPRESS 01-02

AEROMEDICAL NEWS

“Live healthy...live well”

HEALTH NEWS

by Larry Kline

SWAPA Voice Mailbox 511/email: skyguy737@cox.net

SWITCH POSITIONS - according to a 2-year study at the University of California at San Francisco, regularly sleeping on the same side of the body makes it much more likely to develop kidney stones. Of the patients in the study with recurring kidney stones, 75 percent developed them only in the kidney on the side on which they slept. Sleeping in the same position each night appears to alter bloodflow to that kidney, impairing the organ’s ability to clear itself of stone-forming crystals and deposits. Men’s Health 9/01.

CANKER SORE SOURCE - canker sores are annoying mouth ulcers typically caused by trauma, allergies, or stress. Now it appears that a detergent called sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), which is in most over-the-counter toothpastes may also be to blame. The American Dental Association feels that SLS dries out the protective mucus in the mouth, making it more vulnerable to canker sores. If you have frequent sores, switch to an SLS-free paste such as Rembrandt Natural. Men’s Health 11/00.

SUM IS GREATER THAN THE PARTS - at least concerning wine. Comparing grape-seed extract and grape-skin extract; neither supplement appears to provide any protection against the causes of heart disease. But there is ample evidence that drinking two glasses of red wine or purple grape juice a day is better for your heart than taking a grape supplement. Men’s Health 9/01.

SWEAT SCIENCE - sweating’s primary and crucial function is to cool the body. When sweat evaporates, heat is removed.

Perspiration forms when the body’s temperature rises, as well as a response to emotional stimuli such as anxiety, fear, or sexual arousal, or even spicy food. Millions of sweat glands pump the fluid, which comes primarily from the blood, up through ducts to the surface of the skin. The heat-regulating function appears to be limited to so-called eccrine sweat glands, located all over the body, but especially in the feet and palms.

Apocrine sweat glands, the other major type, respond to emotional and nervous stimuli. Connected to hair follicles, they are located mostly in the armpits, groin, and around the navel. In mammals, apocrine perspiration helps attract a mate through scent, but that doesn’t seem to be true of humans today.


Sweat is mainly water, with small amounts of sodium chloride, potassium, and other minerals (known as electrolytes) that play an important role in regulating blood pressure and the body’s water balance. Sweat from apocrine glands is different, as it contains proteins and fatty acids, and it mixes with oil and dirt, making it thicker and slightly yellowish. “Body odor” comes from bacteria feeding on organic particles in this kind of sweat.

When you work out, working muscles burn lots of calories, producing heat, which raises body temperature. The body reacts by increasing blood flow to the skin, which helps remove heat (through convection) and by sweating more. It is the evaporation of sweat that cools the body.

When it is humid, sweat does not evaporate as much and simply drips off. Hot, humid climates do not allow the sweat to evaporate as readily as a hotter, drier, climate, so it feels more uncomfortable.

When you do not replace water lost through perspiration, blood volume drops, you sweat less, and body temperature rises. This can hurt performance and lead to heat exhaustion, or heat stroke (body temperature above 104 degrees or higher with severe headache, rapid pulse, and possibly loss of consciousness). Also, you can lose excessive amounts of sodium during severe and prolonged sweating which can impede performance. Sports drinks or salty snacks can provide some sodium during endurance exercise, but in the long term, your normal diet will replace the minerals lost in sweat.

When you become more physically fit, your core temperature will rise more slowly, the heart will beat more slowly at a given workload, and you will become a more efficient sweater - you will start to sweat at a lower core body temperature and sweat more, thus staying cooler and exercising more efficiently in the heat. Your sweat will contain less sodium and other minerals, just as exercising increases efficiency and size of muscles. Those who exercise regularly boost the efficiency of the heat-regulation system and even the size of sweat glands.

Older people have a problem with the heat, usually because their cardiovascular system is less fit - they tend to pump less blood to the skin, sweat less, and are less able to dissipate internal heat. Coping with the heat can seriously tax the heart of anyone who is not healthy and fit. Also, older people can easily become dehydrated because they tend to become less thirsty - so they should make a special effort to drink plenty of fluids. Well-trained older athletes so seem to cope well with the heat. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 8/01.

CHANGE SPEEDS TO INCREASE WEIGHT LOSS - simply running faster for a minute, then going a little slower for a minute, helps you lose weight faster than moving at a steady pace, according to a 2001 study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. After 10 weeks, those who changed speeds lost more weight and more fat, and had better thyroid function, too.

Gradually increase your running speed to one you think you can maintain for 20 minutes. Increase your speed to a rate slightly faster than that pace for a minute, then run a minute at a slightly slower speed. Continue for about 20 minutes, then cool down for 5 minutes. Men’s Health 7/01.


BORON FACTS - boron, a mineral found in nuts, grapes, apples, and especially wine, can significantly reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Researchers at UCLA have found that the prostate cancer risk among men eating less than one milligram of boron per day was two-thirds greater than the risk among those consuming at least 1.8 mgs of the mineral. However, large amounts of boron can be toxic, so 2 to 3 milligrams daily should be enough to reap health benefits without danger. Men’s Fitness 8/01.

TRYING TO CONCEIVE? - a Johns Hopkins University study found that one drink a month can cut pregnancy rate in half. Alcohol may interfere with the egg’s ability to implant in the uterus. These researchers also found that caffeine combined with alcohol decreases a woman’s fertility even more. Men’s Health 4/00.

ANDRO IS A NO-NO - an Iowa State University study reports that the popular muscle-building supplement androstenedione does not build muscle in middle-age men, and it may have some nasty side effects. Researchers compared 56 middle-age men taking either a placebo or 100 milligrams of andro three times a day for 4 weeks. They found that while andro had no effect on testosterone levels in the men, it did lower their good HDL cholesterol levels. It also triggered up to a 110 percent increase in levels of a prostate-enlarging hormone called DHT within their systems. Men’s Health 5/01.

IBS - one in five women has the gastrointestinal curse known as irritable bowel syndrome. The symptoms are bloating, cramping, and bouts of diarrhea and constipation. The cause of this malady has been elusive, but new research has revealed a possible cause. 78 percent of test subjects with IBS symptoms were found to have bacteria growing in their small intestines. When treated with antibiotics, half no longer reported symptoms. These results are preliminary, but encouraging to the researchers. Health 3/01.

HOW TO LIVE LONGER - residents of Okinawa, the group of islands between Japan and Taiwan, are the longest-living people in the world, surviving an average of six more years than the typical American. What’s more, they stay healthy longer, rarely getting heart disease, strokes, or even prostate cancer. How do they do that???

According to the new book The Okinawa Program: How the World’s Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health, Okinawans eat an average of seven servings of veggies and fruits; seven servings of rice, buckwheat and wheat noodles; and two servings of soy products every day, in addition to having fish several times a week. They get regular exercise from walking, gardening, martial arts, even from traditional dances that accompany their religious practices.

The book’s authors point out that Okinawans’ hardiness seems more related to their lifestyles than their genes...meaning that adding more vegetables, soy, fish, and exercise to your own life might make it last significantly longer - which has been the point of this column for the past ten years (LK)! Men’s Fitness 8/01.


SUPPLEMENT TO PROTECT - exercising for an hour several times a week can cause mineral deficiencies severe enough to impair the immune system, according to a Danish study. The finding comes from analysis of a group of top-level athletes who had the mineral content of their blood tested three times during a year. Deficiencies were most significant in athletes who spent the most time training, but were also common enough to affect all men who regularly visit the gym. Taking a multivitamin can help prevent the deficiencies. Men’s Health 5/01.

PLANTS FIGHTING CANCER - the hormone that helps plants grow toward the sun may also help people fight cancer. English researchers found that indole acetic acid (IAA) within the plant hormone attacks cancerous cells, while leaving healthy cells alone. IAA is likely to be effective against most types of cancers. Clinical trials in humans are expected to start in 2 to 3 years. Men’s Health 10/01.

START THE DAY WITH AN OJ - besides being a great source of vitamin C, orange juice contains potassium, which may lower the risk of high blood pressure and stroke. Other nutrients in OJ can boost good cholesterol.

Also as little as one glass of orange juice a day may help ward off both gum disease and cancer. In one study, researchers analyzed vitamin C intake and gum-disease levels in 12,400 adults. They found that getting less than 60 milligrams a day of vitamin C increases the risk of periodontal disease by more than 150 percent. In a second study, scientists found that bioflavonoids in orange juice counteract and destroy many of the enzymes that help tumors develop. Health 3/01, Men’s Health 3/01.