Health news you can use

Sleep safely, Baby

Sharing your bed with your baby, or putting her to sleep on a surface other than a crib can increase the risk of infant death, according to a study reported in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers from St. Louis University School of Medicine and the offices of the medical examiner of the city of St. Louis reviewed death-scene information from 119 infant deaths.

The study showed that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was the cause of death in 88 cases, accidental suffocation in 16 and undetermined causes in 15. The deaths of 10 infants were associated with entrapment by a bed or other sleep surface, causing asphyxiation. In seven cases, the infant died after being entrapped by the body of a bedmate. Other findings:

• Infants were found on a sleep surface that was not designed for infants (adult bed, sofa or chair) in more than 75 percent of the cases.

• Infants were found on their stomachs in more than 60 percent of the cases.

• Bedding covered the baby’s head or face in nearly 30 percent of the cases.

• A shared sleep surface (adult bed, sofa or chair) was the site of death in almost half the cases.

So, spread the word: A crib without pillows or heavy blankets is the safest place for a baby to sleep.

* * * No Magnetic Appeal

Despite mixed scientific evidence that magnet therapy may ease joint and muscle pain, worldwide magnet sales have hit $5 billion. Now comes a well-designed study that offers new proof that many people are wasting their money.

Edward Collacott, a rehabilitation medicine physician (or physiatrist), decided to put magnets to the test after learning his own wife had jumped on the bandwagon. So he rounded up 20 people with nagging low back pain and randomly gave them a back brace lined with either a real or a sham magnet to wear for six hours at a time. Participants later switched therapies so everyone could wear both braces.

In the end, the real McCoys did nothing to help pain or range of motion. But, Collacott says, that doesn’t disprove magnet use for other ailments, since his study tracked only back pain.

Other experts come down harder. "This tips the balance against magnet therapy," says James Livingston, a physicist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As for Collacott’s wife, she’s still a fan of magnets. But they’re found where no one can dispute their effectiveness: on the door of the refrigerator.

* * * Expired Drugs

Is there danger lurking in your bathroom? Over the years, experts have warned the public against expired drugs in their medicine cabinets. So naturally, eyebrows were raised when a recent study suggested that expiration dates were merely false alarms.

Researchers with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tested a number of over-the-counter and prescription drugs in the military stockpile of unused and expired medicines. They were surprised to find that many of the antibiotics, tranquilizers, anticoagulants and other drugs were safe and effective long past the expiry dates on the bottles. Even some real old-timers – pills more than 10 years past their expiration dates – were still potent.

But before you start popping pills from the early ’90s, hold on. Your drug storage habits probably don’t meet military code. The FDA tested only drugs that had been stored in ideal (dry, cool) conditions and never been opened. Does that sound like your house? Probably not. In most homes, medications are moved from bottle to pill box, kept in steamy bathrooms, or stacked in a purse.

So for now, the experts say, you should stick to the dates. For scientists themselves still don’t know exactly when drugs become dangerous or lose their potency.

* * * Sushi: The Raw Facts

Eating raw meat of any kind, including raw fish, is risky. Even the freshest fish may harbor parasites, such as tapeworms or roundworms, as well as bacteria and viruses.

But if you decide to risk eating sushi, here are some facts and pointers:

• One recent survey of sushi from 20 Japanese restaurants in Long Beach, California, done by researchers from California State University, found no parasites. Levels of bacteria were acceptable. Of course, this won’t necessarily be true for all sushi restaurants.

• Well-trained sushi chefs know how to purchase, handle and examine fish so as to minimize the risk of illness and parasite infection. But while sushi chefs are licensed in Japan, there’s no way to check their credentials in other countries.

• There’s little risk of parasites with most tuna species.

• Freezing at -4oF for at least seven days kills parasites, but not bacteria. The FDA requires that processors freeze fish that are prone to parasites and will be used for sushi. However, sushi restaurants can buy fish which may have been frozen or not.

• Avoid freshwater fish which carry a high risk of parasites. Such fish are rarely used for sushi anyway.

• Preparing sushi at home is definitely not recommended, since home-prepared raw fish is one of the most common sources of parasitic infections. Most home freezers aren’t cold enough to kill parasites.

• By the way, marinating raw fish in lemon or lime juice, as is done with ceviche, is not the equivalent of cooking. It won’t kill all bacteria and parasites.

• In particular, don’t risk eating sushi if you are in frail health and/or have a compromised immune system, since the foodborne illness could be dangerous. Pregnant women and young children should also avoid it.

* * * Sex and Sport

Does sex impair or help athletic performance the next day? Recently, a widely publicized, though fairly casual, survey of runners entered in a London marathon found that 30 percent of the men and 40 percent of the women said they would avoid having sex the night before, presumably to help them conserve energy and improve their performance. But the abstainers ended up having slower average finishing times. This proves little, however, since the survey, as reported, provided very little data about the runners.

Mohammed Ali and many other athletes had claimed that they abstained from sex before a big event, sometimes for weeks. Joe Namath and others had said that sex the night before was good for their games.

There has been little research in this issue, all of it involving men. The subject is hard to study, since there are many variables (duration, intensity and type of sexual activity, type of sport activity, amount of sleep, alcohol consumption and the overall emotional and physical state of the athletes). One small study, for instance, found that when men had sex before they took various exercise tests (involving balance, strength, aerobic capacity and reaction time), it didn’t affect the results.

People often have strange notions about sex – for instance, there’s the centuries-old belief in the importance of preserving vital body fluids. For some people, sexual activity may be energizing and ego-boosting; for others, it may cause depression, guilt or self-doubt. In addition, most athletes have some sort of pre-game ritual, which helps psyche them up. Their beliefs about what they should and shouldn’t do before a big day are often self-fulfilling.

* * * You Won; Now, Eat!

Where have our beauty pageant winners gone? Researchers who recently analyzed physical data on Miss America contestants found that the pageant winners have been getting thinner and thinner. Half a century ago, she was a full-figured gal with a body mass index (BMI) as high as 22 – for a woman of five foot five, that’s about 135 pounds. By the Eighties, victors were drifting down the runway with BMIs as low as 17 – so frail they meet the official definition for undernourishment. No wonder they always burst into tears!

This trend isn’t just unhealthy for contestants. Teens have long regarded beauty contestants as the feminine ideal. Perhaps it’s no coincidence, say the study authors, that today, as many as three out of four adolescent girls say they are unhappy with how they look.

My message to the winners: You won. Now, eat something!