Month: August 2011

Even small amounts of daily exercise help to reduce the risk of heart disease. That’s the conclusion of a new review of research on the topic. Some benefit was seen with as little as 10 to 15 minutes of exercise a day. The review combined the results of 9 previous studies. All of them included information on exercise habits. Researchers looked at people who did moderate-intensity exercise (such as walking) for at least 150 minutes a week. That is the current recommended minimum. People in this group had a 14% lower rate of heart disease than those who did no exercise. Benefits of exercise were strongest among women. The study appeared in the journal Circulation. USA Today wrote about it August 2.

The maker of Tylenol is lowering the top daily dose listed on the label. Johnson & Johnson announced the change August 1. The Associated Press wrote about it. The label change will occur in the fall. New labels on Extra Strength Tylenol will list the top daily dose at 6 pills. That’s 3,000 milligrams of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. The current top dose is 8 pills a day. The purpose of the change is to help prevent accidental overdoses. In excess doses, acetaminophen can cause liver failure. Other Tylenol products will get label changes next year. They also will cap the maximum daily dose at 3,000 milligrams.

Taking DHA supplements during pregnancy may help your baby fend off colds, a new study suggests. DHA stands for docosahexaenoic acid. It’s one of the omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil and some other foods. The study included more than 1,000 pregnant women. They were randomly assigned to receive either DHA pills or placebo (fake) pills. After the babies were born, they were asked to keep diaries about any symptoms of illness the babies had. They filled out questionnaires about their babies’ health at ages 1, 3 and 6 months. Babies whose mothers took DHA were 24% less likely to have a combination of cold symptoms at 1 month of age than babies from the other group. Their cold symptoms also were shorter at 1 and 3 months of age. At 6 months, they had fever, runny nose and breathing problems for a shorter time than those whose mothers got the placebo.