Month: February 2014

Women face a higher lifetime risk of stroke than men. And they have unique health issues that can increase their risk of stroke. Recognizing all of this, experts have published the first set of stroke prevention guidelines for women. The new advice comes from the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. Many of the same health conditions increase risk for both women and men. Both need to control blood pressure, cholesterol and weight. Both can decrease risk by avoiding smoking and diabetes. But the guidelines note that women’s risk of stroke also is affected by pregnancy and hormones. Women should pay attention to their blood pressure before deciding on birth control or getting pregnant, the guidelines say. Taking birth control pills can increase the risk of stroke, especially for women with high blood pressure.

Every day, 73% of children in the U.S. consume caffeine in some way. Soda remains the main culprit, even though its use dropped over a 10-year period. But use of coffee and energy drinks, like Monster and RedBull, shot up, especially among teens and young adults. So says a study in the journal Pediatrics. Researchers used data from the 1999-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They looked at trends in caffeine use by age (from 2-22), gender, race and ethnicity, as well as income level. Among the findings: Coffee drinking more than doubled. Boys drank more caffeine than girls. Kids in higher-income families were more likely to have caffeine than those in lower-income families. The study was published in Pediatrics online. HealthDay News reported on it Feb. 10.