Month: April 2014

An education program for parents can reduce incorrect use of medicines and emergency room visits for colds, a new study found. The study included 154 families enrolled in Early Head Start. This is a government program for low-income infants, toddlers and pregnant women. Parents were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group learned about what causes colds and flu. They were taught about how to use saline drops, a bulb syringe, a humidifier and other tools that did not involve medicines. The program also discussed over-the-counter medicines. Parents learned when and how to use them, when to avoid them and how to measure them. They also learned about proper use of antibiotics and home remedies and when to see a doctor. The other group of parents got no extra instruction. Families then reported weekly for 5 months on illnesses in their children and how they cared for them.

Current evidence still doesn’t show any clear benefits from taking vitamin D pills, 2 new reports say. One report looked at hundreds of studies, including those that pulled together results from prior studies. The authors found that vitamin D’s effects have been examined closely for only 10 conditions. And there’s only enough evidence to say that vitamin D levels could affect 1 of them, the authors said. They found an apparent link between vitamin D levels late in pregnancy and the birth weight of children. The other new study examined previous studies that focused on death rates. Fourteen of the most reliable studies, known as known as randomized controlled trials, found an average 11% lower risk of death among those taking vitamin D3 pills. But death rates were up slightly for people taking vitamin D2. However, these studies were mostly small and included mostly older adults.

People with blood sugar just below diabetes levels may live longer with diet and exercise, a new study has found. The study included 438 people who were randomly assigned to a program of diet and exercise and 138 who did not make specific changes. All of them had pre-diabetes. This condition is defined by blood-sugar levels that are above normal but not as high as those in diabetes. But people with this condition have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Diet and exercise, including weight loss, can lower the odds of developing type 2 diabetes in people with pre-diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes have twice the average risk of dying from heart disease or stroke. In this new study, researchers kept track of people for about 20 years. About 12% of those in the diet and exercise group died of heart disease, stroke or related causes.

Physically fit young adults may have more nimble brains later on, a new study suggests. The study included 2,700 men and women. They were 18 to 30 years old when the study began. They were given treadmill tests that involved walking or running as the speed and incline of the treadmill increased. On average, people lasted about 10 minutes before they had to stop. Then they took the same test 20 years later. On average, time on the treadmill decreased by just under 3 minutes. About 25 years after the first treadmill test, people were given tests of memory and mental reaction time. People who performed better on the first treadmill tests also did better on these memory and thinking tests. There were also “trick questions.” An example might be asking the color of the word “yellow,” which was written in green (correct answer: “green”).