Harvard Health Content API

A 20-year study finds that men who take in more vitamin C appear less likely to get gout, a painful type of arthritis common in men. Nearly 50,000 men were surveyed about their diet and health. The risk of developing gout was 45% lower in men taking 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C per day or higher. Vitamin C appears to reduce uric acid. This naturally occurring acid can form deposits around joints, leading to the pain and swelling of gout. The study appeared in the March 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Allergists have some news for the Obama family: There’s no such thing as a “hypoallergenic” dog. President-elect Barack Obama says that his family will get a dog when they move to the White House. He said his daughter Malia “is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic.” But all dogs produce the proteins that can cause allergies, experts told the Associated Press. The proteins are found in dander (dead skin cells), saliva and urine. Grooming and bathing can reduce symptoms, experts said. So can frequent cleaning and removing carpets.

Americans spend $34 billion a year on alternative medicine, a new report says. The report was released July 30. It came from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. This agency leads research in the field. The director, Josephine Briggs, M.D., talked to the Associated Press about the report. She said some alternative treatments are “promising and sensible.” Others can be harmful, she said. This report included herbal pills but not vitamins and minerals. A later report will cover these pills. More research is needed because so many people use these treatments, Dr. Briggs said.

Only about 1 out of 4 Americans gets enough vitamin D, and that number is going down, researchers say. A new study compared data from about 20 years ago with data from early in this decade. In the first period, nearly 1 out of 2 Americans had ideal levels of vitamin D. In recent years, that dropped to 1 out of 4. The number of people with very low levels (deficiency) increased from 2% to 6%. Among blacks, 29% had a deficiency. Very few blacks had ideal levels. The authors cited two causes for the trend: more use of sunscreen and less time spent outdoors. They said people should get about 1,000 international units of vitamin D daily. The study appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine. HealthDay News wrote about it March 23.

Methadone is known mainly as a treatment for heroin addiction. But now more doctors are using it to treat pain. In the process, it has become the fastest-growing cause of U.S. narcotics deaths. Deaths linked to methadone increased nearly fivefold from 1999 to 2005, the New York Times reported August 17. Experts told the Times that it’s hard to prescribe the right dose of methadone. People’s bodies respond to it differently. It also can build up in the body. Until 2006, a package insert listed a maximum dose that could be dangerous. Now U.S. officials may require doctors who prescribe methadone to take a class.

Treadmill walking can help people with poor blood flow in their legs to walk better, a study shows. The study included 156 people with peripheral artery disease. People with this condition have narrowed leg arteries. They may get leg pain when they walk. But people in the study walked anyway. They built up to walking 40 minutes 3 times a week on a treadmill. After 6 months, they could walk 69 feet farther on a 6-minute treadmill test than they did at the start of the study. Others in the study did no exercise. After 6 months, their walking distance decreased by 49 feet. Reuters Health news service wrote about the study January 14. It appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Some popular drugs for depression may primarily help people who have severe illness, a study suggests. The study looked at combined data from six previous studies. In three studies, people took paroxetine (Paxil) or placebos (fake pills). Three studies used imipramine, an older generic drug of a different type. With either drug, people were more likely to get better if they had severe depression. People with milder symptoms showed little change. The study was in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The New York Times and USA Today wrote about it on January 6.

People who get multiple treatments, or long-term help, are more likely to succeed in quitting smoking, two studies suggest. The studies appeared April 7 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. In one study, 750 people who wanted to quit were randomly assigned to different treatments. One group received either a nicotine patch or buproprion, a depression drug. The other groups used the patch or buproprion. They also received either two or six counseling calls. The group with the most counseling had the most success in quitting. The second study included 127 smokers who also had heart or lung disease. They were randomly assigned to treatment groups. One group received nicotine patches. The other got patches, a nicotine inhaler and buproprion. Quit rates were nearly twice as high in the second group.

Regular exercise, such as walking, won’t harm people with heart failure, a study concludes. In fact, it may help. The study included 2,331 people with heart failure. They were randomly divided into groups. One group received 36 exercise sessions. Then, they were told to exercise five times a week. The other group received their usual care. Over the next 21/2 years, people who exercised were 15% less likely to have a hospital stay for a heart-related problem. They also felt better. People who exercised more had better results. The study was in the Journal of the American Medical Association. HealthDay News wrote about it April 7.

At least 114 U.S. children have died of swine flu since April, the Associated Press reported October 30. Nineteen of those deaths occurred in the last week, U.S. health officials said. That’s the largest one-week total so far, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. The CDC said more medicine for children will soon be available. The CDC released the drug Tamiflu from a government stockpile. There have been spot shortages of the children’s dose of this medicine.