Eating out invariably raises a number of tricky questions: sit-down or drive-thru? Burgers or pizza? Thin or stuffed crust? And if you’re dining with your family, add the biggest question of all: Will the food we eat today bring a fatter tomorrow for our kids? And fewer tomorrows for the rest of us?

So the choice between McDonald’s and Burger King shouldn’t be based solely on whether you’re more terrified by the scary clown Ronald McDonald or that creepy masked Burger King. Choosing one over the other could be the difference of hundreds of calories in a meal, more than 10 unnecessary pounds over the course of a year, and countless health woes over the course of a lifetime.

During more than a year of research, my coauthor and I discovered vast dietary discrepancies between many of the places Americans love to eat most. So to help you separate the commendable from the deplorable, we put 43 major chain restaurants under the nutritional microscope — both for your benefit, and that of your family.
» Read the rest of the entry..

We generally think of breast cancer as being only a problem for women; but breast cancer can also occur in men, although far less often than in women. On average, breast cancer occurs in less than 1 in 1,000 American men and accounts for less than 0.5 percent of all cancer deaths in men.

If a man carries a BRCA2 mutation, however, he has a much greater lifetime risk (about 7 percent) of developing breast cancer. He also faces an increased risk of prostate cancer. BRCA1 mutations are less likely than BRCA2 mutations to predispose men to breast cancer.

A man should ask his doctor about a screening test for mutations in his BRCA genes if:

* several close female relatives have a history of breast or ovarian cancer
* a first-degree relative — mother, sister, brother, or offspring — develops breast cancer before age 50, or has had a positive test for a BRCA gene mutation
» Read the rest of the entry..

A recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine found that, in 3 percent of 969 women with newly diagnosed cancer in one breast, MRI scans were able to detect malignant tumors in the other breast, even though clinical exam and mammography showed no abnormalities.

These results clearly indicate the advantage of MRI on the opposite breast at the time of a diagnosis of breast cancer. Finding a site of malignancy in the other breast at that time would allow a single round of treatment and eliminate the need, for example, for two separate bouts of chemotherapy. On the other hand, a negative MRI of the opposite breast provides almost complete assurance that that breast is free of cancer.

One considerable downside, however: MRI can detect such small abnormalities that 75 percent of the women in the study underwent biopsies that were negative, and thus not needed.
» Read the rest of the entry..

Most of the 5 percent to 20 percent of Americans who come down with influenza (flu) in a year have an unpleasant, short illness. The flu, however, can be quite dangerous to some: According to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 200,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized with the flu each year, and about 36,000 people die from it.

Children and adolescents have the highest infection rates for flu; however, children less than age 2, people ages 65 or older, and persons of any age with serious medical conditions such as heart disease, are the groups who most often become seriously ill and die from influenza.

The CDC recommends getting a flu vaccination as soon as the vaccines become available in September. But if you miss this early vaccine time, there’s plenty of reason to get a vaccination later, since flu infections generally peak in February.
» Read the rest of the entry..

With thunderstorms predicted in many parts of the country this week, Asthma UK is offering important advice to the 5.2 million people in the UK with asthma.

During thunderstorms large quantities of pollen can be released into the air which can trigger asthma symptoms and raise the risk of an emergency admission six-fold. On an average day over 200 people will be admitted to hospital with potentially life-threatening asthma attacks, so the increased risk during volatile weather means it is even more important for people with asthma to keep their asthma medicines with them.

It is believed that during thunderstorms, downdraughts of cold air sweep up high concentrations of pollen and spores. These allergenic particles are then thrust into the air, where the moisture breaks them up into pieces that can penetrate deep into the lungs. This can induce attacks even in those who have previously only had mild asthma. During thunderstorms it is therefore best to stay inside and close windows to keep allergens out. » Read the rest of the entry..

By ELIZABETH HAN
The Press-Enterprise

There’s a different dimension to back-to-school preparations when a child has asthma.

Parents and educators need to discuss the particulars of a child’s condition such as the symptoms and triggers and emergency plans at school.

The American Lung Association of California is holding free Asthma 101 classes in San Bernardino for parents and educators the last Tuesday of the month to raise awareness of how an asthma attack is triggered and how the condition is managed through medication.

According to the national American Lung Association, asthma is the most common chronic disorder in childhood, affecting 6.8 million kids in the country.

In San Bernardino County, the pediatric asthma rate is 17.1 percent, higher than the state average of 14.7 percent, and in Riverside County it is 11.3 percent, said Terry Roberts, area director of the state association’s Inland county office, based in San Bernardino and covering both Inland counties.

There are several things parents need to do to prepare their asthmatic kids for school, such as having an asthma action plan, making sure there is an inhaler at home and at school, and conferring with teachers about allergens and irritants.

A sample asthma action plan can be downloaded from the San Bernardino County Medical Society’s Web site at www.sbcms.org or obtained by calling the San Bernardino office of the American Lung Association of California at 909-884-5862.

The form is filled out by the child’s doctor and details an emergency plan on what to do if a child’s symptoms worsen. For example, it provides instruction to educators on when to call 911 (if symptoms are not relieved by medication after 15 to 20 minutes usually).

It is also important for parents to give a copy of the plan to the school and share with their child’s teacher, Roberts said.

“It’s a really good idea for parents to visit a teacher, or school nurses, and them about the child’s trigger and share the action plan with the teacher,” she said.

“Every child that has asthma has a different severity, different symptoms, different triggers,” she said, and it is important to educate teachers about how to recognize when a child has difficulty breathing.

“You won’t necessarily see them gasping for air,” Roberts said. Some kids can turn pale, sit there quietly, or have their lips or fingertips turn blue.

Symptoms such as blue lips or fingertips veer into dangerous territory, along with trouble walking or talking, a hunched posture, or struggling to breathe.

Parents need to make sure children have an inhaler not only at home but also at school, said Consuela Edmond, program coordinator for the Childhood Asthma Program, put on by the Riverside County Department of Public Health.

“There (are) a lot of allergens and irritants in the school such as chalk dust or even dry-erase markers — the scent — paints and glues, strong odors such as perfumes and room deodorizers, chemicals from science and art projects, even upholstered furniture,” Edmond said.

Pets, mold, dust and cockroaches are also triggers, Edmond said.

It is important to remember that asthma can be managed, Edmond said. It doesn’t need to hamper a child’s quality of life.

The academy offers a checklist of tips and a sample food allergy action plan to keep communication flowing. Both can be downloaded at no cost at www.aaaai.org.

Here’s a short list the academy shared to start parents on the right path:

• Inform the school cafeteria, teachers and other staff, including the school nurse, what foods your child must avoid.
• Pack bag lunches.
• Send safe snacks to school anytime the classroom is having a party.
• Advocate “no eating” policies on buses and in other settings where children are not supervised.
• Be aware of the expiration dates on self-injectable epinephrine.
• Keep in contact with your allergist to make sure all medicine is current and replaced prior to expiration.
» Read the rest of the entry..

This is when my husband and I would start getting our asthmatic and allergic daughter ready to go back to school.

Asthma inhalers for her backpack? Check. Epinephrine, in case she had a serious allergic reaction? Check. Claritin, Nasonex and other medications to clear up those stuffed sinuses? Check.

Notes from her doctor to go in the school files? Ready to go. Permission forms from us allowing school officials to administer drugs? Ditto.

Those were the days. Last night, this teenage daughter came into the room where I was watching the Olympics and told me she needed a nebulizer treatment (for asthma). “Can I help,” I asked. “Mom, you know I know how to do all that,” she replied indignantly, turning on her heels.

Indeed. She’s been puffing on the inhaler, taking the medications, and relying on the nebulizer for years now. She knows her body, when she’s not feeling right, and what she needs to do.
» Read the rest of the entry..

What killed tens of millions of people around the world in the 1918 flu pandemic actually might not have been a flu virus. A new study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases blames different agents: bacteria.

The flu virus weakened lungs, opening the door to fatal bacterial pneumonia in most of the pandemic’s 50 million victims, according to researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The researchers based their findings on preserved lung tissue from 58 soldiers who were infected by the flu and died in 1918 and 1919. They found tissue changes that are the hallmarks of bacteria, not viruses, as well as the destruction of cells that normally protect lungs from bacteria.

They also studied case reports from 1918 in which doctors said they suspected a second infection. One doctor said that the flu “condemns,” but secondary infections “execute.” » Read the rest of the entry..

FDA News — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that it has approved this year’s seasonal influenza vaccines that include new strains of the virus likely to cause flu in the United States during the 2008-2009 season.

The six vaccines and their manufacturers are: CSL Limited, Afluria; GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Fluarix; ID Biomedical Corporation of Quebec, FluLaval; MedImmune Vaccines Inc., FluMist; Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Limited, Fluvirin; and Sanofi Pasteur Inc., Fluzone.

Approval information and specific indications can be found at http://www.fda.gov/cber/flu/flu2008.htm.

This season’s vaccines contain three strains of the influenza virus that disease experts expect to be the most likely cause of the flu in the United States.
» Read the rest of the entry..