Oxygen therapy showing hope for autistic children

Many studies have suggested treatment that might help autistic children but the majority of them are anecdotal and not generally provable or applicable. Each child is different, but a new oxygen therapy has been put through a controlled trial and is reporting definite clinical improvements.

Six centres in the US that specialise in treating autistic children have been running a controlled trial on 62 children aged from two to seven. They have been using something they call hyperbaric therapy which involves the child being put into a pressurized chamber and then breathing in pure oxygen.

The children were divided randomly into two groups; one who got 40 hours of treatment in the chamber with an atmospheric pressure of 1.3 atm and the second group who had a much less pressured chamber and a lower dose of oxygen. Changes in their behaviour were monitored using three different criteria; the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale, the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), and the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC).

Those children who had the treatment level of oxygen and pressure were found to have experienced significant benefits in terms of their overall functioning, eye contact, and social interaction when compared to the children in the non-treatment group.

As this is the first control study to be reported, it is worth investigating whether similar treatment is available in the UK. If your doctor or specialist wishes further information this report appeared in MLA BMC Pediatrics (2009, March 16). As Hyperbaric Treatment For Autism Reports Significant Clinical Improvements.

Yet another difference between men and women

Well apart from the obvious ones we all know about; that men need more of the duvet and don’t eat as much as chocolate, it seems our aspirin response is different too. A daily aspirin for those men over 45 and women over 55 is often recommended as a preventive for heart attacks, but it seems that the benefit differs by gender.

Men do get fewer heart attacks with a daily dose, but it doesn’t affect women in the same way. Their benefit lies in the fact it reduces the risk of stroke, not of heart attacks.

New research published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine has also focused on the possible dangers of regular aspirin use in causing gastrointestinal bleeding. This risk gets higher as the dose increases and the new recommendation is that no more than 75mg a day is just as effective as higher amounts. If you already have heart disease then taking 100mg or more of aspirin a day will not be of any benefit for the existing condition.

Astrological health profiles – Sagittarius

Sagittarius 23 November-21 December

Sagittarians pride themselves on their brain power, but you need to balance this with physical activity. Watch out for: * Being a fire sign, with all the impulsiveness that goes with that element, minor accidents can be a problem

* You are most likely to damage your hips and thighs – especially through sporting accidents.

* Sagittarians need to watch their diet as you do enjoy eating, drinking and being merry. Over-indulgence can lead to liver problems

* Freedom is important for your wellbeing and if you feel restricted then physical symptoms can arise

Care seems to be the watchword here; being aware of your surroundings to avoid those minor accidents and not overstraining your body with over vigorous exercise. Food lovers that you are do need to be kind to your liver and not overload it with too much rich food and drink and monthly detox of a day just on a single type of fruit would give your body the rest it probably needs.

The hidden breast cancer women must be aware of

This warning came to me this week from one of my health groups, and I think it is important that we pass on this information to as many women as possible. There is a rare form of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) and although it accounts for less than three per cent of all breast cancers it has a much lower survival rate. Typical breast cancer survival over five years is now almost 90 percent, but for this particular form it is only 40 percent and the highest risk group for it are women under 50 and black women.

One of the issues with this cancer is that it does not have a good rate of diagnosis and it is essential to catch it in its early stages. Most women are aware of the sense of undertaking regular breast examination, usually in the shower, and to be aware of feeling a new lump.

BUT, IBC first presents as a swollen area near the surface on your breasts and when the skin is dried it will feel red, tender and warm to the touch. This is caused by blocked lymph vessels in the skin and most doctors will not immediately connect this with breast cancer; you are more likely to have it diagnosed as an infection and given antibiotics to treat it.

Unfortunately, this means that the majority of women with IBC are not diagnosed until they are at stage III (locally advanced) and stage IV (advanced to other organs) which means it has to be treated very fast and aggressively with a regime of chemotherapy, followed by surgery and radiation.

On the natural front, it seems that adding L-glutamine during chemotherapy could be helpful. This key amino acid is essential to immune function and a 1980′s study found that it. According to a study conducted in the late 90s, when l-glutamine is given with chemotherapy, it significantly reduces the toxicity of the chemicals. I would also add in the very good homoeopathic remedy that counteracts the side effects of chemotherapy and is available by mail order from Galen Pharmacy in Dorset on 01305 263996 who are always happy to discuss any remedies with you.

At last – An accurate calorie counter – Even in your sleep!!

Anyone who has ever tried a calorie counting diet knows what a nightmare it can be – particularly trying to compute the calories you burn through your everyday activities and exercise. Now help is at hand from some bright students at Georgia’s Institute of Technology in the USA.

Your gym may have a fancy piece of equipment that will tell you how many calories you are burning as you exercise, but what about walking upstairs or hovering the floor? Well there is now the ‘Happy HR’, a device that gives you total fitness monitoring and management – even while you sleep. This personal monitor straps onto your ankle or wrist and collects data continuously on all your activities that are related to your heart rate and exercise. All you have to do then is to upload that information to your PC and then and analyse it through web-based software.

The project came through a senior design student who was a keen runner and wanted a really accurate reading of his calorie output during the day. Most monitors on the market are either very cheap and simple pedometers, or expensive health monitors and he is looking to develop this for sale at around $100 and aimed at the growing health and fitness market.

He co opted other students in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering and industrial design to bring his concept to fruition. It’s a simple, subtle device that is smaller than an MP3 player and is due on the market in the autumn. Any British students out there working on innovative health projects? If so, let’s hear from you.

Lies – Drug companies and ‘official’ research

The health community in the US is reeling from the fact that it has just been revealed that the data used in over twenty pharmaceutical studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals was partially or completely altered-in other words it was faked.

Dr. Scott Reuben was known as a highly-respected and influential clinical researcher, whose findings were accepted in many major medical journals. What has just come to light is that his favourable reviews of many new drugs as being both safe and beneficial are seriously flawed as he has been on the payroll of two major pharmaceutical companies – Pfizer and Merck. He was actually a member of Pfizer’s speaker’s bureau (which I would have thought was not too difficult to find out) and received five ‘independent research grants’ from the company as well.

What we tend to look for when evaluating a new piece of research is whether it has been peer reviewed – in other words that scientists of equal substance and standing have read and agreed with the findings. What is now clear is that they are nothing of the sort but have taken their colleagues findings as gospel.

Dr. Scott Reuben didn’t just puff off the drugs from the companies he worked for, he actually falsified the data and by having it accepted by leading medical journals got it accepted as genuine. As a faculty member at the respected Tufts Medical School, Reuben had impeccable credentials to bolster his research.

Beginning in 2000, Reuben used his own research to target orthopaedic surgeons and convince them to stop prescribing NSAIDs and switch to the newer, branded COX2 inhibitors produced by Pfizer and Merck. He claimed in his research that using these drugs and others both pre and post operatively would reduce pain and lessen the need for addictive drugs such as morphine. For the last 12 years, he wrote papers promoting pain relieving drugs for orthopaedic surgery that were universally adopted. Now that ‘research’ he so assiduously promoted has been shown not only to be completely fabricated but that the drugs he advocated actually may have actually slowed postoperative healing in those patients. This research was taken up world wide and was certainly profitable for both Pfizer and Merck as their profits from these drugs are alleged to run into billions.

He further attempted to boost his credibility by co-authoring papers with respected, established orthopaedic surgeons, one of whom was Evan Ekman, who worked at the Southern Orthopaedic Sports Medicine in Columbia, South Carolina. He asked Ekman to review his manuscript on surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee but no orthopaedic surgeon was listed in the study. When Ekman asked for his details Reuben never replied and yet a year later he saw a copy of the manuscript Reuben had originally given him. This had been published in a per reviewed journal and Ekman was listed as the co-author. He discovered that his signature had been forged by Reuben on the submission form.

More of Reuben’s falsity came to light during a routine audit at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts which is the western campus for Tufts University School of Medicine. It was discovered that he had not received approval from the hospital’s review board to conduct two of his studies and has now been stripped of his research and educational duties and is on ‘medical leave’.

You might have thought that a medical researcher who always came out in favour of the pharmaceutical companies might have been a little suspicious – but sadly I am not at all convinced that this sad and sordid story is at all unique.

The hidden benefits of oysters for women

The benefits of oysters as an aphrodisiac are well known, but eating them could actually be a great way of avoiding type 2 diabetes – but only if you are a woman.

There has been a long running data survey running in the USA that has yielded some fascinating results. Over 25 years of medical and nutritional data on over 80,000 nurses has been studied by the Harvard School of Public Health and interesting information on the relationship between zinc in their diet and the chance of developing type 2 diabetes has come to light.

The nurses were all over the age of 33, and when their dietary intake was analysed it was found that there was between an eight to ten percent lower risk of diabetes in women who showed the highest zinc intake. That seems impressive enough, but when they looked at their figures and took other factors into account the figure jumped to a 25 percent lower risk for those with the greatest amount of zinc in their diet.

Oysters of course are a great source of zinc, each one can give you around 40-250mg, plus other essential minerals and omega-3 fatty acids. However you have to eat them raw to get the benefit, and have a healthy bank balance as well. If you are looking for more economical ways of upping your zinc intake then you should include red meat, poultry, beans, nuts, whole grains, cabbage, and dairy products – or buy a decent supplement.

If you are over 50, then you should definitely check your zinc intake as it declines with age and it is an essential element for a healthy immune system.

Oh really?

You know me, I love a good – really useless – piece of research that anyone with a brain cell could have deduced in a nanosecond. In this case, you will be astounded to learn that if you give very young children swimming lessons it will apparently not increase their risk of drowning. I would have thought it would actually be helpful, but truly I could not make this up, and am indebted to the researchers at the National Institutes of Health in the USA for this truly revelatory information.

The research came about because apparently health professionals in the US are concerned that giving swimming lessons to children under 4 might indirectly increase drowning risk by making parents and caregivers less vigilant when the kids are in the water. While acknowledging that even good swimmers can drown, they want to reassure parents that teaching kids to swim won’t increase their risk.

So glad to have cleared that up for you, and if you know of any research grants available for studying the effects on blood pressure of lying on a couch reading Georgette Heyer novels do let me know, I could make medical history.

Small waist – Good lungs?

A trim waist is usually admired, for beauty if not for health, but now there’s an even better reason to avoid putting on weight around your midriff. There’s more bad news for people who carry excess weight around their middle because having a big waist measurement is now shown to affect your lungs. The study was done at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research on 120,000 Parisians and found that factors such as whether the subjects had been or were smokers did not impact their lung function as much as having a large waistline did.

If you are wondering what ‘large’ means, they defined it as over 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men.

Astrological health profiles – Scorpio

Scorpio 24 October – 22 November

Don’t worry Scorpio’s, no one is reading this but you. I know you are the most secretive sign in the zodiac and you tend to keep problems to yourself, so this is just between you and me. You need to be careful of:

* Reproductive system problems arising from stress

* Women can suffer severe period pain and need to have regular cervical smears, particularly following the menopause

* Men may have stress-related impotence, and need to be vigilant about checking for early signs of prostrate problems

* Constipation, diarrhoea or piles are possible as Scorpio rules physical elimination

Vigilance is the watchword for Scorpios, because you like to keep things hidden you are not likely to share how you are feeling with your nearest and dearest so you must have regular check ups to ensure you stay healthy. Stress is obviously a factor in increasing any physical tendencies so tackle that first and make a resolution to be more open about your health – and anything else.

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