Research finds concussions common in teens

A new study has found that one out of five adolescents has probably suffered a traumatic brain injury. It also link a history of traumatic brain injury and poorer grades, underage drinking and use of illicit drugs.

62% of students in grades seven through 12 in Ontario, Canada anonymously completed a computerized questionnaire administered during the school day, which gauged their drug and alcohol consumption patterns and a wide range of health-related behaviors. Among the questions, students were asked if they had ever been knocked unconscious for five minutes or more or had been kept overnight in a hospital following a blow to the head. The survey also asked students to indicate if such an incident had occurred in the last year.

The results, published Tuesday as a "research letter" in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. (JAMA), were startling. A total of 20.2% of respondents reported that at some point in their average 15 years of life, they had either been hospitalized overnight after a blow to the head or had been knocked unconscious for more than five minutes. And 5.6%--more than 1 in 20 students--said they had suffered such an injury within the last year.

Concussions are often diagnosed after blows to the head far milder than those causing loss of consciousness or hospitalization. So this study probably yields a very conservative estimate of brain injury among children. Though it's not known how widespread traumatic brain injuries are among American kids, almost half a million children under 15 are brought to hospital emergency departments each year in the United States to assess signs of such an injury.

For as many as 15% of patients with traumatic brain injury, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, concentration difficulties and mood changes may persist for more than a few days or weeks. But the Canadian researchers found evidence suggesting that a history of such injuries may also suppress academic performance and increase likelihood of drug or alcohol use.

Among students who reported receiving poor grades in school, the likelihood of having a history of traumatic brain injury was almost four times greater than among those who received high grades. Those who reported the most frequent use of alcohol were about twice as likely to have a history of traumatic brain injury as were those who could recall no such history. And those who reported a severe blow to the head in the last year were seven times more likely to report such alcohol use than were those with no history of traumatic brain injury. Frequent cannabis use was more than four times more common among those with a recent history of traumatic brain injury than among those who had never been concussed.

That relationship between traumatic brain injury and poor grades and alcohol and cannabis use "needs further investigation," the researchers wrote. Such findings do not reveal whether a history of concussion puts children at higher risk of drug and alcohol abuse and poor grades, or whether children already at risk for those outcomes might be more prone to head injury.

source: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-concussions-teens-20130625,0,4331205.story

How to Cure Snoring

There are tons of products, procedures, drugs, and surgeries that promises to treat snoring. But a simeple changes can help stop it.

• Try a different sleeping position, like sleeping on your side. This may help decrease snoring.
• Do not drink alcohol or take medicines that make you drowsy within three hours of bedtime.
• If you're overweight, lose the extra weight.
• Exercise. Exercise can strengthen and tone muscles, including those in the neck.
• Wear a dental device like a mouth guard, that helps keep your airway open while you sleep.
• Use a humidifier if the air in your home is too dry.
• Try to eliminate allergens in the bedroom such as pets, regularly washing your sheets in hot water to remove dust mites, and removing any mold.

Common causes of snoring:

• Age. As we age our throats becomes narrower, and the muscle tone in our throat decreases.
• Males have narrower air passages than women and are more likely to snore.
• Nasal and sinus problems. Blocked airways make inhalation difficult and create a vacuum in the throat, leading to snoring.
• Overweight, the fatty tissue and poor muscle tone contribute to snoring.
• Alcohol, smoking, and medications. Alcohol intake, smoking, and certain medications can increase muscle relaxation leading to more snoring.
• Sleep posture. Sleeping flat on your back causes the flesh of your throat to relax and block the airway.

15 minutes walk helps control diabetes

A study released by Diabetes Care said that a short 15-minute walk at moderate speed and 30 minutes after eating results to a significant control over the high blood sugar of older people and could prevent older people developing type-2 diabetes.

Dr. Loretta DiPietro of the Department of Exercise Science (George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services) said that blood sugar spikes after meals and for young and fit people insulin helps drive that sugar, glucose, into muscle cells and the liver where it's stored for energy. But for old people that system becomes less efficient and if there are too much glucose in the blood it can lead to type 2 diabetes and ardiovascular diseases. So resting after eating is the worst thing one can do.

source: NBC News Health

Weight Loss may lessen Psoriasis

pic from wikipedia

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease that affects the skin. It causes skin redness and irritation. People with psoriasis have thick, red skin with flaky, silver-white patches called scales.

It is a lifelong condition and there is currently no cure, but various treatments can help to control the symptoms.

New study shows that losing weight may help reduce symptoms of psoriasis. They studied  a group of obese people with psoriasis over 120 days. Half of them had a low-calorie diet. Those who had a low-calorie diet that lost 30 or more pounds had less skin irritation and reported improvement in their overall quality of life.

The study said the link between obesity and psoriasis may be explained in part by a common denominator is inflammation. Obesity is associated with inflammation, and psoriasis, once thought to affect only the skin, is now known to be a reflection of systemic and chronic immune-related inflammation.

You can check the Journal Here: JAMA Dermatology