Healthoughts
GOOD SPORTS
Getting your young daughter into basketball, swim team or dance might be a good way to keep her from picking up the smoking habit.
“Girls who are physically active tend to smoke less than other girls,” says Donna Spruijt-Metz, Ph.D., assistant professor of research at the Keck School of Medicine.
Spruijt-Metz studies health habits in young women. Through thousands of questionnaires and dozens of interviews with middle school and college-age girls, she seeks to determine the attitudes, beliefs and values associated with young women’s decisions to smoke—as well as with how much they exercise in their daily life.
What she has heard is consistent with findings from other studies: girls who are not physically active are more likely to smoke.
Why? Researchers have not quite put their finger on it yet, but Spruijt-Metz suspects a variety of reasons. Girls who smoke may not have the lung capacity to feel comfortable going on a hike or playing on the soccer team, for one. Also, active girls might just be too busy to smoke.
In addition, girls in middle class or more advantaged families tend to exercise more, so smoking habits could be intertwined with class and cultural issues as well.
Stressing the fun and value of physical activity for kids through their teen years is a positive message that carries over into adulthood, adds Spruijt-Metz, while inactivity combined with smoking could be a double whammy with health effects that last a lifetime.
“It’s critical to find out why young people smoke, and why they stop being active,” Spruijt-Metz says. “If we can find that out, we can come up with ways to help.” ?
MAD FOR MAGNESIUM
Most people know that the body needs calcium to build strong bones and to prevent bone loss and brittleness, or osteoporosis.
But bones do not live by calcium alone. Magnesium may be just as important to keeping bones healthy, says Robert Rude, M.D., USC professor of medicine.
Studies looking at bone health and diets have found that the more magnesium contained in the foods eaten, the denser the bones, Rude says.
“These studies have found that magnesium depletion results in bone loss and osteoporosis,” he says.
Nearly all the calcium found in the body resides within bones and teeth. Magnesium, though, works in a more complex way.
“Many hormones that are needed for growth depend on magnesium,” he explains. “Over 300 enzymes in the body need it to form reactions.”
When the body does not get enough magnesium, certain inflammatory proteins thought to encourage osteoporosis enter the blood stream, Rude says. The body also pumps out less of a hormone that regulates calcium in the blood and formation of vitamin D in the kidneys, two more factors in bone health.
People who drink a lot of alcohol or take diuretics and those with diabetes are especially at risk for magnesium depletion. Acute deficiencies can cause cramps, seizures and serious heart problems.
Rude cautions that scientists need to learn more before suggesting supplements. But simple changes in diet could go far in helping more people reach the recommended daily allowance of magnesium (350 milligrams).
“Green leafy vegetables and unprocessed grains and nuts are great sources,” Rude says. “Meats are intermediate sources. In general, any refined food is low in magnesium.”
And chocolate lovers, rejoice: the confection contains magnesium, Rude says. “So chocolate-covered almonds aren’t a bad idea.” ?
TO DYE FOR
Women who regularly color their hair with permanent hair dyes—as well as hair stylists who work with such chemicals—could be at greater risk for bladder cancer, according to a study from researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
Even after adjusting for cigarette smoking—a known risk factor in bladder cancer—women who use permanent dyes at least once a month for one year or longer have twice the risk of bladder cancer as non-users. Monthly or more frequent users of 15 or more years experience three times that risk.
An increase in bladder cancer risk was also observed in those who were exposed to hair dyes in their work, such as barbers or hairdressers.
Arylamines—a family of chemicals—in hair dye have been found to cause cancer in animals, according to previous studies, and small amounts of these substances are absorbed through the skin during normal use. The body later expels the chemicals through urine, which means they pass through the bladder.
Manuela Gago-Dominguez, M.D., Ph.D., Keck School researcher in preventive medicine and lead author of the study, says the association with increased cancer risk was found only with permanent dyes, not semi-permanent or temporary hair color, which rinses out and fades after a series of shampoos.
“One should bear in mind, however, that these findings require confirmation before such exposure can be regarded as a causal factor in bladder cancer development,” explains Mimi C. Yu, Ph.D., USC professor of preventive medicine and one of the study’s authors.
Bladder cancer currently accounts for 6 percent of all new cancer cases in men and 2 percent of all new cancer cases in women. The American Cancer Society estimates that 53,200 Americans were diagnosed with the cancer and 12,200 Americans died from it in 2000. ?
WORD OF MOUTH
The human mouth forms a front line of defense against invaders and provides a mirror for the body’s well being. Problems in the lips, tongue, gums and other tissue can warn of trouble elsewhere.
“Oral health may both reflect the body’s health and affect it,” says Harold Slavkin, D.D.S., dean of the USC School of Dentistry.
Periodontitis—infection of the tissues that support the teeth—seems to share genetic risk factors with degenerative diseases such as ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Diabetes’ first symptoms can appear in the mouth associated with periodontal diseases. And the most common infection seen among HIV-infected patients is oral candidiasis, a fungal (or yeast) infection.
In turn, mouth troubles may affect other aspects of health.
Women with severe periodontal disease face as much as a sevenfold increase in the risk of delivering pre-term, low birth-weight babies, according to recent evidence. Some scientists believe that microbes from the mouth may release toxins that reach the placenta through the mother’s blood, interfering with fetal growth and development, and that oral infection can prompt the body to pump out compounds that might bring on premature labor.
And over the last decade, says Slavkin, “Accumulating evidence has linked dental infection to an increased risk of atherosclerosis and thrombosis.” Scientists suspect microorganisms involved in chronic dental infections somehow affect the arteries. In one study, men under age 50 with periodontitis were three times more likely to die of coronary heart disease than men free of periodontal disease. Chronic dental infections also appear linked to increased risk for cerebrovascular ischemia, a form of stroke.
“Fifty percent of the general U.S. population displays some sign of gingival disease, and nearly 35 percent have some form of periodontitis,” Slavkin says. “Dental care is not a luxury, it is an essential health issue.” ?
-
Back Next Index