Medtronica
National Osteoporosis Foundation
www.nof.orgA good place to begin learning about osteoporosis, a bone-loss disease that afflicts millions of elderly people, particularly women. Information on symptoms, treatment and prevention is reliable, current and easy to read. Plus, there are links to finding doctors and support groups.
Drive-by science
Here's some motoring health news that you probably already knew (assuming you're conscious), and some news that you've probably long suspected.
A French study of more than 13,000 middle-age drivers found that, according to the drivers themselves, 36 percent drove their cars “a few times a year” while feeling sleepy. Slightly less than 1 percent drove while slumberous once
a month on average; 0.3 percent once a week; and 0.2 percent more than once a week.
The researchers then compared this information with the risk of serious traffic accidents and found that drivers who drove while sleepy a few times a year were 1.5 times more likely to be involved in a serious mishap. For those who regularly drove in a torpid state, the figure was almost three times.
The researchers' conclusion: Don't drive while drowsy.
Meanwhile, across the channel in England, a study in the British Medical Journal found that observed drivers of four-wheel-drive vehicles were more likely to flout laws regarding cell phone and seat belt use.
In England, it's against the law to use a cell phone while driving.
Researchers found that operators of four-wheel-drive vehicles were four times more likely to use cell phones while driving and more likely to forgo wearing seat belts. They speculated that such drivers mistakenly believe they are safer in such vehicles and thus freer to engage in risky behavior.
Such as, perhaps, driving on the left side of the road?
Body of knowledge
The average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime.
Get me that. Stat!
The British Journal of Sports Medicine tested 973 pedometers (those little devices worn on the hip to count steps taken or miles walked). The journal found that roughly three-fourths of the pedometers were inaccurate by at least 10 percent, suggesting they were practically worthless as accurate exercise monitors. The problem was worst among the cheapest devices.
Doc talk
Chandelier's sign – the result of any medical test or probing after which the patient must be removed from the chandelier, figuratively speaking.
Best medicine
Patient: Doc, I've got this terrible problem. I think I'm a dog. I walk around on all fours, bark in the middle of the night and crave Kibbles 'n Bits.
Psychiatrist: This is very interesting. Please lie down on the couch.
Patient: I'm not allowed on the couch.
Stories for the waiting room
Less than a century ago, some physicians still believed that mental illness was caused by infected body parts. Among them was an American psychiatrist named Henry Cotton. In the early part of the 20th century, while medical director at Trenton State Hospital in New Jersey, Cotton ordered the pulling of more than 11,000 teeth, and the removal of stomachs, gallbladders, colons, testicles and ovaries – all considered prime infection spots for insanity.
Cotton, who retired in 1930, reportedly suffered a mental breakdown and treated himself. After pulling several of his own teeth, he declared himself cured. He died in 1933.
Phobia of the week
Trichopathophobia – fear of hair
Last words
On his deathbed, the famous French writer and philosopher Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet, 1694-1778) was asked to renounce the devil. His last words: “This is no time to be making new enemies.”
HEALTH SCREENINGS
“Face Transplant”
8 and 11 p.m. Sunday, Discovery Health
Doctors and patients at the forefront of face-transplant science provide an insider's view of the transforming surgery. Insight from Britain's flagship science magazine reveals ground-breaking progress on the operation.
“Honey We're Killing the Kids!”
10 p.m. Friday, TLC
A family that owns a deli is trapped in a junk-food waste pit. Exercise is a foreign word; the kids eat endless amounts of naughty food; their parents smoke a total of six packs of cigarettes per day.
“USA Today Weight Loss Challenge”
6:30 p.m. Monday, WE
After a week of discipline at Red Mountain Spa, it's up to Gillian to incorporate a healthy living plan into her hectic schedule. Can her resolve withstand a disapproving mother and a friend's calorie-packed baby shower?
CALENDAR
Pressure check: Sharp Cabrillo's Senior Resource Center will offer blood-pressure checks from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 1145 Evergreen St., San Diego, and 9:30 to 11 a.m. July 20 at St. Peter's by the Sea Lutheran Church, 1371 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., Point Loma. Free. Information: (619) 221-3779.
Nerve pain: The American Chronic Pain Association will hold a talk, “It Takes Nerve,” from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, SDRI first-floor conference center. The program is an opportunity to learn about neuropathic (nerve) pain. Free. Information: (800) 533-3231 or visit www.ittakesnerve.org.Walk-a-thon: The Scleroderma Foundation will hold its fourth National Walk-a-thon on Sunday at Shelter Island. Registration begins at 8 a.m. (Park across from Humphrey's and look for balloons and signs.) Scleroderma is a chronic, often progressive autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis. Registration fee: $25. Call (619) 448-6301 or e-mail widgeon426@aol.com.
Free mammograms: La Maestra Community Health Center will host mammogram screenings from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 11 at 4185 Fairmount Ave. in San Diego. Mammograms are available on the second Tuesday of every month to all women in San Diego over the age of 40. Free. Information: (619) 584-1612.
Take a walk: The San Diego American Indian Health Center invites the community to join its walking club, which meets from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Participants meet at the center at 2630 First Ave. in the Bankers Hill area of San Diego, and walk at a variety of outside locales. Walkers are provided with a pedometer, water and snacks. Free. Registration: (619) 234-2158, ext. 102, or www.sdaihc.com.
E-mail calendar items to health@uniontrib.com
S.D. STAT: SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
94.7
Percentage of students (kindergarten through grade 12) who attended school each day in San Diego County in 2004.
– San Diego County Child and Family “Health and Well-being Report Card,” 2005
DADS AND DRINKING
Women who are trying to become pregnant aren't the only ones who should avoid alcohol. A Danish study reports that when men consumed 10 or more alcoholic beverages during the week of conception, their partners' risk of miscarriage was up to five times greater than for women whose partners didn't drink.Moreover, alcohol may cause chromosomal abnormalities.
BLAME YOURSELF
Stop blaming Mom. Bad diet and a couch-potato lifestyle – not how you were raised – lead to midlife insulin resistance. A British study showed that the largest contributors are body fat and waist circumference, accounting for 22 percent of the risk in men and 34 percent in women. High birth weights from mom's excess weight gain and early diets had little effect.
– COMPILED BY R.J. IGNELZI
