Smoking for Dummies

Long-term smoking clouds the brain, slowing your ability to think and lowering your IQ, say University of Michigan researchers who tested the mental proficiency of 172 alcoholic and nonalcoholic men.

In a quest to determine the long-term effects of drinking on thinking, researchers found that long-time smokers suffered memory problems, a decreased ability to solve problems and lower IQs. Even when accounting for alcohol use, smoking still proved damaging to the brain.

The link between smoking, drinking and brain function hasn't been studied enough, although 50 percent to 80 percent of alcoholics smoke.

While more studies need to establish a solid cause and effect between smoking and brain power, "perhaps it will help give smokers one more reason to quit and encourage quitting smoking among those who are also trying to control their drinking," says lead author Dr. Jennifer Glass, a University of Michigan psychiatry professor.

Drinking has Healthy Benfits, BUT...

First, the good news: Moderate drinkers get healthy benefits from alcohol, which acts as a blood-thinner, resulting in lower rates of heart disease, says a study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Now the bad news: The same blood-thinning benefits expose drinkers to higher rates of bleeding-type strokes than nondrinkers.

"The contrasting effects of alcohol are similar to the effects of blood thinners like aspirin, which clearly prevent heart attacks but at the expense of some additional bleeding strokes," says Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, an internist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He based his results on data from 3,798 people enrolled in a long-term study of heart disease risk factors.

"Acting as a blood thinner makes sense because heart attacks are caused by blood clots that form in clogged arteries, and blood thinners can hasten bleeding from injured arteries."

Mukamal warns against using this revelation to over-imbibe: "By themselves, these findings have more importance for understanding risk factors for vascular disease than any clinical relevance, and should not be used by people as any reason to begin drinking."

Just Face It, Antibiotics Carry Risks

Acne sufferers treated with antibiotics face a bigger chance for upper respiratory tract infections, according to a study published in the Archives of Dermatology.

In a large-scale study, those treated with topical or oral antibiotics for more than six weeks were more than twice as likely to suffer upper respiratory tract infections than acne sufferers treated by other means, according to Dr. David Margolis, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Antibiotic overuse has long been a concern of researchers, who note that organisms develop a resistance to antibiotics spurring an increase in infectious diseases. Because antibiotics are a common treatment for acne, the study authors said more research is needed on the long-term use of the drugs.

Are We Programmed to Gain Weight?

Severely obese people are programmed for fat, says a study published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

In studying the muscles of lean and obese people, Duke University Medical Center researchers found muscles of the obese were laced with fat and burned fat 43 percent slower than those of the lean patients. They also found that muscle "bears a metabolic memory of obesity," which makes it difficult to maintain sustained weight loss, despite diligent calorie-cutting efforts.

The good news: Exercise can override this "aberrant metabolic" programming. Specifically, exercise can reverse the elevation of an enzyme linked with obesity when present in high amounts.

"While these findings may be somewhat discouraging for those wishing to reverse obesity through dietary interventions, they also highlight the importance of exercise," says the medical center's Deborah Muoio, who authored the study.

Old Men and Thin Bones Don't Mix

Older men with Parkinson's disease have a greater risk of bone fractures, says a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

In a study of about 6,000 men ages 66 and older, those with Parkinson's had lower bone mineral density in the spine and hip and had three times the risk of suffering fractured or broken bones than men who didn't have the disease.

Parkinson's is a treatable, non-curable nerve disorder that causes tremors, moving difficulty and balance problems, according to the study lead by Dr. Howard A. Fink, M.P.H. It is common with age and affects six in every 1,000 adults ages 65 to 69, and 30 in every 1,000 adults older than 80.

Researchers suggest older men with Parkinson's have their bone density tested and ask for ways to boost bone density with safe exercises and "appropriate doses of such bone-building nutrients such as calcium and vitamins D and K."

Nature Versus Nuture: Rematch

People are genetically programmed to be attracted to people who are like them, shows a University of Western Ontario study of identical and fraternal twins.

When choosing a spouse or picking friends, individuals tended to zero in on people who were "compatible with their genotypes, such as outgoing people preferring other outgoing people, or traditionalists favoring other traditionalists."

"If you like, become friends with, come to the aid of and mate with those people who are genetically most similar to yourself, you are simply trying to ensure that your own segment of the gene pool will be safely maintained and eventually transmitted to future generations," says the study by J. Philippe Rushton and Trudy Ann Bons, published in the journal Psychological Science.

Rushton noted that environment and timing also impact our choices in relationships.

Bouncing Back Takes Time

Can't snap out of it after a cold, flu, other illness? That's normal as you age, according to researchers at the University of Illinois.

Feeling rundown for a prolonged period intensifies as we grow older, says Dr. Rodney Johnson, an integrative immunology and behavior researcher in animal sciences. In Johnson's studies with mice (whose response to medical phenomena mirrors that of humans), older rodents recovering from infections suffered decreased appetites, weight loss and less social interaction.

Why? It basically boils down to the brain being slow to inform the rest of the body. Cells called microglial facilitate healing but can overreact: "The exaggerated response can lead to a more intense and longer-lasting sickness behavior syndrome," he says.

Kids With Asthma Can Breathe Easier

Little steps to reduce allergens at home offer big payoffs to kids with asthma, according to findings by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Researchers targeted six major classes of allergens that trigger asthma symptoms: dust mites, cockroaches, pet dander, rodents, passive smoking and mold. Children were offered mattresses, box springs and pillow covers made of allergen-impermeable materials; air purifiers with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters; vacuum cleaners equipped with HEPA filters; and professional pest control.

Kids who got environmental interventions had 19 percent fewer emergency clinic visits and a 13 percent reduction in inhaler usage, which delivers medication directly to the lungs. These kids also had a 38 percent increase in symptom-free days during the course of the two-year study that includes more than 900 city kids ages 5 to 11 with moderate to severe cases of asthma. The simple environmental adjustments saved $27.57 a day that would ordinarily have been spent treating asthma symptoms.

"These results show that tailored interventions such as these may have substantial long-term impact on asthma symptoms and resources used among inner-city children," says Dr. David Schwartz, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

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