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Dangers of Iron Supplements

© Leo Galland M.D., F.A.C.N.

Iron is unique among essential minerals, because there is no mechanism for its excretion once absorbed into the body. Whatever iron is absorbed must either be used or stored and excessive storage of iron in the body promotes the generation of free radicals. Excess dietary iron has been implicated by some scientists as a cause of cancer and heart disease. It also increases the risk of bacterial infection. Except for the lactic acid bacteria like Lactobacilli, all microbes require iron for growth. Many of them produce special binding proteins to secure iron from their environments. Humans also produce iron-binding proteins which have as their role the capture of free iron so that microbes can't use it. An excess of iron overcomes this protective mechanism and in-creases susceptibility to bacterial infection. The amount of iron needed for optimal health reflects a delicate balance between deficiency and excess. The best known effect of iron deficiency is anemia, which is the name given to a state in which the number of red blood cells is lower than normal. Anemia is not the same as iron deficiency, however. There are many different causes of anemia, which include folic acid deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency, disorders of the bone marrow and conditions which increase the rate at which red blood cells are broken down in the spleen. Iron deficiency, when mild, may not produce anemia but may still cause fatigue, im-mune de-fects or fungal infections of skin. There are probably twenty million people in the U.S. who are iron deficient and half of them are not anemic. Wom-en with chronic fatigue and mild iron deficiency who are not anemic improve their energy after taking low doses of iron. Twenty milligrams per day is all that's needed, no more. Low-dose iron supplements can cure people with recurrent boils on the skin, but only if those people have mild iron deficiency. Presumably, correcting iron deficiency improves metabolism and immunity. It is unfortunate that most commercial iron pills contain sixty to three hundred milligrams of iron, far more than are needed or than can even be absorbed from a single pill. High dose iron supplements, taken orally or by injection, increase susceptibility to bacterial infec-tion. Studies in southeast Asia and in Africa demonstrate that even low-dose iron can be harmful. When Indonesian school children who are not iron deficient take iron pills, they fail to grow normally. When iron supplements are given to Somali nomads or Masai tribes-man, their rate of infection increases, even though their iron deficiency is corrected. The high frequency of negative responses to iron supplements in Africa and Asia may reflect the interaction between iron and zinc. Iron in food or pills interferes with zinc absorption and supplemental iron can aggravate zinc deficiency. The recommended daily allowance for zinc (RDA) is based on the assumption that forty per cent of the zinc that is swallowed is absorbed into the body. Actually, zinc absorption is only seventeen to thirty-five per cent and depends upon what is eaten along with zinc. Starch and fiber interfere with zinc absorption, as do calcium and iron. Lack of stomach acid, which may be caused by infection or acid-lowering drugs, also interferes with zinc absorption. Zinc deficiency is common in Africa and Asia, where people consume large quantities of milk, which is high in calcium and low in zinc, and of starches and fibres which inter-fere with zinc absorption. Zinc deficiency profoundly depresses immunity and administering iron to a zinc-deficient person is extremely risky. Not only does iron stimulate bacterial growth, but, by aggravat-ing zinc deficiency, it weakens the immune system of the person being supplemented. No one should ever take iron supplements unless iron deficiency is present, with the possible exception of pregnant women. The best test for iron deficiency is a blood test called the serum ferritin level. Ferritin is a protein that carries iron, and low ferritin levels are a common sign of iron deficiency. Like all laboratory tests, the interpretation of ferritin levels is subject to interpretation. Because the body has a limited capaci-ty for iron absorption, it does not make any sense to administer more than twenty milligrams of elemental iron at a time. Iron should not be taken as part of a multivitamin or multimineral preparation. Iron interferes with the absorption of the essen-tial minerals zinc, manganese and molybdenum; it destroys vitamin E; its own absorption is blocked by calcium and magnesium. Iron is best absorbed after a meal, with a small quantity of vitamin C (between one hundred and five hundred milligrams).

Archived columns by Leo Galland M.D., F.A.C.N.

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Vaccine Recently Announced

Two weeks ago, the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis announced that it had produced the first batch of a vaccine to fight the H1N1 (swine) flu virus. Vaccine production is underway, and clinical trials will begin in July. The expectation is that the vaccine will be available to the public in September.

Health Net will follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations on use of the vaccine when it is available.

We will keep work to keep our members updated as to any further developments. In the meantime, we urge you to take all appropriate steps to stay healthy.

Jonathan Scheff, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Health Net, Inc.

What's Adoption?

How is a family created? Often, we think of families being made when a woman gives birth to a child. But adoption is another way families are created. Adoption means a legal process that allows someone to become the parent of a child, even though the parent and child are not related by blood.

In other words, a woman and man are not the kid's "birth parents." The child did not grow inside the woman's body. But in every other way, adoptive parents are the child's parents. By going through this legal process of adoption, they are promising to take care of the child and make him or her part of their family.

Being a parent is a lot of work, but having a family also makes grown-ups very happy. Kids make almost anything more fun, so it's no wonder people want to have them in their lives.

Some people choose to adopt because they have medical problems that make it impossible for them to have their own biological (say: bi-oh-law-jih-kal) children. Some single adults, although they don't have a partner or don't want to get married, really want to be parents.

Other kids might get adopted when one of their parents remarries. The new husband or wife might adopt the kids as a way to show that they are all one family now.

It often takes a lot of time and effort to adopt a child. Some people wait for years to adopt a baby. Adopting a child is not like shopping for a new coat. You don't just pick one off the rack and take it home.

How Does Adoption Work?

Adoptions are usually handled by a government agency or a private group. These groups work hard to investigate the people who say they want to adopt a child. Before letting them adopt a child, adoption workers need to find out a lot of stuff about the adoptive couple. They would want to know if either of them had ever done anything wrong, like committing a crime. They do not want kids to be adopted by people who might not take good care of them.

The adoptive couple also has to meet with social workers and others to explain why they want to adopt a child. They're also asked other questions to find out how they feel about kids and how they might solve problems, such as arguments, that happen in every family. The agency wants to be sure that children are adopted into homes where they will grow up happy and loved.

It's good that many people want to adopt kids, but why do kids need to be adopted? Most kids are not adopted. They grow up with their birth parents. But sometimes, a woman has a baby when she is young and before she's able to take good care of it. Other times, when babies are adopted from other countries, the baby's mom could be older and might even have other children already.

Why Do Kids Need to Be Adopted?

Babies are big responsibilities. You need to have enough money for the diapers, clothes, and other supplies the baby will need. A parent also must be willing to work very, very hard. Parents need to wake up in the middle of the night when the baby needs to eat. They also can't go out with their friends any time they want. Why? Because someone needs to watch the baby. And it can be hard for someone to have a baby and still be in school or college. Even if a woman is willing to care for the baby, raising a child might be very hard — or even impossible — if the woman is poor and lives in a poor country.

It's a very hard choice, but some women decide their babies would have better lives if they lived with adoptive parents. Often, adoptive parents are older and more able to handle the responsibilities that come with being someone's mom or dad. In some cases, an older child may be adopted because his or her birth parents tried to take care of him or her, but did a poor job. The child may have been abused or neglected and it was decided that a new home was needed. Sometimes a child lives with a foster family for a while before being adopted.

With some adoptions, the birth mother or father can stay involved in the kid's life. That doesn't mean the kid would live with the birth mom or dad, but the kid may see him or her once in a while or exchange letters or photographs. Other times, the kid doesn't get to see his or her birth parents.

No matter how this works out, it can be hard to understand. Kids may feel sad about it and have a lot of questions. Don't be afraid to talk about your feelings. Talk with your parents, or if you can't do that, try another relative or even a school counselor.

If You Were Adopted

Kids who were adopted are no different than other kids. But if you were adopted, you may have a little more on your mind than your friends. Sometimes, learning you were adopted may make it hard for you to pay attention in school.

Many kids who were adopted wonder about their birth parents and why they didn't keep them. They may wonder where they came from and what nationalities they are. They might wonder if they look like their birth parents and what their relatives are like. They might think about this stuff a lot, even if they really love their adoptive parents.

You might have questions if your family includes kids who were adopted and kids who weren't. Unfortunately, someone might say that you are not your parents' "real" kid, but that is not true. Adoption makes you a real son or daughter. Again, being able to talk about your feelings can help!

Reviewed by: Richard S. Kingsley, MD

A Guide to The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994
As Amended by the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996

Chapter 3: Common Questions About MEPA-IEP

1. Since the Constitution and Title VI already prohibit discrimination, what difference will MEPA-IEP make?

   Although the Constitution and Title VI bar discriminatory practices by states and publicly funded entities, many states and child welfare agencies nonetheless assumed that it was lawful to prefer racially and ethnically-matched foster care and adoptive placements for children. MEPA-IEP has made it clear that such preferences are illegal.

   In enacting MEPA-IEP, Congress was concerned about widespread reports that children were being harmed by being removed from stable foster placements simply in order to be placed with someone else of the same race or national origin whom they had never met.

   Reports also suggested that growing numbers of children were being denied a permanent adoptive placement because of efforts, often futile, to find a racially or ethnically matching adoptive home. For example, some agencies required specific waiting periods to search for a same race placement or required social workers to justify a transracial placement.

   Minority children, particularly African-American children, were the most likely to experience lengthy delays in placement and to have fewer opportunities to be adopted as they grew older. Despite differences of opinion about whether these delays were caused primarily by unfair exclusion of minority individuals from being considered as foster or adoptive parents, or by unfair exclusion of whites who sought transracial placements, or by some combination of these and other factors, child welfare experts agreed that something had to be done to prevent the adverse effects on minority children of placement delays and "foster care drift."

   MEPA-IEP can assist states and agencies to remove the vestiges of unlawful discriminatory practices by providing technical assistance through OCR and ACF staff. This assistance will continue to be available to help states review their statutes and administrative codes and to help agencies develop procedures that reflect good social work principles and promote the best interests of children in out-of-home care.

   By requiring diligent recruitment of foster and adoptive parents who reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children in state care, MEPA-IEP also aims to expand the pool of qualified parents who can meet the needs of children awaiting homes, including those whose specific and well-documented needs may justify an effort to achieve a same-race placement.

2. What are the differences between MEPA, as originally enacted, and the 1996 Interethnic Adoption Provisions?

   The Interethnic Adoption Provisions (IEP) make several important changes to MEPA which clarify the kinds of discriminatory placement activities that are prohibited and, as explained in Chapter 2(7)(a)(3), add sanctions under title IV-E for violations of MEPA-IEP.

   To clarify that the routine consideration of a child’s or prospective parents’s race color, or national origin is impermissible, the IEP amends the basic MEPA prohibitions as follows:

   ...neither the State nor any other entity in the State that receives funds from the Federal Government and is involved in adoption or foster care placements may--

   1. deny to any person the opportunity to become an adoptive or foster parent, on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the person, or of the child involved or

   2. delay or deny the placement of a child for adoption or into foster care on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the adoptive or foster parent, or the child involved. [language deleted from original MEPA is indicated with strikeouts]

   In addition, the IEP repeals a section of MEPA that permitted agencies to determine a child’s best interests by considering, as one of a number of factors, "the child’s cultural, ethnic, and racial background and the capacity of the prospective foster or adoptive parents to meet the needs of a child from this background." The deletion of the words "categorically" and "solely" from the Act’s prohibitions and the repeal of the permissible considerations make it clear that the standard for the use of race, color, national origin in foster care and adoptive placements is strict scrutiny. Even where a placement decision is not based on a prohibited categorical consideration, other actions that delay or deny placements on the basis of race, color, or national origin are prohibited. According to the 1997 and 1998 Guidance, agencies may not routinely assume that children have needs related to their race, color, or national origin. Nor may agencies routinely evaluate the ability of prospective foster and adoptive parents to meet such needs.

   As amended by IEP, MEPA does not prohibit agencies from the nondiscriminatory consideration of a child’s cultural background and experience in making an individualized placement decision. However, the 1998 Guidance warns against the use of "culture as a proxy for race, color, or national origin." Any routine use of "cultural assessments" of children’s needs or prospective parent’s capacities would be suspect if it had the effect of circumventing the law’s prohibition against the routine consideration of race, color, national origin.

3. Can race ever be taken into consideration in making placements? When?

   On rare occasions, the distinctive needs of an individual child may warrant consideration of the child’s race, color, or national origin. Any consideration of these factors must pass the strict scrutiny test: Is it necessary to take into account the child’s needs related to race, color, or national origin in order to make a placement that serves this particular child’s best interest? If it appears that the child does have these distinctive needs, caseworkers should document their response to the following questions:

   • What are the child’s special or distinctive needs based on race, color, or national origin? Why is it in the child’s best interests to take these needs into account?

   • Can the child’s needs related to race, color, or national origin be taken into account without delaying placement and placing the child at risk of other harms?

   • Can these needs be met by a prospective foster or adoptive parent who does not share the child’s racial or ethnic background?

   • Can these needs be met only by a same race/ethnic placement? If so, is some delay justified in order to search for a parent of the same race or ethnicity, if an appropriate person is not available in the agency’s current files?

   • In a foster care placement, can the child’s special needs be taken into account without denying the child an opportunity to be cared for in a readily available foster home?

   • What are the child’s other important needs?

   Even when the facts of the particular case allow some consideration related to race, color, or national origin, this consideration should not predominate. Among other needs to be considered and typically to be given the most weight are: the child’s age, ties to siblings and other relatives, health or physical condition, educational, cognitive, and psychological needs, and cultural needs, including religious, linguistic, dietary, musical, or athletic needs. In addition, the child may have personal preferences that he or she can articulate and discuss.

   MEPA-IEP encourages child welfare workers to make decisions on the basis of the individualized needs of each child, and renders suspect any placement decision based on stereotypical thinking or untested generalizations about what children need. From now on, it should be clear that any use of race, color, or ethnicity is subject to the strict scrutiny standard of review, and that the use of racial or ethnic factors is permitted, only in exceptional circumstances where the special or distinctive needs of a child require it and where those needs can be documented or substantiated.

   Consider the following example: A six year old girl in foster care has been attending a school where she is regularly teased because of her race. She is deeply distressed about this and cries inconsolably whenever the teasing occurs. This child needs a foster parent who can enroll her in another school where the teasing is less likely to occur or can work with staff and other parents at her current school to improve the situation there. The foster parent has to help the child understand that the teasing is inappropriate and not a reaction to anything she did that was objectionable.

   While this child has a specific race-based need, the caseworker cannot assume that the only way to meet this need is through a same-race placement. It is an issue to discuss with the foster parent (or a prospective foster parent), regardless of their race. Simply being from the same racial background does not ensure that a particular individual will do any better in helping the child cope with the atmosphere in school than an individual from a different racial background.

   Consider another example: A three year old boy born in Honduras and present in this country for less than six months is suddenly removed from his parents who have allegedly beaten him. His verbal skills are age appropriate but he only speaks and understands Spanish. He needs immediate foster care, preferably in a home where Spanish is spoken. He should not be further traumatized by placing him with caregivers who cannot speak Spanish. Although this child will eventually need to learn English, his immediate needs call for finding a foster parent who speaks Spanish. It would not be appropriate to limit the search to someone from Honduras or some other Latin American country. The placement should be made on the basis of the child’s demonstrable cultural needs, and not on the basis of the child’s national origin.

4. Can state law or policy include a preference for racial or ethnic matching so long as no child or prospective parent is precluded from being considered for placement on the basis of their race, color, or national origin?

   MEPA-IEP does not allow state laws or policies to be based on blanket preferences for racial or ethnic matching. General or categorical policies that do not derive from the needs of a specific child are not consistent with the kinds of individualized decisions required by MEPA-IEP. Statutes or policies that establish orders of preference based on race, color, or ethnicity or that require caseworkers to justify departures from these preferences violate MEPA-IEP and Title VI.

5. Can agencies honor the preferences of a birth parent based on race, color, or national origin?

   Because agencies subject to MEPA-IEP may not deny or delay placements on the basis of race, color, or national origin, they cannot honor a biological parent's preferences for placing the child in a family with a similar racial or ethnic background.

6. Does MEPA-IEP prevent States from having a preference for placing a child with a relative?

   MEPA-IEP does not prohibit a preference for placing a child with relatives, if the placement is in the best interest of the child and not in conflict with the requirement that the child’s health and safety be the paramount concern in child placement decisions.

   In 1996, Congress added a section to the title IV-E State Plan requirements that States are to consider giving preference to an adult relative over a non-related foster or adoptive parent, provided that the relative meets all relevant state child protection standards. Many states include preferences for relatives in their foster care or adoptive placement statutes or administrative regulations. Nonetheless, caseworkers should not use general preferences for placing children with relatives as a device for evading MEPA-IEP. All placement decisions should be specific to the needs of the individual child.

   Generalizations about the wisdom of placing with a relative, even when a relative has not yet been located or evaluated should not necessarily result in removing a child from the child’s current placement. For example, caseworkers should exercise caution before removing a child from a stable, long-term, transracial fost-adopt home in order to make a racially-matched placement with a relative the child may have never met. To avoid this situation, caseworkers should attempt to locate all relatives who might serve as a child’s caregiver as promptly as possible whenever a child is likely to require out-of-home care.

7. Does MEPA-IEP apply to white children?

   MEPA-IEP applies to all children regardless of race or ethnicity. For example, if a worker determines an African American family can best meet the needs of a white child, denying the child that placement on account of race would be illegal.

8. How does MEPA-IEP apply to infants?

   MEPA-IEP applies regardless of the age of the child. The 1995 and 1997 Guidances suggest that the age of the child may be a factor in determining the effect of race or ethnicity on the best interest of the child. For example, an older child may have a strong sense of identity with a particular racial or ethnic community; an infant may not have developed such needs. However, the Guidances emphasize that each decision must be individualized. Further, the 1998 Guidance notes that, regardless of age, racial or ethnic factors can seldom determine where a child will be placed.

9. How should biracial/bicultural and multiracial/multicultural children be treated?

   MEPA-IEP requires that all children be treated equally, without regard to their racial or ethnic characteristics. If a child has a mixed racial ethnic heritage, that heritage does not have to be ignored when assessing the child’s needs, but it cannot become the basis for a placement decision except in those exceptional or distinctive circumstances that would apply to making a placement decision for any other child based on race, color, or national origin.

   Nevertheless, in order to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), children entering the child welfare system who may have some Native American heritage should have their existing or potential tribal affiliations ascertained immediately so that ICWA notice, jurisdictional, and placement requirements can be followed. Because ICWA is not based on a child’s race as such, but on the child’s cultural and political ties to a quasi-sovereign federally recognized Indian tribe, ICWA is not affected by MEPA-IEP. This means that a child with a certain quantum of "Indian blood" may or may not be subject to ICWA. Caseworkers generally have to rely on tribal determinations whether or not the child is a tribal member or eligible for membership.

10. Does MEPA-IEP apply to private agencies and independent adoptions?

    MEPA-IEP applies to all agencies and entities receiving federal assistance directly or as a subrecipient from another entity. Agencies or entities that do not receive federal assistance are not covered by MEPA-IEP unless a federally assisted agency is also involved in their placement decisions. However, these entities may be covered by other statutes or policies prohibiting discrimination.

11. Can agencies conduct targeted recruitment?

    MEPA-IEP requires diligent recruitment of potential foster and adoptive families that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of the children who need homes. Therefore, states must develop strategies that reach the communities of these families. At the same time, states and other entities must ensure that they do not deny anyone the opportunity to adopt or foster a child on the basis of race, color or national origin.

    The 1995 federal Guidance discussed targeted recruitment efforts as part of a comprehensive strategy aimed at reaching all segments of the community. The 1995 Guidance provides that information should be disseminated to targeted communities through organizations such as churches and neighborhood centers. It further suggests agencies develop partnerships with community groups that can help spread the word about waiting children and identify and support prospective adoptive and foster parents.

    In addition, the 1998 Guidance states that targeted recruiting cannot be the exclusive means for a state to identify families for particular categories of children. For example, while a state may contract with a private agency to make public announcements in Spanish to recruit Hispanic foster and adoptive parents, the state may not rely exclusively on that private agency to place Hispanic children. Rather, in identifying a potential pool of foster or adoptive parents for a child, the state must consider individuals listed with agencies that recruit parents from all ethnic groups.

12. Do prospective adoptive parents have the right to adopt a particular child?

    Under MEPA-IEP, individuals cannot be denied an opportunity to be considered as a potential adoptive parent. They have a right to an assessment of their suitability as adoptive parents which is not based on discriminatory criteria. If accepted into the pool of qualified applicants for an agency, a state, or an interstate exchange, they have a right to be considered as a possible adoptive parent for children for whom they have expressed an interest, and whose needs they believe they can meet. However, neither they nor anyone else has an absolute right to adopt a particular child.

    When foster parents seek to adopt a child who has been in their care for a significant period of time, the child’s attachment to them and the child’s need for permanence may suggest that they are the most appropriate parents for the child. Nonetheless, this decision must be based on the agency’s and the court’s assessment of the child’s best interests and not on an alleged "right" of the foster parents to adopt this child.

13. What funds are available to implement MEPA-IEP?

    Implementation of MEPA-IEP is an administrative cost of implementing federal foster care mandates. States are entitled to claim MEPA-IEP implementation expenses as part of their administrative costs under title IV-E. Discretionary funds for innovative projects, such as recruitment programs, are also available under the Adoption Opportunities Program authorized by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.

NIHSeniorHealth Adds Information on Heart Failure

by Healthy News Service

NIHSeniorHealth (www.NIHSeniorHealth.gov) now offers information about the prevention, detection, and treatment of heart failure, a health condition that affects roughly 5 million older Americans. Designed especially for seniors, NIHSeniorHealth is a joint effort of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), which are part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Heart failure tends to be more common in men than in women, but because women usually live longer, the condition affects more women in their 70s and 80s. Blacks are more likely than whites to have heart failure and to suffer more severely from it. It is the number one reason people over age 65 are hospitalized. In heart failure, the heart cannot pump enough blood through the body. Over time as the pumping action of the heart gets weaker, blood and fluid back up into the lungs and fluid builds up in the feet, ankles, and legs. People with heat failure often experience fatigue and shortness of breath. Heart failure is caused by a number of diseases and conditions that damage the heart muscle, including coronary artery disease. People who have had a heart attack are at high risk of developing heart failure. Diabetes and high blood pressure also contribute to heart failure risk. ?There are a number of things you can do to reduce the risk of heart disease and heart failure,? says Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which developed the content for the heart failure topic on the NIHSeniorHealth Web site. ?For example, it is important to keep your cholesterol and blood pressure levels healthy, keep your diabetes in check, lose weight if you are overweight, eat right, don?t smoke, and get regular physical activity.? One of the fastest growing age groups using the Internet, older Americans increasingly turn to the World Wide Web for health information. In fact, 66 percent of ?wired? seniors surf for health and medical information when they go online. NIHSeniorHealth, which is based on the latest research on cognition and aging, features short, easy-to-read segments of information that can be accessed in a variety of formats, including large-print type sizes, open-captioned videos, and even an audio version. Additional topics coming soon to the site include heart attack, clinical trials, and falls and fractures. The site links to MedlinePlus, NLM?s premier, more detailed site for consumer health information. The NIA leads the Federal effort supporting and conducting research on aging and the health and well-being of older people. The NLM, the world's largest library of the health sciences, creates and sponsors Web-based health information resources for the public and professionals. The NHLBI supports research in diseases of the heart, blood vessels, lung, and blood, and sleep disorders. All three are components of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Provided by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on 3/3/2006

Full Chest and Abdominal Breathing

© 1996 Roger Jahnke O.M.D.

This method is simply a deepening of the breath. Take slow, deep, rhythmic breaths through the nose. When the diaphragm drops down, the abdomen is expanded allowing the air to rush into the vacuum created in the lungs. Then the chest cavity is expanded, allowing the lungs to fill completely. This is followed by a slow, even exhalation which empties the lungs completely. This simple breath practice done slowly and fully, with intention, concentration and relaxation activates all of the primary benefits of therapeutic breath practice. In Qigong and Pranayama the breath is retained for additional benefit.

---

Application Suggestions:

• Health maintenance: 6 to 10 repetitions, 2 to 3 sessions per day.

• Health enhancement: 6 to 10 repetitions, 4 to 6 sessions per day.

• Disease intervention: Start slowly and build up to 15 to 20 repetitions, in 10 to 15 sessions per day.

• Getting started: 2 to 3 repetitions, once or twice per day. Remember to keep it easy and fun.

Prescription drug abuse ravages a state's youth

Kentucky officials see an ‘epidemic’; officials say drugs coming from Florida

MOREHEAD, Ky. — Late in the morning last New Year's Day, Sam and Lynn Kissick received a devastating phone call that would tear their lives apart.

The caller informed them their 22-year-old daughter, Savannah, was being rushed by ambulance to the St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, Ky. She had long battled drug addiction, but it looked like this time, Savannah had overdosed on a combination of painkillers and sedatives while celebrating New Year's Eve.

After racing to the emergency room to be by Savannah's side, her parents were met by a physician with grim news. "I'm sorry, Mr. And Mrs. Kissick, but she didn't make it," he said.

Savannah had just become the latest fatality linked to prescription drug abuse, a fast-growing problem that killed more than 8,500 Americans in 2005, according to the latest available statistics from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says nearly 7 million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs, noting that is "more than the number who are abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, ecstasy and inhalants combined." The DEA also reports that "opioid painkillers now cause more overdose deaths than cocaine and heroin combined."

"Something needs to be done, because it's killing our kids every day." said Lynn Kissick. "People need to stand up and take notice. Our kids are dying. They're dying because of these drugs."

A regional ‘epidemic’
While the problem exists in every state in the country, Kentucky led the nation in the use of prescription drugs for non-medical purposes during the last year, according to the state's Office of Drug Control Policy. Officials said prescription drug abuse is particularly acute in the cities and rural areas of Eastern Kentucky.

Last year alone, at least 485 people died in Kentucky from prescription drug overdoses, according to the state's Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Medical Examiners' records indicate the drugs most commonly found in those death cases were methadone, the painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone, alprazolam (Xanax), morphine, diazepam (Valium) and fentanyl.

"It's an epidemic and I'm afraid we're losing a whole generation," said Beth Lewis Maze, the Chief Circuit Judge for the 21st Judicial Circuit in Kentucky. "These pain medications are so highly addictive that these young people are digging themselves a very deep hole."

In the region's newly formed drug court, Maze sees the ravages of prescription drug abuse at all levels of society. "I see good kids from good families, doctors, lawyers, teachers," she said.

Greenup County Coroner Neil Wright calls prescription drug abuse "public enemy number one." Half of the 50 deaths he logged last year were drug related, and "85 to 90 percent" of those calls involved prescription pill overdoses. "It affects everybody. I don't care, rich, poor, educated or non-educated, it affects everybody."

Down the street, Greenup County Sheriff Keith Cooper dug through the many evidence bags his deputies have filled with prescription pill bottles and cash seized during drug arrests.

NBC News / Vince Genova Lynn and Sam Kissick discuss the tragic death of their daughter as a result of a prescription drug overdose.

"We are drowning in a sea of prescription medication," said Cooper, who complained about the skyrocketing number of crimes committed by addicts searching for money to buy painkillers.

"It affects, quite literally, every kind, every type of crime that we have, the burglaries, the thefts, the accidents, the domestic disputes between families. It's breaking families up."

In neighboring Rowan County, where Savannah Kissick died, Chief Deputy Sheriff Roger Holbrook was arrested recently on federal charges that he had conspired to distribute oxycodone.

Crowded rehabilitation clinics
Pastor Wayne Ross runs the Shepherd’s Shelter adult drug and alcohol treatment center in Mount Sterling, Ky. His 50 available beds are filled with residents struggling to recover from drug addiction, almost all of them from prescription pill habits.

Savannah Kissick was one of his clients, and she had graduated from the recovery program. Her return to drug abuse and her death from an overdose shook Ross and the clinic staff members who had worked hard for her success.

"I cried, it breaks my heart," said Ross, who officiated at Savannah's funeral. "She's not the only one. We've been directly involved with five different people who have OD'd. Three of the funerals I did, myself, as a minister. It just breaks my heart."

Stomach stapling may cut women's cancer risk

However, procedure didn't have the same effect in men, study finds

LONDON - Women who have their stomachs stapled not only lose weight, they also may reduce their cancer risk by up to 40 percent, new research says.

In a study of more than 2,000 fat people who had surgery to reduce the size of their stomachs, Swedish researchers found women who had the procedure were less likely to get cancer than those who did not.

But for some reason, the surgery didn't have the same effect in men; there was virtually no difference in the cancer rates in men who had the surgery and those who did not.

The research was published online Wednesday in the medical journal, Lancet Oncology.

A previous study has shown that stomach stapling surgery can prolong the lives of men and women by up to 10 years compared to those who don't have it. Two other studies have suggested women in particular benefit from a lower cancer risk after getting the weight loss operation.

Scientists have long thought fat people have a higher cancer risk, possibly because fat cells produce hormones that might lead to the disease. But doctors haven't been able to prove that losing weight in other ways, including dieting, reduces that risk.

"This is one more piece of evidence in a complex puzzle," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld of the American Cancer Society, who was not linked to the Lancet Oncology study. "There seems to be a relationship between weight and cancer, but there is a missing link we don't understand."

Swedish researchers followed 2,010 obese patients from 1987 after they had their stomachs stapled, for about 10 years. Men and women were considered obese if they had a body mass index above 34 and 38 respectively. Experts say that a normal body mass index ranges from 19 to 25.

Researchers also tracked 2,037 fat people who did not have the surgery. For patients who got their stomachs stapled, most lost about 20 kilograms (44 pounds). In people who did not have the surgery, most gained a little over 1 kilogram (2 pounds, 3 ounces).

Obesity surgery may thin bones, causing breaks

Of the women who had the surgery, 79 got cancer. In the non-surgery group, 139 women got cancer. Various types were seen, including breast, skin and blood cancer.

Among the men, 38 of the men who had the surgery got cancer versus 39 men in the non-surgery group.

The study was paid for by the Swedish Research Council and others, including drug makers Hoffman La Roche, Astrazeneca and Sanofi-Aventis, whose products include diet drugs.

Experts were baffled why only women appeared to have a lower cancer risk after the weight loss surgery.

Lars Sjostrom of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden and the paper's lead author, said it was possible there weren't enough men in the study to see an effect — men only made up about a quarter of the participants.

Sjostrom and colleagues also found neither weight loss without surgery or reduced calorie intake appeared to affect cancer rates. He added that other possibilities to explain the smaller cancer risk, including genetics, were now being considered. "There is an unknown factor behind this effect, but we have no idea what it is," he said.

Lichtenfeld hypothesized that the stomach surgeries might have different effects on hormones or some other substance in the body that ultimately reduced the chances of developing cancer.

Others said the study underlined the importance of losing weight for cancer prevention. About half of all cancers are thought to be preventable via lifestyle changes, including weight loss.

"It's good news if these risks can be reversed," said Julie Sharp of Cancer Research United Kingdom. "People don't have to do something as dramatic as having surgery, but the message is that individuals can change their own risk factors."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31507954/ns/health-womens_health/

For best anti-cancer boost, cook carrots whole

Cutting them up allows more nutritents to leach out, new study says

Lawrence Lawry / Getty Images stock

Carrots' cancer-fighting properties are increased by 25 percent if they're cooked whole instead of chopped, a study says.

LONDON - The anti-cancer properties of carrots are enhanced 25 percent if they are cooked whole rather than chopped up beforehand, a study has found.

They taste better too, according to scientists at Newcastle University, because more of their sugar is retained.

"Chopping up your carrots increases the surface area so more of the nutrients leach out into the water while they are cooked," said lead researcher Dr Kirsten Brandt.

8 steps to de-stress your diet

Don't make food your social outlet or your emotional crutch

The economy doesn’t have to go straight to your hips. Here are some tips on how to control stress-driven eating:

• Recognize that being stressed is normal, said Edward Abramson, a psychologist in Lafayette, Calif., and author of “Emotional Eating.” Talk about the stress with family and friends.
• Know that the economy is out of your hands, said Martin Binks, director of behavioral health and research at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center. Focus on what you can control.
• Find healthier ways to soothe yourself. Some people go for a walk. Others work on a hobby. Listen to your favorite music or read something not work related, said Linda Hlivka, co-author of “Stress Eater Diet.”
• If you are at home because of a layoff, make sure you are not eating in front of the television or computer, said Leslie Seppinni, a psychotherapist in Beverly Hills, Calif. “Eat at the table at the times you are supposed to eat.”
• Don’t make food your social outlet, Seppinni said. Meet friends at a park or go see a movie.
• Substitute healthier food for the bad stuff, Hlivka said. If you need to eat something crunchy, try carrot sticks.
• If you feel a craving coming on, practice deep breathing, Hlivka said. Once you slow down your breathing, your blood pressure will drop and you will decrease production of stress hormones.
• Don’t deprive yourself. Sometimes the answer is a little bit of ice cream, Binks said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31392742/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/