Monday, April 7, 2014

OK to kiss Fido? If you’re willing to take on a bit of bacteria, then yes.

By Suz Redfearn

Do you smooch your pooch?

Lots of dog moms and dads do. After all, his mouth is cleaner than yours, right?

Nope.

Think about it -- what he eats, what he licks. Common sense tells you it’s a germfest.

But the truth is, those bacteria aren’t big health risks for most people. So kissing your furry baby is OK, if it doesn’t gross you out. Just have a healthy awareness of what could be in your dog’s mouth, says Clark Fobian, DVM, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Before you kiss a dog, or let a dog kiss your face, “you have to think of where their nose has been,” Fobian says. “Has it been inside a dead opossum on the side of the road, or the posterior of another dog, or in the litter box?”

Don’t think that kissing your dog on his snout or the top of his head is safer than on the mouth. When a dog has an infection -- say, in his ear -- germs can end up all over his body through scratching, Fobian says. And there’s a good chance whatever’s in his mouth will end up on his coat through slobber and licking.

Human and dog mouths have “a large number and a wide variety of bacteria,” Fobian says. Fortunately, most of it doesn’t make us sick, but some can. Parasites like hookworm, roundworm, and giardia can be passed from dog to human through licking. Salmonella, too, can be passed from your dog to you, or vice versa.

Viruses tend to affect one species or the other; you’re not going to give your dog a cold, and he won’t be giving you his cough.

If you’re not healthy, skip it. People with weak immune systems should simply avoid kissing pets, Fobian says. That includes those with HIV/AIDS, those who have had an organ transplant, and those who are on medicines for cancer that limit the body’s ability to fight off infection.

Some dogs may not like you to put your face close to theirs.

A dog who doesn’t want to be kissed will show his stress by leaning away, looking away, pursing and licking his lips.

“A lot of people miss those signs, and when they try to kiss the dog, the dog snaps at them,” says Melissa Bain, DVM, assistant professor at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

If your dog is giving you signs that this is not her thing, then don’t put her through it, Bain says.

It’s not much different from trying to kiss a human who doesn’t want to be kissed. “We respect people who are like that; we should also respect dogs who are like that,” Bain says.

Marriage Does Help the Heart, Study Finds

Researchers compared cardiovascular disease rates in more than 3 million Americans

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 28, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Marriage is good for the heart, yet another study has found.

Married partners don't just have a lower risk of heart problems, the researchers said. They also have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease affecting the legs, neck or abdominal areas.

"We found that being married was associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease in general," said study researcher Dr. Carlos Alviar, a cardiology fellow at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.

Alviar is scheduled to present the findings Saturday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, in Washington, D.C.

Although several other studies have found that marriage helps the heart and overall health, this newest one is believed to be the largest, Alviar said. And although some other studies have found the benefit greater for married men than for married women, this study did not find gender differences, he said.

For the new study, the researchers analyzed records from a database of more than 3.5 million people nationwide. All had been evaluated for cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and vascular problems in the limbs and other areas. The database included information on whether they had high blood pressure or diabetes, were smokers or were obese -- all risk factors for heart disease.

The participants' ages ranged from 21 to 102, and the average age was 64. Of all the people studied, 69 percent were married, 14 percent were widowed, 9 percent were divorced and 8 percent were single. The singles were considered the comparison group.

Even after taking into account risk factors such as age, gender and race, marriage was still protective, researchers found.

"Married men and women had 5 percent lower odds of any vascular disease," Alviar said, comparing them to singles. "Widowed men and women had 3 percent higher odds, and divorced men and women had 5 percent higher odds of any vascular disease."

Alviar called that degree of risk reduction good, but "not substantial." In younger people, however, the protection for the married men and women was even more pronounced, he said.

Although the researchers found a link between marriage and lower risk for heart disease, they didn't prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

"It's such a large population that you can't cast this study off," said Dr. J. Jeffrey Marshall, past president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. Marshall reviewed the findings but wasn't involved in the study.

Although other studies have looked at death rates from heart disease, this study is looking at the odds of getting cardiovascular disease, said Marshall, a cardiologist in Gainesville, Ga.

Neither Marshall nor Alviar could explain the apparent protective factor of marriage, but both have some thoughts about the reasoning behind it. "Maybe married people look out for each other," Marshall said. "They may exercise together. Your spouse may help you watch your diet."

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Many Kids May Have High Cholesterol, Regardless of Weight

Abnormal levels seen in 1 of 3 children, possibly raising future heart disease risk, researcher says
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, March 28, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- About one of three Texas kids screened for cholesterol between the ages of 9 and 11 had borderline or high cholesterol, potentially placing them at greater risk for future cardiovascular disease, a new study has found.
Obese kids were more likely to have abnormal cholesterol levels, but a large percentage of normal-weight children also had borderline or high cholesterol, said lead investigator Dr. Thomas Seery, a pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children's Hospital and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston.
"The reality is that 35 percent of kids who were not obese had abnormal cholesterol as well," Seery said.
Physicians and parents need to teach kids healthy habits, such as eating right and exercising regularly, or as adults they will be more likely to suffer heart disease and stroke, he said.
"Cardiovascular disease in children is rare, but we know that atherosclerosis has its beginnings in childhood," Seery said. "The better a job we do now, the better they will do later in life."
Previous studies have indicated that as many as 70 percent of children who have elevated cholesterol levels maintained those high levels as they entered young adulthood, said Dr. Patricia Vuguin, a pediatric endocrinologist at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y.
"Your cholesterol at 9 is a reflection of where your cholesterol is going to be in your 40s and 50s," Vuguin said.
The new findings, scheduled to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held in Washington, D.C., take an even darker tone when held next to another study also featured at the meeting.
That study found that middle-school kids who spend two hours or more at a television or computer screen each day are more likely to chow down junk food and have increased risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers said.
The study of about 1,000 sixth-graders in southeast Michigan found that avid TV viewers and computer/video game users both reported eating about 3.5 snacks a day -- one full snack more than children who had low exposure to these technologies.
"Parents need to monitor their kids' activities," said senior author Dr. Elizabeth Jackson, an associate professor in the division of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Michigan. "Our results offer even more reason to limit the amount of TV time kids have and are right in line with current recommendations," she said in a meeting news release.
Seery and his colleagues undertook their research after new guidelines for juvenile cholesterol screening were issued by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in 2011 and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Good Cholesterol? Bad Cholesterol?

High Triglycerides; Low Triglycerides;

How can we know what’s best?

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Cholestrak Total Cholesterol Home Test1 pack

Underweight Even Deadlier Than Overweight, Study Says

Death risk nearly doubled for excessively thin people

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 28, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- It's said you can never be too rich or too thin, but new research suggests otherwise. People who are clinically underweight face an even higher risk for dying than obese individuals, the study shows.

Compared to normal-weight folks, the excessively thin have nearly twice the risk of death, researchers concluded after reviewing more than 50 prior studies.

Obesity has occupied center stage under the public health spotlight, but "we have [an] obligation to ensure that we avoid creating an epidemic of underweight adults and fetuses who are otherwise at the correct weight," said study leader Dr. Joel Ray, a physician-researcher at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

The findings appear in the March 28 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health.

Studies included in the analysis followed people for five years or more and focused on associations between BMI (body-mass index, a key indicator of healthy weight) and fatalities related to any cause.

Ray's team also looked at how death rates related to weight patterns among newborns and stillborns.

Underweight patients of all ages (those with a BMI of 18.5 or under) were found to face a 1.8 times greater risk for dying than patients with a normal BMI (between 18.5 and 25.9), the study found.

By contrast, obese patients (those with a BMI between 30 and 34.9) face a 1.2 greater risk for dying than normal-size patients. Severely obese patients -- those with a BMI of 35 or more -- faced a 1.3 times greater risk.

Ray said it's important to keep a healthy body size in mind when attempting to tackle the obesity epidemic.

"BMI reflects not only body fat, but also muscle mass. If we want to continue to use BMI in health care and public health initiatives, we must realize that a robust and healthy individual is someone who has a reasonable amount of body fat and also sufficient bone and muscle," Ray said in a hospital news release. "If our focus is more on the ills of excess body fat, then we need to replace BMI with a proper measure, like waist circumference."

Typical factors linked to a higher risk for being underweight included malnourishment, drug or alcohol use, smoking, poverty and mental health issues.

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Weight-Loss Surgery Cuts Risk for Heart Attack, Death: Study

By Mary Elizabeth Dallas
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 28, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Weight-loss surgery, such as gastric banding, can dramatically reduce the rate of heart attacks and deaths among people who are obese, a new study shows.

Researchers in the United Kingdom said their findings suggest that obese people at high risk for heart disease should seriously consider undergoing this type of procedure to lose weight.

The researchers also said their study is the first comprehensive review of weight-loss surgery -- known as bariatric surgery -- on heart disease, stroke and death.

"We looked at the outcomes for patients who undergo bariatric surgery, and compared them to figures for obese people who had not received surgery. We saw that surgery was potentially lifesaving and could lower the risk of having a heart attack and stroke by almost 50 percent," study senior author Dr. Yoon Loke, of the University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School in England, said in a university news release.

The researchers examined 14 previous studies involving more than 29,000 patients who had weight-loss surgery. The mean age of the patients was 48, and 30 percent were men. The participants were followed for a period of two to 14 years.

The study also saw a 40 percent reduction in death rates among patients who had the surgery, compared to those who didn't have the procedure.

"Obesity is a worldwide problem with significant consequences on individuals and society. It is associated with heart disease, type 2 diabetes, many cancers and a shorter life expectancy," Loke said.

The study authors added that a large, high-quality study on the benefits of weight-loss surgery is needed.

The study was published March 28 in the International Journal of Cardiology.

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