Healthwise    January 2011  

Healthwise is a regular column written especially for laterlife.com members and visitors. Welcome to healthwise 130.

For previous articles in the healthwise series visit 'More Healthwise'  

NEWS AND VIEWS
FROM THE WORLD OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH

We should all be delighted at the advances now being made by scientists, researchers and the medical profession. For 2010 we continue to highlight some of the latest developments in health and medicine. 

Healthwise 130

Cold weather threat for asthma sufferers

Asthma sufferers are being warned to take extra care in the cold winter weather.

A report from Asthma UK says that cold weather can act as a trigger for the problem and sufferers need to be alert and prepared if their condition suddenly worsens.

Over 5 million people in the UK suffer from asthma, and in cold weather hospital admissions soar. Catching colds or flu can also exacerbate asthma symptoms.

Happiness helps creativity

Being in a good mood can enhance creativity. A new study published in Psychological Science says that a positive mood had been found to enhance creative problem solving and flexible thinking.

The study involved a group of students who were put into different moods with the help of music clips and video clips. This was done after research had been undertaken to find out what made people happiest and saddest.

Once the different moods had been established, the students were set various tasks and there appeared a definite correlation between positive mindsets and creative thinking.

Waving a finger at prostate cancer

Men who have long index fingers are at a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, and men with an index finger longer than their ring finger were one third less likely to develop the disease.

The results, from research undertaken by Warwick University and the Institute of Cancer Research, compared finger length patterns of more than 15,000 men with prostate cancer with 3,000 men without the disease.

Men whose index and ring fingers were the same length (about 19 per cent) had a similar prostate cancer risk, but men whose index fingers were longer than their ring finger were 33 per cent less likely to have prostate cancer.

Osteoporosis sets the scene for other problems

A study from Norway has indicated that people with osteoporosis have a greater risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and vice versa.
Figures from the Norwegian Society of Public Health said it appears that in some cases the same mechanism is at work in both diseases processes, making people with the bone problem also more vulnerable to a heart attack or stroke.

This followed on from work undertaken in 2001 when Professor Lone Jorgensen and colleagues at the University of Tromso published a study showing women who had suffered a stroke had a much lower bone density than other women of the same age.

Another benefit from good cholesterol

High levels of “good” cholesterol might be associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease in older adults.

A report in last month’s Archives of Neurology said that the study, at Columbia University’s Taub Institute in New York, showed a definite link between increased levels of high-density lipoproteins (good cholesterol) and late onset alzheimers. The study involved random samples of people 65 and over with no previous history of either dementia or cognitive impairment.

If in any doubt about any of the information covered in healthwise articles and it's relevance for you, consult your GP.

IN THE PREVIOUS EDITION

Alternative to Warfarin
A new drug, rivaroxaban, could benefit hundreds of thousands of heart patients.

Clean bowled!
A recent survey shows that four out of five people in this country do not clean their toilets regularly enough

Less permanent damage from heart attack
The function of a heart can be improved after an attack with the use of fat derived from stem cells.

Undetected lung problems
3.5 million people in the UK don't know they have COPD

Sneeze free wine
Wine is known to cause allergies in some people, including problems such as sneezing..........