Short Takes
Usable News + Tips   

Bonnie Schiedel / Diana Swift

Beware the Fake Bake

With summer a fading memory, are you tempted to head to a tanning salon to prolong that bronzed glow? Bad move. “Tanning beds are concentrated sources of UVA rays, which are known carcinogens,” says Dr. Beatrice Wang, a Montreal dermatologist. Furthermore, tanning beds may be habit-forming. A study at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., found that some frequent tanners get hooked on endorphins, feel-good brain chemicals triggered by ultraviolet light.

Sperm Wars

Researchers in India are currently conducting a large clinical trial for a new form of male birth control. In a reversible procedure that lasts at least 10 years, a sperm-disabling gel is injected directly into each vas deferens, the tube that carries sperm from each testicle to the urethra for ejaculation. A North American study is looking at inserting two tiny plugs into the vas deferens to block sperm.

How Much Do You Drink?

Match the beverage with its sugar and calories

Answers: 1 d, 2 f, 3 a, 4 b, 5 g, 6 c, 7 e

Some research indicates that the body doesn’t register liquid calories in a way that makes you feel full, so you may end up eating more to compensate, notes  Dr. Arya Sharma, director of the Canadian Obesity Network. The top healthy choices for adults, according to proposed beverage guidelines in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are water, coffee, tea, skim or 1% milk and soy-based drinks.

Sleep more, weigh less

Kids who slept fewer than 10 hours a night were three and a half times more at risk of becoming overweight than youngsters who slept 12 or more hours, reports a study from Laval University in Quebec City. Less than adequate sleep affects the body’s mechanisms of satiety and metabolism. For example, sleep deprivation lowers levels of leptin, a hormone that decreases hunger and stimulates metabolism, at the same time boosting the hormone ghrelin, which increases hunger. “Most of us are getting an hour less of sleep a day than people did a hundred years ago,” says Dr. Rachel Morehouse, director of the Atlantic Sleep Centre in Saint John, N.B.

Lifting weights Lifts spirits

Recently diagnosed and treated breast cancer patients who did weight training twice a week for six months had fewer problems with the depression, anxiety, fatigue and insomnia that often go along with diagnosis and treatment, says a study in the journal Cancer. Strength training may have helped the women regain a feeling of control over their bodies and, by extension, other areas of their lives.

Did  You Know?

Part human, part bug

The adult human gut contains up to 100 trillion microbes from more than 1,000 different species, which have evolved amicably with us over millions of years. Called commensal (“eating at the same table”) bacteria, they help us digest much of what we eat—sugars, vitamins and fibre, for example—and protect the intestinal wall from invasion by infectious microbes. Their genetic material in the lower gut alone comprises more than 60,000 genes, double the number in the human genome, says Dr. Steven Gill, a microbiologist at the State University of New York in Buffalo, adding that at least 50% of human feces is made up of microbes.

Canucks on top

Canadian men report more active and better sex lives than their U.K. and U.S. counterparts. In a 2006 international survey of 6,000 subjects aged 40 to 80, more than 80% reported being sexually active in the past year compared with 70% of British men and 80% of American men. Canadian women did not fare as well: fewer than 68% said they were sexually active, putting them behind both American and Australian women.

Move of the month

Whether you’re preparing your garden for winter or raking leaves, all that bending and lifting can lead to aches and strains, especially in your lower back. To reduce the risk of back injury, try doing the “fence stretch” before and after yardwork. Helen Vanderburg, a Calgary certified fitness trainer, explains how:

Stand about three feet away from a fence, facing it and placing your feet hip-distance apart.

Place your hands on the fence for support. Keeping your legs and back straight, bend forward from the hips until you feel a stretch in the rear muscles of your upper legs (the hamstrings). 

Hold for 45 seconds. Repeat.

You ask, we answer

I am a 35-year-old man with an active sex life. For the past few weeks I’ve been having a problem with maintaining erections. Is this something that will resolve on its own at my age, or should I seek medical help right away?

“Erectile dysfunction can be treated medically even if its cause is psychological,” says psychiatrist Dr. Pierre Assalian, director of the Human Sexuality Unit at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. Ask yourself these questions, as they may bear on your case: Do you have a stable sexual partner who is pressuring you to make a commitment? Is your partner upset when you experience erectile dysfunction? Has there been any change in your level of sexual desire? Are you feeling depressed? Have you started on medication? Do you have high blood sugar levels? Are you still capable of having morning erections? Your problem may be physical, psychological or both. If it persists longer than a couple of weeks, see your doctor.

My six-year-old daughter loves soft-boiled eggs and always eats a bit of the shell. Is this harmful?

While eating eggshells should not be encouraged, it’s probably not a problem if your daughter only does it occasionally and chews the shells well to eliminate any sharp edges that might damage the digestive tract. “Eggshells are mainly calcium carbonate, so your daughter may get a bit of calcium from them, but the amount would be too small to be nutritionally worthwhile,” says Susie Langley, a Toronto registered dietitian. A child who craves non-food items, such as shells or dirt, could be suffering from pica, a rare psychological disorder.

I am a 28-year-old pregnant woman. Is there anything I can do to lessen my child’s chance of developing allergies?

“So far, studies have not shown that avoiding particular foods or allergic triggers such as dust mites during pregnancy will decrease the chance of having an allergic child,” says Dr. Rob Wedel, a family physician in Taber, Alta. And, of course, it’s very important for a mother-to-be to eat a healthy, balanced diet that does not eliminate whole food groups, such as dairy. If, however, a serious allergy (to peanuts or shellfish, for example) runs in your family or your partner’s family, talk to your doctor about the best course of action. Generally speaking, if you and your partner have allergies (including asthma), your child has about a 75% chance of having allergies, too. That number drops to 50% if one parent (or relatives on just one side of the family) is allergic. Your offspring’s allergies, however, may be different, because kids inherit the tendency to be allergic, not necessarily specific parental allergies.

Migraine Zapper

A new device being tested by Ohio State University neurologists may help migraine sufferers ward off attacks. Called a transcranial magnetic stimulator (TMS), it emits a painless electrical current that creates an intense magnetic field in the brain. This disrupts the electrical storms that bring on these awful headaches. In a preliminary trial, 75% of patients avoided migraines by using TMS at the aura phase, a stage of neural disturbance that precedes the headache and can involve tingling, vision loss and seeing flashing lights or shooting stars.

Take 20

When you’re working at the computer for long periods, optometrists suggest that you follow the Triple 20 Rule to reduce eye strain. For every 20 minutes at the screen, take a 20-second break and focus your eyes on something at least 20 feet away.

Did  You Know?

Kicking Butt

Smokers who make a snap decision to give up smoking are two and a half times more successful at quitting than those who follow the conventional wisdom of planning a future quit date. So finds a survey of 1,914 smokers and ex-smokers conducted by the University of London’s Dr. Robert West. He speculates that a sudden and immediate renunciation of cigarettes may be linked to greater motivation than a plan to quit at a future point. 

Healing the Hurt

Self-injury—which includes deliberately cutting, scratching or hitting yourself—is quite common among young adults. A random survey of 3,000 students at two universities in the U.S. found that 17% had hurt themselves, and of those, 75% more than once. The lifetime prevalence was similar to that found in a random survey of more than 500 teenagers in western Canada, says Dr. Mary Kay Nixon, a Victoria psychiatrist who researches self-injury in adolescents. “Youth who self-injure talk about the ‘release’ or ‘relief’ it provides,” she says. “Self-injury is not always a suicide attempt, but it should be taken seriously.” These young people need assessment and should explore treatment options, including learning healthier ways to cope with stress and anxiety.

Parental Guidance

Sexually active teens aged 14 to 17 have had three sexual partners on average, according to a recent survey by the Canadian Association for Adolescent Health (CAAH). And a surprising 63% of teenagers—sexually active or not—consider their parents a top source of sex information. Get your facts straight at www.sexualityandu.ca, the award-winning website from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, or check out the CAAH’s new website at www.youngandhealthy.ca