Short Takes
Usable news + tips   

Warm-weather weight gain

Summertime plus kids equals lots of calorie-burning exercise and calorie-light fruit and veggies, right? Not quite. An Ohio State University study of 5,380 kids in kindergarten and Grade 1 found that their body mass index actually increased faster during the summer vacation than during the school year. The effect was possibly due to more unstructured time and more casual eating. Summer snacks Serve up these cool, healthy and attractive summer treats for kids of all ages, suggests Shefali Raja, a registered dietitian in Langley, B.C. “It’s all about eye appeal and accessibility,” she says.

Photo by Bernard Clark

Freeze fresh berries on a cookie sheet and stash in small bags for a frosty snack, or float a few frozen berries in a glass of chilled water.

Look for store-bought ice pops that are 100% fruit juice and have no more than five to 10 grams of sugar per serving.

Make your own version by freezing fruit juice (or juice mixed with yogourt or skim-milk powder) in ice-cube trays or ice-pop molds.

Have cut-up fruit and veggies and low-fat dip clearly visible in the fridge. Chill individual yogourt containers or tubes in the freezer until they are semi-frozen.

Make a tortilla spiral by spreading a small whole-wheat tortilla with a bit of peanut butter and jelly and adding a whole peeled banana. Roll up and cut into pieces.

The Heat Is On

Do you know the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke? Test your first-aid know-how.

Symptoms of heat exhaustion include

1. Blurred vision, nausea, cramps
2. Flushed, hot, dry skin and rapid pulse
3. Pale, cold, clammy skin

Answer

1 and 3. Quickly take the affected person to a cool spot, remove excess  clothing and loosen clothing at neck and wrists to allow heat to dissipate. Have him lie down with his feet up and encourage him to drink lots of water. Give nothing by mouth if he is vomiting and make sure his airway is open. Get immediate medical help if he is unconscious or vomiting.

Flushed, hot, dry skin could indicate classic heatstroke, which is life-threatening and needs immediate treatment. Call for medical backup and cool the person down by dousing him with cool water or covering him with wet towels or sheets, then fanning him.

Know your numbers

Ask your doctor what your vital numbers are — and what they should be. See our list of the top five for healthy adults, below, but remember that targets can be lower if you have a particular condition or are predisposed to one. “There are quite striking differences, for example, in target LDL cholesterol levels if your risk for heart disease is low, medium or high,” notes Dr. Kevin Saunders, a family physician in Winnipeg. Targets for waist measurement can also vary by ethnicity.

Photo by Masterfile

Blood pressure

140 millimetres of mercury over 90 millimetres (140 mm Hg/90 mm Hg) or less

Waist measurement

Men: no more than than 37 inches (94 cm).
Women: no more than 31.5 inches (80 cm)

Body mass index (your height-to-weight ratio)

18.5 to 24.9

Blood glucose

(before a meal) 4 to 6 millimoles per litre (mmol/L)

Lipid profile

Total cholesterol: less than 5.2 mmol/L

LDL (“bad”) cholesterol: no more than 5.0 mmol/L

HDL (“good”) cholesterol: men, higher than 1.0 mmol/L women, higher than 1.2 mmol/L

Total cholesterol to HDL ratio: less than 6

Movement of the Month: Limber up your back

Before you swing that golf club, whack that tennis ball or dip that canoe paddle, it’s essential to warm up your muscles for at least five to seven minutes to prevent injury. “Incorporate this trunk rotation into your warm-up routine,” says Diana Perez, a Montreal-based physiotherapist.

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent.
2. Using both hands, hold your golf club or paddle in a horizontal line behind your neck (for a tennis warm-up try a broom). Your elbows will be bent and your hands should be in line with, but not touching, your shoulders. Think of your hand and arm position as forming a V on either side of your torso.
3. Keeping your hips and lower body stable, turn your torso to the right as far as you can go and hold for at least five seconds. Then, turn it to the left and hold. Do each move four to five times per side.

Eat to beat smoking

Trying to butt out? The right foods may strengthen your resolve. A study in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research found that fruits, vegetables, non-caffeinated drinks and dairy products made cigarettes taste worse, while caffeinated beverages, alcohol and meat made them taste better.

Grace Under Pressure

There’s new hope on the horizon for people unable to control their high blood pressure despite medication and changes to diet and exercise habits. A clinical study done in the U.S. and Europe found that the Rheos System, a small experimental device implanted near the collarbone, may do the trick. It emits tiny electrical signals that tell the brain when to activate the body’s natural methods of reducing blood pressure, such as dilating  blood vessels and enhancing kidney function.

Unblocking Clogged Arteries

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine yielded surprising results.

Cardiac researchers had expected that treating blocked arteries with both angioplasty (which inflates a small balloon in the artery and implants a metal tube to keep it open) and optimal medical therapy (OMT, which uses drugs and heart-healthy lifestyle changes) would be more effective than OMT alone. Testing both methods in 2,287 Canadian and American patients with coronary artery disease, they found them equally effective in preventing heart attacks and cardiac events.

Smart Disposal

Don’t toss or flush your expired prescription or over-the-counter drugs. “Medications are complex scientific compounds. We don’t want them ending up in our soil or water, or available to kids and pets,” says Warren Meek, a Halifax-based pharmacist.

Instead, return all unwanted meds to your pharmacy.

Kit and Canoodle

You might be wise to add more cuddling to your romantic bag of tricks. Sometimes a back rub is just a back rub, but physical intimacy without sex may lay the groundwork for sex later, according to a study from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. Investigators asked a group of female volunteers to take a saliva test that measured levels of testosterone (a hormone linked to sexual desire in both genders) at various times. Testosterone levels just before intercourse were significantly higher than those measured before exercise or cuddling, and women with higher testosterone levels were more likely to have orgasms. But cuddling was still key. “Testosterone levels were significantly higher after cuddling than they were before,” says study co-author Sari van Anders, a behavioural neuroendocrinologist.

Photo by Masterfile

You ask, we answer

A marked man

For safety reasons, I want to enrol my seven-year-old son in swimming lessons at the local pool this summer, but chlorinated water causes angry red patches of eczema to appear behind his knees and in the creases of his elbows. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?

“The most important step is to apply a barrier to the skin before the swimming lesson,” says Dr. Wade Watson, a professor of pediatrics at Dalhousie University and head of the Division of Allergy at IWK Health Centre in Halifax. “A petroleum jelly such as Vaseline would offer significant protection to your son’s skin.” Apply the barrier 10 to 15 minutes before the lesson. Afterward, make sure your son showers thoroughly to remove all the chlorinated water. A topical corticosteroid cream is not necessary unless patches of red, inflamed skin are already present. If they are, treat these areas with a cortisone cream twice daily. An oral antihistamine to relieve itching might help in this case as well.     

Bubble trouble

I’m a 28-year-old guy who switches from dark ales to light lagers in the warm summer months. I never get a hangover on the dark stuff, but light beer makes me wake up feeling like W.C. Fields after a gin bender. Why?

Blame the bubbles. “Lighter beers tend to have more carbonation, and carbonation increases the rate at which the bloodstream absorbs alcohol,” explains Dr. William

Shoemaker, an associate professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, and a member of the university’s Alcohol Research Center. “Think how giggly some people get after a just few sips of champagne.” A lager’s light taste and the hot dehydrating weather may also make you drink more. But with alcohol entering your system faster from a highly carbonated drink and your liver processing it at a fixed pace, you should plan on drinking less and drinking more slowly.

Sub Sahara

Owing to gynecological surgery and middle age, my vagina is very dry. I use an expensive commercial moisturizer. Is there a cheap home remedy that will have a similar effect? 

“I am not aware of any proven homemade moisturizers for treating vaginal dryness,” says

Dr. Terry O’Grady, an obstetrician-gynecologist in St. John’s, Nfld. “I have heard that some women swear by liquid pectin — yes, the natural fruit gel used in making jam.” This can be store-bought or made at home from cooking and straining under-ripe apples. “If you’re feeling adventurous, you might try that,” she says. One medical study found that a pectin-based moisturizer was just as effective as a leading polycarbophil-based product. If the problem is constant, you should see your doctor to rule out any medical condition. Vaginal dryness can be easily treated with prescription estrogen, delivered in a vaginal cream, tablet or ring. If the problem occurs only during intercourse, a commercial lubricant would help. You may find that products that let you use as much as you need rather than a pre-measured amount tend to last longer and therefore do not cost as much. Regular sexual intercourse can also help keep vaginal tissue  moist and supple.  

--Diana Swift