City: Bars Cannot Forbid Pregnant Women From Entering, Ordering Alcohol

Filed Under: Alcohol, Human Rights commission, Marla Diamond, pregnant women

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — New guidelines by the Human Rights Commission say pregnant women cannot be kept out of bars, or refused alcoholic beverages in restaurants, just because they are expecting.

As WCBS 880’s Marla Diamond reported, the issue might sound unusual. But complaints from pregnant women about bar policies are not unheard of.

Dana Sussman, special counsel to the commissioner of the city’s Human Rights Commission, said her agency is investigating a few cases.
“We can’t give more than that, but that actually comes from some real-life examples,” she said.

The guidelines mainly expound on a 2013 city law that mostly concerns protections for pregnant workers. But Sussman said it goes beyond that, addressing stereotypes about what pregnant women should and should not be doing.

“You can see a slippery slope here,” she said. “We’re talking about women being able to make decisions for themselves.”

The U.S. Surgeon General and major medical associations say pregnant women should avoid alcohol. New York City itself requires restaurants to post warnings that alcohol can cause birth defects.

Nevertheless, city officials say such health decisions are up to the woman, not a bartender.

Mayor Bill de Blasio praised the commission for declaring what he called one of the strongest anti-discrimination laws in the country.


(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)












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New drug delivery could help tackle pregnancy issues

A new method to deliver drugs to a pregnant woman’s placenta without harming the foetus could help prevent some premature births and dangerous conditions such as pre-eclampsia.

Scientists found that they could use chain of amino acids like a honing beacon to target parts of placenta selectively, which could improve placental function and help the baby to grow without causing it harm.

These chains, known as peptides, were used originally to target tumours but researchers realised they could be used for other purposes. There are currently no drugs that can be used to treat issues such as pre-eclampsia or foetal growth restriction, which affect more than ten percent of pregnant women.

Instead doctors have to induce early delivery of the baby, putting the child at risk of developing infections and cerebral palsy.

Lead researcher Dr Lynda Harris, of Manchester University, said: “Placentas behave like well-controlled tumours. They grow quickly, produce growth hormones and evade the immune system.

“A lot of cancer research focuses on finding ways of delivering drugs to kill the tumour without affecting the rest of the body.

“We had the idea that if we could selectively target the placenta in the same way, we could deliver other drugs which help improve placental function and therefore treat pregnancy complications.”

A growth hormone delivered to placenta in mice had no effect on normal-sized foetuses but helped the smaller ones to grow, according to the paper published yesterday in Science Advances journal.

There were no signs that these drugs built up in the mouse’s organs, instead passing out of the body.

It could have a harmful effect on mothers with undiagnosed cancers, because the drugs will also target their tumours, but the authors suggest a screening programme would overcome these difficulties.

Professor Melanie Welham, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council chief executive, said: “The findings could help develop therapies that can help both the mother and unborn baby.”











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Contestant from 'The Biggest Loser' ends up heavier than when he started show at 32 stone

  THE BIGGEST LOSER -- Episode 801 -- Pictured: (l-r) Antoine Dove, Sean Algaier; Alison Sweeney --   (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

A new study which revisited contestants from a series of popular lifestyle show The Biggest Loser found that just one has managed to keep the weight off in the aftermath of the programme.

The research found that just one of the fourteen contestants who took part in the series maintained their weight loss since shedding the stones in 2009 and one is heavier than when he signed up to the programme.

The New York Times reports that Sean Algaier weighed 30 stone 10lb before taking part in the show and dropped to 20 stone 1lb after following the intensive programme. However, he now weighs two stone more than when he started.

Fellow contestant Daniel Cahill shed 17 stone throughout the programme and its aftermath and dropped to 13 stone 9lbs. However, he now weighs 20 stone 1lb.

   THE BIGGEST LOSER -- Season 8 -- Pictured: Sean Algaier

The research conducted by metabolism expert Kevin Hall suggests that the contestant’ metabolisms were negatively impacted by the show.

The findings published in the journal Obesity found that the contestants had healthy metabolisms prior to the show, but now they have slowed dramatically.

Mr Cahill has to eat 800 calories a day less than the average man as anything more turns to fat.

Michael Schwartz, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington told the New York Times that the findings were significant.

“The key point is that you can be on TV, you can lose enormous amounts of weight, you can go on for six years, but you can’t get away from a basic biological reality,” he said.


“As long as you are below your initial weight, your body is going to try to get you back.”

   THE BIGGEST LOSER -- Episode 801 -- Pictured: Sean Algaier

   Online Editors

















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Type 2 Diabetes May Damage Hearing, Study Finds

WEDNESDAY, April 27, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Type 2 diabetes may raise the risk of hearing loss, say researchers who recommend hearing tests for patients with the blood sugar disease.

The researchers reviewed prior studies examining the link between diabetes and hearing loss. However, further research is needed to confirm this connection, said the team at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in New York City.

"An association between diabetes and hearing impairment in human subjects has been shown in many, but not all, studies," said Elizabeth Helzner, an assistant professor in the School of Public Health. "Direct comparison of these studies is complicated due to a lack of consistency in defining hearing impairment and other factors," she said in a SUNY news release.

However, Helzner added, the association between diabetes and hearing impairment tends to be stronger in studies that included younger participants. It's possible that in older patients, other causes of age-related hearing impairment may mask the contribution of diabetes, she said. "This factor in itself lends weight to the notion that type 2 diabetes can damage hearing," she explained.

Hearing loss affects more than 16 percent of American adults, with nearly half of people older than 75 having difficulty hearing, according to the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

Hearing loss has been linked with social isolation, depression, mental decline, dementia, and increased risk for falls, hospitalization and death, the researchers say.

The study results were published recently in the journal Current Diabetes Reports.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders has more on hearing loss.









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Why diabetes is on the rise

Obesity and sedentary lifestyle seen as main culprits

Is it true that the number of diabetics worldwide is rising fast? Why is this so? What can I do to avoid developing diabetes? I am a 35-year-old office worker who is currently healthy. —arlene_lz@gmail.com

Yes, diabetes mellitus is on the rise. In its first Global Diabetes Report, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that between 1980 and 2014, the number of adults with diabetes quadrupled from 108 million to 422 million, globally. In 1980, the percentage of adults with diabetes was only 4.7 percent. At present, it stands at 8.5 percent. In the Philippines, rate is at 5.8 percent (5.5 percent of males and 6.1 percent of females).

But what has caused this worldwide diabetes epidemic? Mainly two factors: overweight/obesity and sedentary lifestyle. The global rise in diabetes cases mirrors the global increase in the number of people who are overweight or obese. Latest statistics (2014) reveal that almost one in four adults, over 18 years, is overweight and more than one in 10 are obese. Figures (2010) also show that nearly a quarter of adults are “insufficiently physically active.”
image: http://www.mb.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/diabetes-300x170.jpg

diabetes

Diabetes is a highly fatal disease. The WHO report mentions that worldwide, diabetes had killed 1.5 million people in 2012 alone. Diabetes currently accounts for six percent of all deaths in the Philippines. The complications of diabetes, which are offshoots of the persistently high blood sugar level, result in death and disability. Complications include damage to the blood vessels of the extremities, heart, and brain that leads to poor healing of wounds; heart attack and stroke; injury to the kidneys that ultimately causes kidney failure; impairment of the immune system that leads to susceptibility to infection; damage to the eyes that results in blurring of vision and blindness; and nerve damage that results in muscle weakness and reduced sensation.

There are two types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1, which accounts for five to 10 percent of diabetes cases, usually arises in childhood. It occurs when the body’s defense (immune) system turns awry and attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, which accounts for about 90 to 95 percent of diabetes cases, typically arises in adulthood.

At your age, it is type 2 diabetes that you should guard against. Some of its risk factors like age, genetics, and ethnicity are not modifiable, but a few, such as diet, weight, and physical inactivity, are. Hence, you can prevent diabetes or, at least, delay its onset by maintaining a desirable body weight, adhering to a proper diet, and becoming physically active.

If you are overweight, reduce to and maintain the correct body weight through diet and exercise. Proper diet, on the other hand, simply refers to a balanced diet that is high in fiber and healthy fats, and low in simple sugars. Becoming physically active, meanwhile, does not mean you should adhere to a structured exercise program. You can be active enough by adopting simple lifestyle changes such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, doing household chores regularly, walking or biking in going to and from the neighborhood grocery store instead of driving, etc. Make sure though that these activities lead to palpable physical exertion and add up to more than 30 minutes per day. medical_notes@yahoo.com









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Study: No suicide risk for anti-smoking pills Chantix, Zyban

TRENTON, N.J. — Seven years after U.S. regulators slapped their strictest warning on two popular smoking-cessation medicines citing risks of suicidal behavior, a large international study found no such risk.

Now Chantix maker Pfizer and Zyban maker GlaxoSmithKline hope the Food and Drug Administration, which ordered them to do the study, will remove the so-called "black box warnings" put on their prescription drugs due to anecdotal patient reports of serious psychiatric side effects.

The warnings — about "changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions" in some patients, all potential problems for people quitting without medication — scared off many doctors and smokers trying to quit. The black boxes also led to a U.S. ban against pilots and air traffic controllers using Chantix that's still in effect, though the Federal Aviation Administration may reconsider it.

Related:  How I finally quit after decades of smoking
Meanwhile, experts say both Chantix and Zyban are safe — far safer than smoking, which kills about 440,000 Americans each year.

Zyban, approved in 1997, has been available as generic bupropion for a decade, so it's no longer actively marketed by Britain's GlaxoSmithKline PLC. But Chantix, approved in 2006, has patent protection until 2020 in the U.S. and 2021 in Europe. Lifting the black box warning — and similar warnings in countries around the world — likely would boost Chantix sales until those patents expire and cheaper generic copycats arrive.

Months ago, the companies sent the FDA detailed study results showing the risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior for patients taking either drug is the same as for dummy pills. The results, being published online Friday evening by the British medical journal The Lancet, echo findings of about 40 earlier studies.

"We believe the available scientific information doesn't support a boxed warning," Dr. Freda C. Lewis-Hall, a psychiatrist and Pfizer's chief medical officer, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview.

Related: A few minutes with ... a mom hanging on to her son
Pfizer executives and longtime medicinal chemist Jotham Coe, the inventor of Chantix, think it's been vindicated. Coe, who still works at Pfizer, is a former smoker who quit cold turkey after his father, uncle, aunt and both grandmothers died of cancer or emphysema after years of smoking.

"I understand how difficult and grueling the quitting journey can be," he wrote.

New York-based Pfizer Inc. hopes to discuss the results with regulators around the world, including the FDA, which isn't saying what it will do.

The 8,144-patient, 16-country study divided participants into four groups, each receiving either Chantix, Zyban, a nicotine replacement patch or dummy pills. They got treatment for 12 weeks and then were followed for another 12.

Half the participants had existing psychiatric problems — depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder or schizophrenia. Those conditions are more common in smokers than nonsmokers and make it harder to quit.

Among participants without psychiatric problems, the risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior or other serious mental health issues was very low and statistically the same: about 1.3 percent for those taking Chantix, 2.2 percent with Zyban, 2.5 percent with the nicotine patch and 2.4 percent with a dummy pill. In the half with psychiatric problems, those risks were higher across the board: about 6.5 percent for Chantix and Zyban and 5 percent for the nicotine patch and dummy pill.

For help quitting: www.lung.org/stop-smoking
No participants committed suicide, though two taking dummy pills and one taking Zyban attempted it. The drugs can cause other side effects: mostly nausea, insomnia, abnormal dreams and headaches.

Chantix and Zyban "pose no greater risk for suicide or suicidal ideation than the patch or nothing," concluded Dr. Norman Edelman, a pulmonary specialist and the American Lung Association's senior science consultant.

With millions of people still smoking, and "about half of them likely to die of smoking-related diseases," doctors can now prescribe the pills without worry of psychiatric risks, added Edelman, who was not involved in the study.

It also found that Chantix was the most effective quitting method, with about 22 percent of those getting Chantix still not smoking after the six months, compared to about 16 percent each for Zyban and the patch, and 9 percent for dummy pills.

The study was still ongoing when the FDA last reviewed the warning in October 2014, and the agency decided to keep the black box until the study was finished.

"The FDA will review the findings of this study along with additional scientific evidence as we continue to evaluate this issue, as well as take follow-up action and update the public as appropriate," the agency wrote last week in response to questions from The AP.










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Tips on choosing the right sunscreen lotion

   Simply applying any lotion does not mean you are harm-proofing your skin. CC/Stock

MANILA, Philippines - Simply applying any lotion does not mean you are harm-proofing your skin. With temperature getting even higher during summer, you should always make sure that you are using a lotion with the right amount of Sun Protection Factor (SPF).

SPF, according to skincancer.org, is a measure of a sunscreen's ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin. The SPF rating simply serves as a guide to measure the time when would a sunburn occur without sunscreen as opposed to the time if you're wearing one. The higher the SPF, the longer you can stay in the sun without getting sunburn. However, dermatologists don’t recommend more than SPF 50.

READ: How much sunscreen should you apply this summer?

More than just avoiding sunburns and delaying the appearance of wrinkles and age spots on skin, sunscreen decreases the chance of having other skin problems such as skin cancer.

To help you choose the best sunscreen for overall skin protection, here are some tips you may want to consider:

1. Before applying sunscreen, make sure that you use a “broad-spectrum” or “full-spectrum” sunscreen.
This type of product is designed to protect you from both UVA rays that can cause skin aging and UVB rays that can cause sunburn and skin diseases such as cancer. You may try Neutogena’s Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen SPF 100+ that offers the highest combined UVA/UVB protection with its helioplex technology.

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2. Make sure the product is water-resistant. 
If there's such thing as waterproof sunscreen, there's also a water-resistant sunscreen. This means the sunscreen can hold off longer as you expel sweat of your body or as water touches your skin when swimming. Consider choosing water-resistant options if you’re going to the beach or if you're performing vigorous activities.

3. It should be nontoxic.
Always read the label of the product. Avoid buying sunscreen with Oxybenzone, Octinoxate (Octylmethoxycinnamate) or Homosalate as these may harm rather than benefit you.
Look at the SPF number. SPF 15 works on a normal day. However, if you are going to the beach, the ideal amount of SPF to fully protect your skin is SPF 30 to 50.

4. Know your options.
There are usually two types of sunscreen – cream and spray. Choose what suits your skin well. For hairy and oily skin, you can always opt for the spray ones and cream is best for normal to dry skin.

5. Check for an allergic reaction.
There are sunscreens that indicate whether they are made for sensitive skin. Check for indications on the label. If it says for sensitive skin or noncomedogenic, it means the product has been dermatologically tested for skin sensitivity.











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