Trouble at Old Faithful

Yellowstone and Grand Teton have just begun their tourist season but without the excitement it normally brings. 

 

A highly contagious virus has at least 200 people sickened this month.

 

The Norovirus, commonly called “food poisoning” or “stomach flu” causes your intestines, stomach or both to become inflamed (acute gastroenteritis), diarrhea, vomiting, fever, headache and abdominal pain has found its way to the lives of outdoor enthusiasts.

 

Highly Contagious for anyone, the norovirus causes around 21 million illnesses in the United States and can be especially serious for young children and older adults who account for some of the average 800 deaths a year.

Not related to the “flu” (influenza) the norovirus can be spread relatively easy. The most common forms of transmission are being in contact with contaminated food/drinking liquid, a contaminated surface, or in close quarters with someone who is already infected.  In areas with a large population in close quarters like daycares, nursing homes, and cruise ships the virus spreads quickly.

 

Now imagine an expected turnout of close to 6 million visitors during the season.

 

These Wyoming national parks will be taking a huge hit to their tourism dollar with visitors being fearful of becoming sick. The parks will attempt remain open although there is an advisory warning requiring businesses to increase their cleaning and disinfection of all public areas. The warning also advises any visitors to wash their hands to prevent spreading the infection. Workers that have been potentially infected have been asked to isolate themselves until they have been symptom free for at least 72 hours.

 

The illness, first diagnosed around June 7 by a group visiting Yellowstone National Park, has affected over 100 Yellowstone employees, 50 Grand Teton workers and at least 50 recorded visitors. More are anticipated to be undiagnosed.

 

Currently there is no vaccine for the norovirus but there are ways to prevent it. Practicing proper hand hygiene is one of the top priorities, washing your hands consistently while handling food, after using the toilet, or after any contact with fecal matter and infected individuals.  Poor Food preparation and handling is one of the leading causes of transmission of this virus. Wash and cook your food thoroughly. It has been proven the norovirus can survive cooking temperatures as high as 140 degrees F.

 

Clean, wash and disinfect any areas potentially contaminated due to vomit or fecal contamination. Surface areas are easily cleared utilizing household chlorine bleach (5-25 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water).  Clothes and linens should be handled with care while wearing rubber or disposable gloves. 

1 in 4 Stroke Survivors

Many of those lucky enough to survive a stroke find that they‘re soon faced with another serious challenge. Nearly one-quarter will develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new study. 

The data show that experiencing a life-threatening health crisis can pose serious psychological challenges, said study lead author Donald Edmondson, an assistant professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

 

Although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically is associated with combat veterans and sexual assault survivors, the researchers discovered that patients who develop a serious health condition followed by intense treatment may have mental problems that frequently go unrecognized by physicians and family members.

The study, published online June 19 in the journal PLoS ONE, also found that people who develop PTSD after a stroke could have a greater risk for heart problems or another stroke because of the psychological issues they endure.

 

PTSD is an intense physical and emotional response to a life-threatening or traumatic event. The symptoms fall into three broad types: reliving the event, avoiding usual activities and hyperarousal, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

For Peter Cornelis, 62, the trauma of enduring a series of strokes followed by brain surgery left him unable to move for months. He remembers lying in bed mentally designing paintings to help him occupy endless hours with nothing to do.

Over the past four years, he has been slowly rehabilitated, and he now walks with a cane. Although he leads an art class at the local community center in Wantagh, N.Y., he avoids going outside as much as possible, because he suffers from PTSD.

Cornelis said he has little control over his emotions -- from crying when he reads a sentimental greeting card to laughing at nothing at all. Sometimes he blows up without knowing why. He is anxious around people, worrying about how he‘ll react and how others will respond to him. "And I‘m afraid," he said. "Could I have another stroke? Can I make plans for the future?"

But people think he has recovered, Cornelis said. "I look fine, talk perfectly," he said.

 

Cornelis is not alone. Each year, nearly 300,000 stroke survivors will develop PTSD symptoms because of their health scare, the researchers said. Twenty-three percent will develop PTSD symptoms, and for about 11 percent, the condition will become chronic.

 

For the study, the researchers analyzed nine prior studies of stroke or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), which are blood vessel blockages that break up quickly and dissolve without lasting damage. Together, the studies included more than 1,100 survivors who were either interviewed or given questionnaires.

 

PTSD is triggered in people who have strokes and TIAs by a variety of sequential factors, Edmondson said. First, there is a significant, terrifying, life-threatening event that is often accompanied by internal cues, such as a rapid heart rate and high blood pressure. "It‘s called the fight or flight response, and it‘s our innate response to fear," he said. An emotional ambulance ride, invasive tests, hospitalization and sometimes surgery follow.

 

Next, people must adjust to the shock of what has just happened, Edmondson said. "We walk through our lives with the naive belief that we‘re invulnerable," he said. "Often what is traumatic [about a stroke or heart attack] is that such unspoken assumptions are broken."

 

And once home, physical and environmental cues can stimulate the fear response all over again. Unlike a soldier who can leave the battlefield, stroke patients typically return to the place where the crisis occurred. Many patients may simply see the living room chair where they had the stroke and immediately feel PTSD symptoms.

 

Flashbacks, nightmares, palpitations, chills, and elevated heart rate and blood pressure may occur for months or years after their return home, Edmondson said. Severe anxiety, headaches and outbursts of anger also are likely for patients with PTSD.

 

"PTSD is a huge detriment to quality of life, a debilitating disorder in its own right, and deserves to be treated," said Edmondson.

 

Edmondson said that although the research does not show that strokes cause PTSD, he thinks it comes close. "You can‘t develop PTSD without a life-threatening event," he said. "Having PTSD can‘t cause a stroke a month ago, so this research is some of the strongest causal evidence we have."

 

Dr. Rafael Ortiz, director of the division of neuroendovascular disease and stroke at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said he thinks this is the first time PTSD has been so closely associated with strokes and TIAs. "It‘s important that after suffering from a stroke, people are taken care of by a comprehensive team of doctors and other specialists, including psychologists and nurses who are very well-trained," he said.

 

Edmondson encouraged patients and family to talk with their physicians about PTSD. "I really hope this research lets survivors and their family members know it‘s not weird and it‘s nothing to be ashamed of," he said. "It‘s treatable. Tell somebody."

 

More information

Visit www.kurriosity.com

Consider Adding Yoga to Boost Flexibility & Reduce Risk of Injury

 

Improve overall health and fitness (both physical & mental) by signing up for a yoga class every once in a while.

As a workout, yoga’s unlikely to induce huffing and puffing quite like a spin class or session on the track, but yoga has other (equally important) benefits. Stretching and breathing reduces anxiety, boosts antioxidant performance, and improves flexibility, which can help prevent injury.

Fusion Style:

Would you do yoga with weights? What about Power Yoga? Are these new styles of yoga “authentic?”

Om, Om, Ouch:

Yoga sounds relaxing, but misaligned poses and overstretching can cause injuries. Here’s how to prevent them.  

Why you need to eat less Salt

Excessive amounts of salt and or fat in your diet is a huge cause of chronic illnesses such as stroke, diabetes and heart disease. A high intake of salt causes high blood pressure and increase your chance of heart disease and or stroke by 33%. Foods can usually be salty enough with their marinade and what they are cooked with. No need to add extra salt at the table. If you are going to add salt, pinch a dash and sprinkle it over your dish.

by: Brittany Cascone

Concussion = Alzheimer's

Concussion can lead to damage in the white matter of the brain that resembles abnormalities found in people in the early stages of Alzheimer‘s disease, a new study suggests.

 

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said their findings should prompt a re-evaluation of the long-term effects of concussion, which affects more than 1.7 million people in the United States annually. About 15 percent of concussion patients suffer persistent neurological symptoms.

 

"The previous thinking before was you get a concussion, and that causes a certain damage from bopping your head and you get these symptoms," said study author Dr. Saeed Fakhran, an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "We found it acts as a kind of trigger, and lights a fuse that causes a neurodegenerative cascade that causes all these symptoms down the line. Once you‘ve hit your head, the injury isn‘t done."

 

The findings are published online June 18 in the journal Radiology.

 

The study drew some criticism from concussion and Alzheimer‘s disease experts who said the findings, while provocative, should not be interpreted as drawing a clear link between a concussion suffered early in life with the development of Alzheimer‘s.

 

"I don‘t want a mom to pick this up and say, ‘Oh my god, my 10-year-old is going to get Alzheimer‘s now,‘ because that is not the case," said Dr. Ken Podell, a neuropsychologist and co-director of the Methodist Concussion Center in Houston. "It‘s very inconclusive at this time, and there‘s no clinical application of this at this point of time."

 

White matter serves as the tissue through which messages pass between different areas of gray matter within the brain and spinal cord. Think of gray matter as the individual computers in a network, and white matter as the cables that connect the computer.

 

The researchers reviewed past brain scans of 64 people who had suffered a concussion, focusing on scans that used an advanced MRI technique called diffusion-tensor imaging, which spots microscopic changes in the brain‘s white matter.

The investigators then compared these brain scans to symptoms reported by concussed patients in a post-concussion questionnaire. They focused on symptoms shared with Alzheimer‘s patients, including memory problems, disturbances in sleep cycles and hearing problems.

 

The results showed a significant correlation between high concussion symptom scores and reduced water movement in the parts of the brain‘s white matter related to auditory processing and sleep-wake disturbances. Further, the researchers said, the distribution of white matter abnormalities in mildly concussed patients resembled the distribution of abnormalities in people with Alzheimer‘s disease.

 

"Basically, it looks a lot like Alzheimer‘s," said study co-author Dr. Lea Alhilali, an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "You get the same distribution of damage in the way that Alzheimer‘s disease affects the brain."

 

These abnormalities could spark a series of reactions that lead to long-term problems with thinking and memory. "The cascade is what is the important factor," Alhilali said. "It doesn‘t appear what you‘re symptomatic from is the injury itself. What you‘re symptomatic from is how the brain responds to that injury."

 

However, brain experts believe that researchers may be going too far in trying to draw a link between the concussion damage they found and the chronic damage found in Alzheimer‘s.

 

"It‘s an interesting observation, but I think they are making a leap that the pattern of changes they see on the scan are indicative of what we see in Alzheimer‘s disease," said Dr. Ron Petersen, director of the Mayo Alzheimer‘s Disease Research Center. "Their correlation between the scores on the concussion instrument and white matter changes, that‘s nice and good and makes sense. But then they go into a rather extensive anatomical explanation of how this might be similar to Alzheimer‘s disease, and I find that a bit tenuous."

 

Podell listed a number of concerns with the article, including:

• The researchers‘ reliance on existing brain scans and symptom charts created by other people. "You don‘t know what questions were asked, who asked the questions, how they were asked," he said. "There are a lot of things you can‘t control for."
• The inclusion of young patients in the pool of subjects, who ranged in age from 10 to 38. "White matter is not fully developed in people until they are adults," he said. "You have 10-year-olds in this study. It is highly, highly unusual to mix young kids with adults, because the brain is so different."
• The use of sleep disturbance as a comparable symptom between concussion and Alzheimer‘s. "What‘s a common co-injury in concussion? Whiplash. You have neck pain, back pain," he said. "If you go to sleep, you don‘t think that pain wakes you up?"

"The issue is, does a single concussion in an individual mean they are at risk for developing Alzheimer‘s?" Podell said. "There are so many other factors involved, including genetic factors, management of a concussion and the general health and well-being of the individual throughout their life."

 

The study authors agreed that their findings are tentative.

 

"This is not a definitive study. This is not the end at all. This is the first step," Alhilali said. "We hope this will lead to more research that will further explore this potential link."

 

The researchers do believe their findings could lead to better treatments in the future, however.

 

"The first step in developing a treatment for any disease is understanding what causes it," Fakhran said. "If we can prove a link, or even a common pathway, between mild traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer‘s, this could potentially lead to treatment strategies that would be potentially efficacious in treating both diseases."

Lullaby Medicine for Premature Babies

Photodisc/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Something as old as mankind itself is helping to keep preterm babies alive — the lullaby.

Research finds that music has become an important new ally for babies who are born too soon and struggle to breathe and eat.

The neonatal intensive care unit in a hospital is filled with technology that helps keep the hospital‘s tiniest, most fragile patients alive. At New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell – and others across the country – the relentless beeping of monitors fades when the music takes over. The effect on preemies is dramatic and physical.

Studies conducted by Dr. Jeffery Perlman, chief of newborn medicine at New York-Presbyterian, Komansky Center for Children‘s Health, find that gentle music therapy not only slows down the heart rate of preemies but also helps them feed and sleep better. This helps them gain weight and speeds their recovery.

A study published in May in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, under the aegis of the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, found that the type of music matters. Therapeutically designed "live" music -- and parent-preferred lullabies sung in person -- can influence cardiac and respiratory function. They also found that the melodies improved feeding behaviors and may increase prolonged periods of quiet-alert states among premature babies.

Another study published in February 2011 in the Arts in Psychotherapy by Jayne M. Standley of the National Institute for Infant and Child Medical Music Therapy at Florida State University suggests that babies who receive this kind of therapy leave the hospital sooner.

"When they hear something that is very soothing, they adapt to it," Perlman said.

For these tiny babies, music is medicine.

A pair of twins, Jessica and Joshua, were born three months premature. Their dad has been trained by a professional music therapist at the Komansky Center, and now sings to the babies in their NICU cribs in his native Turkish. And he says he has proof that it‘s working.

"I watched their heart rate," their father said. "You can really watch it go down, 165, 160, 155, 152. It‘s an amazing feeling."

Jessica Fernald‘s daughter Hazel was born eight weeks early. "You know babies like lullabies," Fernald said. "But you don‘t realize how important it is in their healing."

At Komansky, Rebecca Loveszy is the music therapist who sings to preemies such as Jadion, born with a heart defect.

The effects of the music therapy appear to last – lullabies echoing inside the intensive care unit often become the children‘s favorite songs and soothe them even after they leave the hospital.

Rachel Fitzsimons‘ son William – now a year old – spent 12 weeks in intensive care, and has taken a liking to the tune he listened to during his time there.

"I would sing ‘Rock-a-Bye-Baby,‘" said Fitzsimons. "It‘s the one he still responds to the most."

In an intensive care unit bristling with technology, this new field reminds us that medicine doesn‘t always come from a new drug or surgery – sometimes it‘s as simple as parents connecting to their children with an age-old source of comfort: a gentle tune.

Acupuncture

Today I am covering a story on acupuncture for Kurriosity. I have never been to an acupuncturist (?), and I can’t say that I remember too many people who have. Is it considered alternative medicine? Is it an Eastern medicine technique? I don’t know, but I’m about to find out.

It’s pretty cool to think that we live in a time where we can sample the medicinal techniques of other cultures from faraway places, the same goes for food too. Life would be pretty boring if it were just hamburgers and fries, who doesn’t love a good Thai stir-fry, or Indian curry?

I am looking forward to having some random stranger shove a bunch of needles into my body, if you ask me, anything is better than paying some person too much money to write me a prescription for a medication that will probably cause me anxiety, or hair loss, or god knows what else.

Could be time to discover what else our friends from that part of the world recommend.

Nick Davey

Want to see this and many more videos? Visit www.kurriosity.com

Locker Room to Board Room

Finding the right gym bag for your daily commute and workout is tough. It has to be large enough to hold the change of clothes, make-up, and toiletries that you haul around every day. It has to be sturdy enough to manage that heavy load without breaking. And it has to be stylish enough that you can carry it in public and to work everyday without looking like a gym rat.

It’s easy enough to find a bag to fit the first two criteria, but most will be squishy, shapeless nylon duffels in Day-Glo colors—not exactly what you want to be hauling to the office. So instead, take your pick from nine of my favorite options below, and prepare to get your gym on—in style!

 

The Big Black Bag

A basic black bag is always in style and makes clashing nearly impossible. The gorgeous canvas and leather bag on the left can easily double as your weekend bag (a perfect investment for the holidays!). The middle option is perfect for the more casual gal (with a lot to carry). And option #3 is a supple, simple leather bag with minimal hardware—but plenty of room for all those extra winter layers.

 

Colorful Carry-Alls

If you’re looking for a gym bag that’s a colorful contrast to your camel or black coat, these bright carry-alls are just for you. Try this beautiful jewel toned green bag, which has a convenient outer pocket to store the key to your locker and some hair bands, or this sophisticated-but-fun coral tote that can easily transition from locker room to board room. Or, this large red leather shopper, which will go with any outfit (red is, after all, basically a neutral).

 

Funky and Fit

For all my ladies who like something a little more offbeat, try one of these fun bags. On the left, this patterned carpet and leather tote will be the most original bag at the gym. Or, choose a simple color blocked bag that’s perfectly on-trend for the season—these orange and navy or mint green and cream bags are anything but boring.

 

Photo courtesy of Maegan Tintari.

Grueling X-Country Ski Race

Participants in one of the world‘s most grueling cross-country ski races are at increased risk of developing a heart rhythm disorder (arrhythmia), according to a new study.

 

Researchers looked at nearly 53,000 people who completed the 90-kilometer (56-mile) Vasaloppet in Sweden between 1989 and 1998 and were followed until 2005. The Vasaloppet is the world‘s oldest, longest and largest cross-country skiing race.

The risk of developing an irregular or abnormally fast heart beat (atrial fibrillation) or a too-slow heart beat (bradyarrhythmia) was highest among skiers who completed the most Vasaloppets and had faster finishing times than other contestants, according to the study, published online June 12 in the European Heart Journal.

 

"We found that those who completed five or more races in a period of 10 years had a 30 percent higher risk of developing any arrhythmia than those who did one race only. Similarly, skiers who had the fastest finishing time relative to the other participants also had a 30 percent higher risk of developing any arrhythmia in subsequent years," Dr. Kasper Andersen, a cardiologist at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, said in a journal news release.

 

He noted that previous research has examined the effects of endurance exercise on cardiovascular problems such as heart disease and stroke. But only a few, smaller studies have investigated its effect on heart rhythm problems, and these studies have tended to look at people who are less active.

 

"The present study investigates the higher end of the physical activity level scale and shows how very high physical activity level affects risk of arrhythmias," Andersen said. "The skiers in our study are as a group healthier than the general population. We have previously shown that besides higher leisure-time physical activity, the participants in Vasaloppet smoke less, have lower fat and higher fiber consumption, and better physical and mental health than the general population."

 

The findings suggest a dose-response relationship -- "the more races skiers complete and the faster they go, the greater their risk of subsequently developing arrhythmia," Andersen said. "However, it is important to stress that this study does not show that the exercise causes arrhythmias, only that it is associated with an increased risk," he added.

 

The racers have about half the death rate compared to the rest of the population, Andersen said. This is probably because of the training level of the participants, and also because they need to be healthy to even consider participating in the race, he added.