STUDY FINDS SHOWER HEADS ARE AWASH IN GERMS
A new study finds that shower heads are home to bacteria that could actually sicken some people, HealthDay reports. Showering might have you breathing in germs that in those with weakened immune systems could cause lung disease, the study says. Researchers studied 45 shower heads from nine cities in the United States.
Among other shower-head germs, mycobacteria, a type of bacteria associated with lung disease, were found at 100 times the level normally seen in tap water. Leah Feazel, a researcher at the University of Colorado and coauthor of the study, told HealthDay that most healthy people don't need to worry about the germs. Also, shower heads may not be any germier than other household surfaces such as faucets and counters, she said.
ARE 'SWINE FLU PARTIES' SAFE?
By Megan Johnson
Is it safe for parents to throw a "swine flu party" with the intent of exposing their children to the virus? U.S. News's expert on children's health Judith Palfrey put the question to Thomas Sandora, the director of infection control at Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Sandora says swine flu parties are a dangerous gamble and a big mistake. The novel H1N1 influenza virus is predicted to be the predominant circulating strain of flu in the United States this winter. It is true, he says, that infection with an influenza virus can produce immunity to that strain--that's the principle by which vaccination works.
However, catching this novel H1N1 flu virus can be extremely dangerous. Children under 5 years old, people with underlying illnesses such as asthma, and pregnant women are all at risk of complications from influenza, Sandora says.
WANT TO AGE WELL? AVOID MIDLIFE WEIGHT GAIN
By Megan Johnson
Being overweight in middle age reduces your likelihood of gliding into your 70s without any health problems like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz writes. Obese women have it toughest, finds a new study published in October in the British Medical Journal. They're nearly 80 percent less likely to experience "healthy survival" when they reach age 70, compared with women who gained fewer than 9 pounds since age 18.
Are the researchers showing that thin women who maintain their weight over the years actually live longer? Well, no, Kotz writes. But they do indicate that these women live better, not just avoiding chronic diseases but also sidestepping mental and physical health problems that prevent women from enjoying the leisure time of their senior years.
What's more, the study showed that it's truly tough to be a "healthy survivor," free of any sort of chronic physical or emotional pain or health condition at age 70.
MAJORITY OF BABIES WILL LIVE TO 100
By Deborah Kotz
Today, centenarian birthdays are still special enough to be announced by the "Today" show's Willard Scott. But they may not be by the next generation. Most babies born in the United States and Western Europe today are expected to live to 100 if we continue on the same trend of increased life expectancy, according to a study published in the journal Lancet.
"Very long lives are not the distant privilege of remote future generations--very long lives are the probable destiny of most people alive now," wrote the study authors, who are from the Danish Aging Research Center.
According to their analysis of data from more than 30 developed countries, death rates are dropping among people over 80. And three quarters of babies born in these nations over the past decade can expect to live to 75. The researchers also hypothesized that we can live longer by extending our working lives and shortening our work weeks--say, by making a four-day workweek the norm.
Other studies have shown that we can take steps to live longer and better. For example, a recent British Medical Journal study shows that you can cut your risk of having a stroke in half by doing the following four things: being active for 30 minutes a day, eating five daily servings of fruit and vegetables, and avoiding cigarettes and excess alcohol.
Beyond those basic things, science has revealed that centenarians tend to share certain traits in how they eat, move about, and deal with stress--specific habits, like flossing and socializing with friends, that we can adopt to help slow aging. Certainly, genes still play a role: Reaching 100 is enormously more likely if your parents did. But Thomas Perls, who studies centenarians at Boston University School of Medicine, believes that assuming you've sidestepped genes for truly fatal diseases like Huntington's, "there's nothing stopping you from living independently well into your 90s."
A new study finds that shower heads are home to bacteria that could actually sicken some people, HealthDay reports. Showering might have you breathing in germs that in those with weakened immune systems could cause lung disease, the study says. Researchers studied 45 shower heads from nine cities in the United States.
Among other shower-head germs, mycobacteria, a type of bacteria associated with lung disease, were found at 100 times the level normally seen in tap water. Leah Feazel, a researcher at the University of Colorado and coauthor of the study, told HealthDay that most healthy people don't need to worry about the germs. Also, shower heads may not be any germier than other household surfaces such as faucets and counters, she said.
ARE 'SWINE FLU PARTIES' SAFE?
By Megan Johnson
Is it safe for parents to throw a "swine flu party" with the intent of exposing their children to the virus? U.S. News's expert on children's health Judith Palfrey put the question to Thomas Sandora, the director of infection control at Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Sandora says swine flu parties are a dangerous gamble and a big mistake. The novel H1N1 influenza virus is predicted to be the predominant circulating strain of flu in the United States this winter. It is true, he says, that infection with an influenza virus can produce immunity to that strain--that's the principle by which vaccination works.
However, catching this novel H1N1 flu virus can be extremely dangerous. Children under 5 years old, people with underlying illnesses such as asthma, and pregnant women are all at risk of complications from influenza, Sandora says.
WANT TO AGE WELL? AVOID MIDLIFE WEIGHT GAIN
By Megan Johnson
Being overweight in middle age reduces your likelihood of gliding into your 70s without any health problems like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz writes. Obese women have it toughest, finds a new study published in October in the British Medical Journal. They're nearly 80 percent less likely to experience "healthy survival" when they reach age 70, compared with women who gained fewer than 9 pounds since age 18.
Are the researchers showing that thin women who maintain their weight over the years actually live longer? Well, no, Kotz writes. But they do indicate that these women live better, not just avoiding chronic diseases but also sidestepping mental and physical health problems that prevent women from enjoying the leisure time of their senior years.
What's more, the study showed that it's truly tough to be a "healthy survivor," free of any sort of chronic physical or emotional pain or health condition at age 70.
MAJORITY OF BABIES WILL LIVE TO 100
By Deborah Kotz
Today, centenarian birthdays are still special enough to be announced by the "Today" show's Willard Scott. But they may not be by the next generation. Most babies born in the United States and Western Europe today are expected to live to 100 if we continue on the same trend of increased life expectancy, according to a study published in the journal Lancet.
"Very long lives are not the distant privilege of remote future generations--very long lives are the probable destiny of most people alive now," wrote the study authors, who are from the Danish Aging Research Center.
According to their analysis of data from more than 30 developed countries, death rates are dropping among people over 80. And three quarters of babies born in these nations over the past decade can expect to live to 75. The researchers also hypothesized that we can live longer by extending our working lives and shortening our work weeks--say, by making a four-day workweek the norm.
Other studies have shown that we can take steps to live longer and better. For example, a recent British Medical Journal study shows that you can cut your risk of having a stroke in half by doing the following four things: being active for 30 minutes a day, eating five daily servings of fruit and vegetables, and avoiding cigarettes and excess alcohol.
Beyond those basic things, science has revealed that centenarians tend to share certain traits in how they eat, move about, and deal with stress--specific habits, like flossing and socializing with friends, that we can adopt to help slow aging. Certainly, genes still play a role: Reaching 100 is enormously more likely if your parents did. But Thomas Perls, who studies centenarians at Boston University School of Medicine, believes that assuming you've sidestepped genes for truly fatal diseases like Huntington's, "there's nothing stopping you from living independently well into your 90s."
