Wellness Report

Last fall, we heard a lot about staph infections, especially the drug-resistant type. It's a problem that was around long before that and hasn't gone away. Some researchers are now testing the first shot to prevent those nasty infections.

When Barbara Stout found out she needed open heart surgery, she immediately wondered if she'd get a staph infection.

"It was a big, big worry on my mind. Because once you've had that experience, it's not fun to go through," Barbara said.

Two years ago, Barbara spent six days in the hospital battling staph in an incision after hernia surgery. This time, her heart surgeon asked her if she'd like to take part in a study of the first vaccine for staph. The shot includes protection against MRSA, the drug resistant staph.

"This vaccine allows you to kind of pump up your immune system for an operation, develop a high level of antibodies," Dr. Keith Allen said. "And at least in animals, it really had a dramatic effect."

The vaccine is first being tested in heart surgery patients. They and others who are sick and hospitalized are most vulnerable to severe staph infections and death. Dr. Allen said if the vaccine proves safe and effective, it might also be given to healthy people since they're increasingly at risk for MRSA.

"This could ultimately be something, just like your mumps, measles, rubella and tetanus, you may get a staph vaccine," Dr. Allen said.

Some patients in the study get the real vaccine. Others, a placebo. Barbara doesn't know what she got. Her heart surgery was more than two weeks ago.

"I'm doing real well," she said. "No infection. So I'm praying I got the good stuff and everything's gonna work out just fine."

Research of the vaccine will take 18 months.

Patients in the study get the vaccine two weeks before surgery to give them time to build up antibodies against staph.

For more information on MRSA and other Staph infections..and prevention -
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007261.htm

"Drowsy driving" causes more than 100,000 crashes a year--and kills more than 1500 people. In this week’s Wellness Report: "Sleep Deprivation." It's not just a problem on the road.

At least 10% of adults now say they don't get enough sleep and nationwide up to 70 million people have some kind of sleep disorder. We now know it can lead to a long list of serious problems---from diabetes to heart attack. Here's how to get back on track.

Restless Leg, Narcolepsy or Sleep Apnea. The list goes on and on. There are now 82 diagnosable sleep disorders, but there is one that is--by far--the most common.

“It’s called Acute Situational Insomnia or Sleep Deprivation," says Dr. Sarah Stolz. She is the medical director for Sleep Medicine Associates in Seattle—which is associated with Swedish Medical Center.

“Your going to have trouble maintaining alertness, and you're going to have trouble with your concentration and memory,” she says “but it can also lead to serious problems such as other disorders, high blood pressure, heart attacks, heart failure and stroke.”

Also: Weight gain. When we sleep we produce a hormone called leptin--which tells the brain we're "full." But studies show when we're sleep deprived leptin levels drop and our appetites grow.

She says: “It's been found that if you sleep deprive even normal healthy volunteers they feel more hungry and therefore eat more and it was interesting that the foods that were chosen to eat were more what we call junk food.”

Dr. Stolz has some advice on what’s called good “sleep hygiene.”

When ever possible--keep a regular schedule. Sleep regulates chemicals, hormones and temperatures in our body

She says *any* exercise is helpful, but for most of us late afternoon is the best time.

“In general, getting regular exercise, 3-4 times a week is very helpful for people to improve the quality of their sleep,” says Stolz, “ for reasons that have to do with our circadian rhythms. Exercising in the afternoon, not too late because it can disturb your sleep if it's within a few hours of going to bed but late afternoon, will increase the depth of your sleep. It will allow you to have more of that deep stage 3-4 sleep. If you exercise around the point in the day when your temperature is the highest you enhance that, you make your body temperature a little higher and you make the rhythm stronger so it’s more dramatic drop at night which puts you into a better deep sleep.”

I’m sure you've heard "no caffeine" close to bedtime, but Dr. Stolz says you may need to stop as early as noon or 2pm. For some, caffeine stays in the body for up to 10 hours.

"No alcohol" is a big one and here's why:

“Because alcohol close to bedtime can cause sleep apnea,” says Stolz. “Many people don't realize that.”

Sleep apnea is where something blocks or constricts your airwaves and you can't breathe.

She says: “Alcohol contributes to the problem because it paralyzes the muscles in the tongue which causes your tongue to flop into your airwaves more easily.”

Next: do something to wind down such as meditation, a bath or light reading, but here's where Stolz says so many of us go wrong.

“There's the exercise equipment, and the huge TV all the other paraphernalia that doesn't belong in the bedroom. That's for the living room,” she says.

Make your bedroom a sanctuary -- only for sleep or intimacy.

“We want your brain, when you enter the bedroom, to think ' I'm going to sleep. I'm here to fall asleep.'”

Web Extra: Napping

“ Napping is one of those things that is really per individual. There are people that are really lucky. The can sleep for 10-15 minutes and feel recharged-- and that's great. Other people find they sleep longer and it doesn't help them as much because they get into a deeper sleep when we go through the process of falling sleep. We start with light sleep, then we get into medium sleep and then deep sleep and finally REM or rapid eye movement. That’s where we dream.”

“Once you get into the deep sleep, when you wake up if you've awakened before you've finished the cycle you tend to feel really groggy and for some people that just lingers, and so napping makes them feel worse.”

“So for the average person, if we wanted to give them some advise, they wanted to give napping a try, what's a reasonable time where they would hopefully avoid getting into the deep sleep?”

“I would say start with a half an hour and then see how it goes. Some people can tolerate longer naps, some people can't, but half an hour should be a good starting point.”

“But if we were talking about someone with insomnia, we usually recommend avoiding napping or if you're going to nap keep it short and keep it earlier in the day--preferably before say 2 o'clock.”

“It's important to be sleeping in an environment that's condusive for sleep, so not having noise in the background, if you do, then use ear plugs, keep the light level low, or keep it cool.”

“For people who have trouble waking up in the morning having an east facing bedroom works better. If someone who is what we call a 'lark' who has lots of energy in the morning but not the life of the party at night then having a west facing bedroom would be better. That’s because as the light comes up in the morning as the sun comes up, most people wake up really easily.”

Web Extra: Avoiding Mid-Day Drowsiness

“ Usually that's the problem is in the afternoon. To some extent that's normal. It has to do with the way our circadian rhythms are structured. There's just a period where we are vulnerable to being sleepy.”

“So you can structure you're day so you're not as sedentary during the period after lunch--it's probably not the food that's making you sleepy it's just the time of day.”

“If you can structure it so you don't have that boring meeting at 2 o'clock, and that you're doing something at little more active if you are at you're desk and can't stay awake, getting up and taking a short walk, go to the water cooler and get some water-maybe a little caffeine-remembering that you don't want to drink it too late. Just try to vary what you are doing-maybe a little bit of physical movement to keep yourself wake.”

Web Extra: Melatonin

“ Melatonin is an interesting substance. It's not FDA approved so have to be careful when you recommend it as physicians, because you don't even know if the bottle has melatonin in it because it's not regulated.” But that aside, melatonin is related to, it's a hormone that are brain produces when it's dark. So it's kind of a timing mechanism for the brain it isn't a sleep inducer.”

“For example: Rats make melatonin at night, they are nocturnal. They have more activity at night than during the day. So melatonin doesn't put a rat to sleep and it probably doesn't put a person to sleep directly. But it tells the brain it is nighttime and nighttime is when you should sleep.”

“So melatonin is useful if people are having trouble with the timing of their sleep, jetlag, or shift work. It's not a very powerful hormone, but can work with other things combined.”

You probably know that olive oil helps your hear and now, word is it could protect your stomach too.

A common bacteria, called H.pylori gives millions of people ulcers and other stomach upsets every year.

Spanish researchers think olive oil will join the ranks of red wine, green tea, and cranberry juice in warding off that bug.

Those foods, red wine, green tea, and cranberry juice, are high in phenolic compounds - antioxidants - that seem to destroy H.pylori.

Until now, researchers say no one has studied olive oil in preventing stomach ulcers because most vegetable oils that we cook with don't have such a high level of antioxidants. But virgin olive oil does and could fight off as many as eight strains of h. pylori.

Researches aren't yet sure just how much olive oil you would need , but they think just a couple of tablespoons per day could do the trick.

The lab results still need to be replicated in people. If they are - incorporating virgin olive oil into your diet may be an ounce of prevention against developing an ulcer.

For more information on the study of olive oil and preventing stomach ulcers, follow these links to:

Science Daily

Full Study

More people are using sunscreen to lower their skin cancer risk these days, but a recent study found that less than a quarter of us wear lip protection.

A new study suggests certain lip balms can actually increase the chances of skin cancer.
Just because something is on your lips, don't think they are protected.

Wearing a clear balm or shiny gloss allows sun light to penetrate through the lip - causing sun damage and burns.

So remember, use sun block with an SPF of 30 on your lips daily before putting on your lipstick or lip gloss.

In fact, some dermatologists recommend skipping shiny lip glosses altogether when the sun is out.

According to researchers at Baylor University in Dallas, the lip area is more prone to developing 'serious' cancers.

Their research shows, when cancer occurs on the lower lip it has the potential to be much more aggressive and spread to the surrounding lymph nodes.

Young athletes are getting more and more competitive these days. We talked to the experts on what they need for peak performance and the dangerous trends that could set them back.

In a cramped office at the University of Washington, Sports Dietitian Emily Edison is showing us some of the best things to put into our bodies-especially when it comes to young athletes.

"We got some blueberries that very high in antioxidants and great carbohydrate source. If we get more antioxidants in the body we see less damage to the muscle and the system overall," she says.

"When we are talking about food for sport it's really important that we address that high carbohydrates are the number one thing for athletes.

But Edison says she has real concerns about some of the more "modern day" energy sources.

"A lot of these ingredients have not been tested on kids, they haven't been proven to be safe in kids."

Energy drinks, none of them, is regulated by the food and drug administration and most are loaded with stimulants. Edison says by the time teen athletes reach high school or college many have already built-up a high tolerance.

“If you get to the collegiate level and you're taking in that much caffeine you can test positive and NCAA does ban caffeine in higher levels,” she adds.

Other popular stimulants in energy drinks are gurana and ma huang--which is a form of ephedrine. More so: Edison says each body handles them differently so it's hard to tell how much is too much. And even though the latest research shows caffeine doesn't dehydrate our bodies as much as we once thought, too much sugar can.

“When a high level of sugar is in the blood stream the body cannot get the water into the cells that it needs because the water is busy trying to dilute concentration of sugar in the blood stream,” says Edison.

So, to avoid the spike-and-crash effect of energy drinks she says go for "real food" carbohydrate-protein combinations--which will give you more stable energy for peak performance.

“ Things like an apple and some peanut butter, some crackers with a little bit of cheese, some yogurt and granola or having cereal with milk on it are great combinations. Or even putting a hard boiled egg along with your bagel.”

She says it's best to have a hearty meal 3-4 hours before a game. It gives the body enough energy, and *time* to absorb it. Then, one hour before: a light snack-especially if it's a longer game--but skip the junk stuff. Too much fat keeps the body from absorbing the carbohydrates it needs to perform. She also says there is now strong research that high fructose corn syrup in many of those foods keeps you from "feeling full"--so you tend to eat more.

Check out our “web extra” to find out what kind of non-caffeinated beverage helps kids recover better after a workout than energy drinks or even water.

Below is more great information from Sport Dietitian Emily Edison and her recommended websites:

On the appetite regulation and HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) I think it is important to note that the research is still in early stages, but it seems as if there may be a link between HFSC and inhibition of Leptin production. It think the more important point with HFCS is that it comes in products that do not give you long standing energy (cookies, Twinkies, pop) and has little or no nutrients.

As for caffeine, a little (1-2 cups coffee per day) is ok and is linked with being a sport enhancing aid (thus why it is banned from NCAA in high levels). NCAA does not ban caffeine for health risks (because there are few if any healthy risks with caffeine, aside from addiction). As a sport enhancing aid it helps us think we are doing less work than we are (i.e. we can work harder) and may help us use more fat for fuel.

If someone wanted to use an energy drink, I would highly recommend diluting it down to about half with sparkling water and drinking it slowly. I would recommend drinking it close to the time for competition and make sure that is DOES NOT replace food. There are no shortcuts to better performance!

Momentum Nutrition and Fitness

NCAA site all about what drugs/substances are banned or limited on use

Gatorade Sports Science Institute

Web Extra:

“One of the things I see with young athletes is high fat foods coming into the body before a practice or before an event, says Sports Dietitian Emily Edison. Her office is on the University of Washington campus.

“What ends up happening is that high fat content in the meal actually inhibits carbohydrates from being available for the body and because fat takes a long time to digest we don't want to be putting it in pre-event or pre-sport.”

“Try to really focus on whole foods and get the kids to think about what they are putting in their body.”

“When we are talking about food for sport it's really important that we address that high carbohydrates are the number one thing for athletes. So when we talk about high carbohydrate foods, we are talking about things like whole cereals, we talk about whole grain crackers, we talk about fruits and vegetables, like blueberries which are high antioxidant food. If we get more antioxidants in the body we see less damage to the muscle and the system overall.”

“ So, younger athletes are we are growing and developing, I think it's even more important to think about what we are putting in the body because the tissues are all still developing, the bones the brains, the muscles, and so if we are really particular of the foods we put in there we may develop a stronger athlete down the road. So I try to get them to think about products that have a lot of a lot of calcium in them so they are making stronger bones. Things like chocolate milk, dairy cheese, and yogurt. Things that are help calcium absorption are vitamin D and vitamin D we also get from dairy.”

“And we talk about the chocolate milk being a great recovery drink for the athletes just to throw into their bag and drink after they are running off of the field and the recovery piece is that chocolate milk has high carbohydrates. It also has a little bit of protein in there to help repair and rebuild muscle tissue, but the carbohydrates are what going to fill the muscles and the liver back up with glycogen.”

“We found that the chocolate milk performed better than the other two recovery drinks in repeated bouts of exercise.”

“We do use some products that are calorie replacement drinks for certain athletes if they need to gain weight, but I'm actually a huge fan of milk and you can actually take dry milk powder, non-fat dry milk powder, and add it to milk to boost the protein content.”

“So immediately post exercise the muscles are really thirsty for carbohydrates and we want to make sure we get those in right away because over time the amount you can actually absorb goes down and then if we can't absorb as much, the next day when we hit the playing field we don't have as much energy stored in the body.”

“The foods that you choose afterwards are your recovery, it's the thing that's going to prepare you for the next day and help to repair any muscle tissue that you might have done.”

“I know adults are cutting back on their carbohydrates a little bit. They're not choosing to have the large portions of pasta and the large portions of rice the dinner time and don't necessarily need that, because they are not as active, but what has happened in a lot of families is that they've actually eliminated the carbohydrate and dinner and the kids, the active sporting child, needs to have that carbohydrate.”

“I think having a combination of carbohydrate and protein together, so things like an apple and some peanut butter or some crackers with a little bit of cheese and some yogurt and granola, having cereal with milk on it are great combinations.”
“As kids are growing and developing this nutrition piece is really vital to their long term success as an athlete.”