Women with eating disorders tend to believe their bodies are almost twice as big as they really are. Studies of 214 women showed that those who were anorexic, or refused to eat, thought their bodies were 73.6 percent bigger than they really were; bulimic women, or those who eat in binges, thought their bodies were 80.6 percent bigger than their actual size; and those suffering from anorexia and bulimia thought their bodies were 72.7 percent larger. Subjects were asked to look at themselves and then adjust a tape measure to reflect what they thought were the sizes of various parts of their bodies, such as biceps, calf, thigh, waist, abdomen, hips and bust, said Dr. R. Lynn Horne of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Reporting in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the researchers said they were surprised to find that bulimics had just as much distortion of their body images as anorexics. ”Patients with eating disorders could be considered to have problems in dealing with the factual or concrete, especially their eating and their body image,” Horne said.
Cancer therapy
About half of the patients with vocal cord cancers may be candidates for a new type of radiation therapy that may be able to cure the cancer while preserving a patient`s ability to speak, according to researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainsville. Traditionally these cancers are treated by surgically removing the voice box. But a review of 46 radiation-treated patients over the last 12 years showed their survival rate was about equal to that of patients whose voice boxes or larynxes were removed, said Dr. Rodney Million, chief of radiation oncology. About half of those treated successfully with radiation retained near-normal voices, one-third had voices below normal, and the rest had raspy and hoarse voices that are definitely useable, he said.
Warming up
Stretching and other warmups performed prior to vigorous exercise may not be necessary, said Stanford University`s Dr. William Haskell, former president of the American College of Sports Medicine. The body will warm itself up if a person starts off exercising at a slow pace and gradually increases the activity, he said. There`s nothing wrong with stretching, Haskell said, but many people find it a nuisance or a deterrent to regular exercise. Exercise experts have changed their minds about warmups because even with modern technology, nobody has came up with any solid evidence that stretching prevents injuries among prudent exercisers, he said.
Marrow health
Bone marrow transplants, which are used to treat leukemia and certain other diseases, are giving an increasing number of people a new lease on life. A Johns Hopkins School of Medicine study shows that most patients who survive bone marrow transplants have good to excellent health and functional ability. The study, which involved 135 patients who had survived with a bone marrow transplant for at least three years, showed that 65 percent had returned to full- or part-time work, and one-third of those who were not employed were attending school, Dr. John R. Wingard reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine. ”Despite the intensive treatment modality, which necessitates prolonged hospitalization and substantial family and work disruption, high levels of eventual rehabilitation were achieved,” he said.
Check fluid levels
Women with low levels of amniotic fluid, the liquid that surrounds a fetus in the womb, can increase levels simply by drinking more water, according to a study from the University of California at San Francisco. The findings may be particularly important for women toward the end of pregnancy, when amniotic levels normally decrease, thereby increasing the risk of fetal distress, especially in women past their due dates, said Dr. Sarah J. Kilpatrick. Women who drank slightly more than 2 quarts of water per day above their normal fluid intake significantly increased amniotic volume, she said.
Mustard gas
Mustard gas, the notorious chemical weapon, has a good side to it. In the early 1940s scientists at Yale-New Haven Hospital studying the deadly effects of mustard gas used in World War I found that the gas killed fast-growing cells more quickly than slow-growing ones. Reasoning that cancer cells were about the fastest growing cells in the body, Drs. Alfred Gilman and Louis Goodman gave a weakened concoction of mustard gas to a patient dying of lymphosarcoma. The patient had a dramatic but temporary remission of his cancer, and, thus, the era of chemotherapy was opened.
Use, don`t touch
Eye drop bottles, after they have been opened, are often contaminated with germs that can cause eye infections, especially if eyes are scratched or irritated, said Dr. Dae Yong Song of the University of Miami`s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. In one study, which was conducted for Research to Prevent Blindness, Song found that nearly half of the patients using contaminated eyedrops had an associated eye infection. Although eyedrops are safe and sterile when they come from the manufacturer, they can easily become contaminated when people touch the open tops during use and transfer bacteria from their fingers to the bottles, he said.
Better mouthwash
Bad breath, which affects an estimated four of five adults sometime during the day, may be rinsed away with a simple remedy. Bad breath is caused by oral bacteria that emit offensive gases, said Dr. Mel Rosenberg, head of oral microbiology at Tel Aviv University`s School of Dental Medicine. Using an oil-and-water mouthwash developed in collaboration with Dr. Ervin Weiss, Rosenberg showed in laboratory tests that the oil effectively removed 90 percent of the offending bacteria. Bacteria cling to the tiny oil droplets and are washed away with the water, he explained. Commercial mouthwashes were only 50 percent effective in removing bacteria, Rosenberg said.
Genetic tracking
University of Chicago researchers are developing a technique that may allow them to track down genetic diseases by mutating normal genes in animal models. By altering a gene for the protein keratin, an important structural component of skin cells and other cells, they were able to produce a mouse whose skin blisters easily upon contact. Reporting in the science journal Cell, biochemist Elaine V. Fuchs of the U. of C.`s Howard Hughes Medical Institute said the animal model is similar to a disease called epidermolysis bullosa simplex, which affects 1 in 50,000 people. ”We are now analyzing keratin protein and genes from patients who have the disease to see if they have defects in their keratin genes,” she said.
