Middle-class meth
Moms on meth. Sounds like a creepy TV sitcom, but it’s a sad reality for many young, exhausted mothers in rural areas, the suburbs and cities. This group is increasingly snorting, smoking, swallowing or injecting methamphetamine because it helps them to lose their baby weight and kicks their energy level sky-high for as long as 12 hours.
The bad news is that the illegal drug is highly addictive and can lead to “anxiety, hallucinations, paranoia, uncontrollable rages, heart problems and even stroke,” according to an article in the April issue of Babytalk magazine. Other unpleasant side effects are wrinkles, intense itching and rotten teeth.
Some 12 million Americans have tried meth. Of those being treated for addiction at the Orchid Recovery Center for Women in Palm Springs, Fla., about one-third are middle- to upper-income women ages 25 to 35, says founder Julie Queler. She says meth is cheap and easy to get, and some moms even make it in their own kitchens. For more information, go to orchidrecoverycenter.com.
Mammogram choices
If you’re under age 50, still menstruating, have had a period in the last year or, especially, have dense breasts, schedule a digital mammogram rather than a conventional film mammogram. For this group of women, the digital images are better at finding breast cancer, says radiologist Etta Pisano, director of the Biomedical Research Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in the April issue of Health.
A National Institutes of Health study of almost 50,000 women found as many as 28 percent more cancers in women using digital mammograms. Breast density may be the common denominator. In a regular mammogram, dense tissue and abnormalities both appear white, but newer digital mammograms allow for a clearer look at dense tissue. This information is important because women with dense breasts tend to be at higher risk for cancer.
A lupus possibility
A stem-cell transplant process shows promise for those afflicted with severe systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly called lupus. This chronic autoimmune disease affects about 1.5 million people, 90 percent of them women, reports the April Harvard Women’s Health Watch. It can cause severe damage to the kidneys, lungs, heart and brain.
Recently, researchers at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine used patients’ own stem cells to restore normal immune function after a course of high-dose chemotherapy. Five years later, half of the patients with severe lupus were symptom free.
The procedure does carry risks of serious infection and death, so further research is warranted through randomized trials. Visit the National Institutes of Health database of clinical trials: clinicaltrials.gov.
Shellfish cholesterol
Shellfish do contain cholesterol, but they don’t have to be blacklisted from your diet. On the positive side, shellfish are low in saturated fats and also have omega-3 fatty acids–the “good” fats, which help to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease, according to a story in the April Mayo Clinic Health Letter.
Shellfish also contain iron as well as vitamin B-12, which promotes nerve fiber health and is needed to produce red blood cells. But watch how you prepare it. Batter frying, melted butter and mayo-filled dipping sauces will negate any gains you make in eating the shellfish. So broil, grill or steam these sea creatures, then flavor them with lemon and a piquant cocktail sauce.
The average person should consume 1,100 to 1,600 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids daily and less than 300 milligrams daily of dietary cholesterol. Here are some examples of how much of each you’ll get in 3-ounce servings of the following:
Omega-3s/cholesterol
– Alaskan crab 377/45.
– Blue mussels 702/48.
– Pacific oysters 1,204/85.
– Shrimp 284/166.
