Women Twice as Likely as Men to Seek Treatment for Hyperhidrosis
Whether it’s sweaty palms causing embarrassment when shaking hands on a job interview or unsightly underarm stains that could make anyone think twice about wearing a white shirt, the excessive sweating disorder known as hyperhidrosis can impact all facets of a person’s personal and professional life. Although the prevalence of this chronic medical condition is the same for men and women, a new study examining hyperhidrosis patients finds that women sought treatment much more frequently than men.
Speaking today at the 65th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, dermatologist Dee Anna Glaser, MD, FAAD, professor and vice chairman of dermatology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., discussed how a patient’s age, gender and the site of the excessive sweating affected diagnosis and treatment.
Calcium lowers cardiovascular risk in people on a weight loss program
Universite Laval Faculty of Medicine researchers have discovered that taking calcium and vitamin D supplements while on a weight loss program lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. Researchers Genevieve C Major, Francine Alarie, Jean Dore, Sakouna Phouttama, and Angelo Tremblay published the details of their findings in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The scientists enrolled 63 women with a body mass index over 30 on a 15-week low-calorie diet. At the start of the experiment, the women’s daily calcium intake was 700 mg on average, well below the 1,000 mg recommendation. “This is nothing exceptional,” points out Dr. Angelo Tremblay, who led the study. “More than 50% of women don’t get the daily recommended dose.”
Workplace secondhand smoke ups cancer risk: study
High levels of secondhand smoke on the job can double nonsmokers’ risk of developing lung cancer, and those who inhale it at work long-term face a 50 percent higher risk, researchers said on Wednesday.
Scientists led by epidemiologist Leslie Stayner of the University of Illinois at Chicago combined the results of 22 studies on secondhand smoke conducted in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Japan and China.
India to create HIV “safe zones” for migrants
India will map out high-risk migration corridors and create safe spaces in cities where migrant workers congregate to protect them from the HIV virus, the head of its anti-AIDS agency said on Thursday.
India has the world’s highest caseload with around 5.7 million people living with the virus, according to the United Nations, and migrants are considered a very high-risk group.
An estimated one-quarter of India’s 1.1-billion population, mostly the poor from its villages and towns, moves around the country in search of a livelihood every year.
18 million men in the United States affected by erectile dysfunction
Lifestyle changes could improve male sexual function
More than 18 million men in the United States over age 20 are affected by erectile dysfunction, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The prevalence of erectile dysfunction was strongly linked with age, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and a lack of physical activity. The findings also indicate that lifestyle changes, such as increased physical activity and measures to prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes, may also prevent decreased erectile function. The study is published in the February 1, 2007, issue of the American Journal of Medicine.
“Physicians should be aggressive in screening and managing middle-aged and older patients for erectile dysfunction, especially among patients with diabetes or hypertension,” said Elizabeth Selvin, PhD, MPH, lead author of the study and a faculty member in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology. “The associations of erectile dysfunction with diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors may serve as powerful motivators for men who need to make changes in their diet and lifestyle.”
