Many Runners Drink Too Much Fluid During Exercise

October 7, 2011 | by

Popular hydration options among runners and endurance athletes include water and carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions, also known as sports drinks. Sports drink manufacturers, in an effort to sell more product, have convinced a large number of athletes — including accomplished runners — that the key to avoiding medical problems during exercise and racing is to drink as much as possible.

According to new research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine [1], many runners have erroneous beliefs about their hydration needs, and thus overhydrate by drinking according to a schedule, or drinking “as much as possible.” This increases the risk of exercise-associated hyponatremia, an electrolyte disturbance in which the sodium concentration in the serum is lower than normal. Hyponatremia can cause nausea and vomiting, headache, confusion, fatigue, muscle weakness, cramps, seizures, decreased consciousness and/or coma. With events from community 10K races all the way up to marathons and ultramarathons increasing in popularity among non-elite athletes, understanding public belief about hydration and subsequent hydration behavior is an important public health topic.

Runner drinking water

Activation of the Immune System and the Nobel Prize for Medicine

October 4, 2011 | by

nobel medal in medicineThe 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced on Monday. The prize was awarded to three scientists for their work on the body’s immune system.

The prize of 10-million-Swedish-krona (US$1.5-million) was divided, one half jointly to Bruce A. Beutler, age 54, at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, and Jules A. Hoffmann, age 70, at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology in Strasbourg, for their discovery of receptor proteins that can recognize bacteria and other microorganisms and activate innate immunity, and the other half to Ralph M. Steinman, age 68, at Rockefeller University in New York, for his discovery of dendritic cells of the immune system and their unique capacity to activate and regulate adaptive immunity, the later stage of the immune response during which microorganisms are cleared from the body.

NIH Announces 79 Awards to Encourage Creative Ideas in Science

October 2, 2011 | by

The National Institutes of Health recently announced that it is awarding $143.8 million to challenge the status quo with innovative ideas that have the potential to propel fields forward and speed the translation of research into improved health for the American public.

These awards are granted under three innovative research programs supported by the NIH Common Fund: the NIH Director’s Pioneer, New Innovator, and Transformative Research Projects Awards. The Common Fund, enacted into law by Congress through the 2006 NIH Reform Act, supports trans-NIH programs with a particular emphasis on innovation and risk taking.

NIH award programs

FDA Removing Over-the-counter Asthma Drug From Shelves for Environment

September 30, 2011 | by

Users of Primatene Mist, the only over-the-counter treatment for acute symptoms of asthma, will need to find an alternative as of December 31, 2011. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that the medication will no longer be available because it uses chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as a propellant agent [1], and CFCs have long been known to deplete Earth’s ozone layer.

Primatine Mist spray

Schizophrenia and Epilepsy May be Linked, Shared Cause Not Yet Known

September 28, 2011 | by

A recent study published in the journal Epilepsia indicates that there is a bidirectional relationship between schizophrenia and epilepsy [1]. This means that people with schizophrenia are at a higher risk of developing epilepsy, and those with epilepsy face a higher risk of developing schizophrenia. The fact that each disorder acts as a risk factor for the other indicates that the two may share some underlying causative factors, be they genetic, environmental, or neurological in origin.

Schizophrenia and epilepsy