This Issue's Feature Articles:
• Active Baby Boomers Injury Prone
• Antibiotic Commonly Overprescribed In Children
• Depressed Children Twice as Likely to Get Drugs from General Practitioners
• Animal Protein a Heart Risk
• The Rest of the Story: Drawbacks to Veganism
• Many Americans Now Taking Vitamins
• Type II Diabetes Helped by Ginseng
• Vitamin C for Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy

• Active Baby Boomers Injury Prone • According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, sports-related injuries increased by a third for baby boomers during the 1990's. In total, an estimated 1 millions adults aged 35 to 54 suffered sports-related injuries requiring medical attention in 1998 alone. Among some of the more common activities with increased injuries were soccer, golf, weightlifting, in-line skating and swimming. Ann Brown, chair of the CPSC stated, "Exercise is important to stay healthy, but as we get older, we need to take more precautions... Many of these injuries can be prevented by warming up regularly, not overdoing it and wearing safety gear." SOURCE: Reuters, April 2000. TOP

• Antibiotic Commonly Overprescribed In Children • A group of pediatricians have found children prescribed antibiotics for respiratory infections have an overall increase in their frequency of return office visits. The pediatricians performed the study after their concern for the overprescribing of antibiotics in child respiratory infections. According to lead researcher, Dr. Michael Pichichero, while some doctors prescribe antibiotics for nearly all patients with respiratory infections, "there is, however, no scientific rationale for such antibiotic use." This is because most respiratory infections are caused by viruses and antibiotics work only against bacteria. SOURCE: Pediatrics, April 2000. TOP

• Depressed Children Twice as Likely to Get Drugs from General Practitioners • Of pediatricians and general practitioners (family physicians) surveyed in North Carolina recently, approximately half of pediatricians and over three-quarters of the general practitioners claimed to refer children they diagnosed as "depressed" to psychiatric specialists for care. Just over 60% of all respondents claimed to attempt brief counseling of depressed children in their clinics, and 18% of general practitioners reported prescribing anti-depressant medication, fully twice the rate of prescription reported by pediatricians. General practitioners were found to be more likely than pediatricians to prescribe selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the class of drug to which Prozac, Zoloft, and others belong. SOURCE: Pediatrics 2000;105:957-962. TOP

• Animal Protein a Heart Risk • Vegetarians who avoid all sources of animal protein are called vegan. Another recent study adds further support to the growing scientific perception that avoidance of animal protein as in a vegan lifestyle, can help many people avoid coronary artery disease, heart attacks and other disorders. Most animal proteins but very few vegetable proteins contain high levels of the amino acid methionine, which appears to exert negative effects on the circulatory system when converted to the toxic metabolite homocysteine. Vegan diets help prevent this conversion of methionine to large amounts of homocysteine by only offering sparse amounts of methionine to begin, and by providing naturally high concentrations of essential vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid, which help eliminate homocysteine. These vitamins are significantly depleted in meat-eaters, smokers, alcohol and coffee drinkers. SOURCE: Preventive Medicine 2000;30:225-233. TOP

• The Rest of the Story: Drawbacks to Veganism • Though veganism offers a healthier balance of amino acids than the typical animal-protein rich American diet, there are drawbacks. Vegans frequently suffer from amino acid deficiency in lysine and tryptophan, and additionally are shortchanged on a variety of important vitamins, notably vitamin B12 which assists with homocysteine metabolism. B12 injections or sublingual lozenges are typically the way vegans combat this deficiency. Some vegans, including the case study referenced below, have been found to be deficient or measurably below normal in vitamins B1, D, and the minerals zinc, and selenium. SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine 2000;342:897-898. TOP

• Many Americans Now Taking Vitamins • According to the latest statistics, approximately 40 percent of Americans are now taking some sort of vitamin or mineral. The most common include: vitamin C, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, niacin, thiamin, B2, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin D and folic acid. It is estimated that Americans spend up to $1.7 billion each year on vitamins and minerals. SOURCE: Archives of Family Medicine 2000;9:258-262. TOP

• Type II Diabetes Helped by Ginseng • People with Type II diabetes, the most common form of the disease, have been shown to experience better blood sugar control after meals when their diets were supplemented with American Ginseng. The herb appears to lower elevated blood sugar concentration, which is the primary symptom of diabetes, by somehow encouraging cells to take up glucose without relying on insulin. Though in the earliest stages of discovery, it is hoped that ginseng may someday be an important adjunct to conventional therapies. SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine 2000;160:1009-1013. TOP

• Vitamin C for Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy • Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), sometimes called Sudek's atrophy, and shoulder-hand syndrome, is characterized by persistent aching pain, swelling and coldness in the affected limb for durations well beyond the typical recovery period. Though its cause remains somewhat mysterious other than that it is generally associated with previous limb injury or fracture, taking vitamin C daily after an initial injury can help prevent development of RSD. People who took no vitamin C were over three times more likely to develop RSD than those who consumed over 500 milligrams of vitamin C each day for two months after the initial injury event. SOURCE: The Journal of Family Practice 2000;49:268-269. TOP