Is 10,000 steps/day enough?

If you buy a smart pedometer or fitness tracker like a Fitbit, chances are the device will encourage you to take 10,000 steps a day. But do you really have to walk this much to be healthy?

Experts say that while 10,000 steps a day is a good number to reach, any amount of activity beyond what you're currently doing will likely benefit your health.

The origins of the 10,000-steps recommendation aren't exactly scientific. Pedometers sold in Japan in the 1960s were marketed under the name "manpo-kei," which translates to "10,000 steps meter," said Catrine Tudor-Locke, director of the Walking Behavior Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. The idea resonated with people, and gained popularity with Japanese walking groups, Tudor-Locke said. [The Best Pedometers of 2014]

Studies conducted since then suggest that people who increased their walking to 10,000 steps daily experience health benefits.

One study found that women who increased their step count to nearly 10,000 steps a day reduced their blood pressure after 24 weeks. Another study of overweight women found that walking 10,000 steps a day improved their glucose levels.

Walking 10,000 steps a day is not an official recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Instead, the agency recommends adults engage in 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, such as brisk walking. To meet the CDC's recommendation, you need to walk about 7,000 to 8,000 steps a day, Tudor-Locke said.

If you normally walk about 5,000 steps a day, getting in an extra 30-minute, brisk walk into your day would take you to about 8,000 steps, Tudor-Locke said. The average U.S. adult walks about 5,900 steps daily, she said.

Still, there's no reason to stop at 8,000 steps if you can do more, Tudor-Locke told Live Science. "We do know that more is better."

The Mayo Clinic recommends that people using pedometers first set short-term goals, such as taking an extra 1,000 steps daily for one week, and then build up to a long-term goal such as 10,000 steps.

To continue reading this article visit http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/03/11/truth-about-10000-steps-day/

States Requiring Flu Shots for Preschoolers

THURSDAY, March 6, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A Connecticut law requiring flu shots for children entering preschool or daycare has reduced flu-related hospitalizations of young children by 12 percent, according to a new study.

In the United States, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York City are the three places that require a yearly flu shot to stay in daycare or preschool. The Connecticut law took effect in 2010.

"We found that of all the influenza hospitalizations in Connecticut, many fewer were in children 1 to 4 years old after the requirement than before the requirement," said lead researcher Dr. James Hadler, a clinical professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health.

The jump in flu vaccinations of young children -- to 84 percent in 2012-2013 from about 68 percent in 2009-2010 -- is thought to have caused the decline in hospitalizations, he noted.

"That difference, we feel, has resulted in children attending daycare being better protected against influenza and its severe complications," Hadler said.

Of 11 areas evaluated, Connecticut had the steepest decline in flu hospitalizations of children aged 4 and younger -- a drop of 12 percent between 2007-2008 and 2012-2013, according to the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the actual rate of hospitalizations for these young children compared to people of other ages was lower in Connecticut than for any of the other regions surveyed.

The report was published in the March 7 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Young children are at particular risk for severe complications from flu, and they readily transmit the infection, Hadler noted.

"Where there are a lot of susceptible people in a small space, like daycare centers and preschools, you have the potential for easy spread of influenza," Hadler said.

"The kids get it, they give it to each other, they all take it home to their families, the families get it and spread it to other people," he added.

By vaccinating these children, you not only prevent children from getting the flu, but also prevent it from spreading in the community, Hadler explained.

And, he noted, flu shots are free for anyone who has health insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid.

For people who aren't insured, the state provides flu shots for free at community health centers, Hadler pointed out.

Dr. Jose Rosa-Olivares, director of the pediatric care center at Miami Children's Hospital in Florida, said efforts such as the one in Connecticut to standardize vaccination might have benefits.

"We know the proven benefit of the flu vaccine, and the more people that get vaccinated, the better it is for the community," he said.

To continue reading visit: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20140306/state-flu-shot-rule-for-preschoolers-curbs-kids-hospitalizations-cdc

Pfizer Recalls Popular Antidepressant

Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it was recalling two lots of its Effexor XR antidepressant and another lot of its generic version of the drug after a pharmacist reported finding one capsule of a different medicine in a bottle of Effexor.

"Although Pfizer has not received any other such reports, these three lots are being voluntarily recalled as a precaution because they were packaged on the same line," the largest U.S. drugmaker said in an announcement of the recall.

The other drug found by the pharmacist was Tikosyn, which is used to treat a common and potentially dangerous irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation.

"The use of Tikosyn by an Effexor XR patient, where the contraindications and drug-drug interactions with Tikosyn have not been considered by the prescribing physician, could cause serious adverse health consequences that could be fatal," Pfizer said.

The three lots total about 104,450 bottles of the medicine, known generically as venlafaxine, Pfizer said. Of those, about 65,800 had reached U.S. pharmacies.

The recalls involved one lot of 30-count bottles of Effexor XR; one lot of 90-count bottles of the branded drug, and one lot of venlafaxine 150 mg extended release capsules sold by Greenstone LLC. It is a generic drugmaker owned by Pfizer.

Generic versions of the drug made by other manufacturers are unaffected by the recall.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/03/07/pfizer-voluntarily-recalls-antidepressant-after-report-wrong-drug-in-bottle/

Contraceptive Ring to Protect Against HIV and Pregnancy

For decades, the condom has been the only form of contraceptive widely used to prevent both unplanned pregnancies and the transmission of HIV.

Now, researchers at Northwestern University have come up with a new option: An intravaginal ring that helps prevent pregnancy while simultaneously releasing low doses of an antiretroviral drug that reduces a woman’s risk of contracting both HIV and genital herpes.

Patrick Kiser, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern, devised the ring with the hopes that it would offer women more control over both disease and pregnancy prevention.  

“The field of HIV prevention is really moving towards these long-acting drug delivery systems that require less user intervention, which is great because sex is episodic and exposure to [HIV] is episodic,” Kiser told FoxNews.com. “And because you don’t know when you’re going to be exposed, or even necessarily when you’re going to have sex, it’s better to…have protective measures on board at all time.”

Kiser and his team at Northwestern spent five years developing the two-inch ring, which releases doses of the contraceptive levonorgestrel and the common antiretroviral HIV medication tenofovir after being inserted in the vagina. Similarly to the NuvaRing, women can insert the device on their own. Women can then leave the ring in for up to 90 days, removing it briefly for cleaning if necessary.

Creating a device capable of releasing the proper doses of both the contraceptive and antiretroviral drugs posed a unique obstacle to researchers.

“The dose of contraceptive is very low – 10 micrograms per day, whereas with the antiviral drug we’re delivering is about 10 milligrams a day,” Kiser said. “That’s a thousand times different in terms of the amount being delivered for each drug and that was a real engineering challenge to develop a device that could achieve those extreme ranges of drug delivery.”

To continue reading this article visit http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/03/06/new-contraceptive-ring-aims-to-protect-against-both-pregnancy-and-hiv/

Plan B: The Next Step...

In the nearly two-decade struggle over access to emergency contraception in the United States, there has generally been one sobering constant: The politics of sex and reproduction have run the show. 

“It has been pure politics trumping science,” said James Trussell, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University who has conducted extensive research on emergency contraception.

Now, thanks to pressure by advocates, in court and beyond, that’s finally changed. But what’s left to navigate are the practical politics of access. 

Last week, women’s health advocates cheered the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to allow generic versions of the emergency contraception to be sold over the counter, without having to show proof of age. Previously, only Plan B One Step, manufactured by Teva, was available under those terms, and only after years of litigation seeking to lift a requirement that women under 17 have a prescription. The generics will still have a label saying they are intended for women 17 and up, but without the requirement to show ID, it won’t be practically enforceable. 

Because emergency contraception is more effective the sooner it’s used after unprotected sex, roadblocks like a photo ID or having to find a doctor to prescribe it can be the difference between the drug working and an unwanted pregnancy. The young and low income have mostly paid the price. 

But even without those restrictions, pharmacies still exercise a tremendous amount of discretion on how they sell emergency contraception, including whether it’s placed in a locked cabinet or kept behind the counter to avoid theft – an obstacle for embarrassed purchasers, and one that force them to cross paths with a disapproving employee. At an average of $41, the newly, more-available generics are also only marginally cheaper than Plan B One Step, which can cost as much as $62.

According to a nationwide survey of 400 pharmacies conducted last year by the American Society for Emergency Contraception, “Even the lowest retail prices for EC are beyond the reach of many women.” The average price for the branded Plan B One Step is $48, and the generics are only 14% cheaper. That’s another way emergency contraception is unique: the FDA says generic drugs are usually 80-to-85% cheaper than branded products.

It’s also much more expensive than the drug costs in other countries. Sarah Rich, senior program officer at the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception, said that their research indicates that the average price in Europe for the same levonorgestrel-based pill is 15 euros – or about $20.

“It’s a relatively cheap product to manufacture,” Rich told msnbc, “so the $50 price is extremely high.”

Annie Tummino, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that lifted the age restrictions on Plan B One Step and an organizer with National Women’s Liberation, pointed out that ”with the Affordable Care Act, birth control has become more affordable for a lot of people. But the morning after pill hasn’t really seen that shift.” Tummino said her group planned to have a petition on their website soon advocating for lower-cost access to emergency contraception.

Trussell said the price might go down if pharmacies stocked Plan B One Step next to the two newly-accessible generics, Next Choice and My Way. “I don’t think it would make much marketing sense to sell their product next to other ones that are the same but cheaper,” he said.  

The best case scenario for the price going down would be if, now that the FDA has stopped treating generics differently, other companies jumped into the market. Kelly Cleland, a researcher at Princeton’s Office of Population Research, said she expected that as many as five or six different brands would eventually offer emergency contraception. “There are pharmaceutical companies that are coming into the market that have not publicly announced it,” she told msnbc. 

Until getting rid of most of its age restrictions on the drug, the U.S. was one of the few countries to have age restrictions at all. Confusingly, the FDA’s most recent letter says the generics will be repackaged to say they are “for use by women ages 17 and up.” It appears that provision won’t actually be in force, since now no one is required to show proof of age, and that the new label is, according to the letter, intended to “appropriately carve out Teva’s exclusivity” per an earlier agreement. But the wording could still sow confusion in pharmacy aisles. 

To continue reading this article visit http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/big-leap-morning-after-pill-access-not-s

New Potentially Dangerous Prescription Narcotic to be Released in March

A new narcotic painkiller is due to come on the market in March, and critics want the FDA to reverse its approval of the drug, Zohydro ER. They claim it could become the next OxyContin, another opioid that’s become a popular drug of abuse.

Critics of the FDA's ruling include attorneys general from 28 states and FED UP!, a union of consumer groups, addiction treatment providers, drug and alcohol prevention programs, and other interested groups. They have petitioned FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, MD, to prevent Zohydro from coming on the market. The FDA approved the drug even though its advisory committee voted 12 to 2 against approval.

"I firmly believe that the benefits of this product outweigh its risks," the FDA’s Bob Rappaport, MD, wrote in the summary review explaining why he approved Zohydro last October. Rappaport is director of the FDA's Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction Products. "Many patients in the U.S. suffer from untreated or poorly treated chronic pain. Further limiting access to potential treatments is not the answer when new treatments are critically needed.”

Opioids are a man-made type of narcotic pain medication. They subdue the central nervous system, ease pain, and induce sleep. They can have serious side effects if not used properly.

Here are some commonly asked questions about Zohydro, made by Zogenix, a San Diego company.

Q. Why do people want the FDA to reverse its approval of Zohydro?

A. Zohydro is too easy to abuse, critics say. It is the only approved extended-release product that contains the man-made opioid hydrocodone. It will be available in doses as high as 50 milligrams per pill -- five times the amount in immediate-release hydrocodone pills. Even though it is meant to release hydrocodone slowly over 12 hours, the pill could be tampered with to release a large dose all at once, says Andrew Kolodny, MD, co-founder of the group Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing.

Two members of the FDA’s controlled substance staff warned about the potential for abuse in materials presented to the advisory committee. “If approved and marketed, Zohydro ER will be abused, possibly at a rate greater than that of currently available hydrocodone combination products,” wrote medical officer Lori Love, MD, PhD, and pharmacologist James Tolliver, PhD

To continue reading this article visit http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/news/20140226/new-painkiller-zohydro-criticized

DNA Mutation May Prevent Diabetes

A new study based on genetic testing of 150,000 people has found a rare mutation that protects even fat people from getting Type 2 diabetes. The effect is so pronounced — the mutation reduces risk by two-thirds — that it provides a promising new target for developing a drug to mimic the mutation’s effect.

The mutation destroys a gene used by pancreas cells where insulin is made. Those with the mutation seem to make slightly more insulin and have slightly lower blood glucose levels for their entire lives.

Already Pfizer, which helped finance the study, and Amgen, which owns a company whose data played a key role in the research, are starting programs aimed at developing drugs that act like the mutation, the companies said.

But Timothy Rolph, a Pfizer vice president, cautioned it can take 10 to 20 years to get a drug to market after discovering something new about human genetics and disease.

The study, published Sunday in Nature Genetics, involved a mutation so rare that finding it was only recently possible, with vast data from large numbers of people, researchers said.

“The study is a tour de force, and the authors are the top people in the field,” said Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the center for human nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

This is the first time in diabetes research that a mutation that destroys a gene has proved beneficial, noted Louis Philipson, director of the Kovler Diabetes Center at the University of Chicago. For drug development, he said, “that is very powerful.”

For scientists, the result was a surprise because the same mutation that protects people from diabetes, by destroying one copy of the gene, known as ZnT8, has the opposite effect in some strains of mice. Destroying that gene actually causes diabetes in the animals.

The work began four years ago when a group of geneticists from academic institutions and Pfizer decided to search for gene mutations that protect against diabetes. Usually researchers look for mutations that increase — rather than decrease — the risk of diseases, with the aim of determining who gets a disease, and why.

The group started with populations in Finland and Sweden, where 28,000 people had been studied for years. The data included their ages, weights and diseases, including diabetes.

To continue reading visit:  http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/03/03/gene-mutation-may-prevent-type-2-diabetes/