Pump up your immune system

Pump up your immune system

Why do you get every bug that passes through town, while your spouse and friends stay healthy? Blame your immune system, the network of cells and organs that fights off illness (or tries to, anyway).

"How often you get sick is partly genes, plus the bacteria and viruses you're exposed to," says Lisa Cuchara, professor of biomedical science at Quinnipiac University. "But lifestyle is also key: exercise, sleep, and how stressed you are." Read on for how to get your system in fighting shape.

Strategy #1: Do up your diet

"I see a lot of chronic dieters who are low in protein, which your body needs to make white blood cells, the backbone of the immune system," says Dr. Roberta Lee, vice chair of the department of integrative medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

Many protein-rich foods, like lean meat and fish, also provide other immunity-boosting nutrients like iron, zinc, B vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids. Also essential: Eating a good mix of produce to get an array of nutrients. What to do:

• Pile on the protein. Have some at every meal. A sample day's worth: 8 ounces of yogurt at breakfast, a cup of beans with salad at lunch, a handful of almonds for a snack, and 3 ounces of chicken at dinner.

• Get your daily 8 to 9. Eating this many servings of fruits and veggies may reduce the risk of a cold by about 25 percent, according to research. Aim for at least two colors per meal. One veggie to add: shiitake mushrooms, which may increase natural killer T cells, says Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer of The Cleveland Clinic.

• Go for fish. Eat salmon, mackerel, or tuna twice a week or more. These fatty varieties are rich in omega-3s, which may reduce your risk of respiratory infection, probably by boosting levels of virus-fighters like helper T cells.

Strategy #2: Pick these pills
The drugstore may be full of so-called immunity boosters, but there's strong evidence for only two of them: vitamin D and probiotics. What to do:

• Shore up your D-fenses. "Vitamin D seems to boost the production of T cells," Dr. Lee says. Since it's hard to get enough D from food, you'll need a supplement. Most doctors recommend 1,000 IU daily.

• Pop a probiotic. This supplement can slash your risk of an upper respiratory infection by about 12 percent. "Probiotics may boost white blood cell activity," says Dr. Melinda Ring,  medical director for integrative medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. So it's worth trying a daily over-the-counter probiotic (take as directed).

Strategy #3: Hit the gym—but not too hard
In a large 2010 study, those who were active at least five days a week almost halved the length of their colds. Per other research, folks who exercised after getting a flu shot nearly doubled their immune response. Why? Exercise likely sparks a temporary rise in immune cells. What to do:

• Fit in 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. Just don't overdo it: More than 90 minutes of high-intensity exercise can put stress on the body, decreasing your immunity for up to three days.

Strategy #4: Cut back on stress
Pushing yourself physically isn't the only thing that taxes your system. Emotional stress causes your body to release cortisol and adrenaline, which decrease T cells, says Dr. Bruce Rabin,  medical director of the University of Pittsburgh's Healthy Lifestyle Program. What to do:

• Laugh. A good giggle can help you stay well. One Loma Linda University study found that laughter boosts virus- and cancer-fighting natural killer cells.

• Pray. Those who regularly attend religious services are about half as likely to have high levels of a protein that increases inflammation. Not a church-goer? Take a few moments to meditate every day.

• Dance. It's a potent relaxer—even if you're just shimmying in your head. One study found that people who merely listened to 50 minutes of dance music had less cortisol and more antibodies. So load your iPod—doctor's orders.

New Recommendations For Screening And Testing Newborn Children

New Recommendations For Screening And Testing Newborn Children

New recommendations on testing and screening newborn children for genetic diseases have been published in the latest policy statements of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG).

They believe that it is necessary to test all newborn children as it is in the best interest of their health, showing their support for mandatory genetic testing and screening. 

Millions of newborns undergo genetic screening every year. 

However, additional genetic testing after the initial screening is far less common. 

Most additional genetic testing conducted after the newborn period is mainly carried out on children who show signs and symptoms of intellectual disability for diagnostic purposes. 

Beyond the initial screening, the decision to carry out additional testing should rest on the parents, say the experts. 

There were distinct differences between the recommendations for testing for childhood-onset conditions and testing for conditions that appear in adulthood. The experts encouraged testing children who are at risk of childhood-onset conditions, but discouraged testing for diseases or conditions that appear later in adulthood.

They also noted that when a child shows early symptoms of a disease, it is necessary to make a quick diagnosis and evaluate the best courses of action, guiding the family in making a decision for the best of the child. 

In fact, according to a previous study published in the journal Pediatrics, the majority of parents would accept and embrace predictive genetic testing for their children if offered.

Even though these two reports discourage testing for adult-onset conditions, some experts believe that results concerning these conditions could help adjust lifestyle risks early on. 

One of the policy authors, Dr. Lainie Friedman Ross, said: 

"There is an important role for counseling before and after genetic screening. The focus should be on education of families, counseling them and helping them make decisions that focus on the child's best interest.

Clearly, if a child has symptoms, we need a diagnosis to help the family make clinical decisions that are in the child's best interest. This is important even when the disease has no current therapies."

Sometimes genetic testing can give incorrect results or interpretations; the ACMG suggests that a person who is certified in either Clinical Molecular Genetics (ABMG) or Molecular Genetic Pathology (ABPath/ABMG) should always review test results.

In addition, they state that pre- and post-test counseling should be provided to patients by an ABMG certified Clinical Geneticist or ABGC/ABMG certified Genetic Counselor. 

In view of the rapid advances made in genetics and genomics, the authors stress that health care providers and pediatricians should always be informed on what the best new practices are. 

Written by Joseph Nordqvist 

Facebook helps keep pensioners sharp

Facebook helps keep pensioners sharp

Using Facebook in old age could help keep pensioners sharp and prevent mental decline in old age, according to a new study.

Over-65s who were taught to use the website performed 25 per cent better in memory tests after posting daily updates for an eight week period.

In contrast people who kept an online diary with no "sharing" element, or who did not use either website, saw no improvement during the same time frame.

Facebook could be just one way of helping older people stay socially active and engaged, which plays an important role preserving mental abilities in later life, researchers said.

The website keeps the brain active by providing a constant stream of information from friends which must be processed, while older information has to be either stored or erased, they explained.

The result is helpful in preserving abilities like "working memory", our capacity to store and use several pieces of information at the same time, for example when following a list of directions or doing mental arithmetic.

Researchers from the University of Arizona asked 14 men and women aged 68 to 91 who had never or rarely used Facebook to become Facebook "friends" with one another and post updates at least once a day for eight weeks.

Another group of 14 people kept an online diary of entries similar in length to Facebook posts but which were not shared with anyone else, while a third group did not use either site.

Follow-up tests of each group's working memory found that those who had used Facebook scored 25 per cent higher than before the trial began, while the other groups' scores did not change.

Janelle Wohltmann, a graduate student who led the study, presented her preliminary findings at the International Neuropsychological Society Annual Meeting in Hawaii this month.

She said: "There is evidence to suggest that staying more cognitively engaged – learning new skills, not just becoming a couch potato when you retire but staying active – leads to better cognitive performing.

"Learning how to use Facebook is a way to build what we call cognitive reserve, to help protect against and stave off cognitive decline due to normal age-related changes in brain function."