Swallowing-Breathing Dysfunction Worsens Lung Disorder

THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — A disrupted breathing-swallowing pattern may explain why people with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk for aspiration pneumonia, researchers report.

Patients with moderate to severe COPD show alterations between normal breathing and swallowing patterns (during eating) even when they’re not experiencing exacerbations, according to the study by Roxann Diez Gross and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh.

“In healthy subjects, the usual pattern is to time swallows to occur during early to mid exhalation. Healthy individuals also nearly exclusively follow each swallow with exhalation. This pattern assures that there is sufficient air pressure below the vocal folds during a swallow and prevents inhalation of food residue after swallowing,” Gross said in the news release.

“In contrast, in COPD patients, we saw that several aspects of their swallowing and breathing timing were disrupted such that swallows were occurring during inhalation or were followed by inhalation,” she said. “COPD patients also swallowed more often at the end of exhalation at lower lung volumes.”

COPD is a progressive, destructive disease of the lungs, usually brought on by smoking. There is no known cure. Symptoms include restricted breathing, secretion of mucus, oxidative stress and airway inflammation.

It had been known that COPD patients “exhibited decoupling of the breathing-swallowing pattern of saliva during exacerbations,” according to a news release about the study. But this is the first study to detail to what extent, if any, disruptions in breathing and swallowing coordination occur during normal eating in COPD patients even when they’re not experiencing exacerbations.

The study included 25 patients with moderate to severe COPD and 25 healthy people. All the participants ate nine wafer cookies and 10 teaspoons of pudding to determine how well they swallowed sold and semi-solid food. There was a marked difference between the two groups, the researchers found.

The respiratory tract may be thrown out of balance by the respiratory burden imposed by COPD, Gross explained.

“Because breathing and eating share the structures of the upper airway, precise coordination is needed to prevent food material from entering the airway while eating,” she said. “In patients with COPD, the competition for the upper airway may cause the respiratory drive to override swallowing function and disrupt the normal patterning. The lungs of COPD patients have less elasticity than those of healthy individuals and this may also play a role in swallowing safety.”

The study appears in the first April issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Swallowing-Breathing Dysfunction Worsens Lung Disorder

THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — A disrupted breathing-swallowing pattern may explain why people with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk for aspiration pneumonia, researchers report.

Patients with moderate to severe COPD show alterations between normal breathing and swallowing patterns (during eating) even when they’re not experiencing exacerbations, according to the study by Roxann Diez Gross and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh.

“In healthy subjects, the usual pattern is to time swallows to occur during early to mid exhalation. Healthy individuals also nearly exclusively follow each swallow with exhalation. This pattern assures that there is sufficient air pressure below the vocal folds during a swallow and prevents inhalation of food residue after swallowing,” Gross said in the news release.

“In contrast, in COPD patients, we saw that several aspects of their swallowing and breathing timing were disrupted such that swallows were occurring during inhalation or were followed by inhalation,” she said. “COPD patients also swallowed more often at the end of exhalation at lower lung volumes.”

COPD is a progressive, destructive disease of the lungs, usually brought on by smoking. There is no known cure. Symptoms include restricted breathing, secretion of mucus, oxidative stress and airway inflammation.

It had been known that COPD patients “exhibited decoupling of the breathing-swallowing pattern of saliva during exacerbations,” according to a news release about the study. But this is the first study to detail to what extent, if any, disruptions in breathing and swallowing coordination occur during normal eating in COPD patients even when they’re not experiencing exacerbations.

The study included 25 patients with moderate to severe COPD and 25 healthy people. All the participants ate nine wafer cookies and 10 teaspoons of pudding to determine how well they swallowed sold and semi-solid food. There was a marked difference between the two groups, the researchers found.

The respiratory tract may be thrown out of balance by the respiratory burden imposed by COPD, Gross explained.

“Because breathing and eating share the structures of the upper airway, precise coordination is needed to prevent food material from entering the airway while eating,” she said. “In patients with COPD, the competition for the upper airway may cause the respiratory drive to override swallowing function and disrupt the normal patterning. The lungs of COPD patients have less elasticity than those of healthy individuals and this may also play a role in swallowing safety.”

The study appears in the first April issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Fish in U.S. Rivers Tainted With Common Medications

THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — Fish from five U.S. rivers were found to be tainted with traces of medications and common chemicals, according to a new study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Baylor University.

The common antihistamine diphenhydramine (Benadryl), an anticonvulsant and two types of antidepressants were among the seven types of pharmaceuticals found in the tissue and livers of fish from waterways in or near Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Orlando, Fla. Each river is considered “effluent-dominated,” because they receive large amounts of wastewater discharge from nearby sewage treatment plants. Read More

Fish in U.S. Rivers Tainted With Common Medications

THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — Fish from five U.S. rivers were found to be tainted with traces of medications and common chemicals, according to a new study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Baylor University.

The common antihistamine diphenhydramine (Benadryl), an anticonvulsant and two types of antidepressants were among the seven types of pharmaceuticals found in the tissue and livers of fish from waterways in or near Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Orlando, Fla. Each river is considered “effluent-dominated,” because they receive large amounts of wastewater discharge from nearby sewage treatment plants. Read More

For All Their Plusses, Pets Pose a Risk for Falls, Too

THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — Dogs and cats may be favored companions of many Americans, but they’re also apparently the cause of falls that results in thousands of injuries each year.

U.S. health officials report that 86,629 people annually are injured in dog- and cat-related falls. That’s 240 people a day who wind up in hospital emergency rooms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I get asked a lot if pets are a fall hazard,” said Judy Stevens, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC and first author of the report. “We found that of the 8 million falls from all causes, about 1 percent were related to cats and dogs.”

Acknowledging that pets provide benefits, too, Stevens said that the CDC wanted to make people aware that they can be a fall hazard, and the benefits need to be balanced with these risks.

Pets have been linked in several studies to a variety of health benefits, including help in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety and increasing opportunities for socializing.

In 2006, an estimated 43 million U.S. households included dogs, and 37.5 million households had cats. In addition, almost 64 percent of households with pets had more than one pet, according to the report, published in the March 27 issue of the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

For the study, Stevens and her colleagues collected data on falls from 66 emergency departments across the country from 2001 to 2006. Dogs accounted for 88 percent of the injuries from falls and cats for nearly all of the rest.

Among people injured by dogs, 31 percent tripped over the dog, and 21 percent fell after being pushed or pulled by a dog. Among injuries involving cats, 66 percent were attributed to falling or tripping over the animal.

Women were twice as likely to be injured as men. Those most often injured were either younger than 14 years or between 35 and 54 years old, the researchers found. However, the highest rate of fractures occurred in people 75 to 85 years old. Of people who required hospitalization from a pet-related injury, about 80 percent had a broken bone.

Most falls involving dogs, 62 percent, occurred at home; 16 percent happened in a street or a park. Pet paraphernalia was cited as the cause of about 9 percent of the falls at home.

As for cats, 86 percent of falls involving felines happened in the home, 17 percent of them while chasing the cat.

One way to reduce the risk for dog-related falls, Stevens said, would be to enroll a dog in obedience training, which should be able to stop, or at least lessen, the animal’s pushing, pulling and jumping.

“You can also prevent falls by removing tripping hazards like pet items,” she said.

Colin Milner, chief executive of the International Council on Active Aging, said that keeping fit as you age should also help reduce the likelihood of falls.

People need to keep their homes clean and uncluttered, he said. And, when picking a pet, Milner suggested trying to match the pet to your personality and, perhaps, choosing a more mellow rather than a more excitable pet.

One reason people fall is that they become less coordinated as they age, Milner said. “Many of these fall could be preventable if you had better balance,” he said. “The number of falls could be reduced with a very simple balance and strength-training program.”

For All Their Plusses, Pets Pose a Risk for Falls, Too

THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — Dogs and cats may be favored companions of many Americans, but they’re also apparently the cause of falls that results in thousands of injuries each year.

U.S. health officials report that 86,629 people annually are injured in dog- and cat-related falls. That’s 240 people a day who wind up in hospital emergency rooms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I get asked a lot if pets are a fall hazard,” said Judy Stevens, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC and first author of the report. “We found that of the 8 million falls from all causes, about 1 percent were related to cats and dogs.”

Acknowledging that pets provide benefits, too, Stevens said that the CDC wanted to make people aware that they can be a fall hazard, and the benefits need to be balanced with these risks.

Pets have been linked in several studies to a variety of health benefits, including help in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety and increasing opportunities for socializing.

In 2006, an estimated 43 million U.S. households included dogs, and 37.5 million households had cats. In addition, almost 64 percent of households with pets had more than one pet, according to the report, published in the March 27 issue of the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

For the study, Stevens and her colleagues collected data on falls from 66 emergency departments across the country from 2001 to 2006. Dogs accounted for 88 percent of the injuries from falls and cats for nearly all of the rest.

Among people injured by dogs, 31 percent tripped over the dog, and 21 percent fell after being pushed or pulled by a dog. Among injuries involving cats, 66 percent were attributed to falling or tripping over the animal.

Women were twice as likely to be injured as men. Those most often injured were either younger than 14 years or between 35 and 54 years old, the researchers found. However, the highest rate of fractures occurred in people 75 to 85 years old. Of people who required hospitalization from a pet-related injury, about 80 percent had a broken bone.

Most falls involving dogs, 62 percent, occurred at home; 16 percent happened in a street or a park. Pet paraphernalia was cited as the cause of about 9 percent of the falls at home.

As for cats, 86 percent of falls involving felines happened in the home, 17 percent of them while chasing the cat.

One way to reduce the risk for dog-related falls, Stevens said, would be to enroll a dog in obedience training, which should be able to stop, or at least lessen, the animal’s pushing, pulling and jumping.

“You can also prevent falls by removing tripping hazards like pet items,” she said.

Colin Milner, chief executive of the International Council on Active Aging, said that keeping fit as you age should also help reduce the likelihood of falls.

People need to keep their homes clean and uncluttered, he said. And, when picking a pet, Milner suggested trying to match the pet to your personality and, perhaps, choosing a more mellow rather than a more excitable pet.

One reason people fall is that they become less coordinated as they age, Milner said. “Many of these fall could be preventable if you had better balance,” he said. “The number of falls could be reduced with a very simple balance and strength-training program.”

What’s New Dining Out Experts and Bloggers Healthy Cooking Nutrition and Eating Well Shop Smarter Our Experts FOOD AND NUTRITION EDITOR

1. The end of the brown rice rut
Because nobody has an hour to devote to a midweek side dish, quick-cooking quinoa and whole-wheat couscous are truly revolutionary. With the same satisfying texture and nutty flavor as brown rice (plus more fiber), these 10-minute grains give new meaning to fast food.

2. Almonds by the pound
If you’re sick of schlepping to crunchy co-ops to buy nuts, dried fruit, and grains in bulk, you’ll be happy to hear that mass grocery stores are rediscovering these money-saving bins. That means we can buy less-processed, less-pricey raw almonds, unsalted sunflower seeds, organic trail mix, and more where we stock up on milk and other basics.

3. Generation 2.0 market bag
Buying fresh means buying often. And if you’re biking or walking to the market to stock up, you need a tote that’s up to the task. The new reusable, planet-friendly bags do it all—they’re big enough to carry loads of goodies, truly leakproof, and way cuter than granny carts. On the fence about bringing your own? A single reusable bag could eliminate more than 1,000 plastic grocery bags in its lifetime. 

4 and 5. Our own herb stash—and mincer!
Fresh herbs add flavor and depth to a dish but practically zero calories and no fat. They also bruise easily, spoil quickly, and aren’t cheap. So we’re all for the grow-your-own-herbs window boxes that are everywhere now. Get an herb mincer to prevent bruising those delicate leaves. If you have a black thumb, herbs in a tube are a good alternative to the fresh stuff. With a fridge shelf life of three months, your cilantro won’t go bad before you can use it up.