Yet another one for the Duh Files: Older alcoholics need more alcohol to get drunk. Really?

Alcoholism is not something that is funny nor should it be joked about. It’s a serious problem that requires serious interventions. But who in their right mind doesn’t know or hasn’t figured out that the longer you abuse alcohol, the more alcohol you end up using?

According to an Ohio State University press release about a study that looked at alcoholics and alcohol use,

The findings suggest that older problem drinkers may have developed a tolerance for alcohol and need to drink even more than younger abusers to achieve the effects they seek.

Really?

To be fair though, the study also did find that binge drinking, something usually thought to be associated with young adults, particularly students, is actually quite high among older drinkers.

The researchers looked at people who drank, how much they drank, and activities after drinking, such as driving while intoxicated.

Although it was found that older drinkers are actually fewer than younger ones, they had, not only more binge episodes (five or more drinks per day for men, four for women), they drank more over a week overall.

While this wasn’t mentioned in the study, it is likely that binge drinking or too much alcohol overall would be particularly alarming among seniors, considering the high number of them who take medications, many of which should never be mixed with alcohol.

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Image: PhotoXpress.com

There was a huge uproar among women’s groups and immigration groups when news got out that the vaccine against some strains of human papillomavirus, which cause genital warts and may contribute to the development of cancer of the cervix, would be mandatory for any woman who wants to come to the United States to live permanently.
What caused this uproar? The same requirement was not place on women who were American citizens.
Granted, the United States has the right to make its own rules regarding what vaccinations people must have if they want to live within the U.S. borders. But, this isn’t …read more

American Santa’s helpers, who stand-in for Santa in public appearances (because we know that Santa can’t be *everywhere*), are asking for the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine before they face the contaminated masses, say news reports. The coughing and close contact with children are giving Santa’s helpers the shivers.
Seriously though, this is so much a concern that one of the Santa groups, the Amalgamated Order of Read Bearded Santas, addressed the issue, urging its Santas to use plenty of hand sanitizers during their Santa days. Adding vitamins to their diet is also recommended.
According to this USA Today article, Better not cough: …read more

Bad headline, sorry – but I have a limited number of characters and I wasn’t sure how to word this. How about:
Some Egyptians Who Died and Were Mummified Had Heart Disease, Just Like Us in the Year 2009.
Too long, huh?
Researchers don’t only research current issues, such as finding cures for cancer or ways to make body parts regrow, they also look back in an attempt to understand what happened in earlier times.
In this particular study, researchers were looking for signs of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, in mummies. We tend to think of heart disease as a modern problem, …read more

Viagra for men – and the similar drugs that followed after – is a huge, huge money maker for big pharmaceuticals. You have to give them credit. They found a need and they filled it; they rose to the challenge (pun intended ).
But now, the target is women. Women do experience sexual dysfunction. Many women would love to have satisfying sex lives but don’t because of various issues. While some researchers are actively working on medications to help women with their sexual desire, some discover a treatment by accident, as did researchers from the University of North Carolina …read more

What does a woman’s fidelity have to do with her unborn child’s health? A lot, if the news reports of a study from New Zealand are right. The results of the study were published in the most recent issue of Journal of Reproductive Immunology.

Actually, if you really read the study, it’s not the faithfulness that was the issue, it was how much the woman was exposed to the father’s semen. You know how I caution people to read studies carefully and not take news at face value? Here is yet another case. The news that came out of this study …read more

Really? Let’s file this one in the Duh Files: If you’re blind in one half of each eye, such as the right side of each eye (called hemianopia), you likely will have more trouble seeing pedestrians in your “blind” spot. Seriously. Hemianopia is usually caused by a brain injury, such as a stroke, tumor or trauma.
Researchers from Schepens Eye Research Institute performed a small study (24 people) to see how hemianopia affected driving. Their results were published in the most recent issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

Necessity is the mother of invention and all that stuff, right? Maybe we can also say that desperate times call for desperate measures? Or how about, He will provide if we just ask? What am I talking about? An anti-H1N1 (Swine flu) holy water dispenser for church.
Roman Catholics who enter a church usually dip their fingers into a small bowl filled with Holy Water. They make the sign of the cross and then proceed to enter the main part of the church. Many repeat this motion when they leave the church.
Because of the H1N1 fears, many churches have removed their …read more

Some of you may be old enough to remember the show, The Six Million Dollar Man, with Lee Majors. It was about a man who had been severely injured but was rebuilt with futuristic body parts that enabled him to perform superhuman feats.
The funny thing is that now, such rebuilding is possible in some ways. We have great technology that is being applied to artificial limbs, cochlear implants that can help some people hear – there is a lot of research going on to help people live their lives as they did before they were injured. And now, we may …read more

With all the health news published on-line and in paper, it can be difficult to decide what’s true and what isn’t. After all, it seems that it should be true if it’s printed or announced, particularly when it involves health-related associations and big companies. Or is it? It may all depend in how you’re reading it.
Take for example a press release from the American Academy of Dental Implants. In August, its members came out in favor of using dental (tooth) implants earlier in dental treatments, stating that root canals and other tooth-saving procedures may be a waste of time and …read more