E2


Health CONSUMERREPORTSINSIGHTS Health clubs can be unhealthy Joining a health club can make it easier and more fun to


exercise.But gyms canalsopresent safetyproblems.Bacteria in poorly maintained pools can spread disease. Antibiotic- resistant staphinfections canbepickedupincrowdedlocker rooms and fromheavily used exercise equipment.You canbe injured or even suffer an exercise-related heart problem. Here’showtominimize those risks.


Skin infections Staph infections, including


those caused bymethicillin-resis- tant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria, can spread through shared gym equipment, mats and towels. Infections tend to occur near a cut or scrape, and on certain body parts (the arm- pits, buttocks, groin and neck). They start off looking like a large pimple but can swell, become painful and produce pus. If they spread to your bloodstream, they can be life-threatening. Many clear up on their own, but seek medical attention if a fever devel- ops or if the area becomes en- larged, red, tender orwarm. Prevention: Use the alcohol


spray or wipes that most gyms provide towipe off equipment be- fore and after use. Place a clean towel over mats used for doing sit-ups, stretching or yoga. Don’t share towels with others. Wash your hands frequently with soap andwater,oruseanalcohol-based sanitizer. Shower after working out. If you have a cut or scrape, keep it coveredwith a clean adhe- sive bandage and don’t use hot tubs orwhirlpools.


Dirty pools Poorly maintained swimming


pools are common, allowing bac- teria and viruses to cause out- breaks of gastrointestinal illness. Inspections at 3,666 health clubs in 13 states found serious lapses requiring the immediate closing of 10 percent of the pools, accord- ing to aMay report by the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion. Improperly maintained cir-


Inpartnership with


For further guidance, go to ConsumerReportsHealth.org, More detailed information—including CR’s ratings of prescription drugs, treatments, hospitals and healthy-living products—is available to subscribers to that site.


LETTERS WHERE TO WRITE: health-science@washpost.com or The Washington Post, Health and Science, 1150 15th Street NW, Washington D.C. 20071


SupportingU.S. law’saims In “Minerals that fuel digital


items also finance war” [Dec. 14], remarks attributed to me — that an April 2011 deadline to end pur- chases ofnon-certifiedminerals is “rash, too strict and completely impossible” — do not represent myview. ITRIagreeswiththeaims of recent U.S. legislation, which does not set deadlines, only asks for disclosure, and is pleased that the U.S. government is encourag- ing companies to contribute to solving the complex problem of tracking conflictminerals. ITRI, as the international asso-


ciation for tin producers, has been addressing this issue since 2008 and has begun to implement the “bagandtag”schemementionedin


thearticle,whichhasthebackingof local industry and the 11 govern- mentsof theregionandisdesigned tosatisfyinternationaldemands. ITRI does not consider the leg-


islationtoostrict,butwithoutU.S. government support, the African mining sector will be unable to achieve traceabilityofmineralsby April 2011 asU.S.markets require. This de facto embargo would be catastrophic to tens of thousands ofminerswhodependonthebusi- ness as their livelihood. KayNimmo


ITRImanager of sustainability and regulatory affairs London


Don’tabandonafriend I hope teenagers and adults


read “Bingeing takes toll on teen


WHENDEMENTIA SET IN, YOU VOWED TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE.


brains” [Dec. 7]. There is no pro- file for the underage drinker. She canbeastarathleteorarebellious teen. He can be a National Merit Scholar or a computer-gamewiz. Arecent symposiumdealtwith


twotrends.Oneisattentiondrink- ing, when the teen’s goal is to consume enough alcohol that he/ she loses consciousnessandhas to be taken by ambulance to the emergency room, for the sake of drama and attention alone, with- out consideringtherisks involved. The other trend is finding a teen unconscious or worse: shoved be- hind a bed, in a closet or some- where where they will be “out of theway”becausehis/her “friends” wouldnot call forhelp. Teens are often worried they will get introuble if they call911 to


save a friend.We would serve our teens and community well to talk to our sons, daughters, grandchil- dren, students about getting help if a peer has lost consciousness or is otherwise headed for injury, abuse orworse.We can help them develop refusal skills and give them a no-questions-asked-until- we-are-both-calm guarantee if they need to be picked up, any- time, anywhere.


PattyWinters StraightTalk Symposium


Coordinator,MagruderHigh SchoolPTSA,Germantown


Note ADec. 14letter identifiedLewis


Gollub as a professor of psycholo- gy at the University of Maryland. He is anemeritusprofessor.


ALCOHOLISM RUINS LIVES...


...and not just the alcoholic’s. If you or someone you know needs help, here’s an option: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism conducts research studies into alcohol and its effects. Qualified subjects who participate in research will receive in-patient treatment at no charge. For information, please call


301-496-1993 Deaf or hard of hearing?


Use your state relay service to call. Dept. of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health AMBLYOPIA Acupuncture helps some kidswith lazy eye Vi rginia Commonwealth University


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THE QUESTIONWhen a child has amblyopia, or lazy eye, using corrective lenses and periodically patching the other eye is the traditional treatment. But it doesn’t help all children, and school-age children often object towearing the patches.Might acupuncture offer anoption? THIS STUDY randomly assigned 88 children, 7 to 12 years old, who were wearing corrective lenses because of amblyopia causedbydifferingdegreesofnear-or farsightedness,knownas anisometropia, tooneof twotreatmentgroups.Childreninone groupworeafeltpatchonthe“good”eyefortwohoursadayand spent at least one of those hours reading, working on a computer or similarly exercising the other eye. The other children were given acupuncture treatments five days a week and did eye activities for an hour daily.Acupuncturewas given at five points: on the top of the head, near the nose end of the eyebrow, in the temple, on the hand and on the ankle. After about three months, lazy eye was considered resolved in 42 percent of those given acupuncture, comparedwith 17 percent of those who wore a patch. In addition, both groups showed improvement in vision: 76 percent of the acupuncture group and67percentof thosewho’dwornapatchcouldreadtwomore lines onaneye-test chart. WHOMAY BE AFFECTED? Children with amblyopia, who have reduced vision in one eye because the brain and the eye are not workingtogetherproperly.Anisometropicamblyopiaaccounts for about half of all cases of lazy eye. It also can be caused by cataracts, strabismus (an imbalance that causes the eyes to cross or turn outward) or other eye conditions. Amblyopia affects about 3 percent of children in theUnited States and can continue into adulthoodifnot treated. CAVEATSWhetheracupuncturewouldhelpchildrenwithother types of amblyopia was not tested. Differences, such as in technique and points used for needling, exist among acupunc- turists and might yield different results. Six of the 11 study authors have applied for a U.S. patent for vision improvement methodsusing acupuncture. FINDTHIS STUDYDecember issue ofArchives ofOphthalmolo- gy (www.archophthalmol.com). LEARNMORE ABOUT amblyopia atwww.nei.nih.gov andwww. eyecareamerica.org.


—Linda Searing


The research described inQuick Study comes fromcredible, peer-re- viewed journals.Nonetheless, conclusive evidence about a treatment's effectiveness is rarely found in a single study. Anyone considering chang- ing or beginning treatment of any kind should consultwith a physician.


culationand filtering systems and skimpy disinfection were among themost commonproblems. Prevention: To protect others,


shower with soap before swim- ming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing a baby’s diaper.Don’t use the pool if the water has a strong chemical smell or appears cloudy. Pool wa- ter should have little odor and be clear enough that you can easily see the bottom. Ask employees about chlorine and pH levels, which should be checked at least twice a day, and the pool’s latest inspection score. Or use do-it- yourself test strips, available at home-improvement stores. Chlo- rine should be 1 to 3 parts per million (4 to 6 ppm for hot tubs), andpHshouldbe 7.2 to 7.8.


Strainedmuscles Weight-roominjuries requiring


medical attention have increased by 50 percent since 1990,with the largest increase amongpeople age 45 andolder. Prevention: Warm up with a


fewminutes of jogging, calisthen- ics, or light and easy lifts. Use resistance machines or elastic bands rather than free weights. Keeptheweightor resistancelevel light enough that you can do 15 repetitions. Do them slowly, tak- ing about two seconds to lift and four seconds to lower. You should be able to stop the weight at any point inthemovement.Don’thold your breath; that can cause faint- ing or a spike in blood pressure. Exhale during the lifting or push- ingphase; inhalewhenlowering.


EZ EE


KLMNO


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2010


The Checkup 6Excerpts from washingtonpost.com/checkup


Survey finds increase in teen drug use Marijuana use continues to increase among young people


in the United States, according to an annual federally funded survey of drug, alcohol and cigarette use amongU.S. youths. The proportion of eighth-graders who said they smoke


marijuana daily increased from 1 percent to 1.2 percent between 2009 and 2010, while the rate among 10th-graders went from 2.8 per- cent to 3.3 percent, and among high school seniors from 5.1 percent to 6.1 percent, according to the Monitoring the Future Survey, which questioned 46,482 students from 396 public and private schools.


Because cigarette smoking has been


declining among high school seniors, marijuana is now more popular than tobacco by some measures. In 2010, 21.4 percent of high school seniors had used marijuana in the past 30 days, while 19.2 percent had smoked cigarettes, according to the survey, which is conducted by the University ofMichigan. The perception that regular marijuana


smoking is harmful decreased among 10th-graders from 59.5 percent to 57.2 percent in 2010 and among 12th-graders from 52.4 percent to 46.8 percent. “We should examine the extent to


LAUGHING STOCK/CORBIS


Heart attacks Exercise gradually builds pro-


tection against heart disease. But ifyou’renot ingoodshape,avigor- ous workout can temporarily in- crease the risk of heart attack, especiallyifyou’reill.A2009study found that a recent episode of fatigue or flu was associated with an increase in exercise-related cardiac events. Prevention:Talkwithyourdoc-


tor before starting to work out if youhaveheartdisease ormultiple cardiac risk factors, or if you’re middle-aged or older and have been sedentary. If you have a cold or the flu or feel fatigued, take a break from exercising or scale back workouts. Make sure your club has at least one automatic external defibrillator, which can save your life if you suffer cardiac arrest. Staff members should be trainedinitsuseandincardiopul-


monary resuscitation. Consider learning CPR, too, so you can help othersduring emergencies.


Eye injuries Americans suffer more than


40,000 eye injuries a year during recreationalactivities.Racquetball, squash, and tennis are leading causesofsports-relatedeyeinjuries amongpeople ages 25 to 65.Nearly all could be prevented if people woreadequateeyeprotection. Prevention: People engaged in


high-risk activities should wear protective eyewear with 3-milli- meter polycarbonate lenses and an impact-resistant sports frame meeting the ASTM F803-01 stan- dard. Ifyouregularlywearglasses, youshouldgetprescriptionsports glasses thatmeet those criteria. © Copyright2010.ConsumersUnion of United States Inc.


which the debate over medical marijuana and marijuana legalization for adults is affecting teens’ perceptions of risk,” Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a statement. The use of the drug ecstasy also in-


Students who


report smoking marijuana daily:


1.2% 8th-graders


3.3% 10th-graders


6.1% 12th-graders


Students who report having used ecstasy in the past year:


2.4% 8th-graders


creased, according to the survey, with 2.4 percent of eighth-graders and 4.7 percent of 10th-graders saying they had used it in the past year. That’s up from 1.3 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. In a bit of good news, binge drinking continued to drop.


4.7% 10th-graders


Among high school seniors, 23.2 percent reported having had five or more drinks in a row during the past two weeks, down from 25.2 percent in 2009 and a drop from the peak of 31.5 percent in 1998.


—Rob Stein HEALTH SCAN SELF-IMAGE


Maybe it’s skin-deep, but that’s deep enough PSYCHOLOGY TODAY,NOVEMBER/DECEMBER ISSUE The cover of Psychology Today shows a bikini-wearing


modelwithboxing gloves and the line “The battle over beauty.” The centerpiece article is quite the opening jab: Advice columnistAmyAlkon insists that “the onlyway to get aheadin life and love is to accept the not-so-pretty facts about looks.” Don’t “learntolovethewomaninthemirror,”Alkonsays;outer appearance trumps inner beauty. She warns wives that “sure, youmight bemore ‘comfortable’ in big sloppy sweats, but how ‘comfortable’will yoube ifhe leaves youforawomanwhocares enough to look hot for him?” Some ladies might appreciate this; others might want to write an angry letter to the editor (letters@psychologytoday.com, just in case).


PHARMACEUTICALS


Drugs for Americans, tested on foreigners VANITY FAIR, JANUARY ISSUE


In a sobering article about the pharmaceutical industry,


Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele investigate howcompa- nies are testing newdrugs in poor countries. In 1990, 271 trials were conducted in foreign countries of drugs largely intended for American use. By 2008, that number had climbed to 6,485; also that year, 80 percent of the applications submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for new drugs contained data from foreign clinical trials. Overseas testing appeals to the industry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors say, because it’s cheaper, easier to recruit patients and not as closely regulated. Whilepharmaceutical companies sayoverseas test subjectsare getting the best medical care of their lives, Barlett and Steele conclude that the trend will lead the drug industry to become “more impenetrable andmore dangerous than ever.” —Rachel Saslow


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