While zinc has long been advocated as a treatment for the common cold, a new study clarifies that zinc must be consumed in a certain form and amount in order to maximize its effectiveness.

The study found that zinc can reduce the duration of colds by up to 40 percent, but only if taken properly.

Primarily, the researchers said, zinc lozenges must be taken in a daily dosage of over 75 mg to actually be effective. If the daily dose is under 75 mg, there appear to be no therapeutic benefits.

Secondly, the most effective form of zinc is a zinc acetate. A daily dose of zinc acetate over 75 mg was shown to reduce cold duration by 42 percent.

In comparison, other zinc salts only reduced cold durations by an average of 20 percent.

The researchers said there appeared to be no adverse side effects associated with zinc lozenges, other than a bad taste in the mouth.

The study was led by Dr. Harri Hemila from the University of Helsinki in Finland.

Migraines are considered an adult problem, but sometimes, unfortunately, they do affect young children.  One worried mother is wondering how she can help her 8 year-old child deal with debilitating migraines.  Read on for my advice.

I have an 8 year old son who is suffering from migraines. One time, his migraine was so intense, he cried all the way to the ER, after we tried unsuccessfully to treat it at home. I have been told that there are adult medications for migraines that can be used on children in a smaller dosage. However, according to my pediatrician, they have not been tested on children and because such a small percentage of children get migraines, they will probably never be tested on children. My son has a migraine at least once a week, sometimes more. Is it worth putting him on one of these medications, and if not, what can I do to ease the discomfort without ending up at the local emergency room? – Carla

Carla, I sympathize. It is difficult to know what to do or where to turn when a young child suffers from an ‘adult’ problem. To begin with, there are so many factors that could trigger a migraine, it can be impossible to pin down the actual root of the problem.

If you haven’t done so already, take your child to a board certified pediatric neurologist who for a proper diagnosis, and to rule any other possibilities out.  There are many conditions that could mimic a migraine in a child, such as sinusistis or dental problems.

If migraine is  the actual diagnosis, then you can move forward with a multi-faceted treatment.  Make sure your child is getting enough rest and sleep, and utilize the over-the-counter medications that your physician recommends. Likely, it will be non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug such as Tylenol.

Also, keep in mind that prevention is even more effective than treatment.

There usually tend to be two culprits in pediatric migraines. One is nitrates, which is found in many foods that kids eat such as packaged foods, processed lunch meats, and hot dogs.

The other culprit is monosodium glutamate, or MSG. MSG is a flavor enhancer that is found in baking mixtures, chips and gelatins, among other products. It is highly toxic for many people that suffer from migraines.

So while working with your physician, it is key that you also focus on nutritional aspect of children’s health. In doing so, your child may suffer from fewer migraines and require less drugs, which, as you state in question, have not been clinically tested in children.

Email me your health questions at askdrmanny@gmail.com.

According to a new study, children who see flashing lights during a migraine may be twice as likely to have a hole-in-the-heart, the BBC News reported.

US doctors examined 109 children over six who suffered from migraines.  About half of those with migraines accompanied by a visual disturbance called an aura had the heart defect.

This is nearly double the rate seen in a normal populations.

The medical term for hole-in-the-heart is called patent foramen ovale or PFO.  It is a flap or valve-like opening in the wall between the two upper chambers of the heart.

When there is pressure inside the chest, such as that caused by coughing, the flap can open and allow blood to flow through in either direction, bypassing the body’s filtering system.  If there is debris present in the blood it can pass through the left atrium of the heart and lodge in the brain, causing a strock.

Previous studies have found a link in adults with migraines accompanied by aura and PFO.

Around one in 10 patients experience aura with their migraines.  Symptoms include seeing flashing or flickering lights, numbness, tingling sensations and slurred speech.

The study was published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Click here to read more from the BBC News.

It’s that time of the year again – St. Patrick’s Day.  For some, it’s a religious day that involves attending church services, wearing green, and celebrating Irish culture.  For others, it’s a day of general revelry, comprised of drinking, attending parades, and staying out late.

Unfortunately, St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Thursday this year.  That means, for most of us, after all the partying on the holiday, there’s still one more day of work to suffer through until the weekend.

It also means that it may be difficult to follow through with typical “go-to” hangover cures.  There’s no sleeping in on work days, and there may not even be time to cook up a big greasy breakfast.  Forget about the hair-of-the-dog cure, i.e. drinking more alcohol.  No boss is going to appreciate an employee coming in slurring their words and smelling like gin.

Here’s the truth: The best cure for a hangover on a work day is not getting one at all.  It doesn’t mean you can’t join in on any of the festivities – or the drinking because, let’s face it, who can resist green beer?  It just means you have to be smart while you enjoy yourself.  While not drinking is the only fool-proof way to avoid a hangover, here are a few other tips to lessen the pain of waking up bright and early tomorrow morning:

Before drinking:

1. Eat.  Not greasy pizza or bar food, but a solid, starchy meal with a lot of vitamins and minerals.  The food will help absorb the alcohol and lessen it’s effects on you.  Get into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit with hearty meals like vegetable shepard’s pie or corned beef with cabbage and potatoes.

2. Drink.  Not so fast!  Put down the green beer, and pick up a glass of water.  And then another.  A glass of fruit juice is also a good idea.  Hydrating your body now will be much more effective against pain than waiting until tomorrow morning.

3. Prepare your given hangover-cure now.  Tomorrow, you’re going to want as much sleep as possible.  Save time – and let yourself punch the snooze button a couple of times in the morning – by taking care of your hangover needs now.  If it’s food or a drink, it’ll keep for a night in the fridge.  If it’s a pill, rather than having to waste time rifling through your drawers, put it on your bedside table next to a tall glass of water.

4. Get out early.  Try to take advantage of happy hours and call it an early night.  That way, you can have your fun but still get as much sleep as you need.  Sleep is one of the best defenses against a vicious hangover.

While drinking:

1. Eat.  Because you took care of your vitamin and starch needs earlier, now’s the time when you can munch on less-than-healthy bar food.  The point here is to keep your stomach full enough to keep absorbing alcohol.

2. Stick with light beers on a work day.  If you do need a Guinness to get into the spirit, drink one and drink it early.  Darker beers contain more congeners, which equals more pain in the morning.  Light beers are much easier on your body – and your stomach.  Also, while we’re on the topic of alcohol, try to stay away from liquor, which is going to hit you hard and fast and isn’t going to mix well at all with the green beer you’ve already consumed.  Save it for tomorrow night instead.

3. Alternate between alcoholic and non-alcholic drinks.  This will slow down your alcohol intake with the added bonus of still giving you something to hold in your hands.  If you’re worried about you’re friends giving you a hard time, keep in mind that they can’t tell what’s actually in your hand.  It’s easy to pass off orange juice as a screwdriver or mineral water as a vodka tonic.  Remember: Your liver can only break down an average of one beer an hour.

4. Drink a glass of water and take some vitamin B before crashing for the night.  The goal here is to replace what the alcohol has drained out of your body.  It’s also much better for you than any pain relievers like Tylenol, Ibuprofen or Aspirin, which can cause serious damage to your liver.

Like I mentioned earlier, these tips do not guarantee a hangover-free morning (only not drinking does), but they will give you a fighting chance.  And remember, everything in moderation – even on holidays.  Have a safe and happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone.

Your heart is not the only potential victim of cardiovascular disease. Your brain can be, too. Stroke is a type of cardiovascular disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. A stroke occurs when the blood vessels that carry the oxygenated blood and nutrients to the brain are either blocked by a clot or break.

This prevents the brain from getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs, and within minutes to a few hours brain cells begin to die. Every 45 seconds someone in the United States has a stroke, and every three minutes someone dies of stroke. That’s about seven hundred thousand strokes a year, of which about 160,000 result in fatalities.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to learn how to recognize the symptoms of stroke because it can save your life or the life of someone you know. The most characteristic symptom is a sudden numbness, weakness, or paralysis of the face, arm, or leg, usually on one side of the body. Other symptoms include loss of speech or trouble talking, blurry vision, double vision, decreased vision, dizziness, loss of balance and coordination, an out-of-the-blue bolt of pain, headache, vomiting, or altered consciousness and disorientation or memory loss. Usually these symptoms strike suddenly and without warning.

It is important to recognize the signs and symptoms of stroke because every minute counts when it comes to treating one. The longer a stroke goes untreated, the greater the damage and potential disability. So if you have any of the signs and symptoms of stroke, it is important to get help immediately.

Eighty percent of strokes are ischemic, which means they are caused by an obstruction from a blood clot or particle of cholesterol plaque that reduces the blood flow to the brain. The brain cells die within minutes of this happening. There are two types of ischemic stroke. Thrombotic strokes are caused by clots that originate in the arteries that supply the brain, like the neck arteries, or the arteries within the head itself. Embolic strokes originate from blood clots that form away from the heart but are swept up through the bloodstream and into the narrow arteries of the brain.

The other 20 percent of strokes are hemorrhagic; they occur when a blood vessel in the brain leaks or breaks. The most common risk factor for hemorrhagic stroke is uncontrolled hypertension, though it can also be caused by an anatomical weakness of the blood vessel itself, that is, an aneurysm, or by an abnormal connection of the arteries and veins in the brain.

There are several risk factors for stroke.

People who have transitory ischemic attacks—a temporary halt to the flow of blood to the brain—have a ninefold increase of developing a full-blown stroke. At higher risk are those who have a family history of stroke, are older (the older we get, the greater the chance of stroke), and are African American, partly due to the high prevalence of high blood pressure and diabetes among the black community.

Other factors include hypertension, high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and high homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood, and people with elevated homocysteine levels have a higher risk of stroke. Women taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy may also be at higher risk for stroke.

The good news is that there actually are some things you can do to avoid being a victim of stroke. Even though you cannot do anything about your race, your sex, your family history, or your age, since cardiovascular disease and stroke go hand in hand, you certainly can look at your risk factors for heart disease and hypertension and focus on early screening.

Get your blood pressure checked; learn what your body mass index is; and check your cholesterol and glucose levels every two to five years.

Exercise, manage your stress, limit your alcohol consumption, don’t smoke, and stay away from foods with saturated fats.

Take a vitamin B complex, like B6, B12, and folic acid, which are essential in helping to reduce the levels of homocysteines in the body.

Don’t take illicit drugs, like cocaine, which may trigger a stroke.

People with risk factors for stroke should consider a brain-healthy diet that includes several servings daily of fruit and vegetables with nutrients rich in potassium, folate, and antioxidants. Eat foods high in soluble fiber, like oatmeal, to help reduce cholesterol, as well as foods rich in calcium and soy that help reduce your bad cholesterol and raise your good cholesterol. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which include, of course, plant oils, salmon and other cold-water fish like tuna, are also good weapons in the battle against stroke.

When it comes to the treatment of strokes, some hospitals have actually established special stroke emergency rooms that are manned by a multidisciplinary team well versed in their diagnosis and treatment. Whoever the doctor is, however, he or she must first determine the type of stroke and its location before treating it.

A wide variety of diagnostic tests are available to the doctor, and they all fall into one of three categories: imaging tests, which provide a better-than–X-ray picture of the brain; electrical tests, which record the impulses in the brain; and blood flow tests, which show any problem that may be causing changes in blood flow to the brain.

Essentially, all emergency room doctors will attempt to improve and restore blood flow to the brain of a stroke victim. One way to do that is by injecting a clot-bursting drug, or thrombolytic, that helps dissolve the clot. Other techniques include performing a surgical procedure such as a carotid endarterectomy, in which the surgeon opens the carotid arteries and removes the plaque from them, or angioplasty, in which a balloon-tipped catheter dilates the arteries to improve the blood flow.

Once a stroke has been diagnosed and treated, most individuals end up taking preventive medicines to minimize the chances of recurrence. Some may receive antiplatelet drugs to make platelet cells in the blood less sticky and less likely to form a clot, or anticoagulants, which again prevent the blood from clotting. In cases of hemorrhagic stroke, where a blood vessel has ruptured, surgical intervention is needed to minimize further bleeding by clipping, cauterizing, or removing the clot and any vessel that is actively bleeding.

Stroke survivors must cope with a life-changing experience. They are often significantly disabled and, as a result, need a strong support system. Usually the support system is a team of rehabilitation doctors, which might include a psychiatrist, a dietitian, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a speech therapist, and social workers.

A stroke victim has to deal with impaired movement, which has implications for walking, balancing, speaking, swallowing, and breathing; bladder and bowel dysfunction; and diminished sex drive—as well as all the emotional issues that result from those problems. A stroke victim’s family is also profoundly affected because they now have to take part in caring for the individual.

Stroke can change your life completely, so learn to recognize it and treat it urgently to minimize the terrible disabilities it can inflict on its victims.

The Other Victims of Stroke

The obvious result from a major stroke is devastating disability—such as speech impairment, weak hand and leg movement, and depression. But a stroke can also have an indirect effect on the health of the victim’s family and friends.

Imagine a very strong and vibrant man who has never been sick, who has been a good husband and provider, who has been a great father. His family, and especially his wife of 45 years, marveled at his strength. He was healthy and looking forward to a peaceful and blessed retirement. Then one day he suffered a major stroke, which left him unable to speak and walk. For the family, the confusion and shock were intense. How could this have happened?

This is not a fictional story. It happened in my family. When I first met my future father-in-law, I never imagined that one day his life would end up in such a way. However, this same scenario is played out over and over again in many families across the United States and around the world.

All of a sudden, responsibilities that were the stroke victim’s are now delegated to other members of the family, and in some cases the majority of the responsibilities falls on the spouse. From everyday things like shopping or paying bills to new responsibilities like making daily trips to the rehabilitation center; feeding, bathing, and keeping up with all the medications; and becoming a motivational guru.

All of this can have a tremendous impact on the caregiver’s health. Suddenly, what was once an ordinary life becomes an extraordinary one burdened by the pressure and eased by the love for the ailing family member. We doctors sometimes forget about the families, and that’s a big mistake. When dealing with stroke survivors, focusing on the family as a whole is always important. We must listen, support the changes that are needed, and monitor stress and the effect that it has on the people taking care of stroke survivors.

Family members take care of one another; they become the pillars of health care in the home and improve the outcome that any therapy in the hospital could bring. I remember the look of my mother-in-law as she dealt with her husband’s disabilities, a look of love, duty, and compassion. But we must always make sure that, as we take care of others, we take care of ourselves.

If you don’t take care of your own health, you may very well end up being unable to take care of the person you love. So stay healthy. They don’t say “in sickness and in health” for nothing.

There are headaches, and then there are migraine headaches. Any headache can make you miserable, but a migraine can be excruciating. In fact, the most severe migraine headaches can just about bring you to your knees.

More than 28 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches. Their frequency and severity varies from person to person, but they strike women three times more often than men. And if there is a history of migraine in your family, there is an 80 percent chance you will have them as well.

Most people who suffer from migraines will have a first attack by the age of 30. Often they begin in childhood and then increase in frequency in adolescence. The condition usually continues through the thirties and forties, but attacks tend to decrease in frequency and severity with age, and they are rare after age 50.

Some people with these painful headaches will experience a variety of visual symptoms–such as flashing lights, blind spots, or zigzag patterns–either before or during the headaches themselves. Migraines make many people feel nauseous or light-headed. Vomiting and an extreme sensitivity to light and sound are other common symptoms. A migraine can incapacitate you for hours or even days.

While there is no cure for migraines and the exact cause of migraines is not known, they are now viewed as a vascular and inflammatory problem, so the new therapies being developed for migraine sufferers are focusing on these two pathways.

Not long ago, aspirin was the sole remedy for migraines, but today there are medications that can help reduce the frequency of migraine headaches and stop the pain once it has started. Severe cases are now treated with triptans, a class of drugs specifically developed to treat migraines. These drugs normally provide relief within 15 minutes to two hours in most people.

Preventive medication is available for serious migraine sufferers, though they do not eliminate the migraines completely. The beta-blockers used to treat high blood pressure and coronary artery disease can reduce the frequency and severity of migraines, and certain antidepressants can also help prevent migraines.

It’s important for migraine sufferers to avoid certain triggers, such as smoking, or certain foods or smells that may have triggered their headaches in the past. If you are a woman, birth control pills and other sources of estrogen may also trigger or make the headaches worse. Regular aerobic exercise is highly recommended to reduce tension and to help prevent migraines.