An unhealthy lifestyle could put men at risk for sexual dysfunction, according to a new study.

Several factors associated with an unhealthy lifestyle, such as weight problems, physical inactivity, high alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and hard drugs appear to be associated with sexual dysfunctions.

Additionally, unhealthy lifestyles are more common among persons who are sexually inactive.

Danish researchers analyzed survey data from over 5,500 men and women to study the association between lifestyle factors, sexual inactivity and sexual dysfunction.

They found that unhealthy lifesty factors are associated with an increased risk of sexual inactivity by up to 78 percent in men and 91 percent in women.

Meanwhile, the risk of experiencing sexual dysfunction was up to 71 percent greater in overweight men, and more than 800 percent greater in men who used hard drugs.

The researchers also found that women who used hashish had a risk nearly three times greater of anorgasmia – not being able to reach climax during sexual activity – than non-hashish users.

“Hopefully our findings can be used in future counseling of patients with unhealthy lifestyles,” said lead researcher Professor Morten Frisch, MD, PhD, DSc, of Statens Serum Institute. “Knowing about possible negative consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle to one’s sexual health may help people quit smoking, consume less alcohol, exercise more, and lose weight.”

The study was published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

An analysis of heart disease and stroke statistics collected from 192 countries by the World Health Organization shows that the relative burden of the two diseases is closely linked to national income.

University of California researchers found that developing countries tend to suffer more death and disability by stroke than heart disease.  Meanwhile, the United States and other countries with higher national incomes tend to experience the opposite.

This finding may help health officials design tailored interventions to best fit the needs of developing countries, the researchers say.

“In general, heart disease is still the number one cause of death worldwide, but there is quite a lot of variation across the globe,” said Anthony  Kim, MD, MAS, assistant professor of neurology at UCSF .

For instance, there was a wide variation in the mortality rate for stroke highlighted by the new research.  Rates ranged from a worldwide low of 25 deaths per 100,000 in the island nation of Seychelles to a high of 249 deaths per 100,000 in Kyrgyzstan – a rate nearly 10 times greater.

In the United States, there are approximately 45 deaths per 100,000 people due to stroke.

Heart disease and stroke are similar in that they are both are caused by reduced or restricted blood flow to vital organs and share many of the same common risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity and smoking.

However, because they affect very different tissues – the heart and the brain – they diverge in terms of symptoms, approaches to critical care, follow-up treatment and the duration and cost of recovery.

“There was a striking association with national income,” Kim said.

In the United States, for instance, heart disease is the number one killer and stroke the number four, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This also holds true for the Middle East, most of North America, Australia and much of Western Europe.

The opposite is true in many developing countries. Stroke  is more prevalent in China, many parts of Africa, Asia and South America.

Overall, nearly 40 percent of all nations have a greater burden of stroke compared to heart disease.

“This is significant,” said Kim, “because knowing that the burden of stroke is higher in some countries focuses attention on developing a better understanding of the reasons for this pattern of disease and may help public health officials to prioritize resources appropriately.”

The study was published in the journal Circulation.

Not only are smokers twice as likely to have strokes, they are almost a decade younger than non-smokers when they have them, according to a new study.

Researchers studied nearly 1000 stroke patients between January 2009 and March 2011 and found that the average age of stroke patients who smoked was 58, compared to age 67 for non-smokers.

“The information from this study provides yet another important piece of evidence about the significance of helping people stop smoking,” said study author Dr. Andrew Pipe from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. “It also alerts the neurology community to the importance of addressing smoking in stroke patients.”

Smoking can cause a build-up of debris inside of blood vessels, a condition called atherosclerosis, which contributes to a higher likelihood of clots forming.

The study found that smokers have double the risk of a stroke caused by a dislodged blood clot (ischemic stroke) and four times the risk of a stroke caused by a ruptured blood vessel (hemorrhagic stroke).
Furthermore, smokers have a greater chance of complications and recurrent stroke. Patients who have a minor stroke are 10 times more likely to suffer a major one, especially if they keep smoking.

“It’s scandalous that [people] continue to die in large numbers from stroke, heart disease, cancers and a host of other diseases for which the tobacco industry is responsible,” Pipe said.

If a person stops smoking, their risk for stroke or heart disease decreases dramatically. Within 18 months to two years of quitting, the risks of stroke for ex-smokers are about the same as for non-smokers, the study indicated.

“Stroke is preventable,” said Dr. Sharma, Deputy Director of the Canadian Stroke Network. “This study highlights the sizeable role smoking has on stroke. Quitting smoking, controlling blood pressure, following a healthy diet and being physically active significantly reduce the risk of stroke.”

Women who smoke heavily are at greater risk of chronic pain, according to a new study.

More than 6000 women were surveyed on their smoking habits and different symptoms of chronic pain, such as fibromyalgia, sciatica, and pain in the neck, back, joints and head.

The results indicated that smokers and former smokers were significantly more likely to report at least one chronic pain symptom compared to nonsmokers.

Former smokers were 20 percent more likely to report pain, occasional smokers were 68 percent more likely and daily smokers were 104 percent more likely.

Furthermore, daily smoking was associated more strongly with chronic pain than old age, low education and obesity.

The researchers say acute pain is typically a protective response and speculate that perhaps female smokers experience acute pain that develops into chronic pain because their normal protection and mechanisms are damaged by exposure to smoke.

The researchers recommend women quit smoking to help relieve pain.

Could a drugstore test kit for cancer someday be available?

Taiwan researchers reported that they have developed a new saliva tests that can measure the amount of carcinogens in a person’s DNA. They hope this development could lead to a commercial tests to help determine risks for cancer and other diseases.

“The test measures the amount of damaged DNA in a person’s body,” said Professor Hauh-Jyun Candy Chen, Ph.D., who led the research team.

The damaged DNA, called ‘DNA adducts’, is a biomarker that may help doctors diagnose diseases, monitor the effectiveness of treatments and recommend steps high-risk patients can take to reduce their chances of getting a disease, according to Chen.

First, the researchers did experiments with urine and blood to identify the adducts, and then began to focus on saliva.

“It’s much more convenient to collect a sample of saliva,” Chen explained.

Adducts form when a potentially cancer-causing substance chemically attaches itself to a strand of DNA. People come into contact with these carcinogens every day in the workplace, home or other public locations.
Cigarette smoke, for example, contains at least 20 known carcinogens.

While the body has a built-in repair system to clear up the damage, occasionally the system fails and the adduct can lead to mutations or genetic changes that in turn lead to cancer.

DNA adducts also accumulate with aging and have been linked to other health problems, including inflammatory diseases and chronic brain disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.

The new saliva tests works by measuring the levels of five key DNA adducts, including some caused by cigarettes.

Chen hopes a commercially available test could help monitor people who work in enviroments that contain high levels of carcinogens or motivate people at risk of developing cancer to live healthier lifestyles.

Despite a growing number of cities instituting smoking bans across the country, hookah bars are continuing to crop up everywhere and gaining a loyal customer base in young adults.

Hookahs, for those who are unfamiliar, are smoking instruments that use charcoal to heat flavored tobacco. The smoke from the heated tobacco is then sucked through a hose into the mouth.  Hookah cafés often offer a wide variety of flavorings on their menu, from mango to rose petals.  People often share hookahs in groups.

Wake Forest University researchers have found that 40.3 percent of students in North Carolina reported trying hookah at least once – just barely lower than the percentage of students who reported smoking at least one cigarette (46.6).  Moreover, 17.4 percent said they actively use hookahs.

“The popularity of hookah smoking among young adults is quite alarming given the potential for negative health effects,” said Erin Sutfin, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy and lead author on the study. “Unfortunately, many young adults are misinformed about the safety of hookah smoking and some mistakenly believe it to be safer than cigarette smoking.”

The results also indicated that freshmen and males were more likely to use hookahs, and that there was an association between individuals who used hookahs and those who smoked cigarettes, smoked marijuana, had a history of other illegal drug use and had drank alcohol in the 30 days prior to the survey.

Hookah users who participated in the study seemed to share a mistaken perception that smoking from a hookah was less harmful than smoking a cigarette.

“The smoke produced by hookahs is a very mild smoke that may be appealing to non-cigarette smokers as a starter product,” Sutfin said.

According to Sutfin, 22 percent of hookah users in the study had never tried a cigarette, suggesting that hookahs may be their first tobacco product.

“Likely because of the pleasant aroma and taste, users may inhale more deeply over a longer period of time,” she said. “This results in hookah smokers actually inhaling a larger volume of tobacco smoke than cigarette smokers do.”

The dangers associated with smoking hookah are two-fold.  First, there is a concern about the cleanliness of the hookah cafes.  Because hookahs are shared and re-used, if cafes do not clean them properly, there is a risk of spreading infectious diseases.

Second, the hookah smoke itself contains high levels of toxic compounds, including tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals. Smoking from a hookah actually exposes an individual to more carbon monoxide and smoke than a cigarette, and delivers the same amount of nicotine, which can lead to dependence.

Health risks of smoking hookah include lung cancer, respiratory illness, low birth-weight (among infants whose mothers smoked hookah during pregnancy) and periodontal disease.

“This study highlights hookah smoking as a considerable public health concern, especially among young adults,” Sutfin said. “Going forward, we need to develop interventions to address this risky behavior.”

The study was published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.