Rite Aid And The Skin Cancer Foundation Help Customers Have Safe Fun In The Sun With Free Skin Care Guide, Online Info And Free Skin Cancer Screenings

To help customers have a safe and fun summer in the sun, Rite Aid and The Skin Cancer Foundation are partnering to raise awareness and offer free information on the importance of smart skin care practices. A free skin care guide aimed to encourage customers to protect their skin this summer will be available at nearly 4,900 Rite Aid stores nationwide and online at http://www.riteaid.com starting May 31.

The 12-page skin care guide contains information from The Skin Cancer Foundation on being proactive in preventing skin cancer, guidelines on how to use and choose sunscreen, and tips to avoid burning. There’s a section on how to protect the eyes with the proper sunglasses, as well as information on how different kinds of recreation call for different kinds of sun protection, such as sweat-resistant or water-resistant sunscreens and a lip balm of at least SPF 15.

Rite Aid And The Skin Cancer Foundation Help Customers Have Safe Fun In The Sun With Free Skin Care Guide, Online Info And Free Skin Cancer Screenings

To help customers have a safe and fun summer in the sun, Rite Aid and The Skin Cancer Foundation are partnering to raise awareness and offer free information on the importance of smart skin care practices. A free skin care guide aimed to encourage customers to protect their skin this summer will be available at nearly 4,900 Rite Aid stores nationwide and online at http://www.riteaid.com starting May 31.

The 12-page skin care guide contains information from The Skin Cancer Foundation on being proactive in preventing skin cancer, guidelines on how to use and choose sunscreen, and tips to avoid burning. There’s a section on how to protect the eyes with the proper sunglasses, as well as information on how different kinds of recreation call for different kinds of sun protection, such as sweat-resistant or water-resistant sunscreens and a lip balm of at least SPF 15.

Black Women More Likely To Have Vitamin D Deficiency, Bacterial Vaginosis, Study Finds

Black women are nearly three times as likely as white women to have a vitamin D deficiency, which is linked with an increased risk of the vaginal infection bacterial vaginosis, according to a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the New York Times reports. Black women likely have lower levels of vitamin D because the higher amount of pigment in their skin prevents the body from absorbing the vitamin.

For the study, researchers led by Lisa Bodnar, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, examined 209 white pregnant women and 260 black pregnant women at a Pittsburgh clinic. More than half of the women had low levels of vitamin D, the study found. Women whose vitamin D levels were 50 nanomoles or less had a 26% increased risk of BV, while women whose vitamin levels were less than 20 nanomoles had a 65% increased risk of the infection. About 52% of black women had the infection, compared with 27% of white women, the study found (Bakalar, New York Times, 5/26). The study found that 93% of women with BV had low vitamin D levels and that BV prevalence decreased as vitamin levels increased.

Women With Gestational Diabetes During Pregnancy Have A Substantial And Persistently Elevated Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes Post-Birth

Women who develop gestational diabetes (GD) during pregnancy have a seven-and-a-half times increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes post-birth, which lasts throughout their lifetime. However, there is no agreed policy on the long-term follow up of these women and many do not return for the currently recommended 6-week post-birth diabetes check. An Article in this week’s diabetes special issue of The Lancet says that the strength of the association suggests that both disorders have an overlapping cause-and this should act as an incentive for women to attend the recommended post-birth check. This attendance could be an opportunity to provide advice on diet and exercise, and treatments to delay or prevent onset of diabetes-as well as alerting these women to symptoms of future diabetes, and to alert general practitioners responsible for their long-term care.

Vitamin D May Have Key Role In Helping Brain Work Well In Later Life

[Association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and cognitive performance in middle-aged and older European men J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2009; doi 10.1136/jnnp.2008.165720]

Vitamin D may have a key role in helping the brain to keep working well in later life, suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Previous research indicates that inadequate vitamin D intake may be linked to poorer mental agility in the ageing brain, but the results have been inconsistent.

Alzheimer’s Patients On Antipsychotics Have Nearly Double Death Risk

A new study sponsored by the UK Alzheimer’s Research Trust concluded that antipsychotic drugs commonly prescribed to Alzheimer’s patients in the UK nearly doubles their risk of death over three years.

The study was led by Professor Clive Ballard of King’s College London and was published in The Lancet Neurology on 9 January.

For the study, Ballard and colleagues recruited 165 residential care home patients with Alzheimer’s disease who were on prescription antipsychotic drugs. 83 of them continued to take the real drugs while 82 continued with placebos.

Folic Acid Supplements Help To Prevent Certain Birth Defects For Which Hispanic Women Have Increased Risk

Twenty-one percent of Hispanic women are consuming enough folic acid to prevent certain birth defects before becoming pregnant, compared with more than 40% of white women, the North Denver News reports. Consuming adequate amounts of the dietary supplement before becoming pregnant can help prevent neural tube birth defects — serious defects of the spine and brain. According to the News, roughly 3,000 infants are born with neural tube birth defects annually. The effects of the conditions occur within the first few weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman is aware that she is pregnant.

Folic Acid Supplements Help To Prevent Certain Birth Defects For Which Hispanic Women Have Increased Risk

Twenty-one percent of Hispanic women are consuming enough folic acid to prevent certain birth defects before becoming pregnant, compared with more than 40% of white women, the North Denver News reports. Consuming adequate amounts of the dietary supplement before becoming pregnant can help prevent neural tube birth defects — serious defects of the spine and brain. According to the News, roughly 3,000 infants are born with neural tube birth defects annually. The effects of the conditions occur within the first few weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman is aware that she is pregnant.

Patients With Anxiety Disorders Think They Have More Physiological Problems Than They Really Have

A doctoral thesis carried out at the University of Granada has proved that patients with serious anxiety disorders (panic disorder with and without agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder or generalized anxiety disorder) think they suffer more physiological (palpitations, sweating, irregular breathing, shaking of the hands and muscular tension …) than they really have. In other words, although many patients with anxiety disorders have orally reported very intense physiological symptoms in surveys and questionaires, they are hyporeactive when real measures of such symptoms are taken through physiological tests.

Interracial Asian-White Couples Have Distinct Risks For Gestational Diabetes, Caesareans, Study Finds

Couples in which one of the partners is Asian and the other is white have distinct pregnancy-related outcomes when compared with white couples, according to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reuters Health reports. The study, by researchers from Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the university’s School of Medicine, looked at 3,226 Asian couples, 5,575 white couples and 868 couples with a partner of each race who delivered at the hospital from 2000 to 2005 (Reuters Health, 10/1).