Health Headlines - September 1

Indonesian Children Get Polio Vaccine

Thousands of health workers went door-to-door Wednesday in search of children who were missed in Indonesia's nationwide polio immunization drive, after some parents expressed fear the vaccine was unsafe or violated Islamic law.

Encephalitis Keeps Killing Kids in Asia

A Japanese encephalitis outbreak that has killed hundreds of children in northern India and Nepal in recent weeks has no cure or effective treatment. It is easily preventable, but the necessary vaccines are simply not available to millions.

RAND Study Examines Public Health Clinics

One health clinic officer told a caller describing botulism symptoms to go back to bed. Another told a caller describing signs of bubonic plague not to worry. And not one of 19 public health clinics surveyed by the RAND Corporation suggested isolating a patient whose face, arms and legs were said to be covered with pustules or other smallpox symptoms.

Surgeon Performs New Cleft Palate Surgery

Quinn Sliment was born with a cleft palate, a defect that caused his lip to merge into his nostril on the right side of his face. But on Tuesday, the 14-month-old was all smiles at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis, showing just a ghost of a scar.

Encephalitis Death Toll Hits 267 in India

Japanese encephalitis has killed 14 more people in northern India, taking the death toll from the mosquito-borne disease to 267, officials said Tuesday.

New Combo Japanese Diabetes Drug OK'd

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. has obtained approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its new drug for diabetes treatment and will begin selling it in October, the company said Tuesday.

Tips for following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet

Introduction

Following the DASH diet—an eating plan that is low in cholesterol, saturated fat, and total fat, but rich in low-fat dairy foods, fruits, and vegetables—has been proven to lower blood pressure. DASH also recommends eating whole grains, fish, poultry and nuts as part of a balanced diet.

DASH is one of several lifestyle changes your doctor may recommend to lower your high blood pressure. Your doctor may also want you to decrease the amount of sodium and sodium-rich prepared foods in your diet. Lowering sodium while following DASH has been proven to lower blood pressure even further than just DASH alone.

Key points:

Eating fewer processed foods, such as snack items, luncheon meats, and canned soups, will reduce the amount of sodium in your diet and help you lower your blood pressure.

A diet low in calcium, potassium, and magnesium and high in sodium may cause high blood pressure.

To increase the potassium in your diet, fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of this nutrient. Dairy products are high in calcium and magnesium. DASH recommends that you eat 8 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables and 3 servings of low-fat dairy products per day.

Eating a diet low in both saturated fats and total fat will also help lower your blood pressure. Only 30% of your total calories should be from fats, with only 7% to 10% of your fat calories from saturated fats. Saturated fats are found in meats, cheese, butter, poultry, snack foods, and other foods.

In general, vegetarian diets reduce blood pressure. The DASH diet could easily be a vegetarian diet if legumes were substituted for meat. Vegetarian diets tend to be higher in potassium, magnesium, and calcium, as does the DASH diet. Vegetarian diets also are higher in fiber and unsaturated fats than other diets.

Controlling your weight, increasing your physical activity, and reducing sodium in your diet will help reduce your blood pressure even more when combined with the DASH diet.