The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization are closely monitoring the outbreaks of a new type of swine flu in the United States and Mexico to avert a potential flu pandemic. The outbreak has killed at least 16 people in Mexico and infected eight people in the United States. All the American cases have recovered. 

The new strain of flu virus is unusual because it contains gene segments from swine, bird, and human flu virus strains. It is believed that some infections were transmitted from person to person instead of from pigs

On Friday, Mexico City health officials closed schools across the city, urged people with flu symptoms to stay home from work, and encouraged people to take precautions such as regular hand washing.

Health officials have warned for many years that new flu virus strains such as the current one could precipitate a global flu pandemic, which could kill millions of people. The pandemic of 1918-19 resulted in at least 40 million deaths worldwide.

The CDC has not yet recommended against traveling to Mexico. The current season’s flu vaccine does not protect against the new swine flu virus but the CDC is apparently working on a swine flu vaccine. People cannot catch swine flu from eating pork or pork products.

Have a question about swine flu? Ask the medical students at Healia Communities.


_{Photo: treehouse1977, Flickr, Creative Commons}

If you smiled big in your yearbook photos and grinned wide in childhood pictures, it might have been a prediction of your marital success. And if you constantly kept a straight face, it might have predicted marital failure

According to a study published in April by the journal Motivation and Emotion, the intensity of an individual’s smile in photos taken decades ago correlates with that same person’s likelihood to be married or divorced. The study found that people who smiled with the most enthusiasm had the highest rate of marital success. Those with weak smiles were more than three times as likely to have been divorced during their lifetimes.

Perhaps the photo (left) of Mel Gibson’s forced smile is an indication of the actor’s current divorce proceedings with Robyn, his wife of nearly 30 years. She filed for divorce on April 13, 2009, citing irreconcilable differences. This picture was snapped at the 1990 premier of AirAmerica, when Gibson was just 34.

To find the connection between smiles and marital status, researchers at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana conducted two studies of nearly 650 people between the ages of 21 and 87.

The first study rated smiles in college yearbook photos on a scale between one and ten. All of the top-ranked 10% of grinners remained married, whereas almost one quarter of the bottom 10% had experienced divorce.

The second study rated childhood and young-adulthood photos of individuals now 65 or older. The results found that just 11% of the subjects with big smiles were divorced, but 31% of those with somber faces reported marital failures.

Though the study’s findings do not imply that smiling causes successful marriages, the researchers posited that smiling in photographs is indicative of positive lifelong dispositions. Frowning, on the other hand, indicates negative attitude and demeanor, and possibly depression.

Psychology researchers E. Mark Cummings and Patrick T. Davies (not affiliated with the DePauw study) reported in the book Children and Martial Conflict: the Impact of Family Dispute and Resolution that in 30% of couples in tumultuous marriages, one parent is clinically depressed.

If you’re feeling blue or if your spouse is down and out, visit the Healia Depression Online Health Community and Support Group to share experiences and advice with other community members.

_{Photos: Yearbook, Alan Light, Flickr, Creative Commons
             Mel Gibson, MilesGehm, Flickr, Creative Commons}

Bill Rodgers, the former top-ranked marathon runner in the world, is running next Monday’s 113th Boston Marathon to promote prostate cancer awareness at the age of 61. A four-time winner of the Boston Marathon, Rodgers will be helping Athletes for a Cure, a program of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, to raise funds for and build awareness of prostate cancer.

Rodgers was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year. “There was no indication of any problem before I was diagnosed,” said Rodgers in a press release. “I’ve always tried to watch my health. Being so physically active, I was completely shocked to learn I had prostate cancer. I was also surprised to find out one out of six American men will also be in this same situation sometime in their lives. Prostate cancer is just that prevalent.”

Risk factors for prostate cancer include being 50 years of age or older; being of African heritage; having a brother, son, or father who had prostate cancer; and eating a high fat diet or drinking alcohol.

The American Cancer Society does not recommend routine prostate cancer screening for all men but recommends that health care professionals “offer testing with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and digital rectal exam (DRE) yearly, beginning at age 50, to men who are at average risk of prostate cancer and have at least a 10-year life expectancy.” They also recommend that screening be considered at 40 or 45 if the person has high risk factors such as being of African American heritage and having a family history of prostate cancer at an early age.

The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and one of the most prestigious races. In 2008 nearly 22,000 runners completed the course.

For more information, see Healia’s resources about prostate cancer prevention and screening, and cancer organizations and healthcare providers. Or get online support from our online community for prostate cancer.


_{Photo: Paul Keleher, Flickr, Creative Commons}

Many studies have suggested that people with Type 2 diabetes may be at higher risk for developing dementia. But a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that extreme drops in blood sugar, known as hypoglycemia, might be the factor that increases the incidence of dementia in aging patients.

The study, which surveyed more than 15,000 patients with Type 2 diabetes over a 27 year period, reported that even one severe episode of hypoglycemia puts patients at an increased risk for developing dementia. The risk of dementia continued to increase with each subsequent hypoglycemic episode.

The results showed that patients who required hospitalization for a single episode of hypoglycemia had a 26 percent higher risk for dementia than patients who never had hypoglycemia. Patients who required hospitalization for two hypoglycemic episodes had an increased risk of 80 percent, while those who required hospitalization three or more times had a 94 percent increased risk, roughly twice that of patients with no history of hypoglycemia.

No research was conducted on the relationship between minor hypoglycemic episodes and dementia.

Read more about dementia on Healia’s Dementia Health Guide. Discuss your experiences with the neurological disorder on the Healia Dementia Community and Support Group, or share your diabetes stories on the Diabetes Type 2 Community and Support Group.


_{Photo: hweiling, Flickr, Creative Commons}