Colds and contact lenses

Short takes from The Star on health:

Colds and contact lenses
People should not wear contact lenses when they have a cold, according to a top German expert.

Gerald Boehme, head of the contact lens department of Duesseldorf’s Ophthalmologists Association, says those who fail to heed this advice could get eye infections if they cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze, and then rub their eyes.

Soft lenses are particularly prone to collecting germs that may cause conjunctivitis or inflammation of the cornea, he says.

Boehm advises people not to touch their eyes in general – except in the morning, when they should wipe them with a clean washcloth.

“And children should be taught to keep their fingers out of their eyes,” he says.

Increased diabetes risk for men
Sleep disturbances appear to increase the risk of developing diabetes in men but not in women, according to a Swedish study. Dr Lena Mallon, from University Hospital in Uppsala and her associates sent questionnaires regarding sleep complaints and other possible risk factors for diabetes to a random sample of subjects who were 45 to 65 years old in 1983, and again in 1995. A total of 1187 subjects completed both questionnaires.

Spinal arthritis
Exercise programmes are beneficial for people with a type of arthritis affecting the spine – ankylosing spondylitis (AS) – Norwegian researchers report, although it is not clear which type of protocol is best. Dr Hanne Dagfinrud of the University of Oslo and colleagues reviewed of 43 studies involving exercise and AS and eventually scrutinized data on a total of 561 patients in six trials.

Reducing risk of breast cancer
Regular exercise reduces the risk of breast cancer, according to the Komen Association for the Treatment of Breast Cancer in Bad Homburg, Germany.

The association says that moderate exercise also impedes the disease’s progress and is important after breast-cancer treatment, since it helps alleviate typical tiredness.

While regular moderate exercise strengthens the body’s immune system, Komen says, strenuous exercise has a negative effect. It says an hour of exercise three times a week is enough to strengthen the immune system.

Improving bone mass
Older adults who’ve suffered a stroke may be able to improve their fitness and protect their bone mass with specially designed exercise classes, according to Canadian researchers. Their study of 63 stroke survivors found that those who took part in a supervised exercise programme became fitter, stronger and more mobile than those who participated in limited physical activity.

Oral tobacco
Smokeless oral tobacco products such as moist snuff and hard snuff lozenges are not a safe alternative to cigarettes for people trying to kick the habit, as these products contain high levels of cancer-causing compounds.

Instead, the best aids appear to be medicinal nicotine replacement products such as the nicotine patch or gum as these products contain only trace amounts of cancer-causing compounds, according to research presented at a cancer prevention conference in Baltimore this month. – Sources: Reuters, dpa