West Newsmagazine 10-11-17

36 I HEALTH I
October 11, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
@WESTNEWSMAG
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Some signs are pointing to a worse than usual flu season this fall and winter.
health
Capsules
By LISA RUSSELL
Flu preview: signs point to
possible widespread illness
Although the 2017-2018 flu season has
not yet started ramping up, health experts
already are predicting a potentially rough
road ahead. Medical officials in the U.S.
usually look to the southern hemisphere’s
flu season to predict what might start
happening here in the fall, and what they
are seeing now doesn’t look good. Australia
currently is emerging from one of
its worst flu seasons in recent years, with
more than two-and-a-half times more flu
cases reported this year compared with the
same period last year, according to Australia’s
Department of Health.
Most diagnosed cases there have been
in people over the age of 80 and children
between the ages of 5 and 9, and have
involved a strain of influenza virus known
as H3N2, which tends to cause more
severe issues for older people and those
with weakened immune systems.
The currently available flu shot does offer
protection against the primary virus strain
circulating in Australia, according to the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[CDC]. However, there are many
different types of flu viruses, and they are
constantly changing. The composition of
U.S. flu vaccines is reviewed and updated
annually to match circulating viruses as
closely as possible.
This year’s flu vaccines, already available
at area medical offices, pharmacies,
urgent care clinics and many large
retail stores, are available as either threecomponent
[trivalent] or four-component
[quadrivalent] types, which protect against
several different strains of influenza A and
B. The CDC recommends vaccination for
everyone ages 6 months and older. Children
between 6 months and 8 years of age
who have never been vaccinated against
influenza should have two doses of vaccine,
administered at least four weeks apart,
for full protection. The recommendation
against using the nasal spray flu vaccine
has been renewed for this year as well, as it
has been found to be much less protective.
As of June 2017, pregnant women aged
18 and older can receive any licensed and
age-appropriate influenza vaccine, according
to updated CDC guidelines. It takes
about two weeks after getting the shot for
antibodies against influenza to develop in
the body, so vaccination is recommended
before the end of October. However, this
year’s flu season most likely will extend
through April 2018, so vaccination at any
point prior to that time can be beneficial.
Weekly seasonal flu reports from the St.
Louis County Department of Public Health,
which monitor diagnosed flu cases in the
area, will resume this month. The department’s
website is www.stlouisco.com/
healthandwellness.
Area researchers to participate
in kidney stone prevention study
In the United States, the prevalence of
urinary stones – commonly called kidney
stones – has nearly doubled over the
past 15 years, now affecting about 1 in 11
people. The incidence of kidney stones,
once thought of as occurring exclusively
among adults, has risen strikingly among
children and adolescents in particular.
Although the reasons why kidney stones
are on the rise among all age groups are
not known, researchers theorize that higher
sodium intake, decreased calcium intake
and chronic dehydration may be some
of the factors to blame. At the same time,
not much high-quality research related to
kidney stone prevention currently exists.
Most therapies intervene only after people
already have developed kidney stones,
which can be excruciatingly painful and
difficult to eliminate, sometimes requiring
surgery.
Existing guidelines do agree on one
important lifestyle change to prevent
kidney stones: drinking more water. However,
previous research shows that people
with a history of kidney stones – who are
always urged to drink more water – may not
actually do so consistently. After receiving
this advice, most show only a small average
increase in 24-hour urine output, the
key measure of fluid consumption.
In response to the need for better kidney
stone prevention, a new study titled Prevention
of Urinary Stones with Hydration
[PUSH] soon will begin at four sites across
the U.S., one of which is Washington University
in St. Louis. The two-year clinical
trial will investigate whether using a
“smart” water bottle called Hidrate Spark,
which monitors fluid consumption and connects
to a smartphone app, can help reduce
the recurrence of kidney stones. The study
also will look at whether offering financial
incentives and receiving advice from a
health coach, in conjunction with using the
Hidrate Spark bottle, can create a sustainable
change in behavior over time.
The PUSH study will recruit just over
1,600 people nationwide. To be eligible,
participants must be 12 years of age or
older; must have had at least one symptomatic
kidney stone over the past three years;
must have a low 24-hour urine output and
must own a smartphone or tablet, among
other eligibility criteria.
“Urinary stone disease remains an important
medical, scientific and public health
problem, and it is an extraordinarily painful
one for those it affects,” said Dr. Griffin
P. Rodgers, director of the National Institute
of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases. “With this trial, we’re leaning on
technology to find a solution to preventing
urinary stones that can fit into people’s lifestyles.”
More information about the national
study may be obtained by visiting the
ClinicalTrials.gov website and entering
the study number, NCT03244189. Area
residents interested in being considered for
participation in the PUSH study may also
contact Aleksandra Klim at Washington
University by email at klima@wustl.edu.
Even babies can learn that
hard work pays off
Parents who want to teach their young
children the value of persistence and effort
can perhaps take heart from a new MIT
study, which showed that babies as young
as 15 months can learn these lessons. The
researchers found that babies who watched
an adult struggle at two different tasks
before succeeding tried harder when given
their own challenging task, compared to
babies who saw an adult succeed quickly
and without much effort.
“There’s some pressure on parents to
make everything look easy and not get
frustrated in front of their children,” said
Laura Schulz, a professor of cognitive science
at MIT and the senior author of the
study. “There’s nothing you can learn from
a laboratory study that directly applies to
parenting, but this does at least suggest that
it may not be a bad thing to show your chil-