From the office of Robert S. Grimshaw Jr MD FACP Internal Medicine 3535 Hill Blvd Yorktown Hts NY 914 962-3180 NEWS Recognized Provider  “With Distinction” by the American Diabetes Association/National Committee for Quality Assurance 2/99-2/02

51 Page 2      February 1999

For Daily Exercise, the
Home Can Equal the Gym
That’s the conclusion of Johns Hopkins researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  Dr. Ross Andersen and colleagues studied 40 women who averaged 196 lbs and found that increasing regular daily home activities such as walking, yard work and using the stairs was as effective as going to the gym 3 times a week.  By 16 weeks, both home and gym exercisers had lost about 18 pounds, and had better blood pressures and LDL (low density lipoprotein or “lousy darn lipid”) cholesterols.  
These conclusions were echoed in JAMA by Dr. Andrea Dunn and colleagues at the Cooper Institute for Aerobic research in Dallas.  They looked at 235 men and women over 2 years and found both lifestyle (walking, stair climbing, etc) and structured activity reduced fat and improved cardiovascular risk factors.
Predicting Heart Attack and Stroke Risk: measure the carotid artery wall thickness.  That’s the message from the Cardiovascular Health Study Collaborative Research Group, led by Tufts’ Dr. Daniel O’Leary. Regular readers of these pages will remember a similar study from Dr. Howard Hudis at USC.  This time 4472 people were studied for an average of 6 years.  Increas-ing thickness of the carotid (neck) artery -- which signifies clogging or atherosclerosis -- meant increasing risk of stroke and heart attack.  
We are aware of one place nearby to get this high-frequency ultra-sound study done -- with NYU cardiologist Dr. Michael Schloss.  The study is painless and requires no fasting.

Slowing Carotid Artery Clogging may be possible with amlodipine (Norvasc) according to a report at the American Heart Association’s national meeting.  Physicians at Wake Forest and the University of Michigan said the drug slowed the progression of atherosclerosis in carotid arteries (in the neck), but had no significant effect on heart arteries.  

Encouraging Exercise: Give them a sign, says a study at a Balti-more mall.  Dr. R E Andersen et al used signs saying “Your heart needs exercise, use the stairs” and “Im-prove your waistline, use the stairs.”  Stair use went from 5% to 7%.
A Pill for All Flu?  GS4104 reduced fever, cough and other symptoms by 40% in a study of 629 patients at 60 US sites.  Bronchitis and sinusitis were reduced 50%.  The pill is designed to be active against all common influenza; current medicines (Flumadine, Symmetrel) fight only influenza A.

Influenza virus
Vitamin E: No Bleeding
problems were seen in a 4 month study of 88 older people in Boston.  Dr. SN Meydani and coworkers found no effect on bleeding, or any other significant side effects.

Vitamin C Protects Lungs according to Chinese researchers.  In a study of 3085 rural Chinese, an increase in dietary vitamin C of 100 mg increased 2 lung function tests.

Aspirin: a Heart Saver: regular readers will recall a lot about aspirin for heart attack prevention.  We’d like to remind you that if you begin having “crushing” (heart) chest pain, taking a 325 mg aspirin right away can save your life.