Do you remember The Karate Kid? Not the one that came out a few years back starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, but the real one, with Ralph Macchio as the bullied teen Daniel who learns to defend himself with the aid of the late Noriyuki “Pat” Morita’s ancient, surprisingly skilled handyman, Mr. Miyagi. Brace yourself: Ralph Macchio is now the same age Pat Morita was when he filmed the first movie. I just hope Daniel eventually grew up and got a real job. He’d make a great esthetician: “Wax on....”
Hemera
Gesundheit!!
Something to sneeze at
According to an abstract at this year’s American Academy of Allergy and Immunology (AAAAI) meeting, your tired, poor, huddled masses may want to emigrate to some other country if they’re yearning to breathe free. Dr. Jonathan Silverberg of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York presented data showing that children who move to the United States become progressively more likely to develop allergic disease the longer they live here, although he could not say which of our treasured freedoms might be to blame.
Kids who had lived in the U.S. for 10 years had three times the rate of allergic disease as those who had only been here 2 years, according to the 2007-2008 National Survey of Children’s Health. Researchers have known for a while that children in Mexico, China, and many other countries suffer fewer allergies and less asthma and eczema than did their American counterparts, but this study further suggests that there’s something about living here that actually causes atopy. Determining whether the source is some uniquely American toxin like, say, country music, or simply that we keep everything too darned clean will require more study. I’m just looking forward to the next Karate Kid sequel, in which the now-aged Daniel teaches a meek youngster from Okinawa how to properly use his inhaler.
Atlas hugged
As my daughter approaches high school, I like to remind her of all the good reasons to get involved in some sort of volunteer project. For example, it will look good on her college applications. Also, there might be cute boys there. A new study from Canada suggests volunteering could even improve her health! At least that’s what happened to 52 Vancouver 10th graders who participated in a 2-month long mentoring program at local elementary schools. Compared with matched controls, the volunteers saw improvements in body mass index, interleukin-6 levels, and cholesterol measurements. There was even a dose-response curve, with those subjects who showed the greatest increases in altruism also seeing the biggest improvements in cardiac risk factors. Researchers did not report on differences in college acceptance rates or romantic entanglements.
Like all intriguing studies, this one bears repetition and elaboration. For example, would the intervention work in other countries, or did it only succeed because Canadians are so darned nice? Would volunteering at a dog shelter or a soup kitchen be equally effective, or are elementary school students naturally cardioprotective? I mean if the effect generalized, shouldn’t Mr. Miyagi have lived to be 115?
Zit true?
Is it just me, or in the last year, has sugar come to be the new Agent Orange? It seems like excessive consumption of sucrose, fructose, and simple carbohydrates has been linked to every ill known to befall humankind except for one, at least until the March issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics hit news stands. Now, the rumor they told us was just a myth has been resurrected and elevated to the status of an almost-fact: Eating sugar worsens acne.
I’m glad I didn’t know this as a teenager, although honestly as bad as my acne was the word “worsen” couldn’t really apply. But there it is: Based on a review of 27 studies published between 1960 and 2012, registered dietician Jennifer Burns and her colleagues at New York University determined that while pizza and milk may not have deserved their complexion-ruining reputations, dietary sugar has been the secret culprit all along. This gives me an idea for the name of my new karate dojo for evil bullies: “High Fructose Corn Syrup Kai.” Sweep the leg, then stir gently.
David L. Hill, M.D, FAAP, is vice president of Cape Fear Pediatrics in Wilmington, NC, and is an adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is Program Director for the AAP Council on Communications and Media and an executive committee member of the North Carolina Pediatric Society. He has recorded commentaries for NPR's All Things Considered and provided content for various print, television and Internet outlets. Dr. Hill is the author of Dad to Dad: Parenting Like A Pro (AAP Publishing 2012).