Adults with aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease are more than three times as likely to have been exposed to secondhand smoke as kids, U.S. researchers say. Dr. Jinny Chang of The Methodist Hospital said about 10 percent of people with asthma and one-third of asthmatics with chronic sinus inflammation have aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease. Although they might have been able to take aspirin previously, most are now unable to take it without suffering an asthma attack or other respiratory symptoms, Chang said. "More than half of U.S. children are exposed to secondhand smoke, and this study adds to the evidence that it is a health threat," Chang said in a statement. "This study shows it also is associated with aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease, The study included a total of 520 people: 260 patients who had asthma and aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease and their spouses, who did not have asthma or aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease. In the study, compared with those without aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease, those with the condition were more than three times as likely to have been exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke as children and were five times as likely to have been exposed during childhood and adulthood. Smokers were more than one and a half times more likely to have aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease than those who never smoked, the study said. The findings are scheduled to be published in the January issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

As described by Wikipedia, homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient. Homeopathy originated in the mid 1800s. It has gradually grown in popularity, on the basis of some health innovations, and a growing trend of seeking natural forms of medicine. Homeopathy is the beneficiary of commons myths and suppositions that are simply not true. Below are the 9 common myths that we are going to dismiss one by one. Myth #1: "There is no proof that homeopathy works." Logic and experimentation is the foundation of Homeopathy. It has been studied for various conditions and usually takes place in India and other countries. The outcomes are rarely reported here. How the remedies might work is still up for discussion. That they work in some way has been demonstrated in experimental studies. If you ask homeopaths, the evidence that their medicines work is in what their patients tell them. Myth #2: "Homeopathic remedies are just placebo -- sugar pills." Yes, remedies are made with watered down amounts of the original plant, animal or mineral. For that reason, many people believe the pills are really just placebo and does not contain medicine at all. But the makeup of these remedies is different from water or sugar and they have positive actions in the body. "Placebo" means people presume the medicine is working when in fact it didn’t help in any way. But in the case of homeopathy it has been found to work in a wide range of conditions and it works on babies and animals, which cannot possibly be affected by placebo. Myth #3: "Homeopathy is a miracle cure for almost anything." It isn't a cure-all or all purpose. Like any medicine, homeopathy has its own limitation. Some people won't respond. Some conditions are untreatable. While it can help with symptoms, homeopathy cannot alleviate many health problems and situations where an organ or system is meeting halfway. Myth #4: "Homeopathy is slow in working." That is not true. Actually homeopathy works fast when it comes to treating acute problems. In reality if a remedy shows no sign of effectiveness by the third or fourth day, you ought to try another one. It will surely take longer when used for chronic conditions, but no longer than most drugs. Myth #5: "It's only good for chronic problems." Homeopathy is effective for chronic issues, but barely. It's actually better for severe symptoms happening right at the moment. The myth comes from the fact that people likely to visit the homeopath only after their illness has improved and become persistent. What if they had tried homeopathy at the beginning? Myth #6: "Homeopaths are not trained doctors." That is not right; of course they have formal training in medicine, although not in conventional medicine. Homeopathic colleges all over the world train new practitioners. When you see a homeopath, ask for his/her accreditations. Myth #7: "Homeopathy is just a type of herbal medicine." This is wrong for the following reasons. Homeopathy uses herbs, animals and minerals. For an animal example, take Apis, which is honeybee. But it's also tentatively different than herbal medicine, which make use of the active ingredients in herbs to treat health conditions. But homeopathy is based on far different principles and acts in different ways. What’s more they are generally tried one remedy at a time, whereas herbal medicine regularly uses many plants at once. Myth #8: "Strong scents and flavors work against the remedies." Many people believe that substances with strong aroma such as coffee, alcohol, mint, onions and garlic, physically thwart a remedy. It is true that homeopaths have wanted patients to keep away from these things, but it was mostly to see if a therapy worked without any impending interference. None of them would actually work against a remedy. (You are, though, required to take a remedy at least 15 minutes outside of any meal.) Myth #9: "Your symptoms get worse before they improve." Many people believe that there are negative responses when you first start a remedy. But this is far from significant. There are people who are very receptive to a remedy and it happens. There are people too who take a remedy in too high in strength. They don’t always get worse! If you have reservations, always go for the smaller dose. Note: In the context of homeopathy, the term remedy is used to refer to a substance which has been prepared with a particular procedure and intended for patient use; it is not to be confused with the generally accepted use of the word,which means "a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieves pain". (Wikipedia)

LONDON, Ontario, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Vitamin B therapy still has a role to play in reducing the risk of stroke, U.S. and Canadian researchers suggest. Dr. David Spence of The University of Western Ontario and Dr. Meir Stampfer of the Harvard School of Public Health said vitamin B therapy was once widely used to lower homocysteine levels. Too much of this amino acid in the bloodstream was linked to increased risk of stroke and heart attack, but several randomized trials found lowering homocysteine levels with B vitamins did not result in a cardiovascular benefit. In fact, Spence, a scientist with the Robarts Research Institute at Western's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, found vitamin B therapy actually increased cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetic nephropathy. In an commentary published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Spence and Stampfer said two key issues have been overlooked in the interpretation of the clinical trials -- the key role of vitamin B12, and the newly recognized role of renal failure. "It is now clear that the large trials showing no benefit of vitamin therapy obscured the benefit of vitamin therapy because they lumped together patients with renal failure and those with good renal function," Spence said in the commentary. "The vitamins are harmful in renal failure, and beneficial in patients with good renal function, and they cancel each other out," said Spence, the author of "How to Prevent Your Stroke." The commentary authors also contend most of the trials did not use a high enough dose of vitamin B12.