Health Watch: Can dieting boost fertility?

Study: Obese men should lose weight before trying for baby

Researchers in Scotland say they’ve found evidence that obese men should consider losing weight if they want to have children.

Scientists at the University of Aberdeen found that men with a higher body mass index make less sperm and have a higher proportion of abnormal sperm. The study follows recent research that shows obese women are more likely to have problems conceiving.

"Our findings were quite independent of any other factors," said Dr. A Ghiyath Shayeb, "and seem to suggest that men who are trying for a baby with their partners, should first try to achieve an ideal body weight.” -- European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Drug marketers prohibited from passing out pens

Come next year, doctors may start to see a problem they've yet to experience: a pen shortage.

According to wire reports, new guidelines released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America prohibit drug makers from giving out pens, as well as other "non-educational" items such as mugs, to health-care providers and their staff.

As part of its revised code, the pharmaceutical trade organization determined that such items, which usually are adorned with a company or product logo, could foster misperceptions that these interactions with health-care professionals "are not based on informing them about medical and scientific issues."

Health Tip

Inline skating can burn as many calories per minute as cycling or running. Its low-impact, gliding strokes apply less injury-causing stress to the lower body joints than other sports such as aerobics or tennis.

The National Safety Council recommends these skating safety tips:

- Always wear protective equipment: elbow and knee pads, light gloves, helmets, and wrist guards.

- Choose durable skates that match your needs. For proper ankle support, feel the plastic of the boot: if you can squeeze it, the material is not strong enough to give you reliable support.

- Start skating gradually on level ground. Practice moving forward, and ease into skating. While skating, keep knees slightly bent, which will lower your center of gravity and keep your body balanced on the balls of your feet.

- Practice stopping by bringing the foot with the heel stop forward until the heel stop is next to the toe of the other foot. Gently bend your front knee while lifting your toes up. This motion will bring you to a stop. This is known as the "heel stop."

Number to Know: 2.3

Researchers found that for every 10 percent increase in gas prices there was a 2.3 percent decline in auto deaths.

Professors Michael Morrisey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and David Grabowski of Harvard Medical School said for drivers ages 15 to 17, the decline was 6 percent, and for ages 18 to 21, it was 3.2 percent.

Children’s Health

Traveling by car with your family this summer? Keep your kids safe in the car with these tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics:
 
- Always use a car safety seat for infants and young children.
 
- All children younger than 13 years of age should ride in the rear seat of vehicles.

- Set a good example by always wearing a seat belt.

- Plan to stop driving and give yourself and your child a break about every two hours.

- Never leave your child alone in a car, even for a minute. Temperatures inside the car can reach deadly levels in minutes, and the child can die of heat stroke.

- In addition to a travelers' health kit, parents should carry safe water and snacks, child-safe hand wipes, diaper rash ointment, and a water- and insect-proof ground sheet for safe play outside.

Senior Health

Although colorectal cancer screening tests are proven to reduce colorectal cancer mortality, only about half of U.S. men and women 50 and older receive the recommended tests, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A survey found only 50 percent of men and women 50 and older had received screening in 2005. Although this was an improvement over the 43 percent of screened individuals reported in 2000, it is still far from optimal, researchers said.

The CDC said the availability of health insurance, education, household income and frequency of physician contact influenced the use of colorectal cancer screening tests.

GateHouse News Service