Health Tips

.SIGN LANGUAGE HELPS HEARING KIDS LEARN

If you want to provide your toddler with an enriching but quiet activity, try introducing sign language. American sign language can help youngsters with normal hearing can improve their early communication skills with their parents, says Dr. Marilyn Daniels, an associate professor of speech communication at Penn State University. From birth, children use their hands instinctively to communicate and acquire information. She cites the example of one whiny 9-month-old boy whose mother started teaching him ASL to communicate better with him. By 14 months he knew more ASL than spoken words, and now, at more than 2, he is trying to teach his baby sister to sign. "Sign does not hinder language development in any way, in fact it fosters it," Dr. Daniels says. "Sign language has the unique capacity to tap into the natural exchange between hand and brain, optimizing the emergence of language in the child because of the physiological advantage of ASL over English."

NEW DRUG MAY SLOW SPRAIN HEALING

For arthritis sufferers, the new drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors has been a boon, because they don't cause the serious gastrointestinal problems associated with other anti-inflammatory agents such as aspirin. However, scientists at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, have found that they may impair the healing of bruised ligaments associated with sprains. Dr. Lawrence E. Dahners and his colleagues observed that in rats given the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib (Celebrex), the healed strength of injured ligaments was reduced by 32 percent compared to that of animals who did not receive the drug. Although these results are preliminary, "This would indicate that if you had a soft tissue injury -- hurt your back, sprained your ankle -- you probably should try to take the older anti-inflammatory drugs rather than the new ones, unless your stomach is sensitive to those medications," Dr. Dahners says. The other COX-2 inhibitor currently on the market is rofecoxib, sold under the brand name Vioxx.

WEIGHT GAIN FOLLOWS INCOME

Is it impossible to be too rich and too thin? In a study of more than 10,000 adults tracked over a 13-year period, investigators at the University of Michigan found "substantial weight mobility" over the years, according to Frank Stafford, who directed the research. Among both men and women, roughly half remained in the same weight category over the course of the study, while about 30 percent had gained weight and approximately 20 percent had lost it. "We compared the extent of changes in body mass index and household wealth mobility over this time period, and found that both are of the same order of magnitude. That's understandable, since people often gain both weight and net worth as part of the aging process." The message: cut back on calories as you bulk up your bank account.

DIET TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

For those who don't want to end the holidays looking as prosperous as they are (or wish they were), Netty Levine, MS, RD, a dietitian at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, advises planning a practical weight-management strategy that won't leave you feeling deprived. Among her suggestions: pile your plate with fruits and veggies, leaving just a little room for protein and starch; always watch your portions; try to work in some more exercise during the day, even if it's just in 10- or 15-minute increments; munch on some fruit or vegetable sticks to curb your appetite before going out; minimize the alcohol, which adds calories and stokes the appetite; and don't starve yourself -- arriving at a party famished increases the odds you'll overeat. Above all, says Levine, don't try to lose weight at this time of year. Make it your goal simply to maintain your weight, and maybe you'll have one less resolution to make on New Year's.

(Editors: For more information on ASL, call 814-865-9481; on COX-2, call 919-966-3340; on WEIGHT GAIN, call 734-647-4416; and on EATING, call 1-800-880-2397.)