The Costco Connection - September 2015

WITH HEART DISEASE being the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S., what if treating more people with cholesterol-reducing medications could prevent as many as 60,000 heart attacks or strokes over a decade?

In 2013 updated recommendations from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association changed the guidelines for who should receive cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to prevent cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. Those changes were met with criticism and slow adoption rates due to the huge number of Americans— 8 million to 12 million adults, mostly older than 60 years old—who would be put on statins.

Now, as reported by The New York Times,
two new studies published in the July issue
of the Journal of the American Medical
Association strongly support the 2013
guidelines for wider statin use. An accom-
panying editorial in the same issue con-
cludes, “available evidence indicates that
statins are both effective and cost-effective
for primary prevention, even among low-
risk individuals.”
One of the two studies suggests greater
prevention from even wider expansion of
statin use. One study analysis indicates
that if two-thirds of all adults in the U.S.
were on statin drugs, 125,000 to 160,000
heart attacks or strokes could be prevented
over a decade.

The 2013 guidelines make it easier for doctors to interpret who should get statins: basically anyone with a moderate ( 7. 5 percent or greater) risk of having a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years.

Instead of focusing on blood cholesterol targets, which were the focus for the past decade, the risk factors considered in the updated formula are:

• Age

• Gender

• Weight

• Blood pressure

• Smoking habits
Check with your doctor to learn about
your risk for cardiovascular disease and
whether statin drugs could reduce that risk.

—David Wight

By Kerry Johnson

AS CHILDREN RETURN to school, it may not be tough homework that has them scratching their heads. It could be lice.

Millions of kids get head lice—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates between 6 million and 12 million cases occur in the U.S. each year.

Using your head

Lice are wingless insects about the size of sesame seeds. They lay their eggs (called nits) near hair follicles, and suck blood from the scalp.

Lice are not a result of poor hygiene, a messy home or other lifestyle factors.

“They don’t know how much money you make or where you live,” says Nancy Gordon, owner of Lice Knowing You (lice knowingyou.com), a lice-removal company based in Washington state. “Lice are opportunistic. You just have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Spread by contact

Lice spread primarily by head-to-head contact. They crawl and cannot hop or fly. They die after a day or two if they fall off someone’s head, so it’s unusual to catch lice from hats, brushes or other personal items.

But children put their heads together a lot.

“Kids don’t know the meaning of per-
sonal space,” explains Gordon, a Costco
member. “Even in my waiting room, I’ll see
kids who don’t even know each other sitting
in one chair; one is playing a video game and
the other is leaning in, watching.”
And it’s not just young kids, notes Dr. Lisa
Dana, a pediatrician and Costco member in
San Francisco. “Teenagers may be getting lice
more frequently because they’re putting their
heads together for selfies,” she says.

Combing for evidence

Lice can be tricky to spot, because the
adults avoid light and move fast, and the tiny
nits resemble dandruff. To confirm your child
has lice, you can visit a doctor or a professional
like Gordon—or you can do it on your own.

The best way, according to a German study, is to use a fine-tooth lice comb and something to lubricate the hair, like conditioner.

Separate the hair into small sections and comb through one section at a time from roots to ends. Wipe the comb on a paper towel. If lice or nits are present, you should be able to spot them on the comb or the paper towel.

There are several treatment options, including home remedies and over-the-counter solutions. But the only way to eliminate all of the lice is to follow up treatment with a lice comb, Dana says.

You’ll also want to check everyone else in the house and wash anything that may have come into contact with an infected person. If an item isn’t machine washable, seal it in a bag for two weeks to kill any lice already present or that might hatch from any nits that may be present on the items.

“You don’t need to bag up your whole house,” Gordon says. “Only focus on the stuff that was touched or worn in the last day or two.” You also shouldn’t have to keep your kids home from school if they have lice, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, though some districts still require it.