Heart Attacks in 3 Teens Linked to K2

Designer Drug Mimics the Effects of Marijuana

Nov. 4, 2011 -- Three previously healthy Texas teens had heart attacks after smoking the "legal high" products sold under names such as K2 and Spice.

All three of the 16-year-old boys survived, report Colin Kane, MD, and colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Kane's team treated each of the boys. The teens obtained and smoked the K2 products in separate incidents.

"They certainly did damage to their hearts," Kane, a pediatric cardiologist, tells WebMD. "Hopefully there will be no long-term health implications, just a scare. But time will tell."

In an effort to skirt state and federal laws, K2-type products usually are sold as incense, plant food, or even as toy cleaner. With a nod and a wink, they are marked "not for human consumption." But the herbs are spiked with synthetic cannabinoids -- designer drugs that mimic marijuana.

Although the effects of K2 drugs are similar to those of marijuana, the drugs have little in common with the real herb. Synthetic cannabinoids were initially created for lab use only. They are based on chemicals that never would be approved for human use. As a result, most drug screens do not detect these drugs.

Invoking its emergency authority, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has made five of these drugs illegal. But new versions pop up all the time. And the old ones are still widely available in products sold on the Internet, in specialty shops, and at convenience stores.

"They did comment it was very easy to get. They had no trouble buying it at gas stations, and they said lots of other kids were doing it," Kane says. "But one of the kids was a high school football player, and he was attracted by the idea it never would show up on drug screens."

Each of the boys suffered chest pains one day to one week after smoking a K2 product. Examination at the emergency department showed that they had suffered the same kind of heart attacks.

It's not yet clear exactly how K2-type drugs cause heart attacks. There are reports in the medical literature of healthy young people having heart attacks after smoking marijuana. These reports are relatively rare, given how widely marijuana is used.

The heart effects of marijuana are likely due to the drug's ability to bind to cannabinoid receptors, switches on brain and body cells that trigger different functions. Synthetic cannabinoids bind more strongly to these switches than do the cannabinoids in marijuana. This results in stronger potency and more intense effects.

"We don't know everything about these drugs, but there are certainly health risks," Kane says. "This should not be seen as a safe alternative to marijuana."

Kane and colleagues report the three cases in the December issue of Pediatrics.

View the original article here

'Sun Safety' Counseling Pays Off for Kids and Teens

U.S. Guidelines Say Kids Can Avoid Skin Cancer if Counseled by Doctors on Limiting Sun Exposure

Nov. 8, 2011 -- Catch them when they're young.

That's the message at the heart of new guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) that call for pediatricians and primary care doctors to discuss sun safety and skin cancer prevention with fair-skinned children, adolescents, and young adults.

The guidelines update the group's 2003 recommendations, which stated that there was not enough evidence to warrant such counseling for any age group.

After reviewing all studies published since that time, the task force states that there seems to be some benefit to counseling fair-skinned people in the 10- to 24-year-old group on how to limit exposure to the sun's harmful rays.

The message is also best served when it focuses on how the sun's ultraviolet rays can affect appearance, as opposed to skin cancer risk. Sun exposure causes premature aging and wrinkles.

The group says that there is still not enough data to determine whether it makes sense to counsel people aged 24 and older about how they can minimize their risk of developing skin cancer.

"It appears that the important age range is young and this is, in part, because that is where the data is," says USPSTF panel chair Virginia A. Moyer, MD, MPH. She is a professor of pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

"Ten- to 12-year-old children are very aware of how they look and most of the counseling methods that work are appearance based," she says.

"If you tell a teenager that she needs to wear a long-sleeved shirt on a hot day because she may get cancer in the future, it doesn't resonate as much as if you tell them they will develop wrinkles and start to look older than they are," Moyer says.

This approach can change risky behaviors. In one study of young adults, appearance-based prevention education reduced indoor tanning by 35%.

The bottom line is appearance trumps cancer prevention in this age group, she says.

Overall, traditional prevention messages that focus on skin cancer risk as well as those that focus on appearance do make a difference. These messages can easily be folded into visits with primary care doctors along with other important prevention topics.

Computer-based education programs, booklets, and/or peer-to-peer counseling can all help doctors get their message across.

"Counseling in the primary care office can make a difference," Moyer tells WebMD. "You have got to use time for what is effective and this is effective and doable in primary care. You can do it in the office, make a difference and not use up all of your time. That is exciting."

View the original article here

Everyday Education- Literature, Home School Teens, Etc.

View the original article here

Everyday Education- Literature, Home School Teens, Etc.

View the original article here

Everyday Education- Literature, Home School Teens, Etc.

View the original article here