Chadashot--Jewish Health News: Stress and Antibiotics

By Ilene Springer

If you have trouble remembering someone's name when you meet on the street--or you get exasperated about where you put that something or other (you just had it in your hands), don't fret too much. The problem could very well be too much stress striking out your memory just when you need it. Scientists at the University of California, working with rats, have discovered that during stress the hormone corticosterone impairs the rats' memory. Corticosterone is similar to cortisol, which is secreted under stress in humans by the adrenal glands near the kidneys. The research team is now studying how stress more specifically applies to humans, but the researchers are confident that stress hormones do impact our memories. One recommendation: People should try to do some relaxation exercises before taking on an activity that involves memory, such as an exam. Another implication of the research is looking at whether or not traumatic events flood the system with stress hormones enough to wipe out memory, as in repressed memories.

Don't Pressure Your Pediatrician for Antibiotics

There's been a lot of research going on about why many antibiotics are not working anymore. One reason is that they are overused and the bacteria are becoming resistant to them. In a recent study conducted by the Boston University School of Medicine, researchers found that "parental pressure, rather than concerns about malpractice," writes Sandra G. Boodman for The Washington Post, "is the major reason pediatricians prescribe antibiotics to children who probably don't need them." The widespread use of antibiotics and their subsequent failure to work in many cases is becoming a major health problem. The thing to remember is that kids get sick a lot and it's often a viral infection, such as a cold--which antibiotics will not do anything for. And yet, many parents, feeling the need to get something from the doctor, pressure their children's physicians to prescribe an antibiotic. In the study, one in three pediatricians said they often or occasionally prescribed antibiotics--unnecessarily--just to appease parents. The lesson here: Listen to your doctor, educate yourself on the kinds of bacterial infections antibiotics are necessary for--and then leave the prescribing to your doctor.

Ilene Springer writes on health for Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, Family Circle and other national magazines. She lives in Brookline, MA with her husband and two children and is editor of JewishHealth.com