Eating Less May Slow Aging Process

(HealthDay News) -- Cutting just 300 to 500 calories a day from your diet could be the key to slowing the signs of aging and living longer, according to a new study.

Studies have long shown that reducing calorie intake slows the aging process in rats and mice. A popular theory is that fewer daily calories decreases production of the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3), which then slows metabolism and tissue aging.

A new study, by Saint Louis University researchers, found this hormone decrease occurs when humans regularly skip rich desserts or substitute a turkey sandwich for a Big Mac and fries every day.

"Our research provides evidence that calorie restriction does work in humans like it has been shown to work in animals," study lead author Edward Weiss, associate professor of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University's Doisy College of Health Sciences, said in a prepared statement. "The next step is to determine if this in fact slows age-related tissue deterioration. The only way to be certain, though, is to do a long-term study."

The findings, published in the June 2008 issue of Rejuvenation Research, are based on a study of healthy but sedentary, non-smoking, 50- to 60-year-old men and post-menopausal women. For a year, the volunteers participated in either: a calorie-restriction group that cut their daily calorie intake by 300 to 500 calories per day; a group that stayed on their regular diet and exercised regularly; or a group that maintained its normal routine.

While those in the calorie-restriction and exercise groups both lost body fat mass, only those in the calorie restriction group also had lower levels of the thyroid hormone.

Although a long-term study is still needed to determine if reducing T3 levels through calorie restriction does indeed slow the aging process, Weiss said cutting back on calories is a good idea.

"There is plenty of evidence the calorie restriction can reduce your risks for many common diseases including cancer, diabetes and heart disease," Weiss said. "And you may live to be substantially older."

Weiss warned that while cutting calories, people need to maintain a healthy diet by eating nutrient-rich foods. He noted that long-term slowing of the metabolism could also make people more prone to weight gain over time.

The key to maintaining a healthy weight, Weiss said, is keeping a consistent diet and exercising regularly.

More information
The Calorie Restriction Society has more about calorie restriction.

Heart Risk Can Be Predicted Without Lab Tests

(HealthDay News) -- When it comes to predicting a person's cardiovascular disease risk, cheap, simple and noninvasive methods can be as effective as lab tests, a new study finds.

The U.S. researchers noted these non-lab methods could be especially useful where lab testing is inconvenient or unavailable, such as in developing countries.

Worldwide, about 80 percent of cardiovascular deaths occur in developing nations, Dr. Thomas Gaziano, of the division of cardiovascular medicine at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a prepared statement.

The team analyzed data on 6,186 people who were aged 25 to 74 when they were first examined between 1971-75 for the NHANES I study. At the time, these participants did not report any history of cardiovascular disease -- such as heart attack, heart failure, stroke or angina -- or cancer.

Over a 21-year period, people in this group had 1,529 first-time cardiovascular events, including 578 deaths due to cardiovascular disease.

The researchers compared the lab-based method and the non-lab method in calculating a number called the c-statistic to assess cardiovascular risk prediction. The lab method included age, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, total cholesterol, diabetes status, and current treatment for high blood pressure. The non-lab method substituted body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) for cholesterol.

The lab and non-lab method gave similar c-statistics, but the non-lab method can provide risk factor information non-invasively and much faster -- just five to 10 minutes, the study authors said. They added that a cholesterol test is too costly for many people in developing countries.

The study was published in the March 15 issue of The Lancet.

"Although this method requires further validation and calibration, use of a simple non-laboratory approach, as suggested by WHO [World Health Organization], could have profound effects on the affordability and availability of an adequate screening program in developing countries," the study authors wrote. "Initial screening without blood testing could lead to the quick initiation of treatment without the added cost or inconvenience of laboratory testing, and would also keep any potential loss to follow-up due to the extra step in testing to a minimum."

However, an accompanying editorial in the journal suggested this approach may not be appropriate for people in developing countries.

"Although tools that use non-laboratory-based variables can help to improve affordability of screening programs for non-communicable diseases, they should not compromise the safety of patients. For equitable care of cardiovascular disease and other major non-communicable diseases, universal access to a set of essential interventions, including laboratory assays, may be required, even in settings with limited resources," wrote Dr. Shanthi Mendis, of the WHO in Geneva, and Dr. V. Mohan, of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation in India.

More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about heart disease risk factors.

Popular Colonoscopy Prep Solution May Pose Kidney Risks

(HealthDay News) -- One of the most common bowel-cleansing preparations used by people who are about to have a colonoscopy can trigger both acute kidney failure and long-term renal damage in otherwise healthy patients.

New research suggests the risks of oral sodium phosphate solution and some oral sodium phosphate tablets are rare but real, particularly for elderly patients.

"People should be very cautious in the use of these agents because of their potential of causing kidney damage," said study author Dr. Anand Khurana, of the department of nephrology with the Scott & White Clinic at Texas A&M University in Temple, Texas.

The findings were published in the March 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Another popular prescription colonoscopy preparation -- polyethylene glycol solutions (PEG) -- was not the subject of the current study and does not appear to be associated with similar risks. Neither was the oral sodium phosphate tablet OsmoPrep, which has a lower sodium phosphate content than other tablets.

In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration put out an alert on oral sodium phosphate products, excluding OsmoPrep, recommending that they be "used with caution" among patients with impaired kidney function due to its high phosphate content.

The latest finding extends the concern to patients with no previous history of kidney trouble.

According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer ranks third in the United States in terms of cancer diagnoses among both men and women. The organization estimates that about 150,000 people will develop the disease this year alone.

Typically, a colonoscopy is recommended for men and women over the age of 50 every 10 years as an effective way to screen for small growths called polyps and other signs of colorectal cancer. Some high-risk groups are encouraged to begin undergoing screenings at an earlier age.

The procedure involves the insertion of a slender and flexible lighted tube, fitted with a video camera, throughout the entire colon. A sigmoidoscopy relies on a similar but shorter tube to examine just the lower colon. Medication ensures that most patients feel no pain, and the screening is usually conducted on an outpatient basis.

However, patients must refrain from eating solid foods the day before the procedure, while also ingesting a bowel-cleansing liquid to clear out the colon.

The phosphate solution and tablets have been the preparations of preference because of convenience, as they are available without a prescription and require less clear liquid consumption than the polyethylene glycol solution.

To examine risks associated with use of the phosphate products, the authors analyzed kidney function among 268 patients at their clinic who had undergone either a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy between 1998 and 2005.

Most were white, with an average age of 68. Two-thirds were women, and none had a history of kidney disease. All the patients followed a standard dietary and phosphate solution prep the day prior to their screening.

Khurana and his team found that its use was associated with a 6 percent drop in kidney function six months later; that figure rose to 8 percent one year later.

"This magnitude of loss of kidney function is significant," said Khurana, who noted that patients undergo numerous colonoscopies over their lifetime, and normal kidney function loss is confined to about 1 percent per year among patients over 40.

Khurana pointed out that the safety risks he observed might ultimately be the result of patients simply not following manufacturer instructions to drink large amounts of clear liquid when consuming the preparation. Undetected chronic kidney disease among older patients undergoing colonoscopies might also play a role in the findings.

Nevertheless, "we believe that PEG preps are a safer option for patients" until further testing is done, he said.

Dr. Hemant K. Roy, an associate professor in the department of medicine at Evanston-Northwestern Healthcare in Illinois, described the findings as "quite alarming" in an accompanying editorial.

However, he stressed that warranted concerns about phosphate solutions should not discourage patients from undergoing colon cancer screening.

"Colonoscopies save lives," he stressed. "We know it works. So this should not dissuade people from doing one. I think we just need to be cautious about the type of preparation we use and who we give it to, so that an extraordinarily rare complication is avoided. And we have options, so there is a way to do that."

More information
For additional information on colonoscopies, visit the American Cancer Society.

Abdominal Fat Boosts Dementia Risk

(HealthDay News) -- A potbelly in middle age more than triples the risk of senility decades later, according to a large study that pinpoints a new link between obesity and dementia.

"The take-home message is that it's not only what you weigh, but it's where you carry your weight in midlife," said study author Rachel Whitmer, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, in Oakland, Calif.

The good news? Lose weight, and you may be able to reduce the increased risk, she said.

Researchers have been tracking the mental fallout of obesity for years. In 2005, Whitmer and her colleagues reported that people who were fatter in middle age were as much as 74 percent more likely to develop dementia as senior citizens.

An estimated 10 million American baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's disease in their lifetime, according to research released earlier this month, while another study found that more than 20 percent of seniors have memory loss not classified as dementia.

In the new study, researchers looked specifically at belly fat, checking to see if it posed a risk in people even if they were otherwise not overweight.

The study examined 6,583 Kaiser Permanente health-care plan members between the ages of 40 and 45 who had their abdominal fat measured in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The researchers followed up to see what happened to them between 1994 and 2006, when they reached their 70s and beyond.

The findings were published in the March 26 online issue of Neurology.

Overall, 16 percent of those studied developed dementia, also known as senility. Researchers found that obese people who had the most abdominal fat in their 40s were 3.6 times more likely to develop dementia than those with the least amount of abdominal fat.

People who were overweight -- a step below obese -- and had large bellies in their 40s were 2.3 times more likely to develop dementia.

Overall, 21 percent of those with high levels of belly fat developed dementia, compared to 15 percent of others, Whitmer said.

The effects of belly fat remained even when researchers adjusted their statistics to take into account the effect of conditions such as stroke and diabetes.

It's still possible that a factor other than abdominal fat may cause the higher rate of dementia. The study doesn't confirm a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Still, the findings suggest that something about abdominal body fat affects the brain independently of cardiovascular disease or diabetes, Whitmer noted.

It's not clear, however, exactly how obesity translates into reduced brain function. It may have something to do with how belly fat surrounds the body's organs and secretes hormones and toxic substances that could disrupt the way the brain functions, Whitmer speculated.

William Thies, vice president of medical and scientific relations with the Alzheimer's Association, said another theory is that the physical presence of belly fat and its compression of abdominal organs could burden the entire body, affecting the brain by increasing blood pressure and cholesterol. However, "whether there's a direct biological link between body fat and Alzheimer's has yet to be established," he said.

Whatever the cause for the connection, all hope is not lost.

"Even with moderate exercise, you can reduce that visceral fat, the fat around the organs," Whitmer said, adding that there's a lot of evidence that the roots of dementia develop years before it becomes obvious, so a change now could spell a big benefit later.

More information
To learn more about proper weight loss, visit the National Women's Health Information Center.

Health Tip: Get Screened for Cancer

(HealthDay News) -- Early detection, by way of regular screening, is one of the best ways to beat cancer.

The American Cancer Society offers these guidelines for cancer screenings:

• Women, starting at age 40, should get an annual mammogram to screen for breast cancer.
• Breast exams should start at age 20. An annual exam is recommended at age 40. Before that, women at normal risk should be examined about every three years.
• Beginning at age 50, women and men need regular screening for colorectal cancer. People at an increased risk for colorectal cancer should be tested earlier.
• Women need regular Pap smears to screen for cervical cancer. Pap smears should be given within three years of starting intercourse, or by age 21, whichever is earlier.
• Men 50 and older should get the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and a digital rectal examination annually. Men at higher risk should begin testing at age 45.

White Men With Chest Pains Treated Fastest in ERs

(HealthDay News) -- White men who arrive in emergency rooms complaining of chest pains get treatments for heart trouble faster than African-Americans or women do, a new U.S. government study finds.

Researchers looked at more than 19 million emergency room visits and found that whites who reported angina were 1.6 times more likely than nonwhites to be seen by a medical staff member within 10 minutes, and men were 1.5 times more likely than women to get that quick reaction, said study author Dr. Jing Fang, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was expected to report the findings at the American Heart Association's Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Annual Conference in Colorado Springs.

Those numbers are not clear-cut evidence of discrimination on the basis of race and sex, Fang said, since emergency room responses may be based on evidence that ischemic heart disease -- blockage of coronary arteries that causes chest pain -- is more common among those who get faster treatment, and that chest pains are more likely to have other causes in nonwhites and women.

"When you see that the percentage of ischemic heart disease is higher among whites than nonwhites and among men than women, maybe the health-care providers who decide who gets treated first are thinking that whites are more likely to have ischemic heart disease, men are more likely to have ischemic heart disease," she said.

The study found no difference in response time or treatment based on age. Emergency room service was the same for visitors complaining of chest pains who were over 65 and those who were younger.

But treatments were different for the sexes and races. Men were 1.5 times more likely than women to get an electrocardiogram and 1.7 times more likely to be given a beta-blocker heart drug. Whites were 1.8 times more likely than nonwhites to get an electrocardiogram and 1.5 times more likely to be prescribed drugs for chest pain.

The study did not show whether the difference in treatment made a difference in outcomes such as mortality or hospitalization, Fang said. "We were unable to note the outcome, short-term or long-term mortality," she said. "A follow-up study would be nice."

Two other reports presented at the same conference showed clear ethnic influences on incidence and awareness of cardiovascular disease in the American population.

A study of Native Americans done at the University of Oklahoma found they had a higher incidence of stroke and were more likely to have a first stroke at an early age than whites and African-Americans. The incidence of stroke among Native Americans in the study was 679 per 100,000 person-years, higher than among other Americans, and the average age when a first stroke occurred was 66.5 years, earlier than in the general population.

And a study of health beliefs done at Columbia University found that members of racial or ethnic minorities were less likely to adopt prevailing views of cardiovascular disease prevention than other Americans. Minorities were more likely to place faith in a higher power than on personal actions to prevent disease, the researchers found. The finding "may represent a unique opportunity for education and early intervention," they said.

More information
The many possible causes of chest pain are described by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Minimal Exercise Benefits Overweight Postmenopausal Women

(HealthDay News) -- Just 10 minutes to 30 minutes of exercise a day can improve the quality of life for sedentary, overweight or obese women, American researchers suggest.

The analysis studied hundreds of women, average age 57, who took part in the Dose Response to Exercise in postmenopausal Women (DREW) study, first reported in 2007. These newly released secondary results focused on quality of life among 430 women who were randomly assigned to four groups -- three groups did various amounts of exercise (70, 135, or 190 minutes per week), while the fourth group did no exercise.

Most of the exercise was divided into three or four sessions per week. When they weren't doing the organized exercise sessions, the women wore pedometers.

All the women in the exercise groups reported a statistically significant improvement in social functioning compared to women in the non-exercise group, according to the study authors. In addition, women who did more exercise also showed improvements in general health, vitality and mental health.

The women who did more exercise also showed improvements in physical functioning and fewer limitations in work or other activities due to physical problems and fewer limitations due to emotional problems. There was no statistical improvement in pain.

Specifically, after six months of exercise, the women improved almost 7 percent in physical function and general health, 16.6 percent in vitality, 11.5 percent in performing work or other activities, 11.6 percent in emotional health, and more than 5 percent in social functioning.

"This has not been shown in a large controlled study before," principal investigator Dr. Timothy S. Church, researcher director at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, said in a prepared statement. "This is the first large controlled study of postmenopausal women to look at the effect of exercise training on the quality of life. It shows that exercise gives you energy and makes you feel better."

The findings were presented Thursday at the American Heart Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"While the women who participated in the highest exercise group saw the greatest improvements in most quality of life scales, the women in the lowest exercise group also saw improvements," study co-author Angela Thompson, a research associate at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., said in a prepared statement.

"The public health message is tremendous, because it provides further support for the notion that even if someone cannot exercise an hour or more daily, getting out and exercising 10 to 30 minutes per day is beneficial, too," she said.

"Walking a little bit every day will help tremendously. Walk with your mother, a neighbor or friend. A little physical activity will improve your quality of life," Thompson said.

While some of the women did lose weight during the study, Thompson said the self-reported improvement in quality of life wasn't dependent on shedding excess pounds.

Not only does exercise improve an older woman's quality of life, it improves balance and builds stronger bones, Church noted.

"Start exercising for small amounts of time, and then gradually work up to 150 minutes a week. A little is better than nothing," he said.

More information
The American Osteopathic Association has more about postmenopausal women and exercise.

Health Tip: If Your Child is a Vegetarian

(HealthDay News) -- If your child is a vegetarian, it's important to make sure that he or she eats a varied, balanced and healthy diet.

Here are some guidelines, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine:

• For children up to age 1, breast milk or a fortified, soy formula should be the primary source of nutrition.
• Do not limit dietary fat for children younger than age 2.
• Young children should drink plenty of milk or a fortified substitute to make sure they get enough calcium, protein, vitamin D and riboflavin.
• Give your child a vitamin B12 supplement if no animal products are eaten.
• Make sure your child gets plenty of iron from foods such as spinach, raisins, iron-fortified cereals and whole grains, prunes and prune juice.

Botox: Works on Wrinkles and Might Help your Golf Game

Intrepid Golf Girl Patricia Hannigan, admits to using Botox for smooth skin, but recently discovered that the trendy toxin might offer a different kind of benefit to jittery golfers.

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Bacteria Mix in Guts of Babies Predicts Obesity

(HealthDay News) -- The mix of bacteria in a baby's gut may predict whether that infant will become overweight or obese later in life, a new study suggests.

Babies with high numbers of bifidobacteria and low numbers of Staphylococcus aureus may be protected from excess weight gain, according to a team of researchers from the University of Turku in Finland.

Their study was published in the March issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The researchers suggested their findings may help explain why breast-fed babies are at lower risk for later obesity, since bifidobacteria are prevalent in the guts of breast-fed babies.

Other studies repeatedly have found that being breast-fed is associated with a reduced risk of excess weight or obesity in childhood, with the risk lowered from 13 percent to 22 percent.

In the new study, researchers evaluated children who had been part of a long-term study to evaluate the effect of probiotics on allergic disease. Probiotics are potentially beneficial bacteria found in foods such as yogurt and in dietary supplements.

The children had been evaluated at birth, five more times before age 2, and then again at ages 4 and 7. The researchers in the original study had also tested for intestinal microbes in fecal samples collected at 6 months and 12 months.

For this latest study, the Finnish researchers selected 49 participants from the larger study -- 25 of them were overweight or obese at age 7 years, and 24 were normal weight at the same age.

When they looked at the fecal samples, the average bacterial counts of bifidobacteria when taken at 6 months and 12 months were twice as high in those who were a healthy weight as in those who got heavy.

Those who stayed at a healthy weight also had lower fecal S. aureus levels at 6 months and 12 months than did those who got heavy.

The S. aureus may trigger low-grade inflammation, the authors speculated, and that may also contribute to developing obesity.

In other research, gut bacteria in adults have been found to be altered in obese adults who lost weight. Someday, the Finnish researchers speculated, tinkering with gut flora may help prevent or treat obesity.

The latest study doesn't pinpoint exactly why intestinal bacteria are linked with the development of obesity, said Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis and president of the American Dietetic Association.

"The exact role that bacteria in the intestine play in development of obesity is still the subject of much research," she said, "but the benefits of breast-feeding are clear. Breast-feeding provides not only the proper nutrition for your infant, but it provides benefits that may impact long-term health and weight issues as well."

However, she added that, "while breast-feeding may play a role in the weight of children, so many other factors influence weight that parents shouldn't ignore good role modeling of healthy food choices, proper portions and regular physical activity. Healthy weight is a combination of factors, and no single issue will be the cause of weight gain or the magic answer to weight loss."

Another expert who has studied how obesity changes microbes in the gut calls the new study unique, because it collected information over several years and could look for differences in gut microflora. "The finding, that the lean children harbored higher levels of bifidobacteria at younger ages, is very intriguing," says Ruth Ley, a research assistant professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Still, she says, research on the role of gut bacteria in regulating body weight is in the very early stages.

More information
To learn more about breast-feeding, visit the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Health Tip: Signs of an Unhealthy Menstrual Cycle

(HealthDay News) - A regular, healthy menstrual cycle is a good indicator of a woman's reproductive health. If you have problems with your period, see your doctor.

Here's a list of warning signs that something may be wrong, provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

• If you have no menstrual cycle by age 15, or within three years of breast development.


• If you have no period for more than 90 days.


• If you suddenly have irregular periods after having had regular periods consistently.


• If you have periods very often (21 days or less since the prior one) or very infrequently (45 days or more since the prior one).


• If you have periods that last longer than seven days.


• If you have abnormally heavy bleeding, or bleed or spot between periods.


• If you have severe pain, sickness or fever during your period or after using tampons.

Genetic Factors for Smoking Boost Chronic Bronchitis Risk

(HealthDay News) -- While smoking is the leading risk factor for chronic bronchitis, genes also play a major role in the development of the disease, say Swedish researchers.

The study, which analyzed data on more than 40,000 twins born in 1958 or earlier, found that inherited genes accounted for 40 percent of the risk for chronic bronchitis and that 14 percent of the genetic risk was also linked to a genetic predisposition to smoke, whether or not a person actually smoked.

The findings are published in the first issue for March of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

"(This) study on the population-based Swedish Twin Registry, showing a genetic effect for the development of chronic bronchitis that does not differ by sex, is the first to our knowledge to quantify heritability of the disease," Jenny Hallberg, of the department of public health sciences at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, said in a prepared statement.

Previous research had suggested that women were more likely than men to develop chronic bronchitis, so the findings that prevalence didn't differ by sex pointed to a number of intriguing possibilities, she noted.

"It is possible that women are more prone to report symptoms. Or, more likely, this could be an effect of smoking being more harmful for women due to their smaller lungs from start [exposure to cigarette smoke relative to body size]," Hallberg wrote.

The finding that genetic factors that contribute to chronic bronchitis are largely independent of smoking shouldn't be interpreted to mean that smoking has no effect on the disease, she cautioned.

"Although there was some genetic interplay, it is safe to say that smoking itself, and not the genes that predispose one to smoking, is a larger risk factor in developing chronic bronchitis of environmental exposures -- primarily smoking -- than genetic predisposition. This is true of both men and women," Hallberg wrote.

Chronic bronchitis and emphysema account for most cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about chronic bronchitis.

CDC Panel Urges Extending Flu Vaccine Coverage for Kids

(HealthDay News) -- U.S. health advisers recommended Wednesday that all children 6 months to 18 years of age receive annual flu shots.

Currently, the recommendation is that children 6 months to 5 years of age get vaccinated.
The recommendation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices would cover an additional 30 million children, making it one of the largest expansions of flu vaccination coverage in U.S. history.

The committee is recommending that the new guidelines take effect no later than the 2009-10 flu season, noting that many doctors have already ordered their vaccine for the 2008-09 season. The panel's recommendations are typically followed by the CDC, which issues vaccination guidelines to doctors and hospitals.

"Each season, many children remain vulnerable to the consequences of not being vaccinated against influenza," U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard H. Carmona said in a prepared statement. "We hope this expanded vaccination recommendation will strongly encourage Americans to get an annual influenza vaccination as soon as vaccine becomes available in their communities. This will help in reducing the number of childhood hospitalizations and deaths from influenza each season."

The flu kills dozens of U.S. children annually, part of the estimated 36,000 Americans who die each year from the disease. So far this season, there have been more than 10 reported deaths of children. During the 2006-07 flu season, 68 children died.

Children tend to come down with the flu at higher rates than adults but usually don't get as sick. Health officials hope that extending vaccine coverage will also benefit adults, making them less likely to be infected by children.

"Influenza is a serious, deadly illness that needs to have a vaccination each and every year," said Richard Kanowitz, president of Families Fighting Flu, who lost a 4-year-old daughter to influenza in 2004.

Kanowitz's group was one of those supporting expanding the age range for flu vaccination.
In 2006, the CDC expanded the recommendation to include children up to 5 years old.

"We want the recommendation expanded, because we hear even to this day people say, 'The recommendation doesn't apply to me. I don't have to get vaccinated.' It's completely the opposite," Kanowitz said. "You need to get vaccinated. The CDC just puts out a recommendation, and the confusion over whether people need to get vaccinated needs to be dispelled by having a clear message -- everyone should get vaccinated. The more people who get vaccinated, the more lives get saved."

This year's flu season has hit many areas of the country hard. Adding to the severity of the flu outbreak, this year's vaccine is not well matched to the current strains of flu most prevalent in the United States.

The virus strain most common in the United States right now is the influenza A H3N2 strain, and it's a strain not included in this year's vaccine. Also, this year's vaccine is not well-matched against influenza type B.

Complicating matters, some of this year's influenza type A virus is showing resistance to the antiviral drug Tamiflu. Overall, 8.1 percent of the influenza type A viruses tested by the CDC were resistant to Tamiflu. In past years, less than 1 percent of the viruses have been resistant to the drug.

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration selected the influenza strains that will make up the 2008-09 flu vaccine. Following the lead of the World Health Organization, the FDA is including the new flu strains Brisbane/10, a version of the H3N2 flu; a second new Type A strain known as H1N1/Brisbane/59; and a newer Type B/Florida strain.

But according to one expert, even the best planning may not result in a perfect vaccine.
"You have to make a decision about what will be in the vaccine in advance," said Dr. John Treanor, a professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y. "It takes six to eight months to make the vaccine after you've chosen the strains.

"But the reality is that new strains emerge after that decision is made. So, you could be wrong," Treanor said.

More information
For more on flu vaccine, visit the CDC.