BOSTON - Heart disease is the leading U.S. cause of death, and it’s about twice as deadly for people with schizophrenia.  The Harvard Mental Health Letter states schizophrenics are more likely than other Americans to have one or more major risk factors for heart disease.  They are less likely to receive good preventive care, largely because they’re more likely to see a psychiatrist than a primary care physician or cardiologist.  This puts a greater burden for assessing and monitoring heart health on the mental health team, or patients and families.  Another impediment to preventive care is medication noncompliance.  Research indicates that at least 50% of schizophrenics will stop taking their antipsychotic medication at some point, so clinicians may assume compliance with other medications will be poor.  The Harvard Letter suggests schizophrenics control the food environment.  Advocate for group homes and day treatment programs, and keep healthier foods at home.  Avoid smoking and high-calorie foods.

WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, D.C. disclosed the Organization for Autism Research (OAR) released Understanding Asperger Syndrome: A Professor's Guide, a 12-minute video for college students with Asperger Syndrome to educate professors, teaching assistants, and others about the disorder.  OAR produced the DVD with the Global Regional Asperger Syndrome Project (GRASP) and Pace University with a grant from the Schwallie Family Foundation.  The video downloaded free at www.researchautism.org.

HASSLEHOLM, SWEDEN - Reuters Health noted people who spend much of their work time on a computer keyboard are less likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome than those who spend less time, researchers found.  "Although carpal tunnel is sometimes work-related and risk factors probably include certain occupational activities, we are quite confident computer use isn’t one of these," Dr. Isam Atroshi, of Hassleholm Hospital told Reuters Health.  While computer use is mentioned frequently as a cause of the woe, most research has focused on specific occupations versus the population at large, Atroshi and his team note in Arthritis & Rheumatism.  Researchers surveyed 2,465 people 25-65, dividing them into four groups based on hours spent using a keyboard daily.  Among the users who spent four or more hours a day on the computer, 2.6% had carpal tunnel syndrome versus 2.9% of those who used computers 1-4 hours daily, 4.9% for people with less than an hour of computer time daily, and 5.2% for people who didn't use a computer.  The findings suggest "other hand activities are more important than computer use," Atroshi said.

IOWA CITY, IA - The Disability Law & Policy e-Newsletter of the Law, Health Policy & Disability Center at the University of Iowa College of Law and the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University noted the Web site of Assistive Gaming provides a way for those with physical impairments to enjoy online gaming.  The site for gamers of all ages and physical abilities includes popular games such as Unreal Tournament and World of Warcraft.  The site uses universal software and design features such as onscreen keyboards to assist users with physical impairments.  The site's designer, David Niemeijer, saw a need for a Mac-centric site.

LONDON - MedPage Today noted infection-control hand wipes alcohol may entice alcoholics or be a risk for confused patients, scientists found.  In a toxicology database search for poison control reports tied to children and adults exposed to alcohol, hand wipes after their use became widespread; 66% were thought to result from intentional abuse, found Paul I. Dargan, of Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, and his team.  The study was driven by a patient with a history of alcohol dependence who showed withdrawal symptoms even though he hadn’t had alcohol for 24 hours, authors wrote in the BMJ.  During admission, he was found collapsed, holding an empty 500mL bottle of alcohol hand rub with another bottle next to him.  Blood ethanol at collapse was nine times the legal British driving limit and a potentially fatal concentration.  Toxicologists searched the poison unit's database to compare reports tied to children and adults exposed to alcohol hand wipes in 16-month periods before and after widespread introduction of alcohol hand rubs.  They found reports went from 23 to 50.

HAIFA, ISRAEL - You're 25 and still live with your parents.  You're 26 and still bring your laundry and take home food from your mother.  Don't worry: research at the University of Haifa found that, contrary to common belief, young adults who maintain a close or moderate relationship with their parents exhibit greater independence in their personal lives than those who have a distant relationship.  In her research, Dr. Irit Yanir evaluated how a parent-child relationship is connected to one's ability to fulfill society's expectations in terms of settling down and establishing an intimate relationship.  Dr. Yanir conducted in-depth interviews with psychologists, parents, and young adults ages 23-27.  An additional 100 families (father, mother, and child) completed 300 surveys as part of the study.  She says a close relationship with parents is one in which children talk with their parents often and regularly spend time together (eating meals together, for example), and one in which a child feels comfortable sharing his thoughts and experiences with his parents.

AUSTIN, TX - Employees who have more control over their daily activities and can do challenging work they enjoy are likely to be in better health, research suggests.  "The most important finding is that creative activity helps people stay healthy," said lead author John Mirowsky, a sociology professor in the University of Texas; Population Research Center.  "Creative activity is non-routine, enjoyable, and provides opportunity for learning and solving problems.  People who do that kind of work, whether paid or not, feel healthier and have fewer physical problems."  Moreover, although people who work give up some freedom, the study found having a job does lead to better health.  "One thing that surprised us was the daily activities of employed persons are more creative than those of non-employed persons of the same sex, age, and level of education," Mirowsky said.  The study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, included 2,592 respondents to a national telephone survey of general health, physical functioning, how people spent their time on a daily basis, and whether their work, even if unpaid, gave them a chance to learn new things or do things they enjoy.

NEW YORK - Despite disaster warnings tied to impending retirement of the first wave of baby boomers, smart companies can benefit from this change in the workforce if they plan carefully, says a Conference Board report.  "For almost a decade, pundits have used images of natural disasters, like tsunami and tidal wave, to describe the labor shortage that may slam employers as baby boomers begin to retire en masse, potentially dragging down Gross National Product in their undertow," says Mary B. Young, Conference Board senior research associate and report author.  Yet despite these dramatic metaphors, "U.S. companies have, for the most part, done little to prepare for baby boomer retirements."  The problem, says Young, is that national labor force projections are too generalized to spur employer action; instead, companies need to analyze their own employee data.  "That’s the only way to forecast accurately whether aging and retirement will impact their workforce and, if so, exactly when and where.  Once employers know that, they can take the appropriate actions, rather than under- or over-reacting."

SAN ANTONIO, TX - Thousands of breast cancer patients yearly could be spared chemotherapy or get gentler versions of it without harming their odds of beating the disease, suggests research reported by the Associated Press.  One study found certain women were less likely to die or have a relapse if given a less harsh drug than Adriamycin, a mainstay of treatment.  Another study found a gene test can help predict whether some women need chemo at all - even among those whose cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, which typically brings full treatment.  The findings are sure to speed the growing trend away from chemo for many breast cancer patients and targeting it to a smaller group of women who truly need it, doctors said at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.  The gene test in particular "will start changing practice nearly immediately," said Dr. Peter Ravdin, of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  "The results are compelling that this test. . .helps select patients who will most benefit from chemotherapy."

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - HealthDay News disclosed a flexible work environment promotes healthier lifestyle habits for employees, a study found.  "People who believe they have flexibility in their work lives have healthier lifestyles.  Individuals who perceive an increase in their flexibility are more likely to start some positive lifestyle changes," lead author Joseph G. Grzywacz, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, stated in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Grzywacz and his team analyzed data from employees of a major multinational pharmaceutical company known for its commitment to workplace flexibility, including compressed work weeks, flextime, job sharing, and remote or telework.  The study included people with a wide variety of jobs and responsibilities, including warehouse and production workers, administrative support staff, and executives.  "Overall, results showed nearly all the health behaviors in this study were associated with perceived flexibility," Grzywacz said.

SAN ANTONIO - The Chicago Tribune reported researchers said they found a way to predict which patients with precancerous breast tumors are sure to develop cancer, potentially saving tens of thousands of women a year from unnecessary treatment - and unnecessary anxiety.  In a study presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Thea Tlsty noted her group discovered a molecular profile that can distinguish potentially lethal cases of ductal carcinoma in situ from ones that will never become life-threatening.  "This is a big step," said Tlsty, a molecular pathologist at the University of California/San Francisco.  "Nobody's been able to do it before."  An estimated 8-15% of DCIS patients who have the lesion removed by lumpectomy will develop breast cancer in the 10 years following their surgery.  Tlsty and Dr. Karla Kerlikowske published their pilot study in the journal Cancer Cell.