How can I tell what foods contain trans fat?
Until recently, it wasn’t easy to tell what foods contained trans fat. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires food labels to list the amount of trans fat in foods.

Trans fat raises blood cholesterol levels and increases the risk for heart disease — possibly more than saturated fat does, say some experts. Trans fat is found in many foods, including meats, dairy products and baked goods. One of the most common sources of trans fats is in stick margarine and shortening. The National Academy of Sciences recommends eating little, if any, trans fat. With new labeling requirements, avoiding this unhealthy fat just got easier.

How does stress make you physically ill?
It’s known that stress can lead to physical illness, such as the common cold, stomach problems and certain cancers. But no one has understood why. A recent study of 119 men and women caring for a spouse with dementia compared their health to 106 people who were not caregivers. Blood tests showed a sharp increase of a chemical called interleukin-6 in the blood of the caregivers. Interleukin-6 has been associated with a number of diseases including arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.

Studies of the stress-illness link will continue. In the meantime, it pays to maintain a healthy lifestyle, especially during stressful times.

Can glaucoma be prevented?
Glaucoma, an eye disease that affects about 2.5 million people in the United States, can be treated but not prevented. With glaucoma, pressure inside the eye increases, causing damage to the optic nerve and potential vision loss. A study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology looked at 255 people with early signs of glaucoma and mildly elevated eye pressure. Those who received early treatment had a decrease in pressure, while the untreated group had no change in pressure. The disease was also less likely to progress in the treated group, and when it did progress, it did so later than in those who were untreated.

These results show that diagnosing and treating glaucoma at its very earliest stages may help prevent vision damage. If you have not been screened for glaucoma recently, call your eye doctor and make an appointment.

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