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Try a Tri class can help you get ready

BY KAREN SHIDELER

The Wichita Eagle

Up for something new in your fitness routine? Try a triathlon. A new triathlon training session will start April 30, getting participants ready for a July 26 or Aug. 9 sprint triathlon ( ½-mile swim, 12.4-mile bike ride, 3.1-mile run).

You can find out more about the Try a Tri class in a no-cost informational session at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Northwest YMCA. The Try a Tri session will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays and costs $189. Y membership is not required.

For more information, call 316-841-0466 or e-mail tryatri@cox.net.

Keep your brain young

People in a small study who were overweight or obese also had lower levels of biochemicals associated with brain health, say researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

What that means in English: "These results suggest that brains of people who are overweight or obese age faster than the brains of people of normal weight, and thus these individuals are at an increased risk of developing dementia," said investigator Dieter Meyerhoff.

The authors say the study is suggestive rather than definitive. We say it's also one more reason for staying in shape.

Setting the standards

Cancer centers and heart centers across the country work together to set national standards and foster new research, and now depression is starting to get the same attention.

The University of Michigan's Depression Center was the first to open, in 2001, and the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine recently opened its, in Aurora. Additional centers are planned, and together they'll form a National Network of Depression Centers.

The idea is to improve the way depression and bipolar disorder are diagnosed and treated.

More information about the Denver center is available at www.uchsc.edu/som.

Bad news on hair loss

The patchy hair loss known as alopecia areata has no reliable, safe, effective, long-term treatment, according to a review of 17 randomized controlled studies.

The review, in the Cochran Library, looked at studies of topical and oral corticosteroids and topical cyclosporine as well as photodynamic therapy and topical minoxidil, or Rogaine.

Though there are no proven treatments, patients shouldn't be discouraged, said California dermatologist Paradi Mirmirani. He recommended that patients talk about options with their doctors.

Waiting it out

Most sinus infections will get better just as fast without antibiotics or nasal steroids, according to a new study, and in Prevention magazine, ear, nose and throat doctor Richard Rosenfeld recommends giving yourself a week to see whether yours will.

For relief in the meantime, he suggests over-the-counter decongestants, pain relievers such as acetaminophen and sinus-irrigating rinses.

If you're not better after a week, or if you start to get better but then worsen, see your doctor. You may have a bacterial infection rather than a viral one.

Reach Karen Shideler at 316-268-6674 or kshideler@wichitaeagle.com.