QUESTIONS ABOUT ANESTHESIA: If you or your children are to undergo surgery, there are some caveats you should know about anesthesia, U.S. doctors say.

New research points to potential problems if too much or too little of the anesthetic is administered, specialists told a Food and Drug Administration panel.

Widely regarded as a major medical advance and viewed as safe, anesthesia can trigger potentially dire consequences, especially in pediatric patients, unless the right amount is used, testified Dr. Scott Kelley, an anesthesiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

He is also vice president at Aspect Medical Systems, which produces a system that monitors the effects of anesthesia on the brain. Animal studies show excessive amounts can lead to neurodegenerative effects on children’s brains as well as behavioral changes, Kelley said.

In older adults, the effects can vary from delirium and cognitive dysfunction to cancer recurrence and death. On the other hand, too little sedation also can lead to harmful consequences. Kelley said:– Patients should be aware of these potential problems and ask questions of their doctors.– Anesthesiologists should try to use the minimum amount of anesthesia needed.– Researchers should conduct more studies into anesthesia’s effects on patients of all ages.SHORT ON VITAMIN D, LONG ON DISABILITY– Bone health.– Development and/or progression of diabetes, cancer, colds and tuberculosis.Among other sources, vitamin D can be found in:– The sun’s ultraviolet rays.– Fortified milk.– Juice.– Cereals.

Those low in vitamin D performed poorly on:– Walking speed,– Standing from a chair,– Maintaining balance,– Showing handgrip strength, a predictor of future disability.The study did not determine whether low vitamin D levels actually cause poor physical performance, but the results suggest the need for additional research, Houston said.HRT SUSPECTED IN BREAST CANCERBecause breast cancer rates declined in 2004, when use of hormone replacement therapy went down, doctors suspect a link between the two.

Scientists report in the New England Journal of Medicine plummeting HRT use in mid-2002 — after studies suggested a connection to breast cancer — correlated with a steep decline in new breast cancer diagnoses. The cancer incidence in 2004 was the lowest since 1987, the researchers said.

Most of the drop took place among women ages 50 to 69 and in estrogen-receptor-positive cancer — the type of tumors fueled by estrogen, a hormone that is supplemented in HRT. These cancers dropped by 14.7 percent in the two-year period. The researchers said their findings do not mean that all women should stop taking HRT.

Rather, they advised women to use the drug at the lowest dose and for the shortest period of time to control hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause.Still in need of answers are such questions as:– Does stopping the use of HRT lead to a permanent or a temporary decline in breast cancer rates?– Is this effect seen when stopping all types of HRT?– How much of a contributing role did other factors play in the decline?

KICKING SALT HABIT KICKS UP HEART HEALTHIf you lessen your intake of salt, you’ll likely decrease your vulnerability to cardiovascular disease, researchers say. Staying away from salt can lower the risk of heart disease by a quarter and of dying from heart disease by up to a fifth, report researchers from Boston, who conducted the study involving 744 participants.UPI Consumer Health welcomes comments on this column. E-mail: lwasowicz@upi.com

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