A Weekly Shot of News and Notes

ALLERGIES, PERIOD A new study suggests a link between irregular menstrual cycles and a heightened risk of asthma and hay fever in younger women. The finding supports evidence suggesting that female hormones may have a role in respiratory conditions.

Researchers in Norway surveyed more than 6,100 non-pregnant women in Scandinavian countries and followed them for eight years. In women between 26 and 42 years of age, irregular menstruation raised risk of asthma and hay fever by 54 percent and 29 percent, respectively.

In older women, the associations were less clear and irregular menstruation was not significantly tied to the onset of asthma, the investigators point out. Results appear in the journal Thorax.

THE ANSWER: 3 MILES OR MORE The question: How much walking must diabetics do every day to improve their health?

Italian researchers looked at data from 179 type 2 diabetic s who participated in a physical activity program. They found that otherwise sedentary participants needed to walk three miles per day or more to see noteworthy improvement in blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure. Their medical expenses over a two-year period also dropped, and their risk of heart disease was halved. Those who were inactive saw a decline in health and a rise in medical expenses.

In the test, those who walked 83 minutes per day -- about 5.3 miles, or 10,600 steps -- showed the greatest improvements. At a pace of 15 minutes per mile, people following the federal goal of walking (or similar exercise) for 30 minutes nearly every day would cover about two miles.

Diabetes Care carried the study.

-- From News Services