BERITA KESEHATAN

Nikel Pada Perhiasan Ternyata Bisa Bikin Alergi

Jakarta, Perhiasan merupakan sesuatu yang indah dan berharga serta yang jadi favorit kaum hawa. Tapi apa jadinya bila kulit sangat sensitif dan alergi terhadap perhiasan?

Alergi perhiasaan biasanya mengacu pada suatu respons alergi terhadap nikel yang ditemukan di sebagian besar perhiasan. Bahkan emas berkarat tinggi sekalipun dapat memiliki kandungan nikel yang dapat menyebabkan masalah bagi sebagian orang.

Umumnya alergi nikel berkaitan dengan anting-anting dan perhiasan untuk tindikan tubuh lainnya. Selain pada perhiasan, nikel juga ditemukan dalam bahan tali jam, gesper ikat pinggang, kancing jeans atau bingkai kacamata.

Alergi nikel dapat mempengaruhi orang-orang dari segala usia. Seseorang dapat mengalami alergi nikel setelah satu bersentuhan dengan nikel abaik secara berulang atau dalam jangka waktu lama.

Gejala yang ditimbulkan dari alergi ini sebagian besar terjadi pada kulit yang bersentuhan dengan perhiasan mengandung nikel.

Seperti dilansir dari Ehow, Jumat (4/6/2010), gejala-gejala alergi perhiasan adalah:

1. Ruam dan gatal-gatal pada kulit yang bersentuhan dengan perhiasan. Reaksi ini biasanya hanya terjadi pada kulit yang bersentuhan langsung, tapi tak jarang juga dapat menyebar ke jaringan di sekitarnya.
2. Rasa kesemutan dan gatal setelah perhiasan dikenakan selama sekitar 20 menit.
3. Benjolan pada kulit, kemerahan atau perubahan warna kulit Kering bercak kulit yang dapat menyerupai luka bakar
4. Alergi perhiasan dapat terjadi dengan cepat dan menjadi ruam lepuh, merah atau berair dalam beberapa hari setelah kontak langsung.

Untuk mengatasi dan meringankan gejala alergi perhiasan ini, dapat dilakukan cara sebagai berikut:

1. Jauhlah perhiasan yang mengandung nikel bersentuhan langsung dengan kulit
2. Bila kasus-kasus infeksi menyebabkan reaksi alergi terjadi, antibiotik mungkin diperlukan untuk meringankan keluhan
3. Menahan godaan untuk menggaruk daerah sekitar kulit yang gatal. Menggaruk dapat merusak kulit dan menyebabkan iritasi, serta memungkinkan bakteri untuk masuk ke kulit yang teriritasi. Setelah ini terjadi, infeksi dengan cepat dapat menyebar ke jaringan sekitarnya.
4. Bila masih ingin menggunakan perhiasan, Anda bisa gunakan stainless steel, emas murni atau 925 sterling perhiasan perak. Ini merupakan perhiasan yang bebas kandungan nikel.
5. Kunjungi dokter dermatologis (spesialis kulit) bila gejala dan keluhan yang kunjung reda.

Lebih Baik Mana? Susu Kedelai versus Susu Sapi

Banyak orang yang beralih ke susu kedelai karena alergi terhadap laktosa, yang merupakan karbohidrat utama dalam susu sapi. Apa saja keunggulan dan kelemahan masing-masing susu ini?

Laktosa, karbohidrat utama dalam susu sapi, akan menyebabkan masalah pencernaan bagi beberapa orang. Orang-orang yang intoleran (tidak toleran) terhadap laktosa disebabkan karena kekurangan enzim laktosa, yang diperlukan untuk memecah laktosa.

Hal ini membuat orang yang intoleran menghasilkan gas, kembung dan diare setelah mengonsumsi beberapa bentuk produk susu sapi.

Susu kedelai adalah pengganti bagi orang-orang yang alergi terhadap susu sapi. Secara teknis, susu kedelai bukanlah susu seperti pada susu sapi, melainkan minuman yang terbuat dari sari kacang kedelai. Susu kedelai juga populer di kalangan vegetarian, karena bahan dasarnya yang berasal dari tumbuhan.

Saat ini, lebih banyak orang yang sengaja memilih susu kedelai ketimbang susu sapi karena manfaat kesehatan yang ditawarkannya. Tapi manfaat kedelai sampai saat ini masih menjadi perdebatan, meskipun diterima secara umum bahwa susu kedelai mengandung sejumlah besar senyawa yang sangat sehat.

Perdebatan susu kedelai dan susu sapi.

Perbedaan utama antara susu kedelai dan susu sapi adalah sumbernya, yaitu tumbuhan dan hewan.

Seperti dilansir dari SteadyHealth, Jumat (14/5/2010), satu cangkir susu kedelai yang tidak difortifikasi (masih murni, belum mengalami pengayaan) mengandung hampir 7 gram protein, 4 gram karbohidrat, 4,5 gram lemak dan tidak mengandung kolesterol.

Meskipun susu kedelai mengandung vitamin B, tapi susu ini bukan merupakan sumber B12 dan tidak memberikan asupan kalsium yang signifikan.

Sejak susu kedelai dijadikan pengganti susu sapi, produsen telah menawarkan versi susu kedelai yang sudah diperkaya, yaitu dengan kalsium, vitamin E, B12, vitamin D dan nutrisi lainnya.

Sedangkan susu sapi menyediakan karbohidrat, vitamin, mineral, dan lemak. Semua susu sapi mengandung 8 gram protein dan 12 gram karbohidrat per cangkir. Ini juga merupakan sumber yang kaya nutrisi lainnya.

Satu cangkir susu sapi memberikan 30 persen dari kebutuhan kalsium sehari-hari orang dewasa, dan sekitar 50 persen vitamin B12 dan riboflavin. Seringkali diperkaya dengan vitamin D untuk memfasilitasi penyerapan kalsium, dan juga vitamin A. Sehingga susu sapi dianggap sebagai makanan yang lengkap.

Keunggulan susu sapi perah:

Susu sapi mengalami proses pasteurisasi, yaitu proses yang mana susu dipanaskan, membunuh bakteri, enzim dan protein yang tak menguntungkan.

Susu sapi kaya dengan enzim dan benar-benar berisi 22 asam amino esensial, termasuk fosfat, yang penting untuk penyerapan kalsium.

Susu sapi mentah atau perahan memiliki banyak manfaat kesehatan dan merupakan sumber kalsium terbaik.

Susu ini merupakan sumber vitamin, khususnya vitamin B12, yang merupakan vitamin penting yang sulit ditemukan dari sumber-sumber non-daging. Dan juga berisi enzim IgG (Immunoglobulin), vitamin A, B, dan C.

Penelitian juga menunjukkan bahwa susu sapi perah juga mengandung enzim dan antibodi yang benar-benar membuat susu kurang rentan terhadap bakteri. Lipase juga hadir yang membantu pencernaan lemak.

Manfaat besar lainnya adalah bahwa susu sapi mengandung CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) atau asam linoleat terkonjugasi, yang telah diamati untuk melawan kanker.

Keunggulan susu kedelai:

Manfaat kesehatan dari susu kedelai memang tak terbantahkan. Namun demikian, banyak orang yang peduli tentang perbandingan susu kedelai diukur dengan susu sapi.

Susu kedelai yang tinggi protein, dan karena terbuat dari kacang juga mengandung serat yang jauh lebih tinggi dari susu sapi.

Manfaat terbesar dari susu kedelai adalah isoflavon. Ini adalah bahan kimia mirip yang dengan hormon estrogen. Isoflavon terhubung ke masalah kesehatan dan bertanggung jawab untuk mencegah banyak kanker, penyakit jantung, osteoporosis dan banyak penyakit lainnya.

Susu kedelai tidak bebas lemak. Susu kedelai memiliki 2 persen lemak lebih sedikit dari susu sapi, tapi tidak mengandung kolesterol jahat.

Karena susu kedelai terbuat dari kacang, susu ini berisi sekitar 9 kali lebih sedikit lemak jenuh dibandingkan susu sapi. Selain itu, susu kedelai memiliki 10 kali lebih banyak asam lemak ketimbang susu sapi, yang merupakan lemak sehat.

Susu kedelai bebas kolesterol. Selain itu, suu kedelai dapat mengurangi kolesterol jahat LDL, sedangkan susu sapi meningkatkan kadar kolesterol LDL. Susu kedelai juga menyediakan perlindungan tambahan untuk hati dengan phytochemical, yang berlimpah dalam susu kedelai.

Susu kedelai mengandung empat kali lebih banyak jumlah thiamin (vitamin B1) dan hampir dua kali jumlah niasin (vitamin B3) dibandingkan dengan susu sapi. Susu kedelai juga berisi lebih banyak magnesium, tembaga dan mangan dari susu sapi.

Susu kedelai juga mengandung 42 kali jumlah mangan seperti halnya susu sapi. Mangan diperlukan untuk pembentukan tulang. Orang dengan anemia memerlukan mangan untuk penyimpanan besi.

Penelitian telah menunjukkan bahwa pria yang minum dua gelas susu kedelai setiap hari 70 persen lebih rendah terserang kanker prostat. Tidak ada temuan yang sama tentang orang yang minum susu sapi.

Kelemahan susu kedelai

Kelemahan utama dari susu kedelai adalah kurangnya kandungan kalsium, yang hanya sekitar seperempat dari kalsium yang dikandung susu sapi. Banyak produsen susu kedelai menambahkan kalsium untuk produknya, tetapi studi menunjukkan bahwa hal itu tidak sesehat kalsium alami.

Adapun inti sembilan asam amino pada protein yang diperlukan untuk mempertahankan hidup, susu sapi dan susu kedelai mengandung jumlah hampir identik.

Susu sapi memiliki seperlima gram asam amino lebih penting ketimbang susu kedelai. Karena salah satu dari sembilan asam amino esensial adalah metionin, hal ini dapat menjadi kemenangan untuk pecinta susu sapi. Susu sapi mengandung dua kali lebih banyak metionin ketimbang susu kedelai.

Susu kedelai mengandung riboflavin sekitar 60 persen lebih sedikit dari susu sapi. Riboflavin merupakan vitamin penting, tetapi juga banyak ditemukan dalam biji-bijian, ragi gizi, sayuran berdaun hijau, kacang-kacangan, dan gandum. Oleh karena itu, susu sapi bukan sumber yang diperlukan untuk riboflavin bagi orang yang makan diet seimbang.

Wanita yang menderita kanker payudara mungkin harus membatasi asupan protein kedelai, karena beberapa studi telah menunjuk kemungkinan bahaya mengkonsumsi kedelai kelebihan.

Penelitian lain yang diterbitkan dalam jurnal Human Reproduction, menemukan bahwa sperma 41 juta lebih sedikit per mililiter air mani setelah makan hanya satu porsi makanan yang mengandung kedelai setiap dua hari.

Tapi perlu diingat, kedua jenis susu ini tidak diberikan untuk bayi di bawah usia satu tahun. ASI adalah makanan dan minuman bagi bayi, karena semua sumber nutrisi yang diperlukan untuk tumbuh kembang sudah terkandung dalam ASI.

Sumber:
Detik Health

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HEALTH NEWS

 To Avoid Adult Obesity Stop Bottle-Feeding At 18 Months

If you want to reduce your baby's chances of becoming an obese adult you should not continue bottle-feeding him/her beyond 12 to 18 months of age, researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine reported in the Journal of Pediatrics. Many parents tend to prolong bottle-feeding because they say it pacifies and comforts the child.

The authors add that even the risk of obesity at kindergarten age is higher for babies who were bottle-fed for too long.

A typical 8-ounce baby bottle with whole milk has approximately 150 calories; about 12% of most baby's daily requirements. When children over 18 months old have already met their daily nutritional requirement, giving them that bottle adds to their excess calories. A toddler needs two or three dairy servings per day, or the equivalent of between 16 to 24 ounces of milk.

A child who relies too much on milk may miss out on essential nutrients, such as iron, which are present in solid foods.

Toddlers (over 18 months) do not feed from the bottle like infants do. An infant's bottle is removed as soon as he has had his fill, while toddlers walks around with theirs, drinking on the go.

Co-author, Keith Ayoob, said:

"Unfortunately that has consequences: they (parents) get in the habit of giving the bottle or giving food to manage children's behavior. It sets up a dynamic of the kids getting food for reasons that have much less to do with hunger or appetite than behavior issues."

Researchers from Temple University say toddlers should be weaned off the bottle between 12 and 14 months. They believe pediatricians should be more proactive regarding giving this type of nutritional advice to parents.

Child obesity is becoming a serious public health problem in the USA. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says that over the last three decades child obesity has more than tripled. 6.5% of 6 to 11 year-olds in 1980 were obese, in 2008 the figure stood at 19.6%. In 1980, about 5% of 12 to 19 year olds were obese, in 2008 the rate jumped to 18.1%.

In the vast majority of cases, obesity occurs when people consume more calories than they can burn off in one day. Several factors raise the risk of obesity, such as eating too much, eating the wrong foods, some medications, genetics, physical inactivity, and not sleeping enough.

According to data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, involving 6,750 participants in Ohio, 22% of toddlers were still drinking from a bottle when they were two years old. 23% of 5-year-olds who had been bottle-feeding for too long were obese, compared to 16.1% of those who were weaned off earlier.

From around 12 months of age onwards, most children can hold a cup and drink from it, and no longer need to use a bottle. By the age of 12 months the bottle is no longer a nutritional requirement, it has other perceived benefits for the parents.

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HEALTH NEWS

Afinitor (everolimus) For Rare Pancreatic Cancer Approved By FDA

Afinitor (everolimus), a medication for patients with PNET (progressive neuroendocrine tumors) in the pancreas whose tumor cannot be surgically removed or whose cancer has metastasized (spread), has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Neuroendocrine tumors located in the pancreas are rare and grow slowly. According to the CDC, there are approximately 1,000 newly diagnosed cases annually in the USA.

Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the Office of Oncology Drug Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said:

"Patients with this cancer have few effective treatment option. afinitor  has demonstrated the ability to slow the growth and spread of neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas."

The FDA reviewed data from a clinical trial involving 410 patients. They either had:

• Late stage cancer - it had spread to other parts of the body (metastasis)
• The tumor was locally advanced - it could not be surgically removed

Half of them were randomly selected to receive Afinitor while the other half were given a placebo (dummy drug). The trial's endpoint was progression-free survival - the aim was to measure how long patients lived before the disease started getting worse again.

Those on Afinitor had progression-free survival of 11 months, compared to 4.6 months for those on the placebo. The placebo patients whose disease worsened were given the option of swapping to the other group.

The most commonly reported side effects for Afinitor were stomatitis (inflammation of the mouth), rash, fatigue, diarrhea, edema, abdominal pain, fever, headache and nausea.

Afinitor is already approved for treating advanced renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) after the patient did not respond properly to Sutent or Nexavar. It is also administered to patients with a type of brain cancer (subependymal giant cell astrocytoma) whose tumor cannot be surgically removed.

Zortress, another trade name for Afinitor, is used as an immunosuppressant for kidney transplantation recipients.

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HEALTH NEWS

Philippine city holds mass circumcision for youths

MANILA, Philippines – Hundreds of boys in a Philippine city turned out Saturday for a daylong "circumcision party" to provide a safe, free procedure for a rite of passage that most local males undergo as preteens.

Some boys cried in their mothers' arms while others bit their shirts to stifle sobs as doctors carried out the surgery on dozens of makeshift operating tables inside a sports stadium in Marikina city east of Manila. Outside, other boys lined up to await their turn.

"I'm a big boy now," one boy who had just finished the surgery bragged.

Officials said the event — touted in a press statement as a "circumcision party" — aims to promote safe circumcision and to offer to poor residents free surgery that would otherwise cost at least $40 in private hospitals.

As of mid-afternoon, nearly 1,500 boys aged 9 years and up had been circumcised while many were still waiting in line, city health officer Dr. Alberto Herrera said.

In the Philippines, preadolescent and adolescent boys traditionally are circumcised during summer school break from March to May. In rural areas, the surgery is sometimes performed by non-doctors using crude methods.

The city also hopes to establish a world record for the number of people attending a mass circumcision.

"We applied for the Guinness Book of World Records and we are recording everything so we can send all the data to them and hopefully it will be recognized," Vice Mayor Jose Fabian Cadiz said.

Marikina, the country's shoemaking capital, was recognized by Guinness in 2002 for creating what was then the world's biggest pair of shoes.

Sexually transmitted diseases go up in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Alaska has the nation's highest rate of Chlamydia and second-highest rate of gonorrhea as the sexually transmitted diseases spread in rural areas, according to the Alaska Division of Public Health.

A total 6,026 cases of the bacterial disease Chlamydia were reported in Alaska in 2010, a 13 percent rise over the previous year. The Alaska case rate of 849 per 100,000 people is more than twice the national rate of 417, the department said.

Reported cases of gonorrhea totaled 1,273 in 2010, a 23 percent increase and counter to a national trend of reduced gonorrheal infections, the state said. Alaska's rate was 179 per 100,000 people, compared to a national rate of 99.

The high rates partly reflect Alaska's demographics, according to Susan Jones, HIV and sexually transmitted disease program coordinator for the state.

"The burden of Chlamydia and gonorrhea is in the young population," Jones said. "Alaska on average has a young population compared to most states."

The diseases are also prevalent among ethnic minorities. The rural regions of the state with the worst rates of infection have largely Alaska native populations, she said.

Lack of timely treatment in those rural areas adds to the problem, Jones said.

The Alaska Medical Board recently enacted a rule change authorizing doctors to prescribe medicine to sexual partners of infected patients even if those partners are not examined, she said.

Chlamydia infections are rising nationally, though not as dramatically as in Alaska, Jones said.

Sometimes the symptoms are mild or not noticeable. "Probably 85 percent of the people who have chlamydia will never know it," Jones said.

Even without symptoms, Chlamydia can have serious consequences, including pelvic inflammatory disease leading to infertility in women, Jones said.

"It's not a benign infection," she said.

Higher Hepatitis C Virus Infection Rate In Massachusetts Among Teenagers And Young Adults

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection rates among teenagers and young adults are rising significantly in Massachusetts, according to a new CDC report. Experts say it is principally due to needle sharing by illicit drug users. Other states appear to have witnessed a similar trend, the authors added.

The majority of the increase in Massachusetts is occurring among non-Hispanic Caucasian young people. Rates are increasing equally among males and females.

Authorities are describing the increase as a hepatitis C epidemic linked to the sharing of needles.

Between 2002 and 2006 there was a drop in newly reported cases of hepatitis C infections among all age groups. The problem is among individuals aged 15 to 24, the authors explain. In 2002 there were 65 newly reported cases per 100,000 people aged 15 to 24, rising to 113 in 2009. 1,925 new cases in young people were reported to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), 53% were confirmed and the rest were probable.

Researchers found that:

• There were 1,196 cases with a reported risk history (of injection drug use)
• 860 (72%) of them were either using injectable drugs at the time or had done in the past
• 719 (84%) of them admitted to injecting drugs at some time during the previous 12 months - 615 with heroin and 220 with cocaine (there was some overlap)
• 445 new cases had a history of taking drugs via the nasal passages

The authors added that other types of exposure, such as tattooing, probably added to the numbers.

Having been in prison was also found to be a risk factor for HCV infection.

The authors say their report strongly indicates a need for better and more intensified HCV prevention efforts, focusing on teenagers and young adults. According to the Institute of Medicine, for a strategy to be successful it has to include a range of comprehensive risk reduction programs that effectively address HCV infection prevention needs of individuals who use illegal drugs.

Providing sterile syringes and drug preparation equipment via syringe exchange services has been shown to reduce infection rates, as have school-based education programs. Drug treatments for young injection drug users need to be widely available.

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is an infection that affects the liver and is caused by HCV (hepatitis C virus). Initially the infected individual typically has no symptoms. However, once established, infection can become chronic (long-term) and fibrosis (scarring of the liver) can occur. Eventually this will develop to cirrosis (advanced scarring), which can lead to liver failure or liver cancer.

People become infected by blood-to-blood contact. In about 85% of infections the virus persists in the liver. The standard medication for persistent infection is peginterferon and ribavirin. Over half of all treated patients are cured. If cirrhosis of the liver develops the patient may need a liver transplant - the virus recurs after transplantation.

Approximately 300 million people around the world have hepatitis C. There is no vaccine to protect against HPC virus infection. There are five known hepatitis viruses, A, B, C, D, and E.

Philippine city holds mass circumcision for youths

 

MANILA, Philippines – Hundreds of boys in a Philippine city turned out Saturday for a daylong "circumcision party" to provide a safe, free procedure for a rite of passage that most local males undergo as preteens.

Some boys cried in their mothers' arms while others bit their shirts to stifle sobs as doctors carried out the surgery on dozens of makeshift operating tables inside a sports stadium in Marikina city east of Manila. Outside, other boys lined up to await their turn.

"I'm a big boy now," one boy who had just finished the surgery bragged.

Officials said the event — touted in a press statement as a "circumcision party" — aims to promote safe circumcision and to offer to poor residents free surgery that would otherwise cost at least $40 in private hospitals.

As of mid-afternoon, nearly 1,500 boys aged 9 years and up had been circumcised while many were still waiting in line, city health officer Dr. Alberto Herrera said.

In the Philippines, preadolescent and adolescent boys traditionally are circumcised during summer school break from March to May. In rural areas, the surgery is sometimes performed by non-doctors using crude methods.

The city also hopes to establish a world record for the number of people attending a mass circumcision.

"We applied for the Guinness Book of World Records and we are recording everything so we can send all the data to them and hopefully it will be recognized," Vice Mayor Jose Fabian Cadiz said.

Marikina, the country's shoemaking capital, was recognized by Guinness in 2002 for creating what was then the world's biggest pair of shoes.

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HEALTH NEWS

Gene Discovery Paves Way For Blood Test For Rare Brain Disorder Kufs Disease

The discovery of the gene responsible for Kufs disease, a rare but fatal inherited brain disorder, has paved the way for developing a blood test to diagnose the condition, rather than through brain biopsy, according to an Australian-led study published online in the American Journal of Human Genetics this week.

The researchers believe the innovative technology they developed for the study could help discover genetic causes of other epilepsy-related diseases, deafness and some inherited cancers.

Corresponding authors Professor Sam Berkovic, a neurologist and epilepsy specialist from the University of Melbourne and Dr Melanie Bahlo from the Bioinformatics division of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, and colleagues, developed new technology to discover that mutations in the CLN6 gene are the cause of inherited recessive Kufs type A disease. The gene lies on chromosome 15.

Kufs disease is a rare, hereditary and fatal disease that occurs in about 1 in a million people. It belongs to a group of disorders called neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs) that primarily affect the nervous system and cause problems with movement and intellectual function or cognition. People with the type A form of Kufs disease also have epilepsy and speech difficulties (dysarthria).

The signs and symptoms typically appear in early adulthood, but they can develop anytime between adolescence and late adulthood. They are caused by a build up of toxic fat in the brain and gradually worsen with time. Affected individuals usually survive about 10 years after symptoms first appear.

Genes accounting for most of the NCL disorders that begin in childhood have been identified, but this is the first discovery of a Kufs disease gene.

Berkovic and colleagues hope the discovery will lead to more efficient and less invasive ways of diagnosing Kufs disease earlier.

Diagnosis of Kufs disease is difficult because the characteristic fat deposits are largely present only in neurons or brain cells.

"Currently, the only way that we can reliably diagnose this disease is to do an invasive and dangerous brain biopsy, or at autopsy," Berkovic told the press.

Now we know the gene behind the disease, we will be able to use a rapid and simple blood test to identify it genetically, and this will make it possible to screen for the disease in families that carry the gene, and to offer genetic counselling, which we already know is important for patients, he explained.

He and Bahlo described the discovery of the CLN6 gene as a "great outcome" for the team and the people affected by the disease.

However, Berkovic said the best possible outcome would be if the discovery led to a treatment for Kufs disease, which is currently untreatable and invariably leads to death. However, the possibility of a treatment is "still some time away", he added.

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HEALTH NEWS

WHO report finds headaches have "enormous" costs

LONDON (Reuters) – Almost half of all adults worldwide suffer from headache disorders such as migraines and tension headaches and the problem has huge economic and societal costs, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

Yet headaches are widely under-recognized, under-diagnosed and under-treated, and the scant knowledge about them and the burdens they impose must be improved, the WHO said.

Publishing its first global atlas on headaches, the Geneva-based United Nations health body said it found that 47 percent of all adults have a headache disorder and "the financial costs to society through lost productivity are enormous."

In the European Union (EU) alone, 190 million days are lost from work every year because of migraine, it said.

"Headache and migraine disorders are greatly underrated and underreported by health systems and receive too little attention," Dr Shekhar Saxena, the WHO's director of mental health and substance abuse disorders, said in an emailed statement about the report.

"Headaches can be debilitating for many people, rendering them unable to work. During migraine attacks, 90 percent of people postpone household chores, almost three-quarters have limited ability to work and half of them miss work entirely."

Migraine affects around one in six women and one in 12 men, and has been estimated to be the most expensive brain disorder to society in the EU and the United States.

The WHO report found that most importantly, headache disorders are very disabling: Worldwide, migraine alone is the cause of 1.3 percent of all disability due to illness, it said, and experts estimate that taken together, all headache disorders account for double this burden.

Migraine alone is the cause of an estimated 400,000 lost days from work or school every year per million of the population in developed countries, and in the EU, the total annual cost of all headache has recently been estimated at 155 billion euros ($229 billion).

"Governments must take the issue more seriously, train health personnel in headache disorder diagnosis and treatment, and ensure appropriate medication is available and used properly," Saxena said.

An international scientific team said last year it had for the first time identified a genetic risk factor linked with common migraines -- a finding that could open the way for new treatments to prevent migraine attacks.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Paul Casciato)

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