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Health & fitness, March 4

The Rocky

Published March 4, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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TRACTION TOOLS

* The dilemma: You need a better grip on the packed snow and ice that are coating your favorite hiking trails.

* The fix: Microspikes from Kahtoola

* Why it works: The toothy, stainless-steel spikes, 3/8 of an inch long, grab onto all kinds of slippery surfaces. A rubber harness slides easily over your shoes or boots, so you don't have to fiddle with straps or buckles.

* Bonus: The spikes are attached to small chains that flex with your shoe's sole, which gives consistent traction.

* Get it: $59; kahtoola.com

MINING A NEW VEIN

New technology, cleared near the end of 2006 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, uses heat to deflate varicose veins in less than five minutes.

Varicose veins form when valves in major leg vessels, which normally flush blood upward toward the heart, malfunction and allow blood to spill backward and pool in branches below. The dysfunction can lead to throbbing and chronic pain.

Doctors thread a tiny catheter into the vein with ultrasound guidance, then zap the walls with radio-frequency heat. Like a deflating balloon, the walls collapse and seal shut, and blood is rerouted to healthy veins.

U.S. News and World Report

FLU-SHOT POOL EXPANDS

All children - not just those under 5 - should get vaccinated against the flu, a federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said recently. The panel voted to expand annual flu shots to virtually all children up to age 18, except infants younger than 6 months and those with serious egg allergies.

The panel's advice is routinely adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which issues vaccination guidelines to doctors and hospitals.

Associated Press

SPEAKING OF SHOTS . . .

2% of adults have been immunized against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

2% of people over age 60 have received the new vaccine against shingles, which is caused by the chicken pox virus.

10% of women ages 18 to 26 have received the new HPV vaccine designed to prevent cervical cancer.

U.S. News and World Report

A.C. FOR THE BRAIN

The next time you feel the urge to yawn, open wide. Yawning drives away drowsiness by activating certain muscles to increase heart rate, according to a recent study at the State University of New York-Albany.

It also appears to have a cooling effect on the brain, which heightens attentiveness, the study says.

U.S. News and World Report

PREVENTION'S WORTH

110 per 100,000 people is the rate of preventable deaths before age 75 in the United States in 2002-03 - the worst rate in a study of 19 industrialized countries by British researchers.

U.S. News and World Report