Your Health: Pools and asthma, breast cancer test

Pools and asthma

Swimming in chlorinated pools, new research shows, increases the risk of asthma in sensitive children. Researchers in Belgium compared children who swam in chlorinated pools with those in pools disinfected with copper and silver ions. Children with allergic sensitivities had asthma and respiratory allergies more often in the chlorinated water. Researchers suggest the chlorinated water and the air just above it aggravate the respiratory system and suggest strictly monitoring chlorine levels in pools. The study was reported in the latest issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Stroke plumbers

Edward Hospital has opened a new lab that could allow doctors to yank a clot out of a stroke victim's brain.

The hospital in Naperville is one of a handful in the suburbs to offer the latest life-saving neurovascular procedures.

A team of five doctors from the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation will offer round-the-clock on-call services at Edward's new neuro-spine lab.

One procedure at the lab will use a minimally invasive technique to snake a tiny wire through a leg artery and into the brain to remove a clot. halting or reversing the stroke.

Food safety site

The federal government has created a new Web site to display the latest news in food recalls and safety warnings: foodsafety.gov.

The site also has advice on food storage and handling, such as minimum cooking temperatures (160 to 165 degrees for most foods), a turkey thawing chart (30 minutes per pound in cold water), and how long different foods last in the fridge and freezer.

For instance, hot dogs and lunch meat should only be frozen up to two months, according to the site, while a steak can last a year.

Girls' health report

One-third of female high school students in Illinois reported experiencing depression in the previous year, according to a new compilation of statistics on girls' health.

Fourteen percent of Chicago female students said they engaged in self-mutilation, such as cutting or burning. And yet one-third of those who say they need mental health care don't get it.

Those numbers come from the most recent federal Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System in 2007, and were compiled last week in a report called, "The Status of Girls in Illinois."

The report, sponsored by Women & Girls CAN, found 85 percent of parents say their daughters are in excellent or very good health. But 12 percent have special health-care needs, 22 percent have asthma, and one out of four parents think they don't have enough insurance to handle their daughters' needs.

To see the report, go to www.statusofgirls.womenandgirlscan.org.