Low-carb beats low-fat in diet duel
July 19, 2008
From NBC News
ATLANTA – The Atkins diet may have proved itself after all: A low-carb diet and a Mediterranean-style regimen helped people lose more weight than a traditional low-fat diet in one of the longest and largest studies to compare the dueling weight-loss techniques.
A bigger surprise: The low-carb diet improved cholesterol more than the other two. Some critics had predicted the opposite.
“It is a vindication,” said Abby Bloch of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation, a philanthropy group that honors the Atkins’ diet’s creator and was the study’s main funder.
Fast Food Chains Post Calories Now
July 19, 2008
From NBC News
NEW YORK – Several big fast food chains say they have finally begun obeying a new rule requiring some New York City restaurants to post calorie counts right on the menu.
Burger King and McDonalds were among the chains that began changing their menu boards Friday after months of resistance.
A city health department rule requiring the switch has been in effect since May, but legal action delayed enforcement until now.
Less than 160 calories Desserts
July 17, 2008
From ABC News
By Loren Chidoni
When you’re squeezing into last year’s tankini, the dessert end of the freezer aisle seems taboo. But what would summer be without Popsicles and fro-yo? Sucky, that’s what.
To find frosty goodies that won’t test the limits of Lycra, we sampled 27 kinds. The result: these eight amazing, guilt-free indulgences–and one mother of an ice-cream headache.
Best For 100 Cals
Klondike Slim-a-Bear sandwiches
100 calories each, $4.30/box of 6
These creamy-on-the-inside sandwiches are the poster child for portion control: we could devour one without guilty urges to rip into a second or third.
L’Oreal Used Banned Chemicals in Foreign Sales
July 17, 2008
From ABC News
By Scott Michels
Cosmetics giant L’Oreal USA sold products overseas containing potentially carcinogenic chemicals, falsely advertised products containing animal-derived ingredients as “100 percent vegan,” and failed to comply with regulatory laws, according to a lawsuit filed by the company’s former regulatory affairs director.
Jerome Chevallier claims he was fired after he complained to his superiors about allegedly unlawful activities. He says the company sold Maybelline products in South America that contain carcinogenic chemicals, and that company management deleted formulae — for products allegedly containing illegal levels of a preservative — from internal computers, to avoid scrutiny from company regulators.
Don’t become the victim of a surgical error
July 17, 2008
From CNN News
By Elizabeth Cohen
I thought my husband was crazy.
When our 2-year-old daughter had hernia surgery, he insisted on seeing the surgeon minutes before to remind him that the hernia was on her right side, not her left.
The nurses weren’t happy; it wasn’t protocol to have the surgeon meet with parents immediately before a procedure.
“Maybe this is overkill,” I said to my husband. “He knows what side the hernia’s on. He’s already seen her twice in his office. Plus, we’ve told the pre-op nurses 10 times it’s on the right side.”
Teen pregnancies up for first time in 15 years
July 12, 2008
From CNN News
By Elizabeth Landau
Teen pregnancies rose in the United States for the first time since 1991, the National Institutes of Health reported Friday.
The new data also show that eighth-graders smoke less, according to the report “America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2008.”
The report comes after a spate of high-profile teen pregnancies: that of 17-year-old TV star Jamie Lynn Spears, who recently gave birth to a daughter, as well as the pregnancies of numerous students at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts.
Not ready for a baby? Protect your fertility
June 21, 2008
From msnbcnews.com
By Denise Schipani
You’ve yet to hear a single tick-tock, but lurking beneath your killer abs is a biological clock that will start buzzing eventually — and you can only hit the snooze button so many times.
So what do you do if you’re not ready to push out a baby right this second but think you’ll want to become a mom someday?
Luckily, fertility isn’t a total crapshoot. And though you can’t put off pregnancy indefinitely (despite exceptions like Marcia Cross, your odds of conceiving drop substantially after age 35), there’s plenty you can do to help keep your body in peak baby-making form.
Don’t be shy, ask mom about her medical history
June 21, 2008
From msnbcnews.com
By Camille Noe Pagan
Has your mom been trying to pry open your personal life ever since your junior high days? It’s time to turn the tables, because when it comes to your health, the woman who birthed you, bathed you, and burped you is the closest thing you have to a crystal ball. We all appreciate the lovelier physical traits we’ve inherited, from a set of perfectly straight, white choppers to a NASCAR-worthy metabolism, but it’s important to take stock of the health problems she may have passed down along with them. Asking her these questions could clue you in to your possible future, and help you give inherited health risks the boot.
Healthy Lifestyle Triggers Genetic Changes: Study
June 18, 2008
From abcnews.com
By Will Dunham
Comprehensive lifestyle changes including a better diet and more exercise can lead not only to a better physique, but also to swift and dramatic changes at the genetic level, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
In a small study, the researchers tracked 30 men with low-risk prostate cancer who decided against conventional medical treatment such as surgery and radiation or hormone therapy.
The men underwent three months of major lifestyle changes, including eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products, moderate exercise such as walking for half an hour a day, and an hour of daily stress management methods such as meditation.
Electroshock Sans Anesthesia: Inside an Iraqi Hospital
June 18, 2008
From abcnews.com
By Nick schierin
In this country, in this city, in this hospital, where the danger has driven the doctors away, Mohammad Rashid is as much patient as psychiatrist.
“It takes more than two hours daily to come from my place to the hospital. And the road, I see many scenes, I face many confrontations with the guards, with the American soldiers,” says Rashid, one of four psychiatrists practicing at Baghdad’s Ibn Rushid hospital. “I have the same worries about my children when they go to their school — I call my wife three or four times daily just to reassure that they came back safely. So it’s not easy. We are fighting. We are fighting to live.”
Health Costs To Rise Nearly 10%
June 18, 2008
From Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK — Employer health-care costs are poised to rise almost 10% in 2008 — more than double the annual inflation rate — and nearly that much again in 2009, according to an industry report released Tuesday.
The study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicts that medical costs will increase 9.9% in …
Make Your Feet Look Fab
June 18, 2008
From Yahoo Health
One of the best things about summer: My boots go to the back of my closet, and my sandals come front and center. The only tiny snag: That means I need regular pedicures. The idea of having my feet pampered for an hour is lovely, I admit. But let’s be serious, finding an extra hour every weekend can be tough.
Luckily, I’ve learned a couple of ways to stretch the time between salon visits:
1. Exfoliate regularly.
The thickest skin on your body is on your heels, which is why lightweight body lotions sit on top of your callused soles rather than sink in. You have to exfoliate to remove that tough, none-too-pretty skin. I find that glycolic peel pads and serums (yes, the same ones made for your face) work really well. Afterward, apply moisturizer—the thick-as-frosting kind, not the light-as-air kind.
Burn More Calories in Less Time
June 18, 2008
From Yahoo Health
By Lucy Danziger
The way to shape up fast is no secret. Weight training will sculpt and build lean muscle, which (unlike fat) burns calories on its own; cardio (brisk walking, biking, jogging, etc.) will shed the fat hiding those defined muscles. I’m a cardio fan from way back (I love how it feels to get my heart rate up), but who wants to slog away on a treadmill in a dull gym, going nowhere fast (or slow, as the case may be)? Not me! Especially when you can spend less time and get better results.
The secret is intervals. Study subjects who spent just 20 minutes mixing sprints with jogging lost three times the fat off their legs and butt in 15 weeks, compared to those who jogged steadily for 40 minutes, research from the University of New South Wales in Sydney finds. Intervals may spark fat-mobilizing hormones, and they amp your cardio capacity so your future runs will actually feel easier.
Selling longer life — or snake oil?
June 12, 2008
From MSNBC
By Brian Alexander
In 1931, Dr. Paul Niehans opened Clinic La Prairie in Clarens, Switzerland. There he experimented with something he called “cellular therapy.” By injecting human patients with the living cells of fetal sheep, he promised, people could be rejuvenated, their body’s tissues literally made young again.
La Prairie quickly gained an elite clientele. Actress Gloria Swanson, the King of Morocco, Saudi Arabia’s founder King Ibn Saud, Pope Pius XII and many wealthy Americans and Europeans flocked to Clarens for the treatments, buying into one of the most ancient hopes of man — restored youth. Niehans had joined a long line of would-be saviors who came before and after. Some transplanted monkey, dog or goat testicles into men, or their ovaries into women. Others touted various elixirs, like one called Gerovital, popular in the 1950s. In the 1980s and early 1990s, hopes were placed on dietary supplements like beta-carotene, often in massive amounts. Nothing worked.
Couch-potato culture may cut our lives short
June 12, 2008
From msnbc.om
By Jacqueline Stenson
The turning point happened last summer when Sherrie Boughter’s son came to her in tears about his weight — at 8 years old, he tipped the scales at 184 pounds.
“I weigh more than Rey Mysterio,” the professional wrestler, Justin told his mom. “You have to help me! You have to help me!” he pleaded.
“We sat and cried for an hour,” remembers Boughter, 41, who lives in Medina, Ohio.
She and her husband, Brian, sought help from the Akron Children’s Hospital Future Fitness Clinic, where she says the staff didn’t beat around the bush. While Justin didn’t have full-blown diabetes, which runs in the family, he had brown patches on the back of his neck that can be a warning sign of the disease.
U.S. life expectancy tops 78 for the first time
June 12, 2008
From msnbc.com
ATLANTA – For the first time, U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78 years, the government reported Wednesday, although the United States continues to lag behind about 30 other countries in estimated life span.
The increase is due mainly to falling mortality rates in almost all the leading causes of death, federal health officials said. The average life expectancy for babies born in 2006 was about four months greater than for children born in 2005.
Japan has the longest life expectancy — 83 years for children born in 2006, according to World Health Organization data. Switzerland and Australia were also near the top of the list.
Common Sleep Problem Linked With Memory Loss
June 12, 2008
From New York Times
The part of the brain that stores memory appears to shrink in people with sleep apnea, adding further evidence that the sleep and breathing disorder is a serious health threat.
The findings, from brain scan studies conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, show for the first time that sleep apnea is associated with tissue loss in brain regions that store memory. And while the thinking and focus problems of sleep apnea patients often are attributed to sleep deprivation, the scans show something far more insidious is occurring.
“Our findings demonstrate that impaired breathing during sleep can lead to a serious brain injury that disrupts memory and thinking,” said principal investigator Ronald Harper, professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at U.C.L.A. The data appear in the June 27 issue of the journal Neuroscience Letters.
Golf Cart Injuries Are on the Rise
June 12, 2008
From New York Times
Golf carts are moving off the golf course, and the result appears to be a surge in injuries, a new report shows.
The June issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine reports that injuries from being hit or falling off of golf carts surged 132 percent from 1990 to 2006. Nearly 150,000 people, ranging in age from 2 months to 96 years, were hurt in golf cart accidents during that time.
One reason may be that golf carts have become much faster and more powerful. Reaching speeds of up to 25 miles per hour and traveling as far as 40 miles on a single battery charge, golf carts now offer quick travel in a variety of venues. They are now routinely used at sporting events, hospitals, airports, national parks, college campuses, businesses and military bases, the study authors noted. In some gated and retirement communities, golf carts have become the primary means
Regimens: Wine May Help Keep Liver Healthy
June 11, 2008
From New York Times
BY NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Recent reports suggest that red wine is a potent force in increasing lifespan, and a new study offers still more good news for wine drinkers. A glass a day, whether white or red, may reduce the risk of developing the nation’s most common liver disorder, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Researchers studied 7,211 nondrinkers, and 3,598 people who drank a glass a day of wine, beer or liquor, testing them for elevated blood levels of alanine aminotransferase, or ALT, a finding that indicates liver damage.They found above-normal levels in 3.2 percent of nondrinkers, 3.5 percent of beer drinkers and 2.3 percent of daily hard-liquor drinkers.
But among those who drank a glass of wine a day, the rate averaged only 0.4 percent.
Fast Food Chains Hold the Tomatoes
June 10, 2008
From abcnews.com
By Randy Gyllenhaal
Several grocery stores and fast food restaurants said Monday that they are temporarily pulling sliced tomatoes from their restaurants and shelves in the wake of a mysterious salmonella outbreak that has spread to at least 16 states.
McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King and Chipotle all announced plans to pull tomatoes from their restaurants, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said there have been 145 reported cases of salmonellosis across the country, sending 23 people to the hospital. No deaths have been reported so far. The culprit: an uncommon strain of salmonella called Salmonella Saintpaul.
The FDA has advised restaurants and retailers to remove certain types of tomatoes from their shelves and products.
Families Battle Insurers Over Eating Disorders
June 10, 2008
From abcnews.com
Janell Smith struggled with an eating disorder for months. By the time she was hospitalized, in January 2003, the 26-year-old weighed 68 pounds and needed to be put on a feeding tube to save her life.
Less than a month later, according to a lawsuit filed by her parents, Brian Smith got call from his daughter’s insurer saying she would be discharged in four days. Within days of her release, she committed suicide.
The lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial this month, alleges that their insurer decided to discharge Smith over her father’s protests and without consulting with her doctors, who, despite her gradual weight gain, believed she was not healthy enough to be released.
The Smiths’ case is one of several court fights around the country between insurance companies and families of those who suffer from eating disorders, who have lost loved ones or spent tens of thousands of dollars on treatment that, they claim, should have been covered by insurance.
Teen Depression
June 10, 2008
From Fox News
By Dr. Manny Alvarez
Depression among children is a serious problem. One out of every 20 adolescents suffers from clinical depresion. When depression begins during the teenage years, the risks are significant, interrupting both learning and the development of those parts of the brain where decisions are made.
Among depressed teens, suicide is a significant risk. Suicide is responsible for more than 10 percent of the deaths in the 15-to-19 age group.
There are many reasons for depression. Suffering loss such as the death of a parent or a friend, or experiencing extreme trauma can trigger depression, of course. Other well-known links to childhood depression include physical and sexual abuse, neglect, inappropriate criticism, conflict in the family, divorce, addiction in the family, violence in the family, racism, and poverty. Some depression may be genetic at core and be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. But even then, the genetic predisposition must be triggered by a trauma or stressful event of some sort.
From Foxs News
Millions of men and women who suffer from premature baldness or hair loss could soon be able to regain their original lustrous locks — by cloning their remaining hair in the laboratory, research suggests.
The new technique, known as “follicular cell implantation,” has already shown positive results in continuing clinical trials on human beings. The work, being carried out by a British team, is being hailed as a major advance in hair restoration and is backed by a $3.7 million government grant.
The cell therapy has the potential to provide a limitless supply of an individual’s hair to replace that lost because of burns, cancer treatment or simply the onset of age, and could be available to patients within five years.
From Fox News
There’s a grim, rarely talked-about twist to all that medical know-how doctors learn to save lives: It makes them especially good at ending their own. An estimated 300 to 400 U.S. doctors kill themselves each year — a suicide rate thought to be higher than in the general population, although exact figures are hard to come by.
Some doctors believe the stigma of mental illness is magnified in a profession that prides itself on stoicism and bravado. Many fear admitting psychiatric problems could be fatal to their careers, so they suffer in silence.
And when the pain is too much, doctors have easy access to prescription drugs and a precise knowledge of both how the body works and the amount of a drug needed for an overdose to stop breathing and halt the heart.
“All physicians have access to neat, clean ways to commit suicide,” said Dr. Robert Lehmberg, a Little Rock, Ark., surgeon who has battled depression and long considered suicide “an exit strategy if absolutely necessary.”
Warm Weather, Smarter Shaving
June 10, 2008
From Yahoo Health
It’s baaack: shorts season. And if, like most people I know (OK, me), you’ve been kind of lax about keeping your legs hair-free while you’ve been covered up in clothes, warm weather means getting reacquainted with your razor. And maybe learning a few new tips, too, like:
1) Exfoliating first keeps you stubble-free longer. Dead skin cells can build up around your hair follicles, so your razor spends more time shaving away skin than it does hair. Keep a loofah or a scrub in the shower to give your legs a quick once-over.
2) Shaving shouldn’t be your first shower chore. Wait three minutes (no more) so the warm water can slightly dilate the hair follicles. That way the blade cuts the hairs farther down the shaft, for a smoother feel.
Slow Down, You are Eating Too Fast!
June 10, 2008
From Yahoo Health
It’s tough not to rush through your meals; some days, I barely have time to sit down for lunch till 3 p.m.! But slowing down can help you slim down: Researchers from the University of Rhode Island at Kingston found that people who ate more slowly consumed 70 fewer calories per meal than speed eaters.
Instead of plowing through your meals, pace yourself using this soothing breathing technique before you start to eat: Inhale deeply through your nose, then exhale slowly. Repeat several times, says Yvonne Nienstadt, nutrition director at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico.
Vitamin D May Protect Against Heart Attack
June 10, 2008
From abcnews.com
By Will Dunham
Men with low levels of vitamin D have an elevated risk for a heart attack, researchers said on Monday in the latest study to identify important possible health benefits from the “sunshine vitamin.”
In the study, men classified as deficient in vitamin D were about 2 1/2 times more likely to have a heart attack than those with higher levels of the vitamin.
“Those with low vitamin D, on top of just being at higher risk for heart attack in general, were at particularly high risk to have a fatal heart attack,” study author Dr. Edward Giovannucci of the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston said in a telephone interview.
How one family walked off 191 pounds
June 5, 2008
From MSNBC News
By Natalie Gingerich
The Janssens are a picture of the Iowa heartland — especially at the dinner table. A true meat-and-potatoes family, they were taught to eat whatever was on their plates. And with 10 siblings, they learned early that it was better to take an extra scoop of mashed potatoes than end up hungry! Fast-forward a few decades and all that meat and potatoes (don’t forget the gravy), along with genetics, left the family with health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. Nine years ago, eldest sibling Claudia Meyer (now 65 and a Team Prevention marathoner) had a stroke, and doctors said she’d never walk again. In 2003, youngest brother Bruce passed away at age 47 from a blood clot, and a little over 2 years later sister Valerie, 57, died suddenly from a heart attack.
The family has seen no shortage of loss, but there is no shortage of love either. “It’s like having a twin with each one of our siblings,” says Nita Ott, 54.
‘Wii Fit’ will definitely get you moving
June 5, 2008
From MSNBC News
By Winda Benedetti
Here’s the thing: I’m supposed to be training for a triathlon — a race that just so happens to be a mere three months away. But have I done a lick of exercise in preparation? As a matter of fact, no.
A friend of mine is fighting breast cancer and I’d like to get in shape for the Danskin Women’s Triathalon, which raises money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. But here’s the hitch: I’m lazy. Also, I did a lot of exercising when I was a whippersnapper (I was a distance runner in a past life) and now I’m bored of it. All that huffing and puffing and sweating — why bother when I could be sitting on my ever-expanding buttocks playing video games?
Enter “Wii Fit,” Nintendo’s newest product for those of us who spend too much time perched on our dimpled derrieres doing things like playing games or watching TV or, you know, pretty much anything other than what we know we should be doing with our spare time, which is exercising.
10 ways to be kind to your skin in the spring
June 5, 2008
From MSNBC News
By Laurel Naversen Geraghty
May, not April, could actually be the cruelest month: The first glimpse of ashen skin, blue veins, callused feet, and unexpected hairs can make you feel as though the body is thoroughly unprepared. “May is really the month of self-discovery,” says Ranella Hirsch, a dermatologist at Boston University Medical Center.
What’s more, the change of season can prompt a whole new set of issues. “It may be instantly hot and humid, so on top of all your dry skin, you’re suddenly having oiliness and acne, or even an allergy that starts in the spring with the first burst of sun exposure,” says Audrey Kunin, associate clinical instructor of dermatology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.
Fortunately, skin responds well to kindness. The right treatments are new sources of hope — something that spring manages to inspire even in the wasteland.
