Study Offers Hope For U.S. Kids’ Obesity
May 29, 2008
From cbsnews.com
The percentage of American children who are overweight or obese appears to have leveled off after a 25-year increase, according to new figures that offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dismal battle.
“That is a first encouraging finding in what has been unremittingly bad news,” said Dr. David Ludwig, director of an obesity clinic at Children’s Hospital Boston. “But it’s too soon to know if this really means we’re beginning to make meaningful inroads into this epidemic. It may simply be a statistical fluke.”
Overall, roughly 32 percent of children were overweight but not obese, 16 percent were obese and 11 percent were extremely obese, in a study based on in-person measurements of height and weight in 2005 and 2006.
Quitting Smoking Is Contagious
May 23, 2008
From CBS News
The urge to smoke is contagious, but quitting apparently is, too.
A team of researchers who showed that obesity can spread person-to-person has found a similar pattern with smoking cessation: A smoker is more likely to kick the habit if a spouse, friend, co-worker or sibling did.What’s more, smokers tend to quit in groups and those who don’t stop puffing increasingly find themselves pushed to the edge of their social circles, the researchers found.
“Your smoking behavior depends upon not just the smoking behavior of the people you know, but also the people who they know” and so on, said Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a medical sociologist at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the new report.
McDonald’s Fries, Hold The Trans-Fat
May 23, 2008
From CBS News
McDonald’s said Thursday its french fries are now trans-fat-free in all its restaurants in the United States and Canada, catching it up with its fast-food rivals in that category.
CEO Jim Skinner made the word official at its annual shareholders meeting at McDonald’s Corp. headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill.
McDonald’s has lagged other restaurant operators in switching over to a zero-trans-fat cooking oil out of worries it would compromise the taste of its trademark fries. It has been under increasing pressure from consumer advocates and some public officials to make the change, but did so quietly.
Sex problems ‘may be heart alert’
May 20, 2008
From BBC News
Men with diabetes who are having trouble keeping an erection could be at increased risk of serious heart problems, suggests a study.
Those with erectile dysfunction were twice as likely as other men with diabetes to develop heart disease.
The root cause of both can be blood vessel damage caused by high blood sugar levels, the Chinese University of Hong Kong said.
Experts said men with erectile dysfunction should see their doctor.
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology reported that researchers wanted to see if erectile dysfunction could be a reliable independent warning signal for doctors that further problems were on the way.
Lots of water ‘is little benefit’
May 20, 2008
From BBC News
UK experts say research which finds drinking lots of water does little to improve health should not discourage people from topping up regularly.
A scientific review by the University of Pennsylvania said some people, such as athletes, may need to drink a lot.
But they found little evidence that flushing out toxins through drinking copious amounts improved health.
However, the Food Standards Agency is sticking to its recommendation to drink six to eight glasses of fluid a day.
How to Look Beautiful on Your Big Day
May 20, 2008
From foxnews.com
By Jessica Ryen Doyle
In 2005, actress Laura Linney described her Oscar-readying process as simply putting on her J. Mendel gown when it arrived.
It might be safe to assume that Linney, who is up for lead actress in Sunday’s Academy Awards, does a little more primping in preparation for Hollywood’s most glamorous night.
But you don’t have to be famous to be red-carpet ready for your big event, according to health and beauty experts.
“The most important thing to do is to make a plan and stick with it,” said Dr. Rhoda Narins, a celebrity dermasurgeon and past president of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
Warning over illegal skin bleach
May 20, 2008
From foxnews.com
The patient, aged 28, put on almost two stone (13kg) in three years, could not conceive and had severe stretch marks.
In the Lancet, medics from west London’s Hammersmith Hospital said people were unaware they were harmful.
Dermatologists said such extreme reactions were rare, but minor skin effects were more common.
Illegal skin-lightening creams are used by some black people and, to a lesser extent, some Asian people.
They can cause harm in two ways.
The creams usually contain hydroxyquinone, a skin-bleaching chemical, as well as high doses of steroids.
Risky Ritual: 21 Drinks At Age 21
May 20, 2008
From cbsnews.com
By Kelley Colihan
How did you celebrate turning age 21? A study shows that most students at one Midwestern university drank, with some celebrating with a risky ritual of consuming 21 drinks.
Researchers at the University of Missouri found that when they asked 2,518 students at an unnamed university in the Midwest how they celebrated turning 21, most of them celebrated with alcohol.
“This study provides the first empirical evidence that 21st-birthday drinking is a pervasive custom in which binge drinking is the norm,” notes researcher Patricia Rutledge.
Birthday Binge Drinking
The study shows that four out of five students drank to celebrate turning 21. And women were more likely to drink to celebrate than men.
Get Healthy and Fit Playing Video Game!
May 20, 2008
From cbsnews.com
By Larry Magid
Thanks to Nintendo, I now know I’m a somewhat overweight couch potato with poor balance. But there is hope. If I stick with the plan, I may lose weight, get stronger and improve my balance and posture. At least that’s the theory behind Nintendo’s innovative Wii Fit – an $89.99 game and accessory for the Nintendo Wii designed to help people of all ages and both genders get healthier. The Wii Fit was officially launched in North America on Monday and is expected in stores on Wednesday.
In addition to the CD, Wii Fit comes with a balance board that wirelessly communicates with the required Nintendo Wii Console (the list price is $249 but shortages make it hard to find at that price).
Heart attack: Top 9 risk factors
May 18, 2008
From Health 24
One of the world’s widest studies into heart attacks has identified nine risk factors that account for nine out of 10 of all cardiac arrests, with cholesterol, smoking and stress topping the table.
People who have high lipid concentrations in the blood or who smoke account for roughly 60 percent of all heart attacks, according to the study, published online Friday by the British medical weekly The Lancet.Someone with high blood cholesterol faces a 3,25 higher risk of a heart attack than someone with normal levels; someone who smokes has a 2,9 higher risk than a person who has never smoked.
10 Minutes to Better Health
May 18, 2008
From Health 24
By Susan Erasmus
Water, water everywhere. Drink at least 6 glasses of water a day. Remember tea and coffee actually dehydrate you. That puffy look in the morning, means you are dehydrated.
Tomato trick. Tomato, in all its forms, containes lycopene, a very powerful antioxidant, which helps your body fight cancer. If you don’t like raw tomato, tomato sauce or tomato paste will have almost the same effect. You can also get it in supplement form: it’s called Lyc-O-Mato, which the manufacturers claim concentrates the lycopene from non genetically modified, organically-grown tomatoes.
Still Smoking? So Dangerous
May 18, 2008
From Health 24
Linda and Ian adore their children. Only the best is good enough for five-year-old Danny and baby Emma. They spend a lot of quality time with them, doing all the things parents would like to do to stimulate their offspring intellectual potential.
Linda is a smoker, but restricts her smoking to the living rooms and kitchen. She does not smoke in the car when Danny and Emma are with her and never in the kids?rooms.
She was shocked when her GP informed her that Danny had already inhaled the equivalent of 102 packets of cigarettes by his fifth birthday because he is living in the same house as a smoking parent. And that both Danny and Emma have an increased risk of asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases due to their exposure to second-hand smoke.
Relax To Music, Ease Blood Pressure
May 18, 2008
From CBS News
By Miranda Hitti
Blood pressure a bit too high? Spending half an hour a day listening to music and breathing slowly may help.
That’s what happened in a new Italian study of 28 adults taking drugs to control their mild high blood pressure (hypertension).
First, the patients wore a device that tracked their blood pressure for 24 hours. Next, they were given a CD of classical, Celtic, or Indian music. All of the tunes on the CD had similar slow rhythms, Professor Pietro A. Modesti, MD, PhD, of Italy’s University of Florence, tells WebMD in an email.
Are You in Shape?
May 18, 2008
From CBS News
If you didn’t get a Presidential Physical Fitness Award in school, the government is giving you another chance to prove you’re in shape.
An adult fitness test is being introduced Wednesday by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. It will incorporate several of the exercises that millions of students undertake each year as they aim for a certificate signed by the president.
“What were trying to do is inspire and motivate Americans to move their bodies more,” said Melissa Johnson, executive director of the council.
The test involves three basic components: aerobic fitness, muscular strength and flexibility. The test is for people 18 and older who are in good health. It was inspired by scores of baby boomers who kept asking council members whether there was a fitness test available today that was similar to the ones they took as students, Johnson said.
Experts Define Premature Ejaculation
May 18, 2008
From CBS News
By Miranda Hitti
The International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) has written a definition for premature ejaculation.
An international panel of 21 premature ejaculation experts wrote the definition after reviewing research on the topic and meeting in Amsterdam in October 2007 to discuss the issue. Here is their definition:
“Premature ejaculation is a male sexual dysfunction characterized by ejaculation which always or nearly always occurs prior to or within about one minute of vaginal penetration; and, inability to delay ejaculation on all or nearly all vaginal penetrations; and, negative personal consequences, such as distress, bother, frustration, and/or the avoidance of sexual intimacy.”
Infected Babies Pass HIV to Mothers
May 14, 2008
From Foxnews.com
OSH, Kyrgyzstan — Not long ago, she was a wife, mother and teacher. Now Dilfuza Mustafakulova is HIV-positive and has lost her husband and her job. Mustafakulova’s baby son was among 72 children infected with the virus at two Kyrgyz hospitals. Sixteen mothers also have contracted it — in some cases by breast-feeding their children.
The scandal has led to charges of negligence against 14 medical workers in the impoverished former Soviet republic, where investigators suspect the children were infected by tainted blood and the reuse of needles.
Although HIV infection from breast-feeding is rare, it is possible, usually when the baby has mouth sores and the mother has lesions on her nipples, according to AIDS experts. Mustafakulova, whose son was 7 months old at the time, said her breasts were cracked and bleeding.
Excercise and Protect Yourself from Breast Cancer
May 14, 2008
From Foxnews.com
Get your daughters off the couch: New research shows exercise during the teen years – starting as young as age 12 – can help protect girls from breast cancer when they’re grown. Middle-aged women have long been advised to get active to lower their risk of breast cancer after menopause.
What’s new: That starting so young pays off, too.
“This really points to the benefit of sustained physical activity from adolescence through the adult years, to get the maximum benefit,” said Dr. Graham Colditz of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the study’s lead author.
Arkansas Mom Pregnant With 18th Child
May 12, 2008
From AOL News
By Jill Zeman
Seven daughters and 10 sons just wasn’t enough for Arkansas couple Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. Just in time for Mother’s Day, the busy parents announced they’re expecting their 18th child. Their oldest, Josh, is 20, and youngest, Jennifer, is 9 months old. Here, the family celebrates Jennifer’s birth last August.
Duggar, 41, is due on New Year’s Day, and the latest bundle of joy will join seven sisters and 10 brothers, including two sets of twins.
“We’ve had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us,” she said, laughing.
Hair Dye Increases Risk of Leukemia
May 12, 2008
By: Monica Gaza
The price of vanity in the modern, ever-changing era in which we live may be even higher than we can imagine. A study publish a short while ago warns men and women that using hair dye more than nine times a year increases by 60% the risk of developing chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, which is a form of cancer of the blood cells. The same study claims that women who
Fire Fighters Have Higher Chance Getting Cancer
May 12, 2008
From AOL news
A new study suggests that firefighters face higher-than-average risks of several types of cancer, adding to evidence that the job carries hazards beyond the fires themselves.
A number of studies have found that firefighters have elevated cancer rates, though they have not always been consistent in the specific types of cancer.In the current study, researchers found that professional firefighters had higher-than-expected rates of colon cancer and brain cancer. There was also evidence, albeit weaker, that they had elevated risks of bladder and kidney cancers, as well as Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Top 10 Worst Foods
May 12, 2008
From LifeScript
By Lisa Mosing
Chimichangas. Pork rinds. Cool Whip. These naughty nibbles make you pay with higher cholesterol, rising blood pressure and soaring numbers on the scale. With snacks like these, who needs enemies? Still, none of us are dieting angels all the time. But if you’re going to lapse, at the very least you can cut the worst offenders from your grab bag. Read on to see which foods need to stay on the forbidden list. Plus, substitutes you’ll love…
Please Quit Smoking!
May 4, 2008
From Health 24
Quitting smoking is hard, there’s no doubt about it. However, if you can tough it out for at least two years, chances are good you’ll never light another cigarette again.
That’s the conclusion of a new study that appears in the March issue of Nicotine and Tobacco Research. Health experts found two years after quitting smoking, only two to four percent of ex-smokers picked up the habit again each year.
“Once [ex-smokers] got past 10 years, relapse rates fell to very low amounts, less than one percent,” says study author Elizabeth Krall, an associate professor of health policy and health services at Boston University’s School of Dental Medicine.
Marriage is good for you
May 4, 2008
From Health 24
Married people live longer, have better and more frequent sex, drink less, take fewer drugs, are happier overall and end up with more money in the bank.
This cheery view comes from Linda Waite, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, who believes matrimony has gotten a bad rap.
Her research contradicts at least half the findings of a much-publicised 1972 study that said marriage was a good deal for men but not for women.
That study’s author and researcher, Jessie Bernard, claimed married men had a lower incidence of mental illness and depression, but that the reverse was true for married women.
Some Therapies May Cut Pregnancy Chances
May 4, 2008
From CBS Health
(AP) Alternative therapies such as reflexology and herbal supplements may reduce a woman’s chance of getting pregnant, experts said Wednesday.
Research presented Wednesday at a Lyon meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology examined the impact of alternative therapies on women receiving in-vitro fertilization over a year.
Of 800 Danish women followed for the study, 261 tried treatments including reflexology, herbal supplements, homeopathy, kinesiology and acupuncture.
The women using such treatments overall were 20 percent less likely to get pregnant than those who did not, according to researchers Dr. Jacky Boivin, of Cardiff University, and Dr. Lone Schmidt, from the University of Copenhagen.
Good Marriage=Healthier You
May 4, 2008
From Foxnews.com
NEW YORK — A happy marriage is good for your blood pressure, but a stressed one can be worse than being single, a preliminary study suggests.
That second finding is a surprise because prior studies have shown that married people tend to be healthier than singles, said researcher Julianne Holt-Lunstad.
It would take further study to sort out what the results mean for long-term health, said Holt-Lunstad, an assistant psychology professor at Brigham Young University. Her study was reported online Thursday by the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
The study involved 204 married people and 99 single adults. Most were white, and it’s not clear whether the same results would apply to other ethnic groups, Holt-Lunstad said.
Prevent and Remove Stretch Marks
May 4, 2008
From Foxnews.com
By Karlie Pouliot
Dena Ragusa has worked hard to get her body into shape. About 12 years ago she lost 50 pounds by exercising and eating healthy — but she still wasn’t completely happy with the results.
“Even though I feel really good I have these terrible stretch marks,” Ragusa said.
“So, I’m kind of limited to the clothing and bathing suits I can wear.”
She’s not alone. For millions of women and men, stretch marks are an unfortunate part of life.
“These tears occur during periods of considerable fluctuation in weight including pregnancy, bodybuilding, yo-yo dieting and adolescent growth spurts,” said Ariel Ostad, a cosmetic and dermatologic surgeon in New York City.
Get Your Skin Ready For The Summer
May 2, 2008
By cbsnews.com
Long gone are the days when we broke out the baby oil at the first sign of summer vacation. Now that the long-term damage caused by the sun has become well-known, most sun worshippers try to use some kind of sunblock. But what’s the best kind? How often do you need to apply it? What are the rules when you stay in the sun?
There’s no way to tan without damaging your skin “to one degree or another,” says Dr. Mallika Marshall, a frequent Early Show guest. “Whether you spend a week on the beach turning yourself into a lobster or spend years steadily bronzing in the sun or in tanning booths, you are causing damage that is difficult to undo and could well result in cancer.”
And even if you are conscientious about using a sunblock, you could still suffer skin damage if you’re not using it correctly. “Apply it to all exposed areas of the skin, including the scalp,” Marshall says. “And use goo-gobs of it … the more the better. Don’t forget to reapply it every two hours — sooner if you’ve been sweating or swimming.”
Study Gives The Skinny On “Fit And Fat”
May 2, 2008
By Kelli Stacy
Regular exercise has long been touted as the key to a healthy heart, but a new study shows it is unlikely to fully reverse a woman’s chances of heart disease if she is carrying extra weight.
Researchers report in the April 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine that although physical activity definitely helps improve cardiovascular health, such exercise does not “eliminate the negative effects of being overweight.”
The findings underscore the importance of being fit and trim and cast doubt on the newer notion that it’s possible to be “fit and fat.” Both obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States.
It Takes Hard Work To Be Happy
May 2, 2008
By cbsnews.com
Staying healthy and happy is a struggle for about half of Americans, according to a massive survey that attempts to measure the nation’s general welfare, much like the Dow Jones Industrial Average portrays the health of the stock market.
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, based on interviews of more than 100,000 people so far, shows that 47 percent of Americans are struggling and 4 percent are suffering. Forty-nine percent of respondents are reported to be thriving based on a personal assessment of how they feel about their lives at the time of the survey, and where they think they will be in five years.
Pollsters asked people to imagine where they would put themselves on a ladder with 10 steps. Those who said they were on step seven or above are listed as thriving. Those at four or below are suffering. In between are the strugglers.
Longer Sleep=Less Obesity
May 2, 2008
By Kelli Stacy
The number on your bathroom scale may have a lot to do with how much shut-eye you get each night.
A new study in the journal Sleep upholds the widely accepted notion that body weight plays a large role in how well a person sleeps. Francesco P. Cappuccio, MD, of Warwick Medical School in England, and colleagues reviewed worldwide literature regarding obesity and short sleep duration in children and adults to determine if existing evidence supported a link between short sleepers and obesity.
The researchers’ analysis showed a “striking, consistent” pattern of increased odds of being a short sleeper if you are obese regardless of age. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, you are a short sleeper if you regularly sleep fewer hours than the average member of your age group. For this analysis, short sleep was defined as five hours or less for adults and less than 10 hours for children.
