HealthNews of the Week
Click on each headline to read the full story.
Fatty foods may help pilots concentrate
“That was the surprising finding of a new military-funded study that sought to figure out what types of foods were best for pilots when missions restricted when or what they could eat.”
Drug Treatment of Hyperlipidemia in Women
“Several clinical trials have evaluated the effects of lipid-lowering medications on coronary heart disease (CHD). Many of the trials have not included enough women to allow sex-specific analyses or have not reported results in women separately.”
The Dangers of Texting While Driving
“Imagine a 23% greater risk of crashing if your texting while driving. With people calling for stiff penalties for texting while driving, this video shows some startling statistics of how serious this really is.”
Cooking Made Us Human
“On the other hand, raw diets cause health problems. They include low bone mass in the back and hips, low levels of vitamin B12, low levels of the good HDL cholesterol and high levels of homocysteine, which may cause heart disease.”
HealthNews of the Week
Click on each headline to read the full story.
Food Label Program to Suspend Operations
“Under pressure from state and federal authorities who feared consumers would be misled, the food industry on Friday started backing away from a major labeling campaign meant to highlight the nutritional benefits of hundreds of products.”
Why This Doctor Questions Flu Vaccination
“2009 may be the year of the vaccine show-down, the moment when enough of us start questioning all we’re being told about vaccines.”
Eating Less to Live More
“Caloric restriction is the practice of limiting calorie intake without causing malnutrition, with the goal of improving health and slowing the aging process.”
Interacting with women makes men stupid
“Some people think having large breasts makes a woman stupid. Actually, it’s quite the opposite: A woman having large breasts makes men stupid.”
In Shift, Cancer Society Has Concerns on Screenings
“We don’t want people to panic. But I’m admitting that American medicine has overpromised when it comes to screening. The advantages to screening have been exaggerated.”
How to Stay Healthy in Retirement: Keep Working
“Though many people look forward to retirement as an absolute end to their working days, new research shows that people who transition to temporary or part-time work after retiring often experience better health.”
A brain in the head, and one in the gut
“Two brains are better than one. At least that is the rationale for the close – sometimes too close – relationship between the human body’s two brains, the one at the top of the spinal cord and the hidden but powerful brain in the gut known as the enteric nervous system.”
Will Drinking Make You Do It?
“For a while, it looked as if quercetin might be the next super-supplement, one of the few legal substances able to improve athletic performance. “
Warning: Too much aspirin caused 1918 flu deaths
“In 1918, the US Surgeon General, the US Navy, and the Journal of the American Medical Association recommended use of aspirin just before the October death spike.”
Trail of E. Coli Shows Flaws in Inspection of Ground Beef
“She is struggling to regain some basic life skills and deal with the anger that sometimes envelops her. Despite her determination, doctors say, she will most likely never walk again.”
Health Insurance Exchanges: Will They Work?
“Despite all the disagreement in Washington, every proposal now before Congress to overhaul the nation’s health care system includes creation of an insurance “exchange” — a marketplace that would operate something like a Travelocity Web site for insurance policies.”
Mercury/blood-pressure link should guide fish choices
“An association seen between mercury levels and blood pressure (BP) in a recent analysis has researchers warning physicians and consumers about the need to weigh the risks and benefits of fish consumption and to choose with caution the type of fish they eat.”
Health Concerns Over Popular Contraceptives
“The oral contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin are the top-selling pharmaceutical line for Bayer HealthCare, largely as a result of marketing that presents them as much more than mere pregnancy prevention.”
Social Isolation Adversely Affects Breast Cancer
“A socially isolated, stressful environment can speed up the growth of breast cancer, researchers studying the effects of stress in animal models reported Tuesday”
“Smoking bans in public places can reduce the number of heart attacks by as much as 36 percent, offering fresh proof that the restrictions work, U.S. researchers said on Monday.”
“If you’re one of those parents who likes to let their kids run themselves ragged so they fall asleep more easily, you may be onto something: the more activity kids get, the faster they’ll drop off to sleep, according to a new study.”
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Study Suggests Chiropractic Reduces Health Care Costs, Need for Surgery
“Findings from the Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield 2008 Physical Medicine Pilot on Quality, a one-year pilot program designed to measure patient quality of care, suggest significant clinical outcomes and health care cost reductions attributable to the use of chiropractic and other physical medicine services.”
45% Of Doctors Would Consider Quitting If Congress Passes Health Care Overhaul
“Two of every three practicing physicians oppose the medical overhaul plan under consideration in Washington, and hundreds of thousands would think about shutting down their practices or retiring early if it were adopted, a new IBD/TIPP Poll has found.”
Activity Adds Years to Life, Even for Octogenarians
“Old people who are physically active are apt to live longer than their couch-potato peers, and are more likely to maintain their independence, new research from Israel shows.”
In One Study, a Heart Benefit for Chocolate
“People who eat chocolate have increased survival rates after a heart attack, researchers in Sweden found in an observational study.”
“Now, in a new study, researchers from Northwestern University have found that eating at the “wrong” time leads to more than twice as much weight gain, even when the overall calories consumed are the same as those eaten at appropriate times.”
“A new food-labeling campaign called Smart Choices, backed by most of the nation’s largest food manufacturers, is “designed to help shoppers easily identify smarter food and beverage choices.”
“As government agencies and corporations scramble to cut expenses, one idea gaining widespread attention involves cutting something most employees wouldn’t mind losing: work on Fridays.”
“…you have the awful sensation that your body’s stress response has taken on a self-replicating and ultimately self-defeating life of its own, congratulations. You are very perceptive. It has.”
HealthNews of the Week
Click each story headline to read the full article or hit the play button to listen
Many health workers won’t take swine flu vaccine
“Even though testing has so far raised no “red flags” regarding safety of potential swine flu vaccines, surveys and focus groups show that healthcare workers and members of the public may be leery of being getting shots when supplies become available this fall.”
Use of low-dose aspirin in primary prevention of cardiovascular events not recommended
“The use of low-dose aspirin in the primary prevention of cardiovascular events in healthy individuals with asymptomatic atherosclerosis is currently not warranted, according to the lead researcher of a large “real-world” study presented today at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2009 Congress.”
An Easy Fix for Tennis Elbow?
“It is thought that up to 3% of the population suffers from lateral epicondylitis, and, despite its nickname of tennis elbow, people don’t have to play tennis to be affected by the condition, investigators noted. The pain can be caused by something as simple as lifting a coffee cup.”
Why the #$%! Do We Swear? For Pain Relief
“Bad language could be good for you, a new study shows. For the first time, psychologists have found that swearing may serve an important function in relieving pain.”
