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Brazil is at risk of becoming a country of obese citizens because of over-consumption of fatty foods and a sedentary lifestyle, Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao warned Tuesday. "We're sitting on a time bomb that could explode in the next 20 years," he said, according to media reports. The rapidly expanding waistlines in Brazil means the country could overtake the United States in terms of excess...
December 15, 2010
SKIP THROUGH THE COMMERCIALS Get off your duff and move during your favorite TV shows. Skip, dance, go up and down some stairs, run in place - anything that gets your heart rate up so you feel somewhat breathless. Do it for each 2-minute break (forget the TiVo) during a typical 2-hour TV night and you'll burn an extra 270 calories a day - which can translate to a 28-pound weight loss in a year. LIMIT...
December 15, 2010
Although most people think longevity is solely related to genes, it really depends on genes, attitude and lifestyle. Centenarians attribute their long lives to eating well, being optimistic and keeping busy. The Census Bureau estimates that by 2050, there will be 1.1 million people 100 years or older. Do you want to be one of them? There are several things you can do to start living right and working...
December 15, 2010
Just because you're over 50 doesn't mean you're destined to have skin flaps under your arms and above your knees. Will losing weight help? It depends. Many people wrongly assume that if they simply lose weight, they'll get rid of sagging skin. The problem is, many diets focus on losing pounds - but it's pounds of fat and muscle if you don't do it right. And when you lose muscle, your skin loses its...
December 15, 2010
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter greatly help in detecting and containing the spread of pandemics, experts at a global health conference said. The plethora of information on the Internet is almost a new stage in the detection and prevention of contagious diseases, they said at the gathering which ended Wednesday. "Social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook, which are interactive...
December 15, 2010
More American high school seniors are smoking marijuana daily now than at any time since the early 1980s, and they're actually smoking more pot than cigarettes, according to a survey released Tuesday. About 6 percent of high school seniors reported smoking marijuana daily in the new survey, which involved more than 46,000 teens in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades. That's up from 2 percent in 1991 and...
December 15, 2010
Dec. 14 - SINGAPORE - Do not chuck those vitamin D tablets in the bin just yet. This message came from doctors at the International Osteoporosis Foundation's first Asia-Pacific meeting in Singapore at the weekend. A recent report advised osteoporosis sufferers that they could do away with these supplements. But those above 70 years old still need 800 International Units (IU) of vitaminD every day,...
December 14, 2010
Millions of people would lose about a pound or more a year if large taxes were tacked onto regular soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages, a new analysis shows. A soda tax of 20% or 40% would generate about $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion in annual tax revenue. The 40% tax would cost the average household about $28 a year, the research shows. "If the tax money was used to serve healthier foods in schools...
December 14, 2010
CHICAGO - Ron Carroll prefers to smoke cigars and pipes. But when he can't do that he says he manages to unobtrusively get his nicotine fix by slipping a packet of tobacco, about the size of a teabag, under his upper lip. "I use it all the time - movies, planes," said the Chicagoan, who adds that he likes the fact he can remove the packet as easily as a piece of gum. There's no chewing, spitting or...
December 14, 2010
Brazil is at risk of becoming a country of obese citizens because of over-consumption of fatty foods and a sedentary lifestyle, Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao warned Tuesday. "We're sitting on a time bomb that could explode in the next 20 years," he said, according to media reports. The rapidly expanding waistlines in Brazil means the country could overtake the United States in terms of excess...
December 14, 2010
The US government Tuesday removed the artificial sweetener saccharin, long believed to be a potential cancer-causing substance found in diet drinks and chewing gum, from its list of hazardous substances. The Environmental Protection Agency said the decision was made after scientific studies found the white powdery substance that is 300 times sweeter than sugar "is no longer considered a potential hazard...
December 14, 2010
Dec. 12 - TRIAD - Despite worldwide publicity, few people have asked about a new HIV/AID preventive drug and what it can mean for them, according to Triad health counselors. Meanwhile, researchers say people should be cautious in considering Truvada as research continues. Daily doses of Truvada cut the risk of infection by 44 percent when given with condoms, counseling and other prevention services,...
December 13, 2010
Like many Americans, Brandon Commiskey takes a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement. He's a healthy enough guy. At 26, he has no medical conditions, exercises and eats fairly well. Or tries to. "I'm broke, so sometimes a 99 cent hamburger is lunch," says Commiskey, of Walnut Creek, Calif. "I wouldn't say the multivitamin is a full replacement for eating right. I see it more as maintenance." It's...
December 13, 2010
DENVER - A northwest Denver pilot program to prevent expensive hospital returns for relapsed patients has gone nationwide and is demonstrating hundreds of millions of dollars in potential Medicare savings, according to preliminary results. The 14-city demonstration has already saved an estimated $100 million in Medicare spending on hospitals, among about 1.25 million enrollees. The 14 cities are a...
December 13, 2010
Dec. 13 - Houston remains at the dark heart of the Lone Star State's growing prescription drug abuse problem - accounting for a quarter of complaints about doctors' suspect prescriptions and one-sixth of the state's 1,900 annual accidental fatal overdoses, according to a review by the Houston Chronicle. But an examination of death data and interviews from around the state show the pill-popping problem...
December 13, 2010
NO ONLINE USE UNTIL MONDAY, DEC. 13 Houston remains at the dark heart of the Lone Star State's growing prescription drug abuse problem - accounting for a quarter of complaints about doctors' suspect prescriptions and one-sixth of the state's 1,900 annual accidental fatal overdoses, according to a review by the Houston Chronicle. But an examination of death data and interviews from around the state...
December 13, 2010
Dec. 13 - Merry Christmas? Happy holidays? It won't be very merry or happy for many who are strugging this holiday season with their finances, depression and stress. Those problems have been mounting as the weak economy has continued since a deep recession began in December 2007. Adding to people's woes are health issues that are going ignored because of the cost of doctor office visits and prescription...
December 13, 2010
Dec. 10 - About half of women whose insurance pays for mammograms actually go in every year for a screening, according to research released yesterday. A study of 1.6 million women who are customers of Medco Health Solutions found that, on average, about 50 percent of women in the plan got an annual mammogram. Numbers were highest for those 50 to 64 years old, but still low at an average of 54 percent....
December 10, 2010
The controversial insecticide DDT should not be used to fight malaria in Malawi because it reduces men's libido, sperm count and sexual strength, a report said Friday. "The side effects of DDT in men are that men easily get tired, there is reduction in libido and sperm production," Andrew Daudi, principal secretary in the ministry of agriculture, was quoted as saying by the Weekend Times. The insecticide...
December 10, 2010
In the wake of multiple state bans on caffeinated alcoholic beverages (CABs) and an FDA warning to four companies to remove their products from the marketplace, an article published online today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine delineates the scope of the public health problem and suggests areas of research that might help address it (see also U.S. Food and Drug Administration). "Although...
December 9, 2010
The deadly cholera outbreak in Haiti was likely sparked by a human source from outside the region, a team of US and Haitian medical researchers confirmed in a study released Thursday. The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine was released just days after a French epidemiologist pointed the finger directly at a Nepalese UN peacekeeping camp as the source of the outbreak. While the researchers...
December 9, 2010
Death and length of stay are increased among hospitalized inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients who develop hospital-acquired infections, according to a study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. Also, health-care-associated and hospital-acquired infections are most frequent in patients with severe liver...
December 9, 2010
New research from the Emory University School of Medicine offers reassurance for nursing mothers with epilepsy. According to a study published in the November 24 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, breastfeeding a baby while taking a seizure medication may have no harmful effect on the child's IQ later in life. "Our results showed no difference in IQ...
December 9, 2010
Dec. 09 - SEOUL - Gout is a painful condition caused by elevated levels of uric acid which crystallize and are deposited in joints, tendons and surrounding tissues. Gout was first identified by Egyptians in B.C. 2640 and was later recognized by Hippocrates in B.C. 5th century who referred to it as "the unwalkable disease." Gout is often called "the disease of kings" because of its association with...
December 9, 2010
If Americans think the proposed graphic warnings for cigarette packs are frightening, they should see what's on packages in other countries. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month proposed 36 possible illustrations and will pick one to run with each of nine new health warning statements it is to require on packaging and ads as of October 2012. Up until now, U.S. cigarette packs have...
December 9, 2010
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