Teenagers are becoming addicted to texting, according to a new study. In fact experts are saying being hooked on texting can be like being addicted to drugs.

Walking, sitting, it doesn't matter where it happens, teenagers seem to need to text. Statistics show 80 percent of all 15 to 18-year-olds own a cell phone. And the rate of texting has sky rocketed 600 percent in three years. The average teen sends 3,000 texts a month.

"I think that it's just like a drug, once you get hooked on to it, you can't let go. It's like whenever I open my eyes the first thing I look at is my phone," said Hermine Vardanian, a texter.

U.S. girls are entering puberty at a younger age than in the past. More than 10 percent of white 7-year-old girls have breast changes that signal the start of puberty, according to a study conducted in the mid-2000s. This is up from just 5 percent in the early 1990s.

The average age of a girl's first period also declined, from an average of 14 or 15 years in the past to about 12 years today.

CNN reported:

"Experts aren't sure what's behind the increase in earlier puberty, but it's likely due to a combination of factors, including the childhood obesity epidemic and substances in the environment.

Early puberty in girls is a growing public health concern because studies have shown that girls who start puberty earlier are more likely to develop breast and uterine cancer later in life ...

Early development in girls has been linked with poor self-esteem, eating disorders, and depression, as well as cigarette and alcohol use and earlier sexual activity."

As for what's causing the increasing in early puberty, chemicals in the environment, obesity, and above-average weight gain during infancy are all being considered as possible factors.

Sources:

CNN.com August 10, 2010

Time August 9, 2010

Pediatrics August 9, 2010; [Epub ahead of print]

Extracts of broccoli and banana may help in fighting stomach problems, research suggests.

Laboratory studies show fibers from the vegetables may boost the body's natural defenses against stomach infections.

Trials are under way to see if they could be used as a medical food for patients with Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain.

It affects about 1 in 1,000 people, and is thought to be caused by a mixture of environmental and genetic factors.

The amazing story of a King Country dairy farmer who caught swine flu and very nearly died (he had hairy cell leukemia). Intensive care specialists were all set to pull him off life support, saying there was no hope. But his family refused to give up. They demanded the doctors try high doses of Vitamin C, a radical treatment well outside mainstream medicine. The hospital told them it wouldn't work but the family insisted. It turned into a fight, the family even hired a top lawyer. But in the end, as Melanie Reid will show you, the farmer is now very much alive. So was it a one-off miracle? Or has the family stumbled on a miracle cure?

By now, you probably know that what you eat has a profound impact on your health. The mantra, "You are what you eat" is really true.

But you need to consider not only WHAT you buy, but how you cook it.

Eating much of your food raw is ideal. But most of us are not going to be able to accomplish a completely raw diet, and we'll end up cooking some percentage of our food.

Smart food preparation starts with high quality foods and food preparation and that means saying sayonara to your microwave oven. Need to sterilize a dishcloth? Use your microwave. But zapping your casserole is a BAD idea if you are interested in preparing healthy food.

Why the no nukes policy?

When it comes to microwave ovens, the price for convenience is to compromise your health. In this article, I will review what we know about the effects microwaves on your food and on your body.

Colder weather caused by global climate change could lead to more heart attacks than ever before, according to a new study published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The study, which was conducted by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), found that a 1 degree Celsius drop in temperature in a single 24 hour period is associated with an extra 200 heart attacks daily.

"Our study shows a convincing short term increase in risk of myocardial infarction associated with lower ambient temperature, predominantly operating in the two weeks after exposure," the researchers wrote in their paper.

"International studies with consistent methods will be required to clarify the dependence of these effects on local climate, whereas individual level studies collecting demographic, clinical, and behavioral data may shed light on the role of adaptive measures such as clothing and home heating, and further clarify which subgroups are likely to be the most vulnerable," they added.

Database supports policy shift from risk to alternatives assessment

The common diseases affecting the public's health are all too well-known in the 21st century: asthma and learning disabilities, autism, birth defects and reproductive dysfunction, diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and several types of cancer. Their connection to pesticide exposure continues to strengthen despite efforts to restrict individual chemical exposure, or mitigate chemical risks, using risk assessment-based policy.

The Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database, launched by Beyond Pesticides, facilitates access to epidemiologic and laboratory studies based on real world exposure scenarios that link public health effects to pesticides. The scientific literature documents elevated rates of chronic diseases among people exposed to pesticides, with increasing numbers of studies associated with both specific illnesses and a range of illnesses. With some of these diseases at very high and, perhaps, epidemic proportions, there is an urgent need for public policy at all levels -local, state, and national-to end dependency on toxic pesticides, replacing them with carefully defined green strategies.

Type 2 diabetes is the one most commonly associated with the metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by middle-age central obesity, and the “diseases of civilization” brought up by Neolithic inventions. Evidence is mounting that a Neolithic diet and lifestyle play a key role in the development of the metabolic syndrome. In terms of diet, major suspects are engineered foods rich in refined carbohydrates and refined sugars. In this context, one widely touted idea is that the constant insulin spikes caused by consumption of those foods lead the pancreas (figure below from Wikipedia) to get “tired” over time, losing its ability to produce insulin. The onset of insulin resistance mediates this effect.

Abstract:

Background

The global pattern of varying prevalence of diseases of affluence, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, suggests that some environmental factor specific to agrarian societies could initiate these diseases.

Presentation of the Hypothesis

We propose that a cereal-based diet could be such an environmental factor. Through previous studies in archaeology and molecular evolution we conclude that humans and the human leptin system are not specifically adapted to a cereal-based diet, and that leptin resistance associated with diseases of affluence could be a sign of insufficient adaptation to such a diet.

We further propose lectins as a cereal constituent with sufficient properties to cause leptin resistance, either through effects on metabolism central to the proper functions of the leptin system, and/or directly through binding to human leptin or human leptin receptor, thereby affecting the function.

Testing the Hypothesis

Dietary interventions should compare effects of agrarian and non-agrarian diets on incidence of diseases of affluence, related risk factors and leptin resistance. A non-significant (p = 0.10) increase of cardiovascular mortality was noted in patients advised to eat more whole-grain cereals. Our lab conducted a study on 24 domestic pigs in which a cereal-free hunter-gatherer diet promoted significantly higher insulin sensitivity, lower diastolic blood pressure and lower C-reactive protein as compared to a cereal-based swine feed. Testing should also evaluate the effects of grass lectins on the leptin system in vivo by diet interventions, and in vitro in various leptin and leptin receptor models. Our group currently conducts such studies.

Implications of the Hypothesis

If an agrarian diet initiates diseases of affluence it should be possible to identify the responsible constituents and modify or remove them so as to make an agrarian diet healthier.

It's 1 p.m. on a Thursday and Dianne Bates, 40, juggles three screens. She listens to a few songs on her iPod, then taps out a quick e-mail on her iPhone and turns her attention to the high-definition television.

Just another day at the gym.

As Ms. Bates multitasks, she is also churning her legs in fast loops on an elliptical machine in a downtown fitness center. She is in good company. In gyms and elsewhere, people use phones and other electronic devices to get work done - and as a reliable antidote to boredom.

Cellphones, which in the last few years have become full-fledged computers with high-speed Internet connections, let people relieve the tedium of exercising, the grocery store line, stoplights or lulls in the dinner conversation.