Health & Wellness
Psychologist Dr Aric Sigman found girls are reaching puberty 18 months earlier than their mothers, and almost two years earlier than their grandmothers.
He found girls currently start puberty at an average of 10.25 years of age.
His findings echo previous research suggesting 'precocious puberty' is a growing trend.
One large group study found that staying mentally active reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia by nearly half by building and maintaining a reserve of stimulation.
People afflicted with other long-term pain and stress might face similar brain shrinkage, said study leader A. Vania Apkarian of Northwestern University.
The results suggest those with constant pain lose gray matter equal to an oversized pea for each year of pain. Gray matter is an outer layer of the brain rich in nerve cells and crucial to information and memory processing.
There is accumulating evidence that certain viruses may cause obesity, in essence making obesity contagious, according to Leah D. Whigham, the lead researcher in a new study, "Adipogenic potential of multiple human adenoviruses in vivo and in vitro in animals," in the January issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology published by the American Physiological Society.
As a cancer preventive strategy, omega-3 was left high and dry, reported Catherine H. MacLean, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at Rand Health in the Jan. 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A senate bill to rid New Mexico of what has been called Rumsfeld's Disease was introduced Thursday by Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, as 15 other senators from both sides of isle also signed on, supporting legislation to ban the deadly artificial sweetener, aspartame.
Linked to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for his efforts in the 1970s for putting the sweetener on the market, New Mexico is the first state to consider banning the artificial additive linked to numerous ill-health affects, including cancer.
If passed, no food containing any amount of the sweetener could be manufactured, sold or delivered in Mew Mexico, beginning July 1.
Comment: At the time of the introduction of aspartame, both Rumsfeld and doctors knew that it was poisonous, that it caused cancer and a host of other illnesses, that it damaged DNA. They decided to promote it anyway.
Only now, 30 years later, some are suggesting that this poisonous substance should not be used as a staple ingredient in many food products that humans consume, all of which makes one marvel at the 'advanced state' of human evolution, does it not?
"It is a problem," Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard, who led the team that performed the pioneering transplant in France on November 27, acknowledged on Wednesday.
Comment: The article's subject identifies it to be about the risks of smoking by the French face-transplant recipient. But is it really?
But note the not-so-subtle message about smokers, achieved by the transition of subjects over these three brief paragraphs:
The woman suffered a tissue-rejection episode last month but is now doing well, her doctors said. However, they said she has resumed smoking, which besides being bad for health is especially a problem after surgery because it impairs circulation to tissues and could raise the risk of rejection.There you have it. Smoking = psychologically unfit.
Some doctors have questioned the woman's psychological fitness for the operation because of reports that she had taken sleeping pills in a possible suicide attempt when the dog attack occurred -- an allegation Dubernard repeatedly has denied.
He said she received extensive psychiatric evaluation and counseling before the operation.
Why bother with such an article? They warn every patient about this risk of smoking after surgery, don't they?
Last year, my wife was gravely warned not to smoke after removal of her impacted wisdom teeth. After all, the wounds were right inside the mouth! The doctor also warned of the high level of pain she'd likely feel during healing, and he wrote two prescriptions for pain killers (one an addictive narcotic), one of which we filled right away, fearing the worst. She not only ignored the advice not to smoke, but didn't feel any pain whatsoever throughout the healing process. She actually became worried that something was wrong because there was no pain. Obviously, we wasted the prescription, didn't fill the other one, and threw away the free samples of Vioxx that the pharmacy graciously provided us with. There's so much wrong with the whole episode that I wouldn't know where to begin...






Comment: Well, that leaves out Dubya...