Health & WellnessS


Health

How Stress Can Break Your Heart - Literally

Amanda Gardner
Health.com
Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:44 UTC
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Dr. Ilan Wittstein, MD, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore, once had a middle-aged patient who discovered that her husband was cheating on her. Shortly after a heated argument over the infidelity, the woman began to experience shortness of breath and a crushing chest pain. Although it felt like a heart attack, it wasn't. Quite literally, the woman was suffering from a broken heart.

Officially known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy, broken heart syndrome is a rare heart condition with symptoms that can mimic those of a heart attack.

"A lot of people experiencing the death of a loved one have this condition," says Dr. Wittstein. "That's why we nicknamed this broken heart syndrome."

First described in Japanese medical literature in 1990, takotsubo cardiomyopathy takes its name from a vase-shaped pot, used to trap octopus in Japan, "that has a thin neck and balloons out where the body of the octopus gets stuck," explains cardiologist Richard Stein, MD, a professor at the New York University School of Medicine, in New York City.
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Arrow Up

Amazingly, this Country Actually Bans the Flu Vaccine


Dr. Mercola
Sat, 15 May 2010 16:09 UTC
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Seasonal flu vaccinations have been suspended in Australia for all children under the age of five. The suspension comes after 23 children in Western Australia were admitted to hospitals with convulsions after receiving flu injections.

More than 250 children may have had adverse reactions to the vaccine, with symptoms including fever, vomiting and convulsions.

WA Today reports that:
"Another 40 convulsion cases had been detected in the past month in children at other metropolitan hospitals ... Doctors are now working to determine how many of those children received the flu vaccine."
Sources:

WA Today April 23, 2010

News.com.au April 27, 2010
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Palette

Art Therapy Reduces Anxiety in Kids with Asthma

Rachael Myers Lowe
Reuters
Fri, 21 May 2010 15:54 UTC
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Draw your own conclusions: Researchers suggest in a small new study that art therapy makes kids less anxious about their condition.

The results provide "encouraging initial data" that art therapy can help improve the emotional health of chronically ill children, the authors write in the May issue of the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 7 million American children, or nearly one in 10, have asthma. The breathing disorder is a leading cause of school absences.
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Heart

Study: Yoga Improves Sleep, Quality of Life for Cancer Survivors


Health Canal
Fri, 21 May 2010 03:25 UTC
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© University of Rochester
Cancer survivors who perform gentle yoga report they sleep better, feel less fatigued and enjoy better quality of life, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center, which is presenting the largest study of this kind at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June.

"This is great news for cancer survivors who deal with persistent and debilitating side effects from their cancer and its treatments long after their primary therapy ends. There are few treatments for the sleep problems and fatigue survivors experience that work for very long, if at all," said Karen Mustian, Ph.D., M.P.H., the study's lead investigator and assistant professor of Radiation Oncology and Community and Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center. "Yoga is a safe and simple technique that can have multiple benefits for survivors who are looking for solutions."

People being treated for cancer often report sleep problems and fatigue. Yet, they, along with many doctors and nurses, expect the problems to end when surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy is complete. However, studies show that as many as two-thirds of survivors experience them for months after, sometimes years, and they also report sleep aids aren't effective, said Mustian, one of a handful of scientifically trained exercise psychologists and physiologists specializing in cancer in the United States.
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Magnify

Vitamin D Deficiencies at Epidemic Levels, Says New Study

Ethan A. Huff
NaturalNews
Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00 UTC
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© Google Images
Vitamin D is an amazing nutrient that protect the body from all sorts of diseases and problems. Researchers continually uncover new links between lack of vitamin D and disease, illustrating the fact that it is vital to good health. However recent studies have also found that most people are deficient in vitamin D.

A team of doctors from the McGill University Health Centre in Canada was surprised to find that about 59 percent of people evaluated were deficient in vitamin D and about 25 percent were severely deficient. Published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the study is allegedly the first to illustrate a definitive link between vitamin D deficiency and an accumulation of fat in muscle tissue.

"Because it [vitamin D deficiency] is linked to increased body fat, it may affect many different parts of the body. Abnormal levels of vitamin D are associated with a whole spectrum of diseases, including cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes, as well as cardiovascular and autoimmune disorders," explained Dr. Richard Kremer, lead investigator of the study.
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Food Industry Too Secretive Over Nanoparticles

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00 UTC
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© Getty ImagesNanotechnology
The food industry is being too secretive about the extent to which it has adopted nanotechnology, according to a report by the United Kingdom's House of Lords Science and Technology Committee.

The industry is "very reluctant to put its head above the parapet and be open about research on nanotechnology," said study chairperson Lord John Krebs.

"They got their fingers burnt over the use of GM crops and so they want to keep a low profile on this issue. We believe that they should adopt exactly the opposite approach. If you want to build confidence you should be open rather than secretive."

Nanotechnology refers to the practice of manipulating particles on the scale of one-billionth of a meter. Particles of this size behave in a fundamentally different fashion than they do on the more familiar scale, producing a wide variety of novel applications.

Because nanoparticles are not currently regulated any differently than larger particles, they are already making their way into consumer products, from sunscreens and cosmetics to clothing and sporting goods. Their industrial and medical uses are also being explored.
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Health

Two-Year-Old Toddlers Being Dosed Up with Antipsychotic Drugs

David Gutierrez
Natural News
Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00 UTC
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© Getty Images
Children between the ages of two and five are being treated with antipsychotics at twice the rate they were ten years ago, according to a study conducted by researchers from Columbia University and published in the journal Health Affairs.

"It is a worrisome trend, partly because very little is known about the short-term, let alone the long-term, safety of these drugs in this age group," researchers Mark Olfson said.

Although a handful of antipsychotics have been approved by the FDA for use in children, they are intended for older children because few if any studies have been conducted into the effectiveness or safety of the drugs in younger children.

Researchers examined prescription data on more than one million children between the ages of two and five. They found that from 1999-2001, approximately one out of every 1,300 children in this age group was being treated with an antipsychotic drug. By 2007, the rate was one in every 630. Among the oldest children (five-year-olds), the rate has always been higher. In 1999-2001, one in every 650 children was receiving an antipsychotic, while in 2007 one in every 329 was.
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Info

Chocolate Formula: Baby Doesn't Know Best

Kelly Brownell
The Atlantic
Wed, 19 May 2010 17:55 UTC
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© cambodia4kidsorg/flickr
The Mead Johnson company, makers of a leading line of infant formulas (Enfamil), has reached a new low point in the nation's nutrition history by introducing a product called Enfagrow Premium Chocolate. This is a chocolate-flavored version (it also comes in vanilla) of formula designed for toddlers - ages 12 to 36 months, according to the company - as they transition from infancy to early childhood. The can says "Toddler Formula," which is odd since there is no way children 12 months to 36 months even need formula.

Touting its health benefits, the company sells this as follows:
As your child grows from an infant to a toddler, he's probably becoming pickier about what he eats. Now more than ever, ensuring that he gets complete nutrition can be a challenge. That's why we created new Enfagrow PREMIUM Chocolate with Triple Health Guard™. With over 25 nutrients, Omega-3 DHA, prebiotics, and a great tasting chocolate flavor he'll love, you can help be sure he's getting the nutrition he still needs even after he outgrows infant formula.
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Which Household Cleaners Contain Secret Toxic Ingredients?

Kiera Butler
Mother Jones
Mon, 17 May 2010 17:22 UTC
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© Wikimedia Commons
The label on my shower spray cleaner claims it's supposed to smell like ylang ylang. To me it smells like, well, chemicals. I was curious to see whether any real ylang ylang actually made its way into my cleaner, so I looked up the ingredients online. No ylang ylang (or any other plant for that matter) in sight. Near the end of a long list of ingredients were the words "fragrance oil." Mysterious. Is my shower spray hiding something?
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Attention

UK: Stress causes workers to lie about sick days finds new study

William Hobson
The Therapy Lounge
Tue, 18 May 2010 16:10 UTC
stressed man
© unknown
A new report has revealed that the recession has caused a "stress epidemic" across the UK, with thousands of workers beset by stress and worries from the workplace even on their days off.

Mind, the mental health charity, released figures last weekend that along with existing statistics and estimates paint a bleak picture of the daily experiences of the UK's workforce. Overcoming anxiety and stress appears to be a daily challenge for many, with over a quarter of people saying that they felt dread and apprehension before returning to work.

According to Mind's survey of over 2,050 workers, nearly 20% of workers have phoned in sick because of anxiety and stress caused at work. However, nearly all of these workers would rather lie about the true cause of their problems rather than admit that stress from their levels of work, poor management or personal difficulties with colleagues were causing them poor health.
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