There is a lot of good advice to help us avoid becoming obese, such as "Eat less," and "Exercise." But here's a new and surprising piece of advice based on a promising area of obesity research: "Wash your hands."
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.
Santa Monica - Eating fish and other foods high in omega-3 fatty acids doesn't have the wondrous effect on preventing malignancies that it seems to have in warding off heart disease.
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.
Fifteen state senators sponsored a bill to rid New Mexico of what some have called "Rumsfeld's Disease."
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?
CNNThu, 19 Jan 2006 12:00 UTC
Tuscon, Arizona -- The world's first face transplant recipient is using her new lips to take up smoking again, which doctors fear could interfere with her healing and raise the risk of tissue rejection.
"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.
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.
There you have it. Smoking = psychologically unfit.
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...
London - Guitarist Pete Townshend has warned iPod users that they could end up with hearing problems as bad as his own if they don't turn down the volume of the music they are listening to on earphones.
Millions of sexually active women who rely on the contraceptive pill may be putting themselves at risk of long-term sexual dysfunction.
Scientists believe they have uncovered the mechanism that leads to mood swings, health problems and sexual difficulties among some users of the pill which persist even when they stop taking it. They say GPs should be aware of the pill's physiological effects before assuming women's sexual problems are psychological.
Comment: The title and main focus of this article emphasise that oral contraceptives may decrease sexual desire in women. Less attention is paid to the other two issues, which are obviously far more important: "mood swings" and long-term "health problems". When so little attention is paid to the very real effects of the variety of powerful drugs so many people are taking these days, it is curious that things like smoking can be so easily blamed for increased incidences of heart disease, stroke, cancer, etc.
Dreama Runyon
OpednewsMon, 02 Jan 2006 12:00 UTC
I am 48 years old and disabled. I have been thrown into this cruel and complex Medicare Part Plan. I am speaking out on behalf of all disabled as we are not mentioned by any media as having to lose our Medicaid Drug coverage and sign on to a Medicare plan. We also will not have a lot of our very vital life-saving medications paid for and now have premiums and co-pays.
A daily dose of vitamin D could cut the risk of cancers of the breast, colon and ovary by up to a half, a 40-year review of research has found. The evidence for the protective effect of the "sunshine vitamin" is so overwhelming that urgent action must be taken by public health authorities to boost blood levels, say cancer specialists.
A growing body of evidence in recent years has shown that lack of vitamin D may have lethal effects. Heart disease, lung disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis are among the conditions in which it is believed to play a vital role. The vitamin is also essential for bone health and protects against rickets in children and osteoporosis in the elderly.
Marilyn Elias
USA TODAYTue, 27 Dec 2005 12:00 UTC
Use of antidepressants by children continued to drop sharply this year in the wake of warning labels linking the prescription drugs to suicidal behavior, according to market analyses.
The decrease signals that doctors and parents are taking a more careful look at benefits and risks of treatments for depression, says child psychiatrist David Fassler of Burlington, Vt. "Not all depressed kids need medication. There are effective therapies, especially for milder forms of depression."
Comment: What is truly sad about this state of affairs is that no one seems to be asking the questions: Why are so many young Americans apparently so depressed? Why not seek out and address the root causes of the high rates of teenage depression - if they are in fact so high? Why are so many parents so eager to pump their children full of Big Pharma's latest creation?
Richard Wetherill was intolerably good at chess. Hardly surprising, for the retired university lecturer could think a mind-boggling eight moves ahead. But in recent months, his razor-sharp mind had started to dull. When he found he could no longer think five moves ahead, he was sure something was seriously wrong and arranged to meet neurologist Nick Fox at University College London's Institute of Neurology. Though his wife dismissed his complaints, Wetherill was adamant that he needed help. Yet Fox's battery of tests revealed nothing amiss: his patient sailed through every test designed to spot early dementia. Under a brain imager, his brain looked normal.
Two years later, in 2003, Wetherill died suddenly. Imagine Fox's amazement when the autopsy revealed a brain riddled with plaques and tangles, the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. The anatomical evidence indicated advanced disease, with a level of physical damage that would have reduced most people to a state of total confusion. Yet for Wetherill the only impact was that he could no longer play chess to high standards. What on earth was he doing differently? What was cushioning the blow?
Wetherill's experience is a perfect example of a phenomenon that has long puzzled scientists: people who lead more intellectually stimulating lives, who are more intelligent, better educated and have high-status occupations, are somehow protected from the mental decline that comes with age. And not just age, but other insults too, from head injuries and alcohol intoxication to stroke, HIV, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
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?