Health News

Eco News

Popular Health News Stories

• Dramatic Rise in Skin Cancer Among Young Adults
• Should Sugar be Controlled Like Alcohol and Tobacco?
• Filling without drilling
• Flakes of skin reduces indoor air pollution
• Leprosy Found in the Southern United States
• Does seeing overweight people make us eat more?
• Weight loss improves memory
• Eating Tart Cherries Leads to a Healthy Heart
• National Nutrition Month Tips – Eat Right with Color
• Epigenetics: How Vegetables Work in Cancer-Fighting Diet
• You Are What Your Mother Ate
• Protective Properties of Green Tea Uncovered
• Pomegranate Juice Could Stop Cancer from Spreading
• Oranges: Researchers Squeezing Out Maximum Health Benefits
• Rising Winter Indoor Temperatures Linked to Obesity
• Mushrooms Are Unlikely Source of Vitamin D

Regular Chocolate Eaters Are Thinner

Katherine Hepburn famously said of her slim physique: “What you see before you is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.” New evidence suggests she may have been right.

 

Eating Red Meat Linked to Increased Cancer Death Risk

Eating more red meat appears to be associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality and death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Two Servings of Salmon a Week is Healthy for Pregnant Women and Their Babies

University of Granada researchers have proven that eating two servings of salmon reared at a fish farm (enriched with omega-3 fatty acids and only slightly contaminated) a week during pregnancy is beneficial both for the mother and child.

Margarine Linked to Aggression

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown – by each of a range of measures, in men and women of all ages, in Caucasians and minorities – that consumption of dietary trans fatty acids (dTFAs), such as margarine, is associated with irritability and aggression.

.

Eating Berry Fruits Benefits the Brain

Strong scientific evidence exists that eating blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and other berry fruits has beneficial effects on the brain and may help prevent age-related memory loss and other changes, scientists report.

.
Cancer Causing Substances Found in Heated Sunflower Oil

Researchers from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU, Spain) have been the first to discover the presence of certain aldehydes in food, which are believed to be related to some neurodegenerative diseases and some types of cancer.

Death Risk Higher With Sleeping Pills

People are relying on sleeping pills more than ever to get a good night’s rest, but a new study by Scripps Clinic researchers links the medications to a 4.6 times higher risk of death and a significant increase in cancer cases among regular pill users.

Broccoli and Cancer Prevention: Another Mechanism Discovered

Researchers in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University have discovered yet another reason why the “sulforaphane”compound in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables is so good for you – it provides not just one, but two ways to prevent cancer through the complex mechanism of epigenetics.

Why Deaf People With High Alcohol Intake Suffer Brain Damage

Brain scans of two strains of mice imbibing significant quantities of alcohol reveal serious shrinkage in some brain regions – but only in mice lacking a particular type of receptor for dopamine, the brain’s “reward” chemical.

.

Substituting With E-Cigarettes Saves Lives

That is the message Brad Rodu, D.D.S., professor of medicine at the University of Louisville (UofL) School of Medicine and the Endowed Chair in Tobacco Harm Reduction at UofL’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center, delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Feb. 18. Rodu spoke at the session, “Harm Reduction: Policy Change to Reduce the Global Toll of Smoking-Related Disease.”

Many People Continue to Smoke After Being Diagnosed With Cancer

A new analysis has found that a substantial number of lung and colorectal cancer patients continue to smoke after being diagnosed. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study provides valuable information on which cancer patients might need help to quit smoking.

From Death Comes Clues for the Living

Murder, mystery, and mayhem rule the landscape of television, where talk shows and crime scene investigation dramas use autopsy reports from forensic pathologists as bills of fare to whet our appetites for not only who “dunnit” but also how they did it.

Should Women of Childbearing Age Drink Caffeine?

Asian women who consumed an average of 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day—the equivalent of roughly two cups of coffee—had elevated estrogen levels when compared to women who consumed less, according to a study of reproductive age women by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

Quality of Mother-Toddler Relationship Linked to Teen Obesity

The quality of the emotional relationship between a mother and her young child could affect the potential for that child to be obese during adolescence, a new study suggests.

Researchers Create Healthier Cigarette

From a health care perspective, the best cigarette is no cigarette, but for the millions of people who try to quit smoking every year, researchers from Cornell University may have found a way to make a healthier cigarette.

Fish Oil May Hold Key to Leukemia Cure

A compound produced from fish oil that appears to target leukemia stem cells could lead to a cure for the disease, according to Penn State researchers.

 

.

Plumbing Systems May be Common Source of Human Infections

A study examining the prevalence of the fungus Fusarium in bathroom sink drains suggests that plumbing systems may be a common source of human infections.

.
Group Sex Among Adolescents a Growing Public Health Concern

One in 13 teenage girls, aged 14 to 20, reported having a group-sex experience, with those young women more likely to have been exposed to pornography and childhood sexual abuse than their peers, according to a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researcher.

Acupuncture Reduces Protein Linked to Stress

Acupuncture significantly reduces levels of a protein in rats linked to chronic stress, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have found. They say their animal study may help explain the sense of well-being that many people receive from this ancient Chinese therapy.

Elizabeth Barrett-Browning’s Illness Deciphered After 150 Years

Known for her poetry, letters, love affair and marriage to Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning also left a legacy of unanswered questions about her lifelong chronic illness. Now, a Penn State anthropologist, with the aid of her daughter, may have unraveled the mystery.

Salt Policy Makers Eat Too Much Salt at Work

The authors, led by Dr Lizzy Brewster at the University of Amsterdam, say the policy makers eating at their staff canteens were consuming around 15.4 grams of salt a day. They warn that this amount of salt, compared to the recommended intake, translates to up to a 36% increase in premature death.

Holiday Hazard Tips

The holiday season is usually a time of joy but it also brings the potential for poisonings, according to doctors and experts at the Drug and Poison Information Center (DPIC) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Why it is So Tough to make Healthier Hot Dogs

In part of an effort to replace animal fat in hot dogs, sausages, hamburgers and other foods with healthier fat, scientists are reporting an advance in solving the mystery of why hot dogs develop an unpleasant tough texture when vegetable oils pinch hit for animal fat. A report on their study appears in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Diabetes and Obesity Increase Risk for Breast Cancer Development

Having diabetes or being obese after age 60 significantly increases the risk for developing breast cancer, a Swedish study has revealed. Data also showed that high blood lipids were less common in patients when diagnosed with breast cancer, while low blood lipids were associated with an increased risk.

Short Walk Cuts Chocolate Consumption in Half

A 15-minute walk can cut snacking on chocolate at work by half, according to research by the University of Exeter. The study showed that, even in stressful situations, workers eat only half as much chocolate as they normally would after this short burst of physical activity.

Depression Can Lead to Heart Disease

Depression may have more far-reaching consequences than previously believed.

 

.

Heading a Soccer Ball Could Lead to Brain Injury

Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study the effects of soccer ‘heading,’ researchers have found that players who head the ball with high frequency have brain abnormalities similar to those found in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. Results of their study were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Experts Urge the Public to be Tested for Hepatitis C Virus

Experts at Montefiore Medical Center urge the general public to be tested for Hepatitis C virus, especially baby boomers, adults born between 1946-1964, who could be most at risk for this disease. Baby boomers are more likely to have been exposed to dangerous risk factors decades ago, such as sharing a drug needle, being tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools or receiving a tainted blood transfusion.

Holiday Hazard Tips from the Drug and Poison Information Center

The holiday season is usually a time of joy but it also brings the potential for poisonings, according to doctors and experts at the Drug and Poison Information Center (DPIC) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

If a Fat Tax is Coming, Here’s How to Make it Effective

A ‘sin tax’ applied to sweetened goods on store shelves is not the most efficient, effective method of lowering caloric intake from sweet food and would be more disruptive to consumers than necessary, according to Iowa State University research.

Asthma Rates Double for WTC Responders

The American Journal of Industrial Medicine recently published a study showing that World Trade Center (WTC) responders suffer from asthma at more than twice the rate of the general U.S. population as a result of their exposure to the toxic dust from the collapse of the WTC towers in 2001. Preliminary study results were previously presented in CHEST in 2009.

Shoveling Snow Causes Heart Attacks

Urban legend warns shoveling snow causes heart attacks, and the legend seems all too accurate, especially for male wintery excavators with a family history of premature cardiovascular disease. However, until recently this warning was based on anecdotal reports.

Paracetamol: Repeated Ingestion of Slightly Too Much Can Cause Fatal Overdose

Repeatedly taking slightly too much paracetamol over time can cause a dangerous overdose that is difficult to spot, but puts the person at danger of dying. Patients may not come to hospital reporting the overdose, but because they feel unwell. This clinical situation needs to be recognized and treated rapidly because these patients are at even greater danger than people who take single overdoses.

Shockingly, All Water Contaminated by Sewers

Researchers led by Prof. Sébastien Sauvé of the University of Montreal’s Department of Chemistry have discovered that traces of caffeine are a useful indicator of the contamination of our water by sewers.

.
How Brains Benefit from Meditation

Experienced meditators seem to be able switch off areas of the brain associated with daydreaming as well as psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, according to a new brain imaging study by Yale researchers.

.
Eating your Greens can Change the Effect of your Genes on Heart Disease

A long-held mantra suggests that you can’t change your family, the genes they pass on, or the effect of these genes. Now, an international team of scientists, led by researchers at McMaster and McGill universities, is attacking that belief.

Shocking New Research Suggests Taking Multivitamins Has the Opposite Effect

The lack of evidence on multivitamin health benefits is no impediment to their widespread popularity, with over half the U.S. population popping such pills. This translates into a $27 billion industry, which lures consumers with the illusory promise of better health.

.
Research Reveals When and Why Students Smoke

Discovering when and why students smoke might lead to the development of better intervention methods, according to researchers at the University of Missouri. In an article published in the journal Substance Use & Misuse, the researchers showed that partying, drinking and work prompted college students to recall their smoking experience, and that smoking occurred most often at the start of the semester and on weekends.

.
Childhood Obesity: What are the Health Risks?

It is widely suspected that the current wave of obesity among children will result in greater rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes over the next few decades. But a second systematic review of research into childhood obesity and metabolic disease in adult life has shown there is little evidence of a direct link and suggests that treating obesity during childhood will remove any risk of lasting harm.

.
Future Obesity May be predicted at 3.5 Years of Age

Researchers can predict which children are most likely to become obese by examining their mothers’ behaviour around their birth, according to a recent University of Montreal study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

Dry Cleaning Chemical May be Linked to Parkinson’s Risk

A new research report contributes to the increasing evidence that repeated occupational exposure to certain chemical solvents raises the risk for Parkinson’s disease.

.
Erectile Dysfunction Increases With the Use of Multiple Medications

The use of multiple medications is associated with increased severity of erectile dysfunction, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the British Journal of Urology International.

.
Inhaling Carbon Monoxide Reduces Environmental Stress

According to scientists, carbon monoxide (CO), a tasteless, colorless and odorless gas, is not only a danger to the environment but also highly toxic to human beings. Found in the exhaust of vehicles and generators, CO has been dubbed the “silent killer” because excessive inhalation is lethal, poisoning the nervous system and heart.

Dirt Prevents Allergy

If infants encounter a wide range of bacteria they are less at risk of developing allergic disease later in life. This is the conclusion of research from the University of Copenhagen, which suggests completely new factors in many modern lifestyle diseases.

Scientists Prove Regular Aspirin Intake Halves Cancer Risk

Scientists including those from Queen’s University have discovered that taking regular aspirin halves the risk of developing hereditary cancers.
High toxic levels found at school neighboring e-waste salvage site

Tests at a school beside an informal electronic waste salvage site in Ghana’s capital Accra reveal contamination due to lead, cadmium and other health-threatening pollutants over 50 times higher than risk-free levels.

.
Harmful Health Effects of Cash Register Receipts

Bisphenol A (BPA) — a substance that may have harmful health effects — occurs in 94 percent of thermal cash register receipts, scientists are reporting.

Strawberries Protect the Stomach from Alcohol

European researchers have proved that eating strawberries reduces the harm that alcohol can cause to the stomach mucous membrane. Published in the open access journal Plos One, the study may contribute to improving the treatment of stomach ulcers.

Bath Salts Emerging As New Recreational Drugs

The use of bath salts as recreational drugs has greatly escalated in recent years. Researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma describe an incident of a man experiencing significant agitation, paranoia, and hallucinations who also exhibited violent behavior upon his emergency department arrival.
Heavy alcohol consumption linked to lung cancer

Heavy alcohol consumption may be linked to a greater risk of developing lung cancer, while higher BMI and increased consumption of black tea and fruit are associated with lower risk of the deadly disease.

.

Increased Prostate Cancer Risk from Vitamin E Supplements

Men who took 400 international units (I.U.) of vitamin E daily had more prostate cancers compared to men who took a placebo, according to an updated review of data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT).

 

Eating Your Greens Can Change the Effect of Your Genes on Heart Disease

A long-held mantra suggests that you can’t change your family, the genes they pass on, or the effect of these genes. Now, an international team of scientists, led by researchers at McMaster and McGill universities, is attacking that belief.

.

48.8 Million Americans Went Hungry in 2010

The Great Recession and the currently tepid economic recovery swelled the ranks of American households confronting hunger and food insecurity by 30 percent. In 2010 48.8 million Americans lived in food insecure households, meaning they were hungry or faced food insecurity at some point during the year. That’s 12 million more people than faced hunger in 2007, before the recession, and represents 16.1 percent of the U.S. population.

“Kissing Bugs” Cause Life-Threatening Disease in Texas

Chagas disease, a tropical parasitic disease that can lead to life-threatening heart and digestive disorders, may be more widespread in Texas than previously thought, according to research from The University of Texas at Austin.

Pregnant Mothers at Risk from Air Pollution

A Californian-based study has looked in detail at air quality and the impact of traffic-related air pollution on premature birth. Published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Environmental Health, results from this study show that traffic-related air pollution, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), is associated with up to a 30% increase in premature births, and that seasonal changes and vicinity to the coast affected concentration of toxic pollutants in the air.

Is There Link Between High Levels of Mercury in Fish and Pregnant Women?

Nearly 25 percent of adults in New York City, and nearly 50 percent of Asian New Yorkers are estimated to have blood mercury levels that exceeded recommended levels for pregnant women, according to a 2007 study by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Radiation Found in U.S. Milk Supplies

Thomas Overton, professor of animal science and director of the PRO-DAIRY industry education program at Cornell University, comments on reports that low levels of radiation linked to the nuclear reactor crisis in Japan have been found in U.S. milk supplies.

 

Full story

Routine Periodic Fasting is Good for your Health, and your Heart

Fasting has long been associated with religious rituals, diets, and political protests. Now new evidence from cardiac researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is also good for your health, and your heart.

Full story

Congestive Heart Failure Can Strike Anyone

Elizabeth Taylor died of congestive heart failure (CHF) at the age of 79 on March 23. Her death raises awareness of this serious condition that affects an estimated five million Americans.

 

Full story

Negative Attitudes Toward Fat Bodies Going Global

Stigma against overweight people is becoming a cultural norm around the world, even in places where larger bodies have traditionally been valued. That’s according to a cross-cultural study of attitudes toward obesity to be published in the April issue of Current Anthropology.

Full story

 

Oat Breeding Program Pursues Health Benefits of Oats

One of the recent products of South Dakota State University’s oat breeding program is named Shelby427, described as a “racehorse oat” that packs a lot of nutrition for high-performance horses — or ordinary horses, for that matter.

 

Full story

 

Lithium

Lithium is found in variable amounts in foods. Primary food sources are grains and vegetables; in some areas, drinking water also provides significant amounts of the element. Human dietary lithium intakes depend on location and the type of foods consumed and vary over a wide range.

 

Full story

Eating for your Epigenome

Many people want to find out whether what we eat in our own lifetime affects the epigenetic marks that control important genes, such as those involved in cancer.

Full story

Alcohol use during pregnancy is common and is associated with significant threats to the health and development of exposed offspring. Despite warnings from the Surgeon General to limit alcohol use if pregnant or contemplating pregnancy, a recent survey by the National Birth Defects Prevention Study(1) found that nearly one-third of women drank alcohol at some time during their pregnancy, with one-fourth of the women surveyed having drunk during the first trimester.

Full story

Junk Food Moms Have Junk Food Babies

A new research report published online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.faseb.org) suggests that pregnant mothers who eat high sugar and high fat diets have babies who are likely to become junk food junkies themselves.

Full story

Did You Wash Your Hands?

Each year patients in the U.S. get more than a million infections while in the hospital being treated for something else. The best way to prevent infection is to practice proper hand hygiene, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Full Story

Work-related psychosocial events as triggers of sick leave – results from a Swedish case study.

Sick leave entails a decision-making process, in which the sick individual either reports sick or goes to work despite some ill health. It has been suggested that nonmedical factors in the work environment  may influence the individual…

Full story

World Salt Awareness Week

Taking in too much sodium may turn out to be quite a salty situation. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2010 high blood pressure cost the United States $76.6 billion in health care services, medications, and missed days of work.

Full story

Americans Are “Sickeningly Sweet”

 

– Many Shocked By Calorie Consumption Thanks To New Beverage Labels Says Loyola/Gottlieb Weight Loss Physician

Americans may like their drinks “sickeningly sweet” but a new labeling initiative may discourage us from pouring on the unnecessary calories…

Full story

Tomato Consumption, Health and Cancer: Emerging Benefits

Los Angeles, CA (February 28, 2011) Eating more tomatoes and tomato products can make people healthier and decrease the risk of conditions such as cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, according to a review article the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, (published by SAGE).

Full story

National Nutrition Month Tips – Eat Right with Color

March is National Nutrition Month, a campaign sponsored by the American Dietetic Association to promote nutrition education. This year’s theme is Eat Right with Color.

 

Full story

Sleep, Health and Americans

The 2011 Sleep in America® poll released March 7 by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) finds pervasive use of communications technology in the hour before bed. It also finds that a significant number of Americans aren’t getting the sleep they say they need and are searching for ways to cope.

Full story

Negative Classroom Environment Adversely Affects Children’s Mental Health

Children in classrooms with inadequate material resources and children whose teachers feel they are not respected by colleagues exhibit more mental health problems than students in classrooms without these issues, finds a new study in the March issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Full story

Vanderbilt study shows exercise can curb marijuana use and cravings

Vanderbilt researchers are studying heavy users of marijuana to help understand what exercise does for the brain, contributing to a field of research that uses exercise as a modality for prevention and treatment.

Full story

Lithium Leads to Increased Life Expectancy

Scientists Demonstrate that Environmental Lithium Uptake Promotes Longevity (Jena, Germany) Professor Dr. Michael Ristow’s team along with Japanese colleagues from universities in Oita and Hiroshima have demonstrated by two independent approaches that even a low concentration of lithium leads to an increased life expectancy in humans as well as in a model organism, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans.

Full story

Epigenetics: How Vegetables Work in Cancer-Fighting Diet

Mothers around the world now collectively can say, “I told you so.” Your vegetables are good for you, says a research review published by scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the journal Clinical Epigenetics.

Full story

Connection Between Low Birth Weight and Obesity Later in Life Explained

Providing further understanding of the link between low birth weights and obesity later in life, researchers found nutritionally deprived newborns are “programmed” to eat more because they develop less neurons in the region of the brain that controls food intake, according to an article published today in the journal, Brain Research.

Full story

Passive smoking increases risk to unborn babies, study says

Pregnant non-smokers who breathe in the second-hand smoke of other people are at an increased risk of delivering stillborn babies or babies with defects, a study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham has found.

Full story

Boy Toddlers Need Extra Help Dealing With Negative Emotions

The way you react to your two-year-old’s temper tantrums or clinginess may lead to anxiety, withdrawal and behavior problems down the road, and the effect is more pronounced if the child is a boy who often displays such negative emotions as anger and social fearfulness, reports a new University of Illinois study.

Full story

Amphetamine Use May Increase Risk of Parkinson’s Disease

New research shows people who have used amphetamines such as benzedrine and dexedrine appear to be at an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 63rd Annual Meeting in Honolulu April 9 to April 16, 2011.

Full Story

Are Our Kids Oversnacked?

Kids aren’t the only ones who smile when the words “snack time” are heard. We are obsessed with snacking. Aisle after aisle in the grocery store is filled with sweet, salty, savory and, yes, even healthy snacks. Do we live in an oversnacked society?

Full story