Experimental Technique Lights Up Breast Cancer Tumors

New Treatment Allows for More Precise Detection of Tumors
Experimental Technique Lights Up Breast Cancer Tumors

By JOHN MCKENZIE
Sept. 4, 2008

Mammograms have long been the gold standard for detecting breast cancer, but they still miss as much as 15 percent of tiny tumors, usually located in dense breast tissue.

"We need a better way to detect cancer in the 25 percent of women over the age of 40 who have dense breasts," said Dr. Edward Coleman of Duke University Medical Center.

Molecular breast imaging, or MBI, is the latest experimental approach.

On a mammogram, a type of X-ray, too much healthy dense tissue lights up, limiting doctors' ability to see small tumors. But with molecular breast imaging, women receive an injection of a short-acting, "radioactive tracer" that travels through the body and "latches on" to cancer cells. The revolutionary new cameras can then detect small tumors that mammograms often miss.

Click here to continue reading article at ABC Health News

Why Strawberry Jam Is More Regulated Than Cigarettes

ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2008) — While jams and other consumer products are strictly regulated and are required to pass stringent tests before they can be sold, tobacco has no restrictions and manufacturers can, and do, add anything they want into the product.

A new editorial discusses the issues surrounding tobacco regulations and how the industry could be more effectively governed.

“The establishment of regulation is a political process and occurs slowly. However, with the gradual but prolonged and massive epidemic of tobacco-related diseases, regulation of the industry’s products – specifically the constituents of tobacco smoke – has to begin now”, says author Dr. Nigel Gray, member of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Tobacco Regulation Study Group.*

Despite the complexities of regulating cigarette manufacturing, the Tobacco Regulation Study Group, or TobReg, has proposed practical means to begin the progressive process of tobacco regulation. As a first step, it has suggested setting mandatory levels for some of the major carcinogens and toxicants in cigarettes. In addition, regular reviews must also be conducted as initial toxin levels are considered generous by industry standards for many countries.

Click here to continue reading article at Science Daily.com

Smoking riskier for women's hearts than men's

Tobacco wipes out natural difference between the sexes, doctors say

Associated Press
updated 12:04 p.m. ET, Tues., Sept. 2, 2008

MUNICH, Germany - Women who smoke may develop heart disease at almost the same age as male smokers, wiping out the natural difference between the sexes, doctors said Tuesday.

In research presented to the European Society of Cardiology, Norwegian researchers said that women who smoke have heart attacks nearly 14 years earlier than women who don't smoke. For men, the figure is about six years.

"This is not a minor difference," said Dr. Silvia Priori, a cardiologist at the Scientific Institute in Pavia, Italy. "Women need to realize they are losing much more than men when they smoke," she said. Priori was not connected to the research.

Dr. Morten Grundtvig and colleagues from the Innlandet Hospital Trust in Lillehammer, Norway, looked at data from 1,784 patients admitted for a first heart attack at a hospital in Lillehammer.

They found that the men on average had their first heart attack at age 72 if they didn't smoke, and at 64 if they did.

Click here to continue reading article at MSNBC Health News

10 Myths About the Common Cold and Flu

Experts Examine Misconceptions About Colds and Flu

By JOSEPH BROWNSTEIN
ABC News Medical Unit
Sept. 4, 2008

The sun may still be shining most of the day, the temperatures may still be above 70 degrees, and the pro football season hasn't kicked off yet. But around the country, some doctors are already receiving their shipments of flu vaccine.
Dr. Tim Johnson offers some great ways to protect your family.

With the start of flu season less than a month away, we took a look at 10 common bits of advice about colds and flu. Some of these common wisdom gems are, indeed, things you can and should do (it turns out that it's not too early for a flu shot -- and you might want to pick up some chicken soup). Others, however, are things you might want to pass on (the zinc and echinacea -- at least for now).

Click here to view video at ABC News.com

Garlic Wart Cure - A Natural Remedy

By Lesa Bolt
If you have a nasty wart and have tried all the home remedies available you can consider one more option before you throw in the towel.

Garlic is a well known homeopathic cure for many ailments and warts is one of them. The big secret is to get fresh garlic and use it, however, minced garlic from a jar can work but just will not be as effective as quickly.

To use the fresh garlic you will want to buy at least a head of garlic or go to a wholesale type of store like Sams or Costco and get a full sleeve of garlic heads. These will store in the refrigerator for some time.

The power of garlic comes from the fresh crushed version and the qualities it provides when just cut and crushed.

To use on a wart you will want to get some band aids or gauze with medical tape.

Take a head of garlic and separate these into the cloves. You can store these in the refrigerator. The great thing about the head and cloves is that they are still in their paper skins so separating the head will not make the cloves bad.

Now take just one of the garlic cloves and lay it on a cutting board and with a large knife or metal blade or surface lay the metal piece flat on top of the clove. Take your fist or the heel of your hand and smash down directly on top of the cloves. This will cause the clove to crush and expose the inside of the clove. Take the paper skin off the clove and proceed to chop the smashed clove further with the knife.

After chopping a bit take a meat tenderizer and use the top of it which has a flat metal base to mash the garlic. Now take this mashed garlic and place some on the middle part of your band aid which has the sterilized gauze portion and adhere this onto your wart. Leave this on overnight or during the day if you are not doing anything that the tape under pants would not interfere. You can remove the gauze and tape in the morning and reapply the next evening. After about a week you should see the wart diminish. At about two weeks your wart should be almost totally gone.

If you experience any burning with the garlic only leave it on the skin for 15 minutes and remove. Some people are sensitive or the wart is in a sensitive skin area and caution should be adhered to for sensitive skin. If the area is on a hand or knee the skin is more tough and you may not have a problem leaving the garlic on overnight.

This home remedy for removing a wart has helped many people eliminate the disfiguring spots.

Oxalic Acid - The Cure For Cancer

By Jennifer Prescott

Daily, certain foods and beverages are revealed as great antioxidants. For example: carrots, spinach, broccoli, tea, nuts, berries, garlic, onions, grapes, red wine, herbs, spices, and chocolate are foods known to be great antioxidants. We hear about flavonoids and vitamins. It is estimated there are 4,000 identified flavonoids. Isolating each one and determining what effect each, or a combination of each, has on a specific disease is an endless pursuit without an answer. However, common sense and research reveals there is one common denominator in the foods known as great antioxidants. They are all high in oxalic acid.

Are you aware that every mammal on earth has oxalic acid as a normal blood value? Ask any doctor or researcher what its purpose is and the best answer they will give you is that it aides in bowel movement. So here we are with a surprisingly high quantity of oxalic acid running through our blood with no real purpose?

There isn't a place on earth that a plant containing oxalic acid can't be found. Weeds are the most tenacious of all plants and are rich in oxalic acid. This is no accidental occurrence. There is purpose.

Research oxalic acid and you'll discover it's a deadly poison. So, we have a deadly poison in all the foods that are great antioxidants. Huh? Stop and simply think. Rather than isolating the smallest compounds within foods and researching each, analyze each food known to be a great antioxidant and find the common compound in each. This is exactly what has been done by an amazing 85 year old warrior of a man deep in the hills of Arkansas. This man is Colonel Joe Hart.

Click here to cotinue reading article at EZine Articles

Some Lip Gloss May Promote Cancer

There's No Proof Yet But Beware Gloss With No SPF

By Aina Hunter
May 2,2008

Spring is here, legs have been reacquainted with the razor and women are buying lots of shimmery lip gloss on impulse.

But have you heard the buzz that cheap, fun, non-SPF gloss can possibly increase your skin cancer risk?

Here's the theory: Some dermatologists have said that the translucent sheen helps ultraviolet rays penetrate the already fragile skin of the lips -- thereby increasing your risk. These dermatologists may be on to something, according to some of the top experts in the field.

Dr. Jessica Fewkes, a face and neck skin cancer specialist at Harvard, draws a cautious analogy between wearing non-SPF (sun protection factor) lip gloss in the sun and using baby oil to promote tanning. "You might be able to infer that they both enhance UV exposure," she says.

Dr. Kevin Cooper, chairman of the dermatology department at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, explains that any increased penetration of ultraviolet rays would be due to "enhanced optical passage" of the dangerous rays. But the increase, he qualifies, would be small.

Click here to continue reading article at ABC Health News

Low Vitamin D May Mean Worse Breast Cancer

More Aggressive Breast Cancer Linked to Vitamin D Deficiency

By AUDREY GRAYSON
ABC News Medical Unit
May 16, 2008

Vitamin D deficiencies have long been associated with disease, but new research suggests that low levels of vitamin D in women with breast cancer can lead to more aggressive forms of the disease, and even death.

Researchers at the University of Toronto studied the correlation between vitamin D levels in the blood, the rate of breast cancer metastases -- the incidence of having the cancer spread -- and the overall survival rates of 512 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1989 and 1995. The women were followed until 2006.

Researchers found for the first time that women who were vitamin D deficient at the time of their breast cancer diagnosis were 94 percent more likely to have their cancer spread, and 73 percent more likely to die from their cancer, compared with women who were not vitamin D deficient.

Moreover, researchers found that about 75 percent of the women had a vitamin D deficiency at the time of their diagnosis.

Click here to continue reading article at ABC Health News

Not ready for a baby? Protect your fertility

Watch your diet, avoid smoking and consider freezing your eggs

By Denise Schipani
Women's Health
updated 8:49 a.m. ET, Fri., June. 20, 2008

You've yet to hear a single tick-tock, but lurking beneath your killer abs is a biological clock that will start buzzing eventually — and you can only hit the snooze button so many times.

So what do you do if you're not ready to push out a baby right this second but think you'll want to become a mom someday?

Luckily, fertility isn't a total crapshoot. And though you can't put off pregnancy indefinitely (despite exceptions like Marcia Cross, your odds of conceiving drop substantially after age 35), there's plenty you can do to help keep your body in peak baby-making form.

Watch your diet
What's good for your arteries is also good for your eggs. Jorge Chavarro, M.D., a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and co-author of "The Fertility Diet," tracked the fat intake of nearly 18,000 women as they tried to get pregnant. Women who gobbled more healthy unsaturated fats (think olive oil and avocados) were less likely to experience infertility due to ovulation problems than those whose diets contained more trans fats.

Don't worry, be happy
Stress interferes with the brain's bulletins that tell your ovaries to do their monthly job of rolling out an egg, says Sarah L. Berga, M.D., chair of the ob-gyn department at Emory University in Atlanta. If you're a type A (for anxiety and angst), figure out a calm-down solution that works for you, whether it's practicing tai chi or thrashing around to the Foo Fighters, before you get ready to pee on the stick.

Click here ton continue reading article as MSNBC News Health

The Pill makes women pick bad mates

Ability to sniff out a compatible partner affected by taking contraceptives

By Jeanna Bryner
Live Science
updated 1:17 p.m. ET, Wed., Aug. 13, 2008

Birth control pills could screw up a woman's ability to sniff out a compatible mate, a new study finds.

While several factors can send a woman swooning, including big brains and brawn, body odor can be critical in the final decision, the researchers say. That's because beneath a woman's flowery fragrance or a guy's musk the body sends out aromatic molecules that indicate genetic compatibility.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are involved in immune response and other functions, and the best mates are those that have different MHC smells than you. The new study reveals, however, that when women are on the pill they prefer guys with matching MHC odors.

MHC genes churn out substances that tell the body whether a cell is a native or an invader. When individuals with different MHC genes mate, their offspring's immune systems can recognize a broader range of foreign cells, making them more fit.

Click here to continue reading article at MSNBC Health News

Treadmill Exercise Retrains Brain And Body Of Stroke Victims

ScienceDaily (Aug. 29, 2008) — People who walk on a treadmill even years after stroke damage can significantly improve their health and mobility, changes that reflect actual "rewiring" of their brains, according to research spearheaded at Johns Hopkins.

"This is great news for stroke survivors because results clearly demonstrate that long-term stroke damage is not immutable and that with exercise it's never too late for the brain and body to recover," says Daniel Hanley, M.D., professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The study's results, published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, suggest that patients' brains may retain the capacity to rewire through a treadmill exercise program months or years after conventional physical therapy has ended.

The research was conducted by scientists at Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Maryland VA Medical Center at their Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC). Researchers at the GRECC, led by Richard F. Macko, M.D., and Andrew P. Goldberg, M.D., have developed treadmill therapy for stroke patients over the past decade. Investigators at all three institutions combined efforts to recruit 71 patients who had a stroke at least six months earlier, with an average time lapse of nearly four years. At the study's onset, half of the subjects could walk without assistance, while the rest used a cane, a walker or a wheelchair.

Click here to continue reading this article at Science Daily

Children are hurt by chaos at home

(PhysOrg.com) -- Historically, U.S. children have experienced chaos for decades due to the nation's high rates of migration, poverty, and maternal and child mortality. But today, chaos in children's lives is largely on the family level, said a Cornell sociologist in a statewide videoconference, June 17.

"Children are affected by the divorce and remarriage of their parents, higher rates of maternal employment and the fast pace of modern life," said Dan Lichter, professor of policy analysis and management and director of the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center. Many of the modern factors that contribute to chaos -- such as divorce or children born out of wedlock -- disproportionately impact lower-income and minority children, he said.

Almost 600 community professionals at 13 sites across New York took part in the live videoconference that focused on how chaotic environments impact the health of children.

The conference, co-sponsored by the College of Human Ecology, melded research from psychology, demography and sociology for a diverse audience that included representatives from schools, health-care organizations, the court system and the foster care system.

These disproportionate effects on low-income and minority children contribute to the cycle of poverty in our nation, said Gary Evans, professor of design and environmental analysis and human development, also a speaker at the conference. His research shows that chaos -- specifically crowding, excessive noise, less structured and predictable household routines, as well as geographic instability -- is linked closely to economic status, with poorer families experiencing more chaos.

For example, he said, lower-income families are five times more likely to experience divorce and six times more likely to have unpredictable work schedules.

In addition, lower-income communities are on average 10-15 decibels louder -- or twice as loud -- as middle-class communities. Evans' research has shown that children living in noisy communities are more likely to suffer from deficits in reading.

"There's a convergence of these different issues that creates problems for children living in poverty," Evans said. "Children need to learn they can have an impact on their environment. In chaos, that's difficult to learn because they lose the sense of control over their environment."

Elaine Wethington, associate professor of human development, identified several red flags that indicate children are experiencing too much chaos in their lives: -- a lack of routine in parents' schedules; -- a lack of routine in the child's eating and sleeping schedule; -- time spent unsupervised; and -- a lack of cheerfulness or energy.

"We need local solutions that involve schools and parents," Wethington told the audience.

The videoconference was designed to help communicate to policy-makers and practitioners some of the scholarly research on chaos and children's development from the First Biennial Bronfebrenner Conference on the Ecology of Human Development, held in Ithaca in October 2007. Its proceedings are in press at the American Psychological Association.

The video broadcast and downloadable research briefs are available at http://www.parenting.cit.cornell.edu/events.html. Follow the link to archived webcasts.

Other co-sponsors of the videoconference include the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center, the Parenting in Context project and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Provided by Cornell University

No Need For Gene Screens In Breast Cancer Families, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (July 25, 2008) — Research reported today should provide relief to women who are worried after a relative's breast cancer diagnosis. The study shows that a family history of breast cancer does not give a useful indication of the likelihood that a woman will develop it herself at an early age.

An increased risk of breast cancer for relatives of breast cancer patients has been demonstrated in many studies. As physicians and the general population have become more aware of this increased risk, the demand for referring healthy women with a family history of breast cancer for intensive screening or genetic testing has risen. Geertruida H. de Bock led a team from Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands who investigated whether the increased risk was significant enough to accurately predict breast cancer.

According to de Bock, "Due to the low prevalence of early breast cancer in the population, the predictive value of a family history of breast cancer was 13% before the age of 70, 11% before the age of 50, and 1% before the age of 30." These numbers are much lower than most women would probably expect. As the authors explain, "Applying family history related criteria results in the screening of many women who will not develop breast cancer at an early age."

Given the psychological harm that screening visits can cause, more stringent criteria should be applied to early screening. The researchers recommend that these results be used to "reassure a large number of women regarding their personal breast cancer risk."

Removing Ovaries During Hysterectomy: Effects Remain Unknown

ScienceDaily (July 20, 2008) — During hysterectomy operations, surgeons often remove a woman's ovaries as well as her uterus. Cochrane Researchers now say there is no evidence that removing the ovaries provides any additional benefit and warn surgeons to consider the procedure carefully.

"Until more reliable research is available, removal of the ovaries at the time of hysterectomy should be approached with caution," says lead researcher, Dr. Leonardo Orozco of the OBGYN Women's Hospital San José in Costa Rica.

Of those women who undergo hysterectomies aged 40 or above, around half also have their ovaries removed. This amounts to more than 300,000 women a year in the US alone. The reason most commonly given for carrying out an oophorectomy at the same time is that it prevents ovarian cancer. However the ovaries produce not only estrogen, but also important hormones such as androgens that may have important clinical effects which have yet to be identified.

The researchers say there is little evidence to support the idea that removing the ovaries during a hysterectomy provides an overall health benefit. They identified only one controlled trial, involving 362 women. This compared hysterectomies with oophorectomies to hysterectomies without oophorectomies. Although this trial showed a very slight positive effect on psychological well-being when oophorectomies were performed, the team say much more data is required before any conclusions can be drawn.

"There could be a real benefit or harm associated with oophorectomy, but it has not been identified, more research of higher methodological quality is needed." says Dr. Orozco.

Red yeast rice, fish oil fight high cholesterol

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A regimen of supplements and lifestyle coaching is just as effective as statin medication for reducing levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol, and more effective in helping people lose weight, new research shows.

People with high cholesterol who took red yeast rice and fish oil daily and received counseling on diet, exercise and relaxation techniques showed the same 40 percent drop in LDL cholesterol seen among people taking 40 milligrams of simvastatin daily, Dr. David J. Becker of the University of Pennsylvania Health System's Chestnut Hill Hospital and colleagues found. And they pared off an average of 10 pounds over 12 weeks, compared to less than a pound for patients taking the statin.

Becker has run a lifestyle program for people at risk of heart disease for 13 years. "People had a uniform desire to get off statins, and when they did their cholesterol was only going down maybe 5 percent at most," he told Reuters Health. The cardiologist decided to launch the current study after seeing many patients have success in lowering their cholesterol with red yeast rice and fish oil.

With a grant from the state of Pennsylvania, Becker and his team randomly assigned 74 patients to receive 40 milligrams of simvastatin (Zocor) daily along with printed information on lifestyle changes, or to three capsules of fish oil twice daily and 600 milligrams of red yeast rice daily along with the 12-week lifestyle program.

Click here to continue reading article at Reuters.com

Prozac Nation No More?

In a new book, psychiatrist James Gordon explains why he believes there's a more effective and drug-free way to treat depression and anxiety.

By Anne Underwood | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jul 8, 2008 | Updated: 8:56 a.m. ET Jul 8, 2008

Do we really need Prozac? James Gordon, founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C., says there's a better way to treat depression—through diet, exercise and meditation. Roll your eyes all you like. He's used the approach for 35 years with a wide range of patients, from runaway children and middle-class adults in Washington, D.C., to victims of war in Bosnia, Kosovo, Israel and the Gaza Strip. This week, Gordon is heading to flood-stricken Iowa to see if he can be of assistance there. About 10 percent of American women and 4 percent of men now take antidepressants (according to a 2004 CDC report). Gordon's new book, "Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression," outlines a treatment program he believes can be an alternative to medication. NEWSWEEK's Anne Underwood spoke to Gordon about his recommendations and how he's implemented them around the world.

Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: So many people have been helped by Prozac and other antidepressant medications. Why do you say these drugs should only be used as a last resort?
James Gordon: Depression is not the end stage of a disease process but a wakeup call to examine our lives. There are better ways to do that than taking drugs, which have side effects and don't address the underlying message that depression is bringing—that our lives are out of balance and significant change is necessary. Instead they tell us, "You have a biochemical disorder, here's a drug."

But people with depression do have imbalances in levels of neurotransmitters.
Some people do, I wouldn't deny that. What I'm saying is that there are many ways to address those changes that do less harm and may be more productive in the long run because they give people the sense of control that comes from helping themselves.

Click here to continue reading article at Newsweek.com

Laugh Your Way To Wellness With Yoga Trend

ScienceDaily (May 6, 2008) — “Ho ho, ha ha ha,” students in a fitness class at the University of Michigan Health System chant repeatedly while clapping their hands and walking around the room.

They’re just getting warmed up; in the next half-hour, they will stretch their muscles and work on breathing exercises. They’ll also laugh for most of the 30 minutes, from self-conscious giggles to uninhibited belly laughs. All in the name of fitness.

This is a “laughter yoga” course, part of a growing trend in parts of the United States, India and other countries. The students are re-learning something children already know instinctively: that laughter makes you feel better.

“Kids laugh about 400 times a day, and adults only about 15,” notes Barb Fisher, a certified laughter yoga leader and the instructor of this class offered by the U-M Health System’s MFit health promotion division. “Laughter is a gift that has been given to us to make us feel better.”

Fisher teaches her students that not only is it fun to laugh, but that laughter yoga (also known as hasya yoga) can provide many health benefits:

Click here to continue reading article at Science Daily.com

Chinese Ants Show Promise For Fighting Arthritis, Other Diseases

ScienceDaily (Apr. 28, 2008) — Ants may be an unwelcome intruder at picnics, but they could soon be a welcome guest in your medicine cabinet. Chemists in China report identification of substances in a certain species of ants that show promise for fighting arthritis, hepatitis, and other diseases.

For centuries, ants have been used as a health food or drink ingredient in China to treat a wide range of health conditions, including arthritis and hepatitis. Researchers suspect that these health effects are due to anti-inflammatory and pain-killing substances in the ants. However, the exact chemicals responsible for its alleged medicinal effects are largely unknown.

Click here to continue reading article at Science Daily.com

Gene That Regulates And Blocks Ovulation Discovered

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2008) — A group of Canadian and European researchers have unlocked the mystery of a gene with the potential to both regulate and block ovulation. The new study is a collaboration between the Université de Montréal in Canada and the Institut de génetique et biologie moléculaire et cellulaire of the Université de Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France.

"Our findings demonstrate that the Lrh1 gene is essential in regulating ovulation," said Bruce D. Murphy, director the Animal Research Centre at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and an adjunct professor of and obstetrics and gynaecology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Université de Montréal. "Until this point, the role of Lrh1 in female fertility was unclear, but we have found the gene regulates multiple mechanisms of ovulation and may affect fertilization."

To reach their conclusions, the research team developed a new type of genetically modified mouse whose Lrh1 gene was selectively blocked in the ovary. They found that deletion of the Lrh1 gene effectively stopped ovulation. "This discovery means we can envision new contraceptives that selectively stop ovulation," said Dr. Murphy. "If created, these new contraceptives would be more effective and produce less side-effects than current steroid-based forms of birth control."

What's more, the findings could lead to the development of pharmaceuticals that activate the Lrh1 gene, which may prove critical in giving infertile couples hope in producing children. "This is an important development, since 15 percent of couples are infertile," said Dr. Murphy. "The widespread role of this gene in the ovary indicates that it may be targeted to stimulate ovulation and, eventually, conception."

The research was supported by the CIHR in Canada; CNRS, INSERM and the Serono Foundation in Europe.

Going Green with Feminine Hygiene

Click here for article source
By: Jennifer Newell
Published: Thursday, 29 May 2008

As the world becomes more aware of environmental concerns, many people have found ways to incorporate "green" alternatives into their daily lives. Women can play a special role in these recycling and conserving times if they consider products that they use monthly during menstruation. There are numerous products now on the market that serve as reasonable, if not preferable, alternatives to traditional ones.

While these alternative products, such as organic pads and tampons, cloth pads, and reusable menstrual cups, are not for everyone, those who have switched to these eco-friendly options are typically pleased with the results. In addition, many of the products do cost less than mainstream brands, and the reusable products can save a great deal of money for female consumers in the long run.

Disposable Products

Several brands have recently entered the market, which offer safe and chlorine-free pads and tampons for those seeking to continue using the types of products to which they've become accustomed. The benefit to using the newer products is that they are chemical free and 100% all natural, organic cotton.

Natracare is the most common brand name that manufactures and sells tampons and pads that are disposable but free from chemicals. The line of products was developed as a response to health and environmental concerns about the use of rayon, dioxin pollution caused by chlorine bleaching, and the extensive use of pesticide sprays on most cotton. Dioxin has also been connected to cancer and other health concerns, so reducing dioxin exposure was a major factor in the creation of the tampons, and certified organic cotton was the answer.

Other brands that cater to the eco-friendly consumer include Organic Essentials and Seventh Generation, both of which use certified organic cotton and are free of dioxin and bleach. Stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's carry some of the natural products, but they can also be ordered online at Amazon or private companies that specialize in "green" products.

Reusable Tampons

It does not seem like the most obvious item to reuse, but it can be done with the right material. Sea sponge tampons are actually extracted from the ocean floor and are about as natural as one can get. There is no applicator, only the sponge that is rinsed every few hours and reinserted. At the end of the menstrual cycle, it should be cleaned and air dried, and proper care will allow the tampon to be reused for approximately six months.

There are several companies that manufacture sea sponges for this purpose, like Sea Pearls and Jade and Pearl. Considering that a woman typically uses 11,000 tampons - a widely accepted estimate - in her menstruating years, being able to buy two sponges for $10 or $12 and use them for an entire year makes great economic and environmental sense.

Reusable Pads

Years ago, it was common for women to use cloth diapers for babies, and in light of the trend of becoming environmentally conscious, many parents are switching back. The same can be said for women and menstrual pads. Considering the massive amount of waste from disposable pads, reusable cloth products are becoming more popular with women. The cloths can be washed and reused, and while the liners and liner holders are not exactly cheap, quite a bit of money is saved in time due to the recycling of all products involved.

There are numerous brands available, including GladRags and LunaPads that are made in different sizes, colors, and styles and can be accessorized with carrying cases and soaking containers. What many women like about the reusable cloths is their softness and comfort, as all are made from cotton - mostly organic cotton - and free from chemicals and other materials found in disposable pads. Some brands, like Sorella Luna Organic pads are all-in-one products that do not require that a separate liner and holder be purchased.

Basically, after use, pads are kept in a water-filled container to soak, which helps prevent stains, until the cloths can be washed. Some people allow them to dry, then soak in cold water prior to washing, but stains may not come out as easily. Even so, the process is easy and prevents the waste and discomfort that most women find with store-bought disposable pads.

Menstrual Cups

The last category of natural alternatives to traditional menstrual products is the cup. They are small, bell-shaped cups inserted into the vagina to catch the menstrual flow. Though there are disposable cups, the most popular eco-friendly type is the reusable kind because they last up to ten years. Most are made of rubber or silicone.

The Keeper is a common brand that is made of natural gum rubber, but for women with latex allergies, the DivaCup is preferred, as it is made of silicone. Both products can be worn for 6 to 12 hours at a time, depending on flow, then emptied, cleaned, and reinserted. They also come in two sizes - one for those who have birthed children, and one for those who have not. Women seem to like the convenience of one product, which comes with a cloth carrying bag, and the absence of any need for back-up pad protection.

Global Warming May Be to Blame For Increase in Kidney Stones

By: Drucilla Dyess
Published: Wednesday, 16 July 2008

An increasingly warmer U.S. climate may lead to more people suffering from kidney stones. Because dehydration is one of the risk factors for kidney-stone disease, and hotter temperatures cause more fluid loss, kidney stones are projected to become more likely, according to researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.

After analyzing the frequency of kidney stones in the U.S. and studying expected nationwide average annual temperature increases, Tom Brikowski, Ph.D. and colleagues predict that by 2050, warmer temperatures will cause an extra 1.6 million to 2.2 million kidney-stone cases This increase represents up to a 30 percent growth in some areas.

Global warming may expand the higher-risk region of the Southern U.S. known as the "kidney-stone belt" into neighboring states. The states currently included are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. An increase in the number of kidney stone related health issues in the upper Midwest is also possible with the Chicago area alone getting up to 100,000 extra cases each year. Other countries may be affected as well. The report can be found in the July 14 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to Dr. Margaret Pearle, professor of urology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the paper, "This study is one of the first examples of global warming causing a direct medical consequence for humans." She also noted, "There is a known geographic variation in stone disease that has been attributed to regional differences in temperature. When people relocate from areas of moderate temperature to areas with warmer climates, a rapid increase in stone risk has been observed. This has been shown in military deployments to the Middle East for instance."

Kidney-stone disease (nephrolithiasis) is a common health issue in which solid crystals form from dissolved minerals in urine. Both environmental and metabolic issues cause kidney stones. The lower the volume of urine, the higher the kidney stone risk due to the concentration of stone-forming salts. Therefore, kidney stones can form from either too little fluid intake or too much fluid loss.

Click here to continue reading this article from Health News

Slow exercise beneficial for menopausal women

Click here for article source

Scientists seeking to delay or reduce age-related muscle deterioration in menopausal women are examining the effects of different exercise regimes.

Alexander Sanger's research group from University of Salzburg has investigated two such methods. Hypertrophy resistance training is a traditional approach designed to induce muscle growth and 'SuperSlow(r)' which involves much slower movement and fewer repetitions of exercises.

'Our results indicate that both methods increase muscle mass at the expense of connective and fatty tissue, but contrary to expectations, the SuperSlow(r) method appears to have the greatest effect,' revealed Sanger.

'These findings will be used to design specific exercise programmes for everyday use to reduce the risk of injury and thus significantly contribute to a better quality of life in old age.'

The study focussed on groups of menopausal women aged 45-55 years, the age group in which muscle deterioration first starts to become apparent.

Groups undertook supervised regimes over 12 weeks, based on each of the training methods. Thigh muscle biopsies were taken at the beginning and end of the regimes, and microscopically analysed to look for changes in the ratio of muscle to fatty and connective tissue, the blood supply to the muscle.

'The results of our experiments have significantly improved our understanding of how muscles respond to different forms of exercise,' asserted Sanger.

'We believe that the changes that this new insight can bring to current training systems will have a considerable effect on the lives of both menopausal and older women,' she concludes.

These results were presented on Monday at the Society for Experimental Biology's Annual Meeting in Marseille.

Woman Aquires New Accent After Stroke

ScienceDaily (July 6, 2008) — A woman in southern Ontario is one of the first cases in Canada of a rare neurological syndrome in which a person starts speaking with a different accent, McMaster University researchers report in the July issue of the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences.

The puzzling medical phenomenon known as foreign-accent syndrome (FAS) arises from neurological damage, and results in vocal distortions that typically sound like the speaker has a new, "foreign" accent.

This particular case, however, is even more unusual because the English-speaking woman did not acquire an accent that sounds foreign but one that instead sounds like Maritime Canadian English.

The woman, referred to here as Rosemary, was recovering from a stroke two years ago, when her family noticed a change in her speech. They asked medical personnel at the Integrated Stroke Unit of Hamilton General Hospital why their mother was suddenly speaking with what sounded like a Newfoundland accent. It was at that point that the medical team joined forces with researchers in McMaster's Cognitive Science of Language program to study the case.


Click here to continue reading article at Science Daily.com

'Mind's Eye' Influences Visual Perception

ScienceDaily (July 4, 2008) — Letting your imagination run away with you may actually influence how you see the world. New research from Vanderbilt University has found that mental imagery—what we see with the "mind's eye"—directly impacts our visual perception.

"We found that imagery leads to a short-term memory trace that can bias future perception," says Joel Pearson, research associate in the Vanderbilt Department of Psychology. and lead author of the study. "This is the first research to definitively show that imagining something changes vision both while you are imagining it and later on."

"These findings are important because they suggest a potential mechanism by which top-down expectations or recollections of previous experiences might shape perception itself," Pearson and his co-authors write.

It is well known that a powerful perceptual experience can change the way a person sees things later. Just think of what can happen if you discover an unwanted pest in your kitchen, such as a mouse. Suddenly you see mice in every dust ball and dark corner—or think you do. Is it possible that imagining something, just once, might also change how you perceive things?

Click here to continue reading article at ScienceDaily.com

Post-Exercise Caffeine Helps Muscles Refuel

Article Date: 02 Jul 2008 - 0:00 PDT
Recipe to recover more quickly from exercise: Finish workout, eat pasta, and wash down with five or six cups of strong coffee.

Glycogen, the muscle's primary fuel source during exercise, is replenished more rapidly when athletes ingest both carbohydrate and caffeine following exhaustive exercise, new research from the online edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology shows. Athletes who ingested caffeine with carbohydrate had 66% more glycogen in their muscles four hours after finishing intense, glycogen-depleting exercise, compared to when they consumed carbohydrate alone, according to the study, published by The American Physiological Society.

The study, "High rates of muscle glycogen resynthesis after exhaustive exercise when carbohydrate is co-ingested with caffeine," is by David J. Pedersen, Sarah J. Lessard, Vernon G. Coffey, Emmanuel G. Churchley, Andrew M. Wootton, They Ng, Matthew J. Watt and John A. Hawley. Dr. Pedersen is with the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, Dr. Watt is from St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia. All others are with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) in Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.


Click here to continue reading article at Medical News Today

Independent Thinkers Judge Distances Differently Than Holistic Types

ScienceDaily (June 27, 2008) — Every day we’re faced with decisions that involve spatial judgments. Which line should we choose at the supermarket? Which route should we take to work? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that thinking styles affect spatial judgment.

Authors Aradhna Krishna (University of Michigan), Rongrong Zhou (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), and Shi Zhang (UCLA), designed a series of experiments that tested participants to assess their thinking styles. The participants, who lived in China, Hong Kong, and the United States, fell into two categories: independent thinkers (self-focused) and interdependent (relationship-focused).

The researchers found significant differences between Western and Eastern participants. “The independent self-construal is more dominant in Western cultures, where people believe in the inherent separateness of distinct persons and view the self as a autonomous, independent person,” write the authors. “The interdependent self-construal is more dominant in Eastern cultures, where people believe in the connectedness of human beings to each other and view the self as part of a larger social group.”


Click here to continue reading article at ScienceDaily.com

Premenstrual syndrome: Can dietary supplements help relieve the symptoms?

Calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) may be able to relieve mood swings, breast soreness and other symptoms some women regularly experience in the days leading up to their periods.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is the term used to describe a number of symptoms, both physical and psychological, that start about a week or 10 days before a woman's period (menstruation). Some people also call it premenstrual tension (PMT). Common symptoms include sore breasts and abdominal pain, as well as headaches. Many women feel depressed, irritable, tired and unfocused in the days leading up to their period.

If it is PMS, these symptoms usually go away when the period starts, although sometimes they will continue for a few days during menstruation as well. Most women are affected by PMS symptoms to one degree or another every now and again. But about 5 out of 100 women (5 %) regularly have symptoms which are so bad that their daily lives are noticeably affected.

Click here to continue reading article at Informed Health Online

Hormone Disorder May Contribute To Lack Of Menstruation In Teenage Athletes

ScienceDaily (June 17, 2008) — Researchers from Harvard University have found a way to predict which teenage female athletes will stop menstruating, an important risk factor for bone thinning, according to a preliminary study.

Amenorrhea, or absence of menstruation, occurs in as many as 25 percent of female high school athletes, compared with 2 to 5 percent in the general population, according to the study's presenter, Madhusmita Misra, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

Amenorrhea in athletes is known to cause infertility and early onset of low bone density and may increase the risk of breaking bones. Evidence suggests that intense exercise associated with caloric restriction, and therefore a state of energy deficit, is most responsible for menstrual irregularities among athletes.

Click here to continue reading article at Science Daily.com

Complex Changes In The Brain's Vascular System Occur After Menopause

ScienceDaily (June 20, 2008) — Many women experience menopausal changes in their body including hot flashes, moodiness and fatigue, but the changes they don’t notice can be more dangerous. In a new study, researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered significant changes in the brain’s vascular system when the ovaries stop producing estrogen. MU scientists predict that currently used estrogen-based hormone therapies may complicate this process and may do more harm than good in postmenopausal women.

"Before menopause, women are much more protected from certain conditions such as heart disease and stroke, but these vascular changes might explain why women lose this protection after menopause," said Olga Glinskii, research assistant professor of medical pharmacology and physiology in MU’s School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “Because the body eventually will naturally adapt to the loss of estrogen, we advise extreme caution when using estrogen-based therapy in postmenopausal women.”

Click here to continue reading article at Science Daily.com

Vitamin D May Help Patients Survive Cancer

New Report Suggests Sunshine Vitamin May Have Significant Cancer Benefits

By JOHN McKENZIE
Jun 19, 2008

When Joanna Fuchs was diagnosed with colon cancer last year, a blood test revealed she was severely deficient in vitamin D.

"I was obviously very concerned and very worried," Fuchs said.

So, too, was her husband, Dr. Charles Fuchs of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, who is the senior author of a study published today that found colon cancer patients deficient in vitamin D were almost twice as likely to die over a 10-year period than patients with healthy levels of the nutrient.

"These findings make considerable sense," Dr. Fuchs said, "because in the laboratory we find that vitamin D reduces the growth of colon cancer cells, prevents its spread to other organs, and actually reduces the growth of blood vessels to these tumors."

Fuchs' work is just the latest in a wave of new studies on vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a greater risk of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. It has also been linked to a doubling of heart attack risk among men, a 73 percent greater risk of dying from breast cancer, and more frequent asthma attacks among children.

"Vitamin D seems to be very helpful in making your immune system do what it is supposed to do," Dr. Tanya Edwards, director of Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

Click here to continue reading this article on ABC News

'Common sense' steps keep MRSA at bay in the gym

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Following a few simple rules can help people avoid catching the drug-resistant "superbug" MRSA at the gym, a physician specializing in infections diseases says.

"The real bottom line is common sense hygiene," Dr. Jorge Parada of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood told Reuters Health.

"It's wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands," along with wiping down equipment before and after using it, and keeping a towel between you and shared equipment including weight machines, benches, and yoga mats, he explained.

MRSA, a.k.a. methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and other bugs can live on surfaces, especially warmer, wetter ones, Parada said. However, he added, the health risks of not exercising are far greater than the danger of acquiring an MRSA infection while working out. "Don't use 'I might catch something in the gym' as an excuse not to engage in healthy activities."

Hospital-associated MRSA has been around since 1961, and became a problem during the 1970s, Parada explained. Those at risk included dialysis patients, nursing home residents, and people who had to take a lot of antibiotics. "Your average Joe walking around healthy, going to high school, going to work in the morning, was at very low risk," he said.

Then in 1999, the first cases of community-associated MRSA appeared. These strains developed independently of hospital-associated MRSA, and infected healthy people in the community with no known risk factors.

Usually the community-associated MRSA infections are limited to skin abscesses and boils, Parada said, but on rare occasions they can progress to pneumonia or more serious skin infections. "They've been rare, but they've been unexpected, and they've made a lot of news," he said. "That's what's driven a lot of this noise about MRSA."

At present, 5 to 10 percent of people harbor MRSA on their bodies, and the great majority of them are perfectly healthy. Parada's own research found that 7 percent of people admitted to his hospital tested positive for MRSA. "The bulk of those people who screen positive have no prior history of MRSA and are completely surprised to know that they are walking around with MRSA on their skin," he said.

The reason why some healthy people develop community-associated MRSA infections remains unclear, Parada said, although studies are underway to determine if genetic factors may be involved.

So, while MRSA could be lurking in your gym -- or on your own body -- simple hygiene is the best way to protect yourself, and others, from getting sick, according to Parada. "The real take-home message from this is, people should be much more concerned about their overall health," he said. "Getting out and doing exercise is positive."

Stress During Childhood Increases Risk Of Allergies

ScienceDaily (Jun. 18, 2008) — Moving house or the separation of parents can significantly increase the risk of children developing allergies later on. These are the results from a long-term study correlating life-style, immune system development and allergies, led by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig (UFZ), the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the "Institut für Umweltmedizinische Forschung" (IUF) in Duesseldorf.

The researchers had examined blood samples taken from 234 six-year old children and discovered increased blood concentrations of the stress-related peptide VIP (vasoactive intestinal polypeptide) in connection with moving house or the separation of parents. The neuropeptide VIP could take on a mediator role between stress events in life and the regulation of immune responses, researchers write in the scientific journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.

The fact that stress events can have an influence on the development of allergies has been known for a while. The mechanisms behind this however remained unexplained for a long time. In the study that has now been published, stress events were investigated for the first time during early childhood within a large epidemiological study using immune and stress markers.

Click here to continue reading article at Science Daily.com

Health Care Group Calls for Better Consumer Protections

Survey Finds Most States Don't Effectively Protect People With Individual Plans

By RANDY GYLLENHAAL
June 12, 2008

Kathleen Watson of Lake City, Fla., has been on a mission to find affordable individual health care since her husband's work-based insurance plan ran out.

But during her search, Watson discovered she lives with a medical condition that has considerably hampered her efforts to find coverage. With precursor symptoms to leukemia, Watson said she was been red-flagged by insurers for not initially informing them about her condition. Now she cannot find a health insurance company to cover her that she can afford. And with a pre-existing condition, most plans won't even take her.

"I'm very frustrated," Watson said. "We've lost our savings, our 401k, I've lost my business."

"Most people who do have leukemia lymphoma get treatment right away," she said. "I haven't gotten any treatment because I don't have insurance."

Click here to continue reading article at ABC News Health

Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome Linked To Irregular Menstrual Cycles, Premenstrual Symptoms In Women

ScienceDaily (Jun. 13, 2008) — Women with delayed sleep phase syndrome are more likely to report irregular menstrual cycles and premenstrual symptoms, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 10 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

The study, authored by Kari Sveum, of Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill., focused on 13 females with delayed sleep phase syndrome and 13 healthy controls. The subjects responded to a questionnaire regarding their reproductive health, including irregularity of their cycle and premenstrual symptoms, either in the past or present.

According to the results, twice as many subjects with delayed sleep phase syndrome reported an irregular menstrual cycle compared to controls. For those not using birth control, three times as many subjects with delayed sleep phase syndrome reported irregular menstruation, compared to controls. Pre-menstrual problems, such as cramps and mood swings, were reported by 69 percent of those with delayed sleep phase syndrome, compared to 16.67 percent of controls.

Click here to read complete article on ScienceDaily, including tips from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) to help women get the most out of their sleep

Poor Sleep Quality And Insomnia Associated With Suicidal Symptoms Among College Students

ScienceDaily (Jun. 9, 2008) — Poor sleep quality and insomnia are significantly associated with suicidal symptoms among college undergraduates, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 9 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

"This investigation attempted to clarify whether self-reported sleep disturbances serve as a risk factor for suicide ideation in a nonclinical sample of young adults," said Bernert. "We found that insomnia and poor sleep quality jointly predicted elevated suicidal symptoms, even after controlling for depression. However, these sleep complaints failed to individually predict increased risk for suicide. This suggests that, within a less severe sample, multiple indices of sleep disturbances may be necessary to assess suicide risk and guide clinical decision-making. These findings may inform both intervention efforts and suicide risk assessment models."

Insomnia is a classification of sleep disorders in which a person has trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early. It is the most commonly reported sleep disorder. About 30 percent of adults have symptoms of insomnia.

It is recommended that adults get between seven and eight hours of nightly sleep.

Click here to read entire article

MRSA main cause of S. aureus community pneumonia during flu season

By Anthony J. Brown, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - During the 2006 to 2007 influenza season in the US, 79% of community-acquired pneumonia cases caused by Staphylococcus aureus were due to MRSA, according to a report in the June 3rd online issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

Many of the cases occurred with or after influenza and often involved otherwise healthy young people, according to the report. Just over half of the cases proved fatal.

"I think the most interesting findings were the large proportion (of cases) that were MRSA, the large number that were not empirically treated for this organism and the potential association between co-infection with influenza and a worsened outcome," lead author Dr. Alexander J. Kallen, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, told Reuters Health.

A number of S. aureus community-acquired pneumonia cases reported to public health authorities in early 2007 led Dr. Kallen's team to seek out additional case reports nationwide, in an effort to better characterize the cases seen during the 2006 to 2007 influenza season. The study period ran from November 1, 2006 to April 30, 2007.

A total of 51 cases were identified in 19 states, of which 47 had known susceptibility results, the authors note. The median patient age was 16 years; 44% had no history of pertinent medical problems. Twenty-four (51%) patients died at a median of 4 days after symptom onset.

Thirty-seven (79%) of the 47 cases were due to MRSA, the report indicates. Just 16 (43%) of MRSA-infected patients were treated empirically with recommended antimicrobial agents.

In 22 (47%) of the 47 cases, the S. aureus infection arose during or after a viral infection. Influenza infection was confirmed in 11 (33%) of 33 patients who were tested.

"The main take-home messages for clinicians," Dr. Kallen said, "are that this disease (S. aureus pneumonia with onset in the community, including MRSA) is seen during the winter months, it can be severe, and it should be considered in people presenting with pneumonia during the winter."

He added, "Obviously consideration should be given to influenza vaccination for those who may wish to increase their chances of avoiding influenza and its potential complications."

Customized vitamins a fix for genetic flaws?

San Francisco Chronicle
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer
Friday, June 6, 2008

(06-05) 20:01 PDT -- UC Berkeley scientists are exploring whether high-speed gene-reading machines - like those used to decode the human genome - will be able to find subtle genetic flaws that can harm health and can be cured by treatments as simple as vitamins.

Eventually, they hope, these scans will help nutritionists customize a course of vitamins to match the strengths and weaknesses of every individual. "Think of it as a metabolic tuneup," said Berkeley researcher Nicholas Marini.

Marini and a team of researchers reported this week that they had found, in DNA samples from over 500 people, four types of genetic mutations that were treatable with folate, a well-known member of the vitamin B family. One of the four had already been identified as a relatively common genetic defect that responded to the vitamin. The three others were new.

Although the research is years away from practical tests on humans, the study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is a first step showing that such tuneups might be possible.

Marini cautioned that there is much about the interaction of genes and nutrition that is still unknown. "The reality is, we don't know how to interpret a lot of this information," he said.

Raising ethical questions

The study was partially funded by the Department of Defense, which saw the potential to improve human performance on the battlefield. Medical ethicists are now pondering what it will mean for those seeking to enhance performance in sports, in schools or on the job.

"There is no doubt that athletes will try to take advantage of DNA markers," said Steven Ungerleider, a research psychologist in Eugene, Ore., and author of "Faust's Gold," the story of the East German Olympic doping scandal. "The flip side of this wonderful medical technology is that it will be abused."

Click here to continue reading article at SFGate.com

Study: Sad children out-perform happy children in attention-to-detail tasks

Psychologists at the University of Virginia and the University of Plymouth (United Kingdom) have conducted experimental research that contrasts with the belief that happy children are the best learners. The findings, which currently appear online in the journal Developmental Science, and will be printed in the June issue, show that where attention to detail is required, happy children may be at a disadvantage.

Lead researcher Simone Schnall of the University of Plymouth describes the psychology behind the findings: "Happiness indicates that things are going well, which leads to a global, top-down style of information processing. Sadness indicates that something is amiss, triggering detail-orientated, analytical processing.

"However, it is important to emphasize that existing research shows there are contexts in which a positive mood is beneficial for a child, such as when a task calls for creative thinking. But this particular research demonstrates that when attention to detail is required, it may do more harm than good."
Source: University of Virginia

Click here to read entire article

Flavonoid-rich Diet Helps Women Decrease Risk Of Ovarian Cancer

ScienceDaily (Nov. 20, 2007) — New research out of the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) reports that frequent consumption of foods containing the flavonoid kaempferol, including nonherbal tea and broccoli, was associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer. The researchers also found a decreased risk in women who consumed large amounts of the flavonoid luteolin, which is found in foods such as carrots, peppers, and cabbage.

Click here to read the entire article on Science Daily

Antibacterial Wipes Can Spread Bacteria Around

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — Three basic principles is all it could take to reduce the incidence of MRSA in hospitals according to a new research by Cardiff University.

Disinfectants are routinely used on hard surfaces in hospitals to kill bacteria, with antimicrobial containing wipes increasingly being employed for this purpose. Antimicrobial wipes were first introduced in 2005 in hospitals in Wales.

A study by the University's Welsh School of Pharmacy looked into the ability of antimicrobial-surface wipes to remove, kill and prevent the spread of such infections as MRSA. They found that current protocols utilised by hospital staff have the potential to spread pathogens after only the first use of a wipe, particularly due to the ineffectiveness of wipes to actually kill bacteria.

The team, led by microbiologist Dr Jean-Yves Maillard is now calling for a 'one wipe -- one application -- per surface' approach to infection control in healthcare environments.

The research involved a surveillance programme observing hospital staff using surface wipes to decontaminate surfaces near patients, such as bed rails, and other surfaces commonly touched by staff and patients, such as monitors, tables and key pads. It was found that the wipes were being applied to the same surface several times and used on consecutive surfaces before being discarded.

Click here to continue reading article at Science Daily

Thinness Vs. Obesity Not Directly Linked To Eating Habits, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — Whether you are fat or thin isn't directly determined by your eating habits, suggest researchers who report new findings made in worms in the June issue of Cell Metabolism. While both feeding and fat in worms depends on serotonin levels in the nervous system, they found evidence that the nerve messenger acts through independent channels to control whether you eat versus what to do with those calories once you've eaten them.

"It says that the nervous system is a key regulator coordinating all energy-related processes through distinct molecular pathways," said Kaveh Ashrafi of the University of California, San Francisco. "The nervous system makes a decision about its state leading to effects on behavior, reproduction, growth and metabolism. These outputs are related, but they are not consequences of each other. It's not that feeding isn't important, but the neural control of fat is distinct from feeding."

If the results in worms can be extrapolated to humans, as Ashrafi suspects at a fundamental level they can given serotonin's ancient evolutionary origins, then the finding may have clinical implications.

"From a clinical perspective, this may mean you could develop therapeutic strategies to manipulate fat metabolism independently of what you eat," he said. "Now, the focus is primarily on feeding behavior. As important as that is, it's only part of the story. If the logic of the system is conserved across species, a strategy that focuses solely on behavior can only go so far. It may be one reason diets fail."

Click here to continue reading article at Science Daily

Spray-on estrogen relieves hot flushes

Last Updated: 2008-05-30 13:55:23 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A form of estrogen, estradiol, sprayed on the skin is a safe, effective, and convenient way for post-menopausal women to relieve hot flushes, a study shows.

Evamist, which is marketed by Ther-Rx Corporation, is the first transdermal estradiol spray to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating moderate-to-severe menopausal symptoms in healthy women, according to the report in the medical journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

"This estradiol 'spray-on-patch' is a treatment option for women who will benefit from the advantages of transdermal estradiol delivery but are intolerant of or are not inclined to use patches, gels, or emulsions," write Dr. John E. Buster, from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and colleagues.

The spray solution contains estradiol in ethanol, plus a skin-penetrating agent, and is delivered in a precisely metered dose. It is formulated to be retained beneath the skin's surface where is slowly released over 24-hours. The spray is applied to the inside of surface of the forearm and dries clear in 1 minute; it can't be rubbed or washed off and it won't transfer to other people.

In the study, 454 women with eight or more moderate-to-severe hot flushes per day were randomly assigned to receive one, two, or three sprays of estradiol or an inactive placebo daily.

Compared with the placebo groups, all three estradiol groups showed significant reductions in the frequency and severity of hot flushes.

At 12 weeks, patients in the estradiol groups had eight fewer hot flushes per day on average compared to the start of the study. The reduction in the placebo groups was four to six fewer flushes.

Women given three or two sprays of estradiol showed significant reductions in symptom severity at 4 and 12 weeks compared with women given the placebo. Women treated with one spray of estradiol showed a significant reduction in symptom severity at 5 weeks only.

Adverse events were mild and on par with what has been seen with other transdermal products, the authors note.

The results suggest that this new spray "will be an attractive first choice for transdermal estradiol delivery," the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology, June 2008.

The right time for women to quit smoking

When it comes to giving up smoking, pick the start date carefully. At certain times in your menstrual cycle, you are twice as likely to succeed at kicking the habit. And the same applies to starting a diet, finding a new boyfriend or going for a job interview.
In fact, giving up smoking is far from the only thing affected by the menstrual cycle — the ebb and flow of hormones have a powerful impact on nearly all aspects of your life. So, make the time of the month work for you.

The best time to give up drink and drugs Scientists have discovered powerful links between cravings and hormones. Recently, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that women who gave up smoking in the follicular part of their cycle (from the start of their period until ovulation on about day 14) were half as likely to remain smoke-free as those who gave up in the luteal phase (after ovulation, but before the start of the next period). Only two in 10 of the women who gave up in the earlier phase managed to abstain; however, in the second group, four in 10 were successful. Why? It seems the high levels of progesterone found in the luteal phase can help to move nicotine out of the system more quickly, thus reducing withdrawal symptoms. Studies also show women are more easily tempted to smoke by seeing other people smoking when oestrogen levels are high, as in the follicular phase.

Don’t be tempted to experiment with drugs such as cocaine in the first half of your cycle, either. Large amounts of oestrogen also boost levels of the pleasure hormone dopamine and reduce the amount of mucus in your nose, ensuring you will get more of a hit from the drug, thus increasing the risk of addiction. And if you want to stay sober, the hormone allopregnanolone is your friend. This also peaks in the phase before ovulation, and high doses reduce your desire to drink.

Click here to continue reading article at The Times Online (UK)

Some Lip Gloss May Promote Cancer

There's No Proof Yet But Beware Gloss With No SPF

By Aina Hunter
May 2,2008

Spring is here, legs have been reacquainted with the razor and women are buying lots of shimmery lip gloss on impulse.

But have you heard the buzz that cheap, fun, non-SPF gloss can possibly increase your skin cancer risk?

Here's the theory: Some dermatologists have said that the translucent sheen helps ultraviolet rays penetrate the already fragile skin of the lips -- thereby increasing your risk. These dermatologists may be on to something, according to some of the top experts in the field.

Dr. Jessica Fewkes, a face and neck skin cancer specialist at Harvard, draws a cautious analogy between wearing non-SPF (sun protection factor) lip gloss in the sun and using baby oil to promote tanning. "You might be able to infer that they both enhance UV exposure," she says.

Dr. Kevin Cooper, chairman of the dermatology department at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, explains that any increased penetration of ultraviolet rays would be due to "enhanced optical passage" of the dangerous rays. But the increase, he qualifies, would be small.

Here's the catch: There are no large, targeted studies proving or disproving this theory, which makes Fewkes, Cooper and the American Cancer Society reluctant to draw fixed conclusions.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the society's deputy chief medical officer, says that it seems "like just a theory."

"It's OK," he adds, " to have theories about how diseases are caused or influenced, but we have to see evidence. There should be an effort made to do large, population-based studies."

Click to here to continue reading article at ABC Health News

Lorenzo Odone, 30, Subject of Film About His Disease, Is Dead

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: May 31, 2008

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Lorenzo Odone, whose parents’ battle to save him from a nerve disease was the subject of the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil,” died on Friday. He was 30.

He had recently come down with pneumonia, his father, Augusto Odone, said.

At 5, Lorenzo was found to have adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare hereditary children’s disease. He was given only a few years to live.

Augusto Odone and his wife, Michaela, formulated a blend of erucic and oleic acids found in cooking oils that they said helped their son fight the disease.

A study published in 2005 said that the oil might delay the disease in boys in which it had not yet caused symptoms.

In the 1992 film, Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte portrayed Lorenzo’s parents. Ms. Odone died of lung cancer in 2000.

Click here for article source at New York Times.com

FDA Proposes New Drug Labeling for Women

New Guidelines Aimed at Pregnant and Breast-feeding Women

By DAN CHILDS
ABC News Medical Unit
May 28, 2008

Drugs prescribed to women may soon require new labels outlining special potential health effects for pregnant and nursing women.

A recommendation proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday would change the current labeling system on the literature that accompanies medications, used chiefly by doctors and pharmacists but often available to patients. Some have criticized the system -- which places a drug in one of five risk categories, A, B, C, D or X -- calling it confusing.

Under the FDA's proposed system, the new label will be broken into the categories pregnancy and lactation. The pregnancy section would outline any known risks a given drug may pose to a fetus, while the lactation section would list any known details about "the drug's impact on milk production, what is known about the presence of the drug in human milk, and the effects on the breast-fed child."

"It's a population that has very, very special needs," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach during a Wednesday press conference.

"We're all well aware that not everyone likes change, and we're going to be looking at a public commentary period to get further information before we finalize this rule," he added. "But what we must do is address the needs of the patients we're here to serve."

A number of doctors said they believed the new labeling would be a boon for pregnant and lactating women, many of whom take multiple prescriptions; indeed, according to the FDA, the average pregnant woman takes three to five prescription medications.

Click here to continue reading article

Group wants birth control patch pulled

Studies link Ortho-Evra to dangerous blood clots, Public Citizen says

Reuters
updated 12:56 p.m. ET, Thurs., May. 8, 2008

WASHINGTON - A U.S. advocacy group is urging the Food and Drug Administration to pull Johnson & Johnson’s birth control patch from the market after studies found an increased risk of dangerous blood clots.

In a petition filed with the FDA on Thursday, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group said the amount of estrogen released from the Ortho-Evra patch varies widely among individual women, causing up to twice as many clots and other painful side effects.

“The considerable safety concern of high-dose, variable estrogen exposure tips the balance of risks and benefits against the availability of Ortho-Evra as a contraceptive,” wrote Sidney Wolfe, head of the research group.

Ortho-Evra has seen its use slip in the wake of such data, which led to warnings on the patch’s label as recently as January, when a study of women ages 15 to 44 found blood clots known as venous thromboembolisms were about twice as likely in women using the patch versus birth control pills.

The FDA at the time said the patch was safe and effective when used as directed and urged patients to talk to their doctors about the risk.

Click here to read entire article at MSNBC.com

Alternative Medicine Attributed to Curing Child's Brain Tumor

Ella Hauschildt's tumor disappeared through natural IV treatment

Ella Hope Hauschildt was diagnosed with a brain tumor a month before she turned seven, but after natural remedies, the latest MRI was not able to detect the tumor anymore. Her family believes it was the natural treatment that helped Ella.

A month before turning 7, Ella found out she had a inoperable grape-sized brain tumor.

She went through 30 radiation treatments, but her family wanted to try an alternative therapy.

Her parents took her to Arizona for natural therapy.

After 20 IV treatments of vitamins, minerals and amino acids, the tumor was no longer detected in the MRI.

Doctors say it is almost impossible that the tumor won’t return, but Ella’s family still remains hopeful.

Ella’s family has switched to a mostly organic, natural diet.

Click here for article source

Infant iron deficiency may hinder emotional growth

By Joene Hendry

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Iron deficiency during the first year of life appears to adversely impact the social and emotional development of infants, and the presence or absence of anemia does not alter the impact, study findings suggest.

"Iron deficiency without anemia is not generally detected by current screening procedures," Dr. Betsy Lozoff told Reuters Health. The most common form of screening, the hemoglobin test, detects anemia but not iron deficiency, she explained.

If the findings of this small study are confirmed, screening might need to change from the current hemoglobin test to utilizing a complete blood count test.

"A complete blood count gives information about the red cells in addition to hemoglobin and can help diagnose iron deficiency," noted Lozoff, from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.

She and colleagues assessed the social and emotional behavior of 77 otherwise healthy African-American infants who were 9 months old. Testing confirmed 28 of these infants were iron deficient with anemia, 28 were iron deficient without anemia, and 21 had sufficient iron levels.

Regardless of iron status, all infants received a 3 month course of liquid iron sulfate (22 milligrams daily). Among infants with sufficient iron levels, the supplements were to prevent iron deficiency during their transition to being fed unmodified cow's milk, the investigators note in a report in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Follow-up social and emotional behavioral assessments revealed that infants with poorer iron status at the age of 12 months, compared with those with sufficient iron levels, were more shy, less likely to be oriented or engaged to their surroundings and other people, and were harder to soothe. These associations held regardless of anemia status.

These results "should be confirmed in larger samples and other populations," Lozoff said.

Nevertheless, these findings contribute to the growing evidence associating early iron deficiency with poor social and emotional development, the investigators conclude.

SOURCE: The Journal of Pediatrics, May 2008

Chlorinated pesticides may raise diabetes risk

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Using certain chlorinated pesticides puts a person at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and the greater the exposure, the greater the risk, researchers from the National Institutes of Health report.

The researchers studied more than 31,000 licensed pesticide applicators participating in the Agricultural Health Study. Licensed pesticide applicators use more potent formulations of the chemicals than are found in products sold for use in the home or garden, the researchers note.

Five years after enrolling in the study, 1,176 had developed type 2 diabetes. Among the 50 different pesticides the researchers looked at, half were chlorinated, and 7 of these were tied to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. They are: aldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, dichlorvos, trichlorfon, alachlor, and cyanazine.

Risk was higher among study participants who had ever been exposed to any of these chemicals, and increased as cumulative days of lifetime exposure increased, the team reports in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The strongest link between exposure to the seven chemicals and type 2 diabetes was seen among obese people, possibly, the researchers say, because people with more body fat may store more of the chemicals in their bodies.

"All of the seven are chlorinated compounds," study investigator Dr. Freya Kamel of the National Institute of Environmental Health in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina noted in an interview. "We don't know yet what the implication of that is, but it can't be a coincidence. I think it's an important clue for future research."

The three organochlorine pesticides, aldrin, chlordane, and heptachlor, are no longer sold in the United States, she added, but because they accumulate in animal tissues they remain at detectable levels in individuals' bodies, as well as in some food products.

People should follow instructions when using any product containing pesticides, Kamel said. But the best way to avoid developing type 2 diabetes, she added, is to follow existing public health recommendations to maintain a healthy weight, exercise, and eat a balanced diet.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, published online May 14, 2008.

Multivitamins Linked With Breast Density

Breast density, which is increasingly used as a marker of breast cancer risk, is associated with the use of multivitamins, a new study shows.

The report, published this month in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, raises questions about advice routinely given to women to take a multivitamin. However, because the study is not a randomized clinical trial, it’s not clear if multivitamin use contributes to a woman’s breast density. It may be that the type of woman who takes multivitamins is more likely to have other risks factors linked to dense breasts.

Breast density describes the relative amount of different tissues present in the breast. A dense breast has less fat than glandular and connective tissue. On a mammogram, a dense breast looks mostly white, whereas a fatty breast looks dark gray.

Numerous studies have shown that breast density is an important breast cancer risk factor, and women with extreme density may have a two- to six-fold increased risk of breast cancer. In addition to its role in breast cancer risk, breast density makes it difficult to identify cancer on a mammogram, potentially increasing the risk that cancer will be diagnosed at a later stage.

The latest study, from Quebec researchers, studied multivitamin use among nearly 1,600 women, half of whom had not yet reached menopause. About 22 percent of the women used multivitamin and mineral supplements, and use was almost evenly distributed among women who had or had not reached menopause. Premenopausal women who were currently using multivitamin and mineral supplements had, on average, about 5 percent more breast density than women who had never taken multivitamins, a finding that was statistically meaningful. There were no statistically meaningful differences among those who did or did not use multivitamins after menopause.

The findings don’t mean that women using multivitamins should stop taking them, particularly if their doctors have prescribed the supplements. However, women with dense breasts should be aware of it and seek regular mammograms and possibly additional ultrasound scans. A recent study showed that using ultrasound with mammography helped doctors spot significantly more breast cancers in high-risk women with dense breasts but also resulted in four times as many false alarms.

Click here for article source

Preventing Diabetes With Diet And Exercise

In a Diabetes Special Issue of The Lancet, researchers demonstrate that group-based lifestyle interventions of diet and exercise for a period of six years may prevent or delay diabetes for up to 14 years following the intervention. It is not clear, however, that lifestyle interventions also reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality.

There have been several major clinical trials in various countries that have demonstrated how people with impaired glucose tolerances can reduce their likelihood of diabetes due to lifestyle interventions. Researchers, though, still have questions regarding the length of time after intervention that the strategies remain effective. To investigate this issue, Professor Guangwei Li, (China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China), Dr Ping Zhang (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA), and colleagues conducted the China Da Qing Diabetes Prevention Outcome Study (CDQDPOS) - analyzing 20 years of patient follow-up data.

The patients who participated in the study all had impaired glucose tolerance and came from 33 clinics in China. In 1986, the researchers randomly assigned the patients to one of three lifestyle intervention groups (diet, exercise, or diet and exercise) or to the control group. Over a period of six years (until 1992), the patients experienced active intervention, and a 2006 follow-up provided data that would be used to assess the interventions' long-term effects on main outcomes such as diabetes incidence, CVD incidence and mortality, and all-cause mortality.

Click here to read more

Research Suggests Limiting Food Additives in Diet May Help Kids With ADHD

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Medical News

May 22, 2008 -- The notion that artificial colors and preservatives in foods may play a role in hyperactivity has been largely dismissed within conventional medicine, but there are signs that this is beginning to change.

In a newly published editorial appearing in BMJ, pediatrics professor Andrew Kemp, MD, of the University of Sydney, called for removal of food additives from the diet to be part of standard initial treatment for kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Kemp cited a recent controlled trial showing an increase in hyperactivity among children without ADHD who were fed a diet high in food colorings and the preservative sodium benzoate.

Last February, editors of the American Academy of Pediatrics publication AAP Grand Rounds cited the same study as evidence that it is time to revisit the issue.

"The overall findings of the study are clear and require that even we skeptics, who have long doubted parental claims of the effects of various foods on the behavior of their children, admit we might have been wrong," the editors wrote.

Kemp tells WebMD that practitioners have largely ignored the clinical evidence suggesting that dietary modification improves ADHD symptoms in some children.

"Clearly it doesn't work for everybody, but very few treatments do," he says. "(Dietary modification) is certainly something that parents who want to avoid drugs could try for a month or six weeks."

Click here to read more

New research shows avoiding rays may lead to a vitamin D deficiency

Click here for complete article
Get your vitamins from small amounts of sun: New research shows that people who regularly use sunscreen and avoiding sunlight may be sacrificing important vitamin D, which is made by the skin when it's exposed to sunlight. Now, the recommendation is to get 15 minutes of sun at the peak of the day three times a week to help avoid a vitamin D deficiency.

Once thought of as helping only to develop strong bones, vitamin D is now believed to serve many purposes in the human body. A deficiency of the vitamin has been linked to several diseases and disorders.

Yet most people don't get enough of the so-called sunshine vitamin.

For years, Americans have been taught that as summer approaches, they should reach for sunscreen to protect themselves from a scorching burn - and the skin cancer it might trigger. But new research shows that by covering up, they may be sacrificing important vitamin D, which is made by the skin when it's exposed to sunlight.
Save This Page

Health benefits of taking probiotics

Click here for complete article
Bacteria have a reputation for causing disease, so the idea of tossing down a few billion a day for your health might seem — literally and figuratively — hard to swallow. But a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that you can treat and even prevent some illnesses with foods and supplements containing certain kinds of live bacteria. Northern Europeans consume a lot of these beneficial microorganisms, called probiotics (from pro and biota, meaning “for life”), because of their tradition of eating foods fermented with bacteria, such as yogurt. Probiotic-laced beverages are also big business in Japan.

Enthusiasm for such foods has lagged in the United States, but interest in probiotic supplements is on the rise. Some digestive disease specialists are recommending them for disorders that frustrate conventional medicine, such as irritable bowel syndrome. Since the mid-1990s, clinical studies have established that probiotic therapy can help treat several gastrointestinal ills, delay the development of allergies in children, and treat and prevent vaginal and urinary infections in women.

Self-dosing with bacteria isn’t as outlandish as it might seem. An estimated 100 trillion microorganisms representing more than 500 different species inhabit every normal, healthy bowel. These microorganisms (or microflora) generally don’t make us sick; most are helpful. Gut-dwelling bacteria keep pathogens (harmful microorganisms) in check, aid digestion and nutrient absorption, and contribute to immune function.

The best case for probiotic therapy has been in the treatment of diarrhea. Controlled trials have shown that Lactobacillus GG can shorten the course of infectious diarrhea in infants and children (but not adults). Although studies are limited and data are inconsistent, two large reviews, taken together, suggest that probiotics reduce antibiotic-associated diarrhea by 60%, when compared with a placebo.

Probiotic therapy may also help people with Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome. Clinical trial results are mixed, but several small studies suggest that certain probiotics may help maintain remission of ulcerative colitis and prevent relapse of Crohn’s disease and the recurrence of pouchitis (a complication of surgery to treat ulcerative colitis). Because these disorders are so frustrating to treat, many people are giving probiotics a try before all the evidence is in for the particular strains they’re using. More research is needed to find out which strains work best for what conditions.

Probiotics may also be of use in maintaining urogenital health. Like the intestinal tract, the vagina is a finely balanced ecosystem. The dominant Lactobacilli strains normally make it too acidic for harmful microorganisms to survive. But the system can be thrown out of balance by a number of factors, including antibiotics, spermicides, and birth control pills. Probiotic treatment that restores the balance of microflora may be helpful for such common female urogenital problems as bacterial vaginosis, yeast infection, and urinary tract infection.

Many women eat yogurt or insert it into the vagina to treat recurring yeast infections, a “folk” remedy for which medical science offers limited support. Oral and vaginal administration of Lactobacilli may help in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis, although there isn’t enough evidence yet to recommend it over conventional approaches. (Vaginosis must be treated because it creates a risk for pregnancy-related complications and pelvic inflammatory disease.) Probiotic treatment of urinary tract infections is under study.

Probiotics are generally considered safe — they’re already present in a normal digestive system — although there’s a theoretical risk for people with impaired immune function. Be sure the ingredients are clearly marked on the label and familiar to you or your health provider. There’s no way to judge the safety of unidentified mixtures.
Save This Page