Health : Skip the Eggnog! These Holiday Foods Are Good for You |
- Skip the Eggnog! These Holiday Foods Are Good for You
- Health Buzz: FDA Warns Maker of Invisalign 'Invisible Braces'
- P90X Workout Program: Really the Best for Burning Fat, Building Muscles?
- Dramatic Decline Seen in AIDS News Coverage
- Health Buzz: Government Sets Health Goals for 2020
- Infidelity Might Be in the Genes
- Health Buzz: Being Slightly Overweight Can Put You at Risk, Study Finds
- How to Encourage Your Kid's Creativity
- 4 Ways to Unleash Your Creative Genius
- Health Buzz: Johnson & Johnson Recalls Heartburn Drugs
- Employer Insurance Costs Rising for Workers
- Common Sleep Complaints May Be Tied to Heart Threat
| Skip the Eggnog! These Holiday Foods Are Good for You Posted: 03 Dec 2010 03:29 PM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Health Buzz: FDA Warns Maker of Invisalign 'Invisible Braces' Posted: 03 Dec 2010 02:46 PM PST Invisalign Maker Warned The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the maker of Invisalign— "invisible braces" that realign teeth—didn't fully disclose cases of severe allergic reactions suffered by some patients, including oral ulcers and swollen lips and gums, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The agency learned of the alleged problems in July while inspecting Align Technology, Inc. In a warning letter sent to the company on Nov. 18, the FDA said Align Technology hadn't spelled out what it would do to correct course, though the company said it told the FDA about "the actions Align has completed and plans to complete" to comply with federal reporting procedures. In 2007, a patient reported "swollen, irritated, and sore" lips and gums. Other similar incidents have required hospitalization. In May, another patient reported "a burning tongue sensation, sore throat, ulcerations in the mouth, and swollen lymph nodes," according to the FDA. Align's CEO told the San Jose Mercury News that there have only been a "small handful" of allergic reactions to its product, used by 1.3 million people. While Invisalign is among the more popular inconspicuous ways to realign teeth, there are a couple other options. From: Braces Look All Grown Up With an expanding array of "invisible" orthodontic hardware, fixing flawed teeth has become more appealing than ever, U.S. News's Lindsay Lyon wrote in 2008. In fact, adults are increasingly opting to do so: About 1 in 5 orthodontic patients is 18 or older, the American Association of Orthodontists estimates, up by a third in the past decade. "The [options] are becoming more aesthetic and less conspicuous," says Raymond George Sr., president-elect of the AAO. "That's an incentive" for both adults and teens. Aesthetics aren't cheap, though. Expect to spend $3,000 to $8,000, he says, for any of the following treatments. Lingual braces. Attaching to the backs of teeth, not the fronts, these braces are discreet. They're also kinder to the lips and cheeks than forward-facing braces, but they may instead irritate the tongue. Tooth-colored brackets. Even traditional braces are becoming more unnoticeable thanks to brackets that visually blend in. Made of ceramic or plastic, they make the "metal mouth" look a thing of the past. But the new brackets can be more brittle—not to mention pricier—than the metallic kind, George says, and may be prone to fractures, requiring replacement. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| P90X Workout Program: Really the Best for Burning Fat, Building Muscles? Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:00 AM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Dramatic Decline Seen in AIDS News Coverage Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:00 AM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Health Buzz: Government Sets Health Goals for 2020 Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:03 AM PST Government Unveils Healthy People 2020 Initiative Uncle Sam wants Americans to get healthier. The government has unveiled a new plan for improving public health in more than 40 categories by 2020. Among the objectives outlined in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2020 initiative: to reduce deaths from heart disease and stroke by 20 percent, and cut cancer deaths, obesity rates, and new cases of diabetes by 10 percent. Specific goals to combat obesity include providing healthier food in schools and day care centers, encouraging schools to open their gyms and tracks for after-hours exercise, and building more community sidewalks. The plan also places first-ever emphasis on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health. Americans met just 19 percent of goals set by Healthy People 2010, but made progress in about 52 percent of others, the government estimates. Officials hope to see improvement over the next 10 years. "Healthy People objectives are to some extent a road map for public health, cataloging the places we can and should go over the span of a decade," David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, told HealthDay. "To date, we have failed to achieve fully the aspirations of Healthy People. Whether or not 2020 proves different will depend to a lesser degree on the creation of new ways to get there, and to a larger degree on the will to follow paths already open to us."
Shape Up With a New Video Game Workout Health advocates have long decried video games for contributing to a sedentary culture. While those stereotypes might still hold true for some, many families' game consoles are fast becoming as suitable for the exercise room as for the den, U.S. News's Brain Burnsed reports. Microsoft's new Kinect peripheral for the popular Xbox 360 video game console uses the whole body as the controller and can be an effective—and fun—fitness tool. A camera tracks the player's body movements to manipulate the action on the screen. For example, in the boxing mode for the game Kinect Sports, you throw real punches that are mirrored by your onscreen avatar in a digital boxing ring. Other games allow you to dance, drive a car, or negotiate obstacle courses. The system forces users to be active, burning calories as they play. The Kinect is just the latest innovation in motion-capture gaming. The Nintendo Wii, released in 2006, quickly became the nation's top-selling video game console because it appealed both to gamers and to families looking to stay active. The Wii and its competitor Move, which Sony released in September to use with its PlayStation 3, rely on handheld controllers to capture players' movements as they simulate playing games like tennis, ping-pong, or golf. [Read more: Shape Up With a New Video Game Workout.] 7 Steps Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetics Should Take People diagnosed with type 2 diabetes must confront the troubling reality that they face a greater likelihood of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and other serious ills down the road. Why? Since their bodies can't properly use insulin—a hormone that controls blood glucose levels—glucose (sugar) that should be ushered into cells for energy instead builds up in the blood, wreaking havoc if left unchecked. A diagnosis, however, is the first step toward getting blood sugar levels back under control. With other steps including exercise and regular checkups, diabetes complications can be avoided. U.S. News's Megan Johnson asked the experts what they advise all type 2 diabetics do. Confirm the diagnosis. Even if a first test says you're diabetic, a second is advised before deeming the diagnosis official. The initial results may be unreliable if, say, the lab made a mistake or if you accidentally ate or drank before being tested, says endocrinologist John Buse, past president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association. Patients aren't supposed to eat or drink before undergoing the fasting plasma glucose and oral glucose tolerance tests. The hemoglobin A1c test, however, which measures average blood glucose levels over three months, can provide an accurate diagnosis even if given soon after a meal or if you have a cold or other infection, which can throw off the results of those other tests. (Despite its strengths, the A1c should still be done twice.) People whose A1c is at least 6.5 are considered diabetic and are often put on medications to lower blood sugar. [Read more: 7 Steps Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetics Should Take.] This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Infidelity Might Be in the Genes Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:00 AM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Health Buzz: Being Slightly Overweight Can Put You at Risk, Study Finds Posted: 02 Dec 2010 03:01 PM PST Study: Ideal Body Mass Index is Between 20 and 24.9 Consider it another reason to go easy on the pies, cakes, and other holiday treats this month: Research examining roughly 1.5 million adults shows that even being slightly overweight—not obese—is enough to raise the risk of an early death. "Having a little extra meat on your bones—if that meat happens to be fat—is harmful, not beneficial," Michael Thun, senior author of the new study, told the Associated Press. Researchers looked at 19 studies involving mostly white adults, and noted each person's body mass index and whether he or she died during the study period. Those who were overweight but not obese were 13 percent more likely to die prematurely than their normal-weight counterparts. The "healthiest" BMI was between 20 and 24.9, the researchers found, which may vary depending on race or ethnicity. "Overweight" BMIs range from 25 to 30; "obese" from 30 to 40; and "morbidly obese" from 40 and above. For a 5-foot-6 person, overweight is 155 pounds, obese is 186, and morbidly obese is 248 pounds, the Associated Press reports. The findings were published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. You can calculate your BMI using this tool. Want to shed pounds? Maintaining a healthy diet is key to losing weight—fruits, veggies, grains, and dairy are all important, but which foods are the weight-loss standouts? From: Use These 8 Foods to Help You Lose Weight 1. Watermelon. It's not only delicious, but packs a wallop of antioxidants like vitamins A and C, U.S. News's Ryan Sullivan wrote in August. It also contains lycopene, a plant chemical found in studies to lower your risk of cancer, heart disease and age-related vision loss due to macular degeneration. Just as gratifying: One cup of cubed watermelon contains less than 50 calories, not too damaging for your waistline. 2. Avocado. This extremely versatile fruit can be used in salads, sandwiches, and guacamole. Filled with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, avocado is a healthful alternative to mayonnaise and can help lower "bad" LDL cholesterol levels. Just watch your portions. One-quarter of a medium-sized avocado contains 65 calories, so you don't want to overdo it. 3. Sweet Potato. A medium-sized sweet potato (about the size of your fist) fulfills your daily requirement for vitamin A and provides 4 grams of fiber. And you'll save half the calories compared to a white potato: A medium-sized sweet potato has only 150 calories compared to nearly 300 for a white one of the same size. [Continue reading the next 5 foods that will help you lose weight.] This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| How to Encourage Your Kid's Creativity Posted: 02 Dec 2010 01:13 PM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 4 Ways to Unleash Your Creative Genius Posted: 02 Dec 2010 01:13 PM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Health Buzz: Johnson & Johnson Recalls Heartburn Drugs Posted: 02 Dec 2010 07:51 AM PST Johnson & Johnson Medicines Recalled for Alcohol Content Johnson & Johnson added to its mounting string of drug recalls Wednesday, pulling millions of bottles of over-the-counter heartburn and stomach medicines from drugstore shelves. The company is recalling 12 million bottles of Mylanta and nearly 85,000 bottles of its AlternaGel liquid antacid. The action comes after an internal review revealed that some of the products contain small amounts of alcohol from flavoring agents—a fact not noted on product packaging. "It is unlikely that use of these products will cause either alcohol absorption or alcohol sensitivity adverse events," the company said on its website, adding that the products contain less than 1 percent alcohol. The medicines must be removed from retail and wholesale shelves, but they are safe for consumers' to use if they've already been purchased, the company said. Over the past year, more than 200 million bottles of Johnson & Johnson products have been recalled, Reuters reports, including 9 million bottles of Tylenol last week due to the same alcohol labeling issue. Infant Cold Remedy Ban Helped Reduce Overdoses When doctors lobbied the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban the sale of over-the-counter cold remedies for infants, the evidence was clear: Babies and toddlers were getting sick—even dying—from overdoses of cold remedies. And many pediatricians claimed these remedies didn't do a lick of good in relieving little ones' cold symptoms, writes U.S. News contributor Nancy Shute. Manufacturers, at the FDA's urging, pulled infant cold remedies from shelves in October 2008, and guess what? The number of children under age 2 who were admitted to the emergency room because of overdoses dropped by more than 50 percent, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics. Before the medications were taken off the market, a fair number of the overdoses had come as a result of parents unintentionally giving a child too much of the medicine. Infant formulations for cough and cold remedies were more concentrated than the versions for older children, so giving just a dropperful extra could be potentially harmful. What's more, many of the formulas contained multiple drugs, making it easier for parents to mistakenly give, say, a double-dose of acetaminophen if they didn't realize it was also contained in the cold remedy. Babies and toddlers who overdosed on cold-symptom relievers often developed heart problems, seizures, or even stopped breathing. [Read more: Infant Cold Remedy Ban Helped Reduce Overdoses.] 6 Ways to Boost Willpower Don't smoke, don't drink (too much), eat right, exercise. We've all heard these credos and try our very best to follow them, but perhaps we now have a little more incentive: an extra 12 years of life. That's the finding of a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in April which found that the risk of dying increases significantly for those who smoke, exercise less than two hours a week, eat less than three daily servings of fruits and vegetables, and consume more than two drinks a day. Unfortunately, bad habits are really hard to break, writes U.S. News's Deborah Kotz. That's why 90 percent of us fail to keep our New Year's resolutions. So what can we do to increase our willpower? Actually, quite a lot, say psychologists. It's all about learning to handle those urges that lead you to partake in unhealthful behaviors; handling them the right way actually spurs the development of certain brain regions making it easier to resist future cravings. [Read more: 6 Ways to Boost Willpower.] This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Employer Insurance Costs Rising for Workers Posted: 02 Dec 2010 06:00 AM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Common Sleep Complaints May Be Tied to Heart Threat Posted: 01 Dec 2010 06:00 AM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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