Of course an anaphylactic response to a certain food is a very serious health problem. But food intolerances can also cause you a lot of suffering. You can experience headaches, fatigue, stomach pains, breathing difficulties, achy joints and muscles — you name it. Whatever your symptoms and health issues, a food intolerance could potentially be the trigger.

While many doctors may consider a food intolerance as a psychosomatic problem — more based in the mind than on any real physiological change in the body — the concept has been around since the ancient Greeks. The Greeks recognized that some unpleasant symptoms could be specifically linked to the ingestion of certain foods. One of two things can happen to trigger these symptoms: either a message gets sent to your immune system to produce antibodies as a potential defense; or a much slower response takes place in the gastrointestinal system. The first is considered an allergy; the second, a food intolerance. Another way to look at is that a food allergy is a toxic reaction, while a food intolerance is non-toxic.

The bottom line here is that food intolerances are real. The good news is that the best alternative cure is simply to avoid the offending food. This should clear up any symptoms. You can investigate your own food intolerances by trying an elimination diet. If you find yourself suffering from uncomfortable symptoms and don’t know the cause, try leaving out one food from your daily meals and see if anything improves. The challenge with food intolerances is that symptoms can appear hours and even days after a triggering food is eaten. It may take a little time to zero in on the one food that is causing symptoms to appear.

For more information on food intolerance, see the article How You Can Fight Food Intolerance.

It is actually called |”laser in situ keratomileusis” (LASIK for short). The full name hints at the method: using a laser beneath the flap in your cornea to reshape the cornea. A high-tech laser treats refractive errors and improves vision, while possibly eliminating the need to wear glasses orcontacts.

It is all about the cornea, which is the front covering of your eye that is see-through. After the flap is breached, the eye surgeon can reshape the corneal tissue underneath. Squirming yet? After, the flap is put gently back in place, onto the cornea. And that is that. It is painless, but there can be some uncomfortable elements.

Importantly, LASIK has been proven safe and effective for most people. As a customer you should screened and told what reasonable expectations you can have with the procedure. Ensure you are comfortable with the experience of your surgeon.

Several advantages include:

– Ability to correct most types of nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism

– It is fast;generally between five and 10 minutes long

– It is essentially painless

– The computer-guided laser is precise, so results are accurate

– One treatment is usually all that is needed

Some disadvantages to consider:

– You have to go through a healing process afterward; because of this, results can vary patient to patient

– LASIK could worsen some of your eyesight, including reducing your night vision with glare

– It might worsen dry-eye symptoms

– In rare cases, it might worsen your vision

Here are the points to make sure you know beforehand:

– Your refractive error

– Your treatment options

– The type of laser recommended for your treatment and why the surgeon chose it for you

– If you are a good candidate for surgery

– The risks, such as possible over- or under-correction; that you could still need glasses after; that results may be temporary; that you could experience visual aberrations; and that your dry eyes could be worse

Make sure you find the right surgeon! You want at least six or seven years of experience, a good reputation, the latest technology, availability afterward to manage complications, and a lack of any “guarantees” (this is a bad sign).

Do your homework and go in confidently. Most people have tremendous results and their lives are forever changed. For the better.

For another natural solution to maintaining your healthy vision, please read the article Improve Your Vision with This.

This health news about the potential dangers of LASIK surgery comes courtesy of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has just published a report. The FDA has stated that eye doctors will now get 90 days to get in line and update any advertising or promotional materials that make false claims. After this time, the agency will take regulatory action.

Sounds like the FDA is serious — and for good reason. Laser eye surgery does come with risks that many people may not be aware of based on the available promotional literature. Those risks can include vision loss, under- or over-correction of vision, dry eye, infection, glare, halos, and or double vision.

Also, the FDA warns, LASIK isn’t a cure-all for everyone and every eye condition. The procedure is meant to help repair vision among people who are nearsighted, farsighted or have astigmatism (irregular curvature of the cornea). These conditions are all known as “refractive errors” by eye-care professionals.

If you are considering LASIK surgery, what sort of claims should you be watching out for? If a doctor or laser eye clinic makes a claim such as “clinical studies show that laser surgery results in 20/20 vision in 90% of cases,” make sure this claim is backed by verifiable clinical studies.

Beware also of ads that deliberately leave information out. A promotional brochure might promise that you’ll never need glasses again. However, you may find that you still need reading glasses or glasses to help sharpen your vision at night.

One final claim to watch out for is any variation of “this procedure is completely safe.” There are always potential risks and complications to consider.

That being said, LASIK surgery is considered a safe procedure when done by a qualified doctor on the right patient. Get your own doctor’s advice if you are considering corrective eye surgery.

The study is published in the “American Journal of Health Promotion.” It found that people with consistently high healthcare costs experienced a 28% decline in physician fees after an average of five years of transcendental meditation. These were people who were visiting the doctor often, illustrating that meditation can actually change your life.

Generally, a small number of people account for the majority of healthcare costs. In the U.S., the highest-spending 10% in the population incurred 60% to 70% of total medical expenditures annually. The highest spending 25% of older adults accounted for 85% of total expenses in Medicare. A large number of these people have consistently high medical bills over many years.

Now to the main point: chronic stress is the No. 1 factor contributing to high medical expenses. If you reduce stress, you reduce the need to seek medical help. Guess what reduces stress?

The new study compared the changes in physician costs for 284 consistent high-cost patients. Half practiced meditation and half did not. In the year before the study, there were no significant differences between the groups regarding frequency of doctor visits.

Over five years, the meditation group had a significant decline in medical payments. The non-meditation group had no change. After the first year, the meditation group decreased 11%, and after five years, the total reduction was 28%.

Past studies have found that meditation reduced medical expenses between five percent and 13%. But for people over the age of 65, meditation’s impact rose to an incredible 70%. An 11-year study in Iowa also found that people over 45 who practiced meditation had 88% fewer hospital days than non-meditation controls. They also spent 60% less than the average person.

Meditation, which has roots in ancient medicine, improves physical and mental health while helping people get over smoking addictions and other unhealthy habits that lead to disease and costly treatments.

It seems that the older you are, the better meditation will work for you. It is never too late to start, and it is now commonplace in society. See what it can do for you.

Popcorn goes with movies, chips go with television. People eat in certain environments. The study showed why these eating habits occur even when the food doesn’t taste good. As for the health advice: there are surprisingly simple ways we can counter our bad eating habits.

The experiment: researchers gave people about to enter a movie theater a bucket of either just-popped, fresh popcorn or stale, week-old popcorn. Moviegoers who didn’t usually eat popcorn at the movies ate much less stale popcorn than fresh popcorn.

But moviegoers who said they regularly had popcorn at the movies ate about the same amount of popcorn whether it was fresh or stale. It made no difference whether the popcorn tasted good or not; it was a habitual act to buy it and eat it.

When we do this, our brains associate the food with that environment and make us keep eating as long as those environmental cues are present. This has important implications for understanding overeating and the conditions that may cause people to eat even when they are not hungry or do not like the food. An eating habit is so strong that we’ll eat something that actually tastes poor because we just do it in certain situations.

The movie theater proved a very strong environmental cue to eat stale popcorn. Sometimes willpower and good intentions are not enough, and we need to trick our brains by controlling the environment instead.

In another movie theater experiment, the researchers tested a simple disruption of automatic eating habits. Once again using stale and fresh popcorn, the researchers asked participants about to enter a film screening to eat popcorn either with their dominant or non-dominant hand.

Using the non-dominant hand seemed to disrupt eating habits and cause people to pay attention to what they were eating. When using the non-dominant hand, moviegoers ate much less of the stale popcorn than the fresh popcorn, and this worked even for those with strong eating habits.

And there we have one very simple way to help kill such mindless consumption of junk food. Dieters could actively disrupt the established patterns of how they eat through simple techniques, such as switching the hand they use to eat.

The number of cases reported to the CDC rose from 1,110 in 2000 to 3,522 in 2009. The incidence rate increased from 0.39 to 1.15 per 100,000 people during that time. The CDC suggests that the increase may be due to a rise in the number of seniors and other people at high risk for infection. Elderly people account for most cases of Legionnaire’s disease.

What is Legionnaire’s disease? It’s a type of pneumonia caused by bacteria that can be present in the mist from water in hot tubs, showers, or air conditioning systems in large buildings.

While the CDC states that older people and those living in the Northeast are most at risk, Legionnaire’s disease occurs in all age groups and regions. Men seem to be more at risk, accounting for 60% of the cases.

Symptoms of Legionnaire’s disease include fever, chills, and a cough and sometimes muscle aches and headaches. Other types of pneumonia have similar symptoms, of course. You probably need a chest X-ray to diagnose the pneumonia associated with Legionnaire’s. Lab tests can detect the specific bacteria that caused the disease. If you have a cold or infection, get your doctor’s advice about your condition rather than try to self-diagnose.

Legionnaire’s disease is serious and can be life-threatening. Although the increase in cases is cause for concern, the good news is that most people recover with antibiotic treatment. The CDC is working with state health departments to identify the reasons for the rising number of Legionnaire’s cases.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety says that it is not easy to identify those at risk for contracting Legionnaire’s disease. The people most vulnerable are those with occupations that require them to work in sealed buildings, including those workers who maintain water cooling towers in air conditioning systems.

Some outdoor occupations should be considered at risk as well. Soil disturbed by bulldozing and areas where surface or aerosolized water discharge occurs can cause exposure to the microorganism responsible for Legionnaire’s disease.

It seems that the number of West Nile cases is on the rise. The CDC reported that, in 2009, there were 720 confirmed cases of West Nile and 32 fatalities. In 2010, numbers were up, with 1,021 confirmed cases and 57 deaths.

Peak mosquito season is in August and September and the number of West Nile cases is expected to rise even more in 2011.

If you are infected with West Nile, you can experience symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms can last a few days or several weeks.

So who is most at risk for contracting West Nile? A recent study performed in Suffolk County, New York, explored the association between the risk of West Nile and habitat, landscape, virus activity, and socioeconomic variables. After reviewing data from the time period between 2000 and 2004, researchers found that middle-class suburban neighborhoods are the areas with the highest West Nile human risk.

These results contrast with similar studies from the southern and western U.S., where the highest West Nile risk was associated with low income areas.

Fortunately, only about one percent of people infected with the virus develop a severe illness. High fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness, and paralysis are some of the symptoms of a severe case of West Nile. Again, these symptoms may last several weeks.

In rare cases, the West Nile virus can enter the brain. It can then cause deadly diseases such as encephalitis or meningitis.

There are a few precautions you can take, especially if you live in a suburban neighborhood, to avoid contracting the virus. The best health advice is to wear long pants and sleeves, especially around dusk, as mentioned. Use insect repellant (try citronella spray, which is a natural repellant). Get rid of any standing water around your house. Mosquitoes love to breed in still water. And keep screens on doors and windows in good repair. You can also get your doctors advice about preventing West Nile infections.

Following these simple guidelines should help you enjoy the rest of the summer, free of worries about West Nile.

Researchers point out that tasting the metallic flavor in water can help people limit exposure to metals such as iron. This trace element, required by the body to transport oxygen in red blood cells, is found naturally in water or from the corrosion of iron water-supply pipes. However, doctors’ advice to all patients is that you need less iron after the age of 50.

That metallic flavor in water, caused by the dissolved iron and copper commonly found in groundwater or that may leak into tap water from corroded pipes, has been an issue for both consumers and utility companies.

More than two million miles of the United States’ water and wastewater pipes are nearing the end of their useful life. But, these facilities, which are generally underground, don’t attract too much attention. This study is highlighting the fact that attention may be necessary.

Studies also suggest that older people who consume too much iron — especially in natural supplements and iron-rich foods — may be at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related conditions. Add to this that scientists have long known that taste perception fades with age. So what were the gaps in knowledge about how aging affects perception of a metallic flavor in water?

In a study with 69 people, researchers identified a distinctive age-related decline in people’s ability to taste iron. People over age 50 tended to miss the metallic taste of iron in water, even at normal levels above the thresholds set by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Association.

This may have implications for other metals of health concern. What springs immediately to mind is copper from copper pipes. Copper is in fact less flavorful than iron and is believed to be more toxic.

If you are concerned, inquire about having your water and pipes tested for mineral levels. See what help your local government can provide as well.

According to the WHO, if you were admitted to hospital tomorrow in any country, your chances of being subjected to an error in your care would be something like one in 10.
Your chances of dying due to an error in health care would be 1 in 300. Compare this with your risk of dying in an air crash, which is about one in 10 million passengers.

What do these alarming statistics mean? Well, for starters, it shows that health care still has a long way to go. Medical errors, infections and prescription drug side effects are still a big problem when it comes to hospital stays.

For example, the WHO estimates that hundreds of millions of people suffer infections linked to health care each year. Of every 100 hospitalized patients at any given time, seven in developed and 10 in developing countries will acquire at least one health-care-associated infection, according to the United Nations agency. The longer you stay in an intensive care unit (ICU), the more at risk you become for acquiring an infection. Medical devices such as urinary catheters and ventilators are associated with high infection rates.

Each year in the United States alone, 1.7 million infections are acquired in hospital, leading to 100,000 deaths. This is a far higher rate than in Europe, where 4.5 million infections cause 37,000 deaths, according to WHO.

Why the high risk? The WHO says that health care is a high-risk business because people are sick and modern health care is delivered in a fast-moving, high-pressured environment involving a lot of complex technology and a lot of people.

They cite a heart operation as an example. Heart surgery involves a team of up to 60 people, about the same number needed to run a jumbo jet.

This doesn’t mean you should avoid hospitals — they’re a necessary part of the health-care system and could save your life at some point. But you need to be aware.

The WHO has these suggestions to minimize your risks during a hospital stay. Ask questions and be part of decision-making in hospitals. Help to make sure your hospital uses basic hygiene standards and the WHO checklist to ensure safe surgical procedures are followed.

The WHO says about 100,000 hospitals worldwide now use its surgical safety checklist, which has resulted in a reduction in surgery complications by 33% and deaths by 50%.

It is the top 20 conditions diagnosed by primary-care doctors and specialty physicians (like a cardiologist). The information reveals that heart disease, diabetes, and obesity remain major areas of concern for doctors and patients across the country.

Nearly half of Americans currently live with at least one chronic condition, such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S., but it doesn’t have to be this way. We can all live better, watch for signs of problems, and do what we can to help our beating hearts.

The top 20:

1. Hypertension: High blood pressure, nicknamed the “silent killer.”

2. Hyperlipidemia: This is high cholesterol, which puts your heart at great risk.

3. Diabetes: One of the most prevalent health problems, often caused by obesity.

4. Back pain: The definitive most-common type of pain.

5. Anxiety: Far and away the biggest psychological ailment.

6. Obesity: An epidemic now for decades.

7. Allergic rhinitis: Known as hay fever, it can impair quality of life considerably.

8. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD): GERD is more commonly known as acid reflux or even heartburn.

9. Respiratory problems: These include bronchitis, emphysema and the severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

10. Hypothyroidism: Low levels of thyroid hormones being produced.

11. Visual refractive errors: Your eye is not focusing light on the retina properly.

12. Osteoarthritis: The world’s biggest cause of joint pain.

13. Fibromyalgia/myositis, neuritis: Pain that is widespread and difficult to treat.

14. Malaise and fatigue: Needs no description.

15. Joint pain: This can arrive from many causes in many locations.

16. Acute laryngopharyngitis: In this condition, an inflamed throat causes severe soreness.

17. Acute sinusitis: Inflamed sinuses cause serious congestion.

18. Major depressive disorder: Depression is unfortunately a big part of society.

19. Acute bronchitis: Bronchitis itself, marked by a hacking cough, is a big complaint.

20. Asthma: Rates of this breathing problem are increasing, with pollution and poor air contributing.

Do you suffer from chronic allergies, yeast infections, colds or respiratory infections? If so, you may have a depressed immune system. What’s more is that infectious disease experts predict that, during the usual flu season in late fall and winter, there are chances that various flu outbreaks (i.e. swine and/or avian) can strike. So, it is vitally important that you fully understand not only your immune system, but also what might depress or boost it.

The original meaning of the word “immune” is “protection” in Latin. Indeed, your body’s immune system is a complicated built-in system (a network of specialized cells, chemicals, organs and tissues) that protects you from attacks by any foreign substance, such as bacteria or viruses.

Your immune system has the wonderful ability to tell whether or not a particular substance belongs to your own body or is foreign. Moreover, it can eliminate any foreign substance quite effectively by mounting an immune response, which involves the production of antibodies. Antibodies are produced by specialized white blood cells called the “B lymphocytes.” The body gets rid of these foreign antigens or pathogens by having the antibodies latch onto to them.

Antibodies are divided into five different classes, with each class designated by a letter attached to the short form for the word “immunoglobulin” (Ig): IgG; IgM; IgA; IgD; and IgE. IgG, the most common antibody, is found mostly in the blood and tissue fluids; whereas IgA is found mainly in the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tracts or the respiratory system.

There are two types of immune response. The “innate” immune system is already present at birth and consists of skin, stomach acidity, and the secretions from various mucous membranes lining the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. The “adaptive” immune system is acquired later in life, such as through vaccinations or exposure to foreign antigen or pathogen. In general, the defense mechanisms derived from these two immune systems can be classified into three categories: 1) physical barriers (skin, mucosa, mucus secretions); 2) immune cells; and 3) antibodies.

There are a few key differences between the two. The innate system is present in all living beings, while only vertebrates with jaws develop the acquired system. The innate system issues a nonspecific immune response. The acquired system issues a specific response based on what threat has turned up. The other is very technical in what sort of chemicals and cellular substances it uses to fight the threat. Innate’s best-known ones are natural killer cells, while acquired includes B and T lymphocytes.

And suddenly those healing foods aren’t so healing.

The oils are from printing inks used on cardboard. If recycled cardboard is used for food packaging, it could leak into the food. It might, the study says, even contaminate food even if the recycled cardboard is used for the corrugated card transport box that holds individual packs.

Researchers in Switzerland found that (in packs of fine noodles) food rapidly absorbed 10 times the recommended limit for concentration of these contaminating oils from the transport box.

The recognized limit for these oils is 0.6 mg in each kg of food, but researchers discovered that, after standing in packaging for just six weeks, food could contain 6.1 mg/kg. And this was in food that had a two-year shelf life, so it is quite possible that the value could increase further over time.

Many dry foods such as rice, noodles, breadcrumbs, cornflakes and muesli are sold in paperboard boxes, where the recommended limit of mineral oil contamination may be exceeded over 100 times. Even more foods are stored and transported in larger boxes largely consisting of recycled paperboard. The research showed that, even if the food was contained in clean paperboard boxes from fresh fibers, printed with inks free of mineral oil and wrapped into a polyethylene film (also free of mineral oil); mineral oils from the corrugated card transport box far exceeded the limit.

The researchers say that many companies have realized the problem and recently some have changed their packaging materials. They use fresh fiber paperboard printed with inks free of mineral oil. But, even still, there is an issue. They continue to use recycled card in the corrugated board transport boxes, which means the problem continues to exist.

It’s not as if we as food consumers have that much say in this. But it is worth noting where your food comes from and how it is transported. Every supermarket should discuss with their customers where their food comes from if asked. So ask! Write a local politician to look into it. If anything, just be aware.

While people in Japan, Canada, and other nations are enjoying significant gains in life expectancy every year, most of the U.S. is falling behind. Between 2000 and 2007, more than 80% of U.S. counties fell in standing against the average of the 10 nations with the best life expectancies. This, despite the U.S. spending more per capita than any nation on health.

The U.S. ranges from being 16 years ahead to more than 50 years behind. Some counties have a life expectancy that other top nations had back in 1957. Authors believe that high rates of obesity, tobacco use, and other risk factors for an early death are driving this.

For women, five counties in Mississippi have the lowest life expectancy — all below 74.5 years. Four of these counties have the lowest for men, all below 67 years. Conversely, women in Collier, Florida, have an average life expectancy of 86, while men in Fairefax County, Virginia, have 81.1 years as their average.

Across the U.S., women fare worse than men. In about 40% of U.S. counties, women there fell more than five years behind the top nations. In fact, life expectancy is so uneven within some states that there can be a decade’s difference between the counties with the longest lives and those with the shortest. States such as Arizona, Florida, Virginia, and Georgia have seen counties leap forward more than five years from 1987 to 2007, while nearby counties stagnate or even lose years of life expectancy.

The researchers say that policymakers use the life expectancy data to tailor strategies that will fit the dynamics of their communities. Each U.S. community has the biggest impact on health, not the overall nation’s system. Medical health has to be brought out to communities in a greater capacity rather than relying on people going to the doctor’s office.

So, in the face of this health news, the best ways to live long are near beaten to death in the pages of Doctors Health Press. It takes healthful eating (see “The Food Doctor” newsletter), it takes regular exercise, it takes stress reduction, and it takes understanding your body and anything that seems out of place.

Although most strains of E. coli are relatively harmless, a strain called enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) is particularly serious, because it can be fatal. EHEC is typically transmitted through contaminated foods such as undercooked or raw meat. EHEC symptoms include stomach cramping and diarrhea and eventually hemorrhagic colitis, or bloody diarrhea. If untreated, EHEC can lead to anemia and kidney failure.

This latest deadly outbreak, which originated in northern Germany, is believed to be caused by contaminated vegetables, though the exact source of the outbreak is still undetermined. For now, medical officials are advising everyone to stay away from raw cucumbers, leaf lettuce, or tomatoes.

In order to safeguard your nutritional health, there are a few precautions you can take. While it is impossible to predict or know if a certain food group is likely to contain E. coli (the tragedy of Walkerton was that E. coli was found in the drinking water supply), you can reduce your risks by taking an interest in the food you purchase and consume.

– Know where food comes from: Research local farmers. Head to a farmer’s market for local, fresh produce, meats and cheese and you can actually have a conversation with farmers. Ask them about their operation. For imported items, do some research and find out where they are from.

– Keep the kitchen clean: Wash plates, utensils, pots and pans in soapy hot water so bacteria won’t survive. Do the same for counter tops, cutting boards, and the fridge. Toss sponges, rags, and dishcloths in the washing machine each week. Consider sanitizing the kitchen every so often. Mix a teaspoon of bleach with a quart of water and scrub your cutting boards, counters, stove, and kitchen sink.

– Think perishable: At the supermarket, leave perishable foods until last, so they don’t go bad. Get your cans, bottles, and boxes of food first. Make grocery shopping the last item on your to-do list before you go home.

– Pack properly: In the supermarket, make sure produce is kept separate from meat, seafood, and poultry. Don’t forget you can use a cooler (with ice) for frozen or perishable items for the trip home.

– Inspect food: Eggs should come un-cracked. Veggies and fruit should be un-bruised. Lids shouldn’t be loose. Jars should lack dents and cracks. Meat, fish, and salads at your supermarket should be sold in a clean area.

– Practice meat safety: Thaw meat in the fridge. Cook poultry and meat thoroughly. Consider a meat thermometer to gauge temperature.

– Wash produce well: Wash fruits and veggies properly to remove dirt and potential lingering pesticides.

– One last bit of health advice: Wash your hands frequently.

St. John’s wort comes from the flowering tops of a perennial shrub, “Hypericum perforatum.” It is widely used in Germany for the treatment of not only depression, but also anxiety and insomnia. The exact mechanism by which St. John’s wort exerts its anti-depressant and anti-anxiety effects is unknown. It is known that it can inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine, which are involved with mood disorders.

Here are the studies you need to know about:

2000: Researchers used 450 mg twice a day for three months in 13 people with obsessive compulsive disorder. There was significant improvement in obsessive compulsive scores — with effects seen as early as the first week on treatment. Side effects were minor diarrhea and restless sleep.

2002: Researchers used 600 mg a day for six weeks in 151 people with somatization disorder (once upon a time known as “hysteria”). Significant reduction in anxiety was seen in the St. John’s wort-treated group. Side effects included mild to moderate stomach pain, headache, bronchitis, arthritis, irregular heartbeat, bladder infection, numbness, and tingling sensation.

2003: In 500 depressed patients with anxiety, researchers tested 500 mg of valerian and 600 mg of St. John’s wort or 1,000 mg of valerian and 600 mg of St. John’s wort a day. Both groups had significant decreases in anxiety, with the higher dose leading to better results. Side effects included insomnia, bad dreams, allergies, and overall unease.

2005: In 40 people with social phobia, researchers used 600 to 1,800 mg of St. John’s wort a day or placebo. In 12 weeks, they found no difference between the two on anxiety.

2005: In 60 people with obsessive compulsive disorder, 600-1,800 mg of the herb did not do any better than placebo. There were similar side effects in both: mild to moderate headache, insomnia, agitation, tiredness, and
stomach upset.

2009: Researchers used St John’s wort (1.8 grams three times a day) plus Kava (2.66 gram three times a day) on 28 people depressed with anxiety. Over four weeks, the combination did not show anti-anxiety effects. Mild stomach upset was the one side effect.

Except for minor mild stomach upset, rash, tiredness, and restlessness, St John’s wort is a relatively safe herb. Nevertheless, there is little evidence to support the effectiveness of St John’s wort in the treatment of anxiety disorders.

They found that older adults with moderate to severe sleep apnea who reported excessive daytime sleepiness were more than twice as likely to die as those with neither problem. The adults were on average 78 years old, and 55% died during a follow-up period of 14 years.

This is a significant health risk that influences mortality. Sleep apnea can cut a person’s life short. It affects up to 20% of older adults. Its most common incarnation is “obstructive” sleep apnea, whereby the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocks the upper airway during sleep. “Central” sleep apnea involves a repetitive absence of breathing effort during sleep caused by a dysfunction in the central nervous system or the heart.

The study involved 289 adults, half of whom had significant levels of excessive daytime sleepiness, reporting that they felt sleepy or struggled to stay awake during the daytime at least three to four times a week. According to the researchers, the mechanism by which sleep apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness increase the risk of death is unclear. They suspect that inflammation may be involved, which could increase the risk of other medical problems such as hypertension.

It also remains to be seen if treatment reduces the risk of death. The main treatment for sleep apnea is “CPAP therapy.” This provides a steady stream of air through a mask that is worn during sleep. This airflow keeps the airway open to prevent pauses in breathing and restore normal oxygen levels.

To help yourself, you can shed pounds (even a slight drop in weight can relieve a constricted throat), avoid alcohol and drugs that relax your throat muscles, sleep on your side at night, and try keeping your nasal passages open at night with a nasal spray or nasal strips.

Researchers at the FDA say that the reason for the spike is that more people are taking drugs, and for longer times, which increases the potential for bad reactions.

During the period of 2000-2009, the FDA received 2.2 million entries to its Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS). Among reports that included information about what happened to the patient, more than 40% were hospitalized and 15% died.

Were there any drugs that were most often tied to negative reactions? The answer is yes: a new class of drugs known as “recombinant DNA products,” which are used as treatment for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease, showed up most often on the AERS. The FDA researchers say that, by acting on the immune system, these drugs leave people at greater risk of infections.

Other drugs that topped the list were a diabetes treatment (“Byetta”), one for osteoporosis (“Forteo”), and a birth-control patch (“Ortho Evra”).

Negative reactions can occur from pretty much any drug, and patients need to take steps to protect themselves. Drugs are sometimes made from powerful chemicals. When you’re putting something in your body, you should know what it is and how it is likely to affect you. Get your doctor’s advice about prescription side effects. Tell your doctor about all the medications you are taking and try to stick to just one pharmacy. That way someone can keep track of everything and be aware of possible interactions.

If you keep adding drugs to your daily routine, talk to your doctor about whether you can cut back on others, so that you are only taking the minimum necessary amount. Read all the material that comes with medicines, and tell someone immediately if you start to feel unwell. If something doesn’t feel right, talk to your doctor and talk to your pharmacist. Remember that healing foods can and should play a big role in keeping you healthy and can minimize the number of prescription drugs you need to take. Do not, however, ever stop taking a prescribed medication or modify your dose without talking to your doctor first.

From 1965 to 2007, the number of people who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day declined significantly. And there were decreases in those who smoked 10 or more a day as well. It is detailed in the prestigious journal “JAMA.”

When Americans first began smoking, it was typically a pack a day (20 cigarettes). Since the first Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health (1964), smoking has been on a decline. At the forefront of this change is the State of California, where public policy led to less smoking and lower lung cancer rates.

Researchers looked at trends in smoking both in California and the U.S. overall using two large surveys with nearly140,000 people. They found that, in 1965, 23% of U.S. adults were high-intensity smokers – and that 56% of all smokers generally had a pack a day. By 2007, the numbers were starkly different. Americans who were heavy smokers totaled 7.2%, representing 40% of all smokers. As for those who smoked 10 cigarettes or more a day, it went from 10.5% in 1965 to 5.4% in 2007.

There was a major decline in moderate/high-intensity smoking through all age categories, again led by California. The rapid decline in the 10-or-more-cigarette-smoking group is consistent with earlier reports that followed the scientific reports that came out showing how bad smoking was to a person’s health.

As expected, the large decline in the prevalence of pack-a-day smoking has been reflected in declines in lung cancer deaths across the country. Over the past 40 years, patterns of smoking have changed dramatically in the U.S. due to fewer people starting the habit and more people quitting it. As it stands today, only a small minority of young Americans are expected to ever smoke 10 or more cigarettes a day.

How far we have come!

When they started looking at numbers, the research team found that Americans had higher rates of nearly all chronic diseases than people of a similar age in England. Here are some of the statistics from the study:

–American women had significantly higher rates of high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack or angina than English women of a similar age.

–12% of American girls and 11% of boys aged four to 11 are obese, compared to seven percent in England.

–More than 17% of U.S. boys and girls aged 12 to 19 have asthma, compared to about eight percent for English teens.

–More than 13% of Americans of all ages have asthma, compared to 6.5% of Brits.

–18% of people in England are obese, compared to 29% of Americans.

–22% of Americans aged 12 and up have high cholesterol, compared to 16% of their peers in England.

So what health advice can the researchers offer? They suggest that a lot of the blame for America’s poor health may lie with the economy. Americans make up just five percent of the world’s population, but they represent more than half of every medical dollar spent on the planet. Despite all this investment in health care, many Americans still don’t have access to health care. American life expectancy is near the bottom of rankings that include European nations.

The researchers suggest that American workers generally have less protection from losing their jobs, and when they do, they get lower unemployment benefits. Americans can expect unemployment benefits to replace 48% of lost wages compared to 78% in the United Kingdom, 81% in Germany and 95% in Sweden.

Not surprisingly, the U.S. also has higher poverty rates. Among children, for instance, in 2005, 21% of children in the United States lived in poverty(!), compared with 10% in the United Kingdom, four percent in Sweden and eight percent in France. The researchers noted that the precariousness of U.S. social safety nets may mean less security and more stress — factors that can affect health significantly.

No matter what your financial circumstances, it’s important to safeguard your nutrition health. No matter what happens in your life, try to eat healthy foods full of lots of nutrients to boost your health and see you through to better times.

Despite these assurances, scientists tell us amalgam fillings contain about 40% to 50% mercury. For over a century, medical experts believed that this amalgam was inert. Now, those against the use of amalgam fillings point out that an average filling contains an estimated 800 milligrams of amalgam, with the average middle-aged adult having eight fillings. The average North American adult has 3.2 grams of potential mercury vapor to go into the lungs, blood, and brain from dental fillings alone.

Some clinical trials have been performed to try to resolve the debate about whether amalgam fillings pose a health risk.

In a recent clinical trial conducted in Germany, researchers took a look at data from a number of autopsy studies. They found that there was two to 12 times more mercury in the body tissues of individuals with dental amalgam. They reported that the autopsy studies show consistently that many individuals with amalgam have toxic levels of mercury in their brains or kidneys and that the half-life of mercury in the brain can last from several years to decades. They concluded that mercury vapor is about 10 times more toxic than lead on human neurons and combines with other metals to create new toxic compounds.

In another exhaustive study done at the Umea University in Sweden, researchers found that the daily absorbed dose from amalgam fillings for the average individual is quite low. The researchers believe that this low dose is unlikely to be a health hazard. They mention that those who have a large number of teeth with amalgam fillings and who chew gum constantly will be exposed to a higher dose of mercury. They conclude the study by saying that it is impossible to prove that any restorative material used for fillings is completely safe.

For now, it would seem that the evidence is that amalgam fillings are safe. If you are concerned about mercury levels in your body, talk to your dentist. If you have to have a cavity filled, here’s some health advice: consider getting a composite filling. That way, if clinical evidence does prove in the end that mercury in fillings is harmful, you’ll have one less to worry about.

It is published in the “Annals of Oncology.” The study compared 388 men being treated for prostate cancer with a control group of 281 healthy men. It found that those with the disease were twice as likely as the healthy men to have started going bald when they were 20. But there was no perceived risk for men who started losing their hair around the ages of 30 and 40. An earlier receding hairline did not mean an earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer, just that the risk seemed to rise later in life.

Up to now, there has been conflicting evidence about the link between balding and prostate cancer. This one shows a link between baldness at the young age of 20 and the development of prostate cancer in later life.

Scientists don’t believe the general population needs to be screened for prostate cancer — only those who are at high risk of the disease. So identifying risk factors such as this is increasingly important. These men could take many cancer-preventative measures, including drugs if need be. They believe balding at the age of 20 could be one of these easily identifiable risk factors.

“Androgenic alopecia” (a.k.a. male pattern baldness) affects half of men throughout their lifetime. There is a link between baldness and androgenic hormones — and androgens also play a role in how prostate cancer develops. A drug used to treat hair loss has also been shown to lower rates of prostate cancer.

Researchers had men answer a questionnaire about history of prostate cancer and indicate on four pictures any balding patterns that they had at ages 20, 30 and 40. There were varying degrees of hair loss. The study ran for 28 months. The men with prostate cancer were diagnosed with the disease between the ages of 46 and 84.

The information revealed that any balding was associated with double the risk of prostate cancer later in life. This trend was lost at ages 30 and 40. They could not find any specific link between types of hair loss and the development of cancer, however. They think further research should be done to help fight the battle against prostate cancer.

For now, knowledge is power for men.

It’s published in the “Journal of Neuroscience.” Habitual smokers repeat the same hand motions many times each day. The study’s focus was to see whether the parts of the brain that control that routine gesture could be triggered by simply seeing someone else smoke.

And they found that seeing someone light a cigarette evoked the same brain responses as planning to actually make that movement. This provides more insight for people trying to quit smoking, an addiction that leads to one in five U.S. deaths each year.

This supports past findings that showed smokers who watched people smoke in a movie left the theater more likely to crave a cigarette. What needs further investigation is whether seeing such images in motion pictures will affect a person trying to quit smoking.

To the study: 17 smokers and 17 non-smokers watched the first 30 minutes of the movie “Matchstick Men,” while MRIs examined their brains. That film prominently features smoking scenes. The secret: volunteers were unaware that the study was about smoking. When they saw actors smoke, smokers showed greater brain activity in the areas involved in the perception and coordination of actions. They specifically corresponded to the hand they use to smoke.

So, for those trying to quit smoking, this is one item that might not immediately come to mind. Avoiding watching people smoke, either on the screen or in real life. Such images might be silently causing your brain to fire up a response that involves lighting up a cigarette.

The review, published online in the “Journal of Public Health Policy,” is the first to comprehensively examine scientific evidence about the safety and effectiveness of electronic cigarettes, also known as “e-cigarettes.” What are these things? Battery-powered devices that provide tobacco-less doses of nicotine in a vaporized solution.

The study found that few chemicals, possibly none, inside e-cigarettes are linked to serious health concerns. While more research needs to be done into the safety of such items, most evidence now shows them to be much safer than tobacco cigarettes — and similar in toxicity to nicotine replacement products like the patch. Anything that helps people not smoke is worth a good, hard look.

In this study, researchers identified the components in e-cigarette liquid and vapor. They found that carcinogen levels are up to 1,000 times lower than in tobacco cigarettes.

Also, preliminary evidence shows that e-cigarettes could help suppress the urge to smoke, largely because they simulate the act of smoking a real cigarette. E-cigarettes might also offer an advantage over traditional nicotine delivery devices, according to the study.

Since coming onto the market in the U.S. more than three years ago, e-cigarettes have been controversial. The FDA threatened to ban their sale and six national anti-smoking groups also called for the removal of electronic cigarettes from the market.

The chief concerns are that the FDA has not evaluated any e-cigarettes for safety or effectiveness, that the devices contain dangerous chemicals, and that they are marketed toward children. Though this month, a federal appeals court ruled that the FDA should regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products rather than as drug-delivery devices, such as nicotine-replacement patches or gum.

It seems clear that e-cigarettes are far preferable to people smoking cigarettes. And if e-cigarettes were removed from the market, people would turn to smoking again. Anyone who is serious about shedding the smoking habit — which is the world’s leading cause of preventable illness — may do well to ask his or her doctor about e-cigarettes.

Isn’t technology great?

Smoking dropped among clients of Medicaid, the state health insurance plan for the poor, and nearly 40% of Medicaid patients who smoked used benefits to get nicotine patches or drugs to help them quit, the researchers said.

After reviewing data from the state-funded program, the research team found that smoking among Medicaid clients fell an estimated 10%. At the outset of the program, smoking rates hovered around 38%, before slowly but steadily dropping to 29%.

The research team also found 46% fewer Medicaid clients were treated in hospitals for heart attacks and 49% fewer for acute coronary heart disease (a condition usually caused by clogged arteries). The study results definitely suggest that governments can save money by investing in efforts to cut smoking. The dramatic decline in heart attack hospitalizations for smokers who used the Medicaid program is quite astonishing. It demonstrates the effectiveness of tobacco addiction treatment covered by a funded program. This treatment includes access to behavioral counseling and medicines approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Most states do not pay for stop-smoking treatments in their insurance plans for the financially disadvantaged. About 45% have partial coverage, but only 12% offer comprehensive coverage. Without evidence of health improvements or costs saved in treating diseases further down the line that are linked to smoking, it is difficult for policy makers to put programs into action. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for something like the Medicaid smoking-cessation program is that there is an initial cost involved. It can be difficult to convince others of the health benefits of a funded program when the program comes with significant expenses.

State and federal health officials have been looking for ways to cut healthcare costs. People pay more per capita for healthcare in the U.S. than in any other similar developed country. Perhaps studies like this, which show a clear and significant health benefit combined with fewer dollars spent on hospital care, will make the decision to fund treatment programs easier.

Many states have already looked at the issue of smoking and health, and passed laws aimed at reducing exposure to secondhand smoke. Clinical trials conducted to determine the success of these laws will no doubt show fewer incidences of smoke-related diseases like cancer and respiratory infections.

Many consumers are now wondering: what is cadmium and why is it showing up in so many products? Does cadmium pose a threat to you and your family? Scientific evidence strongly shows that cadmium is a major human toxicant, meaning that it’s toxic to our bodies.

Cadmium is used in metal alloys to increase strength and wear resistance, or to lower the melting point. Cadmium pigments are used to create bright yellow, orange, red, and maroon dyes, paints, plastics, and ceramics. The metal is also used to produce nickel-cadmium batteries. It can be found in electrical conductors, PVC products, tires, automobile radiators, electronic components, and heating elements. Another big source of exposure to cadmium comes in the form of the burning of fossil fuels.

When it comes to food, more than 80% of dietary cadmium intake has been estimated to come from cereals (especially rice and wheat), vegetables (especially leafy greens), and root vegetables (especially potatoes and carrots).

If you have low iron stores, you are especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of cadmium. People with hypertension also may be at increased risk.

A research team did an extensive review of cross-sectional data on blood cadmium and self-reported diagnoses of heart disease, stroke, and hypertension. In all, data from1,908 adults, aged 20 years and older, who participated in the 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were analyzed for the study. After adjusting for various factors, the researchers found that an increase in blood cadmium was associated with an increased risk for heart disease. They concluded that cadmium in the blood may be associated with an increased risk for ischemic heart disease and hypertension in the general adult population.

You can reduce the effects of cadmium exposure by making sure you have adequate intake of several essential minerals, including iron, calcium and zinc. These minerals could help reduce the amount of ingested cadmium that is absorbed.

If you smoke, stopping will significantly reduce your exposure to cadmium.

To combat cadmium-bearing soil carried indoors, experts recommend replacing carpets with floor coverings that can be cleaned with water or by using a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to prevent tiny cadmium-loaded particles from being re-emitted into the air.

Ultimately, however, public education can help all of us avoid cadmium exposure. By lobbying industry and government, options to purchase cadmium-free items and foods can become the norm.

Although vaccinations can cause reactions in some, for the most part getting a vaccination is a beneficial action to take. Because of vaccinations, only a fraction of the vaccine-preventable diseases we saw in the past century have  returned to cause sickness, and only a fraction of the deaths and suffering from these diseases is part of our world today.

Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) think all of these advances will be undone if people do not maintain their immunity as adults.

According to a recent survey, the rate of coverage for the pneumococcal vaccine (which is recommended for adults over the age of 65 to prevent pneumonia), has remained at 65%. However, when it comes to the herpes zoster vaccine, which prevents shingles and is recommended for adults aged 60 and over, only eight percent of the population is immunized.

Another vaccine the CDC would like to see more adults getting is the hepatitis B vaccine, which could prevent liver cancer. Coverage of this vaccine is now 41.8% among high-risk groups.

Recently, California has been in the grips of an ongoing whooping cough outbreak. Although whooping cough is not all that serious in adults, they can carry the disease and are highly infectious. The disease can then spread to infants and children easily. According to the CDC, several infants have died from the disease and thousands have been sickened by it. Although infants are vaccinated for whooping cough, they don’t develop full immunity until the third shot is given at six months of age. Children in the California outbreak are most likely being infected by adults who carry the disease.

Part of the problem with lagging adult vaccination numbers is a communication breakdown between doctors and patients, researchers say. According to survey results, 87% of doctors said they discussed vaccines with every patient, but 47% of patients say their doctor never talked to them about vaccinations except for the flu vaccine. The CDC feels that doctors are not having enough conversations about vaccines with their patients.

Talk to your doctor about vaccinations that are appropriate for your age and health status. Remember that vaccines are a way to create a barrier that protects you and the people around you. As diseases from the previous century re-emerge, remember that disease is likely more dangerous than the vaccine. It may not be wise to avoid every vaccine for fear of an adverse reaction.

As you can imagine, this has the potential to cause serious problems with your health. Cell membranes can literally harden, damage occurs and then things are definitely not going to work properly. If you could see inside your own body and watch your own biochemical processes, you would notice that nutrients aren’t getting into cells, and toxins aren’t getting out. Your immune system can become compromised. Your nervous system is likely to be affected. And your brain may be in danger, too.

When EMR interferes with your body, your hormones may get thrown seriously out of whack. Estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and other heavy-hitters in your endocrine system can fluctuate when barraged with electro-magnetic radiation. The reason why this can create serious problems for you is that your hormones literally control the activity of your cells and your organs. Estrogen is needed to regulate your metabolism and to aid bone formation, for example. And testosterone is important for energy and immune function.

What is one of the biggest sources of EMR? Cell phones release radiation every time you talk on the phone. In fact, some studies suggest that 70% to 80% of radiation from cell phones is absorbed into your head. Even if conclusive evidence is still forthcoming regarding cell phone use and health, common sense says that a deluge of radiation like that can’t be considered harmless: it will affect you in some way, and it will likely be a negative effect.

In one recent study, radiation from cell phones could be the cause of an increase in brain cancers among women 20 to 29 years old (a group that is made up of some of the heaviest cell phone users).

Now a new problem has arisen in connection with cell phone use. It seems that a rash can appear along your jaw, cheek or ear. In this case however, the rash isn’t caused by EMR, but is the result of a nickel allergy.

Symptoms of cell phone allergy can include a red, bumpy, itchy rash in areas where the nickel-containing parts of a cell phone touch the face. It can even affect fingertips of those who text continuously on buttons containing nickel. In severe cases, blisters and itchy sores can develop.

To remedy this problem, buy a phone cover, opt for a hands-free device, use the speaker phone or switch to a phone that doesn’t contain nickel on surfaces that touch your skin.

Well, here’s some good news on the flu front — that second wave of H1N1 never really hit and now researchers are saying they don’t expect this year’s flu season to reach epidemic proportions.

A research team in British Columbia, Canada, examined the results of blood tests given to 1,127 people in the province both before and after the 2009 pandemic. Before the pandemic, less than 10% of children showed signs of antibodies, which help the immune system develop resistance to specific germs. By contrast, more than three-quarters of people over the age of 80 had the antibodies, suggesting they’d been exposed to the virus before.

Researchers determined last fall that the current H1N1 virus was a distant genetic cousin of the more virulent H1N1 “Spanish flu” virus of 1918. That flu epidemic was devastating, causing more than 30 million deaths worldwide, with 500,000 in the United States alone. The Spanish flu virus circulated throughout the United States for almost 40 years until it was replaced in 1957 by the H2N2 “Asian flu” pandemic virus. The Asian flu caused 70,000 deaths in the United States.

In 1977, there was another strain of H1N1 called the “Russian flu,” but researchers found that people exposed to H1N1 before 1957 were largely immune to the Asian flu virus. This has led to speculation that older people may have developed antibodies against the current strain of H1N1 as well. And, in fact, this latest study bears that conclusion out.

After the 2009 pandemic, the B.C research team found that 70% of people under the age of 20 showed signs of antibody protection. They suggest that the higher percentage of antibodies in blood observed in younger patients may have resulted from higher pandemic H1N1 infection rates and earlier prioritization of pandemic H1N1 vaccine to young children. Once again, the vaccine will be available this winter for those who wish to get immunized.

Is there anyone that should worry about the upcoming flu season? The researchers caution that adults 50 to 79 years showed the lowest antibody protection. This age group, the research team says, is at higher risk of severe outcomes if infected. They urge that the findings from this study support a shift from the prioritized immunization of the young that occurred in fall 2009 to prioritized immunization of older adults for the coming 2010-2011 influenza season.

Now — to reiterate the positive findings of the study: you can feel reassured about the reduced likelihood of a third pandemic H1N1 wave during the 2010-2011 season.

Consider the results of a recent clinical trial. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that people with asthma who witness violence in their neighborhoods are at increased risk for asthma-related hospitalization.

This interesting study included 397 adults with moderate to severe asthma who lived in an inner-city community. The research team noted that, after six months, one-quarter of the participants had previously been exposed to violence, and these people had nearly twice the rate of subsequent hospitalizations or emergency department visits for asthma as those who hadn’t been exposed to violence.

The study also found that exposure to violence was associated with lower asthma-related quality of life. Because overall emergency department visits increased, as did overall hospitalizations, the research team concludes that exposure to violence is associated with far-reaching health effects beyond the single condition of asthma.

Though these study participants found themselves specifically in violent situations, it’s easy to see how any kind of stress may worsen asthma symptoms. So, what can you or someone you love do about stress and its ability to trigger asthma? It’s difficult to avoid stress given that it’s part of daily life. However, you can learn some effective ways to manage stress. Even the simple act of relaxing can help you prevent shortness of breath and avoid panic. Here are five ways to help reduce stress in your life:

—Learn to change thought patterns that produce stress. What you think, how you think, what you expect, and what you tell yourself can dictate how you feel and how well you manage rising stress levels.

—Try to figure out the major stressors in your life. Do you have money problems or relationship problems? Are you experiencing grief? Do you have too many deadlines, a busy schedule, and/ or a lack of support? Get help for problems that are too difficult to deal with by yourself.

—Try to avoid the stress of over-work. Practice effective time-management skills, such as delegating work, setting priorities, pacing yourself, and taking time out for yourself.

—Practice relaxation exercises. Relaxation exercises are simple to perform and combine deep breathing with the releasing of muscle tension and clearing of negative thoughts. Don’t underestimate this technique: If you practice these exercises regularly, you can use them when needed to lessen the negative effects of stress.

—Get some exercise — it’s an excellent way to burn off anxiety and stress.

Well — according to a new study just published in “Nutrition and Metabolism,” erasing the effects of a caloric binge may not be so easy, nor are the effects necessarily temporary. A research team has discovered that a short period of overeating can create fat cells that are harder to lose.

For the study, 18 patients were placed on a restricted physical activity regimen that involved the equivalent of no more than 5,000 steps per day. Five thousand steps, the team noted, is the threshold for a sedentary lifestyle, whereas a physically active lifestyle involves 10,000 steps or more.

Participants were then fed diets that involved a 70% jump in daily caloric intake — mainly from fast food — amounting to about 5,750 calories per day. The study also included a comparison group who did not change their diet/activity.

By the end of the month, the junk-food diet group gained an average of 14 pounds. Their fat mass went from about 20% of total body weight, to nearly 24% after the month-long calorie binge.

At this point you might be wondering who in their right mind would sign up for such a study. The participants were subsequently monitored and coached back to their original weight over a six-month period. However — here’s the interesting point about this study — one year after the study’s end, participants still registered a noticeable gain in fat mass (of about three pounds on average) compared with their pre-study status.

It seems the fat stuck around despite the fact that the participants had returned to their lower-calorie pre-study diet and more active routines.

Now the results get even more alarming: two-and-a-half years after the study, fat mass gains were even greater, registering just under seven pounds on average (!), the researchers found. There was no such long-term change among the control group who had stuck to their usual diet.

Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that a brief period of excessive overeating, coupled with reduced activity, may change body composition and lead to a significant boost in body fat levels. And these changes appear to last, despite a return to healthier behaviors.

A little food for thought the next time you’re tempted to overindulge. A one- or two-day junk food binge might not cause too much harm, but anything approaching a month, this study seems to suggest, is going to create long-term problems with weight gain.

According to a new study, having an infrequent smoke or being exposed to secondhand smoke may be doing more harm than people may think. Researchers found that being exposed to even low levels of cigarette smoke may put people at risk for future lung disease, such as lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Their work is published in the “American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine”.

Long-term studies have long shown that secondhand smoke is dangerous, but there have never been conclusive biological tests demonstrating what it does to the body’s genes — until now.

Even at the lowest rates of cigarette exposure, there are direct effects on the functioning of genes within cells lining the lungs. Genes, commonly activated in the cells of heavy smokers, are also turned on or off in those with very low-level exposure.

While the genetic effect is much lower than in those who are regular smokers, it doesn’t mean that there are no health consequences. Certain genes within the cells lining the airways are very sensitive to tobacco smoke, as it turns out. Changes in the function of these genes are the first evidence of disease in the lungs. It’s where the damage originally takes place, paving the road for cancer.

The study tested 121 people from three different categories: “nonsmokers,” “active smokers” and “low exposure smokers.” Researchers tested urine levels of nicotine and cotinine — markers of cigarette smoking within the body.

The research team then scanned each person to find which genes were either activated or deactivated in cells lining the airways. They found that there was no level of nicotine or cotinine that did not also correlate with genetic abnormalities.

That means that no level of smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke, is safe. The researchers suggest that this is even more evidence to support smoking bans in public places, where non-smokers and employees of businesses that allow smoking are put at risk for future lung disease.

To those social smokers out there, it’s a little impetus to just plain quit.

Symptoms of PPS can appear quietly, seemingly without cause. Sometimes physical or emotional trauma will trigger the symptoms. However they to choose to appear, here are the most common symptoms to watch out for:

–Overwhelming fatigue
–Muscle weakness
–Muscle and joint pain
–Muscle degeneration
–Sensitivity to cold
–Difficulty sleeping
–Difficulty swallowing
–Difficulty breathing
–Sensitivity to medications
–Lack of endurance

Since the discovery of PPS, researchers have figured out what might actually be happening in the body. Inside your spinal cord are special cells called “anterior horn cells.” These cells are responsible for transmitting nerve impulses to your muscles. When someone contracts the polio virus, some of these cells are damaged and some are destroyed. The body tries to cope with this in an ingenious way: the uninjured horn cells increase their connections to muscle fibers by splitting nerve fibers. This is a great way to cope with a powerful virus, but unfortunately it’s not a great long-term solution. Over the course of many years, these overworked anterior horn cells begin to wear out. Each cell, after all, is performing the duties of the many cells destroyed by the polio virus. Eventually, the horn cells die. And this, in turn, means that your muscle cells won’t receive any nerve impulses, leaving you feeling tired and weak.

If you think you or someone you know may be suffering from PPS, first of all see your doctor. Next, you might be heartened to know that a combination of therapies administered together can greatly improve the quality of life of someone afflicted with PPS. Therapies that have proved beneficial in clinical trials include physiotherapy, massage therapy, aerobics, and hydrotherapy. In particular, hydrotherapy appears to be effective in restoring energy and movement to polio survivors.

The information on prescription-drug labels is regulated by the FDA, but the information leaflets dispensed by pharmacies are not. Private publishing companies usually provide the content for the leaflets, and then pharmacies pick and choose what drug information to include or leave out.

As a result, leaflet information about the same drug, provided by the same publisher, can vary widely from pharmacy to pharmacy, as researchers found in a recent study.

Scientists at the University of Florida, Gainesville, looked at leaflets that ranged in word count from about 30 to 2,500. The longer leaflets were most likely to contain all the information that is recommended by the FDA. But even though the longer leaflets provided more information, few came close to meeting all of the FDA standards. Only three percent of one prescription drug came with leaflets that met at least 80% of the “usefulness criteria” the researchers adapted from the FDA standards.

The research team also found that important information was sometimes entirely absent. For example, although about 90% of the leaflets provided all the serious side effects of two particular drugs, when it came to a third drug, nearly one-third did not mention the potential for drug-drug interactions.

In general, the biggest shortcoming in the leaflets was readability. On average, leaflets from all pharmacies met less than half of the criteria for comprehensibility/legibility. For example, the content should be written at sixth- to eighth-grade reading level, but only 10% of one drug’s leaflets and six percent of another met that standard.

Too-small fonts, large blocks of text with little white space between lines, and general clutter — many leaflets also contained ads or store coupons, for example — were other issues with formatting, the study found.

The researchers are concerned that, when there is a lot of distracting information, it makes it more difficult for consumers to dig out the key points on the safe and effective use of the drug. They concluded that the findings point to a need for better and more consistent medication information — preferably regulated by the FDA.

For now, you can take your own steps to make sure you have the key information you need for any new prescription. Keep in mind that this may mean asking your doctor and/or pharmacist questions. At the very least, make sure you know what the drug is for, and how to take it. You should also know about possible interactions with other drugs/herbs that you are taking.

What can happen, according to sociologist Donald Light who wrote the study, is that drug companies can hide or downplay information about serious side effects, or overstate the drug’s benefits. Then they funnel money into advertising to persuade doctors to prescribe them.

“Lemons” are produced because drug companies themselves are testing drugs and they have legal protection in place that allows them to potentially hide less-than-savory information about the drug, and because of the relative ease it takes for a new drug to be approved in the U.S.

The study proclaims that about 85% of new drugs offer few if any new benefits. At the same time, side effects or misused pharmaceuticals make for a significant health problem in the country. The study, done by independent reviewers, represents the core of a new book Light has written called “The Risk of Prescription Drugs” (Columbia University Press).

He documents how a lot of patients are being exposed to new drugs that aren’t overly effective, but have a high risk of side effects. Studies are undertaken, designed to limit evidence of harm and emphasize a drug’s advantages. Then, huge marketing campaigns are rolled out to sell the drug. Busy doctors begin prescribing them and, Light indicates, they are likely to dismiss patients’ concerns about side effects.

The problem is that drugs are getting approved without anyone truly knowing if they are actually effective, or how harmful they could be. Government officials are being swamped by large numbers of clinical trials, many of them incomplete and many not set up to a quality extent.

“A few basic changes could improve the quality of trials and evidence about the real risks and benefits of new drugs,” Light said. “We could also increase the percentage of new drugs that are really better for patients.”

Or, of course, we could put more money into studying alternative medicine for its abilities to treat and prevent the widest array of health conditions.

Five major chains have significantly decreased trans fats in the oils they use to cook food, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota. The new stats suggest that fast food companies may have been responsive to health concerns voiced by the public.

Certainly the industry is starting to shift, with much attention now paid to providing nutritional information for their various menu items. The lowering of trans fats means that we might watch for shifts in the industry that happen in response to current nutrition concerns, including high salt content and what type of energy fast food provides the human body.

With any luck, it could be the start of the road to healthier fast food. That would be a defining transformation to help fight the epidemics of obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes that are sweeping across the United States.

Researchers used a database that catalogues the nutritional values of more than 18,000 foods in the study. They looked at trans fat and saturated fat levels in French fries from
McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Jack in the Box, and Dairy Queen.

They found that three of the restaurants — McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s — significantly decreased the trans and saturated fatty acid composition of French fries between 1997 and 2008. For these three, saturated fats either went down or stayed level. While the remaining two restaurants didn’t show a decrease in trans fats in that time period, current nutritional information illustrates that the chains have decreased both trans and saturated fatty acid composition since 2008.

An important point is that the companies haven’t raised saturated fat levels to replace the trans fats. Both are unhealthy fats and by far the biggest contributors to obesity. The news, on whole, is very relevant to the nation’s overall health because the average citizen gets about 10% of his or her calories from fast food. Clearly, eating fast food only in moderation is the best approach, as they will always be higher than needed in calories and salt.

Over the past 10 years, trans fats began receiving a great deal of negative attention. Research demonstrated that they can elevate the risk of heart disease by increasing “bad” LDL cholesterol and decreasing “good” HDL cholesterol levels.

Researchers at the famed children’s hospital reviewed 546 drug trials that were conducted between 2000 and 2006. The studies included five types of drugs: cholesterol-lowering medicines; antidepressants; antipsychotics; proton-pump inhibitors; and vasodilators.

It seems that drug studies paid for by the pharmaceutical industry are more likely to publish favorable results than those funded by sources with no financial interest in the findings. The drug-industry-funded studies reported positive findings about the drug in question 85% of the time, compared with a much-lower 50% for government-funded trials and 72% for those funded by nonprofit or nonfederal organizations.

The researchers also found nonprofit trials that received drug-maker contributions were 24% more likely to report positive findings than those with no links to the industry. And it seems only 32% of industry-funded trials published results within two years of clinical trial completion, compared with 54% of government-funded studies and 56% of nonprofit/nonfederal trials.

The researchers conclude that there needs to be more public disclosure at the start of clinical trials in order to reduce the possibility of bias in their findings. And, while the research team can’t specifically point to which factors contribute to the link between funding source and positive result reporting, the findings indicate that there needs to be more disclosure of all elements of a study — especially those funded by the pharmaceutical industry.

There is a possibility that not only is there a bias when it comes to publication, but also that these studies may be biased in their choice of study design, patient selection, data analysis, and results reporting.

A little food for thought. The next time you have an illness to treat, remember that “quick-fix” drugs may not be the best, most reliable solution. It could be that alternative remedies clinically tested may be a more unbiased and potentially beneficial way to regain good health. However, you should always check with your doctor before self-treating.

A new study from the American Cancer Society has found a twist on the idea of exercise keeping you healthy. It isn’t all about how much physical activity you get, but how much time you spend sitting that can affect your risk of death.

Researchers say time spent sitting was linked on its own with all-cause mortality, regardless of physical activity level. The study appears early online in the “American Journal of Epidemiology” and is important because sitting isn’t talked about as much as it may need to be. Everyone knows of exercise’s health benefits. But few know of sitting’s detrimental effects.

Higher and higher levels of obesity in the U.S. have major public health consequences. The larger frames of Americans have been attributed in part to reduced overall exercise. And, while several studies support a link between sitting time and obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease risk factors, and unhealthy dietary patterns, very few studies have examined time spent sitting in relation to risk of death. This means time spent sitting gets swept aside, its effects unknown.

That is, until now. Researchers analyzed survey responses from over 123,000 people with no history of cancer, heart attack, stroke, or lung disease. They examined the amount of time spent sitting and physical activity in relation to death between 1993 and 2006. They found that more leisure time spent sitting was associated with higher risk of mortality, particularly in women.

Women who reported more than six hours per day of sitting were 37% more likely to die during the time period studied than those who sat fewer than three hours a day. Men who sat more than six hours a day were 18% more likely to die than those who sat fewer than three hours per day. The interesting point is that these numbers stay the same even after adjusting for exercise levels. The links were stronger to deaths by heart disease than to those by cancer.

Women and men who both sat more and were less physically active were 94% and 48% more likely, respectively, to die compared with those who reported sitting the least and being most active. Researchers believe sitting can exert changes in metabolism, affecting cholesterol, blood sugar levels, blood pressure and triglycerides.

It just doesn’t pay to stay sedentary.

A new piece of research says that asthma is being misdiagnosed regularly among adults. In particular, those struggling with obesity and who have breathing troubles could be diagnosed as having asthma by a doctor, when in fact they don’t.

A chronic disease, asthma strikes your airways, making them sore and swollen. That makes them very sensitive, and you can start suffering harsh reactions to allergens or airborne irritations. In this reaction, airways can narrow, lungs get less air, and symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing can erupt. Doctors treat it with short-relief medicine to battle symptoms and long-term relief medicine to prevent flare-ups.

A new Canadian study included nearly 500 adults who had been diagnosed with asthma. When researchers did a lung function test, they found that asthma was not present in 150 people. That is 30% of the group, a strikingly high percentage. It was published in the journal “Chest.”

When they looked further into these misdiagnoses, they found that obese individuals who went to the emergency room with breathing problems were four times as likely as those of normal weight to be told they had asthma.

One issue with all this is that a “spirometry,” which tests lung function, is not used by doctors as much as it should be for diagnosing asthma. To see if you really have asthma, it’s not just about symptoms; it’s about lung function tests as well.

In terms of obesity, people have a much greater risk of suffering health issues that could lead to symptoms mimicking asthma, such as being out of breath or having a tight chest. Heart disease, a sedentary lifestyle and heartburn, for instance, could also yield those symptoms. In the current study, about half the patients were obese and half were normal weight.

In the study, lung tests confirmed that 70% of the patients did indeed have asthma. But, of course, the 30% on the other side is way too high when you are dealing with life-changing medical issues. The researchers suggest that if you are diagnosed with asthma at a hospital or walk-in clinic, always follow up with your personal doctor. Get more tests and evaluations that could show the true cause of symptoms, which may not be the A-word.

Medical experts are now hard at work assessing the health of workers involved in the BP oil spill clean-up. The April 20 spill is the worst in U.S. history and oil is still pouring into the Gulf. Workers in boats are trying to skim, siphon and soak up the oil, and are trying desperately to delay its drift to shore.

The U.S. government has closed fisheries in contaminated areas. The oil is now washing up onto beaches and into fragile marshes. The workers who are struggling in the heat to clean up oil from the ruptured BP well are facing some pretty serious short-term health risks. According to medical experts, these risks include lung, liver, and kidney damage from fumes.

Scientists say that the oil itself is irritating, but not especially dangerous to touch or even swallow. Swallowing small amounts (less than a coffee cup) of oil will cause upset stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea, but is unlikely to have long-lasting health effects officials say. But experts warned that there could be significant short-term effects from fresh oil fumes.

For those near the oil spill, it would be wise to heed these warnings about health risks and stay away from beaches. For everyone else, the main concern (other than the devastation of the environment) is whether or not it is safe to eat fish and/or seafood.

On May 21, the Food and Drug Administration released a statement about fish and seafood consumption. The statement was intended to ease concerns about the safety of seafood being sold in stores. It said that crude oil does have the potential to taint seafood with flavors and odors caused by exposure to hydrocarbon chemicals, but maintained that the public should not be concerned about the safety of seafood in stores at this time. However, as oil continues to gush out of the earth, this statement may be revised.

There is a wide variety of fish species in the federal waters of Gulf of Mexico, including red snapper, lane snapper, red drum, gray snapper, vermillion snapper, king and Spanish mackerel, gag grouper, spotted sea trout, cobia, and greater amberjack. The surface-oriented species will be most impacted by the early stages of the oil spill.

As the crude oil sinks, the bottom-oriented fish community will be affected. Juvenile red snapper, which represent one of the Gulf’s biggest exports, are common on mud bottoms.

Medical experts are now hard at work assessing the health of workers involved in the BP oil spill clean-up. The April 20 spill is the worst in U.S. history and oil is still pouring into the Gulf. Workers in boats are trying to skim, siphon and soak up the oil, and are trying desperately to delay its drift to shore.

The U.S. government has closed fisheries in contaminated areas. The oil is now washing up onto beaches and into fragile marshes. The workers who are struggling in the heat to clean up oil from the ruptured BP well are facing some pretty serious short-term health risks. According to medical experts, these risks include lung, liver, and kidney damage from fumes.

Scientists say that the oil itself is irritating, but not especially dangerous to touch or even swallow. Swallowing small amounts (less than a coffee cup) of oil will cause upset stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea, but is unlikely to have long-lasting health effects officials say. But experts warned that there could be significant short-term effects from fresh oil fumes.

For those near the oil spill, it would be wise to heed these warnings about health risks and stay away from beaches. For everyone else, the main concern (other than the devastation of the environment) is whether or not it is safe to eat fish and/or seafood.

On May 21, the Food and Drug Administration released a statement about fish and seafood consumption. The statement was intended to ease concerns about the safety of seafood being sold in stores. It said that crude oil does have the potential to taint seafood with flavors and odors caused by exposure to hydrocarbon chemicals, but maintained that the public should not be concerned about the safety of seafood in stores at this time. However, as oil continues to gush out of the earth, this statement may be revised.

There is a wide variety of fish species in the federal waters of Gulf of Mexico, including red snapper, lane snapper, red drum, gray snapper, vermillion snapper, king and Spanish mackerel, gag grouper, spotted sea trout, cobia, and greater amberjack. The surface-oriented species will be most impacted by the early stages of the oil spill.

As the crude oil sinks, the bottom-oriented fish community will be affected. Juvenile red snapper, which represent one of the Gulf’s biggest exports, are common on mud bottoms.

Seniors and those with debilitating conditions like arthritis can find it challenging to get some exercise. Unfortunately, without exercise, the physical body can rapidly decline. So, how can people with moderate stiffness and discomfort deal with this dilemma? How about playing a little “Wii?”

If you are or someone you know is in need of physical activity, gaming just might be the ticket. It could help you achieve a healthy, active, less-pain-filled life. Movement of the joints is known to increase strength, which is supposed to stretch tendons and muscles and help bone structure, which could lessen the painful effects of arthritis.

In fact, many physical therapists have decided to invest in gaming systems in order to give their patients a motivational way of exercising. A typical gaming system such as Wii uses a motion sensor control. This means that the player has to move around in order to play the game.

Researchers at the American College of Sports Medicine assessed the exercise potential of different Wii games in a recent clinical trial. The research team outfitted 24 overweight to obese men and women with wrist-worn accelerometers to measure the number of calories burned while playing games for a half hour. All the participants were between 66 and 78 years old.

The researchers found that those who played an individual bowling version of Wii burned between 20 and 176 calories during the exercise. Team bowling was a little less beneficial, consuming 18 to 89 calories, while baseball consumed 22 to 144 calories, and tennis burned 17 to 72.

Although not an improvement on real-life sports activity, the study team suggests that movement-oriented video games offer a good alternative for those older individuals for whom real sports participation is not a realistic option. According to statistics, 40% of older-adult females and 30% of males ages 70 and above do not participate in any significant physical activity.

Gaming could be a fun way to motivate someone who has been avoiding physical exercise. During the study, most of the seniors who tried Wii found it interesting and beneficial. If you are a senior or you know an inactive senior, why not get up and get moving around? You can enjoy a little activity for a half hour a day and reap the benefits. Worried about the technology? Don’t be — there were no problems reported in the clinical trial from any of the participants. Besides, you can always get that teenager in your life to set you up and coach you in the finer points of gaming. No doubt they will be very impressed by your new venture.

Not to beat the fear-mongering drum, but just in the interest of medical news, researchers have just reminded us of summertime’s effect on our hearing. Many common sounds of the summer months can expose our delicate eardrums to hearing loss. Even permanent hearing loss.

The news comes from Ball State University’s audiology clinic in Indiana. In the summer, when we are outside in the elements for far longer periods of time, many sounds that ring through the air are in the range of 90 to 140 decibels. These include fireworks going off, the sound of buses and trucks, a lawn mower, and even music during a parade.

Any noise higher than 80 decibels is loud enough to trigger potentially long-term hearing damage.

In a news release, researchers at Ball state write: “We are living in a society that gets louder every year. Now that the weather is warmer, we are exposed to all sorts of sounds that can lead to permanent hearing loss. The average person will wear a helmet when riding a bike, or a seat belt in a vehicle, but doesn’t even think about ear protection when going to watch a rock band, a fireworks display, or even an auto race.

It’s probably safe to say we take out ears for granted. We wear sunglasses to protect our eyes from ultraviolet rays, but rarely consider protective devices for our hearing. Some of the symptoms of hearing loss caused by exposure to loud sounds include hearing muffled speech, having pain in the ears after the noise, having ringing in the ears after the noise, requiring others to speak more loudly so you can hear them, or not being able to hear someone who’s only a few feet away.

Hearing loss generally is caused by damage to the inner ear. Prolonged exposure to loud noise can cause wear and tear on the hairs or nerve cells in the ear that send sound signals to the brain. When these hairs or nerve cells are damaged or missing, electrical signals aren’t transmitted as efficiently and hearing loss occurs.

The key in all this is to prevent the problem in the first place. Hearing loss is a serious issue and is not reversible. The best methods to help yourself: pop in ear plugs or other forms of hearing protection when you know you will be amid possibly loud noises. Your ears will thank you.

The FDA has just released an urgent recall. This recall affects raw alfalfa sprouts packaged and labeled as “Caldwell Fresh Foods” alfalfa sprouts — four-ounce plastic cups and one pound plastic bags and in two-pound and five-pound plastic bags in cardboard boxes. All have a sticker affixed with the printed words “Caldwell Fresh Foods.” “Nature’s Choice” alfalfa sprouts — 4-ounce plastic cups — and “California Exotics” brands alfalfa sprouts — five-ounce plastic clamshell — containers are also being recalled. According to the FDA, no other alfalfa sprouts are implicated in the outbreak.

The products are being recalled because they have been linked to an outbreak of salmonella infections. Consumers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and Wisconsin have been affected. The recall is quite wide-reaching, as the sprouts were distributed to a variety of restaurants, delicatessens and retailers, including Trader Joe’s and Wal-Mart stores.

Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people. People with weakened immune systems can also be seriously harmed by the bacterium. The FDA recommends that consumers and restaurant and delicatessen operators should not purchase, eat or use raw sprouts from Caldwell Fresh Foods. Instead, the sprouts should be returned to the place of purchase for a refund and disposal.

When grown under safe practices, sprouts can be a delicious and healthy addition to your diet. If you are growing your own sprouts at home, follow these guidelines.

–Start with organic seeds intended for edible sprouts. Many commercial seeds are pre-coated with fungicides, pesticides, and other chemicals.

–Soak the seeds in a jar or bowl for a period of time, usually overnight. Do a web search for “sprouting chart” for timing details.

–Sprouting systems usually consist of trays for the sprouts to sprout and grow in. Remember that your sprouts need to be well-drained, they need to be rinsed regularly, and they must not dry out. For best results, use a sprouting tray.

–In general, you should rinse and drain the sprouts every morning and evening.

–Use fresh sprouts right away, or store them in the refrigerator for up to several days.

When you come down with an illness, two things usually happen. First, you feel sick. You might find yourself with symptoms such as fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and muscular aches and pains. The second thing that happens — and this is especially so when it comes to infectious diseases — is that the disease-causing organism causes an immune response. As this response increases in strength over the course of the illness, the infectious agents are slowly reduced in number until symptoms disappear and recovery is complete.

Your immune system fights disease by releasing proteins that bind to disease-causing organisms and subsequently destroy them. In addition, something very cool happens: “memory cells” are produced. Memory cells remain in your bloodstream, ready to mount a quick assault against subsequent infections. If such an infection were to occur, the memory cells would respond so quickly that the resulting immune response could inactivate the disease-causing agents, and symptoms would be prevented. This response is often so quick that infection doesn’t develop — in other words, you are immune from infection!

This is the principal on which vaccines were developed. Vaccines work to convince your body that the vaccination is an attack by the offending viruses or bacteria, and stimulate them into action to develop the memory cells for an antibody in the event of future invasion.

Vaccines have been a great advance in preventative medicine. They have stopped a number of diseases from raging out of control. On the other hand, vaccines can be made with toxins and other chemicals that can trigger side effects in certain people. Now, a research team based at the John Hopkins Institute in Baltimore suggests that gender can trigger different immune responses and different side effects to particular vaccines.

Researchers reviewed a host of prior studies involving the use of vaccines. These vaccines were used to treat a range of diseases including yellow fever, influenza, measles, mumps and rubella, hepatitis, and herpes simplex. The research team found that gender can affect the frequency and severity of adverse effects of vaccination, including fever, pain and inflammation. The research team noted that, when it came to vaccination, women typically showed stronger immune responses to vaccinations compared to men. The researchers would like to see improvement in the way major vaccine initiatives (such as the recent campaign to distribute the H1N1 flu vaccine) are launched.

If you are considering immunization for an infectious disease, here are some points to consider:

—What is your risk or probability of getting the disease?
—What are the health consequences of the disease if contracted?
—How safe is the vaccine that is available?
—Is the immunity provided by the vaccine long-lasting?
—What is your health history and present health status?
—Are there alternatives to immunization and, if so, are they safe and effective?

Talk to your healthcare provider and weigh the pros and cons of vaccination for your own individual case.

Just recently, the American Academy of Dermatology polled over 7,000 adults in the U.S. The research team at the Academy wanted to find out people’s attitudes and behaviors with regard to three specific things: tanning; sun protection; and skin cancer detection. Once survey results were in, the researchers ranked 26 U.S. cities according to the study participants’ answers.

So who ranked in the top three? Hartford, Salt Lake City and Denver took those honors, respectively. The research team found that Hartford respondents excelled in their knowledge of sun protection and the risks associated with tanning, scoring above the average of adults overall. According to the researchers, only about one-third of respondents nationwide correctly answered the question that asked whether some types of ultraviolet (UV) rays are safe for your skin. How well did Hartford score on this question? Forty-two percent of Hartford respondents knew that the statement was not true and that all forms of UV radiation are harmful — whatever the source.

Another question that the top three aced was one which addressed the issue of skin cancer. Residents of Salt Lake City, Denver and Hartford all scored better than the national average when they disagreed with the statement that they are not too concerned about skin cancer because it is easily detected and treated.

Now, for the bottom of rankings: Cleveland, Chicago and Pittsburgh all scored the lowest when it came to issues of sun protection and skin cancer risk. Interestingly, while most respondents did, in fact, express concern about skin cancer and had some awareness of the importance of proper sun protection, they did not alwa! ys follow through with the correct behaviors.

Skin cancer can be quite threatening to your health. It can be successfully treated if detected early, but the five-year survival rate for people with melanomas can be anywhere from 65% to as low as 16%.

It’s important for everyone to be vigilant about protecting their skin from sun exposure and to be aware of the early warning signs of skin cancer.

The research team at the Academy is hoping the results from this survey will draw attention to the public’s need to change its attitudes toward tanning and skin protection.

To minimize your risk of skin cancer, remember the following suggestions.

— Generously apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 to all exposed skin. Broad-spectrum means that you will get protection from both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays.

— Wear protective clothing — that means a long-sleeved shirt, pants and a wide-brimmed hat.

— Sit or stand in the shade when possible.

— Use extra caution near water, snow or sand, as they all reflect the damaging rays of the sun.

— Do a quick skin check. Look for anything that is changing, growing, or bleeding on your skin. See a dermatologist and remember that skin cancer is very treatable when caught early.

According to a “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 43.4 million U.S. adult smokers in 2007. This makes up 19.8% of the overall population. This is a full percentage point lower than 2006, when 20.8% of the population smoked.

The positive is that the rate of smoking is on the decline, where it needs to be for national health purposes. Unfortunately, this rate isn’t fast enough to meet the government’s goal of hitting 12% by the year 2010.

Smoking cigarettes is still a major cost factor in the health and financial systems in the U.S., which are already in troubled waters. Smoking continues to be the world’s number one cause of preventable death. It directly causes 30% of all cancer deaths. That is due in large part to smoking being the cause of often-fatal lung cancer eight times out of 10 Smoking also causes 80% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It also causes premature heart disease and early death.

Somewhere around half of the people who smoke for decades die before they should, in middle age.

The CDC also measured the impact on health and worker productivity that smoking inflicts on the nation. From the period of 2000 to 2004, smoking and being exposed to secondhand smoke led to 443,000 people dying prematurely. From 2001 to 2004, healthcare costs for problems caused by smoking totaled $96.0 billion. Combined with productivity losses, the CDC has pegged the economic burden of smoking at $193 billion each year.

On November 20, the American Cancer Society runs its “Great American Smokeout.” Smokers are encouraged to quit for just one day. After all, quitting smoking is a day- by-day challenge. The best ways to quit are refining your lifestyle so that the lure of smoking doesn’t coexist with your life, seeking counseling, and looking into what medications and supplements might help. Some alternative techniques such as acupuncture and hypnotherapy are reported to have some benefits as well.

Measures across the country are being put in place to control the use of tobacco in public. The CDC says that if every state adopted the full program of tobacco control, five million fewer people in the U.S. would smoke within five years.

Where this has happened is a big part of the story: New York City. It becomes the first U.S. city to take this step, which is attempting to influence people to change their dietary habits. If it says “cheddar cheese hamburger,” that is one thing. What if it says “cheddar cheese hamburger, 600 calories?”

For that, we will have to wait and see.

On July 19, 2008, all New York City health inspectors had the power to levy fines up to $2,000 against both fast food and casual dining chains if their owners were not obeying the new calorie law. The calorie count of each item must not only be visible, but must also be the same size and font as the name of the food!

The Big Apple appears to be on the forefront of the forceful attempt to make its residents’ lifestyles healthier. Its 2003 ban on smoking in public places made it one of the earliest major cities to take that step. And earlier this year, city officials decided to ban trans fats — hydrogenated fat that has been firmly linked to serious heart problems.

Reuters reports that the law will affect such famous food institutions as McDonald’s; Burger King; Applebee’s, operated by DineEquity Inc; Dunkin Donuts; Starbucks and Subway. They also report that the new law may not do much at all. After all, when one purchases a donut or a quarter-pound of hamburger meat slathered in salt-filled condiments, the amount of calories in it is not much of an issue. The move may have the effect of awful images posted on cigarette packs around the world: creating the opportunity for jokes.

But the city lawmakers are correct in that many consumers do not know the calories they consume. People who may have trouble shedding pounds can look to many things they eat and drink as having hidden calories, or simply far more calories than they would have expected. And the long-term solution to reducing the waistline is clear cut: Burn more calories than you take in. And that rolls into the exercise and healthy eating solution.

A 2007 study found that 30% of New York residents were taking in more than 1,000 calories at lunch. That’s about half of the entire day’s amount. Throw in a morning and afternoon snack, along with breakfast, and people are over their daily amount before dinner hour hits. The city says that, at minimum, the new law could prevent 150,000 from becoming obese and another 30,000 from developing type 2 diabetes in the next five years.

Our bodies absorb FIR, which penetrates much further than the skin, deep into tissues well below the surface. It is during this penetration that FIR transforms from light energy to heat energy. It’s believed this helps blood vessels to dilate and thus helps the circulation of blood. The heat also helps the body sweat, the key effect of all saunas, and moves wastes and toxins from deep in your body out through your skin’s pores.

If at a gym or buying a sauna, you should know how a FIR sauna differs from a conventional one. The latter makes the air very hot, which heats your body. A FIR sauna, though, uses the rays to penetrate a few inches into your body, making you feel warm and sweat heavily, but doesn’t hurt the skin with hot air. If you can wrap your head around it, the air inside the sauna stays a normal temperature, but your body warms rapidly. The basic benefits are that heavy metals and toxins stored below skin level are more likely to be sweated out using a FIR sauna. Many experts believe this is a more effective and safer way to sweat than steam baths, hot tubs, sweat lodges, and hard exercise.

Deep-striking rays make FIR saunas potentially useful for arthritis and injuries to tissues. The makers of these saunas cite other health benefits, including boosting the immune system, burning calories, detoxifying heavy metals, relief of stress, treatment for psoriasis, acne, cellulite, and eczema, and relief from fibromyalgia, arthritis, and chronic pain.

Some doctors believe a jaunt in the sauna can potentially protect against cancer. Several trials have found beneficial results. Matter of fact, regarding cancer, there have been results that suggest sauna therapy could protect against oxidative stress, also known as “free radicals,” that lead to a whole bundle of trouble.

The only conceivable risk at the moment is getting dehydrated. Here are some tips for safety in any sauna, FIR or otherwise:

– Don’t stay in sauna for more than a half-hour
– Rest still for 10 minutes afterward
– Drink mineral water before and after using it
– If you have a chronic condition, have a friend close by for assistance
– Obviously, the FIR sauna won’t work through clothing
– Men should wear a towel to block their testicles
– Ensure the sauna room is ventilated
– Take a warm or cool shower afterward; don’t bother with soap

For a long time, we?ve heard generally that one drink for women and two drinks for men a day is reasonably healthy enough not to worry about. We know that red wine is the healthiest elixir, and that beer also carries some benefit. But, alas, other studies have shown that drinking is not so great no matter how you spin it.

West Coast researchers at UCLA found that, in certain circumstances, if an older man has as few as two drinks a week, it can increase his risk of death. That can be considered some shocking news, and certainly some that runs against previous studies that say moderate drinking is a healthy habit. The study in question used data from the early 1970s on adults 60 or older, and followed up with new data from 1992.

They discovered that older men in two general circumstances could be harmed by moderate drinking. One: if they had a disease that could be made worse by alcohol, such as ulcers or gouty arthritis. Two: if they took prescription drugs that can react with alcohol, such as analgesics or sedatives. For those men who fell into these broad categories, the risk of death was 20% higher than men who drank less alcohol or who drank the same amount but didn’t have these health conditions.

This study highlights one area that doesn’t, surprisingly, get touched upon very often. Most studies on alcohol proof that moderate drinking could help your heart’s health and actually prolong life. But few consider alcohol’s effect on health conditions that people have. The UCLA study lends some mathematical evidence that, while moderate alcohol is fine for some people, for the tens of millions of older adults who have an existing health problem, or take medications for sleep, joint pain, depression, or a stomach problem, moderate drinking can make things much worse.

This is coupled with another study that has arisen of late that also questions whether light drinking is as healthy as it seems — it suggested that studies that found beneficial results, from all over the world, may be flawed and thus their results not as accurate as they seem.

Hospitals around the U.S. are increasingly turning to webcasts of surgeries in an attempt to relieve the stress and anxiety of people about to undergo that operation. Once a patient sees the surgery performed successfully, it removes much of the unknown and increases his or her confidence. Some patients find these webcasts educational; they want to know more about their illness and the surgery that treats it. Others say that witnessing a surgery is calming and comforting, because they see how professional and composed the surgeon is.

Some of the hospitals leading the way into the sure-to-be-burgeoning online world of surgical webcasts include the Texas Medical Center, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands (Houston), Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston), Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia), and Tampa General Hospital (Tampa Bay). It is likely that as the medical profession becomes increasingly technologically savvy, the number of webcasts will start to rise.

The Texas Medical Center’s first webcast happened in 2004, when nearly 2,000 people watched an operation live from their homes. But it was then recorded and archived on the hospital web site, and another 9,000 people have watched it since then. The surgeons involved have also interacted with viewers since then, answering questions and providing feedback.

For instance, during a brain tumor operation, patients submitted questions such as how is the brain monitored during surgery, what causes brain tumors, and what treatment options were there post-surgery? So, not only do people get to witness an operation, but they also get the opportunity to ask expert doctors the burning questions on their minds.

Most patients who tune in are younger and more technologically able, but anyone with a computer can do this. You can tune in to a hospital several states away — it doesn’t have to be local. If you have a pending procedure, search around on the Internet to see if a webcast exists for it.

It comes mostly in the form of exchanging e-mail with a trained counselor or talking with one, one-on-one, in a chat room. Chat rooms have gained notoriety as a place where teenagers go to spend hours dreamily swooning over the latest pop heartthrob or complaining how their parents are so unfair, but this idea does a disservice to the nature of chat rooms and what they can accomplish. For one thing, they are a cornerstone of online therapy, available to a patient 24 hours a day, because the Internet is never asleep.

The pioneers of this technology-fueled therapy are two counselors based in Vancouver, Canada, who used to work at B.C. Addictions Services. In the mid-1990s, they started to use their computers to counsel patients by launching Therapy Online, now an internationally respected site. They say that online therapy has significant benefits for patients. Alone at their computer, patients aren’t made uncomfortable by a therapist who is staring and judging them (a big reason why people give up counseling). Patients can live anywhere and virtually visit their favorite therapist who could live an ocean away.

Chatting and exchanging e-mail with a therapist creates an atmosphere where patients can share deep emotions that are at the root of their psychological problem. Being online eliminates body language, voice tone, and the in-your-face kind of situations that could arise in a therapist’s office and make someone less willing to speak out. A good online therapist will always figure out how patients are feeling, and look closely at any pauses in their writing or if they become cryptic in their prose.

Although many therapists and patients need the personal contact for a quality diagnosis, the rise of e-therapy is happening and it provides a unique opportunity for patients to get the help they need. It is the art of using talk therapy to root out the issues — one thing it cannot do, obviously, is utilize hypnosis, meditation and relaxation techniques. But it could be, for many people, a cure to their deepest disturbances found in their very own house.

But hold on a second; there is good news in all this. According to the American Lung Association, the air is getting better. In the past decade, the number of days with unhealthy air quality has steadily diminished.

Significant improvement has been made in air quality over most parts of the country (particularly the east) and it’s believed that reduced emissions from power plants could be responsible for it.

Scientists have looked at the time span of 2002 to 2004 to measure the number of days deemed to have air with unhealthy levels of pollutants or smog. They took the measurement from ozone monitors in 735 counties around the U.S. In that recent three-year span, there was a grand total of 8,500 days with air that was unhealthy to breathe.

Then they checked out a three-year period from 1996 to 1998. They researchers found that ozone monitors in fewer counties (678) reported more poor air quality days: 10,200 to be precise. At face value, it’s a bit of reassurance for those of us concerned about the air we breathe. Still, more than 150 million Americans live in counties that have unhealthy levels of soot or smog. And there are a lot of people in society who suffer significantly from the air quality: older adults, children and teenagers, and anyone with heart disease, diabetes, ! and lung conditions such as emphysema. The researchers found that roughly 15% of the population lives in the 34 counties that have poor levels of both soot and smog.

So where might you stand in the scheme of things? Well, if you live near a seaport, then you?re already at a disadvantage, as researchers have found that tug boats, diesel trains, ferries, and other vessels are polluters in major cities with working ports. Cities ranking the worst in the nation for air pollution regularly include: Los Angeles, CA (and other cities in California); New York, NY; Newark, NJ; Bridgeport, CT; Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; Pittsburgh, PA; Cleveland, OH; and St. Louis, MO.

Hypnosis is a state of altered and highly focused attention. It results in relaxation that dissociates the participant from the present. It can allow them to feel temporarily like they are somewhere else or at some other time. Such deep relaxation guides the mind away from the health condition, most often pain of some sort. Professional hypnotists may suggest home techniques that allow users to control their pain. The at-home techniques that hypnotists teach are especially useful, as they can be done in the comfort of your home.

Western science started to look more closely at this therapy after studies compared it to acupuncture and painkillers. Hypnosis was found to reduce pain, and it varied according to what kind of wording the therapist used. In monitoring brain waves, researchers have found that the hypnotic response really did occur in the brain. And that means real physiological changes can occur. The body can respond if the brain responds.

So what is it good for? Hypnosis has proven very useful in controlling anxiety and stress in a wide variety of individuals. That includes patients for whom stress is downright dangerous: hemophiliac patients who have uncontrollable bleeding that can be worsened through stress. Hypnosis is also often used to help people overcome fears, quit smoking, control drug abuse problems, etc.

In the management of disease and pain, hypnosis becomes most useful in situations where painkillers are not appropriate or effective. It is also used in chronic illnesses like cancer and HIV. This treatment, which is relatively safe and side-effect free, has been tried on virtually every pain or illness imaginable. Like the old saying goes, “mind over matter.” Many professional hypnotists believe that the process of hypnosis may at least alleviate the presence of symptoms in a patient, helping them to heal mentally, if not physically. It has been used in irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, burns, terminal illness and even cough.

One thing to note is that not everyone can be hypnotized. It is estimated that about 25% of people cannot enter a state of hypnotization. But, for three-quarters of the population, this therapy remains an option.

A new issue of “The Lancet” looked closely at this issue of chronic cough, with two groups of researchers from different institutions writing papers. Chronic cough is one that lasts longer than two months; a true nagging cough that does not seem to vanish on its own regardless of how much cough syrup you guzzle. Estimates are rough, but anywhere from nine percent to 33% of adults are afflicted by chronic cough. Cigarette smoking is a big risk factor, as smokers are at about a three times greater risk of suffering chronic cough.

The causes of this kind of cough are many. Infections, bacterial or viral, acute or chronic, could be the cause. Other possible causes include airway problems, foreign bodies caught in the throat, tumors, heart disease and the use of pharmaceuticals (especially ACE inhibitors). Whatever the cause, chronic cough is one of the biggest reasons why people see doctors. For lung specialists, anywhere from one to four out of every 10 patients will present with a chronic cough.

The researchers suggest that doctors need to clearly diagnose the problem. They need to take into consideration illnesses that are both common and rare. Sometimes the problem is the cough itself. Chronic cough could be causing swelling or transforming tissues in the airway. This, in turn, makes the cough reflex more acute and causes a long-lasting cough. Treating a chronic cough, they say, is twofold. First, you must identify if there is an underlying condition and deal with it. Second, you must help the throat and airways become less sensitive to cough.

The other study in “The Lancet” looked at how chronic cough can be managed. These researchers wondered how valid it is to say that chronic cough is usually tied to asthma, acid reflux or conditions in the upper airway. They think maybe a chronic cough can’t be treated just by treating the condition believed to be causing it.

They believe that research into effective cough treatments is being hampered by the belief that you can simply treat that underlying condition. This is, they say, “…jeopardizing the development of improved treatments.”

The researchers are calling for more research and better treatments. For now, if you suffer from a cough that lasts longer than eight weeks, ask your doctor or specialist to do two things:

1) Help diagnose any condition that may be causing it;

2) And help make your irritated throat less sensitive to the harsh reality of a cough. Because that in itself could make your cough keep on going.

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If you believe that happiness to be within your grasp, it probably will be. The wonderful thing about cultivating happiness is that it really can be within your control.You can choose how you respond to a hectic day, for example. Perhaps you are rushing around and feeling more and more frazzled. Now, you can choose to stop at some point. For 10 minutes, you can choose to rest, to meditate, or to allow some space for something positive to enter your mind. A moment of happiness chosen in the middle of a very busy, perhaps frustrating day.

Choosing happiness when dealing with illness, however, might not be so easily accomplished. When our bodies are tired, hurting, and sick we can lose sight of any happy thoughts. The world might look a little grim. But if you look, if you take the time to find some happiness, you will undoubtedly find what you are looking for. Perhaps it is the love of a friend or partner that makes you feel happy, or walking or looking out at a treasured garden when the flowers are in bloom. This ability to find happiness can seem to come more easily to some. There are certain people that seem to find a place of happiness with less struggle than others. It can be more difficult, for example, to find happiness if childhood experiences have been negative. It can be more difficult also, when we forget that we actually have the power to create happiness in our lives.

Of course there’s another theory about why some seem more able to be happy in any given circumstance than others. Perhaps happiness is genetic.

British researchers are suggesting that the right genetic mix may be the key to a lifetime of happiness. The researchers studied 973 twins. Personality types and information regarding the participants’ levels of happiness were collected. What they discovered was that those who were genetically predisposed towards being extroverted, emotionally stable, and conscientious were more likely to
be happy.

The researchers explained it this way. When you tend to be outgoing, calm and reliable, you have what’s called an “affective reserve.” That means that you have your own inner resources available that can continuously help you to reach a state of happiness.

Of course, even if you don’t think your personality is particularly calm, outgoing or reliable, that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy. All it takes is a little practice. Remember to be social. That doesn’t mean you need 25 friends. Two or three good ones can be enough. And keep active.

Work towards those things that you are really interested in. And don’t forget to give yourself credit for all the things that are working in your life and feel good about them.

Remember that, despite the research about genetics and happiness, relationships, physical health, and career can have a huge impact on your ability to feel happy.

Two of the most popular strains of friendly bacteria are “Lactobacillus acidophilus” and “Lactobacillus bifidus.”
Some supplements mix together a variety of different strains of these good bacteria.

So why would someone want to take a billion friendly bacteria with his or her morning breakfast? Well, there are about 150 types of yeast that live naturally in your body. Some are beneficial to you, while others are harmful. Having a lot of beneficial yeast in your body means that you are less likely to get infections. Your overall health will be better, too — including your energy levels. But when the bad yeast in your body multiplies and becomes greater in number than the good yeast, you could experience all kinds of nasty symptoms.

That’s where probiotics can supposedly come to the rescue.
When you have an overgrowth of bad yeast, you are more prone to infections, immune-system diseases, weight gain, weight loss, brain fog, digestive problems and fatigue — to name just a few!

There’s one type of yeast in particular that’s likely to cause you problems. It is called “Candida albicans.” Candida thrives on the surface of moist mucous membranes, such as those in your intestinal tract. Candida is basically the reason that the probiotic industry has become a hugely successful one.

Unfortunately, most of the refined foods found in a typical Western diet feed Candida. Sugar, white bread, soft drinks, condiments, corn syrup and leavened bread are a few of the foods that nourish the growth of Candida. And since most of us can admit to having some of these foods in our diets, most of us do, indeed, have a Candida problem to some extent.

So where do prebiotics come in to the equation? If probiotics can rescue us from Candida overgrowth, why do
we need to worry about prebiotics? Well, according to the newest research, prebiotics have one advantage over probiotics: they’re the ones that feed and nourish the growth of probiotics, so they’re actually first in the line of defense against harmful bacteria.

Prebiotics are non-digestible foods that make their way through your intestines. By feeding probiotics, prebiotics help strengthen the good guys in your intestinal bacteria.

The Japanese have been using prebiotics for years. Because prebiotics are relatively stable and can withstand food processing, a commercially prepared prebiotic has been added to infant formulas, as well as many adult foods.

It might not be necessary, after all, to ingest billions and billions of friendly bacteria in the form of probiotic
supplements. You may simply need to boost the growth of the good bacteria already in your gut by making sure that you’ve added a dose of prebiotics to your diet. And when you nourish this growth, that could mean better health for you.

Prebiotics could be your first line of defense against the overgrowth of Candida. Not only do refined foods and
sugar feed Candida, but antibiotics do, too. In fact, many people who take these drugs are suffering from the
symptoms of Candida overgrowth without even knowing it.

Candida can make it very difficult to feel healthy and stay immune to infection. In one clinical trial, 109 patients with bacterial infections were studied for a five-year period. It was discovered that 52% of these infections were caused by Candida albicans. Once treated for Candida overgrowth, these patients showed a significant reduction in death rates. Treating the Candida overgrowth helped them survive serious infections that required hospitalization. Prebiotics can go a long way to getting the bacteria in your body balanced out again and may, in fact, be more effective than probiotics at treating Candida.

To help out any prebiotic treatments, make sure that you eat a diet that includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and unprocessed oils like olive or canola. Avoid hydrogenated oils.

You can also add some yogurt to your diet every day. Yogurt naturally contains friendly bacteria that can help prevent the growth of Candida. You can also get yogurt that contains lots of acidophilus, bifidus and other added probiotics. And remember to buy unsweetened yogurt — there’s no point in feeding Candida more sugar. You can always add a bit of fresh fruit at home to sweeten plain yogurt.

Alternatively, if you’re not crazy about yogurt, give horseradish a try. It also contains a lot of the friendly
bacteria that you need to keep Candida in check. You can buy prebiotics at your local health-food store. They can be found either with a probiotic product or separately. The two most common prebiotics are inulin and “fructooligosaccharides” (FOS). Both FOS and inulin are food for the probiotics.
Sometimes, these two prebiotics can be purchased separately, in which case you can take them together.

If you have an overgrowth of Candida or a lot of bad bacteria, you may not want to take both prebiotics and
probiotics together. Talk to your health-care provider or nutritionist to get help with deciding what will work best for you. Taking prebiotic or probiotic supplements could aggravate your symptoms at first, so you want to make sure that you’re up for the challenge and that you’ve got some support while you go through the initial detox period.

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