Health Right Now

Four Factors Increasing the Risk of Heart Failure

2009-06-10T10:42:00.004-06:00

A new study published in Circulation: journal of the American Heart Association, shows that smoking, high blood pressure, excess weight, and diabetes are major risk factors for increasing the size of the heart's left ventricle.

The left ventricle is the pumping chamber of the heart. An increase in the size and thickness, or "mass," of the left ventricle is a worrisome condition that can lead to heart failure. For heart failure symptoms, click here.

Boston University researchers said that in a study of more than 4,200 people, those four risk factors were strongly correlated with greater left ventricle mass over the short term, as well as over the long term.

Ramchandran S. Vasan, MD, senior investigator of the study and chief of the section of preventive medicine at Boston University School of Medicine said,

"These factors can be directly targeted for prevention and lowering these risk factors therefore could potentially lower the burden of heart failure."

For the full article visit WebMD.

Trouble Sleeping? Online Therapy Could be the Answer

2009-06-08T23:14:00.002-06:00

According to a study in the June 1 issue of the journal Sleep, chronic insomniacs who took part in online cognitive behavioral therapy, reported getting a better night's sleep than those who didn't take part in the therapy.

MedicineNet.com reports the cognitive behavioral therapy included education about sleep hygiene, relaxation techniques and tips for stilling an overactive mind.

Half of the participants were given access to audiovisual clips that provided information about ways to combat insomnia. The others were put on a waiting list and asked not to seek treatment in the meantime.

After five weeks, 81 percent of those being treated reported at least mild improvement in their sleep.

About 30 percent of the participants in the study said they got an additional hour of sleep by the end of the program. Those who'd received treatment also developed healthier attitudes about sleep and were less likely to report having an overactive mind at bedtime.

Colorado State University Gym Construction Frustrates Students

2009-06-08T20:12:00.008-06:00

An audio version of this story can be found here.

The CSU gym is undergoing a transformation over the next year that will increase space by 60,000 square feet and as well as many new amenities.

These amenities include things such as, massage rooms, additional fitness rooms, a rock wall and cave, volleyball courts and much more. For a complete list of the expansion visit the CSU recreation center Web site.

Construction on the gym began this summer and should be completed by August of 2010.

Even though students are very excited about the renovations occurring at the gym, it is putting a damper on students working out right now.

All of the gym equipment including treadmills, ellipticals, weight machines, mats, etc are all squeezed on to only two basketball courts. Two basketball courts which used to be used only for playing basketball.

Playing basketball is no longer available at the gym and neither is the indoor track for runners. The fitness room is also closed for the summer.

Exercisers at the gym this summer are finding their work out options to be very limited. Many students are upset with how clustered the gym is.

Anthony Allie, a student at CSU, has been working out at the gym this summer in its new condensed form. "Everything is really smashed together in the gym," he said, "I can't even imagine how crowded it will be in August when school starts and everyone is back in the gym again."

Many students are worried about how crowded it will become when more students begin to use the gym. However, the construction occurring inside and outside of the gym is also distracting exercisers from their workouts.

Natalie Solario, also a CSU student, said that the construction is really loud and seems to be ongoing.

Listen to the audio above to hear more of these student interviews.

Cooking Light and Saveur Take Different Looks at Health

2009-06-07T15:52:00.016-06:00

Cooking and food magazines are very popular with Americans. Different cooking magazines are targeted at different types of audiences and contain a variety of content.

Cooking Light is a magazine for the health conscious. Especially in a time when more and more Americans are deciding to be health conscious eaters, magazines like this one are becoming increasingly popular.

The magazine Saveur, calls itself "The Real Italy." This magazine is not concerned with healthy eating habits or cutting calories.

In comparison, these two magazines take the health of readers into account in different ways.

COOKING LIGHT

Cooking Light magazine strives to get people to "eat smart, be fit and live well," as it says on the cover. June's edition includes, "22 healthy meal makeovers. Chicken, chops & burgers: Less fat, fewer calories, great taste!" and also, "A delicious salad you'll love all summer".

These cover stories are an example of how the magazine entices readers by giving them lower calorie options and tastier health food.

There are lists of common foods including, Chinese, pizza, barbecue, and burgers and then the readers are given Cooking Light versions of the food which cut calories by huge numbers.

One of the main goals of the magazine is to coach its readers on how to make good and healthy decisions. For example, in the June edition, there is a story on how to buy the best produce and also exactly how to measure out one serving of different types of produce.

Because Americans tend to blame their unhealthy eating habits on things such as the cost of food or the lack of preparation time, Cooking Light takes this into account. For example, their is a page that suggests which wines to pair with what types of food and there are "bargain" examples of each type of wine suggested to readers as well.

There is an entire section in the magazine that provides readers with a variety of meals that only take 20 to 40 minutes to prepare. The magazine leaves readers with no room for excuses to not eat healthy.

SAVEUR

The cooking magazine Saveur, encourages readers to "Savor a world of authentic cuisine," as it states on the magazine cover.

This magazine encourages readers to indulge a bit more than Cooking Light does. For example, just as there is an article about produce in Cooking Light, where to get it and the right serving sizes, there is an article in Saveur about the sweetest types of fruit. Two different looks at produce.

In Cooking Light, every single recipe in the magazine provides nutrition content of the meal. Saveur does not do this. It gives recipes that go along with articles about the food.

This magazine also provides readers with background information on the food and it's country of origin. So it is a more educational and cultural approach to cooking.

These two magazines take a very different approach to educating their readers. Cooking Light offers advice and helpful tips on how to stay healthy and live a healthier lifestyle.

Saveur on the other hand, provides readers with delectable, rich recipes along with content to provide background to the recipe and it's origins.

If someone is trying to stay healthy or maybe has weight loss goals, Cooking Light is a great magazine that can easily aid in these goals. Saveur is a good way to learn about food and receive some cultural education along with it. This magazine hardly emphasizes healthy eating habits in any way.

Cell Phone Rings May Interrupt Thinking

2009-06-06T12:25:00.002-06:00

Researchers now report that just 30 seconds of a stranger's nearby ringtone can impair thinking, at least briefly as found on MedicineNet.com.

Students unknowingly involved in a classroom experiment saw their test scores sink after a fellow "student's" phone went off.

Study leader author Jill Shelton said, "there are real-world implications for these sounds in our environment and they are distracting. They significantly disrupt performance in a classroom setting."

Shelton said the data shows that it's not just annoying when other people's cell phones ring. It is actually leading to impairment in learning, whether in a business meeting or in a classroom or some other setting.

She found that cell phone rings may also harm recall. More on recall.

Prior research has also indicated that the human brain can only attend to a finite amount of stimuli at a time.

Get the full story here.

Mood Affects our Vision

2009-06-05T12:25:00.002-06:00

WebMD reports on new research that suggests that our mood literally affects how we see the world.

The research shows that people in a better mood take in more information while they look at something. People in a bad mood are more likely to see with tunnel vision.

Researchers also said that being in a good mood and taking in more information can be a positive or negative thing,

"Good moods enhance the literal size of the window through which we see the world," Taylor Schmitz, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Toronto and lead author of the study said, "The upside of this is this is that we can see things from a more global, or integrative perspective. The downside is that this can lead to distraction on critical tasks that require narrow focus, such as operating dangerous machinery or airport screening of passenger baggage."

blisstree.com also reports about this study.

Hospice Care

2009-06-05T07:33:00.003-06:00

Hospice care is a type of nursing that doesn't get a lot of attention but it is very important. I interviewed Registered Nurse Karli Pelley about the line of work. Here are her e-mail responses.

Q: What types of hospice care are available?

A: There are a couple different levels of hospice care depending on the patient’s current status. There is respite care which aides in giving the family or caregiver a break by arranging for extra services in the home or simple things outside the home like grocery shopping. There is also general hospice care, which include a team consisting of nurses, social worker/counselor, home health aides, clergy, therapists, and volunteers who all aide in providing comfort care for the patient and family.

Q: What are hospice care centers like?

A: Hospice associations differ by where they are located. Some hospice centers have their own units in nursing homes, hospital hospice units or inpatient hospice centers. However, there are some that have a central office but go to see patient’s in their own homes, which is the kind of hospice I work for. Patients’ are able to live the rest of their lives in their own home with our help rather than having to move to a nursing home. However, some patients need so much physical help that they need to be in a nursing home and if that is the case, we go to see our hospice patient in the nursing home as if it was their home.

Q: why would people choose to stay in a hospice center rather than a hospital?

A: Hospitals are more for temporary or acute problems and diseases. With hospice patients, their diseases are more terminal or chronic and therefore need long term care that hospice can provide if the situation calls for it. Hospice focuses on comfort care which is what a person with a terminal illness would need rather than a hospital setting where their focus is not solely on comfort.

Q: Are most of the people elderly?

A: From my experience yes, the majority of patients have been elderly. However, we have had a few older adults in their early 50’s and 60’s. From my experience it seems as though the younger the patients have been, the harder it is for the family to accept their terminal diagnosis in a healthy manner. I see a lot of denial from the younger patients and their families.

Q: What are the requirements to end up in hospice care?

A: The main criteria for most hospice centers, is accepting patients who have a life-expectancy of six months or less and who are referred by their personal physician. However, many of our patients out-live those six months and that is not uncommon. Life expectancy estimations are easier when cancer is diagnosis because physicians can more accurately estimate a time frame. With other diagnosis such as COPD, kidney failure, or failure to thrive, a physician has to consider many factors to determine whether a patient would fit the hospice criteria.

Q: Is it government funded or do people pay for it on their own?

A: This varies depending on what hospice organization is involved. Some hospice organizations are government funded, non-profit organizations and rely heavily on federal grants and fundraisers. Then there are some hospice associations that are paid for independently through Medicare benefits, Medicaid benefits, and most private insurers.

Q: Do you see more of some terminal illnesses than others?

A: Yes, we see different types of cancers a lot more than anything else. Usually cancer has a pretty definitive diagnosis and life expectancy, so that makes hospice a more obvious tool with terminal cancers. We also see a lot of patients with congestive heart failure. These two diagnoses are common, but with heart failure the patients often out-live their six month time frame and with cancers they usually reach the active dying phase a lot sooner.

Q: What is it like working in hospice care?

A: It is surprisingly enjoyable and extremely rewarding. A big misconception about hospice is that it is all death and sadness everyday, but that is not true. There are a lot of happy times with the patients and they usually do very well for a long time until they reach the last stage of the dying process. Working in this area I get a lot of “thank you’s” and hugs from the patient, and their friends and families which makes the job feel less like a job and more like a rewarding journey.

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: Getting to meet all of the different patients and what they have to say. For being terminally ill and elderly, a lot of our patients have very strong and humorous personalities. Developing strong bonds with the patients and earning their trust is a good feeling even though it makes it harder at the end of their life. I still find the relationships I make to be one of my favorite parts of working in this difficult area of nursing otherwise it could quickly become a very depressing line of work.

Q: Is it hard to build relationships with people who you know are terminally ill?

A: Going into this job I was very nervous about that part and I was very worried that I would get too attached to patients. You learn how to set personal boundaries but it is inevitable that you become very close with some patients and I have learned that’s okay. However, it has made me much more comfortable with the dying process and family grieving. Some families and patients want a strong nurse and some want a nurse that will cry along with them. So, you learn to adjust emotionally with each different family. It can be really emotionally draining at times but really rewarding when it’s all done.

Q: Is there any controversy surrounding assisted suicide or euthanasia?

A: When admitting a new patient, some families have questions about whether or not hospice speeds along the dying process. One of the first things we tell the family is that hospice neither hastens nor postpones dying. We don’t take the patient off of any medications that they are currently on. We care for them as we would with any patient. Hospice focuses on comfort care and we treat any symptoms with appropriate medications. The basis of hospice care is to provide emotional, spiritual, and social support to the patient and the family. The goal of hospice is to provide comfort and care, not "cure" the illness or disease, like they do in a hospital setting. If the patient’s condition improves or does not decline after so long, patients can be discharged from hospice and return to aggressive therapy if that is what they wish.

Wait Times to see Doctors are Getting Longer

2009-06-04T11:42:00.002-06:00

A study by Merritt Hawkins and Associates shows that appointment wait times have increased on average by more than a week since the survey was last conducted in 2004.

USA Today reports that, on average, wait times have increased by 8.6 days per city according to the survey. Boston had the longest wait, averaging 49.6 days and the shortest was Atlanta with an 11.2-day wait.

Phil Miller, vice president of public relations for Merritt Hawkins and Associates, says he sees one clear solution to long wait times,

"We need to be training more physicians, particularly primary care physicians. We have been training the same number of doctors for the past 25 years, but a lot has changed in the last quarter-century."

The Wall Street Journal offers more information on the wait lists in Boston to see most specialists.

Restaurants Serving Meals Loaded With Two Days Worth of Calories

2009-06-03T12:01:00.004-06:00

MedicineNet.com reports that restaurants are serving ever-larger portions of super-bad food to entice customers to start eating out again, according to a consumer watchdog group.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest singled out some dishes in a list of the most over-the-top, unhealthy restaurant foods, that provide more saturated fat or sodium than most people should eat in three days. These foods were also very high in calories.

U.S. dietary guidelines call for healthy Americans to get less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day to lower blood pressure and reduce risk of heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease.

Federal nutrition guidelines also advise that less than 10% of daily calories come from saturated fat, about 20 grams for a 2,000-calorie diet. Eating lots of saturated fat can lead to increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Check out a sample of the group's Xtreme Eating 2009 dishes, listed in the June issue of its Nutrition Action Healthletter.

The 'Glow' we Get From Excercising May Last 12 Hours

2009-06-02T15:27:00.003-06:00

Reported on MedicineNet.com, new research suggests that "when it comes to boosting your mood, exercise is the gift that keeps on giving." The afterglow a workout brings to people may last far longer than the hour or so that's been previously assumed.

Dr. Jeremy Sibold, study lead researcher, says that moderate intensity aerobic exercise improves mood immediately and those improvements can last up to 112 hours. The findings were presented this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Seattle.

This is the only study that has tracked the mood-boosting effect of exercise for a very long period of time. The study showed that even moderate aerobic exercise has the potential to mitigate the daily stress that results in your mood being disturbed.

Men and women seemed to benefit equally, and the researchers noted that the fitness level of the participant didn't seem to matter. The findings point to exercise as a cheap, easily accessible tool against blue moods and even depression.

Students Need Immunizations Before Traveling Abroad

2009-06-01T10:40:00.013-06:00

College students traveling to other countries to study or just to travel, find themselves overwhelmed with a list of things to do in preparation. Immunizations are at the top of the list for many CSU students planning to travel this fall semester. Luckily, the Hartshorn Health Center on campus is stocked with resources.

REQUIRED/RECOMMENDED IMMUNIZATIONS

Hartshorn Immunization Coordinator Lisa Duggan said there are no required immunizations for students studying abroad but she recommends several.The following are also recommended by the American College Health Association (ACHA).

Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR): This immunization is required by Colorado State law to be a CSU student, so normally these are always up-to-date.

Tetanus and Diphtheria (TD): Tetanus and diphtheria boosters have been recommended every 10 years. A new vaccine licensed in 2005 contains tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, also known as whooping cough. This booster is recommended to students who need to update this immunization and can be given as early as two years after the last TD booster.

Hepatitis B: This vaccine is required for all high school students, so travelers who come in for vaccines normally have up-to-date immunizations for Hepatitis B.

Hepatitis A: Duggan recommends this vaccine to students who are traveling to developing countries.

The Hartshorn Health Center Web site lists where students can easily obtain immunization records and has additional information about these vaccines.

The following are vaccines which are recommended less highly depending on where the student is traveling. More information can be found on the Travel Medicine Clinic page.

Typhoid: Typhoid is a bacterial illness transmitted through contaminated food and water. There is growing antibiotic resistance in parts of the world which makes vaccination very important.

Yellow Fever: Yellow Fever is a deadly viral disease occurring in regions of Africa and South America and it is transmitted by mosquitoes. For travelers, certain countries require proof of the Yellow Fever vaccine before allowing entry into their country. This proof must be provided on an International Certificate of Vaccination and carried with the traveler.

Japanese Encephalitis(JE): Japanese Encephalitis is a viral illness transmitted by mosquitoes and occurs in rural agricultural areas throughout Asia. Visiting a rural-agricultural, rice growing, pig farming region can put a traveler at risk, although most travelers are not at risk unless they stay for prolonged periods (four weeks or more) in these regions. Hartshorn does not provide this vaccine but the vaccine can be obtained at the Weld County Health Department.

IMMUNIZATION DEADLINES

Duggan said that as far as vaccines go, it is important to get them at least a couple weeks before traveling. However, it is even better if students can make it in to the health center two to three months before traveling so that the area the students are going to and their itineraries can be looked at more closely for more accurate immunization recommendations.

Some of the important questions Duggan asks students before recommending immunizations are the following:

Where in the country are you going?
Who are you staying with?
What are you doing?
Are you staying in urban areas or going rural?

For example, if a student is traveling to a rural area in Cambodia,Duggan would highly recommend the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine. However, if the student is staying in an urban area and may travel through the rural part for a few days, the vaccine is not as highly recommended.

Another example is the rabies vaccine which is highly recommended to vet students who are going to spade and neutered clinics around the world. Other than these types of scenarios, the rabies vaccine is rarely recommended to travelers.

There are not specified deadlines but the earlier a student takes action, the better prepared and vaccinated they will be when the time comes for them to travel.

"When people come in at the last minute, we may have to give them some vaccines they don't even need," said Duggan.

She also said that there are probably a lot of students who never even come in for vaccinations or travel advice. These students tend to be in programs that aren't CSU affiliated.

"There's a lot of students who never come in here," said Duggan, "I'll have students tell me they went somewhere and never got any vaccinations."

Some of these students get lucky and some return wishing they had gotten vaccinated. The students who do come in are usually there to get things done and take the recommendations they are provided with.

Natalie Solario is a 2009 CSU graduate planning to travel to Panama in July. She has been in and out of Hartshorn the whole summer receiving vaccinations that she needs prior to her trip.

"I think I'm being a little over-cautious," said Solario, "I am even considering getting the rabies vaccination even though it wasn't highly recommended for me."

She said that she knows the chance of getting rabies is rare where she will be living in Panama, but that she wants to stay on the safe side because you never know what could happen. It's attitudes like this that will keep students safe and healthy in foreign countries while they are travelling.

COMMON TRAVELER MISTAKES

One of the biggest mistakes can be not receiving necessary vaccinations. Duggan has seen students return from foreign countries with Hepatitis A and Malaria who did not get vaccinated. However, Duggan said that being careless is what causes a lot of sicknesses.

"My friend I was travelling with didn't get a vaccination for Hepatitis A," said Laura Temple a CSU senior who recently traveled to Spain, "She felt awful for a few weeks and took time even after that to recover."

Temple received all the recommended vaccinations before she left for Spain this past January. "Let's just say after seeing her go through that, I'm very glad I got all the vaccinations that were recommended to me," she said, "I tell everyone who is studying abroad to get all their vaccinations."

It is also important to do everything you can to avoid insect bites. Students come back from Mexico with Dengue Fever often because of carelessness and this is not vaccine preventable. Being too careless about what they are eating, many students ingest things in foreign countries which make them sick.

To learn more about how to stay safe and healthy in a foreign country, listen to this interview with Lisa Duggan.

RESOURCES

As the immunization coordinator, Duggan's main resource is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site to counsel students on vaccines they may need. She said that because conditions are constantly changing around the world, it is important to stay updated. The site has travel alerts, health and travel tips and keeps everyone up to date on the most recent health news around the globe.

The Travel Medicine site is also very important in vaccine recommendations because it allows you to look at a country on the site and see what diseases have been diagnosed in that specific country. If there are a high number of polio cases that have been diagnosed in a country for example, Duggan would highly recommend the polio vaccine for a student traveling to that country.

Students worrying about insurance on a trip can visit InsureMyTip.com.

Apart from Web resources, the Health Center offers travel counseling for all students. They offer counseling on a variety of topics including health issues, safety issues, where to find resources, how to be a careful traveler, etc.

"The health center was like my second home before I left for Spain," said Temple, "They just have so much information about traveling and they make sure that you are completely prepared before you leave."

Duggan also recommends the Lonely Planets books. Lonely Planet Publications is one of the largest travel guidebook publishers in the world. It was the first popular series of travel books aimed at backpackers and other low-cost travellers.

GENERAL INFORMATION

For students who are enrolled at Colorado State University, all of the traveling counseling at the Hartshorn Health Center is free. Students who are not enrolled in summer courses can go in before June 12 and still receive free counseling. After this date, there is a $25 fee for students or anyone throughout the year not enrolled as a student on campus.

A list of immunizations, costs and possible side effects can be found here.

Misconception About Excercising and Burning Calories

2009-05-30T16:12:00.002-06:00

According to Edward Melanson PhD, an associate professor of medicine, Exercising during the day does not make a person a fat burning machine for the next 24 hours.

This research was presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Seattle this month.

Moderate duration exercise of an hour or less has little impact on 24-hour fat oxidation. It's not that exercise doesn't burn fat, it's just that people replace the calories.

"Exercise increases the capacity to burn more fat," said Melanson, "But if you replace those calories, that is lost."

The point of the study is that people need to get out of the mind set that just because you are working out you can eat whatever you want, at least for people who are trying to lose weight.

If people are using exercise to lose body weight or body fat, they have to consider how many calories they are expending and how many they are taking in. Melanson said the goal is a negative fat balance. Get more information here.

Americans Still Avoiding Healthy Living

2009-05-29T11:32:00.003-06:00

A new study shows that recommendations on diet and exercise aren't getting through, reports WebMD. The research indicates that even though Americans know what they need to do to ward off cardiovascular disease and live longer, most still aren't making smart lifestyle choices.

In the June 2009 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers reported that only a small proportion of adults are engaging in physical activity on a regular basis, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetable, or working hard to maintain a healthy weight.

Study researchers Dana E. King, MD, MS said, "The potential public health benefits from promoting a healthier lifestyle at all ages, and especially ages 40-74 years, are substantial. Regular physical activity and a prudent diet can reduce the risk of premature death and disability from a variety of conditions, including coronary heart disease, and are strongly related to the incidence of obesity."

King says that the medical costs related to physical inactivity and its consequences are estimated at $76 billion.

The researchers write that men's healthy habits have decreased more than women in some areas and the percentage of women engaging in physical activity decreased by about 7%.

Among their conclusions is that more emphasis is needed on the importance of healthy lifestyle habits.

Alcoholism May be Predicted by Sensitivity to Alcohol

2009-05-27T20:57:00.003-06:00

A new study says the more you need to drink to feel the effects of alcohol, the greater your chance of becoming an alcoholic.

A low level of response to alcohol can lead a person to drink more heavily to get a buzz or other desired effects according to the article on MedicineNet.com.

The condition appears to be genetic and independent of other influences on alcohol usage, such as the age a person started drinking, family, history of alcohol abuse and body mass index according to the researchers.

It is also noted that having a more immediate reaction to alcohol would not guarantee that a person wouldn't develop a drinking problem because alcoholism is linked to many different factors.

Yo-Yo Dieting is Taking a Toll on Americans

2009-05-27T12:34:00.002-06:00

USA Today reports that yo-yo dieting is the most common outcome of efforts to lose weight. People are able to lose weight at first but the majority of them gain it back whether its over one year, two years, three years or five according to the article.

Psychologist Thomas Wadden says that it is natural for dieters to blame themselves when they regain weight. However, after losing weight, there's a cascade of biological responses designed to return you to your pre-diet levels. Wadden says that a hunger hormone called gehrelin increases, and a fullness hormone called leptin decreases.

The article goes into detail about other reasons why so many Americans can be considered "yo-yo" dieters which include the availability of food 24/7, lessening amounts of exercise in people's lives, and dieters setting "lofty goals".

Keith Ayoob, a registered dietitian says that people need to understand that losing weight is a process, not a sprint. It is diet, physical activity and the mental approach to food, food has to become less of a priority in our lives.

Texting May Be Causing Health Issues

2009-05-25T16:24:00.002-06:00

American teenagers sent an average of 2,272 text messages per month in the fourth quarter of 2008 according to the Nielson Company. That is nearly 80 messages a day.

The New York Times reports that all of this texting is starting to worry many physicians and psychologists who say it is leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation.

A pediatrician in Greenbrae, Calif., surveyed students at two local high schools and found that many were sending hundreds of texts every single day. The texts late at night are going to cause sleeping issues in this age group.

However, this rise in texting is too recent to have produced any conclusive data on health effects but it may be causing a shift in the way adolescents develop according to a psychologist's study found in the article.

Recession Causing a Change in Healthy Habits

2009-05-24T12:01:00.003-06:00

Two national surveys tell us that public health is being affected by the recession (MedicineNet).

The American Academy of Family Physicians says the recession and fears of money problems are causing people to do things such as skipping doctor's appointments and the gym, postponing preventive care, and eating more unhealthy foods.

The American Heart Association says in another survey that Americans are cutting back on exercise and eating low-cost fattening foods to save money which could worsen the nation's obesity problem.

This AHA survey found that 57% of people surveyed report that the economy has affected their ability to take care of their health. More statistics and information can be found in the article.

Almost 96,000 Pounds of Ground Beef Products Recalled

2009-05-23T08:29:00.004-06:00

The federal government announced Thursday that an Illinois meat producer recalled 95,898 pounds of ground beef.

CNN Health reports that the recall was designated as "Class One" by the Department of Agriculture from Valley Meats LLC of Coal Valley, Illinois, implying the health risks associated with eating the meat is high.

The Ohio Department of Health reported an outbreak of illness linked to the bacterium E. coli to federal authorities on May 13. Clusters of illnesses have also been reported in Pennsylvania and Illinois.

A list of the recalled products were posted on the USDA Web site, all of which were produced on March 10 and packaged under a variety of labels.

New Sunscreen Regulations Proposed by FDA Nearly Finalized

2009-05-21T13:52:00.006-06:00

According to new FDA regulations to be put in place by the end of this year, sunscreen labels will be changing. WebMD states that these changes have been designed to give consumers a better idea of the sun protection they are receiving from their sunscreen.

The new regulations will require sunscreen manufacturers to give information on the amount of ultraviolet A (UVA) screening provided by their products.

Many sunscreen label claims that you see now will be prohibited including claiming sun factors (SPF) of more than 50+. Many of the commonly seen phrases will also disappear including "sunblock" and "waterproof".

"No product can completely block out the rays from the sun and no product is completely waterproof," said Rita Chappelle of the FDA in an interview with WebMD.

Although the regulations are not completely finalized, the FDA is coming very close and proposed regulations are all coming together.

Getting Enough Sleep?

2009-05-20T16:12:00.004-06:00

According to a new study on WebMD, if you are trying to lose weight, a good night's sleep may help. This study, presented May 15-20 at the American Thoracic Society's International Conference in San Diego, had participants wear armbands that measured total activity, body temperature, body position, and other indicators of rest and activity.

Contrary to what was expected, the overweight participants were significantly more active and burned more calories per day than their normal-weight peers.

Lead researcher Am Eliasson, MD, said, "We found so many interesting links in our data. Primarily, we want to know what is driving the weight differences, and why sleep and weight appear to be connected."

Lack of sleep may disrupt natural hormonal balances that trigger overeating. Stress could also be a factor according to Eliasson. For more on sleep and weight, see "Healthy Eating & Diet".

Swine Flu Concerns Dwindling...

2009-05-19T11:23:00.009-06:00

Right now, the swine flu seems to be at the top of every one's worry list. According to CNN Health, the number of confirmed swine flu cases has almost reached 10,000.

Although there have been at least 79 deaths, swine flu has acted like a typical seasonal influenza which can usually be treated successfully but can be deadly among the very young, the very old and those with pre-existing health problems. Authorities have said this week that the outbreak may be less severe than they first suspected (CNN Health).

The number of cases may still be rising but a new poll released this morning from the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation found that only one in six Americans is worried that someone in their family will get the flu

According to the poll, 63% of those polled said they were never worried about the flu to begin with. In general, Americans worries about the flu seem to be calming. See more results here