Bulge Zapper Not Available in US -- Yet

(Feb. 12) - A relatively new medical treatment has the potential to minimize some of those unsightly bulges -- without surgery. It's not approved in the U.S., but it may be in the future. So how much promise does the technology hold?
The UltraShape system uses a noninvasive ultrasound device designed to target and destroy fat cells only and leave surrounding tissue unaffected. The patient's body then naturally metabolizes the fat released from the cells, studies have found
MORE

Stress Adds Years to Face

Wrinkles are not due to genetics alone but also to stressful environmental factors, such as a divorce, abnormal weight loss and use of antidepressants, according to a study published Tuesday.

"A person's heritage may initially dictate how they age -- but if you introduce certain factors into your life, you will certainly age faster. Likewise, if you avoid those factors, you can slow down the hands of time," said study author Bahaman Guyuron, an American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) member. MORE.....

Teen TV Time Linked to Adult Depression

Teens who spend too much time watching television or playing video games have a higher risk for depression as young adults. And the more media teens were exposed to, the higher the risk, especially among males.

A study by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health and involved more than 4,100 teens who were not depressed when the survey began in 1995. They were asked how many hours they spent each day the previous week watching television, playing computer games or listening to the radio. (This was before the Internet was in wide use.) The teens reported an average media exposure of 5.68 hours each day. Seven years later, at an average age of 21.8, “Participants had significantly greater odds of developing depression for each hour of daily television views,” the authors wrote.

The odds of developing depression rose eight percent for each additional hour of television watched each day and five percent for overall electronic media.

Researchers aren’t sure exactly why watching television leads to depression, but study author Dr. Brian Primack said it could be linked to all the depressing events on television. “Television emphasizes bad news, and repeated exposure to it might be internalized,” he told HealthDay News.

TV commercials might also be at fault. “You see about 20,000 television advertisements a year, and a large proportion of them dwell on the fact that life is not perfect,” Primack said.

In addition television might be replacing other activities, such as social or athletic activities that protect against stress and depression, or television could cut down on the amount of sleep.

“It really does seem that television exposure is what occurs first and then depression is what occurs later,” said Dr. Primack. “This does not prove causality but it certainly suggests it.”

http://www.newsmax.com/health/teen_TV_adult_depression/2009/02/04/178278.html


Hormone Therapy Doubles Breast Cancer Risk

Post-menopausal women who take combined hormone replacement therapy for at least five years double their risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study published Wednesday.

However, once they stop taking the combination of estrogen and progestin their risk of cancer falls by at least 28 percent within one year, said the researchers at Stanford University in California.

"This is very strong evidence that estrogen plus progestin causes breast cancer," said Marcia Stefanick, co-author of the study that appears in the February 5 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. MORE.....

Beach Vacations May Increase Kids' Melanoma Risk

Spending vacations at the beach during childhood may increase the risk of the deadly skin cancer melanoma later in life, according to a study published Tuesday.

Researchers examined 681 white children born in 1998 who were lifetime residents of Colorado and conducted exams on the children when they were seven years old to identify nevi -- commonly known of moles -- which are a risk factor for developing melanoma. MORE.....

Brave Bad World! Cancer Survivors Declining Care Due to Costs

More than a million cancer survivors living in the United States are foregoing what they believe is necessary medical care due to the cost, and Hispanics and African-Americans are twice as likely to go without services, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference on the Science of Health Care Disparities.

“These survivors are either going without, or significantly delaying, dental care, general medical care, mental health care or prescription drugs,” said Kathryn Weaver, Ph.D., a cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute.

Although insurance status did play a role, foregoing care due to cost still persisted among the insured. “There are significant out-of-pocket expenses, even for those with insurance,” said Weaver.

Weaver and colleagues used data from the Center for Disease Control’s National Health Interview Survey to identify 6,602 adult cancer survivors. Of these survivors, 64.3 percent were female, 4.8 percent were Hispanic, 6.4 percent were non-Hispanic black and 88.8 percent were non-Hispanic white. The survey is conducted annually and questions about 30,000 to 40,000 households.

Overall, the prevalence of foregoing medical care due to cost was 7.8 percent for general medical care, 9.9 percent for prescription medication, 11.3 percent for dental care and 2.7 percent for mental health care.

Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics were 2.14-fold more likely to forego prescription medications due to cost concerns and African-Americans were 87 percent more likely to forego prescriptions. For dental care, Hispanics were 2.31-fold more likely to go without and African-Americans were 57 percent more likely.

These differences persisted after statistical adjustments for education, health insurance coverage and non-cancer medical comorbidities.

“Efforts to expand insurance coverage might go some way toward addressing these problems, but absent that, clinicians need to be more aware that their patients are not getting these services and work to try to connect them to charity or low-cost care,” said Weaver.

Losing Weight Can Cure Obstructive Sleep Apnea

For sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a new study shows that losing weight is perhaps the single most effective way to reduce OSA symptoms and associated disorders, according to a new study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, one of the American Thoracic Society’s three peer-reviewed journals. MORE

Dark Chocolate Fights Cancer

The great news this Valentine’s Day is that in addition to being decadent and delicious, moderate amounts of dark chocolate may play a role in cancer prevention,” said Sally Scroggs, M.S., R.D., L.D., health education manager at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Cancer Prevention Center.

Recent research indicates that dark chocolate’s chemicals, which act as antioxidants, have been shown to play a role in reducing cancer risks by helping to combat cell damage that can lead to tumor growth. These antioxidants occur naturally in the plant-based cacao bean, the base of all chocolate products. Cacao beans are, in fact, one of the most concentrated natural sources of antioxidants that exist.

MORE

Apple Juice Slows Alzheimer's Protein

Drinking apple juice helps slow the accumulation of the protein fragments that damage the brain in Alzheimer's disease, new research in mice shows.

The protein fragments, known as beta-amyloid, are the building blocks of the plaques that form in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

The findings don't suggest that Alzheimer's disease can be treated by gulping gallons of apple juice, but they do point to the importance of long-term nutrition in preventing aging-related changes like those seen in Alzheimer's disease, Thomas B. Shea of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, the co-author of the current study, said in an interview with Reuters Health.

MORE

How Much HFCS Is In Ketchup?

I was looking again at the quote from Con-Agra in regards to trace amounts of mercury found in HFCS-laced foods like ketchup, and the thing is, people don't just eat ketchup. HFCS is everywhere.

HFCS is also used as a sweetner in a vast array of common foods, from barbecue sauce to tomato soup.

The PR spokesperson said a person would have to eat 100 pounds of ketchup a day to reach the safe exposure levels. Ok then, let's reverse-engineer the quote. How much HFCS is in ketchup? Using that, plus the USDA's data that the According to the USDA, average person ate 128.3 pounds of HFCS in 2006, maybe we can figure out how much HFCS-related mercury people ingest a year, at least in the hypopthetical worse-case scenario where all HFCS has mercury.

Also, mercury builds up in the muscle of fish, does it do the same for humans?

If people are eating all this HFCS on the regular and little bits of mercury are adding up...then that's something worth looking into. It's not necessarily a crisis, but it's also not as trivial as the spokesperson tried to make it sound (imagine that).

PREVIOUSLY: Teeny Bits Of Mercury Found In High Fructose Corn Syrup Foods
(Photo: woohooitsallie)