Clipmarks | arifsali's 'health' clips

Health 'Facts' You Only Thought You Knew

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:46:33 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

In 45 years of writing about medicine and health, I’ve heard more than my share of myths and misinformation, from the merely nonsensical to the downright dangerous. And until I explored the evidence, I too occasionally fell for a “fact” that turned out to be less than met the eye.

The following myths owe something to both authors, and also to my own research. How well informed are you?

DRINK EIGHT GLASSES OF WATER A DAY

POISON IVY IS CONTAGIOUS

USE COTTON SWABS TO CLEAN YOUR EARS

DON’T SWIM AFTER EATING

SHAVING MAKES HAIR GROW BACK FASTER AND COARSER

COLON CLEANSING WASHES OUT POISONS

NATURAL IS SAFER THAN MAN-MADE

TAKE PAINKILLERS ONLY FOR SERIOUS PAIN

Tags: health, myths

Faith a Symptom or a Treatment?

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:29:07 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: newsweek.washingtonpost.com

To the degree that our faith is an expression of our wholeness, then faith can help our health. But faith for many is a neurotic attempt to hide from reality, or to lessen life’s fears and anxieties. Then it is a symptom of sickness not health and may well reveal itself somatically.

Faith is something one lives, not something one says or something one does. If that distinction is not grasped then much of it is nonsense.

John Shelby Spong

Tags: faith

Agency says 120,00 kids have month to live

Wed, 21 May 2008 02:35:05 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Famine fears for seven million Ethiopian children

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

EGU VILLAGE, Ethiopia (CNN) -- A year of drought and soaring food prices has threatened the lives of tens of thousands of Ethiopian children.

"We have nothing to feed our children," said Egu's village elder. "We are losing our children day by day."

Ethiopia's Health Ministry, along with UNICEF, monitors the health of thousands of children here, but the number of areas they have been able to regularly visit has been cut in half this year.

The small rains that normally allow Ethiopian farmers to plant a second crop each year did not come this year, adding to an already critical food shortage.

"It's an open crisis, and there are more people than we expected, than the government expected, who need additional food," said Bjorn Ljungqvist, head of UNICEF

There is a crucial shortfall in the supply of therapeutic foods used to treat children with severe acute malnutrition, the UNICEF official said.

Tags: food, ethiopia, health, kids, drought

Definition of premature ejaculation by International Society for Sexual Medicine

Fri, 16 May 2008 21:06:31 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.eurekalert.org

Despite the fact that it has long been a major concern for men, an evidence-based definition for premature ejaculation has not existed until now. In October 2007, the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) gathered the world’s leading sexual health experts to develop an evidence-based definition of premature ejaculation. Experts presented the definition to reporters in a special press conference on May 19th

at the 103rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association

The ISSM has defined premature ejaculation as “a male sexual dysfunction characterized by ejaculation which always or nearly always occurs prior to or within about one minute of vaginal penetration; and, inability to delay ejaculation on all or nearly all vaginal penetrations;

“For something that has such a profound effect on men young and old, there needs to be a definitive measure to diagnose premature ejaculation,”

said Ira D. Sharlip, M.D.,

Tags: health, sex, male

India children's health 'ignored'

Fri, 09 May 2008 19:11:38 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: More than half??

Well, the more visibility is good, eventually they will reduce the numbers as they progress.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

More than half of Indian children under the age of five do not get the health care they need, according to a report by Save the Children.

It ranks India alongside Ghana when it comes to providing basic health care to its children under five years of age.

The annual report looks at whether developing countries are delivering health care effectively to children.

It found the Philippines was performing best with almost 69% of children able to get access to health care.

Ethiopia ranks last - only 16% of children under five get health care when they need it.

Indian girls are more likely to die than boys

Tags: india, children, health, healthcare

An Uninsured Doctor in the House

Thu, 08 May 2008 17:54:26 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

When Steve Kagen became a member of Congress, he declined health insurance coverage. Now he has a plan to provide it for everyone

One of the first things U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen (D–Wisc.) did when he took office last year was to nix his congressional health care coverage. The move stunned a human resources staffer, who, the lawmaker says, looked at him as though he were insane.

"I'll respectfully decline until you can make that same offer for all of my constituents," he says he told her, explaining his decision to turn down what many say is the Cadillac of U.S. health plans.

Kagen, 58, is now one of millions of Americans, including at least nine million children, without health insurance. "I have absolutely no health coverage at all," he told ScientificAmerican.com during a recent interview. "I have no health conditions and am pretty darn healthy." And if he gets sick? "I'd be just like the 47 [million] to 50 million American citizens who don't have coverage,"

Tags: health, insurance, congress, politics, medical

Youth Demand Sex Education in Schools

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:33:49 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.ipsnews.net

Sahinaz Khatun, who is preparing for her school finals in a village in West Bengal state, has for the last two years kept condoms (and birth control pills) at her home and thinks nothing of discussing subjects like menstruation hygiene and masturbation with other adolescents.

Khatun is among the 200 young people attending the 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSH) demanding the right to sex education.

"Talking about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is not going to make us errant or licentious," she said, adding that there are people in her community who still feel this is not the right thing for a young unmarried woman to be doing. "In some ways they are right," she says. "But then schools and parents have absolved their responsibility."

She spoke vociferously against the ban on sex education recently imposed by 12 Indian state governments in their schools.

Tags: sex, education, india, asia

Bush Veto Baffles Some Republicans

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 21:12:40 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

In backing President Bush's veto of a children's health bill, many Republicans feel their party has picked the wrong issue to try to regain its long-lost reputation as guardian of prudent federal spending.

"So, the president of the United States is asking 15 Republicans to stand with him on an argument about government-run health care and deny American kids health care, and yet vote at the same time to give Iraq $190 billion,"

Tags: politics, united states, children, republicans

Diet-conscious Los Angeles eyes moratorium on fast-food outlets

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:59:43 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.csmonitor.com

The city council is set to vote on a measure next week that would put a two-year moratorium on new outlets in South L.A. amid concern about high obesity rates there.

"If you want it cheap and quick – McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken – we've got it," says the mother of two.

Some city officials see the myriad fast-food outlets as a health problem and are seeking change. "Fast food is primarily the only option for those who live and work here," says City Councilwoman Jan Perry. "It's become a public-health issue that residents be given healthier choices."

She has introduced a two-year moratorium on new fast-food outlets in this part of the city, where small, single-family homes dominate and gangs thrive in a rough urban landscape.

Tags: health, united states, fast food, politics

After the fighting ends, another war begins

Fri, 11 May 2007 05:12:49 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

A friend recently asked me about the mental health problems faced by veterans of the war on terror. It was a painful moment for me.

After a brief pause, I informed him that I had post-traumatic stress disorder. His look betrayed his "you, too" feeling. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 179,713 Vietnam War veterans are being compensated for PTSD. Nearly 16,000 veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom have been seen at VA medical centers for the disorder.

There are those who will tough it out. Each of us struggles because we are fighters, and this is an enemy, an emotional darkness, that we delude ourselves into thinking we can overcome. But improved testing and compensation are needed, a fact that a panel of medical experts from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council recommended this week to the VA.

Tags: opinion, united states, war, veterans, health

America ranks first in Health Expenditures Per Capita

Fri, 11 May 2007 02:19:39 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: marketplace.publicradio.org

The World Health Organization ranked the USA 37th of 191 countries for "overall health system performance," 72nd for "level of health," and first for "health expenditures per capita." And there's no way that mandatory health insurance is gonna help those numbers.

Real universal health care means getting every patient access to doctors, hospitals and prescription drugs whenever they need it, so that sick patients don't get sicker. And that saves money.

Instead, these companies back turning government into a collections agent for private insurers. That leaves American citizens bearing the burden of big costs and high-deductible insurance policies that discourage early treatment.

That's not reform. It's a bailout for insurers and drug companies that refuse to be accountable for the high prices they charge and the paltry health care they provide.

Tags: health, insurance, united states, corporations

Early baby sex test over the web

Fri, 04 May 2007 17:13:23 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A test is being sold on the internet that enables parents to check the sex of their unborn baby at just six weeks.

The kit, sold by DNA Worldwide for £189, is controversial. Critics claim it may prompt parents to abort if they are unhappy with the test result.

The company rejected these claims, saying the early results, obtained from a finger-prick of blood, allow parents more time to plan for their baby.

It says the test is 99% accurate and offers a refund for wrong predictions.

The concept of an early pregnancy sex test is not new - last year the UK's Institute of Child Health successfully trialled a similar "seven week" test.

Currently, some hospitals will tell a couple the sex of their child, if they want, at their 20 week ultrasound scan.

Many parents want to know the sex of their unborn child

Tags: health, technology, internet, babies, sex, dna, humans

Obesity Grows to Global Proportions

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:26:06 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.ffl.org

According to the World Health Organization, the obesity problem has reached epidemic proportions.

Globally, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults, at least 300 million of them obese.

Worldwide, 22 million children under age 5 are estimated to be overweight

Obesity and overweight pose a major risk for chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of cancer.

Tags: health, obesity, world, overweight, children

Weight gain in pregnancy linked to overweight in kids

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 00:59:13 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.news.harvard.edu

Study suggests need to examine current pregnancy weight guidelines

Pregnant women who gain excessive or even appropriate weight, according to current guidelines, are four times more likely than women who gain inadequate weight to have a baby who becomes overweight in early childhood. These findings are from a new study at the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention of Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and are published in the April issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"Maternal weight gain during pregnancy is an important determinant of birth outcomes," says lead author Emily Oken, instructor in the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention. "These findings suggest that pregnancy weight gain can influence child health even after birth and may cause the obstetric community to rethink current guidelines."

Tags: women, health, children, study

'Superfoods' Everyone Needs

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:51:11 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.webmd.com

Experts say more than a dozen easy-to-find 'superfoods' can do wonders for your health.

It's a bird ... it's a plane ... it's ... walnuts? Don't laugh. The humble walnut, along with a dozen other dietary choices -- from beans to yogurt -- is no less than a "superfood," say some health experts.

Pratt, an ophthalmologist who specializes in ocular plastic surgery at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., says he became convinced of the power of these basic foods when he saw the positive results of a few simple diet changes in his patients suffering from age-related macular degenerationmacular degeneration -- a leading cause of blindness.

Tags: food, health