Clipmarks | mykoo's 'health' clips

Cosmetics Could be Killing You!

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 13:24:41 GMT

clipped by: skydakini
clipper's remarks: Yuks! That is very terrible!

Cosmetics could be killing you

THE average woman absorbs two kilograms of chemicals from cosmetics a year - from cancer-causing compounds in face cream to arsenic in eyeshadow.

A typical woman's daily beauty regime may involve applying as many as 175 chemical compounds to their skin and hair.

Cosmetics contain many different kinds of chemicals, but of particular concern are a group of preservatives called parabens, which by some estimates are found in 99 per cent of all 'leave on' cosmetics, and 77per cent of 'rinse off' cosmetics.

These are known hormone disruptors: evidence suggests they can mimic the female hormone oestrogen, and a lifetime of increased exposure to oestrogen is linked to a heightened risk of breast cancer.

Chemical romance ... the average woman unwittingly eats five lipsticks a year, and that's just a small part of the cosmetic chemicals they absorb.

Tags: cosmetics, health, women's health, chemical

Do smokers deserve equal medical care?

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 17:05:52 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Do smokers deserve equal medical care?

Does a pack a day keep the doctor away? It could if you are a smoker in need of lung surgery. In 2006, a UK primary care trust announced that it would remove smokers from its surgery waiting lists to cut costs. Now, in the most recent issue of the BMJ, two medical ethicists debate whether or not this decision is ethical.

Matthew Peters of the Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Australia felt that denying smokers surgery is justified: “Smoking up to the time of any surgery increases cardiac and pulmonary complications, impairs tissue healing, and is associated with more infections and other complications at the surgical site.”

“It is also true that smoking is rarely the only risk factor for a poor out¬come, and smoking should not be considered to the exclusion of all others. Smoking is, however, unique in that its associated risk can be reduced substantially within a short period,” he adds in his piece.

But Leonard Glantz of the Boston University School of Public Health says that denying smokers healthcare because they have a stigmatized habit is outright mean. He says that we would then have to be prepared to deny medical attention to many other people with bad habits. “Do patients have a general obligation to get healthy as a condition of receiving treatment? Patients are not required to visit fitness clubs for eight weeks, lose 25 pounds, or take drugs to lower blood pressure before surgery.”

I think that this is a great ethical debate for the medical community. But I believe it’s an even better issue for smokers to discuss. Knowing that enjoying a cigarette before the operation could suck money out of the healthcare system – and thereby worsen someone else’s treatment – could make smoking before surgery a real drag.

Roxanne Khamsi, Online Reporter

Tags: smoking, health care, health, medicine, ethics

Vegetarianism: the Choice of the 'More Intelligent' Child

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 22:00:47 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: I could clip this just for the first sentence: "It's official - vegetarians really are smarter." Well, what can we say, thanks.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Vegetarianism: the Choice of the 'More Intelligent' Child

It's official - vegetarians really are smarter. But it is not because of what they eat. Bright children are more likely to reject meat and opt to become vegetarians when they grow up, a study has shown. Clever veggies are born not made.

The finding helps explain how a team of vegetarians won the BBC Test the Nation competition in September, when they beat off competition from six other teams including butchers, public school pupils and footballers' wives to achieve the highest overall IQ score.

The top scoring individual in the contest, Marie Bidmead, 68, a mother of five from Churcham, Gloucester, was also a vegetarian. "I think it shows we veggies are good thinkers. We think about what we eat for a start," she said.

Researchers from the University of Southampton who conducted the study agree. They suggest that vegetarians are more thoughtful about what they eat. But they say it is unclear whether bright children choose to become vegetarians for the health benefits or for other reasons, such as a concern for animals, or as a lifestyle choice.

The scientists began investigating the link between IQ and vegetarianism because people with higher intelligence have a lower risk of heart disease, which has long puzzled doctors.

A vegetarian diet is associated with a lower cholesterol level, lower blood pressure and less obesity - all risk factors for heart disease. The researchers wondered if this could explain the health advantage of having a high IQ. They cite Benjamin Franklin, the 18th-century statesman and scientist, who said that a vegetarian diet results in a "greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension". He may not have realised that this was because of whom was eating rather than what was eaten.

Tags: eating, health, intelligence, vegetarian

Poor Oral Hygiene Causes Heart Disease

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:52:36 GMT

clipped by: mykoo
clipper's remarks: BRUSH AND FLOSS!

Clip Source: health.yahoo.com

October 14, 2006 08:42:25 PM PST
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

SATURDAY, Oct. 14 (HealthDay News) -- When people think about poor oral hygiene, problems like decaying teeth, bad gums and offensive breath typically come to mind.

But experts say an unhealthy, bacteria-filled mouth can also lead to a host of problems throughout the body, such as heart disease, diabetes, blood infection and even low birth-weight babies.

And the culprit, more often than not, is gum disease.

"When you're looking at people who have gum disease, they are suffering from a chronic low-grade infection," said Jean Connor, a dental hygienist in Cambridge, Mass., and president-elect of the American Dental Hygienists' Association. "Your whole body is a little bit compromised."

A growing body of research is finding that gum disease -- sometimes called periodontal disease -- can exacerbate a wide array of health problems. And it's not something that just affects a small segment of the population. Four of every five Americans suffer from some form of gum disease, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Gum disease is suspected of contributing to ailments through the bloodstream. Bacteria from the mouth flood into the circulatory system and travel to other parts of the body, causing widespread inflammation.

Another possibility is that oral infections trigger the immune system, producing inflammation elsewhere in the body.

"If you had an infection in your finger and you left it, it eventually would affect the rest of the body," Connor said. "It's the same with your mouth."

"Gum disease produces a tremendous amount of bacteria," Connor said. "If you have a valve problem with your heart, the bacteria can invade and infect the heart."

Tags: health, gum disease, brushing, flossing, dentist, teeth, oral hygiene, heart disease, diabetes, disease

Study: Vegetables May Keep Brain Young

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:48:07 GMT

clipped by: mykoo
clipper's remarks: EAT MORE VEGGIES

Clip Source: www.happynews.com

By Associated Press
LINDSEY TANNER

Updated: 10/24/2006

New research on vegetables and aging gives mothers another reason to say ''I told you so.'' It found that eating vegetables appears to help keep the brain young and may slow the mental decline sometimes associated with growing old.

On measures of mental sharpness, older people who ate more than two servings of vegetables daily appeared about five years younger at the end of the six-year study than those who ate few or no vegetables.

The research in almost 2,000 Chicago-area men and women doesn't prove that vegetables reduce mental decline, but it adds to mounting evidence pointing in that direction. The findings also echo previous research in women only.

Green leafy vegetables including spinach, kale and collards appeared to be the most beneficial. The researchers said that may be because they contain healthy amounts of vitamin E, an antioxidant that is believed to help fight chemicals produced by the body that can damage cells.

Vegetables generally contain more vitamin E than fruits, which were not linked with slowed mental decline in the study. Vegetables also are often eaten with healthy fats such as salad oils, which help the body absorb vitamin E and other antioxidants, said lead author Martha Clare Morris, a researcher at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center.

The fats from healthy oils can help keep cholesterol low and arteries clear, which both contribute to brain health.

The study was published in this week's issue of the journal Neurology and funded with grants from the National Institute on Aging.

''This is a sound paper and contributes to our understanding of cognitive decline,'' said Dr. Meir Stampfer of Harvard's School of Public Health.

''The findings specific for vegetables and not fruit add further credibility that this is not simply a marker of a more healthful lifestyle,'' said Stampfer, who was not involved in the research.

Tags: health, vegetables, aging, brain, vitamin e

Taco Bell E. Coli Sickens 39 in New Jersey and New York

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:27:56 GMT

clipped by: mykoo

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

At least 39 people in central New Jersey and on Long Island were infected, two of them critically, with E. coli bacteria in an outbreak of food poisoning last month that has been traced to the Taco Bell restaurant chain, health officials in New York and New Jersey said yesterday.

It was the nation’s most serious outbreak of E. coli toxins since mid-September, when the same strain of the bacteria, linked to packages of contaminated spinach grown in California, killed three people and infected more than 200 in 26 states.

Taco Bell, which serves burritos, quesadillas and other Mexican specialties in 5,800 outlets in the United States and generated sales of $6.2 billion last year, voluntarily closed one outlet in South Plainfield, N.J., where 20 customers and 2 workers became infected, and eight other restaurants on Long Island, in what it called a temporary precaution to sanitize and restock outlets where E. coli had been traced.

Epidemiologists in New Jersey and New York said that no new cases had been reported since Wednesday but that they were continuing to monitor the situation. Taco Bell said it was cooperating with state investigators, who were still searching for the ingredient that carried the contamination. “Health officials have indicated that there is no immediate threat and whatever may have occurred has most likely passed through the system,” said Greg Creed, Taco Bell’s president.

Some health officials acknowledged that an announcement of the contamination had been delayed in New Jersey for several days, in part over concerns for possible overreaction by the public. Some critics questioned the delay.

Tags: taco bell, meat, e. coli, health