Clipmarks | wildcat's 'health' clips

Farms in the sky

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:49:57 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

What if "eating local" in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew off the grid, as verdant, self-sustaining towers where city slickers cultivated their own food?

Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, hopes to make these zucchini-in-the-sky visions a reality. Despommier's pet project is the "vertical farm," a concept he created in 1999 with graduate students in his class on medical ecology, the study of how the environment and human health interact.

The idea, which has captured the imagination of several architects in the United States and Europe in the past several years, just caught the eye of another big city dreamer: Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president in New York.

Despommier estimates that it would cost $20 million to $30 million to make a prototype of a vertical farm, but hundreds of millions to build one of the 30-story towers that he suggests could feed 50,000

Tags: farms, eating local, self-sustaining, skyscrapers

Healthy lifestyle triggers genetic changes

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:32:22 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: back on diet and exercise..

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Comprehensive lifestyle changes including a better diet and more exercise can lead not only to a better physique, but also to swift and dramatic changes at the genetic level, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

In a small study, the researchers tracked 30 men with low-risk prostate cancer who decided against conventional medical treatment such as surgery and radiation or hormone therapy.

The men underwent three months of major lifestyle changes, including eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products, moderate exercise such as walking for half an hour a day, and an hour of daily stress management methods such as meditation.

As expected, they lost weight, lowered their blood pressure and saw other health improvements. But the researchers found more profound changes when they compared prostate biopsies taken before and after the lifestyle changes.

Tags: health, lifestyle, genetics

Why Medicine Should Care Less About 'Sick,' More About 'Normal'

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:21:01 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.wired.com

If you had died 50 years ago, your body would have stood a pretty good chance of serving science. In the 1960s, autopsy rates at US hospitals exceeded 50 percent. Pathologists weren't necessarily looking for what killed people — they were taking advantage of the fact that a body was available and ready for inspection. There was still much to learn about normal human biology, the thinking went, so every corpse was an educational opportunity.

These days, autopsy rates have fallen below 10 percent, a decline that's symptomatic of a larger deficiency. Medicine has become all about finding a problem — a tumor, a heart attack, a failing kidney — and deploying advanced treatment technologies. In the process, we seem to have given up on measuring and tracking what constitutes normal. That's an alarming — and potentially dangerous — trend.

What's normal matters because we're entering a new era of health care

one in which we look not for causes of illness but for risks

Tags: health, medicine, normal, sick

Happiness Index Created

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:04:21 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Staying healthy and happy is a struggle for about half of Americans, according to a massive survey that attempts to measure the nation's general welfare, much like the Dow Jones Industrial Average portrays the health of the stock market.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, based on interviews of more than 100,000 people so far, shows that 47 percent of Americans are struggling and 4 percent are suffering. Forty-nine percent of respondents are reported to be thriving based on a personal assessment of how they feel about their lives at the time of the survey, and where they think they'll be in five years.

Pollsters asked people to imagine where they would put themselves on a ladder with 10 steps. Those said they were on step seven or above are listed as thriving. Those at four or below are suffering. In between are the strugglers.

Just as the U.S is not No. 1 when it comes to health measures, it also is not No. 1 in well-being, he said

Tags: happiness?, index?, suffering?

Human brain appears 'hard-wired' for hierarchy

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:50:36 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Human imaging studies have for the first time identified brain circuitry associated with social status, according to researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health. They found that different brain areas are activated when a person moves up or down in a pecking order – or simply views perceived social superiors or inferiors. Circuitry activated by important events responded to a potential change in hierarchical status as much as it did to winning money.

“Our position in social hierarchies strongly influences motivation as well as physical and mental health,”

Tags: brain, hierarchy, social

10 Ways You Can Improve Earth's Health

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:52:26 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

The scientific and political arguments surrounding the health of our planet can make the whole topic seem beyond the grasp of the individual. How fast is the climate changing? Exactly what effect to humans have? And what will the government do about it?

How we treat Earth also involves trillions of little decisions by billions of individuals.

That in mind, on this Earth Day, LiveScience presents 10 ideas for saving energy and otherwise cutting down on your impact on the planet. The list was compiled by the Earth Day Network organization and republished here with permission.

1. Change light bulbs

Highly efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) last for years, use a quarter of the energy of regular bulbs and actually produce more light.

2. Drive differently, or drive a different vehicle

3. Control your temperature

4. Tame the refrigerator monster

5. Twist some knobs

6. Plant smartly

7. Invest in green energy

8. Go organic

9. Buy recycled

10. Be a minimalist

Tags: earth, health, environment, minimalism

Communing with nature less and less

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:08:12 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.world-science.net

, outdoor activities are on the wane as people around the world spend more leisure time online or watching TV, researchers say. They worry that the trend will lead to fatter, unhealthier populations—and more environmental destruction, as people lose interest in both nature and its protection.

“There’s a real and fundamental shift away from nature—certainly here [in the United States] and possibly in other countries,” said Oliver Pergams, a biologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Activities as varied as hiking and fishing are dropping in popularity, the researchers said.

The researchers call this shift to sedentary, electronic diversions “videophilia.” It “has far-reaching consequences for physical and mental health, especially in children,” Pergams said. “Videophilia has been shown to be a cause of obesity, lack of socialization, attention disorders and poor academic performance.”

Unsupervised children are more sociable and more active

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:36:42 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Professor Mackett goes on to say: “Fears over road safety and ‘stranger danger’ need to be balanced against soaring levels of childhood obesity and poor health. Letting a child out to play is one of the best things a parent can do for their child’s physical health and personal development.

Clip Source: physorg.com

Youngsters who are allowed to leave the house without an adult are more active and enjoy a richer social life than those who are constantly supervised, according to a study conducted at UCL and reported in a special edition of the journal Built Environment (19th December).

Professor Mackett says: “We asked children whether they were allowed out without an adult and then looked at where they go and how they behave. In general, children who aren’t constantly supervised tend to leave the house more often – exploring their surroundings, playing with other children and using up more calories than their sedentary, house-bound peers.”

Key findings from the paper include:

-- Children allowed out without adult supervision are more active, being found at home less often. Statistically, they are more likely to be found playing out or visiting the homes of friends than children who aren’t allowed out alone.

Tags: social life, children

Has pollution spread to body?

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:38:28 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.startribune.com

Current studies of adults and children in the Twin Cities are a response to discoveries of industrial contaminants.

Adopting a style of research that has proved controversial in other states, Minnesota health officials are poised to test for arsenic in 100 children and for chemicals formerly made by 3M in 200 adults.

The 2008 studies will be part of a $2 million experiment in biomonitoring, which collects human tissue, hair, blood or urine to look for harmful contaminants.

The purpose is to learn what substances are actually in human bodies, rather than merely in the air, water or soil that pollution control officials typically measure.

"It's obvious to me that we're going to do more and more of this personalized medicine and risk analysis," said John Adgate, associate professor of environmental health science at the University of Minnesota.

"It has great promise but there's a lot of potential bumps in the road."

Tags: biomonitoring, health, medicine, life, contaminants, environment, body

The science of shivering

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:07:08 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University’s Neurological Sciences Institute have uncovered the system that tells the body when to perform one of its most basic defenses against the cold: shivering. The scientists have discovered the brain’s wiring system, which takes temperature information from the skin and determines when a person should start shivering. Their findings are published in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

“Shivering, which is actually heat production in skeletal muscles, requires quite a bit of energy and is usually the last strategy the body uses to maintain its internal temperature to survive in a severe cold environment.

Shivering is one of the many automatic and subconscious regulatory body functions, often called homeostatic functions, that the brain regulates

our ability to sense and respond to temperature changes degrades as we age.

Tags: shivering, science, health, survival mechanism

Water may hide harmful chemical cocktail

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:37:12 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: environment.newscientist.com

Next time you're washing your hair, spare a thought for your neighbours' health. A report by the UK's Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) says chemicals from consumer products and drugs could be breaking down and recombining into a harmful brew in water supplies.

The report, released on Monday, says synthetic chemicals in shampoos, perfumes, medicines and other healthcare products that are washed down the drain are sneaking through the filters at water purification plants. The list includes phthalates, a family of some 120 chemicals linked to reproductive problems in men and wildlife, and parabens, a preservative with a suspected link to breast cancer.

Though concentrations of such chemicals in water are probably too low to be harmful, the effects of their breakdown products are poorly understood, says Jeff Hardy of the RSC. "We do not know if the breakdown products affect the health of people." The cocktail effect may also make these chemicals more harmful, he adds.

Tags: water, science, life, environment

Where You Live Could Kill You

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:21:10 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Mortality, like real estate, can be all about location.

People living in the parts of the Mississippi Delta, Appalachia, the Coastal Plains along the southern East Coast, as well as residents of northern Nevada have the highest mortality rates nationwide.

Alternatively, if you're committed to longevity, your best locational bet is a move to the certain counties in Montana, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, North Dakota and South Dakota, according to a new study comparing mortality rates in counties nationwide.

Sociologist Lynne Cossman of Mississippi State University describes the situation in this month's issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

It's a mystery as to exactly why lifespan is related to where you live, she said.

"There's no easy way to explain, so far, how death is rooted in place," Cossman said. "But, place matters; that's clearly the case."

Tags: mortality, longevity, health, real estate, life

A little plaster goes a long way

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:02:27 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Getting ‘plastered’ has a whole new meaning thanks to a device the size of a band aid which monitors a patient’s health and wellbeing via a mobile phone.

Toumaz Technology, a company based on Imperial College London research, won the electronic category in the prestigious 2007 Institution of Engineering Technology (IET) Innovation Engineering Award for its Sensium Ultra Low-Power Wireless Body Monitoring System, better known as the ‘digital plaster’.

Toumaz Technology’s disposable digital plaster sticks to a patient’s chest and has an ultra low power wireless smart sensor in a silicon chip attached to the plaster, which monitors in real-time a range of vital signs like ECG, body temperature, respiration and physical activity.

This information is processed and sent to a base station where an electronic medical record is kept. When needed, the information is instantly downloaded by a health practitioner to a mobile phone for analysis.

Tags: health, medicine, technology, digital plaster

Antibacterial chemical disrupts hormone activities

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:49:46 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

A new UC Davis study shows that a common antibacterial chemical added to bath soaps can alter hormonal activity in rats and in human cells in the laboratory—and does so by a previously unreported mechanism.

The findings come as an increasing number of studies – of both lab animals and humans – are revealing that some synthetic chemicals in household products can cause health problems by interfering with normal hormone action.

Called endocrine disruptors, or endocrine disrupting substances (EDS), such chemicals have been linked in animal studies to a variety of problems, including cancer, reproductive failure and developmental anomalies.

“This finding may eventually lead to an explanation for some rises in some previously described reproductive problems that have been difficult to understand,” said one author, Bill Lasley, a UC Davis expert on reproductive toxicology and professor emeritus of veterinary medicine. More analyses of antibacterials and endocrine effects are planned, he said.

Tags: antibacterial, hormones, health

Herbal extract found to increase lifespan

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:22:38 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Rhodiola rosea, also known as the golden root, grows in cold climates at high altitudes and has been used by Scandinavians and Russians for centuries for its anti-stress qualities. The herb is thought to have anti-oxidative properties and has been widely studied.

Clip Source: physorg.com

The herbal extract of a yellow-flowered mountain plant indigenous to the Arctic regions of Europe and Asia increased the lifespan of fruit fly populations, according to a University of California, Irvine study.

Flies that ate a diet rich with Rhodiola rosea, an herbal supplement long used for its purported stress-relief effects, lived on an average of 10 percent longer than fly groups that didn’t eat the herb. Study results appear in the online version of Rejuvenation Research.

“Although this study does not present clinical evidence that Rhodiola can extend human life, the finding that it does extend the lifespan of a model organism, combined with its known health benefits in humans, make this herb a promising candidate for further anti-aging research,” said Mahtab Jafari, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences and study leader. “Our results reveal that Rhodiola is worthy of continued study, and we are now investigating why this herb works to increase lifespan.”

Tags: herbs, longevity, health, rhodiola