This is the first time the rate of usage by children has been measured, and it seems to have surprised at least some of the doctors commenting on the study in this MSNBC story. Herbs are the most commonly used alternative, but there are many more: It’s the first time children’s use of such remedies, [...]
Archive for December, 2008
1/9 of U.S. Kids Use Alternative Medicine
Posted in Uncategorized on December 10, 2008 |
Food First: Feeding the Needy in Times of Economic Downturn
Posted in Uncategorized on December 10, 2008 |
Food banks, facing increased demand as the economic downturn reaches deeper into the middle class, are rising to meet the needs of those who need help the most. In some cases, they are doing it in new ways that better meet the health needs and cultural outlooks of the people they serve. From today’s NYT: No longer [...]
Nuts In Diet Cut Heart Disease Risk
Posted in Uncategorized on December 9, 2008 |
Addding nuts to your diet won’t help you lose weight, but it may well be good for your health. This is especially true if you have a small number of nuts as a replacement for a snack of chips or crackers. In the study, appearing Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the people who improved [...]
The Pain Is Real But The Scan Is Deceiving
Posted in Uncategorized on December 9, 2008 |
Most doctors are generally aware of this and most patients are not. There is a high rate of “false positives” with MRI scans. Let’s say you have knee pain and an MRI shows torn cartilage in the knee. It may seem logical to assume that the torn cartilage is the source of the knee pain. But [...]
America Shows No Overall Health Improvement Since 2004
Posted in Uncategorized on December 8, 2008 |
Holding steady isn’t always bad news, but in this case the health of the nation needs improvement and it’s not happening. From 1990 — when the rankings were first compiled — until 2004, overall health improved in all 50 states, and rates of smoking, infant mortality, violent crime, children in poverty, infectious disease, and premature [...]
When a Job Disappears, So Does the Health Care
Posted in Uncategorized on December 7, 2008 |
This New York Times article about the closing of a cookie factory in Ashland, Ohio, explains as well as anything I’ve seen the dysfunction of the current health insurance system in the United States. Darling, 27, was pregnant when she learned that her insurance coverage was about to end. She rushed to the hospital, took [...]
High Sodium Foods That Don’t Taste Salty
Posted in Uncategorized on December 6, 2008 |
Foods that don’t taste salty may nonetheless contain high levels of sodium, which increases the likelihood of developing high blood pressure, as well as aggravating already existing cases of hypertension. From the health section of the New York Times: Consumer Reports evaluated 37 brands available nationwide. Among the sodium-laden surprises uncovered by the analysis were [...]
One More Reason Not To Smoke
Posted in Uncategorized on December 5, 2008 |
Boys exposed to second hand smoke are more likely to develop a variety of behavioral problems. The researchers compared blood levels of cotinine — a byproduct of nicotine that accurately measures tobacco smoke exposure — to behavioral patterns observed in the children. Although girls in the study were on average exposed to higher levels of tobacco [...]
Research Shows Happiness Is Contagious
Posted in Uncategorized on December 5, 2008 |
Need a bit of good news amidst the cavalcade of recession, depression, war and impending climate disasters? Of course you do. Health research usually brings us either bad news about the health of individuals or groups, or news about a procedure that will make the bad news a little better. Not this story. Happiness is [...]
New York Times on Animal Agriculture and the Environment
Posted in Uncategorized on December 4, 2008 |
This topic seems to be breaking through in the mainstream media. Today, an article in the New York Times: That is why a group of farmers-turned-environmentalists here at a smelly but impeccably clean research farm have a new take on making a silk purse from a sow’s ear: They cook manure from their 3,000 pigs [...]
