Unofficially, this is Integrative Health Week in Washington, DC. The Institute of Medicine is holding its Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public. Click here for more information including streaming audio. Yesterday, Senator Barbara Mikulski chaired a hearing, Integrative Health as a Path To Health Reform. You can see the video here or [...]
Archive for February, 2009
Integrative Health Week in the Nation’s Capital
Posted in Uncategorized on February 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Low Vitamin D Tied to Dementia Risk
Posted in Uncategorized on February 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It’s not the primary cause of dementia associated with aging, but taking Vitamin D, and thereby raising your blood levels of the vitamin, appears to mitigate the risk. Scientists measured blood levels of the vitamin in a representative sample of 1,766 people over 65 and assessed their mental functioning with a widely used questionnaire. About [...]
Supplementing with B-6, B-12 and Folic Acid Lowers Risk of Macular Degeneration in Heart Disease Patients
Posted in Uncategorized on February 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Nutritional supplementation can help prevent macular degeneration, according to new research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine: In a randomized clinical trial, taking vitamin B6 and B12 (pyridoxine hydrochloride and cyanocobalamin) along with folic acid reduced the risk of the condition by 34%, according to William Christen, Sc.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and [...]
Lifestyle Strongly Influences Stroke Risk
Posted in Uncategorized on February 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The recommended changes, according to new research in the British Medical Journal, are the following: not smoking, being physically active, moderate alcohol consumption, and eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. People who did not practice any of the behaviors had more than a twofold increased risk of stroke compared with individuals who adopted [...]
Anger and Stress Really Can Kill You
Posted in Uncategorized on February 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Episodes of major anger can trigger cardiac arrest in people already prone to electrical instability of the heart, according to new research in the American Journal of Cardiology. “The people who had the highest anger-induced electrical instability were 10 times more likely than everyone else to have an arrhythmia in follow-up,” she said. Lampert said [...]
State-by-State Interactive Map of Smoking Bans
Posted in Uncategorized on February 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Public health consciousness spreads gradually, but it is spreading.
Home State of Philip Morris Bans Smoking in Restaurants and Bars
Posted in Uncategorized on February 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
If it can happen in Virginia, it can happen anywhere.
Vitamin Pills – A False Hope?
Posted in Uncategorized on February 17, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Today’s New York Times has a good summary of recent research that casts significant doubt on the preventive power of nutritional supplements. The latest news came last week after researchers in the Women’s Health Initiative study tracked eight years of multivitamin use among more than 161,000 older women. Despite earlier findings suggesting that multivitamins might [...]
Ethical Questions Raised About Drug That Could Erase Painful Memories
Posted in Uncategorized on February 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It’s a beta blocker being considered for use with posttraumatic stress disorder. Its use is raising serious questions about what makes us human, how we learn from experience, and much more. From The Daily Mail in Britain, a sampling of comments on the ethical dilemma: Professor John Harris, an expert in biological ethics at the University of [...]
Cash Payments Lead to More Smokers Quitting
Posted in Uncategorized on February 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This is a trend that’s catching on, in this case at one of the largest corporations in the United States. It’s cost-effective as well as humane. From the BBC: Smokers are three times more likely to kick the habit for at least six months when they are paid up to $750, a new study has [...]
