Being overweight puts a greater burden on women's health than men's, a new study shows... In their report, the researchers suggest several explanations for the gender differences. "To me what makes more sense is that there's just a lot more social stigma associated with being overweight amongst females, and that that causes a lot more stress and distress," Muennig said. "There's evidence showing that high levels of stress can increase your risk of morbidity and mortality." The findings provide evidence, he added, that "the message that women are getting in the mass media about their weight is actually more harmful than we previously thought."

Permalink| Posted @ 12:20 AM | Comments: 0

People who ate a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on a standard American Diabetes Association diet, researchers said on Thursday.

They lowered their cholesterol more and ended up with better kidney function, according to the report published in Diabetes Care, a journal published by the American Diabetes Association.

Participants said the vegan diet was easier to follow than most because they did not measure portions or count calories. Three of the vegan dieters dropped out of the study, compared to eight on the standard diet.

"I hope this study will rekindle interest in using diet changes first, rather than prescription drugs," Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine, which helped conduct the study, told a news conference.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:09 AM | Comments: 0

America's amateur golfers are an unhealthy group, according to an unscientific online survey published in the August issue of Golf Digest. Among the results from the 514 mostly male subscribers who responded, 66 percent are overweight... Among survey respondents, 76 percent consume an average of 6.8 alcoholic drinks per week. Nine percent admitted to drinking 10 or more beers during a round of golf... Thirty percent said they were unable to finish a round because of an ailment.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:36 AM | Comments: 0

Time Inc., a major magazine publisher, said Tuesday it would stop publishing Teen People but keep the magazine's Web site operating. The magazine, whose circulation has been slipping over the past few years, was launched in 1998... a Time Inc. spokeswoman, cited a "challenging" advertising market in the company's decision to close down the magazine... Ealier this year publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media closed its Elle Girl magazine but also kept the Web site.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:01 AM | Comments: 0

Your parents were right, don't study with the TV on. Multitasking may be a necessity in today's fast-paced world, but new research shows distractions affect the way people learn, making the knowledge they gain harder to use later on.

The study, in Monday's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also provides a clue as to why it happens.

"What's new is that even if you can learn while distracted, it changes how you learn to make it less efficient and useful," said Russell A. Poldrack, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

That could affect a lot of young people. A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation last year found third-graders through 12th-graders devoted, on average, nearly 6 1/2 hours per day to TV and videos, music, video games and computers.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:01 AM | Comments: 0

There's another weapon in the war against sunburn and skin cancer, and it comes in the form of a pill.

Heliocare, made from the extract of a tropical fern that has been used for generations in folk medicine to treat skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema, is an herbal supplement that you can take daily to prevent sun damage.

Heliocare won't stop you from getting burned, but it will help you if do get burned, says Dr. Jessica Wu, a dermatologist in Los Angeles. So, you still need to wear sunscreen.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:02 AM | Comments: 0

WASHINGTON Jul 21, 2006 (AP)— You don't have to be an astronaut anymore to experience walking in space. All you need is $35 million and the willingness to risk your life. A private Virginia firm that already has sent three super-rich men to the international space station for $20 million each announced Friday it would offer an even rarer adventure: A stroll outside the space station for an extra $15 million.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:18 AM | Comments: 0

BALTIMORE - Hotel operator Marriott International Inc. said Wednesday that all of its hotels in the United States and Canada will be smoke-free starting in September.

The move follows an industry trend, said analyst William Crow of Raymond James & Associates. The Westin Hotel chain made its rooms smoke-free in February, followed in March by Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. Other hotels have been steadily reducing their inventory of smoking rooms in recent years. "It's probably a precursor of what's to come," said Crow. "Given where we are as a country, the no-smoking laws that have been put in place, we'll probably see other chains jump on board."

Permalink| Posted @ 12:01 AM | Comments: 0

As many as 1.5 million people are sickened by bacterial pollution on Southern California beaches each year... that between 627,800 and 1,479,200 "excess" cases of gastrointestinal illness occur at the beaches each year. That is beyond the number that would normally be expected. Gastrointestinal illness is most commonly associated with swimming in contaminated water and causes such symptoms as stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:01 AM | Comments: 0

Inadequate sleep: causes a decrease in leptin, which boosts appetite and produces obesity, and increases ghrelin, a potent stimulator of hunger and appetite.

Chemical contamination: The water, soil, and food to which we are exposed increasingly are contaminated with chemicals... that accumulate in the body and mimic or interfere with hormones that regulate body functions.

Heating and air-conditioning: Living in an environment that is excessively cold or warm forces the body to expend calories...

Smoking cessation: Smoking also kills appetite

Medications: Most of the medications frequently prescribed to moderate moods and depression or treat other mental illness... promote weight gain.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:47 AM | Comments: 0

The average temperature for the continental United States from January through June 2006 was the warmest first half of any year since records began in 1895... Last month was the second warmest June on record and nationally averaged precipitation was below average.... The global surface temperature was second warmest on record for June.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:36 AM | Comments: 0

A 2005 study done by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network showed that digital mammography diagnosed 28 percent more cancers in women under 50 with dense breasts, making digital mammography a better option for them. But current digital systems are sometimes too expensive for many hospitals and imaging centers.

Until now. Radiologists hope that the Food and Drug Administration's approval of a new, cheaper digital system will allow more women to benefit from this newer technology.

The Fuji Computer Radiology for Mammography is not the first digital system approved by the FDA, but at half the price of other digital-screening machines, it is more cost effective, and its design works better.

Permalink| Posted @ 1:50 PM | Comments: 0

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to release... guidelines this summer that would expand HIV screening to all adults in the United States... If this happens, it means that just about anybody over the age of 13 could be asked by their doctor, "Would you like an HIV test?"... At least 25 percent of Americans infected with HIV are unaware of their status, according to the CDC... Unlike the early days of the virus in the 1980s, HIV testing is today more accurate, and the disease itself can be treated as a chronic disease, meaning people can live a normal life span... "Today, in my mind, it would be almost criminal to not test more widely for HIV. … The reason people are dying today [from HIV/AIDS] is that they are diagnosed late.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:01 AM | Comments: 0

CHICAGO - Two new studies give one more reason to eat a diet rich in fish: prevention of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in old age... A study of 681 elderly American men showed that those who ate fish twice a week had a 36 percent lower risk of macular degeneration. In the other study, which followed 2,335 Australian men and women over five years, people who ate fish just once a week reduced their risk by 40 percent.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:03 AM | Comments: 0

Pork recently took the lead over its main competitor, chicken, in the battle to be the leanest white meat. An analysis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that a 3-ounce piece of pork tenderloin had 2.98 grams of fat while a 3-ounce skinless chicken breast contained 3.03 grams of fat... The race to make pork as healthy as chicken began 25 years ago when the industry realized that Americans wanted healthier, low-fat meat options. Leaner hogs brought a better price, so the industry had an incentive to breed pigs with less fat.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:01 AM | Comments: 0

CHICAGO - Healthy adults taking maximum doses of Tylenol for two weeks had abnormal liver test results in a small study, researchers found, raising concerns that even recommended amounts of the popular painkiller might lead to liver damage.

In the study, 106 participants took four grams of Tylenol — equivalent to eight extra-strength Tylenol tablets — each day for two weeks. Some took Tylenol alone and some took it with an opioid painkiller. Dummy pills were given to 39 others.

There were no alarming liver test results among the people who took the placebos. But nearly 40 percent of people in all the other groups had abnormal test results that would signal liver damage...

Permalink| Posted @ 12:01 AM | Comments: 0

Ever read the same paragraph three times? Or get to the end of a page and realize you don't know what you just read? ... In a new study of college students... The readers who zoned out most tended to do the worst on tests of reading comprehension a significant, if not surprising, result. The study also suggested that zoning out caused the poor test results, as opposed to other possible factors, such as the complexity of the text or the task.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:01 AM | Comments: 0

Within the scientific community, siblings have not been wholly ignored, but research has been limited mostly to discussions of birth order. Now investigators are looking at ways brothers and sisters steer one another into -- or away from -- risky behavior; how all siblings compete for family recognition and come to terms -- or blows -- over such impossibly charged issues as parental favoritism.

Permalink| Posted @ 1:46 PM | Comments: 0

The committee of experts that advises the federal government on immunization policy yesterday recommended that the new vaccine that prevents most cases of cervical cancer be given to all 11- and 12-year-old girls... The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine would become the first vaccine against a sexually transmitted disease on the list of immunizations all children should get.

Permalink| Posted @ 12:09 AM | Comments: 0