http://www.health.am/ Health.am provides the latest RSS feeds for Breaking Health News. 2010-02-08T16:37:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/herbal-medicines-can-be-lethal-pathologist-warns/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/herbal-medicines-can-be-lethal-pathologist-warns/ A University of Adelaide forensic pathologist has sounded a worldwide warning of the potential lethal dangers of herbal medicines if taken in large quantities, injected, or combined with prescription drugs. A paper by Professor Roger Byard published in the US-based Journal of Forensic Sciences outlines the highly toxic nature of many herbal substances, which a large percentage of users around the world mistakenly believe are safe. “There’s a false perception that herbal remedies are safer than manufactured medicines, when in fact many contain potentially lethal concentrations of arsenic, mercury and lead,” Professor Byard says. Alternative Medicine, Drug Abuse 2010-02-08T17:37:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/slow-breathing-may-soothe-pain/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/slow-breathing-may-soothe-pain/ The simple practice of slow breathing may help people deal with the physical and emotional reactions to moderate pain, a small study suggests. Researchers say the findings, published in the journal Pain, offer support for the idea that yoga-style breathing exercises and meditation can help ease chronic pain. The study gauged pain responses among 27 women with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia and 25 healthy women the same age. Pain 2010-02-08T17:34:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/limited-tv-may-lower-childhood-obesity/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/limited-tv-may-lower-childhood-obesity/ A new national study suggests that preschool-aged children are likely to have a lower risk for obesity if they regularly engage in one or more of three specific household routines: eating dinner as a family, getting adequate sleep and limiting their weekday television viewing time. In a large sample of the U.S. population, the study showed that 4-year-olds living in homes with all three routines had an almost 40 percent lower prevalence of obesity than did children living in homes that practiced none of these routines. Other studies have linked obesity to the individual behaviors of excessive TV viewing, a lack of sleep and, to a lesser extent, a low frequency of family meals. But this is the first study to assess the combination of all three routines with obesity prevalence in a national sample of preschoolers. Children's Health, Obesity 2010-02-08T17:12:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/research-reveals-link-between-beer-and-bone-health/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/research-reveals-link-between-beer-and-bone-health/ A new study suggests that beer is a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density. Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, Davis studied commercial beer production to determine the relationship between beer production methods and the resulting silicon content, concluding that beer is a rich source of dietary silicon. Details of this study are available in the February issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Society of Chemical Industry. “The factors in brewing that influence silicon levels in beer have not been extensively studied” said Charles Bamforth, lead author of the study. “We have examined a wide range of beer styles for their silicon content and have also studied the impact of raw materials and the brewing process on the quantities of silicon that enter wort and beer.” Silicon is present in beer in the soluble form of orthosilicic acid (OSA), which yields 50% bioavailability, making beer a major contributor to silicon intake in the Western diet. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), dietary silicon (Si), as soluble OSA, may be important for the growth and development of bone and connective tissue, and beer appears to be a major contributor to Si intake. Based on these findings, some studies suggest moderate beer consumption may help fight osteoporosis, a disease of the skeletal system characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue.  Dieting, Food & Nutrition 2010-02-08T17:03:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/marijuana-ineffective-as-an-alzheimers-treatment/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/marijuana-ineffective-as-an-alzheimers-treatment/ The benefits of marijuana in tempering or reversing the effects of Alzheimer’s disease have been challenged in a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. The findings, published in the current issue of the journal Current Alzheimer Research, could lower expectations about the benefits of medical marijuana in combating various cognitive diseases and help redirect future research to more promising therapeutics. Previous studies using animal models showed that HU210, a synthetic form of the compounds found in marijuana, reduced the toxicity of plaques and promoted the growth of new neurons. Those studies used rats carrying amyloid protein, the toxin that forms plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s victims.  Neurology, Psychiatry / Psychology 2010-02-08T16:31:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/swine-flu-still-out-there-officials-caution/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/swine-flu-still-out-there-officials-caution/ H1N1 swine flu is still circulating around the world and still killing people, although it is on the decline everywhere, global health officials said on Friday. The H1N1 strain is the dominant form of influenza globally, but some seasonal strains are starting to emerge in China and Africa, the World Health Organization reported. The United States remains one of the hardest hit countries, but many Americans seem unconcerned and most have rejected the vaccine, according to a poll by the Harvard School of Public Health released on Friday. Swine Flu 2010-02-08T16:29:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/obama-says-healthcare-may-be-2010-election-issue/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/obama-says-healthcare-may-be-2010-election-issue/ President Barack Obama vowed on Thursday not to quit in his quest for a healthcare overhaul and said if the effort fails this year, Americans will render a judgment about it in November congressional elections. “The key is to not let the moment slip away,” he said. He spoke at a Democratic National Committee fund-raising reception at which he sought to boost the morale of party loyalists in the wake of the Democrats’ loss of a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate when Republican Scott Brown won in Massachusetts last week. Public Health 2010-02-08T16:28:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/do-video-games-lead-to-obesity/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/do-video-games-lead-to-obesity/ Obesity is a serious epidemic in the United States.  More than 66% of adults and nearly 33% of young children are considered overweight. In many areas of the United States - where people are busy and fast food is convenient - the obesity rates are even higher. Tracy Lewis, 37, of Reno, Ohio, stated that she is beginning to feel concerned about the health of her family. “All of us had just become couch potatoes,” she said. “My two teenage sons just played video games all day, and after dinner my husband and I just watched TV until it was time for bed.” Obesity 2010-02-07T11:45:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/toronto-hospital-offers-surgery-for-obese-teens/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/toronto-hospital-offers-surgery-for-obese-teens/ Canadian teenagers suffering from severe obesity, due to an accompanying medical condition, can now seek surgery to help them shed pounds. Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children has announced it will become the first health-care centre in Canada to offer weight-loss surgery for 12- to 17-year-olds in such a situation. The procedure, known as laparoscopic band surgery, is usually performed on obese adults. It involves wrapping an inflatable band around the stomach to restrict how much a person can eat or drink.  Obesity, Surgery 2010-02-07T11:42:01-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/obesity-remains-a-problem/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/obesity-remains-a-problem/ The number of obese and overweight third, fifth and eighth grade students in the Beaufort County School District has remained generally unchanged since last year, and obesity continues to be a “severe” problem in the county, according to a report released to the school board last week. Local health officials, however, say reversing the trend can take years. They see the most recent figures as a “leveling off.” And that, they say, is a step forward. “Any drop right now—any reduction—is actually considered going in right direction,” Matt Petrofes, regional health director for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, said last week. “It’s encouraging even to have a leveling-off. It’s the first step in trying to reverse the trend.” Obesity, Public Health 2010-02-07T11:40:01-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/study-fails-to-link-saturated-fat-heart-disease/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/study-fails-to-link-saturated-fat-heart-disease/ The saturated fat found mainly in meat and dairy products has a bad reputation, but a new analysis of published studies finds no clear link between people’s intake of saturated fat and their risk of developing heart disease. Research has shown that saturated fat can raise blood levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, and elevated LDL is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Because of this, experts generally advise people to limit their intake of fatty meat, butter and full-fat dairy. The American Heart Association (AHA) suggests that adults get no more than 7 percent of their daily calories from the fat; for someone who eats 2,000 calories a day, that translates into fewer than 16 grams of saturated fat per day.  Dieting, Fat, Dietary, Heart 2010-02-05T17:34:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/swine-flu-pandemic-hit-european-children/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/swine-flu-pandemic-hit-european-children/ The pandemic of H1N1 swine flu raised the death rate among children across Europe late last year but not adults, researchers reported on Thursday. Early reports showed about a 28 percent rise in deaths among children aged 5 to 14 in eight countries, Anne Mazick of the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark and colleagues found. This added up to about 77 deaths above what would normally be seen in that age group in those months, they reported in the online journal Eurosurveillance.  Swine Flu 2010-02-05T17:32:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/us-adults-forgo-routine-immunization/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/us-adults-forgo-routine-immunization/ Tens of thousands of American adults die each year from pneumonia, influenza and other infectious diseases that could be prevented by routine vaccinations, according to a report released Thursday. Only about a third of seniors were vaccinated in 2008 against pneumonia, a complication of seasonal flu, according to the report released by the Trust For America’s Health, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Merck and Co makes a vaccine called Pneumovax to protect adults against Streptococcus pneumoniae infections, which cause pneumonia and a range of other illnesses. But U.S. health officials say only about a quarter of adults who should get it ever do. Immunology 2010-02-05T17:29:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/high-sensitivity-to-stress-isnt-always-bad-for-children/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/high-sensitivity-to-stress-isnt-always-bad-for-children/ Children who are especially reactive to stress are more vulnerable to adversity and have more behavior and health problems than their peers. But a new longitudinal study suggests that highly reactive children are also more likely to do well when they’re raised in supportive environments. The study, by scientists at the University of British Columbia, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley, appears in the January/February 2010 issue of the journal Child Development. “Parents and teachers may find that sensitive children, like orchids, are more challenging to raise and care for, but they can bloom into individuals of exceptional ability and strength when reared in a supportive, nurturing, and encouraging environment,” according to Jelena Obradović, an assistant professor in the School of Education at Stanford University (Dr. Obradović was at the University of British Columbia when she led the study). Children's Health, Neurology 2010-02-05T17:08:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/health-stories-by-experts-more-credible-than-blogs/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/health-stories-by-experts-more-credible-than-blogs/ Health information written by a doctor is rated as more credible when it appears on a Web site than in a blog or a homepage, according to a study of college students. The findings highlight the relative importance of different online sources to people who seek health information on the Internet. “Most people look for health information online by keying disease symptoms into various search engines,” said S. Shyam Sundar, distinguished professor of communications, Penn State. “But the results of that search could range from experts at the Mayo Clinic to somebody’s personal blog.” Public Health 2010-02-05T16:57:00-08:00