Busting fitness myths
Buffalo News - Sat Mar 31
Those conflicting reports about exercise and nutrition — believe them or not — are really fitness fiction. Workout myths such as “no pain, no gain,” and diet fads that have you gorging on grapefruit can actually cause more harm than good. The secret to total body fitness — that magic combination of cardio-respiratory well being, muscular tone and nutritional balance — depends not only on your commitment to a healthy lifestyle, but your understanding of what it takes to get there.

Flash Stimulation Of The Circadian Visual System
MedNewsToday - Sat Mar 31
The mammalian -1ber-clock in the supra-chiasmatic nucleus (SCN) sets the circadian rhythm based on photic input received over the day/night cycle. Resetting the clock with light stimulation occurs after continuous pulses, in which phase shifts result from integration or "photon counting" of long, relatively dim light pulses.

Bush’s Global AIDS Effort Limited by Restrictions
NY Times - Sat Mar 31
The president’s program should move from an emergency response to a long-term battle plan, a panel of experts said.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Merck-Diabetes.html
Merck Wins FDA's OK for Diabetes Pill
NY Times/AP - Sat Mar 31
A 2-in-1 medicine to treat diabetes has won federal approval, Merck & Co. Inc. said Saturday. The tablet, called Janumet, combines a proprietary Merck drug with the older diabetes drug metformin.

Merck diabetes pill combination wins U.S. approval
Reuters - Sat Mar 31
Merck & Co Inc. has won U.S. approval to sell a medicine called Janumet that combines two diabetes medicines into a single pill, the Food and Drug Administration said on Saturday. Janumet pairs Merck's drug Januvia with a widely used, older generic medicine called metformin. Both drugs help control blood sugar in patients with Type 2 diabetes, the most common form.

France urges care on skinny models but rejects ban
Reuters - Fri Mar 30
France will not ban skinny models from Paris catwalks but will introduce a voluntary charter to make the fashion industry more aware of the health risks of being very thin, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

U.S. global AIDS effort urged to stress prevention
Reuters - Fri Mar 30
The U.S. program fighting AIDS globally needs to put more emphasis on prevention and helping hard-hit nations in their long-term battle against the disease, an expert panel said on Friday while also faulting congressional mandates on program spending.

MIT's ocean model precisely mimics microbes' life cycles
BiologyNews.net - Thu Mar 29
Scientists at MIT have created an ocean model so realistic that the virtual forests of diverse microscopic plants they "sowed" have grown in population patterns that precisely mimic their real-world counterparts. The Darwin Project is a new cross-disciplinary research project at MIT connecting systems biology, microbial ecology, global biogeochemical cycles and climate.

Childhood Obesity: Danger Zone
Food Network - Thu Mar 29
Obesity—it's the fastest growing cause of disease and death in our country, and it's attacking more than 12 million of our children. The Food Network goes to the front lines of the childhood obesity epidemic to find out what's fueling the explosion in overweight children and teenagers and what parents, teachers, doctors and public officials are doing to fight a problem the U.S. Surgeon General calls "more serious" than terrorism. (see WKRN/AP report below.

For Athletes, the Next Fountain of Youth?
NY Times - Thu Mar 29
The latest curative leap to heal professional athletes and weekend warriors alike may sound like science fiction, but it could transform sports medicine. Some doctors and researchers say that in a few years the use of primitive stem cells from infants’ umbilical cord blood could grow new knee ligaments or elbow tendons creating a therapy that becomes the vanguard of sports injury repair.

Merck Cancels Work on a New Insomnia Medication
NY Times - Thu Mar 29
Two weeks after the Food and Drug Administration issued safety warnings about widely used sleeping pills, the drug maker Merck canceled a venture into the shifting market for insomnia medications. Merck and its Danish partner, H. Lundbeck, announced that a safe and effective sleeping pill had eluded their scientists after years of study, and they canceled their joint product, gaboxadol.

CDC Says Easter Chicks Carry Health Risk
NY Times/AP - Thu Mar 29
Easter is right around the corner and so is the threat of salmonella carried by baby chicks often given to children as springtime gifts, health officials warned Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 81 people in 22 states fell ill last spring after contracting salmonella from chicks.

Salmonella outbreaks linked to baby poultry exposure
Reuters - Thu Mar 29
You may decide that a baby chick or duckling is not the best pet for your child after considering the implications of today's report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a recent salmonellosis outbreak that was traced back to these little creatures.

Obesity boosts prostate cancer mortality
Reuters - Thu Mar 29
Obese men diagnosed with prostate cancer are more than twice as likely to die of the disease than their leaner peers, a new study shows. They also have more than triple the risk that the cancer will spread beyond their prostate gland.

Reaching 100 years: A wish granted
Salt Lake Tribune - Thu March 29
Martha Johnson always wanted to live to be 100. On March 6, Johnson's lifelong wish was granted - she was a centenarian. But don't ask her about the secret of her longevity. She has no magic formula.

Al Roker Makes Child Obesity Documentary"
WKRN/AP - Thu Mar 29
As a youngster, Al Roker shopped for clothes in the "husky" section of the department store, "like someone was going to strap me to a dog sled." The phrase may be out of style, but the need for plus-sized clothes has only increased. The 52-year-old NBC personality kept his own experiences with weight control in mind while producing a documentary on childhood obesity for the Food Network.

Study: 1 in 8 Semitruck Drivers Doze Off Behind the Wheel
WSAW - Thu Mar 29
More than a million people drive semitractor trailors, and a surprising number say at one time or another they've dozed off behind the wheel - one of out eight, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Repeated long haul flights cause problems for air crew
Xinhua - Thu Mar 29
Menstrual cycle problems and transient psychotic disorders are just some of the dangers faced by air crew who repeatedly work long haul routes, according to a study reported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The symptoms of jet lag are diverse and are caused by inappropriate timing of the body clock in the new time zone.

Why Isn't Everyone Eating Healthy Foods?
Ivanhoe - Wed Mar 28
America's obesity epidemic may be fueled in part by the lack of affordable and available healthy food choices for the lower income populations. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore report people with less money are more likely to buy cheaper, unhealthier foods.

Indonesia to Send Bird Flu Samples, With Restrictions
NY Times - Wed Mar 28
Indonesia said yesterday that it would resume sending samples of avian flu virus to the World Health Organization for research purposes, on the understanding that they would not be shared with commercial vaccine makers. As a result, the W.H.O. will be able to continue tracking the evolution of the virus there and designing vaccines against the latest strains.

Children's Ads Show Lots of Junk Food
NY Times/AP - Wed Mar 28
In a child's buffet of food commercials, more than 40 percent of the dishes are candy, snacks and fast food. Nowhere to be found: fresh fruit, vegetables, poultry or seafood.

New Delhi Court: Don't Smoke and Drive
NY Times/AP - Wed Mar 28
Smoking poses serious health risks. So does driving in New Delhi. And combining the two is deadly, according to two New Delhi judges who have barred smoking at the wheel, officials said Tuesday, apparently the first such ban in the world.

Sedentary behavior linked to high blood sugar
Reuters - Wed Mar 28
People who tend to be sedentary -- as indicated by the amount of time they spend watching television -- are likely to have high levels of glucose in their blood, even though they may not be diabetic.

Magilton Changes Training Drill
Sportinglife.com - Wed Mar 28
Ipswich manager Jim Magilton has restructured training at the club for afternoon sessions starting at 3pm. "The general amount of your games are at three o'clock on a Saturday. So if you train towards that then your body clock is set to that.

#44 Tackles Obesity
Buccaneers.com - Tue Mar 27
Derrick Brooks will chair a newly-formed council on physical fitness initiated by Florida Governor Charlie Crist. A Fitting Role for one of the most decorated defensive players in NFL history. Tampa Bay Buccaneer LB Derrick Brooks has made a habit of raising his game when it matters most. Also: Story from Tampa Tribune

Meanwhile: Mr. Fussy is feeling very sleepy...
IHT/Boston Globe - Tue Mar 27
All the fascinating news about sleep! It has been keeping Mr. Fussy awake at night. First, the government of France announced that its citizens, doubtless fatigued by the rigors of the 35-hour workweek, needed more rest. The country's Health Ministry explained that 56 percent of the population blamed their poor job performance on inadequate sleep.

One of city’s oldest citizens dies at age 107
(Nanaimo, BC) News Bulletin - Tue Mar 27
When Sophie Barton was born on Dec. 13, 1899 in Ellisboro, Northwest Territories, she was born into a time of hardship. Nobody would have expected her to live as long as she did. On Monday, Barton died at the age of 107

Indonesia Agrees Share Bird Flu Samples
NY Times/AP - Tue Mar 27
Indonesia's health minister agreed Tuesday to start sending bird flu samples to the World Health Organization immediately. Minister Siti Fadiliah Supari nation has been hardest hit by bird flu, with 66 human deaths.

Dental Health: Treating Gum Disease May Ease Other Ailments
NY Times - Tue Mar 27
Intensive treatment of gum disease may lead to improved blood flow and significantly reduced inflammation in the body, a new study reports. Previous studies had come to similar conclusions, but this was the first clinical trial, the researchers said.

Runs, Hits and Calories
NY Times - Tue Mar 27
Scripted schedules, living out of a suitcase and pressure for peak performance. It is the life of the business traveler and of the professional baseball player. But major leaguers have advantages that business travelers do not. They have an off-season, spring training and a professional medical staff helping to maximize work, rest and food.

Scientists Explore Ways to Lure Viruses to Their Death
NY Times - Tue Mar 27
There are only a few basic ways to fight viruses. A vaccine can prime the immune system to attack them as soon as they invade the body. If a virus manages to establish itself, a doctor may be able to prescribe a drug to slow down its spread. And if all else fails, a doctor may quarantine a patient to head off an epidemic.

Scientists Hope Vigilance Stymies Avian Flu Mutations
NY Times - Tue Mar 27
Just exactly what is the bird flu virus doing? The virus, H5N1, which was first isolated in humans in 1997, has not started a pandemic in a full decade of trying, so a few flu experts think it never will. But the mainstream view is less optimistic.

When the U.F.O.’s Land, It’s Time for a Long Nap
NY Times - Tue Mar 27
Business travel is a lot like space travel. I should know. I used to direct the fatigue countermeasures program at NASA, where we studied the effects of space travel on astronauts. And as an independent scientist, I am constantly traveling on business, so I see how frequent fliers handle exhaustion.

You Are Also What You Drink
NY Times - Tue Mar 27
What worries you most? Decaying teeth, thinning bones, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, cancer, obesity? Whatever tops your list, you may be surprised to know that all of these health problems are linked to the beverages you drink — or don’t drink. Best choice: Water.

Good bedtime habits best cure for insomnia
(Memphis) Commercial Appeal - Mon Mar 26
If you have problems sleeping, you have plenty of company. Many people have problems adjusting to Daylight Saving Time. Others stay awake after working a night shift or traveling overseas. Health problems keep some people up.

Aged, Frail and Denied Care by Their Insurers
NY Times - Mon Mar 26
Tens of thousands of elderly Americans have received life-prolonging care as a result of their long-term-care policies. With more than eight million customers, such insurance is one of the many products that companies are pitching to older Americans reaching retirement. Yet thousands of policyholders say they have received only excuses about why insurers will not pay.

Poor Countries Battle WHO Over Bird Flu
NY Times/AP - Mon Mar 26
The World Health Organization might guarantee that poor nations get access to bird flu vaccines in the event of a pandemic, the top WHO flu official said Monday, hoping to end a dispute triggered by Indonesia's decision to stop sharing virus samples.

Candidates Outline Ideas for Universal Health Care
NY Times - Mon Mar 26
Seven Democratic candidates for president promised Saturday to guarantee health insurance for all, but they disagreed over how to pay for it and how fast it could be achieved.

Why Do We Sleep?
Slate - Mon Mar 26
How we long for a good night's sleep. More than 40 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders, and this month, a National Sleep Foundation survey found that 60 percent of American women say they get enough sleep only a few nights a week (men weren't asked). Small wonder, then, that U.S. sales for sleeping pills hit $3.7 billion last year and are on the rise, according to IMS Health, a health-care information company. We are taunted by Lunesta's luminous moth.*

Crist promotes physical fitness
Tallahassee.com - Mon Mar 26
Hey, kids. Gov. Charlie Crist wants to pump you up. Crist, who is known for swimming 20 laps a day and grinding through 250 crunches, wants to spend $1.3 million on the commission to help fight what health officials are calling an epidemic of obesity in Florida’s youth. They estimate that more than 20 percent of girls and 30 percent of boys are overweight and that more than half do not take physical education in school.

Wake up to sleeping better
(Albany) Times-Union - Mon Mar 26
There's been a lot of talk about sleep lately. A recent Boston University School of Medicine study reported a link between insomnia and diabetes. Doctors have found that not getting enough quality sleep can increase your arterial aging and risk for heart attack.

Active self-care improves blood sugar control
Reuters - Mon Mar 26
Adults with type 1 diabetes, sometimes referred to as "juvenile diabetes," who use an insulin pump, have better control over their blood sugar levels if they actively participate in self-care; have realistic expectations of pump performance; and have a clear recollection of how they felt when they were first diagnosed with diabetes, according to results of a new stud

More walking, less TV help new moms trim down
Reuters - Mon Mar 26
Walking, avoiding trans fats, and turning off the TV may go along way toward helping new mothers pare off extra post-baby pounds, a new study shows.

Trans fats linked to greater heart disease risk
Reuters - Mon Mar 26
A study published today supports recent efforts to rid the American diet of trans fats. In the study, women with the highest levels of trans fat in their blood had triple the risk of heart disease as those with the lowest levels.

Happy nuns, pack wolves and the rat race
Aspen Times - Sun March 25
Eat right. Exercise. Spend time with your friends. It's a simple prescription for treating everything from depression to osteoporosis.

Study: Alcohol, Tobacco Worse Than Drugs
NY Times/AP - Fri Mar 23
New ''landmark'' research finds that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than some illegal drugs like marijuana or Ecstasy and should be classified as such in legal systems, according to a new British study.

Special Report: Family Weight
Parenting/USA Weekend - Fri Mar 23
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the number of obese and overweight Americans is dangerously on the rise. Today, approximately 16% of children ages 6 to 19 fall into that category, as do a whopping 65% of adults. And even though the numbers vary slightly according to sex and ethnicity, no group is immune.

U.S. lowers number its says have no health insurance
Reuters - Fri Mar 23
The U.S. government said on Friday it has overstated by almost 2 million people the number of Americans who have no health insurance, lowering the figure to 44.8 million.

Low-carb diet speeds initial weight loss: study
Reuters - Fri Mar 23
In a study of overweight and obese people, those who went on a low carbohydrate diet lost more weight -- and more fat -- than their peers who went on a low-fat, portion-controlled diet. After 12 weeks on the low-carb plan, study participants had lost an average of 4.9 kilograms (10.8 pounds), compared to 2.5 kg (5.5 pounds) for their peers on the low-fat diet.

Antarctic melting may be speeding up
Reuters - Fri Mar 23
Rising sea levels and melting polar ice-sheets are at upper limits of projections, leaving some human population centers already unable to cope, top world scientists say as they analyze latest satellite data.

Global warming may be bad for asthma sufferers
Reuters - Fri Mar 23
Getting the blame: Longer plant growing seasons and signs that weeds scattering vast amounts of pollen are conquering new territory. But higher temperatures might bring benefits for some sufferers because house mites and viruses that thrive in winter in centrally heated homes will not flourish if people do not need to use their heat systems.

Asia to test human bird flu vaccine this year
Reuters - Fri Mar 23
An experimental H5N1 bird flu vaccine for humans will be tested in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan this year and will involve more than 1,000 people, a coordinator for the project said.

Cells Use 'Noise' To Make Cell-fate Decisions
Science Daily - Fri Mar 23
Electrical noise, like the crackle heard on AM radio when lightning strikes nearby, is a nuisance that wreaks havoc on electronic devices. But within cells, a similar kind of biochemical "noise" is beneficial, helping cells transform from one state to another, according to a new study led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center (Systems Biology) researcher.

Health divide in city
(England) Coventry Observer - Thu Mar 22
A massive gap in life expectancy has been exposed between those living in the richest and poorest parts of the city. Residents in well off parts of the city such as Earlsdon, Cheylesmore and Green Lane, will, on average, live an extra five and a half years compared to residents in Foleshill, Henley and Lower Stoke.

‘I hate this!’ Readers sound off about exercise
MSNBC - Thu Mar 22
“I hate, hate, hate it!” That’s how 32 percent of you responded in our survey about exercise. In fact, the “I hate, hate, hate it!” response was the far-and-away survey winner, considering that 24 percent of readers who participated said they merely “tolerate” exercise, 25 percent said they don’t mind it most of the time, and 19 percent described themselves as fitness fanatics.

F.D.A. Rule Limits Role of Advisers Tied to Industry
NY Times - Thu Mar 22
Expert advisers to the government who receive money from a drug or device maker would be barred for the first time from voting on whether to approve that company’s products under new rules announced Wednesday for the F.D.A.’s powerful advisory committees.

Scientists discover obesity clue
Orlando Sentinel - Thu Mar 22
Scientists know that the hormone leptin plays a crucial role in the body's regulation of appetite and fat storage. They also know that obese people no longer respond normally to leptin, much in the same way that diabetics become resistant to insulin. Here's a new piece of the puzzle. In experiments with obese mice, researchers were able to identify the exact cells in the brain that appear to be involved with leptin resistance.

Dutch hope to invent foods that prevent obesity
Reuters - Thu Mar 22
Scientists in the Netherlands are developing a new generation of foods that can help prevent obesity by making people eat less. The Top Institute Food and Nutrition is also developing food ingredients which can stop an obese person from developing diabetes.

FDA chief defends agency openness
Reuters - Thu Mar 22
The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration defended the agency against charges that staff scientists are pressured to withhold their concerns about possible risks of prescription drugs. That came out at a congressional hearing in the wake of new warnings on a Sanofi-Aventis antibiotic.

Short walk may curb the urge to light up
Reuters - Thu Mar 22
Just 5 to 10 minutes of exercise can significantly cut cravings for cigarettes among people trying to kick the habit, UK researchers report. "Relatively small doses of exercise should be recommended as an aid to managing cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms," Dr. Adrian H. Taylor of the University of Exeter and colleagues conclude.

Untreated insomnia leads to substantial costs in U.S.
Reuters - Thu Mar 22
Untreated insomnia among adults in the United States generates significant direct and indirect costs, according to a report in the medical journal "Sleep," so treating this condition is probably cost-effective. Not just in health care costs, but insomnia also leads to lost days of productivity at work.

"Food Police" Slams Chinese Food
CBS - Wed Mar 21
Chinese Food Loaded With Calories, Salt, But Has Some Redeeming Features — Veggies. Like almost all restaurants, Chinese food is loaded with stuff bad for waistline and your blood pressure.

Closing the Black-White Life Expectancy Gap
Ivanhoe - Wed Mar 21
Over the years, several factors have contributed to the gap that exists between life expectancies in blacks and whites. The factors linked to shorter lifespans for blacks include homicide rates, HIV infection, unintentional injuries, and instances of heart disease in black women. Now, a recent study reveals the racial life expectancy gap could be coming to a close thanks to overall decreases in these risk factors.

Doctors’ Ties to Drug Makers Are Put on Close View
NY Times - Wed Mar 21
There is nothing illegal about doctors’ accepting money for marketing talks, and professional organizations have largely ignored the issue. But research shows that doctors who have close relationships with drug makers tend to prescribe more, newer and pricier drugs — whether or not they are in the best interests of patients.

Obesity Drives US Surgical Procedure Volumes Higher
PRNewswire - Wed Mar 21
Millennium Research Group has conducted a detailed analysis of surgical procedures in its US Surgical Procedure Volumes 2007 report. The report finds that over 11 million Americans are considered morbidly obese, and by 2011, over 13 million will be- driving the volume of surgical procedures in the US throughout the next five years.

Plant foods may cut breast cancer risk
Reuters - Wed Mar 21
Postmenopausal women who eat healthy amounts of plant foods rich in estrogen-like compounds called lignans may reduce their risk of developing breast cancer, according to a new study... consuming large amounts and varieties of fruits, vegetables and whole-grain cereal products daily (foods rich in lignans) may also help.

Dietary patterns linked to type 2 diabetes risk
Reuters - Wed Mar 21
Avoiding meats and fatty foods and eating lots of salads and cooked vegetables appears to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to study findings published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Artery risk looms in seemingly healthy patients
Reuters - Wed Mar 21
People diagnosed with clogged arteries have a one-in-seven chance of dying, having a heart attack or stroke, or of being admitted to the hospital within a year, even if they feel fine, researchers reported.

Health alert over Tamiflu, bird flu spreads in Myanmar
Reuters - Wed Mar 21
Japanese health officials issued an alert over giving flu drug Tamiflu to teenagers on Wednesday as Myanmar reported a further outbreak of bird flu in poultry.

Chinese restaurant food draws criticism
Seattle PI/AP - Wed Mar 21
The typical Chinese restaurant menu is a sea of nutritional no-nos, a consumer group has found. A plate of General Tso's chicken, for example, is loaded with about 40 percent more sodium and more than half the calories an average adult needs for an entire day.

Smoking Reduces Life Expectancy
TopCancerNews - Wed Mar 21
According to the American Cancer Society, smoking damages most organs in the human body and is linked to at least 10 different cancers. Smoking accounts for nearly 30 percent of all cancer deaths. Yet one in four Americans still lights up. So how many days are you taking away from the longevity of your life every time you light up.

FDA Approves First-Ever Non-Prescription Diet Pill
BYU.net - Tue Mar 20
Students might find a new over-the-counter version of a diet pill that blocks fat effectively, but should still focus on eating healthy foods and exercising, a BYU physician and a nutrition expert said. Alli, the first non-prescription diet pill, was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration and will be available to anyone over 18 this summer.

Faulty body clock may cause mania
NewScientist - Tue Mar 20
Mice with a gene mutation that disrupts their sleep cycles show signs of hyperactivity and addictive tendencies, a new study reveals. Researchers say that such "manic" behaviour displayed by the animals bolsters the theory that glitches in the body's internal clock can cause psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar disorder.

Disparities: Secondhand Smoke Effects May Vary in Children
NY Times - Tue Mar 20
African-American children tend to have more tobacco-related illnesses than other children do, and a new study suggests that part of the problem may be that they react to secondhand smoke more strongly. Writing in the March issue of the journal Chest, researchers say there is reason to think black children may take in more of tobacco smoke’s harmful components.

Rise of a Deadly TB Reveals a Global System in Crisis
NY Times - Tue Mar 20
The spread of a particularly virulent form of tuberculosis in South Africa illustrates a breakdown in the global program that is supposed to keep the disease, one of the world’s deadliest, under control. During a tuberculosis outbreak in South Africa, patients often infected one another in clinics not designed to allow a quick quarantine.

Tracing the Cigarette’s Path From Sexy to Deadly
NY Times - Tue Mar 20
For many Americans, the tobacco industry’s disingenuousness became a matter of public record during a Congressional hearing on April 14, 1994. There... chief executives of the seven largest American tobacco companies.... solemnly swore to tell the whole truth... each one stated that he did not believe tobacco was a health risk and that his company had taken no steps to manipulate the levels of nicotine in its cigarette.

Drug firm money not always disclosed by MDs
Reuters - Tue Mar 20
Laws that mandate the disclosure of payments to physicians by pharmaceutical companies provide limited public information, according to a new report.

U.S. black-white life expectancy gap shrinking
Reuters - Tue Mar 20
The life expectancy gap between whites and African Americans in the U.S. has narrowed since 1993, thanks largely to declines in homicide rates, HIV mortality, accidental deaths and heart disease mortality among women, a new report shows.

WHO trying to get bird flu vaccine agreement
Reuters - Tue Mar 20
World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday they are "scurrying" to reach an agreement that ensures developing countries most at risk from an influenza pandemic will get the vaccines they need.

House drug safety bill has additional review
Reuters - Tue Mar 20
U.S. regulators would have to conduct an additional review of a prescription drug's risks seven years after approval under a bill introduced on Monday that expands on a Senate measure requiring evaluations for the first three years.

Indonesian woman dies of bird flu -health ministry
Reuters - Tue Mar 20
A 21-year-old Indonesian woman has died of bird flu, bringing the human death toll in the country from the virus to 66, a health ministry official said.

Thai bird flu strain found to be resistant to drug
Reuters - Tue Mar 20
Scientists have found that a strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus circulating in Thailand is resistant to the flu drug amantadine, and they called for rigorous study of H5N1 strains to better treat human victims.

Secret to slim kids? Just a little running around
Reuters - Tue Mar 20
Just 15 minutes a day of kicking around a ball or swimming might be enough to keep children from becoming obese, British and U.S. researchers said on Monday. A study of 5,500 children who agreed to wear a motion sensor device showed that those who exercised more were less likely to be obese -- and that short bursts of intense activity seemed to be the most helpful.

It's not just your face -- smoking ages skin
Reuters - Tue Mar 20
Smoking not only can wrinkle the face and turn it yellow -- it can do the same to the whole body, researchers report. The study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, shows that smoking affects the skin all over the body -- even skin protected from the sun.

Gene Controlling Circadian Rhythms May be Involved in Onset of Bipolar Disorder
Yuba.Net/UT SW Med Cntr - Tue Mar 20
Disrupt the gene that regulates the biological clocks in mice and they become manic, exhibiting behaviors similar to humans with bipolar disorder, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

Exercise Seems to Curb Smoking Desire
CNN/AP - Mon Mar 19
As little as five minutes of exercise seems to help smokers curb their craving for a cigarette, a review of a dozen studies found. The research showed that moderate exercise, such as walking, significantly reduced the intensity of smokers' nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

Fruit Juice drinks are WORSE for your diet than soft drinks and other
Common Voice - Mon Mar 19
Elementary schoolchildren who regularly consume juice and other fruit drinks are about twice as likely to be overweight or obese. And the more juice children drink, the more likely they will be too fat according to a survey of the diets of more than 2000 children.

Keep active through 80s
Edmonton Journal - Mon Mar 19
Exercise for every decade fitness throught the ages. Your body at 14 is different than at 40 or 70. Your exercises should be, too. In this series, a doctor and a fitness expert share the dos and don'ts of working out at every decade.

Technician devoted to a good night's sleep
(Sarasota) Herald Tribune - Mon March 19
As head technician at Sarasota Memorial Hospital's sleep disorder center -- lead polysomnographer, in the parlance of the sleep trade -- Debbie Garofalo's job involves watching people sleep and then figuring out what they're doing wrong.

Americans Need More Fruits and Veggies
Ivanhoe - Mon Mar 19
You are supposed to have two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetable each day, according U.S. health guidelines. However, the vast majority of Americans are missing out on these healthy foods. Two new studies reveal most Americans are not eating the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables.

Why Atkins Was Wrong
(Lakeland) Ledger/NYT Synd - Mon Mar 19
Despite the big splash made by a recent Stanford University study suggesting that the Atkins diet produces more weight loss at one year than several alternatives, I persist in my long-held view that the diet is just plain silly, and a bad idea. Food is the fuel that runs the human body, and its effects go far beyond anything a bathroom scale can measure.

Survey: Fewer N.Y. Women Are Smoking
NY Times/AP - Mon Mar 19
Smoking has dropped sharply among the city's women since 2002, according to a survey released Monday by health officials. The number of female smokers over 18 dropped from 630,000 in 2002 to 507,000 in 2005, the last year for which numbers were available, according to the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Community Health Survey, a random telephone survey of 10,000 residents.

Arteries benefit from smoking cessation: study
Reuters - Mon Mar 19
A smoker's arteries can lose their tobacco-induced stiffness after the habit is kicked but it can take them up to a decade to get back to normal levels, according to a new study

Bird flu experts back calls on vaccine access
Reuters - Mon Mar 19
Health experts support calls to give developing nations access to pandemic flu vaccines at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting to discuss global findings on bird flu. Some 100 experts from around the world gathered in southern Turkey to summarize laboratory findings on human infection with the H5N1 flu virus and identify gaps for future research on treatment of the disease.

Bush's health care plan not most effective: study
Reuters - Mon Mar 19
At least two of the health care proposals being presented to Congress would cover all or nearly all of the Americans who lack health insurance, and many would lower spending, too, according to an independent report. Many of the plans would do more to cover uninsured Americans and lower costs than President George W. Bush's proposals, said the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund

Eating extra soy may not promote weight loss
Reuters - Mon Mar 19
Adding soy-protein-rich foods while cutting calories doesn't accelerate weight loss, a new study shows. Overweight women who ate 500 fewer calories a day than normal while consuming an extra 18 grams of soy-rich food daily for 12 weeks didn't lose any more weight than their peers who didn't add the extra soy.

Restricting Intake of Calories Might Help Increase Longevity
Washington Post - Mon Mar 19
Scientists have found new clues to how restricting the number of calories someone consumes may help increase longevity. A number of studies found that severely restricting the caloric intake of rodents, fruit flies, worms and other animals makes them live longer.

Stronger, Faster, Smarter
MSNBC/Newsweek - Sun Mar 18
Exercise does more than build muscles and help prevent heart disease. New science shows that it also boosts brainpower—and may offer hope in the battle against Alzheimer's. Aerobic exercise makes you grow hippocampal cells.

Facing Life With a Lethal Gene
NY Times/AP - Sun Mar 18
The test, the counselor said, had come back positive. Katharine Moser inhaled sharply. She thought she was as ready as anyone could be to face her genetic destiny. She had attended a genetic counseling session and visited a psychiatrist, as required by the clinic. She had undergone the recommended neurological exam. And yet, she realized in that moment, she had never expected to hear those words.

Without Mouth-to-Mouth, CPR Still Works
NY Times/AP - Sat Mar 17
Chest compressions — not mouth-to-mouth resuscitation — seem to be the key in helping someone recover from cardiac arrest, according to new research that further bolsters advice from heart experts.

CPAP Reduces Levels of C-Reactive Protein
Best Syndication - Fri Mar 16
Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a higher serum level of inflammatory markers and a brain infraction have an elevated risk of stroke, according to Japanese researchers. The silent brain infraction can be detected using brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Sleep Apnea can be diagnosed with a sleep study, but symptoms include snoring and pauses in breathing while asleep.

Finnish scientists discovered a new approach to treat virus-induced lymphomas
Innovations - Fri Mar 16
Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is a human tumor virus and an etiological agent for Kaposi’s sarcoma and primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). PELs are aggressive lymphomas with reported median survival time shorter than six months after diagnosis. Researchers at the University of Helsinki research program for Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, discovered activation of the p53 pathway offers a novel effective treatment modality for KSHV-infected lymphomas.

Better Blood Sugar Management Cuts Hospital Stay
Ivanhoe - Fri Mar 16
Doctors who follow a standard plan for blood sugar control in diabetic patients hospitalized with foot ulcers will send their patients home sooner. That's the key finding from researchers at Stroger Hospital of Cook County in Chicago who looked at outcomes for 23 type 2 diabetes patients admitted to their facility for diabetic foot ulcers surgery.

CPR study: Nix the mouth-to-mouth
LA Times - Fri Mar 16
Overturning a century of conventional medical wisdom, Japanese researchers reported Thursday that simple chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth ventilation save twice as many heart attack victims as traditional CPR. For patients with apnea — a cessation of breathing — 6.2% of those who received only compressions survived to the one-month mark compared with 3.1% who had conventional CPR.

Mechanism proposed for fructose syrup-obesity link
FoodNavigator - Fri Mar 16
Scientists studying the effects of ingesting fructose syrup have reported a possible mechanism that may explain the alleged link between rising obesity and sweetened beverages. The study could increase pressure on formulators to remove the ingredient from their products.

Judge rules tobacco ad curbs extend overseas
Reuters - Fri Mar 16
The federal judge who sanctioned cigarette makers last year for violating U.S. racketeering laws ruled on Friday that some marketing restrictions she imposed should apply outside the United States.

Sleep apnea a risk for heart disease, stroke
Reuters - Fri Mar 16
A growing number of studies suggest that the nighttime breathing disorder, sleep apnea, can contribute to a range of cardiovascular diseases, according to researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

BMI doesn't work to gauge excess fat in athletes
Reuters - Fri Mar 16
Standard body mass index (BMI) measurements are an inaccurate way to judge whether college athletes and non-athletes are carrying too much fat, a new study shows.

This was world's warmest recorded winter
Reuters - Fri Mar 16
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the combined global land and ocean surface temperature from December through February was at its highest since records began in 1880.

Expert says revamp pensions U.S.-style
Reuters - Fri Mar 16
British workers should be automatically enrolled into workplace pension schemes which have "longevity insurance" built in, an American expert in the field said

'World's oldest man' turns 116
Sydney Morning News - Fri Mar 16
A former shepherd presumed to be the world's oldest living person celebrated his 116th birthday with a glass of champagne - diluted with water and fruit juice. Hyrhory Nestor jokes he remained unmarried because he valued the freedom of single life and attributes his longevity to clean living and religious observance.

NSF Back FDA Sleep Drug Label Changes
NSF - Thu March 15
Regarding “FDA Requests Label Change for All Sleep Disorder Drug Products:” The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) applauds the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for conducting a post-marketing analysis of adverse reactions that have been reported following use of prescription sleep aids.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients Show Silent Brain Infarction Lesions
NewsWise - Thu Mar 15
Patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea who have significantly higher serum levels of inflammatory markers that serve as precursors to coronary artery disease, as well as lesions associated with silent brain infarction, have an elevated risk of stroke, according to a group of Japanese medical researchers.

FDA: Biotech Knockoffs Earn Lower Status
NY Times/AP - Thu Mar 15
Copycat versions of pricey biotech drugs may be relegated to a status below that of generic versions of traditional chemical drugs, the head of the Food and Drug Administration suggested Thursday.

FDA Says Pills Can Cause 'Sleep - Driving'
NY Times/AP - Thu Mar 15
All prescription sleeping pills may sometimes cause sleep-driving, federal health officials warned.. almost a year after the bizarre side effect first made headlines when Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car... It's a more complicated version of sleepwalking, but behind the wheel: getting up in the middle of the night and going for a drive -- with no memory of doing so.

F.D.A. Warns of Sleeping Pills’ Strange Effects
NY Times - Thu Mar 15
The most widely prescribed sleeping pills can cause strange behavior like driving and eating while asleep, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday, announcing that strong new warnings will be placed on the labels of 13 drugs. The agency also ordered the makers of the well-known drugs Ambien and Lunesta and the producers of 11 other commonly used sleeping pills to create patient fliers explaining how to use them safely.

CDC: Too Few Eating Fruits, Vegetables
NY Times/AP - Thu Mar 15
Fewer than a third of American adults eat the amount of fruits and vegetables the government recommends, a trend that's remained steady for more than a decade, health officials said Thursday. That's ''well below'' the government's goal of getting 75 percent of Americans to eat two servings of fruits and having half of the population consume three servings of vegetables each day by 2010...

Americans still not eating their veggies, CDC says
Reuters - Thu Mar 15
Americans are not eating anywhere near enough fruits and vegetables and are putting themselves at risk of heart disease, cancer and other health problems... Fewer than a third of more than 300,000 people surveyed in 2005 said they ate the absolute minimum recommended number of fruits and vegetables, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers found.

Binge drinking and drug abuse a problem on campuses
Reuters - Thu Mar 15
About half of U.S. college students binge drink or abuse drugs, and the number who abuse prescription medication such as painkillers is up sharply, a report released on Thursday found.

World’s Oldest Man Credits Spuds
(NZ) Scoop - Thu Mar 15
The world’s oldest man, who turns 116 today, puts his longevity down to a diet of potatoes and healthy outdoor living.

Kentucky Democrats discuss cigarette tax hike
WHAS/AP - Thu Mar 15
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lunsford on Wednesday left open the possibility of raising Kentucky’s cigarette tax as part of a plan to expand health care coverage, putting him at odds with other Democrats in the race.

Jobs for early birds and night owls
CNN/CareerBuilder - Wed Mar 14
There's a bitter divide in the workplace. On one side of the divide there are the morning people, alert and perky as they arrive at their desks earlier than necessary, brimming with enthusiasm for the workday ahead. And then there are the night people, who during the first hours of the workday can only manage to shoot angry looks from heavy-lidded eyes at their impossibly chipper co-workers.

Study: Quick Walks May Help Smokers Quit
NY Times/AP - Wed Mar 14
As little as five minutes of exercise could help smokers quit, says a new study. Research published in the international medical journal Addiction showed that moderate exercise, such as walking, significantly reduced the intensity of smokers' nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

FDA orders stronger warnings on sleep drugs
Reuters - Wed Mar 14
Popular sleep drugs such as Ambien and Lunesta can cause odd and potentially dangerous behaviors such as driving while asleep as well as severe allergic reactions that warrant stronger warnings, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.

Sleep apnea common in adults with pacemakers
Reuters - Wed Mar 14
Nearly two thirds of heart patients with implanted pacemakers have undiagnosed sleep apnea, a significantly higher prevalence than found in the general population

Sleep Disorders Can Impair Children's IQs as Much as Lead Exposure
Std Newswire - Wed Mar 14
Three decades ago, medical investigators began sounding the alarm about how lead exposure causes IQ deficits in children. Today, researchers at the University of Virginia Health System say children with sleep disorders can face similar risks of intellectual impairment.

Keeping the body in sync -- The stability of cellular clocks
Biology News Net - Wed Mar 13
A study in Switzerland uses the tools of physics to show how our circadian clocks manage to keep accurate time in the noisy cellular environment. In an article appearing March 13 in the journal Molecular Systems Biology, researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne demonstrate that the stability of cellular oscillators depends on specific biochemical processes, reflecting recent association studies in families affected by advanced sleep phase syndrome.

Will Baby Boomers Retire In Worse Shape Than Predecessors?
Med News Today - Tue Mar 13
Americans in their early to mid-50s today report poorer health, more pain and more trouble doing everyday physical tasks than their older peers reported at the same age in years past, a recent analysis has shown. The research, published in print and online by the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), was supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a component of the National Institutes of Health.

Inheriting healthy heart
Newsday - Tue Mar 13
People whose parents survive to be 85 or older are significantly less likely themselves to develop any of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease in middle age, scientists have found, in a study that underscores the potency of genes in heart health and longevity.

Growing Older, and Adjusting to the Dark
NY Times - Tue Mar 13
How well do you see at night? If you’re over 50, probably not as well as you think, no matter how many carrots you eat. The typical 50-year-old driver needs twice as much light to see as well after dark as a 30-year-old. Yet few of us compensate adequately for the reduction in nighttime acuity that occurs in the aging eye.

On the Scales: Suicide Found to Be Less Likely in Heavier People
NY Times - Tue Mar 13
That fat people are jolly is almost certainly a myth, but a study published yesterday has found a strong association between higher body mass index, or B.M.I., and lower risk of suicide.

Second-hand smoke riskier for black children: study
Reuters - Tue Mar 13
Black children may be far more susceptible to the ill effects of second-hand tobacco smoke than their white counterparts, according to U.S. researchers. In a study of 220 children with asthma, black children who were exposed to at least five cigarettes a day had significantly higher toxin levels in their hair and blood than white children who were exposed to the same amount of smoke.

Feeling tired? It's National Sleep Awareness Week
(Wis) Journal-Times - Mon Mar 12
Myth #1. The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep you need.
Myth #2. You can "cheat" on the amount of sleep you get.
Myth #3. Daytime sleepiness always means a person isn't getting enough sleep.
Myth #4. Snoring is a common problem but it isn’t harmful.
Myth #5. Health problems such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and depression are unrelated to the amount and quality of a person's sleep.

Help for Restless Legs
Ivanhoe - Mon Mar 12
Imagine whenever you're not moving, your legs are uncomfortable and throbbing. It's a problem many people just live with. It's called restless legs syndrome. And now there's a new treatment option making it easy for patients to get relief. Restless legs syndrome affects up to 10 percent of the population.

Pressure to Keep Weight Off for Sports Hurts Teens
Ivanhoe - Mon Mar 12
Parents are quick to attribute kids' eating disorders to the recent proliferation of ultra-thin Hollywood superstars like Paris Hilton or Nicole Ritchie, but a recent study reveals participating in sports that emphasize body weight can lead to unhealthy behaviors, too.

In Obesity, Brain Becomes 'Unaware' Of Fat
Med News Today - Mon Mar 12
Critical portions of the brain in those who are obese don't really know they are overweight, researchers have reported in the March issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press. These findings in obese mice show that a sensor in the brain that normally detects a critical fat hormone - causing a cascade of events.

Pressed for time, women increasingly starved for shut-eye
AJC/McClatchy - Mon Mar 12
They're sleep-deprived and struggling through the day on caffeine and nerves. Sex? Forget it. Friendships? No time. They forgo sleep, exercise and fun in favor of work. Instead of winding down at night, they're doing the chores and worrying about tomorrow.

Neurological condition linked to obesity surgery
MSNBC/Reuters - Mon Mar 12
Some obese people who have weight-loss surgery, particularly younger women, develop a neurological condition most often seen in severe alcoholics and linked to a vitamin deficiency, researchers said on Monday.

Mouse tests show stem cells treat brain disease
Reuters - Mon Mar 12
Human stem cells taken from both embryos and fetuses delayed a fatal brain and nerve disease in mice, moving throughout the brain to take on the jobs of damaged neurons, scientists reported.

Study shows why exercise boosts brainpower
Reuters - Mon Mar 12
Exercise boosts brainpower by building new brain cells in a brain region linked with memory and memory loss, U.S. researchers reported. Tests on mice showed they grew new brain cells in a brain region called the dentate gyrus, a part of the hippocampus that is known to be affected in the age-related memory decline that begins around age 30 for most humans.

Heart-healthy folks apt to have long-lived parents
Reuters - Mon Mar 12
Children whose parents enjoyed a long life, living well into their 80s, seem to have healthier hearts in middle age compared with children whose parents did not live this long. Moreover, the heart advantage persists over time, which should help them follow in their parents' footsteps.

Transcendental meditation may aid heart failure
Reuters - Mon Mar 12
People with heart failure may be able to improve their mental and physical health with the help of transcendental meditation, preliminary research suggests.

Citizens Who Lack Papers Lose Medicaid
NY Times - Sun Mar 11
A new federal rule intended to keep illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid has instead shut out tens of thousands of United States citizens who have had difficulty complying with requirements to show birth certificates and other documents proving their citizenship, state officials say. Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia have all reported declines in enrollment and traced them to the new federal requirement.

Prescription Drug Sales Rise 8.3 Percent
NY Times/AP - Sun Mar 11
U.S. prescription drug sales rose to $274 billion last year, fueled by the Medicare drug benefit, increased use of generic medicines and new treatments for diseases such as cancer and diabetes, according to a new report. This year, the pace of sales growth is expected to slow but remain in a compounded annual rate of between 6 percent and 9 percent through 2010 as the Medicare drug benefit is annualized and more generic products enter the market, according to the report released late Thursday by IMS Health.

Ready for daylight-saving time? 7 tips to adjust your ‘body clock’
Navy Times -Fri Mar 9
Pushing the clock ahead one hour this Sunday may create problems by tinkering with your own “body clock,” experts warn. But there are several ways to make the transition to daylight-saving time a little less tiring, including preparing for the change gradually before DST takes effect and getting more exposure to morning sunlight.

Study Probes Odor, Sleep and Memory Link
NY Times/AP - Fri Mar 9
Doctors have long advised that a good night's sleep is important for memory -- but researchers now say a familiar scent wafting in the bedroom might help sometimes, too. The caveat: In the study, being published Friday in the journal Science, it only worked for some kinds of memories and during one stage of sleep, meaning it's not the answer for people hunting a quick memory boost.

Climate change pushes diseases north: expert
Reuters - Fri Mar 9
Global warming is pushing northwards diseases more commonly found in developing countries, posing a risk to the financial and physical health of rich nations, the head of a livestock herders' charity said.

Health costs will surge without better prevention
Reuters - Fri Mar 9
The cost of caring for aging Americans will add 25 percent to the nation's health care bill by 2030 unless people act now to stay healthy, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, 80 percent of Americans 65 or older have at least one chronic disease that could lead to premature death and disability, CDC researchers said.

In Lice, Clues to Human Origin and Attire
NY Times - Thu Mar 8
One of the more embarrassing mysteries of human evolution is that people are host to no fewer than three kinds of louse while most species have just one. Even bleaker for the human reputation, the pubic louse, which gets its dates and residence-swapping opportunities when its hosts are locked in intimate embrace, does not seem to be a true native of the human body. Its closest relative is the gorilla louse.

Madison, Wis., Named 'Most Walkable'
NY TImes/AP - Thu Mar 8
With the thermometer hovering at 22, and the wind ripping off a frozen Lake Mendota, Rink DaVee and his brother Jim decided to take a stroll. And why not? After all, according to a recent top 10 list, there's no better place in the country for walking than the capital city of a state known more for cheese and beer than exercising.

No Rest for the Weary
MSNBC/Newsweek - Wed Mar 7
In a new national survey, 60 percent of American women say they don't get enough sleep. What's keeping them awake? And what can they do about it? According to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), American women are very, very tired. Sixty percent say they don't get enough rest most nights of the week while 43 percent report that daytime sleepiness interferes with their regular activities.

Trans Fat Fight Claims Butter as a Victim
NY Times - Wed Mar 7
The focus on removing trans fat has centered on the kind created by partial hydrogenation, which turns liquid oil into a solid fat like shortening that adds creaminess and shelf life to commercial baked goods and, for home cooks, makes a flaky pie crust. Trans fat is also created when certain inexpensive and sturdy oils are heated in deep-fat fryers. But Americans eat far more artificial trans fat than natural trans fat, which is found in small amounts in butter and meat.

Senators press FDA over drug safety tracking
Reuters - Wed Mar 7
The Senate Finance Committee has called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for answers after an independent report highlighted problems with the agency's efforts to revamp its drug safety tracking system, two top senators said.

Whole families suffer when one member has sleep apnea
Washington Times - Wed Mar 7
Sleep apnea -- marked by loud snoring and patterns of stop-and-start breathing -- is a potentially life-threatening disorder most commonly found in overweight, middle-age men, but experts say it takes a toll on the entire family.

Strong Evidence Links Soft Drink Consumption to Obesity, Diabetes
NewsWise/AJPH - Tue Mar 6
The case against swigging soda just got stronger. A large systematic review reveals clear associations between consumption of nondiet soft drinks and increased calorie intake and body weight.

Canadian hospitals see increase in deadly bacteria
Reuters - Tue Mar 6
A deadly bacteria that attacks the intestines of mainly elderly patients is showing up with more frequency at a handful of Ontario hospitals, Joshua Tepper, the Canadian province's acting chief medical officer of health, said on Tuesday.

More obese adolescents turning to surgery
Reuters - Tue Mar 6
In the current decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of obese adolescents having surgery to help them lose weight, although weight loss surgery remains an uncommonly performed procedure in young people.

Change in daylight saving time may affect moods
LA Times - Mon Mar 5
People suffering depression during winter's dark mornings may experience a setback as clocks move forward sooner, experts say. Daylight saving time begins three weeks earlier this year and lasts one week longer — But the extension, which begins Sunday, could actually make millions of Americans feel less sunny.

Circadian rhythms may dictate peak workout times
LA Times - Mon Mar 5
The best time to exercise is in the evening, not the morning, study finds. Get up at 5 a.m., throw on some sneakers, run out the door, exercise like crazy. Sure, a pre-dawn workout comes with some bragging rights — just don't expect your best performance.

Without Health Benefits, a Good Life Turns Fragile
NY Times - Mon Mar 5
Ms. Readling, a 50-year-old real estate agent, is one of nearly 47 million people in America with no health insurance. It is well known that the ranks of the uninsured have been swelling; federal figures show an increase of 6.8 million since 2000. But the surprise is that the uninsured are not necessarily the poor, the unemployed and the undocumented.

Report faults FDA drug-safety tracking system: WSJ
Reuters - Mon Mar 5
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is relying on a "dysfunctional" computer system for tracking drug safety as it struggles to upgrade its technology, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing a report commissioned by the FDA.

Scientists to exhume diplomat's corpse for bird flu clues
Reuters - Mon Mar 5
Scientists plan to exhume within the next five months the body of a British diplomat who died in 1919 of the Spanish flu, in a move they hope will provide vital clues on how to fight any future pandemic.

Bio-artists bridge gap between arts, sciences
MSNBC/AP - Sun Mar 4
Use of living organisms is attracting attention and controversy. Adam Zaretsky once spent 48 hours playing Engelbert Humperdincks's "Greatest Hits" to a dish of E.coli bacteria to determine whether vibrations or sounds influenced bacterial growth.

Sleep Apnea Increasingly Tied to Heart Risks: Study
Washington Post - Sun March 4
People with obstructive sleep apnea experience multiple breathing interruptions while they sleep. This occurs when tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocks the airway.

FDA drops plan for prescription drug watch list
Reuters - Fri Mar 2
Health officials said on Friday they had dropped plans to keep a public list of prescription drugs with emerging safety concerns, one of the measures proposed after Merck & Co.'s 2004 withdrawal of its arthritis drug Vioxx.

More cash needed to protect U.S. food: experts
Reuters - Fri Mar 2
New computer-based tools are helping track outbreaks of food contamination in the United States faster, food safety officials say, but they need more funds to meet a growing public demand for a safe food supply.

Fresh evidence of perils of smoking while pregnant
Reuters - Fri Mar 2
Women who smoke while pregnant may cause permanent cardiovascular damage to their children that could heighten the offspring's risk for a stroke and heart attack, researchers said on Friday.

Kids gain more weight on summer break
Reuters - Wed Feb 28
Children in the United States gain up to three times more weight during the summer holidays than during the school year, according to a study of 5- and 6-year-olds. The authors said the findings put the onus on parents to encourage exercise, limit snacks and turn off the television when school is out to help fight an obesity epidemic among children.

Body image boost key to treating eating disorders
Reuters - Tue Feb 27
The most important factor in the successful treatment of eating disorders is improving the patient's perception of their body -- and that's not an easy task, says a psychologist with the Eating Disorders Program at The Menninger Clinic in Houston.

Placebo Power
MSNBC - Tue Feb 27
We're all familiar with the diet and exercise shysters on late-night TV. Whatever nostrum they are hawking at the moment, their promise is always a svelte and firm body with—here's the amazing part—absolutely no effort on our part.

Group says restaurants promote "extreme eating"
Reuters - Mon Feb 26
Many U.S. chain restaurants are promoting "extreme eating" with dishes that pack at least a day's worth of calories and fat, without giving customers facts about their orders, a consumer group... the Center for Science in the Public Interest said such dishes help fuel national epidemics of obesity and heart disease.

Drugs help smokers quit, even if not first time
Reuters - Sat Feb 24
Smokers who use pills to try to kick the habit should keep trying, even if the drugs do not work at first, a U.S. researcher advised. It can take several weeks for many people to fully wean themselves off tobacco, the researcher at Oregon Health & Science University said in a statement.

Investigating Links Between Treating Sleep Apnea And Reducing The Risk Of Heart Disease And Diabetes
MedNewsToday - Fri Feb 23
It appears that sleep apnea worsens aspects of metabolic syndrome and metabolic syndrome may worsen sleep apnea."... Prof. Ron Grunstein, Head of the Woolcock's Sleep Research Group, Sydney, Australia, said a large body of evidence suggess a vicious cycle exists between sleep apnea and Metabolic Syndrome (a predictor of future diabetes and heart disease in people with obesity).

Coke tries to shift obesity focus off its drinks
Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Thu Feb 22
In the beverage industry, the term "health and wellness" usually refers to drinks like water and green tea. But Coca-Cola is on a mission to tack it on to Diet Coke and other "no-calorie" drinks, CEO Neville Isdell said Thursday.

EU says more work vital to deal with a flu pandemic
Reuters - Thu Feb 22
The European Union is the best prepared area in the world to meet an influenza pandemic but still needs two or three years before it can cope fully, the EU's disease control agency said.

Post-disaster mental health worse in smokers
Reuters - Thu Feb 22
Among people who experience a major disaster, smokers are more likely to develop mental health disturbances than those who don't smoke, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Kids shovel down more calories watching TV
Reuters - Thu Feb 22
Watching television disrupts children's' normal response to food -- they will eat more while they're sitting in front of the tube, whether or not they're really hungry.

No "Go Pills"; Air Force Wants Sleep-Fighting Lamps
Wired - Thu Feb 22
All kinds of companies sell special lights that supposedly can wake up jet-lagged travelers -- or even cure the "wintertime blues." The Air Force thinks there may be something to the lamps. It's shopping for a "Short-Wavelength Countermeasure for Circadian Desynchrony."

Coca-Cola to Put Caffeine Content Information on U.S. Labels
NY Times - Thu Feb 22
The Coca-Cola Company said Wednesday that it would put caffeine content information on the labels of all of its drink products distributed in the United States that include the ingredient. The company said the plan was voluntary and part of an industry initiative.

Smoking changes brain the same way as drugs: study
Reuters - Wed Feb 21
Smoking causes long-lasting changes in the brain similar to changes seen in animals when they are given cocaine, heroin and other addictive drugs, U.S. researchers said. A study of the brain tissue of smokers and nonsmokers who had died showed that smokers had the changes, even if they had quit years before, the team at the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported.

First Molecular Evidence Of Body's Internal Clock In Controlling Blood Pressure
Science Daily — Tue Feb 20
It has been known for decades that heart attacks and strokes occur most frequently in the early-morning hours. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have provided the first evidence for the role of our body's internal molecular clock in controlling blood pressure and a mechanism by which this occurs.

Out of Control: A True Story of Binge Eating
NY Times - Tue Feb 20
This month, researchers at Harvard published a survey finding that binge eating is by far the most common eating disorder, occurring in 1 in 35 adults, or 2.8 percent — almost twice the combined rate for anorexia (0.6 percent) and bulimia (1 percent).

In the World of Life-Saving Drugs, a Growing Epidemic of Deadly Fakes
NY Times - Tue Feb 20
Asia is seeing an “epidemic of counterfeits” of life-saving drugs, experts say, and the problem is spreading. Malaria medicines have been particularly hard hit; in a recent sampling in Southeast Asia, 53 percent of the antimalarials bought were fakes.

Success: Lab-grown teeth successfully transplanted to mice
IT Wire - Mon Feb 19
A breakthrough by Japanese researchers in growing teeth in a lab dish and successfully transplanting them into mice points way to an organ regeneration future and better ways to restore health and grant longer lives to humans.

What's Causing Sleepless Nights?
Ivanhoe - Mon Feb 19
Sleeping like a baby is proving to be a tough task for more than 70 million Americans, many of them women. While medications provide temporary relief, doctors are particularly interested in finding out what makes females prone to this disorder.

Drug prices "grave problem": UK health watchdog
Reuters - Mon Feb 19
Drug prices are a growing problem, and firms trying to set uniform prices face serious difficulties because of the disparities in how much countries can afford to spend, the head of Britain's health watchdog said.

Warnings Over Privacy of U.S. Health Network
NY Times/AP - Sun Feb 18
The Bush administration has no clear strategy to protect the privacy of patients as it promotes the use of electronic medical records throughout the nation’s health care system, federal investigators say in a new report. See also Dr. Edlund's commentary: Prepare for Total Information Awareness.

Germany may ban smoking while driving
Reuters - Sat Feb 17
Germany may outlaw smoking in cars because it is a health hazard and a safety risk, the government's commissioner for substance abuse Sabine Baetzing said.

FDA warns about dangerous Internet drug mistake
Reuters - Fri Feb 16
A drug used to treat schizophrenia was mailed to some consumers who had ordered other medications via the Internet, and several users had to seek emergency treatment because they could not breathe, U.S. health officials said on Friday.

FDA commissioner defends fees from drugmakers
Reuters - Fri Feb 16
The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration defended the industry fees that help fund drug reviews on Friday, saying the money from manufacturers did not sway decisions in their favor.

Improving Global Health
NEJM - Thu Feb 15
When Dr. Margaret Chan of China was elected director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) this past November, some observers suspected that the Chinese government had backed her candidacy in hopes of planting a lackey at the United Nations to do its bidding. In contrast, many global health experts have spoken positively about Chan's China connection.

Keeping Tabs on Your Fat
NY Times - Feb 15
Studies have found that a person’s body-fat percentage can often be a better indicator of health than weight. So it’s not surprising that sales of scales with built-in body-fat monitors are up. Last year 436,000 units that measure body fat were sold, up from 316,000 in 2004, according to the NPD Group, a market research firm.

When pregnant mom eats fish, kids do better: study
Reuters - Thu Feb 15
Children of mothers who ate more fish and other seafood while pregnant are smarter and have better developmental skills than kids of women who ate less or none, researchers said on Thursday in findings they called surprising.

Extra pounds, smoking confirmed GERD risks
Reuters - Thu Feb 15
A new study in identical twins confirms that excess weight and cigarette smoking increase the risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Congress revives push for FDA tobacco authority
Reuters - Thu Feb 15
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers renewed on Thursday an effort to authorize the government to regulate cigarettes as a drug, winning praise from anti-smoking forces and the maker of Marlboro cigarettes.

Warming to spread disease, hunger in South Asia: WHO
Reuters - Thu Feb 15
Millions more South Asians will suffer from diseases like malaria and cholera, or go hungry due to global warming, but governments are not fully aware of the dangers, the World Health Organization said.

Less-intense workouts may be less effective
Reuters - Wed Feb 14
Low-intensity endurance exercise is not as effective as moderate intensity endurance exercise for promoting fitness, German researchers found in a controlled study.

Survey Puts New Focus on Binge Eating as a Diagnosis
NY Times - Tue Feb 13
Binge eating is not yet officially classified as a psychiatric disorder. But it may be more common than the two eating disorders now recognize