Healthy Reader

Drinking Diet Soda While Pregnant Could Lead To Premature Delivery

Conner Flynn — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:52:57 +0000

According to Denmark scientists, pregnant women should stay away from daily diet soda intake, because it could cause premature births.

The soda-drinking patterns of almost 60,000 Danish women were followed by researchers for six years. Results suggest a link between diet carbonated and noncarbonated drinks and premature births. In the study, the researchers found that 4.6 percent of study participants delivered babies early and one-third of those premature births were medically induced.

One or more drinks a day was associated with a 38 percent increased risk of premature delivery.

[AOL]

Top Bedbug-Infested Cities in U.S.

Conner Flynn — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:24:36 +0000

Here’s a story that will make you cringe and itch. Using its own data, Terminix has ranked the top bedbug-infested cities in the U.S. and New York City topped the list. Terminix compiled its top 15 list anecdotally by analyzing call volume about bedbugs to the 350 Terminix service centers throughout the country.

1. New York
2. Philadelphia
3. Detroit
4. Cincinnati
5. Chicago
6. Denver
7. Columbus, Ohio
8. Dayton, Ohio
9. Washington, D.C.
10. Los Angeles
11. Boston
12. Indianapolis
13. Louisville, Ky.
14. Cleveland
15. Minneapolis, Minn.

Are you itchy? Are any of those your cities? Hopefully we can eradicate them soon.

[AOL]

380,000 Lbs. of Deli Meat Recalled

Conner Flynn — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:16:53 +0000

Roast beef and ham that was distributed to Walmart delicatessens nationwide and sold in sandwiches has been recalled because it might be tainted with potentially harmful bacteria. No illnesses have been reported yet from the 380,000 pounds of meat that was made by Zemco Industries in Buffalo and may contain Listeria.

It’s not clear how many stores sold the meat products. A retail sample collected in Georgia tested positive for Listeria, which can cause serious and sometimes even fatal infections in the young, frail or elderly, or those with weakened immune systems.

[AOL]

Teens Smokers Who Are Overweight More Likely to Have Migraines

Conner Flynn — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:05:43 +0000

Teens who smoke, get little exercise and are overweight are more likely to have another problem: frequent headaches, according to a new study published online in the journal Neurology. Teenagers with all three negative lifestyle factors are 3.4 times more likely to suffer from persistent headaches and migraines than those with none of them.

About 55 percent of those in all three categories had chronic headaches compared to 25 percent without any of those behaviors. Of course bad nutrition and weight gain also have physiological effects that can lead to health problems like migraines.

If you have to have some bad habits, it might be best not to have all three of these factors.

[AOL]

Several Deaths in Florida Linked to Mosquito-Borne Virus

Conner Flynn — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:46:56 +0000

As Florida enters peak mosquito season, four deaths have already been reported from a mosquito-borne illness. One that rarely infects humans.

Eastern equine encephalitis, a viral disease that causes inflammation in the brain, typically effects horses, but a few cases of human deaths are reported annually. Officials say that the deaths of two Tampa-area residents were a result of EEE disease.

Human survivors suffer some significant impairments too. Sadly there is no vaccine for it.

[AOL]

Ongoing salmonella outbreak leads to egg recall

Conner Flynn — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:40:23 +0000

A national outbreak of salmonella in eggs that has sickened hundreds of people since May appears to be an ongoing problem, according to experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The problem has been traced to in-shell eggs from Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, which has now launched a recall.

The Associated Press estimates the total number of eggs recalled at a whopping 228 million. Eggs from the company were sold under multiple brand names, so see if you have any and take the necessary steps. The brands are Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps. The recall was launched on Aug. 13th.

[USAtoday]

Long-Term Relationships Have Same Stress Benefits as Marriage

Conner Flynn — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:07:14 +0000

I’m sure many happy couples can relate to this story. It turns out that being married has been shown to relieve stress and a new study suggests the same holds true for committed couples who haven’t married yet.

Unmarried people in long-term relationships show the same milder hormonal reactions to stress as married people do, according to researchers. In the study they gave 501 MBA students a computer test they were told was a degree requirement that would affect future job placement. The average age was 27 among the 153 women quizzed and 29 among the 348 men.

So there are actual health benefits to being married or being in a long term relationship. It really helps your health.

[AOL]

Michael Douglas Diagnosed With Throat Tumor

Conner Flynn — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:46:04 +0000

65 year old actor Michael Douglas will face some challenging side effects while undergoing treatment for what’s being called a throat tumor. The actor is expected to go through eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation for the tumor. He said that doctors expect him to make a full recovery and that he is “very optimistic”.

Because Douglas is undergoing two types of treatment, that indicates that the cancer is in its later stages and has most likely spread to the lymph nodes, according to one doctor. During the treatment, Douglas can expect symptoms like nausea and fatigue, and burning and dry mouth, inflammation of the mouth and throat, as well as problems with swallowing and eating. We hope he pulls through alright.

[AOL]

Quick Brain Scan May Diagnose Autism

Conner Flynn — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:37:13 +0000

The future of autism testing could be just 15 minutes long. A new study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, reports that an inexpensive, 15-minute brain scan might help doctors diagnose the condition more accurately.

The team of British scientists looked at 20 healthy adults and 20 people who were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. This also includes Asperger syndrome.

By using standard MRI machines, the system analyzes changes in the brain’s shape and structure in the regions responsible for language and social behavior. Preliminary testing of their scan showed higher than 90 percent accuracy in adults and they expect no reason why such high results would not be found in children as well. They plan to test the scan on them soon to find out.

[AOL]

Attacks on ER Nurses on the Rise

Conner Flynn — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:29:53 +0000

Bill A3103A landed on New York Governor David Paterson’s desk last week, and with his signature nurses in the state would see harsher penalties for the violent patients who attack them.

“The emergency room is a high-risk area to be assaulted,” says Debra Bibartolo, a member of New York State Emergency Nurses Association Government Affair Committee and AOL Health’s nursing specialist. “Nurses get hit. It’s reality.”

This is typical of how we Americans do everything backwards. The New York bill is one of many throughout the country that would make an attack on a nurse a felony charge instead of a misdemeanor, due to an upswing in the number of ER nurses being assaulted.

You don’t change laws to make attacking nurses a higher penalty. Instead we need to look at why they are getting attacked more. Aside from the mentally unstable, could it be that people are fed up with the system and frustrated? The high cost, the bad attitudes of the staff, the treating people like sub-humans, treating them like numbers.

Solve the problem, don’t pass another idiot law.

[AOL]