EyeBobs have teamed up with The Heart Truth® campaign in the creation of heart-themed frames, whose proceeds will benefit a non-profit charity dedicated to promoting the issue of women and heart health. The frames, which retail between $65-75, boast EyeBobs signature bold color scheme of red on the front with little hearts on the temples, and have been given the fun and spirited name Kimtastic (after their deceased coworker.) The company is donating a percentage of sales proceeds—up to $10,000—to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and other non-profit organizations with similar missions.

The Kimtastic frames will be available at optical centers, high-end department stores and fine clothing boutiques across the nation in late fall. They will also be available at their website.

Images: EyeBobs

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EyeBobs Work to Benefit Women’s Health

A new use for baking soda may have been found. Researchers revealed that it could slow the decline of kidney function in some patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). The study will be published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

Research participants: 134 patients with advanced CKD and low bicarbonate levels (metabolic acidosis)

Experiment: One group of CKD patients took a small daily dose of sodium bicarbonate in tablet form, in addition to usual treatment.

Results:

• The rate of decline in kidney function was reduced by about two-thirds compared to patients who didn’t take baking soda.
• Researchers noted that the rate of decline in kidney function of patients taking sodium bicarbonate was similar to normal age-related decline.
• Just 9% of patients taking sodium bicarbonate experienced rapid progression of kidney disease, compared with 45% of the group not taking it.
• Sodium bicarbonate also appears to make patients less likely to develop end-stage renal disease.
• Sodium levels went up in patients taking baking soda, but that didn’t lead to increased blood pressure.

“This cheap and simple strategy also improves patients’ nutritional status, and has the potential of translating into significant economic, quality of life, and clinical outcome benefits,” said researcher Magdi Yaqoob, MD, from Royal London Hospital.

This was the first randomized controlled study of its kind, and the researchers pointed out some limitations of their study. There was no placebo  group, plus researchers knew which patients were receiving baking soda. Yaqoob says that the results will need validation in a multicenter study.

(Baking soda image via flickr.)

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Baking Soda for Kidney Health

They did this with 35,000 woman, and by the second year of the program in 2008,mammography rates jumped from 63 to more than 80 percent among women aged 50-69. This study is the largest to test a program involving a three-pronged mammogram reminder approach. If the United States could improve its mammography rate by the same amount, 25,000 additional cases of breast cancer would be detected each year when it is most treatable. A press release on the study is available online.

Image: sxc.hu.

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3-Pronged Approach to Mammogram Reminders

Consumer Reports tests have confirmed that those hard-to-resist fries from Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s are in fact trans-fat free!

Plus, taster testers found that they taste about the same as they used to, before becoming trans-fat free.

Taste testers for CR found that Wendy’s fries are the best tasting. They rated McDonald’s second in the taste category, followed by Burger King.

Taste testers said that Wendy’s fries have “big potato flavor,” while Burger King fries “taste more of oil than potato.” However, they still gave Burger King fries an overall rating of “good.” (Results are published in the August Consumer Reports.)

Of course, I’m not encouraging you to eat fries, but if you do, isn’t this nice information to have? Just watch out what else you order! Remember, most chain restaurants post nutrition info online, so check before you go.

Speaking of fun foods, did you miss my post on the CR report on light ice creams?

(Image via Wendy’s)

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Exciting Report on Fast-Food Fries

According to researchers, the participants felt less physical pain and had altered reactions to social exclusion when money was involved. In other words, counting money, as opposed to just counting plain paper, helped participants experience less pain (when dipping fingers in hot water) and lower social distress (when playing Cyperball).

You can read more on the specifics of the experiments at the Association for Psychological Science. The study was published in Psychological Science.

What is your reaction to this study?

I believe that most people associate money with positive outcomes and that feeling may lead them to report lower levels of pain and more comfort in social situations. However, should you count money when you’re feeling blue? That seems a bit odd to me. And the psychologists weren’t suggesting you count money for sadness, but one can’t help wondering…

(Image via stock.xchng)

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Cash Counting for the Blues?

However, new research showed that patients who “took an antioxidant called N-acetylcysteine, sold over the counter at vitamin stores, had significant improvement over patients who took placebos.” Researchers are also trying to figure out how to classify the disease. Some feel it is “related to obsessive compulsive disorder, but others liken it to addictions or impulse control disorders.” More research is required, but the fact that an over the counter vitamin could help with this disease is extremely exciting.

Image: sxc.hu.

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Hair Pulling Disease

British doctors did something off the charts when they gave young Hannah Clark (who was just eight months old at the time) a donor heart. However, they didn’t just transplant the new heart and remove her own damaged heart. Instead, they “implanted a donor heart directly onto her own failing heart.”

After ten years, the girl’s own heart had healed to the point where doctors could actually remove the donated heart. This study showed that the heart can regenerate under certain circumstances. New research will be required to determine exactly how and when this can happen, but to know it’s possible greatly changes what the medical world knows about the heart.

Image: sxc.hu.

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Girl’s Heart Heals Itself

I’m just as guilty of putting on weight when life gets stressed. I think that’s when a lot of women do. I read this quick article about five reasons you can’t lose weight, and found this statistic really telling:

“80 percent of women underestimated their daily food intake by a whopping 700 calories!”

Seven hundred calories is a lot of poundage. It adds up. Most women I know seem to be (on the surface) very good about realizing what they are eating. But there are a couple things that trip them up. Nibbling is one. Perhaps is something you do while making dinner or maybe it’s just eating a few bites off of your kid’s plate, but nibbling adds up to extra calories.

Drinking extra calories is another. I’m a diet soda drinker, but juice has added calories and so does alcohol. If you’re not paying attention, you be adding 500 calories a day just with the things you drink. I know a lot of women slack off with exercise when their lives get stressed. They put other people first. I certainly do this. But we have to tell ourselves it’s okay to take some time in order to be healthy first.

Image: sxc.hu.

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Why You Can’t Lose Weight

The study, published in the journal Contraception, found that oral contraceptives eventually reach the effective blood concentrations needed in the body to prevent pregnancy in obese women, but it may take twice as long. That would allow for a “window of opportunity” each month. During that time, the contraceptive may not be at a high enough level to prevent a pregnancy.

One problem is that drugs aren’t initially tested for effectiveness on people with a high body mass index. Researchers and doctors are becoming more aware that obesity may affect drug absorption and other factors. Body weight may also complicate matters in other ways. The researchers noted that many obese women are prescribed lower-dose oral contraceptives in an effort to decrease their risk of venous thrombosis, blood clots that may increase the risk of stroke and heart attacks.

“Although our research has found this interaction between obese women and oral contraceptives, we don’t have enough information yet to recommend changes in clinical practice, other than choosing a contraceptive option that works better for both normal weight and obese women, like an intrauterine device,” said Dr. Alison Edelman, lead author of the study.

Researchers suggest obese that women may wish to consult with their doctors about this issue and perhaps consider a backup method of contraception at some times of the month.

(Image via stock.xchng)

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Failure of the Pill in Obese Women

While this new information is another piece of the puzzle, it doesn’t define the causes of autism. However, medical professionals speculate that “it’s possible babies are affected by their mother’s antibodies while in the womb.”

As a Type 1 diabetic myself, I can’t help but wonder whether this information could also add to that of diabetic research. After all, if it’s possible that babies are indeed affected by the antibodies in their mother’s womb, couldn’t that be a cause of Type 1 diabetes in some people as well?

Image: sxc.hu

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Autism May Be Linked to Autoimmune Disease