Wellnews from Creators Syndicate

Halt the Salt for 02/15/2012

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

You consume too much salt. I can say that with confidence because, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 out of 10 Americans do.

In the CDCs latest Vital Signs report, the federal health agency finds that 10 types of common food (primarily processed) are responsible for almost half of people's sodium intake. They are breads and rolls and luncheon meats such a ...

Updated: Wed Feb 15, 2012

At the Heart of Health, a Song for 02/09/2012

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

In the 2000 movie "High Fidelity," record store proprietor and lovesick boyfriend Rob Gordon (played by John Cusack) bemoans the misery and the music: "Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands, of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop mu ...

Updated: Thu Feb 09, 2012

Height of Power for 02/01/2012

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

For a while in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the French general Napoleon Bonaparte ruled vast armies and much of Europe. He was just under 5 feet 7 inches, but stood much taller. Odds are, he thought so, too.

A new study out of Washington University in St. Louis reports that as people acquire power, they gain an exaggerated sense of their physical height.

"Height is ...

Updated: Wed Feb 01, 2012

For Cosmetics Users, a Bit of ‘Tad' News for 01/25/2012

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

It's not time to toss the mascara and blush, but a new study out of Brown University suggests that even very low concentrations of a chemical commonly used in cosmetics hinders brain development — in tadpoles.

The chemical is called methylisothiazolinone or MIT. It's used as a preservative and biocide in personal care products, from cosmetics to shampoos, and it is considered to be ...

Updated: Wed Jan 25, 2012

Brain Drain for 01/18/2012

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

When it comes to cognitive function, middle age is the new old.

At least, that's sort of the conclusion of a study published in the British Medical Journal that found that mental abilities begin to decline around the age of 45, not in the 60s as previously assumed.

The researchers tested the cognitive abilities of 7,390 British civil servants, men and women. Over the next 10 years ...

Updated: Wed Jan 18, 2012

The Woe in Women's Health for 01/11/2012

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

In studies asking women to rate their own health, women typically describe their health as being worse than men's. Researchers have usually attributed this to reporting bias. "In general practice, there has been this idea that women over-report health problems, or are more likely to say they are ill or pay attention to their symptoms than men," as Davide Malmusi of the Public Health A ...

Updated: Wed Jan 11, 2012

Refrigerator Moms for 01/04/2012

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Researchers at Ohio State University say the quality of the emotional relationship between a mother and young child may affect the latter's potential to become obese during adolescence.

Specifically, they say the lower the quality of the relationship in terms of the child's emotional security and the mother's sensitivity, the higher the risk that the child will be obese by the age of 15. ...

Updated: Wed Jan 04, 2012

The Swing's the Thing for 12/28/2011

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

An asymmetrical arm swing — one arm swinging less than the other — when walking is an early sign of Parkinson's disease, say researchers at Penn State University. When recognized early, scientists say asymmetrical swinging can be a prompt for a more effective intervention to slow the progression of the currently incurable neurological disorder.

Writing in the journal Gait &am ...

Updated: Wed Dec 28, 2011

Live Today, Diet Tomorrow for 12/21/2011

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The biggest problem with dieting is that, well, you have to stick with it — day in and day out. But a new study presented at the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium suggests cutting calories sometimes, in this case carbohydrates, may result in better weight loss than counting calories all of the time.

British researchers said that women who eliminated carbohydrate-rich foods ...

Updated: Wed Dec 21, 2011

Elder Statesmen for 12/14/2011

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Being president of the United States is an indisputably tough job, and a casual glance at its office holders suggests that it can really age a fellow. Look at President Obama, whose hair is decidedly grayer after just three years in office. Michael Roizen of RealAge argues the aging process is real, estimating that presidents age twice as fast as normal while in office, due primarily to unrelie ...

Updated: Wed Dec 14, 2011

Try Getting Food Past These Gums for 12/07/2011

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

For the first time, American and Australian researchers have shown that a hormone involved in telling people when they feel "full" from eating can be delivered into the bloodstream orally.

So what's the value of an edible hormone?

The scientists suggest it might be possible to stick the hormone in a stick of gum, which would make it easier to avoid over-stuffing your fac ...

Updated: Wed Dec 07, 2011

Read My Eyes for 11/30/2011

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

It's almost de rigueur for movies and literature portraying the future: Folks have devices that allow them to see and read information in real-time, usually on some sort of screen in front of their eyes.

In a case of science fiction turning into science fact, engineers at the University of Washington and Aalto University in Finland say they've created a "proof-of-concept" conta ...

Updated: Wed Nov 30, 2011

Med Men for 11/23/2011

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Men who use multiple medications are more likely to experience increased severity of erectile dysfunction, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in the British Journal of Urology International.

The study surveyed 37,712 ethnically diverse men from Southern California and found that men taking various medications were more likely to have severe ED. The percentages rose with ...

Updated: Wed Nov 23, 2011

Game Theory for 11/16/2011

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Hey, kids. Next time Mom or Dad declares you're spending too much time playing video games, whip out a copy of the journal Computers in Human Behavior and cite this Michigan State University study:

Children who play video games, violent or not, tend to be more creative.

MSU researchers looked at almost 500 12-year-olds, and concluded that the more kids played video games, the more ...

Updated: Wed Nov 16, 2011

The Fruits of Medicine for 11/09/2011

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

For millions of Americans taking statins and certain other drugs, the bold, refreshing taste of grapefruit has long been verboten because a chemical found naturally in the citrus fruit, furanocoumarin, is absorbed into the bloodstream and can affect some drugs' therapeutic value.

But that may soon change. Researchers in Florida, which perhaps not coincidentally grows a lot of grapefruit, ...

Updated: Wed Nov 09, 2011

Rising for the Rays for 11/02/2011

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

If you insist upon exposing your skin to the well-documented harms of solar radiation (all in the name of getting a glowing tan), it might behoove you to sunbathe or visit a tanning booth in the morning, rather than later in the day.

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill scientists say that the timing of exposure to ultraviolet rays appears to influence the onset of skin cancer. In mo ...

Updated: Wed Nov 02, 2011

An Ap-Peeling Solution to Water Contamination for 10/26/2011

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Water tainted by pollutants such as heavy metals is a global problem, and one that's only projected to worsen. Filtering is the obvious answer, but most technologies are too expensive or impractical to be applied broadly.

Over the years, a variety of natural, cheaper alternatives have been tested — sawdust, peanut shells, sugar cane — but with mixed results. Brazilian scien ...

Updated: Wed Oct 26, 2011

Sleeping off Alzheimer's for 10/19/2011

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

At this point, it's more speculation than hard science, but researchers at Washington University in St. Louis say they've identified a marker for Alzheimer's disease in spinal fluid that ebbs and flows in a pattern echoing the sleep cycle.

The marker is a protein called amyloid beta, a byproduct of brain activity that accumulates during waking hours and is cleared away during sleep. In h ...

Updated: Wed Oct 19, 2011

It's Cool and Cloudy -- A Perfect Beach Day for 10/12/2011

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Summer, it turns out, may not be the optimum time to enjoy sand and surf, according to new Washington University-St. Louis study, which suggests cooler days at the beach are more restful and relaxing.

"Mild temperature days and low tides offer the most restorative environments when visiting the beach," said J. Aaron Hipp, an environmental health expert. "Beachgoers visitin ...

Updated: Wed Oct 12, 2011

Show Me The Money for 10/05/2011

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Here's the deal: You can have a job with long hours but plenty of money or one with reasonable hours but less pay. According to a Cornell University survey, a surprisingly large number of folks would opt for the first choice, even if it meant being less "happy."

"You might think of happiness as the ultimate goal that people pursue, but actually people think of goals like h ...

Updated: Wed Oct 05, 2011