Author: Jane Farrell

Do We Need A Better Nutrition Label?

The nutrition facts-label on packaged food is one of the most important consumer tools for determining how healthy food products are. But the label, which lists fats, proteins, sugars and fibers, hasn’t changed since 1993, except for one alteration in 2006, when details of trans fats were added.
Now, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing an update to the label. Although the update isn’t approved yet, the agency has been holding public hearings and soliciting comments on the proposals.

Watch: How Tattoos Are Used To Conceal Scar Tissue

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Local Anesthesia Better for Hip-Fracture Surgery

General anesthesia may not always be best for patients undergoing hip-fracture surgery, a study has found.

The researchers, from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, found in another study that there were high rates of mortality and functional disability among nursing-home residents who were treated for hip fracture.

Each year, about 300,000 hip fractures occur in the United States. They often happen as a result of serious falls that can impair functionality.

Watch: How to Treat An Overactive Bladder

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Your Television May Be Killing You

Watching too much TV can be fatal: Adults who indulge for three or more hours each day may double their risk of premature death, according to new research.

Researchers, who published their findings in the Journal of the American Heart Association, said that watching television is one of many bad lifestyle habits on the rise.

How Private Is Your Mental-Health Information?

Whatever you think of the Affordable Care Act (and there are many different and heated opinions) there’s no doubt that it’s expanded mental health and substance use disorder benefits and protections to 62 million Americans.

Leon Rodriguez, Director of the Office for Civil Rights, Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in a federal blog that the c hange represents “the largest expansion of behavioral health coverage in a generation and will help make treatment more affordable and accessible.”

Making Sense of Carbohydrate Counting

If you or a loved one have been recently diagnosed with diabetes, you know that the nutrition guidelines for diabetics can seem overwhelming at times. And following the guidelines, which include carbohydrate counting, is crucial to a diabetic’s health.

Here, from the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, part of the National Institutes of Health, is an easy-to-understand explanation of carbohydrate counting. This tool for planning meals will help you keep track of the amount of carbs you’re eating each day, and whether you’re in goal range.

Multiple Sclerosis and Cognitive Decline

In a landmark study of multiple sclerosis patients, researchers have traced the pattern of cognitive impairment of MS sufferers.

The study, by investigators from the Kessler Foundation and the Cleveland Clinic, followed the patients over 18 years. That length of time allowed researchers a unique insight into the cognitive decline of people who have MS.

Watch: Dairy Products for the Lactose Intolerant

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How Do You Recover from Anesthesia?

A new study has found important clues about the process the brain uses to “navigate” back to consciousness after being on anesthesia.

Earlier research has revealed some elements of brain activity under anesthesia, but until now there haven’t been any findings on the navigation process out of anesthesia.

It’s Never Too Late to Quit

When it comes to quitting smoking, older people may be faced with some especially discouraging issues. Maybe they’ve tried to quit – more than once. Maybe they think they’re too old and that the damage has been done. But according to experts, it’s never too late to stop smoking, and to do it successfully.

It’s not that older smokers don’t want to quit. Many of them do, knowing that being smoke-free would have a number of positive results, from the avoidance of serious diseases like stroke and heart disease, to the likelihood of having more money and more energy.

5 Tips for Safe Online Shopping

You might have resisted the idea of online shopping for a while, but these days, chances are you’re doing it just like millions of other Americans.

Unfortunately, though, with the convenience of online shopping comes the possibility of fraud. How can you protect yourself and your personal information? The Internet security firm McAfee has some suggestions:

“Brain Marijuana” Can Help with Dementia

The protein beta-amyloid, long suspected to play a key role in Alzheimer’s, may begin its destructive process by blocking marijuana-like substances in the brain.

A study by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine focused on the blocking of endocannabinoids in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Endocannabinoids are signaling substances that are the brain’s versions of the psychoactive chemicals in marijuana and hashish.

As a result of the discovery, the investigators are now focusing on the molecular details of exactly how the blocking occurs.

7 Colonoscopy Myths Debunked

By Digestive Health Team, Cleveland Clinic

Everyone has reasons for not getting a colonoscopy. Often, it’s based on misunderstandings – both about the procedure and about colon cancer, says Carol A. Burke, MD, Director of the Center for Colon Polyp and Cancer Prevention in Cleveland Clinic’s Digestive Disease Institute.

People may not realize that colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers – and that a colonoscopy is a short, mildly uncomfortable test that can save their life.

Many Elderly BC Patients Are Taking Hormone Therapy

Women over 65 with non-metastatic breast cancer are likely to follow recommendations for preventive hormone treatment. But non-white women were much less likely to have that therapy.

The women who had the therapy suffered from estrogen-positive breast cancer and were given either an aromatase inhibitor or tamoxifen. Those hormones prevent tumors from using estrogen to fuel growth.

The study was reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Two Anti-Smoking Treatments Better Than One

A combination of quit-smoking therapies is more effective than using just one for male smokers and people with a high level of nicotine dependence.

Researchers from Duke Medicine analyzed the outcomes of 349 people who reported smoking ten or more cigarettes per day. The participants were given a six-item questionnaire that measured their level of nicotine dependence. Before they quit, the researchers provided the subjects with a nicotine patch.