Obesity is one of the most pressing and controversial public health challenges. It has the distinction of being a crisis about which most people have an opinion – often based on a simple diagnosis – but for which nobody has found a correspondingly neat solution. Women in customer facing roles often suffer most. Credit: World...
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Intermittent fasting: Surprising update – patient education
There’s a ton of incredibly promising intermittent fasting (IF) research done on fat rats. They lose weight, their blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugars improve… but they’re rats. Studies in humans, almost across the board, have shown that IF is safe and incredibly effective, but really no more effective than any other diet. In addition,...
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Many Popular Dietary Supplements Can Yield Dangerous Liver Results
Athletes often use over-the-counter products to help lose weight or improve their energy and performance levels. However, the vast majority of herbal and dietary supplements (HDS) never undergo formal efficacy or safety tests because their manufacturing, production and content are not closely regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, says Robert Fontana, M.D., University of...
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Johnson & Johnson teams with Apple on Apple Watch study to help reduce the risk of strokes
Apple and Johnson & Johnson are teaming up on a study to determine whether the latest Apple Watch, in conjunction with an app from the pharmaceutical company, can accelerate the diagnosis of a leading cause of stroke. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is responsible for about 130,000 deaths and 750,000 hospitalizations each...
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Technologies that Can Improve Your Sleeping Habits
When you think about the connection between technology and sleep, you probably think about the negatives. Experts advise us to stay off of our devices in the evening to avoid stimulation from artificial blue light that suppresses our melatonin production and makes it more difficult for us to fall asleep. Image credit: Vladislav Muslakov via...
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HOUSEHOLD GUNS LINKED TO YOUTH SUICIDES
New research finds kids are more likely to kill themselves if they live in states with high rates of gun ownership. TOM JACOBS7 HOURS AGO Gun enthusiasts visit a gun show where thousands of different weapons are displayed for sale on July 10th, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas. Gun enthusiasts visit a gun show where...
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New PET probe could improve detection of primary and metastatic melanoma
Sample images of a melanoma patient. (A) Maximum-intensity-projection PET images at 10 and 60 minutes after 18F-P3BZA injection and at 60 minutes after 18F-FDG injection. (B) Transverse images of primary melanoma (red arrow), lymph node metastasis (yellow arrow), and bone metastasis (blue arrow). (C) H&E (upper part) and immunohistochemistry (lower part) images of primary melanoma. Credit: Xiaowei Ma, Shengjun Wang et al., Xijing Hospital,...
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How To Stop Overthinking Everything, According To Therapists
Rumination — aka thinking about something in endless circles — is exhausting *and* makes you more susceptible to depression and anxiety. The last time you saw your grandma before she died. That work presentation last month. Yesterday’s argument with your SO. Your performance eval next quarter. That damn toast you agreed to give at the...
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Common gene disorder causes serious “stealth” disease, but could be easily treated
The Western world’s most common genetic disorder causes far higher levels of serious disease and disability than previously thought, despite being easy to detect and treat. Two major studies have revealed that the iron overload condition haemochromatosis, previously thought to be a low-level health risk, actually quadruples the risk of liver disease and doubles the risk of arthritis, and frailty in older age groups. It...
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Unraveling the genetic causes of skin cancer
New research from American University shows interplay between key gene and receptor AMERICAN UNIVERSITY Skin cancer is on the rise in the United States. Squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common form of cancer in the U.S., has the highest mortality rate of all non-melanoma skin cancers. In roughly two to five percent of patients, the disease will metastasize and spread...