Public Health

Spending too many hours on the couch watching TV could cut your life short, according to a new study in Circulation. Australian researchers tracked the lifestyle habits of 8,800 adults and found that for every hour of television watched per day, the risk of dying earlier from cardiovascular disease increased by 18 percent. The team also found that each hour spent in front of the television daily was associated with an 11 percent increased risk of death from all causes and a 9 percent increased risk of cancer death. Compared with people who watched less than two hours of television daily,…

Though it seems entirely obvious at this point, eating less and exercising more are the only reliable ways to lose weight. The reason for repeating this advice ad nauseum? An international team of researchers says it's because a body of scientific literature has arisen in recent years suggesting that fat oxidation – burning the fats we eat as opposed to the carbohydrates – is enough to promote fat loss. It isn't. In a new paper published in Cell Metabolism,  scientists say they have demonstrated that mice genetically altered to burn fats in preference to carbohydrates, will convert the…

Consumers who choose what they eat based on nutrition labels may think they're making healthy choices, but new research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association indicates that those familiar labels may be greatly underestimating the number of calories in restaurant and packaged food.  Measured energy values of 29 quick-serve and sit-down restaurant foods averaged 18% more calories than the stated values. Likewise, measured energy values of 10 frozen meals purchased from supermarkets averaged 8% more calories than stated on the label. The commercially prepared…

The authors of a new study featured in Annals of Internal Medicine say that kitchen spoons should be avoided when taking medicine, because it's easy to under or overdose when using them to measure. During the study, former cold and flu sufferers were asked to pour one teaspoon of nighttime flu medicine into kitchen spoons of differing sizes.  Depending upon the size of the spoon, the 195 former patients poured an average of eight percent too little or 12 percent too much medicine. "When pouring into a medium-size tablespoon, participants under-dosed.  But when using a larger spoon…

 Although smoking is a well-known risk factor for type 2 diabetes, new research published in the January 5 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that quitting the habit may actually raise diabetes risk in the short term. Researchers found that people who quit smoking have a 70 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the first six years without cigarettes as compared to people who never smoked. The risks were highest in the first three years after quitting and returned to normal after 10 years. Among those who continued smoking over that period, the risk was lower…

The FDA's pre-market approval process for cardiovascular devices is often based on studies that lack adequate strength or may have been prone to bias, according to a study in the December 23/30 issue of JAMA. The researchers found that of nearly 80 high-risk devices, the majority received approval based on data from a single study. Cardiovascular devices are increasing in number and usage. "In 2008, at least 350,000 pacemakers, 140,000 implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, and 1,230,000 stents were implanted. Although there has been recent scrutiny of evidence used in the FDA drug approval…

Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health claim that children regularly exposed to tobacco smoke at home are more likely to develop early emphysema in adulthood. The findings, published in the December 2009 American Journal of Epidemiology, suggest that the lungs may not recover completely from the effects of early-life exposures to tobacco smoke (ETS), the research team says. The researchers studied CT scans of 1,781 non-smokers without clinical cardiovascular disease recruited from six communities in the United States, including northern Manhattan and the Bronx,…

ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDIES ON MEDICINAL PLANT: CHITRAK From: Santosh Sharma and Ashwani Kumar, Department of Botany University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, 302004 - India [msku31@yahoo.com] Introduction Chitrak (Plumbago zeylanica L. - Plumbaginaceae) has traditionally been used by rural and tribal people in traditional system of medicine,and also in Ayurveda. It is a perennial shrub with rambling branches (Chopra, 1933). Leaves ovate with bisexual flowers. The root is light yellow, when dry, internal colour is brown, fracture short,taste acrid and biting. Beacause of its stimulatory property, it is…

Breaking News: Men's guide to spotting single women ANI 22 December 2009, 04:28pm ISTText Size:|Topics:Sex single men Single women This is the season for single men to be out looking for lovely single girls. Thanks to everyone dressing up in an attractive and similar manner, it How to spot single women (Getty Images) Twitter Facebook Share Email Print Save Comment does become tough for the men to figure out who is who and if they are, at all, single! Wondering how to discover if the women you are interested in is single? Fox News has come up with several hints. She's full of eye…

Breaking News: Be his 'sexy' Santa this Xmas TNN 24 December 2009, 12:00am ISTText Size:|Topics:Man woman Christmas relationship guBefore the New Year spirit takes over, bask in the Christmas revelry with your man. Make the best of the day’s off that you have got. Give a Be his sexy Santa this Xmas (Getty Images) Twitter Facebook Share Email Print Save Comment break to the oldie goldie Santa, and turn into a sexy Santa yourself this Christmas for a really hot and steamy celebration! Early morning ‘sex’ surprise: Begin your day by surprising him! How about turning the table and you…