Dream of the Future: Chocolate as Brain Food

As if chocolate lovers needed yet another reason to indulge guilt free, researchers from Harvard University and Mars, Incorporated, have released their findings that a naturally occurring substance in cocoa can actually bring long-term improvements to the flow of blood to the brain in ways that may have the potential of easing the damage of a stroke or slowing the progression of dementia.  Currently, one in seven older Americans is battling age-related dementia. Read more

Childhood Ear Infections Trigger Adult Obesity

Ear infections are a common but very painful aspect of childhood, experienced by more than 5 million children each year.  New scientific evidence from Florida suggests that chronic ear infections during childhood increase the chance of becoming obese later in life.  The effect of these infections on the primary taste nerve, which runs through the middle ear, is thought to be the influencing factor. Read more

Newly Identified Free Radicals More Dangerous

It’s generally understood that smoking cigarettes dramatically increases one’s likelihood of developing lung cancer. But people who’ve never smoked also get lung cancer. Theories abound but there’s no generally accepted reason, other than second-hand smoke, as to why nonsmokers get lung cancer. A team of research scientists in Louisiana have just announced the discovery of a group of air pollutants, previously unknown, that is thought to be a likely culprit. Read more

Driving, Antidepressants Can Be Dangerous Duo

In the past 10 years, the use of antidepressant drugs has tripled in the United States, where one in 10 women takes at least one antidepressant, according to National Center for Health Statistics’ 2004 Health United States report. A new, separate, study by researchers at the University of North Dakota says those antidepressant medications, as well as the bleak moods that underlie their dispensation, can significantly impair one’s driving ability. Read more

Asthma: Boys Get It More, Outgrow It More Than Girls

During childhood, boys are more likely than girls to have asthma.  But, when boys and girls alike have asthma, the boys are more likely than the girls to outgrow it as adolescence nears.  This finding leads a team of Harvard researchers to suggest the body has a built-in asthma development mechanism that may lead to better maintenance or preventive care. Read more

Stress Prolongs, Worsens Allergic Reactions

Researchers at Ohio State University have just released the findings of a study that suggests allergic reactions that occur during times of stress are likely to last longer and be more severe than reactions to the same allergens during times of little or no stress. The research team presented its findings on August 14 to the American Psychological Association at its annual meeting in Boston. Read more

Bariatric Surgery Does Not Cure Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common among people who are obese and many of these people turn to bariatric surgery to achieve a healthier weight.  Many bariatric surgery patients say their OSA goes away or becomes more bearable after bariatric surgery and many post-surgery bariatric patients choose to discontinue treatment for OSA. Read more

Young Woman’s Every Cigarette Counts When Tallying Stroke Risk

While the evidence is unavoidably clear that smoking cigarettes increases a person’s risk of having a stroke, there is relatively little data that identifies the dosage amount that places a smoker in the danger zone. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have just announced the results of their study which quantified smoking habits with risk of stroke in young women between the ages of 15 and 49. Read more

Of Mice, Moisturizers, Skin Cancer: Controversy Afoot

Albino mice in a Rutgers University laboratory that were pre-treated with ultraviolet (UV) light to simulate the lifelong effect of a human’s sun exposure developed skin cancer when a number of common moisturizing creams were applied to their skins.  The creams were meant to be the vehicle by which caffeine would be administered to the mice in an effort to prove the theory that caffeine might prevent skin cancer.  The finding that the creams themselves caused cancer was a surprise to the research team. Read more

Longer Hours, Fewer Days May Promote Worker Health, Productivity

Calling it a Compressed Working Week, British researchers are suggesting a shorter work week may improve the detrimental health effects of shift work at the same time it improves employee morale and boosts productivity.  Twenty percent of all European workers are involved with shift work in one form or another, usually working five 8-hour days.  The research team says both the employee and the employer may benefit from three or four 12-hour days instead. Read more

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