U.S. probes deaths for links to Monster energy drink
October 23, 2012
By Martinne Geller and David Morgan
Reuters
The Food and Drug Administration said on Monday that it was investigating reports of five deaths that may be associated with Monster Beverage Corp's namesake energy drink, and the company's shares fell more than 14 percent.
Monster is also being sued by the family of a 14-year-old Maryland girl with a heart condition who died after drinking two cans of its Monster energy drink in a 24-hour period.
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Kids who smoke menthol more likely to get hooked
Kids who smoke menthol more likely to get hooked
By Amy Norton
Oct 30, 2012
(Reuters Health)
Kids who experiment with menthol cigarettes are more likely to become habitual smokers than their peers who start out with the regular variety, new research findings suggest.
In a study of tens of thousands of U.S. students, researchers found that kids who were dabbling with menthol cigarettes were 80 percent more likely to become regular smokers over the next few years, versus those experimenting with regular cigarettes.
Menthol is added to cigarettes to give them a minty "refreshing" flavor. Critics have charged that menthol makes cigarettes more palatable to new smokers - many of whom are kids - and may be especially likely to encourage addiction...
By Amy Norton
Oct 30, 2012
(Reuters Health)
Kids who experiment with menthol cigarettes are more likely to become habitual smokers than their peers who start out with the regular variety, new research findings suggest.
In a study of tens of thousands of U.S. students, researchers found that kids who were dabbling with menthol cigarettes were 80 percent more likely to become regular smokers over the next few years, versus those experimenting with regular cigarettes.
Menthol is added to cigarettes to give them a minty "refreshing" flavor. Critics have charged that menthol makes cigarettes more palatable to new smokers - many of whom are kids - and may be especially likely to encourage addiction...
Friday, September 21, 2012
Life Spans Shrink for Least-Educated Whites in the U.S.
Here is more evidence about how much we harm children by failing to educate them.
Life Spans Shrink for Least-Educated Whites in the U.S.
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
New York Times
September 20, 2012
For generations of Americans, it was a given that children would live longer than their parents. But there is now mounting evidence that this enduring trend has reversed itself for the country’s least-educated whites, an increasingly troubled group whose life expectancy has fallen by four years since 1990.
Researchers have long documented that the most educated Americans were making the biggest gains in life expectancy, but now they say mortality data show that life spans for some of the least educated Americans are actually contracting. Four studies in recent years identified modest declines, but a new one that looks separately at Americans lacking a high school diploma found disturbingly sharp drops in life expectancy for whites in this group. Experts not involved in the new research said its findings were persuasive.
The reasons for the decline remain unclear, but researchers offered possible explanations, including a spike in prescription drug overdoses among young whites, higher rates of smoking among less educated white women, rising obesity, and a steady increase in the number of the least educated Americans who lack health insurance.
The steepest declines were for white women without a high school diploma, who lost five years of life between 1990 and 2008, said S. Jay Olshansky, a public health professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the lead investigator on the study, published last month in Health Affairs. By 2008, life expectancy for black women without a high school diploma had surpassed that of white women of the same education level, the study found.
White men lacking a high school diploma lost three years of life. Life expectancy for both blacks and Hispanics of the same education level rose, the data showed. But blacks over all do not live as long as whites, while Hispanics live longer than both whites and blacks...
Life Spans Shrink for Least-Educated Whites in the U.S.
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
New York Times
September 20, 2012
For generations of Americans, it was a given that children would live longer than their parents. But there is now mounting evidence that this enduring trend has reversed itself for the country’s least-educated whites, an increasingly troubled group whose life expectancy has fallen by four years since 1990.
Researchers have long documented that the most educated Americans were making the biggest gains in life expectancy, but now they say mortality data show that life spans for some of the least educated Americans are actually contracting. Four studies in recent years identified modest declines, but a new one that looks separately at Americans lacking a high school diploma found disturbingly sharp drops in life expectancy for whites in this group. Experts not involved in the new research said its findings were persuasive.
The reasons for the decline remain unclear, but researchers offered possible explanations, including a spike in prescription drug overdoses among young whites, higher rates of smoking among less educated white women, rising obesity, and a steady increase in the number of the least educated Americans who lack health insurance.
The steepest declines were for white women without a high school diploma, who lost five years of life between 1990 and 2008, said S. Jay Olshansky, a public health professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the lead investigator on the study, published last month in Health Affairs. By 2008, life expectancy for black women without a high school diploma had surpassed that of white women of the same education level, the study found.
White men lacking a high school diploma lost three years of life. Life expectancy for both blacks and Hispanics of the same education level rose, the data showed. But blacks over all do not live as long as whites, while Hispanics live longer than both whites and blacks...
Sunday, August 05, 2012
Study finds that avoiding lies can improve your health
Research results about the stress of lying applies only to normal people who have a conscience. Four percent of the population has no conscience, and is not the least bit stressed by lying. I would guess that a bell-shaped curve would describe how much the other ninety-six percent of the population is bothered by lying. Probably most people are bothered somewhat, and a few are highly indisposed toward lying.
Study finds that avoiding lies can improve your health
By Sharon Jayson
USA TODAY
Aug. 5, 2012
Each week for 10 weeks, 110 individuals, ages 18-71, took a lie detector test and completed health and relationship measures assessing the number of major and minor lies they told that week, says lead author Anita Kelly, a psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She presented findings at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, which ended Sunday.
"When they went up in their lies, their health went down," says Kelly. "When their lies went down, their health improved."
Researchers instructed half the participants to "refrain from telling any lies for any reason to anyone. You may omit truths, refuse to answer questions, and keep secrets, but you cannot say anything that you know to be false." The other half received no such instructions.
Over the study period, the link between less lying and improved health was significantly stronger for participants in the no-lie group, the study found. When participants in the no-lie group told three fewer minor lies than they did in other weeks, for example, they experienced, on average, four fewer mental-health complaints and three fewer physical complaints. Mental health complaints included feeling tense or melancholy; physical complaints included sore throats and headaches.
Linda Stroh, a professor emeritus of organizational behavior at Loyola University in Chicago, says findings are consistent with her own research on trust. "When you find that you don't lie, you have less stress," she says. "Being very conflicted adds an inordinate amount of stress to your life."
Evidence from past research suggests that Americans average about 11 lies a week. Kelly says the no-lie group participants were down to one lie, on average, per week. For both groups, when participants lied less in a given week, they reported their physical health and mental health to be significantly better that week.
"It's certainly a worthy goal to have people be more honest and more genuine and interact with others in a more honest way," says psychologist Robert Feldman of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "That would be ultimately beneficial. I'm a little skeptical that it makes us all healthier, but it may make us healthier in a psychological way."
Study finds that avoiding lies can improve your health
By Sharon Jayson
USA TODAY
Aug. 5, 2012
Each week for 10 weeks, 110 individuals, ages 18-71, took a lie detector test and completed health and relationship measures assessing the number of major and minor lies they told that week, says lead author Anita Kelly, a psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She presented findings at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, which ended Sunday.
"When they went up in their lies, their health went down," says Kelly. "When their lies went down, their health improved."
Researchers instructed half the participants to "refrain from telling any lies for any reason to anyone. You may omit truths, refuse to answer questions, and keep secrets, but you cannot say anything that you know to be false." The other half received no such instructions.
Over the study period, the link between less lying and improved health was significantly stronger for participants in the no-lie group, the study found. When participants in the no-lie group told three fewer minor lies than they did in other weeks, for example, they experienced, on average, four fewer mental-health complaints and three fewer physical complaints. Mental health complaints included feeling tense or melancholy; physical complaints included sore throats and headaches.
Linda Stroh, a professor emeritus of organizational behavior at Loyola University in Chicago, says findings are consistent with her own research on trust. "When you find that you don't lie, you have less stress," she says. "Being very conflicted adds an inordinate amount of stress to your life."
Evidence from past research suggests that Americans average about 11 lies a week. Kelly says the no-lie group participants were down to one lie, on average, per week. For both groups, when participants lied less in a given week, they reported their physical health and mental health to be significantly better that week.
"It's certainly a worthy goal to have people be more honest and more genuine and interact with others in a more honest way," says psychologist Robert Feldman of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "That would be ultimately beneficial. I'm a little skeptical that it makes us all healthier, but it may make us healthier in a psychological way."
Friday, November 05, 2010
'Non-Toxic' Scented Products Emit Toxic Chemicals
'Non-Toxic' Scented Products Emit Toxic Chemicals
By Emily Sohn
Discovery Channel
11/2/2010
From hair products to laundry detergents to diapers, we live in a world of fragrance that might be making us sick, suggests a new study, even when those scents come from products that claim to be natural and pure.
In an analysis of 25 of the most commonly used scented products -- including ones labeled "organic," "natural" or "non-toxic" -- scientists identified at least 133 chemicals wafting off of them. A quarter of those chemicals were classified as hazardous or toxic. Virtually none were listed on product labels.
Along with prior evidence that nearly a third of Americans develop headaches, breathing problems and other symptoms when exposed to scented products, the new findings suggest that efforts to smell nice threaten both your health and the health of people around you...
By Emily Sohn
Discovery Channel
11/2/2010
From hair products to laundry detergents to diapers, we live in a world of fragrance that might be making us sick, suggests a new study, even when those scents come from products that claim to be natural and pure.
In an analysis of 25 of the most commonly used scented products -- including ones labeled "organic," "natural" or "non-toxic" -- scientists identified at least 133 chemicals wafting off of them. A quarter of those chemicals were classified as hazardous or toxic. Virtually none were listed on product labels.
Along with prior evidence that nearly a third of Americans develop headaches, breathing problems and other symptoms when exposed to scented products, the new findings suggest that efforts to smell nice threaten both your health and the health of people around you...
Thursday, June 03, 2010
A good reason to go organic?
Will this impact the illegal immigration debate? Are Americans going to be willing to work on farms that use methyl iodide? Maybe the anti-illegal immigration folks are doing immigrants a favor by keeping them out.
Background information
You may submit comments by e-mail to mei_comments@cdpr.ca.gov.
State poised to OK supertoxic pesticide
Peter Fimrite
San Francisco Chronicle
June 2, 2010
Farmers planting strawberries and other crops in California will soon have to contend with cancer-causing poison instead of bugs, worms and fungus if regulators get their wish.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has proposed registering methyl iodide as a pesticide in California to the dismay of scientists and environmental groups, who say it is so toxic that even chemists are reluctant to handle it.
The chemical will become legal for growers to use after a 60-day comment period ending June 29 unless there is some kind of public outcry...
Background information
You may submit comments by e-mail to mei_comments@cdpr.ca.gov.
State poised to OK supertoxic pesticide
Peter Fimrite
San Francisco Chronicle
June 2, 2010
Farmers planting strawberries and other crops in California will soon have to contend with cancer-causing poison instead of bugs, worms and fungus if regulators get their wish.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has proposed registering methyl iodide as a pesticide in California to the dismay of scientists and environmental groups, who say it is so toxic that even chemists are reluctant to handle it.
The chemical will become legal for growers to use after a 60-day comment period ending June 29 unless there is some kind of public outcry...
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Health fear over radiation from new airport scanners
Health fear over new airport scanners
London Evening Standard
22.05.07
New X-Ray scanners at British airports could be exposing passengers to potentially dangerous levels of radiation, according to one senior radiologist.
The machines are designed to "strip search" passengers by using low-level X-Rays, which produce an image of their bodies, revealing whether they are secretly carrying weapons, explosives or illegal drugs.
But the scanners may not be safe for certain people, particularly children and women in the early stages of pregnancy, according to Dr Sarah Burnett, who works as an independent radiologist in London.
"It is illegal to expose people to any level of radiation without medical justification," said Dr Burnett, who raised her concerns after being asked to undergo a full-body scan at Luton Airport.
"So how is it that the Government is allowed to irradiate us willy-nilly at airports?
"I am particularly concerned about the potential effects on women in their first trimester of pregnancy.
"That is when the risks of the baby developing genetic abnormalities are highest because radiation exposure can damage the body's reproductive DNA."
Called the Rapiscan Secure 1000, the device looks like a big filing cabinet and fires a low-energy X-Ray beam over the body...
London Evening Standard
22.05.07
New X-Ray scanners at British airports could be exposing passengers to potentially dangerous levels of radiation, according to one senior radiologist.
The machines are designed to "strip search" passengers by using low-level X-Rays, which produce an image of their bodies, revealing whether they are secretly carrying weapons, explosives or illegal drugs.
But the scanners may not be safe for certain people, particularly children and women in the early stages of pregnancy, according to Dr Sarah Burnett, who works as an independent radiologist in London.
"It is illegal to expose people to any level of radiation without medical justification," said Dr Burnett, who raised her concerns after being asked to undergo a full-body scan at Luton Airport.
"So how is it that the Government is allowed to irradiate us willy-nilly at airports?
"I am particularly concerned about the potential effects on women in their first trimester of pregnancy.
"That is when the risks of the baby developing genetic abnormalities are highest because radiation exposure can damage the body's reproductive DNA."
Called the Rapiscan Secure 1000, the device looks like a big filing cabinet and fires a low-energy X-Ray beam over the body...
Monday, December 31, 2007
A third of the world's 6.6 billion people are infected with TB
"A third of the world's 6.6 billion people are infected with TB..."
Click here to see the original article.
www.abcnews.go.com/Health/Germs/story?id=4069429&page=1
"TB alone already has a profound impact on global health. Two million die of the disease every year, and nearly 9 million new active cases are diagnosed. TB can be cured with drugs that cost only $14-$18 per patient but may take six to nine months to work. And as a consequence of poor treatment, some strains of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB no longer respond to treatment with the standard first-line drugs (see Antimicrobial Resistance Jeopardizes Medical Advancement). Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) has emerged in nearly every country in the world and accounts for 14 percent of all TB cases. The risk of MDR-TB is higher among HIV-infected persons than those who are not.
"HIV is also advancing rapidly: 40 million people worldwide were living with HIV at the end of 2005, 5 million more than in the previous year. Many infected with HIV develop TB as the first manifestation of AIDS, because HIV infection is the most potent risk factor for converting latent TB infection (which affects one-third of the world's population) to active disease or relapse in previously treated patients..."
Click here to see the original article.
http://www.prb.org/Articles/2006/IntersectingEpidemicsTuberculosisandHIV.aspx
Click here to see the original article.
www.abcnews.go.com/Health/Germs/story?id=4069429&page=1
"TB alone already has a profound impact on global health. Two million die of the disease every year, and nearly 9 million new active cases are diagnosed. TB can be cured with drugs that cost only $14-$18 per patient but may take six to nine months to work. And as a consequence of poor treatment, some strains of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB no longer respond to treatment with the standard first-line drugs (see Antimicrobial Resistance Jeopardizes Medical Advancement). Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) has emerged in nearly every country in the world and accounts for 14 percent of all TB cases. The risk of MDR-TB is higher among HIV-infected persons than those who are not.
"HIV is also advancing rapidly: 40 million people worldwide were living with HIV at the end of 2005, 5 million more than in the previous year. Many infected with HIV develop TB as the first manifestation of AIDS, because HIV infection is the most potent risk factor for converting latent TB infection (which affects one-third of the world's population) to active disease or relapse in previously treated patients..."
Click here to see the original article.
http://www.prb.org/Articles/2006/IntersectingEpidemicsTuberculosisandHIV.aspx
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
High school student dies of antibiotic-resistant staph infection
Why are so many microbes becomes drug and chemical resistant?
Because we use antibiotics and antiseptics too casually. The strongest bugs survive, and the drugs and chemicals won't work against them the next time they cause trouble.
Farmers know this. So do doctors. The best solution? We should use our immune systems to fight infections whenever possible, and save the drugs and chemicals for the most serious illnesses.
Kudos to the schools who are being open and honest about this, and giving the public the information it deserves.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 17, 2007
RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 17 — A high school student hospitalized for more than a week with an antibiotic-resistant staph infection died on Monday, as schools across the country were reporting outbreaks of staph infections, including the antibiotic-resistant strain.
The student, Ashton Bonds, 17, was a senior at Staunton River High School in Moneta, Va., and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, was diagnosed in him, his mother said.
Officials shut down all 22 schools in Bedford County for cleaning today in an effort to keep the illness from spreading, after students at Staunton River organized a protest overnight Monday, using text messages and social networking sites. On Tuesday, the student organizers led the Bedford County schools superintendent, James Blevins, on a tour of the Staunton River school to show him the state of its sanitation, particularly in its locker rooms...
Because we use antibiotics and antiseptics too casually. The strongest bugs survive, and the drugs and chemicals won't work against them the next time they cause trouble.
Farmers know this. So do doctors. The best solution? We should use our immune systems to fight infections whenever possible, and save the drugs and chemicals for the most serious illnesses.
Kudos to the schools who are being open and honest about this, and giving the public the information it deserves.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 17, 2007
RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 17 — A high school student hospitalized for more than a week with an antibiotic-resistant staph infection died on Monday, as schools across the country were reporting outbreaks of staph infections, including the antibiotic-resistant strain.
The student, Ashton Bonds, 17, was a senior at Staunton River High School in Moneta, Va., and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, was diagnosed in him, his mother said.
Officials shut down all 22 schools in Bedford County for cleaning today in an effort to keep the illness from spreading, after students at Staunton River organized a protest overnight Monday, using text messages and social networking sites. On Tuesday, the student organizers led the Bedford County schools superintendent, James Blevins, on a tour of the Staunton River school to show him the state of its sanitation, particularly in its locker rooms...
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