Health Videos and Health News // Current

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Taking (or giving?) One for the Greater Good

Remember when you were a kid and they had the sponsored runs at school. You went around and got the neighbors and your family to... more

eldamon
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Support healthy food choices in schools

On June 24 a broad coalition of Main Street Moms, Activist Moms and NGOs, along with actresses Deidre Hall and Andrea Bowen... more

JanforGore
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Amtrak Crash Kills 5

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. - An Amtrak train crashed Thursday into a car in this Detroit suburb, killing all five people in the... more

Crenshaw_Brothers
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WASHINGTON - Vaccinations against swine flu are likely and probably will begin in mid-October, assuming soon-to-start studies go well.

The government will fully pay for any autumn vaccination program against the new H1N1 swine flu, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Thursday.

"We have already appropriated about a billion dollars to buy the bulk ingredients," Sebelius told a swine flu "summit" of state and local leaders at the National Institutes of Health.

She said another $7.5 billion was available from emergency preparedness funds.

President Barack Obama telephoned the NIH all the way from Italy Thursday to tell a meeting of 500 flu officials not to promote panic — but to make sure "we are promoting vigilance and preparation."

Saying the potential for a significant fall outbreak is looming, Obama said steps taken now to prepare are crucial to protect "our neighbors and our friends and co-workers."

Swine flu may have faded from the headlines but it's still sickening people here and abroad and is certain to worsen when influenza-friendly fall temperatures arrive. The federal government called together health and education officials from every state to check their preparations for the likely prospect of vaccinations and determine how they'll handle flu-riddled schools.

"I want to be clear: This summit is not about raising alarms or stoking fears. It is about being prepared," Sebelius said. "We must avoid complacency."

Sebelius says no final decision has been made. But she says first in line for shots likely will be school-age children, young adults with conditions such as asthma, pregnant women and health workers.

Studies of the brand-new vaccine are set to start in early August, and the government will make its final decision once results are available. But Sebelius told officials from all 50 states Thursday to figure out now how they would deliver the shots to people who need them.

The government estimates that 1 million Americans so far have been infected with the never-before-seen virus known formally by its scientific family name, H1N1.WASHINGTON - Vaccinations against swine flu are likely and probably will begin in mid-October, assuming soon-to-start studies go... more

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9 hours ago

Did China's nuclear tests kill thousands and doom future generations?

"Enver Tohti remembers the week that it rained dust. That summer of 1973 he was in elementary school in Xinjiang Province,... more

DeliaTheArtist
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23 responses

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9 hours ago

What Does a Drug That Extends Life in Mice Mean for Humans?

A natural compound, used as an immunosuppressant in organ-transplant patients, has been found to extend life in mice, according to a study published Wednesday by the journal Nature. Aging mice that were given the substance, rapamycin, lived significantly longer than mice that didn't get the drug: females that received rapamycin were 13% older at death, and males 9% older.
The research, conducted as part of the National Institute of Aging Interventions Testing Program, took place at three separate test sites and involved nearly 2,000 genetically similar mice. Trials began when mice were about 600 days old — well into middle age, at a stage roughly equivalent to 60-year-old humans.
Because of their late start (researchers had intended to study mice from early ages, but were stymied by technical difficulties), scientists weren't sure they could expect clear results. However, even administered late in life, rapamycin delayed death of the longest-lived male mice by 101 days and 151 days in the longest-lived females — the equivalent of about 13 years on average in humans — compared with mice with no treatment. In terms of life expectancy when treatment began (or average remaining lifespan when the mice were 600 days old), that translates to an increase of 38% in female mice and 28% in males compared with mice that received no treatment at all.

Although the results are totally untested in humans, they do suggest that aging could be slowed by drugs. Exactly how rapamycin works is "still an open question," says Randy Strong, a pharmacology professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and one of three lead authors on the study. But he and his colleagues were prompted to test the aging effects of rapamycin, which was discovered in Easter Island soil samples about 40 years ago, after noting that the compound appeared to affect cell growth in lab animals in much the same way as calorie-restricted diets, which also appear to extend life.
Scientists think rapamycin's cellular target — called mTOR for "mammalian target of rapamycin" — helps regulate the body's response to nutrients and may also, according to Strong, "gear up responses to stress," such as the oxidative stress that damages proteins and DNA and contributes to disease development. "What we're doing with rapamycin," Strong says, "is we're actually tricking the cells into thinking that they're depleted of nutrients. Rather than the animals losing weight — we haven't noticed any weight loss — they may be just using their proteins more efficiently, and then repairing proteins more efficiently.

It's this cellular efficiency, perhaps, that delays aging and helps preserve animals' good health. The findings suggest that rapamycin does not affect or prevent any one disease specifically — the mice in the study died of various causes, with no real difference between mice that received rapamycin and those that didn't — but rather that it slows aging overall.
Rapamycin's life-extending effect has been demonstrated by other researchers in past studies of worms, fruit flies and yeast; the drug appears to interfere with a similar cellular process in those species too. "I think this is a big leap from those invertebrate species to mammals," says Strong, who is also a senior research scientist for Veteran Affairs. "This gives us a good idea that perhaps it would work in humans too."

Earlier human trials have shown, however, that rapamycin can have serious side effects. Because it is an immune suppressant, it can make users susceptible to opportunistic infections. It has also been linked to hyperlipidemia, or high levels of triglycerides in the blood, which can lead to heart disease. It's unclear whether these problems would counteract any longevity benefit that rapamycin might provide in humans. Says Strong, "I think more immediately, people are starting to look at [rapamycin] for age-related diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or kidney disease."A natural compound, used as an immunosuppressant in organ-transplant patients, has been found to extend life in mice, according to... more

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9 hours ago

Why Are Southerners So Fat?

People from Mississippi are fat. With an adult obesity rate of 33%, Mississippi gobbled its way to the "chubbiest state" crown for the fifth year in a row, according to a new joint report by Trust For America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Alabama, West Virginia, and Tennessee aren't far behind, with obesity rates over 30%. In fact, eight out of the 10 fattest states are in the South. The region famous for its biscuits, barbecue and pecan pies has been struggling with its weight for years — but then again, so has the rest of the country. Wisconsin loves cheese, New Yorkers scarf pizza, and New Englanders have been known to enjoy a crab cake or two. So why is the South so portly? For one thing, it's poor. Mississippi is not only the fattest state in the nation but also the poorest, with 21% of its residents living below the poverty line according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Alabama and West Virginia, the second and third fattest states, are tied for fifth-poorest. With a poverty rate of 14%, the South is easily the most impoverished region in the country. "When you're poor you tend to eat more calorie-dense foods because they're cheaper than fruits and vegetables," explains Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America. Poor neighborhoods also have fewer grocery stores, even in the rural South. A 2004 study by the University of South Carolina found that most food-shopping options in rural areas fall into the "convenience store" category because grocery stores are located too far away. But although poverty puts people at risk for obesity, it doesn't determine their fate. A number of impoverished states — including Montana, Texas and New Mexico — have relatively low levels of obesity. There must be something else. Maybe it's the culture. Southerners definitely enjoy their fried chicken (not to mention fried steak, fried onions, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, and fried cornbread). Even when their food isn't fried, they like to smother it in gravy. But while nutritionists frequently blame Southerners' large guts on their regional food choices, the accusation is a little unfair. Just as Californians don't actually live on wheat grass and tofu, Southerners don't really sit around eating fried chicken every day. "I've not come across anything that says the diet in the Southeast is worse than the rest of the country," says Dr. David Bassett, co-director of the University of Tennessee's Obesity Research Center. "We're definitely in what I like to call the 'stroke belt,'" he explains, referring to the Southeastern states' high percentage of heart disease and hypertension, "but I think that has more to do with Southerners' lack of physical activity rather than the food." Bassett isn't just talking about neglected gym memberships and people who sit on the couch all day. Physical activity can be something as simple as walking to the bus stop. That's another problem, by the way: the South doesn't have many bus stops. Public transportation is paltry, and for most people the best way to get around is by car. "You don't really think of riding the train as exercise, but at least you have to walk a few blocks to get to the stop," says Bassett. States like Mississippi and Tennessee also have a surprising lack of sidewalks, discouraging even the most eager pedestrians. Many roads are narrower than those in the North — where streets have wider shoulders to accommodate winter snow — and people who want to bike or jog find themselves uncomfortably close to traffic.

But who wants to exercise when it's 100 degrees outside? The South is really hot and humid. Nobody in Mississippi goes running in the summer — at least, nobody sane. Bassett points out that Colorado, the state with the lowest obesity rate (18.9%), is relatively affluent and has a temperate climate and plenty of trails that lend themselves to outdoor activities.People from Mississippi are fat. With an adult obesity rate of 33%, Mississippi gobbled its way to the "chubbiest state"... more

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10 hours ago

Sore throat lands man in prison

A 76-year-old man has been sentenced to six months in prison after he phoned a whopping 42 times for an ambulance after... more

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11 hours ago

The Health Benefits of The Ozone Hole - CBS EyeMobile: News

Joint Pain is a thing of the past... because of the Ozone Hole?

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11 hours ago

Is shaving EVERYTHING about to be the norm for men as well?

I personally don't think that chest hair is sexy, but I the only men that should shave their chests and other body areas are... more

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15 hours ago

Woman catches fella with best friend, stabs him, gets engaged to him

Imagine you're a woman and you've gone to bed early, leaving your boyfriend and your best friend downstairs. Upon... more

richjm
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16 hours ago

Top 50 Blogs for Healthy Eating & Nutrition

If you're health conscious about your eating habits, this list includes fifty bloggers that should be added to your RSS reader.

Healthylivinggal
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17 hours ago

Bikini Body in 2 Weeks

Volleyball player and fashion model, Gabrielle Reece, gave Yahoo! readers a great workout for getting that summertime bikini body.... more

mrhealth
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17 hours ago

Blake Lively: Diet and Exercise

Although Blake Lively is known for wearing skimpy outfits on the set of Gossip Girl, the 21-year-old star confesses that she... more

mrhealth
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19 hours ago

Top 10 Careers in Healthcare That Pay More Than You Think (With Less School Required)

This list proves to rest the theory that high-paying health care careers are completely out of reach for most people.

Healthylivinggal
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20 hours ago

NO MORE BOTTLED WATER!!!, in this Australian town

A rural town in Australia has voted overwhelmingly to ban the sale of bottled water over concerns about its environmental impact.... more

TrevTar
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21 hours ago

Unnamable

[From Generacion Y, a blog by Yoani Sanchez, blogger in Cuba] Translated from Spanish.

I got a reddened bite on my leg and yesterday I woke up with my body aching all over. The first thing I thought was that I’d become infected with dengue fever, which has reappeared—as it does every summer—in the neighborhoods of my city. Fortunately I didn’t have a fever, so by mid-morning I ruled out that I was sick with this virus, also known as “break-bone fever.” In any case I can’t be sure that I won’t catch it, since very close to my house there are several cases and in these rainy days the number of mosquitoes increases.

The most striking aspect of the presence of this disease among us is the official failure to report the number of infected or to mention the word “dengue” in the new media. If you go to the hospital with all the symptoms, you receive a treatment in which the six letters that spell the wretched word are never spoken. On television they broadcast ads about how to counteract the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but no one ever mentions that this is due to the existence of dengue among us. Without statistics or data, we citizens are reconstructing the number of infected based on rumors that come to us from friends and acquaintances. The alarm grows, because we always suspect there’s a higher incidence than that which reaches our ears.

The silence around dengue corresponds to the permanent intention to not confess anything that damages the image of the country. To say that in our tropical “paradise” the disease has become endemic and common and that tourists should be warned of its outbreaks, exceeds the bounds of honesty permitted by our authorities. However it does not acknowledge it, nor reduce the fever, nor calm the worries of the sick and their families. On the contrary. They can put the name as dengue, or hide it in gibberish like, “fever, joint pains and rash,” but this doesn’t frighten away the risk; it does not help us to forget that come July and August it is an inseparable presence in our lives.

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As many things in Cuba, the truth is hidden under a mantle of doublespeak. Where deadly dengue fever becomes "fever, joint pains, and rash" and where saying that you are hungry is considered "slander against the Revolution", Cuba has become a place taken right out of George Orwell's "Animal Farm." If you think it can't happen, it already happened in Cuba...[From Generacion Y, a blog by Yoani Sanchez, blogger in Cuba] Translated from Spanish. I got a reddened bite on my leg and... more

UrbanGypsy
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22 hours ago

Teen sex linked to children's TV viewing

Parents may now have a more urgent reason to monitor what their children watch on television, a new study suggests.

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston found that early teen sex may be linked to viewing adult content on television as children. The study tracked children from ages 6 to 18 and found that the sooner children began to view adult content on television programs and movies, the earlier they became sexually active during adolescence.

"Television and movies are among the leading sources of information about sex and relationships for adolescents," said Hernan Delgado, a specialist in adolescent and young adult medicine at Children's Hospital Boston and the study's lead author, in a news release on the study. "Our research shows that their sexual attitudes and expectations are influenced much earlier in life."

Dwayne Hastings, vice president of communications at the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, agrees.

"It is a proven fact that the unchecked, prurient content on television and in movie theaters is a primary factor in the coarsening of the culture," Hastings said. "Advertisers are willing to shell out millions of dollars for television commercials because they are confident they can sway our behavior. We should not be surprised then to discover that what we watch on television shapes attitudes toward sexuality while perverting God's design."

Parents, not television actors and actresses, should be introducing -- in age appropriate steps -- an understanding of human sexuality as God intended, Hastings added.

The study's 754 participants -- 365 males and 389 females -- were tracked during two stages, first in childhood and again from ages 12 to 18. During both stages, researchers recorded television programs and movies watched, along with the time spent watching them, over two sample days. The program and movie titles determined what was considered adult content. In the second stage, researchers tracked the onset of sexual activity.

Some of the findings may shock parents. For example, the study found that over the two sample days, for every hour the youngest group of children -- ages 6 to 8 -- watched adult content on television, their chances of having sex during early adolescence rose 33 percent.

The reverse was not found to be true (i.e. becoming sexually active during adolescence did not increase youth's viewing of adult-targeted television and movies).Parents may now have a more urgent reason to monitor what their children watch on television, a new study suggests. Researchers... more

ashcatash
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1 day ago

British scientists claim to create human sperm

LONDON – British scientists claimed Wednesday to have created human sperm from embryonic stem cells for the first time, an accomplishment they say may someday help infertile men father children.

The technique could in 10 years allow researchers to use the basic knowledge of how sperm develop to design treatments to enable infertile men the chance to have biological children, said lead researcher Karim Nayernia, of Newcastle University, whose team earlier produced baby mice from sperm derived in a similar way.

The research, published in the journal Stem Cells and Development, was conducted by scientists at Newcastle and the NorthEast England Stem Cell Institute.

Stem cells can become any cell in the body, and scientists have previously turned them into a variety of new entities, including cells from the brain, pancreas, heart and blood vessels.

Some experts challenged the research, saying they weren't convinced Nayernia and his colleagues had actually produced sperm cells. Several critics also said the sperm cells they created were clearly abnormal.

"I am unconvinced from the data presented in this paper that the cells produced by Professor Nayernia's group from embryonic stem cells can be accurately called 'spermatazoa," said Allan Pacey, a senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield.

Pacey said in a statement that the sperm created by Nayernia did not have the specific shape, movement and function of real sperm.

Azim Surani, a professor of physiology and reproduction at the University of Cambridge said the sperm produced by the Newcastle team were "a long way from being authentic sperm cells."

Nayernia said the cells "showed all the characteristics of sperm," but his group's intention was simply to "open up new avenues of research" with their early findings, rather than using the sperm to fertilize eggs.

Robin Lovell-Badge, a stem cell expert at the National Institute of Medical Research said that despite the questions raised, Nayernia and colleagues may have made some progress in obtaining human sperm from embryonic cells.

Nayernia said creating embryos from lab-manufactured sperm is banned by British law.

He said they only plan to produce sperm to study the reasons behind infertility, and will not fertilize any eggs.

Some lawmakers said provisions should be made to allow sperm derived from stem cells to be tested as part of potential fertility treatments.LONDON – British scientists claimed Wednesday to have created human sperm from embryonic stem cells for the first time, an... more

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1 day ago

NY Funds $21.5M for Stem Cell Research

"Governor David A. Paterson today announced the availability of $21.5 million in State funding for stem cell research in New York State through the release of two Requests for Applications (RFAs). This latest investment underscores New York’s commitment to stem cell research and its potential to strengthen the State’s position as a national leader in biomedical research.

“The power of stem cell science goes beyond the translation of discoveries into treatments for devastating diseases,” said Governor Paterson. “By participating in the global effort to understand and use stem cells, we move our own knowledge base forward and improve upon our innovation infrastructure. These grants will bring opportunities that invest in our intellectual capital, create jobs, and help to develop our New Economy.”

Last month, Governor Paterson outlined his vision to make New York a global leader in the New Economy – an economy based on knowledge, innovation and technology – and cited stem cell research as an example of an existing innovative industry that has the potential to draw businesses and jobs to the State.

The $21.5 million will be distributed through two separate RFAs seeking proposals to stimulate stem cell research:

* Investigator-Initiated Research Projects and Innovative, Developmental or Exploratory Activities (IDEA) in Stem Cell Research ($15 million) – to stimulate and support basic, applied, translational, pre-clinical and clinical investigations on any aspect of stem cell biology that will lead to a better understanding of the unique properties of stem cells and allow their use to treat disease; and

* Targeted Projects in Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research ($6.5 million) – to derive and characterize new human embryonic stem cell lines, devise novel and improved derivation methods, increase efficiency in the production of new lines, standardize protocols, and enhance their potential for clinical application.

State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D., who serves as Chair of the Empire State Stem Cell Board, said: “New York’s biomedical research community has responded with great enthusiasm to the State’s stem cell initiative and already produced noteworthy scientific work. With these new funding opportunities, we expect to continue supporting the very best science that our research institutions have to offer.”"Governor David A. Paterson today announced the availability of $21.5 million in State funding for stem cell research in New... more