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Comment by doone on June 7, 2012 at 10:36am

How Much Does Medical Care Matter?

Less than our spending on it would suggest, according to an infographic from the the Bipartisan Policy Center:

Austin Frakt disbelieves the numbers:

David Cutler and others suggest that health care is responsible for 50% of the gains in longevity over the past half century. Now, I have not read the underlying literature on this. ... Still, it seems to me there is no good reason to accept the 10% figure at the top of the left-hand side of the infographic. I’d like to know more how it got there. I’d like to hear the best argument as to why it’s correct.

Comment by Hope on June 1, 2012 at 7:49pm

Premature birth linked to worse mental health

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

 

Related Stories

Being born prematurely is linked to an increased risk of a range of mental health problems much later in life, according to researchers.

Bipolar disorder, depression and psychosis were all more likely, the study in The Archives of General Psychiatry suggested.

The overall risk remained very low, but was higher in premature babies.

Experts cautioned there have since been significant advances in caring for premature babies.

Full-term pregnancies last for around 40 weeks, but one in 13 babies are born prematurely, before 36 weeks.

Heightened risk

Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden analysed data from 1.3m people born in Sweden between 1973 and 1985.

They found 10,523 people were admitted to hospital with a psychiatric disorders, 580 of those had been born prematurely.

The academics showed full-term children had a two in 1,000 chance of being admitted. The risk was four in 1,000 for premature babies born before 36 weeks and six in 1,000 for those born before 32 weeks.

“Start Quote

I don't think parents should be worried”

End Quote Dr Chiara Nosarti King's College London

Very premature babies were more than seven times more like to have bipolar disorder and nearly three times as likely to have depression.

One of the researchers, Dr Chiara Nosarti, said the real figures may be higher as milder conditions would not have needed a hospital visit.

However, she cautioned that the risk was low and the vast majority of premature babies are perfectly healthy.

She told the BBC: "I don't think parents should be worried, but we know that preterm birth confers an increased vulnerability to a variety of psychiatric conditions and perhaps parents should be aware of this and monitor early signs of later more serious problems."

She speculate that "disrupted development" may affect the babies' brains.

'Striking'

The chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, Marjorie Wallace, said: "We already knew that premature birth may be linked to schizophrenia, but to see evidence linking it to a range of psychiatric conditions which required hospitalisation is striking."

The baby care charity Bliss said it was well-established that early birth can affect the developing brain.

However, its chief executive Andy Cole cautioned that some of the people in the study were born "40 years ago and that neonatal clinical practice to limit neurological damage has been transformed over the past four decades, with significantly improved outcomes seen today."

There have been developments in cooling the brain to reduce any damage as well as improvements in ventilation to ensure enough oxygen is getting to brain. *link*

Comment by Adriana on May 15, 2012 at 4:34pm

If you are interested in obesity, do not miss the discussion I just posted in the Mathematics group!

Comment by Hope on May 15, 2012 at 3:32pm

How Sleep Can Cause Toxic Fat Cells

By Kevin DiDonato MS, CSCS, CES
Sleep plays a key role in many different metabolic pathways in your body.
However, the most important pathway may have to do with glucose metabolism.
During the day (your waking hours), glucose levels in your body are at their highest, and during sleep (REM especially), your glucose levels are at their lowest.
Due to busy lifestyles, schedules, and other factors, roughly 15 to 30 percent of people get only 5 hours of sleep per night.
In fact, there have been a number of studies showing that lack of sleep can contribute to lowered testosterone levels, weight gain, and even impaired glucose metabolism.
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism shows that even ONE night of sleep loss (deprivation) can lead to impairments in glucose metabolism and could even increase insulin resistance.
Let me explain…
Sleep and Your Health
There is evidence that lack of sleep can drastically impair your body’s ability to process glucose.
One way it could impair glucose metabolism is by increasing insulin resistance.
This can alter glucose metabolism and can increase levels of circulating free fatty acids and other nutrients that would result from increased insulin resistance.
In fact, many different studies have shown that lack of sleep can decrease insulin sensitivity by as much as 19 to 25 percent.
Researchers aimed to see if just ONE night of sleep could alter glucose metabolism and increase insulin resistance in the liver and peripheral systems of the body.....

-->Read more.

Comment by Hope on May 7, 2012 at 12:30am

Understanding Organic Food Labeling

Sarah Davis explains what you need to know to read food labels, and discusses organic food labeling.

 

Comment by Michel on May 2, 2012 at 12:39pm

Meat Glue

By Rob Beschizza at 6:33 pm Tuesday, May 1

Filet mignon served in restaurants is often, in fact, an agglomeration of scraps of lesser beef, welded together with Meat Glue. [ABC]

Terje took powder and dusted it liberally over the meat pieces. The coated stew meat then went into a circular tin to give it a nice, round filet mignon shape. He was also able to make a New York strip out of thin cuts of round steak. Adding water makes a soupy glaze, and an easier way to coat the meat.The final steps were to seal the meat in a vacuum bag, adding some pressure to the bond, and then it was off to the fridge to set overnight. Twenty-four hours later, the humble $4-a-pound stew meat now looks like a $25-a-pound prime filet.

Delicious

 

Comment by Neal on April 27, 2012 at 3:11pm

Comment by Hope on April 20, 2012 at 3:40pm

Beauty might be a matter of dietary makeup

Cherry lips? Peachy skin? Study indicates eating more fruits and vegetables can enhance looks.

By Karen Ravn, Special to the Los Angeles Times

April 21, 2012

Please don't take this wrong. You look absolutely fine the way you are. It's just that ... well, with a little work, you might look even better.

We're not talking plastic surgery. Just the daily grind of buckling down and trying to eat better. Fresh from the March issue of the journal PLoS ONE comes word that scarfing down a few extra fruits and vegetables — yes, those again — could give you a significant leg up in the attractiveness department.

Scientists have known for a while that the same pigments that give fruits and vegetables their color —carotenoids — can accumulate in your skin and give it color too. What they didn't know was this: How many fruits and vegetables do you have to eat for how long in order for people to notice the difference in your coloring? And what, if anything, will people think of the difference?

Researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland did two studies to try to find out. In the first, they analyzed natural changes in the fruit and vegetable intake of 35 undergraduates who filled out questionnaires about their diet three times: at an initial session, three weeks later and again three weeks after that.

Read more here http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-fruits-vegetables-20120421,0,28...

Comment by Hope on April 18, 2012 at 3:07am

Forget diet drugs: Learn how natural vitamin D can help you maintain a healthy weight

(NaturalNews) The pharmaceutical industry is poised to begin churning out a slew of new diet drugs within the next few years that are sure to come with some very serious side effects, and that may not even work in the first place. But if you are an overweight or obese individual looking for solutions to your weight problem, you may want to skip these up-and-coming "blockbuster" drugs and instead look to vitamin D, as well as to other diet and lifestyle changes, as an effective alternative to losing weight.

According to a recent randomized, controlled trial on vitamin D out of Tehran University in Iran, overweight women receiving regular doses of vitamin D at amounts higher than the typical recommended daily allowance (RDA) fared much better than a placebo group at losing weight. And despite being an observational study, the findings suggest that vitamin D is a causative factor in this accelerated weight loss, rather than a correlative factor.

Among 77 overweight women randomly assigned to receive either 1,000 international units (IU) daily of vitamin D or a placebo, the vitamin D group lost five more pounds than the placebo group after a 12-week trial period. The vitamin D group also experienced improved lipoprotein and cholesterol ratio scores, which confirms a number of other studies that show vitamin D helps to improve cardiovascular health and prevent heart damage.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035206_vitamin_D_body_fat_weight_loss.ht...

Comment by Hope on April 16, 2012 at 9:57pm

The super herbal power of ginger

(NaturalNews) Superfoods are foods and herbs that have a unique concentration of nutrients that synergize together to boost potential. These foods are typically loaded with a combination of critical fatty acids, anti-oxidant phytonutrients and essential amino acids. Ginger is a superfood herb that has been used in many different regions of the world.
Ginger is used throughout the world in countries such as China, Japan, India, Greece, Caribbean countries, England and the USA. It is made into ginger teas, ginger-ale, ginger beers, ginger bread, ginger snaps and ginger biscuits. Almost every culture has historically used it for its powerful ability to enhance immunity, improve digestion and reduce inflammation.
This incredible superfood herb is 13th on the anti-oxidant list boasting an impressive ORAC score of 28,811. Ginger is composed of several volatile oils that give it it's characteristic flavor and odor; zingerone, shogaols, & gingerols. These oils are powerful anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic agents. In addition, it inhibits cancer cell formation while firing up our body's own inborn ability to destroy the cancer cells formerly present.

Ginger improves digestive function

Ginger has classically been used to improve the digestion process. Nine different substances have been found that stimulate serotonin receptors in the gut which provides benefits to the gastrointestinal system. This reduces gut related inflammation and enhances nutrient absorption.
Ginger is classified as a carminative (reducing intestinal gas) and an intestinal spasmolytic (soothes intestinal tract) while inducing gut motility. Ginger is known to reduce fever related nausea, motion sickness, and feelings of "morning sickness." Additionally, it helps aid in the production of bile, making it particularly helpful in digesting fats.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035574_ginger_herb_healing.html#ixzz1sG6...

 

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