If women needed another good reason to get the right amount of sleep for their good health, besides helping them fight arthritis, the perimenopausal interval in a woman's life appears to demand it, according to a British study.

Researchers discovered the anomaly while comparing the health of some 3,000 men and women without cardiovascular disease for any links between sleep duration and hypertension. Unfortunately, the correlation between a lack of sleep -- less than six hours per night -- and hypertension affected only women, not men.

Overall, women who skipped on their sleep were 66 percent more likely to battle hypertension than those who slept more than six hours nightly. Moreover, this problem was experienced more than two-fold among women who were transitioning into menopause than those who were already past their child-bearing years.

All the more reason to check out these tips for improving your waking health by getting more sleep. (By the way, none of the items on this extensive sleep checklist require that you take a drug.)

Journal of Hypertension December 25, 2009

Warwick Medical School (UK) January 11, 2010

If you haven't been fortunate enough to visit or live in Chicago for any length of time, you may not be aware of this. Contrary to what you may have assumed, Roger Ebert may be off your TV going on four years and not in the best health -- multiple cancer surgeries removed much of his jaw bone and robbed him and us of his voice -- but is very much alive, cancer-free and still writing movie reviews and columns at a machine gun-like pace for the Chicago Sun-Times.

You may not also be aware about a long and pretty wonderful interview with Roger by Canadian writer Chris Jones recently for Esquire (hit the free link below) that goes into far more detail about his surgeries before and after he lost his jaw and voice in 2006 along with the futile attempts so far to restore both, and all the subsequent physical limitations that have resulted from fighting cancer to the ground.

At age 67, Roger isn't getting any younger, and his film criticism is noticeably less biting than it was before he and we lost his voice. As you pour through his columns, however, we haven't lost the man behind the voice who is still teaching us about a great many things, not the least of which is living a fulfilling life after cancer, a good thing.

As I write this blog entry about this non-stop movie critic/storyteller, I'm reminded of my father, William T. Beamer, who, by his own recollection, had sailed around the world at least seven times during his thirtysomething years as a merchant marine before throat cancer took his voice and all of his stories from us in the summer of 1977.

Some 19 months after his larynx and lymph nodes were removed, Bill died, all the while deeply frustrated and darkly depressed that he could never master the electrolarynx nor esophageal speech that would allow him to be heard, even faintly, briefly. Fact is, reading Roger's words makes me happy, very hopeful and a bit sad, in retrospect, that a relatively inexpensive laptop computer (by today's standards) might've helped my Dad live a little longer, if not a more comfortable and happier existence.

Take a couple of minutes to reminisce about the days of TV film criticism at its finest with this clip from the Siskel & Ebert program as Roger and Gene Siskel, his late, great colleague at the Chicago Tribune, skewer Frozen Assets, the worst movie of 1992, and, quite possibly, one of the worst comedies ever made.

Image source: Esquire, Ethan Hill

Esquire February 16, 2010

Chicago Sun-Tines February 18, 2010

Much like acupuncture and tai chi have emerged from the realm of alternative medicine to take their rightful places as valuable mainstream treatments, so has biofeedback, a mind-over-body technique that trains patients to control typically involuntary bodily processes like blood pressure, stress, muscle tension and blood flow.

One expert describes biofeedback as "internal exercise, much like the physical exercise you perform at the gym. It's done with the head instead of the muscles." That's certainly been a very successful treatment option for Canadian skier Alexandre Bilodeau, who credited one form of biofeedback (bioneurofeedback) for helping him win his country's first Olympic Gold Medal at the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Despite the mainstream acceptance, however, a 2008 American Cancer Society study that polled more than 4,000 cancer survivors found biofeedback, acupuncture/acupressure and hypnosis were rarely used by cancer patients.

An sidenote to readers of our daily blog: In the very same study, taking a supplement was a far more popular choice among cancer survivors.

healthfinder.gov February 4, 2010

WebMD June 27, 2007

Another measure of just how fast technology is racing to find solutions to vexing health issues hit home with me in a story about Dr. Jae Kwon, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Missouri who is developing a sensor that would provide a means for patients to test for cancer in the privacy of their homes.

This smaller than the diameter of a human hair device called an acoustic resonant sensor uses micro/nanelectromechanical systems to detect the presence of diseases like breast or prostate cancer in bodily fluids.

Potentially, this device can be integrated with similarly smaller circuits to create compact, stand-alone systems to screen for various multiple diseases. Another promising upside: Results could be detected almost immediately, perhaps reducing the need for other tests -- think painful biopsies -- that require longer waiting periods before outcomes are fully known.

Dr. Kwon received a $400,000 grant last year to continue his studies on this fledgling point-of-care sensor, so all of this news is a whole lot of potential with an even huger upside at the moment. Which begs the aforementioned question posed in the headline above, especially if you're not terribly fond of relying on technology to help you solve one more health problem. How do you feel about this potential breakthrough?

EurekAlert February 17, 2010

MU (University of Missouri) News Bureau February 17, 2010

If your Mom had read the headline above, do you think she would've let you eat that second or third hamburger lovingly appointed with heaps of lard-soaked French fries back in the day? Don't think so...

Having been overweight for most of my entire life, this Swedish study about the long-term effects of obesity for kids beyond childhood -- one of an alarming handful that have hit the media recently -- really hit home with me.

After studying the health of nearly 5,000 American Indian children over some 40 years for links, researchers learned adults who had been obese kids with the highest body mass index more than doubled their risk of premature death before their 55th birthday. In addition to obesity, high blood sugar levels elevated a patient's early mortality risks by an alarming 73 percent.

Don't be too quick to dismiss these numbers as unique either, because, scientists say, previous studies of American Indian patients tend to predict the future health of Americans accurately by 10-20 years.

Just a reminder, obesity also contributes in a major way to cancer, at a rate of 100,000 new cases every year.

New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 362, No. 6, pp. 485-493, February 11, 2010 Free Full Text Study

BusinessWeek February 10, 2010

New York Times February 10, 2010

Wish your internist was a little less boring and a bit more telegenic, like the brilliant and often venomous Dr. Gregory "Crankypants" House? In the real world, it's far safer to rely on a trained medical professional to treat real health problems, like seizures.

Canadian researchers came to that very logical conclusion after screening more than 300 episodes of medical dramas aired on American TV (Grey's Anatomy, House, M.D., ER and Private Practice) over the past five to seven years for the proper treatment of seizures, a popular problem that cropped up 59 times (all but eight occurring in a hospital setting). Most were of the tonic-clonic variety (also referred to as grand mal seizures) that many associate with epilepsy and affect the whole body.

Nearly half the time, a doctor or nurse improperly treated seizures, either by holding patients down or putting something in their mouths. In the real world of medicine, however, both options have the rare potential to be far more harmful, as in patients breaking bones or choking on blood or a broken tooth. Only about a quarter of the time was a seizure properly treated.

A reality check from Dr. Lisa Sanders, a New York Times columnist, faculty member at the Yale University School of Medicine and technical adviser for House, M.D., as told to CNN: It's very clear to anybody who watches House and has ever been in a hospital that House is not a close representation of the truth at any level.

So, the next time a relative or co-workers tries to "cure" you based on a medical license they've earned by proxy after watching years of TV shows like House or ER, you have my permission to tell them to cut it out. For good...

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CNNHealth February 15, 2010

The Vancouver Sun February 15, 2010

ScienceDaily February 15, 2010

Image source: NBC Universal

Being a computer geek -- especially a lover of all things Apple -- I'm acutely aware of the great and sometimes ridiculous lengths Steve Jobs and his Cupertino crew take to protect their brand, namely actions that often generate the kind of irresistible buzz that make people want to empty their pockets to buy their products, if not shake their heads in abject wonder. Even in my dual identity as an Apple "true believer" and a health blogger, I'm a bit surprised and somewhat skeptical to learn that my iPhone may be able to treat acne via an application called, rather inelegantly, the AcneApp.

For $1.99 too.

The use of light therapy to treat acne is nothing new, medical experts say, although the results have been inconsistent. Yet these same experts are quick to point out the light emitted from an iPhone screen isn't nearly as intense as the kind generated in a doctor's office (that requires a patient to protect his or her eyes) to do much good. There's been talk of clinical studies to be conducted at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine too, but no action so far. Because I'm a firm believer in the slightly revised adage, "seeing is believing -- or not," watch this YouTube video and judge for yourself...

ABC News February 9, 2010

WebMD February 12, 2010

New York Times December 30, 2009

Among the more prominent effects of Title IX -- a law passed by Congress nearly 40 years ago that ensures boys and girls receive equal treatment in all educational programs that receive federal funding -- was the way it revolutionized athletic programs for young American women.

Despite considerable progress on some fronts, when it comes to the health of female athletes, unfortunately, those glass ceilings remain intact, says Dr. Vicki Harber, a Canadian exercise physiologist who has developed The Female Athlete Perspective, a guide for parents, athletic administrators and coaches that addresses medical issues that affect the participation of women in sports.

To that end, Harber discovered female athletes often experience far greater rates of specific musculoskeletal injuries -- knee and shoulder issues plus an increased risk of re-injury -- and medical conditions -- osteoporosis, eating disorders and amenorrhea -- than do their male counterparts.

The difference in the number of injuries between young men and women can be as great as sixfold, according to the report, because countless training programs for female athletes are based on research using young adult males which doesn't take the biological differences between the sexes into account.

And that may largely explain why my injury-prone daughter never progressed as a competitive swimmer much beyond her middle school years too...

EurekAlert January 25, 2010 Free Full PDF Report

The unfortunate downside of using herbal medicines is the subject of a cautionary paper reminding us of the many quality problems still plaguing supplements that we've discussed far too often in this space.

Among other things, the paper, written by an Australian forensic pathologist, warns patients about the risks connected with taking herbal products made in foreign countries, yet sold in America, that can be laced with harmful substances such as lead, arsenic, mercury and, on occasion, standard prescription drugs. Sounds all too familiar to us, considering recent reports of steroid-tainted supplements.

Fact is, consulting your family physician before taking any herbal medicine or supplement often prevents unforeseen and, sometimes, dangerous interactions with a prescription drug, like the effect St. John's Wort has on the anticoagulant warfarin.

Just another reason to do your due diligence FIRST before buying any herbal product or supplement. And, reviewing CNCA's Nutritional Supplement Quality -- The Facts is as good a place as any to start.

Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 89-92, January 4, 2010

ScienceDaily February 12, 2010

Although pancreatic cancer is rare, its touch is almost always fatal, a heart-breaking fact I learned first-hand during the summer of 2005. All the more reason to do whatever you can to lessen your odds, no matter how small they are.

Being an unapologetic lover of soft drinks for too many years, however, even I was surprised and a bit worried to learn how consuming more than two sugary, fizzy drinks a week nearly doubled a person's risk of PanCan.

Of the 61,000 middle-aged or older patients who participated in the Singapore Chinese Health Study over a 14-year span, only 140 cases of pancreatic cancer were reported, all things considered a very low number. Here's the kicker and, potentially, a huge problem for more of us than we'd care to admit: Patients who consumed two or more carbonated sodas a week -- the actual average was five -- increased their pancreatic cancer risk by 87 percent versus those who drank none.

The problem: Too many soft drinks -- filled to the brim with high fructose sweeteners -- may be increasing insulin levels in the body and contributing to pancreatic cancer cell growth.

But that's not all. Drinking sugary, sweet sodas regularly was generally an indicator of a riskier health profile overall, scientists say, making me wonder when I should start tapering off for good.

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 447-455, February 2010

EurekAlert February 8, 2010

Yahoo News February 8, 2010

It's hard to imagine cutting out anything as small as a half-teaspoon of anything in your daily diet would make an impact on your health as great as reducing your risk of heart attack or even death. As we've observed time and again in this space, however, making the simplest changes -- like eating foods more slowly -- can have a huge impact on your health for the positive.

That's why we're far less skeptical than some of you may be about the impact of reducing your salt intake by just a half-teaspoon, based on the results culled from the Coronary Heart Disease Policy Model, a digital simulation of heart disease among adults used by scientists to predict the benefits derived from making changes to the collective diets of Americans.

Saving the lives of some 92,000 Americans and preventing nearly 100,000 heart attacks, merely by reducing one's salt intake by 3 grams isn't just the healthy thing to do (although it's comparable to the effect of quitting smoking). The projected savings to the nation's spiraling-out-of-control health care tab by reducing salt alone may save as much as $24 BILLION.

If you like to add salt liberally to your foods, this single change should be a fairly easy one to make. Making this change may be a bit tricky for some folks, however, who don't add salt to anything (that's me). For example, an average 14-ounce can of green beans contains nearly 1,300 mg of salt.

All the more reason for me and you to pay closer attention to nutritional labels, particularly the salt that hides in processed foods.

New England Journal of Medicine January 20, 2010 Free Full Text Study

EurekAlert January 20, 2010

If you've ever wondered why those trips to the gym -- and all that exercise -- haven't yielded the benefits you expected, don't beat yourself up about it. For some of us wanting to get stronger and more fit but not having much luck, it may be determined in our genes.

Based on a genomewide association study, scientists discovered 29 genes that significantly predicted the body's ability to improve its aerobic response (how much oxygen your muscles burn or the amount of blood pumped by your heart) to exercise, specifically endurance training. Out of those, differences in 11 DNA sequences provided a predictable snapshot of a patient's true fitness potential.

First, researchers examined the DNA taken from muscle biopsies on nearly 500 sedentary patients, then assigned volunteers to customized, thrice-weekly endurance training sessions for 20 weeks. After the exercise period ended and new muscle biopsies were taken, as much as 20 percent of the participants experienced far smaller improvements than scientists expected.

Having this kind of information at hand, experts say, will allow physicians to more accurately determine a more beneficial personalized exercise program down the road. Until then, scientists warn folks not to stop exercising as their discovery only encompasses the genes that may affect endurance, and not cholesterol, heart rates or the body's regulation of insulin.

Journal of Applied Physiology February 4, 2010 Free Full Text PDF

USA Today February 4, 2010

MSNBC February 4, 2010

You know the value of fish oil is finally hitting home with the mainstream when the U.S. Department of Defense is considering using its components -- DHA omega-3 fatty acids and EPA -- to fortify the meals of all active military personnel.

To accomplish this, however, would require U.S. military officials to rescind a standing directive prohibiting the military from providing a supplement or a drug through its food supply chain.

"Increasing omega-3 consumption amongst U.S. troops has incredible potential to improve health and reduce health care costs for U.S. troops," says Douglas MacKay of the Council for Responsible Nutrition. "There is evidence that higher levels of omega-3 fats have multiple health benefits, some of which are important to soldiers."

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NutraIngredients-USA.com February 2, 2010

Pancreatic cancer may not be a silent killer for much longer, if a proprietary blood test developed by a New Jersey-based biophamaceutical company continues to identify patients in the early stages of this horrible disease in drug trials at a high clip.

According to a recent study that monitored 68 patients who had surgery for pancreatic cancer and 19 healthy controls, a blood test using the proprietary PAM4 antibody developed by Immunomedics detected the presence of all stages of pancreatic cancer in 81 percent of the participants (an improvement from a previous test that detected the disease in 77 percent of 53 pancreatic cancer patients.).

Overall, the blood test identified stage 1 pancreatic cancer 62 percent of the time, and its performance improved in stages 2 (86 percent) and 3 and 4 (91 percent). Another good sign: The false-positive rate for the blood test was just 5 percent, rarely noticing pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas that's often confused with the more deadly pancreatic cancer.

healthfinder.gov January 21, 2010

CNNMoney.com January 21, 2010

You may recall a study we posted about the placebo effect on your brain and spine. One of the oldest healing treatments around -- acupuncture -- may work entirely in your brain to battle pain too.

British scientists discovered the drain of pain while they were scanning the brains of 17 patients during two rounds of acupuncture (a shallow treatment used by Japanese practitioners and deeper insertions, per the Chinese method).

As a patient receives acupuncture successfully, he or she experiences deqi, a composite of unique sensations connected with the clinical efficacy of the treatment. Out of the 17 patients treated, brain scans of the 10 who experienced deqi showed these sensations contributed to a deactivation of pathways in the brain that process pain.

Good to see that conventional medicine is testing complementary and alternative medical practices like acupuncture and tai chi, and paying closer attention to all the real benefits associated with them.

Brain Research, Vol. 1315, pp. 111-118, February 22, 2010

Telegraph.co.uk February 6, 2010

ScienceDaily February 5, 2010