Mayor Bloomberg of New York City has proposed new legislation which would ban ‘super-size’ sugary drinks served in cups greater than 16 ounces.

Many applaud the efforts as one solution to the growing problem of obesity and type 2 diabetes which is crippling the health care system.

There have been studies that have found correlations between food portion sizes and rates of obesity, blood pressure and heart disease. A report by the CDC found portions increased 75 percent between 1977 and 1991 – unsurprisingly, we’ve observed huge jumps in obesity rates as well.
Studies have shown that people with more on their plates eat nearly 50 percent more than people who are served smaller portions.

Something which sounds as harmless as “bath salts” is actually a synthetic drug and the results can be deadly.

Bath salts contain amphetamine-like chemicals such as methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), mephedrone, and pyrovalerone. They’re referred to as a “designer drug of the phenethylamine class” by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Other drugs in this class include amphetamines, mescaline, and ephedrine. MDPV comes in a powdered form that is inhaled, swallowed or shot into a vein. Bath Salts are sold as “cocaine substitutes” or “synthetic LSD”.

When MDPV gets to the brain, the effects include producing feelings of empathy, stimulation, alertness, euphoria, sensory awareness and hallucinations. Other reported effects include rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, and sweating. According to the DEA, MDPV has been reported to cause intense panic attacks, psychosis, and a strong desire to use the drug again.

Public awareness is growing as popularity of the drug has made it’s way into schools causing parents and teachers to be on the lookout for changes in behavior.

This highly addictive substance has resulted in a rise of emergency room visits and calls to poison control.

The resulting psychosis which can occur has led to devastating violence such as that seen in the video above.

Will dieting for God motivate the overweight masses to shed unwanted pounds?

Rev. Rick Warren, author of the best seller, The purpose Driven Life and leader of Saddleback mega-church in Lake Forest, Calif., was convinced that his congregation of 20,000 overweight believers would benefit from a little divine inspiration to get fit.

With that was born the Daniel Plan, a sweeping program of smart eating (and yes, lean meats are included), workout classes, small-group support meetings, walk and worship sessions and more, much of it made available both in person and online. Warren recruited three marquee names from the world of medicine — Drs. Mehmet Oz, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman (all of different faiths) — to help spread the good-health message, and the Saddleback members fell in love with the plan. More than 15,000 of them have signed up so far and in the past 18 months alone, they have lost a collective 260,000 lbs.

Warren hopes that people worldwide will embrace the message and is enlisting the help of the multi-faithed trio of Drs. Mehmet Oz, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman to help spread the word.

This is a small victory for consumers who, finally aware of the dangers of high fructose corn syrup, will continue to be able to identify it in the products they buy.

Michael M. Landa, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the F.D.A., denied the petition, saying that the term “sugar” is used only for food “that is solid, dried and crystallized.”

“HFCS is an aqueous solution sweetener derived from corn after enzymatic hydrolysis of cornstarch, followed by enzymatic conversion of glucose (dextrose) to fructose,” the letter stated. “Thus, the use of the term ‘sugar’ to describe HFCS, a product that is a syrup, would not accurately identify or describe the basic nature of the food or its characterizing properties.”

The Corn Refiners Association is afraid that consumers will avoid the product, which has received a bad reputation, under the pretext of “false information”, namely that corn syrup is natural and is the same as sugar.

The fact is that it is NOT natural , it is manufactured in a lab and can harm to people who can not properly metabolize the ingredient.

And further, to argue that HFCS is the same as sugar only calls into question the efficacy of sugar in the human diet.

There are many who would postulate that there already exists an overabundance of sugar which is causing obesity and Type 2 diabetes in epidemic proportions.

A Public Service Announcement for senior citizens may seem too racy for some but the message is crucial.

Rates of sexually transmitted disease have doubled in those 50-90 years old.

According to the editorial, an estimated 80 percent of 50- to 90-year-olds are sexually active. This activity has contributed to rises in cases of syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea among 45- to 64-year-olds in the U.S. and the U.K.

According to CDC estimates, there were almost 900 cases of syphilis in 45 to 64-year-olds in 2000, and in 2010, the number grew to more than 2,500. In the elderly age group, 6,700 people were diagnosed with chlamydia in 2000; by 2010? 19,000. The number of new HIV diagnoses in people over 50 has also doubled between 2000 and 2009, according to the editorial’s authors.

Modern medicine and willing partners has increased the incidence of sexual activity amount this age group.

No longer fearing pregnancy they need to be re-educated about condoms and the prevention of STD’s.

It is a frightening but true fact and especially disconcerting when you consider that most Americans are sleep deprived.

The study, under the direction of Dr. Nicholas Moore at the Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de Bordeaux in France published as a letter in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that drivers who were either drunk or sleepy were at least twice as likely to be responsible for a vehicle accident compared to their well-rested or sober counterparts.

Researchers analyzed information from 679 drivers who were admitted to a hospital in southwest France who were admitted to the hospital for more than 24 hours because of a serious accident between 2007 and 2009.

Christopher Drake, an associate scientist at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit, said the findings do not change what was already known, but the study is still “interesting.”
“We know from experimental studies that just four hours of sleep loss will produce as much impairment as a six pack. If you have a whole night of sleep loss, that’s equivalent to having a blood alcohol content of 0.19,” Drake, who was not involved with the new research, told Reuters Health.

Over indulging often mean hangovers.

There are all kinds of remedies but which ones really work?

The “hair of the dog”, the big greasy breakfast, drinking lots of water in between cocktails or pots of coffee the next morning?

Is there any science to these old standbys or is it just fiction?

John Brick, director of consulting firm Intoxikon and author of “The Doctor’s Hangover Handbook: The Intelligent Person’s Guide to Curious and Scientific Facts About Alcohol and Hangovers”, offers up a few suggestions that might help was your pain.

The Mediterranean Diet has long been considered to be the perfect diet to maintain a healthy weight, however, a few new benefits have been discovered along the way.

As well as offering a lower incidence of illness and general wellbeing include a boost to the brain!

The research involved data on more than 11,000 university students over a period of four years. Dietary intake data was taken at the beginning of the study and self-perceived quality of life was measured after the four year monitoring period. In order to ascertain whether the Mediterranean diet was followed, consumption of vegetables, pulses, fruit, nuts, cereals and fish was positively valued whereas consumption of meat, diary products and alcohol was negatively valued.

Participants reported greater feelings of wellbeing and rated their quality of life as being greater

A government panel has found that hormone therapy is not recommended for menopausal women.

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are definitively decisive in their findings that the risks of hormone replacement therapy outweigh the benefits to menopausal women over 50.

The new recommendations are based on a review of data, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, covering nine clinical trials over the last decade.
The standard of care shifted for many doctors after the Women’s Health Initiative trial was halted, but updated recommendations from the task force are important because many patients still have questions, and many doctors are reluctant to let go of old prescribing habits, Crandall said.

Hormone replacement therapy was given routinely to women to mitigate symptoms that might develop and to prevent the development of cardiovascular diseases.

Summertime means summer fun but beware the germs in the pool.

The Water Quality and Health Council conducted a recent survey which found that one in five Americans admit to urinating in a public pool and seven in 10 confessed to skipping a shower before going for a swim.

How can this contamination be avoided? Make sure you shower with soap and water before you jump in the water. Take small children on frequent bathroom breaks. And make sure you have a lifeguard or operator who frequently makes sure the pH and chlorine levels in the pool are up to standard. Proper levels help keep pools healthy by destroying waterborne germs that can cause diarrhea, swimmer’s ear and skin infections.