Recent studies show some link between baldness and heart disease. Check out the video for more information.

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Wine definitely has health benefits.

Cardiovascular health, lowered blood sugar and healthy weight maintenance are all benefits of polyphenols and antioxidants in red wine, however, research has shown that without the alcohol the benefits are just as effective if not more so.

Although there have been many studies on the impact of moderate drinking on health, the findings have been mixed, with some studies showing a benefit and others suggesting none. The new study found that 3 ounces of gin a day had no impact on blood pressure, while consumption of regular red wine led to a small, but not statistically significant, improvement.
The new study suggests that if you’re going to have a drink, red wine would be the healthiest choice, said Dr. Kelly Anne Spratt, a heart disease prevention specialist and a clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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In a recent study of 1,231 men and women, researches have found that egg yolks contribute to plaque build up in the arteries which is similar to affects of smoking.

Amoung the 20% of participants who ate the most eggs, the carotid plaque build-up was about two-thirds that of the study’s heaviest smokers. The researchers concluded that the plaque increase from eating eggs “follows a similar pattern to that of cigarette smoking.”

Arterial accumulation of plaque is a key risk factor for heart attack and stroke. As plaque builds up, it thickens artery walls and narrows the space through which blood can flow, forcing the heart to pump harder. If plaques become unstable, they can break off and form clots, which can halt blood flow to either the brain or the heart, causing stroke or heart attack.

The authors argue that their findings should quell doubts over the link between high dietary cholesterol and heart disease. “The prevailing tendency to ignore dietary cholesterol as a risk factor for coronary heart disease requires reassessment, including the consumption of cholesterol from eggs,” the authors wrote.

The government’s dietary guidelines recommend that adults consume no more than 300 mg of cholesterol a day. One whole egg contains about 180 mg of cholesterol, nearly two-thirds of your daily recommended ma.

However, health experts have found the study to be seriously flawed.

Dr. Steven Nissen, who chairs the department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation pointed out some of the problems with the study:

There were no controls in the study and it is noted that causation and association are not the same thing.

The study was also not adjusted for the existing dietary habits of the participants.

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Almost half of middle aged Americans suffer from one or more chronic illnesses.

Living longer with chronic illness is possible with better medical care and pharmaceuticals, however, disease prevention is the real goal.

The increases were due mainly to rises in three conditions: hypertension, diabetes and cancer, according to the report. These increases may be due to more new cases, or due to people living longer with the conditions because of advances in medical treatments.

The report also said that middle-aged adults with at least two chronic conditions had increasing difficulty, between 2000 and 2010, in getting the care and prescription drugs they needed because of cost. In 2010, 23 percent reported not receiving or delaying the medical care they needed, and 22 percent said they didn’t get the prescriptions they needed. In 2000, these rates were 17 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

The FDA has approved Qsymia for use today by those who are obese, with a BMI of 30 or more, or for those who have a BMI of 27 with weight related illness.

The history of weight loss pills has been fraught with law suits due to life threatening side affects and prescription abuse by physicians and patients.

The major problem with weight loss drugs is that they don’t address the underlying causes of weight gain such as the psychological component of over eating and the food itself.

There is wide ranging debate regarding the way certain processed and scientifically engineered foodstuffs react with human physiology and metabolism.

Until we confront these two major issues surrounding food it will be difficult to solve America’s obesity epidemic with a pill.

“Given the literally insatiable appetite of doctors and patients for new drugs as a quick fix for obesity, there is every reason to believe that, if approved, a combination like this, will be used by millions, over long periods of time far beyond its labeling indications. Because of a long list of safety reasons, this drug should not be approved,” the group’s Dr. Sidney Wolfe told the FDA advisory panel in 2010.
Vivus, the company that makes Qsymia, hopes it will be a safer successor to the notorious and now banned “fen-phen” diet cocktail. Fen-phen combined fenfluramine and phentermine — one of the two drugs in Qsymia — but it damaged the heart in some cases and caused a condition in some patients called pulmonary hypertension, which causes fluid to build up in the chest, bringing a feeling of breathlessness.