Training for a marathon and other extreme workouts may be more harmful than healthy. After reviewing over 50 studies, researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that more than an hour of intense aerobic activity per day put runners and cyclists at heightened risk of serious heart problems, including an irregular heartbeat, clogged arteries, and scarring. Habitual marathon runners and professional […]
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Drinking three or more alcoholic beverages per day increases the likelihood of developing liver cancer, but research now suggests that drinking coffee may help offset that risk. In an ongoing analysis of cancer rates, scientists from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) looked at data from 34 previous studies involving 8 million adults, including 24,600 diagnosed with liver cancer. They […]
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Bright Lights in a World of Darkness More than 30 years ago the Supreme Court in the United States ruled that if individuals are mentally ill but not criminally insane they cannot be confined to asylums. They must be allowed to live in the general population. The results of that decision over the years have met with mixed success in different areas of the […]
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Drinking soda, long known to contribute to childhood obesity, may also have a negative effect on childhood behavior. Columbia University researchers interviewed the parents of about 3,000 5-year-olds in 20 cities about their children’s soda consumption and behavior. They found that 43 percent of the children drank at least one soda per day, and that 4 percent drank four servings […]
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Diet pop might not have the sugar and calories found in normal sodas, however individuals who drink it every day frequently wind up with fatter stomachs. A study in the Diary of the American Geriatrics Society followed 749 individuals over the age of 65 for nine years, and found that regular diet soda consumers picked up about three times as […]
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Are obesity and autism linked? A new study shows that obese pregnant women are 60 percent more likely to give birth to a child with autism than women of a healthy weight—and twice as likely to have a child with some developmental disorder. About a third of American women of reproductive age are now considered obese. Last month, the Centers […]
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PREGNANCY IS AN IMPORTANT TIME for both mom and baby, which is why moms-to-be take special care to live right so their children are born healthy. That’s relatively easy when it comes to things women can control, like avoiding alcohol, quitting smoking and eating well. But what about pollution in the air they breathe? In the first study of its […]
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Every week, more than 50 million Americans take acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and many other popular painkillers, to ease their aches and pains. But a new study has revealed that the drug also dulls emotions—including happiness. Prior research showed that acetaminophen can help take the sting out of negative feelings like dread, but the new findings from Ohio […]
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Happiness may be a key to staying healthy in old age. A new long-term study involving nearly 3,200 people ages 60 and older found that those who enjoy life are better able to handle physical activities such as eating, getting dressed, and showering; the} even walk faster. By contrast, the unhappiest people were about 80 percent more likely to have […]
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Men who average three drinks a day and women who average two face a significantly higher risk for stroke in middle age, a new study has found. The study by Swedish scientists examined drinking habits of more than 11,000 twins over four decades, and found that those they defined as “heavy” drinkers in their 50s and 60s have a 34 […]
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