Vigorous exercise cuts stroke risk for men, not women

Moderate-to-high intensity exercise such as jogging, swimming or tennis may help reduce stroke risk in older men but not in women, researchers report. The study included almost 3,300 men and women, average age 69, in Manhattan who were followed for about nine years. During that time, there were 238 strokes among the participants. At the start of the study, 20 percent of the participants said they did regular moderate-to-high intensity exercise, while 41 percent said they did no physical activity. Men who did moderate-to-high intensity exercise were 63 percent less likely to have a stroke than people who didn’t exercise. Over five years, the baseline risk of ischemic stroke (the leading type of stroke) for all study participants was 4.3 percent; 2.7 percent for those who did moderate-to-high intensity exercise and 4.6 percent for those who didn’t exercise. Share and Enjoy:

Prematurity awareness day

There is a lot of stress and anxiety involved in carrying and birthing a baby but the end result is supposed to fill you with excitement and joy. When a baby is born prematurely, the stress is doubled or tripled due to the possibility that your child may not live long enough to see the outside of the hospital, or even that he or she may live but not be able to see at all. Babies are precious gifts and with November being Prematurity Awareness Month, the March of Dimes is working overtime to make sure that all babies get the best care they deserve in order to ensure a long, happy and healthy life…no matter how early they are born. In September 2009, a news article spread around the world about a London hospital refusing care to a baby born too early for hospital attention. A woman named Sarah Capewell was admitted into the hospital only to have a chaplain at her bedside before giving birth to discuss funeral arrangements. Aside from being in bad taste, she also claims that after her baby was out of the womb at 21 weeks and 5 days, he had a steady heartbeat and active limbs and doctors would still not intervene with medical support. The hospital told her they were unable to act on behalf of the child and told her to spend his last moments holding him. After her baby boy died hours later, the woman did some research and found out that in 2006 a little girl in Florida was born at 21 weeks and 6 days and has recently turned into a healthy two-year-old. Share and Enjoy:

The cries of a newborn may reflect parents’ language

We all know how exciting it is to hear our baby’s first words, but they could come a little sooner than we think. The cries of an infant, as young as three days old, already show similarity to the language their parents speak, according to the new study that compared the cries of German-born and French-born children. Kathleen Wermke, Ph.D., who is a medical anthropologist at the University of Wurzburg in Wurzburg, Germany, and one of the researchers of the new study, said that it is already well known by experts that parental voices, especially the mother’s, are perceived in utero and memorized, as are other sounds, such as a simple musical melody. So, what has this new study added? “The surrounding language seems to affect infants’ sound production much earlier than researchers thought,” says Wermke. The new research suggests that well before babies begin to coo, babble, or say “Mama” or “Dada,” they have already picked up on the pattern of their native language which comes out through their cries. Share and Enjoy:

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

When you think of October images of pumpkins, spider webs, ghosts, ghouls, and goblins often spring to mind. However, there is one uninvited ghoul that lingers throughout this month waiting to claim another victim: Breast Cancer. In 2005 alone, there were over 188,000 people (both men and women) diagnosed with breast cancer and over 41,000 deaths from the disease. Instead of October being the month of scare tactics and spooky decorations, this year make October a month to wear something new, a pink ribbon to support breast cancer awareness, survivors living with it or who are in remission, and those who weren’t so lucky. Although breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer (the first being skin cancer) among women and being the 7th leading cause of death, males are also susceptible, as twenty men in North Carolina have recently found out. (The twenty had been ingested the same water from a Marine Corps base decades ago, which may help form a possible link to the disease.) Share and Enjoy:

Women’s life expectancy could be cut short due to obesity

Obesity is still a growing problem in the United States, contributing heart disease, high blood pressure and a whole host of health problems to both men and women. But, for women, being obese in middle age could cut the chances of making it to their golden years in good health by approximately 80 percent, which should make you stand up and take notice, not to mention stand up and exercise. Researchers studied more than 17,000 female nurses with an average age of 50 in the U.S. All of these women were healthy at the beginning of the study in 1976. The researchers then monitored the women’s weight, with other health changes, every two years until 2000. For every increase of one point in their Body Mass Index (BMI), the women had a 12 percent lower chance of living to age 70 in good health when they were compared with women who were thin. The researchers defined “healthy survival” as not only being free of any chronic disease, but also having enough physical and mental ability to perform daily tasks such as housework, shopping for groceries, or walking up one flight of stairs. Share and Enjoy:

Healthy lifestyle changes can reduce chances of breast cancer

Breast cancer is one of the many health risks that a woman has to worry about, but just a few changes could actually reduce the risk of developing breast cancer by approximately 40 percent. There are approximately 70,000 cases of breast cancer annually in the United States, of which some could be prevented with liifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet, breastfeeding their infants, getting 30 to 60 minutes of exercise every day and limiting their alcohol consumption. The American Institute for Cancer Research/World Cancer Fund, which is a Washington, D.C. nonprofit research group, reviewed the links between breast cancer and exercise, diet and body weigh in approximately 1,000 studies to come to this conclusion. Share and Enjoy:

Obesity: Will it become the leading cause of preventable cancer among women?

Obesity may have been the cause of over 124,000 cases of cancer diagnosed in Europe last year alone. In addition, obesity could become the leading preventable cause of cancer in women in Western countries within a decade. The number of estimated cases was based on information from a number of sources, including the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Researchers calculated the proportion of body weight related cancers in 30 European countries. The researchers examined the cancer risk among men and women having a body mass index (BMI) score greater than 25. BMI is a ratio of weight to height used to determine if an individual is overweight or obese. Statistics available from 2002 indicated that over 70,000 new cases out of a total of 2.2 million cancers could be attributed to being overweight or obese. By projecting these figures forward, an estimated 124,050 new cancers linked to body weight may have occurred in 2008, which would account for 3.2 percent of new cancers in men, and 8.6 percent in women. As the outbreak of obesity continues to spread, and with major cancer culprits such as smoking and hormone replacement therapy fading from the forefront, cancers linked to obesity could well become the leading preventable cause among women. Share and Enjoy:

Sexy high-heeled shoes can be a pain in the foot

Ladies may feel and look great in high-heeled shoes, but their feet may not feel quite so happy. Many women forgo comfort for that little extra sexy appeal of high-heeled shoes and, even if you find heals more comfortable than flats, they are rarely the best option for your feet. A newly released study illustrates that those people who wore or wear high-heeled shoes, or less supportive shoes, were much more likely to experience hind foot pain, a pain found around the heel of a person’s foot. While there have been previous studies that have demonstrated links between the type of shoe a person chose to wear and foot pain, most of the previous studies were very small and honed in on one specific foot problem, according to researchers leading the new study. The new study, recently released in Arthritis Care & Research, illustrated that people who wore or wear unsupportive footwear such as sandals, high heals, or slippers are more likely to suffer from foot pain later in life. The study found that even though a shoe may feel comfortable now, if the shoe is not supportive, there could be consequences later in life. Share and Enjoy:

12 Top health threats for women

Men and women have different health needs, and each gender finds itself with special health risks and needs. Women, in particular, are required to pay particular attention to certain health ... Share and Enjoy:

FDA approves “Morning After” pill for 17-year-old girls

The FDA has complied with a federal court order issued on March 23, 2009, by allowing Plan B drug maker, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc, now part of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, ... Share and Enjoy: