Category Archives: Health

Bothered by Negative, Unwanted Thoughts? Just Throw Them Away

COLUMBUS, Ohio — If you want to get rid of unwanted, negative thoughts, try just ripping them up and tossing them in the trash.

In a new study, researchers found that when people wrote down their thoughts on a piece of paper and then threw the paper away, they mentally discarded the thoughts as well.

On the other hand, people were more likely to use their thoughts when making judgments if they first wrote them down on a piece of paper and tucked the paper in a pocket to protect it. (more…)

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Old Habits Die Hard: Helping Cancer Patients Stop Smoking

ANN ARBOR — It’s a sad but familiar scene near the grounds of many medical campuses: hospital-gowned patients, some toting rolling IV poles, huddled in clumps under bus shelters or warming areas, smoking cigarettes.

Smoking causes 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of all lung cancer deaths. Yet, roughly 50 percent to 83 percent of cancer patients keep smoking after a cancer diagnosis, through treatment and beyond, says Sonia Duffy, University of Michigan School of Nursing researcher. For patients who quit on their own, relapse rates (as in the general population) are as high as 85 percent. (more…)

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Diabetes Study: ‘Mindful Eating’ Equals Traditional Education In Lowering Weight and Blood Sugar

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Eating mindfully, or consuming food in response to physical cues of hunger and fullness, is just as effective as adhering to nutrition-based guidelines in reducing weight and blood sugar levels in adults with Type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. (more…)

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Anti-Hypertensive Drugs Linked to Increased Risk of Hip Fracture

TORONTO, ON – Elderly people taking anti-hypertensive drugs are at a 43 per cent increased risk of having a hip fracture in the first 45 days of treatment, according to research conducted by family medicine Assistant Professor Dr. Debra Butt. A member of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and a family physician affiliated with The Scarborough Hospital, Dr. Butt’s study was published on November 19, 2012 in Archives of Internal Medicine. The study examined data from health care administrative databases in Ontario, looking at records from 2000 to 2009 for community-dwelling hypertensive patients with a mean age of 80.8 years.

There are serious consequences to a hip fracture for the elderly. In the first year of a hip fracture there is a higher mortality rate than is seen for many chronic diseases. Those who recover often lose their independence due to reduced mobility, which can result in depression and overall decreased quality of life. (more…)

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Revisiting Sex and Intimacy after Cancer

Two Yale doctors are using herbs, prescriptions, counseling and lifestyle advice to treat problems many women have been embarrassed to talk about—and improving their quality of life.

Noa Benjamini’s natural optimism didn’t flag when she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. “I knew it was treatable,” she recalls. She was recovering from surgery when she got her first hot flash. “That’s when I cried,” she says. Suddenly Benjamini saw herself careening toward old age. “I thought I’d shrivel up,” she says. (more…)

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Shaking out Sugars

A diabetes researcher’s take on dietary sugar

With all the talk these days about fructose, glucose, sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, and sugar in general, it can be hard for a health-conscious person to sort out the truth.

“A lot of people are putting out their ideas as established fact,” says diabetes researcher and endocrinologist John Bantle, M.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota. “It’s hard to find the actual facts and then to interpret them.”

Bottom line: Too much sugar is bad, if only for the excess calories. But the story isn’t quite so simple. (more…)

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