Health Watch

• FDA Approves No-Comb Treatment for Head Lice

  

  Posted 10:42 PM 2/7/2012

  Feb. 7, 2012 -- The FDA today approved Sklice, a no-comb, 10-minute treatment for head lice.

  The announcement comes from Sanofi Pasteur U.S., which last year acquired the developer of the treatment, Topaz Pharmaceuticals.

  Sklice is a topical (on-the-skin) lotion containing a 0.5% solution of (More)
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• Bread and Other Common Foods Top List of Sodium Culprits

  

  Posted 10:07 PM 2/7/2012

  Feb. 7, 2012 -- About 90% of us get too much sodium every day, and most of it comes from common restaurant or grocery store items, the CDC reports. The No. 1 culprit? Bread and rolls.

  Ten foods are responsible for 44% of all of the sodium we get. These include:

  • Breads and rolls
  • Luncheon meats such as deli ham and turkey
  • Pizza
  • Poultry
  • Soups
  • Cheeseburgers and other sandwiches
  • Cheese
  • Pasta (More)
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• School Vending Machines Still Offer Too Many Sugary Snacks

  

  Posted 8:10 PM 2/6/2012

  Feb. 6, 2012 -- About half of elementary school students still have access to sugary snacks and other unhealthy options in school vending machines, according to a new study.

  To combat rising childhood obesity rates, the Institute of Medicine recommended in 2007 that school meal programs be the primary source of (More)
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• Heart Hormone Linked to Calorie-Burning Brown Fat

  

  Posted 6:22 PM 2/6/2012

  Feb. 6, 2012 -- You may have heard about brown fat -- a unique type of fat that acts like a furnace in the body to burn calories instead of storing them as excess weight.

  Adults don't have much brown fat, but a new study suggests that hormones produced by the (More)
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• People Pleasers May Overeat at Parties

  

  Posted 7:23 PM 2/3/2012

  Feb. 3, 2012 -- People pleasers may want to steer clear of this weekend's Super Bowl parties in order to avoid a dietary fumble.

  A new study shows people who have a strong desire to please others tend to overeat in social situations, even if they're not hungry.

  They're also more likely to indulge in foods they'd normally avoid, like fatty snacks and sweet desserts.

  "People pleasers feel more intense pressure to eat when they believe that their (More)
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• Eating Behavior May Be Shaped by Who You Eat With

  

  Posted 10:21 PM 2/2/2012

  Feb. 2, 2012 -- How you eat may depend on who you're eating with, according to a study published in the online journal PLoS ONE.

  Diners who eat together, the authors report, tend to mirror each other, taking bites of food at the same time. They call it behavioral mimicry, or "the process in which a person unwittingly imitates the behavior of another person."

  And they conclude that such insights have "significant implications for one's health (More)
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• New Heart Failure Risks: Fractures and Memory Problems

  

  Posted 10:08 PM 2/2/2012

  Feb. 2, 2012 -- Two new studies shine a light on some lesser known consequences of heart failure: fractures and memory problems.

  About 5 million people in the U.S. have heart failure, according to the American Heart Association. A (More)
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• Itch Intensity and Scratching Pleasure Vary at Different Body Sites

  

  Posted 8:45 PM 2/2/2012

  Feb. 2, 2012 -- You've got to love a scientific paper entitled "The Pleasurability of Scratching an Itch."

  We've all been there, done that: "Ahhh." But did you know that scratching one part of the body is more pleasurable than scratching another? And no, not your first thought. Lower. Try the ankles.

  Actually, the authors of the new paper didn't study the "private" region, "a totally different ball game," says co-author Gil Yosipovitch, MD (More)
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• Sleep Apnea Linked to Silent Strokes

  

  Posted 8:02 PM 2/1/2012

  Feb. 1, 2012 -- A common sleep disorder is associated with an increased risk of symptomless but serious strokes called "silent strokes," German researchers report.

  Sleep apnea, a condition marked by periodic interruptions in breathing during sleep, has been linked to an increased risk of strokes. But there hasn't been much research exploring the relationship (More)
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• Massage May Help Sore Muscles Recover

  

  Posted 6:08 PM 2/1/2012

  Feb. 1, 2012 -- There may be more to love about massage than just the "ahhhhh." A new study shows that kneading muscles after hard exercise decreases inflammation and helps your muscles recover.

  The study hints that massage after (More)
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• Americans Sweet on Sugar: Time to Regulate?

  

  Posted 5:04 PM 2/1/2012

  Feb. 1, 2012 -- Americans are eating unhealthy amounts of sugar, and excess sugar should be regulated like alcohol and tobacco, say researchers from the University of California, San Francisco.

  "We are now seeing the toxic downside [of excess sugar intake]," Robert H. Lustig, MD, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the UCSF Center for Obesity Assessment, Study, and Treatment, tells WebMD. "There has to be some sort of societal intervention. We cannot do (More)
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• Study: Radioactive Seeds Beat Out Other Prostate Cancer Treatments

  

  Posted 10:27 PM 1/31/2012

  Jan. 31, 2012 -- For most men with prostate cancer, having radioactive seeds implanted in the prostate is associated with fewer serious side effects than either surgery to remove the prostate or having a beam of high-energy (More)
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