Women smokers…here is a wake up call.  Smoking can take as much as 14.5 years from your life.

fta:”The damaging effects of smoking on women are extensive, well-documented, and can be observed from the cradle to the premature grave,” Dr. Sharon Phelan said in an organization news release. She helped develop ACOG’s smoking cessation materials for health care providers.

Women + Smoking = 14.5 Years Off Life Span

A recently released National Cancer Institute study found that exercising can reduce a woman’s risk of cancer by as much as 25 percent.

However, not getting enough sleep can eliminate those gains.

The long-term study tracked nearly 6,000 US women.  The study found that those who exercised the most had a 25 percent lower chance of developing cancer than those who exercised the least.

But the gain from exercise needs to be supported by adequate sleep. ……

If you enjoy music it maybe a health benefit to you too.  It may help your heart health whether you’re musical taste is rap, rock, classical, or country music.  The main criteria is what music style you personally prefer.

The study was conducted by Dr. Michael Miller from the University of Maryland.  Dr. Miller also documented in the past how laughter can have positive effects on the heart. ……

Last month I read about a protein in the inner ear that helps people differentiate between sounds and understanding speech, French researchers reported a finding that could help treat the hard of hearing.

A researcher at the University of Auvergne, Paul Avan, said the study also helps explain why some people have difficulty hearing in crowded restaurants or other noisy places, “This won’t help cure deafness but will help diagnose why some people have hearing problems, especially in noisy places,” he explained. ……

Three varieties of Lean Cuisine entrees are being recalled by Nestle Prepared Foods Co. due too consumers finding blue plastic material in their meals. One cosumerreported an injury to Nestlé

The three Lean Cuisine meals in question are:

Lean Cuisine Chicken Mediterranean with production codes of 8231595912, 8241595912, 8253595911, 8269595912, 8292595911 or 8296595911 and use-by dates of September 2010, October 2010 and November 2010. ……

There’s a saying that states ‘you’re as old as your arteries’.  A recent study showed America has a bunch of ‘middle age’ kids’.

According to Geetha Raghuveer, professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and cardiologist at Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Kansas, this means ‘that the state of your arteries is more important than your actual age in the evolution of heart disease and stroke,” ……

What a tragedy to hit a family! Thousands of infants die every year due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Can we avoid such a horrific loss?

All known steps to avoid the possibility of their child dying from SIDS are taken by parents across the nation. Doctors give advice to parents to always put the baby to sleep on his/her back. Blankets and pillows are removed from the baby’s crib and parents are keeping the room temperature cool in hopes of reducing the risk of such a terrible tragedy. Maybe ceiling fans are one more thing that can help keep baby safe. ……

Two articles published recently informed us of the healthiest and the least healthiest cities in America.

Congratulations goes to Burlington, VT for being the healthiest city in our nation.

Huntington W.Va. On the other hand is America’s fattest and unhealthiest city. ……

A report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine says people with belly fat (even if one’s at a healthy weight) have a higher risk of dying during a 10-year period than their same-weight peers without the fat.

The study’s lead author and a member of the department of epidemiology at the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE), Tobias Pischon, M.D SAID…”I was surprised that even people who would be considered normal weight in terms of their [body mass index] have a higher risk of death if their waist circumference is increased,” ……

Trans fats are no good for you.  In fact, they can cause some very nasty health problems.

Accoding to Mary Anne McCaffree, M.D., American Medical Association (AMA) board member:
“Trans fats have been proven to raise LDL, the bad cholesterol, while lowering HDL, the good cholesterol, which significantly increases the risk for heart disease,”.

Now the AMA wants to do something about those unhealthy trans fats.  The AMA is supporting legislation to ban the use artificial trans fats in restaurants and bakeries nationwide. ……