Hot MedFax

We've all had this job.  Nothing you do is ever right, the boss berates you if you're five minutes late (your kid's bus never came), and in meetings, he calls on everyone but you. I've been there.  Even broke out in a rash on vacation, thinking of having to go back. But now a new study says it can be worse than that.  Lousy jobs hurt your health by the time you're in your 40's. Job satisfaction in your late 20s and 30s has a link to overall health in your early 40s, according to a new nationwide study. And while job satisfaction has some impact on physical health, its effect was particularly strong for mental health, researchers have found. Not surprisingly, those less than happy with their work early in their careers said they were more depressed and worried and had more trouble sleeping. And the direction of your job satisfaction – whether it is getting better or worse in your early career – has an influence on your later health, the study showe...

You may think your friends feel about you the same way you feel about them.   But guess what?  Maybe not. A new study says that someone you think might be your friend might really not be so keen about you, according to The New York Times. The study analyzed friendship ties among 84 people and found that the feelings were mutual about 53% of the time (good, right?) but their expectation of reciprocity was a whopping 94%.  Why the disconnect?  And why does it feel so bad? The article says that the possibility of non-reciprocal friendship challenges one's self-image. Who wouldn't feel bad to know the friend whose (bratty) kids you took for a weekend so she and her husband could go away really doesn't even consider you a close connection? Friendship has become somewhat commoditized, experts say, these days.  How could it not, when "friend" has now become a verb?  And we try to collect as many as we can when we're on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn? Qu...

So we live longe r, but less healthier than men.  And now a new study says women's long work hours are linked to alarming increases in cancer and heart disease, according to newswise.com. And it's not just the workaholics who toil for 60 or 70 hours a week.  It's those of us who work 40 hours, as well. Women who put in long hours for the bulk of their careers may pay a steep price: life-threatening illnesses, including heart disease and cancer. Work weeks that averaged 60 hours or more over three decades appear to triple the risk of diabetes, cancer, heart trouble and arthritis for women, according to new research from The Ohio State University. The risk begins to climb when women put in more than 40 hours and takes a decidedly bad turn above 50 hours, researchers found. Women – especially women who have to juggle multiple roles – feel the effects of intensive work experiences and that can set the table for a variety of illnesses and disability,” says All...

I find this a little hard to believe but a new study has found that social networks are as important in our lives as diet and exercise. The more social ties people have at an early age, the better their health is at the beginnings and ends of their lives, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, newswise.com reports. The study is the first to definitively link social relationships with concrete measures of physical wellbeing such as abdominal obesity, inflammation, and high blood pressure, all of which can lead to long-term health problems, including heart disease, stroke and cancer. “Based on these findings, it should be as important to encourage adolescents and young adults to build broad social relationships and social skills for interacting with others as it is to eat healthy and be physically active,” says Kathleen Mullan Harris, James Haar Distinguished Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and faculty fellow at the Carolina Population ...

They don't know if they're coming or going.  Doctors are now saying that alcohol is good for your heart.  But maybe not so much for your breasts, ladies. Turns out a whole confluence of studies has found that one drink a day, every day, keeps your heart healthier but may contribute, somewhat significantly, to the development of breast cancer.   But any more than that, not so much.  And as for those who really don't imbibe at all, we could be in the worst shape of all. According to The New York Times, research into how alcohol consumption affects health has been going on for a long time. A 1990 prospective cohort study included results of more than 275,000 men followed since 1959. Compared with those who never drank alcohol, those who consumed one to two drinks a day had a significantly reduced mortality rate from both coronary heart disease and “all causes.” Those who consumed three or more drinks a day still had a lower risk of death from coronary heart ...

Helicopter parent. I admit it.  Though it's morel like kamikaze, in my case. But a new study has alleviated my stress a little.  I let my teenager go in with the doctor alone on annual visits, unlike many other parents. Just 34 percent of parents say their teen discussed health concerns privately with a doctor without them in the room, and less than 10 percent say their teens can complete their health history form independently. Although I shouldn't congratulate myself too much.  I'm very lucky, my son is healthy and doesn't have any health concerns at this time.  But I do go in first with him and answer the doctor's questions about his general health, though I'm letting up a little on that, too.   “The majority of parents are managing teens’ health care visits, and their teens may be missing out on valuable opportunities to learn how to take ownership of their own health,” newswise.com quotes Sarah J. Clark, M.P.H., associate director of the C.S....

Mine is a little weak and I gasp when someone's is a lot firmer.  Some I've had to take were sweaty or too warm.  Mine are always cold. We're talking of course about hand shakes. And now a new study is saying that how firm yours is can reveal your health. According to newswise.com, your hand shake tells the story of your health.  The firmness of your hand grip is better than your blood pressure at assessing your health, Hamilton, Ontario researchers have found, and reduced muscular strength, measured by your grip, is consistently linked with early death, disability and illness.The research was conducted by the Population Health Research Institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences. “Grip strength could be an easy and inexpensive test to assess an individual’s risk of death and cardiovascular disease,” says principal investigator Dr. Darryl Leong, an assistant professor of medicine of McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and car...

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise but people who were abused as children find they're happier if they stay in the present moment, rather than reliving their past or looking off into the future. It's called mindfulness and it works for everyone. According to newswise.com, adults who were abused or neglected as children are known to have poorer health, but adults who tend to focus on and accept their reactions to the present moment—or are mindful—report having better health, regardless of their childhood adversity. Mindfulness is all the rage today.  It's what you learn in yoga.  It's what courses are trying to teach doctors to do, or maybe, I should say be.  It's all about living in the moment, right now.  Because it's the only time you have. I remember when I was first diagnosed with cancer thinking far, far ahead to the treatments I'd have to have.  First, surgery.  Then, radiation.  Then, surgery again.  But I had to get through e...

We've been called the weaker sex .  But did you know we're really the survivors?  And it all has to do with placenta. A University of Adelaide research team has been studying the underlying genetic and developmental reasons why male babies generally have worse outcomes than females, with significantly increased rates of pregnancy complications and poor health outcomes for males, according to newswise.com. "Our research has found that there are undeniable genetic and physiological differences between boys and girls that extend beyond just the development of their sexual characteristics," the Web site quotes senior author of the paper Professor Claire Roberts , leader of the fetal growth research priority for the Robinson Research Institute . "We've known for some time that girls are clearly winning in the battle for survival, with markedly better outcomes for female babies for preterm birth, stillbirth, neonatal death, and other complications afte...

Big surprise.  In a recent survey doctors skipped over their most lucrative -- but unsuccessful -- procedures when asked to suggest which of them should be eliminated. According to Kaiser Health News, " When America’s joint surgeons were challenged to come up with a list of unnecessary procedures in their field, their selections shared one thing: none significantly impacted their incomes." The  American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons discouraged  patients with joint pain from taking two types of dietary supplements, wearing custom shoe inserts or overusing wrist splints after carpal tunnel surgery, Jordon Rau reports. "The surgeons also condemned an infrequently performed procedure where doctors wash a pained knee joint with saline," he writes. "They could have chosen many surgical procedures that are commonly done, where evidence has shown over the years that they don't work or where they're being done with no evidence," Dr. James Rickert, ...

Hooray!  R ecent studies have indicated that many people with B.M.I. levels at the low end of normal  are less healthy than those now considered overweight , blogs Jane E. Brody at The New York Times. And some people who are overly fat according to their B.M.I. are just as healthy as those considered to be of normal weight, as discussed in a new book, “The Obesity Paradox,” by Dr. Carl J. Lavie, a cardiologist in New Orleans, and Kristin Loberg, she reports. My B.M.I. has long been too high so I've never paid too much attention to it, losing 20 pounds recently and upping my exercise quotient significantly.  So what if the number's too big? Now it looks like some pros are agreeing with me.   Recent studies have " prompted many to question the real meaning  of B.M.I. and to note its potential drawbacks: labeling some healthy people as overweight or obese who are not overly fat, and failing to distinguish between dangerous and innocuous distributions of bod...

Duh.  A new study has found that regular exercise can slow aging. It may even be able to add up to five years to your life. New research s uggests that a person can slow the speed at which she ages by exercising regularly, according to newswise.com. My husband, who believes exercise can cure everything from the common cold to cancer, will be jubilant (and boastful).   I can't wait. Regular exercise not only improves the quality of life but can also extend a person’s lifespan by up to five years, the Web site reports on the study's facts. Additionally, research suggests that older adults receive the most benefits when combining endurance exercise with resistance exercise. Yay.  Finally I'm doing something right.  I jog and swim.  Not well, but still. However, other studies suggest it's extreme exercise that slows aging.   The Guardian writer Matthew Jenkin claims that e very morning, 72-year-old grandmother Dr Betty Holsden-Smith does a few cr...

My husband is not going to be happy about this, this man who every day eats apples, cherries, blueberries, spinach, and red peppers.   A new study finds that five servings of fruits and vegetables a day is still not enough. Say what?  According to the Los Angeles Times, we really should be eating seven. Eating five a day was supposed to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.  Scientists from the University College London who looked at data concerning fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality from a 12-year period for more than 65,000 people over the age of 35  found that participants "ate on average 3.8 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, with a serving being three ounces. Those who ate more fruit and vegetables were found to have a lower body-mass index," Jenn Harris reports.  I'm not that good either.  I try to have two vegetables at dinner and eat fruit throughout the day, but I certainly don't, al...

Here's how to make both Republicans and Democrats happy.  A new study has found that big government AND communities both make people healthier. “Some people might like the argument that liberal government automatically leads to healthier people, because it supports their world view,” newswise.com quotes Mitchel Herian, a faculty fellow with University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Public Policy Center and lead researcher on the new study.  “But, in the absence of a liberal government, you also see better levels of health if you have a strong community.” “When government programs are in place, people tend to be healthier," adds  Ed Diener of the University of Illinois.  "But when government programs are weaker, a person with lots of close ties and social capital can still be healthy. Their wife can get them to exercise, their friends can help them not drink too much, and their support for each other may directly affect their health. Loneliness is bad for health.” The ...

My husband swears by them. At least since he heard they're good for his prostate.  I've never much liked them, even though I grew up in an Italian family and they were on the table just about every night. We're talking, of course, about tomatoes. A new study has found that the tomato, often  referred to as a "functional food," prevents chronic disease and delivers other health benefits, due to beneficial phytochemicals such as lycopene, according to Medical News Daily. The site notes that, only 200 years ago it was thought to be poisonous in the U.S., probably because the plant belongs to the nightshade family, of which some species are truly poisonous. "One medium tomato (approximately 123 grams) provides 22 calories, 0 grams of fat, 5 grams of  carbohydrate   (including 1 gram of fiber and 3 grams of sugar) and 1 gram of protein," the Web site reports.  Tomatoes are a rich source of vitamins A and C and folic acid and contain a wide array of b...

Does your child practice or play just one sport?  Does he train obsessively?  Do you insist he not miss a workout or game? You might want to hold on.  A new study finds that college athletes who do this have worse health in later life than those who play sports recreationally. “Parents who push their children to specialize in one sport and train extensively in order to win athletic scholarships should be aware there could be long-term health consequences,” newswise.com quotes  Loyola University Medical Center sports medicine physician Dr. Pietro Tonino. In a study comparing athletes and people like me (non-athletes), former athletes reported worse physical function, depression, fatigue, sleep disturbances and pain interference than non-athletes long after they graduated. The athletes also reported more limitations in daily activities and more major and chronic injuries. So should our athletes stop playing sports?  Of course not.  But maybe more sch...

Hey.  Did you know, texting can be good for you? After all the stuff about how the Internet could feed a drug habit, or make us drive off the road and kill someone (actually, I'm not kidding about that) or gain weight or lose our sex drive (made those last two up!), how refreshing to finally find something good it does. True, it's not like curing cancer or stamping out hepatitis C, but it's helping diabetics take better care of themselves. It might also decrease the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes -- you know, the one we get for eating too much, as one out of three does? "An overwhelming majority of surveyed people who enrolled in customized texting service txt4health piloted in Detroit and Cincinnati last year said the free mobile education program made them more aware of their diabetes risk and more likely to make diet-related behavior changes and lose weight," newswise.com reports.  Sadly, though, well less than half made it through the whole 14-w...

There's another reason not to switch out the chips and Oreos for bananas and broccoli.  According to a new study , eating healthy costs more about $550 a year. Cary Polis reports at The Huffington Post that healthy foods cost $1.50 a day more the other stuff.  Doesn't sound like much, but when you add it up over a year -- well, you can see why people who don't have much money aren't exactly racing to Whole Foods. "Even categories such as snacks/sweets and grains also cost more for healthier options, at $0.12 and $0.03 respectively," she reports. No significant price differences were seen between healthier and less healthy soda and juices.  The biggest price differences were in meat and protein, with prices an average of 29 cents higher per serving than the unhealthier choice. But don't be quick to run to McDonald's, either. "The study authors caution that the $1.50 per day conclusion is based on comparing a very healthy diet -- such as one r...

Well, not really.  But it can certainly affect your health. According to Jane Brody at The New York Times, commuting  causes those who do it to lose "hours a day that would be better spent exercising, socializing with family and friends, preparing home-cooked meals or simply getting enough sleep ." The fact that most of us do not live in cities but in suburbs where cars are necessary to get us to work, school, and other activities makes it an absolute necessity to commute.  It's not just workers who commute, Brody notes, but soccer moms, too, ferrying their kids to ball games, ballet, play dates, after-school clubs, putting the same amount of mileage on their cars sometimes as people who use them just to get to work. Brody points out that's probably one of the things behind our obesity problem in this country. “In places where people walk more, obesity rates are much lower,” Leigh Gallagher, an editor at Forbes and author of a book on the perils of commuting, to...

Let's face it.  No one wants cataract surgery.  (Though I've heard you can throw away your glasses, so I'm up for it!).  But here's a really good reason to have one, if you have to. You''ll live longer. Or so a new study says. According to newswise.com, "People with cataract-related vision loss who have had cataract surgery to improve their sight are living longer than those with visual impairment who chose not to have the procedure, according to an Australian study ." Researchers found a 40 percent lower long-term mortality risk in those who had the surgery.  A different, earlier study found that that older persons with visual impairment were likely to have greater mortality risk than their age peers with normal vision, and that cataract surgery might reduce this risk, the Web site reports. The big question.  Why? It's not magical, unfortunately.  It's probably because people who've had the surgery start taking better car...