Health Alert

During the past three decades, there has been a significant increase in worldwide obesity rates with no significant decline noted in any country. Investigators found that over the previous 33 years, worldwide overweight and obesity rates for adults … [Read more...]

Between the 1997-98 and 2007-08 school years, concussion rates increased across the board in most high school sports. While football accounts for more than half of all concussions and has the highest incident rate (.6 per 10,000 athletes), girl's … [Read more...]

Two serious fight-related head injuries can impact a teenage boy’s IQ to the equivalent of losing a whole year of school. For girls, a similar loss of IQ is possible after just one serious fight-related head injury. Falls in IQ are linked to lower … [Read more...]

Psychological stress is associated with greater risk for depression, heart disease and infectious diseases. Until now, it has not been clear exactly how stress influences disease and health. Chronic psychological stress is associated with the body … [Read more...]

Individuals who are obese by age 25 have a much greater risk of severe obesity later in life. Researchers found that men who are obese at age 25 are 23% more likely to be severely obese at age 35, while woman who are obese at age 25 have a 46.9% risk … [Read more...]

Approximately 50% of people living in the Western Hemisphere are at risk of one or more diseases carried by ticks, flies, mosquitoes, and other vectors. Some of these diseases include West Nile virus, Lyme disease, dengue fever, malaria, chagas, and … [Read more...]

The Food and Drug Administration explained that a new regulation regarding “gluten-free” foods is aimed at helping in the voluntary labeling of food products. Three million Americans have celiac disease. People with celiac disease have to avoid … [Read more...]

Swiss scientists analyzed cutting boards from hospital cafeterias and private home kitchens after they were used to cut poultry but before the boards were washed. They found that 6.5% of hospital cutting boards and 3.5% of household cutting boards … [Read more...]

A new report suggests that e-cigarette vapor produces tiny particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs, potentially causing or accelerating respiratory diseases. Investigators are unsure whether these chemicals are harmful if you inhale them, … [Read more...]

The latest Cochrane Review reveals there is no solid evidence to support the effectiveness of Tamiflu and Relenza, commonly used medications to fight or prevent influenza symptoms. Dr. David Tovey, editor in chief at Cochrane, writes, "Initially … [Read more...]

Scientists from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy have announced the first known instance of an amputee "feeling" the world via a state-of-the-art sensory-enhanced … [Read more...]

Using data from a 2005-2006 United States government survey on nearly 2,600 adults, researcher Dr. Edward Archer at the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham calculated that the average obese women gets just one … [Read more...]

Among younger men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer, mortality rates are over 40% lower for those who are treated surgically compared with those who follow watchful waiting (relying on changes in symptoms to determine if/when further treatment … [Read more...]