Category Archives: Medical

The Danger of Addiction: “Bath Salts” Worse than Meth

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Greg Asseff

According to Drugpolicy.org, nearly 11 million people in the United States have tried meth. Despite the notorious addictiveness of the drug, however, meth could still be up to ten times less addictive than the dangerous group of stimulants known as “bath salts,” according to a new study by researchers at Scripps Research Institute. Drugs sold as bath salts, of course, are not intended to be used in the bath at all, but are rather snorted, smoked or injected in order to create hallucinations and a physical high.

Posted in Health, Health Facts, Medical, Mental Health, News, Studies | 1,075 Comments

Obesity, Exercise Both on the Rise in U.S.

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Greg Asseff

A recent study of individual counties in the United States finds that, on average, both obesity rates and exercise rates are increasing in the United States. In the study, a sufficient level of exercise was defined as 75 minutes of intense exercise or 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. In the majority of counties, men were found to be getting sufficient weekly exercise more frequently than women, though women made more progress in this area than men over the course of the study period. While researchers can basically only speculate as to why the phenomena would simultaneously occur, it may have something to do with the fact that preventing obesity is fairly easy to do on paper. Making healthy food choices, getting better sleep and getting at least some exercise are all quite simple and can help curb obesity. However, not going far enough will likely do little.

Posted in Exercise, Health, Health Facts, Medical, News, Studies, Weight Loss | 2,764 Comments

Brain Exercise Preserves Memory in Old Age

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Greg Asseff

Your brain needs exercise just like your body, according to a new study that finds that keeping your brain active and sharp during your teen and adult years will mitigate mental decline as you grow older. In fact, even if you’re experiencing the preliminary signs of dementia, brain exercise can still reduce mental decline. Preliminary signs include having trouble solving problems, forgetting things that were recently learned, trouble completing familiar tasks and poor judgement, especially with money. The researchers behind the study found that about 33% of mental decline experienced later in life can be attributed to physical damage to the brain, such as happens with a stroke or the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. However, they also found that about 10% of old-age cognitive decline is directly dependent on the level of brain activity that person engaged in earlier in life.

Posted in Exercise, Health, Health Facts, Medical, Mental Health, News, Studies | 17 Comments

Breast Cancer Risk Drops with Omega-3 Fatty Acids from Fish

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Greg Asseff

Chinese researchers recently conducted an extensive, comprehensive review of 26 studies, concluding that the more omega-3 fatty acids from fish that a woman consumes, the lower her risk for breast cancer plummets. The studies involved a total of 880,000 adult women from countries across the world, 20,000 of whom were diagnosed with breast cancer. Overall, the researchers found that women in the studies who consumed the greatest amounts of omega-3s from fish were about 14% less at risk for developing breast cancer than women who consumed the least.

Posted in Food, Health, Health Facts, Medical, News, Nutrition, Studies, Women | 6,307 Comments

An Aspirin a Day Keeps Colon Cancer Away

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Greg Asseff

In addition to aiding with headaches, fever and body aches, aspirin has increasingly been found to have preventative health benefits. By thinning your blood and interfering with your body’s clotting mechanisms, regularly taking aspirin might help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Recently, a new study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital indicates that individuals can also reduce their colon cancer risk by taking aspirin on a regular basis. Subjects in the study who took aspirin no less than twice weekly realized a 27% reduction in their colon cancer risk over the course of the study’s 28 years in comparison to subjects who didn’t take aspirin this often. Unfortunately, aspirin regimens appeared to have no effect on colon cancers with a BRAF mutation, which applies to up to 15% of colon cancer cases.