Seasons Greetings

I am taking this time to wish you a merry Christmas.
Please don't mind the Xmas image. Lol. Just an hilarious way of saying a Christmas greeting.
Make sure you watch what you drink, eat and do.
This season is best when you take time out with your family and friends.
Have a nice one!!! Loads of love

More evidence by Researchers shows that Smoking Ages

Let’s face it, we live in a very appearance-oriented society. Almost everyone wants to look younger and more attractive. Rather than taking a natural anti-aging route, many people will go to extremes to enhance their appearance, buying all kinds of pricey products or even undergoing chemical peels or plastic surgery in an attempt to stave off the signs of aging. However, sometimes it is a heck of a lot easier to just take preventive measures so your skin is healthier to begin with. One major case in point: Don’t smoke. In addition to all the other ways it is bad for you, now there is new evidence linking smoking to the premature aging of facial skin, which pretty much confirms what we’ve all known for years.

A new study that took place at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, focused on twins to determine that smoking can truly make a difference in the way a person looks by hastening the signs of aging. The subjects were 79 pairs of twins, ranging in age from 18 to 78. They were all attending an annual twin festival in the town of Twinsburg, Ohio.

The researchers had a professional photographer take a picture of each twin individually. The photos were then assigned to one of two groups. The first group contained the images of 45 sets of twins in which one of them was a smoker and one was not. The second group consisted of images of the remainder of the sets of twins, all of whom smoked, but in these cases one of the twins had picked up the habit at least five years earlier than their sibling had.

The pictures of the participants were then shown to two physicians and a medical student, who estimated their ages based solely on the appearance of a face. For the subjects in the first group, in which one twin smoked and the other didn’t, the smoker was believed to be older 57 percent more often. And in the second group, even though both of the twins were smokers, the length of time they had smoked was important. Those twins who had been smoking for several years longer were tagged as older in 63 percent of the cases. That means the changes that occur to one’s appearance—lines, bags under the eyes, loose skin—begin to develop within a few years, not after decades of heavy smoking.

A number of other factors were considered that might undo natural anti aginge efforts and add years to a person’s face, such as skipping sunscreen application, alcohol use, and stress and anxiety levels, which were all fairly comparable between pairs of twins. There were, however, some other potential differences that were not considered, including dietary habits and socioeconomic circumstances. But even with these types of issues possibly influencing the addition of lines, wrinkles, and the like, there was still highly visible, side-by-side evidence of an association between smoking and looking older.

This should come as little surprise to anyone, since plenty of earlier research has shown that smoking has negative effects on the skin. In fact, a study from way back in 1971 at the University of California found that wrinkles were much more prevalent in smokers than non-smokers from the age of 30 on. And by their 40s, smokers frequently had as many wrinkles as people two decades older who didn’t smoke. Not to mention the stained teeth and bad breath the habit causes.

What it all adds up to is one more drawback to being a smoker. Maybe this is enough proof to give the more vain among us the impetus they need to finally make a full-on effort to quit. It’s hard to fathom why anyone would want to start smoking these days, with all of the copious health reasons not to, from an increased risk of several types of cancer to emphysema to dementia. But we do know that nicotine is very addictive and quitting is tough. So we won’t judge your motivation if you are ready to give up tobacco. Just focus on the task at hand and after a few weeks, you will be looking and feeling better than you have in a long time

Sunny Climate Reduces ADHD - Study

Choosing to live in a sunny locale offers a number of advantages. Beautiful blue skies can improve the mood and help create the ideal environment for spending time in active outdoor pursuits, vastly improving children's health. They can help protect you from Seasonal Affective Disorder. And now, researchers may have discovered another benefit to inhabiting a region with lots of sunshine. It appears that sunny areas may have a lower rate of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than areas with less regular sunshine.

The study, which was conducted at Utrecht University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, found that exposure to sunlight may play a role in lowering the risk of developing ADHD. The scientists plotted out the number of cases of ADHD that had been diagnosed by state in the United States and regionally in nine additional countries. They then measured the ADHD rates against the typical concentration of sunlight in each of the areas annually.

Throughout all of the countries included in the research, the sunniest regions were found to have approximately 50 percent lower rates of ADHD diagnoses than did the regions with the least regular sunshine. It was such a pronounced difference that it could be lined up on a map. The areas of the U.S. with the most solar intensity were the Western and Southwestern states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Each of these states has a rate of ADHD diagnoses that falls between six and eight percent. In contrast, the states with the lowest concentration of sunshine, including areas of the northernmost part of the nation, had rates of ADHD diagnoses of anywhere from 10 to 14 percent.

To control for other factors that might affect the rates of ADHD in a given region, the researchers took into account such dynamics as socioeconomic levels, children's health, and the prevalence of low birth weight babies. In addition, they considered the number of males to females, since 13.2 percent of boys are diagnosed with ADHD at some point, while only 5.6 percent of girls receive this diagnosis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even after these possible influences were incorporated into the findings, the sunlight-ADHD link remained evident and apparent. In contrast, when the researchers tried to similarly align their maps of sunny areas with a lower frequency of autism and depression diagnoses, no connection could be established.

Living in a sunny climate was shown in this study to have an association with lower rates of ADHD, but the study was not set up to prove cause and effect. That may simply mean that the science behind how the sun helps is not yet clear. One possibility is that the increased production of vitamin D due to greater sun exposure offers some level of protection from ADHD. However, the scientists in the current study discounted this because earlier research disproved it. But vitamin D is often not well understood, and it has been found to benefit the immune system and brain functions as we age, so it is certainly feasible that this may be part of the puzzle.

In the meantime, ADHD diagnoses have risen dramatically in the last 10 years in the United States. Approximately 6.4 million children across America have been diagnosed with this condition, which reflects a 41 percent increase from the early 2000s to today. And two-thirds of the kids with ADHD are put on prescription drugs such as Adderall or Ritalin, which are highly addictive and may produce side effects that include mood swings, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, and more.

While living in a sunny place is definitely preferable to taking daily pharmaceutical medication to manage ADHD, you don’t need to put your home on the market just yet. According to other mental health articles and a 2010 study at Michigan State University in East Lansing, as many as a million children in the U.S. may have been misdiagnosed with ADHD, simply because of their age and immaturity. So you might want to consider taking your child for a second, or even third, opinion before accepting this particular diagnosis as fact.

Diabetes May not be healed by typical Gum disease Treatment

ypical, nonsurgical treatment of gum disease in people with type 2 diabetes will not improve their blood-sugar control, a new study suggests.

There's long been a connection between gum disease and wider health issues, and experts say a prior study had offered some evidence that treatment of gum disease might enhance blood-sugar control in patients with diabetes.

Nearly half of Americans over age 30 are believed to have gum disease, and people with diabetes are at greater risk for the problem, the researchers

said. Well-controlled diabetes is associated with less severe gum disease and a lower risk for progression of gum disease, according to background information in the study.

But would an easing of gum disease help control patients' diabetes? To find out, the researchers, led by Steven Engebretson of New York University, tracked outcomes for more than 500 diabetes patients with gum disease who were divided into two groups.

One group's gum disease was treated using scaling, root planing and an oral rinse, followed by further gum disease treatment after three and six months. The other group received no treatment for their gum disease.

Scaling and root planing involves scraping away the tartar from above and below the gum line, and smoothing out rough spots on the tooth's root, where germs can collect, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

After six months, people in the treatment group showed improvement in their gum disease. There was no difference, however, in blood-sugar control between the two groups, according to the findings, which were published in the Dec. 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

These findings do not support the use of nonsurgical gum disease treatment to improve blood-sugar control in people with diabetes, the researchers said.

Experts said the finding was in line with what is known on the subject.

"The results don't surprise me," said Dr. Gerald Bernstein, director of the Diabetes Education Program at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. "[Gum disease] requires physical intervention to remove offending plaques and microinfection that does not easily clear with brushing and rinsing."

What is really important is how inflammation linked to gum disease is related to wider cardiac inflammation, Bernstein said. That relationship might influence the rate at which artery-hardening plaques are deposited in blood vessels.

Dr. Spyros Mezitis, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said it's well known that gum disease is "associated with worsening of [blood-sugar] control in diabetics."

But the current study suggests that "[gum] treatment improves the common disease and preserves teeth but should not be used to control diabetes," he said.

"Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings," Mezitis added.

FDA concludes that many ADHD Drugs Linked to Painful Erections

NEWS-- In rare cases, Ritalin and some other drugs used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can cause long-lasting and sometimes painful erections, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.

If this condition -- called priapism -- is not treated immediately, it can cause permanent damage to the penis.

The class of ADHD medications that have been linked to priapism include methylphenidates, which are central nervous system stimulants. They go by the brand names Ritalin, Concerta, Daytrana, Focalin, Metadate, Methylin and Quillivant.

A non-stimulant ADHD drug called Strattera (atomoxetine) has also been linked with priapism in children, teens and adults.

Based on a recent review of these products, the FDA has told manufacturers to update the drugs' labels and patient medication guides.

"There have been very few case reports on this adverse effect in association with drugs to treat ADHD," said one expert, Victoria Richards, an associate professor of medical sciences at Quinnipiac University in North Haven, Conn.

"Although the effect is rare, the warning will at least draw attention to the potentially dangerous connection, not only in light of improved recognition and diagnosing of ADHD, but also in the misuse/abuse of those stimulant drugs," Richards said.

Priapism appears to be more common in patients taking Strattera than in those taking methylphenidate products, but a lack of data means that the FDA does not know how often priapism occurs in patients taking either type of drug.

Priapism can occur in males of any age. It happens when blood in the penis becomes trapped, resulting in an abnormally long-lasting and sometimes painful erection.

Doctors should make sure that male patients and their parents know the signs and symptoms of priapism and the importance of immediate medical treatment, the FDA said.

The agency noted that younger males, especially those who haven't reached puberty, may not recognize the problem or may be too embarrassed to tell anyone about it. Patients should be encouraged to read the medication guide that comes with these products.

It's also important for doctors to use caution when switching patients from methylphenidate to Strattera, and patients should not stop taking a methylphenidate product without first discussing it with a doctor, the FDA said.

ADHD, a neurological behavior disorder, is usually diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. Kids with ADHD may have trouble paying attention and controlling impulsive behaviors. These medications are intended to help them focus and control their actions.

Source: WebMed.com

Our drinking water may be poisoned

"When you look at the big picture, government authorities have done a remarkable job in providing "clean" water for most developed countries. Water-borne epidemics such as cholera are almost unheard of in the developed world. On the other hand, acknowledging what has been accomplished does not mean that we should close our eyes to the problems that exist.

Keep in mind that the "maximum contamination levels" that water districts so proudly adhere to merely represent a compromise standard designed to be economically feasible for local districts to meet. They in no way come close to the safety standards established by the U.S. Safe Water Drinking Act. Drinking water in Europe and throughout the rest of the world is little different, and in many cases even worse.

On average, drinking water in the United States currently contains over 2,100 toxic chemicals that are known to cause cancer, cell mutation, and nervous disorders. This is not particularly surprising considering that there are close to 100,000 chemicals now in everyday use—with over 1,000 new ones added every year. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States industries generate some 79 million pounds of toxic waste each year that is not disposed of properly.

What is probably more surprising to most people, though, is that 53 million Americans unknowingly drink tap water that is polluted by feces, radiation, or other contaminants, according to the EPA. Also, some 45 million people drink water contaminated with the parasite Cryptosporidium, which killed more than 100 people in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1993. And over half of all Americans drink water that has been used at least once before! (You probably shouldn’t think about this particular statistic too long if you have any tendency toward a weak stomach.) Each year, at least 400,000 cases of illness in the U.S. can be attributed to contaminated water."

Source: Jonbaron.org

HDL may not be a Good Cholesterol for the Healthy Heart

High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, has long been thought of as good cholesterol due to its ability to rid the body of bad cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease, transport bad cholesterol to the liver where it can be processed, and keep the inner walls of the blood vessels free of clot.

Do you want to know why?  The article below is is curled  from Science Daily. Com

''A new paper published
online in The Lancet challenges the
assumption that raising a person's HDL --
the so-called "good cholesterol" -- will
necessarily lower the risk of a heart
attack. The new research underscores
the value of using genetic approaches to
test biological hypotheses about human
disease prior to developing specific
drugs. A team led by researchers from
the Broad Institute and Massachusetts
General Hospital (MGH) explored
naturally occurring genetic variations in
humans to test the connection between
HDL levels and heart attack. By
studying the genes of roughly 170,000
individuals, the team discovered that,
when examined together, the 15 HDL-
raising variants they tested do not
reduce the risk of heart attack.
"It's been assumed that
if a patient, or group of
patients, did something
to cause their HDL
levels to go up, then
you can safely assume
that their risk of heart
attack will go down,"
said senior author
Sekar Kathiresan,
director of preventive
cardiology at MGH,
associate professor of
medicine at Harvard
Medical School, and an
associate member of
the Broad Institute. "This work fundamentally
questions that."
Each of the variants Kathiresan and his
colleagues studied reflects potentially distinct
ways the body might raise HDL. The findings
raise significant questions about whether
developing drugs against the genes explored in
this study, which involves an international
team of investigators to bring together patient
samples, will prove effective in lowering heart
attack risk across the population.
"Our study highlights the value of human
genetic information in understanding disease
biology prior to developing and testing drugs
in the clinic," said co-author David Altshuler,
director of the Program in Medical and
Population Genetics at the Broad Institute and
a Harvard Medical School professor at MGH.
"This kind of research is not about
personalized prediction -- rather, it's about
testing mechanisms and therapeutic
hypotheses before drug discovery."
In the blood, cholesterol is carried by particles
called lipoproteins, which come in different
sizes and densities. These include HDL, or
high-density lipoprotein, and LDL, or low-
density lipoprotein. There is a well-studied
connection between elevated LDL, often called
the "bad cholesterol," and heart attack.
Decades of research, including studies of
genetic disorders in humans and the discovery
of the LDL receptor and its role in cholesterol
regulation, paved the way for the development
of life-saving drugs known as statins. This
work showed beyond any reasonable doubt
that many different methods of reducing a
person's LDL levels lower the risk of heart
disease.
Large-scale studies of genetic variation tied to
LDL have been revealing, but the data on HDL
are not so clear. More than 30 years ago,
human epidemiological studies first revealed
an association between HDL and risk for heart
attack: the higher the levels, the lower the
risk. Experiments in cells and mice further
support the idea and suggest that HDL is
protective because it may remove cholesterol
from the sites where it can do damage.
However, it has been difficult for researchers
to prove conclusively that raising HDL levels is
beneficial, primarily for two reasons. First,
studies of human genetic diseases where
individuals have very low HDL levels have not
yielded definitive answers as to the impact on
heart attack. And second, because there are
currently no drugs that specifically elevate
HDL levels, it has been difficult to prove in
humans that such an intervention will lower
heart attack risk.
"There are many biomarkers measurable in the
blood that track with disease but only a very
small number are actually causal and directly
participate," said first author Benjamin
Voight, who since completing this work has
left the Broad and MGH for a position as an
assistant professor at University of
Pennsylvania. "The reason you want to
distinguish between causal and non-causal
biomarkers is because of the implications for
therapy."
To investigate, Kathiresan teamed up with
colleagues from MGH, the Broad Institute, and
beyond, including Voight and co-first author
Gina Peloso. Together, the researchers looked
to the human genome for help.
Individuals typically carry two copies of each
gene in the genome; which copy a child will
inherit from each parent is essentially a
random decision, like flipping a coin. This
phenomenon, sometimes called "Mendelian
randomization," provides a powerful means of
testing connections between genes, biomarkers,
and disease -- similar to the way that
randomized controlled clinical trials can
evaluate the effectiveness of new drugs.
Using this technique, researchers study two
groups of people -- those who carry a particular
gene variant, and those who do not. When
sufficiently large groups are studied, both
groups should be similar in every factor,
except for the specific gene variant or
biomarker of interest, allowing researchers to
home in on whether the biomarker actually
causes a particular trait or condition. By
harnessing this method, Kathiresan and his
team tested whether certain genetic variants
that can dial up a person's HDL levels impact
the chances of developing heart attack.
What they found was surprising. Individuals
who carried a particular variation in a gene
called endothelial lipase had HDL levels that
were elevated about 6mg/dl, or 10% -- a change
expected to decrease heart attack risk by
about 13%. However, these individuals showed
no difference in their risk of heart disease
compared to people without the variant.
Similarly, the researchers identified a panel
composed of not just one but 14 different HDL-
raising variants. They devised a scoring system
based on the total number of copies of the
gene variants a person carries -- ranging from
0 to 28 -- and then asked whether that score
relates to the risk of heart attack. Here also
they uncovered no association.
Kathiresan emphasizes that these results do
not diminish the value of HDL levels as a
predictor -- a so-called biomarker -- that can
help estimate the likelihood of a person going
on to develop heart attack. "We know that
HDL is a great biomarker -- it's quite useful in
identifying individuals at higher risk of
having a heart attack in the future," said
Kathiresan. "But we have shown that you
cannot assume that raising HDL by any
mechanism will help patients. Perhaps other
mechanisms exist that can lower risk, but we
will need to keep searching for them."
"It takes a decade or more, and costs up to
hundreds of millions of dollars, to discover a
drug and carry out clinical trials. And yet, the
vast majority of such clinical trials fail due
to lack of efficacy or toxicities," said
Altshuler. "Human genetics offers a valuable
approach to evaluating the underlying
therapeutic hypothesis prior to spending so
much time and money on drug discovery,
hopefully allowing the industry to focus
resources on hypotheses that are most likely to
prove safe and effective in patients."
Other study contributors from the Broad
Institute include Christopher Newton-Cheh,
Kiran Musunuru, James Pirruccello, Paul de
Bakker, Mark Daly, Candace Guiducci, Noel
Burtt, Aarti Surti, Elena Gonzalez, Shaun
Purcell, and Stacey Gabriel.
This work was funded by the National
Institutes of Health, The Wellcome Trust,
European Union, British Heart Foundation and
the German Federal Ministry of Education and
Research.''

Numerous Health benefit of Sarsaparilla

Sarsaparilla was introduced into Western culture in beverage form as a soft drink extremely similar in taste to root beer. Even though it bears the same name as the herb, the US version of this drink didn’t actually contain sarsaparilla, but rather a blend of birch oil and sassafras. Curiously, though, you may have been able to find it in some old-fashioned root beers during the time. Whatever the content of the drinks, the ingredient became well known during the time because of it.

While it may often be referenced in westerns as a "sissy drink," sarsaparilla is indeed a valuable herb with many uses. Its most important use is in glandular balance. It contains important natural plant-based hormones for men and women alike. Sarsaparilla helps with the following: natural testosterone and progesterone, helping hair to grow, and especially of great value in hormone regulation in both men and women, hot flashes, sexual problems, and impotence. It can be used as a natural steroid for the production of testosterone, being of help for both sexes in body building.

Sarsaparilla also has diuretic and restorative properties and may help with congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, PMS, urinary problems, impotence, hives, infertility, nervous system disorders, inflammation, and discomfort from rheumatism and arthritis. In addition, sarsaparilla helps with skin problems including psoriasis, acne, rashes, and syphilis. In fact, from 1820 to 1910, it was registered in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia as a treatment for syphilis. It also increases energy and may enhance physical performance.

Sarsaparilla is an excellent blood purifier and is used as a remedy for liver problems. Many people see a dramatic increase in sexual desire while taking it, and it thus qualifies as an aphrodisiac and libido booster. It can also increase the metabolism and help breathing.

Finally, sarsaparilla has been shown to be extremely beneficial for psoriasis sufferers. In one study, a group of 75 sufferers were given sarsaparilla tablets and 62% reported noticeable improvements. Not surprisingly, then, it may also help with other skin problems such as acne and rashes.

You can find sarsparilla widely available in most health food stores in root, capsule, tincture, and supplement form. It is also a common ingredient in natural hormone balancing formulas and skin care products

Reference: Daily  health Tips