According to a latest study released today, individuals who take homeopathic medicine are better off taking “sugar pills”, the latest study claims. According to yesterday’s issue of Lancet Journal, there was a lack of evidence for homeopathic medication remedies but strong evidence for conventional interventions. Researches in Sweeden say that there was no evidence for the effectiveness of homeopathy after reviewing 110 clinical trials for different types of infections including: surgery, gut complications, and respiratory infections. The Sweedish doctors claimed that patients should not waste their time with homeopathy and doctors should try to connect more with their patients before giving out prescriptions and just forgetting about them afterwards.

Homeopathy is a term that was derived 200 years ago by Samuel Hahnemann and is a type of medicine which stimulates the body to recover itself by substance administration that are the cause of related symptoms in healty individuals.

Latest news is out on obesity in United States. Americans are getting fatter then ever across the states, except for Oregon and those living in southeast. Mississippi is the state that has the highest rate of obesity, followed by Colorado. Experts are saying that this problem isn’t an easy task and is a challenge because of the fast food surrounding Americans these days, with McDonalds and Burger King drive thru’s on just about every corner, as well as the lack of exercise with more and more people spending their time in front of a computer or a TV.

So what should you do if you are obese?

Chill out with the fast food and try to eat healthy and exercise right! Avoid going over your daily calorie limit and try to eat healthy. Signs of obesity in U.S. doesn’t seem to be slowing down. If you have children who go to school, try to educate them about the importance of eating right. School lunches, taken 5 days a week can equal lots of calories, not to mention the fact that the food your kids probably eat is not nutritious at all. The bottom line is, take control of yourself and try to maintain your weight by setting goals for you and for your kids. We can’t let the fast food chains win the war! =)

A lawsuit has been filed in the LA County Superior Court against 9 fast food giants claiming that facilities like McDonalds, Frito-Lay, and Wendy’s are required to let the public know that products such as french fries and potato chips contain toxic chemicals, acrylamide, and higher levels of carcinogen as opposed to other foods. Defendants such as Frito-Lay however claim that there’s no such scientific evidence that presence of acrylamide is the cause of illnesses, claiming their products are very safe. The lawsuit also makes it clear that french fries have 125 times more acrylamide, which requires a warning for the consumers under state law.

Acrylamide is a carcinogen that is known for causing cancer in reproductive organs in animals tested in the lab when exposed to high levels of it. It was however not known that it existed in food until 2002, when it was discovered by scientists in Sweeden.

According to the latest study done by scientists in Scranton University in Pennsylvania, coffee leads as the #1 antioxidant that Americans intake based on the latest research. The study claims you could be getting more antioxidants from both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee then from fruits and vegetables. In order to come to this conclusion, scientists took 100 food items which consisted of: fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, and beverages and examined the contribution of each to the average American’s diet. Black tea, dry beans, bananas, and corn followed as the other sources of antioxidant benefits behind coffee.

This is definately some interesting news because I am a coffee drinker and simply cannot live without it. I need to have it every day before I drive in to work and I always had an assumption that it was bad for me, but now that this latest research study is out, I feel much better knowing that I am getting benefits of coffee and not the other way around.

Are you a redhead? If you are, here’s some interesting news that came out today.. new research suggests that redheads sunburn easily which puts them at high risk for skin cancer - but what’s more interesting is the latest research is stating that they can be at risk even if they don’t get burned at all by the sun.

Interesting eh? Individuals with red hair have a different chemical type of melanin as opposed to those people with dark hair. A professor at Duke chemistry did some examinations by analyzing pigments in red and black hair and the way they absorb ultraviolet B rays that are related to sunburn. Both of the lights resulted in a reaction in redheads which created molecules damaging the DNA as well as cells in a way that spread cancer.

Scientists are saying that even though more research is needed, you should always put on sunscreen to protect yourself from the UVB and UVA rays.

A new research study suggests that daydreaming may be linked to Alzheimer’s Disease. During the clinical study, five different medical imaging techniques have been used on 764 individuals (including those who were healthy, with Alzheimers, and dementia). The team who performed the study, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Washington University in St. Louis said that default activity brain patterns over the years may augment a metabolic or activity-dependent cascade, a part of Alzheimer’s pathology.

These new findings are suppose to help scientists understand the start of events that may cause a series of events, ultimately leading to Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s is a common type of dementia that occurs in older people, characterized by the erosion of thought, memory, and language. The scientists said that the new types of imaging methods as well as bioinformatics/statistical methods allowed them to put together a picture of Alzheimers.

Statins are drugs used to lower cholesterol in millions of people who have hopes that these drugs will reduce heart attack or death risks. A new study came out today claiming that statins can also reduce death risk after a heart attack has already occured.

Researches have found that treatment with statins reduced death risk by more than 50% at a hospital after a heart attack has occured by doing studies on 170,000 individuals who were admitted to a hospital from heart attack conditions. Researches were surprised that statin therapy showed such an effect immediately after a heart attack. In addition to that, researches also discovered that statins provided additional protection from other complications related to the heart.

This study provides the strongest evidence that statins may help an individual’s heart right away, after a heart attack as well. The results of this study will appear on September 1st in the American Journal of Cardiology issue.

Can virgin olive oil relieve pain and have the same power as any other widely used painkiller?

Yes, according to the researchers of Monell Chemical Senses Center located in Philedelphia. Scientists are saying that the ingredient, oleocanthal, works to suppress the same pain pathway as any other drugs such as Ibuprofen, even though the two chemicals are unrelated. According to the study, 50 grams of olive oil daily is equal to about 10% of Ibuprofen dose used in adults.

These new findings are a reason why an individual may want to adopt a Mediterranean diet, which is rich in olive oil, fish, fresh veggies, and unsaturated fat.

A recent survey that came out claims that 8% of children (ages 4-17) suffer from ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that boys are twice as likely to get ADHD then girls. In this report, data collected in the 2003 report “National Survey of Children’s Health” was analyzed.

The kids that were treated frequently from ADHD included males of age 12 and females of age 11 according to the CDC. If you are wondering how a child is diagnosed with ADHD, it involves 6 or more symptoms within a 6 month period which include: low attention span, failure to listen, forgetfullness, failure to school work assignments, and not following up on chores at home or elsewhere.

The report says that experts should pay close attention to the kids with ADHD, making sure that they get proper medication from it.

Cases of the west nile virus are rising. Illinois Department of Public Health reports that there are a total of 43 cases of west nile across the states. Those that get sick are usually elderly people as well as the young. West Nile virus is passed through a bite of a culex mosquito that gets the virus from feeding on a bird which is infected.

It is recommended that you avoid outdoor activities and keep your skin covered up in clothes, with long sleeves, while using a mosquito repellent. Cook County Department of Public Health officials are urging people to take care of themselves when they are outdoors. A lot of the cases that are being reported include more serious neuroinvasive diseases.