Health and Beauty Articles for Women

Wedding Ring Doesn’t Always Bring Health Benefits, Study Shows

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
on Wednesday, March 29, 2006

March 29, 2006 — Health may fade faster for people in bad marriages.

That’s what University of Texas sociology professor Debra Umberson, PhD, and colleagues report in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Umberson’s team studied 1,049 continuously married people across the U.S. who took surveys in 1986, 1989, and 1994.

Participants rated their health and marriage quality. Over time, self-rated health dipped for everyone. The decline was faster in people in bad marriages, especially in old age.
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NEW YORK,

“Carbs provide the body with glucose, which is the main fuel for the central nervous system, the brain.”
Elisa Zied

(CBS) Carbohydrates are no longer the enemy. They’re actually an important part of a healthy diet, but only if you choose the right ones and in the right amount.

Elisa Zied, a registered dietician and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association joined The Early Show Thursday to shed some light on the carb debate. Zied is the author of a new book, “So What Can I Eat?!” which is the focus of a three-part HealthWatch series this week.

Half of your calories should come from carbs

“Carbs provide the body with glucose, which is the main fuel for the central nervous system, the brain,” Zied told co-anchor Russ Mitchell. “You need it for energy. You don’t want to eliminate or avoid it.”
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NEW YORK, March 24, 2006
Beef and poultry are good sources of protein (CBS/The Early Show)

Fast Fact

Protein provides the building blocks for our bones, muscles, skin, cartilage, and blood. It also helps us make enzymes and hormones that keep our bodies functioning.

(CBS) Protein is a critical part of a healthy diet, and eating the right amount helps with everything from higher energy to stronger muscles. The trick is knowing the healthiest sources of protein and the right amounts for your body.

Wrapping up a three-part HealthWatch series, Elisa Zied returned to The Early Show to talk about protein, which she explores in her new book, “So What Can I Eat?!” Zied is a registered dietician and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, and she points out that a proper protein balance can also be helpful for weight loss.
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Detox is one of many lifestyle fads
The marketing of detox products is to be investigated by the government after the BBC drew its attention to some of their medical claims.

The Medical Health Care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is taking action based on investigations by Real Story’s Doctors on a Detox programme.

Some detox products claim to enhance the immune system, relieve pain, flush out toxins and stimulate circulation.
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Posted by Cheryl Koch, R.D. on Sat,

One of the early lessons for nutrition students is the difference between essential and non-essential amino acids. Essential amino acids are, by definition, amino acids that cannot be synthesized from other available sources and, therefore, are required in our diets.

Non-essential amino acids, on the other hand, can be synthesized in the body and do not need to be consumed as part of the diet.

Taurine, considered a non-essential amino acid, has recently joined the list of ingredients in energy drinks and pills taken by bodybuilders to help them maintain muscle and metabolize (burn) fats.
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By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA - Twenty-five years after the first AIDS cases jolted the world, scientists think they soon may have a pill that people could take to keep from getting the virus that causes the global killer.

Two drugs already used to treat HIV infection have shown such promise at preventing it in monkeys that officials last week said they would expand early tests in healthy high-risk men and women around the world.

“This is the first thing I’ve seen at this point that I think really could have a prevention impact,” said Thomas Folks, a federal scientist since the earliest days of AIDS. “If it works, it could be distributed quickly and could blunt the epidemic.”
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Age-Related Macular Degeneration May Occur in Sick Bodies, Study Shows
By Miranda Hitti

WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

Your eyes may be a window to your body’s health, a new study shows.

The report, published in Nutrition, shows that diet and lifestyle might sway the odds — for better or worse — of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

AMD is America’s leading cause of vision loss. More than 13 million people in the U.S. show some signs of AMD, which is uncommon in people younger than 55. A new study shows that diet, smoking, and BMI (body mass index) may affect the chances of getting AMD.
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Two-thirds of obese diabetics call overweight ‘ideal’ for health, study found

MONDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) — Many Americans with diabetes are mistaken in their belief about a “healthy” body weight, a new study shows, with nearly half thinking that being overweight is still within a healthy range.

“These findings are concerning given the importance of body weight in managing diabetes,” study first author Dr. Kathleen McTigue, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, said in a prepared statement.
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by Healthy News Service
Electrical impulses foster myelination, the insulation process that speeds communication among brain cells, report researchers at two institutes of the National Institutes of Health.

?This finding provides important information that may lead to a greater understanding of disorders such as multiple sclerosis that affect myelin, as well as a greater understanding of the learning process,? said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NICHD.

The study appears in the March 16 Neuron and was conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Cancer Institute.
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© Honora Lee Wolfe  
(Excerpted from Menopause, A Second Spring: Making a Smooth Transition with Traditional Chinese Medicine, Blue Poppy Press, Inc.)

Over the next decade, an entire generation of women will pass through the normal transition called menopause. While Western medicine typically offers hormone replacement therapy for the discomforts which may come with menopause, many women cannot or do not wish to take hormones.

Traditional Chinese medicine has a great deal to offer these women. Instead of the standard hormone replacement therapy offered by most Western gynecologists, Chinese medical practitioners treat each woman individually, taking into account the whole pattern of each patient’s physical and mental-emotional symptoms.
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