Here are some interesting stories from the world of health and medicine:
* Tanning Beds as Dangerous as Arsenic. International cancer experts associated with the World Health Organization (WHO) have issued a report identifying tanning beds as a top cancer risk, deeming them as dangerous as arsenic or mustard gas. A new analysis of nearly two dozen studies shows that people who start using tanning beds regularly before age 30 have a 75 percent higher incidence of skin cancer than those who don’t due to beds’ intense ultraviolet light, long known to be a major cause of cellular mutation. The report was disputed by—here it comes—the European-based Sunbed Association.
* 70 Percent of American Kids Have Vitamin D Deficiencies. A new nationwide study has revealed that up to 70 percent of American children have low to seriously low levels of Vitamin D. This deficiency puts them at an increased risk for bone fractures, heart disease and other chronic ailments as they age. Low Vitamin D levels were found to be especially common in girls, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, those who drank milk less than once a week, and children who spent more than four hours a day watching TV, playing videogames and/or using computers. The cause of the deficiencies is believed to be a combination of poor nutrition and too much time spent indoors. The easiest, cheapest and most effective solution for this problem, the researchers said, is to have children spend more time in direct sunlight. And, no, tanning beds were not recommended.
* Social Stress May Lead to Obesity, Heart Disease. Being the “low man on the totem pole” usually means lower pay, fewer choices and more worries. It may also mean a larger tummy and an increased risk of heart attack, according to researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. In a series of experiments with monkeys that naturally form top-to-bottom social orders, the researchers discovered that the “leader” monkeys tended to be leaner and healthier than the group as a whole, while the “subservient” simians tended to develop the kind of belly fat that’s associated with plaque build-up in blood vessels and heart disease. The researchers believe that stress hormones play a key role in this pattern, and that this may explain why people in lower socio-economic groups tend to be fatter and have more heart disease than society’s “elite.” In other words, to quote comedian Mel Brooks, “It’s good to be the King.” Healthier, too.
* New Drugs May Target the Digestive System’s “Brain.” You know the expression, “To think with your gut”? That’s not all that off-base. For decades, scientists have known that the digestive system, including the stomach and intestines, are held together by a web of neurons that link directly to the brain. This is why emotions, which start in the brain, can cause strong feelings in the “gut,” and even explains many so-called “psychosomatic” illnesses involving the tummy. Now, researchers at Columbia University in New York have discovered that the gut’s “brain cells” can be regrown when stimulated by the chemical serotonin. This may lead to a whole new group of drugs designed to treat digestive problems by giving the gut more “brain power.”
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