What I would do about the radiation scare http://bit.ly/eibWWD
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
YOUR HOME IS YOUR BEST DEFENCE AGAINST CANCER
YOUR HOME IS YOUR FIRST DEFENSE AGAINST CANCER
April 07--[.jpg]An estimated 41 percent of all Americans born today will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetimes, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). We are surrounded by cancer risks, and it is hard to pinpoint a direct cause for many cancer cases. Still, there are ways to reduce potential exposure cancer risks in your home by eliminating or reducing tobacco, radon, asbestos and other chemicals.
Tobacco
The NCI reports that about 30 percent of cancer deaths are linked to tobacco use, making it the biggest single risk factor. Don't let anyone smoke in your home, as those who are around smokers may also be at risk. Roughly 3,000 lung cancer deaths are connected to second-hand smoke exposure, and living with a smoker increases the lung cancer risk among non-smokers by at least 20 percent.
If you live in an apartment or other shared housing and are exposed to smoke from other units, try to block vents or other entry points for the smoke. If that doesn't work, you may have legal recourses. If another tenant is violating a non-smoking lease, ask the landlord to confront that neighbor. Moreover, at least one state -- Utah -- classifies tobacco smoke as a legal nuisance, and you may be able to sue if the smoke interferes with your "comfortable enjoyment of life."
Radon
Radon [http://www.networx.com/article/radon-mitigation] is the second cause of lung cancer after smoking, and it is even more prevalent in U.S. homes. Radon is naturally occurring in the environment, and seeps into the home through foundation cracks, bare crawl space floors and other openings.
Regularly test your home for radon levels. At least one in 20 homes has excessive radon [http://www.networx.com/article/the-health-risks-of-granite-countertops], requiring a specialized radon ventilation system.
Asbestos
Unlike radon, asbestos [http://www.networx.com/article/removing-asbestos] was intentionally brought into our homes in a broad range of products. Asbestos is strong, sound-absorbent and heat-resistant, which made it popular for insulation, siding, shingles, flooring and more. Industry officials may have known about the cancer risks of asbestos since the 1930s, but only stopped widespread asbestos use in the 1970s.
Asbestos may remain in many of these products, but undisturbed asbestos does not pose a health risk. Take care with remodeling around old insulation and other products that may contain asbestos. Always wear a tight-fitting mask, and take other precautions. Avoid inhaling the small asbestos fibers.
Other chemicals
A wide range of other chemicals and materials in the home may pose cancer risks to a lesser degree. These include:
--Formaldehyde: Long-term exposure to formaldehyde has been linked to cancer. People who work around formaldehyde face the greatest risk, but any homeowner may be exposed to formaldehyde in plywood, particle board and other pressed-wood products. The chemical also is in some paints, varnishes and other products.
--Arsenic: Groundwater contaminated with arsenic has been linked to various forms of cancer. However, Americans are more likely to be exposed to arsenic in pressure-treated wood in decks, playgrounds and other outdoor equipment. Arsenic was no longer used in such wood after 2003, but it still may be present outside many homes.
--Pesticides: Though we typically worry about pesticides on our vegetables, many people overlook the pesticides used around the home [http://www.networx.com/article/what-kind-of-pesticide-is-your-extermina]. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 75 percent of households use a pesticide each year, an 80 percent of pesticide exposure occurs indoors.
--Solvents: Benzene and many other chemicals are linked to cancer, and are found in household products, including paint removers, paint thinners and many other items. Always use such items outdoors or in well-ventilated areas.
Reducing tobacco, radon, asbestos and other chemicals in the home can reduce cancer risks. A healthy diet and an active lifestyle are also crucial in cancer prevention.
April 07--[.jpg]An estimated 41 percent of all Americans born today will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetimes, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). We are surrounded by cancer risks, and it is hard to pinpoint a direct cause for many cancer cases. Still, there are ways to reduce potential exposure cancer risks in your home by eliminating or reducing tobacco, radon, asbestos and other chemicals.
Tobacco
The NCI reports that about 30 percent of cancer deaths are linked to tobacco use, making it the biggest single risk factor. Don't let anyone smoke in your home, as those who are around smokers may also be at risk. Roughly 3,000 lung cancer deaths are connected to second-hand smoke exposure, and living with a smoker increases the lung cancer risk among non-smokers by at least 20 percent.
If you live in an apartment or other shared housing and are exposed to smoke from other units, try to block vents or other entry points for the smoke. If that doesn't work, you may have legal recourses. If another tenant is violating a non-smoking lease, ask the landlord to confront that neighbor. Moreover, at least one state -- Utah -- classifies tobacco smoke as a legal nuisance, and you may be able to sue if the smoke interferes with your "comfortable enjoyment of life."
Radon
Radon [http://www.networx.com/article/radon-mitigation] is the second cause of lung cancer after smoking, and it is even more prevalent in U.S. homes. Radon is naturally occurring in the environment, and seeps into the home through foundation cracks, bare crawl space floors and other openings.
Regularly test your home for radon levels. At least one in 20 homes has excessive radon [http://www.networx.com/article/the-health-risks-of-granite-countertops], requiring a specialized radon ventilation system.
Asbestos
Unlike radon, asbestos [http://www.networx.com/article/removing-asbestos] was intentionally brought into our homes in a broad range of products. Asbestos is strong, sound-absorbent and heat-resistant, which made it popular for insulation, siding, shingles, flooring and more. Industry officials may have known about the cancer risks of asbestos since the 1930s, but only stopped widespread asbestos use in the 1970s.
Asbestos may remain in many of these products, but undisturbed asbestos does not pose a health risk. Take care with remodeling around old insulation and other products that may contain asbestos. Always wear a tight-fitting mask, and take other precautions. Avoid inhaling the small asbestos fibers.
Other chemicals
A wide range of other chemicals and materials in the home may pose cancer risks to a lesser degree. These include:
--Formaldehyde: Long-term exposure to formaldehyde has been linked to cancer. People who work around formaldehyde face the greatest risk, but any homeowner may be exposed to formaldehyde in plywood, particle board and other pressed-wood products. The chemical also is in some paints, varnishes and other products.
--Arsenic: Groundwater contaminated with arsenic has been linked to various forms of cancer. However, Americans are more likely to be exposed to arsenic in pressure-treated wood in decks, playgrounds and other outdoor equipment. Arsenic was no longer used in such wood after 2003, but it still may be present outside many homes.
--Pesticides: Though we typically worry about pesticides on our vegetables, many people overlook the pesticides used around the home [http://www.networx.com/article/what-kind-of-pesticide-is-your-extermina]. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 75 percent of households use a pesticide each year, an 80 percent of pesticide exposure occurs indoors.
--Solvents: Benzene and many other chemicals are linked to cancer, and are found in household products, including paint removers, paint thinners and many other items. Always use such items outdoors or in well-ventilated areas.
Reducing tobacco, radon, asbestos and other chemicals in the home can reduce cancer risks. A healthy diet and an active lifestyle are also crucial in cancer prevention.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
LISTEN TODAY AT 11AMED TO MY ALTERNATIVE RADIO SHOW "DR. GUBERMAN'S NUTRITIONAL BASICS". GO TO: WWW.BLOGTALKRADIO.COM/DRGUBERMAN
ASK ALL YOUR QUESTIONS BY CALLING IN.
ASK ALL YOUR QUESTIONS BY CALLING IN.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Don't worry, be happy! Positive emotions protect against heart disease
NewsRx.com-2-26-10
People who are usually happy, enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend not to be happy, according to a major new study published (Thursday 18 February) (see also European Society of Cardiology).
The authors believe that the study, published in the Europe's leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal [1], is the first to show such an independent relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease.
Dr Karina Davidson, who led the research, said that although this was an observational study, her study did suggest that it might be possible to help prevent heart disease by enhancing people's positive emotions. However, she cautioned that it would be premature to make clinical recommendations without clinical trials to investigate the findings further.
"We desperately need rigorous clinical trials in this area. If the trials support our findings, then these results will be incredibly important in describing specifically what clinicians and/or patients could do to improve health," said Dr Davidson, who is the Herbert Irving Associate Professor of Medicine & Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at Columbia University Medical Center (New York, USA).
Over a period of ten years, Dr Davidson and her colleagues followed 1,739 healthy adults (862 men and 877 women) who were participating in the 1995 Nova Scotia Health Survey. At the start of the study, trained nurses assessed the participants' risk of heart disease and, with both self-reporting and clinical assessment, they measured symptoms of depression, hostility, anxiety and the degree of expression of positive emotions, which is known as "positive affect".
Positive affect is defined as the experience of pleasurable emotions such as joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm and contentment. These feelings can be transient, but they are usually stable and trait-like, particularly in adulthood. Positive affect is largely independent of negative affect, so that someone who is generally a happy, contented person can also be occasionally anxious, angry or depressed.
After taking account of age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors and negative emotions, the researchers found that, over the ten-year period, increased positive affect predicted less risk of heart disease by 22% per point on a five-point scale measuring levels of positive affect expression (ranging from "none" to "extreme").
Dr Davidson said: "Participants with no positive affect were at a 22% higher risk of ischaemic heart disease (heart attack or angina) than those with a little positive affect, who were themselves at 22% higher risk than those with moderate positive affect.
"We also found that if someone, who was usually positive, had some depressive symptoms at the time of the survey, this did not affect their overall lower risk of heart disease.
"As far as we know, this is the first prospective study to examine the relationship between clinically-assessed positive affect and heart disease."
The researchers speculate about what could be the possible mechanisms by which positive emotions might be responsible for conferring long-term protection from heart disease. These include influence on heart rates, sleeping patterns and smoking cessation.
"We have several possible explanations," said Dr Davidson. "First, those with positive affect may have longer periods of rest or relaxation physiologically. Baroreflex and parasympathetic regulation may, therefore, by superior in these persons, compared to those with little positive affect. Second, those with positive affect may recover more quickly from stressors, and may not spend as much time 're-living' them, which in turn seems to cause physiological damage. This is speculative, as we are just beginning to explore why positive emotions and happiness have positive health benefits."
She said that most successful interventions for depression include increasing positive affect as well as decreasing negative affect. If clinical trials supported the findings of this study, then it would be relatively easy to assess positive affect in patients and suggest interventions to improve it to help prevent heart disease. In the meantime, people reading about this research could take some simple steps to increase their positive affect.
"Like the observational finding that moderate wine consumption is healthy (and enjoyable), at this point ordinary people can ensure they have some pleasurable activities in their daily lives," she said. "Some people wait for their two weeks of vacation to have fun, and that would be analogous to binge drinking (moderation and consistency, not deprivation and binging, is what is needed). If you enjoy reading novels, but never get around to it, commit to getting 15 minutes or so of reading in. If walking or listening to music improves your mood, get those activities in your schedule. Essentially, spending some few minutes each day truly relaxed and enjoying yourself is certainly good for your mental health, and may improve your physical health as well (although this is, as yet, not confirmed)."
In an accompanying editorial by Bertram Pitt, Professor of Internal Medicine, and Patricia Deldin, Associate Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, both at the University of Michigan School of Medicine (Michigan, USA), the authors pointed out that, currently, no-one knew whether positive affect had a direct or indirect causal role in heart disease, or whether there was a third, underlying factor at work, common to both conditions. Nor was it known for certain whether it was possible to modify and improve positive affect, and to what extent.
"Randomised controlled trials of interventions to increase positive affect in patients with cardiovascular disease are now underway and will help determine the effectiveness of increasing positive affect on cardiovascular outcome and will provide insight into the nature of the relationship between positive affect and cardiovascular disease," they wrote.
"The 'vicious cycle' linking cardiovascular disease to major depression and depression to cardiovascular disease deserves greater attention from both the cardiovascular and psychiatric investigators........These new treatments [to increase positive affect] could open an exciting potential new approach for treating patients with known cardiovascular disease who develop depression. If Davidson et al.'s observations and hypotheses stimulate further investigation regarding the effect of increased positive affect on physiological abnormalities associated with cardiovascular risk, perhaps it will be time for all of us to smile."
Keywords: Angina, Angiology, Cardiology, Cardiovascular, Clinical Trial Research, Columbia University, Coronary Heart Disease, Depression, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, Leisure, Listening To Music, Mental Health, Psychiatric, Psychiatry, Psychology, European Society of Cardiology.
This article was prepared by Preventive Medicine Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2010, Preventive Medicine Week via NewsRx.com.
To see more of the NewsRx.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.newsrx.com .
People who are usually happy, enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend not to be happy, according to a major new study published (Thursday 18 February) (see also European Society of Cardiology).
The authors believe that the study, published in the Europe's leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal [1], is the first to show such an independent relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease.
Dr Karina Davidson, who led the research, said that although this was an observational study, her study did suggest that it might be possible to help prevent heart disease by enhancing people's positive emotions. However, she cautioned that it would be premature to make clinical recommendations without clinical trials to investigate the findings further.
"We desperately need rigorous clinical trials in this area. If the trials support our findings, then these results will be incredibly important in describing specifically what clinicians and/or patients could do to improve health," said Dr Davidson, who is the Herbert Irving Associate Professor of Medicine & Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at Columbia University Medical Center (New York, USA).
Over a period of ten years, Dr Davidson and her colleagues followed 1,739 healthy adults (862 men and 877 women) who were participating in the 1995 Nova Scotia Health Survey. At the start of the study, trained nurses assessed the participants' risk of heart disease and, with both self-reporting and clinical assessment, they measured symptoms of depression, hostility, anxiety and the degree of expression of positive emotions, which is known as "positive affect".
Positive affect is defined as the experience of pleasurable emotions such as joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm and contentment. These feelings can be transient, but they are usually stable and trait-like, particularly in adulthood. Positive affect is largely independent of negative affect, so that someone who is generally a happy, contented person can also be occasionally anxious, angry or depressed.
After taking account of age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors and negative emotions, the researchers found that, over the ten-year period, increased positive affect predicted less risk of heart disease by 22% per point on a five-point scale measuring levels of positive affect expression (ranging from "none" to "extreme").
Dr Davidson said: "Participants with no positive affect were at a 22% higher risk of ischaemic heart disease (heart attack or angina) than those with a little positive affect, who were themselves at 22% higher risk than those with moderate positive affect.
"We also found that if someone, who was usually positive, had some depressive symptoms at the time of the survey, this did not affect their overall lower risk of heart disease.
"As far as we know, this is the first prospective study to examine the relationship between clinically-assessed positive affect and heart disease."
The researchers speculate about what could be the possible mechanisms by which positive emotions might be responsible for conferring long-term protection from heart disease. These include influence on heart rates, sleeping patterns and smoking cessation.
"We have several possible explanations," said Dr Davidson. "First, those with positive affect may have longer periods of rest or relaxation physiologically. Baroreflex and parasympathetic regulation may, therefore, by superior in these persons, compared to those with little positive affect. Second, those with positive affect may recover more quickly from stressors, and may not spend as much time 're-living' them, which in turn seems to cause physiological damage. This is speculative, as we are just beginning to explore why positive emotions and happiness have positive health benefits."
She said that most successful interventions for depression include increasing positive affect as well as decreasing negative affect. If clinical trials supported the findings of this study, then it would be relatively easy to assess positive affect in patients and suggest interventions to improve it to help prevent heart disease. In the meantime, people reading about this research could take some simple steps to increase their positive affect.
"Like the observational finding that moderate wine consumption is healthy (and enjoyable), at this point ordinary people can ensure they have some pleasurable activities in their daily lives," she said. "Some people wait for their two weeks of vacation to have fun, and that would be analogous to binge drinking (moderation and consistency, not deprivation and binging, is what is needed). If you enjoy reading novels, but never get around to it, commit to getting 15 minutes or so of reading in. If walking or listening to music improves your mood, get those activities in your schedule. Essentially, spending some few minutes each day truly relaxed and enjoying yourself is certainly good for your mental health, and may improve your physical health as well (although this is, as yet, not confirmed)."
In an accompanying editorial by Bertram Pitt, Professor of Internal Medicine, and Patricia Deldin, Associate Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, both at the University of Michigan School of Medicine (Michigan, USA), the authors pointed out that, currently, no-one knew whether positive affect had a direct or indirect causal role in heart disease, or whether there was a third, underlying factor at work, common to both conditions. Nor was it known for certain whether it was possible to modify and improve positive affect, and to what extent.
"Randomised controlled trials of interventions to increase positive affect in patients with cardiovascular disease are now underway and will help determine the effectiveness of increasing positive affect on cardiovascular outcome and will provide insight into the nature of the relationship between positive affect and cardiovascular disease," they wrote.
"The 'vicious cycle' linking cardiovascular disease to major depression and depression to cardiovascular disease deserves greater attention from both the cardiovascular and psychiatric investigators........These new treatments [to increase positive affect] could open an exciting potential new approach for treating patients with known cardiovascular disease who develop depression. If Davidson et al.'s observations and hypotheses stimulate further investigation regarding the effect of increased positive affect on physiological abnormalities associated with cardiovascular risk, perhaps it will be time for all of us to smile."
Keywords: Angina, Angiology, Cardiology, Cardiovascular, Clinical Trial Research, Columbia University, Coronary Heart Disease, Depression, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, Leisure, Listening To Music, Mental Health, Psychiatric, Psychiatry, Psychology, European Society of Cardiology.
This article was prepared by Preventive Medicine Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2010, Preventive Medicine Week via NewsRx.com.
To see more of the NewsRx.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.newsrx.com .
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