Wellnews: All the news that's fit

By Scott LaFee
January 9, 2007

Medtronica
H2O.con - www.chem1.com/CQ/

The Web and the world are awash in water scams, from the claimed
elixirlike properties of oxygenated water (all water is oxygenated) to
magnetic laundry balls that produce only clean magnets. Learn more
here.

Body of knowledge
The left side of your brain is responsible for your choice of words,
the right side for your tone of voice.

Get me that. Stat!
Further proof that it's tougher to be a mom. Danish researchers have
found that first-time mothers - but not first-time fathers - face
an increased risk of mental disorders, from schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder to depression. The risk is greatest in the first three months
following childbirth.

Hypochondriac's guide
About one-third of heart-related deaths cannot be explained by known
risk factors. Looking for answers, some Israel researchers looked
skyward and found another possibility: sunspots.

Researchers from the Rabin Medical Center examined death rates of
Lithuanians over a 10-year period. They claimed to have found a
correlation: Heart fatalities increased when solar radiation
fluctuations altered the Earths geomagnetic field.

Scientifically, a correlation isn't a cause, but it may be one more
reason to stay out of the sun.

Old memories
If you belong to one of those families where members seem to live a
very, very long time, here's more good news. The gene variation that
helps some people reach 90 years of age and more also appears to
protect their memories and ability to think and learn new information.

The gene variant, according to researchers at the Institute for Aging
Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., alters
the cholesterol particles in the blood, making them bigger than normal.
Smaller particles are more dangerous because they more easily lodge
themselves in the linings of blood vessels, creating fatty obstructions
that cause heart attacks and strokes.

Einstein College researchers examined 159 people of Ashkenazi or
Eastern European/Jewish descent, all of whom were 95 years old or
older. Those with the identified gene variant were twice as likely to
have good brain function compared with those who did not have the
variant. The researchers found a similar effect among 124 Ashkenazi
Jews between the ages of 75 and 85.

The findings are among the first to identify reasons for longevity
among the very old and why they don't develop diseases. "In studying
these centenarians," institute director Nir Barzilai said, "we hope
to learn what factors lessen their risk for diseases that affect the
general population at a much younger age."

That's good news for the rest of us, because only one in 10,000 people
lives to be 100.

Stories for the waiting room
Some tribes in ancient Peru ground the bones of deceased relatives and
mixed them with liquor. The thinking was that consuming the remains of
a loved one was a far better fate than burying them in a hole in the
ground.

Phobia of the week
Vitricophobia - fear of stepfathers

Best medicine
The more scientists learn about the human brain, the more mystifying it
becomes. Example: The brain is divided into two halves: left and right.
In the left, nothing is right; in the right, nothing is left.

Observation
I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I'm a vegetarian because
I hate plants.

- A.W. Brown

Last words
Goodbye. Why am I hemorrhaging?

- Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak ("Doctor Zhivago")
1890-1960

HEALTH SCREENINGS
"Blaine's Low Carb Kitchen"

8 Tuesday, FitTV

A show devoted to appetizers features Mussels casino with Gruyére
cream; salmon cucumber cup with caviar, and beef skewers with hot curry
mustard.

"Larger Than Life: 33,000 Calories a Day"

8 and 11 p.m. Wednesday, TLC

Four morbidly obese people struggle with their weight, their addiction
to food and rapidly deteriorating health. Two men are bedridden and
require constant care. Two women are dangerously close to becoming
housebound.

"Saving Your Life"

5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, CNN

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Tour de France
champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong join forces to discuss one
disease that touches everyone in some way: cancer.

EATING HABITS MIRROR DRINKING
If a greasy burger and fries is your idea of the perfect meal, more
than your waistline could be in trouble. Unhealthy eating habits go
hand in hand with bad drinking habits, according to a study in the
American Journal of Epidemiology. Diet quality was worst among people
who drank higher amounts of alcohol infrequently or binge drinkers and
best among those who drank smaller amounts or a glass of wine
occasionally.

DON'T SKIP YOUR WORKOUTS
Just because you're dropping pounds by watching what you eat doesn't
mean you can skip your workouts. Dieting won't shrink harmful abdominal
fat cells unless you exercise too, says a study in the International
Journal of Obesity. Exercise increases the rate at which your body
metabolizes abdominal fat, an important predictor of heart disease. You
don't need marathon training to see results. Moderate exercise for at
least 30 minutes about five times a week will work.