Cranberry Juice May Help Ward Off Kids' UTIs

A recent study showed that after getting a urinary tract infection, kids had fewer recurring infections over the next year when they had a daily glass of cranberry juice. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - After getting a urinary tract infection, kids in Finland had fewer recurring infections over the next year when they drank cranberry juice every day in a new study. Because the infections can damage the kidneys, along with being uncomfortable, both children and adults who get repeated UTIs may be prescribed long-term antibiotics for prevention. But those drugs can have side effects, and may breed resistant bacteria -- so researchers have wondered if cranberry products, long used by women as an alternative therapy, might be an option...

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Get Your Custom Bones Printed on 3D Inkjet Printer

The marvels of modern medicine meld with cutting-edge technology in creating scaffold-like material to repair injured bones. Technology has brought about a new “bone fide” approach to repairing bone injuries. The marvels of modern medicine have come together with cutting edge technology, resulting in the use of a 3D printer to create bone-like material that can be added to injured natural bone, acting as a scaffold for new cells to grow. Researchers from Washington State University say that the substance eventually dissolves and causes “no apparent ill-effects.” Better yet, within just a few years, they claim that physicians will likely have the ability to custom-order replacement bone tissue, and serve up new bones for the...

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When Cameras Are Watching, More Doctors Wash Up

Cameras and timely feedback increase rate of hand-washing compliance in hospital settings, possibly lowering the rate of serious infections. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study found that more doctors and nurses washed their hands when video cameras were installed in every room in their unit and the staff was continuously informed about rates of hand-washing compliance. While the hand-washing turnaround was "pretty amazing," one of the study's authors said, it's unclear whether the measure helped achieve the ultimate goal—preventing infection transmission in the hospital—and whether it would be cost-effective in other settings. "Hand washing is an integral part of infection control," said Dr. Bruce Farber, from North Shore...

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Better Ovarian Cancer Screening, Still No Answers

While ovarian cancer screening still falls short, screened women survive longer after a cancer diagnosis than women who aren't screened. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - After disappointing results earlier this year, researchers say new study findings from Kentucky offer a bit of hope for ovarian cancer screening. But they still fall short of answering the important question: does ovarian cancer screening save lives? One in 72 women will get ovarian cancer at some point, usually when they are older, according to the National Cancer Institute. But in most cases symptoms don't start until the cancer has spread, making the disease harder to treat. Doctors have hoped that screening women regularly might save lives by catching ovarian cancer...

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Study Reports How Many Times a Day We Think About Sex

The average college male thinks about sex 19 times a day, while their female counterparts log an average of 10. If you are the average college-aged male, a new study debunks the myth that sexual thoughts creep into consciousness thousands of times per day. In actuality, it is more like 19. Their female counterparts, however, only averaged 10 thoughts per day, less than the average male thinks about food! Researchers out of Ohio State University had 283 students track their thoughts over the course of a day for 7 days. The 72 men and 91 women were randomly assigned a topic to track; either food, sleep or sex. Logs reported that men averaged 19 thoughts about sex per day, while women had 10. Food was a close second, where men had...

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Low Calorie Diet Improves Heart Function Among Diabetics

A low-calorie diet cannot only improve obesity in type 2 diabetics, but may also allow for discontinued use of insulin. Consuming a low-calorie diet can significantly improve heart function in people who suffer from type 2 diabetes. According to a new study recently presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, following a calorie-restricted diet for just four months allowed obese diabetics to successfully discontinue the use of insulin. In fact, 75 percent of these diabetes patients were able to remain insulin-free for more than one year, despite having returned to consumption of their regular diets. In a news release, lead study author Dr. Sebastiaan Hammer, of Leiden University Medical Center...

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Fewer Babies Get Chicken Pox When Kids Are Vaccinated

Although babies under one year old are too young to get a chickenpox vaccine, far fewer of them got the itchy rash after routine vaccination began in 1995. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even though babies under one year old are too young to get the chicken pox vaccine, far fewer of them got the itchy rash after the U.S. started routinely vaccinating older children in 1995, according to a new study. Researchers said that infants are now largely protected against chicken pox if their older siblings and daycare peers have been vaccinated, due to "herd immunity" -- the idea that if enough people are immune to a disease, it won't be able to spread. "It is a measure of the success of the (vaccination) program and the fact that we...

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Laptop Wi-Fi Said to Nuke Sperm, But Caveats Abound

The digital age has left men's nether parts in a squeeze, if you believe the latest science on semen, laptops and wireless connections. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The digital age has left men's nether parts in a squeeze, if you believe the latest science on semen, laptops and wireless connections. In a report in the venerable medical journal Fertility and Sterility, Argentinian scientists describe how they got semen samples from 29 healthy men, placed a few drops under a laptop connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi and then hit download. Four hours later, the semen was, eh, well-done. A quarter of the sperm were no longer swimming around, for instance, compared to just 14 percent from semen samples stored at the same temperature...

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Childhood Obesity Warrants Removal of Child to Foster Care

An Ohio mother has lost her 200-pound eight-year-old son to foster care, after failing to get his weight under control. The controversy over childhood obesity has heated up after social workers removed an eight-year-old boy from his mother’s home due to her inability or inaction to reduce his obesity. The child, from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, weighs in excess of 200 pounds. The average weight of a male child of that age should be in the neighbourhood of 55-60 pounds, with the high end tipping the scale at 78 pounds, according to growth charts from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Even accounting for the upper end of the spectrum, the child was more than 250 percent overweight. Earlier this year I wrote...

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Women Who Drink Coffee Lower Their Risk of Endometrial Cancer

Women who appreciate their morning cup of java have yet another reason to continue indulging: reduced risk of endometrial cancer. Women who appreciate their morning cup of java have yet another reason to continue indulging. Harvard researchers have discovered that coffee consumption can cut the risk for developing endometrial cancer by as much as 25 percent. The details of the study were recently published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The study adds to the fast-mounting evidence that the health benefits of drinking coffee far outweigh the risks posed by downing the miraculous, golden nectar. While too much coffee can lead to nervous jitters and heart...

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Many Parents Request Delays in Vaccine Schedule

Recent studies have shown that more parents are delaying or skipping certain vaccines, typically citing safety concerns, such as a link between vaccines and autism. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More than three quarters of pediatricians said they sometimes or often get asked by parents to use an "alternative" vaccination schedule that strays from national recommendations, according to a new survey of Washington State doctors. And while almost all of them agreed with the current vaccination schedule for babies and young kids, and would follow it for their own child, most paediatricians were willing to give in to parents' wishes to delay vaccines for infections like chicken pox, hepatitis B and measles. "I was a little...

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Pre-Pilates Flexibility & Exercises for the Upper Back

Pilates instructor Jennifer Gianni walks through several upper back exercises that will help keep you flexible and limber, and less prone to injury. What It Is: A flexible and limber body that is capable of moving in all directions is much less likely to experience any kind of injury. As we discovered in our last instalment on upper back strength, we must have proper posture in order to work the strength of the upper back. Posture means length, which in turn means flexibility. The hunching of the shoulders and the slumping in our seats that we all tend to sink into during the day can cause back pain, headaches, tension and tightness in the back, neck and shoulders. These problems are painful, uncomfortable, and...

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