Odd grilling mishaps have been making the news lately. Several people were injured from swallowing the bristles of grill brushes that became imbedded in their burgers and steaks, requiring surgical removal, according to a recent report from a Rhode Island hospital that saw six such cases. The report was published this week in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s journal.
And did you hear about the guy from Stow who said he caught on fire back in May after spraying on sunscreen and then approaching his grill? Most likely, he sprayed the sunscreen on while standing directly in front of the grill, said Dr. Joshua Kosowsky, clinical director of emergency medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “The idea that you can be flammable just by wearing sunscreen that’s been on already is probably false,” he said, but any aerosol spray you use near a grill can turn into a blowtorch.
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Saturday, July 7, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
At Movies and Beaches, Soda Industry Makes Its Case
Beachgoers who flocked to the Rockaways and Coney Island on the Fourth of July were able to wash down their hot dogs with any size sugary drinks they desired.
But an airborne banner carried above the city’sbeachesdelivered a succinct message that those carefree days could be coming to an end: “NO DRINK 4 U.”
The text-friendly banner, dragged by a tiny prop plane, came courtesy of New Yorkers for Beverage Choices, a group created by the American soft-drink industry to fight Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposal to restrict sales of large sodas in New York City.
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But an airborne banner carried above the city’sbeachesdelivered a succinct message that those carefree days could be coming to an end: “NO DRINK 4 U.”
The text-friendly banner, dragged by a tiny prop plane, came courtesy of New Yorkers for Beverage Choices, a group created by the American soft-drink industry to fight Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposal to restrict sales of large sodas in New York City.
read more
Thursday, July 5, 2012
High-Protein Diet Is Linked to Heart Risks
A low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, according to a large study in Swedish women.
The study, published in the journal BMJ, was based on a random sample of 43,396 women ages 30 to 49, each of whom completed a dietary questionnaire. The researchers used the data to create a 20-point scale, with higher scores indicating a lower ratio of carbohydrates to protein.
During an average of 15 years of follow-up, there were 1,270 cardiac events, mostly ischemic heart disease and strokes. After controlling for numerous risk factors, the researchers found that women had a 5 percent increase in cardiovascular events for each increase of 2 points on the scale. (That translates into a daily 20-gram decrease in carbohydrates and a 5-gram increase in protein.)
read more
The study, published in the journal BMJ, was based on a random sample of 43,396 women ages 30 to 49, each of whom completed a dietary questionnaire. The researchers used the data to create a 20-point scale, with higher scores indicating a lower ratio of carbohydrates to protein.
During an average of 15 years of follow-up, there were 1,270 cardiac events, mostly ischemic heart disease and strokes. After controlling for numerous risk factors, the researchers found that women had a 5 percent increase in cardiovascular events for each increase of 2 points on the scale. (That translates into a daily 20-gram decrease in carbohydrates and a 5-gram increase in protein.)
read more
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
The Picky Eater Who Came to Dinner
No one would touch it.
The offending object? A footlong loaf of bread, stuffed with savory cheese, purchased at a beloved Italian bakery and presented with pride at a recent potluck meal. “This bread is delicious,” I crowed.
The kitchen went quiet. You’d think I had offered up a bouquet of poison ivy. One guest said she was gluten free. Another didn’t consume milk products. The mood lifted only when someone else arrived with a large bowl of quinoa and lentils.
It’s becoming harder for Americans to break bread together. Our appetites are stratified by an ever-widening array of restrictions: gluten free, vegan, sugar free, low fat, low sodium, no carb, no dairy, soyless, meatless, wheatless, macrobiotic, probiotic, antioxidant, sustainable, local and raw.
Though medical conditions like celiac disease and severe allergies have long relegated a small percentage of diners to rigid diets, more and more eaters outside this group appear to be experimenting with self-imposed limits, taking a do-it-yourself, pick-and-choose approach to restricting what they consume.
read more
The offending object? A footlong loaf of bread, stuffed with savory cheese, purchased at a beloved Italian bakery and presented with pride at a recent potluck meal. “This bread is delicious,” I crowed.
The kitchen went quiet. You’d think I had offered up a bouquet of poison ivy. One guest said she was gluten free. Another didn’t consume milk products. The mood lifted only when someone else arrived with a large bowl of quinoa and lentils.
It’s becoming harder for Americans to break bread together. Our appetites are stratified by an ever-widening array of restrictions: gluten free, vegan, sugar free, low fat, low sodium, no carb, no dairy, soyless, meatless, wheatless, macrobiotic, probiotic, antioxidant, sustainable, local and raw.
Though medical conditions like celiac disease and severe allergies have long relegated a small percentage of diners to rigid diets, more and more eaters outside this group appear to be experimenting with self-imposed limits, taking a do-it-yourself, pick-and-choose approach to restricting what they consume.
read more
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
When Ice Cream Attacks: The Mystery of Brain Freeze
If it hasn't happened to you, count yourself as lucky. For many people, eating ice cream or drinking an icy drink too fast can produce a really painful headache. It usually hits in the front of the brain, behind the forehead.
The technical name for this phenomenon is cold-stimulus headache, but people also refer to it as "ice cream headache" or "brain freeze."
The good news is that brain freeze is easy to prevent — just eat more slowly. The other bit of good news is these headaches don't last very long — a minute at the outside.
Jorge Serrador studies brain freeze headaches, not just because he wants to make the world a safer place for ice cream eaters, but also for what they can tell him about how and why the headaches occur. He's hoping that will lead to better ways to treat or prevent them.
read more
The technical name for this phenomenon is cold-stimulus headache, but people also refer to it as "ice cream headache" or "brain freeze."
The good news is that brain freeze is easy to prevent — just eat more slowly. The other bit of good news is these headaches don't last very long — a minute at the outside.
Jorge Serrador studies brain freeze headaches, not just because he wants to make the world a safer place for ice cream eaters, but also for what they can tell him about how and why the headaches occur. He's hoping that will lead to better ways to treat or prevent them.
read more
Monday, July 2, 2012
Chronic Pain May Depend on Emotional Reaction to Injury
Whether a person's injury will lead to chronic pain may depend on the level of communication between two parts of their brain, a new study finds.
According to the report, published in the current issue of Nature Neuroscience, brain regions related to emotional and motivational behavior seem to communicate more in those who develop chronic pain.
"For the first time, we can explain why people who may have the exact same initial pain either go on to recover or develop chronic pain," senior study author A. Vania Apkarian, a professor of physiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a university news release.
"The injury by itself is not enough to explain the ongoing pain," Apkarian added. "It has to do with the injury combined with the state of the brain."
read more
According to the report, published in the current issue of Nature Neuroscience, brain regions related to emotional and motivational behavior seem to communicate more in those who develop chronic pain.
"For the first time, we can explain why people who may have the exact same initial pain either go on to recover or develop chronic pain," senior study author A. Vania Apkarian, a professor of physiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a university news release.
"The injury by itself is not enough to explain the ongoing pain," Apkarian added. "It has to do with the injury combined with the state of the brain."
read more
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Midwife Mania? More U.S. Babies than Ever Are Delivered by Midwives
In other developed nations, midwives are routinely tasked with bringing new life into the world. Not so in the U.S., where delivery is largely presided over by obstetricians. But a new study finds that midwives are getting busier, delivering 8.1% of the country’s babies in 2009 — a record high.
Slice the data differently and the proportion rises even further. Consider vaginal births only — midwives don’t do cesarean sections — and the figure rises to 12.1%, or about one of every eight deliveries, according to statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“If this trend continues, it will bring us more in line with the rest of the world in giving midwives a central role in prenatal care and birth,” says study author Eugene Declercq, professor of community-health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. “Given that other countries have lower costs and better outcomes, it would be a positive thing for this country.”
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/25/midwife-mania-more-u-s-babies-than-ever-are-delivered-by-midwives/#ixzz1zBt9l2Mb
Slice the data differently and the proportion rises even further. Consider vaginal births only — midwives don’t do cesarean sections — and the figure rises to 12.1%, or about one of every eight deliveries, according to statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“If this trend continues, it will bring us more in line with the rest of the world in giving midwives a central role in prenatal care and birth,” says study author Eugene Declercq, professor of community-health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. “Given that other countries have lower costs and better outcomes, it would be a positive thing for this country.”
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/25/midwife-mania-more-u-s-babies-than-ever-are-delivered-by-midwives/#ixzz1zBt9l2Mb
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