More Than a Quarter of Melanoma Survivors Skip Sunscreen, Study Finds

And 2 percent continue to use tanning beds, researchers report

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 8 (HealthDay News) -- Even people who have survived melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, often fail to protect themselves from the sun, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that of 171 melanoma survivors in a U.S. survey, more than 25 percent said they never used sunscreen when spending more than an hour outside on a sunny day. What's more, 2 percent said they had used tanning beds in the past year.

"They did do a better job of protecting themselves than the average person," said lead researcher Dr. Anees Chagpar, an associate professor of surgery at Yale University's School of Medicine. "But there is room for improvement," she added.

"Maybe we need to be more vigilant about education," said Chagpar, who was to present the findings Monday at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, in Washington, D.C.

The results are based on a 2010 government health survey that included 27,120 U.S. adults, 171 of whom reported a history of melanoma.

Melanoma is the least common form of skin cancer, accounting for less than 5 percent of skin cancers in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Still, most deaths from skin cancer are due to melanoma -- which often spreads to other parts of the body if it's not caught early.

Because too much ultraviolet (UV) light is a major melanoma risk factor, experts advise everyone to limit their exposure. That means staying in the shade, donning sunscreen and covering up when you're in the sun, and avoiding the tanning salon altogether.

You would expect that if anyone would follow that advice, it would be melanoma survivors, Chagpar said.

And some did, her team found. On days when they were going to be in the sun for more than an hour, one-third of melanoma survivors "always" wore sunscreen, versus 17 percent of other Americans. They were also more likely to always wear a cap (31 percent did) or a long-sleeved shirt (12 percent).

On the other hand, 27 percent of melanoma survivors said they never slathered on sunscreen before spending more than an hour in the sun.

"We were very surprised by that," Chagpar said. What "blew her mind," though, was the fact that 2 percent of melanoma survivors visited tanning beds.

She noted that other researchers are studying the possibility that tanning is addictive for some people. It's possible, Chagpar speculated, that even some melanoma survivors may be hooked on the experience.

A dermatologist not involved in the study agreed that some of the findings are troubling. "It is certainly concerning that a quarter of the melanoma survivors never wear sunscreen," said Dr. Hensin Tsao, a melanoma expert at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

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New Bird Flu No Immediate Threat: U.S. Experts

There's been no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission in Chinese outbreak

By Amanda Gardner

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) -- At this point, there's no reason to believe that the emerging H7N9 strain of bird flu that has sickened at least 24 people and killed seven in China is cause for alarm, health officials in the United States say.

For one thing, no cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus have yet been reported -- a necessary precursor to a full-blown pandemic.

"This is very early in the course of identification of human cases," said Dr. John Midturi, assistant professor of internal medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, in Temple.

"We do see something similar every few years with avian [bird] flu," added Richard Webby, a member of the department of infectious diseases at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.

But this year's strain does seem a little different.

"What's making everyone a little bit more uneasy is that, looking at the sequence of the virus, it appears to have some mutations we think may indicate that the virus might have increased its ability to replicate in humans," Webby said.

But for now, there's no proof of that ability, he cautioned, and the genetic sequence of the virus would still need to change for it to pass easily from person to person.

The first human cases were not identified until March 31, according to published reports.

It's possible that the H7N9 virus is also found in some type of mammal, such as swine, and public-health officials are working to identify possible hosts.

"We don't think that necessarily just this virus growing in [birds] would cause some of these [genetic] changes," said Webby, who's also director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza Viruses in Lower Animals and Birds. "We can't say with any sort of gusto that the last host of this virus was an avian host. Avian flu is a very generic sort of term.

Chinese authorities are taking precautions against further spread of the virus, suspending sales of live poultry in Shanghai and slaughtering poultry in markets where the virus has been detected.

On Monday, the World Health Organization announced that it was in talks with the Chinese government about sending experts to help investigate the outbreak.

The good news is that most of the human cases "have been associated with poultry exposure, which is typical with most bird flu outbreaks," Midturi said.

However, the flu strain has also been found in live pigeons being sold as poultry at a market in Shanghai. That has unnerved some experts since any infection among wild pigeons would be tougher to control than among penned-in poultry.

The fatality rate from H7N9 also remains unclear. Although the death rate in China seems high, with six deaths out of 16 confirmed cases, authorities don't know at this point how many people have actually been infected. If hundreds or thousands of people contracted the virus with few or no symptoms, the true fatality rate would be much lower, said Midturi, who is also director of infectious disease at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple.

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protein please for this new veggie

I need to spice this up. Any interesting protein sources? As much as I'm enjoying eating hummus everyday :) ha

<3 hummus wish the good stuff wasn't so naughty.

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IUDs Safe Contraceptives for Teens, Study Finds

Title: IUDs Safe Contraceptives for Teens, Study Finds
Category: Health News
Created: 4/8/2013 6:36:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 4/9/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Losing 1 stone

Before starting my diet/fitness plan I weighed 141lbs. I have since lost 4lbs but aim to get back to my previous weight of 126lbs so still have 11lbs to lose. I have been following 1200 net kcals per day (without cutting out carbs etc) and doing 1 hour gym sessions 4 times a week. However, the past week I have lost no weight and the majority of my weight loss was in the first week. The lack of weight loss recently when working so hard is really demotivating. 

I am looking for anyone who has experiences of losing weight at a similar size to myself and any tips or diets that have worked for you! Has anyone tried low carb diets and would these help give me a boost?

Thanks :)

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Unemployment's Toll Can Be Heartbreaking

Resulting stress, anxiety, bad habits may lead to cardiovascular trouble

By Serena Gordon

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) -- As anyone who's lost a job can attest, stress and worry often quickly follow. But the health of your heart after unemployment can also take a tumble.

Job loss can cause immediate heart issues, and the stress and bad habits that frequently come with unemployment can build up over time, causing cardiovascular damage, health experts say.

In some people, especially those who might not be expecting the job loss or those with significant financial obligations, getting fired may cause a condition called broken heart syndrome. "In a very stressful situation, you can actually get a severe release of adrenaline and sympathetic nerve discharges that cause the heart to beat irregularly," said Dr. John Higgins, a sports cardiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

These changes can actually cause a heart attack in some people, though Higgins said that most people who have significant stress reactions return to normal over time without having a heart attack.

Long-term changes that happen after a job loss -- such as financial stress, family problems, loss of daily routine and sometimes higher-risk behaviors, like increased alcohol use or a poor diet -- can cause heart problems to develop over time, Higgins explained.

Psychological factors can play a role, too.

"Most of us know the common risk factors for heart disease, like high cholesterol, high blood pressure and genetics, but about 25 to 35 percent of heart disease remains unexplained," said Dr. Kavitha Chinnaiyan, director of cardiac imaging at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. "Psychosocial factors likely play a role in these unexplained cases. More and more studies have been looking at stress, anger, sudden stress and major life changes like losing a job, and all of these can have a major effect on cardiovascular events," she said.

One recent study, published Nov. 19 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that the risk for heart attack increased significantly for middle-aged to elderly people when they were unemployed. The researchers also found that the risks increased incrementally with each subsequent job loss.

Losing a job, however, doesn't mean automatic heart problems, especially if you take steps to protect your heart's health.

"Decreasing stress hormones is important," Chinnaiyan said. "We know from studies that behaviors such as meditation, yoga and tai chi work specifically to reduce our response to stress."

Meditation, one of Chinnaiyan's favorite ways to reduce stress, "can help in multiple ways," she said. "It helps you see your choices and have a clearer perspective of what to do next. Stress may still be around us, but meditation gives us a better ability to cope with it." Yoga can also be quite helpful in decreasing stress-related hormones, she added.

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New Bird Flu No Immediate Threat: U.S. Experts

Title: New Bird Flu No Immediate Threat: U.S. Experts
Category: Health News
Created: 4/9/2013 10:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/9/2013 12:00:00 AM

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FDA Allows Return of Drug for Morning Sickness

Safety issues resolved, experts say Diclegis' return is long overdue

By Margaret Farley Steele

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) -- A morning-sickness medication that was withdrawn from the market 30 years ago has won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval under a new name.

In its new form, the drug -- formerly called Bendectin and now renamed Diclegis -- is the only medication specifically approved to treat the stomach upset many women suffer from during pregnancy.

In the intervening decades between the drug's withdrawal from the market and its re-approval on Tuesday, the medicine has undergone rigorous scrutiny and is now deemed safe by the FDA.

Obstetricians welcomed the announcement.

"The nausea and vomiting of early pregnancy can range from mild to debilitating," said Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Patients will welcome more options for treatment with the reintroduction of Bendectin."

Their nausea may not disappear completely, but "it will hopefully decrease to the point that a patient can function," she added.

Diclegis, which combines vitamin B6 and the antihistamine doxylamine, is a delayed-release pill that's meant to be taken daily before symptoms set in. Those symptoms are often worse after waking up, hence the name "morning sickness." But some women are plagued by nausea all day long.

The medication is intended for women whose nausea isn't "adequately managed through recommended changes in diet and lifestyle," Dr. Hylton Joffe, director of the Division of Reproductive and Urologic Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an FDA news release.

Morning sickness usually improves after the first trimester. Recommended dietary and lifestyle changes to help beat the nausea include eating several small meals instead of three large meals, eating low-fat bland foods that are easy to digest and avoiding smells that can trigger episodes.

Another expert said the drug's reintroduction was long overdue.

"This drug should have never been taken off the market in the first place," said Dr. Keith Eddelman, director of obstetrics at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. "It is not a controversial drug and the data is very convincing."

Another drug, Zofran, which is approved for nausea in cancer patients, is widely used for pregnancy, Eddelman said. "I think both of these medications are similar in safety," he added.

Bendectin was widely prescribed after its introduction in 1956, but costly lawsuits claiming safety issues caused the drug's maker, Merrell Dow, to pull it from the market in 1983.

Since then the drug has gone through rigorous testing. For this new approval, the FDA studied Diclegis in 261 women experiencing morning-sickness symptoms related to pregnancy. The women were between seven and 14 weeks of pregnancy and were randomly assigned to receive two weeks of treatment with Diclegis or a placebo, the FDA said.

The researchers found that women taking Diclegis experienced greater symptom relief than those taking placebo and missed fewer days of work.

In other studies, the combination of active ingredients in Diclegis were not found to pose an increased risk of danger to the fetus, the FDA said. However, side effects can include severe drowsiness or sleepiness.

Diclegis is marketed by the Quebec-based firm Duchesnay Inc. The company sells a generic version of the pill in Canada under the name Diclectin. U.S. sales of Diclegis are expected to start in June.

Duchesnay has not yet released a price for Diclegis, the Associated Press reported.

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Advice on my workout routine?

I'm starting to ramp my workout routine back up after a 6 month semi-lull. I wouldn't mind losing a couple pounds I've gained over this time (currently at age 35, 5'5'' and 122 pounds, small frame) but my primary goals are to improve strength, endurance, and general fitness, and to feel really good emotionally and physically.

I have never liked weight lifting but I know that I am fairly weak and really want to improve my strength. I ordered the book NROLW and hope to receive that very soon. I do not have access to a gym, so I'm hoping to buy a barbell set. I've seen some advertised that are 100 pounds- is this enough? I'm quite weak now but want to keep working on that, and I'm just not sure this is enough. Also, I'm hoping to limit weight lifting days to twice per week. Not sure what NROLW will say about that- but do you think I can make appropriate strength gains with only 2 lifting days?

My other workouts are as follows:

2  days of 2 1/2 mile runs (I run for a bit, then do exercises such as push ups, jumping jacks, squats, etc, then run for a bit, repeat, to keep the intensity of the run up).

1 day of Insanity (high intensity cardio, basically).

1 day longer run (working up to 4-5 miles).

I'm hesitant to replace a cardio day with another weight day because, well, I love cardio and I feel like it's been really effective for me in managing mild depression and anxiety that I struggle with. But I'm open to suggestions!

TIA with any advice you might have!

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For First Time, Pain 'Signature' Spotted on Brain MRIs

Scientists could distinguish physical from emotional pain, discomfort in study

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 10 (HealthDay News) -- For the first time, scientists say they've found evidence that physical pain may leave a distinct "signature" in the brain that can be picked up with specialized MRI scans.

The study looked only at short-term pain in healthy people, but researchers hope the findings will lead to better understanding of complex conditions such as chronic severe headaches or fibromyalgia.

When researchers exposed healthy volunteers to a painful dose of heat, it left a reliable pattern of brain activity that could be viewed on functional MRI (fMRI) -- a type of imaging that charts changes in blood flow through the brain.

That so-called "neurologic signature" was able to predict people's subjective pain ratings with more than 90 percent accuracy, and it distinguished heat-induced pain from other feelings -- like warmth, and even emotional pain.

Experts said the findings, reported in the April 11 New England Journal of Medicine, hint at a way to objectively measure people's pain. Right now, that's done subjectively -- often, by having patients rate their pain on a scale of 1 to 10.

But the point is not to catch patients in a lie, stressed lead researcher Tor Wager, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

"This is not a pain lie-detector test, and it should not be used that way," Wager said. "People in pain need to be believed."

A pain expert not involved in the study agreed, but said objective measures might be useful in getting more information. "There are times when a patient isn't able to communicate about pain effectively -- for example, after a stroke," said Dr. Jing Wang, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at NYU Langone Medical Center, in New York City.

In other cases, patients' descriptions of their pain might not be completely reliable, such as when they have a mental illness. Both Wang and Wager said it would be helpful to have a way to complement patients' pain reports with an objective measure -- which in many cases might suggest that patients are in more pain than they are letting on, or in more pain than a doctor believes.

"We know that right now many people have their pain undertreated," Wager noted.

But scientists are a long way from using fMRI scans to gauge pain, according to Wang at NYU. "This is a comprehensive, meticulous study," he said, but added that it's also an early step.

One big caveat is that the study volunteers were all healthy and exposed to just one type of pain -- short-lived pain from heat applied to the skin. Wang said researchers need to see whether this same brain "signature" would appear in people with chronic pain conditions, or pain after surgery, for example.

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College Sports Could Raise Players' Risk for Depression, Study Finds

Compared with former college athletes, those still in school had doubled odds, possibly due to stress, researchers say

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) -- Current college athletes are twice as likely to be depressed as former athletes, researchers have found.

The findings suggest the need for further research to learn more about depression among college athletes, the Georgetown University investigators said.

For the study, they examined questionnaires completed by 117 current and 163 former college athletes who had participated in Division I NCAA-sponsored sports. The current athletes played in 10 different sports and the former athletes had played in 15 different sports.

Nearly 17 percent of current athletes had questionnaire scores consistent with depression, compared with 8 percent of former athletes, according to the study published online recently in the journal Sports Health.

"We expected to see a significant increase in depression once athletes graduated, but by comparison it appears the stress of intercollegiate athletics may be more significant than we and others anticipated," senior investigator Dr. Daniel Merenstein, an associate professor of family medicine and human science at Georgetown University Medical Center, said in a university news release.

These stressors include things such as overtraining, injury, pressure to perform, lack of free time, or trying to juggle athletics and schoolwork.

"College in general is a potentially stressful time for many students. The additional stress of playing high-level sports appears to add to that stress," Merenstein said.

He advised parents, friends and coaches to pay attention to changes in behavior, weight and sleep of college athletes, and of all students.

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Does the body need fewer calories after resumption of menstruation?

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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Olga Kurylenko at the Oblivion premiere

Olga Kurylenko wears a white Marchesa dress with black lace at the Oblivion premiere - vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’ts

Continue reading...

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Compound in Red Meat, Energy Drinks May Have Heart Disease Link

Gut bacteria break down carnitine into another substance that damages blood vessels, study finds

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

SUNDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- A compound found in red meat and added as a supplement to popular energy drinks promotes hardening and clogging of the arteries, otherwise known as atherosclerosis, a new study suggests.

Researchers say that bacteria in the digestive tract convert the compound, called carnitine, into trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). Previous research by the same team of Cleveland Clinic investigators found that TMAO promotes atherosclerosis in people.

And there was an another twist: The study also found that a diet high in carnitine encourages the growth of the bacteria that metabolize the compound, leading to even higher TMAO production.

"The [type of] bacteria living in our digestive tracts are dictated by our long-term dietary patterns. A diet high in carnitine actually shifts our gut microbe composition to those that like carnitine, making meat eaters even more susceptible to forming TMAO and its artery-clogging effects," study leader Dr. Stanley Hazen, head of preventive cardiology and rehabilitation in Cleveland Clinic's Heart and Vascular Institute, said in a clinic news release.

Hazen's team looked at nearly 2,600 patients undergoing heart evaluations. The researchers found that consistently high carnitine levels were associated with a raised risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke and heart-related death.

They also found that TMAO levels were much lower among vegetarians and vegans than among people with unrestricted diets (omnivores). Vegetarians do not eat meat while vegans do not eat any animal products, including eggs and dairy.

Even after consuming a large amount of carnitine, vegans and vegetarians did not produce significant levels of TMAO, while omnivores did, according to the study in the current issue of the journal Nature Medicine.

Although the new study could not prove any cause-and-effect relationship between carnitine and heart damage, the findings may provide a new understanding of the benefits of vegan and vegetarian diets, the researchers said.

"Vegans and vegetarians have a significantly reduced capacity to synthesize TMAO from carnitine, which may explain the cardiovascular health benefits of these diets," said Hazen, who is also vice chair of translational research for the clinic's Lerner Research Institute.

Two heart disease experts said the study yields up important new insights.

According to Dr. Robert Rosenson, it appears that poor eating habits could raise TMAO levels and "increase the ability of the cholesterol to get into our arteries and interfere with the ability of our body to eliminate that excess cholesterol." Rosenson, director of cardiometabolic disorders at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City, said the study "sheds important new information on the association between diet, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events."

Another expert pointed the finger specifically at red meat and energy drinks.

"Most Americans have heard the famous saying 'you are what you eat,'" said Dr. Tara Narula, associate director of the Cardiac Care Unit at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City. "This phrase may be more true and different than we might have imagined."

The new study "brings awareness that many 'supplements' like energy drinks can have the same [vessel-damaging] compounds as red meat," she said. "Energy drinks may not be harmless and can have unseen side effects that consumers should recognize."

As for beef, pork and the like, Narula said that the "real take-away message is the reinforcement of the current recommendations that a heart-healthy diet should have little to no red meat consumption."

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3 Million Lbs of Frozen Pizza, Other Snacks Recalled

Possible E. coli contamination has prompted Rich Products Corp. of Buffalo to expand a recall to include about 3 million pounds of frozen pizza, mozzarella bites, Philly cheese steaks and other snack products.

The recall involves all products made at the company's plant in Waycross, Ga. The products have best buy dates from Jan. 1, 2013 through Sept. 29, 2014, NBCNews.com reported.

The foods may be contaminated with E. coli O121, a strain that can be just as dangerous as the better-known E. coli O157:H7, which is frequently involved in outbreaks caused by hamburger.

This latest recall expands on a March 28 recall of about 196,000 pounds of Farm Rich brand frozen chicken quesadillas and other frozen mini meals and snack items that may have been contaminated with E. coli O121, NBCNews.com reported.

So far, 24 people in 15 states have become ill after eating those products, including 7 who have been hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Gimme the Low-Down on Calorie Intake!

First off, hi everyone!  This is my first post on the forums, so please be patient, this may have already been asked and answered.

My question is, I have heard this starvation mode thing flying around my whole adult life, I have heard its true, I've heard its false, I am not sure what to believe I just want to do what is healthy for ME.

That being said, I am currently eating around 1500 calories a day, and burning an extra 500 a day with exercise.  So, 1500-500=1000 which is apparently below the dreaded 1200 calorie mark.  If I continue exercising and eating 1500 calories, will there be an adverse affect on my health?  I would hate to hurt myself while trying to better myself!  Any input would be helpful!

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Stem Cells to Relieve Low Back Pain?

By Brenda Goodman
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) -- Medical researchers are trying a new treatment for low back pain. Their hope is that harvesting and then re-injecting the body's own bone marrow -- which is rich in stem cells -- may repair worn-out discs in the spine.

In a small new study, the approach appeared to be safe -- and none of the patients reported that their pain got worse after the procedure.

But both the doctors who are testing the technique and outside experts say much more research is needed before they can say whether the treatment offers real relief.

"I tell everybody that this is experimental, with a capital E," said Dr. Joseph Meyer Jr., an anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist at the Columbia Interventional Pain Center, in St. Louis. "We don't know if it works. I do believe that it's safe, but it might not do anything for you."

For the study, Meyer and his colleagues reviewed the case histories of 24 patients who were injected with their own bone marrow aspirate cellular concentrate (BMAC). Bone marrow concentrate contains adult stem cells, which have been called the body's own repair kit because they can change into -- and potentially heal -- different kinds of tissues.

Meyer's patients reported suffering from chronic low back pain for anywhere from three months to 12 years. Imaging tests showed that all the patients had some evidence of degeneration, or damage, to the discs that cushion the bones of the spine. Disc degeneration is common with age, and it is thought to be a major cause of low back pain.

Many times, exercise and weight loss can help people with persistent low back pain. But if conservative approaches fail and the pain becomes debilitating, Meyer said, the next option is invasive spinal fusion surgery.

"Fusion is a big, big step with questionable effectiveness," he said. "Often, you're back in the same boat a year later."

Meyer said he offered patients the bone marrow treatment as something to try before resorting to surgery.

For the procedure, he used a long needle to extract bone marrow from the back of the hip. The bone marrow was spun in a centrifuge to concentrate the cells and then injected into the space around a damaged disc. Meyer said the treatment costs a few thousand dollars and is not covered by insurance.

Of the 24 patients who initially received the bone marrow injections, half went on to have other procedures over the next 30 months, making it impossible to know what might have affected their back pain.

Of the 12 who had no other kinds of treatment, 10 reported that their pain lessened in the two to four months after their injections. After a year, eight patients were still reporting significant pain relief, while three said their back pain had not improved. One patient had not yet reached the 12-month mark. After two years, five said their back pain was better, and three had no improvement. For the other four, it was still too early to tell.

Meyer said none of the 24 patients who tried the technique had complications from their procedures, but injections always carry the risk of infection.

The study was scheduled for Thursday presentation at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Studies presented at scientific conferences usually haven't been scrutinized by independent experts, and their results are considered preliminary.

An expert who was not involved in the study said people with back pain shouldn't get too excited about these results, particularly since there was no control group used for comparison.

"Low back pain often gets better over time," said Dr. Richard Deyo, a professor of evidence-based medicine and a back pain expert at Oregon Health and Sciences University, in Portland. "Even patients who have chronic pain, their symptoms tend to wax and wane and fluctuate. They seek care when their symptoms are worst, and very often they drift back to their average level of pain, which looks like improvement."

"People grasp at straws, and they shouldn't. We have a long history of treatments that look promising when they start and turn out to be no more effective than placebo interventions," said Deyo, who also is deputy editor of the journal Spine. "We also have a history of treatments that, in some cases, turned out to be harmful. It's really too early to know if this is going to be effective or safe."

The study's authors agreed. They said they hope this pilot project will encourage more research.

"We hope it will get people thinking and hopefully promote a future controlled study," Meyer said.

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Joseph Meyer Jr., M.D., Ph.D., anesthesiologist and pain-medicine specialist, Columbia Interventional Pain Center, St. Louis; Richard Deyo, M.D., M.P.H., Kaiser-Permanente endowed professor of evidence-based medicine, department of family medicine, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, Ore.; April 11, 2013, presentation, American Academy of Pain Medicine annual meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

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Obesity Does Slow People Down, Study Confirms

Women may be caught in cycle of fatigue, lack of self-esteem, expert says

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) -- Women who struggle with chronic obesity end up engaging in less and less routine physical activity, new research shows, confirming what may seem obvious to some.

The investigating team acknowledged that their observation so clearly aligns with conventional wisdom that it would be hard to describe it as "rocket science." But they say theirs is the first study to rigorously establish what most scientists have long presumed to be the case: that obesity does indeed have a negative impact on an individual's activity habits.

"An abundance of research has focused on factors that increase [the risk for] obesity, due to the many chronic diseases and conditions associated with it," said study lead author Jared Tucker, currently a senior epidemiologist at the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. "And rightly so."

"However, physical inactivity is also independently associated with many of the same chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes," Tucker added. "But we don't often think about factors that influence activity levels."

Tucker was a graduate student when the research, reported online recently in the journal Obesity, was conducted.

"Our study suggests that obesity likely increases the risk of reducing physical activity levels in women," Tucker said. "Therefore, it appears that physical inactivity and obesity may be involved in a feedback loop, in which lower levels of activity lead to weight gain, which then leads to lower levels of activity."

To explore how obesity could depress activity levels among women, the authors focused on more than 250 middle-aged women living in the Mountain West region of the United States. Roughly half the participants were diagnosed as obese.

Rather than ask the women to self-report their activity routines -- a study method that can undermine reliability -- the team attached belt-strapped accelerometers to all the study participants. The small device measures movement of various accelerations and intensities. For a week, all the women were told to wear the straps throughout their day, except when exposed to water, such as while showering.

On average, the women wore the straps for nearly 14 hours out of the 15-hour daytime period (defined as 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.). This allowed the team to assess total time spent engaged in daily light, moderate or vigorous physical activity.

Body composition assessments were conducted just before the accelerometer monitoring began and again 20 months later. In turn, after the 20-month re-assessment, the women were again asked to wear the accelerometers for another week of activity monitoring.

The result: Among the obese participants, physical activity was found to drop by 8 percent overall over the course of the 20-month study period. This was equivalent to a loss of 28 active minutes per week, the researchers said.

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3 Million Lbs of Frozen Pizza, Other Snacks Recalled

Possible E. coli contamination has prompted Rich Products Corp. of Buffalo to expand a recall to include about 3 million pounds of frozen pizza, mozzarella bites, Philly cheese steaks and other snack products.

The recall involves all products made at the company's plant in Waycross, Ga. The products have best buy dates from Jan. 1, 2013 through Sept. 29, 2014, NBCNews.com reported.

The foods may be contaminated with E. coli O121, a strain that can be just as dangerous as the better-known E. coli O157:H7, which is frequently involved in outbreaks caused by hamburger.

This latest recall expands on a March 28 recall of about 196,000 pounds of Farm Rich brand frozen chicken quesadillas and other frozen mini meals and snack items that may have been contaminated with E. coli O121, NBCNews.com reported.

So far, 24 people in 15 states have become ill after eating those products, including 7 who have been hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Look forward to rest day, but feel like feel like lazibones if I don't workout?

So I keep a pretty good workout schedule 6 days a week.  LOTs of cardio, because just done 7wk of 10 in a training for first triathlon program. I have added some full body strength training 2x/wk.  I also work 2.5hrs every Sunday on CSA farm.

Monday(s) are my rest days.  Believe me, my body could use it after yesterday, and the other weekend activity.  However, when I get home, I know I'll want to do some sort of workout, because I'll feel like I should.  I will generally do something light (stretching, play/dancing w/ my daughter or light yoga), because I feel like a load if I don't do anything. But even with that I feel I should do more weights or even more cardio.

I don't get why I just can't enjoy the day off working out?

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True or false? The secret to being successful is having great hair

Here are the 100 most iconic hairstyles ever (and the celebs underneath them). Check them out and decide...

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MUSIC: This Week We’re Loving…

Why this month's most uncomfortable listen is also the best. Plus, James Blake cheers up, Frank Ocean drops a new track, QOTSA carry on being awesome and Joel Compass floors Ents Ed Jenn Selby with his 19-year-old brilliance.

The Knife

Track: Various

From: Shaking The Habitual, Brille, Out Now

If you ever wondered where that quirky, uniquely Scandinavian brand of electro-pop - touted by the likes of Robyn and Niki & The Dove, among others - came from, look no further than its concentrated source: side-leaning brother/sister duo, The Knife. The siblings have long been known for their outlandish experimentalism, off-beat hooks and ever-changing character personas (Venetian plague doctors were the order of the day for their last proper album release, Silent Shout, in 2010. Sure.), but no matter how far their imaginations took their music in the past, they were still definably 'a pop act'. Not anymore. Shaking The Habitual sees the pair embark on a journey  into stark, androgynous, industrial new territories. It's an unsettling, sometimes uncomfortable listen, but a stroke of electronic genius none-the-less. Which is why I haven't been able to break the loop cycle since it came out earlier this week. Check out their video for A Tooth For An Eye below (seriously, what is it with Scandinavian bands and 80s gyms?) and download it on iTunes here.

James Blake

Track: Various

From: Overgrown, Polydor, Out Now

How it is it that every James Blake album review EVER starts with referring to 'Blub-step', 'Sadcore' (Soz Lana, totally stole that from you) or 'Electro-choly' (Annnnd I totally made that up)? Including this one, apparently. Walked right into that trap. I loved him when he fitted into this well-worn category - all side-swept hair and morose, bass-y minimalism. But now we've got Overgrown. And I'm obsessed with it.  Not just because it features the granddaddy of electronic experimentalism, Brian Eno (BRIAN ENO!), and even a hip-hop track with Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, but because he's honed his songwriting to nigh-on perfection, flipped the lid on RnB and made gospel influences cool again. There are few to compare his sound to, really, such is JB'suniqueness. But the last album of this ilk to have such a profound effect on me as this was Frank Ocean's Channel Orange. And there's nothing down about that. Spend your pennies wisely, and download it here.

Angel

Track: Rocket Love

Album: About Time, Island Records, 15 April 2013

Speaking of my undying love for Frank Ocean, here's a song he wrote for someone else about getting it 'awn with a space woman (niche). It appears on singer/songwriter Angel's forthcoming debut album: the London-based multi-instrumentalist, who boasts Outkast's Big Boi, Trey Songz and even the One Direction (…) among his fans. Oh, and, not sure if you've heard of her, but some artist called Rihanna has requested his songwriting skills for her forthcoming material? No, I've no idea who she is either. Anyway, you can pre-order the album here (worth buying purely for the bonus track titled #Justsayin!). And take a listen to Rocket Love, too. It sounds just like Frank minus his vocals. Did I mention I love that guy? I love that guy. 

Joel Compass

Track: Back To Me

From: Astronaut EP, Black Butter Records, TBC

While we're on that whole ALL ABOUT FRANK OCEAN thing, let me introduce you to some awesome, Ocean-inspired new music: 19-year-old Brixton singer/songwriter Joel Compass. If he doesn't flaw you with his stripped back, minimalist beats, lilting, The Weeknd-style vocals and stunning sophistication (19?!), you have no soul. You are but an empty husk of a human being, entirely void of feeling. Be warned - the heavily-stylised video below is a little disturbing in places (Snakes. Bullet holes. Small child with a gun. You catch my drift.). BUT if you're not offended by your own shadow, it's pretty a cool watch. 

QOTSA

Track: My God Is The Sun

From: Like Clockwork, Matador Records, 3 June 2013

There was never a moment of doubt in my mind that Josh Homme - inarguably the hottest flame-haired man in rock history - would deliver the goods on the new Queens Of The Stone Age material (though my nerves did falter a little when I heard that they would be collaborating with Elton John (a repeat bizarre duet offender), the Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears, Arctic Money's Alex Turner and Trent Reznor, among others, on the album). He did not disappoint on single number one. Behold - My God Is The Sun. And mine is Josh Homme. And Frank Ocean.

UNTIL NEXT TIME…

THE MOST BIZARRE MUSICAL COLLABORATIONS. EVER.

OUR ODE TO KAREN O

INTRODUCING… BEATRICE ELI. LIKE THE SWEDISH JESSIE J. BUT WAY COOLER.

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