The Morning Scoop: The 100 Most Influential People of 2013, Twitter #music Launches and More!

TIME has released it's annual list of the 100 most influential people. This year's roundup includes music mogul Jay-Z, Jennifer Lawrence, and activist Malala Yousafzai. [TIME]

Twitter #music launches today! The app, available both on your desktop and your phone, "uses Twitter activity, including Tweets and engagement, to detect and surface the most popular tracks and emerging artists," according to the social media site. [Mashable]

Need a vacay? If you can't jet to the Carribean, try one of their beauty secrets to feel like you're on the islands. [You Beauty]

Navigate your Facebook News Feed with ease thanks to these four tricks. A caveat: They won't work on your iPad or iPhone. [Lifehacker]

At last night's Boston Bruins game, the entire crowd joined in the singing of the National Anthem. Watch it below! [YouTube]

Image Credit: WWD/George Chinsee

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Hard Physical Labor May Boost Risk of Heart Disease, Stroke: Studies

Researcher says higher mental stress, lower income could be factors

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- Demanding physical work may boost a person's risk of heart disease, two new studies suggest.

"Physicians know that high stress can be associated with increased risk of heart disease," said one expert not connected to the study, Dr. Lawrence Phillips, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "These two studies suggest that, in addition to normal life stressors, the physical demands a person experiences in the workplace can independently increase their risk as well."

"The reason for this [labor-linked risk] is unclear, but might be related to higher stress levels," Phillips said.

In one study, researchers looked at 250 patients who had suffered a first stroke and 250 who had suffered a first heart attack or other type of heart event. They were compared to a control group of 500 healthy people.

Stroke and heart patients were more likely to have physically demanding jobs than those in the control group, researchers found. After adjusting for age, sex and a number of lifestyle and health factors, they concluded that having a less physically demanding job was associated with a 20 percent lower risk of a heart event or stroke.

The findings suggest that people with physically demanding jobs should be considered an important target group for prevention of cardiovascular disease, said study author Dr. Demosthenes Panagiotakos, an associate professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at Harokopio University in Athens, Greece.

The results seem to conflict with recommendations that people should exercise to reduce their risk of heart trouble. But Panagiotakos said the increased risk of stroke and heart events among people with physically demanding jobs may be due to mental stress, while exercise helps reduce stress. He also said people with physically demanding jobs tend to have lower incomes, which might limit their access to health care.

The study suggests that leisure-time exercise might be important to "balance out" the physical stress encountered in laborious jobs, said Dr. Tara Narula, associate director of the cardiac care unit at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She was not connected to the study.

"This delicate interaction between work and leisure-time activity warrants further research in order to appropriately guide public health," she said.

The study was presented at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, taking place this week in Rome.

In a second study presented at the same meeting, researchers looked at more than 14,000 middle-aged men who did not have heart disease and were followed for about three years on average. The investigators found that physically demanding work was a risk factor for developing coronary heart disease.

They also found that men with physically demanding jobs who also did moderate to high levels of exercise during their leisure time had an even greater risk (more than four-fold higher) of developing coronary heart disease.

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Steroid Injections for Back Pain Linked to Spinal Fracture Risk

Study of older adults doesn't prove that steroids are to blame, but experts advise caution

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults who get steroid injections to ease lower back and leg pain may have increased odds of suffering a spine fracture, a new study suggests.

It's not clear, however, whether the treatment is to blame, according to experts. But they said the findings, which were published June 5 in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, suggest that older patients with low bone density should be cautious about steroid injections.

The treatment involves injecting anti-inflammatory steroids into the area of the spine where a nerve is being compressed. The source of that compression could be a herniated disc, for instance, or spinal stenosis -- a condition common in older adults, in which the open spaces in the spinal column gradually narrow.

Steroid injections can bring temporary pain relief, but it's known that steroids in general can cause bone density to decrease over time. And a recent study found that older women given steroids for spine-related pain showed a quicker rate of bone loss than other women their age.

The new findings go a step further by showing an increased fracture risk in steroid patients, said Dr. Shlomo Mandel, the lead researcher on both studies.

Still, he said, the study, which was based on medical records, had "a lot of limitations."

"I want to be careful not to imply that people shouldn't get these injections," said Mandel, an orthopedic physician with the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

The findings are based on medical records from 3,000 Henry Ford patients who had steroid injections for spine-related pain, and another 3,000 who got other treatments. They were 66 years old, on average.

Overall, about 150 patients were later diagnosed with a vertebral fracture, Mandel said. Vertebral fractures are cracks in small bones of the spine, and in an older adult with low bone mass they can happen without any major trauma.

On average, Mandel's team found, steroid patients were at greater risk of a vertebral fracture -- with the risk climbing 21 percent with each round of injections.

The findings do not prove that the injections themselves caused the fractures, said Dr. Andrew Schoenfeld, who wrote a commentary published with the study.

But the results raise an important potential risk that needs to be weighed against the benefits. "This brings to light something that should be part of doctor-patient discussions," said Schoenfeld, who is based at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas.

He cautioned, however, that the findings may apply only to certain patients -- namely, older adults with waning bone mass. "We don't know if this would apply to elderly people with normal bone mass," Schoenfeld said.

Complicating matters, steroid injections seem to benefit only certain types of spine-related pain. The "best medical evidence" that they work is for cases of leg pain caused by a herniated disc compressing a nerve, Schoenfeld said.

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Dan Stevens at a party in New York

This whole new thing you've got going on had better be for a film role, Dan. Otherwise there is simply no accounting for this dreadful new look of yours. Dreadful.

DRAMATIC CELEBRITY MAKEOVERS

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Teen Boys: Building Muscle Tips, Calories, Exercise, and More

What to do -- and not do -- to build up your muscles.By Eric Metcalf, MPH
WebMD Feature

The football players, pro wrestlers, and MMA fighters you see on television may be packing serious muscle. But if you’re a guy in your teens, you have some body-building advantages they would love to have.

During your teen years, you’re in a phase of your life when your body wants to grow. You’re churning out hormones that are specially designed to help you get bigger. And right now you may be able to take in a huge amount of food and use it to build a strong body.

Teen Boys and Abstinence

It may seem like everyone at school is doing it -- or talking about doing it. Add to it the increasing talk of sex on TV and in movies and you probably feel like the only person waiting to have sex. But, you are not alone. More than one half of high school teens have not had sex, according to recent surveys. In fact, many teens are choosing abstinence (not having sexual intercourse) until they are older and in long-term, committed relationships. Deciding to have sex is a very personal decision...

Read the Teen Boys and Abstinence article > >

But it's easy to make mistakes in your quest for muscle. Here's how to avoid those errors.

Following these steps will help you give your muscles the exercise and the fuel they need to get bigger.

1. Get a checkup. If you’re new to exercise or you have any health issues -- especially heart problems or conditions that affect your muscles or joints -- get a physical exam by your doctor or other health care provider before you start a muscle-building program.

2. Skip the shortcuts. As you’re starting on your path to bigger muscles, focus on the basics, says Shawn Arent, PhD, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and associate professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Spend your energy working out and eating right -- not chasing fancy supplements. And don’t even think about using steroids, he says. They can do serious damage to your body now and in the long run.You don't need steroids to build better muscles. During puberty, your body naturally pumps out testosterone. This hormone encourages your muscles to grow, says William Roberts, MD, a professor of family medicine and a youth fitness expert at the University of Minnesota.

3. Build a solid program. When you're starting out, avoid tossing together bits and pieces of different weight-lifting programs you see in magazines, Arent says. Instead, build a basic core program that includes the bench press (for your chest), squats (legs), deadlift (legs and back), and shoulder press (shoulders and upper back). As you master these, or you start playing a sport that requires specific strengths, you can add more complex lifts.

4. Get enough calories. Do your parents give you a hard time about eating so much? If you’re training hard, politely ask them to give it a rest, says Roberta Anding, RD, a dietitian who works with athletes ranging from high schoolers to the Houston Astros and the Houston Texans. You need calories for growth and performance!

As a growing, active guy, you may need about 3,000 calories or more each day. Anding's tips:

Eat breakfast every day.Get plenty of carbohydrates (carbs) from foods such as whole-grain bread, fruits, and milk. This way, your body has carbs to burn for fuel so it can save the protein you eat for muscle-building.If you’re hungry late in the evening, have a snack. But…Set your sights higher than fast food and candy. “You don’t create a Lamborghini body and put regular gas in it," Anding says. "You’re going to go with the high-octane stuff. Your body is no different.” Choose real food, not junk food.

5. Feed your muscles when they’re hungry. Another muscle-building hormone your body makes is insulin, Anding says. It makes your muscles soak up sugar, proteins, and other things that make them bigger and stronger.

Insulin is extra-effective right after a workout. So within 30 minutes after a workout, eat a blend of carbs and protein. Some options:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwichTurkey sandwichTrail mixSmoothie made with yogurt and fruitA carbs-and-protein bar

But too much protein can harm the body and have serious effects on your kidneys. So don’t eat too much of it.

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Sienna Miller and her family out and about in New York

The official week of Karen O worship continues with Mosquito. Plus, the latest tracks from Daft Punk, Laura Marling, Poliça, London Grammar, PYYRAMIDS and Tiny Dancer… »

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no starch diet ???

I got a good friend on this No starch diet and has lost 30lbs and doing really well,. Anyone doing this or heard of it??

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