I found this article today that talks about a lack of ‘blue light’, which we get from early morning exposure to sunlight. When teenagers are not properly exposed to ‘blue light’ for one week, their bodies release melatonin 30 minutes later in the day, which causes them to stay up later and fall asleep in class the next day. The release of melatonin is often also responsible for lack of sleep due to insomnia.
 Insomnia |
Here’s another reason never to drink soda or anything else containing high-fructose corn syrup ever again.
A recent study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, links sugary soft drink consumption to an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
Noel T. Mueller, MPH, the author of the study and a research associate at the Cancer Control Program at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. notes:
“People who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% increased risk — or nearly twice the risk — of pancreatic cancer compared to individuals consuming no soft drinks.”
Your Questions |
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.
“I am 61 and in generally good shape, bicycled for years (at least 1000 miles per year).
The past two years I’ve converted to weight training (three days a week) plus spinning (three days a week). I’ve always been thin 6′2 – 195lbs.
Joined a gym 2 months ago (with a personal trainer)and really haven’t seen the results I’ve been looking for. I’ve reduced my body fat but haven’t seen any gains in muscle mass. I feel better but would also like to look better.
Also I just had another issue arise – a minor case of gout. I have been using a Whey protein drink 40 grams a day and need to know if Whey based supplements contain large amounts Purine (the largest contributer to gout).
I’m looking for info for us ‘old guys’ that haven’t given up.”
Here’s some recent health news for the day.
In an issue that is close to my own heart, there may be a new, better medication for controlling chronic blood clots. The drug, called Dabigatran Etexilate, is just as effective at controlling clots as Warfarin/Coumadin, but is far easier to manage.
Regarding Dabigatran, Dr. Sam Schulman of McMaster University and the Henderson Research Center in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada said this:
“For patients and health-care providers, Dabigatran is a far more convenient drug than Warfarin because it has no known interactions with foods and minimal interactions with other drugs and therefore does not require routine blood-coagulation testing.”
 Breast Cancer Awareness |
Breast cancer is an awful disease that affects millions of women each year.
If you have a wife, sister, daughter, mother, grandmother, aunt, or niece, you could be affected by breast cancer too.
Breast cancer is the seventh leading cause of death for women in the US.
It is the second most common form of cancer in women, and is the number one cause of cancer death in Hispanic women.
It is the second most common cause of cancer death in white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.
I don’t have much time to post today, but I wanted to direct you to two news articles I found while browsing at lunch, which by the way consisted of tuna, Sun Chips, and diet Nestea. Good times.
There are just a couple quick news pieces about the wonders of popcorn and the increasing danger of swine flu.
This just in: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on Tuesday warned the public not to use bodybuilding supplements advertised as steroids, or claiming to contain steroids or steroid-like substances.
The CNN article is here: FDA warns against body-building products claiming steroids
 Bodybuilder |
Thanks for the warning FDA, but please stop telling me what supplements to buy or not to buy.
The FDA recently sent a letter to American Cellular Laboratories Inc., alleging that some of the supplement manufacturer’s products, which are sold as dietary supplements, violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act because they do not meet the FDA’s definition of a dietary supplement.
To be considered a dietary supplement, a product has to contain one or more dietary ingredients, such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, or amino acids, which some of American Cellular Laboratories products do not.
In fact, the FDA alleges that many of the products are sold as dietary supplements, but are actually unapproved and misbranded drugs. Let’s see which products are targeted by the probe.
 Food Addiction |
Scientists and drug companies are still hard at work searching for a magic weight loss pill. So far they have had about as much success as a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest, but they have made some headway.
A product called Contrave has been introduced by Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. as the best and brightest future star of new prescription weight loss products.
Contrave is the first weight loss drug to combine an anti-depression and smoking cessation drug called bupropion with naltrexone, which is prescribed to fight alcohol and opiate addiction.
Sorry for the absence everyone, I spent two days in the hospital thanks to over-thin blood. My kidney swelled up and stopped working, and I had blood in the urine for a couple days. Fun stuff, right? Sorry if it’s TMI, but it’s my reality.
Alzheimer’s Disease is an awful malady that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
This is a disease that destroys the mind, often causing its victims to fail to recognize even their closest loved ones, making daily living nearly impossible without round-the-clock supervision.
A study published by the University of South Florida in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease concludes that if human brains functioned the same as mouse brains, caffeine would be effective at reversing the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease.
 Smart Mouse |
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