Discover the Science of Health
This week is National Public Health Week (NPHW). During the first full week of April every year, National Public Health Week recognizes the contributions of public health and highlights issues that are important to improving our nation. The theme for National Public Health Week (NPHW) 2014 — Public Health: Start Here – will draw the nation’s attention to topics including school nutrition, disaster preparedness, prevention, food safety and community health.
Good news for those who love their daily coffee (or two); a new meta-analysis (study of studies) published in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure suggests that moderate coffee consumption reduces the risk of heart failure [1].
Question: I’ve heard high-fructose corn syrup is bad, but I’ve also seen ads that say it’s just sugar. What’s the truth?
Fat has a bad reputation, both in food and on the body. It’s certainly true that the U.S. has a problem with body fat; according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about two-thirds of adults in the U.S. are overweight, and fully one-third of adults fall into the more serious “obese” category [1]. Still, appropriate amounts of body fat serve valuable roles. These include helping to maintain the immune system and nervous system, protecting body organs and padding areas where the skeleton would otherwise put pressure directly on the skin (such as the soles of the feet).
Too much body fat, however, is associated with a number of negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and apnea.
Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.
Did you catch the latest edition of the Cancer Research Blog Carnival? Hosted by Ben Ferguson, it’s by far the best edition yet.
Do you use a cell phone? Kamel reviews the scientific data on cell phones and cancer.
Remixes, mashups and now microblogging. Vijay has created the Medical Microblog (MMB), a group blog for short medical update messages inspired by Twitter. You can follow MMB on Twitter here.
If patients are online searching for health information, doctors should join them.
Obsession Fitness reviews several new gadgets that use technology to make fitness fun.
In the wake of California’s ban on trans fat, Nirupama Shankar describes the harmful effects of high-fructose corn syrup on health.
