Officials battle through “samurai” diet
Overweight local government officials in Japan have slimmed down with a three-month “samurai” diet, soldiering on despite a fellow samurai’s death.
The mayor of the city of Ise in west Japan and six officials joined forces as the “Seven Metabolic Samurai,” after Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” movie, to fight the so-called metabolic syndrome—excess belly fat, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.
Staying positive may help kids deal with pain
It may be mind over matter when it comes to children’s ability to cope with pain, a study suggests.
Researchers found that children and teenagers who said they typically dealt with pain through positive thinking were able to better tolerate uncomfortable circumstances, like pressure on a finger or heat against their skin.
Overweight kids at risk for asthma hospitalization
Overweight children seen in the ER for an asthma flare-up are more likely to be admitted to the hospital than their non-overweight peers, according to a report in the journal Pediatrics. Moreover, this finding holds true regardless of illness severity.
“This is the first study in children to examine the relationship between overweight and hospital admission during asthma exacerbations,” lead author Dr. Christopher L. Carroll, from Connecticut Children’s Hospital in Hartford, told Reuters Health.
Study sees differences in how U.S. Hispanics get HIV
There are major differences among U.S. Hispanics in how they get infected with the AIDS virus depending on where they were born, officials said on Thursday, requiring more care in tailoring prevention efforts.
The trend was detailed in a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on HIV infection and AIDS among Hispanics, who make up 14 percent of America’s population.
Smokers may find redemption on mobile phones
For millions of smokers itching to quit, new Web-based technologies are promising to stand by you like a close friend through those dark days of stress and withdrawal.
Internet sites and discussion forums dedicated to kicking the nicotine habit have been around for more than a decade.
Arthritis causes job limitations for many
Nearly 12 percent of Americans ages 45 to 64 face work limitations because of arthritis, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report on Thursday.
The CDC issued its first state-by-state assessment of work limitations caused by arthritis, an inflammation of the joints that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and restricted movement.
Low vitamin D may raise respiratory infection risk
There appears to be an association between low blood levels of vitamin D and the risk of acute respiratory tract infection, Finnish researchers report.
“In our study of 800 young Finnish men, we found that those with low vitamin D levels were more likely to contract respiratory infections than controls,” lead investigator Dr. Ilkka Laaksi told Reuters Health.
