Category Archives: Cancer

The dirt on hotel rooms

We asked several industry insiders to help us peel back the covers on your home away from home. Here's how to make the most of any stay.  “Eco-Friendly” Actually Means “Dirty Sheets” Here's a travel tip you might not have heard: Bedspreads are often cleaned just once a month. But sheets can dodge detergent, too.  “Some hotels take a unique approach to the water-conservation trend,” the housekeeping director we interviewed said. “Unless they look soiled, sheets may not be changed.” The solution: Ask for fresh sheets.  “When I travel, I change my own sheets,” one hotel director said.  Know what else you should change while you're on the road? Your diet. (Find out how one Men's Health reader wedged tough workouts and smart dining into his busy schedule.) Your Bill is Bogus The average business traveler is overcharged $11.35 a night, according to an audit of hotel bills by Corporate Lodging Consultants, a firm that helps companies and governments trim travel costs. Beware of fees for fridges, or anything labeled “local.” The solution: Question every charge, especially at the end of the month, one hotel controller said.  “It's unbelievable what managers do to make budget.” Even worse than the managers are some of the offerings at the morning buffet. (Avoid these 8 killer breakfast foods.) Upgrades Can Come Cheap Here's a travel tip from insiders: Upgrade at check-in. Full occupancy is rare - the average is 63 percent, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and suites are often vacant.  “A smart manager knows that the cost to clean a suite is roughly the same as for a regular room,” one manager said. The solution: Make the hotel more money. Offer 20 percent more than your current rate for the upgrade; you could be sleeping in a suite. (Just make sure you're sleeping in style with this well-traveled wardrobe.) Some Souvenirs Have Legs Hotels are a haven for bedbugs. Pest-control companies say hotels account for more than 37 percent of their bedbug business, according to Pest Control Technology magazine. The solution: Search for your hotel on bedbugregistry.com. Scan mattress and couch creases for the reddish brown bloodsuckers and their black droppings, Jason Rasgon, a public-health professor at Johns Hopkins, said. At home, dry your clothes on high for 45 minutes to kill stowaways. The Bathroom is Cleaner Than the TV Remote  Often, the worst germ incubators are the frequently touched surfaces: the thermostat dial, phone, and remote. Chuck Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, actually found more traces of fecal matter on these surfaces than in the bathroom. The solution: Use hand sanitizer, and wash your hands frequently. A recent study reported that cold germs linger for more than a day on surfaces.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/03/dirt-on-hotel-rooms/

Tired of water? Mix your own fresh flavors

The next time you want a drink of water, instead of going to the faucet or the refrigerator dispenser, try looking in your crisper drawer. Unless you’re a bachelor with nothing in the drawer but a dried out apple and a wilted lettuce leaf, I’m betting you’ve got the secret to delicious tasting water right there in your refrigerator. I’m sure you’ve heard a thousand times that you need to drink more water.  So I’m not going to tell you again. I’m just going to ask one question.   Why aren’t you doing it? Your body needs water to be healthy. Your skin will feel softer, and you will look younger if you drink more water. Soda, coffee and tea and all those other chemical-filled drinks just aren’t giving your body the water it craves.   As a health advocate, I have to tell you that you need to try harder to find water that you like to drink – and that’s where your crisper drawer comes in. You can make a huge variety of delicious flavored waters just by adding some of your favorite fruits, vegetables or herbs.  I got my inspiration from the website 52 Kitchen Adventures. The author lists 50 of her favorite flavor combinations, including things like lemon and lavender, watermelon and mint, cucumber and lime or papaya and mango.  It’s easy to do.  Just wash your produce carefully, cut it up and add it to your water.  If you use herbs, rub the fresh leaves between your hands to bruise them before adding them to the water. Depending on what you include, you may want to pour it through a filter to remove the small particles before you drink it. A fine mesh strainer for loose tea or a paper coffee filter will work great for this. Try out different flavors by making one glass at a time or mix up a whole pitcher and you’ll be set for the day. If you just can’t wait to try it, you can drink it as soon as you put it all together. But to get the most flavor, you’ll want to let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Just remember, this is fresh produce, so if you leave the fruit in the water for more than a day or two, the water may change color and start to taste bitter.  That’s a good sign it’s time to dump that batch and start over. My best suggestion is to mix up as much as you think you can drink in 24 hours.  If you get to the end of the day and have some left over, strain out the fruit and freeze it into ice cubes for tomorrow. If you want to jump-start a cold pitcher of water, try using frozen mixed fruit or berries.  That way the fruit will flavor and chill the water at the same time.   This can also be a great way to get your kids started on a healthier path.  Let them choose their favorite fruit for their own special blend, or hold a family contest to see who can come up with the best flavor.  If you have the space, let everyone create their own mix then judge which flavor was the family favorite by seeing which flavor is gone first. Even if the kids guzzle their own creations to win, you’ll know they are drinking the healthy water they need to stay hydrated. And hopefully you’ll all be forming a water-drinking habit that will last for the rest of your lives. So what’s your favorite way to flavor your water?  Visit EmpowHER to share your ideas under the “wellness” category.Michelle King Robson (pronounced robe-son) is one of the nation's leading women's health and wellness advocates. She is the Founder, Chairperson and CEO of EmpowHER, one of the fastest-growing and largest social health companies dedicated exclusively to women's health and wellness. & In 2011 EmpowHER reached more than 60 million women onsite and through syndication expects to reach more than 250 million in 2012.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/03/tired-water-mix-your-own-fresh-flavors/

Obama hosts event to reduce mental health stigma

Actors Bradley Cooper and Glenn Close are among those gathering Monday at the White House for a conference on mental health, organized as part of President Barack Obama's response to last year's shooting massacre at a Connecticut elementary school. Although the one-day conference was a response to gun violence, its agenda is much broader and includes discussion of insurance coverage for mental health care and substance abuse, recognizing the signs of mental illness in young people and improved access to services for veterans. The overall goal is reducing the stigma of mental health problems and encouraging those who are struggling to get help. Obama plans to deliver opening remarks in the East Room and Vice President Joe Biden, the president's point man on gun violence, is scheduled to close it from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Around 150 invited attendees include mental health advocates and patients, educators, health care providers, faith leaders, lawmakers and local government officials from across the country. Cooper and Close bring their advocacy and a celebrity buzz to the event. Cooper has been promoting mental health awareness since his Oscar-nominated leading role as a man with bipolar disorder in last year's “Silver Linings Playbook,” and plans to help Biden and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki close the conference. Close's experience has been more personal. Her sister, Jessie, has bipolar disorder and Jessie's son, Calen, has schizoaffective disorder. In 2009, Close's family battles led her to help start a non-profit called Bring Change 2 Mind, which produces public service announcements to fight the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness. She is listed on a panel discussion on how to address negative attitudes about mental illness. The conference comes after Obama's defeat on gun control legislation. Unable to get Congress to approve background checks, an assault weapons ban and other limits on firearms, the president has vowed to do what he can through executive action. Among 23 executive orders Obama signed in response to the shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 26 was a directive that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan launch a national dialogue on mental health. The conference is part of that, with Sebelius hosting the panel on addressing negative attitudes and Duncan moderating a session on successful mental health outreach efforts. There's been little publicly revealed about the mental health of Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza, although it's been documented that other gunmen involved in mass shootings suffered from mental illness. Federal law bans certain mentally ill people from purchasing firearms, but the background check system is woefully incomplete and Obama is trying to get more mental health records included. In announcing the conference, the White House stressed that the vast majority of people with mental health conditions are not violent and are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crimes. But the need to improve the country's mental health care system is something all sides of the gun debate have advocated, including the National Rifle Association. “That is something substantive that Congress and the president could do right now that would actually help prevent future tragedies, unlike the gun control proposals that the president unsuccessfully tried to push through Congress,” said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam The White House said Obama plans to announce that the Department of Veterans Affairs will conduct mental health summits nationwide to increase awareness of VA programs and link veterans and their families with community resources to support their needs. The conference also plans to tout improvements in mental health coverage under Obama's health care law, including a ban beginning next year against denying coverage to those who are mentally ill. The White House also plans to focus on commitments being made in the private sector to increase understanding and awareness, including a campaign by the National Association of Broadcasters through television and radio ads and social media. Several organizations that work with young people also are planning to make new commitments, including high school principals holding mental health assemblies, to YMCA instructing staff and camp counselors to recognize the signs of mental health issues in kids, to religious leaders launching conversations on the issue.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/03/obama-hosts-event-to-reduce-mental-health-stigma/

Utah twins doing well after being born on side of interstate

A set of Utah twins are doing well after they were born on the side of an interstate Sunday. Fox 13 reports Lynette Hales of Utah was not due until August, but began to go into labor while visiting a friend in Nevada. Her friend began driving her to the hospital, but was forced to pull over on the side of Interstate 80 as Hales grew closer to delivery. With the help of a 911 dispatcher, Hales' friend was able to deliver both boys. The first twin, named J.J., was not breathing, so Hales performed CPR on him and was able to resuscitate him. J.J. and his twin, A.J., were taken  to a Utah hospital and are doing well, Fox 13 reports. Click for more from Fox 13.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/03/utah-twins-doing-well-after-being-born-on-side-interstate/

First non-surgical circumcision device could slow spread of AIDS in Africa, officials say

Health officials have approved a first-of-its-kind, non-surgical circumcision device hailed as a potential game-changer in the battle to forestall the spread of AIDS in Africa. The PrePex is the only circumcision method, aside from conventional surgery, to gain World Health Organization approval to date, according to The New York Times. The international health organization reportedly gave its approval to the device on Friday.    Dr. Eric P. Goosby, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, subsequently told the paper the PrePex would “truly help save lives” and that he was even considering the immediate employment of funds from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to pay for its widespread use in AIDS-ravaged Africa. Circumcision reportedly lowers the chance of a heterosexual male contracting HIV, or the virus that causes AIDS, through sexual intercourse by about 60 percent.  The Times reports the U.S. has thus-far paid for more than 2 million circumcisions in Africa to assist the continent with its spiraling AIDS epidemic. A two-nurse team reportedly employs the PrePex to kill off a male’s foreskin through the utilization of a rubber band. The procedure, The Times reported, necessitates only topical anesthesia, and is safer than surgery. The device was developed by Circ MedTech, an Irsaeli company founded in 2009, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.  source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/02/first-non-surgical-circumcision-device-could-slow-spread-aids-in-africa/

Therapy that heats and destroys bone tumors eases patients’ pain

Mark Hurwitz, MD, Director of Thermal Oncology for the Department of Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital reported that the treatment, magnetic resonance image-guided focused ultrasound (MRIgFU) ablation therapy, significantly reduced pain in 67 percent of patients who received the treatment. …

No increased risk of infection for long-term sex partners of people with HPV-related oral cancers, study suggests

“While we can’t guarantee that the partners of patients will not develop oral HPV infections or cancers, we can reassure them that our study found they had no increased prevalence of oral infections, which suggests their risk of HPV-related oral cancer remains low,” says Gypsyamber D’Souza, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is expected to present the results of her study June 1 at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting…