Tag Archives: foxnews

How war changes the mind of a warrior

Memorial Day is an appropriate time to focus on the types of psychological harm veterans have willingly exposed themselves to in order to defend our nation.  While words like post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression and post-concussion syndrome have become well-known, the true suffering of individuals with such illnesses—caused by combat or proximity to it—still isn’t as well known. It is one thing to imagine and empathize with the plight of a man or woman without limbs, who cannot walk or run or jump, but it is arguably more difficult to imagine and empathize with the suffering of those whose emotional equilibrium, memory, concentration, sleep patterns and even grasp on reality have been shredded. So, I hope I can help bring those wounds into focus. Men and women are born with an inexplicable, immeasurable and intensely beautiful quality: human empathy.  We resonate with the feelings of others.  This fact means we are also exquisitely vulnerable to conditions that expose us to the destruction of others – not to mention threaten our own existence.   I often tell my patients that the soul is like a Ferrari, not a Camry.  Treat it like a tank, not an exotic vehicle, and all manner of damage can result—and routinely does.  It is popular to speak of people as resilient, and there is some truth to this.  But it is perhaps more truthful that people are finely tuned emotional instruments who choose to put themselves in harm’s way out of love for their fellow man, and cannot then be expected – with rare exception – to come through it all unscathed.   When people, however brave or strong, live for protracted periods in a war zone, in which they must bury the natural fear of death, natural pangs of grief and the natural horror of killing, all that buried emotion does not remain underground.  It resurfaces like shards of glass and steel, walled off under the skin, until abscesses develop and eventually burst to the surface, shredding any façade of peace.  This is when the sadness of leaving one’s family for years, taking the unspeakable risk of never seeing one’s loved ones again, can erupt as nightmares that shatter sleeping patterns, or hopelessness and despair that tear up any plans for the future.  This is when the horror of watching good friends die, when the anxiety of marching into trouble over and over again manifests as flashbacks to unspeakable and unfathomable events, or panic of death and destruction that comes out of nowhere.  This is when marching into hell, with one’s God-given, highly-calibrated, compassionate, soulful self, means you bring hell back with you – inside you. No one who goes to war ever comes home – not in the emotional, psychological sense.  No one.  Some make it back, mostly—which is an amazing and happy fact.  Most make it back far less—which is fully expected but still not acknowledged as widely as it must be.  And some return only physically, and are forever unrecognizable psychologically. This is the unspoken risk our warriors take when they leave us to fight.  We worry over their legs and their eyes, but we still don’t fully grasp the peril in which they place their psyches and their souls. That men and women take these risks, and willingly, is nothing short of miraculous. This is why, on Memorial Day – and every day – we should remember all fighting men and women, thank them and thank God for them.Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatrist and member of the Fox News Medical A-Team. Dr. Ablow can be reached at info@keithablow.com.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/27/how-war-changes-mind-warrior/

Foods that trigger headaches

For many headache and migraine sufferers, certain foods can act as triggers. We received this question from a viewer: Dear Dr. Manny, I've noticed that whenever I eat red grapes I get a headache. Could there be something in them that is causing this to happen? Thanks, Jay Alvarez said grapes are low in calories and rich in vitamin C and fiber, so they are a nutritional snack. But they also contain a substance called tyramine, a naturally occurring amino acid that forms from the breakdown of protein in food as it ages. Tyramine can cause your blood pressure to rise, which can trigger headaches in some people. If you experience this reaction, you may want to avoid other trigger foods, such as: • Smoked or cured meats • Aged cheeses • Citrus fruits • Sauerkraut • Soy sauce • Red wine • And certain beers Research shows that tyramine in grapes can have a negative effect on certain antidepressants called MAOIs.  Patients taking these medications should talk to their doctor about their diet. Keeping a food diary to see if you may be sensitive to tyramine-rich foods could also help. The bottom line: Learn what your triggers are – so that you can avoid them. If you have a question, email DrManny@foxnews.com.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/10/03/foods-that-trigger-headaches/

Pregnancy hormone may predict postpartum depression risk

Levels of a stress hormone released by the placenta could predict a woman's risk of developing postpartum depression, new research suggests. The new findings suggest that measuring levels of the hormone, called placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH), could one day help identify women who are prone to postpartum depression before they give birth. “Women who show high levels of this hormone prenatally are at increased risk,” said study co-author Laura Glynn, a psychologist at Chapman University in Orange, Calif. The study showed an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship, between pCRH levels and postpartum depression. Further research is needed to determine exactly how this link might work. The study was presented May 21 at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, and has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Placental clock The placenta, which lies within the uterus and provides nutrition to the baby, produces varying amounts of the hormone pCRH over the course of pregnancy, with a sharp rise shortly before birth. Scientists believe the hormone plays a role in timing when women deliver their babies. “It's been called the placental clock,” Glynn told LiveScience. Women who deliver prematurely, for instance, tend to show higher levels of pCRH than those who deliver at term. Depression link To understand how pCRH levels may be related to postpartum depression, Glynn and her colleagues measured hormone levels in the blood of 170 pregnant women at 15, 19, 25, 31 and 36 weeks of gestation. (Full-term pregnancies last 40 weeks.) The researchers also assessed the women's levels of depression at three and six months after giving birth. Women with high levels of pCRH around the middle of their pregnancies (at 25 weeks) were more likely to be depressed three months after giving birth, compared with women whose levels were lower at midpregnancy. The researchers didn't find a link between pCRH levels and depression at the six-month mark. Proactive treatment The findings could help identify women who are at risk of postpartum depression before they give birth so that health care professionals could intervene early. It can be hard for women struggling with new motherhood and depression to get help, but identifying at-risk women in the earlier stages of their pregnancies could make it easier for doctors to help. Its especially important to identify the risk early on because postpartum depression can have lasting effects. “Not only is mom suffering, but her suffering is going to influence the development of the infant in a pretty profound way,” Glynn said. Glynn isn't exactly sure why high pCRH levels might predict the risk of depression, but she said it could be because some women's hormonal systems take longer to return to their prepregnant states. The findings also suggest that postpartum depression that appears soon after birth may have different causes than depression that shows up later on. Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/24/pregnancy-hormone-may-predict-postpartum-depression-risk/

Pregnant woman dies, gives birth, comes back to life

When a pregnant teacher in Texas collapsed, her coworkers rushed to help. The woman technically died, gave birth and then was brought back to life. Erica Nigrelli, an English teacher at Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas, collapsed in a co-worker's classroom when she was 36 weeks pregnant. “Apparently I told her, 'I feel very faint,' and I put my head down and I essentially just passed out,” Erica Nigrelli said. Erica's husband, Nathan, is also a teacher at Elkins. “I opened the door and walked in and Erica was laying on the floor,” he said. Erica Nigrelli's heart had stopped. Some co-workers started CPR and used a defibrillator to get it working again. They kept her alive until paramedics came and rushed her to the hospital. Doctors delivered baby Elayna by emergency caesarean section. It was technically a post-mortem delivery because Erica's heart wasn't beating. “There were two lives that were hanging in the balance the whole time.” Erica Nigrelli had an undetected heart defect, and the fact mom and baby are here today is a testament to her co-workers. Erica Nigrelli is only 32 years old, but doctors installed a pacemaker. Three-month-old Elayna now weighs a whopping 9 pounds, and could be off oxygen as early as next week. Click for more from My Fox Las Vegas. source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/24/pregnant-woman-dies-gives-birth-comes-back-to-life/

Should monetary incentives be offered for blood donation? Study says yes

With Memorial Day weekend approaching, blood centers across the country will likely experience a dip in donations, as they do every year during summer months and around holidays. As part of an effort to increase blood donations both in the United States and in countries where blood shortages are much more severe and often deadly, a group of researchers is encouraging the World Health Organization (WHO) and other blood collection agencies to reconsider stances opposing gift or monetary incentives for blood donation.   “The WHO guidelines strongly encourage donations to come from unpaid volunteers – and national blood agencies’ guidelines incorporate that strong advice against compensation for blood donors,” Mario Macis, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in Baltimore, Md., told FoxNews.com. Blood donation guidelines were originally developed 40 years ago, based on evidence suggesting that offering incentives for blood donation would have a detrimental effect on the frequency and quality of donated blood.   “The concern is that economic incentives for altruistic activities would undermine intrinsic motivation to perform activities like giving blood,” Macis said. “Also, that monetary incentives would induce people who are in poor health to donate (contaminated blood).” In a paper published in Science, Macis and his co-authors argued that those concerns are based on old evidence from uncontrolled studies, random samples and artificial scenarios relying on hypothetical questions. According to new research conducted by Macis and his colleagues, real-world incentive programs have actually proven to increase blood donations with no significant effect on the percentage of tainted blood received. Macis and his fellow researchers examined data from nearly 100,000 donors at 72 American Red Cross blood drives in northern Ohio. Gift cards were offered at half of the donor sites; no incentives were offered at the other half of the donor sites. Macis pointed out that the gift cards were publicized as tokens of thanks – not payments – for donating. “It’s not cash for blood,” Macis said. “They are presented as rewards or gifts, which we think has a big effect on the resulting behavior…People like to be recognized for their generosity.” Furthermore, gift cards were distributed to all participants upon arrival – before the screening or donation process began. Researchers believe this prevented people with blood-contaminating health issues from concealing their health concerns during the screening process in order to claim their reward. “You present to donate, you get your reward. So you have no incentive to misrepresent your health history,” Macis said. When blood drive locations advertised $5 gift cards, it increased the likelihood of giving blood among people with a history of donating by 26 percent. When sites offered a $10 gift card, that number increased by 52 percent, and an even bigger rise was seen when a $15 gift card was offered. Beyond that, donors that received gift cards would often encourage other people – including those with no history of giving blood – to donate as well.   “The findings make us conclude that one-time rewards can be used to smooth donations over time – increasing the donations at times or in places where they are scarce,” Macis said. Research suggests that a similar benefit could be seen by implementing these rewards systems in developing or middle-income countries. “We did a study in Argentina…and found a positive effect of incentives,” Macis said, adding that offering incentives increased the number of donors - without significantly increasing the amount of tainted blood collected.  Macis acknowledged that numerous ethical debates surround medical incentive programs such as these. “While we are having an ethical debate we should look at evidence as well, and recent evidence points to a positive effect of incentives,” Macis said.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/24/should-monetary-incentives-be-offered-for-blood-donation-study-says-yes/

Shuttered New Mexico plant resumes making peanut butter

The eastern New Mexico peanut butter plant shuttered eight months ago after a salmonella outbreak is back in production, and company officials say their coveted natural and organic butters could be back on store shelves within a month. Sunland Inc. Vice President Katalin Coburn says the company last week got the go-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration to restart peanut butter operations at its factory in Portales. It is currently in a test phase of production, she said. “The restart of the plant is not as simple as turning on a switch,” Coburn said Thursday. “Hopefully we will be back in full production in the next few days.” The Food and Drug Administration shut the plant in late September after its products were linked to 41 cases in 20 states. Most of those were linked to natural peanut butter the company made for Trader Joe's. The shutdown of the country's largest organic peanut butter processor left many stores scrambling for months to find alternative natural peanut butters. The company processes Valencia peanuts, a sweet variety of peanut that is unique to the region and preferred for natural butters because it is flavorful without additives. It makes peanut butter under a number of different labels for retailers like Costco, Kroger and Trader Joe's. It also makes nut butter products under its own name. When the FDA shuttered the plant, it was the first time it used new authority granted under a 2011 food safety law to shut food operations without a court hearing. Many in the conservative farm town of Portales denounced the FDA's tactics as unfair and unnecessarily heavy-handed. Coburn said consumers and retail partners alike have been supportive throughout the shutdown. “Obviously they were as frustrated as we were with the length of time,” she said. “They were saying, `We want Valencia. We want you guys. We want organic. So hurry up.'”source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/24/shuttered-new-mexico-plant-resumes-making-peanut-butter/

Sugar water injections may help ease knee pain

Knee pain appears to decrease up to one year after “prolotherapy,” a series of sugar water injections at the site of the pain, according to a new study. Previous research on the therapy that suggested positive effects was plagued by flaws, but the new report may be more reliable, according to Dr. John D. Loeser, a pain specialist and professor emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle. “This is a well-performed clinical trial that deals with many of the issues that have clouded prior reports of prolotherapy,” Loeser, who was not involved in the study and has spoken out against the practice in the past, told Reuters Health in an email. Knee osteoarthritis is common, especially among people over 65, but no single therapy has proven particularly beneficial. In prolotherapy, which costs $200 to $1000 per session and is not covered by Medicare, small amounts of solution are injected at multiple painful ligament and tendon locations in the knee over several sessions. The hope is that a new minor irritation will stimulate the body to repair both old damage and new. “The idea is to stimulate a local healing reaction,” lead author Dr. David Rabago, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, told Reuters Health. Rabago and his colleagues divided 90 people with knee osteoarthritis and between ages 40 and 76 years old into three groups: one got sugar-water prolotherapy injections, another got salt-water placebo injections, and the third was instructed in at-home exercise and received no injections. The first two groups got injections at least three times, sometimes more if they asked for it, over 17 weeks, and were followed for one year. The sugar water group reported better knee function, improving 16 points on a 100-point scale of osteoarthritis severity, compared to 5 points for saline and 7 points for the exercise group. The sugar water group also reported less frequent and less severe pain, improving 14 points on the same scale, at one year, while the salt water and exercise groups improved 7 points and 9 points, respectively. The study was small but not too small and included the right type of subjects: typical sufferers of knee osteoarthritis, researchers said. One of the things that has held back previous studies of prolotherapy is the difficulty of mimicking the injections for a placebo group without actually injecting them with something - that makes it difficult to tell what's causing the improvements, the sugar water itself or the needle stick, bleeding or stretching the tissue, which can all have effects. “The best one can do is ‘control' for those effects by testing an agent against a similar treatment and varying only one thing, which is what we did,” Rabago said. But since the salt water group and the exercise-only groups had similar results, the benefit was probably not a placebo response, Loeser said. “This study yields results that are more favorable than other carefully controlled studies of prolotherapy in other regions,” Loeser said. But there are a lot of questions to answer before this becomes widely adopted, he cautioned. “Certainly, additional studies are needed before one accepts prolotherapy as standard treatment for knee OA,” Loeser said. Researchers don't yet know how long the pain benefit will persist after one year. But Rabago said, “These results support its use as routine care for knee OA in patients who have not improved with more conservative measures.” Though he doesn't yet know how prolotherapy works, he added that he would recommend the treatment for a member of his own family.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/24/sugar-water-injections-may-help-ease-knee-pain/

Lung cancer screening: CT scans more effective than X-rays

Screening for lung cancer using low-dose computed tomography (CT scans) rather than chest X-rays may be a more effective way of detecting the disease, Medscape Today reported. Researchers hope that these results, collected as part of the National Lung Screening Trial, will provide more detailed information about the benefits of various types of lung cancer screening available to patients and physicians. During the study, 26,309 participants received low-dose CT scans, and 26,035 participants underwent chest radiography to detect for signs of lung cancer. Among those who received CT scans, a total of 7,191 participants (27.3 percent) had a positive screening result, compared to 2,387 (9.2 percent) in the chest X-ray group. Overall, lung cancer was diagnosed in 292 participants (1.1 percent) in the CT group compared with 190 (0.7 percent) in the radiography group. Previously, experts had been concerned that the high level of false-positive screenings that occur during CT scans would lead to undue stress, unnecessary testing and high medical bills for patients, Medscape Today reported. However, the new report reveals that the majority of patients who had a positive result after their CT scan only underwent one additional diagnostic test. “In many of the previous analyses people have assumed that there would be three or four or five additional diagnostic tests for every positive screen, and this has ramifications for the cost effectiveness of screening,” study author Dr. William C. Black, professor of radiology at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., told Medscape Today. Black is hopeful that these results will provide a good frame of reference for other lung cancer screening programs. “If patients and their clinicians are trying to decide whether or not to get screened, they can always refer to these results. They will let patients know what they can expect, what are the likely outcomes, not just in terms of dying of lung cancer, which is only going to happen to a small percentage of people who get screened, but also in terms of the false positives and what happens afterwards,” Dr. Black told Medscape Today. People eligible for lung cancer screening include men and women, ages 55 to 74, who have a 30-pack-per year history of smoking, those who have quit smoking in the last 15 years and those who are medically fit for surgery. Click for more from Medscape Today.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/23/lung-cancer-screening-ct-scans-more-effective-than-x-rays/

Soulumination: Non-profit photographs terminally ill children for families

In 1996, Lynette Johnson, a professional photographer, was approached by her sister-in-law Sally Elliot with a difficult request.  Elliot’s daughter and Johnson’s niece, Lanie, had been stillborn and Elliot wanted Johnson to take a picture of her before her funeral. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Johnson, 59, based out of Seattle, Wash., told FoxNews.com.  “But I’m so glad I did it.” The memory of the experience stuck with Johnson, and a few years later, while shooting pictures for a wedding, the bride mentioned to Johnson that she worked for the palliative care unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital.  Johnson immediately thought back to her niece and offered to come by the hospital to take pictures for the patients’ families. “I just blurted out I would do this free of charge,” Johnson said. “It seemed like the least I could do to give back to the community.” What started as a small favor quickly blossomed into a thriving non-profit photography initiative called Soulumination.  Through the enterprise, Johnson and other volunteer photographers take professional photographs of children under the age of 18 who are facing life-threatening conditions, providing families with lasting keepsakes and “an enduring, positive record of the child’s life.” Initially, Johnson was the non-profit’s sole photographer, taking photographs of children in the greater Seattle area.  But since Soulumination’s inception, the organization has now grown to encompass more than 40 photographers and over 120 community volunteers, who help serve families across the country. “We don’t just take their photos; they get beautiful handmade albums too,” Johnson said. “But every person who is at the shoot gets their own personal one.  The mother even gets a bracelet with the child’s photo she can wear.” Johnson has now photographed hundreds of patients, including children with terminal cancer, heart disease, issues stemming from premature birth, Tay-Sachs disease and severe seizure disorders. When she first started Soulumination, Johnson said many of her friends and family would express amazement at how she was able to surround herself with such grief and pain.  But while it’s been emotionally difficult at times, she and the others continue the project without hesitation. “Once you do it, the sadness and grief in some ways feel almost unbearable, but almost every photographer says, ‘Yes, that was hard, but I’ll do it again,’” Johnson said.  “There’s just no doubt about it; it’s the right thing to do.” Johnson said that every family she has worked with has had a positive experience with the photo shoots, and not one parent has ever expressed regret over having pictures taken.  She noted that some families were hesitant to have the photographs done, as they felt it meant they were stepping into the dying process of their children.  However, Soulumination has photographed many children who do survive their illnesses. The photographs are more about honoring the individual than saying goodbye. “It means a great deal to us all,” said one Seattle mother whose daughter has been battling leukemia since 2003.  “Mainly to have the images and see [our daughter’s] expressions captured…It gives me a sense of peace to hang her and [her sister’s] pictures and make them a part of our world as it is now. So when it changes it will be there.” Soulumination operates purely on outside donations and the unpaid skills of the organization’s many photographers.  Johnson said that their work generates a fair amount of monetary contributions from people they come into contact with at the hospital or through photo shoots. She recalled a time when she took photos of a young teenage girl named Sidney, who suffered from a terminal brain tumor.  A few months after Sidney’s funeral, Johnson said she received a thick envelope in the mail. “It was a handmade card from Sidney’s mother, and she explains it’s from the last time she took an art class with Sidney,” Johnson recalled. “There was also a check in there for $1,200, and she said it was Sidney’s savings account and she knew she wanted me to have it so we could service other people. We have hundreds of heart felt ‘Thank You’s’ like that.” Johnson vows to keep Soulumination running as long as possible, and she said she has spoken with other photographers interested in starting similar initiatives in other states – and even other countries.  According to her, the project’s success must be credited to the many people who have graciously donated their money and talents to help preserve the legacies of so many children. “I’m proud of it, and I’m unbelievably thankful for the photographers,” Johnson said.  “We’re a little group that started and has now blossomed into something with national attention. The loss of my niece, which was so devastating, in her memory this thing started that will offer hope to people all over the world.”source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/23/soulumination-non-profit-photographs-terminally-ill-children-for-families/

Heading to the beach? New SPF regulations issued by the FDA

In the summer of 2011, Andrea Syglowski noticed a mole she’d had her entire life was starting to look different. Concerned, she booked an appointment with a dermatologist, and within a week was diagnosed with stage-0 melanoma – an early phase of the deadliest type of skin cancer. A week later, Syglowski, a Philadelphia-based actress who is in her 20s, underwent surgery to remove the mole, leaving her with a five-inch scar on her leg. Syglowski said that while she used sunscreen before her diagnosis, she now realizes she didn’t always use it correctly. “I think all I knew was that I needed to have it on,” Syglowski told FoxNews.com. Skin cancer affects millions of people like Syglowski every year, but many remain confused about the basic rules of sunscreen application. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently implemented new changes to sunscreen labeling, which aim to clear up some of the confusion. Here’s what to look for on sunscreen labels this summer. ‘Broad spectrum’ protection There are two types of ultraviolet light: UVA and UVB rays.  Currently, all sunscreens contain UVB protection, which shields the skin against cancer-causing sunburns. But not all sunscreens are required to have UVA protection, which protects against both skin cancer and aging. “UVB is what causes a sun burn; UVA doesn’t sunburn you. But now, we want something more. We want sunscreens to prevent cancer and wrinkles in addition to sunburn,” Dr. James Spencer, a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and a board certified dermatologist in St. Petersburg, Fla., told FoxNews.com. According to the new FDA guidelines, new sunscreen labels can only claim that they offer “broad spectrum protection” if they protect against both UVA and UVB rays. “When we say broad spectrum, we mean we're covering both UVA and UVB as wide in the spectrum as we can cover,” pharmacist Ian Ginsberg, owner of C.O. Bigelow in New York City, told FoxNews.com. Furthermore, sunscreens can now only claim to “prevent cancer” and “prevent wrinkles” if they contain both UVA and UVB protection. “It turns out that UVA contributes to cancer and wrinkles but not to burns. So now we’re asking sunscreens to help (protect us) from cancer and wrinkles too; we want that UVA added in,” Spencer said. ‘Water resistant’ not ‘waterproof’ Waterproof sunscreen may sound like a great option, but according to Spencer, “there’s no such thing as waterproof.” Sunscreen companies must now remove the word “waterproof” from their labels and replace it with the phrase “water resistant,” according to the new FDA guidelines. A “water resistant” sunscreen will be less likely to wash off in water, but doctors warn that it still needs to be reapplied. To make sure people remember to lotion up again after getting wet, the FDA now requires all sunscreens to state whether they are water resistant for “40 minutes” or “80 minutes.” “So that gives you an idea…how long you’re good for; that’s useful information,” Spencer said. And if you’ve had the same tube of sunscreen for the entire summer – you’re doing something wrong. “One tube should only last two weeks, and if you’re going to the beach, (it should last) for a week,” Dr. Hooman Khorosani, assistant professor of dermatology and chief of division of Mohs, reconstructive and cosmetic surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, who also treated Syglowski, told FoxNews.com. Don't forget to take note of the expiration date on your tube of SPF either. Expired sunscreen could be less effective.  “Most people throw these things in their beach bag and/or let them sit in direct sunlight for hours on end so you should live by the (expiration) date,” Ginsberg said.  SPF 30, not SPF 100 Resist the urge to reach for the highest SPF on the shelf.  It likely won’t offer any more protection, according to doctors. “An SPF 30 blocks 97 percent of UBV rays - SPF 45 blocks 98 percent. Once you get to 98 percent, it’s getting a little silly. And SPF 100 is a little misleading,” Spencer said. “You can’t get more than 100 percent blocked.” Spencer said the FDA is considering prohibiting sunscreens labeled higher than SPF 50, but due to objections from sunscreen companies, the change is still being negotiated.   In the meantime, Spencer recommends looking for an SPF of at least 30 and reapplying sunscreen every few hours. Syglowski – who has now been melanoma-free for nearly two years – says she is much more vigilant about sunscreen application and schedules regular skin checks with Khorosani – something she encourages other women to do as well. As for Khorosani, he said one technique seems to be particularly effective at encouraging patients to be vigilant about sun protection. “I have a photo of a patient who sat by the window every day. The left side of her face, which was facing the window, was being hit by (wrinkle-causing) UVA rays, so it looks like she’s 50. The right side looks like she’s 35,” Khorosani said. “All I need to do is show that photo to the women who come in.”  source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/22/heading-to-beach-new-spf-regulations-issued-by-fda/