Tag Archives: foxnews

US adult smoking rate dips to 18 percent

Fewer U.S. adults are smoking, a new government report says. Last year, about 18 percent of adults participating in a national health survey described themselves as current smokers. The nation's smoking rate generally has been falling for decades, but had seemed to stall at around 20 to 21 percent for about seven years. In 2011, the rate fell to 19 percent, but that might have been a statistical blip. Health officials are analyzing the 2012 findings and have not yet concluded why the rate dropped, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The CDC released its study Tuesday. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. It's responsible for the majority of lung cancer deaths and is a deadly factor in heart attacks and a variety of other illnesses. Concerned about the stalled smoking rate, the CDC launched a graphic advertising campaign last year that was the agency's largest and starkest anti-smoking push. The campaign triggered an increase of 200,000 calls to quit lines, and CDC officials said thousands of smokers probably went on to kick the habit. The CDC did a second wave of the ads earlier this year. The new report is from a survey of about 35,000 U.S. adults. Current smokers were identified as those who said they had smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and now smoke every day or some days. The rate was only 9 percent for people ages 65 and older, but about 20 percent for younger adults. More men than women described themselves as current smokers. The report did not include teens. About 16 percent of high school students were smokers in 2011, according to an earlier CDC report. Patrick Reynolds, executive director of the Foundation for a SmokeFree America, told The Associated Press that he was elated that the adult smoking rate, for years at about 20 percent, had dropped below that longstanding plateau. He said factors he thinks have contributed to fewer adults smoking include rising state and federal tobacco taxes, more spending on prevention and cessation programs, and more laws banning smoking in public. “This is a real decline in smoking in America. I'm ecstatic about it. It's proof that we are winning the battle against tobacco,” he said by telephone from Los Angeles.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/18/us-adult-smoking-rate-dips-to-18-percent/

“Body Worlds” exhibit: Real human organs teach lessons about health

At the “Body Worlds” exhibit in New York’s Times Square, visitors will find a unique collection of nearly 200 human specimens on display – from full bodies to single organs. Donated human organs, presevered through a process called plastination, were first used to teach anatomy at universities. With the “Body Worlds” exhibit, they are being used to teach viewers important lessons about health. “People really feel inclined to strive towards a healthier life, stop smoking, strive for healthier food, exercise (and) more,” said Dr. Angelina Whalley, the curator of the “Body Worlds” exhibit. “So, that's really very educational, but also (an) emotional experience that people have in ‘Body Worlds.’” Whalley and her husband, who invented the plastination process, have been curating these exhibits around the world since 1995. The “Pulse” exhibit, displayed in New York, shows the effects that disease, the environment and lifestyle choices have on a person’s health.  Among the items on display are a heart that suffered a heart attack, a spleen that became enlarged due to leukemia, a smoker’s lung and a brain that had suffered a stroke. Another exhibit shows lungs from a donor who lived in a big city. Viewers can see black dots on the organ, from where smog and pollution took their toll. “Normally we think of our body only when it is distressed, when it is diseased,” Whalley said. “We normally take it for granted but we are…living in a stressful world, and also generations get older and older. It is our responsibility to stay healthy over (our) lifetime. The fate of our body is really in our hands.” The body donation program was started in the 1980s and has had more than 13,000 volunteers. Hollis Waite, 37, says he is donating his body to science after he dies, because he was taught not to be wasteful. When Waite first visited the “Body Worlds” exhibit, he didn’t have health insurance – but he quickly changed that after seeing the displays. “I'm hoping that they can show me as the longest lasting person, someone who is advanced age, as an example of that,” Waite said.  For more information, go to BodyWorlds.com.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/17/body-worlds-exhibit-real-human-organs-teach-lessons-about-health/

Napping: Helpful or harmful to your sleep?

As kids, we did everything we could to avoid taking a nap. But as adults, some days we would do anything just to get one. We recently received this question from a viewer:                 Dear Dr. Manny, Do afternoon naps help or disturb sleep later on in the night? Thanks, Jamie Your body’s clock creates a feeling of sleepiness between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. – and also a little in the afternoon. The longer you stay awake, the more likely you are to go into deeper stages of sleep when you finally do lay down at night. Scientists think this is caused by a buildup of a neurotransmitter in the brain called adenosine, which increases with each waking hour. Taking a nap causes the brain to get rid of adenosine rapidly, so you may have a harder time falling asleep later on in the night. However, there are some benefits to taking short naps during the day. Studies show that people who took midday naps performed up to 20 percent better in memory exercises than those who didn’t. Researchers believe sleep may help clear out the hippocampus – the part of the brain responsible for short-term memory – to make room for new information. But napping for too long can leave you feeling groggy, so try to keep your cat naps to about 20 minutes or less. Do you have a health question for Dr. Manny? Send it to DrManny@foxnews.com.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/02/do-afternoon-naps-disturb-sleep-later-on-at-night/

Australian woman develops French accent after being injured in car accident

After a serious car accident, an Australian woman has fully recovered from her injuries, except for one very bizarre side effect: She now speaks with a French accent. Leann Rowe’s ordeal began eight years ago, when she woke up in Melbourne’s Austin Hospital after her accident with a broken back and jaw. As her jaw began to heal, Rowe regained her ability to speak, but she noticed that she was slurring her words.  Eventually the slurring transformed into a French accent – which has yet to leave. Rowe said she has never been to France and doesn’t have any French friends – though she did study French in school. Rowe suffers from an extremely rare condition known as Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS), which causes people to develop an accent different from their native way of speaking, the Herald Sun reported.  Between 1941 and 2012, there have only been 62 recorded cases of FAS worldwide.  The condition occurs when certain tissues in the brain associated with speech are damaged. While her new ability may seem exciting to some, Rowe said the condition has made her feel depressed and anxious. Click for more from the Herald Sun.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/17/australian-woman-develops-french-accent-after-being-injured-in-car-accident/

Number of new primary care physicians in US ‘abysmally low’

Fewer doctors in the United States are choosing to become primary care physicians – especially in rural areas of the country, Medical Daily reported. In fact, the rate at which U.S. medical schools are producing primary care physicians is “abysmally low,” said Dr. Candice Chen, from the George Washington University School of Public Health and Human Services. Chen and her fellow researchers studied a group of nearly 9,000 doctors who graduated from more than 750 different residency sites between 2006 and 2008. Less than a quarter of these doctors chose to become primary care physicians after their residencies, and less than one in 20 chose to work in rural areas of the country, according to Medical Daily. Additionally, 198 of the 759 medical institutions studied failed to graduate a single doctor who went on to practice in a rural area. “If residency programs do not ramp up the training of these physicians, the shortage in primary care – especially in remote areas – will get worse,” Chen told reporters. “The study's findings raise questions about whether federally funded graduate medical education institutions are meeting the nation's need for primary care physicians.” Some experts believe the country's medical education system will need to change to fix the shortage. An editorial published in the New York Times suggested that the U.S. educate future doctors for free to eliminate the large debt most medical students incur. The program would be funded by issuing penalties to any doctor who chose to pursue a specialty outside of primary care. Click for more from Medical Daily.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/17/number-new-primary-care-physicians-in-us-abysmally-low/