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7 ways to avoid the worst summer calorie bombs

It's officially the season of flip flops, swimsuits, and lots of summer traditions that revolve around…food! From going out for ice cream to munching on popcorn while taking in a blockbuster film, the weeks between now and Labor Day can present some major nutritional hurdles. Here's how to sidestep seven classic calorie bombs, and seriously upgrade your health. Trade ice cream for frozen treats Many of my clients crack open a pint of ice cream, with every intention of stopping at one serving, only to wind up polishing off the whole thing. Switching to frozen yogurt shaves off some calories, but a pint can still cost you 800, twice as much as a slice of cheesecake. The swap: Nix store bought pints, and make your own novelty treats. Whip up a smoothie in the blender, pour it into popsicle molds and freeze. One cup of unsweetened almond milk, combined with one cup of frozen pitted cherries and one tablespoon each almond butter and dark chocolate chips will make four to six pops for just 280 total calories. Or whip up a batch of frozen bananas—dip mini naners into organic nonfat Greek yogurt seasoned with cinnamon or vanilla (or a plant-based alternative like coconut milk yogurt), sprinkle with oats and nuts, wrap in wax paper, and freeze. Health.com: Supercool Low-Cal Frozen Treats Lighten up your umbrella drinks A piña colada is the quintessential summer cocktail, but a 12-ounce portion packs 600 calories, the amount in an entire six pack of light beer. The swap: Rather than giving up those fun frou frou drinks, whip up your own tropical concoction. Combine a shot of rum with 4 ounces of 100 percent pineapple juice, a quarter cup of frozen banana slices, a quarter cup of unsweetened coconut milk, and a handful of ice. A refreshing, and much slimmer substitute, at just 175 calories. Reassess your sushi Old school sushi rolls, made with steamed rice, lean seafood, and veggies provide about 200 calories each, but many “new wave” sushis are loaded with creamy sauces, fatty meats, fried ingredients, and cream cheese, which can tack on at least a few hundred more. A dragon roll, for example, can pack 500 calories, more than a quarter pound burger. The swap: Ditch the white rice, which is soaked in water with sugar to make it sticky, and order appetizers and side dishes. All together, seared tuna, edamame and seaweed salad add up to less than 350 calories. Health.com: How to Order Healthy Asian Takeout Rethink your thirst quenchers There's nothing like a tall glass of ice cold lemonade on a hot summer day, but most are made from water, sweetener, and lemon flavoring (not fresh fruit), and a lot more sugar than you might think. Sixteen ounces of standard lemonade contains the equivalent of fourteen cubes of sugar, about same amount as soda, with absolutely zero vitamin C. The swap: Make your own. Just a quarter cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice provides over 50 percent of your daily vitamin C needs, a nutrient linked in research to less body fat and smaller waist measurements. For extra flavor, aroma, color, and an antioxidant boost, add sprigs of fresh mint. And if you need a little sweetener, add a splash of a pure fruit juice, rather than sugar. At just 40 calories per quarter cup, 100 percent white grape juice is a good option, but mashing a little fresh fruit in the bottom of the pitcher, like juicy strawberries (6 calories each), will also do the trick. Order your movie popcorn naked I absolutely cannot go to the movies and not get popcorn; it's one of my totally worth it splurges. Fortunately popcorn itself is actually a member of the whole grain family, an important food group most Americans fall short on, that's linked to a lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and obesity. And because “popped corn” is fluffy, it's far lower in carbs than dense pretzels, chips, nachos, or candy. The secret to keeping it light is passing on the buttery topping. The swap: In this case, it's more of a strategy than a swap. A small order can contain 225-400 calories, but going bare (sans butter), saves 130 calories per tablespoon (about the size of your thumb, from where it bends to the tip). Health.com: Best and Worst Movie Foods Remodel your munchies Chips and dip are staples at summer get-togethers, but they're a real recipe for waistline disaster. A handful of potato chips and a golf ball sized portion of French onion dip add up to 375 calories, about as much as a medium order of fast food fries. The swap: Upgrade to hummus and veggies, and instead of pre-packaged, blend your own batch. A serving made from a half cup chickpeas, a half teaspoon of minced garlic, and tablespoon each of water, fresh squeezed lemon and extra virgin olive oil, provides less than 250 calories, but is packed with 6 grams of satisfying protein, 7 grams of filling fiber, good-for-you fat, and a spectrum of antioxidants. Scoop it up with low cal, nutrient-rich veggies, like fresh broccoli florets, grape tomatoes, and sliced cucumber. Deflate your buns Whether you grill up turkey, salmon, or black bean burgers, one of the savviest ways to slash excess calories is to get rid of the bun, especially if you'll be indulging in any other starchy sides, like potato salad. You probably won't miss it (I've never had a client who included hamburger buns on his or her can't-live-without food list), and replacing it can instantly save you 150-300 calories. The swap: Seventy five percent of Americans fail to fit in the recommended minimum three daily veggie servings, and one of the best ways to fill the gap is to wrap your protein of choice in either crisp lettuce leaves, or two grilled Portobello mushroom caps. The latter provide just 30 calories each, along with fiber, plenty of antioxidants, vitamin D, and a little bonus protein. Outer leaves of romaine, or bibb lettuce are virtually calorie free, and great sources of immune-supporting vitamin A. And while veggies may be a little messier than a bun, the nutritional trade offs are well worth the extra effort! Cynthia Sass is a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health. Frequently seen on national TV, she's Health's contributing nutrition editor, and privately counsels clients in New York, Los Angeles, and long distance. Cynthia is currently the sports nutrition consultant to the New York Rangers NHL team and the Tampa Bay Rays MLB team, and is board certified as a specialist in sports dietetics. Her latest New York Times best seller is S.A.S.S! Yourself Slim: Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches. This article originally appeared on Health.com.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/7-ways-to-avoid-worst-summer-calorie-bombs/

New screening approach uncovers potential alternative drug therapies for neuroblastoma

"New treatment approaches are very much needed for children with high-risk childhood cancers; that is, those that are metastatic at diagnosis and likely to recur," says senior study author Kimberly Stegmaier of the Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center and the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. "By focusing on an alternative strategy to treating neuroblastoma tumors, we identified a compound class that in early testing in neuroblastoma cells in the laboratory shows promise for treating children with this disease." Beyond the standard approach of using drugs that kill tumor cells, another promising strategy is to identify compounds that promote differentiation, which causes tumor cells to stop dividing and growing. But the benefits of differentiation therapy had not been fully explored. …

Genomic analysis lends insight to prostate cancer

"This is the first study to examine DNA alterations using next generation sequencing in adjacent Gleason patterns in the same tumor allowing us to correlate genomics with changes in pathology," says John Cheville, M.D., Mayo Clinic pathologist and one of the authors on the paper. The standard method of evaluating prostate cancer biopsy samples is a numerical scoring system called Gleason grading. A pathologist examines the tumor sample under the microscope, giving it a Gleason score based on the pattern of its cells…

Cold plasma successful against brain cancer cells, study suggests

If someone is diagnosed with the type of brain tumour called glioblastoma, the prospects are dire: median survival is just a bit over one year, and less than 16 % of the patients survive more than three years. It is still unknown how this cancer is triggered — only a few rare genetic factors have been identified so far — and treatment remains largely palliative, i.e. trying to alleviate the symptoms and prolonging the life of the patient. …

New drug could reduce asthma attacks by 87 percent

An experimental drug being developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sanofi SA showed promising results during a small, mid-stage clinical trial in treating a subset of patients with moderate to severe asthma, but some physicians cautioned that it was too early to say how effective the treatment may ultimately be. The drug, dupilumab, is considered one of Regeneron's most promising pipeline drugs and could eventually reach $750 million in annual U.S. sales if it gains U.S. approval to treat asthma, according to Barclays. Regeneron and Sanofi, which have a partnership to co-develop certain experimental drug programs, are also testing the drug to treat a type of eczema, the itchy skin condition, and have said dupilumab could eventually be applied to other allergic conditions. Results from the trial, published online Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that dupilumab reduced asthma attacks by 87 percent in patients taking the drug compared to those receiving a placebo. Side effects of the drug appeared to be relatively consistent with those of patients taking placebos. “It really raises the possibility that we've hit upon a fundamental pathway that's driving the allergic reaction in asthma,” said George D. Yancopoulos, Regeneron's chief scientific officer, in an interview. However, the trial was relatively small, enrolling 52 patients in each of the study's two treatment groups. An editorial accompanying the study results said the trial design, in which patients were gradually weaned off of standard therapies for asthma, did not reflect a “real world” environment. It's also unclear how large a swath of asthma patients will benefit from the drug, because only those with higher-than-normal disease-fighting white blood cells were admitted to the study, Michael E. Wechsler, director of the asthma program at National Jewish Health, a Denver-based research hospital that specializes in respiratory conditions, wrote in the editorial. Just 21 percent of patients screened for the trial met the inclusion criteria, Dr. Wechsler wrote. Asthma affects more than 24 million people in the U.S., but existing therapies are unable to control the condition for as many as 10 percent to 20 percent of patients, according to the study's authors. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/22/new-drug-could-reduce-asthma-attacks-by-87-percent/

Experts devise new embryo selection method to boost IVF success

British fertility experts have devised a new IVF technique that takes thousands of snapshots of a developing embryo that they say can help doctors pick those most likely to implant successfully and develop into healthy babies. At a briefing in London before publishing their results, the researchers said they are already using the technique to select “low risk” embryos that are the least likely to have chromosomal abnormalities that could hamper their development. In their study, published in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online, the team's chances of producing a successful live birth after in-vitro fertilization (IVF) were increased by 56 percent using the new technique compared to the standard method of selecting embryos that look best through a microscope. “In the 35 years I have been in this field, this is probably the most exciting and significant development that can be of value to all patients seeking IVF,” said Simon Fishel, a leading fertility doctor and director at the IVF clinic operator CARE Fertility where the technique is being developed. Independent scientists not involved in the work welcomed it as a significant advance but said full randomized controlled trials - the gold standard in medicine - should be conducted before it is adopted as mainstream practice. “This paper is interesting because we really do need to make advances in selecting the best embryos created during IVF,” said Allan Pacey of Sheffield University, chair of the British Fertility Society. “The idea of monitoring embryo development more closely is being used increasingly in clinics around the world and so it is good to see the science involved submitted to peer review and publication,” he added. “All too often, developments in IVF are trumpeted as advances when they remain unproven.” Experts say that today, as many as 1 to 2 percent of babies in the Western world are conceived through IVF. The standard methods of selecting embryos are based largely on what they look like through a microscope, and many IVF cycles fail because the embryo chosen and transferred to the womb fails to develop. The scientists who led this study said that using time-lapse images, they had found that developmental delays in the embryo at crucial stages are good indicators of likely chromosomal abnormalities that could result in a failed pregnancy. Viewing far more images “In conventional IVF laboratories, embryo development will be checked up to six times over a 5-day period,” said Alison Campbell, Care Fertility's embryology director and the lead researcher on the study being published. “With time-lapse we have the ability to view more than 5,000 images over the same time period to observe and measure more closely each stage of division and growth.” Using this new knowledge, the team developed what they call morphokinetic algorithms to predict success (MAPS). By applying these MAPS to the selection of embryos, they predict they could reach a live birth rate for patients undergoing IVF of 78 percent - about three times the national average. Fishel, whose CARE Fertility clinics are Britain's largest independent provider of assisted conception cycles, with around 3,500 a year, said he is charging around 750 pounds ($1,100) for IVF using the MAPS technique - compared to several thousand pounds for a standard IVF cycle. But Sue Avery, head of the Women's Fertility Centre in Birmingham, said it was too soon for all clinics to adopt it. “Until the new technique is compared to current practice we cannot know whether different embryos are being chosen,” she said. “The IVF community needs a prospective randomized controlled trial to prove that the new approach delivers better results before it can be recommended to patients.”source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/17/experts-devise-new-embryo-selection-method-to-boost-ivf-success/