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Monday, December 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
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23
Oct
Curbing the Enthusiasm on Daily Multivitamins
Carl Wiens
Can you reduce your risk of cancer by taking a multivitamin every day?
Last week, Boston researchers announced that one of the largest long-term clinical trials of multivitamins in the United States — encompassing 14,000 male physicians 50 and older, and lasting over a decade — found that taking a common combination of essential vitamins and minerals every day decreased the incidence of cancer by 8 percent, compared with a placebo pill.
Men...
23
Oct
The Hunt for an Affordable Hearing Aid
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
The crackling noises coming from my left ear weren’t a good sign.
Last year, when my decade-old analog hearing aid started making popping sounds, I knew I had to replace it. But because hearing aids are so costly and generally aren’t covered by insurance, I had put it off. I soon learned that in the last 10 years, purchasing a hearing aid had become even more difficult and confusing than buying a new car — and...
23
Oct
Thinking Twice About Health Checkups
In an analysis of studies including more than 180,000 subjects, researchers have found that general health checkups — like annual physicals or other visits to the doctor by asymptomatic people — are ineffective and possibly harmful.
The investigators found no evidence that an annual physical will prevent death by cancer, cardiovascular disease or any other cause. Nor did they find any effect on hospital admissions, disability, additional visits...
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
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19
Oct
Are Doctors Too Wary of Drug Companies?
Not long ago, I asked a colleague for advice on a patient. He offered up a couple of treatment options, then stopped to show me a new medical app on his electronic tablet. With a few swipes of his finger, he summoned a compilation of research articles, synopses and even entire textbooks that, printed and bound, would have filled shelves in a library.
Dr. Pauline Chen on medical care.
“But do you know what the best part is?” he asked with a twinkle...
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
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17
Oct
Cholesterol Is Falling in Adults, Study Finds
Cholesterol levels in adults are falling, and changes in the amount of trans fats in the American diet may be part of the reason, new research suggests.
The findings, published Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, were celebrated as something of a triumph by health authorities, who said the data showed that the nation had reached its 2010 goal of getting the average total cholesterol level in adults below 200 milligrams...
Saturday, October 13, 2012
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13
Oct
Are You Likely to Respond to Exercise?
Kristian Sekulic/Getty Images
Research has confirmed that people’s physiological responses to exercise vary wildly. Now a new genetic test promises to tell you whether you are likely to benefit aerobically from exercise. The science behind the test is promising, but is this information any of us really needs to know?
Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.
The new test, which is being sold by a British company called XRGenomics, is available...
Friday, October 12, 2012
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12
Oct
Do Exercise Programs Help Children Stay Fit?
Thor Swift
Getting children to be more physically active seems as if it should be so simple. Just enroll them in classes and programs during school or afterward that are filled with games, sports and other activities.
But an important new review of the outcomes of a wide range of different physical activity interventions for young people finds that the programs almost never increase overall daily physical activity. The youngsters run around during...
12
Oct
Feeling the Pressure to Drink for Work
Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times COLD SHOULDER: Terry Lavin sipping seltzer water at the Pig ‘n’ Whistle in Manhattan.
As an ad-sales executive with Forbes magazine, Terry Lavin worked hard to earn his reputation as a dependable drinking buddy.
“I just basically rented space at P. J. Clarke’s,” he said, referring to the Midtown Manhattan watering hole. “I was always the last to leave, always had a cocktail in my hand.”
In a business built...
Thursday, October 11, 2012
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