November 10th, 2011 by admin
With Halloween behind us, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas. I mean, candy canes were nearly attacking the Halloween candy in stores! With everyone already getting into the holiday spirit, there’s no better time to start thinking about how you can give back. We know what you’re thinking, "We’re in a recession… I don’t have the money for that. I need to buy holiday gifts!" Don’t worry, you can hook your family and friends up with some pretty sweet gifts all while donating money to a great cause.
WhyHunger, a global leader in the movement to end hunger and poverty has a solution to your holiday woes. The WhyHunger annual Hungerthon devotes twenty-one days to helping fifty-million hungry Americans. With one in six Americans struggling with hunger, chances are you know someone who is affected. What can you do to help? Check out Hungerthon from November 9-30 and participate in a nationwide online auction. You can snag some pretty sweet swag and all the proceeds help fight hunger. Here are some of our favorite holiday gift picks up for bidding:
read more
Posted in Health, News, Special Reports | Comments Off
October 26th, 2011 by admin
Player key:
AQ~~,AAAAAB_Ky8s~,__yqrtk63OQyXWuLEWFGoAFk7xdj6n_5
Posted in Be In The Know, Conditions, Health, Special Reports, You and Improved | Comments Off
October 18th, 2011 by admin
Stephanie Yi, 29, had a body most women would kill for. She never had to work hard to maintain her long-limbed, flat-bellied frame—weekend hikes near her northern California home and lots of spinach salads did the trick. She could easily afford to indulge her sweet tooth with the occasional buttery, sugary snack. At 5’7″ and 120 pounds, she had, she figured, hit the good-genes jackpot.
But everything changed two years ago, when a crippling fatigue left her sidelined from college classes. Listless, she dragged herself to a doctor, who suspected a thyroid imbalance. A blood test and a few days later, she received the alarming results: Her thyroid was fine; her blood sugar levels were not. She was prediabetic and on the cusp of developing type 2.
Stephanie was stunned. Of course, she’d heard diabetes was a health crisis. (At last count, 26 million Americans had the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) But weren’t type 2 diabetics fat, sedentary, and on junk-food-and-soda diets? Stephanie hadn’t been to a drive-through in ages; she didn’t touch meat. Yet, somehow, she’d gotten an illness most slim women dodge.
read more
Posted in Health, Special Reports | Comments Off
October 15th, 2011 by admin
Photo: Photodisc/Thinkstock
After a heated floor debate yesterday, the numbers are in. The House of Representatives passed the “Protect Life Act,” (H.R. 358) which would allow any hospitals that don’t wish to provide abortions to refuse to do so, even if a woman needs the procedure to save her life.
The act would allow any hospital employee who did not agree with abortion to refuse to process bills, handle medical records, or even set up an examination room for a woman in need of a life-saving abortion. Current regulation allows anti-abortion doctors to opt out of performing them, but not in the case of a life-saving emergency.
In addition to changing the rules for hospitals, H.R. 358 would radically change health insurance coverage in regard to abortion and contraception. It would eliminate federal funding to any health care plan that includes abortion coverage, which could cause insurance companies to stop covering abortions. H.R. 358 would also allow states to pass laws that allow health care insurance plans to undermine the new requirement to cover birth control with no co-pay.
“This bill is a collection of dangerous ideas that will undermine women’s health,” says Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “[It] will increase the economic burden on already struggling American families by eliminating health insurance provisions that could save them from bankruptcy.”
read more
Posted in Health, reproductive health, Special Reports | Comments Off
October 14th, 2011 by admin
When I first met Patrick Dempsey last weekend, I’m not gonna lie, I was hoping for a Katie-Tom moment where my childhood celeb crush falls madly, hopelessly, jump-on-Oprah’s-couch in love with me. But the hunky, perfectly coiffed 45-year-old actor—and happily married father of three—had something else on his mind: Getting people to come out and break a sweat for a good cause.
Every October, the Grey’s Anatomy star returns to his native Maine from Malibu to host the Dempsey Challenge, a two-day walk, run, or cycle charity event designed to raise money for the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at Central Maine Medical Center, which opened its doors in Lewiston in March of 2008. He and his sister, Mary, founded the center in response to their mother, Amanda’s, battle with ovarian cancer since 1998 (she’s winning!). The center gives people who have been affected by cancer, including caregivers and their families, a place to receive free support, education, outreach, and wellness services, such as massages, reiki, yoga, and Tai Chi.
Last weekend, 3,834 participants from 33 states and four countries gathered at the starting line of the 5K and 10K walk/run (Saturday) or the bike ride (Sunday) and brought with them more than $1 million—as they have each year since 2009—for the center. Dempsey and his personal pack of nine pro cyclists—including 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Levi Leipeheimer and top-ranked American rider at the 2011 Tour de France Tom Danielson—completed the 50-mile route of the ride. And I was behind them for most of the way.
But even better than the view from behind was watching Dempsey thank volunteers, hug survivors, and snap photos with spectators. He even stopped mid-ride to help some cyclists work through a mechanical issue on the side of the road. What a sweetheart.
If you wanna roll with McDreamy (he always rides the 50, but you can do the 10, 25, 70 or 100-miler), it’s not too early to sign up for next year’s fourth annual event on Oct 13th and 14th ($75 entry fee and $150 minimum fundraising requirement). If you register now at dempseychallenge.org, you can save $10. I already have!
Here are a few highlights from this year’s event:
Photos: Patrick McCarthy
read more
Posted in biking, Cancer, Fitness, Health, Special Reports, sports | Comments Off
October 11th, 2011 by admin
Photo: Stockbyte/Thinkstock
Tanning beds, which the International Agency for Research on Cancer lists as one of the most dangerous cancer-causing substances, will be illegal for California minors to use come January 1.
Yesterday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed California bill SB 746 into law, making it the very first ban in the country on indoor tanning for persons younger than 18.
"Tanning is like smoking, we know what the cause is. We protect our minors from cigarettes. This is the same thing. As many as 40 percent of 17-year-old girls are exposed to tanning beds, and we need to protect them," says Darrell Rigel, M.D., skin cancer expert and member of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Association (ASDSA).
"We hope this will help girls form healthy habits and decrease the rates of melanoma in women especially."
Melanoma is the number-one form of cancer in people ages 25 through 29, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Rates for melanoma in this age group are seven times higher for women, the primary factor being the use of tanning beds, says Rigel.
The American Academy of Dermatology expressed support for the law in a statement, noting that use of tanning beds sharply increases the risk of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. A recent study from the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center and School of Public Health shows that people who use any type of tanning bed for any length of time are 74-percent more likely to develop melanoma, and frequent users of indoor tanning beds are 2.5 to 3 times more likely to develop melanoma, than those who never use tanning devices.
More from WH:
Reverse Sun Damage
Foods for Skin Repair
Is Sun Damage Lurking in Your Skin?
read more
Posted in Health, skin cancer, Special Reports | Comments Off
September 14th, 2011 by admin
Devon Jarvis
Protecting against cervical cancer is generally about as fun as, well, having a Pap smear.
But the one of the most effective, cheapest, and safest forms of birth control can actually cut your risk of developing cervical nearly in half, according to a new study published in The Lancet Oncology.
The largest epidemiological study to date (involving more than 20,000 women!), it determined that those women with a history of using intrauterine devices (or IUDs) had almost half the risk of developing cervical cancer as those who had never used IUDs.
Most of the 12,710 new cases of cervical cancer a year are caused by HPV infection. While IUD use was not shown in the study to affect the risk of HPV infection, it did prevent HPV from developing into cancer. It reduced the likelihood of developing squamous-cell carcinoma by 44 percent and adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma by 54 percent.
Haven’t ever used an IUD? It’s not too late. The study showed that the length of IUD use did not significantly alter its cancer-prevention benefits. The risk was reduced by nearly half in the first year of use and remained significant even after 10 years of use.
More on IUDs
Pros and Cons of IUDs
How It’s the Cheapest Birth Control Option
IUD Improvements
read more
Posted in Health, Special Reports | Comments Off
August 11th, 2011 by admin
Look for your answers in an upcoming issue of the magazine!
Posted in Be In The Know, Conditions, Health, Special Reports, You and Improved | Comments Off
February 28th, 2011 by admin
Posted in Be In The Know, Conditions, Health, Special Reports, You and Improved | Comments Off
« Previous Entries
