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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Pennsylvania university's requirement that overweight undergraduates take a fitness course to receive their degrees has raised the hackles of students and the eyebrows of health and legal experts. Officials at historically black Lincoln University said Friday that the school is simply concerned about high rates of obesity and diabetes, especially in the African-American community. "We know we're in the midst of an obesity epidemic," said James L. DeBoy, chairman of Lincoln's department of health, physical education and recreation. "We have an obligation to address this head on, knowing full well there's going to be some fallout."...

If it's the right thing to do why do you need a $100 million payoff?The $100 Million Health Care Vote? By Jonathon Karl ABC News November 19, 2009 3:03 PM What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform? Here’s a case study. On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been...

Group suggests new guidelines for cervical cancer screenings. Alisyn is cute!

Ninety-two percent of the almost 2,000 physicians who responded to a Jackson Healthcare survey of physicians agree with Dr. Chad Hewitt. The number one way to reduce health care costs may be tort reform.

(CBS) A man weighing around 900 pounds died after he had to be cut out his chair in home, reports CBS affiliate WSPA-TV from Greenwood, S.C. Authorities say he was stuck to a chair for nine months. Daniel Webb, 33, died after being taken from his home on County Farm Road Wednesday. Webb had been in a medical chair for nine months, covered in sores and human waste. Authorities say Webb died from cardiac arrest. Webb hadn’t left his house, or even walked for almost nine months. His wife Ada Webb says he hurt his knee and could no longer...

What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform? Here’s a case study. On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.” I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get...

As the dean of Harvard Medical School I am frequently asked to comment on the health-reform debate. I'd give it a failing grade. Instead of forthrightly dealing with the fundamental problems, discussion is dominated by rival factions struggling to enact or defeat President Barack Obama's agenda. The rhetoric on both sides is exaggerated and often deceptive. Those of us for whom the central issue is health—not politics—have been left in the lurch. And as controversy heads toward a conclusion in Washington, it appears that the people who favor the legislation are engaged in collective denial... Speeches and news reports can...

Joubert/Photo Researchers, Inc A neuron in the brain. Researchers at Princeton University recently made a remarkable discovery about the brains of rats that exercise. Some of their neurons respond differently to stress than the neurons of slothful rats. Scientists have known for some time that exercise stimulates the creation of new brain cells (neurons) but not how, precisely, these neurons might be functionally different from other brain cells.In the experiment, preliminary results of which were presented last month at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, scientists allowed one group of rats to run. Another set of...

Fat Studies On Display Bethany Stotts, November 19, 2009 Political correctness has run amok in the ivory tower. If some academics have their way, college students soon will be forced to vet themselves for not only subconscious racist, sexist and classist thoughts, but fatist ones as well. “In the tradition of critical race studies, queer studies, and women’s studies, fat studies is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship marked by an aggressive, consistent, rigorous critique of the negative assumptions, stereotypes, and stigmas placed on fat and the fat body,” write Sondra Solovay and Esther Rothblum in their most recent Chronicle Review...

The 2,074-page Senate health care bill would take 34 hours to read cover to cover -- and that's just what Sen. Tom Coburn wants done on the Senate floor. The Oklahoma Republican has threatened to invoke parliamentary rules to force the Senate clerk (or more likely, a team of clerks) to read the massive bill before the full Senate begins formal debate on the legislation. The move is strictly according to Senate rules, which say any senator can demand a bill be read in its entirety before debate begins. While Democrats could, if they wish, repeatedly make motions to end...

OTTAWA — Despite the recent surge in H1N1 deaths, the nation's chief public health officer says the pandemic virus appears no deadlier than regular seasonal influenza and that there could actually be substantially fewer flu deaths than normal this season. Although H1N1 is disproportionately infecting more children and otherwise healthy young adults, "the mortality rate from this (H1N1) is no worse than seasonal flu," Dr. David Butler-Jones said. "The individual risk of severe disease or dying if you happen to get the flu is very similar today as it was back in June. It's just that we're starting to see...

H1N1 vaccine distribution is a farce By Other Voices November 18, 2009, 3:58AM After being denied H1N1 vaccines for my asthmatic children in Cuyahoga County a short time ago, I took them to Summit County. This was an investment of time as we waited in line like cattle. We were herded throughout the building and given misinformation at almost every turn. The worst was about the type of shot my son could receive. I was informed on the phone and at two points in the line that he could get a thimerosal-free shot. Not so when he sat down for...

In two days, the CEO of Mayo Clinic will step down. Wednesday morning, Dr. Denis Cortese gave his thoughts on the future of Mayo, health care reform, and his largest accomplishments. "It feels good. It feels good to retire and move on to some bigger issues that I've developed a major interest in over the last 15 to 20 years. And it will give me a chance to concentrate on those." After 40 years with Mayo Clinic, though, health care will always be a big issue for Dr. Denis Cortese. He started at Mayo as a medical student and ended...

Tufts University researchers have identified a gene-diet interaction that appears to influence body weight and have replicated their findings in three independent studies. Men and women carrying the CC genotype demonstrated higher body mass index (BMI) scores and a higher incidence of obesity, but only if they consumed a diet high in saturated fat. These associations were seen in the apolipoprotein A-II gene (APOA2) promoter. "We believe this is the first time a gene-diet interaction influencing BMI and obesity has been replicated in as many as three independent study populations," says corresponding and senior author Jose Ordovas, PhD, director of...

The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday. The agency did not recommend countries set limits on how many children people should have, but said: "Women with access to reproductive health services ... have lower fertility rates that contribute to slower growth in greenhouse gas emissions." "As the growth of population, economies and consumption outpaces the Earth's capacity to adjust, climate change could become much more extreme and conceivably catastrophic," the report said...

A study by researchers at the University of Bergen, Norway, and the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's College London has found that depression is as much of a risk factor for mortality as smoking. Utilising a unique link between a survey of over 60,000 people and a comprehensive mortality database, the researchers found that over the four years following the survey, the mortality risk was increased to a similar extent in people who were depressed as in people who were smokers...

States in New England top a new set of rankings, while the South still lags. If you want to be healthy, live in Vermont--or at least act like you do. It is the healthiest state in the country, according to a new report from the nonprofit United Health Foundation.

Washington, D.C., had the dubious distinction of beating all 50 states to post the highest rates in the nation for the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. The District of Columbia had a Chlamydia rate of 1,177 cases per 100,000 people--almost three times the rate of its neighbors, Virginia (405) and Maryland (439). Mississippi was a distant second, at 728 cases per 100,000 people. By comparison, California’s rate was 407 cases per 100,000; New York came in at 458; New Mexico...

For many women, getting a mammogram is already one of life's more stressful experiences. Now, women in their 40s have the added anxiety of trying to figure out if they should even be getting one at all. A government task force said Monday that most women don't need mammograms in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50 — a stunning reversal and a break with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position. What's more, the panel said breast self-exams do no good, and women shouldn't be taught to do them.

More than a decade after Congress directed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to carry out assessments of endocrine disrupting chemicals, the agency has announced the first set of compounds to be screened under its Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can affect hormones produced by the endocrine system, which regulate growth, metabolism and reproduction.The EPA has requested that manufacturers screen seven compounds under this  first round, including atrazine - a widely used herbicide that may be associated with birth defects, low birth weight and menstrual problems. Although banned in Europe, atrazine remains prevalent in the US, with...

(NaturalNews) Here's what we know with some degree of certainty about the H1N1 virus in Ukraine right now: nearly 300 people have died from the viral strain, and over 65,000 people have been hospitalized (the actual numbers are increasing by the hour). The virus appears to be either a highly aggressive mutation of the globally-circulating H1N1 strain, or a combination of three different influenza strains now circulating in Ukraine. Some observers suspect this new "super flu" might be labeled viral hemorrhagic pneumonia (meaning it destroys lung tissue until your lungs bleed so much that you drown in your own fluid),...

www. resistnwo.com FLASHBACK Obama Stating Hes Against Forced Insurance

CDC: STDs On The Rise; Blacks Most Afflicted MetroSource News 11/16/2009 00:15:27 (Washington, DC) -- Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in America. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control found that in 2008 cases of chlamydia rose by 100-thousand from 2007, while gonorrhea grew to 337-thousand cases and syphilis rose 18-percent in the same time period. Teen girls from 15 to 19 years old had the most cases of both STDs. Nearly 71-percent of reported gonorrhea cases and almost half of all syphilis and chlamydia cases last year afflicted blacks, who make up 12-percent of the population. Black...

Effects of vitamin D deficiency amplified by shortage of estrogenResearchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone. In a national study in 1010 men, to be presented Nov. 15 at the American Heart Association's (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, researchers say the new findings build on previous studies showing that deficiencies in vitamin D and low levels of estrogen, found naturally in differing amounts in men and...

Thought experiment: Ten years from now, the United States has fully embraced universal healthcare and the government is responsible for administering every aspect of medicine. Two patients' files fall on the desk of a governemnt employee: Both have brain tumours in exactly the same places, and only with heroic attempts will either survive. One is a 25 year old man. One is an 91 year old woman. With heroic methods each have about a 20% chance of survival. Since the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution does not discriminate based on age, can the 91 year old woman expect the...

Will the man who questioned Sen. Arlen Specter and Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius...run for Congress? Rob Mitchell, seen in this video posed this question...Rob, a grass-roots, concerned citizen, Air Force ROTC, served in the Air Force, small-business owner and former military medical law attorney wants to run for Congress to unseat Patrick Murphy, a self-proclaimed, Blue Dog Democrat who takes marching orders from Nancy Pelosi. http://www.rob4congress.com/

Move over, red wine. Make room for chocolate milk. A new study suggests that regular consumption of skim milk with flavonoid-rich cocoa may reduce inflammation, potentially slowing or preventing development of atherosclerosis. Researchers noted, however, that the effect was not as pronounced as that seen with red wine. Scientists in Barcelona, Spain, recruited 47 volunteers ages 55 and older who were at risk for heart disease. Half were given 20-gram sachets of soluble cocoa powder to drink with skim milk twice a day, while the rest drank plain skim milk. After one month, the groups were switched. Blood tests found...

Many strokes cannot be explained by known risk factors like high blood pressure and smoking, and scientists have speculated that infection could play a role. A new study is linking cumulative exposure to five common pathogens with an increased risk for stroke. The infections in order of significance are Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2, according to the study, published online on Nov. 9 in The Archives of Neurology. “Each of these common pathogens may persist after an acute infection and contribute to perpetuating a state of chronic low-level infection,” said the paper’s lead...

> Magnesium is a must. The diets of all Americans are likely to be deficient. Even a mild deficiency causes sensitiveness to noise, nervousness, irritability, mental depression, confusion, twitching, trembling, apprehension, insomnia, muscle weakness and cramps in the toes, feet, legs, or fingers. Folic acid deficiency can lead to neural tube closure defects (NTDs) and anemia. Zinc deficiency affects immune function, contributing to as many as 800,000 child deaths per year. Iodine deficiency is the leading preventable cause of brain damage and it can significantly lower the IQ of whole populations. >

Leading physician, Dr. Larry Palevsky, offers compelling, scientific justification to challenge the status quo on childhood vaccinations.

It's emblazoned across the front page of USA Today, just underneath a subhead declaring Michael Jackson was, indeed, killed by a drug overdose: "Flu could infect half of USA." The article goes on to describe the predicted number of deaths expected in the U.S. (30,000 - 90,000 Americans) as well as the actions being taken by the government to protect Americans from the coming swine flu pandemic. That advice reads sort of like a comic book of health care advice for kindergarteners: Wash your hands, cover your mouth if you cough and let "the grownups" take care of the rest...

WASHINGTON — First lady Michelle Obama sought to assure older women on Friday that efforts to overhaul health care won't undercut the benefits they receive through Medicare, saying her husband considers the government-run program a "sacred part of America's social safety net." Mrs. Obama, championing the health care effort at the White House while her husband travels through Asia, said women are among those struggling the most under the current system and would benefit from health care overhaul. She said there's been "a lot of misinformation" and she wanted to be clear that the legislation in Congress would make Medicare...

The dairy industry rolled out an expensive media campaign this week in praise of chocolate milk, a classic school lunch beverage whose sugar content is under assault in some districts. But as trade groups spend upward of $1 million to defend the drink, three area fifth-graders already have come to its rescue. A year after Barrington Community Unit School District 220 banned flavored milk from its lunch menus, the students persuaded administrators to give it another chance. Now the sweetened drinks are served on Fridays as the district tries to decide whether the benefits of calcium and vitamin D are...

H1N1 swine flu killed an estimated 3,900 Americans from April to October, U.S. health officials said Thursday. Better estimates show that the pandemic of flu has infected an estimated 22 million Americans and put 98,000 in the hospital, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Of these totals, children account for 8 million of the infected, 36,000 of those in hospital and 540 deaths.

This is a video of Obama and hillary Clinton having a debate on CNN and Obama is asked "What is the most important policy difference between you and your opponent?" He goes on to mock her for daring to want to "force" insurance on people.

The only Republican to vote for the House Democrats' health care reform bill said he voted his conscience, putting aside concerns about the cost in hopes of providing health care access to all Americans. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao of Louisiana said he cast "a very difficult vote" on Saturday, when the House passed the bill 220-215, just over the 218 required for passage. "But at the end of the day I have to vote on the needs of my district down here in New Orleans and vote according to my conscience," Mr. Cao said in an inte

As the health care debate rages in the US, Tokyo lawmakers set a maximum waist size. Are you too fat for Japan? So before the fat police could throw her in pudgy purgatory, Miki Yabe, 39, a manager at a major transportation corporation, went on a crash diet last month. In the week before her company’s annual health check-up, Yabe ate 21 consecutive meals of vegetable soup and hit the gym for 30 minutes a day of running and swimming. “It’s scary,” said Yabe, who is 5 feet 3 inches and 133 pounds. “I gained 2 kilos [4.5 pounds] this...

Enlarge ImageStoking Fears. A new study has raised fresh concerns about nanoparticles, but they may be unfounded. Credit: Nandiyanto/Wikimedia The headlines are laced with fear. "Nanoparticles 'can damage DNA.'" "Nanoparticle Safety Looking More Complicated." "Nanoparticles Indirect Threat to DNA." All seem to suggest that a new study, released yesterday, has found that nanoscale materials, used in everything from medical imaging to cancer treatment, can damage genetic material in our bodies, feeding public fears. But this particular study has little relevance to human exposure risks, experts say, and it is deeply flawed in other ways. "I think it's a meaningless...

Elevated dietary fructose linked to high blood pressure A diet high in fructose increases the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, California. The findings suggest that cutting back on processed foods and beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may help prevent hypertension. Over the last 200 years, the rate of fructose intake has directly paralleled the increasing rate of obesity, which has increased sharply in the last 20 years since the introduction of HFCS. Today, Americans...

The "chocolate cure" for emotional stress is getting new support from a clinical trial published online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. It found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in the bodies of people feeling highly stressed. Everyone's favorite treat also partially corrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances. Sunil Kochhar and colleagues note growing scientific evidence that antioxidants and other beneficial substances in dark chocolate may reduce risk factors for heart disease and other physical conditions. Studies also suggest that chocolate may ease emotional stress....

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Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true? A: Heart only good for so many beats, and that it... Don't waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speed up heart not make live longer; that like say you can extend life of car by driving faster. Want live longer? Take nap. Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables? A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does cow eat? Hay and corn. What are these? Vegetables. So, steak nothing more than efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to system. Need grain?...

High blood pressure usually has no symptoms. In fact, many people have high blood pressure for years without knowing it. That's why it's called the "silent killer." Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. It doesn't refer to being tense, nervous or hyperactive. You can be a calm, relaxed person and still have high blood pressure...

Serrin Foster / Cecile Richards Washington D.C., Nov 10, 2009 / 06:47 am (CNA).- Planned Parenthood has condemned the addition of the Stupak/Pitts Amendment to the U.S. House’s proposed health care reform legislation, saying it would undermine private health plans that cover abortion. One pro-life leader said the criticism, which characterized pro-lifers as hijackers, was an ‘over the top’ attempt at self-promotion.Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, claimed in a Nov. 7 statement that the Stupak Amendment to Congress’ proposed health care bill has further reach than the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding for...

(NaturalNews) The results of the decade-long Interphone study on cell phone safety are that heavy cell phone use increases the risk of developing brain tumors later in life. The study, which focused on three types of brain cancer and tumors of the parotid gland, found a significant increase in cancer after a decade or more of cell phone use. When a cell phone tower connects with a cell phone, electromagnetic radiation is created. When the cell phone is held against the ear, this radiation penetrates the brain, particularly in children. According to the Daily Telegraph in London, the World Health...

WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on Oct. 30 a 21.2 percent 2010 pay cut for physicians participating in Medicare. CMS officials said they had anticipated a 21.5 percent pay cut for physicians in 2010, but new data allowed them to lower the cut to 21.2 percent. "The administration tried to avert the pending fee schedule cut in the FY 2010 budget proposal that it submitted to Congress, and remains committed to repealing the sustainable growth rate," said Jonathan Blum, director of the CMS' Center for Medicare Management. In the meantime, CMS officials are preparing a...

As a child, I marveled at America's first flea-hops into space. I was 10 when Alan Shepard orbited the Earth in 1961, and I had just graduated high school when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in the summer of 1969. I grew up juggling those technological triumphs with political assassinations, watching the first “reality television” through a black-and-white porthole in our living room. President Kennedy pushed us into space before his rendezvous with Lee Harvey Oswald in '63, and both Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King died in the spring of '68, when the moon loomed largest in our...

Over the weekend, Democratic leaders spoke of an historic moment as health care reform legislation passed the House of Representatives. But that legislative victory failed to significantly move public opinion. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% now favor the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. Most (52%) remain opposed. Only 25% Strongly Support the plan while 42% are Strongly Opposed.

You aren't what you eat. You're how much. That's the message from a two-year National Institutes of Health-funded study that assigned 811 overweight people to one of four reduced-calorie diets and found that all trimmed pounds just the same. It didn't matter what foods participants ate, but rather how many calories they consumed. An intense debate has long raged over which dieting regimen is best. Low carb? High protein? Low fat? But the federal study, one of the longest of its kind, "really goes against the idea that certain foods are the key to weight loss," says Frank Sacks, principal...

The politicians come out of their bunkers and cloud-filled backrooms and promise us goodies and treats. They promise us a vision of hope and utopia where everything will finally be right and just. All we have to do is just sign over our freedoms. Here is a GOP Congressman on the Pelosi health care bill: Why, it's almost like it's so good it hurts you! Or it's health care that's so good you'll end up in prison if you don't accept it. Maybe that's an idea. If we break the law, we will have government-run health care. There's only one...