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| Health News - 12/5/01 |
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The Magazine-of-the-Month club lets you give a different health or fitness magazine every month.
Health News
By Compiled Lynn Waldsmith / Special to The Detroit News
A new book from America's premier health resort explains how to integrate your mind, body and spirit for optimal health.
Research shows laughter may help keep you healthy.
The new AquaSaddle provides hands-free, drink-tube convenience.Comment on this story
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Leisure
Holiday gift idea for fitness fanatics
Looking for the perfect, yet affordable, gift idea for health-conscious friends and family? Magazine-of-the-Month offers a year-long subscription that will deliver a different health and fitness magazine each month. This exclusive subscription will deliver 12 different magazines, including many new titles for 2002, such as Today's Health & Wellness and Delicious. The cost is $21.95, plus $2.95 shipping and handling. Theme magazine subscriptions also are available in other categories such as cooking, home decorating, gardening, crafts, men's interest, fishing and others. Customers can subscribe online at www.magazineofthemonth.com, or by calling (888) 775-MAGS (6247).
Parenting
Survey of teen girls shows disturbing trend
More than half of teen-age girls think they are overweight, according to results from a recent survey. When SmartGirl.org, a web site for teens run by the University of Michigan, ran a poll asking readers about eating disorders, 58 percent of the 737 girls and eight boys who responded said they thought they should lose weight. Even though about a third thought they were the right weight, only 14 percent were happy with their body size and shape. Almost half said they knew someone with an eating disorder.
Research
Study finds that laughter is the best medicine
Did you know 4-year-olds chuckle about once every 4 minutes? But adults laugh only about 15 times a day. New research from cardiologists at the University of Maryland suggests laughter may be heart-protective. In a study of 300 people -- half of them healthy and half of them with heart disease -- those with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to use or see humor in various situations, such as arriving at a party to find someone else wearing an identical outfit. Researchers say laughter is likely a powerful antidote to the dangerous side effects of stress. Laughter also protects the immune system by increasing levels of immunoglobulin A, an antibody that fights bacterial and viral infections. To find out how healthy your sense of humor is, take the survey used in the University of Maryland study at its web site: www.umm.edu/news/humor.html.
What they say about...
Healthy after-school snack satisfies kids
Your kids come home and complain that they're "starving!" and cannot wait until dinner to eat. Instead of denying them or allowing a nutritionally empty snack like potato chips, try this idea for a healthful snack from The American Dietetic Association's Complete Food & Nutrition Guide by Roberta Larson Duyff:
* Snack kabobs. Cut raw vegetables or fruits into chunks. Skewer them onto thin pretzel sticks. To prevent discoloration, dip cut apples, bananas and pears in orange juice.
Books
Resorts guide you to health at home
Not everyone can visit the Canyon Ranch Health Resorts in Tucson Ariz., and Lenox, Mass., but now you can get advice from The Canyon Ranch Guide to Living Younger Longer: A Complete Program for Optimal Health for Body, Mind, and Spirit (Simon & Schuster; $30). The new book was written by Canyon Ranch staff members specializing in disciplines ranging from herbal medicine to sleep disorders and from exercise physiology to nutrition. The book features more than 250 pages of guidelines and recommended activities to creating an at-home health regimen that encompasses exercise, nutrition, emotional health and spiritual fulfillment. It's available at bookstores now.
Disease
Millions of Americans suffer from neuropathy
A little-known nerve disease is affecting millions of Americans at a cost of billions of dollars annually. The disease, neuropathy, often goes undiagnosed though its effects can be debilitating. Its symptoms include imbalance, weakness and severe pain and/or numbness in the limbs, including feet, legs, hands and arms. According to the Neuropathy Association, there may be as many as 20 million Americans suffering from the disease. Neuropathy recently received media attention because of the forced retirement of Sen. Jesse Holmes who announced he had the disease and is dependent upon a motorized scooter. Other notables acknowledging having the disease include actor Andy Griffith and chef/TV personality Julia Child. For more information on neuropathy, go to www.neuropathy.org.
Wellness
Online tool helps forecast your health
Want to know in advance when you might get sick? The RTI (Respiratory Tract Infection) Alert lets people know when and where conditions are most prevalent for the most serious respiratory diseases, including: bronchitis, sinusitis and pneumonia. Symptoms of these respiratory tract infections often mimic those of the common cold or flu, creating confusion about whether or not to see a physician. By logging on to www.RTIalert.com, consumers will get an overall assessment of respiratory tract infection (RTI) trends across the country in addition to data specific to their hometown areas. Just type in a specific zip code to know in advance how hard a particular region will be hit. The Alert also reports on trend information for specific types of RTIs.
Bicycling
Look mom, I'm drinking with no hands
If you want to stay well-hydrated when you bike, but don't like wearing a pack, the new AquaSaddle from Ultimate Direction may be the answer. The AquaSaddle fits conveniently under a bike seat, letting your bike carry the weight and providing you with hands-free hydration. A 54-ounce collapsible SportFlask is accessed by a long drink tube that runs along the bike's frame or can be positioned over the rider's shoulder. The AquaSaddle costs $30 and can be ordered at (800) 426-7229, or go to www.ultimatedirection.com.
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