Catching a cold is almost a rite of passage for the chilly winter months when people and viruses are often in close quarters. And that’s especially true among children, who aren’t stingy about what they share among friends …
Americans Count Cooking Food as ‘Moderate Exercise’
The AFP reports on a study published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine: of the teeny fraction of Americans who participate in moderate or vigorous activity — as recommended to stay trim and healthy — …
Why White Girls Are Getting More Weight Loss Surgery
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that the rate of weight loss surgery in the U.S., including lap band and gastric bypass, went up by 700% between 2005 and 2007. But we already knew that the …
Lindsay Lohan’s Relapse and Court-Mandated AA
Imagine that you had cancer and a judge mandated that you receive a treatment first introduced in the 1930s — one that had been described, by the world’s leading medical evidence–review group, as having “no experimental …
The Addiction Files: How Do We Define Recovery?
America’s most visible portraits of recovery from addiction are not pretty. There’s the spoiled, out-of-control celebrity entering rehab to get a career boost (see Lohan, Lindsay), or to atone for bad behavior (see Gibson, Mel), …
A New Study Shows How We Can Prevent Some Cases of PTSD
We barely know how to treat mental illnesses, so it’s difficult to figure out how to prevent them in the first place. But as I wrote at some length last year, research into stopping breakdowns before they occur has advanced …
Profiling Student Cheaters: Are They Psychopaths?
There are lots of reasons students cheat — lack of preparation, lack of academic aptitude, sheer laziness. Now a new study suggests another explanation: it’s coded in their personality.
‘Frankenfish’ May Soon Be Spawning: Is Genetically Modified Salmon Safe?
I haven’t decided what to think about the controversial “Frankenfish,” the genetically modified salmon whose maker, Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies, is seeking Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval — and seems …
Family MattersParenting
Why Most Moms Don’t Follow Breast-Feeding Recommendations
When it comes to breast-feeding, there’s good news and bad news. The former is that lots of U.S. mothers – 75% — are initiating breast-feeding. The latter? Less than a quarter are persevering a full year, which is the …
CommittedCulture
White House Kids’ Books: Whose is Worst?
President Obama took a little flak when it was announced this week that he’d be penning an illustrated kids book, called Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters. Wags suggested, among other things, that perhaps the leader of the …
Did the Rise of Cities Help HIV Take Off?
In this week’s Science, researchers led by Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona and Preston Marx of the Tulane National Primate Research Center looked at the history of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) — the primate …
Study: Imbalanced Metabolism Linked to Childhood Asthma
Doctors have long suspected a link between obesity and asthma, but it may be an underlying cause of obesity — poor metabolism due to inactivity or an unhealthy diet — that is actually related to the respiratory condition. New …
Family MattersExercise
Study: To Build a Better Youth Athlete, Slug Sports Drinks
Team sports ain’t what they used to be. Parents jeer, coaches demand and kids — understandably — are under a lot of pressure to perform.