We have all heard that one baby aspirin a day can help prevent a heart attack and people everywhere and from all walks of life subscribe to the commonly recommended protocol on a regular basis. Now there is even more evidence appearing on the horizon for expanded potential of that daily routine.

Though proof is still to come, three new studies, published by the British medical journal, The Lancet, are contributing to this hypothesis.

The Oxford University study found that those taking a small does (75 – 300 mg) daily of aspirin were at lower risk of a heart attack. Of that group, 23 percent, over a period of three years, were less likely to develop cancer than non-aspirin takers. Professor Peter Rothwell emphasized that bowel cancer in particular showed signs of reduced risk. When taken over five years, 37 percent of those in the study had a lower rate of total cancer. The longer patients stayed on aspirin the greater the decrease of the risk of death from cancer. In the aspirin taking group, of 1000 cases of cancer each year, there were nine cancer cases. That compares to the 12 per 1000 in the group taking a placebo.

Read more »

So much for the belief if one is good then more is better when it comes to vitamins. That is if you are listening to Dr. Mehmet Oz.

According to Dr. Oz, a woman who is post-menopause and is taking excess iron is putting her health at risk because iron is an oxidant meaning it can lead to cellular damage.

With regard to men in a recent prostate cancer study, participants in a vitamin E group were taking 400 international units (IU) a day for many years. It suggested that men taking these high does of vitamin E increased their risk of prostate cancer by 17% after seven years. The recommended daily amount is 22 IU a day. Quite a difference. Yet, in a separate group of men in the same study who took selenium and vitamin E together, they showed no significant risk for prostate cancer. This is an indicator of the importance of synergistic benefits that occur between vitamins and minerals.

Read more »

I reported on Statins back in February of last year. So many came to me and wanted me to reprint this that I decided now would be a good time to revisit the world of this pervasive and unhealthful drug.

CBS News reported last month that English researchers have put out a new study bringing to light questions concerning a previous study that pronounced the virtues and benefits of statins like Lipitor and Crestor in, Statins: Bad Idea for People with Good Hearts? An exceptionally timed piece since the pharmaceutical companies, in their recent PR campaign, are attempting to convince the public that “statins are so good they should be in the drinking water.”

Scientists looked at 14 studies that involved over 34,000 patients where some took the statins and some took placebos. In these tests the death rate was 9 per 1000 for non-statin takers and 8 per 1000 for those taking statin drugs. Translated, statins may have prevented one death and that was a taxpayer cost of about $1,000,000. Whereas, all but one of the test trials over a 12 year time period that help Big Pharma present a justification for wide use of statins was paid for by the pharmaceutical industry.

Read more »

As a grandmother of four healthy and as far as I can see or know, autism-free grand-children, I recognize I am a very lucky Nana. Yet, I am concerned as we all should be about today’s rising autism statistics. They are shocking, staggering and alarming. Something is invading our children’s brains that is too casually being glossed over by medical science given that there is no cure and little definitive research. It would seem to some that autism is being swept under the rug and treated as “someone else’s problem.”

Fortunately, there is more research going on than ever before and with pressure, concern and statistical evidence mounting the tide is changing. This problem belongs to all of us. As a society, we own it. There is something affecting innocent children that can’t be tasted, felt or seen until they arrive and are put in our arms and then maybe not until they are three or four years of age. These are children who are its victims. They are the eventual adults of tomorrow. And it will keep them, through nothing they did to ask for it, from living the quality life they deserve unless we do what we can now.

Read more »

In 2007 the UNICEF Tap Project was born. And now March is all about the power of the glass, the water glass.

Ask yourself these questions…

• What is it that 990 million people around the world are without?
• What makes up approximately 70% of the human body and 70% of the earth’s surface?
• What is more basic to human life than the air we breathe?
• And, what is taken for granted more than any other living element on earth by the Western World?

The answer, as you have guessed already, is water. Not just any water, but clean, safe, potable water. While two-thirds of the earth’s surface is covered with it, only 3% is fresh water. A finite resource, only 1% is readily available for human use.

With 4,100 children worldwide dying everyday from lack of drinking water, UNICEF has set grand goals. By the year 2015, just 3 years from now, their goal is to cut in half the number of those without a “sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation.”

The UNICEF 2012 Tap Project is a coordinated effort between restaurants, the patrons of those restaurants, students and corporate, community, celebrity and government participants along with UNICEF volunteers. March is dedicated to the Tap Project, the week of March 19^th through 25^th is dedicated to World Water Week, and March 22^nd is World Water Day. When you go into a participating restaurant, you will know you are making a difference in a child’s life when asked to donate $1 for your glass of water.

Take a look at the UNICEF 2012 Tap Project promotional video:

Life is painful and short for so many children around the world. We can all make a difference this month.

Be healthy, live well!

LouAnn

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEBSITE? You can, just copy in its entirety with the blurb below.

LouAnn Savage is publisher and editor of The Weekly Healthline, an online health and lifestyle publication. Subscribe free at: http://www.healthfitforlife.com. Follow her on twitter @louannsavage and join her on http://facebook.com/louannsavage. She is an Asea distributor. Her daughter, Lauren, works for UNICEF USA.

What pops into your mind when you think of your favorite food for the holidays? Is it the special dessert that Nana makes just for Christmas day? Or the hot cocoa that Grandma serves on the first night of Chanukah? If it’s seasonal fruits and veggies then hands are clapping loud because they provide the best of vehicles for disease-fighting antioxidants that we need in the depth of winter.

Oranges and tangerines are in season and set the stage for the gift of rich, quality, healthy foods that are at a premium in most countries throughout the world. Stuffing everyone’s stocking by placing a specially chosen orange in the toe can become a cherished Christmas tradition that reminds everyone of the blessing of good bounty.

Many years ago I began a family tradition of putting an orange in the toe of each Christmas stocking; and, you know, the one Christmas I completely forgot, the entire family was disappointed. Everyone wanted to know where their orange was. These simple gifts of an orange give Christmas a meaning beyond the excited unwrapping of toys and clothes.

Read more »

It’s that time of year, between Thanksgiving and New Years that our sleep requirements are put to the test. Fatigue is at epidemic levels and more than sixty percent of Americans are experiencing sleep deprivation. The number of airport traffic controllers who in the past year have made the news for falling asleep on the job speaks to this problem.

Sleeping is a working activity of rest for your body and is vital to long-term good health. Brain and body functions stay active throughout sleep. And sleep is tied to a series of brain waves that create electrical activity within the brain. Connected to this activity is the healthy response our body’s cells have to a 24-hour sleep cycle. It is called a circadian rhythm and it is a critical component to overall wellbeing.

Before Thomas Edison’s invention, people relied upon the sun to give us our work and rest hours. Then the light bulb changed that. Today, being in touch with the world 24/7 presents serious challenges for getting quality sleep and keeping fit. With the life we lead today comes more responsibility and demands. There is no natural clock that we follow. We push and push thinking we will catch our rest up on the weekend and, yet, the weekend is packed with soccer, football, shopping for the coming week, laundry, housecleaning and countless household and family responsibilities. This leads to running on adrenalin. The next thing you know, your sleep is the first to go. If I have described you, then ask yourself this, “Do I have a desire to fall on my desk for a mini-power nap on a regular basis?” If the answer is, yes, you are likely sleep deprived.

Attached to this newsletter is my holiday gift to you, a brief guide on Healthy Sleeping. It is a short version of the ebook from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If you would like the longer version, please email me and I will send it to you. I hope this to be a valuable resource for you and your family as we go into high gear for this holiday season.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEBSITE? You can. Just copy in its entirety with this blurb below.

LouAnn Savage is publisher and editor of The Weekly Healthline, an online health and lifestyle publication. Subscribe free at: http://www.HealthFitforLife.com. Look for her at http://www.Savage.TeamAsea.com, She is an Asea distributor that can be followed on twitter @louannsavage and joined on Facebook.com/louannsavage.

How’s everyone after a hectic day of post-Thanksgiving victories at the mall or Walmart? I’m hoping for all of your sakes you weren’t faced with pepper spray and overly zealous shoppers with eating withdrawals determined to beat you out of the latest ‘deal’ on only three 50 inch tv’s available for every 1,000 customers. Ridiculous isn’t it? I don’t know which is worse. Overeating on Thanksgiving to the point you hate yourself for days after or skipping the big bird and all the trimmings because of a date with Target that starts three hours after the last guest leaves your house.

The Washington Post’s Anne Holmes wrote a simply divine column yesterday [Nov. 23, 2011] on the repercussions of the Thanksgiving eating experience and it comes down to this. We are losing sight of what Thanksgiving is really about. We seem to either eat too much and hate ourselves after or we start shopping at insane hours through the night based upon the addiction factor merchants use to get us into their store at the most ridiculous hours imaginable. Either way, Thanksgiving, if we don’t step back and look at what is truly important, has become more about craziness than gratitude. The woman at a Walmart in California who resorted to pepper spray as insurance to get one of a limited quantity of something she couldn’t live without speaks to this truth.

Read more »

“Qualitative impairments of social communication and interaction, along with restricted and repetitive activities and interests.” According to some, that’s autism. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] define autism as one of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders [ASDs]. No matter what it is called, labeled or described, the condition can be devastating.

As far back as the 18^th century, descriptions have been published that lend themselves to the condition of autism. Yet, it was not identified as a specific disorder until 1943. Today, we talk, discuss and hope for a way out of autism while the number of cases continues to climb. In the broad category of ASDs are Asperger’s syndrome, Rett’s syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder and childhood disintegrative disorder. Each is determined by many factors but have the same behavioral core. Dr. Pauline Filipek of University of California, Irvine describes ASD in this way, “[Autism] is more like high blood pressure. There are a lot of reasons for [it], but the one common thing across it is that your blood pressure is elevated.”

For parents with a child having one or more of any maladies that fall under the ASD umbrella, a diagnosis of autism is a shock and a tragedy. Not at all unusual, according to the Autism A.L.A.R.M. project, is it for parents of these children to have a ‘sixth’ sense that something is not quite right with their beloved child. Instincts here are a good thing, a very good thing and it is important to trust them and follow them because early intervention has a positive impact.

Read more »