Tattoos Can Be Troublesome to Remove

People pondering a tattoo may want to consider the expense and discomfort of having one removed later on, experts say.

Nearly one out of five people with tattoos do think about having them removed later in life, according to dermatologist Dr. Jeffrey Orringer of the University of Michigan Health System.

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"The most common reason would be to remove a name of someone who is no longer involved in the patient's life," Orringer said in a prepared statement.

According to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, people who want to get a tattoo should choose a licensed facility and a tattoo design that is simple and therefore easy to remove. They also advise people to put tattoos on parts of the body that can be covered by clothing in the workplace. Unusual or sensitive locations are more prone to scarring and are also more difficult for tattoo removal.

According to the Michigan experts, people considering tattoo removal should also be aware that:

• Laser technology can reduce the appearance of tattoos so they are no longer visible, with little or no scarring. 
• It will take more time -- and possibly more money and discomfort -- to remove a tattoo than to get it put on. Often, six to 12 sessions are required to erase all of the ink.
• Avoid areas of the body where it is more difficult to remove a tattoo, such as ankles, hands and fingers.
• Simpler tattoos that contain only a few colors are easier to remove.
• Darker colors are easier to remove than brighter hues. Colors mixed with white are also tough to remove.

Treatment options include lasers, one of the most common of which is the Q-switched, or quality-switched, laser; surgical excision; and dermabrasion, the sanding of the skin.

Laser removal of tattoos creates damage similar to small wounds. There may be crusting or bleeding in the area after treatment, and there are small risks of infection, scarring or discoloration of the skin.


Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=4508023&page=1#.UFn5aK60KSo

Blacks Less Likely to Stick to High Blood Pressure Diet

People who stick with the so-called "DASH diet" achieve significant reductions in blood pressure, but blacks are less likely than whites to adopt the diet, researchers have found.

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet -- which is rich in healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy items, and low in fats and cholesterol -- has been proven to help lower blood pressure.

inquisitr.com

In this study, Duke University Medical Center researchers examined whether adherence to the DASH diet was associated with blood pressure changes and what factors predicted who would stay with the diet.

The study included 144 sedentary, overweight or obese adults who had hypertension (high blood pressure) and were not taking blood-pressure lowering medications. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: DASH diet alone; DASH diet plus weight-loss counseling and aerobic exercise; or no change in diet and exercise habits.

After four months, participants in the DASH diet/counseling/exercise group lost an average of 19 pounds. Weight remained stable in the other two groups, the investigators found.

Participants in both DASH diet groups had significant reductions in blood pressure levels, and those who adhered most closely to the diet had the largest drops in blood pressure. This suggests that following the DASH diet lowers blood pressure, independent of exercise and weight loss.

But the study found that exercise and weight loss in addition to the DASH diet promoted even greater reductions in blood pressure and improved other measures of heart health.

The researchers also discovered that blacks were less likely than whites to adopt the DASH diet. No other factor predicted whether participants would stick with the diet, according to the study published online Sept. 19 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The findings suggest that altering traditional recipes rather than eliminating certain foods altogether might improve black patients' adherence to the DASH diet.

"We need to be aware of cultural differences in dietary preferences in order to help people better adopt a DASH-friendly diet," James Blumenthal, a professor of behavioral medicine, said in a Duke news release. "It is important to take into account traditional food choices and cooking practices when attempting to incorporate more DASH foods into daily meal plans." 


Source : http://www.healthytexas.org//health_lib_content.jsp?chunkiid=797009

Stress At Works 'raises heart risk'

Having a highly demanding job, but little control over it, could be a deadly combination, UK researchers say.

They analysed 13 existing European studies covering nearly 200,000 people and found "job strain" was linked to a 23% increased risk of heart attacks and deaths from coronary heart disease.

Ilustration Stress At Works 'raises heart risk' (annespoor.co.uk)

The risk to the heart was much smaller than for smoking or not exercising, the Lancet medical journal report said.

The British Heart Foundation said how people reacted to work stress was key.

Job strain is a type of stress. The research team at University College London said working in any profession could lead to strain, but it was more common in lower skilled workers.

Doctors who have a lot of decision-making in their jobs would be less likely to have job strain than someone working on a busy factory production line.




Freedom

There has previously been conflicting evidence on the effect of job strain on the heart.

In this paper, the researchers analysed combined data from 13 studies.
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    The negative effect of workplace strain is much smaller than, for example, the damage caused by smoking or lack of exercise.”

Prof Peter Weissberg British Heart Foundation

At the beginning of each of the studies, people were asked whether they had excessive workloads or insufficient time to do their job as well as questions around how much freedom they had to make decisions.

They were then sorted into people with job strain or not and followed for an average of seven and a half years.

One of the researchers, Prof Mika Kivimaki, from University College London, said: "Our findings indicate that job strain is associated with a small but consistent increased risk of experiencing a first coronary heart disease event, such as a heart attack."

The researchers said eliminating job strain would prevent 3.4% of those cases, whereas there would be a 36% reduction if everyone stopped smoking.


'Unable to change'

Prof Kivimaki said the evidence of a direct effect of job strain on the heart was mixed.

He told the BBC job strain was linked to other lifestyle choices that were bad for the heart: "We know smokers with job strain are more likely to smoke a bit more, active people with job strain are more likely to become inactive and there is a link with obesity.

"If one has high stress at work you can still reduce risk by keeping a healthy lifestyle."

Prof Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "We know that being under stress at work, and being unable to change the situation, could increase your risk of developing heart disease.

"This large study confirms this, but also shows that the negative effect of workplace strain is much smaller than, for example, the damage caused by smoking or lack of exercise.

"Though stresses at work may be unavoidable, how you deal with these pressures is important, and lighting up a cigarette is bad news for your heart. Eating a balanced diet, taking regular exercise and quitting smoking will more than offset any risk associated with your job."

Dr Bo Netterstrom, from Bispebjerg Hospital in Denmark, said other stresses at work such as job insecurity "are likely to be of major importance".

He said job strain was "a measure of only part of a psychosocially damaging work environment".


Source : BBC

Having A "Can Do" Attitude Could Help You Lead A Healthier Lifestyle

Having a positive "can do" attitude can lead to a healthier lifestyle.

The study which was conducted by Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark, Director of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, found individuals who believe their life can be changed by their own actions ate healthier food, exercised more, smoked less and avoided binge drinking. The study used data from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. 

Having A "Can Do" Attitude Could Help You Lead A Healthier Lifestyle
(Photo : Flickr/ Park Avenue of Wayzata)

Researchers analyzed the link between perceived control and the health investments from an economic point of view, rather than a psychological perspective. They used economic models to assess the numerous ways an individual's thoughts influence their health choices.

The study analyzed information regarding more than 7,000 participants' diet, exercise and personality. The results demonstrated men and women hold different views concerning the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Men were more likely to want physical results while women were more interested in the everyday enjoyment of leading a healthier lifestyle.

"Our research shows a direct link between the type of personality a person has and a healthy lifestyle," she said. "What works well for women may not work well for men."

Professor Cobb-Clarke hopes the research will display the need for more targeted policy responses. Policy-initiatives should include having healthy choices as a default, rather than the option. This may increase the convenience of healthy options for individuals. Additionally, she believes there should be more of a focus on gender-specific policy initiatives.

"Gender specific policy initiatives which respond to these objectives may be particularly helpful in promoting healthy lifestyles," Professor Cobb-Clarke said.

Professor Cobb-Clark hopes the study would help inform public health policies on ways to combat obesity.
 


Source : Medical Daily

Omega-3 Supplements Don’t Lower Heart Disease Risk After All

If you want to protect your heart, stick to exercise and a healthy diet, and pass on the fish oil pills, says a new study.

For years, doctors and health experts have recommended taking fish oil supplements, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, to lower the risk of heart disease. But the latest study on the issue — an analysis of previous clinical trials on the effects of omega-3s — shows that the supplements don’t lower users’ risks of heart attack, stroke, sudden death or death from heart disease or any cause. Although the rates of these events were lower among those taking omega-3 supplements compared with those not taking them, the differences were not statistically meaningful, the authors said.

It’s not the first time that the cardiovascular benefits of fish oil have been questioned: another recent analysis of previous research found that the supplements didn’t prevent heart attack or stroke in people with heart disease. (Separately, other research has suggested that that pills have little effect on boosting memory in Alzheimer’s patients, reducing symptoms of the disease or improving thinking and verbal skills compared with placebo.)

In the current analysis, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and led by Dr. Moses Elisaf of the Lipid Disorders Clinic at the University Hospital of Ioannina in Greece, the scientists reviewed 20 studies dating back to 1989 that involved 68,680 participants. Volunteers in the studies, most of whom were heart patients, were randomly assigned to take either 1.5 g of omega-3 supplementation or a placebo every day for about two years. They were followed for heart events, including death, heart attack and stroke.

While the omega-3 users showed a 9% lower rate of heart-related death compared with the controls, and an 11% lower rate of heart attack, these differences were too small to attribute to the omega-3 pills.

The findings may lead to some confusion among people — both heart patients and those who are healthy but trying to avoid heart disease — who may be taking omega-3 supplements daily. While some early studies did show a significant benefit from taking fish oil pills, data from newer clinical trials weakened that effect. That may be because at least one early, important study did not blind participants or researchers, meaning that everyone knew who was taking omega-3s or placebo. Further, inconsistencies between the included trials, such as the dosages of supplement used or preexisting conditions among participants, may have contributed to the discouraging findings.

Much other past data showing benefits of omega-3s also came from studies that did not randomize participants into fish oil and placebo groups, and instead retrospectively compared heart events in people who chose to consume more omega-3 fats than others.

Another reason the current study failed to find a benefit may be that more people are using better treatments for heart disease these days, including cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Elisaf says he wasn’t able to eliminate the potential influence of these medications in lowering rates of heart attack and death from heart disease overall. “We need more data in order to have a clear answer about the role of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in everyday clinical practice,” he says.

The authors acknowledge that additional research may help determine whether omega-3 supplements may still benefit people depending on their individual risk of heart disease, or if their diets are low in foods that are naturally rich in the fatty acids.

Currently the American Heart Association (AHA) advises people with high triglyceride levels to eat more fatty fish — the omega-3s in oily fish help boost good cholesterol and lower triglycerides — but to discuss supplementation with their doctor if they can’t get enough from their diet. The organization does not recommend the pills in general as a way to protect the heart.

Both the AHA and many doctors recommend eating more fish, however: everyone, including healthy people and heart patients, should eat at least two servings of fish per week to benefit from the omega-3 fats. “If people are taking supplements because their physician prescribed them, they should consult with their physician before stopping,” says Dr. Donna Arnett, president of the AHA and professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “But I would tell them they should not stop eating fish. The results of this study are about dietary supplements. So dietary sources of omega-3s may be different than supplements. They should not assume that dietary sources are not useful.”

Which means that the advice you’ve been hearing all along remains the same — eat more fish. It’s good for your heart.

Source : http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/12/omega-3-supplements-dont-lower-heart-disease-risk-after-all/

The Naptime Chef’s Fall Recipe for Foodies Who Are Also Harried Parents

Four years ago, when my first child was born, I started teaching the foodie in me how to be a pragmatic parent. I set out to streamline my husband’s and my favorite recipes so they could be made during naptime or any other precious little downtime I had. I nicknamed myself the Naptime Chef and started blogging about these early attempts at simplifying dishes without sacrificing flavor — attempts that led to me scraping more than my fair share of food into the garbage. But with a little practice, I came up with some great family-friendly recipes and in March published my favorites in my first cookbook. Maybe I’ll whip up a sequel after baby No. 2 arrives in January.

In the meantime, it’s apple season now, my favorite. I do my best to incorporate the fruit into just about every meal possible. From apple pancakes to apple cheddar soup, name your favorite food and I’ll add apples to it.

The beauty of my apple cake is that it is a simple one-bowl affair with only the most basic of stirring required. The preparation fits so perfectly into our hectic daily routine it makes an apple pie look positively arduous. Why bother coring and slicing half a dozen apples when you can get the same amount of flavor from simply chopping up two of them and pouring some batter into a pie plate?

I often whip this cake up before school while my daughter is eating breakfast. It’s delicious and it really can be made whenever you have 10 minutes to spare.

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 apples (Gala or MacIntosh are best), peeled, cored and chopped into 1-inch chunks (about 1 cup)
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-in. pie plate, or baking dish of equal size, and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, add the melted butter and sugar and stir well. Then, stir in the two eggs and the vanilla extract until completely incorporated.

3. While slowly stirring, pour in the flour and kosher salt and stir until the flour is just combined and no longer visible. Do not overmix the batter.

4. Scatter the fruit evenly in the bottom of the buttered baking dish. Pour the batter over the fruit and use a spatula to spread it evenly on top.

5. Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. Before serving, dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar.



Source : http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/12/apple-cake-the-naptime-chefs-fall-recipe-for-foodies-who-are-also-harried-parents/

Five Ways to Ramp Up Your Metabolism

When it comes to your metabolism, age can slow you down, making it easier to gain weight once you hit 40. But if you aim to turn that around, experts offer a few tips to boost your metabolism and shed a few extra pounds.

One way to do so is by altering your diet, exercise,
and sleep habits, suggets Scott Isaacs, M.D.
(img : GWImages/shutterstock.com)

One way to do so is by altering your diet, exercise, and sleep habits, suggets Scott Isaacs, M.D., an endocrinologist in Atlanta and author of Hormonal Balance: How to Lose Weight By Understanding Your Hormones and Metabolism.

"Think of your body as an engine - your metabolism is the rate at which your engine runs," he explained to Health magazine. "By making adjustments to these three elements, you can actually make your engine rev higher."

On September 4, fitness blog FitSugar and Health magazine offer a few expert tips to get your metabolic engine burning -- at any age. The promise? You can drop ten pounds, or 4.5 kilos, in 21 days.

1. Eat early - "Breakfast triggers a process called thermogenesis, where the body signals the brain to activate the metabolic process of turning food into energy," Mark Hyman, M.D., author of The Blood Sugar Solution, told Health magazine.

2. Watch your sugar - "As we get older, it's crucial to pay attention to how much sugar we're consuming," stated Diane Kress, R.D., author of The Metabolism Miracle. "Too much messes with your metabolism by causing your body to store extra calories as fat."

3. Eat often - To optimize your metabolic burn, Hyman recommends eating small meals every three or four hours.

4. Work out, with intensity - "Not only does it affect your metabolism while you're doing it, but research shows you can keep burning calories up to 24 hours after you finish because your metabolism stays elevated," Isaacs stated.

5. Sleep well - Research suggests that people who sleep two-thirds of their usual amount (such as five hours instead of eight) eat an average of 549 extra calories the following day without even noticing. Doing this regularly means a lot of extra weight.

Source : Ny Daily News