Electronic cigarettes: A safe way to light up?

 

What are electronic cigarettes? Are they safer than conventional cigarettes? Answers from Lowell Dale, M.D. Electronic cigarettes, often called e-cigarettes, are battery-operated devices designed to look like regular tobacco cigarettes. Here's how e-cigarettes work: An atomizer heats a liquid containing nicotine, turning it into a vapor that can be inhaled and creating a vapor cloud that resembles cigarette smoke. Manufacturers claim that electronic cigarettes are a safe alternative to conventional cigarettes. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has questioned the safety of these products. When the FDA analyzed samples of two popular brands, it found variable amounts of nicotine and traces of toxic chemicals, including known cancer-causing substances (carcinogens). This prompted the FDA to issue a warning about potential health risks associated with electronic cigarettes. Until more is known about the potential risks, the safe play is to say no to electronic cigarettes. If you're looking for help to stop smoking, there are many FDA-approved medications that have been shown to be safe and effective for this purpose. Nov. 25, 2014 References Yamin CK, et al. E-cigarettes: A rapidly growing Internet phenomenon. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2010;153:607. FDA and public health officials warn about electronic cigarettes. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm173222.htm. Accessed Sept.19, 20114. Drew AM, et al. Electronic cigarettes: Cautions and concerns. American Family Physician. 2014;90:282. Electronic cigarettes. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm172906.htm. Accessed Sept. 26, 2014. See more Expert Answers Products and Services Book: Mayo Clinic Healthy Heart for Life!

Soy: It’s good for eating, baking and cleaning up crude oil spills

 

Thu, 04/23/2015 If you've studied ingredient labels on food packaging, you've probably noticed that soy lecithin is in a lot of products, ranging from buttery spreads to chocolate cake. Scientists have now found a potential new role for this all-purpose substance: dispersing crude oil spills. Their study, which could lead to a less toxic way to clean up these environmental messes, appears in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. Ram B. Gupta and colleagues explain that applying chemical dispersants is one of the most effective ways to help get rid of oil spills quickly. The dispersants work by breaking down oil into small droplets that bacteria can then degrade. But some dispersants can be harmful to cleanup crews and aquatic life. So Gupta's team turned to a natural, more benign surfactant—an agent that hastens the absorption of liquids by forcing them to form small droplets—to see if it could do the same job without the negative health effects. The researchers separated crude soy lecithin, a very effective surfactant used in foods, into its lipid components. Then, they tested how well these lipids could break down oil in water in the lab. They found the compounds worked as well as or slightly better than two commercial dispersants. Source: American Chemical Society

Five Minutes for Health

Take steps in just minutes to maintain or improve your health. Take 5! Or less! Small changes that only take a little time can go a long way to improve or maintain good health. In Five Minutes or Less, You Can: Wash hands Handwashing is one of the best things we can do to keep from getting sick and avoid spreading germs to others. Learn when and how to wash your hands the recommended way. Buckle up Seat belts reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths by about half. Seat belt use is the most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries in crashes. Get the facts about seat belts. Protect your skin Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. To protect your skin use a sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher, seek shade, cover up and avoid indoor tanning. Read food labels Look at nutrition labels to know what you're eating. See how much fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, and other ingredients are in your food. Find a site near you Find STD testing near you to know your status. Test your smoke alarm Test your smoke alarm once a month to make sure it works properly. Replace the batteries if needed during the time change each spring and fall. Listen to a health podcast CDC offers many podcasts on a variety of topics. Listen to them for health and safety information. Know the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and stroke Every year about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. Learn the symptoms of a heart attack and stroke.  These tips are just a few of the many things you can do in five minutes or less. Learn more small steps you can take to improve your health.

Stop Ticks

 

DEET, showers, and tick checks can stop ticks. Reduce your chances of getting a tickborne disease by using repellents, checking for ticks, and showering after being outdoors. If you have a tick bite followed by a fever or rash, seek medical attention. Gardening, camping, hiking, and playing outdoors – when enjoying these activities, don't forget to take steps to prevent bites from ticks that share the outdoors. Ticks can infect humans with bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can cause serious illness. Before You Go Outdoors Know where to expect ticks. Ticks live in moist and humid environments, particularly in or near wooded or grassy areas. You may come into contact with ticks during outdoor activities around your home or when walking through leaf litter or near shrubs. Always walk in the center of trails in order to avoid contact with ticks. Products containing permethrin kill ticks. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remain protective through several washings. Use a repellent with DEET on skin. Repellents containing 20% or more DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) can protect up to several hours. Always follow product instructions. Parents should apply this product to their children, avoiding the hands, eyes, and mouth. For detailed information about using DEET on children, see recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. For detailed information about tick prevention and control, see Avoiding Ticks(http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/avoid/index.html). Detailed information for outdoor workers can be found at NIOSH Safety and Health Topic: Tick-borne Diseases(http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/tick-borne). After You Come Indoors Check your clothing for ticks. Ticks may be carried into the house on clothing. Any ticks that are found should be removed. Placing clothes into a dryer on high heat for at least an hour effectively kills ticks. Shower soon after being outdoors. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease. Showering may help wash off unattached ticks and it is a good opportunity to do a tick check. Check your body for ticks after being outdoors. Conduct a full body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas, which even includes your back yard. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body. Check these parts of your body and your child's body for ticks: Under the arms In and around the ears Inside belly button Back of the knees In and around the hair Between the legs Around the waist What to Do if You Find an Attached Tick Remove the attached tick as soon as you notice it by grasping with tweezers, as close to the skin as possible, and pulling it straight out. For detailed information about tick removal, see the tick removal page(http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html). Watch for signs of illness such as rash or fever in the days and weeks following the bite, and see a health care provider if these develop. Your risk of acquiring a tick-borne illness depends on many factors, including where you live, what type of tick bit you, and how long the tick was attached. If you become ill after a tick bite, see a health care provider. Reduce Ticks in Your Yard Modify your landscape to create Tick-Safe Zones[6.82 MB]. Regularly remove leaf litter and clear tall grasses and brush around homes, and place wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded areas to keep ticks away from recreational areas, and keep play areas and playground equipment away from away from shrubs, bushes, and other vegetation. Consider using a chemical control agent. Effective tick control chemicals are available for use by the homeowner, or they can be applied by a professional pest control expert, and even limited applications can greatly reduce the number of ticks. A single springtime application of acaricide can reduce the population of ticks that cause Lyme disease by 68–100%. Discourage deer. Removing plants that attract deer and constructing physical barriers may help discourage deer from entering your yard and bringing ticks with them. Prevent Ticks on Animals Use tick control products to prevent family pets from bringing ticks into the home. Tick collars, sprays, shampoos, or “top spot” medications should be used regularly to protect your animals and your family from ticks. Consult your veterinarian and be sure to use these products according to the package instructions. For more information on animals and health, see Preventing Ticks on Your Pet.

Undoubtedly, it’s worthwhile to listen to

 

Jango

17 Breathtakingly Beautiful Places In India You Must Visit Before You Die

 

1. Yumthang Valley - Sikkim Yumthang Valley is a grazing pasture surrounded by the Himalayan mountains in North Sikkim. At a height of 3,564 metres above sea level, it's popularly known as the 'Valley of Flowers'. 2. Tea garden hill of Munnar Munnar is a town that's situated in the southwestern region of Kerala. It's practically covered fully with Tea plantations, some as high as 7000 feet above sea level. 3. Stok Range, Ladakh At 11, 845 feet, Stok Kangri in Stok Range has is a popular mountain among climbers and mountaineers. It's often considered as a practice run for Everest. 4. Nubra Valley, Ladakh Nubra is a high altitude cold desert with rare precipitation and scant vegetation. 5. Nohkalikai Falls, Cherrapunji Located near Cherrapunji, one of the wettest places on earth, Nohkalikai Falls is one of the tallest plunge waterfalls in India. Name of the falls (in Khasi language - "Jump of Ka Likai") is linked to a legend about a local woman, Likai, who after a family tragedy became insane and jumped off the cliff next to the falls. 6. Nanda Devi It's the second highest mountain in India. While the peak is not that easy to climb for regular folks like us, but the surrounding Nanda Devi National Park is a must visit atleast once in a lifetime. 7. Mizoram Mizoram is a land of rolling hills, valleys, rivers and lakes. As many as 21 major hill ranges or peaks of different heights run through the length and breadth of the state, with plains scattered here and there. 8. Lonar Sarovar, Maharashtra The Lonar Lake is a saline soda lake located at Lonar in Buldana district, Maharashtra, India which was created by a meteor impact. 9. Matheran The smallest hill station in India, Matheran which is only 90 km from Mumbai, provides a pretty dramatic view of the sunset and the sunrise. 10. Leh Leh, the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh is best experienced via road trips from New Delhi. 11. Key Monastery Key Gompa is a Tibetian Buddhist Monastery located on top of a hill at an altitude of 13, 668 feet above sea level close to the Spiti river in Himachal Pradesh. It reportedly, was started by 100 monks in 1855. 12. Kashmir It's not called paradise on Earth for nothing. 13. Hoggenakal Falls This waterfall in South India on the river Kaveri is sometimes also referred to as the "Niagara Falls" of India. 14. Tungnath, Uttarakhand Located at an altitude of 12, 073 Feet, at Tungnath mountains you can also find the oldest Hindu shrine of Lord Shiva. 15. Drang Drung Glacier, Near Kargil It takes about 2 days to get here from the Srinagar airport. 16. Deodar Forest, Himachal Pradesh 17. Andamans It has 325 islands which cover an area of 6,408 km2, with the Andaman Sea to the east between the islands and the coast of Burma.

Disparidades de salud vinculadas al cáncer

Las disparidades de salud son las diferencias en la incidencia, la prevalencia, la mortalidad y la carga de una enfermedad y sus efectos adversos en la salud entre grupos específicos de la población. Las disparidades afectan a muchas poblaciones, incluidas las minorías raciales y étnicas, los habitantes de las zonas rurales, mujeres, niños y adolescentes, los ancianos y las personas con discapacidades. Según la Oficina de Salud de las Minorías y Disparidades de Salud, la expectativa de vida y de salud en general de la mayoría de la población estadounidense han mejorado en los últimos años, pero no todos los estadounidenses se han beneficiado por igual. Los CDC y sus socios monitorean las tendencias en la incidencia (diagnósticos) y mortalidad (defunciones) vinculadas al cáncer para identificar qué grupos de la población se ven afectados de manera desproporcionada. Para reducir la desigualdad del cáncer en grupos de mayor riesgo, debemos: mejorar y aumentar la detección temprana del cáncer, promover estilos de vida saludables y ampliar el acceso una mejor atención sanitaria. Tasas de cáncer por raza y grupo étnico Para todos los tipos de cáncer en los hombres estadounidenses: Las tasas de nuevos casos de cáncer es mayor entre los hombres negros y luego, en forma descendiente, entre los hombres blancos, hispanos*, asiáticos/nativos de las islas del Pacífico y los indoamericanos/nativos de Alaska. Las tasas de mortalidad más altas se registran entre los hombres negros, seguidos por los hombres blancos, los hispanos*, los indoamericanos/nativos de Alaska, los hispanos* y los de origen asiático/nativos de las islas del Pacífico. Para todos los tipos de cáncer en las mujeres estadounidenses: La tasa de nuevos casos de cáncer es mayor entre las mujeres blancas y luego, en forma descendiente, entre las mujeres negras, hispanas, asiáticas/nativas de las islas del Pacífico e indoamericanas/nativas de Alaska. Las tasas de mortalidad más altas se registran entre las mujeres negras, seguidas por las mujeres blancas, las indoamericanas/nativas de Alaska, las hispanas* y las de origen asiático/de las islas del Pacífico. *El origen hispano no es mutuamente excluyente de la raza blanca, negra, asiática/nativa de las Islas del Pacífico e indoamericana/nativa de Alaska. Qué están haciendo los CDC Investigaciones Los investigadores de los CDC han estudiado cuáles son los grupos de personas que no se han beneficiado por igual de las recientes mejoras en la atención de la salud. La División de Prevención y Control del Cáncer de los CDC patrocinó una edición complementaria de la revista American Journal of Public Health sobre las principales causas de muerte en los indoamericanos y nativos de Alaska. Los autores son expertos de muchos campos de especialización diferentes. AMIGAS(http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/cancer/gynecologic/what_cdc_is_doing/amigas.htm) El acrónimo AMIGAS significa ‘Ayudando a las Mujeres con Información, Guía y Amor para su Salud’. AMIGAS es un programa de intervención comunitario educativo y bilingüe, que fue diseñado con el fin de ayudar tanto a las promotoras (las trabajadoras de salud comunitaria) como a otros educadores de salud no profesionales a aumentar las pruebas de detección del cáncer de cuello uterino entre las hispanas que rara vez o nunca se habían hecho una prueba de Papanicoláu. Campaña de los medios de comunicación dirigida a las mujeres afroamericanas(http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/cancer/breast/what_cdc_is_doing/aamm.htm) La campaña utiliza la radio y la prensa escrita para lograr una mayor concientización de las mujeres sobre la importancia de realizarse las mamografías para detectar el cáncer de mama en las etapas iniciales. La campaña también busca aumentar el uso de los servicios de detección del Programa Nacional de Detección Temprana del Cáncer de Mama y de Cuello Uterino en las mujeres afroamericanas de 40 a 64 años de edad. El programa piloto de la campaña se está llevando a cabo en Savannah y Macon, Georgia. Actividades de concientización El Programa Nacional de Detección Temprana del Cáncer de Mama y de Cuello Uterino(http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/cancer/dcpc/about/nbccedp.htm) de los CDC proporciona mamografías, pruebas de Papanicolaou y tratamientos para el cáncer de mama y de cuello uterino a las mujeres de bajos recursos, médicamente subatendidas y con poca cobertura de seguro médico en diferentes estados, tribus y territorios. El Programa Nacional de Control Integral del Cáncer(http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/cancer/dcpc/about/ncccp.htm) de los CDC brinda el capital inicial, la estructura y el apoyo para los planes del Control Integral del Cáncer en todos los 50 estados, el Distrito de Columbia, 7 tribus y 7 islas del Pacífico y territorios asociados de los Estados Unidos. Muchos planes incluyen estrategias para reducir las disparidades vinculadas con el cáncer. El Programa para el Control del Cáncer Colorrectal(http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/cancer/dcpc/about/crccp.htm) proporciona fondos a 25 estados y cuatro tribus de los Estados Unidos por un periodo de cinco años. El programa apoya los esfuerzos de detección en la población y brinda servicios de detección del cáncer colorrectal para hombres y mujeres de bajos recursos de 50 a 64 años de edad que no tienen médico o su seguro médico es limitado, cuando no hay otros seguros médicos disponibles. Los CDC financian la red Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network, la cual trabaja con comunidades y asociaciones para encontrar maneras de incrementar la detección del cáncer y disminuir las disparidades de salud asociadas a esta enfermedad.

Artificial photosynthesis breakthrough turns CO2 emissions into plastics and biofuel

 

Researchers have developed an artificial photosynthesis technology that could be a win/win for the environment (Photo: Shutterstock) Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley have created a hybrid system of bacteria and semiconducting nanowires that mimics photosynthesis. According to the researchers, their versatile, high-yield system can take water, sunlight and carbon dioxide and turn them into the building blocks of biodegradable plastics, pharmaceutical drugs and even biofuel. Although renewable energy is making up a growing portion of the world’s energy production, scientists have suggested that the current trends of CO2 buildup in our atmosphere are still likely to lead to serious consequences, and do so sooner than we had anticipated. One way to keep harmful emissions under control could be to trap the CO2 coming out of smokestacks using materials like polymers or sponges. Some scientists are even going one step further, working on technology that can convert carbon dioxide into useful byproducts like calcium carbonate or biofuels such as methanol and isobutanol. However, these systems are still either very low-yield or in an early experimental phase. Taking inspiration from Mother Nature, scientists have now devised a system that uses sunlight and water to convert carbon dioxide into a wide range of useful chemicals. Artificial photosynthesis is not a new concept  –  it’s been used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and synthesize formic acid  –  but this new approach could be a game changer because of its versatility and the high yields it produces. "Our system has the potential to fundamentally change the chemical and oil industry in that we can produce chemicals and fuels in a totally renewable way, rather than extracting them from deep below the ground," says Peidong Yang, who led the study along with Christopher and Michelle Chang. Their invention uses two different types of bacteria interspersed within arrays of silicon and titanium nanowires. The silicon nanowires act like a miniature solar cell, capturing incoming light and releasing electrons. These electrons are then absorbed by Sporomusa ovata, an anaerobic bacterium that combines them with water and turns carbon dioxide into acetate, a versatile chemical precursor. Meanwhile, the titanium portion of the structure takes the positive charge left in place of the electron and uses it to extract oxygen from water. The oxygen is used by genetically engineered E. Coli bacteria to synthesize the desired chemicals. The nanowire array also acts as a layer of protection for the bacteria, burying them in something akin to tall grass so that these usually-oxygen sensitive organisms can survive in adverse environmental conditions like flue gases. As a proof of principle, the scientists showed that their system can reduce CO2 to chemicals including fuels, polymers and pharmaceutical precursors. The yields were up to 26 percent for butanol, 25 percent for amorphadiene, a precursor to the antimalarial drug artemisinin, and 52 percent for PHB, a renewable and biodegradable plastic, although these figures could rise even further with future optimizations. Solar energy conversion efficiency was at 0.38 percent after 200 hours under simulated sunlight, which the researchers say is about the same as an actual leaf. But the team is already working to improve on this. "We are currently working on our second generation system which has a solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency of three-percent," says Yang. "Once we can reach a conversion efficiency of 10 percent in a cost effective manner, the technology should be commercially viable." The team's research appears on the latest issue of the journal Nano Letters. Source: LBNL

The 100 best fitness tips

 

The 100 best fitness tips

The brain from top to bottom

 

The Brain : From Top to Bottom