Vicks VapoRub Can Cause Harm If Improperly Used

Improper use may cause respiratory distress, researchers say; company says product is safe

Findings published in the January 2009 edition of the medical journal Chest argued that putting VapoRub close to or inside your nose may cause airway inflammation. Vicks VapoRub is widely used and known throughout for various respiratory problems.

The medical study reports that the product may stimulate mucus production and airway inflammation, which can have severe effects on the breathing of infants and young children because of the small size of their airways.

For more information, you can read it through here:

http://www.chestjournal.org/

What is mesothelioma?

Detecting Mesothelioma by coronal CT scan.
Legend: the malignant mesothelioma is indicated by the yellow arrows, the central pleural effusion is marked with a yellow star. (1) right lung, (2) spine, (3) left lung, (4) ribs, (5) aorta, (6) spleen, (7) left kidney, (8) right kidney, (9) liver.

Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that develops in the mesothelial cells that lines many organs and body cavities. The mesothelium (composed of mesothelial cells) is the membrane that surrouunds three of the body's major cavities and depending on what cavity it lines it is given a specific name. For instance, the thoracic cavity is called pleura, the abdominal cavity is called peritoneum, and the heart sac is called pericardium.

There are 5 kinds of mesothelioma cancers due to mainly, asbestos exposure:

Pleural Mesothelioma: This is the mesothelioma that develops around the lungs' linings known as pleura. Most medical cases are malignant mesothelioma which account to 70-75% of the cases. This is possibly due to the fact that many workers exposed to asbestos were breathing the toxins in.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma: This is the mesothelioma that surrounds the abdominal cavity's linings. The lining is otherwise known as the peritoneal membrane. An estimated 20-25% percent of mesotheliomas are of this type.

Pericardial Mesothelioma: As the name suggests, this type of mesothelioma forms around the lining of the heart. There's a smaller amount of cases, roughly 3-5%.

Testicular Mesothelioma: This is the rarest type with less than 1000 cases recorded. The cancer forms around the testicles.

Benign Mesothelioma: This is the only type of mesothelioma that a patient can fully recover from but it maybe a precursor of future asbestos-related issues.

To avoid these types of cancer, you must limit your risk of exposure to asbestos. Do not breath it. Do not get exposed to it without adequate protection. Consult a physician or hazard professional for more information on how to prevent it.

Is smoking marijuana safer than smoking tobacco?

There is a myth out there that smoking marijuana is less harmful than smoking cigarrettes. Let's take into account effects for instance. On May 12, 2008, 51 students were taken into the hospital because their school driver crashed their bus -- apparently, she was high on marijuana. Yet there are some, that still argue, it is safe to use marijuana if you are "alone" since it doesn't harm anyone else and it doesn't really harm you.

Recent studies have shown that there is a dangerous side to marijuana that people tend to ignorantly set aside or they have not been educated on it yet.



Mental Illness
A combined study by Otago University, London's King's College and the University of Wisconsin in 2005 has shown that daily or monthly marijuana users had a higher chance of psychosis, specifically schizophrenia and other mental illness.

More Toxins than Tobacco
A study published in late 2007 by the Canadian health agencies has shown 20 times as much ammonia, a chemical linked to cancer. The study also found that there were five times as much hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides, which are linked to heart and lung damage respectively. However, in the case of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the toxin linked to infertility, the researchers found concentrations were higher in cigarette smoke. In short, if you want poisons and cancer, marijuana is the way to go. For infertility, you have a better chance with tobacco.


Faster Lung Destruction Than Smoking Tobacco
A new study this year published in ScienceDaily clearly shows that bullous lung disease occurs in marijuana smokers approximately 20 years earlier than tobacco smokers. At present, about 10% of young adults and 1% of the adult population smoke marijuana regularly. Researchers find that the mean age of marijuana-smoking patients with lung problems was 41, as opposed to the average age of 65 years for tobacco-smoking patients.

Lead author Dr. Matthew Naughton says, "Marijuana is inhaled as extremely hot fumes to the peak inspiration and held for as long as possible before slow exhalation. This predisposes to greater damage to the lungs and makes marijuana smokers are more prone to bullous disease as compared to cigarette smokers."

The type of lung cancer damage is also harder to detect as it requires a CT scan and X rays often times cannot detect it. This paper is published in the January 2008 issue of Respirology.

A seperate study has estimated that one marijuana joint equals five cigarrettes worth of lung damage.

Heart Disease and Depression
A more recent study in May 2008 has shown marijuana links and ties to heart disease and depression. Long-term and chronic marijuana abuse has been associated with adverse effects on the heart, says lead author Jean Lud Cadet, a molecular neuropsychiatrist at the National Institutes of Health, but scientists are only beginning to understand how the drug's impacts the cardio- and cerebrovascular systems.

Summary
The jury is out on tobacco that it causes cancer and is bad for your health. Studies upon studies show this.

Now the focus is on marijuana as researchers continue to pour dollars into tracking its adverse affects. It is still relatively a new area of research, one that most marijuana supporters cringe on -- the spotlight is now on the supposed "safe drug".

Smokers have easier time to quit if friends do it too, says Harvard study

URL: New York Times

HOW TO QUIT SMOKING BY SOCIAL PRESSURE!

We know that smoking is no longer a popular habit in the United States, yet it is still prevalent throughout the world. A Harvard Medical School study clearly shows how the new social perception in the United States is helping others in quitting the ugly habit of slow suicide.

The study, by Dr. Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School and James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, followed thousands of smokers and nonsmokers for 32 years, from 1971 until 2003, studying them as part of a large network of relatives, co-workers, neighbors, friends and friends of friends.

It was a time when the percentage of adult smokers in the United States fell to 21 percent from 45 percent. As the investigators watched the smokers and their social networks, they saw what they said was a striking effect — smokers had formed little social clusters and, as the years went by, entire clusters of smokers were stopping en masse.

Happy Marriages Equals Lower Blood Pressure

Source Publication: Annals of Behavioral Medicine, March 20, 2008


In a recent study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, there seems to be evidence that suggest there are unique health benefits directly tied to a happy marriage (we define marriage as the biblical man and wife).

Overall there were 204 married couples and 99 single adults in the study.

"There seem to be some unique health benefits from marriage. It's not just being married that benefits health -- what's really the most protective of health is having a happy marriage," study author Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychologist who specializes in relationships and health, said in a prepared statement.

The participants wore portable blood-pressure monitors for 24 hours. The monitors recorded blood pressure at random intervals and provided a total of about 72 readings.

"We wanted to capture participants' blood pressure doing whatever they normally do in everyday life. Getting one or two readings in a clinic is not really representative of the fluctuations that occur throughout the day," Holt-Lunstad said.

Overall, happily married people scored four points lower on the blood pressure readings than single adults. The study also found that blood pressure among married people -- especially those in happy marriages -- dipped more during sleep than in single people.

"Research has shown that people whose blood pressure remains high throughout the night are at much greater risk of cardiovascular problems than people whose blood pressure dips," Holt-Lunstad said.

The study also found that unhappily married adults have higher blood pressure than both happily married and single adults.

Holt-Lunstad noted that spouses can encourage healthy habits in one another, such as eating a healthy diet and having regular doctor visits. People in happy marriages also have a source of emotional support, she said.

Researchers seeking approval of cocaine vaccine

Two Baylor College of Medicine researchers in Houston are working on a cocaine vaccine they hope will become the first-ever medication to treat people hooked on the drug. "For people who have a desire to stop using, the vaccine should be very useful," said Dr. Tom Kosten, a psychiatry professor who is being assisted in the research by his wife, Therese, a psychologist and neuroscientist. "At some point, most users will give in to temptation and relapse, but those for whom the vaccine is effective won't get high and will lose interest."

The immune system — unable to recognize cocaine and other drug molecules because they are so small — can't make antibodies to attack them. To help the immune system distinguish the drug, Kosten attached inactivated cocaine to the outside of inactivated cholera proteins.

More info: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4s0F9Rn9z8SKqxJKy7C5XRrPPQQD8TTC2N80

Premature C-Section Causes Infant Breathing Problems

Source: WebMD Medical News
Summary: Medical Discoveries
Date: Dec 2007

Premature C-Section Causes Infant Breathing Problems

"Mothers who choose elective cesarean section should be aware that the risk of respiratory problems is four times raised at 37 weeks' gestation vs. full-term, intended vaginal delivery," Kirkeby Hansen tells WebMD. "The rate of respiratory problems is 10% for elective C-section at 37 weeks, but it is 2.8% for intended vaginal deliveries. That is why we say you should never do elective cesarean section at 37 weeks."

Most children fully recover from these breathing problems, notes Emory University pediatrician Lucky Jain, MD. But the long-terms effects aren't clear.