By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

As always, I loved getting your comments this week. We had a lively discussion about how confusing it is to follow all the nutritional dictates put forth by government recommendations. What started as a simple blog post to announce the an American Heart Association survey showing our ignorance of wine and salt guidelines turned into a condemnation of confusing health recommendations that ask us to count every gram of salt and sugar that we put into our bodies.


FinnH wrote: What we have here is a fundamental failure to communicate in a useful way. And yet, the AHA seems to think that the problem is that we don't know what their recommendations are, not that they have failed to communicate them in any useful way. Instead of giving recommendations that people can readily understand and follow, they expect us to track and tally grams of food components and complete mathematical equations to determine what to eat.



nobodym wrote: I do agree this is confusing and happy they gave the ending message. Personally my wife makes large portions of soup from fresh vegetables (meats for her because I am a vegetarian). For lunch at work I bring a soup and salad (I make the salad for dinner with enough left over for lunch). The processed food I eat is mostly smaller amounts of things.

moopheus wrote: It's not very confusing at all. Eat reasonable amounts of real food. Don't eat too much junk food (processed foods, junk snacks, fast food, soda, etc.). Get some exercise.

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By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

An expensive eye injection that's approved to treat macular degeneration -- the most common cause of age-related blindness -- works no better than a much cheaper drug at preventing vision loss. That's the finding of a long-awaited study published online yesterday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study, involving more than 1,200 patients with the "wet" form of macular degeneration, found no difference between those who were randomly treated for one year with the more expensive drug Lucentis -- which costs about $2,000 a dose -- and the cheaper drug Avastin, which costs $50.

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By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

A simple three-minute questionnaire filled out by a parent in a pediatrician's waiting room may soon become a standard tool to screen for autism in babies as young as 12 months. Such a screening tool was validated in a new study that involved nearly 10,500 California children who were screened at their one-year checkup.

"The earlier we can identify a child with autism, the earlier we can intervene with treatment, and the better off the child will be in the long run," says study leader Karen Pierce, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego.

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By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

The proposed plea deal for five defendants charged in connection with harassing 15-year-old Phoebe Prince -- a South Hadley girl who committed suicide last year -- reminds us of the evils of bullying. Schools across the county have instituted anti-bullying rules, suspending students for abusing their peers with words or physical contact.

But what about students who are ostracized? Ignored by their peers as if they don't exist? Consider it bullying or not, it's a form of cruelty that's tougher for authorities to prohibit, yet it can be just as psychologically damaging, says Kip Williams, a professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University.

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By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

I wasn't surprised by a survey released this week by the American Heart Association showing Americans are woefully ill-informed about two things that affect their heart-disease risk: salt and alcohol. While more than three-quarters of the 1,000 folks the AHA surveyed knew that wine was good for their heart, less than a third knew the recommended daily limit -- four ounces of wine for women and eight ounces for men.

And more than 60 percent of survey respondents thought that sea salt had less sodium than regular salt. Perhaps that's because some health food products proudly proclaim on their labels that they contain sea salt.

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By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

I admit it. I've become a bit of an addict when it comes to consuming coverage about the royal wedding. I, too, wonder about the dress Kate Middleton's going to wear. Will it really be as modest as they say? And I worry she'll eventually be gobbled up by the vicious paparazzi, held responsible for the fatal car crash that killed her fiance's mother, the late Princess Diana.

But I'm not planning to lose sleep in order to catch the wedding live in the wee hours of Friday morning. And after reading about Americans who've flown to London to stand in the throngs outside of the church or a Cape woman's plans to have her own royal wedding party -- with everyone decked out in bowlers and white gloves -- I can't help but wonder whether some of us commoners are taking things just a tad too far.

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By Elizabeth Comeau, Boston.com Staff

Last week, I asked you how you find the time to stay fit. Many of you responded by saying that you just have to do it -- make fitness a daily habit. So, you're making the time for exercise, which is awesome. Now I want to know what, exactly, you do?

The people in the video above are practicing "green" fitness. They do things like exercise circuits at local parks. Getting outside is great (in good weather) but what do you do every day?

Do you hit the pavement for a daily run? Are you a die-hard gym-goer? Tell us your secrets for staying in shape. Don't forget, you can always send us photos of your success, too!

By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

While experts tout physical activity as having major benefits for most health ills, they're often reluctant to recommend vigorous exercise for heart failure patients since they're often extremely fatigued and at higher risk of heart attacks due to their heart's inability to effectively pump blood. Tai chi -- a Far Eastern practice that incorporates gentle physical movements with meditative breathing technique -- appears to be an adequate alternative, at least for boosting a heart failure patient's quality of life, according to a new study published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

In the study, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Mass. General Hospital recruited 100 heart failure patients for a 12-week tai chi exercise program consisting of one hour classes twice a week. A control group received educational materials on managing heart failure.

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By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

Being a mother of three kids with a full-time job, I'm forever feeling like my days are moving in fast-forward. It's 7:30 a.m. already? I think as I quickly gather their school lunches. And I can never squeeze as much into my workday as I planned because time, it seems, keeps slipping away. I'm not sure if my brain is actually perceiving time speeding up when I'm over-scheduled, but researchers have been studying the opposite phenomenon: why time seems to slow down when we're in the middle of a perilous situation.

In an article published in the New Yorker this week, Burkhard Bilger writes about Brain Time, a concept coined by a Baylor College of Medicine neuroscientist who was inspired to research our perception of time-slowing after his own brush with death during a fall from a roof at age 9.

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According to the Associated Press this morning, doctors have given Rep. Gabrielle Giffords the OK to travel to Cape Canaveral this week to watch her husband Mark Kelly's space shuttle launch.

Kelly said during an interview with CBS' Katie Couric (above) that Giffords will witness the launch of Endeavour, which is scheduled for Friday afternoon. Kelly is the commander of the mission.

Giffords was shot in the head more than three months ago, and has been in rehabilitation.

President Barack Obama and the first family are also expected to watch the launch.

By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

In an effort to halt or slow the aging process, many of us turn to Botox or restylane fillers to erase fine lines and wrinkles. Yet we often neglect the day to day care of our skin -- applying sunscreen before we head out in the morning, lathering on moisturizer every night, drinking enough water so our skin doesn't get deyhdrated.

Dermatologists say there are some simple things we can do to help keep our faces looking as young as possible. Avoiding excess sun exposure is number one. Using an exfoliating scrub once a day to remove dead skin cells can help bring out your natural glow. Applying a moisturizer with peptides, retinol, or antioxidants like vitamin C every night can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

And don't forget the obvious: At the end of the day, remove all makeup with a gentle cleanser and wash the oil and dirt off your face with a non-soap beauty bar.

By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

Quick quiz: What’s better for your waistline, grilled Florentine chicken salad or pasta with grilled chicken and vegetables?

Actually they’re both the same thing but if the dish is listed under pasta options on a restaurant menu, dieters will be less likely to order it than when it’s listed under salad options. In fact, we make snap decisions when it comes to deeming foods nutritious — or allowable on our meal plans — that have nothing to do with nutrition or calorie content, according to a new study from the University of South Carolina.

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By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

I enjoyed hearing your feedback this week. Many of you took issue with the American Heart Associations recommendations to lower triglyceride levels saying that the group didn't go far enough to stress a reduction in sugar and starch intake.

78sman3 wrote: This is an improvement over earlier guidelines, but many members of the American Heart Association still seem overly concerned with protecting the revenue stream of the junk food industry.

davebrown9 wrote: The American Heart Association is not paying attention to saturated fat research. In a study comparing the effects of soybean oil (omega-6) with to palm kernel oil (saturated fat) researchers were surprised that soybean oil raised triglycerides.
 
doctordick wrote: The two previous posts are spot on. The lipid hypothesis should be dead and buried bluesguy9999 wrote: I was having a big problem with triglycerides 25 years ago. I went on a low-carb diet way back then [and] have been on it ever since. I get my blood checked every year and I have not had a bad reading since that time. FULL ENTRY

By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

If you take a calcium supplement, you might be wondering what to make of a new finding from the British Medical Journal suggesting that calcium supplements increase a woman's risk of heart attack and stroke by about 20 percent. Should you keep taking your supplement, and how do the benefits compare against the risks?

That's a tricky question, and one that you might assume researchers have figured out by now -- given that Americans with thinning bones have been advised to take the bone-protecting supplement for decades. Turns out, though, that calcium might be yet another nutrient that's been oversold as a supplement -- at least according to some experts.

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By Elizabeth Comeau, Boston.com Staff

Wouldn't it be nice to have a personal trainer at your disposal at all times? I know personally, I'd love to have a trainer and a chef just take up residence in my home. However, since I can't afford that, being able to ask a personal trainer my fitness questions today at noon will suffice. FULL ENTRY

By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

I'm resolving not to beat myself up too much whenever I scream the f-word after stubbing my toe or banging my elbow on a closet shelf. Turns out, screaming attenuates our perception of pain -- which is probably why so many of us refined types engage in it whenever we're hurt or really pissed.

I have to admit I love studies that let me off the hook for bad behavior like the current finding published this week in the journal NeuroReport. The British researchers dipped participants hands' in icy water to evaluate their pain tolerance -- ability to keep their hand submerged -- and pain perception. They found that the volunteers had better pain tolerance and decreased pain perception when they were told to utter swear words rather than neutral words like book or house.

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Jane Adams

By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

While teen workplace injuries in Massachusetts have declined somewhat over the past decade, they still remain a major problem, contends a new report released Thursday by the Mass. Department of Public Health.

From 2004 through 2008, three teens under age 18 were fatally injured on the job, and more than 4,000 visited hospital emergency rooms for work-related injuries. The number of injured teens has fallen with rising unemployment rates, but the rate of injuries -- nearly 3 teens for every 100 that have full-time jobs -- has declined only a little since 2000.

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By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration called out four makers of hand-sanitizers on Wednesday for claiming that their products will protect against infections from nasty bugs like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA) and flu viruses. "The FDA does not have sufficient evidence demonstrating that these products are safe and effective for these purposes," the agency said in a statement released to the media.

Letters were issued to the manufacturers of Staphaseptic First Aid Antiseptic/Pain Relieving Gel; Safe4Hours Hand Sanitizing Lotion and Skin Protectant; Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic Gel; CleanWell All-Natural hand sanitizer, wipes and foaming hand soap.

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By Elizabeth Comeau, Boston.com Staff

According to a new study printed in the journal Pediatrics, researchers have found that babies born even just a few weeks early have a greater risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The disorder affects a person's ability to concentrate, and can sometimes lead to impulsive behavior.

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By Elizabeth Comeau, Boston.com Staff

Diabetes patients at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester will now have an easier way to track and manage their symptoms thanks to an electronic scorecard.

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