From the category archives:
Breast feeding has been established to have numerous health benefits including protection from neonatal infections and this study found that children who were breast fed for 4 months or longer had better lung function at age 10 than those who were not. Hmmm…maybe Michael Phelps nursed until he was 5?
Ogbuanu et al. Thorax 2008.
Share:
This study looked at patients who averaged 6 hours of sleep per night and for every extra hour of sleep it reduced their chances of developing calcification of the coronary arteries by 33% over a 5 year period. Take home message: less sleep could increase the chances of coronary artery calcification, which in the long [...]
Researchers have found acupuncture to be more effective than medications in chronic headaches including migraine and tension headaches in a systematic review of 31 studies done over the past 40 years. Back in 1998 the National Institutes of Health listed acupuncture as a useful treatment for headaches. In Ob/Gyn we often refer patients to acupuncture [...]
Two interesting studies about diet and breast cancer came out this week. In the first study laboratory researchers found that extra virgin olive oil could suppress genes that can cause breast cancer. Approximately 20-30% of breast cancers come from people who carry this gene which might explain why some studies show Mediterranean diets can lower [...]
An astounding and potentially groundbreaking study was recently published showing that invasive breast cancers may sometimes go away on their own without treatment. The study looked at over 200,000 women in Norway and is interesting because they looked at rates of breast cancer detection after they recently started mammography screening. The authors of the study [...]
A recent study on happiness looked at 45,000 Americans and what activities they regularly engaged in and determined which activities the happier people tended to be involved in. The happiest people tended to: socialize more with family and friends, go to church and read the newspaper more, engage in slightly more sex, and watch less [...]
A clinical trial studied pregnant women who were not exercising and divided the group into women who started water aerobics for 50 minutes three times a week from 18 weeks until delivery and a group who continued with no exercise. They found that the group who were in the exercise program were significantly less likely to [...]
{ 1 comment }
A study in the journal of Psychosomatic Medicine found that couples who had more physical contact had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Physical activity was not just defined as sexual intercourse—hugging, kissing, even holding hands had a positive effect.
Share:
There is a fat gene that has been found to increase your chances of inherited obesity. In this study this gene was studied and it was found that those with the gene and a low level of physical activity had significant obesity. The exciting part of the study was that those with high physical activity [...]
A new study shows that babies who sleep with a fan in their room have a 72% lower chance of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The reduction in risk was much lower (16%) if you looked at infants who were already sleeping on their backs.
Share:
Mona Saint M.D., M.P.H. is a board certified Ob/Gyn and a mother of two young boys. She has won awards of excellence in gynecologic surgery and teaching, and she continually receives the highest ratings in patient satisfaction surveys. Most of all, she is appreciated for her down to earth and easy to understand explanations of complex medical questions and her empathetic style. More...