Archive for March, 2010
Stray Cat’s Actions Alert Woman to Breast Cancer – Paw Nation
March 10th, 2010 | 
Author: Over the last few years we’ve seen articles about a nursing home that has a cat that alerts nurses when a resident is going to die. The article below is another example of how animals, especially cats, have some 6th sense that enables them to detect when something’s going wrong in our bodies. In this article an amazing stray cat saves a women’s life. Click on the link for the full story.
When a stray cat strutted into her life last summer, Judy Danchura of Canada could not have imagined how the orange and white tomcat she nicknamed Sumo would end up saving her life. Whether it was by accident or by design, we’ll leave up to you to decide. But without question, Sumo’s actions alerted Danchura to a tumor growing in her breast, enabling her to get an early diagnosis of cancer and begin treatment, reports CBC News.
Stray Cat’s Actions Alert Woman to Breast Cancer – Paw Nation
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Cost of food-borne illnesses is deemed much higher than earlier estimates – Los Angeles Times
We are constantly seeing food recalls over the last few years. It can make us scared to buy packaged food for fear of what disease we may pick up.
On top of the fear that food borne illnesses can cause in the wake of multiple recalls, it is extremely expensive to treat all the people that get food poisoning. A new study estimates that food illnesses costs over $150 billion (that is Billion with a B) in medical bills, lost productivity, and lost wages. If that isn’t enough to get you thinking about what kind of food you are putting into your body and where it came from, I don’t know what will.
Here is an excerpt from the article and a link to the article that was published in the Los Angeles Times.
A new consumer research report released Wednesday has found that the health-related costs of food-borne illnesses total $152 billion a year, including the costs of medical bills, lost wages and lost productivity. That total is more than four times that of earlier estimates calculated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Cost of food-borne illnesses is deemed much higher than earlier estimates – Los Angeles Times
Genetics Test Helps Predict Weight-Loss Success, Study Says – WSJ.com
If you have ever dieted or know somebody who has, there is a good chance you are familiar with diets that just don’t work. The reality is that no single diet or exercise program is best for one person. New research is showing that there is a logical explanation.
According to the article in the Wall Street Journal, there is a genetic pre-disposition for success in certain types of diets. For example, in a test of women who showed a genetic tendency to lose weight with a low carb diet, they lost a lot more weight than those who didn’t have the same predisposition.
Check out the excerpt and see how impressive the difference is (it is more than double). If you want to read the whole article (and you probably do), click the link below the excerpt to be taken to the article on WSJ.com
In a study involving 133 overweight women, those with a genetic predisposition to benefit from a low-carbohydrate diet lost 2 1/2 times as much weight as those on the same diet without the predisposition. Similarly, women with a genetic makeup that favored a low-fat diet lost substantially more weight than women who curbed fat calories without low-fat genes. The women were followed for a year.
Genetics Test Helps Predict Weight-Loss Success, Study Says – WSJ.com
Could germs be making you fat? | Reuters
For a long time, modern medicine has focused on killing germs and bacteria. However, there are good bacteria and bad bacteria in our bodies and we need to consider both when we look at overall health.
In this new research, it is shown that bad bacteria can lead to inflammation (this is starting to be recognized as a big problem related to health and weight). It appears that this certain bacteria may cause you to eat more.
Check out the quote from the article then click the link at the bottom to read the whole article.
"Previous research has suggested that bacteria can influence how well energy is absorbed from food, but these findings demonstrate that intestinal bacteria can actually influence appetite," Gewirtz said.
"The obesity epidemic is driven by people eating too much, but why are people eating more?"