Diigo LinksThe Healthy Flap

The Healthy Flap: January 18, 2013

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Lance Armstrong and OprahLance Armstrong in interview with Oprah Winfrey

The Healthy Flap: my links for January 4th through January 18th:

  • Lance Armstrong’s doping drugs -Lance Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Thursday night.Did he use EPO? Testosterone? Cortisone? Human growth hormone? Illegal blood transfusions and other blood doping? Armstrong answered “yes” on all counts.In October, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released more than 1,000 pages of evidence in doping allegations against Armstrong and his teammates. He was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in the scandal. On Thursday, the International Olympic Committee demanded that he give back the bronze medal he won in 2000.
  • Kids’ dental care at risk -California’s Medi-Cal program will soon be responsible for the dental care of half the state’s children. But advocates say the program is not prepared for the big increase in demand that will come with the closure of the Healthy Families insurance program and the implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act. This report from the Children’s Partnership explains the problem and offers some recommendations for ensuring that kids get the care they need.
  • Cheesecake Factory pasta on list of caloric “food porn” -A Cheesecake Factory pasta dish with more than 3,000 calories – or more than a day and a half of the recommended caloric intake for an average adult – is among the headliners on this year’s Xtreme Eating list of the most unhealthy dishes at U.S. chain restaurants.The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer-focused nonprofit group that promotes healthier eating, compiles an annual list of “food porn” to alert consumers to menu items with eye-popping levels of calories, saturated fat, sugar and/or sodium.
  • Poll: Few people know obesity can cause more harm to health than just heart disease, diabetes -Heart disease and diabetes get all the attention, but what about the many other ways obesity can damage your health?Carrying too many pounds may lead to or worsen some types of cancer, arthritis, sleep apnea, even infertility. But a new poll suggests few Americans realize the links.Only about one-quarter of people think it’s possible for someone to be very overweight and still healthy, according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.Ask about the most serious consequences, and more than 7 in 10 Americans can correctly tick off heart disease and diabetes. Heart disease is the nation’s leading killer, and diabetes and obesity are twin epidemics, as rates of both have climbed in recent years.
  • Eat, drink and pump it out: new weight loss gadget sucks food straight out of the stomach -Who would have thought that the future of weight loss might lie in the hands of the inventor of the Segway? Dean Kamen, creator of the two-wheeled wonder, along with a team from Aspire Bariatrics, of Philadelphia, has applied for a patent for a pump that can suck food and drink straight out of the stomach.Users are able to stuff their face before draining their stomach by connecting the pump to a valve surgically installed in their abdominal wall. The makers hope to use it to treat the morbidly obese, and to provide an alternative to a gastric bypass.
  • Early flu season accelerates; no peak yet, CDC says -The nation’s early flu season continued to grow in the U.S. this week, with no sign yet of a peak in the spread of coughing, achy, feverish illness, health officials said Friday.”I think we’re still accelerating,” said Tom Skinner, a CDC spokesman.Twenty-nine states and New York City reported high levels of flu activity, up from 16 states and NYC the previous week. Flu was widespread in 41 states, up from 31 states, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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