Casino Smoking Ban Tied to Drop in Ambulance Calls

August 13, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Colorado county law likely reduced illness from secondhand smoke, study suggests

MONDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — Ambulance calls to casinos in Gilpin County, Colo., fell about 20 percent after smoking was banned, a new study finds.

The decline mirrored a drop in ambulance calls to public locations two years earlier when the state banned smoking everywhere except in casinos, according to the authors of the study appearing Aug. 5 in the journal Circulation.

The researchers said the smoking ban imposed on casinos likely limited nonsmokers’ exposure to secondhand smoke and may have motivated some smokers to quit. [Read more…]

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Red Night Light Better for Blue Mood: Study

August 13, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Symptoms of depression varied in hamsters depending on color of light exposure

TUESDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) — The color of your night light may make a big difference in your mood, research conducted in hamsters suggests.

The study found that hamsters exposed to blue or white light at night had more depressive-like symptoms and depression-related changes in the brain than those that were exposed to red light.

The only hamsters that did better than those exposed to red light were those that had total darkness at night, according to the study in the Aug. 7 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. [Read more…]

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Could a Full Moon Keep You Up at Night?

July 31, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Study finds it’s a time when people get less shut-eye, have shorter periods of deep sleep

moon-hdTHURSDAY, July 25 (HealthDay News) — Many myths have told of the powers of a full moon, from werewolves to sudden madness to unexplained seizures, but new research suggests an impact close to home: Sound sleep may be harder to come by when the moon is in its full glory.

The study suggests that the human body is cued not only to the daily rising and setting of the sun, which regulates circadian rhythms, but also to the phases of the moon.

Published in the July 25 online issue of the journalCurrent Biology, the idea behind the finding was dreamed up in a bar one night as the Swiss researchers were having a drink. [Read more…]

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U.S. Panel Backs Routine Lung CT Scans for Older, Heavy Smokers

July 31, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Yearly testing will prevent some lung cancer deaths, experts conclude

lungs-hdMONDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) — A highly influential government panel of experts is recommending that older smokers at high risk of lung cancer receive annual low-dose CT scans to help detect and possibly prevent the spread of the fatal disease.

The The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concluded that the benefits to a very specific segment of smokers outweigh the risks involved in receiving the annual scans, said co-vice chair Dr. Michael LeFevre, a distinguished professor of family medicine at the University of Missouri. [Read more…]

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Hair-Straightening Product May Endanger Stylists, Clients

July 31, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Study found too-high levels of formaldehyde in Brazilian Blowout solution

hair-hd

THURSDAY, July 25 (HealthDay News) — A popular hair-straightening product can pose a health threat to hairstylists and their customers, researchers say.

The Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Hair Solution could expose people to potentially dangerous levels of the cancer-causing chemical formaldehyde, according to the study in the August issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. [Read more…]

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Bad Boss May Be Toxic to Your Family, Too

July 16, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Research shows employees bring workplace stress home to spouses, children

alcoholoffice_18296When workplace stress spills over into your personal life, your family’s well-being can also suffer, new evidence suggests.

A recent conference on work, stress and health, sponsored in part by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, included research on family-supportive workplaces and the influence of supervisors — good or bad — on employee health. [Read more…]

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Employers May Misjudge Job Applicants Based on Facebook Pages

July 16, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Online postings about drinking, drugs not a good reason to eliminate applicants, researchers find

woman2_computerCompanies may be looking at the wrong things when using Facebook to screen job applicants and, as a result, could be overlooking people who would be good employees, a new study suggests.

It is common for employers to assess potential job candidates for certain personality traits, such as conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion. For the study, researchers measured these traits in 175 people and also looked at their Facebook behaviors. [Read more…]

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Putting Off Retirement May Help Stave Off Alzheimer’s

July 16, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

Study looked at self-employed workers in France

constructionAs Americans increasingly delay retirement, a new French study indicates this scenario may have a silver lining: a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers analyzing health and insurance records of more than 429,000 self-employed workers found a 3 percent reduction in dementia risk for each extra year at the age of retirement. Workers evaluated had been retired for an average of more than 12 years, and 2.65 percent of the group had dementia. [Read more…]

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