Forums: Health And Wellness

The political fallout in Nebraska from the "Cornhusker Kickback" hasn't subsided. Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson and Democratic donors have spent more than $500,000 on TV ads in Omaha and elsewhere justifying the sweet exemption from Medicaid costs that was granted Nebraska in return for Mr. Nelson's vote for the ObamaCare bill. But a new Rasmussen poll finds that 64% of Nebraskans still oppose the bill, while Mr. Nelson's personal approval rating has cratered to 40% from 61% a year ago. Mr. Nelson doesn't face the voters until 2012, but this week one of his likely challengers, Nebraska State Treasurer Shane...

Hi, I just tried to call your office in D.C., but your message box was full, and no one was answering the phone. (Surprise, Surprise, as Gomer Pyle use to say!) I just wanted to urge you to vote for the Senate health care bill so President Obama can sign it into law, as I wish to see the total destruction of the Democrat party for at least a generation. Since there's no chance of significant changes being made via budget reconciliation in the Senate, this will be the law of the land. Any promises to the contrary by Obama...

Aloha folks -- This is primarily for people in Hawaii, but anyone is welcome to follow! For those of you who are active on Twitter, please consider following the Hawaii State Department of Health. (Link to Hawaii Department of Health Twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/HIGov_Health ) Their account and activity have been growing since they launched it in October, but they can always use new followers to help spread important public health messaging: emergency alerts on environmental hazards, tips on healthy living, information on health events, news, and various other types of Tweets as well. So please kokua and follow them, and...

MIAMI (AFP) – Researchers said Tuesday that papaya leaf extract and its tea have dramatic cancer-fighting properties against a broad range of tumors, backing a belief held in a number of folk traditions. University of Florida researcher Nam Dang and colleagues in Japan, in a report published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, documented papaya's anticancer effect against tumors of the cervix, breast, liver, lung and pancreas.

Be forewarned that this true story may turn your stomach. Dr. Manny Alvarez and Dr. Cynara Coomer sound off about a black-market butt-enhancement procedure where six women were injected with household caulking and other hazardous materials. "He was injecting plumber's caulking into the rear ends of women for enhancing their butt techniques". The Fox News "modelesque" Cynara Coomer reminds us that when shopping around for doctors, cheapest is not always best folks!

The collection of symptoms that is the metabolic syndrome -- insulin resistance, high cholesterol, fatty liver, and a greater risk for diabetes, heart disease, and stroke -- are all related to obesity, but, according to a review in the March 9th issue of Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, not in the way you probably think they are. In fact, says Roger Unger of the University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas, obesity is the body's way of storing lipids where they belong, in fat tissue, in an effort to protect our other organs from lipids' toxic effects. It's when the surplus...

A new University of Illinois study touts the benefits of soluble fiber -- found in oats, apples, and nuts, for starters -- saying that it reduces the inflammation associated with obesity-related diseases and strengthens the immune system. This happens because soluble fiber causes increased production of an anti-inflammatory protein called interleukin-4, he said. Scientists have long known that obesity is linked to inflammatory conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. Yet, in a recent study, the U of I scientists demonstrated that fat tissue produces hormones that appear to compensate for this inflammation. "There are significant anti-inflammatory components in fat...