2010 Is Gonna Be the Best Year Ever

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything this year. I've been more focused on my restaurant blog, I suppose.

Well, here are a few articles that have grabbed my attention, as of late -

Strokes Are Increasing Among Young

This is surprising, but I do have a young friend who recently had a mild one. I get queazy just thinking about it. I also feel pain in my chest when I think about heart attacks. I'm quite squeamish.

"The best way to ward off strokes, heart attacks, and a host of other diseases is to eat right, exercise, and refrain from smoking."

The Danger of Taking Aspirin Daily

Check with your doctor on this one, or tell your parents to do so if they're the ones you're worried about, like I was.

"Now, medical experts say some people who are taking aspirin on a regular basis should think about stopping. Public-health officials are scaling back official recommendations for the painkiller to target a narrower group of patients who are at risk of a heart attack or stroke. The concern is that aspirin's side effects, which can include bleeding ulcers, might outweigh the potential benefits when taken by many healthy or older people."

12 Steps To Boost Your Health For Life

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and it's wonderful advice. Try this one - Drink more water. It'll give you more energy and "crowd out" other bad foods and beverages you might be consuming.

The Butt Stops Here

"The Butt Stops Here!" I've done it again. Thank you. Oh, thank you so much. I'd like to thank my Irish heritage and my parents' having 4 sons for the development of my exceptional sense of humor. Moving along...

It seems that monetary incentives work for just about everything but long-term risk management of a publicly traded financial services corporation. A new study shows that smokers who are given financial incentives to quit smoking are about 3 times as likely to stay smoke-free.

This is the gist of the article from MSN Health & Fitness -

All of the employees were given information about available smoking-cessation programs in their areas. Members of the financial incentive group were also told they would be given $100 for the completion of a smoking cessation program. Then, they would receive an additional $250 if they successfully quit smoking within six months from the start of the study, and they were promised another $400 if they stayed smoke-free for another six months. Smoke-free status was assessed using either a hair or urine sample to test for a substance known as cotinine, which is present when someone has smoked.

Nine to 12 months after the study began, 14.7 percent of the incentive group had kicked tobacco, compared to just 5 percent in the information-only group. Between 15 and 18 months after the study's start, 9.4 percent of those in the incentive group had stayed off cigarettes, compared to just 3.6 percent in the control group.

Thank You for Flying and Not Smoking

My brother, his fiancee and I flew from New York to Miami yesterday. One of their suitcases was weighed down with loot from her wedding shower, and after throwing it on the scale, it was determined by the airline dude that there would be an additional charge of $50 since the bag weighed more than 50 pounds.

Well, they took some stuff out of that bag and put it in a lighter one, but as we walked away, my brother said "well, I weigh a lot less than many of the passengers on this plane". That's a very good point, and as I have said for years, that is exactly the kind of thing people should expect (along with lawsuits against fast food restaurants for serving unhealthy food, or denying entrance to those restaurants for the obese) And it's already being considered by the airlines. Pretty hard to imagine weighing the passengers at check-in though, isn't it? Or is it (they did it in the 1970s)? This is all related as the nation and world struggle to balance growing prosperity and consumption with diminishing resources and new challenges in our global marketplace.

Here's an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about some of the anti-smoking policies employers are enacting. In the past few years, employers have tried to encourage employees not to smoke with positive incentives, but in many cases those have turned to punitive measures. In a case mentioned in the article, an employer even told employees they had to stop smoking or they would be fired. He enforces that policy by having their blood tested at random. He has even gone so far as to monitor their spouses, as well.

If They're Banning It in Turkey...

Smoking, that is. From the Sarasota Herald-Tribune -

"Citing the burden they place on taxpayers who pay for government workers' health insurance, Sarasota County officials announced Monday that they no longer will hire smokers."

They are coming down hard, even banning smoking on public beaches.

It is legal in Florida to refuse to hire someone who smokes.

The Science of Sleep

Very interesting stuff on Time.com. People who sleep too little (fewer than 6 hours/night) or too much (more than 9 hours) are less healthy than people who sleep juuuuuust the right amount (7 to 8). Normal sleepers drink and smoke less, are of healthier weight and have lower rates of depression. As usual, there is no proof of a cause-and-effect relationship, but it's good to know this stuff if you're trying to take control of your life and move in a better direction.

Columbia University sleep researcher, James Gangwisch -

"We're getting to the point that they may start recommending getting enough sleep as a standard approach to weight loss and the prevention of obesity."

As my brother Mark says, "if you're not exercising or getting enough sleep, then you have your priorities screwed up". Which reminds me that I read in Forbes last night that the average American household watches 8 hours of TV a day! That horrifies me.

One last thing. "The Science of Sleep" is a great movie. Especially if you like weird European movies that employ several languages at the same time (English, Spanish, French, in this case).

14 Years! 14. Years!

This is not very surprising, but maybe if people keep hearing this stuff they'll make some changes-

"People with four healthy lifestyle behaviors -- not smoking, physical activity, moderate alcohol consumption, and eating five servings of fruit or vegetables a day -- live an average of 14 years longer than people with none of those behaviors, a new British study contends."

Read the entire article in U.S. News & World Report.

Don't Call It a Comeback (It's Been Here for Years)

Though people are smoking less these days than before, young adults are the most likely people to smoke. That might surprise you, or it might not.

From today's article on WSJ.com, "The Twentysomething Paradox: We Smoke but We're Not Smokers"-

"According to the CDC, 28% of men and 20.7% of women between ages 18 and 24 reported smoking every day or some days in 2005 -- the highest smoking rate of all age groups. The vast majority of these young adults say they plan to quit in 10 years, according to a CDC survey."

Does the preceding quote apply to your or a friend? Consider this-

"Smokers today smoke fewer cigarettes, says Dr. Matthew McKenna, the director of the office on smoking and health at the Centers for Disease Control and Protection. 'You're going to have many more of these types of folks who smoke on an intermittent basis. The phenomenon has increased between 20% to 25% over the past 10 years. In the past, people were much more likely to say they smoked every day, and that has decreased.' He attributes the difference to changing social norms about smoking, the increased cost of cigarettes and the proliferation of smoking bans in public places."

I found this surprising (and I'm actually a bit skeptical of the point)-

"Whether a person smokes one cigarette a day or seven on Saturday night makes no difference, according to Dr. McKenna, who says the risks of heart and lung disease correlate to the number of cigarettes a person has smoked -- total."

I don't think there are many people who smoke one cigarette every day. I think if you're smoking every day of the week, you're probably smoking a lot more than someone who smokes just when he or she goes out drinking. I also think that your body can probably more easily cope with the toxins when spread out over a longer period than all at one time (like binge drinking versus moderate, regular alcohol consumption). The point, of course, is that you shouldn't smoke at all, so that's what we're supposed to take away from this article.

The Skinny on the Article For Which I've Been Waiting

Prepare yourself to feel sorry for a chair -

"Obesity Worse Than Drinking Or Smoking"

"'Obesity is the most serious threat to the future health of [England],' said Prof Peter Littlejohns, the director of clinical and public health at [The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence]."

"American public health research has shown that for every 100 obese men and women, compared with people of normal weight, there would be 50 extra chronic diseases compared with about 20 among those who had ever smoked, nearly 60 among people living in poverty and a similar number for drinkers."

*Check out the comment on yesterday's post from Kari Chisholm, who works for Senator Wynd.