Wellness

A study out of the University of Texas to be published in September’s Arthritis Care & Research  claims that an acupuncturist’s communication style may influence a patients’ level of pain reduction and satisfaction with a treatment.

Patients with radiologically diagnosed knee osteoarthritis visited acupuncturists for three months.  One group visited practitioners were trained to communicate “high” or “neutral” expectations saying things like “I think this will work for you,” and “I’ve had a lot of success with treating knee pain.” Another group was asked to be more neutral, saying things like  “It may or may not work for you,” and “It really depends on the patient.”  Those who saw more optimistic sounding acupuncturists reported a 50% decrease in pain.
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People who use cell phones for at least half an hour every day over many years (ie, 10 years) have more than 33% chance of developing malignant tumors in the brain, according to a landmark 2010 study from the World Health Organization. (reported by the New York Times)

Researchers  examined the amount of radio frequency (RF) exposure cell phone users undergo in various scenarios. The findings, published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, show that older analog technology produced the highest RF levels.  Of the various digital communications networks used by cell phones CDMA networks had the lowest RF (major carriers include Sprint PCS, Verizon and Virgin Mobile) while with GSM (AT&T and T-Mobile) and TDMA  (major US carriers have left this system)  showing similar intermediate levels. Generally users are exposed to higher RF power output in rural areas.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a warning to parents and caregivers about the dangers of accidental overdose when giving infants liquid vitamin D supplement products.

Some products are sold with droppers that could allow harmful amounts of the vitamin to be given to an infant. These droppers can hold a greater amount of liquid vitamin D than an infant should receive.  Infants should not receive more than 400 international units (IUs) of vitamin D a day.
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A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine maintains that back pain sufferers who received acupuncture treatment or simulated acupuncture responded better and experienced less pain than those patients who were given conventional treatments alone.

Surprisingly both the patients who received actual needle-employed acupuncture and various simulated forms of acupuncture benefited, without regard to skin penetration or exact needle placement.

The researchers reported that there were few very effective medical remedies for chronic low back pain, and that they, therefore, were happy to discover that treatments that were similar to acupuncture were helpful – even though the benefit raised questions about just why acupuncture works.
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Macular Degeneration:

Pumpkin seed oil is rich in zeaxanthin, which protects the retina and slow the progress of macular degeneration. In 2003, the Medical Research Council Environmental Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton in England announced that zeaxanthin “may be far more important in preventing or stabilizing macular degeneration than previously realized.”  Learn more about zeaxanthin.
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