FOXNews.com: Cord blood saving lives

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Cord blood saving lives Jun 30th 2012, 15:31 Grayson Ommert is less than a day old, but he's already a hero. The infant and his mother, Suzanne, donated their umbilical cord blood after he was born.  What used to be discarded afterbirth, the blood from a mother's placenta and umbilical cord is now being used as a potentially life-saving treatment for patients around the world. "When Grayson was born we donated the blood from the umbilical cord he was connected to me with, and they used that to hopefully heal other children who are sick with different types of cancers," Ommert said. Cord blood is really unique because you can collect it, save it and use it years later to transplant to a patient who suffers from cancer or rare genetic disorders. Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg has been a pioneer in using cord blood as a treatment for decades. In 1993 she performed the world's first cord blood transplant at Duke University Medical Center. The stem cells that exist in the cord blood can be critical components in life-saving procedures that used to require bone marrow donations. Kurtzberg says a major advantage is, that unlike bone marrow, cord blood doesn't have to match completely.  So people who can't be matched with a donor - which can be more than half of the people on transplant lists, can use a cord blood donor. It helps patients suffering from Leukemia, sickle cell anemia, other blood disorders and immune and metabolic disorders. It even can change the life of patients who were injured during childbirth.   Kurtzberg is quick to point out that treatments and research using stem cells in cord blood are completely different than the often controversial stem cell research using embryonic cells.   "When people use the word stem cell it has a lot of different meanings to a lot of different people -- and it's not a word that everybody understands the same way. Cord blood is not an embryonic cell. Cord blood is a mature cell that is in the blood of a newborn baby and likewise in the placenta that comes from a new born baby and they're younger than the blood as children or adults but they're definitely not embryonic cells," Kurtzberg said. Although researchers have been studying cord blood for decades, more new mothers are starting to learn about the benefits and the process. There are about 20 public banks that take donations across the countries, with more than 140 public banks worldwide.  "People that have trained, they're much better collectors," Deb Wood, the collections training coordinator at Rex Healthcare in Raleigh, North Carolina said. "I train people that affiliate with Duke, there is a lot of interest around the nation. We do have a program that if a mom would like to donate and their hospital doesn't – they can have a kit. It's in the beginning stages," she said. Woods is talking about a new program developed by the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank. If expectant mothers deliver at hospitals that don't have a collector on site, moms can request a "kit" to be delivered to the hospital.   Doctors and non-collecting hospitals can then safely preserve and ship the placenta and cord to the bank at Duke for processing. Families who receive the cord blood transfusions are seeing amazing results. Lynnette Perez and Kenneth Zapata from Puerto Rico have been practically living at Duke University Medical Center after both of their children were diagnosed with a rare metabolic disease called Hurler Syndrome. Their bodies can't produce an enzyme to break down sugar, causing severe organ damage.   "It's a rare disease that can affect all of your organs in your body including your brain, your lungs and heart. And the damage is irreversible," Perez said. Both Zapata children were given a grim prognosis and five years to live, but have seen their condition improve after receiving cord blood transfusions.   Three-month-old Matthew is undergoing his infusion from cord blood donations at Duke now.  He's got a long battle ahead with three months of hospitalization after transfusions and chemotherapy,  but doctors hope he'll have a normal life. His older sister, Adriana, has already surpassed expectations after her infusion more than four years ago. She's excited to start school in September. "We feel very blessed about everything," Perez said. "She can go to school in September and she can be a normal child -- with some difficulties, but she is doing well right now. [Matthew's] transplant was so early, maybe he doesn't have too much damage and he can develop like a normal child, too." Families also have the private banking option. For a fee, a private cord blood bank will collect, process and freeze your baby's umbilical cord blood for your family's future medical use only.  Private cord blood banks charge an enrollment and storage fee which ranges from about $800 to $2,500. Families also pay an annual storage fee which can cost around $100 depending on the bank.  Unlike a public bank, this guarantees your sample will exclusively be used for your family.

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FOXNews.com: Can you eat late and still lose weight?

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Can you eat late and still lose weight? Jun 30th 2012, 10:00 Lately we've heard the only thing that matters to your waistline is how much you eat. But there's a growing body of research that says when you eat really does make a difference in how much you weigh. "Your body is more prone to burn fat at certain times of day and store fat at other times," said Satchin Panda, associate professor in the Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Cali. New studies reveal that to burn the most fat, you need to go 12 hours without eating—say, from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. So it's smart to time your calorie intake accordingly. Read on for the science-backed rules that will help you use the clock to shed excess pounds. To keep pounds off, don't eat after dark Before electricity and all-night diners, we humans used to spend a long stretch every night without food passing our lips. "Staying up and eating late is a very recent phenomenon in human history," Panda noted. So our metabolisms are hardwired to expect a nightly fast, which is a key time for your body to burn fat. Here's how that works: During the day, your brain and muscles use some of the calories you eat for fuel, and the rest gets stored in the liver in the form of glycogen. At night, your body converts that glycogen into glucose and releases it into your bloodstream to keep your blood-sugar levels steady while you sleep. Once the stored glycogen is gone, your liver starts burning fat cells for energy. Yes, you read that right—you burn fat while you sleep. The catch: "It takes a few hours to use up the day's glycogen stores," Panda said. So if you snack until midnight and sit down to your breakfast of oatmeal or eggs at 7 a.m., your body may never get the opportunity to burn any fat before you start reloading your glycogen stores again. It doesn't help that you're also likely to overeat when you're up late—indeed, night owls consume an average of 248 calories more per day than those who go to bed earlier, and most of those excess calories rack up after 8 p.m., according to a 2011 study published in the journal Obesity. "Willpower is lower when you're sleepy," explained study author Kelly Baron, a clinical health psychologist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. "So if you're eating in the middle of the night, you're more likely to overeat and make poor food choices." On the other hand, Panda said, "eating only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and then not eating for at least 12 hours, should give your body enough time to burn all of the stored glycogen plus some fat every night." This could have major consequences for your weight and health—and mean you can snack more and weigh less. In a study just published in Cell Metabolism, Panda's research team found that mice that ate a high-fat diet spread out over the day and night became obese and diabetic, while mice eating the same diet but only over an eight-hour period didn't gain any weight and remained healthy. "Fasting at night can even override most of the negative effects of an unhealthy diet," Panda said, "including weight gain." Eat your calories at roughly the same time every day You've probably heard of circadian rhythms: the internal clock that tells you when to wake and when to hit the hay. But did you know that nearly every organ in your body has its own circadian rhythm or clock, too? For example, our digestive organs—particularly the liver—are programmed to perform most efficiently during the day, Panda explained. ______________________________________________________ More from Health.com: Best Superfoods for Weight Loss 16 Little Ways to Lose Big Pounds Diet Tricks the Pros Tell Their Friends ______________________________________________________ The influence of these internal clocks may be one reason why shift workers—people who work (and eat) at night—have a higher body mass index (BMI), on average, than day workers, according to research published in the International Journal of Obesity. "In theory, shift work should be fine because your circadian rhythms can adjust just like they do when you travel abroad," Panda said. "The problem is that in order to be social, shift workers bounce back to a daytime schedule on weekends, so every organ clock gets disrupted." It takes about one day to shift our internal clocks one hour. So if you have a night job and your bedtime jumps from 8 a.m. during the week to midnight on the weekends, your internal clocks never get the opportunity to reset themselves, which can set you up for weight gain if you're eating while your digestive organs are snoozing. "Maintaining a regular sleep/wake schedule may be one of the most powerful ways to prevent the harmful effects of shift work," Panda said. Even if you're not working the night shift (or up with a baby or studying for final exams), sticking to a regular sleep and meal schedule will help keep your metabolism in peak form. Have breakfast within an hour of waking up Research has found that people who eat eggs at breakfast weigh less. Other research has found that people who down a bowl of cereal at breakfast weigh less. And still other research has found that people who chase their breakfast with a slice of chocolate cake weigh less. The common denominator? You guessed it: They all ate breakfast. When you wake up in the morning, sunlight tells your brain that the day has started. Eating breakfast—breaking your night's fast—sends that same signal to the circadian rhythms in your body. Chowing shortly after you get up synchronizes these clocks and, as a result, delivers a powerful metabolic jump start, Panda said. That means you'll more efficiently use nutrients all day. There's one caveat: If you eat a big dinner at 11 p.m. one night, it's actually smart to skip the early morning meal in order to fit in a 12-hour fast. "The idea that we need to have breakfast every single day has become so ingrained in people's minds that for late-night eaters, it means they end up eating around the clock," Panda said. If your last meal was a plate of bar fries at midnight, push your first meal the next day to noon. (Consider it lunch if you're returning to a regular schedule or breakfast if you expect a repeat late-night eating event.) How big should your a.m. dish be? It depends whether you're counting calories. "Having a big breakfast can lead to feeling less deprived overall, but you have to take total calories into account," Baron explained. A recent study from Tel Aviv University looked at women on a strict 1,400-calorie-a-day plan and found that those who had a 600-calorie breakfast high in protein and carbs that included dessert (like chocolate!) not only lost more weight on average than the ones who ate a 300-calorie low-carb breakfast, but they also had fewer cravings and were better at keeping off the weight. However, if you're not tallying your total daily calories—balancing a big breakfast with a smaller lunch and dinner—eating a lot first thing in the morning could cause you to take in too many calories, and subsequently put on weight. Good advice for all: Simply include protein (like yogurt or nuts) in your morning meal. Several studies have found that higher-protein breakfasts can help you feel full and make you less likely to overeat all day—and into the night.

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FOXNews.com: 'Tailored' advice no extra help to smokers in study

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'Tailored' advice no extra help to smokers in study Jun 29th 2012, 19:36 Tailoring online advice to a smoker's particular patterns and beliefs about smoking was no more effective than standardized feedback in a new study comparing how many smokers successfully quit with each approach. Research has shown that one-on-one counseling can help smokers break the habit and remain abstinent. But counseling isn't affordable or convenient for everyone. Generalized quitting advice, especially delivered online, is cheaper and easier for many. So researchers are trying to find a good middle ground: individualized advice that can be easily disseminated. For the new study, reported in the journal Addiction, UK researchers tested their own version of tailored, online quit advice. They randomly assigned 1,758 smokers to get either one-size-fits-all advice from a non-profit UK website called QUIT, or an individualized version based on a participant's answers to a questionnaire about age, habits, lifestyle, motivations and other details. For example, the standard-advice group was told how much money the typical smoker spends on the habit. People in the tailored group were told how much they themselves likely spent each week. After six months, nine percent of smokers in each group said they had been smoke-free for the past three months. The findings are somewhat surprising, according to lead researcher Dr. Dan Mason, of Cambridge University. On the other hand, he said in an email, the general-advice group got much the same information as the tailored-advice group -- albeit in a "more generic" way. Smokers who got tailored advice were also invited to return to the website four weeks later to get a progress report. The problem, Mason's team found, was that few of them did -- less than one-quarter of the group. Because the nine percent of each group who succeeded in remaining abstinent for three months were not compared to a group of smokers receiving no advice, "It's a pretty tough test," Mason said, "as we are really only testing the tailoring and not so much the content of the advice." The findings don't mean that tailored quit help is of no use, according to the researchers. Mason noted that researchers are still working on how to best individualize smoking-cessation help. "Studies of tailored interventions show them to be effective in some cases and not in others," Mason said. "Our study," he added, "adds information to this emerging picture." It's possible that the approach in this test just wasn't "interactive" enough, the researchers say. "The issue is how to maintain engagement with smokers so that you can take advantage of the capability of a website environment to provide ongoing feedback and encouragement," Mason said. Sending people regular emails or text messages, offering online sessions with counselors, or setting up chat rooms for smokers to give each "social support" might all help keep website users engaged, according to Mason. Whether that would translate into a higher rate of successful quit attempts is a whole other question, he noted. Kicking the smoking habit is notoriously difficult. Some smokers are able to quit "cold turkey," but experts say that most people need a combination of therapies and multiple attempts. One large review found that success rates for quit attempts with some kind of counseling or social support ranged from about four percent to six percent, while attempts that included nicotine replacement therapy or another medication were successful between seven percent and 16 percent of the time. According to the American Lung Association (ALA), it takes the average smoker five or six serious tries to finally quit. In general, the group says the best bet is to try some type of behavioral counseling along with nicotine replacement therapy or medication. The ALA has its own online program, called "Freedom From Smoking" (www.ffsonline.org).

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FOXNews.com: Dr. Manny: Now that you have insurance, will you be able to see a private doctor?

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Dr. Manny: Now that you have insurance, will you be able to see a private doctor? Jun 29th 2012, 19:32 I'm still reacting to President Obama's vision of overhauling healthcare.  Now that "Obamacare" is the rule of the land, I think that many people – maybe not today but in three or four years – are going to wake up to the realization that the way they used to think about medicine has dramatically changed. First, a couple of simple facts.  There are approximately 209,000 primary care doctors currently practicing in the United States, and surveys have determined that in many states, there will be a significant doctor shortage by 2020.  Not only are populations aging, but population concentrations in many big cities are increasing, making the balance of physician-patient ratio difficult to maintain. In states like Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Texas, and Idaho, many people believe that there will be challenges in finding primary care doctors. In 2008, one-third of physicians worked solo or worked in two physician practices.  In addition, 56 percent were full or part time owners of their own practices, while 44 percent of physicians were employees.  Well that balance is quickly changing, and most likely, physicians in America will end up becoming employees of hospitals or multi-specialty groups of over 50 doctors.  And that's just physicians – imagine the problems we will have in getting nurses into these major cities. If you examine the prospective patient groups who will become add-ons to the states' current Medicaid patient volumes, in many areas that could mean 20 to 30 percent of new patients enrolling now on Obamacare.  So I ask you: Do you think you're going to be able to find your private doctor whom you want to see in his private office or the doctor that took care of your mother, father, you and your children?  No, I don't think so. I think what we're going to see perhaps in five years are health centers in many areas of our country that very much resemble the DMV office, the social security office or the post office.  And you know how efficient they can be.  You will need to get up early in the morning so you can get a good spot in a very long line, just so you can get your annual physical. Let's face it – federal agencies get a 'stellar' performance for quality, efficiency and customer satisfaction.  At least that's what the government wants you to believe.  So I guess health care centers will soon join the ranks of these illustrious agencies.

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FOXNews.com: Once-a-day pill may help those living with HIV

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Once-a-day pill may help those living with HIV Jun 29th 2012, 18:22 A new pill combining four HIV drugs into one single drug taken daily has been found to be safe and helpful, BBC News reported. The intent of the new "quad pill" is to help patients stick to their medications – making them more effective. Published in the medical journal Lancet, the study detailing the drug describes it as an "important new treatment option."  According to BBC News, the quad pill is the first HIV drug to include an integrase inhibitor, meant to stop the virus from replicating. While there is no cure for HIV, many manage the virus through combination therapy, in which they take multiple drugs in order to control the infection from getting too aggressive. A team of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hosptial in Boston, Mass., compared the quad pill with current most effective treatment in 700 patients.  According to them, the pill was just as effective, except there was a slightly higher level of kidney problems in those who took the quad pill. Click for more from the BBC News.

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FOXNews.com: Newly developed oxygen particles injected into blood could save lives

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Newly developed oxygen particles injected into blood could save lives Jun 29th 2012, 14:59 When a patient suffers from acute lung failure or a blocked airway, their blood needs oxygen – and fast.  Without enough blood flow to the heart and brain, he or she can suffer from cardiac arrest or massive brain damage. But often times, the complex machines needed to keep blood oxygenated are not so readily available.  So what if there was a temporary fix for patients who need oxygen in a hurry? That solution may well be on its way.  A team of researchers at Boston Children's Hosptial have developed tiny, oxygen-filled microparticles that can be injected straight into a person's veins in order to quickly oxygenate a person's blood, giving doctors or paramedics more time to perform more complex life-saving procedures. According to Dr. John Kheir, of the department of cardiology at Boston Children's Hospital and the study's lead author, the motivation to design these microparticles came to him after a tragic incident occurred with one of his patients in 2006. "I was taking care of a cute redhead girl in ICU who had severe pneumonia," Kheir told FoxNews.com.  "She didn't have a breathing tube at the time, and all of a sudden she had a pulmonary hemorrhage – when lung tissue gets damaged and actually erodes into the pulmonary arteries. "Her lungs filled up with blood and she went into cardiac arrest," Kheir continued.  "So we put her on an ECMO machine… [which] removes blood from the body, transfers it to a machine that exposes it to oxygen and then puts it back in the body.  We were able to get her onto that machine, which requires a surgical procedure.  So that took about 25 minutes, but during that time her brain was very deprived of oxygen and it was severely injured." While pulmonary hemorrhages happen very rarely, Kheir realized that many patients could benefit from a temporary method for restoring oxygen that's less invasive.  After working with various chemical engineers, six years later Kheir and his team have developed their microparticles that successfully restored oxygen in the blood of mice. The tiny "bubbles" consist of a single layer of fatty molecules called lipids that surround an even smaller pocket of oxygen gas.  Delivered in a liquid solution, the particles can be injected straight into the bloodstream without causing a deadly air embolism – in which a large bubble of gas blocks blood flow in a vein or artery. "We packaged the gas within small particles," Kheir said.  "It creates a lot of small particles rather than one large gas bubble, which allows them to disperse and break apart and navigate capillaries and arties.  The second thing it does is increase the surface area to volume ratio, so it allows for a huge surface area for the gas to transfer. It brings oxygen into very close proximity to red tissue and red blood cells – a very rapid transfer." After injecting their microparticles in mice, the researchers saw that the animals' blood-oxygen levels became normal within seconds.  To test how their microparticles fared in a more dangerous scenario, Kheir and his colleagues completely blocked the mice's tracheas and immediately injected the particles.  The mice stayed alive for 15 minutes without taking a single breath. While this feat is extraordinary, Kheir noted the microparticles should only be administered for a limited period of time – between 15 and 30 minutes. "We limited it to 15 minutes for a reason," Kheir said.  "The particles don't really exchange carbon dioxide at all.  Carbon dioxide is normally carried in the plasma.  Most patients don't die from high carbon dioxide, but they definitely die from low oxygen.  It's only intended to stabilize patients for a period of time while another procedure is being done." According to Kheir, numerous lives could potentially be saved if their invention is made for humans.  For example, if someone has drowned and needs oxygen on their way to the hospital, a quick injection could prolong their life for another 30 minutes. "The drug could be stored in bags or syringes and administered on a semi-continuous basis," Kheir said.  "Our vision for this is that this drug would be stored on emergency carts all over the hospital and even outside the hospital in an ambulance.  Any time a patient is really, really sick for any reason, whoever is taking care of them could rescue them with a standard intravenous line.  The primary reason that patients have a cardiac arrest is for breathing reasons.  There's a serious potential to improve the mortality and morbidity rate of patients in the hospital." The research is published in the June issue of Science Translational Medicine.

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FOXNews.com: New Jersey camp offers kids with cancer and their siblings an escape from worry

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New Jersey camp offers kids with cancer and their siblings an escape from worry Jun 29th 2012, 13:50 Staying indoors, wearing hospital gowns, walking on cold floors, this is not the summer vacation most children wish for, but for many kids fighting cancer, sadly, it is a reality. Offering an escape from the world of medicine, where kids can just be kids is Camp No Worries in Southern New Jersey. "Camp No Worries" was a dream of Kasey Massa's when she was just 11-years-old, fighting cancer.  In 1986, Massa says her summer was being destroyed by doctor visits  and medical scans, ending with a diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor.   Like all kids, Massa was anxiously awaiting the end of the school year to make the transition into summer fun, but now her and her family had to fight the physical and emotional diagnosis of cancer. "Summer plans of vacation at the beach, swimming with friends, riding bikes and water-sking on the lake, became plans of cutting my long dark hair, shaving it bald and going to surgery to save my life" Massa says. And so at the young age of 19, Massa, whose byline reads, "Survivor," organized a group of volunteers and teamed up with the YMCA and Camp Inawendiwin an established camp ground site in Tabernacle, New Jersey, to offer her dream not only to children with cancer but also to their healthy brothers and sisters. "It is very important for the children, patients and siblings, to do things together since they are often separated throughout the year during treatment and hospitalizations," Massa tells FoxNews.com. "'Camp No Worries' is some place you go where you do not have to worry about anything.  You can be care free about who you are and just be yourself, " camper Tiffany Teufel , 15, who attends camp with her 12-year old sister, who is fighting cancer tells Foxnews.com. Her wish was for a positive place where kids were told what they could do as opposed to everything they could not because they were sick. Massa says she wanted a place where troubles were forgotten, everyone understood what each other was going through, and people didn't stare at you or see you as different. All campers are treated the same throughout the week, except during the Survivor/Special Supporter lunch, where each child, and volunteer receives a Camp No Worries plaque inscribed with the same title as Massa, "Survivor," or "Special Supporter," for the  helpers.  "It's a big celebration of the important role everyone plays in the cancer journey," Massa says. Host to 86 happy campers this summer, daily activities include swimming, arts and crafts, landsports, & archery. And Special to the teenagers are FLAG (fight like a girl) and Wilderness adventure. "Camp No Worries" accepts all applicants as long as they are medically cleared by their physician and are able to supply a physical exam form, immunization records, and copy of their insurance card. And there are always 5 oncology nurses and/or nurse practitioners on-site at all times as well as on-call physicians. "Our reality was made possible by parents and medical staff who believed their children and patients needed this type of break and trusted that we would keep their children safe and happy if only for one week each summer," Massa says. Solely a volunteer organization, funding comes from individual donations, small grants, and community support.  Other support comes from a staff-run bowl-athon, school coin collections, and two families whose children went through the camp created an annual fundraising event. This year's lucky campers are traveling to the Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA , made possible by the Phillies organization.   Calling her staff role models, Massa tells Foxnews.com "We have a dedicated group of individuals and we now have children that were once campers, in leadership positions, which is amazing for me to see!" Parents are often giving up control for the first time since their child was diagnosed, depending on a group of strangers to take care of the physical, emotional, and medical needs of their loved one. The camp takes on a huge responsibility offering an environment of trust. "They give us their greatest gift in life and we strive to return them in better shape than when they left.  We hope they return with more confidence, more support and a feeling of childhood fun." Massa says the last day of camp often brings a lot of emotions and comments like, "Camp should be 2 weeks", and "Camp should be all summer long".   Teufel's sister, Brittany says, "'Camp No Worries' is like a second family to me.  My favorite part of camp is making new friends and being around the people I really care about". Families are invited to a brunch and closing ceremony where each child is given a copy of the now bonded group's photo and special certificate for something that is personal to what they did at camp. "There are lots of tears when parents reunite with their children and when we all say our good-byes," Massa says. The unfortunate aspect of working with children with cancer is that not all of them conquer this horrible disease, and so as Camp No Worries celebrates survivorship, so do they honor those lost along the way with a Memorial ceremony.   And so, "Camp No Worries' says it includes bereaved siblings each year as well. "It is the unanimous belief of "Camp No Worries", The Board of Directors, and our Leadership Team, that if a sibling experiences the loss of his/her brother or sister, he/she should not lose his/her camp experience as well." To volunteer, donate, or attend "Camp No Worries" go to www.campnoworries.org/

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FOXNews.com: 8 ways to avoid burnout

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8 ways to avoid burnout Jun 29th 2012, 12:42 Burnout isn't just a sign you need a vacation, it's a psychological response to consistent stressors, both on the job and at home. So while you likely won't be able to get your boss to turn your 7-to-7 into a 9-to-5 or get your parents to stop asking when they can expect grandkid number one with out some dramatic changes, you can take steps to prevent burnout. 1. Readjust Your Own Expectations If you were expecting that your B.A. in English was going to turn into a staff writer position at The New York Times the day after graduation, then it's time to readjust. Everyone has to start somewhere, and that somewhere is generally at the bottom of the pack. Keep your head held high, and know that proving your competency at even the most menial tasks while maintaining a positive and professional attitude will help keep your career moving in the direction you want. 2. Learn How to 'Manage Up' A dysfunctional office dynamic is one of the leading causes of burnout, and issues with a superior are the most stressful. Learning how to "manage up" will help you deal with a boss who is mean, hypercritical, or insecure as well as help you figure out the most effective way to reach her expectations. 3. Realize It's Okay to Say No Employees who try to be everything to everyone and who are always working to their most-efficient max are extremely at-risk for burnout.  Additionally, the worst thing you can do for your career is to overpromise and then under-deliver, says expert and Great on the Job author Jodi Glickman. However, there's a right and a wrong way to say no. 4. Quit Comparing Yourself We all have that one Facebook friend who seems to have three months of vacation time, the money to spend those months traipsing across Europe, and the model fiancé she's traipsing with. Forget her. While healthy comparisons can help you determine exactly what your goals are, "comparisonitis" will ruin your finances and your happiness as you endlessly try to keep up with or one-up your friends or family members. ___________________________________________________ More From Real Simple: 6 Natural Cold-Prevention Strategies Why Does My Eye Twitch? What Is Your Body Language Saying? ___________________________________________________ 5. Make Sure You Take Your Vacation Days Americans will give up roughly 226 million vacation days this year. Don't be one of them. One report found that 48% of workers felt happier and more positive about their workplaces after taking a vacation. Since feeling cynical about your office is one of the key causes of burnout, taking a vacation is an easy (and fun…and potentially margarita-filled) way to keep yourself going. 6. Develop Your Interests and Hobbies Outside of the Office Is your self-worth and identity solely based on your work? If so, you're highly at-risk for burnout. Devoting time to your interests and hobbies outside of the office will make you a happier and more well-rounded individual. If you can't remember the last time you indulged in a hobby, think back to what you enjoyed as a child or teen. Consider joining a sports team, picking up a foreign language or volunteering. 7. Take Breaks Take some time to recharge during the day. Pause your work to help you maintain good eyesight, or take a walk to help you stay in shape, even when you don't have time to hit the gym. Alternatively, ask a co-worker out to coffee. Establishing positive relationships at the office will make you happier and help you live longer. (Seriously, science says so.) 8. Take Time to Evaluate Your Career Path If you've been chugging along on the same path for a long time and are feeling signs of burnout, take the time to consider your career. Have your values changed since you first started in your profession? Or is it that the values of your particular company or employer have changed? Are you not being sufficiently challenged—or are you overburdened? Ask yourself the tough questions to help you figure out the next step that's right for you and your long-term goals.

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FOXNews.com: Doctor removes five inch live worm from man's eye

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Doctor removes five inch live worm from man's eye Jun 29th 2012, 12:28 When an elderly Indian patient came to Dr. V. Seetharaman with persistent pain in his eye, what the surgeon found was reminiscent of a far-fetched alien movie plot: a live, five inch (13cm) worm. On examining the 75-year-old at Mumbai's Fortis Hospital this week, the eye expert was shocked by the highly unusual sight of the writhing parasite and had to operate speedily to remove it before serious damage was caused. "It was wriggling there under the conjunctiva," Seetharaman said, referring to the thin membrane lining the eye. "It was the first time in my career of 30 years that I had seen such a case." Retired patient P.K. Krishnamurthy had been suffering for more than two weeks with redness and irritation before the doctor pin-pointed the threadlike creature under a microscope Wednesday. "He was also confused and very much disturbed," said Seetharaman. The specialist removed the worm by making a small opening in the conjunctiva -- a 15-minute operation that was observed by the patient's horrified wife, Saraswati. "It just kept moving and jumping; it was scary for a bit," she told the Mumbai Mirror. The patient was relieved of his symptoms while the worm, which was alive for another 30 minutes after surgery, was sent to the hospital's microbiologists to be identified. Seetharaman had previously only heard of worms of about an inch being removed. "Probably this is a record," he said. He suggested the creature could have entered the patient from a cut in his foot or from eating raw or improperly cooked food, before entering the bloodstream and traveling to the eye. "If the worm was not removed it could have gone into the layers of the eye and caused visual loss," he said. "It could have entered the brain and caused major neurological problems." Dr. S. Narayani, the hospital's medical director, agreed it was an extremely rare case. "We have a very active ophthalmology department and we have not come across a case like this in the last 10 years," she said.

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FOXNews.com: Appendectomies no threat to fertility, study says

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Appendectomies no threat to fertility, study says Jun 29th 2012, 12:15 Getting an appendectomy doesn't seem to hurt a woman's chance of having babies, according to a new study that contradicts long-held beliefs among fertility experts. In fact, UK researchers found women who'd had their appendix removed were more likely to get pregnant later on than women who hadn't had the common surgery. Dr. Alan B. Copperman, who heads the division of reproductive endocrinology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and was not involved in the new work, called the results "reassuring." "We always assume that appendectomy is a risk factor for infertility," he told Reuters Health. "This study showed us it wasn't necessarily the appendectomy that put patients at risk." Still, he warned, "I would not conclude that your fertility is enhanced by appendectomy." The procedure is one of the most common surgeries in the U.S. and is usually done to treat appendicitis, a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the appendix. One in 14 people nationally will have appendicitis at some point in their life. It most commonly occurs in young people age 10 to 30. Ruptured appendixes and bad pelvic infections after appendectomies are known to increase the risk of infertility. Some reports have also suggested the appendectomy itself might hurt a woman's fertility, presumably because it could leave scar tissue sticking to the fallopian tubes, snagging the egg on its way to the uterus. "A lot of patients thought they would become infertile after appendicectomy (appendectomy)," said Dr. Sami Shimi, a surgeon at the University of Dundee in Scotland, who worked on the new study. "But when I looked at the reports supporting this, they were really weak." He and his colleagues decided to do a bigger study, using a limited patient database. They were taken aback by the results. "I was completely surprised that patients who had had an appendicectomy or appendicitis were more fertile, they had more subsequent pregnancies," Shimi told Reuters Health. "And I thought, OK, I have done something wrong here." So the team tapped into one of the world's largest digital repositories of medical records from primary care, the General Practice Research Database from the UK. Out of more than 76,000 women who'd undergone an appendectomy, 39 percent had a first pregnancy in the decade following the procedure, according to results published in the journal Fertility and Sterility. The rate for twice as many women who hadn't had the surgery was only 28 percent. Although the follow-up time was slightly shorter for this group, the fertility gap remained after accounting for age, birth control use, number of previous hospitalizations and other factors. But Copperman cautioned against making too much of that finding. "When you go back and retrospectively look at even really large databases, you wonder whether there are confounding factors or biases that cloud the results," he said. Shimi and his colleagues are still scratching their heads over the strange finding and are currently working to find out if it's a real biological phenomenon or if there is something unique about women who get appendectomies. For now, Shimi said, what seems certain is that women shouldn't fret about fertility problems if they need an appendectomy. "That fear is unfounded," the researcher said.

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FOXNews.com: Children's sleepwear recalled on flammability fears

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Children's sleepwear recalled on flammability fears Jun 29th 2012, 12:23 Three U.S. companies are recalling about 228,000 items of children's sleepwear because of concerns they could catch fire, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday. Rigo International Inc, of Los Angeles, is recalling about 210,000 Boys and Girls Pull-On Lounge Pants and Girls Boxers, the CPSC said in a statement. Rigo received one report of a garment catching fire and causing severe burns to a 9-year-old boy. The clothes are all-cotton and have elastic or fabric waistbands. PajamaGram, of Shelburne, Vermont is pulling about 12,000 pairs of children's pajamas made of polyester fleece. No injuries have been reported, the CPSC said. Isthtex Textile Products Inc, of Duluth, Georgia also is recalling about 6,000 Gabiano Collection Boys and Girls Pajamas, Sets and Gowns. No injuries have been reported. The recalls are voluntary. All the recalled items were made in China and failed to meet U.S. flammability standards, the statement said.

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FOXNews.com: 2 cups of coffee may shield heart (but more won't)

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2 cups of coffee may shield heart (but more won't) Jun 29th 2012, 11:41 Drinking coffee moderately may reduce the risk of heart failure, but drinking too much makes this benefit disappear, according to a new review. People who drank two cups of coffee a day were 11 percent less likely to have heart failure, compared with people who drank no coffee. Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the demands of the body, and can be caused by factors ranging from high blood pressure to pregnancy. Constantly drinking too much coffee, however, negates this benefit: no difference in heart failure risk was seen between non-coffee drinkers' and those who drank more than three cups a day. "As with so many things, moderation appears to be the key here," said study author Dr. Murray Mittleman, director of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The study showed an association, not a cause-and-effect link. Still, there is reason to think coffee lowers heart failure risk, the researchers said. Moderate coffee consumption may increase drinkers' caffeine tolerance, which could in turn limit their susceptibility to high blood pressure. Additionally, coffee drinking has been shown to lower the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes and hypertension are major risk factors for heart failure, Mittleman said. People who have already have heart failure should consume no more than one to two cups of coffee per day, according to the American Heart Association. The finding "is good news for coffee drinkers, of course, but it also may warrant changes to the current heart failure prevention guidelines, which suggest that coffee drinking may be risky for heart patients," said study author Elizabeth Mostofsky, a research fellow at the center.  The researchers looked at data collected on 140,220 people in Sweden and Finland who participated in five previous studies. There were a total of 6,522 cases of heart failure between 2001 and 2011. The causes of heart failure often cannot be reversed, but the condition can be treated.  The researchers took into account the differing serving sizes between Europe and the United States (European servings are generally smaller), however, they did not account for coffee's strength or whether the coffee was caffeinated, though they noted that in northern Europe, it typically is. The study was published yesterday (June 26) in the journal Circulation Heart Failure. Pass it on: Moderate coffee drinking lowers the risk of heart failure. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily on Twitter @MyHealth_MHND. Find us on Facebook and Google+. Coffee's Perks: Studies Find 5 Health Benefits Some Coffee a Day Helps Keep Strokes Away 5 Experts Answer: Is Diet Soda Bad for You?

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FOXNews.com: Sample of mosquitoes in Boston test positive for West Nile Virus

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Sample of mosquitoes in Boston test positive for West Nile Virus Jun 29th 2012, 12:06 For the first time this summer, a sample of mosquitoes in Boston have tested positive for West Nile Virus, the Boston Globe reported. Health officials from the city said Thursday that these were the first mosquitoes in Massachusetts to test positive for the virus this year. According to the Mayo Clinic, humans can become infected with West Nile after being bitten by an infected mosquito.  Mosquitoes contract the virus when they feed on infected birds. While there have been no reported human cases yet, officials recommend taking the necessary precautions to prevent the virus – such as using insect repellent outdoors, especially from dusk until dawn, and wearing long pants and long sleeved shirts. People should also make sure their door and window screens are not broken, health officials said; and to stop mosquitoes from breeding, they should empty any standing water that might have collected in garden pots, pools or trash. Click for more from the Boston Globe.

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FOXNews.com: 10 fitness myths holding you back

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10 fitness myths holding you back Jun 29th 2012, 10:00 With so many people offering advice on weight loss, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. All too often I've overheard a hardworking gym-goer sharing a well-meaning but ill-informed tip with another exerciser. And I'm not the only one who's heard fitness folklore being swapped on the training room floor. I spoke to top experts in the field to find out the common fitness myths they hear from clients. From the pseudo miracles of the "fat-burning" zone to the misguided magic of working out on an empty stomach, here are the fitness falsehoods you should never follow. Myth #1: The best way to lose weight is to drastically cut calories "Our bodies are smarter than we think," said Jari Love, star of the Get Extremely Ripped: 1000 Hardcore DVD. "When we eat too little, our body believes that it's starving so our metabolism slows down and holds onto fat as a potential energy source." A much better approach: Eat more often, but eat less food at one time—and focus on these 7 Foods Not to Ditch When You Diet. For the fastest weight loss, break up your total daily calorie allotment—don't eat fewer than 1,200 calories if you're a woman or fewer than 1,800 calories if you're a man—into five to six small meals to keep your metabolism humming. Myth #2: Heavy weights will bulk you up "This just isn't possible for most women," said personal trainer and Prevention contributing editor Chris Freytag. "Ladies have too much estrogen in their hormone makeup. Yes, heavier weights build muscle and strength, but most of us women aren't lifting anything so heavy that we are at risk for building man muscles." Plus, muscle is the secret to a revved up metabolism, as it burns more calories than more fat, even when you're sitting on the couch or at your desk. Myth #3: Keep your heart rate in the fat-burning zone If you've been exercising at 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate in order to shed flab faster, you could be slowing your slimdown. "The fat-burning zone is a complete myth," said Wayne Westcott, Prevention advisory board member and fitness research director at Quincy College. "While it's true that you burn a higher percentage of fat calories when exercising at a moderate pace, you burn fewer calories overall." For instance, if you get on a treadmill and walk at a 3.5 MPH pace for 30 minutes, you might burn 250 calories. If you raise the speed to 7 miles per hour, you'd burn 500. Bottom line? "It's much better to go at the faster speed." Myth #4: Boosting cardio is the best way to bypass a plateau "The most effective way to lose weight is to include both cardio and weights in your routine," said Love. "One study found that when individuals cycled for 30 minutes a day, they lost three pounds of fat and gained a half pound of muscle in eight weeks. But individuals who cycled for 15 minutes and weight trained for 15 minutes a day lost 10 pounds of fat and gained two pounds of calorie-burning muscle." Myth #5: Ab exercises are the fastest way to a flat belly "Doing abdominal exercises can strengthen the different ab muscles, but it won't burn body fat and reveal the '6-pack look,'" said Aaron Swan, Private Trainer at the Sports Club/LA-Boston. "Abs are made in the kitchen—not from doing crunches." A proper diet low in refined carbohydrates and full of lean proteins, healthy fats, and lots of low-glycemic fruits and vegetables will bring you closer to the flat belly you're after. Still, you should work your tummy! Here are 6 Surprising Moves for Flatter Abs. Myth #6: Doing squats will make your butt big "This one cracks me up," said Freytag. "We all know what makes your butt big and it isn't squats. All of us who sit in front of a computer, at desk, or in a car seat all day are at risk for developing weak glutes unless we actively do something about it." One of the best fixes: Squats! "Science shows that this move will help to lift, firm, and strengthen your buns," said Freytag. "Just be sure to focus on good form. Keep your knees above your shoe laces and sit back into an imaginary chair; squeeze through your glutes as you return to standing." For more great exercise ideas, check out the Free Feel-Your-Best Fitness Newsletter from Prevention. Myth #7: It can take only a few weeks to reach a weight loss plateau "Recently, a woman told me she had been training for one month and the scale had already stopped moving," said Love. "She insisted she had been sticking to her diet and that she was in a plateau, but that likely wasn't the case." Why not? A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that it takes 6 months for an individual to reach a weight loss plateau. "If you are only a couple weeks into your program and weight loss has halted, you probably need to watch your diet," says Love. Myth #8: I can slim down by switching to diet soda There may be zero calories, but chugging those cans of chemicals could be plumping your paunch. "A study at Purdue University found that rats given artificial sweeteners ate more calories and gained more weight than rats given sugar," said Love. "A better option is to drink water that is naturally flavored with lemon or cucumber slices to keep calories low and hydration high." Myth #9: An empty stomach means more fat burn You've probably heard that working out sans food forces your body to tap into fat reserves to work, but this is far from true, according to Freytag. "Science has shown you need to have some glucose in your system in order to ignite your fat-burning furnaces. If you run out of stored glucose, your flame goes out and you start burning up muscle." Having a little pre-workout snack 30 to 60 minutes before your workout gives you the energy to go longer and harder, which boosts your burn. Myth #10: You can target trouble spots It would be nice to be able to choose where our bodies store fat (bigger cup size and thinner thigh, please!) but that just isn't possible. "The scientific truth is that your body decides where to burn fat  based on genetics, regardless of the body part you are exercising," said Samantha Clayton, personal trainer and co-star of YouTube's Be Fit In 90.  Instead of focusing on one area, spend your time doing full-body workouts that blast calories, like running or body-weight circuits, for all-over slimming.

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FOXNews.com: People who walk a lot have lower risk of diabetes

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People who walk a lot have lower risk of diabetes Jun 29th 2012, 11:24 Among people with low physical activity and a high risk of diabetes, those who walk more throughout the day are less likely to actually get the blood sugar disorder, according to new research. The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, is part of a growing body of evidence that for people who get very little exercise, "even small amounts of activity will provide a really good return on their investment," said Catrine Tudor-Locke, who studies walking and health at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was not involved in the research. Daily walking recommendations typically point to a minimum of 10,000 steps per day. Tudor-Locke said a good rule of thumb is that 2,000 steps equals about one mile. Earlier studies, based on questionnaires, have shown that walking more is tied to a lower risk of diabetes. But few studies have used precise measures of how many steps people take each day, said Amanda Fretts, the lead author of the new report and a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle. To get a better sense of walking's potential benefits, Fretts and her colleagues asked more than 1,800 people to wear a pedometer on their hip for a week to tally the number of steps they typically took each day. All of them came from native American communities in Arizona, Oklahoma and North and South Dakota that are known to have low physical activity levels and high rates of diabetes. About a quarter of the group were considered to have very low activity, taking fewer than 3,500 steps a day, while half took fewer than 7,800 steps per day. At the beginning of the study, none of the participants had diabetes. But after five years of follow-up, 243 people had developed the condition. About 17 percent of the people in the lowest activity group developed diabetes, compared to 12 percent of the people who took more than 3,500 steps a day. After taking into account people's age, whether they smoked and other diabetes risk factors, Fretts's team determined that people who walked the most were 29 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those who walked the least. "Our finding wasn't surprising given that other studies have shown that even light activity is associated with a lower risk of diabetes," Fretts wrote in an email to Reuters Health. The findings don't prove that walking more is responsible for the lower risk of diabetes, but Fretts offered some possible explanations for how walking might help. "Increased physical activity may prevent weight gain and promote weight loss, a major determinant of diabetes risk," she told Reuters Health. Indeed, when Fretts took into account how large people were, based on a measure called body mass index (BMI), she found that extra walking didn't provide any benefits to reducing people's diabetes risk. "BMI is one of the plausible biological mechanisms by which physical activity (or walking) may lower diabetes risk - that is, walking may promote weight loss - and weight loss is a major factor related to diabetes risk," Fretts said. Physical activity also has effects on inflammation, glucose and other molecules in the body that could help lower diabetes risk, said Fretts. Tudor-Locke added that the potential benefits of moderate levels of walking are "only for those who are really inactive to begin with" and don't mean others should decrease their activity levels.

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