HEALTH NEWS
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Many people suffer from depression as a complication after suffering a stroke, however, a new study shows that depression may be a risk factor for future strokes.
Researchers studied women born between 1946 and 1961, surveying the participants every three years between 1988 and 2010. Women were asked to self-report their depression, medication use and diagnosis or treatment. They also self-reported any stroke they may have suffered. Additionally, stroke deaths were identified using a national database.
Over 10,000 women participated in the survey, the results of which were published in the journal Stroke.
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Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Over the past ten years, the rate of mental health disorders in American children has been rising, according to a new study.
Between 13 and 20 percent of children have experienced a mental disorder, says the study, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Those figures were based on surveillance data from a number of federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control, gathered between 1994 and 2011.
The data from 2010 showed that the second leading cause of death among children between the ages of 12 and 17 was suicide. Additionally, mood disorders were the most frequent
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Photodisc/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Seventy two hours after Elissa Bantug's mastectomy, she felt broken. She was only 25 years old, but she had lost both breasts and her strawberry blonde hair to cancer. Drainage tubes still hung from her chest to remove excess fluid from the operation.
In that moment, she just wanted to have sex with her boyfriend.
"I just needed something to make me not feel so broken," said Bantug, who is now 31. "Anything to make me feel beautiful."
But instead of responding to her advances, Bantug said, her boyfriend pushed her off of him and told her it was crazy for her to have sex when she was so sick -- and
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Mini-movies of growing embryos could help boost the success of in vitro fertilization, a new study found. But the number of women who could benefit from the time-lapse technology is unclear.
For the study, British researchers used time-lapse photography to track the earliest stage of embryonic development – a process that unfolds in womb-mimicking incubators for couples using IVF. The researchers then used an algorithm to spot the embryos most likely to grow into babies.
"Embryo selection based predominantly on specific time-lapse derived algorithms could rapidly become routine in IVF treatment," the study authors
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- With tiger moms, helicopter parents, and permissive and authoritarian models, parenting styles differ as much in the United States as they do in any country.
But can American parents learn something from their counterparts in different parts of the world?
The answer is yes, according to Christine Gross-Loh, author of the recently published book Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us. The Harvard-educated mother of four traveled to and researched parenting styles in Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Japan, China, Italy and other countries.
American
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- How much sleep you get might be at least partially determined by the color of your bedroom.
According to a recent survey, bedrooms decorated with more calm colors, like blue, yellow and green, often offer more sleep than those adorned with more stimulating colors. According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, the survey showed that people whose bedrooms are blue get the most sleep, nearly eight hours on average. Comparatively, those with purple bedrooms get an average of under six hours of sleep.
Yellow, green, silver and orange bedrooms also offered more than seven hours sleep, which contributes to how a person
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Beyond Meat(NEW YORK) -- Fake meat isn’t a new thing, but good fake meat that is almost indistinguishable from real meat could be very big in cleaning up your diet and helping the planet.
Beyond Meat, a Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based food company that specializes in making “chicken” from plant-based protein, claims it is 80 percent of the way toward making real-tasting fake chicken. And you can find out for yourself as their products are now in Whole Foods markets and the Tropical Smoothie restaurants in New York City, where you can substitute its fake chicken for real chicken in burritos.
“What we offer the market is the
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The Copeland Family(NEW YORK) -- Aimee Copeland, the 25-year-old who lost her hands, both feet and her entire right leg to flesh-eating bacteria a year ago, has received two new bionic hands.
Copeland spent the week in Ohio at Touch Bionics, where she received two bionic hands free of charge. The hands cost $100,000 a piece, on average, a company spokesperson told ABC News.
Copeland spent the week getting fitted for the limbs and learning how to use them. The prosthetics respond to muscle signals in Copeland’s residual limbs and are capable of 24 different kinds of movements.
She will leave Touch Bionics to return to her Snellville, Ga.,
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James Woodson/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Visiting a gynecologist for the first time can be awkward and embarrassing for some teens. But the visit is crucial to help them understand their bodies and lay the groundwork for future health and wellness.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends the first visit should be between the ages of 13 to 15. The exam should be an opportunity to educate teens about their bodies and help them establish a relationship with a gynecologist at an early age.
What to Expect
The first visit is an opportunity for teens to get accurate information about the changes in their
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Goodshoot/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- H&M made headlines last month when it featured plus-size model Jennie Runk in its new swimwear ad campaign.
In an industry where swimwear is traditionally modeled by willowy or waifish models, Runk’s appearance in the retailer’s general -- not plus-size -- swimsuit campaign sent a strong message.
Runk, 24, is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and wears size 12 or 14.
In an open letter this week posted on her Facebook page, and reprinted by the U.K.’s BBC News, Runk railed against the general obsession with size.
“People assume plus equates to fat, which in turn equates to ugly.
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Courtesy of Carolyn Meiselbach(NEW YORK) -- What do you do after you’ve survived six strokes, beat cancer twice and suffered from osteoporosis, arthritis and diabetes? If you’re 79-year-old Carolyn Meiselbach, you go skydiving.
Meiselbach said she leaped into the upstate New York sky last month to settle some unfinished business.
“When I was young, I went through a 20-week parachute training course. But I was afraid to make the jump because there was no reserve chute,” she said.
The great-grandmother took the leap from more than 13,000 feet up despite three doctors advising against
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The changing climate could prove to be very troublesome for allergy sufferers. Here are some of the possible effects:
Attack of Potent Pollen
In the past 53 years, carbon dioxide levels have risen globally, approximately 22 percent. Much has been written about how the rise in greenhouse gases and that it's bad for the environment, but less has been said about how these gases can help some plants flourish.
Unfortunately for humans, these plants -- like poison ivy and ragweed -- tend to be irritating or even harmful to our health. A 2005 study found that when ragweed plants,
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ABC/Lorenzo Bevilaqua/iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LOS ANGELES) -- Earlier this week, Angelina Jolie revealed that she’d had a preventive double mastectomy, and her doctor credits the actress’s positive attitude and strength for her quick recovery.
“To a large extent, I believe recovery reflects expectation,” Dr. Kristi Funk writes in an essay on the Pink Lotus Breast Center’s website. “Angelina expected to feel well, to be active.”
In the essay, Funk details Jolie’s treatment, including her initial BRCA gene diagnosis, surgeries and recovery.
“On day four after her mastectomies, I was
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(HOUSTON) -- Are able-bodied people gaming a system set up for people with limited mobility, and thus taking resources away from those in need?
An increasing number of air travelers are requesting wheelchairs at Houston-area airports, ABC Houston affiliate KTRK reports. An airport manager was quoted as telling the station, "We've handled maybe a hundred wheelchairs a year. Now there are some certain times we can handle a hundred wheelchairs in a day."
American Airlines told ABC News that while they haven't seen a noticeable uptick in wheelchair requests in Houston, the number of requests at New York's John F. Kennedy airport
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Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- In the constant battle of the bulge, pizza would seem to be off-limits. But one British professor of nutrition is aiming to change that with a pizza designed to provide all essential nutrients.
Dr. Mike Lean, professor of nutrition at the University of Glasgow and working physician, designed the Eat Balanced brand pizzas to offer the correct balance of all the nutrients recommended throughout the day. According to Lean, in theory three pizzas a day would give the exact daily recommended amounts of vitamins and minerals based on United Kingdom guidelines.
Lean was inspired to make the pizzas after even he had difficulty
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