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May 30th, 2014
07:30 AM ET
5 studies you may have missedHere's a roundup of five medical studies published this week that can give you new insights into your health, mind and body. Remember, correlation is not causation – so if a study finds a connection between two things, it doesn't mean that one causes the other. The entire world is getting fat In what is the most comprehensive look at global obesity in decades, scientists said they can’t find a single positive note in the fight against the epidemic. In every single country they studied - there were 188 of them - the obesity rates stayed the same or got worse. Nearly 30%, or almost one out of every third person on this planet, is overweight or obese, according to the study. In 1980 there were 857 million people considered overweight or obese. In 2013, that number was 2.1 billion. Obesity is more of a common problem in the developed world, but it has become a growing problem in poorer countries. The country with the most obese people is the United States. About a third of American adults are overweight, which accounts for 13% of all the heavy people worldwide. The United States is only a little over 4% of the world's population, so that's a startling statistic. Women saw the bigger gains. Between 1980 and 2013, the rate of women who are obese increased from 29.8% to 38%. For men it increased from 28.8% of the population to 36.9% of the population.
Men who watch a lot of porn are a little lighter when it comes to their gray matter, according to a study out of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. Scientists made brain scans of a small group of 64 healthy men from 21 to 45 as they looked at pornographic images. Researchers also assessed how often the men typically looked at porn. The study may be the first to establish a link between the amount of pornography consumption and brain size. The study does not determine whether men who watch a lot of porn have smaller brains to begin with or whether the volume of their brains has shrunk over time. The study did show that the region of the brain that activates when someone experiences sexual stimuli is less active in those men who typically watch a lot of porn. Want to look younger? Avoid the sun, smoking and high-calorie diets Forget special creams and surgeries to look younger - what you really need is to avoid cigarettes and sunshine, according to scientists at the University of North Carolina. If you avoid “gerontogens" - that’s the fancy word for stuff in the environment that may make you age - you may look younger and may even live longer. Other “gerontogens” include the chemicals used in chemotherapy. A low-calorie diet may also slow aging, as may a low-stress environment, according to the study. We still don’t know why some people age faster than others. But the researchers hope their study will someday lead to a blood test that would allow doctors to look at someone’s DNA for biomarkers of aging. Those biochemical signatures would help determine how fast a person is aging and why, and perhaps slow or stop the process. That’s a long way off though. This study is still in the mouse model phase. Teen sunbathers beware: 5 bad sunburns increase risk for deadly cancer People who say they had more than five or more blistering sunburns before they turned 20 have an 80% increased risk of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. A study examined the health of 108,916 registered nurses for 20 years. Of those nurses, the ones who had five or more bad sunburns, the kind with blisters, when they were ages 15 to 20, had a 68% increased risk for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma and an 80% increased risk for melanoma. People who had a similar number of bad sunburns when they were older faced no similar increased risk for melanoma, but they did have a greater chance of developing basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma. Scientists caution people who have a propensity to develop moles or who sunburn easily should take particular care in the sun, especially early in life. Read more: American Association of Cancer Research Laser treatment helps tooth regeneration in mice Lasers sound a lot more fun than root canals. Scientists demonstrated in a new study that it's possible to regenerate dentin, the hard bone-like tissue in teeth, using light. The technique makes use of stem cells already found in teeth. Researchers did not have to transplant these cells that have tremendous potential in regenerative medicine. By shining infrared light on damaged teeth in mice, scientists activated molecules called reactive oxygen species. These molecules bind to stem cells, making the stem cells turn into dentin-forming cells that help regenerate the tooth structure, said David Mooney, senior author of the study and researcher at Harvard University. Scientists demonstrated this in rodents, but not humans, however. Also it's a somewhat lengthy process, which would take weeks to months to work. If it were successful in humans, though, the technique "potentially could replace the root canal," Mooney said. 
May 26th, 2014
05:07 PM ET
Study: Cancer ads tug at heartstrings, leave out caveatsAdvertisements for cancer centers are inflated with emotions, but fail to disclose the fine print, according to a study released Monday. The report, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by the National Institute of Health, examined 409 unique TV and magazine advertisements from top media markets. With more than 1.6 million new cancer cases diagnosed each year, the direct-to-consumer ads pushing to various cancer centers across the country, and specific cancer treatments, are increasing. A systematic content analysis of these ads found that the content is sharply directed at a would-be patient’s heartstrings: – 85% made emotional appeals to consumers 
May 23rd, 2014
05:21 PM ET
5 studies you may have missedHere's a roundup of five medical studies published this week that might give you new insights into your health, mind and body. Remember, correlation is not causation – so if a study finds a connection between two things, it doesn't mean that one causes the other. Mental illness reduces lifespan even more than smoking Oxford University psychiatrists say the life expectancy of people with serious mental illness is reduced by 10 to 20 years. That's a toll on life roughly equal or even more dramatic than for people who smoke at least 20 cigarettes a day. Mental illness is also roughly as common in the United Kingdom than smoking cigarettes, the researchers report: 25% of people will suffer from a mental health problem annually, while 19% of British men and 19% of women are smokers. In the United States, mental illness affects 20% of Americans over 18 in a year. The study examined information about 1.7 million patients, analyzing 20 scientific reviews and studies that had mostly drawn upon data from wealthy countries. Lead study author Dr. Seena Fazel told NPR that stigma may play a role in the pattern observed in this study. "So much emphasis has been placed on reducing smoking and smoking deaths. Mental illness doesn't receive the same attention in public health and public policy," Fazel told NPR. 
May 22nd, 2014
07:32 AM ET
Xanax-related ER visits double in 6 yearsAlprazolam, the prescription sedative more commonly known by its brand name, Xanax, is being implicated in a spiraling number of emergency room visits, according to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Over the past few years, the number of ER visits associated with misuse of the drug more than doubled. In 2005, the number of patient cases involving Xanax was 57,419, and by 2011 (the last year for which there is data), there were 123,744. "We have been clamping down on opiates (prescription painkillers) but Xanax is becoming a fast-riser in the game," said Dr. Howard Mell, an emergency room physician based in Cleveland, Ohio. "It's not even a little surprising," he said of the new figures. "I wish it was." 
May 20th, 2014
03:44 PM ET
One more reason to exercise regularlyApproximately 18% of women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes during pregnancy - meaning they're up to seven times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life. The good news is that even if you have gestational diabetes, exercise can help. A new study published this week in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine finds that every two hours of moderate activity (like walking or gardening) each week reduces a women's risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 9%. Women who added 2.5 hours or more of moderate activity to their weekly regimen reduced their risk for type 2 diabetes by 47%.
May 20th, 2014
09:31 AM ET
E. coli, MRSA can survive for days on planesEver sit on a plane and wonder how long the germs left by passengers past plan on hanging around? A new study examined how long two potentially deadly bacteria – E. coli and MRSA – can live on various surfaces inside an airplane’s cabin, and how easily they are transmitted by contact. Researchers at Auburn University used actual armrests, toilet flush handles, tray tables, window shades, seats and seat pockets provided by Delta Airlines for the study – inoculating them with bacteria and storing them in conditions meant to simulate a pressurized cabin: 75 degrees Fahrenheit at 20% humidity. In general, bacteria lived longest on the most porous surfaces. For example, MRSA lasted seven days on the cloth seat pocket, six days on the rubber armrest and leather seat, five days on the plastic window shade and tray table, and four days on the steel toilet handle. 
May 19th, 2014
02:18 PM ET
Study: Don't delay measles vaccineThere are many myths about vaccinations floating around the Internet, says Dr. Simon Hambidge. One - that giving vaccinations too close together is unhealthy - has prompted some parents to request that their children receive vaccines on an alternate schedule, Hambidge told CNN in an e-mail. Hambidge, an expert in pediatric vaccination with Kaiser Permanente's Institute for Health Research Colorado, is lead author of a new study that examines the association between vaccine timing and seizures. His team found that in the first year of life, there is no relationship between the recommended vaccine schedule and seizures. But delaying the measles vaccine until after a child is 15 months old may raise his or her seizure risk. The study results were published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. "A number of people have claimed that a young child’s immune system is not robust enough to be given multiple vaccines, and that it is safer to 'spread out' vaccination," Hambidge said. "There is no scientific evidence for this, and there is evidence that it is safe and effective to follow the current recommended schedule." 
May 16th, 2014
01:29 PM ET
5 studies you may have missedHere's a roundup of five medical studies published this week that might give you new insights into your health, mind and body. Remember, correlation is not causation – so if a study finds a connection between two things, it doesn't mean that one causes the other. Pregnant moms: Be careful when you are driving A study out of Canada suggests women in their second trimester of pregnancy are more likely to have a traffic accident than other women. Researchers looked at every newborn in Ontario, Canada, over a five-year span. They found a 42% increase of life-threatening motor accidents in the second trimester of their pregnancy. 
May 16th, 2014
10:29 AM ET
Obesity may affect cancer patients' outcomesScientists know obese people have an increased risk of getting several types of cancer. But a new study suggests being obese also increases the chance that some patients' cancers will come back, and increases the likelihood that those patients will die from cancer. The study was released in advance of the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, which begins on May 30. Researchers looked at 80,000 patients in 70 early breast cancer trials and analyzed their body mass index, estrogen receptor, menopause status, cancer recurrence and their prognosis. They compared women with higher BMIs (over 30) to those with normal BMIs (20-25) over a 10-year period. They found for younger, pre-menopausal women who have early breast cancer, obesity appears to be strongly linked to worse outcomes, including death. 
May 15th, 2014
06:01 PM ET
Two big meals may be better than six small onesEditor's note: This blog was originally published in June 2013 when the research was presented at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago. The final study results were published Thursday in the journal Diabetologia. You've probably heard that eating multiple small meals throughout the day is a good way to stave off hunger and keep your metabolism revved up while trying to lose weight. But a new study could change your diet strategy. Eating two large meals early and skipping dinner may lead to more weight loss than eating six smaller meals throughout the day, the study suggests. "Both experimental and human studies strongly support the positive effects of intermittent fasting," lead study author Dr. Hana Kahleova told CNN in an e-mail. |
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
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