Adding just a little more fiber to your diet could help you drop pounds and shrink your waistline, according to weight research from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. “In the past decade, the decline in carbohydrate quality has been identified as a likely culprit leading to increased adiposity and metabolic disorders among children and adults,” authors write. Eighty-five overweight Latino children from the Los Angeles area were asked to participate in the... Read Full Story

Certain cleaning products with pleasant smells may leave you with more than a spotless home—they may also leave you with a squeaky-clean conscience. Pleasant smells may actually promote honesty, based on two experiments from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Former studies have shown that using cleaning products with citrus scents can help motivate cleaning-related tasks as well as keeping a cleaner dining environment. In much the same way, cleanliness is associated with physical puri... Read Full Story

Certain types of antipsychotic medication can cause children to put on weight—as much as 18 pounds—according to research appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Chrostoph Correll, MD, and associates observed 272 children aged 4 to 19 taking atypical antipsychotic medication for the first time. Drugs/Medications included olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), risperidone (Risperadol) and aripiprazole (Abilify)—drugs sometimes used to treat children with autism,... Read Full Story

There are likely to be plenty of ghosts and ghouls about this Halloween, but one thing that may have parents spooked this time of year is candy and dental health. Roughly 30 percent of 5-year-olds in Plymouth, England, were found to have some form of tooth decay, according to a newly released review. The review examined the 2007-2008 dental records of U.K. children, 211 of whom were Plymouth five-year-olds. This number was just under the national average of 30.9 percent, but other regions we... Read Full Story

Early obesity in women may be linked with difficulty in becoming pregnant. Women who became obese by age 18 and participated in a weight-loss surgery study showed higher rates of infertility and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Forty-two percent of the women in the study trying to conceive experienced infertility, but pregnancy was more likely for women who became obese after age 18. The good news is, surgical weight loss may increase fertility.The study, the Longitudinal Assessment of Ba... Read Full Story

Parents often give their infants acetaminophen (Tylenol) after immunizations and booster shots. As it turns out, this may do more harm than good. The medication may actually weaken infants’ immune systems, according to research from the Czech Republic.Acetaminophen is sometimes given to infants and small children following shots to prevent fever, a common reaction to vaccinations. This study examined the effects of acetaminophen on immune response after initial and booster vaccinations. Two h... Read Full Story

A certain type of unsaturated fatty acid, CLA, and safflower oil may be key ingredients in helping postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes drop pounds and improve blood sugar, or blood glucose, levels, according to research from Ohio State University (OSU). After menopause, many women experience weight gain, which increases the risk of developing metabolic conditions. For women with type 2 diabetes, weight loss and glucose management can become extremely difficult to manage. Researchers fo... Read Full Story

Current unemployment rates stand at nearly 10 percent, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects this number to continue to rise. While this has been the cause of serious worry among the labor force, there may also be a reason to celebrate. A poor economy appears to add years to a person’s life expectancy, according to research from the University of Michigan.“While economic expansions bring with them increases in employment, greater optimism, and higher incomes (although not always and... Read Full Story

A visual recording tool, the SenseCam, offers great promise as a memory aid for patients with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.SenseCam automatically snaps pictures every 30 seconds to create and archive image sequences. Its fish-eye lens creates images similar to the wearer’s natural perspective. It is also capable of recording short videos. About the size of a deck of cards, SenseCam weighs just 3.2 ounces and stores up to 30,000 pictures. “The small size of the recall device makes i... Read Full Story

Today marks the last day of Mental Illness Awareness Week, first recognized by Congress in 1990. The first week of October has since been used to raise awareness about mental health issues. As fall approaches, seasonal affective disorder may be one issue to look out for.Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a common mood disorder that occurs in autumn and winter. The reduced sunlight during these months causes the body to fall out of its natural rhythm. People with the disorder may feel draine... Read Full Story