Health

Humans are light-sensitive beings. Whether it comes from the sun, a laser or a fluorescent bulb, light can affect our bodies and minds in ways that scientists are just beginning to understand. If you believe actor Robert Wagner, a little light can banish pain. Wagner is the television pitchman for Light Relief, a hand-held device equipped with 59 light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that flicker with pulses of blue, red and infrared light. The device also has four heat settings.

People with atrial fibrillation, a common type of irregular heartbeat, should be referred for a surgical treatment called catheter ablation if an oral medication is not effective, said the authors of a study released Tuesday. In a head-to-head comparison of the two forms of treatment, catheter ablation was so superior in resolving the disorder and helping patients to feel better that the study was halted early. The results will be published today in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

Teas from across the globe are becoming more and more popular in the U.S. One relative newcomer, yerba mate, is attracting fans for its allegedly jitter-free caffeine boost and high antioxidant content. Lab research suggests some potential health benefits from drinking yerba mate, but studies of lifelong yerba mate drinkers in the tea's native South America suggest the brew increases the risk of some cancers -- a fact most marketing campaigns omit.

A low-carb diet may be better for lowering blood pressure than taking an over-the-counter weight loss medication and sticking to a low-fat diet. Researchers placed participants in two groups. One set consisted of 57 people who ate a low-carbohydrate diet and were allowed to consume unlimited amounts of meat and eggs. The other set consisted of 65 people who limited their daily fat intake to 30% or less of their total calories and restricted their consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol.

What is a safe home remedy for severe night sweats and hot flashes? I am burning up. There are enough alternatives that you should be able to tailor something that will work for you. Keep your bedroom cool. Exercise regularly: Research shows that active women have less trouble with hot flashes. Herbal products such as Pycnogenol (pine bark extract), Remifemin (black cohosh extract) or St. John's wort (hypericum extract) may help (Menopause, February). :: I take atenolol for high blood pressure.

The California Air Resources Board on Thursday banned popular in-home ozone air purifiers, saying studies have found that they can worsen conditions such as asthma that marketers claim they help to prevent. The regulation, which the board said is the first of its kind in the nation, will require testing and certification of all types of air purifiers. Any that emit more than a tiny amount of ozone will have to be pulled from the California market.

Even as millions of American women go undiagnosed -- and untreated -- for osteoporosis, a serious condition that can lead to devastating fractures, millions of others are trying to prevent broken bones they might never get. Diagnosed with a milder form of bone loss called osteopenia, which is not truly a disease, they take medication that might not be necessary.

Manny Hamelburg, 68, a retired businessman, had fought prostate cancer for years. First, he tried radiation, then a drug with side effects that nearly killed him, and finally Lupron, a drug that blocks production of testosterone, the hormone that can fuel prostate cancer. The cancer disappeared. But life was miserable. Without normal levels of testosterone, Hamelburg says, he had no energy, and "zero libido for seven years. I was like a eunuch. I was chemically castrated. Sex was just hugs."

"Oh, you mean the guy with the 70-year-old head and the 20-year-old body-builder body? That picture has got to be Photoshopped." Dr. Jeffry Life smiles when I tell him about the general reaction I get about the famous picture of him with his shirt off, the shot that turned a mild-mannered doctor in his mid-60s into a poster boy for super-fit aging and controversial hormone replacement Appearing in medical-clinic ads in airline magazines and...

Fitness stores sell a variety of spinal decompression/traction devices -- inversion tables and ankle boots that hang you upside down and stretch out your back -- on the promise that they help relieve back pain, enhance general back fitness, provide deep relaxation and maybe even slow age-related height shrinkage. The last, after all, is partially caused by the flattening and dehydration of the soft disks that separate your vertebrae. Salespeople say that running, lifting weights, carrying excess pounds, even the simple act of sitting in a chair all day can exaggerate the compressive force of gravity on the disks, which tend to shrink as much as a half-inch during the day and, like sponges, rehydrate during sleep.

In a study certain to rekindle debate over life-sustaining care for those with grievous brain injuries, researchers report that five patients thought to be in a persistent vegetative state showed brain activity indicating awareness, intent and, in at least one case, a wish to communicate. Of 54 unresponsive patients whose brains were scanned at medical centers in England and Belgium, those five appeared able, when prompted by researchers, to imagine themselves playing tennis, and four of them demonstrated the ability to imagine themselves walking through the rooms of their homes.

To make the most of hospital-based medicine: Don't allow a lack of familiarity to prevent you from getting your questions answered. If it's on your mind, it's not a stupid question -- so go ahead and ask. Regardless of who's caring for you, have a friend or family member act as an advocate for you while you're in the hospital. An advocate speaks out on your behalf when necessary, ensuring that procedures and processes are done in a timely manner and asking important questions that might have been overlooked.

Slim society's tolerance is wearing thin. As more people over the last decade have tipped the scales toward obesity, normal weight folks have signed up for employee wellness programs that offer them lower premiums and other financial perks as a reward for their healthy weight -- and that indirectly penalize heavier workers. They've crafted policies, most unsuccessful, to compel individuals to lose weight. They've become vocal, sometimes vehemently so, in their support for "sin taxes" on junk food and soda.

While experts argue over whether to blame individuals, society, fast food or families for the rapid rise in obesity rates, the perhaps more pressing question is what to do about it. The answers are pouring in -- from radio talk shows, blogs, editorial pages -- amping up the feelings of the already fed up. Individuals as targets: Some companies and institutions have moved to hold individuals specifically accountable for their weight. Besides an attempt by Lincoln University in Pennsylvania to make students shed pounds, North Carolina now makes state employees who don't lose weight take part in a more expensive health plan.

Like most people, I'm picky about the doctors I choose for myself and my family. Ideally, they should be pleasant, wary without being alarmist, empathetic and professional. Their office should be no more than 10 minutes from my home and have plenty of street parking (or at least an inexpensive self-park lot). And, of course, they should be covered by my insurance plan. When push comes to shove, however, I'm willing to overlook almost any character flaw, inconvenience or expense for the best doctor.

A low-carb diet may be better for lowering blood pressure than taking an over-the-counter weight loss medication and sticking to a low-fat diet. Researchers placed participants in two groups. One set consisted of 57 people who ate a low-carbohydrate diet and were allowed to consume unlimited amounts of meat and eggs. The other set consisted of 65 people who limited their daily fat intake to 30% or less of their total calories and restricted their consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol.

This is a great stretch for loosening up the outside of your hips and thighs. It you're not limber enough to hold your foot, you can hook a strap or a towel around it to help you reach it. -- Karen Voight 1Lying on your back, bend your right knee into your chest. Keep your left leg extended straight out on the floor in front of you. Straighten your right leg, holding the outer edge of your right food with your left hand or using a strap. Press the thumb of your right hand to the top of your right thigh where it meets your torso.

If you've seen the television ad for the anti-germ spray MyClyns, you no doubt remember the pivotal scene: A mom and her two kids sit at a dinner table, the little boy coughs on his sister and mom heroically grabs the spray bottle of MyClyns. Against all expectations, she doesn't spray the table or the air. Instead, she sprays her daughter. Directly in the face. MyClyns is intended to kill germs that land on the face before they have a chance to cause illness, kind of like Lysol for the skin.

What is a safe home remedy for severe night sweats and hot flashes? I am burning up. There are enough alternatives that you should be able to tailor something that will work for you. Keep your bedroom cool. Exercise regularly: Research shows that active women have less trouble with hot flashes. Herbal products such as Pycnogenol (pine bark extract), Remifemin (black cohosh extract) or St. John's wort (hypericum extract) may help (Menopause, February). :: I take atenolol for high blood pressure.

An industrial chemical developed to help separate heavy metals from polluted soil and mining drainage is being sold as a dietary supplement by a luminary in the world of alternative autism treatments. The supplement, called OSR#1, is described on the company website as an antioxidant not meant to treat any disease. But the site lists pharmacies and doctors who sell it to parents of children with autism, and the compound has been promoted to parents on popular autism websites. "I sprinkle the powder into Bella's morning juice and onto Mia and Gianna's gluten free waffle breakfast sandwich," wrote Kim Stagliano, managing editor of the Age of Autism blog and mother of three girls on the autism spectrum, in an enthusiastic post last spring.