Trying To Lose Weight? Don’t Go It Alone, Study Says

Among participants randomly assigned to the Weight Watchers group, those whose meeting attendance fell in the upper half of the range were 11.2 and 15.5 times more likely to lose 5% and 10% of their body weight at six months, respectively, than those whose meeting attendance fell in the bottom half of the group. “Its one of the harder changes people make in their lives, to lose weight, and were social animals,” said Baylor School of Medicine psychologist Craig A. Johnston, the lead author of the study. “Being around people who can encourage and reinforce you — people who are talking about that challenge — is going to help in terms of weight loss.” But having a variety of tools to support one’s weight loss was important too. Those who used all three Weight Watchers services over the six-month study period lost, on average, 19 pounds.
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Content about Weight loss

July 12, 2013 The manufacturer behind the diet-aid supplement Hydroxycut, Iovate Health Sciences International, recently introduced two new formats to its popular weight-loss franchise: Pro Clinical Hydroxycut Sprinkles and Pro Clinical Hydroxycut Gummies. June 27, 2013 GNC employees lose more than 700 pounds in corporate challenge When GNC Holdings challenged its corporate employees in March to transform their eating, exercise and lifestyle habits for long-term healthy weight management via GNCs new Total Lean Corporate Challenge, 146 team members took the challenge and lost a total of more than 700 pounds in the 12-week health and fitness contest. March 22, 2013 A drug made by Novo Nordisk for Type 2 diabetes produced a 6% loss of weight Pure Garcinia Cambogia in a trial of the drug in obese patients, the company said. March 8, 2013 Arco Health announced the release of a new chewing gum designed to aid users in losing weight and to keep their appetites in check. March 7, 2013 A weight-loss competition sponsored by mass merchandise retailer Meijer and nutritional scoring company NuVal is enlisting 60,000 team members who will compete for $15,000 in prize money over three months. March 6, 2013 Health and wellness products retailer GNC is sponsoring a 12-week effort to encourage consumers to transform eating and exercise habits for long-term weight management, the company said.
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Health Savings Vs. Flexible Spending Accounts

Govt health and safety efforts slowed or halted

“I like to think of it as a medical IRA,” says Lenny Sanicola, senior practice leader for benefits at World at Work, a human resources association. He adds that many people will choose to use a health savings account to save up for medical expenses during retirement. Plus, once you turn 55 you can contribute an extra $1,000 a year into the account. But if you’re saving the money for later, keep in mind it still has to be used for medical expenses. There’s a 20% penalty for using HSA or FSA funds for non-qualified expenses, Perlman says. FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS DON’T ROLL OVER A flexible spending account offers the same savings and pretax benefits as an HSA, but to someone in a higher cost health plan one with a higher premium and lower deductible.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/10/07/comparing-health-savings-plans-flexible-spending-accounts/2843953/

California health exchange looks to speed up enrollment in week 2

Citigroup healthcare analyst Carl McDonald said California’s website performed better than some others, but it still had plenty of glitches. “We experienced the system crashing during the application process, and there were extensive delays loading Web pages,” McDonald said. California was spared from one common criticism. It does allow consumers to get price quotes and compare health plans anonymously without first creating a personal account. That requirement on other state websites appeared to create extensive bottlenecks.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.latimes.com/business/healthcare/news/la-fi-mo-covered-california-exchange-week-two-20131006,0,828310.story

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that it was recalling some of its furloughed staff to deal with the outbreak, which has sickened more than 270 people. Before then, the CDC had only a handful of scientists working on outbreak detection, severely hampering its ability to track potentially deadly illnesses With federal workers on leave, the states have had to pick up much of the slack. In the case of food safety, state labs are investigating foodborne illnesses and communicating with each other without the help of federal authorities, in many cases to figure out whether outbreaks have spread. Dr.
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Hormone Therapy Not Useful For Chronic Disease Prevention

JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues analyzed outcomes from two Women’s Health Initiative hormone therapy trials of postmenopausal women. In the first, 16,608 women with an intact uterus were randomly assigned to placebo or conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). In the second, 10,739 women with a prior hysterectomy were randomly assigned to placebo or CEE. During 13 years of cumulative follow up, the researchers found that the risks outweighed the benefits in the CEE plus MPA trial, with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, invasive breast cancer, and other outcomes, but a decreased risk of hip fractures, diabetes, and vasomotor symptoms. The risks and benefits were more balanced for the CEE trial.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.empr.com/hormone-therapy-not-useful-for-chronic-disease-prevention/article/314391/

Hormone therapy, calcium may lower fracture risk

Although many women take calcium and vitamin D for bone health, evidence has been mixed on how much supplements really help over and above what women get through their diets. In February, the government-backed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said there were no benefits but some risk for post-menopausal women taking low-dose vitamin D and calcium. The group recommended against supplement use to prevent broken bones. For the new study, Jean Wactawski-Wende from the University at Buffalo and her colleagues compared seven years’ worth of fracture data for women in their 50s, 60s and 70s participating in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/28/us-hormone-therapy-idUSBRE95R0YN20130628

Study says hormone therapy for menopausal women should be restricted by dose, time

Both trials had additional follow-up through Sept 30, 2010. It was widely believed that hormone therapy was beneficial to women at the time we started these clinical trials in 1993, so much so that there were more than a few doctors around the country who thought the study was unethical because we would be randomizing people to a placebo and keeping some from the perceived benefits of hormone therapy, Lewis said. Weve been following these women for 10 years now since the studies ended, and most of the increased risks seen in the women taking the estrogen-progestin combination dissipated. However, we still see some increased breast cancer risk in those who were on the estrogen-progestin combination. Patients in the clinical trial who took the estrogen alone did not have as many bad results during the trial. In fact, post-intervention saw a significant decrease in breast cancer. That wasnt the case with the combination treatment, Lewis said. But with the estrogen taken by itself, that protection effect from breast cancer was pretty surprising. We didnt expect to see that, but the fact is that breast cancer incidence rates went down in the United States after our first papers were published 10 years ago, and many women stopped taking hormones.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.uab.edu/medicine/news/latest/item/255-study-says-hormone-therapy-for-menopausal-women-should-be-restricted-by-dose-time

Exercise, Weight Control Reduce Risk Of Breast Cancer

Sent! A link has been sent to your friend’s email address. 9 To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Spotlight on Breast Cancer provided by NBCF Spotlight on Breast Cancer We all know someone who has had breast cancer but trying to find the most accurate information can be a challenge. We have pulled together the latest news about breast cancer including early detection tools, support resources and new ways to learn more about the disease.
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Exercise During Leisure Time Could Lower Risk Of High Blood Pressure

“I think that’s why groups like CrossFit and Weight Watchers are so successful,” says Holland. “It shows the value of the support system, which should be an integral part of any workout plan.” Your exercise club could be an entire gym full of people, a regular fitness class where everyone knows your name, or just one exercise buddy who makes sure you’re out of bed to meet her for your morning walks. Feeling ambitious? Start a fitness or weight-loss contest with your friends or coworkers, suggests Woll.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/28/how-to-become-exercise-addict/

How to become an exercise addict

Things like chili peppers, chocolate, beans and bananas have all been proven to lower blood pressure in humans or in trials with rats. Read on for more here. Keep Weight Under Control Eating well is essential to maintaining healthy blood pressure, but even if you live on beans and bananas, extra pounds could harm you. In fact, one Italian study found that hypertension in overweight patients was a secondary condition, caused by the excess weight. In other words, once the weight was lost, the high blood pressure went with it.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/exercise-blood-pressure-leisure-time-physical-activity_n_4017324.html