Dr. John Cahill explains that our world is becoming increasingly small and easy access air travel and global urbanization has created the possibility for the very real threat of pandemic. The internet has made international travel quick and easy and soon a majority of the global population will live in close quarter urban environments. A good example is SARS, which started in China, made its way to Hong Kong, and spread throughout the world rapidly. More recently, though there have not been a large number of reported cases, Avian Influenza has the potential to be a serious threat to public health. If someone with the common Flu were to meet someone with Avian Influenza, there is a very real possibility that the two could mutate into something very virulent and spread rapidly. (Read more about How Real is the Threat of Pandemic?)

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A recent report by health provider BUPA has found that people's worries are damaging their health by causing sleepless nights, loss of sex drive, and erratic eating habits. The 2007 Worry Report demonstrates that almost one in five people constantly worry about numerous things, and more than half feel they worry more now than five years ago. Half of the people surveyed this year, which is 6% more than in 2006, claimed they were more worried about their health and their family's health than about other concerning issues such as climate change or terrorist attacks. The survey finds that almost three quarters of people worry, but around 19% admit to worrying all the time or about a number of things. (Read more about Worried Sick? There Might Be Some Truth There)

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Research conducted by The General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition finds that women who eat yogurt frequently are less likely to be overweight and more likely to meet the recommended daily intake of important nutrients, like calcium and vitamin D. The fourteen day study followed the diets of approximately 3,000 women ages 19 and older. Thirteen percent of these women ate three or more servings of yogurt over a two week period. In this group, the women on average had a 15% lower body mass index compared with women who consumed no yogurt. (Read more about Yogurt Consumption Linked to Healthier Body Weights for Women)

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It is very interesting that a lot of people don't know that blocking the arteries of the kidney can be a cause for hypertension. Particularly someone who is young and becomes hypertensive suddenly, one should make sure there is no blockage in the renal arteries. There are millions of people with hypertension, so it's easy to think that we should simply give them medications. But it's important to understand that there is a very small segment of the population, who develop hypertension at a young age, particularly in their twenties, thirties, forties. They need to be looked into. All we need to do is a scan of their kidneys. What is called a duplex scan or an ultrasound of their arteries. With this methodology we can actually pick up a narrowing of the arteries. (Read more about What is Renal Stenosis?)

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A Review in The Lancet reveals the importance of healthy lifestyle choices to reduce stressors related to cardiovascular risk factors. Researchers from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore examined records between 1990 to 2006. They observed how stress affects the sympathetic nervous system, impacts physiology, and the effect it has on the cardiovascular system. Lead author, Daniel Brotman, claims "Acute physical stressors such as sugery, trauma, and intense physical exertion are well known triggers of cardiovascular events. Emotional stressors are increasingly recognized as precipitants of such events." (Read more about Reducing Stress Lowers Risk of Cardiovascular Problems)

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A new study finds that habitual snoring in women is strongly tied to body mass index—a marker of fatness-- and age.

Overall, 7.6 percent of women snore.

The frequency of snoring reaches its peak in women ages 50 to 59.

Frequent snoring was found to increase with alcohol dependence, smoking and physical inactivity.
-- (Read more about Health Wrap: Reports on Snoring, Fetuses and Pain, Forgetfulness and Baseball)

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How well do you know your family medical history?

We mean, really know –in the sense of knowing what each parent, brother, sister, grandparent, and great-grandparent, aunt, uncle, and cousin has or has had in terms of medical conditions. (Read more about Family History)

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There are two new studies which raise significant concern regarding the flu.
One says that the flu shot is really not that effective in the older population which is the prime target population for vaccination.

The other says the drugs we have stockpiled in the event of a flu epidemic won’t work now in many because the flu viruses have become resistant to them.

According to the latest data, presented in the medical journal The Lancet, worldwide resistance to the medicines used to treat the flu have increased a whopping 12 percent in the past 10 years. (Read more about Flu Studies)

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Megan Moynihan never suspected that her regularly scheduled visit to the dentist would have her facing the drill. “I came in for a check-up and a cleaning and they took X-rays. It turned out that I had 7 cavities,” says Megan. (Read more about DENTAL DECAY)

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There are important new diabetes guidelines just released that instruct most Type 2 diabetics to take cholesterol-lowering medication. The goal is to cut down on their risk for heart attacks and strokes, common killers in this patient population. Now, these new diabetes guidelines put out by the American College of Physicians, say most diabetics need to be put on cholesterol lowering medicines even if their cholesterol levels are not high. (Read more about NEW DIABETIC GUIDELINES)

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