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You can't help but marvel at all your body has endured in the past nine months. Now that the pregnancy is (finally) over, you've been rewarded with a living, breathing wonder -- and a new title: Mom. Coming to terms with your new role, while learning how to care for your baby, can be overwhelming for any woman.

Like just about everything else in your life, your body faces significant changes in the weeks and months following your baby's birth. In this postpartum period, which begins immediately after delivery, your body will heal from childbirth, rebuild its strength and begin to regain its pre-pregnancy shape.

The more you know about what to expect, the better prepared you'll be to cope with the physical and emotional changes that come post-pregnancy.

Symptoms

Women may experience a wide range of postpartum problems, some more serious than others and each with its own symptoms. Some of the more common problems include:

• Postpartum infections, (including uterine, bladder, or kidney infections)
• Excessive bleeding after delivery
• Pain in the perineal area (between the vagina and the rectum)
• Vaginal discharge
• Breast problems, such as swollen breasts, infection and clogged ducts
• Stretch marks
• Hemorrhoids and constipation
• Urinary or fecal (stool) incontinence
• Hair loss
• Postpartum depression
• Discomfort during sex
• Difficulty regaining your pre-pregnancy shape

Causes and Treatment

Postpartum Hemorrhage

Although some bleeding is normal immediately after delivery, heavy bleeding or hemorrhage occurs in just 2% of births, most often after long labors, multiple births or when the uterus has become infected.

Postpartum hemorrhage is the third most common cause of maternal death in childbirth. It usually happens because the uterus fails to properly contract after the placenta has been delivered, or because of tears in the uterus, cervix or vagina. Soon after the baby and placenta have been delivered, you will be monitored to make sure the uterus is contracting as it should. If bleeding is severe, your midwife or doctor may massage your uterus to help it contract, or you may be given a synthetic hormone called oxytocin to help stimulate contractions. He or she will likely perform a pelvic exam to find the cause of the hemorrhage, and your blood may be tested for infection and anemia. If the blood loss is excessive, a blood transfusion may be recommended.

If hemorrhage begins a week or two after delivery, it may be caused by a piece of the placenta that has remained in the uterus. If so, the tissue will be removed surgically. Once you are home, report any heavy bleeding to your doctor immediately.

However, if you have a lump that does not respond quickly to home treatment, consult your doctor.

Uterine Infections

Normally, the placenta separates from the uterine wall during delivery and is expelled from the vagina within 20 minutes after giving birth. If pieces of the placenta remain in the uterus (called retained placenta), it can lead to infection.

An infection of the amniotic sac (the bag of water surrounding the baby) during labor may lead to a postpartum infection of the uterus. Flu-like symptoms accompanied by a high fever; rapid heart rate; abnormally high white blood-cell count; swollen, tender uterus; and foul-smelling discharge usually indicate uterine infection. When the tissues surrounding the uterus also are infected, pain and fever can be severe. Uterine infections usually can be treated with a course of intravenous antibiotics, which are used to prevent potentially dangerous complications such as toxic shock

Infection of C-section Incision

Follow your health-care provider's instructions about caring for your C-section incision. Consult your doctor if you see signs of infection, such as red, swollen skin or draining pus. Resist the urge to scratch. Try lotion to ease itching.

As Jeanne Meyers was growing up, she always assumed she'd have children someday. But when she got married in her 30s, at a time when both she and her husband had successful careers, they decided to postpone starting a family for a couple more years. A family, they felt, could wait a little while longer.

But before long, their plan of having children was turned upside down. In her mid-30s, when Jeanne and her husband had finally made the decision to become parents, she had difficulty becoming pregnant, month after disappointing month. Finally, a reproductive specialist broke the news that had seemed inconceivable to Jeanne earlier in her life: Her eggs had deteriorated in quality as she had aged, presenting a major obstacle to pregnancy.

"We tried in vitro fertilization (IVF) when I was 37, and while I did get pregnant, I miscarried, probably due to the egg quality," says Jeanne (whose last name has been changed in this article at her request). "I used to work as a nurse in the fertility field, but I never thought I'd be on the other side. I never imagined that I'd have difficulty having children myself."

Jeanne, who now does medical-legal consulting in Atlanta, says that she and her husband faced the facts: While she could probably get pregnant again through IVF, the odds were good that she would miscarry. So they stepped back, and decided to adopt children. Today, at age 40, she and her husband have two sons who were born in the Ukraine.

For millions of Americans like Jeanne, the family life they've given birth to isn't exactly the one they may have envisioned years earlier. In fact, in America today, terms like "family planning" have taken on new meaning, with couples often moving in unanticipated directions as they respond to the hand they've been dealt.

Waiting Too Long?

As part of their family planning, more women than ever are choosing to postpone childbearing into their late 30s and early 40s, due to careers and late marriages. But as with Jeanne, many may have miscalculated their ability to become pregnant. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a startling two-thirds of women will not be able to conceive spontaneously by age 40 due to factors such as changes in their eggs and the way their ovaries function.

"Ultimately, age matters," says Ruth Fretts, MD, obstetrician/gynecologist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Women tend to not want to hear this. But the large, well-designed studies show that women who delay significantly are going to have an increased risk of infertility. Biology is sexist," adds Fretts. "Biology just doesn't care."

At New York University Medical Center, obstetrician/gynecologist Steven Goldstein, MD, says career women often come into his office at age 38 or 39, perhaps having just gotten married, and announce that they plan to wait a couple more years before having a baby. "I find myself gulping," he says. "Particularly in women over age 40, physicians are nervous as hell that these women are flirting with disaster by having waited. They may not get pregnant when they want to, not because they aren't ovulating, but because the quality of their eggs has diminished."

So how long is too long to wait? "Unfortunately, there's no test doctors can conduct that will tell you, 'You have two years,' or 'You have four years,'" says Goldstein.

According to Fretts, women who delay childbearing often have "more education, good jobs, and perhaps more money -- so they're socially advantaged but biologically disadvantaged. The optimal time to have children is really in the 20s."

Gayle Peterson, PhD, MSSW, a family therapist in Berkeley, Calif., says that the challenge of balancing work with the desire for parenthood is becoming very intense for many women. On the one hand, as their biological clock ticks, they understand the need to start their family, she says. "But lately the work environment has moved toward demanding more overtime, especially in certain professions, and it's almost impossible for these women to find balance."

Feb. 18, 2002 -- No matter how conscientious parents are, babies are likely to come down with colds during their first year, and colds often lead to ear infections.

"The signs and symptoms can be very general, so they need to be looked at, especially in really young children less than 2 months of age," says Anthony Magit, MD, associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Diego, and the Children's Hospital and Health Center. Left untreated, ear infections can lead to more serious problems, including meningitis and hearing loss.

The typical ear infection -- called otitis media -- occurs when a cold or allergy causes swelling of the baby's eustachian tube, causing blockage that allows bacteria to grow in the middle ear.. Otitis media is particularly common in babies because their immune systems are immature and their eustachian tubes may not effectively drain fluid from the middle ear.

There are two types of middle ear infections. Acute otitis media often causes pain, fever, and a bulging red eardrum. Otitis media with effusion (OME) occurs when the middle ear doesn't drain properly and fluid is trapped behind the eardrum. A child may not experience pain with OME. Both types of infection sometimes clear up without treatment.

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The Latest in Ears

Because they're so run-of-the-mill, you may think you know all you need to know about ear infections. But treatment and prevention strategies have changed in the past year, so a refresher course may be in order. You should know that:

• There's now a vaccination for children under 2 to help ward off one of the most common bacterial causes of ear infections.
• Doctors are using antibiotics more conservatively in an effort to prevent drug resistance.
• There's a new laser surgery that might be worth considering in certain cases of recurring ear infections.

The newest weapon in the battle against otitis media is the pneumococcal vaccine. According to new American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines, all children under age 2 years should receive the vaccine, along with other recommended immunizations, at 2, 4, and 6 months and between 12 and 15 months.

"It's not 100 percent [effective], but it seems to result in about a 20% reduction in ear infections," says Albert Park, MD, assistant professor of pediatric otolaryngology at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill. The vaccine is also recommended for children ages 2 to 5 who are at high risk for developing pneumococcal infections.

Antibiotic Balancing Act

If your child hasn't been vaccinated, or gets an infection anyway, your pediatrician will typically prescribe the antibiotic amoxicillin. The most acute symptoms should subside within 24 to 48 hours, but since the pain may continue for several days, acetaminophen and warm compresses may help relieve discomfort.

Make sure to administer the antibiotics for the prescribed time, or the infection might stick around, and your baby could need a new round of antibiotics, possibly a different kind, such as Ceclor, Augmentin, Ceftin, and Rocephin.

Concern about antibiotic overuse and the development of drug-resistant bacterial strains, has prompted doctors to look more carefully at ear infection symptoms before prescribing antibiotics. If a baby has acute otitis media, not the less-serious OME, the doctor is likely to prescribe a stronger dose of amoxicillin twice a day rather than the traditional three weaker doses, says Magit. Other, more powerful, antibiotics are reserved for harder-to-treat cases, particularly in children under 2.

Doctors are also now less likely to offer prophylactic therapy -- taking a low-dose antibiotic for several months to prevent recurring ear infections -- particularly during the winter cold season.

"People are shying away from using [antibiotics prophylactically] because of the concerns about resistance," says Dr. Magit. "It works, but you're giving a child a lot of antibiotics to prevent one ear infection."

Jan. 14, 2005 -- Enrolling children in first grade later rather than sooner may give them a head start on building their self-esteem, a new study shows.

Researchers found students who started first grade at an older age relative to their classmates scored higher on measures of self-esteem years later.

Grouping children by year of birth is a necessity for most school systems. But in recent years a debate has emerged about whether children whose birthdays fall near the "cutoff" for their age group should be held back or encouraged to enter first grade early.

According to the results of this study, researchers say parents should consider deferring school entry if their child will be among the youngest in first grade.

"Children who enter grade one that are younger than their classmates are at a slight disadvantage, and it would usually be ill-advised to try and get them in early," says study author Angus Thompson, PhD, of the University of Alberta. "In fact, for the very young ones, it might aid their development and self-confidence to hold them back and put them in class the following year."

Researchers say building self-esteem in children is important because studies have shown that children who are self-confident are more likely to be happier, healthier, and more successful as adults.

Starting School Earlier vs. Later

In the study, which appears in the winter issue of Educational Research, researchers analyzed the records of 1,100 schoolchildren in Edmonton, Canada, enrolled in grades first through ninth. The records included general demographic information as well as information on age at which they entered first grade, family structure, and self-esteem.

The age range for entry into first grade is from 5.5 to 6.5 years old in Alberta, but parents are given some discretion regarding the year they enroll their children in school.

Researchers found that at all ages, self-esteem levels rose as age at school entry increased. The students who were older than their peers consistently scored higher on measures of self-esteem compared with their younger counterparts.

However, the study also showed that coming from a single-parent rather than two-parent home had a much bigger negative impact on a child's self-esteem than being younger than their classmates. Self-esteem levels of children from two-parent homes were consistently higher than those among those from single-parent homes, regardless of age at entry.

Many Factors Affect Self-Esteem

Experts say the results of the study are interesting, but the age at which a child starts school is only one of many factors that play a role in shaping a child's self-esteem over time.

Overall, the outlook for children of approximately the same age starting first grade is very good, but there will always be exceptions, says child psychiatrist Charles D. Casat, MD, director of the Research Behavioral Health Center of the Carolinas HealthCare System. However he says it's important not to take those exceptions out of context and attribute them to any single factor, such as age.

"I think everybody concedes that the group of kids going to school who in a given [group] are younger are at a variable kind of disadvantage," Casat tells WebMD. "But that kind of risk factor has to be weighed in the totality of risk factors of the child's life."

"It's important to remember that kids are growing up along simultaneous dimensions, including social, emotional, physical, and intellectual, and there are a myriad of other factors to be considered when you start talking about any one kid and not a group of kids," says Casat.

Thompson says another major factor that has a positive effect on children's self-esteem and emotional development is participation in clubs, sports, and other organized activities.

"There is also evidence that children who are given responsibilities and chores to do where their work is benefiting someone else also have higher self-esteem years later," says Thompson.

Casat says the absurd conclusion of the study is that in order to maximize success in school, everybody ought to enter at a significantly later age. But of course, he says that's impossible, and it's also not feasible to have kids enter school every month.

"This tendency to promote a child in a way that sort of ironically hinders the outcome, I think people are beginning to think twice about that," says Casat.

Sept. 17, 2004 -- Girls tend to lose interest in extracurricular activities, such as sports and music, about the time they reach puberty, but this is not so true when dads take an active interest, new research shows.

In one of the first studies to examine participation by girls in stereotypically male- and female-associated activities, researchers reported that moms tend to get young girls started in such activities, while dads play a bigger role in keeping their older daughters involved.

It is widely believed that a strong interest in activities such as sports, art, or music not only influences learning in general, but help shape future identity. In an effort to better understand the influences that determine how girls spend their free time, a group of developmental researchers tracked 290 white girls from working- and middle-class families over a two-year period.

The researchers examined the attitudes of the girls, who ranged in age from 8 to 15, and their parents regarding typically masculine activities such as playing sports, and pursuits considered more feminine, such as art, music, and dance.

"We wanted to identify the characteristics among the families and the individual girls that kept them involved in these activities as they got older," Susan McHale, PhD, tells WebMD. "We wondered why some girls continued to be involved in activities considered to be more masculine, and whether they felt pressure to stop."

Like Fathers and Sons

The researchers found that the girls' participation in sports and other activities typically considered masculine increased in early adolescence until about age 13, and then declined steadily thereafter. Interest in activities considered more feminine was highest at age 9.

The influence of dads on participation in both masculine and feminine activities tended to be more pronounced among adolescent girls than among young ones.

Just as fathers and sons tend to stay close through sports and other active pursuits, rather than through talking, McHale says the same seems to be true of fathers and daughters.

"Our sense is that activities are a way that fathers and daughters can stay connected," she says. "Fathers who make their enthusiasms known to their daughters can have an influence on their development in that way, even if they don't do a lot of talking."

Hormones Not to Blame

The researchers took saliva samples from the girls in the study to measure levels of the male hormone testosterone, but they found little relationship between participation in masculine activities and testosterone levels.

Their overall findings did support the hypothesis that girls feel pressure to stop playing sports and doing other typically male activities around the time they hit puberty, but the source of this pressure remains unclear.

"From age 8 to 12 interest grows, but around middle school girls start dropping out of sports," McHale says. "One explanation for this is that there is less opportunity because there are fewer organized sports for girls of this age, but one of the reasons for the lack of community activities for adolescent girls is lack of interest."

Human development professor Allan L. Wigfield, PhD, says it is not entirely clear why so many girls abandon extracurricular activities as they get older, just as it is not totally clear why boys drop out of school at higher rates than girls around this time.

"Even without the constraints that were common in the past there is still a fairly sex-stereotypical pattern among girls regarding participation in activities," Wigfield tells WebMD. "They must either still be getting strong messages from some place about this or there are other things going on in their world that lead them to abandon these activities."

July 13, 2004 -- Safety advocates say America's love affair with SUVs is risky -- pointing to the 13-year high with 46,000 deaths and 3 million injuries on roads in 2003.

One-quarter of all the deaths take place in rollover crashes, which are a particular risk in tall and top-heavy SUVs, experts say.

A new survey shows that Americans overwhelmingly support the idea that the government set tougher automobile safety standards and enforce laws set to protect the public.

A major focus of the survey was to study issues concerning vehicle rollover crashes, a special concern with sport utility vehicles -- the fastest selling vehicle in the U.S. SUVs, light trucks, and minivans make up 56% of all new car sales in the U.S. according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a car industry trade group.

Eighty-four percent of Americans say they support stricter government regulations to make SUVs less prone to rollover crashes, according to a poll of more than 1,000 adults conducted by the Peter Harris Research Group. Ninety-one percent of adults surveyed in this year's poll also said that the federal government's involvement is either very or somewhat important.

Eighty-six percent of Americans and 85% of SUV owners say they are familiar with the SUV rollover problem. When the participants were asked about whether they were aware of a government web site "that has customer information about how likely it is for various types of vehicles to roll over in a crash," only 31% say they are aware of such a site. Only 24% of SUV owners were aware that such a site existed. The researchers say this implies that these car owners may be less inclined to seek out car safety information.

The majority of those surveyed say they are willing to pay the $200 to $300 extra that safety advocates say would be required to make reinforced roofing and antirollover computers standard in all SUVs.

Advocates released the poll hoping to convince lawmakers to enact tougher safety regulations in a transportation bill currently before the Congress. A bill passed by the Senate includes new standards for antirollover technology, sturdier roof construction, anti-ejections seatbelts, and other technologies.

"They don't want to give up their favorite vehicles, they love them. But they don't want to die in them either," pollster Louis Harris says.

According to the poll, 84% of Americans say that "the government should create safety rules that require manufacturers to make all passenger vehicles, including SUVs, more stable and less likely to roll over.

Judith Lee Stone accuses automakers of restricting many safety advances to expensive luxury cars, leaving most buyers without the best protection against highway fatalities.

"It's as if the cures for this epidemic are being locked up in a huge medicine chest," says Stone, president of a group called Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "They decide who gets the vaccines and who doesn't."

The poll asked participants whether they would like the government to require having Electronic Stability Control (ESC) devices installed in all new cars they buy in the future. Fifty-five percent favors the government the move. ESC devices can in certain circumstances help prevent vehicle rollovers; they are available in more expensive, high-end vehicles in the U.S.

Car makers say they have worked to make SUVs and pickup trucks safer and that consumers who want antirollover devices and other safety technology can often purchase them as options.

Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, argues that an increasing number of cars on the road -- and not rollover-prone SUVs and trucks -- are partly to blame for the 13-year record high in highway deaths last year.

"The increase in traffic deaths isn't just from vehicles, it's from pedestrians" and a rise in crashes involving 18-wheel trucks and other commercial autos, Territo says. "Today's SUVs are as safe as passenger cars."

That wasn't the case for 40-year-old Patrick Parker of Childress, Texas, who was paralyzed in a SUV rollover accident in 2001. Parker had swerved to avoid a deer, causing his vehicle to flip.

"It was the roof crushing in that broke his neck, nearly severing his spinal card, rendering him quadriplegic at age 37," his wife Dena says.

Advocates stress that they are not trying to get Americans to stop buying fewer of their favorite big SUVs, but that they just want the trucks better regulated, even if it costs more. "The part of the free market that we want to interfere in is only one very narrow area and that is to make these vehicles safer, says Joan Claybrook, president of the consumer group Public Citizen.

Sept. 30, 2005 -- Eating an organic diet reduces kids' exposure to pesticides from foods, new research shows.

The effect was "dramatic and immediate," write Chensheng "Alex" Lu, PhD, MS, and colleagues. Lu is an assistant professor in the environmental and occupational health department of Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta.

Lu's team studied malathion and chlorpyrifos, two pesticides commonly used in conventional agricultural production. Organic foods aren't treated with any synthetic pesticides. Pesticides derived from natural sources (e.g. biological pesticides) may be used in producing organically grown food, says the EPA.

The study, which was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recently appeared in the online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives.

Strict Standards for Safety

Pesticides are strong chemicals. According to the EPA web site, "By their very nature, most pesticides create some risk of harm. Pesticides can cause harm to humans, animals, or the environment because they are designed to kill or otherwise adversely affect living organisms. At the same time, pesticides are useful to society. Pesticides can kill potential disease-causing organisms and control insects, weeds, and other pests."

Direct exposure to the type of pesticides studied by Lu can overstimulate the nervous system, causing nausea, dizziness, and confusion. Very high exposures (such as accidents or major spills), can paralyze breathing or even be fatal, states the EPA's web site.

But foods treated with malathion and chlorpyrifos are safe to eat, according to the EPA.

The EPA has strict rules about pesticide use. Limits include the amount of pesticides that can be used in growing and processing foods and the amount of pesticide residue on foods people buy.

"Most importantly, each of these decisions must protect infants and children, whose developing bodies may be especially sensitive to pesticide exposure," states the EPA's web site.

According to the EPA web site, children are at a greater risk for some pesticides for a number of reasons. Children's internal organs are still developing and maturing, and their enzymatic, metabolic, and immune systems may provide less natural protection than those of an adult. There are "critical periods" in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual's biological system operates. Children may be exposed more to certain pesticides because often they eat different foods than adults.

For instance, children typically consume larger quantities of milk, applesauce, and orange juice per pound of body weight than do adults. Children's behaviors, such as playing on the floor or on the lawn where pesticides are commonly applied, or putting objects in their mouths, increase their chances of exposure to pesticides.

Organic Makeover

Lu's study included 23 children aged 3 to 11 in Seattle's suburbs. The kids took daily urine tests for about two weeks. The urine samples were checked for traces of the two pesticides.

The kids ate their normal diets for three days. Then, they switched to a mainly organic diet for five days. Lastly, the children resumed their normal conventional diet.

The researchers bought the organic foods at a local store. They simply chose organic versions of foods the kids typically ate.

The organic grocery list included fresh fruits and vegetables, juices, processed fruit or vegetable items (such as salsa), and wheat- or corn-based items (such as pasta, cereal, popcorn, or chips).

Organic meats and dairy products weren't provided since they aren't regularly found to contain the type of pesticides being studied, the researchers note.

Pesticide Levels Dropped

When the kids started eating the organic foods, traces of the two pesticides immediately vanished from most of their urine samples. Those pesticide levels remained undetectable until the children resumed their conventional diets, the study shows.

The researchers didn't probe or note any health problems in the kids on either diet.

The kids' parents had told the researchers that they didn't use pesticides in their homes. That suggests that the children were "exclusively" exposed to the pesticides from food, write Lu and colleagues.

Lowering Pesticide Exposure

The EPA offers these tips to reduce consumption of pesticides on foods:

• Wash and scrub all fresh fruits and vegetables under running water.
• Soaking produce isn't the same. It doesn't have the abrasive effect of running water.
• Peel fruits and vegetables, when possible.
• Discard the outer leaves of leafy vegetables.
• Trim fat from meat and skin from poultry. Some pesticide residues collect in fat.
• Eat a variety of foods from a variety of sources. Doing so will provide a better mix of nutrients and reduce the likelihood of exposure to a single pesticide.

Not all pesticide residues can be removed by washing.

Washing produce (including fresh organic fruits and vegetables) will also help reduce dirt and bacteria. Don't use detergent or soaps to wash produce, notes the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nov. 1, 2004 -- Olive oil has now joined the ranks of nuts and fish in earning the right to advertise its heart-healthy benefits.

The FDA has approved a new qualified health claim for olive oil based on studies that show eating about two tablespoons of olive oil a day may reduce the risk of heart disease.

But don't go dipping that bread into a bowl of your favorite olive oil yet. Researchers say the most benefits are achieved by substituting olive oil for other, artery-clogging fats like butter and animal fat in your diet rather than just adding more olive oil.

Olive oil contains a type of fat known as monounsaturated fat that can lower cholesterol levels when eaten instead of saturated fats. However, olive oil contains about the same amount of total fat grams and calories as other types of fats.

Saturated fats come mostly from animal products -- meat, poultry, and dairy. They also come from vegetable oils, such as palm and coconut oils. Saturated fats increase LDL "bad" cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease.

New Health Claim for Olive Oil

Under the new qualified health claims, olive oil products may contain the following qualified health claim in their labels and advertising:

"Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fat in olive oil. To achieve this possible benefit, olive oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day. One serving of this product [Name of food] contains [x] grams of olive oil."

It's the third qualified health claim approved by the FDA. Two separate qualified health claims have been approved for nuts and fish or supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids in reducing the risk of heart disease.

The FDA introduced qualified health claims in 2003 as part of a program that ranks scientific evidence behind health claims of food products. Under the new system, the FDA allows food and supplement manufacturers to make qualified health claims about their products as long as they contain an appropriate disclaimer.

July 13, 2004 -- To protect your eyesight, try broccoli. An antioxidant found in broccoli may be a powerful force in preventing blindness.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that sulforaphane, the naturally occurring antioxidant in broccoli and broccoli sprouts, protects the eye from damage caused by the sun's ultraviolet light.

Cells in the eye's retina are extremely sensitive to damage caused by oxidants, especially those generated by light. While several processes within the eye help cut that damage, the eye gradually loses that capability as we age.

This is believed to be the primary cause of age-related macular degeneration -- the leading cause of blindness, writes researcher Xiangqun Gao, a molecular scientist with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His report appears in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA.

To combat this damage, a simple long-term strategy is important, Gao notes. That's where sulforaphane comes in.

Previous studies from this group of researchers have shown that sulforaphane prevents tumor growth and kills stomach bacteria that lead to ulcers and stomach cancer. In one study, they showed that feeding broccoli sprouts to rats prevented high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

In their latest laboratory experiment, the Johns Hopkins researchers exposed human retina cells, which protect against oxidative stress and free radicals, to various doses of sulforaphane. Then they exposed cells to ultraviolet light -- similar to sunlight -- to produce oxidative damage.

Sulforaphane protected eye cells from damage, reports Gao. In fact, the more sulforaphane exposure the cells got, the more protection they received.

"Much evidence points to the central role of oxidative damage in chronic degenerative diseases of the eye," writes Gao. A diet high in broccoli and broccoli sprouts is a safe, long-term approach to preventing age-related macular degeneration and blindness, he says.

SOURCE: Gao, X. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA, July 2004; vol 101: pp 10446-10451.

Oct. 24, 2002 -- It's another benefit of omega-3 fatty acids: Eating fish and seafood cuts the risk of Alzheimer's disease, a large study shows.

A team of French researchers has investigated the connection between fish (with its polyunsaturated fatty acids) and meat (rich in saturated fatty acids) and dementia.

Their data come from a large study on aging of more than 1,600 people age 68 and over -- all without signs of dementia and living in their homes in southwestern France. The amount of meat, fish, or seafood they ate was recorded. Researchers tracked their health for up to seven years afterward.

Those who ate fish or seafood at least once a week had a significantly lower risk of being diagnosed with dementia during the seven-year study period. Their education level seemed to slightly reduce the risk, too, suggesting that this "protective" effect was partly explained by higher education of people who regularly ate fish, says Pascale Barberger-Gateau, senior lecturer at Universite Victor Segalen in Bordeaux, France, in a news release.

Meat consumption had no impact on dementia risk, the report says.

The study appears in the Oct. 26 issue of the British Medical Journal.

The fatty acids in fish oils provide protection for arteries, which could improve blood flow to the brain. In addition, the fatty acids may reduce inflammation in the brain. They may also have a specific role in brain development and regeneration of nerve cells, the authors suggest. -->

Jan. 31, 2002 -- As a nation, we're getting fatter. The number of obese Americans has nearly doubled since the early 1990s, and there's no sign of a slowdown, or slimdown, in sight. We all want a quick fix, but so far, that magic bullet has eluded us. Now, researchers may have found a solution. Fat rats given a new pill that mimics insulin, a hormone naturally found in the body, ate less and lost weight.

Insulin is made by the pancreas. It regulates the body's blood sugar and helps control appetite. "Mice without [the ability to metabolize] insulin [eat too much] and are obese," write Ellen L. Air, with Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, N.J., and colleagues in their study. Injecting insulin into these mice "reduces food intake and body weight."

But any widely available, viable option for treating human obesity would need to be available in pill form. So her team developed a synthetic compound that mimics the action of insulin but can be taken orally.

They then looked at what happened to a group of 40 insulin-resistant fat rats when half the animals received a daily dose of the new drug.

The rats that received the drug ate significantly less than the untreated rats. At the end of the experiment, about two months later, the treated rats had lost a good deal of body fat, although lean muscle mass was about the same in both groups.

The researchers conducted several tests along the way to ensure that the mice were healthy and hadn't simply lost their appetites because the drug made them feel sick.

Although the drug is still a long way from use in humans, these initial experiments "provide proof-of-principle for a novel approach for the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders," the researchers write.

If additional animal experiments show the compound to be safe and effective, the team can move on to human trials.

Nothing matters more than taking good care of your heart. Getting regular exercise, not smoking, and controlling stress are just a few things health experts recommend, along with eating a variety of nutritious, heart-healthy foods that make up a healthy diet.

Where to start? Add these five "super-foods" to boost nutritional goodness while eating your way to a healthier heart.

Blueberries

Blueberries top the list as one of the most powerful disease-fighting foods. That's because they contain anthocyanins, the antioxidant responsible for their dark blue color. These delicious jewels are packed with fiber, vitamin C, and are available all year long. Boost heart health by adding them into your diet regularly. Here's how:

1. Top your whole-grain cereal with fresh or frozen blueberries to add delicious flavor, a dose of fiber, and heart-healthy antioxidants.
2. Power up pancakes, waffles, or muffins with fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries for a nutritious breakfast.
3. Eat them plain or mix with other fruit for a low-calorie, high-fiber tasty fruit salad, dessert, or snack.

Recipe idea: Make an irresistible trifle by layering lady fingers, light whipped topping or low-fat pudding, and blueberries. Or puree a batch of berries for a breakfast or dessert sauce.

Salmon

This cold-water fish is a great source of protein and is also packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. The American Heart Association advises eating salmon and other omega-3 rich foods twice a week for benefits that go beyond heart health. Americans love salmon because it is so versatile, easy to cook, and tastes great.

1. Salmon is easy to prepare on the grill, in the oven or microwave, or on the stovetop. Save leftovers to toss into pasta dishes, make into salmon cakes, add to salads, or mix into dips or spreads.
2. Smoked salmon comes in two varieties. The raw type is commonly used in appetizers and on bagels with cream cheese and capers. The dry smoked type has more of a cooked appearance. You can enjoy it the same way as the raw style, and add it to cooked dishes such as pasta.
3. Salmon cooks in a matter of minutes and its delicate texture quickly absorbs and showcases the flavor of added ingredients. For example, toss chunks of salmon into a chowder of corn and potatoes, or wrap salmon with herbs and chopped onion and tomatoes in parchment or aluminum foil and grill or bake 12 minutes for a satisfying meal.

Recipe idea: Marinate salmon in a lime, onion, garlic, and soy mixture for 15 minutes before grilling for a delicious fish taco or grilled fish sandwich.

Soy Protein

This inexpensive, high-quality protein contains fiber, vitamins, and minerals -- all the ingredients for a heart-healthy meal. Also, a diet rich in soy protein can lower LDL "bad" cholesterol, which can help prevent cardiovascular disease and keep your heart strong and healthy.

1. Pack a soy protein bar or a bag of soy nuts for a quick snack during the day.
2. Edamame (the Japanese name for green soybeans) are snacks even kids will love! Find these nutritious nuggets in the freezer section at your supermarket. Boil them, then serve warm in the pod. Pop them out of the pod to eat plain or with a low-fat dip.
3. Tofu, made of soy beans, takes on the flavor of spices and foods you cook with it. Saute cubed tofu with green and red peppers, sliced garlic, and a dash or two of curry powder. Or add tofu to soups for a healthy dose of fat-free protein.

Recipe idea: Soy milk is not just for the lactose-intolerant. Make a nutritious beverage with chocolate soy milk, a banana, and some ice for a delicious smoothie.

Dec. 13, 2004 -- If you are scrambling to meet a high-pressure deadline at work, consider this: Sudden, intense deadlines significantly boost your risk of having a heart attack.

Researchers say increased competition and workload, as well as less job security, have increased the importance of the work environment as a source of potentially harmful stress reactions. Studies have shown that stressful events can precede a heart attack.

Scientists reporting in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health evaluated heart disease data from 1,381 participants of the Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program (SHEEP). All of them had previously suffered one heart attack. The patients were asked about the specific life events preceding their heart attack, both at work and home, and asked to range their significance from "affected me in a very negative way" to "affected me in a very positive way."

Analysis of the surveys revealed that sudden stress on the job made people six times more likely to suffer a heart attack within the next 24 hours. "Conflict at work" appeared to be a leading risk factor for men. Increased responsibilities on the job, which participants rated "very or fairly negative," raised the risk of heart attack for both men and women. Eight percent of those surveyed had experienced intense, job-related stress one day before their heart attack, at a rate much higher than those who faced stressful events unrelated to work.

Severe short-term stress had a larger impact on the heart than a year's worth of accumulated stress.

"Our conclusion is that work-related life events characterized by high demands, competition, or conflict, have the potential to trigger the onset of myocardial infarction [heart attack]," the researchers from Sweden write in the journal report.

"The results suggest that the induction time is in the range of hours or days rather than weeks."

Few studies have investigated the link between life events and the onset of a heart attack. This study is the first to establish the link between short-term job stress and one's risk for heart attack. The authors say more study is needed.

Feb. 17, 2005 -- Marital strain is a home wrecker that can endanger the heart. So says a 10-year study of 3,000 men and women aged 18 to 77.

All participants were married or living in a "marital situation." The researchers collected data on marital discord. Health was tracked for a decade to see who developed heart disease or died of any cause during the study.

For both men and women, marital strain affected their health.

Marital Strain and the Married Couple

The worst health risk was seen in women who hushed up when conflicts arose with their spouse. They said they usually or always silenced themselves in such situations.

Those women might have thought they were keeping the peace, but they paid dearly for it. Women who kept mum in marital conflicts had four times the risk of dying during the study, compared with women who spoke their minds.

For men, emotional expression wasn't the issue. Instead, their hearts suffered when they saw their wives come home from work burdened by job stress.

"Men reporting that their wives' work was disruptive to their lives were 2.7 times more likely to develop heart disease," say the researchers, who included Elaine Eaker, ScD, of Wisconsin-based Eaker Epidemiology Enterprises. The findings were reported in Orlando, Fla., at the Second International Conference on Women, Heart Disease, and Stroke.

A Health Perk for Husbands

Married men were about half as likely as single men to die of any cause during the study. That finding held true after adjusting for blood pressure, body mass index, smoking, diabetes, and cholesterol.

Single men were more likely than husbands to be smokers, says Eaker, in a news release. Past studies have also shown a health advantage for married men.

For women, marital status wasn't linked to heart disease or dying. The connection emerged when Eaker used more contemporary measures of marital strain, such as "self-silencing" behavior.

What's a Couple to Do?

Learning to handle conflict and defuse stress is a healthy idea for everyone. Counseling can help with that, with therapists available for individuals and couples. Doctors may also want to ask their patients about stress and make counseling referrals as needed, says Eaker.

Dec. 4, 2002 -- Vacations and leisure time usually provide welcome relief from the stresses of everyday life, but for some people free time may make them sick. For the first time, a new study shows "leisure sickness" may be a real issue for a significant number of adults.

Until now, Dutch researchers say only occasional references have been made to the phenomenon of leisure sickness, which they say can best be described as frequently feeling ill during weekends and/or vacations. To get a first look at the nature of the condition how common it is, they surveyed about 2,000 men and women about whether they fit that description of weekend and vacation sickness.

Their report appears in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

They found 3.2% of both men and women identified themselves as suffering from vacation illness, but more men than women (3.6% vs. 2.7%) said they suffered from weekend illness.

The most commonly reported symptoms of leisure illness included headache/migraine, fatigue, muscular pains, and nausea. Viral infections, such as cold or flu, were also frequently reported in relation to vacations.

Most people with the condition had suffered from it for more than 10 years, and the onset of the illness was often stress-related. Sufferers attributed their illness to difficulty making the transition from work to leisure as well as the stress associated with travel and vacations

Although researchers found few lifestyle differences between those with leisure sickness and those without, the study suggests people with a large workload, high need for achievement, and a strong sense of responsibility with respect to work may be especially vulnerable to the problem.

Study author J.J.M. Vingerhoets, of the department of clinical health psychology at Tilburg University in The Netherlands, and colleagues write that future studies should look at the causes of this mysterious condition and investigate potential treatments.

SOURCE: Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 71, 2002.

Your heart and mental health may depend on your ability to reduce hurt and anger, even at yourself. So effective is forgiveness -- if we could find a way to learn and teach it -- that Stanford University is undertaking a project to learn how forgiveness can enhance health and relationships and even prevent disease.

But first, you might have to forgive yourself. Did you cheat on your spouse? Hit a child in anger? Steal something? Go off the wagon? The list of potential human misdeeds is long.

If someone else did these things, you might learn to forgive them or at least let go of the anger. That's because it's easier to forgive others. After all, they don't live in your head, reading you the same old riot act. All the world's major religions preach the power of forgiveness. But forgiveness is such an elusive act, quicksilver in its ability to be strongly felt one moment and then dart away beyond reach the next.

According to Stanford's call for volunteer subjects, the definition of forgiveness is a simple one, not a near-impossible requirement that a person apply for sainthood. "Forgiveness," it says, "consists primarily of taking less personal offense, reducing anger, and the blaming of the offender, and developing an increased understanding of situations that lead to hurt and anger."

When You Need to Try to Forgive Yourself

Sharon A. Hartman, LSW, a clinical trainer at the Caron Foundation, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Wernersville, Pa., deals with the need to forgive every day. "These are such shame-based diseases," she says. "Forgiving oneself is of the more difficult parts of recovery."

A chronic state of anger and resentment interferes with life, Hartman points out. Countless studies also show stress and anger can cause or worsen diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and various autoimmune disorders. "When resentment is interfering with your life, it's time to forgive yourself," she says. "So many people have a constant, critical voice in their heads narrating their every move." She says she calls her critical voice "Gertrude" and tries to counteract Gertrude's eternal litany with positive affirmations -- that she is getting better, that she is less angry. "Forgiving doesn't mean not being angry with yourself, but not hating yourself.

"No one," Hartman adds, "can beat us up better than we beat ourselves up."

Forgiving Requires Specificity

"I think people often try to forgive themselves for the wrong things," says Joretta L. Marshall, PhD, a United Methodist minister and professor of pastoral care at the Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. "We think we ought to forgive ourselves for being human and making human mistakes. People don't have to forgive themselves for being who they are -- gay or lesbian, or having some kind of handicap. Forgiveness means being specific about what we did that needs forgiving."

"I think forgiveness is often confused with condoning or lack of accountability," Hartman says. "This is a world with high performance standards. People think they need to be perfect. Yet people do things -- intended or not -- that hurt others. You may not intend to harm, but the other person is no less hurt." That's when you need to stop at some point and forgive yourself.

Hanging on to Resentment Can Have Advantages

"It's about relinquishing a source of pain and letting go of resentment. People think forgiving yourself means you are letting yourself get away with whatever it was you did," Hartman goes on. "The pain and anger you are feeling are supposed to be your punishment."

People want to feel pain and resentment? "Oh," exclaims Hartman, "resentment is a very attractive way of putting a barrier around yourself as protection against being hurt again."

Do You Need a Therapist?

If toting around self-loathing like a heavy backpack has advantages, how do you set it down?

It can be done without formal therapy, Marshall says. "But not without community of some kind. It is in the context of our relationships (whether with therapists, pastors, counselors, churches, families, and friends) that we experience the grace of being forgiven and forgiving others." Grace, of course, is a peace of mind bestowed regardless of whether we deserve it or not.

"You need to talk to someone as a rule," Hartman says.

Nothing matters more than taking good care of your heart. Getting regular exercise, not smoking, and controlling stress are just a few things health experts recommend, along with eating a variety of nutritious, heart-healthy foods that make up a healthy diet.

Where to start? Add these five "super-foods" to boost nutritional goodness while eating your way to a healthier heart.

Blueberries

Blueberries top the list as one of the most powerful disease-fighting foods. That's because they contain anthocyanins, the antioxidant responsible for their dark blue color. These delicious jewels are packed with fiber, vitamin C, and are available all year long. Boost heart health by adding them into your diet regularly. Here's how:

1. Top your whole-grain cereal with fresh or frozen blueberries to add delicious flavor, a dose of fiber, and heart-healthy antioxidants.
2. Power up pancakes, waffles, or muffins with fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries for a nutritious breakfast.
3. Eat them plain or mix with other fruit for a low-calorie, high-fiber tasty fruit salad, dessert, or snack.

Recipe idea: Make an irresistible trifle by layering lady fingers, light whipped topping or low-fat pudding, and blueberries. Or puree a batch of berries for a breakfast or dessert sauce.

Salmon

This cold-water fish is a great source of protein and is also packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. The American Heart Association advises eating salmon and other omega-3 rich foods twice a week for benefits that go beyond heart health. Americans love salmon because it is so versatile, easy to cook, and tastes great.

1. Salmon is easy to prepare on the grill, in the oven or microwave, or on the stovetop. Save leftovers to toss into pasta dishes, make into salmon cakes, add to salads, or mix into dips or spreads.
2. Smoked salmon comes in two varieties. The raw type is commonly used in appetizers and on bagels with cream cheese and capers. The dry smoked type has more of a cooked appearance. You can enjoy it the same way as the raw style, and add it to cooked dishes such as pasta.
3. Salmon cooks in a matter of minutes and its delicate texture quickly absorbs and showcases the flavor of added ingredients. For example, toss chunks of salmon into a chowder of corn and potatoes, or wrap salmon with herbs and chopped onion and tomatoes in parchment or aluminum foil and grill or bake 12 minutes for a satisfying meal.

Recipe idea: Marinate salmon in a lime, onion, garlic, and soy mixture for 15 minutes before grilling for a delicious fish taco or grilled fish sandwich.

Soy Protein

This inexpensive, high-quality protein contains fiber, vitamins, and minerals -- all the ingredients for a heart-healthy meal. Also, a diet rich in soy protein can lower LDL "bad" cholesterol, which can help prevent cardiovascular disease and keep your heart strong and healthy.

1. Pack a soy protein bar or a bag of soy nuts for a quick snack during the day.
2. Edamame (the Japanese name for green soybeans) are snacks even kids will love! Find these nutritious nuggets in the freezer section at your supermarket. Boil them, then serve warm in the pod. Pop them out of the pod to eat plain or with a low-fat dip.
3. Tofu, made of soy beans, takes on the flavor of spices and foods you cook with it. Saute cubed tofu with green and red peppers, sliced garlic, and a dash or two of curry powder. Or add tofu to soups for a healthy dose of fat-free protein.

Recipe idea: Soy milk is not just for the lactose-intolerant. Make a nutritious beverage with chocolate soy milk, a banana, and some ice for a delicious smoothie.

Dec. 13, 2004 -- If you are scrambling to meet a high-pressure deadline at work, consider this: Sudden, intense deadlines significantly boost your risk of having a heart attack.

Researchers say increased competition and workload, as well as less job security, have increased the importance of the work environment as a source of potentially harmful stress reactions. Studies have shown that stressful events can precede a heart attack.

Scientists reporting in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health evaluated heart disease data from 1,381 participants of the Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program (SHEEP). All of them had previously suffered one heart attack. The patients were asked about the specific life events preceding their heart attack, both at work and home, and asked to range their significance from "affected me in a very negative way" to "affected me in a very positive way."

Analysis of the surveys revealed that sudden stress on the job made people six times more likely to suffer a heart attack within the next 24 hours. "Conflict at work" appeared to be a leading risk factor for men. Increased responsibilities on the job, which participants rated "very or fairly negative," raised the risk of heart attack for both men and women. Eight percent of those surveyed had experienced intense, job-related stress one day before their heart attack, at a rate much higher than those who faced stressful events unrelated to work.

Severe short-term stress had a larger impact on the heart than a year's worth of accumulated stress.

"Our conclusion is that work-related life events characterized by high demands, competition, or conflict, have the potential to trigger the onset of myocardial infarction [heart attack]," the researchers from Sweden write in the journal report.

"The results suggest that the induction time is in the range of hours or days rather than weeks."

Few studies have investigated the link between life events and the onset of a heart attack. This study is the first to establish the link between short-term job stress and one's risk for heart attack. The authors say more study is needed.

As the beeps and whistles emanate from the family room, are you afraid Junior is going to develop thumbs the size of bananas and a belly to match?

According to Judith Sherman-Wolin, exercise specialist with the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition and author of Smart?Girls Do Dumbbells, dietary guidelines may come and go, but the one constant is exercise. Over half of Americans don't get enough (now pegged at 30 minutes to an hour a day), and a quarter of us are total taters.

But -- get this -- what if playing video games did provide some exercise? Some do! It's a new trend called "exergaming" or "exertainment."

The jam-packed hit of this year's Consumer Electronics Show was a "Cardio PlayZone," featuring some of the new workout and movement video contraptions.

Dance Dance Revolution

DDR, as its many aficionados hiply call it, runs on the Xbox platform. This started out as an arcade game, played on a floor display sort of like an amped-up Twister. The system is loaded with catchy tunes and can be calibrated to different levels of intensity as the players dance to the pattern, either individually or competitively. When the manufacturer, Konami of Japan, migrated it to PlayStation in April of 1999, 3 million copies flew off the shelves.

"I am familiar with DDR," Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise, tells WebMD. "My four boys play it. It can be strenuous and can really get your heart rate up. It has different levels of intensity." (Reportedly, there is even a module for the Lawrence Welk -- make that Rod Stewart -- set.)

Nicktoons Movin'

Sherman-Wolin once was asked to do an energy expenditure study on Nicktoons Movin', a game played on the PlayStation2 Eyetoy platform. "I tried it," she says. "It was fun."

Atop the TV is a motion-sensitive Eyetoy USB camera that allows the players to sort of "jump inside" the game.

The games and characters are based on Nickelodeon characters and "hosted" by SpongeBob SquarePants. Up to eight players wildly move their arms to fix Cosmo and Wanda's fishbowl, go for a drive with Mrs. Puff, help Timmy smash robots, go bowling with SpongeBob, and other cartoonishly entrancing activities.

Did smashing virtual robots really up the heart rate? Sherman-Wolin says yes. Fifteen percent of kids aged 6 to 19 are overweight, she notes. If sitting still and watching TV consumed 16 calories an hour for the average 55-pound 8-year-old and standing only expended 20 calories, sweating with the Spongester burned 50 calories.

"I liken it to Ping Pong," she says. "You are sort of standing there and sort of moving at the same time."

Golf Launchpad

In this one, back off, kiddies, you use your own golf clubs to play 800 of the most challenging golf courses in the world. The USB game controller package runs on PC and Mac platforms and is coming to PlayStation. Tiger Woods gaming software is included, and it can also be used with Microsoft's Links.

You play on a mat filled with sensors and hit a real (tethered) golf ball with your own clubs.

The company which produces it, Electric-Spin Corporation, is located in Canada, and thus far the product is available in the United States only online or at Edwin Watts golf shops, although it is expected to go wider shortly.

After you purchase the product, you can use the serial number to download special analysis software that scopes out your swing.

Is playing virtual golf real exercise? "I have been a golf pro for 20 years," sales manager Shawn Clement tells WebMD, "and I can tell you that if you hit a golf ball for an hour, it's a tremendous workout." Walloping the ball uses 200 muscles, he notes. And if you unplug and walk the course and carry the clubs, it's as good exercise as cycling.

Aug. 23, 2006 -- The tongue may have a real sweet spot for sour tastes, as well as bitter, salty, and other taste sensations.

A new study suggests that individual cells in the tongues are exclusively dedicated to detecting sour tastes, a function that may have evolved to help mammals detect spoiled or unripe foods.

The finding contrasts with the notion that individual tongue cells detect more than one type of taste and send a complicated pattern of signals to the brain to determine which of five basic taste categories it fits in: sour, sweet, salty, bitter, or umami (the taste of monosodium glutamate, MSG).

Instead, researcher Charles Zuker of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in La Jolla, Calif., says the sour receptors are found in a subgroup of taste receptor cells that do not detect sweet, bitter, or umami tastes.

The finding is "very interesting," says Zuker, in a news release, "because it seals the case that we had built before with sweet, bitter, and umami, showing that each taste is mediated by fully dedicated sensors."

Sensing Sour on the Tongue

In the study, published in Nature, researchers used DNA sequencing to isolate proteins involved in detecting sour tastes. Through a series of experiments they narrowed 30,000 candidates down to 900 possible proteins.

They were able to identify a molecule called PKD2L1 that was not found in cells that detected sweet, bitter, or umami. They tested it in an experiment using mice genetically engineered to lack this sour-sensing protein. Researchers recorded nerve signals and tongue function of the mice when they were exposed to a variety of tastes.

The results showed that no matter what sour tastes, like citric acid, they fed the mice, there were no nerve messages sent to the brain from the taste cells. But these "sourless" mice had no problems detecting sweet, bitter, salty, and umami tastes.

"Killing these cells and showing that the mice now are totally unable to detect sour proved that these cells are the sensors for sour taste, and that indeed no other taste cells detect sour," says Zuker.

Researchers say the sour-sensing PKD2L1 protein is also found in cells within the spinal cord and may help explain how the body monitors the quality of critical body fluids. For example, the body controls respiration in part by monitoring the acidity of the blood since an increase in carbon dioxide increases the acidity of the blood.

Defects in these sensing systems may underlie a wide range of disorders, says Zuker.

Feb. 18, 2005 -- Vitamin D may reduce the risk of prostate cancer, or at least prevent it from becoming aggressive, a new study suggests.

"Our findings suggest that vitamin D plays an important protective role against prostate cancer, especially ... aggressive disease," says lead researcher Haojie Li, MD, PhD, a research fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University School of Public Health, in a news release.

"This research underscores the importance of obtaining adequate vitamin D through skin exposure to sunlight or through diet, including food and supplements," Li says. Li presented the report at the 2005 Multidisciplinary Prostate Cancer Symposium.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men in the U.S., and it's the second leading cause of cancer death in men, according to the American Cancer Society. Almost 232,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year, and about 30,000 men will die of prostate cancer.

The cause is unknown, although many risk factors exist that increase the risk of this cancer. Older age, family history, and a diet high in red meat increase the risk of prostate cancer.

Experts have known that vitamin D can help stop the growth of certain cancers. Some studies have shown that the rate of prostate cancer is lower in Southern states, where sunshine is more abundant. Sunlight helps the body make vitamin D.

Vitamin D Protects Against Prostate Cancer

The study involved 1,029 men with prostate cancer and more than 1,300 healthy men. Researchers analyzed the men's blood, looking for several factors including levels of vitamin D. They found that men with the highest levels of vitamin D had significantly lower overall risk (45%) of prostate cancer, including aggressive prostate cancer, Li reports.

Also, men with a specific receptor that helps vitamin D work got greater protection if they also had high levels of vitamin D in their blood. Those men had 55% lower risk of prostate cancer and 77% lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

The researchers conclude that vitamin D plays a role in reducing the risk of prostate cancer and its aggressiveness.

Oct. 31, 2003 -- Cloned beef tastes like beef and the FDA says cloned animals and animal products seem to be safe to eat as well.

A new FDA report explains the findings thus far on animal cloning and the prospects for human consumption. The safety of eating food products from animal clones -- and the risk to animals involved in the cloning process -- will be discussed at a public meeting of FDA's Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee on Nov. 4.

Today's method of animal cloning has only been around since 1996. It involves a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer, in which genetic information from one animal is inserted into an egg that has had its nucleus removed. The resulting embryo is implanted into a surrogate mother, which carries the fetus to birth. Dolly the sheep -- who passed away in February 2003 -- was created in 1996 using this technology.

In the U.S., several hundred cattle have been cloned, says rancher and veterinarian Donald Coover, DVM of Galesburg, Kan. Cloned pigs, goats, and sheep may join them some day on America's dinner table.

Five of the cattle clones were described as "normal and healthy as any calves I've ever raised," says Coover in a FDA news release. The calves, born in 2001, will soon be ready to propagate herds of high-quality beef cattle.

"Clones are biological copies of normal animals," says Larisa Rudenko, PhD, a molecular biologist and risk assessor in the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine. "In theory, they're pretty close to identical twins of an adult animal."

Indeed, over the last two years, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has found that food products derived from animal clones and their offspring are likely to be as safe as food from their nonclone counterparts.

The NAS found that healthy adult animal clones are virtually indistinguishable from "normal" animals, based on the evidence available.

But until all safety issues are resolved, the FDA has ordered that cloned animals or animal products be withheld from the nation's food supply.

It's unlikely that you will eat a cloned animal anytime soon. At a cost of $20,000 each to produce, clones are used for breeding -- not for food. But some scientists and farmers are looking at the descendants of cloned cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep as potential sources for food and clothing, if the FDA gives the OK.

How much do you know about what makes up a healthy lifestyle? Here's a pop quiz.

1. How do you define working out?

a. Going to the gym.
b. Turning the jump-rope for the neighbor's kid.
c. Playing Frisbee with your dog.

2. How do you define good nutrition?

a. Eating a vegetable at every meal.
b. Eating two vegetables at every meal.
c. Drinking a fruit smoothie for breakfast.

3. Which of these is a healthy activity?

a. Push-ups, sit-ups, or running the track.
b. Walking the dog after dinner.
c. Spending Saturday afternoon snoozing on the sofa.

Believe it or not, the correct answer to every question is A, B, and C -- even that Saturday afternoon snooze! According to the growing "Stealth Health" movement, sneaking healthy habits into our daily living is easier than we think.

"You can infuse your life with the power of prevention incrementally and fairly painlessly, and yes, doing something, no matter how small, is infinitely better for you than doing nothing," says David Katz, MD, MPH, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center and of the Yale Preventive Medicine Center. Katz is also co-author of the book Stealth Health: How to Sneak Age-Defying, Disease-Fighting Habits into Your Life without Really Trying.

From your morning shower to the evening news, from your work commute to your household chores, Katz says, there are at least 2,400 ways to sneak healthy activities into daily living.

"If you let yourself make small changes, they will add up to meaningful changes in the quality of your diet, your physical activity pattern, your capacity to deal with stress, and in your sleep quality -- and those four things comprise an enormously powerful health promotion that can change your life," says Katz.

And yes, he says, a nap on the couch can be a health-giving opportunity -- particularly if you aren't getting enough sleep at night.

Nutritionist and diabetes educator Fran Grossman, RD, CDE, agrees. "You don't have to belong to a gym or live on wheat grass just to be healthy," says Grossman, a nutrition counselor at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "There are dozens of small things you can do every day that make a difference, and you don't always have to do a lot to gain a lot."

Oct. 3, 2005 -- Want to keep extra weight off as you age? You might want to develop a strategy that lasts a lifetime.

In a lengthy study, many people who had a normal body mass index (BMI) in middle age eventually became overweight, and some became obese.

Consider these before-and-after results:

• Between a tenth and a quarter became overweight in just four years.
• More than half became overweight in 30 years.

The study appears in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The researchers included Ramachandran Vasan, MD, of the Framingham Heart Study.

Short-Term Trends

Vasan's study included more than 3,700 white men and women who were enrolled in the Framingham Heart Study.

Participants had their BMI measured at least twice, four years apart, during the 30-year study.

Middle-aged men packed on weight relatively quickly. Over four years, more than a quarter of the men with normal BMI became overweight. For men with normal and overweight BMI values, up to 9% became obese in four years.

A smaller percentage of women (14% to 19%) became overweight in four years' time. Between 5% and 7% of normal and overweight women became obese in four years, the study shows.

Long-Term Results

As the years gathered, so did the pounds. Here are the results over 30 years:

• More than half of all participants became overweight.
• About a quarter of participants became obese.
• 1 in 10 participants became severely obese.

Over the long haul, similar percentages of men and women became overweight or obese. People who were overweight when the study started were more likely to become obese.

"These estimates suggest that the future burden of obesity-associated diseases may be substantial," write the researchers. However, their report doesn't give details on participants' health.

Heart disease, some cancers, and osteoarthritis are among the conditions that have been linked to weight problems. Of course, not all overweight people have those health issues.

Study's Limits

BMI is calculated from height and weight. It isn't a perfect measure of fatness.

For instance, people often lose lean body mass as they age. That can raise body fat percentage while leaving BMI unchanged, the researchers note. Resistance training is one way to maintain or build muscle mass.

BMI also doesn't reflect shifts in the location of body fat. Past research has linked fat around the waist to health problems including heart disease and diabetes. It's not clear if that fat causes or just accompanies those problems.

The study only tracked weight gain starting in middle age. Other age groups might have different results, write the researchers.

Lastly, since all participants were white, results aren't known for other racial and ethnic groups.

Lifelong Habit

Diet crazes come and go. Many health experts recommend making lasting changes instead of following the latest diet fads.

Your doctor can give you pointers. The U.S. government recommends these general steps for healthy living:

• Get at least 30 minutes of physical activity five or more days per week.
• Choose whole grains for at least half of the grains you eat.
• Eat a mix of five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
• Favor lean sources of protein (including leaner cuts of meat and poultry, fish, and beans).
• Choose low-fat or fat-free dairy products.
• Cut back on foods containing saturated fat, trans fats, and cholesterol.

Don't forget about calories. You've got to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight, so make your choices wisely.

Nov. 8, 2004 -- Obesity not only takes its toll on men's waistlines, but it may also wind up costing them at their local pharmacy. New research shows that middle-aged obese men spend three-and-a-half times as much on prescription drugs than normal-weight men.

The study shows that obese men pay about $80 a month in prescription drug costs compared with an average of about $23 in monthly prescription drug costs among normal-weight men.

Researchers say the findings offer a new perspective on the health problems associated with obesity as well as the financial costs of treating them.

"These are what we call 'real and immediate costs.' These are not the costs associated with an operation or serious event like a heart attack that might happen at some time in the future. Rather, this is what the men, or their employers, spend month after month on their prescription drugs," says researcher Thomas G. Allison, PhD, MPH, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in a news release.

The results of the study were presented this week at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2004 in New Orleans.

Prescription Drug Costs Rise With Weight

In the study, researchers compared the prescription drug costs among a group of 328 male business executives who had physical examinations as directed by their company's health plan between January 2001 and May 2002.

Researchers divided prescription drug costs into medications prescribed to treat heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, and those used to treat other medical conditions related to weight, such as gout and erectile dysfunction.

The study showed as men's weight increased, so did their prescription drug costs.

• For normal-weight men, monthly prescription drug costs for heart disease-related drugs were $9.89 and for other drugs, $12.96.
• For overweight men, monthly prescription drug costs for heart disease-related drugs were $18.41 and for other drugs, $20.86.
• For obese men, monthly prescription drug costs for heart disease-related drugs were $42.02 and for other drugs, $38.29.

"Previous studies looking at the cost of obesity might be underestimating the toll," says Allison. "The men in this study were in a health program that exceeds the type of physical examination that a normal healthcare plan would offer."

June 30, 2003 -- Daily injections of low-dose growth hormone may help overweight people lose body fat while maintaining muscle mass, according to early research from St. Louis University. Obese patients who got the injections lost modest amounts of weight, but researchers caution that it is too soon to know if the findings are significant.

The research was presented at the 85th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Philadelphia.

In the study, 59 people who averaged 40% above their ideal body weight were told to follow a calorie-restricted diet and exercise program. They also got either daily self-administered shots of low-dose growth hormone or placebo injections.

One third of the original participants dropped out during the six-month treatment phase, but only one patient left the study because of side effects. The rest did not want to follow the lifestyle guidelines or give themselves the daily injections.

In earlier studies using higher doses of growth hormone, potentially serious side effects were commonly seen. These side effects included arthritis and insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes.

Modest Weight Loss

At the end of the study, the people who got the growth hormone had lost an average of five pounds of body fat, while those who did not receive the hormone lost nothing. The growth hormone group saw a 19% improvement in HDL, or good, cholesterol levels with no change in LDL, or bad, cholesterol levels.

Lead researcher Stewart Albert, MD, says he does not believe growth hormone was directly responsible for the weight loss but it might have made it easier for people to maintain a healthier lifestyle.

"If the growth hormone had any benefit, it was to allow people to continue with the diet and exercise," Albert tells WebMD. "It may be that growth hormone has a beneficial effect on appetite control or that because people didn't lose muscle mass they were able to exercise more. It will take much larger studies to answer these questions."

Clinical endocrinologist Lawrence Frohman, MD, tells WebMD that the high dropout rate in the study and the moderate weight reductions in the growth hormone group make him skeptical about the clinical potential of this treatment.

There are numerous over-the-counter products marketed as growth hormone for weight loss, sold over the Internet or in health stores. Frohman says the products are not growth hormone and they have not been subjected to clinical scrutiny to determine if they are safe.

"Anything that is sold over the counter cannot be growth hormone, because growth hormone is regulated by the FDA," he says. "It is hard to get the actual content of what is in these products, but they are of limited to no value."

They used to say that Chicago stockyard workers used "everything but the squeal." If you use everything but the gobble, you need to remember several important rules to make sure that table full of lukewarm, breathed-on food is safe to eat later.

William Stallings, MS, RD, clinical dietitian at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, says to remember the "2-2-4" formula. This means:

• 2 hours. Store all leftovers in the refrigerator or freeze no more than two hours after cooking. If food has been out more than two hours, toss it.
  
  
• 2 inches. Use shallow containers, about two inches deep, to store food. This will allow it to cool quickly and evenly, foiling pesky bacteria.
  
  
• 4 days. Eat leftovers within four days. Holiday food kept longer than that should be thrown out. Freeze anything that is not going to be used within four days.

It also is important to keep the fridge at 34 to 40 degrees at all times. Don't forget, while preparing the feast, you probably opened it a lot. The setting may need to be lowered a little at least temporarily.

It is also important during prep time, Stallings tells WebMD, to wash your hands frequently and avoid preparing raw meat on a porous surface, such as a wooden cutting board, that might soak up contaminated juices and transfer them to other foods.

Some Foods Keep Better Than Others

Constance Garrett, RD, MS, MA, nutrition and family consumer science adviser at the University of California Cooperative in San Bernardino, tells WebMD that stuffing doesn't keep well. At the very least, it should be removed from the turkey cavity if some of it was placed there. While inside, the dressing may flavor the turkey -- and be flavored by it -- but it might not get hot enough to thoroughly scourge harmful bacteria.

These days, many people put an onion and herbs inside the turkey and prepare the dressing in a separate pan as a side dish.

Stallings says it's OK to cook the stuffing inside, though, if you use a meat thermometer and make sure the stuffing reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

"People also put a lot of delicate stuff in mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving," Garrett says. "They can be risky to keep unrefrigerated."

Sweet potatoes, however, contain sugar and are also prepared using sugary ingredients (such as those excellent little marshmallows). "Sugar," Garrett notes, "acts as something of a preservative."

What about that creamy greenbean/onion ring casserole? "It only contains three-fourths of a cup of milk," Garrett says, "so it keeps fairly well."

She also recommends that some dishes be prepared ahead, frozen or refrigerated, and then microwaved, giving you another shot at zapping harmful bugs. "This keeps the food safe a little longer."