Soda Tax Appears to Be Working in Berkeley(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

Telling
people sugar is bad for them may not get them to cut down on the sweet
substance.

However,
making them pay more for it just might.

That’s the
overall thrust of a new study published today in the journal PLOS Medicine on a
new soda tax that’s been in effect in Berkeley, Calif., for more than two
years.

Researchers
say sales of sugar-sweetened beverages appeared to have dropped while the sales
of water have risen dramatically.

“We were
pleasantly surprised to see how much things have changed,” Dr. Lynn Silver, a
senior advisor at the Public Health Institute in Oakland, told Healthline.

Officials at
the American Beverage Association did not provide Healthline with a comment on
the research.

Read more: The skinny on soda taxes »

What
researchers found

The soda tax was approved by Berkeley voters in
November 2014.

It took
effect on Jan. 1, 2015.

The measure
charges distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages one cent per ounce on their
products.

In many
stores, that extra fee is passed on to consumers.

A panel of
health experts advises Berkeley city officials on what local programs should
receive money from the tax.

The study
authors report that as of the beginning of this year, the city had collected
$2.5 million from the soda tax.

The Public
Health Institute and the Carolina Population Center at the University of North
Carolina oversaw the study.

Researchers
studied sales of beverages in Berkeley and surrounding communities from Mar. 1,
2015 to Feb. 29, 2016.

They looked
at the prices of beverages at 26 stores in Berkeley as well as the
point-of-sale scanner data on more than 15 million beverage items at two supermarket
chains from three Berkeley stores and six stores in adjacent cities.

The
researchers also conducted a phone survey of 957 Berkeley residents.

Researchers
said their data showed sales of sugar-sweetened beverages in Berkeley dropped
more than 9 percent during the year that was studied.

They added
the sale of water increased by more than 15 percent in that same time period.
Sales of juices, teas, and other substitute beverages also went up.

They noted
that the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages in nearby communities rose almost 7
percent.

Read more: Losing weight by skipping sodas »

What does
the study prove?

Silver said the
overall impression researchers got from the study was that the soda tax is
working in Berkeley.

“I think
Berkeley will be seen as a turning point,” she said.

Other
experts were also encouraged by the findings, but they did throw up some
caution flags.

“These are
positive findings and they’re encouraging,” Dr. Bruce Lee, executive director
of the Global Obesity Prevention Center at Johns Hopkins, told Healthline.

However, Lee
noted that sales of sodas did increase in neighborhoods near Berkeley,
indicating perhaps people were slipping over the city boundary to buy their
sugar-sweetened beverages.

“There may
be some bleeding out into the edges,” he said.

He was
encouraged by the increase in water sales in Berkeley, but he was curious to
see if products such as fruit juices would continue to rise.

“If the tax
changes behavior, we want to know what it’s changing to,” Lee said.

Donald
Marron, PhD, director of economic policy initiatives at the Urban Institute,
had a similar reaction.

Marron also
wondered how much of Berkeley’s soda decline was due to people driving to other
towns.

However, he
noted that tax hikes do tend to discourage consumers.

“If you
raise the price of something, people will generally buy less of it,” Marron
told Healthline.

Marron did
say there isn’t evidence yet of direct health benefits, but that’s because the
soda tax hasn’t been in place long enough.

Lee said he
expects the Berkeley tax will eventually produce health benefits.

“It can have
some downstream effects,” he said.

Silver said
she is also hopeful the tax will have an impact on conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease brought on by sugar-laden products.

“Decreasing
sugar consumption will definitely have health benefits,” she said.

Read more: America’s sugar addiction has reached epidemic
levels »

Could the
tax work in other places?

Is Berkeley
a model for other communities?

Both Marron
and Lee pointed out that Berkeley, with its population of about 115,000, is
smaller than larger metropolitan areas, but larger than many suburban and rural
communities.

In larger
towns, they said, consumers would probably be less likely to travel across city
lines to avoid a soda tax.

Silver
doesn’t think people in Berkeley are doing that now.

She said
researchers asked people during the phone survey if they were driving to other
communities and most of them said they weren’t.

Silver also
pointed out that Berkeley’s sugar consumption is about one-third of typical
communities in the United States.

She believes
a tax would have an even bigger impact in towns where soda sales are higher.

Silver did
have some tips for other communities contemplating soda surcharges.

She said the
tax should be big enough to have an impact on consumers’ wallets.

An education
on the health effects of sugar should accompany the tax.

And, Silver
said, the money collected from the tax should be spent wisely.

Do You Know what Chemicals Are in Your Bath Bomb?(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

It’s been a
long day.

All you want
is to pour yourself a glass of wine and curl up in a nice hot tub.

Better yet,
you want to drop a bath bomb in that warm water and immerse yourself in luxury.

Bath bombs
have been growing in popularity in recent years, promising everything from
aromatherapy benefits to skin-soothing properties in a burst of fizz and color.

But, there’s
a catch.

Some of those
bath bombs you’ve come to adore may be releasing a lot more than just colored
fizz into that soothing water.

ConsumerSafety.org, a consumer advocacy group that
keeps the public aware of recalls and health and safety concerns, recently
launched an investigation into the components of those bath bombs you’ve come
to love.

And what
they found might surprise you.

“People are using these toxic products on a daily basis,
unknowingly exposing themselves and loved ones to harmful ingredients,” Sydney Ziverts, a health and nutrition
investigator who initially compiled the bath bomb research for ConsumerSafety,
told Healthline.

Read
more: Are sulfates healthy for you? »

What’s in a
bath bomb?

To begin
with, many bath bombs have the term “fragrance” listed as an ingredient.

The Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t require companies to further break down what
chemicals they use to add “fragrance” to their products.

“The Food and Drug Administration gives companies a labeling
loophole for fragrances to protect a company’s proprietary perfume blend,” said
Ziverts. “Therefore, companies don’t legally have to disclose any toxic
ingredients lingering in their fragrance blends.”

Some popular
fragrance additives are chemicals that have actually made the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) hazardous waste list.

Benzene derivatives, for instance, are a human
carcinogen linked to hormone disruption and reproductive malformation.

Aldehydes present an increased risk of
respiratory allergies, liver disease, and embryo toxicity.

And phthalates have been found to decrease hormone
levels and sperm quality as well as being linked to obesity, ovarian aging, and
some forms of cancer.

Then there’s
talc, which has been associated with an elevated risk of ovarian cancer.

Parabens are known to disrupt the endocrine
system.

And artificial dyes (specifically DC Red 33) have
been linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children as
well as neuron damage and brain cancer.

Read
more: Harmful toxins in cosmetics »

The debate
over safety

Officials at
Lush Cosmetics, one of the more popular distributors of bath bombs, insist
their products are safe.

Meghan
Campbell, Lush’s brand and product trainer, went over safety issues ingredient
by ingredient.

“The bright
array of eye-catching colors are all derived from vegetarian food, drug, and
cosmetics safe colors [FDC],
or drug and cosmetics safe colors [DC],” she told Healthline. “The glitter
is plastic-free, and even the safe synthetic that provides the famous
fizz [baking soda] can be found in most kitchens. Beyond that, Lush adds
lovely effective ingredients like sea salt, cocoa butter, and essential
oil-based fragrance blends, bespoke to each and every hand-pressed bath bomb.”

She said
customer safety and satisfaction is their top priority.

“Lush would never put an ingredient in a bath
bomb that we’d want people to steer clear of,” Campbell said. “We want you in
the tub, not running from it.”

However, Ziverts found
Lush’s explanation somewhat lacking.

“Very interesting given the
ingredients listed on their page(s),” she said in an email to Healthline. “Specifically
related to Lush, I wanted to show you this. Although it’s a bubble ‘mold’ and not a
bath bomb, you’ll notice the first ingredient listed is talc, which has a
direct correlation to ovarian cancer.”

There are alternatives to
bath bombs, such as the ones here listed on the blog a
beautiful whim.

For a fragrance fix use scented candles or incense.
You’ll still get that calming aroma without steeping yourself in unknown
chemicals — and the soft light will set the mood for relaxing.

If bubbles are your thing, and you don’t want to spring
for a jacuzzi, you can find natural recipes  for making bubble bath all over the internet.
Here’s one from DIY Natural.

Is it the eye-popping color that you crave? There are
much safer options to consider than dipping yourself in dyes. Look for submersible LED lights
that can illuminate your bath from below.

If you don’t want to relinquish your bath bombs, at least
seek out talc-free options, and products scented with recognizable ingredients
rather than “fragrances.”

In addition, there’s always the option of making your own bath bombs.

That way you control the ingredients list, and you know exactly
what you’re soaking in.

Read more: Cosmetics that combine anti-aging and natural ingredients »

Too thin? Here are some tips to gain weight for skinny people(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

Being skinny is definitely in vogue but not everyone is happy being thin. There a number of ways you can increase your weight to attain your desired frame. Healthy eating habits, exercising properly and sleeping well are the three mantras you need to follow according to Shubha Dhyani, a dietician at Park Hospital, Gurgaon.

Include a moderate amount of calories in your diet like banana, dried fruits, cheese, butter, and peanuts. It is also important to consume proteins like fish, egg, meat, and chicken to build strong muscles.

Your diet is focused on gaining weight so it is advisable to not to skip workout sessions. Do regular exercises but be careful not to include cardio in your routine because that would prevent you from gaining weight. However, you can do compound and complex exercises to regulate blood flow. Squats and bench presses are good options in this regard.

Your goal is to gain weight but that does not mean you can consume as many calories as you fancy. Preparing a diet chart helps you keep track of your food. It is recommended to consult an expert who can provide an effective chart, which is to be followed religiously if you want to gain weight and also be healthy.

Getting a good night’s sleep is also vital to gain weight because your body builds muscles while you are sleeping, so ensure at least eight to nine hours of sleep daily. Some people can manage five to six hours but it is not sufficient.

Another important tip to keep in mind is that you should not drink water before having your major meals. Water gives you the illusion of a full stomach, deterring you from consuming the required amount of calories. It also makes the calorie absorption difficult delaying the weight gain process.

Chemicals in nail polish and soap may result in obesity(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

Chemical present in everyday products that we all use like plastics, nail polish or soap may increase the amount of fat stored in the body, according to a new research.

Chemicals such as Phthalates, which give plastic its suppleness, could harm people’s health, research has claimed.

The lead author of the study, Lei Yin, from the University of Georgia (UGA) observed that the exposure to Phthalate can be closely connected with an increase in different types of disease development. As the traces of Phthalates were discovered in human fluids in preceding studies, the scientists wanted to know whether a specific type of Phthalate called benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) had an effect on the amount of fat present in cells.

It is through mouse cells that the scientists designed Vitro models to make out how exposure to BBP affected the way fats and oils called lipids got accumulated inside the cells.

One of the assistant professors at UGA, Xiaozhong Yu, said that obesity is a major concern amongst people these days and more so because genetic components can add to the development of obesity.  In addition, exposure to the environment is another factor which contributes to obesity, said Yu.

Some Phthalates have shown to give rise to reproductive toxicity at high levels of exposure, however, the connection between low-level exposure and BBP hasn’t yet been properly discovered, Yin added.

“It could be that some chemicals at a very low dose and over a long period of time can cause more diseases or have harmful side effects,” she said.

The scientists measured the accumulation of lipid droplet with the help of traditional staining approaches, under which the cells are stained and so can be visually examined using a microscope, through a newer method known as cellomics high-content analysis.

This high-content screening makes use of image processing algorithms, computer machine learning ad can assess the various factors in a fast manner and much more objectively.

The findings of BBP’s effects were being compared to bisphenol A (BPA), an environmental endocrine disruptor which is recognized for its role in adipogenesis or how fat cells grow.

BBP triggered a response in the cells which is much like BPA. Both chemicals prompt the buildup of liquid droplets.

However, the droplets created from BBP-treated cells were bigger; something which hints at the fact that BBP exposure may result in obesity.

Even though the study results cannot be straightforwardly generalized to the people, they do give a sign of a possible connection between BBP exposure and obesity, something which may affect the health of the people.

The study results were published in the journal called Toxicology in Vitro.

Is There Anything New Blood Tests Can’t Diagnose?(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

The right
diagnosis means everything.

In some
cases, it can be a matter of life and death.

A recent study in the Journal of Evaluation in
Clinical Practice found that more than 20 percent of patients who went for a
second opinion at the Mayo Clinic had, in fact, been misdiagnosed by their
primary care doctors.

Doctors are
human and ailments are complex, so misdiagnoses are nothing new.

What can
prevent patients from being inaccurately diagnosed?

Read more: New blood test may pinpoint cancer tumors »

Accuracy of
new blood tests

One tool is
a blood test.

There’s not
always been a test for everything out there.

However,
there are a few new pathology exams (and more on the horizon) that can help
doctors better detect diseases and conditions.

Here are
three recent developments:

Viral vs. bacterial infections: Wouldn’t it be great to know if you
really need an antibiotic or if you should just let a cold run its course?

A Duke
University team is looking into the efficacy of a test that could distinguish
viral from bacterial infections.

Dr. Geoffrey S. Ginsburg previously told Healthline that
he would love to have the “pregnancy test equivalent to viral infections.”

Heart attack: Researchers at King’s College London created a blood
test
that better detects heart muscle damage due to a heart attack.

When
a doctor suspects that a patient has had an attack, only some incidents show
changes on a heart trace or ECG. Those exams test levels of cardiac troponin,
which is a protein released by the heart that is common after heart attacks or
inflammation. When doctors can’t find cardiac troponin in the blood, patients
are labeled as low-risk and typically discharged.

Researchers,
however, looked at 4,000 patients and found that 47 percent of those actually
had an intermediate risk and required more tests. Their test for myosin-binding
protein C is a better indicator of how much heart muscle has been damaged.

Dr.
Tom Kaier, a cardiologist with Kings College London, told Healthline that the
myosin-binding protein C is present in greater abundance and may rise quicker than troponin
after a heart attack. That could change the way heart attacks are diagnosed.

“Troponin is
an excellent test, but it has its limitations. It takes over three hours to
appear in adequate levels in the bloodstream to be measured reliably,” Kaier
noted.

Considering that only 14 to 17 percent of patients that go
to emergency rooms with chest pain have a heart attack, the other 80 percent
want reassurance as soon as possible. A quicker diagnosis may also improve
patient outcomes.

The detection of myosin-binding protein C “appears in the
circulation quicker, and thus could rule out heart attacks in more patients at
an earlier time point than currently possible,” Kaier added.

Concussions/traumatic
brain injuries: Accurately diagnosing
a concussion or traumatic brain injury can be a bit of a guessing game when it
comes to specifying the severity of the impairment.

But Dr. Linda Papa, an emergency medicine
physician and researcher at Orlando Health released a study in JAMA Neurology
detailing a blood test that measures a protein released by brain cells upon an injury.

More of the
protein indicates a higher severity of brain injury, she explained.

Symptoms of a brain injury can be subtle and may
not come on for several days. She told Healthline that
diagnosing a concussion can be “very subjective” and is “often based on the
experience of the clinician.”

If a person doesn’t see a brain expert, they may not be
accurately diagnosed, so having a concrete test to confirm injury would be a
big step. A CAT scan can give an assessment of a brain injury, but it only
detects lesions and cannot detect all of them.

Having a definitive blood test could help doctors
make better treatment decisions sooner —hopefully leading to better patient
outcomes, Papa said.

If approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
Papa’s test would be the first of its kind.

“We’re just a couple of years from it being available,” she
added. “We’re hoping the blood test will find injury where it couldn’t be seen
before.”

Papa noted that it was also tested in patients of all ages
with severe traumatic brain injury and seems to “cover the spectrum” of brain
injuries.

Read more: High-tech blood test may detect cancer early »

The future
of precision pathology

Dr. Michael
J. Donovan, a pathologist and researcher at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New
York, said there are many new innovations happening with blood tests.

There are
also developments in tests to evaluate urine, saliva, and cerebrospinal fluid.

In the
oncology field, for instance, researchers are looking at cell-free DNA, which
is the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in blood that can be isolated and sequenced
to identify cancer-related genes with mutations in them.

Doctors then
can tell if a cancer drug will work on the patient. The blood acts as a
companion diagnostic to gauge the efficacy of a drug before it’s even given.

“That’s one
of the very practical ways in which the field has advanced,” Donovan told
Healthline.

Other blood
test innovations include evaluations that can predict how a kidney transplant
patient will respond. This can replace an invasive biopsy. Researchers are also
targeting urine tests in this area.

Donovan said
that blood tests in the future may also be able to determine if a patient is
building a response to human papillomavirus (HPV) in a lesion instead of having
to biopsy it or conduct an intrusive cell scraping.

Blood tests
are also a pathway to evaluate the possibility of neurodegenerative diseases
such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“We’re
always looking for ways to detect the manifestation of Alzheimer’s prior to
actual clinical manifestations,” Donovan said.

Other liquid
biopsy options could evaluate a patient’s immune system via bloodwork so
doctors can monitor an individual’s state via a simple blood draw.

Assessing
DNA isn’t the only research pathway, either, as researchers are looking to
evaluate peptide fragments in the blood. Peptides are amino acids that are
linked via peptide bonds and in some ways are similar to DNA and ribonucleic
acid (RNA).

DNA gives a
blueprint of genes, while RNA helps to execute the DNA’s guidelines.

Donovan said
that the field of liquid biopsies will continue to evolve — again, not just via
bloodwork but through spinal fluid, saliva, and urine. That will give doctors
multiple tools to better diagnose patients and hopefully improve outcomes.

“What we see
in blood under a microscope, that will pull together a more comprehensive
genotype of a person,” Donovan said.

“That’s the
future of precision pathology,” Donovan added.

25 hottest models that will make you go mad(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

13 Most Recent Ways to Prevent Cancer(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

Cancer or malignant (cancerous) growths (neoplasms, tumor) is a neoplasm which is inherent in uncontrolled cell division, in the ability of cells to penetrate the rest of the tissue, either by direct ingrowth (invasion) were migrating to distant areas of the body (metastasis). Cancer, as in any part of the body is developed, it can manifest itself in different ways. For a definitive diagnosis usually requires microscopic analysis of tissue obtained by biopsy. Once diagnosed, treatment often consists of a surgical operation, chemotherapy and radiation.Every year in the world of cancer diagnosed over 10 million people. It is estimated that the world currently has about 23 million people who over the past 5 years have some form of cancer. The most common malignant tumors in women are the colon, cervical and breast tumor, and when it’s about male population usually it is cancer of the lung, prostate, and stomach. In the next couple of paragraphs you will read how to prevent cancer of various kinds:

#13 EAT HEALTHY

One of the most important ways to prevent  cancer  is to reduce your  nutrition. People who are being careful about their nutrition have less chance to get cancer. Firstly there is a risk of excessive fat , animal products because frying produces harmful substances which are dangerous Doctors are also recommending eating less sugar or to avoid it as much as possible , in coffee, beverages because it makes  the defense forces weak,takes away the vitamins C and B-group, and takes away calcium.