Soy Linked to Low Sperm Count - MSN Health & Fitness - Men's Sexual Health
Topic: Health and Wellness
8:05 pm EDT, Jul 24, 2008
WEDNESDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Eating half a serving of soy food a day lowers sperm concentrations and may play a role in male infertility, particularly in obese men, Harvard University researchers report.
The reason for this relationship between soy and sperm count isn't clear. However, researchers speculate that soy increases estrogen activity, which may have a negative affect on sperm production and also interfere with other hormonal signals.
Kinda funny how people switch to Soy Milk for health reasons.
http://www.ted.com Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt...
Your Skin Produces Marijuana-Like Substance | LiveScience
Topic: Health and Wellness
3:33 pm EDT, Jul 12, 2008
In the skin, explained lead researcher Tamás Bíró of the University of Debrecen, Hungary, these compounds help the sebaceous glands protect us from harsh outer elements, such as the drying effects of wind and sun. Cannabinoids are thought to have a similar role in the leaves of the marijuana plant.
Among its protective functions, "endo-pot" stimulates oil production and tells hair follicles to stop producing hair. Whether this explains the plethora of pimples and receding hairlines at Grateful Dead concerts (or those of former band members) has not yet been determined.
The research, funded mostly by the Hungarian and German governments, will be detailed in the October 2008 issue of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Journal.
Why is a psycho-stimulant working outside the brain?
Dermatologists have long suggested that mental states affect the skin, having observed flare-ups of acne, psoriasis, hair loss and other conditions that coincide with stress. Now, they are finding that the skin responds to, and produces, compounds called neuropeptides previously thought to exist exclusively in the brain. This is said to prove the brain-skin connection by nailing down the mechanism.
"It is working in both directions," said Andrzej Slominski, a researcher at the University of Tennessee who was not involved with the endocannabinoids study but does research on the skin's neuroendocrine system.
Zenni Optical - Complete prescription eyeglasses from $8.00
Topic: Health and Wellness
10:48 pm EDT, Jul 11, 2008
This isn't a joke, and its not a rip-off: plastic lens prescription glasses from $8. A friend had some cool glasses on tonight and I asked about them. They were an $8 pair. He said they work great, and he even skipped any tinting and the anti-glare coating. I found some ones I really like for $19 shipped. I'm going to order several pairs. Normally frames I like are $300+ so I just wear contacts. But I'm tired of eye gunk. So I'm gonna get an eye exam and then get several pairs of these.
Idea Lab - The Worm Turns - Curing Diseases With Parasites? - Idea Lab - NYTimes.com
Topic: Health and Wellness
9:36 pm EDT, Jun 29, 2008
As Weinstock considered the I.B.D. puzzle, he wondered if immune manipulation by worms could incidentally protect against other diseases.
Comparison of the prevalence of I.B.D. and surveys of worm-infestation rates revealed a telling pattern. About 10 years after improved hygiene and deworming efforts reduced worms in a given population, I.B.D. rates jumped. Weinstock had his hypothesis: after a long coevolution, the human immune system came to depend on the worms for proper functioning. When cleaner conditions and new medicines evicted the worms from our bodies, the immune system went out of kilter. “Hygiene has made our lives better,” says Weinstock, now at Tufts University. “But in the process of eliminating exposure to the 10 or 20 things that can make us sick, we’re also eliminating exposure to things that make us well.” nullnull
Weinstock spotted a prime candidate on pig farms. Pig farmers are chronically exposed to Trichuris suis, the pig whipworm, and tolerate it with no apparent side effects. (This is not the potentially dangerous worm found in undercooked pork.)
In 2005, he published results from two human studies. After ingesting 2,500 microscopic T. suis eggs at 3-week intervals for 24 weeks, 23 of 29 Crohn’s patients responded positively. (Crohn’s disease belongs to the I.B.D. family, which also includes ulcerative colitis.) Twenty-one went into complete remission. In the second study, 13 of 30 ulcerative colitis patients improved compared with 4 in the 24-person placebo group.
Exercise: Burn More Calories in Less Time with Interval Exercises
Topic: Health and Wellness
5:38 am EDT, Jun 21, 2008
Study subjects who spent just 20 minutes mixing sprints with jogging lost three times the fat off their legs and butt in 15 weeks, compared to those who jogged steadily for 40 minutes, research from the University of New South Wales in Sydney finds. Intervals may spark fat-mobilizing hormones, and they amp your cardio capacity so your future runs will actually feel easier.null
