That's Fit

Check out your fingers. Is your ring finger longer than your index finger? Mine is. Uh Oh. That means I have nearly double the chance of developing osteoarthritis, according to a recent study.

Size differences between ring fingers and index fingers have already been linked to sexual and physical ability and performance in university exams, but researchers have now discovered that arthritis might also be connected to the size of fingers.

Type 3 Finger Pattern is what it's called when people have the common male trait of a shorter index finger, and it's now been linked to arthritis of the hips and knees. More common in women than men, the mechanism that accounts for this finding -- and one linking this finger pattern with early onset menopause -- is unknown.

Sounds like I could be headed for future health issues. How about you?

Caught an old rerun of an Oprah show last night. Watched just long enough to hear a very enthusiastic doctor offering advice on vitamin D. All women need to have their vitamin D levels checked, she said, because most women don't get enough. And if we're not getting enough, we need to know this so we can make necessary adjustments.

Vitamin D is critical to our health -- a deficiency can result in bone problems, cancer, high blood pressure, depression, and immune-system disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis. and diabetes. We need about 2,000 international units of it each day, says the good doctor, not the 400 currently recommended by the FDA.

Oprah said she's had her vitamin D levels checked. They were low. No surprise. So she started taking a supplement to bump her into a better range. Supplements are good. So is the sun -- just 15 minutes per day, and don't burn. And of course, vitamin D rich foods, like wild salmon, shrimp, skim and low-fat milk, Shittake mushrooms, fortified yogurts, and fortified cereals.

Do you know your vitamin D levels? I don't. But I should.

So I need a certain amount of direct sunlight every day in order to soak up some necessary vitamin D. But I also need to wear sunscreen at all times to protect my skin from the sun's dangerous rays. Both bits of wisdom make sense. And they don't make sense at all. I mean, if I wear sunscreen all the time, how will I get my vitamin D? And if I hang out in the sun for even 10 minutes without lathering up, I'll get burned. Trust me, I will.

It's controversial, this sun vs. sunscreen predicament. The National Institutes of Health suggests we get five to 30 minutes of sun, free from sunblock, a few times per week to avoid vitamin D deficiencies. It keeps bones strong, helps prevent heart disease, and may ward off cancer. These are biggies. But wearing sunscreen every day is big too. It's the only way to keep skin cancer at bay.

Err on the side of protecting your skin, says popular opinion. Just count on getting your vitamin D from walking to and from your car, the grocery store, your mailbox a few times a week. You can get it from food sources too, like fortified breakfast cereals and milk, or from a dietary supplement. And if you're concerned you may be vitamin D deficient, consult your physician.

We all need iron, it's one of the essentials of life. But we need more or less depending on things like our age, our sex, and any number of other individual factors. But like many things the scary part about iron is that it is possible to get too much of a good thing. Iron is needed in the body in just the right amounts, as symptoms of deficiency and overload are often the same (both can cause heart disease and both can cause pre-term labor).

As a general rule women and children need more iron than men, but you really need to talk with your doctor about what your particular needs are. Some signs of low iron levels, which can lead to anemia if left untreated, are fatigue, cold hands and feet, and restless legs. See more symptoms here, plus some general guidelines on how much iron different people need.

Although there are certain risks associated with any surgery, gastric bypass has become common enough that it's considered one of the "safer" ones, right? Well maybe not, according to new research. I just covered an article yesterday that went into some of the potential risks of weight loss surgery, and now it seems nerve damage may be a bigger problem than previously thought.

The scary part is that the nerve damage isn't caused by the actual surgery itself, but by a lack of nutrients that slowly builds up over time afterward. Patients may not even know they have a problem until it's too late and there's permanent damage. To battle this, doctors will begin to adjust their post-op approach by encouraging and teaching patients to take supplements and teaching them about the early signs of neurological damage. Hopefully this risk can be all but eliminated or at least reduced to treatable cases only with some increased awareness and education.