It should be no surprise that a nutritious diet and regular exercise help us live longer. That's why these two must-haves appear in a top 10 list created by Dr. G. Medical Examiner.

Day in and day out, Dr. G. determines how recently departed people died. Sounds like a morbid job, doesn't it? It's actually pretty amazing if you watch her show, though. She takes clues from everything and sometimes comes to unexpected conclusions. For families that have lost loved ones without much warning, I expect that the explanation of their loved one's death helps to give them closure.

An expert in death, Dr. G. has come out with a book to help preserve life. Discovery Health has her top 10 ways not to die. Here are a few of her tips:

• Know your numbers. Keep your BMI in a healthy range by exercising and eating right. Check your blood pressure often. Have your cholesterol and blood sugar levels tested.
• Listen to your body. Don't ignore unusual pains or aches ... tell your doctor about any concerns you have.
• Use as instructed. Take medications according to your doctor's instructions.

Source

Bad news for your intellectual types: Thinking hard makes you hungry and often leads to overconsumption of calories, according to this post on Diet Blog.

In a recent study, researchers asked participants to engage in one of three activities -- sitting still, reading and writing, and performing a series of tests. Afterwards, they were treated to an all-you-can-eat buffet and how much they ate was measured. The study found that compared to those who sat still, participants who spent the time reading and writing ate 23.6% more and those who performed the tests ate 29% more.

To be honest, I expected opposite results, because it seems like those who sat still would be hungrier merely out of boredom. What about you?

Source

I want smart kids, especially in light of my second-grader's first science test score. Ouch. He didn't do so well, which is a little hard to take since I'm his appointed tutor. Seems he could use some foods to build up that brain of his. I could use some too.

What a child eats has a direct effect on test performance. Gotta keep sweets and junk food to a minimum then and up the intake of the following foods.

• High-quality carbohydrates, such as fruits, veggies, and whole grains
• Lean protein, like turkey, chicken, eggs, and beans
• Cereals, like oatmeal topped with fresh fruit or something with three or more grams of fiber and no more than six grams of sugar per serving
• Snacks, featuring baby carrots, celery, pepper sticks, string cheese, nuts, low-fat popcorn, grapes, and berries
• Skim or low-fat milk
  
  

There's more to brain power than food. You've got to keep your kids active too -- it improves circulation, which increases oxygen flow to the brain.

Ready to help your kids ace their next exams? I am. For more specifics, click here.

Source

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?

Source

My son has ADHD and I know how important a good breakfast is for him. When he gets a nutritious breakfast -- preferably with some whole grains -- and gets good exercise in the morning, he's always more focused and better able to control his behavior. Previous research has confirmed what I (and probably every other parent) knew: Breakfast does a kid's body -- and mind -- good.

A new study supports this previous finding and takes it one step further. It turns out that, while beneficial for all, the benefits of breakfast vary in boys and girls. Researchers had half of students in the study eat a standardized breakfast while the other half didn't eat breakfast. All students later took a test to measure cognitive ability and mood. A week later, the test was repeated except the previous non-breakfast eaters ate a morning meal and vice versa.

While there was measurable improvement in focus, all of the students who ate breakfast reported feeling more alert. In addition, boys reported having an elevated mood and the boys performed better on visuospatial memory tests.

Source

Many competitive athletes have to undergo drug tests. Is drug testing for scholars in our future, too? According to the UK's Academy of Medical Sciences, certain drugs have been used by healthy people to boost alertness and mental awareness.

Aricept (an Alzheimer's treatment), Ritalin (for ADHD), and modafinil (for day-time sleepiness) have been used by some people to get an edge up on tests and exams. Like steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs used by some athletes, this gives the student an unfair advantage. Also like steroids, using drugs in ways other than they are prescribed for can be seriously detrimental to health.

Source

Hormones produced by the thyroid gland have a significant effect on your health, particularly on your metabolism -- from the rate at which your heart beats to how quickly you burn calories.

As long as the proper amount of hormones are released by your thyroid, everything is as cool as school and your system function remains status quo. But sometimes your thyroid decides to become a bit derelict in its duties and fails to produce enough hormones, resulting in the disruption of the balance of chemical reactions in your body. This condition is known as hypothyroidism.

This problem -- even if the thyroid is only mildly underactive -- is certainly worth paying attention to. A study published in the American Journal of Medicine suggests that even a slight aberration in the activity of the thyroid can raise the risk of heart disease by as much as 65 percent. If you or someone you know is showing signs and symptoms of what may be an underactive thyroid, speak to a doctor about having a blood test done.

Are there 100 calories in 18 Fat Free Rold Gold Tiny Twist Pretzels or in 25? If you picked 18, you are correct. How about two dark chocolate kisses or five dark chocolate kisses -- which serving has 100 calories? Good news: You can have five kisses for 100 calories.

Women's Health magazine puts readers to the 100-calorie test with this online questionnaire. Even better than my two previous questions, this survey features photos of various foods in their competing serving sizes and asks you to pick the 100-calorie portion.

Shrimp and cocktail sauce, peanuts and dried cranberries, baby carrots and hummus, bagel and doughnut portions, even McDonald's French fries are a few of the foods that make an appearance in this quiz. It's sure to help you fine-tune your snack smarts. So get started. And best wishes for a stellar test score.

Source

Do you remember taking the Presidential Fitness Test in elementary school? I was one of those crazy kids who LOVED it -- I was naturally athletic and I kept active, so it wasn't hard for me to pass. And I love tests that I know I can pass.

I received an email from Active.com encouraging me to try The Special Ops Fitness Test the other day. "How bad can it be?" I asked myself. I work hard, and I push myself. I can at least give it a good shot, right?

Wrong.

Okay, so I failed. I failed badly ... this time. But I now have some really tough goals to meet. Want to see what they are? Check the gallery! And, let me know how well you did!

Source

Cancer is everywhere. Still, researchers and scientists and doctors don't fully understand the disease. Either does the average American. When the American Cancer Society put 1,000 people to the test, these four questions stumped many respondents. Sixty-eight percent got the first one wrong.

Now it's your turn. Which of the following are true?

1. The risk of dying from cancer is increasing in the U.S.

2. Your risk of lung cancer is greater if you live in a polluted city than if you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day.

3. Some injuries can cause cancer later in life.

4. Some or all of the following cause cancer: cell phones, deodorant, antiperspirant, under-wire bras.

Source

Mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder are very hard for psychiatrists to diagnose sometimes. It's a subjective procedure requiring the patient to tell the professional about his or her symptoms. After that, the doctor must give a judgment which ultimately diagnoses the patient.

But what if medical professionals were able to test the blood and detect whether or not a person had bipolar disorder or depression? This could, theoretically, eliminate the need for subjective judgments on people's mental state. However, some folks believe this is too accurate.

The ethical concerns stem from the fact that ten genes have been shown to reveal a person's mental status. Personality characteristics are controversial in medicine, and a test that can allegedly tell a person if they're unstable could cause a bigger rift. However, if used properly, this seems like a more effective way to treat patients of psychiatry. We'll have to keep an eye on this for future developments!

Source

I'm not real concerned with the number attached to my body fat composition. But I have been curious about how it may have changed since last April when a fitness instructor at Tucson's Canyon Ranch pinched me here and there and told me I registered at 24 percent on the body fat scale. Since then, I've lost 15 pounds and spent considerable amounts of time working out. Surely, I have less fat, right? I mean there's less skin on my body. That must mean there's less fat to pinch.

I do think my body is carrying around less fat. It looks like it is, anyway. But that's about all I have to go on because after meeting with another fitness instructor today, I came away with a few new numbers. One was high. One was low. One right in the middle.

My first pinch test -- my instructor pinched my fat and measured with calipers a chunk of skin on my right arm, my side, and my thigh -- put me in the 27 percent body fat category. Ouch. My second test, with a device I held out in front of my face (height and weight were the only considerations for this one) told me I was in the 20 percent range -- I like this one. And my third test, a re-do of the pinch test, summed me up as a girl with 24.6 percent body fat.

What ever do I do with this information? Nothing, I suppose, except conclude that there really is no surefire way to detect how much fat is storing itself on this body of mine. Which is fine with me. I was just curious. And now my curiosity is satisfied.

For more on body fat measurement options, click here.

Source

Here is the perfect excuse for you to use the next time your boss gives you a hard time for making small talk with co-workers instead of finishing that budget analysis ...

A recent study, led by Dr. Oscar Ybarra, found that chatting with others help us to store and sort information. In effect, according to Dr. Ybarra, these little conversations actually make us smarter.

In the study, Dr. Ybarra and a team of researchers had a group of college students discuss social issues before taking a test to measure mental acuity. They found that these students scored much better than students who were not told to speak to each other before the test.

So, as I said before, you now have the ultimate excuse for chatting up your co-workers. If your boss gives you a hard time, just tell him or her that you're busy making yourself smarter!!

Source

Yes, Oprah Winfrey has gained weight. Again. But it's not her diet or a lack of exercise to blame for the 20 pounds she's recently acquired. It's her thyroid.

Oprah revealed on her show last week that she's been plagued by thyroid problems which have led to her run-down -- and heavier -- state.

"My body was turning on me," she wrote in the new issue of O magazine. "First hyperthyroidism, which sped up my metabolism and left me unable to sleep for days. (Most people lose weight. I didn't.) Then hypothyroidism, which slowed down my metabolism and made me want to sleep all the time."

Source

So the Body Mass Index (BMI) may not be the best indicator of obesity. It only accounts for height and weight and gives a whole host of other factors (muscle mass, for one) no attention at all. There's also the skin fold test, or pinch test. I called my local health and fitness center to inquire about this option -- I'd really like to see where I fall on the body fat spectrum after losing some weight -- and I was told it's not all that accurate either. Since the skin is pinched and measured using calipers, it's difficult to grab the same fat each time it's done. Obviously, this can skew results. So where do I go now for a precise evaluation of my fat?

I could go for a waist-hip ratio -- a tape measure is used around the waist and hips -- but this won't tell me exactly how much fat I'm carrying around. That leaves one method -- hydrostatic weighing. It happens to be the only route recommended by the fitness trainer I spoke with on the phone, and it involves a whole lot of water and a whole lot of exhaling.

Hydrostatic weighing works like this: After expelling all of the air from the lungs, a person is repeatedly submerged in water for five to 10 seconds. It's a very reliable measure, the gold standard really for assessment of body composition. It can be scary for those who fear the underwater world, but it works and is available at various health and fitness centers.

What do you think -- would you get dunked to capture the essence of your own body fat?

Source