There’s nothing pretty about the current economic slump, including statistics coming out of plastic surgeons’ offices. Cosmetic procedures are way down, suggesting that the effects of the recession may not only far-reaching but also skin deep.

Like your tea piping hot? Beware: served too hot, tea or other beverages may raise your risk of thoat and esophageal cancer.

You’re hungry, you’ve only got a limited amount of time, and the only option in sight is a fast-food joint. Sure it’s convenient. But a new study shows that having a fast food outlet nearby could also increase your risk of getting fat.

Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, strikes more than 62,000 Americans every year. Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center report the discovery of a genetic variation linked to a nearly four-fold increase in melanoma for women under 50.

Does your face flush red when you drink alcohol? Take heed: Facial flushing is a sign of increased cancer risk–and one very good reason to ease up on booze.

What’s the ideal body weight? To find out, researchers at the University of Oxford looked at body mass index and longevity in a vast analysis of 900,000 adults. Read this before you reach for that sugary snack.

Most people who are allergic to peanuts avoid them like the plague. Now a new study suggests that the best way to cure this most common of food allergies may actually be to eat peanuts. But please: don’t try this at home.

Falling short on sleep? New research reported this week at a meeting of the American Heart Association suggests you may be adding to your risk of developing diabetes.

Americans on the whole are no happier than they were three decades ago, according to new findings from the University of Pennsylvania. But happiness inequality–the gap between the happy and the unhappy–has narrowed dramatically. “For every unhappy person who became happier,” explains economist Betsey Stevenson, co-author of the study along with economist Justin Wolfers, “there’s someone on the other side coming down.”

Who’s up? Who’s down? The answers might surprise you.

Results from a recent University of Florida College of Medicine study reminded us of a wonderful quote from Thomas Jefferson.

First, the findings. Reviewing 100 studies that looked at the effect of alcohol taxes on consumption of booze, Alexander C. Wagenaar, PhD, professor of epidemiology and health policy research, discovered a clear but unsurprising association. “When prices go down, people drink more,” he succintly explained, “and when prices go up, people drink less.”

In a commentary published along with the research findings in the journal Addiction, Frank Chaloupka, PhD, a professor of economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, wrote: “these findings provide a strong rationale for increases in alcoholic beverage tax as a way to promote public health by reducing drinking”.

Here’s where Mr. Jefferson comes in.

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Featured in the Press Democrat
January 20, 2009
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With apologies to the poetess
Whose fine-turned words and lofty address
Will grace the nation’s grand inaugural.
Herewith, instead, a shaggy doggerel,
A modest clutch of limping rhymes
In keeping with these threadbare times.

“Many drugs that are assumed to be effective are probably little more than placebos.” That’s the stunning assertion made by Marcia Angell, MD, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and a professor at Harvard Medical School. The drug approval system is so corrupt, she charges, that it is almost impossible to know whether some of the most commonly prescribed medications—from antidepressants to sleeping pills—actually work.

Money, as you might expect, is at the root of the evil. A blockbuster drug can earn billions for pharmaceutical companies. To get one approved and widely prescribed, the companies are willing to do almost anything.

PDQhealth is proud to introduce The Ms.Fits! This team from the University of Iowa will be taking part in Live Healthy Iowa, a 100-day program that challenges participants to eat better, be more active and shed some pounds. We’ll be tracking their progress each week. Along the way, PDQhealth plans to publish interviews with experts in fitness, motivation, and nutrition designed to help our team (and our readers) achieve their goals. Check in for more soon. And share your comments with the Ms.Fits–or else just cheer them on.