According to a report in Reuters,  man in a deeply unconscious state for five years has been able to communicate with doctors using just his thoughts in a study scientists say is a “game changer” for care of vegetative state patients.
British and Belgian researchers used a brain scanner called functional magnetic resonance imaging to show [...]

A stunning new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that many “patients in a vegetative state … are more conscious than previously believed. They showed brain activity when questioned about familiar names or given instructions.”
In a front-page story, the New York Times reports that the study showed “the limits of the current [...]

Reuters Health is reporting that abstinence-only sex education can work – if it’s based on established strategies for helping young people change their attitudes about other types of risky behavior like smoking and drinking, stunning new research shows.
Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the 16,000-member Christian Medical Association, released a statement calling this a “landmark study.”
“Science [...]

Reuters Health is reporting that within 2 years of having sex for the first time, half of teenage girls may be at least one of three common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to results of a study published in December. Often, those girls are infected by the age of 15.
Researchers followed 386 urban adolescent girls [...]

The Larimores (Barb, Kate, Scott, and I) will be on a two-day Focus on the Family Daily Radio Broadcast discussing the topic “Finding Healing from Sexual Abuse” on Monday, February 1 and Tuesday, February 2. Information about listening to the broadcast live or via podcast can be found here:

Monday, February 1, 2010, Finding Healing from Sexual [...]

Here are the contents of this month’s Larimore Family Newsletter:

Publication Update
Broadcast Update
Events of the last month
Upcoming Events

Broadcasting Update
Bryson City Secrets and sexual abuse
The Larimores (Barb, Kate, Scott, and I) will be on a two-day Focus on the Family Daily Radio Broadcast discussing the topic “Finding Healing from Sexual Abuse” on Monday, February 1 and Tuesday, [...]

Scientists link BPA in plastics to heart disease
Wow. No sooner do I post a blog in which I say, “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering whether any action needs to be taken (about BPA). And I would expect them to express a more cautionary tone in the future. There’s just too much [...]

#mce_temp_url#With disagreement over baby bottle chemical (bisphenol A), what’s a parent to do?
Reuters Health in London is reporting that exposure to a chemical found in plastic containers is linked to heart disease. Scientists researching bisphenol A, known as BPA, have just confirmed earlier findings casting suspicion on BPA and adding to pressure to ban its [...]

Study suggests 70 percent of children, young adults do not get enough vitamin D
More reasons to consider having your vitamin D level checked – you may think better and have less arthritis
Specific vitamins and a supplement (B vitamins, vitamin D, and calcium) may lower risk of stroke, blindness, and cancer
Vitamin D tests soar as deficiency, [...]

The controversy over the coming Super Bowl ad from Focus on the Family about pro-life University of Florida football star Tim Tebow is generating as much, if not more, attention than it will when it runs before and during the championship game. Now, pro-abortion and pro-life groups are clashing on the ad with both sides lobbying [...]

The Washington Post (1/26, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012503128.html) reports that despite the multitude of varieties of multivitamins available, there is “little evidence that any of these products actually result in better health.”
A study http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/169/3/294 published in the Archives of Internal Medicine “tracked more than 161,000 post-menopausal women over eight years and found that multivitamins had no effect whatsoever [...]

People with heart disease and similar conditions who don’t have enough vitamin D are more likely to be depressed than their counterparts with adequate levels of the “sunshine vitamin,” according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando. This link seems to be even stronger in the winter. [...]

A recent cross country study sample suggests that MOST children in the U.S. have suboptimal vitamin D levels. Healthy blood levels of vitamin D are at least 30 ng/mL; but 2 out of 3 kids have levels below this, and about 1 in 5 kids ages 1 to 11 are deficient with a vitamin D [...]

This blog will be silent from today until Wednesday, January 27. Why? Because Barb and I will be serving on a medical mission trip to Ethiopia. It’s been three years since my last overseas mission trips (to China and Iran), and I’m excited about this opportunity to serve overseas once again — and especially excited [...]

Irvingia gabonensis is becoming a popular natural ingredient for weight loss. It is now showing up in several weight loss products such as Integra Lean Irvingia, Vitagetics Vita Lean, Dr. Sears Private Label Primal Force Primal Lean, and others. But, does it work, and is it safe?
Irvingia gabonensis, also known as “African mango” or “bush [...]

Nasal Irrigation using “neti pots” or rinse bottles are often used to clear the sinuses, soothe cold and allergy symptoms, and decrease sinus infections. But now preliminary research suggests that chronic use might actually INCREASE the risk for sinus infections.
According to the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (NMCD, one of my most favorite web sites for [...]

The Wall Street Journal reports that there may be a link between the time an individual spends watching television and his or her risk of death, according to a study published in the journal Circulation. Bloomberg News picked up the story, reporting that investigators “tracked the TV-viewing habits of 8,800 adults and followed them for six [...]

Girls who spend more time in vigorous physical activity may do better in school, even if they are not particularly fit, study findings hint. According to this report from Reuters Health, Dr. Lydia Kwak, at Karolinska Institute in Huddinge, Sweden, and colleagues examined associations between light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity and academic achievement in 232 [...]

When I wrote my book, SuperSized Kids: How to protect your child from the obesity threat, I predicted that if the obesity epidemic was not stemmed, that this generation of U.S. children would be the first in history to have a shorter life expectancy than their parent. Now, new population-level predictions show the importance of tackling [...]

Back in 2004, while serving as Vice President of Medical Outreach at Focus on the Family, I was asked to testify before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources on the topic of “Faith-based Perspectives on the Provision of Community Services.” Recently someone asked me to post my comments, so here they are. You [...]