12Nov 2009 by Walt Larimore

Guys, keeping your cholesterol low may reduce your prostate cancer risk

Men's Health
There's good news for men concerned about developing prostate cancer. The AP reports, "Men may protect more than their hearts if they keep cholesterol in line: Their chances of getting aggressive prostate cancer may be lower." Want to learn more? Then, read on as scientists at two institutions have detailed the research that led them to that conclusion in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. According to the AP report, even though the papers "are not definitive and have some weaknesses," they do "fit with plenty of other science suggesting that limiting fats in the bloodstream can lessen cancer risk." HealthDay reported that NCI investigators reviewed "data from a study that has followed more than 29,000 Finnish men for 18 years," finding that "cholesterol levels below the generally recommended 200 milligrams…
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12Nov 2009 by Walt Larimore

How to Keep Normal Labor Normal – Part 10 – Positions

General Health
This blog series is designed to help women who are developing a birth plan join together with like-minded birthing professionals so as to have a shorter and safer labor and birth. Although written primarily for professional birth attendants, I hope information will be helpful to lay women planning their birth. Today we’ll look at the eighth “P” of my 10 “P’s” of keeping labor shorter and birth safer — positions (or position change). Many maternity caregivers forget that “ambulation is also a treatment,”(17) however, “most laboring women expect to and are expected to labor mostly in bed,”(61) despite the fact that “women seem to prefer freedom of movement”(27,61, 74) in labor. Avoiding the dorsal recumbent position in the labor bed, changing of positions in labor and delivery, and ambulation of the…
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12Nov 2009 by Walt Larimore

The Grass Is Not Always Greener: A Look at National Health Care Systems Around the World – Part 9 – Italy

Bioethics, Medical Economics
In the midst of our national debate about healthcare reform, people on both sides of the debate seem to pick and choose among the facts and myths about the nationalized healthcare available in a number of other countries. The fact is that every nationalized health care system in the world is battling issues of rapidly rising costs and decreasing access to care. But, these systems also have some very attractive benefits. So, let’s take a look at the pro’s and con’s of the Italian system. (more…)
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