March 16 is National Kick Butts Day—a day for kids and teens to take a stand against smoking. According to national data, 95% of smokers began smoking before turning 21 and more than 11% of Latino adults are current smokers. How can you raise awareness? Join the movement today by sharing your story on social media using #IKickButts and check out the live gallery of leaders kicking ...
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If you want to quit smoking, it is better to quit all at once, NBC Health reports. A study by Oxford University “randomly assigned almost 700 adult smokers to either an abrupt quitting or gradual reduction group. Each person set a 'quit day' of two weeks after they entered the study, and saw a research nurse once a week until then.” After 4 weeks of tracking 700 adults, researchers found that 40% of the gradual group were not smoking compared to 49% of the abrupt quit group. "However, with smoking, the norm is to advise people to stop all at once and our study found evidence to support that," Nicola Lindson-Hawley, lead study author told Reuters Health by email. "What we found was that more people managed to quit when they stopped smoking all in one go than when they gradually ...
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Eight professions are among the most challenging to a person's heart health—salesperson, administrative support staff, police officers and firefighters, transportation/material movers, a grocery/consumer store employee—according to new research, CNN reports. American Heart Association researchers studies health habits of over 5,500 people age 45 or older who did not have a history of heart disease or stroke. The habits include: blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, fitness levels, diet, smoking, and obesity. Most salespeople surveyed were determined to have poor eating habits (68%) and poor cholesterol levels (69%). Of administrative staff, less than 21% met recommended physical activity standards. Despite the fitness standards of many police and fire departments, ...
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Editor’s Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2015 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply now for 2016. Breann De Santiago Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. A packing warehouse may not seem inspirational on the surface, but for Breann, it is a symbol of her family’s and her father’s dedication and perseverance in the face of big hardships. She certainly shares these characteristics, because she’s already become one of the first in her family to go to college and is gaining research project experience as she pursues her master’s degree. Her education and research experiences at Whittier College and her internship at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have led her to career goals of becoming a public health professional. Breann received ...
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On average, Americans are not getting enough sleep according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study found that, on average, over 60% of Latinos ages 18 to 60 get the recommended hours of sleep compared to Whites (67%) and African Americans (54%). “As a nation we are not getting enough sleep,” said Dr. Wayne Giles, director of CDC’s Division of Population Health. According to the CDC, sleeping less than 7 hours each day is associated with an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, and mental distress. “Lifestyle changes such as going to bed at the same time each night; rising at the same time each morning; and turning off or removing televisions, computers, mobile devices from the bedroom, can help ...
Read MoreNew data suggests using e-cigarettes during pregnancy may be as harmful as using tobacco products, DW reports. Researchers at New York University Langone presented results from animal experiments that suggests that vaping while being pregnant may harm the fetus. For the experiment, researchers exposed pregnant mice to e-cigarette vapors and compared them to pregnant mice that were not exposed to alternative tobacco products. "The young animals [exposed] showed genetic changes in the cortex of the frontal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for cognition, planning and motivation," according to Judy Zelikoff, toxicologist and lead researcher at NYU Langone "Of course mice are not humans," Zelikoff accepted. "These are only animal models. But if I was pregnant, I would definitely ...
Read MoreÚnete a la campaña #AmoMiCorazón de la Oficina de Salud de las Minorías de la FDA (@FDAOMH), Salud Today (@SaludToday) y la Association of Black Cardiologists (@ABCardio1) y ¡muestra lo mucho que amas tu corazón! En honor del Mes de la Salud del Corazón durante el mes de febrero, toma una foto con una pizarra o hoja y dinos cómo cuidas tu corazón para que esté sano o comparte tus fotos preparando comidas saludables, haciendo alguna actividad física, tomando tus medicamentos o haciendo otra actividad que mantiene tu corazón sano. Comparte tus fotos en Facebook, Twitter o Instagram con el hashtag #AmoMiCorazón. Todos los lunes, vamos a elegir los tres mejores fotos y las publicaremos en la página de Facebook de la ...
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Editor’s Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2015 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply now for 2016. Andrew Jimenez Ontario, Calif. Encouraged by his great-grandfather’s spurs and his father’s ever-present support, Andrew Jimenez is driven to make a difference in helping Latinos live healthier lives. He is his family’s first college and grad school student, and he works as a research assistant while he studies health promotion. He’s open to new topics and challenges because he believes in the mantra, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Andrew obtained his bachelor's degree in biology from Whittier College and is currently attending Claremont Graduate University to obtain his masters in Public Health with a ...
Read MoreOver 75 percent of flavored electronic cigarettes contain diacetyl, a chemical linked to severe lung disease. Diacetyl along with two other compounds was found in most sweet tasting flavors, such as cupcake, cotton candy and fruit squirts, CBS News reports. Researchers at Harvard University looked for the presence of dyacetyl, a chemical additive that’s often added to foods such as popcorn to give them a buttery flavor. Diacetyl has been associated with a severe lung disease condition known as bronchioles obliterans more commonly known as “popcorn lung,” named after many workers at microwave popcorn factories were diagnosed with the disease.. "One of three flavoring chemicals was found in 92 percent of the e-cigarettes we sampled and these chemicals are of interest because of ...
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