Merry Christmas!

Christmas spells out love, hope and joy.

Pass it on to everyone in your life. Have a great Christmas everyone!

Eating Peanuts While Pregnant is OK

A study suggests that pregnant women who eat peanuts will lessen that likelihood to have children with peanut allergies. The study was released in Monday’s JAMA Pediatrics.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics were based on a study of more than 8,200 US children. Among those, researchers found 140 cases of children who were allergic to nuts.

In 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics informed pregnant women to avoid peanuts and tree nuts to avoid exposing infants. They also advised women to keep children away from nuts until the age of 3.

Researchers said that, looking at mother's diet they found that women who ate 5 or more servings per week of peanuts or tree nuts (cashews, almonds and walnuts) were far less likely to have a child with peanut allergy.

Author Michael Young of the Boston Children's Hospital Division of Allergy and Immunology said:

"Our study showed increased peanut consumption by pregnant mothers who weren't nut allergic was associated with lower risk of peanut allergy in their offspring."

"Assuming she isn't allergic to peanuts, there's no reason for a woman to avoid peanuts during pregnancy."

E-cigarettes anyone?

You can see people vaping in malls, in restaurant, in your office, almost everywhere. E-cigarettes has become ubiqutous. E-cigarettes is now a booming $1.7 billion market. However, for non-smokers it has become annoying. Since companies that sell it are telling people that you can use them in places where conventional cigarettes are banned. Which is why New York City is now considering banning e-cigarettes in bars, malls, restaurants, and parks which I think is right since if you are a non-smoker you don't want to enhalte second hand smoke even if it's from e-cigarettes.

Experts are saying that smokers who switch to e-cigarettes can prolong his life, since e-cigarettes are just as effective as nicotine patches in helping people kick the habit according to a report on Lancet

The researchers even said that E-cigarettes are more effective than patches since smokers generally prefer them.

For me, I think we still need more research on the health hazards of E-cigarettes since it's a relatively new product and studies are still limited.

Hawaii Healthiest state in the US

Latest health ranking that is released on Wednesday shows the healthiest state in the country. The United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings for 2013 take into account indicators like obesity, smoking rates, cardiovascular deaths, deaths from substance abuse, dental care, and disparity in health status.

Hawaii got the top spot while Mississippi is last in the list.

Here is the 2013 United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings:

1. Hawaii
2. Vermont
3. Minnesota
4. Massachusetts
5. New Hampshire
6. Utah
7. Connecticut
8. Colorado
9. North Dakota
10. New Jersey
11. Nebraska
12. Idaho
13. Oregon
14. Washington
15. New York
16. Maine
17. Wyoming
18. Iowa
19. Rhode Island
20. Wisconsin
21. California
22. South Dakota
23. Montana
24. Maryland graph
25. Alaska
26. Virginia
27. Kansas
28. Arizona
29. Pennsylvania
30. Illinois
31. Delaware
32. New Mexico
33. Florida
34. Michigan
35. North Carolina
36. Texas
37. Nevada
38. Georgia
39. Missouri
40. Ohio
41. Indiana
42. Tennessee
43. South Carolina
44. Oklahoma
45. Kentucky
46. West Virginia
47. Alabama
48. Louisiana graph
49. Arkansas
50. Mississippi

See more at: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/Rankings

Salt in Medicines May Cause Heart Attacks and Stroke

Soluble painkillers, paracetamol and vitamin C are used by billions of people and this may pose a health risk because of high salt content, researchers warned.

Some formulations taken at maximum dose may put users over the recommended daily sodium intake for an adult and this may cause a potentially dangerous consequences.

The researchers found a link between effervescent tablets and heart attacks and stroke.

Patients who regularly took effervescent or soluble medications increased their risk of having a heart attack, stroke or dying from a vascular disease compared to those patients that took drugs without salt. Patients who took medicines with salts were also seven times more likely to develop high blood pressure and hypertension, which the researchers say is at the root of the problem.

Dr Jacob George who is the lead researcher from Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, England said. "We know that high salt causes hypertension and that hypertension leads to stroke."

The British Heart Foundation gave a statement that it is important to remember that the research applied to people who were taking these medicines every day. It does not mean that occasional use could damage your heart health.

Most effervescent medicines contain salt. This is because in order to fizz and dissolve, they contain a substance called bicarbonate, which is often combined with sodium.

Dr Madina Kara a neuroscientist at the Stroke Association, said: “It’s crucial to be aware of our sodium intake, as it is a component of salt. Excess salt in our diet can lead to high blood pressure, which is the single biggest risk factor for stroke.

“A diet low in saturated salt and fat, regular exercise and blood pressure checks can go a long way to keeping your stroke risk down.”

Batman Son of Suparman Jailed

As weird as it sounds Batman the son of Suparman broke the law and was jailed for it. AFP News reported that he will be jailed for up to three years for theft, housebreaking and drug offenses.

The 23-year-old Batman bin Suparman is an unemployed Singaporean who changed his named to a misspelled super hero name Batman bin Suparman (Batman son of Suparman).

He was arrested on August 19. He was caught on a security CCTV Camera sneaking into a store at night on two separate occasions. The total amount of the things he stole from the store amounted to Sg$500 ($400). He also plead guilty to other charges like stealing an ATM card from his brother to withdraw Sg$650 to buy heroin.

China: 8-year-old Lung-Cancer Patient

Pollution in China is in critical level and pollution related disease and deaths are piling up. Children are now being affected by smog, an 8-year-old has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Health workers in a coastal Jiangsu province hospital points to pollution as the cause of the girl's condition. The girl was not identified for her protection, it was reported that the girl lives near a busy road that is exposed to harmful dust and vehicle emission. she is China's youngest lung-cancer patient.

The World Health Organization has classified air pollution as a cause of cancer, they said that it caused 220,000 cancer deaths in 2010 and most of the deaths from air pollution were in East Asia.