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Breast cancer is women’s single most feared disease, the Society for Women’s Health Research found in a June 2005 survey of 1,005 U.S. women. Yet heart disease is women’s top killer, according to 2002 figures (the latest available) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Breast cancer caused 3.3 percent of women’s deaths in 2002 – less than lung cancer (5.4 percent).
| WOMEN’S MOST FEARED DISEASES | ACTUAL CAUSES OF WOMEN’S DEATHS | ||
| 1. Cancer (unspecified) | 24.0% | 1. Heart disease | 28.6% |
| 2. Breast cancer | 22.1% | 2. Cancer (all kinds) | 21.6% |
| 3. Heart disease | 9.7% | 3. Stroke | 8.0% |
| 4. HIV/AIDS | 9.3% | 4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases (asthma, emphysema, etc.) | 5.2% |
| 5. Alzheimer’s disease | 4.6% | 5. Alzheimer’s disease | 3.4% |
| 6. Ovarian cancer | 2.7% | 6. Diabetes | 3.1% |
| 7. Lung cancer | 2.4% | 7. Unintentional injuries | 3.0% |
| 8. Diabetes | 2.4% | 8. Influenza and pneumonia | 3.0% |
| 9. Colon cancer | 1.6% | 9. Kidney disease | 1.7% |
| 10. Stroke | 1.2% | 10. Septicemia (blood poisoning) | 1.5% |
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Echinacea doesn’t prevent colds or ease their symptoms, The New England Journal of Medicine says. A study tested three types of the herbal remedy on 399 volunteers. Some got echinacea three times a day for seven days before being exposed to the cold virus, and for five days afterward. Some got echinacea for five days after exposure, but not before. Others just got a sugar pill. The study found no significant differences among the groups for infection rates or cold severity.
Doctors Decry
“Detox Diets”
“Detox diets” that claim to cleanse cells,
purge contaminants, restore immunity or
renew our bodies aren’t medically valid,
says the Institute of Food Technologists.
“The suggestion that our bodies’ elimination
of harmful substances is enhanced
due to a detox diet is categorically unsubstantiated,”
says IFT biochemist Roger A.
Clemens, Ph.D. In Food Technology magazine,
Dr. Clemens and Peter Pressman,
M.D., say the benefits some detox dieters
report are due to the diets’ side effects,
such as eating less, drinking more healthy
liquids like water and cutting back on caffeine
or alcohol.
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Hand-held devices, such as the personal digital assistant (PDA), are handy and fun to use. But they could hurt your hand if you use them too much. Doctors are starting to see PDA users with thumb tendinitis. “Thumbs aren’t made for constantly moving up and down on the [PDA’s] scroll,” says Kimberly Mezera, M.D., chief of the hand and upper extremity service at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “It’s a small movement, but it could lead to bigger problems.”Overuse may cause aching and some stiffness of the thumb base, which could move into the palm and even the wrist. “If your thumbs start to hurt, take a break,” she says. “If the pain persists, consider trying ibuprofen. If that doesn’t work, consult your doctor.”
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- Don’t exercise outdoors between 5 and 10 a.m. That’s when pollen counts are highest.
- Avoid yard work. Keep your home’s windows closed when your neighbors cut their grass.
- Wear glasses or sunglasses while outdoors.
- Wash your hands and face after exercising outdoors. Wash your hair if you have time.
- Use your car’s air conditioner instead of opening the windows.
- Don’t hang clothes outdoors to dry.
- Avoid open fields or freshly cut lawns when taking a walk.
- Walk or exercise after a rain, when pollen counts are lowest.
By the Numbers
1.7 BILLION
An American Cancer
Pounds of peanuts eaten by
Americans in 2004 – the
highest level in two decades
Source: The Peanut Institute
67 PERCENT
Proportion of U.S. diabetics
who don’t have their blood
sugar under control with an
A1C level below 6.5
Source: American Association
of Clinical Endocrinologists
3 PERCENT
Segment of Americans who
take all four of these steps:
Keep off weight, work out
regularly, eat five or more
servings of fruits and vegetables
a day, and don’t smoke.
Source: Archives of Internal
Medicine
113 MILLION
Visits to Emergency
Departments in 2004,
a new record.
Source: Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
$92 BILLION
Lost productivity due to
smoking deaths, 1997–2001
Source: CDC
14 YEARS
Minimum safe age for a child
to sit in the right front seat of
a car with air bags
Source: Pediatrics
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