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Health line

By Times Staff
Published July 4, 2006

Defuse fireworks dangers

Of course you want to celebrate today's holiday with your own fireworks. But take precautions so that this Fourth doesn't become memorable because of a trip to the emergency room, as happens to thousands of people - many of them youngsters - who suffer hand, finger and eye injuries each year. Remember: Firecrackers and cones can explode prematurely, and rockets can take different flight paths than expected. Young kids like to twirl sparklers, but the area of combustion can reach 1,800 degrees. Among precautions you should take: Follow warning labels, keep a bucket of water or a fire extinguisher nearby, and light fireworks one at a time. And don't give any fireworks to young children.

Lose these fitness myths

For St. Petersburg Times readers who studied reporter Sharon Fink's recent presentation on flattering swimsuits but who still wonder about fitting into one, we are happy to dispel some myths on fitness and nutrition. Courtesy of the current issue of My Family Doctor magazine, you can unlearn these rules:

Myth: Drink eight glasses of water a day.

Truth: Water is essential, but the amount each person needs depends on body functions and loss of fluid. Evian suggests drinking this amount: Divide your body weight by two, then drink that many ounces a day, i.e. 130 pounds/ 2 = 65 ounces.

Myth: To lose weight, stop eating by 7 p.m.

Truth: Calories are calories, but research shows that spreading your intake over the day aids weight control.

Myth: The harder I exercise, the more fat I'll burn.

Truth: The longer you exercise at a moderate pace, the more fat you will burn.

An easier pill to swallow

New research shows that calcium in food might do more to protect bones than supplemental calcium in pill form. Bones lose calcium as they age, making them vulnerable to osteoporosis and fractures. "We found that people who take just dietary calcium, or a combination of dietary calcium with supplements, have better bone density than those who take supplements alone," said Dr. Reina Armamento-Villareal of the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. "So we think dietary sources are better than supplemental sources by themselves." She cautioned that the study didn't reflect calcium intake patterns over a lifetime. She presented her findings at the World Congress on Osteoporosis in Toronto.

Know nursing home rights

Often patients and their families are unaware that the patient has federally guaranteed rights in any nursing home qualified to accept Medicare or Medicaid payments. An easy-to-understand booklet considers 20 of the most-commonly denied rights - such as home personnel insisting Medicaid does not pay for services that are being provided to non-Medicaid residents, or that physical restraints must be used or that visiting hours are severely restricted. And the booklet outlines the patient's rights in each case. 20 Common Nursing Home Problems - and How to Resolve Them is available from the National Senior Citizens Law Center for $9.95, plus $3 shipping and handling. Go to www.nsclc.org/news/06/20comm_nhprob.htm for details.

You read it here first

New research on freezing water seems to support the possibility that tissues, and even the entire human body, could be frozen without formation of damaging ice crystals. University of Helsinki researcher Anatoli Bogdan reports on his research in the Thursday issue of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Physical Chemistry B, a peer review journal. Currently, only certain kinds of cells and tissues, including sperm and embryos, can be frozen and successfully thawed for transplantation or other uses. A major problem that hinders wider use is that damage to cells occurs when ice crystals form. This prevents freezing an entire body in order to thaw it later and bring it back to life. Bogdan's experiments involved slowly supercooling a kind of water and "warming back without the (ice) crystallization," a major step in "supercooling" a formerly living thing, then thawing and reviving it.

- Compiled from Times wires and staff reports

[Last modified July 4, 2006, 06:39:19]