March 2011

Hot Flashes Associated with Lower Risk of Breast Cancer

Women and Heart Attacks—Make the Call!

A woman suffers a heart attack every 90 seconds in the United States. Yet according to a 2009 American Heart Association survey only half of women indicated they would call 9-1-1 if they thought they were having a heart attack and few were aware of the most common heart attack symptoms.

The Make the Call. Don’t Miss a Beat. campaign is a national public education campaign that aims to educate, engage, and empower women and their families to learn the seven most common symptoms of a heart attack and encourage them to call 9-1-1 as soon as those symptoms arise.

Personal Safety Concerns about Japan’s Earthquake and Tsunami

As the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan continues to make headlines, it is only natural to be concerned about the fallout on our own countries.    You read stories about a run on pharmacies for potassium iodine and hear questions about the drinking water.   Are we overreacting?   The United States government has compiled recommendations from a number of agencies include the FDA and CDC that address the questions many of us have regarding the safety of our water, food and air.  To view these guidelines, click HERE.

Exercise Reduces Intra-abdominal Fat, a Health Risk for Women

Cracking the Genetic Code for Alzheimer’s Disease

Scientists crack code to create neurons whose early death causes memory loss

Northwestern Medicine researchers for the first time have transformed a human embryonic stem cell into a critical type of neuron that dies early in Alzheimer’s disease and is a major cause of memory loss.  This new ability to reprogram stem cells and grow a limitless supply of the human neurons will enable a rapid wave of drug testing for Alzheimer’s disease, allow researchers to study why the neurons die and could potentially lead to transplanting the new neurons into people with Alzheimer’s.  The paper will be published March 4 in the journal Stem Cells.

Tattoos: Be Smart About Body Art

No inks on the market today have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for injection into the skin – and yet one in four Americans age 18 to 50 has a tattoo. On Tuesday, the FDA hosted a webinar about the basics of tattoo regulation and safety. Whether you want to cover yourself with color or just get your eyeliner tattooed on, here are the facts you need to know.