Kids Who Sleep Near Smartphones May Get Less Sleep.

Children who slept in the same room as small screens such as smartphones got almost 21 fewer minutes of shuteye a night than those who didn’t, according to research published today by the journal Pediatrics. The two age groups studied -- about 9 years old and 12 years old -- also reported significantly less regular sleep with a phone nearby, possibly due to the buzz of text messages and Snapchats http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-05/kids-who-sleep-near-smartphones-get-less-shuteye-study.html

Warning Up for Possible Measles Exposure in Philadelphia

A person believed to have measles may have exposed others to the illness at two locations in the... http://www.smnweekly.com/warning-up-for-possible-measles-exposure-in-philadelphia/7807/

Study concludes that many cancers caused by bad luck in cell division

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University studied 31 different cancers. Of those, just nine were found to be linked to bad genetics or unhealthy lifestyle choices. The researchers did not consider breast cancer or prostate cancer in their study. The study concludes that the most common cause of the production of most cancerous cells occurs when one chemical letter in DNA is incorrectly swapped for another during stem cell division. Scientists found that cancer rates were higher in parts of the body where cells are quickest to regenerate, thereby creating more random mutations. http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/01/02/study-concludes-that-many-cancers-caused-by-bad-luck-in-cell-division/

Fast food portions haven't changed since 1996, study finds

The US Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston” conducted the study, which also found that fast food portions appeared not to expand in size during the time frame studied. Still, lead study researcher Alice H. Lichtenstein, of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, “said fast food companies should not focus on small, medium and large sizes as much as calorie counts and nutrients.” For example, a large cheeseburger meal inclusive of regular soda and French fries, depending on the restaurant chain, could provide anywhere from “57% to 88% of a person’s daily calorie recommendations.” “at some fast-food chains, calorie counts have gone down over 18 years; at others, they’ve gone up,” according to research published Dec. 31 in the CDC’s journal Preventing Chronic Disease. After scrutinizing “nutritional information for all of the cheeseburgers, French fries, grilled chicken sandwiches and nondiet sodas sold between 1996 and 2013 at three leading fast-food chains,” researchers also found that “fat and sodium in...menu items vary greatly from chain to chain.” http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/fast-food-portions-haven-changed-1996-study-article-1.2062318

Experts Project Half The World’s Population Could Be Overweight By 2030.

so far, no one “has found a consistent way for most obesity sufferers to lose their extra weight and keep it off long-term without surgery, leaving the world with an obesity bill that costs $2 trillion a year.” Some “1.4 billion adults are overweight, and more than half of the global population could fall into that category by 2030, according to a projection by the McKinsey Global Institute.” The burgeoning obesity epidemic “wasn’t caused by a decline in global willpower, but rather the rise of sedentary lifestyles due to work and the sugar-laden western diet.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/01/resolving-to-lose-weight-this-year-willpower-isnt-your-biggest-obstacle/?hpid=z5

NIH Researchers Testing New Treatments To Help Heavy Drinkers Cut Back.

eports that investigators with the National Institutes of Health “are testing a possible new treatment to help heavy drinkers cut back – using a replica of a fully stocked bar.” The theory being tested is whether an experimental treatment will counter the urge experienced by volunteers who want to drink. Researchers are “testing how a hormone named ghrelin that sparks people’s appetite for food also affects their desire for alcohol, and if blocking it helps,” as part of their efforts to develop new options to treat alcohol abuse. The piece points out that the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has also produced an online guide to show who is at risk for alcohol abuse and what treatments exist to help. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_HEALTHBEAT_ALCOHOL_TREATMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-01-01-15-58-24

Some People May Be Extremely Obese Because Of Malfunctioning Form Of Leptin.

reported that research published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that “a small number of extremely obese people may be fat because their bodies produce a malfunctioning form of...leptin.” Investigators “base this new theory on a 2-year-old boy of Turkish descent with an insatiable appetite” who “was chronically obese for much of his short life.” A genetic sequencing test revealed that the boy produces a mutated form of leptin that can't effectively signal to the central nervous system that no more food is needed, http://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/obesity-health-news-505/jeff-editing-emb-12-31-5pmet-nejm-gene-and-fat-baby-695107.html