Why diets don’t actually work, according to a researcher who has studied them for decades

After you diet, so many biological changes happen in your body that it becomes practically impossible to keep the weight off. It's not about someone's self-control or strength of will. What kind of biological changes? There are three biological changes that take place that seem most important to me. The first is neurological. When you are dieting, you actually become more likely to notice food. Basically your brain becomes overly responsive to food, and especially to tasty looking food. But you don't just notice it — it actually begins to look more appetizing and tempting. It has increased reward value. So the thing you're trying to resist becomes harder to resist. So already, if you think about it, it's not fair. Then there are hormonal changes, and it's the same kind of thing. As you lose body fat, the amount of different hormones in your body changes. And the hormones that help you feel full, or the level of those rather, decreases. The hormones that make you feel hungry, meanwhile, increases. So you become more likely to feel hungry, and less likely to feel full given the same amount of food. Again, completely unfair. And the third biological change, which I think people do sort of know about, is that there are metabolic changes. Your metabolism slows down. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/04/why-diets-dont-actually-work-according-to-a-researcher-who-has-studied-them-for-decades/

Blood Test May Be Able To Predict Cancer Years Before A Diagnosis.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/changes-in-the-blood-can-predict-cancer/

CDC Confirms Ebola Transmission Via Sex

U.S. health officials are now recommending people avoid contact with the semen of Ebola survivors after a woman in Liberia contracted Ebola through sexual intercourse with a survivor of the disease. In a report issued on Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a review of the 44-year-old woman's case now suggests that the Ebola virus persists longer in semen that previously thought. http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/Ebola/51322?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2015-05-02&eun=g721819d0r&userid=721819&mu_id=5883165

HPV testing in women under 30 could cause more harm than good, group says.

For women younger than 30 years, clinicians should not perform HPV testing at all because of the high prevalence of HPV infection in this age group, wrote authors. False positives in this age group could lead to downstream harms such unnecessary biopsies and hysterectomies, said Centor. Cervical cone biopsies could result in subsequent childbirth complications, added Mir. The American College of Physicians (ACP) said Pap smears should be the mainstay of cervical cancer screening in normal-risk women younger than 30, with molecular testing for human papilloma virus (HPV) reserved for older patients only. http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ACP/51292?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2015-05-01&eun=g721819d0r&userid=721819&mu_id=5883165

FDA Wants Data to Support Antiseptic Claims

Agency also plans to require more safety data on topical germicides for healthcare use. Emerging science [suggests that] systemic exposure (full body exposure as shown by detection of antiseptic ingredients in the blood or urine) is higher than previously thought, and existing data raise potential concerns about the effects of repeated daily human exposure to some antiseptic active ingredients," the FDA said. It added that it wants "additional data on the long-term safety of daily, repeated exposure to these ingredients in the healthcare setting and on the use of these products by certain populations, including pregnant and breastfeeding healthcare workers, for which topical absorption of the active ingredients may be important." The new rules only apply to antiseptics sold for use in healthcare settings, not consumer products such as antibacterial soaps or hand sanitizer rubs, the FDA emphasized. http://www.medpagetoday.com/HospitalBasedMedicine/InfectionControl/51289?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2015-05-01&eun=g721819d0r&userid=721819&mu_id=5883165

Genetic Variations May Protect Some Women’s Bodies From Fat Loss.

that a study published in the International Journal of Obesity suggests that some women appear to be “resistant to resistance training.” In this group of women, the 148-participant study found that “a welter of genetic variations protects their bodies from fat loss and prime their bodies to maintain their weight, even in the face of heroic body-sculpting efforts.” Even though “exercise might work to reduce appetite and turn up the calorie-burning thermostat of a woman with few obesity genes, the women with many appeared to compensate for their work in the gym with increased appetites, more efficient calorie-burning and other physiological measures that protected their fat stores and prevented weight loss.” http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-sn-obesity-genetics-resistance-exercise-leaner-20150430-story.html

Pit Bull Spreads Plague to Four People

And while the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes plague is usually passed along in flea bites, the pneumonic form that infects the lungs can be transmitted by little droplets in a cough or through other close contact. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/pit-bull-spreads-plague-four-people-n351231