New York City and subways go together like bacon and eggs or coffee and donuts. But subways, like bacon and donuts,  aren’t necessarily good for you.

Seems a new study that compared the numerous mass transits modes available in NYC has found that subways, with noise levels ranging between 80 and 102 decibels, were the loudest means of transport around.

That’s not good.

The EPA and WHO both recommend that in order to protect your hearing your daily average level of noise exposure should be no more than 70 decibels. To give you an idea of the level that is, normal conversation is between 60 and 70 decibels.

The study’s results indicates that the estimated 33 million Americans who use the subways daily are consistently over exposing themselves to potentially deafening levels of noise.

(image source)

Bad for your health and bad for the environment.

But for some reason that doesn’t seem to deter the one billion or so people around the world who smoke.

Governments have tried to encourage smoker’s to stop with ‘quit smoking’ programs. Many countries and cities have banned smoking from inside public buildings. But unfortunately that has resulted in increased cigarette litter outside the same buildings that ban smoking.

So what to do? The World Health Organization has designated today World No Tobacco Day and are focusing on health warnings on tobacco product packaging as a way of encouraging smokers to quit.

But does it work? Or do dedicated smokers wear blinders that give them tunnel vision and stop them from seeing the graphic and often disturbing pictures that now are strategically placed on the front and sides of cigarette packs ?

Smokers, what do you think?

Are these graphic photos effective or a waste of money?

The sad news of the death of four-year-old Exodus Tyson who died as a result of strangulation from a treadmill cord offers a somber reminder to parents everywhere of the dangers of treadmills.

Treadmills and other home gym equipment is great for keeping adults fit but are a definite danger to children.

In fact, the Australian Office of Fair Trading has become so concerned the increase in reports of treadmill injuries to children that they issued a public education campaign in 2008.

Called  Treadmills and Kids Don’t Mix, this campaign highlights the dangers of treadmills for children, especially how a treadmill’s moving belt can cause friction injuries and entrap fingers, hands, hair, and clothing.

The campaign made the following safety tips for treadmill owners and users… 

If you can, use your treadmill in the room away from young children.

If this is not possible:

–use safety barriers (like a playpen) to keep children away from the treadmill

–do not use your treadmill when young children are around

Always keep your treadmill unplugged when not in use.

Store your treadmill well away from children’s reach.Always supervise older children if they are using a treadmill.

When you buy a new treadmill choose one with protective covers and a safety stop switch.

Keeping children away from the treadmill altogether, however, might be the best line of defence.

(image source)

Today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDs Awareness Day, so why not join Healthbolt and The Red Pump Project and spread the word. 

HIV/AIDS remains one of those subjects that not talked about so much over the dinner table or when out for coffee with the girls. But prehaps it should be because the numbers tell us it’s a disease that does not seem to be going away. In fact, according this Snapshot of the U.S. Epidemic provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation, it seems to be growing…

• Number of new HIV infections, 2006: 56,300
• Number of people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.1 million, including more than 468,000 with AIDS
• Number of AIDS deaths since beginning of epidemic: 583,298, including 14,561 in 2007
• Percent of people infected with HIV who don’t know it: 21%

So what can you do? The CDC suggests the following.

• Get tested for HIV. To find a testing site center near you, text your zip code to Know IT (566948).
• Attend an event near you.
• Download or listen to National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day ( 2:56 mins)
• Learn more about the impact of HIV/AIDS among women in the United States.
• Stand up against stigma, racism, and other forms of discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS.
• Donate time and money to HIV/AIDS organizations.

‘Just one drink. Okay, maybe just one more.’ Does that sound familiar? We have all been there at some stage or another. However, most of us never develop a drinking problem. We know when to stop and how much is too much. 

But even if you don’t have a problem with alcohol, it never hurts to learn more about what alcohol can do to your body and your life.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) have created a great interactive website called  ”Rethinking Drinking” that’s definitely worth checking out. Aimed at helping people, especially those between 18 and 30, determine what type of drinker they are and whether they might be at risk of developing a drinking problem.

Rethinking Drinking asks (and answers) the following questions…

• Do you know how much US adults drink - and where you fit in?
• Do you know what counts as a drink?
• Do you know how many drinks are in common containers?
• Do you know why being able to ‘hold your liquor’ is a concern?
• Do you know the signs that alcohol is causing harm?

The site offers some great tools and resources such as the interactive worksheets let you do things like weigh the pros and cons plus calculators that can help you estimate drink sizes, cocktail contents, alcohol calories, alcohol spending, and blood alcohol concentration levels.

Did you know that in the United States alone, there are 19 million new sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases diagnosed each year?

Scary numbers.

But most people will look at those numbers and say, ‘yeah, but that won’t happen to me. I’m safe. My behavior is not risky.”

Unfortunately, it could easily happen to you. All it really takes to get a sexually transmitted disease is one instance of unprotected sex.

Which is why I suggest that anyone who is sexually active or intending to become sexually active read Seductive Delusions: How Everyday People Catch STD’s by Jill Grimes MD.

It’s an easy to read book that focuses on real life stories of young adults as a way of educating and instructing everyone on how to recognize, treat, and prevent STD’s from infecting their lives. Dr. Grimes has chosen to write about the various STD’s in a narrative style that takes us into the examination room with the patient and doctor. As a result, you quickly start to realize that you cannot stereotype those who are suspectible and likely to get infected. It could just as easily be a family member or friend in that room with the doctor.

The ten chapters of Seductive Delusions cover the most prevalent STD’s, among them Herpes Simplex Virus, human papilloma virus, chlamydia, gonnorrhea, and HIV. Each chapter consists of two stories - one from a female point of view and one from a male - and also a factsheet that spells out all the facts about that particular STD.

Read the book from cover to cover and you will discover…

• Which STDs are asymptomatic or hard to diagnose in either women or men
• Why, if you are diagnosed with one STD, you should get tested for others
• Why it’s crucial to tell your past and current sexual partners about your diagnosis
• How to make decisions about the best course of treatment
• Why certain STDs are misdiagnosed and why it’s important to follow up when symptoms persist

STD’s are all around but talking about them is not something that people often do, especially within families. Hopefully, books like Seductive Delusions might just change that. After all, knowledge is power.

Find out how much you already know with this STD quiz.

It’s something that we all know is possible. It’s also something that we all think won’t happen to us. So here’s a cautionary tale from a University of Alabama student to remind us that although developing a blood clot is a rare side effect of taking birth control, it is one that can occur.

Birth Control Has Side Effects: I Should Know
by
Caitlin from the University of Alabama

As college students, we pretty much think of ourselves as invincible, I know I certainly have. Until recently that is. I’ve been in car accidents, including one where my car hydroplaned off a cliff. I’ve drank myself to the point where I should have gone to the hospital. I’ve had my life threatened. But those things never quite hit me to the point where I realized I could have died.

On January 2nd, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning with a searing pain in my left lung and back. It felt like two cinderblocks were pushing on either side of me and every breath felt like a knife going through my lung. I have a low pain tolerance, but this was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. I managed to walk to my parents’ room to wake them up as I was gasping for air. My mom helped me back into my room while my dad furiously researched the new medication my dermatologist put me on, convinced it was a side effect. I eventually fell back asleep, but when I woke up again I was greeted by pain that was even worse than before. My mom came in to check on me, and I told her I needed to go to the hospital.

In the emergency room, one of the doctors listened to my symptoms and said “I think you may have a blood clot in your lung.” What? A blood clot? In an 18-year old? I was so confused and scared; I immediately started bawling. They quickly took blood out of my left arm while putting an IV in the other, and I woke up in the middle of a CT-scan. They did ultrasounds on my legs to make sure there were no clots because that’s where most clots originate. About an hour later, another doctor came in and told me they did find a clot in my lung.

I was terrified.

A nurse came in to give me a shot in my stomach that would start to seal the clot to the wall of my vein so it couldn’t break apart or move to my heart. I called my boyfriend and my best friend not really knowing what to say, partly because I was on a massive amount of painkillers and partly because I thought I was going to die.

The doctors believe that my birth control caused the clot, but they are still running tests. I was shocked. I knew blood clots were a side effect of the pill, but they are so rare, especially in women under 30. I received a shot to the stomach twice a day along with various painkillers from morphine to percocet. I was also told I had to be on a medication called Coumadin, a blood thinner, for 6 months. This medication comes with a lot of rules and requires weekly blood tests to determine if my blood is too thin or not thin enough. Depending on that level, I have to adjust the dosage of Coumadin I take. I’ve been on it for a week and the dosage has changed three times. I can’t eat foods high in vitamin K like salad or broccoli, I can’t drink more than 2oz of alcohol.

I left the hospital on January 6 and was allowed to go back to school on the 8th. I got tired and short of breath, accompanied with a much less severe but still noticeable pain in my lung which would not go away for about 6 to 8 weeks according to the doctors. But I’m alive. If I didn’t go to the hospital, I would be dead right now. The clot would have made its way to my heart or my brain, and I would have died. As much as the situation bothers me, and I keep asking why this happened to me, I am so grateful that I’m still here. Things like this don’t happen to people my age, and if it does, it’s usually too late. You hear about the funeral, not the recovery.

I’m glad I can sit at my computer and share this story with you all because I don’t want any of you to go through what I did. I want you to be aware of what can happen, to recognize the symptoms, and realize that birth control and other medicines do have side effects.

If you feel a pain like that, don’t assume it’s something minor because it’s probably not. Your body tells you things, so listen to it.

(reposted with permission of College Candy)

For more information on blood clots and birth control, check out the Wellsphere’s Blood Clots Birth Control page. It has comprehensive, up to date information on this subject.

Can airports be healthy places?

I’m sure that the thousands of stranded travelers during the recent holiday season would say no.

But Health Magazine, having done some research into the safety measures, food options, cleanliness, delays, and overall traveler satisfaction of all the nations airports, says yes airports can be healthy and have come up with a list of America’s 10 Healthiest Airports.

They are:

1. Phoenix Sky Harbor International
2. Baltimore-Washington International Airport
3. Chicago’s O’Hare International
4. Detroit Metropolitan
5. Denver International
6. Washington National
7. Dallas/Fort Worth International
8. Boston’s Logan International
9. Portland International
10. Philadelphia International

I see that LAX and JFK didn’t make the grade. Not too surprising. Can’t say I felt any healthy vibes in either of those two airports last time I was there.

So, do you agree or disagree with Health Magazines list?

Have any healthy airport stories to share?

It’s that time of year when everyone starts to think about New Years Resolutions and make wild and enthusiastic plans for losing weight and exercising more (after a holiday season full of food, drink, sitting around, and over indulging).

But making resolutions is easy.

Keeping them, on the other hand, is not.

The LLuminari Day Journal on Health might just be the answer. It’s a 365-day, perpetual journal where you can capture your thoughts about heading towards a healthier life. Full of simple, weekly guidance tips from LLuminari experts such as Susan Love, MD; Nancy Snyderman, MD; Mehmet Oz, MD; and Byllye Avery, Med, the Day Journal provides facts and inspiration to encourages you to think about your health every day.

Simple by design, keeping this health journal is easy. It becomes whatever you want it to be: whether for noting personal reflections and healthy activities; recording personal goals such as weight or blood pressure; listing foods eaten or medicines or supplements taken; or taking notes during annual physicals.  Just pick it up once a day—whether at home or the office, in the morning, afternoon or evening—to record one’s progress and be a reminder that health is important. 

Sounds like the perfect way to help keep those healthy New Years Resolutions.

If the LLuminari Day Journal on Health sounds like something you’d like to try out, then leave a comment by the 21st Dec about what you think of the idea of journaling for your health.

This one is only for US residents.

The winners will be announced on 22st December and sent an email with the subject heading ‘Healthbolt Giveaway Winner’ with instructions on how to claim their prize.

And don’t forget it’s ‘every day a giveaway’ this month at Healthbolt.

Wow, it seems that people really are suffering with sore, dry feet. I’d love to give you all a pedi-relax set to help make it better. But unfortunately, there are only three to giveaway.

And the random number selector says that the lucky recipients will be…

Angie

Julie Donahue

Kathy Conley

Congratulations to the winners. You should be getting an email shortly with directions on how and where to provide your mailing address.

As for the rest of us, there is always a chance to win again tomorrow.