Health – Page 69 – Things Are Good

Smoking Bans Help Workers’ Health

A new study points out how banning smoking in bars is really really good at improving the health of bar workers. I assume the same goes with barflies. This particular study was done in Scotland with a before and after look at people’s health.

“The findings show that smoking bans such as those in effect in Ireland, Norway, Sweden and 11 U.S. states are an effective way to quickly improve workers’ health, University of California at San Francisco researcher Mark Eisner wrote in an editorial accompanying the study.”

Eat Like a Greek and Remember

A Mediterranean diet can help to fend off Alzheimer’s, according to a well-researched study. The diet is low in red meat and high in oils and lots of fruits and vegetables.

“In accordance with our previous results,” the authors wrote,” the associations between Mediterranean diet and Alzheimer’s disease remain unchanged and significant even when simultaneously adjusting for the most commonly considered potential confounders for Alzheimer’s disease, such as age, sex, ethnicity, education, APOE genotype, caloric intake, and BMI. Higher adherence to Mediterranean diet reduced risk for probable Alzheimer’s disease either with or without coexisting stroke.”

Water from Air

A company has created a way to extract water from plain old air. This is a great tool to help people in areas where water is scarce or hard to make potable. It can be a great help in areas hit by a disaster too.

“We figured out how to tap it in a very unique and proprietary way,” Sher said. “We figured out how to mimic nature, using natural salt to extract water and act as a natural decontamination.

“Think of the Dead Sea, where nothing grows around it because the salt dehydrates everything. It’s kind of like that.”

The 20-foot machine can churn out 600 gallons of water a day without using or producing toxic materials and byproducts. The machine was displayed on Capitol Hill last week where a half-dozen lawmakers and some staffers stopped by for a drink.

“It was very interesting to see the technology in action and learn about its possible implementation in natural disasters,” said Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr., a Republican from Florida whose hurricane-prone district includes Fort Lauderdale.

The research and development into this technology was need-driven by the US Army wanting a way to keep soldiers fueled to fight. It’s unfortunate that this device is created out of a need to kill than a need to help live. That being said, this technology has lots of potential to help many people in need around the world.

Thing-a-ma-boob

October is breast cancer awareness month and there are tons of things going on in communities all over the World like fundraising walk a thons and thing-a-ma-boobs! The Canadian Cancer Society has launched a keychain that they call the thing-a-ma-boob. On it there are varying sizes of beads which represent sizes of lumps women commonly find during their breast exams. Take a look and learn more!

Researches Battle Tropical Diseases

A group of scientists have agreed to work together to fight tropical disease by making drugs that the larger pharmaceuticals aren’t researching. The researchers met in Nairobi to solidify their relationship to improve health in Africa.

“By working together in regional, needs-driven research platforms we are not only on the way to addressing the lack of capacity but also helping in the trials for new drugs,” said Davy Koech, director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute.”