Is your kid getting enough sleep?

A recent poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that most kids today are falling behind in their sleep. Although kids and teens should be getting 9 hours of sleep, the poll found that most teens were averaging only 6.9 hours of sleep on school nights! Since most kids who get A’s and B’s get adequate sleep, parents should be paying closer attention to what their kids are doing at night.

For tips on how to help kids get adequate sleep, to go http://www.sleepforkids.org/.

For more on the National Sleep Foundation, go to http://www.sleepfoundation.org/.

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Fat Man Walking

Well, there is no doubt that exercise can help decrease obesity. Just ask Steve Vaught, who has walked over 2300 miles in the last year, with 600 to go for his destination. He started out at 410 pounds and today weighs 296 pounds. And all of this while on the road, eating junk food and high fat choices. Just imagine if he could eat well! This is a great example of the benefit of exercise.

For an update on Steve’s progress, go to his website,
http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/

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Breast cancer in younger women

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with more than a million new cases detected worldwide each year. Most are in women over 50 -- the disease is rare in young women.

Presented at the 5th European Breast Cancer Conference in Nice, France, researchers from the University Hospital in Brussels, presented their results of a study of 45,000 breast cancer patients. They found that the odds of dying from breast cancer rose by 5% for every year a woman was under 45 when she was diagnosed.

A family history of breast cancer, early puberty, late menopause, not having children or having them late and genetic mutations are risk factors for breast cancer.

What can you do to prevent breast cancer?

For information on breast self-exams, go to this link:
http://www.breastcancer.org/dia_detec_exam_idx.html

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Exercise to prevent fainting spells?

It is known that approximately two-thirds of all people who suffer from fainting spells can head them off with simple physical movements. These spells can be triggered by stress, dehydration, low blood pressure, certain medications, and many other factors. What happens is there is a decrease of blood flow to the brain, which leads to a decrease in blood pressure and the person passes out. Listen to the results of the latest study looking at how to head off these fainting spells.

To read the abstract on this study, click here: http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/99/5/1697

The Cleveland Clinc’s Heart Advisor newsletter addresses, “Solving the mysteries of fainting. Why you may be at risk, and how you can protect yourself”.
To sign up for the Cleveland Clinic, or to learn more, click here.

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