Jess Sepel's FebFast tips

 

We chat to clinical nutritionist Jess Sepel on how to stay on track this FebFast - are you up for the challenge?

 

The festive season is over, the January hangover has slowly subsided and it’s time to rekindle the healthy routine you’ve been avoiding so far in 2016.

Lacking motivation? The annual Febfast event encourages a month-long pause from alcohol and sugar, while raising money for underprivileged youth. Enter as a team or go it alone; just use it as an opportunity to give your body a break from the vino and the sweets for a good cause.

We spoke to clinical nutritionist and all-round health guru Jess Sepel to get her tips and tricks on how to stay on track for the challenge.

Stay hydrated

Make sure you’re drinking your two litres of water every day. If this isn’t exciting enough for you, swap to a few glasses of sparkling water with fresh lemon or lime, or freeze your favourite fruits into ice cubes and pop them in your drink. Not only is this refreshing on a hot day, but the fruit infuses as the ice melts for the sweetener taste (minus the calories).

Eat your protein

Protein keeps you fuller for longer, and it doesn't necessarily have to come in the form of red meat, chicken or eggs. Potatoes, chia seeds, green peas and rice are examples of foods also high in protein.

Snack pre-party

Have a satiating snack before you head out to a celebratory event so that you don’t find yourself starving and turning to foods you wouldn’t normally eat. My favourite snack options before heading out are hummus and vegie sticks, coconut yoghurt or Greek yoghurt topped with berries and sugar-free granola, or chopped apple with almond butter.

Be balanced

If you do indulge, don’t feel it has to be an ‘all or nothing’ affair. Let yourself enjoy a few treats occasionally and remember that your body can handle unhealthy foods in small amounts. Trust yourself.

Get active

Use Febfast as an opportunity to wake up early on the weekend and go for a run, practice yoga outside as the sun rises or even just take the dog for a stroll around the block. Physical activity in the morning before you start your day will kick start your endorphins and leave you feeling awake and energised.

Prioritise your health

Prioritise your physical and mental wellbeing by making a conscious decision to balance your fun – enjoy activities that aren’t centred on drinking or alcohol. Go to brunch with your besties, take a walk along the coast with your family or have a booze-free picnic.

Register and find out more today.

NEXT: Find out how alcohol affects you.

 

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Combative Patients a Hazard for Paramedics

SUNDAY, Jan. 31, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Paramedics are much more likely to be assaulted on the job than firefighters, a new study indicates.

“First responders are an interesting group. They go in because they want to help, and when they go in they encounter these situations they never got training for,” lead investigator Jennifer Taylor, an associate professor in the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia, said in a university news release.

Taylor and her colleagues analyzed U.S. data and found that paramedics are 14 times more likely to be the victim of a violent assault while working than their firefighter co-workers.

Male paramedics had a 12 times higher risk than male firefighters, and female paramedics had a more than 9 times higher risk than female firefighters, the study found.

Interviews with paramedics revealed that they didn’t receive training on how to deal with combative patients or how to protect themselves. Another major problem is a lack of information from dispatchers.

“We’re dispatched in way too many incidents that we have no idea what we’re walking into,” one paramedic said, according to the news release.

The paramedics also said dispatchers are often too slow in sending backup when they face a threat to their safety.

The risk of violence combined with the stress of dealing with large numbers of calls can lead to high burnout rates among paramedics.

“No one has looked at what the implication is for patient and public safety if we beat our medics into the ground,” Taylor said. “For cities that are large and have a huge issue of poverty, we’re exhausting our workers. We don’t have standards for how many medics we should have per 100,000 people.”

As a result, Taylor said, she’s “very worried about exhaustion, burnout and possible emotional detachment by the responders.”

The researchers said they are examining ways to reduce paramedics’ risk of injury and stress levels.

The study findings were published in the February issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

More information

The U.S. Department of Labor has more about paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

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Combative Patients a Hazard for Paramedics

SUNDAY, Jan. 31, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Paramedics are much more likely to be assaulted on the job than firefighters, a new study indicates.

“First responders are an interesting group. They go in because they want to help, and when they go in they encounter these situations they never got training for,” lead investigator Jennifer Taylor, an associate professor in the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia, said in a university news release.

Taylor and her colleagues analyzed U.S. data and found that paramedics are 14 times more likely to be the victim of a violent assault while working than their firefighter co-workers.

Male paramedics had a 12 times higher risk than male firefighters, and female paramedics had a more than 9 times higher risk than female firefighters, the study found.

Interviews with paramedics revealed that they didn’t receive training on how to deal with combative patients or how to protect themselves. Another major problem is a lack of information from dispatchers.

“We’re dispatched in way too many incidents that we have no idea what we’re walking into,” one paramedic said, according to the news release.

The paramedics also said dispatchers are often too slow in sending backup when they face a threat to their safety.

The risk of violence combined with the stress of dealing with large numbers of calls can lead to high burnout rates among paramedics.

“No one has looked at what the implication is for patient and public safety if we beat our medics into the ground,” Taylor said. “For cities that are large and have a huge issue of poverty, we’re exhausting our workers. We don’t have standards for how many medics we should have per 100,000 people.”

As a result, Taylor said, she’s “very worried about exhaustion, burnout and possible emotional detachment by the responders.”

The researchers said they are examining ways to reduce paramedics’ risk of injury and stress levels.

The study findings were published in the February issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

More information

The U.S. Department of Labor has more about paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

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Dogs Read Faces Much Like Humans Do, Study Finds

SATURDAY, Jan. 30, 2016 (HealthDay News) — While dogs read facial expressions in much the same way as people do, they consider the source of a threatening expression before deciding how to respond, a new study suggests.

The dogs paid close attention to threatening faces, likely because being able to detect and avoid threats helped dogs survive as they evolved. However, they had different responses to threatening expressions, depending on whether those expressions came from other dogs or humans, the study researchers said.

Dogs tended to look longer at threatening dog faces, but looked away from threatening human faces, according to the researchers at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

“The tolerant behavior strategy of dogs toward humans may partially explain the results. Domestication may have equipped dogs with a sensitivity to detect the threat signals of humans and respond to them with pronounced appeasement signals,” researcher Sanni Somppi said in a university news release.

In the study, the researchers used eye gaze tracking to determine how 31 dogs from 13 breeds viewed the facial expressions of other dogs and of people.

The dogs first looked at the eyes and typically lingered there longer than at the nose or mouth. Dog- or human-specific characteristics of certain facial expressions attracted their attention — such as the mouths of threatening dogs — but the dogs appeared to use the whole face to assess facial expressions.

The study, published online recently in the journal PLoS One, is the first evidence of emotion-related gaze patterns in a non-primate animal, the study authors said.

More information

The Humane Society has more about dogs and their behavior.

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Older, Sicker Patients Admitted to Hospitals on Weekends, Study Says

FRIDAY, Jan. 29, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Patients hospitalized on a weekend because of medical emergencies tend to be older and more disabled than those admitted on weekdays, a new study shows.

That could be one reason why weekend arrivals may be more likely to die, the Irish researchers said.

They studied more than 500 medical emergency patients admitted to a hospital in Belfast, and compared those who arrived between 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Monday with those who arrived at other times of the week.

There were no major differences between the groups in terms of illness severity, but those patients admitted on the weekend were an average of 3.5 years older, more disabled, and less able to function on their own.

The study was published Jan. 29 in the Emergency Medicine Journal.

Lower staffing levels and fewer senior doctors are often cited as reasons for higher death rates in hospitals on weekends. But, these new findings on patients’ older age and greater disability may “fully or partially explain” the increased risk of death on weekends, according to the researchers led by Dr. Paul Hamilton, from Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

Although the study only reflects admissions at one hospital, the authors said patient age and disability should be included in any discussion about the causes of higher hospital death rates on weekends.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines how to be a safe patient.

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Newer Treatment May Be Easier on Children With Brain Tumors

FRIDAY, Jan. 29, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A new type of treatment called proton radiotherapy is as effective as standard photon (X-ray) radiation therapy in treating a common type of brain tumor in children, a new study reports.

And the new therapy causes fewer long-term side effects, the researchers said.

“Proton radiotherapy is still not widely available in the U.S. or around the world, but it is increasingly recognized for its potential to reduce the side effects of treatment, particularly in the pediatric population,” study author Dr. Torunn Yock said in a news release from Massachusetts General Hospital.

“At experienced centers, proton therapy has a proven track record of treatment success and safety,” added Yock. She is an associate professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

In photon radiotherapy, a dose of radiation is delivered all along the X-ray beam as it passes through the patient’s body. But in proton therapy, the radiation dose is focused on the target area. This means little or no radiation reaches healthy tissue in front or behind the tumor, the study authors explained.

The new study included 59 children with medulloblastoma — a tumor that occurs in the cerebellum at the base of the brain. The patients were aged 3 to 21, and all received proton radiotherapy at Mass General in Boston between 2003 and 2009.

The patients had already had surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible. They also all had chemotherapy before, during and after proton therapy, the researchers said.

Of the 59 patients, 12 died from their tumor during the study period and one died from a traumatic brain injury, the researchers reported. Survival and tumor recurrence rates were similar to those that have been reported for photon radiotherapy.

Significant hearing loss occurred in 12 percent of patients three years after proton therapy, and in 16 percent after five years. Previous research shows that significant hearing loss occurs in about 25 percent of patients who receive photon radiotherapy, the researchers said.

The effects of proton therapy on thinking (cognitive) ability were less severe than what has been reported with photon radiotherapy, according to the study authors.

The patients in the study had no heart, lung, digestive, seizures or secondary tumor side effects, all of which can occur with photon radiotherapy, the researchers said in the news release.

Seven years after treatment, hormone level deficits were seen in 63 percent of the study patients, which is similar to that seen with photon radiotherapy, the study authors said.

The study was published online Jan. 29 in The Lancet Oncology.

“Our results indicate that proton therapy maintains excellent cure rates in pediatric medulloblastoma while reducing long-term side effects,” Yock said in the news release.

“While we are currently investigating quality of life differences between proton and photon treatment, I truly believe that — particularly for the youngest children — the ability to offer them proton therapy can make a big difference in their lives,” she concluded.

More information

The American Brain Tumor Association has more about medulloblastoma.

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‘Til Weight Loss Do Us Part?

FRIDAY, Jan. 29, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Married people shed fewer pounds than singles after weight-loss surgery, and some marriages deteriorate after the operation, researchers report.

The Ohio State University research team based the findings on a review of 13 studies of weight-loss surgery that were published between 1990 and 2014.

“Food is so central to family routines and celebrations, and when you undergo a surgery that so vastly impacts your ability to eat as you did before, family members take notice,” review leader Megan Ferriby said in a university news release. Ferriby is a graduate student in human sciences.

Four of six studies that focused on marriage found that married weight-loss surgery patients lost less weight than single patients. One study found that married patients were 2.6 times less likely to have reached their target weight a year after surgery. Another study found that single patients were 2.7 times more likely to stick with their diet and exercise goals after the surgery.

None of the six studies found that married patients lost more weight than single patients, Ferriby and colleagues said in the news release.

The 10 studies that examined relationship quality after weight-loss surgery found that some marriages ran into trouble after the procedure. However, three studies found that weight-loss surgery led to more sex and more enjoyment of sex, the researchers reported.

About two-thirds of people who seek weight-loss surgery are married, the researchers said in background notes.

These findings suggest that spouses and other family members should be included in discussions before and after weight-loss surgery to improve patients’ chances of achieving their weight target.

The findings were published recently in the journal Obesity Surgery.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about weight-loss surgery.

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Face-to-Face Still Trumps Texts for Social Closeness, Studies Find

By Maureen Salamon
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 29, 2016 (HealthDay News) — While technology use among young people offers some social advantages, face-to-face interaction does a better job of conveying emotional support and helping to read unspoken cues, new research contends.

In two separate studies on teens and young adults, researchers found that text messaging and social media’s emotional and psychological benefits are offset by an apparent cost.

One study showed that face-to-face support proved better than text messaging in brightening the moods of those who’ve just faced stress. The other study found that preteens who spent five days away from screens improved their ability to recognize nonverbal emotional cues.

“This is an extremely important phenomenon,” said Patricia Greenfield, senior author of the preteen study, and a professor of psychology at University of California, Los Angeles.

“Young people’s social lives are occurring through technology rather than in person … and I think it’s a disaster for society if people can’t read the emotions of other people,” said Greenfield, who is also director of the Children’s Digital Media Center at Los Angeles. “Social life depends on it.”

Both studies were scheduled for presentation Friday at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s annual convention in San Diego. Findings presented at meetings are generally viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Children ages 8 to 18 spend more than 7.5 hours each day using media outside of school, earlier research has shown. And teens report using phones to text message more than any other form of communication, including face-to-face socializing.

Greenfield and her team compared 51 preteens who spent five days at an outdoor education camp away from technology with a group of kids who continued their usual media use. Both groups took tests before and after the five camp days. The tests asked them to interpret emotional states from photographs of facial expressions and videotaped scenes with the sound removed.

Teens who went to camp had many chances for in-person interaction. The researchers found that the teens who went to camp got much better at reading facial emotions than the kids who never gave up their technology.

In the second study, 64 young adult women completed a “stress task” involving public speaking and math. They were then randomly assigned to receive emotional support from a close friend through text messaging or face-to-face communication, or no support at all.

Those receiving face-to-face support experienced a significantly greater increase in positive mood following the stress task than those receiving text messages. However, participants rated the two support systems similarly.

“To me, it shows there are relationship benefits we get from text messaging,” said study author Susan Holtzman, an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Okanagan. “And, it’s not that text messaging is necessarily bad for you, it’s just perhaps not as good at bringing us out of a stressful experience.”

Ellen Wartella, chair and professor of communication at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., said she wasn’t surprised by the findings of the two studies. But it’s important to strike a balance between face-to-face and online interactions, she said.

“There’s nothing wrong with using technology, but all things should be put in balance,” added Wartella, who is also a professor of psychology, human development and social policy. “That’s kind of an easy mantra having to do with any type of technology: Keep it in balance with the rest of your life, the other things you do.”

Greenfield contended that schools have been “rushing” to provide students with myriad electronic devices in the classroom, such as tablets and computers, “without thinking of the social cost.”

“I think the implication [of the new research] is we have to make absolutely sure that children have enough time [engaging] in face-to-face interaction, and from a young age,” she said.

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers tips on how to make a family media use plan.

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5 Legit Reasons to Skip a Workout, According to a Fitness Expert

GIF: Giphy.com

Despite all those popular fitspo memes that show up in your social media feeds—think #NoExcuses, #NoDaysOff, #RestLater—the truth is, there are some really good excuses to take a day off and rest every now and again. Whether you’re feeling physically fried or just mentally frazzled, sometimes it’s totally O.K. to stay home. Here is a checklist of five trainer-approved reasons to skip a workout. (You’re welcome.)

You feel under the weather

Listen to your body. If you feel you can handle a little activity, go for it. A light sweat session might help you feel less draggy. But if you’re running a fever or generally feel like crap, there’s no sense in putting more stress on your body. You’re better off resting and recuperating. (And if you think you might be contagious, you should definitely stay home to spare your fellow gym members.)

RELATED: 22 Ways to Survive Cold and Flu Season

You’re injured

No matter how carefully you try avoid it, if you’re working out regularly, you’re bound to get hurt eventually. Regardless of the injury’s severity, you should always prioritize healing over more exercise. But that doesn’t mean you need to avoid working out altogether. Just make sure you don’t aggravate your ailment. For example, if your shoulder is giving you trouble, focus on your legs or abs until you’ve healed. If the pain persists or an injury gets worse with exercise, stick with one fail-safe strategy: rest!

You’re exhausted

You were tossing and turning all night, and before you know it, your alarm is blaring. Do you toughen up and hustle to the gym? Or stay in bed and try to log a little more sleep? In this scenario, I’d advise you to do the latter. Sleep should be your top priority. Choosing a groggy workout over getting enough shut-eye could do your body more harm than good. Not only does your snooze time affect the quality of your exercise, but it also impacts your brain function, appetite, mood, and overall physical health. Try to get to bed as early as possible the night before an A.M. workout.

RELATED: 30 Sleep Hacks for Your Most Restful Night Ever

You’re super sore

If your body is aching from head to toe, you’re probably in need of a recovery day. When you work out (and especially when you strength train) your muscles literally break down—which means you need to allow your body time to repair and replace the damaged muscle fibers. If you don’t, you could actually suffer muscle loss. So take my advice and give yourself a break. Go for a light walk around your neighborhood instead.

RELATED: How to Foam Roll Every Hard-To-Reach Muscle

You’re overextended

Before you get too excited, your busy schedule is not a “Get out of gym free” card. But it may mean you should consider a different approach to exercise. For example, if you’re running short on time, and a trip to the gym is simply out of the question, get your sweat on at home. Tabata is one of the best ways to sneak in a quick (and effective) workout. After all, it only takes four minutes! Start by picking any move you can do at home. My personal favorites: squats, push-ups, burpees, squat jumps, or sit ups. Next, grab a stopwatch or look up an online tabata timer. Start the clock and do 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat these intervals for a total of four minutes. If you have a little more to spare, pick a second move and repeat.

Want more articles like this? Check out 4 Rules for Hiring a Personal Trainer.

Jennifer Cohen is a leading fitness authority, TV personality, entrepreneur and best-selling author of the new book, Strong is the New Skinny. With her signature, straight-talking approach to wellness, Jennifer was the featured trainer on The CW’s Shedding for the Wedding, mentoring the contestants’ to lose hundreds of pounds before their big day, and she appears regularly on NBC’s Today Show, Extra, The Doctors and Good Morning America. Connect with Jennifer on Facebook, Twitter, G+ and on Pinterest.

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The Two Ways Sugar Hijacks Your Brain

Photo: Getty Images

Ask anyone who’s ever resolved to break up with sweets and then crumbled at the sight of a cookie: it’s tough to quit eating sugar. Now, a new animal study suggests that the reason why goes beyond the brain’s simple craving for sweetness. Sugar activates reward areas of the brain that are associated with both sweetness and the need for calories. (Regardless of your personal relationship with calories, your body considers them a big plus and goes after them.)

Now, in the new paper published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers wanted to find out if these two rewards—sweetness and calories—travel along the same brain circuitry. To find out, they fed mice a sugar solution with calories and a zero-calorie version made with sucralose, an artificial sweetener. They found that in the brains of the mice, sweet taste is processed in the ventral striatum (which is part of the brain’s reward system). But nutrition—including calories—was processed in another part of the reward center: the dorsal striatum, an evolutionarily ancient part of the brain that activates motor behavior.

“What we show now is that this supposedly motor part of the brain is not really completely motor, but it has a role in generating new behaviors that respond to rewards in the environment,” says senior author Ivan de Araujo, associate fellow at the Yale University-affiliated John B. Pierce Laboratory in New Haven.

Surprisingly, the mice brain’s desire for calories even overrode the desire for sweetness. In fact, when the researchers laced the sugary drink with a bitter, terrible-tasting compound, the mice licked more of it than the sweet-tasting calorie-free kind.

RELATED: Drinking Soda Can Make You Store More Unhealthy Fat

In other words, when the part of the brain that responds to calories gets stimulated, the animals act accordingly. “We show that this area [of the brain] basically commands the behavior of the animal”—to keep eating, in this case, even though it tastes terrible—”and allows the animal to disregard any aversions in order to prioritize energy-seeking.”

To confirm the results, they repeated the experiment, but first, they removed cells in the dorsal striatum of the mice. Absent the brain region that prioritizes calories, the mice chose the sweet-tasting sucralose drink, not the high-calorie but awful-tasting one.

RELATED: Sugar Warning Labels Get A Boost From Science

Indeed, since sugar comes with the reward of both sweetness and calories, that might be part of the reason why it’s so hard to resist—even when the option of artificial sweeteners is present. “Artificial sweeteners basically produce a weaker response in this reward system compared to sugars,” de Araujo says.

That calories win over sweetness likely has implications for humans, he adds.

“Humans have a modern food environment that’s being monitored by an old brain,” he says, referring to the evolutionary role of the dorsal striatum—the part that says all calories are good calories. “Nature found a reward system that seeks for sugar and accumulates sugar as much as it can; certainly this system is still functional in humans, and although we have this excess provision of sugar in the market, it’s still driving our behaviors in some way or another.”

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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Study Confirms Eating Disorders’ Deadly Toll

FRIDAY, Jan. 29, 2016 (HealthDay News) — New research assesses the often fatal outcomes for people with eating disorders, particularly anorexia.

The study found that people with anorexia nervosa were five times more likely to die early than those in the general population. Most of the deaths among people with anorexia, which involves a low body weight and an intense fear of gaining weight, were due to natural causes associated with the disorder. Suicide was the leading cause of non-natural death.

People with bulimia nervosa, which usually involves binge-eating and purging, and other types of eating disorders also had higher-than-normal death rates, but not as high as those with anorexia, the investigators said.

Risk factors for premature death among people with eating disorders included a high number of hospitalizations for the disorder, being discharged from a hospital program too soon, developing an eating disorder at an older age, poor social adjustment and lower body mass index (BMI) at the time of hospitalization. BMI is an estimate of body fat based on weight and height.

The study, published online recently in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, shows that “there is still a desperate need to develop more effective treatments for eating disorders, especially anorexia nervosa,” lead author Dr. Manfred Fichter said in a journal news release.

The findings were part of a larger eating disorders study conducted in Germany.

Fichter and his colleagues said suicide is a major concern among people with eating disorders and requires the close attention of health care providers.

The link between early discharge from treatment and increased death risk highlights the need to maintain and support patients during the treatment process, the study authors added.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more about eating disorders.

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Chemical That Can Irritate Lungs Found in Flavored E-Cigarettes

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 29, 2016 (HealthDay News) — People using flavored e-cigarettes, particularly ones that taste like cherry, are likely inhaling a chemical that can irritate their airways, a new study suggests.

“It might be the case that if the user of an electronic cigarette experiences some side effects, like coughing, it might be attributed to the flavorings,” since the chemical benzaldehyde was detected in 108 of the 145 flavored cigarettes tested in the study, said senior author Maciej Goniewicz. He is an assistant professor of oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y.

Benzaldehyde is a widely used flavoring agent found in foods as well as medicines, such as cough syrup, Goniewicz said. It can taste like cherries or almonds.

“It’s safe when we eat it, or when we apply it to our skin, but inhalation is a completely different mode of exposure,” Goniewicz explained.

Benzaldehyde can irritate the airways when inhaled, and vapor from the chemical also can irritate the eyes, he said.

However, the researchers also noted that the estimated daily inhaled dose of benzaldehyde from even cherry flavored e-cigarettes was more than 1,000 times lower than the maximum workplace exposure level set by federal regulators.

And the Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association, an e-cigarette industry group, said in a statement that these findings prove e-cigs are a better alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes.

“Let’s not lose sight that vaping presents substantially less risk than combustion cigarettes, which expose smokers to over 7,000 chemicals including more than 60 known or suspected carcinogens,” the statement said. “This research shows that even with cherry e-cigs, it would take three years of vaping to reach the 8-hour work shift permissible occupational exposure limit.”

But Dr. Norman Edelman, senior scientific advisor for the American Lung Association, said the study really shows the need for proper regulation of e-cigarettes.

“To me, it’s another piece of evidence that we don’t know what’s in those things,” Edelman said. “It’s terribly important that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration use its power to regulate them. The first thing they can do is find out what is in them.”

E-cigarettes work by heating a liquid solution to its boiling point, creating a vapor that users inhale. The liquid often contains nicotine, and sometimes also contains other flavorings.

Goniewicz and his colleagues measured the benzaldehyde contained in 30 puffs taken from 145 different e-cigarette liquids. In this study, they used an automatic smoke inhaler to measure the chemicals in the e-cigarettes.

The findings are published online Jan. 28 in the journal Thorax.

The researchers found benzaldehyde in three out of four e-liquid vapors tested. But the highest levels were in cherry-flavored products — likely a sign that those liquids use the cherry-tasting chemical more heavily, Goniewicz said.

Goniewicz said “vapers” should know about this and switch if a flavored e-cigarette starts causing them to cough.

“If someone is using electronic cigarettes right now and experiences some of these side effects, this study suggests that they should try a different flavoring that might be less irritating to the users,” he said.

But Goniewicz stopped short of calling on e-cigarette users to quit the devices, particularly if they are likely to take up tobacco cigarettes as an alternative.

“The evidence is really strong that the electronic cigarettes are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes,” he said.

But Edelman noted that there’s no solid scientific evidence showing that e-cigarettes help smokers quit, and that the devices instead help them maintain their nicotine addiction.

“People shouldn’t vape,” Edelman said. “If they’re trying to stop smoking, there are FDA-approved nicotine-replacement products. If e-cigs are effective at smoking cessation — and there’s no evidence of that yet — then they’re no more effective than FDA-approved products already on the market.”

Edelman added that flavorings are a way to entice young people to try e-cigarettes, which is one reason why the FDA has banned the use of flavorings other than menthol in tobacco cigarettes.

“There is a way to deal with this, and that’s for the FDA to issue regulations,” he said. “They said they were going to a year ago, and they haven’t done it yet.”

More information

For more on e-cigarettes, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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3 Pinterest Beauty Tricks That Can Wreck Your Skin

Photo: Getty Images

Pinterest is a beauty-lover’s dream: scan the Hair and Beauty category and you’ll be met with gorgeous DIY curls and braids, easy nail art tutorials, and before-and-after shots that demonstrate the power of contouring. But you’ll also find some tips and tricks that seem too good to be true—and really are, and even worse, can seriously damage to your skin. Here, Dendy Engelman, MD, a New York City-based dermatologic surgeon reveals the truth about three popular Pinterest beauty hacks.

Elmer’s glue as a blackhead remover

Several viral Pins claim that if you coat your nose with Elmer’s and let it dry, you’ll be blackhead-free after you peel it off. And although we can’t deny that it seems to work—Pinterest is full of gross before-and-after photos showing blackheads dotting the peeled glue—glue is not meant to be used on your skin, and can cause major damage. “The adhesive is too strong for the delicate skin around the nose or any facial skin,” says Dr. Engelman. Pulling off the glue can cause broken capillaries, and since there’s no DIY or over-the-counter treatment to erase them, you’ll end up spending a pretty penny on laser treatments with a dermatologist.

RELATED: 29 Expert Beauty Tricks Every Woman Should Know

Using tape on your skin for precise makeup application

In trying to perfect an Amy Winehouse-level cat eye or cheekbones that rival Keira Knightley’s, makeup artists have recommended using Scotch tape as an outline of where you should apply product. Dr. Engelman says there are two major problems with using tape around the eye area. First, the adhesive on the tape can cause inflammation of the eyelid—ouch. And second, the pull on the fragile periorbital skin can actually accelerate wrinkling. As for on the cheeks or anywhere else on the face, the pulling of the tape can stretch the skin over time, leading to sagging features—the opposite of a contour that’s on point.

Using lemon on the skin to brighten dark spots

Sometimes the thought of a natural skin remedy sounds like the best option, especially when you happen to have it lying around in your pantry; seems safer, right? Not always. “I often joke that arsenic and cyanide are organic, but that doesn’t mean they are good for us,” says Dr. Engelman. She warns that although using lemon juice on dark spots can yield the desired results, it’s often too caustic on the skin and you can get a chemical burn from the application. The pH of lemon juice, which is about 2, can be especially irritating to those with rosacea, eczema, or sensitive skin.

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Mistakes During Delivery Rarely Cause Newborn Brain Damage, Study Contends

FRIDAY, Jan. 29, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Few cases of severe brain damage in newborns are due to mistakes made during delivery, a new, small study indicates.

Researchers analyzed the medical records of 32 full-term infants with cerebral palsy and mental retardation, and found that the brain damage that caused the conditions occurred after birth and despite proper resuscitation.

The cases examined included 18 newborns with an infection called chorioamnionitis, and 14 newborns with severe anemia. Chorioamnionitis is a bacterial infection in the membranes that surround the fetus and in the amniotic fluid. In anemia, there is an insufficient amount of blood in the baby after birth.

“All too often in cases of professional liability, the focus is on the last two hours of a normal 7,000-hour term pregnancy,” study author Dr. Jonathan Muraskas and colleagues wrote.

“This study would support closer scrutiny of the first two hours [following birth] as a possible [cause] for non-preventable adverse neurological outcomes in newborns,” the authors added.

Muraskas is co-medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago. He is also a professor in the department of pediatrics of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

For the study, Muraskas and his colleagues examined the babies’ medical records and found indicators suggesting that they had not suffered brain damage before birth.

But after they were born, the babies’ brains were affected by their infections or anemia, the findings suggested. Severe cases of chorioamnionitis and anemia can prevent oxygen from being delivered to the brain and other vital organs, Muraskas explained in a Loyola news release.

Between one and three of every 1,000 full-term newborns has brain damage. Only 8 percent to 14.5 percent of such cases are caused by inadequate blood supply to the brain during delivery, but these cases are the leading cause of allegations of mismanagement by obstetricians during delivery, according to the researchers.

The study was published Jan. 21 in the Journal of Perinatology.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about cerebral palsy.

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