Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/9cFQ6A3girI   Regular exercise helps prevent most women’s cancers and many gastrointestinal malignancies.   It improves the results of all forms of treatment for these dread diseases and also for prostate cancer.   Problem is that fewer than half of cancer patients exercise.   Why?   Studies say it’s lack of encouragement by doctors and nurses.   Currently only 21% of o...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/eErkpq7PXEg   A happy tune is THE secret to unmasking solutions to your dilemmas as you get some ZZZs.   This remarkable discovery comes to us from Northwestern University psychologists.   Investigators tested 57 subjects presenting them with tricky puzzles the evening before sleep. Each puzzle was accompanied by a unique sound.   Then, as they slept, they heard the uni...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/AHxyX4NwegA   Parents who used marijuana only in their teens give birth to kids who, as teens themselves, are 2.5 times more likely to overuse weed and nearly twice as likely to overuse alcohol.   These findings come from a University of Washington study of 380 families over the past 30 years.   Parents who are lifelong marijuana users have children 4.5 times more likel...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/P6q74WG7d0I   Adding just one hour of TV or cell use each day bumps teen sugar and caffeine intake beyond World Health Organization guidelines.   Pediatricians at Canada’s McMaster University studied more than 32,000 US students from 8 th through 10 th grade.   The additional hour of TV bumped the risk of exceeding WHO sugar guidelines by 32% and caffeine guidelines by...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/VIdlb5NYSdg   Consuming abundant fiber and yogurt cuts your risk of lung cancer by as much as 33%.   So say Vanderbilt University researchers who studied 1.4 million US, European, and Asian subjects.   This benefit held for men, women, and non-smokers.   Smokers, past or present, derived about a 20% reduction in lung cancer incidence.     The investigators suggest that...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/wgBg2CkXW0o   A full 80% of child and family social workers would consider it parental neglect if a child under the age of 10 is left home alone.   Most considered it criminal neglect if a child under 12 left alone becomes injured.     University of Iowa researchers report this conclusion after polling 485 pediatric social workers.   They remind us that more than 40% of...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/kUd4ZGD1awU   Breast milk is the best milk for your baby.   If you supplement your own with some from a friend, neighbor, or a co-op, you could be dangerously exposing your child to viruses, disease, dangerous drugs, or inappropriate medications.   Researchers at New York’s Northwell Children’s Medical Center surveyed 650 mothers.   Half of them had no concerns about th...

Swimming Too Hard Triggers “Swimmer’s Shoulder” Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/blWE7iLH_Mc   Overzealous coaches and a winning obsession may be damaging high school swimmers’ shoulders.   Data from 150 such athletes was just presented to the American Academy of Pediatrics.   Nearly 77% report pain, 66% just suck it up hoping to become better swimmers, and 51% know a peer regularly using pain medicine...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/h0U1Gf37Yl0   Nearly 4 extra years of education cuts a risk of alcohol dependence by 50%.   National Institutes of Health investigators draw this conclusion from their study of 780,000 participants.   The genetic markers linked to more education were not associated with less alcohol consumption but rather with less binge drinking, fewer memory gaps due to drinking, fewe...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/BvpOnQHfbeg   If you are having a baby, try to do it during the day on a weekday.   A new study from the Colorado State University reviews data from more than 2 million Texas births over a 5 year period and pinpoints the riskiest times to give birth.   Obstetric complications are nearly 30% higher on holidays, about 20% higher during night shifts,   and 9% higher on wee...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/3lQomJHLMWE   Soccer playing seems to increase the risk of developing ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This is the conclusion of an Italian study that reviewed the medical records of all professional soccer players in the Italian leagues between 1959 and 2000.   Players were followed for at least 16 years after their playing days ended.   The data showed that nearl...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/V_o6df79H60   Teen hypertension doubles the risk of end stage renal failure later in life.   A study just published in JAMA Internal Medicine looked at more than 1.5 million candidates for Israeli military service.   Of this group, nearly 8000 were found to have elevated blood pressures.   Those with hypertension were predominately male and half were overweight or obese...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/zYZvlJq3Il4   Want a mental boost in 20 short minutes?   It’s a simple as getting off your couch and visiting a nearby park.   If you prefer, you don’t even need to exercise to get the benefit.   Researchers at the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s Department of Occupational Therapy document a significant improvement in emotional well-being for those who choose to visi...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/85jJpOtXbxQ   Food with lots of sugar and fat is associated with significant psychologic distress.   This conclusion comes from a study of nearly quarter million Californians participating in the California Health Interview Survey.   The study showed that nearly 17 percent of Californians had psychological distress associated with frequently consuming unhealthy foods.  ...

xvid https://youtu.be/ToiYYvmAGmQ   Our cells, like our homes, fill up with garbage very fast.   The latest research from Harvard Medical School reveals that vigorous exercise and even some fasting will help our cells with their housekeeping duties of removing damaged, toxic, and unnecessary proteins.   Previous studies have shown that the signal for flushing your cells is the messenger molecule c...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/5C8p2QDuUm4   Our shoulders take a lot of abuse, and the latest statistics reveal a 6-fold increase in shoulder replacement surgery over the past 20 years.   You’re probably thinking...so what.   We can replace any joint at will, and there is already a good track record for hip and knee replacements.   The problem is that joint replacements don’t last.   They wear out,...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/XaMm0m4v-NQ   Regularly smoking more than one pack a day may reduce your ability to see colors.   A study from New Jersey’s Rutgers University compared the visual prowess of more than 60 regular smokers with a similar number of controls who smoked fewer than 15 cigarettes in their whole lives.   Those smoking 20 plus cigarettes a day, every day, reported significant deg...

https://youtu.be/jO3AfALckJE A Danish study published in BMJ Open reports that short, standard acupuncture sessions will significantly reduce moderate to severe menopausal symptoms.   Investigators at the University of Copenhagen using a crossover protocol administered weekly acupuncture therapy for 5 consecutive weeks to a treatment group while the controls received no treatment.   Then, the cont...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/VgrYfoKJD6I   As our families add children, we parents turn to our older children and encourage them to be the new arrival’s big brother or sister.   The latest intelligence from psychologists at Britain’s University of Warwick reveals the worrisome intelligence that the older siblings instead tend to bully the younger ones.   The researchers tabulated data from nearly...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/3V6fqO7M0sg   Capuchin and Rhesus monkeys think outside the box better than people when it comes to problem solving.   Psychologists at Georgia State University pitted 29 monkeys against 60 college students in a computer game contest.   The monkeys figured out shortcuts to victory faster and used them more often than the students.   Other experiments show that chimpanze...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/HmUUF6hRgGw   A pregnant woman under emotional or physical stress is more likely to give birth to a male.   Epidemiologists and obstetricians at New York’s Columbia University report this association after analyzing data from 187 women.     In a general population, the chance of birthing a boy is 51%.   For women suffering emotional stress, marked anxiety, and depressio...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/guaG2awiXAM   Intense focus on the here and now that is at the heart of mindfulness techniques will help control cravings for pain killers as well as the pain that necessitates their use.   Rutgers University investigators studied 30 patients with opioid addiction due to chronic pain who were participating in a methadone withdrawal program.   The addition of mindfulness...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Sjxtdv7Pix0   I’m attending the National Assn. of Broadcasters Meeting this week.   Here is some evergreen “Health News You Can Always Use.”   We’ve all heard about the narcotic epidemic.   The real news is that there are potent weapons to combat opioid use as close as our medicine cabinets.     Ibuprofen, generic or branded Advil or Motrin, either alone or with acetami...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/lCgarvg7Y1M   I’m attending the National Assn. of Broadcasters Meeting this week.   Here is some evergreen “Health News You Can Always Use.”   Marijuana use is spreading like wildfire, and the prevailing opinion is that its components are harmless.   Another of this weeks stories highlights its potential danger for those with heart problems.   Now a study from Britain’s...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/oit_IwHdblE   I’m attending the National Assn. of Broadcasters Meeting this week.   Here is some evergreen “Health News You Can Always Use.”   One study after another heralds the advantages of breastfeeding.   Some mothers turn to pumping their breast milk when their flow is sporadic or when they develop conflicts with sib childcare or the demands of work.   Do babies e...