Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/mFHrIsgV43o   Riding your bicycle to work regularly can reduce your chances of dying by 13% during any 15 year period.   New Zealand epidemiologists analyzed data from 3.5 million Kiwis, 80% of their working-age population.   Only 3% of the population cycled to work with 5% walking but the vast majority traveling by auto or mass transit.   Twice as many men cycled as wo...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/pxtKl_qb31I   A full 99.9% of meals that we eat outside the home aren’t well-balanced or healthy.   Nutritionists at Tufts University just released a dining habit analysis of more than 35,000 American adults surveyed from 2003 through 2016.   They studied both full service and fast food restaurants.   Predictably 70 to 75% of the fast food meals consumed were of poor...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/3DAXea20sSU   Natural sunlight triggers normal fat cell metabolism.   Experimental biologists from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital just published a study that explores how light performs this trick in mammals like rats and yes humans.   Fat cells contain light sensitive proteins called opsins.   Light reaches fat cells through our skin, activates opsins that release fa...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/c-JpAiLh5aw   Skiers turning in the best performances were the least likely to have blood pressure problems.   Swedish investigators compared the cardiovascular health of nearly 207,000 long-distance skiers with over a half million age and gender-matched individuals from the general population.   When the numbers were crunched, skiers were 41% less likely than non-ski...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/zGDZFppkjVo   Listening to high tempo music takes the pain out of exercise and boosts the value of lower intensity sessions.   Italian exercise physiologists report their experiences with 19 active women engaging in treadmill walking or weightlifting .   Listening to faster paced music reduces perceived exertion 50% more for walking than for weightlifting.   The effec...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/4vmYHwJ21dc   Smelling roses while studying and again while sleeping improves student outcomes.   Psychologists at Germany’s University of Freiberg studied 54 6 th grade students.   The experimental students were exposed to rose-scented incense while learning vocabulary, sleeping, and taking a quiz on the subject the next day.   The control group had no scent exposure...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/NkvA7GZpqBA   Waiting until age 50 to screen for bowel cancer is too late.   Tulane University researchers reviewed data from 92 million Americans looking at the incidence of colon cancer for each one year age group from 30 to 60 years.   There is a 46% increase in cancer incidence between ages 49 and 50 indicating that these additional cancers had a delayed diagnosis...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/hqeOv8cPjj0   Anterior cruciate ligament injuries with subsequent repairs lead to a 15% reduction in the connections between the brain and muscles of the affected leg.   Sports medicine scientists at the University of Michigan studied 10 subjects over 5 years following their surgery with MRI analysis of their corticospinal tracts, their brain to muscle cables.   Neural...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/nLpLf4-5fSY   Those suffering from eating pathology are nearly 4 times more likely to become addicted to exercise.   A meta-analysis of 9 studies and 2140 participants, average age of 25, was just published in the journal Eating and Weight Disorders .     The linkage between these problems is the tendency for those with eating challenges to demonstrate obsessive-compu...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/UEFVD_rDKsg   Children embrace guidance from adults who exude confidence, but they reject a hard sell from the over-confident.   These conclusions come from a Canadian study of   662 children 3 to 12 years of age.   The child subjects viewed videos that featured adult actors portraying justifiable and phony confidence as well as justifiable and sham hesitancy.   The r...

A study just published by NYU shows that hemoglobin A1C testing in neighborhood barbershops can effectively screen black men for diabetes.   A total of 900 black men in Brooklyn were offered free testing at their trusted black-owned barbershops.   One-third consented to participate, and 9% of those were found to have undiagnosed diabetes and 28% more had pre-diabetes.   A disproportionate number o...

Clostridium difficile is a nasty bacterium that pops up in the gut after antibiotic therapy for other infections.   This highly contagious germ can trigger life-threatening colitis.   The treatment for seven infections has been the powerful antibiotic vancomycin and for milder infections metronidazole.   The first additional antibiotic be developed for this dangerous condition in 30 years, fidaxom...

  A British cobbler who accidentally demolished his right thumb had it replaced surgically with his big toe.   The surgeons took 10 hours to complete the operations needed for this transformation.   He has returned to repairing shoes.   Magical piece of good news.

  Numbers of infected, hospitalized, and perished continues to rise quickly.   Get the latest stats from Bloomberg:   https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-wuhan-novel-coronavirus-outbreak/ and bookmark the page. As of this recording, DATE, TIME: ConfirmedCasesWorldwide: X; DeathsWorldwide: X. Official name to date 2019-nCoV Genetically similar to SARS coronavirus and thought to have originated...

Purell Warned By FDA to stop making unproven marketing claims.   Boasts that it improves school attendance and can prevent flu, norovirus, MRSA, and even Ebola are BS.   The manufacturer says that the CDC and WHO recommend using alcohol hand sanitizer to prevent infection spread.   In reality, this recommendation only holds if soap and water aren’t available since hand washing is more effective th...

Beepa’s Goulash being recalled by Beeps of Beloit, WI. Undeclared milk that could cause allergic reaction.   Sold in WI and northern IL. Return to point of purchase or call company at 860-362-1703.   Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/10Z8JeCAGuM

Harris Teeter’s Fresh Food Market Mushroom Barley Soup is being recalled by Bakkavor Foods USA.   May contain undeclared milk and a danger if you’re milk allergic.   Turns out some Chicken Wild Rice Soup containing milk was packaged as Mushroom Barley soup.   Sold in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington DC.   Return to point of purchase or...

Cotija Cheese (Quesa Cotija) by Quesos La Ricura LTD recalled due to E. Coli contamination.   The bug has the dangerous shiga toxin that causes severe diarrhea but also hemolytic uremic syndrome with kidney damage especially in young children.   Sold in NY, NC, PA, GA, FL.   Return to point of purchase or call company (516) 932-5756.   Vidcast: https://youtu.be/g8lr6Gbkx5g

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/dLeTpUalcco Fluctuating and diminishing hormones in association with menopause trigger word-finding challenges.   A preliminary multisite study directed by neuroscientists and gynecologists at the University of Illinois studied 14 menopausal women with verbal memory tests, symptom diaries, and functional MRIs.   The data confirm previous observations that menopausal w...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/BmPJ8Abr5uY   Only 5% of children and teens with chronic fatigue syndrome, technically known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, ever receive a proper diagnosis.   Investigators from DePaul University and the Lurie Chicago Children’s Hospital studied a random group of over 10,100 kids 5 to 17 years.   The reasons affected children aren’t identified includes poor healthcare...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/FJjR42mC2iU   The trick to avoiding bloat when eating a high fiber diet is to reduce protein in favor of carbs in the form of whole grains and other healthy carbs.   This the conclusion of a Johns Hopkins study of some 164 subjects consuming high fiber, heart-healthy diets.   Their data reveals 40% less bloating when a high-fiber diet is carb-rich versus protein-rich....

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/h4g91zw2wLw   Breathing in diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) can increase your chances of pneumococcal pneumonia.   A study from Britain’s University of Liverpool shows that DEPs engorge and inactivate respiratory macrophages, the scavengers that protect our bodies from germs.   The researchers report that animals and tissue cultured cells are more susceptible to pneumo...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/A-fBIfKZUjM   Yes, we have a coronavirus pandemic.   And yes, the counts of those stricken is rising exponentially with deaths sadly climbing as well.   Currently there are nearly 4600 cases with 106 deaths worldwide.   But wait, we already have a serious pandemic, and we have it every year.   Influenza infects one BILLION around the world every year, and it kills as...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/sEWgKmC3dC8   Now that green is good, University of Michigan environmental engineers report that year-old urine contains nutrients growing plants require but is free of environmentally dangerous micro-organisms and genetic material.   They studied the urine of more than 100 men and women after 12-16 months of aging in sealed containers.   During that time, the rising...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Tgk12aBsrSo   Different type fonts and styles appeal to different generations and philosophies.   You say:   “what the hxxx is he talking bout.   A Virginia tech study of political yard signs, logos, and websites concludes that a candidate’s chosen fonts and use of bold, italic, or regular type can help target a message with greater precision.   Analyzing 987 subjects...