To Improve Physical Fitness:

To Improve Physical Fitness:

1. Do a squat every time you pick something up. Instead of bending over in the usual way, which stresses the lower back, bend your knees and squat. This forces you to use your leg muscles and will build strength.
2. Every time you stop at a traffic light (or the bus does), tighten your thighs and butt muscles and release as many times as you can. (Don't worry, no one will see it!) This will firm leg and buttock muscles, improve blood flow -- and keep you mildly amused!
3. Whenever you're standing on a line, lift one foot a half-inch off the ground. The extra stress on your opposite foot, ankle, calf and thigh, plus your buttocks, will help firm and tone muscles. Switch feet every few minutes.

Trivia and Amazing Facts

FDA to reduce medical radiation exposure

FDA to reduce medical radiation exposure

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it is starting a program designed to reduce unnecessary medical radiation exposure. The FDA said its initiative will focus on three types of imaging procedures: computed tomography, nuclear medicine and fluoroscopy. Those procedures, officials said, are the greatest contributors to total U.S. radiation exposure and use much higher radiation doses than other radiographic procedures, such as standard X-rays, dental X-rays and mammography. Although the medical imaging proce- dures have led to early disease diagnoses that help save lives, the FDA said the imaging technology, as do all med- ical procedures, pose some risks. "The amount of radiation Americans are exposed to from medical imaging has dramatic- ally increased over the past 20 years," said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radio- logical Health. "The goal of FDA's initiative is to support the benefits associated with medical imaging, while mini- mizing the risks." The federal agency said its initiative will promote the safe use of medical imaging devices, support informed clinical decision-making, and increased patient awareness of their own exposure. The FDA said it also intends to issue requirements for manufacturers of imaging devices to incorporate safeguards into the design of their machines to develop safer technologies. The agency said it will hold a public meeting March 30-31 to solicit input on what requirements to establish.

Nutritional Shake Mix (Formula 1)

Keep a Positive Mental Outlook

Keep a Positive Mental Outlook

There's a definitive connection between living well and healthfully and having a cheerful outlook on life. Thought for the day: You can't be unhappy when you're smiling or singing.

Kindermins - Herbalife

Malaria parasite genome studied

Malaria parasite genome studied

SINGAPORE - Scientists at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University say they have completed the world's first in- depth study of the malaria parasite genome. The researchers at the university's School of Biological Sciences said their findings could lead to the development of more potent drugs or even a vaccine for malaria, which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes and kills up to three million people each year. Assistant Professor Zbynek Bozdech, who led the study, said his team has become the first to successfully use transcriptional profiling to uncover previously unknown gene expression patterns in malaria. They said transcrip- tional profiling is the measurement of the activity of thousands of genes at once, to create a global picture of cellular function. Their findings, the scientists said, have yielded critical information about how the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum responds to existing compounds with curative potential. "Drawing on our findings, pharmaceutical companies could explore ways to design a drug that targets the weakest link," said Bozdech. "We have predicted all the genes that could be used for a vaccine as well." The study was reported in the January edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Low Fat Recipes

Work in your favorite foods

Work in your favorite foods

• Healthy eating programs do not necessarily mean missing out on delivery or freezer pizzas. If you adore pizza then make it veggie. You can also pat the top of a slice with a paper towel when it is warm to remove excess fat. Mamma mia! Delicious and nutritious!

Prelox Blue

FDA OK's first percutaneous heart valve

FDA OK's first percutaneous heart valve

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has approved the first heart valve to be implanted through a catheter and then guided into the heart. The FDA said the Medtronic Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve and Ensemble Delivery System is a new approach to the treatment of adults and children with previously implanted, poorly functioning pulmonary valve conduits. Officials said the new system can delay the need for open-chest surgery. "The FDA's approval of Melody allows patients to undergo a much less invasive procedure to treat their heart condition," said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radio- logical Health. "Congenital heart defects represent the number one birth defect worldwide and this approval repre- sents a new, first-of-a-kind treatment option for some of those patients." As a condition of the FDA's approval, the system's manufacturer, Medtronic Inc. of Minneapolis, will conduct two post-approval studies to assess long-term risks and benefits, as well as to evaluate the physician speciali- zation needed to perform the implantation procedure.

Italian Recipes

Reducing Salt Could Save Thousands of Lives

Reducing Salt Could Save Thousands of Lives

• BOSTON - Shaving 3 grams off the daily salt intake of Ameri- cans could prevent up to 66,000 strokes, 99,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths in the United States, while saving $24 billion in health costs per year. The benefit to the U.S.

• population would be comparable to cutting smoking by 50 per- cent, significantly lowering obesity rates and giving chol- esterol drugs to virtually everyone to prevent heart attacks, said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of Cali- fornia, San Francisco and colleagues. Such a goal, they said, is readily attainable. Salt, which contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease, is widely overused in the United States, with 75 to 80 percent coming from processed food. Men typically consume 10.4 grams per day. For women, the average is 7.3 grams. Its use is rising. A reduction of 1 gram would prevent 11,000 to 23,000 strokes, 18,000 to 35,000 heart attacks and 15,000 to 32,000 deaths from any cause, the researchers reported in New England Journal of Medicine.
  

Delightful Recipes