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Elena Korenbaum/iStockphoto.com

California Gov. Jerry Brown's hand must be tired.

He signed 18 bills on children's health and safety into state law Tuesday. One of them, AB1319, prohibits the sale of any baby bottles or cups that contain more than 0.1 parts per billion bisphenol A.

The chemical, found in some hard plastics, has come under fire for its possible effects on health. Critics claim that even tiny amounts of BPA can act like the hormone estrogen in the body, causing health trouble, especially for the youngest children.

 

The federal Food and Drug Administration has said it has "some concern" about the chemical, but the agency hasn't made an official decision on its presence in food. In the meantime, the Deptartment of Health and Human Services has some tips for parents on how to minimize BPA exposure for their kids.

The California law also prohibit the sale of formula and other foods intended for kids 3 and under that contain more than 0.1 parts per billion of BPA. The liners of some cans used to store food have been found to leach BPA.

The bans takes effect in July 2013. A bunch of other states, including Minnesota, have passed their own laws limiting or banning BPA. Canada banned BPA in baby bottles three years ago.

I emailed the American Chemistry Council for a comment on the law. No word back as of yet.

Halitosis or bad breath (unpleasant odors in exhaled air) is third commonest cause of a visit to a dentist, next only to cavities or dental carries and gum diseases which are the commonest dental problems for which people visit a dentist. It is such a common health problem that there is a good chance that you might also have halitosis (noticeably unpleasant odor of your breath) and you may not even know it. Your friends also may not inform you about this, because of fear of annoying/angering you. Do not hesitate to ask your close friends or relatives, if you have bad breath or not. Accept frank opinion of your friend, who informs you about your problem and this, may save you from embarrassing situations.

Halitosis can be of two types, temporary and permanent. In temporary type of halitosis the problem may be there for few days and disappear after that only to reappear after sometime. In permanent form, the problem of bad/unpleasant odor of exhaled air is permanently present.

You should not ignore halitosis, because it may be due to systemic disease, diseases of esophagus, diseases of stomach, diseases of lungs, diseases of tonsils and nose etc. although they are less common causes of bad breath. The common causes of halitosis include gum diseases, problems in mouth and tongue. Bacteria present in tongue may produce malodorous compounds and fatty acids and responsible for up to 90 percent of mouth-related bad breath. Most commonly, bacteria grow on the posterior aspect of tongue where they survive and thrive on dead cells, deposited food particles and post nasal drip (nasal secretion drops into this area), and the area is not easy to clean and not generally affected by normal activity of eating. There are dozens of different bacteria that can grow and produce bad smell/odor in mouth.

If you have halitosis, seek attention of your dentist, who will try to find out the cause and treat accordingly. Various methods are used for treating halitosis such as cleaning tongue regularly, gargling with mouthwash, maintenance or good oral hygiene etc.

Sometimes it may be very difficult to find out the cause of bad breath and make treatment extremely difficult. Many people use symptomatic approach to such cases such as use of mints, mouth sprays, mouthwash etc. which can not cure the problem but can mask the bad odor temporarily.

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DISCLAIMER: THE STORY(s) DEPICTED ON THIS SITE AND THE PERSON(s) DEPICTED IN THE STORY ARE NOT REAL. RATHER, THIS FICTIONAL STORY IS BASED ON THE RESULTS THAT SOME PEOPLE WHO HAVE USED THESE PRODUCTS HAVE ACHIEVED. THE RESULTS PORTRAYED IN THE STORY AND IN THE COMMENTS ARE ILLUSTRATIVE, AND MAY NOT BE THE RESULTS THAT YOU ACHIEVE WITH THESE PRODUCTS. THIS PAGE RECEIVES COMPENSATION FOR CLICKS ON OR PURCHASE OF PRODUCTS FEATURED ON THIS SITE.

Hormone shots that are a popular form of birth control in Africa may increase the risk of HIV infection for women who use them and the men who are their sexual partners.

The risk for male infection from an HIV-positive female partner appeared to nearly double when hormonal forms of birth control were used versus other methods or none, according to a study just published online in Lancet Infectious Diseases. For women using the contraceptives, the risk of HIV infection from an infected male partner also nearly doubled.

Both hormonal contraceptives and the pill were used by women in the study, conducted in East and Southern Africa between 2004 and 2010. But the increased risk was only significant for the injection. Variations in condom use didn't account for the difference observed.

Previous research had suggested hormonal contraceptives could raise the HIV infection risk for women. This study is the first to show that the risk is heightened for their male partners. More than 3,000 couples participated in the research.

The researchers write that some experiments suggest hormonal contraception could lead to various changes that would increase the infectiousness of HIV, possibly including an increase in the shedding of HIV in the cervix and vagina. But the exact mechanism, if it exists, isn't known.

The findings aren't ironclad proof because the couples weren't randomly assigned to receive hormonal contraceptives or an alternative. Nonetheless, World Health Organization epidemiologist Mary Lyn Gaffield told the New York Times, "We are going to be re-evaluating WHO's clinical recommendations on contraceptive use."

Given the importance of effective birth control and the substantial risk of HIV infection in so many African countries, "the donor community should support a randomized trial of hormonal contraception and HIV acquisition" to settle the matter, an accompanying Lancet editorial said.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which also provides financial support to NPR.

We all know what hypertension is. Many of your friends and relatives may be suffering from this chronic serious (although it does not seem serious because only a minor percentage of individuals suffering from high blood pressure have troublesome symptoms) disease. Hypertension (and its complications) is a silent killer and it is one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide.

What exactly is hypertension or high blood pressure?

Different experts explain/define blood pressure in different ways. Hypertension or high blood pressure is the high (more than normal) lateral pressure blood puts to the walls of the blood vessels, while flowing through it. It can be compared to water flowing through a rubber tube and if water puts excess pressure than the rubber tube can handle, there is a great risk of bursting of the rubber tube.

The same is true for blood vessels also, which are also elastic in nature and if excess pressure continues for long duration, aneurysms may develop, especially in smaller blood vessels of the brain and this is the reason brain stoke (most commonly due to bursting of aneurysms) is so common among individuals with high blood pressure.

From the above example it is not difficult to understand why and how hypertension develops. But the fact is we still do not know causes of most of the cases of hypertension, hence it is called essential hypertension. Practically more than 95% of cases are essential hypertension and very small percentage the cause is known.

Some of the causes of hypertension are:

• Hypertension can develop if the walls of blood vessels become less elastic.
• Hypertension can occur if there is excess blood volume for any reason.
• Hypertension can develop if blood vessels constricts for any reason.
• Hypertension can occur if osmotic pressure of blood increases, which puts excess lateral pressure to the blood vessel walls with same amount of blood in it.
• Hypertension can occur if walls of blood vessels become thick, as seen in atherosclerosis (deposition of cholesterol in blood vessel walls).

Why the above mentioned things occur/happen is not clear and hence, we do not know the causes of hypertension.

Hypertension is classified as given below:

• Normal blood pressure: systolic/diastolic: <120/<80 mm of Hg (mercury)
• Pre-hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <120-139/<80-89 mm of Hg
• Mild hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <140-159/<90-99 mm of Hg
• Moderate hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <160-179/<100-109 mm of Hg
• Severe hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <160-179/>110 mm of Hg
• Isolated systolic hypertension: systolic/diastolic: >140/>90 mm of Hg

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DISCLAIMER: THE STORY(s) DEPICTED ON THIS SITE AND THE PERSON(s) DEPICTED IN THE STORY ARE NOT REAL. RATHER, THIS FICTIONAL STORY IS BASED ON THE RESULTS THAT SOME PEOPLE WHO HAVE USED THESE PRODUCTS HAVE ACHIEVED. THE RESULTS PORTRAYED IN THE STORY AND IN THE COMMENTS ARE ILLUSTRATIVE, AND MAY NOT BE THE RESULTS THAT YOU ACHIEVE WITH THESE PRODUCTS. THIS PAGE RECEIVES COMPENSATION FOR CLICKS ON OR PURCHASE OF PRODUCTS FEATURED ON THIS SITE.

Today marks 35 years since Congress first passed what's come to be known as the Hyde Amendment, which bans most federal abortion funding.

While the actual language of the rider to the annual funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services has changed considerably over the years, since 2003 it has allowed federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the woman is endangered by the pregnancy.

But in practice, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health, even abortions that technically qualify for public funding often don't reimbursed.

 

Researchers from Ibis Reproductive Health, which supports abortion-rights, conducted 50 interviews with abortion providers in 11 states that pay for abortion under Medicaid only under circumstances specified by the Hyde Amendment.

The researchers found that 37 percent of the 1,165 abortions provided for cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment included in the research were ultimately covered by Medicaid.

The rest were paid by the women themselves, by the abortion providers or by nonprofit, contribution-based abortion funds.

Earlier research found some of the barriers to getting Medicaid reimbursement include bureaucracy and Medicaid staff who don't understand the rules.

"Ibis' research has shown that in states where abortion coverage is limited to the Hyde Amendment exceptions, it is extremely challenging for providers to get reimbursed," said Kelly Blanchard, principal investigator of the study and president of Ibis.

But while abortion-rights advocates would like to see the Hyde Amendment eliminated, abortion opponents are pushing just as hard to see it written into permanent law, so it doesn't need to be passed separately each year.

We all know what hypertension is. Many of your friends and relatives may be suffering from this chronic serious (although it does not seem serious because only a minor percentage of individuals suffering from high blood pressure have troublesome symptoms) disease. Hypertension (and its complications) is a silent killer and it is one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide.

What exactly is hypertension or high blood pressure?

Different experts explain/define blood pressure in different ways. Hypertension or high blood pressure is the high (more than normal) lateral pressure blood puts to the walls of the blood vessels, while flowing through it. It can be compared to water flowing through a rubber tube and if water puts excess pressure than the rubber tube can handle, there is a great risk of bursting of the rubber tube.

The same is true for blood vessels also, which are also elastic in nature and if excess pressure continues for long duration, aneurysms may develop, especially in smaller blood vessels of the brain and this is the reason brain stoke (most commonly due to bursting of aneurysms) is so common among individuals with high blood pressure.

From the above example it is not difficult to understand why and how hypertension develops. But the fact is we still do not know causes of most of the cases of hypertension, hence it is called essential hypertension. Practically more than 95% of cases are essential hypertension and very small percentage the cause is known.

Some of the causes of hypertension are:

• Hypertension can develop if the walls of blood vessels become less elastic.
• Hypertension can occur if there is excess blood volume for any reason.
• Hypertension can develop if blood vessels constricts for any reason.
• Hypertension can occur if osmotic pressure of blood increases, which puts excess lateral pressure to the blood vessel walls with same amount of blood in it.
• Hypertension can occur if walls of blood vessels become thick, as seen in atherosclerosis (deposition of cholesterol in blood vessel walls).

Why the above mentioned things occur/happen is not clear and hence, we do not know the causes of hypertension.

Hypertension is classified as given below:

• Normal blood pressure: systolic/diastolic: <120/<80 mm of Hg (mercury)
• Pre-hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <120-139/<80-89 mm of Hg
• Mild hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <140-159/<90-99 mm of Hg
• Moderate hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <160-179/<100-109 mm of Hg
• Severe hypertension: systolic/diastolic: <160-179/>110 mm of Hg
• Isolated systolic hypertension: systolic/diastolic: >140/>90 mm of Hg

Image: markuso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

DISCLAIMER: THE STORY(s) DEPICTED ON THIS SITE AND THE PERSON(s) DEPICTED IN THE STORY ARE NOT REAL. RATHER, THIS FICTIONAL STORY IS BASED ON THE RESULTS THAT SOME PEOPLE WHO HAVE USED THESE PRODUCTS HAVE ACHIEVED. THE RESULTS PORTRAYED IN THE STORY AND IN THE COMMENTS ARE ILLUSTRATIVE, AND MAY NOT BE THE RESULTS THAT YOU ACHIEVE WITH THESE PRODUCTS. THIS PAGE RECEIVES COMPENSATION FOR CLICKS ON OR PURCHASE OF PRODUCTS FEATURED ON THIS SITE.

Today marks 35 years since Congress first passed what's come to be known as the Hyde Amendment, which bans most federal abortion funding.

While the actual language of the rider to the annual funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services has changed considerably over the years, since 2003 it has allowed federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the woman is endangered by the pregnancy.

But in practice, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health, even abortions that technically qualify for public funding often don't reimbursed.

 

Researchers from Ibis Reproductive Health, which supports abortion-rights, conducted 50 interviews with abortion providers in 11 states that pay for abortion under Medicaid only under circumstances specified by the Hyde Amendment.

The researchers found that 37 percent of the 1,165 abortions provided for cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment included in the research were ultimately covered by Medicaid.

The rest were paid by the women themselves, by the abortion providers or by nonprofit, contribution-based abortion funds.

Earlier research found some of the barriers to getting Medicaid reimbursement include bureaucracy and Medicaid staff who don't understand the rules.

"Ibis' research has shown that in states where abortion coverage is limited to the Hyde Amendment exceptions, it is extremely challenging for providers to get reimbursed," said Kelly Blanchard, principal investigator of the study and president of Ibis.

But while abortion-rights advocates would like to see the Hyde Amendment eliminated, abortion opponents are pushing just as hard to see it written into permanent law, so it doesn't need to be passed separately each year.