The Men's Health Blog

Not to get too political, but I found this post from the Men's Health Office quite interesting.

Last month President Obama signed a bill that adds nearly $33 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The program will insure 11 million children in lower-income families. Health care for children - who can argue with that? It makes sense, and is obviously the right thing to do. But as with so many good ideas out of Washington that turn sour, the devil will be in the details. My worry, based on past experience, is just how this may actually back-fire and end up hurting children. "But how can that happen?' you ask. Let's look at past government attempts at caring for children.

In Hawaii they came up with what sounded like a good idea - provide health care to all children in the state. Seems like a no-brainer. But it failed and failed miserably.

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What are your thoughts on the subject? Are you skeptical of increased government intervention in the health care system in this country? Optimistic?

A buddy of mine at work forwarded me this very interesting article on the effectiveness of vitamin supplements.

Ever since the Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Linus Pauling first promoted “megadoses” of essential nutrients 40 years ago, Americans have been devoted to their vitamins. Today about half of all adults use some form of dietary supplement, at a cost of $23 billion a year.

But are vitamins worth it? In the past few years, several high-quality studies have failed to show that extra vitamins, at least in pill form, help prevent chronic disease or prolong life.

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I'm very curious to hear your thoughts on this.

Just came across this interesting article in Newsweek by Barbara Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert: The Truth About Alternative Medicine.

Is natural better? Apparently, a lot of women think so. A survey released today by the National Institutes of Health found that 42.8 percent of American women use some form of complementary or alternative medicine, compared to 33.5 percent of men. That's similar to the gender difference in use of conventional medicine, says Richard Nahin, of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The most popular alternative remedies were nonvitamin and nonmineral products such as fish oil, omega-3 and glucosamine. Use of mind-body therapies such as deep breathing, meditation and yoga has also climbed since the last such poll in 2002. The report, which uses data from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, also provides even more specific clues about the most likely consumers of these treatments: 50-somethings who have graduate degrees, are relatively well off financially, live in the West and have quit smoking.

That's a pretty desirable demographic, and marketing for natural products and supplements often aims squarely at the common ailments and anxieties of women in that target group, especially hot flashes, memory problems and arthritis. But by the time they reach a certain age, women should have learned a few things—like being wary of claims for miracle cures.

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Much like the Dr. Sheldon Marks article on which I posted last week, I like these kinds of articles that sift through misconceptions and take a look at the data.