Better brains, naturally.

Nine Ways to Avoid Exposure to Household Toxins

I was in Mexico last week for a wedding and went to a quality outdoor restaurant one day. While waiting in line, I heard a loud whirring noise. On turning to check it out, I was appalled to see a huge cloud of pesticide fog that immediately wafted over the area and engulfed everyone there. The fog, with its cloying odor, was settling around us and there was nowhere to hide, no way to escape. When I complained to the owner, he was unphased and said that the area is sprayed for mosquitoes every day.

No wonder it's recommended to avoid produce imported from Mexico if they don’t mind blanketing people with pesticides.

Fortunately we have better regulations in the USA, but we are still exposed to less obvious toxins in our homes and work places. Newsweek has a good article on avoiding exposure to everyday toxins. Check it out.

Nature as Effective as Ritalin for ADHD

Previous studies suggest that exposing kids with attention deficit disorders to the green outdoors helps improve their concentration in the short term. But those reports were based on subjective questionnaires.

The latest research examines this concept by measuring performance on a memory and concentration test. Performance after a 20-minute walk through a park was compared to walking through a residential neighborhood or downtown area. The improvement after exposure to the natural setting was found to be as effective as stimulant therapy (Ritalin).

While the sample size was small, the study was carefully planned and executed. The researchers don’t suggest it will help everyone, but given that there are no side effects and the exercise could help stem the tide of childhood obesity, why not give it a try. Find a nice park, and go along with the kids if age or safety is an issue.

Take a look at a synopsis of the research that appeared in this month’s Journal of Attention Disorders.

Don't trust the headline, read the article

It's not just annoying, it's downright unethical when medical news reports have calculated, misleading headlines. Take this example:

An article from the US Department of Health and Human Services (9/30/08) focused on a French study exploring a link between the hepatitis B vaccine given to children and multiple sclerosis (MS). The headline reads: "Link between vaccine and MS unproven."

I was quickly skimming through a list of online article titles when I came across this. At first blush I assumed it meant there's not a connection and I was ready to move on. But I decided to click on the header to see the article anyway. And guess what I learned? If children received a particular brand of the hepatitis B vaccine, they were twice as likely to develop MS. How alarming!

Why not a headline that read: "Children receiving Engerix B hepatitis vaccine twice as likely to develop MS." That's the sad truth and it's what doctors and families need to know.

But then, it is a government agency's article on vaccines. That says it all.