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Health, Fitness, Wellness News at VitaBeat
VitaBeat is a health news and forum site on health-related items such as health, wellness, fitness and exercise as well as conditions and diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

• Yale U Researchers Discover Molecule With Potential For Treating Obesity
  Yale University researchers announced the discovery of a molecule which sends signals to the brain when the body is full or hungry. The finding has the potential of finding a treatment for obesity, according to Gerald Shulman, Yale professor of medicine and cellular and molecular physiology and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

  The identification of the molecule was the result of a study by Shulman's team of a family of lipids called N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines or NAPEs, which are synthesized and secreted into the blood by the small intestines after the body has ingested fatty foods.

• Poor Toronto Families At Greater Health Risk Due To Exposure To Pollution
  A report by PollutionWatch said poor Toronto residents face the greatest health risks because of their constant exposure to high levels of pollution from chemicals and pollutants in the air.

  The two-year study compared federal data on low-income households and air quality in the Great Lakes Basin, where more than 9 million Toronto residents live. It found high levels of pollution in 17 Toronto communities from South Riverdale to West Hill in the east, York University Heights in the north and Alderwood in the southwest.

• More Britons Shy Away From Seeing Their Dentists
  A smaller number of Britons saw their NHS dentists the past two years. The less frequent dental visits were not due to fear of tooth extraction but because of changes in dental contracts.

  According to the NHS Information Center, a little more than half of the British population or 26.9 people had a dental appointment in the past two years up to June, but it was 1.2 million less compared to the same period in 2006. Of the 26.9 million Britons who saw their dentists, 19.3 million were adults while 7.6 million were children.

• Melamine-Tainted Infant Formula, Medical Supplements For Elderly Found In U.S.
  U.S. Health officials have found traces of the toxic chemical melamine in one sample of infant formula and in several samples of medical supplements for the elderly, but say they pose no health threat.

  U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists performed a second test on the formula sample that tested positive. The first test found a melamine level of 137 parts per billion (ppb) and the other found levels of 140 ppb.

• New Cancer Cases In The U.S. Down 0.8 Percent From 1999 To 2005
  There were 0.8 percent less new cases of cancer diagnosed in the U.S. from 1999 to 2005. At the same time, death rates due to cancer also went down 1.8 percent annually from 2002 to 2005, according to latest statistics.

  By gender, there was significant decline in lung, prostate and colorectal cancer among males, while breast and colorectal cancer among females was noticeable.

• British Advisory Council Discusses Proposal To Downgrade Ecstasy Classification To B Drug
  The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will meet Tuesday to tackle if it will downgrade Ecstasy from its current classification of Class A drug to B or lower. Prof. David Nutt, new chairman of the council, indicated the popular pill should not be on the same classification as cocaine and heroin.

  If the council will downgrade Ecstasy, dealers caught with the pill would be meted a 14-year prison term instead of a life sentence, while users would be jailed for five instead of seven years for possession.

• Indonesian Province Considers Bill Requiring Microchip Implant For AIDS Patients
  Legislators in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua are poised to pass a law requiring AIDS-infected locals who are sexually active to be implanted with microchips so they can be monitored.

  A Papuan lawmaker defended the bill saying a microchip tag or RFID will protect healthy people. "I am a doctor, saving lives is my profession. If we want to save the only limited number of Papuans, we have to take real action because 47 percent of (the country's) HIV/AIDS (cases) are in Papua," Councilor John Manangsang said, according to Asianewsnet.net. There are an estimated 61 AIDS infection for every 100,000 people in Papua, a rate five times higher than the national average of infection.

• Bead Maze Toys Recalled Due To Laceration Hazard
  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Boulder, Colorado-based toymaker ImagiPLAY have recalled 500 bead maze toy that pose laceration hazards to kids.

  In its recall notice posted at its website on Thursday, CPSC advised consumers to stop using the painted wooden toys with beads that slide on a curved metal track and return these to retail stores where they were purchased for a refund.

• Study: More Babies Born With Down's Syndrome
  A report from the National Down's Syndrome Cytogenetic Register said the number of new born infants with Down's syndrome went up by 15 percent from 2000 to 2006.

  In 1989, when pre-natal screening was launched, there were 717 babies with Down's syndrome born in Britain. The number subsequently went down to 594 in 2000, but increased again gradually until it reached 749 in 2006.

• Zimbabwean Cholera Outbreak Claims 300 Lives, Infects 6,000
  A total 294 people have died from cholera while 6,072 have been infected with the water-borne disease in Zimbabwe, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday.

  The figures were the latest counts since the outbreak of the disease in August.

• Boston Creates Flu Vaccination Map
  Boston is creating a vaccination map by listing the names of residents who already had flu shots. To facilitate the task, the city is tapping technology by using a method usually tried for disaster monitoring.

  All residents who get inoculated with flu vaccine will receive a bracelet with an ID code that contains data of the person and the shot, which will be logged in a handheld device.

• Nurses In U.K. Use Mobile Phones To Track Patients
  A new scheme under trial in the United Kingdom will permit better monitoring of the health of Britons with chronic ailments using a standard mobile phone.

  The cellular phone would need a special software which patients with asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure may use to key in details of their condition and treatment such as blood sugar levels and insulin shots taken.

• Fast Food Chain Enlists More Mothers To Explain Nutritional Value Of Its Meals
  To battle the growing public perception that McDonald's offerings are not healthy, the fast food chain is tapping more mothers as its frontline warriors under the firm's Quality Correspondents program.

  McDonald's launched the program in 2007 and recently tapped five mothers in the Washington region to be part of the program. The five are among the thousands who responded to a TV ad seeking volunteers to help explain the nutritional value of McDonald meals to the public.

• China Initiate Reforms To Battered Dairy Industry
  The Chinese government has initiated wide-ranging reforms to its battered dairy industry to improve safety by overhauling everything from cow breeding to milk sales.

  The National Development and Reform Commission said this major shake up is needed to restore consumer confidence in the country's dairy industry, after the melamine contaminated milk killed four infants and sickened over 54,000 babies, leading to the widest recall of Chinese milk and food products containing Chinese milk across the globe.

• U.S. FDA Opens Offices In China
  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) opened one of its first three overseas offices in China on Wednesday as part of