Health Headliners of the Week

As we do every week, we've culled the most important articles we brought you based on breaking stories from around the world that can help you and your family stay well. Whether you missed these items the first time they appeared or you caught them and could use a refresher, our goal is to help you stay up-to-date on medical research that can impact your life. Read on for our to stories from July 13th to July 19th 2012.

We hope you'll like what you find and come back every Friday for a new installment!

When Memory Loss Isn't Alzheimer's Here's another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!

To see the video, click here.

New Prostate-Cancer Drug: Tea and Gold A new prostate-cancer drug relies on some surprising components – gold and tea leaves, according to a study.

Researchers at the University of Missouri say that the drug gives much more targeted treatment than chemotherapy. “In our study, we found that a special compound in tea was attracted to tumor cells in the prostate,” Kattesh Katti, curators’ professor of radiology and physics in the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Science, said in a statement.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Age and Well-Being You know by now what BTW means, but how about SWL? That's the abbreviation for "Satisfaction With Life," according to psychology researchers at the University of Utah and Columbia University in New York City. The team published a paper in the Journal of Happiness called "What Mediates the Links Between Age and Well-Being?" based on a study of men and women ages 30 to 70.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

"Me Time" for Sandwich-Generation Caregivers By Sherri Snelling

July is Sandwich Generation Month, celebrating the 24 million Americans who are literally sandwiched between caring for two generations. Representing approximately 38 percent of all caregivers, Sandwich Generation members are still parenting children living at home while they also care for older parents who now need more help.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Having a Passion in Life: Good or Bad? As the old adage goes, "Do what you love and love what you do." Yet is it possible that having a passion could be a negative force when it comes to your physical and spiritual health? The answer depends on which of two types of passion you embrace, according to a report in the Journal of Happiness Studies entitled "Ruminations and Flow: Why do People With a More Harmonious Passion Experience Higher Well-being?"

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Keeping It Off By Jana Klauer, M.D.

Achieving a weight loss goal is an accomplishment that should be celebrated. Besides the health benefits, which are considerable, there is a sense of, “I did it. I lost the weight and I look great!” Bravo! After the hard work of losing weight, what you definitely don’t want to do is regain the weight. However, you'll need to work at keeping the weight off for about a year while your body gets used to metabolic changes. After that, staying at your new weight should be easier, but at first you'll have to deal with the fact that your caloric needs are lower than they were when you were heavier. You'll have to adjust your intake accordingly. The good news, though, is that there are behaviors and dietary measures that can help keep you at your new healthy (and attractive!) weight.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Neurotransmitters Could Solve Serious Sleep Disorders Researchers have discovered that two neurotransmitters work together in the brain to block dangerous muscle movements during sleep—and the finding could lead to improved treatment of serious conditions like REM sleep disorder.

Until now, experts in sleep disorders have believed that only one of those neurotransmitters, glycine, controlled the body’s muscle movements during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. But the latest study, conducted at the University of Toronto with rats as subjects, found that another one, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), worked in tandem with glycine to paralyze muscles during REM sleep. Without such paralysis, patients suffering from some sleep disorders might, for example, walk without waking up.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Top Nutrients for Bone Health By Candace L. Talmadge

Bones require a total of 19 vitamins and minerals for optimum health, according to Irma Jennings, a holistic bone health coach at FoodForHealthyBones.com.

Jennings points out that many foods contain more than one top bone health nutrient. She recommends whole foods that are unprocessed and organic, since pesticides inhibit the growth of nutrients within a plant.

She also suggests that we regularly alter our menu choices to derive bone health nutrients from a wide variety of foods.

To see the slideshow, click here.

Is Your Bag Killing You? By Lois Joy Johnson

You may be paying a higher price than you think for that large but fashionable bag. Stuffed with "essentials," our personal U-Hauls are promoting achy backs, sore necks, poor body alignment and regular visits to chiropractors and massage therapists. Egged on by the fashion industry and the inexplicable need to have all our "stuff" handy 24/7, most women carry huge handbags (or two or three!) weighing ten pounds or more. They wreck our bodies and ruin the line of our clothes. We cart around a bottle of water, a major cosmetic case, an extra cardigan, sunscreen, medications, sunglasses, a Kindle or Nook, a cell, iPad, iPod, iPad or laptop, a foldup umbrella and gym clothes. Enough! Here are the smartest bags to buy and why:

To see the slideshow, click here.

Gene Mutation Thwarts Alzheimer's "We found a coding mutation (A673T) in the APP gene that protects against Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline." Wow! That's what an international team of researchers wrote in a paper they published in the online journal Nature. Scientists are calling this one of the most important findings in decades because the discovery may lead to the development new medications to prevent the dreaded disease.

To read the rest of the article, click here.