U.S. Life Expectancy Rising But Falling

Recently the media had a wonderful feel-good story about how the life expectancy in the U.S. has increased according to preliminary government figures from 78 years in 2008 to 78.2 years today. They were practically gleeful in their proclamation that a child born today can expect to live longer than ever in U.S. history.

But they weren't telling the whole truth, as usual. I could not find a media story that included the fact that our ranking in the world for longevity continues to fall. While our longevity rate has improved the rest of the world is improving even more and faster. It used to be the U.S. ranked #38 for longevity but according to the CIA's World Fact Book the current estimate would put us at #51, behind Taiwan and ahead of Bahrain. By comparison #1 Monaco has a life expectancy of 89.73 years.

As long as we're on the subject of living longer, did you know that 29% of our population 0r 65.7 people today are caregivers? That number is expected to continue to grow as our population ages. Caregivers spend around $5,500 out of their own pockets every year and out-of-state caregivers will spend even more, about $8,700. Those are serious numbers and the reason many people worry about the impact it will have on their own retirement. Planning for the future was never more important.

The China Study Podcast

You've probably already heard about an amazing book called The China Study. It's one of the most important books ever written about nutrition and health. It's the culmination of a 20-year partnership between Cornell University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. Written by T. Colin Campbell, PhD. along with his youngest son Tom, it shows how cancer, heart disease, diabetes and many other health problems are caused by diet. Even former President Clinton has been on national TV saying how this book has improved his health and helped him lose weight.

Dr. Campbell has been at the bleeding edge of nutritional research for more than 40 years and is current Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University. He as authored more than 300 research papers. Listening to him explain his research and the current state of health in America will open your eyes to a new world of better health.

Check out this free, 22-minute interview, the 74th program on UnBreak Your Health.

Medicine for People or for Profit?

If you were one of the 800,000 people each year who suffer a stroke and one of the 2/3 who have trouble walking ... which would you rather do: Have someone come to your home and work with you to improve your walking or go to a physical therapy facility and work with a state-of-the-art treadmill or other bit of technology? Turns out working with someone at home is just as effective.

The largest study ever on stroke rehabilitation was led by Duke University researchers. Their findings were presented recently at a recent American Stroke Association conference.

While high-tech equipment is popular with hospitals, and very expensive, it doesn't necessarily provide any better results. More important, fewer patients dropped out of the home therapy, just 3% vs. 13% for equipment programs. Fancy equipment usually takes 2 or 3 therapists to work with a patient while the at-home therapy requires just 1.

Just one more example showing us that medicine has become big business (nearly 17% of America's GDP) instead of focusing on what's good for patients.

Your Brain on Cellphone

Is there any good radiation for your brain? Given the fact that researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered that a cellphone changes the activity of your brain it appears to be a real question since they claim they aren't sure if the radiation is harmful. The study is in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Several researchers have already raised concerns and questions about cellphone radiation, especially with children. The question appears to be how many research studies will it take for Americans to recognize the danger?

One way to reduce the risk is simply to use a headset, preferably wired, which moves the cellphone's radiation away from your brain.

CAM Safety vs. Prescription Drugs

People who dislike complementary and alternative medicine often claim that it's dangerous. Today the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will demonstrate that it's prescription drugs that are the real danger.

Drug overdoses continue to climb at an alarming rate, up five-fold since 1990. In 2007 alone 27,000 people died from prescription drug overdoses. To put that number into perspective: prescription drugs now cause more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined!

Next time someone says CAM is dangerous ask them how many people died from using complementary and alternative medicine.

Zinc Helps A Cold After All

It turns out that zinc can reduce the duration and severity of a cold after all. A new meta-review of medical research shows that when taken within 24 hours of the first signs of a cold (sneezing, coughing ... you know the drill) zinc can shorten a cold by a day and reduce the symptoms.

One of the studies cited in the review was a March 2008 report published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases which showed that zinc could reduce a cold from 7 days to just 4 and reduce the coughing from 5 days to just 2. If you're suffering with a cold these a major improvements!

You probably won't hear much about this on the evening news because the medical industry doesn't want you to know about a non-prescription option that works. Your doctor wants you to come in for another $$$ visit instead of simply picking up some zinc from the supermarket!

WJJG Interview

I'll be on WJJG -AM in Chicago on Thursday, February 17th at 1:30 p.m. This is going to be a fun interview since I basically grew up in the Chicago area. Tune in!