Health studies show that regularly drinking soda can raise the risk of stroke, heart disease and other health problems. Some researchers want sugary drinks regulated like alcohol and tobacco.

Doctors and dieticians have long warned about the danger of drinking sodas loaded with “empty calories” and high fructose corn syrup. But even diet soda carries some health risk according to a new study, one of several that blame soda and sugar for the nation’s health problems.

Researchers at the Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Miami found that people who drank diet soda daily were 43 percent more likely to suffer a stroke, heart attack or some other vascular problem. The researchers studied over 2,500 people for a ten year period, noting what kind of soda they drank. Interestingly, the risk of a vascular event did not increase for those who drank regular soda. The study appears in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

“Our results suggest a potential association between daily diet soft drink consumption and vascular outcomes,” said Hannah Gardner, an epidemiologist at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine. “However, the mechanisms by which soft drinks may affect vascular events are unclear. There is a need for further research before any conclusions can be drawn regarding the potential health consequences of diet soft drink consumption.”

With obesity rates climbing, artificially sweetened soft drinks are often marketed as a healthy alternative to beverages sweetened with sugar or fructose. However, the long-term health consequences of diet soda remain unclear.

Switching back to regular soda may not be such a good idea either. A recent study at the Medical College of Georgia found that teens who consume large amounts of fructose raise the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. The teens also had lower levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol. The connection between fructose and cardiovascular problems was even more pronounced in kids with excess belly fat, according to the study in the Journal of Nutrition.

“It is so very important to provide a healthy balance of high-quality food to our children and to really pay close attention to the fructose and sucrose they are consuming at their home or anyone else’s,” said Dr. Vanessa Bundy, a study co-author and pediatric resident.

Studies like these have prompted two California researchers to sound a public health alarm. Drs. Robert Lustig and Laura Schmidt, colleagues at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), believe that sugar should be controlled like alcohol and tobacco. Their report, “The Toxic Truth about Sugar,” was published in Nature.

The UCSF researchers blame sugar for a global obesity pandemic that is contributing to 35 million deaths annually from diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Regular consumption of sugar can change metabolism, raise blood pressure and damage the liver – health hazards also associated with drinking too much alcohol, a byproduct of sugar.

“As long as the public thinks that sugar is just ‘empty calories,’ we have no chance in solving this,” said Lustig, a professor of pediatrics at UCSF. “”There are good calories and bad calories, just as there are good fats and bad fats, good amino acids and bad amino acids, good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates. But sugar is toxic beyond its calories.”

The authors say a public education campaign is needed to warn people about the harmful effects of sugar, just as previous campaigns have warned about alcohol and tobacco. Special sales taxes on sugar and tighter license requirements on vending machines and snack bars that sell high sugar products are other options.

“We’re not talking prohibition,” said Schmidt, a professor of health policy at UCSF. “We’re not advocating a major imposition of the government into people’s lives. We’re talking about gentle ways to make sugar consumption slightly less convenient, thereby moving people away from the concentrated dose. What we want is to actually increase people’s choices by making foods that aren’t loaded with sugar comparatively easier and cheaper to get.”

The Sugar Association, an industry trade group, calls the Nature report “non-scientific and irresponsible.”

“We are confident that the American people are perfectly capable of choosing what foods to eat without stark regulations and unreasonable bans imposed upon them,” the Sugar Association said in a news release. “There is an obesity problem in our country that can lead to the very serious health issues mentioned… but it originates from the combination of overconsumption of all foods and lack of exercise. To label a single food as the one and only problem misinforms, misleads and confuses consumers, and simply adds to the problem.”

Researchers say women who regularly use heartburn drugs such as Prevacid increase their risk of hip fractures.

Women who take certain drugs for heartburn, acid reflux and peptic ulcers are raising their risk of hip fractures by as much as 50 percent according to researchers. The drugs, called proton pump inhibitors (PPI’s) are used by millions around the world who suffer from chronic and painful symptoms of indigestion.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston studied 80,000 women participating in the Nurses Health Study, a large ongoing study that began in 1976. Post-menopausal women who used PPI’s regularly for at least two years were 35% more likely to suffer hip fractures. The risk grew to 50% if the women were current of former smokers.

The numbers sound alarming, but the actual “risk” of a hip fracture is still relatively small. Among the women who used PPI’s, about two in every 1,000 fractured a hip each year. For non-users, the figure was about 1.5 fractures for every 1,000 women. Researchers also found that two years after women stopped taking PPI’s, their risk of hip fracture returned to the level of women who had never taken them. Women taking H2 blockers to treat indigestion had a “modest” increase in hip fractures, but the risk was higher in women who took PPI’s.

PPI use increased dramatically in the U.S. when the Food and Drug Administration approved the drugs for over the counter sale in 2009. PPI’s inhibit the stomach’s production of gastric acids that can cause heartburn, acid reflux and peptic ulcers. The most widely used PPI’s are omeprazole and lansoprazole. Novartis sells lansoprazole under the brand name Prevacid.

“Consumer safety is our number one priority,”  said Milicent Brooks, a spokesperson for Novartis in a statement to American News Report. “Prevacid is a safe and effective over-the-counter treatment for frequent heartburn when used as directed on the product label. Prevacid is intended for short-term use only and the product labeling states that consumers should not take Prevacid for more than 14 days or more often than every 4 months unless directed by a doctor.”

Short term use of PPI’s is generally well tolerated, but concern has grown over their association with bone fractures, especially of the hip. PPI’s may inhibit calcium absorption, which is important for building strong bones.

Researchers say their findings are “compelling evidence” of a risk between PPI use and hip fractures. They say long term use of PPI’s should be carefully evaluated, particularly among women who have smoked or are still smokers. The study is being published in the British Medical Journal.

The Central Canal and White River State Park in downtown Indianapolis link many of the city’s museums and other attractions.

Though Indianapolis offers no sun-drenched beaches and its sludgy winter months aren’t exactly a traveler’s dream, where it lacks in terms of geographical location it makes up for in personality.

Indiana’s capital city is a friendly place full of happy faces and hundreds of independent eateries, cafes, bars and quirky shops located throughout its many districts. Over the years and even through the recession, these independent favorites have thrived. If not for the constant influx of visitors who come for major events — including the 2012 Super Bowl, Indy 500 and Final Four NCAA Tournament — then because locals are more than happy to support their city’s privately owned businesses.

Visit even one of the establishments mentioned below and you’ll understand why I hold Indianapolis, my former hometown, so near and dear to my heart.

Irvington District: Ever since Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza burst onto the Indy scene in 2007, both locals and visitors alike have been lured in by their mouth-watering, gourmet pies and write-home-to-mom-about breadsticks. This casual eatery is located on Washington in the Historic Irvington District (my former stomping ground before relocating), so plan to mosey around the neighborhood before or after you chow down.

The Lazy Daze is an award winning coffee house in Indianapolis’ Irvington District. Photo by Wendy Rose Gould

The Irvington district is home to winding cobblestone streets lined with candy-colored, historic houses, independent shops/cafes and dozens of friendly faces. My favorite cafe in the area is Lazy Daze Coffee House, an award-winning establishment stuffed with ultra-worn, cozy couches, happy barista smiles and regulars that know everyone else’s name. Try the Afrogato, a scoop of gourmet ice cream drenched in a shot of espresso ($4).

http://lazydazecoffeehouse.com/

As for the pizza at Jockamo, pay tribute to Indiana’s own Kurt Vonnegut with the Slaughterhouse Five, a manly pie that, naturally, features a heaping pile of five different meats. Seafood lovers will enjoy the Shipwreck pizza, which features a tantalizing blend of crab, shrimp and Old Bay seasoning. As a veggie fanatic, my personal favorite is the Pomodoro, an earthy pizza adorned with grilled eggplant, tomato, basil and a generous amount of garlic. Diners be wary: once you have one Jockamo pizza, you won’t be able to stop thinking about their heavenly pies until you have your next slice sitting in front you. Pies run about $10, $14 and $20 for 10 in. 12 in. and 16 in., respectively.

http://www.jockamopizza.com

Mass Ave. District: Just south of Indianapolis’ downtown center is the forever-abuzz Massachusetts Avenue, which locals have affectionately dubbed “Mass Ave.” This diagonal street is chock-full of enough independent eateries, cafes and shops to spend an entire day exploring. Find handcrafted, fair-trade goods from around the world at Global Gifts, or saunter next door to Mass Ave’s Silver in the City, a boutique flooded with less-than-conventional finds.

http://www.discovermassave.com/
http://www.globalgiftsindy.com/locations.html
http://www.silverinthecity.com/

Food-wise, there’s absolutely no shortage of worthy establishments. My go-to place whenever I’m in town is MacNiven’s Restaurant and Bar, a Scottish-American pub located in a century old building with exposed brick walls, high ceilings and worn, hardwood floors. It offers an impressive selection of craft beers and affordable grub, including Scottish favorites like scotch eggs, baps, fish and chips, haggis, neeps and tatties. Expect to pay around $15 to $20 for your meal and drink.

http://www.macnivens.com/

What in the world is a Red Velvet Elvis? You can find out by visiting the The Flying Cupcake in Indianapolis’ Mass Ave. District. Photo by Wendy Rose Gould.

After shopping, dining and drinking, indulge in a gourmet cupcake at Indianapolis’ adored — and original — cupcake bakery: The Flying Cupcake. Though small, this whimsical establishment’s treats pack a giant punch of sugary goodness. Favorite flavors include the Red Velvet Elvis, What’s Up Doc? and KooKoo for Coconut, priced between $2 and $4 each.

If cupcakes aren’t your thing, skip across the road to The Best Chocolate in Town, whose name is not misleading. Chocolatier and owner Elizabeth Garber is known for her unexpected flavor combinations. For a real treat, try the honey lavender or port wine and fig truffles. The White Raspberries & Cream Chocolate Covered Popcorn ($6 to $35) is also mind blowingly delicious.

http://www.bestchocolateintown.com/

Do you have a Favorite Place? A vacation spot, weekend getaway or a day trip you keep going back to? Share it with us at American News Report. If we publish your article about your Favorite Place, we’ll pay you $25. Articles should be at least 300 words long and include pictures. Send us your stories!

Researchers found that overweight people had 20% higher rates of pain, with obese individuals reporting even more severe pain.

A large scale study has demonstrated a link between obesity and pain — with higher rates of pain reported by the heaviest individuals.

Researchers at Stony Brook University in New York analyzed the responses of over a million people who were surveyed by telephone by the Gallop Organization between 2008 and 2010. They calculated the body mass index (BMI) for each respondent based on their height and weight, then compared the BMI to their answers about pain, including one question that asked if they “experienced pain yesterday.”

“We found that ‘pain yesterday’ was definitely more common among people with diseases that cause bodily pain,” said Joan Broderick, PhD, one of the study’s co-authors and an assistant professor in Stony Brook’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science. “Even so, when we controlled for these specific diseases, the weight-pain relationship held up. This finding suggests that obesity alone may cause pain, aside from the presence of painful diseases.”

Sixty three percent of those surveyed by Gallup were classified as either overweight or obese. Compared to individuals with low to normal weight, the overweight group reported 20 percent higher rates of pain. The severity of pain was even greater for obese individuals, ranging from 68% to 254% depending on the level of obesity.

“Our findings confirm and extend earlier studies about the link between obesity and pain,” said Arthur Stone, PhD, a professor and vice chair of the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook. “These findings hold true after we accounted for several common pain conditions and across gender and age.”

There could be several explanations for the relationship between obesity and pain. Medical conditions that cause pain, such as arthritis, could result in reduced levels of activity that contribute to weight gain. Excess fat in the body could also trigger inflammation and pain or lead to depression and a sedentary lifestyle. The Stony Brook study also showed that as people get older, excess weight is associated with more pain.

Broderick and Stone say further research is needed into the causes of pain, as well as the link between obesity and pain. Their study was recently published in the journal Obesity.

Sativex is administered orally in a mouth spray. If given FDA approval, sales could begin in the U.S. by the end of 2013. Photo courtesy of GW.

A British pharmaceutical company hopes to begin selling the world’s first marijuana based prescription drug in the U.S. by the end of 2013. GW Pharmaceuticals has asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve the use of Savitex as a treatment for severe cancer pain.

Savitex is a mouth spray that contains a formulation of cannabinoids, marijuana’s most active ingredients. Sativex is already approved in Canada, New Zealand and eight European countries for relieving muscle spasms for patients with multiple sclerosis. Canada also allows Savitex to be used for relief of neuropathic pain and advanced cancer pain.

The FDA application seems likely to renew an old debate in the U.S. about marijuana’s medicinal value. Sixteen states allow residents to use marijuana legally for medical purposes, but the Drug Enforcement Agency still considers the plant a dangerous drug with no medical value. As recently as last year the DEA rejected a petition to reclassify marijuana as a drug, stating it has “no accepted medical use.”

GW Pharmaceuticals began research and development of cannabinoid prescription drugs in 1998. The company’s clinical research has been primarily focused on using Savitex to treat multiple sclerosis, cancer pain and neuropathic pain. But GW is now extending its research into new areas such as oncology, diabetes, epilepsy and psychiatric illness.

“There is no evidence to suggest that Sativex produces a ‘high’ comparable to recreational cannabis,” the company says in a statement on its website. “However as with all medicines, there is the potential for Savitex to cause unwanted effects such as dizzeness or fatigue when it is first used.”

One of the cannabinoids in Sativex is the psychoactive molecule THC, which is responsible for the “buzz” that recreational users experience. The other principal cannabinoid is CBD, which is non-psychoactive. The drug company claims CBD modulates the “high” caused by THC. Paring the two together in a controlled dose administered orally also keeps THC from entering the blood too rapidly. Patients are able to experience pain relief without feeling intoxicated, according to the company.

GW Pharmaceutical’s marijuana plants are grown at a secret location in southern England. Photo courtesy of GW.

GW’s marijuana plants are grown in greenhouses at a secret location in southern England. For security reasons the company won’t  disclose the precise location. Growing conditions in the greenhouses, including temperature, humidity and light, are all controlled by computer. Once cultivated, the cannabinoids are extracted from the marijuana and formulated to make Sativex.

Legislation that will build awareness of a severe chronic pain condition is another step closer to law in Ohio. The Ohio State House’s Health and Aging Committee approved Senate Bill 40 this week, which will educate Ohio physicians about Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).

The reason for the bill? CRPS is very hard to diagnose.

“The average CRPS patient might see five doctors before it is diagnosed,” explains Jim Broatch, executive director of the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association, a national non-profit organization devoted to education and research about CRPS.

Senate Bill 40 is the brainchild of Bob Harris, an Akron finish carpenter who has suffered from CRPS for many years. He has been trying to get this legislation passed for over five years. Now he’s closer to achieving his dream.

“The House Committee vote is another important step in our five year battle to get more education and awareness about CPRS here in Ohio,” said Harris. “We will keep working to get the House to approve the bill and for Governor Kasich to sign it.”

A spokesman for the bill’s sponsor, Senator Eric Kearney, said the bill still has to pass the House of Representatives and then will go on to the Governor’s office for his signature.

Harris believes the Governor will sign it.

Pain physicians in Ohio have been helping to educate the legislature about CRPS, which is a syndrome that is characterized by severe burning pain, excessive sweating, tissue swelling and extreme sensitivity to touch.

“My pain patients who suffer from CRPS deserve better. An earlier diagnosis can reduce a lot of the suffering that CRPS patients have to endure,” explained Dr. Tony Lababidi of Akron, who testified in Columbus when the bill was being considered in the Senate.

The whole chronic pain spectrum, which includes CRPS, is getting increasing national attention. The Institute of Medicine recently cited the need to develop better pain management strategies in the U.S. Chronic pain affects more than 116 million people and costs as much as $650 billion each year in treatment and lost productivity.

Researchers found that regular exercise can reduce symptoms of depression.

Two new studies highlight how regular exercise can help relieve pain and improve the mood of people with chronic health problems.

Researchers at Northwestern University and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago found that two in five adults who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were physically inactive. The study, which was published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, strongly recommends that arthritis sufferers increase their physical activity to improve their health.

Nearly 1.3 million Americans have rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic and painful condition characterized by systematic joint inflammation. Until the early 1980’s, many doctors recommended medication and rest for arthritis sufferers. But new medical evidence has shown that regular and moderate physical activity can strengthen muscles, reduce pain, and improve joint flexibility and balance.

“While there is much evidence of the benefits of physical activity, RA patients are generally not physically active, and physicians often do not encourage regular physical activity in this patient population,” said Dr. Jungwha Lee, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “Our study aims to expand understanding of the risk factors associated with inactivity among adults with RA and encourage clinical interventions that promote participation in physical activity.”

Dr. Lee and his colleagues studied 176 rheumatoid arthritis patients and monitored their physical activity over 7 day period. They found that 42% of the patients led sedentary lives, participating in no moderate or vigorous physical activity at any time during the week long period. Researchers found that 53% were not strongly motivated to exercise and 49% lacked strong beliefs in the benefits of physical activity. 90% reported some level of pain.

“Physical inactivity among RA patients is a public health concern,” concludes Dr. Lee. “Our results suggest that public health initiatives need to address the lack of motivation to exercise and promote the benefits of physical activity to reduce the prevalence of inactivity in those with RA.”

Another study, being published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that regular exercise brightens the mood of people with chronic health problems like cancer, heart disease and back pain.

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham combed through data from 90 earlier studies that assessed the health problems of over 10,000 people suffering from cancer, heart disease, fibromyalgia, chronic pain or obesity. In each study, people were randomly chosen to exercise three times a week for 17 weeks. Their symptoms of depression declined by 22 percent compared to a control group that did not exercise

Moderate exercise of at least 150 minutes per week and vigorous exercise of at least 75 minutes seemed to help the most.

George Clooney thought of “ending it all” because of chronic back pain.

It’s a scene that may help George Clooney win an Academy Award. It’s also ironic, given the actor’s struggles with chronic pain.

“Goodbye my love, my pain,” Clooney’s character says in “The Descendents” as he prepares to tell doctors to turn off the life support machine that keeps his brain dead wife alive.

If Clooney wins the Oscar for Best Actor, “The Descendents” will have given the handsome actor the role of his career. But it’s a movie Clooney would have never made if he gave in to darker impulses while he was fighting chronic pain.

The Oscar nominee thought of suicide and “ending it all” because of chronic pain from a back injury he suffered while filming “Syriana” in 2005. The 50-year old actor hit his head on the floor during a violent scene and tore the dura around his spine that holds in spinal fluid. Even after surgery reinforced his spine with bolts, Clooney says the injury has never completely healed.

Clooney’s struggle with chronic pain and his ability to rise above it is a testament to not letting pain limit you or take you from your daily activities. Here are six more celebrities with chronic pain conditions:

Jennifer Grey

Jennifer Grey won the “Dancing with the Stars” competition despite having a ruptured disc in her back. Photo by Luigi Novi.

The “Dirty Dancing” star and “Dancing with the Stars” champion has neck pain stemming from a 1987 car accident. Grey had a plate inserted to help prevent any further damage to her neck. While competing on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2010 she ruptured a disc in her back. “Words can’t express how much pain I was in,” says Grey. But she stayed in the competition and eventually won the Mirror Ball trophy.

Grey is now an advocate for pain management and a spokesperson for Partners Against Pain. “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional,” says Grey. “You don’t have to be a victim.”

Jillian Michaels

The former trainer for “The Biggest Loser” suffers from polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis. Michaels kept her abdominal pain hidden for years because she feared it would ruin her health-related career. Today, she controls her pain through exercise and a healthy diet.

Kathleen Turner

The actress who starred in “Body Heat” and “War of the Roses” suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Turner abused alcohol to control her pain after she was diagnosed in 1992. Then she sobered up and became an advocate for the Arthritis Foundation. “It is important to me that people know they have options so they can get some relief from this debilitating disease,” she has said. Turner believes early treatment is the key to managing the disease.

                                                                                                        Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul still has back pain from a cheerleading accident she suffered as a teenager. Photo by Alison Martin.

The former “American Idol” and current “X Factor” judge has back pain due to a cheerleading accident she had at the age of 17. She also has chronic pain from injuries suffered in a 1987 car accident and a 1993 plane crash. These events may have contributed to her 2005 diagnosis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes chronic pain.

Frank Fritz

One of the stars of “American Pickers” on the History Channel, Fritz has suffered from Crohn’s Disease for over 25 years. A painful intestinal disorder, Crohn’s is a form of inflammatory bowel disease.

Sinead O’Connor

The Irish singer stopped performing in 2003, in part because she suffers from fibromyalgia. She returned to singing two years later. “Fibromyalgia is not curable,” said O’Connor. “But it’s manageable. You get to know your patterns and limits, so you can work and plan around it

Researchers studying the pain tolerance of men and women have proven that the age old excuse of “Sorry, I have a headache” may actually be true.

Do women feel more pain than men? Or are they just more likely to complain about it? The answer to both questions appears to be “Yes” according to a new study at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Researchers mined a large data base of electronic medical records and found that women report more acute pain than men in almost every disease category. The study is being reported in the Journal of Pain.

Researchers studied the electronic medical records of 72,000 patients, both men and women, to see how pain could be gender-related. Pain was reported on a scale from 1 to 10, with zero being “no pain” and 10 being considered the “worst imaginable” pain.

“We saw higher pain scores for female patients practically across the board,” said Dr. Atul Butte, senior author of the study and a professor of systems medicine in pediatrics. “In many cases, the reported difference approached a full point on the 1-to-10 scale. How big is that? A pain score improvement of one point is what clinical researchers view as indicating that a pain medication is working.”

Researchers have known for some time that women suffering from migraines or fibromyalgia are more likely to complain of pain than men. But the Stanford study found that was also true for other medical problems, including neck pain and sinusitis.

“It’s still not clear if women actually feel more pain than men do,” said Butte. “But they’re certainly reporting more pain than men do. We don’t know why. But it’s not just a few diseases here and there, it’s a bunch of them. In fact, it may well turn out to be all of them. No matter what the disease, women appear to report more intense levels of pain than men do.”

“We’re certainly not the first to find differences in pain among men and women,” Butte noted. “But we focused on pain intensity, whereas most previous studies have looked at prevalence, the percentage of men vs .women with a particular clinical problem who are in pain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first-ever systematic use of data from electronic medical records to examine pain on this large a scale, or across such a broad range of diseases.”

Only about 2% of hospitals in the U.S. currently have electronic medical records, but that should approach 100 percent within the next few years, according to Butte. Large scale studies using clinically collected data will then become more feasible.

There are still remaining questions left for Dr. Butte and his staff to answer. He wants to determine whether the age of a patient determines when they report pain. For instance, will an 18-year-old male complain of pain to his buddies, or just to his mother? If you ask a mom this question, she will know the answer immediately without any in-depth research. 

One thing is for sure. The study will spur many a discussion among the sexes on yet another difference between the two. It could give a whole new meaning to “Sorry, I have a headache.” No dear, I really do. Medical science has proven it.

Scientists found that a molecular compound called DMS induces pain when injected into lab rats. Drugs that inhibit DMS production could lead to a new class of painkillers.

Scientists have a new understanding of what causes neuropathic pain to persist, a finding that could lead to development of new drugs to fight pain. Millions of people suffer from neuropathic pain, a chronic pain triggered by nerve damage. Why that pain persists has long been a mystery and current treatments are often ineffective.

A team led by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute has discovered that dimethylsphingosine (DMS), a byproduct of cellular membranes in the nervous system, is produced at abnormally high levels in rats with neuropathic pain. DMS also appears to cause pain when injected into the rats. The finding suggests that inhibiting the molecule could be an important target for drug developers.

“We think that this is a big step forward in understanding and treating neuropathic pain,” said Gary J. Patti, a research associate at Scripps Research during the study, and now an assistant professor of genetics, chemistry, and medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Patti is a lead author of a report on the study, which appears online in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

The DMS finding was unexpected. While studying neuropathic pain in the legs of lab rats, scientists collected blood plasma and tissue from the injured nerves, as well as tissue from the rats’ spinal cords. Then they compared the tissues to those found in rats not suffering from neuropathic pain. To their surprise, scientists found major abnormalities in metabolite levels in tissue from the spinal cord, but not in the blood plasma or nerves of the injured rats’ legs. Metabolites contain sugars, vitamins and amino acids that serve as the building blocks of cells.

The researchers then set up a test to see which of the abnormal metabolites in the spinal cord could evoke signs of pain signaling. One metabolite stood out: DMS.

“This is the first characterization and quantitation of DMS as a naturally occurring compound,” Patti noted. When the scientists injected DMS into healthy rats, at a dose similar to that found in the nerve-injured rats, it induced pain.

DMS appears to cause pain by stimulating the release of inflammatory molecules. Researchers are now trying to learn more about how DMS induces pain and are testing inhibitors of DMS production. That may lead to a new class of drugs to treat and prevent neuropathic pain.

“We’re very excited about this therapeutic metabolomics approach,” said Gary Siuzdak, a professor of chemistry and molecular biology and director of the Scripps Research Center for Metabolomics. “In fact, we’re already involved in several other projects in which metabolites are giving us a direct indication of disease biochemistry and potential treatments.”

The iconic Hotel del Coronado has hosted presidents, royalty and celebrities since 1888. It was once listed as one of the “Top 10 Resorts in the World” by USA Today.

The iconic Hotel del Coronado has been drawing visitors to San Diego’s Coronado Island since 1888. The hotel’s beachfront location and classic Victorian architecture are a magnet for tourists, presidents, royals and celebrities. But the hotel is often crowded and with rooms starting at around $280 a night ($450 if you want an ocean view) way overpriced for travelers on a budget.

My wife and I discovered Marriott’s Coronado Island Resort about ten years ago. It’s located on the “other side” of Coronado Island – the eastern side – away from the tourists heading to the Hotel del Coronado. We’ve stayed at the Marriott several times and found it to be comfortable, reasonably priced and a great place to serve as a base while we explore the rest of Coronado. There’s a lot more to the “island” (actually, it’s a peninsula) than its famous namesake hotel.

But first, the nuts and bolts about the Coronado Island Marriott:

The Marriott Coronado Island Resort has over 300 rooms and suites on 16 acres of waterfront property.

The Pros: We stayed there for two weekday nights in December using Marriott’s “Stay Here, Fly There” promotion. Our room cost just $129 a night and came with a $100 resort credit, along with a voucher for a free companion airline ticket. Even if we never use the airline voucher, it’s still a great deal. When we checked in we asked for an upgrade from a “resort” view to a “bay view” which was cheerfully given to us by the hotel clerk with no extra charge.

The hotel has over 300 rooms and suites, indoor and outdoor dining, three heated pools, tennis courts and a health spa. The resort’s 16 waterfront acres, just across the bay from downtown San Diego, are worth exploring. Tucked away in one corner is a walk-in aviary. You can also visit the flamingos near the main entrance. The rooms, while not luxurious, have oversized bathrooms, down comforters, rich linens, flat screen TV’s, and internet access.

The San Diego-Coronado Bridge is over two miles long and was designed so that naval ships can safely pass underneath it.

The Cons: If you drive to the Marriott, be prepared to pay $22 a night for the privilege of parking your car in the hotel’s underground garage. The hotel’s spa is a nice feature, but the ancient equipment in the exercise room is in serious need of an upgrade. Nightlife? Forget it. This is a quiet, family oriented resort, not a singles spot. The most action you’ll find at night is a few lonely souls gathered around the hotel bar watching ESPN.

What To Do: The bike path outside the Marriott is a good place to start. It offers spectacular views of downtown San Diego, and it’s an easy stroll to several gift shops and restaurants. We had dinner our first night in town at Il Fornaio Cucina, an elegant and upscale Italian restaurant. The entrees are reasonably priced and delicious, but if you want to share a bottle of wine, as my wife and I did, it can get costly. The cheapest bottles start at around $30. That said, the view alone makes Il Fornaio a 5 star restaurant.

Coronado’s downtown district is about a mile away, with many shops and restaurants along busy Orange Avenue. The closer you get to the Hotel del Coronado, the busier it gets, so make reservations or plan on eating early.

The Lamb’s Players Theatre is a small intimate theatre that seats 350. Photo courtesy of Lamb’s Players Theatre.

We did just that on our second night in town, having an early dinner at the Costa Azul, a family style Mexican restaurant. Then we walked across the street to the Lamb’s Players Theatre to see the charming production “Festival of Christmas.” The words “intimate” and “amphitheater” usually don’t go together, but they do at Lamb’s. Many seats in this small theatre are within a few feet of the main stage. Our seats in the third row cost $32 apiece.

They are many things you can do on Coronado. You can rent a bicycle or Segway, spend a day at the beach, rent a boat or play a round of golf. About half of the island is a U.S. naval base and home port of two aircraft carriers. The base is off limits, but military history buffs can take a ferry or drive to San Diego for a tour of the historic U.S.S. Midway at the Navy Pier.

San Diego is known for its mild year-round climate, natural harbor and a long association with the U.S. Navy.

You can also just stay on the island and explore. Did I mention the Hotel del Coronado?

Do you have a Favorite Place? A vacation spot, weekend getaway or a day trip you keep going back to? Share it with us at American News Report. If we publish your article about your Favorite Place, we’ll pay you $25. Articles should be at least 300 words long and include pictures. Send us your stories! 

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Researchers found that teens addicted to the internet had less “white matter” in key areas of the brain that control decision making.

A new Chinese study has found that teens addicted to the internet have abnormal amounts of “white matter” in key areas of the brain.

Researchers at Jiao Tong University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences scanned the brains of 17 teens and young adults appearing to suffer from Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). Although not yet recognized as a medical condition, IAD is considered to be an inability to control internet use that causes social or behavioral problems or interferes with work or school.

Participants in the study reported being frustrated with repeated failures to control their internet use, and said they felt “moody” or “depressed” when they tried to cut back on their online usage. Brain scans of the “addicted” teens were compared to the MRI scans of 16 “healthy” teens of similar age and gender. Both groups were asked to fill out lengthy questionnaires about their social and emotional relationships.

The scientists found that the teens with an alleged internet addiction had impaired “white matter” connecting the parts of their brains in charge of decision making and judgment. White matter contains brain cell fibers that transfer signals between different parts of the brain. Compared with the healthy teens, the IAD group had significantly reduced white matter density in 22 regions of the brain.

The diagnosis of internet addiction is a controversial topic in the field of mental health. Although many mental health professionals diverge in opinion on IAD, the new research appears to make sense to Gordon Harris, PhD, a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School who has focused on studying alcoholism and the brain.

“I think in terms of internet addiction, whether it be people spending time on Facebook, playing video games or other behaviors, people do have the possibility of developing addictions similar to food, sex and gambling,” Harris told American News Report in a phone interview.

Harris said this could be especially true of younger people, in which areas of the brain involved in judgment and decision making may not have yet reached maturation.

“It may be that people who have some of those decreased developments in white matter may be more prone to develop addictive behaviors,” said Harris.

Harris said activities like gaming can stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain, what scientists refer to as “reward” centers, similar to the way in which dopamine and other substances are released by the brain when people take drugs and other stimulants.

“Games are designed to hook you in and stimulate you,” he said, adding one of the subjects in his research team found he had to stop engaging in internet gaming and admitted to experiencing withdrawal upon stopping.

Harries added it is hard for kids to spend the time on homework and other activities because they are constantly being stimulated by texting, gaming and other forms of electronic stimulation.

The study findings were published in the journal PLoS One.

Over 116 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, a disease that affects more people than cancer, heart disease and diabetes combined, according to the Institute of Medicine.

A major new public health campaign is needed in the U.S. to battle an “epidemic” of chronic pain, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“The magnitude of pain in the United States is astounding,” wrote the authors of the perspective piece, Philip Pizzo, MD, dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine, and Noreen Clark, PhD, professor of health at the University of Michigan. More than 116 million Americans suffer from chronic or acute pain, according to a recent report by a committee of the Institute of Medicine. Pizzo and Clark were chairs on the committee.

Annual expenditures related to pain, including direct medical costs and lost wages, is estimated at $560 to $635 billion a year. Pizzo and Clark called pain a major, overlooked medical problem in the U.S. that requires improved education at multiple levels, including better training of physicians in pain management.

“Sadly, many physicians are viewed as ‘poor listeners’ by people living with chronic pain,” said Pizzo, who is also a professor of pediatrics, microbiology and immunology. “Some physicians over-prescribe medications including opioids, while others refuse to prescribe them at all for fear of violating local or state regulations. Many people with chronic pain simply don’t know where to go for help.”

A major impediment to pain relief is limited access to doctors who are knowledgeable about acute and chronic pain. Fewer than 4,000 pain specialists are currently practicing in the U.S. A recent survey of 117 medical schools by Johns Hopkins University found that most provided only a few core topics on pain; with cancer pain, pediatric pain and geriatric pain essentially ignored by most medical schools. Other studies have found that most primary care physicians feel “inadequately prepared” to counsel patients on pain.

“Often, an initially supportive community becomes intolerant or inattentive as the pain persists, which leads many people with chronic pain to give up, resulting in depression,” the authors wrote. The public attitude toward chronic pain also sends the message that pain sufferers need to “just suck it up.”

Pizzo and Clark called for public education campaigns, along with targeted efforts to educate patients themselves, to help patients and their families find the help they need. The authors point to the success of other “fact-based public education campaigns” that have made a difference in other areas of health, altering behavior related to smoking and tobacco use and cancer.

“We recommend expanding and redesigning education programs to transform the understanding of pain, improving education for clinicians, and increasing the number of health professionals with advanced expertise in pain care,” they write.

Researchers found that healthy people without a history of cardiovascular disease are unlikely to benefit from regular use of aspirin.

Healthy people without a history of cardiovascular disease are unlikely to benefit from regular use of aspirin, according to a new British study.

Doctors have long recommended a daily dose of the painkiller to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, but the study found that aspirin also raised the risk of internal bleeding. The study, which was published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the largest ever conducted on the effects of aspirin on people without cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at St. George’s University of London analyzed data from nine clinical trials involving over 100,000 participants with no prior history of cardiovascular disease. Half of the participants took aspirin and half took a placebo for about six years.

The researchers found that deaths related to cardiovascular disease occurred at essentially the same rate for people who did and did not take aspirin. There was a modest decrease in non-fatal heart attacks, but that benefit was almost entirely offset by a 30 percent increase in life-threatening or debilitating internal bleeding. This means that one stroke or heart attack was averted for every 120 people treated with aspirin, while one in 73 people taking aspirin suffered significant internal bleeding.

The lead author of the study emphasized that people with a history of heart conditions should not stop taking aspirin.

“The beneficial effect of aspirin on preventing future cardiovascular disease events in people with established heart attacks or strokes is indisputable,” said Dr. Rao Seshasai of also from St George’s University of London. “However, the benefits of aspirin in those individuals not known to have these conditions are far more modest than previously believed and, in fact, aspirin treatment may potentially result in considerable harm due to major bleeding.”

Many doctors prescribe regular aspirin for people without a previous history of heart attack or stroke, but who may be considered at risk of cardiovascular disease because of family history or obesity.

Some studies have also suggested that aspirin lowers the risk of cancer by reducing inflammation, which speeds the growth of blood vessels in tumors. The St. George study found that aspirin did not reduce the risk of death from cancer.

“There is an enormous interest in understanding the role of aspirin in cancer prevention, said Dr. Seshasai. “No evidence of benefit was found in the studies reviewed, but more research is needed given these were only of six years in duration.”

Millions of Thais were driven from their homes by flooding that began in October, 2011.

I traveled back to Thailand, my family’s homeland, in December to assist my grandparents in repairing the flood damage to their home in Bangkok. The weeks I spent there talking to people and seeing the city has given me a better idea of what the flooding has done to my homeland. A country that was already facing a great deal of challenges was hit by a natural disaster of historic proportions.

Thailand experienced its worst flooding in over a half century when heavy monsoon rains inundated much of the country in October, 2011. The flooding, which continued for weeks, claimed over 790 lives, inundated nearly 15 million acres of land, and caused $45 billion dollars in damage according to the World Bank. If that estimate is correct it would be the fourth costliest natural disaster ever recorded.

The damage from the flood has been enormous; physically, economically and politically. Millions of Thais had their homes severely damaged or destroyed, with the water in some places reaching as high as 10 feet. The cost of repairs to housing, belongings and vehicles has crippled many households, many of which did not possess adequate insurance.

My grandparents, both of whom are over 80 years old, initially refused to leave their home, because they had never been forced out before by a flood and didn’t see why this one would be any different. They anticipated wearing boots for a few days and using their boat to navigate their way to the corner store for food. What would unfold was something they never expected to see in their lifetimes.

The water level inside their house rose to three feet the first day, then to nearly five feet the next day, forcing them to abandon the first floor of their home and stay upstairs. They would eventually evacuate by boat.

Thai military and volunteers work to repair a leaky dike in Bangkok.

During my stay both labor and building supplies were in short supply. The first thing that many Thais did was replace their wood floors and repaint their walls. Both paint and flooring were in short supply and furniture stores were full of customers looking to replace their waterlogged furniture. The Thai government also set up a furniture expo at a nearby convention center to facilitate the purchase of new furniture and make the process as easy as possible for flood victims.

The economic impact on both regional and global markets was unprecedented. Hundreds of industrial factories were shutdown by the flooding, which breached the flood walls hastily put in place by the Thai government. These factories produced a large number of products that were important to the regional and global supply chain. Many vital car component parts for Honda and Toyota are produced in Thailand and the closure of these plants halted world-wide production of several models. Though the two companies have promised not to close their factories due to the flood, which many blame on the government’s lack of preparation, they have told their shareholders that they will move to diversify their supply chain to avoid similar situations in the future.

The closure with arguably the largest effect on global price levels is the shutdown of high-tech factories that produce computer hard disk drives. Thailand is the second largest producer of hard disks in the world and the flooding has caused a shortage of disk drives, which has resulted in a spike in the prices of both disk drives as well as computer systems. Companies like Western Digital, the largest producer of hard disks in the world, had their production cut 75% because of the flooding in Thailand, according to the market research firm IDC. Although some disk drive plants have started back up in Thailand, industry experts expect the stoppage to have an impact through the rest of the year as the market continues to adjust.

For many of the rural poor the flooding was an economic tragedy. Many saw their farms inundated by floodwater, destroying crops and severely lowering the quality of the soil. The United Nations estimates that nearly half of Thailand’s agriculture output was affected by the flooding that swept through the country’s central plain. The flooding has left many farmers and rural communities in a state of economic crisis, as the destruction of their crop means that there will be no income for many families this year. These families will be looking to the already troubled government for both answers and support.

To facilitate the evacuation and to prevent citizens from being pressured to return to unsafe areas, the government announced an entire week of national holidays at the height of the flooding. This move was an attempt to keep the streets of Bangkok relatively empty so that emergency crews could operate unhindered. Most in my extended family decided to take an additional week off, after the holiday week, to get their homes in order. It was not until early December that Bangkok began to return to normal, though parts of the city remained submerged.

A man on a raft paddles past a flooded house near Bangkok.

Authorities were initially worried about an outbreak of disease associated with stagnant water, however no such outbreaks occurred. Most who visited the hospitals were there for infected cuts or physical injuries. My grandparents were wary of the medical danger that floodwater poses, and like many Thais they wore thigh-high boots and surgical masks to avoid contact with the floodwater.

Politically, the flood has had an enormous effect. Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra, who was inaugurated just five months ago, has been under fire for her handling of the flooding. The system of canals and waterways that wind through Bangkok allows water to be diverted in times of flooding. But where that water was diverted is controversial. Many Bangkok residents want to know why their neighborhoods were sacrificed in order to save another area from flooding. There are widespread rumors among Thais that the flood control operation was corrupt and that wealthy residents paid to have their homes saved, at the expense of poorer neighborhoods.

Prior to the flooding there was already a deep and sometimes violent divide between the Thai people. The division primarily centered on the spreading of wealth and influence. Many Thais believe the government is controlled by the aristocracy and that it always supports the monarchy and big business, which are centered in Bangkok. While Bangkok and its residents have prospered greatly over the past decades, rural Thais, who make up 65% of the population, feel they have been disenfranchised too long. That led them to elect the current government, which runs on a populist platform.

This becomes very important, because although the next election remains years away all Thais will be watching how the government handles this situation. The current administration has done a deplorable job, ignoring the plight of the rural population and focusing instead on protecting Bangkok, an effort that failed miserably as the floodwater engulfed much of the city within hours. There has also been no sense of accountability and no long-term solution to prevent future flooding. The lack of planning has all Thais concerned, as the monsoon season, which begins in April, looms on the horizon.

As the recovery from the flood continues, the economy is showing signs of life. Government and consumer spending in the wake of the floods is expected to expand Thailand’s economy in 2012. Even with the flooding, Thailand’s economy grew an estimated 2% in 2011, and a senior government economist expects the economy to grow between 5-7% in 2012. The Thai people have always thought of themselves as a very strong-willed people, and their economic and physical rebuilding seems to hold that statement true.

Sean Bahar is a student at Whittier College in Whittier, California.

A teacup pig named Crispy Bacon survived a potentially fatal dose of human heart medication. Photo by Teresa Praus

A pet pig named “Crispy Bacon” taught his owner a lesson that many parents already know: prescription drugs should be kept locked up and out of sight.

Teresa Praus of Las Vegas, Nevada recently came home to find a partially chewed and empty bottle of human heart medication. Her pet teacup pig had eaten all the pills and was vomiting. Teresa and her husband rushed Crispy Bacon to a veterinary hospital, where after a few days the pig recovered from a potentially fatal dose of beta blockers.

Crispy Bacon may be a pig, but like many pets he has an insatiable curiosity and isn’t discriminating about what he eats. Praus says he’s even crafty enough to bump into shelves and tables to knock down items to get them within reach.

“He likes to chew, just like a puppy,” said Praus. “Especially the plastic ends of shoelaces.”

Crispy’s brush with death highlights a problem that Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) knows all too well. Pets will eat almost anything. The nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance received over 6,000 claims last year for pets that swallowed foreign objects.

A pug named Harley won VPI’s 2011 Hambone award for swallowing over 100 rocks.

A pug named Harley won VPI’s 2011 Hambone award for swallowing over 100 rocks. Photo courtesy of VPI.

Other odd items swallowed by pets include batteries, candles, a dirty diaper, hot chili peppers, deer antlers and a dead porcupine. One pet got a buzz from eating marijuana cookies, while another ate an entire box of razor blades.

All of the pets made full recoveries and their owners were reimbursed for eligible veterinary expenses by VPI. Saving a pet from a potentially deadly case of indigestion doesn’t come cheaply. The average cost of surgery to remove a foreign object can be about $2,000. VPI paid over $5 million in claims last year for pets eating things they weren’t supposed to.

VPI recommends keeping small items that can be eaten by pets out of reach. Owners should also be careful about the toys they select for their pets. Possible signs that a pet ate a foreign object include depression, a reluctance to eat or drink, vomiting and diarrhea. If you suspect foreign object ingestion, your pet should be seen by a veterinarian immediately.

Cat’s claw and other herbal medicines have long been used to treat the painful symptoms of osteoarthritis. Photo by Nathan Johnson

There is little evidence to justify the use of herbal medicine to relieve the painful symptoms of osteoarthritis, according to a new British report.

Herbal remedies such as cat’s claw, devil’s claw, turmeric and ginger have long been used to treat the painful joint condition, but the report published in the journal Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin warns that few studies have been made on their effectiveness. Those studies that have been done were small, did not last long and often contained design flaws, which compromised the validity of their findings.

Osteoarthritis is a painful joint condition that involves damage to cartilage and other structures in and around the joints, usually the fingers, hips and knees. It differs from rheumatoid arthritis, which is an immune-based disorder.

Clinical trials indicate that some natural pain remedies, such as soybean oil, avocado oil, rosehip and frankincense may work and produce few unwanted side effects. “But more robust data are needed,” according to the report, which said the evidence about other herbs was unconvincing.

The bulletin warns that some herbal medicines can interfere with other medicinal products and prescription drugs – or even worsen the symptoms of the underlying condition.

“Herbal medicines can have significant pharmacological actions, and so can cause unwanted effects and have potentially dangerous interactions with other medicines,” the report said. Extensive use of nettle, for example, can interfere with drugs used to treat diabetes and high blood pressure, while willow bark can cause digestive and renal problems.

“Herbal medicines have traditionally been used for the relief of osteoarthritis symptoms. However, there is a lack of licensed herbal medicinal products on the market for such symptoms, and none specifically licensed for osteoarthritis,” the bulletin warned. “Also the efficacy and safety of such products is generally under researched and information on potentially significant herb-drug interactions is limited.”

The report urges doctors to ask patients with osteoarthritis if they are taking any herbal products.

Pharmacists recommend that consumers throw out any medication that has passed its expiration date or hasn’t been used in a year.

Nestled amid the leftover sticks of Old Spice deodorant, bottles of aftershave, packs of flexible bandages and tiny bottles of mouthwash is a moldy flask containing a mysterious-looking cherry red liquid.

Upon closer inspection, the bottle appears to be some kind of sore throat spray. But the label is battered and the expiration date barely discernible; forgotten as it has been in the bowels of Larry Jenkins’ medicine cabinet in Covina, California.

“I bought it some time ago and stuck it there,” said Jenkins. “I maybe used it once or twice.”

Jenkins’ collection of expired medication is an issue of growing concern to pharmacists. Which is why as we flip the calendar into a new year, the American Pharmacists Association is urging consumers to clean out their medicine cabinets.

Pharmacists warn that unused and expired medications, like other products with a shelf life, can lose all their effectiveness. Worse, if left uncared for, they can fall into the wrong hands or be subject to potential misuse.

“Over the course of a year, we can accumulate many medications to treat colds, headaches and infections, as well as more serious conditions,” stated Thomas Menighan, CEO and Executive Vice President of the American Pharmacists Association. “These medications play an important role in helping patients obtain better health and wellness, but if we do not store and dispose of them properly, they can become a hazard.”

According to data from National Institute on Drug Abuse, every day in the U.S. an average of 2,000 teenagers use prescription drugs for the first time without the care of a physician. The same survey found that over 70% of people who abused painkillers got them from friends or relatives. Prescription drug abuse is the nation’s fastest growing drug problem.

Pharmacists recommend that consumers check the date on all medications in their medicine cabinet. Anything that has passed the expiration date or hasn’t been used in the last 12 months should be disposed of. Expired medication should not be flushed or dumped down the drain. It should be disposed of in the household trash or taken to a community disposal site that accepts medication.

Whittier, California resident Kirsten Barnhart doesn’t make a habit of throwing out her old prescription medicines.

“I am actually nervous about putting them in the trash and I don’t know where I can take them in to recycle or get properly destroyed,” said Barnhart. “I am very hesitant to throw anything out, because I don’t like the idea of my old medicines getting into the water table through the dump.”

Information about how and where to safely dispose of old medication can be found at:  www.smarxtdisposal.net.

Joseph Smith was the founder of the Latter Day Saint Movement, which gave rise to Mormon theology. In the 1820’s Smith claimed he was visited by heavenly beings.

Conservative, evangelical Christians have been slow to embrace Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential campaign because of his Mormon faith. But if Romney wins the GOP nomination, he faces an even “nastier” campaign from liberals and the secular left over his religion, according to a Mormon scholar.

“I’d be really surprised if we don’t see a kind of consistent whisper campaign that implicates Romney’s Mormonism,” said Patrick Mason, professor of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University in California.

Mason believes the secular left feels threatened by religion and is likely to lash out at what he calls “the peculiar aspects of Mormonism.”

“We’ve already started to see this kind of rhetoric. There really is a certain nastiness to it, a certain meanness to it. I think partly it’s just an overall beef with serious and conservative religion in public life,” said Mason, author of “The Mormon Menace: Violence and Anti-Mormonism in the Postbellum South.”

Mason cites a recent column in the New York Times by Yale professor Harold Bloom, who called Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, “a superb trickster.”

“The Salt Lake City empire of corporate greed has little enough in common with the visions of Joseph Smith. The oligarchs of Salt Lake City, who sponsor Mr. Romney, betray what ought to have been their own religious heritage,” wrote Bloom.

Christopher Hitchens went even further in a recent column in Slate, calling Smith a “fraud and a conjurer” who founded a “weird and sinister belief system.”

“We are fully entitled to ask Mitt Romney about the forces that influenced his political formation,” Hitchens wrote, declaring Romney’s religion fair game in the presidential campaign. “He should be asked to defend and explain himself, and his voluntary membership in one of the most egregious groups operating on American soil.”

Mason predicts more of that should Romney win the GOP nomination.

“Certainly they’ll pick up on the history of polygamy,” Mason told American News Report. “They’ll say that Mormonism is anti-democratic, that’s its hierarchical, that’s its patriarchal. There will probably be stuff that it discriminates against women, that it has a history of discrimination against blacks, that it’s homophobic. I think those are the kind of critiques that we’ll see from the secular left. But those are people who weren’t going to vote for Romney anyway.”

Mason said it reminds him of the 1960 presidential campaign, when polls showed that about a third of Americans would be unwilling to vote for a Catholic. That year John F. Kennedy was elected the nation’s first Roman Catholic president.

“There’s no doubt there’s a pervasive strain of anti-Mormonism,” said Mason. “It either comes out of ignorance or genuine disagreement. But I’m not sure that translates into an absolute prohibition on Mormons being successful running for office.”

Women who drink a glass of red wine nightly may reduce their risk of breast cancer according to a new study. Photo by Ildar Sagdejev

Drinking a glass of red wine could reduce one of the risk factors for breast cancer, according to a new study in the Journal of Women’s Health.

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles found that women who drank eight ounces of red wine every night for a month had lower levels of estrogen, a hormone which can foster the growth of cancer cells. Drinking white wine had no effect on estrogen levels.

The study challenges the widely held belief that all types of alcohol raise the risk of breast cancer, the leading type of cancer among women. 39,000 women died of the disease last year according to the American Cancer Society.

“If you were to have a glass of wine with dinner, you may want to consider a glass of red,” said Dr. Chrisandra Shufelt, a co-author of the study and assistant director of the Women’s Heart Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. “Switching may shift your risk.”

In the study, 36 premenopausal women drank either a glass of red cabernet sauvignon or a glass of white chardonnay nightly for a month. Then the same women switched to the other type of wine for a month. The women were instructed not to drink any other kind of alcoholic beverage during the study. Blood was collected twice each month to measure their hormone levels.

When drinking the red wine, the women had slightly lower estrogen levels and elevated levels of testosterone. Researchers think compounds found in red wine mimic the effects of aromatase inhibitors, which help manage estrogen levels. Aromatase inhibitors are currently being used to treat breast cancer.

This is believed to be the first clinical trial that tested the theory that red wine may reduce the risk of breast cancer. Earlier test tube studies have shown that red wine may stem the growth of cancer cells.

“There are chemicals in red grape skin and red grape seeds that are not found in white grapes that may decrease breast cancer risk,” said Dr. Glenn Braunstein, vice president for Clinical Innovation at Cedars-Sinai.

But Braunstein cautions that even moderate amounts of alcohol consumption increase the risk of breast cancer in women. Until larger studies are done, he does not recommend that non-drinkers start drinking red wine.