Health

Bed bug infestation is on the rise across the U.S. and Christi Paul offers tips on how to get rid of them in the home.

ITN's Lawrence McGinty reports on the discovery of a new "super-bug." What does this mean for public health? Watch.

- Scientists have discovered a super-bug with a gene that makes them resistant to all antibiotics.
- The new gene creates and enzyme that kills all antibiotics apart from 2.

(Reuters) - Medical malpractice liability costs the U.S. healthcare system more than $55 billion a year, most of it in "defensive" medical practices such as extra tests and scans, according to a report released on Tuesday.

- These costs account for 2.4% of annual U.S. healthcare spending.
- they noted there is no comprehensive system for tracking such damages,
- "Notably missing from this list are malpractice insurance premiums,"
- "We cannot debate the potential for medical liability reform to bring down health care costs in any meaningful way without realistic cost estimates,"

Total malpractice indemnity payments were $5.72 billion a year in 2008 dollars -- about $5 billion in actual damages and less than $2 million in punitive damages.

(Reuters) - New U.S. reforms are poised to dramatically shift the nation's healthcare spending, not only curbing Medicare costs but also pumping more money toward the private sector as roughly 32 million people gain coverage.

- "There's definitely going to be a larger demand for services in 2014," -- CMS's National Health Statistics Group.
- Nearly 16 million people will buy health insurance from private companies through the exchanges in 2014, growing to more than 30 million by 2019,
- That would nearly double the amount of money spent on health care for such consumers while also helping to reduce prices,
- Health care is already expected to reach 17.5 percent of GDP this year.

The study will focus on exposure to oil and dispersant products and potential health consequences such as respiratory, neurobehavioral, carcinogenic, immunological conditions, and mental health concerns.

- "No. 1 is air quality, which was maybe the biggest concern early on when the well was still leaking" -- "The second is skin contact with the oil"
- She said oil contamination of seafood is also a serious concern as fisheries have been reopened. "The main fisheries in the Gulf include shrimp and oysters, which happen to be very inefficient in clearing oil-related spills,"

A survey of 599 local residents done a year after the Exxon Valdez spill found that people who had been exposed to the spill were 3.6 times more likely to have an anxiety disorder, 2.9 times more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder and 2.1 times more likely to show signs of depression.

(Reuters Health) - People with metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes -- have a better chance of reversing it if they stick to a healthy diet, a new study shows.

- After five years, nearly half no longer had the metabolic syndrome.
- People who adhered the most closely to the AHEI were nearly twice as likely to have reversed their metabolic syndrome.

For people with central obesity, defined as waist circumference above 102 centimeters (40 inches) for men and 88 centimeters (35 inches) for women, those with the healthiest diets were nearly three times as likely to have recovered from metabolic syndrome than those with the unhealthiest eating patterns; healthy eating also had a somewhat stronger effect for people who started out with high levels of harmful triglycerides.

- Brazilian viper bite lead to lower blood pressure, leading to Captopril.
- Rattlesnakes venom lead to Heparin a blood thinning medication.
- Some proteins in snakes may lead to treatments in Cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and even Asthma.
- Note; many snakes are dying due to global warming and it is the same for many other reptiles.

High Cost of Obesity

- $147 billion a year, $14 billion for child obesity, $344 billion projected in 8 years, 21% of total medical costs.
- the treatment of cancer and diagnosis is about $104 billion in comparison.
- changing habits, activity, poverty, and access to healthy foods are the many factors.
- Many ideas and what's working in Washington D.C.

- Studies of children have detected attention deficit disorders, memory and language problems in Segovia and Remedios.
- Around 15 kidney transplants are carried out in Remedios every year -- mercury vapor stays in the kidneys, damaging them.
- The U.N. calls for elimination of mercury in mining -- to use of centrifuges, which allow for greater gold extraction than mercury.

- "This is the first step, conceptually, toward a good shot at a universal vaccine,"
- Vaccinated mice and ferrets produced antibodies that protected them against flu strains from 1934-2007.
- Seasonal influenza kills 250,000-500,000 people a year globally, including 36,000 in the U.S.

- The real important part is that they are now able to indentify on the HIV virus the component that they want to use as a vaccine.

"Biggest Loser's diet and nutrition expert Cheryl Foreberg shares quick and easy meal ideas from her new cookbook, "Six Weeks to a Healthier You."

Diet Blunders That Slow Metabolism

- Low vitamin D levels have long been linked to a higher risk of multiple sclerosis.
- Experts suspect an expectant mother's lack of exposure to sunlight - the main source of vitamin D - may affect the fetus's central nervous system or immune system, and predispose it to developing MS later in life.

The findings suggest that smokers who have high levels of a protein that protects against the Epstein-Barr virus, a common herpes virus, were twice as likely as nonsmokers to get multiple sclerosis (MS), the researchers wrote in the online edition of the journal Neurology.

High-intensity interval training can help you get fit with shorter, harder workouts. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.
- high-intensity interval training can help you improve or get fit more quickly.
- interval training example is 1 minute high intensity, 1 minute rest, 1 minute high intensity, 1 minute rest ..

Two studies of more than a million UK men and women suggest excess weight and alcohol act together to raise the risk of cirrhosis and other liver diseases.
- "We estimate that almost 20% of liver cirrhosis in middle-aged UK women is due to excess weight, while almost 50% is due to alcohol consumption."
- Obese men who said they drank 15 or more units a week had the greatest risk of liver disease; almost 19 times higher than those who were slim.

- Dark leafy greens, vegetables, and fruits a good source of minerals and vitamin D.
- Vitamin D is need to absorb calcium.
- Exercise helps to fortify and build bone.

Being careful to emphasize physical fitness over physical appearance, first lady Michelle Obama launched her "Let's Move" compaign to fight childhood obesity on Tuesday.
Facebook letsmove: http://www.facebook.com/letsmove?ref=sgm

- Exercise infuses skin with oxygen and nutrients needed for collagen production