Health

What your hair says about your health

Psst ... is your hair — or lack of it — trying to tell you something?

Two new reports link male pattern baldness (not that celebrity-inspired shaved noggin) with higher odds for heart disease and prostate cancer. Those aren’t the only hairdo and health connections sprouting in the news. Blondes, redheads and young silver foxes: You’re on the list, too, but don’t wig out just yet! READ

Saudis find more coronavirus cases

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have found two more people who were infected with the new coronavirus in a large cluster of cases in the eastern portion of the country. READ

Listen deeply for real solutions

Recently I had the honour of participating in an Ask the Herbalist panel. We answered questions about our favourite herb, which herb we would want on a deserted island and herbs for a chronic cough. But for one question, there was no answer. READ

Canada not planning H7N9 bird flu vaccine studies

Canada currently has no plans to ask its pandemic flu vaccine manufacturers to make trial batches of vaccine to protect against the new H7N9 bird flu, senior officials of the Public Health Agency of Canada have revealed. READ

Seven steps to success in health

Have you been struggling to find your optimal health? Still feeling like you are not really on top of your nutrition, your eating habits, your lifestyle or your cooking skills? Or are you among the many who struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle due to external circumstances? READ

Phone app relieves parents’ angst over proper medicine dose for kids

Figuring out the proper dose of liquid fever medication for a young child can be trying for parents when doctors prescribe in milligrams and the bottle comes in millilitres. READ

FDA proposes cancer warnings on tanning beds

Indoor tanning beds would come with new warnings about the risk of cancer and be subject to more stringent federal oversight under a proposal unveiled Monday by the Food and Drug Administration. READ

Morning-after pill debated

Allison Guarino understands the controversy over new rules allowing 15-year-olds to buy the morning-after pill without a prescription. But as someone who teaches pregnancy prevention to ninth-graders in Boston, she thinks lowering the age will “help the girls who need the help the most.” READ

Flu shot may prevent bowel disease

A new study suggests getting a flu shot doesn’t exacerbate irritable bowel disease in children and teens and may even protect them from flare ups. Children who suffer from irritable bowel disease are encouraged to get flu shots every year, because the drugs they take weaken their ability to fend off infections. READ

Windpipe made from own stem cells; youngest patient ever

A 2-year-old girl born without a windpipe now has a new one grown from her own stem cells, the youngest patient in the world to benefit from the experimental treatment. Hannah Warren has been unable to breathe, eat, drink or swallow on her own since she was born in South Korea in 2010. Until the operation at a central Illinois hospital, she had spent her entire life in a hospital in Seoul. Doctors there told her parents there was no hope and they expected her to die. READ

Mild to moderate exercise can cut women’s risk for kidney stones

Women have another reason to exercise: It may help prevent kidney stones. You don’t have to break a sweat or be a super athlete, either. Even walking for a couple hours a week can cut the risk of developing this painful and common problem by about one-third, a large study found. READ

H7N9 flu answers coming into view

Answers to some of the puzzling questions about the new H7N9 flu virus may be coming into view, the World Health Organization’s top flu expert said Wednesday following the conclusion of a mission to China to explore the problem. READ