Elevated levels of two plastic-softening chemicals in pregnant women's urine are linked to less-masculine play behavior by their sons several years later, according to a study published in the International Journal of Andrology. Phthalates, which are used in everything from vinyl floors to plastic tubing and soaps and lotions, are pervasive in the environment and have increasingly become associated with changes in development of the male brain as well as with genital defects, metabolic abnormalities and reduced testosterone in babies and adults. Obviously pregnant women as well as all of us, need to become more health conscious and avoid the use of plastics and chemicals. To read more, International Journal of Andrology November 16, 2009 [Epub Ahead of Print]

For the health and safe development of their babies, mothers avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy, according to the World Health Organisation guidelines of NO alocohol in pregnancy due to its teratogenic effects. However, many women want to drink again during the baby's first year of life when they are breastfeeding. Obviously not drinking alcohol during breastfeeding is the safest. Knowing the facts about how alcohol affects breastfeeding will help in deciding how best to combine breastfeeding with drinking some alcohol. As a general rule, it takes 2 hours for an average woman to get rid of the alcohol from 1 standard drink, 4 hours for 2 drinks, 6 hours for 3 drinks etc. It is best to avoid all alcohol in the 1st month after the birth. What & how much you have eaten, your weight, how quickly you are drinking, the strength & amount of alcohol in your drink all affects this. Expressing breastmilk will NOT reduce the amount of alcohol in your breastmilk, only time does but this is a way of relieving the breast engorgement until you can breatfeed again (& obviously throwing this breastmilk away). Breastmilk with a small amount of alcohol is still better than formula for your baby. Express milk ahead of time & freeze it. Your milk flow will reduce while drinking alcohol but this will rectify once your body has cleared the alcohol. Both you & your baby may not sleep as well as usual, falling asleep faster but waking up sooner. Arrange for someone who is not affected by alcohol to look after your baby and never sleep with your baby in your bed if you have drunk alcohol. Contrary to popular belief, stout or Guiness does not improve breastmilk supply but stops the milk flowing freely so the milk stays in the breast, giving the false impression that breasts are making more milk. To read more, www.breastfeeding.asn.au

A recent stuy in the Journal of Gastroenterology found that those with regular vitamin C supplementation had half the gallstone prevalence than those who did not supplement with vitamin C. To read more, Walcher T, et al. Vitamin C supplement use may protect against gallstones, BMC Gastrolenterol 2009 Oct 8:9(1):74

UVB (ultraviolet B) radiation increases serum vitamin D. Previously it was thought that dark skinned people produced very little vitamin D in their skin from the sun as the melanin acts as a blockout. However, a study in the Joural of Dermatology Oct 8, 2009 found no differences in vitamin D increase after UVB exposure for both fair and dark skinned participants. They did find, however, that the higher the cholesterol of participants, the greater the increase in vitamin D.

New Zealand researchers found that children who watch television is a better predictor of obesity than what they eat or how much they exercise. The study found that 41% of the children who were overweight by age 26 were those who had watched the most TV.

A newly released study begun in 1987 measured height, weight, thigh, hip, waist circumference & body composition of subjects. After 13 years it was found people with thighs <45cm>60cm these benefits were lost. Bigger thighs, but not overweight, carry more muscle so are less likely to become insulin resistant and devleop diabetes.

When you exercise, happiness hormones are released by the body, giveing you a natural high. However, research at the University of Oxford shows that your pain tolerance is higher if you exercise with a friend or in a group, producing greater production of feel-good endorphins!

A surgeon has discovered that almost 100% of people with MS have a narrowing, twisting or outright blockage of the veins that are supposed to flush blood from the brain, allowing excess iron to accumulate in the brain. Zamboni called the vein disorder he discovered CCSVI, or Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency. Of all the patients upon whom they have performed endovascular surgery, there was a decrease in the number of new MS attacks, a big reduction in the number of brain lesions that define MS, and improved quality of life. Because the surgery freed the blood flow, the team have called the procedure "The Liberation Treatment." To read more, http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091120/W5_liberation_091121/20091121?s_name=W5

In the past five years, there's been an explosion of products marketed as "green" & good for the environment. But some of these green claims are far from accurate. Critics call the marketing practice "greenwashing" - a way to attract customers by labeling products as eco-friendly when they may not be. Examples include 1. Hyping what has been taken out of a product eg. One shaving cream product, for example, claims it has no CFCs -- chlorofluorocarbons. But CFCs were actually banned in 1978; if the product did contain CFCs, it would be illegal; 2. Not providing proof eg. a brand of drinking glasses claims recycled content - but fails to explain how much , or what the source is; 3. Environmental trade-offs, eg. One type of water bottle does use 30% less plastic than other bottles but the product is imported from overseas; 4. Self-made seals, from companies that put their own stamps on their packages instead of one awarded by a neutral third party eg.brand of cleaner has a green leaf seal but all it means is that the symbol has been put there by the company; 5. Products that are not up to environmental standards eg. One company advertised a refrigerator as Energy Star compliant, but then acknowledged it was not.

Extracts from green tea may prevent the formation of mouth cancers in people with risk signs of the disease, according to a new study from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. To read more, http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/2/11/931