Not therapy: 10 Toothbrushing Mistakes (WebMD). But I just had a cavity filled.
Toothbrushing Mistake No. 1: Not Using the Right Toothbrush
Consider the size of your mouth when picking a toothbrush, says Richard H. Price, DMD, the consumer advisor for the American Dental Association. “If you are straining to open wide enough to let the brush in, the brush is probably too big,” he says…
Nine more where that come from.
Jane Brody looks at smoking.
[O]ver the course of a day, as the brain continues to be exposed to nicotine, partial tolerance develops and each subsequent cigarette produces less of an effect. But during sleep, nicotine comes off the receptors and smokers awaken with an intense craving for a cigarette.
Three from the morning feed…
Brooding Russians: Less distressed than Americans (ScienceDaily)
Bad Breath Troubles? (WebMD)
A standing desk with a treadmill? Maybe a good idea, say some NYT debaters.
Yes, we all sit too much, but will our sedentary ways reduce our lifespans?…Or are there ways to stay in the chair 10 or 12 hours a day?
Oprah’s been on the march against distracted driving for a while. Now, reports ScienceDaily, MDs are weighing in in the New England Journal of Medicine.
One study showed talking and driving posed a four time greater risk than undistracted driving. A second study suggested texting raised the risk of collision by a factor of 23.
Dating, Sex, and Herpes, a Q&A at the NYT with Dr. Peter Leone. Starts this way:
Can you have herpes but never even know it? Can the herpes simplex virus spread even if you don’t have symptoms? And how do you navigate the maze of sex and dating when you know you are infected with herpes?
NYT on PatientsLikeMe.com and CureTogether.com: When Patients Meet Online, Are There Side Effects?
Some people share their health information for the sake of the greater good. Yet they typically have no way of knowing whether their health profiles contribute directly to the development of more effective treatments — or are simply mined to create more effective drug marketing.
A series about herpes is underway at the NYT Consults blog. First posts:
Do Stress or Diet Cause Herpes Outbreaks?
A European twin study finds the desire to exercise runs in the family–deep:
Using complicated statistical formulas, the scientists concluded that differences in exercise behavior were about 60 percent attributable to genes. In other words, your parents influence your decision about whether to be active, not just by signing you up for soccer camp when you’re a kid but also by bequeathing you a genetic urge to work out — or not.
From PsychCentral: Food Cravings, Explained:
Results of one study showed that the strength of participants’ cravings was linked to how vividly they imagined the food. [...] Studies have shown that when subjects are imagining something, they have a hard time completing various cognitive tasks. In one experiment, volunteers who were craving chocolate recalled fewer words and took longer to solve math problems than volunteers who were not craving chocolate.
