Bovine Methane: Just a Lot of Hot Air?
Climate change, global warming and greenhouse gases are subjects that are prominent in the news lately, and most often, the blame is laid on humans. But humans aren’t the only species implicated in our planet’s warming trend.
Smoking and Mental Health
The effects of smoking on physical health are well-documented—for example, oral and lung cancers, plus diseases of the respiratory system—but new research is shedding light on the effects of smoking and tobacco use on mental health.
Drowning in Excess Nitrogen
A century after the introduction of artificial nitrogen fertilizers, we are beginning to understand some negative effects of the discovery that was previously so lauded by science. And environmentalists are sounding the alarm.
Feeding Our Nitrogen Addiction
Although ancient sources (including the Hebrew Scriptures) indicate that humans have known about the importance of maintaining the soil for millennia, it wasn’t until the last two centuries that science and environmental studies determined a need to develop artificial means of reintroducing nitrogen into the soil.
Our Growing Nitrogen Addiction: Finding a Fix
Synthetic nitrogen has only been commercially available since 1913. However, worldwide use of synthetic nitrogen mushroomed to 80 million tons by the close of the century, and today we feed a growing global population with the crops fed by this fertilizer.
Parents Influence Teens' Attitudes Toward Substance Abuse
The latest survey of substance abuse attitudes conducted by America's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that, compared to young people who have not seen their parents drunk, teenagers who have are more than twice as likely to get drunk themselves in a typical month. But the impact of the parents’ example doesn’t stop there.
Turning the Hands of Time
Researchers are investigating an array of biochemical fixatives that propose to increase longevity.
Who Wants to Live Forever?
Aging and death are an inevitable part of life—or are they? Science is now telling us that it may soon be possible to extend life and health indefinitely. But is that what we really want?
Navigating the Nutritional Facts Label
Who doesn’t want to feel and look his or her best? It’s a rhetorical question, but could the task of looking our best be as simple as paying close attention to what we consume? It could certainly be a start. There is no question that diet affects our overall health and appearance.
Swine Flu: Is a Pandemic Inevitable?
The past few years have had their share of potential pandemic scares: the A/H5N1 avian influenza (commonly called bird flu) and the West Nile virus both caused considerable anxiety across the globe. But as those threats subside, widespread apprehension of the next potentially deadly virus is upon us.
Obesity: An Ounce of Prevention
Obesity rates are escalating, and obesity-related diseases continue to take millions of lives.
Life and Health Basics: A Lifetime of Healthy Weight
Obesity research shows that the best way to obtain and maintain a healthy weight is to replace bad habits with good habits, and that means changing the way we think about food and activity.
Food for Thought: Omega-3 and Omega-6
For many years we have heard that fats are bad for us. In recent years science has discovered that dietary fats are not all equal, nor are they all bad.
Special Report: Nutrition Goes Back to School
School success depends on more than simply filling children’s minds with knowledge. Young bodies need healthy food to live well and learn well.
Fostering Health and Nutritional Awareness in Children
While current health news articles warn of the expanding problem of obesity in adults, our children are growing into the problem as well.
Parents, Schools and Children's Nutrition
In an in-depth interview Prue Leith, internationally known food expert and chair of the United Kingdom’s School Food Trust, discussed subjects ranging from current health news to family and relationships and even what she would ban if she were “the Czar.”
Obesity Epidemic Continues to Expand
The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity was one of the first attempts by any government to draw attention to the current health news of obesity as a public health crisis.
A Vision for the Future: The Obesity Epidemic
In 2001, the United States released the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. The Call to Action included a section titled “A Vision for the Future.” Now the future is here, and the suggestions found in this report continue to be promoted in current health news around the world.
Possible Brain Shrinkage Expands Health Concerns About Marijuana Abuse
New studies from around the world give more reasons to avoid recreational use of marijuana.
Alcohol: Heavenly Healer or Devil's Delight?
Researchers, government health agencies and various churches have a great deal to say on the subject of alcohol, though much of it is conflicting and therefore confusing. What does the Bible say about drinking alcohol?
Is There a Clear Choice for Healthy Soft Drinks?
There is no doubt that sugar-sweetened soft drinks can wreak havoc with our health, and we consume far more sodas than we used to.
Enlightening News About Insomnia in the Elderly
Insomnia can be a serious problem for older adults. A lack of sleep can cause difficulties that mimic symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease: slower response time, increased falls, decreased memory, attention and cognitive performance.
Study Shows Marijuana and Tobacco Pose Similar Cancer Risk
Marijuana was largely considered to be a mild intoxicant until the landmark study by Dr. Gabriel Nahas, published in book form in 1976 as Keep Off The Grass informed the public of its myriad medical hazards.
Life and Health Basics: What Is Moderate, Healthy Drinking?
Study after study reaffirms that drinking a moderate amount of alcohol daily as a part of a healthy lifestyle can help you live longer—longer than if you abstain from alcohol altogether.
Life and Health Basics: What’s on Your Plate for Tomorrow?
When you cook simple, healthy meals at home, it’s easy to cook a bit extra for another meal. Not only does this practice save time and money, but it also helps you avoid the fast-food trap when you’re coming home late from work and you have neither the desire nor the energy to spend hours in the kitchen.
Timing Little Tax Deductions Can Be Hazardous to Their Health
For thousands of years, the harmonious synchronization of mother, placenta and fetus concluded in the birth of a healthy baby, born when it was ready to be born. Today, however, elective cesarean sections and, to a lesser degree, the use of modern labor-inducing drugs give parents the opportunity to choose their babies’ birth dates.
Developmental Disorders: Is There a Vaccination Correlation?
In 2007 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that 1 in 150 eight-year-old children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Fixing School Meals
Since many children today bring no food from home, the school cafeteria is their only source for food. However, the unfortunate truth is that many of the food and beverage options provided in mainstream schools today encourage lifelong habits of unhealthy eating choices.
Life & Health Basics: How Much Sleep Do We Need—and How Do We Get It?
Living in this caffeine-charged, 24-7 society leaves a large percentage of us chronically and dangerously sleep deprived.
Life & Health Basics: ABZzzzs of Sleep
As our lives get busier, we all find we are trying to fit more and more into what may seem like shorter and shorter days. We often make the choice to make more time by cutting back on the hours we sleep, usually underestimating the toll it’s taking on our health.
Teen Sleep: Powering Down for the Night
Habitual late bedtimes and sleep disrupted with computers, television and other electronic devices are growing problems—and they’re not limited to American teens.
2007 WHO Report Focuses on Global Health Security
The World Health Organization provides the public with an in-depth look at the global health situation in their annual World Health Reports. In a startling departure from tradition, the 2007 report, released in August, does not focus on conventional topics but on global security.
Cocaine Highs Are Finally Lower
Some of the claims of the medicinal benefits of cocaine and extracts of the coca plant are now known to be frighteningly absurd while others may be valid.
Marijuana: Docile Drug or Wicked Weed?
The scientific knowledge and public perception of the dangers of marijuana use is also undergoing a noteworthy change.
Abdominal Obesity: Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts
Until now, the specific reasons for abdominal weight gain in some people have remained a scientific mystery.
Life and Health Basics: Stress-Free, Healthy Meals
Multiple studies have shown both the physical and mental health benefits of shared meals in a peaceful setting.
Quarantine: Eternal Wisdom for Disease Prevention
The problems associated with exposure to communicable diseases have plagued humankind since ancient times. Thousands of years before Antonie van Leeuwenhoek first observed bacteria with his early-17th-century microscopes, some knew the principle of isolating ill patients to prevent the spread of disease.
Alli: Magic Weight Loss Pill?
Amid growing concerns about the spreading problem of overweight and obesity in Western nations, the promise of Alli, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved diet pill newly available without a prescription, is giving hope to many.
Old Preservative Study Sparks New Media Fizz
Newsrooms and chat rooms were effervescent last week with yet another health scare: sodium benzoate in soft drinks may cause cell damage, premature aging, cirrhosis of the liver, and Parkinson’s and other degenerative diseases.
Beyond Peanut Butter
Parents can easily underestimate the power of example. It is what they do, not what they say, that affects the health of the next generation.
Give Sorrow More Than Words
The last decade has seen great strides in understanding some of the brain science behind emotions like sorrow and joy—at least of the mechanics. One area that begs further study is that of grief and bereavement. How can we use the discoveries of neuroscience to help those who are grieving avoid the pitfalls that often lead to depression? Such discussions must begin with an understanding of how bereavement affects us.
A Modern Menace: Emerging Infectious Diseases
By the 1970s, the medical community believed they had all but won the war against communicable diseases. What happened?
The Sickness Business
Many disorders that were previously regarded as derived from moral or social problems are now viewed as medically treatable.
Trendlines: April 26, 2006
The Revelation of Chernobyl
Twenty years after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, two doctors discuss the timeline of events that led to the catastrophe and the ongoing suffering of Ukranian citizens, especially the children.
Preparing for the Next Pandemic
Experts predict that the avian flu virus will likely mutate and cause a human pandemic. How might that happen, and what can we do?
Changing the “Self” in “Self-Esteem”
You may have to lose yourself to find true self-worth.
The Pain of Letting Go
How can we cope (or help someone else cope) with the death of a loved one?
Air Sick
Vision speaks with Farrol Kahn, founder and director of the Aviation Medicine Institute about health issues related to flying.
After Life
What happens to a person at death? You might be surprised at what the Bible has to say on the subject.
Breathtaking Proof
Warning: The following statistics may leave you gasping. Despite mountains of evidence about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, the death toll continues to rise as tobacco companies find new ways to push their products.
Searching for the Fountain of Youth
More and more people are grasping at ways to stay young. Will science find a way for us to live forever?
The Invisible Enemy
Can the battle against AIDS in South Africa be won? Vision interviews author Clem Sunter on the subject. Sunter serves on the board of governors of the South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS.
Hope Held Captive
Just when South Africa thought its future looked bright, a new and ominous crisis emerged.
Equivocal Evidence
Vision looks at some of the failings of evolutionary theory.
Chernobyl: The Fallout Continues
The world's most infamous nuclear power plant is finally closed. But that doesn't mean we can put the whole radioactive mess behind us.
Nuclear Dummies
Thanks to the MAD doctrine, the Cold War left its mark on two regions of the former Soviet Union.
Murderous Microbes, a.k.a. Superbugs
The antibiotics battle is on, and new strains of deadly bacteria are fighting back with a vengeance.
Genes, Genome and Genesis
Surprisingly, what geneticists are seeking to discover by probing the mysteries of life was revealed long ago.
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