Health Buzz: Heart Risk Factors Cut Men's Life Span and Other Health News

Study Finds Men With Heart Disease Risk Factors Live Shorter Lives

A new study of more than 19,000 middle-aged men found that those who smoked and had high blood pressure and high cholesterol lost years off their life span, BBC News reports. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, followed the men for almost 40 years; by 2005, 13,500 had died, according to the BBC. The researchers found that men who had those three risk factors for heart disease lived an average of about 10 years less than men who had none of them. Quitting smoking and lowering cholesterol and blood pressure via lifestyle or medication help stave off heart disease, said Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, according to the BBC.

Think you're at low risk for heart disease? Fewer than 10 percent of Americans qualify as being at low risk, according to a new study. Learn 6 reasons most Americans are at risk for heart disease.

3 Ways to Keep Kids From Texting While Driving

Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that lobbies for safer media use, is offering new rules of the road for texting, U.S. News contributor Nancy Shute reports. She lists 3 ways to keep kids from texting while driving. Among them is a tip for parents: Set a good example by not texting while driving yourself. Also, make rules on where and when texting is acceptable; for example, not during meals, during class, or on family outings, Shute writes. And make it clear that you'll yank the phone for violations of family rules.

Here's what parents don't know about their kids' use of social networking sites: When it comes to posting explicit photos, for example, 2 percent of parents thought their child had posted naked or near-naked photos or videos of themselves or others. But 13 percent of teens admitted they had done that, according to a recent survey. Consider these 10 tips for parents to protect your kids on MySpace.

Why Fitness Pros Criticize "The Biggest Loser"

Television viewers go absolutely gaga over The Biggest Loser, the NBC reality show that takes obese, out-of-shape people away from their regular lives and puts them on a punishing full-time fitness and diet regimen aimed at stripping them of pounds. But some fitness pros cringe when they watch the show, says a new article published in the September issue of IDEA Fitness Journal, the publication for members of the IDEA Health and Fitness Association, a professional association for the fitness and wellness industry. They worry that it gives people the wrong idea of what they need to do to lose weight and get fit, U.S. News's Katherine Hobson writes.

The show fosters unrealistic expectations about the pace of weight loss, many fitness pros say. Normal, sustainable weight loss is 1 or 2 pounds a week, not the 15 pounds that some contestants drop. The show's cocreator responds that the more substantial weight loss is more compelling and that it's hard for contestants to stay motivated without it, Hobson writes. But in the real world, dietitians recommend adopting a food and exercise regimen you can live with for the rest of your life, and slow, steady weight loss powered by nonextreme dieting and exercise is the way to do that. Read more.

Here's the skinny on alcoholic beverages and weight loss, and check out these 7 mistaken beliefs that keep you from losing weight.

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