FDA Report: Take Avandia Off the Market
Two officials from the Food and Drug Administration are recommending that diabetes drug Avandia be pulled from the market because of its potential to harm the heart, the New York Times reports. Agency reports suggest that if every diabetic taking Avandia switched to a different medication, about 500 heart attacks would be averted each month. And in the third quarter of 2009, Avandia was linked to 304 deaths, the Times reports. Avandia's heart risks came to light following a 2007 study by the Cleveland Clinic, but later studies failed to show a definitive link. An FDA advisory committee is being assembled to assess whether or not Avandia should continue to be sold.
[Read 5 Risks Linked to Diabetes Medications Like Lantus, Avandia, Actos and Avandia Raises Risk of Heart Failure, Fractures.]
'Stuffed' Suggests How the Food Industry Can Battle Obesity
In more than 30 years of working in the food industry, Hank Cardello didn't think much about the health consequences of the products he promoted, whether Betty Crocker cake mixes, a proposed new malt liquor, or Diet Coke. He thinks about them plenty now, though. After a cancer scare in 1995, Cardello switched gears and started to look more critically at how his industry might help combat obesity. He's now CEO of 27 Degrees North, a consulting firm that helps companies marry profit and social responsibility, U.S. News's Katherine Hobson writes.
In Stuffed: An Insider's Look at Who's (Really) Making America Fat, just released in paperback, Cardello lays out his views on why consumers are not entirely to blame for their own girth, why well-meaning government regulations often fail, and how the food industry might put its marketing oomph behind better alternatives to some of the high-calorie packaged foods that Americans snarf down. Read more.
[Read Can Americans Change Their Taste for the Sweet and Salty? and 3 Ways Parents Can Use Michelle Obama's Experience to Fight Child Obesity.]
Protect Your Heart: Start a Happiness Project
A new study found that happier people are less likely to have heart attacks, clogged arteries, and other cardiac problems. Researchers used a 5-point scale to measure people's happiness and found that for every point increase, heart risks declined by 22 percent.
To lift your score, consider starting a "happiness project," U.S. News's Deborah Kotz writes. That's the topic of a new bestselling book by Gretchen Rubin, a freelance writer and married mother of two who lives in New York City. She set aside a year to focus solely on ways to make herself happier.
Her book illustrates a systematic approach to improving your sense of well-being. First, you need to come up with your own list of resolutions. Rubin had some for every month: January, boost her energy via exercise and more sleep; February, improve her marriage; March, produce more as a writer by blogging every day, etc. She also came up with principles to guide her in following her resolutions, like "Act the way I want to feel" and "Enjoy the process." Along the way, she figured out what worked for her and what didn't. To help her live more in the moment, for example, she shunned meditation but embraced laughing yoga. Read more.
[Read What to Eat to Feel Happier and 10 Secrets to Finding Happiness During the Recession.]
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