Fresh Healthy Body

The state of Arizona is promoting compression-only CPR. According to health officials and University of Arizona cardiologists, compression-only CPR is easier and more effective. Because a victim’s blood is already oxygenated for several minutes after cardiac arrest, it is more important to keep the heart and brain alive by pumping blood around the body. A study tracked 4,000 Japanese victims of cardiac arrest and those who received compression-only CPR had nearly twice the survival rate as those who also received mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Supposedly, there’s not enough evidence to stop mouth-to-mouth resuscitation – but that’s according to an American Heart Association mouthpiece.

A research cardiologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center found that music – like laughter – opens up blood vessels, allowing blood to circulate more freely. High-tech imaging measured the size of the patients’ blood vessels while they listened to music. Not only did the inner linings of the blood vessels open, they also produced chemicals protective to the heart. However, when patients listened to music they didn’t like, the blood vessels began to close. Listening to the same song repeatedly also diminished the music’s effects. Instead of positively affecting the patients’ blood vessels, it was music only to their ears.

Researchers have tried to figure out why people gain weight when they stop smoking. Previous hypotheses were that ex-smokers ate more or that their bodies missed the metabolism boost from nicotine. Now researchers at Weill Medical College at Cornell University have taken cell samples from the airways of healthy smokers and non-smokers and found more activity in the gene AZGP1 in the samples from the smokers. AZGP1is thought to help break down fat and control weight. Unfortunately, all weight gain can’t be attributed to a lack of activity in this gene. It’s also due to a lack of activity in the ex-smokers.

In a study published in “Psychological Science”, 55 male, social drinkers were asked to slowly drink a cocktail or non-alcoholic beverage and then read “War and Peace” from a computer screen for 30 minutes. While reading, the men were told to press a particular key if they zoned out. They were also frequently prompted with the message, “Were you zoning out?” to gauge how often their minds wandered without their realizing it. Because men in the alcohol group zoned out twice as often – 25% of the time –they might consider switching to light beer and lighter reading.