| US smokers face threat of being fired
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Europeans who complain about having to step outside in mid-winter to have a cigarette or not being able to enjoy a quick puff with their espresso should spare a thought for their US counterparts. In the United States, you can lose your job for lighting up -- even on your own time. That's what happened to Scott Rodrigues of Massachusetts, and he is suing the Scotts lawncare company for violating his privacy and civil rights. "It's a freedom thing: 90 percent of Americans support me and in Europe it's more like 100 percent," said Rodrigues, who claims that since he was fired last year he has featured in newspaper articles in Britain and appeared on radio shows in Poland and Lithuania. A poll published last week showed that most Americans think Rodrigues's firing was unfair.
A Belt for Your Aching Back
A battery-powered belt that fires tiny electric currents through the skin could help to beat back pain. The belt uses a technique called microcurrent therapy to stimulate the body's natural healing process. Although similar devices are already in use in sports medicine, the equipment tends to be bulky and suitable only for use in clinics. Now the same technology has been converted into an easy-to-wear belt that allows patients to get pain relief while they are at work, out shopping or relaxing at home. It's reason people visit their doctor -- the thought the device could help improve the quality of life for thousands of sufferers. Up to 80 percent of adults in Britain suffer back pain at some point in their lives. It's the largest single reason for taking time off sick from work and at least half of those affected have long-term recurrences.
Research Findings on Allergic Asthma Presented at ACAAI Annual Meeting
Researchers are presenting nearly 350 abstracts on the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases at the ACAAI Annual Meeting. Key studies on allergic asthma investigate anti-IgE therapy for allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis; obesity; asthma control; and exhaled nitric oxide as a non-invasive biomarker of airway inflammation. .
Researchers discover link between oral cancer and ethnicity
Clinicians from the USC School of Dentistry unravel connection between the incidence of oral cancer and race and ethnicity-- as part of first epidemiological study of oral cancer in California. Dr. Satish Kumar and Dr.Parish Sedghizadeh, clinical professors in the school�s Division of Diagnostic Sciences, gleaned through 20 years of records from the California Cancer Registry (CCR)�the state�s cancer surveillance database�for the incidence rates of invasive squamous cell carcinoma, the most common form of oral cancer. .
100 pounds down and counting
Obesity is an epidemic. Losing weight is the cure. But that can be such a challenge, whether you have 5 pounds to lose or 50. Still, it can be done. Meet three people who prove it. Two have lost more than 100 pounds each. The third is more than halfway to her goal of doing the same. Let them be your inspiration. Sharice Miller Sharice Miller grew up eating right, "for the most part. I was a healthy child. I wasn't an overweight child, but I wasn't thin." But with her first pregnancy, with twins, she gained weight that she never entirely got rid of. With her second pregnancy, she gained more and developed chronic hypertension and postpartum cardiomyopathy --"My heart is enlarged." Two more babies pushed her weight even higher. Then, she happened to see herself reflected in a building's window on her way to vote.
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