health

An open tanning booth at Amazing Tans in Sacramento, Calif. (AP) WASHINGTON (AP) - Indoor tanning beds would carry new warnings about the risk of cancer and be subject to more stringent federal oversight, under a proposal unveiled Monday by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has regulated tanning beds and sun lamps for over 30 years, but for the first time ever the agency says those devices should not be used by people under age 18. The agency wants that warning on pamphlets, catalogues and websites that promote indoor tanning. And regulators are also proposing that manufacturers to meet certain safety and design features, including timers and limits on radiation emitted. The ...

Artist impression of a terrestrial gamma-ray flash, called "dark lightning," originating from a thunderstorm. The gamma rays (pink), in turn, generate electrons and positrons (yellow and green), their antimatter counterparts, which get blasted. (NASA) More Earth-gazing satellites are needed to better understand the phenomenon of so-called dark lightning, according to researchers speaking at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union April 10 in Vienna. Dark lightning is invisible to the naked eye, but in certain, extremely rare conditions could produce gamma-ray radiation in an airplane equivalent to a few chest X-rays or a full-body CT scan, the researchers said, though they emphasized ...

Thinkstock Walkers who feel as though they are way down on the exercise chain can now hold their heads a little higher. When it comes to lowering risk factors for heart disease, walking is just as good as running, according to a new study. After six years of following a large pool of runners and walkers, researchers found that running lowered the risk of developing hypertension (i.e., high blood pressure) by 4.2 percent, high cholesterol by 4.3 percent and diabetes by 12.1 percent. But walking was also found to have similar results, lowering the risk of high blood pressure by 7.2 percent, high cholesterol by 7 percent and diabetes by 12.3 percent. Running also reduced the risk of ...

(AP Photo) By: Lindsey Konkel, MyHealthNewsDaily Contributor A pregnant woman's exposure to outdoor air pollution may increase the risk of her baby being born at a lower birth weight, according to a large multinational study. Researchers from 14 sites in nine countries, including Seoul, South Korea; Atlanta; and Vancouver, British Columbia, compiled the average levels of particulate air pollution to which women were exposed during the course of their pregnancy. Sources of particulate air pollution include traffic exhaust, power plants and even dust. Researchers then looked at the birth weights of infants that were carried to term. Altogether, researchers analyzed data from roughly 3 ...