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(source: The White House)

“The weather isn’t the only thing heating up in DC this summer.  Health care reform is already a hot topic, and as legislation moves through Congress, Americans across the nation have questions about how costs will be brought under control to make quality affordable health care accessible to everyone.

That’s why the White House is taking another step to connect with people outside of Washington and answer some of the most common questions you have.  In the coming days, we’re going to focus on your questions about health care, with President Obama and some of his top health care advisors providing answers.

On Wednesday, the President will hold another online town hall to answer more of your questions.  This online town hall will be a little different than the last one. This time around, we are engaging online networks outside of WhiteHouse.gov, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.”

Original Source: Sun Times

“MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. Thanks so much, Vincent. (Applause.) Well, I am delighted to be here. Thank you, Vincent, for that very Irish introduction. (Laughter.) Good, hearty. And we’ll talk about our next trip.

MR. KEANE: Absolutely.

MRS. OBAMA: Haven’t planned it yet, but we’ll work on it. You got that down. I got my staff. You got it down. (Laughter.)

I also want to commend the center’s manager, Margarita Lobo, who I got to meet earlier, and thank her and everyone, all the staff and patients and physicians who I got to meet and who are working here at Unity Health Care and the Upper Cardozo Center, for such an incredible warm welcome and such an informative session right before I came in. I am incredibly impressed by the people who have committed their lives to caring for the least of these.

And I’d also like to thank Administrator Mary Wakefield who I just got to meet — administrator who was able to join me here today. Mary, thank you so much for your work.

As you all know, we’re at a critical juncture in the debate about health care in this nation. The current system is economically unsustainable, and I don’t have to tell any of you that. And despite having the most expensive health care system in the world, we’re not necessarily healthier for it.

As the President and Congress begin to tackle health care reform, the flag is being raised on the costly effects of preventable diseases that burden our health care system. And community health centers like Upper Cardozo, Unity Health Care are a vital component for this discussion.

From the young to the old, from rural to — communities to the inner cities, both the insured and uninsured, 17 million Americans rely on community health centers every year to help them stay healthy.

Access to primary care, preventative care, wellness and nutrition counseling help prevent chronic illnesses like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high-blood pressure that consume 85 percent of the health care spending in our country.

But it’s more than just an economic issue. It’s about the quality of life for all of our citizens, particularly our kids. I have quoted these statistics on numerous occasions over the last few weeks as we’ve harvested the garden, and I’ve done other things, but I think it is so important that I keep repeating them, because these statistics are shocking and I want people to really remember what’s at stake.

Nearly a third of the children in this country today are overweight or obese and a third will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lifetime.

When we look at the Hispanic and African American communities, those numbers climb even higher so that nearly half of the children in those communities will suffer this same fate. Half of those kids.

Original Article

Source: New York Time, by Tara Parker-Pope

1. Cold weather makes you sick. In studies of cold transmission, people who are chilled are no more likely to get sick than those who were not. It may be that cold weather keeps people indoors, where germs are more likely to catch up with you.

2. Green mucus indicates a sinus infection. The importance of mucus color is a medical myth even doctors believe, the authors say. “There is no evidence…that antibiotics shorten the duration of an illness when green snot is a symptom,” they write.

3. You lose most of your body heat through your head. There is nothing special about the head and heat loss. You will lose heat through any uncovered body part.

4. Milk makes you phlegmy. In a study of 330 patients, nearly two out of three believed milk increases phlegm production. But it’s not true. In one experiment, volunteers were infected with the cold virus, and some of them drank a lot of milk as well. The weight of the nasal secretions did not increase in those who drank more milk, nor was it associated with cough or congestion.

5. Cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis. Knuckle-crackers are no more likely to have arthritis than those who don’t make annoying popping sounds with their fingers.

6. Birth control pills don’t work as well with antibiotics. A review of the literature concluded that common antibiotics don’t affect birth control pills. “It is much more important to take your birth control pill every day at the same time than to spend time worrying about your antibiotics,” the authors write.

7. Singles have better sex lives than married people. You may think your bachelor friends are having all the fun, but single people also go through a lot of dry spells when they aren’t dating anyone. The result — married people typically have more sex in a given year than single people. In one survey, 43 percent of married men reported having sex two to three times per week, compared to only 26 percent of single men. The numbers were slightly lower but similar for women. Married people are also more likely to have orgasms and give and receive oral sex.

8. Sugar makes kids hyper. Numerous studies show sugar doesn’t affect behavior, but most parents don’t believe this. In one study, parents were told their kids had sugar and they were more likely to report problem behavior — but in reality, the kids had consumed a sugar-free drink.

9. You should poop at least once a day. A half-truth, say the authors. Regular bowel movements prevent discomfort and constipation, but a perfectly healthy person may not move their bowels every day. Constipation is defined as having fewer than three stools per week.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll (conducted June 1-8, 2009)

The majority of Americans (57%) think that health reform would benefit the country as a whole, and nearly 2 in 5 (39%) believe that they and their family would be better off.

1) High-fructose corn syrup: What are the concerns? (source: Mayo Clinic)

“So far, research has yielded conflicting results about the effects of high-fructose corn syrup. For example, various early studies showed an association between increased consumption of sweetened beverages (many of which contained high-fructose corn syrup) and obesity. But recent research — some of which is supported by the beverage industry — suggests that high-fructose corn syrup isn’t intrinsically less healthy than other sweeteners, nor is it the root cause of obesity.”

2) Brain Food (source: The Thinking Business)

“The foods you eat directly affects the performance of your brain. It has been proven that by eating the right food, you can boost your IQ, improve your mood, be more emotionally stable, sharpen your memory and keep your mind young. If you give your brain the right nutrients, you will be able to think quicker, have a better memory, be better coordinated and balanced and have improved concentration.”

3) Regular Vs Instant Oatmeal (source: Nutrition Data)

“I have been eating instant oatmeal almost daily for a couple of years now. A friend recently told me I have been wasting my time if I thought I was eating it for nutritional reasons. Is instant oatmeal less effective than the regular stuff?”