There’s a Black Market for Botox & Other Things to Know Before Getting Injected

Botox might take years off your appearance, but before requesting your own injectable Fountain of Youth, make sure you know exactly what you're doing Botox Might Not Do What You Want It to Many people confuse what Botox actually does with other age-fighting beauty injectables. “[Botox's] only benefit is to render a muscle weaker for 3-4 months. It doesn't fill lines, it just makes it harder to make the muscle contraction that creates the lines,” explains board-certified dermatologist Dr. Misbah Khan, owner of M. Khan Dermatology in New York City. So will it work on those wrinkles around the mouth? “No. If you have smile lines [the parentheses around the mouth], you'll need a filler [like Restylane] to erase them.”There's a Black Market Many coupon services run deals for cheap series of Botox, and they’re probably all too good to be true. Before you buy into anything, know who and what you’re dealing with. “Do not look for the better deal. Make sure you know what’s going in your face. If it's too cheap, it may be acquired on the black market, or the Botox they’re using might be expired or about to expire," warns Dr. Khan.You Could Have an Allergic Reaction You may know that Botox is derived from the same bacteria as the toxin botulism, and while you absolutely cannot catch botulism from the use of Botox, there is a small chance that you could have an allergic reaction to preservatives and ingredients used. "Some reactions that have been reported include itching, rash, welts, asthma symptoms or feeling faint,” says Dr. Dennis Gross, founder of 900 5th Dermatology and creator of Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare. If you do have a reaction, call your doctor right away.An Unskilled Injector Might Leave You Lopsided “If the Botox is injected wrong in any part of your face, you may have a lopsided appearance,” says Dr. Gross. “Just remember that there is an artistry involved in the technique, so be sure your physician is highly experienced and skilled at administering it.”Overdoing It Could Lead to Drooping—or Worse
“Drooping of the eyebrows can happen even in the best of hands; it can occur if too much is injected in one place,” says Dr. Khan. And if you’re already using Botox, over-application could make it worse. “Overuse of Botox can cause the muscles to become so weak that they can't support the flesh.” The results can look unnatural, and even worse, be painful. “If too much Botox is applied during a neck rejuvenation, it can cause the side of the face to droop, or in some cases the muscles that hold the neck up weaken to the point where you can't swallow or hold your head up."Speaking Up Can Divert Disaster
You might think that you really, really want Botox no matter the small risks, but the pursuit of beauty is never worth harming your health. As with any other procedure, you should always disclose your full medical history before sitting in the chair. “Make sure to tell your doctor about all of your muscle or nerve conditions, as you may have an increased risk of serious side-effects, including difficulty swallowing and/or breathing,” cautions Dr. Gross. “Also, inform your doctor of any surgery plans, weakness of forehead muscles, recent injections, or medicines you are currently taking.” Dr. Gervaise Gerstner, L’Oréal Paris Consulting Dermatologist adds one more caution to that list: “Be sure to disclose any autoimmune neuromotor disease like myasenthia gravis.”Results Are Not Instant
“It takes about three to seven days to show the full effect, and results will last about four months,” says Dr. Gross. And those results vary, depending on the depth of your wrinkles. “If you start Botox treatments just as fine lines are beginning to appear and continue them as you age, you can prevent select expression lines from forming at all,” advises Dr. Gross. Patients who already have pronounced lines may see benefits in a bit more time, “It takes a few days to see results, and a full two weeks to see the full effects of a Botox treatment,” explains Dr. Khan.Botox is Not Painless Although getting Botox is not particularly painful for most patients, since there are needles involved, you can’t expect to feel absolutely nothing when getting injected. “During the procedure, you can expect a slight pinch from the needle. There are numbing creams available in topical and aesthetic forms,” says Dr. Gross. Dr. Khan is also known to use ice to numb the area for people who have a low tolerance or phobia of needles.Aspirin and Fish Oil Don't Mix With Botox“We tell our patients to stop using aspirin products up to a week before a treatment because they are blood thinners,” cautions Dr. Gross. "Discontinuing the use of aspirin the week before will help to keep bruising down. Also, we tell our patients to stop using fish oils a week beforehand because they also promote bruising for the same blood thinning reason.” Of course, always discuss changing the dosage of medicine with your primary physician beforehand.Hair-Drying Is Off Limits Right After the Procedure “There’s no lowering of the head for two hours post-procedure,” says Dr. Gerstner. “No yoga, no bending over, no blow drying your hair, no tight hats, no napping. In other words, heads up! It Might Cure More Than Wrinkles If you have excessive underarm or palm sweating or suffer from serious migraines, talk to your doctor about using Botox to cure these ills. It's been proven to diminish or stop excessive sweating, called hyperhidrosis, and to reduce the severity of migraines too—but don’t try tacking either treatment onto your cosmetic visit. You’ll need to book separate appointments. One quick tip: always take a quick peek at the box. “Botox meant for cosmetic purposes will say ‘Botox Cosmetic’ on the packaging,” says Dr. Khan. “Botox for medical purposes will say that on the package.”A Happier Look Might Actually Improve Your Mood If you’re prone to frowning, “eventually those muscles strengthen in that formation, which means it takes much effort to smile and look happy. When Botox relaxes those muscles, you look happier, which can really improve your mood and confidence,” says Dr. Gross.Kristin Booker is a contributing writer on iVillage. Follow her on Twitter andGoogle+.Connect with Us  Follow Our Pins Yummy recipes, DIY projects, home decor, fashion and more curated by iVillage staffers.

The missing well-being

Aaron has a post on the new JAMA article by Christopher Murray and a host of colleagues on “The State of US Health, 1990-2010.” Aaron is amazed by this study and I am too, in part because if anything the title understates the authors’ ambitions. Although the focus is on the US, they are actually describing health and its determinants throughout the developed world.The authors measured the health of 34 developed nations using age-standardized measures of death, morbidity, and disability. They then looked at how these measures and the rankings of the nations changed from 1990 to 2010.

The good news is that the US made progress on most measures. For example,US life expectancy for both sexes combined increased from 75.2 years in 1990 to 78.2 years in 2010.However, as Harvey Fineberg summarizesthe health of the US population has improved only gradually and has fallen behind the pace of progress in many other wealthy nations. In fact, by every measure including death rates, life expectancy, and diminished function and quality of life as assessed by the authors, the US standing compared with 34 OECD countries declined between 1990 and 2010.

I have argued that absolute changes in health — where the US rose — are more important than comparative rankings — where the US fell. So is there a problem here?There is a tragic problem. Even though we have made progress, comparable countries did a lot better. We should have done as well as our peers did. Because we did not there was suffering we should have prevented and lives that we should have saved, but that were lost. Unrealized marginal improvements in health, accumulated over two decades and hundreds of millions of people, amount to many tens of millions of years of healthy life that Americans did not enjoy. Think of it as an invisible holocaust.

Why we did not enjoy these millions of years of healthy living is an enormously complex question. It is in part because of the manifold deficiencies of our health care system. But only in part. Population health is much more than just the performance of the health care system. It is also how we live: obesity in West Virginia, homicide in Flint, methamphetamine in Hawaii, and suicides in the Mountain West.And a huge amount of stress everywhere. I’m reading George Packer’s The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America. Atul Gawande exactly captured my feelings about this book.My July4 wknd reading was George Packer’s The Unwinding. Sickening, riveting page turner on the financial destruction of the working class.Americans are extraordinarily creative and productive. But we do not realize the well-being that we should be deriving from our incredible effort, talent, and physical capital. We need to stop accepting substandard and inefficient performance from our health care system. And we need to reflect on how we are living and what we are living for.

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Stand Up! – July 10, 2013

I am a frequent guest on Stand Up! with Pete Dominick, which airs on Sirius/XM radio, channel 104 from 6-9AM Eastern. It immediately replays on the channel, so those on the West Coast can listen at the same times.We talk about the recent abortion legislation in Texas, price transparency, the employer penalty, and more.

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Does Medicare forbid posting surgery center prices?

An article linked by Tyler Cowen suggests that Medicare forbids posting of surgery center prices. I don’t think it’s true. CMS is moving towards pricing transparency in many initiatives. Here’s the quote from the underlying article:Surgery Center of Oklahoma does accept private insurance, but the center does not accept Medicaid or Medicare.Dr. Smith said federal Medicare regulation would not allow for their online price menu.They have avoided government regulation and control in that area by choosing not to accept Medicaid or Medicare payments.

Several medical facilities in Oklahoma are posting their prices online through The Kempton Group’s website, in order to circumvent that Medicare guideline.Medicare pays ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) based on an administrative pricing model. ASC rates are generally lower than hospital inpatient rates for the same procedure, which has fueled the huge shift to outpatient and freestanding ASC procedures in the US over the past few decades. The government doesn’t pay the posted rate – they have a fixed price.But fraud & abuse laws prohibit paying anything of value to induce someone to use a particular Medicare service or provider. You can’t attract Medicare customers by offering a $500 cash payment to the patient. That is an illegal kickback. In a similar vein, providers (such as ASCs) can’t routinely waive the copays and deductibles that Medicare beneficiaries are required to pay. Those cost-sharing mechanisms are in Medicare for a reason, to give the patient some incentive to ration care. If the ASC routinely waived co-pays or deductibles, Medicare can treat them as illegal kickbacks.

There is nothing wrong with posting your ASC prices on the internet. Legal troubles begin if the ASC uses the lower posted fee as the basis for calculating copays and deductibles, while charging Medicare the larger fee proscribed by the government.The Surgery Center of Oklahoma may also have given up on Medicare to avoid other regulations, such as restrictions on who can own and refer to a surgery center. But I don’t think Medicare bans posting ASC prices.

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Think Outside the Box: 27 Unique Engagement Rings

Whether you choose a sapphire engagement ring or a black diamond solitaire, the ring you'll wear for the rest of your life should fit your unique style. Get inspired by these unusual emeralds, rubies and lesser-known gems, which are just as dazzling -- and a whole lot less expected By Katie Alberts - June 21, 2013 Halle Berry’s got an emerald engagement ring, Jessica Simpson wears a ruby, Kristen Bell has a brown diamond and then of course there’s Kate Middleton’s royal sapphire… Looks like colored engagement rings are here to stay — and we found 27 worthy of your finger. kwiat.comKwiat Argyle emerald and diamond ring, $10,300 at kwiat.com  kwiat.comKwiat square ruby and diamond ring, $7,250 at kwiat.com kwiat.comwiat sapphire and diamond band, $3,100 at kwiat.com greenwichjewelers.com Greenwich Collection spinel and diamond ring, $3,025 atgreenwichjewelers.com twistonline.com.Cathy Waterman purple sapphire frame ring, $5,620 at twistonline.com  kwiat.com.Kwiat yellow diamond ring, price upon request at kwiat.com  clay-pot.com.Kamofie yellow sapphire solitaire, $1,575 at clay-pot.com debeers.com.De Beers ‘Enchanted Lotus’ band, $10,000 at debeers.com  thenaturalsapphirecompany.com.The Natural Sapphire Company cognac sapphire ring, $12,500 at thenaturalsapphirecompany.com  mc2jewels.com.McTeigue & McClelland ‘Flora Embrace’ ring, price upon request at mc2jewels.com  carelle.com.Carelle oval peridot ring, $1,265 at carelle.com  betteridge.com.Paolo Costagli mint tourmaline and sapphire ring, $15,000 at betteridge.com  mc2jewels.com.McTeigue & McClelland sapphire and diamond ‘Fleur de Lis’ ring, $10,600 at mc2jewels.com mc2jewels.com.McTeigue & McClelland ‘Blossom’ ring, price upon request at mc2jewels.com  tiffany.com.Tiffany ‘Soleste’ tanzanite ring, $8,500 at tiffany.com greenwichjewelers.com.Anna Sheffield ‘Bea’ ring, $5,880 at greenwichjewelers.com  barneys.com.MPL black diamond ‘Kite’ ring, $13,000 at barneys.com  catbirdnyc.com.Lauren Wolf sapphire ring, $1,100 at catbirdnyc.com mc2jewels.com.McTeigue & McClelland ruby and diamond ‘Flora’ ring, price upon request at mc2jewels.com  thenaturalsapphirecompany.com.The Natural Sapphire Company pink sapphire and yellow diamond ring, $45,000 at thenaturalsapphirecompany.com  clay-pot.com.Jennifer Dawes Victorian Ruby Solitaire, $1,630 at clay-pot.com  amazon.com.Amazon Curated Collection rose gold morganite and diamond ring, $560 at amazon.com  thenaturalsapphirecompany.com.The Natural Sapphire Company Burmese star ruby ring, $6,600 at thenaturalsapphirecompany.com reinsteinross.com.Reinstein Ross ‘Yamuna Archer’ ring, price upon request at reinsteinross.com twistonline.com.Suzanne Kalan blue topaz ring, $700 at twistonline.com  clay-pot.com.Anne Sportun Gray Diamond Solitaire, $4,630 at clay-pot.com Connect with Us  Follow Our Pins .Yummy recipes, DIY projects, home decor, fashion and more curated by iVillage staffers.The very dirty truth about fashion internships...

 

Chart of the day: The hospital productivity problem

The ACA calls for annual reductions in Medicare payments to hospitals to the tune of (an expected) 1.1% below what they would otherwise be (PDF). This (expected) number is the law’s so-called “productivity adjustment,” and is the rate at which private, non-farm multifactor productivity* is expected to increase. Essentially, Medicare is telling hospitals that they had better increase their productivity at least at the rate that the rest of private industry does (apart from farms) or else payments will fall behind. This, along with other assumptions, gives rise to a frightening chart (see Figure 1, here).

The question is, can hospitals increase productivity at this rate? For good reason, as far as I can tell, the answer is “no.” For example, here’s a comparison of percent changes in economywide multifactor productivity to two different methods of computing changes in hospital multifactor productivity from 1990 through 2005. (For the purposes of this chart, “economywide” means “private, non-farm,” per the chart’s footnote.)

The paper (PDF) that is the source of this chart discusses the challenges of estimating hospital productivity. I suppose one could argue that both ways it does so cause computation of changes to be biased downwards, but I don’t know how that argument would go. So, in the absence of such an argument, it looks pretty likely that hospitals have never been able to increase productivity at the rate of the rest of the economy. That’s not surprising to me.With that as a starting point, for what reason do we think hospitals will suddenly be able to increase productivity at least at the rate of the rest of the economy under the ACA? I guess the typical answer is to point to ACOs, bundled payments, pay-for-performance, etc., but I don’t buy that they will close the gap. I would buy that they might narrow the gap.

Moreover, is it even fair to single out one industry and demand that it begin to track the average productivity increase of the rest of the other industries? After all, productivity growth certainly must vary across industries. It’s not unreasonable that some would be systematically low over long periods of time, given, say, their structure or the nature of technological developments. (See Baumol’s cost disease. I blogged through his book here.)Can hospitals really grow productivity as quickly as all other (non-farm) private industry? How? What’s the best answer to this hospital productivity problem?

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Childhood obesity going… down?

There’s usually so much bad news when it comes to obesity in the US, it’s hard to take good news at face value. But it seems to be real:

Nearly one-third of children and teens are overweight or obese. But growing evidence suggests that places making strong, far-reaching changes—those that make healthy foods available in schools and communities and integrate physical activity into people’s daily lives—are seeing reductions in their childhood obesity rates. More efforts are needed to implement these types of changes nationwide and to address persistent health disparities.

Obesity rates aren’t going up everywhere. Go read the RWJF brief. In Anchorage (where I will be flying next week, by the way), childhood obesity declined 3% from 2003/4 to 2010/11. In Mississippi, in dropped 13% from 2005 to 2011. In Eastern Massachusetts, it dropped 21% from 2004 to 2008.There isn’t one thing they did. Each area tried its own plan. But it’s heartening to see that some things do seem to work.

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Wait, What?! Super Freaky Photos of Women Who Dress Like Dolls

The latest Internet trend has girls radically altering their bodies to look like living dolls, and then posting photos online By Alesandra Dubin - June 12, 2013 The Internet is home to many creepy things you can never un-see. Right now, it's the breeding ground for a bizarre craze in which women (and a man or two) show off the results of their attempts — through dramatic plastic surgery, makeup and other methods — to look just like human Barbies or porcelain dolls. And wouldn't you know? Some are gathering huge followings on social media or YouTube pages with their video beauty tutorials. Many followers are fans legitimately interested in emulating the living dolls' looks — and others gawk for the same reason you probably can't look away right now. Here we bring you some of the most unbelievable living doll photos we've seen. It's downright baffling. You've been warned. Facebook.com/valerialukyanovaamatue21.We are trying to figure out how Ukraine's Valeria Lukyanova walks without falling over, but we figure her left hand is propping her up out of frame. Twitter.com/dakotakotiDakota Rose has more than 77,000 Twitter followers — plus a YouTube channel with tutorials on how anyone interested can emulate her style. venusangelic.com.Here's what Venus Angelic wants you to know about her, per her website: "My sparkling personality, my voice and my me exists only once in this entire universe." We think that's probably true. Facebook.com/pages/Olga-Olyenik/495864760447997.We're glad Olga Oleynik is sitting down in these shots, because it seems like falling over every time she stands up would be a real risk and that makes us nervous. Facebook.com/AnastasiyaFukkacumiShpagina.Ukraine's Anastasiya Shpagina has close to 100,000 Facebook followers, including many who gush over her porcelain good looks in the photo comments. justinjedlica.com.Oh yes, there's at least one Ken doll to go with all these Barbies: New York's Justin Jedlica credits a fascination with the lives of celebs like Michael Jackson and Donald Trump for his desire to transform his looks this way (presented without further comment)..Alesandra Dubin is a contributing writer on iVillage and founder of home and travel blog Homebody in Motion. Follow her on Google+ and Twitter. Connect with Us  Follow Our Pins .Yummy recipes, DIY projects, home decor, fashion and more curated by iVillage staffers.The very dirty truth about fashion internships...On Instagram

 

Cyberchondriacs Beware: Your Medical Searches Aren’t Private

Searching the Internet for medical information may leave behind a lucrative trail for profit-makers, a new study says.When patients go online to look up a specific condition, the websites often sell that search information to companies that target ads to individual users. Or maybe they’ll use the secretly obtained knowledge for something more sinister, the study contended.We should be a little worried,” said study author Dr. Marco Huesch, an assistant professor at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles.

“The Internet has allowed us to access lots of free content, but as the saying goes, ‘If you’re not a paying customer for a website, then you’re the product,’ ” Huesch said.The only safe free medical sites appear to be government-sponsored, according to a research letter published July 8 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.The third parties doing this tracking are usually companies that sell data to advertisers, marketers and the consumer goods-and-services industry.


“They are not insurance companies or drug companies, but clearly their customers and clients would be,” Huesch said.It’s possible they aggregate medical-site users with dozens, hundreds or thousands of other people with similar interests and demographics, instead of keeping track of individuals, “but that’s up to them,” he added.Until privacy legislation is strengthened, patients and consumers need to be careful about potential loss of anonymity and breaches of confidentiality while online, Huesch said.

Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, said this study is a reminder that with great new power comes great exposure.The Internet is a window that works both ways,” Katz said. “We can look out at the world through it, but the world is looking back. Sites devoted to health information are no exception.”This is not, however, a reason to avoid health sites, which can be enormously useful and empowering, he said.

Huesch used readily available software last December and January to detect whether search information was being passed from 20 popular health-related websites to third parties.
All 20 sites passed data to at least one third party, and the average was six or seven. Thirteen sites had one or more tracking elements, the study found.No tracking was found on doctor-oriented sites tied to professional groups, Huesch said.

Five of the 13 sites that tracked data also linked to social media, and searches were leaked to third parties through this link in seven websites. Facebook’s “Like” button is an example.No leaking of data was detected on U.S. government sites, such as the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, or four of the five physician-oriented sites, Huesch said.

The free privacy tools he used are Ghostery (evidon.com) and DoNotTrackMe (abine.com). However, he added, “I’m not sure whether they can block everything, and I’m not sure whether mobile smartphone browsing can be protected similarly.Whether the leaked information was actually used by third parties wasn’t possible to determine. But Huesch and others say you should assume the information you reveal on free medical-related sites is not private.




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Move of the Day: Bird Dog

This move works on your upper back, butt, and core. All you need is a mat to work this trifecta, and after 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 15 repetitions each, you’ll be on your way to a toned mid-section.

How to do it: 

Get down on all fours. Keeping your abs engaged, lift your right arm and left leg so they’re in line with your body. Reach out your hand and foot in opposite directions from each other. Hold for a 3-5 seconds while engaging your core (don’t let your belly sag). Return to starting position. Repeat with opposite arm and leg; that’s one rep.


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Move of the Day: Flare Curl

Want toned arms like a celebrity? Hollywood trainer Steve Zim, who has worked with celebs like Jessica Biel, shared this bicep-builder with us. Do it three times a week, and consider pairing it with the rest of Zim’s A-list arm routine.

How to do it: 

Begin by standing with feet about hip-width apart while holding a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell in each hand. Allow your arms to slightly bend and go out to the side, palms facing up, (as seen in picture A). Next, curl both hands up until your arms form 45-degree angles, (as seen in picture B). Keep your hands about a foot from the sides of your shoulders. To finish the first rep, lower your arms to starting position. Continue for 3 sets of 15 reps each.

Trainer tip: Keep your elbows immobile during the entirety of the exercise.

Stay Committed to Fitness This Summer With 5 Tips

When warm weather and Summer holidays roll around, it can be tough to stick to gym plans when there’s so much going on. If you feel like you’ve fallen off your fitness wagon in the last few weeks, then these tips will help you recommit to your healthy lifestyle and keep you on track — even in the face of fun.
Set new goals: Once you take off the initial weight you were trying to lose, you might drift away from your fitness regimen. For continued and sustainable success, keep on rewriting and redesigning your goals — and it doesn’t have to be all about weight loss. Holding Forearm Stand in yoga class or running a half-marathon do not have to be far-off fantasies; start training to reach your new goals now.
Make new routines: Changing up your workout days every week works for some, but a lack of routine can hinder your commitment and progress. Even if you’re trying out new workouts with odd class times, make a point to work out on certain days every week. If there is a specific program you love to watch every week or a big game that’s on TV, then tune in while you’re working out at the gym. Soon the idea of vegging at the couch for hours will pale in comparison to your long run on the treadmill.
Pay in advance: It’s hard to bail out of a workout class when you’ve already handed over your hard-earned cash. Even if you’re weary to signing up ahead of time, it makes a big difference when it comes time to head out the door and actually make moves at your workout. The best intentions sometimes fade, but it’s harder to say no when the money is already spent.
Track your progress: Hold yourself accountable to your fitness schedule, and make a point to journal every workout. You don’t have to buy a crazy app or fitness-specific journal. Something as small as jotting down the time you spent working out or the number of calories you burned leaves you feeling accomplished. Even better, you can see how far you’ve come and how much you’ve improved week after week.
Get friends on board: Saying no to a happy hour in place of a workout won’t happen when you’re striking out on your own. Get a group of friends involved to work out at the gym, head to yoga, or go on a long hike together. You’ll be less likely to switch things around if you’re letting people down and the plan is already in place. And just remember: there’s always time to head out for a celebratory cocktail after you’ve completed your workout.
POPSUGAR is a lifestyle website for women focusing on fitness and weight loss tips, healthy cooking, celebrity fitness, and workout routines for all levels. Read more at POPSUGAR.com.

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That Bad Boss May Be Toxic to Your Family

WEDNESDAY, July 10 (Health Day News) — When workplace stress spills over into your personal life, your family’s well-being can also suffer, new evidence suggests.

A recent conference on work, stress and health, sponsored in part by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, included research on family-supportive workplaces and the influence of supervisors — good or bad — on employee health.

“Survey results vary, but you can find that large numbers of individuals report that work is the biggest source of stress in their life,” said Michael Ford, an assistant professor of psychology at the University at Albany-State University of New York.

“At the same time, everybody has a life outside of work,” Ford said. “So we need to continue to understand how this affects the psychological and physical well-being of the population as well. I think it’s something that a lot of people can relate to.”

Another presenter at the Los Angeles conference explained that when it comes to work-related stress, health consequences are wide-ranging. Leslie Hammer is a professor of psychology at Portland State University in Oregon, and director of the Center for Work — Family Stress, Safety and Health.
“With high levels of job stress and work-life stress, we see mental health problems,” Hammer said. “We see increased levels of depressive symptoms. We also see increased levels of negative health outcomes. Cardiovascular disease has been a clear link with job strain. We see obesity problems. We see general physical health complaints.”

Positive health behaviors can fall by the wayside, she added.
“When people are stressed at work, when their supervisors are really not supportive around work-life issues, we are seeing more negative health behaviors in the sense of poor food choices, lower levels of exercise, poor sleep hygiene,” Hammer said.Work stress takes a toll on relationships as well.

“Marriage quality is definitely impacted,” Hammer said. “That relationship quality goes down. When one experiences negative stress/strain, work-life stress, that ends up crossing over to their partner or spouse or children, and it results in similar stress and strain among those family members.”
In Ford’s study comparing American and Chinese workplaces, he found that people in supportive work environments tend, in turn, to be more supportive of their spouses.

Hammer said, “In the research literature there’s correlational evidence that when parents are more stressed, kids are more stressed. Kids experience that stress, and it comes out in terms of health compliance, it comes out in terms of behavioral difficulties.”

Managers and supervisors are a primary source of work support — or work stress.
“Lack of support or abusiveness of the supervisor can spill over into home life, both in terms of the time and energy that it takes away from people, but also if it affects their mood,” Ford said. “That can, of course, potentially affect the life of your family members.”
What separates good and bad supervisors?

An unsupportive manager, Hammer said, “will have a complete disregard for workers’ own non-work needs.“Sometimes bad bosses post schedules at the last minute so that people who have family responsibilities or non-work responsibilities — anything, not just family — have to readjust their whole non-work lives around their work schedules,” she said. “When supervisors basically don’t allow for schedule control and control over work, that leads to high levels of stress.”

Hammer and colleague Ellen Kossek at Michigan State University train supervisors to be more family-supportive and are completing large-scale research on the training’s effects.

“First of all, training focuses on providing emotional support,” Hammer said. “Teaching supervisors [that] simply listening to your employees and paying attention and showing that you care is incredibly helpful. It’s not rocket science, but what we find is many supervisors don’t do these things.”

The training starts with a workforce survey, which usually reveals a disconnect: When it comes to work-family conflict, managers tend to think they’re more supportive than workers perceive them to be.Supervisors can contribute to a healthier atmosphere by demonstrating their own work-life balance “in the sense that they are taking care of their own work, life and family integration and that, for example, they take time off to go to their kid’s basketball or baseball game,” Hammer said.
One challenge is convincing organizations that being family-supportive means the work still gets done.


“Employers are paying for health care and employers are taking a hit when workers are absent, and what we see are higher levels of stress related to higher levels of absenteeism and higher levels of health complaints and health problems,” Hammer said. “Employers can be paying attention and understanding what they can do to help alleviate that stress. It will help their bottom line as well as help employees’ health and well-being outcomes.”


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The new guideline of breast cancer

WEDNESDAY, July 10 (Health Day News) — Women at high risk of breast cancer should discuss with their doctors the use of so-called chemopreventive drugs to reduce that risk, according to a new practice guideline issued by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

The new guideline updates the previous one, issued in 2009, said Dr. Kala Visvanathan, director of the clinical cancer genetics and prevention service at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, who co-chaired the guidelines panel.

“It’s a stronger recommendation for discussion of these agents,” she said, explaining that the previous guideline suggested the discussion. The new guideline also adds an additional drug option for breast cancer risk reduction.The guideline was published online July 8 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The key points include a recommendation to discuss the use of tamoxifen (Nolvadex, Tamofen, others) with premenopausal women at high risk, and tamoxifen and raloxifene (Evista) with postmenopausal women. The guideline adds another alternative, exemestane (Aromasin), for postmenopausal women.

Visvanathan and other panel members looked at 19 published articles to assess the risks and benefits of using the drugs to reduce breast cancer risk.The panel recommended various doses of the drugs, taken daily for five years, to reduce risk. Tamoxifen and raloxifene target estrogen receptors and work to reduce the risk of estrogen receptor-positive, or ER-positive, cancers, which need estrogen to grow.
Exemestane lowers the amount of estrogen in the body. It is not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for breast cancer prevention, but a study has found it can reduce risk by up to 70 percent over three years.

The guideline is meant for women who are cancer-free but at high risk for breast cancer, Visvanathan explained. “We aren’t talking about breast cancer survivors and we aren’t talking about all women,” she said. The guideline only recommends discussing the drugs with a doctor, not that women at high risk should absolutely take them, she added.Women should talk about the risks and benefits of the drugs to reduce their breast cancer risk and then decide, she said.

Who might fit this profile of high risk? A woman in her 40s who has a condition called atypical hyperplasia, an abnormality in breast cells that has been linked with higher risk of breast cancer, should discuss the use of the drugs, Visvanathan said. So should a woman in her 50s with a family history of breast cancer and who has never given birth.

Women with the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, known to boost breast cancer risk, should also discuss the drugs with their doctor, she said, ”although they have other preventive options as well.”
More than 2 million U.S. women could benefit from these drugs, according to the researchers. However, few women take the medications.According to one study published in 2010, only about 1 percent of women, or about 20,000, took tamoxifen as a preventive drug. About four times that number took raloxifene.For some women, taking the drugs may reduce their risk up to 50 percent, Visvanathan noted.Side effects, or fear of them, are one reason women decline the drugs, Visvanathan explained. Among the side effects are hot flashes, vaginal dryness and decreased sex drive.

The new, stronger guideline is a good idea, said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, who reviewed the guideline but was not involved in writing it.
“We’re very supportive of [the recommendations],” he said.Following the news about actress Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a preventive double mastectomy to reduce her higher risk of breast cancer due to a BRCA mutation, Brawley said the new guideline will bring some needed focus to other risk-reduction options.

While Brawley said he supports Jolie’s decision, ”there is a group of women at increased risk for whom one of these preventive drugs would be much more appropriate for them and much better for their lifestyle,” he explained.“For some women at increased risk, taking these drugs and closer surveillance could be a better option than bilateral mastectomy,” he added.The drugs, Brawley said, make mammography more effective. “There are studies to show these drugs decrease breast density and therefore increase the ability of mammography [to detect cancer].”

“Ultimately a woman needs to make a decision,” he said.Some members of the panel report consultant work, honoraria, stock ownership or research funding from Novartis, Pfizer, Bayer, Champions Biotechnology or AstraZeneca.


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July 10 Health News

WEDNESDAY, July 10 (Health Day News) — The amount of radiation you’re exposed to from airport scanners is extremely low, according to a new report.People absorb less radiation while undergoing the scan than they do while waiting in line to be scanned, according to the report by an independent task force commissioned by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).

The investigators took readings from two full-body scanners in active use at Los Angeles International Airport, as well as seven other scanners that were not in active use. The scanners deliver a radiation dose equivalent to what a person typically receives every 1.8 minutes on the ground or every 12 seconds during an airplane flight.

This means that a person would have to receive more than 22,500 scans in a year to reach the standard maximum safe yearly dose of radiation determined by the American National Standards Institute and the Health Physics Society, the report said.

“We think the most important single take-away point for concerned passengers is to keep an appropriate perspective,” report co-lead author Christopher Cagnon, chief of radiology physics at the UCLA Medical Center, said in an AAPM news release. “The effective radiation dose received by a passenger during screening is comparable to what that same passenger will receive in 12 seconds during the flight itself or from two minutes of natural radiation exposure.”

Radon in the air, cosmic radiation from space and even the decay of potassium in the human body are some natural sources of radiation. Doses of radiation are greater in aircraft because at cruising altitude, there is less atmosphere to protect passengers and crew from cosmic radiation.

More information


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has more about radiation.

Recipe of the Day: Summer Coleslaw

Recipe of the Day: Summer Coleslaw

Coleslaw is a perfect summer dish, and with the right recipe, it can be healthy. Our recipe uses colorful, nutrient-packed produce such as carrots, snow peas, and radishes.

Carrots are rich in vitamin A, radishes have vitamin C, and snow peas contain vitamin C and vitamin K. And who can forget the tasty, low-cal  cabbage? All together this slaw is just 185 calories per serving, so eat up!

Ingredients: cabbage, carrots, snow peas, radishes, scallions, toasted hazelnuts, parsley, poppy seeds, lemon juice, hazelnut or extra-virgin olive oil, salt, black pepper.

Try this recipe: Summer Coleslaw


Read more Summer recipes

We Tried It! Our Fearless Editor Gets Her Eyelashes Permed

Eyelash perms are the newest (and arguably the strangest) way to beautify lashes. Our fearless editor tries the treatment out for herself and tells us whether it's worth the risks Fake lashes, extensions, growth serums...some short-lashed women have been willing to go to great lengths for bat-worthy eyelashes. But lash perming? Terrified by the idea — but also intrigued — iVillage health editor Angela Law agreed to head to a salon to test out the treatment for herself. What eyelash perming is: Adapted from the technique used to curl hair, perming chemicals are now being applied to eyelashes to create an upturned effect that fakes the appearance of extra length. How it works: A salon technician first fits your eyelids for mini rollers that look a little like pieces of dried macaroni. Once selected, she affixes the self-adhesive rollers to your lids along the lash line, and then uses a little stick to adhere the lashes to the roller. Next, she applies a strong-smelling, diluted perm solution to the lashes, places a warm towel over your eyes and leaves the solution to set for fifteen minutes. The technician then applies a chemical neutralizer, which is allowed set for another quarter hour. Finally, she gently removes the rollers, and if all goes well, your eyelashes will look very curled for 5 to 6 weeks and better-than-pre-perm for 4 more.What it costs: Prices for lash perms range from $20 to $75 per sessionWhere to get it:  Lash perming is on the treatment menu at many full-service salons, especially those that do eyelash extensions. You can buy DIY kits...but please don’t.Our tester's verdict:  Eyelash perming hasn’t been approved by the FDA — and I have a feeling it’s not because the agency isn’t into being pretty. It probably (just a guess) has to do with the fact that you are putting potentially blinding chemicals really close to your eye.I was freaked out when I left the salon and vowed that I would never do it again. But then I got home, stared at myself in the mirror for a good few minutes and was completely in awe of my transformed face. My eyes were wider and more awake. I felt younger. I also half convinced myself that I could actually see more. My eyelashes naturally point down, almost shade-like, so I guess it is possible that I had a wider scope of vision with the eyelashes now out of my eyes. The whole thing was really kind of cool.My boyfriend, however, was not as amused and couldn’t look me in the newly widened eyes for two days. He finally had to because, well, we live together and it was awkward.I’m fairly certain that curly lashes aren't worth possibly going blind for — but as summer inches in and I start thinking about the three weddings I have to go to the next two months, I've somehow started contemplating getting another perm. I mean, if you ignore the dangers, it’s great: your eyelashes look awesome even without mascara, no more pinching yourself with the eyelash curler. Just once more, I tell myself. For the weddings! And then I’ll have to come up with another excuse for putting myself at such silly risk.Angela's Before & After Lash Perm Pictures.Connect with Us  Follow Our Pins Yummy recipes, DIY projects, home decor, fashion and more curated by iVillage staffers.The very dirty truth about fashion internships... On Instagram

 

You Can Thank Us Later: Incredibly Flattering Swimsuits for Under $60

It looks like ombre is here to stay, and it’s easy to see why the pattern has such appeal: the fades of color are fresh without being busy, and create sexy curve appeal wherever they’re used.

TO BUY: Maurices ombre one piece halter swimsuit, $59 at maurices.com

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