Best Friend Ever

Actress-comedian Rachael Harris on sensible eating, cheating with chocolate and self restraint By Mark Ariel Photograph by Rob McEwan

Smart, funny and attractive, it’s virtually impossible not to fall in love with actress-comedian Rachael Harris. You’ve seen her great comedic acting skills in actor-director Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries, you’ve watched her poke good natured fun at other celebs on VH1’s I Love the ‘80s, I Love the ‘90s, and Best Week Ever, you’ve seen her hilarious stints on the Daily Show, and somehow - in your head - you feel like she’s one of your best friends.

Born in Worthington, Ohio, Harris moved to LA, where she studied and majored in theater. She then performed with the Los Angeles improvisation troupe, Groundlings. She debuted on television in a 1993 episode of SeaQuest DSV. After an appearance on Star Trek: Voyager in 1997, Harris went on to a recurring role in The WB’s Sister, Sister. Other television credits include a stint as a correspondent for The Daily Show’s 2002-2003 season, as well as roles on The Sarah Silverman Program, Reno 911!, The West Wing, Friends, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Monk, and Desperate Housewives. Read more

Stem Cell Hand Lift

Hand rejuvenation using your body’s own stem cells by Nathan Newman, M.D.

Stem cells from your own body fat have the power to restore and renew the youthful appearance of the face and body. Traditional face lift procedures could not address the signs of aging on the hands and therefore the hands became the “tell-tale” sign of age. The Stem Cell Lift(tm) procedure is the ideal way to correct the hollowed, skeletal, wrinkled skin on the hands to match the youthful and rested look of a stem cell face lift.

THE AGING HAND
Just as on the face, the volume and fatty cushion that is present beneath the skin of the hands is lost over time. This results in bony looking hands with undesirably protruding veins under the skin. Sun exposure causes skin discoloration and wrinkles which also give an aged look to the hands.

STEM CELL HAND LIFT
The Stem Cell Lift(tm) is a procedure that can be done under local anesthesia in a procedure room. A mini-liposuction procedure is done on any area of the body that the patient chooses to have excess fat removed from. The stem cells found in this fat are then concentrated to increase the number of stem cells that will be injected to rejuvenate the hands. The stem cell enriched fat is then used to sculpt the hands using specially a designed instrument. The results are immediate. There is some swelling and soreness in the areas treated that subside with in days. It takes the newly introduced cells about 3 months to completely integrate into and become a natural part of the body area that they have been placed. Read more

Money Talks

Who paid for that study? Source affects outcome by Maggie Fox

One study shows that milk can help people lose weight. Another shows that tomato juice might prevent cancer and a third shows benefits to fizzy sodas.

But consumers should take those studies with a grain of salt, researchers report. If a study was industryfunded, it was far more likely to have a positive finding than if it was paid for by the government or an independent group, the researchers found. “We are not singling out any industry or any particular study,” said lead researcher Dr. David Ludwig of Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard University. “Our first look shows evidence strongly suggestive of bias,” Ludwig said in a telephone interview. The study, published by the Public Library of Science online journal PLoS Medicine, echoes other findings that show industry-funded research on drugs is more likely to be favorable to the drugs than independent research. Ludwig’s team reviewed 111 studies on soft drinks, juice and milk that were published between 1999 and 2003. Read more

The Future of Medicine

Some experts say the world is on the cusp of a “golden age” of genomics By Maggie Fox, Julie Steenhuysen and Ben Hirschler

Francis Collins, who helped map the human genome, did not get around to having his own genes analyzed until last summer. And he was surprised by what he learned.

Collins has a predisposition for type 2 diabetes, something he had never suspected. The lanky, former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) discovered this through tests offered by Navigenics, 23andMe and DecodeMe • companies that charge customers a few hundred dollars for a peek at their genetic makeup. “I signed up for all three because I wanted to see if they gave the same answer,” he said. “They all agreed my diabetes risk is higher.”

Armed with that information, he eventually lost 25 pounds. But as a rule, he doesn’t consider such tests especially useful • at least not yet. “Admittedly, right now your family history may be your best bet and it doesn’t cost anything,” he said. And so it goes in the fledgling genome field. Some experts say the world is on the cusp of a “golden age” of genomics, when a look at the DNA code will reveal your risk of cancer, diabetes or heart disease, and predict which drugs will work for you. Yet the $3 billion international Human Genome Project, whose first phase was completed a decade ago, has not led to a single blockbuster diagnosis or product. Read more

Live Longer

Calcium may offer unique longevity benefit study by Patrick Tsakuda

Getting a bit more calcium in your diet could help you live longer, new research suggests. Swedish researchers found that men who consumed the most calcium in food were 25 percent less likely to die over the next decade than their peers who took in the least calcium from food. None of the men took calcium supplements. The findings are in line with previous research linking higher calcium intake with lower mortality in both men and women, the researchers point out in a report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

While many researchers have looked at calcium and magnesium intake and the risk of chronic disease, less is known about the association between consumption of these nutrients in food and mortality.

To investigate, Dr. Joanna Kaluza of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm and her colleagues looked at more than 23,000 Swedish men who were 45 to 79 years old at the study’s outset and were followed for 10 years. All had reported on their diet at the beginning of the study. During follow-up, about 2,358 died.

The top calcium consumers had a 25 percent lower risk of dying from any cause and a 23 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease during follow-up relative to men that had the least amount of calcium in their diet. Calcium intake didn’t significantly influence the risk of dying from cancer. Men in the top third based on their calcium intake were getting nearly 2,000 milligrams a day, on average, compared to about 1,000 milligrams for men in the bottom third. The US Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for calcium intake is 1,000 milligrams for men 19 to 50 years old and 1,200 milligrams for men 50 and over. Read more