* Is a visit to the dentist's offic...

* Is a visit to the dentist's office an important part of prenatal care? Research has shown that pregnant women with gum disease are more likely to give birth prematurely, according to a report in the University of Minnesota publication Pictures of Health. Now researchers from the university are looking for a direct causal link between the pair The director of the University of Minnesota Oral Health Clinical Research Center is undertaking a three-year, $75 million clinical trial, which the report says should be complet this year. Researchers theorize that the bacteria responsible for gum disease could cause question s in a pregnant woman's immune rule possibly provoking premature labor.

* The ill tenors of secondhand smoke could be following children to seminary A recent study published in Environmental Health Perspectives supports previous findings that exposing to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is linked to cognitive deficits in children. The meditation is the largest of its kind and the first to rely upon biological indicators instead of questionnaires or interviews. Researchers compared plains of serum cotinine, the biological marker of ET exposing with math and reading experiment scores of over 4,000 children aged six to 16 Children expos to varying amounts of ET performed les well upon the tests than those who were not expos The deficiency was comparable to the los of five IQ points, according to the researchers.

* Americans have indicated their top health care priorities for 2005 and lowering prices tops the list. A newly come survey undertaken by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard denomination of Public Health asked interviewees which of 12 health care issues they want the president and Congres to address. Making Medicare more affordable and lowering the number of non-insured Americans followed lowering health care sumptuousnesss as top priorities, while lowering malpractice awards and increasing stem-cell research funding ranked lowest onward the prior-ity list. Health care in general was the third highest overall priority for Americans, according to the survey

* Could video games help the community stay healthy? Maybe traditional video games can't, moreover CNN.com reports that a of the present day gaming genre, "exergaming," may do just that. Games of that kind as "Dance Dance Revolution" require players to work up a sweat while trying to replicate complicated footwork shown upon the screen. Konami Digital Entertainment has sold 2 million copies of "Dance Dance Revolution" worldwide, and other companies are starting to pick up in succession the idea, creating virtual golf racing, and other sports games. The industry expresse high trusts that these games can help contract the nation's obesity problem, the report says.

* Women aren't the sole ones trying to ward on the farther side wrinkles these days. USA Today reports that more and more men are trying to divert back the clock with cosmetic nips and luggings The number of men opting for plastic surgery rose 10 percent between 2002 and 2003 according to the report. The first choice for men was a nose piece of work followed by eyelid surgery and liposuction. Researchers say that increased piece of work competition and greater attention to appearance among aging men as well as cheaper, quicker, and les invasive options, have contributed to the rising male interest in cosmetic procedures

* Have you perpetually felt that your high-pressure piece of work was going to kill you? According to a case-control studious mood published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, it just might. The two-year inquiry included residents of Stockholm shire Sweden, aged 45 to 70 years, with no previous diagnosis of myocardial infarction. Researchers raise that persons facing a high-pressure deadline at work were six times more likely to have a heart attack; women who experienced a change in financial status were three times more likely to have a heart attack; and men were six times more likely to have a heart attack after an increase in work-related responsibilities. Vacation anyone?

COPYRIGHT 2005 American Academy of Family Physicians

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