According to US Recall News, the FDA has issued a warning to all consumers regarding the risk of liver damage when taking Hydroxycut supplements.

The FDA has received dozens of reports complaining of serious health problems associated with Hydroxycut, including permanent liver damage. There has been at least one death from renal failure (liver damage) associated with Hydroxycut, according to FDA reports.

Consumers who have been taking Hydroxycut products for extended periods of time (months or years) should schedule an appointment with their doctor to discuss the risk of liver damage and other health issues associated with these products.

Popularity: unranked [?]

You’ve heard of skinny jeans? Now we’re talking about the skinny gene, a recent discovery by scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

If you’ve ever had a friend who positively swore that she couldn’t gain weight, had to eat hamburgers 10 times a day just to maintain, and had never been able to “pinch and inch,” you may have felt more than a bit frustrated. But Janine Geredes says this is a true condition: just as some individuals are predisposed to being overweight, there are those who suffer from being underweight their entire lives as well.

Though the gene was recently discovered over 50 years ago at Yale University, the connection wasn’t made between the gene and weight until recently. After some initial experimentation, the scientists genetically engineered mice with efficient versions of the gene and found that they had one-third the body fat of wild mice.

Scientists are working on how to engineer the gene into an obesity treatment that would effectively combat a person’s predisposition to being overweight. Though outlook is good, don’t binge just yet: a future pill to combat obesity is still far into the future.

Popularity: 61% [?]

Here at Shapespot, we encourage exercising and dieting with your friends for the fun, camaraderie, and motivation that come with having a healthy buddy. But a recent study has shown that there’s an additional reason to enlist your friends in your healthy living plans: obesity is “socially contagious”.

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Popularity: 9% [?]

What do you do if you have an extra 30 minutes on your hands, a yoga mat, and a serious need to move your body and stretch your muscles? You download YOGAmazing, the Yoga Lifestyle Video Podcast (subscribe here).

Offering subscribers a weekly 25-minute yoga routine, YOGAmazing will help “bring balance to your body, mind and soul.” In addition to new routines every week, YOGAmazing answers listener questions and spreads the latest yoga news. In short, this amazing podcast promises to bring knowledge as well as peace to its listeners, all from the comfort of your iPod, computer, or favorite mp3 device.

Currently clocking in at 92 episodes, YOGAmazing has weekly subjects such as Yoga for the Libido, Yoga for Flexibility, Yoga for Gardening, and Yoga for Dancers. Though the topics seem specific, these yoga routines are adaptable to anyone’s needs and guarantee to stretch you out, relax your chi, or achieve whatever goal you set with regard to your yoga poses.

And if one 25-minute yoga session per week isn’t enough for you, don’t despair: the YOGAmazing website has several sections to explore, including their YOGAmazing blog, store, and the incredibly-helpful Yoga Asana List, where you can discover new positions and perfect old ones. Go forth and explore.

Popularity: 8% [?]

If you are a tennis player or tennis fan, it’s time to gear up for the US Open.

The 2007 US Open Tennis Championship takes place at the UTSA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows (Queens), New York from August 27 through September 9.

In the men’s field, #1 ranked Roger Federer will attempt to win his fourth straight US Open Men’s Singles Championship. On the women’s side, last year’s champion Maria Sharapova (#2) will try to take down top ranked Justine Henin.

The men’s and women’s singles champions will each earn $1.4 million, plus be eligible to earn an additional million in bonus money based on their play throughout the tournament.

CBS Sports will be broadcasting the events for the 40th consecutive year. They will cover 37 hours of tennis, including the prime-time Women’s Singles Final on Saturday, September 8 (8:00pm to 10:00pm) and the Men’s Singles Final the following day on Sunday, September 9 (4:00pm to 7:00pm).

The Mixed Doubles Final takes place on Thursday, September 6 from 11:00am to 5:00pm and will be televised on the USA Network. The Women’s Doubles Final takes place that evening and will also be shown on USA from 7:00pm to 11:00pm.

The Men’s Doubles Final is the following day on Friday, September 7 and will be broadcast on CBS from 12:30pm to 6:00pm.

If you are in the New York area and interested in attending any of the U.S. Open events, tickets are still available. You can purchase tickets at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-866-OPEN-TIX. You can also buy tickets in person at any Ticketmaster outlet or at the tennis center box office.

For more information about the US Open, visit the official website at USOpen.org or call (718) 760-6200.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Fitness-web.com has moved check out our new site at Shapespot.com and point your feed readers here

Popularity: 5% [?]

many experts say the official advice which dates back to 1990 needs to be revised and updated to reflect out current health knowledge and understanding.

Recommended weight gains in pregnancy – Yahoo! News

For a “low” body-mass index of less than 19.8, a gain of 28 to 40 pounds. For a “normal” BMI of 19.8 to 26, a gain of 25 pounds to 35 pounds. For a “high” BMI of 26 to 29, a gain of 15 pounds to 25 pounds. For a BMI greater than 29, a gain of at least 15 pounds.

Popularity: 5% [?]

A recent study published in USAToday showed an alarming number of people stopped taking their prescribed medication.

About 50% of people fail to take medication as directed

USA Today on Thursday examined how multiple studies have shown that only about half of people with chronic conditions in the U.S. and other developed countries continue to take medication as directed. For example, a study published in the January issue of Drugs & Aging found that 20% to 30% of patients taking daily or weekly osteoporosis medication quit six to 12 months after they began. A similar study published in the January issue of Cancer found that 22% of breast cancer patients taking the drug tamoxifen to reduce the risk of recurrence stopped taking the medication by the end of one year. The study also found that more than one-third of patients had stopped taking tamoxifen after three-and-a-half years.

The study was clearly inconclusive and needs follow up. Was it an opposition to western medicine or are HMO/insurance plans to blame.

Tags: health, medicine

Popularity: 5% [?]

If you’re a regular reader here or new and like what you see, think about joining our community at mybloglog

Popularity: 4% [?]

With celebrities like Nicole Ritchie, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and others whom young girls today admire is any wonder teen girls are on the verge of a health crisis? These unhealthy and dangerously skinny bodies set unrealistic goals that children can never live up to.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

A new article from WebMd.com is highlighting what they call the new ‘superfoods’. These foods are supposed to help the body naturally combat everything from cataracts to cancer, naturally.

‘Superfoods’ Everyone Needs

Beans, Blueberries, Broccoli, Oats, Oranges, Pumpkin, Salmon, Soy, Spinach, Tea (green or black), Tomatoes, Turkey, Walnuts, Yogurt

Tags: health, nutrition, webmd.com, webmd, superfoods, super+foods, superfood, super+food

Popularity: 8% [?]

With an increasing amount of food poisonings in 2006 Congress and regulatory bodies are taking steps to protect consumers in 2007 by enacting new legislation.

Industry, government join E. coli fight – Yahoo! News

New guidelines from the industry are due in April on how to prevent contamination throughout the food chain, from before greens are planted until they reach the dinner table. Members of Congress are asking federal agencies to report on what went wrong and how to fix the problem. Some lawmakers want to replace the patchwork system of federal food regulation with a single agency in charge of what people eat.

Tags: health, food+safety food

Popularity: 5% [?]

A new news report about advances in breast cancer screening that will yield better results si god news for everyone. Please be sure the loved ones in your life are being screened regularly for breast cancer at least once a year.

High-Tech Mammograms Will Change Breast Cancer Care

New computer-driven technologies should make the yearly exam more accurate and easier on patients than ever before, experts say. High-tech computer-based digital mammography is already available at about 10 percent of diagnostic centers in the country and growing steadily at a rate of about 4 percent a month, said Priscilla F. Butler, senior director of the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Accreditation Programs. While filmless mammography doesn’t feel any different to women while they are being screened, doctors are discovering that there are benefits for particular patients. A study of more than 40,000 women published last fall found that compared with standard mammograms, computer-based digital “pictures” were more beneficial for more than half the women.

Popularity: 8% [?]

In one amounts to a complete lack of responsibility the BBC is reporting that children are responsible for making parents overweight. Since the adults are ultimately responsible for what children eat since they are making the purchases this is nothing more than shifting the blame and not owning up to your own actions. While it is difficult to deny your children “junk food” and eliminating it entirely would be near impossible, the real goal should be to teach your children healthy eating habits and moderation when eating sweets and or other unhealthy food items.

BBC NEWS | Health | Kids may make parents overweight
Overweight adults may be able to blame their offspring after a US study found adults living with children eat more fat than others.

Those living with children ate the equivalent of almost a pepperoni pizza of saturated fat each week compared with adults in a childless household. The work, in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, was based on surveys of 6,600 adults.

Popularity: 11% [?]

In what will is already a heated debate Hawaii has enacted some touhest anti smoking laws in the US. While many residents are pleased the move is sure to anger the tourists from many other countries, specificly those from Asia and Japan where no social or health stigma exists for smoking

Hawaii enacts near-total ban on smoking – Travel – The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper

Hawaii, known for its fresh ocean air and pristine beauty, has implemented one of the nation’s strictest no-smoking laws. State officials say the new law will protect people from secondhand smoke, but some fear it may deter cigarette-puffing tourists from coming to the islands, especially high-spending visitors from Japan. The Smoke-Free Hawaii Law bans smoking in all public places such as restaurants, bowling alleys, and malls, as well as airports. Many of the islands already had county laws limiting smoking, but lighting up now in partially enclosed areas, bars and less than 20 feet from doorways and windows is illegal.

Popularity: 9% [?]