The Checkup - Jennifer Huget on health in the news and in your life.

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Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 05/01/2012

Breastfeeding: A more costly approach?

By Jennifer Huget

A study published in the April issue of the American Sociological Review suggests that breastfeeding actually can exact a high cost.

By Jennifer Huget | 07:00 AM ET, 05/01/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: breastfeeding

Posted at 01:00 PM ET, 04/26/2012

G-spot update: Florida doctor claims to have found magic location, but findings disputed

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

Despite the hype over the magical G-spot, there’s little scientific evidence supporting the existence of that magical pleasure spot for women.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 01:00 PM ET, 04/26/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Health, Women, Women's health

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 04/24/2012

Frida Kahlo’s infertility explained

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

The Mexican artist endured a horrific streetcar accident as a teen. A a physician has linked Kahlo’s infertility to that accident.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 07:00 AM ET, 04/24/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:12 AM ET, 04/23/2012

New insights into brain freezes

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

Summer is coming, and that means it’s getting to be brain-freeze season. We’re all too familiar with the excruciating sensation that consumes us when we consume a an icy-cold beverage: That combination of agonizing ache and numbness, the sudden jolt of pain to the brain. But for all its familiarity, “brain freeze,” or “Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia” remains largely mysterious to the scientific community.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 04:12 AM ET, 04/23/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 04/20/2012

Is that right? Vitamin C lowers blood pressure?

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

The idea got a boost in a study published Monday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 07:00 AM ET, 04/20/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:16 PM ET, 04/19/2012

Life expectancy varies widely in the Washington area

By David Brown

A new report shows longer life spans in Montgomery and Fairfax; Baltimore trails far behind.

By David Brown | 07:16 PM ET, 04/19/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:00 PM ET, 04/18/2012

Gum disease doesn’t cause heart disease, paper says

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

There are good reasons to take care of your teeth and gums — but protecting against cardiovascular disease turns out not to be one of them.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 04:00 PM ET, 04/18/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 04:16 PM ET, 04/16/2012

Omega-3 fatty acids don’t help with MS, study finds

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

If you’re among the estimated one-third of people with multiple sclerosis who take omega-3 fatty-acid supplements (such as fish oil) to slow the disease’s progress, you may be disappointed in the findings of a study published Monday afternoon.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 04:16 PM ET, 04/16/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:01 AM ET, 04/16/2012

‘Chin jobs’ jump in popularity

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

“Chinplants” saw a bigger bump in popularity over the past year than any other cosmetic plastic surgical procedure.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 12:01 AM ET, 04/16/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Cosmetic surgery

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 04/13/2012

Here’s to you, Chic LaRue!

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

Today would have been my father’s 85th birthday. But Charles John LaRue, “Chic” to many of his friends and “Da” to me and my brother, died of a heart attack in 1992, just shy of turning 65.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 07:00 AM ET, 04/13/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 04/12/2012

Are cigarillos any better than cigarettes for Jack White?

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

An interview with Jack White quotes the musician: “I quit smoking cigarettes like six years ago. ... These [the cigarillos he’s described as now smoking] are just baby cigars. I don’t inhale.”

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 07:00 AM ET, 04/12/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:01 AM ET, 04/10/2012

Study links dental X-rays to brain tumor risk

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

Certain kinds of dental X-rays appear to be correlated with a type of brain tumor — one that’s almost always benign, but can still be dangerous — called meningioma.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 12:01 AM ET, 04/10/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 04/09/2012

Antibiotics for appendicitis

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

We’ve heard so much lately about the need to cut back on use of antibiotics, it’s surprising to encounter research that advocates administering antibiotics over a different form of treatment.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 07:00 AM ET, 04/09/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 04/06/2012

Cancer diagnosis boosts suicide, heart attack risk

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

Those risks are highest right after the diagnosis and may linger for months, a new study finds.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 07:00 AM ET, 04/06/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 04/05/2012

Parents, kids and outdoor play

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

New research shows most young children’s parents don’t spend enough time outdoors with them.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 07:00 AM ET, 04/05/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 12:32 PM ET, 04/04/2012

Doctors groups call for end to unnecessary procedures

By Brian Vastag

Nine doctors groups released a list of 45 tests or procedures that consumers and doctors should think twice about before seeking.

By Brian Vastag | 12:32 PM ET, 04/04/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

Posted at 05:00 PM ET, 04/02/2012

The downside of mammography

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

It’s hard to wrap your head around the notion that routine mammography may, in the grand scheme of things, do more harm than good.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget | 05:00 PM ET, 04/02/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

The Checkup: May, 2012