Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hGC), a hormone produced during pregnancy, is isolated from the urine of pregnant women and used to treat infertility. Since the 1950s, however, it’s also been used as a weight-loss aid—and still is, even though there’s no solid evidence showing it works.
But taking hCG could be worse than just ineffective: A new study shows that doses of the hormone can transmit prions, the misfolded proteins that cause mad cow disease and its human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an invariably fatal form of dementia that riddles the brain with holes (photo).
That’s right: There’s a potential risk of contracting deadly, brain-destroying illness by injecting yourself with proteins taken from other people’s urine—and you won’t even lose weight.
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A recent development in food science may offer solace for dieters who are fed up, so to speak, with the tried-and-true “eat-less, move-more” mantra: Scientists say that modifying a common food additive makes food take longer to leave the body, literally keeping you full for twice as long.
Most processed foods contain emulsifiers and stabilizers, which enhance texture and prevent ingredients from separating. Scientists say that adding a type of stabilizer that is more chemically stable keeps food in the body for a longer period of time—about twice as long—because it makes food harder to break down.
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Got a smelly weirdo sitting next to you at work? Need a place to stick an intern? Well it looks like cubicle life as we know it is about to change. If some cutting-edge companies have their way, we may all soon be working from mobile workstations.
What those spaces will look like all depends on the designer. Here’s a look at the most notable designs:
• Michiel van der Kley’s Globus folds up into a globe and unfolds into a desk and a chair.
• The ScooterDesk by Utilia may look uncomfortable, but its barstool design with wheels makes it highly portable.
• The Surf Chair Workstation by Kenneth Lylover brings your computer, and your bed, into the workplace. With a built in LCD display, a strategically placed spot for the keyboard and mouse, and a padded lounge chair, a nap at your desk might not be so far fetched.
And our favorite: Robert Preger has created a “living laboratory” at Carnegie Mellon to develop an ideal green workplace.
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Obese children, get thee to a library! A press release yesterday announced: “Duke Researchers Show Reading Can Help Obese Kids Lose Weight.”
Not so fast. Before you click over to Amazon.com, let’s take a closer look at the study they’re talking about:
Researchers at Duke Children’s Hospital asked 31 obese girls ages 9 to 13 to read an age-appropriate novel entitled Lake Rescue that was “carefully crafted” with weight management tips and positive role models. The novel follows the overweight heroine on an outdoor school trip, during which she gains self-esteem (rather than pounds) and learns about healthy eating and exercise.
Another group of girls was asked to read a novel not related to weight issues—about a girl searching for a missing cat—and a control group did not read either book. All participants were already enrolled in a comprehensive weight loss program.
Six months later, the girls who had read Lake Rescue experienced a 0.71 percentile decrease in BMI. Meanwhile, the group that read the non-weight-loss-oriented book had a 0.33 percentile decrease in BMI and the control group had a 0.05 percent increase in BMI. According to the CDC, children and teens with a BMI over the 95th percentile are considered obese. The difference between the readers and non-readers in this study was less than 1 percent — a suspiciously low number.
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Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hGC), a hormone produced during pregnancy, is isolated from the urine of pregnant women and used to treat infertility. Since the 1950s, however, it’s also been used as a weight-loss aid—and still is, even though there’s no solid evidence showing it works.
