Wanting to buy Viagra? Better ask the wife first…

Imagine the prospect of having to gain the wife’s approval before being able to buy Viagra for erectile dysfunction.

Well, that is the scenario possibly facing men in the U.S. state of Kentucky, who may soon need to get a note of approval from their wives before being able to obtain male impotence treatments on prescription.

Outraged by the introduction of a new law forcing women to undergo medical counselling at least 24 hours prior to an abortion, Democrat Kentucky lawmaker Mary Lou Marzian wanted to “strike a nerve” with political opponents – specifically men.

Therefore, State Rep. Ms Marzian, introduced a bill that would result in any male looking to obtain a prescription for any of the erectile dysfunction medications – i.e. Viagra, Cialis and Levitra – to “have two office visits on two different calendar days” as well as get a note from their wives before receiving their impotence treatment.

Only last week Kentucky governor Matt Bevin gave his signature to a bill that forces women to consult with a doctor at least 24 hours before going through with an abortion – a law that Ms Marzian voted against.

Explaining her reasoning behind in introduction of the latest bill, she said: “I want to protect these men from themselves. This is about family values.”

She added that any man needing impotence treatments would be required to “make a sworn statement with his hand on a Bible that he will only use a prescription for a drug for erectile dysfunction when having sexual relations with his current spouse.

“I started thinking: ‘how would this body men feel if the government was injecting itself into their private medical decision?’”

Ms Marzian, a 61-year-old retired nurse and abortion rights supporter, says that the U.S. government should not be allowed to meddle with people’s medical decisions.

She said: “We are very ‘family values’ in the Kentucky General Assembly – they are all awash in Christian family values, so that’s why I put that part in there that erectile pills can only be used in a marital relationship.”

However, Ms Marzian did concede that the ‘symbolic’ new bill may not get too much backing behind it. Moreover, further controversial plans have been put forth.

One such idea would be a bill that forces people purchasing firearms to receive counselling from victims of gun violence 24 hours before their purchase.

“I’m just making sure the government is taking care of your safety,” she added.

Speaking to Reuters by telephone, she said: “My point is to illustrate how intrusive and ridiculous it is for elected officials to be inserting themselves into private and personal medical decisions.”

Are walnuts the key to weight loss and improving cholesterol?

Forget salad, there could be another food that is great for shedding those excess pounds, and it might just help to protect your heart in the long run!

The key to losing weight could surprisingly be walnuts, according to the findings of a new study, whereby scientists found that a diet rich in both olive oil and walnuts – one of the most popular and versatile of all the nuts – could help boost weight loss as well as increasing the ‘good’ HDL cholesterol levels in overweight people.

The weight loss results were comparable to that of being on a lower fat, higher carbohydrate diet and with regards to the findings, the study has recommended people eating even just a handful of them each day.

Researchers involved with the study say it is even more beneficial to eat walnuts which are high in polyunsaturated fats, as they will provide extra boost to heart health as well as lower cholesterol.
Study author Dr Cheryl Rock, of the San Diego School of Medicine at the University of California, said she was surprised by the results demonstrated in the study.

“One of the surprising findings of this study was even though walnuts are higher in fat and calories, the walnut-rich diet was associated with the same degree of weight loss as a lower fat diet.

“Considering the results of this study, as well as previous walnut research on heart health and weight, there’s something to be said for eating a handful of walnuts a day.”

To come to their conclusion, the team of researchers analysed 245 overweight or obese women aged between 22 and 72, all of whom were part of a one-year weight loss programme.

The women were randomly assigned to one of three different diets. The first was a lower fat and higher carbohydrate diet, the second was a lower carbohydrate and higher fat diet, whilst the third was a walnut-rich, higher fat and lower carbohydrate diet.

Those assigned to the walnut-rich diet would consume around 43g (1.5 ounces) of the nuts a day – which works out at around one and a half handfuls.

After a six month follow-up, it was discovered that women across all of the groups had lost an average of nearly 8% of their initial weight.

Women given the walnut-rich diet were found to have similar amounts of weight to the two other groups, however also had the added benefit of noticeable improvements in their cholesterol levels compared to the women in the other groups.

Specifically, there was a significant decrease noted in the LDL cholesterol (the ‘bad’ cholesterol) and an increase in HDL cholesterol (the ‘good’ cholesterol). This was not evident within the other diet groups.

This happened to be particularly noticeable in the women who were insulin-resistant – a precursor of diabetes.

The researchers believe this was the case as the low-carb high-fat diet group were urged to eat more foods rich in monounsaturated fats, found in a variety of foods and oils.

Foods high in monounsaturated fatty acids are believed to improve blood cholesterol levels, thereby lowering the risk of heart disease.

The walnut-rich diet was found to offer a large amount of polyunsaturated fats though, and in fact walnuts are the only nut where the fat is mainly polyunsaturated, which comprises of a high quantity of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).

ALA is a plant-derived form of omega-3 fatty acid, an important part of a healthy working body. Omega 3 must be obtained from a person’s diet due to the body being unable to generate it itself. This ultimately means many have insufficient levels of the fatty acid.

Dr Rock admitted as the study only included women, the results may not be the same for men, and did not measure whether the women actually fully stuck to the diets assigned to them, although the women probably adhered to them considering the weight loss experienced.

“In addition to these findings, we hope to explore the effect of walnuts on satiety, as we believe satiety is a critical factor for maintaining weight loss,” Dr Rock concluded.

Teens who use E-Cigs more likely to start smoking, says study

Teenagers are more likely to begin smoking after trying e-cigarettes, according to new research published in the journal Tobacco Control.
 
The research shows that school pupils who had previously used an e-cigarette device were then approximately 3 times more likely to start smoking cigarettes around year later, compared with those who had never used e-cigarettes.

The use of e-cigarettes in teens is rising; increasing from 5% in 2013 to 8% in 2014. Some studies have concluded that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than smoking widespread concerns that they are simply acting as a ‘gateway’ to smoking regular tobacco-based cigarettes. This is in spite of the fact it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to under-18s in the UK.

A team of experts based at the University of Hawaii monitored 2,338 high school students, a year apart, quizzing them regarding their experiences of either smoking tobacco or ‘vaping’ with electronic devices; if they used them, and if so, how frequently.

Just under a third (31%) of the students had admitted to using e-cigarettes when they were first surveyed in 2013 at the age of 14 or 15, the study found.

After the researchers had questioned the children a year later, this percentage had risen to 38. Overall, 15% of the students had smoked at least 1 cigarette in 2013, increasing to 21% by the following year.

However, it was discovered that whoever had used e-cigarettes in 2013 were actually thrice as likely to times more likely to have smoked tobacco the following year. This finding was still true, even after researchers accounted for factors such as students’ home environment and parental education, according to the authors.

The researchers also found that those that had reported to having the larger frequency of vaping in the first year were likely to regularly smoke later on, which could mean that many students who tried smoking in the study were just experimenting.

The authors of the study wrote: “We followed a sample of high school students over a one-year interval and found that among initial non-smokers, those who used e-cigarettes were more likely to initiate cigarette smoking.

“This suggests that e-cigarette use in adolescence has behavioural costs.

“These findings should be considered for policy discussions about the availability of e-cigarettes to adolescents.”

Those involved in creating the analysis state the study is merely statistical, and no definitive reasons can be pinpointed as to why some of the children had begun to smoke.

The study had also not taken into account other factors, such as parents’ smoking habits or attitudes to smoking.

E-cigarettes are used by around 1.3 million people in the UK, intended to resemble a traditional cigarette. Liquid nicotine is converted into a mist, or vapour, that the user inhales – simulating the process of smoking. As the devices emit a smoke-like water vapour, this has led to the term ‘vaping’ being commonly referred to for their use.

Smoking rates have dropped, but there are huge concerns that the e-cigarettes could be helping to encourage youngsters to begin smoking who previously never had, critics arguing they are a gateway to nicotine addiction and there needs to be further research into the impact on our health.