Smoking addictions could soon become a thing of the past. An anti- nicotine vaccine is about to go before the FDA.

Nabi BioPharmaceuticals was awarded a $10 million grant to take its anti-nicotine vaccine, NicVAX, to Phase III clinical trials. The testing began last week.

NicVAX is designed to stimulate the immune system to generate antibodies that latch on to nicotine in a smoker’s body and actually prevent nicotine from ever entering the brain. As a result, the brain does not produce the positive-sensation stimulants as a response to nicotine.

Smoking-related diseases cause an estimated 440,000 American deaths each year. Smoking costs the United States over $150 billion annually in health care costs.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

The flu pandemic has left many concerned especially with talk of a vaccine shortage.  But that doesn’t mean there is a shortage on ways to prevent you from getting sick.  Here are three simple steps that will protect your health not just now but all year long.

Step 1  Be sure you regularly disinfect the kitchen sink, the trash can, the bathroom faucet and the tub. These places harbor a lot of germs. The champion of the contamination? The kitchen sponge. Clean it in the dishwasher weekly.

Step 2  Lace up your sneakers and take a brisk walk five times a week. Regular exercise can help reduce chances of catching a cold.

Step 3  Include probiotics in your daily diet to help your immune system ward off bad bacteria. Try yogurt, fortified drinks, or a tasty treat like the 90-calorie Attune Milk Chocolate Crip Probiotic Bar.

There is more proof to convince smokers that if they want to kick their habit they need to hit the gym. A new study uses images to show how getting your blood moving by exercising for even 15 minutes minimizes your cravings to smoke. Here is a look at how the study was performed.

• The study – published in the journal Addiction, looked at 20 moderately heavy smokers. The smokers abstained from smoking for 15 hours before the trial.
• All participants were shown smoking-related as well as neutral images before either 15 minutes of sitting or exercising at a moderate intensity on a stationary bike.
• Afterwards, they were again shown the images. The research team used the latest eye tracking technology to measure and record their precise eye movements. They were able to show not only the length of time people looked at smoking-related images but also how quickly pictures of cigarettes could grab their attention, compared with non-smoking matched images.
• The study showed an 11% difference in how long the exercises vs. non-exercisers looked at the smoking related images.
• Also, after exercise, participants took longer to look at smoking-related images.
• Exercise, therefore, appears to reduce the power of the smoking-related images to grab visual attention.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

Kellogg’s was doing its part to keep kids healthy during the flu season or at least that’s what they led consumers to believe. A bright yellow label displayed over the cereal box said their Cocoa Krispies cereal were now offering immunity support. With the flu season in full swing parents were grabbing it off the grocery store shelves to help keep their kids healthy. It turns out the labeling may have been a trick.

Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, said “The idea that eating Cocoa Krispies will keep a kid from getting swine flu, or from catching a cold, doesn’t make sense.”She points out that all nutrients bolster immunity, and not just the Cocoa Krispies. Marion sent a letter to the FDA about this, months ago.  Other skeptics are also convinced the cereal company was just trying to make additional revenue in the wake of the swine flu hysteria.

The cereal giants have agreed to pull the label.  But Kellogg’s, is still standing behind their claims and have plead not guilty.

You can’t believe everything you read no matter how good it sounds or how good it tastes for that matter.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

With all the concerns over seasonal flu and swine flu (H1N1) vaccinations and whether the vaccinations will be delivered in time…you may be wondering if there is anything you can do on your own to protect yourself from the pandemic. Here are some home remedies that could save you from being infected.

1. Wash your hands with soap in warm to hot water. The amount of infection that could be transferred to other parts of the body can be reduced. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

2. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

3. Try to avoid close contact with sick people. If you must have close contact with a sick person (for example, hold a sick infant), try to wear a facemask or N95 disposable respirator

4. Clean your nose.  Dip a cotton swab in warm salt water and clean out your nostrils. Right before bedtime is a great time to do this. The salty water will cleanse your nostrils and prevent anything that may have settled in your nose from germinating further.

5. Bring on the Vitamin C. Vitamin C supplements and eating lots of foods that are high in Vitamin C can give your immune system just the boost it needs to ward off the flu and other virus’ that may be lurking around.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

There is yet another food scare to warn you about and it could affect your health.

Some people are refusing to eat canned foods from their pantry. A new consumer report says a potentially dangerous chemical called bisophenal A is being used in the production of hard plastics including plastic water and baby bottles.

The chemical has also been found in certain name-brand canned foods, according to a study. In its December issue, Consumer Reports tested soups, juice, tuna and green beans, and found that 19 name-brand foods contain some amount of BPA.

And organic foods were not exempt — they didn’t always have lower levels of BPA than non-organic foods. Some labels also declared their cans BPA-free, but this claim wasn’t always true either.

Consumer Reports found that the highest levels of bisphenol-A were found in Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans Blue Lake, Progresso Vegetable Soup and Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Soup.

The study also found much-maligned BPA in Similac Advance Infant Formula and Nestle Juicy Juice in a can.

Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that low levels of BPA exposure are safe for people and will not affect your health.

What to do
You can and avoid putting plastics the microwave (where they can release dangerous chemicals when heated) or the dishwasher (where they can degrade in the heat and excessive moisture). You can also choose smart plastics that use polyethylene (#1, #2, and #4) and polypropylene (#5), which require the use of less toxic additives. They also are non-chlorinated.

You can also select freezer bags or fresh produce which is also healthier than canned goods.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

If you chug back a couple of diet sodas a day, you may want to reconsider your choice of beverage.

One study examined more than 3,000 women for 11 years, and found those who drank two or more diet sodas a day were at double the risk for kidney damage.

The researchers did not learn whether it was the soda or the artificial sweetener in the drink that caused the damage.

“You can’t conclude that the sodas caused this problem conclusively but it suggests that there’s an affect on kidney function so people have to be aware that there’s a possible issue in doing anything in excess,” said Dr. David Goldfarb, kidney specialist with NYU Langone Medical Center.

Goldfarb said this is one of the first studies on the effects of diet soda and a lot more needs to be done before people make drastic changes.

Moderating your diet soda intake is the best thing to do for now.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the healthcare industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.

The H1N1 may spread worse because people say they can’t afford to to stay home if they get sick.

Public health experts are raising concerns that workers who deal with the public, like waiters and child care employees, are jeopardizing others by reporting to work sick because they do not get paid for days they miss for illness.

Tens of millions of people, or about 40 percent of all private-sector workers, do not receive paid sick days, and as a result many of them cannot afford to stay home when they are ill. Even some companies that provide paid sick days have policies that make it difficult to call in sick, like giving demerits each time someone misses a day.

Public health experts say policies like these encourage many people with H1N1, commonly called swine flu, to report to work despite official warnings from the government and most companies that they should stay home.

Some people who are really caught on a weekly income might say they are desperate for money and that they are going into work even though they are sick.

Many of these financially squeezed workers might also send their flu-stricken children to school, infecting others. Many will not see a doctor because they do hot have health insurance. Although there are affordable health insurance plans.

Well before President Obama declared H1N1 a national emergency, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was emphasizing that businesses should adopt “flexible leave policies” to allow workers with the flu to stay home. In one advisory, the C.D.C. encouraged employers “to develop nonpunitive leave policies.”

Despite such recommendations, some employees say they have no choice but to go to work sick.

Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the health care industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.