Consumer Guide Online

Archive for August, 2008

What’s the best way to do strength workout when I’m on the road and don’t nave access to a gym?

answer:
The most important thing to do if you travel frequently is to establish a “ritual workout” you always do. If you have to make up something on the spot, you’re more likely to skip your training. One of my favorite in-the-hotel-room strength workouts involves only two exercises: A single circuit consists of five “pistols” on each leg and five explosive pushups. Although you need only 15 minutes to work out (every other day), you will maintain your muscle mass. Time yourself and see how many circuits you can complete in 15 minutes; try to beat that the next time. PISTOLS (for right leg; switch legs for the left side)

1.Start in a standing position with a chair behind you. Extend your arms in front of you and extend your left leg forward.

2.Balancing on your right leg, slowly descend until your butt touches the chair; return to the starting position by reversing this motion. (Keep your foot flat on the ground.) Too difficult? Use a higher chair, or put pillows on the chair to raise the seat. PUSHUPS

3.Start from the standard pushup position and, maintaining a rigid torso, lower your chest toward the floor. Then push up explosively, ideally getting some air on the movement.

I run about 60 miles a week, but my legs look like twigs. How can I beef them up?

answer:
Here’s a plan that will pack lean muscle onto those chicken legs in just 6 weeks. Ever notice the wheels on world-class sprinters? Sprinting builds muscle, so replace two long runs every week with intense speed intervals of 100 to 400 yards. Run a total of 600 to 800 yards for each workout (for example, eight 100-yard sprints or two 400-yard sprints). Run at close to maximum intensity for each sprint. Also, do lower-body exercises twice a week, which is enough to help you add muscle but not so much that you won’t be able to completely recover between workouts. I recommend squats and lunges using a challenging weight; do three to five sets, with five to eight repetitions per set. This time-tested, effective combination will get you the results you’re after.

I’m relocating to a new city. How do I find the best public school for my kids?

answer:
Start your search at great schools.net Enter the desired city in the search window and you’ll get a list of all the local schools, which you can then compare side by side in academics, state test scores, student-to-teacher ratio, and economic level. There are even parent reviews to help you further narrow the field. Once you find a few schools that sound appealing, visit them in person. “Test scores are only part of the equation,” says Brandi Roth, Ph.D., coauthor of Choosing the Right School for Your Child. “You have to get a feel for the school.”

Ask pointed questions during your visits: (1) What is the annual rate of staff turnover? Anything higher than 10 percent and you should look into the reason why, says Roth. (2) How qualified is the staff? Look for an average of 3 years’ experience, and ask where they were educated. A study by the Illinois Education Research Council found that in high schools with poorly qualified teachers Cudged by licensing exam scores, colleges attended, and years of experience), only 15 percent of students were prepared for college. In schools with highly qualified teachers, that number rose to 50 percent.

Also, “notice whether your questions are met with candid answers,” says Roth. “If they’re not, think about how they’ll disseminate information to you in the future.”

My wife and I are having a son. I want him circumcised. She doesn’t. Is one way better than the other, healthwise?

answer:
No. Some physicians might tell you that circumcision can prevent urinary-tract infections in infants and reduce the risk of penile cancer and STD transmission in adults, but the situation isn’t that clear-cut, so to speak. “After looking at 40 years of research, we found that the health benefits are not so significant as to create a national recommendation to circumcise,” says Alan Fleischman, M.D., a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ task force on circumcision.

Of much greater concern are the procedure’s sexual repercussions. When a doctor performs a circumcision, “he removes up to 50 percent of the skin on the penile shaft—skin that would normally grow into about 12 square inches of highly erogenous tissue,” says Ronald Goldman, Ph.D., executive director of the Circumcision Resource Center (circumcision.org), in Boston. “Men circumcised as adults describe the difference in pleasure as seeing in black-and-white as opposed to color.” Studies also show, says Goldman, that the experience can have long-term psychological repercussions, ranging from sexual phobias to posttraumatic stress disorder. That said, if you yourself are circumcised or support the procedure on religious grounds, you might still want to lobby your wife in favor of circumcision. “Boys who grow up cut differently than their fathers or community members can be affected emotionally and psychologically,” says Fleisch-man. “That needs to be taken into account when the final choice is made.”

I fly all the time. What can I do in-flight to make sure I don’t catch a bug from another passenger?

answer:
Turn on the overhead vent and direct the airflow in front of your face. “On any given flight, there’s a 40 percent chance that you’ll sit within a few rows of someone with an upper-respiratory infection,” says Mark Gendreau, M.D., an emergency-medicine specialist at the Lahey Clinic, in Massachusetts, and an expert in aviation-related illness. “The vent will help tumble away any germs being spread.” Bring along disinfecting wipes to sanitize your cushions, tray table, seat belt, and armrest, and clean your hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer like Purell. Finally, drink plenty of fluids. “The desert like air in the cabin can dry your mucus cilia [nose hairs], preventing them from filtering out airborne germs,” says Gendreau.

Every restaurant has its own policy, so call ahead. Some will allow you to bring your own bottle, some will charge a cork age fee, and some will flat-out refuse. Also, make sure you’re not bringing a bottle that the restaurant sells. This is especially important if the eatery has an extensive list, says David Gordon, the wine director at Manhattan’s Tribeca Grill, which boats a wine list 1,700 selections deep. “When a restaurant has a vast list, you should make sure you’re bringing a special bottle for a special occasion,” says Gordon. After all, you don’t want the corkage fee (typically, $20 to more than $75 per bottle) to trump the price of the wine.

I’ve heard bad things about omega-6 fatty acids. What’s the difference between them and omega-3s?

answer:
Both omega-6s and omega-3s are essential fatty acids (EFAs), and although they’re critical to human health, the body can’t make them on its own. 0mega-3s get more press because of their specific physiological benefits, which include reducing the risk of heart disease and alleviating hypertension and depression. 0mega-6s, on the other hand, are important for joint and skin health. “The problem is that the typical American diet contains 11 to 30 times more omega-6s than omega-3s,” says Cynthia Sass, R.D., M.P.H., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Researchers believe this imbalance can lead to inflammation, which studies have linked to an increased risk of heart disease and cancer.

So what’s the right balance? “One to four times more omega-6s than omega-3s,” says Sass. Since few nutrition labels contain fatty-acid info, Sass recommends cutting back on known omega-6-heavy foods (meat, poultry, eggs, and corn and soybean oils) and bulking up on omega-3-rich foods (fish, walnuts, and olive oil). You might also want to take an omega-3 supplement, such as fish-oil capsules or a mixture of DHA and EPA (two common forms of omega-3). “Keep your daily dose to 1,000 milligrams,” says Sass.

My good friend is very unhappy in her current job, which she finds really mundane and unchallenging. She doesn’t want to quit though, both because of the attractive salary, and also because it will not reflect well on her resume if she quits her first full-time job after only two months. However, as a friend, I can see that she is really miserable and that she would probably derive more job satisfaction from a position in another field. Should I advise her to quit this job or should she stick it out for a few more months?

answer:
Two months? That isn’t long enough to evaluate the job at all. And yes, unless there is a very good reason it won’t reflect well that she gave in after such a short time. And I do think that it is a bit dramatic to be really miserable in two months, unless she is being horribly bullied in the office. There are parts of every job that are mundane. So, your friend should speak to her boss, tell her that she would love to take on more responsibility and challenges, and instead of feeling stuck in a rut, try to do something with the situation.

My brother was in a car accident over two years ago and he has been paralyzed waist-down since then. It’s becoming more and more difficult to care for him. I’ve noticed in the past year that he has become deeply depressed. Do you know of any counselors we can take him to? Also, I know this is a long-shot, but do you know of any kind of breakthrough that offers hope to paralytics?

answer:
I am sorry to hear about your brother. Depression is a common problem with young healthy people who suddenly become paralyzed in a part of the body. As for your long-shot, there may be some hope in the future when there is adequate stem cell research. I know of stem cells being used to correct nerve problems in diabetic eyes and also in Parkinson’s disease. In the future, it may be possible to treat paralysis.

There have been many claims that there is such a thing as female ejaculation, but it was always dismissed as urination during intercourse. Newer evidence has shown that higher levels of a compound—prostatic acid phosphatase—have been found in patients who claim to have female ejaculation. This compound is found in high levels in male ejaculate and originates in the prostate.

Researchers have taken an anatomical approach to the issue of whether prostatelike components are in female ejaculate. They believe that if women ejaculate a fluid that is not urine, then it must be coming from someplace other than the bladder. The most likely source was thought to be the female paraurethral, or Skene’s, glands. Autopsy tests of Skene’s glands have found substances identical to those found in the prostate. Some experts now call these glands the “female prostate.”