A study in Canada has found that when pharmaceutical companies market their wares to consumers on TV, online and in print media, the cost of the marketing accelerates the price increases for those drugs. As a result, prescription drug costs increased by 15.4 percent a year in the time period examined by Canadian researchers. Coincidentally, the costs of marketing all these drugs to consumers have increased more than 330 percent in recent years.

The researchers conclude that other countries that are considering following the U.S. lead in allowing drug companies to market pharmaceuticals directly to consumers should get a second opinion. It’s an expensive proposition.

A growing body of research, however, has firmly established that you may be able to restore the good bugs by taking probiotic supplements or eating fermented foods (like sauerkraut) in between your doses of antibiotics. They’re particularly helpful for alleviating diarrhea caused by antibiotics.

“We found a clear beneficial effect of probiotics in preventing or treating antibiotic-associated diarrhea,” says Sydney J. Newberry, a nutritional scientist and a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

In Newberry’s research, use of probiotics was associated with a 42 percent lower risk of developing diarrhea when taking antibiotics as compared to not using probiotics. Experts advise taking probiotics supplements a few hours after taking antibiotics so that the medicine doesn’t kill the helpful organisms in the supplements.

A national survey of students in the 5th to 10th grades shows that TV viewing is associated with unhealthy eating and bad food choices. The more television kids watch, the worse their diets become.

Researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Md., conclude: “Television viewing time (is) associated with lower odds of consuming fruit or vegetables daily and higher odds of consuming candy and sugar-sweetened soda daily, skipping breakfast at least one day per week and eating at a fast food restaurant at least one day per week…”

Parents be warned: Letting kids watch unlimited television is sending them on a path to an unhealthy diet.

“There is something parents can do,” researcher Ronald Iannotti told The New York Times. “Limit TV time, and make sure healthy snacks, particularly fruits, are available.”

Unfortunately, the same dynamics are often at work in a hospital. But it isn’t your appetite that’s at risk; it’s your health.

Studies at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business show that when hospitals are overflowing, surgery patients are sent home before they’re healthy enough. A shockingly high number of them consequently have to be readmitted to the hospital within three days.

“Discharge decisions are made with bed-capacity constraints in mind,” says researcher Bruce Golden.

“Patient traffic jams present hospitals and medical teams with major, practical concerns, but they can find better answers than sending the patient home at the earliest possible moment,” Golden adds. “Too often, the biggest problem is that hospitals just don’t plan ahead, and this is what gets them in trouble. There are logistical alternatives to sending a patient home too soon.”

The two-year dietary study found that a high fat diet helped diabetes patients increase their HDL (good) cholesterol and dropped their blood sugar levels. They also lost about 9 pounds. A group that ate a low fat diet also lost weight but their blood sugar and cholesterol did not change.

“You could ask yourself if it really is good to recommend a low-fat diet to patients with diabetes, if despite their weight loss they get neither better lipoproteins nor blood glucose levels,” says researcher Fredrik Nyström.

A study presented at a meeting of the European Society of Endocrinology shows that people who scarf down their food are 2.5 times more likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes than those who take their time eating. In the past, other researchers have shown that eating fast increases your chance of gaining weight. This is the first time scientists have linked fast eating to diabetes.

In 1898 Horace Fletcher first started thoroughly chewing his food to improve his health. In 2012, many medical researchers now thoroughly agree with his slow-food philosophy.

A study at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston shows that “… only one month of moderate OSA produces altered cerebrovascular function which could result in a stroke. A finding that highlights the detrimental impact OSA can have on the body,” says researcher Randy Crossland.

According to Crossland, some researchers estimate that up to 85 percent of people with clinically significant sleep apnea do not even know they suffer the condition. Obesity and aging are strongly associated with OSA.

“As the prevalence of obesity is rising, and the population continues aging, we expect the rates of OSA to rise. It should also be noted that non-obese individuals and even children can have OSA,” he notes. And while OSA is seen more often in men than in women, some researchers believe that the true rate in females has been underestimated.

The common signs and symptoms of OSA include: habitual snoring, daytime sleepiness, enlarged neck size, morning headache, sexual dysfunction, and mood and behavioral changes.

“OSA can have a detrimental impact on a person’s body and their life. It is a serious, yet treatable, disorder that should not be taken lightly,” observes Mr. Crossland.

If you’ve survived a heart attack, being close to a highway increases your chances of dying. A study at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston shows that heart attack survivors who live within about 100 yards of a busy road suffer a 27 percent higher risk of death within 10 years than survivors living at least 1,000 yards away.

“Living close to a highway is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes in those with underlying cardiac disease,” warns Murray Mittleman, M.D., director of the center’s cardiovascular epidemiological research program. “Besides air pollution, exposure to noise could be a possible mechanism underlying this association.”

“This study adds to the growing knowledge linking roadways and traffic to health problems…” says Dan Costa, Sc.D., DABT, National Program Director for Air Climate & Energy Research in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Research.

And the problem is growing as fast as America’s waistline.

A study discussed Monday at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Weight of the Nation Conference in Washington, D.C., indicates that by 2030, 42 percent of the U.S. population will be obese. This analysis forecasts a 130 percent increase in severe obesity over the next 20 years.

“Should these forecasts prove accurate, the adverse health and cost consequences of obesity are likely to continue to escalate without a significant intervention,” concludes senior author Justin Trogdon, Ph.D.

Trogdon’s study suggests that the healthcare system will have to bear the weight of 32 million more obese people.  The extra medical costs are expected to climb exponentially if we can’t control our weight.

“Keeping obesity rates level could yield a savings of nearly $550 billion in medical expenditures over the next two decades,” says lead author Eric Finkelstein, Ph.D., associate research professor at the Duke Global Health Institute and deputy director in the Health Services Research Program at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore.

Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that men who eat breakfast lowered their risk of diabetes by more than 20 percent.

The study, which looked at the meal habits of about 30,000 men for 16 years, also found that if you eat three meals a day and don’t regularly skip eating, you lower your diabetes risk by about 25 percent. Scientists believe that eating breakfast and following regular meal schedules keeps your blood sugar at a more constant level. As a result, your blood sugar stability may make diabetes less likely.