SANTA CRUZ, Calif. ― Babies can be good yoga partners. Just ask the folks at Pacific Cultural Center’s Ashtanga Yoga Institute. Babies live in the present moment, are flexible and like to stretch. But the Mama & Baby Yoga classes are really for the moms. One or two volunteers attend, holding and distracting the little ones who have had their fill of a quiet yoga practice, allowing their moms to...

LOS ANGELES ― Researchers have some reassuring news for the legions of coffee drinkers who can’t get through the day without a latte, cappuccino, iced mocha, double-shot of espresso or a plain old cuppa joe: That coffee habit may help you live longer. A new study that tracked the health and coffee consumption of more than 400,000 older adults for nearly 14 years found that java drinkers were les...

The health hazards of smoking are well known: Cigarettes are known to contribute to the prevalence of cancers of the mouth, head, lung, breast, bladder, stomach and other parts of the body. It is also linked to coronary heart disease and many other fatal disorders. It is suspected of causing infertility in women and raises the risk of fetal deformity during pregnancy. The World Health Organizati...

Genetics can predict success of smoking cessation and whether a person is likely to respond to drugs for nicotine addiction, U.S. researchers say. “We found that the effects of smoking cessation medications depend on a person’s genes,” first author Dr. Li-Shiun Chen of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in a statement. The research focused on specific variations in ...

CHICAGO (AP) ― New lung cancer screening guidelines from three medical groups recommend annual scans but only for an older group of current or former heavy smokers. The advice applies only to those aged 55 to 74. The risks of screening younger or older smokers or nonsmokers outweigh any benefits, according to the guidelines. About 8 million Americans would be eligible for screening under the ne...

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Swept by the barefoot running craze, ultramarathoner Ryan Carter ditched his sneakers for footwear that mimics the experience of striding unshod. The first time he tried it two years ago, he ran a third of a mile on grass. Within three weeks of switching over, he was clocking six miles on the road. During a training run with a friend along a picturesque bike path near downtow...

Caffeine is a substance found in food and pharmaceutical products that exerts various biological effects on the body. About 3/4 of the caffeine that we consume comes from coffee. Coffee made from coffee beans contains the highest level of caffeine and one cup of black coffee has approximately 103-112mg of caffeine. A single cup of the instant coffee commonly consumed in Korea contains approxima...

As the main patent for Viagra has expired, generic versions of the “blue magic pill” are expected to rush into pharmacies. The release of generics is expected to give wider and easier access to treatment for people suffering from erectile dysfunction, since prices are expected to be far lower than for the original drugs. According to the Korea Food and Drug Administration, a total of 28 generic...