You’re unlikely to see a doctor prescribe a few Ben Stiller movies in lieu of a course of antibiotics. But there is some truth to the old adage “Laughter is the best medicine.”

Whether you prefer to chuckle, chortle, cackle or crack up, the end result is the same. Laughter relieves stress. It also boosts the immune system and reduces blood pressure. It may even help stave off heart disease and prevent a heart attack.

No joke.

In one intriguing study, University of Maryland Medical Center researchers determined that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh compared with people without heart disease. Those with heart problems often failed to recognize humor and were less likely to use it themselves.

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I can’t say the same for egg nog, fruit cake, sugar plums or figgy pudding, but if you indulge a bit this holiday season on dark chocolate, take heart.

Consuming a modest amount of dark chocolate – about one small square of it two or three times a week – is actually good for you, new research indicates.

Scientists had already determined that moderate amounts of dark chocolate have a beneficial effect on blood pressure.

But a new Italian study of thousands of men and women found that it also appears to markedly reduce levels of C-reactive protein – a measure of inflammation in the body that has been tied to heart disease.

“It is enough to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease for one third in women and one fourth in men,” said lead researcher Dr. Romina di Giuseppe in a written statement. “It is undoubtedly a remarkable outcome.”

Eating just a little bit of the bittersweet chocolate significantly reduces the risk of heart disease, researchers found.

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Is an ounce of prevention really worth a pound of cure? Or how about an extra year of life?

Cardiovascular experts believe so, calculating that if everyone with a risk factor for heart attack or stroke – 78 percent of the American adult population! – got serious about prevention, it would boost the average life expectancy by 1.3 years.

Researchers determined that if everyone took “to heart” the known preventive strategies for cardiovascular problems and made positive lifestyle changes, the incidence of heart attacks would decrease by 63 percent, while stroke would drop by 31 percent.

That is no small benefit. But unfortunately, it requires no small feat.

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The health community was energized in recent years when research hinted that basic vitamins might ward off prostate cancer. Prevention in a bottle? What could be better than that?

Well, lots of things, actually.

As it turns out, recent studies are finding that dietary supplements such as vitamin E and selenium won’t stave off the common cancer. One study of 300,000 men even found those who took more than seven multivitamins a week were more likely to develop an aggressive prostate cancer – and had twice the risk of dying from the disease.

Other recent research echoes these findings. A much anticipated large-scale federal trial of selenium and vitamin E supplements found they do not prevent prostate cancer, and could potentially be harmful. Researchers noted that men over age 50 who were taking vitamin E were slightly more likely to develop prostate cancer. And those who took selenium had higher rates of type 2 diabetes.

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Many women equate ultrasound screening with pregnancy, having undergone the painless procedure on their growing abdomen to get a precious first look at baby. But don’t be surprised if your doctor soon orders an ultrasound for something entirely different – the health of your breasts.

The same tool that so precisely monitors and measures a growing fetus – without exposing mother or child to radiation – is also being employed in the detection of breast cancer. New research shows that ultrasound picks up small tumors that mammograms sometimes miss.

Although mammograms are still considered the gold standard for breast cancer screening, ultrasounds are increasingly being recommended as an adjunct in women at high risk for the disease, with good reason. In one recent study of ultrasound screening on 2,809 women, doctors found cancer in 12 breasts that mammography had failed to detect. 

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Navigenics is pleased to announce a new relationship with a national network of physicians who practice proactive, personalized medicine. Through the collaboration, the Navigenics genetic testing service will be made available to their patients, who number more than 100,000 nationwide. I’d like to share some of the information about this collaboration, as described in a news release issued today:

National Physician Group MDVIP Partners with Navigenics to Provide Personal Genetic Tests for Preventive Medicine Practice

Boca Raton, FL and Redwood Shores, CA – December 8 2008 – MDVIP, Inc., a leading national network of physicians dedicated to preventive and personalized healthcare, and Navigenics, Inc., a leading personal genomics testing company, today announced a first of its kind collaborative effort to integrate genomic-based preventive healthcare in physician offices. Through this initiative, Navigenics’ genomic testing service will be available to MDVIP affiliated physicians to help patients understand their genetic risk factors for disease and work with their doctors to develop individualized prevention plans.

Navigenics will provide MDVIP patients and their affiliated physicians with insight into their personal genetic predisposition for developing certain medical conditions where primary or secondary prevention could improve health outcomes. The Navigenics test will identify individuals’ genetic markers for developing such conditions as type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart attack, and celiac disease. Working with their personal MDVIP physician and Navigenics’ board-certified Genetic Counselors, individuals can chart and implement a personalized wellness course to help decrease their overall risk, delay disease onset or prevent it altogether.

“We have for many years been closely watching the field of genomic testing evolve into a tool that can enhance and inform the practice of preventive medicine,” said Edward Goldman, M.D., CEO of MDVIP. “We believe that Navigenics’ preventive genomics service has the potential to be an innovation that could significantly enhance patient care.”

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“All natural sweetener.”

“Zero calories.”

Artificial sweeteners have been billed as the perfect alternative to sugar – a way for weight-conscious adults to have their cake and eat it, too. Yet more and more, a modicum of restraint is certainly advised when reaching for those packets of aspartame or sucralose.

While it’s true that sugar alternatives are much sweeter than table sugar, requiring smaller amounts to achieve the same level of sweetness, they won’t necessarily help you lose weight and keep it off. Simply taking the sugar out of a slab of chocolate cake doesn’t miraculously transform it into a low-calorie, high-nutrient food. At the end of the day, it’s still a slab of chocolate cake, with calories from flour, shortening, eggs, and other ingredients like nuts. So if you eat too much of it, your body will be the worse off from the encounter, regardless of which sweetener is used.

In fact, a growing body of evidence suggests that, when compared with sugar, no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder for people to control their body weight.

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If you’ve been blessed with genes that help you look good in your jeans, lucky you.

But you haven’t escaped the need to exercise.

Sure, being able to eat all you want without getting fat might seem like a blessing. Unlimited ice cream, limited time on the treadmill – what could sound better?  But studies clearly have shown that weight is not the best measurement of health. And if you’re physically inactive you aren’t doing yourself any favors, no matter what size you are.

Case in point: Recent research found that about one in four slim people had two cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar levels that are typically associated with obesity. Some of the obese people in the study, in fact, were in much better metabolic health than some who were considered to have “healthy” weights.

“We found that 23.5 percent of normal-weight adult Americans — or about 16.3 million people — are metabolically abnormal when it comes to heart-disease risk,” said Rachel Wildman, the study’s lead author, in a written statement.

I can’t say it enough: Skinny people need to exercise, too.

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