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" Top 3 Lies We Tell Our Doctors More than half of women hedge the truth when talking to their health-care providers, reports a new survey of over 500 women. What do they lie about? \u2022 Following doctor&amp;#039;s orders or taking medication as directed (25% of those surveyed pleaded guilty) \u2022 Diet and exercise habits (24%) \u2022 Smoking (13%)  As for why they don&amp;#039;t come clean, the number one reason \u2014 reported by 64 percent of the fibbers \u2014 is they &amp;quot;don&amp;#039;t want a lecture.&amp;quot; Never Too Late for a Healthy Heart Good news: Adopting a healthy lifestyle even in your 50s or 60s can significantly cut your risk of heart disease or premature death, report researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina, who have been tracking data from nearly 16,000 women and men since the late 1980s. Middle-aged adults who began to eat five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables, exercise for at least two and a half hours a week, keep their weight down, and refrain from smoking decreased their risk of heart disease by 35 percent and their risk of death by 40 percent after four years. &amp;quot;They basically caught up,&amp;quot; says Dana King, M.D., who led the research. &amp;quot;Within four years, their mortality and rate of heart attacks matched those of people who had been doing these things all along.&amp;quot; Even people who didn&amp;#039;t totally clean up their act \u2014 they adopted only three of the four lifestyle changes \u2014 lowered their risk of dying. Added payoff: Although heart disease was the focus of this study, eating right, keep\u00ADing weight down, exercising, and not smoking will also help fend off other serious illnesses, including diabetes and cancer.    Don&amp;#039;t Just Sit There \u2014 Stretch! Deep-vein thrombosis \u2014 a blood clot in the legs that can be fatal if it breaks off and travels to the lungs or heart \u2014 is a hazard for long-distance fliers. But people who work so hard that they never take vacation are at risk, too. In a New Zealand study of 62 patients admitted to the hospital with dangerous blood clots, only 21 percent had recently been on lengthy airplane flights \u2014 but 34 percent had spent long hours at their desks the previous month. What did the researchers count as long hours? These office workers had been at their desks more than eight hours a day, with a three-hour period when they didn&amp;#039;t get up at all, or 12 hours a day, including one hour without moving around. To avoid problems, stand up and stretch your legs every 30 to 60 minutes, advises study author Richard Beasley, M.D., of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand. &amp;quot;Not only is getting up good for your circulation,&amp;quot; he says, &amp;quot;but it&amp;#039;s likely to be good for your concentration as well.&amp;quot; Checkup Time! The annual checkup is alive and well \u2014 and should keep you that way, too. A recent review of 21 studies has found that people who have regular physicals are more likely to get important screening tests, such as cholesterol checks, Pap smears, and mammograms. An unexpected bonus: They also tend to worry less about their health.  Does Your Purse Need a Diet? If you feel as if you&amp;#039;re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulder, look inside your purse. A heavy bag can cause pain in your neck, headaches, and tingling in your fingers, says Jane Sadler, M.D., a family practice physician at Baylor Medical Center in Garland, TX. Limiting your load to three pounds is ideal, Dr. Sadler says, and in no case should you carry more than 10 percent of your body weight. To lighten up:  Clean out your wallet: Carry only the credit cards, papers, and store cards you&amp;#039;ll need that day   Stash a duplicate makeup bag at the office and in your gym locker   Keep your cell phone or PDA in your pocket   How you carry your bag (and your body) matters too:  Wear the strap messenger-style (across your body)   Alternate shoulders   Watch your posture; slumping adds to the strain  Common Drug, Common Mistake Most people who use Tylenol and other brands of acetaminophen are not aware of the drug&amp;#039;s risks, a University of Michigan survey has found. Too much acetaminophen can cause liver damage. But nearly 60 percent of those surveyed weren&amp;#039;t aware of that. Nor did they know that acetaminophen is an ingredient in many combination pain and cough-cold medications, putting them at risk for overdose if they use several products at once. Read labels closely, advises lead author Janice Stumpf, Pharm.D., check maximum dosage, and ask a pharmacist before taking multiple products. The Baby Vaccine You May Need Cases of infant pertussis (whooping cough) have tripled over the past two decades, and it&amp;#039;s usually grown-ups who are passing it on. The problem is that immunity from childhood vaccination wears off, leaving adults vulnerable. Often, they don&amp;#039;t realize they&amp;#039;re infected \u2014 the cough seems like bronchitis. But the infection can be fatal in infants who haven&amp;#039;t received their full round of pertussis shots. That&amp;#039;s why guidelines now call for a booster for teens and adults. Ask your doctor. (Study: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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