Lifestyle

A Texas infant died from Legionnaires' disease just weeks after a home birth which took place in a heated birthing pool, according to details from a new report released by investigators from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Legionnaires' disease is an acute form of pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria, which thrives in warm, moist environments such as bath and hot tubs, and plumbing systems, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "What people need to understand is that if there is a lack of protective coating on tubs, then it becomes a real danger because bacterial are going to reside within those cracks and divots,” says Branham Jarrell, President of Georgia Tub and Tile. “To get rid of minor cracks and chips, a glazing putty wo...

The $1.4 billion that Americans spend each year on tooth whitening products and procedures might be doing more harm than good in some cases. In fact, bleaching one's teeth too much -- an increasingly common habit as Americans yearn for that perfectly pearly set of teeth -- might actually make teeth appear darker, in addition to a number of other less-than-desirable effects. According to a November 24 Daily Mail article, teeth that have been whitened too much will appear darker because over-whitening makes them more transparent, meaning that the mouth's dark shadows show through them. It's not just the appearance of teeth that is compromised by over-bleaching. The Daily Mail reports that over-bleaching results in brittle, hypersensitive teeth, receding gum lines and even the permanent lo...

Retirement is something that almost every working American looks forward to and depends on, but that future isn't so secure for many Americans -- and they know it. One in four Americans think that they will have to work until the age of 80 -- well past the traditional retirement age of 65 -- to be able to retire comfortably. Part of the problem, it seems, is that Americans are more attracted to large lump sums than ensuring that they have a steady stream of income in retirement. According to Time, an academic panel hosted by Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), two professors -- Michael Finke of Texas Tech and Stephen Zelde of Columbia University -- discussed why Americans are not annuitizing and why they should. Though annuities haven't been favored in ...

It's no secret that women worry about their skin. There is an entire industry built on creating products to fix or cover up facial imperfections. The question is, just how much of a problem is problem skin causing us in our daily lives? Well, as a new study by Superdrug shows, the average woman suffers through 50 bad skin days over the course of one year. However, the problem extends well beyond those 50 days, as women spend a great deal of time and energy worrying about the appearance of their skin. Two thousand adult women were polled, and found that one in three women avoid talking to people because they are so insecure about the state of their skin. One in 20 will avoid speaking to the opposite sex if they are having a "bad skin" day. It's more serious than just insecurities, howeve...

Arguably the biggest "first world problems" that modern day young people suffer from are their smart phone batteries dying, and their skinny jeans falling off of their hips. Fortunately, there's a new product that can solve both of those problems. The new XOO Belt is not just a belt -- it's also a battery charger. The XOO Belt contains a 1,300mAh lithium ceramic polymer flexible battery that is sandwiched between the leather in the belt itself. The buckle is an additional 800mAh battery (giving you 2,100mAh total). The buckle does even more than that, though. It acts as a ratchet to tighten the belt around the waist. It's a plug that you can connect your USB adapter to. There is a set of five LED lights along the base of the buckle that tells you how much charge is left in the belt batte...

The Obama Administration has lowered its estimate of how many Americans will enroll under national healthcare insurance exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act, the White House announced Monday. About 9.9 million people will be signed up by the end of next year, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said. This is approximately 30% lower than the latest level predicted by the Congressional Budget Office. The new figures from HHS are based on how quickly Americans have signed up for previous public health insurance programs, and also account for people who won’t stay in their plans. As the Washington Post pointed out in its coverage, this may be seen as a referendum on both the act itself and the President’s overall effectiveness. “The discrepancy re...

There is a plethora of human behaviors that can cause back pain, from lifting heavy items to sitting in an office chair for 40 hours a week, to slumping on the couch for Netflix marathons, but new research shows that there's a new culprit for Americans' back pain problems. According to CBS News, new research performed by chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine Dr. Kenneth Hansraj, which has been accepted for publication in Surgical Technology International, reveals that texting is probably causing a lot of back pain for people. According to a survey taken by the National Institute of Health Statistics, back pain is the most reported type of pain at 27%, followed by headache and neck pain. An estimated 26 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 64...

When you're building a custom luxury home, it's usually a given that it will be located in a luxury area. But real-estate data site Zillow recently wondered: will you be able to see the stars? At the request of Spread Sheet, a column in the Wall Street Journal, Zillow created an index to measure low levels of light pollution against high property values to try to find luxury areas with the best views of the night sky. As Zillow economist Skylar Olsen told the Wall Street Journal, “It’s the combination of [being] out in the boonies but still in luxury markets.” The Zillow team went through over 11,000 postal codes, comparing the median home value as of August to light-pollution data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Each zip code was then ranked on a wei...

Anthony Manfre, an Army veteran, was able to cover most of the cost for his associate's and bachelor degrees using benefits from his GI Bill, though he still took out $4,000 worth of student loans to cover additional expenses. “At the time, I thought that was a lot,” he says. “And now I look back and wish I only owed that much.” However, Manfre decided to pursue both a master's and doctorate degree in marriage and family therapy, and needed to take out additional loans to cover his living expenses. Now, he's riddled with $200,000 of student loan debt. Like many other college graduates, Manfre viewed taking out student loans as a wise investment -- one that would allow him to further his career and create a better future. He assumed he would be able to afford to pay off his loan payme...

The prevalence of teeth whitening procedures has increased by over 300% in the past five years alone, but it seems it's still hard pressed to meet demand. People are now turning to alternative ways to get teeth whitening done, including theft and...charcoal? According to CBS Pittsburgh, authorities in Hempfield Township, PA are still on the search for a couple who allegedly stole at least $1,200 worth of teeth whitening supplies from a local Target Store. In an interview with the local CBS Affiliate, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani said that loss prevention at Target caught the female suspect on surveillance video placing teeth whitening products in her purse. According to Limani, the kits stolen were high-end products that are most likely in the $50 range. The male suspe...