By Ashley J. WennersHerron
CNN NY Medical News Intern

As someone who frequently speaks with people who are less than pleasant on the phone, I’ve learned to employ an old telemarketing trick of physically smiling to sound happier. As soon as I set my cheek muscles to work, I feel a little happier, and that tends to rub off on others. The happier I sound, the quicker the person on the other end of the line is soothed. You smile because you are happy, but can you be happy because you smile?

According to several recent studies, emotions’ causes and effects work in a circle; one leads to the other. An April 2009 study, conducted by the University of Cardiff in Wales, determined that women with Botox injections are reportedly happier than women without the cosmetic injections. The boost in happiness is not attributed to a higher self-confidence, as there was not a significant difference in how the women ranked their own attractiveness. It seems that the women who’ve had Botox have an impaired ability to express unhappiness and, as a result, feel happier.

The same holds true for frowning and pain. In a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May 2008, subjects held relaxed or controlled faces, or were allowed to facially express displeasure at a painful heat prompt. Those who were allowed to frown and express their hurt reported feeling more pain than those who did not facially communicate pain.

Not expressing pain, and not feeling as much pain, doesn’t mean you are protecting yourself. Research conducted by Judith Grob, a psychologist at the Netherlands University of Groningen, proposes that suppressed emotion can express itself later. Grob subjected her study groups to a series of distasteful images, asking each group to keep its emotion a secret, or to hold a pen in the mouth to prevent frowning, or to express what group members felt. Each group then answered word puzzles. The groups who were allowed to express their emotions filled in missing letters of a word neutrally, while those who were unable to express their feelings created negative words.

Smile when you want to feel happier, but don’t ignore your negative feelings, either. Feelings don’t go away when they aren’t expressed; rather, they tend to emerge in unanticipated ways. Expressions aren’t working to convince others of your emotions, but also yourself.

Do you use facial expression to induce feelings, or do you express what you feel? Do you think there is a difference?

Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

By Tim Langmaid
CNN Medical Managing Editor

I work with Dr. Sanjay Gupta in CNN’s Medical unit. Sanjay is a practicing neurosurgeon who spends much of his time away from CNN working at a hospital in Atlanta. Since he joined CNN in 2001, Sanjay’s two worlds (brain surgeon and journalist) have collided (so to speak) on a few occasions.

Covering the war in Iraq in 2003, Sanjay was called upon while reporting on the U.S. Navy’s Devil Docs– the military's nickname for a group of physicians who provide battlefield medical care. A 23-year-old Marine hit with a sniper’s bullet was left with massive head trauma. Jesus Vidana was declared dead… twice. But he had a faint pulse when he reached Sanjay, the surgeon. Vidana survived the surgery… and the war.

Sanjay was still in the war zone in Iraq when he was asked about the surgery. His response offers some insight into Sanjay the doctor, the journalist and the human being. “They don't have a neurosurgeon here,” Sanjay said. “They knew that I performed these sorts of operations so they asked me to actually perform that particular operation- which I felt medically and morally was the right thing to do.” A couple of years later, Sanjay wrote: “As a neurosurgeon, I was asked to step back from my journalist's role to look at his gunshot wound to the head. Shortly thereafter, I was removing a bullet from his brain. Within an hour, Jesus had been treated, operated on and was recovering just outside the operating room.”

Sanjay is currently on assignment in Afghanistan. He is covering U.S. military doctors in the battle zone and reporting for Anderson Cooper 360. This week he has been called upon again as a surgeon, this time for an operation that required four surgeons when only three were available. Sanjay is profiling one of the other surgeons tonight on AC360. You should watch—you’ll find that Sanjay has more in common with this doctor than just medicine.

It is controversial whenever a journalist becomes part of the story he or she is covering. I have been a journalist for more than 20 years and I fully understand that. But I also think there are exceptions—and Sanjay is one of those exceptions. I would argue that if Sanjay did not pick up a scalpel in the field when it is requested (and ABSOLUTELY necessary), it would be even more controversial.

Yes, I think Sanjay is an exception. And I think Sanjay’s few battle field patients (and their families) would agree.

Editor’s Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

By Marcy Heard
CNN Producer

Researching cancer statistics for CNN’s Medical Unit reminded me of my own father’s battle with the illness.  It was nearly two years ago when Dad was told he had esophageal cancer.  The diagnosis took the entire family by surprise – we had not heard of esophageal cancer and didn’t even know the symptoms of the disease.  We all knew Dad had not been feeling well, but he was still active and as cantankerous as ever.   Two questions arose during our conversations – How long would he live? and Could he be cured?

Marvin Beck and his daughter, Marcy Heard

The American Cancer Society estimates that 16,470 new cases of esophageal cancer are diagnosed each year.  14,280 people die from the disease and only 16 percent will survive the next five years.  African Americans are twice as likely as Caucasians to develop esophageal cancer and it is seen more frequently in men.  Symptoms of esophageal cancer include difficulty swallowing, weight loss, chest pain and fatigue.  What Dad had repeatedly dismissed as “getting older” and as “heartburn” was actually his body’s way of telling him something was very wrong.

For my father, esophageal cancer treatment meant that most of his esophagus would be removed along with the majority of his stomach.  The radiation and chemotherapy treatments left him weak and unable to live alone.  My brother and his wife cared for him in their own home after each cycle and kept the rest of the family updated on Dad’s progress.  From the very beginning both my brother and father wore yellow LIVESTRONG bracelets and remained positive at the possibility of survival.

The hope for a cure burst into joy in December 2006 with the news that Dad was cancer free.  But the happy news was short lived as Dad was hospitalized just after Christmas.  I remember the nurse cutting the yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet from his wrist as Dad asked if it was really necessary.  When told yes, he scowled and lay back on the pillow.  The news we received was not good; the cancer had returned. Dad’s race ended in the early hours of January 26, 2007 – six months to the day of his diagnosis.

My brother still has Dad’s bracelet and has never taken off the one he wore during Dad’s treatment.  To me, the now worn and faded band is a testimony of one life lost in the battle against cancer.  My father ran the race with great patience and faith; we can only continue to do the same each day while working towards a cure.

I made an online dedication for my father as part of the LIVESTRONG World Cancer Declaration.  Dad continues to be an inspiration to me, and I hope others take the time to sign the declaration as the race for a cure continues.

Editor’s Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

By Akash Goel
CNN Medical intern

New research contradicts the age-old adage, "'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

A study, “Marital Biography and Health at Mid-Life” appearing in the September issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior found that the middle-aged divorced or widowed have 20 percent more chronic health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes and 23 percent more mobility limitations such as difficulty climbing stairs.

While it may seem odd to think of it as such, divorce can be viewed as a public health crisis with national rates estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be nearly 50 percent nationally.

A large field of research suggests that people who are in close, social relationships are healthier. When marriages are functional, they are perhaps the ideal form of social and emotional support. When marriages fail, however, these mental health bedrocks crumble (among other parts of your life.)

Kristi Williams, a professor of sociology at Ohio State University, believes changes in societal perceptions of the idea of marriage are influencing rising divorce rates.

"We've come to view marriage as a source of individual satisfaction whereas in the past marriage was viewed largely as an institution that was necessary in order to raise a family," she says. "When that goes away, it is much easier to dissolve the marriage."

Tal Ben-Shahar, positive psychologist and former Harvard professor, argues instead that we're philosophically less committed to relationships.

"In the past, people stayed together even when they were not happy together — for religious reasons, because of convention, or because they had no real choice," he says, "Today, both men and women have more choice, and it’s more acceptable to divorce — hence easier. And when they face challenges in their relationships, instead of dealing with these challenges, they opt to leave."

Williams suggests that many studies have linked poor marriage quality to poor health outcomes, and thus improving marriage quality should be a worthy public health pursuit.

One example of this is the Department of Health and Human Services’ support of the “Healthy Marriage Initiative,” which provides $150 million each year towards relationship education to help strengthen families.

However on an individual level, one of the most important things we can do to ensure a successful marriage according to Ben Shahar, is learn how to handle gridlock: a term coined by sex therapist David Schnarch that refers to the point at which couples feel stuck in a conflict surrounding issues of children, in-laws, money, or sex and see no way out. While gridlock is often the tipping point leading to divorce, Schnarch believes we should embrace these "the drive wheels and grind stones of intimate relationships" as essential stepping stones towards realizing a successful marriage.

"Marriage operates at much greater intensity and pressure than we expect," Schnarch writes, "so great, in fact, couples mistakenly assume it’s time for divorce when it’s really time to get to work.”

Have you been through a divorce? Did you feel unhealthy as result?

Editor’s Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

As a regular feature of CNNhealth.com, our team of expert doctors will answer readers' questions. Here's a question for Dr. Gupta.

From Barbara, Chicago:

"I’ve lost 5 pounds since jumping on board with your fitness forum. How are you doing so far? Have you noticed changes in the last month?”

Answer:

Barbara, thanks for joining the forum and congratulations on losing 5 pounds! Keep up the great work.

It’s been three weeks since we started the #1023 trending topic group on Twitter. (Read the tips, join the conversation, by typing in #1023 Twitter's search browser) People are already starting to write in about their own progress. I really encourage you to read all the comments coming in – witty, inspiring, proactive and most of all, helpful.

@melmcd99: started morning with a yummy smoothie-2cup-stawberries, 1-banana,1cup-soymilk, 1scoop protein powder and tsp-almond butter! #1023

@JackRyan53: Rotated 10 min walks with 10 minutes of hard labor on the Elliptical. Not a bad routine. Feeling the effects!! #1023

@nhPNP: got up to 4.5 mph on the treadmill- could only sustain it for about 3 min, but it's a start. Love the interval training prgrm. #1023

@claudiasiegel: Friends gave me consequences for skipping exercise. So far it is working. Haven't missed a day since challenge started. #1023

@melmcd99: Walk to your next meeting instead of driving or riding the bus! #1023

As I mentioned in my initial blog, this isn’t about losing weight or inches, but about health and fitness. For my part, I am finally on a strict routine. Since I started three weeks ago, I have been able to work out 15 times (five times per week). I have not missed breakfast once and I have started to meditate almost every afternoon for about 10 minutes.

Without question, it hasn’t always been easy. For example, I had a day when I started work at 6 a.m., finished at 7 p.m., and then jumped on a plane that landed around midnight. As hard as it was, I woke up an hour early on that day – and got in a 4-mile run, followed by push-ups and sit-ups. I immediately look for a hotel gym or any other place to exercise when I am on the road.

In Haiti, I asked our cameraman if I could carry the tripod during our long hikes up hills, and I did curls with the tripod on the way. One of the best pieces of advice about diet that I received:  “don’t eat anything that is not worth eating…”

My biggest concern now is that I am becoming too lean. My producer Danielle pointed out that I was looking skinny after a recent shoot down in Texas. There is no doubt that I am losing weight, but I have to be careful to maintain muscle mass. After all, it is the muscle that is the metabolic engine for your body.

So, I plan on sticking with the program but adding on more strength training with some free weights. Look for more updates soon!

By Madison Park
CNNHealth Writer

I was 22 years old when I plucked a gray strand from my tangled black hair.

I showed my mom the strange silver hair, and she shot me the "I-told-you-so" look.  She always told me that watching TV or being on the computer  would make me prematurely gray.

Her evidence: Every computer engineer she knew got gray in her 30's, but she only knew one computer engineer. So I dismissed this as a kooky theory.

But my gray encounter sparked a curiosity. I’ve seen an occasional silver strand and sometimes a scattering of gray hairs on students, teens and even kids.  One mother wrote to CNNhealth after spotting a strand of gray hair on her 3½-year-old daughter.

Could younger people be graying earlier?  Could it be hereditary or are there environmental factors - like  TVs and computer screens– as my mother suggested?

While researchers have no definitive answers, scientists in Japan say that "genotoxic stress" damages cells which are responsible for hair color. When these melanocyte stem cells die, we get irreversible graying, according to a report released this month in the journal Cell.

Our DNAs are under constant attack by chemicals, ultraviolet light and ionizing radiation, said one of the authors, Dr. Emi Nishimura of Kanazawa University.

In nature, ionizing radiation can come from cosmic rays from the sun and stars, and radioactive materials in rocks and soil, according to the National Institutes of Health. But ionizing radiation also comes from man-made sources, such as X-rays, televisions, smoke detectors, building materials, tobacco smoke, and mining and agricultural products, such as granite, coal, and potassium salt.

"It is estimated that a single cell in mammals can encounter approximately 100,000 DNA damaging events per day,” Nishimura wrote in an email. "But is not clear which kind of sources for genotoxic stress are the major contributors to aging or hair graying."

In Nishimura’s experiment, 7-to-8-week-old brown and black mice were exposed to whole-body X-rays. "If we try lower doses (of ionizing radiation), you can see a salt and pepper pattern in their hair," Nishimura said.  "With a bit higher doses, you can see more white hair.  Most of the hair became white."

While studies in mice don't always apply to humans, they can provide scientific clues.

“We discovered that hair graying, the most obvious aging phenotype, can be caused by the genomic damage response" wrote the researchers from the Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research at Kanazawa University in Japan. The results on mice "suggest that physiological hair graying can be triggered by the accumulation of unavoidable DNA damage."

I haven't seen another gray hair in years, but I'm on the lookout.

By David S. Martin
CNN Medical Senior Producer

It’s hard to turn on the television, pick up the newspaper or go online without reading about massive layoffs at a U.S. company: GM, Caterpillar, Bank of America. That has a lot of workers wondering if they’re next, and that’s stressful.

Lincoln Industries in Lincoln, Nebraska, is trying to keep that anxiety down with something that sounds simple - openness. The reasoning: uncertainty breeds stress. We’ve reported previously on the company’s ambitious wellness program. The company gives workers quarterly checkups, monitoring their blood pressure, body weight and flexibility; offers discounts at local gyms, rewarding workers when they reach fitness goals; and lets employees take paid time away from work to enroll in smoking cessation classes. Now, the company is tackling anxiety during the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression, trying to calm employees’ fears before they build.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty out there,” says Marc LeBaron, Chairman and CEO of the privately-held company, which polishes and plates chrome parts for Harley-Davidson motorcycles and does other metal fabricating and finishing. “Uncertainty always creates more anxiety.” LeBaron says the company’s management communicates information about the business to employees through newsletters, company-wide e-mails, roundtable meetings and an open-door policy. And when he walks across the plant, LeBaron says he’s often quizzed about how the economic news of the day will affect Lincoln Industries.

“We’re very transparent,” LeBaron said. “If there’s bad news, let’s get it out there on the table.” When Harley Davidson cut back on its orders recently, a company-wide e-mail informed employees right away.

Openness is the right corporate prescription for holding down worker stress in uncertain times, says Dr. David Ballard, who manages the Psychologically Healthy Workplace program at the American Psychological Association. “Transparency is really the key," he says. Allowing employee stress and anxiety to rise can hurt a company’s morale and productivity, he adds.

In addition to a corporate culture promoting communication up and down the chain of command, Ballard says companies should also offer wellness programs that help employees identify and manage stress more effectively, and health plans that include mental health services.

With the economic downturn, Lincoln Industries has allowed its workforce to decrease through attrition and eliminated most temporary workers, shrinking its workforce from 560 to 480. The 56-year-old company has never laid off a worker.

What, if anything, has your company done to reduce (or increase) your stress and anxiety in this economic slump?

Editor's Note:  Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.