We were very happy to get a clean bill of skin health last week from dermatologist Lisa Chipps, M.D., who was volunteering her time at the Road to Healthy Skin Tour during one of the van’s Santa Monica, CA, stops. But a lot of other Americans aren’t so lucky — one in five of us will develop some form of skin cancer. That means 2 million cases a year, of which approximately 123,590 will be melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer and potentially deadly if not caught early. Caught late, melanoma’s survival rate drops to 15 percent.

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When we hear about celebrities with their teams of trainers, nutritionists and health professionals, we often wish we too had an entourage pushing, polishing and pampering us so we look and feel our best. Now with Zeel.com, it’s possible to access a network of experts who can help us do just that. And to help VIVmag readers get started, Zeel is offering a special $25 credit through the end of the year!

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Enjoying the beautiful summer weather outside often comes with a price: mosquito bites. And the bites are not just annoying and itchy — mosquitoes can spread West Nile virus, which, in extreme cases, can be fatal. We recently learned that while we’re socializing outside with a cocktail, we might be at a higher risk for the pesky bites. According to Daniel Strickman, acting director for the Overseas Biological Control Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and co-author of Prevention of Bug Bites, Stings, and Disease (Oxford University
 Press, 2009), alcohol makes us more enticing to mosquitoes by creating chemicals that mix with the ones we already emit from our skin and with our breath, amplifying the insects’ attraction to us.

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We’re pleased at the recent announcement that women’s health care classified as preventive — including birth control — will now be free of charge to American women who have health insurance, no longer requiring a co-pay or a deductible. The new rules, which are part of the Affordable Care Act, mandate that insurers further expand their coverage on preventive services for insured women, who already have been entitled to get mammograms, colonoscopies, Pap tests and prenatal care without co-pays since last year. The rules begin to take effect immediately and should be fully enforced by August 2012, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

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We admit to spending a fair amount of time primping and preening to look our best. And, as advocated in VIV, we also try to strike the perfect balance of diet, exercise, sleep and social life essential for well-rounded health. (Though that doesn’t mean we always succeed!) Now there is a way to find out how overall wellness affects outer beauty. Mehmet Oz, M.D., best known for his daily talk show The Dr. Oz Show, and Michael Roizen, M.D., the Cleveland Clinic physician who developed the RealAge health and nutrition concept, are explaining that link through their new interactive website YouBeauty.com.

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When it comes to finding doctors, we’ve relied mostly on word-of-mouth. But that doesn’t mean that our friends’ doctors are in a convenient location — or that they accept our insurance. When it came time to find a new primary care doctor recently, we were pleasantly surprised to discover ZocDoc, a website that easily allowed allowed us to search medical professionals by insurance and location, and to read reviews posted by patients.

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We love these hot summer months for many reasons: picnics, beach getaways — nearly any activity outdoors. And one of our favorite ways to cool off is biting into a juicy watermelon slice in the middle of a sweltering afternoon. It’s appropriate then, that July is National Watermelon Month.

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Most of our friends gave up smoking by their mid-30s, for a variety of reasons: health, expense and, of course, vanity (few facial wrinkles!). But as a former smoker, we know that nicotine addiction is hard to beat. We previously shared a few tips to quit smoking, but for those who still haven’t been able to kick it, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle is conducting an innovative online study that may help smokers finally ditch the smokes for good. The new program will accept up to 450 participants and the enrollment will close on August 31.

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If you love a good environmental whodunnit as much as we do, grab a copy of newly released documentary, Vanishing of the Bees (True Mind/Entertainment One). Narrated by Ellen Page, this 90-minute film explores the complex causes and effects of the still threatening and mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). When stricken with CCD, honeybees do indeed vanish; they leave the hive on their daily missions to collect nectar from flowers, never to return.

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Growing up in a meat-and-potatoes household, our dinner plate usually had a hearty portion of beef, pork or chicken, usually with two types of vegetables and a slice or two of white bread with butter. Since then, guidelines for meal portions have changed as the proportions of the American public have increased; two-thirds of adults are now overweight and one-third is obese. The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) is seeking to make the public aware of an easy visual rule-of-thumb guide for the ideal meal called the New American Plate, which calls for fish, poultry, meat or lowfat dairy taking up one-third or less of the plate and the rest devoted to vegetables, whole grains and beans. With today’s unveiling of the USDA’s new plate icon replacing the controversial pyramid, the AICR has certainly proven itself to be ahead of the curve.

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