1 Million Mass. Residents Exposed to Secondhand Smoke in their Homes

Nearly 1 million non-smoking people in Massachusetts are exposed to secondhand smoke from neighbors. These people live in apartments or attached houses, according to a report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette smoke can come into homes of non-smokers through ventilation systems, loose floorboards, and windows. Exposure to second-hand smoke has been associated with cancers and heart disease. If you are still smoking, make it your New Year’s resolution to quit. If killing yourself isn’t bad enough, you’re killing your neighbors too. [Globe]

Cardio lovers rejoice! A new study says that running burns more fat than weights. Before you put down the kettlebell, the popularity of all the “push weight” workouts aren’t going anywhere, and strength and resistance training are still important, but for now, those of us that love cardio can sweat in relief. The Duke University study had 234 overweight and obese adults who did not exercise regularly assigned to one of three workouts: a resistance training workout (three days of weight lifting a week); an aerobic workout (running 12 miles a week); or a combination workout (three days of weight lifting plus 12 miles of running a week). The workout regimens lasted eight months.The aerobic training group lost more weight and fat mass than the resistance-training group. [NBC News]

A yoga class in San Diego is being protested by some conservative parents. Because this class isn’t in a gym or studio, it is in a first-grade classroom. And the yogis are all 6 and 7-year-olds. The parents think that because the funding comes from the Jois Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in memory of the father of Ashtanga yoga, that religious Hindu beliefs that go with the practice are polluting their minds. Seriously people?  School officials say that doing yoga has a calming affect on the kids and that it promotes their mental and physical well-being. [New York Times]

Shoveling snow can burn off calories from a heavy meal, but it can also send you to the hospital. According to the Cleveland Clinic, if you have coronary heart disease, it’s time to put down the shovel. Shoveling snow sends more than 11,000 people to the hospital every year. While most have orthopedic injuries, seven percent have cardiac problems, and many of these are heart attacks. [Cleveland Clinic]

Heavy coffee drinkers are shown to have a lower oral cancer risk. Researchers discovered that people who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee a day had half the risk (49 percent) of dying from throat cancers compared to those who only occasionally or never drink coffee. Researchers looked at 968,432 men and women enrolled in the Cancer Prevention Study II, a study conducted by the American Cancer Society. [CBS News]