Candy Sagon

Biography: Candy Sagon writes about health topics for AARP. She previously was a reporter with the Washington Post and has written numerous articles on food, health and nutrition for national magazines.

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Candy Sagon 'sPosts

Grilling Meat, Avoiding Cancer: 5 Important Tips

Posted on 05/23/2013 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Food | Personal HealthWarm weather, Memorial Day, July 4th — it’s time to dust off the grill and enjoy some outdoor barbecuing. Just be sure you choose the healthiest ways to cook those steaks, burgers and chicken, so you don’t increase your risk for cancer. It’s not that grilling causes cancer. It’s that any high-heat cooking method that sears or burns the outside of meat causes chemicals to form that have been linked to cancer. Grilling, broiling or even panfrying over high heat …

Nonsmoking Hotel Rooms Still Contain Smoke

Posted on 05/20/2013 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthIf you think the air in your nonsmoking hotel room is free of smoke residue, think again: If a hotel allows smoking in any of its rooms, the smoke will permeate everywhere, including nonsmoking rooms, a new study shows. Nicotine residues and other chemical traces “don’t stay in the smoking rooms,” lead researcher George Matt, chairman of the psychology department at San Diego State University, told USA Today. “They end up in the hallways and in other rooms, including nonsmoking …

Salt Shake-Up: Low-Salt Push May Be Unhealthy

Posted on 05/17/2013 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthFor years we’ve been told to slash our sodium consumption to protect against strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure. But now an influential committee says there’s no scientific evidence that a very low-salt diet cuts the risk of heart disease. In fact, the new Institute of Medicine report says that cutting sodium to 1,500 milligrams (mg) daily — the current government recommendation for older adults (ages 51 and up), African Americans and those with diabetes, high blood pressure and …

Why Angelina Jolie Chose a Preventive Mastectomy

Posted on 05/14/2013 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Entertainment | Personal HealthMovie star Angelina Jolie, told she was at high risk for breast cancer, underwent a preventive double mastectomy, but a prominent cancer geneticist tells AARP the actress should also consider removing her ovaries to reduce her risk of deadly ovarian cancer. Jolie, 37, revealed in a moving essay in the New York Times today that her own mother died of ovarian cancer at 56, which is why Jolie got genetic testing that revealed she has the BRCA1 gene mutation. This …

Does Your Doctor Prescribe Too Many Risky Drugs?

Posted on 05/13/2013 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthMedicare’s popular prescription drug program, Part D, covers more than 35 million people and a billion prescriptions annually, but Medicare has never monitored which doctors may be overprescribing medications that are risky for older adults — namely, drugs that are disorienting, addictive or harmful. The investigative journalism group ProPublica, together with the Washington Post, has now launched a database called Prescriber Checkup, which allows users to search doctors’ names and see which ones are frequently prescribing potentially dangerous drugs, such …

Could Your iPad Disrupt Your Heart Device?

Posted on 05/13/2013 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthIf you like to lie on the couch — or in bed — with your iPad propped on your chest, you could be putting yourself at risk if you also have an implanted heart device. That’s what a super-smart 14-year-old discovered in a preliminary study of 26 patients age 50 or older with heart devices, such as an implanted cardioverter defibrillator for protecting against arrhythmia. High school freshman Gianna Chien of Stockton, Calif., did the research with some assistance from …