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Not only is Dr. Steve an amazingly gifted doctor, but in person, he's big, cut and'll kick your TV doctor's butt... Bring 'em on!

And, NO, Dr. Steve did NOT advocate using marijuana this morning, but he did talk about a new study that contradicts some others that are out there regarding the devil's weed... Here's the rest of today's vital info...

Today's 7:10am Segment:
You know that yoga is good for the body and mind.. Now a new study says it's good for heart failure patients too.

In the report, an eight-week regimen of yoga was found to be safe for people with chronic heart failure and it also helped reduce the signs of inflammation, which are often linked to death. This was a small study only 19 patients.. But the yoga routines also improved the patient's exercise tolerance and their quality of life.

Do researchers have any idea =how= yoga improves heart function?

It may be that yoga has an impact on how heart failure progresses. The researchers found significant difference in levels of special biological markers in the bloodstream in these patients... All of which are related to heart failure. To give you an idea of how effective the program was.. Those who did yoga saw a 26 percent reduction in their symptoms compared to just 3 percent in people who didn't do yoga. But the best part about this is that it's a simple easy to perform exercise that helps patients with lots of other benefits.

In other news, there's a new report about over the counter pain relievers and Parkinson's.

We take them all the time day and don't think much about it.. But now researchers say pain relievers like aspirin and ibuprofen may help reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Researchers from UCLA studied 579 men and women from California - half of which had Parkinsons - and asked if they took aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories on a regular basis for once a week or more at any time in their life for a month. They found that people who took these medications on a regular basis were less likely to have Parkinson’s, especially those who took ibuprofen or other non-aspirin pain relievers.

Did acetaminophen have the same effect?

Acetaminophen, which is known commonly as Tylenol, is not considered an NSAID and does not act in the same way as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen and other drugs. Researchers don't know exactly how the NSAIDSs are working. It could be that the drugs prevent inflammation in the brain. But they say more studies are needed. Whatever the mechanism there does seem to be a protective effect against Parkinson’s disease, especially for those who took the medications for two or more years.

Today's 8:15am Segment:
The health report card for New York state is in, and it has some good news, and some bad.

Overall, New York is the 26th healthiest state. That's up from 29th in 2006. Experts say New York has a low rate of obesity and cancer deaths and provides ready access to primary care doctors. Violent crime is down 57 percent over the last 18 years. And infant mortality is also down by 45 percent in the same time period.

So what's the bad news?

We could do a better job of providing access to women for prenatal care. Infections diseases are up by about 6 percent. And the number of uninsured people is also up, by 8 percent. The survey also found that blacks were 43 percent more likely to die prematurely than whites, and people who live in the suburbs and rural areas are 24 percent more likely to die prematurely than city folks. By the way guys. The healthiest state in the nation, can you guess? Vermont.

In other news, there's a controversial study about marijuana.. Tell us about that.

This study contradicts many others, but I’ve got to tell you about it anyway.

Researchers from Switzerland say teens who smoke pot function in some areas as well or better than those who don't. This study involved more than 5 thousand adolescents and found those who only used marijuana, and not other drugs, were more socially driven and more likely to play sports. And even though they were more likely to skip class. They had the same level of good grades compared to other students.

Obviously, this is not to say that smoking marijuana is good for you?

Of course not, there are literally mountains of medical research that point to the dangers of smoking marijuana. Just inhaling a combustible, inhaling the toxins of the smoke is bad enough. So no, this study does not condone marijuana use. In fact, it doesn't examine the physiologic effects of marijuana. It's just addresses some of the social interactions of adolescents who smoke marijuana.