The AAD even sent out packages of orange m&ms imprinted with their logo and the #SPOT orange hashtag. That led some melanoma advocates to cry foul, saying the disease that kills one person every hour is not sweet or fun and should be taken more seriously. Some also say that black is the color of melanoma awareness and feel offended by orange, the color of “fake tans.” We understand how serious and deadly melanoma can be but we also say, whatever works!

Something needs to be done—and now. Melanoma is on the rise among young people, especially young women who have done indoor tanning. In fact, the FDA is considering really cracking down on this dangerous habit. Meanwhile, it’s proven to be carcinogenic, so steer clear.

There are lots of helpful tools and links on the AAD site to motivate you. My favorite is this downloadable Body Mole Map, which can help you keep track of spots that may be changing—and includes photos of what to look for. I’m using mine! You still have to see a dermatologist regularly, though, for a professional skin check. (See my video on what to expect here.)

The Skin Cancer Foundation has great resources, too. A must-read: “Even One Pre-Prom Tan Can Be Dangerous,” in which a young melanoma survivor (she was diagnosed at only 23) shares her regrets.

Another must-read (okay, I wrote it) is our story in the June issue of the Journal: “Freckle, Mole or Skin Cancer?” In it, a woman who was seven months pregnant saw a small black spot on her leg and thought it was a tick. It wasn’t.

Our story also has great advice on what you need to know about getting a biopsy, and how to trust your instincts about any suspicious spot on your body. Plus the latest on sunscreens, which are getting better all the time. Remember: You have the power to prevent skin cancer.

But if you are diagnosed, here’s a great blog by Lisa Collier Cool, a member of our new blogger team, on the latest medical breakthroughs to treat it.

Addendum: Read the AAD’s response to the color controversy on its Facebook page.

An interesting new study, summarized well in this New York Times column yesterday, showed that sleep-deprived folks eat more calories overall and especially overeat those comforting carbs that pack on the pounds.

I thought about all this as I was lying awake at 2 a.m. this morning. (Was anyone else there with me?) Yes, I toss and turn sometimes, too—even though I have a lot of good-sleep tricks up my sleeve. A few years ago I co-authored a sleep book for women. It’s called Sleep To Be Sexy Smart and Slim. (I don’t make any money on the book; it was just part of my job to work on it.) Anyway, here are a few tips from it that have really stuck with me:

5 STRATEGIES FOR BETTER SLEEP

1. Wind down for an hour. So many women just keep going, and going, and going. Then you’re too wound up to drift off. Give yourself the gift of an hour with no more chores, no exercise (unless it’s sex, which does help you sleep better), no stimulating TV news or drama, no catching up on work, no major “we’ve got a problem” conversations and most of all, no electronics. Yes, you can turn off your laptop and phone. Play soft music, read something light, let it all go.

2. Have some milk and cookies. When I was doing publicity for the book, this tip was always a favorite of the bleary-eyed morning-show hosts who interviewed me. There’s real science behind it: The chemical tryptophan in milk will help you feel sleepy, but you need some carbs to get it where it needs to go in the brain. A small (low-fat) cookie or two does the job well—plus, you feel nurtured like a child, too.

3. Chill out. Lowering the temperature in your bedroom helps signal your body that it’s time to sleep. Taking a hot bath sounds like a cliché but it helps, too, by lowering your core body temp afterward. A cooler room may help keep hot flashes at bay, too, if you’re in that joyful stage of life.

4. Make it dark. Sometimes your eyes open a bit as you move from one stage of sleep to another, and any kind of light can wake you up, whether it’s streetlights or the display on your digital clock. It’s worth investing in blackout curtain liners. Turn your clock face away so you can’t see it (or obsess over it if you do wake up). And put some dark electrical tape over all those LED displays on your computer, TV, cable box, etc. Darkness can make all the difference.

5. Let go of your worries. This one’s my favorite. It sounds a little corny but it works. Keep a small notebook and pen on your nightstand and consider it your “worry book.” When you can’t settle your buzzing brain down, or wake up anxious about work or money in the middle of the night, grab it. Write down what’s bugging you and any strategies and priorities for dealing with it. Then close the book and give yourself permission to let it go until daytime. Put it aside and go to sleep.

Pleasant dreams!

Photo copyright Africa Studio, shutterstock.com

By Lisa Collier Cool

Life insurance companies know a secret that most doctors never tell patients: When it comes to rating your risk for a fatal heart attack, the least important cholesterol number is your level of LDL (bad) cholesterol. Instead, actuaries use a math formula to tell if you might be headed for a heart attack. They divide your total cholesterol by your HDL (good) cholesterol level. If the ratio is below three, you’re likely to qualify for the best insurance rates because your heart-attack risk is relatively low. (However, any abnormal cholesterol result, including high LDL, can pose a threat to your heart, especially when combined with other risk factors.)

That’s just one of the surprising facts I learned while working on my upcoming book, Beat the Heart Attack Gene, with coauthors Bradley Bale, MD, and Amy Doneen, ARNP, co-founders of the Bale/Doneen Method of heart and stroke prevention. Here are seven more things you may not know about women’s heart health.

1. Since 1984, heart disease has killed more women than men each year, claiming more women’s lives than all forms of cancer combined.
2. Getting a flu shot cuts your risk for a heart attack or stroke by up to 50 percent.
3. For a healthy heart, take a few days off from work. Women who only go on vacations once every six years, or less often, are eight times more likely to suffer heart attacks or die from cardiac causes than those who vacation at least twice a year, according to a 20-year study.
4. Delicious news: People who eat the most dark chocolate are 37 percent less likely to get heart disease, and 29 percent less likely to have a stroke, than those who eat the least chocolate, an analysis of studies involving 114,009 people found. However, a square or two a day is all you need.
5. Yo-yo dieting can harm women’s hearts, a new study reports.
6. Seventy percent of heart attacks have the same root cause as type 2 diabetes: insulin resistance. Find out if you’re at risk by asking your healthcare provider to order a two-hour oral glucose tolerance test to check for abnormal blood sugar.
7. Fifty percent of women who have a heart attack don’t call 911, often because they don’t recognize the symptoms. Click here to find out the warning signs and more shocking facts about women and heart disease.

Photo copyright antoniomas, shutterstock.com

Now here’s why you need to go red. Because far more women die every year of cardiovascular disease than they do of breast cancer—in fact, 10 times more. CVD is still the number 1 killer of women. And way too many of us are still in denial. I get furious when I hear stories of women who downplay their symptoms and don’t call 911 when they could be having a heart attack. We need to change this!

Ten years ago, the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute created National Wear Red Day to raise awareness and help spread the word about how women can reduce their risks of heart disease. It’s working—but not enough. We’re asking you to get on board.

Make sure you know the symptoms of a heart attack and what you should do. Memorize these!

Wear red this Friday, February 1, to show you mean business. Get your friends, family, work colleagues and even your pets to do it, too. Then share your photos here.

Here’s what else you can do. Encourage your friends by using this image as your Facebook profile shot.

Make a donation by shopping for the cause here.

See you in red this Friday—let’s help make a difference!

Photo copyright Zoom Team, shutterstock.com

Number 9: Statins to prevent heart disease
Have you resisted your doctor’s efforts to prescribe Lipitor or another statin drug because of concerns about side effects? The FDA recently expanded and clarified its advice on the risks of these drugs. You may have heard that you need frequent testing of your liver enzymes while on these meds, but here’s some good news: it’s no longer considered helpful or necessary. But there are other potential risks of these drugs, including memory loss, type 2 diabetes and muscle damage. Read more details.

Number 7: Triclosan in antibacterial products
Should you be washing your hands with antibacterial soaps? As we reported in our Guide to Germs in the November issue, triclosan is an ingredient that can kill the really nasty bugs, but studies show that plain old soap and water do just as good a job of it. And while the FDA doesn’t come right out and say you should avoid it, they do say that several scientific studies that have been done recently merit further review. And many experts believe triclosan can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. That’s reason enough for us to avoid the ingredient (easy, since it’s required to be on the label). Click here for more info.

Number 5: Arsenic in rice
This topic made headlines a few months ago. Does it mean your sushi is poisoning you? Probably not—unless you’re eating mountains of the stuff. The FDA has been testing samples of all kinds of rice products, and it’s shocking that they’re finding inorganic arsenic in everything from cereals to rice cakes. So far the folks at the FDA are not saying you should stop eating rice. They’re still studying this. But we say if rice is one of the main staples in your diet, you may want to go for a little more variety in the grains you eat till experts know more. Get the full scoop here.

Number 1: Getting rid of unused medicines
The new year is a good time to check your prescription and OTC drugs for expiration dates and clean out your overstuffed medicine cabinet. But how do you dispose of medicines safely while protecting kids, the environment and your own medical information? Follow these FDA guidelines.

Check out all the latest consumer updates from the FDA. And have a safe and healthy 2013!

Photo: shutterstock.com

Our friends at Yahoo! just released their Year in Review, too—covering everything from the serious (Libya, the election) to the sublime (Mars Rover, the U.S. women’s gymnastic team) to the ridiculous (Gangnam style, Honey Boo Boo). The trends based on the daily search habits of millions of people include health, too, of course. Among the top 10 searched health symptoms of 2012 on Yahoo!, four were stories we covered in a major way in the pages of Ladies’ Home Journal. Here’s something surprising we learned about each:

1. Diabetes
No surprise this was number 1, as the numbers are skyrocketing. Nearly 26 million people in the United States have diabetes now, according to the CDC, while another 80 million may have prediabetes. And women are more at risk of dying from it, we learned in the story that ran in our September issue. You’ve probably heard that the major warning signs are being really thirsty and having to pee all the time. But those symptoms usually show up only after damage has already been done. “Early on, especially in the prediabetes phase, most people have no symptoms at all,” says Gerald Bernstein, M.D., director of the diabetes management program at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. That’s why it’s so important to get a glucose test, especially if you’re overweight.

2. Lung cancer
Lung cancer kills more women than breast, ovarian and uterine cancers combined, yet it gets the fewest research dollars of any cancer. That’s one of the things we learned in our touching story by Wesley Fay, “Just Breathe,” in our November issue. Each breast cancer death correlates with $19,419 in federal research funding. For lung cancer, that plummets to $1,888. This gap has real consequences: Since the early 1970s, breast cancer’s five-year survival rate climbed from 75 to 90 percent, while lung cancer’s barely budged from 12 percent to 16 percent. Blaming the victim won’t help: 20 percent of women with lung cancer never smoked, and experts say those numbers are climbing.

4. Colon cancer
Doctors are seeing colon cancer in younger people more than ever, we learned in our October story on colon health. “For women, getting a colonoscopy at 50 or sometimes even sooner is crucial, especially since I’ve been seeing women as young as their 30s being diagnosed—and with no family history,” says Robynne Chutkan, M.D., medical director of the Digestive Center for Women in Washington, D.C., and a member of the LHJ Medical Advisory Board. Don’t ignore symptoms such as blood in the stool, unusual abdominal pain, a change in how often you go to the bathroom, anemia or unexplained weight loss. For more information, read our candid interview with Dr. Chutkan.

6. Heart attack
When Rosie O’Donnell had a heart attack in August at age 50, she scared the crap out of a lot of women. (I’m one of them!) She researched online and knew her symptoms could be a heart attack. She even took an aspirin. But she didn’t call 911. That happens way too often, says cardiologist Holly Andersen, M.D., a member of the LHJ Medical Advisory Board. In our blog that week, we learned that “40 percent of women having a heart attack never feel chest pain,” says Dr. Andersen, director of education and outreach at the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at New York Presbyterian Hospital. For lots more information on women and heart disease, see our February story, “Heart of the Matter.”

Photo copyright Ocskay Bence, Shutterstock.com

To kick off the holiday season, we asked Journal staffers to share what they love most about Thanksgiving, that wonderful holiday that’s all about good food, friends, family and feeling grateful (with a little football thrown in). We know you’ll relate to these!

• My girls love to bake (that’s Lily and Sophia in action, right). Since I learned all my baking skills from my mom, they always like to whip up a sweet treat with their “Mimi.” This year they’ll be making my mom’s famous “spice cake” (don’t call it fruitcake!), which I was honored to write about for our December issue. The recipe is on page 106 if you’d like to try it too.
Sue Erneta, fashion editor

• Now that my sister, my cousins and I are in our twenties and living across the country, Thanksgiving is one of the few days of the year that we’re all together again, and my life feels about as simple as it did back when I was a kid.
Lauren Piro, assistant editor

• I love that I don’t have to travel on Thanksgiving. Family and friends come to us. It’s a great excuse to stay at home, eat and drink, and sit on the couch. What could be better?
Jeffrey Saks, creative director

• One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories happened last year. My family and I were sitting at the dining table. My mother was in the kitchen, and I heard her in say in a calm voice, “Gab, can you come in here?” I walked in and there was the turkey on the kitchen floor with its juices and grease splattered everywhere. My mom gave me a look that conveyed, “Help but don’t say a word!” (I was called in instead of my sisters because one of them would have fallen to the floor the laughing and the other would’ve shrieked; I’m the least dramatic of the three.) We picked up the turkey, quietly holding in our laughter, and scrubbed the grease off the floor. My mom fixed it up, carved it and served it. It was delicious. We didn’t tell anyone until later. Please note: My mother keeps her floors so clean you can literally eat off them!
Gabrielle Porcaro, associate fashion editor

• On Thanksgiving morning I play in our annual local neighborhood touch football game. It’s guys from their 20s to their 50s from two rival streets in New Jersey, and we play a pretty aggressive game. We all give thanks for Advil afterward! The spectators bring vats of Bloody Marys and donuts to kick off the eating and drinking. Then in the afternoon we have 20 to 25 people for a traditional dinner at our house. It’s a great day.
Bob O’Connell, art director

• Forget about playing touch football; it’s all about the traditional Thanksgiving soccer game in my extended family. After dinner, a group of us—ranging in age from 8 to 75, plus one enthusiastic dog—head outside for a fun, completely chaotic soccer match. By the time it’s over, everyone is out of breath, laughing and ready to go back inside to eat some pie.
Kate Lawler, executive editor

• My favorite thing about Thanksgiving Day is hearing the sound of a live band boom as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade kicks off the holiday season. The smell of turkey permeates the air. It instantly takes me back to my childhood. What’s most exciting this year, since I got married on May 11, is that I get to celebrate all of those traditions and create a few new ones with my husband in our home.
Joy Wingfield, research editor

• Seven years ago my wife challenged me to run the same five-mile Turkey Trot that she had run the previous Thanksgiving Day. So I took her up on it and together we ran it in one hour. That sparked something in me and resulted in my becoming a distance runner. Now I run two full marathons and several halves a year. But I never miss that Turkey Trot since it seems as though it is an old and trusty friend. It is my favorite thing about Thanksgiving.
Thomas Claire, associate managing editor

• My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the chance to remember my Dad. He passed away four years ago, but every year we make a point to leave a space for him at the table. The first time my two sisters and I ate our turkey in tears, but every year it gets a little bit easier. After dinner we tell our favorite stories about him. It’s not that we forget about him the rest of the year, but it’s important to us to make a special effort when we’re all together for the holidays.
Amelia Harnish, assistant editor

• I really love our tradition of hosting a small gathering for my sister, her boyfriend, and any stray friends in New York. I love getting to fuss over place settings that would only be possible for a few treasured guests. [We're digging the feathers in your photo, Amanda!] I love cooking way too much food (and drinking a little too much wine), and I love that it’s a total mix of nostalgic must-haves—oh yes, we absolutely make green bean casserole, fried onions and all—and new favorites like a salted caramel-apple tart. I love playing Christmas music and decorating our apartment as a break from cooking during the day, and that our guests seem to really enjoy it too. I love playing Harry Potter Clue as a tribute to my mom, who made us play endless games of it for years (and of course we’d give anything to be forced into one more game with her now). I love that I get the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend to relax with my husband at home instead of standing in line at the airport. And mostly I love that we’ve taken pieces of all our different families’ traditions and made them our own.
Amanda Wolfe, senior editor and digital director

• My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is waking up to the smell of my mom’s homemade rolls (a secret family recipe) and then spending the entire day in the kitchen. Every single person in my family cooks all day long. My siblings and I grew up in the kitchen and it’s amazing that we continue to congregate there and pour love into every dish.
Bethany Porter, online editor, LHJ.com

• One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is that one of my best friends from high school visits and has Thanksgiving dinner with my family almost every year. Her family doesn’t usually celebrate, so she brings over homemade Indian food and we always look forward to seeing what new dish she’ll bring to the table.
Sonia Harmon, assistant editor

• For the last couple of years, I’ve somehow convinced my loved ones to cram into my petite New York City apartment for Thanksgiving. Although my job entails more than a little bit of cooking, there’s still nothing I adore more than preparing and hosting a mega-feast for my close friends and family. On the big day, my single-lady abode fills up with the smells of turkey and pie and stuffing as I set the table and eagerly anticipate the arrival of the most important folks in my life. When everyone’s present and enjoyed a cocktail or two, we all sit down for the main event. I do my best to pause and take a mental picture of all of us ready to dig in, packed shoulder-to-shoulder around the table. It’s probably the coziest memory I make all year.
Hilary Merzbacher, assistant food editor

• My favorite Thanksgivings were when I was a kid, before my grandfather died. His birthday was around the holiday so we’d have an elaborate meal at his house—turkey and all the trimmings. On Thanksgiving Day itself, my mom and three siblings and the dogs and I would be out in the country on a working dairy farm, in a tiny house overlooking a river. We’d have turkey again but in the most low-key, no-fuss manner imaginable, and we’d sit around playing board games and laughing. No stress, no expectations, no extra work. It was awesome.
Louise Sloan, senior articles editor

• I used to travel from New York to Dallas every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it just got to be too expensive and crazy to do both. I miss my family at Thanksgiving but luckily I’ve been adopted by friends who take in strays. The hostess is a food writer who cooks gorgeous food (almost) as well as my mom (had to say that!) and lives on Central Park West. I bring wine and walk through the colorful leaves in the park and think about how thankful I am to be healthy and live in the most vibrant, energetic, exciting city in the world.
Julie Bain, health director

• Thanksgiving was my mother’s favorite holiday. She loved hosting big gatherings, and often the holiday fell on her birthday, which made it even more celebratory. That was the case on November 23, 2006, the day she turned 80. The morning of Thanksgiving I called my mother to tell her I was dropping by to help her prep for our dinner. Years before, my sister had moved overseas and only visited once a year, usually in the summertime, but this year, to celebrate, she had flown in the night before to surprise my mother. On that morning I arrived with my sister and her husband. I’ll never forget the expression of surprise and joy on my mother’s face as she opened the door. That Thanksgiving she received the best birthday gift imaginable: having her family together.
Vivette Porges, photo associate

Oh, the glamor of television! He was unzipping my dress to hook a microphone pack onto my bra so I could talk to Hoda and Kathie Lee about the Germs story in our November issue. We wanted to show some household items that may (or may not) carry germs that can make you sick. Thus, the toilet.

It’s cold and flu season, and you’ve got to protect yourself from those viruses. But do you need to obsessively clean every square inch of your home? No.

In fact, experts told us, while germs are everywhere, only about 1 percent of them are the bad kind that can make you sick—and many actually keep you healthy. Plus, even if you come in contact with bad bacteria or viruses, they won’t make you sick unless they get into your body. How do they do that? Mostly by your hands. So your first line of defense is to keep your hands out of your eyes, nose and mouth. And wash your hands often with good old plain soap and water. (The antibacterial kind may contribute to antibiotic-resistant bugs.)

Before we went on the air, Kathie Lee shared that she’s not a germophobe at all—and she seldom gets sick. Good for her! See our TV segment by clicking here. Some of the advice will surprise you!

And see all of our info and advice in “A Non-Neurotic Guide To Germs” in the November issue of Ladies’ Home Journal or by clicking here.

1. Take your batteries out of their packages before the storm. I had plenty of spare batteries, but when the power actually did go out, the big flashlight I had within reach became dim very quickly. I sorta panicked. I found the new D batteries, but they were in that hard plastic clamshell packaging that you need a chainsaw to open. I found some scissors and hacked away at in the near blackness, cursing loudly and nearly cutting my finger off in the process. (Reminder: make sure your first-aid kit is fully stocked!) I suggest putting all your spare batteries, sorted by size, in zipper bags in a kitchen drawer.

2. Keep an old-fashioned phone that plugs directly into the wall. The only reason I keep paying for my land line every month is for occasions like this: storms and power outages. My plug-in cordless phones don’t work without electricity, so I keep an old plug-in corded model in a kitchen drawer near the phone jack. As soon as the power went out I plugged that baby in and called my sister. Since the cell signal also went out in my area, it was my only link to the outside world and I was grateful to have it.

3. Buy a headlamp. A relative gave me one in my Christmas stocking last year, but I’d forgotten about it. I discovered it right before the storm and was so glad I did. It was comfortable and perfect for reading after dark. Also for getting down the pitch-black stairwell of my building, hands free.

4. Don’t panic about the toilet. I had filled numerous buckets for manual flushing, but I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough if the outage lasted long. My brother gave me a great tip: If your toilet no longer has water, you can line it with a small trash bag, use it and when necessary, tie it up and put it in the trash. For some reason, that gave me great comfort.

5. Wash your produce before the storm. I had gone to the farmer’s market on Saturday and bought a bunch of lovely fresh fruits and veggies. But I didn’t think to wash them and put them away ready to cook. My gas stove is still working but my bottled water supply is precious. I didn’t want to waste a bunch of expensive (and heavy to carry up nine flights of stairs) bottled water to wash my Brussels sprouts. I should have planned ahead.

6. Clean out the freezer. I removed most of my perishables and threw them away yesterday before they started getting stinky. But I didn’t think to remove the frozen spinach. And let me warn you, frozen spinach leaks giant puddles of green water. I sopped up pools of it this morning. Even if perishables feel cool, it’s best to throw them away. Bacteria can grow at relatively low temps, so don’t take a chance with dangerous pathogens.

7. Buy your favorite comfort foods. I heard from so many friends on Facebook about the foods they were cooking before and during the storm and how much comfort they brought. Believe me, no one was craving steamed broccoli. It was all about pasta, cheese, bread, cookies, cupcakes. I was glad I’d bought my favorite spicy organic ginger cookies. They soothed my nervous tummy. I had plenty of wine on hand, too. A crisis is not the time to go on a diet; you can do that after the power is restored.

Hello from New York in the wake of Sandy! It’s been a stressful few days, but as usual, New Yorkers are tough and resourceful. A handful of us who could walk are here at the LHJ office today. Others who couldn’t get in are working from home, if they have power.

I live downtown where the power went off Monday night about 8 pm and I’ve been playing Pioneer Woman since then. It was fascinating to walk north this morning from No-Man’s-Land to the Promised Land—the land of milk and honey and hot coffee. And heat and internet access and cell service and toilets that flush. It does remind me how delicate and vulnerable our infrastructure is, and that we cannot take it for granted. That’s my deep thought for the day.

Meanwhile, I need to find a hair salon since it’s been awhile since I had a shower. (I had smart advice from a Gulf Coast relative experienced at hurricanes: buy organic baby wipes for basic cleaning while the shower is not an option.) I’ve been asked to fill in on the Today Show tomorrow, so good hair is important. I’ll be taping a segment on Germs that will run on Friday in the always fun and wacky Hoda and Kathie Lee hour. Tune in if you can!