The Indoor Tanning Association is coming under fire from numerous lawmakers who are taking issue with the dangers involved with indoor tanning and many companies” deceptive ways in which they are covering them up.

On Tuesday the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with the ITA prohibiting them from running any more misleading advertisements that proclaimed using ultraviolet tanning machines to be safer than tanning outdoors, approved by the government, and beneficial to one’’s health.

Additionally, all indoor tanning locations will now have to post warnings that tell of the dangers of skin cancer that come with using indoor tanning machines too often.

The FTC announcement came two days after U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Charlie Dent introduced the Tanning Bed Cancer Control Act to the U.S. Congress. Under the proposal, federal regulation of tanning beds would be expanded to limit the amount of UV rays emitted from them in order to reduce their risk of causing skin cancer.

"Melanoma is a devastating disease that has impacted many American families, including my own. But it is also a disease that is often preventable," said Dent. "The World Health Organization confirms that tanning beds are a cause of cancer, and tanning bed users put themselves at a 75 percent higher risk of developing melanoma."

For those who may have used tanning beds in the past, or were drawn to them due to deceptive health claims, there is an increased chance of developing certain skin cancers. If health insurance refuses to cover any necessary treatments, or is simply lacking, taking out a payday loan may be able to fund any essential one-time procedures.

As smartphones become more common across the country, so does the desire for many to use them while behind the wheel. However, distracted driving is being singled out as an increasing danger on the roads that nonprofit groups have dedicated themselves to stopping.

According to the website of FocusDriven, an awareness group advocating for cell phone-free driving, drivers who take to their cell phone were four time more likely to become involved in a car accident.

Additionally, the website referenced a recent simulator study that found those using cell phones while behind the wheel had a slower reaction time than drivers with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent, the legal limit.

Despite the danger, the website also referenced a poll that found 81 percent of the public saying they had talked on a cell phone while driving.

The nonprofit organization, which grew out of the Distracted Driving Summit in Washington D.C. last September, was formally announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Tuesday as the first national nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.

While steps are being taken to make the roads safer by eliminating distracted driving, the daily danger is still there for those who have long commutes to and from their job every day. If one falls victim to a distracted driver and needs funding to quickly repair a car for work, a payday loan may be able to fund the repairs in a pinch.

While Illinois residents may be safe from the dangers of smoking indoors, after that they”re on their own.

The American Lung Association released its State of Tobacco Control 2009, grading various aspects of the state and how well it attempts to mitigate smoking and keep its residents healthy.

One state that ranked closer to the bottom in three of the four categories – Tobacco Prevention Control Spending, Smokefree Air, Cigarette Tax, and Cessation Coverage – was Illinois, which received failing marks in two categories and only one grade higher than a "C."

The Prairie State received an "F" for its tobacco prevention control spending, as the $11.8 million that was put forth by the state government for anti-tobacco programs was below the recommended amount of spending from the Centers for Disease Control.

The state’’s low cigarette tax earned them a "D," while their lack of Medicaid coverage for counseling earned them a "C" for their cessation coverage. Only their smokefree air earned an "A" because of the statewide ban for smoking indoors.

While many smokers may be well aware of the health consequences associated with regularly smoking tobacco, not all may be able to afford the medical costs that they will eventually face, especially if it is not covered by their health insurance. In such instances, taking out a cash advance to pay for a medical visit may allow for the medical attention that is needed.

A new study has revealed that using a cell phone while driving accounts for more than one-quarter of all accidents on the road every year.

According to a study released by the National Safety Council on Tuesday, 28 percent of all accidents each year – or 1.6 million – are caused by drivers using their phones to talk or text. Of those accidents, 1.4 million of them were attributed to talking on the phone, while 200,000 were blamed on texting.

"We know that cell phone use is a very risky distraction and texting is even higher risk. We now know that cell phone use causes many more crashes than texting," said NSC president & CEO Janet Froetscher.

The study will likely underscore the growing number of interest groups that have been formed in recent months to push for more stringent laws on cell phone usage by drivers.

Whether due to talking on the phone, texting, or because of an unrelated a distraction outside the vehicle, the risk of getting into a car accident is a very real problem that many workers face when commuting to and from work every day.

For those who fall victim to an accident on the road and need their car in order for work but cannot afford the repair costs, payday loans may be able to get the cash in hand to get the vehicle fixed quickly.

Walmart has pulled certain children’’s jewelry items from their shelves after learning they may be contaminated with cadmium and a danger to customers.

Following reports that some toy manufacturers in China had begun using cadmium in some of their products that had previously used lead – and that some charm bracelets sold at Walmart contained up to 91 percent cadmium by weight, the retail giant made the move to do away with any of the dangerous jewelry.

"I would highly encourage all of you to ensure that toy manufacturers and children’’s product manufacturers in your country are not substituting cadmium, antimony, barium, in place of lead," Inez Tenenbaum, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, told an audience of children’’s products manufacturers, exporters and regulators, in Hong Kong on Tuesday after learning of the dangerous bracelets, the AP reported.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, cadmium poisoning most often occurs through ingestion and can almost immediately cause nausea and vomiting for up to 24 hours.

Inhaling cadmium flames had the potential to cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can cause kidney or liver injuries, loss of smell, and death in some cases.

For families with children who may have come into contact with the affected charm bracelets, there is a risk that medical care could be necessary. If money and/or health insurance coverage is not available in the event of an emergency, taking out a payday loan could help alleviate money problems while allowing for proper care.

While HIV/AIDS may dominate the headlines with statistics documenting how serious each condition is, a new report from the Institute of Medicine suggests that similar attention must be given to the equally dangerous Hepatitis B and C viruses.

According to the report released on Monday, between 800,000 and 1.4 million Americans have chronic hepatitis B while between 2.7 million and 3.9 million have chronic hepatitis C. However, because they do not carry the same stigmas and notability that HIV/AIDS does, resources and treatments for the two viruses are not on par with how devastating they can be.

The report found that both viruses are often referenced as a cause for liver cancer or liver disease – adding that many times patients only learn they are carrying one of the viruses after developing liver problems. In total, Hepatitis B and C accounted for almost half of the liver transplantations performed every year.

"Although hepatitis B and C are preventable, the rates of infection have not declined over the past several years, underscoring the conclusion that we have allowed gaps in screening, prevention, and treatment to go unchecked," said committee chair R. Palmer Beasley, professor of epidemiology and disease control, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston.

Because the report found that health care for Hepatitis B and C are currently "sparse and fragmented," those who think they may have symptoms consistent with either virus may need to be proactive and independently to prevent a potentially deadly situation. If insurance will not cover such needed care, taking out a payday loan may be an avenue allowing for medical care to be paid for.

A new report is supporting the opinions of many medical officials past and present that the chickenpox vaccine is effective and should be given to children to prevent them from being seriously harmed by the illness.

The report, published by researchers from Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Research, has found that children are nine times more likely to come down with chickenpox if the vaccination is refused by their parents, while 5 percent of virus cases were attributable to vaccine refusal.

The primary reason for the vaccination’’s refusal is because many parents simply feel the vaccination is not worth it, as chickenpox can very easily be spread from child-to child at school.

However, according to epidemiologist Jason M. Glanz, a lead author of the report, the vaccination is both safe and can help prevent the 100,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths that occur every year and are attributed to the illness.

"The common perception among parents is that they don”t believe chicken pox is a serious illness, and they don”t believe their children are at risk," Glanz said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "This study shows that they are wrong on both counts."

For families with limited funding available, choosing to pass on the chickenpox vaccine because of its supposedly questionable effectiveness may be as much a financial decision as it is a personal one. In cases such as these, taking out a payday loan to cover the medical costs so one’’s children can be vaccinated against the virus may be one that saves money, and maybe a life, down the road.

Owners of a certain type of pet frog may be at risk of falling ill to salmonella infections, according to a warning from the Centers for Disease Control.

The warning, which was released on Thursday, said that an outbreak of 85 salmonella infections had been documented among owners of domesticated African dwarf frogs spread across 31 states.

Even though the CDC said that pet reptiles have previously carried salmonella that has led to outbreaks, one centering on the two-inch frogs had never been seen before.

"This is a unique investigation," said report coauthor and CDC epidemiologist Shauna Mettee, according to BusinessWeek. "This is the first known outbreak of Salmonella due to contact with frogs – especially African dwarf frogs."

According to WebMD, salmonella infections – or salmonellosis – can last for four to seven days and cause severe abdominal pains that sometimes require medical attention. There are approximately 40,000 cases of salmonellosis in the U.S. every year.

Because many hospitalizations of pet frog owners have already been documented by the CDC, those who come into regular contact with African dwarf frogs may be best served by proactively getting medical care or at least preparing to do so. If health insurance is not an option, taking out payday loans may be able to fund any needed medical care.

Imposing interest rate caps on payday lenders across the state of Arizona would not be beneficial to the industry or the people who depend on it for financial help, according to a letter published Tuesday in the Arizona Business Journal by the Center for Consumer Freedom’’s Director of Communications Sarah Longwell.

Longwell’’s letter was written in response to an opinion piece that had been published in the Journal in December that characterized payday lenders as "scoundrels" that were "sucking the blood out of Arizonians" through their high interest rates.

However, Longwell responded that rates were in place to provide a service that many Americans utilized to stay above water financially. Referring to a Federal Reserve study she added that 88 percent of payday loan borrowers had been satisfied with their experience.

"Short-term ”payday” lenders have been under attack by state and federal lawmakers who denounce their services as ”predatory,”" She wrote. "But across the country, borrowers in need of emergency cash choose these loans willingly, over other financial options."

She also referenced a recent study that found payday lenders currently only made $1.37 in profit for every $100 loaned, and that if rates were to capped that many would be forced out of business and no longer be able to serve the customers who depend on them.

A new study has found that a unique treatment of patients suffering from Alzheimer’’s disease may yield better results than many that are currently being offered.

According to a recent study conducted on mice by researchers at Johns Hopkins University’’s School of Medicine, combining a number of therapies instead of administering them individually, helped to preserve memories in patients with minimal side effects.

"The idea is if you can identify compounds or drugs that inhibit these enzymes, you’ll be able to slow down the progression of the disease," Philip Wong, a professor in the pathology and neuroscience departments at Johns Hopkins and author of the study, told Bloomberg.

The Johns Hopkins study has resulted drug makers looking to replicate the success, and is yet another sign that progress is being made in curing a disease the Centers for Disease Control estimated killed 30 million people in 2007.

For those who must tend to friends or family members suffering from Alzheimer’’s disease, there may be new treatments that could possibly lead to the preservation of memory and treatment of the disease that may not be covered by many health insurance plans. In such cases, taking out a payday loan may help fund the costs to provide the progressive care.