THE PROS AND CONS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Don't let boutique-style dispensaries and a respectable new name -
medical marijuana - blow smoke in your eyes. Marijuana has solid
credentials for relieving serious problems such as cancer pain,
nausea, anorexia and tough-to-ease nerve pain, but it's far from an
all-purpose healer.

Here are some of its risks:

HEART STRAIN: In the hour after you smoke a joint, the danger of a
heart attack rises five-fold because pot boosts levels of a compound
called apolipoprotein III that keeps fats stuck in your bloodstream.
Plus, pot revs up your heart rate.

BRAIN DRAIN: Plenty of people who use medical marijuana responsibly
try to keep doses low (or use pills instead) to avoid the highs,
spaciness and brain fog you get from smoking it. In one study, people
with multiple sclerosis who smoked marijuana were 50 percent slower
on a mental-processing test than nonsmokers. They also were more
depressed and anxious.

WEAKENED IMMUNITY: THC - the ingredient in pot that eases pain and
makes you high - is also a powerful immune-system downer.

LUNG DAMAGE: Smoking three to four joints a day may cause as much
lung damage as smoking a pack of cigarettes. Long-term use doubles
your odds for coughing, wheezing and chronic bronchitis.

So what are the safer alternatives? Start with the prescription pills
that contain marijuana's active ingredients, particularly synthetic
THC. And, a prescription mouth spray, already available in Canada and
Europe, may be on the way.

Also, try eating your medicine instead of smoking it. Mix marijuana
into baked goods or, if you live in a state where medical marijuana
is legal, buy your supply at a marijuana bakery. Or consider a
vaporizer, which in essence releases marijuana "smoke"; if you inhale
the vapors, you get the active ingredients with fewer toxins,
research suggests.

Four Ways to Get More Good Cholesterol

Good HDL acts like a plastic bag; it wraps up bits of LDL and totes
them to your liver for disposal. Every 1-point rise in HDL reduces
your odds of a fatal heart attack by 6 percent. A great HDL level is
50 mg/dl and higher. How can you get yours into this range?

1 Eat healthy fats, as in walnuts, avocados, salmon, trout, and olive
and canola oils. Adding monounsaturated fats to a healthy diet can
raise your HDL by 12 percent.

2 Walk for 30 minutes a day and raise HDL by 9 percent. Add 20
minutes of intense exercise three times a week to increase it further.

3 Lose weight if you need to. You'll add 1 HDL point for every 6.6
pounds you drop.

4 Quit smoking. Besides its other payoffs, this will boost your HDL
by 4 points.