Health Advice

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Health

Listen to your body and you might dodge a sudden heart attack

Every year, 605,000 Americans have a first heart attack -- and many come as a surprise. A study in the journal Circulation showed that two-thirds of people who have a heart attack have undiagnosed heart disease. But is it really a total surprise?

A new study in The Lancet Digital Health shows that half of folks who have what's called "sudden ...Read more

Round-up: the last straw, metformin-B12 and exercising with OA

There are three interesting studies that can improve your immediate and long-term health that I thought you shouldn't miss.

The Last Straw: So often, attempts to improve public health backfire (taking BPA out of can linings and substituting another chemical that's just as bad or worse is a good example). Well, here's another one: A study ...Read more

Unmasking the risks of wildfire smoke

As of this writing there are 1,000 wildfires in Canada. Washington State is being scorched -- 79,000 acres burned in July; 21,300 in August. Louisiana reported more than 440 wildfires in August alone. And no matter where you live, the smoke and particulate matter that the fires spread can impact your immediate and long-term health.

A study ...Read more

The most effective exercise for reducing blood pressure

Almost 50% of all adults and 83% of those 85 and older in America have high blood pressure (BP), defined as 130/80 or higher. And only about a quarter of those folks have their high blood pressure under control. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 34 million of you who need to take medication to lower your ...Read more

The most common virus you never heard of until now

Every year, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) hits 2.1 million kids under the age of 5 and sends up to 160,000 adults age 65 and older to the hospital. But when RSV vaccines were approved this year, many people said they had never heard of the disease. That's because RSV often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed (at home) as a cold or the flu. The ...Read more

Smoothing out smoothies' nutritional benefits

Some sources say that the smoothie was developed by a young man named Steven Kuhnau who was lactose intolerant. Since he couldn't have milkshakes, he concocted a frosty mixture of fruit, ice and other ingredients. It was such a taste sensation that he went on to launch Smoothie King in 1973.

Fast forward 50 years. We now know that one of the ...Read more

Should you get an annual scan to check for lung cancer?

The current PSAs about lung cancer talk directly to smokers (smoking accounts for around 80% of cases of lung cancer) about the devastation it causes. But despite the fact that 350 people a day in the U.S. die from lung cancer, hardly anyone at risk gets screened for it.

While 70% to 75% of Americans regularly get mammograms, colonoscopies, PAP...Read more

How eating nuts reduces your depression risk

An apple a day may (help) keep the doctor away -- but an ounce of nuts a day is associated with keeping depression at bay. That's the new finding published in the journal Clinical Nutrition. Researchers found that folks who ate an ounce of nuts, such as walnuts, pistachios and almonds, daily reduced their risk of depression by 17%.

Theories as ...Read more

Finding out about the how, why and what-to-do of long COVID-19

Actress Marilu Henner has hyperthymesia, aka highly superior autobiographical memory, which allows her to recall in precise detail all the events in her life. Around 60 people worldwide share this ability.

Seems that for some folks who contract COVID-19, the immune system has such an overactive memory, too. Four recent studies shine light on ...Read more

Micro or macro -- greens can help prevent weight gain

Google the phrase "search for the secret" and you'll get websites dedicated to everything from hidden treasures to extraterrestrial mysteries. And while these intriguing secrets may seem hard to get your hands on, finding the secret to preventing weight gain is even more elusive for many inhabitants of planet Earth.

The good news: New lab ...Read more

Want to slash your cancer risk? Improve your heart health

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the U.S. -- someone dies every 33 seconds from cardiovascular woes. Getting regular physical activity and exercise, plus adopting healthful nutrition and smart stress management, are key to avoiding heart attack and stroke. But did you know that embracing those heart-healthy habits...Read more

Pain in the neck

If you call someone a pain in the neck, you're using a phrase that originated around 1900 to clean up a saying that mentioned a different anatomical location. But that shift made the phrase much more medically accurate. Neck pain affects around 80% of folks during their lifetime and as many as 20% to 50% of you deal with it every year. Stress is...Read more

Getting to the core of the matter

People who pump iron often brag about their super-defined abs. But for most folks, having a strong core is more about improving their quality of life, banishing inflammatory belly fat, and protecting themselves from falls, back pain, and incontinence. Yes, those are the positive results that come from strengthening your core. You can achieve ...Read more

Finally, getting rid of trans fats in canned and processed foods

It's been a long and winding road since 2015 when the Food and Drug Administration started to seriously consider the health risks associated with trans fats. But the American people get a big holiday present this December with the issuing of a direct rule that says partially hydrogenated vegetable oils or Partially Hydrogenated Oils (they ...Read more

 

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