How common is back pain for Americans?
Back Pain is the most common pain disorder in the United States population. There are several hypotheses; the spine is a complex structure. It’s very important for us to stand and walk, so the...
Monthly Archive: December 2010
Women and Stress-related Illnesses
Money, weight and family tops the list of what stresses out women. One in four women say they feel stressed out every day, and while it’s not considered an illness, it can set you...
Ankle replacement surgery
Ankle replacement surgery has lagged behind total hip and total knee replacement surgeries. If you look at the volume of both of those procedures approximately 250,000 total hips are done in the United States...
How your body uses glucose
Glucose, in carbohydrate foods, is your body’s main energy source. Without diabetes, the quantity of glucose in your blood is carefully regulated by two hormones produced by your pancreas. In Type 2 diabetes, this...
Weight Loss Secrets: Cut Back Calories
At any given time, almost half of the women in the U.S. are on a diet. Americans dish our more than $40 billion each year on diet and diet-related products. Yet 95 percent of...
What happens in Gastric Imbrication
Dr. Sunil K. Sharma from the University of Florida, talks about a new experimental procedure that is helping patients shrink their stomach in a new and innovative way. Dr. Sunil K Sharma: This is...
Green tea may be a strong weapon in the fight against cancer
The Chinese have sworn by its healing powers for more than four-thousand years. Now, green tea is gaining ground in the United States by proving it’s more than an ancient tradition. Green tea may...
Do you think that the idea of something being herbal has anything to do with psychology?
Over 70,000 deaths occur from drug reactions in the United States, according to the book The People’s Pharmacy. Drug reactions are responsible for up to 11 percent of hospital admissions. This is not to...
What are antioxidants and what do they do?
That’s a very good question. They are both natural substances and synthetic substances that help treat free radicals in the body. Free radicals are a natural byproduct of some cellular metabolism. They’re useful for...
Green tea is not a new concept. The Chinese and the Japanese have used it for years. Why is it now becoming so prevalent here in America?
Green tea has been used for over 4,000 years. Folklore maintains it promotes longevity, decreases cholesterol, decreases heart conditions and also helps to decrease cancer. However, the reason it’s become popular is because there’s...
Can Green Tea Protect Skin?
Modern science has discovered chemicals in green tea that can inhibit many diseases, including cancer. Those same compounds are now showing up in dozens of skin care products like soap, skin lotion and cosmetics....
VITAMINS AND CORONARY DISEASE
We hear a lot of beneficial effects about certain foods and certain nutrients like the antioxidants in preventing and combating heart disease. What are your feelings about these and what are your food recommendations,...
LIPID DISORDERS AND HEART DISEASE
What is a lipid disorder? It is more than just elevated cholesterol and more than elevated LDL cholesterol. Any abnormality in lipids (fats in the blood) that would increase risk of getting coronary artery...
High Blood Pressure Prevention Q & A
What three things could a person start doing today that would help prevent the development of high blood pressure? Probably the most important thing is to get salt out of the diet. I wondered...
Have you been to a juice bar lately?
“Immune Builder,” “Pineapple Passion” and “Zeus Juice” are just some flavors to choose from. What’s in a name? Just how nutritious are these smoothies? Juice bars are sprouting up all over the place. They’re...
Eat to Cut Your Risk for Heart Disease
Check out your pantry. Take stock of your fridge. Experts believe what you eat can play a critical role in cutting your risk for heart disease. As part of our special report, “Healthy Cooking,”...
The Truth Behind the drug GHB
Gamma hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, was available in health food stores until 1990. Weight lifters used it to bulk up, but the FDA pulled it from shelves when it began to be used for...
Myth “Type 2 diabetes isn’t serious unless you need insulin injections”
Truth The seriousness of diabetes isn’t linked to the type of treatment you have but to whether your blood glucose and blood pressure are within healthy limits. For example, it is far more serious...
Vitamin Regrows Lungs
Two million Americans live with emphysema, a disease that literally eats holes in the lungs. It’s often caused by years of smoking, but some doctors believe it’s possible to reverse the damage by simply...
New Cause of Wasting Syndrome
About half of all patients with cancer and AIDS are affected by wasting syndrome. It is a condition that causes severe weight loss and weakness in patients. Department of Veterans Affairs researchers in San...
Help to Reduce Prostate Cancer Risk
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in American men, second only to skin cancer. Each year, about 200,000 men are diagnosed with the disease and 31,000 die. While regular screening has...
ERT and Brain Aging
While researchers may not understand how estrogen replacement therapy benefits cognitive function, a recent study offers some insight. The benefit, report researchers, may lie in the brain concentration of choline, a vitamin known to...
Too Much Vitamin A and Higher Risk of Fracture
Vitamins are considered a healthy part of a person’s diet, but a new study finds too much of a good thing may be harmful. Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston say too...
A healthy diet may help improve mental funciton
Eating a healthy diet may help protect against dementia as people age, according to a new study. Researchers from the National Research Council in Milan, Italy studied more than 1,600 men and women over...
Vitamin A Supplements Help Growth Rate in Sick Kids
The Harvard University study involved about 690 children from Tanzania between 6 months and 60 months old who had been admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. Twenty-four percent of the children were also suffering...
Low-fat diets reduce cancer risk
Too much animal products and not enough vegetables and sunlight may increase a woman’s risk for breast cancer. A new study suggests diet may be the number one risk factor for breast cancer. William...
Discoveries Offer Diabetics A Peace of Mind
Life got tense for Louis Wilpitz and his family when he developed type two diabetes. He says, “When I don’t control myself, they could probably testify to you that I don’t feel good, and...
Toxin Linked to Testicular Cancer
A toxin found in certain foods may be linked to the development of testicular cancer in young men. Gary G. Schwartz, Ph.D., from Wake Forest University believes exposure to the toxin called ochratoxin A...
Connection between lung and bone problems
There’s a new connection between lung problems and bone problems. A new study urges the importance of screening for osteoporosis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). The association between the two is...
NSAIDs help prevent prostate cancer
Daily use of aspirin or another of the class of pain relievers known as NSAIDs could help prevent prostate cancer in older men, say Mayo Clinic researchers. Their study found less than half as...