August 1-7, 2013 - Original Health Articles

Leukemia is cancer that starts in blood tissues, usually the bone marrow. It causes the body to produce large numbers of blood cells, which then enter the blood stream. Lymphomas begin in white blood cells in the immune system. Both cancers can be slow growing (chronic) or fast (acute), and there are many subtypes, depending upon the type of cell in which they originate.

If you have questions about hay fever, you're not alone. Seasonal allergies are one of the most common allergic conditions in the U.S., affecting nearly 36 million people each year. Is hay fever caused by an allergic reaction to hay? Hay fever is definitely a misnomer! Hay almost never triggers it and it doesn't cause a fever.

Spina bifida, the incomplete development of the brain, spine and/or the meninges, affects 1,500 to 2,000 children each year. That means approximately 8 babies are born every day in the U.S. with spina bifida. The reasons why the neural tube defect develops are not clear.

While all parents may be anxious at times, parents with anxiety disorders risk passing the condition to their children. Up to 30 percent of the U.S. population experiences anxiety-related symptoms at some point in their lives. Genetics and life experiences may each play a role in the development of the condition, but experts estimate that 30 to 40 percent of these disorders hereditable.

The very young, the very old, those who abuse alcohol or drugs or use tobacco, and people with chronic medical conditions, are all at higher-than-average risk of developing pneumonia, an inflammatory condition that can affect one or both lobes of the lung.

When couples with children from a previous relationship marry, family relationships are often tested. Rules change, bonds are broken and reformed, and everyone learns to adapt to new family members and new routines. As with all relationships, the key ingredients to success are communication, commitment, compromise, and mutual respect.

The World Health Organization rates depression as a leading cause of disease burden among high-income countries. While psychological issues, chemical imbalances, and triggers such as stress and trauma may be associated with the development of depression, nutrition also plays a role.

If you had chickenpox as a child, the virus that caused it is still lying dormant in your body and, under certain conditions, may be reactivated and resurface as a condition known as "shingles." No one knows exactly why the chickenpox virus, also known as varicella zoster or herpes zoster, sometimes reappears later in life as "shingles," a painful, belt-like band of a blistering rash across one side of the face or body.

Are energy bars nutritious? Sure, energy bars, also known as nutrition bars, are convenient, but there are plenty of other convenient—and healthy—foods. After all, "How inconvenient is an organic apple and some nuts?" asks Ashley Koff, RD, the author of Mom Energy (Hay House, 2011).

If you feel permanently stressed out, you're not alone. Life has become incredibly demanding for many people, and leisure time often seems virtually non-existent. If you're a guy, the bad news is that living with chronic stress may actually increase your risk for type 2 diabetes.

Look at the ingredients on your bottle of ketchup, your favorite soft drink, or your cup of yogurt. Unless your product is "organic," high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) will most likely be listed among the ingredients. For a time, ubiquity of this product got many American health organizations questioning if HFCS is, in part, responsible for our increasing obesity epidemic.

Creamed corn, baby corn, and corn-on-the-cob can be tasty, healthy additions to any meal. But what about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a corn byproduct found in numerous food products? "Corn is a staple crop. That means corn and corn derivatives are utilized for many different purposes in foods and drinks," says Alison Massey MS, RD, LDN, CDE, registered dietitian and diabetes educator with the Center for Endocrinology at Mercy Medical Center.

Beautiful eyelashes can make you feel more attractive. That's why many women devote time every morning to curling their lashes and applying layers of mascara. But what if you could wake up with your eyes already looking their best? An eyelash perm can help you accomplish this.

Interested in going vegetarian, but not sure exactly what it entails? Vegetarianism means different things to different people. There are different types of vegetarianism and different levels of commitment. No one kind of vegetarianism is inherently better than any other—it's a personal choice that needs to feel comfortable to you.

Let's say your doctor tells you need to drop a few pounds, but one look says he needs to do the same. What if you catch your doctor smoking or knocking back a few beers? Do patients who think their doctors are unhealthy take their medical advice seriously? One study suggests they might not.

Does your excess belly fat discourage you from putting on a bathing suit? If so, you may be interested in a combination of fat-removal techniques which includes a laser treatment approved by the FDA in 2006 to "melt" abdominal fat and prevent the loose skin that's a common side effect of standard liposuction.

We've all said it a million times: Practice makes perfect. While no one is arguing that practice isn't necessary to become proficient at anything from playing the piano to shooting hoops, studies suggest that how you practice—not just how much you practice—plays an important role in achieving perfection.

Your wallpaper's peeling, there's a hole in the wall, and your driveway is cracked. Before you hire an expert to make any repairs, you might want to consider DIY, or doing it yourself. "It's very empowering to be able to handle some repairs yourself.

If you have a child with type 1 diabetes, your other kids have about a 15 percent risk of developing the disorder. A large screening program is now underway to identify siblings (as well as other relatives) of those with type 1 diabetes, and more than 118,000 individuals have been screened already.

Are you one of the 14.8 million adults today suffering from clinical depression? This is the formal name for sadness that's persistent enough to interfere with your regular activities. Coping With Clinical Depression People with clinical depression often require the expertise of a mental health professional and a comprehensive treatment regime, according to Maren Conway, MA, of Alliant International University.