January 15-21, 2010 - Original Health Articles

How to Say 'No' Instead of 'Yes' in Your Relationship

Have you ever gone along with something--or someone--despite that little voice in your head or flop in your stomach that screamed 'no' at you?  Of course you have.  In fact, most of us have ignored those signals.  Like it or not, we are social animals who often like to please, be liked and included.

Are Scented Candles Dangerous to Your Health?

What could be more delicious than filling your house with the aroma of pumpkin spice at Thanksgiving, peppermint and pine at Christmas, and lilacs during spring? Scented candles have long been a popular and inexpensive way to infuse your surroundings with the fragrances of the season.

A High-Fiber Diet Could Calm Your Heartburn

It's been shown that eating a diet high in fiber can help prevent or relieve constipation, as well as lower your risk for diabetes, heart disease and possibly colon cancer. Now, new research is showing that high-fiber foods can also calm the flames of heartburn.

The 10 Best Beauty Shortcuts

Ever have a morning where you're so late you wish you could go to work in your PJs? Shave time off your beauty routine and still get out the door looking presentable. Take a three-minute shower, and only wash areas where you may have perspired. Skip washing your hair, and brush your teeth while you're rinsing off the soap.

5 Surprising Health Benefits of Coffee

The next time you enjoy a cup of coffee, enjoy the fact that it may be protecting your health. If you're sensitive to caffeine, there's no doubt that drinking coffee, especially multiple cups of coffee, may have some adverse effects, such as nervousness, restlessness, stomach upset and insomnia.

Could Birth Control Change a Woman s Taste in Men?

Pretty boys like Zac Ephron and Chace Crawford are modern-day sex symbols, which is quite a switch from the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, the rugged, very masculine look was in vogue, and Sean Connery, Marlon Brandon and Steve McQueen were considered the heart stoppers of the day.

5 Winter Dishes Lightened Up

Everyone has their cherished cold-weather foods that warm the soul and feed the body. Unfortunately, many popular wintertime meals are heavy, laden with calories and fat that offer a "stick-to-your-ribs" quality. If you don't want a little something extra sticking to your ribs once spring arrives, try lightening up your favorite eats with a few easy swaps.

The Truth about Heart Rate and Exercise

These days, it seems like you have to be a cardiologist or an algebra whiz to exercise efficiently. Athletes and people trying to lose weight are confused. What's the difference between your fat-burning and cardio-zones; resting heart rate and maximum heart rate?  What's the truth about heart rate and exercise? Read on for a heart-rate primer.

Kudzu Root May Reduce Risk for Metabolic Syndrome

A fast-growing vine long considered a nuisance because it takes over everything in its path (including ten million acres in the Southeast) may have redeeming qualities after all. A study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that kudzu, a vine imported from Japan, may help manage metabolic syndrome, a condition that includes a group of risk factors that increase the chance for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The 5 Smartest Midnight Snacks

Like any type of snacking, late night nibbling may or may not be good for you, depending on what you choose to eat. Your best bet under any circumstances is to eat light: Stick to a100-calorie snack pack or, better yet, choose a midnight munchie that combines just enough protein and carbs to satisfy your hunger and soothe you back to sleep.

Smart and Creative Desserts for Diabetics

If you love to reward yourself at the end of the meal with something sweet, you don't have to deny yourself the pleasure. By carefully calculating your carbohydrate intake, you can eat dessert, says Adee Rasabi, registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.

5 Life-Threatening Dangers of Peptic Ulcers

A peptic ulcer is a round or oval sore in the lining of the stomach or the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). Peptic ulcers are usually caused by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a germ that causes infection, or from drugs that weaken the lining of the stomach or duodenum.

Teens and Sex: What You Say Can Make a Difference

If you're the parent of a tween or teen, have you talked to your youngster yet about sex? If not, it may be time to start, since what you say can make a significant difference.  The fact is that sexually active teens who don't know how to protect themselves can be at risk for a host of negative health and mental health effects.

Sex Surrogates: A Highly Unorthodox Form of Therapy

Many couples who reach an impasse in their sex life begin seeing a sex therapist who can help them learn how to love and care for each other the way they did when they were first together. The sex therapist may give them "homework" to do--like giving each other massages, for instance, or taking a warm bath together.

Snow Shoveling Tips for Arthritis Sufferers

Besides the general strain that shoveling places on the heart and muscles, as well as the risk of slipping and falling, arthritis sufferers must deal with stiff, painful joints. But if you're not planning to move to Phoenix or hire someone to plow, you'll need to take action when you wake to find your driveway, walkway and sidewalk covered in the white stuff.

Fibro-Friendly Exercises

If you are living with fibromyalgia, then you well know the discomfort and pain that comes along with it. Many fibromyalgia patients fear that exercising will increase their pain, when actually the opposite is true. Research has shown that exercising twice a week for 25 minutes each time can result in immediate improvement of fibromyalgia symptoms.

What to Look for When Buying Salmon

When you shop for seafood, you'll probably find a variety of salmon types to choose from—some caught in the wild and some raised on fish farms.  With fish, "farm-raised" means utilizing the now decades-old but ever-improving science and technology of aquaculture.

Coping with Loneliness

Americans are lonelier than ever. In a study conducted by Eastman Kodak Company earlier this year, researchers found that sex in ten participants felt they have fewer meaningful relationships than they did five years ago, and 67 percent of those surveyed felt there is more loneliness in today's society than there used to be.

Wake Up to Your Caffeine Allergy

The Caffeine Habit You might feel that drinking coffee helps you feel more awake and alert, but according to the Caffeine Awareness Organization, the coffee habit can be putting you at risk for a number of unwanted consequences. While the scientific data about the prevalence of people with a caffeine allergy is slim, there's been increasing awareness about the fact that caffeine maybe at the root of a host of physical, mental, and emotional symptoms affecting many Americans.

5 Treatments for Excessive Sweating

Approximately 3 percent of Americans suffer from excess sweating, but the majority of them never speak to a doctor about it. Understanding more about this problem can help you get the treatment you need. Why We Sweat Our bodies use sweat to regulate temperature.

5 Most Common Asthma Myths

Along with the wealth of facts you can find about asthma today, there are also many asthma myths in circulation, making it important to recognize the difference. Please review five of the most common asthma myths and get the correct information you’ll need to protect your health every day.

What to Look for in a Winter Moisturizer

Freezing elements and dry indoor air disrupt skin's balance during the winter, robbing it of lipids and stripping its epidermis of liquids. If your skin feels tighter, itchy, red, or flaky, or seems more likely to look dull, break out, and show lines, your winter moisturizer isn't doing its job.

Smart Snacking for Diabetics

Who doesn't like to snack? It's fun, it's social and it's a great diversion from boredom. Besides, sometimes snacks just taste better than regular meals. Despite how wonderful snacking can be, when you've got diabetes, it's crucial that you eat for nutritional benefit and the ability to help keep your blood sugar in control.

Preventing Childhood Obesity

If you're worried about your child's weight, you may already know that a few extra pounds of baby fat on your toddler can increase over the next few years to become a full-blown weight problem. And because overweight kids often grow up to become overweight adults, the sooner you make some changes at home, the less likely your child is to suffer this fate.

Are Polyamorous Relationships Healthy Ones?

While polyamory is taboo for most of America, a large number of people are finding that it works for them. In its simplest form, polyamory refers to nonmonogamy, or having more than one serious partner at a time. The practice is described in depth by Peter J.

How Much Sadness is Normal?

The unexpected loss of a job, the collapse of a marriage, or the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness all sound like very good reasons to be sad. Although feeling sad is never pleasant, researchers have shown that many instances of normal sadness--the kind that descends after you lose a job or get dumped--are being misdiagnosed as depression.

Why Stress Hurts Relationships

Stress has gotten a bad rap. Sometimes it's necessary. Stressful situations trigger physical reactions such as increased adrenalin and our fight or flight response.  We rely on these reactions to help us cope with all kinds of threatening situations, including daily ones.

Are you Iron Deficient?

Everybody needs iron, a mineral that performs many functions. Iron disperses oxygen from our lungs throughout our bodies, produces red blood cells, and aids in digestion, among other things. While iron is plentiful in many foods, some people still don't get enough.

Eating Habits and Mood

Most people understand that there is a strong relationship between eating habits and physical health. Many, however, often overlook the connection between mood and eating habits. Our eating habits are affected by our moods and our moods are in turn influenced by our eating habits in a continuous cycle.

Is Gamma Knife Surgery Effective?

A tumor in the brain can be a primary tumor--meaning it originated in the brain--or a secondary tumor. Secondary tumors originate somewhere else in the body, such as the lung or breast, and spread to the brain through the blood stream or lymph system.

Heart Attack Rates Increasing for Women

A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine looked at national survey data of more than 4,000 men and women, ages 35 to 54, during two time periods: from 1988 through 1994 and from 1999 through 2004. While during both time periods, men had more heart attacks than women, the rates of heart attacks in men improved from 2.

8 Ways to Burn Off Holiday Pounds

The holidays were fun while they lasted, but if you're like most Americans, you added some unwanted pounds to your gift list.  Weight loss and fitness are on almost everyone's mind at the start of the new year; so read on for 8 ways to get back on track.

What Are My Limitations With a Hernia?

Five million Americans suffer from hernias every year, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. While a good number of these hernia cases require surgery to relieve a patient's discomfort and prevent serious complications, other cases can be managed by gently pushing the hernia back in and following a watch-and-wait approach under the guidance of a doctor.

Are Electronics Ruining Your Brain?

You've seen them: The multitaskers who hang out in coffee shops simultaneously sipping lattes, checking e-mail, having cell-phone conversations, and bouncing from site to site on their laptops.Or they sit in their offices answering e-mails while writing reports and taking phone calls.

Is Crohn's Affecting Your Appearance?

Although Crohn's disease affects the intestines, it can also change one's outer appearance. While some common symptoms of Crohn's disease include abdominal fullness and gas, constipation, fistulas (usually around the rectal area), ulcers (most often in the lower part of the small intestine, the large intestine or the rectum), gastrointestinal bleeding and kidney stones, people with Crohn's disease are also at risk for problems such as malnutrition.

Is There Hope for a Prostate Cancer Vaccine?

Numerous prostate cancer vaccines are in development and in various stages of clinical trials. A clinical trial is a rigorous scientific study of a potential therapy using human subjects. Clinical trials begin after scientists have accumulated enough data in lab studies to believe the therapy will be effective and not cause undue harm.

Could You Have a Citrus Allergy?

A Range of Problems Various types of allergies and intolerances to citrus, citric acid and foods with high acidic properties do exist, but doctors say that they are usually quite rare. As a result, there isn't a great deal of information readily available about the topics, posing challenges for the people trying to get to the root of their problem, and for doctors who are putting all of the pieces together to make a proper diagnosis.

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