July 15-21, 2010 - Original Health Articles
It's summertime and living should be easy, right? But if you're prone to seasonal allergies, you may find that the high pollen count that comes with the warmer weather leaves you coughing and sneezing. Worse yet, some doctors now believe that when your allergy symptoms are left untreated, you're at increased risk of them turning into pneumonia or another serious illness.
Most women are accustomed to having a Pap smear as part of their regularly gynecological checkup. The Pap smear, or Papanicolaou test, looks for abnormal changes on the cells of the cervix (the narrow, lowest part of the uterus) that may indicate cervical cancer.
"Not tonight honey, I have a headache" (or back ache, fibromyalgia or arthritis), might be OK once in a while, but you don't have to let chronic pain interfere with your sex life. In fact, it might make you more creative than ever. Millions of adults live with chronic pain conditions that make sex challenging.
You're all suited up and the water's fine but now what do you do? Exercising in water is a safe, fun way to achieve total body fitness but you'll need to do more than splash around to reap those benefits. Try these five moves to tone your muscles and rev up your entire cardiovascular system.
Pouchitis is an inflammation of the lining of an internal pouch (small bowel pocket) created in ulcerative colitis sufferers to hold bowel movements after they have had part of their colon and rectum removed to treat their disorder. There are two types of pouches, the ileoanal (pull-through) pouch and the continent ileostomy (Koch) pouch, which surgeons create using part of the patient's small intestine.
You're shaky. You're sweating. You've never been so hungry in your life. If you've had diabetes for awhile, you recognize that you're experiencing an episode of hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose, which needs to be treated right away before it gets dangerous.
You've probably heard of genetic testing, which looks at single genes to determine if someone has an increased risk of a particular disease. But you may be less familiar with genomics, which is the study of someone's complete genetic code. With genomics, scientists map out the exact sequence of a person's DNA to come up with a comprehensive picture of that person's future health risks.
Can the very old Chinese art of aesthetics, which stresses the power of placement, really give you a better sex life? Experts say that it can. "Feng shui can ignite a fire between the two of you," says certified feng shui master practitioner Debra Duneier, founder and President of Living Home by Debra, LLC.
Despite your best efforts to lose weight, hunger can strike at any time. For instance, do you find yourself living for your next meal? Are you dissatisfied just moments after clearing your plate?
Here, the five most common causes of hunger--and a foolproof plan to keep those pangs away.
It goes without saying that the day-to-day grind often leaves us with little time to accomplish the things we'd like to do. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average employed American between the ages of 25 and 54 spends almost 16 hours a day either asleep or at work.
Nutrition bars and low-fat cookies must be good for you, right? Well, just because something sounds healthy doesn't mean it actually is. Many of the products marketed as nutritious involve more hype than health. How can you weed through the claims to separate fact from fiction? Here, six "health foods" that really aren't that healthy after all.
Eating right can be difficult during the summer, especially with the amount of picnics, barbecues, and celebrations occurring almost every weekend. But just because your party hat is on, it doesn't mean your diet should be off. With the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables available during the season, it's the perfect time to make some healthy food substitutions.
They've gotten a bad rap, but not all carbs are created equal. If you think that carbohydrates are a dieter's demise, it's time to retrain your brain. Here, Sapna Lalla, MS, RD, CDN-a registered dietician and co-founder of New York City-based wellness boutique Poshan Complementary Nutrition-weighs in on how certain types of carbohydrates can actually help you shed extra pounds.
No matter how dedicated you've been to your diet and exercise routine, bloating can still strike. According to the National Institutes of Health, it's more common among people who have intestinal disorders-such as Crohn's disease or irritable bowel syndrome-but it can affect anyone.
Research has demonstrated that substance abuse (illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco) is one of the most serious health problems in the nation. This problem causes many economic, social, and family dynamic issues. In recent years, substance abuse problems have caused deaths to millions of Americans every year (US Department of Justice, 2005).
Do you think that only women are at risk for postpartum depression? If so, you may be surprised to know that one in 10 men in the United States is likely to experience depression that's related to new fatherhood, according to a meta-analysis of studies on this topic, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in May 2010.
Although scientific studies showing a heart-protective benefit are not conclusive, they are showing promise in the use of garlic to help prevent heart disease, including atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries that can prevent blood flow and possibly lead to heart attack or stroke), high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
Your partner may be snuggly, cuddly, and cozy in bed. But once the lights are out, instead of falling into blissful dreamland, you lie awake enduring snoring, teeth grinding, and kicking. It's not your partner's fault, of course. But admit it: you do feel a tad irritated in the morning when you're so tired you can barely drag yourself to the coffeepot, while the sound sleeper on the other side of the bed is chipper, cheerful and ready to greet the day.
