May 15-21, 2010 - Original Health Articles

When your traditional allergy medications seem to cause too many side effects, you may want to try some natural allergy remedies that can help you get your worst symptoms in check. Natural Allergy Remedies More people today than ever before are turning to alternative remedies to treat allergies and other health problems, and many of them are having success.

Though millions of Americans have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, many more don't even know they're at high risk. If you're unsure whether you're in this group or not, it pays to be aware of the most common symptoms. If you find that you have some of these telltale symptoms, see your health care provider.

People diagnosed with prevalent cancers, such as breast or prostate cancer, find it easy to find information about their disease and to receive care from experienced medical professionals. However, for the thousands of individuals with rare forms of cancer, things are a bit more complicated.

You know it as the "club drug." However, ecstasy may also play a role in treating a prevalent anxiety disorder called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). What is Ecstasy? Ecstasy, or MDMA (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine), is a synthetic, psychoactive drug similar to methamphetamine and mescaline.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects up to 55 million Americans (mostly women) and can be physically debilitating, causing sudden cramping, abdominal pain, bloating gas, diarrhea, and constipation. Although there's no cure for the disorder, there are effective treatments available.

Do you get enough Vitamin D on a daily basis? If not, you may find that this deficit is connected to a variety of health issues, including more severe asthma symptoms and difficulty controlling the condition with your prescribed medicines. The Vitamin D and Asthma Connection In recent years, there's been increasing attention paid to the importance of Vitamin D and body functioning.

An estimated 28 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches, according to the International Headache Society. Migraines have been found to have a range of triggers, one of which includes allergies. If you suffer from migraines, below are some things to look out for.

Few people pay attention to their urine unless there's a problem or they're taking a pregnancy test.  But the truth is, urine can tell you a lot about your health. Here, answers to some of the most common questions about urine-as well as key facts and information.

Let's face it, growing older means facing some physical changes--graying hair, some wrinkles, maybe a few extra pounds that stay stubbornly on the hips. But aging brings changes in sexuality, too. Every person's experience is different and to some extent, age is less of a predictor of changes in sexuality than health.

A positive result on a cancer screening test means you have cancer, right? Not necessarily. The incidence of inaccurate screening results is more prevalent than you might realize. Before your next cancer screening, here's what you need to know about one type of result: the false positive.

You know the saying, "Milk does the body good." But do you know just how this fact can best translate into your own child's meals and snacks? Calcium is essential for building strong and healthy bones. Yet despite that essential health benefits, studies show that the majority of children don't get enough calcium rich foods on a regular basis.

One day they're pregnant and the next, they're movie star slim again. How do celebrities get fit so fast after becoming new moms? Most of their secrets are simply common sense fitness facts: eating smart, working out, and drinking lots of water. Celebrity moms who drop the weight fast usually don't have too much to lose.

In addition to traditional medication and psychotherapy, there are other effective options for relieving symptoms of depression. Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), for example, offers numerous remedies, such as massage therapy, that may help.

We all want to be healthy. Paying attention to signs of good health not only feels good, but is also a smart way to help you spot potential health problems before they get serious. Signs of Health Your resting heart rate is between 70-75 beats per minute.

Ever imagine that a simple injection might alleviate your osteoarthritis symptoms? It just may become a reality. Corticosteroid injections, or steroid injections for short, are part of the arsenal of treatments for a certain segment of the population that suffers from this painful, sometimes debilitating disease.

Vaccines are standard practice today to protect you from contracting diseases like the measles, mumps, chickenpox and polio. But since many of these illnesses don't pose much of a widespread threat anymore, you may wonder if getting immunized is really necessary.

If you suffer from depression and plan to become pregnant, you may be understandably concerned about the effect of depression and treatment on your unborn child. It may help to know you are not alone. Studies show that up to 12 percent of pregnant women also experience depression.

3D movies have been becoming big-time box office hits. While moviegoers report that they love to enter the world of the film through the 3D experience, doctors say that for eyes unaccustomed to watching 3D for hours every day, there are some dangers, including symptoms such as disorientation, dizziness, headache, nausea, fatigue, eye strain, and in rare cases, seizures.

LSD, short for lysergic acid diethylamide, got its start in a psychiatric research lab in Switzerland in 1938. Decades later it was known as the hallucinogenic party drug of the 1960s. Now it is being studied once again for possible medical applications.

Laughing not only makes you feel happy and mirthful on the inside, but if you have diabetes, it is also good for your health. In one study, researchers found that laughter not only decreased blood sugar levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes, it also decreased the levels of prorenin in the blood.

You probably rely on your medicines to help you to feel better when you're sick, but you may not realize know that in some cases, the medication you use to treat one health problem could also be triggering your asthma symptoms in the process. Medication and Asthma Triggers It's the opposite of what you'd expect, but the fact is that certain medicines that you take for some health problems can cause changes in your body that can make your asthma kick in.

Past research has shown that both men and women are usually attracted to partners with similar facial features to their own: people find mates with faces that resemble theirs more trustworthy. A new study, however, shows evidence that after a brief but stressful experience, men's preferences for a mate changed.

In over 98 percent of countries in the world, women live longer than men. In the United States, life expectancy for men is five years shorter than women. Why is this the case? Are men genetically programmed to die sooner then women? Some experts say that masculinity itself is killing men.

Oligofructose, or OFS, a sugar substitute derived from plants, typically used as a sweetener in high-calorie foods like ice cream, dairy products and baked goods to help people lose weight, may have some other important heart health benefits as well. In a study of 96 adults, ages 32 to 63, all with mild to borderline high blood pressure, participants were given either 20 grams of OFS or a placebo every day for 12 weeks.

In the U.S., the population is getting older, more people are overweight, and more young adults are playing sports and getting seriously injured. As a result, knee injuries in the U.S. are on the rise - and people are wondering: Should I use a knee brace? The first thing to look at is that there are different kinds of knee braces for different knee problems.

If you suffer from gallstones, you are not alone. An estimated 20 million Americans have the condition, although many people are unaware they have gallstones because they have no symptoms, also called "silent stones." Gallstones are small, hardened deposits of digestive fluid called bile that can develop in the gallbladder, a small pear-shaped sac located below the liver in the right upper abdomen and can range in size from a grain of sand to a golf ball.

Your body is like a pleasure powerhouse that cycles through a series of sexual responses each time you and a partner have sex. The phases of response differ somewhat for men and for women, but they both follow a fairly set physiological pattern, experts say.

Winter's hearty gourds and tubers have given way to a trove of springtime treasures at the market, and the good news is that everything in the colorful cornucopia is appropriate for those with diabetes. Delicate, tender greens, juicy berries, and crisp, sweet peas all are becoming abundant now, and there's no need to resist the temptation to fill up the market basket with vitamin-packed goodies.

Are you that guy who walks into a room looking so good, with so much self-confidence, that all eyes are on you? Or are you the guy people take one look at and turn the other way? Consider the following top grooming mistakes the next time you are getting ready for an important event.