September 15-21, 2009 - Original Health Articles

Grains are any foods made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or another cereal grain product.  Examples of grain products include pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortillas, grits, and rice.  All grains are good sources of complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals and they are naturally low in fat.

With a name like Thunder God Vine, you'd expect this perennial plant to deliver extraordinary healing results. Chinese medicine practitioners have used Thunder God Vine for hundreds of years to treat inflammation and conditions caused by an overactive immune system.

Arthritis causes pain, stiffness, structural joint damage, bone density loss and muscle weakness, all of which can limit mobility. Current evidence supports the effectiveness and safety of aerobic and strength training for adults with osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Morning, noon, or night?  When is the best time of day to exercise? Some find that exercising first thing in the morning keeps them energized all day long. These early birds know that getting it out of the way is their best guarantee they'll exercise at all.

Doctors aren't sure why, but depression is much more common in heart disease patients than in the general population. In fact, people with heart disease run twice the risk of depression, according to a study published in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics and reported in Science Daily.

Osteoporosis is the most common type of bone disease. An estimated 10 million Americans have it, and another 18 million have low bone mass that may eventually lead to osteoporosis if untreated.  People with osteoporosis have brittle bones that break easily; a leading cause of disability in seniors.

Proteins are important parts of muscles, blood, skin, and most body structures.  They act as antibodies, enzymes, and hormones.  They carry nutrients and other molecules and provide calories. Protein foods require more calories to be metabolized then carbohydrates or fats, therefore, they burn more calories to be processed and used by the body.

Our bodies compute our caloric needs like the ultimate algebraic equation.  Subtract calories consumed from calories burned.  Factor in basic metabolism, body functions and exercise.  Adjust for donuts and divide by skinny jeans.  Wait!  It's got to be easier than that.

If you suffer from asthma, you know that coping with the condition can be extremely challenging. But can you imagine ending your life as a result of having this condition? While this may sound very extreme, some of the latest research has found that there is a real link between asthma symptoms and suicidal tendencies.

For better health and weight control, serving size really does matter. Even if you eat healthy foods all day long, you may still gain weight if you don't pay attention to how much you're consuming. Too many people fall into the trap of portion distortion: accepting extra large portions as normal.

After a courageous battle, Patrick Swayze has died from pancreatic cancer. The Ghost and Dirty Dancing star was diagnosed just eighteen months ago in March 2008. Initially, doctors were optimistic about Swayze's prognosis. However, pancreatic cancer is widely held to be one of the deadliest cancers around.

If you or your child has a milk allergy, you probably go to great lengths to steer clear of all dairy products that can trigger a reaction. Therefore, the findings of a new study may go against your instincts. Researchers representing John Hopkins Children's Center and Duke University recently discovered that drinking milk can actually be helpful in overcoming a milk allergy.

Most women have about 450 periods in their lifetime. Most wish they had fewer. Now, women can reduce the number of periods they have and even eliminate them by taking birth control pills in a new way.   Nicknamed the, "no period pill," women can have a period only every three to four months and, in some cases, once a year.

Are men and women really so different? After all, we speak the same language, eat the same foods, and enjoy most of what life has to offer together. But in some ways, there are big differences, particularly as we age. The most obvious one is that women can get pregnant, give birth, and breastfeed children.

If you're worried about getting diabetes, take note of your bra size. A larger cup size is linked to higher rates of Type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The lead author of the study, Dr Joel Ray, said"I think the take-home message is that we have a new and thought provoking concept about how breast fatness or breast fat might be viewed as a contributor to Type 2 diabetes risk in a woman," lead author Dr.

A recent study found that frequent nightmares could predict symptoms of suicide in patients seeking emergency psychiatric evaluation. The findings were presented at SLEEP, 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Sleep disorders such as nightmares are quite common in people who have depression, which is one of the leading risk factors for suicide.

Take a poll on what people believe is the most common reason for an extramarital affair and the answer you are likely to get from the majority is: sex. While this may be a common belief, it's not necessarily true, says Andrea Syrtash, a dating and relationships expert.

It may seem like a cruel joke, but various studies are finding that the amount of sex you have may influence your prostate cancer risk. Men in their 20s and 30s who have a very active sex life are more likely to get prostate cancer, while men in their 50s who keep up even small levels of sexual activity have lower rates of the cancer.

You'd be hard put to find a woman who wanted a longer menopause, with its constellation of annoying symptoms. But a lengthier change of life may have one health advantage: women who transition more quickly through menopause appear to face an increased risk of "preclinical atherosclerosis.

Glucosamine is a naturally-occurring amino acid found in cartilage and other connective tissue in the body. It is one of the most popular dietary supplements used to treat symptoms of osteoarthritis and many patients swear by it. However, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the supplement can increase blood pressure.

Depression is characterized by persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness, loss of pleasure or interest in activities, and even thoughts of death or suicide. Some estimates indicate that depression and other mood disorders are more common among people who are obese--affecting about 25 percent of this group.

A type 1 diabetes diagnosis most commonly occurs in childhood or young adulthood, but it can occur at an age. Type 1 diabetes is when the immune system starts to attack beta cells in the pancreas responsible for producing insulin. Eventually these cells stop producing insulin and glucose increases in the bloodstream instead of entering cells where it can be used for energy and other functions.

Living with diabetes means you've got to plan for any situation when you're away from home for an extended period, for instance, when you're at work or on an outing. Here are 10 things you should always take with you when you have diabetes: 1. Diabetes bracelet.

  Q: What foods are safe to eat for people with pre-diabetes? A: It's not that any foods are really "unsafe" to eat if you have pre-diabetes or insulin resistance.  It's simply that some food choices are better than others for blood sugar control and overall health.

Many women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes have healthy, successful pregnancies, which are still considered high-risk. Some of the risks that increase due to diabetes and pregnancy include pre-eclampsia, miscarriage, premature birth, congenital defects, stillbirth, neonatal death, and having a baby who will have diabetes.