December 8-14, 2013 - Original Health Articles

Anger is a normal human emotion and stating your feelings appropriately can help you move forward and preserve important relationships. Some people, however, are unable to directly express anger. They develop patterns of indirectly expressing negative feelings, thus avoiding confrontation and short-term conflict.

Your musculoskeletal system gives your body motion. Bones and skeletal muscles work in tandem; your muscles hold your bones in place and guide their movement. In addition to bones and muscle, the musculoskeletal system is comprised of connective tissue, such a tendons, which connect muscle to bone, and ligaments, which connect bone to bone, and cartilage, which is the tissue that covers and protects the ends of bones, acting as a "shock absorber" where bones meet at a joint.

Catching a cold is a fact of life—but our busy lives usually won't allow us to spend the week a bed nursing the sniffles. Instead of snuggling under the covers when you're under the weather, you'll most likely find yourself working, carpooling, and doing your usual household chores.

Platelets—vital to good health—are tiny fragments of blood cells that help prevent bruising or serious bleeding. "They plug up tiny breaks in the blood vessels that occur in normal individuals, and low levels of platelets can lead to serious problems," explains Andrew Yeager, MD, of the University of Arizona Cancer Center.

How many times have you thought "I can hold it" when you feel the urge to use a bathroom, but you're in a hurry to get somewhere else, you're in a socially embarrassing position, or there's no restroom facility nearby? It happens to everyone, but it's not something you should allow to occur on a regular basis.

You've been dieting diligently to try to lose some weight but the scale won't budge. It may not be that you aren't working hard enough; your body's ability to regulate itself may be sabotaging your efforts, says psychologist Margo Maine, PhD, FAED, CEDS and author of The Body Myth.

If using a little bit of shampoo, toothpaste, and moisturizer gives good results, then you might think that using a lot of these products would be even better for you, right? Wrong. Here's why. This is a common misconception that many women share, but in fact, overusing health and beauty products will usually backfire on you, says Samantha Lowe, an esthetician with the Rescue Spa in Philadelphia.

Skincare and makeup products are a big business, and manufacturers are looking for an ever-expanding share of the pie by touting the benefits of their products to women who are more conscious than ever of their own health and the health of the environment.

Soybeans are unique among legumes because they are rich in high-quality plant protein, as well as in phytoestrogens (plant estrogens) such as isoflavones, that can mimic estrogen and have hormone-like effects in your body. Isoflavones are found in varying amounts in tofu and other soy products such as mature dried soybeans, young green soybeans (edamame), soymilk, and other dairy alternatives made from soybeans.

If you're like many people, you probably have an annual physical exam that includes tests such as a complete blood count, blood sugar, and cholesterol. And chances are that the results you focus on are the cholesterol and triglycerides—if they're elevated, your health care provider may tell you to make some dietary changes to get them back into the normal range.