October 22-31, 2010 - Original Health Articles

Understanding Lipoprotein Tests

Have a family history of heart disease? To determine if you are at risk for developing cardiovascular disease, your doctor may suggest that you be given a cardiac risk assessment. Cardiac risk assessments include a series of tests, as well as a review of your personal medical history, to help assess the likelihood that you may have a future cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke.

Bypass Surgery or Angioplasty: Which is Most Effective?

If you or a loved one suffers from heart disease, there are a variety of treatment options available. The trouble is, which one is the best? Which is most effective? New study findings released this fall have found that coronary artery bypass surgery is more effective than coronary angioplasty and stenting in patients with severe heart disease.

Trusted Asthma Tips

On Facebook, we asked parents of children with asthma to give us their best asthma-care tips. From freezing your pillows to sharing a written action plan with your school, moms responded with creative, take-charge solutions: Roll Up Windows Drive with your windows up, not down.

The Pros and Cons of Dating Older Women

According to Fayr Barkley, Ph.D. human behavior research expert and founder of cougar international (a cougar/cub dating site) younger men are driving the dynamic behind the younger man/older woman dating trend. "I see a ratio of more than 10 men to every woman who join my website, www.

The Issue: Wearing the Insulin Pump, Blood Sugar Still High

Many people with diabetes regard the insulin pump as a wondrous invention that makes their lives a lot easier and makes their blood sugar easier to control. But even with a pump, things aren't perfect, and when your blood sugar rockets upward for no apparent reason, it pays to know what steps to take to get back on track.

4 Ways to Nix Night Sweats

Almost half of all women approaching or experiencing menopause can tell you all about night sweats. The frequency may vary from woman to woman, but the story is always the same: Suddenly waking up in the middle of the night, sometimes several times a night, feeling extremely hot around the face, neck and chest areas, and sweating profusely, to the point of saturating your sheets, pillowcases and nightclothes.

Facing Your Retirement Fears

For some people, leaving the workforce is a long-held dream. For others, the thought of giving up the job they've had for years is a great source of anxiety. If retirement is something that scares you, it's important to be well prepared for this major life transition.

The Facts about Allergy Blood Testing

Has your doctor recommended you undergo allergy blood testing to determine what's causing your allergy symptoms? Allergy blood testing, or the Allergen-specific IgE antibody test (also referred to as Radioallergosorbent test or RAST) is one of several popular methods used today to diagnose specific allergies.

New Worries about the Birth Control Patch

Hormonal contraception has provided safe, reliable birth control for fifty years. Originating as "The Pill," hormonal contraception is now available in a variety delivery methods including the Ortho Evra birth control patch. The Patch has been popular since it came on the market in 2002 for convenience, reliability and user-friendliness.

Palliative Cancer Care versus Hospice Cancer Care

You may be familiar with hospice, which supports people with life-limiting illnesses. However, you may not be as familiar with palliative care, a related concept that is invaluable to people with cancer or other serious illnesses. What is Palliative Care? The goal of palliative care, sometimes called comfort care, is to make patients comfortable by treating the symptoms, side effects, and psychosocial aspects of dealing with serious illnesses, such as cancer.

How Your Digestive System Works

Every day your body performs a digestive feat: seamlessly breaking down the foods you eat into small molecules of nutrients that are then absorbed into the blood and carried to cells throughout your body, providing you with the energy you need to live a full life.

Broccoli and Plantain Fibers May Prevent Crohn's Disease Relapse

You've heard the troubling statistics. According to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, as many as 1.4 million Americans suffer from inflammatory bowel disorder (IBD), with that number evenly split between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Doctors Are Slow to Diagnose Arthritis of the Back

While people with crippled fingers or knees usually have no problem getting doctors to diagnose them with arthritis, sufferers of arthritic back pain typically must wait much longer for their problem to be defined and treated. And at least one doctor is claiming that this delay is costing the healthcare system too much money and resulting in needless pain and suffering for patients.

Get a Great Workout

There's a new trend sweeping fitness world from military bases to gyms.  Stick your feet in the straps or grab on to the handles and begin your total body workout.  It may have you dreaming about trapezes, but count on this:  You won't be doing this workout with the greatest of ease.

5 Natural Snore Stoppers

Loud, persistent snoring is a sign that your airways are blocked, preventing normal breathing. For some, this may be a warning of a serious medical condition. But for many people, snoring is simply a noisy nuisance. If you (or someone who sleeps close to you) suffer from occasional or mild snoring, these home remedies should help ensure a better night's sleep.

Should You Get the Flu Shot if You Have Egg Allergies?

It's that time again when the flu makes its unwelcome return. Although the flu shot is the answer to prevent this illness, will it only make matters worse if you have an egg allergy? In the winter of 2010, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) recommend that everyone get vaccinated against several common strains of the influenza virus.

Can You Outgrow Lactose Intolerance?

Being lactose intolerant means that you cannot digest the milk sugar (lactose) in dairy products and while the problem is not serious, the symptoms can be uncomfortable. Lactose intolerance is caused by a deficiency of lactase-an enzyme produced by the cells lining your small intestine, which breaks down the lactase molecules in the foods you eat into two sugars, glucose and galactose.

How to Choose the Right Pillow

You spend one-third of your life in bed. Make sure it's quality time, by choosing the very best pillow for your head. According to the Better Sleep Council, the average person spends one-third of her life, or 220,000 hours, in bed. For that reason alone, it's important to choose your pillow with the same care you use to choose your mattress.

Can Asthma Medications Treat Acute Bronchitis?

Did you know that some asthma medications can do double-duty to treat acute bronchitis symptoms? Just keep in mind that the effectiveness of this option depends on your specific situation. Asthma and Acute Bronchitis Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that's brought on by outside triggers such as allergens, illness, or stress.

Are You Suffering from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome?

Normally, when someone gets injured, time heals the wounds and pain goes away.  But patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome (RSD), don't heal that way.  Instead, their pain gets worse instead of better and may even spread beyond the injured area.

Does Your Neck Need a Special Moisturizer?

The delicate skin on your neck can reveal your true age-no matter how young your face looks. But does it really need one of the dozens of specialized formulas available? And how do you choose the right one? The skin on your neck contains so little fat and few sebaceous, or oil-producing-glands, making it particularly susceptible to premature aging.

Don't Let Depression Ruin Your Sex Life

People with depression typically lose interest in many activities they once enjoyed, including sex. This can significantly reduce their quality of life. Because many patients are reluctant to discuss sexual problems with their physician, the problem often goes unidentified and untreated.

Gender Roles in Pain Medication Abuse

It's long been accepted that men and women experience pain differently. They feel it in different parts of their bodies, have different ways of expressing it and even have different pain thresholds and durations. When doctors prescribe pain medication, especially if it is opiate-based, like Vicodin or Oxycontin, they consider these gender differences.

5 Common Congenital Heart Defects

A congenital heart defect occurs when the heart or blood vessels near the heart don't develop normally before birth. Congenital cardiovascular defects, ranging from mild to severe, occur in about one percent of all live births, or approximately eight out of every 1,000 births, and are the most common congenital malformation in newborns.

Oversee Your Child's Contact Lens Safety

A study conducted by researchers from the US Food and Drug Administration reveals that almost a quarter of all emergency room visits caused by medical devices can be traced back to complications caused by contact lenses. These findings were included in the American Academy of Pediatric journal, Pediatrics, in September of 2010.

How Diabetics Can Treat and Prevent Yeast Infections

If you're a woman with diabetes, you've probably found yourself at the drugstore more than once, trying to figure out which over the counter medication would be most effective for the symptoms of itching and burning that signal another yeast infection.

10 Ways to Live 10 Years Younger

You can try at least a few of these strategies to knock a whole decade off of your outlook and feel ten years younger: Laugh. A hearty chuckle sends your blood pressure downward, unkinks your muscles, and may even lower your stress hormone levels.

Are Public Restrooms Making You Sick?

What You Can Catch, If Anything? There are a few misconceptions surrounding public restrooms and bacteria. Bacteria thrives in wet, moist environments-making sinks, faucet knobs, and flushers prime for the spread of germs. So, yes, it is very possible to get sick from visiting the restroom at your local fast food joint.

Arthritis Patients May Be Able to Grow New Joints

Typically, if an arthritis patient needs a new joint, surgery is performed and the damaged joint is replaced with an artificial, or prosthetic, joint. But a new study demonstrates that people may one day be able to "grow" new, natural joints created from their own stem cells.

Possible Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease Link

Could type 2 diabetes be a precursor to Alzheimer's disease? A study team out of Japan has just released research results that suggest this possibility. The scientists recruited 135 older Japanese people with an average age of 67. At the beginning of the study, the participants were given several tests to determine if they had elevated blood glucose levels.

Too Much Sitting May Undo Gym Benefits

Are you doing enough to stay healthy?  Not if you're reading this sitting down. New studies say the amount of time we spend with our caboose in the chair impacts our health as much and even more than exercise.  Read on for news about whether too much sitting is overriding your fitness efforts.

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