Bringing wholesome healthy tips
Making up for too little sleep by slugging coffee and energy drinks may get you through the day, but in the long run sets you up for disease. That’s because it interrupts your circadian rhythm, the natural sleep cycle that assures you get an adequate amount of deep sleep. Without enough hours of deep sleep to “wash” your brain each night, you are a sitting duck for Alzheimer’s disease, heart…
I’ve always been a big fan of city living. I love being able to walk to the shops and have access to plenty of dining, culture, arts and public transportation options. But I’ll admit there are definite advantages to living in a more rural setting. And one of them is being surrounded by green, growing things. In one study, Harvard researchers found women living in areas with more greenery were…
Ever hear the expression, “Out of the frying pan, into the fire”? It means trading one bad thing for something else even worse. In healthcare, that expression would apply when a drug meant to treat a disease carries side effects far worse than the disease itself. That’s exactly the case with a newly approved drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, the “fire” is fatal. Lecanemab: hopeful Alzheimer’s drug turns deadly In…
If you want to protect the health of your skin, heart, digestive system, muscles, brain and immune system, you need to take good care of your gut microbiota. The trillions of “friendly” bacteria and other microbes living inside our digestive system are central to keeping our bodies in peak physical shape. So, what’s the best way to nourish this microbiome? There’s no doubt that probiotic-rich fermented foods like yogurt, kefir,…
In 2023, about 97,610 adults in the United States will be diagnosed with malignant melanoma of the skin, and almost ten percent will die of the disease. If detected early, melanoma is one of the more curable forms of cancer. In 2018, Dr. James Allison of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Dr. Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University won the Nobel Prize for Physiology for their discovery…
In case you haven’t heard, sucralose — an artificial sweetener used in many diet sodas — is bad news. Sold under the name Splenda, sucralose has been linked to an increase in malignant tumors in mice. Research also shows sucralose upsets the balance of the gut microbiome, disrupts blood sugar levels and promotes inflammation. Other symptoms reported by people who consume sucralose include: Red, itchy skin Wheezing and breathing problems…
Raging wildfires in Canada are causing some major headaches for some parts of the United States. Major metro areas, such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., are experiencing very unhealthy air quality advisories — while some of the smoke has drifted as far south as Georgia, but only affecting the Metro Atlanta Air Quality to a “moderate” degree. Depending on where you live, you may be wondering how…
No doubt you’ve heard of type 2 diabetes (T2D). But what about type 3 diabetes? Type 3 diabetes is the name some scientists are giving to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. According to the Mayo Clinic, type 3 diabetes occurs when neurons in the brain become unable to respond to insulin, which they need for basic tasks such as memory and learning. In fact, some researchers believe insulin deficiency…
Say you go to the doctor for a cough that just won’t clear up. Your doctor gives you an exam, does a chest x-ray and diagnoses you with walking pneumonia. She writes you a prescription for antibiotics and tells you to get some rest. You take the antibiotics and spend weeks on the couch re-watching every season of Downton Abbey. But you still aren’t feeling better. So, you go see…
I’ll be 67 this summer. While I sure don’t feel “old,” I’m noticing that I tire a bit more easily. I really have to push myself out the door to go for my daily walk. So I’m taking steps (literally!) to avoid becoming part of the 10 to 15 percent of adults who develop a syndrome known as frailty. Luckily, there’s research pointing to ways we work at avoiding frailty…