Archive for December, 2011
Eating Disorders Can Last Well Beyond Teen Years
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are typically thought to be diseases of young women and men. But researchers are finding that the personal demons that drive a young person to an eating disorder may linger into adulthood.
More and more middle-aged and older people are coming forward to receive treatment for eating problems that began in their youth and have been reignited by adult stress or personal crises.
“Some had actual eating disorders” when they were younger, and “others had aspects of an eating disorder but were never fully treated,” said Dr. Ed Tyson, an eating disorders specialist in Austin, Texas. “Then something happens later in life that stresses them to a point where the eating disorder becomes engaged.” (more…)
‘Silent Strokes’ Linked to Memory Loss in Elderly
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
In some cases, memory loss among the elderly may be due to so-called “silent strokes,” new research suggests.
Such strokes, which may not cause any noticeable symptoms, result in small pockets of dead brain cells, and are found in roughly 25 percent of older adults, the study team noted.
“The new aspect of this study of memory loss in the elderly is that it examines silent strokes and [brain] shrinkage simultaneously,” study author Adam Brickman, of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, explained in a news release from the American Academy of Neurology. (more…)
Foods That Are Good For Your Teeth
Friday, December 30th, 2011
In a previous article, “Foods That Are Bad For Your Teeth”, I reviewed three broad categories of foods that can be detrimental to your dental health. These were sugars and sweeteners, low fat foods, and foods that contain white, especially bleached, flour.
With this article I would like to spend some time talking about an area that I feel receives entirely too little attention – whether by patients, or dentists, for that matter. Possibly, this comes about for the simple reason that by the time many patients arrive at the dentist they are looking for resolution of a specific problem. In this sense, the market has conditioned both patients and doctors into focusing upon the end-game. (more…)
Taking Control Of TMJ Pain At Home
Friday, December 30th, 2011
Temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ) is a common cause of facial pain, headache, toothache, eye pain and can cause difficulty eating. However, a good news is that TMJ treatment can begin at home.
The most common cause of TMJ syndrome is grinding teeth (bruxism) during sleep. This action inflames the joint where the mandible (upper jaw) connects to the skull on one or both sides. It can also develop from trauma.
Home remedies for TMJ are much like the approach to any irritated joint. Here are five treatments for TMJ pain that can be tried at home before consulting a professional. (more…)
How To Lose Weight By Simply Chewing Food
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
You can lose weight by eating chewy food. A Japanese study found women eating chewy or crunchy foods lost weight and they had slimmer waistlines than women who ate softer foods. It was not the chewing that got the results it was the fact they were eating food their bodies took longer to digest. Their bodies had to work harder to digest the chewy food, which used up calories in the process. This is not new but it is a slightly different approach. Mind you, you would still need to make sure the food was good food – not chewy toffees or candies. (more…)
Glucosamine Supplements Are Safe For Treating Osteo-Arthritis Joint Disease
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Have you heard of the glucosamine 500mg supplement products? For those suffering from the pain of joint arthritis, there are alternative methods of treatment which are far safer and less expensive than the traditional prescription medications often suggested by doctors today. Not only are these prescribed medicines for joint osteoarthritis very expensive, many of them come with extremely dangerous side effects. In fact, many of these prescription meds have been removed from the market by the FDA because some of the side effects were so severe that they resulted in the death of the person taking them for their joint arthritis disease. (more…)
Poor Lifestyles Harming U.S. Heart Health
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
Americans’ heart health is in a woeful state, says this year’s report card from the American Heart Association.
And it’s largely because people just aren’t taking care of themselves.
In the past three or so decades, women have upped their calorie consumption by 22 percent and men by 10 percent, with carbohydrates and sugar-sweetened beverages both major sources of unneeded calories.
The inevitable result is that more than two-thirds of U.S. adults and about one-third of children are over the ideal body weight, the extra layers of fat putting a major strain on Americans’ hearts. (more…)
Parkinson’s Disease
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
hat is Parkinson’s disease?
Parkinson’s disease affects the way you move. It happens when there is a problem with certain nerve cells in the brain.
Normally, these nerve cells make an important chemical called dopamine. Dopamine sends signals to the part of your brain that controls movement. It lets your muscles move smoothly and do what you want them to do. When you have Parkinson’s, these nerve cells break down. Then you no longer have enough dopamine, and you have trouble moving the way you want to.
Parkinson’s is progressive, which means it gets worse over time. But usually (more…)
Little Social Life for Autistic Teens, Researchers Say
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
Teens with autism are far less likely than other teens to have a social life outside of school, a new study reports.
U.S. researchers analyzed national data on more than 11,000 teens enrolled in special education and found that among those with autism, 43 percent never see friends outside of school, 54 percent never get called by friends and about half are never invited to social activities.
For teens with autism, “it appears that experiences with peers are more likely to occur one-on-one, and perhaps at home rather than in the community,” study author Paul Shattuck, an autism expert and assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, said in a university news release. (more…)
World’s Tiniest ‘Preemies’ Growing Up Healthy
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
When she was born prematurely in 1989, weighing less than two-thirds of a pound, Madeline Mann was the world’s smallest surviving baby.
At the same hospital in 2004, Rumaisa Rahman took over the title of world’s tiniest infant, weighing in at 0.57 pounds. She was one of twins, and she spent 50 days on a ventilator in the neonatal intensive care unit at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.
At her five-year checkup, Rumaisa weighed 34 pounds and had grown to 3 feet, 3 inches. She was attending first-grade on an individual learning plan. She wears glasses because of retinopathy of prematurity, an eye problem common in preemies. (more…)