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The first thing that comes to mind for many when they hear diabetes is sugar. While sugar plays a big part in this disease, there’s a lot more to this chronic condition. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, meaning it involves how the body breaks down food to create energy through the use of insulin, a hormone created by the pancreas. When you eat, food is turned into a kind of sugar known as glucose. As the amount of glucose in the blood rises, beta cells in the pancreas trigger the release of insulin. Th...
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As a new mother, it can be hard to find your footing. According to the Pew Research Center, 45 percent of moms with kids younger than 6 years say parenting is tiring all or most of the time. How can you make the adjustment easier? You took breastfeeding and prenatal classes, read every book you could get your hands on, and soaked up all the advice you could get from friends and family. However, all of that pales in comparison to the reality of caring for a newborn. How can you handle this new world of m...
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America is a diverse country, especially when it comes to health habits according to the United Health Foundation’s 2016 “America’s Health Ranking” annual report. The Northeast is the healthiest region. Four of its states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire) landed in the report’s top six based on factors such as smoking prevalence and rate of preventable hospitalizations. The Midwest is for meat-lovers. Residents in the Dakotas, Nebraska and Iowa consume more red meat on average than...
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Defined by the Whole Grains Council as grains that have remained largely unchanged by manufacturing methods over the last few hundred years, ancient grains are a nutritious alternative to wheat. Wheat ranks No. 1 in our diet. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American adult eats roughly 134.1 pounds of wheat flour each year. You can purchase many types of ancient grains online and at your local natural food and upscale grocery stores. Here are three ancient grains poised for a...
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Imagine this — you’re going about your day, working, exercising or spending time with your family, when all of a sudden you feel a sharp, stabbing pain in your abdomen. You’ve been a little nauseous all day, and you haven’t felt hungry, so you chalk it up to eating too much at your last meal. Right? Wrong. These are all signs that you have appendicitis, the inflammation of the appendix — a small tube attached to the large intestine. Appendicitis may occur when there is a blockage in the appendix caused ...
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Clicking, cracking, grinding, popping, snapping — these are all common and generally harmless sounds our joints can make. These varied sounds can be caused by a number of different reasons. The fluids in our joints contain a mixture of gases — carbon dioxide, nitrogen and oxygen. When you pop or crack a joint — such as stiff knuckles — you’re releasing these pent-up gases, which makes a popping or cracking noise. If you have an arthritic joint, its cartilage has worn away, causing your bones to grind or...
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Whether you’re an athlete or an amateur, one wrong move can lead to an injury that can put your fitness regimen in timeout. Learn to identify common types of injuries and get tips on how to protect your skeletal framework. According to Harvard University, there are three common types of injuries. Sprains, or ligament injuries, can be as minor as a stretched ligament and as serious as tears in the ligament fibers. Strains are injuries to the muscle and tendonitis is inflammation of the connective tissue ...
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When you think of a typical heart attack patient, there’s a good chance the person who comes to mind looks something like this: an older man in his 50s or 60s, clutching his chest in sudden pain. That doesn’t always align with reality, however. Which of these people do you think is most at risk for a heart attack? SCENARIO #1: A 65-year-old woman with a family history of heart disease is overweight, but gets a moderate amount of exercise and tries to follow a healthy diet. She is aware that her weight a...
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The metaphor of a broken heart to describe intense emotional pain has been a favorite among poets and jilted lovers since the beginning of time. In 1990, Japanese scientists discovered that the hurt felt after a messy breakup or the loss of a loved one actually does affect the heart, though it doesn’t exactly break it. Sudden emotional turmoil temporarily enlarges a part of your heart and prevents it from pumping efficiently while the rest of your heart maintains normal function. Also known as stress-in...
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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for men and women worldwide. In honor of American Heart Month, now is the perfect time to reflect on what can be done to prevent CVD from affecting your family. Every year, the United States spends more than $300 billion on CVD, including health services, medications and lost productivity. According to the World Health Organization, CVD kills an estimated 17.3 million people every year, and it is projected to remain the leading cause of death un...
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