Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Daily Diet: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
While gathering the family at the dinner table seems to have fallen out of favor in recent years, due to working parents, children’s activities, and TV addictions, it is still a wise choice to make time to sit down, tune out the media, and concentrate on your family and what you put on your plate. Actually, not only what you put on your plate, but how much you choose to put there.
A typical family dinner entails 3 serving dishes: protein, starch, vegetable; some may add a bread basket, others a salad bowl. But by placing those serving dishes on the table, you run the risk of taking more food than you or your waistline need. In fact, if you leave those serving bowls in the kitchen, you are likely to eat 20 percent less food than if they make their way around the table.
read more
By Susan Brady
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Choose Your Crowd!
Socializing is an inherent human need for survival. The kind of benefits you derive from other people's company is vital in keeping your mental health up and running smoothly. Despite the fact there are natural born loners, it never happens that any one of us could totally obliterate the presence of other people in one's life. At some point, you would eventually find yourself interacting and mingling with people.
However, as important and inevitable as their presence is, exposing yourself to certain personalities could actually poison your life rather than help you grow. Such people are those identified to possess toxic personalities capable of driving any one they come in contact with round the bend. All these personalities are united in their contagious negativity. Hence, prolonged exposure to them puts you at risk of turning into one of them!
For your sanity's sake, exercise your inherent privilege to choose your crowd wisely. Thus, you control your exposure to these kind of people and ensure your peace of mind. You don't have to be rude. All you have to do is keep your distance and restrict their presence only in areas or aspects where you can't help but have them around.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Could Health Overhaul Incentives Also Hurt Some?
Workplace wellness programs are becoming more and more popular as businesses try to rein in runaway health costs. At American Express, for instance, employees are offered a $100 reward just for coming in for a health assessment; the company also provides an array of free support services, including health coaching, maintenance drugs and preventive care.
read more
By Roni Caryn Rabin
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Newborn Heart Defects Linked To Maternal Obesity
You can read about the study, by investigators at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the New York state Department of Health, in the 7 April online issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
In the US, nearly one third of pregnant women are obese (with around one fifth already obese from the start of their pregnancy), and previous studies show that the condition leads to many congenital complications, including neural tube defects, serious malformations of the spinal column.
read more
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Senate Passes Set of Changes to Health Care Overhaul
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ROBERT PEAR
read more
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Meningitis Infections
Meningitis is inflammation of the thin tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, called the meninges. There are several types of meningitis. The most common is viral meningitis, which you get when a virus enters the body through the nose or mouth and travels to the brain. Bacterial meningitis is rare, but can be deadly. It usually starts with bacteria that cause a cold-like infection. It can block blood vessels in the brain and lead to stroke and brain damage. It can also harm other organs.
Anyone can get meningitis, but it is more common in people whose bodies have trouble fighting infections. Meningitis can progress rapidly. You should seek medical care quickly if you have
* A sudden fever
* A severe headache
* A stiff neck
Early treatment can help prevent serious problems, including death. Vaccines can prevent some of the bacterial infections that cause meningitis. Parents of adolescents and students living in college dorms should talk to a doctor about the vaccination.
read more:
Monday, March 22, 2010
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye condition that develops when too much fluid pressure builds up inside of the eye. It tends to be inherited and may not show up until later in life.
The increased pressure, called intraocular pressure, can damage the optic nerve, which transmits images to the brain. If damage to the optic nerve from high eye pressure continues, glaucoma will cause loss of vision. Without treatment, glaucoma can cause total permanent blindness within a few years.
Because most people with glaucoma have no early symptoms or pain from this increased pressure, it is important to see your ophthalmologist regularly so that glaucoma can be diagnosed and treated before long-term visual loss occurs.
read more: