Kids Eat Too Much Salt!

Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say 90% of school children eat too much salt on a daily basis and one in six kids has hypertension. The CDC recommends the following strategies to help reduce your child’s salt intake: try different herbs and spices in place of salt, use “low sodium”…

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Cold Weather May Increase Stroke Risk for Some.

The onset of cold weather may actually pose health risks for some individuals with a heart condition. A new study found colder weather can increase the risk of stroke for people with atrial fibrillation by as much as 20% when compared with their risk during the warmer months. Atrial fibrillation is a common condition in…

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Mental Health Care Is Vital But Often Tough to Get.

A survey shows that most Americans believe mental health care is important, but they often think it is expensive and hard to obtain. Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention writes, “Progress is being made in how Americans view mental health and the important role it plays in our…

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Check Your Weight Regularly.

Weighing yourself regularly is an important part of achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. The Obesity Action Coalition recommends weighing yourself once per week using the same scale, weighing yourself at the same time and day of the week, logging your weight each week, and avoiding weighing yourself more than once per week as weight…

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Seniors with Low Muscle Mass Have Increased Risk for Metabolic Syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is the clustering of at least three of the following five risk factors: elevated fasting glucose, excess waist circumference, elevated blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, and abnormal cholesterol levels. This syndrome is known to increase an individual’s risk for both cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Korean researchers have found that men and women…

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Saturated Fats May Increase Inflammation

High levels of saturated fat in the blood may cause a person to be more prone to inflammation and tissue damage. Investigators examined mice with unusually high levels of saturated fat in their blood to see if they were more prone to tissue damage than mice in a control group. The results led investigators to…

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More School Athletes Using Chewing Tobacco.

While high school athletes may be getting the message that cigarettes are bad for their health, it appears many don’t see the dangers involved with smokeless tobacco. Between 2001 and 2013, high school athletes use of chew, moist snuff, or dip increased 10% to 11%, while no change was noted among non-athletes. According to their…

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Obesity May Be “Hardwired” in the Brain

Using MRI scans to investigate how the brains of nearly 80 individuals responded to pictures of food, researchers from the University of Granada in Spain and Monash University in Australia claim at least some people become obese because of the way food cravings are processed in the brain. The researchers found that a food craving…

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Online Program Can Improve Hand Washing.

An online program that encourages people to wash their hands has been found to reduce the spread of cold and flu viruses within families. The free program, called PRIMIT, offers four weekly sessions that provide simple steps to help participants avoid catching and passing on viruses, monitor users’ hand washing habits, and provide feedback. The…

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