Learning to Live With a Child’s Allergies

Learning to Live With a Child’s Allergies
19 May

NYTIMES FAMILY
Learning to Live With a Child’s Allergies
By CURTIS SITTENFELD

When your older daughter is a toddler and you are pregnant with your younger daughter, your husband says, “Every Friday, we should have family pizza night.” Four months later, you give birth to a daughter who is allergic to milk (meaning also to cheese), as well as to eggs, tree nuts, peanuts and maybe buckwheat and flaxseed. Very early on, certain foods leave rashes around her mouth or make her vomit, so you stop giving them to her. When she is 8 months old, her sister spills ice cream on her arm. Red bumps immediately rise in the places the ice cream touched. Read More

Strength training helps older adults live longer

Strength training helps older adults live longer
02 May

Older adults who met twice-weekly strength training guidelines had lower odds of dying in a new analysis by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Columbia University. The study is the first to demonstrate the association in a large, nationally representative sample over an extended time period, particularly in an older population.

 

Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Older adults who met twice-weekly strength training guidelines had lower odds of dying, a new analysis concludes. The study is the first to demonstrate the association in a large, nationally representative sample over an extended time period, particularly in an older population.

US adults get failing grade in healthy lifestyle behavior

US adults get failing grade in healthy lifestyle behavior
02 May

Only 2.7 percent of the U.S. adult population achieves all four of some basic behavioral characteristics that researchers say would constitute a “healthy lifestyle” and help protect against cardiovascular disease, a recent study concluded.

In this study, researchers from Oregon State University and the University of Mississippi examined how many adults succeed in four general barometers that could help define healthy behavior: a good diet, moderate exercise, a recommended body fat percentage and being a non-smoker. It’s the basic health advice, in other words, that doctors often give to millions of patients all over the world.

Oregon State University
Only 2.7 percent of the US adult population achieves all four of some basic behavioral characteristics that researchers say would constitute a ‘healthy lifestyle’ and help protect against cardiovascular disease, a recent study concluded.https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160321200329.htm

No time to get fit? Think again Just one minute of intense exercise produces significant health benefits

No time to get fit? Think again Just one minute of intense exercise produces significant health benefits
02 May

Researchers at McMaster University have found that a single minute of very intense exercise produces health benefits similar to longer, traditional endurance training.

The findings put to rest the common excuse for not getting in shape: there is not enough time.

“This is a very time-efficient workout strategy,” says Martin Gibala, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster and lead author on the study. “Brief bursts of intense exercise are remarkably effective.

 

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Source: Science Daily News 
McMaster University
A single minute of very intense exercise produces health benefits similar to longer, traditional endurance training, new research indicates. The findings put to rest the common excuse for not getting in shape: there is not enough time.

LOWER BACK DISORDER: WHY IS SITTING PAINFUL?

LOWER BACK DISORDER: WHY IS SITTING PAINFUL?
14 Apr

Dr. Stuart M. McGill is a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, ON, Canada).If sitting creates back discomfort you have a highly sensitized back, or tissue damage, or both. Avoiding this pain trigger will reduce the pain sensitivity. Avoidance of the pain triggers is part of the documented strategy to de-sensitize back pain throughout the day as evidenced in Back Mechanic.

Sitting causes the low back to flex which is normally not an issue. But modern life has increased sitting time at work, on the road, and at home. Soon sitting at the computer becomes uncomfortable. We call this the flexion intolerant back. Specific low back tissues become stressed and sensitized, in particular the spine discs and ligaments. Sitting upright to restore the natural curves to the spine relieves this stress. But it “costs” in terms of muscle work resulting in those muscles to tire and allow the spine to slouch. This increases disc and ligament stress. The link between prolonged sitting and disc pathology is well established. Reducing stresses in the back associated with sitting not only makes sitting more comfortable, but it helps build more capacity for pain-free movement throughout the day. READ MORE 

20 THINGS THAT CAN RUIN YOUR TEETH

20 THINGS THAT CAN RUIN YOUR TEETH
18 Feb

Healthy Teeth, Healthy Smile?

by Kristin Koch
Your smile is one of your best assets, so, of course, you want to keep it sparkling.But even if you brush, use white strips, and visit your dentist twice a year, it may not be enough.Here are some factors that can wreak havoc on your teeth and gums, and put a serious damper on your smile.
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ALCOHOL ALLERGIES: DO THEY EXIST?

ALCOHOL ALLERGIES: DO THEY EXIST?
20 Jan

Can I be allergic to alcohol? Although a true alcohol allergy is rare, and the reaction can be severe, most allergic reactions to alcohol are due to an ingredient in alcohol. Every person’s body chemistry and make-up is different, so a person’s response to alcohol can vary greatly. A true alcohol allergy tends to be inherited.

Often, a true alcohol allergy is termed alcohol intolerance. Although research is limited, people with a true allergy to alcohol should avoid drinking. Research indicates that the enzyme, aldehyde dehydrongenase, metabolizes alcohol in the liver into acetic acid (vinegar). A person who has an allergy to vinegar can then have a severe reaction to the alcohol. Others can have a polymorphism in the ALDH gene, which renders aldehyde dehydrongenase inactive and makes it impossible to convert alcohol to acetic acid. The second type of intolerance or allergy is more common among the Asian population, and symptoms may include flushing, nausea, and rapid heartbeat.READ MORE

STUDY FINDS HOOKAH DELIVERS 25 TIMES MORE TAR THAN A CIGARETTE

STUDY FINDS HOOKAH DELIVERS 25 TIMES MORE TAR THAN A CIGARETTE
13 Jan

As cigarette smoking rates fall, more people are smoking tobacco from hookahs–communal pipes that enable users to draw tobacco smoke through water. A new meta-analysis led by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine shows that hookah smokers are inhaling a large load of toxicants.

The findings, published online and scheduled for the January/February print issue of the journal Public Health Reports, represent a meta-analysis, or a mathematical summary of previously published data. The research team reviewed 542 scientific articles potentially relevant to cigarette and hookah smoking and ultimately narrowed them down to 17 studies that included sufficient data to extract reliable estimates on toxicants inhaled when smoking cigarettes or hookahs.

They discovered that, compared with a single cigarette, one hookah session delivers approximately 125 times the smoke, 25 times the tar, 2.5 times the nicotine and 10 times the carbon monoxide.

Study Finds Hookah Delivers 25 Times More Tar Than A Cigarette