If your child is overweight when they start school at the age of six, unless you do something about it at that point, the indications are that they are going to be overweight teenagers and obese adults. Evidence has shown that overweight children and teenagers have a greater risk of developing lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease later in life - and dying prematurely.
Most people are acutely aware of the toll the heat can take on human life, particularly since the extreme heat of Black Saturday in 2009 and the European heatwave of 2003. So it may come as a surprise that more Australians die from the cold than the heat.
The demand for bottled water it seems is booming. Canadean, a market research company specialising in the beverage industry recently reported the remarkable growth in global sales of bottled water. With an average annual growth of 6% since 2008 it looks as though water will, for the first time, overtake sales of soft drinks by 1.3% this year.
I recently wrote about the terrible sleep habits of the characters in House of Cards. I disapproved of Frank Underwood’s late-night computer work in the Oval Office, his new midnight iPad gaming habit and Claire taking her laptop to bed with her.
Elevated blood sugar can rapidly increase levels of amyloid beta, a key component of brain plaques in Alzheimer’s patients, a new study shows. The buildup of plaques is thought to be an early driver of the complex set of changes that Alzheimer’s causes in the brain.
A growing body of advice suggests doing small amounts of moderate exercise can make a significant difference to your health. Academic research is being turned into headlines such as: “Spending two minutes an hour walking instead of sitting can help you live longer” and “Can’t be bothered to exercise? Just WALK”.
A dollop of peanut butter and a ruler might be a way to confirm a diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Jennifer Stamps, a graduate student in the McKnight Brain Institute Center for Smell and Taste and the University of Florida, came up with the idea of using peanut butter to test for smell sensitivity when she was working with Kenneth Heilman, a professor of neurology at the University of Florida.
Picture this scenario: Seven days ago you had a really bad attack of back pain. You can hardly get out of bed, and getting dressed and in and out of the car is slow and painful. It’s making life seem miserable. You’re middle-aged but, other than this pain, are well.
I began experimenting with the tuning forks with a few of my massage therapy clients. I found that if a client was complaining of pain in a particular area, the fork would produce either a loud, sharp tone or a tone full of static and “noise.” After holding the fork over the area, I found that after a few moments the tone would become clear...
Have you ever wondered what those food additive numbers in the ingredients list on your food packaging meant and what they were really doing to your body? A recent study suggests emulsifiers – detergent-like food additives found in a variety of processed foods have the potential to damage the intestinal barrier, leading to inflammation and increasing our risk of chronic disease.
Can organic farmers use Roundup® ? I get that question a lot. Society has been told and, it seems, really believes, that as crop chemicals go, nothing could be safer. But that's just it, using nothing is safer.
In the United States, we live in a nation where hunger and obesity go hand in hand. More than 17 million US households struggle to put food on the table, and when they do, it’s often high in fat and sugar because healthy options are scarce in low-income neighborhoods.
In a study published last week, researchers at Harvard University examined 21 brands of dietary supplements containing an herbal stimulant called Acacia rigidula. More than half of the brands analyzed contained an untested amphetamine isomer called ?-methylphenylethylamine (BMPEA).
Every 67 seconds someone in the United States is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and new estimates suggest that it may be the third leading cause of death of older people. Alzheimer’s disease is associated with losses in memory in older people that become severe enough over time to interfere with normal daily functions.
For most of the common cancers, a major cause has been identified: smoking causes 90% of lung cancer worldwide, hepatitis viruses cause most liver cancer, H pylori bacteria causes stomach cancer, Human papillomavirus causes almost all cases of cervical cancer, colon cancer is largely explained by physical activity, diet and family history.
Which is more important to you, your world-view or your health? It may be that the world-view you have absorbed from the society around you is interfering with your control over your own health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called insufficient sleep an epidemic. While we are finally paying attention to the importance of sleep, the need for dark is still mostly ignored. That’s right. Dark. Your body needs it too.
Exposure to air pollutants during pregnancy may contribute to childhood abnormalities in the brain, a new study suggests. The research, from the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, measured the exposure of the mothers to PAH air pollution and used brain imaging to look at the effects on their children’s brains.
Scientists knew that oleocanthal killed some cancer cells, but weren’t really sure how. They thought the compound might be targeting a key protein in cancer cells that triggers a programmed cell death, known as apoptosis, and decided to test their hypothesis.
A nutrient in garlic may offer the brain cells protection against aging and disease, according to new research. “Most people think of it as a ‘superfood,’ because garlic’s sulfur-containing compounds are known as an excellent source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection."
If you use your area’s air pollution as a reason not to exercise, you might need to find a better excuse. Even in heavily polluted areas, the benefits of exercise outweigh the harmful effects of air pollution in relation to the risk of premature mortality, a new study reports.
The way we talk about illness matters. This is perhaps no more evident than in the many passionate critiques of the metaphor of the “fight” against cancer, which many of us will eventually “lose”. In the 1970s, Susan Sontag famously exposed the negative implications for patients of this “military rhetoric about cancer”.
Fasting is something that human beings have practiced throughout history, often out of circumstance rather than choice. Intermittent fasting (also called alternate day fasting) has become a popular diet. In most versions of intermittent fasting, people fast or eat very little a few days each week and then eat normal amounts during the remaining days.