Encouraging Health

Fall means earlier sunsets and turning leaves. But less sleep?

Absolutely, if the dust, mold, and pollen of fall make you sneeze. Allergy sufferers are much more likely to have sleep problems compared with other people. (And you thought it was the Benadryl making your eyelids droop!) Here’s a breathe-easy battle plan for getting through the season — and the night.

The Ripple Effect
As if the sneezing, runny nose, and itchy eyes weren’t enough trouble . . . a full 44 percent of allergy sufferers wake up feeling tired despite getting a full night’s sleep. Compared with allergy-free folks, severe allergy sufferers are also much more likely to experience headaches, anxiety and depression.

Take this questionnaire!

See your doctor about your allergies, if you haven’t already. In the meantime, here are some self-care tips that may help keep symptoms under wraps:
Shower before bedtime to avoid bringing pollen to bed.
Get a good-quality indoor air cleaner, and change or wash the filter at least once a month.
Close your doors and windows and use forced air/heat to keep pollen outside.
Avoid hanging clothes to dry outside.

allergies

allergies

Experts: Certain diseases are misdiagnosed often

Experts who study malpractice cases and autopsy reports say certain diseases are misdiagnosed over and over again. It’s worth knowing what they are so you won’t be a victim.

1. Aortic dissection: Sometimes aortic dissections are easy to diagnose — a patient feels a distinct tearing sensation in his or her chest. But other times they’re pretty easy to miss because the symptoms could point to other diseases, says Dr. Robert Bonow, past president of the American Heart Association. “Sometimes it feels like heartburn,” he says.

2. Cancer: In a Harvard study of malpractice claims in the U.S., cancer was far and away the most misdiagnosed illness, primarily breast and colorectal. Study authors attributed this to doctors failing to stick to cancer screening guidelines.

3. Clogged arteries: Sometimes doctors tell patients they’re short of breath because they’re out of shape, when it’s actually coronary artery disease, says Bonow, who’s also the chief of cardiology at Northwestern Medical School.

4. Heart attack: Sound strange? How could a doctor miss a heart attack? Bonow says the big and obvious attack — the one where someone clutches his or her chest and falls to the floor, the one Bonow calls “the Hollywood heart attack” — isn’t always so clear. Sometimes the only signs of a heart attack are a sense of fullness in the chest, nausea and a general sense of not feeling well.

5. Infection: In the Harvard study, infection followed cancer as the most misdiagnosed condition.

So how can you keep yourself from becoming a victim of misdiagnosis?

Click the above link to find out!

incorrect diagnoses, midsiagnosed diesases

incorrect diagnoses, midsiagnosed diesases

Very high doses of caffeine and acetaminophen (such as Tylenol), taken together, could lead to liver damage, researchers warn.

This combo produces a byproduct enzyme that’s toxic to the organ, researchers from the University of Washington report.

This toxic twosome can occur not only by drinking caffeine while taking acetaminophen, the experts added, but also from large doses of painkillers that combine caffeine and acetaminophen. These painkillers are often used to treat migraines, menstrual discomfort and other conditions.

“Caffeine can interact with an enzyme that can form a toxic metabolite of acetaminophen in such a way that it increases the formation of that toxic metabolite,” said lead researcher Sid Nelson, a professor of medicinal chemistry. “This can result in liver damage,” he said.

In the study, Nelson’s team tested the effects of acetaminophen and caffeine on E. coli bacteria. These bacteria had been genetically engineered to mimic a human enzyme in the liver that detoxifies many prescription and nonprescription drugs, explained the authors in a report in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.

Nelson noted that it takes large qualities of caffeine to produce this reaction.

“Normally people wouldn’t be ingesting that amount of caffeine,” he said. “It would take 10 times the amount of caffeine found in a couple of cups of coffee,” Nelson said.

Read more by clicking above.

caffeine, acetaminophen, liver damage

caffeine, acetaminophen, liver damage

Tumor risk nearly double for patients with cardiac symptoms, study finds

Patients showing signs of heart disease are at nearly double the risk of also having colon cancer, perhaps because unhealthy habits and inflammation are at the root of both, researchers said on Tuesday.

The association between heart disease, the single leading cause of death in industrialized countries, and the second most common type of cancer was confirmed in a study of more than 600 patients evaluated at the University of Hong Kong.

Previous studies have noted the increased likelihood of heart disease and colon cancer in the same patients, the study said. The two illnesses share several risk factors: smoking, high-fat diet, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and sedentary lifestyle.

“Both colorectal (tumors) and (coronary artery disease) probably develop through the mechanism of chronic inflammation,” study author Dr. Annie On On Chan of the University of Hong Kong wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the study, of patients whose examinations showed at least a 50 percent narrowing of one of the coronary arteries feeding the heart, 34 percent also had cancerous colon tumors. That compared to some 20 percent of patients found to have tumors who were free of heart disease.

Read more by clicking above

colorectal cancer, heart disease

colorectal cancer, heart disease

Surroundings to blame for obesity epidemic, researchers say

Tough choices tempt kids at every turn — whether it is soda in school, junk food ads on TV or the fast-food chain around the corner — and school policies limiting physical activity only make matters worse, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

This throng of temptations may explain why childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions, they said.

The collection of studies, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, together suggest environmental factors and policies conspire to challenge the health of children in America.

“We have in our schools and communities a perfect storm that will continue to feed the childhood obesity epidemic until we adopt policies that improve the health of our communities and our kids,” Frank Chaloupka, an economics professor the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in a statement.

While too many calories and too little exercise explain how children become obese, the research looks at environmental factors that contribute to these behaviors, and suggests policy changes that could make healthy choices easier.

Read more by clicking above.

kids, obesity

kids, obesity

Fixes for heavy bleeding, cramps, PMS

By Leslie Goldman

Katherine Sutherland, an OB-GYN in Mountain View, California, knows something about terrible periods — and not just from her patients. She used to go through tampons every hour, excusing herself to go to the bathroom between appointments. Heavy bleeding made doing what she really loved –hiking — especially difficult. Truth is, she wanted her period to go away altogether. In 2003 Sutherland, then age 51, got her wish. She had a minor surgical procedure called endometrial ablation, or by its brand name, NovaSure, to remove her uterine lining and stop heavy bleeding. And she hasn’t had a period since. “I was delighted,” she says. “Up until that time I’d never missed one period.” Sutherland recently hiked 8,000 feet to the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu in Peru.

Many women, perhaps 95 percent, have period issues — bleeding like Sutherland’s, debilitating pain, out-of-control PMS, or annoyances such as constipation or diarrhea. Thanks to a variety of new remedies that can make over (or eliminate!) periods, you don’t have to suffer. We’ve collected the best fixes for five of your most common problems.

Follow the above link for the Fixes!

heavy periods, cramps

heavy periods, cramps

A citrus bowl isn’t just an end-of-season showcase of college-football talent. It’s also a winning strategy against this deadly disease: cancer.

That’s right. Keep a bowl full of oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit on your kitchen counter and you’ll have access to a formidable lineup of limonoids — special phytochemicals known to help give colon, skin, and other cancers the boot.

More to Cheer About
Limonoids not only help fight cancer but also may cut cholesterol. And citrus fruits provide a healthy dose of other good-for-you nutrients, too — like potassium, folate, and vitamin C. Who wouldn’t want to have these fruits on their stay-healthy team?

Check out what else oranges can do for you:
Keep arteries clear — For a powerful, arterial health-boosting combo, pair up orange juice and oatmeal at breakfast.
Phenolic compounds in oats work synergistically with vitamin C to inhibit a key step in the formation of arterial plaques, research has revealed. Stir vitamin C-rich fruits such as strawberries, cantaloupe, or papaya into your homemade oatmeal, or serve it with a side of orange juice, to help keep your arteries clear.

orange, phytochemicals, Limonoids

orange, phytochemicals, Limonoids

People who get too few Zzzz’s twice as likely to die of heart disease

People who do not get enough sleep are more than twice as likely to die of heart disease, according to a large British study released on Monday.

Although the reasons are unclear, researchers said lack of sleep appeared to be linked to increased blood pressure, which is known to raise the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

A 17-year analysis of 10,000 government workers showed those who cut their sleeping from seven hours a night to five or less faced a 1.7-fold increased risk in mortality from all causes and more than double the risk of cardiovascular death.

The findings highlight a danger in busy modern lifestyles, Francesco Cappuccio, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Warwick’s medical school, told the annual conference of the British Sleep Society in Cambridge.

“A third of the population of the U.K. and over 40 percent in the U.S. regularly sleep less than five hours a night, so it is not a trivial problem,” he said in a telephone interview.

“The current pressures in society to cut out sleep, in order to squeeze in more, may not be a good idea — particularly if you go below five hours.”

Read more by clicking above.

insomnia, heart disorders, heart disease

insomnia, heart disorders, heart disease

Those TV shows featuring people’s home videos of their pets’ antics?

They may actually be good for more than just a laugh.

Watching videos of animal life may help you beat stress. In a study, people who watched 10 minutes of scaly, feathered, or furry footage experienced dips in both heart rate and blood pressure.

Be Prepared
Got a stressful event coming up, like an unpleasant dental procedure or a tough meeting at work? Watch a few minutes of a wildlife show before heading out of the house. After 10 minutes, you’ll not only have reduced your heart rate and blood pressure, but you’ll also have created a buffer against the physical effects of your upcoming nail-biter. The sound doesn’t even have to be on in order for you to reap the calming benefits of the video.

cute, stress, lower blood pressure

cute, stress, lower blood pressure

It’s Fruit and Vegetable Month, and there’s one fruit in particular that your lungs love.

It’s round, it’s red, and it’s really delicious.

Give up? It’s apples. This Superman of fruits is packed full of vitamins and phytochemicals that may reduce the risk of asthma and improve your overall lung capacity. How many should you eat?

The Flavonoid Fruit
In a study, people who ate at least five apples a week had better lung function than the people who noshed less frequently on this crunchy fruit. However many you decide to munch, get the most out of them by eating the peel, too. That’s where most of the health-helping flavonoids — like quercetin, catechin, epicatechin, and procyanidins — reside.

Not Created Equal
Not all apples pack the same antioxidant punch.

Health-Happy Apples

Reach for the right apple to get ahead of the nutrition game.
Researchers recently assessed the antioxidant capacity of eight different apple varieties and found Red Delicious apples to be highest in two powerful flavonoids, epicatechin and procyanidin. These flavonoids are especially abundant in apple peels, so wash them well and eat the skins.

All apples pack a health punch, regardless of variety. Although much of the nutritional punch of apples is found in the skin, certain nutrients reside in the flesh, too. In recent studies, researchers found two powerful flavonoids in Red Delicious apples, but they were mainly in the skins. Another compound with strong antioxidant activity — hydroxycinnamic acid — was found in the flesh. Two phenols found in the apples, epicatechins and procyanidins, have superior antioxidant capacity and may help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other conditions. Before you eat your apple, wash it thoroughly under running water with a vegetable brush to remove wax and contaminants.

vitamin, phytochemicals, flavonoids, Red Delicious Apples

vitamin, phytochemicals, flavonoids, Red Delicious Apples