Health – Vibrant Life

12 JAN

Type II Diabetes

Type II diabetes is becoming more and more common. However, there’s encouraging news on how to manage this disease better if you already have it–and ways to avoid it if you don’t.

To begin, Type II (also known as adult-onset diabetes) accounts for 95 percent of diabetes cases in the United States. Now there’s solid evidence that patients themselves hold the key to improving their health, and that the improvements they experience are often dramatic.

In a groundbreaking study at the University of South Carolina’s Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health in Columbia, researchers have found that lifestyle intervention focusing on exercise and modest weight loss worked nearly twice as well as medication did.

Medical Resources on the Internet

No matter what your condition, you can find a vast amount of information on the Internet. There are online versions of medical journals, government sites such as the National Library of Medicine, Centers for Disease Control, or the Food and Drug Administration, and sites sponsored by medical schools.

Patients who take time to do research on their condition are more informed and have a better understanding of their disease. By going online, they can read articles by experts from all over the world. Internet-savvy doctors can provide patients with lists of sites containing relevant information.

12 JAN

Cancer risks during each decade of life – Men

The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 1.3 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the United States this year (excluding skin cancers). More than 1,500 people die every day because of cancer. It is our second-leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease.

12 JAN

5 Easy Ways to Sneak Soy Into Your Diet

The first written record of the soybean was found in Chinese books dating back to 2838 B.C. It has been the primary protein source for people in Asia for centuries. Americans have used it for little more than oil and livestock feed. But things have changed.
The humble soybean has captured the attention of health-conscious consumers everywhere–with good reason. Research has shown that incorporating soy protein into the diet provides numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease and reducing the levels of LDL, or “bad cholesterol,” in the bloodstream. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a recommendation for consumers to integrate 25 grams of soy protein per day into their diets.

12 JAN

Six Simple Steps to Avoid Food-borne Illness

If you are a vegetarian, the thought of having a food-borne illness probably never crosses your mind. After all, everyone knows that E. coli makes its home in raw beef, and Salmonella breeds rapidly in undercooked chicken or pork.

Well, it’s time to rethink your past beliefs about food-borne illness, as fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, lentils, and dairy products can also play host to a variety of deleterious bacteria, including E. coli and Salmonella. In fact, some of the most common carriers of food-borne germs include basil, cantaloupe, lettuce, potatoes, raspberries, scallions, strawberries, and tomatoes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food-borne diseases cause an estimated 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,200 deaths in the United States each year. Not only are the symptoms uncomfortable; food-borne illnesses can lead to secondary long-term illnesses. For example, there are some strains of E. coli that can cause kidney failure in young children, while Salmonella can lead to reactive arthritis and serious infections. For pregnant women, the Listeria bacteria (commonly found in soft cheeses such as brie and feta) can cause meningitis and stillbirths.

12 JAN

Coping With Addictions

Why do people do things that they know are harmful? The next time you go to the grocery store and see an elderly man pulling an oxygen bottle behind him with the tubes going into his nostrils at the same time he is smoking a cigarette, stop and think. Why is he doing something that he knows is the cause of his inability to breathe well? It doesn’t make sense, does it? That very man would probably advise others not to smoke while at the same time be unable to correct his own problem.

12 JAN

Fad Diets: Help or Hype?

Everyone wants a quick fix. A quick checkout. A quick teller. A quick commute. And we treat dieting no differently. When we decide to lose weight, we want to do it quickly. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey was a good example of this when she went on a liquid diet and lost some 60 pounds. But she and everyone else who watched saw the pounds come back.

12 JAN

Noise: The Hidden Danger

When I landed my new job I was given rigorous safety training. I used high-speed machinery that could slice off a finger before I could hit the off switch. It could grab my tie and drag me into the machine in seconds. What we didn’t realize, until the government ran some tests, was that this machinery was slowly destroying our hearing. Earplugs became mandatory (even for the macho guys who made fun of them).

About 10 million Americans suffer partial hearing loss from noise. Few of them are jet mechanics or rock stars. They are victims of a hidden health danger that is found in many homes, schools, and offices. The reason experts know this danger exists for all of us is that hearing loss and permanent ringing in the ears is being reported at younger ages. A recent study shows that 46 percent of the children responding experienced ringing in the ears. “Once you lose your hearing, it never comes back,” says Malvina Levy, clinical audiologist at the San Francisco Hearing and Speech Center. What seems like a normal level of sound can be dangerous because of the way ears process sound.

12 JAN

How To Be A Marvelous Grandparent

When I grow up, I want to be a grandpa!” announced our 3-year-old Daniel in a recent conversation. Though his goal for life seemed a bit unusual at this age, it was easy to understand his choice. After all, in Daniel’s eyes a grandpa was the best kind of person to be-unhurried, attentive, strong, generous, playful, knowledgeable . . .
Read more about How To Be A Marvelous Grandparent …

12 JAN

How Hope Can Help You Cope

A school system in a large city had a special program to help hospitalized children keep up with their schoolwork. One day a teacher who worked in the program received a routine call asking her to visit such a child. She was given the child’s name, hospital, and room number. Her instructions were to help the boy with lessons in grammar.