Seafood Allergies

Seafood allergies are very annoying. The reason they’re very annoying is because they can actually creep up on a person and cause problems. The thing about a seafood allergy that’s very important is that it doesn’t start necessarily with that quick of a reaction. You might have a little discomfort, you might have a little stomach issue or something like that, and over time, seafood allergy starts to become more serious. When it’s serious, it can be very difficult to deal.

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Update on Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is not that common of a form of cancer but when it hits, it is extremely aggressive. There are about 16,000 to 17,000 new cases in the United States each year. The problem is, it can also run in families, but for some, it occurs sporadically. We don’t really have great warning signs for ovarian cancer. There are certain things that can tip it off like feelings of the stomach being bloated and distention. But those types of things can occur for other reasons as well.  

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Teeth Brushing and Heart Disease

How important is it to brush your teeth? Well, more and more studies are showing that keeping your teeth and your mouth clean can actually be effective at preventing, of all things, heart disease. That’s right, researchers have found that people who have bacterial infections, periodontal disease, are more likely to have problems associated with heart disease. Now, whether it’s because of the teeth or it’s because of the fact that certain individuals may not take care of their teeth or their overall health, researchers are not sure. But there is clearly that association.

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What Is Animal Dander?

It’s a word that nobody uses, but it means a lot in medical circles. It’s animal dander. Animal dander is basically what doctors would call the dandruff that people have. It’s what the cat or dog puts off into space. Whether or not it’s hair, fur, or skin particles, that dander can cause definite reactions in people. That’s usually where you see the allergies in people who suffer from allergies. It is the animal dander.

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Research on Genes and Cigarette Addiction

It could become one of the major developments of genetic research. Duke researchers believe that as many as 221 different gene variants play a role in cigarette addiction and the ability to quit. Researchers from Duke and the National Institute of Drug Abuse hope this may someday lead to a new tool for tailoring smoking cessation treatments to a patient’s individual genetic makeup. Researchers admit it isn’t entirely this simple. Certainly, the environment plays a role, but knowing how to manipulate or alter genes could be crucial.

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Common Causes of Eye Strain

Eye strain is a problem that we often see in young adults.  Eye strain is not usually associated with allergies.  What usually happens with eye strain is when you have a prescription that's not right, in other words, you have glasses or you're wearing contacts lenses and it isn't the right prescription, or if you have a problem with your vision that has not been diagnosed, that's when you have strain.  Another opportunity for strain is when you're working consistently or long hours on the computer, or reading, or you're doing a repetitive activity like that, that can lead to eye strain as well. 

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Preparing for Pregnancy

Preconception care is so important and it’s important for many reasons. First of all, a woman needs to know, if she’s going to become pregnant, what she’s facing. What are the pros, the cons, the concerns? But in addition to that, how do you prepare to have a healthy baby? What are the things you can do? For instance, are there certain foods you should eat? Folic acid is a very important vitamin that should be taken before a woman becomes pregnant, and throughout the pregnancy. A lot of women aren’t aware of that, the importance of folic acid. All of these things need to be evaluated and stressed.

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Too Little Salt in the Diet?

It is one of those studies that raises all sorts of dietary issues.  A recent report suggests that people who have too little salt in their diet may be worse off than those who have too much salt.  As you are probably aware of, a high salt diet has been linked to increases in blood pressure.  So the question has been asked, "Who is correct?"  The best advice is to stay within recommended daily allowances.  What this does is it assures that it is being monitored by people who have looked at things in large numbers of people over long periods of time.  

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Coffee and Exercise

It is a daily ritual for many people. Wake up early. Grab a cup of coffee. And run on the treadmill, or get some sort of workout. But now, researchers suggest the amount of caffeine in just two cups of coffee can cut down the body’s ability to increase blood flow to the heart during exercise. Now this means that vital blood flow to the heart can be cut back when the body needs it most. The report is in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Caffeine did not affect heart blood flow when the participants were inactive. Caffeine may block certain receptors in the walls of blood vessels interfering with the normal signaling processes that cause blood vessels to dilate in response to exercise. Now, some people regard caffeine as a stimulant. The studies suggest it may not increase athletic performance. It also raises serious questions about people with heart problems drinking coffee before exercise.

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Recognizing an Irregular Heartbeat

Irregular heartbeats are a major health problem, and yet, they are often missed by the doctor and patients. They don’t realize a thumping in the chest or a strange sensation could be an irregular heartbeat that needs treatment. Irregular heartbeats respond to a wide variety of medications. In addition, they can also sometimes be treated with special procedures designed to attack them. The important thing is you recognize what the irregular heartbeat is and you take that medication or that treatment to try to reduce it. That’s the key.

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Eating More Chocolate Is Associated with Higher Depression Scores

Eating more chocolate is associated with higher depression scores.  Researchers assessed the mood of 931 participants who were not taking antidepressants using a standard depression scale.  They then correlated the results from those with a food survey.  Those who scored very highly, reflecting probable major depression, reported consuming more than twice as much chocolate as those who were negative for depression.  The findings were similar between women and men.  The researchers speculate that depression may stimulate cravings for chocolate as a form of self-medication.  Animal studies suggest that chocolate may have positive mood benefits, however, they cannot rule out the possibility that chocolate actually contributes to the depressed mood, or that both cravings and depressed mood are caused by a third, underlying factor.  The report is in the Archive of Internal Medicine.

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Ingrown Toenails Need Treatment

Ingrown toenails are very frustrating.  Doctors will often have to take care of ingrown toenails and perform surgery.  Of course, podiatrists do as well. This condition can be very painful for patients.  But the thing about an ingrown toenail that's very important for patients to understand is that it has to get treated appropriately or it's only going to get worse.  It will get worse, obviously, growing in an inward direction, but also in increasing the pain, pressure and the definite frustration that goes along with it.  

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Optimism Linked to Health Benefits

Previously published reports suggest that positive psychological factors such as optimism are associated with health benefits such as low risk of heart disease and cardiovascular-related death.  Authors of this study analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study.  They did it in over 6,000 adults, all older than 50, and they compared the response.  They found that optimistic folks simply have less stress which is linked to less cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.    

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Knee Pain a Warning Sign of Instability

Knee pain is actually a good warning for the body because when pain occurs in the knee; it’s telling you that there might be some instability there. With the lack of stability in the knee, there could be a chance for greater injury. So, by dealing with the knee pain, and actually having it evaluated, you could be protecting yourself from further injuries down the road and difficulties in that situation. Knee pain can be painful, but at the same time, it is a great tool to help us do the best we can in dealing with injury.

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Do Children in Daycare Develop More Health Problems?

Over the years, there has been a theory that children who attend daycare tend to develop more health problems; things like colds, ear infections, and throat infections.  In the first few years of life, they can have more problems than the children who stay home, and it makes sense because there is an earlier exposure to problems.  The theory also suggests that as the children get older, they have fewer infections and problems than the kids who stayed home and are more likely to be exposed to the various problems.  A new study of 4,000 Dutch children from birth to eight years showed children who started daycare early were twice as likely to experience wheezing in the first year of life than those who didn't go to daycare.  By age five, daycare kids were slightly less likely to wheeze than non-daycare kids.  By eight, the effects evened out and daycare attendants had no association with the wheezing. 

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Easily Startled People Share Political Views

Easily startled people share similar political views.  Researchers studying whether biological issues could play a role in political views have discovered that easily startled people are more likely to favor cumulative politics.  The study of 46 adults found that those who startled easily with loud noises were more likely to be in favor of capital punishment, defense spending, and the Iraq war than less easily startled people.  Calmer folks in the study were more likely to favor foreign aid, pacifism, and gun control.  

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Recognizing PMS

PMS, or premenstrual syndrome, used to be ignored. Obviously, that is not the case anymore. It’s quite obvious now that it’s recognized as well as it should be. The important thing to realize about PMS is it does occur in a cyclical nature. That may be the greatest way we have to recognize the problems and to evaluate them. If we can do that, we can take big strides in not only treating the problem, but in helping people deal with the symptoms which are very tough on women.

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Women Are Under More Stress Than Ever

There's no doubt that all of us experienced stress throughout the centuries of the world. Sometimes stress is worse than other times, but there is no doubt that women are facing new and aggressive forms of stress.  The stress they are facing is often from trying to work, maintaining a home life, and trying to deal with the pressures of both.  There is the stress associated with the fact that there are pressures at work that were not seen before.  The economy is an issue.  All of these things are stress which indicates that women need to take the time to rest and deal with it.  

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Botox and Writer’s Cramp

It seems they keep coming up with new uses for Botox. Now, you’re probably aware of the most common use. Botox can help wipe away wrinkles by temporarily paralyzing the facial muscles that cause them. It’s also been used to help people with everything from neck spasms to difficulty speaking. Well, the latest use? Writer’s cramp. According to a report from the Netherlands, in writer’s cramp, involuntary muscle contractions force a particular part of the body into an abnormal posture or movement. The abnormal contractions affect the hand and arm during writing. Now, during the study, after three months 70% of patients treated with botulinum toxin said their condition had improved, but the treatment does have downsides. It is not a permanent fix. The injections need to be repeated over time. But once again, it shows, with a little imagination, certain medications can be used for a wide variety of things.

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Auras Can Be Associated with Migraines

It is called an aura; a bright zigzag light effect, a change in vision, or perhaps a strange smell.  Often, these auras are normally associated with migraines, but they are not always there 100% of the time.

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Taking Time to Relieve Neck Pain

You know, neck pain is becoming far more common as more of us actually take the time to sit in front of computers, to drive, to try to play sports on weekends and not taking the rest we need. As all of those things happen, as more and more time is spent in those activities, neck pain becomes more common. One of the problems is we don’t always take the time to relax and relieve that neck pain, and it starts to build. As the pressure builds, people more or less don’t take the medication, steps or rest needed, and it gets worse.

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Sleep Difficulties in Children

In trying to help their children fall back asleep, parents may be setting them up for poor sleep patterns later on. Researchers surveyed parents of 987 children from the ages of five months until the children turned six and found that many things parents did early on when their children woke up, like giving them food or drink, or moving the children to the parents’ bed, led to sleep difficulties later on. Some of the problems included bad dreams, inability to fall asleep, and the inability to get a full night sleep. This is from the University of Montreal.

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Pressure Needs an Outlet

There is pressure on all of us.  One of the things that doctors need to stress is when you have pressure, you need an outlet.  Just like pressure needs a valve, you need an outlet.  What are the best outlets?  One thing is communicating with others.  That's a great thing to do.  Taking the time to exercise or to walk or to do anything with others is incredibly valuable.  Remember, when you're under stress, you need communication and you need an outlet which usually is in the form of exercise or reading, or something that allows you to escape. 

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Do Magnetic Insoles Help with Foot Pain?

You have probably seen them at the drug store; magnetic insoles that are being marketed as a way to help with foot pain. They’re designed for people who stand a great deal at work and have foot pain as a result. They’re not meant for neurologic problems or plantar fasciitis. At any rate, researchers from Rochester, Minnesota, decided to see if they really work. They provided their inserts to people with foot pain and gave others plain insoles with the appearance that magnets were in there. Thirty-three percent of people in the magnet group, and 32% in the non-magnet group said they felt better. Essentially no difference. The result of the study is that there is no doubt an insole can help in about a third of the cases, but overall, the magnets don’t make any significant differences. In other words, there is a placebo effect.

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More Benefits of Green Tea

There are numerous benefits of drinking green tea, and now you can add one more. According to a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology, drinking several cups of green tea a day could reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer. Japanese scientists said a substance called catechin in green tea may be contributing to reducing risk by curbing levels of testosterone, a male hormone seen as a risk factor to prostate cancer. Now, the incidence of prostate cancer is much lower in Asian than Western populations. The study began on the assumption that this may be linked to the high consumption of green tea in Asian populations. This particular study was small and there are plans for a larger study looking at the amount of green tea. There could be other ways to use it.

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Infections Occur More Commonly During Winter Due to Close Contact

The principal reason for the increase in the number of infections in winter weather is the fact that people tend to remain indoors in cold weather and, thus, are in very close contact with one another.  Proximity allows the spread of many viruses that cause respiratory infections.  In addition, influenza is even more common in winter because the virus first attacks the Far East in their summer and then spreads westward and reaches the U.S. by winter.  Although it is preferable that one should stay warm, there is little hard evidence to suggest that not wearing a hat or exposure of wet hair to inclement weather increases the risk of infection or, more specifically, pneumonia.  The truth is, the flu and the common cold are both caused by viruses.  People get sick more often in the winter because they're exposed to each other more.

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