Helping Kids with Teen Angst

It is called teen angst and there is no doubt that teenagers have a lot more stress, or at least what they perceive as stress.  But if you look at the reality, it is a tough time to be a teenager.  There are many issues that teenagers face that really have to be dealt with psychologically.  Communication with parents can be key.  It's difficult as a parent, but if you can try to communicate with your teenager, you're going to help them through many of these times.  Teens are searching for your guidance.

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Addressing Depression in Women

Depression is a problem that affects men and women, but one of the issues with depression in women is that many women don't necessarily get the treatment they should.  They talk about it, but they may not talk about it to the level or the degree that it demands.  If you're a woman and you feel depressed, take time to express your feelings.  Don't be intimidated.  Understand that health is physical health as well as mental health and you can't just ignore problems when they occur.  If you feel you're suffering from depression, you should do everything you can to try to get that attention.

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Study of Exercise and Extending Life

When it comes to exercise, any form of exercise is good for you, and according to a report from the National Institute on Aging, any kind of exercise will help extend your life. The officials at the Institute are not just relying on common sense, they’re basing their views on a study, a six year study of 302 people between 70 and 82. What they did was measure energy expenditure in a unique way. When people exercise, they produce carbon dioxide which can be excreted in the urine. In the study, the researchers had volunteers drink water containing two harmless isotopes, oxygen 18 and hydrogen 2. Oxygen 18 is eliminated from the body in water while hydrogen 2 is eliminated not only in water, but also in carbon dioxide. This is how they were able to measure carbon dioxide. After six years of research, they found death rates went down as daily energy expenditure went up.

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Study Looks at Brain Activity and Multitasking

Divide and conquer.  New research shows that when people try to do two things at once, each half of the brain devotes itself to a different task.  Researchers used functional MRI brain imaging to monitor the activity in the brains of volunteers who were performing two different tasks and found that when doing one task, both sides of the brain work together.  But, when doing two tasks at once, one half was activated while doing one task while the other half matched that of the other activity.  This may explain why people can generally perform two tasks at once well, but not more.  The report is from the journal Science.  It was done in France.  This research is starting to look at our brain while the brain is functioning.  We're realizing those studies are very important.

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Reducing Dust in the Home

You know that you could have a major allergic offender in your house and not even know it? We’re talking about dust. We all have dust in our homes, and guess what? Dust can contribute to allergies. Many people don’t realize it, but it can be a major issue. What can you do about dust? Well, you can’t eliminate it totally, but you can have dust-free havens in your home. You can have hardwood floor, you can cover cloth materials with plastic covering, and you can also have an air purifier. All those things can cause and have a dust-free haven.

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Pain and Itching Are Interrelated

There’s a close relationship between pain and itching where both, actually, can cause similar results. People who have a great deal of pain actually can experience itching and people who have itching can be experiencing pain. Those fibers are, more or less, interrelated and we can find that the interaction of those pain and itching fibers actually can play a critical role and lead to difficulties. It’s a very interesting phenomenon and something that doctors and researchers should look at more as they study the nerves and the way they work.

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Night Shift Work May Increase Risk for Breast Cancer

Very interesting news from Denmark where dozens of night shift workers are receiving cash settlements as a result of developing breast cancer.  There were 37 women involved and, according to reports, there were no other significant factors that might explain the development of breast cancer.  We know night shift work is believed to cause disturbed sleep, fatigue, and digestive problems and a study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center revealed night shift work could increase the risk of breast cancer by up to 60%.  Other studies have not been so convincing, but it is a fascinating report.

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Children Should Not Focus on Dieting

When diet is a problem, we often don't talk about it the way we should.  Here’s an example.  Sometimes people try to lose weight, and that's fine, but sometimes people are obsessed with it.  And when it comes to children, it's very important that we recognize there is a problem that has to be looked at.  In other words, a child should not be overly concerned about diet.  They should be worried about eating proper foods, they should worry about exercising, but not losing weight and looking good in a bathing suit.  That's important.  

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Importance of Vitamins for Women

Vitamins, especially prenatal vitamins, can be very important for women. During the prenatal period, it’s important because it helps nurture the baby and give the baby strength. But it’s also important during a woman’s day to day life that she gets enough iron. A woman has a menstrual cycle. As a result, she loses blood, and when she loses blood, iron levels can go down. As they go down, there have to be supplements. There have to be ways that you can actually increase the ability to develop iron and go in that stage.

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Stress Can Take a Toll on Your Health

There are many causes of stress out there.  Today, primarily it's the job market and the economic battles people face every day.  Of course, these pressures could also impact marriage.  If you're in one of those marriages where you can't get through the day without fighting with your spouse, continued research by Ohio State researchers suggests it could be taking a toll on your health.  Couples who fight on a regular basis have elevated stress levels that affect their bodies' wound healing capacity.  Of course, stress affects us whether we are married or not.  Repetitive stress can take its toll. 

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What Are Night Terrors?

They are called night terrors.  You could be out for dinner with your spouse.  You could be enjoying yourself and get a call from the babysitter that your child is screaming uncontrollably, or you could be home and just hear your child start yelling.  You go up to see them and their eyes are looking straight at you. They're screaming in terror and you cannot rouse them.  That is usually the sign of a night terror.  In fact, what will happen is the child will not remember it the next day.  Night terrors occur; they're common, and they need to basically be put in a situation where the child relaxes.  

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Study Finds that Loneliness Is Contagious

Loneliness is contagious.  According to new research, lonely people are contagious.  The study finds that lonely people typically have fewer social ties to begin with and feelings of loneliness make them more likely to sever those ties thereby making their friends or family feel more lonely.  Researchers tracked social ties and reported feelings of loneliness in thousands of people following several decades.  Loneliness is linked to poor health and well-being.  This was a report in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.  The research was done at the University of Chicago.

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Causes of Fatigue in Women

Many women suffer from fatigue and there are many reasons for it.  One of the things doctors look at is the number of hours of sleep the patient is getting, if they’re feeling pressure, and if they feel that pressure is overwhelming.  But, in addition to that, what doctors worry about is the fact that many women will suffer fatigue because they may have periods that are extra heavy and they get a little bit anemic.  They could be suffering from thyroid issues.  They could be suffering from blood sugar problems.  All of these things can lead to problems associated with the fatigue.

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Too Much Salt and Sugar

The American Medical Association represents doctors in the political and economic arena, but they have a far more important role…attempting to help set the health agenda for millions of Americans. The organization is taking a strong stand warning people about the dangers of too much salt and excessive of sugar in the diet. There is no doubt we consume far too much of each. There is a direct link between sodium and high blood pressure, and sugar? Well, it’s everywhere. Sadly, far too much is added to preserve foods, cakes and pies. Expect public service announcements and education over the next decade as the AMA tries to help people make informed decisions; this is much along the lines as the American Heart Association talking about cholesterol.

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Coffee and Weight Loss

A lot of people drink coffee because it gives them more energy. They also think it helps take the weight off, but according to a report from the Mayo Clinic, drinking coffee and other caffeinated beverages won’t do you any good in reference to losing weight and keeping it off. Here’s the nitty-gritty directly from the experts at Mayo. Caffeine acts as a diuretic. It causes the body to temporarily retain less water, but there is nothing to suggest that these effects are permanent and the stimulant does nothing to reduce body fat. After this, the fact that drinking coffee actually puts more strain on the heart of people exercising, you quickly realize it doesn’t help with weight loss. The bottom line is if you want to drink coffee, do so in moderation, but definitely don’t do it to count on these so-called benefits to lose weight. It’s not going to help you lose weight. It’s not going to have that big of an effect.

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