The timetable around finding Mr. or Mrs. Right isn’t the same for everyone. My sister-in-law (who I will call S___ throughout this post) and her husband (H___) found each other when they were 41 and 49 respectively and didn’t marry until they were 44 and 52. They wanted children and tried for almost a year to do so but without success. S____...
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A small randomized controlled trial, with 60 participants, adds to the evidence that physical activity, even in small amounts, is good for you. In this study, just published in The International Journal of Clinical Practice, participants were 70 years old and sedentary. Half the participants did an interval aerobic program for 30-minutes, twice a week,...
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With knives or branding irons, ancient Greeks would mark criminals or traitors to indicate that they should be shunned and not welcomed in society. The Greeks called that mark a stigma. Today, to stigmatize a person is to classify them by a negative attribute and devalue them on that basis alone. Stigmatizing is a cross-cultural and cross-species...
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As I laid on the emergency room’s hospital bed, a volunteer said, “I’ve had seven children and kidney stones. I’d take labor pains over kidney stone pain anytime.” Although I’m not sure I completely agree, I do know that pain from kidney stone, called renal colic, can be excruciating. Over half a million people in the US...
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Critical benefits may be had from eating a vegetarian diet for people living with type 2 diabetes, a recent meta-analysis of randomized control trials* indicates. Published in Clinical Nutrition, the meta-analysis of nine studies involved over 600 participants taking insulin, oral glucose lowering drugs, lipid-lowering medications or medications to...
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The largest solid organ in the body, the liver has at least 500 distinct functions. [See 5 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Your Liver] It produces bile to break down fats in the small intestine, stores glucose in the form of glycogen, processes hemoglobin and manufactures proteins and enzymes. There are several liver tests conducted to assess...
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By Professor Steven Kaplan, MD “I never get a full night’s sleep…I’ve got to get up two or three times a night.” “As soon as I lie down, I feel like I need to GO!” “When it was just once a night, I could handle it. Now it’s once every hour!” If any of these statements describe your experience,...
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This past week a big announcement came from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Steven Rosenberg, the leading authority on immunotherapy, a treatment he pioneered that uses a person’s own immune cells to fight cancer, told the world about Judy Perkins. In 2003 at age 38, Judy was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer. “At the time I was...
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The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meets at the beginning of June each year in Chicago. It is the world’s largest oncology organization where researchers from around the world present their research findings. Here are the results of two studies presented during the first couple of days of the conference. Chemotherapy Side Effects and...
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The mitochondria in cells produce energy. In the process they form reactive oxygen species. Reactive oxygen species, also called free radicals or oxygen radicals are used in many metabolic processes that are essential to life. For example, they are are part of enzyme reactions in the body. White blood cells, like neutrophils produce reactive oxygen...
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“I just don’t think about my diabetes. It’s too complicated and I’m too busy.” “I’ve given up on carb counting and just eat whatever.” “If my blood sugar is out of range, I just don’t care.” “Family and friends don’t support me. ” “I feel hopeless.” If these...
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A Basic Metabolic Panel is one of the most common tests that your provider can order. It is used to learn about your kidney function as well as calcium levels and glucose levels. You need to fast 8 to 12 hours before this test. What’s measured in a Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP)? Creatinine: Creatinine is a waste product that is filtered out of your...
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