Really stop to think about your diet. How many servings of fruits and vegetables did you honestly have yesterday? In response to that question, many people sigh and think, I need more veggies. It’s just too inconvenient to eat healthfully! Research agrees with that inner voice telling you to eat more veggies. In fact, for […]
Category: Physical health & diseases
Forever Young
In a recent U.S. News and World Report article titled “10 Health Habits That Will Help You Live to 100,” sandwiched between suggestions to floss your teeth and stay connected with your friends, was a piece of surprising advice: “Live like a Seventh-day Adventist.”
Not long before that article was published, the national best-selling book The Blue Zonesrecognized Loma Linda, California, as one of the world’s longevity “hot spots” because of its high concentration of Seventh-day Adventists.
Natural Help for Fibromyalgia
We all get tired. Most of us have experienced sadness or mild depression at times. And who doesn’t feel achy and stiff every now and then, especially after a weekend of sports or yard work? But for those with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), these debilitating symptoms occur daily for months to years on end, and are relentless, causing poor quality of life.
What is Fibromyalgia Syndrome?
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a complex rheumatic-type disorder characterized by widespread pain, decreased pain threshold, and incapacitating fatigue. These symptoms affect millions of Americans, mostly women ages 25 to 60. In fact, women are 10 times more likely to get this disease than men. While there is no specific laboratory test or abnormal X-ray finding to diagnose fibromyalgia, the symptoms of the disease can be successfully treated once a proper diagnosis is made by a physician.
Years ago it became apparent to doctors that patients (usually women) who told of having muscle pain, achiness, fatigue, disordered sleep, anxiety, and depression were harboring a distinct syndrome, or collection of symptoms, that make a disease. Yet in test after test the results were always normal. Even in recent years doctors simply sent these patients home.
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Diabetes Help Online
The amount of online information on diabetes is staggering. The search engines Google and AltaVista each brought up thousands of entries. More than 500 Web sites are devoted to the subject. Research is ongoing. New products for diabetics appear almost daily. How does one keep up with the explosive expansion of cyberspace?
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Can't Fall Asleep?
It’s nearly midnight in Apartment 3B, and Rose still cannot fall asleep, even though she went to bed at 10:30. When she finally drifts off, it is around 12:30 a.m. For the next few hours Rose will sleep lightly and poorly before her alarm goes off at 6:30, awakening her so she can get ready for work.
There are millions of people just like Rose. They do not share the delight of the prophet Jeremiah, who said, “I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me” (Jeremiah 31:26, NIV).*
The inability to get a good night’s sleep is a serious problem. Even one night of insufficient or restless sleep can result in irritability and inability to concentrate properly. Various studies indicate that establishing a chronic sleep debt can depress the immune system, causing greater susceptibility to illness and depression. And a lack of sleep can also be dangerous. The Department of Transportation estimates that up to 100,000 motor vehicle accidents a year occur because drivers become drowsy or fall asleep at the wheel. Yet, like any problem, sleep disorder can be managed and conquered. Here are a dozen ways to get a better night’s sleep.
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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.
Tired of Being Tired?
Randi Rossman battled fatigue for more than 15 years without ever suspecting its cause. “It was bad–there was probably a day or two a week that I just lost, where I could not move out of bed. Then if I actually moved out of bed, I’d have `brain fog,'” says Rossman, 40. Although she had asked doctors about her continual tiredness before, she says she eventually gave up because so many attributed her symptoms to stress or suggested that she seek counseling. “I lived with it for so long, and was told for so long that it was stress or me being crazy, that I didn’t let many people know that I was dealing with it,” she explains.
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Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer among women and one of the leading causes of early death in women worldwide. Here in the United States, 14,500 cervical cancer cases are diagnosed each year and 4,800 women die as a result of the disease. Cervical cancer deaths can be prevented with early detection and later initiation of sexual activity: the earlier the diagnosis and treatment, the higher the survival rate.
Women and Heart Disease: Are You at Risk?
Even when the cardiologist gave Lynne Stewart her lab results, this 54-year-old teacher was convinced that she hadn’t had a heart attack. “A heart attack? That’s a `man’s disease.’
I had a backache, not chest pains. How could that be a heart attack?”
Carmen, 49, reacted the same way when she awoke only to find herself in the coronary care unit (CCU) of the local hospital. “How could I have had a heart attack? I’m a middle-aged woman, not an older man. I had no signs or symptoms.”
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The Sounds of Music
Have you ever sat somewhere and marveled at how quiet it was? You are acutely aware of sound because it is so unusual to be without noise. We always hear hum from machines, the rumble of traffic, a plane, or other people talking. Modern noise pollution is subtle, inconspicuous, and more dangerous than we realize.


