Health Tips

Since 1993, food labels have included information on saturated fat and cholesterol.  In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also began requiring information on trans fat.  What are trans fats and why is an understanding of it important to our health? What is trans fat?  Trans fat is produced…

Statistics from the CDC indicate that there has been a progressive rise in the number of cases of Lyme disease diagnosed. It is unclear whether this increased incidence is because of greater awareness and recognition of the disease among physicians, or whether more people are becoming infected. In 2010, 94%…

Chest pain and numbness or pain in the left arm has long been associated as the hallmark symptoms of a heart attack.  Other symptoms, such as nausea, shortness of breath, and pain in the jaw or back, known as “atypical” symptoms, are also important indicators that an artery supplying the…

The left-hand column below lists the 10 most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S. in the order of the frequency that they are prescribed. In the right column are the most common side effects of these medications in no particular order.  See if you can match the medication with its…

Last week, we looked at how bacteria and viruses differed. Some of these differences, such as viruses being unable to cause harm unless they invade a living host, have a bearing on the nature of the infections that they cause, as well as the way that the infections that they…

Microbes are microscopic living organisms, such as bacteria and fungi. Although often categorized as microbes, viruses are very different. In fact, since viruses are unable to grow or reproduce unless they enter a living cell, viruses are sometimes not considered to be living creatures at all. In order to compare…

Today’s Health Tip would have to fall under the “more research is needed” category. Nevertheless, recently published studies regarding salt intake and health are helping to define the optimal amount of salt that we should be eating and are worth considering at this time. What is salt? Common table salt…

According to the CDC, 25.8 million children and adults in the United States – representing 8.3% of the population – have diabetes. This represents an increase of roughly 15 percent in just the past few years. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misunderstanding about this disease, some of which…

Moderate alcohol use—up to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women and older people—is not considered harmful for most adults (a standard drink is 12-ounces of beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits). Many people, however, exceed this level…

For some time it has been known that the earlier that colon cancer is detected, the better the survival rate. For example, when colon cancer is diagnosed at an early, localized stage, the five-year survival rate is 90 percent, as compared to a five-year survival rate of only 10 percent…