Health Tips

Many women, as well as men, take the position of Billy Crystal’s alter ego, Fernando, that “it is better to look good than to feel good”. Unfortunately, following the latest fashion trends can also have adverse health consequences. In the name of fashion, women can risk injury and illness, as…

What can cause your center of gravity to be thrown off, constrict blood flow in the neck, put pressure on your back, and predispose you to accidents or cancer? Sounds like something that should be avoided at all costs, right? In fact, these all can be consequences of following the…

A number of conditions can cause fainting, including heart rhythm abnormalities, seizures, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), and anemia. More common than these, however, is a relatively benign condition called vasovagal syncope, also known as the “common faint”. Syncope [sing-kuh-pee] is themedical term for “blacking out” and vasovagal refers to the…

Listeria monocytogenes, or Listeria for short, is a bacterium that causes an infection called listeriosis. A recent outbreak of listeriosis, found to be due to contaminated cantaloupe, has placed Listeria in the news. Today’s Health Tip describes the features of Listeria infections and discusses who is at particular risk for…

Over 160 different foods have been identified that can cause allergic reactions in people. Of these, 90% are triggered by the following 8 foods: Milk Eggs Peanuts Tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts, pine nuts) Fish (such as bass, cod, flounder) Shellfish Soy Wheat Since 2006, the Federal Drug…

A review of interventions to help with smoking cessation, recently published in the Journal of Family Practice offers encouraging news for smokers who are trying to quit. The report relied heavily on the work of the Cochrane Collaboration, a highly respected group of scientists who pool the results of the…

In a recent interview with the president of the American Optometric Association (AOA), Dr. Dori Carlson, I learned the surprising statistic that about 1 in 4 school age children have an undetected or undiagnosed vision problem. School vision screenings, while helpful, still miss more than 75% of these problems. And…

A few years back, dietary fats were the scourge of weight reduction efforts. Numerous low-fat and fat-free products appeared on the grocery shelves with claims to help with weight loss. Despite the popularity of these products, obesity rates in the U.S. continued to climb. Today, the blame for the failure…

An estimated 4.7 million dog bites and 400,000 cat bites occur annually in the United States. Although it is commonly thought that a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s and less likely to cause infection, dogs, cats, as well as humans all harbor bacteria that can cause infection. This…

“Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.” -Oscar Wilde Last week we looked at some of the causes for people’s memory to “slip”. These included medication side effects, ageing, medical conditions, and unhealthy lifestyle choices. By addressing the underlying cause, it is possible that memory can…