Patients reporting chest pain account for about 6.5 million visits to American emergency rooms, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says. Most are not heart attacks, the CDC says, but patients often don’t understand their options and therefore can’t make informed decisions about their care. It’s tough to get men with chest pain into the...Continue reading
February is Heart Health month, a great time to review the symptoms of heart attacks for both men and women. More than a quarter of female deaths are the result of heart disease, which kills more than 300,000 women every year. Heart disease has been women’s number one cause of death for decades, says the...Continue reading
It is a common misconception that dietary fat is bad for you and should be avoided at all costs. In fact, fats are essential for numerous body functions, including cell membrane repair, body warmth, organ protection and energy; some vitamins, appropriately called fat-soluble vitamins, actually need fat to dissolve and be absorbed by your body. ...Continue reading
Over the years, we’ve done a number of posts on this blog about how much exercise we (and our children) should be getting. The general consensus is at least 30 minutes every day (or a total of 150 minutes per week). Unfortunately, about 80% of us aren’t coming anywhere near that target. So, in what...Continue reading
When you think of the top causes of death in this country, things like cancer, heart attacks, and diabetes come to mind. But what about salt? Yep, that seemingly harmless stuff that’s in practically everything we eat may be responsible for as many as 1 in 10 deaths in the US. And worldwide, excessive salt...Continue reading
Over the years, there have been a number of studies that show that marriage is good for men—that married men are generally healthier and less prone to a variety of illnesses than unmarried me. But according to a new study from Finland, it turns out that marriage is good for women too. In fact, wives...Continue reading
Everyone knows that eating lots of eggs increases your risk for heart disease and stroke. Well, it turns out that everyone may be wrong. A recent study set out to investigate whether eggs are as bad as popular mythology holds they are, and if they are, to see exactly how eggs affect stroke- and heart-attack...Continue reading
We’ve talked about how important it is to get flu shots. Influenza kills thousands every year and many of those deaths could have been prevented with the vaccine. But if that isn’t enough to get you to roll up your sleeve and make a fist, consider this: Getting a flu shot may keep you from...Continue reading
Eating red meat has been linked with increased risk of a number of health concerns, including colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease. But new researcher has found that regularly eating red meat—especially processed meats, like bacon, salami, and hot dogs (which, I have to confess, are the only red meat I eat) increases the...Continue reading