Back pain affects about 8 out of 10 people. But there are many steps you can take to avoid it. One of the best things you can do to prevent back pain is to exercise regularly and keep your back and abdominal muscles strong.
Here are some quick pointers to prevent back problems:
Always stretch before any strenuous physical activity
Don’t slouch when standing or sitting
Sit in chairs or car seats with good lumbar support
Switch sitting positions often and periodically walk around or gently stretch muscles to relieve tension
Don’t bend over without supporting your back
Wear comfortable, low-heeled shoes
Sleep on your side to reduce any curve in your spine, and always sleep on a firm surface
Lift with your legs, keeping your back straight
Try to control your weight
If you smoke, quit; smoking reduces blood flow to the lower spine and causes the spinal discs to degenerate
Also, to keep your spine strong, as with all bones, you need to get enough vitamin D every day.
Amnesty International has issued a new report on pregnancy and childbirth care in the U.S., citing the maternal-health care crisis as part of a systemic violation of women's rights.
The report, titled "Deadly Delivery," notes that the likelihood of a woman's dying in childbirth in the U.S. is five times as great as in Greece, four times as great as in Germany and three times as great as in Spain. Every day in the U.S., more than two women die of pregnancy-related causes, with the maternal mortality ratio doubling from 6.6 deaths per 100,000 births in 1987 to 13.3 deaths per 100,000 births in 2006.
The actual number of maternal deaths in the U.S. may be even higher, since there are no federal requirements to report these outcomes.
Approximately half of the pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. are preventable, the result of systemic failures, including barriers to accessing care, inadequate or neglectful care, and overuse of risky interventions like inducing labor and delivering via cesarean section.
In this 60 Minutes report, you’ll learn about a handful of Wall Street outsiders who realized the subprime mortgage business was a house of cards and found a way to bet against it. Michael Lewis talks about the current situation on Wall Street, the large bonuses still being paid and his predictions for the future of the industry.
I’d like to note that the report was sponsored by Pfizer, and features a prominent ad for Lipitor off to the side of the Web page. Isn't it interesting that one of the largest industries responsible for the collapse of the economy is sponsoring this?
This is the company that has distorted and manipulated the truth so that people will pay hundreds of dollars for worthless and dangerous drugs that in no way shape or form address their health issue, yet they are hoodwinked into believing that if they don't take them their life is at stake. So they have to sacrifice in many cases purchasing wholesome foods and even paying their mortgage as they believe they will do if they fail to take their drugs.
The ad claims that “when diet and exercise are not enough, adding Lipitor can help lower cholesterol”. Of course, adding Lipitor also doubles y...
PopSci, the website of Popular Science magazine, has scanned its entire 137-year archive and put it online for you to read, absolutely free. The archive was made available in partnership with Google Books, and even has the original period advertisements.
Head over to the site and you’ll see a simple search box. You can’t go directly to an issue to browse, but once you have arrived somewhere by search, there are no restrictions on scrolling around.
You’ll also find a properly hyperlinked table of contents in each magazine. Try starting in the optimistic, tech-loving 1950s.
Pointing out that "aging is the largest demographic trend of our time," Michael West discusses Regenerative medicine -- therapies based on human embryonic stem (hES) cell technology that are designed to rebuild cell and tissue function lost due to degenerative disease or injury.
Researchers have identified cloves (
Syzygium aromaticum) as the best antioxidant spice, due to the fact they contain high levels of phenolic compounds, as well as having other properties.
Out of five antioxidant properties tested, cloves had the highest capacity to give off hydrogen, reduced lipid peroxidation well, and was the best iron reducer.
The research team also evaluated the antioxidant effect of the essential oils from other spices -- oregano (Origanum vulgare), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), rosemary, (Rosmarinus funcionarios cinalis) and sage (Salvia funcionarios cinalis).
Here's what scientists are finding are top risks for a stroke:
Being single
A study of more than 10,000 men found that those who were married at midlife were 64 percent less likely to die of a stroke during the next 34 years than single men. The marriage has to be a happy one; men who reported dissatisfying marriages were just as likely as single men to die of a stroke.
Being unhappy
Among older individuals, positive moods and attitudes protect against strokes. Even incremental increases in happiness help.
Being obese
More weight means a higher risk of stroke. In fact, the risk of stroke in people with the highest body mass index (BMI) was 1.43 to 2.12 times higher.
Smoking
Lighting up nearly doubles your risk of stroke. Fortunately, quitting can drop that risk back down.
Being a born-and-bred Southerner
The swath of stroke-prone states across the Southeastern United States -- generally including North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama -- have long been known as the "Stroke Belt." Recent research suggests that just being born and spending your childhood in one of these states raises your risk for stroke, even if yo...
More than 1 in 10 American adults have diabetes. But the multibillion-dollar blockbuster drugs marketed as treatment for diabetes haven't proved to be so successful against the biggest cause of death related to it: heart disease.</p>
Four new studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine are a stark warning to diabetics who rely on drugs to lower their risk of heart attacks and strokes. One found that using antihypertensives to lower systolic blood does nothing to lower risk of heart complications; another found no benefit to adding a drug to raise HDL ("good") cholesterol. And no heart benefits were associated with two drugs given to lower high blood sugar levels.
Evidence is accumulating that diabetics may not benefit -- and may even be worse off -- when they're treated with a number of diabetes medications. The real take-home message here is that those with diabetes shouldn't forget about the importance of lifestyle factors. Losing excess weight, increasing activity levels, and improving nutrition habits will lead to better control of diabetes and lower risks of heart disease.
Fifty years ago, two Danish epidemiologists pondered why Greenland's native Inuit had a very low rate of heart attacks despite eating a high-fat diet full of whale and seal meat. They flew to Greenland and collected blood samples from 130 Inuit. Back in the lab, they found chemicals in the samples that they had never heard of before -- called omega-3 fats.
Today, omega-3 fatty acids have become a multibillion-dollar business. Americans spend $2.6 billion on nutritional supplements and foods fortified with omega-3 fats. But not all of this is money well spent.
Decades of research back up the claim that the types of omega-3’s found in marine animals such as fish and krill, called EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), can protect your heart. But many of the foods you find at the supermarket are supplemented instead with alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), the type of omega-3 found in nuts and flax seeds. Cardiologists believe it does not have the same benefits, because your body does a poor job at converting ALA to EPA.
Impotence is a strong predictor of heart attack and death among high-risk patients, researchers have said. A study of more than 1,500 men who already had cardiovascular disease found those who were also impotent had twice the risk of a heart attack or death as the rest.
Impotence is linked to inadequate blood flow in the penile arteries, which are much smaller than coronary arteries. So for some men, a persistent failure to get an erection might be an early sign that his arteries are narrowing.
The report suggests men with impotence should be checked for cardiovascular disease.
In the video linked below, Harry Hurt III learns how to defend himself in a class on ki chuan do.
Ki chuan do claims that it teaches how to react in real-world situations.
The first rule of ki chuan do: try to avoid dangerous situations in the first place.
Your body can get as much benefit from a short but intensive bursts of exercise lasting ten minutes as it can from ten hours of moderate training. The technique not only takes less time but also involves much less physical effort.
Researchers believe these findings "blow away" the belief that staying in shape must be a time-consuming affair.
The technique involves running or cycling at almost maximum effort for a minute and then resting for a minute before repeating the process around 10 times. In experiments, volunteers rode an exercise bike in stints lasting just 60 seconds while peddling hard enough to get close to their maximum heart rate. Tests afterwards showed that their muscles had improved as much as if they had been involved in endurance training.
New research provides evidence that proposed taxes on soft drinks may make young people healthier.
The study collected food intake data from more than 12,000 young adults for 20 years. It found that with every 10 percent increase in the price of a two-liter bottle, people consumed 7 percent fewer calories from soda. They also took in fewer calories over all.
When people faced an even larger increase -- $1 for a two-liter bottle of soda, comparable to a proposed tax in Philadelphia -- they consumed 124 fewer calories a day. The lower soda intake was associated with a drop in weight of more than two pounds, and a lower risk for pre-diabetes.
Many people interested in staying healthy have switched to agave as a safer “natural” sweetener. They want to avoid well documented dangerous sweeteners like HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) but are unaware that agave is actually WORSE than HFCS.
So just what is agave?
Blue agave is an exotic plant growing in the rich volcanic soil of Mexico under a hot tropical sun, boasting a stately flower stem that blooms only once in its lifetime. “Agave” literally means “noble.” It’s generally recognized as a superstar of the herbal remedy world, claiming to offer relief for indigestion, bowel irregularity, and skin wounds.
Ferment it, and you have Mexico’s favorite adult beverage -- tequila.
Just the name “agave” conjures up images of romantic tropical excursions and mysterious shamanic medicine.
These are the mental images agave “nectar” sellers want you to hold. They use agave’s royal pedigree to cover the truth that what they’re selling you is a bottle of high-fructose syrup, so highly processed and refined that it bears NO resemblance to the plant of its namesake.
What is the “Real” Truth About Agave?
If you knew the truth about what’s really in it, you...
Too much cancer screening, too many heart tests, too many cesarean sections. A spate of recent reports suggests that many Americans are being overtreated.
New evidence and updated guidelines are recommending a step back and more thorough doctor-patient talks about risks and benefits of screening tests.
Just recently, a New England Journal of Medicine study suggested that too many patients are getting angiograms -- invasive imaging tests for heart disease -- who don't really need them . Specialists convened by the National Institutes of Health said doctors are too often demanding repeat cesarean deliveries for pregnant women after a first C-section.
The American Cancer Society cast more doubt on routine PSA tests for prostate cancer not long ago. Other groups recommended against routine mammograms for women in their 40s, and for fewer Pap tests looking for cervical cancer.
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