The Health Blog

(HealthDay News) — Snoring, in addition to being a nuisance, can significantly affect the emotional and physical health of snorers and those around them.

If you’re a chronic snorer, try these suggestions from the National Sleep Foundation:

• Lose weight — dropping pounds should reduce the amount of fat deposits in the throat that can obstruct the airway and cause snoring.
• Sleep on your side rather than your back.
• Avoid alcohol before bed, and stop smoking, as both can contribute to snoring.
• Try a nasal breathing strip, designed to help keep your nostrils open during sleep.
• Ask your doctor or dentist about appliances that can help reduce snoring.

“Daily Aspirin may reduce cancer risk, bBut the high dose needed brings its own dangers, experts warn”, says an article from HealthDay News.

A daily aspirin may lower the odds of colon, prostate and breast cancer for people at high risk for those malignancies, researchers at the American Cancer Society report.

The researchers found that taking daily aspirin for at least five years was linked with about a 15 percent relative reduction in overall cancer risk. This decrease did not reach statistical significance in women, however.

In addition, aspirin was associated with a 20 percent reduction in the risk of prostate cancer and a 30 percent reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer in both men and women, compared with people who didn’t take the medicine, Jacobs’s team found.

Aspirin had no effect on risk of lung cancer, bladder cancer, melanoma, leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, pancreatic cancer, and kidney cancer, the researchers noted. Also, aspirin use for less than five years did not lower the risk for cancer.

An ulcer is a sore in the lining of the digestive tract. While it can be treated with medication — including antibiotics and those that reduce stomach acid — you should also make certain dietary and lifestyle changes, the American Academy of Family Physicians says.

The academy recommends avoiding the following if you have an ulcer:

* Foods or beverages that contain caffeine.
* Alcoholic beverages.
* Smoking.
* Anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen.
* Spicy foods.

Source: HealthDay News

Breastfeeding is the best gift a mother can offer her newborn baby. The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous. Among others, breastfeeding have the advantages of: contributing to baby’s brain development, is easier to digest, provides powerful antibodies and stimulates the baby’s own immune system, favors bonding with the mother, etc

Breastmilk is also very economical, always ready and has the perfect composition for the developing baby. Breastfeeding is also environmentally friendly as it does not require bottles and does not create wastes of any kind.

Breastfeeding does require a more important involvement from the mother as she is the only one who can provide the baby’s milk. New mothers are often discouraged by the amount of time breastfeeding requires from them and tend to abandon breastfeeding in the first week after birth.

Memory decline is a common complaint as we move through the aging process. The typical 60-year-old is not as sharp mentally as they were in their 40s. That said, some people do age slower than others. There are 80 year olds with the mind and body of people decades their minor. There are 70 year olds who can easily match wits with 40 year olds.

Would you like to put the brakes on brain rot? You can, simply by adding a handful of “Super Brain Foods” to your daily diet. The “You are what you eat” adage most definately applies to mental function. To slow the aging process and provide continued brain strength, an anti-oxidant, nutrient rich diet will keep your body and brain functioning at more youthful levels.

“Oxidative damage” is the most common blame for brain decline. The brain is highly sensitive to oxidative, free radical damage. Foods high in antioxidants counter that damage and protect the brain. “Brain starvation” is another common cause of mental decline. The brain is the greediest organ in your body and its dietary requirements are high. Feed the brain with the protective nutrients it needs and it will peform better.

Author: Demond L. Jackson

I know what you’re thinking, effective weight control, I wish! What if I told you I have discovered seven simple steps to living at your idea body weight for the rest of your life. Would you like to hear more about it?

If you’re like over 90 million Americans today, effective weight control is just an unrealistic dream. Why? Because theyre clinically obese. Do you have challenges with weight gain? Do you always eat until youre fulland then some? Is uncontrolled weight gaining a major concern for you now? Have you searched for other solutions only to come up empty? If so, Im not surprised.

Losing weight is one of the most difficult challenges an overweight person can have. Unfortunately, for so many, losing the weight isnt nearly as fun as gaining the weight was. It requires a great amount of discipline, self motivation and perseverance.

The benefits of good health cannot be overemphasized for those who wish to lead a happy lifestyle. While good health does not guarantee happiness it is certainly a key building block for a future of well being, contentment and serenity.

What are the basics of good health?

Like most events in nature, development and maintenance of good health and a healthy lifestyle are simple in concept but take some work and dedication to achieve.
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• Healthy diet

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• Exercise
• Minimize stress on a daily basis

Almost all of the common diseases that threaten us today can be avoided to a great degree by eating right, adopting a program of regular exercise, and stress reduction through techniques like meditation.

Drinking caffeinated beverages on a regular basis may provide significant protection against death from heart disease in the elderly who have normal levels of blood pressure, according to data from a large U.S. health and nutrition study.

Drinking caffeinated beverages may induce a “healthy” rise in blood pressure that counteracts the drop in blood pressure that occurs after a meal, a phenomenon that becomes more pronounced as people age, researchers note.

Among 6,594 adults participating in the study, 426 died of heart disease during a 9-year period. For subjects 65 years of age or older, the researchers found that greater daily consumption of caffeinated beverages was associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease. This acted in a dose-response fashion - the higher the caffeine level, the lower the risk, and visa versa.

A new study debunks the widely held belief that diet plus exercise is the most effective way to lose weight. Researchers report that dieting alone is just as effective as dieting plus exercise.

“For weight loss to occur, an individual needs to maintain a difference between the number of calories they consume everyday and the number of calories they burn through metabolism and physical activity,” Dr. Leanne Redman of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, explains in a press release.

“What we found was that it did not matter whether a reduction in calories was achieved through diet or burned everyday through exercise.”

A German study found out that natural family planning method is as effective as the contraceptive pill provided it was taught properly and carried out correctly. The symptothermal method (STM) assesses fertility levels during the monthly cycle by measuring body temperature, and observing cervical secretions.

Oftentimes, the major reason for not having family planning, especially in developing countries, is financial constraints. The efficacy of natural methods is oftentimes questioned, even by health professionals, so many mothers wouldn’t resort to it.

It has been proven that exercise is the best way to lower your blood cholesterol. However, not many of people have ample time to hit the gym. The Harvard HealthBeat Newsletter provided tips on how to lower your blood cholesterol through dietary techniques.

• Cut down on saturated fat in cooking. You can use of liquid cooking oils rather than butter or margarine. Use nonstick pans. Instead of frying, bake, broil, roast, steam, or stew. Discard drippings.
• Avoid trans fats. Because trans fats increase your LDL and decrease your HDL, the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board says there’s no safe level of trans fat intake, and the National Cholesterol Education Program urges people to eat as little as possible. Avoid or eat only very small quantities of foods that list shortening, partially hydrogenated oil, or hydrogenated oil among their first ingredients.