What ’s it like to be a healthcare worker in a pandemic?
We all know that some jobs are more dangerous than others. Truck drivers, loggers, and construction workers are more likely to die on the job than most others. Firefighters and police officers also face more than the average amount of risk while at work. It’s expected that people who take on these jobs understand the risks and follow guidelines to stay as safe as possible.
But what would you do if your job suddenly became much more dangerous? And what if your workplace was unable to follow recommended guidelines to reduce that increased risk?
That’s the situation now facing millions of healthcare workers who provide me...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 8, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Health Health care Infectious diseases Safety Source Type: blogs
Living Inside While the Coronavirus Is Outside
The outbreak of coronavirus has rocked our world and caused all of us to isolate in ways we never dreamed of doing before. For some of us who have a severe mental health illness diagnosis, this isolation is more than we might have ever experienced with our most extreme symptoms. While I have to fight my tendency to self-isolate as a result of my schizoaffective diagnosis, recent days have caused me to think about my routine and how it can, not only keep me safe from the virus, but enable me to have a productive life.
While I value my routine, I have had to search for more ways to keep myself actively involved in life. Bef...
Source: World of Psychology - March 31, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jason Jepson Tags: Antipsychotic Personal Schizophrenia coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic Psychosis quarantine Schizoaffective Disorder Source Type: blogs
Harvard Health Ad Watch: Are nutritional drinks actually good for you?
I first heard of nutritional drinks in the 1980s, early in my medical training. They were recommended for people struggling to maintain a healthy weight, often due to loss of appetite, cancer, or swallowing problems.
Since then, nutritional supplement drinks like Boost and Ensure have gone mainstream. Their widespread, primetime advertising aimed at a much broader audience has proven highly effective. The market for nutritional drinks is now worth many billions of dollars. In 2019, Ensure sales alone totaled nearly $400 million.
When you watch ads for nutritional drinks, do you wonder if you should start drinking them? Wil...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 20, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Health Healthy Eating Nutrition Vitamins and supplements Source Type: blogs
A Survey of Common Risk Factors and their Effects on Life Expectancy
In this study, we analyse total mortality using a model with a large number of risk factors that have previously been found to be predictors of longevity. The study assessed a otal of 38,549 participants aged 25-74 years at baseline of the National FINRISK Study between 1987 and 2007. The Primary outcome measures were register-based comprehensive mortality data from 1987 to 2014 with an average follow-up time of 16 years and 4310 deaths.
The largest influence on the EAD appeared to be a current smoker versus a never smoker as the EAD for a 30-year-old man decreased from 86.8 years, which corresponds to the refere...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 18, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Pregnant and worried about the new coronavirus?
COVID-19, the disease caused by a new coronavirus, has rapidly spread globally. The World Health Organization recently labeled COVID-19 a pandemic. Many of my pregnant patients have expressed concerns, both for themselves and their babies, about the impact of COVID-19 on their health. To answer often-asked questions about pregnancy and the new coronavirus, I’ve teamed up with my husband, an infectious disease specialist and internist. Together, we reviewed the extremely limited data available to provide evidence-based responses below.
Pregnancy and the new coronavirus
As you probably know, the virus spreads through respi...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 16, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Huma Farid, MD Tags: Parenting Pregnancy Women's Health Source Type: blogs
Senna: The True Ex-Lax
Constipation is one of those not-so-exciting subjects that affects both children and adults from time to time, but because it is so common, it warrants a closer look.
Bowel movements tend to occur about once a day after children have reached the age where their diet is largely comprised of solid food. Starchy foods, such as bananas, rice, grains, and flour, tend to make stools firmer. Foods high in fiber like peaches, plums, and apricots have more of a softening effect. In a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, a balance is struck between different foods to create stools that are soft enough to pass comfortably without bein...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - March 15, 2020 Category: Child Development Authors: Alan Greene MD Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Constipation Herbal Source Type: blogs
The scoop on protein powder
Eating enough protein is not just for athletes or would-be Schwarzenegger types. It is necessary for a healthy immune system and required for organs like your heart, brain, and skin to function properly. The nutrient is also touted for its ability to help control appetite and enhance muscle growth.
How much protein you need typically depends on your exercise routine, age, and health. And whether to supplement protein intake with a protein powder has become a common query.
A closer look at protein powder
To make such supplements, protein is extracted from animal or plant-based sources, which range from cow’s milk and eggs...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 9, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Emily Gelsomin, MLA, RD, LDN Tags: Diet and Weight Loss Drugs and Supplements Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs
How Does Dehydration Trigger Heart Problems?
Being in a dry environment, such as on a plane, can cause dehydration and heart issues.
According to Mellanie True Hills, CEO of StopAfib.org, a patient advocacy organization that hosts the number one arrhythmia site and one of the top five heart disease sites worldwide, “The significantly dry air on a plane wicks moisture out of the body, causing dehydration quickly. Dehydration thickens the blood and depletes the body of essential minerals such as potassium and magnesium. Magnesium regulates the heart rhythm and potassium helps it work. Inadequate levels of potassium or magnesium can trigger abnormal heart rhythms, inc...
Source: Embrace Your Heart Wellness Initiative - February 20, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Eliz Greene Tags: Diet and Nutrition Tips Heart Health Source Type: blogs
Exploring Beyond the Cage
I just read an interesting BBC article about why there are significantly more vegan women than men, which is mostly summarized by this statement at the top:
When women hold two incompatible beliefs, they’re more likely to change their behaviour to reconcile them. Men, by comparison, tend to dig themselves in.
The article cites a variety of studies that delve into gender differences and how these connect with dietary decisions. Reading it had an odd effect on me, making my vegan side feel good and my male side feel primitive and stupid.
While I do consider myself an ethical vegan today, this article reminded me t...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - February 19, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Health Lifestyle Values Source Type: blogs
Is bakuchiol safe during pregnancy? episode 210
We’ve got a fully packed program today. We’ll be covering a couple of cosmetic science news stories, catching up from my hiatus and answering questions about…
Is silicone suffocating hair and causing hair loss?Do proteins in nail products strengthen nails?What is goat’s milk doing in soaps and more?What’s an affordable version of Skinceuticals Triple Lipid Restore?Is Bakuchiol safe during pregnancy?
LA trip chat – Eco well sustainable beauty panel
Beauty Science News #1
Is Deva curl making people’s hair fall out?
Revlon teams up with the EWG
Hallmark Channel rant
Question 1&...
Source: thebeautybrains.com - February 18, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Perry Romanowski Tags: Podcast Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: Drowning in blood
Leviticus 4 continues with the instructions for animal sacrifice. In this case the cause for the sacrifice is reasonably well specified, although it seems a bit odd. It ' s how people are to expiate sins they didn ' t realize they were committing. The text is silent as to how this might come about, or how the transgression might be recognized. Oddly, however, as we shall see the next chapter does specify some possibilities, but applies a slightly different penalty, at least for common people. As always, the strong inference is that this is a compilation of various source materials, that aren ' t always entirely consistent....
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 16, 2020 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
The Chemistry of Chocolate
Chocolate is a Valentine’s Day must-have and popular among people with a sweet tooth. Many also claim it lifts mood or even acts as an aphrodisiac, and we’ve all heard someone say it’s habit forming.
The compounds in chocolate that allegedly have positive effects come from the cacao bean, so the darker the chocolate, the more of these compounds it contains. Milk chocolate has less than dark chocolate, and white chocolate has nearly none because it includes no cocoa solids, only cocoa butter.
Chocolate contains upwards of 800 chemical compounds, just a handful of which are explored in this infographi...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - February 12, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Source Type: blogs
With a little planning, vegan diets can be a healthful choice
Recently there has been much discussion and many questions about vegan diets. Are vegan diets — which exclude meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy — healthful? Do they provide complete nutrition? Should I try one? Will it help me lose weight?
Many people around the world eat plant-based diets for a variety of reasons, some because meat is not readily available or affordable, others because of religious convictions or concerns about animal welfare. Health has become another reason people are moving to plant-based diets. And research supports the idea that plant-based diets, including vegan diets, provide health benef...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 6, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Katherine D. McManus, MS, RD, LDN Tags: Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs
Listen to the Screams
By being vegan for as long as I have (and vegetarian a few years before that), about 5000 fewer animals were harmed and killed by my lifestyle.
But since I blogged about this aspect of my lifestyle (including writing my longest article ever, called How to Be Vegan), I’ve since influenced hundreds (if not thousands) more people to try vegetarianism or veganism for months or years or to adopt such a lifestyle permanently. So the combined impact of going vegan and publicly sharing what I learned is likely beyond 1,000,000 animals by now. That’s based mainly on feedback people have shared with me over the years....
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - February 3, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Health Lifestyle Values Source Type: blogs
Listen to the Screams
By being vegan for as long as I have (and vegetarian a few years before that), about 5000 fewer animals were harmed and killed by my lifestyle.
But since I blogged about this aspect of my lifestyle (including writing my longest article ever, called How to Be Vegan), I’ve since influenced hundreds (if not thousands) more people to try vegetarianism or veganism for months or years or to adopt such a lifestyle permanently. So the combined impact of going vegan and publicly sharing what I learned is likely beyond 1,000,000 animals by now. That’s based mainly on feedback people have shared with me over the years....
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - February 3, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Health Lifestyle Values Source Type: blogs
