Dry winter air can suck moisture out of the skin and cause itching. To combat this, one can stop scratching; wear protective clothing when outdoors; use a humidifier; and limit bathing to five minutes in lukewarm water.
It appears that being overweight puts people at risk for heart attack and heart disease, regardless of whether they have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar.
For most people there is not much evidence that B vitamin supplements protect against heart disease or various types of dementia.
To find motivation to exercise, doctors advise that people think of exercise as fun, not work; use it as a means to get off medication; work exercise into daily routines such as walking in parking lots; and try workouts of 10 minutes at a time.
More people are being diagnosed with Barrett’s esophagus. It’s is a change in cells in the esophagus that results from frequent acid exposure caused by reflux. Barrett’s has a small cancer risk.
It appears that speaking a second language may delay the onset of several types of dementia for up to four-and-a-half years.
Dietary potassium can help lower blood pressure in people with hypertension, and it can help protect against getting hypertension.
Sometimes one can find better prices on prescription drugs by simply doing a little digging. Comparison shopping, Internet price finders, and manufacturer assistance programs can help.
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet may reduce the risk of diabetes, a new study suggests. The study included more than 3,500 older adults who were at high risk of heart disease. They were randomly divided into 3 groups. Two groups followed a Mediterranean-style diet. This type of diet is high in fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, olive oil, beans and legumes. It is low in red meat and dairy. One Mediterranean-diet group added extra olive oil to the diet. The other group added extra mixed nuts. The third group followed a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet. In the next 4 years, people on the Mediterranean-style diet were less likely to develop diabetes than those in the high-carb, low-fat group. Risk was 40% lower for the extra-oil group and 18% lower for the mixed-nuts group. The journal Annals of Internal Medicine published the study online.