Your body needs less than half a teaspoon of table salt daily; however, most Americans consume up to four times that amount, increasing the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Most Americans consume more than twice the recommended daily amount of sugar, increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes, and even depression. “Reducing Sugar and Salt,” a special [...]
Driving down LDL has been the main target for improving cholesterol levels. Powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins can cut the risk of developing and dying from heart disease by 30 to 40 percent. But there’s more to the story of cholesterol and cardiovascular risk than LDL. Another key player is high-density lipoprotein (HDL), dubbed the “good” cholesterol. HDL removes LDL [...]
Watching the sugar in your diet can help you control your weight and potentially avoid serious chronic health problems, for example, heart disease and diabetes. The American Heart Association recommends keeping calories from added sugars under 100 calories a day (24 grams, or six teaspoons) for women and under 150 calories (36 grams, or nine teaspoons) for men. Cutting back [...]
The human brain weighs just three pounds, but it holds the sum total of all your memories… what you’ve done, who you’ve known, — in short, who you are. But the brain changes with age as you find yourself forgetting things more frequently or finding it harder to concentrate. The good news is that, no matter what your age, it’s [...]
Why is some cholesterol called “good” (HDL - helpful to the heart) and other cholesterol called “bad” (LDL - harmful)? Cholesterol travels through the bloodstream in protein packages called lipoproteins. The lipoprotein of greatest concern is low-density lipoprotein (LDL). If your body produces more LDL than the cells can absorb, it lodges in artery walls and contributes to the buildup [...]
All drugs carry side effects and can interact with other medications, affecting balance and increasing your chances of taking a fall. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, common problems include vision changes, dizziness or lightheadedness, drowsiness, and impaired alertness or judgment. Some medications may damage the inner ear, spurring temporary or permanent balance disorders. Some of the [...]
By Dr. Eric Kozlow, allergist with Cone Health Allergy and Asthma Center of North Carolina Dr. Eric Kozlow, a board certified allergist with Cone Health Allergy and Asthma Center of North Carolina, practices with Drs. Bardelas, Bhatti, and Hicks in Greensboro, High Point, Asheboro, and Reidsville. For various reasons, some people have an immune system that overreacts to certain substances [...]
Dr. Bradley E. Jacobs, a physician at Lyndhurst Gynecologic Associates in Winston-Salem, is the Medical Director of the Program for Continence and Pelvic Floor Disorders at the Maya Angelou Center for Women’s Health and Wellness at Forsyth Medical Center. For more information about urinary incontinence and pelvic floor health, call 336-718-4260. From scouting out every restroom in the workplace, to [...]
Heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women, does not discriminate. This fact holds true for most racial/ethnic groups including African Americans, American Indians, Alaskan natives, Hispanics, and Caucasians. Risk factors include inactivity, obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
By Mary Lide Parker Two serious conditions: Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease. Could they be prevented with the same drug? What happens when you have a heart attack? It’s alarmingly simple—part of your heart muscle just dies and just as they can’t bring back the dead, doctors can’t bring back dead parts of the heart. “We don’t have the ability [...]
