What Are Superfoods? We’ve all heard the expression “superfoods,” but no one food will single-handedly improve a poor diet or stave off chronic illness. Physicians and nutrition experts agree that eating a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables and limiting sodium, animal fat, refined flour, and sugar is the key …

Hypertensive heart disease refers to heart conditions caused by high blood pressure. It’s not a single disease, but rather, a number of different heart disorders all caused by the same thing: the heart working under increased pressure. Hypertensive heart disease includes, among other conditions, heart failure, thickening of the heart …

While the conversation about eating disorders typically focuses on women, new research suggests that men are affected far more often than we once realized. Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital studied the responses of 5,527 teenage boys from across the U.S. involved in the Growing Up Today Study. They found that 17.9 …

Testosterone Basics The hormone testosterone plays an important role in men’s health. For starters, it helps to maintain muscle mass, bone density, and sex drive. Testosterone production is at its highest in a man’s early adulthood and drops a little bit each year thereafter. When the body doesn’t produce the …

Want to lower your risk of developing skin cancer, age spots, and wrinkles? Then a good sunscreen is the weapon to add to your arsenal. Sunscreens help block some of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation from harming the skin. Two types of ultraviolet radiation — UVA (long-wave) and UVB (short-wave) — …

When you drop a piece of food on the floor, is it really OK to eat if you pick up within five seconds? This urban food myth contends that if food spends just a few seconds on the floor, dirt and germs won’t have much of a chance to contaminate …

It might not just be expectant mothers who have to pay attention to their lifestyle. Now a new study published in Science could be relevant to a growing body of research looking at ways in which the lifestyle and environment of men before they become fathers could influence the lives …

Kidney cancer isn’t as common as breast or lung cancer. For most people, the chance of getting kidney cancer in their lifetime is less than two percent, according to the American Cancer Society. Your risk increases if you smoke, are obese, or have been exposed to chemicals such as asbestos …

treatments of migraine headaches What is the proper way to use preventive medications? •Doctors familiar with the treatment of migraine headaches should prescribe preventive medications. •Decisions about which preventive medication to use are based on the side effects of the medication and the presence of any medical conditions. •Propranolol (Inderal) …

 Acupuncture and pregnancy Acupuncture that’s specific for depression may benefit some pregnant women with the mood disorder, suggests a new study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. In the 8-week study, depression-specific acupuncture—based on traditional Chinese medicine—outperformed traditional acupuncture and Swedish massage in reducing the severity of depression symptoms. The special …

Low Vitamin D Linked to Heart Failure Deaths Study Also Shows Higher Risk of Hospitalization for Heart Failure Patients With Low Vitamin D Levels Aug. 31, 2010 (Stockholm, Sweden) — Low vitamin D levels are associated with a higher risk of death and hospitalization in people with heart failure, researchers …