Preventative Care. Dr. David Samadi will explore the new and often debated areas of preventative care. Prevent cancer, check your blood pressure, eat the right foods and other prevention tips. Get a medical doctor's take on herbal treatments, yoga, homeopathy, acupuncture, vitamins, supplements, massage therapy, spiritual treatment and other forms of alternative therapy for prevention.
A cold is a type of viral infection that occurs in the upper respiratory tract in the nose and throat. It is also known as the common cold. There are more than 100 different types of cold viruses. For this reason, the signs and symptoms can vary significantly. While there are more than 100 viruses that can cause a cold, the rhinovirus is the most common cause of the common cold. It is highly contagious.
Read MoreWe all know how annoying getting sick can be, and if you avoided the snot, sniffles and coughs well into the fall season you may think you are in the clear. But cold and flu season is just around the corner, so here are some tips on how to avoid getting sick this upcoming season:
Increase your zinc intake:The mineral, zinc, works to help to strengthen the immune system. In fact, immune cells like white blood cells need this mineral to function. The most well-known place to get zinc is unquestionably oysters, which are rich in the mineral. However, meats like calf’s liver, beef and lamb, are also abundant in zinc.
Eat more yogurt:Probiotics found in yogurt, are good bacteria that keep the gut and intestines healthy. Research has found that yogurt, owing to these probiotic properties, stimulates the production of white blood cells, fending off colds.
Remember to wash your hands and avoid touching your face: We touch everything around us with our hands, and a side effect of this is carrying around germs and bacteria that can get us sick. According to some studies, people touch their eyes and nose are more likely to get sick than those that don’t. Take the time – at least 20 seconds of scrubbing – to wash your hands with soap and water. It takes almost half a minute to scrub away viruses that can cause the flu.
Avoid excessive drinking: Alcohol suppresses your immune system at a rate that is proportional to the amount you consume. This means the more drinks you have, the bigger blow to your immune system. Alcohol triggers a flood of cytokine proteins that induce fever and inflammation. Alcohol also suppresses the ability for white blood cells to multiply and subsequently fend off a cold.
Get more Sleep: Lack of sleep can increase inflammation and inhibit the immune response by altering the way your genes function. Not getting enough sleep increases your chances of catching colds and the flu. Sleep also helps the body induce a better fever response to kill infection, when we don’t sleep the body has a hard time fighting infection this way.
Quit smoking: According to scientific studies, smoking cigarettes makes you more than five times more vulnerable to different strains of the flu. The chemicals, additives and carcinogens that are contained in cigarettes decrease the ability of the immune system to do its job. Even if you don’t smoke, you should also avoid people who do or areas where you can easily inhale cigarette smoke. The small hairs in the nose, called cilia, which work to block out harmful particles from the lungs are forced to work in overdrive to clear harmful particles. This increases the chances of respiratory infections.
Add Cinnamon: This spice is a known antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial powerhouse. This great addition to you coffee, oatmeal and dessert, has the ability to strengthen the immune system and fight off pathogens that cause illness.
An athlete's body has to endure much more stress and injury than the average person. Even though our bodies were built for being active, high-intense workouts and the rigor or practices and games can lead to chronic aches and pains that can transform into more serious injuries.
Read MoreSudden urge to urinate. Even if you’ve have little or nothing to drink for hours, if you’ve already emptied your bladder, and regardless of the time of day. Intense urgency may even cause you to leak on the way to the bathroom.
Read MoreCaffeine is a natural stimulant that blocks your brain from producing sleep-inducing chemicals. Studies suggest that having caffeine even as much as six hours before bedtime can have disruptive effects on your sleep.
Read MoreBelieve it or not, we have real happy hormones. On top of that, there are actually ways to construct your meals to be rich in mood-enhancing hormones.
Read MoreEat a healthy, well-balanced diet. To lower your blood pressure, you need to eat a diet that includes whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. It is key to limit or avoid foods that contain saturated fat and cholesterol.
Read MoreKidney pain or mass. If you are experiencing abdominal pain, your primary care doctor may refer you to have a CT scan or an ultrasound. While the scan may or may not show what is causing the pain, it can identify if there is a mass on the kidney.
Read MoreAnaphylaxis is a type of allergic reaction. It may occur after coming into contact with something you are allergic too such as peanuts. The allergic reaction can happen very quickly and can be potentially life-threatening.
Read MorePaying attention to your gut health is one of the most important (and often overlooked) things you can do for your health. Currently, a lot of research has been done around the micro-biome and apparently a happy microbiome is the secret to good health. The key to understanding this very important part of our body is prebiotics vs. probiotics.
Read MoreVitamin D is arguably the most important vitamin you could take. Vitamin D is actually a hormone; it's not even a vitamin and it affects our entire body. Whenever, you feel fatigued or little energy - it's quite possible you're Vitamin D levels are low. A vitamin D deficiency occurs when the level of vitamin D in your body is too low.
Read MoreLaughter is the best medicine. It is an excellent way to relieve stress. It not only lowers blood pressure and the risk of heart disease, but by moving your facial muscles and smiling, the hormonal changes that occur within the brain results in a happy mood. Laughter also produces physical changes that are healthy for the body.
Read MoreE. coli stands for Escherichia coli. It is a type of bacteria that usually resides within our intestines. Most types of E. coli bacteria do not cause much harm, or may cause a few symptoms such as diarrhea. However, there are some types of E. coli can be much more serious and cause severe symptoms.
Read MoreMassages can work to reduce muscle soreness and even speed up recovery time from an injury. But not everyone can afford a fancy masseuse or even has the time to make an appointment. But in the evenings when you feel those subtle or not-so-subtle aches and pains what can you do? There are actually two key ways to improve your recovery using simple massage therapy techniques.
Read MoreTriglycerides are compounds that provide our bodies with energy for metabolism. Triglycerides are the main type of fat in the body. They are also the most common that we eat. Triglycerides are the compounds that develop and are stored as fat in the body. A triglyceride contains three fatty acids, which are broken down in the small intestine in order to be absorbed.
Read MoreHigh blood pressure is also known as hypertension. It is a condition that causes high pressure within the arteries of the body. The arteries are responsible for carrying blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Our blood pressure is measured by two numbers: systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. The systolic pressure is the top number which measures the pressure when the heart beats. The diastolic pressure is the bottom number and measures the pressure when the heart is at rest in between beats. A normal blood pressure is 120/80, while 139/89 is considered pre-hypertension, and 140/90 or above is considered high blood pressure.
Read MoreA new study suggests that it may be best to treat patients that are considered prehypertension (which means between the range of 120 to 140) in order to bring their systolic blood pressure down to 120. The findings come from a large study conducted by the National Institutes of Health. In the past, doctors have often only treated patients whose systolic blood pressure was about 140. 140 is the number that officially declares a person having high blood pressure. The reason the systolic number is of importance is because it is a better indicator of a stroke or heart attack.
Read MoreWhat do you know about prediabetes? If you or a loved one is diagnosed with this, you want to be as educated as you can so as to prevent type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes is a condition in which the blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as full-blown type 2 diabetes. It’s estimated 79 million Americans have prediabetes and it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. If it is not diagnosed it most likely will go on to develop into type 2 diabetes. Currently, about half of all American adults have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.
Read MoreCutting blood pressure below the currently recommended target can significantly reduce the rate of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and deaths. The findings come from the largest study ever conducted to examine whether reducing systolic blood pressure below the currently recommended goal would be beneficial.
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