Latest Stories

Latest Stories

Joyce Hollman

The gut problem that hardens your arteries

It’s no secret that a high-fat high-cholesterol diet is bad for the heart. But understanding why it’s worse for some people is another story. Until you understand the gut is a window to the body capable of turning the thermostat up on atherosclerosis…

Joyce Hollman

The carcinogens behind that new-car smell

I remember my first new car. It was exhilarating driving it around. And that new-car smell? Funny how we thought of it almost like a status symbol. But now we’re learning that new-car smell is a byproduct of a chemical process known as off-gassing, and the cancer threat stinks more than you know…

Dr. Elizabeth Klodas MD, FACC

Do statins hurt kidneys?

Can statins hurt your kidneys? My answer is a bit complicated. As a doctor, I could provide three observations right now, not necessarily pointing in the same direction. But let’s start with diabetics, those with established heart or vascular disease and those with familial hypercholesterolemia…

Joyce Hollman

The trace mineral that slows brain aging and helps after stroke

Selenium plays a role in many bodily processes, including reproduction, thyroid function, and protecting the body from free radicals and infection. But what it can do to slow brain aging got our attention, even in the event of stroke…

Carolyn Gretton

5 health conditions made worse by summer heat

Summer is here, and the mercury is rising in parts of the country. Being outside in hot weather doesn’t just put you at risk of heatstroke and sunburn. If you have any of these 5 conditions, it could exacerbate your symptoms…

Carolyn Gretton

Why broccoli is a gut-saving disease-fighting superfood

Broccoli is a superfood for many reasons, including protecting against diabetes and age-related ailments. But that’s not all. While further exploring broccoli’s health impacts, researchers discovered another molecule that closes the door on a frequent gateway to disease…

Jordan Fuller

Got osteoarthritis? Why you should be golfing

Being diagnosed with osteoarthritis can feel like a prison sentence. You might think your sporting days are over, but golfing has been proven to be one of the best activities for those with this condition. Here are the benefits and reasons why you should be golfing…

Joyce Hollman

10 signs you may have this blood circulation disorder

Dizzy whenever you stand up too quickly? You may have postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, a circulation disorder of the autonomic nervous system. Here’s what you should know about the condition and how to get help…

Joyce Hollman

The one-a-day vitamin that slashed death from cancer

Taking a vitamin once a day seems a simple enough strategy for anyone to stick to. But how many times have you read about the amazing benefits of one vitamin in particular, got started enthusiastically and then just gave up the habit? This is one vitamin you can’t afford not to commit to…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

The weight-loss snack that shrinks fat and increases willpower

It’s hard to give up snacking. But what if you could snack and still meet your weight goal, all the while increasing your willpower? It sounds too good to be true. But just in time to help you hold on to your New Year’s resolution, I’m here to tell you it’s not…

Joyce Hollman

For lowest risk of stroke or heart problems, this is when to exercise

The research shows exercise is crucial, from fighting cancer to turning back biological age. If you’re not doing it, you have no one to blame but yourself. Luckily, that research is honing in on findings that can help you make the most of it when you do…

Joyce Hollman

How blueberries keep your blood pressure (and more!) in check

If you’re not already eating blueberries daily, let me remind you: They have a solid superfood reputation for not just one good reason, but several. If you need convincing, I’ll lay out multiple ways this one tiny fruit is the best thing you can eat for a healthy heart…

Joyce Hollman

Half a million medical records link viruses to neurodegeneration

For years now, researchers have noticed curious links between a handful of viruses and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. A new look into a staggering number of health records indicates even though the link may not be causal, it warrants serious attention…

Joyce Hollman

9 steps that make summer grilling healthier

Time to break out the grill, but you should know that grilling meat can generate two known carcinogens. The good news: there are a few steps you can take to reduce this threat, including the right marinade…

Carolyn Gretton

Relief for long COVID fatigue: Resetting the vagus nerve

Long-COVID is no joke. Almost half who suffer from it experience crushing fatigue they say impacts their quality of life. Researchers hot on the trail of why it happens and how to relieve it may have hit a nerve… one that has a history of dysfunction related to other viral infections.

Jenny Smiechowski

3 serious conditions most likely to be misdiagnosed

Over 100,000 Americans die or are permanently disabled each year because of diagnostic errors. How do you prevent a nightmare like this from happening? It’s helpful to know which conditions are most likely to be misdiagnosed in the first place. And lucky for you, a new study just revealed the top three…

Margaret Cantwell

Energize your cells to shrink fat—literally

If you struggle with weight issues despite sticking to a reasonably healthy diet and regular exercise routine, it’s time you got in on this little secret. It isn’t your fault. The standard American diet has made you the victim of a tragic nutrient deficiency that could otherwise shrink fat cells.

Debra Atkinson

16 ways to ‘get in the mood’

One in 10 women experiences a loss of their sexual desire. That’s 16 million women who’ve lost an important part of a healthy life. Maybe you don’t really think it’s a big deal, but there’s something you should know…

Tracey G. Ingram, AuD

Moringa: An anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic superfood

The moringa is a veritable vitamin powerhouse rich in phytochemicals, antioxidants, calcium, iron and potassium — and that’s just for starters. Praised for its healing properties for thousands of years, its popularity has reached the states and evidence is piling up. Here’s how to use it… Moringa is native to India and grown in Asia […]

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

The link between artificial sweeteners, infection and multi-organ failure

You wouldn’t sit down in a restaurant and grab a little pink packet of bacteria to stir into your tea or coffee, would you? Or drink down a can of diet soda that has it already mixed in, right? Considering how artificial sweeteners ramp up and enable dangerous bacteria in your gut, you may as well…

Dr. Elizabeth Klodas MD, FACC

Women and heart disease: The menopause years

I remember when I experienced my first night sweat. I knew it signalled menopause, but also knew there wasn’t much to do about it. After all, hormone therapy was dangerous. But did a flawed study scare women away from a therapy that could lessen thier heart disease risk?

Carolyn Gretton

Drinking toxins: Heavy metal contamination reaches beyond juice

You may remember when we broke news about arsenic, lead and cadmium contamination in juice. Well, that threat has grown and leached to popular “health drinks.” Considering daily exposure from other sources, your heart and brain health could suffer if you don’t cut these drinks out…

Joyce Hollman

Feed a cold, starve a fever (or leave it be for faster recovery)

A fever is the body’s reaction to infection. Turning the heat up improves the performance of immune cells and stresses the pathogen behind the illness. So is it any wonder that the practice of medicating fever is coming into question or that skipping it could clear infection in half the time?

Joyce Hollman

10 signs of early-onset dementia

Early-onset dementia can hit much earlier than you might think. And even though a few signs are similar to what older people experience, some stand out. It’s important to know them and how up to 40 percent of early-onset cases may be avoided…

Joyce Hollman

5 ‘magic’ seeds to snack on every day

In some case, the smallest part of a plant contains the most powerful nutrition… Here are five seeds in particular that you should know about. Because these tiny powerhouses are so packed with goodness — they could actually help you live longer and healthier!

Jenny Smiechowski

Triple nutrient cocktail could help stave off heart attack and stroke

Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of heart attack, but it also causes about half of all strokes. And there are often no symptoms until it’s too late.

Margaret Cantwell

The unseen damage of vitamin deficiencies: Sacrificing longevity

When it comes to supplements, most doctors say forget them. But nutrition science ignores the fact that most vitamins and minerals are not only needed to maintain daily health, they’re also required for processes that impact longevity. If you’re not taking in enough of the ones on this list, it’s your lifespan that gets cheated…

Carolyn Gretton

When it comes to aspirin and heart protection, does dose matter?

Using aspirin every day remains part of most therapeutic plans to keep people who’ve already had a heart attack or stroke from experiencing another. But there have been concerns about bleeding. Researchers recently took a look at which dose would be best as far as efficacy and safety, and what they found was surprising…

Carolyn Gretton

‘Miracle’ molecule may speed diabetic foot ulcer healing

Because it’s increasingly common, it’s easy to forget just how insidious diabetes is. It can tear the body down — from your heart to your limbs. But new technology may harness a naturally occurring molecule to speed the healing of at least one common but dangerous complication…

Carolyn Gretton

Coffee’s blood pressure benefits ‘closest to the heart’

Of all the benefits applied to coffee, there’s been some conflicting data about its effects on blood pressure. But Italian researchers have discovered something surprising about coffee, blood pressure and the best predictor of stroke and heart attack…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Nutrient combo combats pain and symptoms of uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous tumors that develop from the muscle in the uterus, typically in women of child-bearing age. The condition usually stabilizes, and symptoms lessen or go away on their own once a woman goes through menopause when her hormones decline. But till then?

Joyce Hollman

Harnessing the brain’s cleaning mechanism may reverse Alzheimer’s

Past research has shown the brain’s cellular cleaning mechanism can help take out the trash that leads to Alzheimer’s, and there are ways to naturally encourage the process. But what happens when, despite everything, this cleaning system breaks down? An experimental drug may have the answer to reversing it…

Carolyn Gretton

Sleepy in the daytime? It could affect this key marker of aging

Aging is directly connected to the shrinking of your telomeres, compounds that protect your chromosomes from damage. But there are several other factors that could shorten your telomeres and potentially accelerate the aging process — for instance, finding yourself constantly in need of an afternoon nap…

Carolyn Gretton

The veggies diabetics should be eating for kidney health

Diabetic nephropathy can strike one out of four people with diabetes, leading to loss of kidney function and the need for dialysis. While there is no cure yet for this condition, researchers are exploring options — and may have found one in a certain group of vegetables…

Joyce Hollman

The exercise sweet spot that keeps blood pressure in check

Three decades of research have further validated the role of exercise for healthy blood pressure. But it’s also shown that the “long game” matters. But if you haven’t stuck to your exercise routine, it’s not too late…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Air pollution: What you should know about this silent threat

Air pollution has not only been associated with asthma and lung diseases but also diabetes and heart attack. Research shows that in the U.S. alone 50,000 people will die this year due to one particular type of air pollution, a silent killer known as PM2.5. Here’s how to protect yourself…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Probiotics may keep respiratory infections away

As they say, prevention is the best medicine. And one of the most promising ways to avoid illness is to shore up your immune system by promoting a healthy and balanced gut microbiome.

Joyce Hollman

The once-a-day nutrient that eats away anxiety

When feelings of intense fear and dread become overwhelming and prevent us from doing everyday activities, an anxiety disorder may be the cause. Anxiety can be brought under control with medications, but at a cost. Don’t let it eat at you when you can eat it away…

Carolyn Gretton

Three times in life when your aging gets ramped up

Most of us perceive aging as a straight line on a steady decline. But the truth is our aging process is more like a straight line that’s interrupted by dips and bumps at certain points. And scientists have been able to identify three precise points in a person’s life when the most dramatic shifts in physiological aging occur.

Virginia Tims-Lawson

Black cumin: 7 modern benefits of an ancient seed oil

King Tut, Cleopatra, and Hippocrates relied on black cumin seed for an array of conditions, including malaise, weakness, coughing and skincare. When something is carried down over the years as a “remedy,” especially as long as black cumin seed, there’s got to be something to it. But when the research agrees, it’s even better.

Carolyn Gretton

10 essential ingredients for healthy, vibrant skin

Healthy skin isn’t just something you’re born with — it takes some work. And while fancy creams and serums may help keep your skin radiant, you need to go deeper than the products you put on the surface to help your skin stand the tests of time. That’s where skin nutrition comes into play…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Being active may help you hold onto your hearing

You’ve probably heard plenty about the dangers of not being active, including heart disease, stroke and various cancers. But are you aware of the auditory dangers of a sedentary lifestyle? It’s time to listen up and get up to save your hearing…

Joyce Hollman

Hungry all the time? It’s your blood sugar, not your appetite

Are you hungry all the time? Do you find yourself eating just an hour or two after a big meal? If you’ve had trouble with your weight as a result, stop beating yourself up over your lack of appetite control. You may be a big dipper. That means changes in your blood sugar levels affect how soon you feel hungry again.

Joyce Hollman

Not eating your greens? A greens powder could help

Less than ten percent of us eat enough leafy greens, and it’s making us sick. We either don’t like the taste, find them expensive and don’t like that they may cause gas and bloating. If you want to make healthier choices about what goes in your crisper — but have an easy option as well, here are the healthiest greens and what to look for in a greens powder.

Dr. Elizabeth Klodas MD, FACC

High blood pressure: What I tell my patients

High blood pressure is extremely common. What’s worse is that only about 1 in 4 adults with hypertension have it under control. That’s because there are many causes. Put too many straws on the camel’s back and it falls over. Take a few straws away, the camel can stand back up. You can bring your numbers down the same way.

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

5 ways exercise helps battle breast cancer

Although it may seem like exercising would be a difficult task for anyone undergoing treatment for breast cancer, according to doctors at Johns Hopkins, it’s one of the best things to do. Not only does it lessen the side effects of treatment, research shows it has a direct impact on treatment outcomes.

Carolyn Gretton

One ‘must-have’ for a healthy liver and healthy living

Poor diet and lack of activity can lead to a lot of health problems, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The traditional way to treat fatty liver has been through significant weight loss. But researchers are finding that you may not need to lose as much weight to keep your liver healthy if you do this…

Joyce Hollman

9 health and body changes that happen in your 70s

Your body doesn’t come with a user’s manual. So, as you age, some changes may take you by surprise, but you can be prepared. Here are some things you might expect and some advice to keep enjoying life no matter your age.

Carolyn Gretton

How breastfeeding makes women’s hearts healthier

Maybe you’re a soon-to-be new mom deciding whether to breastfeed or not, or a mom who breastfed years ago. In either case you may excited to learn mothers benefit just as much from breastfeeding as their babies do. It turns out breastfeeding may lower the risk of certain diseases over the long term for moms, including cardiovascular disease…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

How the gut may activate Alzheimer’s genes

One of the fastest-growing areas proving gut health is whole-body health is Alzheimer’s research. Study after study has linked the gut microbiome with either Alzheimer’s risk or protection. Now, a ground-breaking study has found that the genes that trigger Alzheimer’s may be turned on by the gut.

Joyce Hollman

Depression’s DNA links to accelerated aging

We’ve all had the blues. But major depressive disorder is something entirely different. People with MDD have higher rates of incidence and mortality from cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Alzheimers, but the medical community hasn’t understood why, until now.

Carolyn Gretton

Treating sleep apnea helps both your mind and body

A good night’s sleep is essential for optimal health. But there are disorders like sleep apnea that can make it difficult to get steady, restful sleep. That’s why it’s so important to treat sleep apnea — particularly when it comes to your cognitive health…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Is your back pain killing you?

Living with back pain can feel like torture. People who deal with pain day in and day out may even feel like it’s killing them. But can it? Past studies have made that connection. And the newest saw a correlation with premature death and back pain possibly involving a cardiovascular component.

Joyce Hollman

The vitamin that stands up to age-related muscle loss

Mitochondria are the “energy factories” of our cells. They process energy from the food we eat and make it available for our bodies to use. But even mighty mitochondria can’t provide your muscle with sufficient energy to avoid age-related muscle loss without this simple vitamin…

Joyce Hollman

The nutty reason a calorie isn’t always a calorie

In spite of all their health benefits, nuts like almonds still get “bad press.” You’ll often hear that snacking on them leads to weight gain, because of the calories that come from their fat content. What if we told you that when you eat that handful of almonds, you’re really not absorbing all those calories?

Carolyn Gretton

The link between ‘long COVID’ and your thyroid

While the majority of people who contract COVID-19 recover in a matter of days, many suffer from “long COVID,” a condition where symptoms linger for weeks or months. A possible reason? Thyroiditis, or thyroid inflammation, that’s been triggered by the virus.

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Giving in to wanderlust may be what you need right now

After a year of lockdowns, things are finally loosening up. If you’ve been suppressing your wanderlust, now may be a good time to give in. Not just because it could be safer, but because of some measurable wellness benefits that could impact your well-being.

Carolyn Gretton

From hemorrhoids to heart trouble: Why you shouldn’t strain to ‘go’

We don’t like to talk about it, but the truth is, constipation is a common problem. When you’re constipated, you may have to strain to pass your stools. And if you strain too hard, it can lead to complications much more serious than hemorrhoids…

Joyce Hollman

Brain fog: How chronic sinus problems may change your brain

If you suffer from chronic sinusitis or rhinosinusitis, you know how it can interrupt your daily life. And it’s not even the runny nose or sinus pressure that’s the most disruptive. The inability to concentrate can make everyday tasks almost impossible for some. Now you can feel validated: Science shows sinus inflammation affects your brain’s connections.

Virginia Tims-Lawson

Enzymes: The safer, healthier choice for digestive upset

From gas and bloating to abdominal pain, heartburn and diarrhea, surveys show that 74 percent of Americans are living with digestive problems. If you’re one of them, you may have wondered about digestive enzymes and why you need them. Here are the answers to your questions, and the relief you need.

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