Latest Stories

Latest Stories

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Research links common medications to tinnitus

The ringing, buzzing, hissing, whistling, swooshing and clicking of tinnitus can drive anyone crazy. And though doctors have tried for years to help, there’s been little known about the causes of the condition — until now. It turns out it could be sitting in your medicine cabinet at this very moment…

Carolyn Gretton

Common medications increase bowel disease after 40

Inflammatory bowel diseases, like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, can be painful and debilitating, causing chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping, bloody stools, weight loss and fatigue. If you’re in your 40s, certain medications can increase your risk of developing one…

Carolyn Gretton

The road that leads to tinnitus noise triggers

Tinnitus can be caused by hundreds of health issues and external stimuli. But one recently identified source is something we’re all exposed to at one time or another — and it’s not-so-great news for people living in urban areas…

Joyce Hollman

Thyroid, menopause and diabetes: The phthalate danger to women

Phthalates are colorless, odorless “everywhere” chemicals. They go by a host of names, but they’re all endocrine-disrupting chemicals. From thyroid to menopause trouble, women are hardest hit. Now, they’re why you can get diabetes from your shampoo…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Popular manicure may increase risk for skin cancer

Before you head off to the nail salon, there’s something you should know. Gel manicures may look lovely but they expose you to a very real danger. Just like the sun and tanning beds, those nail dryers pack a serious punch of UV radiation…

Virginia Tims-Lawson

Mitochondria: Key to preserving fitness during aging

Exercise is one of the most powerful anti-aging tools we have. But even though physical activity can improve health during aging, evidence also shows that inevitably those beneficial effects decline. Research shows with the right intervention, they may not have to…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Common drug for back pain found to offer nothing but side effects

If you’re one of the 80 percent of people who suffers from low back pain at one point or another, there’s something that you need to know before you see your doctor: the prescription they want to give you probably won’t work. Even worse, while it does little to nothing for your pain, the drug could lead to problematic or even dangerous side effects…

Carolyn Gretton

How to make Kegels work better for bladder leaks

It’s no surprise that women’s bladders get weaker. And Kegel exercises have long been recommended to improve pelvic floor strength and relieve bladder leaks. But that didn’t always work well enough until they added a second step…

Margaret Cantwell

Wegovy: From rebound weight to that black box warning

Weight loss has never been easy. That’s why Wegovy sounded like a fairy tale. In truth, it’s a cautionary tale of miserable side effects, disrupted hormones, a black box warning and rapid weight gain that doesn’t live up to the hype for everyone.

Carolyn Gretton

Could the key to good sleep start in your gut?

Everyone has trouble sleeping occasionally, with the most common causes being stress, anxiety and depression, neurological problems and pain. But there’s another group of middlemen that can make sleep tough, and they reside in a surprising part of your body…

Carolyn Gretton

The nut that lowers cholesterol better than exercise

Nuts are givers of great health. Almonds have been called the world’s most nutritious nut. Walnuts have been known to crackdown on chronic disease. And pistachios have been hailed as natural weight loss helpers. But what is the best nut for lowering cholesterol? The one that dropped numbers significantly lower than exercise intervention…

Carolyn Gretton

Are banned food additives making Americans sick?

There are a few differences between Americans and Europeans. But one of the biggest differences is the food we consume. Take dangerous food additives. Here is a handful that have been banned in Europe, but are still fed to us, starting with your morning toast…

Jedha Dening

6 teas that boost metabolism, tame appetite and fight fat

Did you know habitual tea drinkers have lower BMI and waist-to-hip ratios, and less body fat than non-tea drinkers? In addition, teas offer protection against many of the health risks associated with being overweight. Here are six that top the list…

Joyce Hollman

Less salt, more bananas could save your memory

Cognitive decline can lead to dementia, and dementia is irreversible. But if you keep your intake of sodium low and your potassium intake high enough to support blood flow through the brain you might just avoid it…

Carolyn Gretton

The link between grapes, your skin and the sun

You may have heard the phrase “Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” This holds for many health conditions, like heart disease and diabetes. But few of us realize this wise adage applies to protecting the skin from UV damage too…

Joyce Hollman

Red light could turn back the clock on your eyesight

What if you could hold a simple device to your eyes each morning, look into it for several minutes and improve your vision? This isn’t science fiction, but the next possible step in turning back the clock, so at 70 years old you might see as well as you did at 40…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

The anti-heart disease, stroke, diabetes, breast cancer vitamin

I have a medicine cabinet packed with different vitamins and supplements. But, of all of them, there is one that is by far the most important. Without it, your risk of metabolic syndrome and heart attack, stroke and diabetes goes up considerably, not to mention cancer…

Jenny Smiechowski

Forget fasting: These 14 foods turn back time

Your cells accumulate toxic, damaged material as you age. A cell cleaning process called autophagy removes this toxic junk, but it happens less frequently with age. The more junk your cells accumulate, the faster you age. In comes a compound found in certain foods that helps make cells new again…

Carolyn Gretton

Food poisoning: How it raises your colon cancer risk

There’s no denying how unpleasant food poisoning caused by salmonella can be. The good news is that the symptoms are usually gone after a few days. But for some, the infection can cause long-term gut problems of the worst kind…

Carolyn Gretton

The unsettling truth about sleep medication and your brain

After a long stretch of sleepless nights, it can be very tempting to reach for a prescription or over-the-counter sleep aid. But research keeps stacking up indicating that could be the worst move you could make for the health of your brain…

Virginia Tims-Lawson

How I finally got a steel trap memory in my 50s

Like a lot of people in their 50s, I’ve had my fair share of “senior moments.” But I couldn’t help but wonder if I was experiencing something more concerning. Here’s how you can tell the difference and experience those senior moments less and less…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Supplement combo relieved long COVID fatigue in just days

One of the symptoms of long COVID is crushing fatigue, the kind that, even though the virus has cleared the body, makes it feel almost impossible to get back to normal activities. But two nutrients were found to turn that around in a short period of time…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Take your coffee with milk to double down on inflammation

When inflammation becomes an unwanted guest, chronic conditions, including autoimmune disorders, could join the party. Luckily, sending inflammation packing may be as easy as taking your coffee with milk to double down on one powerful ingredient…

Joyce Hollman

6 ways to lessen your risk for gallstones

Gallstones are tiny, hard “pebbles” made of cholesterol. They’re usually very small but can grow to several centimeters, causing pain and sometimes, medical emergencies. Here are some tips to make it less likely you’ll get them…

Joyce Hollman

Why sarcopenia is dangerous: Diabetes, heart disease and dementia

If you’re over 40, you’re fighting an uphill battle to keep sarcopenia from stealing your muscle mass. But what most people don’t realize is the gradual deterioration of muscle increases the risk of diabetes, heart attack and dementia…

Joyce Hollman

Watch this toilet plume and you’ll never flush with the lid up again

A toilet plume brings to mind a world of nasty carrying all sorts of germs. But are we getting paranoid about these kinds of things? A video made by engineers shows how far those germ-filled droplets can reach, and it’s shocking…

Carolyn Gretton

Unusual early signs of Parkinson’s disease

You may be familiar with tremors as a symptom of Parkinson’s. But in working to identify the earliest symptoms, researchers are finding that some signs appearing years before a diagnosis is made are, surprisingly, not neurological in nature.

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

6 changes that happen when you eat one ounce of walnuts

One of the easiest ways to grab big health and nutritional benefits is by adding nuts to your diet. But the cost of nuts, like everything else these days is going up. Good news: all it takes is one ounce to see these 6 improvements…

Joyce Hollman

Alzheimer’s: Another reason to eat eggs

In the years from 2000 to 2019, Alzheimer’s deaths increased by 145 percent. A missing piece of this puzzle may be a once-vilified source of an essential nutrient that plays a vital role in memory and brain support…

Carolyn Gretton

Vitamin D metabolism: Why it’s not a one-size-fits-all vitamin

Studies into vitamin D have produced mixed results. Take the VITAL trial that saw reductions in cancer deaths and autoimmune diseases with vitamin D up to 40% in some people, and minimal results in others. Now we know why: it’s not a one-size-fits-all vitamin.

Tracey G. Ingram, AuD

Reduce depression and anxiety with exercise

2020 has been a very unpredictable year, and levels of anxiety and depression have skyrocketed. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by it all. Even the thought of how to shake it seems like an insurmountable task. But what if all it took was just one thing… one step… one new habit to ditch what’s bringing your down and feel like your old self again? Not to mention the added benefits…

Joyce Hollman

Mom’s high vitamin D levels linked to children’s IQ

Vitamin D builds strong bones and teeth and prevents osteoporosis. It also helps control the overactive immune response. Now, research has shown that a lack of vitamin D in pregnant women could predict future cognitive deficits for their unborn children.

Carolyn Gretton

Your heartbeat and COVID: The infection that leads to AFib

Researchers continue to uncover the ways in which COVID-19 affects our bodies. One connection they discovered between COVID and your heartbeat could raise the risk of death from the illness considerably or leave you with a lifelong condition…

Tracey G. Ingram, AuD

3 ways chili peppers could help you live longer and healthier

Why do some people gravitate toward chili peppers and enjoy the burn while others can’t stand it? Perhaps they sense something that more and more research is revealing: that chili peppers may help you live longer. So, if you’re not traditionally a fan of spicy foods, it may be time to change your ways…

Carolyn Gretton

The medical procedure that increases testicular cancer risk

Men need to be watchful for any signs of testicular cancer, especially if they are at higher risk for the disease because of age, race, family history or medical condition. Recently, a study turned up another risk factor for testicular cancer — a medical procedure that can be difficult to avoid but could raise the risk almost 60 percent…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

If you’re living with IBD, here’s the blood clot risk you need to know about

When you live with inflammatory bowel disease, you have a lot to watch out for. There’s the chronic inflammation of your digestive tract, the weight loss and diarrhea and the increased risk of colon cancer. But IBD also triples the risk of a life-threatening blood clot. For 1 in 7 IBD patients, it could be even higher…

Tracey G. Ingram, AuD

How toxins in your home could give your family diabetes

The Endocrine Society has spent over 14 years researching our exposure to environmental toxins that are present in the air, water, soil and our homes. They interfere, imitate or alter pathways of hormones in the body that lead to disease. And now there’s proof that our exposure can lead to diabetes that we can pass onto our children.

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

What, not when, you eat still matters most for healthy weight loss

You’ve probably heard that if you want to lose weight, you should eat your biggest meals early in the day. The theory is you drop weight faster by taking in most of the calories you plan to eat in a day several hours before bedtime (when your metabolism naturally slows). The idea of not worrying over what to eat so much as when seemed easy enough. But, we’re learning it may have sounded too good to be true…

Dr. Elizabeth Klodas MD, FACC

4 powerful ways to naturally control blood pressure

While it’s normal and healthy for blood pressure to fluctuate throughout the day, when your blood pressure stays elevated, it can lead to many health problems. Many people require medications to control their blood pressure. However, there are several things you can do that will help to make it easier to manage your readings…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

How your immune system and inflammation can lead to heart attack

It’s been long understood that when you have a heart attack, it’s because somehow blood flow to your heart has become cut off, either due to a blockage or a narrowing of your coronary arteries. Blood clots can detach and float off to block those arteries. But finding immune cells are the mechanism behind those clots came as a surprise to researchers recently…

Joyce Hollman

New development in stroke treatment gave me my life back

More than a year ago now, I experienced a life-changing event that wreaked havoc with my balance, my ability to swallow liquids and my memory. I got hlep in that “golden hour,” and I know many do not. But a new treatment may make that possible for more stroke sufferers.

Virginia Tims-Lawson

Largest randomized double-blind study shows why vitamin D and omega-3s matter

The number of people in the U.S. over the age of 65 has grown by over a third in the past decade alone. And with the increase in life expectancy, that means we need to make changes now to stay healthier later. The largest randomized double-blind study on aging has some advice with that in mind: two supplements that may go further for you than your retirement account…

Carolyn Gretton

The reason meat leads to cancer? Your body builds antibodies against it

Experts have long believed diet can influence the development of cancer, but data showing exactly why has been scarce. However, a new study has found why meat leads to cancer. It comes down to a meat molecule we build antibodies against — defining a molecular connection between cancer and a diet of animal-based products…

Tracey G. Ingram, AuD

What anyone under 45 should know about stroke

Stroke can occur unexpectedly and at any age. In fact, stroke is on the rise among younger adults under the age of 45, and it turns out many don’t know the signs that could save a life or how to keep from becoming a victim of stroke in the first place. Time for Stroke 101…

Joyce Hollman

Why showering less is a good idea, even during a pandemic

Even in these strange pandemic times, there’s a real downside to washing your body every day. So, if sheltering in place has changed your hygiene habits, don’t worry. Experts are telling us that what we’re really doing in our daily shower is throwing our microbiome out of balance, and here’s why that is not a good thing…

Carolyn Gretton

The hormone missing from a low-fat diet that could treat Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease is like a thief stealing a person’s memories and personality. No treatment exists that can halt its progression, but researchers are coming closer to finding compounds that can unravel the complex mechanisms behind the onset of Alzheimer’s. The latest? A hormone that will make you want to ditch your low-fat diet.

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

How to time your exercise to lower your risk for cancer

Exercising is one of the best things you can do for your health. But what if I told you that timing your workouts could bring even bigger benefits — at least when it comes to cancer prevention? According to a brand-new study, just changing the time of day you work out could dramatically lower your risk of breast and prostate cancer.

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Why wild olives might provide the healthiest oil yet

We’ve all heard that olive oil is one of the healthiest choices we can make in our diet. After all, the oil is known for lowering bad cholesterol and fighting heart disease, inflammation and cancer. And now, thanks to a new study, things just got even better with a new olive oil option made from ancient trees.

Tracey G. Ingram, AuD

What your ear wax could reveal about your stress levels

Cortisol, which is made in the adrenal glands, is commonly known as the stress hormone. It’s crucial for helping your body deal with stressful situations. But too much cortisol for prolonged periods can lead to all sorts of health problems including high blood pressure, fatigue and type 2 diabetes. Here’s what to watch for, how to balance it and an interesting way to measure it.

Carolyn Gretton

A mushroom-derived compound that may treat depression like magic

Depression rates are spiking as the pandemic drags on, and although there are plenty of medications to treat it, they’re not always effective and can come with unpleasant side effects. To broaden the treatment options, researchers are taking a look at a mushroom with a less-than-savory reputation…

Carolyn Gretton

The cell in your body that may cause COVID-19 blood clotting

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, attacks the body in a number of ways. One of the most insidious is the way it causes blood clots in the arteries, veins and microscopic blood vessels. Researchers are now pointing to a process in the body that could be causing these clots to form…

Tracey G. Ingram, AuD

How to DASH your risk for high BP, cholesterol, heart disease and more

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors or symptoms occurring together which increases your risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. If you only have one of these conditions, it doesn’t mean you have metabolic syndrome — but if you have three or more of the following risk factors, then you could be on a fast track to serious trouble…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Root bacteria may be ginseng’s healing secret and answer to Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s is a perplexing disease, but we do know more about it than ever before. Where conventional medicine has fallen short, research into natural solutions is pushing the envelope in Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment, most recently with the discovery of compounds wrapped around the roots of the ginseng plant that may work against amyloid plaques and tau aggregates.

Joyce Hollman

Rheumatoid arthritis and cancer: a tangled web

Rheumatoid arthritis and cancer often go hand in hand, but they present conflicts in terms of treatment. RA drugs suppress the immune system, while cancer drugs work to make the immune response stronger. Some cancer drugs make RA worse, and some RA drugs may cause cancer. It’s a tangled web to maneuver to know what’s best for you.

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Avoid stroke and heart attack by avoiding these foods

Each year, heart disease and stroke kill more people in the U.S. than all cancers, lower respiratory diseases and cases of influenza and pneumonia combined. But you don’t have to become a statistic. Thanks to a new study, there’s now an easy cheat sheet so that you can know what foods to avoid to keep your heart healthy.

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

45 is the new 50 when it comes to colon cancer

If there’s one medical procedure that’s universally dreaded and put off for as long as possible, it would have to be the routine colonoscopy. But considering the statistics on colon cancer, it’s the one procedure we should all be clamoring to get. Well, you may get your turn sooner than you expected…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

How to save your muscles without moving

Whether you’ve been injured and stuck in a cast, imobilized due to surgery or stroke or maybe you just have a bad shoulder or knee, being immobile leads to muscle wastage that steals strength that’s hard to get back. But don’t let being sidelined prevent you from exercising the limbs you can move. New research shows the benefits can be transferred to the ones you’re not even moving!

Virginia Tims-Lawson

Why ‘normal’ blood pressure readings set you up for a false sense of security

Healthy blood pressure equals a healthy heart. Or so we’ve been told. But, according to recent research findings, relying on normal blood pressure as a sign that a heart attack or stroke is not in your future has painted a pretty picture that’s been revealed to be nothing but a facade — a false sense of security that could put you in deadly danger.

Carolyn Gretton

Why vitamin D keeps taking the spotlight in the pandemic

As the pandemic heats up, researchers strive to uncover all there is to know about COVID-19. A recent study has found a common vitamin deficiency among 80 percent of those infected in one hospital. And this connection isn’t the first. Growing evidence keeps placing vitamin D squarely in the pandemic spotlight…

Dr. Adria Schmedthorst

Eat takeout? You’re ingesting up to 10,000 plastic particles yearly

A new study has some sobering information for those of us who’ve made a regular habit of it eating takeout. Along with your favorite foods and a hefty side of convenience, those takeout containers carry a mega dose of plastic that’s finding its way into your meals. Here’s how, why you should be concerned and how to reduce the harm…

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