2012
What Exactly is a “Broken Back”?
The general description “broken back” can be applied to so many different types of spinal injury—ranging from the unnoticeable to the severe—that it doesn’t say much about what’s actually happened. Technically, a broken back describes a medical condition where the vertebrae have become dislocated or fractured at any place on
How to Improve Your Bone Health at Any Age
Childhood is the ideal time to build strong bones. However, there are always things you can do—even as an adult—to help keep your bones healthy. And it’s particularly important to do these things as you age. Our bones are in a constant state of being broken down and rebuilt. Until
High Blood Pressure Facts and Fiction
High blood pressure (hypertension) is widespread, affecting approximately 25% of the population. If the condition remains untreated, it can lead to more serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. However, there are many facts about high blood pressure in the popular press. So in the following
Why Having Good Posture Matters and What You Can Do About It
How many times did we hear from our parents when we were children, “sit up straight”? Our parents were not telling us to do this merely to keep us from looking like a boiled noodle. Good posture is important for a variety of health reasons as well. It helps us
Why We Shrink as We Get Older
If you’ve ever noticed that the car ahead of you in traffic seems to be driving itself, there’s a good chance that the person driving it is elderly. Shrinking in height as we age is quite normal, and some people start to get shorter starting at about the age of
What is “Brown Fat” and How is it Different from “White Fat”?
While many of us struggle to keep the amount of fat in our bodies to a minimum, there is one type of fat that we may want to encourage more of. Brown fat (also called brown adipose tissue) is our friend in that it has the ability to burn calories
The Latest Research on Restricted-Calorie Diets
The notion that a restricted-calorie diets can increase our lifespan has been around since an experiment that was done on rats in 1934. During this experiment, rats were fed a diet that contained an adequate allowance of all key nutrients but a sharply reduced number of calories. These rats lived
How Does Biofreeze Work?
If you have ever experienced a sprain, you know how inconvenient it can be to locate some ice and a bag to put it in so that you can apply it to your injury. After all, not everyone is “lucky” enough to get hurt at a home and have a
Sprains and Strains: What Are They and What’s the Difference?
Most people are understandably confused about what constitutes a sprain and what constitutes a strain. Both injuries cause pain and can interfere with your ability to move. The difference is really quite small: a strain involves injury to a muscle or tendon and a sprain involves injury to a ligament.
Want Your Kids to Eat Well? Teach Them to Cook!
While chatting with patients recently about their families’ meal schedules and eating habits, I noticed a disturbing pattern that’s worth writing about. It has to do with kids and the way we’re teaching them to approach food. Whether we call it “grab-and-go” or “fast food at home”, there are clear
