Daily Health Tips: Trusted Medical Information, Health Tips and Advices

Here's a relaxing, 30-minute practice that may bulk up your brain while boosting your mood and memory. We're talking about mindfulness meditation. The stress-reducing benefits of this ancient Zen practice are well documented, but how meditation works to improve well-being is little known. That said, a new study has revealed that meditation may enhance key structures in the brain responsible for learning, memory, and emotion control. Mind Your Gray Matter In the small study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were taken before and after an 8-week program that combined about 30 minutes a day of full-body progressive relaxation, yoga, and seated meditation. Compared to a control group, the mindfulness meditation participants experienced an increase in gray matter concentration in the hippocampus, the cerebellum, and other key brain regions responsible for cognitive function and emotion control. The researchers suggest meditation may be an effective tool to  reverse  certain...

Dropping a few pounds is just a matter of eating less and exercising more, right? Wrong. You'll shed more weight if you add these two steps to the formula: Chill out and turn in early. That's right. A recent study found that curbing stress and getting plenty of sleep can boost weight-loss success. Relax, Sleep, and Lose Researchers put 432 obese adults on a standard eat-less/exercise-more weight-loss plan for 6 months. Although most folks lost weight, those with lower stress levels at the start of the study lost a lot more than their anxious counterparts did. Sleep also impacted the amount of weight lost. People who snoozed at least 6 – but not more than 8 -- hours a night were more likely to achieve the study's pre-established goal of at least 10 pounds, compared to those who got less or more shut-eye. Study participants with the most stress and sleep difficulties were 50 percent less likely than the mellow, well-rested dieters to reach the study's 10-pound goal....

While many of us set long-term goals in regards to our health and fitness, there are many things you can do right now to boost your health each day. To improve your wellbeing and start feeling better, check out these 10 healthy changes to make to your day. Plan to be healthy Like most things worth having, a healthy lifestyle sadly won’t fall into your lap without any effort. To make healthy lifestyle choices a regular part of your day it is important to make a plan and schedule them in, at least until they become second nature. Rather than making vague plans to “eat more healthily” or “do some exercise”, make a menu for the day ahead detailing exactly what you will eat, or schedule in a date for exercise, establishing an exact time, activity and location. Whatever your health intentions, set your purpose for the day ahead and factor in some time to make it happen. Ditch your alarm clock Few of us would class the alarm clock as our favourite household appliance. However,...

  Back pain is a nothing short of a modern day plague; around seven out of 10 of us can expect to suffer from it at some time. Back pain is a major cause of days off work, and is the second most common cause of long-term sickness in the UK, after stress. Much of the back pain is not caused by lifting heavy objects or shifting around chests of drawers, but is down to sitting at an office desk for lengthy periods of time. Many office workers don't even take a break from their desk: A UK wide survey by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists found one third choose to work through lunch breaks. Yet sitting is one of the worst things you can do to your lower back, and that's before slouching and bad posture are factored in. Just working in the same position without a break increases the risk of developing back (and neck) pain. To prevent developing back pain while sitting in front of a computer, try the following tips from the British Chiropractor Associa...

Chronic kidney disease cannot be prevented in most situations. You may be able to protect your kidneys from damage, or slow the progression of the disease by controlling your underlying conditions such as diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure. Kidney disease is usually advanced by the time symptoms appear. If you are at high risk of developing chronic kidney disease, see your health care practitioner as recommended for screening tests. If you have a chronic condition such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, follow the treatment recommendations of your health care practitioner. See your healthcare practitioner regularly for monitoring. Aggressive treatment of these diseases is essential. Avoid exposure to drugs especially NSAIDs (nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs), chemicals, and other toxic substances as much as possible.

Follow-up If you have chronic kidney disease, your health care practitioner will recommend a schedule of regular follow-up visits. At these visits, your underlying condition and your kidney status will be evaluated. You will have regular blood and urine tests and possibly imaging studies as part of this ongoing evaluation.

Kidney Transplantation offers the best outcomes and the best quality of life. Successful kidney transplants occur every day in the United States. Transplanted kidneys may come from living related donors, living unrelated donors, or people who have died of other causes (cadaveric donors). In people with type I diabetes, a combined kidney-pancreas transplant is often a better option. However, not everyone is a candidate for a kidney transplant. People need to undergo extensive testing to ensure their suitability for transplantation. Also, there is a shortage of organs for transplantation, requiring waiting times of months to years before getting a transplant. A person who needs a kidney transplant undergoes several tests to identify characteristics of his or her immune system. The recipient can accept only a kidney that comes from a donor who matches certain of his or her immunologic characteristics. The more similar the donor is in these characteristics, the greater the...

In end-stage kidney disease, kidney functions can be replaced only by dialysis or by kidney transplantation. The planning for dialysis and transplantation is usually started in Stage 4 of chronic kidney disease. Most patients are candidates for both hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (see below). There are few differences in outcomes between the two procedures. Your physician or an educator will discuss the appropriate options with you and help you make a decision that will match your personal and medical needs. It is best to choose your modality of dialysis after understanding both procedures and matching them to your lifestyle, daily activities, schedule, distance from the dialysis unit, support system, and personal preference. Your doctor will consider multiple factors when recommending the appropriate point to start dialysis, including your laboratory work and your actual or estimated glomerular filtration rate, nutritional status, fluid volume status, the presence...

There is no cure for chronic kidney disease. The four goals of therapy are to: slow the progression of disease; treat underlying causes and contributing factors; treat complications of disease; and replace lost kidney function. Strategies for slowing progression and treating conditions underlying chronic kidney disease include the following: Control of blood glucose: Maintaining good control of diabetes is critical. People with diabetes who do not control their blood glucose have a much higher risk of all complications of diabetes, including chronic kidney disease. Control of high blood pressure: This also slows progression of chronic kidney disease. It is recommended to keep your blood pressure below 130/80 mm Hg if you have kidney disease. It is often useful to monitor blood pressure at home. Blood pressure medications known as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) have special benefit in protecting the ki...

Chronic kidney disease is a disease that must be managed in close consultation with your health care practitioner. Self-treatment is not appropriate. There are, however, several important dietary rules you can follow to help slow the progression of your kidney disease and decrease the likelihood of complications. This is a complex process and must be individualized, generally with the help of your health care practitioner and a registered dietitian. The following are general dietary guidelines: Protein restriction: Decreasing protein intake may slow the progression of chronic kidney disease. A dietitian can help you determine the appropriate amount of protein for you. Salt restriction: Limit to 4-6 grams a day to avoid fluid retention and help control high blood pressure. Fluid intake: Excessive water intake does not help prevent kidney disease. In fact, your doctor may recommend restriction of water intake. Potassium restriction: This is necessary in ...