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

Spend 20 easy minutes doing this and you could help guarantee a good mood for 12 hours: walk. That's what a recent study revealed. A short, moderately paced workout produced feel-good brain chemicals that lasted up to 12 hours afterward. Step Up to Happy In the study, college students either rested quietly for 20 minutes or cycled on a stationary bike for the same amount of time. And the cyclers weren't even really pushing it. They merely exercised at a mild to moderate pace (60 percent of maximum heart rate). Both groups reported lower levels of negative emotions -- like anger, depression, fatigue, and tension -- immediately after the experiment as well as 2 hours later. But only the cyclers continued to enjoy their happier mindset a full 12 hours after the workout session. Attitude Adjustment Yep, it all boils down to those mood-enhancing brain chemicals that exercise is so good at producing. Here's the catch, though: For an ongoing effect on your t

Stroke Deaths Declining, but Stroke Is Still Third Leading Cause of Death A healthy lifestyle -- which includes not smoking, eating a low-fat diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body weight -- may help prevent a first-time stroke. That's according to the American Heart Association, whose revised guidelines say such healthy behaviors reduce the risk for stroke by as much as 80%. In addition to a healthy lifestyle, authors of the guidelines say primary care visits and emergency room visits provide a major opportunity to intervene and reduce the risk of stroke. Emergency room physicians could identify people at risk, particularly patients with diabetes , asymptomatic high blood pressure , or atrial fibrillation, and make recommendations to help prevent a first-time stroke. "Stroke remains a major health care problem,"  "Its human and economic toll is staggering." The guidelines, last updated in 200

Sleep Requirements Vary From Person to Person   Did you need an alarm clock to wake up this morning? If you did, you probably didn't get enough sleep last night. A new paper published by the National Sleep Foundation suggests that although there is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to how much sleep adults need, there are ways to tell if you are not getting sufficient sleep, such as a reliance on an alarm clock. "We are all different,"  "You need enough sleep so you can awaken feeling refreshed without an alarm clock." Some people need more sleep than others. This need is based on genes, age, sex, and previous sleep amount, among other things. It also varies across the life cycle. Sleep Deprivation and Health Whether you need seven, eight, or even nine hours of sleep a night may be up for debate, but the importance of getting adequate sleep is not debatable. Sleep loss increases the risk of high blood pressure , inflammation, weight

Yesterday I was watching an health show so they were discussing on soft skin and what measure we should take to soft your skin What do your skin and that last slice of leftover turkey in the fridge have in common? They both might be a little dry right about now. So do them both a favor. Make yourself a little portobello mushroom gravy -- and eat it. Why? Because mushrooms provide a host of nutrients that give skin a radiant, youthful glow, writes Allison Tannis in Feed Your Skin, Starve Your Wrinkles . And we already know what gravy does for turkey leftovers. Skin-Loving Fungi Actually, just about any type of mushroom -- portobello, crimini, white button, shiitake, oyster -- will help buoy a youthful complexion, writes Tannis. All because of the following vitamins and minerals: Selenium -- Selenium shields newly formed skin cells from damage brought on by chemicals, inflammation, or too much time in the sun. Exactly what you want, because newbie skin cells are what mak

Walking 6 Miles a Week May Protect Against Dementia Walking a little over three-fourths of a mile a day may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.           Among people who already have mild cognitive impairment (MCI), walking a similar amount may slow the brain degeneration and memory loss associated with the condition, "In cognitively normal adults, walking 6 miles a week instead of being sedentary was associated with a 50% reduction in Alzheimer's risk over 13 years. "In people with MCI, walking just 5 miles a week reduced brain atrophy and cognitive decline -- by more than 50%. Any type of exercise that's equivalent to walking 5 or 6 miles a week will probably offer the same brain protection. As Brain Cells Die, Brain Volume Decreases Between 2.4 million and 5.1 million American have Alzheimer's disease, according to the National Institute on Aging. Alzheimer's is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys m

If your day doesn't start until you've brewed a fresh pot of coffee or tea, then your brain is one lucky mass of gray matter. A recent study revealed that folks who drink at least half a cup or more of either beverage each day may be far less likely to develop a glioma  an aggressive, hard-to-treat, and dangerous type of brain tumor. So put the pot on! Brain-Protective Brews In fact, regularly drinking either brew could cut the risk of a glioma by up to 34 percent. Researchers suspect that antioxidant compounds in the two drinks probably get the credit for the benefit. These compounds stimulate activity of a protein that can repair cancer-causing damage to brain-cell DNA. Pretty powerful stuff! Caffeine Counts But there may be more at work. Researchers also think that the caffeine in coffee and tea might have something to do with the brews' power to deflect cancer . In fact, petri dish research has shown that caffeine delays the growth of glioma tu

Consumer Group Says Dangerous Toys Can Still Be Found on Store Shelves Though progress has been made in recent years in making playthings for children safer, far too many toys remain on store shelves that pose serious risks to America's kids, a consumer watchdog group says in a new report. Some toys contain toxic chemicals and many are choking hazards, according to the report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG). "We've made a lot of progress, but dangerous toys can still be found among our children's playthings," says Liz Hitchcock, U.S. PIRG public health advocate and lead author of the organization's 25th annual Trouble in Toyland report. "U.S. PIRG's report and the resources we offer will help consumers identify and avoid the worst threats and keep their children safe this year." Toxic Substances in Toys The report says many toys contain lead or other toxic substances, pointing to six toys as examples as po

Proton-Pump Inhibitors Do Not Cause Birth Defects When Used in First Trimester The popular over-the-counter and prescription acid-blocking drugs proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) do not appear to increase risk of birth defects when taken during the first trimester of pregnancy, a study shows. In the study, 2.6% of more than 840,000 live births occurring in Denmark from January 1996 through September 2008 involved major birth defects. The study showed that 3.4% of 5,082 infants whose mothers took PPIs during the four weeks before conception through first trimester were diagnosed with a major birth defect. By contrast, 2.6% of 835,886 infants whose moms did not take these acid-reducing drugs during the same time period were diagnosed with a major birth defect. The study is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers did an analysis of the study data on PPI use limited to the time period during the first trimester of pregnancy. Statistically speaking,

Proton-Pump Inhibitors Do Not Cause Birth Defects When Used in First Trimester The popular over-the-counter and prescription acid-blocking drugs proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) do not appear to increase risk of birth defects when taken during the first trimester of pregnancy, a study shows. In the study, 2.6% of more than 840,000 live births occurring in Denmark from January 1996 through September 2008 involved major birth defects. The study showed that 3.4% of 5,082 infants whose mothers took PPIs during the four weeks before conception through first trimester were diagnosed with a major birth defect. By contrast, 2.6% of 835,886 infants whose moms did not take these acid-reducing drugs during the same time period were diagnosed with a major birth defect. The study is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers did an analysis of the study data on PPI use limited to the time period during the first trimester of pregnancy. Statistically speaking,

You'll be fitting into those skinny jeans in no time if you adopt this simple habit: pay with cash. Yep, when you hit the grocery store, just leave your credit card  and debit card  at home. A recent study revealed that paying with cash instead of plastic seriously quells the temptation to load up the shopping cart with belly-padding junk food. Pain Points The reason people buy less junk food with cash? More pain. Seems they feel it in their wallets a little more sharply when handing over Benjamins versus bank cards. In fact, shoppers who used cash to fill their grocery carts in a recent study purchased far less unhealthful, fattening foods than the credit- and debit-card users did.    More Slimming Strategies Now, check out this surprising figure: Only 14 percent of people use cash to grocery shop. And researchers suspect this could be one of the many factors behind the current obesity epidemic. Somehow, paying with plastic is less emotionally charged than th