Thursday, January 31, 2013

Kids Are Fussy Eaters

Kids can be fussy eaters. But one thing we are doing to try and get them to eat better might actually be doing just the opposite.

Kids are naturally fussy eaters, especially once they turn around 1 year old. The natural tendency of many parents is to try to get them to eat better by bribing them. But when those bribes include desserts or other sweet foods, you could be turning those same fussy eaters into junk food addicts. And with the current obesity epidemic in children getting them away from junk food is as important as ever.

Unfortunately, a new study is showing that around 60% of children are hooked on chocolates and sweets. And many experts believe this is because of those sweet food bribes used when they were younger to try and get them to eat better.

But the not-so-secret secret is that even though you may worry about your child not eating, they will in fact get what they need even without the bribe. Around this age picky eating is very common mostly because this is when children start expressing themselves and their preferences. Your best bet is to simply allow a certain time for eating. If they are still playing with their food after this time, take it away and end the mealtime. They will soon realize they need to eat what is served. And it's best to do this without the bribe we are often tempted to offer.

Coughing

No matter where you go, it seems like everyone is coughing these day.

This cough, even though it seems like it will last forever, will eventually go away and it will usually go away on its own.

Whether you call it bronchitis or just a cough that goes on and one, it turns out that after we get sick with the usual wintertime upper respiratory infection, even though the infection goes away the cough can last much longer. But just because it lasts a long time doesn't mean that it needs antibiotics. As a matter of fact, a new study found that even though most of us expect the cough we get after an illness to last only 8 days or so, it can last an average of 18 days.

And since most of these infections that start this cough off are viral ones, antibiotics won't work against them either. So, your best bet for these types of coughs, lasting a few weeks after you've gotten sick, are the usual over-the-counter cough medicines or prescription strength ones. That and time should help get rid of that persistent cough we all seem to have this time of the year.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Skin Cancer App

You probably use your smart phones for all sorts of things. But diagnosing cancer probably shouldn't be one of them.

Emailing, texting, taking pictures... and, oh yeah... even to make a phone call. Those are just some of the things our smart phones can do. But trying to get them to diagnose skin cancer might end up getting you in trouble... health wise.

There are tons of health related apps you can download to your smart phone. Anything from apps that can track calories and exercise to help you lose weight to one that can help avoid adverse side effects from medicine. But one app that is supposed to help you diagnose skin cancer isn't always getting it correct and that could put your health in danger.

Researchers looked at four different smart phone apps that help you decide whether a skin lesion is concerning. You basically upload a picture of the mole or skin lesion and the app lets you know whether it things it is concerning or not. Three of the four apps incorrectly diagnosed the lesion more than 1/3 of the time, calling them "not concerning" when, in fact, they were ones that could have been melanomas. The only app that got it right most of the time was one where a dermatologist actually looked at the picture.

So, although these apps can be convenient and helpful in most cases, when it comes to skin cancer make sure the mole you're worried about is one that gets looked at by a medical expert.

Sleep Issues & Your Relationships

Do you feel under appreciated by your spouse? Maybe they just aren't getting enough sleep.

It turns out that sleep problems can lead to relationship problems and fixing one might help fix the other too.

Not getting enough sleep can affect us in all sorts of ways. Everything from being tired the next day, to long-term issues like high blood pressure and heart disease problems can be blamed on restless nights. But now it looks like if one part of a couple doesn't get enough sleep, then the who couple can suffer.

Researchers looked at couples aged 18-59 to see how sleep patterns affected how well they interacted. For these couples poor sleep meant not showing much appreciation for things their partner did the next day... leading them to feel under appreciated. the scientists involved in this study say it looks like poor sleep might make it harder the next day for people to count their blessings and value their partner and what they do. Especially when it comes to thanking them for the little things they might do for you.

So, if one or both of you don't seem to be getting the 7-9 hours of recommended sleep at night, try and pay extra attention to your significant other the next day. And remember to say thanks if they do something nice... we all appreciate that!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Cut Risk Of Stroke By Walking

Want a great way to cut down on your risk of having a stroke?

Walking, even a little bit, could be your key to avoiding a stroke even later in life... at least for women.

We've known for quite a while that exercise can reduce your chances of having diabetes, a heart attack or a stroke. But it was tough to pinpoint just how much was enough. And with everyone's busy days, it's been pretty easy to come up with reasons we couldn't spend hours at a gym.

But this new study is showing that, at least for women, you don't need hours on end, or even a gym, to cut your risk of having a stroke. Researchers looked at over 30,000 men and women who were 29-69 years old back in the 1990s. Then they looked at them in 2006 to see how many had had a stroke. It turns out that women who walked just a little more than 3 hours a week were less likely to have had a stroke over that time period.

And since over 800,000 of us have strokes each year, just getting out a little each day and simply walking for about a half an hour can get those numbers down. Getting out over your lunch break, or right after work could be a great way to get a quick daily walk in.

For some reason men didn't get the same benefit from walking, but even they can get enormous health gains from walking and other exercise routines... as long as they are consistent throughout the year.

New Question Doctors Ask

Get ready for your doctor to start asking you a new question during your next visit.

Health history, check... medicines you take, check... family history, check. Well how about exercise history?

That's probably going to be the new question your doctor asks during your normal exam and visit, and for a very good reason. It turns out that many of us either don't exercise enough or at all, so doctors are starting to emphasize it more and more as a great way to get and stay healthy.

Kaiser Permanente started a program where their doctors started to ask all their patients about how much they exercised. Other doctors and groups are doing the same thing. And since a recent survey found a third of us don't exercise at all, it's a big push to get more of that into our routine.

And for a very good reason. Often times exercise is the first and best thing we can do for our health. Instead of medications, a doctor might find out you have high blood pressure and prescribe daily exercise to see if that works first. And for many of us it will.

So, in addition to getting asked the usual questions about your health, don't be surprised when you get asked about your exercise routine. And when the only prescription you get is to exercise more. A simple step that can go far in improving your health.