I was recently asked to assist in locating publications, literature, and/or studies on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the rate of suicide in the United States. I was really quite surprised to learn that in fact, the suicide rate actually went down by 6% last year. What really struck me as interesting was that study after study, interview after …
Everyone has a fitness tracker or some other device that measures how active you are, how many hours of sleep you enjoy, etc. If you don’t have some sort of fitness tracking device, you are among the few people I know who don’t! I travel with a coworker who doesn’t use a fitness tracking device but whenever we walk, she …
If you have ever had to use a statin medication for cholesterol control, you may have experienced muscle pain and overall weakness. These are a few of the side effects some people experience when taking statins and I have family members who have just these symptoms! So, when I read that a study was conducted to determine if there was …
Everyone I know loves nuts, peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts, and macadamia seem to be the favorites! We all know the benefits of healthy fats and eating nuts, legumes, and vegetables but a recent study proves the “experts” might be right! In fact, the positive effects on a study group who ate walnuts (specifically walnuts) was sustained for more than 2 …
Hooray! Finally, some good news on coffee consumption! So many things today are labeled “bad for you” and coffee has historically been one of them! However, a recent study found that coffee consumption of 0.5 to 3 cups per day was associated with a 21% lower risk for stroke, a 17% lower risk for death from cardiovascular disease, and a …
Baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie, what’s not to love, the all-American way? I grew up at the old Tiger stadium, watching the greatest players like Willie Horton, Lance Parish and Alan Trammel, while munching on a delicious hot dog (too young for the beer)! So, imagine my dismay when a study was published saying that you could lose 36 …
Sleep. There really isn’t anything like it if you are a “long” sleeper. For those of us “short” sleepers, sleep is pretty much over-rated. During the pandemic, sleep took a back seat for most of us due to the additional anxiety of the unknown and lifestyle changes. In a recent Provider article, a geriatrician said it might be time to …
Everyone I talk to is complaining about the weight they have gained during the COVID-19 pandemic. True, if you have experienced some weight gain this past year and a half, you are definitely not alone! Most people who are willing to share, reflect back on their lack of physical activity and enjoying comfort food, while some are recovering from sports …
We all know that person, the one who sits down at the table for dinner, puts food on their plate and immediately reaches for the saltshaker. They don’t stop to taste the food first, they don’t ask if the food was salted during preparation, they simply proceed to sprinkle the pretty, sparkly substance on their food! It is hard to …
It seems like we hear a lot about new and innovative ways to detect early, asymptomatic dementias like Alzheimer’s disease but to date, none of them have been studied well enough to prove they are helpful. Everyone would love to see earlier detection of this horrible disease, as that would lead to earlier treatment, right? Plus, if you think about …
