Friday, April 24

HEALTH

Essential Reads On The Uses, Effects And Potential Of Cannabis
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SELF-CARE

Essential Reads On The Uses, Effects And Potential Of Cannabis

As states have legalized marijuana for medicinal and recreational use, and federal law now allows sale of hemp-derived products, cannabis and its derivatives are getting more attention and study. The Conversation has compiled excerpts of articles from scholars who have been watching recent marijuana developments. 1. Studies may support CBD claims Soaring sales of products containing the marijuana extract CBD followed Congress legalizing CBD in 2018. CBD sellers and users swear by its ability to relieve pain and anxiety. Although science isn’t yet sure about that, there are reasons for encouragement, writes Hillary Marusak, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Wayne State University. “Neuroimaging studies in humans show that CBD can reduce activity in the amygdala and anterior ci...
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The Early Intervention For Psychosis: Not Just Popping Pills
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MENTAL HEALTH

The Early Intervention For Psychosis: Not Just Popping Pills

A controversy is brewing on the website Psychology Today and subsequently in The Australian newspaper. At the heart of the issue is US psychiatrist Dr Allen Frances’ comments on the Australian Federal Government’s planned mental health reforms in early psychosis. Dr Frances has linked these reforms with another issue that is being hotly debated in the psychiatric literature: whether to create a new diagnosis of “risk syndrome for psychosis” or “attenuated psychosis syndrome” in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). These two issues have become confused by Dr Frances and many other commentators. Hopefully this piece will allay some of this confusion. First, the proposed “risk syndrome” diagnosis. This diagnosis is based on work conducted in...
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Try These 6 Underprescribed Lifestyle Medicines For A Better, Longer Life But They Don’t Come As Pills
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SELF-CARE

Try These 6 Underprescribed Lifestyle Medicines For A Better, Longer Life But They Don’t Come As Pills

The majority of Americans are stressed, sleep-deprived and overweight and suffer from largely preventable lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. Being overweight or obese contributes to the 50% of adults who suffer high blood pressure, 10% with diabetes and additional 35% with pre-diabetes. And the costs are unaffordable and growing. About 90% of the nearly $4 trillion Americans spend annually for health care in the U.S. is for chronic diseases and mental health conditions. But there are new lifestyle “medicines” that are free that doctors could be prescribing for all their patients. Lifestyle medicine is the clinical application of healthy behaviors to prevent, treat and reverse disease. More than ever, research underscores that the “pills” today’s physici...
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Do You Really Want To Know? – This Calculator Will Guess How Many Healthy Years Of Life You Have Left
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Do You Really Want To Know? – This Calculator Will Guess How Many Healthy Years Of Life You Have Left

As the old saying goes, the only things certain in life are death and taxes. While death is inevitable, the quality of life you experience until death is often within an individual’s control. This is what our team at the Goldenson Center for Actuarial Research chose to focus on by developing a rigorous measure of quality of life. How many healthy years of life do you have ahead before you become unhealthy? Everyone understands the benefits of living a long healthy life, but this also has implications for industry and society. Medical costs, financial planning and health support services are directly related to the state of health of an individual or community. We call this measure of quality of life “healthy life expectancy” and its complement “unhealthy life expectancy.” We define ente...
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Whats Good: Sugar Detox? Cutting Carbs? A Doctor Explains Why You Should Keep Fruit On The Menu
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NUTRITION

Whats Good: Sugar Detox? Cutting Carbs? A Doctor Explains Why You Should Keep Fruit On The Menu

One of my patients – who had been struggling with obesity, uncontrolled diabetes and the cost of her medications – agreed in June 2019 to adopt a more whole-food plant-based diet. Excited by the challenge, she did a remarkable job. She increased her fresh fruit and vegetable intake, stopped eating candy, cookies and cakes and cut down on foods from animal sources. Over six months, she lost 19 pounds and her HbA1c – a measure of her average blood sugar – dropped from 11.5% to 7.6%. She was doing so well, I expected that her HbA1c would continue to drop and she would be one of our plant-based successes who had reversed diabetes. Her three-month follow-up visit in March 2020 was canceled because of COVID-19 lockdowns. When I eventually saw her again in May 2021, she’d regained some of the ...
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How To Give Up Soda In 3 Steps
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How To Give Up Soda In 3 Steps

Six states have imposed a soda tax to try to curb excess consumption, while more states are jumping on the nutritional governance bandwagon Americans love soda. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists sugar-sweetened beverages as the leading source of added sugars in Americans’ diets. Even sugar-free sodas are an unhealthy addition to diets because of artificial sweeteners like aspartame, cyclamate, saccharin, acesulfame-k or sucralose, pointed out healthline.com in May 2018. The CDC informs, “Frequently drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain/obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, non-alcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities, and gout, a type of arthritis.” Regarding sugar-free soda, healthline.com’s report expla...
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Daylight Saving Time Starts – 11 Things You Can Do To Adjust To Losing That Hour Of Sleep
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SLEEP

Daylight Saving Time Starts – 11 Things You Can Do To Adjust To Losing That Hour Of Sleep

As clocks march ahead and daylight saving time begins, there can be anxiety around losing an hour of sleep and how to adjust to this change. Usually an hour seems like an insignificant amount of time, but even this minimal loss can cause problems. There can be significant health repercussions of this forcible shift in the body clock. Springing forward is usually harder that falling backward. Why? The natural internal body clock rhythm in people tends to be slightly longer than 24 hours, which means that every day we tend to delay our sleep schedules. Thus, “springing forward” goes against the body’s natural rhythm. It is similar to a mild case of jet lag caused by traveling east – in which you lose time and have trouble falling asleep at an earlier hour that night. Even though it’s tec...
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How To Choose The Right Fitness Tracker
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SELF-CARE

How To Choose The Right Fitness Tracker

As more and more people are working towards leading healthier lives, the role of fitness trackers is increasing. With so many trackers available in the market today, it can be tough to know the styles that aptly suit your needs. Here, we discuss about the useful things to look for in a fitness tracker: Design and Display The smartwatches with big display provide easy navigation through various functions. A well-fit size and design helps you to focus on becoming healthier and stronger. You can easily track your fitness goals at the touch of a button. You should look for the bands that are not too clunky and are easy to use. Comfort Level As you are going to wear it for most of the time, the tracker should be comfortable to wear. The simplest devices can be worn all day without interacti...
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Can Cannabis Help You To Lose Weight?
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SELF-CARE

Can Cannabis Help You To Lose Weight?

Obesity is a growing problem in many parts of the world. Conditions like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes are closely related to being overweight or obese. With many people trying the latest diet trend and fad available, there has been quite a buzz around the use of cannabis and its role in weight loss. When most people think of marijuana, they automatically think about the munchies. For busy working professionals or for those who are unable to leave the home due to a physical condition, obtaining your medical marijuana card online makes a lot of sense. Cannabis use is legal in Oklahoma and many other states, and you can effortlessly obtain the card to purchase merchandise at dispensaries using a home computer or mobile device. It may leave you wondering how you could possibly lose...
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A Neurologist Explains – Why Daylight Saving Time Is Unhealthy
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SLEEP

A Neurologist Explains – Why Daylight Saving Time Is Unhealthy

As people in the U.S. prepare to turn their clocks ahead one hour in mid-March, I find myself bracing for the annual ritual of media stories about the disruptions to daily routines caused by switching from standard time to daylight saving time. About a third of Americans say they don’t look forward to these twice-yearly time changes. An overwhelming 63% to 16% majority would like to eliminate them completely. But the effects go beyond simple inconvenience. Researchers are discovering that “springing ahead” each March is connected with serious negative health effects. I’m a professor of neurology and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and the director of our sleep division. In a 2020 commentary for the journal JAMA Neurology, my co-authors and I r...
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