Monday, January 12

SELF-CARE

A Dentist Explains Why And How Best To Protect Your Teeth
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A Dentist Explains Why And How Best To Protect Your Teeth

Healthy teeth are wondrous and priceless – a dentist explains why and how best to protect them. At an auction in England in 2011, one of John Lennon’s teeth sold for just over US$31,000. How much are your teeth worth? Teeth are amazing little miracles. They light up our smiles, we use them to speak and we chew with them more than 600 times at every meal. Yet, in a society where 1 out of 5 Americans ages 75 and up live without their teeth, many people may not realize that teeth are designed to stay with us for a lifetime. I’m a dentist and an assistant professor spanning clinical dentistry and craniofacial regeneration research. Researchers like me are still deepening our understanding of tooth development, with the ultimate goal of serving patients with on-demand regrown ones. In...
A Boom In Potent Forms Of Cannabis That Present New Hazards For Adolescents
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A Boom In Potent Forms Of Cannabis That Present New Hazards For Adolescents

Cannabis legalization has led to a boom in potent forms of the drug that present new hazards for adolescents. Eventually, most adults reach a point where we realize we are out of touch with those much younger than us. Perhaps it is a pop culture reference that sparks the realization. For me, this moment happened when I was in my late 20s and working with adolescents in school settings to help them quit smoking. When other drugs would occasionally come up, I didn’t understand some of the slang terms they used for these drugs. Many people may have that feeling now when the topic of cannabis comes up – especially in its different and newer forms. As a professor of psychology, I focus my research on substance use in adolescents and young adults. A major change during my time in research...
An Aging Population And Deadly Heat Waves
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An Aging Population And Deadly Heat Waves

Heat waves can be deadly for older adults: An aging global population and rising temperatures mean millions are at risk. A deadly heat wave gripped large regions of Asia for weeks in April and May 2024. As temperatures climbed past 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) in India on May 7, campaigning politicians, local news announcers and voters waiting in long lines passed out from the oppressive heat. From as far north as Japan to as far south as the Philippines, the relentless heat wreaked havoc on everyday life. Students and teachers in Cambodia were sent home from school, as their hand-held fans provided little protection against the stifling heat and humidity in their poorly ventilated classrooms. Farmers in Thailand saw their crops wither and mourned the loss of livestock that ...
St. Patrick’s Day Is Near: Time To Toast … Your Liver
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St. Patrick’s Day Is Near: Time To Toast … Your Liver

St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, we have something to cheer over – our livers. If St. Patrick is celebrated for his unselfish commitment converting Ireland to Christianity, we should also celebrate the magnanimous dedication of our liver not only to process alcohol, but keep our whole body fed and alive. I am a biochemist, and every time I teach liver metabolism, I am in awe of all its accomplishments. Here are four reasons to be grateful to your liver. It metabolizes alcohol and other bad molecules The alcohol we consume can’t be directly excreted - it has to be transformed to be eliminated. Degrading alcohol is a multi-step process that happens in the liver, where cells metabolize it using a series of enzymes working in a tidy cascade of reactions. These enzymes will turn alco...
Everyone Needs A Spa Every Once In A While
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Everyone Needs A Spa Every Once In A While

Everyone needs a little break from their busy life, don't they? And what else will be a great idea to pamper yourself by giving a spa treat for your body. Every salon provides the variety of spa-treatments according to your requirement. Most people visit spa centers just to de-stress themselves and rest. These centers provide various treatments to cure back-pain, joint-pain, insomnia, muscle-strains, headaches, etc. Go through your requirements and communicate same to your therapist, as you're paying them a good amount it's your right to avail all the services for enriching your experience. Talk to your therapist and seek all the advice and choose the right treatment as per your need. TYPES OF TREATMENT OFFERED IN SPA CENTERS- 1) Aromatherapy- In this therapy the magic is done with esse...
Emerging Across The US — Nitazenes, A Powerful Class Of Street Drugs
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Emerging Across The US — Nitazenes, A Powerful Class Of Street Drugs

Nitazenes are a powerful class of street drugs emerging across the US. Two deaths in Boulder County, Colorado, in 2023 are the latest in the U.S. to be blamed on the powerful class of synthetic opioids called nitazenes. Most health systems cannot detect nitazenes, so the exact number of overdoses is unknown, but they’re implicated in more than 200 deaths in Europe and North America since 2019, including . One of the two Boulder County deaths is linked to a new formulation called N-Desethyl etonitazene, which was identified by a national laboratory, and is thought to be the first related death. The Conversation interviewed Dr. Christopher Holstege, professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and director of the Blue Ridge Poison Center, wh...
Stop Scrolling In The Bathroom
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Stop Scrolling In The Bathroom

The dirty truth about your phone – and why you need to stop scrolling in the bathroom. We carry them everywhere, take them to bed, to the bathroom and for many people they’re the first thing they see in the morning – more than 90% of the world owns or uses a mobile phone and many of us couldn’t manage without one. But while health concerns about phones use usually focus on the distraction they can cause while driving, the possible effects of radiofrequency exposure, or just how addictive they can be. The microbial infection risk of your phone is much less appreciated – but it’s very real. A 2019 survey found that most people in the UK use their phones on the toilet. So it’s not surprising to discover studies have found our mobile phones to be dirtier that toilet seats. We give our phones t...
Adolescent Girls Have Been Pushed Toward Diet Pills That May Do More Harm Than Good
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Adolescent Girls Have Been Pushed Toward Diet Pills That May Do More Harm Than Good

‘It’s not surprising’: Nearly 1 in 10 teenagers have turned to pills for weight loss, research shows. Nearly 1 in 10 adolescent girls have used non-prescription pills to lose weight, according to new research. The report, an analysis of English-language research, noted that teenage girls in North America were the most likely group to have used these so-called weight loss aids, and pointed out that these tendencies — and the mindset driving them — raise the risks for eating disorders and overall harm to physical and mental health. Diet pills and supplements were the most commonly used non-prescription weight loss aid, followed by laxatives and then diuretics. The report—  published in the American Medical Association’s JAMA Network Open — found that 6.1 percent of teens in the United States...
The Link Between Domestic Violence, Trauma And Social Isolation
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The Link Between Domestic Violence, Trauma And Social Isolation

Why do some men commit domestic violence? Trauma and social isolation may play a role. Support for survivors of domestic violence is important, but to end domestic violence once and for all, society needs to understand the people who perpetrate it and how to successfully intervene. Domestic violence is very common in the United States. Nearly half of women and men in the U.S. experience sexual or physical violence, stalking or psychological harm or coercion in a romantic relationship during their lifetime. Domestic violence is also experienced unevenly across the U.S population. Young people are most vulnerable, with nearly three-fourths of female victims reporting that their first experience of domestic violence occurred before age 25. People of color and LGBTQ+ people also experience con...
Exploring The Benefits Of Visiting A Museum For A Healthy Life
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Exploring The Benefits Of Visiting A Museum For A Healthy Life

Could visiting a museum be the secret to a healthy life? It’s Saturday morning. You are barely awake, with a cup of coffee in your hand, and your gaze wanders to the window. It’s raining. So you make up your mind. This afternoon, you will go to a museum. But what if, without realizing it, you just made a good decision for your health? That’s the hypothesis put forward by the Association des Médecins francophones du Canada in 2018, when it launched the museum prescriptions program in partnership with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The project, now completed, has enabled thousands of patients to get a doctor’s prescription to visit a museum, either on their own or accompanied. The aim of the prescription was to promote the recovery and well-being of patients with chronic illnesses (hypert...