Everyday Health

Wash Your Hands Whether you are playing with, feeding, or cleaning up after your pet, it is important to wash your hands to help reduce the risk of getting sick from germs pets can carry. If you or a family member are concerned about illness, talk to a doctor and mention the animals you’ve had contact with recently. Always wash hands: After touching or playing with your pet After feeding your pet or handling pet food After handling pet habitats or equipment (cages, tanks, toys, food and water dishes, etc.) After cleaning up after pets After leaving areas where animals live (coops, barns, stalls, etc.), even if you did not touch an animal Before eating and drinking Before preparing food or drinks After removing soiled clothes or shoes Running water and soap are best for hand washing, but you can use hand sanitizer until running water and soap are available. Adults should always assist young children with hand washing. Keep Your Pet Healthy Whether y...

BY TAYLOR DAHL Healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes, but that doesn’t stop many of us from having a negative body image. According to Andrea Pennington, MD, at any given time almost half of American women are trying to lose weight, and about a quarter of all college-aged women have an eating disorder. Scary—but perhaps not entirely surprising, given today’s dangerously thin models, airbrushed magazine covers and everyone’s-doing-it plastic surgery attitudes. Body image issues can start even before some kids can tie their shoes, developing as early as first grade. According to psychologist Erik Fisher, PhD, about 42 percent of first, second and third grade girls want to be thinner; 81% of ten year olds are afraid of becoming fat, and 51% of nine- and ten year-old girls feel “better” if they are on a diet. Feeling Better about Ourselves A poor body image can lead to emotional distress, low self-esteem, unhealthy dieting habits, anxiety, depression an...

BY OLIVIA DELONG If you’re a salon regular who gets their locks dyed, blown out or treated every few weeks, you’ve probably already noticed texture changes in your hair. But styling isn’t the only thing that can change your hair. Hormonal changes and even underlying health conditions like hypothyroidism can alter the texture, color and volume of your hair, too. Find out the reasons why your hair might be changing as well as effective ways to protect your mane. Aging Melanin, or pigment, is what causes your hair and skin to be dark or light. It’s completely normal for the amount and type of melanin your body produces to fluctuate as you age. There are two types of melanin: eumelanin, which is found in greater amounts in people with brown or black hair; and pheomelanin, which is the main type in people with red or blonde hair. As you may already know, the blonde locks you had as a kid can turn light brown by the time you reach adulthood. And as you get older your body starts mak...

BY KIMBERLY GOAD You’ve probably heard that diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. How major? According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), adults with diabetes are almost twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as those without diabetes. Regular exercise and healthy eating go a long way toward making sure your ticker is in good shape. But your doctor may also recommend medication to help lower your risk. Here’s what you need to know about the medications most often prescribed to treat several common contributors to heart disease. Treating high blood pressure Blood pressure is the force of blood flow inside your arteries (blood vessels). If your blood exerts too much force on those vessels, your heart has to work harder than it should, putting you at increased risk for heart attack, stroke, eye problems and kidney disease. As many as two out of three adults with diabetes have high blood pressure, also called hypertension. If you have d...

BY  DR. MEHMET OZ, MD  AND  DR. MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD In  To Have and Have Not , Marie (Lauren Bacall) asks Harry (Humphrey Bogart), “You know how to whistle don’t you? You just put your lips together and blow.” A career was launched and Bogart—and millions of other guys—were left speechless. That’s just how powerful taking a deep breath and then exhaling purposefully can be. When you breathe in your lungs fill with oxygen, nitrogen and water vapor, along with a smidgen of argon. Oxygen passes from your lungs into your blood and (via the heart) to all the tissues in your body. Sensors in your brain, the carotid artery and the aorta detect your blood’s carbon dioxide and oxygen levels and adjust your breathing rate as needed. Without thinking about it, you breathe 17,000-23,000 times a day! But if you become aware of your breathing—and practice deep breathing techniques—you can reduce your stress response, promote better sleep and boost your immune strength...

Is your lack of exercise becoming more of a routine as fall draws near? Take heart. Even a few workouts here and there will do you some good, sporadic as they may be. Of course, your best health bet is to get the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity on most days of the week. Short of that, though, getting the benefits of physical fitness (even if infrequent) a few times a month seems to significantly lower some health risks—like heart failure. Every Drop of Sweat Counts In a study involving over 20,000 middle-aged men, those who reported a lack of exercise—exercising only one to three times a month—were still 18 percent less likely to develop heart failure compared with men who rarely or never broke a sweat. But sweat was key; the study tracked only vigorous exercise—the kind that gets your body glistening and makes it hard to carry on a conversation. (Hint, hint: To receive the benefits of physical fitness, amp up your walk a few times a month.) Exercising hard at leas...

BY ROSE HAYES Ahh the end of a long day; time to relax, kick off your shoes and… clean the layers of caked-on makeup off your face.  What’s even in that stuff?  Could it be secretly hurting your health? We asked Gina Kirk, an expert esthetician specializing in dermatology at LewisGale Medical Center in Salem, Virginia, to discuss common cosmetic ingredients, and to weigh in on whether they could pose any long-term health risks. Parabens “Parabens are chemicals that help preserve cosmetics,” says Kirk. “They’re meant to keep you safe by preventing the growth of harmful bacteria and mold.” Parabens are highly common, she continues. They can be found in makeups, moisturizers, shaving products and sunscreens, to name a few. They get absorbed through your skin, and they’re used so often studies estimate around 99 percent of people in the US have parabens in their system. “The important thing is to use these products as directed and, as with all cosm...

BY MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD, AND MEHMET OZ, MD A bit of baby talk and mimicking a child’s sounds during the earliest months of life makes an infant feel connected and understood and stimulates an infant’s brain. One study found two-year-olds who heard the most baby talk knew an average of 433 words, while toddlers with quieter families knew only around 169. And earlier studies reveal how often a parent talks a child and what kind of words are used (meaning not always No, No, No) has an enormous impact on emotional and intellectual development. Now, research reveals that at around 10-20 months of age, kids need Mom to talk to them as if they were fully verbal and let them know she gets what they’re feeling and thinking. Then, at five years old, the child will have developed the ability to understand others’ thoughts and to emphasize. Clearly, experiencing this mind meld (researchers call it mind-mindedness, but we like the Vulcan phrase better) helps your child gro...

Stay aware of the latest information on the COVID-19 outbreak, available on the WHO website and through your national and local public health authority. COVID-19 is still affecting mostly people in China with some outbreaks in other countries. Most people who become infected experience mild illness and recover, but it can be more severe for others. Take care of your health and protect others by doing the following: Wash your hands frequently Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Why?  Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands. Maintain social distancing Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. Why?  When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the drop...

Your home should make you more healthy, not less. Put your pollution radar to the test and answer these four questions. Ahhhh , home at last. Time to unwind, kick off your shoes and take a deep breath of . . . pollution? Yep. Indoor air—in homes and offices—can be more polluted than outdoor air. And the average home contains hundreds of sources of worrisome pollutants, from cleaning supplies to carpets. So how concerned should you be? Research suggests that you'd have to breathe in unusually high levels of household pollutants for a long time to suffer serious health effects. But if you're sensitive to chemicals and allergens, even low levels can trigger irritating reactions. But your home should make you  more  healthy, not less. Put your pollution radar to the test, and answer these four questions: 1. Pungent formaldehyde can be found in which of these products? (More than one answer may be correct.) a. Cosmetics and nail polish b. Glues and adhesives...