Daily Health News Blog

Did you know that if you had chicken pox as a child, the infection can stage a painful reappearance later in life in the form of herpes zoster -- better known as shingles? Your risk of shingles increases with age: As you get older, the virus can reactivate and migrate along the path of a nerve to the surface of the skin. This can cause severe burning or shooting pain, tingling and itching that's typically concentrated on one side of your body, usually on your chest or back, but sometimes on your face. Within a day or two, a rash of blisters may form in a band or strip pattern on your skin and persist for up to 14 days.   The immune system link.  Shingles is thought to be caused by a weakened immune system owing to aging or illnesses such as chronic lung or kidney disease and cancer. People with autoimmune diseases are at increased risk as well: Several studies suggest that immune-suppressing drugs used to treat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel synd

Everyone knows that it's unhealthy to be overweight or, especially, obese. But what if you are physically fit? Could fitness cancel out the health risks? Some studies suggest this, including a recent one in  Circulation . The study looked at 14,345 middle-aged men; 47 percent were overweight, another 10 percent obese. Those who maintained their cardiorespiratory (aerobic) fitness levels during a six-year period were 30 percent less likely to die over the next decade, notably from heart disease, or stroke, than those who became less fit; those who became fitter, 40 percent less likely. This was true regardless of their weight status. Simply put, overweight or obese men who became fitter, on average, fared as well as or better than lean men who became less fit. So fitness may trump weight when it comes to life expectancy. Some previous research found this is less true for women, however, and it may not apply to very obese people, who were underrepresented in this study. Sti

There have been thousands of studies on garlic, but its health effects remain something of a mystery. Garlic is a key part of the Mediterranean diet and many cuisines around the world. And it has been used medicinally since ancient times. Some people still eat it, at least in part, because they think it is good for them. But does it lower cholesterol, as well as fight cancer, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, and the common cold, as it's touted to?   Allicin Wonderland Garlic contains interesting compounds that have been linked to many proposed health benefits. One is allicin, a sulfur compound formed in raw garlic after a clove is cut or crushed. Allicin is a major source of garlic's taste and smell. But not all scientists agree that allicin is the key ingredient, since it breaks down quickly into other compounds. And the enzyme that forms allicin can be destroyed if the whole clove is cooked before being cut (that's why cooked cloves tast