Daily Health News Blog

Make it on the big day or prepare it days or weeks before A holiday special: Sweet potato casserole This tried and true recipe will be a hit at your holiday dinner. Although the sweet potato relatively low calorie, this recipe includes a lot of sugar, although some substitutions can be made (see below). On the plus side, the sweet potato is loaded with vitamin A, three times your daily value, plus generous amounts of vitamins C and B6. Sweet potato casserole 1 40-ounce can sweet potatoes or 2 1/2 pounds cooked fresh sweet potatoes 1/4 cup milk 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled 3/4 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup flour 1/3 cup butter or margarine, chilled 1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped With a potato masher or food processor, puree sweet potatoes. Add milk, melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. In another bowl, (for the topping) stir together the brown sugar and flour. Slice chil

How officers (and you) can spot a texting driver Texting while driving is illegal in 39 states and the District of Columbia. In most of those states, it's a primary enforcement violation, meaning the officer can stop a motorist solely for texting while driving, says the Governors Highway Safety Association. The laws are having an unintended consequence. Instead of holding the phone up by their face, violators are putting it down in their laps. They think officers, cops and troopers won't be able to see it, says the National Troopers Coalitions, which has 45,000 members. The troopers say these texters are more dangerous because their eyes are off the road for a longer time, but they are just as easy to spot. Generally, they act like drunk drivers, going too fast or too slow for the traffic, weaving or not paying attention when the light turns red or green. Sometimes their heads are down and only one hand is on the wheel. Officers advise motorists to give pl

Early treatment of pre-diabetes can prevent or delay type 2. About 79 million Americans are at high risk for diabetes, because their blood sugar levels are higher than normal. They have pre-diabetes. Now, there's help. A study by Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas shows that intensive early treatment, first with insulin, then with a diabetes drug, preserves the body's insulin-producing capacity, according to Diabetes Care. Previously, the first steps in treatment were to emphasize diet and weight management, then to couple lifestyle changes with the diabetes drug metformin. Another new study published in The Lancet shows that treating pre-diabetes early and aggressively with intensive lifestyle changes and medication could be an effective way to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Study subjects were divided into intensive lifestyle intervention, pre-diabetes medicine (metformin) and placebo groups. The analysis tracked the patients who did

Stress is often a natural reaction to situations that life throws at us when we're not expecting it. However, just because the situation is stressful does not mean we have to actually get stressed. We know that stress can cause physical as well as psychological problems and can sometimes escalate to severe anxiety attacks if the challenges are not dealt with in a calm way, so having tools already in place alleviates the need to go into full blown stress when challenging situations occur. The medical profession often recommends medication for people with severe stress to help alleviate the symptoms they're experiencing. However, there are other ways to handle stressful situations, and medications don't work for everyone. And, there are many people who don't want the side effects medications can cause. So what can you do? Everything is a state of mind so it's necessary to decide in advance how you might be able to handle any kind of stressful situation

Dieting with whole grains reduces abdominal fat When you calculate the calories in your weight reduction diet, be sure to include the value of whole grains. An important clinical study of people age 20 to 65 shows that dieters who included plenty of whole grains not only lost more belly fat, they reduced an inflammation marker linked to diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Over the 12-week study, all dieters got the same weight-loss advice, but half of them ate whole grains instead of refined grains. The two groups lost the same amount of weight, but the whole-grain group lost significantly more fat from the abdominal region than those who ate white bread and other refined grains. The whole grain group also experienced a 38 percent decrease in C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker linked to the risk of heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes. The reduction was similar to that seen with the use of statin drugs. Senior researche

(ARA) - Finding the Medicare coverage that best fits their needs and their pocketbooks is challenging for many seniors. Health care plans make changes to their coverage. People's health conditions change. Not keeping on top of these changes can mean problems.  Suddenly seniors may find they don't have needed coverage, their doctor no longer takes their plan, or they face steep medical or prescription drug costs. That's why it's essential to review Medicare coverage and individual needs each year, and to use the Medicare annual open enrollment period to make changes to coverage. Medicare annual open enrollment runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, with new benefit choices effective the following Jan. 1. “Getting started early is key,” says Mary Dale Walters, senior vice president of the Allsup Medicare Advisor, a Medicare plan selection service. “Choosing Medicare coverage is complicated, even when you have lots of information on the Web. It can be difficult to get c

Achieving your ideal weight can be challenging, but there are many tools that can help you reach your goal. ESSENTIAL OILS CAN SUPPORT WEIGHT LOSS AND WEIGHT MAINTENANCE As a result of his research Dr. Alan Hirsch says that we feel full because of a special mechanism in our brain. Specifically, this satiety response is regulated by what is technically known as the ventro-medial nucleus of the hypothalamus, a portion of the brain that regulates many basic drives including emotions and libido. One reason we stop eating is that this center signals a fullness or a sense of being satisfied. The nose (and inhalation process) is directly connected to the hypothalamus. An odor molecule in the air makes its way to the top of the nasal cavity which is the location of a small area known as the olfactory bulb with millions of scent receptors. The odor molecule then moves through the mucous membrane and binds to receptor sites on the olfactory nerve. These receptors may be very spec