The Goldilocks Version of the Immune System
As I think about fighting off all varieties of cold, flu and covid over the next few months, I marvel at the complexity of the immune system. Why can two people become ill from the same infection, one improves in 2 days and the other in 7? It’s complicated and nuanced. Fighting an infection is a dynamic…
The Cold Outdoors is Still the Great Outdoors
Winter weather has descended on the Washington area. Many of us may move our exercise routines indoors and manage to perform aerobic exercises within a small space. However, being outdoors has additional benefits because exposure to nature has been found to lower our stress level and is a powerful tool to manage mental illnesses. Dr….
Your Power to Prevent Alzheimer’s
If you want to know how the food you eat influences your long term brain health, this article1 published in Nature a few days ago is very encouraging. We know that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a disorder that is progressive, debilitating and painful to watch. It has been known for years that nutrition can help delay its onset…
Whooping cough is on the rise
Pertussis is having its moment. We hear plenty about measles cases surging due to vaccine hesitancy, but not so much about pertussis, or whooping cough as it’s commonly known. Most people associate whooping cough with children, easily recognizable from the characteristic noise that accompanies the infection. Lately it has become more common in adults, mostly…
Success in Starting a Healthy New Habit – Part 2
In the last post, we talked about SMART goals and setting yourself up for success in creating a new habit. This article follows up with actionable suggestions. The difference between a routine and a habit is that a habit is done without any thought. Consider brushing your teeth. In The Power of Habit, Duhigg points out that marketers encouraged adding…
Success in Starting a New Healthy Habit
New Year’s Day is only 4 weeks away – the day that virtuous resolutions are made, and unfortunately, broken by February. I’m not so much a fan of New Year’s Resolutions as I am of optimizing health – any time of the year. This is as good a time as any to talk about how to…
EATING PROTEIN TO AVOID MUSCLE LOSS – Sarcopenia Part 2
Last week, we talked about how we all lose muscle mass naturally over time. This series is meant to encourage you to work against that tendency as early as possible. We can minimize the loss if we try! Muscle tissue is in constant flux, being broken down and rebuilt constantly. When we have soreness after…
Growing Your Connections for Brain Health
I think it’s fair to say that we’d like our brains to be working as well as possible for as long as possible. So here’s an important point – brain health is dynamic. Although we lose some nerve connections as we age resulting in impaired processing, so too can we increase those connections by what we choose…
LIFESTYLE MATTERS!
We are born with genes derived from our parents. Although they remain with us through life, you are in charge of modifying them! You can lower your risk of many illnesses by your behavior. A major study reported last week in the Journal of the American Heart Association showed that our everyday behavior affects how much…
Tech Use – Could It Be An Addiction?
We’re used to hearing about addiction to drugs and other harmful substances. Does attachment to our phones and various tech devices also qualify as an addiction? By definition, an addiction is a loss of control of the amount of use, despite adverse consequences. With tech use, those consequences often involve interference with school or professional…