Bens Herbs Place

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Soaring Bee Deaths Decrease Pollination of America's Plants

New York Times

A mysterious malady that has been killing honeybees en masse for several years appears to have expanded drastically in the last year, commercial beekeepers say, wiping out 40 percent or even 50 percent of the hives needed to pollinate many of the nation’s fruits and vegetables.

A conclusive explanation so far has escaped scientists studying the ailment, colony collapse disorder, since it first surfaced around 2005. But beekeepers and some researchers say there is growing evidence that a powerful new class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, incorporated into the plants themselves, could be an important factor. Read the entire article.

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sleep Apnea - 7 Signs and Symptoms

From AARP

Sleeping is anything but restful for people with sleep apnea — in fact, it poses serious health risks for more than 18 million Americans. That’s the number of people whom doctors believe are living with sleep apnea, and many of them may be undiagnosed.

In addition to disrupting your sleep, undiagnosed sleep apnea has been linked to high blood pressure, stroke, memory problems and diabetes. Watch for these seven signs you may have sleep apnea.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Appetite Suppression & Weight Management

Recently, the World Health Organization warned that health risks accompanying obesity could surpass more traditional health concerns such as malnutrition and infectious disease. The struggle for weight loss and healthy weight management seems endless. But especially today, awareness of healthy weight management is on the rise.

Obesity or simply being overweight puts a person significantly higher health risks. Some of these include osteoarthritis, heart disease, and cancer. With these risks on the rise, we should all do what we can to keep our weight down and our bodies healthy.

At first glance a healthy weight management plan seems simple. Finding time for daily exercise and cutting back on unnecessary fatty foods is all it takes. But the fact is, it’s not as easy as it sounds. One of the most difficult parts of weight loss is appetite suppression.

We all deal with grumbling stomachs that seem to ignore our weight management plans. Often, the hunger pangs take over and veer us off of the path towards weight loss. But did you know our stomachs are trained by daily routines? Even though the process of appetite suppression may be difficult, there are some tricks for success.

For many people, simply raising awareness of calories consumed does the trick. Try keeping a food dairy for several days or even weeks and record you calorie, protein and fat intake. In addition, monitor how much exercise you’re getting. Keep in mind that you can only loose weight if you exert more energy than calories consumed.

You can even try an appetite suppressant supplement. Sometimes, the boost from these supplements is all a person needs to successfully control their appetite and reduce cravings. Finding a solution to overcoming hunger pangs could be the key to attaining your weight loss goals. Just remember that healthy weight management is the first step to a more healthful future.

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Factors that Lead to Cognitive Decline

Cognition is a group of mental processes that includes attention, memory, producing and understanding language, learning, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. Nervous system decline can lead to cognitive impairments, ranging from mild memory loss to dementia.

Recent studies have pointed to various factors that may contribute to the gradual decline of mental acuity as we age. The good news is that these factors are at least somewhat preventable when we apply knowledge, good nutrition and healthy habits.

Some of those factors that can lead to cognitive decline include:

1. Inflammation. Inflammation is a protective process that the body uses to fight off pathogens and to respond to injuries. However the inflammation process can become a chronic condition in which the inflammation process occurs regardless of infection or injury. Chronic inflammation is associated with many health issues from allergies to arthritis. New research also suggests that chronic inflammation can lead to cognitive decline, most likely due to the way inflammation disrupts the integrity of the blood-brain barrier.

2. High blood pressure. Your brain relies on a constant, nourishing blood supply. High blood pressure can narrow and block the arteries supplying blood to the brain, which can lead to cognitive problems. Evidence suggests that high blood pressure occurring as early as middle age can increase the risk of dementia later.

3. Insulin levels. Both high blood glucose levels and high insulin levels have been linked to cognitive dementia.

4. Obesity. Particularly in middle age, obesity is strongly correlated with later dementia. Research conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. found that individuals who were obese (as measured by the body mass index) in their 30s and 40s were 74 percent more likely than those of a healthy weight to develop dementia.

5. Arterial inelasticity can lead to vascular dementia, a term for cognitive impairments associated with impaired blood flow in the brain. Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia, behind Alzheimer’s.

6. Metabolic syndrome is a name given to a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and accelerated decline in brain health. The symptoms of metabolic syndrome are strongly correlated with obesity, including accumulation of fat concentrated around the waist, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar levels.

7. Anxiety and depression are linked with increased risk of cognitive impairments, possibly as a result of the high levels of cortisol released through chronic psychological distress.

You can develop strategies now to preserve brain function. The maxim, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is good advice.

Good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle are beneficial to brain health and should be part of a daily health routine. A healthy nervous system is also dependent on keeping blood pressure and body weight in check, avoiding diabetes and its precursor, metabolic syndrome, as well as treating depression and anxiety disorders.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Drinking in Pregnancy Affects Child's Growth

From MedicineNet.com

Children who had significant prenatal exposure to alcohol may have delayed weight gain during infancy and alcohol-related growth restriction from early infancy until 9 years of age, researchers report.

Weight, height and head circumference are indications of brain growth, the study authors pointed out. Persistent reductions in these measurements among children exposed to alcohol in the womb suggest the effects may be permanent and could affect their mental development, according to the study published online Aug. 15 and in the November print issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Read the entire article.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Gout Myths vs. Facts

From AARP

Gout isn't just for paunchy Pickwickians who overindulge in Stilton cheese and a tawny port. More than 8 million Americans have this painful and potentially disabling form of arthritis, and that number is rising.

Indeed, gout is now the most common type of inflammatory arthritis in men over age 40. The notion that gout is no longer prevalent is just one of the many misconceptions swirling around this age-old malady. Read on to replace several other myths with facts.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Meat On Drugs - 80% of Antibiotics Used on Animals

The declining effectiveness of antibiotics has become a major national public health crisis. according to the national Centers for Disease Control and prevention, 99,000 people died of hospital-acquired infections in 2002, the most recent year for which data are available.

According to the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the vast majority of those infections were caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Such “superbugs”—bacteria resistant to one or more antibiotics—are also showing up in food and causing illness and even death.

The major user of antibiotics in the United States today is not the medical profession, however, but the meat and poultry business. Some 80% of all antibiotics sold in the United States are used not on people but on animals, to make them grow faster or to prevent disease in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Read the Consumer Reports Special Bulletin.

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