Staying Healthy Archive

Like legions of earlier volunteers, you could contribute to the quest to improve care for people with heart disease.

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Imagine getting a letter from a physician based at a nearby academic medical center, telling you about research under way at the institution. It says you might be eligible to participate in a clinical trial designed to test a new blood pressure drug. Or maybe it's a study on the exercise habits of people ages 65 and older.

You're curious, so you check the box indicating that you're interested in learning more and mail it back.

Bariatric surgery can dramatically improve type 2 diabetes and other risks for heart disease.

The latest statistics on obesity suggest that this disease remains a huge problem in the United States: nearly one in three American adults meet the criteria for obesity. What's more, about one in 10 women and one in 20 men are considered extremely obese (see "Obesity in the extreme").

People with extreme obesity face a high risk of cardiovascular disease and myriad other health problems, as well as a shortened life span. Most have struggled with excess weight since childhood or early adulthood, and many have undergone multiple, frustrating attempts to shed pounds. For some, weight-loss surgery (also known as bariatric surgery) may be the best—perhaps only—option for lasting weight loss.

People who are more physically fit in their mid-to-late 40s may be less likely to have a stroke after age 65 than those who are less fit.

People who eat at least four servings of whole-grain foods per day appear to have a 23% lower risk of dying of cardiovascular disease compared with people who eat little or no whole grains.

Body fat percentage provides valuable information about your overall risk for diseases like heart disease and diabetes, but determining your body mass index and measuring your waist size offer easy the best tools for estimating total body fat. 

Men should always seek out a second medical opinion anytime they are given a diagnosis of serious illness or a recommendation for surgery. Also, when seeking a second opinion, it is best to visit a different medical center to get a truly independent diagnosis, and to bring along a family member or friend to accurately record the new information.

Trainers offer extra motivation to meet your fitness goals.

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You always want a good return on your investment, especially when you reach retirement age. That goes for your fitness, too. One of the best moves for a lucrative long-term payoff is to invest in a personal trainer.

"The exercises that worked when you were younger probably are not what you need now and going forward," says Vijay A. Daryanani, a certified personal trainer with Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Outpatient Center. "A personal trainer can identify your needs and formulate the proper routine as well as keep you motivated and focused, all of which can help keep you active."

More prescription medications now come in generic versions. But do you ever choose savings over quality?

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Medication can be an unpredictable and costly expense. Whether it is short-term treatment or multiple drugs you take indefinitely, prescriptions can have a serious impact on your wallet.

Nowadays there are many generic versions of brand-name drugs that are often significantly less expensive. There are generic drugs to treat most common ailments, such as pain, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, and depression.

Opioid painkillers are commonly prescribed for chronic low back pain. However, a new study suggests that the drugs offer only modest, short-term relief, and should probably be used in conjunction with nondrug therapies or different drugs. 

Research has found that people with high levels of the oral bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis had a 59% greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer. It is too early to say whether this specific bacterium directly contributes to the disease. However, one theory is that since inflammation is related to cancer, the bacteria could cause inflammation in the pancreas. Another possibility is the bacteria are simply a marker for cancer-causing inflammation.