Your teeth are incredibly strong, and with the proper care and regular dental visits, you can keep them that way. The American Dental Association offers these “tooth truths”: Tooth enamel, which is 96 percent mineral, is the hardest substance in the body. Your teeth can exert an average of 200 pounds of pressure when you… read on >
Temporarily boosting the dose of inhaled steroids may not do much to reduce the frequency of severe asthma flare-ups in children, according to two new studies. Short-term increases in inhaled steroids might even be tied to slightly slowed growth in kids, one of the studies suggested. Asthma flare-ups in children are common and many doctors… read on >
What’s the truth about the herbal drug kratom? Is it a potentially dangerous opioid that needs to be tightly regulated, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has argued in recent months? Or is it a misunderstood natural product that provides people in pain an alternative to opioids, a point of view asserted by a… read on >
Could the calcium supplement you take to help your bones be harming your colon? That’s the suggestion from a new study that finds a link between the daily supplement and an increased risk for polyps in the colon. Polyps are not cancerous, but some can eventually turn into cancer if they’re not removed. Further research… read on >
A vegetarian diet is safe for a person with diabetes, the American Diabetes Foundation says. In fact, a vegetarian diet is naturally higher in fiber, and much lower in saturated fats and cholesterol than the typical American diet. These factors, particularly the higher fiber content, may help lower blood sugar levels, the foundation says. The… read on >
Parents and caregivers can pass cavity-causing bacteria to babies through saliva, by sharing foods and spoons. Or tooth decay can develop when an infant’s teeth and gums are exposed to any liquid or food other than water for long periods, including when a baby is repeatedly put to bed with a bottle of formula, milk… read on >
Despite some promising reports in recent years, it seems the U.S. childhood obesity problem is not turning a corner. That’s the finding of a study published online Feb. 26 in Pediatrics showing that hopes of a turnaround may have been premature. Over the past few years, studies have found that childhood obesity rates seemed to… read on >
Two eating plans — a vegetarian diet that includes eggs and dairy, and the Mediterranean diet — protect your heart equally, a new study shows. The research included 107 healthy but overweight people, aged 18 to 75, who ate either a low-calorie vegetarian diet that included dairy and eggs, or a low-calorie Mediterranean diet, for… read on >
Your children may already be looking forward to summer camp. But when it comes to kids with asthma or allergies, parents need to take extra steps in planning their outdoor experience. “Kids with allergies and asthma need an extra layer of preparation to ensure they stay healthy and enjoy their adventure,” said Dr. Bradley Chipps,… read on >
Antioxidants — it’s a hot nutrition buzzword, but do you know what they really are? Antioxidants are naturally occurring chemicals that block the activity of other chemicals called free radicals. Free radicals are formed naturally in the body and actually play an important role in many everyday processes, such as exercise and metabolism. But at… read on >
