Managing Your Health

While anxiety symptom vary widely, odds are good that at some point you've experienced occasional physical and emotional distress signals such as panicky breathing, your heart pounding in your chest, trouble sleeping, feelings of dread, or even loops of worry. That's normal. By itself, anxiety isn't a problem. It anchors the protective biological response to danger that boosts heartbeat and breathing, pumping oxygenated blood to your muscles as your body prepares to fight or flee. A dollop of healthy anxiety can persuade you to get work on time, push you to study hard for an exam, or discourage you from wandering dark streets alone. "Experiencing anxiety is normal," says Dr. Gene Beresin, executive director of the Clay Center for Healthy Young Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital. "A certain amount of anxiety can even be helpful. The problem is that sometimes the systems underlying our anxiety response get dysregulated, so that we overreact or react to ...

If you suffer from back pain, you've probably tried one or two ways to ease it. The range of options - from doing nothing at all to having surgery - is quite large. But the abundance of choices also represents a challenge. How do you know which therapy is right for you? Before you decide on a course of treatment, keep these four things in mind. 1. Identifying the type of back disorder you suffer from is the first - and most important - step in finding how best to treat it. Although options abound, not all are appropriate for your specific back problem. 2. Whether you're experiencing back pain for the first time or you've suffered a relapse, seek the advice of an experienced, certified, and well-recommended health specialist. That might be an internist, family practitioner, orthopedist, rheumatologist, neurologist, neurosurgeon, or psychiatrist. 3. Be an active participant in your care. Learn as much as you can about the risks and benefits of treatments you are consider...

Try stress reduction to improve your quality of life and potentially relieve allergy symptoms. Spring allergies are a stressful business. Coping with watery eyes, a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, or a sore throat affects how you get through each day. "The primary consequence is a reduced quality of life. This naturally can lead to stress on patients and their families," says Dr. Ahmad Sedaghat, an ear, nose, and throat specialist. The influence goes both ways: not only can allergies cause stress, but stress can make allergies worse. Understanding the allergic reaction. The gooey mess of allergies is the result of an overactive immune system - one that reacts against harmless foreign substances, like tree or plant pollen, as if they were a dangerous threat. The substances that provoke allergies are called allergens. If you have allergies, when you breathe in tiny pollen particles or other allergens, immune system cells in the nose release chemicals that trigger all...

When I was in high school, I mowed my grandmother's lawn once a week. Yet every time I arrived, she would have already mowed a small part of the back yard. I always told her she didn't need to do that, but she insisted. At the time I didn't understand why she felt compelled to do this every week, but now that I'm inching closer and closer to her age then, I get it: it was something she could do to stay active. She knew that to stave off the effects of a sedentary lifestyle, it is important to move more every day. The older we get, the more likely we are to lapse into a sedentary lifestyle. In fact, an estimated 67% of older adults report sitting for more than eight hours per day, and only 28% to 34% of adults ages 65 to 74 are physically active, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Evelyn O'Neill, manager of outpatient exercise programs, sees the consequences of too much sitting every day. "Sitting is the new smoking in terms of heal...

Vitamin and mineral supplements from a bottle simply can't match all the biologically active compounds teeming in a well-stocked pantry. By focusing on the big picture, it's easy to get plenty of the vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients you need to keep you healthy and prevent disease. Here are some tips. Fiber. It's the part of plant foods that we can't digest. Eating foods high in fiber helps reduce total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol, improve blood sugar control, and prevent constipation. High-fiber foods also help with weight loss by making you feel full. There are lots of high-fiber foods to choose from: brown rice bulgur (cracked wheat) barley oats nuts bean and lentils apples blueberries carrots Vitamins and minerals. Vitamins are organic substances found in plants and animals. Minerals are inorganic elements from the earth (soil and water). Both are essential for normal growth and optimal health. Here's a list of ...

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by progressive damage to nerve cells and their connections. The result is devastating and includes memory loss, impaired thinking, difficulties with verbal communication, and even personality changes. A person with Alzheimer's disease may live anywhere from two to 20 years after diagnosis. Those years are spent in an increasingly dependent state that exacts a staggering emotional, physical, and economic toll on families. A number of factors influence the likelihood that you will develop Alzheimer's disease. Some of these you can't control, such as age, gender, and family history. But there are things you can do to help lower your risk. As it turns out, the mainstays of a healthy lifestyle - exercise, watching your weight, and eating right - appear to lower Alzheimer's risk. 5 steps to lower Alzheimer's risk While there are no surefire ways to prevent Alzheimer's, by following the five steps below you may lower you...

If your diet gave you high cholesterol, it can lower it, too. It's easy to eat your way to an alarmingly high cholesterol level. The reverse is true, too -- changing what foods you eat can lower your cholesterol and improve the armada of fats floating through your bloodstream. Doing this requires a two-pronged strategy: Add foods that lower LDL, the harmful cholesterol-carrying particle that contributes to artery-clogging atherosclerosis. At the same time, cut back on foods that boost LDL. Without that step, you are engaging in a holding action instead of a steady - and tasty - victory. In with the good Different foods lower cholesterol in various ways. Some deliver soluble fiber, which binds cholesterol and its precursors in the digestive system and drags them out of the body before they get into circulation. Some give you polyunsaturated fats, which directly lower LDL. And some contain plant sterols and stanols, which block the body from absorbing cholesterol. 1. Oat...