By: Joe Graedon December 19, 2024 12 Comments
    What’s in Your Frying Pan? Omega-6 or Omega-3 …

    Americans have long been urged to embrace polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) vegetable oils because they are low in saturated fats. These oils made from corn, peanuts, soybeans, safflower and sunflower…

    By: Terry Graedon December 11, 2024 1 Comments
    Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Carry Serious Cardiova…

    Most people are aware that consuming too much sugar is not good for our health. A new study from Sweden suggests that not all sweet foods are equivalent, though. Occasional sweet treats like pastries …

    By: Terry Graedon November 25, 2024 37 Comments
    What Are the Health Benefits of Coffee and Choco…

    Americans have a puritanical streak. This way of thinking suggests that if something hurts or tastes bad, it must be good for you. Conversely, if it tastes good, you might conclude it's bad for you. T…

    By: Joe Graedon November 20, 2024 6 Comments
    How Can You Overcome the Harms of Sitting Too Mu…

    How many hours a day do you sit? Be honest, please. If you work in front of a computer, as so many of us do, we’ll bet you spend more than eight hours a day sitting. And that doesn’t count time si…

    By: Terry Graedon November 11, 2024 34 Comments
    Will Certo and Grape Juice Help Your Sore Knees?

    People with sore joints face a terrible dilemma. Pain interferes with quality of life. On the other hand, medications like diclofenac and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can make p…

    By: Terry Graedon June 12, 2024 83 Comments
    Are Non-Sugar Sweeteners a Healthy Choice?

    When people hear that sugar-sweetened beverages pose health hazards, some respond by switching to diet soft drinks. That certainly seems reasonable, but evidence now suggests it might not be the best…

    By: Terry Graedon March 18, 2024 15 Comments
    Will Vitamin Supplements Prevent Heart Problems?

    Does it make sense to take vitamin pills? Keep reading to learn more about a systematic review from several years ago. First, though, we want to address some very confusing recent research that implie…

    By: Terry Graedon March 13, 2024 4 Comments
    Daily Exercise Boosts Lifespan

    Everyone agrees that exercise is beneficial for your health, though not everyone actually participates in daily exercise. Muscle-strengthening exercise, in particular, can reduce the risk of premature…

    By: Terry Graedon February 21, 2024 4 Comments
    Will Exercise Prevent Heart Failure?

    Does it really make a difference whether you exercise? We now have multiple studies demonstrating that physical activity, if not deliberate exercise, can help prevent heart failure. What Is Heart Fail…

    By: Terry Graedon January 18, 2024 9 Comments
    What Should You Eat for a Healthy Heart?

    How important is diet in the prevention of heart disease? And what exactly should you eat for a healthy heart? Cardiologists have long emphasized the importance of avoiding cholesterol and saturated f…

    By: Terry Graedon December 4, 2023 38 Comments
    Is Cooked Oatmeal Better for You Than Instant Oa…

    Oats have been a dietary staple for many centuries, and they have a reputation as a healthy whole grain. Eating cooked oatmeal on a regular basis (daily or several times a week) can help control chole…

    By: Joe Graedon November 16, 2023 4 Comments
    Wegovy or Ozempic: Semaglutide to Prevent Heart …

    A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 11, 2023 has pumped up an already very hot drug—semaglutide. You know it better as Wegovy for weight loss or Ozempic for type 2 diabete…

    By: Terry Graedon November 16, 2023 5 Comments
    Does Loneliness Raise Your Risk for Parkinson Di…

    In May 2023, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy raised the alarm about an epidemic of loneliness. He suggested that up to half of American adults feel isolated and disconnected from social support. The C…

    By: Joe Graedon October 23, 2023 7 Comments
    Hawthorn

    Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) is a small thorny tree with white flowers and red berries that grows in England and throughout Europe. C. laevigata is only one species; related species have slightly di…

    By: Joe Graedon August 28, 2023 59 Comments
    Is a Low Salt Diet Dangerous for Your Health?

    Warning: prepare for whiplash! We know that for the last 50 years you have heard a constant drum beat from public health officials, cardiologists, nutritionists and most other health professionals tha…

    By: Joe Graedon June 1, 2023 48 Comments
    The Cardiac Effects of COVID-19 Are Really Scary…

    There is good news, at last, regarding COVID. According to the CDC, the number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 has reached the lowest level since the pandemic took off. Hospitals are one of th…

    By: Terry Graedon May 18, 2023 2 Comments
    Show 1341: Lessons Learned from Long Illness

    You may not have thought much about long illness, but chances are you know someone who is suffering with one. The CDC estimates that some chronic condition afflicts as many as one in six American adul…

    By: Terry Graedon March 27, 2023 23 Comments
    Is It Unhealthy to Drink Unfiltered Coffee?

    The health consequences of drinking coffee have stirred quite a bit of controversy over the years. According to legend, a goatherd noticed that his goats were extra frisky after eating coffee berries,…

    By: Terry Graedon February 2, 2023 91 Comments
    Is Coffee Really Bad for You?

    Health professionals just can’t seem to make up their minds about coffee. Is it good or really bad for you? They have been arguing about the pros and cons of coffee drinking for at least half a cent…

    By: Terry Graedon November 21, 2022 25 Comments
    CoQ10 Has Heart Benefits

    Doctors are frequently skeptical about dietary supplements. After all, who would guess that something with an improbable name like CoQ10 has heart benefits? Yet scientists who have studied this natura…

    By: Terry Graedon November 5, 2022 15 Comments
    Will Adequate Magnesium Keep Your Heart Healthy?

    Magnesium has long been a neglected mineral.  Health care providers are more likely to pay attention to minerals such as potassium, although some of the same drugs that lead to potassium depletion al…

    By: Terry Graedon September 8, 2022 5 Comments
    Could Step Counters Help Us Ward Off Dementia?

    Do you wear a FitBit or a fancy watch? What about a lower-tech pedometer? Step counters are popular because they give us feedback on how many steps we have taken in a day. Even if the common goal of 1…

    By: Joe Graedon September 1, 2022 14 Comments
    Could Your Pain Reliever Hurt Your Heart?

    If you take a pain reliever on a regular basis, especially if you have type 2 diabetes, it might hurt your heart. The European Society of Cardiology reported that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs…

    By: Terry Graedon August 25, 2022 17 Comments
    People with Heart Failure Suffer on Low Sodium D…

    Should you eat less salt? Public health authorities generally include cutting back on sodium as one of the important dietary steps we can all take for good health. In particular, doctors admonish peop…

    By: Joe Graedon July 28, 2022 25 Comments
    Is Napping Good for Your Health or Bad for Your …

    Do you get drowsy after lunch? Now that so many people are working from home, the temptation to take an afternoon nap may sometimes be overwhelming. Some prior studies showed that napping was not heal…

    By: Terry Graedon April 11, 2022 7 Comments
    How to Boost Your Cardiovascular Health with Coc…

    Thousands of years ago, native people in Mexico, Central America and the Amazon basin treasured cacao. That's the tree whose fruit is the source of cocoa and chocolate. In fact, they domesticated it s…

    By: Terry Graedon November 25, 2021 18 Comments
    Intermittent Fasting for Better Heart Health

    Intermittent fasting is getting more attention. Going without food for at least 12 hours and up to a day or longer has been promoted for weight loss and blood sugar control (Nutrients, Oct. 14, 2019).…

    By: Terry Graedon November 24, 2021 2 Comments
    What Is the Best Time to Go to Sleep?

    When do you go to sleep? Are you a night owl or an early bird? The answer to that question has implications for your risk of cardiovascular disease. Finding a Good Time to Go to Sleep: A new study in …

    By: Joe Graedon October 18, 2021 46 Comments
    If Statins Cause Diabetes, Why Should ALL Diabet…

    The guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology are crystal clear. Middle-aged people with diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) should be on a statin-type choles…

    By: Joe Graedon October 4, 2021 18 Comments
    Do You Really Have High Blood Pressure?

    Have you been told you have high blood pressure? Doctors recognize that untreated hypertension can increase your chance of developing heart disease, kidney damage or stroke. Consequently, you should t…

    By: Terry Graedon September 2, 2021 2 Comments
    Getting Systolic Blood Pressure Under 130 Makes …

    How important is strict blood pressure control to prevent strokes, heart attacks and other adverse cardiac events? A large randomized, controlled trial from China confirms that getting systolic blood …

    By: Terry Graedon August 16, 2021 2 Comments
    Why Don’t Weights on Doctors’ Scales…

    Any time you walk into a doctor's office, one of the first things they do, even before measuring your blood pressure, is ask you to step on the scale. Perhaps the number is what you expected; sometime…

    By: Joe Graedon August 5, 2021 1 Comments
    The FDA Fails on Ventilators, CPAP Machines …

    How well does the FDA assess the risks of medical devices? A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine (July 26, 2021) analyzed a random sample of 1000 adverse event reports in the FDA’s MAUDE datab…

    By: Terry Graedon July 15, 2021 26 Comments
    How to Choose Whole Grains for a Longer Life

    Nutrition experts have long been advising us to eat whole grains, and epidemiologists have evidence that getting three servings of whole grains daily can reduce the chance of an early death. In fact, …

    By: Terry Graedon March 11, 2021 1 Comments
    People with Cardiovascular Disease Do Better Eat…

    Cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer throughout the world. People at high risk are often prescribed a number of medications to control cholesterol, lower blood pressure and prevent blo…

    By: Terry Graedon September 3, 2020 8 Comments
    Colchicine from Crocus Helps Protect Heart

    The autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale, has been used medicinally for more than 3,000 years. The ancient Egyptians used the underground portions for joint pain. In the 19th century, chemists isolated …

    By: Terry Graedon October 31, 2019 6 Comments
    Show 1187: Are Supplements Really a Waste of Tim…

    Last summer, a major review of research on supplements to improve heart health concluded that most do nothing to prevent heart attacks, strokes or premature death from cardiovascular causes (Annals of…

    By: Terry Graedon September 26, 2019 5 Comments
    Show 1182: How You Can Use Exercise as Medicine

    Does medicine mean “drugs and surgery” to you? That is certainly how a lot of people see it. However, physical activity–exercise–has powerful abilities to help us heal. How can we use exercise…

    By: Terry Graedon September 19, 2019 10 Comments
    Home Blood Pressure May Be Better Than Clinic

    Do you take your blood pressure at home? Home blood pressure monitoring can be extremely helpful. Measuring your own blood pressure in the privacy of your home can help sidestep the nerves that lead t…

    By: Terry Graedon September 5, 2019 9 Comments
    Could Soft Drinks Be Killing You?

    People who consume a lot of soft drinks may be putting themselves at risk. That's the conclusion from a large study not in the US but in Europe (JAMA, Sept. 3, 2019). The EPIC study stands for Europea…