(HealthDay News) — Back pain is one of the most common medical issues in the United States, says the National Institutes of Health. Short-term back pain lasts no longer than six weeks, and can be uncomfortable if untreated. To treat short-term back pain, the NIH suggests: Use hot or cold packs to soothe a sore, stiff back. Try extension or aerobic exercises. But check with a doctor first. Incorporate stretching into your daily routine. Include calcium and vitamin D in your diet, to help keep your spine strong. Take acetaminophen, aspirin or ibuprofen to ease pain.
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Health Tip: Getting Motivated
(HealthDay News) — Everyone feels lack of motivation at some point, and it doesn’t necessarily represent a mental health issue, says the Mental Health Foundation. From meeting up with friends to participating in a hobby, sometimes it can be difficult to find the motivation to get involved. To help overcome lack of motivation, the Mental Health Foundation suggests: Break tasks into manageable chunks. Write down each positive thing you go through during the day. Give yourself credit for the small things you do. Make some time for yourself. Be gentle on yourself. Be present in the moment. Ask for help when needed.
How Much Sex is Right for You and Your Partner?
Are you having enough sex? It’s a loaded question. “Enough,” like “a lot,” means different things to different people — it could mean every night, twice a week or twice a month. Many studies have tried to pinpoint how often the average couple has sex, how that number might change at various stages in a relationship and the ideal amount for happiness. But one of the most interesting takeaways from recent research is that enough sex is whatever amount brings both sexual and marital satisfaction to both partners. It’s not the number of times detailed in a magazine article or how often your best friend and his or her partner are having it. And more isn’t always better. In fact, according to one study, couples who have a lot of sex but feel like they’re just going through the motions or that the sex is dull aren’t happier or more satisfied with the sex or their relationship. So what are the secrets of satisfied couples? They’re things that focus on the quality of sex, not the quantity. This includes being in sync with your partner when it comes to frequency and variety in lovemaking. Communication, including talking about sexual desires, is at the heart of being in sync, yet so many people still feel awkward about bringing up likes and dislikes. Having the same view… read on >
How to Enjoy Cheese Without the Guilt
Americans eat three times as much cheese as just 50 years ago, but not because we’re enjoying careful indulgences like a cheese plate with fruit and whole grain crackers. Experts point to the cheese overload in pizza and other Italian dishes, Tex-Mex favorites and the ubiquitous mac-and-cheese. That’s a lot of saturated fat and calories. But most people don’t have to avoid cheese completely — it’s just a question of being more judicious in your selections. Because the dairy fat found in cheese as well as in whole-fat milk and yogurt has been given a slight reprieve in the war on saturated fat, eating small amounts is OK. But you probably don’t want to depend on cheese alone to get in the recommended three dairy servings a day, especially if weight control is an issue for you. Because of its high fat content, cheese packs a lot of calories into a small package. A one-ounce serving is the size of two pairs of dice, so portion control is key. Ounce for ounce, some types of cheese naturally have less fat and therefore fewer calories than others. For instance, feta, goat and mozzarella have 70 to 75 calories per ounce compared to Brie, manchego and Swiss, to name just a few, which average between 100 and 120. If eating cheese helps you get needed calcium, know… read on >
City Parks Are a Mood Booster
Living in the city can be hard on the senses and the spirit, but spending some time in a tree-lined park could counteract that stress, new research suggests. “Over a three-month period, we collected tweets from 4,688 Twitter users before, during and after they posted from the park,” explained study author Aaron Schwartz. He’s a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Vermont’s school of environment and natural resources and the Gund Institute for Environment. All of the 160 parks that were visited in the study were located in the city of San Francisco. About 100,000 tweets were analyzed by a hedonometer, a kind of online happiness dictionary that ranks words according to their happiness content. Tweeting “jail,” for example, would bank a score of less than 2, while a tweet of “hahaha” would render a score nearly 8. After comparing pre-park tweets to post-park tweets, the study authors concluded that parks trigger a mood bump equivalent to that seen at Christmas, the day hedonometer happiness levels hit their peak. The team didn’t track how long participants spent in parks, so they can’t say how short a visit might trigger a mood change. And some parks turned out to be better mood boosters than others. Large regional parks with lots of tree cover and vegetation conferred the biggest happiness lift, while paved urban plazas offered the… read on >
The 4 Keys to Emotional Well-Being
If you’re satisfied with your life, you probably have emotional well-being. Emotional well-being can be mastered just like any other skill, according to Richard Davidson, founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. How? By developing four key traits, said Davidson, a neuroscientist. The first is resilience. Research at the Center for Healthy Minds found that, over time, regular mindfulness meditation can help you learn how to bounce back from adversity. Mindfulness meditation teaches you to become aware of your thoughts and emotions, center yourself and decide how you would like to proceed with the rest of your day. (Find out more at mindful.org.) Having a positive outlook is the second key trait — both finding the positive in others and being positive in the way you approach life. Another type of meditation called compassion meditation is said to bring measurable changes after two weeks of 30-minute-a-day sessions. The goal is to switch from being judgmental to being caring. Next is improving your attention level. A Harvard study found most people spend nearly half of their waking hours not paying attention to what they’re doing. Letting the mind wander typically makes people unhappy, the researchers concluded. Practice focusing on the here and now, one task or activity at a time. Finally, become more generous of spirit. This means feeling happy for… read on >
Many Parents Would Switch Doctors Over Vaccination Policy, Poll Finds
Forty percent of U.S. parents say they would likely find a new doctor if their child’s primary care provider sees families who refuse childhood vaccines, a nationwide poll finds. And three in 10 say their child’s primary care provider should not treat youngsters whose parents refuse all vaccines. Those are key findings of the latest C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health from the University of Michigan. The findings, published Aug. 19, are based on responses from 2,032 parents of at least one child aged 18 or younger. “When a family refuses all childhood vaccines, it puts providers in a challenging position,” poll co-director Sarah Clark said in a university news release announcing the findings. Not only is an unvaccinated child unprotected against harmful and contagious diseases (such as measles, whooping cough and chickenpox), those who skip vaccines also pose a risk of transmitting diseases to other patients, she pointed out. “This can be especially risky exposure for vulnerable populations, including infants too young to receive vaccines, elderly patients, patients with weakened immune systems or pregnant women,” Clark added. But many parents were unaware of their health care provider’s policies, and some were unconcerned. Thirty-nine percent said their child’s primary care provider requires patients to get all recommended vaccines; 8% said only some vaccines are required; and 15% said their provider has no… read on >
Health Tip: Exercise Portion Control
(HealthDay News) — To maintain a healthy weight, how much you eat is just as important as what you eat, says the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Your optimal portion size may or may not match the serving size listed on a product. It’s dependent on your age, weight and metabolism, among other factors. To manage food portions at home, the agency recommends: Do not eat out of the box or bag. Take out a serving and eat it off a plate. Avoid eating in front of the TV or while busy with other activities. Focus on what you are eating, chew well and enjoy your food. Eat fewer high-fat, high-calorie foods. Freeze food you won’t serve or eat right away. Eat meals at regular times. Buy low-calorie snacks.
How Sleep Woes May Strain Your Heart
If you spend a lot of nights watching the clock instead of sleeping, new research suggests you may need to be as concerned about your heart health as you are about lost shut-eye. People with genetic variants linked to insomnia have an increased risk of heart disease, heart failure and stroke, according to the study. “Good sleep is important for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease,” said study author Susanna Larsson. She’s from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. “A potential explanation for our observed associations between insomnia and heart disease and stroke is that insomnia problems potentially lead to the metabolic syndrome, including high blood pressure, increased body weight and type 2 diabetes, which increase the risk of coronary artery disease and stroke,” she said. Insomnia affects up to 30% of the general population, the study authors said. More than 200 genetic variants are associated with insomnia complaints. For the new study, the researchers looked at health information on more than 1.3 million people in Europe. The investigators compared whether or not genetic variants linked to insomnia were also associated with the risk of heart conditions and stroke. The study found that people with a genetic predisposition to insomnia had a higher risk of heart disease, heart failure and stroke that affected large blood vessels. Other types of stroke were not increased. The researchers… read on >
‘Dr. Google’ Helps Some Patients Diagnose a Rare Disease
A middle-aged woman had persistent symptoms that doctors couldn’t explain. Frustrated, she took an increasingly common route: a search through the internet. “Dr. Google” led the woman to specialists at Wake Forest University Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. There, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease (ADTKD). This gradually causes the kidneys to stop working. “My two brothers, mother, cousin, second cousin, uncle, and two great uncles suffered from kidney disease, but no doctor had made a diagnosis,” recalled the woman, who prefers to remain anonymous. “Two nephrologists I saw did not know about this condition,” she said. Another doctor made an incorrect diagnosis and treatment, while advising her to “just let me do the worrying.” The patient didn’t take that advice. “We were prompted to search the internet when several family members had worsening kidney disease, and no one could diagnose it,” she said. So her brother searched “gout” and “kidney disease” online, and found Wake Forest’s specialists. As her situation indicates, figuring out what’s going on when a rare disease strikes can be tricky. Most primary care physicians are not trained to spot a rare disease. And even specialists can have a tough time unraveling the mysteries of an illness they may not have seen before. For many patients, this means going months, if not years,… read on >