What are they and why are they important? You might not be familiar with the term, or know what it means, but you’ve almost certainly heard of some lipids, including cholesterol, fatty acids, and saturated fatty acids. Lipids are essential to human health. In the body, they perform various functions Read more…
Blood pressure describes the amount of force with which the blood pushes against the blood vessel walls. Systolic blood pressure (the first number) indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when the heart beats. Diastolic blood pressure (the second number) indicates how much pressure your blood is Read more…
Our justice system is far from perfect. Too often, the process of securing justice runs the risk of re-traumatizing victims who must recount the worst moments of their lives on the stand. This can be particularly difficult for young victims. That’s where man’s best friend comes in. Some dogs comfort Read more…
By now, pretty much everyone is aware that sometimes in medicine, treatments involve removing something from one person’s body and putting it in someone else’s. Organ transplants, blood transfusions, and bone marrow transfusions are probably the most well-known, but there’s another type of transplant that can help restore health–a fecal Read more…
Any American who has any experience with addiction, including family or friends who have struggled with alcohol- or drug-related dependency, has heard of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It’s so ubiquitous that judges will sometimes require defendants to attend AA meetings. Some people have indeed found AA to be helpful, and credit Read more…
Everyone knows that sleep is important. We all know the tired, gritty feeling of not getting enough of it. The feeling that you can barely keep your eyes open, that your mind is in a fog—that is sleep deprivation in a nutshell. Experts have warned that America is facing a Read more…
Inflammation is a process by which the body’s white blood cells and the substances they produce fight infections, heal injuries, and react against foreign bodies. Inflammation is caused by the immune system, and it is involved in the immune system’s regenerative and protective capabilities. If you get a shot or Read more…
Antibiotics are a medical miracle. They seem so routine now, but antibiotics are what make many of the things we take for granted possible. Even the simplest surgery could be fatal without them, since the risks of infection would be so high. Less than 100 years ago, catching pneumonia constituted Read more…
Medical science has known for some time now that non-medical interventions can sometimes alleviate medical conditions just as well as medical interventions. Exercise is a prime example of this. Regular physical exercise works better than medication when it comes to helping people maintain a healthy weight, in addition to reducing Read more…
First, Happy Valentine’s Day! In the U.S., this has become known as a romantic day for couples, with countless people going out to dinner and/or exchanging cards and gifts such as jewelry, chocolate, and flowers. The origins of Valentine’s Day date back to Saint Valentine in the third century. He Read more…