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Your primary care provider (PCP) can attend to the majority of your health needs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 54.6 percent of office visits are to primary care providers. Here are seven reasons to visit your PCP: Routine screenings. Many common health problems (including colon cancer, breast cancer and diabetes) have screenings that can detect the disease at the earliest stage. There are standard recommendations for when these screenings should occur for most people, but...
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The first thing that comes to mind for many when they hear diabetes is sugar. While sugar plays a big part in this disease, there’s a lot more to this chronic condition. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, meaning it involves how the body breaks down food to create energy through the use of insulin, a hormone created by the pancreas. When you eat, food is turned into a kind of sugar known as glucose. As the amount of glucose in the blood rises, beta cells in the pancreas trigger the release of insulin. Th...
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As a new mother, it can be hard to find your footing. According to the Pew Research Center, 45 percent of moms with kids younger than 6 years say parenting is tiring all or most of the time. How can you make the adjustment easier? You took breastfeeding and prenatal classes, read every book you could get your hands on, and soaked up all the advice you could get from friends and family. However, all of that pales in comparison to the reality of caring for a newborn. How can you handle this new world of m...
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You’re young at heart, but that doesn’t mean you’re immune to illness. Many diseases we associate with older age can develop during our 40s and 50s. Arthritis Risk factors: Age is one of the biggest risk factors, as joints wear and tear over time. If you’ve ever had a joint injury, you may experience arthritis pain sooner in life. Treatment: Exercise is the best long-term strategy. Regular exercise increases joint flexibility and strengthens the muscles that support the joint. Balance your activity ever...
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Most spring allergies are caused by pollen. Though pollen is harmless, your body can mistake it for a threat and release histamines. In an attempt to repel the “invader,” histamines cause your eyes, nose and throat to swell, itch and produce mucus. Even if you know all about pollen, you may not know the best ways to combat it. Avoid these common spring allergy mistakes that can prolong suffering or even make symptoms worse. Mistake No. 1: Waiting too long to medicate. For best results, allergy medicine ...
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When you’re busy, scheduling an annual wellness exam with your provider is probably the last thing on your mind. However, the benefits of these exams far outweigh any inconvenience. Preventive visits play a key role in keeping you healthy. Annual wellness visits typically range from 20 to 30 minutes. During these short appointments, your doctor will review your health history and any medications you take, assess your height and weight, and may offer advice about how to improve your health, such as stopp...
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Imagine this — you’re going about your day, working, exercising or spending time with your family, when all of a sudden you feel a sharp, stabbing pain in your abdomen. You’ve been a little nauseous all day, and you haven’t felt hungry, so you chalk it up to eating too much at your last meal. Right? Wrong. These are all signs that you have appendicitis, the inflammation of the appendix — a small tube attached to the large intestine. Appendicitis may occur when there is a blockage in the appendix caused ...
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Your water needs depend on body size, activity level, sweat rate, current medications, physical condition and even location. Water plays an important role in in almost everything your body does. If you don’t get enough, it can impact cell health, digestion, kidney function, body temperature, energy levels, muscle function, skin health, blood pressure and cognition — and eventually lead to death. That’s why our bodies are so good at telling us they need water. Even a slight change in the body’s water bal...
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Clicking, cracking, grinding, popping, snapping — these are all common and generally harmless sounds our joints can make. These varied sounds can be caused by a number of different reasons. The fluids in our joints contain a mixture of gases — carbon dioxide, nitrogen and oxygen. When you pop or crack a joint — such as stiff knuckles — you’re releasing these pent-up gases, which makes a popping or cracking noise. If you have an arthritic joint, its cartilage has worn away, causing your bones to grind or...
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If you or a loved one suffer from asthma, clearing dust from your home may seem like a good idea. But what you clean your home with can make all the difference. Many cleaning supplies contain chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that can aggravate asthma and other respiratory illnesses. VOCs can be found in chlorine bleach, detergent, rug and upholstery cleaners, and furniture and floor polish. How can you clean your home and keep your lungs safe? The American Lung Association recomme...
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