Harvard Health Letter articles from November 2006

Harvard Health Letter archives from November 2006

Preventing bedsores.
November 1, 2006... They can be painful and deadly. The good news is that a few simple steps can keep many bedsores from reaching that stage. Most of us don't realize how much we move around when we're sleeping. Complaining bed partners may not understand, but...

Metformin: Now or later?
November 1, 2006... Losing weight is the ideal way to deal with type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. Just shedding 10 pounds or so will usually bring blood sugar levels back into the normal, healthy range. The problem is that while many people...

Hot stuff has the right stuff.
November 1, 2006... According to the Department of Agriculture, Americans are eating 38% more chili peppers than they were in 1996. Per capita, Americans eat more chili peppers (5.9 pounds) than asparagus (1.3 pounds), cauliflower (2.2 pounds), or green peas (3.3...

Is overweight okay?
November 1, 2006... The percentage of Americans who are obese has more than doubled since the 1960s. In 1960, about 13% of Americans were obese, defined as having a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. (For most people, a BMI of 30 means being about 30 pounds...

When arteries get inflamed.
November 1, 2006... Headaches are the most common symptom of temporal arteritis, but the anemia, weight loss, and malaise it produces means other diseases are often suspected. Temporal arteritis is a disease of the arteries that's also known as cranial...

Giving cancer its walking papers.
November 1, 2006... Research demonstrates that exercise benefits cancer patients. The health benefits of exercise need little introduction. Besides combating obesity -- probably the major health woe for Americans these days -- physical activity lessens your...

By the way, doctor; Can I repair sunburned skin?
November 1, 2006... Q. I've been out in the sun all my life. My forehead has been sunburned a thousand times. I now wear a hat. Is there something I could use to repair the damage to the areas of my forehead that have been sunburned so much? A. The first...

By the way, doctor; What can be done about a growing heart?(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Q. My doctor told me my heart is growing. He says there is no cure. Do you know of anything to reverse or slow down the growing heart? I am an 86-year-old World War II veteran. A. Each of the heart's four chambers is a blood-filled space...