Topic: Health & Healing

These days, it’s easy for people to get confused about exercise -- how many minutes a day should they spend working out, for how long and at what exertion level? Conflicting facts and opinions abound, but one Mayo Clinic physician says the bottom line is this: walking is good, whether the outcome measurement is blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, joint problems or mental health.

These days, it’s easy for people to get confused about exercise -- how many minutes a day should they spend working out, for how long and at what exertion level? Conflicting facts and opinions abound, but one Mayo Clinic physician says the bottom line is this: walking is good, whether the outcome measurement is blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, joint problems or mental health.

Unless you run marathons, you probably won’t get much protection from common colds by taking a daily supplemental dose of vitamin C, according to an updated review of 30 studies.

Unless you run marathons, you probably won’t get much protection from common colds by taking a daily supplemental dose of vitamin C, according to an updated review of 30 studies.

Harry Potter fans will anguish not only over the foreshadowed deaths of main characters, but also the end of a beloved series, says a Purdue University expert on childhood grief and mourning.

Harry Potter fans will anguish not only over the foreshadowed deaths of main characters, but also the end of a beloved series, says a Purdue University expert on childhood grief and mourning.

It is estimated that between 9 and 13 million kilograms of antibiotics are used annually in the U.S. for raising livestock, with the majority being used for growth advancement and disease prevention purposes. Large amounts of antibiotics fed to livestock are excreted and end up in animal manure, which is commonly applied to agricultural land to provide crop nutrients. Therefore, food crops grown on manure-altered soils are exposed to antibiotics.

Scientists at the University of Minnesota have been evaluating the impact of antibiotic feeding in livestock production on the environment. This particular study, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), evaluated whether food crops accumulate antibiotics from soils spread with manure that contains antibiotics. Results from the study are published in the July-August 2007 issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality. The research was also presented in Indianapolis, IN at the Annual Soil Science Society of America Meeting in November 2006.

There is great interest in using meditation as a form of therapy to cope with a variety of modern-day health problems--such as hypertension, stress and chronic pain--but the majority of evidence that seems to support this notion comes from poor quality studies or is anecdotal, says a study from the University of Alberta/Capital Health Evidence-based Practice Center in Edmonton, Canada.

While it’s not likely to do you any harm, there is also no compelling evidence that meditation has therapeutic value, says a new report from the University of Alberta.

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University of Alberta researchers Maria Ospina (left) and Kenneth
Bond (right) discuss their report "Meditation Practices for Health:
State of the Research" on the U of A campus in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada.

The Shanghai Breast Cancer Study gives us more evidence of the health benefits of a reduced meat diet (and one that is rich in high fiber foods).

Results published on Tuesday which are part of the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study add to the evidence about an epidemiological link between cancer and a diet high in meat and dairy.

Based on their work over the last 16 years, a biofeedback company recently released two tools designed to help reduce stress and reset one’s inner balance.

HeartMath essentially reinvented biofeedback in 1999 when they introduced the first affordable consumer stress-reduction product using their patented heart rhythm feedback. Their focus on heart rhythm feedback provided a refreshing departure from conventional biofeedback practices, and has since been adopted by more than ten thousand health professionals worldwide as an effective and invaluable tool for patients suffering from stress-related issues. Internationally respected for their research-based stress solutions, HeartMath peer-reviewed studies have demonstrated the critical link between emotions, heart function, and cognitive performance. HeartMath’s heart rhythm feedback technologies are becoming a standard in the field of biofeedback. Their affordability and user-friendly features have made effective stress reduction practices convenient for personal use and have found their way into thousands of homes in over 50 countries around the world.

HealthCMI makes earning continuing education credits in acupuncture easy by launching online classroom.

Continuing education classes for acupuncture are now being offered online by Healthcare Medicine Institute’s online continuing education division, HealthCMI. HealthCMI brings the classroom online using open source solutions for the web. "Open source solutions allow our learning management systems to operate on any type of server and offers unprecedented educational opportunities for medical professionals," Executive Director of the Healthcare Medicine Institute, Adam White, said. Licensed acupuncturists can download courses at www.healthcmi.com and receive instant state approved certificates upon completion of course materials.

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Acupuncture continuing education courses now available online.

Poll finds that over a quarter of kids hit or get physical when they argue.

Kids are bound to argue and disagree. Even best friends and close siblings don't always think alike or want the same thing. But when disagreements lead to arguments, unkind words, hitting, and fighting, it can be a big deal.

Bastyr University launches the nation's first randomized controlled pilot study of Qigong Therapy as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. Researchers to compare effects of Qigong to conventional care and mild exercise.

Diabetes affects 16 million individuals throughout the United States, and recent data released by the Seattle and King County Public Health indicates there are twice as many diabetes sufferers in King County as a decade ago. While it is proven that lifestyle modifications and medication can improve glucose control and delay the onset of diabetic complications, the rapid increase of cases and the potential health risks of some diabetes medications, suggest it is necessary to explore and develop complementary and alternative interventions to improve the management of Type 2 Diabetes.