In addition to the dreaded (and easily avoidable) holiday weight-gain, we have to be concerned about an increased risk of injury. Increased stress levels during the holidays affect the entire body, as stress can exacerbate neck and back problems. If you’re flying or driving a long distance to your Thanksgiving dinner, get out of your seat and move around frequently (but not while you are driving). While cooking, remember to take breaks and adjust your posture. Carrying heavy

Low Immunity? Reduce Infection Risk During Your Treatment Cancer treatment can make your immune system work incredibly hard, and with time, it becomes weaker than normal. Unfortunately, that increases your chance that of infection – even if you’re exposed to bacteria that your body could have previously fought off. However, this does not mean that you should just give up and wait for infection to strike. There are several things you can do on your own that greatly reduce your

Historically, it has been generally accepted that stretching decreases the risk of injury. Accordingly, it is common practice for stretching exercises to be included in a warm-up session. In fact, it has been suggested that stretching is the most common routine recommended by sports coaches and sports medicine professionals (Witvrouw et al., 2004). This myth is based on the idea that pre-exercise stretching reduces the risk of injury through improvements in range of motion an

Shortly after my surgery for breast cancer 6 years ago, I noticed I had numbness in a large part of my shoulders and back area. It was then that I learned that one of the possible lingering side effects of any cancer treatment is Neuropathy. Categorized as a change in sensation (numbness, tingling or pain) in the affected or adjacent area of the body, neuropathy can strike at any time after cessation of treatment, in some cases taking years to manifest. Although the feet and

Myth #1: Most people don’t need to worry about osteoporosis. Millions of Americans – 44 million to be exact – have low bone density or osteoporosis. In fact, about one in two women and up to one in four men over the age of 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis. By 2020, half of all Americans over age 50 are expected to have low bone density or osteoporosis. Myth #2: Osteoporosis is only a problem for older Caucasian women. While osteoporosis is common among white women, me

Exercise may lower a woman’s risk for breast cancer. Guidelines recommend people get about 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. Although more research is needed to confirm the underlying mechanisms driving the protective benefits of exercise, exercise is an easy way to encourage good health overall. Scientists from the University of Minnesota in St. Paul conducted a study of 391 inactive, healthy, premenopausal women whom they split into two groups. They found that the 1

There is a connection between fat and breast cancer, especially in those diagnosed with cancer after menopause. Breast cancer remains the most common type of cancer for women. A large percentage of the population is overweight. This has always been huge health concern for diabetes and other diseases. Doctors and public health officials have long been promoting lifestyle changes to stave off heart disease and diabetes, but fewer people associate better diets and exercise with