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Eating can cause low blood pressure, from the Harvard Heart Letter
If you sometimes feel dizzy or lightheaded after eating a meal, you could have a common condition called postprandial hypotension, meaning low blood pressure after eating, reports the July 2010 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter. Digestion is a complicated job that requires coordination between the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems. To compensate for blood […]
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Walking while golfing: Is this sufficient exercise?
Ask the doctor Image: Monkey Business Images/ Thinkstock Q. I walk 18 holes of golf twice a week for my exercise routine. Is this enough or should I do more? A. Walking the golf course certainly counts as exercise. Even riding in a golf cart is better than doing nothing. But to meet the recommended […]
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Two types of exercise may be needed to preserve muscle mass during weight loss
Research we’re watching While obesity presents a number of health risks for older adults, weight loss is often accompanied by a reduction in muscle tissue and loss of strength. A team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine set out to determine whether more exercise or specific types of exercise would help preserve muscle […]
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Exercising arthritis pain away
Physical therapy may be an effective alternative to surgery in relieving joint and back pain. Image: © Hemera Technologies/Thinkstock Exercising may be the last thing you want to do when you have a sore knee or aching back, but it might be the first thing you should do. Physical therapy has long been recommended following […]
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Take a stand against sitting
Studies have linked long periods of sitting with an increase in heart disease and early death. Image: © monkeybusinessimages/Thinkstock Odds are you are sitting while you read this. In fact, more than half of an average person’s waking hours are spent sitting, according to a study in the Jan. 19, 2015, Annals of Internal Medicine. […]
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Hormone therapy: The next chapter
Is it time to rewrite the book on postmenopausal hormone use? What a difference a decade makes! When the new millennium dawned, hormone therapy (HT) was a mainstay of postmenopausal health care. Besides relieving hot flashes and other troublesome symptoms, it was thought to offer protection against a host of degenerative disorders. In 2001, perimenopausal […]
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Lifestyle changes help keep weight off after menopause
Anyone who has tried to lose weight after menopause knows how stubborn those pounds can be. Rather than going on a “diet,” postmenopausal women are better off changing their eating in a way they can maintain over the long term, finds a recent study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The […]
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Major depression more likely during perimenopause than during premenopause
Besides hot flashes and extra-heavy periods, what else might the menopausal transition have in store for you? Possibly major depression, according to findings from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multi-ethnic study of women’s health at midlife. Perimenopause begins several years before menopause (the end of menstruation) and ends a year […]
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What you need to ask before getting an imaging test
Know why the test is being done, and how it will guide your treatment. If your doctor were to recommend that you have a computed tomography (CT) scan or x-ray, would you question whether you really needed it or if it’s worth the risks? Most people don’t ask—they just assume that the decision to have […]
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Ask the doctor: Does creatine improve strength in postmenopausal women?
Q. Could you discuss the benefits of creatine supplements for older, postmenopausal women? Are there any drawbacks? A. Creatine is a substance made in our bodies from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine. Amino acids are the chemical building blocks of protein; we get them from dietary protein. The body makes 1 to 2 […]
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