Running for 30 years and a Cheap Holiday Feast

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I found a few good reads around the web. The first is from the Wall Street Journal. It talks about a 66 year old man and how for the past 30 years he has ran every day. What I find most suprising about the article is that his man is actually a doctor. He has ran atleast 2 miles every dance since 1978. I think the article is worth the read if you enjoy running or need some motivation to exercise. I really enjoy running myself, but I know that running more than 6 days a week really is not good practice. You usually feel more tired if you continue to run every day and don’t take atleast 1 day off every now and then. I no longer run very much due to knee injuries that have sidelined me. The … Read more

Ranking the Top Health Blogs

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For those who are interested in learning about health, using blogs in addition to more tradition forms of media is a great idea. I have personally been interested in learning about other health bloggers. Last month I found a great rescource that ranks the top 100 health blogs based on a number of factors. Some of the factors that go into the rankings are Google page rank, yahoo inlinks, bloglines subscribers, alexa ranking, and technorati. The rankings are provided by eDrugSearch.com. If you have a blog, you can add it to their database so that it can start to be tracked according to the above metrics. I checked out the blogs in the top 100 and was not particulary impressed. I feel their algorithm still could use some work. For example, I am not sure why they are not looking … Read more

Dental Hygiene Prevents Heart Infection

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Good dental hygiene and health may be crucial in preventing heart valve infection, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In a study of 290 dental patients, researchers investigated several measures of bacteremia (bacteria released into the bloodstream) during three different dental activities — tooth brushing, a single tooth extraction with a preventive antibiotic and a single tooth extraction with a placebo. Researchers found bacteria in the blood more often with the two extraction groups than with the brushing group. However, the incidence of bacteremia from brushing was closer to an extraction than expected. “This suggests that bacteria get into the bloodstream hundreds of times a year, not only from tooth brushing, but also from other routine daily activities like chewing food,” said Peter Lockhart, D.D.S. In 2007, the American Heart Association modified its recommendation … Read more

Perfect Looking Teeth

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A new measuring technique determines the effect of dental care products and helps  them so they polish the rough tooth surfaces until they are perfectly smooth, while preserving the tooth enamel. The tooth surface wears down and gets uneven – and the problem is that dental plaque adheres particularly well to a rough surface. Dentists therefore offer professional cleaning services, removing plaque and discoloration with abrasive prophylactic pastes. This renders the tooth surface beautifully smooth, making it difficult for bacteria to gain a foothold. Yet there is a risk that the polishing treatment will also grind away precious tooth enamel and dentin at the exposed necks of teeth. The manufacturers therefore have to find the happy medium when developing their prophylactic pastes: The pastes should be just abrasive enough to remove superficial discoloration and plaque, but preferably not wear down … Read more

Family Doctor’s Not Happy and How to Boost your Immune System

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I found two great articles. The first deals with how (primary-care) family doctors are not happy with the current bussiness in the U.S.  According to a recent survery “49 percent [of family doctors] said they’d consider leaving medicine. Many said they are overwhelmed with their practices, not because they have too many patients, but because there’s too much red tape generated from insurance companies and government agencies.” There is expected to be a shortage in the tens of thousands within the next 15-20 years. In addition current medical students are not interested in pimary care and want to enter other alternatives. To read the entire article visit http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/primary.care.doctors.study/index.html A current practicing primary care physician named James Hubbard has cited “anxiety and hassel” as the reasons he is currently part time. He publishes his own magazine called Family Doctor Mag. On … Read more