A survey consisting of more that a quarter of a million interviews has revealed a possible link between being overweight and being depressed.  The information collected shows than more than 23% of obese adults have been diagnosed with depression.  The percentage of depression for adults of a healthy weight is much lower, at less than fifteen percent.

Your doctor and home health aide are in your life to provide help and to keep you healthy, but keeping secrets could prevent them from doing their job.  If you’ve been experiencing any type of unexplained ache, pain or abnormality you should broach the subject with your health care provider as soon as possible.

If you’ve just recently got clearance to begin a new exercise program and are sore after the first session, there is probably no need to be alarmed but instances of unexplained pain are a different story entirely.  A recent posting on WebMD reveals seven types of pain that could be potential indicators of something serious that requires medical attention.

According to the WebMD article, common problems like stomach pain and back pain could be signs of a heart problem; a severe headache could be your body alerting you of an aneurism and burning in your lower legs could be a sign of diabetes.  These are symptoms that many people think will simply go away on their own or with the help of an over the counter medication, but unfortunately that isn’t always the case.

Hearing from your doctor or home nurse that your pain is nothing serious is wonderful news, but you can only hear that if you make the effort to discuss it with them.  If you’ve got any unusual pain or problem, even if you think it’s nothing, the safest bet is to get yourself checked out and let the professionals make that determination.  As the old saying goes – it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Research from a recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal puts a potential link between getting your flu shot and preventing your first heart attack.  The study followed nearly eighty thousand people and concluded that those who got a flu shot during the previous year were nearly twenty percent less likely to suffer their first heart attack than people who didn’t get a flu shot.

Though the exact connection between getting a flu shot and the prevention of a first heart attack is still a bit unclear, the findings in the study could certainly change the way people approach getting their flu shot.  Subjects in the study who received their flu shots early in the season seemed to be even more protected than those who got it later.

Due to the shortage of flu vaccines last year there were many people who either couldn’t get it or opted to forego it, but increased production and distribution should give everyone a chance to get their flu shot early enough this year to be protected.

There are a number of ways to focus on and improve heart health as you age and though the flu shot may have benefits of protecting from a first heart attack, you still need to focus on your heart health in more direct ways.  Consult your doctor or home nurse about possible changes in your diet that may help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol or increase your heart health.  You may also want to talk to your doctor or health aide about the possibility of beginning a fitness routine to help you achieve optimal health.

More time and effort has gone into the research and analysis of the effects of the popular supplements glucosamine and chondroitin and the results are not very positive.  It seems as though, despite several years of recommendations and booming sales over the course of the last decade, glucosamine and chondroitin, when taken individually or combined provide no more relief from arthritis than a placebo.

The only good news to come from the extensive research is that the drugs don’t seem to do any harm or create and danger to subjects who’ve been taking them, so those who have been using them and experiencing a placebo effect of relief can feel free to continue taking it without fear of negative effects.

For new arthritis sufferers who’ve yet to be directed toward taking glucosamine and/or chondroitin for relief, researchers suggest that a different course of action or treatment that has been proven to be affective would probably be more advisable.

Though many arthritis sufferers want to move as little as possible when having pain, there are a number of movements that are safe and effective and that can actually help to reduce arthritis and joint pain.  In fact, participation in a regular fitness regime could possibly even eliminate the need for over the counter or prescription methods of relief for sufferers of mild arthritis. Your primary physician or home nurse may be able to offer suggestions on activities and exercises that may help to alleviate your arthritis pain.

Based on the findings of this research, if you’ve been taking glucosamine and chondroitin for arthritis relief, you may want to talk to your doctor or health care provider about alternative methods that may prove a bit more effective.

Many people who have coronary artery disease, are at risk of a heart attack or who’ve suffered a stroke have at least had a discussion with their primary care physician or home care nurse about the potential benefits of daily supplementation with low dose aspirin, but a new study has revealed another big potential benefit of daily aspirin therapy.

Nearly six thousand people participated in a recent study that revealed that even the lowest possible dose of aspirin daily may help to prevent colorectal cancer.  The study followed the dietary habits of healthy individuals as well as those recovering from colorectal cancer and found that daily supplementation of low dose aspirin

It works this way every year – Summer ends, Fall begins and the instances of colds and flus start to go up.  While you should always make a concerted effort to wash your hands after using the restroom, before and after handling food and after changing diapers or handling trash – this is the time of year that it almost pays to be fanatical about keeping clean.

Recent onsite and phone surveys conducted by Harris Interactive for the American Society for Microbiology and the American Cleaning Institute revealed that though statistics are up when it comes to cleaning up after using the restroom, that they still aren’t where they need to be in order to prevent spreading of germs.  Overall statistics for properly washing up after necessary events were up nearly twenty percent from the paltry numbers that a similar survey revealed just four years ago. Which means that more people across America are getting the hint that it pays to fight germs by washing hands. But in order to prevent major outbreaks of colds and flus, those statistics need to be a lot closer to one hundred percent.

It’s not possible to entirely avoid every single instance where you could become infected with a virus. Taking the time and doing your part to properly clean up after you’ve used any restroom (public or private), after you’ve been around someone who’s been sick or after you’ve handled a heavily used public item like the handle of a supermarket shopping cart, can go a long way in protecting you from becoming sick this cold and flu season.

It’s also a good idea to consult your doctor or home nurse about getting a flu shot as early as possible and there are certainly other suggestions that you doctor or health aide can help you with in regards to staying as healthy as possible throughout the coming cold and flu season.

Even with all of the advertisements, warnings and health recommendations a shockingly low percentage of Americans are eating the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables.  Despite what we know about the dangers of obesity and the health benefits of consuming fresh veggies and fruits, less than a third of adults are eating the RDA of fruits and barely a quarter are eating the RDA of vegetables.

Though seniors, as a group, rank much higher than the national average in consumption of both fruits and vegetables there are still fewer than half of people over the age of 65 eating enough fruits and under 30% taking in enough veggies.

For people who have grown accustomed to living without fruits and vegetables in their diet, consuming two or more servings of fruits and three or more servings of vegetable per day can sound like an overwhelming amount, but getting your RDA of isn’t nearly as difficult as it may sound.

You can incorporate fruit very easily into a variety of meals – slice a banana into your cold cereal at breakfast or toss a handful of blueberries or strawberries into your oatmeal; mix diced peaces or pineapple into some cottage cheese at lunch and mix some raspberries and granola into a cup of plain yogurt as healthy desert or in between meal snack and you’ve more than covered your fruit quota for the day.

When it comes to veggies there seem to be a lot of picky eaters out there, but great ways to get them into meals are to incorporate them right into the main dishes.  Mix spinach, mushrooms and peas into lasagnas and other pasta dishes, make stir fries; top sandwiches with lettuce and tomato and if worse comes to worse and you still can’t seem to hit the RDA with solids, turn to juices to meet your needs.

Consult your doctor or health aide prior to making any changes in your regular diet or if you have any questions regarding transitioning to a healthier diet.  It’s also important to talk to your doctor or health aide if you plan on beginning a new exercise program or if you are considering taking any nutritional supplements in order to ensure that your plan of action is safe.

Making the decision to quit smoking is probably one of the best decisions that you will ever make.  Some folks who believe that they’ve been smoking too long or are too old to quit couldn’t be more incorrect – you are never too old to get healthier by foregoing your habit of smoking cigarettes, but you do have to be careful about how you go about doing it.

Electronic cigarettes are the latest gimmick being advertised as a safe and healthy way to quit smoking regular cigarettes, but recent warnings from the FDA are bringing to light many of the potential dangers of this smoking alternative.  Five electronic cigarette manufacturers have been cited by the FDA as having unsafe manufacturing procedures, for containing unapproved drugs and for containing ingredients or quantities that weren’t consistent with what was advertised.

Each of the five companies has been given a brief window of time to correct the violations, but there also seems to be concerns about other companies that manufacture these devices so even if these particular infractions do get corrected, using any electronic cigarette as a means to kick the habit may not be the best idea.

You don’t necessarily need to rely on gadgets or gimmicks to quit smoking. Ask your doctor or home health aide for suggestions about safe and effective prescription and over the counter treatments that are available to help you with smoking cessation.  If you aren’t crazy about the idea of taking a medication to help you quit, consult your doctor or health aide about natural remedies or support groups to help make the transition.  Quitting may not be easy and it may not be fun but it can save you a substantial amount of money and, even more importantly, help to make dramatic improvements to your health.

Changing the overall scope of your diet is often a necessity if you want to lose weight and switching to a low carb diet has been one of the most popular options for weight loss during recent years.   Switching from a high carb diet to a low carb diet and focusing on the types of carbs that you consume can be a good way to get your weight in check, but a recent released study reveals that you may need to look beyond just your carbohydrate consumption if you want to be as healthy as possible.

Most people know the tremendous health benefits that regular participation in a fitness routine will have for them, but that is still not motivation enough to keep them on track with their workouts.  If looking better, feeling better, increased mobility and the chance to ward off serious disease aren’t enough motivation to keep you moving, maybe you need to take a completely different approach to your fitness program.

Start by re-evaluating your choice of activities, part of your lack of enthusiasm for your workout may stem from the fact that you aren’t really enjoying what you are doing to get fit.  It doesn’t matter if your neighbor, your son or your favorite Hollywood star has told you that the activity that you are performing is the best for getting in shape – if you don’t enjoy it or can’t keep doing it, what those around you say doesn’t make very much difference.  Rather than picking an activity based on what has worked for someone else or what someone else enjoys, pick something that is fun for you and that will give you a much better chance of actually sticking to it.

If motivation still seems to be a bit of an issue once you’ve begun performing an activity that you enjoy, set up a goal and reward system for yourself.  Have your doctor or home nurse help you to set safe, realistic and achievable goals and once you’ve reached them, treat yourself to something that you enjoy.  If you reach your weight loss goal of eight pounds in a month, buy yourself a new top, a new DVD or a new book – just avoid rewards that might jeopardize your hard work, like indulgences in empty calories foods.

Achieving your health goals has a lot to do with staying motivated to stick to your plan. If you can figure out how to do that, odds are you’ll be successful in your workout endeavors.  Prior to starting a new fitness plan, be sure to consult your doctor or health care provider to be sure that your activity of choice is safe for your personal situation – once you’ve got clearance, get motivated and get moving.