JustCare

Tag: Health and wellness

  • Diet Soda, No Solution for Weight Loss

    Diet Soda, No Solution for Weight Loss

    A recent study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that diet soda is no solution for weight loss. Overweight adults who drink diet soda end up consuming more calories from solid foods than overweight adults who drink sugar-sweetened drinks.

    Interestingly, the researchers found that healthy-weight adults who drank diet soda did not consume more calories from solid foods.  Drinking diet drinks helped them maintain their weight.

    The study looked at data of almost 24,000 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Survey between 1999 and 2010.

  • The kiosk that takes your blood pressure is a tool to make money off of your personal data

    The kiosk that takes your blood pressure is a tool to make money off of your personal data

    Have you ever checked your weight or blood pressure at a health-screening kiosk?  These kiosks are popping up at major supermarkets and mega retail stores.  What you might not realize is that these kiosks are designed to collect lots of your personal information.  It’s valuable to health insurers and other health care companies.
    According to Kaiser Health News, SoloHealth owns these machines and will have 5000 of them in stores by the end of this year.   They take the names, email addresses and phone numbers of the people who use their kiosks and sell them to companies who want to market to you.  They also can sell your weight, age, and blood pressure information.If you’re not looking to gift your personal information to SoloHealth, it’s best to keep in mind that there’s no such thing as a free health kiosk screening.  For more information, click here.
  • Alzheimer’s Disease more prevalent among women and Hispanics

    Alzheimer’s Disease more prevalent among women and Hispanics

    A 2014 Alzheimer’s Association report finds that about two out of three people with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, are women.  In fact one out of six women over 60 get Alzheimer’s disease as compared to one out of eleven men. About five million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, with the vast majority 75 and older.While more white Americans than African Americans and Hispanics have Alzheimer’s disease, older Hispanics and African Americans are more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease than white Americans.  Older African Americans are almost twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s than older white Americans, and older Hispanics are almost three times as likely to have Alzheimer’s than white Americans.
    Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and the fifth leading cause of death among older adults.
    Picture
  • Could you be eating too little salt?

    Could you be eating too little salt?

    The latest research on salt intake leaves unclear whether we should all be eating more salt, at least more than the teaspoon a day—2.3 grams—that has been recommended by the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association and many doctors.

    The common view is that low salt intake controls blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke.  But the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports that there is not enough evidence to support this view.  If your salt intake is less than a teaspoon a day, there is little data on the benefit and some data to suggest it can be harmful to some subpopulations.

    The researchers at the Institute of Medicine do not specify what the appropriate level of salt intake should be, only that two new studies show some adverse health effects from too little salt intake—below the teaspoon a day.   But, the studies are limited in scope.  And, the IOM researchers see a need for more research on this topic.Read more about this from the National Library of Medicine here and in the New York Times here.