Heart Health

Drug testing is required of individuals for many different reasons. Many employers require potential employees to agree to some type of drug testing such as a hair follicle drug test to make sure that they do not take drugs. Drugs can affect an individual’s ability to perform work by affecting their judgment and causing various physical and psychological problems.

Coaches and sports organizations may requires athletes, both amateur and professional, to have drug testing, as taking drugs can give them an undeserved competitive advantage and cause major health problems. Some parents even decide to have their children undergo hair drug testing if they suspect possible drug abuse.

A hair follicle drug test is actually one of the simplest forms of drug testing currently available. The test only requires that a person submits several hair strands, which is one of the easiest methods. The process involves obtaining a hair sample,… Read More…

Well, all the Christmas lights and decorations have started to appear in our local malls. The competition is really hot this year. Retailers have been suffering because of the credit crunch so they started the campaign to get us to spend our hard-earned dollars really early. But, of course, we first have to get through Thanksgiving. And don’t forget about your health! In the good old days, those Pilgrims had an easy ride when it comes to weight loss. There was little food to last through each year so the idea of celebrating a successful harvest with a feast made sense. Filling up the store houses with grains and cereals really was the difference between life and death. So getting the family together was a way of boosting morale as everyone faced the hardships of the winter to come. Oh, and everyone was as thin as a rake. Today, the… Read More…

The marketers are out in force these days. They want to convince everyone that there is a pill to cure all ills. Oral medications are convenient for the patient. Just swallow and wait for results. They are profitable for the doctors because it takes only a minute to write out a prescription and wheel in the next patient. If you have to talk to the patients, this is fewer patients per day and less profit. It’s great for the pharmaceutical industry. Just press the “go” button on the machines in the factory to make the pills and watch the money roll into the bank account. But, as a country, do we really want everyone to be dependent on pills? Surely there must be a better way of delivering treatment to those who need it. Well, in the question lies the answer. The most effective treatments deal with the patient as… Read More…

Look around the bookshops and read some of the reviews for the latest books on weight loss and there’s a new buzzword on offer. It seems the genes you inherit from your parents change the way your body absorbs fat and carbohydrates. Gone are the days when a one-size-fits-all diet would sell like the proverbial hot cakes (unsweetened, of course). Now we are into the idea of personalized diets with DNA kits and gene testing offered as the way of designing the most effective way for you to lose those unwanted pounds. Except, there’s no science to support any of these claims. Myths help separate you from your money. The truth remains boring and does not sell many books.

Let’s start with the facts. The science of genetics has been around for centuries. Farmers, sports fans and governments have been selectively breeding animals (and plants) for their taste, speed or… Read More…