TRENDO HEALTH TIPS

Imagine living without illness to slow you down. While there are no lifetime guarantees, enough scientific research has been done to make long, healthy living a possibility. To help women boost health, Trendo Health Tips examined five medical conditions that are of great concern to them: heart disease, breast cancer, osteoporosis, depression, and autoimmune diseases. We looked at the risk factors for each disease and asked the experts what women could do to prevent such ailments. In order to make full use of this information, Saralyn Mark, MD, encourages women to take charge of their health. She says women need to work in partnership with their doctors by finding out their family medical history, educating themselves on health issues, and paying attention to their bodies. "You know what makes you feel good, you know when you don't feel well. Understanding your body is key," says Mark, senior medical adviser for the Office on Women's Health at ...

If you’re overweight, you’ve probably thought about shedding some pounds. If you have diabetes or are at risk for getting it, you should stop thinking and start doing -- now. Why? Because excess weight puts a strain on your body in all sorts of ways. “What we know in diabetes prevention, and in  prediabetes , is that a very modest amount of  weight loss  has this huge reduction in risk,” Marrero says. “You lose 7% of your  body weight , you cut your risk [of developing diabetes] by 60%. And, in fact, if you’re over 65, it’s over 70%." But how do you not just lose weight, but keep it off? Through a combination of  exercise  and watching what you eat. The Exercise Factor If you’re  overweight  and have diabetes, or are at risk of getting it, you have to exercise. There’s no way around it. “In your body, what exercise does, is it allows you to bind or uptake  insulin  more efficiently,” Marrero says. Your ...

It is known that being overweight or obese leads to poor health, but it may be less known that abdominal fat is the most harmful type. Until now, researchers were unsure of the mechanisms responsible for this — but now, they reveal how an enzyme produced by our liver raises the risk of diabetes. When it comes to the harmful consequences of excess fat, the way it is distributed across the body is key. Research have shown that abdominal fat is deeply tied to  type 2 diabetes  and  heart disease .  Studies suggest that women, in particular, could be at an increased cardiometabolic risk if they have a higher waist-to-hip ratio. Additional research has found that belly fat is particularly dangerous when inflamed. Older  studies  have shown that local  inflammation  in the adipose tissue leads to cardiometabolic abnormalities such as  insulin resistance . But the exact mechanism responsible for this connection between adipose...