ArcaMax

LDL is often called bad or lousy cholesterol -- for good reason. If you have too much floating in your bloodstream and sticking to the walls of your blood vessels and arteries, your arteries stiffen, and you can end up with blockages that cause a heart attack, stroke, peripheral artery or kidney disease, dementia and/or depression.

Lowering LDL...Read more

Pizza, cold cuts and cured meats, burritos, tacos, chips, bacon, frankfurters and sausages are major sources of excess salt in the American diet. And the salt in those foods doesn't just impact how the heart and kidney function, leading to high blood pressure (HBP). It also activates immune cells in the brain, triggering inflammation that then ...Read more

If you are younger than 60, you probably aren't thinking much about the risk of developing cognition problems or dementia (although I think you should). But every time you sip flavored water, soda, energy drinks, or eat yogurt or a low-calorie dessert sweetened with aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-k, erythritol, sorbitol or xylitol, you may be ...Read more

Every year, almost 610,000 Americans have a first-time stroke and, for around 87% of them, it's an ischemic stroke, in which a blood clot or plaque in the arteries blocks blood flow to the brain. And surprisingly, about a third of people hospitalized for stroke are younger than 65!

A family history and genetics can play a role, but stress, ...Read more

In 1965, when Len Barry sang "One, two, three/Oh, that's all elementary," he had no idea that he had created the perfect slogan for an anti-diabetes campaign. Fast forward 60 years and the PREDIMED-Plus study is singing the praises of 1-2-3 simple lifestyle changes that can cut someone's risk of developing full-blown Type 2 diabetes by 31%.

...Read more

Omega-3s, including ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), are essential for cardiovascular health -- and studies indicate they also have a role in infant development, brain health, easing rheumatoid arthritis pain, and in preventing some cancers, macular degeneration and dry eye.

Now, a study ...Read more

Did you know that only around 5% of folks who engage in vigorous physical activity report that they're always dealing with pain? In contrast, a staggering 57% of the millions of American adults who don't get even the minimum recommended 150 minutes a week of activity say they're always hurting. Clearly, a lot of you are having to deal with the ...Read more

When Whitney Houston sang "children are our future/teach them well and let them lead the way," she was right on. But as a country, we're letting our kids down, big time.

A recent research letter in JAMA Pediatrics looked at 10 years' worth of data on young people ages 12 to 25. It showed that obesity was the cause of almost 80% of diabetes ...Read more

"All in the Family" was a hilarious take on the tough times that a child (Gloria), in-law (son-in-law Meathead) and parents (Archie and Edith) can encounter. But there's nothing funny about the way family members can increase their near-and-dear's risk for Type 2 diabetes.

A study presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes ...Read more

We're learning more and more about the far-reaching benefits of the new weight loss GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound. For example, a study in JAMA Oncology shows that folks taking these medications have a 17% lower risk of developing 12 of 13 obesity-related cancers, plus lung cancer, than folks who don't take them. ...Read more

It may seem counterintuitive, but a new study in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise indicates that kids ages 9-12 do better on school tests when they are allowed to have 9 minutes of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) in the classroom before they pick up their pencils and take an exam. Not only does their elevated heart rate ...Read more

If you -- like 84 million of your fellow Americans -- frequently get only fair or poor-quality sleep, it's time to turn back the clock on the health risks associated with sleep problems. They include difficulty with short-term memory and hand-eye coordination; trouble with alertness and the ability to learn; moodiness; and a significantly ...Read more

In January of 2025, there were more than 18 million folks in the U.S. living with a history of cancer. That includes 4.3 million folks who have battled breast cancer and 3.5 million who have survived prostate cancer. About half were diagnosed in the past 10 years and nearly 80% are 60 or older. That's a lot of folks who are breathing a sigh of ...Read more

Almost 50% of U.S. adults have high blood pressure, putting them at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, heart attack and dementia. Unfortunately, even though their hearts are physically older than their chronological age, until disaster strikes, it's easy to overlook -- or never check for -- signs of high blood pressure and CVD.

Now,...Read more