Why more is not better? Everywhere you look, there are signs to “Supersize” or “Value Size” your order of food. When you go out to dinner at a sit-down restaurant, the plate your food is served on is huge and it is usually piled with food. When did portion sizes...
Your Health Consult 2018
Instant Gratification
Why is it such a problem? We live in a society where when we want something, we can have it almost instantaneously. If you don’t know something, pull out your phone and look it up. If you need a gift for someone, order it online and have it shipped to their house and...
Health History
Why do you need to know it? Given the number of people who have health problems, it would be easy to assume that these individuals would be well versed in their health history. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case in the majority of situations. Health history is vital...
Global Health
Why does it matter? When we think of health, it’s usually in relation to our own or someone we care about. Occasionally, when a larger scale event happens, such as a really bad flu season or the opioid epidemic, we think of it in broader terms. While this is good, we...
Exercise
How much do you really need? Exercise is beneficial for your health, so the more you do the better your health will be, right? Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. It’s actually possible to exercise too much. What is over-exercising? What happens to your body when you...
Dr. Internet
Are there risks to looking up health information online? The sheer volume of information on the internet can be very beneficial. When you don’t know something, it’s incredibly easy to go type it into a search engine and the next thing you know, you’ve got thousands of...
Saving Lives
What happens if we’re only prolonging death? You have probably experienced, or know someone who has experienced, the difficulty of deciding what to do when a loved one is on life support and whether they should remain on it or be taken off. The burden of making the...
Lifelong Learning
How does it impact your health? When you hear the word learning, the first thing that you think of is probably school. While learning definitely takes place in school, it doesn’t have to end once you leave school. By continuing to learn throughout your life, you can...
Music
How does it affect your health? We all have different songs that remind us of something, whether it is good or bad depends on the association that we’ve made between that song and the event we link it to. Music is a very powerful tool that our brains use in processing...
Cleanliness
Is there such a thing as too much? Everywhere you look you are bombarded with ads or information about the latest cleaning products. These products can be used for anything from your home to body. There is no question that improvement in cleanliness and sanitation...
Habits
Why are they so hard to change? Everyone has habits, some are good and some are bad, but we all have them. The good ones can actually help us to function on a daily basis. The bad ones obviously aren’t good for us and, in some cases, can significantly impact our...
Poverty
How does it affect your health? With the ever-widening gap between the rich and poor in our country, there has been increasing focus on how poverty impacts the lives of the individuals living it. There is no question that it significantly affects many aspects of a...
Communication
Why is there a lack of it in healthcare? Communication is essential when it comes to your job, relationships and any aspect of your life. Imagine if you didn’t relay important information at work. How would this affect your job? Probably something not pleasant, but...
Downtime
Why is it important to do nothing? It seems that no matter how hard you try, there is never enough time in the day to do all the things that you have to do, let alone the things you want to do for fun. Why is the case? Have we really become that busy that downtime is...
America’s Healthcare
Why is it so broken? How do we fix it? When it comes to America’s healthcare system, there is no question that it is broken. There is a significant number of people who are ill with chronic conditions and many of them are uninsured. The prices for prescription drugs...
Hobbies
Why are they good for your health? While most of us know what hobbies are, and we probably had one at one point, many of us don’t have one any more. This isn’t good because having a hobby can provide significant number of health benefits. What are they? What has...
Reading
Why don’t we do more of it? Americans are reading less than they used to. Why? The majority of people think it is because of all of the technology that is available to us nowadays. Is this really the case? Why is it so critical that we, as a society, shift our focus...
Pill Popping Culture
Do we really need a pill for everything? Every time you turn the television on there is a commercial for a new medication. Some of them are to treat diseases for that have been known about for a while, but others are for new diseases. Why is this the case? Why have we...
Children
Are there health benefits to having them? For many people the ability to have children comes easily. Unfortunately, for some it is can be a struggle. Yet, others consciously choose not have them. There are many factors that should be considered when thinking about...
Diabetes & Obesity
How are they related? Why do so many Americans have both? When you consider the number of people in America who are obese and have diabetes, it begs the question of how the two are connected? Does one cause the other? There are serious health complications that arise...
Traveling
Are there health benefits? Are you the type of person who enjoys going to new places, experiencing new things and having adventures? Or, are you the type that loves to go to their favorite place to disconnect from everyday life, slowing things down and spending time...
Healthcare & Politics
Why is it such a mess? Regardless of which political party you affiliate with, most of us can agree that politics is a mess. This is especially true in relation to healthcare. What one party thinks will work, the other party opposes it. This opposition seems to be...
Healthy Foods
Are they really that expensive? Everyone wants to be healthy and one way to accomplish this is to eat food that provides the right nutrients your body needs to function efficiently. The problem with this seems to lie in purchasing healthy foods. Whenever you are at...
Abortion
Why is it making headlines? When it comes to abortion, everyone has their own strongly held beliefs. Lately, it has been making the news more than ever because of the retirement of one of the Supreme Court justices and the selection of his replacement. Many people are...
Circadian Rhythm
Why is it important? How do you know when to wake up in the morning? If you’re lucky, you’re able to get up without using an alarm clock. Have you ever felt sleepy in the afternoon? What causes these things to happen? Your internal body clock does and it is essential...
American Lifestyle
Why is it going to kill us? Most of us are probably aware of the fact that the American lifestyle is a direct contributor to how unhealthy many of us are, but what are the exact causes? Are they something that we have control over? In order to improve our health as...
Alcohol
Is it good or bad for you? Is any amount of alcohol good? Most people partake in having an alcoholic beverage at some point in their lives. For some people, they only drink on special occasions. Other people drink only a few times a year or few times a month. Some...
Health & Wealth
What’s the connection? While you may know that having good health is important, do you know how your health is impacted by your wealth or lack thereof? Most of the time, we think of health and wealth as two separate things, but they are actually tied very closely...
Functional Fitness
What is it? Why do you need it? Being fit has been the rage for several years now. You have many different options when it comes to becoming fit, such as CrossFit, HIIT (High Intensity, Interval Training) and so many others. Lately, the words “Functional Fitness” seem...
Outside
Why is it so important for your health? For most people, spending time outside is usually an enjoyable event. Whether you are going for a walk, hiking through a forest, rafting down a river or whatever it is that catches your fancy, the emotions we feel during and...
Public Health
Why is it so important? When you hear the term “public health,” what comes to mind? You might picture a crowded waiting room at your local health department. Maybe, you think about policies put in place by the government in order to make widespread changes to protect...
Health Technology
How has it changed healthcare? Technology is all around us. All of us use it in our lives daily, so it isn’t something that we think about the impact it has in various areas of life with any great detail. Due to all of the advances that have been made, it is easy to...
Essential Oils
Do they work? Everywhere you turn there seems to be a new essential oil company. While this may be the latest craze in the past few years, not everyone is convinced that they are effective at doing what companies claim. What are essential oils? What are they used for?...
Tuberculosis
Why you should be concerned about it becoming drug-resistant? You have probably heard about tuberculosis at some point before, but did you know that it the number one cause of death from an infectious disease and it affects about a third of the world’s population?...
FDA
What is their job? The FDA has been in the news a lot lately. This is especially true with the recall of romaine lettuce due to the contamination from E. coli. The FDA’s involvement in matters like these, leads to questions about their purpose and the role they play...
Immigration
How does it impact healthcare? All of the recent discussions about immigration, deportation and travel bans brings forth many questions. For most people, they are concerned about themselves or family members being deported or family members not being allowed to come...
’13 Reasons Why’
The importance of talking about teenage suicide When the show ’13 Reasons Why’ aired last spring, it was instantly popular, but it also created a significant amount of controversy. With season two set to be released at some point soon, it brings the concerns regarding...
Teenagers & Vaping
Should you be concerned? With the invention of the e-cigarette and the lack of appropriate regulation, it isn’t any wonder that it has become extremely popular, especially among teenagers. While there are plenty of facts about traditional cigarettes being harmful for...
Car Emissions
What does the role back of regulations mean? With the announcement by the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency stating that the regulations for controlling the emissions from cars and trucks would be lessened, it begs the question how will this likely...
Antibiotics
Why don’t some of them work anymore? Antibiotics have been proven to be life saving since their discovery. In recent years, some of them are unable to treat the infections they were designed to. Why is this happening? Can’t we just make newer, better antibiotics?...
World Health Organization
What is their role? The World Health Organization isn’t something that most people spend a great deal of time thinking about. Usually, it makes the news when there is some sort of health crisis occurring that will likely have a global impact and they are making...
Food Waste
What can you do? When you think about food, you usually are thinking about what you are going to eat next or what you might need from the grocery store. Most of the time, none of us think about the amount of food that gets wasted daily. If you stop to think about it...
Cigarettes
Why are they still around? It wasn’t too long ago that you would see someone smoking inside a restaurant, store, or place of work. Since the damaging health effects of smoking have come to light and more people are aware of them, there have been numerous steps to...
Violence with Guns
Is there a way for everyone to be safer? The commonplace of guns being used in violent crimes is so frequent, we’ve become desensitized to it. It isn’t until there is a mass shooting, particularly when it is at a school, that there comes a cry for something to be done...
Pharmaceuticals
Why are they so expensive? When you see the prices for new medications they are astounding. Now, certain drug companies are charging more for medications that have been around for years, such as the EpiPen. Why are drug companies allowed to do this? What has to change...
Flu Season
Why is this one so bad? When you read or listen to the news, there are numerous stories about the flu and the latest victims who have succumb to it. Unfortunately, this number keeps rising and it doesn’t look like this is going to change any time soon. Why is this...
Mindfulness
Does it really benefit your health? Every where you look, you are being told to be mindful about something. Be mindful while eating. Be mindful while exercising. Be mindful while washing your car. Be mindful while showering. What exactly is mindfulness? Why should we...
Childhood Sports
Are they dangerous? Most people have participated at some sport during their childhood. Yes, occasionally injuries would occur. However, the amount that childhood sports injuries are being discussed by various media sources seems to be increasing. Are sports more...
Parental Leave
Why is it not a standard? You are expecting a baby and couldn’t be more excited! Once your baby arrives, you definitely want to be able to spend time with him or her. Here in the United States, you will be able to take time off, but most likely it will not be paid. We...
India’s Air Pollution
Should you be worried? The pictures of the air pollution in India have been all over the news. You see people with masks covering their faces walking on streets so thick with smog that you can’t even see more than a few feet. What is the cause? How can it be fixed?...
Lab Grown Organs
The new future of transplants? Imagine if you needed a new bladder, liver or heart, this idea can be quite frightening. Until we are told otherwise, we assume that the organs that we are born with are the ones we are going to have until we die. However, due to disease...
Opioid Crisis Update
When will it end? We are still in the middle of opioid crisis and it doesn’t look like it is going to get any better any time soon. There has been a new face added to the mix and it is even more potent than Fentanyl. Are we ever going to be able to get a grip on this...