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29 April 2012 23:21

Healthy titbits

Some positive health news on heart disease, Alzheimer’s.

As everyone enjoys the long weekend and celebrates Freedom Day and Worker’s Day, I thought it might be a good moment to look at some of the good news coming out of the health field, in keeping with the spirit of festivity.

So here are a few hopeful bits of health news on preventing heart disease, memory loss, and even Alzheimer’s disease.

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05 April 2012 03:12

The devil's tempting white powder

Sugar and your health – stay away from the sweet stuff?

Humans are born with an innate love of all things sweet; scientists speculate that it was an evolutionary advantage to love sugary things, since that love would have sent our ape ancestors scurrying up trees in search of nice, ripe bananas or papayas, fruits that were rich in the calories they needed, with vitamins and fibre to boot.But after our species discovered that we could cultivate sugar cane or sugar beets or, more recently, corn, and distil pure sweetness out of these things, it all got a bit out of hand.

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14 March 2012 02:51

Sleep, glorious sleep!

How to improve your sleep and why it matters for your health.

For the last few days, my next door neighbour, may calamity be heaped upon his head, has been keeping me awake late at night with a combination of loud music, chattering, and mysterious banging noises. As a consequence, I’ve developed a new appreciation of the vital importance of a precious eight hours of sleep for feeling human during the day.

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27 February 2012 04:16

A new anti-obesity pill?

Why it’s hard to fight fat with drugs, and the latest try.

Obesity is a raging global epidemic. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are 90 countries in the world (including South Africa, see table one) in which 20% or more of either the male or female population qualifies as obese (that is, has a body mass index of over 30). The condition is associated with a large number of health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and even certain cancers. Yet despite its seriousness and high prevalence, obesity has proven stubbornly hard to treat. In general, weight loss among the obese is slow and difficult, and, once achieved, very hard to maintain.

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13 February 2012 07:05

Overeating can increase risk of memory loss in old age

Dementia risk is another reason to choose a low-calorie diet.

According to a soon-be-published report from America’s Mayo Clinic, overeating may double the risk of memory loss among people over 70, a finding that highlights yet again the dangers posed by high-calorie diets and being overweight.

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