Dr. Jeff Brown's Blog
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Can Drinking Adequate Amounts of Water Help You Lose Weight?
If you're trying to lose weight, remember to drink plenty of water. Staying adequately hydrated can boost your metabolism by up to 3%! This is possible because your body is 60-70% water, and every metabolic chemical reaction that happens in your body must occur within a water environment. If you're dehydration, these reactions simply don't happen as well...
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Michelle Obama: 'Let's Move' Initiative Battles Childhood Obesity
Michelle Obama announced her far-reaching, nationwide campaign called "Let's Move" on Tuesday February 9, 2010. She referred to Let’s Move as a "very ambitious" program to end the American plague of childhood obesity in a single generation. Per Mrs. Obama, "We want to eliminate this problem of childhood obesity in a generation. We want to get that done..."
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Lower Vitamin D Levels in African Americans May Up Heart Disease Risks
New research suggests that low blood levels of vitamin D may increase a person’s risk of heart disease and stroke, among other serious illnesses such as diabetes, peripheral artery disease, high blood pressure, cancer and kidney disease [1]. Vitamin D is found very rarely in unfortified food, and is mostly produced in the body when sunlight interacts with skin cells. This is particularly concerning for people of color, because the darker the skin the less vitamin D that is produced in the body.
This lower level of production of vitamin D usually is not a problem when people of color are exposed to high levels of sunlight (at low latitudes or near the equator), but ...
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African American Women Die from Breast Cancer Twice that of Whites??
Breast cancer in African American women is something we can't afford to stop talking about. In 2009, an estimated 40,170 women will die from breast cancer. Nearly 6,000 will be African-American women. You do the math. African American women make-up roughly about 7% of the
It's been estimated that African American women ages 35 to 44 have a death rate from breast cancer twice that of white women the same age. The chart below shows how many deaths are caused by breast cancer per 100,000 by race and age...
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Are You At Risk for Heart Disease?
Heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the U.S. and around the world. What you don't know about heart disease can hurt you.
My goal as a physician is to empower people to take charge of their health and avoid needlessly suffering...
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H1N1 Infection Rates Down Around the Country but Too Early to Declare Victory
Rates of infection by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may have peaked in late October. Although this is certainly good and welcome new, it is far too early to declare victory over this virus.
The decline in the infection rates may be due to several factors, including:
· the infection of millions of Americans with this influenza virus already thus these individuals acting as a buffer to the further spread of the virus
· the impact of H1N1 vaccinations, which may have reduced the number of people susceptible to infection
· people simply doing the right things, such as staying home when sick, washing hands often, and avoiding the obviously sick
· changes in physician test-ordering practices
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Women No Longer Need to Start Getting Mammograms at Age 40??
New guidelines were published on 11/16/09 by the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force, a government-backed physician group, that said women 40 to 49 years of age no longer need to get annual mammograms, unless at high risk for breast cancer. The task force made these recommendations largely due to a study conducted by them which suggests that women who are at low risk for breast cancer are more likely to get false-positive tests that can lead to unnecessary biopsies and anxiety if starting mammograms before age 50.
The new guidelines have not been accepted by many health organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Both organizations strongly disagree with these new guidelines and are still recommending that women 40 to 49 get annual mammograms.
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Find a Location Near You for the Flu/H1N1 Vaccine Using Google Maps
Google has stepped up to help people find a place to get immunized for the seasonal flu and H1N1. This is timely due to the flu vaccine being in short supply nationally and globally.
Go to www.google.com/flushot to find a location near you. It works just like any other Google Maps application. Enter your address, press the "Go" button, and the application lays out icons on a map showing where to find flu shots in your area.
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10 Things to Know About Swine (H1N1) Flu to Protect Yourself from Getting Sick
1. No cause for panic.
So far, swine flu isn't much more threatening than regular seasonal flu. During the few months of this new flu's existence, hospitalizations and deaths from it seem to be lower than the average seen for seasonal flu, and the virus hasn't dramatically mutated.
That's what health officials have observed in the Southern Hemisphere. Still, more people are susceptible to swine flu and
2. The virus is tougher on some people.
Swine flu is more of a threat to certain groups - children under 2, pregnant women, people with health problems like asthma, diabetes and heart disease. Teens and young adults are also more vulnerable to swine flu.
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2009 Was Fine but 2010 is the Year of New Beginnings?
Each year around this time, most of us reflect over our lives and plan to do things different in the new year; although our hopes and intentions are sincere, we often fall short of our goals due to old habits and no definite plans.
There is a saying...
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Can You 'Catch' the Flu from Getting a Flu Shot?
Many individuals fear getting the flu vaccination, but those fears are unfounded. The primary argument against the flu shot is made by those people who think that you can “catch” the flu by receiving the flu vaccination. This argument is made based on word-of-mouth—someone telling someone else that he or she got the flu from receiving a flu vaccination. Although word-of-mouth is not scientific evidence, it can be very powerful and convincing. The counterargument is made by the medical community and that argument claims that you can’t catch the flu by receiving the flu vaccination. This argument is based on well-done scientific studies, which have proven that people don’t get the flu by receiving the flu vaccination.
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How Safe Are Cell Phones?
Can long-term cell phone use cause adverse health effects and even brain cancer?
The research is split if long-term cell phone use causes adverse health effects or not. Some studies done found no correlation between cell phone use and brain tumors, but yet others have suggested that people who use a cell phone for at least an hour each day over a 10 year period are at an increased risk of developing brain tumors on the side of head used to talk on the phone.
The central issue of concern about long-term cell phone use is the form of radiation that’s produced when a cell phone communicates with its base station. Cell phones work via emitting a radio frequency (RF) - which is a low-frequency form of radiation. This same type of radiation is used in microwave ovens and AM/FM radios.
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