Fires. About 4,700 people die each year because of fires-the majority of which are avoidable, says Susan McKelvey, public affairs manager of the National Fire Protection Association in Quincy, Massachusetts. “Taking basic safety precautions greatly reduces the risk of fire,” McKelvey says. “Cigarettes should be extinguished with water; smoking carelessly is the leading cause of [...]

Bulimia does not produce physical symptoms in the same way that chicken pox does, for example. But there are physical consequences, most of which are actually side effects of overeating or vomiting. These complications can be grouped as follows: Digestive Tract Stomach pain Abdominal swelling Pancreatitis Cramps Nausea Vomiting (involuntary) Rupture Malnutrition Electrolyte imbalance Hair [...]

For almost 18 years, Denise Ramirez tried and failed to lose the 80 pounds that stuck around after her pregnancy. She tried exercise classes, but she couldn’t stick with the schedule. “So one day, I put on my headset and went for a walk,” says Denise, 36, of Fresno, California. “And you know what? I [...]

An interesting study demonstrated what happens when the powerful stress hormones are released too often. A group of rats was forced to listen to a tape recording of a cats chasing rats, complete with hissing and squealing. Stress chemicals flooded the rats’ bodies as they prepared to fight or run away from the cat. But [...]

I was sitting in my office with a pleasant 42-year-old-banker. His medical and personal history had been taken, his physical examination was completed and his test results had been returned to me. His outlook was good, but his health was only fair. After discussing Super Foods and other recommendations, I suggested that he embark on [...]

Be good to your body. Give it lots of water. Not coffee or soda or hot chocolate, but water. Men’s bodies are approximately 60 percent water; women’s are about 50 percent water. Our bloodstream is watery; our cells are filled with and surrounded by water; our muscles contain plenty of water, and our brain has [...]

If you think you have nothing to worry about because your doctor has told you’re in average health, think again: • The average American in average health has the average heart attack. • The average American in average health gets the average cancer, diabetes, stroke. • The average American is tired and unhappy • The [...]

The main characteristic of lectins is that they bind to carbohydrate molecules carried on the surface of all cells. As a result, they make red blood cells clump together, and this is how they are recognized in the laboratory. The deadly poison, ricin, used in the KGB’s infamous umbrella-tip murder of George Markov, is a [...]

And here is another experience with chicken fat which is just as interesting. In a lonely farmstead a young man hurt himself badly while felling a tree. The axe went right into his knee and cracked the knee cap. He dragged himself to the house with difficulty. There was no doctor for miles around and, [...]

The answer escaped me for quite a while, but I found it in the end, and it is actually very simple. You see, birds like papaya too and when they find the fruit growing in clearings they swoop down and pick at them, seeds and all. Off they fly again and on the way their [...]