More than 23 million Americans have diabetes, according to 2007 statistics from the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. This chronic illness affects the way in which the body produces or uses insulin, a hormone that regulates the...
Companies improve their bottom lines with wellness programs in a variety of ways. They reduce tardiness, absenteeism, injuries, health-care costs, workers' compensation claims and lawsuits. They increase profits through increased productivity, as...
When you quit smoking and lose weight you are bringing tremendous health benefits to your life. Unfortunately, doing both together isn't easy. People who quit smoking substitute their cravings for a cigarette with going to the refrigerator at home...
The treatment for a mild heart attack follows similar regimens provided to patients whose heart attack causes significant heart muscle damage. Individualized treatment plans incorporate a combination of medication, diagnostic evaluation, surgical...
The American Heart Association and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's definition of blood pressure is the amount of force pushing against artery walls when the heart is contracting and when the heart is at rest. When this force reaches or...
Due to the chemical composition of nicotine and its effect on various systems in the body, the relationship between smoking and body metabolism is complex. Nevertheless, it's clear that nicotine increases the body's use of energy, essentially...
When psychologist James Beard coined the term hypnosis, he believed the hypnotic trance was a form of induced sleep brought on by direct intervention of the hypnotist. One hundred years later, psychiatrist and hypnotist Milton H. Erickson used...
A wellness program is typically a company sponsored program designed to improve employee health, reduce health care expenses, enhance productivity, decrease stress and boost morale. However, these types of programs can be offered at commercial...
High blood pressure is a common precursor to cardiac events such as heart attack or stroke. Along with dietary measures, exercise, weight management and smoking cessation, the use of prescription drugs is widely accepted as a method of regulating...
A stroke occurs when there is either a break or block in an artery that supplies blood to the brain. Strokes that result from blocked arteries are referred to as ischemic; strokes that result from a break in an artery are referred to as...
About two-thirds of physicians and patients believe adults should have an annual checkup, according to the American Medical Association (AMA). The annual checkup serves a number of functions that might help improve health and maintain wellness....
Patients who undergo heart bypass surgery or who experience another serious event, such as a heart attack, may be asked to participate in cardiac rehab. This is a medical program supervised by a team of specialists that are trained to help...
Although cholesterol has a negative image, it's actually a vital substance that allows your body to build cell membranes and produce steroid hormones that regulate sexual growth and development, fluid and salt retention and stress levels. While...
The difference between behavior modification programs and simply changing a behavior revolves around techniques of stimulus, response and reward that characterize formal behavior modification. Behavior modification began in academia in the 1950s...
The primary advantages for initiating a wellness program in the workplace include keeping employees healthy and cutting costs associated with employee illness. Healthy employees are more productive, express higher job satisfaction and commitment...
Free information on nutrition and diet is virtually everywhere, and easy to access for anyone who's motivated. One of the best places to find information about weight loss, healthy eating and proper nutrition is the Internet, where you'll find...
Arizona weight-loss camps are primarily located around the major cities of Phoenix and Tucson. Most of these programs are geared toward adults. They include both resort-style vacation camps and local day camps. Some of these are coed and others...
Although Viscum album, or European mistletoe, is best known as an auxiliary therapy for cancer, it has long been used in Europe to treat various other conditions, including arthritis, seizures, infertility and hypertension. However, European...
The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) refers to high cholesterol and high triglycerides as lipid disorders, conditions characterized by an excess amount of fat in the blood. Lipid disorders increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and...
Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the statistics, every minute, one American dies from a coronary event. Lowering your risk of heart disease is...
Interrupted blood flow to an area of the brain caused by a clot or ruptured blood vessel can result in the death of brain cells, or stroke. According to the National Stroke Association, up to 80 percent of strokes are preventable, yet stroke is...
Traditional Chinese medicine views high blood pressure (hypertension) as a symptom of the larger problem of disharmony within the body, particularly circulation in the liver. Chinese medicine holds that the liver controls the blood. To use...
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the narrowing of the coronary arteries that supply blood, oxygen and nutrients to the heart. This narrowing of the arteries is due to a buildup of fat deposits known as plaque. The plaque lines the walls of the...
With the increasing cost of employee health insurance, companies are looking for ways to decrease expenses while offering attractive benefit packages to retain a quality workforce. Corporate wellness programs encourage healthy choices for...
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a disease in which the pressure within the arteries is elevated on a constant basis. This pressure can be a symptom of another problem, or it can lead to other problems within the body.
Bicuspid aortic valve, or BAV, is a congenital valvular defect where the aortic valve has only two leaflets instead of the usual three. This condition has a strong genetic component affecting multiple family members across generations, with males...
A wellness program refers to a system that many employers set in place to assist employees with various aspects of health and fitness. A wellness program is basically an investment in the most valuable asset a business has, which is its employees....
In 2009, President Obama ordered the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to assess the status of federal government employee wellness programs, and to make plans for establishing this type of program in...
Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program for patients recovering from heart attack, heart surgery, heart failure, stenting and angioplasty. The purpose of the program is to improve the health of the participant and reduce risk for...
