Last week, I discussed the importance of taking charge of your own health and promised to provide tips for maintaining your well-being. Now, let's explore some habits that might lead to poor health. If you want to be unhealthy, make sure you…
Read MoreToday, I would like to talk about a few other causes of poor sleep, especially in children and especially teens, as they normally have earlier school start times. According to numerous studies, people, including children and teens, who sleep less than five hours per night are more vulnerable to respiratory infections. But the bad news doesn't end there. Poor sleep can eventually lead to certain forms of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, depression and other mental disorders, and obesity. At the end of the post, I will cover some helpful tips to help us and our children to sleep better-especially our teenagers.
Read MoreToday I am sharing a video about a child who was incorrectly diagnosed as having ADD/ADHD when his real problems were allergies and poor breathing that we call sleep disordered breathing. His mother describes a kind of domino effect that when recognized, is easily treatable. At my offices, we have teams of pediatric dentists, orthodontists, surgeons, orofacial myofunctional therapists, and lactation specialists to detect and treat these problems early. When needed, we refer to ENT, allergists, speech pathologists, and more. If more people were aware of the connection between childhood behavioral problems and sleep disordered breathing, millions of children would not suffer as they do. Please watch the video and share it; even if only one child is helped by your sharing, it will be worth it.
Read MoreInsulin promotes the uptake of glucose by cells and its storage as glycogen. The insulin and glucose tend to balance out in healthy individuals. In healthy individuals, our cells readily respond to insulin and quickly take up glucose. In many people the body produces insulin, but it is not enough to effectively keep up, and blood sugar rises. Most doctors focus on reading blood sugar levels to diagnose health problems. It turns out that high insulin levels precede high sugar levels, making it an excellent predictive test for disease.
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