Dr. Kathleen Sherwood's Blog » Wellness

Hydration & Your Spine

Dr. Kathleen Sherwood — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:02:40 +0000

Back pain in many cases is either caused or exacerbated by dehydration. The structure of the human spinal disks makes them vulnerable to dehydration, with resulting pain and swelling. Read more to find out the connection between dehydration and back pain, and a simple, commonsense and healthy approach to reducing or eliminating your back pain.

Are you getting enough sleep?

Dr. Kathleen Sherwood — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:59:18 +0000

A recent survey by the Better Sleep Council indicated that almost 70 percent of U.S. women sleep less than the recommended eight hours per night and more than 50 percent of men report the same. If you are not getting enough shut-eye, then take heed, because lack of sleep has been linked to increased health risks in a number of areas such as heart disease, obesity, and chronic fatigue.

So, why are we having trouble getting enough sleep? Stress from work or family, anxiety, illness, allergies, diet factors such as too much caffeine, sugar, or alcohol, are just some of the reasons.

Here are some common sense hints for getting you the sleep your body deserves:

1. Get plenty of regular exercise and try to complete your workout at least three hours before bedtime. Exercise increases the amount of deep sleep you get. Aerobic exercise each day and weight lifting two-three time per week is optimum.

Heart Disease Doesn’t Just Impact Men

Dr. Kathleen Sherwood — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:38:18 +0000

Many of us think of heart disease as a disease that kills primarily men. In a 2000 Yale University study, 250,000 women died from heart disease, compared to 40,000 who died from breast cancer. This is a huge difference. The study also showed that in women who have a heart attack before the age of 75, the risk of the chance of mortality is much higher in comparison to their male counterparts. Many times women do not realize that they have heart disease due to the fact that their symptoms may present differently than the “typical heart attack” symptoms of crushing chest pressure with pain radiating down the arm. Women may experience a “gastritis” or “reflux” feeling, along with a headache or neck pain.