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Fitness

A comprehensive guide to the new science of treating lower back pain. Cathryn Jakobson Ramin’s back pain started when she was 16, on the day she flew off her horse and landed on her right hip.

A comprehensive guide to the new science of treating lower back pain

For the next four decades, Ramin says her back pain was like a small rodent nibbling at the base of her spine. The aching left her bedridden on some days and made it difficult to work, run a household, and raise her two boys. By 2008, after Ramin had exhausted what seemed like all her options, she elected to have a “minimally invasive” nerve decompression procedure. But the $8,000 operation didn’t fix her back, either. The same pain remained, along with new neck aches. At that point, Ramin decided to deploy her skills as a journalist and investigate the $100 billion back pain industry. The big takeaway: Millions of back patients like Ramin are floundering in a medical system that isn’t equipped to help them. Price Transparency Is Nice. Just Don’t Expect It to Cut Health Costs. - The New York Times. That’s the conclusion from a study published this year in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Price Transparency Is Nice. Just Don’t Expect It to Cut Health Costs. - The New York Times

It investigated the effect of the Truven Treatment Cost Calculator, a website available to more than 21 million workers and their family members. It provides users with the costs — both the total price and the portion the user would be responsible for — from over 300 services, including various sorts of imaging, outpatient operations and physician visits.

The researchers compared outpatient health care spending of about 150,000 employees who had access to the website with that of about 300,000 comparable employees who didn’t. (They did not examine inpatient spending because it is dominated by nonelective procedures that are not amenable to shopping.) Despite its features, the cost calculator wasn’t popular. Study after study has showed the same thing. Dr. Sara Mednick. News For the Best Pick-Me-Up, Lie Down; New York Times -- December 2008The Best Things in Life are Z’s -- July 2008 TorontoSun.com -- July 2008 Trouw, deGids gidsartikelen -- July 2008 Newsweek: Napping TipSheet -- June 2008 Reader's Digest -- May 2008 MyBusinessMag -- April 2008 WashingtonPost -- April 2008 Ottawa Citizen -- March 2008 Reader's Digest -- 2008 WallStreetJournal -- January 2008 QuinnipiacUniversity -- November 2007 NYTimes -- October 2007 OrlandoSentinel -- October 2007 JoyMag -- August 2007 ConnecticutPost -- 2007 ABCNews -- January 2007 ABCNews -- January 2007 Recent Videos Recent Press Links.

Dr. Sara Mednick

Sara Mednick - Take a Nap, Change your life! Dr. Sara Mednick. NYTimes Oct2007. 7 Science-Based Health Benefits of Drinking Enough Water. Our bodies are around 60% water, give or take.

7 Science-Based Health Benefits of Drinking Enough Water

It is commonly recommended to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day (the 8×8 rule). Although there is little science behind this specific rule, staying hydrated is important. Here are 7 evidence-based health benefits of drinking plenty of water. 1. Water Helps to Maximize Physical Performance If we do not stay hydrated, physical performance can suffer. This is particularly important during intense exercise or high heat. Dehydration can have a noticeable effect if you lose as little as 2% of your body’s water content. This can lead to altered body temperature control, reduced motivation, increased fatigue and make exercise feel much more difficult, both physically and mentally (3). Optimal hydration has been shown to prevent this from happening, and may even reduce the oxidative stress that occurs during high intensity exercise.

So, if you exercise intensely and tend to sweat, then staying hydrated can help you perform at your absolute best. What Does “Brisk Walking" Mean? - HealthCorps. When someone uses the term “brisk walking,” what exactly do they mean?

What Does “Brisk Walking" Mean? - HealthCorps

A healthy adult will typically choose a pace of walking which clocks in at about 2.8 miles per hour. That pace may be partially guided by the rate that your metabolism uses to start accessing fat in your body for fuel, as you move. A brisk walk is a relative term, since “brisk” for some, is either slow or quite speedy for others, depending on levels of fitness. One measure to quantify brisk walking is “steps per minute,” and 100 steps per minute is considered moderate intensity or brisk walking.

Fitness experts typically suggest a pace of 3.5 miles/hour on a treadmill to correlate to brisk walking, for an average person who does not exercise regularly. If you wear a weighted vest while walking, will you burn more calories? If you are able to keep the same pace as before, when adding a weighted vest, then you will typically burn more calories, until you become accustomed to the extra weight load. Power Naps: Napping Benefits, Length, and Tips. Naps help Constance Kobylarz Wilde, 58, recharge, especially if she takes them right after lunch.

Power Naps: Napping Benefits, Length, and Tips

Wilde, a marketing manager and health blogger in Mountain View, Calif., is constantly juggling her schedule as a working mom and family caregiver. She's up by 6 a.m. every day and tries to go to bed by 10:30 p.m. But unanticipated issues often push her bedtime later. "I can't do all-nighters anymore or just get six hours of sleep without it beginning to affect me," she says. So to combat fatigue and stay on top of things at work and at home, Wilde has made power naps a regular part of her routine, setting an alarm for a short snooze.

Brain. What Is Wheatgrass? 'Superfoods' Everyone Needs: Blueberries, Tea, Salmon, & More. Photo Gallery: 13 Best Superfoods. The World's Healthiest Foods.

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