Yeshiva World News

Exercise May Be More Important

Congratulations! You’ve finally decided to start working out. Your goal is overall health and weight loss. You’ve been at it for a while and you feel great, but the scale just isn’t moving enough. You either aren’t disciplined enough to cut back on your caloric intake and eat better, more wholesome and less fatty foods, or, your lifestyle is such that you just don’t have the time to deal with the problem. Perhaps you just have a very slow metabolism or a thyroid problem. Are you any ...

Water - An Essential Nutrient

Water, although we take it for granted, is one of the 6 classes of nutrients that we must ingest on a daily basis. 60 to 70% of our body is composed of water. Without it, the constant and necessary chemical reactions that occur all the time in the body can’t take place. Constant consumption is essential, as we cannot conserve or store water in our body. Yet, most of us probably get about 1/3 of the valuable hydration benefits we need. Water comprises over 70% of solid body tissue and helps ...

Excedrin, Bufferin Included In Recall

Pharmaceutical company Novartis on Sunday voluntarily recalled a number of over-the-counter drugs -- including certain bottles of Excedrin and Bufferin -- because of complaints about mislabeled and broken pills. The Switzerland-based company said on its website that "there have been no related adverse (health) events" related to the problems. At the same time, it urged U.S. consumers to "either destroy or return unused" products that are part of the recall. The items involved in the ...

NYC Health Department: Whooping Cough On The Rise, Poses Threat To Infants

There’s been a three-fold increase in whooping cough cases in the city, and officials are urging anyone who cares for a baby to get vaccinated. No one has died in the latest outbreak, but whooping cough — a violent, chronic cough also known as pertussis — can be extremely dangerous to infants. Nearly all the babies under 6 months old who fell ill with the highly contagious disease between August and November had to be hospitalized. Some other disease outbreaks — like measles ...

Health: When Less Is More

Just a week ago, on Chanukah, a strange feeling overcame me.  With 5 of our children now married and out of the house, a sixth engaged, and our youngest son studying in a Yeshiva out of town, when we lit our menorah on the first night of Chanukah, it stood there all alone.  I quickly remembered times when we needed a large table for all of the menorahs, how candle-lighting took a long time as each child recited the brachos (blessings) and we sang Haneiros Hallalu and Maoz Tur afterwards. I ...

FDA Clears Pfizer Vaccine For Adults Over 50

Federal regulators have approved a vaccine for adults age 50 and older to prevent pneumococcal disease, including the most common type of pneumonia. Friday’s announcement from the Food and Drug Administration that it has approved Pfizer Inc.’s best-selling Prevnar 13 vaccine for such use was widely anticipated. It comes a little more than a month after a panel of federal health experts voted overwhelmingly to recommend Prevnar 13 as a safe and effective vaccine to prevent the bacterial ...

More on Vitamin D - The Sunshine Vitamin

Decade ago, oncologists and dermatologists advised us to avoid exposure to the sun because of the risk of skin cancer. But like most things, we may have gone a little overboard in our compliance, and that has been to our detriment. In recent years, numerous studies have shown that having adequate amounts of Vitamin D in our bodies prevents many cancers, heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. In fact, the latest research seems to connect low levels of Vitamin D with a higher risk of ...

Report: Many Kids' Cereals Loaded With Sugar

If you think giving your child cereal for breakfast ensures a healthy start to the day, check the label. Many kids' cereals are loaded with sugar, according to a new report that looked at 84 cereals. "In our study, three cereals have more sugar than a Twinkie,'' says Paul Pestano, MS, a research analyst at the Environmental Working Group, which issued the report. ''Forty-four others have more sugar in one cup than three Chips Ahoy! cookies." The Twinkie-equivalent cereals are Kellogg's ...

Diabetes Cure: Scientists Reveal Low-Calorie Diet Reverses Type 2 Disorder In Just 4 Months

Type 2 diabetes could be reversed in just four months by simply following a low-calorie diet, a study has revealed. According to the research, people who reduced their calorific intake in their daily diet experienced a far greater improvement in the condition - and their health in general - than any medication offered. This means that life-saving insulin would no longer be needed to combat the disorder, cardiac function would improve and dangerous fats building up around patients' hearts ...

Exercise & Your Mental Health (Part IV)

This is the fourth and final article in 4-part series focusing on Depression, Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Panic Disorder, and how exercise can be effective in their treatment.  Panic Disorder  Panic Disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurring severe panic attacks. It may also include significant behavioral changes lasting at least a month, and ongoing worry about the implications or ...

Exercise & Your Mental Health (Part III)

This is the third article in 4-part series focusing on Depression, Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Panic Disorder, and how exercise can be effective in their treatment.  Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear or worry, and is characterized by repetitive behaviors aimed at ...

Drug Loses F.D.A. Approval To Treat Breast Cancer

The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration on Friday revoked the approval of the drug Avastin as a treatment for breast cancer, ruling on an emotional issue that pitted the hopes of some desperate patients against the statistics of clinical trials. The commissioner, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, said that clinical trials had shown that the drug was not helping breast cancer patients to live longer or to meaningfully control their tumors, but did expose them to potentially serious side ...

Exercise & Your Mental Health Part II

This is the second article in 4-part series focusing on Depression, Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Panic Disorder, and how exercise can be effective in their treatment.  This is the second article in 4-part series focusing on Depression, Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Panic Disorder, and how exercise can be effective in their ...

Exercise & Your Mental Health (Part 1)

This is the first article in 4-part series focusing on Depression, Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Panic Disorder, and how exercise can be effective in their treatment. Depression  Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behavior, feelings and physical well-being.  Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, ...

After Recent Spike In Shigella Infections, Greenfield Urges Community Awareness & Prevention

Brooklyn –The Orthodox Jewish communities of Boro Park & Williamsburg are experiencing an unprecedented number of Shigellosis cases over the last two months according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). In a typical year the entire city of New York, with a population of 8.4 million, experiences between 200 and 300 cases of Shigellosis. In the last two months there have been 45 reported cases in the communities of Boro Park and Williamsburg among a ...

Exercise & Your Mental Health An Overview

The evidence that using exercise regimens is effective in treating negative emotional and mental states is building. In the last ten years, several review articles have summarized the research in the field, stating a positive correlation between increasing levels of aerobic exercise and the extent to which symptoms of anxiety, depression, and even the most serious psychiatric conditions can be improved by intensive physical activity.  In my own practice as a psychiatrist in Bnei Brak and ...

Getting Through The Chagim

It’s that time of the year again - the holiday season. Perhaps nothing is more challenging than getting through from Rosh Hashanah to Simchas Torah with your health and weight intact.  As daunting and challenging as this may seem, a few little tricks and bit of self-discipline can get you through virtually unscathed.  There are essentially three areas where we all tend to get into trouble. One - the amounts of food we consume sitting at our tables for our festive meals, two - the types ...