Marian Anderson, a Voice that Made History
In 1930, 33-year-old Marian Anderson responded to this discrimination by going to Europe where she was acclaimed as one of world’s greatest singers. Back in the United States in 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) would not allow the now world-famous contralto to give a concert in Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. Because of this, Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR and asked her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to have Harold L. Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior, open the Lincoln Memorial for Anderson to perform a concert on Easter Sunday.
Lifting Weights Helps to Lower High Blood Pressure
Researchers have known for a long time that regular aerobic exercises like walking, jogging or cycling help to lower high blood pressure and also help to prevent strokes and heart attacks. However, there is data to show that a person can suffer a stroke or heart attack while lifting heavy weights because during heavy lifting, high blood pressure rises even higher. Many doctors recommend resistance exercises to help treat high blood pressure, but people with high blood pressure need to be very careful if they try to lift heavy weights.
Can You Eat Too Much Fruit?
Many scientific studies show that eating sugar-rich whole fruit is healthful, even for people who are diabetic. However, I tried eating an extremely large amount of fruit (15-20 clementines or 10 regular oranges per day), and my previously normal fasting blood triglyceride level rose to levels higher than 460 mg/dL (normal is under 150). Eating that much fruit had raised my blood sugar level so high that it caused the high rise in triglycerides, which increased my risk for heart attacks.
Lisa Marie Presley’s Cause of Death
Lisa Marie Presley died from scar tissue from weight loss surgery. She died on January 12, 2023 at the very young age of 54, from intestinal obstruction caused by previous scar tissue from her gastric-bypass weight loss surgery that was supposed to prevent food from passing through her stomach. The original reports of her death listed the cause as cardiac arrest, and these autopsy findings have just recently been released.
Exercise Helps to Prevent Dementia
About 22 percent of North Americans ages 85-89 and 33 percent of those over 90 suffer some degree of dementia (JAMA Neurol, 2022;79(12):1242-1249). The risk for dementia can be reduced significantly by exercising and lowering high blood sugar levels, maintaining a healthful weight, and avoiding smoking. Two recent studies show that exercise may be even more important in reducing Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Eating Mammal Meat is Associated with Increased Risk for Gastro-Intestinal Cancers
Researchers at the Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary analyzed the death records for 110,148 animals from 191 mammal species that died in zoos and found that carnivorous mammals were much more likely to die of cancer than mammals that rarely or never eat animals.
Humans are mammals, so we might expect to see similar results in studies of human diets.
The Heat Stroke Death of Korey Stringer
The heat wave that has affected much of North America this summer should remind us of the signs and dangers of heatstroke. Twenty-two years ago, on August 1, 2001, Korey Stringer died of heat stroke at age 27. He was 6′ 4″ tall, weighed 335 pounds and had been an All American tackle at Ohio State University. He became an All Pro lineman for the Minnesota Vikings in 1995.
High Fitness Level Linked to Reduced Risk for Cancers
A study that followed 170,000 Swedish men (average age 62) for 9.6 years found that high levels of physical fitness were associated with a markedly reduced risk for lung cancer or colon cancer, and reduced risk for death from cancers of the colon, lung or prostate. Physical fitness was measured by having the subjects exercise vigorously on a stationary bicycle to determine the maximal amount of oxygen they could use (VO2max).
Sleep Problems Associated with Increased Stroke Risk
A study of 1,799 people, who had suffered and survived strokes at the average age of 62, found that stroke risk is markedly increased by sleep disturbance symptoms, poor sleep quality, napping for long periods, and sleep apnea symptoms (Neurology, May 23, 2023;100(21): e2191–e2203). The stroke survivors were compared to age-matched people who had not had a stroke and the results were adjusted for smoking, physical activity, depression, and alcohol intake.
One Injection of HPV Vaccine Can Prevent Many Cancers
Many of the more than 150 strains of Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) are relatively harmless, but about 15 are classified as high-risk types because they can cause cancer and other health problems. A single dose of the vaccine for types 16, 18 and the other high-risk types of HPV appears to provide at least eight years of protection against these infections. These viruses are the most common cause of cancers of the cervix and other parts of the uterus, as well as of the penis, anus, throat, vagina and vulva