Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Health Tips for January 20

Health Tip: Log Your Headache Pain

If you frequently suffer from significant headache pain, it may help to document the circumstances during which it occurs and any potential triggers.

Logging the details of your headaches could become an invaluable tool for you and your doctor.

The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center suggests what to document:

  • The duration of each headache.
  • How badly your head hurt, and exactly where the pain occurred.
  • The day of the week and time of day that the headache occurred.
  • Anything you ate or drank before the headache started.
  • Activities you did before the headache began.
  • Any medication, herb, or other remedy that you took for headache pain.
  • How you felt during your headache, including symptoms such as nausea or seeing an aura.
  • How headaches have affected your life, including any activities you are forced to miss or no longer feel like doing.

Health Tip: Health Tip: Wine Could Benefit the Heart

Excessive drinking offers no benefits whatsoever, but having a single glass of red wine each day could help the heart, the U.S. Library of Medicine says.

The flavonoids found in red wine (also in grapes and grape juice) are thought to be the heart-healthy components.

Women, however, should consume no more than one drink each day, and no more than two drinks each day for men, says the NLM, which equates a drink of wine to four ounces' worth.

Other ways to help boost heart health include getting regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, avoiding tobacco, and maintaining a proper body weight.

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