Improper medication use is a major cause of health problems and emergency department visits. Don’t end up in the emergency room – make sure you know your medication and how to use it.
Here are 11 things you must know to protect your health:
1. What is this medication called?
2. Why am I taking this medication?
3. Is this medication intended to replace any of my other medications?
4. What is the proper way to use this medication?
1. How much should I take?
2. How often should I take it?
3. When is the best time …

Women who eat about three servings of fish per week have a somewhat lower chance of having polyps found during a routine colonoscopy than women who eat just one serving every two weeks, according to a new study.
The research doesn’t prove that seafood protects against polyps, but it “does increase our confidence that something real is going on,” said Dr. Edward Giovannucci, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, who was not involved in this study.
A polyp, also called an adenoma, is a mushroom-shaped tag of …

On the CBS sitcom “Mike & Molly,” the title characters meet at an Overeaters Anonymous support group and embark on a romantic relationship.
It’s an uncommon look at intimacy between plus-sized partners, played mainly for laughs. But with obesity rates skyrocketing in this country, sex when one or both partners is heavy is becoming a very real issue.
Nearly 34% of American adults are obese, according to the CDC, and many more are overweight. It’s not surprising that people who are carrying extra pounds may find themselves grappling with the effects on …

A group of doctors have published a report claiming sugar should be regulated and taxed by the government in much the same way as tobacco and alcohol.
They claim that sugar, at the rate most Americans consume it, is more than empty calories. Sugar changes metabolism, raises blood pressure, alters the signaling of hormones and causes damage to the liver. These are similar to the health hazards posed by excessively drinking alcohol which is made from fermented and distilled sugar.
The researchers claim that sugar consumption worldwide has tripled over the last …

School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress.
The new research, by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is the first to show that changes in this critical region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing.
Their research is published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition (PNAS).
“This study validates something that seems to be intuitive, which is just …