Dr. Chet’s Health Memos
If it’s in the health news today, I’ll be writing about it as soon as I read the research, both old and new. With my email Health Memos, you’ll know more about making lifestyle choices that will help you get and keep good health. These free, concise updates on health are emailed to subscribers twice a week. Subscribe today and get a free MP3, in English or Spanish, of Dr. Chet’s Top Ten Tips—Small Changes for a Healthier Life.
Heart Rate and Viral Infections
What might we gain by collecting and analyzing data from fitness and health devices? In a recently published study, researchers collected data from over 200,000 different Fitbit users. They selected users from the top five states of Fitbit users and collected data on height, weight, and age as well as heart rate and sleep data. […]
Health Monitors and COVID-19
Do you have a Fitbit that you use regularly? Does it track your heart rate? How about an Apple Watch? Can it track your temperature? Blood pressure? Millions of people use those types of devices. Think of the potential for collecting data. It could be millions of data points per second. I recently wrote about […]
Researching GOLO’s Claims
Before I get into the rest of the research on the claims made by GOLO, I want to be clear that I have nothing against any products or programs in the market. I’m not assessing the entire program for any company. But having worked for a couple of decades with companies that follow the FDA […]
Dental Cavities Are an Engineering Wonder
Continuing our look at the process of dental decay, the methodology for this study was complex to say the least: preserving the plaque, analyzing the structure, obtaining samples of the bacteria, attempting and succeeding to grow the structures on enamel surfaces that mimic teeth, getting photographs of the electronic polymeric structure, and more. This study […]
Investigating the Architecture of Cavities
Have you ever wondered how your kids get cavities or why you got them as a kid? As I was researching studies on the microbiome, I found a fascinating article on cavities. Cavities, also called dental caries, are a disease caused by bacteria that attack the biofilm known as plaque and damage the enamel of […]
Vitamin D and COVID-19: What Would a Reasonable Person Do?
The Medscape article did not call for any conclusions or recommendations nor should it have. That’s not the purpose of that type of article. However, that didn’t stop healthcare professionals from voicing their opinions in the comments section of that article. We’ll take a look at what they said, discuss the potential benefit of vitamin […]
Vitamin D and COVID-19: Debating the Research
The paper published in the Irish Medical Journal inspired a lot of commentary by healthcare professionals in all forums. I selected one report from Medscape, an online journal I subscribe to, that summarized all sides of the issue. The writer interviewed a variety of vitamin D experts including the authors of the study in the […]
Vitamin D and COVID-19: Upside-Down World
Vitamin D has been in the health news as it relates to the COVID-19 virus. Are vitamin D levels related to the severity of symptoms if you’re exposed to the virus? We’ll take a look at a recent observational study and the medical responses to it this week. There have been reports that people with […]
Not Fear, Respect!
I’ve read many comments on social media platforms about COVID-19, and the tone remains the same. An ever-growing group of people are talking about theories and conspiracies of all type. “The numbers are rigged to show more deaths from COVID-19 than there really are,” or “Doctors have discovered treatments that work and are being suppressed.” […]
Old School: One Step
I’ve been lifting weights at home since the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” mandate closed all the fitness centers. I wanted to make the workouts a little more difficult and keep my heart rate elevated between sets, so I went old school: I used a step stool. I could have used a step on the stairs […]
