Being morbidly obese could permanently damage your knees, says a new study. The investigation included a group of morbidly obese patients with knee osteoarthritis who were evaluated before and after bariatric surgery or surgically-assisted weight loss. Patients lost an average of 51 pounds or 23 kg in one year. One year after surgery, knee pain and function improved significantly. “People felt there was nothing they could do to mitigate the debilitating … full story

A revolutionary new smart chip, the size of a match head implanted in the spinal cord, blocks pain signals and prevents them from reaching the brain. The tiny device works by monitoring the nerves carrying pain signals and firing electrical pulses of up to 10 volts that block the undesirable signals from reaching the brain. The Implantable Neuro Sensing and Stimulation or INS2 was developed between 2008 and 2010 by National ICT Australia (NICTA) … full story

Most backaches come from strained muscles in the lower back. Other causes include back injuries such as a slipped or herniated disc, arthritis, osteoporosis and urinary tract infection. The goals of treatment are to treat the cause of the backache, relieve the pain, promote healing and avoid re-injury. How to Avoid Back Pain: Lifting causes a lot of backaches. Here are some lifting Do's and Don'ts to help you avoid straining your back. Do's: * … full story

There are different juices which are believed to offer health benefits to the body. One good example of a well known healthy juice is orange juice. Here are just a few of the many health benefits that you may be provided with when you drink orange juice. Orange Juice Health Benefits 1. Drinking a glass of orange juice a day can keep the doctor away. Orange juice is known to contain a high percentage of Vitamin C, which is helpful in boosting the … full story

How many ways can you use salt? According to the Salt Institute, about 14,000! The salt website has tons of handy tips for using salt around the house, and the best of the bunch -- plus my additions -- are listed below. I can't think of another more versatile mineral. Salt is the most common and readily available nonmetallic mineral in the world. In fact, the supply of salt is inexhaustible. For thousands of years, salt (sodium chloride) has been … full story

Many posture problems exist that people pick up over the years and may not even realize they have. These could lead to pain, especially back pain, and as far as height is concerned, can make us not only physically shorter, but appear shorter as well. Some of the most common posture problems are looked at below. 1. Walking posture - This is an easy one to get into bad habits with, probably the one which is the hardest to break, and also the one which … full story

Have you been angry? Good for you if you have not experienced such state. Anger is unpredictable, it could blow out its ferocity little at a time or just ones with a big blow. Anger is common among people who live through less ideal home life. Dealing with it that has develop over a lifetime of pain and frustration is like trying to hold the lid of pressure cooker. The longer such enduring anger linger,the more the chance that it will overflow into … full story

Gout is a painful disease of the joints, which usually affects the big toe first in most people. It is caused by too much uric acid in the blood. Uric acid is formed by the breakdown of chemicals called purines, which can lead to high levels of uric acid and cause many problems such as joint swelling and kidney stones. Normally the uric acid is dissolved in the blood and passes out via the kidneys into the urine but if this does not occur it can … full story

For people with gout the uric acid level in the blood is so high that uric acid crystals form and put in joints and other tissues. This causes the joint lining to become inflamed, resultant in sudden and severe attacks of pain, softness, redness and warmth. Either way, gout treatments may include medication to lower the uric acid level or a special gout diet to decrease the amount of purine ingested. Symptoms of Gout: - * Indigestion *Excessive … full story

Crohns disease is an inflammatory bowel disease, the general name for diseases that cause swelling in the intestines. Because the symptoms of Crohns disease are alike to other intestinal disorders, such as bad-tempered bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis, it can be hard to diagnose. Ulcerative colitis causes irritation and ulcers in the top coating of the lining of the large intestine. In Crohns disease, all layers of the intestine may be involved, … full story