Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women over the age of 25? According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease kills nearly twice as many women in the United States than all types of cancer, including breast cancer. This threat to all women’s health can be identified by specific symptoms if we pay attention.

For women, early warning signs include nausea, an overwhelming fatigue, and dizziness. Sometimes these things can be chalked up to stress but keep tabs on them and mention them to your doctor. The AMA did a recent study that tagged unusual fatigue, trouble sleeping, shortness of breath, indigestion, and anxiety as the top five symptoms that were reported by both black and white women. However, black women had more intense episodes of these symptoms and reported them more often. Assess the trouble, but don’t forget to take action.

A lot of women’s health articles remind you again and again to pay attention to the same issues that are always in the headlines. Some doctor somewhere did another study and offers the latest on what to do for your heart. We know we need regular blood pressure checks and we know we should look out for the signs that we may have diabetes.

The reality is that we’re all targets for any given disease because of the many different factors that exist in our lifestyle and environment. So instead of another article encouraging you to take a friend to get her blood pressure checked, let’s talk about a less newsworthy topic that often gets overlooked (no pun intended).

Most of us sit daily in front of a computer monitor, under the glare of fluorescent lighting. By midday we walk out into a different kind of light - sunny, if the season calls for it - and our eyes adjust accordingly. How about those headlights that reflect back into your eyes from the vehicle behind you that happens to be taller than yours? Television screens, table lamps, reading small print, stress and oh, let me not forget aging, are just some of the things that can cause or contribute to eye strain. There is actually a lot going on as our eyes are challenged to focus in on the changing visual landscape every time we move into a different environment.

By Janet Grier

In the beginning, there was water. And lots of it! In the Bible you will find divided waters, gathered waters, flowing water and water that brings forth and sustains life. The consumption of water is a topic that you will hear about constantly because human life cannot survive without it.

It’s that cliche time of year when people have made declarations to change. Starting something new or ending what isn’t working is relevant to those new beginnings you keep hearing about. It doesn’t take a new year or even a Monday to get going on change. Imagine how many diets have been started, how many exercise programs have begun, and how many baby carrots have been snatched off grocery shelves just because a calendar got tossed and replaced by a new one!

Being healthy is more than monitoring endless calories and fat grams. It’s a process that takes commitment, dedication and effort in all areas of life. Take the subject of rest, for example. If you don’t get enough of it the sags taking residence under your eyes could begin to head further south and you won’t be able to complete those marathon days that a lot of us suit up for. It’s a grand scheme of cause and effect. Sapped energy means you’re more likely to sit around when you finally get the chance, instead of maintaining movement. After all, you’re tired, right? Have you ever sabotaged your own efforts by saying things like, “Sit? I deserve to lie down!” Be careful not to let the Lazy Boy consume you. The chair is named that for a reason.

Next to Valentine’s Day and possibly Easter, Christmas is one of the sweetest times of the year. As you pull out your favorite tried and true recipes and feast your eyes on all the mouthwatering deserts, think about how you’ll sweeten your treats. If you’ve decided to drop some sugar out of your life there are alternatives that will sweeten the deal in a much healthier way. However, beware of sweeter than sweet and potentially dangerous sugar alternatives that line the grocery store shelves in single packs and bulk packages. They are not always a good deal. It’s true that you’re not gaining any calories, (zero calories, in most cases), but the tradeoff is you’re gaining a wild array of chemicals that get ingested into your body. Man-made chemicals are the boulders (not building blocks) in the false sugars that could eventually crush your health.

Excessive sugar consumption has become a growing national problem invading the American diet. Most prepared foods found in the local grocery store contain sugar from salad dressings and sauces, to breads and beans. Sugar is also found naturally occurring in foods such as complex carbohydrates like vegetables, pastas, and fruits. These are good for you. The undesirable simple sugar is added to foods such as sodas, sweetened beverages, icings, candies and packaged snacks, foods that a lot of us, unfortunately, enjoy. Your health suffers when you eat these things in excess, even if the effects aren’t obvious, like weight gain or bad skin.

Scan through any electronic or print news source and you can almost guarantee that you'll get bombarded with the latest health concerns. It can get confusing trying to distinguish which of the expert medical reports to follow. Pharmaceutical companies are creating medical remedies to treat a myriad of complex sounding conditions that often end up being not so serious....