Annie Austin's BlogPosted by Annie Austin Recent studies seem to blame this hormone for everything from obesity to aging. Do you have news on this big meanie? If so, post it here. Posted by Annie Austin This study on heart disease, like so many, only studied men. Although I am getting tired of reporting on studies that only studied men and wondering how they relate to women, I must admit the findings suggest changes that we could all benefit from making. If you have a way of limiting anxiety and stress from your life, let us know on this blog. Mine is "get up and move." 45 minutes to an hour of daily exercise has made my life better and more enjoyable. My cholesterol isn't down and I can't change the fact that both of my parents died from heart disease. Still, I have no heart disease and I am enjoying my life more than 4 years ago when I introduced daily exercise into my routine. Let me know if you have any other suggestions to limiting stress in your life. We'd all like to know. Posted by Annie Austin It now appears that a drug may help women stop smoking, discourage weight gain and irritability and other issues association with smoking cessation but the drug companies won't market the drug for the purpose. We're need to rely on word of mouth for this news to spread so start sending the mass e-mails! For more information, read my article, Text for link Please let me know if you are confused by your test results and if your doctor has answered any of your questions. Also, check out my article, How to Read Your Cholesterol Test, at and let me know if you have any additional information. - Name of Article Thanks for your thoughts. Annie Posted by Annie Austin How much did you spend treating your or your loved one's diabetes? If the average was $1,714 per year in 2003, how does that compare to what you spent this year (2006)? We will report on the finding of our non-scientific poll in future articles. Posted by Annie Austin Some docs say the overall cholesterol is more important than any individual number. Others say the ratio of good to bad is more important and still others think the HDL - or good cholesterol - number is the most important number on the test in terms of predicting heart disease in women. Is anyone else confused? My doc's office called and said they'd like to retest my cholesterol levels in a few months and, if it was still high, wanted to put me on statins. I am against this and wanted clarification. First, most of the evidence-based information involving the test is based on evidence provided by tests on men. Secondly, my HDL is high and the ratio is in the very good zone. It's just that the overall number is above where my doc wants it to be. Please let me know if you are confused by your test results and if your doctor has answered any of your questions. Also, check out my article, How to Read Your Cholesterol Test, at and let me know if you have any additional information. Thanks for your thoughts. Annie - Name of Article |