Strokes kill about 140,000 Americans each year and are the fifth leading cause of death according to the CDC.
A stroke occurs when there is a disruption of blood flow in the brain, either a blockage of a blood vessel (an ischemic stroke) or a blood vessel bursting and bleeding into the brain (a hemorrhagic stroke). The ischemic or blocked blood vessel stroke is most common, accounting for about 80-90% of strokes.
While there is no way to reliably predict strokes in the future, it is vitally important to spot the warning signs when a stroke is occurring.
Shingles (herpes zoster) is an outbreak of blisters by the same virus that causes chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). After getting over the chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in the body. Doctors don’t know why the virus suddenly reactivates years later.
It is estimated that one out of every three Americans will develop shingles. Half of the shingles cases occur in people 60 and older.
Recent research from the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, UK is giving us more evidence that prolonged sitting increases health risks. We already know that lengthy sedentary time (defined as sitting or reclining with low energy expenditure) is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. This research shows increased sedentary time is associated with the amount of fat deposited around the internal organs.
