Martin's Must-Reads

Martin's Must-Reads

By Betty Martin, Mark MartinArtsBooks
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Martin's Must-Reads episodes

  • To Your Health: Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
    Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. To catch those typically slow-growing malignancies early, when they can often be cured, most doctors' groups recommend colorectal cancer screening starting at age 50. Despite the high cure rate when colon cancer is caught early, only two-thirds of Americans over 50 get screened. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Because many people shy away from the invasive colonoscopy, The American Cancer Society has
    2 min
  • To Your Health: #DoctorsSpeakUp
    Did you know that there is a whole rapid response network dedicated to combating anti-vaccine attacks on the social media pages, web sites, and review sites of providers? Shots Heard Round the World is a digital calvary that comes to the defense of providers who face coordinated online attacks after standing up for vaccines. I have a feeling they may be pretty busy after today, which is #DoctorsSpeakUp Day. March 5 is the day Doctors Speak Up on social media about vaccine science and promote
    2 min
  • To Your Health: Coronavirus Myths
    Someone recently asked me if they should handle Amazon packages with gloves, and spray them with Lysol, in case they were shipped from China and contaminated with coronavirus. A friend entered a Chicago doctor’s office with her son who was adopted from South Korea and saw a woman gasp and put her hand over the mouth and nose of the child seated next to her. False information about new viruses can cause its own kind of outbreak. On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization named the
    2 min
  • To Your Health: Is Being Married Good For You?
    When a newly married couple smiles, everyone knows why. When a ten-year married couple smiles, everyone wonders why. Despite all the jokes about miserable marriages, research suggests that people who are married are happier and healthier. But, are these people happier and healthier because they are married? On the Harvard Health Blog , Dr. Robert H. Shmerling reports there are four prominent theories about this. First, people in happy marriages may be healthier because they have lower levels of
    2 min
  • To Your Health: Can Chocolate Be Good for You?
    The British comedian Jo Brand once remarked, “anything is good if it is made of chocolate.” But can anything made of chocolate also be good for you? Would you like to feel less guilty about the chocolates you ate on Valentine’s Day? Chocolate can be good for you, or at least the plant compounds called cocoa flavonoids can be, but there are just as many caveats as health benefits. The chocolate needs to be dark and processed in such a way that doesn’t diminish the power of its flavenols, which
    2 min
  • To Your Health: Lymphedema
    Buddhists call housework "invisible work" because you only notice it when it's not done. The lymphatic system is often considered an invisible system--- an extensive drainage network that helps keep bodily fluid levels in balance and defends the body against infections. But when it’s work doesn’t get done, you definitely notice. Lymphedema is the swelling of a body part due to the accumulation of protein-rich fluid in the tissues. It is the result of lymph not being able to flow through the body
    2 min
  • To Your Health: Winter Blues
    Did you go to a New Year’s Eve Party? Can you believe that happened THIS MONTH? The month of January can tend to drag on. The holiday fun is over. It’s cold, there’s less daylight and the landscape is bleak. But, how can you tell the difference between “the winter blues” and something more serious? Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Onset, previously known as Season al Affective Disorder, is listed as a subtype of depression within the DSM-V, the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and
    2 min
  • To Your Health: Sleep and the Glymphatic System
    Can you believe we’re still discovering what’s going on inside our heads? The glymphatic system is a recently discovered macroscopic waste clearance system in the brain. According to the authors of an article in Neurochemical Research , the glymphatic system functions mainly during sleep and is largely disengaged during wakefulness. The biological need for sleep across all species may, therefore, reflect that the brain must enter a state of activity that enables the elimination of potentially
    2 min
  • To Your Health: Keeping Track of Check-ups and Tests
    The Encyclopedia of Global Health states, “While it is impossible to avoid all illnesses, there are many forms of preventive care that reduce health risks by improving individual health.” What preventive care do you need to have this year? It depends on your age as well as your risk factors. Some recent studies have suggested that perhaps the annual physical should not be a matter of course, as it can be a drain on primary care resources without much benefit. However, there are some biometrics
    2 min
  • To Your Health: Self Care
    Author Brianna Weist recently wrote, “True self-care is not salt baths and chocolate cake, it is making the choice to build a life you don’t need to regularly escape from.” Self-care CAN be salt baths and chocolate cake, but it is not just the now oft-touted reason for indulging yourself. True self-care involves some components that are not necessarily hedonistic. Healing Ways: An Integrative Health Sourcebook reminds readers that despite all the latest and greatest fads, “many long-term studies
    2 min

About Martin's Must-Reads

From the publisher's feed

There are one million new books published each year. With so many books and so little time, where do you begin to find your next must-read? There’s the New York Times Bestseller list, the Goodreads…