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WebMD
08-05-2025
- Health
- WebMD
‘Thanks, Mom — You Were Right!' Doctors Share Mothers' Health Tips
With Mother's Day approaching, we asked five top doctors for maternal health tips that showed just how smart their moms really were. 'Gargle This, It'll Help' 'Growing up, I was prone to frequent episodes of sinusitis, congestion, and cold,' says Jamal Rana, MD, a cardiologist with Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. 'My mom would add a teaspoon of salt in hot water and make me gargle twice a day.' Rana still makes this DIY gargle solution, which always seems to help. Why Mom was right: Research suggests that gargling or rinsing your nose with saline can clear phlegm and dislodge or inhibit viruses. A study in the Journal of Global Health said people infected with COVID-19 who gargled and rinsed their noses with a saline solution four times per day for 14 days had lower hospitalization rates than a control group of people sick with COVID-19. 'You're Getting the Shot' Seven-year-old Walter Orenstein was scared of needles. It was 1955 and 'I didn't know what polio was and had no idea what the benefits were,' he says. 'So I was not happy when my mother said I had to get a shot.' Now Orenstein, professor emeritus in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, appreciates what his mother, who had a science background, told him: ' Better you should cry than I should cry.' He begrudgingly got the shot and decades later became a leader in infectious disease research. Why Mom was right: Shots save lives by reducing risk to you and the people around you. Research published in The Lancet suggests that since 1974, vaccination has prevented 154 million deaths worldwide. As of 2024, a child younger than 10 is 40% more likely to survive to their next birthday than they would have been if our collective history of vaccination hadn't existed. Measles vaccination has made the biggest difference, the researchers say. 'Don't Order the Nuggets' 'As kids, we were always chasing the sugar and the processed foods, especially in my generation,' says Benjamin Click, MD, assistant professor of medicine in gastroenterology at the University of Colorado. (He was born in 1985.) His mom made healthy meals and steered him toward fresh fruits and vegetables, but he wasn't interested. 'I just wish I'd listened a little bit sooner and maybe cut out some years of McDonald's in my past,' he says. Click loved chicken nuggets as a kid, and they became his go-to as a teen, when he'd grab some after lacrosse games or late at night. Cheap, fast, and tasty, sure — but his triglycerides count hit like a scolding. Today, he eats better — and with kids of his own, he appreciates his mom's message. 'It's very fascinating to watch the science support what my mom's been saying for many, many years,' he says. Why Mom was right: Fried foods like chicken nuggets are usually high in calories and low in beneficial nutrients like fiber. They can also contain toxic byproducts like acrylamide that form during frying. The journal Heart published a study that said people who ate the most fried foods were 37% more likely to have heart failure, 28% more likely to have major cardiovascular events, and 22% more likely to have coronary heart disease than people who ate the least fried food. 'Do Not Give Up' As a child, Steven P. Cohen, MD, was teased for being short. His mom steered him toward martial arts classes and supported him through years of intense, focused study. 'I became a black belt and then started to compete nationally and get ranked,' Cohen says. 'But it's hard when you're a kid and everybody's going out, and you're going to class.' Both his mother and father encouraged him to stick with it. He built resilience that he credits for his health and success today. He's now the Edmond I. Eger Professor of Anesthesiology and division chief of pain medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Why Mom was right: It comes down to realizing long-term success requires short short-term struggles. Knowing that helps you develop effective habits for good health and reducing pain. Habits like getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising, and controlling weight. 'Getting up early before work and exercising or exercising after work is not easy,' he says. 'It's not easy to stop smoking or to lose weight, but these things absolutely work.' For chronic pain, these lifestyle changes might even work as well or better than more controversial treatments like surgery, injections, medications, and alternative care, he says. 'Eat All the Vegetables. Fruit, Too' When Diana Londono, MD, a urologist at Emanate Health in Glendora, California, was growing up, every meal was a learning opportunity with a different colorful vegetable. 'Our diet was very varied, and it was always kind of like a class in nutrition,' she says. 'My mom would explain the benefits of each food.' Those carrots? Vitamin A to helps your eyes. Those beets and Brussels sprouts can help you poop because they've got fiber. Back then, Londono would roll her eyes. Now, she's thankful that her well-rounded diet has helped her stay healthy. She's passing the same lessons to her kids. They eat the same meals she does, enjoying a spectrum of nutritious foods. Why Mom was right: Eating produce is important, of course — a recent study in the journal Public Health showed that eating fruits and vegetables two or more times per day reduced early death risk by 20% and 17%, respectively, compared to eating them less than three times per week. Mixing it up is also helpful. Research suggests that eating a diverse range of fruits and vegetables makes you more likely to hit the recommended targets for vitamins, minerals, and fiber intake. A varied diet of fruits and vegetables is also linked with benefits such as a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and some cancers and lower stress levels. In children, vegetable diversity might reduce inflammation, an early marker of long-term health.
Edinburgh Live
27-04-2025
- Health
- Edinburgh Live
One glass a day 'significantly' increases heart disease risk, study warns
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A study has warned that women who consume as little as a daily glass of wine and two at weekends are at a "significantly higher" risk of developing heart disease. American researchers found that women who consume more than eight alcoholic drinks a week were nearly 50 per cent more likely to develop the potentially fatal condition. Binge drinkers of both sexes were also discovered to be at a much higher risk of heart disease. The 2024 study from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) - one of the largest ever conducted on the link between alcohol and coronary heart disease - cautioned that heavy-drinking young and middle-aged women were particularly at risk, regardless of their age. Heart attacks and other forms of heart disease are currently increasing among younger generations in both the US and the UK. Coronary heart disease happens when the arteries supplying blood to the heart become narrowed, restricting blood flow. READ MORE - The unlikely royal who has run the London Marathon - and even set a world record READ MORE - How much London Marathon 2025 winners and record breakers receive in iconic race This condition can lead to chest pain and acute events such as heart attacks. Alcohol use and episodic drinking - or binge drinking - have also increased amongst female populations in recent decades. Dr Jamal Rana, a cardiologist and lead author of the study, explained: "When it comes to binge drinking, both men and women with excess alcohol consumption had a higher risk of heart disease,", reports Surrey Live. "For women, we find consistently higher risk even without binge drinking. I wasn't expecting these results among women in this lower age group because we usually see increased risk for heart disease among older women. It was definitely surprising." Data from over 430,000 individuals who received care in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California integrated health organisation were utilised by researchers. Almost 243,000 men and 189,000 women, with an average age of 44 and free from heart disease at the start, formed the cohort under study. During primary care consultations, information regarding alcohol consumption was gathered using the standard 'Alcohol as a Vital Sign' screening initiative of the health organisation, which employs visual reference charts to assist patients in gauging their alcohol quantity intakes in line with standard measurements. The team examined the link between the alcohol intake levels the patients reported during routine assessments in 2014 and 2015 and the occurrence of coronary heart disease over the next four years. Participants' overall alcohol consumption was determined on the basis of self-reported assessments, classifying it as low (one to two drinks per week for both genders), moderate (three to 14 for men and three to seven for women weekly), or high (15 or more for men and eight or more weekly for women). Each participant was categorised separately based on whether they engaged in binge drinking - defined as consuming more than four drinks for men or more than three drinks for women in a single day over the past three months. Those who reported no alcohol use were excluded from the study, and the data was adjusted to account for age, physical activity, smoking and other known cardiovascular risk factors. During the four-year follow-up period, 3,108 patients were diagnosed with coronary heart disease. The researchers discovered that the incidence of coronary heart disease rose with higher levels of alcohol consumption. Among women, those who reported high alcohol intake had a 45 per cent higher risk of heart disease compared to those reporting low intake, and a 29 per cent higher risk compared to those reporting moderate intake. However, the most significant difference was found among individuals categorised as binge drinkers - with women in this category being a staggering two-thirds (68 per cent) more likely to develop heart disease compared to those with a moderate alcohol intake. Men with high overall intake were also a third (33 per cent) more likely to develop heart disease compared with men who reported a moderate intake. The results showed no significant difference in risk between people who reported moderate versus low alcohol intake, regardless of whether they were also categorised as binge drinkers. "Women feel they're protected against heart disease until they're older, but this study shows that even when you're young or middle-aged, if you are a heavy alcohol user or binge drink, you are at risk for coronary heart disease," Dr Rana explained. Alcohol's effects can raise blood pressure and result in metabolic changes linked to inflammation and obesity, and as women metabolise alcohol differently than men, Dr Rana and his team have emphasised the health dangers of alcohol use and the need to factor it into heart disease risk assessments and prevention strategies. "When it comes to heart disease, the number one thing that comes to mind is smoking, and we do not think about alcohol as one of the vital signs," Dr Rana remarked. "I think a lot more awareness is needed, and alcohol should be part of routine health assessments moving forward." A key caveat of the study, which Dr Rana presented at the ACC's Annual Scientific Session in Atlanta, Georgia, on 6 April last year - is the common belief that patients downplay their alcohol consumption. Consequently, the researchers suggest that their findings regarding alcohol-linked heart disease risk may be 'conservative'.
