Older adults with salty diets may have an increased risk of suffering a stroke, according to a US study of more than 2 000 people.   

Though it is well known that as people’s sodium intake rises, their blood pressure is likely to increase as well, it is less clear whether a salty diet may ultimately mean higher risks of stroke and heart attack down the road.  

But researchers whose findings were published in the journal Stroke said that of the close to 2 700 older, mostly minority adults they studied, those who got well above the recommended sodium intake were nearly three times as likely to suffer a stroke over 10 years as people who met guidelines recommended by the American Heart Association.  

We all know that our emotions affect our hearts. You can feel your heart "flutter" with anxiety and "pound" with anger.

But can emotional stress actually hurt your heart or even cause heart disease? And, if stress does jeopardize heart health, are there strategies to alleviate stress and protect your heart?

To eat less and move more to lose weight may sound like stating the obvious.

But for most people to eat less, to move more and to lose weight all sound more like the impossible – goals they've been dreading.

After all, 2/3 of our population are overweight. How's it possible to eat less when everyone around you is obviously eating more? And how can you move more when most people move less than a sloth?

Lassa viral haemorrhagic fever is an acute illness of 1-4 weeks duration that occurs in West Africa. Though first described in the 1950s, the virus causing the disease was not identified until 1969. The virus is a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the virus family Arenaviridae. Lassa fever is known to be endemic in Guinea (Conakry), Liberia, Sierra Leone and parts of Nigeria, but probably exists in other West African countries as well.

This piece is going to be a life-changer, folks. I've cracked the code, after long years of research and intense rumination (pun intended). There are indeed certain foods which can fill us with vim, crank up passion, boost your style quotient and even soothe the soul. So without much ado, I present to you; (start drumroll please) the ordinary, the non-exotic, the easily available — Smart Foods! Fine, I agree ‘Smart Foods' sounds a little lame, but Superfoods was already taken and ‘smart' is all the rage these days. Move on, now.

We all know that eating sugary foods, and drinking coffee/soda are terrible for our teeth, but did you know that taking diet supplements are bad for your teeth? Or even getting some exercise through swimming?

1. Diet Supplements - contain chemicals that decrease production of saliva.

I have a confession to make: I add salt to canned soup. Yes. I am a bona fide, hardcore sodium addict. And, while there's probably not a 12-step program for such a transgression, it's definitely not good for my blood pressure or my face. Some mornings when I wake up after a salt-fueled fiesta I look like I've gone six rounds with [insert some famous boxer guy's name here]. No joke. I have some serious swelling issues and, while you'd think that vanity would be enough to wean me from evil crystals, it's not, so I'm stuck contending with the puff. Every. Freaking. Day.

 Experts recommend working out 45 minutes to an hour a day (30 minutes for beginners) for weight loss and fitness. But if you're like most women, you don't always have a block of 30 to 60 minutes a day to devote exclusively to doing your workouts.

Lest you think that short bursts of activity have a negligible effect on your fitness program, think again. One study found that women who split their exercise into 10-minute increments were more likely to exercise consistently, and lost more weight after 5 months, than women who exercised for 20 to 40 minutes at a time.