This phenomenon undoubtedly detracts from your enjoyment of meals. However, you should be aware that there are numerous reasons why food may taste too salty.
Do you experience seasonal allergies? Postnasal drip, as well as allergies to certain foods, can cause a salty sensation. Potential causes include gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), diabetes, certain autoimmune diseases, and vitamin B12 insufficiency. Even persistent dry mouth, which can be caused by a variety of drugs, can make food taste particularly salty.
Even if you have one of these disorders, don't accept having a salty tongue. It's a good idea to discuss the problem with your primary care doctor. Who will work with you to find solutions to your problems, which could be as simple as altering your prescriptions? they may request some basic blood tests to determine the cause.
Have you ever rode an e-scooter or e-bike? These "micromobility" modes of transportation are undeniably convenient, affordable, and fun to use. But did it feel a little dangerous?
Indeed, the number of accidents involving e-bikes and scooters is increasing. Given their remarkable rise in popularity, this may not come as a surprise. Then there's the way riders frequently use them: at high speeds, near automobiles and pedestrians, and on roads and sidewalks that weren't built for them.
Disruptive developments such as e-bikes and scooters are always associated with disadvantages. So, how can we reduce the danger of accidents?
Electric bikes, scooters, and injuries
Between 2018 and 2022, e-bike sales increased from approximately 250,000 per year to more than a million. E-bike and e-scooter rentals have also risen considerably. As e-bikes and e-scooters become more popular, emergency departments observe an increase in the number of persons injured while riding them.
A 2024 study in JAMA Network Open emphasizes this. The researchers used data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. They compared emergency room visits between 2017 and 2022 for persons injured while riding an e-bike or e-scooter to those injured while riding traditional bikes and scooters.
What did the study discover?
During the six-year study period, approximately three million people riding e-bikes, e-scooters, or their conventional counterparts sought emergency room care, including approximately 45,500 e-bike riders and 190,000 e-scooter riders, as well as approximately 2.5 million conventional bike riders and 305,000 conventional scooter riders.
Several themes evolved regarding e-micromobility:
ER care has increased dramatically.
- E-bike injuries have more than doubled each year, from 751 in 2017 to 23,493 in 2022.
- E-scooter injuries have climbed by more than 45% every year, from 8,566 in 2017 to 56,847 in 2022.
- 43% of e-bike and scooter riders wore helmets, compared to 52% of conventional micromobility users.
- 7% of e-bike riders and 9% of e-scooter riders had consumed alcohol before their accidents, compared to 4% of conventional bike riders and 3% of conventional scooter riders.
More accidents occurred in urban areas than in rural settings.
- 83% of accidents involving e-bikes and scooters
- 71% of typical motorcycle and scooter accidents.
All cyclists had similar injuries, with scrapes, bruises, broken bones, and head and neck injuries being the most prevalent.
As we age, our appearance changes along with our wisdom and experiences. These changes are most noticeable on our faces.
How the Face Ages
Over time, several changes occur:
Foreheads: They expand as hairlines recede.
Ears: They may get longer due to cartilage growth.
Noses: The tips may droop because the connective tissue weakens.
Behind the scenes, fat in the face, which is evenly distributed when we’re young, starts to lose volume, clump up, and shift downward. This can cause formerly round features to sink and smooth skin to sag. Additionally, the lower part of the face may gain fat, leading to a baggy chin and jowly neck.
Wrinkles also appear, with deep ones on the forehead and between the eyebrows caused by facial muscles continually tugging on the skin. Other folds deepen as fat decreases and moves around, while finer wrinkles result from sun damage, smoking, and natural skin degeneration.
Addressing an Aging Face
While aging gracefully is beautiful, some may want to slow down these changes. Here are some options:
Celebrate Aging: Embrace age-related changes as reflections of life’s joys and challenges.
Facelifts: surgical procedures that remove excess tissue and lift sagging skin. Though effective, they are expensive and may require additional procedures.
Nonsurgical Alternatives: These include rejuvenating treatments, which, while not cheap, can be effective.
Tips for a Youthful Appearance
Sun Protection: Use sunscreen with at least SPF 30 and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
Creams and lotions: moisturizers can temporarily reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Prescription creams containing retinoids can reduce wrinkles and liver spots by promoting collagen production and altering melanin.
Hebe is an evergreen plant, meaning it stays green all year round, and it can handle cooler weather down to -3°C. There are many varieties, colors, and sizes of Hebe, so it’s easy to find one that fits your style, whether you like a modern look or a more classic garden feel.
It needs plenty of water to keep growing. If it’s planted in the ground, you won’t need to water it as often because it can draw moisture from the soil. To keep it blooming all season, make sure to remove the dead flowers.
Hebe can grow to a height and width of about 10 to 50 cm, and it takes 5 to 10 years to reach its full size. It grows well in a range of soils, as long as they are well-drained and slightly moist. It prefers full sunlight or partial shade, and it likes to be in a sheltered spot, protected from strong winds.
Hebe plants are quite hardy and can survive in many parts of the UK, even during cold winters. However, in very severe winters, it may need some protection. You can easily grow new Hebe plants by taking cuttings in late summer or autumn, but remember this plant is protected by Plant Breeders' Rights, so you can only propagate it for personal use.
Hebe is a great low-maintenance plant for wildlife gardens, city spaces, or coastal areas. Just keep an eye out for pests like aphids and diseases such as mildew or root rot. Overall, Hebe is a fantastic choice for anyone looking to add color and life to their garden!
Sighthill is a neighborhood located in the Scottish city of Glasgow. Positioned north of the River Clyde, it forms part of the larger Springburn area in the northern part of the city.
This neighborhood is still under development, so there’s a lot of open space. It's rarely crowded, making it the perfect spot to sit back, relax, and watch the birds or ducks at the nearby ponds. It’s just a stone’s throw away from Pinkston Water Park, and the two spots complement each other beautifully.
What I Love About Sighthill
Sighthill is peaceful and calm, with plenty of outdoor space that feels perfect for both kids and adults. I’m not sure what the future holds for the remaining open areas – whether they’ll be developed into more housing – but I personally hope they keep some of the natural beauty that makes this place feel so special.
The ponds here add a perfect touch of nature to the neighborhood, creating a balanced blend of modern living and outdoor tranquility. And because they’re set a little away from the housing areas, they offer a quiet retreat without feeling too far from home.
There’s a school and a church nearby, and I’ve noticed they’re selling houses in the area. One thing I’ve observed is that the front yards are quite small, almost right on the street, but even so, the overall feel of the neighborhood remains green, quiet, and inviting.
I’d love to hear your thoughts! What do you think of this neighborhood? Could you imagine yourself living in a place like this?
When we think about toxic chemicals and pollution, cancer or neurological issues often come to mind. However, these hazardous substances also play a role in the leading cause of death: cardiovascular disease.
“Recognizing that chemical pollutants can contribute to heart disease is a recent development, but it’s very real,” says Dr. Philip Landrigan, an adjunct professor of environmental health at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He explains that the risk from environmental pollution has often been overshadowed by other classic heart disease risk factors.
“Cardiologists have made great strides in identifying and addressing these risks. Heart disease deaths are much lower now than in the 1950s. But with fewer people smoking and better control of cholesterol and blood pressure, environmental exposures are getting more attention,” he says.
Pollution Sources
Chemical pollutants include toxins in the air, water, and soil. Among these, air pollution is the biggest threat to heart health, according to Dr. Landrigan. Other concerning contaminants include heavy metals like lead, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and pesticides, as noted in an article from Circulation Research.
If there's one thing I've learned, it's that some men can be a bit slow—and I mean this in the nicest way. That's why, most times, when you say something to them, they think you're either stressed or just having a moment.
A few days later, a woman was stabbed to death in her apartment on the same street.
The wife started feeling like someone was following her. Even when she went to the supermarket, someone followed her until she got so frightened and ran off. She told her husband, and they went back to the supermarket to check the security footage. She saw the person's face, but not very clearly, so she took a photo of the CCTV screen. They called the police, who asked if she could identify the person. She said it seemed like the person from the window, so her husband and the officer went to that building. When her husband came back, he told her the man was just taking care of his sick father and she should get over herself.
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During winter in the Northern Hemisphere, you might experience red, rough, raw, and itchy skin because of low humidity both outside and inside. The outer layer of your skin reflects the humidity around it. Luckily, there are many simple and inexpensive ways to relieve winter dry skin, also known as winter itch.
Even if you live in a warm place, most people will deal with dry skin at some point. These tips can help keep your skin soft and healthy, whether you’re in chilly New England or sunny Hawaii.
Keeping Moisture in the Skin
Moisturizers are the first step in fighting dry skin. They rehydrate the top layer of skin cells and lock in moisture. There are three main types of ingredients in moisturizers:
Humectants: Attract moisture (e.g., ceramides, glycerin, sorbitol, hyaluronic acid, lecithin).
Occlusives: Seal in moisture (e.g., petrolatum, silicone, lanolin, mineral oil).
Emollients: Smooth skin by filling in spaces between cells (e.g., linoleic, linolenic, lauric acids)
Practicing self-care isn't just about your well-being—it's about your physical health, too.
Our post Physical Self-Care emphasizes that's especially crucial for women, who are often more pressured to follow societal beauty standards. That's why it's important to learn how to distinguish physical beauty from physical health. By nourishing your body, keeping it in good shape, and loving what it's capable of rather than what it looks like, you can better uplift both your physical and mental well-being.
Viewing physical self-care through this lens can be especially helpful for losing weight more sustainably. Shedding pounds for the sake of your long-term health rather than to look thinner can be especially vital given the increased risk of developing chronic diseases that comes with being overweight or obese. The above steps can help you start that journey. However, simply establishing a healthier lifestyle isn't a one-size-fits-all solution and won't work for everyone.
That's why demand for weight loss drugs, particularly Ozempic, is on the rise. Due to growing obesity rates worldwide, pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which supplies Ozempic, sold over $21 billion of these weight loss drugs in 2023 alone. But can Ozempic really aid physical self-care—or is it just a way for people to take a "shortcut" when it comes to weight loss?
When does Ozempic promote sustainable weight loss?
Ozempic is considered a GLP-1 medication. Originally designed to treat diabetes, it works by regulating levels of naturally occurring hormones in the body. In doing so, it sends satiety signals to the brain, helping you feel full faster and managing your appetite so you eat less. You may have first heard of Ozempic as a "celebrity drug." Its widespread use by big names has led to what's dubbed Hollywood's Ozempic epidemic, something that experts say may influence ordinary consumers to take the medication even if they don't need to. Though that may make it seem like an unhealthy way to streamline the process of losing weight in line with social pressures, the truth is that it can significantly aid sustainable weight loss—when it's in the right hands.Because Ozempic can result in significant weight loss, healthcare professionals only prescribe it to a key population: individuals who are overweight or obese and find it challenging to lose weight due to medical factors. That includes people who are genetically predisposed to obesity—as well as women diagnosed with pre-existing medical conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS. In these cases, an Ozempic prescription can help when these medical issues negate healthy lifestyle efforts like eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly.
From this perspective, the weight loss drug can significantly promote physical self-care when your own biology hinders progress. That's especially true given the many health benefits Ozempic provides. Aside from helping prevent and manage conditions commonly associated with excess weight, like type 2 diabetes, it can reduce cell inflammation to significantly boost kidney and heart health. Ozempic can even prevent cognitive decline and lower your risk of developing conditions like depression and anxiety, meaning its benefits extend to your mental well-being.
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A positive outlook might help women slow down physical decline as they get older, according to a new study.
This research, led by Harvard and published in JAMA Psychiatry on March 20, 2024, looked at data from nearly 6,000 postmenopausal women, with an average age of 70, who were part of the Women’s Health Initiative. These women joined the study between 1993 and 1998 and were followed for six years. At the start, researchers measured their optimism using questionnaires. Their physical abilities were tested four times during the study, including grip strength, a timed walk, and how many times they could stand up from a chair in 15 seconds without using their hands.
The study found that women with higher optimism had better grip strength and could stand up from a chair more times compared to those with lower optimism. They also experienced slower declines in walking speed and chair stands over the six years. While the exact reason for this link is unclear, researchers think that optimistic people might be more active, social, and eat healthier.