Healthy Future US Blog

No pain no gain?  Preliminary research implies that we may have been badly mistaken in our fight to reduce inflammation with instant pain-relief gratification, in the form of antiinflammatories such as NSAIDs (ibuprofen, Advil, etc) and corticosteroids (e.g. dexamethasone & prednisone).  Not surprisingly, this research finds that there is actually an essential biological reason for inflammation–including the body marshaling white blood cells to jumpstart our natural healing process.  So, ironically, by aggressively fighting inflammation artificially, we may be reducing white blood cells and limiting healing: gaining short-term pain relief at the cost of long-term pain…and lifelong dependence on painkillers. How does that relate to school health & wellness? Let me make an analogy: By maximizing seat-time to boost reading and math test scores short-term, we have not only failed to increase test scores, but we have sacrificed our children’s long-term health. By no l...

What would you do, if your teenage child or grandchild had prediabetes–with a strong chance of developing diabetes within the next 10 years?  Not likely, you think–but you are wrong.  According to a brand new JAMA Pediatrics study , there is a greater than 1 in 4 chance that your teen has prediabetes .  This is up even more from a recent study showing 1 in 5 at risk–and more than twice as high as 20 years ago.   What really took my breath away is that 1 in 4 white teens and 1 in 4 teens from higher-income families and 1 in 4 normal weight teens have prediabetes! People have been assuming that those kids are unlikely to develop Type 2 diabetes early in life...  Well, you can toss that stereotype out the window now.   If your teen has been inactive and had poor nutrition for years, you should perhaps consider checking their blood sugar level – and take action now to get them moving and eating & drinking healthier . Since research show...