Dirt, warmth, sweat and other secretions are all factors that encourage germs to multiply. Clean clothes should be worn daily; a fabric contains 10,000 germs per square centimeter after one day of wear. Aside from genetic causes, the two main reasons hair can be lost are stress and poor diet. Poor oral health is linked to a number of diseases. Nails are made up of layers of keratin (protein) and can be indicative of our general health. There are 250,000 sweat glands in a pair of feet.

It is estimated that over 50 million Americans have metabolic syndrome. The syndrome has become increasingly common in the United States due to the rise in obesity rates among adults. Metabolic syndrome is diagnosed when a person has at least three of these heart disease risk factors: abdominal obesity, elevated blood pressure, high triglyceride level, low level of HDL “good” cholesterol, and elevated glucose (blood sugar) level after fasting.

It is important to make family time a priority. In a study that followed 65 children over eight years, Harvard researchers looked at which activities most fostered healthy child development: play, story time, events with family members, and other factors. Family dinners won out. Also, set up a regular family game night, make family time physically active, and involve the whole family in choosing a vacation destination.

42 percent of adults in the U.S. experience pain daily and 89 percent experience pain monthly. Nearly half of all Americans see a physician with a primary complaint of pain each year. According to experts, the types of pain that shouldn’t be ignored because they require prompt medical attention include: worst headache of your life; pain or discomfort in the chest, throat, jaw, shoulder, arm or abdomen; pain in the lower back or between shoulder blades; and severe abdominal pain.

The human body consists of about 75 percent water and the brain about 85 percent. Water is essential to the functioning of every single cell and organ system in the human body. Dehydration is the No. 1 stressor of the human body; 75 percent of all people have mild, chronic dehydration. Studies show that the majority of healthy people meet their daily needs of water intake.

It has been found that literary reading goes up with education and correlates with increased participation in communal life, but less than half of the American adult population now reads literature for pleasure. The musical techniques used by composers 200 years ago such as a 60 beats per minute pattern helps the brain organize incoming information. Learning potential can be increased a minimum of five times by using this music. Also, listening to music reduces the stress hormone, cortisol.

Hepatitis is a swelling of the liver, an organ that helps the body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons. Viruses are the most common cause of hepatitis. The infectious virus comes in three primary forms in the U.S. – A, B, and C. The other two less prevalent forms are D and E. There are vaccines available for hepatitis A (HAV) and hepatitis B (HBV), but not for hepatitis C (HCV).

There are about 20,000 reported cases of Lyme disease in America annually. In the 10 states where the disease is most common such as in Maryland, the average is 30.2 cases per 100,000 persons. Lyme disease is an infection caused by a bacterium that is carried by deer ticks. General symptoms include a circular rash, fatigue, chills, fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and muscle/joint aches.

About one-third of U.S. adults have a sunburn each year and about two-thirds of U.S. children have a sunburn every summer. Those at higher risk typically have fair skin, blue eyes, and red or blond hair. Severe sunburns can be serious in babies, small children, and older adults. Indications for medical attention include a severe sunburn that covers more than 15 percent of the body, extreme pain that persists longer than 48 hours, high fever, and dehydration.

Around 20 percent of Americans claim to have intense fatigue that interferes with their daily living. Every year, about 10 million doctor visits are attributed to fatigue. It is a common health complaint; the physical causes are estimated at 20 to 60 percent and the emotional causes are the other 40 to 80 percent. Fatigue may be a sign of a serious illness, but experts say that most often it is caused by a minor problem with a relatively easy fix.