In the past few years, many advances have taken place in the treatment of heart disease. Unfortunately, the most important steps in preventing the disease or its progression are still not optimal.

Pop not only destroys your teeth, but it increases your blood pressure and can make you gain weight. You’ll be happy you stopped drinking pop when you start seeing your stomach shrink. Diet pop is actually worse for you than regular pop, because diet pop confuses your body with artificial sweeteners. These chemical sweeteners trigger the pancreas to produce insulin, which sends your body into fat-storage mode … leading to weight gain.

We can ask the great thinkers: “What is the most important thing?” Pema Chodron, beloved Buddhist nun and teacher, would answer simply: “Just leave a little gap, and you’ll discover the magic of life; when you are in touch with the larger environment, it can cut through your cocoon mentality.”

If you have fewer than three bowel movements a week, or when the stools are hard, dry and painful or difficult to pass, that is a condition called constipation. According to a systemic review reported in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, it is one of the most common gastrointestinal problems, affecting 42 million people in the U.S.

Family members often share many common traits, such as the same language, the same genealogy and the same last name. What many families don’t realize is that they also share a health history.

Making the decision to move a loved one to a long-term care facility is never easy. Finding the right place is even tougher. Almost 70 percent of people turning age 65 will need long-term care at some point in their lives. How do you decide what level of care is appropriate? What is the difference between Adult Foster Care Homes (assisted living), Independent Senior Living, and Skilled Nursing Homes? The biggest difference is the level of care that is provided. The general rule follows the natural progression of aging or disease.

Dr. Mark Mattingly is the only colon and rectal surgeon in town. He owns his own practice in Flint and is affiliated with Genesys Regional Medical Center and McLaren Medical Center. Dr. Mattingly attended medical school in Kentucky at the University of Louisville and has been in practice since 2002. “Time flies when you’re having fun,” he says with a smile. He completed his residency at Michigan State University, and completed some of his clinical rotations at McLaren.