People with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may have very low levels of oxygen in their blood. This is called hypoxemia, and it may cause increased difficulty breathing and further impair your ability to exercise, requiring COPD oxygen therapy. Low COPD oxygen levels may also cause fatigue, memory loss, … Read More
The number of Americans who smoke has fallen to 14.9 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—a big drop from 1997, when 25 percent of Americans smoked. Sadly, however, smoking still kills about half a million Americans annually, and it isn’t just the obvious smoking diseases … Read More
Unless you live under a rock, you know that smoking is bad for your health. Tobacco-related diseases kill more than 480,000 people each year in the United States alone, accounting for around 20 percent of all premature deaths. If you’re a smoker, the habit can shorten your life by up … Read More
Every year, millions of Americans are hit by cold, flu, and other respiratory infections. While the common cold will rarely cause serious complications, the flu and other infections—such as Legionnaire’s, pneumococcus, and mycoplasma—can lead to severe and potentially life-threatening complications, especially in the young, the elderly, and the chronically sick. … Read More
If you don’t smoke, you may think you're safe from the health complications that can accompany a smoking habit. But secondhand smoke also raises your risk of smoking-related diseases—and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 126 million non-smoking Americans are regularly exposed to secondhand … Read More
It’s a tradition when it comes to any New Year’s Resolution: Ideas center on self-improvement—and often in the area of health. And why not? For some, buying a new car or traveling to an exotic locale might come first. But without our health, those fancy material possessions and adventurous trips … Read More
