NUTRITION HOTLINE.This month's Nutrition Hotline concerns the cholesterol needs of the human body, and websites that feature good information on different diseases. HOW MUCH CHOLESTEROL DO I NEED? QUESTION: I know that vegan diets do not contain any cholesterol. Don't humans need to eat some cholesterol so that their bodies can make hormones which contain cholesterol? RL, Illinois ANSWER: Our bodies are able to make all the cholesterol we need. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a standard nutrition text (Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, 9th ed, 1999), it is estimated that humans convert about 50 milligrams per day of cholesterol to steroid hormones. When you consider that cholesterol can be produced by almost every tissue in our body, and we are able to maintain levels of 150 milligrams or more per 100 milliliters of blood, it seems apparent that having enough cholesterol is not a problem even without a dietary source. WHERE SHOULD I GO TO LEARN ABOUT PARKINSON'S DISEASE Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. AND OTHER CONDITIONS? QUESTION: I've just learned I have Parkinson's Disease, macular degeneration macular degeneration, eye disorder causing loss of central vision. The affected area, the macula, lies at the back of the retina and is the part that produces the sharpest vision. , liver disease Liver Disease Definition Liver disease is a general term for any damage that reduces the functioning of the liver. Description The liver is a large, solid organ located in the upper right-hand side of the abdomen. , etc. Where can I go for more information? Via e-mail ANSWER: We get many questions about specific diseases and conditions. Certainly the first place to go with questions about your personal situation is to your own health care provider. However, people often want to use other sources as well. Here are a few websites that we think have excellent, readable information about a variety of diseases and conditions. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list; these are the ones we most often visit. <WWW WWW or W3: see World Wide Web. (World Wide Web) The common host name for a Web server. The "www-dot" prefix on Web addresses is widely used to provide a recognizable way of identifying a Web site. .NIH "Not invented here." See digispeak. NIH - The United States National Institutes of Health. .GOV/HEALTH/> This is the site for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It includes the NIH Health Information Index, which provides a direct link to the specific NIH Institute (including National Cancer Institute and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, n.pr established in 1948, this division of the National Institutes of Health is responsible for research and education on cardiovascular, pulmonary, systemic diseases, and sleep disorders. ) that supports research related to your health concern. These Institutes have extensive information about health topics. <WWW.CDC See Control Data, century date change and Back Orifice. CDC - Control Data Corporation .GOV/HEALTH/DISEASES.HTM> This is the Centers for Disease Control's site. It features Health Topics A to Z, which is a listing of disease and health topics found on CDC's website. We've been able to find out about some fairly unusual diseases here. <WWW.MAYOHEALTH.ORG> Mayo Clinic's website includes good updates on timely topics as well as a searchable archive of information on all types of conditions and medical-related questions. You can find out about common problems like arthritis, as well as less common tropical diseases, at this site. Explanations are generally easy to understand. |
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