Weighing in at 3.5 pounds, the liver is the single largest internal organ in the human body. It has hundreds of different jobs, most of which are related to removing toxins from everything that we consume, and breaking down and absorbing fats to release energy by producing bile. It also helps regulate blood sugar levels. Although your patients may not realize it, their liver often has to work overtime during the holidays.

We’ve all had those moments where we forget where we placed our reading glasses or our car keys. In most cases, we can brush these instances off as jokes because they don’t occur that often. However, there’s no getting around the fact that we will have more of those senior moments as we age, and the prospect of forgetting things more important than reading glasses can be scary. Furthermore, we aren’t alone in these fears.

One of the most common complaints you likely hear from your patients is that they feel tired or fatigued, even if they are getting enough sleep. While this may seem mysterious at first, looking over their standard diet often reveals the culprit—not enough dietary iron. In fact, estimates are that as mush as a quarter of the world’s population is not getting enough dietary iron.

Carving a Halloween pumpkin can be a fun fall activity to share with the kids.You can then freeze the pumpkin pulp that gets scooped out to use later for making pumpkin soup or pumpkin pie from scratch. The pumpkin seeds can also be saved for roasting to make a tasty, healthy snack for the family. But, did you know that the oil from pumpkin seeds actually has many other health benefits.

Prescription opioids have been a hot topic for quite a few years. The NIDA indicates that the misuse of pain-relieving drugs classified as opiates has now risen to the point of being a public health crisis in America today. The NIDA adds that this opioid crisis has devastating consequences, including impacting the nation financially—prescription opioid misuse costs an estimated $78.5 billion per year.