Your health: Experts say allergy season will be bad

Experts say allergy season will be bad

It's that time of year again - allergy season, which is striking about two weeks earlier than usual and packing a stronger-than-usual pollen punch, reports NorthJersey.com.

If you've heard it's because of the especially snowy winter, that isn't a myth, it's true, according to Dr. Stuart From, chief of the Allergy Department of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.

"We had so much snow that the ground is well-soaked with water, plus melting snow soaks it more, and then all we needed were warm temperatures and the trees were primed to produce pollen," he said. "I myself am allergic, and I have been on my medication two weeks now, and so have my patients. They have early symptoms. Some of them say, 'It's too early. I must have a cold.' But it's not a cold."

Strict parenting may lead to heavy kids

Parents who are rigid on rules and skimpy on affection have a greater risk of having overweight kids, according to new research, UPI reports.

The study tracked a nationally representative group of 37,577 Canadian children ages 0 to 11. The researchers compared children whose parents were generally affectionate, had reasonable discussions about behavior and set healthy boundaries - authoritative - with those whose parents were strict about limits without much dialogue or affection - authoritarian.

The children reared by authoritarian parents had a 30 percent higher chance of being obese among children ages 2 to 5 and a 37 percent higher chance among kids ages 6 to 11.

Lose baby weight or risk diabetes

Mothers who fail to lose baby weight within a year of giving birth have a much higher risk of diabetes and heart trouble, according to a new study, the Daily Mail reports.

The researchers followed more than 300 patients throughout their pregnancy and the year following birth.

A quarter of the women studied gained weight in that year and showed a clear increase in risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.