Nick DiNubile, M.D. - Have you found it more difficult to get in to an old pair of shoes or sneakers? I have! I know your body can change as you age. Believe it or not, your ears get a little longer (the ear lobe actually stretches and dangles more) and you actually can lose height, that is get a little shorter because of changes in the height of your intravertrebral discs in your spine (they lose water content and shrink). ... Read more...

Nick DiNubile, M.D. - With the U.S. Open heading into full gear, all eyes are again on golf. Also, now that summer has arrived, more and more average Joe's (and Jane's) are hitting the links. Most are ecstatic, some are limping. When Tiger Woods stepped up to his first competitive tee shot since having arthroscopic knee surgery eight weeks ago, all eyes were on him, and his knees. I was not at all surprised that his first shot lifted off a large chunk of turf and went far far out of play. ... Read more...

Nick DiNubile, M.D. - In my last blog entry , I talked about the loss of elasticity in your body's tissues with age. Sometimes your muscles and tendons stay limber with age, but one or more joints may get tight or stiff and lose mobility, or range of motion (ROM). Loss of motion in a joint (or joints) is most commonly due to arthritis. The loss can be slow, gradual and even imperceptible. ... Read more...

Nick DiNubile, M.D. - It's not unusual for your muscles, tendons and joints to tighten up, or stiffen up with age. The same can happen prematurely with injury or certain diseases. As a child you were probably more like a Gumby - loose jointed, flexible, almost made of rubber. If you've been feeling more like you've "turned to stone," you're not alone. Your body's soft tissues such as ligaments, tendons or the capsule or cover around your joints are made of a biomaterial called collagen. ... Read more...

Nick DiNubile, M.D. - Tiger Woods is usually in a world of his own - on track to be the greatest golfer ever. But recently he showed a vulnerability similar to so many of us. Finally we can relate to him in some way. Unfortunately, our common ground is a sore knee. Tiger finished the Masters in second place and then, before someone could say fore, he was scheduled for knee surgery. Tiger underwent Read more...

Health Point - Free radicals are highly reactive compounds that are produced when the body uses oxygen. Environmental pollutants such as smog, radiation, cigarette smoke, herbicides, Read more...

Health Point - Antioxidants are substances produced within the body or obtained through the diet which protect the body from free radicals. Exercise can increase the formation of free Read more...

Health Point - Astaxanthin belongs to a group of pigments (colouring agents) called carotenoids. Astaxanthin gives sea animals a blue-green tinge, which turns to a red-orange colour when Read more...

Health Point - HMB (short for beta-hydroxy methyl-butyrate) is a breakdown product of the amino acid leucine. HMB may play a role in helping regulate muscle Read more...

Health Point - Cartilage supplements and products are produced using the cartilage of a variety of animals, including cattle (bovine), sheep, sharks and chickens. Shark cartilage Read more...