Living Well: Healthy Tip #6

For several days now, I've been writing an ongoing series of diet and fitness posts titled "Why the Pounds Are Sticking Around," which are a collection of tips sourced from the health magazine Self. Since the response has been so positive, I decided to forge ahead with an idea I had for a series of healthy living posts. Since exercise and training are more my forte, I sought out information from an outside source -- Men's Health magazine. To that end, I found ten great health and wellness tips that I thought would be perfect for pieces on healthy living.

So, just as I have been doing with the diet and fitness posts, I will also be posting one healthy living tip per day as part of a series I think I'm going to call "Living Well." I think you'll find these tips to be as interesting and as helpful as I did.

Healthy Tip #6 - Have your thyroid checked

An estimated 27 million Americans have Hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid), but are not aware that they do. Could you be one of those people? Signs of a thyroid condition include muscle and joint pains, neck discomfort and/or enlargement, changes in hair or skin, bowel problems, and several other potential issues.

Not only is an underactive thyroid a health issue by itself, but it also increases your risk of heart disease by 65 percent, says a study published in the American Journal of Medicine. To help determine if you are at risk, the folks at Men's Health suggest a quick blood test to assess your level of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).