Tips For Health & Beauty

Healthy Hearts

2010-10-11T00:57:00.000-07:00

Everyday Heart Health Tips If you're not convinced about the need to develop an exercise program for your life, you can at least try following some of these tips in your everyday routine. Take advantage of any opportunity for exercise. Try some today.

Take the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator at school or the mall. Just start with one flight. Soon, you'll be ready for two.
Park your car at the far end of the parking lot. The short walk to and from the store or school helps your heart.
If you ride a bus or subway, get off a stop before your destination. Walk the rest of the way.
If you can, spend a few minutes of your lunch break taking a stroll around the campus grounds. It should help you stay awake after lunch.
Think of housework as an extra chance to exercise. Vacuuming briskly can be a real workout.
Mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, and raking leaves are chores that can be done yourself as a chance to exercise.
If you have a dog, think of the dog as an exercise machine with fur. A brisk walk with the dog is good for both of your hearts. Make it a part of your daily routine.
If you have a family, schedule an after-dinner walk. Make it quality time.

Fast Food Killing Women's Libido

2010-09-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

Changing Food Habits Dampen Desire, say Italian Medics

Never mind slow food; women need more slow sexy food. That's the word from the Italian Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (SIGO), who have launched a new book on women's health titled "Food and Sex." The book is a collection of 30 recipes designed to inspire desire and to combat the rising number of Italian women who doctors say are suffering from sexual performance anxiety.

Fast Food Killing Libido

The Mediterranean diet is often hailed as one of the healthiest in the world, with its high proportion of fresh fruit and vegetables and low saturated fats, and it remains the basis of Italian cuisine. Yet lifestyle changes have also brought about significant dietary changes to Mediterranean women.

"The increased pace of life means women who are working in the cities don't have time to prepare fresh food and they are eating more fast food. Many cultural aspects of food are being lost, with consequences for their sexual health and libido," said SIGO President Dr. Giorgio Vittori.

Female Sexual Performance Anxiety

Eleven percent of Italian women reported anxiety about their sexual performance in a recent SIGO study, and a surprising 73% did not acknowledge a link between diet and libido.

To get the message out, and in a twist of marketing genius, doctors are recommending a return to erotic foods.

Top Erotic Foods

Alongside erotic legends like caviar (with zinc for sperm production), chili (for vascular dilation), chocolate and cocoa (with stimulants and anti-depressives pheniletilamine and theobromine), surprise entries in the recommended erotic foods index include asparagus, almonds, honey (recommended by the ancient Ayurvedica culture to newlyweds, hence the word "honey-moon"), avocado, saffron (stimulates erogenous zones) and cloves (one of the most powerful natural aphrodisiacs).

The banana also gets a mention thanks not only to its phallic shape but to its peel, which contains traces of an alkaloid called bufotenin, a powerful toxin usually found in toads that, according to some experts, can act as a relaxant in tiny doses.

Perfect Meal for Passion

"Pre-cooked or pre-packaged food and eating too quickly causes intense cerebral excitement," said Professor Alessandra Graziottin, director of the Centre of Gynaecology at the San Raffaele Resnati Institute of Milan, "but it is paradoxically damaging to libido. In fact, it increases irritability. We need to pay attention not only to what we eat but how."

And the perfect meal for a night of passion according to the "Food and Sex" authors? Crab and avocado "eat me" mousse, "butterflies in my stomach" pasta or "lovers' risotto," "intriguing escalopes" with shavings of truffle and chocolate "kisses" for dessert. Easy on the vino, however, and skip the post-coital cigarette. And whatever you do, go slowly

Mens' and Womens' Sexual Arousal Rates

2010-09-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Do Men & Women Get Excited at the Same Rate?

McGill University's study of sexual arousal rates in men & women revealed that both sexes are turned on to maximal arousal at more or less the same rate. Hard to believe?

This research shows that mens' and women' sexual arousal rates may be more similar than people thought.

Sexual Arousal Rates in Men and Women

The psychology of sexual arousal rates was fascinating long before Alfred Kinsey researched it. Kinsey was the first to make men and women's sexual arousal rates public and acceptable (though how acceptable his research was is debatable!). New research about sexual arousal rates reveal that men and women get excited at the same rate, which seems hard to believe. Don't men think of sex hundreds of times a day, thus increasing their sexual arousal rates?

What McGill's Research Shows About Sexual Arousal Rates

McGill University researchers found that men and women have sexual arousal rates that are more or less equal. However it's important to remember that any time humans or animals are involved in laboratory studies, their responses aren’t quite the same as in “real life.” Researchers do their best to simulate real life situations when they're studying sexual arousal rates in men and women – and they can come really close – but it’s not quite the same. Would these research results about sexual arousal rates be the same if study participants were in their own homes, with their own lovers?

Place Affects Mens' and Womens' Sexual Arousal Rates

The subjects watched a movie with video goggles and other measurements of their sexual response rates. This is much different than having sex at home (or on the train, plane, desk, photocopier, etc). How applicable are the lab findings to "real" sexual arousal situations and sexual arousal rates? It's difficult to say.

Real Life Versus Movies Affects Arousal Rates

With a real-life lover, most men and women (especially women) are affected by their surroundings, who is nearby making noise, how fat they feel, whether they have gas, if birth control is available, how hairy their legs are, how intimate their relationship is, what a colleague said as they were leaving the office, if they're fighting with their sister, and so on… In light of this, do the study’s results about sexual arousal rates in women and men transfer to real-life sexual situations? It may be easier for women to become aroused by watching a movie in a quiet, unpressured research situation than at home with all sorts of real-life distractions.

Study Participants Affect Sexual Arousal Rates

The participants in this study were “healthy subjects”. What does this mean? Were they 21 year old sexually active university students who may experience maximal sexual arousal in minutes? Were they married, gay, straight, parents of small children, overworked lawyers or pastors? In other words, how representative were they of the middle-aged adult population? Whether they're involved in healthy or unstable relationships is another factor that affects sexual arousal rates in men and women.

Definitions of Mens' and Womens' Sexual Arousal Rates

What exactly is “maximal sexual arousal”? In the study, men reached maximal arousal in 664.6 seconds; women in 743 seconds. I’m not sure if this means the same thing in both genders, or if they can even be compared. For men, it probably means full erection. For women, does it mean ready for instant penetration? Maybe. But even when a woman feels aroused, she may not quite be ready for penetration. This may affect the definition of sexual arousal rates in women.

Applying Mens's and Womens' Sexual Arousal Rates to Real Life

Finally, what real-life differences do these sexual arousal results make in the bedroom - or in a healthy relationship? If I don’t get aroused at the same rate as my husband, it doesn’t matter what this or any study reveals about sexual arousal rates in women and men. That said, it is interesting for research purposes. As Dr. Binik states, the results will help treat sexual arousal disorders in women, which is excellent because we could all use a good orgasm now and then!

Feeling connected and intimate with your partner - and not nervous when you're naked - may be more important than sexual arousal rates.

You’re not abnormal or weird - nor is your partner - if your sexual arousal rates aren't the same as the research findings. So, don’t set the timer and expect to be going at full boar after 743 seconds…unless of course you’re watching a sexually arousing movie with special video goggles in a darkened research lab.

Sexual Heath Relationship

2010-09-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

These natural tips for healthy physical intimacy will bring you closer to your partner. Your libido will also improve - whether you're male or female - which can help you build a healthy marriage!

"Men should have sex four times a week for optimum health," said Dr Mehmet Oz on the Oprah Winfrey show.

The benefits of physical and emotional intimacy for both men and women include stronger bones and muscles, less stress and depression, better memory and a stronger immune system. Four times a week may be a lot of physical intimacy to ask for even the most loving couple – unless you have a little help.

10 Natural Tips for Healthy Physical Intimacy

Accept your sensuality. Millions of people – both men and women – aren’t comfortable with their libidos, says Dr Marian Dunn of the Center for Human Sexuality. When you’re comfortable with physical intimacy, you can freely admit and explore your full range of desires.

Compromise with your partner. If you crave physical intimacy every night and your partner wants it once a month, you’ll need to meet in the middle. Being happy in your relationship involves openly discussing when and how often physical intimacy happens. This natural tip for a healthy love life requires honest discussion about different views on your libido and physical and emotional intimacy.

Move your body. The more oxygen, fresh air, and movement you give your body during the day (walking, biking, swimming, chasing after your children), the more sensual you’ll feel overall. Physical and emotional intimacy is connected to how active you are during the day. Exercising doesn’t deplete energy, it increases it!

Unwind before you hit the sheets. There’s nothing less sexy than worrying about bills, work, investments, or politics when you’re striving for a healthy sex life. This natural tip for a healthy love life involves de-stressing before you go to bed. Have a bubble bath, snuggle with your partner, or go for a long walk. The less tense you are, the more you’ll enjoy emotional and physical intimacy.

Use protection. If you’re with a new partner, make sure you’re protected against HIV or other diseases. Insist on good protection – or a healthy love life won’t be yours.

Practice being naked. This natural tip involves your self-esteem and self-confidence. If you feel awkward and embarrassed when you’re naked, you won’t enjoy your partner in bed. Repeat to yourself: “I don’t have to look perfect to enjoy love!” Go to a nude beach or change in the dressing room at the pool, and get used to being around people when you’re nude. This will increase the physical and emotional intimacy in your relationship.

Enjoy a healthy diet. Get away from the fast food, soda pop, and processed sugar! Did you see what happened to Morgan in Supersize Me?! Healthy fruits, veggies, grains, beans, and the occasional hunk of meat will make you feel better and more energetic. This natural tip for healthy physical intimacy can help you lose weight, too.

Examine your prescriptions. If you have absolutely no appetite for intimacy, look into the medications you’re taking. Some, such as birth control pills or antidepressants, can inhibit your libido. Talk to your doctor about how your prescriptions are affecting your love life. You may not be able to quit taking your prescription, but your doctor may offer additional tips for healthy intimacy that speak to your specific condition.

Try new things. To fully enjoy physical and emotional intimacy with your partner, stay away from the routine! New toys, lingerie, places, or even foods can help spice up your love life and increase your desire. Physical intimacy at any age can be enhanced with a little variety.

Laugh about it. Sue Johanson of the Sunday Night Sex Show gave George Stroumboulopoulos this advice: Laugh about your sexual escapades with your partner. This natural tip for healthy libidos help reduce the embarrassment or awkwardness you may feel – and laughing with your partner increases feelings of connection.

healthy Relationships

2010-09-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

It's been said that no man (or woman, for that matter) is an island. And it's true: good relationships are essential to our happiness and emotional health. Our relationships can affect our physical health as well.

Indeed, one thing researchers know for sure is that our ability to feel love and intimacy is what keeps us well. Study after study has shown that loneliness is a risk factor for disease, and that relationships have a positive effect on everything from heart health to age-related health issues.

Nurture Your Relationships

It's not always easy to keep friendships and family connections strong when you're busy with work, children, and other demands on your time. Here are some tips for keeping those relationships healthy even in tough times:

Visit with friends and family. Simple, but important. Take time to make a phone call, send an email, or write a quick note.

Make new friends. Establishing new contacts with people who have similar lifestyles can help you feel that someone understands your daily challenges.

If you feel too exhausted to talk to or relate with the people important to you, tell them. Explain your feelings to them. This communication can help you both feel better.

5 Ways to Get Closer to Your Mate

For many of us, a spouse, partner or significant other is the most important relationship in our lives. Yet it's easy to grow apart, even when you live together. Here are five tips from the experts for staying close:

1. Listen, With the TV Off.

The experts agree on this point -- listening, truly listening, can reduce conflict, boost trust, and lead to a more satisfying partnership. Listening may sound simple, but it requires more than being in the same room while your better half is speaking. Signal that you care by turning off the television, offering your undivided attention, and making eye contact. And don't forget to follow up on what you hear.

This is particularly important when your partner is upset. If you listen carefully, you are more likely to understand the problem and find a way to help.

2. Focus on the Positives.

"When you first meet someone, you pay attention to all the things you like," says Kate Wachs, PhD, a Chicago psychologist and author of Relationships for Dummies. "As time goes on, you start to take that for granted and instead you focus on what bothers you. If the relationship becomes more negative than positive, you break up."

The solution is to make a conscious effort to focus on the things you like about your partner. "Your partner has many good qualities, as well as things that drive you crazy," Brody says. "Look for [the positives] and drink those in. Jot them down to remember them."

3. Stop Nagging.

Nagging not only creates tension, it usually gets you nowhere. "If you're nagging, your partner will tune you out," Wachs tells WebMD. "If someone isn't giving you what you want, think about what you are doing. It's not working. What can you do instead? Have a dialogue. ... Instead of saying what you don't like, say what you would prefer. Give alternatives."

And remember to balance any criticisms with a heavy dose of positive feedback. When making a request that could be seen as nagging, take the edge off by expressing appreciation for your partner's good qualities.

4. Spend More Time Together.

Putting "couple time" on your calendar reinforces your sense of dedication to each other. "Couples benefit when they feel commitment," Peter A. Wish, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of Don't Stop at Green Lights: Every Woman's Guide to Taking Charge of Her Life and Fulfilling Her Dreams, tells WebMD. "Make these private times special by not including others."

But don't make the mistake of limiting your interaction to designated couple time. Try to enjoy each other's company for at least a few minutes every day, especially first thing in the morning, at the end of the workday, and right before bed. "At those times talk about positive things," Wachs says. "It makes a big impression."

Make a special point of greeting each other at the end of the workday. If you're home first, stop what you're doing when your partner arrives and spend a moment together. "Act like [he or she] is important," Wachs advises, "not just the postman stopping by with the mail."

5. Touch More Often.

Physical communication is as important as emotional communication in a relationship. It relieves tension and shows your partner that you care. "Physically being in contact with your partner breaks through a lot of ice," Wachs says. "Go out of your way to kiss and hug during the day. Always sleep together in the same bed. Just assume you're going to have sex every night. ... It's hard to fight if you're having great sex."

Stress Management

2010-09-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

Cut the Stress, Simplify Your Life
Introduction

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow of life. --

OK, it's unlikely you're going to make like Thoreau and move to the woods. Heck, you probably don't even have time for a walk in the woods. If that's the case, though, that may very well mean that it's time to simplify your life. In so doing, you may just save your health -- and your sanity (not to mention actually having time to take that walk).

Erin Bocherer and her husband are doing just that. "Our New Year's resolution was to simplify our life as much as possible to reduce stress," says Bocherer, an advertising account supervisor.

This is what the Bocherers have been doing:

Online banking. "This limits post office drop-offs and reduces the time and money spent on stamps and licking envelopes," says Bocherer. "It also enables me to schedule automatic payments each month, which saves several hours of our time because we no longer need to write out bills and balance the checkbook."

Hiring a cleaning service every three weeks. "We still clean, but they handle the nitty-gritty, time-consuming activities that seemed to fill our weekends," says Bocherer.

Hiring a nanny. Yes, this is expensive, but it saves the Bocherers two hours a day in the car dropping off and picking up their son at daycare. "It enables me to spend more quality time with my son (and with my daughter when she is born in May)," says Bocherer.

Reducing debt. "Debt is one of our biggest stresses that never seems to end," says Bocherer. By creating a strict, yet manageable budget, and focusing on paying off their debt, the Bocherers say they are creating a feeling of accomplishment.

Find a local Psychiatrist in your town

Simplicity Movement Taking Hold

The Bocherers are not alone in their efforts to cut the stress from their life. Browse your favorite newsstand or bookstore and you'll see evidence of an anti-stress movement taking hold in this country. Generally known as "voluntary simplicity," or the "simplicity movement," the need many of us see for a less stressful, more meaningful life is reflected in magazines, books, and web sites devoted to simplifying your life, whether that means "de-cluttering" your home, "downsizing" your career ambitions, or living off the land.

About 5% to 7% of adults in the U.S. are pursuing some form of voluntary simplicity, according to Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute in New York. The contemporary voluntary simplicity movement began in 1981 with the publication of Duane Elgin's book, Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich. Since then, dozens of books, national magazines, web sites, and grassroots "simplicity circles" have sprung up to offer support and share ideas for those interested in scaling back.

Simplifying your life doesn't necessarily mean doing without. It might, but it doesn't have to. Rather, the prevailing philosophy of today's voluntary simplicity movement is not to live without possessions or to live in frugality, but to slow down and live a more balanced, deliberate, and thoughtful life. And as research increasingly shows, a healthier life as well.

It's no longer news that stress can take its toll on both your physical and mental health. Numerous studies have shown a link between stress and high blood pressure. In one such study, for example, scientists at the University of California at Irvine reported in 1998 in the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine that men with highly stressful jobs had systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings that were approximately 10 points higher than those with less stressful jobs.

In a study published in 2000 in the journal Social Science & Medicine, researchers from Ohio State University and the University of Alabama found that people with a high ratio of credit card debt to income were in worse physical health than those with less debt.

Too Much 'Stuff' Takes Its Toll

And now, mental health professionals have joined the movement, focusing on how simple living can help alleviate tension-related reactions such as insomnia, nervousness, anxiety, neck and shoulder spasms, chronic fatigue and, says Roderic Gorney, MD, PhD, "our excessive dwelling on 'things.'"

"The message that we get is that without this complexity of 'things' in our life, we are not lovable and not worthy," says Gorney, clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and author of The Human Agenda, who also serves on the board of Seeds of Simplicity, an LA-based program of Cornell University's Center for Religion, Ethics & Social Policy. The organization has recently started a campaign called "Unstuffocate," to help people decide for themselves just how much is enough.

The mental health community's awareness of such dependencies as "consumption addictions" led UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute to recently sponsor a conference on "Mental Health and Simple Living: Countering the Compulsion to Consume." The purpose of the conference, says Gorney, was to "help the person shake off the addiction to too much, and with it the distress of excess."

Just acknowledging that you need to simplify your life, however, doesn't solve the problem, although it is a beginning. You may be so crunched for time and energy that you can't even stop to think of ways to simplify your life. Let the experts give you a few suggestions.

It's Time to Disconnect

"Many people feel stressed and overwhelmed because they are 'overconnected,'" says Debra A. Dinnoncenzo, president of ALLearnatives, which specializes in alternative work arrangements. "As a result of the ... never-ending ways that people can access us any time of the day or night, we feel perpetually connected to our work," says Dinnoncenzo, also the author of Dot Calm: The Search for Sanity in a Wired World.

Think about all the technology resources that we now use that weren't commonplace even a few years ago, says Dinnoncenzo. Simplifying your life doesn't mean you have to ditch the cell phone, pager, e-mail, instant messaging, voice mail, call forwarding, and on and on. But it does mean establishing clear boundaries:

Turn off your cell phone when you shouldn't be (or don't want to be) interrupted.

Don't take a cell phone to an appointment or when you are focusing on someone else.

Don't give out your cell phone number. Use it only for outgoing calls.

Screen calls by using caller ID.

Use the "delete" option -- early and often.

Arrange for calls from the office only in cases of emergency.

Maintain your commitment to work-free vacations.

Let voice mail or the answering machine take your calls.

On your voice mail greeting, be clear about when you will and will not be available.

Along with all this technology -- which includes the TV too, by the way -- comes information overload, says Daphne Stevens, PhD, a psychotherapist, life coach and author of the forthcoming book, Watercolor Bedroom: Creating a Soulful Midlife. "Limit the amount of information you expose yourself to," she says. "Being flooded with stimuli is a tremendous source of stress."

Debbie Mandel, MA, a stress management expert and author of Turn On Your Inner Light: Fitness for Body, Mind and Soul, says simplifying your life is like "spring cleaning for the soul."

"Stress is omnipresent," says Mandel. "The trick is to learn to decompress." Mandel's suggestions for simplifying your life include:

Make a list of your activities, prioritize your to-do list, and shed those activities that no longer serve a purpose in your life.

Delegate chores at home and at the office. Don't try to do it all. Ask for help.

Let go of the myth of perfection.

Simplifying your life may also mean more than just getting rid of "stuff." It may mean getting rid of people too, says Daphne Stevens. "Avoid overexposure to negative or toxic people," she suggests. Instead, "nurture the relationships that support you. A quick email or card saying 'I'm thinking of you' can work wonders in keeping a friendship alive when we're too busy to do much else."

However you choose to simplify your life, remember that simplicity is not about poverty or deprivation, according to The Simple Living Network. It is about discovering what is "enough in your life -- based upon thoughtful analysis of your lifestyle and values -- and discarding the rest."

Ear Infections Prevention Tips

2010-08-19T01:59:00.000-07:00

Ear Infections

Few pains are more excruciating to a young child than an earache. After the common cold, an ear infection is the most frequent childhood illness and three out of four children will experience an ear infection by their third birthday.

The ear has three parts: the outer ear, middle ear and inner ear, Rice explains. The outer ear, which collects sound, includes the part outside the head and the ear canal. At the end of the ear canal is the eardrum, a small circle of tissue about the size of a fingertip. Behind the eardrum is the middle ear, which is normally filled with air. When the eardrum vibrates, tiny bones in the middle ear transmit the sound to the inner ear, where nerves relay sound signals to the brain.

Causes

"Middle ear infections are usually a complication of upper respiratory infection, such as a cold," Rice says. Bacteria travel up the Eustachian tube, a tiny tunnel that connects the back of the nose and throat to the middle ear.

When the tube is blocked, fluid builds up in the middle ear, causing the ear to ache and swell. In children, this tube is shorter than in adults and allows germs to reach the ear more easily. Another reason children are more prone to earaches than adults is because their immune systems are not fully developed, Rice adds.

Symptoms

In babies and young children, symptoms of a middle ear infection include:

Hearing problems
Unusual irritability
Tugging at ears
Fever
Vomiting
Ear drainage
Diarrhea

Complications

Although rare, complications from untreated ear infections include:

Eardrum rupture
Infection of the inner ear (labyrinthitis), which causes dizziness and imbalance
Infection of the skull behind the ear (mastoiditis)
Infection of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord (meningitis)
Scarring and thickening of the eardrum
Facial paralysir
Permanent hearing loss

Treatment

"Ear infections, like other infections, are essentially treated with antibiotics," Antibiotic drops may be prescribed if pus is leaking from the ear. If a child has a bulging eardrum and is in severe pain, a surgical incision may be made to the eardrum to release the pus.

Prevention

"You can avoid middle ear infections by keeping your child away from cigarette smoke and playmates who are sick," says Rice. Studies have shown that children who breathe tobacco smoke have a higher risk of developing health problems, including ear infections.

Diphtheria Prevention Tips

2010-08-18T08:22:00.001-07:00

What is it?

Diphtheria is an acute and highly contagious bacterial infection that mainly affects the nose and throat.

Who gets it?

Children under 5 years old and adults over 60 are particularly at risk for contracting diphtheria, as are those living in crowded or unsanitary conditions, the undernourished, and children and adults who do not have up-to-date immunizations.

Diphtheria is rare in the United States and Europe, where health officials have been immunizing children against it for decades. However, it is still common in developing countries where immunizations are not given routinely.

What causes it?

The toxin, or poison, caused by the bacteria can lead to a thick coating in the nose, throat, or airway. This coating is usually fuzzy gray or black and can cause breathing problems and difficulty in swallowing.

What are the symptoms?

In its early stages, diphtheria can be mistaken for a bad sore throat. A low-grade fever and swollen neck glands are the other early symptoms.

In more advanced stages, the patient may have difficulty breathing or swallowing, complain of double vision, have slurred speech, or even show signs of going into shock (pale, cold skin; rapid heartbeat; sweating; and an anxious appearance).

How is it diagnosed?

Children and adults with diphtheria are treated in a hospital.

After a doctor confirms the diagnosis through throat culture and blood counts, the infected person receives a special anti-toxin to neutralize the diphtheria toxin already circulating in the body, as well as antibiotics to kill the remaining diphtheria bacteria. The anti-toxin is given through injections or intravenously. The patient is closely watched while the anti-toxins are given because the solution, which is made from horse serum (blood), may cause an allergic reaction.

What is the treatment?

If the infection is advanced, patients may need mechanical assistance to breathe. In cases where the toxins may have spread to the heart, kidneys, or central nervous system, patients may need intravenous fluids, oxygen, or cardiac medications.

The patient must be isolated. Family members who have not been immunized, or who are very young or elderly, must be protected from contact with the patient.

Your child's doctor will notify the local health department and will take steps to treat everyone in the household who may have been exposed to the bacteria. This will include assessment of immune status, throat cultures, and booster doses of diphtheria vaccine. They will also receive antibiotics as a precaution.

Self Care Tips

Preventing diphtheria depends almost completely on immunizing children with the combined diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTP or DTaP) vaccine and non-immunized adults with the diphtheria/tetanus vaccine (DT). Most cases of diphtheria occur in people who haven't received the vaccine at all or haven't received the entire course.

The immunization schedule calls for DTP or DTaP vaccines at 2, 4, and 6 months of age, with booster doses given at 12 to 18 months and then at 4 to 6 years. Booster shots should be given every 10 years after that to maintain protection.

Diabetes Health Tips

2010-08-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Diabetes - General Information

Artificial Pancreas Safe, Effective in Early Study

An "artificial pancreas" designed to deliver the key blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin to diabetic patients without the need for injections has been found safe and effective in a preliminary study with ten patients.

The device is an insulin reservoir, implanted in the tissue lining the abdominal cavity and connected to a sensor implanted in the jugular vein. The reservoir requires insulin refills every month or so. When the sensor detects an increase in blood glucose, the reservoir delivers the required amount of insulin.

Blood Glucose Testing

Most insurances now pay for diabetics to have blood glucose monitoring equipment in the home. Keeping the machines clean and in good working order are vital for accurate results. Follow the manufacturers' instructions for proper cleaning and maintenance.

Blood Glucose Testing Tip

Be sure hands are clean before performing the test, but don't use alcohol to cleanse your fingertip. It's drying and may cause fingertips to crack. Wash hands with a mild antibacterial soap like Dial.

Diabetes Test After Heart Attack Shows Future Risk

Testing patients who have had heart attacks for signs of diabetes before they leave the hospital may identify those with the highest risk of future heart attacks. Many people hospitalized for a heart attack have undiagnosed diabetes or prediabetes, a term coined to describe the millions of overweight and obese people who have blood sugar levels suggesting an elevated risk of full-blown diabetes. Medications, exercise and diet changes, all of which can restore normal glucose levels, may reduce the risk of heart attacks in patients who have already had a heart attack.

Diabetic Dental Care

Immaculate mouth care is a must. Diabetics are much more prone to gum disease. More frequent dental visits may be needed and careful brushing and flossing are a necessity. Avoid ill-fitting dentures that may cause mouth sores.

Diabetic Eye Care

If you're a diabetic, regular visits to your eye care professional are a must to prevent problems that could lead to blindness.

Diabetic Foot Care Tips

* Take the pressure off your feet by losing weight if you are obese.

* Inspect your feet at least once per day. If you can't see well, ask someone to do it for you.

* Wash feet with mild soap and lukewarm water daily.

* Wear white cotton socks rather than synthetic ones with dyes.

* Don't go barefoot or wear ill-fitting shoes.

* See a podiatrist regularly for toenail trims and other routine maintenance.

Diabetics Are Prone to Foot Problems

Diabetics have decreased sensation and circulation in their feet making them prone to foot infections/wounds that could eventually lead to amputation.

Drug Could Delay Diabetes

Acarbose, a drug that blocks the digestion of starch, could prevent or delay the development of the most common form of diabetes in those with slightly high blood sugar.

Exercises to Avoid

Diabetics should avoid exercises that involve pushing or pulling heavy objects and lifting weights. Blood sugar levels and blood pressure are raised during this kind of exercise.

FDA Approves New Sweetener Neotame

A non-nutritive sweetener said to be 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be marketed as an additive in candies, soft drinks and various other products.

Like other familiar sweeteners, Neotame is a white crystalline powder that dissolves in water. It is made by Monsanto, which also makes NutraSweet's sweetener Equal. Neotame is approved for use in baked goods, nonalcoholic beverages, chewing gum, confections, frozen desserts, gelatins and puddings, jams, jellies, fruit, juices, toppings and syrups.

The FDA declared the product to be safe for consumption after reviewing more than 113 animal and human studies, some of which looked at any possible links with cancer-causing or neurological side effects.

Inhaled Insulin

Inhaled insulin may soon offer an alternative to needles for people with diabetes.

Novo Nordisk, a Denmark-based company, has ongoing clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of an electronic pulmonary insulin system. They say it may be available in the United States and Europe within a few years.

This is the first electronic pulmonary insulin system currently being tested in clinical trials. It works by converting a special liquid insulin into aerosol particles, which are inhaled into the lungs.

Regular Exercise Is a Must

Exercise is extremely important for diabetics as it strengthens the cardiovascular system, increases circulation to the arms and legs and helps control blood sugar levels. Walking, jogging, rowing and swimming are best.

Shoes for Diabetics

* Avoid plastic shoes and waterproof shoes. They encourage perspiration and fungal growth.

* Avoid tight or unventilated footwear.

* Don't wear boots all day.

* Choose cotton or leather shoes.

* Wear sandals as much as possible in the summer.

* Don't wear the same shoes two days in a row.

* Air shoes in the sun to inhibit fungal growth.

Small, Frequent Meals

Diabetics should follow their American Diabetic Association diet and eat small meals more frequently such as three small meals with one or two healthful snacks between meals. This helps maintain a more stable blood sugar level.

Treatment of Hyperglycemia

Some symptoms of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) are: excessive urination, weight loss, excessive hunger and thirst. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you should see your doctor.

Treatment of Hypoglycemia

Some symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) are: cool, clammy skin, numbness of the mouth, a fluttering in your chest, hunger and feeling faint. Emergency treatment includes ingesting something containing sugar like orange juice, a candy bar, or sugared soda pop. Follow that with some cheese or peanut butter crackers to sustain your blood sugar level.
What's an Exchange?

In an exchange diet, foods that are similar are grouped together. Serving sizes are well defined so that each will have the same amount of carbohydrate, fat, and protein as any other. Foods can be "exchanged" or traded with others in a category while still meeting the desired overall goals. Exchanges can be applied to most any eating situation and may make it easier to follow a prescribed diet. For example, if a nutrition plan calls for one starch exchange a person could choose 1/2 cup of cooked pasta, OR one slice of bread, OR a small (3 oz.) baked potato.

Rest

2010-08-18T08:02:00.003-07:00

Having diarrhea for more than a couple of days can be very exhausting. If you have lost a lot of fluid you are bound to feel very tired and weak. So it's very important to let your body rest when you can.

Ask family and friends to help you with things like cooking, cleaning the house, shopping and collecting the kids from school. They really won’t mind so don’t be afraid to ask. It’s important you get all the help and rest you need.

Being prepared when you go out

2010-08-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest things about having diarrhea is that it can sometimes happen so suddenly. You will probably want to be close to a toilet at all times to avoid accidents.

If an accident does happen it is very natural to feel embarrassed and upset, even if no one else knows about it. You may worry that people will smell it. This is very hard to cope with so try not to be too hard on yourself. Your close family and friends will understand and will only want to make things as easy as possible for you.

To avoid accidents when you go out, you can help to prepare yourself

Know exactly where the toilets are in the place you are going
Don’t go on long car, train or bus trips
Take spare underwear, pads, soothing creams and a plastic bag with you, just in case. You can always rinse out underwear you have on in the bathroom sink and put it in the bag to take home. No one needs to know about this
Wearing a pad can help protect your underwear and make you feel a bit safer
If you have a colostomy take a spare colostomy bag with you. There are products on the market that can help mask the smell from a colostomy so ask your stoma nurse about these.

And also when you are at home, try to

Protect your mattress - put a large pad or towel on your bed if you are worried about having an accident during the night
Leave a night light on near your bed, in the hallway and bathroom so that you can see where you are going and get to the toilet quickly

There are disposable waterproof bed pads on the market that are made for toddlers during toilet training. These can be very handy and help you to feel more secure. You can buy these in supermarkets. Or your nurse may be able to give you some from the hospital, as they use a similar product.

If you aren’t able to move quickly, you may feel safer with a commode by the bed. Your nurse can help you arrange to borrow a commode for as long as you need it.

Even if it is embarrassing, it is important to let your doctor know if you are having accidents. They may be able to change your anti-diarrhoeal drugs

Looking after the skin around your anus

2010-08-18T06:20:00.001-07:00

Looking after the skin around your anus

The skin around your back passage (anus) can become very sore and may even break down if you are having severe diarrhea.

These tips may help

Use unscented baby wipes instead of toilet paper to wipe yourself after you’ve been to the toilet

Have a warm bath to help soothe pain and help with healing. Do this a few times a day if necessary

Pat the area dry with a soft towel after a shower or bath - don’t rub

Ask your doctor or nurse about soothing creams to apply around your anus

Avoid wearing tight trousers or underwear

Cotton underwear will help to keep the area ventilated – nylon can make you sweat and cause even more soreness

Drinking plenty

2010-08-18T06:18:00.001-07:00

You lose a lot of fluid if you have diarrhea so it is important to replace this to prevent dehydration. Drink as often as you can, even if it is just small sips. And avoid alcoholic drinks, as they make you lose fluid, rather than replacing it.

The best types of fluids to drink include

Water

Herbal teas

Clear soups

Non fizzy drinks

Electrolyte replacement drinks such as Dioralyte

Soy milk

Managing your diet

2010-08-18T06:14:00.001-07:00

Although it is usually better for us to eat a diet high in fiber, this makes diarrhea worse. So if you have diarrhea you will need to break the rules for a while and eat foods that don’t contain too much fiber. It’s best to check with your doctor how long you should do this for.

Foods high in fiber include

High fiber cereals such as bran

Wholegrain breads

Dried and fresh fruit

Nuts

Vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and beans

Other foods that tend to make diarrhea worse include

Greasy, fatty and fried foods

Foods with caffeine in them – chocolate and coffee

Dairy foods such as milk, yogurt, cheese, butter and cream

Some foods tend to make your stools firmer so try these instead

Rice and pasta

Potatoes without the skin

Dry cracker biscuits

Baked foods

White bread

Pretzels

Bananas

Chicken, beef or fish

Avoid pickled and spicy foods as these irritate the digestive tract and can make diarrhea worse. Eating several small meals a day instead of 3 large ones can help you feel less bloated.

Diarrhea Prevention Tips

2010-08-18T06:04:00.005-07:00

Tips on how to cope with diarrhea

This page has some suggestions for ways to cope with diarrhea. As well as taking any medication from your doctor, it’s possible to make small lifestyle changes to help you cope better. These include

Psychological Treatment

2010-08-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

There are a wide range of psychological treatments for depression.

Some of the main ones are:

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
Psychotherapies
Counseling
Narrative Therapy

CBT, IPT, psychotherapy and counselling all provide either an alternative to medication or work alongside medication. As always, a thorough assessment of the person is needed in order to decide on the best set of approaches.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

People suffering from depression - particularly 'non-melancholic depression' - will often have an ongoing negative view about themselves and the world around them. This negative way of thinking is often not confined to depression, but is an ongoing part of how the person thinks about life. Many or all of their experiences are distorted through a negative filter and their thinking patterns become so entrenched that they don't even notice the errors of judgement caused by thinking irrationally.

Cognitive behaviour therapy aims to show people how their thinking affects their mood and to teach them to think in a less negative way about life and themselves. It is based on the understanding that thinking negatively is a habit, and, like any other bad habit, it can be broken.

CBT is conducted by trained therapists either in one-on-one therapy sessions or in small groups. People are trained to look logically at the evidence for their negative thoughts, and to adjust the way they view the world around them. The therapist will provide 'homework' for between sessions. Between 6-10 sessions can be required but the number will vary from person to person.

CBT can be very beneficial for some individuals who have depression but there will be others for whom it is irrelevant.

Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)

The causes of depression, or our vulnerabilities to developing depression, can often be traced to aspects of social functioning (work, relationships, social roles) and personality .

Therefore, the underlying assumption with interpersonal therapy is that depression and interpersonal problems are interrelated.

The goal of interpersonal therapy is to help the person understand how these factors are operating in the person's current life situation to lead them to become depressed and put them at risk to future depression.

The therapy occurs in three main phases:

an evaluation of the patient's history

an exploration of the patient's interpersonal problem area and a contract for treatment

recognition and consolidation by the patient of what has been learnt and developing ways of identifying and countering depressive symptoms in the future.

Usually 12-16 sessions of IPT will be required.

Psychotherapies

Psychotherapy is an extended treatment (months to years) in which a relationship is built up between the therapist and the patient. The relationship is then used to explore aspects of the person's past in great depth and to show how these have led to the current depression. Understanding this link between past and present - insight - is thought to resolve the depression and make the person less vulnerable to becoming depressed again.

Counselling

Counselling encompasses a broad set of approaches and goals that are essentially aimed at helping an individual with problem solving - solving long-standing problems in the family or at work; or solving sudden major problems (crisis counselling).

Narrative Therapy

Narrative Therapy is a form of counselling based on understanding the 'stories' that people use to describe their lives. The therapist listens to how people describe their problems as stories and helps the person to consider how the stories may restrict them from overcoming their present difficulties. It sees problems as being separate from people and assists the individual to recognise the range of skills, beliefs and abilities that they already have (but may not recognise) and that they can apply to the problems in their lives.

Narrative Therapy differs from many therapies in that it puts a major emphasis on identifying people's strengths, particularly as they have mastered situations in the past and therefore seeks to build on their resilience rather than focus on their negatives.

Physical Treatment

2010-08-18T03:01:00.000-07:00

The main physical treatments for depression comprise

Drug treatments

Electroconvulsive therapy

A third physical treatment with as yet narrow application is

Transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Drug Treatments

There are three groups of drugs most likely to be used for depression:

Antidepressants

Tranquillisers

Anti-manic drugs or mood stabilisers

Antidepressants

There is a large number of antidepressants - they have a role in many types of depression and vary in their effectiveness across the more biological depressive conditions.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Tricyclics (TCAs) and Irreversible Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) are three common classes of antidepressants. They each work in different ways and have different applications.

At the Institute we believe that they are not, however, equally effective and that it is necessary to find the right antidepressant for each person.

If the first antidepressant does not work, it is sensible to move to a different kind of antidepressant. For the biological depressive disorders, more broad action antidepressants are usually more effective.

A well-informed health provider should be able to use their assessment of the type of depression, its likely causes and their understanding of the person to identify the medication most likely to benefit.

Finally, being able to decide not to use medication is important too.

Tranquillisers

These medications are usually called 'minor' or 'major' tranquillisers.

Minor tranquillisers (typically benzodiazepines) are not helpful in depression; they are addictive and can make the depression worse.

Major tranquillisers are very useful in people with a psychotic depression and in melancholia where the person is not being helped by other medications.

'Anti-manic' drugs or 'mood stabilisers'

These drugs are of great importance in bipolar disorder.

Their use in treating mania makes them 'anti-manic', while their ability to reduce the severity and frequency of mood swings makes them 'mood stabilisers'.

Lithium, valproate and carbamazepine are the most common.

It is important to remember that the anti-depressants and mood stabilisers are often necessary both to treat the depression that is occurring now, and to make a relapse in the future less likely. So people sometimes need to continue taking medication for some time after they are better.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

Because of its controversial past many people feel the need to think carefully before having ECT or allowing it to be given to relatives.

Clinicians at the Institute firmly believe that ECT has a small but important role in treatment, particularly in cases of

Psychotic depression

Severe melancholia where there is a high risk of suicide or the patient is too ill to eat, drink or take medications

Life-threatening mania

Severe post-natal depression.

While there are some short-term side-effects, ECT is a relatively safe and, because an anaesthetic is used, not too unpleasant.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

A possible alternative to ECT is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a procedure used by neurologists, both as a treatment and as diagnostic procedure. A coil is held next to the patient's head and a magnetic field created to stimulate relevant parts of the brain. Unlike ECT, there is no need for a general anaesthetic nor is a convulsion induced.

In our view, the evidence in favour of this treatment is not yet in, but it is a major area of research at the Institute and elsewhere. If TMS is shown to be as effective as ECT this would be a distinct advance in the treatment of many mood disorders. No clear evidence about its utility is expected for a number of years.

Treatments

2010-08-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

A large number of different treatments are available for depression.

New treatments (particularly medications) appear regularly. Continuing research means that the evidence for how well a treatment works is always changing too. We have chosen to give only a brief summary of treatments and instead direct you to other sites which provide more comprehensive details.

Key points about treatments for depression

We believe that different types of depression respond best to different sorts of treatments (see below).
It's important that a thorough and thoughtful assessment be carried out before any treatment is prescribed.
Treatments for depression include physical and psychological treatments.
Depression can sometimes go away of its own accord but, left untreated, it may last for many months. Allow yourself to seek help.
Depending on the nature of your depression, self-help and alternate therapies can also be helpful, either alone or in conjunction with physical and psychological treatments.

Different types of depression need to be treated differently

At the Institute we believe there are different types of depression, falling into the following three principal classes:

Melancholic depression
Non-melancholic depression
Psychotic depression.

Those types of depression that are more biological in their origins (melancholic depression and psychotic melancholia) are more likely to need physical treatments and less likely to be resolved with psychological treatments alone.

We believe non-melancholic depression can be treated equally effectively with physical treatments (antidepressants) or with psychological treatments.

Causes of depression

2010-08-18T02:51:00.000-07:00

While researchers often talk about ‘finding the cause’ of some disease or disorder this often obscures the fact that only part of the story is known.

Some causes are pretty straightforward. We know that a broken leg is usually the result of some kind of pressure or strain being applied. Moreover, if you have a broken leg you typically know when it happened (leg was fine yesterday, today it is broken) and how it happened (this morning you went skiing).

Things are not so simple with depression. We have good ideas about what some of the ‘pressures or strains’ that result in depression are – but they are not all agreed upon and there might be others.

For any one person there could be many ‘pressures’ in their life. It is often unclear when the depression started – much of the time it gradually has an effect.

We can see another complication by going back to the broken leg example. Some people suffer from osteoporosis which makes their bones more fragile (more vulnerable). If you only had a minor accident when you went skiing, your osteoporosis was probably as much the cause of your broken leg, since it made your leg more vulnerable to the effects of pressure. If you have a major accident, however, the leg will probably break, osteoporosis or not.

In other words, the causes of depression are some mixture of ‘pressure’ (mild to severe) combined with a vulnerability to depression (as a sort of ‘psychological osteoporosis’) which too can range from mild to severe.

As noted earlier, for each ‘type’ of depression, differing ‘mixtures of causes’ have differential relevance. Thus, for psychotic or melancholic depression physical and biological factors are generally more relevant. By contrast, for non-melancholic depression, the role of personality (osteoporosis) and life-event stressors (accident) are generally far more relevant.

Types of Depression

2010-08-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

At the Institute we believe that there are three broadly different types of depression:

Melancholic depression
Non-melancholic depression
Psychotic depression

each with their own features and causes.

A possible fourth type of depression is

Atypical depression.

Why is this important? We believe that, as with any illness, the person suffering from it can’t be properly treated unless the specifics of their illness are understood.

We therefore believe that people who are depressed should receive a sophisticated assessment identifying their particular type of depression and its broad causes, whether biological, psychological or other.

Treatments should be selected according to the specific type of depression experienced by an individual, and its causes.

A description of the different types of depression follows.

Melancholic depression

Melancholic depression is the classic form of biological depression. Its defining features are:

a more severe depression than is the case with non-melancholic depression

psychomotor disturbance

Melancholic depression is a relatively uncommon type of depression. It affects only 1-2 per cent of Western populations. The numbers affected are roughly the same for men and women.

Melancholic depression has a low spontaneous remission rate. It responds best to physical treatments (for example antidepressant drugs) and only minimally (at best) to non-physical treatments such as counseling or psychotherapy.

Non-melancholic depression

‘Non-melancholic depression’ essentially means that the depression is not melancholic, or, put simply, not primarily biological. Instead, it has to do with psychological causes, and is very often linked to stressful events in a person’s life, alone, or in conjunction with the individual’s personality style.

Non-melancholic depression is the most common of the three types of depression. It affects one in four women and one in six men in the Western world over their lifetime.

Non-melancholic depression can be hard to accurately diagnose because it lacks the defining characteristics of the other 2 depressive types (viz psychomotor disturbance or psychotic features). Also in contrast to the other 2 depressive types, people with non-melancholic depression can usually be cheered up to some degree.

People with non-melancholic depression experience

a depressed mood more than two weeks

social impairment (for example, difficulty in dealing with work or relationships).

In contrast to the other types of depression, non-melancholic depression has a high rate of spontaneous remission. This is because it is often linked to stressful events in a person’s life, which, when resolved, tend to see the depression also lifting.

Non-melancholic depression responds well to different sorts of treatments (such as psychotherapies, antidepressants and counselling), but the treatment selected should respect the cause (e.g. stress, personality style).

Psychotic depression

Psychotic depression is a less common type of depression than either melancholic or non-melancholic depression.

The defining features of psychotic depression are:

an even more severely depressed mood than is the case with either melancholic or non-melancholic depression

more severe psychomotor disturbance than is the case with melancholic depression

psychotic symptoms (either delusions or hallucinations, with delusions being more common) and over-valued guilt ruminations.

Psychotic depression has a very low spontaneous remission rate. It responds only to physical treatments (such as antidepressant drugs).

Atypical depression

Atypical depression is a name that has been given to expressions of depression that contrast with the usual characteristics of non-melancholic depression. For example, rather than experiencing appetite loss the person instead experiences appetite increase; and sleepiness rather than insomnia. Someone with atypical depression is also likely to have a personality style of interpersonal hypersensitivity (that is, expecting that others will not like or approve of them).

The features of atypical depression include:

The individual can be cheered up by pleasant events

Significant weight gain or increase in appetite (especially to comfort foods)

Excessive sleeping (hypersomnia)

Arms and legs feeling heavy and leaden

A long-standing sensitivity to interpersonal rejection —the individual is quick to feel that others are rejecting of them.

FAQ

2010-08-16T01:43:00.000-07:00

What are the signs of depression?

How depressed should I be before I seek help?

What should I do if I'm feeling (or someone close to me is feeling) suicidal?

Am I always going to feel like this?

How long does depression last?

How is depression treated?

Where can I get help for depression?

How should I behave with someone who is depressed?

1. What are the signs of depression?

The following are a list of the features that may be experienced by someone with depression.

Lowered self-esteem

Change in sleep patterns

Change in mood control

Varying emotions throughout the day

Change in appetite and weight

Reduced ability to enjoy things

Reduced ability to tolerate pain

Reduced sex drive

Suicidal thoughts

Impaired concentration and memory

Loss of motivation and drive

Increase in fatigue

Change in movement

Being out of touch with reality.

Note that, having one or other of these features, by themselves, is unlikely to indicate that someone is clinically depressed. Also, having these features for only a short period (of less than two weeks) is unlikely to indicate clinical depression. It's also important to know that many of the above features could be caused by or related to other things, such as a physical illness, the effects of medications, or stress. Help in coming to such decisions should be assisted by a proper assessment by a trained professional.

2. How depressed should I be before I seek help?

Everybody feels down or sad at times. But it's important to be able to recognise when depression has become more than a temporary thing, and when to seek help.

As a general rule of thumb, if your feelings of depression persist for most of every day for two weeks or longer, and interfere with your ability to manage at home and at work or school, then a depression of such intensity and duration may require treatment, and should certainly benefit from assessment by a skilled professional.

3. What should I do if I'm feeling (or someone close to me is feeling) suicidal?

See the list of emergency contact numbers (and add the numbers of your General Practitioner and your local Community Mental Health Service) and keep a copy handy somewhere. Don't hesitate to call one of them if in need of help.

Recognise that having suicidal thoughts is one of the features of depression, and seek help, either from your General Practitioner or another mental health professional such as a psychologist or a counsellor. Make sure you tell them you have been having suicidal thoughts.

If you have already received treatment for depression, and you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the person who has been giving you the treatment, or a close friend who you trust, and tell them you are feeling suicidal.

If someone close to you is suicidal or unsafe, talk to them about it and encourage them to seek help. Help the person to develop an action plan, involving him or her and trusted close friends or family members, to keep him or her safe in times of emergency

Take away risks (e.g. remove guns or other dangerous weapons and hold the keys of the car if the depressed person is angry, out of control and wanting to drive off into the night).

4. Am I always going to feel like this?

This is a common fear. It's important to know that depression can be successfully treated and that you will feel better in time and with the right treatment.

5. How long does depression last

Sometimes depression goes away of its own accord, but, depending on the nature and type of the depression, it may take many months and possibly considerable suffering and disruption if left untreated. Allow yourself to seek help in the same way you might if you had a physical illness.

6. How is depression treated?

There are a large number of different treatments for depression. At the Black Dog Institute we believe that different types of depression respond best to different treatments and it is therefore important that a thorough and thoughtful assessment be carried out before any treatment is prescribed.

Treatments can fall into the following categories:

Physical treatments, comprising :

drug treatments, of which there are three main groups: antidepressants, tranquillisers, and mood stabilizers.

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) - a physical therapy that may be relevant in a minority of cases of psychotic depression, severe melancholia or life-threatening mania.

transcranial magnetic stimulation - a treatment that is still under development, but which involves holding a coil near to a patient's head and creating a magnetic field to stimulate relevant parts of the brain.

Psychological treatments, the most common ones being:

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy - a form of therapy that aims to show people how their thinking affects their mood and to teach them to think in a less negative (and more 'realistic') way about life and themselves.
Interpersonal Therapy - a therapy that aims to help people understand how social functioning (work, relationships and social roles) and personality operate in their lives to affect their mood.
Psychotherapy - an extended treatment aimed at exploring aspects of the person's past in great depth to identify links to the current depression.
Counselling - a broad set of approaches and goals that provide problem solving and learning skills to cope with difficult life circumstances.

7. Where can I get help for depression?

A good first place to start in getting help is to visit your local General Practitioner. Let him or her know if you think you might have depression. Your General Practitioner will either conduct an assessment of you to find out whether you have depression, or refer you to someone else, such as a psychiatrist or a psychologist.

Depending on the nature of your depression, your General Practitioner may recommend some psychological intervention, such as cognitive behaviour therapy or interpersonal therapy, and might prescribe antidepressant medication to relieve some of the symptoms of depression.

Because depression is a common experience these days, many General Practitioners are used to dealing with depression and other mental health problems. Some General Practitioners take a special interest in mental health issues and undergo additional training in the area. If you don't feel comfortable talking to your own doctor, find another one with whom you do feel comfortable. It is important that you feel comfortable talking about how you are feeling with your doctor so they have as much information to help you as possible.

If you are having trouble tracking down such a General Practitioner, you could telephone general practices in your area to find out whether any doctors in that practice have a particularly strong interest in mental health and, if so, whether they are taking on new patients.

8. How should I behave with someone who is depressed?

Someone with a depressive illness is like anyone with an illness - they require our care. You can provide better care if you are able to:

Understand something about the illness
Understand what the treatment is, why it is being given, and how long the person is expected to take to recover.

An important part of caring is to help the treatment process:

If medication is prescribed encourage the person to persist with treatment (especially when there are side effects)
Counselling or psychotherapy often results in the depressed person 'thinking over' their life and relationships. While this can be difficult for all concerned, you should not try and steer the person away from these issues.
A resolving depression sometimes sees strong emotions released which may be hard on the carer. The first step in dealing with these fairly is to sort out which emotions really refer to the carer and which refer to other people or to the person themselves.
Treatment has a positive time as well - when the person starts to re-engage with the good things in life and carers can have their needs met as well.

Don't forget that as a carer you too are likely to be under stress. Depression and hopelessness have a way of affecting the people around them. Therapy can release difficult thoughts and emotions in carers too. So part of caring is to care for your own self - preventing physical run-down and dealing with the thoughts and emotions within yourself.

Depression Prevention Tips

2010-08-16T01:29:00.000-07:00

Depression explained

Depression is a common experience. We have all felt 'depressed' about a friend's cold shoulder, misunderstandings in our marriage, tussles with teenage children - sometimes we feel 'down' for no reason at all.

However, depression can become an illness when:

The mood state is severe;
It lasts for 2 weeks or more; and
It interferes with our ability to function at home or at work.

Signs of a depressed mood include:

Lowered self-esteem (or self-worth)
Change in sleep patterns, that is, insomnia or broken sleep
Changes in appetite or weight
Less ability to control emotions such as pessimism, anger, guilt, irritability and anxiety
Varying emotions throughout the day, for example, feeling worse in the morning and better as the day progresses
Reduced capacity to experience pleasure: you can't enjoy what's happening now, nor look forward to anything with pleasure. Hobbies and interests drop off.
Reduced pain tolerance: you are less able to tolerate aches and pains and may have a host of new ailments
Changed sex drive: absent or reduced
Poor concentration and memory: some people are so impaired that they think that they are going demented
Reduced motivation: it doesn't seem worth the effort to do anything, things seem meaningless
Lowered energy levels.

If you have such feelings and they persist for most of every day for two weeks or longer, and interfere with your ability to manage at home and at work, then you might benefit from getting an assessment by a skilled professional.

Having one or other of these features, by themselves, is unlikely to indicate depression, however there could be other causes which may warrant medical assessment.

If you are feeling suicidal it is very important to seek immediate help, preferably by a mental health practitioner.

Tooth Bleaching

2010-08-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

Your wedding is coming up and you want your smile to be its brightest. Or maybe you have an important speaking engagement. Whatever the reason, tooth bleaching isn't just for the movie stars, and it isn't just for one day.

Many people have had their teeth bleached, and probably millions more are thinking about it. The desire for a brighter smile with whiter teeth has become popular in today's society and tooth bleaching can be the answer.

Tooth bleaching safely lightens the color of the teeth and can last for up to five years. The most effective and safest method of tooth bleaching is dentist-supervised.

Is bleaching for you?

Generally, bleaching is successful in at least 90 percent of patients, although it may not be an option for everyone.

Tooth bleaching is effective for teeth darkened from extrinsic stains such as aging, coffee, tea or smoking. Teeth darkened by intrinsic stains caused by fluorosis, tetracycline, or other medications and by congenital abnormalities won't respond well to bleaching.

Teeth darkened with the color of yellow, brown or orange respond better to lightening than gray staining. If you have very sensitive teeth, periodontal disease or teeth with worn enamel, your dentist may discourage bleaching.

What's involved?

First, the dentist must determine whether you are a candidate for tooth bleaching and what type of bleaching system would give you the best results.

If you're in a hurry for whiter teeth, you may decide to have your teeth whitened immediately. Your dentist will use either an in-office bleaching system or laser bleaching while you sit in the dental chair.

However, most patients choose dentist-supervised, at-home bleaching, which is more economical and provides the same results.

At the next appointment, if you don't choose laser bleaching, the dentist or hygienist will make impressions of your teeth to fabricate a mouth guard appliance for you. (The mouth guard is used to hold the bleaching solution against your teeth.)

The mouth guard is custom-made for your mouth. It can be worn comfortably while you are awake or sleeping.

The mouth guard is so thin that you should even be able to talk and work while wearing it. Along with the mouth guard, you'll receive the bleaching solution and instructions on how to wear the mouth guard.

Some bleaching systems recommend bleaching your teeth from two to four hours a day. Generally this type of system requires three to six weeks to complete, and works best on patients with sensitive teeth. Other systems recommend bleaching at night while you sleep. This type of system usually requires only 10 to 14 days completing.

How long does it last?

Lightness should last from one to five years, depending on your personal habits such as smoking and drinking coffee or tea. At this point you may choose to get a touch-up. This procedure may not be as costly because you can probably still use the same mouth guard. The treatment time also is much shorter than the original treatment time.

How does it work?

The active ingredient in most of the whitening agents is 10 percent carbamide peroxide, also known as urea peroxide. When water contacts this white crystal, the release of hydrogen peroxide lightens the teeth, bleaching out the porous surface of the enamel.

The higher the strength of carbamide peroxide and the quicker the bleaching process is carried out, the greater the chances for sensitivity.

Is it safe?

Several studies during the past five years have proven bleaching to be safe and effective. The American Dental Association has granted its seal of approval to some tooth-bleaching products. Some patients may experience slight gum irritation or tooth sensitivity, which will resolve when the treatment ends.

What are realistic expectations?

No one can really predict how much lighter your teeth will become, but the key is to have a realistic expectation before starting the process. Every case is different.

Typically, there is a two-shade improvement as seen on a dentist shade guide. The success rate depends on the type of stain involved and your compliance. Bleaching can only provide a shift in color, from gray to a lighter shade of gray, for example.

Bleaching does not lighten artificial materials, such as white fillings (resins) or porcelains. So if you are considering bleaching, it would be best to bleach before resin fillings or porcelain crowns, onlays or inlays are placed, to allow for the shade to be matched.

Temporomandibular Disorder Affects Jaw Muscles, Joints & Nerves

2010-08-16T01:20:00.001-07:00

What is the temporomandibular joint?

The TMJ is a joint that slides and rotates just in front of your ear, consisting of the temporal bone (side and base of the skull) and the mandible (lower jaw). Mastication (chewing) muscles connect the lower jaw to the skull, allowing you to move your jaw forward, sideways, and open and close.

The joint works properly when the lower jaw and its joint (both the right and left) are synchronized during movement. Temporomandibular disorder, or TMD, may occur when the jaw twists during opening, closing or side-motion movements. These movements affect the jaw joint and the muscles that control chewing.

TMD describes a variety of conditions that affect jaw muscles, temporomandibular joints, and nerves associated with chronic facial pain. Symptoms may occur on one or both sides of the face, head or jaw, or develop after injury. TMD affects more than twice as many women than men and is the most common non-dental-related chronic orofacial pain.

What causes TMD?

Normal function for this muscle group includes chewing, swallowing, speech and communication. Most experts suggest that certain tasks, mental or physical, cause or aggravate TMD, such as strenuous physical tasks or stressful situations. Most discomfort is caused from overuse of the muscles, specifically clenching or grinding teeth (bruxism).

These excessive habits tire the jaw muscles and lead to discomfort, such as headaches or neck pain. Additionally, abnormal function can lead to worn or sensitive teeth, traumatized soft tissues, muscle soreness, jaw discomfort when eating, and temporal (side) headaches.

What TMD symptoms can I experience?

An earache without an infection

Jaw pain or soreness that is more prevalent in the morning or late afternoon

Jaw clicking or popping when opening and closing your mouth

Difficulty opening and closing your mouth

Locked or stiff jaw when you talk, yawn or eat

Sensitive teeth when no dental problems can be found

What can I do to treat TMD?

In my experience, the majority of cases can be treated by patient education, unloading (resting) the joint with a custom-fit mouth guard from your dentist, taking an anti-inflammatory, eating a soft diet, applying moist heat and in some severe cases using muscle relaxants.

Benefits from conservative treatment are not quick and require application over time.

Even though you treat the symptoms, the cause of the problem also needs to be addressed with stress management and relaxation techniques. It's important to break bad habits to ease the symptoms. Each TMD case is unique, and a course of treatment should be initiated only after consultation with a dentist.

Most treatment for TMD is simple, often can be done at home, and does not need surgery. For example, control clenching or grinding during the day by sticking your tongue between your teeth. If you still experience pain, you may be grinding or clenching your teeth at night. See your dentist for a nighttime mouth guard.

Most people will experience relief with minor treatment. More severe cases may be treated with physical therapy, ice and hot packs, posture training, and orthopedic-appliance therapy (splint). Eating soft foods and avoiding chewing gum also help relax the muscles.

Some severe cases of TMD require surgery to correct the underlying cause that conservative treatment will not help. Generally, a referral to an oral surgeon for evaluation and an extensive radiographic series is needed to make this determination.

Is TMD permanent?

The condition is often cyclical and may recur during times of stress, good or bad. As the patient, you should be active in your treatment by being aware of the causes of your jaw problems after seeing a dentist for a diagnosis regime. Make routine dental appointments, so your doctor can check TMD on a regular basis.

Smokeless Tobacco & Oral Health

2010-08-16T01:19:00.000-07:00

Smokeless tobacco products such as chew or snuff are not safe alternatives to smoking.

The oral health problems that result are plentiful and include bad breath, tooth discoloration and decay, recession, disease of the gums, diminished sense of taste/smell, and white patches and red sores that can lead to oral cancer.

Smokeless tobacco contains nicotine that is very addictive. After using tobacco for a short period of time, you will need another dip every 20 to 30 minutes to keep the buzz from ending. You may become dizzy and shaky when trying to quit.

Nicotine in tobacco can cause your heart to beat faster and is also linked to hypertension.

Tobacco juices can damage your gums, expose the roots of your teeth, lead to sensitive teeth or tooth loss, or cause worn surfaces on tooth enamel. If tobacco juice is swallowed, it can produce stomach ulcers.

Many people ignore the warning signs about the serious long-term health problems related to chewing and smoking. They can better relate to bad breath, stained teeth and financial drain on their wallets.

If you quit using tobacco products, many of the gum changes and side effects will disappear, foods will taste better and you will significantly decrease your risk of developing oral cancer.

If you are concerned about your oral health, do not wait until it's too late. A family dentist can counsel tobacco users regarding the risks of using tobacco products and help plan a sensible tobacco-cessation program.

In addition, if you use smokeless tobacco, or have in the past, you should be on the lookout for some of these early signs of oral cancer:

A sore that does not heal.
A lump or white patch.
A prolonged sore throat.
Difficulty chewing/swallowing.
A movement of the tongue or jaws.
A feeling of something in the throat.

Pain is rarely an early symptom. For this reason all tobacco users need regular dental check-ups.

Oral Piercing

2010-08-16T01:16:00.000-07:00

It's not a surprise these days to see some people sporting pierced tongues, lips or cheeks. The surprise for some of these folks, however, is that piercing can be dangerous.

Visits to the emergency room or doctor's office are not usually on the minds of those who are electing to have piercing. There are some things that should be considered, however. The human mouth contains millions of bacteria, and infection is a common complication of oral piercing. Other side effects include pain and swelling.

The most popular piercing site, the tongue, could swell enough to close off an airway. Regardless of how "experienced" the person doing the piercing claims to be, piercing can cause uncontrollable bleeding and nerve damage.

Piercing can be extremely painful and result in swelling and increased saliva flow and even drooling. Healing may take six weeks or longer, especially if there are complications.

Even if the piercing injury doesn't cause any trouble, you should be aware of the potential hazards that mouth jewelry presents:

You can easily choke on any studs, barbells or hoops that come loose in your mouth.
The jewelry can chip or crack your teeth.
Jewelry worn in the mouth can hinder your ability to eat, not to mention your speech. It's hard to be cool when you can't pronounce your words or when pieces of your lunch are stuck to that tiny barbell.

Piercing is a fashion statement that involves more than just deciding what jewelry will be attached to the body and where. This decision could have major consequences for your oral health, too.

Oral Cancer

2010-08-16T01:14:00.000-07:00

While the rates of oral cancer have dropped in the past 20 years, health agencies still anticipate that it will be diagnosed in more than 30,000 Americans this year.

Knowing the risk factors as well as the signs of oral cancer can go a long way toward limiting the influence this disease can have on your life.

Know what to look for

As with many forms of cancer, early detection of oral cancerous lesions can improve the chances of successful treatment. You can take an active role in detecting signs of oral cancer early by checking your oral tissues periodically. Take a few minutes to examine your lips, gums, cheek lining and tongue, as well as the floor and roof of your mouth.

You'll want to make note of the following:

A color change in the oral tissues (whitish or red spots, for example).
A lump, thickening, rough or crusted spots, or small eroded areas.
A sore that bleeds easily or does not heal.
Pain, tenderness or numbness anywhere in the mouth or on the lips.
Difficulty in chewing, swallowing, speaking or moving the jaw or tongue.
Changes in the voice.
A change in the way your teeth fit together.

In addition, watch for changes beyond the mouth that could signify oral cancer:

Drastic weight loss.
Lump or mass in your neck.

If any of these conditions persists, contact your dentist for an examination.

Minimize the risk

You can take steps to reduce your risk of developing oral cancer by avoiding behaviors that researchers have identified as being strongly associated with the development of oral cancer.

The use of any kind of tobacco products (cigarettes, pipe tobacco, cigars or smokeless tobacco), particularly combined with heavy alcohol consumption, has been identified as the major risk factor for oral cancers in the United States.

The importance of professional dental care

Regular visits to your dentist are important in protecting yourself from the effects of oral cancer. As part of your regular dental examination, your dentist can quickly and easily check the oral tissues for signs of cancerous and pre-cancerous lesions.

Detecting and treating cancerous tissues as early as possible is critical in helping you beat a potentially deadly disease.

Fluoride

2010-08-16T01:10:00.000-07:00

Fluoride is a mineral that is essential to the prevention of decay in teeth. It helps strengthen the tooth enamel to make it more resistant to the acid that is produced by the bacteria in our mouths.

There are several common sources of fluoride that are easily available in any part of the country.

The most readily attainable source is something you consume and use every day—water. The optimum level of fluoride in water is one part fluoride per million parts water.

If you would like to know if your water system contains fluoride, ask your dentist, local health department or water treatment department.

Water fluoridation has been shown to be very effective against cavities. In fact, nearly two thirds of cavities can be prevented in children who drink fluoridated water from birth. If you have your water tested and it is not fluoridated, a physician or dentist can prescribe fluoride supplements in the form of drops, tablets or mouth rinses.

Drops are best for infants. Gradually work from drops into tablets as the child gets older. In addition to water fluoridation, many school systems offer a fluoride program to provide rinses to the children at school.

During routine dental visits, the child will receive a topical application of fluoride gel, usually in soft foam mouthpiece trays. If the child has a high rate of decay or the present decay is extensive, the dentist may prescribe home rinses or prescription-strength fluoride toothpaste.

Another source of fluoride is in our daily diets. Dark green vegetables contain fluoride and can help supplement our attempt to be cavity-free.

Everyone should use fluoride toothpaste for extra protection against cavities. When purchasing toothpaste, read the label to make sure it contains fluoride. There are still toothpastes out on the market that don't contain fluoride.

Fluoride alone will not prevent cavities, but it greatly decreases the chance of them developing. Good tooth brushing, flossing, eating healthy foods, and seeing your dentist and hygienist regularly are all factors involved in preventing tooth decay.

Flosses & Water picks

2010-08-16T01:06:00.000-07:00

Plaque is a sticky layer of material containing germs that accumulates on teeth, including places where toothbrushes can't reach.

This can lead to gum disease. The best way to get rid of plaque is to brush and floss your teeth carefully every day.

The toothbrush cleans the tops and sides of your teeth. Dental floss cleans in between them. Some people use water picks, but floss is the best choice.

Should I floss?

Yes. Floss removes plaque and debris that adhere to teeth and gums in between teeth, polishes tooth surfaces, and controls bad breath. Floss is the single most important weapon against plaque, perhaps more important than the toothbrush. Many people just don't spend enough time flossing or brushing and many have never been taught to floss or brush properly. When you visit your dentist or hygienist, ask to be shown.

Why should I floss?

Flossing is the one most important step in oral care that people forget to do or claim they don't have time for. By flossing your teeth daily, you increase the chances of keeping your teeth a lifetime and decrease your chance of having periodontal or gum disease. Flossing cleans away the plaque from between your teeth, decreases the chance of interproximal decay and increases blood circulation in the gums.

Which type of floss should I use?

Dental floss comes in many forms: waxed and unwaxed, flavored and unflavored, wide and regular. Wide floss, or dental tape, may be helpful for people with a lot of bridgework. Tapes are usually recommended when the spaces between teeth are wide. They all clean and remove plaque about the same. Waxed floss might be easier to slide between tight teeth or tight restorations. However, the unwaxed floss makes a squeaking sound to let you know your teeth are clean. Bonded unwaxed floss does not fray as easily as regular unwaxed floss, but does tear more than waxed floss.

How should I floss?

There are two flossing methods: the spool method and the loop method. The spool method is suited for those with manual dexterity. Take an 18-inch piece of floss and wind the bulk of the floss lightly around the middle finger. (Don't cut off your finger's circulation!) Wind the rest of the floss similarly around the same finger of the opposite hand. This finger takes up the floss as it becomes soiled or frayed. Maneuver the floss between teeth with your index fingers and thumbs. Don't pull it down hard against your gums or you will hurt them. Don't rub it side-to-side as if you're shining shoes. Bring the floss up and down several times forming a "C" shape around the tooth, being sure to go below the gum line. The loop method is suited for children or adults with less nimble hands, poor muscular coordination or arthritis. Take an 18-inch piece of floss and make it into a circle. Tie it securely with three knots. Place all of the fingers, except the thumb, within the loop. Use your index fingers to guide the floss through the lower teeth, and use your thumbs to guide the floss through the upper teeth, going below the gum line forming a "C" on the side of the tooth.

How often should I floss?

At least once a day. To give your teeth a good flossing, spend at least two or three minutes.

What are floss holders?

You may prefer a pre-threaded flosser or floss holder, which often looks like a little hacksaw. Flossers are handy for people with limited dexterity, for those who are just beginning to floss, or for caretakers who are flossing someone else's teeth.

Is it safe to use toothpicks?

In a pinch, toothpicks are effective at removing food between teeth, but for daily cleaning of plaque between teeth, floss is recommended. Toothpicks come round and flat, narrow and thick. When you use a toothpick, don't press too hard as you can break off the end and lodge it in your gums.

Do I need a water pick (irrigating device)?

Don't use water picks as a substitute for brushing and flossing. They are effective around orthodontic braces that retain food in areas a toothbrush cannot reach. However, they do not remove plaque. Water picks are frequently recommended for persons with gum disease.

Dry Socket

2010-08-16T01:02:00.000-07:00

Dry socket, the most common post-operative complication from tooth extraction, delays the normal healing process and results when the newly formed blood clot in the extraction site does not form correctly or is prematurely lost.

The blood clot lays the foundation for new tissue and bone to develop over a two-month healing process. If the clot is disrupted, the bone in the extraction area is left exposed and susceptible to bacteria and response to hot and cold.

Exposed bone is very sensitive and must be covered as soon as possible, which can almost instantaneously reduce the discomfort the patient is having. If this happens to you, don't delay: see your dentist immediately.

Tips for preventing dry socket include:

Avoid drinking through a straw because the suction will interfere with healthy clotting.
Avoid smoking because it can contaminate the extraction site and also introduce suction to interfere with clotting.
Avoid spitting and excessive mouth rinsing, which may interfere with blood clotting.
Schedule extractions during the last week of the menstrual cycle, when estrogen levels are inactive.

Dental-Related Headaches

2010-08-16T00:59:00.001-07:00

An average person swallows 2,000 times per day, causing the upper and lower teeth to come together and push against the skull.

People who have poorly aligned bites or missing teeth can have related health problems, such as frequent headaches or sleep disorders, because their jaw muscles are strained, according to a recent article in AGD Impact, the news magazine of the Academy of General Dentistry.

This strain, known as orofacial pain, is defined as any pain in and around the face. Some people may experience pain in the ears, eyes, sinuses, cheeks or side of the head, while others experience clicking when moving the jaw.

Orofacial pain can also be caused by nerve disorders, temperomandibular disorder, stress or muscle spasms. Serious causes of orofacial pain are tumors in the jawbone area, oral cancer or referred pain from cardiac disease.

At the first sign of discomfort or noted abnormality when closing your mouth, see your general dentist to have a preliminary evaluation to disclose any potential problems early. He or she knows your mouth best and how you handle daily stress.

Sometimes the pain may be difficult to diagnose if its origin is not localized in one area. The dentist will try to diagnose the pain source by conducting tests to rule out a cracked tooth, the need for a root canal, gum disease, clenching or grinding. These factors can cause pain in the facial area, but can be easily treated.

Orofacial pain that lasts longer than 10 days to two weeks, or is not related to a specific stressful event such as a car accident, may signal a more serious problem requiring additional tests.

Dental Anxiety

2010-08-16T00:58:00.000-07:00

For many, going to the dentist's office can be a stressful experience associated with anxiety, nervousness, and even fear—feelings that may keep you from taking good care of your mouth and teeth.

Although these feelings are usually exaggerated and out-of-proportion to any actual risk, both patients and dentists need to understand and recognize that these feelings reflect a concern that must be addressed.

Anxiety about dental visits shows up in a number of different ways.

Rapid heartbeat
Faster breathing
Sweaty palms
Feeling "keyed-up," edgy or irritable
Foot tapping or fidgeting
Difficulty sleeping the night before a visit
Putting-off making an appointment
Not showing up for your appointment

Experiencing these feelings is not uncommon. Anxiety is a normal result of a built-in survival mechanism that is meant to help you stay safe and avoid things that could be harmful to you. The problem is that going to the dentist IS NOT harmful. Several aspects of routine dental exams and procedures can be unpleasant and slightly painful, making a person feel uncomfortable. Our minds and bodies relate these unpleasant sensations with any trip to the dentist. It causes us to be more anxious than we really need to be.

Use these methods to help ease some of these feelings:

Schedule your appointment for a time when you will not feel rushed or under pressure.
Get a good night's sleep. If you know that you have trouble sleeping, ask your dentist for a sedative.
Eat a high protein-meal or snack before your visit.
Avoid caffeinated or sugary beverages or foods on the day of your visit.
Wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothing.
Distract yourself by listening to music. Bring a portable radio, tape or CD player with headphones.
Use relaxation techniques such as deep-breathing exercises, progressive muscle-relaxation exercises, or closing your eyes and visualizing restful or relaxing scenes.
Make a list of any questions that you would like to ask and bring it with you.
Talk with your dental provider about your fears. Your dentist may prescribe a small dose of a medication to be taken just before your appointment to help manage symptoms of pain and/or worry.
Do not drink alcohol the night before or the day of your visit to calm you. Alcohol causes the pain-numbing medicine to not work to control pain symptoms.

When considering that next dental appointment, remember that anxiety associated with dental treatment is normal. Rather than letting anxiety keep you from taking care of your mouth, use the above simple and effective methods to manage your concerns while promoting good oral health.

Patients who feel that their providers are not taking their concerns seriously should use established patient advocacy mechanisms or use the dental clinic chain of command to get help.

Children's Oral Health

2010-08-16T00:55:00.001-07:00

Q: At what age are my children supposed to see a dentist?

A: The general rule is between 30 and 36 months. Some children require a bit more time to be comfortable. If an area of concern is noticed, then the child should see a dentist as soon as possible.

Q: Why is it important to fix baby teeth that have decay? Aren't they going to come out soon anyway?

A: It is very important to maintain the baby teeth because these teeth hold space for the future eruption of the permanent teeth. If a baby tooth decays or is removed too early, the space necessary for the permanent teeth is lost and may only be regained through orthodontic treatment. Infected baby teeth can cause the permanent teeth to develop improperly, resulting in stains, pits and weaker teeth.

Q: When will my child lose his/her baby teeth?

A: Children will begin losing their teeth at approximately age 5 1/2 to 6. They will usually lose their front teeth first. Children will continue to lose baby teeth until the age of 12 or 13 when all of the permanent teeth finally erupt.

Q: When does thumb sucking become damaging to the teeth?

A: Generally, if the child has stopped sucking his/her thumb by age 5 there is no permanent damage. If the child is a vigorous and constant thumb sucker, however, there can be moderate to severe movement of teeth and prevention of normal bone growth.

Q: Should my child wear a mouth guard while playing sports?

A: It is strongly recommended that children wear mouth guards while playing any contact sport. It is always better to prevent an injury than to repair one. The earlier a child begins to wear the mouth guard, the easier it is to become comfortable and continue to wear it as the child gets older.

Q: What should I do if my child gets a tooth knocked out?

A: If the tooth is a permanent tooth, time is extremely crucial. Immediately stick the tooth back in the socket. Don't worry about getting it in straight or having it turned backwards, just get it in the socket and immediately call your dentist. If you are uncomfortable placing the tooth in the socket, put it in a glass of milk and get your child to the dentist as quickly as possible. If the tooth is a baby tooth, do not put it in the socket because damage to the permanent tooth can occur. When in doubt, put the tooth in milk and see your dentist immediately.

Q: What is a sealant?

A: A dental sealant is a thin plastic film placed on the chewing surfaces of molars and premolars (the teeth directly in front of the molars). Sealants have been shown to be highly effective in the prevention of cavities. They were developed through dental research in the 1950s and first became available commercially in the early 1970s.

Q: How effective are sealants?

A: Scientific studies have proven that properly applied sealants are 100 percent effective in protecting the tooth surfaces from cavities. Because sealants act as a physical barrier to decay, protection is determined by the sealants' ability to adhere to the tooth. As long as the sealant remains intact, small food particles and bacteria that cause cavities cannot penetrate through or around a sealant. In fact, research has shown that sealants actually stop cavities when placed on top of a slightly decayed tooth by sealing off the supply of nutrients to the bacteria that cause the cavity. Sealant protection is reduced or lost when part or the entire bond between the tooth and sealant is broken. However, clinical studies have shown that teeth that have lost sealants are no more susceptible to tooth decay than teeth that were never sealed.

Q: How are sealants applied?

A: Sealant application involves cleaning the surface of the tooth and rinsing the surface to remove all traces of the cleaning agent. An etching solution or gel is applied to the enamel surface of the tooth, including the pits and grooves. After 15 seconds, the solution is thoroughly rinsed away with water. After the site is dried, the sealant material is applied and allowed to harden by using a special curing light. Sealant treatment is painless and could take anywhere from five to 45 minutes to apply, depending on how many teeth need to be sealed. Sealants must be applied properly for good retention.

Q: How long will a sealant last?

A: Sealants should last five years, but can last as long as 10 years. One study reported that seven years after application, an impressive 49 percent of treated teeth were still completely covered. Sealants should not be considered permanent. Regular dental check-ups are necessary to monitor the sealants' bond to the tooth.

Q: Who should receive sealant treatment?

A: Children, because they have newly erupted, permanent teeth, receive the greatest benefit from sealants. The chewing surfaces of a child's teeth are most susceptible to cavities and the least benefited by fluoride. Surveys show that approximately two-thirds of all cavities occur in the narrow pits and grooves of a child's newly erupted teeth because food particles and bacteria cannot be cleaned out. Other patients also can benefit from sealant placement, such as those who have existing pits and grooves susceptible to decay. Research has shown that almost everybody has a 95 percent chance of eventually experiencing cavities in the pits and grooves of their teeth.

Caps & Crowns

2010-08-16T00:52:00.001-07:00

Similar to a house that is built on a foundation of sand, a tooth that is extensively restored with fillings can crumble and wash away. This is why many dentists suggest placing a crown or "cap" on teeth that have very large fillings.

A crown is indicated when there is little tooth structure left or the remaining tooth is weakened, and it is likely that a tooth will fracture during normal chewing. If a tooth fractures, the only option may be to pull the tooth or have a root canal.

Crowns can also be fabricated to make the front teeth look more attractive or to achieve better chewing function in an individual with worn-down teeth.

Crowns may be fabricated out of various materials. Certain materials work better in different situations. However, the patient usually has the choice of gold, resin, porcelain or a mixture of the materials.

A dentist usually will need about two or three appointments before the patient can leave the office with the brand-new crown.

The first appointment is usually to examine the tooth and determine the type of crown to be placed.

After that, the dentist will actually drill around the tooth so the crown will fit perfectly over the remaining tooth structure. Once the dentist is satisfied with the drilling part, he or she will take an impression with a material that is about the same consistency as mashed potatoes. The dental lab will use this impression of the tooth to help make the final crown.

The patient may have to wait several weeks before the finished crown returns from the lab. During this time the patient will have a temporary crown glued on. This crown is weaker than the lab-fabricated one and should not stay on for more than a few months.

Finally, after the dental lab has fabricated the final crown, the dentist will use a very strong cement to glue the crown to the tooth.

Once the final crown is cemented on, the tooth or teeth have been given the chance to resist fracture for a very long time. However, the tooth still may break down if any decay gets under the crown or there is enough force during biting to dislodge or crack the crown.

Children may actually get a different type of crown that does not have to be made in the lab. These teeth do not fit the same way as the adult crowns. This is because the crown will go on the baby teeth that will fall out in a few years. It is important to put crowns on baby teeth with large cavities because the teeth could break, which could cause pain or movement. The latter could require the patient to have braces later in life.

Crowns are an important part of patient care in dentistry. Many patients avoid having crowns and wait until a tooth breaks to ask for one. This usually makes treatment more difficult and less successful. If your dentist suggests a crown should be placed, it would be a good idea to follow his or her advice so you may avoid a broken tooth.

Dental Health Tips

2010-08-16T00:50:00.000-07:00

Baby-Bottle Caries

How early can a person have tooth decay? The answer is, as soon as a person has teeth erupted.

This means an infant under the age of 1 can start having tooth decay. Tooth decay that happens in infants is called Early Childhood Caries. ECC is a severe problem that causes debilitating tooth destruction in infants and young children.

The prevalence of ECC is estimated to be as high as 90 percent in some Head Start populations. However, by following the guidelines developed by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and by visiting a dentist for the first check-up by the child's first birthday, ECC can easily be prevented.

ECC is a specific form of severe decay found in the teeth of infants and toddlers who fall asleep with bottles of milk, juice or any sweetened liquid in their mouths. ECC is also known as baby-bottle tooth decay, nursing-bottle caries and milk-bottle syndrome. It is the only severe dental disease common in children under 3 years of age.

Bacteria, which are found in the mouth, convert sugar into acids. These acids destroy the enamel and dentin of the tooth. The flow of saliva in the mouth helps to wash acids from the tooth surface during the daytime. However, when an infant is asleep, the flow of saliva is significantly reduced, and this allows acids to pool on the tooth. This, coupled with the sugars found in juices, milk or other soft drinks, will lead to early cavities.

The top four front teeth are most affected by ECC, which appears as white chalky marks on the teeth due to decalcification by the acids. If these teeth are left untreated, unsightly and often painful cavities will develop.

Baby teeth are important to a child for chewing and biting food, making a good smile, and speaking. However, the most important function of baby teeth is that they are holding space in the mouth for upcoming permanent teeth.

The first baby tooth erupts around 6 to 8 months of age, and usually all 20 baby teeth are erupted by the age of 2 or 2-and-a-half. Early loss of baby teeth can cause blocked eruption, drifting, crooking and crowding of the permanent teeth.

A child who prematurely loses baby teeth will have a very high chance of needing braces in the future. If an abscess or infection occurs around baby teeth with ECC, it may affect the development of the underlying permanent teeth.

The best treatment for ECC is prevention. But teeth affected by ECC can still be treated if intervention is early and the underlying causes are stopped.

The following are guidelines, developed by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, for preventing baby-bottle tooth decay:

Don't allow a child to fall asleep with a bottle containing milk, formula, fruit juices or other sweet liquids.
Comfort a child who wants a bottle between regular feedings or during naps with a bottle filled with cool water.
Always make sure a child's pacifier is clean, and never dip a pacifier in a sweet liquid.
Introduce children to a cup as they approach 1 year of age. Children should stop drinking from bottles soon after their first birthdays.
See the dentist if any unusual red or swollen areas appear in a child's mouth, or any dark spot on a child's tooth.

Healthy adult teeth begin with healthy baby teeth. Knowing and following the AAPD guidelines, and visiting a dentist for the first check-up around the age of 1, are very important for preventing young children from getting ECC.

Smoking and Heart Disease

2010-08-16T00:46:00.000-07:00

Smoking and Home

If you are like many new nonsmokers, the most difficult place to resist the urge to smoke is the most familiar - home. The activities most closely associated with smoking urges are eating, partying, and drinking. And, not surprisingly, most urges occur when a smoker is present.

Smoking Triggers

A list of typical "urge to smoke" triggers:

* Working under pressure

* Feeling blue

* Talking on the telephone

* Having a drink

* Watching television

* Driving your car

* Finishing a meal

* Playing cards

* Drinking coffee

* Watching someone else smoke

Hypertension Fact

2010-08-16T00:44:00.001-07:00

African and Hispanic Americans

African and Hispanic Americans have a much higher rate of hypertension. People of these ethnic groups need to be more diligent in getting their blood pressure taken on a frequent basis.

Alcohol and Hypertension

People with hypertension (high blood pressure) should limit their alcohol intake to two drinks or fewer per day. Alcohol consumption raises blood pressure.

Avoid Isometrics if Hypertensive

Hypertensive people should avoid isometric exercises like weight-lifting which can cause blood pressure to soar. Try aerobic exercises like walking and swimming instead.

Blood Pressure Machines

Only your doctor or other health care provider can tell you if you have high blood pressure. There are machines in stores and malls, but they SHOULD NOT substitute for the advice of a qualified professional.

Blood Pressure Measurement

As blood flows from the heart out to the blood vessels; it creates pressure against the blood vessel walls. Your blood pressure reading is a measure of this pressure. A health care provider may use a device called a sphygmomanometer, or blood pressure cuff, to take this measurement. The test is short and painless. When that reading goes above a certain point, it is called high blood pressure.

Blood Pressure Normal Range

Because hypertension is so common, everyone should have his or her blood pressure tested once a year. Blood pressure readings are given in two numbers. The upper number, the systolic, is indicative of the pressure in your arteries while your heart is pumping. The lower number, diastolic, is indicative of the pressure in your arteries when your heart is at rest. The average blood pressure reading for adults is 120/80, but a slightly higher or lower reading (for either number) may not be a problem. If blood pressure goes above 140/90, a doctor may recommend some form of treatment.

Compare Food Labels

Read the Nutrition Facts on food labels to compare the amount of sodium in products. Look for the sodium content in milligrams and the Percent Daily Value. Aim for foods that are less than five percent of the Daily Value of sodium.

Cut Down on Sodium

A diet low in sodium (salt) can help ease high blood pressure. Keep your sodium intake under 2,400 milligrams per day. Read food labels for sodium content!

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Positive people have lower blood pressures than negative people. Keep a positive attitude to ease your hypertension.

High Blood Pressure

If a doctor tells you have high blood pressure, or hypertension, you may be surprised. High blood pressure does not cause symptoms. You can have it even though you feel fine. But high blood pressure is a serious condition that affects as many as 50 million Americans. High blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart disease, kidney failure, and other health problems.

Marriage and Hypertension

The longer two people are married, the more similar their blood pressures become. If you have a high blood pressure reading, have your spouse's blood pressure checked, also.

New Blood Pressure Standards

New federal guidelines released May 14, 2003 say blood pressure levels once thought normal are actually high enough to signal "prehypertension" - putting those people at risk for high blood pressure later in life.

Normal Blood Pressure:

* Systolic - less than 120

* Diastolic - less than 80

Treatment:

* In otherwise healthy individuals: none

* In individuals with other diseases such as previous heart attack, diabetes, kidney disease, certain other diseases: none

Prehypertension:

* Systolic - 120-139

* Diastolic - 80-89

Treatment:

* In otherwise healthy individuals: none

* In individuals with other diseases such as previous heart attack, diabetes, kidney disease, certain other diseases: medically treat diseases

Stage one hypertension:

* Systolic - 140-160

* Diastolic - 90-100

Treatment:

* In otherwise healthy individuals: diuretics for most, possibly other drugs

* In individuals with other diseases such as previous heart attack, diabetes, kidney disease, certain other diseases: multiple medications

Stage two hypertension:

* Systolic - more than 160

* Diastolic - more than 100

Treatment:

* In otherwise healthy individuals: two-drug combo, usually one is a diuretic

* In individuals with other diseases such as previous heart attack, diabetes, kidney disease, certain other diseases: multiple medications

Obesity and Hypertension

Obese people are three times more likely to have hypertension (high blood pressure) than people of normal weight. Losing even a few pounds can make a significant difference.

Pets and Hypertension

Interaction with pets helps lower blood pressure, so take a dog or cat and call me in the morning :-)

Reducing Sodium When Eating Out

Measures to reduce dietary sodium when eating out include:

* Ask how foods are prepared. Ask that they be prepared without added salt, MSG, or salt-containing ingredients. Most restaurants are willing to accommodate requests.

* Know the terms that indicate high sodium content: pickled, cured, soy sauce, broth.

* Move the salt shaker away.

* Limit condiments, such as mustard, catsup, pickles, and sauces with salt-containing ingredients.

* Choose fruits or vegetables instead of salty snack foods.

Treatment of Mild Hypertension

With mild hypertension, a doctor may suggest exercise, weight loss and the reduction of salt (sodium) and alcohol intake. In some cases, these steps alone will reduce blood pressure to acceptable levels. There are also many medications available to treat high blood pressure.

Cholesterol Facts

2010-08-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

Atherosclerosis

When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, the excess can become trapped in the walls of your arteries. By building up there, the cholesterol helps to cause hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis.

And atherosclerosis causes most heart attacks by slowing or even blocking the flow of blood to the heart. When this happens, the heart gets less oxygen than it needs. This weakens the heart muscle, and chest pain (angina) may occur. If a blood clot forms in the narrowed artery, a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or even death can result.

Carbs and Heart Disease

Researchers think that a diet heavy on sugar-refined carbohydrates (such as white bread, low-fiber cereals and white rice) upsets levels of good and bad cholesterol and interferes with the body's ability to use insulin. Healthful carbs such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, get the green light.

Cholesterol Build Up

Cholesterol build-up happens very slowly; you are not even aware of it. If you lower your high blood cholesterol level, you can slow, stop, or even reverse the build-up and lower your likelihood of death from heart disease.

Cholesterol Explained

Cholesterol is a waxy substance that occurs naturally in all parts of the body. Your body needs cholesterol, which it uses to make many hormones and vitamin D. Cholesterol also aids in fat digestion. Your body makes enough cholesterol to meet its needs. You can also get cholesterol from the foods you eat. Only foods from an animal source such as meat, poultry, fish and dairy foods contain cholesterol.

Choosing Between Butter and Margarine

If dry toast just isn't appealing, you may wonder which spread is healthier: butter or margarine. Margarine wins, according to the American Dietetic Association. That's because it has no cholesterol and less saturated fat than its dairy cousin. And for the healthiest spread, the group says to choose margarine in a tub over the stick variety.

Eat More Beans

Beans and other legumes contain pectin which surrounds cholesterol and escorts it from the body.

Fruit Helps Lower Cholesterol

Fruit contains pectin that helps lower cholesterol. The best fruits to eat to battle high cholesterol are grapefruit, oranges and apples.

Nutrition Therapy

Many people who try nutrition therapy for increased cholesterol levels notice a change in their condition within a few weeks and only need two or three visits.

Potential Cholesterol Fighters

The following substances are potential weapons against high cholesterol: tea, lemongrass oil, spirulina, barley, oats, rice bran and activated charcoal.

Supplements to Decrease Cholesterol

The following supplements that have shown the most promise in lowering cholesterol: niacin, vitamin C, vitamin E and calcium.

Switch to Olive Oil

Olive oil, nuts, avocados, canola oil and peanut oil are high in monounsaturated fat which helps lower bad (LDL) cholesterol levels.

Types of Fats

Types of fats include:

* Polyunsaturated fat (10% of calories) - corn oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil

* Monounsaturated fat (10-15% of calories) - olive oil, peanut oil, canola (rapeseed) oil

* Saturated fat (less than 10% of calories) - butter, cream, whole milk, ice cream, cheese, meat marbling, coconut, palm kernel oil, palm oil, hydrogenated fat, cocoa butter.

Cardiovascular Health Tips

2010-08-15T04:03:00.000-07:00

Alcohol Consumption and the Heart

Heavy alcohol consumption is associated with cardiovascular diseases such as cardiomyopathy, hypertension, arrhythmias, and stroke.

Aspirin After a Heart Attack

Studies show that heart attack patients who took aspirin when their symptoms began, and then daily for one month, significantly lowered their risk of dying and of having another heart attack or stroke.

Aspirin During a Heart Attack

Up to 10,000 more people would survive heart attacks if they would chew one 325 milligram aspirin tablet when they first had chest pain or other sign of a heart attack. Patients should be given aspirin during the first hour -- during pre-hospital transport or in the Emergency Room -- if a heart attack is suspected.

C-Reactive Protein (CRP)

The C-Reactive Protein test (CRP) is a blood test that may be a better indicator of heart attack risk than tests for cholesterol.

Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is a disease of the heart and blood vessels and is the nation's leading killer, claiming 939,610 lives in 2000. The personal, social, and economic impacts of cardiovascular disease are significant. In 2000, the economic impact was estimated to be almost $290 billion. Knowing the risk factors for heart disease and heart failure and adopting life-long heart-healthy practices can improve heart health.

Cloning and Transplants

Researchers say they've taken a major step toward cloning pigs whose hearts, lungs and kidneys could be safely transplanted into humans. Such organs would save the lives of thousands of critically ill people who cannot get transplants because of the shortage of human organs. Scientists say they produced four piglets without one of two genes that lead to the massive rejections that have plagued efforts at xenotransplantation -- the process of replacing human organs with animal organs.

Dine at the Dinner Table Only

If you eat in front of the TV, then every time you nestle in with the remote control, it's a cue to eat. Instead, designate an eating spot for all meals and snacks.

Exercising When Obese

If you're obese, check with your physician before initiating any exercise program. Search for a low impact aerobic program as a starter.

Fat Free vs. Calorie Free

Just because a product is fat free, doesn't mean it is calorie free. In fact, fat free or reduced fat products can have as many, if not more, calories per serving than regular products. So, yes, you do need to watch your fat intake. But remember that calories count, too.

Food Labels to Reveal Artery-Clogging Trans Fat

Trans fat hasn't gotten the attention its infamous cousin, saturated fat, earned through warnings and labels. That's about to change: After 10 years of debate, the government is requiring food labels to reveal exact levels of the artery clogger.

Tran’s fat is in numerous products, from meats and dairy products to pastries. The most common source is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, where liquid oil is turned into a solid to protect against spoiling and maintain long-term flavor.

Garlic and Heart Disease

Garlic helps fight heart disease. It contains sulfur compounds, which scientists suspect inhibit the formation of artery-clogging blood clots. It may reduce both elevated blood cholesterol and blood pressure. Roasting transforms garlic into an almost buttery substance that makes a great fat-free spread for bread or addition to dips. To roast, wrap a garlic head in aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 40 minutes.

Heart Reshapes After Injury

Using the male chromosome as a marker, researchers studying eight cross-gender heart transplants from New York Medical College have discovered that the body can actively reshape the heart after injury.

High Sodium Foods

High sodium foods include:

Canned soup, canned vegetables, canned tomato products, canned tuna/salmon, ham, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, olives, pickles, sauerkraut, instant mixes, garlic salt, onion salt, celery salt, soy sauce, processed foods, lunch meat, cheese

Ibuprofen vs. Aspirin

The popular pain reliever ibuprofen blocks the heart-protecting effects of aspirin when taken at the same time. Regular aspirin can be taken two hours before or after ibuprofen. Enteric-coated aspirin, which is released more slowly into the blood, could be taken at bedtime without a conflict.

Inflammation May Cause Heart Attacks

In what doctors are calling a revolutionary departure from long-held beliefs about the causes of heart attacks, there is new emphasis on low-grade inflammation in various parts of the body as triggering such events.

While medical experts have for years focused on cholesterol and clogged arteries, research indicates that inflammation may just as often be the cause of heart attacks, and in fact half of all heart attack victims have normal or even low levels of cholesterol.

New research shows that people with high levels of C-reactive protein - - an indicator of inflammation - - have twice the risk of heart attack than those with elevated cholesterol.

In response to the findings, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is drawing up new recommendations that will likely urge doctors to test most middle-aged Americans for inflammation, as well as cholesterol, as a prevention for heart attack.

Inflammation Twice as Bad as Cholesterol

Despite their seemingly healthy cholesterol levels, new research shows many people are at high risk of heart attacks because of painless inflammation in the bloodstream.

The inflammation comes from many sources and triggers heart attacks by weakening the walls of blood vessels, making fatty buildups burst. A large study concludes it is twice as likely as high cholesterol to trigger heart attacks.

Inflammation can be measured with a test that checks for C-reactive protein, or CRP, a chemical necessary for fighting injury and infection. The test typically costs between $25 and $50.

Diet and exercise can lower CRP dramatically. Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins also reduce CRP, as do aspirin and some other medicines.

Mini-Meals for Weight Loss

Having smaller, more frequent meals can prevent you from getting ravenously hungry and overeating. On average, weight loss winners eat five times a day.

New MRI Technique for CAD

A new type of imaging technique using an MRI device can detect most diseased coronary arteries, potentially sparing many heart patients a more invasive, expensive and uncomfortable test, the angiogram.

Nuts Cut Sudden Death Risk in Men

Men who eat nuts regularly have roughly half the risk of sudden cardiac death as those who don't consume the food.

Nuts contain unsaturated fats that aren't as hard on the arteries as their saturated siblings. Some nuts have other cardiac benefits. Walnuts are rich in alpha-linolenic acid, a form of omega-3 fatty acid that has been shown to boost cardiovascular health and which may prevent heart rhythm anomalies. They can also be a good source of nutrients such as vitamin E and magnesium.

Nuts for Nuts

Have you stopped snacking on nuts because you've heard they're too fatty, caloric, and salty? Well, take heart. Recent studies have shown that nuts can help prevent coronary disease. They're rich in unsaturated fats, vitamin E, fiber, folic acid, and other B vitamins. And walnuts are especially rich in heart-healthy oil. So dig in, but choose the unsalted variety and, as with any food, enjoy them in moderation.

OTCs and Sodium

Some OTC drugs have large amounts of sodium in them. Always read the labels for over-the-counter drugs. When in doubt, ask a pharmacist, or your health care provider, if the drug is one you can use.

Prioritize Exercise

The beds might not get made, but you still must make time for exercise. That's how you keep weight off, you make exercise part of your daily schedule.

Reducing Dietary Sodium - Breads and Cereals

Breads, Cereals, Rice and Pasta Group:

* Read the Nutrition Facts Panel to compare the sodium content of cereals.

* Snack foods are typically high in sodium.

* There are lots of reduced sodium or no-salt-added snacks available.

Reducing Dietary Sodium - Fats and Sweets

Fats, Oils and Sweets:

* As a general rule salad dressings and condiments are high in sodium.

Reducing Dietary Sodium - Fruits and Vegetables

Fruit and Vegetable Groups:

* To keep the sodium content down try seasoning vegetables without salt.

* Herbs and spices can provide a tasteful alternative.

* Canned vegetables are higher in sodium than fresh or frozen.

* Try the low-sodium or "no-salt added" versions.

* Plain frozen vegetables contain less salt than those frozen with sauces.

* Canned vegetable juices are high in sodium, select reduced sodium versions.

Reducing Dietary Sodium - Meats

Meat Group:

* Processed luncheon meats are high in sodium. Select lower sodium luncheon meats.

* Choose unsalted nuts.

* Most canned soups are very high in sodium.

* Reduced-sodium soups are available; however, they still contain substantial sodium.

* Many frozen dinners, convenience foods, combination dishes, and packaged mixes are also high in sodium. Check the Nutrition Facts Panel to compare the sodium content of these foods.

Reducing Dietary Sodium - Milk

Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese Group:

* Cheeses vary in sodium content, but tend to be higher in sodium than milk or yogurt.

* Processed cheeses, cheese foods, and cheese spreads contain more sodium than natural cheese.

* Reduced sodium cheeses are available.

Salt Substitutes

People with kidney problems, or who are taking medicines, should check with their health care provider before using "salt substitutes." Potassium chloride is found in many salt substitutes. Too much potassium can be harmful to some people.

Sodium = Na

Read the labels when you buy packaged foods. Look for different sodium compounds that are added to foods. Watch for the words on labels that identify sodium ingredients. These include "sodium" and sodium's symbol, "Na" which is a capital "N" with a small "a."

Tea Reduces Heart Disease

Studies show tea can help prevent cancer, osteoporosis, and heart disease. Tea antioxidants, called polyphenols, may be 100 times as effective as vitamin C and 25 times as effective as vitamin E.

Treatment May Help Body Grow Bypasses

Medication that prompts the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) may one day help the body produce its own bypasses around clogged heart or leg arteries.

Whole Grains, Older Women and Heart Health

Older women who eat the right amount of whole grains cut their risk of a fatal heart attack significantly. At ages 55 - 69, women who eat whole grains for at least three of their daily carbohydrate servings were found to be in better heart health during the next 10 years. Whole grain breads, crackers and cereals -- made from grains that have not been stripped of their bran and germ -- protect against heart disease and diabetes. Its unclear which part of the whole grain -- the fiber, the vitamin E, the folate, the magnesium or some of the health-protective phytochemicals -- provides the health benefits. Read labels carefully. Look for "whole-grain" or "whole-wheat flour" as the first or second ingredient.

Women and Heart Disease

By increasing the intake of folate and Vitamin B6, you may also prevent heart disease. Women with the highest intake of folate (545 micrograms or more per day) and Vitamin B6 (4.6 mg or more per day) were 45% less likely to develop coronary artery disease than women with the lowest intake of folate (less than 190 mg per day) and Vitamin B6 (less than 1.1 mg per day). The main source of both vitamins is a multivitamin supplement and many cold breakfast cereals that are fortified with both nutrients.

Skin Cancer Facts

2010-08-15T03:37:00.000-07:00

For all forms of skin cancer, years of exposure to strong sunlight seems to be the main cause. Other causes of skin cancer include repeated exposure to radiation or certain chemicals, such as coal tars and asphalt, scarring from disease or burns, and genetic and hormonal factors. Skin cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer. There are two main types:

Melanoma and non-melanoma. Melanoma begins in skin cells that produce melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color. Two kinds of non-melanoma, basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma, originate in different types of cells in the epidermis, or outer skin layer. Melanoma is the "black mole" kind of skin cancer. It is less common and more dangerous because it tends to spread rapidly. Squamous cell carcinoma is less serious, but can also spread to other parts of the body. Basal cell carcinoma grows slowly, doesn't spread quickly, and is usually not life threatening. Every year, about 32,000 new cases of melanoma and 700,000 cases of non-melanoma skin cancer are diagnosed in the United States. Skin cancer is the most easily detectable, curable and preventable cancer. The cure rate for non-melanoma skin cancers is about 95 percent when properly treated.

Skin Cancer Prevention

Skin cancer prevention tips:

* Avoid sun exposure and exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

* If you must be out in the sun, always use protection: wear a long-sleeved shirt or cover-up, a hat that shades your face and sunglasses.

* Always wear sunscreen (with a sun protection factor of at least 15) on exposed body parts, even during the winter, when sun reflected off the snow may be intense. Apply it 15 to 30 minutes (or more) before going out in the sun.

* Avoid sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM when the sun's rays are their most fierce.

* Check your skin monthly for unusual moles or changes in existing skin markings, using a full-length mirror and a hand mirror to see your back. See a dermatologist if you notice any changes and for regular skin checkups.

* Don't use sunlamps or tanning centers.

Self-Examination:

The best way to detect skin cancer early is to perform monthly self-examinations. First, count and plot your moles so that you can note any changes. Then, each month examine each part of your body using a full-length mirror and a hand mirror. Be sure to check the front, back, sides, forearms, upper underarms and palms, backs of legs and feet, including spaces between toes, the back of the neck and scalp, under the hair and the back and buttocks.

Skin Cancer Risk Factors

Fair-skinned Caucasians living in sunny places are at greatest risk for developing skin cancer. People who work outdoors, the elderly, anyone who has had severe sunburn and people repeatedly exposed to radiation or hydrocarbons found in coal tars, pitch, and asphalt are also at risk. Other risk factors include having skin damage or defects, being an albino and having a family history of skin cancer or a condition called dysplastic nevi syndrome, characterized by larger-than-normal moles that begin growing later in life. People whose immune systems are weaker than normal (such as chemotherapy patients and people with AIDS) are also at greater risk.

Symptoms of Skin Cancer

Any unusual skin condition, like a change in a mole or other pigmented growth or spot, or a wound that doesn't heal should cause concern. Scaliness, oozing, bleeding, a growing bump, itchiness, pain and tenderness are all possible symptoms of skin cancer. Melanoma may begin in or near a mole or other dark spot on the skin. Warning signs in moles are asymmetry (when the shape of one half doesn't match the other half); ragged, irregular, notched or blurred borders; different shades of color and growth; and size (larger than a pencil eraser).

Testicular Cancer

2010-08-15T03:33:00.000-07:00

Testicular Cancer Causes and Risk Factors

Testicular cancer runs in families. Young Caucasian men are at greatest risk for developing testicular cancer. Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans are at medium risk, and African-Americans are at very low risk.

Having an undescended testicle is the major risk factor. About 50 percent of men with testicular cancer have experienced trauma to their testes; however, it is not known whether trauma plays a causal role or whether it only brings attention to a pre-existing condition. Other factors that are possibly involved include having had the mumps, which often affects the testicles, having been born to a mother who was given estrogen or had X-rays during pregnancy and delivery, and having certain rare conditions affecting the sexual organs.

Testicular Cancer Facts

Cancer of the testes, the male reproductive glands, is the most common cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 35. There are different types of testicular cancer, most of which involve the sperm-producing cells. About 6,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year, but with early detection and treatment, the cure rate for testicular cancer has increased greatly, to as high as 96 percent.

Testicular Cancer Prevention and Early Detection

Because of the increased risk from an undescended testicle, boys with this problem should have the condition surgically corrected before they reach the age of three. When corrected at a later age, the condition continues to pose higher risk.

Testicular cancer is very curable when found early. Your best protection is monthly self-examination, especially if you are in a high-risk group. Self-examination involves rolling each testicle gently between the thumb and fingers of both hands, and it is best done after a warm bath or shower. If you notice hard lumps or nodules, contact your doctor immediately.

Testicular Cancer Symptoms

There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of testicular cancer. A painless bump on the testicle or slight enlargement of a testicle and change in its consistency may be the first sign of a problem. Pain does not usually occur until a later stage of the disease, but a dull ache in the lower abdomen and groin, accompanied by a feeling of heaviness, may be an early warning sign.

Prostate Cancer

2010-08-15T03:28:00.000-07:00

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the abnormal growth of benign (not cancerous) prostate cells. In BPH, the prostate grows larger and pushes against the urethra and bladder, blocking the normal flow of urine. BPH can sometimes lead to bothersome problems with urination, such as frequent daytime and nighttime urination, dribbling, and difficulty starting and stopping urine flow.

Early Detection of Prostate Cancer

Follow these early detection guidelines for the best results:

* Have a digital rectal examination every year after the age of 50.

(If you are an African-American male or you have a family history of prostate cancer, have this examination every year after age 40.)

* Have a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test.

* Eat a low fat diet.

* See your doctor immediately if you notice any of the warning signs of prostate problems.

Prostate Cancer Causes and Risk Factors

Prostate cancer runs in families and is associated with a high fat diet. Prostate cancer is most common in Europe and in America, where African American men are at 30 percent higher risk. Increasing age is a factor, with men over 55 at greater risk. Other risk factors are multiple sex partners and venereal disease.

Prostate Cancer Facts

Cancer of the prostate gland is one of the most common cancers in men. It's estimated that one out of every 11 men will develop it. Fortunately, prostate cancer is usually a slow-growing type of cancer, and the highest risk is not until after age 55. Because of earlier detection and improvements in prostate cancer treatment, more than 90 percent of patients diagnosed early are alive five years after treatment.

Prostate Cancer Symptoms

There are usually no symptoms in the earliest stages of prostate cancer. Some symptoms of the condition benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), a harmless, but annoying enlargement of the prostate that frequently occurs in older men, may be mistaken for symptoms of prostate cancer.

You should see your doctor if you experience:

* Weak or interrupted flow of urine

* Inability to urinate or difficulty urinating

* Need to urinate frequently, especially at night

* Blood in the urine

* Painful or burning sensation when urinating

* Continuing pain in the lower back, pelvis, or upper thighs

PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen)

An elevated PSA blood test does not always mean cancer. A temporary PSA elevation is found in prostate infection, benign enlargement, prostate surgery and urinary retention.

Ovarian Cancer

2010-08-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

Ovarian Cancer Causes and Risks

The cause of ovarian cancer is not known. Several risk factors are known, however. Family history plays a huge role. When two or more close relatives (mother, aunt, or sister) have had ovarian cancer, the risk can jump from 1 in 70 to as high as 1 in 2. This relationship is still being studied. Women who have never been pregnant are also at higher risk.

Ovarian Cancer Facts and Symptoms

Ovarian cancer, a tumor of the ovaries, is the second most common gynecologic cancer and it's the deadliest. Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any cancer of the female reproductive system. And it is the fourth leading cause of death from cancer in women, behind breast, lung and colon cancers. The mortality rate is so high because ovarian cancer spreads quickly. And even when symptoms appear, they tend to be ignored because they are so vague, such as pressure, swelling, bloating, and discomfort in the lower abdomen. A tumor in the ovary can grow for some time before it causes any serious problems. In more than 75 percent of cases, the cancer has spread beyond the ovary before it is diagnosed.

Ovarian Cancer Prevention

How can you protect yourself from ovarian cancer? Birth control pills and pregnancy protect you to some degree. But the only sure way to prevent ovarian cancer is the removal of the ovaries. This type of surgery is recommended mainly for women who are approaching menopause or who are past it, when they are having some other type of gynecological surgery and for women having a family history of the disease, after their childbearing years.

Liver Cancer

2010-08-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

Liver Cancer Facts

There are two types of liver cancer: primary and secondary. Liver cancer is considered primary if the cancerous tumors develop in the liver. Primary liver cancer is rare, accounting for just one to two percent of malignant tumors in patients in North America. Secondary liver cancer, which is approximately 20 times more common, results when cancer cells from another part of the body (breast, lungs, etc.) spread or "metastasize" to the liver. A secondary liver tumor is often not found until it causes symptoms.

Liver Cancer Risk Factors

Liver cancer is more common among persons who consume large amounts of alcohol than among persons who do not drink. Liver cancer occurs more frequently in persons with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) and other chronic liver ailments than in persons without those diseases. Between 50 percent and 70 percent of all liver cancer cases in the United States are associated with cirrhosis. Liver cancer is also more likely to strike men than women and persons of either sex over 40 years of age.

Liver Cancer Symptoms

The symptoms of liver cancer are similar to those of other liver diseases: pain, especially in the abdominal area; unexplained weight loss; loss of appetite; pain or swelling in the upper right abdomen; and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the whites of eyes).

Endometrial Cancer

2010-08-15T03:11:00.000-07:00

Endometrial Cancer Causes and Risks

The cause of endometrial cancer is unknown, but a significant factor seems to be prolonged exposure of the endometrium to the hormone estrogen.

Menstruating women are exposed to estrogen every month. Thus, women who are at high risk for the disease are sometimes prescribed birth control pills to decrease their production of the hormone. In postmenopausal women, estrogen replacement, a common treatment, greatly increases the risk for endometrial cancer. But this risk can be reduced when progesterone, another hormone, is added to the estrogen. Women who are "on the pill" automatically decrease their risk of developing endometrial cancer, as do those who maintain their ideal body weight. Also at higher risk are menopausal women who have never been pregnant and those with a history of infertility, failed ovulations, irregular periods (menses), or irregular bleeding.

Endometrial Cancer Facts

Cancer of the endometrium (the membrane lining the uterus) is the most common of the female reproductive tract cancers, ahead of ovarian and cervical cancer. It occurs mainly in women older than 50 and affects about 35,000 American women each year.

Endometrial Cancer Prevention

Prevention of endometrial cancer involves maintaining ideal body weight, avoiding unnecessary estrogens and, if at high risk, being screened at menopause for early signs of endometrial changes that might lead to cancer.

Symptoms of Endometrial Cancer

The main symptom of endometrial cancer, abnormal bleeding, occurs early, a factor leading to early diagnosis. For this reason, the overall cure rate is high, 70 to 80 percent.

Colorectal Cancer

2010-08-15T02:59:00.000-07:00

Colorectal Cancer Facts

Colorectal (colon and rectum) cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States. About 150,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Most develop from polyps, growths that originate in the mucous lining of the colon or rectum. These grow slowly and can be detected by means of effective, easily performed tests, making colorectal cancer one of the most curable forms of cancer.

Colorectal Cancer Causes and Risk Factors

The cause of cancer of the colon and rectum isn't known, but it's believed that the disease is associated with a diet high in fat and low in fiber (roughage). Not surprisingly, colorectal cancer is more common in Western countries, where the diet tends to be highly refined, with less roughage. People over age 50 are more susceptible, and African-American men have a slightly higher risk. Anyone with a personal or family history of colorectal cancer, polyps in the colon, or ulcerative colitis is at particularly high risk and exposure to asbestos has been identified as a risk factor.

Colorectal Cancer Symptoms

The most common symptom is bleeding with bowel movements. Other symptoms include pain during bowel movements, change in frequency of bowel habits, change in stools, abdominal pain or swelling, fatigue, anemia, and weight loss.

Early Detection and Prevention of Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is very curable when found early and there are several things you can do to lower your risks:

* Eat at least 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day.

* Eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

* Have a digital rectal examination every year after age 40.

* Have a stool blood test every year after age 50.

* Have a flexible sigmoidoscopy at age 50, and then, after two normal examinations a year apart, every three to five years.

* If you are over 50 and notice blood in your stools, see your doctor immediately.

Cervical Cancer

2010-08-15T02:45:00.001-07:00

Cervical Cancer Causes and Risks

The cause of cervical cancer is unknown, but a variety of interacting factors are probably at fault. These include early sexual activity, multiple sex partners, and sexually transmitted diseases. Viruses associated with sexually transmitted diseases are also thought to play an important role, as are hygiene and douching practices. Smoking and a lower socio-economic status may also be involved.

Cervical Cancer Facts

Cervical cancer is a slow-growing, highly predictable cancer of the cervix, where the narrow, outer end of the uterus opens into the vagina. Caught early, it is easily cured. Each year in the United States, approximately 12,800 women are diagnosed with the disease and 45,000 more with carcinoma in situ, an early-stage cervical cancer. Many thousands more are treated for a pre-cancerous condition known as dysplasia.

Cervical Cancer Prevention

The risk for cervical cancer can be lowered by limiting the number of sexual partners, using condoms, avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, and getting regular Pap smears. Catching the disease early is simple and inexpensive, and in its early stages, cervical cancer can be completely cured. If you are at least 15 years old, if you are sexually active, and if you are not having Pap smears every year, do yourself this favor: make an appointment today for this important screening test.

Symptoms of Cervical Cancer

Symptoms of cervical cancer include painless vaginal bleeding, an unusual vaginal discharge, and painful intercourse. But often, the only way you will know is by having a Pap smear, a simple, accurate, inexpensive screening test used to identify the presence of abnormal cells in the cervix.

Breast Cancer

2010-08-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

Breast Cancer and The Pill

Although birth control pills have been only weakly linked to breast cancer in some studies, new research shows that the hormone-heavy pills used 25 years ago may have significantly increased breast cancer risk among women with a family history of the disease.

Breast Cancer Facts

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women. One in nine women will develop breast cancer during her lifetime. (Men may also develop breast cancer, but just one in every 100 cases of breast cancer is in a man). Over 180,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States and that number is increasing.

Breast Cancer Risk Factors

Increasing age: As women grow older, their risk increases. Breast cancer is rare before the age of 30 and is most common in women older than 65. In fact, the biggest known risk factor is age.

History of previous breast cancer: A woman with a history of cancer in one breast has a higher chance of developing cancer in the other breast.

Family history of breast cancer: Close female relatives—a mother or sister, for example, increase a person's risk. Still, only about five to 10 percent of women who get breast cancer have a family history of the disease.

Absence of pregnancy: Both pregnancy and breast-feeding are associated with lowered risk and the earlier the pregnancy, the lower one's risk. Women who have a full pregnancy before the age of 18 have just one-third the breast cancer risk of women who give birth after age 30 or who have never had a child.

Breast Cancer Symptoms

Most people associate breast cancer with a lump, but the symptoms can include a thickening within the breast or the overlying skin, redness of the skin, a change in the shape of the breast, discharge from the nipple, or a change in the shape of the nipple or its retraction. (Eight out of 10 breast lumps are benign; that is, they are not cancerous).

Breast Self-Examination (BSE) Technique

Breast Self-Examination (BSE) should be done every month.

When to do BSE:

* If you still menstruate (have your period) the best time is two or three days after your period ends. These are the days when your breasts are least likely to be tender or swollen.

* If you no longer menstruate, pick the same day of every month. It will be easy to remember.

* If you take hormones, check with your doctor about the best time for your BSE.

Facing a mirror

Standing before a mirror to look for asymmetry in breast size, nipple inversion, bulging, or dimpling is the preferred method to maximize visualization. Note any skin or nipple changes, such as a hard knot or nipple discharge.

Inspect breasts in the following 4 steps:

* Arms at sides

* Arms overhead

* Hands on hips - Press firmly to flex chest muscles.

* Bending forward

Lying down

Right breast

* Place a pillow under your right shoulder.

* Put your right hand under your head.

* Check the entire breast area with the finger pads of your left hand.

* Use small circles and follow an up-and-down pattern.

* Use light, medium, and firm pressure over each area of the breast.

* Feel the breast with the surfaces of the second, third, and fourth fingers, moving systematically and using small, circular motions from the nipple to the outer margins.

* Gently squeeze the nipple for any discharge.

Left breast

* Repeat these steps on your left breast using your right hand.

In the shower

Breast self-examination (BSE) can easily be performed during bathing or showering, because some women discover breast masses when their skin is moist.

* Raise your right arm.

* With soapy hands and fingers flat, check your right breast.

* Use the same small circles and up-and-down pattern described earlier.

* Repeat on the left breast.

Breast Test

A new, simpler technique for detecting abnormal breast cells before they develop into life-threatening breast cancer is in the pipeline. Called ductal lavage, the procedure involves a doctor inserting a catheter the width of two human hairs into the nipple and washing out enough cells from milk-producing ducts to screen for precancerous changes. Scientists have known for years that milk ducts are a great place to test for these scary cells. Unfortunately, insurers don't always pay for the test, which can cost from $350 to $700.

Gene Defects Linked to Breast Cancer

Gene defects that trigger an extremely rare and deadly childhood disease may also signal an increased risk of breast cancer. The discovery could help doctors screen women for cancer risks. The disease, Fanconi anemia, affects only about 500 families nationally, but the study found that six genes known to cause it are directly linked to one of the two genes responsible for the inherited risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

New Breast Cancer Drug Hot on Tamoxifen's Heels

A new breast cancer drug shows early signs of being better than the best currently available treatment at helping postmenopausal women with early-stage disease live longer after having surgery to remove their tumors. Women who have taken a newer type of drug called anastrozole, brand name Arimidex, were more likely to be alive and disease-free three years after surgery than women who took what is now considered the "gold standard" in breast cancer prevention, tamoxifen.

October Means Mammogram

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Many hospitals and clinics offer free mammograms. Please have one today! It could save your life.

Preventing and Detecting Breast Cancer

Because 75 to 80 percent of women who get breast cancer have no known risk factors, early detection offers the best hope for surviving the disease. The first step is to understand your risk factors - age, family, and personal history of breast cancer. The next is to follow the early detection guidelines recommended by the American Cancer Society:

* Self-Examination - Women should examine their breasts monthly beginning by age 20. Over 90 percent of breast cancers are found by women themselves. But because less than one third of women perform regular breast self-examinations (BSEs), these cancers are often found when they are over an inch across. In general, the smaller the lump found, the better a woman’s chance of long-term survival.

* Physician Examination - An exam by a physician is recommended every three years until age 40, and then every year. This is an important part of an overall physical exam, but only a supplement to monthly breast self-examinations.

* Mammography - This examination is recommended once between the ages of 35 and 40 as a baseline (for comparison), and then once a year beginning at age 40. Studies show very high survival rates in women whose breast cancer was first detected by mammography. When a mammogram finds a small breast cancer, usually only the tumor is removed, not the whole breast.

Cancer Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T02:38:00.000-07:00

General Cancer Information

Alcohol Consumption

Chronic heavy drinking has been linked to an increased risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, pancreas and rectum. Consuming as little as three ounces of hard liquor every day for several years can cause damage.

Aspirin Linked to Reduced Lung Cancer Risk

Aspirin has already risen from the ranks of a mere pain reliever to become a highly valued heart attack and stroke prevention tool, and now researchers say preventing lung cancer may be added to its list of benefits.

Cancer and Nutrition

To prevent cancer, avoid dietary fats. Eat a diet rich in soy, fruits, vegetables and fiber.

Cancer Risk Factors

The following are various types of cancer and their risk factors:

* Breast- Family history of breast cancer, obesity, late childbearing and childlessness

* Bladder- Smoking (nearly half of cases), hair dye - bladder cancer is more common in men than women

* Cervical- First intercourse at an early age, multiple sexual partners, smoking, history of genital herpes

* Colorectal- Being over 50 with colon polyps or ulcerative colitis, family history of these disorders or colon cancer, high-fat, low-fiber diet

* Leukemia- Exposure to radiation, benzene and other chemicals

* Lung- Smoking (83 percent of cases), exposure to asbestos, radiation and secondhand tobacco smoke

* Lymphoma- Being over 50, no other known risk factors

* Oral- Smoking, chewing tobacco and heavy alcohol use

* Pancreatic- Smoking, high-fat diet

* Prostate- Risk increases with age; more than 80 percent of cases occur after 65

* Skin- Fair skin, severe sunburn in childhood, frequent sun exposure, family history of skin cancer

* Uterine- Being post-menopausal with a history of infertility, ovulation failure or abnormal bleeding, also obesity, hypertension and diabetes

Early Detection

The earlier cancer is detected, the greater the chance it can be treated before it spreads to other areas of the body. That's why self-examinations (such as checks of the breasts, testicles and skin) are important to build into your routine. And it's why regular medical screenings (such as mammograms, fecal occult blood tests, Pap smears and prostate exams) are crucial even if you feel perfectly healthy.

More Precise Cancer Treatments

Once, a cancer was a cancer was a cancer. Now, scientists have succeeded in using DNA to determine whether a particular type of cancer will be resistant to certain therapies, paving the way to choosing more effective, tailor-made treatments for patients.

Nutrition and Cancer Patients

A great tasting, nutritious milkshake for cancer patients requiring extra calories in small amounts is made by adding 2 large scoops of ice cream and 1 package of vanilla-flavored Carnation Instant Breakfast to 8 ounces of milk and blending until smooth.

Orange Zest and Cancer

Don't toss away that orange peel -- it may help protect you against cancer. Grated citrus zest -- the outmost layer of the peel, not the white pith -- includes compounds may provide health benefits, such as inhibiting development of some cancers and lowering cholesterol. Scrub the rind with warm water and a drop of soap before starting to grate. Press a piece of wax paper onto the grater to make clean-up easier; the zest accumulates on the paper instead of getting stuck in the holes of the grater. Best of all, you can use the zest for a flavor boost in low-fat baked goods, pilafs, salad dressings, marinades and fruit salads.

Seven Cancer Warning Signs

1. A change in bowel or bladder habits

2. A sore that does not heal

3. Unusual bleeding or discharge

4. Thickening or a lump in the breast or other area

5. Chronic indigestion or swallowing problems

6. An obvious change in a wart or a mole

7. A nagging cough or hoarseness

Startling Facts About Smoking and Cancer

Eighteen little-known facts about smoking might motivate even a veteran smoker to give up the habit:

1. Cigarette smoke contains tar, made up of over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known to cause cancer.

2. Chemicals in smoke include cyanide (a deadly poison), methanol (wood alcohol), formaldehyde (a preservative), acetylene (fuel used in torches) and ammonia (found in fingernail polish remover). It also contains nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, both poisonous gases.

3. Smokeless tobacco (snuff) exposes a person to at least 10 times more cancer-causing substances than smoking does.

4. Smoking filtered cigarettes lowers the risk of lung cancer by only about 20 percent.

5. Smokers are more likely to get pneumonia than are nonsmokers.

6. Smokers are more likely to have and die from stomach ulcers than are nonsmokers.

7. Smoking causes and worsens heart disease, emphysema, bronchitis, sinusitis, and cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx (voice box), and esophagus (swallowing tube), and increases the risk of bladder, kidney, pancreas, stomach and cervical cancers.

8. Women smokers experience earlier menopause and have less dense bones, making them more susceptible to osteoporosis and hip fractures.

9. Children whose parents smoke are at a higher risk for pneumonia and bronchitis.

10. Diseases caused by cigarette smoking kill about one in four smokers.

11. By the time lung cancer is diagnosed, it has usually spread to other parts of the body. The survival rate is low: only 13 percent are still alive five years after diagnosis, fewer than 10 percent after 10 years.

12. Lung cancer now kills more women than any other type of cancer.

13. Smoking takes an average of seven years off a person’s life.

14. Smoking causes one out of every six deaths in the United States.

15. Nine out of ten smokers say they want to quit.

16. More men have quit smoking than women.

17. More than 43 million Americans have quit smoking, and–over the past decade–the percentage of smoking adult Texans has decreased from 31 to 22 percent.

18. Between 1964 and 1985, approximately 750,000 deaths were avoided or postponed as a result of decisions to quit smoking or not to start.

And That’s Not All!

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer in America, but it could be prevented 80 to 90 percent of the time if only people would not smoke.

Tea for Tumors

Research shows one kind of tea can be up to 100 times more potent at blocking growth of cancer cells than another. While all tea (green, oolong or black) contains antioxidant compounds called catechins that protect against cancer (especially of the lung, breast, colon, stomach and skin) by neutralizing free radicals, green tea contains about 7 times more catechins than black tea. Green tea also has unique catechins that block an enzyme involved in breast, prostate and colon cancers. Green tea is 10 to 100 times stronger than black tea in blocking the growth of cancer cells. Catechins also prevent heart disease and stroke, primarily by defending against the harmful effects of artery-clogging LDL cholesterol.

Understanding Blood Counts

Counting and examining blood cells are very important in the diagnosis of blood cell diseases. Blood has several different types of cells in it:

* Red blood cells pick up oxygen as blood passes through the lungs and release it to the cells in the body.

* White blood cells help fight bacteria and viruses.

* Platelets are the cells that form a plug in response to a cut or wound. The platelets aggregate and plug up the site of bleeding.

Normal blood counts fall within the range that has been established by testing healthy men and women of all ages.

The approximate normal ranges of blood cell counts for healthy adults are as follows:

* Red blood cell (RBC) count: 4.5 to 6.0 million red cells per microliter of blood in men, 4.0 to 5.0 million red cells per microliter of blood in women

* White blood cell (WBC) count: 4.5 to 11 thousand white cells per microliter of blood

* Platelet count: 150 to 450 thousand platelets per microliter of blood

Hematocrit is the percent of the blood that is composed of red cells:

* 42% to 50% is normal in men

* 36% to 45% is normal in women

Hemoglobin is the compound in the red blood cell that carries oxygen.

* 14 to 17 grams per 100 milliliters of blood is normal for men

* 12 to 15 grams per 100 milliliters of blood is normal for women

White cell differential count, sometimes referred to as a "diff," measures the proportion of the total white cell count that is composed of one of the five principal white cell types. The observer can also tell if the white cells in the blood are normal in appearance. The five types of normal white cells that are counted are neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils. Blood contains about 60% neutrophils, 30% lymphocytes, 5% monocytes, 4% eosinophils and 1% basophils.

Vitamin E and Cancer

Vitamin E has been found to reduce cancer risk when consumed at recommended levels.

Want to Quit Smoking?

Most people who quit smoking have tried before, so don’t give up! Try these tips:

* List the reasons you want to quit. Refer to the list every time you want to smoke.

* Typical triggers to smoking include working under pressure, feeling depressed, having a drink, drinking coffee, driving a car, finishing a meal and watching someone else light up a cigarette. Learn to look for these triggers and then avoid them, for example, by cutting down on alcohol and caffeine.

* Reward yourself for not smoking. Spend the money saved from not buying cigarettes on a treat for yourself.

* Keep lots of low calorie snacks handy, including sugarless gum.

* Try taking a few deep breaths when you start to feel stressed.

* Quit smoking with a friend, bet someone you will quit, or get involved with a group having the same goal of quitting.

* Take your mind off smoking by keeping your hands busy with handwork or hobbies.

Watermelon and Cancer Prevention

Juicy, red watermelon is not only delicious, it may help prevent cancer. As long as you spit out the seeds, watermelon is the biggest supplier among fresh fruits and vegetables in the antioxidant lycopene, which is believed to play a big role in the prevention of the killer disease. Antioxidants such as lycopene work in your body by disarming free oxygen radicals, which are thought to contribute to the development of many cancers. A 2-cup serving of watermelon contains 15 - 20 milligrams of this vital plant pigment. Other sources include tomatoes, red grapefruits and guavas.

Tips to Control Cough

2010-08-15T01:33:00.000-07:00

Breathe the steam from a vaporizer, hot shower, or pan of boiling water. The moist air will soothe the airways and loosen sinus congestion and phlegm in your throat and lungs. A few drops of the oil of eucalyptus will help this process.
Elevate the head of your bed. This will allow your sinuses and nasal passages to drain better and not create that "tickle" in your throat.
Stop smoking. Passive smoke or other irritants, such as chemicals, can be a cause. Household cleaners, new carpeting, paneling and mattresses are some of the many possible sources of chemical irritants.
Drink at least 8 eight ounce glasses of water. This is especially important if your cough is due to an illness. Water is the best expectorant you can take and will help thin the mucus and loosen the cough.
Do not use over-the-counter expectorant cough remedies as they just suppress the symptoms and do not address the underlying problem. If you have the kind of cough with mucus you want to get it out of your respiratory system, not suppress it. Try one of the natural expectorant remedies below.
Try eating hot chili peppers, horseradish or other spicy foods. They will help loosen mucus.
During the winter, if your house is dry, use a humidifier and a cool-mist vaporizer in your bedroom at night. This will help thin the mucus. Be sure to thoroughly clean the vaporizer, as it can harbor bacteria.
Drink hot tea to break up the mucus and open and moisten the airways.
Cough drops or hard candy will help stop the tickle if you have a dry cough and will moisten the throat.
Avoid foods that increase the production of mucus, such as dairy products, meat and fried foods.
Hot packs placed on your throat and chest are very soothing.

Supplements

Vitamins A, C and E are beneficial with conditions that cause coughs.

See Your Doctor When...

2010-08-15T01:28:00.001-07:00

If you have any of the following conditions along with your cough,

see your doctor without delay because you may have an infection, or the cough may indicate the presence of a more serious health condition.

Your cough doesn't get better after a few days. Coughing can lead to fractured ribs or a heart attack.

You cough up blood or bloody mucus.

Your mucus is yellow, brown or green and does not improve in a few days. This will indicate that you have an infection.

If you cough for more than three days for no apparent reason.

Or, if you have:

Shortness of breath when you cough.

Sharp pains in your chest when you cough.

A fever along with a persistent cough. This could be indicative of a serious respiratory illness. If you have a high fever and difficulty breathing you may have pneumonia.

Chest pain

Persistent chills

Excessive night sweats

Laryngitis and a persistent cough that lasts for more than three weeks.

A skin rash, earache, pain in the teeth or sinuses, or a headache.

Remedies

2010-08-15T01:26:00.000-07:00

Folk

Aloe vera Mix equal parts of aloe juice and honey. This is very good for a scratchy cough.

Angelica Use a tincture of the root or leaf, or make a tea. Angelica is an expectorant. Do not use if you are pregnant.

Bee balm Native Americans used bee balm to alleviate colds and coughs. Steep two teaspoons of fresh (one, dried) bee balm leaves in a cup of hot water, covered, for four minutes. Sip a cup three times a day. Bee balm has antiseptic compounds that can help heal respiratory infections and clear nasal congestion.

Carrot juice Mix with honey and a little warm water. Take a tablespoonful several times a day.

Cayenne pepper Mix ¼-½ teaspoon of pepper in a glass of water and use as a gargle, swallowing afterward. You can also use 15-20 drops of Tabasco sauce in a glass of water or juice. Pepper helps clear congestion and draws blood to the throat to fight infection.

Chamomile tea will soothe the throat.

Garlic Grate one or two cloves of garlic and mix with a teaspoon of honey. Take as needed.

Ginger Make a tea using ginger and drink 6 oz several times a day, as needed.

Grape juice Mix a cup of grape juice with a teaspoon of honey.

Honey Mix honey with juice of a fresh lemon and take as needed. Not only does honey soothe the tickle, but it has antibacterial properties, too.

• Dr. D. C. Jarvis, in his classic book, Folk Medicine, described another honey remedy that worked very well: boil a whole lemon for 10 minutes; when cool enough to handle roll it back and forth on a hard surface, cut it in half and squeeze the juice into a pint of raw honey. Add a teaspoon of glycerin and take as often as needed.

Horehound cough drops have been used for generations to quell coughs. One of horehound's compounds, marrubiin, stimulates bronchial secretions and helps break up congestion.

Hyssop Steep two teaspoons of dried hyssop in one cup of boiling water, covered for ten minutes; strain and drink cool for an expectorant or hot to relieve congestion. The oils in hyssop are good for mild respiratory problems. Hyssop contains marrubiin, the same compound that makes horehound an excellent expectorant.

Lime juice Mix equal parts of lime juice and honey.

Mullein soothes and relaxes the lungs and bronchial tubes, which eases a cough. Use 25-30 drops of tincture in a small glass of boiling water three times a day.

Onion broth Make a broth by boiling an onion for 10-15 minutes; strain and drink the broth several times a day. The broth will reduce congestion.

Onion juice Make a syrup by combining 1 teaspoonful of raw onion juice with 1 teaspoonful of honey; let stand for 3-4 hours, and take in divided doses.

Sugar Suck on a cube of raw sugar.

Tea Tea made with peppermint or rosemary will help break up congestion.

Thyme Make a tea using two tablespoons of fresh (one tablespoon of dried) thyme in a cup of boiling water; steep, covered, for four minutes; strain and drink hot. Thyme relaxes the lungs and promotes expectoration of mucus. It contains a volatile oil, thymol, which has antiseptic and antibacterial properties.

Dry Coughs

2010-08-15T01:08:00.000-07:00

A dry cough will be raspy and without phlegm and may be due to smoking, asthma, dust, foreign matter, pollution, or come after a sore throat.

Another cause of your dry cough could be a climate-controlled building. The heating and cooling systems dry the air and your respiratory membranes, too. Rapid temperature and humidity changes upon entering a building add to the problem. Chronic coughing, sneezing and a runny nose may be the result. If you work in a climate-controlled building, avoid cold drinks and food as they interfere with your body's ability to maintain its optimal temperature. During the air-conditioning season cold foods and drinks affect your body's temperature and its ability to adjust to the building's conditions; instead drink hot liquids and eat warm foods. When your building is heated, drink fluids at room temperature. You want to soothe the mucus membranes and moisturize your throat.

Inhaling steam from a pan with one of the essential oils mentioned above added is particularly helpful with dry coughs.

Remedies

Folk

Aloe vera juice Mix equal parts of aloe vera juice and honey and take a tablespoon or two as needed. Good for a smoker's cough.

Apple cider vinegar Sprinkle apple cider vinegar on your pillowcase before bedtime.

Put 1 or 2 teaspoons of vinegar in a glass of water and keep beside your bed to use when you feel the tickling sensation coming on. Take a few swallows as needed. Vinegar dissolves mucus and reduces inflammation.

Mix ½ cup of honey with 3-4 tablespoons of vinegar. Take one tablespoon before going to bed or during a coughing fit, and throughout the day, as needed. Stir well before use.

Comfrey Take a comfrey tea for dry persistent coughs. Comfrey should not be taken for long term use as it may cause liver damage.

Codonopsis root Use a decoction, tincture or powder for chronic coughs.

Garlic Mince a clove of garlic and place in a small bowl; cover with honey and cover the bowl with plastic wrap; marinate overnight. Take one tablespoonful upon awakening, then throughout the day, as needed.

Honey Add a tablespoon of honey to a glass of boiling water and drink as needed. This will soothe the throat.

Horehound lozenges help suppress a dry cough.

Licorice root Take 5 grams of powdered root with honey three times a day. You can also make a decoction by using ½ teaspoon to one cup of water. Take three cups daily. Licorice has soothing and anti-inflammatory properties, and is an expectorant. Do not use if you have high blood pressure.

Tea Make a tea of wild cherry bark, slippery elm or red clover. Sweeten with honey.

Zinc lozenges are helpful.

Homeopathy

Antimonium tart Is to be used if the cough is loose and rattling with little or no phlegm and breathing is painful.

Bryonia Use when a cold has gone to the chest and turned in to a hard, dry cough.

Drosera Use for a cough after which you have a whooping sound or with vomiting.

Ferrum phos. Is beneficial for a hard, dry cough with a tickle.

Congested Coughs

2010-08-15T01:05:00.000-07:00

Causes
The obvious causes of coughing are colds, flu, bronchial infections, sinus congestion, smoking, and the need to rid the throat of foreign matter.

But did you know that heartburn is one of the leading causes? For some unknown reason heartburn is the cause for about 10% of chronic coughers. See our Heartburn section for suggestions to relieve both the heartburn and coughing. Dust, pollen and chemicals are other sources of irritants. Also, some drugs, most notably ACE inhibitors used for high blood pressure, have coughing as a side effect in 21% of the people using them. Coughing is also a common symptom of asthma. The sound of your cough may indicate its cause. Below is a list of the cough sounds and what that may indicate:

A barking cough - bronchitis or croup

A high-pitched cough - your vocal cords are involved and the airways have become narrowed

A wheezing cough - asthma and/or bronchitis

A loud, gasping cough with difficulty getting air - whooping cough.

Aromatherapy

2010-08-15T01:01:00.001-07:00

The use of inhaled steam can be very effective in liquefying mucus and reducing irritation.

To control the steam, bend over the steaming water while holding a towel over your head. Try some of these aromatherapy oils. Inhaling essential oils can stimulate your lungs to expel phlegm.

Cypress Add three drops each of cypress and juniper oil and a drop of ginger.

Cedar Dilute 3 drops of oil of cedar in one teaspoon of carrier oil, such as olive, sweet almond or jojoba, and massage onto your chest several times a day.

Add 10-15 drops to a pot of steaming water and inhale the vapors

Eucalyptus Add a few drops of eucalyptus to a carrier oil and rub on your chest.

Put 10-15 drops of oil in boiling water and inhale the steam. Eucalyptus is a good decongestant and expectorant. You can also add three drops of hyssop oil.

Jasmine Use the oil in a burner or put a few drops on a handkerchief and inhale the fumes.

Myrrh Add a few drops of myrrh to a carrier oil and rub on your chest. This will help reduce mucus.

Peppermint Dilute 3 drops of peppermint oil in one teaspoon of carrier oil, such as olive, sweet almond or jojoba, and massage onto your chest several times a day.

Add 10-15 drops to a pot of steaming water and inhale the vapors.

Pine Put some essential pine oil in a burner to soothe the throat. You can also place a few drops on a handkerchief and inhale the fumes.

Thyme Add 10-15 drops of this oil in a pan of boiling water and inhale the fumes, in an infuser, or place a few drops on a handkerchief and inhale.

Massaging using oil of thyme may also be helpful in relieving your cough. Put 5 drops in ¼ cup olive oil and massage your neck and upper body. Thyme is an excellent expectorant and has been used for centuries to heal respiratory conditions.

Reflexology

Rub the padded area below your big toe in various directions at the first sign of a cough. Also, hold back the toes and press on the raised area with your thumb. This will help relieve chest congestion.

Coughs Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T00:59:00.001-07:00

What is Coughs?

A cough is the body's response to inflammation or irritation in the throat, larynx, bronchial tubes or lungs.
There are two basic kinds of coughs, congested and dry, with each one having different underlying causes.

Cowpox Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T00:57:00.001-07:00

Cowpox

Cowpox refers to a disease that is caused by the cowpox or catpox virus.

The virus is a member of the orthopoxvirus family. Other viruses in this family include the smallpox and vaccinia viruses. Cowpox is a rare disease, and is mostly noteworthy as the basis of the formulation, over 200 years ago, of an injection by Edward Jenner that proved successful in curing smallpox.

The use of cowpox virus as a means of combating smallpox, which is a much more threatening disease to humans, has remained popular since the time of Jenner.

Once a relatively common malady in humans, cowpox is now confined mostly to small mammals in Europe and the United Kingdom. The last recorded case of a cow with cowpox was in the United Kingdom in 1978. Occasionally the disease is transmitted from these sources to human. But this is very rare. Indeed, only some 60 cases of human cowpox have been reported in the medical literature.

The natural reservoir for the cowpox virus is believed to be small woodland animals, such as voles and wood mice. Cats and cows, which can harbor the virus, are thought to be an accidental host, perhaps because of their contact with the voles or mice.

The cowpox virus, similar to the other orthopoxvirus, is best seen using the electron microscopic technique of negative staining. This technique reveals surface details. The cowpox virus is slightly oval in shape and has a very ridged-appearing surface.

Human infection with the cowpox virus is thought to require direct contact with an infected animal. The virus gains entry to the bloodstream through an open cut. In centuries past, farmers regularly exposed to dairy cattle could acquire the disease from hand milking the cows, for example. Cowpox is typically evident as pus-filled sores on the hands and face that subsequently turn black before fading away. While present, the lesions are extremely painful. There can be scars left at the site of the infection. In rare instances, the virus can become more widely disseminated through the body, resulting in death.

Both males and females are equally as likely to acquire cowpox. Similarly, there no racial group is any more susceptible to infection. There is a predilection towards acquiring the infection in youth less than 18 years of age. This may be because of a closer contact with animals such as cats by this age group, or because of lack of administration of smallpox vaccine.

Treatment for cowpox tends to be ensuring that the patient is as comfortable as possible while waiting for the infection to run its course. Sometimes, a physician may wish to drain the pus from the skin sores to prevent the spread of the infection further over the surface of the skin. In cases where symptoms are more severe, an immune globulin known as antivaccinia gamaglobulin may be used. This immunoglobulin is reactive against all viruses of the orthopoxvirus family. The use of this treatment needs to be evaluated carefully, as there can be side effects such as kidney damage. Antibodies to the vaccinia virus may also be injected into a patient, as these antibodies also confer protection against cowpox.

Constipation Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T00:55:00.001-07:00

Practical Constipation Tips

Getting into a Regular Habit

Most people's bowels respond best to a regular habit. Some of us are too busy to make time for our bowels. Other lives a very irregular lifestyle which makes a habit difficult.

The bowel usually goes to sleep at night and wakes up in the morning. Eating, drinking and moving around all stimulate the bowel. The most likely time for a bowel action is about 30 minutes after the first meal of the day.

This makes it important not to skip breakfast. Try to eat at least something for breakfast and take two warm drinks. Try to make 5-10 minutes of free uninterrupted time about 30 minutes later. This is not always easy if your house is busy in the morning, so you may need to plan ahead or get up a little earlier while you retrain you bowel.

Sitting Properly

The way you sit on the toilet can make a big difference to ease of opening your bowels. The "natural" position (before toilets were invented) is squatting. Countries where squat (hole in the floor) toilets are still common seem to have less problems with constipation.

While actually squatting is not very practical, many people find that adopting a "semi-squat" position helps a lot. One of the footstools that toddlers use to reach a sink is ideal, 8-12 inches high (20-30cm). Position this just in front of your toilet and rest your feet flat on the stool, keeping your feet and knees about one foot (30cm) apart. Lean forwards, resting your elbows on your thighs. Try to relax.

Breathing

It is important not to hold your breath when trying to open your bowels. Many people are tempted to take a deep breath in and then hold their breath while trying to push. Try to avoid this. Sit on the toilet as described above, relax your shoulders and breathe normally. You may find it easiest to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

If you hold your breath and push this is STRAINING and tends to close your bottom more tightly. Also, if you hold your breath, you are limited in how long your can hold this and when you have to take the pressure off and breathe, you tend to be back to square one.

If you find that you cannot help straining and holding your breath, try breathing out gently, or humming or reciting a nursery rhyme.

Pushing without Straining

The best way to open your bowels is by using your abdominal (stomach) muscles to push. Leaning forward, supporting your elbows on your thighs and breathing gently, relax your shoulders. Make your abdominal muscles bulge outwards to "make your waist wide". Now use these abdominal muscles as a pump to push backwards and downwards into you bottom. Keep up the gentle but firm pressure.

Relaxing the Back Passage

The final part of the jigsaw is to relax the back passage. Many people with constipation actually tighten the back passage when they are trying to open the bowels, instead of relaxing, without realizing what they are doing. This is like squeezing a tube of toothpaste while keeping the lid on!

To locate the muscles around the back passage, firstly squeeze as if you are trying to control wind. Now imagine that the muscle around the anus is a lift. Squeeze to take your lift up to the first floor. Now relax, down to the ground floor, down to the basement, down to the cellar.

Putting it All Together

This is a bit like learning to ride a bike. The above instructions tell you WHAT to do, but do not tell you HOW to do it. It sounds simple, but coordinating everything takes practice, and you have to work it out for yourself. Some people find it easier than others.

Sit properly

Breathe normally

Push from your waist downwards

Relax the back passage

Keep this up for about 5 minutes, unless you have a bowel action sooner. If nothing happens, don't give up. Try again tomorrow. It often takes several weeks of practice until this really starts to work.

Cholera Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T00:42:00.000-07:00

Cholera

What is cholera?

Cholera is a diarrheal disease caused by the consumption of water or food contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

Cholera is a public health concern in developing countries all over the world, especially in Africa, south Asia, and Latin America. Cases among travelers to and from developed countries are rare, however, some outbreaks in the United States have been caused by contaminated seafood brought into the country by travelers.

What causes cholera?

Vibrio cholerae is usually found in impure water supplies because of the unsanitary disposal of excrement. Person-to-person transmission is rare. It is usually transmitted by consuming contaminated food or water from:

municipal water supplies

ice made from municipal water

foods and beverages bought from street vendors

vegetables irrigated with fresh sewage

raw or inadequately cooked fish and seafood taken from sewage-polluted waters

How does the Vibrio cholerae bacterium affect the body?

The bacterium that causes cholera is usually very sensitive to the acids present in the stomach and digestive tract. Small amounts of bacteria are killed by the stomach acids before they can establish themselves in the body.

But, when large numbers of the bacteria overwhelm the body's natural defenses, they grow in the small intestine and are passed in the fecal material of the infected person. Infected persons who have mild cases or show no symptoms of the disease -- especially those who have poor personal hygiene habits -- spread the infection by direct contamination of food with infected excrement.

Can cholera be prevented?

The best preventives for cholera are:

only use water that has been boiled or chemically disinfected for:

o drinking, or preparing beverages such as tea or coffee

o brushing teeth

o washing face and hands

o washing fruits and vegetables

o washing eating utensils and food preparation equipment

o washing the surfaces of tins, cans, and bottles that contain food or beverages

do not eat food or drink beverages from unknown sources

o any raw food could be contaminated, including:

§ fruits, vegetables, salad greens

§ unpasteurized milk and milk products

§ raw meat

§ shellfish

§ any fish caught in tropical reefs rather than the open ocean

A cholera vaccine is no longer available in the United States because it is not recommended by the CDC or the World Health Organization. Currently, no country requires the cholera vaccine for entry if arriving from cholera-infected countries.

How may cholera be treated?

For diarrhea that is worse than normal and does not respond to medications, it is best for the traveler to consult a physician rather than try self-medication. Seek medical help if diarrhea becomes severe and watery, or if vomiting occurs.

Specific treatment for cholera will be determined by your physician(s) based on:

your overall health and medical history

extent of the disease

your tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies

expectations for the course of the disease

your opinion or preference

Treatment for cholera may involve rehydration with:

oral rehydration solutions

intravenous solutions in the most severe cases

Treatment with antibiotics is sometimes used to decrease the duration of illness, but are not thought to be necessary for successful treatment.

Chicken-Pox Vaccine

2010-08-15T00:39:00.000-07:00

Risks or side effects of the new chicken-pox vaccine?
Answer: 'The chicken-pox vaccine is usually well tolerated,' says E. Lawrence Hoder, MD, from the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at Lahey Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts. 'The most common side effects associated with the vaccine are pain and redness at the injection site.'

Other reported side effects include respiratory tract illness, chills, fever, irritability, fatigue, sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal disturbance, rashes, itching, and joint and muscle aches, although these symptoms have not yet been positively identified as being vaccine related. Approximately three to five percent of vaccinated individuals develop a chickenpox-like rash within 5 to 30 days from vaccination.

Causes

Chicken pox is caused by exposure to a highly contagious airborne varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The illness typically begins with fever, malaise and a rash. The rash begins as flat red patches that evolve into patches with a central blister, the classic “dew drop on a rose petal.” These patches then dry and scab. New eruptions occur daily for four to seven days. The average child gets a total of 500 chicken pox sores.

Complications in healthy children are unusual but include secondary skin bacterial infections, neurologic complications, hepatitis and Reye’s Syndrome (a serious illness that can cause recurrent vomiting, liver problems and seizures). For most children, chicken pox will be a fairly benign illness. The economic consequences due to lost time at work for caregivers usually far outweighs any health risk. For adults and immunocompromised persons, however, infection with chicken pox may cause severe complications, such as pneumonia that requires hospitalization.

“Once a person has had chicken pox, he or she will usually have a lifelong immunity to the disease,” says Dr. Hoder. “Rarely, however, a person will experience a second, milder case of chicken pox later in life.” It is important for parents to understand that having the vaccine may not provide such protection. The need for revaccination has not yet been determined. Similar to measles vaccine, a “booster” dose may be required.

Vaccinations

Currently, the American Association of Pediatricians recommends a vaccination for all susceptible children greater than one year of age. As of August 1998, the State of Massachusetts requires the vaccine (or a physician-certified reliable history of chicken pox) for entrance into daycare or preschool for children who are 19 months or older and who were born on or after January 1997; by the 1999-2000 school year, vaccinations will be required for entrance into kindergarten or for those children already in school, for entrance into 7th grade.

When Not to Vaccinate

The chicken pox vaccine should not be administered to adults or children who have the following conditions:

A history of hypersensitivity to any component of the vaccine, including gelatin

A history of an allergic reaction to neomycin

Blood disorders (other than simple anemia) or cancer

A condition or treatment resulting in an immunosuppressed state, for example, immunoglobulin deficiency, AIDS, or corticosteroid therapy

A family history of an immunodeficiency

Active, untreated tuberculosis

Any illness that produces a fever

Pregnancy (or a considered pregnancy in the three-month period following administration of the vaccine)

Precautions

Individuals who receive the vaccine should avoid taking aspirin (salicylate) for at least six weeks after the vaccination. Because vaccinated individuals may be able to transmit the virus to close contacts, vaccinated persons should avoid close association with susceptible, high-risk persons. This risk of transmission is probably small and is more likely to occur if the vaccinated individual developed a rash after vaccination.

Brain Tumors Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T00:36:00.000-07:00

What is a brain tumor?

A brain tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue in which the cells grow and multiply without restraint, apparently unregulated by the mechanisms that control normal cells. One factor that distinguishes brain tumors from other tumors is that they arise in the skull, an organ encased by bone, and there is very little room for expansion with the skull. They are also among the few types of tumors that generally do not tend to metastasize or spread to other parts of the body.

Whereas certain brain tumors occur almost exclusively during childhood and adolescence, others are predominantly tumors of adult life. The patient's age appears to correlate with the site where some tumors develop in the brain. Although most primary tumors attack member of both sexes with equal frequency, some, such as meningiomas, occur more frequently in women, while others, such as medulloblastomas, more commonly afflict boys and young men.

The prognosis for patients with a brain tumor is as individual as the patients themselves. Your doctors will help you understand the possible consequences of your specific tumor.

Tumor Types

There are several different types of brain tumors and this section describes most except the ones that are quite rare. We will help you locate the structures of the brain mentioned in these descriptions and will tell you in general terms the functional roles of each structure.

Gliomas

Astrocytoma and Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM)

Other Gliomas

Brain Stem Glioma, Epdendymoma, Ganglioneuroma, Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma, Mixed Glioma, Oligodendroglioma, and Optic Nerve Glioma

Non-gliomas

Chordoma, Craniopharyngioma, Medulloblastoma, Meningioma, Pineal Tumors, Pituitary Adenoma, Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors (PNET), Schwannoma or Acoustic Neuroma, and Vascular Tumors

Other brain-related conditions

CNS Lymphoma, Meningeal Carcinomatosis, Neurofibromatosis, Pseudotumor Cerebri, and Tuberous Sclerosis

Metastatic brain tumors

Any tumors that spread to the brain from other parts of the body.

Facts about Brain Tumors

o Each year approximately 190,000 people in the United States and 10,000 people in Canada will be diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor.

o Brain tumors are the leading cause of SOLID TUMOR death in children under age 20 now surpassing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and are the third leading cause of cancer death in young adults ages 20-39.*

o Brain tumor patients, including those with certain "benign" brain tumors, have poorer survival rates than breast cancer patients.

o Metastatic brain tumors (cancer that spreads from other parts of the body to the brain) occur at some point in 10 to 15% of persons with cancer and are the most common type of brain tumor. The incidence of brain tumors has been increasing as cancer patients live longer.**

o In the United States, the overall incidence of all primary brain tumors is more than 14 per 100,000 people.

o There are over 120 different types of brain tumors, making effective treatment very complicated.

o Because brain tumors are located at the control center for thought, emotion and movement, their effects on an individual's physical and cognitive abilities can be devastating.

o At present, brain tumors are treated by surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy used either individually or in combination.

o Only 31 percent of males and 30percent of females survive five years following the diagnosis of a primary or malignant brain tumor.

o Brain tumors in children are different from those in adults and are often treated differently. Although as many as 69 percent of children with brain tumors will survive, they are often left with long-term side effects.

o Enhancing the quality of life of people with brain tumors requires access to quality specialty care, clinical trials, follow-up care and rehabilitative services. Improving the outlook for adults and children with brain tumors requires research into the causes of and better treatments of brain tumors.

o Complete and accurate data on all primary brain tumors are needed to provide the foundation for research leading to improved diagnosis and treatment and to investigations of its causes.

o The National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke are working together to implement the brain tumor research priorities set by the research, clinical and advocacy community, as summarized in the Brain Tumor Progress Review Group Report.

o Symptoms of a brain tumor can include headaches (headaches that wake you up in the morning), seizures in a person who does not have a history of seizures, cognitive or personality changes, eye weakness, nausea or vomiting, speech disturbances, or memory loss. While these are the most common symptoms of a brain tumor, they can also indicate other medical problems.

Treatment of Brain Tumor

1. Which therapies are used to treat brain tumors?

2. Which medications are used for brain tumor patients?

3. What is radiation therapy?

4. What is stereotactic radiosurgery?

5. What is chemotherapy?

6. What are the newest chemotherapy drugs?

7. What is gene therapy?

1. Which therapies are used to treat brain tumors?

Surgery is the chief form of treatment for brain tumors that lie within the membranes covering the brain or in parts of the brain that can be removed without damaging critical neurological functions. Because a tumor will recur if any tumor cells are left behind, the surgeon's goal is to remove the entire tumor whenever possible. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy, in general, are used as secondary or adjuvant treatment for tumors that cannot be cured by surgery alone.

2. Which medications are used for brain tumor patients?

Steroids and anti-convulsants (to stop seizures) are the most common medications used for brain tumor patients. Steroids are given to reduce inflammation of tissues and control swelling of the brain, particularly before and after surgery. They do not kill tumor cells, but used alone or combined with other forms of treatment, can cause remarkable improvement in a patients condition. If used for only a few days, steroids generally cause no side effects, but used over a long time or withdrawn without monitoring, steroids may produce several side effects. You should discuss monitoring of the steroid and all possible side effects with you doctor.

Other drugs commonly used with brain tumor patients are anti-convulsants. Some are used to keep seizures from happening (prophylactic) while others cut short (abort) seizures that have already started. Some of the more common drugs now used to prevent seizures are Dilantin, Tegratol, Depakote, and Phenobarbital. It is important to remember that side effects of these drugs vary greatly from person to person. But if side effects are a serious problem, there are plenty of newer drugs that can be used, either alone or in combination with others. Newer drugs include Neurontin (gabapentin), Topomax (toiramate), Lamictal (lamotrigine) and Gabitril (tiagabine).

3. What is radiation therapy?

Radiation therapy is mainly used after surgery for tumors that cannot be removed completely, as well as for cases in which surgery would involve too great a risk to the patient. It may be given in a single dose each day, usually for 30 days with weekends off, or it may be "hyper fractionated" into two or more doses daily for the recommended course of treatment.

Standard radiation therapy delivers an external beam of radiation aimed at an entire region, such as the portion of the brain containing the tumor and typically delivers a daily dose of 1.8-2.0 Gy (Gray) to a total dose of 50-60 Gy over 5-7 weeks.

4. What is stereotactic radiosurgery?

Stereotactic radiosurgery is a non-invasive therapeutic alternative for treating brain disorders. Instead of a scalpel, clinicians using stereotactic radiosurgery technology aim multiple"pencil-thin" beams or arced beams of high energy particles directly at the tumor site while sparing healthy tissue as much as possible. With stereotactic radiosurgery techniques, a higher dose of radiation is delivered to the specific site (or tumor) of 15-20 Gy and is usually given in one day. Both Gamma Knife and LINAC X Knife are types of stereotactic radiosurgery.

5. What is chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy works to destroy tumor cells with drugs that may be given either alone or in combination with other treatments. A key problem with chemotherapy has been the difficulty in delivering sufficient amounts of drug directly to the tumor while sparing normal brain cells. Another problem is the blood-brain barrier mechanism that normally serve to keep harmful substances out of the brain - unfortunately, this same blood-brain barrier can also work to keep potentially helpful drugs out of the brain. Although chemotherapy is usually given by mouth or injected in the vein, some new techniques of intratumoral chemotherapy use either small pumps or biodegradable wafers to place the drug inside the tumor.

6. What are the newest chemotherapy drugs?

There is currently a great deal of scientific activity focused on the area of the discovery of new chemotherapy drugs, many with novel or alternative mechanisms of action (how drugs work). Following is a brief list of the various categories of chemotherapies being used to treat brain tumors: Cytotoxic Agents, Anti-angiogenic drugs, Differentiating agents, Anti-invasion agents, Cell signal transduction modulators and Growth factor inhibitors.

7. What is gene therapy?

Currently for patients with malignant brain tumors who have a recurrence after surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy, gene therapy may provide an experimental option for treatment. Using gene therapy, researchers inject a substance into the brain tumor that changes the genetic makeup of the tumor cells.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a brain tumor?

2. What is the difference between a primary brain tumor and a metastatic (secondary) brain tumor?

3. What is the difference between a benign brain tumor and a malignant (cancerous) brain tumor?

4. What does it mean when a brain tumor is in remission?

5. What are recurrent tumors?

6. Is a brain tumor cancer?

7. How is a brain tumor diagnosed?

8. How is a brain tumor treated?

9. What will happen to a patient with a brain tumor?

10. What are the parts of the brain?

1. What is a brain tumor?

A brain tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue in which the cells grow and multiply without restraint, apparently unregulated by the mechanisms that control normal cells. One factor that distinguishes brain tumors from other tumors is that they arise in the skull, an organ encased by bone, and there is very little room for expansion with the skull. They are also among the few types of tumors that generally do not tend to metastasize or spread to other parts of the body.

Whereas certain brain tumors occur almost exclusively during childhood and adolescence, others are predominantly tumors of adult life. The patient's age appears to correlate with the site where some tumors develop in the brain. Although most primary tumors attack member of both sexes with equal frequency, some, such as meningiomas, occur more frequently in women, while others, such as medulloblastomas, more commonly afflict boys and young men.

The prognosis for patients with a brain tumor is as individual as the patients themselves. Your doctors will help you understand the possible consequences of your specific tumor.

2. What is the difference between a primary brain tumor and a metastatic (secondary) brain tumor?

Primary brain tumors originate in the brain. The tumor cells do not travel to the brain from other parts of the body and, in most cases, primary brain tumor cells do not travel to other parts of the body either. The most common exception to this rule is the primary brain tumor of childhood called medulloblastoma, which can spread to the lymph nodes, bone marrow, lungs or other parts of the body. But even in this case, it is unusual for medulloblastoma to spread outside the nervous system. Pathologists classify primary brain tumors into two groups: the gliomas, composed of "glial" cells that invade the neural tissue surrounding them; and the nonglial tumors, which are not composed of glial cells and compress, rather than invade, the neighboring brain tissue as they grow.

Metastatic (secondary) brain tumors have spread to the brain from another part of the body. They most often metastasize from tumors of the lung or breast, but almost any tumor can spread to the brain. They arise when abnormal cells that developed elsewhere in the body are carried to the brain by the blood flow. Metastatic tumors are the most common form of brain tumor, affecting 20-40% of all cancer patients.

3. What is the difference between a benign brain tumor and a malignant (cancerous) brain tumor?

Benign brain tumors do exist, and often can be cured with surgery alone. Some primary brain tumors are called benign because their rate of growth is so slow that many years may pass before the tumor grows large enough to compress functional areas of the brain, causing symptoms that require treatment. Others are considered benign because - once the tumor is diagnosed and treated - in many cases, the patient will be cured and live a normal life span and in many others, the tumor will not grow back for many years or even decades.

We use the term benign with caution, however. Even a benign brain tumor may cause intolerable symptoms or may not be controllable because of its particular location in the brain. A tumor in the brain stem or the spinal cord, for example, is often impossible to remove with surgery. In those particular locations even a small amount of tumor growth can compress and cause very serious damage to brain or spinal structures that control functions critical to life. While such a tumor may be called "benign" because of its slow growth, the situation is far from benign.

No one is certain why, but some benign brain tumors may change over time to become malignant. The meningioma, for instance, is one type of primary brain tumor that can be cured, either with surgery alone or sometimes with surgery and radiation therapy. In such cases, meningioma is considered a benign tumor. But in rare cases, even a meningioma may have invasive features, which the pathologist can see in the tumor's cells under the microscope and which suggest that the tumor may behave more aggressively than usual. In such a case, the meningioma may not be curable. It may continue to grow despite surgery, irradiation and chemotherapy and might cause death by its uncontrolled growth. It is because of this potential for aggressive and uncontrolled growth that a tumor is considered malignant.

Malignant brain tumors behave in an aggressive manner and require aggressive treatments. They grow much more quickly than benign tumors and tend to invade normal brain tissue. The goal of treatment in some cases is to control the growth of the tumor as long as possible with the least possible side effects. But just because a tumor is considered malignant does not always mean that it cannot be cured. Many malignant tumors, including malignant primary brain tumors, are curable. Medulloblastoma, for example, is considered a malignant tumor, yet many patients are cured of medulloblastoma by surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

4. What does it mean when a brain tumor is in remission?

When a brain tumor is in remission, the tumor cells have entered a phase in which they generally have stopped growing or multiplying. This may or may not mean that these tumor cells will never grow again. After treatment, in some cases, the tumor has actually been destroyed and the area it occupied in the brain is composed only of dead tissue. In other circumstances, tumor cells remain alive, or viable, and retain the capacity to grow actively again, meaning that the tumor may recur at a later date.

5. What are recurrent tumors?

Tumor recurrence is a term that describes any of three conditions.

1. A recurrent tumor may be a tumor that still persists after primary treatment - a tumor that does not respond to surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy or a combination of these therapies.

2. Alternatively, it may be a tumor that grows back some time after therapy has seemed to destroy it.

3. A new tumor that grows in the same place as the original one is also called a "recurrent" tumor because it is difficult, often impossible, to distinguish its cells from the cells of the original tumor.

Once treated, a brain tumor may remain in remission for many years, or may never recur. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to predict whether, or when, any particular tumor may recur, which is why lifelong medical monitoring is essential for people treated for a brain tumor, even for a benign lesion.

6. Is a brain tumor cancer?

Some brain tumors are a form of cancer and some are not. The word cancer suggests a tumor that behaves aggressively and in fact, the word malignancy generally means cancer. According to this definition, most anaplastic astrocytomas as well as medulloblastomas are considered cancer, whereas meningiomas and pituitary tumors are not. In practical terms, these working definitions become blurred, however, because a benign tumor growing in the brain stem or spinal cord may cause severe injury or death whereas frequently, medulloblastoma, a form of cancer, can be cured.

7. How is a brain tumor diagnosed?

The most accurate diagnosis of a brain tumor is made with surgery, which permits the neurosurgeon to see the tumor and obtain a specimen for a pathological examination. Diagnostic surgery is not without its risks, however and there are several diagnostic procedures available today that have considerably improved the chances of detecting brain tumors without resorting to surgery. If a patient's symptoms lead the doctor to suspect a tumor, then a neurological examination, computerized tomography (CT) scans, and magnetic resonance (MR) imagings are the first diagnostic tools most often used to determine if more definitive procedures are needed. Other studies, such as X-ray films of the head and skull, an electroencephalogram (EEG) or radioisotopic brain scans, may also be done.

8. How is a brain tumor treated?

Surgery is the chief form of treatment for brain tumors that lie within the membranes covering the brain or in parts of the brain that can be removed without damaging critical neurological functions. Because a tumor will recur if any tumor cells are left behind, the surgeon's goal is to remove the entire tumor whenever possible. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy, in general, are used as secondary or adjuvant treatment for tumors that cannot be cured by surgery alone. Radiosurgery is used as both a primary and an adjunctive therapy for many brain disorders.

9. What will happen to a patient with a brain tumor?

To a large extent, what happens to you from this point forward depends on the type of tumor you have, its location, the area of the brain involved and the forms of therapy you'll have. But each patient is different, and these are not the only factors to be considered. The more you and your family know and understand each aspect of your treatment, the less uncertainty remains about what will happen. The confidence you place in yourself and your medical caretakers makes a tremendous difference. Perhaps most important of all is your outlook toward your condition and treatment and your willingness to believe in the power of healing - to be a survivor.

10. What are the parts of the brain?

The BRAINSTEM acts as the pathway for motor and sensory messages to the body and face. Tumors located in the brainstem cause cranial nerve symptoms such as inversion of the eyes and motor and sensory changes. In addition, the brainstem contains vital cardiac, respiratory and vasomotor functions.

The CEREBELLUM is one of many parts of the brain that controls motor coordination. A tumor located in this area can cause nausea and vomiting, loss of balance, double vision, difficulty walking and difficulty with fine motor skills.

The FRONTAL LOBE controls the higher cognitive functions such as judgement and emotions, and motor ability. A tumor located in this area can cause marked mood elevation or loss of initiative. Other symptoms may include hemiplegia, difficulty talking and slowing of movements.

The OPTICAL LOBE is the area of the brain that perceives vision. Tumors in this area can cause loss of vision partially or completely in one eye.

The PARIETAL LOBE is the part of the brain that controls the sensory, perceptual and speech functions. Tumors in this area can produce a decrease in perception of light touch and pressurre. Other symptoms may include impairment of right-left discrimination and visual-spacial orientation of the body.

The TEMPORAL LOBE is the area that contains speech, hearing and emotional changes. Tumors in this area can produce aggresive behavior, difficulty processing or expressing words, and memory disorders.

Bipolar Disorder Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T00:29:00.000-07:00

Bipolar disorder explained

What is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar Disorder is the name used to describe a set of 'mood swing' conditions, the most severe form of which used to be called 'manic depression'.

Bipolar Disorder I is the more severe disorder - with individuals being more likely to experience mania , have longer 'highs', be more likely to have psychotic experiences and be more likely to be hospitalized.

Bipolar Disorder II is less severe, with no psychotic experiences, and with episodes tending to last only hours to a few days.

The high moods are called mania or hypomania and the low mood is called depression.

It is important to note that everyone has mood swings from time to time. It is only when these moods become extreme and interfere with personal and professional life that Bipolar Disorder may be present and medical assessment may be warranted.

Causes of Bipolar Disorder

While we don't yet know exactly what causes Bipolar Disorder, we do know that it appears to have primarily biological underpinnings. However, its onset is often linked to a stressful life event.

And while the causes of Bipolar Disorder are still unknown, there are a number of factors that are believed to play a role, including genetics, brain chemicals, environmental factors and sometimes medical illnesses.

Read about:

Genetics

Brain chemicals

Environmental

Medical illness

Pregnancy

What is the future for someone with Bipolar Disorder?

Genetics

Bipolar Disorder is frequently inherited, with genetic factors accounting for approximately 80% of the cause of the condition.

If one parent has Bipolar Disorder, there is a 10 per cent chance that his or her child will develop the illness. If both parents have Bipolar Disorder the likelihood of their child developing the illness rises to 40 per cent.

However, just because one family member has the illness, it is not necessarily the case that other family members will also develop the illness. Other factors also come into play.

Brain chemicals

A recent theory about the cause of Bipolar Disorder is that it is related to abnormal serotonin chemistry in the brain. Serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters in the brain, and one that strongly affects a person's mood. It is thought that the abnormal serotonin chemistry causes mood swings because of its feedback effect on other brain chemicals. It is unlikely, however, that serotonin is the only neurotransmitter involved.

Environmental

While the onset of Bipolar Disorder may be linked to a stressful life event, it is unlikely that stress itself is a cause of Bipolar Disorder. Notwithstanding this, people who suffer from Bipolar Disorder often find it beneficial to find ways of managing and reducing stress in their lives (as do people without the disorder!).

Again - while not a cause - seasonal factors appear to play a role in the onset of Bipolar Disorder, with onset chance increasing in spring. The rapid increase in hours of bright sunshine is thought to trigger depression and mania by affecting the pineal gland.

Medical illness

Medical illness is not a cause of Bipolar Disorder, but in some instances can cause symptoms that could be confused with mania or hypomania. Some medications and certain illicit stimulant drugs can also cause manic and hypomanic symptoms.

Pregnancy

For women who are genetically or otherwise biologically predisposed to developing Bipolar Disorder, the postnatal period can coincide with a first episode of Bipolar Disorder.

What is the future for someone with Bipolar Disorder?

Like any other medical condition, such as heart disease or diabetes, Bipolar Disorder is an illness that requires careful management.

While there is no known cure for Bipolar Disorder, the good news is that its severity and the frequency of episodes can be reduced or prevented with medication and other supports, such as psychological therapies.

Treatments of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder involves episodes of depression and episodes of mania or hypomania. Therefore its management usually involves two parts:

Treating the current episode of mania or depression, and

Preventing the long-term recurrence of mania and depression.

In this section we cover the main treatment approaches for Bipolar Disorder.

Key points about treatments

Bipolar Disorder is an illness which can require long-term treatment.

Everyone is different and therefore the appropriate treatment for a particular individual is a matter for a skilled medical practitioner

Physical treatments are necessary for Bipolar Disorder - psychological approaches by themselves are not sufficient but, alongside drug treatments, serve a valuable complementary role.

With the right medical management people with Bipolar Disorder can achieve stability and live successful lives.

While the great majority of people with Bipolar Disorder will benefit from treatment, it is difficult to know beforehand;

which drug regime will be of most benefit to any particular individual, and

how long it will take to bring the mood swings under control.

Therefore, keeping a Daily Mood Graph can be of fundamental importance to your clinician in assessing the impact of differing treatments on your mood swings over time, and will be of great benefit to you.

key points about Bipolar Disorder

Occasionally people can experience a mixture of both highs and lows at the same time, or switch during the day, giving a mixed picture.

A small number of people with Bipolar Disorder (5%) experience only the 'highs', whereas the vast majority of Bipolar sufferers alternate between highs and lows.

Some people may only have one episode of mania once a decade, while others may have daily mood swings. For each individual the pattern is quite distinct.

People with Bipolar Disorder experience normal moods in between their swings.

Women and men develop Bipolar I Disorder at equal rates while the rate of Bipolar II is somewhat higher in females.

Bipolar Disorder can commence in childhood, but onset is commoner in the teens or early 20s. Some people develop their first episode in mid-to-late adulthood. Many people go for years before it is accurately diagnosed or treated (see How to tell if you have Bipolar Disorder)

Women with Bipolar Disorder have a very high chance of a significant mood disturbance both during pregnancy and in the post-partum period - most commonly in the first four weeks. (Most will have a depressive episode, a significant proportion will have highs, and 10% will have mixed highs and lows.)

With the right treatment, the vast majority of people with Bipolar Disorder are able, to varying extents, to live normal and productive lives.

Some people with Bipolar Disorder can become suicidal. It is very important that talk of suicide be taken seriously and for such people to be treated immediately by a mental health professional or other appropriate person.

FAQ about Bipolar Disorder

1. What is Bipolar Disorder?

2. What are the signs of Bipolar Disorder?

3. How is Bipolar Disorder treated?

4. Will I have to stay on medication forever?

5. Can Bipolar Disorder be cured?

6. What should I do if I'm (or someone close to me is) feeling suicidal?

7. Where can I get help for Bipolar Disorder?

1. What is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar Disorder is the name now given to what used to be called manic depression and other related disorders, with milder versions called Bipolar II.

The term describes the exaggerated swings of mood from one extreme to the other that are characteristic of the illness. People with this illness suffer recurrent episodes of high, or elevated, mood (mania or hypomania) and of depression. A very small percentage of sufferers of Bipolar Disorder only experience the 'highs'. Most experience both the highs and the lows.

2. What are the signs of Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar Disorder can be difficult to diagnose. The chief feature that distinguishes it from depression is the mania , or elevated mood that its sufferers also experience periodically. However, the degree of mania experienced differs from one person to the next.

Mild mania, or hypomania, which is characteristic of Bipolar II Disorder, can go unnoticed for some time by anyone other than the person concerned.

A person experiencing hypomania or mania would usually be in very high spirits, feel terrific, enthusiastic, confident and invincible. However, others have a different experience and instead become irritable and aggressive. The person's mind would be working much faster than usual, with both ideas and speech being more rapid. They tend to require less sleep and may stay up late to do housework or to begin a new project.

However, mania (in particular) affects a person's judgement, so that the person is likely to have unrealistic perspectives and beliefs about their own abilities, and this can cause serious problems for him or her and/or family members. For instance, people may engage in reckless spending sprees, gambling, or in sexual activity they would not normally engage in, without thinking of the consequences.

3. How is Bipolar Disorder treated?

Bipolar Disorder is usually treated with a combination of mood stabilisers and atypical antipsychotics to treat the mania, and antidepressants to treat the depression, with maintenance (aimed at preventing recurrence) usually relying on a mood stabiliser (or sometimes an antidepressant) alone.

Psychological therapies by themselves are ineffective and inappropriate, but can be a useful adjunct to the physical treatment.

4. Will I have to stay on medication forever?

Bipolar Disorder is an illness which usually requires long-term medication. Most people who have had one manic episode will go on to have further illness. Without medication, relapse is likely. Long-term stability is usually a key objective for people with Bipolar Disorder, and correct medication is central to long-term stability.

5. Can Bipolar Disorder be cured?

There is presently no known cure for Bipolar Disorder. However, with the help of skilled medical management, the person with Bipolar Disorder is able to lead a stable and productive life, and may, over time, be able to reduce the level of their medication.

6. What should I do if I'm (or someone close to me is) feeling suicidal?

See the list of emergency contact numbers (and add the numbers of your GP and your local Community Mental Health Service) and keep a copy handy somewhere. Don't hesitate to call one of them if in need of help.

Recognise that having suicidal thoughts is one of the features of depression, and seek help, either from your GP or another mental health professional such as a psychologist or a counsellor. Make sure you tell them you have been having suicidal thoughts.

If you have already received treatment for depression, and you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the person who has been giving you the treatment, or a close friend who you trust, and tell them you are feeling suicidal.

If someone close to you is suicidal or unsafe, talk to them about it and encourage them to seek help. Help the person to develop an action plan, involving him or her and trusted close friends or family members, to keep him or her safe in times of emergency. Take away risks (e.g. remove guns or other dangerous weapons and hold the keys of the car if the depressed person is angry, out of control and wanting to drive off into the night).

7. Where can I get help for Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar Disorder usually requires diagnosis and treatment by a psychiatrist.

However, if you have not previously sought help for Bipolar Disorder, as a first step, you should see your General Practitioner. He or she will either conduct an assessment of you to find out if you have Bipolar Disorder, or refer you to a psychiatrist who will conduct the assessment.

The psychiatrist will develop a management plan in consultation with you and possibly also your General Practitioner. Depending on the nature of your illness, ongoing management may be done by the psychiatrist, or by your General Practitioner in consultation with your psychiatrist.

If you have recurring episodes of mania, you may need to see a mood disorders specialist.

Bilharzia Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T00:22:00.000-07:00

The Integration of Schistosomiasis

Since 1996, The Carter Center has been working with the national River Blindness Program developing a community distribution network in country to distribute the drug Mectizan® in parts of Nigeria. In 1998 the program began investigating the idea of targeting additional diseases through the same distribution channel, an approach that had never been done before.

Soon after the investigation started lymphatic filariasis was found to be preventable when Mectizan treatment was combined with the drug albendazole. By March 2000, communities in the Plateau and Nasarawa states, endemic for both river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, were being treated with the combined drug therapy. Simultaneously, the Center's groundbreaking approach was discovering that schistosomiasis control could be integrated too. That same year, urinary schistosomiasis was added, and today approximately 300 villages that receive the drug praziquantel also receive albendazole and Mectizan.

Transmission of Schistosomiasis

Schistosoma haematobium (urinary schistosomiasis) and S. mansoni (intestinal schistosomiasis) are microscopic parasites found in standing water.

Children are at greatest risk of becoming infected with this destructive disease because schistosomiasis is easily contracted while bathing or swimming in contaminated water. However, this disease can be transmitted simply through contact with contaminated water while performing daily chores, such as washing laundry, fetching water, and herding animals.

The parasite that causes schistosomiasis lives for years in veins near the bladder or intestines, where it lays thousands of spiny eggs that tear and scar tissues of the intestines, liver, bladder, and lungs. Damage to the urinary tract and intestine causes blood vessels to break creating internal bleeding. The blood resulting from internal bleeding carries the parasite eggs, which then enter the urine and stool.

When infected people, often children, urinate or pass feces in the water, the eggs are immediately released into the community water source. The eggs infect fresh water snails, such as the Bulinus, which than becomes an intermediate host. Inside the snails, the parasites develop and multiply; they are now able to re-enter the skin infecting new victims and continuing the cycle.

Community Impact

In the village of Kwa'al, Nigeria, like most rural communities in the developing world, there is only one water source. There are no alternatives if the source becomes contaminated. It is not a choice between the contaminated water and clean water for bathing, laundry, playing, or drinking; it is a choice between water contaminated with schistosomiasis and no water at all.

The blood in urine and stools is only one symptom of the damage caused by the infection. Victims of schistosomiasis suffer from stunted growth and poor school performance, as well as bladder dysfunction, kidney disease, and premature death. There is also increasing evidence of high rates of bladder cancer due to repeated schistosomiasis infections. The WHO states that bladder cancer is 32 times more prevalent in some areas of Africa than in the United States. Fatality usually occurs as a result of bladder cancer or intestinal bleeding.

Sadly, school-aged children shoulder the majority of schistosomiasis' consequences, especially poor growth and impaired cognitive function. For communities already burdened by poverty and ravaged by scourges such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, schistosomiasis is especially devastating.
Strategies Against Schistosomiasis

Although schistosomiasis is not eradicable, the disease can be prevented and transmission controlled with a single, annual dose of praziquantel. Community health workers conduct rapid assessments to determine the prevalence of schistosomiasis in a given village.

A dipstick is used to detect the presence of blood in the urine of children and the proportion of infected children in a village determines the treatment plan for that community.

Nigeria's Schistosomiasis Control Program, in partnership with The Carter Center, began in 1999 in two Nigeria states, Nasarawa and Plateau, expanding to Delta state in 2004. Since 1999, more than 70,000 treatments have been distributed to nearly 400 villages in the three states. Although this success is remarkable, more than 6 million praziquantel tablets are still needed every year to treat those in just two of the states; the need for Delta state is unknown as the area is still being evaluated. Unlike Mectizan, used to fight river blindness, and albendazole, one of two drugs used to fight lymphatic filariasis, no company donates praziquantel, so the Center's distribution is limited to the drugs it can afford to purchase.

Furthermore, there is a limited supply of praziquantel; only 89 million tablets are made when there is a need of 423 million. Nigeria needs more than any other country; approximately 43 million tablets. Not everyone who needs the drug can get it, which is yet another harsh reality for some of the most poverty stricken areas of the world. To ration the limited supply, the program follows the WHO distribution guidelines:

When a village reports more than 50 percent of children have blood in their urine, only then does everyone get treatment.

When 20-50 percent of children have bloody urine, only the children get treated.

When less than 20 percent of children have symptoms, no one in the village gets pills.

This is a tragic situation, but there is hope. Studies of those treated show that, within six months of receiving praziquantel, up to 90 percent of the damage due to infection can be reversed. In the past, praziquantel has been used successfully to treat millions of people at risk for or infected with schistosomiasis in Brazil, Egypt, and China.

With success in these two Nigerian states, when sufficient funds are secured, the next step is to help extend the Schistosomiasis Control Program to all of Nigeria. The Carter Center hopes the hard work and success of its partners in Nigeria will kick start a nation-wide initiative to address the quiet plague of schistosomiasis.

Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) Control and Prevention:

Nigeria is the most schistosomiasis-endemic country in Africa and among the most highly effected in the world. Yet until the Nigeria Ministry of Health and The Carter Center launched the schistosomiasis program in 1999, no one had been effectively addressing the disease in Nigeria.

Building on the existing community-based approach and drug distribution systems used in the river blindness and lymphatic filariasis programs in Nigeria, the Schistosomiasis Control Program was founded. Since 1999, the Center has been helping the state ministries of health distribute the drug praziquantel and provide health education to prevent the disease in villages in two Nigeria states, Nasarawa and Plateau. In 2004, the Center expanded its work to include the Delta state.

Preliminary surveys conducted in 1999 identified alarming needs: 1-in-5 school-aged children in Nigeria had blood in their urine and more than 90 percent of the tested villages were in need of treatment with praziquantel-because everyone, not just children, in the village should receive praziquantel.

Beriberi Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T00:19:00.000-07:00

Beriberi Info

What is Beriberi?

Beriberi is a vitamin deficiency disease caused by inadequate bodily stores of thiamine (vitamin B-1). It can damage the heart and nervous system.

Alternative Names:

Thiamine deficiency; Vitamin B1 deficiency

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

There are two major manifestations of thiamine deficiency: cardiovascular disease (wet beriberi) and nervous system disease ("dry beriberi" and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome). Dry beriberi is somewhat of a misnomer because both types are most often caused by excessive alcohol consumption.

Symptoms of dry beriberi include pain, tingling, or loss of sensation in hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy), muscle wasting with loss of function or paralysis of the lower extremities, and potentially brain damage and death.

Wet beriberi is characterized by swelling (edema), increased heart rate (tachycardia), lung congestion, and enlarged heart related to congestive heart failure.

Beriberi has become very rare in the United States because most foods are now vitamin-enriched, which means that a normal diet contains adequate amounts of thiamine.

As a result, beriberi now occurs primarily in patients who abuse alcohol, because drinking heavily can lead to malnutrition and poor absorption and storage of thiamine. This is the cause of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which is alcohol-related brain damage affecting language and thinking.

Beriberi can also occur in breast-fed infants when the mother has an inadequate intake of thiamine. It can also affect infants fed unusual formulas with inadequate thiamine supplements.

Others at risk for beriberi include patients undergoing dialysis, patients receiving high doses of diuretics, and people in developing countries with limited diets who consume milled rice.

Nervous system symptoms are caused by degeneration of the nerve fibers and their insulation (myelin sheath). Heart failure is the most common cause of death in people with beriberi.

Symptoms:

Early Neurological Symptoms:

Complaints of symmetric tingling or burning pain in the extremities

Numbness in the extremities

Vomiting

Strange eye movements (nystagmus)

Later Neurologic Symptoms (Wernicke's encephalopathy):

Mental confusion/speech difficulties

Difficulty walking (ataxia)

Coma

Death

If a patient with Wernicke's encephalopathy receives thiamine replacement, language problems, unusual eye movements, and walking difficulties may subside, but may be replaced by Korsakoff's syndrome, which includes retrograde amnesia (memory loss), impaired ability to learn, and confabulation (making up stories to explain behavior that have little relation to reality).

Heart Failure Symptoms:

Shortness of breath with exertion (dyspnea)

Symmetric swelling of the lower legs

Awakening at night short of breath (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea).

Prevention:

Adequate intake of thiamine will prevent beriberi. Nursing mothers should insure that their diet is adequate in all vitamins and be sure that infant formulas contain thiamine. People who drink heavily should try to cut down or quit and supplement their diets with B-vitamins to ensure appropriate intake of thiamine

Treatment:

Administration of thiamine can reverse the deficiency, and symptoms should improve rapidly. However, with severe deficiency, some symptoms may be irreversible. Patients should also receive therapeutic doses of other water-soluble vitamins.

Expectations (prognosis):

Cardiac damage is usually reversible and is not permanent. Full recovery is expected after treatment. Untreated, beriberi is often fatal.

If acute heart failure has already occurred, the outlook is poor.

Nervous system damage is also reversible, if caught early. If not, some symptoms (such as memory loss) may not be completely recovered with treatment.

Complications:

Psychosis
Coma
Congestive heart failure
Death

Bedwetting Prevention Tips

2010-08-15T00:14:00.000-07:00

Bedwetting Info

Most Bed-wetters Inherited Small Bladders

Bed-wetting, or Enuresis, is the involuntary passage of urine during sleep. "It is considered normal until a child is at least six years of age," explains Kent Amstutz, D.O., a pediatrician with Boys Town Pediatrics.

An inherited small bladder is the cause of bed-wetting for most children. "Their bladder is so small that it cannot hold the urine their bodies produce throughout the night," says Dr. Amstutz. "Although their kidneys are normal, they sleep so deeply that the signal of a full bladder does not wake them."

Enuresis is not caused by emotional problems, says Dr. Amstutz, however they can be created if the situation is mishandled. "Bed-wetting causes guilt and embarrassment in most children. Parents should create a supportive environment, encouraging their child to overcome his or her problem." suggests Amstutz. "Punishment or pressure to stop having accidents in the night often creates secondary emotional problems and causes the child to take even longer to overcome bed-wetting."

Even without treatment, most children will overcome bed-wetting. However, Dr. Amstutz suggests trying these simple home care treatments:

Encourage your child to get up during the night. At bedtime, be sure to gently remind your child to get up when he or she has to urinate.
Empty the bladder before bedtime. Remind your child to use the restroom before getting into bed at night.
Limit fluid before bedtime. Discourage your child from drinking excessive amounts during the two hours before bedtime and avoid drinks with caffeine.
Improve access to the bathroom. Put a nightlight in the hallway and bathroom or place a portable toilet in your child's bedroom.
Parent-awakening. Wake your child up at a specific time each night, such as your own bedtime.

Once a child reaches eight years of age, he or she may need additional assistance awakening at night. "A bed-wetting alarm is one technique that teaches a child to awaken when he or she needs to urinate," explains Dr. Amstutz. "A less expensive option is to teach your child to use an alarm clock to self-awaken three to four hours after going to bed. Medication can also be used to temporarily stop bed-wetting for special occasions such as slumber parties or other overnights."

Call your child's physician if urination causes pain or burning, the stream of urine is weak, your child wets during the daytime, bedwetting is a new problem, or your child is over 12 years old.

Home Remedies for Acidity

2010-08-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

Acidity

Acidity is related to heartburn and gas formation in stomach. In acidity, acid reflux or gastroesopohageal reflux disease, or more commonly known as urdhva gata amalpitta in ayurveda, there is a movement of gastric juices (carrying acid) from the stomach into the lower esophagus (food pipe). This is a condition which is caused when acidic contents in stomach (hydrochloric acid) move upward into the esophagus and making it dysfunctional. Understanding the right treatment at right time and causes of any disease, like acidity or acid reflux, is very helpful for effective treatments. In ayurveda it is considerd to be caused by the aggarvation of pitta dosha that is responsible for burning sensation caused in the chest region.

Acidity Causes

Gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) or acidity is caused by various factors:

Stomach contains various enzymes and hydrochloric acids which help in food digestion. When there is a problem in the functioning of the digestive system, it results a disease called acidity.

Foods which are rich in fats, such as chocolates cause acidity or acid reflux diseases.

Excessive intake of alcohol, smoking, keeping stomach empty for long time, skipping breakfast causes acidity. (Counseling by professionals and friendly peer groups, who do not smoke can help you in quitting smoking.)

Excessive intake of caffeine also leads to acidity.

Other causes of acidity or heartburn are pregnancy, aging, obesity, and bad eating habit, like eating junk foods Acidity leads to burning sensation in stomach and chest area.

Acidity Diet

What to eat and how much to eat is an important factor in controlling acidity:

Avoid eating fried, fatty, junk foods, and excessive chocolates.
Avoid eating onions, citrus fruits, spicy foods, as they worsen the acid reflux or acidity disease.
Eat carbohydrate rich food like rice, as they are easily digested and with no acid formation.
Eat dinner two to three hours before sleeping time as it keeps you healthy.
Eat small meals as it helps in digestion.
Maintain adequate body weight it helps in acidity control.
Avoid eating protein-rich and calcium-rich foods like milk and diary products at night.
Alcohol, caffeine should be a big no in your life for healthy living and acidity control.

Acidity Symptoms

Symptoms found in children are:

Respiratory problems
inadequate weight
vomiting,
coughing,
turning down food

Symptoms found in adults are:

Long heartburn, chest and stomach pain, gas formation in stomach, inflammation in chest, gastroesophageal reflux.
Voice change and formation of ulcer in esophagus (tube connecting mouth and stomach), pain during muscular contractions, and pain in ears are some of the symptoms of acidity.
Patient with hernia are at a risk of developing acid reflux or acidity.
acidity can affect your daily activity and you face difficulty in swallowing foods.
Acidity can exceed up to several months if not treated timely.

Home Remedies for Acidity

There are various home remedies and ayurvedic treatments for acidity control; it is good to go for such treatments as they are safe and effective. Avoid chemical/medicinal acidity treatments as it creates a bundle of other health problems.

Using ayurvedic medicines that can suppress acid formation under the recommendation of healthcare professionals is very effective in treating acidity.

Ayurvedic medicines like Kamdudha Rasa plain are effective in treating acidity. Avipattikar

hurna can be taken with water before your daily meal. It is good for your bowel movement and is effective in heartburn treatment or acidity. Narikel lavan is also a good remedy to cure hyperacidity.

Home remedies that will help you in controlling acidity

Regular practice of in taking one to two glass of water, in early morning is healthy habit and helpful in acidity control.
Holy basil (tulsi) plays an important role in controlling acidity. Consuming few leaves of tulsi leaves anytime gives relief from acidity and is one of the useful home remedies for acidity..
Natural and effective dosages for acidity control are: Take one table spoon alma with one table spoon haritaki (chebulic myroblan)
Take two tablespoon honey with two tablespoon natural cidar vinegar before meal

The above mentioned dosages are effective for acidity treatment.

Amla is a natural and effective herb that helps in curing many diseases like diabetes, indigestion, heartburn. It is also helpful in heart, respiratory, and eyes disorder. Alma capsules are very effective for acidity treatment. Amla can also be taken with warm milk, pulses or vegetables. This is one of the important home remedies for acidity.

Keeping terminalia chebula (haritaki) in mouth after your regular meal gives relief from acidity.

Mint juice or mint capsules containing peppermint oil are also a good herbal remedy for treating acidity. It is recommended to be taken after meal, it reduces gas formation. This is one of the useful home remedies for acidity.

Fruits that will help you in getting relief from acidity are cucumber, watermelon, papaya, and banana.

Intake cold milk, coconut water, almonds or raw garlic, all these give you relief from acidity and heartburn.

Intake jaggery (gur) on hourly basis will give you relief from acidity.

Half glass butter milk with one table spoon of coriander juice is effective in case of stomach burns, indigestion, and acidity. This is one of the best home remedies for acidity.

Exercise helps in controlling acidity

Depression, anxiety worsens the acidity disease so try to live a stress-free life for healthy and happy living.

Morning and evening walk are good for your health and keeps the acidity disease under control. Yogic exercises and meditation keeps your overall internal system (like digestive system, nervous system) and external system in good condition.

Little changes in life style keep you healthy and happy

Sleeping in right posture and right elevation help in acidity control, like keeping head on a high pillow up to seven inches.

Try to avoid chemically prepared medicines, though they suppress the acid formation in stomach but badly affect the digestive system and has many side effects. In acute cases, right diagnosis at right time helps in treatment so consult your physician for proper medication and treatments. Simple and easy life style can keep you healthy and happy. Health is wealth, so live a balance and stress-free life. Every disease has its cure so don’t get panic and stay happy.

Arthritis Prevention Tips

2010-08-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

Arthritis

Arthritis is an inflammatory chronic disorder which affects your joints and other body parts. Patient with arthritis disease faces pain in joints, find difficulties in movements. arthritis causes joint inflammations, weak immune system, and there is also swelling in joints and other body parts. arthritis damages body tissues, affects joint’s shape and its movement, and results in joint pain. Patient suffering from arthritis disease needs emotional help and proper care. In ayurveda arthritis in included in vata roga i.e. this is a disease caused by the aggravation of vata dosha.

There are various types of arthritis like vata rakta (gout), juvenile arthritis,sandhi gata vata (osteoarthritis), ama vata (rheumatoid arthritis).

Rheumatoid arthritis or the ama vata as per ayurveda, badly impacts wrists, toes, knees joints. Fever, loss of appetite are some of the common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, if not treated timely it may damage eyes, lungs, heart, and other body parts.

Arthritis Causes

Hereditary and genetics of the sufferer can be the cause of arthritis.
Skin infections and bacterial infections.
Obesity.
Physical stress on joints and other damages on joints.
Aging and hormonal changes in the body.
Old physical damage caused due to accident or fracture, etc., can be the cause of arthritis.
Ecological factor may be the cause of arthritis.
Metabolic and nervous tissue problems.

Arthritis Diet

Food rich in proteins, minerals, vitamins are good for arthritis patients.

Take fibrous fruits, green vegetables, sprouts, and raw vegetable juices.

Ginger juice is also very beneficial in arthritis treatments.

Drink water in copper glasses is good for curing arthritis.

Avoid junk foods.

Raw potato juice provides an effective arthritis treatment.

Good balance between work and rest is necessary, so take proper rest.

Maintain a healthy physical environment that let arthritis patients feel comfortable and happy. It has positive affects in arthritis treatments.

Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids which is an effective diet for arthritis patients.

There are different surgical treatments available for arthritis treatments such surgeries can carry reconstruction of the affected tendons, replacement of the damaged joints by artificial joints, etc.

Living a stress-free and happy life will make the treatment easy and successful so take the life challenges happily. Diseases have its treatment stay stress free, cool, and face the health challenges boldly.

Arthritis Symptoms

Continuous joint pains which create troubles in physical movements like walking, cycling.
Swelling and stiffness in arthritis-affected area.
Redness in the arthritis-affected area.
Long fever.
Popping joints.
Inflammation on affected area.

Treatment for Arthritis

There are various treatments available for arthritis, like surgical, pharmaceutical, various therapy, ayurvedic, and different home remedies.

Acupressure relieves joint pains and is very helpful in arthritis treatments. Different therapy like aromatherapy, steam therapy produces effective results on arthritis treatment. It is better to go for natural home remedies as they are effective with no side effects.

Home remedies for Arthritis

Rose-hip provides a good herbal remedy for treating arthritis, as it relives pain and strengthens the body tissues, ligaments, etc.

Applying garlic paste in the affected area or eating two to three garlic slices relieves joint pains and makes the bone strong. This is one of the useful home remedies for arthritis.

In taking raw potatoes juice benefits the arthritis sufferers.

Some home-based natural drinks that can cure arthritis are:

Mix one teaspoon honey and two teaspoon of lemon juice in warm water and drink it every morning. This is one of the best home remedies for arthritis.

Drink cucumber and carrot juice.

Drink chenopodium album (bathua) leaves juices.

Drink warm water containing one teaspoon of turmeric every day. This relieves arthritis pain.

Alfalfa tea is also very beneficial.

Another good home remedy for arthritis is to rub sandalwood paste or hot vinegar on affected area.

Eat coconut and walnut for strengthening bones.

Mix two teaspoon of honey and two teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in warm water and drink this mixture each day in the morning. This is one of the important home remedies for arthritis.

Natural Herbs for Arthritis Pain Relief

Herbs are very effective in arthritis treatment; they are safe and are beneficial in treating various diseases like asthma, arthritis, etc.
Boswellia serrata (shallaki) improves blood circulation and relieves pain and swelling.
Epsom salt warm water bath relieves joint pains, strengthen bones, and improves blood circulations.
There are several herbal oils which are quite effective for the treatment of arthritis and in arthritis pain relief.

Yoga and different exercises benefits arthritis patients

Regularly doing yoga improves your external as well as internal system. It gives you relief from arthritis pains, back pain, asthma, etc. Performing different yogic postures, exercises, stretches warms your muscle and relives pains.

Yogic exercises are beneficial for all age group, body types. arthritis-affected area will gain its strength back. By performing yogic exercises. Exercises strengthens joint bones and various muscles, it makes immune system strong (which is very helpful in arthritis cure), reduces inflammation, and has various other benefits. There are number of yoga classes where you can avail these benefits.

By regular exercises rheumatoid patients gets their body flexibility back, and there is a reduce stiffness on knee-joints.

Exercises help arthritis patients in maintaining good body weight. Light body weight reduces pressure on joints.

All this help arthritis patients in gaining self-esteem and it relieves pain and inflammation.

Asthma Prevention Tips

2010-08-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

Asthma

Asthma is a disease in which air passage in lungs gets inflamed and thus results in improper breathing, chest congestion, inflammation, coughing, etc. asthma can be mild, moderate or severe, depending upon the frequency of the inflammation of the air path. Today, six out of every 110 people are suffering from this chronic disease. Children are more prone to this disease than adults. Person with no family history of asthmatic condition can also suffer from it.

Asthma Causes

Asthma is caused due to contraction or inflammation in air path/lungs. Though, the reason for such contraction could be anything. The contracted airways prevent air to pass through lungs and thus results in cough, congested chest, thick mucus and difficulty normal in breathing. There is still a debate for considering asthma a hereditary disease as it is also found in people with no such family history.

However, inflammation and contraction are not the only reasons; asthma is also caused due to triggering factors. These triggering factors can be anything that activates the breathing process. Smell of tobacco, feather and skin of animals and birds, tensions are common factors. Triggers also include dust, pollen grains, animal dandruffs, toxic smell, strong fragrance, medicine etc. With dusts and other triggers like pollen, dandruffs when enter to the breathing system, contract the lung and also form thick mucus that prevent further contraction.

Rigorous exercise also causes asthma in some people. Mild exercise, however, are good for asthmatic patients, it is advised that the patient should use inhaler before starting the exercise. Foods items like egg, fish also cause contraction of lungs and thus are triggers. It may sound strange but emotional and mental stress may also cause asthma

Conclusion:

Asthma is caused due to the choked lungs, inflammation in the respiratory organs, blockage in nostrils, etc. All this is aroused by triggers. Patient should always stay away from triggers, like animal skin or feathers, tobacco, dust, tension, etc. Remember, a disease should never be ignored nor hided. Proper and treatment in time is the best solution. Follow healthy diet, habits, and life style, and never give up.

Asthma Diet

Abstain from food for a few days and live only on fruits, sprouts, leafy vegetables, pulses and lemon juice, etc. especially during severe attacks. The patient should strictly avoid fried stuff, rice and sugar. This will make your body system strong and cleanse all the toxic materials. The basic idea behind such diet is to avoid carbohydrates, fats, proteins, caffeine, spicy, and sour food, etc. Patient should not overeat and should eat food slowly, chewing it properly. This will help in proper digestion and prevent inflammation and other stomach and lung-related problems like, choke in lungs, thick mucus formation, difficulty in breath in and breath out. Drink at least 8--10 glasses of water per day.

Asthma Symptoms

Person suffering from asthma can suffer from its severe attack anytime. This badly affects his day-to-day life activities and he becomes helpless. The asthma symptoms are:

Choked lungs
Improper breathing
Breathing with sound of a whistle
Congested chest
Cough
Trouble in speaking
Thick mucus formation
Inflammation in chest

These asthma symptoms are not presented strongly in all the patients. Patients with minor or moderate asthma can also get these attacks occasionally. However, patients suffering from severe asthma may get asthmatic attacks anytime and finds difficulty in sleeping, talking, and movement, etc.

Home Remedies for Asthma - Asthma Treatment

The attacks of asthma can be severe or moderate. It may last for few years or for whole life. There are inhalers and various medicines for the treatment of asthma. However, these medicines are rich in steroids, have alarming side effects and thus people are inclining towards home remedies for asthma and natural treatments. The natural treatments include building the proper functioning of excretory organs, annihilating decay matter from the body through healthy balanced diet and exercise and yoga. Practicing various yogic mudras and pranayamas makes human body healthy and strong.

Massage and Mud packs: Add camphor to mustard oil and massage on the back of the chest, this will loosen the breathing organs and support breathing. Apply wet mud packs on the patient’s chest. This makes lungs strong and helps in proper breathing. Apply it to abdomen, this will help in proper digestion of food matters and thus reduces inflammation. This is one of the important home remedies for asthma.

Sun bath, steam bath etc. helps in opening your lungs and enhances your breathing capacity. It also keeps your skin healthy and beautiful.

Patient suffering from asthma are also given an enema. This helps cleansing of the excretory organs and detoxification.

Honey: You may add honey in the milk, lukewarm water or in lemon water. This not only detoxifies your body, assimilate harmful chemicals, soften the mucus (and also prevent further formation of thick mucus by strengthening pulmonary tissues) and thus enhance breathing process, nurtures your skin. This is one of the useful home remedies for asthma.

Onion and garlic: Onion juice helps in reducing inflammation and open choked lungs. Garlic-rich food like garlic paste with milk, or garlic tea is also a good remedy, as it detoxifies the body, clear mucus, helps in breathing process.

Milk with turmeric powder: Add 1--2 teaspoon of turmeric in milk and give to patient. Turmeric is one of the best medicines for asthma, cancer, cough, cold, etc. This is one of the best home remedies for asthma.

Vitamin and minerals: Vitamin C and magnesium are good for asthmatic patients.

Herbs: Boswellia, Tylophora Indica is some herbs used in treating asthma because of their anti-inflammatory characteristics. However, these herbs should never be used without consulting the doctors.

Tips to Remain Young

2010-08-12T22:54:00.000-07:00

Natural Tips to Delay aging

Everyone wants to look young and trim. Though we cannot prevent ageing we can definitely delay ageing by making changes in our lifestyle. We must do everything we can, to prevent age related diseases and live a healthy and happy life. Here are some tips which will help you to stay young.

Diet : Diet plays a very important role in helping us to remain young. We must have a balanced diet. We are what we eat. What we eat reflects on our skin and body. First develop a regular eating habit like eating at a proper time. Include lot of raw vegetables and fruits in your diet. Avoid junk food and fried food. Sugar makes you look older, so you can substitute sugar with honey and fruits. Include five servings of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Red, yellow, orange, fruits and vegetables and greens are rich in antioxidants which helps us to delay aging. Green tea is rich in antioxidant and also strengthens our resistance against diseases. Include almonds, olive oil (use it as a cooking medium) fenugreek, in your diet as they are rich in antioxidants and helps to slow down the aging process. As we grow older, we must stick to simple and easily digestible food. One can observe fasting to detoxify oneself after consulting the doctor. People who eat a nutritious diet remain younger, tend to age slower, look trim, healthier and are more active than others.

Yoga : The age old tradition of yoga is said to have emerged in India some 5000 yrs ago. It is one of the surest ways to age gracefully, if practiced regularly. It gives flexibility to the body, prevents age related diseases, improves immunity and slows aging of the skin, thereby helping us to remain young. In yoga, it is said that the more flexible the spine is, the more youthful the person is. Yoga improves the flexibility of the spine and increases the elasticity of our body. It gives a good figure, improves blood circulation, energizes you and helps you to remain young and fit. Not only does yoga has physical benefits but also psychological benefits. It improves our self confidence. Learn yoga only from a good, qualified yoga teacher. Pranayama (breathing techniques) is very beneficial to the body and the mind and it oxygenates our cells and helps us to remain young.

Sleep : Good sound sleep not only rejuvenates our body but also strengthens our immunity to various diseases thereby helping us to remain young.

Massage : It is skin which shows our age. So keep your skin hydrated and moisturized. Massage your skin with sweet almond oil or coconut oil once in a fortnight to delay aging. Massage helps us to feel relaxed and energizes us. It improves blood circulation and keeps your skin wrinkle free. Do not massage when your stomach is full or when you are sick.

Mental Health : Always keep yourself engaged. Read a book, do crossword puzzles, sudoku to keep your brain active. Enjoy friendships, foster good relationship with family members, learn a new hobby, maintain interest as these will help to reduce stress and make you feel happy. Be optimistic in life and learn to forgive others. Dress well, love yourself, try to have a new look as it makes you feel happy and helps you to remain young. By having Strong family ties, good friendships, healthy diet, good mental health and staying physically active, one can age gracefully.

Tips to remain Slim

2010-08-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

Small ways to lose weight

First of all we must be determined to remain slim and work towards it. Develop a mind set towards it.
Set realistic goals.
Make lifestyle changes like giving up alcohol, smoking, avoiding fatty food, refined food,...
Include fresh foods as far as possible as processed foods tend to contain high level of salt and sugar.
Do not expect immediate results.
Never go for crash diets instead reduce weight gradually and slowly.
Never skip meals as you tend to overeat, the next meal. Do not skip breakfast in particular.
Have your last meal of the day, three hours before going to bed.
Include lot of fiber in your diet as it gives a feeling of fullness, thereby preventing you from gorging spicy and fatty food.
Eat slowly and chew your food well as it helps in digestion and also we tend to eat less.
Nuts contain lot of fiber .They are satisfying and cause people to eat less at meal time.
Take warm lime juice mixed with honey the first thing in the morning.
Go for skimmed milk.
As far as possible avoid weight loss supplements.
When you have cravings for sweets, take a fruit instead.
When you have cravings for certain type of food like chocolates or ice cream, once in a while, you can take in small quantities .
Take fruits and vegetables which has lot of water content like watermelons, cucumbers and white pumpkin.
Keep yourself engaged as boredom leads to overeating.
Drink lot of water, at least 8 glasses per day.
Use the stairs instead of lift. Park the car a little far away and walk to your office. Use every opportunity to be physically active.
Walk, Walk and Walk as much as possible. Even if you are busy, go for walk at least 5 days a week.
Aerobic exercise like jogging, swimming, cycling, running accelerates weight loss. Consult a physician before starting any weight loss program. Aerobic exercise combined with healthy eating will certainly help in weight reduction.
Make your exercise session enjoyable.
Keep yourself free of stress
Finally, weight loss is a slow process, so do not get disappointed and give up.

Stress free Life

2010-08-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

Tips to remain Happy and stress free

Stress has become the cause of many illness in modern times. Both physical health and mental health are interconnected .So to remain healthy, one has to be both physically and mentally fit. Happiness is an outstanding characteristics of mental well being. Here are a few tips to remain happy and stress free .

Take a nutritious diet which is very important for both physical and mental health. Include lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses, sprouts in your diet. Go for organic ones.
Take up a hobby (anything you like) besides your profession. It is a great way to relax and be happy. It relieves you of stress. Gardening is a wonderful hobby to be close with nature.
Go for an early morning walk and enjoy the fresh air, the birds chirping, the greenery, the beautiful sunrise ... It is a sure way to de-stress yourself .You will forget yourself in nature's wonders.
Listen to any music of your choice. It is a great way of relaxing.
Practice deep abdominal breathing as it reduces stress .When you inhale your stomach should bulge out, when you exhale it should go in. You can practice for a few minutes daily .
Yoga: Savasana or the corpse pose relaxes the body thoroughly. You can practice for 15 minutes daily.
Meditation: Practice meditation .You can learn from a person who is experienced in it. It is a surest way to reduce stress.
Go for a vacation: Take an occasional break from the routine and enjoy a lovely holiday.
Massage is a great way to de-stress yourself. Have a massage with essential oil or a warm scented bath.
Sleep is very essential for the body as it is rejuvenating and helps us to relax .
Laughter is the best medicine. Watch a humorous movie which is a wonderful way to relax.
Don't bottle up your emotions, share it with a trusted friend or write it in a piece of paper and tear it .
Plan your day well and practice time management techniques

Always remember it is easy to change ourselves rather than trying to change someone else.
Be optimistic as it helps to lower stress.
Learn to accept realities.
Love yourself the way you are and be happy.

Tips for a Healthy and Silky hair

2010-08-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

1.Have a good diet which should include lots of leafy green vegetables, fruits and sprouts.

2.Avoid shampoos as far as possible. Instead use sikkakai or besan or paste of fenugreek seeds, it will clean and soften the hair. If that is not possible, then go for herbal shampoos.

3.Henna or mehandi is a best way to keep a cool head. It conditions the hair, promotes growth, protects our hair from the harmful effects of the sun and also gives a glossy tint. However persons with sinus problems should avoid this.

4.Use wide toothed comb to remove tangles and do not comb wet hair. Avoid using hair dryer to dry your hair. Do not tie your hair tightly. Always use coated rubber bands or soft hair tie.

5.Brush your hair daily using a brush with rounded tip bristles to improve blood circulation.

6.Apply paste of gooseberry powder to prevent hair graying and falling. You can add gooseberry powder to henna paste also. Include amla or gooseberry in your diet as it is a rich source of vitamin C.

7.Apply coconut oil mixed with fresh lemon juice to cure dandruff. This is an excellent home remedy for dandruff. Avoid creamy conditioners when you are having dandruff problem.

8.Soak 2 tablespoons of fenugreek seeds in water overnight. In the morning, grind it and apply the paste on the scalp and wash it off after half an hour to get rid of dandruff. This natural remedy for dandruff is very effective. This natural remedy also stops hair fall.

9.Heat coconut oil, switch off the gas when heated, then add neem flowers to it. Close it and keep it aside. When cooled, filter it and use that oil regularly to prevent dandruff.

10.Grind white pepper with milk, warm it and apply it on the scalp, then wash it off after 15 minutes to cure dandruff. Do this once in a week.

11.Apply 2 tbsp of vinegar (diluted in a little water) to the scalp and massage gently and wash your hair after 15-20 minutes. This natural remedy also cures dandruff.

12.Mix a little sour curd, fresh lemon juice and an egg and apply it to the scalp. Wash it off after 20 minutes. This home remedy helps to get rid of dandruff. Do it once in a week.

13 Fenugreek tea is not only good for the health but also nourishes and promotes hair growth if taken regularly.

14.Cover your hair with a scarf or shawl during travel to prevent tangles and to protect your hair from dust.

15.Home remedy for frizzy hair: Massage warm castor oil + almond oil into your scalp gently. Wrap a hot towel (dip towel in hot water (bearable) and squeeze the excess water) around your scalp so that the oil gets absorbed into the hair. Do this once a week for healthy, silky, lustrous hair. It also controls frizz.

16.Avoid chemical treatment on your hair. Hibiscus flowers and leaves are good conditioners for the hair. You can grind 2-3 leaves or flowers and use its juice along with your herbal shampoo.

17. Always dilute shampoo in a little water and use it. Do not use it directly. Wet your hair first and then apply this diluted shampoo.

18 Amla Oil nourishes and promotes hair growth. It also prevents hair fall. For homemade amla oil recipe, refer natural hair coloring.

19.Mayonnaise is an excellent conditioner for dry hair. Massage your scalp with mayonnaise and leave it for half an hour. Then shampoo as usual. Always rinse your hair well so that no traces of shampoo is left behind.

20.Apply a few drops of olive oil to get rid of frizz.

21.Massage your scalp with olive oil using your finger tips. Remain for half an hour and wash hair well. This natural remedy is an excellent conditioning treatment. Do this once in a week for healthy hair. It also controls frizz.

22.Vinegar is a great conditioner and can give shine to your hair. Mix 1 tbsp of vinegar to a mug of water and use it to your last rinse. It also controls frizz in dry hair.

23.Dilute 3 tbsp of beer in a mug of water and use it for the final rinse to give your hair a healthy shine.

24.Boil soap nut skin in water, cool it and use that water for the last rinse for silky hair.

25.Conditioner for dry hair: Beat an egg well and add 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and 1/2 tsp of vinegar to it. Mix well and apply it to your scalp and remain for half an hour. Then wash well with a mild shampoo.

26.Home remedy to get rid of lice and nits:

Mix vinegar with a little water and apply to the scalp. Leave it for 20-30 minutes. Then remove the lice using lice comb and the nits by hand. Then wash your hair well. Vinegar help to loosen the nits and they can be removed easily. Do this for a few days to get rid of lice and nits. Keep your pillow covers, towels and combs clean by washing them in hot water. Then soak them for 5 minutes in warm water to which a few drops of antiseptic solution is added and dry them. Do not share combs, hats, scarf or anything used for hair with anybody.

Powder Custard apple seeds. Mix it with a little water and apply it to the scalp. Wash it off after 20 minutes with a herbal shampoo. This home remedy for head lice is very effective.

Apply olive oil lavishly on the hair. Remain for an hour. Then comb the hair using the lice comb to remove lice and nits. This is an effective home remedy for head lice. Then wash hair well with a mild shampoo.

27.Drink 8-9 glasses of water daily.

28.Squeeze juice of 1 lemon in a mug of water and use it for the final rinse for oily hair.

29.Apply Egg white on the scalp and wash it off after 15-20 minutes. This home remedy stops hair fall and also nourishes the hair.

30.Take food rich in protein, essential fatty acids, carotenes, iron, silica, zinc, Vitamins E , C ,Vitamin B (especially biotin) to have a healthy head of hair.

31.Exercise for 5 days a week as it improves blood circulation to your scalp.

32.Lastly maintain a healthy life style as the health of your hair is related to your lifestyle. You can also refer Home remedies to check hair fall

Skin Care Tips

2010-08-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

The skin is a major organ of excretion. So taking care of the skin helps you to have a velvety soft skin. The old saying goes like this "Prevention is better than cure". So it is better to take care of your skin rather than treating it after a problem occurs. All you have to do is to lead a healthy life style which will definitely reflect on your skin. Keep your skin clean. A clean skin is a healthy skin. The most common problem among teens is acne. Here are some tips to take care of your skin the natural way.

1.Eat a healthy diet which should include lot of fruits, vegetables in the form of salads and fresh juices. Use honey instead of sugar for juices.

2.Avoid eating junk food which is not only bad for your skin but also for your health. Do not eat fried foods. Avoid Maida and white bread instead take brown bread, whole grains and oat bran. Use brown rice instead of white.

3.Drink 3-4 glasses of warm water the first thing in the morning which will prevent constipation and therefore will have an effect on your skin or you can take a glass of warm lemon juice with a tsp of honey.

4. Wash your face whenever you go out and come back, to remove the dirt accumulated on your skin due to pollution. Also wash it after you wake up and before going to sleep. Instead of using soap frequently, you can use flour of green gram or besan mixed with a little water to cleanse your face.

5. Use an umbrella (preferably a colored one), wear sunglasses while going out in the sun. It protects your skin from the harmful effects of the sun.

6. Have bath twice a day to keep your skin clean. It also helps to keep yourself cool.

7.Powder of orange peels (available in the market) mixed with rose water can be used to exfoliate your skin.

8.Steam your face once in a week to remove dirt from your face. You can add a few drops of eucalyptus oil or neem leaves to the water. After steaming, splash cold water on your face and pat dry. This is an effective remedy for blackheads also.

9.Steaming with juice of one lemon added to the water is also effective for blackheads and whiteheads. Take a little egg white (beat it well) and mix it with a little honey and apply it on the face and wash it off with warm water after 15 minutes. This cures blackheads.

10. Mixture of rose water, sandalwood paste and fuller's earth ( a form of clay) can be used as a face pack for oily skin. Rose water cleanses and tones the skin. Sandalwood paste has cooling properties and fuller's earth removes the dirt and excess oil from the skin.

11.Mashed papaya applied on the face clears marks on your skin and the skin will look bright.

12.Avoid taking tea or coffee, instead replace it with green tea or buttermilk.

13.Keep your hair clean from dandruff. If you have dandruff then you will get pimples.

14.Use water based cosmetics for oily skin.

15.Carrots, oranges, beetroots does wonders to your skin.

16.Cucumbers work as astringents and cools the skin. It also lightens the skin tone. You can add a little cucumber juice to your face pack. It is also an anti tan pack. It lightens freckles, smoothes wrinkles and is a natural bleach.

17.Yoghurt (plain & natural) is a wonderful skin cleanser. It can be used to massage all skin types. Helps treat sunburn.

18. Honey is an excellent moisturizer for dry skin. However persons with oily skin should avoid using honey in face packs.

19.Get a bunch of fenugreek leaves and make a paste and apply it on your face .Wash it off with warm water and see your face glow, glow and glow. This is also a natural remedy for blackheads.

20 Fenugreek tea taken internally does wonders to the skin.

21.Almonds have a high content of vitamin E, so they nourish you from inside. Almond powder can also be used in face packs to nourish dry, dull skin. Soak 3-4 almonds in water overnight. In the morning after peeling its skin, grind it to a smooth paste with milk and apply for 15-20 minutes for a glowing skin.

22.Soak 4-5 dry grapes in half a cup of water overnight and drink that water in the morning. It prevents constipation and gives a glow to your skin.

23.Tea tree oil has antiseptic, anti-inflammatory properties. This oil is good for boils and rashes.

24.Lavender oil is good for sunburn.

25.Always bath in cool water or lukewarm water as hot water draws out natural oil from the skin and will dry your skin.

26.Before going to bed, see to it that you remove all traces of make-up. Do not apply anything, let your skin breathe.

27.Exercise at least four days a week to improve blood circulation and lastly avoid stress.

Natural tips for oily skin

2010-08-12T22:21:00.000-07:00

Natural tips for oily skin:

Mix sandalwood paste with rose water and Fuller's earth (it is a clay) and apply it on the face. Keep it for 15 minutes and wash it off with warm water followed by cold water. This natural remedy is best for acne also.
Do not use talcum powder on face as it gets accumulated in the pores and causes more pimples.
Red sandalwood paste mixed with rose water can also be used as a pack for acne. It is also an excellent home remedy for blackheads.
Gram pulse flour (besan) or green gram flour is best for oily skin as it removes excessive oil from the skin. Use it with rose water.
Mix fuller's earth powder with a little orange peel powder and rose water and apply .Wash with warm water after 15 minutes. This natural remedy is very effective for acne .
Mix equal quantity of oatmeal (powder it finely) and witch hazel and apply to the face. Remain for 20 minutes and wash it off with warm water. This is a natural toning and cleansing mask for oily skin.
Mix a little honey with lemon juice and egg white and apply to the face .Wash it off after 15 minutes. This is a natural and effective mask for oily skin.
Soak neem leaves in water for 5 hours, then remove the leaves and have bath in that water to prevent pimples and acne.
You can use any clay mask as it absorbs excess oil from the skin.
Mix cucumber pulp with lemon juice and apply to the face. Cucumber is a natural toner. It works as an astringent and is used to cleanse the skin.
Curd (low fat) is an excellent cleanser. Apply it on the skin and wash it off after 15 minutes with lukewarm water .This refreshes dull, tired face and is also good for oily skin.
Do not touch or pop your pimples. Avoid oily food .Refer Skincare for more.

Natural teeth care

2010-08-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

LAUGH YOUR WAY TO HEALTH

Our teeth has to last us a lifetime, so it is sensible to take care of them. Oral hygiene is very important and cannot be taken lightly. Here are some tips to take care of your teeth.

Brush twice a day both in the morning and before going to bed. Train children from childhood to do so. A soft angled brush with rounded bristles can be used.

Eat plenty of calcium rich food and protein as they are essential for healthy teeth.

Learn the proper way of brushing from your dentist. Special attention should be paid to the back teeth and gaps between the teeth. Floss regularly.

Change your toothbrush once in 2 months.

Massage your gums with your finger tip to improve blood circulation.

Avoid sugary foods and drinks to reduce your risk of tooth decay.

Home remedy for Bad Breath

Chew fennel seeds, cardamom seeds or mint to get rid of bad breath.

Take 2 cloves after meals to freshen your breath.

Chewing tender guava leaves helps to get rid of bad breath.

Boil guava leaves in water for 10 minutes. After it cools, filter it and use that water as a mouthwash.

Chew Parsley leaves to get rid of bad breath. You can boil few sprigs of parsley and 2-3 cloves in 2 cups of water. After it cools, strain it and use it to gargle several times a day.

Gargle with salt (rock salt) water every night after meals.

Cleaning of tongue is also important for oral hygiene.

Use toothpaste containing fluoride.

Do not take very hot or very cold food.

Avoid smoking ,drinking alcohol and chewing tobacco.

Have a regular check up with your dentist.

Oil gargling or oil pulling:

After cleaning your mouth and teeth, take 1 tbsp of oil or a little less (gingerly oil or

sunflower oil) and gargle for ten minutes (Move the oil inside the mouth). The oil becomes

thin, impure and white in color. Spit that oil and brush your teeth, clean your gums and

mouth well. Gargle several times with water. Do not swallow that impure oil. Do this on

an empty stomach. This cures many teeth related problems and also whitens your teeth.

It must be done regularly

Natural Remedies to Improve Complexion

2010-08-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

Home remedies to remove Tan:

1.To remove tan, mix rice flour with curd and apply it on the face. Massage gently using circular movements and wash it off after 5 minutes.

2.Mix a tsp of curd, fresh lemon juice and honey and apply it on the face. It lightens skin color.

3.Lettuce juice can be used in packs to remove tan.

4.Apply raw potato juice to remove tan. It can also be mixed with a little lemon juice as lemon has natural bleaching properties.

5.Mix cucumber paste with lemon juice and fuller's earth and apply it for 15 minutes and then wash it off. It is an excellent anti-tan pack.

6.Mix chick pea powder in a little water and apply to the face. Remain for 15 minutes and wash it off with cold water. This improves complexion or lightens your skin tone.

7.Mix tomato juice with a little curd and apply. Wash it off after 20 minutes.

8. Use of natural scrub like oatmeal ( add warm water to oatmeal, mix it well to form a paste) helps to remove dead skin cells and stimulate blood circulation.

9.Mix a little fresh lemon juice, gram flour ( besan) and curd and apply it on the skin for 15 minutes regularly to get rid of sun tan.

Home remedy for Dark underarms:

Exfoliate your underarms with a mixture of gram flour (besan), wheat bran, raw milk and a few drops of lemon juice.

Natural bleach:

Honey mixed with a little lemon juice is an excellent natural bleach.

Dry lemon peels and powder it. It can be used in face mask to get rid of tan. It is a natural bleach.

Natural remedy for Dark neck:

Grind raw potato, mix pure sandalwood powder, gram flour and a little lemon juice to the pulp. Apply it to the neck and wash it off after 5-10 minutes. Do this regularly to remove darkness of the skin.

Natural scrub to have a bright face:

Mix tomato juice with a little semolina and use it as a scrub. Do this regularly for a bright face.

Do not use scrub on pimples.

Green gram flour mixed with milk makes a good natural scrub.

Natural cleanser:

Milk is a natural cleanser. Cleanse your face with cotton soaked in raw milk. Use cold skimmed milk to remove your make-up.

Tips to cure stretch marks:

Have a good nutritious diet .

Apply vitamin E oil or Aloe Vera gel to cure stretch marks. This is a good natural remedy for stretch marks.

Apply cocoa butter to cure stretch marks.

Massage with sesame seed oil or olive oil regularly. This helps to fade off stretch marks.

Do regular exercise to tone your muscles.

For good sleep:

Drink a glass of warm milk mixed with a tsp of honey before going to bed.

Skin Problems:

Skin problems can be prevented by taking bath with water mixed with tulsi (basil) leaves. Basil is a herb found in India, it is available in powder form also. Taking 2-3 basil leaves or (quarter tsp basil powder) in the morning, also improves immunity.

It should not be taken during pregnancy.

Natural remedies for Unwanted Facial Hair:

Mix gram pulse flour (besan), wheat flour, milk cream, a few drops of lemon juice, mustard oil and water together and rub it in circular movements and wash it off. Do it regularly. Start this treatment from an early age as hair is soft and fine at that time.

Mix sugar, water and lemon juice to a thick paste. Apply it and wash it off when it dries. Do this once a week to prevent hair growth.

Unwanted facial hair was pinched off using ashes in olden times, but it is very painful.

Body odor:

Mix juice of one lemon in a bucket of water and bathe in that water.

Wear cotton clothes as they absorb perspiration better.

Keep your underarms free of hair, as hair collects perspiration and might cause offensive odor.

Reduce taking spicy food, as it can give your sweat an odour.

Add rose water to your bath water to keep you fresh.

Natural remedy for dandruff

Take a cup of curd (fat free) and apply it on the scalp .Wash it off after 20-30 minutes with a herbal shampoo. Refer natural hair care for more tips.

Home remedy for Blackheads

Grind ripe papaya until creamy. Mix it with 1/4 tsp of gram flour or besan and apply to the face leaving the area around the eyes. Wash it off with cool water after 15 minutes .

Home remedy for Sunburn

Apply honey or Aloe Vera gel.

Natural Yogurt can be applied to cure sunburn.

Home remedy for Prickly Heat

Mix pure sandalwood paste with milk and apply .

Apply water of edible palm fruit (nongu ) to cure prickly heat.

Natural yogurt can be applied to cure prickly heat

Peel the skin of edible palm fruit and grind it to a paste and apply it. It is an effective home remedy for prickly heat.

Home remedy for Rashes

Apply coconut or palm fruit water to cure rashes

Natural remedies for Dry skin

2010-08-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

Dry skin usually lacks moisture. There are many factors like environment, food habits which causes dry skin.

Drinking 8-10 glasses of water keeps the skin hydrated and moisturized

Apply moisturizer to slightly damp skin after shower.

Mix milk cream with a pinch of turmeric powder and apply it on the face daily.

Do not use soap often instead use besan or green gram flour. Instead of soap, you can also use cleansing gel.

Soak 4 or 5 almonds overnight, in the morning peel the skin and grind it nicely, mix it with raw milk and apply it on the face and wash it off after 15 minutes to prevent dryness of skin.

Mix green gram flour with rose water, tender coconut water and raw milk and apply it on the face .

Almonds (4 or5) should be soaked overnight, peel its skin in the morning and chew it .It nourishes your skin from within.

Massage your skin with olive oil or coconut oil before going to bath. Bath in cool or lukewarm water as hot water draws out natural oil and will dry your skin further. Oil massage is very effective in case of dry skin.

Mix egg yolk, milk cream and rose water and apply it on the face. Wash it off after sometime in warm water followed by cold water. This is a natural mask for dry skin.

For flaky skin, dip cotton in cold raw milk to which a few drops of olive oil or sunflower oil is added and cleanse the skin with it. Wash with cold water.

Carrot mask is good for sensitive and dry skin .Boil a carrot in a little water. After it cools, grind it to a paste and apply to the face.

Honey is an excellent moisturizer. Apply honey on the face and wash it off with warm water after 15 minutes. This natural remedy for dry skin works well.

Add a few drops of oil to the water you use for bath. This helps to retain moisture and prevents dryness of skin.

Honey mixed in a little raw milk can also be applied to prevent dryness of skin.

Mash papaya until creamy and use it as a mask once in a week to prevent dryness.

Application of aloe vera gel also prevents dryness of skin.

Avoid excessive use of chemicals on the skin. Include food rich in vitamin E and vitamin A for a smooth and glowing skin. Refer Skin care for more.

Lip Care

2010-08-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

Here are a few Home remedies for lips from which you can choose anything that suits you best .

Natural remedy for Chapped lips:

Apply butter (pure & unsalted) or almond oil or ghee and massage gently.

Massage with chilled milk cream and wash it off after 1 hour. This home remedy cures chapped lips.

Massage your lips with pure olive oil or coconut oil regularly to get soft lips.

Massage your lips with a little glycerin mixed with a little rose water for soft lips.

Drink plenty of water to keep your lips moisturized.

Grind rose petals to a smooth paste and mix it with fresh cream and apply. It cures dry or chapped lips.

Application of petroleum jelly or lip balm helps cure chapped lips.

Apply honey and wash it off after 15 minutes to cure chapped lips

Try changing your lipstick brand. Use lipstick with a moisturizer to prevent dryness. Use good quality lipsticks. Always use trusted brands.

Certain flavoring agents in toothpaste, chewing gum or mouthwash might also cause chapped lips. Find out if you are allergic to it and try changing them.

Home Remedies to cure dark lips

Honey mixed with a little lemon juice helps to lighten dark lips.

Try changing your toothpaste brand as it may be allergic to you.

Apply Vaseline or lip balm when going out.

Mix 1/2 tsp Pomegranate juice with 1/2 tsp beetroot juice and apply regularly to cure dark lips.

Soak 2-3 almonds overnight. In the morning, peel its skin and grind it to smooth paste. Add a little fresh cream and 2-3 drops of lemon juice to it and apply it regularly to cure dark lips.

Try these home remedies and bring back smile to your lips.

Natural Home remedies for wrinkles

2010-08-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

Massage the skin with olive oil or pure coconut oil regularly to prevent wrinkles. Do not use soap that day, instead use gram pulse flour.
Massaging pure sesame seed oil mixed with equal quantities of almond oil also prevents wrinkles .
Apply egg white to the wrinkled skin and wash it off after it dries with warm water. For fine lines under the eye, this home remedy is very effective. Within a few days you will find the lines reducing.
Mix egg white, rose water and glycerin and use it as a face pack once or twice a week .
Mix egg white, a little cucumber juice and half a tsp of lemon juice and apply it on your face. Wash it off after 15 minutes. This is an excellent natural anti wrinkles pack .Use once or twice a week.
Apply milk cream mixed with little lime juice. Do this for a month daily and you will notice changes in your skin. Dry skin are more prone to wrinkles, so keep your skin moisturized and hydrated.
Take half a tsp of ginger paste in the morning with honey as it is an effective natural remedy for wrinkles.
Another method to include ginger :Wash ginger well, wipe it dry, peel the skin and cut it into round slices. After that, soak it in honey and bottle it. Take 2 pieces daily in the morning to have a youthful look. Make this preparation every week as it tends to get spoiled soon.
Stick to natural or home made products as the chemicals does more damage to the skin. Use mild products.
Protect your skin from excessive exposure to the sun as it causes wrinkles. Avoid going out from 12 a.m. to 3 p.m. Protect yourself by wearing sunglasses and wide brimmed hat if you have to go.
Mash banana until creamy. Apply this mask and wash it off after 15 minutes to prevent wrinkles.
Massaging face with apricot kernel oil moisturizes the skin and slows down the aging process.
Rub the core of pineapple on the face .Wash it off after 10 minutes. This home remedy for wrinkles works well.
Include green tea, almonds, olive oil, fenugreek in your diet as they are rich in antioxidants and slows down the aging process.
Utter the words 'E' (smile widely) and 'O' (pretend to whistle) to prevent wrinkles. Do this 15 to 20 times two or three times a day.
Exercise regularly to improve blood circulation and take a healthy diet as what you eat reflects on your skin. Take care of your skin the natural way. Refer Natural skin care .

Natural hair coloring tips

2010-08-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

Here are some natural methods to color your hair which are harmless and safe to use. Henna is a safe and natural way to color your hair .

Ingredients needed

Henna (natural)- 1 cup
Dried Gooseberry powder- 1 tbsp
Coconut oil or olive oil - 2 tsp
Tea decoration

Boil 1 heaped tsp of tea powder in 200 ml of water until it reduces to half the quantity. Strain the decoction.

Mix henna powder, gooseberry powder, oil and tea decoction together and leave it overnight in an iron vessel.

Apply it to the scalp in the morning. Remain for 1-2 hours and wash it off.

For dark brown shade, mix half a teaspoon cloves powder (or powder 3-4 cloves) in the morning to the henna mixture.

For rich copper color, add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to the henna mixture in the morning.

For silky hair, beat an egg and add to the henna paste in the morning.

2.Soak a cup of henna powder (natural) in half a cup of hot water in an iron vessel and leave it overnight.

The next morning add 1 tbsp of coffee powder (pure) to it for a deeper color.

Apply to the scalp in the morning, remain for 1-2 hours and wash it off.

For silky hair, beat an egg and add to the henna paste in the morning.

3.Grate a medium sized beetroot and boil it in a cup of water with half a tsp of kattha .Strain and mix it with a cup of henna powder. Add a heaped tsp of coffee powder (pure) to it .Leave it overnight in an iron vessel .Add 1/4 -1/2 cup of curd to it in the morning. Apply it to the scalp and wash it off after 2-3 hours for an auburn tinge.

4.Do not go for chemical hair dyes as they might cause allergies. Mix sikkakai with juice of 1 beetroot and wash your hair with this mixture. Do this regularly once in a week.

Henna gives a deeper color if it is left on the hair for more time.

Home remedies for long lustrous hair and to check hair fall

Amla oil

Mix 50 grams of dried amla (gooseberry) in 500 ml gingerly oil or coconut oil and boil it. Cool it, filter it and use that oil for healthy hair.

Mix 50 grams of dried amla in 500 ml coconut oil. Keep it in a glass bottle or glass jar with a tight lid. Keep the glass jar containing the mixture in the sun for 15 days .The oil turns black in color. Strain the oil and use it .This oil not only gives a black color to your hair, but also stops hair fall.

Curry leaves Hair oil

Boil coconut oil and add a handful of curry leaves to it .Then switch off the gas. After it cools, filter it and use that oil to massage your hair. This prevents hair fall and also delays graying.

Natural remedy for good hair growth:

Mix equal quantities of hibiscus flower juice and coconut oil, heat it in low flames and switch it off before it boils. Cool it and bottle it. Apply this oil daily for good hair growth. It also prevents hair fall.

Hair Oil to check hair fall & for good hair growth

Take equal quantities of pure castor oil, coconut oil and sesame seed or gingerly oil. Add a tsp of fenugreek and a piece of Acorus Calamus (Vasambu). Keep it in the sun for a few days. Apply that oil to stop hair fall and for lustrous hair .

Make your own herbal shampoo:

Ingredients needed

Sikkakai -1 kg

Dried Lemon peels

Curry leaves (dried)

Hibiscus flowers (ordinary red flower alone)

Fenugreek -250 grams

Green gram - 250 grams

Soap nuts (deseed it ,dry it )-100 grams (optional)

Dry everything in the sun and give it for grinding to the flour mill or you can buy all these powder (pure) and mix it and use it.

Herbal shampoo of Bengal gram or green gram flour :

Mix green gram flour or Bengal gram flour with water and use it to wash your hair. The hair becomes soft, clean and shining.

Natural Foot care

2010-08-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Natural ways to take care of your feet

Most of us take care of our face but the feet is the most ignored part of the body. In fact the legs bear the whole weight of the body. So we should include foot care in our daily routine. Here are some ways, we can take care of our feet naturally.
1.Soak feet in a large basin or bowl to which warm water and mineral salt is added for about 10 minutes. You can place pebbles in the large bowl and roll your feet back and forth giving slight pressure as it gives a massaging effect. Scrub using pumice stone to remove dead skin. Wash your feet well, then pat it dry and massage with a moisturizing cream.

You can add juice of one lemon and a few neem leaves to the water as neem has antiseptic qualities.
Rose petals or 2-3 drops of lavender essential oil can be added to the water to give a spa effect at home.
2.Natural remedy for treating cracked feet:
Wash your feet well and apply Vaseline or petroleum jelly at night and slip a pair of cotton socks and go to sleep. In a few weeks, your feet will become soft.
Mix fresh lemon juice, castor oil, rose water and apply it after cleaning your feet.
Olive oil can be applied regularly to have a soft feet.
Neem paste mixed with turmeric powder can be used to treat cracked feet, though it is very messy.
Lemon rind can be rubbed daily. Wash it off after 15 minutes.
3.Walking is best exercise for your legs. Go for brisk walk at least 5 days a week.
4.Another exercise for your feet: Hold your ankles with your hand and rotate clockwise and anticlockwise. Do this for both the legs.
Also rotate each toes with your fingers.
Bend the toes forward and backwards.
Point your toes downwards as far as possible then flex them as high as possible. Do this for both the legs.
Exercise will improve blood circulation to your feet.
5.Hot (bearable) and cold treatment also improves blood circulation. Soak feet in hot water first, and then in cold water. Do this for 5-10 minutes. End with cold water .
6.Avoid heels as far as possible. Buy good fitting shoes which is comfortable for you.
7.Change your socks everyday to prevent smelly feet. Use socks made of natural material .

8.Take 3 tea bags and boil it in 3 cups of water. Mix it with half a bucket of cool water and soak feet in it to get rid of smelly feet.
9.Waxing your legs is a better option than shaving. But if you have to shave, use lot of moisturizer to avoid razor rashes.
10.Take a few minutes to massage your legs with coconut oil or olive oil everyday before bath.
11.After shower, dry your feet well in between toes with a towel to prevent fungal infection
Natural Homemade scrub for lovely legs: Squeeze juice of one fresh lemon and mix it with a little sugar and scrub gently. Wash it off with cold water.
Sea salt mixed with water also makes a great scrub for legs.

Beauty tips and care for the eyes

2010-08-12T08:05:00.001-07:00

Eyes are one of the most wonderful gift given to us, so one has to take care of the eyes.

Here are some tips to take care of your eyes.

Have a good night sleep and give enough rest to your eyes.

Since the skin around the eyes are very sensitive, one has to take good care and handle it delicately. You can massage your eyes with almond oil using your ring finger without giving much pressure.

Refresh your eyes by splashing cold water on it .

Since eyes are very sensitive, buy good quality cosmetics. Never lend or use others eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, mascara or eye shadow.

Wear a good quality sunglasses which protect your eyes from UV rays while going out in the sun.

Have a good diet consisting of fruits and vegetables. Red, orange, yellow and dark green vegetables, fruits and greens are very good for the eyes. Drink plenty of water.

Apply pure castor oil for the eyebrows before going to bed for good growth.

Wear plain glasses while doing work that generates dust.

Soak cotton wool in chilled water to which a few drops of rose water has been added and keep it on your eyes for 5 minutes. This will refresh your eyes.

Read in good light and keep a good distance while watching television.

Rub your palms together and cover your eyes with palms to relax then .

For wrinkles or fine lines around the eyes, apply egg white, leave it till it dries and wash it off with cold water. Do this regularly or on alternate days. This natural remedy for wrinkles around the eyes is very effective.

Apply apricot kernel oil to prevent wrinkles around the eyes.

Beauty tips for dark circles around the eyes

Dark circles around the eyes may be due to :

Lack of sleep

Heredity

Strain

Lack of nutrition

Constipation

Stress

Prolonged wearing of spectacles

1.Soak cotton in cucumber or potato juice and keep it on the eyes for 5 minutes and relax.

or you can even apply the juice with cotton around the eyes. If done regularly, this home remedy for dark circles is very effective.

2.Apply almond oil around the eyes before going to bed or in the morning. Almond is a natural bleach.

3.Mix a pinch of turmeric powder with a little pineapple juice and apply it on the dark circles.

4.Steep chamomile tea bag in boiling water, cool it, chill it and apply it to puffy eyes.

5.Try to reduce your salt intake in your diet to get rid of puffy eyes.

6.Drink at least 8 glasses of water everyday.

7.Apply tomato juice mixed with a few drops of lemon juice. Curd can also be used with tomato juice instead of lemon juice. This natural remedy for dark circles is very effective if followed regularly.

8.Mix raw potato juice with tomato pulp and apply to the dark circles. Do it regularly. This is an excellent home remedy for dark circles. Do not wash potato after peeling the skin.

9. Keep a chilled used tea bag on the eyes for 10 minutes and relax. This gets rid of puffy eyes.

10.Apply a cold compress to your eyes for 3-5 minutes to reduce puffiness under the eyes.

11.Soak 3-4 almonds overnight. In the morning peel its skin and and grind it to a smooth paste with a little milk. Apply this paste to the dark circles and leave it till it dries. Wash it off with warm water. This is an effective home remedy for dark circles

These are some of the home remedies for dark circles and puffy eyes.

You can do Surya namaskar (yogic exercise) everyday. When time permits look at the green plants and trees to refresh your eyes. You can learn and do simple eye exercise to strengthen the eye muscles and relax them.

Nail Care

2010-08-12T07:58:00.001-07:00

Appearance of the nails tells us a lot about the health condition of a person, so caring for the nails and keeping them clean is very important. Below are few tips for healthy nails-

Beauty tips for nails

1.Massage nails with lemon rind or lemon juice and wash it off after sometime. This also removes strains from the nails.

2.Include food rich in calcium, protein, vitamin C, vitamin B and zinc in your diet. Milk, eggs, curd, sesame seeds, figs, peanuts, almonds, chick peas, greens, sprouts are all rich in calcium. Include fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet.

3.Take 1 tsp of gelatin and dissolve in a little boiling water, cool it and use it in your fruit juice. You can take this for a week.

4. Wear gloves to protect your hands and nails while doing house work and other messy work.

5.Soak your nails in warm olive oil once in 10 days to keep them healthy and well nourished.

6.Massage your cuticles with a good quality moisturizing cream. This will improve blood circulation around the nails and also prevent brittle nails.

7.Massage nails with olive oil or pure almond oil. This is a very effective natural home remedies for brittle nails.

8. Always use good quality nail polish. Do avoid wearing nail polish continuously so that your nails can breathe.

9. Trim your nails after a bath or shower as it makes them softer and will result in a more even cut.

10.Have manicures on a regular basis.

11.Finally drink lot of water and be free of stress.

Home Remedies to clear Scars and Blemishes:

2010-08-12T07:56:00.001-07:00

1.Soak 4 almonds overnight, peel the skin and grind it to a paste. Mix rose water with it and apply it on the face to clear pimple scars. Almonds can be taken internally as it is rich in vitamin E and nourishes our skin from within.

2.Apply olive oil regularly on the face and massage lightly. The scars will fade off in course of time.

3.Mix radish juice with a little gram flour and buttermilk and apply to the face .Wash it off after 20 minutes to clear scars left by pimples. Do it regularly.

4.Dab honey on the spot and cover it with a bandage to get rid of blemish overnight.

5.Application of buttermilk daily helps to lighten scars.

6.Drink carrot juice regularly with honey for a month to clear marks, scars and blemishes.

7.Tomato pulp can be applied everyday on the face and washed off after half an hour to get rid of scars from pimples.

8.Apply a face pack of 1/2 tsp of orange peel powder, 1/2 tsp of fuller's earth and 1/4 tsp of mint powder (or grinded paste of 5-6 fresh mint leaves) once or twice a week to get rid of scars naturally. Keep the pack for 15-20 minutes and wash it off.

9.Raw potato juice applied daily cures skin blemishes. Raw Potato juice can also be mixed with fuller's earth (multani mitti ) and applied to get rid of scars and blemishes naturally.

10.Mix Dried orange peel powder with curd and use it as a face pack to clear blemishes and scars naturally.

11.You can use Aloe Vera based cream or fresh Aloe Vera gel to get rid of pores due to pimple.

Health Recipes

2010-08-12T07:55:00.003-07:00

Salads, Raitas & Ginger jam

Include fresh fruits, raw vegetables and sprouts in your diet as they can do wonders to your skin and hair and also made you a healthy person. Sprouts have lot of fiber and water and it is also a storehouse of vitamin, minerals and amino acids.

Here are a few health recipes which are very easy to prepare and saves you a lot of time. I have given a few recipes here, you can experiment with different combination using your imagination. You can even use sprouted peanuts, sprouted fenugreek, sprouted sesame seeds or even other cooked seeds.

1.SPROUTED GREEN GRAM SALAD:

Mix graded carrots, finely chopped tomatoes and sprouts together. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to it. Season with mustard, green chillies and finely chopped ginger. Garnish with coriander or parsley leaves. You can mix puffed rice before serving which is optional.

2.MIXED VEGETABLE SALAD:

Mix finely chopped or graded beetroot, cabbage, carrots, capsicum together. Add finely chopped tomatoes, cucumber, ginger, cauliflower (After boiling it in hot water containing salt to remove worms if any) and sprouted green gram. Mix lemon juice, salt and pepper (optional). Season with finely chopped green chillies and mustard. Garnish with coriander leaves.

4.PLAIN GREEN GRAM SALAD:

Take sprouted green gram and add juice of lemon according to taste. Add salt to taste. Season with mustard, graded ginger and finely chopped green chilies. Garnish with coriander leaves.

5.CUCUMBER RAITA:

Mix finely chopped cucumber and tomato and add curd (fat free) to it. Add salt to taste. Season with green chillies and mustard. Garnish with coriander leaves.

6.WHITE PUMPKIN RAITA:

Grade white pumpkin and add salt to it. Then drain the excess water after 10 minutes. Mix curd and season with mustard and finely chopped green chillies. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. You can do this with radish also. Instead of pumpkin use graded radish.

7.PLANTAIN STEM SALAD:

Take tender stem and cut it into thin round slices. Add lemon juice, salt and season with mustard and finely chopped chillies. Garnish with coriander leaves.

8. PLANTAIN STEM RAITA:

Chop tender plantain stem, add curd and salt to it. Season with mustard and green chillies and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

9.GOOSEBERRY RAITA:

Steam 6-7 gooseberries, deseed it. Grind it along with a tsp of coconut and green chillies to paste .Mix curd to it and add salt to taste. Season it with mustard and garnish it with coriander leaves. If you prefer you can use raw gooseberry also.

10.VALLARAI RAITA:

Wash the leaves well, chop it finely and mix it with curd. Add salt to taste. This is excellent for improving memory. Season it with mustard if needed.

11.DATES AND GINGER JAM:

Wash ginger and dry it well. Scrap the skin and cut it. Soak ginger, dry grapes and dates in honey overnight. Grind everything together. Now cook this paste over a vessel of boiling water for some time. Cool it and use it. Take half or 1 teaspoon of this jam daily.

12.GREEN GRAM PANCAKE:

Soak 1 cup of full Green gram, (Moong dhal) quarter cup of broken green gram dhal and 1 1/2 tablespoon of raw rice for five hours. Drain the water and grind it along with green chillies, ginger, onion and salt. Season it with jeera, finely chopped onion and green chillies. Heat tava, spread the batter and make crispy dosas. Serve it hot with tomato ketchup.

13.POTATO RAITA:

Boil potatoes, peel the skin and smash it well. Cool it and add salt and curd to it. Season it with finely chopped chillies and mustard. Garnish with coriander (finely chopped) leaves. Serve chilled.

Hand Care

2010-08-12T07:54:00.003-07:00

Keep your hands well moisturized. Apply a good hand lotion before going to bed.

Exfoliate your hands with a mixture of Bengal gram flour (besan), milk and fresh lemon juice regularly.

For soft hands:

Mix 1 tsp of Glycerin, half teaspoon of lemon juice and a little rose water and apply it two times a day.

Blend banana, add 1-2 tsp of honey to it and apply it the the hands .Wash it off after it dries.

Mix a tsp of honey with a tbsp of beetroot paste, 2-3 drops of glycerine and apply it for soft hands and legs.

Natural remedy for chapped hands:

Wash hands, pat dry and apply vinegar diluted in a little water and put on a pair of soft gloves. Wear gloves while washing dishes to protect your hands from the harsh chemicals.

Apply olive oil or sunflower oil .This is an effective home remedy for chapped hands.

Mix fresh cream with a tsp of sugar and a little lemon juice and massage your hands till the sugar granules dissolve for soft hands.

Apply coconut oil mixed with petroleum jelly for rough, chapped hands.