Healthy Report

Anxiety Without Warning

2008-11-30T23:42:00.000-08:00

I believe things in life happen for a purpose. Because of my encounter with anxiety and in the interest of being a positive influence, I wanted to share my experience in order to provide hope and encouragement to those who are suffering with anxiety or depression. It was certainly a comfort to me to learn that I was not alone in dealing with this problem.

The first anxiety attack I had was at work during a lunch break. It started when I began to have the sensation of choking along with shortness of breath. Along with this I noticed my heart seemed to be pounding and racing leading me to think I may be having the warning signs of an impending heart attack. For the next couple of hours I struggled with wondering what was happening. I became convinced there was a possible heart attack looming. Consequently, this first attack resulted in my boss driving me to the hospital.

In subsequent attacks I had more of the classic indicators like fear of the worst happening, losing control or going crazy and dying. To those who have had these experiences know how completely paralyzing they can be. Those who have had similar attacks will be able to understand that it is not a very fun experience to have an episode like this, let alone having to leave work due to the panic attack.

Causes:

I have always wondered why anxiety attacks happened to me. My wife was diagnosed with cancer a number of years ago and this is when I began having the anxiety attacks. The stress of this diagnosis and fear was probably a contributing factor. My doctor believes anxiety is brought on by low brain serotonin levels caused by stress, lack of rest and proper exercise. Unfortunately, sometimes there are no clear answers to what brings on this condition.

Medical help:

In my case, Lorazepam, an anxiety medication helped me get through some very tough times. Lorazepam also known by its brand name Ativan is a benzodiazepine drug which is a type of medication known as a tranquilizer with a relatively short to medium time in which it is effectual. It has a sedative or muscle relaxant and nerve calming effect.

Among benzodiazepines, lorazepam has a relatively high addictive potential. For those having repeated panic attacks, this seems like a minor consideration. Unfortunately, in my situation the anxiety medication quickly started to lose its effectiveness. Because of the duties at my day job it was not feasible to keep upping the dosage of lorazepam which would have had a much too strong sedative effect.

The repeated attacks necessitated that I was prescribed anti depression meds, Lexapro to be specific. Lexapro is an antidepressant in a group of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or (SSRIs). The SSRIs appear to relieve symptoms of depression by blocking the re-absorption or reuptake of serotonin by certain nerve cells in the brain. This leaves more serotonin available in other areas of the brain resulting in enhanced neurotransmission which improves the depressed person's mood. And, for reasons not entirely understood, SSRIs are called selective because they seem to affect only serotonin. Lexapro is one of a number of drugs used to treat anxiety and depression. Other drugs in this class of serotonin inhibitors are Celexa, Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.

The depression meds definitely stopped the anxiety attacks. For this, I am thankful. Upon more research I am convinced that long term use of these types' of meds can be extremely dangerous, especially for young people. These meds should only be used under constant supervision of medical professionals.

These meds helped me to function at my day job without experiencing the panic attacks. Over time however the depression meds started affecting my logical thought process and subsequently I found myself to be using an increasing twisted logical pattern of arriving at conclusions devoid of my normal emotions. In my case, these changes were very subtle and are why I believe these types of meds can be very dangerous especially for young people. Being older and having some analytical skills helped me to some extent realize changes were happening in my emotions and thought processes.

Because of the subtle scary changes in my thinking process I began trying to stop using the depression meds. I tried weaning my self of the meds very slowly with my doctor's supervision. Unfortunately, within a week of discontinuing the meds, the anxiety returned and I had to resume using Lexapro. I felt trapped in what can be described as a vicious circle. Others with panic disorders along with me have described the depression meds like an alien being inside your brain.

General Observations regarding Anxiety and Depression:

A panic attack usually comes without warning. The first time a person experiences a panic attack it can feel like their world is falling apart. Many have found themselves in the hospital's emergency room because of thinking that you were having a heart attack (as in my case) only to learn later that it was anxiety?

Although the first panic attack may take place in a distinct situation, further episodes are unpredictable as to time or place. This was especially true in my case.

Usually, one or more unpleasant physical symptoms will be present in an intense or acute form during an actual panic attack, such as increased heart rate, dizziness, shortness of breath, inability to concentrate, along with varying levels of confusion.

After a number of panic attacks, the individual can become afraid of being a helpless victim of panic. It is common to be afraid of leaving your home, or to be in public places. Even when not experiencing an anxiety attack, the individual with panic attacks will become increasingly tense and apprehensive. It is common to remain psychologically on edge in preparation for the next attack.

Episodes of acute fear or anxiety are the hallmark of panic disorder and include at least several symptoms. Individuals who have suffered with panic attacks can readily relate to the following bullet points which are known to be classic symptoms:

• Feeling of choking or suffocating
• Racing, or pounding heart
• Sweating
• Trembling and shaking
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pressure, or pain, making the person think they may be having a heart attack
• Fear of the worst happening, losing control or going crazy
• Fear of dying
• Nausea or an upset stomach
• Dizziness, unsteadiness, lightheadedness or faintness
• Numbness or tingling sensations
• Chills or hot flashes
• Feelings of being detached from oneself or feelings of unreality

Solutions:

Thankfully, I ran across research out of Europe that utilized an amino acid S-adenosylmethionine commonly referred to as SAMe to treat depression and anxiety. I am very happy to be completely free of the depression meds. My thought processes have returned to normal as well as my emotions reawakening to a natural state.

As frightening and paralyzing as panic attacks can be there is always hope. I am convinced there are natural solutions to anxiety. While not necessarily helping during an attack, it is good to know that the actual attack does not do any real damage or physical harm to the individual.

If anxiety is brought on through gradual chemical changes in the brain due to aging, stress or other factors such as poor absorption of nutrition into the brain it seems to me that finding ways to reverse the chemical changes naturally will be most effective.

Natural Solutions:

I would place prayer, counseling and talking with concerned friends along with life style changes as important factors in overcoming anxiety. I personally believe that it was beneficial to be open about what was happening with me. It is a mistake to try and hide a problem with anxiety and depression.

Contrary to initial instincts to pretend there is nothing wrong out of fear of embarrassment, there are many individuals who can be of great encouragement. If your friend or family member is having these problems, don't act as those they have the plague. Your encouragement and support is vital to assist in situations like this. I personally had people talk me through or at least lighten a panic attack.

As already mentioned, S-adenosylmethionine or SAMe has remarkable promise helping individuals to get off depression meds chiefly because it has proven helpful for many people and also because it is one of the most carefully researched natural products. This research began in Europe approximately fifteen years ago. SAMe works by releasing a substance that is essential to the production of neurotransmitters that antidepressant medications look for such as serotonin. Although the SSRI pharmaceutical drugs block the reuptake of these brain chemicals, SAMe on the other hand encourages the normal production of them. This makes sense if the anxiety is due to low serotonin levels in the brain.

In addition, there are substances such as tryptophan and 5-HTP that are precursors to serotonin that increase neurotransmitter production. In chemistry a precursor is compound that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound. It should also be noted that St. John's wort is a popular herb for treating depression.

Essentials oils have also shown promise in helping with depression and anxiety. Evidence has shown that essential oils particularly lavender oil can increase the release of serotonin and as a result produce a calming effect on the individual. Essential oils are concentrated hydrophobic liquid that contains aroma compounds from plants. The most significant thing essential oils do is to get the pineal gland (a small endocrine gland in the brain) working more efficiently and as a result helps in cleansing toxins from the body. Research shows that essential oils are high in sesquiterpenes which are hydrocarbons with 15 carbon atoms and are especially helpful in this cleaning process. That is because sesquiterpenes have the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, to oxygenate the brain and clear out plaques and toxins that inhibit the release of serotonin.

In addition, there are foods and supplements that can help improve an individual's mood. A number of vitamins and minerals such as B vitamins, magnesium, chromium and selenium may be deficient when you're depressed or anxious. Omega-3 fatty acids have also been shown to improve mood in depressed people.

A nutritional program should include standardized high quality supplements made in compliance with good manufacturing practices along with good whole foods and filtered water to help improve the structure and function of new cells your body is making. During the aging process, there is an increase need for certain vitamins and minerals due to less efficient utilization of them for a variety of factors brought on by the aging process. Proper rest and exercise are also important factors in overall health.

Thankfully,
Jack@KettlerWellness.com

Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 25 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Mr. Kettler can be reached through his business site at: http://www.internationalhomebusinessonline.com Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.

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Basic Meditation Explained

2008-11-21T23:39:00.000-08:00

Basic meditation will improve your focus, make you a happier person, and greatly reduce the stress in your life. And this ancient practice is actually quite easy to learn and apply.

There are many different forms of meditation. This practice is thousands of years old and has been used by warriors, monks, artists, and visionaries since the beginning of history to achieve great peace and focus.

But the really great news is anyone, including you, can very easily learn basic meditation. And once you begin this powerful but simple practice your life will likely change in ways you never imagined possible.

The simplest way to describe meditation is to say it is the practice of sitting still and doing nothing. Quite literally this practice is about sitting comfortably in a quiet room, relaxing completely and allowing your mind to be totally free.

The most basic meditation is the watching of your breath. To perform this exercise you simply find a comfortable spot away from any distractions, sit cross-legged on the floor, and completely allow your hips and shoulders to relax.

It's best to sit in a room with a closed door. And by all means if you need to place a pillow underneath you to support your back do so.

Once you are in position and have allowed your body to relax, close your eyes. Be very aware of the darkness as you look into your closed eyelids.

After a moment of relaxing into the darkness, allow your attention gently to find your breath. Become aware of your lungs as they inhale, as they pause briefly, as they push the air back out, and finally as they begin the cycle again.

Make no effort to control or change your breathing, and allow your body to find whatever rhythm it wants in the moment. Sometimes your breathing will be very slow and deep. Other times your lungs will work more quickly and will not pull the air in quite as deeply. Accept your breathing for what it is and simply watch it.

There are many specific breathing exercises you can learn to develop the proper lung function, but those should be practiced separately from your meditation sessions.

As you watch your breath rise and fall you allow your mind to rest from the constant forced thinking and internal chatter it endures throughout the day. Releasing your mind from its daily work on a regular basic will change the way your body works, and it will change the way you think.

Meditating for as little as three to five minutes each day is a great start. As your body and mind become more comfortable with the routine you can extend this to ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes.

Most people in today's chaotic society do not experience relaxation on this profound, intentional level. You may be surprised by the increased focus, heightened awareness, improved patience, and greater sense of happiness and personal power you begin to experience after only a few weeks.

It's difficult to attain a purely intellectual understanding of how basic meditation can produce these amazing results. And to be honest most traditional schools of thought avoid clouding the experience with excessive analysis and debate.

Once you understand how to experience basic meditation you should not bother with the details of how this practice actually causes the positive changes you begin to notice. Just be grateful you have welcomed these changes into your life and continue to meditate.

Bring greater peace, improved focus, and a sense of personal power into your life today with our free basic meditation tutorial. Also be sure to check out our detailed articles on the ancient chakra system.

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4 Healthy Tips That Will Help You Live Longer

2008-11-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

We've all been told how bad some things are for our health... but sometimes it's hard to listen. Perhaps some new research might help spur you to follow these health tips.

By making the big four lifestyle changes - no smoking, regular exercise, healthy eating and managing your weight - you could reduce your risk of an early death by nearly 50 percent. This according to research by a team from the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital that looked at not just one lifestyle choice, but all four commonly suggested for staying healthy and active.

The work appears on the British Medical Journal website and covers a study that ran an astonishing 24 years and involved nearly 80,000 nurses. Participants filled out detailed follow up questionnaires every two years that covered their diet, frequency of workouts, alcohol intake, their weight, if they smoked and any disease development. Over the study period, 8,882 of the women died, including 1,790 from heart disease and 4,527 from cancer.

Smoking played the biggest role in the women's deaths, and alcohol consumption seemed to have the least influence. In fact, a moderate level of drinking, one drink per day, seemed incredibly to provide some protection from heart disease.
According to the research, following all four health tips could result in a reduction of...

- 44 percent of cancer deaths

- 72 percent of cardiovascular deaths

"These findings underscore the importance of intensifying both efforts to eradicate cigarette smoking and those aimed at improving diet and physical activity," Dr. Rob van Dam and colleagues wrote in the British Medical Journal.

It's common sense... maddeningly simple... now if only our willpower matched our desire for staying healthy! Even if you can't manage to follow all four healthy tips right now, try to do some things to help yourself get active, eat better and limit those nasty vices. And take heart... "Even modest differences in lifestyle can have a substantial impact on reducing mortality rates," the study's authors write.

Over 14,000 people have joined Kirsten's popular (and sometimes controversial) Daily Health Bulletin, so why not join them and stay up to date with the latest healthy tips and general health news daily.

You'll also get 5 comprehensive health reports for free when you join - giving you all the information you need to treat common ailments, lose weight, look younger and feel healthier.

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The Secret Weapon Against Obesity

2008-10-31T23:34:00.000-07:00

While we've been content to use casually use Cinnamon in our daily goings on it has fast emerged as a sleeping miracle spice.

Next time you look at cinnamon don't just think of it as a flavoring for batch of cookies.

Know it as the spice of kings. Did you know that Egyptians used cinnamon over 5,000 years ago to embalm the dead during the mummification process.

Cinnamon was also used as an antiseptic during the times of the Bubonic plague.

Now it is found in our modern age that cinnamon's medical benefits also extend to us.

Cinnamon has been linked with increased memory function, for combating urinary tract infections and yeas infections.

Nature's Secret weapon against Obesity:

Cinnamon lowers blood sugar levels and regulates normal insulin, pancreatic function in those with type 2 diabetes.

People who carry a little more abdominal have a higher risk of becoming type 2 diabetes and chances are they are pre-diabetic where their body becomes less reactive to insulin making them insulin resistant. In fact a bigger belly can indicate type 2 diabetes as this is where the fat tends to be stored in those predisposed to the condition.

People who have added cinnamon to their daily diets have noticed a reduction in their belly fat as well as their blood sugar levels normalizing which was reflected in blood tests.

How can you add Cinnamon to your daily diet?

Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to your breakfast oatmeal

Add some to your French toast

Sprinkle some on your coffee or take a teaspoon in your tea.

If you would like to grab my free 14 day eating plan that saw me lose 7 pounds in 14 days with my killer cinnamon oatmeal recipe with a twist, then go here to grab your copy now.

http://www.losemyfatbellyfast.com

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Full Body Dumbbell Workouts For Fitness, Fat Loss and Strength

2008-10-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

Dumbbells are an excellent tool to build fitness, burn off unwanted fat and build stronger, bigger muscles. After all, their ability to be used in unison, with one limb or in an alternating manner make them more versatile and effective than many other training tools. But be forewarned... there is not one "BEST" dumbbell workout for all occasions.

As a matter of fact, the "typical" dumbbell workout you find
on the Internet, in books or in magazines is an example of one of the least effective ways to use dumbbells for self improvement. By "typical", I mean a workout that uses lighter dumbbells to target small muscle groups like a bodybuilder.

If you want to get the most benefits from your dumbbell training, you need to stop looking for the best workout (singular), and start looking for a series of full body workouts you can rotate between. Keep reading to see what I mean.

Full Body Dumbbell Workouts For Fitness

One of the main reasons people work out is to "get fit". And as stated earlier, dumbbells are great for improving fitness you can actually use in the real world because of the ways they can be utilized. You can use them together, one at a time and in an alternating fashion, just like real world movements.

In order to train as many fitness abilities as possible (strength, power, cardiorespiratory endurance, coordination, balance, etc.), you need to use a wide variety of dumbbell workouts. I suggest you use three different workouts (A,B and C) for each of your workout days. Use a wide variety of weights, rep ranges and rest periods to improve overall physical condition and work capacity. Remember, the goal is to improve fitness without sacrificing your fat loss or muscle building goals.

Full Body Dumbbell Workouts For Fat Loss

Dumbbell workouts for fat loss are NOT light dumbbells used for high repetitions. Fat loss workouts using dumbbells should be very challenging, use a wide variety of exercises and target the entire body. Making your dumbbell workout as challenging as possible not only burns a lot of calories during the workout... but also for hours AFTER the workout is completed.

For example, you could use 3 different workouts for each work day (A, B and C) and keep the rest periods low between exercises. Then when you start the second week, reduce the rest periods even further for more fat loss. But remember, the goal is to burn as much fat as possible without sacrificing your fitness and muscle building goals.

Full Body Workouts For Strength And Size

Most people would expect to see some type of split-routine here to build muscle. However, I believe full body workouts are best for building the type of athletically muscular body most people want. To build an athletic body, don't train like a bodybuilder.

Use the heaviest dumbbells you can and perform compound exercise that use as many big muscle groups as possible. Choose your exercise based on movement patterns, and not the specific muscles they work. This is the way to build a strong, muscular body using dumbbells. And remember, don't sacrifice your fitness and fat loss goals while building muscle.

Look, there is not a dumbbell workout in existence that can meet everyone's goals under every circumstance. However, if you rotate between 3 different full body dumbbell workouts (one a month), you can build a fit, lean, athletically muscular body that performs as good as it looks.

Coach Eddie Lomax uses dumbbells for maximum effect in his dumbbell workout program: Extreme Dumbbell Fitness. If you still think dumbbell training holds no surprises, be sure to check out the Above And Beyond Package while you are there.
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Amazing Laser Eye Surgery

2008-10-21T23:52:00.000-07:00

Laser eye surgery is a modern miracle for many. Thanks to this advancement in vision correction there are so many people who now have perfect eyesight and have been able to throw away their glasses and contact lenses and live a more carefree life.

It's amazing to think of how far laser eye surgery has come since it's beginning over 4 decades ago. Lasers can now accurately change the shape of the cornea to correct the focus and help you see more clearly.

LASIK eye surgery results can be amazing, but it is still
surgery and there are risks involved and potential complications so you should take the time to learn all you can about LASIK before opting for the procedure. Even so, laser eye surgery has become more important year after year and with technological advancements there are now several types of LASIK that can be utilized to correct your vision. Many people feel that the potential benefits of laser vision correction far outweigh any possible complications.

As a patient you'll find that LASIK is not painful, but it can be uncomfortable and even frightening for some. This is because you are kept awake during the procedure and your eyes are held open artificially. You will need to continue to stare into the buzzing laser and this can frighten some patients.

In the past the initial flap in the cornea was created using a metal scalpel, but that has changed as well with the introduction of IntraLase and now the entire eye surgery can be done just with lasers. This is a comfort to many who were really freaked out by the sight of the metal blade coming towards their eye. IntraLase is also much more precise that the older bladed cutting method, which helps to cut down on complications.

After creating a flap in the cornea the LASIK laser is used to reshape the cornea and improve the focus of the eye. It has been compared to adjusting the focus on your camera lens. Reshaping the cornea helps it to focus light properly and thus improves the vision, often dramatically.

It's best to consult with an eye surgery clinic or physician to discuss the laser eye surgery procedure further and see what your options are. They will be able to advise you if you qualify for LASIK and will be able to give you costs and financing options. Trust me, it's a great feeling on the day you no longer need to wear contacts or glasses.

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A Beginners Guide to Meditation

2008-10-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Meditation is becoming more and more common in the west as people start to realise the benefits that it can bring. A lot of people that I have spoken to seem to feel a little lost when they try meditation for the first time. They are unsure of what meditation is about, how to do it or how it could help them. Many people simply just don't know where to start.

Meditation is one of the easiest and most accessible methods around to rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit. It can boost your energy levels
and relieve a tired and over worked mind. The main aim is to empty your mind of all thoughts. This may sound ridiculously simple but you might be surprised at how much your brain resists. Luckily though there are a few tips and tricks that can help you along the way towards this bliss like state.

Meditation can be done anywhere but when you first start out it may be easier if you can find a calm, quiet place where you won't be disturbed. Somewhere where you feel relaxed and comfortable. Some people think that you need to sit on a hard floor crossed legged in the lotus position to meditate properly. Many people do do this but it's not necessary. A comfy chair that supports your back and lets you relax fully can often make the process much easier.

Once you are comfortable it's time to start emptying your mind. One of the easiest ways I've found to do this is to concentrate on my breathing. As you slow down and focus on your breathing your body will naturally begin to relax and unwind too. Be careful you don't hyperventilate though. The first few times I tried to meditate I made myself dizzy and had terrible headaches. That's not really the result you are aiming for. Try to relax and breath normally, feel the air as it passes through your nose and mouth. Feel your chest rise and fall as your lungs inflate and deflate. Most of all just try to relax and enjoy the experience.

Mantra's are also a good way to empty your mind. By continuously repeating a phrase over and over again it leaves little room for other thoughts to intrude. Many people use ancient sanskrit phrases like "OM", this is a particularly good one to use because as well as giving you something to focus on; the low vibrational sound of the world also helps you to relax. Other people prefer to use more modern positive thoughts or affirmations as their mantra's. These work just as well and give your self esteem a little boost too.

However you choose to empty to your mind you'll probably find that the odd stray thought will still creep in. This is ok, don't feel frustrated by this. Simply recognise that the thought is there then bring your focus back to your meditation. Be patient will yourself. Meditation developes over a period of time. The more you practise the easier you will find it is to slip into that meditative state.

Lots of guru's suggest that you spend anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour a day meditating. Many people feel intimidated by this length of time. It's often difficult to keep your mind focused for so long without it wandering off to plan your shopping list or worry about your bills. Don't let these times scare you. If 15 minutes is too long, try 5 minutes, or even a minute without any thoughts interrupting you. Any meditation at all is beneficial. Soon you'll come to crave these minutes and will find it easier and easier to meditate. The most important thing is to do it as regularly as possible. If you can, set aside a specific time each day that is yours and yours alone, for quiet, uninterrupted meditation.

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Cellulite Therapy - The Light Energy Way

2008-10-05T23:46:00.000-07:00

You should choose the right cellulite treatment before you select on one. Consult your doctor regarding your cellulite, see how severe it is and ask for his advice. Many therapies like massage, mesotherapy, endermologie and others prove useful in treating cellulite. Many skilled and licensed technicians perform these therapies that are safe and very effective. Ultrasound therapy is a professionally administered treatment that reduces the unpleasant uneven dimpling skin skilfully. So let us get acknowledged about body contouring advantages of removing cellulite.

Smoother skin with ultrasound technique

By now you must be well aware about the infamous cellulite and its unattractive appearance on the skin, the lumps, dimples and lumps that
are formed on the skin. Cellulite is nothing but a deformed body fat cell. A fat cell under normal conditions has smaller size and does not show lumpiness formed due to build up of connective bands that surround the fat cell.

Controlled energy from ultrasound

Ultrasound is a light energy that delivers light energy in specific and required amounts underneath the skin. This energy is concentrated on the thigh area or cellulite region where damage has been caused to the upper skin surface. This ultrasound energy is immediately absorbed by the fat cells causing the interior temperature to rise by five degrees or more. The temperature causes the breaking down of cell membrane that allows the accumulated cellular fat to be released through natural body elimination process.

Benefits and safety features of cellulite therapy

Ultrasound therapy has evolved to be a safe diagnostic tool. Ultrasound has been used to monitor a foetus in mother's womb; it has been used as a tool in kidney disease to break the kidney stones. The advantage of ultrasound is that it requires no anaesthesia and scalpels. The only feeling that a patient gets is of slight warming beneath the surface. Ultrasound technique does not cause any swelling, pain or bruising. Offers little down time and virtually no health risks or pre-treatment regimen.

To get better results, ultrasound cellulite therapy also features mechanical massaging for the treated area. This assists the break up of butt or thigh cellulite cell membranes, discharge swelling of fat cells, and enhance lymphatic action and blood circulation to allow the fat to flow away from butt and legs resulting natural body elimination.

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The Dangers of the Stachybotrys Mold

2008-09-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

Fungi such as the Stachybotrys mold produce secondary metabolites such as antibiotics (e.g., penicillin), mycotoxins, and those that produce the acrid, musty smell characteristic of mold growth.

It's important to test for mold in your home because most symptoms of black mold illnesses are closely similar to sinusitis symptoms and may therefore be pooh-poohed by some physicians. They'll prescribe decongestants to relieve your stuffy nose or perhaps recommend syrups to alleviate the coughing, but if these are due to the Stachybotrys mold, then you're barely scratching the surface.

Apart from the symptoms that the non-toxic mold can cause in a person, the Stachybotrys mold effects severe, often long-term effects on the victim. Nausea and vomiting have been reported by patients, and this is because the mold can work its way to the digestive system.

Worse, the Stachybotrys mold can also interfere with the normal structure of myelin, a component of the protective covering of our nerve cells. When this is damaged, the patient experiences nervous disorders - some of whose effects may be irreversible.

Coughing up blood, nosebleeding, skin allergies, and tightness in the chest are all possible symptoms of Stachybotrys mold exposure. Before the symptoms get any worse, you should consult your doctor. If he is not certain whether what you're experiencing is mold-induced or not, you can help him out by keping a journal.

In this journal, write down a detailed narration of the symptoms you experience whenever you're entering certain rooms in the house. If there are areas which aggravate the symptoms significantly, there's a big likelihood that there's a Stachybotrys Mold Treatment contamination somewhere.

As soon as you can, contract the services of professionals who can make an inspection of your home so you can discount the possibility of a Stachybotrys mold infection or not. The mold inspector will have to take samples which will then be taken to a laboratory for testing.

Of course, the cleanup doesn't come with the inspection. If the results are positive, you would have to hire the services of a separate cleanup team. The work all this entails could easily chalk up several hundred dollars, but if you care about your health, then you shouldn't be worrying about the cost. Besides, tackling the problem would early on would nip the problem in the bud, so to speak.

You may alternatively want to purchase a mold inspection kit to check for the presence of the Stachybotrys mold yourself. These kits include high-tech mold testing films to check for contamination in the air or on surfaces. Apart from the films, kits normally have mold detection and cleaning guides, test kit instructions, and a screening kit.

You can also find more info on Black Mold. Blackmoldbliss.com is a comprehensive resource which provide information about Blackmold.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerard_K._Lawson

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Alcohol Rehab - Effects of Alcohol

2008-09-14T23:17:00.000-07:00

If you or your loved one wants to go under alcohol rehabilitation then it is a good idea to go through bad effects which alcohol can have on your body. Alcohol is chemically known as Ethanol. It is highly soluble in water and because of that it has very fast effects on human body. It depresses human nervous system and also acts as a hypnotic and sedative.

The alcohol has euphoric effects on the human body at initial stages. The drinker becomes more confident and cheerful because of alcohol effects on the special parts of the brain. Alcohol can affect every organ of the body. The most serious side effects of alcohol consumption can be seen on the liver. Chronic addiction can result in to Liver cirrhosis. Liver cirrhosis is a life threatening disease which is very difficult to treat in later stages.

According to recent research alcohol has a connection with various types of cancers. The end product of alcohol that is acetaldehyde can provoke mouth, larynx, pharynx or esophageal cancer.

Alcohol abuse has many more bad effects on human body such as lethargy, confusion, stupor coma and even death. Alcohol abuse is one of the most common public health problems. It not only causes health related problems but also social problems. Addicted person has bad influence on his family members as well as on the society. Many steps are being taken by the government as well as private organizations to get rid of this serious problem.

I am sure that heard a lot about alcohol rehab programs and centers. These centers are specially designed to treat the people fighting with several types of addictions. The number of rehab centers is growing every day. There are many reasons behind the increasing popularity of these centers and programs. The first reason for their increasing popularity is their effectiveness. According to recent reports many people have been treated with the help of latest methods implied by these rehab programs.

Alcohol rehab programs are specially designed to meet the special needs of the person fighting with addiction. The first step is taken by the patient. He should decide to cooperate with the staff of the center. Usually the patient has to live in the center for a short duration. The duration of the stay varies according to the severity of the addiction. The patient should go under an extensive medical examination before the commencement of the program. The medical examination of the patient will help the doctor in planning the treatment.

Person finding a medical help should be very careful while opting a center. There are many alcohol rehabilitation centers out there but you should choose the one which provide professional services at affordable prices.

If you want to know more about Alcohol Rehab Program then feel free to visit Alcohol Rehabilitation.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Leland_Michaels

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The Real Questions of Depression

2008-08-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

There were several psychiatrists and psychologists gathered together for a discussion on the subject of depression. They had come together to identify all of the inaccurate, incorrect and misleading information regarding depression and the desire to educate and inform society regarding the real nature of depression. Also invited to attend was a world-renowned wise man to act as a mediator.

The discussion began when a doctor addressed the bind that depression creates for the patient. "When depression is stigmatized as illness and weakness, a double-bind is created; if we admit to depression, we will be stigmatized by others; if we feel it but do not admit it, we stigmatize ourselves, internalizing the social judgment...The only remaining choice may be truly sick behavior-to experience no emotion at all."

At this point the wise man interjected the question, "Is depression the root problem-or a symptom of another problem?"

Another clinician responded, "That's a good question when you think about it because what sane person could live in this world and not be a little crazy or depressed?"

The wise man declared, "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."

"That's the truest sign of insanity-insane people are always sure that they're just fine. It's only the sane people who are willing to admit they're crazy," said yet another clinician.

"Another consideration is that depression is made up of the two human emotions, anger and sadness over a loss. The anger one feels with themselves is aimed at the utter helplessness one experiences and a self-deprecating judgment about that helplessness. The sadness is rooted in the loss of the self and the inherent hopelessness that accompanies that loss," offered another doctor.

A member of the group addressed the wise man, "How do you, who is untrained in these matters see it? Please answer the question you posed regarding whether depression is the root problem or just a symptom."

The wise man responded, "That will become clear when we begin to ask the real questions. Questions like the ones that obtrude upon your consciousness whether you like it or not, the ones that make your mind start vibrating like a jackhammer, the questions that you come to terms with only to discover that they are still there. The real questions refuse to be placated. They barge into your life at the times when it seems most important that they stay away. They are the questions asked most frequently and answered most inadequately, the ones that reveal their true natures slowly, reluctantly, most often against your will. So, it seems to appear that depression may well be a symptom to some degree, and as you experts can also attest-a chemical imbalance on other occasions."

A doctor followed up by saying, "So, problems or real questions are, shall we say, the intellectual function of problems, so as to lead men to think; in which case depression is a small price to pay if it induces us to think about the cause of the disorder, confusion and insecurity which are the outstanding traits of our social life." The wise man said, "That is precisely it. Depression often settles itself on the hearts of some of the world's greatest thinkers and wise men because they are willing to battle it out with the real questions to discover the truth of a thing at any price. That price is often, depression."

Successful entrepreneur, V.P. Mosser is the creator of the Learn the Lessons Series, the Life's Journey publication and numerous thought provoking articles. To learn more and receive free chapters or issues, visit http://www.learnthelessons.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=V._P._Mosser

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Stamina Gravity Inversion Table

2008-08-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

You can start to built and maintain your fitness with this thing. Yes, the Stamina Gravity Inversion Table will help you best in get your health and stamina constantly. With it's key Features as follow :

* Maximum User Weight: 250 pounds
* User Height Range: 4'10" to 6'6"
* Inversion Range: Approximately 180 degrees
* Leg locks and heel holders for security
* Multiple adjustment settings on the pivot arms to control rotation speed
* Adjustable tether straps for safety
* Foam-padded handlebar returns
* Nylon-stitched support pad
* Skid-resistant floor protectors
* Steel frame construction
* Folds for easy storage
* Dimensions: 77.5 inches long by 27 inches wide by 79.5 inches tall
* Weight: 52 pounds

Here is the link to buy this : Stamina Gravity Inversion Table

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The Safe Way to Birth Control

2008-07-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

Why do I need to use a condom?

Condoms are the only form of protection, which can both help to stop the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV and prevent pregnancy.

Choosing the right condom

A number of different types of condom are now available. What is generally called a condom is the 'male' condom, a sheath or covering which fits over a man's penis, and which is closed at one end. There is also now a female condom, or vaginal sheath, which is used by a woman to fit inside her vagina.

What are condoms made of?

Condoms are usually made of latex or polyurethane. If possible, you should use a latex condom, as they are slightly more reliable, and in most countries, they are most readily available. Latex condoms can only be used with water-based lubricants, not oil based lubricants such as Vaseline or cold cream as
they break down the latex. A small number of people have an allergic reaction to latex and can use polyurethane condoms instead.

Polyurethane condoms are made out a type of plastic. They are thinner than latex condoms, and so they increase sensitivity and are more agreeable in feel and appearance to some users. They are more expensive than latex condoms and slightly less flexible so more lubrication may be needed. However both oil and water based lubricants can be used with them.

It is not clear whether latex or polyurethane condoms are stronger - there are studies suggesting that either is less likely to break. With both types however, the likelihood of breakages is very small if used correctly.

The lubrication on condoms also varies. Some condoms are not lubricated at all, some are lubricated with a silicone substance, and some condoms have a water-based lubricant. The lubrication on condoms aims to make the condom easier to put on and more comfortable to use. It can also help prevent condom breakage.

Anorexia Symptoms

2008-07-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

Anorexia symptoms usually surface in young people around puberty. This condition involves the people intentionally starving themselves to lose weight. It always involves the person experiencing extreme weight loss. People who suffer from this condition often look emaciated; however, they feel that they are still overweight.

In many cases, people with this condition need to be hospitalized because they are so under nourished. An individual with anorexia symptoms will be terrified of gaining weight. They refuse to maintain a body weight that is consistent with their particular build. They are obsessed with food and weight. They could partake in unusual eating rituals, such as refusing to eat in front of anyone.

An anorexia symptom with women is that they could lose their monthly menstrual cycle. A man could become impotent. The majority of sufferers of this condition are women. Another symptom is that the individual will keep to a strict exercise routine in order to prevent any weight gain at all.

Another peculiar eating habit that is an anorexia symptom is that the person will often cut their food into tiny bite size pieces. It also involves eating one piece at a time. A sufferer of this condition could also experience periods of binge eating because they are in fact so hungry. You may notice the person is constantly weighing himself or herself before and after eating. Even though they may not be eating, they could be talking about food all the time. They may prepare meals for friends and family but not participate in eating any of it.

Anorexia symptoms can be biological, behavioral and physical as well. Rapid weight loss of up to fifteen percent of a person's body weight is often associated with this condition. Regardless of the symptoms, it is extremely important that the individual suffering from this condition seek professional help as soon as possible. The first step would be to contact your physician.

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Symptoms of Sun Allergy

2008-07-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Allergic reactions to the sun can be quite uncommon. However they can be prevented if you know what symptoms to look for. Sun allergies come in 4 common types, each with their own set of symptoms. Because of this it's best to discuss the symptoms with their respective type.

1) Polymorphous Light Eruption (PMLE) is the most common and effects 10-15% or the population. It affects women more than men in all races. Symptoms begin showing themselves in early adulthood and include the following: an itchy rash appears on the neck, upper chest, arms and legs within the first 2 hours of exposure and can last up to 2-3 days. Chills, headache and nausea may also be experienced. Treatments include using cool water over the affected area. You can control the itching by using an over-the-counter antihistamine.

2) Actinic Prurigo (hereditary PMLE) is very similar to PMLE however the symptoms are confined to the face, especially the lips. It starts to appear in childhood or during the teenage years. Symptoms are the same as PMLE.

3) Photoallergic eruptions is an effect to a chemical that has been applied to the skin. Examples of things that can trigger it are sunscreen, cosmetic, fragrance or ointment. Symptoms are very similar to PMLE as well; however they tend to show up latter. Rashes may not show themselves for several days after exposure to the sun. It's also possible for the rash to spread to parts of the skin that are covered my clothing and don't get direct sunlight. This may make it difficult to identify exactly which products are triggering the allergy. The treatment is simple. Determine which products are causing the allergy and stop using it.

4) Solar urticaria, which mostly affect women, is the most rare of all the sun allergies. It will produce large, itchy hives on the areas that are exposed to the sun, which appear within minutes of exposure. The last 30 to 120 minutes. You should use the same treatment at PMLE.

The good news is that most sun allergies are preventable. By using sunscreen and limiting the amount of time spend outdoors you should be safe from sun allergies forever. Don't let sun allergies ruin your summer.

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Tips For Preventing Tooth Pain

2008-06-26T01:18:00.000-07:00

Tooth pain in adults can come from a number of different causes. Tooth decay can be deceptive and you may have caries (cavities) in your teeth that are not visible without first visiting the dentist and having x-rays taken. Then you'll know for sure exactly what is causing your problem and your dentist can let you know your best treatment options.

Most adults don't eat a proper diet. This is mostly because of busy lifestyles and eating fast food, some of which is loaded with artificial sugars. Actually, tooth decay became an epidemic back in the late 19th century with the creation of Coca Cola and then other brands of soda pop. People drinking those beverages at that time had no idea what they were doing to their teeth.

It has also been researched that certain toothpastes can cause decay and toothaches. Some toothpastes contain a large amount of glycerin that can take up to 27 rinses to fully remove from your teeth enamel. Instead of using toothpaste, try using tooth powder or baking soda to brush your teeth. This will guarantee that all particles are removed and your teeth are able to remineralize. If you insist on using toothpaste, it is not necessary to use a large amount. Many dentists say that a pea-sized amount is plenty for your mouth. You should also use mouthwash to help eliminate any left over toothpaste or particles.

If you evaluate your brushing and eating habits early, then you can protect your teeth and other areas of your body from any ongoing problems. A toothache is not a fun experience, and once you have one for the first time, then you will want to do everything in your power to prevent it from occurring a second time. You can also speak with your health care provider or dentist about preventative measures that you can take to keep from having a toothache.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Stewart

100% Whey Protein

2008-06-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

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Optimum Nutrition's 100% Whey Protein contains 24 grams of protein, only 2-3 grams of carbohydrates, 1.5 grams of fat and minimal lactose, the choice of brand is clear, now to decide what flavor and size! Optimum's 100% Whey Protein comes in 1, 2 and 5 pound containers and is available in Double Rich Chocolate, Chocolate Mint, Cookies and Cream, Strawberry and Vanilla.

Natural Beauty Product

2008-06-06T03:17:00.000-07:00

Back to nature! That is the symbol of change in this new era. It is also impact in beauty and healthy industry. Many women on the world today are looking for universal beauty care. That mean the beauty product have no use of chemicals ingredients.
But where we can find that kind of products? Do not worry, because we have one to show you here. That is Skinzation.com

As we know australia is a country with rich natural resources. That will make a big chances to produce many of good
healthy products. Skin care product from this producer is one of the best. It made by natural ingredient from australia. 100% of essential oils, pure sea salt and nourishing plant oils. This skin care product is suitable to people with skin problems like irritations, dryness and itchy skin irritation. With this kind of ingredients we sure it will safe to use for all skin types. So why don't you try to give it to your lovely wife?
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Can I Lose Weight With Yoga

2008-05-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

Yoga has many benefits. A regular program of yoga can help keep your spine supple, your core strong, and help you maintain balance and poise. It also tones your muscles, helps strengthen your immune system, and boosts your metabolism. However, yoga alone cannot help you lose large amounts of weight. It is, however, a good idea to add it to any healthy living plan.

Yoga will help you feel better about yourself and is a great confidence booster. Many find yoga is an island of calm in an otherwise hectic world. While not all yoga is aerobic, there are some types of yoga that can substitute for aerobic activity. Using yoga to lose weight all depends on the type you do and how frequently you do it. You should opt to engage in 90 minutes of aerobic style yoga three or more times per week, and if you add in another style of yoga the remaining days per week you can gain all the benefits of most other types of physical activity such as weight or strength training and flexibility.

In order to lose weight and keep it off you need to effect lasting changes in your lifestyle permanently. Doing this requires incorporating 5 key elements into your lifestyle. These are adequate rest, drinking enough water, eating a balanced diet, proper types of exercise, and caring for yourself emotionally. Yoga can help with the exercise and emotional elements. So what is yoga?

Hatha Yoga: Exercise for the Mind & Spirit

Yoga is based on eight principles as a study of all religions. It is not of itself a religion. One of the eight studies deals with physical training and keeping the body in good working order. When people in the west think about yoga, it is the branch of Hatha Yoga they have in mind. Hatha Yoga itself has many branches or types of physical training systems developed over many years that are all based on the same physical postures or poses. Here are just a few:

• Hatha: while this is the yoga branch that deals with physical yoga, here in the west a class that is called Hatha generally means it will be slow and gentle and thus provide a good introduction for beginners to learn the yoga poses.

• Vinyasa: this may also be called sun salutations or breath-synchronized movement. It is just slightly more vigorous than Hatha. Some places use this as a warm up before other more vigorous types of yoga begin.

• Ashtanga & Power Yoga: Ashtanga means eight limbs and is based on the whole philosophy of yoga. It is a very fast paced type of yoga that is always performed in the same order. It flows and moved without pauses. Power yoga is usually based on Ashtanga, but not always, though it usually is the inspiration for power yoga.

• Iyengar: this is based on the teachings of Yogi B.K.S. Iyengar which is based on an emphasis of body alignment. Precise alignment is effective to maximize benefits and avoid injury. In this type of exercise you usually hold each pose over long periods of time rather than moving quickly form one to the next. You usually will use props such as blankets, blocks, and straps.

• Kundalini: this emphasizes breath in conjunction with movement. Combining movement with controlled breath is meant to move and free energy within the chakras or body systems. This type of yoga can be very helpful to encourage regulation with the digestion and adrenal systems.

• Bikram or Hot Yoga: be prepared to spend time in a hot room that is usually around 95 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This type of yoga is useful for detoxing though profuse sweating and loosening tight muscles. The original Bikram was based on 26 poses. But not all classes follow this.

• Anusara: this relatively new style of yoga founded in 1977 by a man named John Friend combines physical alignment with positive energy derived from tantra. The philosophy here is the goodness of all beings. Props are also often used in this class which is generally open to people of all levels of fitness and abilities.

• Jivanukti: David life and Sharon Gannon founded this style in New York at one of the most elite Yoga Studios. It is inspired by Ashtanga and strongly emphasizes chanting, meditation, and spirituality. Most teachers of yoga in the United States have been trained by them.

• Forrest: Originated by Anna Forrest in California and is based on vigorous Asana poses. It is designed to strengthen, purify, release, and heal the body and promote healing form within both physically and emotionally. You can expect intense aerobic exercise that helps develop your core and expand your breathing ability.

• Integral: based on the teachings of Yogi Sri Swami Sachinananda who came to the US in the 1960's. He founded many Institutes that use gentle Hatha practice along with chanting and mediation. You can find books also based on this such as Richard Hittlemans 28 day exercise plan which help newbie's and beginners to receive maximum benefits and results through daily practice in their first month.

Yoga is generally based on 5 general principles Proper exercise, proper breathing, proper relaxation, proper diet, and positive thinking. By incorporating aerobic Yoga or other aerobic exercise for 90 minutes per session 3 or more times per week along with yoga on most other days per week in to your exercise plan you can expect to see results n your first 4 to 6 weeks. The trick is to stick with it and make a real effort for consistency. Yoga along with rest, water, sleep, and other lifestyle changes can help you lose weight and keep it off. Just remember to perform it daily and follow along with a book, video, or audio material if you opt to do it at home, especially if you are a beginner.

Yoga works by stimulating the adrenal systems and helping to clear out your lymph and immune system of toxins. The release of pent up energy, the effects of the calmness yoga emphasizes, and by performing both aerobic and stretching, Hatha type yoga, you can get you strength, flexibility, and aerobic exercise all jut by practicing the different types of yoga styles. You will firm and tone muscles, burn calories, and boost your immune system and metabolism. Other effects are long lasting, such as calmness, poise, and balance. Most yogis know that regular yoga produces a glow and vibrant energy that tends to draw like minded people to you. (Anyone who practices yoga regularly is considered a yogi.)

If you have ever wanted to lose weight you may have found the wide array of methods and ideologies confusing. You may have wondered if you could lose it by dieting, pills, exercise, or other drastic measure alone. The answer is no! Losing weight takes a determined effort, willingness and patience, and the process of trying and combining methods to achieve what works best for you personally. In addition to lifestyle habits, dietary changes, and following the 5 key principles of a good lifestyle, yoga can help you achieve your goals.

Angela Blake is owner of http://www.weight-loss-discovery.com and is a mother of two who is on a mission to lose weight in a healthy way while educating others along the way.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Angela_Blake

Various Symptoms of Diabetes

2008-05-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

Diabetes is a disease which effects over twenty million people in the United States. It is a disease which affects everyone of every race, creed, sex and shows no discrimination. So what exactly is Diabetes?

Diabetes is disease that comes in three basic types: Type 1 diabetes, which is commonly reffered to as juvenile diabetes. Type 2 diabetes which is the more common of the types and gestational diabetes which affects pregnant women. This article will touch basis on Type 2 diabetes which is by far the most common of types. Type 2 diabetes is when the body doesn't produce enough insulin in the body or when the bodies cells ignore the insulin. There are a significant amount of factors why people develop type 2 diabetes including age, sex, genetics, food and drink, exercise and general health.

Below are the most common symptoms of diabetes and descriptions of what they mean. Please be aware that just because you may have one or two of these symptoms does not mean you have diabetes, they are only indicators and you may want to speak with your doctor to see if you have diabetes.

1. One of the major symptoms of diabetes is frequent and common urination. If you are going way too much, it may be time to get checked up. Please note however that just because you have frequent urinating problems doesn't mean that you have diabetes, it is only a symptom.

2. Blurred vision is often associated with diabetes but as also been associated with liver problems. Regardless, if you are dealing with blurred vision, it is time to seek medical attention. Blurred vision can mean a lot of things, all of which aren't good.

2. Being constantly hungry can mean you just have a fast metabolism, but again, symptoms in a bundle mean bad news. Take warning and get checked out for diabetes.

3. Being very thirsty all of the time is another symptoms commonly associated with being diabetic. Regular thirst is healthy, but if you are drinking and drinking and still staying thirsty, then it may be problematic.

4. Diabetes impotence is also common in mean sufferring from diabetes. If you are middle aged and dealing with one of the above symptoms and having erectile dysfunction problems, then you may be sufferring from diabetes impotence.

5. Are you feeling worn out even though you haven't done much? Excessive fatigue is also one of the common symptoms of diabetes. Again, just one of these symptoms alone may not be much of a problem, it is when they are appearing in numbers more than individually is when you really may have a problem.

6. Being irritable is sometimes just a part of life, but in conjunction with the above named diabetes symptoms, it may be a indication of something more.

7. Losing a significant amount of weight is usually a good thing, but it can also be a sign of severe health problems. Unusual weight loss is a common diabetes symptom and should always get checked out.

8. Diabetes impotence is also common in mean sufferring from diabetes. If you are middle aged and dealing with one of the above symptoms and having erectile dysfunction problems, then you may be sufferring from diabetes impotence.

The above named symptoms are only that. They are mearly indications, when combined of a bigger threat. Just because you may have one or two of the symptoms labeled above does not neccessarily mean you have a diabetic condition it's only a warning sign that something may need to be done.

For more information on the Symptoms of Diabetes visit us online at http://www.diabetes-answers.com for free resources and information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gage_Killian

Goatein Pure Goat's Milk Protein

2008-05-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

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Goatein™ is a high quality protein produced from goat's milk that contains no antibiotics or hormones. Goatein™ contains all the essential amino acids for optimal health, is minimally processed to preserve its original composition and
contains naturally occurring strains of probiotics and digestive enzymes. Goatein™ is generally well tolerated by those who cannot digest cow's milk.

Ingredients
Total Calories: 80, Calories From Fat: 5, Total Fat: .5gm, Cholesterol: 5mg, Sodium: 20mg, Total Carbohydrate: 5gm, Dietary Fiber: 1gm, Sugars: 3gm, Protein: 13gm, Calcium: 270mg

Directions
Take 1 heaping tbsp. in juice or water as often as desired. Blend or shake virgorously. To dissolve more easily, add the powder to 1-2 oz. warm water, shake and then add the remainder of the liquid. Great in smoothies, mixed in hot cereals, or sprinkled on yogurt. Safe for all ages. Great for children!

Legal Disclaimer
The products and the claims made about specific products on or through this site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.

Coromega Omega-3 Supplement, Orange Flavor with a Hint of Chocolate, 90 packets (2.5 g)

2008-05-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Daily dose squeeze packets. A delicious pudding-like alternative to capsules! Coromega provides superior bioavailability. In clinical study, the Omega-3 in Coromega was shown to enter the bloodstream faster at three times the levels of a fish oil product in softgel form. Each packet of Coromega delivers the daily intake levels of Omega-3 EPA and DHA recommended by experts for adults and children. As Pure As It Is Delicious: Coromega contains premium quality fish oil from deep, cold-water fish; molecular distillation assures product purity. To guarantee freshness and potency, our special packaging system protects the delicate Omega-3 EPA and DHA from oxygen and light a concern with Omega-3 products in bottle. Have you had your Coromega today? Guaranteed DHA & EPA Content. Pharmaceutical Grade. Heart, brain & eye health. Healthy Triglyceride levels. Joint health & mobility. Healthy nutrition for children over 4. 4 Great Ways to Enjoy Coromega: Squeeze directly into mouth! Squeeze onto spoon! Add to your favorite yogurt! Mix with your favorite blended drink! Colored with Beta Carotene. No sugar or artificial sweeteners. No dairy, yeast, starch, wheat or gluten. NSF Tested and Certified. EPAX Molecularly and Distilled for Purity. (These statements have not yet been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.)

Click here to buy this :Coromega Omega-3 Supplement, Orange Flavor with a Hint of Chocolate, 90 packets (2.5 g)

Teenage Stress

2008-05-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

It has often been said that the teenage years are the "best years of your life". However, anyone who says that does not remember what it is like being a teenager. Between school, life, parents, friends, and the fact that all of them want all of your time, there is no way to get away from the petty concerns and strains that can lead to serious stress. However, nobody seems willing to give up any of the time they demand from you, so you find yourself torn in a thousand different directions with nowhere to turn to for help. Fortunately, you do not need to deal with stress all on your own. Rather, you can find plenty of help, just as long as you look for it. Unfortunately, teenagers rarely look for help and many of the assets available to them are simply ignored. Thus, your teen stress keeps getting worse.

The first place to look for relief from teen stress is at school. There is a certain class of people who desperately want to help teens get through their problems and find solutions, but they usually sit in their offices waiting in vain for someone to talk to them. These people are guidance counselors and they are there to help you. However, it is very rare for someone to avail themselves of this prime opportunity for assistance, so actually sitting down with somebody is a treat for them and they will do all they can to help. True, most people think that guidance counselors are really just lost souls who can't seem to get out of school, but that is not the case. Guidance counselors decided on their career because they want to help others. Which means that they want to help you.

As well, you can get help for teen stress through your teachers. True, most of the help you get will probably be for your work in the classroom but, strange as it may seem, teachers are actually human beings. They want to connect with their students so that, when you go to see them, they will be happy to help you. If you go to them in order to get help with your schoolwork, they will happily give you assistance. They can help you through any issues or difficulties that you may be having and you will can learn more from them after class than you will during class. Such one-on-one sessions can help them narrow down issues in a way that they cannot while they are lecturing to a room full of students.

Additionally, once you sit down with your teachers, you may actually discover that you enjoy talking to them. After all, to repeat a point, they are people. And because they spend so much time in the company of teenagers, they understand teen stress. However, they also understand it from a philosophical perspective that can breathe some fresh air into the problems that you are confronting. Though you may not always enjoy the answers they can provide, they will be worth thinking about and, in the fullness of time, you will probably discover that they provided a very good insight into your problems.

Another excellent source for teen stress is with your parents. This is because of a simple fact that you may not want to accept. This is the simple fact that parents tend to have children who are very similar to them. No, it's really not pleasant to think about, since that means that you may turn out to be like your parents. But, let us put that aside for now.

Your parents were once your age (strange as that may seem) and teens often have to go through very similar problems. Thus, your parents have felt teen stress and they know what it is like. Sure, they may not want to admit that it was anything special, but they will, hopefully, remember that it was not easy at the time. So if you really need to get some sort of advice or help, sit down and talk to your parents. Not only will you get some sort of help, but you will also make their day. After all, how many parents get the chance to really connect with their teenage children?

Teen stress is one of the hardest things to get through, but you can rest assured that it has been done. Billions of people in the world have all had to go through the travails of the teenage years and they have through to the other side. So prepare yourself, get help when you need it, and look for help when you can. By relying on people who have "been there, done that" you can see your way clear to the other side. Then, you can safely look back on your teen stress and say stupid things like, "the teenage years are the best years of your life!"

Author Bio
LowerYourStress.com: for everything to do with stress. Get a free ebook to help with your stress levels: http://www.loweryourstress.com/stress-book.html
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A Healthy Diabetic Diet

2008-05-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

What is a healthy diabetic diet I hear you ask? This is a very important question because once diagnosed, as having diabetes this is one of the most important aspects of your life if you want to keep this disease under control.

Diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases in the modern western world and this is mainly due to the diet of the modern day person. The likes of fast foods and the microwave meals or out of the tin or freezer meals are the biggest culprits.

When you have just been diagnosed with diabetes this is the ideal time to assess your lifestyle and to sit down and plan a healthy diabetic diet. By paying attention to your diet this will not only control your diabetes but could also
rule out the need to take insulin.

Healthy eating has a threefold affect on you: it controls blood glucose levels, lowers blood lipids (cholesterol) and achieve or maintain a healthy weight. A healthy eating plan for the person with diabetes really should be no different to a normal eating plan that we all should be following. However it is now much more important that the diabetic follows the healthy eating plan.

To achieve a healthy balance it is important that we understand more about the food we are eating and what is good and what is bad. The three main nutrients for our bodies are carbohydrates, protein and fat. A healthy diet will incorporate all three of these, although we require some more than others. It needs to be understood that people with diabetes have a difficult time breaking down carbohydrates in their system.

Carbohydrates once consumed become glucose that fuels our body, the best carbohydrate foods for a diabetic are those rich in fiber, such as wholegrain bread, rice and pasta. Also high fiber cereals, lots of legumes, fruit and of course lots of leafy green vegetables. The lower the GI the better; for more information on the Glycemic Index see my website - resource box has the link. Sugars should be eliminated as much as possible and any foods that contain white flour and/or sugar.

It must be noted that one diabetic plan will not suit and work all diabetics. Each diabetic must test and measure to ascertain what works best for them to manage their blood glucose levels. This does not always mean having to give up your favourite food, just moderate the quantity and how often you eat it. So it is best that the entire eating plan is reviewed and it is best to do this in consultation with a nutritionist who specializes in diabetes.

By following a healthy diabetic diet and taking any prescribed medication you can live a full and normal life span. If you are looking for some healthy recipes check out my blog: http://alison-mckenzie-online.com/blog
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alison_Mckenzie

Home Diagnostics Sidekick Blood Glucose Testing System

2008-05-04T02:52:00.000-07:00

Click here to buy this :Home Diagnostics Sidekick Blood Glucose Testing System

The SidekickTesting System is there when you need it. In your backpack or briefcase, your sports bag or suitcase, or simply in your pocket. Its small size makes it convenient to take wherever you go. The SidekickTesting System is the ultimate in ease-of-use and convenience. There is no coding required. When you're out of test strips, or upon the expiration date, simply discard the unit. What's best, the all-in-one SidekickTesting System costs less than most meters and test
strips sold separately. The SidekickTesting System is ideal as a primary system or as a convenient partner to any primary monitoring system.

Read all instructions included in packaging before testing. Write date first opened on Test Strip vial and Glucose Control bottle label, and check expiration dates. Allow Sidekick System to reach room temperature before testing. Wash area to be lanced. Take one Test Strip from vial. Recap vial immediately. Insert Test Strip into Test Port. Obtain blood drop. Touch Sample Tip of Strip to blood drop and allow blood to be drawn into Test Strip. Result is displayed. Record result on log sheet. Remove Strip. Discard in appropriate container.

Caution! Always repeat test to confirm Low and High results. If results still display Lo or Hi, call your Doctor or Diabetes Healthcare Professional immediately! Do not change your medication or treatment plan based on Sidekick Meter results without advice of Doctor or Diabetes Healthcare Professional. Discard used Test Strips and Lancets into an appropriate container (biohazard/for sharps objects).

Alcohawk Slim Digital Alcohol Breath Tester

2008-05-01T02:44:00.000-07:00

Click here to buy this :Alcohawk Slim Digital Alcohol Breath Tester

Quick and accurate test results with a simple one-button operation Electronic airflow sensor to ensure a deep lung sample for testing 0.000 - 0.400% BAC (blood alcohol concentration) +/- 0.01% at 0.02% B.A.C. sensor accuracy Semicoductor sensor with 2 digit display for accuracy Includes 2 AA batteries, mesh carrying case and 5 mouth pieces

The AlcoHAWK Slim, a newly-released digital breath alcohol screener, is a compact unit with a sleek design. Operating on a single button, simply blow into the folding mouthpiece for an accurate BAC reading in seconds.The AlcoHAWK Slim includes removable mouthpiece covers that allow you to test multiple individuals in a sanitary fashion. The sleek design also makes the AlcoHAWK Slim very compact and easy to carry for personal use. It is the ideal solution for someone looking for a portable tester with professional quality with a consumer design and feel. Meets DOT/NHTSA Model Specifications for Breath Alcohol Screeners and passed FDA 510k Pre-marketing clearance.

Green Tea Weight Control - What You Need To Now

2008-04-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

The many beneficial health properties of green tea are still being discovered; the antioxidant properties of green tea are renown but there is still much to learn about this unusual herb. People requiring a natural product to burn calories will not find anything to compare with green tea weight loss supplements.

Although known more for its weight loss properties, extended use has other beneficial affects by slowing the oxidation process of our cells to reduce the signs of aging. Whilst this is an added benefit, weight loss products rely on its ability to work as a natural laxative and use it as a product that purges toxins from the system. The body's system is stimulated into burning more calories than usual, and will thus avoid useless accumulation of fat tissue.

The wonderful work that green tea weight loss supplements can do is easily undermined by a person whom believes they no longer need to contribute because it will do everything for them without any effort on their part. For it to work, adjustments to diet and mental attitude are necessary for a person to become healthier, it is not just a case of losing weight.

For the best results when using green tea as a hot drink; you are advised to use it prior sleep when the metabolism is slowing down. Weight loss products containing this product can take some getting used too and often there may be some bowel irritation for a couple of days but it will pass. This is not something to be concerned about as it only normally affects someone who has never taken green tea weight loss products before and then because the tea is improving the body's metabolism. Results are normally obvious within the first week, particularly if you complete the diet with physical exercise, lots of liquids and green food.

Sometimes you will find ginseng is mixed with green tea to improve its properties and effectiveness. Ginseng has also been used in Chin and Tibet for many thousands of years and helps by adding vitamins and minerals to supplement those already being used in the detoxification process.

Ginseng is also beneficial for the immune system and when used in combination with green tea, helps to improve the energy level of a person who is losing weight so they do not feel so lethargic. A person using green tea can feel happy in the knowledge that using this product and ginseng they will not have any side-effects to deal with even if they are on a dietary program for half a year.

Karel Micek is weight loss enthusiast focusing on innovative and unique weight loss techniques and you can find more information about green tea and diet and other products related to weight loss here : http://www.squidoo.com/BenefitsOfGreenTeaForDieting
Source: http://www.articlealley.com

Painkiller Addiction Advice

2008-04-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

Addiction to painkiller is a common problem, especially these days. According to a study, above two million Americans every year take painkillers illegally.

This is also confirmed by the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) in 2002. According to a recent research, people also try to look for treatment for this addiction more than for addiction to heroin. Shocking! This is due to the increasing numbers of injury, accident & illness that ends up in chronic pain & its treatment conducted by prescription narcotics. With time, frequent use of this drug can actually result in addiction.

The addiction to pain killer starts when initial dose of pain killer becomes inadequate to ease pain. Here, higher doses are
prescribed. Once this cycle begins, a biological process is initiated where the body gets physically addicted to the substances used to ease pain. This indicates that it is essential to maintain a base level of the drug inside the system 24x7 in order to stay away from destructive withdrawal symptoms accompanied by the pain for which the pain killer was prescribed.

Here, the patient has to deal with the destructive addiction to pain killers in addiction to severe pain that he is suffering from.

If you want to get help for an addiction to painkillers, it is important to treat both the pain as well as the addiction simultaneously. Experts in this field have proved that withdrawal from pain killers can be lethal if not taken care of by a health care practitioner in a gradual & controlled way.

In earlier days, doctors used methadone to help withdrawal as its effects on the body are less dramatic as compared to opiates. However, this method of cure resulted in replacement of one dependency with the other.

Today, scientists have come up with Buprenorphine. It is a miracle drug that’s used to treat pain killer addiction. The drug works towards providing total withdrawal from all types of prescription drug use without the need to replace the old addiction to the newer one. This treatment is widely used today. Buprenorphine is an opiate derivative. It is similar to other opiates in a way that it suppresses the withdrawal symptoms of body as well as the craving for pain killers.

However, the drug is quite different in its chemical makeup in a way that it helps in manageable & complete detox.

Addiction to prescription painkillers is a disease. This practice has become very common these days all across the globe. Most physicians prescribe painkillers such as Vicodin, Norco, Oxycontin & Hydrocodone to treat pain. However, most patients tend to continue these medicines & become physically & emotionally dependant on the drug. The dependence of these drugs often results in symptoms of withdrawal.

Once you get to know that you have become dependant on a certain painkiller, you must seek a medical attention immediately or consult a healthcare practitioner to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Most patients who get addicted to narcotic painkillers are suggested a detoxification program.

One requires taking special care in following the instructions provided by a medical practitioner carefully. The treatment should be considered & followed seriously.

For more Articles, News, Information, Advice, and Resources about Addiction please visit ADDICTION ADVICE
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_520465_17.html

High Blood Sugar Dangers

2008-04-21T00:59:00.000-07:00

Insulin is the hormone that injects blood sugar into your cells giving you instant energy. That is why eating fast acting foods, processed food with added sugar and made with refined flour, spikes the blood sugar. This will cause the body to produce insulin. With the body producing extra insulin, it will cause the blood sugar to drop too low therefore, zapping your energy.

When eating fast acting foods such as bagels or doughnuts the body goes into production and produces more insulin. This will cause the blood sugar to drop causing an energy loss. The body responds with mood wings, mental fuzz and memory lapses. This cycle must be repented about every two hours. These highs and lows are not good for the body.

High blood sugar causes diabetes and affects the kidneys, nerves, eyes, heart, and brain. It will trigger inflammation which can lead to heart disease and
possibly cancer. It also elevates cholesterol and triglycerides.

Eating the right foods can help prevent high blood sugar. A Brazilian study found that women who ate three apples a day maintained lower blood sugar levels than the women that did not. Women who eat one apple a day are 28% less likely to develop type II diabetes.

Drinking Apple cider vinegar before a meal will help to lower the blood sugar. Water soluble fiber supplements enhance blood sugar control such as guar gum, psyllium, glucomannan, seaweed fibers and fenugreek seed powder or fibers. Keeping the blood sugar level is likely to delay or possibly prevent diabetes.

Because gas can be produced while using water soluble fibers, start with a small dose, about one or two grams with meals and before bedtime then gradually increase the dosage to twenty grams. It will take a few days for the digestive system to adapt.

Perhaps avoiding these foods will help in controlling your blood sugar:

-Pretzels, cakes, muffins, and pastas

-Cereals, candies and bake goods

-Empty calories foods, chips, microwave pop-corn and other processed package foods

-Margarine, butter and shortening

-Smoked and cured meats such as hot dogs, bacon, sausage and ham. Smoked and cured meats contain sodium nitrate or sodium nitrites. These compounds are used to prevent spoiling and are linked to the risk of type II diabetes.

An individual who has diabetes should keep in mind those foods, activities and medications that influence the blood sugar. Check it often, this will help to create a plan to approach and treat diabetes. Prevent the risk of developing long term complications by keeping the blood sugar as normal as possible.

And as always check with your healthcare professional before starting or change your course of therapy.

Carolyn Bell Smith, committed to helping others improve their health, lifestyle, fight sickness, disease, and building a strong immune system. Author and creator, Healthy LifeStyle and More, and LifeStyle Tips Newsletter

For more nutritional health information: http://www.mynikken.net/renewedhealth
To request LifeStyle Tips Newsletter: ezine_newsletter@getresponse.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carolyn_Bell_Smith

Stroke Sign

2008-04-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

The sooner that someone realizes they are on the path to a stroke,as with any illness the better.Steps can be implemented to avoid bad consequences. If a person is unfortunate and suffers a stroke beginning a recovery process as soon as possible is very important.You have to immediately recognize the warning symptoms of stroke, so you avoid having a recurrent episode which may lead to further damage to your body and your life. A high percentage of deaths each year are caused by stroke, heart disease, and cancer. A lot of the behaviors that cause these issues begin at an early age.

A good balanced and nutritious diet program is an excellent start to avoiding these problems. Staying healthy will help avoid common illnesses like colds and flu. A good exercise program will help in maintaining health and fitness.Walking or riding an exercise bike is a good low-impact exercise and should be done with moderate intensity.

When a person is injured due to accident or illness beginning a therapy routine as soon as possible is very important.Patients should exercise to activate the process of recovery and neural re-organization.A program of 30 to 60 minutes,4 to 6 times a week is a good start but any amount is better than none.Wellness is a way of living that highlights such preventive measures as eating a healthy diet. Making exercise an enjoyable part of your life, and making self care decisions that will improve the quality of your life.

http://hubpages.com/hub/strokesigns
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_W_Allen

The Benefits Of A Fruitarian Diet

2008-04-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

For the majority of people, they had never before heard the term "fruitarian" until they watched the movie "Notting Hill" and heard a woman describe herself as one. Even though it was a comical scene and some fun was poked at the term, some people were surprised to learn that there is a group of people who find that a fruitarian diet is appealing as a lifestyle.

The main premise, when following this form of a raw vegan diet, has to do with a person limiting him or herself to only eating fruits, some varieties of seeds, and a limited selection of vegetables. Of course, much of the food selection that a fruitarian chooses for this living raw lifestyle depends on how strictly they choose to follow this diet.

There are many supporters of the lifestyle that some call "living raw" and claim that following a fruitarian diet is healthful, as it has many benefits, but those in the mainstream medical community disagree strongly. It is a fact that most
traditional physicians caution against eating a strict fruit diet because it will result in a lack of nutrition and lead to health problems.

Because of this, the medical profession cautions that following this type of diet for a prolonged period of time is not advisable and will not sustain healthy and vital living. As a result of these warnings and concerns, most fruitarians incorporate additional sources of nourishment and other food components into their diets, even though they still rely on raw fruits as the main part of their daily food supply.

The idea of a fruit diet goes back a long way in human history to a time when humans were in their primitive state, and only had a diet that consisted of living foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Fruitarians are also quick to point out that many health and digestive problems are created by the cooking of foods, as is commonly practiced in today's modern world. They claim that many common diseases and illnesses can be prevented or reversed by focusing on raw food in a daily eating plan.

Even though eating raw food is central to the fruit diet, the fact is that there are a number of fresh fruits and vegetables that are simply indigestible unless they are cooked. Those who warn against a strict fruitarian lifestyle use this point to suggest that cooking processes have actually expanded the nutritional choices available to the human race, rather than destroying nutrients as extreme fruitarians claim.

In actuality, the truth is somewhere in between. While there is no doubt that fruit adds many beneficial nutritional elements into the diet, reason would dictate that following this path very strictly would eliminate some nutrients that the human body needs to flourish. At the same time, there is abundant and clear evidence that cooking fresh and living foods will indeed destroy vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other nutrients.

The majority of those who follow and advocate the fruitarian diet do recognize that relying on such a narrow range of foods is not the healthiest approach. As a result, most fruitarians strive to include a wider range of healthy foods into their overall diets for good balance and full nutrition. The bottom line is that the average person could benefit from eating raw food in more abundance, even though going to the extreme of a fruitarian lifestyle is not necessary.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Selvon

Calorie Shift To A Brand New You

2008-04-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of the Calorie Shifting Diet? What is it? The way your body burns and stores fat is based on your general eating habits. Your body predicts that you will continue eating the same way you do, and the result? You grow fat.

Now think about this, what will happen if you do the exact opposite of what your body expects you to? You're right, you lose weight. With Calorie Shifting, you do not continue eating the same types of calories everyday, this will stimulate your body to burn fat and you end up losing weight.

Now, the tricky part is to know which type of food to eat. Which are the types of food that are compatible with Fat Burning. Eating these will help your metabolism to use up the food you eat and switch to burning the stored fats in your body. This of course will result in weight loss. Which is the whole point you are even reading this.

I can understand your concerns if you think that this is going to be very difficult to plan and execute or maintain. Things like designing a fat burning compatible meal plan, measuring quantity and buying pills and supplements. Rest your worries, it's as easy as 1-2-3 or 4. Fat Loss 4 Idiots that is.

Fat Loss 4 Idiots will generate a complete meal plan from your choice of food YOU like! You will be eating different types of food everyday and be on your way to burning all those unwanted fat.

Let today be the day of a Brand New You! Don't simply take my word for it, find out more about this amazing diet that will change your life here:

Via : http://www.articlealley.com/article_517064_23.html (Alan Tan)

Now How Do I Get Rid Of My Acne Scars

2008-04-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

Finally you say. I have finally overcome the acne battle by caryying out correct research and using the right products. Now the last hurdle, how to get rid of those acne scars and have a complexion I can be proud of.

The techniques you use to treat your acne scars will depend on how bad the scarring is and how much of your face the scarring covers. It is vital that you consult your doctor or dermatologist about the various treatments that are available for your particular type of acne scarring. If you use the wrong type of acne scar treatment, you may end up doing more damage than good.

Listed here are some different acne scarring treatments you may want to discuss with your doctor or dermatologist:

• Augmentation: The acne scars are injected with fat or collagen to lift them to the same level as the rest of the skin and thus making them less visible.

• Punch Technique: This surgical technique is done under local anaesthesia. It uses a punch tool to get rid of the scar. The surrounding skin is then stitched back together, resulting in a much less visible scar.

• Subcision: This method uses a needle to break up the fibrous bands that cause some sunken acne scars. It raises the acne scars to the same level as the rest of the skin.

• Dermabrasion: A fast rotating brush is used to remove the top layer of facial skin and acne scars. Dermabrasion is effective but can be painful and can also require a long recovery time. It is most useful for raised acne scars.

• Laser Resurfacing: This technique is quite popular and uses lasers to remove the top layers of skin and allows new skin to grow over the acne scar. It is vital to diligently follow a post-laser skin care regimen so that acne scars do not come back.

• Chemical Peel: A chemical solution is put on the skin. It causes the old, scarred skin to blister and peel off and new skin to replace it. This can be a good option if your acne scarring is not that bad.

The acne scar removal techniques listed above are only a few of those that are available on the market today. All of the acne scar removal techniques have different degrees of invasiveness and follow up obligation. Once you have chosen which acne scar removal treatment is right for you, you need to take into account which one is right for your type of scarring, the invasiveness of the procedure, the cost of the procedure and the follow up commitment for that procedure.

Acne scars are not something that you have to contend with anymore. In today’s modern medical environment there are many choices available to you that can give you a brighter and healthier looking complexion and face. Remember it is vital to conduct thorough research and get advice from your doctor or dermatologist to ensure you have made the right decision. You do not want to risk making the wrong decision which will in turn make your acne scarring worse.

Nigel is a successful webmaster and publisher of a Natural Skin Care website. This site features articles and information about acne scar removal and cystic acne. You can also get a free report on Facial Skin Care Secrets.
Via: http://www.articlealley.com/article_516912_23.html

What is a stroke?

2008-04-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts. Without blood and the oxygen it carries, part of the brain starts to die. The part of the body controlled by the damaged area of the brain can't work properly.
Brain damage can begin within minutes, so it is important to know the symptoms of stroke and act fast. Quick treatment can help limit damage to the brain and increase the chance of a full recovery.
What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of a stroke happen quickly. A stroke may cause sudden:

* Numbness, weakness, or paralysis of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body.
* Trouble seeing in one or both eyes. You may have double
vision, or things may look dim or blurry.
* Confusion or trouble understanding.
* Slurred or garbled speech.
* Trouble walking. You may feel unsteady, dizzy, or clumsy.
* Severe headache.

How is a stroke diagnosed?

Seeing a doctor right away is very important. If a stroke is diagnosed quickly—within the first 3 hours of when symptoms start—doctors may be able to use medicines that can lead to a better recovery.

The first thing the doctor needs to find out is what kind of stroke it is: ischemic or hemorrhagic. This is important because the medicine given to treat a stroke caused by a blood clot could be deadly if used for a stroke caused by bleeding in the brain.

To find out what kind of stroke it is, the doctor will do a type of X-ray called a CT scan of the brain, which can show if there is bleeding. The doctor may order other tests to find the location of the clot or bleeding, check for the amount of brain damage, and check for other conditions that can cause symptoms similar to a stroke.
Sourse : Yahoo!

The symptoms of influenza (flu)

2008-04-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

Thee symptoms of influenza (flu) appear suddenly and often include:
* Fever of 100° (37.8°) to 104° (40°), which can reach 106° (41°) when symptoms first develop. Fever is usually continuous, but it may come and go. Fever may be lower in older adults than in children and younger adults. When fever is high, other symptoms usually are more severe.
* Body aches and muscle pain (often severe), commonly in the back, arms, or legs.
* Headache.
* Pain when you move your eyes.
* Fatigue, a general feeling of sickness (malaise), and loss of appetite.
* A dry cough, runny nose, and dry or sore throat. You may not notice these during the first few days of the illness when other symptoms are more severe. As your fever goes away, these symptoms may become more evident.

Influenza usually does not cause symptoms in the stomach or intestines, such as vomiting and diarrhea.

Other conditions have symptoms similar to the flu, such as the common cold, bacterial infections, and infectious mononucleosis.

Prevention Coughs

2008-04-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

There is no sure way to prevent a cough. To help reduce your risk:

* Wash your hands frequently during the cold and flu season. This helps prevent the spread of a virus that may cause a cold or influenza.
* Avoid people who have a cold or influenza if possible.
* Don't smoke or use other forms of tobacco. A dry, hacking "smoker's cough" means your lungs are constantly irritated. For more information, see the topic Quitting Tobacco Use.
* Avoid exposure to secondhand smoke, both at home and in the workplace.
* Increase your fluid intake. This helps keep the mucus thin and helps you cough it up. It also helps prevent dehydration.
* Get a flu shot (influenza vaccine) each autumn if you are older than 50 or have a health risk that increases your risk for a serious problem. For more information, see the topic Influenza.
* Get a pneumonia shot (pneumococcal vaccine) if you are older than 65 or if you have chronic lung disease, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or a health risk that increases the seriousness of your
symptoms. For more information, see the topic Immunizations.
* If your child stays in a day care center, ask the day care providers to wash their hands often to prevent the spread of infection.

Prevention tips for children

* If your child goes to a day care center, ask the staff to wash their hands often to prevent the spread of infection.
* Make sure that your child gets all of his or her vaccinations, especially for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) and for Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). For more information, see the topic Immunizations.
* If one of your children is sick, separate him or her from other children in the home, if possible. Put the child in a room alone to sleep.
* For information on preventing allergies or asthma, see the topic Allergic Rhinitis or Asthma in Children.

Flu Vaccines

2008-03-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

The single best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated each year.

There are two types of vaccines:

* The "flu shot"— an inactivated vaccine (containing killed virus) that is given with a needle, usually in the arm. The flu shot is approved for use in people older than 6 months, including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions.

* The nasal-spray flu vaccine — a vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that do not cause the flu (sometimes called LAIV for “live attenuated influenza vaccine” or FluMist®). LAIV (FluMist®) is approved for use in healthy* people 2-49 years of age† who are not pregnant.

Each vaccine contains three influenza viruses-one A (H3N2) virus, one A (H1N1) virus, and one B virus. The viruses in the vaccine change each year based on international surveillance and scientists' estimations about which types and strains of viruses will circulate in a given year.

About 2 weeks after vaccination, antibodies that provide protection against influenza virus infection develop in the body.
When to Get Vaccinated

October or November is the best time to get vaccinated, but you can still get vaccinated in December and later. Flu season can begin as early as October and last as late as May.
Who Should Get Vaccinated

In general, anyone who wants to reduce their chances of getting the flu can get vaccinated. However, it is recommended by ACIP that certain people should get vaccinated each year. They are either people who are at high risk of having serious flu complications or people who live with or care for those at high risk for serious complications. During flu seasons when vaccine supplies are limited or delayed, ACIP makes recommendations regarding priority groups for vaccination.

People who should get vaccinated each year are:

1. People at high risk for complications from the flu, including:
* Children aged 6 months until their 5th birthday,
* Pregnant women,
* People 50 years of age and older, and
* People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions;
* People who live in nursing homes and other long term care facilities.
2. People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
* Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu (see above)
* Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)
* Healthcare workers.

Use of the Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine

It should be noted that vaccination with the nasal-spray flu vaccine is always an option for healthy* people 2-49 years of age† who are not pregnant.

What is Thalasemia ?

2008-03-05T23:56:00.000-08:00

Thalasemia is the name of a group of genetic blood disorders. how it affects the human body ? Here is some explain to understand it : our hemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying component of the red blood cells. It consists of two different proteins, an alpha and a beta. If our body doesn't produce enough of either of these two proteins, the red blood cells do not form properly and cannot carry sufficient oxygen. The result is anemia that begins in early childhood and lasts throughout life.

Type of thalasemia :
Alpha thalasemia
It is the people whose hemoglobin does not produce enough alpha protein.It is commonly found in Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, southern China, and occasionally the Mediterranean region.

Beta Thalasemia
It is the people whose hemoglobin does not produce enough beta protein. It is found in people of Mediterranean descent, such as Italians and
Greeks, and is also found in the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Africa, Southeast Asia and southern China.

Other Thalasemia
There are other related disorders that occur when the gene for alpha or beta thalassemia combines with an abnormal or mutant gene.

E Beta Thalasemia. Hemoglobin E is one of the most common abnormal hemoglobins. It is usually found in people of Southeast Asian ancestry, such as Cambodians, Vietnamese and Thai. When combined with beta thalassemia, hemoglobin E produces E beta thalasemia, a moderately severe anemia which is similar in symptoms to beta thalasemia intermedia.

Sickle Beta Thalasemia. This condition is caused by a combination of beta thalasemia and hemoglobin S, the abnormal hemoglobin found in people with sickle cell disease. It is commonly found in people of Mediterranean ancestry, such as Italians, Greeks and Turks. The condition varies according to the amount of normal beta globin produced by the beta gene. When no beta globin is produced by the beta gene, the condition is almost identical with sickle cell disease. The more beta globin produced by the beta gene, the less severe the condition.

Time To Call a Doctor For Flu

2008-02-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

Call your health professional immediately if:

* Your baby is younger than 3 months and has a rectal temperature of 100.4° (38°) or higher.
* You suspect your baby younger than 3 months has a fever, but you are unable to measure his or her temperature.
* You think or know your child younger than 4 years has an extremely high fever [105°F (40.56°C) or higher measured rectally].
* You or your child 4 years of age or older has an oral temperature over 104° (40°).
* You or your child has labored, shallow, rapid breathing
with shortness of breath.
* You or your child has a fever with a severe headache or stiff neck or seems confused or hard to wake.

Call your health professional if:

* Symptoms had improved but seem to be getting worse again.
* Signs of Reye's syndrome, such as drowsiness and confusion, develop 3 to 7 days after the start of symptoms of the flu or another viral respiratory illness. Reye's syndrome can be a very serious illness in children and teens.
* Signs of a bacterial infection develop, such as an ear infection, bronchitis, or pneumonia.
* Influenza develops in a person older than 65 who has other health problems (lung, heart, or kidney disease or diabetes) or in someone who is being treated with chemotherapy for cancer.
* Influenza develops in a person of any age who has a long-term respiratory illness, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
* Symptoms include temperature over 101° (38.3°), shaking chills, and a cough that produces mucus from the lungs (productive cough).
* Fever is high or prolonged. See the fever guidelines for ages 3 and younger or for ages 4 and older. However, it is common for adults with the flu to have high fevers [up to 103° (39.4°)] for 3 to 4 days. If many people in your community have similar symptoms and it is flu season, it is likely you have the flu and don't need to see a health professional. However, if you have any concerns, contact your health professional.

Breathing dirty air may lower kids' IQ

2008-02-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids who live in neighborhoods with heavy traffic pollution have lower IQs and score worse on other tests of intelligence and memory than children who breathe cleaner air, a new study shows.

The effect of pollution on intelligence was similar to that seen in children whose mothers smoked 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant, or in kids who have been exposed to lead, Dr. Shakira Franco Suglia of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.

While the effect of pollution on cardiovascular

and respiratory health has been studied extensively, less is known about how breathing dirty air might affect the brain, Suglia and her team write in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

To investigate, she and her colleagues looked at 202 Boston children 8 to 11 years old who were participating in a study of maternal smoking. The researchers related several measures of cognitive function to the children's estimated exposure to black carbon, a component of the particulate matter emitted in automobile and truck exhaust, particularly by diesel vehicles.

The more heavily exposed children were to black carbon, the lower were their scores on several intelligence tests.

When the researchers adjusted for the effects of parents' education, language spoken at home, birth weight, and exposure to tobacco smoke, the association remained.

For example, heavy exposure to black carbon was linked to a 3.4-point drop in IQ, on average. Heavily exposed children also scored lower on tests of vocabulary, memory and learning.

"It's within the range for in utero tobacco exposure and lead exposure," Suglia said in an interview.

She pointed out that exposure to traffic pollution has been associated with a number of other harmful effects and that, short of moving away from heavy traffic areas, there's not much people can do to limit it.

She and her colleagues suggest that traffic pollution may exert harmful effects by causing inflammation and oxidative damage to the brain. They call for further research on the effects of pollution on the development of intelligence in children and on cognitive decline for people of all ages, including whether traffic exposure might cause or accelerate brain degeneration in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, February 1, 2008.[source:]

Overweight may raise cancer risk

2008-02-14T18:35:00.000-08:00

European researchers report in a new study that being obese or even overweight may increase a person's risk of developing up to a dozen different types of cancer

Doctors have long suspected a link between weight gain and certain cancers, including colon and breast cancers. But the new study, published Friday in the journal Lancet, suggests it could also increase chances for cancer of the esophagus, thyroid, kidney, uterus and gall bladder, among others.

While the study suggests a link, there is no definitive proof that being fat in itself causes cancer.

"To make the link between cause and effect, we need to tick several boxes," said Dr. Andrew Renehan, the study's lead author and senior lecturer at the School of Cancer Studies at the University of Manchester. "This study begins to tick the first two or three boxes, but more research is needed to confirm it."

The researchers compiled data from 141 studies and considered more types of cancers and more diverse populations than had been done previously. The research covered more than 280,000 cases from North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

The subjects, both overweight and normal weight, were followed for about nine to 15 years, with researchers tracking their body mass index, or BMI — a calculation based on weight and height — and correlating it with incidents of cancer.

In men, an average weight gain of 33 pounds increased the risk of esophageal cancer by 52 percent, thyroid cancer by 33 percent, and colon and kidney cancers each by 24 percent, the research found.

In women, a weight gain of 29 pounds increased the risk of cancer in the uterus and gall bladder by nearly 60 percent, esophagus by 51 percent and kidney by 34 percent, the study said.

The link was weaker for bone and blood cancers, for both men and women.

In Asian populations, there appeared to be a stronger link between increased BMI and breast cancer, the study said.

"This study provides a lot of circumstantial evidence about the dangers of obesity," said Dr. David Robbins, a gastroenterologist at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, who was not involved in the study. "It also highlights the cancer crisis we face as obesity rates increase worldwide."

Scientists are unsure how being overweight could make people more susceptible to cancer.

"One of the hypotheses is that the presence of excess fat cells could affect the levels of hormones in your body," Renehan said. "At a cellular level, that may favor the development of tumors in humans."

Because many studies have found that fatter people are more likely to get cancer, experts often recommend losing weight to reduce cancer risk.

"The simple message is that, if you manage to keep a healthy body weight, you will have a lower risk of developing cancer," said Ed Yong, of Cancer Research United Kingdom.

The Lancet study was paid for by British Medical Association, the University of Manchester and the University of Bern, Switzerland. Renehan has consulted for several pharmaceutical companies that make hormone replacements. By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer [source:]

Protect Your Child From Flu

2008-02-10T23:27:00.000-08:00

Here are ways to help reduce your child's risk of getting the flu, courtesy of the Children's Hospital at the University of California, San Francisco:

* Flu vaccine is recommended for all healthy children aged 6 months to 5 years.
* Hand washing also is an easy way to help prevent flu. Your child should wash her hands thoroughly and frequently, with soap and warm water.
* Parents and caregivers should also should wash their hands often, and get a flu vaccine.
* Teach your child to cover her mouth when she coughs or sneezes, and to wash her hands afterward.
* Try to keep your child away from others who are sick. Keep her home from school if she has symptoms of a cold or the flu.[source:]

Chemical Found in Baby Bottles

2008-02-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

Possibly Unsafe!

A report published online last week by the journal Reproductive Toxicology warned that a chemical used to make a wide variety of plastic goods, including most baby bottles, may not be safe. It's called bisphenol-A, or BPA.

Tests involving lab rats and mice have shown that even small amounts of exposure to BPA can lead to a range of serious ailments, says professor Frederick vom Saal, a biologist at the University of Missouri who authored the report.

"Very low doses [of BPA] — below the amounts that are present in humans — when, particularly, exposure occurs in fetuses and newborns, you end up with those babies eventually developing prostate cancer, breast cancer. They become hyperactive. They show learning impairment. It's a poster chemical for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," vom Saal said.

The American Chemistry Council denied last week's report, saying in a statement that it was "distinctly at odds with the findings of other comprehensive evaluations of the safety of bisphenol-A, in which government and scientific bodies worldwide examined the same scientific information. All of these evaluations support the conclusion that bisphenol-A is not a risk to human health at the extremely low levels to which consumers might be exposed."

Another comprehensive evaluation of BPA studies is expected to be released next week by a federally funded panel. But that panel has been dogged by controversy since the contractor originally tasked with producing the report was fired after it was revealed to have ties to the industry.

A Wide Variety of Products

BPA can be found in everything from baby bottles to water cooler jugs. It is in bicycle helmets, CDs and the lining inside tin cans.
And it's in most of us: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found BPA in the urine of 95 percent of people it tested.

In the last two years, state lawmakers in California, Maryland and Minnesota have tried to ban BPA, without success. California Assemblywoman Fiona Ma introduced a bill to ban BPA and although that provision was eventually removed, she hopes to bring it back.

"I think it's a very serious chemical," she said. "The science is in."

Meanwhile, the market for products made without BPA — particularly bottles and other products for babies — is growing.

Last month, Mom's Organic Market in Alexandria started selling Born Free baby bottles made from a plastic that does not contain BPA. They are more expensive than regular bottles, at nearly $20 for a pair, but the store manager says they are moving off the shelves at a brisk pace. [source:]
By LIZ MARLANTES and JEAN GARNER

High Blood Pressure

2008-02-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

What Is High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher. Both numbers are important.

Nearly 1 in 3 American adults has high blood pressure. Once high blood pressure develops, it usually lasts a lifetime. The good news is that it can be treated and controlled.

High blood pressure is called the silent killer because it usually has no symptoms. Some people may not find out they have it until they have trouble with their heart, brain, or kidneys. When high blood pressure is not found and treated, it can cause:

* The heart to get larger, which may lead to heart failure.
* Small bulges (aneurysms (AN-u-risms)) to form in blood vessels. Common locations are the main artery from the heart (aorta); arteries in the brain, legs, and intestines; and the artery leading to the spleen.
* Blood vessels in the kidney to narrow, which may cause kidney failure.
* Arteries throughout the body to "harden" faster, especially those in the heart, brain, kidneys, and legs. This can cause a heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, or amputation of part of the leg.
* Blood vessels in the eyes to burst or bleed, which may cause vision changes and can result in blindness.

What Is Blood Pressure?

Blood is carried from the heart to all parts of your body in vessels called arteries. Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries. Each time the heart beats (about 60–70 times a minute at rest), it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is at its highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic (sis-TOL-ik) pressure. When the heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic (di-a-STOL-ik) pressure.

Blood pressure is always given as these two numbers, the systolic and diastolic pressures. Both are important. Usually they are written one above or before the other, such as 120/80 mmHg (measured in millimeters of mercury, a unit for measuring pressure). When the two measurements are written down, the systolic pressure is the first or top number, and the diastolic pressure is the second or bottom number (for example, 120/80). If your blood pressure is 120/80, you say that it is "120 over 80."

Blood pressure changes during the day. It is lowest as you sleep and rises when you get up. It also can rise when you are excited, nervous, or active.

Still, for most of your waking hours, your blood pressure stays pretty much the same when you are sitting or standing still. That level should be lower than 120/80 mmHg. When the level stays high, 140/90 mmHg or higher, you have high blood pressure. With high blood pressure, the heart works harder, your arteries take a beating, and your chances of a stroke, heart attack, and kidney problems are greater.

What Is Normal Blood Pressure?

A blood pressure reading below 120/80 mmHg is considered normal. In general, lower is better. However, very low blood pressure can sometimes be a cause for concern and should be checked out by a doctor.

Doctors classify blood pressures under 140/90 mmHg as either normal or prehypertension.

* Normal blood pressure is lower than 120/80 mmHg.
* Prehypertension is blood pressure between 120 and 139 for the top number, or between 80 and 89 for the bottom number. For example, blood pressure readings of 138/82, 128/89, or 130/86 are all in the prehypertension range. If your blood pressure is in the prehypertension range, it is more likely that you will end up with high blood pressure unless you take action to prevent it.

What Is High Blood Pressure?

A blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher is considered high blood pressure. Both numbers are important. If one or both numbers are usually high, you have high blood pressure.

If you are being treated for high blood pressure and have repeated readings in the normal range, you still have high blood pressure.

There are two levels of high blood pressure: stage 1 and stage 2 (see the chart below).

Categories for Blood Pressure Levels in Adults (in mmHg, millimeters of
mercury)a
Category Systolic (top number) Diastolic (bottom number)
Normal Less than 120 Less than 80
Prehypertension 120–139 80–89

High blood pressure
Stage 1 140–159 90–99
Stage 2 160 or higher 100 or higher

*)For adults 18 and older who are not on medicine for high blood pressure; are not having a short-term serious illness; and do not have other conditions, such as diabetes and kidney disease.
Note: When systolic and diastolic blood pressures fall into different categories, the higher category should be used to classify blood pressure level. For example, 160/80 mmHg would be stage 2 high blood pressure.

There is an exception to the above definition of high blood pressure. A blood pressure of 130/80 mmHg or higher is considered high blood pressure in people with diabetes and chronic kidney disease. [source]

Heart Attack Warning Signs

2008-01-28T18:41:00.000-08:00

Some heart attacks are sudden and intense — the "movie heart attack," where no one doubts what's happening. But most heart attacks start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort. Often people affected aren't sure what's wrong and wait too long before getting help. Here are signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:

*Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
* Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
* Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
* Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness

As with men, women's most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.

Learn the signs, but remember this: Even if you're not sure it's a heart attack, have it checked out. Minutes matter! Fast action can save lives — maybe your own. Don’t wait more than five minutes to call 9-1-1.

Calling 9-1-1 is almost always the fastest way to get lifesaving treatment. Emergency medical services staff can begin treatment when they arrive — up to an hour sooner than if someone gets to the hospital by car. The staff are also trained to revive someone whose heart has stopped. Patients with chest pain who arrive by ambulance usually receive faster treatment at the hospital, too.

If you can't access the emergency medical services (EMS), have someone drive you to the hospital right away. If you're the one having symptoms, don't drive yourself, unless you have absolutely no other option.

Stroke Warning Signs
The American Stroke Association says these are the warning signs of stroke:

* Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
* Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
* Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
* Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

If you or someone with you has one or more of these signs, don't delay! Immediately call 9-1-1 or the emergency medical services (EMS) number so an ambulance (ideally with advanced life support) can be sent for you. Also, check the time so you'll know when the first symptoms appeared. It's very important to take immediate action. If given within three hours of the start of symptoms, a clot-busting d

Cardiac arrest strikes immediately and without warning. Here are the signs:

* Sudden loss of responsiveness (no response to tapping on shoulders).
* No normal breathing (the victim does not take a normal breath when you tilt the head up and check for at least five seconds).

If these signs of cardiac arrest are present, tell someone to call 9-1-1 and get an AED (if one is available) and you begin CPR immediately.

If you are alone with an adult who has these signs of cardiac arrest, call 9-1-1 and get an AED (if one is available) before you begin CPR.

Use an AED as soon as it arrives. [source:]

Scary movie making viewers sick

2008-01-28T00:32:00.000-08:00

Cloverfield" is the first adrenaline-pumping monster hit of the year, bringing in more than $40 million dollars on its opening weekend. The thriller is told from the point of view of five young New Yorkers using their handheld camera. But for some viewers, being "part" of the movie is making them sick -- literally.
One blogger on the popular movie database IMDB.com said, "I had to get up and leave the theater for nearly 20 minutes just to keep from hurling." Other moviegoers have reported being nauseated and dizzy.

Most viewers are unaffected by the film, but for those who are, experts say the problem is in their heads.

"This is a classic case of vertigo," said Dr. Michael G. Stewart, chairman of otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose and throat medicine) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weil Cornell Medical Center. "You can look around and feel like things are moving, when they aren't."

Vertigo is caused when a person's balance system gets confused. Your body feels a strong visual sensation of movement but in reality, you aren't moving at all. The disconnect confuses your brain sensors and can cause dizziness and nausea, Stewart said.
AMC theaters across the country have posted signs warning moviegoers of potential "side effects associated with motion sickness similar to riding a roller-coaster."
So why does the film style affect some viewers and not others?

"People have different levels of susceptibility, similar to how some people cannot ride on a small boat without getting sick," Stewart said. "It's just a natural variation."

The good news is, experiencing vertigo is rare for most people. So if you are itching to see "Cloverfield" but are worried you might get sick, experts recommend taking a dose of over-the-counter anti-vertigo medicine, sold under such brand names as Bonine and Dramamine II. "It might not protect you from all the symptoms, but it could, and it certainly can't hurt," Stewart said.Another tip is to briefly close your eyes during the movie. It may be enough to recalibrate your sensors and soothe your symptoms long enough to finish the movie.
And if you're really concerned, just wait to rent the movie.

"A person would be fine watching from home," Stewart said. "When you are on your couch, you have perspective around the screen so your mind knows the movie is moving and the room isn't." By Danielle Dellorto [source:]

Know your cholesterol

2008-01-28T00:19:00.000-08:00

How's your cholesterol? Here's a guess: If you're healthy, you probably have no idea. New surveys show women tend to be clueless about their risks of heart disease, especially when it comes to managing their cholesterol.
But this kind of ignorance is anything but bliss. The reason: The artery clogging that makes heart disease the Number One killer of women late in life begins much earlier -- in your 20s, 30s, and 40s -- and that's when your cholesterol numbers may be sounding alarms. So, are you ready to start paying attention? Here, the things all women need to know now.

1. High cholesterol is surprisingly common.

Researchers with the Framingham Heart Study recently delivered a nasty surprise: Nearly a quarter of women in the study who are in their early 30s have borderline-high levels of bad cholesterol, as do more than a third in their early 40s and more than half in their early 50s. A third of women in all three age groups have low levels of good cholesterol.

Bad cholesterol, also known as
low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, contributes to heart disease by laying down artery-clogging plaque; good cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein (HDL), helps clear it away. "The double whammy of high LDL and low HDL is particularly dangerous," says Framingham researcher Vasan Ramachandran, M.D., of the Boston University School of Medicine.

2. Your doctor may miss the problem.

Though women are better than men about seeing a doctor regularly, the care they receive isn't as good when it comes to preventing and treating cardiovascular disease, according to new studies. "Perhaps doctors still haven't gotten the message that women need to control cholesterol," says Chloe Bird, Ph.D., author of one of these studies and a senior sociologist at the nonprofit RAND Corporation. Bird found that doctors are less likely to monitor and control cholesterol in women than in men, even when the women are at super-high risk of heart attack.

Part of the problem, she says, may be that many women see only a gynecologist. This isn't to say that OB-GYNs can't be good primary care doctors, but you have to make sure the doc is willing to monitor your heart health, especially if you already have diabetes or a heart issue. That means she should order cholesterol checks as part of your regular blood work and discuss the results with you. What does "regular" mean?

3. Your numbers may trick you.

Many people misunderstand the roles of so-called good and bad cholesterols, according to cardiologist and lipidologist Pamela Morris, M.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. "What we've learned is that HDL and LDL are independent predictors of a woman's heart attack risk," she explains. "We see women with high HDLs having heart attacks when their LDL is also high, and we also see heart attacks in women with very low LDL but also low HDL."

What that means to you: It's important to keep track of both. A woman wants to keep her HDL above 60 (the level at which HDL helps prevent disease) and her LDL below 100. If your HDL drops below 50 or LDL rises above 160, you need to take immediate action. That may include an LDL-lowering drug such as a statin, and it definitely includes a commitment to a heart-healthy diet and lifestyle.

4. You may need an "inflammation" test.

The math used to estimate your heart disease risk is a little misleading. If your LDL rises above the danger line of 160 or your HDL drops below 50, the math says you have an elevated risk of a heart attack within 10 years. But that warning may actually underestimate your risks beyond 10 years, Morris says. So when she has a female patient with cholesterol numbers in the intermediate range -- LDL above 130 or HDL under 60 -- she often takes a close look at the woman's whole-body inflammation level.

You can't see this kind of inflammation, but it's actually an independent measure of heart attack risk. You measure it by adding a test for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) to the usual cholesterol blood work. CRP, essentially a body chemical, usually rises anytime your body becomes inflamed. And since artery clogging is associated with inflammation, high CRP is viewed as a marker for clogged arteries. That means your C-reactive protein levels may help you and your doctor decide how aggressively you need to control borderline-high-cholesterol levels with drugs, diet, and exercise. Health.com: Could painkillers be hurting your heart?

5. These foods are your best friends.

Certain classes of food chemicals can actively and powerfully lower a person's bad cholesterol. Two -- soluble fiber and phytosterols -- have so much science behind them that they've become part of standard medical prescriptions for treating high cholesterol. But dietitian Janet Brill, Ph.D., R.D., author of "Cholesterol Down," also recommends regularly eating almonds, ground flaxseed, apples, soy protein, and olive oil. Preliminary research suggests they all have cholesterol-lowering powers. "Each one works in a slightly different way," Brill says. "So together, you get a synergy that can dramatically lower cholesterol."

Almonds and olive oil are high in monounsaturated fats, which are thought to blend with LDL molecules in a way that speeds LDL's clearance from the blood by the liver. Flax is high in both soluble fiber, which lowers LDL by absorbing cholesterol from both food and bile inside the intestines, and omega-3 fatty acids, which studies show have anti-inflammatory effects. Other foods especially high in soluble fiber include oat bran, oatmeal, and apples. (Soluble fiber is different from insoluble fiber, the kind found in whole-grain bread and bran cereal. That's good for you, too, but it won't affect your cholesterol.) Soy may mimic natural estrogens in their LDL-clearing effects. Phytosterols are the plant version of animal sterols (a.k.a. cholesterol) and lower LDL by competing with it for absorption into the body. They're found in supplements or phytosterol-enhanced margarine such as Benecol.

You don't need any of these foods if your LDL is low, but experts still recommend them for everyone. What about steak, eggs, and cheese? They sure won't help your cholesterol, because they all contain a lot of it. But it's more important to focus on foods that lower your numbers rather than simply avoiding the bad stuff, experts say. Health.com: Don't worry so much about scary diseases

6. Good cholesterol may have a bad side.

The higher your HDL, the better, right? That's been the current thinking, due to HDL's protective effect. But here's a surprise you may have read about in some news reports: Studies are showing that HDL may actually have harmful proteins capable of boosting heart disease risks. A test to determine whether your HDL has the harmful proteins may be available in a few years. In the meantime, if your HDL is lower than 60, it's still OK to raise it a little as long as you don't go overboard. How? Try getting a lot of omega-3s from fish or fish oil, exercising regularly, controlling your weight, and avoiding smoking.

7. Your heart loves long walks.

Walking 10 miles a week brings lasting improvements in your heart health, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center. The funny thing is, if you jog those 10 miles, you won't get quite as much benefit. "Duration appears to be key," says Duke's Cris Slentz, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist. "Jogging or walking 10 miles both burned around 1,200 calories, but in our studies, one took about two hours and the other, three."

Longer stints of exercise, even moderate exercise, may burn more belly fat -- the little rolls of skin near your navel and the fat deep inside your abdomen. The latter is linked to metabolic syndrome, a condition associated with a host of cardiovascular risk factors including low HDL, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides (a kind of blood fat that contributes to heart disease).

Should you aim for weight loss as well as long walks? If you're overweight, absolutely. But understand that shedding a few pounds will make only a small dent in your cholesterol. Canadian researchers recently found that overweight women who lost about 25 pounds -- no easy task -- saw their LDL drop about 10 percent and their HDL rise by the same amount. [source:]

Breast cancer

2008-01-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

Signs and symptoms

Knowing the signs and symptoms of breast cancer may help save your life. When the disease is discovered early, you have more treatment options and a better chance for a cure.

Most breast lumps aren't cancerous. Yet the most common sign of breast cancer for both men and women is a lump or thickening in the breast. Often, the lump is painless. Other potential signs of breast cancer include:

* A spontaneous clear or bloody discharge from your nipple, often associated with a breast lump
* Retraction or indentation of your nipple
* A change in the size or contours of your breast
* Any flattening or indentation of the skin over your breast
* Redness or pitting of the skin over your breast, like the skin of an orange

A number of conditions other than breast cancer
can cause your breasts to change in size or feel. Breast tissue changes naturally during pregnancy and your menstrual cycle. Other possible causes of noncancerous (benign) breast changes include fibrocystic changes, cysts, fibroadenomas, infection or injury.

If you find a lump or other change in your breast — even if a recent mammogram was normal — see your doctor for evaluation. If you haven't yet gone through menopause, you may want to wait through one menstrual cycle before seeing your doctor. If the change hasn't gone away after a month, have it evaluated promptly.
Causes

In breast cancer, some of the cells in your breast begin growing abnormally. These cells divide more rapidly than healthy cells do and may spread (metastasize) through your breast, to your lymph nodes or to other parts of your body. The most common type of breast cancer begins in the milk-producing ducts, but cancer may also begin in the lobules or in other breast tissue.

In most cases, it isn't clear what causes normal breast cells to become cancerous. Doctors do know that only 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancers are inherited. Families that do have genetic defects in one of two genes, breast cancer gene 1 (BRCA1) or breast cancer gene 2 (BRCA2), have a much greater risk of developing both breast and ovarian cancer. Other inherited mutations — including the ataxia-telangiectasia mutation gene, the cell-cycle checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK-2) gene and the p53 tumor suppressor gene — also make it more likely that you'll develop breast cancer. If one of these genes is present in your family, you have a 50 percent chance of having the gene.

Yet most genetic mutations related to breast cancer aren't inherited. These acquired mutations may result from radiation exposure — women treated with chest radiation therapy for lymphoma in childhood or during adolescence when breasts are developing have a significantly higher incidence of breast cancer than do women not exposed to radiation. Mutations may also develop as a result of exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in tobacco and charred red meats.

Researchers are now trying to discover whether a relationship exists between a person's genetic makeup and environmental factors that may increase the risk of breast cancer. Breast cancer eventually may prove to have a number of causes.
Risk factors

A risk factor is anything that makes it more likely you'll get a particular disease. Some risk factors, such as your age, sex and family history, can't be changed, whereas others, including weight, smoking and a poor diet, are under your control.

But having one or even several risk factors doesn't necessarily mean you'll develop cancer — most women with breast cancer have no known risk factors other than simply being women. In fact, being female is the single greatest risk factor for breast cancer. Although men can develop the disease, it's far more common in women.

Other factors that may make you more susceptible to breast cancer include:

* Age. Your chances of developing breast cancer increase with age. Close to 80 percent of breast cancers occur in women older than age 50. In your 30s, you have a one in 233 chance of developing breast cancer. By age 85, your chance is one in eight.
* A personal history of breast cancer. If you've had breast cancer in one breast, you have an increased risk of developing cancer in the other breast.
* Family history. If you have a mother, sister or daughter with breast or ovarian cancer or both, or a male relative with breast cancer, you have a greater chance of also developing breast cancer. In general, the more relatives you have who were diagnosed with breast cancer before reaching menopause, the higher your own risk. If you have one first-degree relative — a mother, sister or daughter — who was diagnosed with the disease before age 50, your risk is doubled. If you have two or more relatives, your risk increases even more. Just because you have a family history of breast cancer doesn't mean it's hereditary, though. Most people with a family history of breast cancer (familial breast cancer risk) haven't inherited a defective gene, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2. Rather, cancer becomes so common in women who live into their 80s and beyond that random, noninherited breast tumors may appear in more than one member of a single family.
* Genetic predisposition. Between 5 percent and 10 percent of breast cancers are inherited. Defects in one of several genes, especially BRCA1 or BRCA2, put you at greater risk of developing breast, ovarian and colon cancers. Usually these genes help prevent cancer by making proteins that keep cells from growing abnormally. But if they have a mutation, the genes aren't as effective at protecting you from cancer.
* Radiation exposure. If you received radiation treatments to your chest as a child or young adult, you're more likely to develop breast cancer later in life. Your risk is greatest if you received radiation as an adolescent during breast development.
* Excess weight. The relationship between excess weight and breast cancer is complex. In general, weighing more than is healthy increases your risk, particularly if you gained the weight as an adolescent. But risk is even greater if you put the weight on after menopause. Your risk also is greater if you have more body fat in the upper part of your body.
* Early onset of menstrual cycles. If you got your period at a young age, especially before age 12, you may have a greater likelihood of developing breast cancer. Experts attribute this risk to the early exposure of the breast tissue to estrogen.
* Late menopause. If you enter menopause after age 55, you're more likely to develop breast cancer. Experts attribute this to the prolonged exposure of the breast tissue to estrogen.
* First pregnancy at older age. If your first full-term pregnancy occurs after age 30, or you never become pregnant, you have a greater chance of developing breast cancer. Although it's not entirely clear why, an early first pregnancy may protect breast tissue from developing genetic mutations that result from estrogen exposure.
* Race. White women are more likely to develop breast cancer than black, Hispanic or Asian women are, but black women are more likely to die of the disease because their cancers are found at a more advanced stage. Although some studies show that black women may have more aggressive tumors, it's also likely that the disparity is at least partially due to socioeconomic factors. Women of all races with incomes below the poverty level are more often diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer and more likely to die of the disease than are women with higher incomes. Low-income women often don't receive the routine medical care that would allow breast cancer to be discovered earlier.
* Hormone therapy. Treating menopausal symptoms with the hormone combination of estrogen and progesterone for four or more years increases your risk of breast cancer. In addition, therapy with estrogen and progesterone can make malignant tumors harder to detect on mammograms, leading to cancers that are diagnosed at more advanced stages and that are harder to treat. Using estrogen alone hasn't been shown to increase breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women.
* Birth control pills. Use of birth control pills is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women. The risk seems to be greater for women who use birth control pills for four or more years before their first full-term pregnancy, but since delayed first pregnancy is also a risk factor, part of the risk could be attributed to that. Overall, risk of breast cancer for users of birth control pills is small and appears to be confined to the short term. Risk levels return to normal within five to 10 years after discontinuing use. Using birth control pills also doesn't appear to further increase breast cancer risk in women with a family history of breast cancer or with a personal history of benign breast disease. Because this is an area of ongoing study, talk with your doctor about the latest information on the pill and breast cancer.
* Smoking. Evidence is mixed on the relationship between smoking and breast cancer risk. Some studies show no link between cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke and breast cancer. Others suggest that smoking increases breast cancer risk. Exposure to secondhand smoke and breast cancer risk remains an area of active research. Despite the controversy surrounding this issue, there are clear health benefits — other than minimizing breast cancer risk — to quitting smoking and limiting your exposure to secondhand smoke.
* Excessive use of alcohol. According to the American Cancer Society, women who drink more than one alcoholic beverage a day have about a 20 percent greater risk of breast cancer than do women who don't drink. To reduce your breast cancer risk, limit alcohol to no more than one drink daily.
* Precancerous breast changes (atypical hyperplasia, lobular carcinoma in situ). These changes are discovered only after you have a breast biopsy, most commonly done for another reason. If these changes are present, your risk of breast cancer is higher than it is for women who don't have one of these so-called "markers." If you have carcinoma in situ, discuss treatment and monitoring options with your doctor.
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Mammographic breast density. Breasts described as "dense" have a high ratio of connective and glandular tissue to fat. On X-ray images, dense breast tissue looks solid and white, so it can mask tumors and make mammograms difficult to interpret. Increasingly, though, breast density is also being recognized as a breast cancer risk factor in itself. The mechanism behind this increased risk is unknown.

Your age and menopausal status affect your breast density. Younger women tend to have denser breasts. Hormones also have an effect — higher hormone levels generally mean denser breasts. Still, the actual increase in risk due to mammographic density is very small. If you're at high risk of breast cancer and your mammograms are difficult to interpret because of breast density, your doctor may recommend additional screening tests.

When to seek medical advice

Although most breast changes aren't cancerous, it's important to have them evaluated promptly. See your doctor if you discover a lump or any of the other warning signs of breast cancer, especially if the changes persist after one menstrual cycle or they change the appearance of your breast. If you've been treated for breast cancer, report any new signs or symptoms immediately. Possible warning signs include a new lump in your breast or a bone ache or pain that doesn't go away after three weeks. In addition, talk to your doctor about developing a breast-screening program, which may vary, depending on your family history and other significant risk factors.
Screening and diagnosis

Screening — looking for evidence of disease before signs or symptoms appear — is the key to finding breast cancer in its early, treatable stages. Depending on your age and risk factors, screening may include breast self-examination, examination by your nurse or doctor (clinical breast exam), mammograms (mammography) or other tests.

Breast self-examination
Breast self-examination is an option beginning at age 20. By becoming proficient at breast self-examination and familiar with the usual appearance and feel of your breasts, you may be able to detect early signs of cancer. Learn how your breasts typically look and feel and watch for changes. If you detect a change, promptly bring it to your doctor's attention. Have your doctor review your examination technique if you'd like input or you have questions.

Clinical breast exam
Unless you have a family history of cancer or other factors that place you at high risk, the American Cancer Society recommends having clinical breast exams once every three years until age 40. After that, the American Cancer Society recommends having a yearly clinical exam.

During this exam, your doctor examines your breasts for lumps or other changes. He or she may be able to feel lumps you miss when you examine your own breasts and will also check for enlarged lymph nodes in your armpit (axilla).

Mammogram
A mammogram, which uses a series of X-ray images of your breast tissue, is currently the best imaging technique for detecting tumors before you or your doctor can feel them. For that reason, the American Cancer Society has long recommended screening mammography for all women over 40.

Two types of mammograms include:

* Screening mammograms. Screening mammograms are performed on a regular basis — about once a year — to check your breast tissue for any changes since your last mammogram.
* Diagnostic mammograms. Your doctor may recommend a diagnostic mammogram to evaluate a breast change detected by you or your doctor. During a diagnostic mammogram, the radiologist performing the exam can take additional views to evaluate the area of concern more closely.

Yet mammograms aren't perfect. A certain percentage of breast cancers — sometimes even lumps you can feel — don't show up on X-rays (false-negative result). The rate is higher for women in their 40s. That's because women of this age and younger tend to have denser breasts, making it more difficult to distinguish abnormal from normal tissue.

At other times, mammograms may indicate a problem when none exists (false-positive result). This can lead to unnecessary biopsies, to fear and anxiety, and to increased health care costs. The skill and experience of the radiologist reading the mammogram also have a significant effect on the accuracy of the test results. In spite of these drawbacks, however, most experts agree mammography is the most reliable screening test for most women.

During a mammogram, your breasts are compressed between plastic plates while a radiology technician takes the X-rays. The whole procedure should take less than 30 minutes. You may find mammography somewhat uncomfortable. If you have too much discomfort, inform the technician. If you have tender breasts, schedule your mammogram for a time after your menstrual period. Avoiding caffeine for two days before the test may help reduce breast tenderness.

Also available at some mammography centers is a soft, single-use, foam pad that can be placed on the surface of the compression plates of the mammography machine, making the test less uncomfortable. The pad doesn't interfere with the image quality of the mammogram.

If possible, try to schedule your mammogram around the same time as your annual clinical exam. That way the radiologist can specifically look at any changes your doctor may discover.

Most important, don't let a lack of health insurance keep you from having regular mammograms. Many state health departments and Planned Parenthood clinics offer low-cost or free screenings.

Other tests

* Computer-aided detection (CAD). In traditional mammography, your X-rays are reviewed by a radiologist, whose skill and experience play a large part in determining the accuracy of the test results. In CAD, a computer scans your mammogram after a radiologist has reviewed it. CAD identifies highly suspicious areas on the mammogram, allowing the radiologist to focus on specific spots, but many of these areas may later prove to be normal. Still, using mammography and CAD together may increase the cancer detection rate.
* Digital mammography. In this procedure, an electronic process is used to collect and display X-ray images on a computer screen. This allows your radiologist to alter contrast and darkness, making it easier to identify subtle differences in tissue. In addition, digital images can be transmitted electronically, so women who live in remote areas can have their mammograms read by an expert who is based elsewhere. Digital mammography has been found to be most helpful in evaluating dense breast tissue in women in their 40s.
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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This technique uses a magnet and radio waves to take pictures of the interior of your breast. Although not used for routine screening, MRI can reveal tumors that are too small to detect through physical exams or are difficult to see on conventional mammograms. MRI doesn't take the place of mammograms, but rather is performed as an additional (adjunct) study of the breast.

MRI isn't recommended for routine screening on women at average risk because it has a high rate of false-positive results, leading to unnecessary anxiety and biopsies. It's also expensive, not readily available and requires interpretation by an experienced radiologist. However, the American Cancer Society now recommends annual screening MRI for women with a lifetime breast cancer risk of 20 percent or higher, women who received chest radiation between ages 10 and 30, and women with a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancers.

Recent recommendations propose that women with newly diagnosed breast cancer in one breast have a one-time MRI done. MRI can detect breast tumors in the opposite (contralateral) breast missed by mammograms. The test can also detect additional lesions in the affected breast. However, whether finding early tumors in this situation improves treatment outcomes — and deaths from breast cancer — is still unknown.
* Breast ultrasound (ultrasonography). Your doctor may use this technique to evaluate an abnormality seen on a mammogram or found during a clinical exam. Ultrasound uses sound waves to produce images of structures deep within the body. Because it doesn't use X-rays, ultrasound is a safe diagnostic tool that can help determine whether an area of concern is a cyst or solid tissue. But breast ultrasound isn't used for routine screening because it has a high rate of false-positive results — finding problems where none exist.

Experimental procedures

* Ductal lavage. In this procedure, your doctor inserts a tiny, flexible tube (catheter) into the lining of a duct in your breast — the site where most cancers originate — and withdraws a sample of cells. The cells are then examined for precancerous changes that might eventually lead to disease. These changes may show up long before tumors can be detected on a mammogram. But because ductal lavage is a new and invasive procedure, many unknowns remain, including the rate of false-negative results, the exact location in the breast of abnormal cells and whether those cells will necessarily lead to cancer. Clinical trials are being conducted to help find the answers to these questions. In the meantime, ductal lavage isn't recommended as a screening tool.
* Molecular breast imaging (MBI). This experimental technique tracks the movement of a radioactive isotope injected into the bloodstream and taken up by breast tissue, particularly tumors. In preliminary studies, MBI found small tumors that both mammography and ultrasound missed. It's not yet clear how any abnormal findings from MBI could be biopsied, but this is an area of study. Besides requiring some radiation, this imaging method also involves slight compression of the breast. This imaging technique is being studied in women with dense breast tissue and women at high risk of breast cancer. Depending on study results, MBI would most likely become an adjunct to — but not a replacement for — mammography.

Diagnostic procedures
Unlike screening tests, diagnostic procedures help to further characterize breast abnormalities found by some other means, such as by feeling a breast lump or seeing a spot on a mammogram or MRI. These tests help your doctor determine the need for a biopsy and also may be used to help guide a biopsy.

Ultrasound
Ultrasound uses sound waves to create an image of your breast on a computer screen. By analyzing this image, your doctor may be able to tell whether a lump is a cyst or a solid mass. Cysts, which are sacs of fluid, usually aren't cancerous, although your doctor may recommend draining the cyst. If the cyst appears very typical and disappears completely with removal of the fluid, then observation is the only follow-up necessary. If the cyst appears complex, doesn't disappear completely when the fluid is drained or contains bloody fluid, a biopsy is necessary to determine whether cancer is present.

Biopsy
A biopsy — a small sample of tissue removed for analysis in the laboratory — is the only test that can tell if cancer is present. Biopsies can provide important information about an unusual breast change and help determine whether surgery is needed and if so, the type of surgery required. Types of biopsies include:

* Fine-needle aspiration biopsy. Your doctor uses a thin, hollow needle to withdraw tissue from the lump. He or she then sends the tissue to a lab for microscopic analysis. The procedure takes about 30 minutes and is similar to drawing blood. A similar procedure — fine-needle aspiration — is typically performed to remove the fluid from a painful cyst, but it can also help distinguish a cyst from a solid mass.
* Core needle biopsy. A radiologist or surgeon uses a hollow needle to remove tissue samples from a breast lump. As many as 15 samples, each about the size of a grain of rice, may be taken then sent to a pathologist to be analyzed for malignant cells. The advantage of a core needle biopsy is that it removes more tissue for analysis. Sometimes your radiologist or surgeon may use ultrasound to help guide the placement of the needle.
* Stereotactic biopsy. This technique is used to sample and evaluate an area of concern, such as microcalcification, that can be seen on a mammogram but that cannot be felt or seen on an ultrasound. During the procedure, a radiologist takes a core needle biopsy, using your mammogram as a guide. Stereotactic biopsy usually takes about an hour and is performed using local anesthesia.
* Wire localization. Your doctor may recommend this technique when a worrisome lump is seen on a mammogram but can't be felt or evaluated with a stereotactic biopsy. Using your mammogram as a guide, a thin wire is placed in your breast and the tip guided to the lump. Wire localization is usually performed right before a surgical biopsy and is a way to guide the surgeon to the area to be removed and tested.
* Surgical biopsy. This remains one of the most accurate methods for determining whether a breast change is cancerous. During this procedure, your surgeon removes all or part of a breast lump. In general, a small lump will be completely removed (excisional biopsy). If the lump is large, only a sample will be taken (incisional biopsy). The biopsy is generally performed on an outpatient basis in a clinic or hospital.

Estrogen and progesterone receptor tests
Malignant cells removed in a biopsy can be tested for the presence of hormone receptors. If the cancer cells have receptors for estrogen or progesterone or both, your doctor may recommend treatment with a drug such as tamoxifen, which prevents estrogen from binding to these sites.

Staging tests
Staging tests determine the size and location of your cancer and whether it has spread. They also help with treatment planning. Cancer is staged using the numbers 0 through IV.

Stage 0 cancers are also called noninvasive, or in situ (in one place), cancers. Although they don't have the ability to invade normal breast tissue or spread to other parts of your body, it's important to have them removed because they eventually can become invasive cancers.

Stage I to IV cancers are invasive tumors that have the ability to invade normal breast tissue or spread to other areas. A stage I cancer is small and well localized and has a high cure rate. But the higher the stage number, the lower the chances of cure. By stage IV, the cancer has spread beyond your breast to other organs, such as your bones, lungs or liver. Although it's not possible to cure cancer at this stage, it may still respond well to various treatments, which could effectively shrink and control the cancer for an extended period of time.

Genetic tests
If you have a strong family history of breast cancer or other cancers, blood tests may help identify defective BRCA or other genes that are being passed through the family. These tests are often inconclusive and should only be done in select cases after a thorough evaluation with a genetic counselor. Unless you are at high risk of hereditary breast or ovarian cancers, genetic testing usually isn't recommended.

In general, testing is beneficial only if the results will help you make a decision about how you might best reduce your breast or other cancer risk. Options range from lifestyle changes and closer screening and therapy with medications such as tamoxifen to extreme measures such as preventive (prophylactic) bilateral mastectomy and removal of your ovaries (oophorectomy).
Treatment

A diagnosis of breast cancer is one of the most difficult experiences you can face. In addition to coping with a potentially life-threatening illness, you must make complex decisions about treatment.

Talk with your health care team to learn as much as you can about your treatment options. Consider a second opinion from a breast specialist in a breast center or clinic. Talking to other women who have faced the same decision also may help.

Treatments exist for every type and stage of breast cancer. Most women will have surgery and an additional (adjuvant) therapy such as radiation, chemotherapy or hormone therapy. Experimental treatments are also available at cancer treatment centers.

Surgery
Today, radical mastectomy is rarely performed. Instead, the majority of women are candidates for simple mastectomy or lumpectomy. If you decide on mastectomy, you may opt for breast reconstruction.

Breast cancer operations include the following:

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Lumpectomy. This operation saves as much of your breast as possible by removing only the lump plus a surrounding area of normal tissue. Many women can have lumpectomy — often followed by radiation therapy — instead of mastectomy, and in most cases survival rates for both operations are similar. But lumpectomy may not be an option if a tumor is very large, deep within your breast, or if you have already had radiation therapy, have two or more widely separated areas of cancer in the same breast, have a connective tissue disease that makes you sensitive to radiation, or if you have inflammatory breast cancer. If you have a large tumor but still want to consider the possibility of lumpectomy, chemotherapy before surgery may be an option to shrink the tumor and make you eligible for the procedure.

In general, lumpectomy is almost always followed by radiation therapy to destroy any remaining cancer cells. But when very small, noninvasive cancers are involved, some studies question the role and benefits of radiation therapy — especially for older women. These studies haven't shown that lumpectomy plus radiation prolongs a woman's life any better than does lumpectomy alone.
* Partial or segmental mastectomy. Another breast-sparing operation, partial mastectomy involves removing the tumor as well as some of the breast tissue around the tumor and the lining of the chest muscles that lie beneath it. In almost all cases, you'll have a course of radiation therapy following your operation, similar to if you had a lumpectomy.
* Simple mastectomy. During a simple mastectomy, your surgeon removes all your breast tissue — the lobules, ducts, fatty tissue and skin, including the nipple and areola. Depending on the results of the operation and follow-up tests, you may also need further treatment with radiation to the chest wall, chemotherapy or hormone therapy.
* Modified radical mastectomy. In this procedure, a surgeon removes your entire breast, including the overlying skin, and some underarm lymph nodes (axillary lymph node dissection), but leaves your chest muscles intact. This makes breast reconstruction less complicated.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy
Because breast cancer first spreads to the lymph nodes under the arm, all women with invasive cancer need to have these nodes examined. Rather than remove as many lymph nodes as possible, surgeons now focus on finding the sentinel nodes — the first nodes to receive the drainage from breast tumors and therefore the first place cancer cells will travel. If a sentinel node is removed, examined and found to be normal, the chance of finding cancer in any of the remaining nodes is small and no other nodes need to be removed. This spares many women the need for a more extensive operation and greatly decreases the risk of complications.

Axillary lymph node dissection
If the sentinel lymph node does show the presence of cancer, then your surgeon removes additional lymph nodes in your armpit (axilla). The removal of these lymph nodes does increase the risk of serious arm swelling (lymphedema), but newer surgical techniques make this complication much less likely. Knowing if cancer has spread to the lymph nodes is important in determining the best course of treatment, including whether you'll need chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Reconstructive surgery
If you want to have breast reconstruction done, discuss this with your surgeon before you have any surgery done. Not all women are candidates for reconstruction. A plastic surgeon can describe the various procedures, show you photos of women who have had different types of reconstruction, and discuss which type of reconstruction might be best in your case. Your options include reconstruction with a synthetic breast implant or reconstruction using your own tissue. These operations can be performed at the time of your mastectomy or at a later date.

* Reconstruction with implants. This technique uses artificial material — silicone gel or saline, in an implantable, leak-proof shell — to replace surgically removed breast tissue. If you don't have enough muscle and skin to cover an implant, your doctor may use a tissue expander, which is an empty implant shell that inflates as fluid is injected. It's placed under your skin and muscle, and your doctor gradually fills it with fluid — usually over a period of several months. When your muscle and skin have stretched enough, the expander is removed and replaced with a permanent implant.
* Reconstruction with a tissue flap. Known as a transverse rectus abdominal muscle (TRAM) flap, this surgery reconstructs your breast using tissue, including fat and muscle, from your abdomen, although surgeons sometimes may use tissue from your back or buttocks instead. Because the procedure is fairly complicated, recovery may take six to eight weeks. Complications include the risk of infection and tissue death. If you have a low percentage of body fat, this type of reconstruction may not be an option for you.
* Deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) reconstruction. In this procedure, fat tissue from your abdomen is used to create a natural-looking breast. But because your abdominal muscles are left intact, you're less likely to experience complications than you are with traditional TRAM flap breast reconstruction. You may also have less pain, and your healing time may be reduced.
* Reconstruction of your nipple and areola. After initial surgery with either tissue transfer or an implant, you may have further surgery to make a nipple and areola. Using tissue from elsewhere in your body, your surgeon first creates a small mound to resemble a nipple. He or she may then tattoo the skin around the nipple to create an areola. Your surgeon may also take a skin graft from elsewhere on your body, place it around the reconstructed nipple to slightly raise the skin and then tattoo the skin graft.

Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. It's administered by a radiation oncologist at a radiation center. In general, radiation is the standard of care following a lumpectomy for both invasive and noninvasive breast cancers. Oncologists are also likely to recommend radiation following a mastectomy for a large tumor, for inflammatory breast cancer, for cancer that has invaded the chest wall or for cancer that has spread to more than four lymph nodes in your armpit.

If you won't be receiving chemotherapy, radiation is usually started three to four weeks after surgery. If your doctors recommend chemotherapy, it's usually administered before you undergo radiation therapy. You'll typically receive radiation treatment five days a week for five to six consecutive weeks. The treatments are painless and are similar to getting an X-ray. Each takes about 30 minutes. The effects are cumulative, however, and you may become tired toward the end of the series. Your breast may be pink, puffy and somewhat tender, as if it had been sunburned.

In a small percentage of women, more serious problems may occur, including arm swelling, damage to the lungs, heart or nerves, or a change in the appearance and consistency of breast tissue. Radiation therapy also makes it somewhat more likely that you'll develop another tumor. For these reasons, it's important to learn about the risks and benefits of radiation therapy when deciding between lumpectomy and mastectomy. You may also want to talk to a radiation oncologist about clinical trials investigating shorter courses of radiation or focal application of radiation.

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. The size of the tumor, characteristics of the cancer cells, and extent of spread of the cancer help determine your need for chemotherapy. If your cancer has a high chance of returning or spreading to another part of your body, your doctor may recommend chemotherapy after surgery to decrease the chance that the cancer will recur. This is known as adjuvant chemotherapy. If your cancer has already spread to other parts of your body, chemotherapy may be recommended to try to control the cancer and decrease any symptoms the cancer is causing.

Treatment often involves receiving two or more drugs in different combinations. These may be administered intravenously, in pill form or both. You may have between four and eight treatments spread over three to six months.

Because chemotherapy affects healthy cells as well as cancerous ones, side effects are common. Your digestive tract, hair and bone marrow — all composed of fast-growing cells — tend to take the brunt of this toxicity, leading to hair loss, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. Not everyone has all of these side effects, however, and methods to control chemotherapy side effects have improved greatly in the past few decades. Notably, more effective drugs are now available to help prevent or reduce nausea and vomiting.

Depending on the chemotherapy drugs your doctor recommends, other side effects may occur, including possible damage to the heart, nerves, kidneys and other organs. Chemotherapy may also temporarily affect your white blood cells — cells that fight off infection.

Another recently described side effect is "chemobrain," the common term for memory and concentration problems that happen to some people during and after chemotherapy. Chemobrain is associated with difficulties involving specific thought processes, including word finding, memory and multitasking.

Premature menopause and infertility also are potential side effects of chemotherapy. The older you are when you begin treatment, the greater the likelihood that your reproductive cycle will be affected. In rare cases, certain chemotherapy medications may lead to cancer of the white blood cells (acute myeloid leukemia) — often years after treatment ends.

Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy — perhaps more properly termed hormone blocking therapy — is often used to treat women whose cancers are sensitive to hormones — estrogen and progesterone receptor positive cancers. Similar to chemotherapy, this form of therapy can be used to decrease the chance of your cancer returning. If the cancer has already spread, hormone therapy may shrink and control it.

Two classes of medications are used in hormone therapy: selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) and aromatase inhibitors.

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Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). SERMs act by blocking any estrogen present in the body from attaching to the estrogen receptor on the cancer cells, slowing the growth of tumors and killing tumor cells. SERMs can be used in both pre- and postmenopausal women.

The most common SERM prescribed for hormone therapy is tamoxifen (Nolvadex). Tamoxifen is used as a treatment for women with hormone-sensitive metastatic breast cancer, as an adjuvant therapy for women with early-stage estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, and as a preventive agent in some high-risk women. You take tamoxifen daily, in pill form, for up to five years. It may reduce the risk of recurrence of breast cancer and is less toxic than most anti-cancer drugs.

But tamoxifen isn't trouble-free. Women taking tamoxifen may experience menopausal symptoms such as night sweats, hot flashes, and vaginal itching, discharge or dryness. More serious side effects, including blood clots and endometrial cancer, occur infrequently. Older women, especially those with other medical conditions, may be at greater risk of more serious side effects than are younger women.
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Aromatase inhibitors. This class of drugs, which includes anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara) and exemestane (Aromasin), blocks the conversion of a hormonal substance (androstenedione) into estrogen. This effectively stops estrogen production in cells other than the ovaries. Fat cells, the adrenal gland and other normal cells all make small amounts of estrogen. These drugs are only effective in postmenopausal women.

In several randomized, controlled trials, women receiving aromatase inhibitors have fared slightly better than have those receiving tamoxifen. Women treated with aromatase inhibitors also had a lower incidence of blood clots and endometrial cancer. To date, the primary drawback of aromatase inhibitors is an increased risk of osteoporosis. The main question about aromatase inhibitors seems to be whether women should take tamoxifen first and then switch to an aromatase inhibitor or simply take an aromatase inhibitor from the start.

Biological therapy
As scientists learn more about the differences between normal cells and cancer cells, treatments aimed at these differences — called biological therapy — are being developed. Three biological therapies are now available for breast cancer. They include:

* Trastuzumab (Herceptin). This FDA-approved biological therapy uses monoclonal antibody technology to attack a protein — called HER2-neu — that's overproduced in about one out of every three breast cancers. By attacking this protein, Herceptin kills cancer cells on its own and in conjunction with chemotherapy or hormone therapy. Herceptin can be used as an adjuvant therapy or to treat advanced disease.
* Bevacizumab (Avastin). Now approved for treating metastatic breast cancer, Avastin also uses monoclonal antibody technology to target new blood vessels and stop them from growing. Cancer cells need to grow new blood vessels in order to survive. This therapy halts that process and kills the cancer cells.
* Lapatinib (Tykerb). Like Herceptin, Tykerb zeros in on and blocks the effects of the HER2 protein. But while Herceptin blocks HER2's action from the outside of the cell, Tykerb is a smaller molecule that works on the inside of the cell. Tykerb works for some women for whom Herceptin is no longer effective. This drug is only approved for use in conjunction with chemotherapy and in women with advanced, metastatic breast cancers.

Clinical trials
Clinical trials are used to test new and promising agents in the treatment of cancer. Clinical trials represent the cutting edge of technology, but they're often unproven treatments that may or may not be superior to currently available therapies. Talk with your doctor about clinical trials to see if one is right for you.

Clinical trials involve more than just new medications. For example, breast surgeons and radiologists are developing nonsurgical methods of destroying cancerous breast tissue. One of these techniques, radiofrequency ablation, uses ultrasound to locate the tumor. Then a metal probe about the size of a toothpick is inserted into the tumor. Inside the tumor, the probe creates heat that destroys cancer cells. Although early tests of radiofrequency ablation have been promising, not all women would be candidates for the procedure if it eventually were approved for widespread use.
Prevention

Nothing guarantees that you won't develop breast cancer. But there are some things you may be able to do to reduce your risk of the disease.

Chemoprevention
Chemoprevention is the use of certain medications to decrease breast cancer risk. Two drugs used for breast cancer prevention in high-risk women come from the class of drugs known as selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs):

* Tamoxifen (Nolvadex). Tamoxifen is approved for use as a preventive agent in women age 35 and older who have an elevated risk of developing breast cancer within the next five years. Data from several clinical prevention trials found that tamoxifen use in women at higher than average risk results in a relative risk reduction of about one-third for noninvasive breast cancer and about one-half for invasive breast cancer.
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Raloxifene (Evista). Raloxifene is approved for prevention of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women at high risk of the disease, as well as in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. In the second group, the drug is approved for both breast cancer prevention and osteoporosis treatment. Large clinical trials have also suggested that raloxifene is as effective as tamoxifen in preventing estrogen receptor positive breast cancer in high-risk postmenopausal women who don't have a personal history of breast cancer.

The Gail model computerized risk assessment is a simple and helpful tool to estimate a woman's risk of developing invasive breast cancer. A five-year Gail model score higher than 1.66 percent is considered high risk. This tool is available online at the National Cancer Institute.

Preventive surgery
Although it's a radical step, preventive surgery also reduces breast cancer risk in high-risk women. Options include:

* Prophylactic mastectomy. This preventive surgery involves removing one or both of your breasts to prevent or reduce your risk of breast cancer. You might consider this option if you're at high risk of breast cancer, you've already had cancer in one breast, you have a family history of breast cancer, you received positive results from genetic testing, or your doctors have identified early signs of cancer in your breast.
* Prophylactic oophorectomy. This preventive option involves surgically removing your ovaries. Although the procedure is usually performed to reduce ovarian cancer risk, having an oophorectomy before you reach menopause also reduces your risk of breast cancer.

Lifestyle factors
Some lifestyle strategies may help reduce breast cancer risk:

* Ask your doctor about aspirin. Taking an aspirin just once a week may help protect against breast cancer, but be sure to talk to your doctor before you start. When used for long periods of time, aspirin can cause stomach irritation, bleeding and ulcers. More serious aspirin side effects include bleeding in the intestinal and urinary tracts and hemorrhagic stroke. In general, you're not a candidate for aspirin therapy if you have a history of ulcers, liver or kidney disease, bleeding disorders, or gastrointestinal bleeding.
* Limit alcohol. Drinking alcohol is strongly linked to breast cancer. The type of alcohol consumed — wine, beer or mixed drinks — seems to make no difference. To help protect against breast cancer, limit the amount of alcohol you drink to less than one drink a day or avoid alcohol completely.
* Maintain a healthy weight. There's a clear link between obesity — weighing more than is appropriate for your age and height — and breast cancer. The association is stronger if you gain the weight later in life, particularly after menopause.
* Avoid long-term hormone therapy. The link between postmenopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer has been a subject of debate for years, partly because research results have been mixed. Estrogen exposure clearly contributes to breast cancer risk, but for most women, the size of the contribution over a lifetime is small — particularly in the absence of other risk factors, such as family history of the disease. If you're approaching menopause and having frequent symptoms, it's probably safe to take hormones for as long as four to five years. Any longer does increase your breast cancer risk, without conferring any clear benefits. The same is true of hormone therapy after age 60.
* Stay physically active. No matter what your age, aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days. Try to include weight-bearing exercises such as walking, jogging or dancing. These have the added benefit of keeping your bones strong.
* Eat foods high in fiber. Try to increase the amount of fiber you eat to between 20 and 30 grams daily — about twice that in an average American diet. Among its many health benefits, fiber may help reduce the amount of circulating estrogen in your body. Foods high in fiber include fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains.
* Emphasize olive oil. Oleic acid, the main component of olive oil, appears both to suppress the action of the most important oncogene in breast cancer and to increase the effectiveness of the drug Herceptin.
* Avoid exposure to pesticides. The molecular structure of some pesticides closely resembles that of estrogen. This means they may attach to receptor sites in your body. Although studies have not found a definite link between most pesticides and breast cancer, it is known that women with elevated levels of pesticides in their breast tissue have a greater breast cancer risk.

New directions in research
Scientists are investigating a number of potential preventive therapies for breast cancer, including:

* Retinoids. Natural or synthetic forms of vitamin A (retinoids) may have the ability to destroy or inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Unlike other experimental therapies, retinoids may be effective in premenopausal women and in those whose tumors aren't estrogen positive. Research is ongoing.
* Flaxseed. Flaxseed is high in lignan, a naturally occurring compound that lowers circulating estrogens in your body. Flaxseed appears to decrease estrogen production — acting much like tamoxifen does — which may inhibit the growth of breast cancer tumors. Lignans are also antioxidants with weak estrogen-like characteristics. These characteristics may be the mechanism by which flaxseed works to decrease hot flashes. Further research should clarify the connection.

Coping skills

A diagnosis of breast cancer can be overwhelming. It may take some time to sort through all your emotions. But you can still be in charge of your life. You'll have many decisions to make in the weeks and months ahead. The more you know, the better prepared you'll be to make the best choices. As soon as you find out you have breast cancer, start educating yourself about its treatment.

In addition to talking to your medical team — your breast specialist, surgeon, medical oncologist (a specialist in chemotherapy and hormone therapy) and radiation oncologist (a specialist in radiation therapy) — you may also want to talk to a counselor or medical social worker. Or you may find it helpful and encouraging to talk to other women with breast cancer.

There are also excellent books on breast cancer and many reputable resources on the Internet. Be sure to look for the most current information because breast cancer treatments change rapidly.

Telling others
One of your first decisions will likely be how and when to tell those closest to you. If you have children, telling them — no matter what their ages — can be difficult, but honesty is the best approach. You don't have to give all the details. How much and what you say will depend on each child's age and ability to understand. But trying to hide your illness isn't a good idea. Instead, tell your children you're doing everything possible to get well.

The decision to tell friends and co-workers isn't an easy one. Especially in the beginning, you may not want anyone outside your family to know. But over time, you may find it helpful to confide in a few close friends or co-workers.

Keep in mind that people may not always react as you expect. Some may have many of the same feelings you do — anger, fear, grief. Others may be incredibly supportive. And some may not say much at all or may even avoid you. That's not because they don't care, but because they may not know what to say. Let them know that there are no right words and that their concern is enough.

Maintaining a strong support system
More and more studies show that strong relationships are crucial in dealing with life-threatening illnesses. In fact, friends and family are often an integral part of your treatment. Sometimes, though, you may want or need different kinds of support. If so, you may find the concern and understanding of other women with breast cancer especially comforting. Breast cancer survivors have developed a tremendous support network. Your doctor or a medical social worker may be able to put you in touch with a group near you. Or you can contact a cancer organization, such as the American Cancer Society, to find out what's available in your area.

Dealing with intimacy
Western culture places a great emphasis on women's breasts. They're associated with attractiveness, femininity and sexuality. Because of these attitudes, breast cancer may affect your self-image and erode your confidence in intimate relationships. Although it can be difficult, you need to talk to your partner about your concerns — preferably before your surgery.

Taking care of yourself
During your treatment, you'll need to plan your schedule carefully. Allow yourself time to rest. And don't be afraid to ask for help. Your friends and family want to help, but they may not always know what to do. Be specific about your needs. For example, you might ask a friend to pick up your children from school, shop for groceries or prepare meals. If you need to, be prepared to relinquish your role as caretaker for a while. This doesn't mean you're helpless or weak. Far from it. It means you're using all your energy to get well.

At the same time, you'll likely want to stay as independent as possible. Sometimes in their desire to help, other people may try to take over your life. Or they may act as if you're terribly fragile. Both can be detrimental to your recovery. Don't hesitate to tell friends and loved ones how you want to be treated.[source:cnn.com/mayo]

Mushrooms: The Ultimate Longevity Food

2008-01-18T01:44:00.000-08:00

In Asia, mushrooms are favored for their earthy flavor and their therapeutic properties. Ancient Chinese lore is filled with legends of mortals that stumbled upon a 1,000-year-old mushroom and attained immortality.

Not too long ago, I was in Kunming, China, and in an underground stalactite cave, I discovered a reishi mushroom that measured four feet in diameter and was carbon dated to be 800 years old!

There are over 100,000 varieties of mushrooms in existence, about 700 of which are edible. Some of the excellent anti-aging mushroom varieties include: maitake, reishi, shiitake, and tree ear. Mushrooms have been discovered to contain a wealth of nutrients.

Depending on the type of mushroom, they may contain amino acids, antioxidants, coumarin, polysaccharides, sterols, as well as many other vitamins and minerals that boost your immunity, lower bad cholesterol, balance blood sugar, and protect your body from cancer and virus.

The next time you are in the mood to search for an elixir, you don't have to dig for mushrooms in the mountains; you can readily find them in your local health food stores. Try oyster mushrooms, chanterelle, Portobello, or even truffles, and the star of the recipe below: porcini mushrooms.

Dr. Mao's Immune Boost Borscht with Porcini Mushrooms

Here is a recipe from one of my patient's mother, a woman who recently passed away at age 100. She came from Poland and traditionally celebrated Christmas dinner with a clear broth borscht soup. I have modified the recipe slightly by including the whole mushroom instead of just the broth because porcini mushrooms are such a wonderful healing food, both tasty and good for your immune system.

Also, beets, the colorful vegetable that Russian centenarians have in common, contain powerful antioxidants and nutrients that help protect against heart disease, birth defects and cancer, especially colon cancer. And don't forget about the greens that are attached to the root! Beet greens are delicious and also rich in vitamins and minerals.

Serves 4

Ingredients

* 2 medium-sized bunches of beets with leaves
* 2 medium onions
* 3 medium carrots
* 3 stalks celery
* 2 to 3 garlic cloves
* 8 ounces dried porcini mushrooms
* 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
* 1 tbsp powdered chicken bouillon
* Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Peel beets and push through a juicer along with the leaves, onions, carrots, celery and garlic; reserve. Remove pulp from juicer, transfer to a skillet and fill with enough water to cover; simmer 20 minutes. Strain liquid into a bowl and discard pulp. Combine with reserved juice. Set aside.

2. Place mushrooms in a skillet and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer mushrooms to a cutting board, let cool and finely chop; return to skillet. Add liquid beet mixture, tomato sauce and bouillon to skillet; bring to a boil, then simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.

I hope you make room for mushrooms and enjoy the longevity benefits! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me. [source:]

FDA OKs meat, milk from most cloned animals

2008-01-16T01:06:00.000-08:00

Food from healthy clones of cattle, swine and goats is as safe as food from non-cloned animals, the Food and Drug Administration said in a report released Tuesday. Debate has raged around food products from cloned cattle, such as this one produced by the company Viagen.
"Extensive evaluation of the available data has not identified any subtle hazards that might indicate food-consumption risks in healthy clones of cattle, swine, or goats," the 968-page "final risk assessment" concluded. "Thus, edible products from healthy clones that meet existing requirements for meat and milk in commerce pose no increased food consumption risk(s) relative to comparable products from sexually-derived animals." But the FDA said it needs more information to determine the safety of meat and milk from cloned sheep. The FDA also concluded that food from newborn cattle clones "may pose some very limited human food consumption risk." The purpose of using cloned animals is to improve the overall value of a given herd by creating genetic copies of donor animals, resulting in a herd that produces higher-quality milk and meat.
For years, heated debate over the use of cloned animals for food production has stretched from Congress to cattle farms and dinner tables nationwide.

Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the agency's Center of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, acknowledged the controversy to reporters. About half of the more than 30,500 comments from the public the FDA has received about the matter have dealt with labeling, he said. But, he added, agency regulators cannot require cloned products be labeled as such if -- as they assert -- there is no material difference between them and food produced by conventional methods.
"There's really nothing for us to label," he said.

Consumers won't be able to figure it out for themselves, he said. No test exists that could distinguish meat from a cloned animal from other meat. Either way, food products from cloned animals or their offspring would not reach store shelves for years, experts said. But companies could label their clone-free products as such, Sundlof said. In addition, foods labeled "organic" would not contain cloned products.
Tuesday's announcement followed the agency's December 2006 preliminary conclusion, reached after a four-year review, that milk and meat from cloned animals are safe for human consumption. The agency was then to collect more safety data before issuing a final decision.
Last month, the Senate passed a measure intended to bar the FDA from approving the products until further study was conducted. The legislation, part of the Senate's $286 billion farm bill, also required the Agriculture Department to examine consumer acceptance of cloned meats.
On Tuesday, opponents of using cloned animals in food production expressed anger at the move.

"The FDA has acted recklessly and I am profoundly disappointed in their rush to approve cloned foods," Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, said in a written statement. "Just because something was created in a lab doesn't mean we should have to eat it. If we discover a problem with cloned food after it is in our food supply and it's not labeled, the FDA won't be able to recall it like they did Vioxx -- the food will already be tainted."
Vioxx, a painkiller, was withdrawn from the market in 2004 after it was linked to a heightened risk of heart attack and stroke.

"We think the FDA should pay attention to what Congress is asking them to do," said J.D. Hanson, policy analyst for the Center for Food Safety. "It looks like they are releasing it to sidestep what Congress has asked them to do."

The National Farmers Union, in a written statement, said "consumers have the right to know if the food they feed their families comes from a cloned animal."
Another concern is possible economic fallout. "People will start consuming less dairy and meat" if they are not sure of the products' safety, predicted Michael Hansen, a senior scientist with Consumers Union. His group calls for more study and clear labeling.

Perhaps in an effort to placate critics, Tuesday's report included hundreds of pages of raw data in the risk assessment. Some consumer groups said they were pleased with the report. "There are still unanswered questions about the use of cloned animals in the food supply, but the Food and Drug Administration has satisfactorily answered the safety question," the Center for Science in the Public Interest said in a written statement. "While the safety of any food cannot be proven with absolute certainty, consumers should have confidence that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring will be safe." Experts say it is unlikely actual clones would be used in food production. A cloned cow costs $15,000 to $20,000 to create. More likely, experts said, the offspring of cloned animals would be used.

Bruce Knight, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, said only about 600 cloned animals exist in the United States, about 570 of which are cattle. He said the agency is urging providers to extend a voluntary moratorium on the use of the meat or milk from cloned animals during the transition, a period he would not specify. Mark Walton, president of ViaGen, which uses cloning technologies, said his company will comply with the request, but he played down the scope of the matter. "The number of cloned animals in the barn yard today is minuscule compared to the size of the total livestock population," said Walton. "In addition, clones are to be used as breeding animals, not for consumption. Because of a supply chain management system that allows tracking of cloned livestock, consumers are unlikely to ever eat these animals."

A spokeswoman for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Karen Batra, predicted, "It will be many, many years" before the technology becomes mainstream. She further predicted that its adoption would not be accompanied by a hike in prices. "There comes a point where consumers will find another form of meat," she said.

Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

2008-01-12T11:17:00.001-08:00

Avian influenza is an infection caused by avian (bird) influenza (flu) viruses. These influenza viruses occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, avian influenza is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them.

Infected birds shed influenza virus in their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces. Susceptible birds become infected when they have contact with contaminated secretions or excretions or with surfaces that are contaminated with secretions or excretions from infected birds. Domesticated birds may become infected with avian influenza virus through direct contact with infected waterfowl or other infected poultry, or through contact with surfaces (such as dirt or cages) or materials (such as water or feed) that have been contaminated with the virus.

Infection with avian influenza viruses in domestic poultry causes two main forms of disease that are distinguished by low and high extremes of virulence. The “low pathogenic” form may go undetected and usually causes only mild symptoms (such as ruffled feathers and a drop in egg production). However, the highly pathogenic form spreads more rapidly through flocks of poultry. This form may cause disease that affects multiple internal organs and has a mortality rate that can reach 90-100% often within 48 hours.
Human infection with avian influenza viruses

There are many different subtypes of type A influenza viruses. These subtypes differ because of changes in certain proteins on the surface of the influenza A virus (hemagglutinin [HA] and neuraminidase [NA] proteins). There are 16 known HA subtypes and 9 known NA subtypes of influenza A viruses. Many different combinations of HA and NA proteins are possible. Each combination represents a different subtype. All known subtypes of influenza A viruses can be found in birds.

Usually, “avian influenza virus” refers to influenza A viruses found chiefly in birds, but infections with these viruses can occur in humans. The risk from avian influenza is generally low to most people, because the viruses do not usually infect humans. However, confirmed cases of human infection from several subtypes of avian influenza infection have been reported since 1997. Most cases of avian influenza infection in humans have resulted from contact with infected poultry (e.g., domesticated chicken, ducks, and turkeys) or surfaces contaminated with secretion/excretions from infected birds. The spread of avian influenza viruses from one ill person to another has been reported very rarely, and has been limited, inefficient and unsustained.

“Human influenza virus” usually refers to those subtypes that spread widely among humans. There are only three known A subtypes of influenza viruses (H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2) currently circulating among humans. It is likely that some genetic parts of current human influenza A viruses came from birds originally. Influenza A viruses are constantly changing, and they might adapt over time to infect and spread among humans.

During an outbreak of avian influenza among poultry, there is a possible risk to people who have contact with infected birds or surfaces that have been contaminated with secretions or excretions from infected birds.

Symptoms of avian influenza in humans have ranged from typical human influenza-like symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches) to eye infections, pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases (such as acute respiratory distress), and other severe and life-threatening complications. The symptoms of avian influenza may depend on which virus caused the infection.
Studies done in laboratories suggest that some of the prescription medicines approved in the United States for human influenza viruses should work in treating avian influenza infection in humans. However, influenza viruses can become resistant to these drugs, so these medications may not always work. Additional studies are needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of these medicines.
Avian Influenza A (H5N1)

Influenza A (H5N1) virus – also called “H5N1 virus” – is an influenza A virus subtype that occurs mainly in birds, is highly contagious among birds, and can be deadly to them. H5N1 virus does not usually infect people, but infections with these viruses have occurred in humans. Most of these cases have resulted from people having direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1-contaminated surfaces.
Avian influenza A (H5N1) outbreaks

For current information about avian influenza A (H5N1) outbreaks, see our Outbreaks page.
Human health risks during the H5N1 outbreak

Of the few avian influenza viruses that have crossed the species barrier to infect humans, H5N1 has caused the largest number of detected cases of severe disease and death in humans. However, it is possible that those cases in the most severely ill people are more likely to be diagnosed and reported, while milder cases go unreported. For the most current information about avian influenza and cumulative case numbers, see the World Health Organization (WHO) avian influenza website.

Of the human cases associated with the ongoing H5N1 outbreaks in poultry and wild birds in Asia and parts of Europe, the Near East and Africa, more than half of those people reported infected with the virus have died. Most cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults and have resulted from direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1-contaminated surfaces. In general, H5N1 remains a very rare disease in people. The H5N1 virus does not infect humans easily, and if a person is infected, it is very difficult for the virus to spread to another person.

While there has been some human-to-human spread of H5N1, it has been limited, inefficient and unsustained. For example, in 2004 in Thailand, probable human-to-human spread in a family resulting from prolonged and very close contact between an ill child and her mother was reported. Most recently, in June 2006, WHO reported evidence of human-to-human spread in Indonesia. In this situation, 8 people in one family were infected. The first family member is thought to have become ill through contact with infected poultry. This person then infected six family members. One of those six people (a child) then infected another family member (his father). No further spread outside of the exposed family was documented or suspected.

Nonetheless, because all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned that H5N1 virus one day could be able to infect humans and spread easily from one person to another. Because these viruses do not commonly infect humans, there is little or no immune protection against them in the human population. If H5N1 virus were to gain the capacity to spread easily from person to person, an influenza pandemic (worldwide outbreak of disease) could begin. For more information about influenza pandemics, see PandemicFlu.gov.

No one can predict when a pandemic might occur. However, experts from around the world are watching the H5N1 situation in Asia and Europe very closely and are preparing for the possibility that the virus may begin to spread more easily and widely from person to person.
Treatment and vaccination for H5N1 virus in humans

The H5N1 virus that has caused human illness and death in Asia is resistant to amantadine and rimantadine, two antiviral medications commonly used for influenza. Two other antiviral medications, oseltamavir and zanamavir, would probably work to treat influenza caused by H5N1 virus, but additional studies still need to be done to demonstrate their effectiveness.
For information about H5N1 vaccines, visit http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/qa.htm.

Diabetes Info

2008-01-09T00:02:00.000-08:00

Diabetes means that the amount of sugar, (called "glucose"), in your blood becomes too high because the body is unable to use it properly. This is because the body's method of converting glucose into energy is not working as it should.

There are two types of diabetes:

Insulin dependent diabetes, (also called "Type 1"), develops when there is a severe lack of insulin in the body. This is because most or all of the cells in the pancreas that produce it have been destroyed. This type of diabetes usually appears in people under the age of 40, often in childhood. It is treated by insulin injections and diet.
Non insulin dependent diabetes, (also called "Type 2"), develops when the body cannot produce enough insulin, or when the insulin does not work properly.

How is my body meant to get its energy?

Normally, the amount of glucose in our blood is carefully controlled by a hormone called insulin. Insulin is made by a gland called the pancreas that lies just behind the stomach. It helps the glucose to enter the cells where it is used as fuel by the body.

We obtain glucose from the food that we eat, either from sweet foods or from the digestion of starchy foods such as bread or potatoes. Glucose can also be made by the liver.

After a meal, the blood glucose level rises and insulin is released into the blood. When the blood glucose level falls (for example, during exercise), the level of insulin falls. Insulin, therefore, plays a vital role in regulating the level of blood glucose and, in particular, in stopping the blood glucose from rising too high.

What are the symptoms of diabetes?

You may experience:

thirst and a dry mouth;
the need to pass large amounts of urine (especially during the night);
tiredness;
weight loss;
itchy genitals;
blurred vision.

Type 2 diabetes develops slowly and the symptoms are usually less severe. Some people may not notice any symptoms at all, but their diabetes is picked up in a routine medical check up.

Type 1 diabetes develops much more quickly, usually over a few weeks. In both types, the symptoms are quickly relieved once the diabetes is treated.

Who gets diabetes?

Diabetes is a common health condition. About 1.4 million people in the UK are known to have diabetes and an estimated further 1.4 million people unknowingly have it.

Over three quarters of people with diabetes have the non insulin dependent type.

Although diabetes can occur at any age, it is rare in infants. [source:]

Asthma triggers

2008-01-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

The airways in a person with asthma are very sensitive and react to a variety of external factors, or "triggers." These triggers cause the airways to tighten and become inflamed and blocked with mucus, resulting in difficulty breathing. An acute asthma attack can begin immediately after exposure to a trigger or hours or days later.

There are many kinds of triggers, and responses to them vary considerably from person to person. A trigger may be harmless to some asthmatics but contribute to an inflammatory response in others--and an individual's reaction to any trigger may vary from one exposure to the next. Some people are affected by numerous triggers; others may not be able to identify any. Recognizing and avoiding triggers, when possible, is an important way to control asthma. Common asthma triggers include:

Infections, including colds, bronchitis, sinus infections, and the flu
Outdoor allergens, including tree, grass, and ragweed pollen, and mold spores
Indoor allergens: molds, animal dander, dust mites, cockroaches
Food allergies (not a common trigger, but can cause asthma symptoms, usually in children under age 5)
Exercise
Tobacco smoke
Wood smoke
Strong odors from perfumes, cleaning agents, etc.
Air pollution
Weather: cold air or changes in temperature and humidity
Strong emotions such as anxiety, or episodes of crying, yelling, or laughing hard
Certain medications

To control symptoms, it's important to first take note of what factors may have caused them and then avoid those triggers. (Exception: The only trigger you do not want to avoid is exercise. If your asthma is well controlled, you should be able to participate in any activity you want.

This section includes information on how to reduce your exposure to common triggers in the environment, including:

Infection
Dust mites
Mold and mildew
Insects
Pollens
Pets
Irritants
Stress

[source:]

Privacy Policy

2008-01-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

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