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September 8, 2010

4 Tips to Keep Your Eyeglasses Safe and Clean

Filed under: Health — Tags: , — admin @ 5:56 pm

People who wear eyeglasses sometimes lose, misplace, or break them. It’s easy to do, especially if you wear glasses only for reading or driving, instead of everyday full-time wear. Even if you don’t wear prescription sunglasses, you could lose dollar-store reading glasses or expensive (or not) sunglasses. Whatever type you have, it’s inconvenient to leave they elsewhere or find them broken just when you need a pair to see or read. But there are easy ways to keep your glasses safe. You don’t have to lock them in a vault or chain them to your desk. Try the following ideas and see if they don’t help.

1. Keep your glasses in an eyeglass holder when not in use. Your eye doctor will probably give you a holder with your prescription lenses. For store-bought eyeglasses or sunglasses, you can purchase a holder for a dollar or two. Always put your glasses of any kind in their holder when you don’t have them on. Make sure the holder is soft inside, to avoid scratching the lens, and solid outside, to protect against dropping or squeezing.

2. Your eyeglass holder should stay in the same place all the time. For sunglasses that you wear while driving, keep the holder in the glove compartment or another area of the front seat where you can readily get it. Try to keep the holder in the same area each time so you don’t forget where it is. The same goes for prescription glasses in the house. Keep your holder on the dresser, in your purse, or on the desk, and it will be easier to remember where the glasses are the next time you need them.

3. Get an extra pair of eyeglasses to have on hand. Store them in a personal drawer or in another place where you can remember to find them when needed. These should be used only when the others are unavailable from being lost or broken. Otherwise, you could end up with two pairs floating around the house and not know where either is when you need it.

4. Don’t bend, chew, or stretch your eyeglass frames, and avoid twirling them. Never toss or throw your eyeglasses, and avoid dropping them. Avoid laying them on a hot surface or in a place that kids or dogs can reach. Use the recommended cleaning wipes to remove smears or lint, as other cloths or paper can scratch the lens. You may want to wear them on a chain around your neck to avoid misplacing them. If you are accident-prone, you may want to take out eyeglass insurance that will let you replace the frame or the lens at a low cost.

Don’t wear a frame that is cracked or one from which the lens keep popping out, or you could lose it. Have your eyes checked each year or two to get the most up-to-date prescription. Try to stay away from situations where you can lose your eyeglasses and become temporarily vision-impaired.

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September 7, 2010

Can Sitting at a Computer be Causing Your Migraine Headaches?

Filed under: Health — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:18 pm

Has it ever occurred to you that while you are happily typing away on your computer for hours on end you are actually creating a problem in your neck that can lead to chronic migraine headaches or tension headaches? If you suffer from migra ine headaches or tensi on headaches it may be something you should investigate.

When a person with migraine headaches or tension headaches visits a chiropractor for their pain what does the chiropractor typically do for that patient? The usual treatment for most headache patients is to manipulate, or adjust, the neck. Chiropractors teach us that most headaches come from neck problems, and that by adjusting or manipulating the neck tension and migraine headaches can be relieved or cured.

Over 80% of headache patients that receive chiropractic treatment show improvement that ranges from slight improvement up to complete elimination of their headache pain. If this is the case then it seems logical that the majority of migraine headaches or tension headaches originate from spinal (neck) problems. It also seems logical that if we knew what was causing these neck problems, and eliminated what was causing them, we could also eliminate the headaches, both migraine and tension.

As a chiropractor for 25 years I have treated many patients with migraine headaches and tension headaches. After examining thousands of patients I discovered that as many as 95% who were experiencing headaches had one thing in common, a reversed cervical (neck) curve. From the side view a normal neck should have a slight curve in it. But in my experience as a chiropractor I estimate that approximately 95% of my patients with headaches had either a lessening of that curve, no curve at all, or a curve that was completely reversed. When these “poor neck curvatures” were treated with chiropractic adjustments most showed great improvement.

Chiropractors know that headaches can be caused by “poor neck posture,” so the next question becomes “can sitting at a computer cause poor neck posture?” If the answer is yes, then it’s very obvious that sitting at a computer can and does cause headaches.

People usually develop poor neck curvatures because of poor posture habits. Anything a person does that places their head in a position forward to their body will lessen or reverse their normal neck curve. And poor neck curvatures DO cause headaches. Chiropractors have been teaching this for decades.

The types of activities that can lead to poor neck posture include sitting at a computer for extended periods of time, reading with the head bent forward, sitting while slouching in a chair or on a couch, sleeping with the head or neck in odd positions, or any other activity that places the head in a position forward to the body. So, to answer our original question, yes, headaches can be caused by sitting at a computer. Sitting at a computer can cause an abnormal neck curvature to develop which can cause headaches.

Good posture can surely prevent the development of poor neck posture, which would seem to be the best remedy, but what can be done if the lessening or reversal of the neck curve has already been developed? Obviously, chiropractic treatment is an option that could be considered. But there are many other alternative treatments for tension or migraine headaches.

Most people just take a pain pill. But are pain pills the best approach? They surely are in some cases, but there are many other headache treatment options that don’t require the use of potentially harmful drugs. All drugs have side effects, some of which can end up being worse than the headaches themselves. Before treating your health problems with drugs it is wise to seek the advice of a health professional.

There are many natural remedies for migraine headaches or tension headaches. These include stress and tension reduction, ice therapy (used at the base of the skull), eliminating food triggers, getting the proper amount of rest, biofeedback, headache pillows or cushions, exercise and many others. Some of these may help relieve headaches, both migraine and tension, and could be investigated further.

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September 6, 2010

Hair Loss and Health

Filed under: Health — Tags: — admin @ 6:57 pm

There’s a lot of different opinions on this topic. While some doctors may argue that treatments and/or surgical procedures are required, others argue that there’s a natural approach to delaying hair loss. You’re worried that your hair loss makes you look older, right? Perhaps it’s an inherited trait that can not be reversed without the aid of medication. Maybe your hair loss is only temporary. It’s become obvious that many types of hair loss are influenced by genetics. Take a glance at your father and his father, etc. If you’ve inherited this trait, somewhere along the line you are bound to find someone in your family with pattern baldness. But this doesn’t mean that there’s nothing you can do about it. If you’re thinning and/or balding it doesn’t mean that you’re getting old. And it most certainly doesn’t mean that you should become depressed and kick your health to the curb. In our society, we’re constantly pressured to look good and age to perfection. But as a man or woman, you have to realize that anti-aging creams and hair re-growth remedies are usually nothing more than promising gimmicks. There is no such thing as anti-aging. There is no such thing as aging to perfection. If these products work at all, they will only delay the process of aging and balding. Most men and women get so consumed with their the idea of balding that they often overlook their health. They become obsessed with the idea of having fuller, thicker hair, that they’ll try any product-regardless of the possible side effects. Which in truth, is very sad. Want to look younger? Losing excess body fat and building muscle strength will make you look ten years younger. You can do many nutritional related things to look naturally younger than you actually are. Forget about hair loss for one moment. In our culture, we do so many things that promote the aging process already. Smoking, drinking, caffeine, fast food, diet pills, tampering with our hair’s natural color-it’s no wonder why people are aging rapidly with health problems. Now ask yourself: is there anything you can do to slow down your own aging process? Sure you can go through a surgical procedure and have a transplant, but will it actually make you look younger? Who is the procedure for? Yourself or others? Feeling good about your health will make you feel good about your overall appearance. The point here is-there’s nothing wrong with you. Hair loss is not a disease. Your body is telling you that you’re older, wiser, and more experienced. Worry about the things you can change right now. You can change your diet, you can change poor habits. That only takes a moment. If you’re a smoker, you can consciously become a non-smoker by the time you’ve finished reading this sentence. However, reverting hair loss on the other hand, is a gradual process.

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September 2, 2010

Kids and Medication

Filed under: Health — Tags: , — admin @ 7:19 pm

We have all talked a lot about the problems in our educational system, about latchkey kids, about teacher turnover (50 percent of teachers quitted within the first five years on the job), psychologists over prescribing medications such as Prozac and Ritalin with our friends and families. We can all foresee a terrible problem in the future because we are feeding these drugs to kids under the age of six, their brains have not been fully formed yet and these drugs and their predecessors and competing drugs all have adverse side effects.

There are over 10,000 chemicals that the brain reacts to, there are over 2000 chemicals in the brain in any one time, in your brain is reacting to 20 or 30 of those chemicals in a big way. And along comes in new enhancements. Why because we’re not allowed to discipline or own children, we might be turned in for child abuse. God help you if you smacked her child for mouthing off, hitting their siblings, or general rude behavior. Benefit teacher doesn’t they can go to jail to. So what happens when Johnny is bad the sandbox; he is put into a corner as a punishment away from the other kids and we call this a timeout. On the other hand if we give Johnny a Swift kick in the rear, then maybe he might learn something. When he acts out they put him in a corner and then he wants attention, so he further misbehaves; so the teacher says into the office and the principal calls in a special psychologists who refers little Johnny to the medical nurse, who calls Johnny single mom at work which embarrasses her, you see Johnny’s father left and he is a deadbeat dad, unwilling to pay for Johnny’s costs even though he brought Johnny into the world and now Johnny’s mother doesn’t know what to do, so they convince her that her child has ADHD.

When in reality Johnny is just like all the other kids a little hyper all the time probably has to much sugar at home in being young has just a ton of energy. Since Johnny lacks the discipline of a child under supervision, without father around he isn’t a lot of trouble as do most kids were not discipline. But instead disciplining Johnny they decide to drug him instead. Johnny now is on drugs and ever been really discipline ever assumes that he has a problem because his mother, teacher, nurse, Dr., principal say so.

Now Johnny has lower expectations of himself as do his elders best Johnny performed on to that ability which is right around 0. Johnny acts off gets into trouble, becomes a juvenile delinquent tries a few drugs with his friends does a little graffiti causes of any crimes and decides to join a gang. Where is mom, trying to make ends meet without the assistance of Johnny’s dad who has skipped how sold his construction company to a friend who pays them five dollars an hour. Thus Johnny’s dad is unable to make restitution and the courts changes restitution to such a small amount it isn’t even worth Johnny’s moms trouble to try to collect. And it’s certainly isn’t worth her trouble to share custody rights. So when you look at George W. Bush’s plan to keep the families together, especially low income families where the mom has to work and support for kids you can see the incredible problem we have in why something must be done. Either we have discipline the schools and When two people have the kid they stick together and raised a child in a responsible for child or we all pay later for more prisons, prison guards, rehab facilities, police officers student faculty support employees etc. do you know right now that the nurse gives a child and aspirin that child must get a note from their parents. However if that child needs an abortion, that child can get an abortion without the school ever contacting the parent, give me a break.

The easy issues affect every employer at the store level due to unmanageable employees they might have and their productivity goes South all too often, this affects their ability to work and pay into the system or advance in a company. When a kid does drugs and gets into trouble we all pay. If that child grows up into a life of crime it costs more to keep that child in prison for one year that it does to send them to two years of college, so you figure it out either we drop the BS stop over Medicating and start disciplining or we will pay later and we will pay dearly. We just have to stop feeding our kid’s drugs for mood enhancement. We know these drugs have side effects.

Let’s look at these for a bit one by one. Adderall is a amphetamine which is taken once per day and stops areas of the brain responsible for organizing thoughts; it has some very real side effect such as rapid heart beat, high blood pressure and sometimes over stimulation and can become addictive. With Concerta it keeps the neurons with lots of norepinephrine and dopamine, which reduces hyperactivity and inattention, and it’s side effects include head aches, stomach pain, sleeplessness and can cause over stimulation. Strattera was the first non-stimulant which enchances norepinephrine levels in the brain and also has some serious side effects, which include; decreased appetite, fatigue, stomach pain and nausea. Ritalin is an active agent, methylphenidate to stimulate the brain to filter and prioritize incoming information. But the side effects we know too; Headaches, lack of appetite, irritability, nervousness and insomnia. Methypatch is the patch form of the methylphenidate and delivers continuous doses through the skin.

In continuation of mood enhancement drugs for kids and adolescents, we next discuss the issues of Prozac. Of course there is the other favorite drug Prozac which was approved back in 1987 and was the first anti-depressant aimed at regulating serotomine which is the major chemical contributing in the brain for mood. Side effects yes we have all heard. Insomnia, nervousness, weight loss and mania.

Lithium is interesting and a popular thing often prescribed which stabilizes the episodes of elated, intensely joyous moods. If not taken it can cause severe negative emotion swings along with mania, other side effects include nausea, loss of appetite, trembling of the hands.

Zyprexa is a mood stabilizer designed to balance levels of serotomine and dopamine. It has side effects of weight gain, drowsiness, dry mouth and even seizures and it has not been approved yet, good.

Depakote is an anti-seizure medication which treats the grandiose, hyperagitated states of mania, with other problems it induces which are serious; liver and white blood cell abnormalties, headaches, nausea and drowsiness. Also not approved.

Effexor targets serotomine and norepinephrine to regulate one’s mood with side effects too; nausea, constipation , nervousness, loss of appetite and drowsiness.

Paxil is similar to the theory that both Prozac and Zoloft uses as it elevates the levels of serotomine in the brain. And like the others causes drowsiness, nausea and insomnia. Now Zoloft enhances the levels of serotomine to maintain the feelings of satisfaction and stability. Now then is this really what we want to be feeding our kids? Not me. I am so concerned with the 7% of kids being prescribed under the age of 10. And in adolescents almost 17% in some regions of our country, this is nuts.

How can we know when we hire workers that they are not of severe deficiency and if they are on these drugs and have stomach pains and head aches won’t this effect their work performance and productivity? Of course they will. The question is will the benefits out way the problems? Should people on these drugs be paid less than those who are not? Or are we as employers expected to accept this and call it a handicap? Is that fair to the others? Who do not call in sick and perform better? So parents realize when they do this to their kids for the short-term gain in controllability that they are putting their kids at a disadvantage the rest of their lives when simple discipline could take care of the problem and no drugs would be needed? We do not know the longterm affect of these drugs but will we all be blindsided with health care costs starting in the next few decades? If the experts are telling us this stuff is okay maybe they need their heads examined?

An interesting book on this is “Living on Prozac” and it will scare you after you read it.

Why is this important to small businesses and to my company The Car Wash Guys? Well because we have team members who are ADHD who are generally more intelligent than others and perform just as well or better without any enhancement drugs. Why would we want them to take any drugs with side effects? I am simply stating that if 30 percent of the kids ages 18 to 28 are doing some type of drug, recreationally or prescription only that they may not be able to work for our company. If we do drug tests and 30 percent do not qualify we have a big problem, if the unemployment rate goes below six percent and 30 percent are doing drugs that means my unemployment rate for the business is really four percent. This means it will be very hard to find employees. Drug Testing could kill a small business in costs alone. I once read a report where a Trucking employee was accused of running over his boss, this article in the Bowling Green Daily News, in KY. No kidding; A trucking company employee is accused of running over his boss after refusing to take a drug test. Are businesses going to be forced to hire people with such a disability, which requires Prozac or some other drug and then if something goes wrong they go berserk one day? Well, what do you think? We all need to be thinking here? It affects everyone in this great nation and the future of the country depends on healthy minds and bodies.

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September 1, 2010

Depression Kills

Filed under: Health — Tags: — admin @ 6:24 am

We hear reports around the globe of the many souls that suffer depression, because of overwhelming stress. With wars, poverty, and violence going on around us is it any wonder that depression is an issue? Statistics has proven that depression links to increased heart attacks and heart disease. Researchers have not proved that depression is the cause of heart disease, but they do feel it is a contribution. Depression is also the root for suicidal increase. Yet the fatal mistake that doctors make is over medicating the patient. Medications not only suppress the problem, but it contributes to medical issues. The result, the problem is still there.

Everyday studies are finding new information and yet the information is often tossed to the backseat while traditional treatments continue. New studies reveal that in contrast, intellectual and in depth, research coupled with insight helps scientist understand depression. After study the mental illness, closely they concluded in once study that depression is possibly linked to existing heart diseases that are a result of With premature death-related to heart disease caused by premature changes in women.

In other words, postmenopausal issues were said to be linked. After careful research, it was shown that antidepressant drugs might cause more harm to patients. Observers that watched these women claimed that women were at higher risk of heart attacks while inducing antidepressants. The Archives of Internal Medicines after conducting surveys claimed that more than 90,000 women over the age of fifty and out of 16 percent suffered major depression. This was half the women and this half was taking antidepressants.

The researchers continued their studies and found that postmenopausal women suffered depression, and because of taking antidepressants, over half the women were at risk of death related to heart diseases. In 2003, new researchers concluded that the percentage of women at risk would also be subject to fractured bones, and that more than 8,000 women over 65 were prescribed medications and the medicines had affected the central nervous system. Researchers deduced that after taking prescribed drugs for five years the women were noticeably showing risks of fracturing bones, and those that did not take the drugs lived healthier lives.After careful studies researchers concluded that, the prescribed drugs were the linking cause of psychical symptoms.

In order to reduce depression, one must exercise, eat healthy, write in journals, and use self-induced analytic profiling and evaluation of self. It is extremely important that a person come to understand their handicap and deal with it. More studies have shown that when the spine is out of alignment, or injured that it links to depression, which is often caused by stress.

Often when we visit our Chiropractor, he/she can help us to get our spine back in alignment, which has proven to relieve stress and depression. In spite of the studies that concluded that antidepressants could put a patient at risk doctors around the globe, still take out their prescription pads and start writing. Often the problem is ignored and blame is placed on the patients, while the doctors continue prescribing. Now you must ask the question, are you at risk? If so, you need to take care that you consult with the proper physician. Ask him to monitor your issues carefully and sway him away from prescribing antidepressants. Stay alert to your mental health and avoid floundering, as this contributes to depression. There are solutions to any problems that will work for you.

Get out of the house and socialize. Take up a sport that you may enjoy. Read a damn good book or write one yourself. Writing is a gift, an art, and a contribution to Freedom of Speech; let the words flow. As I analyzed this distraction, I concluded, that depression is a mask of broken memories backed with links to medical issues formed and ignored. The spinal and nervous system are remarkably relative if not constituting the main cause of this distraction. What happens is people that suffer fail to exercise, sit straight, bend appropriately, and so forth. The result, the spine is dislocated. When the spine is out of line, problems will arise. Depression can kill only if you let it!

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August 31, 2010

3 Quick & Easy Steps To Playing Music by Ear

Filed under: miscellaneous — Tags: — admin @ 6:36 pm

Playing by ear is the ability to play a piece of music (or, eventually, learn an instrument) by simply listening to it repeatedly. The majority of self-taught musicians began their education this way; they picked up their instrument and began playing an easy melody from a well-known song, slowly picking out the notes as they went along. And even after these musicians master their instruments or a particular song, playing by ear still plays a large role. Many pop and rock bands don’t play or write their songs based on sheet music, they figure the songs out by playing by ear. It’s even common among non-musicians. Ever sit down a piano and mindlessly pick out the tune to “Mary Had a Little Lamb”? What about grabbing a guitar and suddenly finding yourself playing the opening licks to “Smoke on the Water”? That’s playing by ear. You’re able to play part of the song just because you’ve heard it so often.

Since music is basically composed of 3 elements – melody, rhythm, and harmony, it is logical that there are also 3 basic steps to learning to play music by ear:

1.Charting the contour of the melody. Tunes move higher and lower – up and down – as the song progresses. Being aware of that movement is the first step. Once you mentally define the parameters of the melody, you can then begin to hone in on picking it out on your instrument. As an example, think of “Joy To The World”. We’ve all sung it a zillion times, but have you ever noticed that the melody moves down exactly 8 steps (an octave), then gradually moves back up in increments, then repeats the down movement, etc. The entire melody is contained within those 8 notes, so you now know the parameters of the song and can begin to pick out the melody intelligently.

2.Harmonizing the melody with matching chords. The second element of music is harmony, and you can harmonize any melody just by matching the supporting chords to that melody. For example, if the melody is a “G”, you can harmonize that melody by using a chord with G in it, such as the G chord (G, B, D), the C chord (C, E, G), or the Em chord (E, G, B), or the Eb chord (Eb, G, Bb) and so forth. By using your ear to guide you, you can learn to harmonize the melody of most any song using matching chords.

3.Using an appropriate rhythm that matches the feel of the song. This is usually the easiest part, since most people “feel” the beat and don’t have to do any mental gymnastics to come up with an appropriate rhythm for a song. But for those of us that might be “rhythmically challenged”, just by knowing that there are basically two meters available – duple meter and triple meter — that can be combined in infinite combinations, we can give the song either a “3” feeling (like a waltz or a jazz waltz) or a “4” feeling (like swing or a march or a ballad).

Playing by ear is a valuable technique for many musicians; learning songs based solely on hearing them is a great way to understand song and chord structure. In fact, a great number of rock and pop musicians learned to play their instruments this way. Instead of picking up a book or taking lessons, they concentrated on figuring out the notes and rhythms to a song until it was mastered. Then they moved on to another song. And another.

Gradually, they learned their instrument just by playing by ear — and in the process learned how to effectively structure a song in that particular genre. Playing by ear is also beneficial in helping a musician develop his or her own style; sure, they’ll at first mimic the style of the song they’re imitating, but the amalgamation of the music that they’re playing by ear will help them create something distinctive, something indicative of them only.

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August 30, 2010

16 Tips to be Safe in the Hospital for Patient Safety Awareness Week

Filed under: Health — Tags: , — admin @ 1:15 am

In honor of National Patient Safety Awareness Week the filmmakers who created the video/DVD, “Things You Should Know Before Entering the Hospital” are sharing 16 tips to stay safe while in the hospital. These tips come in response to the Journal of the American Medical Association reporting that 98,000 people die each year because of medical errors in the hospital. That’s more deaths than from AIDS, breast cancer and car accidents. Reports from the CDC estimate that as many as two million patients contract an infection from U.S. hospitals or medical centers each year accounting for 90,000 deaths.

“Human error is a fact in healthcare just as in the rest of life, and we all must be educated on what to be watchful of regarding things that might go wrong,” said Martin J. Hatlie, Esq., President of Partnership for Patient Safety.

1. Secure advocates, friends and family members to be with you 24 hours a day. When checking into the hospital, be sure to have your advocate/s sign the paperwork that gives them legal permission to know all the details about your treatment. Advocates must be able to ask questions on your behalf. Advocates will need assertiveness training so have them watch this program to ensure they’re not intimidated by hospital personnel.

2. If your advocate is not available in an emergency, do not delay treatment.

3. Make sure your advocate speaks both your language and that of the hospital staff. If not, bring a translator.

4. Select a hospital where your procedure or surgery is done often.

5. Ask your doctor how many times they’ve performed the procedure. Make sure he or she will be doing the procedure themselves.

6. Before you check into the hospital, make sure your doctor knows about any allergy and pre-existing condition, such as high blood pressure, depression or adverse reactions to other medications.

7. Bring a list of all your medications and supplements. Like prescription, over-the-counter medicines, dietary supplements, vitamins and herbs. Make sure your doctor and advocate know everything you’re taking.

8. Each time a nurse brings you medication, ask seven important questions:

1. What is this medicine for?

2. Who prescribed it?

3. When am I supposed to take it?

4. How am I supposed to take it… how often, for how long?

5. What side effects are likely? What do I do if they occur?

6. Is this medicine safe to take with other medicines or dietary supplements?

7. What food, drink or activities should I avoid while on this medicine?

9. When you get a prescription, make sure you can read it. If you can’t, your pharmacist might not be able to either and give you the wrong meds.

10. Hospital procedures should require checking each patient’s wrist-band before drawing blood or giving medication. Check all food and medication to make sure you’re not allergic to them.

11. Make sure the hospital staff keeps things clean around you. It is absolutely critical to avoid infections. If anything falls on the floor, just leave it there for the hospital personnel to pick it up. Be sure that nobody gives it to you – or puts it on your body.

12. It’s been estimated that about 76 million food borne illnesses occur each year in America and result in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. Government statistics indicate that at least 25% of these illnesses are due to improper hand washing so make sure everyone who treats you or handles your food washes their hands thoroughly. Even if you don’t have a sink in your room, don’t be afraid to ask everyone coming into your room to wash their hands.

13. Schedule surgical procedures for early in the morning. If possible don’t schedule procedures for a Monday or Tuesday. Procedures can be bumped or delayed on Mondays due to weekend traumas and, if you are operated on Friday, you will only have the week-end staff to care for you.

14. Get all pre-operative instructions several days prior to your procedure.

15. Avoid wrong site surgery. The Joint Commission requires surgeons to sign their initials directly on the part of your body to be operated on prior to surgery. It’s called site verification so make sure your advocate is there to make the surgeon do this.

16. Don’t leave the hospital until you and your advocate know your home treatment plan, your medications, follow-up doctor visits and when you can return to regular activities.

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August 26, 2010

7 Tips to Deal with Hair Loss in Women

Filed under: Health — Tags: — admin @ 6:03 am

Hair loss in men is pretty much expected as they age, it can even be said to add character. However, hair loss in women is a completely different story. For a woman, losing hair can be absolutely devastating. There are multiple reasons to blame for a woman losing her hair, age, disease and nutrition are just a few. What most women want to know is how to recover from this loss, either by being able to re-grow the hair or at least cover up the loss.

1. When you first notice that you are beginning to lose hair, it is important to rule out any explainable reasons such as pregnancy (up to 50% of women lose hair after giving birth), age or nutrition (not getting enough protein, vitamins or calories could cause hair loss).

2. If these issues to not seem to be factors in your hair loss, you need to seek the professional opinion of your physician. The doctor will run tests to rule out any thyroid or alopecia issues.

3. The most common treatment option for hair loss in women is the use of an over-the-counter drug, Minoxilil, commonly known as Rogain. This treatment has been shown to work to prevent further hair loss in women and men. It is recommended that women use a two percent solution only and to never use the five percent which may also be available (this dosage can cause birth defects), but hasn’t been shown to be more effective. Minoxilil is applied two times per day when the hair is dry. However, be advised that if this treatment is stopped, hair loss will resume.

4. Another drug-Propecia is only available with a prescription, but has been found to be successful in women. Propecia works in much the same way as Minoxilil, in that it needs to be applied to the scalp everyday. If the use of Procpecia is halted, so are the results and the hair loss will continue.

5.If none of the non-surgical treatments seem to work in your situation, and you are losing you hair due to age, you might be interested in hair replacement surgery. Hair loss in women can be treated using this method because it utilizes hair from your own scalp that is not “programmed” by nature to fall out. In short, the doctor removes hair from the back of your head and transplants the individual follicles into the hairline at the front of your scalp. This process may need to be completed several times over the course of a couple of years as hair progressively falls out. It can also take up to a year to see any real new growth from this procedure. Your physician will be able to answer any specific questions that you may have in regards to this option.

6. Many women want to cover up the fact that they are losing hair, even if they are trying to reverse the situation. Women have many more options available to them than men do. For example, a woman can wear a variety of pretty hats or scarves, have a weave or hairpiece placed into the remaining hair or a wig to cover it all up.

7. If you do not want anyone to know that you are losing hair, for whatever reason, a wig might be the right choice. Wigs have made tremendous strides in the recent past; they look natural and can be styled just like natural hair. It is important however, to find a hair stylist that is accustomed to working with wigs. A wig may even be covered under your medical insurance as a cranial hair prosthesis; your doctor can help you determine if this is your case.

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August 24, 2010

Sleep Cycles

Filed under: Health — Tags: — admin @ 9:06 am

It’s 11:45 pm. It’s time for a journey. Perhaps you’ve begun this journey several hours earlier. Perhaps you won’t begin for several more hours. No matter. You’ve undertaken this journey an uncountable number of times in your life, and know the path well. But it’s time to take with fresh eyes. To take it stage by stage, and to understand the science behind the mystery.

Are you ready? Let’s begin.

Stage One: This is the beginning of sleep, as you lie in your bed, head on soft pillows and comfortable blankets pulled up around your chin. At this point, you’re easily awakened, by loud noises, flashing lights, or other distractions. Your eyelids flutter, and your heart rate and breathing begins to slow as you begin to drift in and out of sleep.

After about 10 minutes, you might have a hypnic jerk- the sudden feeling of falling that wakes you up, but soon you’ll drift into the second stage.

Stage Two: Light sleep: Eye movements stop, heart rate slows. Your body temperature drops, and brain waves slow down as you officially fall asleep. Most of the night, 45% is spent in this stage.

Think of stage two as good nap; you’re asleep, and won’t be aware of most distractions, but you can still get up easily. You feel refreshed, energized after a good nap. But your body needs more sleep than just naps, and so you then fall into deep sleep.

Stage Three: This is deep sleep. You don’t move at all; no eye movements, no muscle movements, nothing. Your brain produces mostly delta waves: big, slow brain waves, in sharp contrast to the fast, jagged waves your produce when awake. If all goes according to plan, you will soon move to stage four.

Stage Four: Congratulations; you’ve made it to the last stage of sleep. It’s taken over an hour to get here, but you made it. You’re fast, fast asleep. Be careful though, this is the point where some children wet the bed, or have night terrors.

You can be woken up, but you’ll be groggy and slow. If you wake up at this point, you’ll likely hit the snooze button once or twice, vigorously rub your eyes and drink several cups of coffee.

Now what? If stage four is the last stage, what happens next? Well, stage four is hardly then end of your journey. You’ll backtrack a little, first to stage three, and then to stage two, but then something miraculous happens. After revisiting stage two, you make the jump to the best part of the journey: dreaming.

REM Sleep: This is where dreams take place. Travel the world, the universe. Take flight and soar above the trees. Fall in love again and speak to long lost friends and relatives. Anything is possible.

Breathing increases, your eyes flutter about, giving this stage its name: Rapid Eye Movement. Brain activity increases dramatically, close to the level of when you’re awake. Men develop erections.

Your brain blocks singles to your body, paralyzing your muscles, done to prevent you from acting on your dreams. However, this can have one of two consequences. One is that the muscle paralysis works too well, as is the case with sleep paralysis. Or, the paralysis might not work at all, and you end up sleep walking.

Now, after 8 hours and 5 cycles, it’s 8 am, and time to end your wondrous journey. It has given you a new lease on life; feeling energized and rested. Go now. Go now and seize the day. Make the most out of life, and come home each night feeling satisfied, eager to began another incredible journey.

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July 21, 2010

All About Green Tea And Polyphenols

Filed under: Health — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:26 pm

A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind, Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi (1893 – 1986) Or as I like to say…
When the student is ready, the teacher shall appear! By the way, have I said how much I passionately enjoy green tea, the personal benefits I have witnessed from green tea and what a fantastic unearthing this ‘ancient medicine’ is for modern western living?
After a good deal of research, I have found that there isn’t any other food or drink in general consumption reported to have the innumerable health benefits that green tea possesses…none!
The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches and lethargia to depression. And did you know that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for over 4,000 years…

When will we westerners learn? At present, in both Asia and America, scientific research is providing a more than solid substantiation for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For instance, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study demonstrating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. Conversely, University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol. To abridge just a few of the medical conditions in which drinking green tea has proved to be helpful: impaired immune system function cardiovascular disease cancer rheumatoid arthritis elevated cholesterol levels numerous types of infections muscle wasting diseases Green tea’s ‘secret’ lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).
EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been exceedingly effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The preceding takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the foremost cause of heart attacks and stroke.

Quite startling, don’t you think? For The Record Books…

Correlates are being drawn between the effects of drinking green tea and the “French Paradox.” For years, researchers were mystified by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in saturated fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas concluded that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is significantly low, even though in excess of seventy-five percent are smokers. So why don’t other Chinese teas have similar earth-shaking health benefits? Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed.In particular, green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized.By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are processed from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being transformed into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various conditions and diseases. Some Additional Benefits… The latest evidence emerging is that green tea can even help dieters attain success more rapidly an efficiently. In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo. Incidentally, green tea can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacterium that causes dental plaque.
Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea – from deodorants to creams – are starting to appear on the market showing positive effects. The Potential Unsafe Effects? As of today, the only adverse side effect reported from drinking green tea is mild insomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine. On the other hand, green tea contains much less caffeine than coffee and most soda: there are approximately thirty to sixty mg.
of caffeine in six – eight ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight ounces of coffee and can you imagine the huge contrast in caffeine content between green tea and these ‘new’ high-tech energy drinks that are currently being consumed by the masses with such ravenous voracity. Green Tea Polyphenols, What Are They You Ask? Specifically, tea polyphenols are compounds in tea leaves that are natural plant antioxidants. Antioxidants have been proven to prevent damage caused by free radicals to DNA and other molecules.
How Do They Work?
Green tea polyphenols have corroborated several cancer preventive properties. In addition to antioxidant activity, these compounds may as previously mentioned have shown to reduce abnormal cell growth and inflammation; help the body get rid of cancer-causing agents; and restore communication between different cells in the body.
On Cancer…
The Facts The relationship between green tea consumption and human cancer has been studied in several different populations and at various cancer sites. Some of the studies comparing green tea drinkers to non-green tea drinkers support the claim that green tea-drinking, in fact prevents certain types of cancer.
Certain dietary, environmental, and population differences may account for these discrepancies. In animal studies, different tea extracts, tea polyphenol mixtures, purified tea components, and tea infusions as the sole drinking fluid have more consistently been shown to prevent cancer, including cancers of the colon, esophagus, liver, stomach, lung, breast, pancreas, and skin.
The purified component, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), prevented colon cancer, but did not prevent cancer of the esophagus in animal models. A polyphenol mixture with EGCG, called Polyphenon E, has also shown cancer preventive properties in animals. Animal studies were inconclusive as to whether EGCG or Polyphenol E caused DNA mutations that might trigger cancer growth. Both EGCG and Polyphenon E are being tested for safety and efficacy in humans. Slower Prostate Cancer Cell Growth Found From Consumption Of Green And Black Tea A study at The Experimental Biology 2004, in Washington, D.C., reported as part of the scientific program of the American Society of Nutritional Sciences, anti-tumor effects of green and black tea polyphenols in human tissue. And researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles found and were able to detect tea polyphenols in prostate tissue after a very limited consumption of the tea. More notably, the scientists found that prostate cancer cells grew more slowly when placed in a medium containing blood serum of men who had consumed either green or black tea for five days compared to serum collected before the men began their tea-drinking regimen. Serum from men who drank comparable amounts of diet or regular soda showed no such slowing in cancer cell proliferation. Consequently, Dr. Susanne Henning, UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, pronounced that the UCLA research team – a combination of nutrition scientists and urologists – focused on the feasible outcome of tea polyphenols on factors named polyamines and the enzymes responsible for the production of polyamines. Elevated levels of polyamines have been connected with malignancy in humans, including prostate cancer, and – since polyamines are current in prostate tissue in high concentration – are considered a logical target for chemoprevention of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most widespread cancers among males in the United States, and more than a fourth of all those patients with prostate cancer are known to use alternative therapies, including green tea. This study suggests that both black and green tea are promising natural dietary supplements useful for chemoprevention of prostate cancer, according to Dr. Henning. She plans to investigate if this effect can be enhanced by consuming larger amounts of tea polyphenols in the form of green tea extract supplement capsules.
So If It’s That Good, How Much Should I Drink?
Strangely enough, there are as many answers to this question as there are researchers investigating the beneficial properties of green tea and polyphenols. Herbs for Health magazine mentions a Japanese report citing that men who drank ten cups of green tea per day stayed cancer-free for three years longer than men who drank less than three cups a day (there are approximately 240 – 320 mg of polyphenols in three cups of green tea). Meanwhile, a study by Cleveland’s Western Reserve University concluded that drinking four or more cups of green tea per day could help prevent rheumatoid arthritis, or reduce symptoms in individuals already suffering from the disease. And Japanese scientists at the Saitama Cancer Research Institute have discovered that there were fewer recurrences of breast cancer, and the disease spread less quickly, in women with a history of drinking five cups or more of green tea daily. A University of California study on the cancer-preventative qualities of green tea concluded that you could probably attain the desired level of polyphenols by drinking merely two cups per day.

So which is it?
I personally don’t buy the hype that those that manufacture and sell green tea products are propagating…moderation is, like with all things probably your best bet! But given all the evidence, it is almost certainly safe to plan on drinking four to five cups of green tea daily. If you’re a real aficionado, by all means imbibe more; but whether or not you’ll derive added health benefits remains to be determined. Okay, enough science… Let’s all just relax and have a cup of green tea or if you like your beverages cold like I do, a glass of ‘iced’ green tea.

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