Niacin’s Importance

There are many different vitamins that a person should take every single day in order to stay healthy, strong, and safe from injury. Niacin is just one of these supplements. Known as one of the B vitamins, Niacin is a water-soluble supplement. That means it cannot be stored in the body like fat-soluble supplements. Since you cannot store niacin in the body, it is crucial to eat foods with niacin each day in order to replenish the vitamins your body needs. If you do not, there could be serious consequences. For those who do not believe they are getting enough niacin with daily diet, vitamin supplements are important to avoid these consequences.

Niacin is important in the body for growth, reproduction, and the immune system. It can help you convert food to energy by assisting in the function of the stomach, intestines, and other parts of the digestive system. It is also important for building and regeneration of nerves and skin. If you do not have enough niacin in your body, these parts of your health will be greatly affected.

How can you make sure you have enough niacin in the body? Simply put, it is important to consume foods rich in niacin. If you look on the label, you should see niacin, niacin acid or B3. This is found in milk, cheese, and other dairy products, as well as meats like poultry, fish, and lean beef and nuts. Eggs can give you a good source of niacin as well, and if you eat enough legumes, like beans, you will be sure to be getting enough niacin in your diet. Other products that may contain niacin include enriched foods like breads and cereals. Be sure to check the label.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that adults (over the age of 14) get about 14 to 16 milligrams of niacin every day to stay healthy. This number increases if you are pregnant or breastfeeding and decreases if you are younger or have special dietary needs. Again, the best way to get enough niacin in your body is through food sources, but vitamin supplements can help you receive enough of this vitamin if your are worried you may not be getting enough.

When you don’t have enough niacin in your body, you develop a deficiency known as pellagra. Symptoms of this deficiency include flushed skin and rashes, digestive disorders, and mental impairment. However, large doses of niacin can be unhealthy as well, causing peptic ulcers and skin discomfort. Therefore, this is definitely a vitamin supplement that you should only take under complete medical supervision.

Mobile phone and brain cancer

The link between mobile phone and brain cancer has been known for years. The extent of risks and impact of mobile phone radiation exposure to human is not fully understood several years’ way back. For years, mobile phone producers and manufacturers claimed there is no sufficient data to prove that mobile phone radiation is harmful to humans.
It is not surprising though for those who have stakes in the mobile phone business to be bias and present their findings to suit their needs and to their advantage.

Now it seems scientists are getting increasingly concern and worry about the radiation risk pose by mobile phones to humans in particular the brain and the ear. Scientists have every reason to be concern due to the fact that the number of mobile phone users has increased and more and more young people has accessed to mobile phones.

I posted mobile phone harmful effect on human in my blog months way back. Check it out at http://stargaterich.blogspot.com/2008/07/mobile-phone-harmful-radiation.html

Finally scientists in US have taken the bold step to warn the US congress of cancer risk for cell phone users. Check it out at http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080926/tts-us-health-cancer-telephone-972e412.html
I guess it is better to be safe than to be sorry, thus try to limit mobile phone usage to short possible time if necessary.

Fast food burger junk food

Why junk food such as burgers are bad for health.

The Low-Down on Benzodiazepines

Anxiety disorders like social phobia and panic disorder can be treated with a number of medications. One such class of these medications is benzodiazepines, known as benzos for shorts. It is important, whatever your medical condition, to understand how your medications work. This will help you stay in control of your treatment and your life. Therefore, if you have anxiety disorders, you should understand how benzos work so that you can make the best medical choices for yourself.

Benzos are considered very mild tranquilizers. Qualities of benzos that you’ll hear used to describe these drugs include hypnotic, sedative, anxiolytic, muscle relaxant, and amnesic. They work, in short, by slowing down your central nervous system. You can use benzos for a number of medical conditions, not just anxiety, which include things like incomnia, seizures, muscle spasms, and alcohol withdrawal. Dentists also sometimes use benzos in their work. Those who abuse stimulant drugs, such as speed, sometimes also abuse benzos to come down from the high. Common drugs classified as benzos are Xanax, Valium, Serax, Rohypnol, Halcion, Librium, Mogadone, and Ativan, among others.

There are a number of side effects to consider if you are thinking about using benzos to treat your anxiety disorder. First and foremost, some benzos are extremely addictive. While some report no addictive feelings, others report complete addiction in as little as a few days. It depends on the strength of the drug you are using and your body’s specific reaction to it. Other side effects are drowsiness, ataxia, confusing, imbalance, impaired judgment, and forgetfulness. Some benzos are stronger than others and all have drug-specific side effects to consider as well. Once you are dependant or addicted to benzos, withdrawal can be difficult as will include symptoms like insomnia, panic attacks, hypertension, tremor, depression, sweating, loss of appetite, and dysphoria. Sudden withdrawal may cause immediate convulsions, catatonia, delusions, psychosis, and delirium tremens. The ultimate result could be death.

Only anxiety disorder patients to prescriptions and strict instructions from their doctors should take benzos. Uncontrolled, the use of these drugs (like with most prescriptions drugs) can be very harmful to your health. Benzos may be able to help you regain control during a panic attack or in your day-to-day life. Many anxiety disorder patients have, in fact, found great success with this kind of medication. However, there are disadvantages to benzos as well. Make sure that you fully understand how to use benzos and how they will affect your body before beginning to take them.

Stress and being in debt

Money is a source of stress, no matter how much you have, or don’t have. Some of the stress in life is brought about by worries of what you are going to do with your money, where you are going to get money, and how you are going to pay the next bills. To lessen the stress in your life, you are going to have to make your money work for you, and your budget. Being on a budget, and sticking to that budget is going to lessen the stress in your life.

If you have too much worry in your life because of stress, you first need to sit down and think about what you have and how to change your lifestyle to reduce the stresses. You have money coming into the home for work, or from any other source. The money you have coming in usually is not going to change. Now you have to seriously think about where you spend your money. If you are spending much of your money on eating out, on going to the movies and not paying the bills, you have some serious thinking to do. You need to list all the expenses for the home.

It can be stressful thinking about how many bills you have, but in the end, you are going to shorten the stressful times in your life as you take control of your bills and expenses. In reviewing where you are spending your money and how you are spending your money, you will have to make a few decisions. Decide where you are going to find an extra $100 per month. This could mean you don’t eat lunch out, that you don’t go to the bar everyday, or perhaps that you are not going to stop at the store every day after work but just one day a week. You need to cut bills, and cut the stress about money in your life so you can feel better about your finances every day.

To cut stress about money, you should also put a plan into effect that will help you create a savings account. A savings account can be started with just five dollars a week. As small as that may be, when you really have an emergency you don’t have to stress out about money because you will have a few bucks in the savings account that will get you through that emergency time. Learn to cut on expenses, and save money, both are great methods of cutting the stress in your life when it all comes down to money!

On the longer-term basis, think about how to achieve multiple stream income instead of relying on the monthly paycheck to clear your bills. In times of economic uncertainties, it is never too much to consider contingency plan with regards to alternative source of incomes. Stress rob us of our health, thus the last thing we want is debts hanging over our head.

Natural cosmetics

There are so many different professional models that are often said to have the natural look. This means that they are appearing to have little or no makeup on in order to define the everyday look of that intended audience. It is no secret that these models are working with make up artists behind the scenes and are done up to look as thought they are perfect even when they get out of bed in the morning. To get this same look, we purchase makeup and many times these “natural” girls were advertising them. In the fashion world, the word natural also means something else. It is a word that we associate with fresh, safe and organic types of items. This is what everyone wants in today’s world because we are trying to focus on the environment and many make up companies have lines that include natural products.

This “natural” makeup is considered to be safe. Is it? If you are reading the label on the back of your “natural” face wash or “natural” toner, you may see a lot of different chemical type words that you cannot pronounce. Natural does not mean natural these days so you have to be careful when you are purchasing them. This is true for products that are marked as natural and are usually more expensive than the other cosmetics.

The problem is with regulating these laws. “Natural” is a word that can be used by companies with little truth involved. These laws will help to regulate advertising a product as natural when they are not so natural. Natural products will have natural elements. The lipstick that you buy may contain some plants that were grown organically, but that is without the use of chemicals. The advertisements put this fact on the package and they will ignore the fact that the plants at the lab are mixed with a number of synthetic or man made ingredients too.

How can you tell if a product is really natural? This is easier than you would think. Turn the box over and look. There are thousands of synthetic ingredients that are used in make up all the time. By finding the natural products we can be sure that we are taking good care of our skin. If your product contains fragrance, lanolin, mineral oil, sodium hydroxide, talc, or products that you cannot even say, you should not believe that it is natural. If you have any questions there are professionals that can help you check out the good products and leave the bad ones behind. If you want natural products, you should be able to find them and not to be stuck with products that are bad. If you want some natural products you will be able to find them and not be stuck with products pretending to be natural.

Stroke

Our brain cells are severely impacted if it is deprived of oxygen. A stroke normally occurs when areas of the brain dies. The major caused of stroke is due to blockage of blood flow in the brain. Massive stroke can occur due to bleeding in the brain, mostly caused by burst blood vessels, normally known as brain hemorrhage. Not many people are aware though that Low cholesterol in the brain could weaken the blood vessels and cause it to burst.

In many ways the underlying cause of strokes are identical to that of heart attacks, in particular the hardening of the arteries that thereafter causes plaque builds up.
When plaque builds up, it narrows the artery and gradually reduces blood flow.
We may not even notice the narrowing of the arteries since our body is adaptive and the symptoms might be detectable till it is too late.

However, plaque in the carotid artery (the main artery supplying the brain -- there's one on each side) is a ticking time bomb. At any time, it might cause the artery to clot off, starving the brain of blood.

A portion of the plaque might break off, traveling downstream in the blood flow until it wedges in a smaller artery, blocking it and causing the part of the brain supplied by that artery to die. Physicians call this an embolus.

Another possible symptom of stroke is the sudden loss of vision in one eye. This symptom is caused by a tiny bit of plaque, that embolus which was referred to earlier, lodging in the artery to the eye.

The first part of the retina to die is the area farthest from the blockage. Vision fades there; hen the darkness spreads as more of the retina dies. The person experiencing this often describes it “as if a shade was pulled down”.

Is stroke preventable? The answer is yes. As mentioned earlier most strokes underlying process is identical to those of heart attack. It is possible to avoid stroke if we live a healthy life style. Topping the list is 1) Do not smoke or stop smoking, 2) control your blood pressure and 3) cut down on alcoholic beverages drinks 4) maintain normal weight and exercise regularly and 5) reduce too much salt intake and have more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Low salt tomato based vegetable juice are rich in potassium which could regulate our blood pressure.

Light Therapy

Before the times of new modern medicine it did take a long time to heal wounds and illnesses. It should make someone think about how those problems were even healed at all. The answer is easy. The answer is light. Sunlight was and still is a great cure for illnesses and wounds and is rarely used today. Those that practice alternative medicine are looking to light therapy as a new and natural cure for many different types of problems with the physical and emotional body.

The average person is a whole lot busier than people back before modern medicine. It would not make sense for someone to spend hours in the sun and have this just heal something that can be cured in no time when using a pill. It is possible to be cured by light like sunlight. Spending an hour or so in the sun can cure a headache. Having longer exposure can help to protect a wound from becoming infected.

With this information, current alternative medicine professionals are using the healing power of light in order to help their patients with the physical and emotional problems that they have. There are a few different techniques that are used and depending on how severe the problem is. Some of the therapists use fluorescent bulbs next to their patients and have them sit by them for a few hours. Doing this procedure will help and the patient will be able to read so that they do not focus their attention on the lights. Another good use is to cure the aches and pains that people have in the body with intense light with a smaller beam and have it shine on the part of the body that is in pain.

Using light therapy is known to help cure several disorders but the most common is a winter type depression. This is a mental and physical condition of depression that occurs during the winter months. It is a theory that this depression will come because of the lack of sunlight and in may places during the winter months. Exposure to light will make up for this problem and it will hopefully get rid of the winter depression. This is just one idea that will show you how light therapy will work in the ideas of the medicine world today.

Light therapy is also proven effective in treating acne. The ultraviolet spectrum is thought to have anti bacterial effects and activates certain chemical reaction in the skin that kills the bacteria. UV radiation is also known to suppress immune system and reduce inflammatory response thus light therapy may be helpful for treating skin conditions such as psoriasis or eczema.

Live and Learn: Anxiety Disorder Knowledge

Anxiety disorders are varied an include agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, specific phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a number of other medical conditions. Most people do not learn about anxiety disorder normally, so it is important to put effort into learning about anxiety disorders if you or a loved one is diagnosed with one of these medical conditions.

The first place you can start when looking for information about anxiety disorders is, of course, you medical professional. If you think that you may have a problem with anxiety to the point where it is disrupting your life, you should see a doctor immediate and describe your symptoms. Your doctor will run tests and check your health in order to make a diagnosis, and be sure to save enough time during your appointment to ask questions about you anxiety disorder and your treatment options. If you feel rushed, make sure that you make another appointment in order to go over your anxiety disorder. If you doctor seems too rushed to talk to you, you are probably better off finding a new doctor who will be able to help you.

Once you leave your doctor’s office, don’t go home—hit the library. There are hundreds of books devoted to anxiety disorders and you can find general information here, that has probably already been covered by your doctor, as well as specific information, including theories on the causes of anxiety disorders and the best treatment options. Along with the books you’ll find at the library, you will also find medical journals and magazine, which will provide you with the most up to date information in the medical community regarding anxiety disorders.

At home, you can continue your education online. The Internet is a wonderful resource when it comes to research just about any topic, including anxiety disorders. You can do this without leaving the home, which is an advantage to people who are suffering from anxiety disorders that are not yet under control. The Internet also allows you to connect to others dealing with the same conditions or in the health care world through email, forums, and chat rooms. However, remember that the information you find on the Internet may not always be the most accurate. Anyone can post on the Internet, from someone with a Ph.D. to your mailman.

No matter how you chose to research your anxiety disorder, it is simply important that you do so. Only when you have all of the information available to you can you truly be able to totally make the best decisions for your body.

The One Cause of Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are varied and include things like social anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and phobias. Millions of people around the world are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder during their lifetimes, and so many are looking for answers as to what has caused this medical condition, which can be quite serious. The title here may be misleading, because there really is no one cause of anxiety disorders. You may have an anxiety disorder for any number of reasons, or a combination of reasons. In order to learn more about your condition and try to pin point its cause, here are a few of the things that play into the development of an anxiety disorder.

First and foremost, many people want to know if anxiety disorders are genetic and can be passed on to future generations. Studies show that this may be the case. If a parent has an anxiety disorder, there is a chance that you may get this disorder as well. However, family factors may play a role in this as well. When you are raised in a household in which someone has an anxiety disorder, you are essentially taught these panic behaviors as well. Phobias are especially common to be passed to other family members. Insure relationships with parents may also cause anxiety disorders later in life. In short, this may be partially due to genetics, but also has something to do with your childhood environment as well.

Other environmental experiences outside of your childhood living conditions play into the development for anxiety disorders as well. If you have a traumatizing event as a child, or even as an adult, that even could either stay with you, causing post-traumatic stress disorder, or could affect your thinking, causing other types of anxiety disorders. Social pressures and culture may play a role in this as well, teaching people to become anxious at certain times or fearful of certain things.

An anxiety disorder may also be the result of health factors not related to genetics. Phobias and other anxiety disorders sometimes develop due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, especially with the chemical serotonin, which also affects depression in some people. Evolution comes into play, because you automatically have a fight-or-flight system built into our brains. The foods we eat, amount we exercise, and sleep we get every night all play roles into how our brain functions.

Lastly, anxiety disorders may develop due to stress. When you are stressed about something, you may find that you slow start to wear out. While our bodies are built to handle certain amounts of stress, over time, this simply breaks down and we give in to anxiety, which can develop into an anxiety disorder. No matter what the reason, however, it is simply important that you ask for help dealing with your condition.

Melamine

It finally dawn upon the Chinese health authorities that the baby milk powder contamination problem is far more serious than initially anticipated. To date over more than 22 brands of baby milk powder products, apart from the initial popular Sanlu brand reported by the press were being confirmed tested positive for the presence of Melamine.

Not surprisingly though other Chinese food products such as ‘Yili’ brand yogurt and ice creams were also recalled off from the shelf and from the supermarkets as a result of Melamine contamination. Over 6000 infants has fallen ill as a result of consuming industrial chemical laden melamine milk based products. 6 infants have died to date and the death toll number is expected to rise.

While the rest of the world in particular the US and Europe grasp and struggle with market meltdown and bank collapse crisis, China is busy with cleaning up its image with regards to food safety. Now that the Olympic is over, lets hope that the Chinese government will continue to step up efforts to clean up and improve its environmental health and food safety standards. The mayor of Shijiazhuang, Hebei has been sacked following this recent melamine food contamination scandal. This sacking demonstrates the central Chinese politburo determination to resolve this embarrassing food contamination issue.

The melamine baby milk powder scandal is but just the tip of the iceberg as far as food safety violation is concern. Chinese health authorities need to improve and spare no efforts to protect not just it’s own population but also the health safety of the rest of the world that imports its food products.

Since it is impossible for the health authorities to test every single food products, the onus lies with individual to exercise due diligence and to be cautious and selective when buying Chinese food products. It is always good and beneficial to subject ourselves to body detoxification if possible to help expel and reduce harmful toxins that we might ingest unknowingly. The amount of toxins in some of the food products might just be too negligible to be considered harmful but the accumulative intake of such toxins might cause irreparable damage to our health.

Respiratory infections

Phew, I was down with sore throat, headache and fever the past two days ago. Not sure what really hit me, first there is the symptom of uneasiness of the throat follow by dizziness and finally fever. Didn’t even know I had a fever till the doctor told me my temperature is well over 38.5 degree C. I guess apart from some kind of virus that I might have contracted from public commuters in the train, I have not been sleeping well the past few months. The doctor said I have contracted respiratory infections, whatever it is though. Not sure the exact cause of the insomnia, perhaps it is due to anxiety or work stress. Quality sleep enables us to be able to mentally focus sharply on the things we do.

One thing for sure is that our body immune system is weakened if we constantly lack proper quality sleep. Lack of quality sleep cause our blood pressure to increase. Insufficient quality sleep may cause hypertension. Sleep deprivation can cause us to age faster than usual and may to certain extent endanger our life when we lost focus and attention while we are busy on the wheel driving.

There are many possible for the disruption of quality sleep. Life stress and anxieties may cause the stress hormone Cortisol to be elevated and thus disrupt healthy sleep patterns. Drinks containing caffeine may exacerbate stress levels thus try to reduce or avoid caffeine intake at least 3 hours before going to bed.

Anyway apart from the lack of quality sleep, the antibiotic prescribed by the doctor really helps. I am up and feeling great just after a day taking the doctor’s prescription that includes lozenges, paracetamol for the pain and the antibiotics. One important to take note of though is to have at least basic first aid kit and other medicines such as panadol pain relievers, throat lozenges, tiger-balm readily available to sooth and ease the pain in the night while waiting for daybreak to see the doctor.

That’s all for now, still not in the full right mood yet though and hope to fully recover in another day or so

Aspartame side effects

Melamine poisoning

I hope those people involved in the baby milk powder contamination scheme be given the strictest and heaviest punishment. The number of infants affected by ‘Sanlu’ baby milk powder could amount to thousands since it is one of the most well known baby milk powder brands in China and popular with the Chinese for its competitive pricing.

Melamine
It was reported that Melamine, a plastic material has been added to either the milk by scrupulous farmers or during the process of the production of the baby milk powder.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine for more details on Melamine. Melamine has high nitrogen content is primarily used in Asia as fertilizer.

Melamine is added to maintain the concentration of protein while reducing the milk contents by means of adding more water thus reducing production cost.

The same toxin Melamine was reported being found in US brand pet foods manufactured in China and directly responsible for the death of a number of pets in the US which consumed ‘Menu Food’s pet food.

Symptoms
Symptoms of Melamine poisoning include vomiting, lack of appetite, lethargy, frequent urination and increased water intake. Melamine is toxic to kidneys and caused acute renal failures to pet dogs, cats and humans. There is no cure for pets down with Melamine poisoning. Treatment can prolong the life of some of the affected pets; life will never be the same for those who survived. Life will never be the same for those Chinese infants that survived Melamine poisoning. Somewhere down the road in their life, they will die of other complications, directly or indirectly caused by their earlier childhood Melamine poisoning.

Treatments
Standard treatments includes injection of intravenous fluids to help flush the kidney off the toxins, medication to control blood pressure, nausea and anemia, special diets to reduce strain on kidneys, and frequent blood and urine tests to monitor the patient’s kidney function.

Culprits
It is disgusting to know that Sanlu officials knew about the contamination as early as March this year but did not seek to warn the public nor alert the central health authorities. Corruptions and cover-ups of incidents of such are common in China. The Sanlu factory in question that produces the contaminated milk baby powder is located in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province, about 2 hours drives from Baoding.

Source of contamination
Shijiazhuang is home to a large number of textiles, pharmaceutical and chemical related industries. Just earlier this year, another case of food contamination involving meatballs produced for the Japanese Nissim brand in Shijiazhuang factory has the Japanese health authority scrambling quickly sending an investigation team to the China based factory to underpin the source of the contamination.

Farmed salmon

Prolong exposure to harmful toxins such as pesticides are one of the major leading causes of cancer. We are exposed to pesticides more often than we think. Some of the food that we eat contains harmful level of pesticides and toxins. Thus it is important for us consider doing detoxification to help expel some of the harmful pollutants from our body.

Cancer pollutants
For instance, farm bred salmon contains endocrine disrupting cancer causing pollutants called PCB. Some salmon breeders feed the fishes with pellet meals containing cancer-causing pollutants, term PCB. Most of the salmon that we get either from the supermarket or the meals we take from restaurants are farm bred salmon. Wild salmons are usually more expensive and contain fewer toxins.

Artificial coloring
Farm salmon are usually gray in color due to the food that was fed to it such as corn meals instead of its natural diet. Farm salmon are also sometimes treated with artificial coloring to make it look pink in color. Prolong exposure and intake of artificial coloring is bad for our health.

Inflammation due to excessive Omega 6
Farmed salmon contains up to four or more times the contents of Omega 6s compare to its wild salmon counterpart. This is part and parcel due to the type of food which farm salmons are given. Excessive Omega 6 intakes that consist of fatty acids could leads to a variety of disease such as heart attacks, osteoporosis, mood disorder and even cancer.

Harmful antibiotics
Farm salmons are given antibiotics treatment to prevent air borne water diseases such as parasites infections from spreading within congested and close quarters. Some of these antibiotics are harmful to human and have long-term serious consequences.

Benefits of Fish Oil for Fitness and Health

When the words oils and fats are mentioned, health-conscious individuals tend to run for cover. What they fail to realize is that there are good fats and bad fats. Complete avoidance of intake of oils and fats would actually be detrimental – rather than beneficial – to their health.

The Truth about Fish Oil
Essential fatty acids must always be part of our daily diet – without them, we take one step closer to our deaths. Essential fatty acids are divided into two families: omega-6 EFAs and omega-3 EFAS.

Although there are only very slight differences to distinguish the two groups of essential fatty acids from each other, studies have revealed that too much intake of omega-6 EFAs can lead to inflammation, blood clotting and tumor growth. The good news, however, is that the opposite is true for omega-3 EFAs. Omega-6 EFAs can be found in vegetable oils while omega-3 EFAs can be found in fish oils among other foods.

Omega-6 vs. Omega-3
Physicians and scientists are of the same opinion that the cause behind increasing cases of heart disease, hypertension or high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, premature aging and certain kinds of cancer is none other than an imbalanced intake of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs.

As mentioned earlier on, omega-6 EFAs can be found in vegetable oils. This includes but is not limited to corn oil and soy oil, both of which contains high amounts of linoleic acid. Omega-3 EFAs on the other hand can be found also in marine plankton and walnut and flaxseed oils. It should be significant to take note that fatty fish and fish oils contain eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), fatty acids that have been observed to provide many benefits to the human body. In the early 1970’s, a study on Greenland Eskimos have revealed that one of the major reasons why they rarely suffer from heart diseases is because of their high-fat diet (mainly composed of fish).

The two essential fatty acids, EPA and DHA, are also helpful in preventing atherosclerosis, heart attacks, depression and various forms of cancer. Fish oil supplemented food have also proven to be useful in treating illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, Raynaud’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Other Benefits of Fish Oil
There are a lot more illnesses and situations in which intake of fish oil has proven to be significantly beneficial.

Making the Heart Healthier
The heart is inarguably one of the most important parts of our body and having an unhealthy heart means having to suffer a rather limited lifespan. Naturally, it’s in our best interests to keep our hearts happy and healthy and one way of doing that is eating food that contains fish oil.

In Athens, Greece, for instance, a study was made to show if there was a direct relationship between high fish diet and inflammation of blood vessels. The results revealed that those who ate more fish than the others had a lower level of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, factors that are commonly used to measure likelihood of blood vessel inflammation. These benefits remained even when the various risks associated with high fish diet were taken into account.

Fish to Become Thin
In Perth, Australia, a study had revealed that fish consumption can be used against hypertension and obesity. Researchers of the UWA (University of Western Australia) have discovered that a weight-loss diet which includes a regular amount of fish consumption can be quite effective in reducing blood pressure and improving glucose tolerance.

Fish Oil to Combat Asthma
People suffering from respiratory problems like asthma tend to be perceived as unfit and unhealthy. They should now be pleased to learn that certain studies have revealed the benefits of fish oil for asthma-burdened-individuals. Statistics show that approximately 20 to 25% of children today suffer one form of asthma or another at a certain point in their lives. And certain evidence reveals a regular diet of food with high linoleic acid content as the reason behind it.

Researchers of UW (University of Wyoming) conducted a study by subjecting a number of children to a high-fish diet while others continued with their regular diet. Results revealed that the participants who ate more fish were less prone to asthma attacks and were able to breathe more easily as well.

Consult Your Nutritionist Now
Nothing is good when consumed or used excessively but complete avoidance of a particular food type is equally harmful as well. Ask your nutritionist for the right amount of fish intake for your age and health status.

Hypnosis

One way to treat an illness or medical condition is hypnosis. The dangers and the benefits that go along with the idea of hypnosis are still under investigation but there are many patients that have had a great success rate with the technique. If you are someone that is suffering from an illness that you think hypnosis could help you to overcome, you should talk to your doctor or another mental health care provider for more information on the subject. There is research that you can do for the hypnotic option and find out what you need to before you make any decision about how it works in the medical world.

Hypnotherapy is a medical type of hypnosis. This can be used to treat different conditions. There are many stereotypical misunderstandings because of Hollywood about the world of hypnosis. The fact is that most hypnotists do not cause their patients to perform funny or embarrassing acts. These hypnotists that travel around doing funny performances are not a good representation of what other hypnotists in the world offer to people in the way of help.

Hypnotherapy is not something that is done on a stage or in the public eye. It is done in a doctor’s office. Hypnotism is a natural process and if you have been driving and suddenly found your destination without remembering the drive, you have actually hypnotized yourself. Hypnotism does not cause you to sleep or become unconscious. It does open up your subconscious self to the power of what suggestion can do.

Hypnotism is done with speaking guidance. A licensed professional that will ask the patient to think about certain things does this. The mind will then open up and in a different way and the hypnotist can put suggestions into it. Hypnotism is useful for those patients that are dealing with alcoholism or drug addition or any kind of addiction. A therapist can reach a person’s memory at a deeper level when they are in a hypnotized state of mind. It is useful for those patients that have mental disorders as well.

There are some that are easily hypnotized and others that are not. It is not something that will work for everyone. You need to think about this and talk to your family doctor first before you start to see a hypnotist. This needs to be a healthy and good choice for you and your body. Hypnotism should be used when you are searching for the treatments for medical procedures. Many skeptics in the medical field are still using it and many have found it to be successful with hypnotism when other treatments do not work.

Migraines

Some people are prone to migraines. Migraine is not the same as normal headache. You can easily relieved normal headache by taking painkillers such as panadol. Migraine on the other hand is extremely and intense painful and may last for days. There is no universal effective treatment for migraines since we don’t really know the exact root cause of it. Migraines can be caused by various factors.
Go to the link to know more about migraine and recommended treatments.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/08/16/why-migraines-strike.aspx?source=nl

Toothbrush hygiene.

What is one of the dirtiest items in the bathroom? Well you may or may not guess it correctly. It is the toothbrush that we use daily. Food particles deposits on the toothbrush when we brush our teeth and if we don’t rinse the toothbrush with water properly or use suitable toothbrush cleanser to clean the toothbrush after use, bacteria that causes tooth decay and gum disease may transfer to the toothbrush and live for days or even weeks.. The bacteria that are in the toothbrush bristles may cause infection if we have ulcers or cuts in our mouth. The warm environment in the bathroom is ideal condition for the bacteria to thrive and multiply quickly. Toothbrushes should not be placed too close to each other to avoid unnecessary physical contact that might result in microorganism transfer from infected toothbrush to neighboring ones.

It is easy to overlook toothbrush hygiene and we might use a toothbrush for weeks or even months before changing or replacing it with a new one. We should change our toothbrush once the bristles wear off. Hard toothbrush last longer than the soft type, nevertheless, bacteria will multiply both on hard or soft toothbrush. Always make it a point to examine your toothbrush condition now and then each time we brush our teeth.
It pays to practice toothbrush hygiene since we brush our teeth daily.

Low Blood Pressure

There are a lot of different effects that blood pressure can have on a body. Most think about hypertension otherwise known as high blood pressure. However having low blood pressure can cause problems as well. Hypotension can be serious and it should be taken care of immediately. Having low blood pressure can affect the brain and could as a result cause more problems that cannot be fixed or even fatal.

The most known reason for having hypotension is having decreased blood volume that is known as hypovolemia. There are many reasons why this is a problem that can occur in this way. Most of them have to do with problem with the nervous system in the brain. There are other causes that will include some medicines that can have hypovolemia as a side effect. Because low blood pressure has these affects and is a result of problems with such an important part of the body, it makes hypotension even more serious than having high blood pressure.

One type of problem related to hypotension that should be considered is orthostatic hypotension. This is also known as postural hypotension and is one of the more common forms of low blood pressure. It can occur because of a change in the body’s position. An example would be standing up from a sitting or lying down position can briefly lower the blood flow in the body. Because of this, you can become dizzy, and can be noticed on a regular basis by many. Another more serious type of the syndrome can be brought on by medications of the physical and the psychiatric topic.

There is another form of hypotension that is less common than orthostatic hypotension. It is known as postprandial hypotension and will occur 30-75 minutes after you have eaten. Digestion of food can send a large dose of the blood to the digestive system and due to this the autonomic nervous system must compensate to increase the body’s heart rate and find make more blood pump. Orthostatic hypotension can affect the autonomic nervous system, making it even weaker than it already is. It is also a sign of a failing autonomic nervous system maybe because of age or something else completely.

Hypotension is just as severe as hypertension. Even though the two may sound the same, their affects on the body are very different. However they are both cause for concern and should be checked out immediately especially since having low blood pressure could affect the brain and this is the most important part of the body.

Botox risk

Not really new findings, ‘Botox’, the wonder neuron toxin for treating wrinkles and other facial ‘imperfections’ so to speak have again made the headlines.
It is no longer the super wonder cosmetic answer and dream to facial and skin aging problems. A plenty of side effects and even deaths has been attributed to Botox injection.

Botox is derived from ‘Botulinum’ toxins, is 40 million times more powerful than cyanide. Botox causes the muscles being exposed to the toxins to relax via blocking of certain muscle receptors and thus halting the contraction of the muscles.

It’s hard to believe that there are people, who will go as far as taking the risk to inject their body with such dangerous substances, all in the name of physical outward beauty appearance. Some people choose Botox injection because it is non-surgical and non-invasive treatments that guarantee almost immediate results. The consequences though could be potentially deadly if Botox injection is not administered properly or unsuccessful injection could lead to respiratory problems.

Botox will continue to have its value and place in the medical world, notably for treating cross-eyed and some other muscle related health problems. When it comes to cosmetic and beauty pursuit purposes, there are numerous other safer ways to treat wrinkles and improve one’s physical appearance. There is no need to resort to Botox injection at all.
The risk involve is simply not worth the taking, no matter how convenient or effective the Botox injection treatment might be.


http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080831/tts-us-health-drugs-safety-eu-germany-972e412.html

Cinnamon & bitter melon improves diabetic condition.

Did you know that adding cinnamon into your diet could help to improve diabetic condition particularly if you suffered from insulin resistance? Studies and human trials indicate cinnamon could help to reduce blood glucose by as much as 30%.

Cinnamon provides sweetness to our taste buds without the side effect of causing blood glucose to spike. Cinnamon has many benefits. Besides being used for cooking, cinnamon can be used to treat painful menstrual periods, colds and nausea.

Bitter melon, also known as bitter gourd is also effective for treating of diabetes.
It is a vegetable often used by Asians as dishes. Substances in the bitter melon help sugar to enter the cell. It is rich in essential vitamins and minerals such as Iron, vitamin A, B1, B2, and C. It can be used to treat blood disorders and fungal disease.

Like most medicines, taking large amount of cinnamon or bitter melon is not recommended as overdose may cause complications and in rare cases could be lead to stroke and internal bleeding.

Cinnamon and bitter melon should not be taken together with prescribed medication to control blood sugar as it might leads to low blood sugar. Pregnant women sensitive to bleeding are advised not to take cinnamon and bitter gourd as supplements.
Cinnamon has blood thinning effect thus should not be taken together with prescribed blood thinning medicine.

Will reading in dim light ruin your eyesight?

Mothers often tell their children not to read in the dark or suffer going blind.
I guess many of us, even adults believed that reading in dim light is bad for our eyesight and may even lead to blindness. Will reading in low light change the health or function of our eyes? The answer is not true at all. Reading in low dim light will not change the health or function of our eyes. If it were true I suppose prior to Thomas Edison discovery of the electric light bulb, majority of the people living in the past would have lost their eyesights due to writing or reading under the shade of dim light candles.

Of course even so, reading in dim light can lead to temporary eyestrain. It is recommended though to read under proper lighting. Find a good lamp and keeping reading materials twelve inch away from eyes to reduce eyestrain. Poor eyesight can lead to eyestrain, so always remember to wear your glasses if you have one.