Stress management: Doing meditation

Introduction

Meditation means different things to different people, and there are many ways to do it. This topic focuses on a kind of meditation called mindful meditation. This practice may help you relax and relieve stress.

Key points

• The goal of mindful meditation is to focus your attention on the things that are happening right now in the present moment. The idea is to note what you experience without trying to change it.
• Meditation can help you relax, because you are not worrying about what happened before or what may occur in the future.
• You don't need any special tools or equipment to practice this meditation. You just sit in a comfortable position in a chair or on the floor. Or you can lie down, if that is more comfortable for you.
• If your mind wanders, don't worry or judge yourself. When you become aware that your thoughts are wandering, simply focus again on the present moment. One way to do this is by paying attention to your body. For example, is your breathing fast or slow, deep or shallow?
• Meditation may bring up certain feelings or emotions. If this happens, don't try to rid your mind of these feelings. Just focus on what you feel at the present moment. Don't get lost in the thoughts that those feelings might trigger.

Calcium-channel blockers decrease clopidogrel-mediated platelet inhibition

Abstract

Background: The extent of clopidogrel-mediated platelet inhibition varies considerably from one individual to the next. Numerous studies have shown that low responders suffer significantly more adverse events after coronary stenting than patients who respond well to antithrombotic treatment with clopidogrel. Dihydropyridine calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) inhibit the cytochrome P450 3A4 enzyme, which metabolizes clopidogrel to its active form. We therefore sought to investigate the influence of CCBs on clopidogrel-mediated platelet inhibition.

Methods: ADP-inducible platelet reactivity was assessed by light transmission aggregometry (LTA) and the VerifyNow P2Y12 assay in 162 patients after percutaneous intervention with stent implantation. Results in the fourth quartiles of both assays were considered as high-on treatment residual ADP-inducible platelet reactivity.

Results: Patients with concomitant CCB therapy showed a significantly higher on-treatment platelet reactivity than patients without CCB medication (p = 0.001 for both assays). Further, high on-treatment residual ADP-inducible platelet reactivity was significantly more common among patients currently taking CCBs (p = 0.001 for LTA and p = 0.004 for the VerifyNow P2Y12 assay). A multivariate regression analysis confirmed CCB treatment as an independent predictor of reduced clopidogrel-mediated platelet inhibition (p = 0.006 for LTA and p = 0.004 for the VerifyNow P2Y12 assay).

Conclusion: CCBs decrease clopidogrel-mediated platelet inhibition in patients undergoing angioplasty and stenting for cardiovascular disease.

Keep your Heart Strong by doing Exercise

Any exercise will do as long as that gets its rate up and keeps it there for at least 20 to 30 minutes. That generally means any aerobic activity, whether its running, swimming, cycling, or brisk walking. The best exercise for the heart are those that sustain our heart rate for a long time. Consider doing aerobics workouts several days a week and combining them with strength training, yoga, or Pilates. Your cardiovascular system will reap the rewards, and so will the rest of your body.

The right intensity when it comes to our heart is working out harder isn't necessarily better. You should aim for moderate intensity 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. A more vigorous pace won't do any damage, but you won't be able to keep it up for a long period of time. And sustaining the elevated rate is what benefits you. You're better off doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise than 10 minutes of hard exercise.

How to know if we are in the right intensity? Here's how Think of a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the slowest possible exercise pace and 10 the most vigorous. Aim for an intensity of 6 or 7 so your working hard but not exhausting yourself. Or crunch some numbers: To find your target heart rate, subtract your age from 220 and multiply the result by 0.6 (for moderately intense activity). That's what you should shoot for.

Can exercising too hard cause a heart attack? If you're already fit no. But if you've been sedentary, doing too much too fast can put undue strain on our heart, the same way it can in any muscle. If you haven't been exercising at all, clear it with your doctor first. Then gradually increase how much you do.

source:health assistant

President Obama opens viral front in health war

Facing an onslaught of opposition to health reform, the White House on Monday opened a “Reality Check” website with a viral tool aimed at online combat on everything from “rationing” to euthanasia.

The site incorporates lessons learned from the Obama campaign’s “Learn the Truth About Barack Obama” site, which covered everything from the birth certificate to William Ayers to “a recent e-mail smear falsely claims Michelle ordered room service, but she never even stayed at the hotel.”

Aides to President Barack Obama say the key is to respond to viral rumors with an aggressive, equally viral response.

“We're offering the site and tools to empower individuals across the country to take this content into their own hands and share it among their networks,” a senior administration official said. “That's the sort of bottom-up process that got us to the White House, and it's what's going to deliver meaningful change to the health insurance system.”

Kevin Smith, communications director for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), said in response: “While Democrats are playing defense, Republicans are educating the American people about the cost and consequences of the Democrats’ government takeover of health care and promoting our better solutions to lower health care costs, increase access, and preserve the doctor-patient relationship.”

The new offensive came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer charged in an opinion article in USA Today that disruptions at congressional town halls have been “simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades.”

At the same time, the Democratic National Committee is urging supporters to visit the local offices of their senators and House members. DNC interns called lawmakers’ offices to find out their hours of operation. Organizing for America, the Obama grass-roots network now operated by the DNC, offers custom-tailored e-mails telling supporters where and when they can show up.

The new White House site has built-in tools allowing users to e-mail every page and video to their friends and families and is linked to social networks with preloaded messages to encourage folks to share the content. The videos feature administration officials putting a face on reform by tackling issues in a casual, straightforward way.

There's also an FAQ that, when e-mailed, includes a long message full of the facts about reform — in a similar format to some chain e-mails that offer what the White House considers a long list of falsehoods. The 2,000-word FAQ covers everything from “rationing” to “a lot of seniors seem to be concerned about a provision in the House bill that would provide counseling for end of life care. They think it sounds like the government will come along every five years and require you to talk about how you want to end your life."

The site will be promoted heavily on the White House’s rapidly growing social networks and with an e-mail to the WhiteHouse.gov list.

Linda Douglass, communications director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: “One of the things we learned during the campaign was that if you give people all the facts, … people really paid attention. They understand what the truth is when they see it.”

Macon Phillips, White House director of new media, offers a tour of his team’s handiwork, in a pre-dawn blog post: “The first set of videos addresses a wide scope of topics and debunks some of those common myths:

— CEA Chair Christina Romer details how health insurance reform will impact small businesses.

— Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes tackles a nasty rumor about euthanasia and clearly describes how reform helps families.

— Matt Flavin, the White House's director of veterans and wounded warrior policy, clears the air about veterans' benefits.

— Kavita Patel, M.D., a doctor serving in the White House's Office of Public Engagement, explains that health care rationing is happening right now and how reform gives control back to patients and doctors.

— Robert Kocher, M.D., a doctor serving on the National Economic Council, debunks the myth that health insurance reform will be financed by cutting Medicare benefits.

— In a video first released last week, Linda Douglass from the White House Health Reform Office addresses fears about the end of our private insurance system and reiterates that if you like your current plan, you can keep it.”

source:http://www.politico.com

what's in this articles?

id you give your friends valentines and little heart-shaped candies on Valentine's Day? Do you ever cross your heart when making a promise that you really, really mean? Or turn on the radio to hear a guy singing about his broken heart?

We see and hear about hearts everywhere. A long time ago, people even thought that their emotions came from their hearts, maybe because the heart beats faster when a person is scared or excited. Now we know that emotions come from the brain, and in this case, the brain tells the heart to speed up. So what's the heart up to, then? How does it keep busy? What does it look like? Let's find out.

Working That Muscle

Your heart is really a muscle. It's located a little to the left of the middle of your chest, and it's about the size of your fist. There are lots of muscles all over your body — in your arms, in your legs, in your back, even in your behind.

But the heart muscle is special because of what it does. The heart sends blood around your body. The blood provides your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. It also carries away waste.

Your heart is sort of like a pump, or two pumps in one. The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart does the exact opposite: It receives blood from the lungs and pumps it out to the body.

We Got the Beat

How does the heart beat? Before each beat, your heart fills with blood. Then its muscle contracts to squirt the blood along. When the heart contracts, it squeezes — try squeezing your hand into a fist. That's sort of like what your heart does so it can squirt out the blood. Your heart does this all day and all night, all the time. The heart is one hard worker!

original post: https://secure02.kidshealth.org

Apple-Spinach Salad

ngredients

4 cups baby spinach leaves
2 apples, sliced
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup toasted PLANTERS Pecans, chopped
1/4 cup KRAFT Light House Italian Dressing

Steps

1. TOSS spinach with apples, celery and pecans in large bowl.
2. ADD dressing; mix lightly

Op-Ed: Health in All Policies

At the heart of current health care reform discussions - which focus on expanding access to care and establishing mechanisms to finance broader coverage as well as reduce rapidly escalating costs - must be the promotion of good health and the prevention of disease.

Good health is essential to the economic prosperity and wellbeing of the American people. Individually, we are less productive when we become ill; collectively, our nation is less secure when burdened with the high cost of disease. Today, with 45 percent of Americans suffering from a chronic condition and a national fiscal crisis, both our nation’s health and economic security are in peril.

Deteriorating health is a major driver of this crisis. One in five Americans smoke and 66 percent of adults are obese or overweight, fueling a chronic disease epidemic and skyrocketing health care costs. As childhood obesity rates dramatically rise, American children may, for the first time ever, live shorter lives and be less healthy than their parents.

Just as Americans are ailing, so too is our health care system. The U.S. health care system suffers from considerable fragmentation, inefficiencies and inequities. The United States spends nearly twice as much on health care, per person, as any other nation, and the health sector constitutes one sixth of our economy. Yet this significant investment delivers shockingly poor results. America ranks 49th on life expectancy worldwide, 37th on overall health status and performs the worst among industrialized countries at avoiding premature deaths through timely and effective medical care.

Our nation’s poor rankings are due to several deficiencies in the U.S. health system: many Americans lack quality, affordable coverage, significant health disparities are not being adequately addressed and disease prevention and health promotion are not priorities. Without meaningful health insurance reform, the number of uninsured Americans could swell from over 47 million today to over 65 million by 2019. And while preventable conditions account for 70 percent of our nation’s health care costs, only 2-3 percent of the health care budget is spent on prevention. The bottom line: we spend far too much on health care to receive so little health in return.

The state of our nation’s health is further jeopardized by the economic downturn.20During previous recessions, Americans’ health has often been among the first casualties. But while there are no bailouts for poor health, there is reason to think that fixing our health care system could help the economy rebound. Many American businesses report struggling because they pay more for their employees’ health care than for the products they manufacture or sell, while nearly two-thirds of personal bankruptcies in 2007 were due in part to medical debt.

Our country urgently needs – and Americans categorically deserve – a better health system. As we consider how best to achieve this goal, it’s important to recognize that America’s health crisis has neither a single cause nor a silver bullet solution. Patchwork reform would yield only marginal success.

In the past, many policymakers and stakeholders have focused too narrowly on the financing and distribution of medical services. Today’s le aders must not repeat this mistake. Instead, a comprehensive, integrated strategy is needed that fosters health in all policies.

For medical care alone does not determine our health status. Decades of scientific research shows that our health habits – the choices we make regarding tobacco, alcohol, food and exercise – and the communities we call home – with their transportation systems, workplaces, schools and environments – all impact our health. That’s why health promotion and disease prevention must be cornerstones of health reform. A broad range of policy changes, such as regulating tobacco products, nutrition policy changes including implementing healthier school lunch programs, encouraging fruit and vegetable consumption, labeling food content in supermarkets and restaurants, funding bicycle paths and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, expanding parkland development and improving air and water quality – when taken together – can dramatically improve the health of Americans.

“Health in all Policies”should be the clarion call for a health system re-engineered for the 21st century. Such an approach requires the mobilization and coordination of over 40 federal agencies whose policies influence health, including the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, Transportation, Education, Interior and State, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. Because coordinating this effort requires leadership from the very top, a Presidential Call to Action for a Healthier U.S. is needed to set a bold framework for improving health in the United States.

To facilitate this nationwide effort, government initiatives are needed that foster collaboration and innovation. Establishing a Federal Interagency Council charged with developing and implementing a national strategy to advance health would help synergize the work of the federal agencies. In parallel, a new Office of Health Innovation could serve as an incubator for ideas, designing novel, cross-cutting programs. Creating a Healthy U.S. Clearinghouse online could provide one-stop shopping for health resources and best practices, bridging today s 15-year science-to-service gap by making lifesaving information available to the public and health care providers instantaneously. Additionally, supporting community-based prevention programs through a Prevention and Wellness Trust could speed the transformation to a healthier America.

The federal government should also lead by incorporating health promotion and disease prevention into federal health insurance plans, which cover nearly one third of Americans. Medicare, Medicaid, the Military and Veterans health systems and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program should incorporate quality-enhancing and cost-saving reforms that provide strong incentives for health care providers to implement clinical and community-based preventive services, chronic disease management programs and cutting-edge information technology. Serving as laboratories of innovation, federal health programs should be supporting the evaluation of new ideas and implementation of best practices to help re-engineer the U.S. health system.

But federal government improvements alone are not sufficient. The key to progress is a partnership between government and the American people. Any national strategy to transform the health system must include strong public-private partnerships that unite families, businesses, health care providers and a broad spectrum of organizations across our country.

As Robert F. Kennedy once said, “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events.” Together, perhaps, we will find a way to bend history toward a healthier future for us all.

*Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal, MD (ret.), former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General, is Director of the Health and Medicine Program at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC). Denis Cortese, MD, is President and CEO of Mayo Clinic. The authors are Co-Chairs of the Commission on U.S. Federal Leadership in Health and Medicine: Charting Future Directions, a CSPC initiative. To read the Commission's first report, visit http://www.thepresidency.org/pubs/New_Horizons.pdf

credit: http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog

Can Twitter and Facebook Help Fight Breast Cancer?

Twitter and other social media sites are often perceived as the ultimate navel-gazing tools. Seemingly a narcissist’s dream, many think that Facebook status updates and the 140-character Twitter messages (known as “tweets”) are really just boring play-by-plays of daily life—I had granola for breakfast! I’m stuck in traffic!

But Laurie Brosius, 31, isn’t buying it. Brosius, a business analyst in Dallas, used Twitter to raise $6,000 for a walk for breast cancer research in 2008. “Fifty percent of that came from online strangers,” she says. She was able to reach those people in part because her Twitter followers re-tweeted her messages.

In 2004, Brosius started blogging about her upcoming wedding. But after she married, she felt a key person was missing from the happy picture—her husband’s mother, who had died of breast cancer at age 48 when her husband was 20 years old. “I felt like I missed out on having her in my life,” says Brosius. “I felt cheated.”

She wanted to raise money for breast cancer research, so she participated in a three-day walk and fund-raiser, but felt she could do more. She had used Twitter to raise a small sum for that first walk, but for the second walk she relied mainly on tweets to direct people to the donation website.

(Anyone can see breast cancer–related tweets by typing #breastcancer into Twitter’s search field.)

Brosius still blogs and says that breast cancer organizations’ websites are great places to donate. However, Brosius says, they only reach a specific crowd—those already interested in the topic.

“[Social media sites] are reaching people who might not be specifically looking for that kind of information,” she explains. “They’re reaching everyone.”


credit: http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20294300_1,00.html

Divorce takes toll that remarriage can't heal

Divorce causes more than bitterness and broken hearts: The trauma of a split can leave long-lasting effects on mental and physical health that remarriage might not repair, according to new research.

full story

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/

Diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus (pronounced /ˌdaɪ.əˈbiːtiːz/ or /ˌdaɪ.əˈbiːtɨs/; /mɨˈlaɪtəs/ or /ˈmɛlɨtəs/)—often referred to simply as diabetes—is a disease in which the body does not produce enough, or properly respond to, insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Insulin is needed to turn sugar and other food into energy. In diabetes, the body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should, or both. This causes sugar to accumulate in the blood, often leading to various complications. The American Diabetes Association reported in 2009 that there are 23.6 million children and adults in the United States—7.8% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 17.9 million in the US alone have been diagnosed with diabetes, nearly one in four (5.7 million) diabetics are unaware that they have the disease.

Many types of diabetes are recognized: The principal three are:

• Type 1: Results from the body's failure to produce insulin. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. Presently almost all persons with type 1 diabetes must take insulin injections.
• Type 2: Results from a condition in which the body fails to use insulin properly, combined with relative insulin deficiency. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Many people destined to develop type 2 diabetes spend many years in a state of Pre-diabetes: Termed "America's largest healthcare epidemic, a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. As of 2009 there are 57 million Americans who have pre-diabetes.

• Gestational diabetes: Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar (glucose) levels during pregnancy are said to have gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women. It may precede development of type 2 (or rarely type 1).

• Many other forms of diabetes mellitus are categorized separately from these. Examples include congenital diabetes due to genetic defects of insulin secretion, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes induced by high doses of glucocorticoids, and several forms of monogenic diabetes.

All forms of diabetes have been treatable since insulin became medically available in 1921, but there is no cure for the common types except a pancreas transplant, although gestational diabetes usually resolves after delivery. Diabetes and its treatments can cause many complications. Acute complications including hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, or nonketotic hyperosmolar coma may occur if the disease is not adequately controlled. Serious long-term complications include cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, retinal damage, which can lead to blindness, several types of nerve damage, and microvascular damage, which may cause erectile dysfunction and poor wound healing. Poor healing of wounds, particularly of the feet, can lead to gangrene, and possibly to amputation. Adequate treatment of diabetes, as well as increased emphasis on blood pressure control and lifestyle factors such as not smoking and maintaining a healthy body weight, may improve the risk profile of most of the chronic complications. In the developed world, diabetes is the most significant cause of adult blindness in the non-elderly and the leading cause of non-traumatic amputation in adults, and diabetic nephropathy is the main illness requiring renal dialysis in the United States.

source: www.wikipedia.org

Health

At the time of the creation of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1948, Health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".

This definition invited nations to expand the conceptual framework of their health systems beyond issues related to the physical condition of individuals and their diseases, and it motivated us to focus our attention on what we now call social determinants of health. Consequently, WHO challenged political, academic, community, and professional organisations devoted to improving or preserving health to make the scope of their work explicit, including their rationale for allocating resources. This opened the door for public accountability.

Only a handful of publications have focused specifically on the definition of health and its evolution in the first 6 decades. Some of them highlight its lack of operational value and the problem created by use of the word "complete." Others declare the definition, which has not been modified since 1948, "simply a bad one." . More recently, Smith suggested that it is "a ludicrous definition that would leave most of us unhealthy most of the time."

In 1986, the WHO, in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, said that health is "a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities." Classification systems such as the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC), which is composed of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) also define health.

Overall health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being, which, together is commonly referred to as the Health Triangle.

Read More....

credit :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health

World Breastfeeding Week

Fast Facts

NOWHERE is “immune” to an emergency. They can happen anywhere in the world. Whatever the emergency – from earthquake to conflict, from flood to flu pandemic – the story is the same: breastfeeding saves lives.

In emergencies, infants and young children are especially vulnerable to malnutrition, illness and death.

·Total mortality rates for infants aged under one year in emergencies are much higher than at ordinary times, ranging from 12% to 53%.

·In a large-scale therapeutic feeding programme in Niger in 2005, 95% of the 43,529 malnourished cases admitted for therapeutic care were children less than two years of age.

·During the first three months of conflict in Guinea-Bissau in 1998, the death rate amongst 9 to 20-month-old non-breastfed children was six times higher than amongst breastfed children of the same age-group.

Even in non-emergency situations, optimal infant feeding can mean the difference between life and death:

·Sub-optimal breastfeeding practices are responsible for 1.4 million deaths of children under five in low-income situations worldwide.

·For these children, breastfeeding support tops the table of life-saving interventions: 13% of under–5 deaths could be saved through exclusive and continued breastfeeding until age one.

·One-fifth of neonatal deaths could be prevented by early initiation of exclusive breastfeeding (breastfeeding within the first hour).

Myth vs fact

MYTH: “Malnourished mothers cannot breastfeed.”

FACT: They can. Moderate maternal malnutrition has little or no effect on milk production. In fact, the mother will continue to produce milk, at the expense of her own body stores. Extra food and fluids are needed to replenish the mother’s own reserves, and micronutrient supplementation may be needed.

MYTH: “Stress prevents mothers from producing milk.”

FACT: Stress does not prevent production of milk, but may temporarily interfere with its flow. Breastfeeding mothers have lower stress hormone levels than non-breastfeeding mothers.

MYTH: “Once a mother stops breastfeeding, she can’t restart.”

FACT: A mother can restart breastfeeding – there is no time limit. In some contexts, grandmothers have breastfed their grandchildren.

MYTH: “HIV positive mothers should never breastfeed.”

FACT: Exclusive breastfeeding for six months is the safest option and gives the best chance of HIV-free child survival, unless total replacement feeding is acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe (AFASS) – unlikely in emergencies. After six months, if replacement feeding is still not AFASS, continued breastfeeding with adequate complementary foods is the safest option.

Information sourced from the World Breastfeeding Week Action Folder, available to download in English and Chinese at www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org (look for it on the navigation bar on the left).

Events

·Breastfeeding in Emergencies

What: Interactive talks on breastfeeding and fun activities, centred on “Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response. Are you Ready?”

Organised by Mothers-to-Mothers Peer Support (MMPS) and supported by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Healthy Campus.

Why: Learn more about how breastfeeding protects baby in vulnerable situations and how to re-establish interrupted breastfeeding as soon as possible. Take part in Q&A and quizzes, and take home thank-you tokens.

Who should attend: Breastfeeding mothers and babies, families, health professionals, relief organisation officers, and any interested party.

When: 9.30am to 1.30pm next Saturday, Aug 1

Where: Dewan Kuliah A, USM, Penang

How: Just turn up. For more information visit pgmmps.wordpress.com, or call Jeya (019 278 2728) / Sabrina (012 415 6446).

·One-Minute Simultaneous Breastfeeding

What: Annual global celebration of mother’s milk.

Why: Break a new world record by joining mums across more than 120 countries in a shared minute of breastfeeding.

Who should participate: Healthy mothers and happy babies

When: 10.30am next Saturday, Aug 1

Where: Throughout Malaysia

How: Get baby to latch on for at least a minute at 10.30am, then register your successful feed by sending an SMS to 016 4211 782 or 019 278 2728. Numbers will be tallied and announced at World Breastfeeding Week celebrations at USM, Penang.

Are you organising a health-related event the general public will benefit from? Email starhealth@thestar.com.my to let us know.

Aloe Vera Benefits, Uses and Information

The aloe plant and its derivative products have played a role in medicine and health care dating as far back as the 4th century B.C. when ancient Greek doctors obtained aloe from the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean. In the 10th century A.D., aloe was recommended to the British king Alfred the Great by the Patriarch of Jerusalem for its amazing remedial values. Muslims who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca are entitled to hang an Aloe plant over their doors as a talisman against evil.

Aloe is a lily-like, green, and sometimes spiny shrub with very little, if any, stem. It produces approximately 25 fleshy, gray-green leaves in a beautiful rosette display. In Europe, Aloe is used almost exclusively as a digestive aid and laxative. Elsewhere, including the United States, the gel from the inner aloe leaf is a popular ingredient in many skin preparations and cosmetics.

The laxative component of the plant works by preventing the absorption of water from the bowel, thus increasing the volume of its contents and hastening their passage. This component of Aloe also kills some bacteria and is believed to act against a variety of viruses including herpes, chickenpox, and flu.

Aloe Vera has been used to heal both internally and externally. It greatly speeds the healing of many skin injuries, including ulcerations, burns, hives and poison ivy and also acts as a laxative. Aloe latex is a powerful laxative, but because it can cause painful cramping, it is not used frequently for this purpose. Other milder herbal laxatives such as cascara sagrada and senna are usually recommended first.

Aloe use has also been suggested in connection with diabetes, ulcers, and other conditions. However, presently no conclusive clinical studies have supported this assertion.

There are a number of user submitted aloe vera product reviews and ratings available at NutritionalTree.com.

Dosage and Administration

For constipation, a single 50-200 mg capsule of aloe latex can be taken each day for a maximum of ten days.

For minor burns, the stabilized aloe gel is applied topically to the affected area of skin three to five times per day. Treatment of more serious burns should only be done under the supervision of a healthcare professional. For internal use of aloe gel, two tablespoons (30 ml) three times per day is used by some people for inflammatory bowel conditions, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (see precautions below). For type 2 diabetes, clinical trials have used one tablespoon (15 ml) of aloe juice, twice daily. Using aloe in connection with diabetes should only be done under the supervision and recommendation of a qualified healthcare professional.

Possible Interactions

It is recommended not to combine Aloe with other medications that are used to flush water and potassium from the body, including diuretics such as Lasix and Diuril, steroid drugs such as prednisone, and herbal licorice root.

Since potassium plays an vital role in regulating the heart, depleting it through continued use of laxatives may affect the action of certain heart medications. The effects of drugs such as digitalis and digoxin (Lanoxin) may be increased via long-term supplementation of aloe.

Supporting Literature

Duke J. Ginseng: A Concise Handbook. Algonac, MI: Reference Publications, 1989, 36.
Syed TA, Ahmad SA, Holt AH, et al. Management of psoriasis with Aloe vera extract in a hydrophilic cream: a placebo-controlled double-blind study. Trop Med Int Health 1996;1:506-9.
Bensky D, Gamble A, Kaptchuk T. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica. Seattle: Eastland Press, 1993, 358-8.



source:http://www.nutrasanus.com/aloe-vera.html

Lung cancer risk from radon in homes found

Even low exposure to odorless gas could be dangerous, report suggests

VIENNA - New studies have found direct evidence of a lung cancer risk from the presence of colorless, odorless radon gas in many homes, a United Nations committee said in a report released Tuesday.

Officials on the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) said the finding provided the first quantifiable evidence of the risk in homes from radon, long seen as a potential health risk.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies were revising recommendations on maximum levels of radon in homes and workplaces based on the 20 studies involving tens of thousands of lung cancer patients in North America, Europe and China.

"(Up to now) radon has been a typical health risk no one wants to accept or take note of," Wolfgang Weiss, UNSCEAR's vice chairman, told a news conference.

He said the report was significant because previous estimates of radon risks to the public were extrapolated from studies of uranium miners exposed to high levels of the gas.

"In the meantime we've done 20 studies in homes where concentrations are very low, and there we can see a risk, it is small, but it is certainly there," said Weiss.

"You can avoid smoking by just taking personal decisions," he said, referring to the leading cause of lung cancer.

"(But) radon is everywhere. So (you need to) develop strategies to avoid the influx of radon into houses ... It's very simple to seal basements, for example with plastic foil.

Radon is a hard-to-detect radioactive, noble gas that comes from natural decay of uranium. It can accumulate in buildings, seeping in from the ground through cracks in cellars, and may also be emitted by spring waters and hot springs.

Weiss said UNSCEAR's findings had caused a rethink at the WHO and other health policy agencies. "There will be consequences in regulation through the lowering of recommended levels of radon in workplaces and homes."

Some developed countries like Switzerland and Germany have conducted surveys or drawn up maps identifying radon-prone and low-radon regions, but many others provide no such information.

The report said radon concentrations in indoor air were lowest in the Middle East and highest in some European nations, where uranium is highly present underground.

UNSCEAR was set up in 1955 and reports to the U.N. General Assembly. Its research helped bring about the 1963 treaty that banned atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, and underpins global standards on radiation protection.

Also in msnbc.com Health

Vitamins May Help Fight Hair Loss

Loss of hair or baldness is often referred to as alopecia. Alopecia totalis means loss of all the scalp hair, while alopecia unviersalis means loss of all body hair, including eyebrows and eyelashes. If hair falls out in patches, it is termed alopecia areata. This condition is temporary and does not usually lead to baldness. Heredity, hormones, and aging are all factors that are involved in hair loss. Researchers have not yet determined the exact cause of hair loss, but some scientists believe the body’s immune system mistakes hair follicles for foreign tissue and attacks them. On the other hand, many suspect that hair loss is simply a genetic component.

A less dramatic, but much more prevalent type of hair loss is androgenic alopecia (AGA), which is also known as male pattern baldness. AGA is extremely common in men. As the name implies, a genetic or hereditary predisposition to the disorder and the presence of androgens, which are male sex hormones, are involved in this condition. Research has shown that the hair follicles of individuals who are susceptible to AGA may have receptors that are programmed to slow down or shut off hair production once they are influenced by androgens.

Women can also experience the same type of hair loss. However, it is usually not as extensive and most often does not occur until after menopause. All women experience some form of hair thinning as they grow older, especially after menopause. With some, it begins as early as puberty. Additionally, most women lose some hair two or three months after having a baby since hormonal changes prevent normal hair loss during pregnancy.

Demodex follicularum, a species of tiny mite, may be the cause of, or at least a contributing factor, to balding. These mites are present in almost all hair follicles by the time a person reaches middle age. In most cases, these mites cause no harm. Researchers believe that the difference between people who lose their hair and those who do not may be in how the scalp reacts to the presence of these mites. If the body initiates the inflammatory response as it tries to reject the mites, this can close down the hair follicles, which in turn, kill the mites and also kill the hair.

Additionally, hereditary factors that promote hair loss include poor circulation, acute illness, surgery, radiation exposure, skin disease, sudden weight loss, high fever, iron deficiency, diabetes, thyroid disease, drugs such as those used in chemotherapy, stress, poor diet, ringworm and other fungal infections, stress, chemicals such as hair dyes, and vitamin deficiencies.

The following nutrients are considered to be very important for dealing with and preventing hair loss: essential fatty acids, raw thymus glandular, vitamin B complex, vitamin C with bioflavonoids, vitamin E, zinc, coenzyme Q10, DMG, and kelp. Additionally, the following nutrients are helpful in dealing with hair loss: copper, grape seed extract, l-cysteine, MSM, and silica. The following herbs can also help prevent and deal with hair loss: apple cider vinegar, sage tea, ginkgo biloba, horsetail, green tea, pygeum, saw palmetto, and tea tree oil.

With proper diet, nutrition, and dietary supplements, one can rule out whether hair loss is dietary verses hormonal or fungal. Some supplements like evening primrose and omega-3 can help regulate inflammation hormones and hormones that can affect the immune system and hair follicles. Your local or internet health food store can better help you select the right products for each persons hair needs.

Barrack Obama Diet Plan

We are already familiar with Barack Obama’s diet, but I was not sure if he can actually cook. It seems he can cook and in style. Check out that tie, I guess if you are the most powerful man in the world, you have to wear a tie to a barbeque.

Barack Obama’s diet plan, at least during a recent Father’s Day, consisted of grilled ribeye steak with grilled corn and probably some coleslaw. Looking at the picture, the ribeye steak does not appear to have any marinade on it, but it does have a pretty good amount of fat. Hopefully, it is a grass-fed steak – if it is – its fat content is healthy.

As for Barack Obama’s diet plan on other days, the guy has a personal chef, so I am pretty sure he eats well. One notable thing, however, is that he likes burger runs. See, even the POTUS cannot follow a strict diet all the time. [source: Life and Style]

The Fastest Way to Burn Body Fat

Thank goodness the holidays are over, and the new year is here.
But are you finding that holiday celebrations have resulted in a new "you" as well?
As a personal trainer, I hear the same thing every year after the holidays: "Stefan, I gained fat over here," and "Stefan, I gained fat over there."
Be honest. Are you really surprised by the change in your body composition due to your calorie intake over the last few months?

You shouldn't be.

First, understand that your body's metabolism slows down 2 percent for each decade of your life after age 20. This means that your body burns calories more slowly with each passing year.


As a result, you should also be more careful with your calories as you get older. How much more careful? You can figure it out with the simple calculation below that will give you your basal metabolic rate, or BMR:
-Take your desired weight in pounds.
-Multiply this number by 11 if you are a woman, 12 if you are a man.
-Subtract 2 percent of this total for every 10 years after age 20.
-Add 10 percent. This represents the calories you need to maintain your daily life functions.

The number you end up with is your minimum daily calorie intake.
So say you are a 50-year-old man who would like to keep your weight at a trim 140 pounds. Here's how you would calculate your BMR:

Desired weight = 140
140 × 12 = 1,680
1,680 - 3(1,680 × .02) = 1,57 9
1,579 + 158 = 1,737 calories per day

Now keep in mind that some of you are more active than others. Hence, you should add on 180 calories per hour of housework (or if your house is already clean, feel free to come by and help me!), 650 calories per hour of cycling, 800 calories for every hour of running, and 1,200 calories per hour for cross-country skiing.

If you want to lose body fat, however, calorie control is only one side of the equation. The question you still need to ask is: "How do you burn the most calories and, best, the most fat calories?"

Interval training! Yes, you need to push yourself. You need to vary your training intensity between 65 percent of your total capacity to 85 percent and 95 percent. This approach will help you to lose the most calories from fat.

Stefan Aschan is a fitness consultant in New York City.

Swimming For Heart Health

Swimming is an aerobic exercise due to the relatively long exercise times, requiring a constant oxygen supply to the muscles, As with most aerobic exercise it is believed to reduce the harmful effects of stress.

Because the density of the human body is approximately similar to water, the body is supported by the water and less stress is therefore placed on joints and bones. Furthermore, the hydrodynamics resistance against movement depends heavily on the speed of the movement, allowing the fine tuning of the exercise according to ones ability. Therefore, it is frequently used as an exercise in rehabilitation after injuries or for the disabled.

While aerobic exercises usually burn fat and help with losing weight, this effect is limited in swimming, even though being in cold water burns more food energy to maintain body temperature.

The reason that it does not significantly reduce weight is still poorly understood, but seems to be related to the better heat conduction of water. A number of reasons are suspected.

• First, water cools the body much faster than air, and most researchers believe that subsequently the body aims to maintain a layer of fat under the skin for insulation.
• Secondly, it is believed that appetite decreases as your body temperature increases, as for example during exercise. However, during a swim the body is cooled down almost instantly as the surrounding water is usually cooler than the body temperature, and some researchers believe that this may actually increase the appetite. This assumption is not yet proven by research.
• Finally, some researchers also believe that the metabolism of the body increases at higher body temperature, burning more food energy. Again, during swimming the body is cooled down by the surrounding water, reducing the metabolism, and subsequently the amount of food energy burnt. This assumption is also not yet proven by research.

When you swim you exercise almost all muscles in the body. Usually, the arms and upper body are exercised more than the legs.

Swimming and Heart Health

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among Americans, with 23 million people diagnosed and nearly 1 million deaths annually. That means that approximately 2,500 people die each day from heart disease.

Physical fitness plays a key roll in preventing heart disease. According to the American Heart Association, “Most beneficial effects of physical activity on cardiovascular disease mortality can be attained through moderate-intensity activity (40% to 60% of maximal oxygen uptake, depending on age). The activity can be accrued through formal training programs or leisure-time physical activities.”

When You swim regularly as part of your fitness routine, combined with proper diet, is an excellent way for you to get the cardiovascular benefits of exercise and can help you avoid heart disease.

Styles On the Breast

• Front crawl: is the fastest style
• Trudgeon: is similar to the front crawl, except it is swum with a scissor kick
• Trudgen Crawl: Similar to the trudgen, but with a flutter kick between the scissor kicks
• Double Trudgen: Similar to the trudgen, but the sides of the scissor kick alternate
• Double Trudgen Crawl: Similar to the double trudgen, but with a flutter kick between the scissor kicks
• Dolphin Crawl: Similar to front crawl, but with a dolphin kick. One kick per arm or two kicks per cycle. This style is often used in training.
• Catch up stroke: A variation of the front crawl where one arm always rests at the front while the other arm performs one cycle.

Breaststroke

Heads-Up Breaststroke: Similar to the breaststroke, but the head stays out of the water. This style is very popular for recreational and also for rescuers approaching a victim.

Butterfly stroke

• Slow Butterfly (also known as ''Moth stroke''): Similar to butterfly, but with an extended gliding phase, Breathing during the pull/push phase, return head into water during recovery. This style uses four kicks or more per cycle.
• Dog paddle: face over water and paddling alternatingly with the hands.
• Human Stroke: Similar to the dog paddle, but the arms reach out more and pull farther down.
• Survival Travel Stroke: Alternating underwater arm stroke, one cycle for propulsion, one for lift to stay on the surface. This style is slow but sustainable.
• Snorkeling: on the breast using a snorkel, usually in combination with masks and fins. Any stroke on the breast can be used, and there is no need to lift or turn the head for breathing.
• On the Back

Backstroke

• Elementary Backstroke: Both arms move synchronized with a small synchronized kick. This is also sometimes known as the
• Lifesaving Kick
• Inverted Breaststroke: Similar to Elementary Backstroke, but with a breaststroke kick.
• Inverted Butterfly: Similar to Elementary backstroke, but with a dolphin kick. This is often used for training.
• Back Double Trudgen: Similar to the Backstroke, but with a scissor kick to alternating sides.
• Flutter Back Finning: Symmetrically underwater arm recovery with flutter kick.
• Feet First : A very slow stroke on the back where a breaststroke movement with the arms propels the body forward feet first. This is often used for training.

On the Side

• Side stroke: Lying on the side with alternating underwater recovery and a scissor kick
• Overarm Sidestroke: Similar to the side stroke, but with a over water recovery of the top arm

Other

• Corkscrew : Alternating between Front crawl and backstroke every arm. This leads to a constant rotation of the swimmer. The stroke is used mainly for training purposes
• Underwater : any style with underwater recovery can be swum under water for certain distances depending on the need for air. Underwater swimming on the back has the additional possibility of water entering the nose. The swimmer can breathe out through the nose or wear a nose clip. Some swimmers can close their nostrils with the upper lip.
• Gliding: The swimmer is stretched with the arms to the front, the head between the arms and the feet to the back. This streamlined shape minimizes resistance and allows the swimmer to glide, for example after a start, a push off from a wall, or to rest between strokes.
• Turtle stroke: on the breast, extend right arm then pull, after pushing with the left leg (while opposite limbs are recovering), then opposite limbs repeat this process, i.e. left arm pulls after right leg pushes. Uses muscles of the waist. Head can easily be above or below water: this is a slow but very sustainable stroke, popular with turtles and newts.

Starting a Routine

If you are overweight, or have not participated in a regular fitness program in quite some time, you should consult your doctor before beginning. Your doctor can advise you of any precautions you should take based on your general health, age, and weight, and may suggest a guideline to get you started on your exercise program.

If you are a poor swimmer or do not know how to swim, many parks and recreation departments offer lessons at reduced or no cost to city residents. Some health clubs offer lessons to their members.

Locations

Depending on where you live and the seasonal climate, your choices may be limited.

Most health and fitness clubs have pools available to members. Many health insurance plans offer partial or complete reimbursement of health club membership fees.

You can swim outdoors at a local beach or lake is an enjoyable alternative to a pool.

Tips

You should try not to swim alone. When you swim with a friend it is like having a spotter when you are weight lifting. If you don’t have a partner, swim in a location that has at a life guard on duty. Before entering the water, always be aware of the depths you are about to swim in.

If you swim in a pool, know where the nearest ladder and steps are. Wear goggles to avoid eye irritation from pool chemicals, and showering after a swim will help to keep your skin from becoming dry or irritated.

When you swim at a beach, lake, or pond, familiarize yourself with any drop-offs or underwater obstacles that may result in injury. Try to swim at times when there are fewer people in the water to avoid interruptions to your routine and possible injury. Be mindful of tide changes, undertow and wave height when you swim.