Healthy Living Tips, Nutrition And Healthy Living Guide » Midlife Crisis

Skinny women’s bones at risk

irwanlib2063 — Sat, 22 May 2010 04:06:15 +0000

More women than men will get osteoporosis, the disease that makes bones lose their density and become brittle and fragile. This is because as a woman ages and undergoes menopause, her hormonal levels fall fairly quickly. This leads to loss of bone mass. Hormonal changes, as well as deficiency of calcium or vitamin D, are factors that can lead to osteoporosis.

Dr Ann Tan, a specialist obstetrician and gynecologist at Women & Fetal Centre, said declining estrogen levels as a result of menopause is behind the acceleration of bone loss in aging women.

However, this can also occur in younger women with eating disorders such as anorexia. Low Body weight in females can cause the body to stop producing estrogen. This results in a condition known as amenorrhoea, or absent menstrual periods.

Low estrogen levels contribute to significant losses in bone density.

Anorexia sufferers often produce excessive amounts of the adrenal hormone cortisol, which is known to trigger bone loss.

As for men, they do get it too. Andropause, the male counterpart of menopause, is responsible for the accelerated rate of bone loss as a result of lowered testosterone levels, said Dr Julinda Lee, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist at Pacific Health-care Specialist Centre.

Thus, while osteoporosis is commonly associated with post-menopausal women above the age of 55, men should not think that they are in the clear.

Dr Tan said: ‘Men typically don’t think they will have this problem.

Young women who dismiss this possibility don’t realize that being too slim or malnourished lays a very poor foundation for bone health.

‘ To attain a good foundation for bone health, both men and women should participate in healthy weight-bearing activities particularly in their teens leading up to their 30s.

Weight-bearing exercises include brisk walking, dancing, weight-lifting and step aerobics. After all, bone mass is built up when one is young and likely to do more exercise.

Between the ages of 30 and 50, we must start to maintain our ‘bone stock’, said Dr Leslie Leong, a consultant orthopedic surgeon at Island Orthopedic Consultants.

He said: ‘It’s like growing a plant. After you nurture it to its full potential, you’ll have to nourish it.’ Dr Tan added that men and women should be conscious of the need to watch their general health through good diet and exercise.

As often as possible, instead of using the lift, take the stairs. Or take a longer route to the bus stop or train station, she suggested. An adequate intake of calcium and vitamin D is also key to good bone health.

Dr Leong suggested that, instead of just depending on supplements, one should obtain calcium from foods such as milk, cheese and yogurt.

Vitamin D can be absorbed from exposure to the sun, so engaging in some outdoor activities is a good idea. He recommends about 10 to 20 minutes of exercise daily.

‘There’s no need for intense marathon training or hitting the squash court. Daily exercise is enough,’ said Dr Leong, He added: ‘Use your bones or lose them.’

by Alvin Lim

Source: The Straits Times

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Pregnant Women Should Quit Smoking

irwanlib2063 — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:25:16 +0000

To nonsmokers, it’s obvious that pregnant women should not smoke. But for smokers, the prospect of quitting can be so dreadful that many try to ignore the evidence of danger. The dangers are quite real, however, and all parents deserve information and support to protect their children from what is an avoidable health risk.

The evidence against smoking in pregnancy

Many complications of pregnancy are more likely to occur in smokers. While any smoking is bad, going through less than a half pack a day is definitely better than a heavier habit. placental abruption, premature rupture of the membranes, premature birth, and low birth weight have all been shown to be more prevalent in the pregnancies of heavy smokers.

If you quit smoking by 16 weeks gestation, you can avert many of these complications; and some can still be prevented even if you wait until close to the end of your pregnancy to stop smoking. Exposure to secondhand smoke the home poses a real risk as well. And on top of all that, if a parent smokes, her child is more likely to become a smoker. The emotional repercussions of this can be great: Smokers who have these smoking-related complications have to deal with the bad outcomes plus guilt over having contributed to the suffering of their families. Placental problems Smoking causes vascular disease, which affects the blood flow through the placenta. The placentas of smokers look older than they should, because the blood vessels are calcified and partially obstructed. The complication of placental abruption (where the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus while the baby still needs the nutrients and oxygen) is more common in smokers. Abruption can lead to vaginal bleeding in late pregnancy, premature birth, fetal distress, and even fetal death.

Effects of nicotine

Nicotine causes spasm of the arteries, including those that send blood to the placenta. This diminishes the baby’s oxygen and nutrient supplies, which can result in smaller (or underweight) babies.

Effects of carbon monoxide

Because carbon monoxide substitutes for oxygen in the blood during smoking, some fetuses may try to compensate for this deprivation by making extra red blood cells to carry more oxygen. In rare instances, their blood gets too thick from the proliferation of these cells and cuts off the blood supply to vital organs, with fatal results. (I saw the baby of a two-pack-a-day smoker die after birth from this effect.)

Long-term effects on the baby

Unfortunately, smoking limits the nutrition that a baby can receive. This can be particularly detrimental during late pregnancy, when the baby’s brain is developing rapidly. There is also a growing body of evidence that nicotine has a direct damaging effect on developing nerve cells.

In animals, even small doses of nicotine injected into the mother during pregnancy resulted in brain malformations, poor functioning, and learning problems. (No one knows what effects the hundreds of other chemicals in cigarette smoke have on a fetus, but they can’t be good.) Research shows that humans exposed to nicotine during pregnancy are also more likely to show learning and behavioral problems years later. Babies who are born prematurely or too small for their gestational age can end up struggling with learning problems their whole lives. You may never know if your child’s complication was caused specifically by your smoking or by something else unrelated to it. But why chance feelings of guilt if a complication does develop and your cigarette habit may have played a role?

Breaking the habit

If it were easy to give up cigarettes, few adults would smoke. Many people who quit smoking successfully tried and failed numerous times before they became nonsmokers. If you have tried to quit in the past, take heart: It may take a few falls off the wagon before you are successful. You are not a failure as long as you try.

Many women who could not quit at other times in their lives are able to quit in pregnancy because they feel responsible for the good of their baby, even if they couldn’t accomplish it for their own health.

In pregnancy you can quit cold turkey, or you can slowly decrease the number of cigarettes you have each day over a few weeks; you also can take bupropion (Zyban), a medication that helps to take the edge off cravings. Using nicotine replacement therapy (like the patch or gum) in pregnancy is controversial. It’s hard to prescribe a medication for a pregnant woman that clearly is not safe for her fetus. In reality, however, it is safer than smoking, and the goal would be to get off the replacement within a few weeks too. All in all, if nicotine replacement is the only way that a mother-to-be can quit, it is probably better than her continuing to smoke. For specific ideas on how to quit, talk to your practitioner.

by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D.

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Beware of your chair - It’s killing you

irwanlib2063 — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:45:49 +0000

It doesn’t matter if you go running every morning, or you’re a regular at the gym. If you spend most of the rest of the day sitting — in your car, your office chair, on your sofa at home — you are putting yourself at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, a variety of cancers and an early death. In other words, irrespective of whether you exercise vigorously, sitting for long periods is bad for you.

That, at least, is the conclusion of several recent studies. Indeed, if you consider only healthy people who exercise regularly, those who sit the most during the rest of the day have larger waists and worse profiles of blood pressure and blood sugar than those who sit less. Among people who sit in front of the television for more than three hours each day, those who exercise are as fat as those who don’t: sitting a lot appears to offset some of the benefits of jogging a lot.

So what’s wrong with sitting?

The answer seems to have two parts. The first is that sitting is one of the most passive things you can do. You burn more energy by chewing gum or fidgeting than you do sitting still in a chair. Compared to sitting, standing in one place is hard work. To stand, you have to tense your leg muscles, and engage the muscles of your back and shoulders; while standing, you often shift from leg to leg. All of this burns energy.

For many people, weight gain is a matter of slow creep — two pounds this year, three pounds next year. You can gain this much if, each day, you eat just 30 calories more than you burn. Thirty calories is hardly anything — it’s a couple of mouthfuls of banana, or a few potato chips. Thus, a little more time on your feet today and tomorrow can easily make the difference between remaining lean and getting fat.

You may think you have no choice about how much you sit. But this isn’t true. Suppose you sleep for eight hours each day, and exercise for one. That still leaves 15 hours of activities. Even if you exercise, most of the energy you burn will be burnt during these 15 hours, so weight gain is often the cumulative effect of a series of small decisions: Do you take the stairs or the elevator? Do you e-mail your colleague down the hall, or get up and go and see her? When you get home, do you potter about in the garden or sit in front of the television? Do you walk to the corner store, or drive?

Just to underscore the point that you do have a choice: a study of junior doctors doing the same job, the same week, on identical wards found that some individuals walked four times farther than others at work each day. (No one in the study was overweight; but the “long-distance” doctors were thinner than the “short-distance” doctors.)

So part of the problem with sitting a lot is that you don’t use as much energy as those who spend more time on their feet. This makes it easier to gain weight, and makes you more prone to the health problems that fatness often brings.

But it looks as though there’s a more sinister aspect to sitting, too. Several strands of evidence suggest that there’s a “physiology of inactivity”: that when you spend long periods sitting, your body actually does things that are bad for you.

As an example, consider lipoprotein lipase. This is a molecule that plays a central role in how the body processes fats; it’s produced by many tissues, including muscles. Low levels of lipoprotein lipase are associated with a variety of health problems, including heart disease. Studies in rats show that leg muscles only produce this molecule when they are actively being flexed (for example, when the animal is standing up and ambling about). The implication is that when you sit, a crucial part of your metabolism slows down.

Nor is lipoprotein lipase the only molecule affected by muscular inactivity. Actively contracting muscles produce a whole suite of substances that have a beneficial effect on how the body uses and stores sugars and fats.

Which might explain the following result. Men who normally walk a lot (about 10,000 steps per day, as measured by a pedometer) were asked to cut back (to about 1,350 steps per day) for two weeks, by using elevators instead of stairs, driving to work instead of walking and so on. By the end of the two weeks, all of them had became worse at metabolizing sugars and fats. Their distribution of body fat had also altered — they had become fatter around the middle. Such changes are among the first steps on the road to diabetes.

Conversely, a study of people who sit for many hours found that those who took frequent small breaks — standing up to stretch or walk down the corridor — had smaller waists and better profiles for sugar and fat metabolism than those who did their sitting in long, uninterrupted chunks.

Some people have advanced radical solutions to the sitting syndrome: replace your sit-down desk with a stand-up desk, and equip this with a slow treadmill so that you walk while you work. (Talk about pacing the office.) Make sure that your television can only operate if you are pedaling furiously on an exercise bike. Or, watch television in a rocking chair: rocking also takes energy and involves a continuous gentle flexing of the calf muscles. Get rid of your office chair and replace it with a therapy ball: this too uses more muscles, and hence more energy, than a normal chair, because you have to support your back and work to keep balanced. You also have the option of bouncing, if you like.

Or you could take all this as a license to fidget.

But whatever you choose, know this. The data are clear: beware your chair!

By Olivia Judson, The New York Times

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Red Wine Reduce Prostate Cancer

irwanlib2063 — Thu, 20 May 2010 14:51:40 +0000

Alcohol has been called the Jekyll and Hyde of health, which summarizes the age-old dispute about the pros and cons of drinking. As scientists have accumulated information about how alcohol affects the human mind and body, a balanced picture is starting to emerge. A study may add some color to the picture, since it raises the hope that red wine may reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Alcohol and health

On the positive side of the ledger, moderate alcohol use is associated with protection against atherosclerosis, the disease that puts cholesterol-rich plaques just where they are least welcome, in the walls of the arteries. Although many studies of men and women from around the world report a substantial benefit from alcohol, three Harvard studies are particularly relevant to American men. The Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the Physicians’ Health Study, and the Harvard Alumni Study have all reported that men who drink modestly enjoy substantial protection against angina, first heart attacks, recurrent heart attacks, sudden cardiac death, and ischemic strokes. The magnitude of protection varies with the problem but ranges from 20% to 56%. And the Harvard studies report other possible benefits of low-dose alcohol, including a reduced risk of diabetes, symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and erectile dysfunction. That’s the good news. The bad news is that alcohol gets the blame for almost 100,000 deaths in the United States each year. Liver disease and accidents are among the biggest alcohol-related problems, but others include high blood pressure, damage to the heart muscle, brain damage, pancreatitis, osteoporosis, intestinal bleeding, and cancers of the mouth, voice box, and upper digestive tract. Alcohol has also caused countless psychosocial and economic problems. Is alcohol a boon or a bane? It depends on who drinks, how much he drinks, and when he drinks. People who are at risk for alcohol abuse should shun it, as should patients with liver disease and those who require medications that may interact adversely with alcohol. No one should drink before driving or operating hazardous machinery. Above all, people who choose to drink must keep the “dose” right. For men, that means one to two drinks a day, counting 1½ ounces of liquor, 12 ounces of beer, or 5 ounces of wine as one drink; for women, it’s half as much.

Alcohol vs. alcohol

When it comes to the harmful effects of alcohol, a drink is a drink is a drink. All alcoholic beverages are equally harmful if they are consumed by the wrong person, in the wrong amount, or at the wrong time. When it comes to potential benefit, though, the situation is a bit more complex. Some studies give the edge to red wine, while a few attribute extra benefit to other forms of alcohol. But most studies call it a three-way tie. Back in 1991, for example, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study found that wine, beer, and liquor were equally protective. A few years later, the Physicians’ Health Study agreed, adding that all three beverages produced similar beneficial elevations in HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels. And a meta-analysis of 25 studies that compared the effects of wine, beer, or spirits on cardiac risk reported that all were equally beneficial as long as the dose was right.

Lifestyle, alcohol, and prostate cancer

Although prostate cancer is the most common internal malignancy in men, scientists do not yet understand its causes. Heredity certainly plays a role, but lifestyle factors are also very important. Diet has received the most attention. The leading culprit is saturated fat from animal sources such as red meat and whole dairy products. Although the data are less clear, very high consumption of calcium or alpha-linolenic acid (the omega-3 fat found in flaxseed and canola oil) may also boost risk. On the other hand, tomatoes and other vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, fish, and soy are all on the “good” list. Among the nutrients, selenium (a mineral) and lycopene (an antioxidant in the beta carotene family) may reduce risk. Obesity increases risk, while exercise may lower it. Most studies report little impact from smoking, but it’s a moot point since no man (or woman) should smoke. As for sexual activity, one study reported that having multiple female sexual partners may increase risk, but another linked frequent ejaculation to protection. Since prostate cancer is complex and incompletely understood, it’s no surprise that studies of alcohol and prostate cancer have produced mixed results. Although some research implicates heavy drinking as a risk factor, most studies find no link between drinking and the disease. In fact, a meta-analysis of 33 individual research papers concluded that drinking had no effect on a man’s risk of prostate cancer. But that’s not the end of the story. Most investigations of alcohol and prostate cancer lump all forms of alcohol together. A new study, though, suggests that may be a mistake.

Seeing red

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle investigated alcohol and prostate cancer in 1,456 men between 40 and 64 years of age. Each man underwent a personal evaluation and answered detailed dietary questionnaires. The scientists collected information about many factors that might influence the risk of prostate cancer, including age, race, family history, height, weight, daily caloric intake, marital and sexual history, tobacco use, and occupational and lifestyle factors. Every man’s medical history, including his screening tests for prostate cancer, was evaluated. All the cases of prostate cancer were graded for the aggressiveness of the disease and staged for its extent. Finally, all the men provided detailed information about their alcohol consumption. The results confirmed many findings of previous studies: The risk of prostate cancer was increased in men with a family history of the disease, in African Americans, in men with a high caloric intake, in current smokers and in men who had many female sexual partners in the course of their lives. In addition, most of the men had localized disease of moderate aggressiveness (Gleason grade 5–7). In all these respects, the men in the Seattle study were similar to other Americans with prostate cancer. At first, the results for alcohol consumption may also seem similar to many earlier studies of alcohol and prostate cancer: There was no relationship between overall alcohol consumption and risk. But the scientists went one step further by evaluating each type of alcoholic beverage independently. The results showed that heavy beer drinking (35 or more a week for eight years or longer) appeared to increase risk. In contrast, wine drinking was linked to a reduced risk of prostate cancer. And when white wine was compared to red, most of the benefit was attributed to red. Even low amounts seemed to help, and for every additional glass of red wine per week, the relative risk declined by 6%. In all, men who averaged four to seven glasses of red wine per week were only 52% as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as those who did not drink red wine. In addition, red wine appeared particularly protective against advanced or aggressive cancers.

Why red wine?

Doctors don’t know the answer. But much of the speculation focuses on chemicals that are absent in other alcoholic beverages, including various flavonoids and resveratrol. These components have antioxidant properties, and some appear to counterbalance androgens, the male hormones that stimulate the prostate. In test tube experiments,flavonoids reduce PSA production by prostate cancer cells, suggesting a decrease in cellular activity, and resveratrol damps down the activity of the genes that promote cell growth. Resveratrol also induces prostate cancer cell death by a process called apoptosis (cell suicide). Bottoms up? Many doctors are reluctant to recommend alcohol for health, fearing that their patients might assume that if a little alcohol is good, more might be better. They have a point, but men who enjoy alcohol and can drink moderately and responsibly may benefit from a lower risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and cardiac death. Although red wine has theoretical advantages, it has not been proven superior to other forms of alcohol when it comes to fighting cardiovascular disease. Prostate cancer may be different. The Seattle study raises the hope that red wine may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer. It’s only one study, and a rather small one for this kind of analysis. Although it’s far too early to endorse red wine for the prostate, the study is bound to mark an outpouring of new research.

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Six Basic Steps to Health and Longevity

irwanlib2063 — Thu, 20 May 2010 10:23:27 +0000

The most basic of activities have a profound influence on our well-being. Yet it is these very basic activities that are often accorded second, third or last place in our daily lives. It is time to take a good hard look at our daily routines and re-learn the basics that are essential for health and longevity.

Breathe!

Breath is essential for survival, and breathing the first and most basic activity we learn. On average, we breathe 22,000 times a day, and how we breathe is crucial to good health and longevity. The deeper, slower and smoother we breathe, the more prana (life-force) we provide to the physiology. Deep breathing forces us to slow down and relax, helping over the long-term to fight the effects of stress.

From the perspective of modern science as well, more oxygen to the blood, brain and mucles helps elevate energy levels and maximize mental performance. But because of sheer lack of attention to this most basic of functions and the multiple stressors we are bombarded with all day long, few of us remember to breathe deeply or correctly. We take quick shallow breaths hurriedly, often through the mouth instead of the nose, as we rush about our daily activities. It’s time to re-learn how to breathe for health and longevity.

Pranayama is a traditional series of breathing exercises often taught with yoga. If you can, find a good yoga instructor to instruct you in this ancient science of breathing for health. Even if you do not learn pranayama, stay attentive to how you breathe, and you will automatically start to breathe deeper and slower. It is also good to set aside some times during the day for aware breathing - as upon awaking, before going to bed, before workouts, before and during meditation etc. Deep breathing before bed can hasten sleep and improve the quality of sleep. Breathing deeper before exercising helps enhance energy levels and increase the output from your workouts. During times of pressure, sit down and breathe deeply before you respond.

Drink water

The elixir of life is the second most important ingredient for well-being, and again, one that is often overlooked by many of us. Water is essential not only for re-hydration but also forms the basis of good blood, dewy skin and healthy body tissues. Every cell in your body, as well as the space between cells, every tissue and every organ needs water.

From the perspective of modern science as well, drinking about one-half of your weight in fluid ounces of water each day is essential for health. While Ayurvedic healers do not specify a blanket quantity, they recommend using your urine as a guide to whether you need to drink more water - if your urine is not clear or it looks too concentrated, you need more water. Inadequate water can cause headaches and grogginess and more severe dehydration has even more serious health repercussions. As we grow older, our body’s thirst signals become weaker, and it is then even more important to remember to drink enough water through the day.

While we need to drink a lot of water through the day, it’s important to sip the water over time rather than gulp down large quantities at a time. Do not drink too much water just before or during a meal. Ayurvedic healers also recommend spice teas - water boiled with therapeutic spices for added health benefit. Also, remember that it’s important to drink water-milk, caffeinated and alcoholic drinks do not count. Fruits and vegetables with high water content, fruit and vegetable juices and clear soups suited to your constitution are helpful, but it is also important to drink just plain pure water each day. Make sure the water you drink is pure; have your drinking water tested for purity and use a good filter.

Eat Right

This is an exhortation Ayurvedic healers never tire of voicing over and over again. The right kind and quantity of food is so important that it is accorded an even higher status than medicine in Ayurveda. ‘Annaha brahmaha’ goes the Ayurvedic saying - Food is divine. Eating inappropriate foods or following poor eating routines and habits not only have short-term repercussions on energy levels, mental clarity and emotional well-being, they also seriously damage health and well-being over the long-term sometimes causing irreversible damage to the physiology and shortening our life-span.

Ayurvedic healers do not have a one-size-fits-all approach to diet and nutrition. Your dietary needs are unique to you, and you have to develop the diet that is ideal for you over time. There are general guidelines for food choices for people with more or less of each of the three doshas - vata, pitta and kapha -in their prakriti (original constitution) and vikriti (current state of the doshas), but within these general guidelines you can choose what works best for you. Listen to your physiology carefully and it will guide you to the foods that enhance not just your physical but also mental and emotional balance. Whatever your food choices, eat pure, fresh, whole, natural foods.

Follow a good eating routine. Do not take short-cuts with your meals, sandwiching them between other activities. Treat mealtimes as sacred. Prepare and cook your food with loving care and attention and eat in silence or in a harmonious atmosphere. Prepared lovingly and eaten with gratitude and reverence, the food will turn to ojas in your system - the substance that Ayurveda defines as the essence of life and the finest product of the eating and digestion process.

Sleep

Another basic for health and longevity, sleep is becoming a rare commodity for many in our frenetic, 24/7 society. According to Ayurveda as well as modern science, sleep is essential for our minds and bodies to recharge and prepare for the next day.

Lack of sleep impairs the digestion, contributes to ama accumulation, clouds the brain and places greater demands on every part of the physiology with each passing day. Modern science has linked sleep deprivation to elevated blood pressure, obesity and depression.

Ayurveda does not prescribe eight hours of sleep each night for everyone. You have to determine the sleep quota that is adequate for you to function at peak levels by monitoring your sleep and activity levels over a period of time. Times of extra pressure need to be compensated with extra sleep time.

The quality of sleep is as important as the quantity of sleep you get. Ayurveda defines the most productive sleep as occurring when the mind, the charioteer of the senses, is completely disengaged from the senses. Sleep obtained in the earlier part of the night is more productive, so go to bed early, definitely before 10 pm, and arise early, before 6 am. Aromatherapy, a soothing cup of herbal tea, deep breathing and a bedtime lower limb massage can all help you fall asleep easier and enjoy a deeper, more restful quality of sleep. Abhyanga, the daily Ayurvedic massage, is also helpful for promoting a better quality of sleep.

Exercise

Just as good quality sleep at night is essential to help the physiology recharge, adequate levels of physical and mental activity during the day are important for well-being and longevity. The Ayurvedic daily routine encompasses both physical exercise and mental activity, and the view of modern science as well is that the admonition - use it or lose it - is equally valid for your muscles as it is for your brain.

As with diet and sleep, Ayurvedic healers recommend structuring an exercise program that is ideal for your needs. If you are trying to balance Kapha dosha, for instance, you would choose more robust forms of exercise such as aerobics, singles tennis or long-distance jogging. If you are trying to keep Pitta in balance, swimming in summer and skiing in winter might be options to investigate. Walking and yoga are universally beneficial because they can be tailored to individual needs, and convenient because they need no special equipment, can be done alone and everyday.

Exercise early in the day for increased energy levels during the day and ease of falling asleep at night. Do not exercise on an empty stomach or just after a meal. Do not exercise to the point of pain or exhaustion. Moderation in exercise is the key to balance.

To stay in shape mentally, make lifelong learning an integral part of life. Travel, enjoy new experiences, read, do puzzles, or take up a new hobby or project to keep the mind sharp and alert. Gardening, music, teaching and volunteering are examples of activities that can be mentally enriching and emotionally and spiritually rewarding. If your work involves intense mental activity, stay recharged by taking frequent short breaks to breathe deeply, stretch or drink some water.

Meditate

Take thirty minutes each day to recharge body, mind, senses, heart and spirit with meditation. Research shows that meditation helps enhance your ability to manage stress, it promotes mental clarity and emotional balance and does wonders for physical health from promoting good sleep to reducing hypertension.

Meditation can be done in the morning or the evening or both morning and evening. Meditate in a silent, serene atmosphere, in a room free of clutter or amid nature. Sit erect, facing east or north, and start with a few minutes of aware breathing before beginning your meditation. After your meditation, take a few minutes to rest quietly before resuming your daily routine. The aroma of pure sandalwood and Ayurvedic herbs such as Brahmi can help enhance the quality of your meditation.

by Shreelata Suresh

Shreelata Suresh is a yoga instructor from the Bay Area, and she writes on yoga and Ayurveda for different publications. To subscribe to free newsletters on Ayurveda, or for more information, please visit http://www.ayurbalance.com.

Disclaimer:
Information provided in this article is for the sole purpose of imparting education on Ayurveda and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you have a medical condition, please consult your physician.

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Acidosis - Causes and Its Natural Treatment

irwanlib2063 — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:17:13 +0000

Over acidity, which can become a dangerous condition that weakens all body systems, is very common today. It gives rise to an internal environment conducive to disease, as opposed to a pH-balanced environment which allows normal body function necessary for the body to resist disease. A healthy body maintains adequate alkaline reserves to meet emergency demands. When excess acids (acidosis) must be neutralized, our alkaline reserves are depleted, leaving the body in a weakened condition.

Every day we wage our own private war against molds, yeasts, bacteria, viruses and fungi. By using antibiotics as the first line of defense we have encouraged the development of more powerfully bugs and bacteria.

Our immune systems are becoming weaker and over-taxed in this war. Louis Pasteur declared the germ theory of disease that states germs are the cause of disease. But note Dr. Pasteur’s dying words: “The germ is nothing, the inner terrain is everything”.

The concept of acid alkaline imbalance as the cause of disease is not new. In 1933 a New York doctor named William Howard Hay published a ground-breaking book, A New Health Era in which he maintains that all disease is caused by autotoxication (or “self-poisoning”) due to acidosis in the body.

Now we depart from health in just the proportion to which we have allowed our alkalis to be dissipated by introduction of acid-forming food in too great amount… It may seem strange to say that all disease is the same thing, no matter what its myriad modes of expression, but it is verily so.
William Howard Hay, M.D.

More recently, in his remarkable book Alkalize or Die , Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, N.D., D.C., Ph.D. says essentially the same thing: “The countless names of illnesses do not really matter. What does matter is that they all come from the same root cause…too much tissue acid waste in the body!”

Modern science has revealed that the cause of aging may be far more simple than previously thought.
Almost 99% of the components of food that we consume every day are composed of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen with only 1% been minerals.

The wastes produced from food are highly acidic and acidosis is one of the main contributors that lead to the aging process and various illnesses. Acid waste is excreted from the human body in the form of or sweat. But the wastes not excreted will be circulating around in the , in the body. This acidic waste will gradually accumulate somewhere in our capillaries vessels, and eventually clog them up. Also as a consequence of this, the cells of the human body will be deprived of their supply of oxygen and essential nutrients, rendering these cells inactive in reproduction. That’s the main reason why people age. Moreover, with the capillary vessels clogged up, the function of every organ in the human body accumulating acidic waste will begin to deteriorate, causing serious illnesses in the long run.

So when does the accumulation of age-contributing acidic waste begin?

Scientists say that aging begins when a child starts to wean. An unborn child lives on nutrients from his mother while in the womb and the body of the baby becomes alkaline, owing to the consumption of alkaline minerals.

Naturally, this is due to the release of alkaline minerals from the mother. This release of alkaline minerals during pregnancy does temporarily weaken the mother’s body, causing a lack of appetite etc.

The baby will remain alkaline while breast feeding, but will begin to reduce in alkalinity once put on infant cereals.

If the cause of aging lies in acidosis, then the answer to longer life must lie in eliminating such acidic wastes. Hence, to neutralize acidic meals, alkaline water could be the answer. Many doctors recommend a vegetarian or low meat diet as alkaline minerals and vegetables help neutralize acidic waste. But vegetables only contain a very small amount of alkaline minerals and that is why a very large quantity of vegetables needs to be consumed in order to neutralize these wastes in the body.

We live and die at the cellular level. All the billions of cells that make up our human body are slightly alkaline, and must maintain alkalinity in order to function and remain healthy and alive. However their cellular activity creates acid and this acid is what gives the cell energy and function. As each alkaline cell performs its task of respiration, it secretes metabolic wastes, and these end products of cellular metabolism are acid in nature.

Although these wastes are used for energy and function, they must not be allowed to build up. One example of this is the often painful lactic acid which is created through exercise. The body will go to great lengths to neutralize and detoxify these acids before they act as poisons in and around the cell, ultimately changing the environment of the cell. Most people and clinical practitioners believe the immune system is the body’s first line of defense, but in actuality it is not. It is very important, but more like a very sophisticated clean-up service. We must instead look at the importance of pH balance as the first and major line of defense against sickness and disease and for health and vitality.

Drinking alkaline water is an easy and efficient way to help neutralize an acidic human body.

One American cancer center showed significant improvements in their cancer therapy by getting 1,000 patients to drink 7 glasses of alkaline water a day. Their research concluded that the alkaline minerals in natural, alkaline water with a pH 7.5 helped to neutralize acidosis and thus helped to prevent cancer.

Water, the origin of Life, contains 2 parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. Alkaline water is water that contains a larger amount of oxygen as compared to hydrogen. By drinking alkaline water, we increase our intake of oxygen compared to drinking plain water. The advantage of drinking alkaline water is that while being absorbed by the body, it helps neutralize acidic wastes, making them more soluble in the vessels. Thus, acidic wastes will be easily drained out of the body in the form of or sweat.

If we were to ask what is us, the answer might be ACIDOSIS. It has been strated that an acidic, anaerobic (lacking oxygen) body environment encourages the breeding of fungus, mold, bacteria, and viruses. Let us look at an example. If we were to seal the door to our freezer and then unplug it, come back and open the door in two weeks, what would we find? Mold, bacteria and microscopic bugs that are growing and multiplying. Where did they all come from? They did not sneak in - remember the door was sealed. The answer is . . . they were always there.

It is simply that the environment changed to a more inviting and healthy one for these ‘critters’ to live in. This can be likened to a shift in our biological terrain from a healthy oxygenated, alkaline environment to an unhealthy anaerobic acidic environment. You see what is healthy for us is unhealthy for the body attackers and what is healthy for them is what is unhealthy for our body.

Understanding pH

pH (potential of hydrogen) is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 14 - the lower the pH the more acidic the solution, the higher the pH the more alkaline (or base) the solution. When a solution is neither acid nor alkaline it has a pH of 7 which is neutral.

Water is the most abundant compound in the human body, comprising 70% of the body. The body has an acid-alkaline (or acid-base) ratio called the pH which is a balance between positively charges ions (acid-forming) and negatively charged ions (alkaline-forming.) The body continually strives to balance pH. When this balance is compromised many problems can occur.

It is important to understand that we are not talking about stomach acid or the pH of the stomach. We are talking about the pH of the body’s fluids and tissues which is an entirely different matter.

Test Your Body’s Acidity or Alkalinity with pH Strips

It is recommended that you test your pH levels to determine if your body’s pH needs immediate attention. By using pH test strips, you can determine your pH factor quickly and easily in the privacy of your own home. There is much to discover so that pH test result can be meaningful. Rather than give simplistic guidelines here it is recommended you look online or purchase a book on this subject from our online store.

Urine pH

The results of testing indicate how well your body is assimilating minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. These are called the “acid buffers” because they are used by the body to control the acid level. If acid levels are too high, the body will not be able to excrete acid. It must either store the acid in body tissues (autotoxication) or buffer it - that is, borrow minerals from organs, bones, etc. in order to neutralize acidity.

Saliva pH

You may also want to test the pH of your saliva. The results of saliva testing indicate the activity of digestive enzymes in your body, especially the activity of the liver and stomach. This reveals the flow of enzymes running through your body and shows their effect on all the body systems. Some people will have acidic pH readings from both and saliva. This is referred to as “double acid.”

Keeping the Balance Right for Excellent Health

Your body is able to assimilate minerals and nutrients properly only when its pH is balanced. It is therefore possible for you to be taking healthy nutrients and yet be unable to absorb or use them. If you are not getting the results you expected from your nutritional or herbal program, look for an acid alkaline imbalance. Even the right herbal program may not work if your body is struggling with acidosis.

A state of acidosis is simply the lack of oxygen and available calcium which the body uses to maintain its alkaline balance. Calcium makes up 1.6% of our body weight. It is literally the human glue that holds the body together. Calcium is so biochemically active that it has been likened to an octopus. A calcium ion can hold onto seven other molecules while it grabs onto one molecule of water. No other ion can do this. And it is the right size to easily get in and out of the human cell. As it does this, it takes a chain of nutrients into the cell and then leaves to get more nutrients.

What Causes Me to be Acidic?

The reason acidosis is more common in our society is mostly due to the typical American diet, which is far too high in acid-producing animal products like meat, eggs and dairy, and far too low in alkaline-producing foods like fresh vegetables. Additionally, we eat acid-producing processed foods like white flour and sugar and drink acid-producing beverages like coffee and soft drinks. We use too many , which are acid-forming; and we use artificial chemical sweeteners like NutraSweet, Equal, or aspartame, which are extremely acid-forming. One of the best things we can do to correct an overly-acid body is to clean up the diet and lifestyle.

Most people who suffer from unbalanced pH are acidic. This condition forces the body to borrow minerals including calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium, from vital organs and bones to buffer (neutralize) the acid and safely remove it from the body. Because of this strain, the body can suffer severe and prolonged damage due to high acidity. A condition that may go undetected for years.

One of the first warning signs of an acidic biological terrain is calcium deposits. In testing where calcium deposits come not it has always been shown that they come from the structural calcium of our bones and teeth and never from the calcium in our water or diet.

This is important because it means that if calcium deposits are forming, we know our inner biological terrain is too acidic. Our dietary intake of calcium is not keeping up with the calcium buffering needed and we are actively pulling calcium from our bones and teeth. It all works like a little train, from the bones to the fluids and cells, to the . As our biological terrain becomes acidic, our pH level drops. When this happens we start losing calcium out of the , the bones, and the tissues. This is a safety mechanism. Now your biological terrain’s oxygen level drops leaving you tired and fatigued, allowing fungus, mold, parasites, bad bacteria, and viral infections to flourish and gain a hold throughout the body. It is interesting to note that you often won’t have just some of these invaders. If you have Candida you will likely have bad bacteria, fungus, and parasites because they all flourish in the same terrain.

Mild acidosis can cause such problems as:

Cardiovascular damage, including the constriction of vessels and the reduction of oxygen.
Weight gain, obesity and diabetes.
Bladder and kidney conditions, including kidney stones.
Immune deficiency.
Acceleration of free radical damage, possibly contributing to cancerous mutations.
Premature aging.
Osteoporosis; weak, brittle bones, hip fractures and bone spurs.
Joint pain, aching muscles and lactic acid buildup.
Low energy and chronic fatigue.

A recent seven year study conducted at the University of California, San Francisco, on 9,000 women showed that those who have chronic acidosis are at greater risk for bone loss than those who have normal pH levels. The scientists who carried out this experiment believe that many of the hip fractures prevalent among middle aged women are connected to high acidity caused by a diet rich in animal foods and low in vegetables. This is because the body borrows calcium from the bones in order to balance pH.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

The biggest problem scientists have found is that over time the human body becomes depleted of calcium. A compound called mono-ortho-calcium phosphate is the chemical buffer for the . This buffer maintains the alkaline level (or the lack of acidity) in your . Without it you would die. If the acidity level of your changes even slightly you die immediately. But in order to supply enough calcium for buffering we must have enough calcium being absorbed from our diet or our body will simply rob the needed calcium from our bones and teeth.

The more acidic we become, the harder it is for oxygen to be present, so our biological terrain also becomes more anaerobic. Without adequate oxygenation, unfriendly bacteria, viruses, molds, and fungus can live and prosper. Then our cells cannot carry on their life-giving functions in a very efficient manner because our biological chemical reactions need oxygen.

Some Common Diseases and their Relationship to Acidity

Cancer

While the normal cells of the human body degenerate, and acidic wastes accumulate, cancer will make a genetic transformation and keep propagating itself in order to survive in such acidic surroundings.

There have been two theories on the basic causes of cancer. One is the oxygen deficiency theory by a German biochemist, Dr. Warback. The other is the theory of acidic cells, by a Japanese doctor, Dr. Airashi.

Dr. Warback discovered that if oxygen is removed from a health cell, the cell will start to turn cancerous. Dr. Warback won the Nobel prize by proving this theory through his many experiments.

Dr. Airashi showed that cells that survive in acidic environments will eventually develop cancerous characteristics.

Even though cancer cells are eliminated entirely through an operation, they reoccur because the acidic surroundings still remain after the operation. So, to help prevent this, we should stop the development of acidosis by drinking alkaline water every day, eating the right foods, avoiding stress, living in a healthy environment and exercising.

Obesity

The human body is very intelligent. As we become more and more acidic the body starts to set up defense mechanisms to keep the damaging acid from entering our vital organs. It is known that acid gets stored in fat cells. After all, if the acid does come into contact with an organ the acid has a chance to eat holes in the tissue. This may cause the cells to mutate. The oxygen level drops in this acidic environment and calcium begins to be depleted.

So as a defense mechanism, your body may actually make fat to protect you from your overly-acidic self. Those fat cells and cellulite deposits may actually be packing up the acid and trying to keep it a safe distance from your organs. The fat may be saving your vital organs from damage. Many people have found that a return to a healthy inner biological terrain helps them to lose excess fat.

Diabetes

When acidic wastes accumulate in the pancreas, diabetes can develop due to lack of insulin in the body. Doctors say that symptoms of diabetes appear mainly in people above 40, with no symptoms of diabetes in their 20s. How do they differ from each other?

In general, the quantity of accumulated acidic wastes after the age of 40 is far more than those in their 20s, especially in the pancreas. Nevertheless, we can help avoid the onset of diabetes if we flush out the acidic waste in our bodies by drinking alkaline water.

Hypertension

Hypertension is a common illness that occurs due to three reasons.
1) Hypertension caused by clogged capillary vessels due to physical reasons.
2) Narrowed vessels caused by acidic wastes.
Thus, pressure has to be higher naturally in order to supply sufficient quantities of through the narrow vessels.
3) Lack of oxygen due to chemical reasons, namely solidified acidic waste in the vessels.

Hypotension

Hypotension occurs as the heart muscles deteriorate due to a lack of calcium ions, caused by acidic waste.

A patient with hypotension may regain his health by drinking enough alkaline water. This is because calcium ions in alkaline water can help to restore the heart’s activities when caused by a lack of calcium ions.

Kidney Ailment and Kidney Stone

One of the major functions of alkaline water is to purify or help remove the wastes in the body. The accumulation of excessive wastes in the kidneys weakens the kidneys. When cells survive in an excessive acidic environment, swelling of the kidneys occurs.

In order to remain healthy, cells should expel all the waste produced by them. But if the becomes more acidic them the waste will cling to the walls of cells, causing solidification of acidic fluoride in the kidneys and kidney stones.

Osteoporosis and Gout

Human bones function as a calcium bank for the body. A combination of calcium and phosphorus, bones stay healthy as long as there are adequate amounts of these two substances present. To neutralize excessive quantities of waste or acidity, the body starts to deprive the bones of calcium, which may be harmful to the body. Symptoms of calcium deficiency are not evident through X-ray examinations and are only visible when 30-40% of the calcium in the bone has already been depleted.

Gout happens when calcium accumulates in the capillary vessels of the hands and legs. Normally, gout occurs in toe joints, knee joints, and finger joints and drinking alkaline water is one of the best treatments.

Chronic constipation

Dr. Choi, a medical practitioner at the Seoul National Medical University, observed 15 patients (10 men and 5 women) who had suffered from constipation for over a year. Results showed that the symptoms of constipation were alleviated when alkaline water was consumed for a period of 1-2 weeks. Twelve of the fifteen patients recovered remarkably well after this period. This is true because by lubricating the wastes secreted on the walls of the large intestine, excretion become easier.

Dr. Choi also observed that there was a remarkable improvement in how alert his patients were after drinking alkaline water.

Stress and Headache

When we suffer from stress, our body produces more acidic waste, leading to acidosis. Physical stress can be relieved by getting a good rest. Nowadays, however, most of us do not find the time to relieve mental stress. Continued long term stress will create harmful problems like headaches, mental disorder, bad temper and unbalanced hormone excretion, etc. There are two kinds of stress. One is physical stress caused by physical activities and the other is mental stress caused by mental fatigue.

To conclude it is reasonable to say that there are no specific diseases, only specific disease conditions.

There is only one disease. And that one disease is acidosis.

The statements enclosed herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Administration. The products mentioned on this site are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Information and statements made are for education purposes and are not intended to replace the advice of your family doctor.

For those who are not so sceptical about the benefits of the alkaline lifestyle, alkaline water helps to neutralise acids and remove toxins from the body - it is a great cleanser and helps to detoxify our system. Contact powerhealths(a)gmail.com if you are interested in the best economical machine to produce alkaline water at the convenience of your home.

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Quit Smoking For Your Health

irwanlib2063 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:51:38 +0000

Quit smoking reason #1: Reduce your risk of lung cancer
Lung cancer accounts for 26 percent of cancer deaths among women reports the Lung Cancer Alliance. Just 50 years ago, lung cancer accounted for only three percent. Though smoking is not the only cause of lung cancer, it can greatly increase your risk of developing this deadly disease. According to the American Lung Association, smoking is directly responsible for 87 percent of reported lung cancer cases.

Quit smoking reason #2: Protect yourself from HPV
In the book The HPV Vaccine Controversy, author Dr Shobha S Krishnan warns that smoking can make existing HPV infections persist in the body and even cause HPV-related diseases because smoking weakens the immune system

Quit smoking reason #3: Save your eyesight
Dr Edward Paul, one of the world’s leading authorities on macular degeneration, says smoking increases a patient’s risk of developing age-related macular degeneration – a leading cause of blindness in Americans 65 years old and older – by a whopping 350 percent.

Quit smoking reason #4: Your heart-health
Smoking increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke - among other diseases – and the more cigarettes you smoke, the higher your risk. Even reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke per day can help protect your heart. A study in Nicotine & Tobacco Research reports that fewer cigarettes can decrease “bad” cholesterol, increase “good” cholesterol, and improve the blood’s ability to transport oxygen – meaning you will feel less winded during exertion. Kicking the habit for good delivers even more heart-health benefits.

Quit smoking reason #5: Keep your teeth
A study in BMC Public Health earlier this year indicates that current smokers are significantly more likely to lose their teeth than former smokers or nonsmokers aged 20 to 38 years old. That’s too young to be losing teeth! Additionally, the nicotine in cigarettes stain teeth, meaning the teeth you don’t lose will stay a dingy shade of yellow.

Quit smoking reason #6: Live longer
Don’t you have family and friends you enjoy spending time with? What about your kids – don’t you want to see them grow up, get married and have kids of their own? Quitting smoking will lengthen your life – as well as improve its quality – and the healthy results of kicking the habit are realized rather quickly. A May 2008 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that 61 percent of the full benefit of quitting in regard to coronary heart disease mortality and 42 percent of the full benefit of quitting in regard to cerebrovascular deaths was realized within the first five years.

Quit smoking reason #7: Improve your fertility
Having trouble conceiving? In the article Smoking adds a decade to your fertility age, experts say smoking could be hurting your chances. However, lead researcher Dr Bea Lintsen, from Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, says: “The positive news from our results is that they suggest that couples – in particular, women with unexplained subfertility – may be able to improve the success of IVF treatment by quitting smoking.”

Quit smoking reason #8: Stay beautiful
According to Kori Ellis, author of 8 Healthy skincare tips, studies show that the skin of cigarette smokers ages more than twice as fast as that of non-smokers. Smoking dehydrates your skin and depletes it of essential nutrients. She suggests that you detoxify your skin by quitting smoking and/or limiting your exposure to second hand smoke and other pollutants.

Quit smoking reason #9: Better your digestive health
Believe it or not, smoking can contribute to digestive diseases. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases warns that smoking can effect all parts of the digestive system, contributing to such common disorders as heartburn and peptic ulcers as well as increasing the risk of Crohn’s disease, and possibly gallstones, which form when liquid stored in the gallbladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. Smoking can even damage your liver.

Quit smoking reason #10: Be a good role model
Even though packs of smokes say smoking is hazardous to your health, your kids are going to look to you for guidance. If you smoke, chances are great they will, too. If you don’t, you improve the chances they won’t, either. If you quit, you are showing them that smoking is a poor choice for long-term health and, as importantly, you are showing them that you care enough about them as well as yourself to live to see them grow up and have kids of their own.

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DIY cures - Is it good or dangerous?

irwanlib2063 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:39:46 +0000

All of us ‘play doctor’ to ourselves, some more so than others.

You are self-medicating when you reach for that Panadol whenever you have a headache, skipping a visit to the doctor in the process. Self-medication is the use of non-prescription medicines by people on their own initiative, according to the International Pharmaceutical Federation.

‘It requires consumers to make their own decisions in selecting and using medication to relieve or treat their medical conditions,’ said Ms Lita Chew, vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore. Responsible self-medication entails recognizing when self-treatment is appropriate and when a visit to the family doctor for diagnosis and treatment is necessary,’ she said.

Besides saving on doctors’ fees and prescriptions, people who self-medicate help take the pressure off medical services, which are often over-subscribed. However, while many minor ailments like fungal skin infections or the common cold can be treated with medicine bought over the counter, medical professionals caution that there are limits to self-medication.

Ms Quek Zhi Yuan, a pharmacist at the department of pharmacy at National University Hospital, said someone who self-medicates may be unaware of a drug’s dosage range or whether a drug is suitable. He thus risks an overdose or taking the wrong medicine.

Dr Wong Wei Mon, a senior physician at Raffles Medical, said: ‘Even with the right medicine and dosage, self-medication can be harmful if medicines are mixed. ‘Problems like drug interactions and overdose due to cumulative doses of the same ingredient in different medicines can arise.’ He added: ‘Many patients do not finish their course of antibiotics but save the remainder instead. ‘This habit of not finishing the course of antibiotics is tantamount to misuse and will cause resistance and the emergence of superbugs.’

Self-medication may also mask a more serious illness by resolving its symptoms without curing it. This may lead to a delay in seeking proper medical treatment.

A spokesman for National Healthcare Group Polyclinics said: ‘A persistent cough may be caused by an unresolved chest infection or tuberculosis, or, if present with other symptoms, lung cancer.

‘Sometimes a symptom can indicate a more serious underlying problem and the continued use of self-medication may delay proper investigation, treatment and management of the condition.’ While the practice is often no cause for alarm, Dr Rupert See, a senior physician at Raffles Medical, cautioned that self-medication should not go on for more than a week, especially if the symptoms do not improve. He said: ‘When in doubt, always see your doctor for further advice.’

Mind Your Body investigates when you should or should not self-medicate.

FLU OR FEVER

When to self-medicate: If you have general symptoms like a minor cough, sore throat or runny nose.

When to see a doctor: Dr Wong Wei Mon, a senior physician at Raffles Medical, advised seeing a doctor if the fever brings about changes in your mental state or has not subsided after two to three days. This is because there are many causes of fever from the common flu to urinary tract infection to malaria.

Ms Quek Zhi Yuan, a pharmacist at the department of pharmacy at National University Hospital, said children, the elderly and patients whose immunity is low should not be allowed to have a running fever longer than two days.

Self-treatment options: Anti-pyretics like Panadol.

RUNNY OR BLOCKED NOSE

When to self-medicate: Dr Wong said: “If you had previously been diagnosed with, say, allergic rhinitis, and a doctor had done checks and given you advice on how to use certain medicines, then self-medication is fine.”

When to see a doctor: A doctor’s review may be needed to exclude more serious conditions like sinus infections or nasal pharyngeal tumours, said Dr Wong.

Ms Lita Chew, vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore, added that you should see a doctor if your runny or blocked nose persists.

Self-treatment options: You may buy over-the-counter solutions or use the medicine that your doctor previously prescribed.

Self-treatment options include the use of antihistamines like Clarinase and decongestant nasal sprays like Afrin. However, overuse of the latter can lead to rhinitis medicamentosa, a condition of rebound nasal congestion where the nasal mucous membrane becomes inflamed.

STOMACHACHE OR CONSTIPATION

When to self-medicate: While mild or occasional constipation can be treated with over-the-counter medicine, stomachaches are a more dicey matter.

When to see a doctor: Ms Quek advised that persistent or progressive stomachaches should be evaluated by a doctor.

Dr Melvyn Wong, a senior physician at Raffles Medical, said: “The general rule is that if you find the symptom unusual and you don’t know what could be causing it, go see your doctor first.

“The abdominal area does have many organs, each of which can potentially give you symptoms. Most of the time, the symptoms may not be serious but there are times when they could indicate life-threatening conditions like appendicitis or colorectal cancer.”

If constipation is accompanied by severe abdominal pain, blood in the stool or vomiting, you should stop self-medication and see a doctor.

Self-treatment options: For stomachaches, you can get mild anti-spasmodic medicine like Buscopan or Meteospasmyl. For constipation, you can take fibre in the form of Fybogel, osmotic laxatives like Lactulose or stimulant laxatives like bisacodyl.

COUGH

When to self-medicate: If the coughing is occasional or acute without other symptoms.

When to see a doctor: Ms Quek said: “A chronic or persistent cough should not be treated by self-medication. If there is phlegm build-up or change of colour or signs of blood stains in your phlegm, see a doctor.”

If your cough drags on and there are other symptoms like fever or breathlessness, seek medical attention.

Self-treatment options: Cough suppressants like dextromethorphan, expectorants to induce coughing like Guiatuss and Robitussin or mucolytics which dissolve thick mucus and relieve breathing difficulties like Bisolvon.

Traditional herbal remedies like Nin Jiom, a traditional herbal expectorant which provides relief of productive coughs, also work.

NAUSEA

When to self-medicate: If the nausea is occasional or short-term.

When to see a doctor: If the nausea persists or becomes a frequent occurrence.

Self-treatment options: Ginger supplements, cinnarizine and dimenhydrinate (used to prevent and treat nausea, vomiting and dizziness caused by motion sickness) or promethazine (used to prevent motion sickness and treat nausea, vomiting or pain after surgery).

HEADACHE

When to self-medicate: If the headache is occasional, mild and if there are no other symptoms like fever or numbness, or it is a tension headache (which makes up 90 per cent of all headache cases).

Dr Rupert See, a senior physician at Raffles Medical, said tension headaches are usually caused by excessive muscle tension around the head and neck and self-medication with a painkiller should suffice.

When to see a doctor: If your headache is chronic, persistent or is unresolved despite the painkillers taken, you should see a doctor immediately.

Self-treatment options: Dr See said that over-the-counter pain medication like paracetamol (Panadol) and ibuprofen (Nurofen or Advil) are generally safe for mild headaches and back pain if the patient is not allergic to them and does not take them for a long time. Patients with asthma should be aware that ibuprofen may worsen their asthmatic condition.

INSECT BITE

When to self-medicate: If the insect bite wound is small with little swelling or pain.

When to see a doctor: Ms Quek Zhi Yuan, a pharmacist at the department of pharmacy at National University Hospital, said you should see a doctor if an insect bite wound has become bigger, is inflamed, has become filled with pus, and if you have a fever.

An insect bite may even cause a severe reaction such as swelling of the eyes or breathing difficulties. In such cases, see a doctor immediately.

Self-treatment options: Antiseptic cream like Mopiko or Zambac.

BACK PAIN

When to self-medicate: If it is an occasional pain.

When to see a doctor: If the pain does not subside with a painkiller or persists.

Self-treatment options: Topical painkillers like Bengay, topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory creams, gels or plasters or Panadol.

CHEST PAIN

When to self-medicate: Pain that is not exercise-related and lasts less than five to 10 minutes, recurrent chest pains that are not consistent in quality and which do not feel like a weight on the chest, pain that worsens with coughing or turning or pain that occurs after a large meal or when lying flat may be treated with muscle relaxants or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory cream.

When to see a doctor: Dr See said that a common cause of mild chest pain is inflammation of the muscles and soft tissue around the chest area.

He said: “The patient can try some painkillers but if there is no improvement after about a week, a doctor’s view should be sought.”

He added: “If one suffers from a severe chest pain, there may be a chance that it could be a heart ailment. This type of chest pain tends to be compressive and feels as though a heavy weight is placed upon the chest.

“The person may become breathless and the pain may radiate up his neck or down his arm. I’d advise an immediate visit to the doctor for such severe chest pains.”

Self-treatment options: For mild chest pains, you can try painkillers, muscle relaxants or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory cream.

By June Cheong

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Vertigo - Make My Head Spinning And Whirling

irwanlib2063 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:56:20 +0000

Just the other day, I experienced a sudden bout of dizziness. This dizziness was unusual. I saw everything around me spinning round and round. I had to sit down on the ground. I visited a doctor and he told me I had vertigo. What is it?

Vertigo is not a disease, but a symptom. It is described as a spinning or whirling sensation that is caused by a disturbance in your balance or equilibrium. This is usually as a result of a disorder in your vestibular system.

If you experience a sensation of you yourself spinning, that’s called subjective vertigo. If you think the objects around you are spinning instead, that’s called objective vertigo.

Vertigo is worsened when you move your head, change your position, or lie down.

I have never heard of a vestibular system before. Where is it?

These actually involve the structures in your inner ear, and the nerve that connects it to its corresponding area in your brain, namely your brainstem and cerebellum.

Your sense of balance or equilibrium is maintained by this vestibular system. It allows you to stand upright, maintain your balance, and move. It coordinates and processes information from your inner ears, eyes, muscles, joints, fingertips, palms, soles, jaw, and gravity receptors on your skin and maintains how you balance yourself.

When your head moves, the signals are transmitted to your inner ear’s labyrinth, which contains three semicircular canals surrounded by fluid. The labyrinth then relays the signals to your vestibular nerve, and thereupon to your brainstem and cerebellum, which are the areas of the brain that maintain posture, balance, coordination, and your sense of placement.

Because your vestibular system is so closely connected to your hearing (auditory system), anything that affects your auditory system can also affect your vestibular system.

Is vertigo dangerous then? Is it very common?

Vertigo in itself is dangerous if it makes you fall and injure fall and injure yourself, such as if you experience it when you are on a balcony with a broken railing and somehow fall over!

The cause of vertigo has to be ascertained, and whether it is dangerous or not will depend on what is actually causing the vertigo, such as a tumour that is impinging on your vestibular system.

Vertigo is so common that four out of 10 people will actually experience it at least once in their lifetimes. It’s more common in women than men, and also in older people.

What causes vertigo?

The causes of vertigo can be divided into two areas relating to which part of your vestibular system is affected - peripheral (inner ear) or central (vestibular nerve, brainstem and cerebellum).

In a lot of cases, no cause for your vertigo can be found.

Under peripheral vestibular disorders, the most common causes are:

-Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). This one occurs most often when calcium debris builds up in one of the semicircular canals in your inner ear. It also occurs when your inner ear is affected by infection or injury.

This type of vertigo is usually intermittent and only lasts for a few seconds. It may be exacerbated by a change in your position, such as when you get out of bed or get up from a chair suddenly. Since it affects the inner ear, BPPV may also be accompanied by hearing loss.

-Meniere’s disease: this happens when the pressure in your inner ear fluid fluctuates. It is also accompanied by ringing in your ears (tinnitus) and progressive deafness.

-Ear poisoning (also called ototoxicity) by some medications (the aminoglycoside group of antibiotics, certain anti-cancer medications containing platinum, antiepileptics, antidepressants) and chemicals such as lead, mercury and tin. Alcohol can also cause vertigo.

-Infection of the vestibular nerve (vestibular neuritis).

Central vestibular disorders may include anything that can affect that part of your brain, such as stroke, injury, migraine, multiple sclerosis, diseases that affect the entire body (such as kidney disease or thyroid disease), tumors, and so on.

Is vertigo treatable?

Definitely - treat the cause, and you get rid of the vertigo. If vertigo is caused by a drug, for example, you have to stop the drug. If it is caused by an infection, then the doctor will have to treat the infection with antibiotics.

BPPV can be treated with something called canalith repositioning, in which, basically, the patient is guided by the doctor to perform a series of head and body movements designed to reposition the calcium deposits in your ear canal! If this fails, you can take meclizine, an oral anti-vomiting drug.

Meniere’s disease can be treated by reducing your salt intake and being prescribed diuretics.

There is also a form of physiotherapy for vertigo, in which you perform a series of exercises to improve your balance. It’s called Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy.

Dr YLM graduated as a medical doctor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health advice, computers and entertainment. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.

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Get Pregnant Fast - Trying To Get Pregnant Fast

irwanlib2063 — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:15:50 +0000

Get Pregnant Fast - Trying to conceive is a burden that too many women carry. It can often be an uphill battle, and one that is extremely emotional. The goal to have a baby is easy for some and extremely difficult for others. Fertility issues are sometimes the father’s fault, but most of the time these are women’s health problems.

Get Pregnant Fast - So, if you are struggling to conceive, it is a good idea to have both partners fully involved in the process, as well as tested, this should be done to diagnose all probable factors of infertility. Understanding the causes of infertility and as much as you can about what can be done to help improve your chances of conception can help you out when trying to conceive, and make the process far less painful emotionally.

Causes of infertility

Get Pregnant Fast - The causes of infertility are often definite, and can be attributed to more than one factor. The following are some of the various causes of infertility, your doctor can help you see which obstacles are in your way of trying to conceive, and what you can do to improve your chances of infertility.

Ovulation factors: If you suffer from ovulatory infertility, it will likely be from chromosomal abnormalities and endocrine dysfunctions. The three most common causes are emotional stress, strenuous exercise and excessive weight loss or weight gain. These lead to an irregular ovulation cycle. If this is accompanied by poor cervical mucus it is extremely difficult to conceive.

What can you do? You can reduce stress, do not exercise too much, keep a stable weight, and consider taking some replacement hormones or other prescription drugs available to induce ovulation.

Cervical or uterine factors: Cervical and uterine problem are typically physical problems or mucus related problems. The physical problems are usually related to recurrent miscarriages than to a cervical evaluation. If the problems are mucus related, then it will be one of three basic problems, first, there is not enough mucus for the sperm to survive; second, the mucus is too thick for sperm to survive; third, the mucus contains sperm antibodies.

What can you do? Talk to your doctor. They can usually determine what the problem is and help you figure out the best way to take care of it.

Tubal and peritoneal factors: Tubal factor infertility accounts for about 20-25% of all cases of infertility. This can be when the fallopian tubes are blocked, or scarred, or other damage has occurred. Tubal factor infertility is usually caused by either pelvic infection, such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) or pelvic endometriosis.

What can you do? If the tubal damage is minor the infertility could be a bigger problem than just tube damage, so have your doctor perform tests to be certain. If you are trying to get pregnant, avoid pelvic and abdominal operations, try not to get infections in this area, and treat them quickly if you do get them.

What can you do to improve your chances of conception?

The first is to monitor your fertility. There are basically three ways you can do this. You can use Basal Body Temperature, Cervical fluid, and Cervical position.

The second thing you want to do is chart your cycle.

If you combine these two methods you will know when you are ovulating and thus have a better chance of conception.

What is a Basal Body Temperature? It is the temp of your body before activity. You want to take your temp with a basal thermometer every morning to get your baseline temp. For most women their temp will be lower during the first part of their cycle, then it will raise slightly on the day of ovulation.

What is cervical fluid? Basically the amount of cervical fluid changes during ovulation. Cervical fluid is also called cervical mucus. It is produced by the lining of a woman’s cervical canal. Right after menstruation mucus is usually light, as you have several days of dryness. After that, the mucus is cloudy and tacky, it then changes to clear and slippery just before ovulation. The most fertile phase is when the mucous is clear and slippery. To check your cervical mucus you can wipe the vaginal opening with toilet tissue before urination, observe the discharge on underpants, or obtain some of the mucus by placing your fingers (making sure they are clean) in the vagina. You will want to take note of the color to determine if it is white, creamy, opaque, or clear. During the highly fertile stage, the mucus will usually be visible in profuse amounts. It’s thin, and transparent. It is also stretchy.

Life is Too Short to Try And Cure Infertility On Your Own Through Trial And Error. Take Charge Over Your Infertility Right Now!!

What is cervical position, and how do I check it? If you can check your cervical position each day, at the same time, you can often determine which cervical position you have when most fertile. During your cycle, your cervix changes it position. To check the position, squat down, sit on the toilet, etc. then use one hand to hold back the vaginal lips, while inserting the other hand’s middle finger into your vagina. Move your finger up until you hit your cervix. It should feel like a rounded cylinder shaped mass within your body. Note the position you find. Far back? Lower down? Etc.

During the beginning of your cycle, and after ovulation, your cervix is in a low position. It rises to the higher position just before and during ovulation. If you check the position you can know when you are most fertile. At the highest position it is almost unreachable.

So, create a chart and track all three signs of fertility so that you know when you are ovulating.

What else can you do to improve fertility?

In addition to trying to get pregnant during the right time of the month, there are things you can do to improve your chances, including eating right, and preparing your body to carry a baby.

First, you want to stop doing certain things, such as you want to stop smoking and drinking. If you are doing drugs, even just recreationally on occasion, you need to stop right away. Not are they going to be very bad for a baby should you get pregnant, but they are also going to put undue burden on your body so it is harder to get pregnant. You also want to increase the amount of caffeine you intake. Studies have shown that increased amounts of caffeine do indeed lower a woman’s chance of conceiving. You can make it more difficult to get pregnant with only a few cups of coffee or highly caffeinated soda as well.

By Stormy Brain

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