Severe Overweight: Deadly Health Complications

Cardiovascular

Overweight increases risk for heart attacks and heart failure. This can occur on the left side of the heart from having to pump blood through so much tissue or on the right side from an inability to lift the chest wall because of weight. Obese people don’t oxygenate well because the blood vessels in the lungs squeeze down and the right side of the heart has trouble pumping. This also leads to strokes from high blood pressure.

Cancer

Obesity increases cancer risk, especially of the colon, breast, or uterus. This is primarily because of the increased estrogen production from fat tissue.

Lipid Problems

Increased triglycerides lead to pancreas and heart diseases. Increased cholesterol levels lead to heart disease and gall bladder problems.

Type 2 Diabetes

Eighty percent of those who suffer from adult-onset diabetes are overweight. The great majority of the sufferers of this disease could cure themselves by getting down to their ideal body weight, watching their diet, and exercising properly.

Joint, Tendon, and Back Problems

Such problems are far common in heavy people. Knees, ankles, and back are especially vulnerable.

Pregnancy Complications

Overweight mothers are more prone to having large, difficult-to-deliver babies, gestational diabetes, blood pressure problems, and convulsions. Obesity presents a risk for both mother and child.

Surgical Risks

Obese patients are poor surgical candidates. They don’t heal well, they are prone to infections, they are anesthetic risks, and they are more at risk from blood clots.

Aging

Because of these stresses on the body, overweight people do not age well.

A diet is a lifestyle change, and any lifestyle change – even a healthy one – will put stress on the body. Therefore, it’s important that your doctor give you a physical examination before you begin dieting.

Risk factors to watch for including heart attack or stroke history, blood clotting history, liver or kidney disease, cancer not in remission, acute psychiatric disorder, type 1 diabetes. Being overweight puts patients with these disorders at a much higher risk than losing the weight would, but these patients should be monitored very closely.

Twenty Essential Oils and Their Uses

Essential oils are always applied externally, they are never, never swallowed! Taking them internally may be fatal. They are applied to the skin and used as an aroma to help certain physical conditions.

Purchase small bottles, since the oxygen in the bottle gradually deteriorates the oil. Make sure the label says “pure essential oil.” Some oils cannot be extracted (such as peach oil or apple blossom oil); some products so advertised are not genuine.

Cedarwood – Antiseptic, astringent and sedative. Good for bronchial problems.
Chamomile - Pain reliever; reduce spasms, good for headaches when applied in a compress to the head.
Clary Sage – Anti-inflammatory, antidepressant. Helps induce sleep. Do not use during pregnancy.
Cypress - Antiseptic, astringent, antispasmodic. Constricts blood vessels, reduces coughing.
Eucalyptus - Antiseptic, antiviral, decongestant (rubbed on chest), expectorant. Reduces fevers and aches.
Frankincense – Anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, sedative. Useful for bronchitis.
Geranium – Anti-diabetic, antidepressant, antiseptic. This mildly sedating oil is useful for nervous tension.
Grapefruit - Reduces appetite, water retention. Detoxifies the skin and helps weight reduction.
Hyssop – Detoxifies, cleanses, an antiseptic. Clears the lungs of congestion and aids breathing.
Juniper - Detoxifier, diuretic, antiseptic. Helps arthritic conditions and cellulites. Don’t use during pregnancy.

Lavender – Calms and normalizes, fights bacterial and fungal infections. Good for acne, burns, eczema.
Lemon - Excellent germ killer. Good for varicose veins and reducing swellings.
Peppermint – Useful for headaches, fatigue, congestion, fever, muscle soreness, sinus problems.
Rose - Tonic astringent, antiseptic, antidepressant. Good for nervousness and insomnia.
Rosemary - Among the best of the oils; good for pain infection, spasms, dandruff, cellulite, headaches.
Rosewood - Good for anxiety, depression, headaches, nausea, tension, and PMS. It is antiseptic and calming.
Sandalwood – Antiseptic, expectorant, antidepressant. Also good for bronchitis, nervousness, and as a skin moisturizer.
Tea tree - Antiviral, anti-infective, fungicide, antiseptic. Athletes foot, dandruff, bronchitis, ringworm.
Thyme – Antiseptic, expectorant, antispasmodic. Herpes, skin infections, calming effect.
Yarrow - Improves digestion; reduces blood pressure, fights infection and spasms.

Directions for use: Dilute a small amount of the essential oil in either water or another oil (a carrier oil). Either apply or inhale it. The best carrier oils include olive oil, almond oil, grape-seed oil or jojoba oil.

Facial Oil: Add 6 drops essential oil to 1 oz. jojoba oil
Massage Oil: Add 25 drops essential oil to 2 oz olive oil, almond oil, or apricot oil.
Baths: Add 8 drops essential oil to 1 cup water and put in bath.
Hair Rinse: Add 10 drops essential oil to 16 oz. water.
Hair Conditioner: Add 1 drop essential oil to 4-6 oz. unscented conditioner.
Antiseptic Cleaning: Add 25 drops essential oil to 2 gallons water.

Causes of Upset Stomach

• Eating too fast. Food needs to be mixed with saliva.

• Overeating, even to good food.

• Meals too close together. 4 to 5 hours between meals is needed.

• Eating between meals, because this weakens the stomach.

• Eating a large evening meal or late at night. Digestion should be nearly finished before retiring.

• Eating when tired, especially when exhausted.

• Loss of sleep, nervousness, mental depression.

• Eating unripe fruit, spoiled fruit, or condiments.

• Eating bread which was not well baked. If the inside can be squeezed into a dough, do not eat it.

• Eating yeast bread which is not 24 hours old.

• Eating vinegar, fried foods, or complex mixtures.

• Eating vegetables and the most fruits at the same meal.

• Eating milk and sugar together, as in ice cream. This is because sugar ferments quickly, yet is enfolded in the milk which digests slowly.

• Eating too much liquid food.

• Eating sugar; Drinking tea, coffee, cocoa, liquor, etc.

• Drinking with meals. This dilutes the stomach juices.

• Chewing gum, drinking soft drinks, eating not-mineralized food or food cooked in aluminum utensils.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/conditions-and-diseases/causes-of-indigestion/

Vitamin B-Complex: The Vitamin for Learning

All of us know by now that good nutrition results in better health, fewer infections, more endurance and stamina. We improve physically when our diet is adequate in vitamins, enzymes and minerals. Can diet have any effect on mental health and mental processes? Yes, of course! The nerves and the brain cells are affected by that same good diet that assures us of healthy skin, teeth, and eyes.

The process of learning is complex indeed. In spite of hundred of years of devoted and learned study, we still do not understand fully what biological, chemical, nervous, mental, or electrical processes go on in the human body when we are learning something. But something in the Vitamin B Complex appeared to make this process easier and faster.

Learning is, at least in part, conditioned by the presence or absence of a particular food constituent. There is a certain nutritional state of the nervous system which must be realized for the effective realization by the learner of the teaching one receives.

All public or private schools all over the world must aim to turn out a complete, mature, and self-sufficient personality to their students before going out in service in whatever choice of field they are in. They must not be concern only in instilling facts into their brains but with study, athletic and recreational facilities to develop them with.

Our apathy about diet problems and the food manufacturing companies must be blamed, whose advertisements convinced almost everybody that their food is everything it should be, when in fact they are doing a great disservice to the public; the white sugar and refined cereals and their products – worthless as food and potentially dangerous, for their assimilation by the body uses up precious stores of vitamins and minerals which are replaced by our diet.

We must have proteins, carbohydrates, and fats that we should eat fruits and vegetables that children should drink milk, and astonishing results could be obtained over a period of years, feeding, ample amounts of all supplements and vitamins.

We have the responsibility of keeping before others (men, women, and children) the facts that are not well-known about nutrition.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/nutrition/capability-to-learn-enhanced-more-by-thiamin/

Robbery in Nutrition: Avoid These Nutrient Thieves

Everyday, almost everybody around the world are using, eating or doing these (stuffs or usual lifestyle wants), listed hereunder and so there is an urgent need to restore the vitamins which we unknowingly remove from our bodies.

• Smoking destroys Vitamin C.

• Drinking alcoholic beverages drain much of the body’s Vitamin B.

• Coffee uses some of the Vitamin B of our body.

• A diet overcharged with artificial sweets cuts in on the B vitamins.

• Chlorine in our drinking water destroys Vitamin E in our body.

• Chlorine dioxide used in bread has the same result.

• Rancid oil or fats in the diet destroys Vitamin E.

• Inorganic iron compound destroys Vitamin E. This is the kind of iron given in cases of anemia. Sterility muscular dystrophy and coronary disease may result from Vitamin E deficiencies.

• Raw fish robs thiamin.

• Chemical sterilizer, ethylene oxide, used in food industry, destroys B vitamins. The loss is between 11 to 47 percent.

• Sodium sulphite destroys much of the body’s vitamin, and is mostly found in ground meat, such as hamburgers, pork sausages, chili meat, and cooked beef rounds.

• Sleeping pills block the progress of carbohydrate metabolism and so add difficulty of the body’s absorption of thiamin.

• Medicines for malaria destroy Vitamin B.

• Penicillin, chloromycetin destroys Vitamin B.

• Mineral oil, used as laxatives destroys Vitamins A, D, E and K.

• Fluoride destroys the enzyme phosphates, upon which many vital processes in the body depend, including its handling of vitamins.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/nutrition/nutrient-thieves/

How Long Will You Live: Life Expectancy Quiz

This life expectancy quiz is typical questionnaires used by insurance companies. Of course it can’t be 100 percent accurate. But though exceptions exist (and barring sudden accidents), it is likely that your predicted life span may be somewhat in that range.

You will start with the number 74. So write down that number at the top of a sheet of paper.

• If you are a male, subtract 2.

• If a female, add 4.

• If you live in an urban area of over 2 million people, subtract 2.

• If living in a rural area with population under 70,000, add 2.

• If any grandparents live to be 85, add 2.

• If all grandparents live to be 85, add 2.

• If all grandparents lived to be 80, add 6.

• If either parent died of a stroke or heart attack before the age 50, subtract 4.

• If any immediate relative (parent, brother, sister) under 50 has – or had – cancer or a heart condition or has diabetes since childhood subtract 3.

• If you finished college, add 1.

• If you live with a spouse or friend, add 5.

• If you have graduated or professional degree, add 2 more.

• If not, subtract 1 for every 10 years alone since age 25.

• If your work behind desk, subtract 3.

• If your work demands to be physical, add 3.

• If you exercise 2 times a week, add 2.

• If you sleep more than 10 hours per night, subtract 4.

• If you are generally relaxed and easy going, add 3.

• If you are generally unhappy most of the time, subtract 2.

• If smoking a pack per day, subtract 7.

• If smoking 2 packs per day, subtract 8.

• If smoking half pack per day, subtract 3.

• If drinking more than 1 ½ oz. of liquor per day, subtract 1.

• If overweight by 30 – 50 pounds, subtract 4.

• If overweight by 50 pounds or more, subtract 8.

• If you are between 30 – 40, add 2.

• If between 40 – 50 add 3,

• If between 50 – 70 add 4,

• If 70 add 5.

 Your total score will be the estimated number of years you may live. But there is more. You are likely to live even longer if:

• Your blood pressure is less than 130/75.

• Cholesterol is less than 200.

• Resting pulse rate is less than 60 beats per minute with no breathing problems, asthma or history of chronic illness.

• Presently living with a pet and still work after age 62.

• Light eater, do not skip breakfast and has social contact besides your spouse.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/conditions-and-diseases/how-long-will-you-live/

Do You Over Identify Your Career Achievements?

Low self-esteem is definitely one of our nation’s biggest problems. Little wonder – from birth we’re taught that our value comes from what we do and what we have rather than from whom we are.

People who are successful have high self-esteem. They are responsible and productive people. Yet they realize that who they are is more important than what they do and what they have. People who over-identify with their career achievements can most certainly create a disturbance in their health, happiness and relationships. Workaholism is as destructive as alcoholism.

Workaholics are the people who assume that everything happens as a result of their efforts. Therefore, they reason, they must always work. They are the people who rarely work a limited number of hours or are always on call for the company. They are the people who think the solution to every problem is to work harder and harder.

Workaholics find it extremely difficult to unhook and let go. The stress they experience accumulates. There is little joy in their work lives anymore; curiosity and excitement are gone; but the addiction remains. There is little if any renewal, and the body never really comes back to homeostasis. The internal barometer slowly shifts until fast forward becomes the accepted norm.

When we keep our internal barometer in balance with the rest of our lives, work can be a source of great pleasure, challenge, and satisfaction. It can add meaning and enjoyment when we know why we do what we do. Working from a sense of purpose is far better than working out of compulsion.

Balanced individuals know what is important, and they know where to draw the line. They can limit their commitments. Their sense of purpose comes from matching their talents and skills and the hours of the day to that which needs to be accomplished.

Read More: http://socyberty.com/work/are-you-over-identifying-with-your-career/

State of Attention: Worry and Stress Combined

Imagine a stressful situation. It will, I hope, show how important it is to avoid the cause of internal imbalance and to release accumulated tensions inside the body.

You’ve gone camping with your family and have just spent the day backpacking into the mountains. It was a rigorous but fascinating journey. The wild flowers were in bloom, and you even walked behind a sparkling waterfall.

Now it’s evening, and the fire has died into a few glowing embers. Everyone’s asleep, but you’re not quite finished relishing the peacefulness of this beautiful day.

You decide to take a short walk under a clear, star-bright sky. Walking up the trail a bit, you smell pine and feel an evening breeze against your face. You’re relaxed and more content than you’ve been in years.

Then, suddenly, ahead of you to the right, you spot a dark figure in a grove of trees.

It’s a grizzly bear!

Immediately an involuntary metabolic change occurs. A threat to your survival is perceived, and your body is instantly alarmed and alert. Without your even realizing it, your heart-rate, blood pressure, rate of breathing, blood flow, muscle tension, blood clotting agents, white blood cell count, and body metabolism increase dramatically.

Within six to eight seconds, your entire body is activated for one of the oldest, innate reactions of which the human body is capable – fight or flight. Your body naturally adapts to this new set of circumstances.

Without your conscious participation, your endocrine system releases thousands of full-strength hormones into the bloodstream, and your autonomic nervous system sends impulses filled with thousands of instructions to all parts of your body – and at tremendous speeds of 200-300 miles per hour.

Being of sound mind, you decide to run.

It doesn’t matter one bit whether there actually is a grizzly bear in those bushes or whether you just imagined one. Somewhere you’ve learned that bears can be hazardous to your health, and that knowledge along with the perceived threat to your survival, is enough to set off a whole chain of physical reactions.

Of course, the run back to camp releases some accumulated tension; that’s positive. But even after you get back to camp and relative safety, the tension isn’t over. You can’t get that grizzly bear out of your mind. You lie awake listening to every noise – the wind now sounds eerie as it whistles through the trees, and every crack of a branch is the grizzly bear coming to get you. Even as you’re snuggled safely into your warm sleeping bag, your vivid imagination races, remembering every gruesome bear story you’ve ever heard.

The familiar terminology for this type of imagination is worry, and as long as you keep worrying and replaying the incident in your mind, the alarm continues. Your body remains alert. Stress is prolonged as long as you harbor the thought of danger, Your body, including the brain cells, is unable to regenerate and regain its balance. Your system remains in a state of attention.

In this condition, you drain your own energy reserves, keep muscle attention mercilessly taut, and involve your brain, heart and liver in a complex chemical process that can push them to their highest capacity without relief.

This distress, whether from a real or imagined source, does two things: it sustains tensions and intense bodily changes, and it drains energy needlessly. These are tremendous demands on your body’s metabolism. When they are allowed to persist, imbalances like this sabotage your health.

Read More: http://scienceray.com/biology/human-biology/the-grizzly-bear-syndrome/

Workplace Smoking: How Worse Is It

The cost of cigarette smoking to business is high. Over 77 million work days are lost each year due to the effects of smoking. Business now spends over 50 billion dollars a year on medical care, accidents, lost productivity, and absenteeism.

Absenteeism rates average one-third higher for smokers because smoking severely reduces the effectiveness of the smoker’s natural immune system. Few employers realize that smoking employees can cost them up to $8,000 more per year than nonsmokers.

Two-thirds of the smoke from a burning cigarette goes into the environment. This smoke has twice the nicotine, five times the carbon monoxide, and fifty times the ammonia as the smoke that is directly inhaled. When smokers smoke, the people around them smoke, too. Annually, between 500 to 5,000 nonsmokers will die from lung cancer as a result of other people’s smoke.

If you’re concerned about the problem and would like to begin a campaign in your company to eliminate smoking, perhaps these suggestions will help:

• Establish support for a no-smoking policy. Involve members of top management.

• Provide educational literature to employees.

• Form a task force composed of diverse areas and management. Include at least one individual with research skills.

• Conduct a survey to inform employees that the topic is being examined. You’ll gather valuable data about your employee population.

• Establish a no-smoking policy. Begin educating and informing employees through a well-formed publicity campaign. Put up no-smoking signs, and offer information sessions.

• Offer a “stop smoking” program. You may decide to give bonuses or incentives. Perhaps give small monetary bonuses to nonsmokers, and offer smokers the same rewards if they give up smoking for six months.

• Phase in restrictions gradually. Employees react more positively to changes when given time to adjust.

• Deal with militant smokers. Smoking is a privilege not a right that is subject to other company rules. (Employees aren’t allowed to listen to radios full blast, for instance.)

• Be flexible. You may decide to make adjustments in the program.

Read More: http://socyberty.com/work/smoking-in-the-workplace/

Do Slow-Motion People Have Advantages?

Most often in the slow-motion mode, Type “B” personalities are definitely unhooked.

They read slowly, eat slowly, speak slowly – and generally drive fast-forward people crazy! Slow-motion people are easy-going and rarely harried. They take time. They’re contemplative, steady-working, and not easily irritated.

I’m not saying that one type of personality is better than the other. The stuck, fast-forward people, without management, can drive themselves into an early grave. On the other hand, the stuck slow-motion people, without a little motivation, can bore themselves to death. Knowing which personality describes you is not as important as knowing your own tendencies and learning how to manage them.

People who meet me for the first time rarely think I’m a fast-forward person, but a closer evaluation of my behavior clearly shows that I am. After training, however, I’ve learned to manage myself relatively well.

This training has been well worth my time because my research shows that fast-forward people make up only 20 percent of the population, yet they account for 80 percent of the people who have heart disease.

Coronary heart disease is common in fast-forward people in their thirties or forties, while slow-motion people rarely experience heart trouble before age seventy. The life span of the average fast-forward person individual is fourteen years shorter than her or his slow-motion counterpart — fifty-nine years compare to seventy-three.

Furthermore, a lot can be experienced and accomplished during those additional fourteen years. More than one survey has shown that a majority of the very top executives who are highly efficient and productive have more slow-motion characteristics than fast-forward. These people work out of a sense of purpose rather than compulsion. They enjoy their play time and set aside time for their loved ones. Most important, they know their worth apart from their work. They know they are worthy individuals because of who they are.

Fight or Flight Reaction: Tension Buildup

Stress’ common denominator is change. As long as we live, we will experience thousands of changes every day.

During any situation involving change, the body can create an enormous amount of pent up energy. As a consequence, a lot of wear and tear (stress) is expressed within. This causes an unnecessary drain on energy reserves.

Other, more obvious, circumstances cause us to react immediately and intensely, producing the fight or flight reaction. This response puts an extremely heavy demand on the body. Perceiving a serious threat, the body is put on red alert in order to make itself respond effectively. The stress producing this fight or flight syndrome is obvious, as the body reacts to a demand placed upon it..

In order to demonstrate how tension can build slowly and how this accumulation can affect the intensity of the fight or flight reaction, I’d like you to visualize a situation with me.

You are just returning from a pleasant and relaxing vacation. Having settled into your seat on the plane, you lean back to enjoy the memories of the recent days.

Suddenly, the captain’s voice over the intercom interrupts your dreamy thoughts: “We will be passing through the outer edges of a storm. There are reports of mild turbulence. To be on the safe side, please fasten your seat belts.”

The “Fasten Seat Belt” sign blinks on above your head, and a few minutes pass with the airplane bouncing you slightly.

Then you hear the intercom click again.

“The turbulence appears to be a little stronger than we originally anticipated,” says the captain, “so I’ll ask that you remain in your seats, keeping seat belts fastened, until further advised.”

During the next few silent moments, the ride becomes quite choppy. Again, the intercom interrupts.

“This is your captain speaking. Place your trays and seats in a forward position. We are approaching the most turbulent area — Oh! Oh my God!”

The plane lurches forward, you’re thrown against the restraints of the seat belt, and people around you scream out. Suddenly, the entire cabin is quiet.

In a few minutes that seem like hours, the captain returns to the intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now past the worst of the turbulence. And let me apologize for that sudden outburst — I spilled a cup of hot coffee on my lap.”

Read More: http://socyberty.com/psychology/the-fight-or-flight-reaction/

Is It Safe to Eat Potato Chips?

Our need to fill emotional rather than nutritional hungers often leads us to reach for over-processed and unbalanced foods. Consider the potato chip. In its raw form, the potato is exceptionally high in nutrients. But it undergoes a change between the earth and the airtight bag. The outer edge of the potato (just under the peel), with its high concentration of nutrients, is peeled away. The remaining potato is cut into thin pieces, soaked in preservatives, and cooked in oils that contain no nutritive value.

A handful of these treats contain about one hundred calories; and they are saturated with fats and chemicals our bodies cannot metabolize. After cooking, the chips are heavily salted. Salt is non-food that has a corrosive effect on the body’s vitamin supplies.

Salt forces potassium out of the body. This changes the delicate acid-base balance of our nerve cells and tissues. Over time, this imbalance can influence the electrical impulses of our nervous system, which, in turn, affects the heart, blood pressure, and circulatory system, as well as other systems of the body.

All these from potato chips. Why does our nation consume millions of pounds of them every year, if we know all about their lack of nutritive value? Because they fill an emotional need. They taste good, and they’re accessible.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/nutrition/whats-wrong-with-potato-chips/

The Workaholic Disease: Stuck in Fast-Forward

The way a fast-forward person lives adds to the stress and strain he or she is already experiencing.

Being out of balance is not in itself destructive; but to the extent an individual cannot let go and return to a healthy balance, she or he is no longer in control.

People with fast-forward personalities eat, walk, and talk fast. They are restless and impatient, have trouble relaxing, and thrive on deadlines. Typically they are compulsive, competitive, and power-seeking. They are clock-watchers and time-binders. Fast-forward types will try to cram eight hours of work into two and then become agitated when the work isn’t completed – especially if someone else was expected to do it.

They feel pressure even when there’s no need to. They burn a great deal of energy needlessly and have trouble unhooking. They are the high-rollers – big spenders – when it comes to energy use.

About 5 a.m. in an airport rest room, I was at the sink washing my hands. At first I thought I was alone in the room, but I kept hearing a faint mumbling. Turning to look, I saw a pair of legs at the end of a long row of stalls. Listening more closely, I quickly realized that the gentleman in the stall was dictating a letter to his secretary!

Some people might call that an efficient use of time. I say it demonstrates a number of points about fast-forward personalities: the need to do more than one thing at a time, a tendency to have trouble letting go, and an inclination to be stuck in the fast-forward mode.

Read More: http://socyberty.com/advice/are-you-stuck-in-fast-forward/

Mental Break - Regenerate Healthfully

Our society has become irreversibly noisy. We are rarely blessed with – or allow ourselves the luxury of – relative silence. When was the last time you relaxed by a fire to only the sound of a soft, comforting voice or gentle music?

By incorporating silence and relaxation into your day, you can control your environment and its effect on your life. Learn to spend time alone in restful, natural locations – the park, the mountains, or a wooded area. Create a relaxing environment at home. Turn off the TV. Pull the shades. You deserve a break.

Relaxation helps give clarity of mind. It enhances our thinking, planning, creativity, and our ability to make decisions. People who regularly practice relaxation talk of sleeping better and of having more energy and better overall health. They say they’ve actually watched their performance at work and their sense of well-being improve. They do more in less time and with fewer mistakes.

Taking time to relax gives us a mental break and turns off the harmful bodily effects of stress. It normalizes and tunes our bodies’ natural homeostatic or balancing mechanisms. It is vital to the body’s process of adapting and regenerating healthfully.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/mental-health/giving-your-mind-a-break/

Health as Dominoes - Improve Mind and Body

Just as our homes are in need of care and attention to keep them functioning and to bring out their fullest potential, we also need care and attention to keep functioning and to realize our fullest potential.

When you improve your mind, your body, or your environment, you create a cause-and-effect chain reaction that changes your life; when one of the major divisions in your life changes, so do the other two. It’s like a circle made up of dominoes. Tip one over – start at any section of the circle – and the others follow. Or touch one part of a hanging mobile; the whole mobile begins to move.

Begin one good habit and observe how it affects the other areas of your life. Begin exercising regularly, for example, and see how you will begin to manage your fast forward attitudes and the stress that’s been plaguing you.

That’s the good thing about the three major areas (mind, body, and environment) – they are interdependent.

Perhaps this renewal of attitude and body will help reduce your craving for cigarettes, which will reduce your blood pressure, positively affect your diet and your weight, and contribute, to high energy. Overall, your attitude and your health will be much better. Any positive changes you make will probably contribute to your potential for play, work, worship, and love.

Enter the circle at any point – mind, body, or environment – and your efforts will have an immediate affect on the other areas of your life. Better yet, enter in and make improvements in each of the three areas, and you are sure to send the energy-draining and health-destroying dominoes tumbling. Each time you complete one of the action steps, you are investing in your God-given potential – your bright and exciting future.

Read More: http://authspot.com/thoughts/the-domino-effect/

The Picky Eater - Tips to Handle Them

If you’re a worried parent of a picky eater, try these tips.
• Introduce food in calm, reassuring manner.

• Never force a feeding.

• Be content if your picky eater just goes for a taste on the first try. Maybe he’d be adventurous enough to chew and swallow the same food the next time.

• Let your child get used to a certain food a little at a time. He’ll soon learn to like it.

• Never make an issue out of finishing or not finishing every food you serve. Kids may develop an unhealthy view of food as they grow up.

• Maximize every bite. For example, substitute white bread with whole wheat, junk food with fresh fruits. Skip ice cream, cake, and other sweets especially near mealtime.

• Serve food in an attractive way and closest to its natural state. Kids are attracted to crispness and color.

• Serve food in bite sizes to avoid the risk of choking.

Remember, youngsters thrive on routine and are often resistant to change. They also take their cue from you. Thus if you refuse to eat your veggies, don’t expect your children to eat theirs. Instead, be a good example in eating healthful foods. Eat as often as possible with them, too, and they will acquire a taste for healthy food.

Family Meals
Make each mealtime a pleasant experience for your child by following these tips:

• Involve your child in meal preparation. It helps increase his or her interest in new or unfamiliar food.

• Include at least one of your child’s preferred foods.

• Offer a variety of colors and textures.

• Serve in child-size proportions.

• Tolerate your child’s table manners. Let a child be a child.

• Select chairs, tables and dishes that are suitable in structure and size for your child.

• Serve meals and snacks just before your child becomes hungry, irritable and tired.

• Make mealtime a family time so you can teach nutrition by example.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/children/dealing-with-a-picky-eater/

Cancer FAQ: Doc, How Long Do I Have?

For many people, the question “How long do I have?” is the first thing that comes to mind when there’s a diagnosis of cancer. Unfortunately, there’s no clear-cut answer.

What’s known is that every year about one million people are told they have some form of cancer, and treatments are capable of curing more than half of them.

Some cancers are easier to treat than others. And while many people experience a complete recovery, others may live for a time with their cancer well controlled.

One way your doctor may try to address this question is to look at the 1-, 5- and 10-year survival statistics for people who have the same type, stage and grade of cancer you do.

But keep in mind that these are averages. Contributing to the averages are a small number of people who do far better (and some who do worse) for reasons that aren’t understood.

The initial moments after receiving a cancer diagnosis are often clouded. Studies show that when people in this situation are asked what they discussed with their doctors, they remember less than five percent of what was said.

What can you do?

If possible, bring with you to your appointments someone who’s reliable and can help you unscramble the information. Have that person take notes, or ask your doctor if you can tape-record your conversations for review later. In addition, request a copy of your diagnostic report, which is part of your medical record.

A cancer diagnosis raises serious considerations. It’s reasonable to seek a second opinion, especially if there’s a major cancer center or university that has particular expertise with your type of cancer.

In discussing your treatment options, don’t hesitate to ask questions. Ask about risks and benefits associated with treatment, as well as side effects. And talk about what the quality of your daily life may be like during and after treatment.

Ultimately, how you’ll do is unique to you, because cancer is an individual experience. Much depends on how you respond to treatment for your particular cancer.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/conditions-and-diseases/so-doctor-how-long-do-i-have/

What is Acne: Know the Skin Facts

Acne is not caused by dirt clogging the pores or by eating oily food. Even if you wash your face, your super clean face can still be prone to pimples.

Adults can get acne lesions for a number of reasons, such as using acne-causing or comedogenic cosmetics and products, an increase in oil production mediated by hormonal stimulation (from the menstrual period, emotions or stress), and the use of certain drugs.

The causes of acne are multi-factorial, or a combination of many factors. The sex hormones, especially during the teen years, cause an increase in sebum production by the sebaceous glands. You can also inherit oily skin and the tendency to have severe acne. There may be a hereditary tendency for the cells lining the passageway of the sebaceous glands to become sticky and to clump together. There are bacteria that are naturally found in pilosebaceous unity. Called the Propionibacterium acnes, these bacteria feed on the sebum. These bacteria break down the sebum into fatty acids that can cause irritation and inflammation of the skin.

Depending on severity, the lesions of acne can be non-inflamed, or inflamed. The comedones, which are non-inflamed lesions, are plugs formed by sebum, sticky skin cells and P. acnes bacteria. A blackhead (open comedone) has an opening to the skin surface. It is “black” because of pigment deposition, and not because of dirt.

A whitehead is also a plug but it differs from the blackhead because the opening to the skin surface is closed, so that the plug does not protrude out of it.

Inflamed lesions are small or large red pimples, pustules (filled with pus), cysts, and nodules. Squeezing non-inflamed whiteheads and blackheads can cause the plug to rupture into the skin, and can result in an inflammatory reaction. Inflamed lesions can cause scarring.

You will note that nowhere in this article have discussed that acne is caused by dirt clogging the pores. This concept, which has long been perpetuated in write-ups and ads, is simply a myth. Even if you wash and wash and wash your face, your super clean face can still be prone to pimples.

There are no specific studies that prove the relationship between food and acne. The secretion of the sebaceous glands is under the influence of the nervous system, which in turn is dictated by the hormones. Eating oily foods will not make the sebaceous glands produce more oil or sebum. Some people have flares of acne when eating specific foods such as chocolates, nuts or seafoods, or even drinking soft drinks. If you associate certain foods with your acne, it is best to avoid them.

To help you clear acne, you have to be on a regimen tuned in to the kind of lesions that you have. Treatment will depend on whether your acne is non-inflammatory or inflammatory. Bear in mind that acne is not a kind of skin disease that is cured in one topical application or one intake of an oral medication. Usually, it takes three to four months before control is obtained, and often there must be some kind of maintenance program. Also, with many topical medications, there is some worsening in the first two or three weeks as the medicines at this stage would be a mistake because this “worsening” is an expected part of the treatment.

Oral antibiotics are given, but acne is not an infection coming from bacteria in the environment. The P. acnes bacteria are already in the skin and act by breaking down the sebum to cause irritating fatty acids. Other than controlling P. acnes population, antibiotics can also decrease the sebum production. It is not uncommon to be prescribed antibiotics for several months when the lesions are very severe. When you stop your prescribed treatment, the lesion will recur.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/beauty/acne-myth-and-facts/

Skin Treatment: How to Treat Pimples

What should you do to stop pimples from ruining your face?

• Follow religiously the treatment prescribed by your dermatologist.

• Stop picking on your whiteheads or blackheads so that you don’t push the plug into the skin, causing inflammatory lesions that may heal with post-inflammatory darkening or worse, scarring.

• Gently wash your face with soap and water, no more than three times a day. Over-scrubbing or over-washing the face can be irritating and can possibly have the same effect as picking on the lesions.

• Eat a balanced diet and drink enough water daily to keep your skin healthy.

• Exposure to sunlight is good and can improve acne. However, don’t stay out in the sun too much that you end up sweating profusely, as the sweat can macerate the skin to be soft and soggy, and thus cause the pores to be clogged. Then, the sebum and skin cells are further trapped.

• Get enough rest and sleep. If you are dead tired, it can lower your general resistance and cause an outbreak of lesions.

• Avoid stressful situations.

• Use non-comedogenic cosmetics and products.

• Pimples may erupt when the monthly period is due. Be prepared to apply your topical medicines more fastidiously at this time.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/beauty/stop-pimples/

How to Manage Everyday Anxiety

Almost everyday, everyone feels worry.

• Take Action

 - Determine what’s making you anxious and address it.

• Let it Go

 - Don’t dwell on past concerns.

 - Change what you can and let the rest take its course.

• Break the Cycle

 - When you feel anxious, take a brisk walk or delve into a hobby to refocus

• Take Care of Yourself

 - Get enough rest, eat a balanced diet, exercise and take time to relax.

 - Avoid caffeine and nicotine, which can worsen anxiety.

 - Don’t turn to alcohol or not prescribed drugs for relief.

• Talk to Someone

 - Share your problems with a friend or counselor who can help you gain perspective.

Read More: http://socyberty.com/advice/how-to-manage-everyday-anxiety/