Health Care 101 Blog

Health is wealth. But staying healthy is not just about knowing what to do in life. It is also about being aware of what the heart, mind & body need. There are so many ways to take care of our heart, body & mind. Meditation can cleanse our spirit of unhealthy, negative feelings as much as herbal medicine or writing poetry, for example.

We can learn so much from both Western & Oriental practices of healing the sick & keeping ourselves fit for work & for other forms of fulfillment. The key to a healthy life is to keep our minds open. The key to a healthy life is knowing when to focus or to let go.

It is knowing when to work or how to unwind at the end of the day. It is knowing when to cry or how to loosen up. Consulting experts & friends for our well-being never hurt anyone. In fact, to welcome the views or opinions of other people can lead to peace of mind.

In these tight times most of us are on a tight budget & alternative ways of healing our ailments can become more effective, if not more affordable. One such alternative is the use of Qi-Gong. This form of meditation centers on the idea of Qi or Chi, the energy flowing in & out of our body. Sometimes it is a whole lot better than taking a pill. Sometimes it doesn’t cost anything at all.

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, there are some alternative treatments to arthritis – some of which may involve a few changes in lifestyle and exercise and activity regimen.

Arthritis causes a lot of pain, stiffness and swelling in the joints therefore making movement difficult and painful. Therefore modifying activities such as exercise routine so that they are lower-impact can help alleviate pain. Examples of good exercise is walking and swimming. It would also help to make sure that your body weight is in the healthy range and therefore a strict diet must also be implemented.

For more aggressive treatments to be administered by your doctor, there are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications, which can help reduce inflammation, pain and swelling. There are also corticosteroid injections for the joint that can improve joint function. These can also be complemented with physical and occupational therapy to help strengthen muscles, bones and joints and is highly recommended.

The final alternative is of course, surgery but that is to be considered as the last resort.

Source: Health Day

Blood pressure is not a disease but it can be a symptom of a graver condition or illness. It is not enough that you monitor your blood pressure at home (most households already have these small digital machines). It is best to consult your doctor if you notice that your blood pressure is at a constant high. Here are some causes of irregular blood pressure:

Conditions such as adrenal gland tumors and chronic kidney disease affects blood pressure as well. Hormone abnormalities and the use of birth control pills can also cause high blood pressure. It is also quite common in pregnancy but expectant mothers should monitor regularly so as to avoid complications. High blood pressure can also be a result of a side effect of certain medications.

A medical study that was recently published online in Thorax claims, that one way to ensure that babies are born asthma-free is through a special diet followed by mom during pregnancy. Information on the study was collected by observing 468 mother and child pairs from pregnancy to 6.5 years after birth. Eating habits and the asthma and allergy symptoms of children were closely monitored.

The results of the study states that pregnant women whose diets consist of Mediterranean staples (such as diet rich in fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, dairy products and olive oil) may actually help protect their children against asthma and other allergies. Eating vegetables (more than eight times a week), fish (more than three times a week), and legumes (more than once a week) is a good asthma prevention. Which is the opposite of kids whose moms ate a more-or-less excessive amount (more than three to four times a week) of red meat.

Children’s eating habits at the age of 6.5 years seemed to have little effect on their asthma or allergy risk, the study found.

Source: HealthDay

Results of a study done by Barcellonian Dr. Pablo Alonso-Coello and another doctor on the effectiveness and the risks of taking bone-strengthening drugs for women with weakened bones but no osteoporosis, will be published on the January 19th issue of the BMJ.

According to the study, although bone-strengthening drugs (i.e. raloxifene, alendronate, risedronate), reduce the risk of fractures of women with osteoporosis, drug companies exaggerate their claims so that even women with only a low risk for osteoporosis are enticed to take them. The drug treatment becoming useless as it provides almost no benefit.

The study also focuses on the imminent harmful side effects of said drugs. One example is that there is no mention during a re-analysis of data that Raloxifene is found to increase risk of blood clots.

Source: HealthDay

The ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun can be very dangerous when a person is exposed to it for a very long time. Applying a sunscreen (sunblock or suntan lotion) will protect the skin by absorbing or reflecing the harmful UV radiation.
The SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of a sunscreen is an important consideration in choosing which product to buy. A sunscreen lotion with a higher SPF has more protection against UV radiation (UV-B) which causes sunburn.
Apply sunscreen to the skin to ensure maximum protection from UV rays even if you are not going out. Other products beside sunscreen lotion contain SPF, like lipstick, foundation, powder, and concealer.
Prevention is better than cure, so they say, so minimize your chances of getting skin cancer by using products with sunscreen.

Image Source: i.esteelauder.co.uk

True Beauty is not only skin deep it emanates from deep within and reflects outward. It is seen and felt in the spark of the eyes, a natural smile and a healthy glow that shines to our entire self. Even if we spend huge amount of beauty procedures and its products, genuine beauty will remain concealed by continued exposure to stress, harmful toxins, poor diet and lifestyle habits and negative emotions.

Adapting a healthy and natural lifestyle is a choice that can make all the difference with our body, mind and emotional function. There are five ways to true beauty:

Opting for natural care products lessens the many chemicals that might load up in our main organs, making us prone to serious diseases that take away our vitality. The rule of the thumb is if you can eat the ingredients listed, then it’s safe for us.

Exercise is one of the most suggested advices to increase our energy, gives us a sense of well-being, and makes us feel and look more beautiful. It also helps eliminate toxins and ease tension so we feel and look better almost instantly.

Detoxifying regularly will keep a healthy balance and cleanse our bodies. There are methods like fasting, juicing, skin brushing, soaking in Epson salt or cider vinegar baths, and colon cleansing. Drink plenty of cleansing herbal teas to flush toxins from the body and skin. Try to stay away from all processed, artificial and refined foods. Eat more vegetables and supplement with vitamins.

Diet is the discipline to keep generally correct eating habits. “Eat to Live” rather than “Live to Eat” is a good standard to follow. Prayer achieves center peace of mind, clarity and spirit that contributes to outward beauty.

Our body is a miraculous organism that is always doing its best to make us healthy. It is constantly communicating with us through different sensations. The inherent wisdom in every cell knows what we need. It’s just a matter of learning to understand and listen to our bodies. Health is our natural state. As captains in command of our ships, we have it entirely to choose to be healthy.

image source: www.ccalac.org

When we were still young our parents brought us to our pediatricians to have shots of vaccines to prevent certain disease from entering our body. Since babies have weaker immunity against sickness. Now that we’re grown-ups we don’t need to worry about those diseases since we already had shots before to prevent them. Wrong! You may believe nowadays that vaccines are only for babies or kids but the truth about is that vaccine are also essentials even in our adulthood. The reason is that: nobody is immune all disease and some vaccinations need continued follow-up to ensure their efficiency. In fact, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we become more susceptible to serious diseases caused by common infections as we grow older. Also, the older we get, the greater the chances that our immunity will be worned-off. Doctors say that an injection only hurts as much as a pinprick, and it’s true.

The approach and type of treatment has attracted the attention of top cancer researchers much so that they have started experimental tests on the Kanzius device. Though an actual cancer treatment machine that would be useable and safe for human use is still a few years away, the novel approach he took is making his invention the talk of the cancer research world. When asked what his expectations would be of his invention (which by the way he funded with his own money) he simply says he doesn’t need to earn money from it all, and that a cure for cancer that would make tomorrow a better one for all the cancer sufferer’s out there would be enough reward for him. He also says he hopes to see the first patient before he succumbs to his Leukemia, roll out of the operating room with the cancer cells gone and done for.
He has his own website at the Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation which promotes cancer and features his amazing invention.

The world was stunned when an ordinary cancer patient suffering from a form of Leukemia announced that he may have produced a device that could spell a revolutionary approach to cancer treatment. John Kanzius used to be a radio operator and technician turned inventor when he got fed up with chemotherapy and the other types of treatments that are currently available for treating the many forms of cancer. He came up with the idea of using high-power radio waves to kill off cancer cells deep within the human body that promises to be non-invasive. The treatment would have a patient administered with protein attaching compounds that would attach themselves to the cancer cells and only the cancer cells that is loaded with metallic Nano-materials. Radio waves passes through the human body without harming the living tissue and this happens everyday with cosmic radiation on the form of radio waves penetrating and passing thought the human body without any harm done.