Archive for September, 2007

Facts about hepatitis C

By Groshan Fabiola, hepatitis-guide.com

Hepatitis C is a virus infection that affects the liver, and can lead to chronic hepatitis, to cirrhosis and even liver cancer.

In 1990 in the whole world were known to exist 170 million of people infected with hepatitis C virus, and World Health Organization said that every year there appear 3-4 million new patients. The prevalence of the HCV is higher in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, northern and central Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Ukraine.

In many countries there is a lack of screening and testing for HCV among people and so there might be more infected people than we are aware of.

In Western Europe and US, Hepatitis C is more frequent than Hepatitis B and is the most common cause of end-stage liver disease, patients requiring a liver transplant after some years of chronic hepatitis C.

It is believed that in US, 1.8% of the population carries the virus, meaning that 4.9 million US citizens are infected.

Relying on demographic studies, it seems that most people infected with HCV are now 30 to 50 years old, meaning that most infections occurred between 1960 and 1985, when the test for HCV were not discovered yet.

The current incidence of HCV is less than 20 per 100,000 people per year in US.
Even though in 1995 only 25,000 new cases have been discovered, mathematical models suggest that the world will not get rid off HCV so easily, and only by 2030 the prevalence will decline to 1%. Until then there will appear new cases every year of chronic hepatitis C and of cirrhosis, which will require liver transplant.

HCV transmission began in the era of blood transfusions. Using contaminated blood, needles, acupuncture and hemodialysis contributed to the virus’s transmission. Also, using drugs and practicing non-protected sex was a way of getting the infection. Transmission from infected mothers to the baby during pregnancy is also possible. It was also observed that HIV infected people got HCV more easily than others.

The virus that causes Hepatitis C is part of the Flaviviridae family; it is small, measuring about 40 to 60 nm in diameter and is composed of proteins. The scientists have sequenced the genome and identified the functions of the proteins.

The virus has the ability to mutate quickly and that is why scientists have a problem in developing an efficient vaccine against it.

For Hepatitis C virus the period of incubation is 2 to 26 weeks, and 75% to 85% do not recover well and develop chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, even liver cancer. They can also spread the virus to other healthy persons. Symptoms of infection are jaundice and fatigue for 20-30% of the patients; for the rest of the infected ones, symptoms are usually mild and nonspecific.

The fact that HCV patients develop HCC is not a good thing for the country’s economic, because this means giving more money for hospitalization, treatment and day care.

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Diet And Breast Cancer

By Nitin Chhoda, Best Weight Loss Programs

Someone I know is battling breast cancer and if it were up to me, I would not let anyone go through the same ordeal. She is a client, and a dear friend.

Every two minutes, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. The incidence has climbed from one in 20 in 1960 to one in seven women today. It’s a terrifying disease that turns everything upside down. In the United Kingdom, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer and affects more than 300,000 women each year. In fact, England and Wales together have one of the highest mortality rates from breast cancer in the world. Until recently, the role of diet in breast cancer was not fully understood. Today, it’s much clearer than ever that certain foods play a role in cancer formation or make a preexisting cancer worse. In fact, some scientists believe that one third of all cancers occur as a result of diet.

There is a direct link between obesity (especially if the fat is round the waist) and the risk of developing breast cancer. Some authorities suggest that being overweight only increases the risk of cancer for women who have been through menopause. Also, the amount of fat in the diet influences levels of the hormone oestrogen - a trigger for breast cancer. Red and fried meat may contribute to a rise in the incidence of breast cancer. Cut down your intake of pork, lamb, beef, sausages, hamburgers, meat pies, bacon, ham and processed canned meats. There is also consistent evidence that alcohol - even one drink a day - does lead to a small increase in risk although it’s not known why.

If you would like to protect against breast cancer, consider soya, cereals, legumes and vegetables. These contain phytoestrogens, metabolically active compounds found in plants. These have a ‘balancing’ effect on oestrogens produced naturally in the body.

Fruit and vegetables, especially those with deep colours such as red grapes and dark green leafs, are a major source of antioxidants, which help fight all cancers.

Additonal ways to fight cancer include maintaining a healthy body weight, eating more fibre (e.g. wholegrain cereals, pulses and wholegrain breakfast cereals such as muesli and bran flakes), restricting alchol to less than 2-3 units a day (one unit is equivalent to one glass of wine, ½ pint of beer or one pub measure of spirits.)

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What’s new?

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FITNESS TOOLBOX: 60+ Health & Fitness Sites
All college freshman fear “the freshman 15″ - those 15 lbs you gain in the first month of college. Or you’ve just moved to a new city and you need a new doctor or gym. Everyone needs to consider dieting, exercising, finding a new doctor, or even determining if that pain in their ear is worth seeing a doctor about. Here are 60+ social sites and tools…
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Food Pyramid

By Krishan Bakhru, Natural Food Recipes

For those of you who don’t know, the food pyramid is a carefully drawn up plan of exactly what the human body needs nutritionally. That is, the food pyramid is a guide to help us determine what we should eat everyday. It doesn’t have a set menu of food that you need to eat per day. All it has is a guide that can help you plan your meals so that you get the correct amount of nutrients into your system every day.

The food pyramid will show you the path to keeping yourself fit and healthy through a steady and healthy diet. Up until recently that’s all the food pyramid did. In 2005 however, the food pyramid as we know it was changed forever, and a more up-to-date food pyramid took its place. Now you’ll find that instead of the two-dimensional food pyramid we’re so used to, it’s become more three-dimensional. To show the added benefits that regular exercise will have on you, a figure running up a flight of stairs on the side of the food pyramid has been added.

Earlier if you looked at the food pyramid you would have seen horizontal lines spanning the food pyramid with the food that we eat the most of, starting at the bottom. The food that we should eat the least amount of, could be found at the top. This is the food pyramid that we all know about and the one that was shown to us when we were in school.

The new food pyramid however, is completely different. Apart from the fact that it’s become three dimensional and has a figure climbing up the side of it, this new food guide has also eliminated the horizontal lines. Instead we can now see lines starting from the tip of the pyramid and radiating downward.

Each of these sections are only as big, or small, as the earlier food pyramid sections were. Only with this new food pyramid, you now know that although you need to eat some food types more than others, even within those food groups there are some foods that you should only eat in moderation.

Additionally you’ll also find that your new food pyramid is color coded. So you’ll get an Orange stripe representing grains; a Green stripe for vegetables; a Red stripe for fruits; a Yellow stripe denoting how much fats and oils you should have; a Blue stripe for the milk and dairy products that you’re allowed; and a Purple stripe showing you the quantities of meats, fish, beans and suchlike that you should eat in a day.

With six colored stripes denoting the quantities of food you should take, and a figure of a healthy person running up a flight of stairs on the side of it, this new food pyramid is definitely better than the old one, and can help you learn more about better eating habits, and a healthy lifestyle.

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My Top 10 Health Recommendations

By Daniel N. Brown, www.SecretPlaceOnline.com

1. The most important thing that you can do to keep from getting sick is to wash your hands.

By frequently washing your hands you wash away germs that you have picked up from other people, from contaminated surfaces, or from animals. We pick up germs everywhere on a regular basis, so If you do not wash your hands frequently you will infect yourself when you touch your eyes, your nose, or your mouth.

One of the most common ways people catch colds is by rubbing their nose or their eyes after their hands have been contaminated with the cold virus.

Wash your hands frequently! Introduce the rule of every family member washing their hands when they get home. It is a quick and easy way to reduce the spreading of germs.

2. Put meals in a crock pot before you leave in the morning.

When you come home from a long day from where ever, the last thing you probably feel like doing is cooking dinner. So, we just throw together something quick and simple, therefore sacrificing our nutritional needs.

The real beauty of slow cooking is that a healthy, complete meal can be tossed in the crock in the morning and then ignored until dinnertime. This is a real plus for working families but also convenient for stay-at-home parents who may have enough to do without stirring and stewing over a more complex dish throughout the day.

3. Get unhealthy junk food out of the house.

You are most likely going to eat some regular junk food outside of your house, like at grandma’s, or at some party somewhere. Given that fact, why keep junk food in your house? You can’t eat what is not there, so set yourself up to succeed. Store healthy snacks instead.

Since we often eat without hunger, purely out of boredom or other emotional reason, we should have some healthy snacks in the house instead. You can go to any health food store and buy snacks that are made with natural ingredients, and that are low in fat and sugar.

4. Make exercise motivating by choosing an activity you enjoy.

Physical activity is a cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. Not only does physical activity make you look and feel better, but it is also critical for improving your health and extending your life. Being active significantly lowers your chances of developing potentially fatal illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. In addition, remaining active throughout your life can help you stay healthy and disability-free as you age.

The real key is finding a physical activity that you enjoy and that you can do at least 3-4 times per week. If you are exercising out of necessity it will be short lived. Don’t fake yourself out. The best form of exercise is one that you will stick with.

The ideal exercise regimen should suit your lifestyle, schedule, and present fitness level. Think about what forms of exercise you enjoy. You may love biking but hate swimming, for example. Also consider other factors. For example, do you prefer to exercise indoors or outdoors? Do you prefer exercising by yourself, or do you find that exercising with others is more motivating? Make it fun!

5. Use natural vitamin and mineral supplements.

Like the names imply, natural vitamins are in a form that occurs in nature while synthetic vitamins are manufactured in a laboratory. The only benefit of synthetic vitamins is that they are cheaper to make, therefore less expensive for the consumer. Natural vitamins are worth the few extra dollars they command.

Vitamins in nature occur within a family of micro-nutrients (things like trace elements, enzymes, co-factors and other unknown factors) that help them absorb into the human body and function to their full potential. Natural vitamin supplements extracted from whole food sources maintain this delicate balance of complementary co-nutrients and are more biologically active.

Synthetic vitamins are usually isolated into that one pure chemical, thereby missing out on some of the additional benefits that nature intended. These man-made vitamin formulas often contain fillers, stabilizers and/or salts that decrease the content of what you want to ingest, may inhibit absorption and can actually deplete the body of other nutrients. Dollar for dollar, you may be absorbing more vitamins and getting more benefits from a natural supplement than the seemingly cheaper synthetic version.

Read supplement labels carefully to distinguish the natural from the synthetic. Some products marketed as “natural” only contain 10% natural ingredients. You’re best bet is to look for food sources on the labels - things like citrus, yeast, fish or vegetable names. If there is a chemical-sounding name or no source listed, it is most likely a synthetic vitamin.

6. Drink plenty of water.

Water is excellent and necessary for the body and overall good health. Every part of your body needs water to work properly, and it needs a lot of water, so give in to it.

If you give yourself more water you will generally feel healthier and more fit because it flushes out toxins and other unwanted things lingering in your body. Water also replenishes fluids that help lubricate the internal components of your body, keeps you hydrated, reduces hunger (which helps with weight loss), helps to make skin look smooth and young, plus a load of many other benefits, probably even some yet to be discovered.

If you are not used to drinking water, it may seem hard at first, but very quickly, you will enjoy the clean, refreshed way it makes you feel.

7. Get your hormones checked.

Low thyroid, low progesterone, and low testosterone are all very common and usually result in excessive weight gain, low energy, low libido, fatigue, muscle weakness, headaches, irritability, and a host of other symptoms.

Getting your hormones tested is very simple and requires you to order a saliva test kit, spitting into a tube (gross), sending your tube into a lab, taking your test results into a doctor who understands bio-identical hormones, have him/her write you a prescription, and then have your prescription filled at a compound pharmacy.

I recommend everyone have their hormone levels checked once every year, especially if you are over 30 years old. You too, men!

If you have any of the above listed symptoms, your hormone levels could have dropped off considerably over the years leaving you feeling like your half dead. I know, I’ve been there. It’s worth doing!

8. Get regular physical check ups.

This includes the regular medical routine all men and women should have, plus regular dental cleanings, eye exams, and chiropractic adjustments. Don’t wait until your sick. They say an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

9. Search for natural remedies to what ails you.

Most people will let their doctor tell them what they need, or do not need. If you have a great amount of faith in your doctor, then that’s great. But, most people will go along with whatever the doctor tells them without researching the facts on their own. It’s your body and your health on the line.

Be open minded. There are a lot of natural products that can alleviate a lot of specific symptoms that you may be taking medications for. Medications can be very helpful in some cases but they are extremely toxic to the body. If you can find a natural replacement, or better yet, a natural cure for your health situation instead of a drug, then you’ll be better off. Be proactive. It’s your health and no one should care more about that than you.

10. Keep the stress away as much as possible.

It has been found that most illness is related to unrelieved stress. If you are experiencing stress symptoms, you have gone beyond your optimal stress level; you need to reduce the stress in your life and/or improve your ability to manage it.

First of all, determine what events distress you and determine how your body is responding to the stress.

Second, see if you can change your stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely. Is there any way you can shorten your exposure?

And third, reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions. This is simply attitude. 10% of life is what happens to you, and 90% is how you react to it.

Some additional tips to help combat stress include; Exercise three to four times a week, eat well-balanced meals, maintain your ideal weight, avoid nicotine and excessive caffeine, mix leisure with work, take breaks and get away when you can, get enough sleep and be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.

These 10 tips will help secure your health and help you to live an abundant and prosperous life. If you are ever going to experience life abundantly you must absolutely take care of your physical body!

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