Total health blog

Natural food supplements are the best remedies for good health

2009-06-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

Natural health supplements and alternative medication can do wonders for our health.

Alternative health care treatments are used all across the world with a high success.

Now days these scientifically proved alternative natural supplements are becoming a substitute for a lot of prescribed medicines, as they are effective and natural. There are numerous food supplements available such as single ingredient and more wide-ranging multi-ingredient natural supplements, which can help you to maintain your body in good physical shape and vigorous. There are no side effects of these medications.

These natural supplements are useful for many diseases and health conditions like arthritis, high cholesterol, diabetes, fibromyalgia and many more. The natural food supplements prevent a person from suffering any kind of diseases. And if a person is suffering from any of disease then natural supplements helps in treatment and cures fast without any side effect. These products contain important natural extracts, minerals, vitamins and other nutrients to preserve best possible health.

But these days there are several organizations that are into this business as people are more focused for the natural remedies. So you should know very well how to choose the correct product for yourself and for your loved ones. If you are willing to purchase the natural food supplements with no side effects then you can follow these steps:

Always check the mechanized corporation. Check weather the foodstuffs manufactured in a capability that meet the terms with the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

GMP makes sure that the ability remains to the uppermost standards of dealing out and manufacturing - the same principles followed by pharmaceutical corporations. The GMP promises that every manufactured goods enclose what's on the label that the ingredients used are unadulterated and of beneficial value and the prescriptions are standardized and secure.

Check for who is behind the foodstuffs formulation. Are scientists and professionals in natural health formulating them? Verify their identification to be guaranteed that what you are taking is protected - just because a manufactured goods is natural it does not mean it's secure. There are herbs and natural components that can harmfully act together with each other.

Take care that the supplements never include any kind of additives, chemicals or fillers like starch, sugar, gluten or silica.

There are many advantages of using natural supplements like they help you to overcome from nutritional deficiencies. They assist in boosting our immune system. They help us in getting rid of the toxins that we intake on daily basis. Similarly there are many more advantages and benefits that natural supplements can provide to our body.

Rising health insurance costs outpace income: report

2008-09-22T10:00:00.001-07:00

Wisconsin workers who have trimmed family budgets to pay health insurance premiums already know the costs have risen, but they may be shocked to learn by how much.

A new report says Wisconsin workers’ premiums for family plans have risen nearly five times faster than their pay since 2000.

“Insurance premiums in the period between 2000 and 2007 rose by 73.9 percent. In percentage terms, (Wisconsin) earnings increased by 15.5 percent,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a consumer health care advocacy group.

The Wisconsin median worker’s earnings grew from $24,421 to $28,202 between 2000 and 2007, Pollack said.

Pollack announced the report in a telephone conference call with Robert Kraig, program manager for Citizen Action of Wisconsin and U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Steve Kagen, D-Appleton.

In addition to higher premiums, consumers face higher out-of-pocket costs for “thinner” insurance plans that provide less coverage than in the past, Pollack said.

The Families USA report found average family plan premiums in Wisconsin increased from $7,112 to $12,369 between 2000 and 2007. The figure represents the combined tab for the worker and employer share of premiums.

A worker’s share of the cost rose from $1,458 to $2,573 a year while the employer’s portion climbed from $5,654 to $9,796.

The premium costs on an individual health plan rose by $324 to $940 during the same period for a worker and by $1,349 to $3,559 for an employer.

Families USA plans to issue reports for all 50 states by Oct. 22 to highlight the trend of higher premiums across the country. Wisconsin was the fourth report to be released. Pollack said the premium costs-to-income ratio ranged from 2.5 times to 17.1 times among states.

Pollack said the increased premiums reflect higher costs for such items as medical technology, hospital care, physician services and pharmaceutical drugs.

Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, said his members “recognize that rising health care costs are a burden on individuals and working families and are making it difficult for small businesses to be able to afford health care insurance for their employees.”

Zirkelbach said the trade association has issued a proposal to address “the underlying cost drivers that are contributing to higher health care costs.”

Glenn Mandel and wife, Diane Redelin, Egg Harbor small business owners, pay just under $14,000 a year for insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs |because they say Redelin was misdiagnosed with a chronic gastrointestinal condition. Her premiums are higher because she is considered to have a pre-existing condition.

“It’s too painful to look at,” Redelin said of the insurance bill.

Mandel and their teenage children are insured by a different insurance company and have a $10,000 deductible to cut costs.

Even with that, they can’t afford to provide insurance for their one employee because insurance would rise even higher.

Lani Madis, a small family business owner from Eau Claire who participated in the conference call, said steadily rising premiums forced her and her husband to drop group health insurance for their two adult children who work for them.

Madis “bit the bullet” and continued coverage in 2006 when premiums rose 26 percent. But the business could not cope with an estimated 40 percent premium increase for 2009.

“Given the cost of gas, the predicted energy costs for the winter and our vendors raising their costs, we had to make a decision to drop group health insurance,” she said.

Baldwin, said employers “are looking at incredibly difficult choices while our economy is in stress.”

Kagen, an allergist before he was elected to Congress, said the report “shows we have to change the model we use to pay for health care.”

In particular, Kagen said there’s a need for greater transparency on health care costs and the elimination of pre-existing medical conditions to deny or limit coverage to people.

Obama Takes On McCain's Health-Care Prescription

2008-09-22T09:57:00.001-07:00

We've seen what Bush-McCain policies have done to our economy. Now John McCain wants to do the same to our health care. McCain just published an article praising Wall Street deregulation. Said he'd reduce oversight of the health insurance industry, too. Just "as we have done over the last decade in banking." Increasing costs and threatening coverage. A prescription for disaster. John McCain. A risk we just can't afford to take.

Analysis: This Barack Obama commercial is based on John McCain's own words, although those words are subject to interpretation.

An article in the obscure journal Contingencies, published under McCain's name, says: "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous, nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."

In the article, the Arizona senator certainly sounds like the strong advocate of deregulation he has always been. And the timing makes McCain sound like he is defending the loosening of federal rules on banks, now widely blamed for the Wall Street turmoil that has led President Bush to propose a $700 billion bailout of the banking and credit industries.

The McCain camp contends that the Republican nominee was referring only to the regulatory change that allowed banks to operate across state lines. But because the article does not specify what he has in mind, McCain leaves himself vulnerable to the charge that he endorsed the full sweep of banking deregulation.

There is no evidence that McCain is "threatening coverage" for health care, and the "prescription for disaster" verdict is credited to the Boston Globe. The ad doesn't say it is from the paper's liberal editorial page.

For the spot to cite the "Bush-McCain policies" ignores the fact that McCain has broken with the president on some issues. In fact, he has blamed the administration for allowing the banking crisis to develop and proposed a different solution. Every recent Obama ad has either mentioned or pictured the unpopular president.

By using the article to remind voters of McCain's past support for deregulation, the commercial tries to paint him as partially responsible for the Wall Street meltdown, even though congressional Democrats did little to change the policies.

Tap Water Cleaner Than Bottled Water Sold at Stores?

2008-09-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of questions like; is tap water cleaner than bottled water sold at stores. Sometimes, they are easy to answer; sometimes, not. This one is a little complicated. Usually, I try to start out with a short answer, either yes or no. There's no short answer for this question.

I know there is an on-going effort in some communities to promote the safety of drinking straight from the tap. While I feel that buying bottles of water is not the right choice. I cannot agree with the idea of drinking unfiltered tap-water.

I would also have to ask the promoters this question. Why is tap water cleaner than bottled water sold at stores?

There are some relevant answers they could give. There are allowable levels of bacterial contamination for bottled brands. Many companies use inadequate filtration methods, so the purity is questionable, especially when it comes to chemical contaminants. Compounds used to make the bottles leach into the waters, causing further chemical contamination.

But, when it comes to taste and purity, is tap water cleaner than bottled water sold at stores? They would have to say "not really". In some cases, they are identical.

You have a third option that you may not have considered: home filtration.

With the right home purifier, you can get something better tasting than you'll find in a bottle. Safer than either bottled or tap-water. Less expensive than buying hundreds of bottles every month. And, you'll be protecting the environment from all of those plastic bottles that are clogging the landfills.

You don't have to spend a lot of money, but those cheap purifiers sold by Brita and PUR are not very effective. For about a hundred dollars and less than a dime a gallon, you can get a multi-stage selective filtration device that sits on you kitchen countertop and provides 500 gallons of purity before you even need to change the filter.

While Brita and PUR don't include enough steps, some companies include more than is necessary. Ever-Pure for example includes a reverse osmosis step. They have a number of different systems, but the only under the counter kitchen model that provides effective contaminant removal costs nearly $800. You don't need that.

If you are talking about home filtered and you ask, "Is tap water cleaner than bottled water sold at stores?" The answer is a simple, "Yes, always."

I'm sure the debate will continue to go on, with the industry saying that bottles are better and the facilities saying that unfiltered tap-water is fine, but now you know the truth. Either one is a bad choice.

In some emergency situations, bottled waters are a necessary evil. The industry would not be able to help during emergencies, if people stopped buying bottled brands, all together. But, you can stop buying so much.

That's my answer to; is tap water cleaner than bottled water sold at stores. Hope it helps.

Dominic Anderton is a dedicated researcher on the health benefits of purified drinking and bath water. Visit his site now at http://www.pure-and-safe-water.com to get the facts on how to choose the best water purification system.

Health Insurance Myths

2008-08-15T01:42:00.001-07:00

Let the myths about health insurance begin: It's too expensive. It's impossible to be self-employed and get good Montana health insurance plans. I have to have a job with full benefits to be properly insured. All I can afford is a shell of a plan that covers only catastrophes. If I make sure my children are properly insured, I'll have to forgo coverage for myself and take my chances.

As a Montana health insurance professional, I have heard just about every (often largely unfounded) reason for why folks think they cannot afford quality health insurance. Perhaps it's based on what politicians promise and argue over, maybe it's just a case of "everyone says it's so," or maybe it's fostered on us from doom and gloom from the media. Whatever the underlying reason, many are the misconceptions regarding the issue.

The truth of the matter is that medical insurance, when you seek the guidance of a proper agency, can be relatively affordable. Being properly insured will provide you the peace of mind you deserve, knowing you and your loved ones are covered in the event of an illness or injury. What's more, it is also possible to secure Montana health insurance plans that include well care, which is vital to people with children so as to provide regular checkups, immunizations, and other care. And the list goes on of the superb options that exist to get the affordable health care that you and your family deserve... and now is the time to get it. Tragedy can hit at any time. You must be ready.

Ensure you find Blue Cross health insurance plans in Montana where the agent has been successful in writing policies for folks with preexisting conditions and other issues that present challenges. While such policies, of course, necessarily command higher premiums, with the help of a good Blue Cross Blue Shield Montana agent it is possible for higher-risk clients to become properly insured. That is to say, everyone has options.

Health care to include eating disorders

2008-08-15T01:38:00.001-07:00

Argentinian senators have approved a bill declaring obesity and other eating disorders diseases covered by the nation’s public and private health care programmes.

The politicians unanimously backed the Obesity Law, saying that fighting obesity, anorexia and bulimia is in the national interest.

Patients can now seek treatment under Argentina’s health programmes.

The law also prohibits the media from releasing diets that are not backed by a health professional and requires that high-calorie foods carry a warning label.

The bill already had been approved by the lower house.

The obesity bill was boosted by a popular Argentinian reality TV show – A Question of Weight – that helped obese contestants slim down.

Help for health care

2008-08-15T01:35:00.000-07:00

People who need primary care and mental health services could soon have their needs met in one visit.

An educational session on a plan to integrate services was held Wednesday at Glen Oaks Community College.

It was a rare meeting attended by members of the Three Rivers Health, Sturgis Hospital and Community Mental Health of St. Joseph County boards.

Sturgis Hospital CEO Rob LaBarge welcomed guests.

Liz O’Dell, director of St. Joseph County CMH, introduced keynote speakers Donna Sabourin, director of the Washtenaw Community Health Organization and Bev Hammerstrom, former state legislator.

Three Rivers Health president/CEO Matt Chambers announced that an $85,000 Rural Health Service Area grant has been awarded to begin making plans for integrated services.

While there are historical cultural differences between mental and physical health services, working together could save hospitals money and make life for patients easier.

In applying for the grant, a needs assessment had to be prepared.

According to the assessment, St. Joseph County is a rural, medically underserved and economically challenged county.

The county is medically underserved and it is difficult to recruit primary care and behavioral health providers because of the large number of uninsured and under-insured and the low reimbursement rates for Medicaid and Medicare.

The pool of available primary care doctors is also diminishing as more primary care doctors are retiring than entering the market from medical schools.

At Sturgis Hospital, 20-25 percent of those treated in the emergency room have no family physician.

Three Rivers Health has a total patient population that is represented by more than 50 percent of patients covered by either Medicaid or Medicare.

Public mental health services provided by St. Joseph County CMH where 80 percent of those served have Medicaid. Cutbacks in state funding and changes in eligibility requirements have resulted in many in need going untreated or undertreated.

Chambers said a recent study has found that people with serious mental illness are dying on average nearly three decades earlier than the general population. There is a high prevalence of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease in this population.

Chambers said there is growing evidence that an integrated approach linking mental health services in primary care settings improves clinical outcomes and has the potential to significantly enhance the quality of life for those with mental health problems.

This concept of integrated care will make the best use of limited resources to provide cost effective care for county residents.

Handling Cancer on the NHS

2008-07-24T00:31:00.001-07:00

The NHS boasts it is "best in the world". So why do we have one of the worst post cancer survival rates in Europe?

Possibly this is partly our fault. Most people diagnosed with cancer in Britain meekly accept what doctors offer; they feel it is wrong to challenge a diagnosis, and as one doctor told me "patients should ask for a second opinion".

My favourite medic told a conference at the Royal Marsden, Britain's flagship cancer treatment centre, "doctors don't know how to talk to patients": loud cheers from patients in the audience, whilst medics sat stony-faced. Revd. David Brown was Chaplain at the hospital for 21 years, and said doctors would come to him and say "David, I don't know how to talk to patients".

So it is up to patients to talk WITH their doctors. Don't worry about being a nuisance, as privately oncologists admit patients that "kick up a fuss" generally recover better. We need to get over NHS arrogance, and copy what is offered to patients in Europe. As a patient, I became incensed when doctors in Britain dismissed blindness in one eye, caused by one of the drugs I was on, with "I have never seen this before". It was a French professor who said this was a rare but well-documented side effect of the drug I had been put on, Tamoxifen.

I saw what help I could get in Europe, mostly common sense, but denied to patients in Britain because doctors just won't look abroad and copy procedures and treatments. If we find information on the Internet that will help us, we don't have to meekly accept arrogant decisions and advice from our medics. We should demand treatment and products European cancer patients receive - so hopefully we all survive longer.

For most patientss, everything goes relatively well. Yes, you are going to get tired for no apparent reason. Yes, you get nauseous and have problems with chemo, but as time goes on these are much better handled. You get used to talking to medics, and find whilst you arebeing treated in hospital your problems get sorted. Complicatons come when you are given a hormonal drug such as Tamoxifen, and told you don't have to come back for three months.

5% of patients won't get any side effects, and sail through the next five years. The other 95% do, and these can include temporary blindness and peeling, bloody and painful skin eruptions. These made me the patient from hell. I didn't believe attempts to fob me off with "it's your age" and demanded to know "why?"

Eventually it became obvious that the NHS is overstretched; it concentrates on primary treatment, leaving cancer charities to pick up the aftermath.

So, why not take advantage of a short break holiday and go to Europe? In most EU countries patients live longer post cancer, and I suspect this is because their doctors don't dismiss side effects from hormonal drugs, but help patients throughout the five years they take them. I had a lovely time learning about good post cancer treatment. Who could complain joining German cancer patients having free massages, or French women getting skincare advice with lovely clinically-tested products proven to do cancer-skins good?!

Currently the UK ranks between 17th and 25th for life expectancy post cancer (depending if it is NHS or World Health Organisation survey), I asked the Dept of Health if the NHS were sending people to Europe to see what we could copy. Their arrogant reply "we have no plans" beggars belief.

Pound for pound, euro for euro, French cancer treatment is probably the best in world. Overall their health service (state and health insurance top ups together) costs roughly the same as our NHS. But when private insurance companies are involved, they demand accountability. No insurance company would allow hospitals get away with the expensive administration we have in the NHS. The Sunday Telegraph wrote recently that in the past ten years "NHS administrator numbers increased 64%, as against 43% for doctors and 25% for nurses", yet "productivity has fallen by 10%".

With administrators on £150,000+ salaries we still have the worst MRSA figures in Europe. So instead of giving us similar treatment to Europeans, the NHS is paying for the extra administrators, and, as cancer guru Prof. Karol Sikora says, "the depth of pile in their carpets".

But there is no reason why we can't copy some of the European treatments, and have fun after cancer. These aren't 'airy fairy' treatments or 'miracle foods', but clinically approved products, some of which we can obtain on NHS, but doctors don't have time to tell us, and things such as massage that Macmillan surveys have proven to be very helpful. But before trying anything, tell your doctor or oncology nurse - there might be contra-indications.

And HAVE FUN!

Verité Reily Collins

http://after-cancer.com

Is There Any Way to Beat Cancer?

2008-07-24T00:29:00.001-07:00

If you have been diagnosed with cancer it can be overwhelming. There is alot of information all over the internet and in the medical community that can seem very confusing. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer one of the most important things you need to realize is there is hope for total remission. The very first step is believing in yourself and that you can beat your cancer. Cancer is a process that happens over a period of time. You do not get cancer over night. There are several things that have gone wrong in your cell development and your body and your healthy cells where not able to fight the cancer cells. You can however reverse the process. It can take time and determination but it can be done. The further the stage your cancer is in the longer it may take to reverse the process, but you can do it. Your body is designed naturally to heal itself. When we get a cut, an injury, major surgery, illness, broken bones, etc. your body will repair itself. The brain automatically sends out signals to your entire body to fight the ailment or illness. The better you take care of yourself and provide your body and cells with the essentials it needs the easier your body can heal itself. Your body does this everyday of your life, healing itself, rebuilding itself and providing you with life.

You may not be aware of this, but everyone has cancer cells. Your body, especially your white cells (NK Cells) fight off and kill the cancer cells. One NK cell attaches to a cancer cell and kills it in a matter of seconds. That same NK cell can continue to kill numerous cancer cells before that NK cell dies off. Your body will naturally continue producing more NK cells. It is an ongoing natural process in your body.

It is also important to know that your body has a PH Level and you can monitor and test your Ph levels.

Your body is either acidic or alkalized. You want your body to be more alkalized then acidic. In a well balanced or alkalized body cancer cannot survive. If you have cancer you can bet your body is acidic. There are many ways to alkalize your body. You can eat alkalized foods, drink alkalized water, and even bath with alkalized soap. It is important to know that whatever you put on your skin your body absorbs. Start using natural products on your skin. Your skin is an organ, the largest organ in your body. Take caution to what you put on your skin. The same holds true for your internal organs and cells. Your body is designed to "Need" certain foods to survive. You need to begin providing these essentials for your body. Begin taking care of your body and reversing your cancer. The same way cancer developed in your body you can reverse that process.

Debt Consolidation

2008-07-16T02:52:00.000-07:00

Drowning in debts as you read this article? Having a hard time settling your debts which are now payable and insistent? Giving up necessities just to get by? Hopeless due to the overwhelming responsibilities your to have to shoulder? Don't think of reporting of bankruptcy yet. There are ways you can do to settle your obligations, or at the very least, lessen the burden you have to shoulder. Consolidating your debt is one. Debt consolidation pertains to the fusion of your debts into a single loan. This definition may sound simplistic, and some people may question how this technique can help them cope up with their financial woes, but debt consolidation has positive outcomes that can assist an individual with financial binds."

Debt consolidation can extend the due date of several loans. If you have many debts which have become demandable, for example, you can consolidate them into a new loan with a new due date which will allow you more time to prepare for the same."Debt consolidation can merge several debts with high interest rates into a new loan with a significantly lower interest rate. Believe it or not, when we become remiss in the payment of our debts, their relevant interest rates can mess up our investments. We end up paying and paying our debts, only to realize afterwards that majority of our payments are just only suffice to cover the interests per se."

Debt consolidation makes financial planning less of a headache. You can stop thinking of several debts. You can just basically face a single consolidated credit. Debt consolidation is a common approach in managing difficulties of having numerous monetarial binds at one time. Filing for a judicial declaration of bankruptcy is an option to relieve yourself of your unsecured loans, but such should be treated as a last resort. Many finance companies offer debt consolidation loans for beleaguered debtors. Consolidated loans are high in demand. In any case, they bring about issues easier for the debtor. Aside from having just one loan to worry about, debt consolidation also provides a single loan with a lower interest rate (compared to the total amount of the interest rates for the individual debts concerned), as well as a new maturity period that can effectively extend the due date of the individual loans.Frequently, credit institutions that give debt consolidation loans ask for a mortgage from the person in debt, a form of security to ensure compliance with the terms of the new, unified loan.

This credit is protected from the house of the debtor. From the time when debt consolidation loans are secured, the finance companies concerned will contact each and every creditor of the debtor to negotiate favorable terms for fulfillment of the debtor's obligations. In a way, finance institutions giving out debt consolidation loans essentially act as economic consultants for concerned debtors. In addition, debt consolidation can also be regarded as a type of debt refinancing. The finance company offering the debt consolidation loan will actually pay for the individual loans , and the debtor will be indebted to the finance company under one, single loan thereafter.Some rational admonitions about debt consolidation loans however:You can only be in a debt consolidation once and never again. This is for the reason that only unsecured loans can be consolidated, and with the mortgage requirement, debt consolidation loans are deemed to be secured loans.

Due to this, nonpayers won't be able to relieve themselves of unsatisfied debt consolidation loans even when a proficient court announces them to be insolvent. Bankruptcy only absolves the debtor from paying unsecured loans. The mortgage connected to a debt consolidation loan will still be foreclosed even if the debtor is deemed as bankrupt.Merging your debts is an excellent option if you're encountering some problems in paying off numerousfinances when majority of them are already due and needed. Save yourself from the strenuous fine charges and interest charges by consolidating these loans into one secured loan that will be easier to manage.

7 Secret Tips to Beat Inflation and Save Money

2008-07-16T02:51:00.000-07:00

Unless you have been living on Mars for the last year or so, you would know that the days of cheap plentiful oil are well and truly over. At this time of writing, each barrel of oil is being sold at nearly US$150, a price no one would have possibly predicted almost five years ago when prices exhibited an upward trend.

Believe it or not, high oil prices are definitely here to stay. This necessarily translates into higher inflation rates and much reduced purchasing power. It means that more and more money will be needed to buy the same number of units of goods.

As it stands, weak prevailing US economic sentiments do not help at all in lifting our spirits. Already, high food and fuel prices are triggering violent public protests in many developing countries.

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity", says Albert Einstein. Do not for a moment put your hands up, despair and give up. I am telling you it only takes a change in your attitude and minor tweaks in your lifestyle to maintain a more than reasonable living standard.

Not only that, you will get to save money as you go along and pass down good-as-gold thrifty habits to our younger generations.

Without further ado, let's examine how 7 simple and practical tips can help you beat inflation and save as much money as you want. They can be easily implemented by anyone living in any country but nonetheless requires a little discipline on your part.

1) If you really need a credit card, then cancel all other credit cards you are holding and just hang on to one. Yes, you heard me right. Keep only one credit card. If not, eschew credit cards totally and go for a debit card instead.

In this way, you will intuitively curb your spending and at the same time, consolidate all purchase points on a single card. Once you have accumulated sufficient points, go ahead and redeem a free restaurant voucher or airline ticket for yourself. Yeah, the best things are free!

2) Keep your hair reasonably short but presentable. If you are still reading this article, you can't be living on Mars. And you should be aware it is summertime right now. That is when the mercury shoots right off the edge and your utility bills chew up whatever spare cash you have.

Hear me out. Your head radiates a considerably amount of heat. By keeping your hair short, you will feel cool no matter what time of the day is and avoid reaching out for that air-con remote. As you know, air-conditioners are notorious for guzzling energy and can easily account for two-thirds of your energy bills.

3) Consolidate and perform all "manual" tasks in one shot. Take for example you are a stay-at-home mom and have to carry out household chores throughout the day. These chores may include taking the kids out to school, mopping the floor, hanging the laundry and so on. Instead make it a point to carry out as many tasks consecutively as possible. Once you are done, treat yourself to a quick but relaxing ten-minute shower, splash on some fresh-smelling talcum powder and again, you can avoid using the air-conditioner.

You smell good, the work is done and by the way, did I mention that doing household chores is a proven great way to slim down? I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised at just how much you can save by just avoiding switching on the air-conditioner.

4) Did you know you can literally have your cake and eat it too? How so? A really neat trick I use is to check out nearby hotels and pastry shops for their "special offers".

This is not commonly advertised but it is known that many of them offer massive discounts in the evenings on bread or cakes that are unsold. They are edible for sure and you can keep some for a hearty breakfast tomorrow morning. Most importantly, you get to save some money on quality food!

5) Many of us own a car for either work or personal reasons. But no matter what the vehicle is bought for, all of us are price-takers and hence face the problem of rocketing fuel prices. If you find yourself unwilling or unable to give up your wheeler and take public transport instead, here's what you should do to save gas and stretch your dollar: simply junk the junk.

Studies have shown on average every 50kg added load in your car increases fuel consumption by 2 percent. In addition, making sure your car is properly maintained improves your gas mileage and save fuel. This means to keep your tires properly inflated (inflation!) and use thinner tires if you can.

6) This is a real clever way to slash a huge portion of your weekly grocery bills. Food is essential to sustain life but the next time you venture down to the nearby supermarket, keep your eyes peeled for "house brands". They are actually food products bought and packaged by the supermarkets themselves. In the process the unwelcome middle-man is cut off from the supply chain and any savings generated will translate to lower food prices for everyday consumers like us.

Conclusive studies have shown the food quality and nutritional value remains unaltered at all, even when compared to more expensive brands. Just try out secret tactic and you will be amazed how all these savings will add up every month.

7) The rise of budget airlines is unprecedented and should not have gone unnoticed by anyone. Whether you are an avid traveler or a businessman, keep a good lookout for special promotional prices offered by these airlines. In fact, an airline ticket can easily go below a dollar, excluding various taxes and surcharges!

Some of them may have hit the wrong headline for lower safety standards or financial difficulties but all of them are air-worthy I am sure. Also, they represent good value-for-money air travel deals. For example, you get to save on cheaper flight tickets, lower (pesky) fuel and tax surcharges and you don't compromise on comfort greatly because most budget-type flights are short, each lasting only a few hours.

The tips I have written down here is certainly not exhaustive! So please provide your valuable comments and everyone will benefit as a result.

Inflation is here to stay for the rest of this year at least. Prudence is now the name of the game. As suggested, make a truthful commitment to change your attitude and lifestyle habits. In the process, you will find yourself saving lots of money and boosting your purchasing power. Beat inflation at its own game!

How to Manage Your HSA Health Insurance Plan

2008-07-15T01:40:00.000-07:00

Health Savings Accounts consist of two parts - the high deductible health plan (HDHP), and the Health Savings Account (HSA) itself. By carefully choosing which bank you use to establish your HSA, and strategically choosing how to fund your account and manage your investment, you will be able to get the most return on your money while keeping your expenses to a minimum.

Make Sure to Establish Your Health Savings Account

By switching from a conventional copay health insurance plan to a high-deductible health insurance plan (HDHP), most people are cutting their health insurance costs by about 40% or so. This is such a big savings, that many people neglect to take the next step and set up their HSA. But this is a financial mistake that is costing them money.

Unless you pay no income tax and have zero medical expenses (including dental, over-the-counter medications, or charges for alternative care like chiropractic or acupuncture), you will absolutely save money by establishing your HSA. Just find a good HSA Administrator and get started.

Run All Your Medical Expenses Through Your HSA

Not everyone feels like they have "extra" money that they afford to set aside in their HSA, despite the tax savings and other financial benefits. Even if that's the case, you should still establish your HSA. Every time you incur a medical expense, deposit at least as much money as you spent on that medical expense. For instance, if you went to the dentist and it cost $85, put $85 in your HSA. If you like you can then take it right back out.

What this does is convert this medical expense into a tax-deductible expense. Then when you file your taxes next year, you can put the total amount that you ran through your HSA on line 25 of your 1040, and deduct it from the total income you report.

Cover Your Deductible

Your next step is to get enough money in your HSA to cover your deductible. For 2008, deductibles range from $1100 to $5600 for individuals, and $2200 to $11,200 for families. Annual contribution limits are $2900 for individuals, and $5800 for families. So it could take a couple years or longer to get enough money in your account to cover your deductible.

Once this money is in your HSA, you will have the confidence of knowing that you can cover most any medical expense that comes your way, particularly if you have a health insurance plan that pays 100% after your deductible.

As you continue to build money in your account, you may want to consider switching to a health insurance plan with an even higher deductible, which will further lower your premiums.

Minimize the Fees You Pay

If you will be using your HSA to pay medical expenses as you incur them, you should keep an eye on the fees your bank charges. Until you have enough money in your account to cover any fees with investment returns, you probably want to have your HSA with a bank that charges no fees. (Several are listed on the website referenced above).

If you plan to access money from your HSA to pay ongoing medical expenses, you may wish to keep a portion of your HSA money in a savings account or short-term CD. But to take maximum advantage of your HSA, you'll want to eventually move some of the funds to investments that have a higher potential return.

Investment Options

No other investment has the triple tax-advantage that Health Savings Accounts offer. Not only is your Health Savings Account deposit tax deductible, and your withdrawals to cover medical expenses tax-free, but your investment also grows tax-deferred make Health Savings Accounts a great investment option.

Taking advantage of tax-deferred growth is one of the best ways to build long-term savings. Some banks will provide a short list of mutual funds you can invest in, while others provide access to an online discount brokerage such as Ameritrade where you can choose from stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and more.

The most aggressive strategy is to pay your medical expenses from somewhere other than your HSA, and save the receipt. You can then reimburse yourself at a later date. The additional growth you get from not paying any taxes on your investment may be enough to cover all your medical expenses.

By Wiley Long - President, HSA for America ( http://www.health--savings--accounts.com ) - The nation's leading independent health insurance firm specializing in individual and family coverage that works with a Health Savings Account.

Social Health Insurance to be launched in August

2008-07-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Work is underway to launch the government initiated social health insurance scheme by the late August reveals the senior official in charge of setting up the scheme.

Thorig Ali Luthfee , the senior most officials in charge of setting up the scheme informed Miadhu Daily that the scheme will be introduced in phases.

“With the launching of the Social Health Insurance Scheme, the first phase will be to introduce the scheme to the people registered in the social welfare department, and then it will be introduced to retired civil servants and government employees. When I say government employees, I mean those working in civil service as well as those working for the government outside civil service. We will introduce these groups in this order, one by one” Thorig revealed.

Thorig informed that the main objective is to introduce the scheme to all Maldivians by the end of year 2010.

Thorig also informed that scheme will benefit all Maldivians and the main priority of the government when introducing such a scheme is to ensure that the full benefits of the system are reached to the citizens on easy and convenient terms.

“The scheme being introduced will provide the necessary health care to the respective individual when the individual goes to a registered health service provider, through the use of the national identity cards we can monitor what health services are obtained through our network, we are not employing insurance cards and things like that, the scheme will establish systems of obtaining health care” revealed Thorig.

When asked, how much an individual is entitled for health care under the scheme Thorig replied that the aim was to provide quality health care over a sustained period of time.

“We are thinking of providing quality health care, rather than imposing limits, the scheme is introduced for the benefit of everyone” he said.

President in presidential address this year has informed that a social health insurance scheme is to be introduced for government employees, their families and to those who require financial assistance to satisfy the most essential and basic needs. Attempts were made by Ministry of Higher Education Employment and Social Welfare early last year to establish health care scheme for government staff. However the attempts did not succeed.

More working poor qualify for state health insurance

2008-07-08T07:55:00.001-07:00

The Hohman family of West Baltimore got their new medical assistance cards Monday by special delivery — hand-carried by Gov. Martin O’Malley and House Health and Government Operations Committee Chairman Peter Hammen, who engineered the passage of the new Maryland law that expanded coverage to them.

“Now I can take some burden off my parents,” said Richard Hohman Sr., 34, who works part time in promotions, making less than $10,000 a year. He broke his back a while back, and needs $200 a month in medication for his bipolar disorder. His wife, Joanne, 53, has a degenerative bone disease and asthma that require $150 a month in prescriptions.

They are among the first 2,400 people approved for expanded health insurance that state officials hope will cover 100,000 of the estimated 800,000 Maryland residents without medical coverage.

The law passed during November’s special session raises the income eligible for Medicaid for a family of three from $7,500 a year — 44th lowest in the nation — to $20,500, 21st in the nation. The new program will cost $153 million this year, nearly half of that covered by federal funds and the rest coming mostly from the doubling of the cigarette tax and savings to hospitals from the reduction in uncompensated care they now provide to people without health insurance.

In October, a new $10 million program to aid small businesses kicks in, and in future years, health insurance will expand to cover working poor who do not have children.

Health Secretary John Colmers said the Human Resources Department has expedited processing of the new applicants by eliminating the need for an asset test and eliminating face-to-face interviews. Human Resources Secretary Brenda Donald said hundreds more people are applying every day. “They are our neighbors, our families members,” Donald said.

AARP sponsored the event to thank O’Malley, House Speaker Michael Busch and the other legislators who helped win passage of the new program, including all seven Republicans on the Health and Government Operations Committee.

The $1 billion in uncompensated care — representing $344 a year in additional health premiums for those with insurance — “is the real tax,” said Del. Donald Elliott, a Carroll County Republican on the committee. “This is only the beginning” in tackling the lack of health insurance, he added.

More working poor qualify for state health insurance

2008-07-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

Illinois man to shave beard for cancer fundraiser

2008-07-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

While philanthropists have been donating locks of hair to cancer patients for years, Gary Risler plans to trim the other side of his head to fight cancer.

The Farmer City man is raffling off the rights to shave the beard he's sported for 18 years.

That makes his beard older than Risler's youngest son, who has never seen all of his dad's face. Risler says even his oldest son hasn't seen his bare chin since he was 4 years old.

Risler hopes the July 12th fundraiser will bring in $1,000 for his friend Kathy Wain, who is battling cancer.

Risler says Wain was one of the first people he met when he moved to Farmer City 30 years ago.

Molecule That Kills Kidney Cancer Cells Discovered

2008-07-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

But that could change, thanks to a new molecule found by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers that kills kidney cancer cells. Ideally, the researchers said, a drug created from this molecule would help fight the life-threatening disease while leaving patients' kidneys intact.

"You now have a potential means of going after a disease that's been difficult to treat," said Amato Giaccia, PhD, professor and director of radiation oncology and radiation biology at the medical school. His findings will be published in the journal Cancer Cell on July 8.

Giaccia said his lab focused on renal cell carcinoma, or kidney cancer, because there is no known cure for it short of removing a damaged kidney from a patient's body. "There is no effective chemotherapy to treat renal cell carcinoma," said Giaccia, also a researcher at the Stanford Cancer Center. "Patients still succumb."

Almost 54,400 people in the United States will be diagnosed with kidney cancer this year, and about 13,000 will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. Radiotherapy, a powerful weapon used to fight cancer, has also proven to be ineffective in killing kidney cancer, in contrast to other types of cancer, Giaccia said.

This new research could lead to a treatment to save patients from losing one of their two kidneys. The organs are responsible for filtering blood, controlling blood pressure and preventing anemia, among other tasks.

Giaccia's work focuses on the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor gene, or VHL gene, which normally slows tumor growth in humans but does not work in 75 percent of kidney tumor cells. Giaccia's team searched for a small molecule that would kill cancer cells when this VHL gene is broken. They found their weapon in a molecule called STF-62247.

While STF-62247 is toxic to kidney cancer, it is generally harmless to most other cells in the human body, as they carry a working VHL gene, Giaccia said.

As an added benefit, Giaccia said, patients treated with STF-62247 should not suffer some of chemotherapy's infamous side effects, like nausea and hair loss, because STF-62247 is not toxic to the entire body.

Clinical trials could begin "in the next couple years," Giaccia said.

Stanford co-author and postdoctoral fellow Denise A. Chan, PhD, said she believed the new findings could affect how all types of cancer are treated in the future.

This study is one of the first to identify a trait unique to a certain form of cancer - in this case, kidney cancer's deficient VHL gene - and exploit it to defeat the disease, Chan said. She predicted other scientists soon would follow suit, looking for characteristics in other cancers that also could be manipulated.

Researchers' motivation could be twofold, the study's authors said: to find cures for deadly cancers, and to rein in the debilitating side effects caused by many current cancer treatments.

"These results can be extended far beyond kidney cancer," Chan said.

The findings also speak well for Stanford's High-Throughput BioScience Center, which opened in 2004. The results of this study are some of the first using the center's equipment.

The high-throughput equipment at Stanford can analyze thousands of molecules for their cytotoxicity at the same time, allowing researchers like those in Giaccia's lab to search for hidden genes and molecules that previously would have been quite laborious to find.

Without the center, "This work would not have been possible," said Stanford co-author Patrick Sutphin, MD. The findings have special significance for Sutphin, who worked with the Stanford team before moving on to his internship in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In 1995, when Sutphin was a sophomore in college, his grandfather was diagnosed with kidney cancer and died three months later, he said.

The experience of losing his grandfather to kidney cancer helped motivate Sutphin to study the disease. His hope, Sutphin said, "is that one day our collective research will result in new drugs that are more effective than traditional drugs, and without the toxic side effects."

Other co-authors of the study include Stanford researcher and postdoctoral fellow Sandra Turcotte, PhD. The research was funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Affordable Health Insurance Choices - How to Find a Great Rate

2008-05-15T01:41:00.000-07:00

Health insurance is a necessity. Unfortunately, it fetches very high prices that are often out of reach for many. How can one find affordable health insurance under our current system? To understand how to get the best deals, let's talk a bit about how different types of health insurance policies work.

First, let's look at Health Maintenance Organizations, or HMOs. These consist of a series of doctors and hospitals that have agreed to offer their services at a given price point. They are paid by the insurance companies.

These plans can be rather restrictive. You can't see doctors who aren't a part of the HMO plan. You will also be required to select one primary care physician, from whom you will have to get referrals in order to see a specialist. Also, many consider the quality of care lower for an HMO, since it is in the advantage of the health care providers to see as many patients per day.

However, HMOs are usually much cheaper than other types of plans. If you're looking for an affordable health insurance choice, this is one of your best options.

The other major type of insurance is Preferred Provider Organizations, or PPOs. IN this type of insurance, health care providers have an affiliation with an insurance company, but these ties are much looser and broader than an HMOs. In most PPOs, you can see any doctor you like. You can see specialists without a referral. The quality of care is generally considered to be better than an HMO, but it's more expensive.

Now that you understand this, how to you go about getting a good rate from these providers? The best way to get insurance quotes these days is online. By getting a free insurance quote, you'll be able to find yourself some fairly affordable health insurance. Of course, the key to getting the best deal is to shop around, so be sure to compare multiple quotes.

Another thing to consider is that you won't get the final quote online. Health insurance providers will generally request a full application, which will be given a detailed review, and a final quote offered. This final quote might vary from your online quote, so be warned.

Of course, some of you might be fortunate enough to have an employer who takes care of your health insurance needs. If you're looking for a job, be sure to ask about the health insurance plans offered, since this can be a huge benefit. In fact, getting your health insurance through your job is the best way to get affordable health insurance.

So, you can see that getting a health insurance policy is no simple matter. However, even if you can't find the perfect plan you'd like, make sure that you at least have a plan. A plan is infinitely better than no plan when it comes to your health and future. If you're not insured, start working towards getting a plan today. It will be worth it.

David Wilson is the man behind Young and Insured, a guide to helping young people understand the complex world of insurance. Visit to today, and find out why you must have health insurance at any cost.

Healthy Lifestyle Suggestions

2007-12-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

Skincare Suggestions

Use only all-natural ingredients

-Choose natural skin care products because they're the best for your skin. Synthetic and unnatural ingredients are harsh, irritating, harmful to your skin and potentially hazardous to your health. If you have splotchy skin use a line and pore Minimizer.

Rinse well

-After shaving or face washing, use a warm washcloth to remove deep residues and gently exfoliate the skin.

Cooler is better

-Water that's very hot can burn and dry out your skin. For best results, keep the temperature warm but not too hot.

Watch your eyes

-The thin skin just around the eye area is delicate and should be treated likewise. Avoid harsh rubbing or scrubbing and keep cleansing to a minimum.

Lifestyle Suggestions

Stop smoking

-Cigarettes and other tobacco products wreak havoc on your inner beauty and external skin. Weathered, rough skin is a clear sign of a smoker. Cigarette smoking is a tough habit to break - but the benefits far outweigh the temporary inconvenience of tobacco cravings. Want to makes sure your loved ones have really stopped smoking, order a nicotine test"

Get plenty of sleep

-Your body needs to heal after a hard day's work. Sleep is the time your skin can rejuvenate and repair any damage. Robbing your body of sleep will show on your face and body, as well as impact your health.

Avoid the heat

-Not only does excess heat dry out your system, it can damage your skin. This includes constant direct sunlight exposure (protect with an SPF lotion!), high temperatures in your home, car, or office, the overuse of a heating pad or electric blanket, staying too close to a fireplace, and other sources of dry, damaging heat.

Be Drug-Free

-Drugs cloud your mind, your employees minds and are damaging to your help. Stay natural and make sure your children and loved ones are drug free. You may order rapid drug test kits to test your employees to make sure they are maintaining a drug free and natural lifestyle.

Nutrition Suggestion

Eat green

-The amazing properties of green vegetables are countless! From phytonutrients to live enzymes (in uncooked or dehydrated foods), these health-enhancing compounds can make you feel and look years younger!

Slow down the salt

-Sodium dries up your skin. It dehydrates your body and puts stress on vital organs. If you feel a craving for salty foods, try eating seaweeds (dulse, kelp, wakame, and others), naturally sodium-rich plants from the sea. They can be found in local health food stores, organic supermarkets, and Asian specialty shops.

Drink water

-A great source of hydration, water is often overlooked or replaced by soda, coffee, sugary juices, and other inferior beverages. Your skin loves water so drink to your health!

Stay far away from fast food

-An American favorite, fast food chains are the death to your health and skin. From unwanted calories to cholesterol, fat, and chemical ingredients, take along a healthful snack to stave off your appetite until you can make a better meal choice.

There are many ways to reduce signs of aging and improve the appearance of your skin. Remember, your skin is a mirror of your overall health, so when it looks better, you're doing better!

If you have a skincare tip or tool that you'd like to share, please contact Shawn Kilgarlin.

She is the founder of http://www.valahe.com and a writer for http://www.americanscreeningcorp.com She writes Christian Articles, loves mens kkin and knows how to stay healthy. She is an avid writer and loves life. Shawn is Chair Elect for Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and has 2 Children Isabella, and Cody. She is married to Ron Kilgarlin. Shawn writes articles for the healthcare industry and performs SEO consulting.

Spending more time with computer ups aches and pains problems

2007-06-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

The more time college students spend on the computer on a particular day, the more likely they are to suffer from musculoskeletal problems during that 24-hour period, a new study shows (From Yahoo News).

However, because of the small size of the study -- just 27 students participated -- it was not possible to determine whether particular patterns of usage or postures made musculoskeletal problems more likely.

During the study, which was conducted during three one-week periods during the spring semester, 96% of the students reported some type of musculoskeletal problem at least once. About half the time, pain involved the neck, while the lower back, upper back and shoulders were the next most common pain sites.

Students who averaged three or more hours on the computer each day were 50% more likely to have musculoskeletal symptoms, the researchers found. Those with the highest daily computer use time were nearly twice as likely to have these problems as those with the lowest computer time, although this relationship wasn't significant from a statistical standpoint.

"The observed high musculoskeletal symptom prevalence and the potential relationship between computer usage and symptoms suggested that further research is needed to protect the student population," the researchers conclude, calling for longer-term, larger studies that also examine students' posture at the computer and other potential musculoskeletal pain risk factors.

When Your Child Wets the Bed

2007-05-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Bedwetting is common in children under age 5. The American Academy of Family Physicians says as many as 7 million children wet the bed (From Yahoo News).

The academy offers these common causes of bedwetting:

Genetics. Bedwetting tends to run in families.
Difficulty waking up.
Delayed development of the central nervous system.
Hormonal imbalance.
Urinary tract infection.
Abnormalities in the urethral valve or ureter.
Small bladder, leading to an inability to hold urine for long periods.

Top Three common food safety mistakes

2007-04-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Food poisoning is no fun whatsoever. Those of us who’ve had it know how true that statement is and those who haven’t don’t know how lucky they are.

Food poisoning (more accurately called foodborne illness or infection) is caused by microorganisms like bacteria, viruses and parasites that live in and on our food. When these pathogens enter your digestive system, they can wreak havoc, causing abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and headache. Symptoms can show up in as little as 20 minutes after consumption and as long as a month. Usually, you start to feel ill around six or eight hours after your meal. Most people recover after a few days, but food poisoning has been known to cause permanent health problems and can even be fatal.

Staying Safe
To help protect yourself from foodborne illness, make sure to avoid making these common food safety mistakes:

1. Poor Washing Habits
This is the most common mistake that people make in the kitchen. It may seem unimportant, but it really is vital that you wash your hands before you handle any food. You pick up germs from everything you touch during the day, and you’re practically asking to get sick if you transfer them to your food. Wash your hands every time you start working with a new ingredient. This is especially important when you’re cooking with meat.

Always wash unpackaged foods before you use them. Wash all fruits and veggies – even ones that you’re going to peel. Bacteria can be transferred from the skin to the core when you slice through the outer skin.

2. Temperature Violations
Food is potentially harmful when its internal temperature falls inside range of the “danger zone,” which is between 41°F and 135°F. At these temperatures, bacteria can multiply.

A big mistake that many people make is not cooking meat until it reaches the proper temperature. Always use a thermometer to check if your meat is thoroughly cooked. You can’t tell by looking at it. Chicken and turkey should be cooked to 180°F, fresh beef to 145°F (medium rare) or 160°F (well done), ground beef to 160°F, pork to 160°F, lamb to 160°F and fish to 140°F.

Another common mistake is leaving food out on the counter. Never leave foods out to thaw. Instead, put them in the fridge or in a sink full of cold water. Also, never leave meat out to marinade at room temperature.

Foods should always be refrigerated immediately after you are done with them. Anything left at room temperature for longer than two hours must be thrown out. Anything left outdoors in 80° weather or warmer should be thrown out after only one hour.

3. Cross Contamination
This term sounds complicated, but all it really means is that it’s important to prevent bacteria from transferring between foods. Raw food should never come in contact with ready-to-eat food. Again, this is particularly important when it comes to meat.

Not washing knives, stirring spoons and cutting boards in between use is the most common cross contamination culprit. You should have one cutting board for raw meat and a completely different board for vegetables (only use plastic cutting boards for meat products, as wooden boards can soak up bacteria). Think about it. Do you really want to cut up cucumber for your salad on the pile of chicken blood you just left? The same goes with spatulas. It doesn’t make sense to serve meat with the same tool you used to scoop it into the pan when it was raw.

Also, be sure to sanitize your rags and sponges on a regular basis. They are a breeding ground for microorganisms. You may think that you’re cleaning your table by giving it a once-over with your kitchen sponge, but you could actually be spreading bacteria all over it.

Protecting Yourself
Food poisoning is a very real threat to our health, yet surprisingly few people understand it or take it seriously. A common assumption is that sanitization and refrigeration technology are far more advanced than ever before and, thus, we should be less at risk of food poisoning than our ancestors. This isn’t true. A century ago, almost 100 percent of food was cultivated within 100 miles of where it was eaten. This allowed people’s immune systems to become familiar to most of the microorganisms on the food and to develop immunity. Today, foods are shipped in from all over the world and the bacteria on them are unfamiliar.

A recent study by the University of Guelph shows that even television cooking shows aren’t immune to making these common errors. In fact, they average 14 violations per hour. People are picking up bad kitchen habits from these shows.

As you can see, it’s important for everyone who prepares food to take food safety very seriously. The tips listed above can help you feel free to cook and enjoy food without worrying about being sidelined with food poisoning.

Source : Cooking Schools 101

Pizza and chocolate--health foods?

2007-04-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

Isn't it fabulous how healthful junky foods (or "indulgences," as they're termed in the trade) are becoming?

Recently, some samples of Hershey's Antioxidant Milk Chocolate showed up at our office. Never mind that sugar is the first listed ingredient: These things are laced with natural flavanols! They're good for us!

We hear that another American staple is soon to be rejiggered: A cholesterol-lowering pizza is in the works. Both dough and cheese of the patent-pending are impregnated with plant sterols, creating a pizza that will theoretically lower blood levels of LDL, or bad, cholesterol.

"I believe Heart Healthy RoadPizza is the perfect vehicle to help lower cholesterol," says the pizza's inventor, Ira Scott, in a press release.

"Chocolate and pizza are two foods that are fine just the way they are," comments a colleague. "No one should be messing with them."

— Rosie Mestel

Top 5 principles for increasing fitness

2007-04-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

When you were a kid, your mom told you to brush up and down, not side to side, or you wouldn't get your teeth really clean. The same theory applies to fitness: Do it right and it will work (www.dailynews.com).

I know most of you have tried various exercise programs, lost a bit of weight at the beginning, and then become frustrated because your body stopped changing. Being unable to get past the "plateau" isn't your fault, it's because the program has been poorly designed.

These five exercise training principles are the cornerstone of a good program design:

Individual differences: Every person is different, and each person's response to exercise will vary. A proper training program should take individual differences into account. Whether you are a beginner or intermediate, there is a safe place for you to start and a challenging place for you to strive toward.

Use/disuse: You have to move your muscles or they become soft and flabby. Many people try to lose weight by working out just sporadically — when they feel like it — but they soon give up because they don't see results. You must be committed and consistent to see results.

Adaptation: By repeating an exercise, the body adapts to the stress, and the skill becomes easier to perform. This also explains the need to continue to apply the principle of Overload to continue to see improvements and changes in your physique.

Overload: A greater than normal load on the body is required to create change. If your body is already used to walking, it is necessary to start incorporating an incline or jogging intervals. If your body is use to lifting 3-pound weights, you have to move up to 5-pounders to see results. The more you do, the more you become capable of doing. This is how all the training adaptations occur in exercise and training. The human body is an amazing machine. When you stress your body by lifting a weight that is more than you are accustomed to, your body will react with physiologic changes that will enable you to handle the stress the next time it occurs. This concept is the same in cardiovascular training relating to the heart, lungs and endurance muscles. This is how people get stronger, bigger, faster and increase their physical fitness level.

Progression: There is an optimal level of overload that should be achieved, and an optimal time frame in which this overload should occur. Overload should not be increased too slowly or improvement is unlikely. Overload that is increased too rapidly will result in injury or muscle damage. Therefore it's important that you start slowly and then progress to the next level as your body adapts to the exercise.

More bed and less sleep helps health

2007-04-23T02:12:00.000-07:00

REGULAR sex can be a lifesaver, the British Heart Foundation said yesterday. Along with washing the car and walking the dog, the charity said a romp with your partner can provide the exercise needed to help prevent a heart attack (From scotsman.com).

Addicted to junk grub? Beware!

2007-04-23T02:08:00.000-07:00

Junk food is not only causing obesity but heartburn or acidity leading to ulcers and even cancer in food pipe, a study claimed. The nation-wide study has found that heartburn is affecting about three out of five urban Indians (From Hindustan Times).

The study conducted in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhopal and Hyderabad showed that irregular food eating habits is another cause for heartburn among 71 per cent of the urban adult population.

"Food related problems constitute the largest chunk of reasons leading to acidity. Junk food and irregular food eating habits are the two main reasons for acidity," Anup Singh, who heads the Health Care Welfare society, an NGO that works on health-related matters.

"In most parts of India, people love to eat out and that results in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease," he told PTI. GRE is a condition in which acid, bile and partially-digested food in the stomach back up into the esophagus, the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach.

Heartburn happens when the esophagus comes in contact with stomach acids. If it is overlooked or not treated, it could lead to ulcers and bleeding of the esophagus.

Spicy and chilly based food like pizza, spicy curries, chips and snacks -- a must at parties, celebrations and social gathering are the main culprits (10 per cent) that are changing eating habits as well as interfering with lifestyle activities.

Success for child obesity scheme

2007-04-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

A community programme which aims to encourage obese children to be more healthy has proved highly successful, a study has found (From BBC NEWS).

A year after the nine-week programme, the eight to 12-year-olds were fitter healthier, and more confident.

Details of the Mend programme, now running in 100 areas across England, will be presented to an obesity conference in Budapest on Monday.

One expert said the scheme could underpin work to cut childhood obesity.

Scots children have worst teeth in UK

2007-04-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

CHILDREN in Scotland have the worst teeth in the UK, according to a new survey.

A study of five-year-olds found that 44.8 per cent of Lothian youngsters had fillings, missing teeth or some level of decay, while the Scottish average was 46 per cent. This compared with an average of 38.8 per cent in England and Wales.

The research also found that just nine per cent of five-year-olds in Scotland have access to an NHS dentist, compared to 11 per cent in England and Wales.

Children in Glasgow had the worst dental health, with 52.6 per cent of those questioned suffering from decay, while youngsters from Forth Valley were the least likely to suffer from poor dental health at 31.9 per cent.

Almost 240,000 children across the UK were questioned for the survey, carried out by The British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry.

The study is likely to lead to renewed calls for fluoride to be added to Scottish water supplies.

Source : .scotsman.com

Healthier foods are finding their way in US schools

2007-04-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

Healthier foods and drinks are getting more in US schools just under a year after leading companies first voluntarily agreed to ban high-calorie, low-nutrition products from schools (MSNBC.com).

These are welcome changes since 17 percent of Americans between the ages of 2 and 19, or 12 million of them, are overweight. But nutrition experts said the food and beverage industry needs to do more.

“There are definitely healthier products in schools (today) than three years ago,” said Joy Johanson, a policy analyst at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nutrition advocacy group that has negotiated with soft drink makers for healthier beverages in schools. “But there is still a long way to go.”

The first big move toward healthy products in schools came in May 2006, when Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Cadbury Schweppes Plc, along with the American Beverage Association, established guidelines to provide more nutritious beverages at schools.

The agreement was brokered by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation.

Parents' depression may harm children's health

2007-04-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

When a parent suffers from depression, children are more likely to need costly health services like emergency room visits, and less likely to get preventive healthcare, according to a new study (Yahoo News).

The findings bolster evidence that parents' depression can take a toll on their children's health. The effect can be seen as "one of the hidden costs of adult depression," the researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.

For the study, Dr. Marion Sills and her colleagues at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver reviewed data on nearly 70,000 infants, children and teenagers enrolled in a single healthcare insurance plan.

Between 1997 and 2002, they found, children with at least one parent diagnosed with depression were more likely than other children their age to have an emergency room visit, see a specialist or visit their doctor due to an illness.

On the other hand, teenagers with a depressed parent were less likely to make routine visits for a check-up and preventive care.

The study was not designed to answer the question of why parents' depression affected their children's healthcare, Sills told Reuters Health. She hopes these findings will spur more research into that question.

Healthy Eating with family with no TV

2007-04-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

A recent survey has found that we can have healthy eating if we are taking out meals together. But with family dinner, we need to turn off the TV. This survey was conducted on 1300 low-income families where they have their children in nursery school. So we are going to lose all the benefits of healthy eating with family if the TV is on during the mealtime.

The survey found that the chances of children being served two fruits and three vegetables also increase in each of family eating. The chances of fruits and vegetables being served decrease if the TV was on during the dinned.

Lynn S. Edmunds, a registered dietitian with the New York State Department of Health advised parents to turn off the TV during the mealtimes.

It was also found during the survey that Hispanic and black parents are more often having the TV on during the meals as compared to the white parents. Less educated parents were also found to have the TV on during the meals.

The health benefits are high if we include fruits and vegetables in out diet. If we take diet full of fruits and vegetables we have lesser chanced of blood vessel disease, cancer and heart related problems.

It was also noted that the children who eat lot of fruits and vegetables in their childhood, also continue with the healthy eating pattern in their adulthood as well.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, April 200

Pupils want to know more about sexuality

2007-04-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

Pupils say teachers and parents are not good at talking to them about sensitive issues like sexuality and are turning to magazines for help, a report finds. Inspectors for the schools watchdog, Ofsted, said magazines offered useful advice, even though they might be explicit and sexist. And school nurses were providing a "valuable service" by offering contraception to pupils, Ofsted said (BBC NEWS).

Inspectors urged parents to put aside their embarrassment and talk openly. The Ofsted report, based on 350 school inspections over the past five years, said pupils felt some of their parents lacked the knowledge and skills to talk to them directly about sensitive issues.

And girls aged 12 and 13 were now less likely to talk to their mothers about sensitive issues such as sex as traditional mother-daughter relationships changed. The inspectors said extended schools, where nurses were on site to offer contraceptive advice, were helping reduce teenage pregnancies.

"School nurses can provide a valuable service, particularly in terms of providing emergency hormonal contraception and advising on other forms of contraception," the report said.

And it said where parents failed to set clear expectations for their children, schools became an important source of advice - hence the importance of good personal, social and health education (PSHE).

The report added: "Young people live in a world far removed from that which their parents experienced in their teens."

More home guns means more suicide chances

2007-04-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

Suicide rates among people of all ages are higher in states where more homes have guns, United States researchers reported.

Twice as many people committed suicide in the 15 states with the highest levels of household gun ownership, compared with the six states with the lowest levels, even though the population in all the states was about the same. "We found that where there are more guns, there are more suicides," said Matthew Miller of the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study.

While just 5 per cent of all suicide attempts involve a gun, the person succeeds in killing himself or herself 90 per cent of the time. People use drugs to attempt suicide in 75 per cent of cases, but actually die less than 3 per cent of the time.

- REUTERS

Scientists coming with a way of making healthy pizzas

2007-03-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

US researchers have developed a way of baking and fermenting dough which can increase levels of antioxidants, which protect against cell and tissue damage (From BBC NEWS).

The team from the University of Maryland told the American Chemical Society longer baking and higher temperatures are the key. But a UK diet expert said a healthier pizza base might lead people to choose more unhealthy toppings.

Green tea could be helpful in fight against HIV

2007-03-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

Drinking green tea could help in the fight against HIV, research suggests. cientists found a component called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) prevents HIV from binding to immune system cells by getting there first (BBC NEWS).

Once EGCG has bound to immune system cells there is no room for HIV to take hold in its usual fashion. However, experts said the joint UK and US work, which appears in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, was at a very preliminary stage.

"It is not a cure, and nor is it a safe way to avoid infection, however, we suggest that it should be used in combination with conventional medicines to improve quality of life for those infected. "Future research is also currently under way in order to determine how much effect can be expected from different amounts of tea."

Drug-free treatment for asthma

2007-03-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

A drug-free treatment has helped people control their asthma symptoms for up to a year, a study has found. Bronchial thermoplasty uses radio frequency currents to reduce the amount of smooth muscle in the airways, stopping the narrowing seen in asthma BBC NEWS.

UK asthma experts said it may be another treatment option in the future. However, it is likely most people would still need to make some use of their medication.

Asthma affects the small tubes - airways - that carry air in and out of the lungs. When something triggers asthma, the muscle around the walls of the airways tightens so that the airway becomes narrower. The lining of the airways becomes inflamed and starts to swell and mucus or phlegm can be produced.

What is tiredness actually?

2007-03-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

People through out the world suffer from a very common type of problem called tiredness. People in USA and Europe suffer from one or other type of tiredness. Tiredness is quickly affecting. During working careers everybody experience tiredness at one stage or other, which is generally due to lack of sleep or over work. A sound sleep or a little rest may generally resolve this problem. But it may be due to some other reason.

Some people can only manage to sleep for a couple of hours every night but actually they don't suffer from tiredness. A number of things cause tiredness and sometimes these cause tiredness in combination. A list of main reasons causing tiredness is given below.

Physical exhaustion can cause tiredness and as a consequence avoid the body from laborious activities and through not participating in physical activities one will become more unfit and suffer more. Stress and worry are two bad companions of today's men, which cause tiredness. These took a lot of energy and can leave you feeling drained and tired. Depression can also make you tired.

Many different illnesses and medications can cause you to feel tired. It's worthwhile looking at the side effects of any medication you are going to take and mentioning to your doctor that you suffer from chronic tiredness. If you don't take proper and enough sleep you then you may feel tired.

If you look after small children, or dogs it can be very exhausting!, this type of lifestyle can cause tiredness. When we are down in the dumps we often dread getting out of bed in the mornings, and we are also irritable. We can improve daily life through the following steps. Through increasing your energy levels you can improve your concentration, social life and memory and you will never say " I feel tired".

You need to avoid alarm clocks for waking up because waking without an alarm means you have taken a sound sleep, which is fantastic. Tiredness is a physical condition, which need to be cured. You can only get rid of tiredness & can change your life through acquiring the upper instructions.