Monday, September 8, 2008

Take Action Against Your Health Issues Today

Until you take action against all your health problems you cannot expect to live longer. Today, health is one of the major issues in the world. Every person wants to stay healthy not only to live long, but lead a happy life. A healthy man is more confident, active and versatile than a diseased man. Healthy living is mainly based on the types of the food you eat. By eating the right food, your body gets all the necessary nutrients and builds immunity against diseases.

Most of the people do not realize that their chances of longer lifespan will be increasing day by day if they do not fall ill in their entire life time, which is not impossible to achieve, at the same time not easy to follow. Most of the bad habits like smoking, drinking decreases their lifespan drastically. You may also be surprised to know that a little extra time under the sun can cause skin cancer which can turn to death quickly.

Although we do not intend to get diseases, sometimes things go wrong without our notice and we get lured to harmful bacteria or fungus which causes problems in our body. Even when we get inspired to maximize our lifespan, we tend to go back to our old unhealthy lifestyle, simple examples like eating junk food, not drinking much water, less sleeping habits etc. These habits break us down day by day. Still we tend to continue this trend without thinking of our future.

It just takes one single step towards betterment of oneself, and the changes are guaranteed to follow. Think in the right direction to gain better health and to continue with that. After the first step is taken all you need to do is to stick to your health regime. Have strong belief and will power within you. Your life definitely changes if you alter your belief and will power.

Prevention is certainly better than cure. It is much better to be aware of the ailments you get before getting it so that you can avoid them altogether. Performing a silly mistake like eating with unwashed hands could possibly result in infections and suffering. Try your best to stay fit by implementing a clean lifestyle.

These actions may be considered small and easy, but you have to keep in mind that these actions are to be followed very strictly in order to gain a healthy lifestyle. Take actions today and you will never look back on unhealthy habits in the future.

Anaphylaxis Causes

Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that occurs in response to a particular trigger. Knowing the symptoms of anaphylaxis may save your life or the life of someone you love.


Allergy Triggers


The most commonly documented causes of anaphylaxis are:

Food: Food allergies are an increasingly common cause of anaphylaxis that result in about 125 deaths each year in the United States.

Medications: Although the exact incidence of medication allergies is unknown, serious allergic reactions to medications cause the most allergy-associated deaths in the United States every year.

Insect venom: Insect allergies are common , especially allergies to members of the Hymenoptera order of insects.

Latex: Latex allergies now affect an estimated 1% to 6% of the U.S. population and the reasons for the increase in incidence can be attributed to biohazard precautions and manufacturing changes.

Exercise: Exercise-induced anaphylaxis is a form of physical allergy.


In situations where a specific trigger remains unidentified, the patient is said to suffer from idiopathic anaphylaxis.


To learn more about common triggers that cause allergic reactions, please review the material found in food, medication, insect venom, or latex allergies.


Although comprehensive information is not available, the best estimates indicate that as many as 40.9 million people in the United States suffer from severe allergies that may put them at risk for anaphylaxis—and the numbers are growing. This growth has been attributed to the increased exposure to allergens such as latex, peanuts, and insects, particularly fire ants. Moreover, researchers are uncovering a large incidence of anaphylactic drug reactions that have gone unnoticed or were poorly documented in the past.


Symptoms


The most distinctive symptoms of anaphylaxis include:

* Hives
* Swelling of the throat, lips, tongue, or around the eyes
* Difficulty breathing or swallowing


Other common symptoms of anaphylaxis may include:

* A metallic taste or itching in the mouth
* Generalized flushing, itching, or redness of the skin
* Abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
* Increased heart rate
* Rapidly decreasing blood pressure (and accompanying paleness)
* A sudden feeling of weakness
* Anxiety or an overwhelming sense of doom
* Collapse
* Loss of consciousness

Three Reasons Why You Having Trouble Sleeping

Are you having trouble sleeping at night? You're not alone. Sleep disorder affects many people. To eliminate your sleep disorder, you need to ask yourself why you are not sleeping and need to address these issues. Usually when you are not getting sleep at night, it may have to do with your mindset, the way you treat your body or the environment around you. Here are a few common reasons that cause people to have trouble sleeping.

One reason you may have trouble sleeping is stress and anxiety. As we get older, and as we in the more responsibility, it is pertinent to have a clear mind in order to get a good nights sleep. If you are spending all day and night worrying about your job and the bills and all the other fun stuff life has to offer, you're not focusing on your well-being. Just spending a little time for your self can make a world of difference. Don't make your day all about work. When you come home at night, make sure you give time for yourself. Reading is a great way to take your mind off of things. Also, there are a couple things you can do before you bedtime to limit new information. For example, try to stop using the computer or play video games a half hour before you go to bed. If you're news freak, you may want to pry yourself away from any news shows before going to bed.

Another reason why people don't sleep at night is because they're uncomfortable. Temperature can make or break a good nights' sleep. Here's what you can do. If you can't stand hot weather, and there's a July heat wave going on, turn the air conditioning on or make sure your bedroom stays cool. Like you distraction. Keep your bedroom dark at night. If you're a parent and your kids need the hallway light on at night make sure you close the door to your bedroom to eliminate most of the light.

Finally, lack of exercise can also be a reason not sleeping. Exercise is good for easing your stress and anxiety and can help you relax at night. A short work out in the middle of the day can wake you up and keep you effective throughout the workday. One thing with exercise that you want to keep in mind is that you exercise in the afternoon and not at night. You can start your own exercise program with as little as 30 minutes in the afternoon of vigorous activity to reap the benefits.

As with anything in life you want to do what's right for you. When it comes to having trouble sleeping at night, there are many things that can be the cause of it. However, using the ideas discussed above may help you get a head start in getting some sleep at night.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and reflects an opinion. This article is not a substitute for medical advice. You should consult a physician for medical advisement.

Aloe Vera - A Great Plant for the Summer

Like a lot of people growing up, I got sunburns pretty regularly as a kid. That's what happens when you're pale and you burn much more easily than you tan. But I learned early on to appreciate it the year my mother bought an aloe vera plant.

Aloe vera is a succulent. It's pretty easy to grow and very useful. You can grow it indoors on the windowsill or outside in a pot or on the ground. It likes sandy soil, like many succulents. If you get frost, keep it indoors.

Any time you scrape or burn yourself it can help. And of course it helps delightfully with sunburn.

All you have to do is snip off one of the leaves and break it open. The gel on the inside is truly marvelous. It cools the burn or scrape quickly.

It can be a bit challenging getting the gel out. You can cut the leaves open and just rub directly on your skin, but the plant has some small spikes along the edges that may scratch you. Not badly if you're using it gently, though. If using fresh leaves, avoid the yellow part inside the leaves. This can be irritating to the skin.

I like to recommend the plant over the commercially prepared aloe vera gels for a few reasons. The first is that I've always had the best luck with the gel straight from the plant. The effect just seems to be stronger to me. That could, of course, just be an illusion, but it is what I believe.

I also like that if you treat it right, you can just keep the plant growing, rather than having to buy new bottles all the time. It saves some waste.

And of course, if you use it straight from the plant you know exactly what you are getting. No worries about the other ingredients added to the stuff in the bottle labeled "aloe vera".

Some people also take aloe vera internally from prepared capsules. There are a variety of claimed benefits to this. I've never tried it myself and so cannot speak from experience.

For me, the cooling effect this has on sunburn is the big reason I like to make sure to have a plant on hand during the summer. I always hope to not need it, but when a burn happens to myself or someone in my family, it's nice to have a way to relieve the discomfort.

Sports Massage Therapy - What You Must Know Now

A unique form of sports massage therapy is known as the Ayurvedic method that, though it is not a complete therapeutic cure, it is helpful in making an organism take in nutrient material from within the body itself in addition to helping to dispel toxins.

There are very forms of ailments that involve ligaments, muscles and the nervous system that might be totally healed by Ayurvedic sports massage therapy and similar treatments can also have a highly effective outcome on other dangerous ailments such as derangement and the Ayurvedic sports massage therapy is also an aide to other forms of unique treatment.

All the ancient knowledge about Indian pressure points is made use of for practitioners who utilizes Ayurvedic sports massage therapy and it is an excellent solution for dealing with pain and utilizing this is formal therapy on numerous other parts of the body will, at a minimum, assist with other medical treatments to a successful outcome.

A Real Therapy for Rheumatism, Arthritis And Much More

Ayurvedic sports massage therapy is capable of helping rheumatism, arthritis, neurasthenia, sciatica, blood pressure problems, polio, paralysis, as well as insomnia and in these cases the practitioner might require you to have a prescribed medication as well as alter your daily habits and exercise is to have increased potency to this form of treatment.

In addition to this type of Indian form of sports besides therapy, there are numerous other kinds of therapies that are available to everyone and they include holistic therapies, Swedish, Bowen technique, as well as therapies based on Oriental culture and much more.

Essentially, sports massage therapy has over time the majority of the helpful attributes by combining Western and Eastern traditions and a very significant progression in sports therapy was the involvement of a Swedish physiologist called Per Henrik Ling.

He was the originator of a scientific system that was known as the Swedish Massage which had to do with the four basic strokes that are kneading, stroking, vibration and percussion although and most of them might not be utilized on every part of the human body.

In recent modern times, sports massage therapy has become a skill that is multidimensional and involves numerous types of the emerging techniques and quite a bit of them have their origins in the Swedish Massage.

The Bowen technique is an additional sports massage therapy that is holistic in nature and hands-on type of therapy that has to do with a series of gentle moves that are non-invasive over the muscles as well as work on the connective tissues and allows the body to obtain much-needed rest as well as permitting it to heal and reset itself.

The main reason behind this form of sports massage therapy is to support as well as augment the natural healing capabilities of the human body and Bowen therapists are of the belief that the human body has ability to adjust as well as adapt and heal itself.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Ayurvedic Terms Explained

Dosha: In Ayurvedic philosophy, the five elements combine in pairs to form three dynamic forces or interactions called doshas. It is also known as the governing principles as every living things in nature is characterized by the dosha.

Ayurvedic Facial: Purportedly, a "therapeutic skin care experience" that involves the use of "dosha-specific" products and a facial massage focusing on "marma points."

Ayurvedic Nutrition (Ayurvedic Diet): Nutritional phase of Ayurveda. It involves eating according to (a) one's "body type" and (b) the "season." The alleged activity of the doshas--three "bodily humors," "dynamic forces," or "spirits that possess"--determines one's "body type." In Ayurveda, "body types" number seven, eight, or ten, and "seasons" traditionally number six. Each two-month season corresponds to a dosha; for example, the two seasons that correspond to the dosha named "Pitta" (see "Raktamoksha") constitute the period of mid-March through mid-July. But some proponents enumerate three seasons: summer (when pitta predominates), autumn, and winter (the season of kapha); or Vata season (fall and winter), Kapha season (spring), and Pitta season (summer). According to Ayurvedic theory, one should lessen one's intake of foods that increase ("aggravate") the ascendant dosha.

How to Try Mindfulness Meditation

1. Find a quiet and comfortable place. Sit in a chair or on the floor with your head, neck and back straight but not stiff.

2. Try to put aside all thoughts of the past and the future and stay in the present.

3. Become aware of your breathing, focusing on the sensation of air moving in and out of your body as you breathe. Feel your belly rise and fall, the air enter your nostrils and leave your mouth. Pay attention to the way each breath changes and is different.

4. Watch every thought come and go, whether it be a worry, fear, anxiety or hope. When thoughts come up in your mind, don't ignore or suppress them but simply note them, remain calm and use your breathing as an anchor.

5. If you find yourself getting carried away in your thoughts, observe where your mind went off to, without judging, and simply return to your breathing. Remember not to be hard on yourself if this happens.

6. As the time comes to a close, sit for a minute or two, becoming aware of where you are. Get up gradually.