Daily Archives: December 22, 2015

8 Tips to Protect your Vision and Blindness

1. Eat for Good Vision
Protecting your eyes starts with the food on your plate. Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E might help ward off age-related vision problems such as macular degeneration and cataracts, studies show. Regularly eating these foods can help lead to good eye health:
a. Green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collards
b. Salmon, tuna, and other oily fish
c. Eggs, nuts, beans, and other non-meat protein sources
d. Oranges and other citrus fruits or juices

2. Smoking now can cause eye problems later
“Get off tobacco in any form,” Taylor says. When you smoke, cyanide from the smoke gets into your bloodstream and can destroy the eye’s cells. Smoking puts you at higher risk of developing cataracts and increases problems with dry eyes. It also raises your risk of macular degeneration, an incurable condition that destroys vision in the center of the eye, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

3. You can help preserve your eyesight by protecting your eyes from the sun
Taylor recommends two safeguards for your eyes: sunscreen and sunglasses. The skin around your eyes is some of the thinnest on the body and is susceptible to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Various kinds of skin cancer, like carcinoma and melanoma, can form in the eyelids and around the eyes, causing major damage to the eye structure

4. Use Safety Eyewear
If you work with hazardous or airborne materials on the job or at home, wear safety glasses or protective goggles every time. Certain sports such as ice hockey, racquetball, and lacrosse can also lead to eye injury. Wear eye protection (such as helmets with protective face masks or sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses) to shield your eyes.

5. Look Away From the Computer Screen
Staring at a computer screen for too long can cause:
a. Eyestrain
b. Blurry vision
c. Trouble focusing at a distance
d. Dry eyes
e. Headaches
f. Neck, back, and shoulder pain

6. After age 60, macular degeneration is a leading cause of blindness
Macular degeneration occurs when eye tissue degenerates, causing blurriness or loss of vision in the central part of the eye. There are two forms of macular degeneration: wet and dry. If vision loss is caused by fluid in the retina, the condition can be treated by injections in the eye. But most forms are dry, for which there is no treatment.

8. Visit Your Eye Doctor Regularly
Everyone, even young children, should get their eyes examined regularly. It helps you protect your sight and see your best.

Sources
http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/10-essential-facts-about-your-eyes/
http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/good-eyesight?page=2
http://www.telegraph.co.uk

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9 Tips to Prevent Back pain

1. Exercise
One of the most important things you can do for back pain prevention is to get up and get moving. Why does exercise prevent back pain? Muscles are meant to move, says Robin Lustig, DC, a chiropractor at New Jersey Total Health Center in Lodi and Pompton Plains, N.J. If you aren’t in good shape, you’re more likely to hurt your back and feel pain when you do even simple movements, such as lifting your child from his crib. “Also, exercise helps keep your joints fluid,” Dr. Lustig says. Another reason exercise prevents back pain is that exercise helps you keep your weight down — being overweight, especially around your stomach, can put added strain on your back.

2. Eat right
“If you maintain good eating habits, you not only will maintain a healthy weight, but you also will not put unnecessary stress on your body,” Lustig says. A steady diet of excessively spicy or fast food can strain your nervous system, which is going to create back problems, she adds. Conversely, a healthy diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, dairy products, and whole grains will keep your digestive tract on track.

3. Sleep sideways
You don’t want to sleep flat on your back. The best position for sleeping is on your side. If you must sleep on your stomach, put a pillow under your lower abdomen to help take stress off your back. Having a supportive mattress and pillow for your head are vital as well. “Getting enough, restful sleep is always an important part of maintaining good health,” Lustig says. Also, if you exercise during the day, you sleep better at night.

4. Maintain proper posture
“People sitting at their computer for seven or eight hours a day is keeping me in business,” says Lustig. “People slouch over their computers and their telephones when they’re texting, and they don’t realize the damage they’re doing to their backs and the pain they could be causing.” Be sure to work at an ergonomically correct workstation, both at the office and at home, and break up long periods in front of the computer with stretching exercises. If you practice good posture, you will maintain the natural curves of your back and help keep it strong.

5. Reduce stress
You probably don’t realize how much stress can impact your back health. Stress causes you to tense your muscles, and constant tension of this kind can cause back pain. Any activity that helps you reduce stress will help prevent back pain, Lustig says. Stress reduction activities can include yoga, meditation, biofeedback, deep breathing, tai chi, and guided imagery.

6. Quit smoking
It’s well known that smoking raises your risk for heart disease and cancer, including lung and colon cancers, but most people don’t realize that smoking also can be a cause of persistent back pain. Research also shows smoking can make existing back pain worse. It’s not entirely clear how smoking affects back health, but one possibility is that it narrows blood vessels. Narrowed blood vessels result in less oxygen and nutrients reaching the spine and, in turn, it becomes more susceptible to injury and slower to heal.

7. Apply heat or cold
When deciding to apply heat or cold to your back, there is no official medical answer for which one is best. Cold decreases pain and spasms by blocking sodium channels in peripheral nerves. Heat helps relax the muscles and improves blood flow. Therefore, you should do what feels best.

8. Explore alternative therapies
Physical therapy, chiropractic treatment, acupuncture or massage all could be viable options for managing back pain. The key is to find someone who is licensed and well-trained. Better yet, ask for a referral from someone you trust. Traction works for some patients with a herniated disc. Core exercises are the standard regardless of the condition causing low back pain. Massage feels good and releases endorphins, a natural pain reliever.

9. Rest but not completely
If you injure your back, do not take bedrest. Instead, take it easy. Sit or sleep in a comfortable position that reduces spinal pressure. For a herniated disc or muscle strain, the best way to sleep is lying on your back with several pillows below your legs so that your hips and knees are flexed from 80 to 90 degrees. If you have a joint condition, lying on your side with a body pillow between your knees is best.

Sources:
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sponsor-story/henry-ford-health-system/2015/08/04/lower-back-pain-back-exercises/30937075/
http://www.everydayhealth.com/pain-management/back-pain/quick-tips-to-help-prevent-back-pain.aspx
http://www.ohpkelowna.com

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16 Tips to Quit Smoking

1. Make a plan to quit smoking
Make a promise, set a date and stick to it. Don’t be put off by a wedding, party or other time when you’d normally smoke.

2.Change your diet
Is your after-dinner cigarette your favourite? A US study revealed that some foods, including meat, make cigarettes more satisfying. Others, including cheese, fruit and vegetables, make cigarettes taste terrible. So swap your usual steak or burger for a veggie pizza instead.

3. Know Your Motivation
When the urge comes, your mind will rationalize. “What’s the harm?” And you’ll forget why you’re doing this. Know why you’re doing this BEFORE that urge comes. Is it for your kids? For your wife? For you health? So you can run? Because the girl you like doesn’t like smokers? Have a very good reason or reasons for quitting. List them out. Print them out. Put it on a wall. And remind yourself of those reasons every day, every urge.

4. Not One Puff, Ever (N.O.P.E.)
The mind is a tricky thing. It will tell you that one cigarette won’t hurt. And it’s hard to argue with that logic, especially when you’re in the middle of an urge. And those urges are super hard to argue with. Don’t give in. Tell yourself, before the urges come, that you will not smoke a single puff, ever again. Because the truth is, that one puff WILL hurt. One puff leads to a second, and a third, and soon you’re not quitting, you’re smoking. Don’t fool yourself. A single puff will almost always lead to a recession. DO NOT TAKE A SINGLE PUFF!

5. Join a Forum
One of the things that helped the most in this quit was an online forum for quitters (quitsmoking.about.com) … you don’t feel so alone when you’re miserable. Misery loves company, after all. Go online, introduce yourself, get to know the others who are going through the exact same thing, post about your crappy experience, and read about others who are even worse than you. Best rule: Post Before You Smoke. If you set this rule and stick to it, you will make it through your urge. Others will talk you through it. And they’ll celebrate with you when you make it through your first day, day 2, 3, and 4, week 1 and beyond. It’s great fun.

6. Reward Yourself
Set up a plan for your rewards. Definitely reward yourself after the first day, and the second, and the third. You can do the fourth if you want, but definitely after Week 1 and Week2. And month 1, and month 2. And 6 months and a year. Make them good rewards, that you’ll look forward to: CDs, books, DVDs, T-shirts, shoes, a massage, a bike, a dinner out at your favorite restaurant, a hotel stay … whatever you can afford. Even better: take whatever you would have spent on smoking each day, and put it in a jar. This is your Rewards Jar. Go crazy! Celebrate your every success! You deserve it.

7. Delay
If you have an urge, wait. Do the following things: take 10 deep breaths. Drink water. Eat a snack (at first it was candy and gum, then I switched to healthier stuff like carrots and frozen grapes and pretzels). Call your support person. Post on your smoking cessation forum. Exercise. DO WHATEVER IT TAKES, BUT DELAY, DELAY, DELAY. You will make it through it, and the urge will go away. When it does, celebrate! Take it one urge at a time, and you can do it.

8. Replace Negative Habits with Positive Ones
What do you do when you’re stressed? If you currently react to stress with a cigarette, you’ll need to find something else to do. Deep breathing, self massage of my neck and shoulders, and exercise have worked wonders for me. Other habits, such as what you do first thing in the morning, or what you do in the car, or wherever you usually smoke, should be replaced with better, more positive ones. Running has been my best positive habit, altho I have a few others that replaced smoking.

9. Make it Through Hell Week, then Heck Week, and You’re Golden
The hardest part of quitting is the first two days. If you can get past that, you’ve passed the nicotine withdrawal stage, and the rest is mostly mental. But all of the first week is hell. Which is why it’s called Hell Week. After that, it begins to get easier. Second week is Heck Week, and is still difficult, but not nearly as hellish as the first. After that, it was smooth sailing for me. I just had to deal with an occasional strong urge, but the rest of the urges were light, and I felt confident I could make it through anything.

10. If You Fall, Get Up
And Learn From Your Mistakes. Yes, we all fail. That does not mean we are failures, or that we can never succeed. If you fall, it’s not the end of the world. Get up, brush yourself off, and try again. I failed numerous times before succeeding. But you know what? Each of those failures taught me something. Well, sometimes I repeated the same mistakes several times, but eventually I learned. Figure out what your obstacles to success are, and plan to overcome them in your next quit. And don’t wait a few months until your next quit. Give yourself a few days to plan and prepare, commit fully to it, and go for it!

11. THINK POSITIVE
This is the most important tip of all. I saved it for last. If you have a positive, can-do attitude, as corny as it may sound, you will succeed. Trust me. It works. Tell yourself that you can do it, and you will. Tell yourself that you can’t do it, and you definitely won’t. When things get rough, think positive! You CAN make it through the urge. You CAN make it through Hell Week. And you can. I did. So have millions of others. We are no better than you. (In my case, worse.)

12. Change your drink
The same study looked at drinks. Fizzy drinks, alcohol, cola, tea and coffee all make cigarettes taste better. So when you’re out, drink more water and juice. Some people find that simply changing their drink (for example, switching from wine to a vodka and tomato juice), affects their need to reach for a cigarette.

13. Get some quitting support
If friends or family members want to give up too, suggest to them that you give up together. Also, there are your local NHS stop smoking services and the NHS Smoking Helpline, available on 0300 123 1044 (open Monday to Friday 9am-8pm, Saturday to Sunday 11am-4pm).

14. Make non-smoking friends
When you’re at a party, stick with the non-smokers. “When you look at the smokers, don’t envy them,” says Louise, 52, an ex-smoker. “Think of what they’re doing as a bit strange – lighting a small white tube and breathing in smoke.”

15. Keep your hands and mouth busy
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can make you twice as likely to succeed. As well as patches, there are tiny tablets, lozenges, gum and a nasal spray. If you like holding a cigarette, use an inhalator. Try putting your drink in the hand that usually holds a cigarette, or drink from a straw to keep your mouth busy.

16. Make a list of reasons to quit
Keep reminding yourself why you gave up. Make a list of the reasons and read it when you need support. Ex-smoker Chris, 28, says: “I used to take a picture of my baby daughter with me when I went out. If I was tempted, I’d look at that.”

Sources

10 Tips for Quitting Smoking


http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/smoking/Pages/Motivateyourself.aspx
http://www.healthyfoodhouse.com

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Elixir to help clear your lungs, best for Smokers

Everyone knows how damaging smoking is. The smokers know best how bad they feel with the breathing difficulties and the loss of energy. Despite all the warnings and facts that cancer and heart attack is caused by smoking, smokers continue to smoke…
Some people get bronchitis months after starting smoking, some later, some don’t but they all suffer consequences for sure one way or the other. All you got to do is Quit Now!
In the mean time start cleansing your lungs from all the toxins and the tar the cigarettes have left behind.

How to Clean Your Lungs
1. Ginger
Ginger is widely known for its numerous health benefits. It is good for this purpose because it will help you eliminate the mucus in your lungs.

2. Onion and garlic
Since onion and garlic among the vegetables with most healing properties it is not strange that they have strong anticancer properties which make them excellent for prevention of many malignant conditions. Onions are also efficient in the prevention of different respiratory infections.

3. Turmeric
Turmeric is rich with vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids. It also has antibacterial, anticancer and antiviral properties.

Lung cleansing elixir:

Ingredients needed:

*.400 g (14 oz) sugar

*.1 l (34 oz) water

*.ginger, a thumb-sized piece

*.2 tbsp turmeric

*.400 g (14 oz) onion

Instructions:
First of all cook the water and the sugar together. In the meantime cut the onion on quatrains and add it to the water together with the shredded ginger root. Wait for the water to start boiling then add the turmeric into it and reduce the heat to low.

You should cook the mixture until it reduces by half. Strain it and keep it in a jar. Wait some time for it to cool down and then store it in the fridge.

Sources
http://trendingstylist.com/best-for-smokers/
http://www.feelhealthylife.com/elixir-to-help-clear-your-lungs-best-for-smokers/
http://www.marthastewart.com

 

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