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Head Lice

Posted by admin on December 15th, 2009

Head lice are parasitic insects that live in the hair on the head and neck. The belief that the cause of head lice is dirty hair is a myth. One generally gets lice from someone who already has it in their hair and is most commonly transmitted through the use of the same comb, but that is not the only means by which it is transmitted.

Head lice can be really exasperating but fortunately they are not harmful nor do they cause any sort of infections. They are more of a bother because they make you feel itchy in the scalp and when you scratch too much you tend to bleed in the scalp, but generally this condition can be quite easily remedied.

Trying to get rid of an excessive growth of head lice can be time consuming, but it definitely can be done provided you make use of the right treatment. Many pharmaceuticals have come up with different products to get rid of it.

The mechanical method of eliminating these parasites involves ridding the head of lice and nits by combing the hair with the use of fine toothed combs that trap the lice as you comb the hair right from the roots to the tip. Done regularly and consistently this helps to eradicate head lice.

Chemical products are also used to rid the head of lice, but these have to be used cautiously as they can damage the hair and scalp. Such products generally have insecticide as a primary ingredient.

The best treatment to get rid of these parasitic insects is the use of natural remedies that are safe to use and are capable of really cleansing the head of the menace. Special shampoos consisting of natural ingredients to eradicate head lice are very commonly used these days as they are very convenient. Vinegar is said to be one of the best and most preferred cures for getting rid of lice in the head. A good search on the internet can give you any number of remedies for head louse treatment.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Posted by admin on December 10th, 2009

If you have tingling, pain, and numbness in your hands or wrists, especially in the middle, index, ring fingers or thumb, you could have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. This condition also features weakness and loss of feeling in the hands and fingers.

Repetitive hand and finger use are thought to cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The median nerve gets compressed where it passes through the carpal tunnel, which is a constricted passageway of ligaments and bones underneath the wrist.

One of the ways this syndrome can be treated is by acupuncture. The acupuncture treatment points for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome are on the hands, wrists, arm neck, thumb, upper back and leg.

The amount of acupuncture treatments you will need for relief vary and depend upon things like the severity of your condition, how much you use your hands, wrists, and arms, and your overall health.

Laser acupuncture can also be used for treatment of this ailment.

Acupressure is another treatment option. This works very similarly to acupuncture, only it does not rely on needles or lasers. Instead, pressure is applied to certain points of the body. This pressure is thought to result in increased blood flow to the affected areas, thereby reducing swelling and pain. Acupressure points for Carpal Tunnel syndrome are the hands, wrists, and forearms.

In some studies, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome has been related to Vitamin B6 deficiencies. Therefore, it may be effective to treat the condition through an increased intake of Vitamin B6. Bok choy, chic peas, salmon, pork, turkey, chicken, potatoes, avocados, sunflower seeds, brown rice, bananas, barley, and mangoes are foods naturally rich in levels of Vitamin B6. You can also take 50mg of Vitamin B6 from two to three times a day as a treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Eating more pineapple can actually help in the treatment of the condition, since pineapples are a natural source of the enzyme, bromelain. Bromelain may help to decrease the swelling that comes with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

There are many other treatments available to you if you suffer with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It is always advised to consult with a physician before you start any course of treatment for any disease or condition. Tell your doctor if you desire to try natural homeopathic or holistic treatments for your condition. Most doctors will respect your desire to want to treat your condition in a natural or holistic doctor. If your physician is pressing you to immediately medicate for your condition, ask why. Perhaps, your situation is particularly or he or she has a very valid reason for refusing the natural option for your treatment.

While Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be painful and restrictive, it is not life threatening. Therefore, your doctor should be reasonable enough to allow you to try natural therapies for this particular ailment. If your physician is not responsive to your desire to treat your ailment naturally, you might want to seek out the advice of another doctor.

There are plenty of doctors around these days who are responsive to natural healing and treatment.

Types of Hair Implants

Posted by admin on December 9th, 2009

Get hair growing in your bald spot. The fact is, due to the causes of balding in men, the chances of rubbing something into your scalp and miraculously seeing hair start to grow is about zero. 95% of all men who suffer from hair loss have a genetic condition known as Androgenetic Alopecia or Male Pattern Baldness (MPB). The results of this condition are that the hair follicles, the part that grows the hair, are rendered useless by a substance called DHT. This DHT bonds with receptors on the follicle and causes it to slowly stop functioning.

Once enough of this substance has attached itself to the hair follicles they can no longer produce hair shaft material and the hair itself turns thin and whispy and eventually falls out. Although there are two FDA approved drugs, Finasteride and Minoxidil, that will help a little with this condition, once the follicle stops operating it is usually never going to produce hair again.

The only proven technique for getting hair to grow on a bald spot is to utilize hair implants in a hair transplantation procedure. A cosmetic surgeon performs this treatment which involves removing growing hair follicles from an area that still has good hair growth, usually the posterior, and inserting them into the bald area. If you are interested in this method of getting you hair back then you need to be aware of the different types of hair implants also called hair grafts.

The largest implant is known as the strip graft. This is comprised of a slice of scalp with about 30 hairs. It is removed from the donor area and then placed in an incision in the patient’s scalp at the balding area. This graft type is very noticeable because the hairs are in a straight line. The next type is also noticeable. The plug graft is a round section of scalp with about 12 hairs. When these are inserted into the scalp they tend to look like the hair on a cheap dolls head, tufts of hair growing every which way.

The mini-graft is usually comprised of about four follicles in a group. These are almost unnoticeable when inserted by a surgeon. Close inspection of the scalp can give away the fact that you had implants though. The best and most natural looking is the micro-graft. This techniques involves dealing with individual follicles or small groups of two or three growing in a natural cluster. The surgeon can insert these small grafts in such a way as the match the growth direction of surrounding hairs giving you a look that is as good as your natural hair.
Once you have lost the hair in a spot on your head the only real solution is to have a hair implants procedure performed by a qualified surgeon.

Normal Range Blood Pressure

Posted by admin on December 7th, 2009

What is normal range blood pressure? What can be considered healthy? You’d think that there would be a range considered “normal” and that anything outside of that is either too low or too high. The reality is quite different.

High Blood Pressure

The easiest place to start is to realise what is high blood pressure. In most countries this is considered to be anything over 140/90 mmHg.

So does that mean that anything below this figure is either normal or low? Not quite.

Prehypertension

In fact, there is an additional zone called “prehypertension” which is between 121/81 and 139/89 mmHg. If you lie in this range then even though you are not classified as “high”, you are still at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease than you would otherwise be if it were lower.

Best Blood Pressure

Really you should be thinking not in terms of “normal” but in “best”. The best figure to have for your bp is between 115/75 and 120/80. This is really the ideal bp where it is not too low but at the same time you have minimized your risks. This should be everyone’s target.

How To Reach The Ideal

Drug companies, their lobbyists and doctors will tell you that drugs are the way. Recently in the UK, the media made a big story of a study that recommended that everyone over 55 should take blood pressure lowering drugs. They are trying to position them as the next big thing since statins. Quite frankly, this is irresponsible advice.

The side effects from such drugs are debilitating and well known. These drugs are not easily tolerated and are often prescribed in all sorts of combinations in a failed effort to control side effects.

This is all needless because natural methods alone such as changing your diet, taking supplements (e.g. taking herbs for bp), getting a little exercise (not much) and looking at your stress levels are sufficient to bring you down to 115/75 without using any drugs whatsoever.

The Basic Tips of Weight Loss

Posted by admin on December 4th, 2009

When it comes to losing weight, everyone loses at a different rate and they lose the weight differently throughout the body. This is typical. However, something that is the same for everyone is the main principle of weight loss. You want to make sure that you are following these closely in order to make sure that you are getting the most out of your diet and life change.

Exercise: Even if you have not exercised in years, this is something you have to force yourself to do. At first, it may seem incredibly hard and boring. The thing is though, you cannot let up. You have to keep pushing forward. The more you exercise, the more you will get used to it. After a while, you will find that you may have only started with being able to exercise for ten minutes but now you can go an entire hour without a problem. You also want to make sure that you are mixing some weight training in with your cardio. It is important to not just drop the fat but to gain lean muscle mass as well.

Eat Right: When it comes to losing weight, you have to change what it is that you are eating and drinking on a regular basis. This does not mean that you can never have cake again, but you will need to limit how often you eat it and how much of it you eat when you do have it. It is important to make sure that you are eating more fruits and veggies and steering clear of the bad carbohydrates. You also need to make sure that you are drinking enough water each day. Since tea, pop and coffee do not count towards your total water intake, you will need to cut back on those.

Positive Thinking: Believe it or not, the way you think about the changes you are trying to make has a lot to do with your success. If you are always thinking that you are going to fail and that you are never going to be successful with your weight loss journey, you will find that you will not succeed. You have to think positive thoughts and always remind yourself just why it is that you are in need of loosing weight. Do you want to live longer for your children or your grandchildren? Would you like to finally enjoy shopping for clothes? On the other hand, maybe you just finally want to be able to walk on the beach and have every head turn your way. No matter what your reason is, you want to remember it so that you are always staying focused. Focused people are the people who succeed.

Athletica Nervosa

Posted by admin on December 3rd, 2009

The bad news is not all of gentlemen are lucky enough to have such a sculpted body. First of all, we might not be fortunate enough in terms of ‘genetic lottery’. You know, when it comes to genes we inherit from our parents, no one can protest in any possible way. Whether our genes are good are bad, we have no option but deal with the reality.
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Some men are lucky enough to inherit handsome faces from his father, or inherit the high level body metabolism which makes them less likely to become obese.That’s the lovely side but what if your dad gives you ‘dark’ genes that makes you gain weight easier? Or genes that causes your body height increases slower than your peers? Well, I’d say you have to make peace with yourself because the harder you push yourself the more you’ll get hurt.

Secondly, most of us are not able to have enough time and tools needed to keep ourselves fit. It is perhaps the most frequently mentioned excuse but it holds true for people whose daily activities are not related to physical jobs. If you’re working 8 hours a day and going into overtime hours after that, no one wouldn’t be that surprised to see your beer belly that stores pounds of fats.

But do you know that most men nowadays think that having an athletic figure is a must? Probably you and I are some of those men but hold that thought. Let me tell you an astounding fact that men are now swept away by a wave called ‘athletica nervosa’. This is a new term coined by media to refer to a type of anxiety that men commonly have by exercising excessively at gyms. And this is what i just read on a site:

“Men who regularly read ‘lads’ magazines’ are increasingly obsessive about their body image resulting in them doing excessive exercise and possibly taking steroids to improve their physique, according to a study by University of Winchester psychologist Dr David Giles.”

‘Lads’ magazines here are magazines that are usually read by men and boys and most of the content is about how to stay healthy, lean, fit, and of course how to grow more muscles. But I think it’s not only ‘lads’ magazines that endorse the importance of muscular physique. If we are sensitive enough, we’ll notice recently there are more and more young, good-looking, muscular male models being featured on TV commercials, banners, ads in magazines, even clothing catalogs (which were assumed to be quite girlie in the past). It may be just a coincidence but I don’t think that way.

What strikes me most is that this apparently starts to infect our kids! You can call me a hyperbolic liar but after you read this, you won’t. A 5-year-old infant named Giuliano Stroe in Italy has started to become a fitness freak after he regularly accompanied his dad exercising at a local gym.
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All these things seem to lead to a complete insanity. And what is initially meant to be an endeavor to get healthier and fitter proves to be a misleading campaign for instant muscularity. Some men who are not patient enough in the journey resort to a shortcut. This shortcut is called steroid. As we know that using steroid is no good especially in the long run.

So is having muscular physique really worth it? Or is it just another mirage men have been tricked into? Being unsatisfied with our appearance is humane and everyone experiences that. But being too much worried about what image people can have in their mind about us is somewhat ridiculous. Gentlemen, in my humble opinion, we should choose health over muscularity. If we’re exercising, we must focus more on being healthier, so as to be able to function normally at work and in household. When ego has taken over our sanity, however, we’re more likely to get drowned by the endless competition of enlarging biceps, showing off six packs, or how to get larger pectoral muscles.

In the past decades we’ve already bombarded with a series of news about women developing anorexia nervosa and then dying afterwards. Now men are dealing with the same plague. We now see more women are rebelling against the ’slim is beautiful’ dogma. Some of these ladies (who are not as skinny as those female models) are compellingly successful and set their own trends as they appreciate their body figure more than before. It’s OK to be plump or a bit obese but as long as they take themselves as they are, nothing is ever problem.
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Women have shown their resistance against the ’slimmer is always better’ proposition and what about men? Can men have the audacity to say NO to ‘beefier is always better’ proposition? Ask ourselves.

The Different Types of Asthma

Posted by admin on December 2nd, 2009

Asthma is a common respiratory disease marked by a chronic inflammation of the airways resulting in recurring cough and breathlessness.
Traditionally, asthma is often classified into two types – intrinsic asthma and extrinsic asthma. However, as per the modern medical world, there can be so many different types of asthma, such as steroid-resistant asthma, steroid-resistant asthma, nocturnal asthma, exercise-induced asthma, intrinsic asthma, and allergic asthma. Besides that, doctors now use four basic classifications to determine the severity of asthma, including severe persistent, moderate persistent, mild persistent, and mild intermittent.

Allergic Asthma
More than 90% of the patients suffer from allergic asthma. This is the most common type, which can be diagnosed when asthma attacks are triggered by specific allergies. The good thing here is that such allergies are easily avoidable and identifiable if you get the treatment at the right time. So, make sure you contact your doctor immediately once you experience any such thing.

Intrinsic Asthma
This is one of the most common types of asthma that usually affect people aged 40 years and up. It does not normally occur in children. The cases where children have been affected by intrinsic asthma are rare. It is mainly caused by regular inhalation of irritating chemicals, such as cleaning products, smoke, and perfumes. It is not an easy condition to treat. Therefore, it is very important for you to be very alert and talk to your doctor about every symptom that you are experiencing and that might indicate to such problems. The basic idea is to prevent the condition from worsening.

Exercise-Induced Asthma
This is also one of the common types of asthma and it occurs usually in people who practice heavy exercises regularly. One of the important signs of this condition includes coughing fits caused by exercising heavily. So, you must monitor your coughs while you exercise. When you work out heavily, your lungs lose the necessary moisture and heat, which eventually results in asthmatic attacks and breathing difficulties.

Nocturnal Or Sleep-Related Asthma
In these types of asthma, the asthma symptoms occur in the patient during the night hours. This can be a very situation especially of children are experiencing this. You must consult your doctor immediately if you notice any such thing. Some common possible causes for nocturnal or sleep-related asthma include gastroesophageal reflux disorder, Allergens in the lowered room temperature, and Allergens in the bedroom.

Occupational Asthma
Occupational asthma has also become increasingly very common these days – probably because of the increased level of pollution in the air. These types of asthma occur by prolonged exposure to allergens or industrial chemicals. Inhalation of chemical fumes and dust is the major reason for these types of asthmatic attacks.

Steroid-Resistant Asthma
You are strongly recommended to take your medications as directed by the doctor. If you don’t take medications in time or take overdose of medications, you are always at the risk of developing a more serious condition, which is known as steroid-resistant asthma. In this case, the patient stops responding to the medications.

All these types of asthma need urgent medical assistance regardless of their severity level.

Migraine symptoms

Posted by admin on November 30th, 2009

The exact cause of migraines is still unknown. So far, all we have are theories as to why this condition occurs. Only one thing is for sure when it comes to migraines and that is women are three times more prone to suffer from migraines than men. Many women migraine sufferers will admit that their headaches often coincide with the period just before their menstrual period.

It is estimated that around 60% of female migraine sufferers suffer from an attack during their period and during the rest of the month. Only 14% suffer from an attack during their period. Of all female migraine sufferers, 74% associate their period with their headaches. Medical science does not deny the connection but the reason is still unknown.

Many women who suffer from migraine later on in life reported that their pre-menstrual syndrome or PMS have become much more acute since the headache started. In the January 2006 issue of Headache, a study was featured confirming the apocryphal evidence. Women who participated in the studies reported experiencing more severe bloating, breast tenderness, weight gain, mood swings, abdominal cramps and back pain.

In the study, the women were given medication to induce temporary artificial menopause by stopping the action of the ovaries. The subjects still reported worsened PMS symptoms during the migraine attacks even in the absence of the hormonal ups and downs of regular periods.

Menstrual migraines is the term used to describe the headaches felt by the 14% of women who only suffer from migraines during their periods. There is hope for these women. For some of them, taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines or NSAIDs such as ibuprofen several days before their period as well as the first few days of it can prevent menstrual migraine. If you would like to try this course of action, discuss it with your doctor first.
There are no guarantees that your migraines will leave forever.

Autism Characteristics

Posted by admin on November 30th, 2009

Mental Retardation is not as much a disease as it is a symptom of a variety of psychological conditions. It is a disorder in its own right, though, characterized by intellectual functioning that is well below average. Often the patient has an IQ of around 70 or less. Patients of autistic disorder are not necessarily retarded; they just may appear so because of the ‘withdrawal symptoms’ that they depict with respect to communication and socializing.

Down syndrome has patients suffering from serious language difficulties and a few cognitive ones. However, they do not often have the social withdrawal symptoms that are so heavily characteristic of classic autism. Quite on the contrary, sufferers of Down-syndrome tend to be rather affectionate and very responsive to others.

Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological disorder that is characterized by involuntary body movements and the tics, vocal outburst that the patient cannot control. In between the sudden occurrences, though, the patients have normal social and emotional development that is uncharacteristic of autism. Added to this, their intelligence is unimpaired in any way.

And then there are a number of other diseases and disorders that share a few common symptoms with autism but do not have anything to do with the autism-spectrum. Symptoms such as scratching or biting oneself, head banging, and using objects in the immediate environment to hurt oneself happen from time to time in autism sufferers, but they are also characteristic of a number of other genetic disorders like Cornelia de Lange syndrome, Lesch-Nylan, and the fragile X syndrome.

You want to know these conditions that share various similarities to classic autism but as not PDDs – pervasive developmental disorders – or part of the autism-spectrum. One day, perhaps, you may save a life. even when you never thought possible. So – yes, no knowledge is ever wasted.

Manic Depression Disorder

Posted by admin on November 23rd, 2009

Are you wondering what the difference is between bipolar and bipolar depression disorder? If you are, then you are reading the right article. It provides very helpful facts about both of these conditions to help you make the right decision and get help.

You might start disliking yourself without any reason when you suffer from bipolar depression disorder. It is similar to basic bipolar disorder in that regard, as well as with respect to the sleeping problems that start to occur. However, it is critical that you do not confuse one for another because they are not the same.

Your mind becomes the home of all kinds of negative thoughts, which often include suicidal thoughts, when the disease you are suffering from is bipolar depression disorder. It is easy for you at this point to think it is actually bipolar type of disorder manifesting itself, but then the mania never quite comes.

When you have a kind of bipolar-disorder in which you rarely experience the manic phase of the condition, you may not be suffering from bipolar disorder at all. Experienced psychologists and psychiatrists will likely diagnose you instead for bipolar depression disorder, and put you on a different kind of medication.

You may not want to jump to conclusions about the type of illness you suffer from when you find yourself depressed so all the time. It is a common enough condition with all kinds of manifestations and treatments too. But you do want to keep your eye out for the bipolar depression disorder form of it. I hear it can be quite misleading.