SAFETY AND YOUR HEALTH

You may not often think about the effect safety has on your health, but accidental injury, motor vehicle collisions, fires, violent crime, and firearms constitute major causes of death and disability in the United States. Working in your home and community to prevent accidental and violent injury is an important but often neglected responsibility. Safety...

Read More

How to Quit Smoking

The most important thing you should know about quitting smoking is that the harmful effects of the habit begin to reverse almost as soon as you stop. Within 20 minutes of your last cigarette, your heart rate and blood pressure drop to normal. After 8 hours of being smoke-free, your blood levels of carbon monoxide and oxygen return to normal. Your risk of having...

Read More

Smoking’s Damaging Effects on Your Body

In addition to the addictive drug nicotine, the other principal harmful substances in cigarettes are tar and carbon monoxide. Tar is a sticky, brown residue that collects in the lungs. Primarily made up of chemicals known as hydrocarbons, tar is a powerful cancer-causing agent that has been linked to the development of lung cancer. Carbon monoxide is...

Read More

THE HAZARDS OF TOBACCO

Tobacco use is by far the top avoidable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States, responsible for nearly one in five deaths. Currently about 50 million adults in this country, mostly men, smoke cigarettes. Although smoking is generally declining, the number of adolescents and young adults who are beginning to smoke is on the rise. Cigarette smoke contains...

Read More

The Effects of Alcohol on Your Sexual Performance

Social drinking lowers your inhibitions and may make you feel more ready to have sex, but too much alcohol can actually impair your sexual function. Alcohol is neither an aphrodisiac nor a stimulant. It is a central nervous system depressant that slows down your responses, making it harder to get an erection or to ejaculate. Drinking alcohol also can impair your judgment, making...

Read More

Local therapy or ‘whole body’ therapy?

Cancer is a biologic puzzle. There is no unanimous agreement on what makes cells grow abnormally, in endless, uncontrolled multiplication. There could be many different valid ways to treat cancer. To conventional physicians, cancer is a localized disease, to be treated in a localized manner. By cutting out the tumor, irradiating it, or flooding the body with...

Read More

How to Treat a Hangover

Ahangover manifests itself as a combination of symptoms, including headache, dry mouth, and mild dizziness. It is still unclear exactly why overindulging in alcohol produces a hangover, but several factors come into play. Alcohol causes your body to lose water by stimulating your kidneys to excrete more water than you drink, resulting in dehydration. The more alcohol you...

Read More

THE DANGERS OF ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS

Drinking alcoholic beverages is an accepted social activity. Consumed in moderate amounts, alcohol relaxes you, stimulates your appetite, and produces mild euphoria. It also loosens inhibitions, making you feel more friendly and outgoing. While moderate drinking is not detrimental to your health, excessive drinking (defined as four drinks or more per...

Read More

Comparing Types of Physical Activity

Choose an activity you enjoy or one you regularly perform. Start slowly, and gradually increase the intensity of your workout. You may want to begin by walking for 30 minutes 3 days per week. Then gradually work your way up to 45 minutes of walking 5 days per week. Your goal should be to exercise for at least 30 minutes or more most (if not all) days of the...

Read More

Tips for Dieting

If you have a weight problem, you can find many programs to help you lose extra pounds, but the only proven method to lose weight and keep it off is to eat less and become more active. A calorie- and fat-restricted diet that follows the Food Guide Pyramid (see page 5) recommendations, combined with a regular exercise program, will help you reach your...

Read More

A HEALTHY WEIGHT

Carrying excess weight is a known health risk. Excess weight increases the heart’s workload and can raise your chances of getting a number of serious medical conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes, and certain forms of cancer. It also can adversely affect your self-image and make it difficult to exercise. But how can you...

Read More

Warming Up and Cooling Down

Always begin your exercise routine with a thorough warm-up period. Warm-up exercises heighten your flexibility and prevent muscle soreness. The purpose of warm-up exercises is to take each joint in your body through its full range of motion. Stretching exercises combined with low-intensity walking, jogging, or bicycling for about 5 minutes also prepare your body for more vigorous activity. After you finish your workout, repeat the same exercises to cool your muscles and joints down. Here are some effective warm-up and cool-down stretches you...

Read More

Hair Loss Treatment For Men – Top Tips For Healthy Hair Growth

As men get older, they are increasingly at risk of developing androgenic alopecia, also known as male pattern baldness. This is the most common hair loss cause in men, which starts with a receding hairline and continues until hair is lost on the top of the head. Thankfully, this gradual hair loss can be slowed down with a good hair loss treatment and...

Read More

The Dangers of Anabolic Steroids

Professional and amateur athletes sometimes use supplements or drugs to improve their physical performance. Anabolic steroids are probably the most well-known performance-enhancing drugs, and the most dangerous. These synthetic drugs imitate the effects of the male hormone testosterone. The drugs have approved medical uses, but athletes use...

Read More

Getting Started and Staying Motivated

It may seem overwhelming to even think about exercising every day, but remember that any type of physical activity counts toward your goal. If you are over age 40 or are a smoker, you should get a thorough physical examination from your doctor before participating in any type of vigorous exercise program. After the doctor gives you the all-clear signal, try these tips to get you off to a good start and help you stick to your exercise regimen: • Set reasonable goals. If you can only jog lightly for 5 minutes at first, don’t try to do more...

Read More

What Type of Exercise Is Best for You?

Choosing the best type of exercise for your lifestyle can be as easy as participating in an activity you like, whether it’s biking with the family or playing a not-so-serious game of basketball. All forms of exercise are beneficial for your health. Aerobic exercises are prolonged physical activities that you can perform continuously for at least...

Read More

THE BENEFITS OF EXERCISE

Along with a healthy diet, exercise is the cornerstone of good health. Physical activity produces a multitude of benefits for your overall health and well-being. Being active helps prevent heart disease and stroke by lowering cholesterol levels and making the heart pump more efficiently. It reduces the risk of dying prematurely, especially of heart...

Read More

A Wake-up Call for Caffeine

Caffeine, an addictive chemical found in coffee, tea, colas, chocolate, and some pain relievers, acts as a stimulant in your body, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and alertness. While moderate caffeine consumption—two or three cups of coffee per day—is not harmful, extremely high amounts can cause heart palpitations, insomnia, and anxiety. Even...

Read More

Fiber

Most nutrients are absorbed and used by your body, but fiber passes through your digestive system without being absorbed. Still, it remains an important nutrient because it provides the bulk that helps your digestive system function properly and can protect against certain serious diseases. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Both types help prevent constipation, and soluble fiber has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer, diabetes, digestive disorders, and heart disease. Foods rich in soluble...

Read More