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How many hours should you sleep?

August 26, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The phrase ‘sleep disorder’ may suggest someone tossing and turning all night, but lying awake for hours with insomnia is just one example of many conditions that affect how you sleep and function during the day. In fact, you can have a sleep disorder and not even know it.

Basically, there is no normal number of hours that quantifies a good sleep, just like there’s no normal shoe size. Most adults need seven to nine hours a night; others manage just fine with six. It’s even possible to get too much sleep, since spending excess time in bed can be a sign of another health problem, such as depression or chronic fatigue syndrome.

According to the 2007 British study, they found out that people who slept the same amount of time (seven hours) each night lived longer, on average, than people who adjusted their schedules to either add or subtract hours from their nightly slumber. Finding your own ideal sleep/wake cycle—and staying consistent—is key to healthy sleep.

Filed Under: LifeStyle, discoveries, health wise, information

Incredible Twists of Lime

August 18, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Hangover Helper - ease the aftershock of one too many with this remedy: Combine 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon sugar. Add to an 8-ounce glass of water and drink slowly, first thing in the morning. Lime refreshes the liver and sugar helps stabilize blood glucose, which dips after drinking, leading to that groggy feeling.

Splatter Eraser - lime’s citric acid is great at cutting through grease and gunk. Use it to get rid of food splatters in your microwave with this no-scrub tip: Put 3 tablespoons lime juice in a mug filled with water, and heat until boiling in the microwave. Let stand for a few minutes, remove, wipe the microwave with a soapy rag, then wipe again with a clean wet rag, and you’re done.

Skin Brightener - remove dry skin patches on your body with this scrub: Mix 3 tablespoons orange massage oil, 1 tablespoon agave nectar, freshly squeezed juice from half a lime, and 2 tablespoons sea salt in a bowl. Massage the mixture all over your body using a circular motion, rinse, and pat dry. The lime juice’s vitamin C rejuvenates skin, while its acids and the salt slough off dead skin cells. [Read more...]

Filed Under: discoveries, health wise, information

sleep duration affects cardiovascular health

August 12, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Regularly sleeping more or less than seven hours a day increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study carried out by principal investigator Anoop Shankar, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Community Medicine at West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown, West Virginia and lead author Charumathi Sabanayagam, MD.

Eight percent of the study population (30,397 adults) reported sleeping five hours a day or less (naps included) and analysis showed that they had twice as much risk of having cardiovascular disease than people who reported seven hours of daily sleep. Nine percent of the subjects reported sleeping nine hours or more a day, and they also had a high risk of cardiovascular disease. All the results were adjusted for race, sex, age, smoking, drinking alcohol, BMI, physical activity, hypertension, diabetes and depression.

The study findings suggest that abnormal sleep duration adversely affects cardiovascular health. Sleep disturbances may be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease even among apparently healthy subjects.

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Filed Under: discoveries, health wise, views and ideas

hormones risks versus benefits

August 10, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Looking back the years, numerous studies have shown that hormone replacement therapy increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. But to many women, questions about side effects, hormone combinations and length of hormone use are still unanswered, causing confusion. And some continue to take hormones to relieve menopausal symptoms because they don’t know where they fall in the HRT spectrum.

Attempting to clarify the risks versus the benefits, a report published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, and conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California, looked at data from a large trial group, called the California Teachers Study. Investigators were particularly interested in the more than 2,800 women in the study who were diagnosed with breast cancer.

When looking at hormone use, investigators found women who reported using just estrogen therapy for 15 years or more had a 19 percent greater risk of breast cancer compared with women who never used hormone therapy.  And for women who used an estrogen and progestin combination or EPT for more than 15 years, their risk of developing breast cancer jumped to 83 percent.

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Filed Under: discoveries, health wise, information

Pain Management for Cancer Patients

August 1, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Basically, pain control is a common issue when you are dealing with cancer patients. Most of the time the pain is caused from a tumor, but there is the chance pain begins somewhere other than the cancer itself. Surviving cancer and the treatments needed beat cancer can be extremely difficult, especially when excruciating pain accompanies the situation. Finding a way to manage the pain of cancer can help an individual persevere through the ordeal.

Pain can be acute or chronic. Acute pain is severe, but short-lived and chronic is pain that lasts for longer periods of time, and can range from mild to severe. Sometimes patients will experience breakthrough pain, which is pain that breaks through medications prescribed to the patient.

According to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s (NCCN) August 2005 pain prevention report, one-third of cancer patients experience pain with their treatments. The NCCN also reports that nearly two-thirds of patients with recurring cancer or advanced stages of cancer experience pain.

Pain control is possible, even for those suffering from cancer, and it can give a patient a better quality of life. Pain in cancer patients is most often a result of the cancer itself, but sometimes it can result from a specific treatment, such as radiation therapy.

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Filed Under: discoveries, health wise, information, tips & technique

Emotion can Cause Weight Gain

July 9, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Overeating can also be triggered by our emotions. Some people turn to food or alcohol in stressful situations, such as after a family argument or a particularly difficult day at work. Other vulnerable times may be when you’re feeling tired, bored or sad.

Identifying triggers and cues that cause you to overeat can help you to change your behavior in these situations and avoid unwanted calories. Write down the times when your emotions lead to eating. This will help you to identify situations when you’re particularly vulnerable to excess snacking. Try these following techniques:

  • Ask yourself if you must have the food – thinking about what you’re doing can help you avoid extra snacks
  • Replace images of food with other positive thoughts
  • Distract yourself from eating by doing something else you enjoy
Filed Under: health wise, tips & technique, views and ideas
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