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Pandemic or Manageable H1N1 Swine Flu?

   Subscribe To Our Feed Sun 17 May 2009

Swine flu spreads through coughing and sneezing by others infected. Most people have had the normal flu several times in their life, and the symptoms are similar in either case: a fever of over 100 degrees farenheit, chills, stuffy nose, coughing, sore throat, aching body, tiredness. There are some differences however with H1N1 flu.

For children, take them to the hospital immediately if they have difficulty breathing, severe vomiting, passiveness or not waking up, unusual and severe irritability, not drinking enough, skin tone being bluish or grayish, repeat flu symptoms that worsen when they return.

For adults, urgent medical symptoms include difficulty breathing, pressure in the chest or stomach, pain in those areas also, dizziness, confused thinking, acute vomiting, and again flu symptoms that decrease and then return with a more severe cough and a fever.

H1N1 flu: this respiratory disease does not normally result in swine to human transmission. This year a new form of the virus has developed and is now being passed person to person. The U.S. is not deteching the virus in any herd of pigs presently, but in Alberta, Canada, an infected herd was discovered and is now under quarantine. Some people are concerned about eating pork, but the virus is not spread through food. Egypt has decided to slaughter all their pigs, and other countries may have followed suit, though this has not become news yet. Pandemic flu is one in which there is very little immunity in the body, and the disease spreads quickly amongst people. There is no pandemic flu at the time of this writing. The H1N1 virus is being carefully monitored in order to determine how the virus is spreading. Seasonal or common flu is a respiratory illness that spreads person to person, and there is a vaccine for it. Most people normally have an immunity to some degree built up against the common flu. Precautions: have kleenex, hand sanitizer with an alcohol base, and wash with soap and water frequently. Employees should leave the work premises if they are showing symptoms of the flu.

So whats the big deal about swine flu compared to the other influenza that goes around? As in any flu, other medical conditions you might have can in combination become more dangerous to your system. For example, heart disease patients are more susceptible to having medical concerns heightened by the flu.

There is no flu shot to protect from swine flu or H1N1, otherwise there would be vast numbers of people lined up for their needle.

There is an anti-viral drug for H1N1 that can be provided, but usually the symptoms need to be recent, within two days prior to having the drug. Health care departments are administering this anti-viral drug to the most severely ill and those who have to be in close proximity with them who are more susceptible to infection.

The most at risk population with respiratory conditions: Children under five, pregnant women and people over age 65.

Ive been around a lot of people who came back from Mexico this past spring break. We all wash our hands at work and a couple staff worked from home for one week as their spouse or them was feeling ill. I have not become ill, nor have any of them tested positive though they have been tested a few times now just for safety sake.

Watch Your Weight to Save Your Heart

   Subscribe To Our Feed Thu 14 May 2009

Today’s culture puts a lot of importance on your weight. We diet to improve our looks according to what society dictates. Health - particularly heart health - and vitality are another consideration.

If you’re concerned about your heart health, you may be particularly careful to pay attention to your weight. But the truth of the matter is not all weight is created equal. What matters more than the actual number on the scale is the ratio of your waist to your hips.

The American Heart Association warns us that a man with a larger than 40 inch waistline and women with a waist line larger than 35 inches are taking their chances on developing heart disease. If your waist to hip ratio is high, you’re at greater risk for heart disease than an overweight person with smaller proportions.

There is fat that gathers in your body that is called visceral fat. This is what causes the higher probability of developing heart problems. This fat is underneath your muscle and congregating around your internal organs. This type of fat is more stressful to the heart than any other kind.

Some of the problems it causes are high cholesterol, elevated blood sugar, and hypertension. When you combine these problems, the probability of heart problems increases.

On the plus side, the loss of even a little weight from the midsection lessens the heart disease probability by a significant amount. One of the proven ways to specifically work on the waist area is yoga.

You don’t have to spend hours and hours at the gym every day, either. It’s possible to improve your health and achieve the results you want in just 20-40 minutes of exercise each day.

You can take care of that weight problem by adjusting your diet to include fruits, vegetables, lean meat and whole grains. Get rid of those products that contain fats - saturated or trans - and sugar.

A healthier diet helps you to lose excess fat, and it also regulates your blood sugar and blood pressure, as well as lowering your cholesterol. Together, this addresses your worries about heart disease and is the path to a healthier heart.

Losing the extra weight you are carrying around your middle can help you to fit into that new outfit, but more importantly it helps you to stay healthy and have a long life.

Lowering the Risk Factors of Obesity, Diabetes, and Heart Disease

   Subscribe To Our Feed Tue 12 May 2009

Reducing the Risk Factors

Diabetes is a dangerous health problem. In adults, diabetes is related to long-term nutritional neglect and abuse.

Most of us don’t eat breakfast. Our fuel supply is very low, and we wind up running on fumes. We grab a high-calorie muffin or a candy bar later in the morning when we’re really, really hungry. What we don’t know is that this snack causes insulin to dump out of the pancreas into the bloodstream, as the body attempts to process the surge in blood glucose from the snack we just ate.

This pattern is repeated throughout the day. A graph of the average person’s blood sugar levels would show sharp spikes - both highs and lows - in every 24-hour period. Eventually, the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas wear out. The result is consistently high levels of blood glucose which is called diabetes.

Diabetes can cause severe eye problems, severe kidney problems, and severe circulatory problems. It is associated with obesity, heart disease, and increased mortality. Not good.

An obvious preventive strategy would be to ensure that blood glucose levels are steady throughout the day. Actually, this is easy to do. All that’s required is to develop healthy eating habits and regular exercise.

Eat breakfast - a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese mixed with a 6-ounce cup of yogurt is all you need to increase your fuel stores throughout the morning.

Do food combining at every meal (or as often as you can) - always eat a combination of protein and carbohydrate

No between-meal snacks

Regular exercise that is challenging and fun - build-up gradually and be consistent

We’re in the middle of several deadly epidemics in the United States. Obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are affecting more and more people every year. Recent statistics show that two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Thirty percent of American children are obese. Approximately 21 million Americans have diabetes. One child out of every 500 has type I diabetes. In America, 72 million adults have high blood pressure. These are shocking statistics, considering that U.S. health care expenditures totaled $2 trillion in 2006. That’s 2 TRILLION dollars.

As Americans, we’re getting less healthy by the day. The good news is there are many things we can do about these trends. There is real action that every American, young and old, can take to support and protect their health and well-being. These action steps all focus on lifestyle - the choices we make each and every day.

The first step is an honest self-assessment. When was the last time I exercised? Does my clothes size increase every couple of years? How many times during the week do I eat fast food? When was the last time I ate an apple instead of half a box of cookies?

Regardless of the answers, it is possible to become healthy and fit again, whatever your current circumstances. You CAN lose 10 or 20 or 30 or however many pounds. You CAN climb stairs without getting out of breath. You CAN regain the youthful glow of vitality. You CAN be vigorous and proud of your body, rather than worrying about what’s going to be the next thing to break down.

Healthy eating and regular exercise are essential parts of the solution to combating obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.1,2 These practices have the magical effect of resetting your metabolic clock - your body shifts from a pattern of storing fat to a pattern of burning fat.3 Over time, with a nutritious food plan and consistent exercise, you even burn fat while you’re resting! Your body is very smart. You just have to treat it right.

Your chiropractor is a wonderful asset - both as a health care practitioner and as a guide - on your journey toward fitness and wellness. Your chiropractor has extensive resources available on practical nutrition and how to design a supportive food plan. He or she has deep knowledge regarding the types of exercises and activities that will be right for you. You and your chiropractor can design an exercise program that will be both fun and rewarding. Working together, you’ll be maximizing your health and vitality. You will begin to fulfill a way of living that will support you in being healthy and well for years to come.

1Lindstrom J, et al: Sustained reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes by lifestyle intervention: follow-up of the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. Lancet 368(9548):1673-1679, 2006. 2Orchard TJ, et al: The effect of metformin and intensive lifestyle intervention on the metabolic syndrome: the Diabetes Prevention Program randomized trial. Ann Intern Med 142(8):611-619, 2005 3Yannakoulia M, et al: A dietary pattern characterized by high consumption of whole-grain cereals and low-fat dairy products and low consumption of refined cereals is positively associated with plasma adiponectin levels in healthy women. Metabolism 57(6):824-830, 2008

Heart Problems and Your Weight

   Subscribe To Our Feed Sun 10 May 2009

Today, a lot of significance is given to how much a person weighs. We go on a diet to improve our appearance according to what people think we should look like. Improved health and energy are other reasons we want to lose weight.

If your heart health is a matter of concern to you, you should certainly keep an eye on the scale. Nevertheless, your weight isn’t just about pounds. The ratio of your hips to waist is actually more significant than what the scale reads.

The American Heart Association warns us that a man with a larger than 40 inch waistline and women with a waist line larger than 35 inches are taking their chances on developing heart disease. If your waist to hip ratio is high, you’re at greater risk for heart disease than an overweight person with smaller proportions.

There is fat that gathers in your body that is called visceral fat. This is what causes the higher probability of developing heart problems. This fat is underneath your muscle and congregating around your internal organs. This type of fat is more stressful to the heart than any other kind.

It can cause high blood pressure, high levels of blood sugar, and high cholesterol. All of these risk factors added together greatly increase the risk of heart disease for an individual.

On the plus side, the loss of even a little weight from the midsection lessens the heart disease probability by a significant amount. One of the proven ways to specifically work on the waist area is yoga.

It’s not at all necessary to spend your life at the gym, either. A session of exercise lasting anywhere from twenty to forty minutes each day will leave you healthier and slimmer in no time.

You can also decrease your waistline by eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. It’s best to cut out foods that are high in saturated or trans fat or high in sugar.

Improving your diet will not only help to trim your waistline, but it will also help to lower your cholesterol, blood glucose, and even your blood pressure. All that adds up to heart health.

By getting rid of that extra weight around your waist, you might be able to fit into that new outfit. But more importantly, it will help you to stay healthy and have a more enjoyable life.

Heart Disease - It’s as Serious as A Heart Attack?

   Subscribe To Our Feed Thu 23 Apr 2009

Even if you are unlucky enough to have heart disease in your family, it does not mean that you have to accept it as a given that heart disease is inevitable. Yes it’s true- due to the gene pool some people are more prone to heart disease than others. However that is just a small part of the tale - if you lead your life correctly, take notice of the tell tale signs, and get regular health checks - then you can make sure the cards are dealt in your favour. You don’t have to one of the 233,000 people who die of heart disease in the UK each year - you just need to know where the risks lie.

You probably won’t be too surprised to know that if you’re a man you already have a higher chance of dying young due to heart disease. For women the increase risk usually comes in much later - prominantly once ‘the change’ has occurred. Nevertheless the point is not whether you are a man or woman - though that does obviously affect your heart disease risks. The issue is more of the increase in heart disease risk in relation the increase in the amount of years you have been alive. The longer you have been around on this planet the shorter your chances of getting heart problems become. This is because many of the other risk factors increase with age - risk that you will need to be aware of.

Smoking is the biggest (and most preventable) cause of death from coronary heart disease. If you smoke 20 cigarettes per day then you have double the risk of heart disease than someone who doesn’t smoke. And the risks get higher as the daily cigarette count gets higher. The fact is if you smoke then you pretty much amplify the danger of all the other heart disease risk factors combined. It’s a domino effect and the consequences could be very serious.

How many of you actually know the situation with your blood pressure at the moment? How many of you have had it checked recently. I would think the answer is not many. Yet having a regular BP check is vitally important in preventing heart disease - especially as we get older. Having high blood pressure is an indicative risk factor of possible heart problems. By having a regular check with your doctor you could get a vital heads up on any possible problems. High blood pressure can be treated if picked up by your GP. You might not have that luxury if the first you know about it you’re lying on the floor holding your chest.

Do you like eggs for breakfast? How about some nice full cream milk in your coffee and on your cereal. And what about a cheese platter after dinner mmmm? If the answer to all of these is yes then you need to be aware of the risk of high cholesterol relative to heart disease. High levels of cholesterol greatly increase the chances of heart disease, while the level of cholesterol in your blood is related to some extent to the amount of saturated fat in your diet. See why your dietary choices suddenly take on extra meaning!

Are you overweight and do you exercise? If the answer to the first part is yes and the second part no then you need to do something to reverse those answers. And the chances are if you have a cholesterol and a high blood pressure problem then you are overweight. See how the presence of one risk can lead to greater risks! If you incorporate an exercise routine and a healthy diet into your lifestyle you get fitter, you lose weight and the chances of you having high cholesterol or BP decrease. As do your chances of dying of heart disease.

We all get a little stressed from time to time. It’s no big deal right? Wrong. Evidence points to ongoing stress leading to high blood pressure. This means as you get older stress becomes less and less welcome. This doesn’t even take into account the risks that stress places on someone who already has heart disease. Stress could literally be the straw that breaks the hearts valve’s wall. Admittedly stress is not nearly as big a problem as smoking or having a high cholesterol level. Nevertheless it can make the difference for some unlucky people.

High Cholesterol Foods Saturated Fats = Heart Disease!

   Subscribe To Our Feed Thu 16 Apr 2009

Look around you at the food you eat. Most of that everyday fare is actually taking you to the brink of some real serious heart problems! The culprit is the high level of cholesterol in almost everything you consume. Understanding the cholesterol mechanism is of utmost importance to make an intelligent selection of the foods to include in your diet, and ultimately on the quality of your life.

Medical research shows that high cholesterol food is the main cause of morbid cardio-vascular conditions resulting in strokes and heart attacks. The patient’s health is aggravated further if the morbid cardio-vascular condition is accompanied by hypertension, smoking, obesity, and hereditary factors.

Cholesterol comes in two flavors: good (HDL) and bad (LDL). As the names imply, good cholesterol is good for us, bad cholesterol is bad for us. The body requires some triglycerides, but too much is bad. Saturated fats are a form of triglycerides which is really bad news for the heart. On the other hand, Omega-3 fats famously found in fish, is good at controlling the other bad triglycerides and cholesterol. So we should avoid the bad and accept the good. It’s a simple principle which applies to everything. If only we can live this principle!

The food containing cholesterol is not always to blame for cholesterol related problems. The way the food is cooked, the medium used to cook the food, and even the foods eaten along with basic food are all contributory factors to high levels of bad cholesterol. Ignorance of the facts about cholesterol and how they affect our health has often led to ridiculous situations about certain foods. Once upon a time eggs were a considered a must-have food for proper health; then it was discovered that eggs were rich in bad cholesterol, and thenceforth eggs were banished from the breakfast, lunch and dinner tables. Now we are advised to have the whites of the eggs but to stay away from the yolks!

These swings in favor of or against cholesterol-containing foods confuse the man on the street. Eggs are not the main culprit in raising the level of bad cholesterol. The thing to avoid is not eggs by themselves, but to say no to the large helpings of bacon, cheese and sausages on the side. Paying attention to the way in which your food is cooked will pay off more than simply concentrating on including this and excluding that food from your diet.

The way the food is cooked is just as much to blame for high cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. Even foods innocent of any trace of cholesterol, can be transformed into real dangerous dishes. If the food is fried in oil or margarine then the goodness of the food is overpowered by the saturated fats present in the cooking medium. Red meats, poultry products, and dairy products contain high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. So it’s best to stay away from fried stuff and animal products.

Saturated fats are a deadly ingredient in your diet, making the liver increase production of LDL and triglycerides which leads to artery blockage and strokes.

The key to good health it appears is to moderate the dietary intake of high cholesterol foods and saturated fats. So choose poached eggs over that egg omelet, and grilled chicken over fried chicken, and a fresh salad over French fries! That’s the way to a healthy heart and a healthy life!

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