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The Atkins diet is very popular, but is it right for you? Before you start down the low carbohydrate road, you should take some time to decide whether it is the right way for you to lose weight. The fact that it has been effective for others doesn’t make it right for you. No specific diet works for everyone, and you may even find that one type of low carbohydrate diet works better for you than another. There are many things to consider before you start the Atkins diet.

First, evaluate your history with diets. If you’ve been trying to lose weight for a long time, you would have tried a number of diets. Examine the different diets you’ve tried over the years. Write down the basics of each diet, what worked and what didn’t. Also, write down why you didn’t stay on a particular diet. Evaluate your experience with high carbohydrate diets, if any. These types of diets include most low-fat and calorie controlled diets. How did you feel while on these types of diets? Were you hungry, obsessed with food or experiencing negative reactions? Or did you feel full of energy and generally good?

If you’ve had any experience with low carbohydrate diets, write that down as well. Ignoring the negative effects of the first week, how did eating low carbohydrates make you feel? Why did you stop using the diet?

The answers to these questions will help you decide whether Atkins is right for you or not. If you’ve had good experiences with low-fat diets and bad experiences with other low carbohydrate diets, then Atkins is probably not for you. If other low-carbohydrate diets have worked but not without difficulty, then you may have been on the wrong type of low-carbohydrate diet and Atkins might work better. If you’ve had bad experiences with both types of diets, then you may have better success with a modified Atkins diet.

Your food and eating behaviours may also give you a clue as to whether or not Atkins might be a good choice for your weight loss programme. Carbohydrate sensitivities are indicated by a certain set of behaviours. You may be carbohydrate sensitive if you feel like eating right after you’ve finished a meal. You would also have strong urges to eat throughout the day. You may feel dizzy, fuzzyheaded and fatigued without getting a sugar boost either from sugar directly or another simple carbohydrate. Carbohydrate sensitivity is also shown when you feel sluggish or sleepy after eating. This occurs especially after you eat a meal rich in sugars. If you experience these symptoms frequently, you may have carbohydrate sensitivities. Try paying close attention to how carbohydrates affect you and if you continue to experience these symptoms, a low carbohydrate diet may work for you.

Your success on the Atkins diet may also be determined by your medical and family history. If you have any pre-diabetic symptoms, or diabetes itself, a reduced carbohydrate diet like Atkins may be right for you. Significant weight gain can also be helped by the Atkins diet. Usually, the more overweight you are, the more likely you are to have high blood pressure, high triglycerides and high blood glucose.

If any member of your family has suffered from diabetes or is significantly overweight, this may also put you at risk for these conditions. Your tendency toward these conditions on a genetic level can mark a necessity for a low carbohydrate diet like Atkins. The Atkins plan has been shown to improve weight and control blood sugar issues. If these are problems in your family history, then you may want to consider the Atkins diet.

There are a lot of good reasons to try the Atkins diet. If you have responded well to other low carbohydrate diets in the past or you have a medical history that demands a carbohydrate controlled diet, the Atkins diet can meet your needs.

Popularity: 73% [?]

When it comes to the Atkins diet, your success will lie in your planning. Making sure you have the proper foods to hand when you begin your diet will go a long way towards supporting your weight loss programme. There are many suggestions for Atkins diet meals in the Atkins books, and there are plenty of resources online for Atkins and other similar low-carbohydrate recipes.

Planning your meals and snacks will become an important part of your life when you are on this diet. That advice really goes for any diet. Eating whatever you like, whenever you like will make you gain weight. Your current weight and health problems came as a direct result of letting your eating habits get the better of you.

As with all diet plans, becoming used to the Atkins way of eating is going to take some time and adjustment. The standard western European/American diet relies heavily on carbohydrates and other highly processed foods. Those kinds of diets are not acceptable if you have a view to improving your lean mass/fat ratio. In the past few decades, many people have grown up on carbohydrate heavy favourites like spaghetti and meatballs, meat and potatoes and pasta casserole. It is going to take some effort and patience to get used to eating in an entirely new way.

There are two different approaches you can take to adjust your diet. You can find replacements for your favourite foods with “mock” carbohydrates. For example, lasagne made with eggplant or zucchini instead of pasta is much more carbohydrate-friendly than the regular variety. Spaghetti squash noodles make a good substitute for spaghetti noodles. There are also many low-carbohydrate or carbohydrate-free replacements for bread, pasta and sugar products.

The second approach is to find out how to make new recipes that centre on meats and other low-carbohydrate foods. There is a wide variety of meats that are acceptable on the Atkins plan. If you are used to just eating ground beef or chicken on a weekly basis, you’ll be surprised by the variety of meats that are out there. Try adding pork, lamb and ham into your weekly routine. If you are looking at cured meat, do be careful because of the high salt content that goes along with the curing process. You can also experiment with game fowl like Cornish hen, quail and pheasant. If you’ve never been a fan of fish, try a different variety from what you may have been used to. Some people who don’t like trout find they love salmon or another fish. Don’t forget shellfish like mussels, clams and shrimp. These foods are all acceptable and would add variety to your diet.

Make sure you have some easy to prepare foods on hand for snacks and quick meals. For example, thin sliced cucumbers, radishes and celery mixed with lemon mayonnaise makes a great low-carbohydrate meal or dinner salad. Fried peppers, mushrooms and garlic served on arugula with feta cheese is another great option. You can also keep a variety of nuts handy for those moments when you feel peckish. They contain essential fatty acids and oils that would support your body.

Research and try out different low-carbohydrate recipes so you have a good base of knowledge of what to prepare for meals. The most important step you can take if you really want to lose weight is planning. Getting a good arsenal of easy to prepare meals will prevent you from hitting the drive through for a meal that would do damage to your programme or going to a restaurant to eat a meal that would be a backward step.

If you have delicious food to look forward to everyday, you’ll be less bored with your diet. Even during the restrictive induction phase, there are many food combinations that you can use. At first glance the vegetable and meat options may seem restrictive, but this is only in comparison to what you have been used to eating. With a little planning and creativity, you can find something interesting to eat every day.

Popularity: 100% [?]

The Atkins Diet is probably one of the most successful diets of the last few years. The diet is based on four general principles of weight loss, weight maintenance, good health and disease prevention.  Its popularity has sparked dozens of similar diets which use the same principles of high-protein, low-carbohydrate meals. The body uses glucose derived from carbohydrates as its preferred energy source and when these are removed, the body starts to use fats and protein instead; a process called gluconeogenesis.

Several studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diets have many benefits.  Results show that low-carbohydrate diets like Atkins do create significant weight loss without severe restriction of calories. There are studies that also show that low-carbohydrate diets improve triglycerides, reduce blood glucose for diabetics and pre-diabetics and increase good cholesterol (HDL) levels. Low-carbohydrate diets have been proven to improve insulin sensitivity, while lowering insulin levels and also reduce blood pressure. When compared with low-fat diets, low-carbohydrate diets lead to less muscle mass losses.

Anecdotal reports show many common benefits reported by people who have followed the Atkins diet or a variant of it. These include an increase in energy, a reduced craving for sweets, better concentration, improved mood and a reduction of depression type symptoms. However, there are some benefits that are specific to the Atkins diet. If you have ever been a follower of the low fat diet, you would enjoy eating all of those “forbidden foods” that you once had to go without. Steak, butter and cream form a regular part of Atkins diet. There is a certain pleasure derived from eating foods that were once off limits. Atkins diet encourages meals containing rich meats, cheeses and fats and oils.

Atkins is simple to use, compared with some other low-carbohydrate diets on the market. You may need to learn about which types of carbohydrate are acceptable, but after that you are free to eat from the acceptable food lists.

Dr. Atkins believed that too many carbohydrates in your diet encourage your body to retain fat. When the body absorbs simple carbohydrates quickly, it generates an insulin response that increases the conversion of calories to fat. The diet focuses on consuming nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods. Dr. Atkins also emphasised finding your own personal carbohydrate level. Different people have different levels of carbohydrate tolerance. While some gain weight on just 90 carbohydrate grams a day, others can live comfortably at 120 carbohydrate grams. During the ongoing weight loss and pre-maintenance phase of the diet, you will learn your personal carbohydrate count that will help determine your carbohydrate goal for life.

There is a lot of information available on the Atkins diet, which makes it easy to find resources and support. There have been many books written on it with an endless stream of websites that offer tips and group support. However, while almost everyone has heard of Atkins and probably has an opinion on it, there are some big misconceptions out there about the nature of the diet. The most popular of these is that you eat mostly red meat and can never eat carbohydrates. Many people view the diet as a steak, burger and butter diet; however one of the real benefits of the Atkins diet is that it gets you away from eating too much sugar and processed foods. It reduces rather than excludes your carbohydrate intake. Another misconception says that you can eat all you want while following the Atkins diet. This is not strictly true. The diet follows the philosophy of moderation. Eating a well-portioned and satisfying meal is an important part of the Atkins diet. It teaches you to control your portion sizes.

There are some disadvantages to using the Atkins diet. The metabolic processes involved in using fat for energy instead of carbohydrates can lead to increase in uric acid and ketones which may cause kidney problems, gout and headaches. This however can be overcome by increasing your water intake and understanding that the physiological ketosis which occurs happens during the induction stage and by the time you reach you maintenance level the problem would have disappeared. There can also be low amounts of dietary fibre on the Atkins Diet leading to constipation and chronic bowel disease if you do not choose the right type of complex carbohydrates.

Induction can be difficult to get through if you’ve had a diet that centred on processed carbohydrates and sugar. Also, many people try Induction and mistakenly believe that this is the way that the whole diet is going to be. They then give up before they get into the actual Atkins plan. Sometimes, although this is not common, people will experience a carbohydrate crash on the 3rd to 5th day of the diet. This reaction is a result of their body experiencing ketosis which comes from burning fat instead of glucose for energy. The effects are transient, but many people have gone off low-carbohydrate diets entirely because of this occurrence.

Overall, Atkins is one of the most popular low-carbohydrate diets for a reason. It works. Thousands of people have had success with the approach. Generally, critics are sceptical about how a high-protein, high-fat diet can result in weight loss. What they forget is that the Atkins approach advices a change in lifestyle and not only in the diet. The success you get still depends on you not returning to the way of life that got you to the problem point in the first place.

Popularity: 96% [?]

Alzheimer’s disease is a terrible condition in which a person loses his capacity to reason, think, recognise and function. Accumulation of beta amyloid has been found to be responsible for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). There are steps you can take to avoid the accumulation of beta amyloid. These include:

1. Increase omega-3 fatty acid intake. Omega 3 fatty acids are poly-unsaturated fatty acids. Studies show that a diet rich in omega 3 fatty acids may help lower triglycerides and increase HDL cholesterol. Omega 3 fatty acids may also prevent blood from clotting while helping to lower high blood pressure. Omega 3 fatty acids may also protect against the accumulation in the body of a beta amyloid, the protein believed to be linked to Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published in March 2005. This study tested one kind of omega 3 fatty acids – Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and the results are encouraging.
2. Exercise daily. While there is no proven way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease a fairly new study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that regular exercise can protect the brain and improve cognitive performance in adults who have shown signs of mental decline. After six months of testing those who performed aerobic exercise showed significant gains in mental agility, while a non-aerobic group showed continuing decline in tests of thinking speed, fluency with words and ability to multi-task. It remains unknown whether fitness training can prevent Alzheimer’s, but many scientists firmly believe it is more likely to help than existing drugs or supplements, which have failed to show preventive effects in clinical trials.
3. Increase the intake of vitamin B6, B12 and Folate. Intake of these vitamins reduces homocysteine which has been linked to amyloid formation. Folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 play key roles in recycling homocysteine into methionine, one of the amino acids from which the body builds new proteins. Without enough vitamin B6, B12 and folate this recycling process becomes inefficient and homocysteine levels increase. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that people who have high blood levels of homocysteine are the ones most likely to suffer Alzheimer’s disease.
4. Use supplementary curcumin which has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that is believed to break up amyloid. It was reported in 2009 that a form of vitamin D, together with a chemical found in turmeric spice called curcumin, may help stimulate the immune system to clear the brain of amyloid beta, which forms the plaques classically indicative of Alzheimer’s disease. The curcumin actually prevented the aggregation of the beta amyloid fibrils.
5. Increase the intake of Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea flavonoid which is a potent antioxidant that may have therapeutic properties for many disorders including cancer. Green tea has been touted as a potential cure for a myriad of conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer and Parkinson. Scientific evidence has been presented by researchers that EGCG, a polyphenol found in green tea, prevents both beta amyloid and ?-synuclein from forming toxic oligomers.
6. Increase Leptin intake. High levels of the energy-regulating hormone leptin were associated with lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease in a study which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Leptin is believed to remove amyloid and keep synapses flexible. The higher the level of leptin the lower the risk of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia it is believed.  MRI images have also linked low leptin levels to reduced brain volume, a typical Alzheimer trait. Leptin has been found to be higher in people who regularly get enough sleep.
7. Check your history. Has any member of the family suffered from dementia? If so, start taking preventative action by assessing and removing, where possible, other risk factors which contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. A genetic predisposition may remain latent until a critical decline in nutrition occurs.

While it is a fact that we are not yet able to claim that it is possible to prevent this dreaded decline in mental function and ability it is nonetheless pertinent to point out that if the 7 steps above are followed there is a  very good chance of avoiding Alzheimer’s. If all it does is remove the horror of seeing a loved one “pass away” before your eyes, it would have been worth it.

Popularity: 82% [?]

“He who feels it, knows it.” Is a common saying, immortalized in music by the late Bob Marley, that clearly shows pain as a subjective phenomenon.

Let us take a quick look at pain, the one symptom that we all wish to avoid if we possibly can. Why do we have so much aversion to pain? It is the one thing that constantly reminds us of our mortality. Most people do not mind getting old but they do mind the aches and pains that attend aging. We must understand however that pain is one of the body’s most useful signals when things are about to go wrong or, God forbid, have already gone horribly wrong. The body uses pain as a call to order as well as a call to arms. As pain hits, the body is mobilising all of its considerable resources to reverse the cause of the pain and at the same time calls your attention to the possibility of diminishing supplies of nutrients required for repair or replacement of damaged tissue or to an activity that is about to cause damage.

We are all familiar with the warning systems in a car. When a car ignition is turned on a plethora of red lights flash up but as soon as the engine kicks in the red lights go out one by one as a system check is carried out and each unit is passed fit. If a unit is unfit, its red light stays on and it then becomes the responsibility of the driver to find a solution to the highlighted problem. The body has a similar set up. It is constantly carrying out systems checks and when it finds a system not up to par it flashes up a red light – pain.

Pain is unpleasant. It is a sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Pain may be acute or chronic in nature. There is a great difference between the two. Pain calls attention to a situation that is life threatening or may become so if care is not taken. At the time pain hits the damage may not have happened yet and the signal is an attempt to avoid damage.

Acute pain, for the most part, results from inflammation and generally comes on suddenly, for example, after trauma or surgery. The cause of acute pain can usually be diagnosed and treated, for example, an injury that results in a broken bone. Acute pain is confined to a period of time and severity while chronic pain persists over a long period of time and is mostly resistant to medical treatments.

Pain is a unique symptom that changes from one person to another. It is whatever the sufferer experiencing it says it is because it is 90% perception. Acute pain may sometimes be stopped by treating the underlying cause. However, if the underlying cause is “untreatable” the pain may become chronic, causing stress, anxiety and fear.

Chronic pain is often associated with a long-term or life-threatening illness. A person experiencing chronic pain may be depressed, withdrawn, and exhausted. It is easier to understand pain, locate its cause, and treat it by using physiological explanations for it. This way, pain can be divided into two types, Nociceptive or Neuropathic. Nociceptive pain can be somatic or visceral. Somatic pain results from injury to parts of the body like bones, joints, and soft tissues. Visceral pain comes from inflammation, distension, or stretching of internal organs. It is not well localized and is often described as an aching, cramping, deep, or pressure pain.

Examples of visceral pain would include pain in the abdomen from a bowel obstruction and pain that shoots up the left arm/jaw from an acute myocardial infarction. Neuropathic pain results from injury to nerves in the central or peripheral nervous system. Injury to the brain, brain tumors, diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage due to the effects of diabetes), and herpes zoster are all examples of conditions that may cause this type of pain. Neuropathic pain is usually more difficult to treat than nociceptive pain.

Everyone experiences pain at some point. Each person is the best judge of his or her own pain. Feelings of pain can range from mild and occasional to severe and constant. Labour or childbirth pain may be mild and last just a moment, or it may be severe and last for several minutes. In most cases, acute pain does not last longer than six months and usually disappears when the underlying cause of pain has been dealt with. If acute pain does not find relief it may lead to chronic pain. Pain signals could remain active in the nervous system for weeks, months, or even years. Effects of unrelenting pain signals include tense muscles, limited mobility, lack of energy, and possible changes in appetite.

When you first experience pain, it gets your attention and prompts you to take action to prevent a worsening of the condition or anything that aggravates the pain. The pain sometimes prompts a visit to the doctor. Pain interrupts our work, recreation, and relationship with members of the family.  But is gobbling up pain killers the answer to the problem?

Finding comfort, which most of the time translates to being pain free, is one of your goals when you are sick and is usually one of the cardinal goals of the doctor who is treating you for an illness. However, this writer believes that this is self defeating. The main focus should be locating the cause of the pain. Once the cause of your pain is found and proper treatment instituted the pain disappears. In that instance, it has served the useful function of pointing you in the direction of the injury or illness and further damage is averted.

If pain comes from an “incurable” illness, for which no immediate solution can be found, the pain could become harmful. This type of pain would keep you from normal activity which saps your strength. The intensity of the signals would seem to increase because the brain becomes more sensitive to the pain. So your pain feels worse even though the injury or illness may not be getting any worse.

When you consult a doctor, your goal is to be cured. That should mean that you want the cause of your pain to be found and removed so that you can resume normal life without the necessity for further visits to doctor. Unfortunately, many illnesses do not have simple solutions. Doubly unfortunately doctors have been so geared towards treating symptoms of diseases like pain that it might require a huge paradigm shift for them to start looking at finding causes rather than simply treating symptoms.

Pain killers only block the appreciation of pain, but do nothing to remove the cause of it. To make matters worse, a lot of the pain killers now in use are addictive and/or create a problem of having to wean patients off them when the cause of the pain is eventually found and removed. In the treatment of chronic pain, the goal is to live as normally as possible. In this respect, treating chronic pain is similar to managing diabetes or high blood pressure. If you need to be on pain medicine for a considerable time you should not desist from finding the cause of the pain and making every effort to remove it. Therein lays finding health because treating the pain symptom may mean allowing the underlying damage to continue and become even worse.

Popularity: 79% [?]

Popularity: 100% [?]

Every six minutes someone dies from a heart attack. Current statistics show that around 2.5 million people in the UK are living with coronary heart disease and every year about 146,000 people suffer a heart attack. 33% of the people who have a heart attack die even before reaching the hospital. Heart disease is also the number one cause of death in the United States, killing more than 630,000 people a year.

It is vital therefore to know the early warning signs of a heart attack and call emergency services or go into the emergency department once you first notice them. Saving a life in the case of a heart attack must start with the patient picking up on the warning signs immediately and quickly summoning help. Someone who suspects they may be having a heart attack should never drive themselves to hospital! Most ambulance response times are less than 10 minutes in urban areas, and paramedics can start treatment immediately.

A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. If a large amount of the heart muscle is injured because of this, it can weaken the heart’s function as a pump, ultimately leading to heart failure and possibly death.

What then are the symptoms of a heart attack? The common symptoms include:

1. Crushing central chest pain or pressure
2. Shortness of breath or excessive sweating
3. Tightness in the chest
4. Sudden unexplained increase in heart beat
5. Sudden dizziness or brief loss of consciousness
6. Indigestion or gas-like pain
7. Dizziness, nausea or vomiting
8. Unexplained weakness or fatigue
9. Discomfort or pain between shoulder blades
10. Recurring chest discomfort
11. Anxiety or a sense of impending doom.
12. Chest pain spreading to the shoulders, neck or arm. The pain may be mild to intense. It may feel like pressure, tightness, burning, or heavy weight. It may be located in the chest, upper abdomen, neck, jaw, or inside the arms or shoulders.

Not all these signs occur in every case. Remember also that these symptoms may go away and return. If you notice one or more of these signs in yourself or another person, don’t hesitate. Call 999 immediately and get to a hospital emergency department. It’s important to repeat that a person experiencing these symptoms should never drive themselves to a hospital. A person should never self diagnose themselves either. Doing this can put their lives in danger and waste valuable time. Hospitals use state of the art instruments and tools designed specially to support the diagnosis of a heart attack so one should never self-diagnose.

One of the best ways to prevent heart disease is to exercise, shed excessive weight, avoid smoking and/or excessive alcohol, maintain a healthy blood pressure, control diabetes and reduce your cholesterol level.

Please make sure you don’t decimate your cholesterol. If your cholesterol level is too low, it may be as dangerous, if not more, than having it too high. Increasing your fibre intake may be one of the best ways of controlling cholesterol as the fibre prevents the re-absorption of cholesterol from the intestine. The liver would produce more if needed.

Finally, be watchful. Eat a healthy diet supported with colourful fruits and vegetable and work your body. You are not meant to be a couch potato.

Popularity: 79% [?]

A cold is a contagious viral disease in which the virus attacks the lining of the nose and throat causing inflammation.

It is most common during the cold winter months and affects children and adults of all ages. Most people will catch a cold two to four times a year. Sneezing is caused by the irritation of the soft lining of the nose, which is characteristic of the common cold. A single sneeze will generate millions of droplets laden with viruses that can travel through the air and contaminate any surface on which they land making the surface infective for about 24 hours.

If possible, stay away from people with colds. Do not touch your nose or eyes after being in physical contact with somebody that has a cold. For example, if a person with a cold blows or touches their nose and then touches someone else, that person can subsequently become infected with the virus. Additionally, a cold virus can live on objects such as pens, books, telephones, computer keyboards, and coffee cups for several hours and can thus be acquired from contact with these objects. This is possibly the most common way of catching a cold. Usually a common cold causes no serious trouble and symptoms will clear up in one to two weeks. There has been considerable controversy about whether or not there is an effective way of treating an ordinary cold to make it go away quicker.

Even more controversy has been generated about whether or not Vitamin C has any effect on the course of common cold. A group of practitioners, including this author, believe that the ubiquitous antioxidant through its enhancement of the immune status does have an effect on getting a cold in the first place and possibly how long it lasts for as well. Some recent studies concluded that dietary vitamin C intake was inversely related to heart disease risk, but not supplemental vitamin C. This may also be true for the common cold.

Since a cold is caused by a virus , antibiotics are not appropriate. Children with a cold should be allowed to get plenty of rest. Coughs and colds in children will usually go away on their own in a few days.

As so many different viruses can cause a cold and because new cold viruses constantly develop, the body never builds up resistance against all of them. For this reason, colds are a frequent and recurring problem. Many people with a cold feel tired and achy. The common cold is the most frequently occurring illness in the world, and it is a leading cause of doctor visits and missed days from school and work.

Does it have anything to do with exposure to cold weather? A new theory to explain the seasonality of colds and flu has put forward the idea that our noses are colder in winter than summer and that cooling of the nose lowers resistance to infection.  However, although the common cold usually occurs in the fall and winter months, the cold weather itself does not cause the common cold. Rather, it is thought that during cold-weather months people spend more time indoors in close proximity to each other, thus facilitating the spread of the virus.

A cold is very different from the flu although many people fail to distinguish the two. They are caused by different groups of viruses. Cold symptoms tend to appear over the course of two days whereas flu symptoms are more abrupt and appear within hours. A cold usually causes the nasal passages to become blocked, which does not necessarily happen with flu.

Corona viruses are believed to cause a large percentage of all adult colds. They induce colds primarily in the winter and early spring. The same viruses that produce colds in adults appear to cause colds in children. The relative importance of various viruses in pediatric colds, however, is unclear because of the difficulty in isolating the precise cause of symptoms in studies of children with colds.

Although many people are convinced that a cold results from exposure to cold weather, or from getting chilled or overheated, researchers have found that these conditions have little or no effect on the development or severity of a cold. On the other hand, research suggests that psychological stress, allergic disorders affecting the nasal passages, and menstrual cycles may have an impact on a person’s susceptibility to colds. Seasonal changes in relative humidity may also affect the prevalence of colds. Cold weather may make the nasal passages’ lining drier and more vulnerable to viral infection.

To reduce the symptoms and discomfort from common cold saline drops or nasal decongestants, such as ephedrine sprays or drops, may help with a bunged up nose. Glycerin, honey and lemon can be used in children under two. There are lozenges, mouthwashes or sprays which can be used to numb a sore throat. There is no way of identifying the nature of the virus infection from the symptoms as these are very similar across the whole range of viruses. Now research shows that we can actually have more than one cold at a time!

Researchers call it human rhinovirus, or HRV. During the cold season there are almost 100 different viral strains circulating, so it is possible to pick up more than one strain at a time and current research shows that two strains can recombine to create a new strain! Have a “Happy Cold Season!”

Popularity: 71% [?]

In the last fifty years there have been major advances in health care with the introduction of organ transplantation, joint replacement, heart surgery techniques, and effective therapies for cancer and hypertension. However, proposals are being constantly offered to assure and improve the performance of doctors and to protect the safety of patients. Patients place a large amount of trust in their doctors, and the doctor/patient relationship is regarded as sacrosanct.

The medical profession does not share the same arms-length business to consumer relationship as that of any other business like a mechanic or an estate agent for example. The nature of the relationship is much more intimate, where the patient is relying on the doctor to tell them what they need and they in return disclose confidential information. Doctors are strictly regulated to protect confidentiality. Their hands are tied, and except if they are forced by law, cannot disclose confidential information about their patients.

Take a closer look at this relationship. Would you, as a patient, tell a doctor you are meeting for the first time your innermost secrets? Not likely! For a while, the doctor is on trial and can only gradually gain the confidence of the patient by the way he allows the relationship to develop. My professor told me on my graduation day that I had only become a technician and would become a doctor only on the day a patient asks to see me and no other doctor. It took 5 years to reach that point! It was the proudest moment of my professional life. A patient came in and was offered the option of seeing my boss who had far more experience than I had. She politely insisted she would rather see me.

Some of the latest proposals ostensibly created to protect patients and ensure higher standards of delivery have actually eroded the relationship. Patients are becoming more litigious and are now allowed to make issues public. Doctors are wary of taking decisions, in the best interest of the patient, which they would automatically have taken before, because of the fear of being sued later in the light of new developments or hypotheses. In this situation, lawyers and insurance companies may make great profit; but who is losing out? The patient!

Patients need to have hope. It is a priceless commodity for them. Hope comes when patients feel something can be done for their illness and they will be actively involved in their treatment, armed with knowledge that has been provided by their doctor. Hope is born when a physician looks into a patient’s face and a human connection is established and hope deepens when a patient feels free to talk and a doctor listens carefully. Most of the time a patient arrives with apprehension, maybe even fear. If a doctor succeeds in removing the fear by providing knowledge not only about what may be wrong, but also about a way forward to rid the patient of their condition, the patient is usually happy to follow the doctor s instructions and plan. With today s conditions, the doctor no longer has the time, or the inclination to invest time, to get to the root problem of the patient and design individual solutions.

The medical drama that occurs between doctor and patient has to do with a patient’s willingness to believe that a doctor can and wants to help him. That faith has great impact, independent of the natural course of an illness or other physiological interventions.

We hear many complaints about doctors and healthcare, but what complaints do doctors have about their patients? What can the patients learn from knowing what those complaints might be? Some patients are difficult, nasty, obnoxious or disruptive. They may be angry, and fairly so, due to previous experiences either with the same doctor or another one. Some patients place unrealistic responsibility on their doctors. A doctor asks an obese patient to lose weight to help control her diabetes. She doesn’t but returns time and again for more drugs or knee surgery or and gets upset when her doctor can no longer fix things for her. Doctors have a lot of frustration from patients like these. Some patients demand treatments doctors are unwilling or unable to provide or prescribe. Sometimes such treatments may not be in the patient s best interest.

Finally, the doctor/patient relationship is a two-way street that is becoming clogged up. We owe a duty to unclog it and restore faith in the system.

Popularity: 62% [?]

As we start not only a new year but a new decade it is time, in my opinion to begin in earnest the search for true wellness. The closing days of the last decade brought some degree of indulging in excesses of food and drink that is bound to leave a mark on the body and compromise health to a smaller or larger degree depending on the scale of indulgence.  We have studied and learnt so much about disease that we seem to have built a cathedral for disease states. We must now turn the wheel round and look at what it is to be well rather than ill. What then is wellness?

Wellness can be defined as the presence of balance between the mind, body and soul that results in a state of overall well-being. These three entities are sometimes referred to as the Wellness Triangle. Most of the time our attention is focused on the body and it is the most frequently discussed part of the Wellness Triangle. However the two other legs of the tripod are equally important and on occasions can manifest changes in them through changes in the body. All three are essential to overall wellness because while your body is a temple and should be treated as such your mind actually controls what is manifested in the body and the soul or spirit is that indefinable third part without which the other two will fail to function effectively.

 The soul part of the Wellness Triangle is the trickiest to describe and write about. The soul is the spiritual reality of a person, which does not die when their body dies. It moves to another plane of existence, which we cannot understand while we are on earth. The soul does not live in the body but is connected with it in a way that is not explained. This connection begins at the moment of conception. While it may be macho or “with it” to refuse to acknowledge the presence of an undying soul continuing streams of data show that patients who have one form of belief or the other survive life threatening conditions like heart attack and cancer far more frequently than those who do not believe in anything.

Wellness is an achievable goal; sometimes you just need a guide to point you in the right direction. Make sure you keep the Wellness Triangle in mind as you pursue your wellness goals. As your efforts focus on total wellness you will see that it is achievable!

Steps to total wellness

Step 1   Nutrition: There is an overused adage that says “you are what you eat”. It is nevertheless quite true. Eating a healthy diet is the first step in moving away from illness towards total wellness.  A balanced diet contributes to a Healthy Lifestyle. A balanced diet also means that you will be giving the body a complement of nutrients that it requires to be able to repair and heal damage and at the same time build new cells to replace old, aging ones. In this wise, the more colourful your food is the better it is. The brilliant colours of fruits and vegetables that you consume indicate many different nutrients are getting into the body.

Step 2   Exercise: Regular exercise is the next step towards total wellness. The body was not built to be sedentary for long periods of time. The more active you are, the healthier you would be. This is because the body needs to balance the energy that is going in and coming out. If more energy enters the body in the form of the food you eat at least an equal amount of energy needs to go out if the body is to remain in balance. Where there is more input than output, the body will store the excess energy as fat and that would signal impending trouble for the body. Where energy output outstrips input, there would be weight loss which may also be detrimental. During exercise, you will add more muscle mass. As you add muscle, your body will burn more calories. Running, walking, swimming or jumping rope are great cardio exercises. Weight training is essential for reshaping your body.

Step 3   Meditate: Meditation feeds your soul. Meditation can improve your concentration, decrease stress, decrease muscle tension and build self-confidence. Stress leads to many problems including lack of sleep, feeling overwhelmed and overreacting to unexpected problems. Anything that you deeply enjoy can be a soulful activity. For some, being in nature, listening to a loved one or writing poetry are soulful acts. In this wise, I will urge you strongly to find faith. Something you fervently believe in. This should be something that could become the very centre of your being.

In conclusion, remember that what you eat will directly affect how you feel, so fuel up on healthy food. Everything you do should reinforce your goals for Total Wellness. When you eat properly you are reinforcing your exercise goals. Similarly, when you meditate you are reinforcing your goals for your soul and body. I wish you a healthful 2010.

Popularity: 84% [?]

“Primum non nocere” is a Latin maxim of uncertain origin which translates “First, do no harm.” It was incorporated, in a form, into the Hippocratic Oath for doctors. It enjoins doctors to remember that in the course of carrying out their duties, the potential of causing even more harm than the prevailing condition is ever present. Therefore every intervention must be carefully considered.

“To be a doctor, then, means much more than to dispense pills or to patch up or repair torn flesh and shattered minds. To be a doctor is to be an intermediary between man and GOD.” Those were the words of the famous writer Felix Marti-Ibanez in a bid to encourage professionalism in doctors. A few years down the line, only a handful of doctors have risen to the challenge posed by those words.

First, let it be clear that the aim is not to undermine doctors in any way. In fact, I know of many people who can attest to the care and professionalism of many doctors saving their lives or those of their loved ones. However, we need to occasionally remind some doctors who might have forgotten how important they are and how onerous their duties sometimes are as they guide their patients through this accident-prone journey called life. So, what then are the duties of a good doctor?

Doctors are required both by law and by the ethics of the profession to respect doctor-patient confidentiality. Information received from patients should be used to enhance informed treatment and not for public disclosure except in circumstances where the health and well being of the patient could be compromised by withholding such information or where the doctor is convinced a crime would be perpetrated if the information was not disclosed to the relevant authorities.

An inescapable though difficult part of a doctor’s duty is preparing his patients for meeting great events like a dreaded illness or even the ultimate – death. The ability to do this with empathy largely determines the worth of a doctor to his patients when the chips are down.

They should be as honest and open as possible with their patients. Along with this, good doctors must also respect their patient’s right to decision making. They may advice patients on the best decisions to make but must then let the patients make a decision they are comfortable with even if the doctor does not agree with it!

A good doctor must also show an absolute respect for human life. To a doctor, a patient’s life is sacrosanct and he should do everything to avert all threat to that life. It is therefore the duty of doctors to do all in their power to keep their patients alive and healthy.

Doctors owe themselves and their patients the duty of keeping their skills up to date by embracing new information and technology as well as being abreast of techniques that could add to a patient’s quality of life.

Records are vital for future reference; therefore good doctors should always keep impeccable records. This is also important for accountability which is required in situations where questions may arise or facts need to be ascertained both for the patient as well as for the practitioner.

There are many guidelines that show doctors elements of good medical practice. The most notable of these requires doctors to be registered to a local association or professional body that would be responsible in ensuring that they maintain good medical practice. In this provision, the words “you must” and “you should” are commonly used in the following ways:

• You must – is used for an overruling duty or principle
• You should – is used when explaining how you will meet the overruling duty. It is also used where the duty will not apply in all circumstances or where there are factors outside the doctor’s control that may affect compliance with the guidance

Emphasis in this provision is on doctors being very familiar with all the duties and professional requirements of their job. Failure to follow professional guidelines usually leads to membership to the professional body/association being revoked.

However, having said all the foregoing, this writer believes that there is one principal overriding duty of a good doctor that has not yet been mentioned. A doctor’s most pressing duty is education! If you think for a moment about why patients come to doctors, it is to find out what may or may not be wrong with them. A lot of the time patients are apprehensive and sometimes downright frightened about what they may find out! In that atmosphere of trepidation, a doctor finds himself in the unique position of not only being able to allay fears if that is possible but to make the indecipherable clear to the patient. There is a maxim that says: “knowledge drives away fear.” If as a doctor you succeed in giving your patient a complete understanding of their condition and what they need to do to reverse the situation you would have succeeded in gaining their support for your chosen solution. A lot of the time, doctors fail to use this opportunity well. There is a tendency to talk at the patient rather than to the patient. The patients at times leave doctors’ rooms more confused and worried than when they arrived!

It is expected that a good doctor would take utmost care of his family, assist the community around him and generally live a balanced life because this is important for a proper mind-set and efficiency at work. The patient expects his doctor to be a well- balanced totally rounded and upright member of the society. What we have seen come through the media about doctors in recent times show us all that they are but human and have the same frailties as the rest of the society they serve.

Assailed by professionalism, dedication and conscience, good doctors perform “beyond the call of duty”, and that should be commended.

Popularity: 71% [?]

A very large percentage of health problems originate in the gut. Can you do anything to prevent or remove this major health hazard? Yes you can, and the faster you take steps to get rid of the festering and putrefying rubbish that threatens to derail your trip towards optimum health the better. Please take action – today if you can!

Popularity: 74% [?]

Blood pressure is a measurement of the force exerted by blood as it flows through the arteries. High blood pressure occurs when there is an increase of force against the wall of the artery, with potentially damaging consequences. Among adults, a normal blood pressure measure is considered to be lower than 120/80 mm Hg. If a blood pressure reads higher than this, that pressure should be considered as high.

 High blood pressure (or hypertension) has been called the silent killer because of its far-reaching consequences. It has been associated with damage to blood vessels in the eyes, heart, brain, and kidneys. An alarming note seen in many of the studies carried out on blood pressure is that the optimal blood pressure target was identified as less than 140/90 mg Hg, the cut-off level normally used to diagnose high blood pressure. However, some other studies have shown that a level of less than 120/80 mg Hg is even safer. This means that millions of patients may be candidates for blood pressure control even though they have not been identified as having high blood pressure.

Because high blood pressure is a multifactorial problem, effective management is rarely achieved through a single therapy option. Instead, optimal management often requires a broad-based approach that includes nutritional and lifestyle components, along with regular self-monitoring of blood pressure. Compelling evidence indicates that many conditions that lead to and sustain high blood pressure can be corrected through an integrative approach that recognises lifestyle modification and nutritional support.

High blood pressure is dangerous partly because it rarely causes symptoms in the beginning. According to data gathered as part of a study carried out in 2003, people who have high blood pressure are at an increased risk of developing dangerous conditions related to high blood pressure. In this study, for every 10 mm Hg increase in systolic pressure, there was a doubling of the risk of having a heart attack or stroke or of having kidney failure.

In recent years, researchers have made tremendous strides in understanding the connection between high blood pressure and various cardiovascular diseases. It has been discovered that elevated blood pressure damages arteries at a basic level, the endothelium.

Arteries, the blood vessel that take blood away from the heart, are made up of three layers. The outer layer is mostly connective tissue that provides support to the inner two layers. The middle layer is smooth muscle that contracts and expands to support circulation and maintain optimal blood pressure. The inner layer of arteries is known as the endothelium. This layer is composed of a thin layer of cells that protects the integrity of the artery, promotes blood clotting in case of injury, communicates with the smooth muscle layer, and helps prevent toxins such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) from penetrating into the middle of the artery. When the endothelial layer is damaged, it can result in a thickened arterial wall, arteriosclerosis, and the abnormal aggregation of white blood cells in the middle layer where they should not be. The accumulation of lipids such as LDL and triglycerides in the area can also occur.  Sensing an injury, the endothelium stimulates a healing response that ultimately leads to an atherosclerotic plaque. Endothelial dysfunction is linked with the development of atherosclerosis, a leading cause of cardiovascular events.

High blood pressure and endothelial dysfunction are closely associated. Elevated blood pressure has been shown to contribute significantly to endothelial dysfunction. Doctors measure the effects of high blood pressure by looking at target organ damage. In other words, treatment options are sometimes based on how much damage is being caused to organs such as the kidneys, eyes, or heart by the elevated blood pressure. In recent years, the endothelium has been added to the list of target organs that can be damaged by high blood pressure. High blood pressure has been shown to cause functional alterations in the endothelium that, in turn, are associated with decreased arterial mobility and increasing stiffness in the arterial wall, arteriosclerosis.

This stiffness can have serious consequences. Arteries are far from passive tubes through which blood flows. Healthy arteries actually contract with the heart to help maintain haemostasis and regulate blood pressure. When the arteries can no longer contract sufficiently because they are too stiff, additional stress is placed on the heart’s main pumping chamber, the left ventricle. As a result, the left ventricle may be enlarged (left ventricular hypertrophy). Left ventricular hypertrophy is often the first sign that damage from uncontrolled high blood pressure has started to occur. If left untreated, it may evolve into congestive heart failure.

The connection between endothelial dysfunction and high blood pressure is strong enough that progressive researchers believe endothelial function should be routinely measured among people who have high blood pressure. By the time symptoms develop, significant damage has already been done. If endothelial dysfunction is diagnosed early, however, treatment can mitigate the damage.

As has already been mentioned, many factors contribute to the development of high blood pressure.  The error in current management options is that we sometimes concentrate on one of the factors to the exclusion of other equally important contributors to the problem.  For example, giving a diuretic, a drug that tries to remove more water by making the body produce more urine, is concentrating on reducing the blood volume.  It may have lost sight of the fact that the arteries and veins, the pipes of this closed pumping circuit, could have become stiff and inflexible contributing to the heart, the pump, needing to raise its pressure to get the same volume of blood flowing to the tissues.

Next, we will take a look at the treatment modalities for treating high blood pressure.

Popularity: 83% [?]

The heart is a vitally important organ to the body.  If the heart stops beating, the body dies because the capacity to move nutrients to and remove waste materials from cells comes to a grinding halt.  Toxins accumulate, the cells cannot breathe and the organism dies.

When the egg of a woman is fertilised the embryo formed starts developing.  By the 19^th day a pair of tubes, endocardial tubes, is formed.  The fusion of these two tubes forms the heart.  The heart is the first functional organ that is developed in an embryo.  It starts beating about 21 days after conception which is about 5 weeks after a woman’s last menstrual period – the point from which foetal age is usually calculated.  To start with, the heart beats at about the same rate as the mother’s heartbeat, about 70-80 beats per minute.  It then speeds up month by month until it reaches the foetal heart rate which is about 144-150 beats per minute.

The expression of certain chemicals and proteins called transcription factors control the development of the heart both in its shape and its final position.  Failure of some of these proteins e.g. Nkx2.5 results in heart development defects and congenital heart malformations.  Chemicals and drugs taken by the mother during the vital stages of development can derail the process.  This is why great care has to be taken by all pregnant women concerning even the prescription drugs that they take.  Needless to say, they should keep away from other kinds of drugs or chemicals.

The human heart beats more than 3 billion times in an average lifetime.  For an organ as important as the heart, we should offer it every nutrient that would enhance its work and assist it to work optimally for as long as it can.

Popularity: 59% [?]

The human body is an amazing piece of equipment created to be self-adjusting to an unbelievable degree. For example, if for any reason the liver were to be damaged and up to 90% of liver tissue is lost, the remaining 10% will grow to take up the function of the lost portion. This is why it takes alcoholics anything up to 15 years to cause enough damage to elicit symptoms of liver insufficiency.

However, we need to look after the liver carefully because it is the principal organ that removes all the toxins the body comes in contact with from external or internal sources.

Popularity: 56% [?]

Welcome to olufemiladeinde.com.  This  blog aims to put information into the public domain that will enhance understanding of the human body and how it functions in health and in disease.  It is a sad state of affairs when with all the technology that surrounds us we cannot understand the basic functions of our body.  This blog will try to cut out all the frills and the heavy medical-speak so that the average person can follow the discourse.  I am going to try to pay more attention to the human body in health.  We have actually built a cathedral to disease.  We know a lot about disease states.  However, we do not know nearly enough about a body that is in optimal health. So, here goes!

Popularity: 56% [?]