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Archive for June, 2008

anti-inflammatory foods

June 13th, 2008

cold-water fish
Best: Wild salmon
Runners Up: Black cod (butterfish), sardines, anchovies, herring, mackerel, trout, tuna

Wild and farmed salmon have the same amount of omega 3, but wild salmon contains less saturated fat and has the ideal 2:1 ratio of omega 3 to omega 6.
Black cod has up to 58 percent more omega 3 than wild salmon.
Sardines contain protein and fatty acids, plus the edible bones add calcium.

fatty fruits
Best: Avocado, olives
Runner Up: Coconut
Avocadoes are high in fat – but it’s mostly monounsaturated fat, which may protect against heart disease and certain cancers. It also has omega 3 and is a good substitute for saturated fats like cream and butter.
Coconut contains a saturated fat which may not be as easily converted into stored fat by the body. It also has antiviral properties.

spices
Best: Cinnamon
Runners Up: Turmeric, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, fenugreek, bay leaf.
Cinnamon helps keep blood sugar levels stable as it contains a phytonutrient similar to those found in berries, cocoa and green tea.
Turmeric (kunyit) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and may help reduce Alzheimer’s-related inflammation in brain tissue.

colourful fruits
Best: Apple, pear, grapefruit
Runners Up: Pomegranate, berries, peach, plum, cherry

Fruits are high in fibre which moderates their effect on blood sugar levels and helps us feel full. Each apple contains a range of anti-inflammatory phytonutrients and 5g of fibre (15 to 25 percent of your daily requirement).
Fruits are high in anti-inflammatory, antioxidant phytonutrients. They’re concentrated in the most colourful parts of the fruits like the peel.

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New fix for fibroids

June 12th, 2008

If you have fibroids-benign tumors in the uterus that can cause pain, bleeding and fatigue-you may soon have a new solution: RU-486, also known as the abortion pill. Most fibroids feed on hormones, explains lead study author Kevin Fiscella MD: “Low-dose RU-486 blocks progesterone, causing fibroids to shrink by roughly 50% over six months.” The quality of life improvements for women who took RU-486 are on a par with uterine embolization, a surgical procedure in which doxtors block the arteries that supply the uterus with blood. Costs weren’t compared, but drugs are often cheaper and less debilitating than surgery. Typically, study results this promising would prompt doctors to start prescribing the drug off-label. But RU-486 is so controlversial the FDA won’t permit it to be used that way. That’s why Fiscella would like to conduct a larger trial, the next step toward FDA approval for this newly proposed use.

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Does garlic lower cholesterol?

June 12th, 2008

No, says Christopher Gardner,PhD, of the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “The idea that garlic lowers cholesterol has been around for decades,”he says. “Older research suggested that it did have an effect, but the studies were poorly conducted.

Newer studies seemed to say no, but they did not chemically analyze the supplements people were actually using.”

In search of the answer, Gardner recruited 192 people with slightly high cholesterol (130 to 190) and divided them into 4 groups: two got one of two common garlic supplements, one got the equivalent dose (about a clove) of crushed raw garlic, and one received a placebo.
At the end of the study, neither supplements nor raw garlic had the slightest effect on cholesterol. Bottom line: garlic might change your breath, but it won’t alter your blood lipids.

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Quick and Easy Heart Test

June 12th, 2008

If you want to stay heart healthy, ask your doctor to do an electrocardiogram at your next physical. This quick, noninvasive test that measures the electrical activity of the heart is routinely used on people already known to have heart disease. But a new study of more than 14,000 postmenopausal women reports that EKGs can also predict future heart problems in those women with no history of heart trouble—exactly the ones who wouldn’t normally be offered the test.

For this study, researchers reviewed the medical records of women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative to see whether abnormalities in their EKGs were associated with future heart problems. To the researchers’ surprise, even mild abnormalities-such as low blood flow to the heart or a premature heartbeat-were signs of future trouble.

If you’ve never had an EKG, it’s worth asking your doctor to run one, says study author Pablo Denes, MD, professor of medicine at Northwestern University. Even results that are. a tiny bit out of the norm should be a heads-up to do further testing.

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House buying guide

June 11th, 2008

Don’t get shafted by bankers

Case I: Sam, 25, and her boyfriend Mark found the flat they loved, had their offer accepted by the sellers and the advisor at their bank had agreed the mortgage. Perfect. That was until they returned to the bank to sign the mortgage forms. ‘The person we’d originally spoken to had left,’ says Sam. And everyone else denied all knowledge of our mortgage offer. After lots of hassle, the new advisor eventually offered us less cash at a much worse rate of interest.’

How to sort it: This helps to show just how important it is to get something from the bank in writing once you’ve been offered a mortgage. Never leave the bank without an official letter. Many lenders will issue you with what’s called an “agreement in principle to lend”. This isn’t a formal mortgage offer but at least you know where you stand when you look for a property.

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How should I take Activated Charcoal (Charcoal)?

June 11th, 2008

Activated charcoal is now considered the decontamination treatment of choice for most poisonings in adults and children. However, much of the literature reviews to date have focused on its use in adults. Children are different from adults in that they continue to develop not only physically in regard to maturation of organs and growth but also in regard to their disposition of drugs and chemical within the body.
While much of the literature does support the use of activated charcoal in children, the majority of information is based on case reports and case series.

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Career crisis

June 9th, 2008

My boss found out I have been sending my cv out and gave me a huge dressing down. What can I do to remedy the situation?

answer:
You are not married to the company so it is perfectly legit to look at your options. Now, ask yourself: Was I serious about leaving or was I just sussing the market?
If it is the former, then you simply have to file your resignation. If it’s the latter and assuming you want to keep your job, talk to your boss. Use the 3A approach: Admit you were curious. Assure him you still want to work for the company. Ask if he’s open to revising your pay package. If he sneers in your face and tears you apart, perhaps you were fight to send out those resumes after all.

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Scoliosis symptoms and treatment

June 6th, 2008

my doctor diagnosed me with scoliosis. i don’t really know if it’s bad enough for surgery or even a brace, but it’s causing a lot of problems. I’m only eighteen and i have really bad back pain. i can’t even do simple tasks, like bending over to bathe my dog for 10 minutes, without it hurting. I’m just wondering if anyone else is having similar problems (which I’m sure some of you are) and how you deal with it? also, i noticed not too long ago that my left rib cage seems to stick out more than the left one. my left one actually looks like it’s sinking in or something. is that because of scoliosis?

answer:
From 5 to 10 of every 100 young people from ages 9 to 14 will develop scoliosis. Most cases of scoliosis are mild and do not need any treatment except for regular exams.
A few cases do need treatment so that other problems will not develop in later years.
The best way to find and control scoliosis is to look for it often during the years when your bones are growing the fastest.

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Muscular Dystrophy;types and characteristics

June 5th, 2008

Muscular Dystrophy: A disease of the muscular system characterized by weakness and atrophy of the muscles of the body. The disease is progressive and remission does not occur.
The rate of progression is different for each set of muscles.

TYPES OF MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY:
Duchenne: Occurs primarily in males and presents itself between the ages of 3 and 7 years.
This type of muscular dystrophy is most common and most severe. This type affects the pelvic girdle and then moves to the shoulder girdle.

Facioscapularhumeral: The most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults. This type affects both genders equally. Appears in adolescence but is not usually diagnosed until adulthood. Characterized by progressive weakness of the shoulder muscles and weakness of the face muscles. Life span for individuals with this type is normal.

Limb-Girdle: Occurs anytime from age 10 and on. Both genders are equally affected. Early symptoms include difficulty in raising the arms above shoulder level or difficulty in climbing
stairs. Initially muscle weakness is either in the shoulder girdle muscles or the hip and thigh
muscles.

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Ejaculates during foreplay

June 4th, 2008

I truly love my fiance. However, I think he has serious male health issues. He’s 26 years old and his penis is small, as short as 7cm to 8cm before erection. He ejaculates during foreplay, even before intercourse (most of the time), and his penis will shrink so much afterwards and turn tremendously soft. After the first ejaculation, he can’t seem to get it erect again. Lately, he has been using a spray that makes my mouth all numb and my vagina itch a little. He refuses to let me see the product, he just tells me it helps to delay his penis reaction. I must admit the spray makes our sexual intercourse fabulous, but I’m worried he’ll have to depend on it permanently. We’re getting married soon and I don’t want this matter to haunt me. He is so reluctant to see a doctor. What can I do or say to help him and us?

answer:
Your fiance is experiencing premature ejaculation. There can be many reasons for this, among them psychological stress. He will need your patience and understanding to overcome this problem. You can help him during intercourse by squeezing the base of the penis before he ejaculates. I assume he has applied a local anesthetic cream to help him numb himself so that he will not ejaculate too early — at least he’s trying to overcome the problem. Discuss the problem with a urologist as well. FYI, the penis can shrink to a much smaller size when it deflates so what you’ve observed is perfectly normal.

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Archive for June, 2008

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