Stress is not just something that makes us feel nervous and edgy; it is a real concern for our health and well being. Studies have shown that people who suffer from high levels of stress are prone to many illnesses and psychological disorders. Researchers have been trying for years to determine what makes some people more "tightly wound" than others and to date the only explanation seems to be based on each individual’s capacity to handle everyday stressors. Some people are good at remaining calm in the most extreme situations, while others are very quick to become upset about the smallest details. Following are just some of the harmful side effects of stress.
Stroke and Heart Disease
There has been a link made over the past decade or so between stress and certain disorders of the cardiovascular system. Many people who suffer from high levels of stress for prolonged periods of time have later been diagnosed with heart disease or suffered from strokes, and even hypertension. Stress causes your heart to work over time because you are so wound up all the time that you don’t even give yourself a chance to enjoy life. In addition, stress causes an elevated heart rate and can cause your arteries to constrict which could lead to a number of issues. While there are other causes for heart disease, such as smoking and excessive drinking or substance abuse, stress is among one of the main causes.
Depressive Disorders and Anxiety
People who show a higher level of sensitivity to stress have been found more apt to develop certain psychological issues such as anxiety disorders or even severe depression. When you spend all of your time worrying about everything under the sun, your state of mind is compromised because you do not have the ability to just relax and let your guard down. Chronic stress in itself is a very debilitating disorder but the onset of a more serious psychological issue can be quite a challenge to treat in a person who cannot handle stress. Many people are prescribed anti-stress and anxiety drugs each year and of those people at least 50% of them go on to experience other, more serious complications if the treatment they are receiving for stress is ineffective.
Weight Changes
Because people have many different methods of dealing with stress, one of the main side effects of stress can be extreme fluctuations in weight. Some people may eat much more when they are stressed out causing them to gain massive amounts of weight. Conversely, some people have absolutely no appetite when they are stressed out. These people can become unhealthy due to a lack of nutrition, or they can cause their body’s metabolism to change in negative ways. In addition, stress has been directly linked to a significant increase in belly fat because of the stress hormone called cortisol. These weight problems can lead to a variety of other issues such as eating disorders.
Difficulty Sleeping
Most of the time people who suffer from disorders such as Insomnia, also suffer from high levels of stress. The two seem to go hand in hand and many studies suggest that treating the stress itself may in turn treat the sleep disorder. The first question a doctor may ask a patient who comes to see him/her with sleep issues will almost always be about the amount of stress present in that person’s life. Not only is a lack of sleep dangerous to everyday activities but because the body heals during the process of sleep, not getting enough sleep can be detrimental to your health. The trouble with this effect of stress is that it is almost a catch 22. If you don’t sleep enough your mind will not have the ability to handle everyday stress triggers and if you cannot handle stress well, you won’t sleep well.
Loss of Memory and Focus
People who suffer from chronic stress may experience difficulty concentrating or staying on task. Studies show that many people who report trouble concentrating also have indicated high levels of stress in their lives. Losing focus can be a very bad thing, especially if you work in an occupation that could bring harm to yourself or others if you are not on target 100% of the time, such as driving a bus, flying a plane, or even operating heavy machinery. It is also quite troublesome to constantly forget details about your everyday life. Stress can have a major impact on your ability to remember things like appointments, when bills are due, and even when to take your roast out of the over so it doesn’t burn.
Chronic Fatigue and Pain
Anyone who suffers from some sort of chronic pain, like that associated with arthritis or back injuries will have a heightened sensitivity to their pain as a result of stress. Headaches are also seen to be associated with stress in some cases, hence the term "tension headache". Not only does stress cause your existing pain to feel worse in some cases, but it can also cause you to feel pain because your muscles tighten up so much when you are stressed out. This could lead to neck pain, as well as joint and even lower back aches.
Stress is also linked to things like ulcers and other disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. While there is no direct cure for stress, there are some things that a person can do to eliminate some of the stress in their life. If there is some outside source for the stress such as a person or relationship, it may be a good idea to eliminate that particular stressor from your life altogether. If you are suffering from major stress on the job it may be a good time to ask for a vacation. There are a lot of mental exercises a person can do to help alleviate stress. Sometimes all it takes is a nice long bubble bath with some scented candles burning in the bathroom. Other times it will entail completely removing yourself from a situation that has been known to cause you stress. No matter what the case, if you are suffering from high levels of stress, speak to your doctor or another healthcare worker to see what your options are.
The Many Harmful Effects of Stress
Stress
Stroke and Heart Disease
There has been a link made over the past decade or so between stress and certain disorders of the cardiovascular system. Many people who suffer from high levels of stress for prolonged periods of time have later been diagnosed with heart disease or suffered from strokes, and even hypertension. Stress causes your heart to work over time because you are so wound up all the time that you don’t even give yourself a chance to enjoy life. In addition, stress causes an elevated heart rate and can cause your arteries to constrict which could lead to a number of issues. While there are other causes for heart disease, such as smoking and excessive drinking or substance abuse, stress is among one of the main causes.
Depressive Disorders and Anxiety
People who show a higher level of sensitivity to stress have been found more apt to develop certain psychological issues such as anxiety disorders or even severe depression. When you spend all of your time worrying about everything under the sun, your state of mind is compromised because you do not have the ability to just relax and let your guard down. Chronic stress in itself is a very debilitating disorder but the onset of a more serious psychological issue can be quite a challenge to treat in a person who cannot handle stress. Many people are prescribed anti-stress and anxiety drugs each year and of those people at least 50% of them go on to experience other, more serious complications if the treatment they are receiving for stress is ineffective.
Weight Changes
Because people have many different methods of dealing with stress, one of the main side effects of stress can be extreme fluctuations in weight. Some people may eat much more when they are stressed out causing them to gain massive amounts of weight. Conversely, some people have absolutely no appetite when they are stressed out. These people can become unhealthy due to a lack of nutrition, or they can cause their body’s metabolism to change in negative ways. In addition, stress has been directly linked to a significant increase in belly fat because of the stress hormone called cortisol. These weight problems can lead to a variety of other issues such as eating disorders.
Difficulty Sleeping
Most of the time people who suffer from disorders such as Insomnia, also suffer from high levels of stress. The two seem to go hand in hand and many studies suggest that treating the stress itself may in turn treat the sleep disorder. The first question a doctor may ask a patient who comes to see him/her with sleep issues will almost always be about the amount of stress present in that person’s life. Not only is a lack of sleep dangerous to everyday activities but because the body heals during the process of sleep, not getting enough sleep can be detrimental to your health. The trouble with this effect of stress is that it is almost a catch 22. If you don’t sleep enough your mind will not have the ability to handle everyday stress triggers and if you cannot handle stress well, you won’t sleep well.
Loss of Memory and Focus
People who suffer from chronic stress may experience difficulty concentrating or staying on task. Studies show that many people who report trouble concentrating also have indicated high levels of stress in their lives. Losing focus can be a very bad thing, especially if you work in an occupation that could bring harm to yourself or others if you are not on target 100% of the time, such as driving a bus, flying a plane, or even operating heavy machinery. It is also quite troublesome to constantly forget details about your everyday life. Stress can have a major impact on your ability to remember things like appointments, when bills are due, and even when to take your roast out of the over so it doesn’t burn.
Chronic Fatigue and Pain
Anyone who suffers from some sort of chronic pain, like that associated with arthritis or back injuries will have a heightened sensitivity to their pain as a result of stress. Headaches are also seen to be associated with stress in some cases, hence the term "tension headache". Not only does stress cause your existing pain to feel worse in some cases, but it can also cause you to feel pain because your muscles tighten up so much when you are stressed out. This could lead to neck pain, as well as joint and even lower back aches.
Stress is also linked to things like ulcers and other disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. While there is no direct cure for stress, there are some things that a person can do to eliminate some of the stress in their life. If there is some outside source for the stress such as a person or relationship, it may be a good idea to eliminate that particular stressor from your life altogether. If you are suffering from major stress on the job it may be a good time to ask for a vacation. There are a lot of mental exercises a person can do to help alleviate stress. Sometimes all it takes is a nice long bubble bath with some scented candles burning in the bathroom. Other times it will entail completely removing yourself from a situation that has been known to cause you stress. No matter what the case, if you are suffering from high levels of stress, speak to your doctor or another healthcare worker to see what your options are.
If you asked people what emotion they think they could do without, then it would be no surprise if a large number of individuals named stress as their least favorite.
Stress is a highly unpleasant and even debilitating emotion that can make us feel like things are getting too much for us, like the world is stacking up against us, and like we can't cope. Stress is known to lower the immune system making us more likely to become ill, it has been known to negatively affect our decision making abilities so that we make bad judgment calls, and it is linked with many other unpleasant emotions such as depression and anxiety. When we are in a situation where we are placed under pressure and need to concentrate, then this is often when stress arises and it is of course in these scenarios more destructive than it is helpful, leaving us unable to concentrate and causing us to stutter and choke.
However every emotion exists for a reason and of course we adapted to feel stress through evolution, so of course it must offer some kind of benefit – and indeed it is not without its positive points. In fact sometimes focusing on the positive aspects of stress can be enough to help us turn stress around and to make the most of it. Here we will look at what some of the positive effects of stress are so that we can maybe start to work with it on occasion instead of constantly working against it.
It's Motivating
First and foremost, stress is positive in that it can be a great motivating force at times and this is partly probably why we developed stress in the first place. In fact it's often easy to see how stress can be a useful motivating factor by looking at every day examples. You may remember for instance being at school and revising for exams. Here some people will have revised very hard and started very early – and this was an important as a good way to prepare for any exam. Other people however will have waited until the last night and then crammed as quickly as possible to learn it all in a night – or they may even have decided to skip this phase and to just hope that they remembered enough from classes. Of course the people who revised harder and longer were the ones who would have performed better in the exams and it was of course this group who were the more effected by stress. If you're stressed then you go about trying to rectify the problem, and you go about trying to prepare/plan/fix.
Of course this is a very good example of how stress is good but only in small doses – because you may also remember those students from school who were forced to work in separate rooms because they experienced too much stress. They may have been prone to panic attacks, or may have just broken down crying when they were expected to work in the main hall. This stress is crippling and that is enough to make us effectively useless in a range of circumstances. The trick then is to be able to control, monitor and ultimately harness stress so that you feel only positive amounts and are able to benefit from this rather than suffering for it.
Psychologist Hans Seley is often called the 'Father of Stress' due to his extensive research into the topic. He called these smaller amounts of positive stress 'eustress'.
It's a Cognitive Enhancer
The people who felt that eustress may also have experienced more success in their exams for other reasons too – because the stress might have actually improved some aspects of their intelligence. Incredible though it may sound, stress is actually a cognitive enhancer which can boost several aspects of our mental prowess and so help us in professional and academic capacities.
First of all this is because stress helps our brain to focus. Stress developed to help us to react to potential dangerous situations in the wild – and this might mean for instance trying to escape from a predator. That's not going to be any good if you are spending the whole time thinking about what you're having for dinner that night, and so stress can help you to narrow your attention and to focus on the task in hand. Meanwhile stress has also been shown in some studies to help increase memory and recall – so a little stress while revising for an exam or a presentation can help you to remember what it is you've read on the big night. This is supposed to be a result of slightly higher levels of cortisone – though again moderation is key as levels of cortisone that are too high have been shown to cause damage to the hippocampus.
It's Physically Enhancing
As well as improving your brain function, stress can also increase your physical performance and endurance. This is because it causes the release of adrenaline which speeds up your heart rate and so your metabolism. This can then result in increased reactions and reflexes, while also acting as a painkiller meaning that you can have better endurance. This may have once helped us to run for longer when being chances, but today it might help us in a physical confrontation, or during a sporting event. A bit of stress for an athlete then is a great thing. Adrenaline can also help to fight tiredness and fatigue.
This also shows another distinction between good stress and bad stress however – and that is that 'good' stress should be acute and not something that exists over a prolonged period. This is because an increased heart rate and lack of tiredness or pain might increase your endurance over short amounts of time, but over a long period of time the stress to the body can be too great and damage your immune system/cause heart problems.
How to Harness Stress
This is all very good and well, but it doesn't distract from the fact that in an interview or before giving a speech stress can be enough to turn you into a nervous wreck and have you shaking and stuttering and unable to perform optimally. The trick then is in these situations to try and harness that nervous energy and to direct it into something a little more positive and effective. One way to do this is to try and 'gee' yourself up in order to make sure that when you have a 'fight or flight' response you are more suited to the former rather than the latter. Try listening to some up-beat and positive music, use positive affirmations, or try doing a bit of a workout. This will help to psych you up and rather than trying to suppress the stress you can instead embrace it and use it to motivate you to success.
When Eustress Becomes Stress
In some cases though you will want to control stress – particularly when it starts to become unhealthy. As mentioned stress that lasts for very prolonged periods can begin to take a serious toll on your immune system and on your heart and this can cause you to get ill and put you at risk of high blood pressure and other problems.
In these scenarios you need to address your stress and that means finding ways to bring it under control both as it arises and over time. If you are suffering chronic stress then seeing a therapist, or trying to address the causes of your stress is important. Meanwhile for short term stress, you may want to try meditation or other relaxation techniques to try and bring your pulse back under control.
Stressful Events
When we think of stressful events we tend to think of examples such as exams in our youth, and now perhaps things like interviews or speeches. This is partly why we think of stress as entirely a bad thing. However in the right circumstances stress can be perceived as the 'spice of life' and can be what creates challenge, suspense and excitement. For instance some of the most important and happiest moments of your life were probably also very stressful – your first day at work, your marriage, your first child (and any subsequent children), going traveling, moving home... all of them were highly stressful but this was just because they represented exciting positive life changes. A complete lack of stress in your life might suggest that you haven't had any such major changes in your life and that might suggest likewise that you are not challenged in your life and not moving forward.
Source: Health Guidance
The Positive Effects of Stress
Stress
If you asked people what emotion they think they could do without, then it would be no surprise if a large number of individuals named stress as their least favorite.
Stress is a highly unpleasant and even debilitating emotion that can make us feel like things are getting too much for us, like the world is stacking up against us, and like we can't cope. Stress is known to lower the immune system making us more likely to become ill, it has been known to negatively affect our decision making abilities so that we make bad judgment calls, and it is linked with many other unpleasant emotions such as depression and anxiety. When we are in a situation where we are placed under pressure and need to concentrate, then this is often when stress arises and it is of course in these scenarios more destructive than it is helpful, leaving us unable to concentrate and causing us to stutter and choke.
However every emotion exists for a reason and of course we adapted to feel stress through evolution, so of course it must offer some kind of benefit – and indeed it is not without its positive points. In fact sometimes focusing on the positive aspects of stress can be enough to help us turn stress around and to make the most of it. Here we will look at what some of the positive effects of stress are so that we can maybe start to work with it on occasion instead of constantly working against it.
It's Motivating
First and foremost, stress is positive in that it can be a great motivating force at times and this is partly probably why we developed stress in the first place. In fact it's often easy to see how stress can be a useful motivating factor by looking at every day examples. You may remember for instance being at school and revising for exams. Here some people will have revised very hard and started very early – and this was an important as a good way to prepare for any exam. Other people however will have waited until the last night and then crammed as quickly as possible to learn it all in a night – or they may even have decided to skip this phase and to just hope that they remembered enough from classes. Of course the people who revised harder and longer were the ones who would have performed better in the exams and it was of course this group who were the more effected by stress. If you're stressed then you go about trying to rectify the problem, and you go about trying to prepare/plan/fix.
Of course this is a very good example of how stress is good but only in small doses – because you may also remember those students from school who were forced to work in separate rooms because they experienced too much stress. They may have been prone to panic attacks, or may have just broken down crying when they were expected to work in the main hall. This stress is crippling and that is enough to make us effectively useless in a range of circumstances. The trick then is to be able to control, monitor and ultimately harness stress so that you feel only positive amounts and are able to benefit from this rather than suffering for it.
Psychologist Hans Seley is often called the 'Father of Stress' due to his extensive research into the topic. He called these smaller amounts of positive stress 'eustress'.
It's a Cognitive Enhancer
The people who felt that eustress may also have experienced more success in their exams for other reasons too – because the stress might have actually improved some aspects of their intelligence. Incredible though it may sound, stress is actually a cognitive enhancer which can boost several aspects of our mental prowess and so help us in professional and academic capacities.
First of all this is because stress helps our brain to focus. Stress developed to help us to react to potential dangerous situations in the wild – and this might mean for instance trying to escape from a predator. That's not going to be any good if you are spending the whole time thinking about what you're having for dinner that night, and so stress can help you to narrow your attention and to focus on the task in hand. Meanwhile stress has also been shown in some studies to help increase memory and recall – so a little stress while revising for an exam or a presentation can help you to remember what it is you've read on the big night. This is supposed to be a result of slightly higher levels of cortisone – though again moderation is key as levels of cortisone that are too high have been shown to cause damage to the hippocampus.
It's Physically Enhancing
As well as improving your brain function, stress can also increase your physical performance and endurance. This is because it causes the release of adrenaline which speeds up your heart rate and so your metabolism. This can then result in increased reactions and reflexes, while also acting as a painkiller meaning that you can have better endurance. This may have once helped us to run for longer when being chances, but today it might help us in a physical confrontation, or during a sporting event. A bit of stress for an athlete then is a great thing. Adrenaline can also help to fight tiredness and fatigue.
This also shows another distinction between good stress and bad stress however – and that is that 'good' stress should be acute and not something that exists over a prolonged period. This is because an increased heart rate and lack of tiredness or pain might increase your endurance over short amounts of time, but over a long period of time the stress to the body can be too great and damage your immune system/cause heart problems.
How to Harness Stress
This is all very good and well, but it doesn't distract from the fact that in an interview or before giving a speech stress can be enough to turn you into a nervous wreck and have you shaking and stuttering and unable to perform optimally. The trick then is in these situations to try and harness that nervous energy and to direct it into something a little more positive and effective. One way to do this is to try and 'gee' yourself up in order to make sure that when you have a 'fight or flight' response you are more suited to the former rather than the latter. Try listening to some up-beat and positive music, use positive affirmations, or try doing a bit of a workout. This will help to psych you up and rather than trying to suppress the stress you can instead embrace it and use it to motivate you to success.
When Eustress Becomes Stress
In some cases though you will want to control stress – particularly when it starts to become unhealthy. As mentioned stress that lasts for very prolonged periods can begin to take a serious toll on your immune system and on your heart and this can cause you to get ill and put you at risk of high blood pressure and other problems.
In these scenarios you need to address your stress and that means finding ways to bring it under control both as it arises and over time. If you are suffering chronic stress then seeing a therapist, or trying to address the causes of your stress is important. Meanwhile for short term stress, you may want to try meditation or other relaxation techniques to try and bring your pulse back under control.
Stressful Events
When we think of stressful events we tend to think of examples such as exams in our youth, and now perhaps things like interviews or speeches. This is partly why we think of stress as entirely a bad thing. However in the right circumstances stress can be perceived as the 'spice of life' and can be what creates challenge, suspense and excitement. For instance some of the most important and happiest moments of your life were probably also very stressful – your first day at work, your marriage, your first child (and any subsequent children), going traveling, moving home... all of them were highly stressful but this was just because they represented exciting positive life changes. A complete lack of stress in your life might suggest that you haven't had any such major changes in your life and that might suggest likewise that you are not challenged in your life and not moving forward.
Stress is a highly unpleasant and even debilitating emotion that can make us feel like things are getting too much for us, like the world is stacking up against us, and like we can't cope. Stress is known to lower the immune system making us more likely to become ill, it has been known to negatively affect our decision making abilities so that we make bad judgment calls, and it is linked with many other unpleasant emotions such as depression and anxiety. When we are in a situation where we are placed under pressure and need to concentrate, then this is often when stress arises and it is of course in these scenarios more destructive than it is helpful, leaving us unable to concentrate and causing us to stutter and choke.
However every emotion exists for a reason and of course we adapted to feel stress through evolution, so of course it must offer some kind of benefit – and indeed it is not without its positive points. In fact sometimes focusing on the positive aspects of stress can be enough to help us turn stress around and to make the most of it. Here we will look at what some of the positive effects of stress are so that we can maybe start to work with it on occasion instead of constantly working against it. It's Motivating
First and foremost, stress is positive in that it can be a great motivating force at times and this is partly probably why we developed stress in the first place. In fact it's often easy to see how stress can be a useful motivating factor by looking at every day examples. You may remember for instance being at school and revising for exams. Here some people will have revised very hard and started very early – and this was an important as a good way to prepare for any exam. Other people however will have waited until the last night and then crammed as quickly as possible to learn it all in a night – or they may even have decided to skip this phase and to just hope that they remembered enough from classes. Of course the people who revised harder and longer were the ones who would have performed better in the exams and it was of course this group who were the more effected by stress. If you're stressed then you go about trying to rectify the problem, and you go about trying to prepare/plan/fix.
Of course this is a very good example of how stress is good but only in small doses – because you may also remember those students from school who were forced to work in separate rooms because they experienced too much stress. They may have been prone to panic attacks, or may have just broken down crying when they were expected to work in the main hall. This stress is crippling and that is enough to make us effectively useless in a range of circumstances. The trick then is to be able to control, monitor and ultimately harness stress so that you feel only positive amounts and are able to benefit from this rather than suffering for it.
Psychologist Hans Seley is often called the 'Father of Stress' due to his extensive research into the topic. He called these smaller amounts of positive stress 'eustress'.
It's a Cognitive Enhancer
The people who felt that eustress may also have experienced more success in their exams for other reasons too – because the stress might have actually improved some aspects of their intelligence. Incredible though it may sound, stress is actually a cognitive enhancer which can boost several aspects of our mental prowess and so help us in professional and academic capacities.
First of all this is because stress helps our brain to focus. Stress developed to help us to react to potential dangerous situations in the wild – and this might mean for instance trying to escape from a predator. That's not going to be any good if you are spending the whole time thinking about what you're having for dinner that night, and so stress can help you to narrow your attention and to focus on the task in hand. Meanwhile stress has also been shown in some studies to help increase memory and recall – so a little stress while revising for an exam or a presentation can help you to remember what it is you've read on the big night. This is supposed to be a result of slightly higher levels of cortisone – though again moderation is key as levels of cortisone that are too high have been shown to cause damage to the hippocampus.
It's Physically Enhancing
As well as improving your brain function, stress can also increase your physical performance and endurance. This is because it causes the release of adrenaline which speeds up your heart rate and so your metabolism. This can then result in increased reactions and reflexes, while also acting as a painkiller meaning that you can have better endurance. This may have once helped us to run for longer when being chances, but today it might help us in a physical confrontation, or during a sporting event. A bit of stress for an athlete then is a great thing. Adrenaline can also help to fight tiredness and fatigue.
This also shows another distinction between good stress and bad stress however – and that is that 'good' stress should be acute and not something that exists over a prolonged period. This is because an increased heart rate and lack of tiredness or pain might increase your endurance over short amounts of time, but over a long period of time the stress to the body can be too great and damage your immune system/cause heart problems.
How to Harness Stress
This is all very good and well, but it doesn't distract from the fact that in an interview or before giving a speech stress can be enough to turn you into a nervous wreck and have you shaking and stuttering and unable to perform optimally. The trick then is in these situations to try and harness that nervous energy and to direct it into something a little more positive and effective. One way to do this is to try and 'gee' yourself up in order to make sure that when you have a 'fight or flight' response you are more suited to the former rather than the latter. Try listening to some up-beat and positive music, use positive affirmations, or try doing a bit of a workout. This will help to psych you up and rather than trying to suppress the stress you can instead embrace it and use it to motivate you to success.
When Eustress Becomes Stress
In some cases though you will want to control stress – particularly when it starts to become unhealthy. As mentioned stress that lasts for very prolonged periods can begin to take a serious toll on your immune system and on your heart and this can cause you to get ill and put you at risk of high blood pressure and other problems.
In these scenarios you need to address your stress and that means finding ways to bring it under control both as it arises and over time. If you are suffering chronic stress then seeing a therapist, or trying to address the causes of your stress is important. Meanwhile for short term stress, you may want to try meditation or other relaxation techniques to try and bring your pulse back under control.
Stressful Events
When we think of stressful events we tend to think of examples such as exams in our youth, and now perhaps things like interviews or speeches. This is partly why we think of stress as entirely a bad thing. However in the right circumstances stress can be perceived as the 'spice of life' and can be what creates challenge, suspense and excitement. For instance some of the most important and happiest moments of your life were probably also very stressful – your first day at work, your marriage, your first child (and any subsequent children), going traveling, moving home... all of them were highly stressful but this was just because they represented exciting positive life changes. A complete lack of stress in your life might suggest that you haven't had any such major changes in your life and that might suggest likewise that you are not challenged in your life and not moving forward.
Source: Health Guidance
When you break a bone or twist a joint then you will likely get a lot of pain at the source of the problem – on the bone or joint itself. This then leaves you focussing on that area and thinking only of that part of your body as what's damaged.
However this can be a big mistake and if you understand the body fully then you'll know that a broken ankle can cause a range of different problems throughout your body, as can a broken wrist of anything else. For instance if you have a broken knee then you have to realise that not only is the joint damaged, but also that your muscle may well waste as a result of your not using your leg. At the same time you will find that some muscles in the leg become stronger than others and this can cause an imbalance – causing further knee problems, or even hurting your back. Then there's the fact that having a bad knee can cause you to walk incorrectly and to develop bad habits, leaving you with an awkward walk that could damage your feet, your legs or more – or just make you more likely to fall and hurt yourself again.
This is why it's important to focus on not only healing the injury itself, but also on making sure the whole body is operating fully and as well as possible. This is where physiotherapy comes into play – a series of exercises and manipulations designed to help you regain full control of the area and to prevent any other problems that could occur during the healing process.
Thus the purposes of physiotherapy are:
• To help manipulate the joint, bones, muscle, tendon etc to prevent it from becoming stiff and to encourage healing.
• To strengthen the supporting muscles and prevent imbalances.
• To check for potential problems before they develop.
• To alleviate pain.
• To improve balance and coordination and avoid bad habits so as to prevent future difficulties and accidents.
Visits to physiotherapist then will involve being manipulated and it will be much like a massage focussing on the problem area. However in order to strengthen muscle, coordination and flexibility, these exercises and manipulations will need to be practised regularly – and that's why you will be set home exercises to perform yourself.
You will be shown the exercises and walked through them with your physiotherapist and will usually be given a piece of paper to take home with the instructions on it. These will then be repeated once or a few times a day, and they will mostly consist of gently flexing or moving your joints – either on their own or by lightly pulling/pushing them with your hand. They might also recommend other more general exercise such as swimming which is low impact.
If you perform these home exercises regularly exactly as instructed, then you should find that you quickly improve and you recover faster than you would otherwise have.
Source: Health Guidance
Home Physiotherapy Exercises
Physical Therapy
However this can be a big mistake and if you understand the body fully then you'll know that a broken ankle can cause a range of different problems throughout your body, as can a broken wrist of anything else. For instance if you have a broken knee then you have to realise that not only is the joint damaged, but also that your muscle may well waste as a result of your not using your leg. At the same time you will find that some muscles in the leg become stronger than others and this can cause an imbalance – causing further knee problems, or even hurting your back. Then there's the fact that having a bad knee can cause you to walk incorrectly and to develop bad habits, leaving you with an awkward walk that could damage your feet, your legs or more – or just make you more likely to fall and hurt yourself again.
This is why it's important to focus on not only healing the injury itself, but also on making sure the whole body is operating fully and as well as possible. This is where physiotherapy comes into play – a series of exercises and manipulations designed to help you regain full control of the area and to prevent any other problems that could occur during the healing process.
Thus the purposes of physiotherapy are:
• To help manipulate the joint, bones, muscle, tendon etc to prevent it from becoming stiff and to encourage healing.
• To strengthen the supporting muscles and prevent imbalances.
• To check for potential problems before they develop.
• To alleviate pain.
• To improve balance and coordination and avoid bad habits so as to prevent future difficulties and accidents.
Visits to physiotherapist then will involve being manipulated and it will be much like a massage focussing on the problem area. However in order to strengthen muscle, coordination and flexibility, these exercises and manipulations will need to be practised regularly – and that's why you will be set home exercises to perform yourself.
You will be shown the exercises and walked through them with your physiotherapist and will usually be given a piece of paper to take home with the instructions on it. These will then be repeated once or a few times a day, and they will mostly consist of gently flexing or moving your joints – either on their own or by lightly pulling/pushing them with your hand. They might also recommend other more general exercise such as swimming which is low impact.
If you perform these home exercises regularly exactly as instructed, then you should find that you quickly improve and you recover faster than you would otherwise have.
Source: Health Guidance
To remain happy and healthy, you must have a strong immune system. The immune system protects us from getting infections and diseases such as cancer. It is the system that helps keep us healthy. The immune system is simply defined as a complex system responsible for identifying and protecting us from infections and foreign substances. The immune system seeks and kills anything invading the body. By having a strong and healthy immune system, you can prevent the onset of various forms of cancer.
Man used to be the hopeless victim of his circumstances. When Louis Pasteur discovered that bacteria caused diseases and that chemicals could kill bacteria, modern medicine was born. Since then, we have struggled to develop chemicals to enhance our health and fight bacteria-causing disease.
We live in an ocean of bacteria and viruses. Yet, these microorganisms do not cause diseases; we become infected by diseases when we have weakened and inefficient immune systems. We see the evidence of this truth constantly around us. One person in an office gets a very bad cold. The person sitting next to him doesn't get a sniffle. Certainly both were exposed to the same microorganisms. What is the difference? It lies in their immune systems. That's why we get a flu shot, to build up our immune system against the infection. The immune system destroys cells foreign to the body.
The alternative treatment of cancer has a popular expression that says: "All cancer is the result of an immune system that did not destroy the mutant cells." Obviously, the cancer cells are foreign to the body. The immune system of a healthy person can destroy 10, 000 mutated (cancer) cells each day. When this defense mechanism fails, cancer cells can multiply and become a clinical case of cancer.
When a person has a strong, healthy immune system, they can either prevent cancer from occurring or slow down its rate of growth. Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, taking vitamins and herbs, drinking plenty of water and exercising daily can boost the immune system, and in the long run, may prevent or slow down cancer. Nobel prize winner Dr. Linus Pauling noted in his recent book Vitamin C - The Common Cold and Flu, that autopsies performed on people who had never suffered from any form of cancer, revealed evidence that they had as many as three cases of different cancers during their life spans and never knew anything about it. He credited a strong, healthy immune system for automatically dealing with all of the diseases - an observation that underlines the importance of the immune system in eradicating cancer and other diseases.
In conclusion, there is a direct connection between having a strong, healthy immune system and preventing or controlling cancer. The immune system can be strengthened by daily exercise, eating healthy foods, and taking herbs and vitamins. Immunitril(tm) is the most complete immunity support formula available today. This revolutionary complex is a unique combination of herbs, extracts, minerals and anti-oxidant vitamins, providing maximum support for immune system function. This is just one more reason why every individual should strive to build up a strong immune system.
Source: Health Guidance
Your Immune System - Your First Line of Defense Against Cancer
cancer
Man used to be the hopeless victim of his circumstances. When Louis Pasteur discovered that bacteria caused diseases and that chemicals could kill bacteria, modern medicine was born. Since then, we have struggled to develop chemicals to enhance our health and fight bacteria-causing disease.
We live in an ocean of bacteria and viruses. Yet, these microorganisms do not cause diseases; we become infected by diseases when we have weakened and inefficient immune systems. We see the evidence of this truth constantly around us. One person in an office gets a very bad cold. The person sitting next to him doesn't get a sniffle. Certainly both were exposed to the same microorganisms. What is the difference? It lies in their immune systems. That's why we get a flu shot, to build up our immune system against the infection. The immune system destroys cells foreign to the body.
The alternative treatment of cancer has a popular expression that says: "All cancer is the result of an immune system that did not destroy the mutant cells." Obviously, the cancer cells are foreign to the body. The immune system of a healthy person can destroy 10, 000 mutated (cancer) cells each day. When this defense mechanism fails, cancer cells can multiply and become a clinical case of cancer.
When a person has a strong, healthy immune system, they can either prevent cancer from occurring or slow down its rate of growth. Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, taking vitamins and herbs, drinking plenty of water and exercising daily can boost the immune system, and in the long run, may prevent or slow down cancer. Nobel prize winner Dr. Linus Pauling noted in his recent book Vitamin C - The Common Cold and Flu, that autopsies performed on people who had never suffered from any form of cancer, revealed evidence that they had as many as three cases of different cancers during their life spans and never knew anything about it. He credited a strong, healthy immune system for automatically dealing with all of the diseases - an observation that underlines the importance of the immune system in eradicating cancer and other diseases.
In conclusion, there is a direct connection between having a strong, healthy immune system and preventing or controlling cancer. The immune system can be strengthened by daily exercise, eating healthy foods, and taking herbs and vitamins. Immunitril(tm) is the most complete immunity support formula available today. This revolutionary complex is a unique combination of herbs, extracts, minerals and anti-oxidant vitamins, providing maximum support for immune system function. This is just one more reason why every individual should strive to build up a strong immune system.
Source: Health Guidance
There are many things you can do when preparing for an asthma-free vacation. Those with allergic asthma, should consider the overall climate and the current season at destination area which may affect their condition. If you’re going to the dry southwest, you will probably have less problems than if you choose a humid tropics destination, as dampness virtually guarantees more airborne molds. Humid, warm climates may improve the chance of dust mites and indoor molds exposure, whereas cold dry air may be irritating to the breathing passages.
Preliminary checkup. If you have unstable asthma or active allergy symptoms, consider asking your family to visit a doctor before a vacation. Discuss about where you will be going and what you will be doing and determine whether your doctor thinks you need to adjust your medication.
Get medical alert bracelet. If you have unstable or severe asthma and you need to travel (especially if you are traveling without a family member), you should consider about wearing a special alert bracelet (for example, MedicAlert necklace or bracelet) to help medical professionals anywhere around the world understand about your problem in the case of an asthma attack. As a matter of fact, a medical bracelet is the first thing they look when dealing with emergency asthma attack. Medical necklace or bracelet should be engraved with your latest medical condition and also a toll-free number. Local doctors can call the number and get detailed medical condition of the patient. If a call gets through, the staff will also contact your family.
Preparing medications. Your medical kit should include your prescribed asthma medications and emergency rapid-acting medications, like bronchodilators, antihistamines, and some corticosteroids. Keep a backup set of complete medications in your purse, carry-on bag or briefcase in case the luggage gets stuck somewhere in the airport (you may also need to prepare a smaller third set of medication in your pocket, in the case the purse is stolen.) When preparing for an emergency you should pack more necessary. If you are planning to fly to a distant country, you should include the original container and a confirmation letter from your doctor (which includes his phone number), to make it easier for you to get through any custom checkpoint. Keeping your medications in its original container may also help a stranger administer the drugs to you if medical helps are still miles away.
Patients with particularly severe asthma may need prescribed oral corticosteroids during a long travel. Talk to your doctor about a proper way to use it and things that should be avoided.
Bring your peak-flow meter to monitor your current condition. Prepare an asthma action plan and also the doctor’s phone number. Make sure you get a compatible adapter for you destination country, which is needed for your portable nebulizer.
Prepare a contact information sheet. Take your doctor’s phone number with you, as there could be a time when you need to ask for his advices. You may need to purchase a travel medical insurance.
Make hotel reservations properly. You may not be surprised to know that hotel rooms are often home to large populations of mites and mold that lurk on carpets, upholstered furniture and bedding. When you make hotel reservations, be sure to ask if hypoallergenic rooms are available. Some hotels prepare rooms that are generally less allergenic than typical hotel rooms, for example the room may have hardwood flooring instead of a thick carpet and use anti-allergic and anti-mite cover mattress. You may also ask a non-smoking room if it has air conditioning to avoid traces of tobacco in the room. Ask the hotel to replace the filters on air conditioning before your arrival, even if it means that you need to pay some extra cash. If you are sensitive to mold, choosing a sunny, dry room away from the swimming pool is a good idea. If you are allergic to animals, ask the hotel for a room where a pet never stayed in there. If you are sensitive to dust mites and other allergens, you can always bring your own zippered dust-proof covers for pillows and mattresses. If you are allergic to feathers, bring a special pillow. If your family stays in a cabin in the woods or near the beach, make sure it is well ventilated and cleaned before you arrive for your holiday. This may reduce the concentrations of dust mites and mold.
Staying in a house. It is easy to think that you shouldn’t worry about allergens when you’re staying in relative’s or friend’s house, but that’s not necessarily true. Pet-related allergens can be spread through traces of urine and saliva around the house, which cause asthma attacks on some people, even if the animal is separated far away from the house. If the hosts know about your asthma, they may be agree to take some extra precautions, such as getting rid of pests or placing the pet away from the house. However, it can take weeks or even months before allergens disappear. If your friends have cats, you risks can be heightened as cats are common cause of asthma.
However, some precautions such as dusting and vacuuming the house one week before your arrival may help immensely. By letting the hosts know in advance you can ensure your health and comfort. If you feel that staying at someone’s home is likely to trigger asthma attacks, you may need to find a safe hotel room instead.
Source: Health Guidance
How Asthma Sufferers Should Prepare for a Long Travel?
Asthma
Preliminary checkup. If you have unstable asthma or active allergy symptoms, consider asking your family to visit a doctor before a vacation. Discuss about where you will be going and what you will be doing and determine whether your doctor thinks you need to adjust your medication.
Get medical alert bracelet. If you have unstable or severe asthma and you need to travel (especially if you are traveling without a family member), you should consider about wearing a special alert bracelet (for example, MedicAlert necklace or bracelet) to help medical professionals anywhere around the world understand about your problem in the case of an asthma attack. As a matter of fact, a medical bracelet is the first thing they look when dealing with emergency asthma attack. Medical necklace or bracelet should be engraved with your latest medical condition and also a toll-free number. Local doctors can call the number and get detailed medical condition of the patient. If a call gets through, the staff will also contact your family.
Preparing medications. Your medical kit should include your prescribed asthma medications and emergency rapid-acting medications, like bronchodilators, antihistamines, and some corticosteroids. Keep a backup set of complete medications in your purse, carry-on bag or briefcase in case the luggage gets stuck somewhere in the airport (you may also need to prepare a smaller third set of medication in your pocket, in the case the purse is stolen.) When preparing for an emergency you should pack more necessary. If you are planning to fly to a distant country, you should include the original container and a confirmation letter from your doctor (which includes his phone number), to make it easier for you to get through any custom checkpoint. Keeping your medications in its original container may also help a stranger administer the drugs to you if medical helps are still miles away.
Patients with particularly severe asthma may need prescribed oral corticosteroids during a long travel. Talk to your doctor about a proper way to use it and things that should be avoided.
Bring your peak-flow meter to monitor your current condition. Prepare an asthma action plan and also the doctor’s phone number. Make sure you get a compatible adapter for you destination country, which is needed for your portable nebulizer.
Prepare a contact information sheet. Take your doctor’s phone number with you, as there could be a time when you need to ask for his advices. You may need to purchase a travel medical insurance.
Make hotel reservations properly. You may not be surprised to know that hotel rooms are often home to large populations of mites and mold that lurk on carpets, upholstered furniture and bedding. When you make hotel reservations, be sure to ask if hypoallergenic rooms are available. Some hotels prepare rooms that are generally less allergenic than typical hotel rooms, for example the room may have hardwood flooring instead of a thick carpet and use anti-allergic and anti-mite cover mattress. You may also ask a non-smoking room if it has air conditioning to avoid traces of tobacco in the room. Ask the hotel to replace the filters on air conditioning before your arrival, even if it means that you need to pay some extra cash. If you are sensitive to mold, choosing a sunny, dry room away from the swimming pool is a good idea. If you are allergic to animals, ask the hotel for a room where a pet never stayed in there. If you are sensitive to dust mites and other allergens, you can always bring your own zippered dust-proof covers for pillows and mattresses. If you are allergic to feathers, bring a special pillow. If your family stays in a cabin in the woods or near the beach, make sure it is well ventilated and cleaned before you arrive for your holiday. This may reduce the concentrations of dust mites and mold.
Staying in a house. It is easy to think that you shouldn’t worry about allergens when you’re staying in relative’s or friend’s house, but that’s not necessarily true. Pet-related allergens can be spread through traces of urine and saliva around the house, which cause asthma attacks on some people, even if the animal is separated far away from the house. If the hosts know about your asthma, they may be agree to take some extra precautions, such as getting rid of pests or placing the pet away from the house. However, it can take weeks or even months before allergens disappear. If your friends have cats, you risks can be heightened as cats are common cause of asthma.
However, some precautions such as dusting and vacuuming the house one week before your arrival may help immensely. By letting the hosts know in advance you can ensure your health and comfort. If you feel that staying at someone’s home is likely to trigger asthma attacks, you may need to find a safe hotel room instead.
Source: Health Guidance
HIV has long been difficult to diagnose with no consistent or obvious symptoms. However in some cases a rash will develop that can help indicate the existence of the HIV virus, while in others it may be the result of the drugs used to control the condition. In both these cases the rash is known as a ‘HIV rash’. Roughly 80% of HIV sufferers will get some kind of rash associated with their condition.
In those cases where the rash is a symptom of the HIV itself, rather than the medication, it will appear during the ‘sero-conversion’ of the infection. This is the point at which antibodies are developed by the body in order to try to combat the infected cells. This will tend to occur around three weeks into the infectio, though in some cases it might be much later.
The rash itself will then appear as a slightly raised area, dark red in colour, and made up of many tiny ‘pauples’ much like many other rashes (for those with a dark skin tone the rash may alternatively be dark brown). This type of rash is known as a maculpapular rash and can occur on any part of the body – usually the face and trunk and occasionally the hands and feet. Sometimes it might also cause ulcers in the mouth. The rash itself is likely to itch making it quite unpleasant.
The significance of the HIV rash is a) that it can indicate the presence of HIV in combination with other symptoms, and b) that it indicates the start of the sero-conversion which means a patient is more likely to test positive for the illness. For all these reasons a HIV rash will significantly increase your chances of diagnosis.
Those other symptoms will mostly be flu-like symptoms along with fever, diarrhoea, enlarged lymph nodes, headaches, oral thrush (which looks like white spots in the mouth) and myalgia (muscle ache). In a recent study of 258 people screened for HIV it was shown that a fever in combination with a rash was the best clinical guide to HIV, presenting the best chance of an accurate diagnosis.
Rashes caused by the HIV medication however are slightly different. These ‘drug eruptions’ will see the patients experience raised reddish lesions that look like rashes which will cover the whole body. This is often a reaction to Co-trimoxazole which is used to treat the PCP pneumonia in HIV sufferers.
If you already have HIV then and you develop a rash similar in description to those described here then this is likely the HIV rash, though you should see your doctor to make sure. If you get one of these rashes and you are not HIV positive as far as you are aware, but have reason to suspect you could be and this coincides with fever and flu like symptoms, then you may be suffering from HIV and should see a doctor immediately.
Unfortunately there is no cure for HIV and the condition can only be managed using highly regular medication. This means that many people are forced to live with the HIV rash as part of themselves. There are however some things you can do to make it more pleasant. For example use over-the-counter medication such as Benadrul or Hydrocortisone Cream which will shrink the rashes and lessen itching. Also try to avoid heat where possible including hot showers and baths and direct sunlight as these can aggravate the rash. If your rash coincides with the beginning of a new course of drugs, foods or soaps, then you might have identified an allergy. If you suspect a particular medication is causing this then you may want to speak to your doctor about alternative medications you can use instead (in other cases the rash will not be enough of an issue to warrant a change of drugs, but where there is an obvious alternative it might).
The HIV rash then is an unpleasant side effect of a serious condition then, but can be an invaluable tool in identifying the condition. While HIV sufferers will likely have to live with the rash there are many ways to help manage it.
Source: Health Guidance
HIV Rash – Symptoms, Description and Information
HIV
In those cases where the rash is a symptom of the HIV itself, rather than the medication, it will appear during the ‘sero-conversion’ of the infection. This is the point at which antibodies are developed by the body in order to try to combat the infected cells. This will tend to occur around three weeks into the infectio, though in some cases it might be much later.
The rash itself will then appear as a slightly raised area, dark red in colour, and made up of many tiny ‘pauples’ much like many other rashes (for those with a dark skin tone the rash may alternatively be dark brown). This type of rash is known as a maculpapular rash and can occur on any part of the body – usually the face and trunk and occasionally the hands and feet. Sometimes it might also cause ulcers in the mouth. The rash itself is likely to itch making it quite unpleasant.
The significance of the HIV rash is a) that it can indicate the presence of HIV in combination with other symptoms, and b) that it indicates the start of the sero-conversion which means a patient is more likely to test positive for the illness. For all these reasons a HIV rash will significantly increase your chances of diagnosis.
Those other symptoms will mostly be flu-like symptoms along with fever, diarrhoea, enlarged lymph nodes, headaches, oral thrush (which looks like white spots in the mouth) and myalgia (muscle ache). In a recent study of 258 people screened for HIV it was shown that a fever in combination with a rash was the best clinical guide to HIV, presenting the best chance of an accurate diagnosis.
Rashes caused by the HIV medication however are slightly different. These ‘drug eruptions’ will see the patients experience raised reddish lesions that look like rashes which will cover the whole body. This is often a reaction to Co-trimoxazole which is used to treat the PCP pneumonia in HIV sufferers.
If you already have HIV then and you develop a rash similar in description to those described here then this is likely the HIV rash, though you should see your doctor to make sure. If you get one of these rashes and you are not HIV positive as far as you are aware, but have reason to suspect you could be and this coincides with fever and flu like symptoms, then you may be suffering from HIV and should see a doctor immediately.
Unfortunately there is no cure for HIV and the condition can only be managed using highly regular medication. This means that many people are forced to live with the HIV rash as part of themselves. There are however some things you can do to make it more pleasant. For example use over-the-counter medication such as Benadrul or Hydrocortisone Cream which will shrink the rashes and lessen itching. Also try to avoid heat where possible including hot showers and baths and direct sunlight as these can aggravate the rash. If your rash coincides with the beginning of a new course of drugs, foods or soaps, then you might have identified an allergy. If you suspect a particular medication is causing this then you may want to speak to your doctor about alternative medications you can use instead (in other cases the rash will not be enough of an issue to warrant a change of drugs, but where there is an obvious alternative it might).
The HIV rash then is an unpleasant side effect of a serious condition then, but can be an invaluable tool in identifying the condition. While HIV sufferers will likely have to live with the rash there are many ways to help manage it.
Source: Health Guidance
HIV (AKA the Human Immunodeficiency Virus), like all STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) is a fairly embarrassing condition and one that many of us are afraid to face up to. A lot of us will therefore avoid seeing the doctor when we suspect that we may have HIV or something similar – while still knowing that it is vital to get diagnosed as soon as possible. Thus HIV 'home test' kits have become very popular, allowing individuals to test themselves for HIV from the privacy of their home.
When looking into using a HIV home test kit, it is important to first of all check that the kit is FDA approved which will give you some reassurance that it is effective and will concur with what doctors' findings may be. The FDA approval code is an 11 digit code that can be found normally on the kit. The way in which HIV test kits work is by allowing you to send off your own blood sample (by pricking your finger and allowing blood to land on the blotter) and then wait 24 hours before phoning the lab with that 11 digit code (the other advantage of this code is that it allows you to get your results without having to give away any personal information such as your name).
As the test is carried out by professionals in a laboratory this test is just as efficient as going to the doctor's. However it is probably still preferable for you to visit the doctor if you can. This is because they will be able to discuss with you your sexual history and any symptoms that might have caused you to believe you were HIV positive. They can discuss the situation with you, put you at ease, and flag up any other potential problems that could be related to your symptoms. Bear in mind that should your test come back as positive then you will have to see the doctor anyway – and if it does not then there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Also remember that HIV is not just spread through sexual contact so you could easily have gotten it from a dirty needle or another source. However, certainly if you are unable to see a doctor or really do not want to, a home HIV test kit is the next best thing.
HIV Home Test Kit
HIV
When looking into using a HIV home test kit, it is important to first of all check that the kit is FDA approved which will give you some reassurance that it is effective and will concur with what doctors' findings may be. The FDA approval code is an 11 digit code that can be found normally on the kit. The way in which HIV test kits work is by allowing you to send off your own blood sample (by pricking your finger and allowing blood to land on the blotter) and then wait 24 hours before phoning the lab with that 11 digit code (the other advantage of this code is that it allows you to get your results without having to give away any personal information such as your name).
As the test is carried out by professionals in a laboratory this test is just as efficient as going to the doctor's. However it is probably still preferable for you to visit the doctor if you can. This is because they will be able to discuss with you your sexual history and any symptoms that might have caused you to believe you were HIV positive. They can discuss the situation with you, put you at ease, and flag up any other potential problems that could be related to your symptoms. Bear in mind that should your test come back as positive then you will have to see the doctor anyway – and if it does not then there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Also remember that HIV is not just spread through sexual contact so you could easily have gotten it from a dirty needle or another source. However, certainly if you are unable to see a doctor or really do not want to, a home HIV test kit is the next best thing.
How to cure Asthma without Drugs
A great number of people suffering with asthma use drugs. But, most of these drugs cause serious side effects such as mood swings, depression, angry, insomnia and many other side effects. Most of the ill effects are mainly due to the corticosteroids that are the components of many asthma inhalers. There's a simple ways to cure asthma without drugs :
• Individuals suffering with asthma should increase their lung capacity like the ability to breathe in and breathe out. This can be very easily improved by regular practice of exercises such as running, jogging and swimming.
This will ease the person to breathe more conveniently and reduce the extent of asthma attacks. Even in cases of asthma attacks, the person will have the ability to control the extent of breathing compared to others. However, care should be taken not to exercise in cold weather. In addition to the physical exercises, it is essential to practice breathing exercises to increase the lung capacity.
• To cope up with the stress associated with the asthma attacks, it is essential to maintain the fitness of the body. This can be done by increased consumption of flavonoids, which are the essential components present in a wide variety of fruits such as apples, berries and other enzymes. By maintaining a fit body, you can very easily combat asthma attacks with controlled breathing eliminating the need of medications.
• The major cause of asthma in many people is contact with allergens. An easy way to cure asthma is to identify the causative agent and stay away from it. This is very simple way to avoid asthma attacks. Some of the common irritants include the dust, pollen grains, cold weather and molds. If you are dusting the house, there is a great chance of having asthma attacks. Hence, take care by covering the nose and mouth with a clean cloth or any other mask to filter the dust particles and molds.
• Sufficient care has to be taken regarding the dietary habits. Certain foods are very active in initiating the asthma symptoms. However, certain foods such as the fish varieties such as tuna, mackerel and salmon play a great role in reducing the symptoms of asthma attacks and should be included in the diet of an asthma patient. Their action is due to the production of anti-inflammatory compounds that reduce the extent of constriction that is blocking the air passage. Other foods that reduce the asthma symptoms include spinach, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and also fruits that are rich in vitamin C and B.
• Chlorine which is generally found in drinking water serves as an activator for receptors within the lungs and throat. To avoid these adverse effects of chlorine, it is essential to consume chlorine free water.
• Certain oils such as the lavender oil, rose oil and chamomile help to reduce the asthma attacks. They act by increasing the lung capacity to breathe deep. They even help to reduce the extent of muscle spasms. However, before using these oils do not forget to check them for allergens.
By regular practice of all the above measures, it is possible for every asthma patient to lead a drug free life.
Source: Health Guidance
How to cure Asthma without Drugs
Asthma
How to cure Asthma without Drugs
A great number of people suffering with asthma use drugs. But, most of these drugs cause serious side effects such as mood swings, depression, angry, insomnia and many other side effects. Most of the ill effects are mainly due to the corticosteroids that are the components of many asthma inhalers. There's a simple ways to cure asthma without drugs :
• Individuals suffering with asthma should increase their lung capacity like the ability to breathe in and breathe out. This can be very easily improved by regular practice of exercises such as running, jogging and swimming.
This will ease the person to breathe more conveniently and reduce the extent of asthma attacks. Even in cases of asthma attacks, the person will have the ability to control the extent of breathing compared to others. However, care should be taken not to exercise in cold weather. In addition to the physical exercises, it is essential to practice breathing exercises to increase the lung capacity.
• To cope up with the stress associated with the asthma attacks, it is essential to maintain the fitness of the body. This can be done by increased consumption of flavonoids, which are the essential components present in a wide variety of fruits such as apples, berries and other enzymes. By maintaining a fit body, you can very easily combat asthma attacks with controlled breathing eliminating the need of medications.
• The major cause of asthma in many people is contact with allergens. An easy way to cure asthma is to identify the causative agent and stay away from it. This is very simple way to avoid asthma attacks. Some of the common irritants include the dust, pollen grains, cold weather and molds. If you are dusting the house, there is a great chance of having asthma attacks. Hence, take care by covering the nose and mouth with a clean cloth or any other mask to filter the dust particles and molds.
• Sufficient care has to be taken regarding the dietary habits. Certain foods are very active in initiating the asthma symptoms. However, certain foods such as the fish varieties such as tuna, mackerel and salmon play a great role in reducing the symptoms of asthma attacks and should be included in the diet of an asthma patient. Their action is due to the production of anti-inflammatory compounds that reduce the extent of constriction that is blocking the air passage. Other foods that reduce the asthma symptoms include spinach, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and also fruits that are rich in vitamin C and B.
• Chlorine which is generally found in drinking water serves as an activator for receptors within the lungs and throat. To avoid these adverse effects of chlorine, it is essential to consume chlorine free water.
• Certain oils such as the lavender oil, rose oil and chamomile help to reduce the asthma attacks. They act by increasing the lung capacity to breathe deep. They even help to reduce the extent of muscle spasms. However, before using these oils do not forget to check them for allergens.
By regular practice of all the above measures, it is possible for every asthma patient to lead a drug free life.
Source: Health Guidance
Banana and longevity. Folk physicians of ancient Persia and India regarded this golden fruit as natures secret of perpetual youth. Even today, banana is known to promote healthy digestion and create a feeling of youthfulness. It enhances calcium, phosphorous and nitrogen retention which in turn helps in the regeneration of healthy tissues.
Banana (or Plantain) health food. The banana is of great nutritional value. It has a rare combination of energy value, tissue-building elements, protein, vitamins and minerals. It is a good source of calories since it is rich in solids and low in water content as compared to any other fresh fruit.
Banana for energy. A large banana supplies more than 100 calories. It contains a large amount of sugar that can be easily assimilated by the body. This makes it a good source of quick of quick energy and an excellent means to recover from fatigue. The use of bananas has been found beneficial in the treatments of several medical conditions such as intestinal disorders, constipation, arthritis, gout, anemia, allergies, kidney stones, tuberculosis and urinary disorders.
Home Remedies with Bananas
Eat banana at night to get relief from constipation. If suffering from diarrhea you can use raw bananas. Boil the raw banana, mash it and add a pinch of salt and butter. Eat it to get relief from diarrhea.
Banana or plantain has been widely used as an anti-wrinkle treatment. Mash 1/4 banana till it becomes a smooth paste. Cover your face with it and leave it for 15-20 minutes before rinsing with warm water followed by splashes of cold water. Pat it dry.
Mash one ripe banana in one cup of milk and drink it at least 2-3 times a day to treat skin allergies.
You can use banana peel inside out for treatment of warts. Use the peel inside out and cover the wart by taping it. Once the peel turns black remove and continue this for some weeks to get relief from wart.
You can use banana peel for treating poison ivy rashes. Rub the peel inside out over the rashes; it soothes the skin to provide a cooling effect.
Banana peel can be used if you have bruised yourself. Tape it overnight to see the positive results in the morning.
To get rid of hangover you can drink banana milk shake mixed with honey. Banana helps in soothing the stomach and body.
If you are pregnant, and want to avoid leg cramps, eat bananas before going to bed.
Eat three bananas a day to prevent ulcers. It will help to soothe your stomach and reduce the ulcer pain.
Consuming a banana after every meal helps in reducing the heartburn.
To decrease menstrual bleeding drink the mixture of boiled banana flower with buttermilk.
Consuming two tablespoons of burnt banana leaves mixed with honey helps relief hiccups.
Rubbing banana peel inside out is the best remedy for mosquito bites.
Bananas can help Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) sufferers as it contains natural mood enhancers and trypotophan.
It contains high levels of Vitamin C, A1, B6, and B12 which helps people give up smoking. The potassium and magnesium found in bananas helps the body recover from the effects of withdrawal symptoms.
Eat bananas in every form ripe, raw, cooked, milkshakes and desserts. It helps in treating many ailments related to your body.
Drinking extract from the stem attached to the banana cluster helps kill tuberculosis bacteria.
To combat alcohol addiction drink a small glass of the boiled mixture consisting of 3 banana peels, Tabasco, water or milk from 1 coconut, brown sugar or sugar loaf to taste. Let it ferment for 3 days and add snifter of liquor. Do this for nine days.
Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.
Source: Health Guidance
Banana Fruit: Plantain Health Benefits
Food Drink
Banana (or Plantain) health food. The banana is of great nutritional value. It has a rare combination of energy value, tissue-building elements, protein, vitamins and minerals. It is a good source of calories since it is rich in solids and low in water content as compared to any other fresh fruit.
Banana for energy. A large banana supplies more than 100 calories. It contains a large amount of sugar that can be easily assimilated by the body. This makes it a good source of quick of quick energy and an excellent means to recover from fatigue. The use of bananas has been found beneficial in the treatments of several medical conditions such as intestinal disorders, constipation, arthritis, gout, anemia, allergies, kidney stones, tuberculosis and urinary disorders.
Home Remedies with Bananas
Eat banana at night to get relief from constipation. If suffering from diarrhea you can use raw bananas. Boil the raw banana, mash it and add a pinch of salt and butter. Eat it to get relief from diarrhea.
Banana or plantain has been widely used as an anti-wrinkle treatment. Mash 1/4 banana till it becomes a smooth paste. Cover your face with it and leave it for 15-20 minutes before rinsing with warm water followed by splashes of cold water. Pat it dry.
Mash one ripe banana in one cup of milk and drink it at least 2-3 times a day to treat skin allergies.
You can use banana peel inside out for treatment of warts. Use the peel inside out and cover the wart by taping it. Once the peel turns black remove and continue this for some weeks to get relief from wart.
You can use banana peel for treating poison ivy rashes. Rub the peel inside out over the rashes; it soothes the skin to provide a cooling effect.
Banana peel can be used if you have bruised yourself. Tape it overnight to see the positive results in the morning.
To get rid of hangover you can drink banana milk shake mixed with honey. Banana helps in soothing the stomach and body.
If you are pregnant, and want to avoid leg cramps, eat bananas before going to bed.
Eat three bananas a day to prevent ulcers. It will help to soothe your stomach and reduce the ulcer pain.
Consuming a banana after every meal helps in reducing the heartburn.
To decrease menstrual bleeding drink the mixture of boiled banana flower with buttermilk.
Consuming two tablespoons of burnt banana leaves mixed with honey helps relief hiccups.
Rubbing banana peel inside out is the best remedy for mosquito bites.
Bananas can help Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) sufferers as it contains natural mood enhancers and trypotophan.
It contains high levels of Vitamin C, A1, B6, and B12 which helps people give up smoking. The potassium and magnesium found in bananas helps the body recover from the effects of withdrawal symptoms.
Eat bananas in every form ripe, raw, cooked, milkshakes and desserts. It helps in treating many ailments related to your body.
Drinking extract from the stem attached to the banana cluster helps kill tuberculosis bacteria.
To combat alcohol addiction drink a small glass of the boiled mixture consisting of 3 banana peels, Tabasco, water or milk from 1 coconut, brown sugar or sugar loaf to taste. Let it ferment for 3 days and add snifter of liquor. Do this for nine days.
Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.
Source: Health Guidance