Health Fitness and Diet

Old Natural Medecine

When you get sick, you go to the doctor. And the doctor will, of course, prescribe medicines. You will go and buy medicines. You take them, and hopefully, you get well.

This is how the health profession goes on nowadays - a cycle of diagnosis and prescription.

If anyone were to give you herbs for medicine, you would probably say that that person was a quack.

But nowadays, studies are being conducted to see if there are really is any merit to what is called natural medicine.

Natural medicine is the use of natural methods, herbal medicines, and traditional practices to heal ailments. Every culture has a form of natural medicine. In ancient cultures, village medicine men served as the doctors of the community, passing on medical knowledge to the apprentices that followed them.

Many categories of the healing methods fall under natural medicine. Among these are traditional medicine, complementary medicine, and alternative medicine.

Usually, natural medicine refers to medical practices that were in place before the advent of modern medicine.

This includes herbal medicine, or phytotherapy, which is prevalent in Chinese, Ayurvedic(or Indian), and Greek medicine.

Upon the advent of modern medicine, many professionals discarded the use of herbs in favor of man-made medicine. The fact that these treatments are based on the healing properties of some herbs was forgotten.

For example, opium, digitalis, quinine, and aspirin all have their roots in traditional medicine.

Natural medicine can be considered as a lost art. This does not mean that it has lost efficacy over time. In some cases, natural therapy is actually better than modern medicine. This leads some doctors to seriously consider and study the possible uses of natural medicine

Before we continue, it is important to stress that not all the natural remedies are legitimate. It would help to only try those remedies which have been thoroughly studied and are relatively risk free.

Take herbal medicine for example. There are many well-documented and studied herbal remedies available. However, only those that deal with minor ailments such as cough, colds, fever, skin rashes, and its ilk are likely to be recommended by health professionals. These remedies are sometimes superior to synthetic medicine. This is because herbal medicines are less likely to cause negative side effects.

Currently there are numerous organizations that study the effects and advocacy of natural medicine - among which is herbal medicine. Some governments and health agencies openly advocate the use of natural methods since they are inexpensive and relatively risk-free.

As their studies compile, more herbs and treatments are added to the list of accepted medicines. However, many herbs and treatments have been proven to be bogus medicine. This represents a challenge for both the user and the agencies because they have to ascertain that the treatments they either use or advocate are legitimate.

There exist today many alternative medical treatments that fall under natural medicine. However, not all of them have been proven to be effective. You could mention homeopathy, aromatherapy, acupuncture, and other alternative medical treatments. It would pay to consult the experts as to the legitimacy of these treatments.

Natural medicine should also be thought of as an accompanying medicine. Right now, the current collective medical thought suggests that natural medicine be used only to supplement accepted modern medical practices. In that case of minor ailments your expert we actually advise you to take natural therapies instead.

The practice of modern medicine revolves around diagnosing an illness and prescribing treatments for such. Natural medicine is helpful because it suggests that treatment be not necessarily given only when sick. Natural medicine strives to make each patient practice good health habits. These habits include good diet, healthy living, and the regular natural treatment.

It is this same line of thought that leads our parents to tell us to eat our vegetables. Yes, a healthy lifestyle and will do no harm to our well-being. And this is the foundation of natural medicine - may it be massage, herbal medicine, aromatherapy or others.

It is funny but true that science, in its quest for excellence, is studying the knowledge of sages past. This, surprisingly, leads us back to the remedies nature offers. The possibilities of finding remedies to everyday illnesses in natural medicine are encouraging. So staying tuned to studying these remedies is worthwhile until we can verify that these therapies are truly helpful to our health and our society.

The use of Yoga for relaxation

People practice yoga for a variety of reasons. Many yoga practitioners are interested in the health benefits that come from regularly performing the routines. Others want a state of harmony between inner and outer self. Still others practice yoga primarily to relax.A State of Harmony

The profound relaxation available through yoga includes a state of clarity of mind, and of harmony with and understanding of the world. If such a state of relaxation is your goal, you will need to use most of the yoga techniques available. Pay special attention to breathing, diet, correctly performing the exercises, and meditating.

The deep, prolonged breath one learns through yoga helps the brain stay oxygenated, which contributes to mental clarity. Diet influences the structure of our body as well as our brain. The exercises (called asanas and pranayamas) were developed thousands of years ago to produce beneficial results.

To have the desired effects, yoga routines must be carried out correctly. Poor yoga practices will likely produce disappointing results.

The Keys

Your attitude and your focus are the keys to making your yoga experience deeply satisfying. Entering the profound stage of relaxation and synchronization between your inner and your outer self can occur only with appropriate action.

Relaxation is actually a necessary part of every yoga routine. The body needs to relax after practicing the exercises, especially the more demanding ones. Certain asanas require an unusual positioning of the body, which can result in discomfort if the relaxation stage is omitted.

Bridging Worlds

Yoga connects the spiritual and material worlds, and relaxation is the bridge that brings the practitioner back fully to the present reality.

As a general rule, during relaxation exercises, you will lie down comfortably and meditate. Your yoga trainer will suggest ways for you to gradually move and position your feet and arms. Yoga routines may have different relaxation exercises, but they all have the purpose of cushioning the shock of contact with the surrounding reality. Relaxation also helps to maintain a certain degree of peacefulness created by the routine.

But talk is never enough. The only way to be sure of the relaxation benefits of yoga is to try it yourself. The only thing you have to lose is your tension.

Start a healthy life in 7 days!

How many times have you gone to sleep at night, swearing you’ll go to the gym in the morning, and then changing your mind just eight hours later because when you get up, you don’t feel like exercising?

While this can happen to the best of us, it doesn’t mean you should drop the ball altogether when it comes to staying fit. What people need to realize is that staying active and eating right are critical for long-term health and wellness — and that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The more you know about how your body responds to your lifestyle choices, the better you can customize a nutrition and exercise plan that is right for you. When you eat well, increase your level of physical activity, and
exercise at the proper intensity, you are informing your body that you want to burn a substantial amount of fuel. This translates to burning fat more efficiently for energy.

In other words, proper eating habits plus exercise equals fast metabolism, which, in turn gives you more energy throughout the day and allows you to do more physical work with less effort.

The true purpose of exercise is to send a repetitive message to the body asking for improvement in metabolism, strength, aerobic capacity and overall fitness and health. Each time you exercise, your body responds by upgrading its capabilities to burn fat throughout the day and night, Exercise doesn’t have to be intense to work for you, but it does need to be consistent.

I recommend engaging in regular cardiovascular exercise four times per week for 20 to 30 minutes per session, and resistance training four times per week for 20 to 25 minutes per session. This balanced approach provides a
one-two punch, incorporating aerobic exercise to burn fat and deliver more oxygen, and resistance training to increase lean body mass and burn more calories around the block.

Here’s a sample exercise program that may work for you:

* Warm Up — seven to eight minutes of light aerobic activity intended to increase blood flow and lubricate and warm-up your tendons and joints.

* Resistance Training — Train all major muscle groups. One to two sets of each exercise. Rest 45 seconds between sets.
* Aerobic Exercise — Pick two favorite activities, they could be jogging, rowing, biking or cross-country skiing, whatever fits your lifestyle. Perform 12 to 15 minutes of the first activity and continue with 10 minutes of the
second activity. Cool down during the last five minutes.

* Stretching — Wrap up your exercise session by stretching, breathing deeply, relaxing and meditating.

When starting an exercise program, it is important to have realistic expectations. Depending on your initial fitness level, you should expect the following changes early on.

* From one to eight weeks — Feel better and have more energy.

* From two to six months — Lose size and inches while becoming leaner. Clothes begin to fit more loosely. You are gaining muscle and losing fat.

* After six months — Start losing weight quite rapidly.

Once you make the commitment to exercise several times a week, don’t stop there. You should also change your diet and/or eating habits,’ says Zwiefel. Counting calories or calculating grams and percentages for certain nutrients is
impractical. Instead, I suggest these easy-to-follow guidelines:

* Eat several small meals (optimally four) and a couple of small snacks throughout the day

* Make sure every meal is balanced — incorporate palm-sized proteins like lean meats, fish, egg whites and dairy products, fist-sized portions of complex carbohydrates like whole-wheat bread and pasta, wild rice, multigrain cereal and potatoes, and fist-sized portions of vegetable and
fruits

* Limit your fat intake to only what’s necessary for adequate flavour

* Drink at least eight 8-oz. glasses of water throughout the day

* I also recommend that you take a multi-vitamin each day to ensure you are getting all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

“suppose that’s all I can think of for now. I should extend my thanks to a doctor friend of mine. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to write this article, or keep my sanity.”

Enjoy life, we all deserve it.

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Swine flu Vaccine

• Half of pregnant women ‘will refuse swine flu vaccine’ (telegraph.co.uk)
• Swine flu vaccine to be given to entire population (telegraph.co.uk)
• ‘No Flu Shots for My Kids’ (health.usnews.com)
• Kids First to Get Swine Flu Vaccine (abcnews.go.com)

Influenza vaccines are typically developed to cope with seasonal flu to minimize infection rates, yet influenza still kills about 500,000 people a year around the world. In June 2009, a strain of influenza derived from swine influenza was declared a pandemic (see 2009 flu pandemic). This new strain, Pandemic H1N1/09 virus, was antigenically different from the existing seasonal strains, requiring the production of a vaccine distinct from the 2009-2010 seasonal flu vaccine.

Developing, testing, and manufacturing sufficient quantities of a vaccine for H1N1/09 is a process which takes many months. Keiji Fukuda of the WHO said, “There’s much greater vaccine capacity than there was a few years ago, but there is not enough vaccine capacity to instantly make vaccines for the entire world’s population for influenza.”?Nasal mist version of the vaccine started shipping in October 01, 2009. ?Health care workers in the US states of Tennessee and Indiana are the first recipients of the H1N1 vaccine, while two-thirds of Americans plan to be vaccinated against the flu . On October 6 2009 California received its first shipment of the H1N1 vaccine.

Testing
Initial Phase I human testing began with Novartis’ MF59 candidate in July 2009, at which time phase II trials of CSL’s candidate CSL425 vaccine were planned to start in August 2009, but had not begun recruiting. ?Sanofi Pasteur’s candidate inactivated H1N1 had several phase II trials planned as of 21 July 2009 (2009 -07-21)[update], but had not begun recruiting. News coverage conflicted with this information, as Australian trials of the CSL candidate were announced as having started on 21 July, and the Chinese government announce the start of trials of the Hualan Biological Engineering candidate.

Pandemrix, made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), was approved by the European Medicines Agency on 25 September 2009, and Baxter’s vaccine has been reported as likely to get approved the following week. The first comparative clinical study of both vaccines started on children in the UK on 25 September.

Protection and side-effects

The degree of protection conferred by the various vaccines under development and testing is not yet known.

Expected side-effects include sore arms and fevers. Rare side-effects may include the Guillain-Barr

Swine Flu: How can you protect yourself and your family?

Preparedness and Prevention

If you are in a high-risk area, you can prepare for an outbreak, and minimise the risk to your family:

• Ensure that you have at least 3 days of food and water in stock. 3 weeks would be preferred. Also, keep a stock of chlorine bleach and disinfectant.
• Ensure that you have a supply of basic medicines, such as Aspirin, Ibuprofen, acetaminophen, etc.
• A surgical mask can help protect from coughs and other bodily fluids if you are in close proximity to an infected person. However, this will not provide total protection from airborne particles.
  • Consider the purchase of N95 style respirators if you are required to be in crowded places, or if you are at high risk.
• If you are showing flu-like symptoms, seek medical treatment, and avoid close contact with others.
• Do not go into your GP surgery, as you may spread the disease to others. Have a friend or relative who can visit the GP on your behalf do so.
  • If within 48 hours of onset of symptoms you can be provided Relenza or Tamiflu which will reduce the severity and duration of the flu symptoms, but will not cure the flu.
• Don’t panic - these simple measures give you the best possible advantage in the event of an outbreak.

Whether you are in a high-risk area or not, simple measures can help prevent an outbreak occuring:

• Avoid personal contact, such as hugging, kissing or hand shaking.
• Avoid crowded public places.
• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water.
• Carry and use alcohol-based waterless hand cleaner.
• Do not bring shoes indoors.
• If you are showing flu-like symptoms, seek medical treatment, and avoid close contact with others.
• Don’t panic - these simple measures give your community the best opportunity to avoid an outbreak

Back To School Be Positive and organised

• Beating back-to-school stress
• Start by being positive, organize yourself, if you are stressed, you children will be too.
• Stress (biological), physiological or psychological stress; some types include:
  • Chronic stress, persistent stress which can lead to illness and mental disorder
  • Eustress, positive stress that can lead to improved long-term functioning
  • Workplace stress, stress caused by employment

Swine Flu

Related articles by Zemanta

• World flu pandemics: a timeline (telegraph.co.uk)

The 2009 flu pandemic is a global outbreak of a new strain of a influenza A virus subtype H1N1, officially named the “new H1N1″, first identified in April 2009, and commonly called “Swine flu.” It is thought to be a reassortment of four known strains of influenza A virus^[92]: one endemic in (normally infecting) humans, one endemic in birds, and two endemic in pigs (swine). Transmission of the new strain is human-to-human, with cooked pork products safe to eat as the virus cannot be transmitted by eating foods.

The outbreak began in Mexico, with evidence that Mexico was already in the midst of an epidemic for months before the outbreak was recognized. Soon after, its government closed down most of Mexico City’s public and private offices and facilities to help contain the spread. In early June, as the virus spread globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak to be a pandemic, but also noted that most illnesses were of “moderate severity.” The virus has since spread to the Southern Hemisphere which entered its winter flu season, and to many less developed countries with limited healthcare systems. Because the virus was spreading with “unprecedented speed”, and many clinics were overwhelmed testing and treating patients, WHO stopped requiring countries to report all cases, but is still monitoring unusually large outbreaks.^[93][94]

The virus typically spreads from coughs and sneezes or by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the nose or mouth. Symptoms, which can last up to a week, are similar to those of seasonal flu, and may include fever, sneezes, sore throat, coughs, headache, and muscle or joint pains. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that most cases worldwide are usually mild, and most hospitalizations and deaths have been of persons that also had underlying conditions such as asthma, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, or a weakened immune system. The CDC’s Anne Schuchat states, “this is a virus that’s capable of causing a spectrum of illness that includes severe complications and death. . . It’s very important we take this virus seriously”.^[95]As the virus spreads easily between people, through the air or surface contact, those who get the flu are recommended to stay home from school or work and avoid crowds to avoid spreading the infection further.

In an attempt to slow the spread of the illness, a number of countries, especially in Asia, have quarantined airline passengers with flu symptoms, while some are also pre-screening passengers. WHO does not expect to have a full vaccine before the end of 2009, and vaccines available sooner may be limited and given first to healthcare workers, pregnant women, and other higher risk groups. Two or three injections will be required for maximum immunity from both the swine flu and seasonal flu. There is also concern if the new virus mutates further, it could become more virulent and less susceptible to any new vaccine.

Be Sincere with yourself, Be Sincere with others

Practice Awareness and Stress Less - The Secret and The Law of Attraction Compendium

I found this fascinating quote today:

Awareness has made me see things more clearly.  It’s the awareness I have of my breath and the awareness of what’s going on in my head that has given me the freedom to live easy.  It’s awareness that has given me the freedom to live stress free.  Yes, I said it…stress free!  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not perfect.  I do have moments of stress, but it’s just for a moment.  When I become aware that I’m stressing, I stop.  I realize what’s going on in my head (I’m making up crazy scenarios of what I think is going to happen but never does), and then I decide what to do.  I can either keep freaking out, or I can change my thoughts to more positive ones.  I can choose to shift my thoughts so I relax.  For example, I think about the love I have for my kids or all the things I have to be grateful for.   However, if the situation that is stressing me out has a really strong pull on me (I’m sure there’s lots of that going on in this “bad” economy…that’s another blog topic!), and I can only think of my loving kids for so long (haha) then what I do is I keep coming back - coming back to my breath, coming back to my happy thoughts, coming back to my awareness.  Eventually, you realize that the stressful situation is either out of your control or something that you can act on (when the time is right).  BUT, either way you must become aware of how that stress has a hold of you (how are you reacting to it?).at 9th March, 2009, Practice Awareness and Stress Less - The Secret and The Law of Attraction Compendium

You should read the whole article.

Are you afraid of plane crashes?

After the recent accident of Air France, people who used to travel on board may wonder: “how safe are we when we travel” ?

We always try to be positive, hoping that everything will be fine.

• Air France crash: mystery of plane disappearances (telegraph.co.uk)

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