Physical Activity: The Great Health Facilitator

By Richard Helfant

"Opportunities are usually disguised...so most people don't recognize them."
- Ann Landers

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
- Lao-tzu

Physical activity is the best first step to health. It is the most direct way for you to discover, or rediscover, the wonder of your body. It allows you to experience vitality and provides an immediate sense of control of your body's health and well-being. In addition to having its own inherent benefits, physical activity is a great physical and mental health facilitator, and wonderfully regenerative. Your senses come alive and are attuned more delicately when you engage in regular physical activity.

There is good news about actually doing physical activity. Research has shown that one can obtain its major health benefits with a minimum amount of effort and a minimum amount of time. The old myth of "no pain, no gain" and of long-distance jogging as the only way to achieve meaningful health results have been put into perspective. The evidence is clear: you can enjoy the benefits of physical activity with the equivalent of walking a half an hour a day, four or five days a week.

The Institute for Aerobics Research in Texas evaluated the fitness levels of more than 3,000 people and followed their progress for eight years. While the sedentary did have a mortality substantially higher than the more fit, the principal benefits of physical activity came even after very little physical activity. Those who simply walked an average of 30 minutes a day decreased their risk of heart disease by almost half.

The American Heart Association has stated that a sedentary life-style is a risk factor for heart disease comparable to smoking, cholesterol abnormalities, and high blood pressure. It also pointed out that low-intensity physical activity, performed regularly, can lower the risk of heart disease.

Any physical exercise is better than none! Housework, gardening, shuffleboard--anything that causes us to move--is beneficial. And, the benefits are not limited to heart disease alone. Physical exercise reduces stress, improves eating habits and weight control, increases good (HDL) cholesterol, and decreases triglyceride levels.

When beginning an exercise program, choose an activity that you think will be fun. Try walking, cycling or doing aerobics with a friend, a family member or as part of a class. The company may reinforce your commitment. If exercise is new for you, begin slowly, and keep in mind that there are a host of activities that you can try.

And, for those of you who have been sedentary most of your lives, the good news is that you have the most to gain from even the simplest physical activities. Gradually work them into your daily life. Start with small, comfortable activities, for instance:

• Walking to your destination whenever feasible
• Taking the stairs rather than relying exclusively on elevators and escalators
• Doing more physical tasks around the house or yard.
• Strolling around the block, around your neighborhood, in the park, at the mall. Keep your activity comfortable, keep it easy, and above all, keep it a part of your life.

Richard Helfant, MD, a Harvard-trained cardiologist. Courageous Confrontations

Recognizing early symptoms diabetes

by : Maricon Williams

Early symptoms diabetes
Stay alert in recognizing early symptoms of diabetes. Certain symptoms put you on notice and you'll want to decrease the chance of developing into complications. You'll do yourself a lot of good with early treatment if necessary to maintain optimum health. If you don't have the early symptoms of diabetes looked your risking more than you need too.

Some of the early signs of the diabetic issue are frequent urination, blurry vision, irritability, extreme hunger, excessive thirst, unusual weight loss and increased fatigue. Sometime these show up together so be attentive and sensitive to your how you feel. Unfortunately over 20 + million people now have various forms of the disease. That's almost 25% or 1 out of 4 of our population. Of those one-third don't even know it.

If you are of member of Pacific Islanders, African American, Latino, Native American you'll be a little more cautious since diabetes is more common among these groups. Weight, age, hereditary issues, and lack of exercise are factors. Symptoms are similar in juveniles. Keeping alert about your child certainly is important along with the many other issues that already occupy your mind for their well being.

Type 1 generally is found in child and young adults with heart disease, blindness and kidney damage are of the biggest concerns. Type 2 is the most common where the body doesn't produce enough insulin so the body is able to use up the sugar intake. With the depletion of the food chain, fast foods with highly processed ingredients the problem will continue to grow. All ages are effected and it's scary to find out a person has it.

Although serious, people can certainly live long and happy lives. So spending some time today taking care of yourself is really a great investment.

Firm up with some liquid quality vitamins and minerals to keep the immune system strong as possible for as long as possible.

Get adequate rest, exercise at least some and try to cut down on the processed foods and turn to fruits and vegetables as well.

By having some understanding of early symptoms diabetes you'll just that much better equipped to deal with the issues.

Obesitas Tingkatkan Risiko Batu Ginjal

Para peneliti di Universitas Texas-Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas mengemukakan bahwa kelebihan berat badan memiliki kecenderungan yang lebih tinggi terhadap risiko terjadinya batu ginjal, khususnya batu asam urat.

Untuk pertama kalinya, hasil penelitian tersebut menunjukkan hubungan langsung antara batu asam urat dengan kelebihan berat badan atau obesitas. Batu jenis tersebut ditemukan 5% pada pasien dengan batu ginjal biasa dan 30% pada penderita batu ginjal akibat diabetes melitus. Menurut beberapa sumber, diperkirakan 10% warga Amerika menderita batu ginjal selama periode hidupnya.

Batu jenis tersebut berasal dari timbunan partikel padat dari substansi yang dikeluarkan melalui urin. Pada saat produk sampah di urin tidak diuraikan secara lengkap, partikel-partikel mikroskopik mulai terbentuk dan lambat-laun akan membentuk batu. Batu itu dapat terbentuk di ginjal atau dapat hancur dan turun ke saluran kemih. Batu yang lebih kecil mungkin dapat keluar dari tubuh secara alami, tetapi yang berukuran lebih besar dapat terperangkap di ureter (saluran kemih atas), kandung kemih dan uretra (saluran kemih bawah) yang memungkinkan menutup laju dari aliran urin dan akhirnya menimbulkan rasa sakit.

Batu asam urat dari ginjal berkembang ketika tingkat keasaman urin terlalu tinggi, biasanya dikarenakan terlalu banyak menjalani diet protein hewani atau ketika tidak adanya jumlah yang cukup dari buffer (penyeimbang) untuk menetralisir keasaman di dalam urin.

Studi yang dipublikasikan pada Journal Kidney International juga mengatakan bahwa batu asam urat juga berhubungan dengan resistensi insulin dan diabetes melitus tipe 2 dimana orang dengan obesitas memiliki kecenderungan terjadinya batu asam urat .

Sumber: Journal Kidney International

How to Get Rid of Stretch Marks - Do Creams Really Help?

By Danna Schneider

Most girls and women have stretch marks in common areas on their thighs, butt, breasts and pelvic juncture where their thighs meet there waist from rapid weight gain or loss, sudden growth height wise, and pregnancy. Stretch marks are caused when the tissue underneath the skin is suddenly pulled by rapid growth or stretching of the surrounding skin (common in adolescent girls and boys due to the rapid and sudden growth spurts that happen around that time), and are often difficult to get rid of.

Although stretch marks may fade over time, they usually do not completely go away without the help of an effective stretch mark cream treatment or expensive dermatologist-administered treatments such as agressive laser therapy of agressive microdermabrasion treatment.

Although the skin is usually fairly elastic, when it's overstretched such as during times of rapid growth as in pregnancy, rapid weight gain and loss, or growth spurts, the normal production of collagen (the most important protein that actually makes up the connective tissue in your skin) is disrupted. As a result, white scars called stretch marks may form, which stand out from the normal pigmentation of the skin due to their bright white or pinkish/purplish color.

How to Effectively Get Rid of Stretch Marks

Getting rid of stretch marks involves a little patience and determination in administering an effective stretch mark cream only the affected areas, as well as perhaps using a little extra pressure when massaging the cream into the affected area, for added absorption as well as adding more pliability the area and circulation, which helps to regulate the pigmentation back to its normal state. You should see a substantial improvement in the marks and coloration within a few weeks of this technique and administration of the product.

Some of the best natural stretch mark products on the market today have a superior ability to dramatically increase the skins elasticity, and prevent and treat stretch marks by preventing their root causes - lack of elasticity and sudden stretching or trauma. If you aren't so sure, I encourage you to do a little investigation on how to get rid of stretch marks and you'll probably see before and after pictures of people who have used good creams and had some pretty amazing results in doing so.

Some of the suggestions commonly given to improve the appearance of stretch marks are typically to visit a dermatologist for fairly expensive and lengthy therapies which help to lessen the appearance of the stretch marks, and help them to "blend in" with the rest of the skin rather than remain hyper-pigmented or not pigmented at all.

There is also a fairly good suggestion of using self tanners as a cover up for problem areas, but while this does improve their appearance for many people, it still does not actually get rid of the stretch mark itself, rather it covers them up temporarily, so it's really kind of like treating the symptom instead of the disease itself - if you know what I mean.

Stretch Mark Cream - How it Helps Get Rid of Stretch Marks and Why
There may be several ingredients in creams which, together, smooth out the skin, and "blends" the pigmentation back together, helping the redness or white appearance, while helping to bring the skin back together (almost as if it's "filling in the gaps") that were caused when the trauma of rapid growth, weight gain or weight loss occurred.

A good cream will help to fade and diminish existing stretch marks, and will also be an EXCELLENT preventive tool if you are planning a pregnancy and are worried about getting stretch marks. Prevention is key, because if you catch them before they are fully formed, due to dramatically increased skin elasticity, they will never become a problem!

Some of the Ingredients in Strech Mark Creams May Be, But are Not Limited to:

• 10% Squalene Oil
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin A Palmitate
• Vitamin D3
• DL-Penthenol
• Aloe Vera Extract
• Grapefruit Seed Extract

Related Article :
Novelas Essential Lotion Untuk Ibu Hamil

Disfungsi Seksual, Penyebab Dan Cara Mengatasinya

Aktivitas seksual merupakan kebutuhan biologis setiap manusia untuk mendapatkan keturunan. Namun, masalah seksual dalam kehidupan rumah tangga seringkali mengalami hambatan atau gangguan karena salah satu pihak (suami atau isteri) atau bahkan keduanya, mengalami gangguan seksual atau disfungsi seksual. Jika tidak segera diobati, masalah tersebut dapat saja menyebabkan terjadinya keretakan dalam rumah tangga.

Disfungsi seksual itu sendiri merupakan kondisi di mana fungsi seksual dalam tubuh seseorang sudah mulai melemah. Kondisi itu dapat terjadi ketika kita masih muda, maupun pada usia lanjut karena kondisi fisik dan mental yang semakin berkurang.

Kondisi disfungsi seksual dapat terjadi pada pria maupun wanita. Pada pria dapat berupa hiposeksualitas (hasrat seks yang berkurang), impotensia (kemampuan ereksi berkurang atau tidak mampu sama sekali), ejakulasi dini, dan anorgosmia (tidak dapat orgasme). Sedangkan pada wanita, disfungsi seksual dapat berupa hiposeksualitas (hasrat seks berkurang), frigiditas (dingin terhadap seks atau tidak bergairah sama sekali), fobio seksualis (takut dan muak pada hubungan seksual), vaginismus, disparuenia (nyeri saat berhubungan), dan anorgasmia (tidak dapat organsme).

Disfungsi seksual disebabkan oleh berbagai gangguan dan penyakit, baik fisik maupun mental. Penyakit fisik yang menyebabkan disfungsi seksual adalah diabetes mellitus (kencing manis), anemia, kurang gizi, penyakit kelamin, penyakit otak dan sumsum tulang, akibat operasi prostat pada pria, tumor atau kanker rahim pada wanita, menurunnya hormon (pada pria maupun wanita), akibat pembedahan indung telur, penggunaan narkoba, obat penenang, alkohol, dan rokok. Sedangkan penyakit mental yang menyebabkan disfungsi seksual adalah psikosis, schizoprenia, neurosis cemas, histerik, obsesif-kompulsif, depresif, fobia, gangguan kepribadian atau psiko-seksual, serta retardasi mental dan gangguan intelegensia.

Disfungsi seksual harus dicari penanggulannya sebab dapat menimbulkan masalah yang lebih besar jika tidak diatasi sejak dini. Impotensia, misalnya, dapat timbul karena berbagai penyakit tubuh atau penyakit lokal di daerah alat vital pria, seperti diabetes yang biasanya menyebabkan pria tidak mampu memiliki gairah seksual. Untuk mengatasinya, penyakit diabetes sebaiknya harus diobati terlebih dahulu. Sedangkan untuk mengobati frigiditas pada wanita dapat dilakukan dengan faktor biologik (masa birahi pada saat ovulasi dan menstruasi), faktor psikologis (menghilangkan rasa takut atau jijik), dan faktor psikodinamik (menghilangkan rasa kotor, takut ditolak pasangannya, dan sebagainya). Dengan menanggulangi disfungsi seksual sejak dini, diharapkan dapat tercipta rumah tangga yang sehat dan harmonis.

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