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Healthy Tips

10 Ways to Manage Stress

Stress is a normal part of life and usually comes from everyday occurrences. Here are some ways you can deal with everyday sources of stress:……..click & see

1.Eliminate as many sources of stress as you can. For example, if crowds bother you, go to the supermarket when you know the lines won’t be too long. Try renting videotapes rather than going to crowded movie theaters. Clear up the clutter in your life by giving away or throwing away the things that get in your way. A garage sale is one effective way to do this.

2.If you are always running late, sit down with a pencil and paper and see how you are actually allotting your time. Say it takes you 40 minutes to get to work. Are you leaving your house on time? You may be able to solve your problem (and de-stress your life a bit) just by being realistic. If you can’t find the time for all the activities that are important to you, maybe you are trying to do too much. Again, make a list of what you do during the day and how much each activity takes. Then cut back.

3.Avoid predictably stressful situations. If a certain sport or game makes you tense (whether it’s tennis or bridge), decline the invitation to play. After all, the point of these activities is to have a good time. If you know you won’t, there’s no reason to play.

4.If you can’t remove the stress, remove yourself. Slip away once in a while for some private time. These quiet moments may give you a fresh perspective on your problems. Avoid stressful people. For example, if you don’t get along with your father-in-law but you don’t want to make an issue of it, invite other in-laws at the same time you invite him. Having other people around will absorb some of the pressure you would normally feel.

5. Competing with others, whether in accomplishments, appearance, or possessions, is an avoidable source of stress. You might know people who do all they can to provoke envy in others. While it may seem easy to say you should be satisfied with what you have, it’s the truth. Stress from this kind of jealousy is self-inflicted.

6.Laborsaving devices, such as cellular phones or computer hookups, often encourage us to cram too many activities into each day. Before you buy new equipment, be sure that it will really improve your life. Be aware that taking care of equipment and getting it repaired can be stressful.

7.Try doing only one thing at a time. For example, when you’re riding your exercise bike, you don’t have to listen to the radio or watch television.

8.Remember, sometimes it’s okay to do nothing.

9.If you suffer from insomnia, headaches, recurring colds, or stomach upsets, consider whether stress is part of the problem. Being chronically angry, frustrated, or apprehensive can deplete your physical resources.

10.If you feel stress (or anything else) is getting the better of you, seek professional help — a doctor or therapist. Early signs of excess stress are loss of a sense of well-being and reluctance to get up in the morning to face another day.

Source:Reader’s Digest

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Positive thinking

Perceiving The Infinite

Using Your Psychic Gifts :
Psychic experiences are a natural part of our everyday lives. People often have difficulty accepting that they have been blessed with psychic abilities because without a frame of reference it is almost impossible to identify an extrasensory experience and to distinguish psychic sights, sounds, and sensations from the projects of the unconscious mind. To some extent, every human being on the planet is clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clairsentient, although most people discover that they are naturally adept at one more than the others. When you trust in and take steps to hone your innate clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience, you will enter a new realm of being in which the universe, your higher self, and your spirit guides lovingly conduct you toward a more aware existence……….click & see

Clairvoyance, or clear seeing, is the ability to see with the mind’s eye. An individual who has honed their clairvoyant abilities may be able to see in their mind’s eye events in a remote location; to witness incidents that have yet to occur; or to perceive shapes, colors, and other images that are physically invisible. Clairaudience, which means clear listening, is the ability to hear sounds not physically audible. A person with the gift of clairaudience perceives psychic information as auditory resonance and may hear angelic voices, music, or other sounds. A clairsentient, or clear feeling, individual is able to sense physical, emotional, and spiritual energy in the form of seemingly unearthly scents, touches, and movements. Each of these psychic abilities can manifest themselves within us voluntarily or involuntarily. It is natural for us to have these abilities; we need only practice.

Developing your psychic talents is a matter of releasing your fear of seeing, hearing, or feeling inexplicable or disquieting stimulus. Before you attempt to consciously tap into your gifts, ground yourself to anchor your mind in the present to disconnect from any involuntary psychic experiences you may be having. Concentrate on your intuitive responses to the world around you and notice any sights, sounds, or feelings that enter your mind. If you trust your perceptions, you’ll discover that each psychic impression you receive will be in some way relevant to your experience-even when that relevance may not be immediately recognizable.

Source:Daily Om

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News on Health & Science

Tubs Of Ice Cream Help Women Make Babies

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Having trouble getting pregnant? Maybe you  are not eating enough ice cream, say researchers who found that a low-fat dairy diet can cause infertility, by preventing ovulation.

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This type of infertility, known as anovulatory infertility, was far more common in women who ate low-fat dairy products such as skimmed milk and low-fat yoghurt, the study found.

Jorge Chavarro at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, US, and colleagues tracked more than 18,000 women aged between 24 and 42 with no history of infertility. Every two years over an eight-year period, the women were asked if they had tried to become pregnant, whether they had been trying for more than a year without success, and the medical reasons for any fertility problems. The women also supplied detailed information about what they consumed during this time.

Women who ate two or more servings of low-fat dairy foods a day increased their risk of ovulation-related infertility by 85% compared with those who ate less than one serving of low-fat dairy food a week. Conversely, women who ate at least one serving of high-fat dairy food a day, such as ice cream or full-fat milk, reduced their risk of anovulatory infertility by more than 25% compared with women who consumed up to one serving a week.

Temporary indulgence
Women trying to conceive should adjust their diet, if only temporarily, Chavarro says. “They should consider changing low-fat dairy foods for high-fat dairy foods,” he says, noting that the rest of the diet could be adjusted to achieve the same overall calorific intake. “Once you are pregnant, you can always switch back.”

Chavarro does not know why dairy fat affects fertility in this way. Other types of fat that he and others have studied do not have the same effect. “It’s either something specific to dairy fat, or a fat-soluble substance present in dairy foods that reduces the risks of infertility,” Chavarro says.

Processing whole milk into low-fat milk may not only strip away the fertility benefits of dairy fat, but may also raise levels of hormones that interfere with female sex organs. To turn whole-fat milk into skimmed milk, whey protein is often added back for taste and colouring. The protein has been found to produce testosterone-like effects in mice, Chavarro says.

It may simply be the over-processing of low-fat foods that is causing increased infertility, says Nanette Santoro, director of the reproductive endocrinology division at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, US.

But Santoro adds that the most important factor of all may be maintaining a healthy body weight. There is a clear relationship between increasing weight and infertility,   she says, pointing out that women with very low body fat risk infertility.   One of the best self-help things women can do is maintaining an optimal body weight   neither too thin nor too large.

Journal reference: Human Reproduction doi:10.1093/humrep/dem019

Categories
Featured

What Causes Stress?

Regardless of the cause, stress sets in motion certain automatic changes in the body that are designed to give it a quick burst of energy. The pattern of changes has been called the “fight-or-flight” response because it most likely evolved from our prehistoric ancestors, who faced daily dangers in their search for food and shelter and had to either flee or do battle. Of course, we no longer face such dangers, but our bodies continue to react as if we did. So instead of responding to a saber-tooth tiger lurking behind a tree, the body reacts to petty annoyances like getting caught in traffic, being reprimanded by a supervisor, or worrying about bills.

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Regardless of the type of stress, the body goes through the following changes:

1.The adrenal glands release adrenaline and other stress hormones that prime certain organs to go into action.
2.The breathing becomes faster and more shallow to allow the body to take in more oxygen.
3.The liver releases more glucose (blood sugar) to provide extra energy.

4.The heart beats faster and blood pressure rises to increase the distribution of oxygen and nutrients throughout the body.
5.Blood flow to the brain and muscles is increased and, at the same time, reduced to digestive organs.
6.Sweating increases to allow the body to burn more calories without a rise in body temperature. (In theory, sweating also makes the skin slippery and more difficult for a predator to grab.)

After the stressor disappears, the body returns to its normal state (homeostasis). If, however, stress is chronic — as it is for many people — the body stays on high alert. The many damaging consequences include a rise in cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, damaged blood vessels, decreased mental skills, and a weakened immune system.

Source:Reader’s Digest

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Healthy Tips

Better Sleep From A to Zzzzz

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Stop counting sheep! Check out these tips for getting a good night’s sleep.

Adenosine
Cats nap soundly and often, possibly thanks to this natural substance. Harvard Medical School researchers found in 1997 that levels of adenosine rise before sleep and drop during it, indicating that adenosine may help us slip into slumber. Now the rush is on to determine whether a new sleeping pill could be made of synthetic adenosine. In the meantime we’re left with the current crop of prescription pills .

Babies
New moms often sleep poorly, regardless of whether their offspring sleep well. But even among nonparents, the mere threat of being awakened can disrupt sleep. It triggers what experts have dubbed on-call syndrome, named after the fitful sleep that afflicts emergency workers, medical students, and doctors. These people lose about 1½ hours of sleep when on call, even if their services are never needed, reports Thomas Roth, Ph.D., director of the sleep disorders and research center at Henry Ford Hospital, in Detroit. If you’re in an on-call situation, make up for a little lost sleep by napping for 30 minutes the next day.

Chronotherapy
Sleep problems often arise when the body’s internal clock gets out of kilter. As a result of travel across time zones or a series of late nights in their own hometown, people who once dozed off at 11 p.m. suddenly find that they can’t fall asleep until 3 a.m. and don’t want to awaken before noon. When this occurs, doctors recommend chronotherapy to gradually reset the body’s clock. In this process, sleep is delayed in three-hour increments. For example, someone who’s having trouble falling asleep at 11 p.m. might be told to stay up until 2 a.m. The next night, she stays up until 5 a.m., the next until 8 a.m. and so on, until she has circled the clock and readjusted her natural bedtime to 11 p.m.

Depression
Depression is just one of the health problems reported by people with chronic insomnia. The list also includes cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal ills. Insomniacs are four times as likely as the general population to be depressed, and daytime sleepiness can be a warning sign of a blue mood. Researchers aren’t sure which comes first — the depression or the sleep problem. Caution: The typical treatment for depression, antidepressant drugs, can often have a sedative effect as well.

Estrogen
Hormonal changes take a toll on sleep. “It’s not uncommon for women to feel fatigued and need more sleep than usual in the few days before menstruation,” says Margaret Moline, Ph.D., director of the sleep-wake disorders center at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, in White Plains, N.Y.

Another hormone-linked sleep shortage begins just before menopause, at around age 49. “Women with hot flashes are aroused out of restful sleep every eight minutes, while those without hot flashes find their sleep disrupted an average of every 18 minutes,” says Suzanne Woodward, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at Wayne State University, in Detroit.

Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy can help relieve hot flashes, as can lowering the thermostat in your bedroom (for details, see “Temperature,” below).

Exxon Valdez
In perhaps the most famous of a long list of sleep-related disasters, this grounded oil tanker dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound. The third mate, who was at the helm, was sleep deprived. Need more incentive to get your nightly eight hours? Lack of sleep also contributed to the space shuttle Challenger explosion and the Chernobyl disaster, according to Stanley Coren, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, and the author of Sleep Thieves.

Falling Asleep
If you lie awake for an hour or more before dozing off, you have insomnia. About 20% of people have it occasionally; for 10% the condition is chronic. Most insomniacs turn to over-the-counter products such as sedating antihistamines for help. Only 4% take prescription sleeping pills, most often benzodiazepines, which should not be used for more than a month because they can cause dependence and rebound insomnia.

The latest research suggests that the best sleep inducer in people with chronic insomnia is behavioral therapy. A study done in 1998 at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn., found that changes in habits can help eliminate persistent insomnia, and that the benefits last longer than those of sleeping pills. Techniques used included having patients attempt to deduce the causes of their insomnia and experiment with lifestyle changes, such as avoiding napping or evening exercise, to see what worked best for them.

Gallup Poll
One-third of American adults are hazardously sleepy, according to a 1997 Gallup Poll sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) in Washington. Almost half of Americans — 41% — report getting less sleep than they need, while a third say daytime sleepiness has interfered with routine activities.

Hilton Hotels
Is there such a thing as a caffeine-free hotel room? Actually, there are 35 of them in Hilton hotels across the country. Though these “Sleep Tight” rooms have no coffeepot, they’re outfitted with everything you need for sound sleep, and at no extra charge. The rooms boast features that fitful sleepers might benefit from having in their own bedrooms: blackout drapes; double-paned windows; extra-insulated walls; and an alarm lamp that wakes sleepers with gradually increasing levels of light.

Insomniaphobia
People who miss a night or two of solid sleep often begin to lie awake fretting that they won’t be able to doze off. This fear is self-perpetuating. “We tell people with insomnia to take away their bedside clock,” says Dr. Moline. This tactic works particularly well with insomniaphobes, who tend to be clock watchers.

Jet Lag
It’s a bane of modern living that’s not confined to international travelers: Changing time zones, even within the U.S., can be enough to upset the sleep schedule. In fact, Harvard Medical School researchers reported in 1997 that even the end of daylight savings time in October may be enough to throw off the body’s internal clock and increase the risk of on-the-job accidents. Cautious use of melatonin can help reset the body clock, as can exposure to bright sunlight. Talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist about how to time the use of either therapy for maximum benefit.

Kids

As sleep-deprived as many adults are, kids often fare worse. Mary Carskadon, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, found more depressed moods, lower grades, and more severe behavioral problems among ninth and tenth graders who got fewer than seven hours of sleep a night than among teens who slept more.

Furthermore, as adolescents mature, their body clocks may shift so that their ideal wake-up time is about an hour later than it was in their early teens. The natural bedtime changes from 9:30 in young teens to 10:30 in those over age 14. This means that for a teenager, getting up at 6 a.m. is as difficult as awakening at 3 a.m. would be for an adult. As a result, schools in Minnesota, California, Florida, and Washington have already begun to delay school start times to synchronize them with teens’ ideal sleep schedule. Early reports are that grades and behavioral problems are improving.

Melatonin
Although nonprescription melatonin supplements have become popular as a sleep aid, the hormone isn’t a particularly powerful sleep inducer, according to Josephine Arendt, Ph.D., a professor of endocrinology at the University of Surrey, in England, who has studied melatonin since 1972. Indeed, its only known function in humans is as a “chronobiotic,” a regulator that helps the body adjust to seasonal time changes.

Many people have taken melatonin with no apparent harmful effects. Data showing that it may constrict the coronary arteries as well as create infertility, however, suggest that it is potent and should be used with caution, if at all.

According to the NSF, there are no valid scientific data to support the use of melatonin as a sleep promoter. If you take it as a remedy for jet lag, do so cautiously: At the very least, you could wind up on Japan time when you’re only going to London.

Narcolepsy

One in 1,000 people has this neurological disorder, with its hallmark symptoms: daytime sleepiness; sleep “attacks” in which a person is overwhelmed by the need to sleep; bad dreams; and cataplexy, a sudden loss of muscle control that might cause the knees to buckle.

Narcolepsy typically starts in one’s teens or early 20s, though it may go undiagnosed for years. Unfortunately, effective treatments are limited. Stimulants are prescribed for daytime sleepiness, and tricyclic antidepressants are often given for cataplexy. Two promising drugs, rohypnol and gamma hydroxy butyrate, or GHB, are available only to people in clinical trials and may remain largely inaccessible, because they can be fatal in high doses and have been used in date rapes. The good news is that another medication awaiting FDA approval, Provigil (modafinil), appears to keep patients awake without making them jittery, a side effect of other therapies.

Oversleeping
We all relish an extra hour of rest on an occasional Saturday morning, but researchers say oversleeping on weekends can be a clue to the extent of the sleep debt you’re building up during the workweek. If you sleep more than an hour late on weekends, try to increase the amount of sleep you get during the week.

Preparatory Napping
If you know you’re going to be shortchanging yourself on sleep, store up rest by napping ahead of time. William Anthony, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatric rehabilitation at Boston University and the author of The Art of Napping, coined the term “preparatory napping” and says good “naptitude” includes limiting naps to 15 minutes (a longer snooze may leave you groggy). Studies show napping improves skills and performance for hours afterward, and nappers report no greater sleep difficulties at night than non-nappers.

Restless Legs Syndrome
This annoying neurological condition triggers a pulling or crawling sensation in the legs that can be relieved only by movement. Because RLS disrupts sleep severely, it is often handled by sleep specialists. “It’s one of the toughest things we treat,” says Alex Clerk, M.D., director of the University of California at San Francisco/Stanford sleep disorders clinic.

According to the Restless Legs Syndrome Association in Rochester, Minn. (www.rls.org), the condition affects 3% to 8% of the population, though many people aren’t aware that the annoyance has a name, much less a treatment. Taking iron supplements, avoiding caffeine, and taking hot or cold baths helps many people, but dopaminergic or anticonvulsant drugs may eventually be needed.

Sleep Laboratories
Sleep science has surged in recent years, and there’s now a center specializing in treating sleep disorders within 150 miles of almost anyone in the U.S. Most sleep labs require an overnight stay while doctors, using wires and electrodes connected to a sleeping patient’s body, measure brain waves, eye and leg movement, and muscle tension. A microphone records snoring while airflow sensors track breathing. Technologists read each subject’s 1,000-page record to assess sleep quality and quantity.

If you decide to visit a sleep lab, check with your insurer to make sure you’ll be reimbursed for the test, which runs about $1,200. Because sleep science is a relatively new field, the treatment of sleep disorders is sometimes challenged by insurance companies. Avoid clinics that treat only sleep apnea, a breathing disorder; a good lab will diagnose and treat a variety of conditions.

Sleep Quotient
Generally speaking, adults require about eight hours of sleep a night; Americans average only six or seven hours. Sleep researchers agree, however, that it’s not how close we come to our sleep quotient that’s important, but how well we sleep. A common myth is that our need for sleep declines as we age. In fact, it’s sleep quality that may deteriorate. As both sexes age, says Dr. Moline, they find it harder to fall asleep; sleep may become more fragmented and nighttime awakenings occur more easily. If you’re awakening unrefreshed, talk to your doctor about screening for a possible sleep disorder.

Snoring
Not just a nighttime nuisance, snoring is also a symptom of sleep apnea, a condition in which the muscles in the nose and throat relax during sleep, causing breathing to stop for up to a minute at a time. The resulting strain can damage arteries, leading to high blood pressure.

Apnea’s most common symptoms are loud snoring and daytime sleepiness. The typical patient is an overweight, fortysomething man who snores, but women are at increased risk after menopause. It’s not yet clear whether this higher risk is hormone related or due to weight gain. “If a woman has very little space where the tongue and upper airway meet, is obese or has large tonsils,” she may be at greater risk, says Dr. Moline.

Premenopausal women with apnea may be particularly hard to diagnose, because their symptoms don’t show up on the standard sleep-lab workup. A special test that measures the pressure between lung surfaces inside the chest is often needed, according to Dr. Clerk.

Treatment for apnea has come a long way since the 1970s, when the only therapy was a tracheotomy. In 1981 researchers developed the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, a breathing apparatus worn during sleep to keep the airway from collapsing. Losing weight, avoiding alcohol and cigarettes, and not sleeping on one’s back can help minimize symptoms. When the CPAP isn’t effective, a procedure that uses radio-frequency waves can reshape tissues in the throat. For information about apnea, call the Sleep Apnea Association, in Washington, at 202-293-3650. To stop non-apnea snoring, try a flatter pillow. Puffy pillows keep the neck in a snore-promoting position.

Temperature
Lowering body temperature at bedtime may help insomniacs sleep better, says new research from New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Taking a hot bath about 90 minutes before bedtime prompts a slight drop in body temperature, which may help you doze off. Your bedroom’s temperature is also a factor in how well you sleep: 60ºF to 65ºF is ideal.

Ultradian Rhythms
Adults sleep in these daily cycles, switching between REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM sleep every 90 minutes in an astonishingly predictable pattern. The body produces much of its growth hormone during deep sleep, and an age-related drop in deep sleep may contribute to the bone density decline that leads to osteoporosis. So have that glass of warm milk before bed: You need the calcium.

Victims of Drowsy Drivers
Sleep-related crashes kill about 1,550 people each year and cause almost 40,000 nonfatal accidents, reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in Washington. These accidents are likeliest to occur after midnight and before 7 a.m., and are likelier than others to be fatal. Their sinister sign: no skid marks at the accident scene — a clue that the driver wasn’t awake to hit the brakes.

A 1999 NSF survey found that 17% of Americans had nodded off at the wheel. But even if a sleepy driver doesn’t doze, her reaction time can be delayed. Sleep deprivation also heightens the effects of alcohol. An adult who drinks the equivalent of two beers after four hours of rest averages 35 hazardous situations in a driving simulator, while someone who drinks the same amount after eight hours of sleep makes only five errors.

So how can you stay alert behind the wheel? The combination of a short nap and 200 milligrams of caffeine (the equivalent of roughly two cups of coffee) was the most effective emergency measure in a recent British study. Another strong deterrent: Check out the chilling memorial to victims of drowsy drivers at the Parents Against Tired Truckers Website, www.patt.org.

Websites
More information on sleep and sleep disorders can be found at the NSF Website, www.sleepfoundation.org, or by calling 888-41-AWAKE. For a list of sleep centers, check out the American Sleep Disorders Association site at www.asda.org.

Yawning
Despite the fact that we all do it, no one seems to know exactly why we yawn. Some experts hold that, like laughing or crying, yawning is a physical response to an emotional state — namely boredom — or fatigue. Frequent yawning may be a sign that you need to examine your sleep schedule.

Zinc
A deficiency of this mineral, or of iron, calcium or copper may be to blame for insomnia. If you’re losing sleep, try adding a multivitamin to your routine.

If you’re tired of feeling like you’re not at your best or like you’re not getting the sleep you need, then it’s time to take action! Sign-up for the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep Challenge today!

Source:Reader’s Digest

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