Preventing Hair Loss

Taking good care of your hair is the easiest way to to ensure you won't lose it.

Many people suffer hereditary hair loss. This is know as male pattern baldness (MPB) and has familial link. This type of hair loss is inevitable, but can be slowed or even reversed using various treatments.

However, there are many people who lose hair for reasons not associated with MPB. There are techniques you can use to lessen or prevent these types of hair loss. A number of factors contribute to hai loss some of which include : your diet, health, hormones and hair treatment are some of the most common ones.

The steps to prevent hair loss are as follows : -

1. Avoid harsh shampoos.
2. Avoid dying / perming too frequent
3. Avoid blocking pores (shower after excercise) or together
4. Get a balanced diet (Vitamin A & E are essential)
5. Myths (massaging your scalp to increase blood flow)

Will your contrception cause osteoporosis?

Scientists have found that using long-term contraceptives may be a risk factor for osteoporosis. In a Texan study, the bone density of nearly 50% of women using contraceptive jabs over two years was reduced. Those most affected also smoked and didnt get enough calcium.

Advice? If there's history of osteoporosis in your family and you're using long-term contraception, schedule a chat with your GP. And if you do decide to stick with it, take steps osteoporosis-proof your life :
if you smoke, it's time to quit, eat plenty of calcium - found in milk, almonds and dark green leafy vege and take up weight-bearing exercise such as running, walking or aerobics. Added together, they mean you're less likely to be affected. 

Prevent osteoporosis before it get worse...

Pigmentation & How to protect your skin?

Pigmentation is a common condition in which some areas of the skin are darker than others. This is due to an ecxess of melanin (the brown pigment that determines skin colour) in certain ares of the skin.

There are a few types of pigmentation : -
i. age / liver spots : People who sunburn easiluy are more likely to develop this condition or even due to old age
ii. Melasma : about the same with age spots but in a largers areas. This happens due to hormone changes and happen to pregant women as well as the women with the contraceptives.
iii. freckles : small, circular spots on the skin : this happens to fair-skinned people, particularlly after extended exposure to the sun. The colour from yellow, reddish or brown.

How to protect your skin?
Excessive sun exposure ca lead to skin pigmentation. The steps to tak care your are as follows : -
1. use sunscreen every time you go out into the sun, At lease SPF 30 to protect against harmful UVA and UVB rays
2. Try to void sun exposure bewteen 10am to 4pm when the ultraviolet rays are at their strongest
3. Use hat or umbrella and sunglasses to protect yourself if you are to go out
4. Exfoliating your skin regularly. This helps to remove dead skin cells
5. Consult your dermatologist if the skin pigmentation persists.

Back Pain & Healthy Lifestyle

Back pain is one of the most common problem that you will see in recent days. It is estimated that 60% -85% of people in Europe will suffer from low back pain at some point of their lifes. It affects men and women equally and most commonly affected 35 to 55 years old people.

It is important to bear in mind that back pain can also be a symptom of the other medical conditions that should be referred to the doctor. These can include bladder and kidney infections and some gynecological problems, osteoporosis and broken bones.

For many people, back pain can be triggered by doing normal, everyday activities, such as : -
1. Lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling incorrectly
2. Slouching in chairs
3. Standing or bending down for long periods
4. Twisting, bending awkwardly
5. Coughing
6. Sneezing
7. Over-stretching
8. Driving in hunched positions

The back pain can be divided into : -

1. Lower back (between the bottom f the ribs and tops of the legs)
2. Upper back (between the bottom of the ribs and tops of the legs)
3. Sciatica ( caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve which travels from buttocks down through the length of the leg.

Symptoms

The symptoms of the lower back pain is they may feel the pain in the buttocks and top of the legs. Whilst, upper back pain can be caused by a sudden injury, for example, by whiplash after a car accident. It can also be caused by strain or poor posture over a period of time; namely, sitting in front of a computer and etc.
The sciatic pain will feel the pain all along the length of the sciatic nerve from the lower back, along the buttocks, to the back of the legs and all the way down to the heel of the foot.

For most of the people, the pain lasts for less than six weeks, if longer then it is called chronic back pain. Condition persists, medical advice is very important.


The exact cause of the back pain is hard to pin down, but what is clear is that there are some things that will increase the risk of developing back pain. These includes : -
1. Lifting, carrying, pulling, pushing movements that require force to be applied
2. Repetitive movements
3. Vibrations
4. Age
5. Being overweight
6. Being pregnant
7. Infections ie. kidney infection
8. Lack of exercise
9. Osteoporosis

There are some warning signs if the back pain also cause the follows : -
1. Those are under the age of 20 or over the age of 55
2. Have pain that has gotten worse over a period of days or weeks
3. Have a fever
4. Pain is constant even lying down or resting
5. Pain that travel to the chest or pain that high up the back
6. Have pain down the legs and below the knees
7. Have recent trauma or injury to their back
8. Unable to control their bladder or pass urine
9. Numbness a round genitals, buttocks or anus
10. Taking certain medication ( steroids)
11. Had cancers
12. Low immune system
13. Drug abuse

Recommendation or treatment
1. Should continue normal activities as much as possible and avoid resting in bed
2. Paracetamol is essential for pain killer but
3. Heat pad

Back pain can be avoided by taking care of the belows  : -
1. Weight management
2. Wearing flat shoes
3. Avoid stress
4. Avoid sudden movements or muscle strain
5. Keep active (walking & swimming, yoga & pilates)
6. Stop lifting heavy items

Some postures awareness : -
When lifting
Keep feet apart with on leg slightly in front
Don’t stoop and squat
Keep the item close to your waist
Don’t twist your back or lean sideways

When standing up
Have your back and legs straight with weight balances evenly on both feet

When sitting down
Knees and hips should be level and feet flat on the floor.

When driving
Make sure the small of the back is supported.

When sleeping
Make sure you have enough support from your mattress.

Healthy lifestyle is corelated to our daily activities, our daily proper posture will bring to the better health. Posture awareness is very important to avoid the sickness of back pain.

Beans help you live longer

Bean helps to give you a healthier lifestyle and prolong your life. Take the belows into your diets : -

1. Navy beans
These beans are high in folate and a B vitamin may reduce your risk of stroke and cognite declines as you age. Mash together a can of navy beans, a minced clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a pinch of fresh or dried rosemary and salt or pepper to taste. Replaced this with your mashed potatoes.

2. Garbanzo beans
This will help to reduce your levels of insulin, lowering your risk of diabetes. Make your own hummus by blending 12 ounces of garbanzos with a tablespoon each of olive oil, lemon juice, and peanut butter. Add chopped garlic clove. Season with salt, pepper and cumin.

3. Black beans
These beans contain potent disease-fighting anti-oxidants. Stuff black beans, chopped zucchini, and shredded cheddar cheese into whole-grain tortillas. Bake it for 20mins.

4. Kidney beans
It contains antioxidants that help to prevent the hardening of your arteries. Mash kidney beans with 2 teaspoons of chili powder, lime juice and minched garlic for your sandwich.

5. Pinto beans
This help to cut LDL cholestrol. This can be used as a toppings to your chicken breast. Mix can of pintos with chopped red and green bell pepper and red onion. Add 1/4 cup of corn, the juice of lime and 1/2 teaspoon cumin.

Enjoy the beans and mix it with your daily diet will help you to prolong your life and create a better healthy lifestye. So called, beans help to prolong your life.

broccoli & diabetes

Vegetables are well known for their cancer-fighting potential.

Eating broccoli could shield your from the wrath of diabetes. This is due to the sulforaphane, a chemical derived from cruciferous vegetables, switches on genes that produce enzymes and protect your blood vessels from the damage linked to high levels of disease-fighting antioxidants, which do battle with the free radicals created raging blood surgar.

Carbohydrates & liver

Not only will forging on surgar and starch expand your waistline, but eating too many carbohydartes may harm your liver too. That's because excess blood surgar is converted to fat in your liver, where it can accumulate and lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Beware of taking too much carbo, your are most at risk if you have fasting blood glucose greater than 100mg per deciliter, indicating your body doesn't process carbs well.

For a better healthy lifestyle, reduce intake the carbohydrates is important.

Weight gain & hormone

Body weight and hormone changes in the body are corelated to the healthy lifestyle. I would like to highlight how to manage your body weight by controlling your hormone and lead a a healthy lifestyle.

There are literally hundreds of hormones involved in controlling body weight, the metabolism of body fat, hunger and cravings. Insulin is the one most talked about, yet, like most complex reactions in the body, it’s unlikely that one specific hormonal path is the definitive solution to keeping in shape. With more research focusing on the area, it pays to be aware of other hormones that can help or hinder.


1. Cortisol
This is a stress hormone that closely related to weight gain. This hormone tends to cause the depositing of fat around the abdomen rather than the hips. This is why people tend to become apple-shaped and also facing the development of cardiovascular disease. Stress! People who has more hormone of cortisol tends to eat more food which is higher in carbohydrates than those who secrete less cortisol hormone. Taking active steps to manage your stress can control cortisol levels and have a tremendous flow-on effect to weight loss success.

2. Leptin
This hormone is produced in fat cells and helps regulate the brain to reduce appetite and burn more kilojoules. Leptin levels are high for obese people. Promoting leptin levels and adequate sleep is good to control the weight gain. Aim to get a good night’s rest to allow your body’s natural night-time rise in leptin to occur for sufficient time.

3. Sex hormones
Women produce oestrogen, progesterone and testerone. This level of hormones will fall dramatically at menopause. Women tend to gain weight particularly around the abdomen. Hormone therapy will sometime work on this.

4. Thyroid hormones
The thyroid hormones are to regulate many metabolic processes including growth and energy. The little release of thyroid hormones will cause the metabolism to slow down and subsequently cause the weight gain. The symptom includes low energy, depression, slow heart rate, weight gain, intolerance to cold, muscle fatigue, dry skin, hair loss and constipation.

5.Ghrelin
This is a hormone that increase hunger, slowing metabolism and decreasing the body’s ability to burn fat. This is one of the most common hormones that cause the weight gain. People who have had weight loss following bariatric surgery have low levels of ghrelin. Surgery is recommended for the patients with a BMI greater than 40 or BMI greater than 30 with additional medical conditions ie. type-2 diabetes.

Understand the relation of  hormone with the gain weight reason is the first step of bringing yourself to best healthy lifestyle!

Hiccups

How do hiccups happen? Actuallly, hiccups occur when air in the stomach from eating too fast irritating the diaphragm, causing it to spasm. This pulls air very quickly into the lungs, triggering the epihlottis to slam shut and at the same time shakes your vocal cords and create the "hic" sound.

Most of the hiccups only last for few minutes, but some might last for days and weeks. This is a sign of unusual porblem or medical problem.

You might have heard lots of suggestiond for how to get rid of hiccups and u might have tried a few too. Do they work? Holding your breath and countng to 10 is on way some people can get rid of hiccups. Some of the old people might say, drinking from wrong side of a glass of water is the way to cure the hiccup. Putting some sugar under your tougue or getting somebody to scare you and so on.

The above might work and might not too. The best solution from the expert is "put something cold on your neck". Holding two ice cubes, one either side for 10 seconds, interrupts the firing rate of nerves, sending signals to the diaphragm and calming it down.

This is medically work. Try this if you one day have hiccups...

INSOMNIA FACTS (PART II)

Who are the person in high risk of insomnia?

Those who are on medication : -

• cold and asthma preparations.
• High blood pressure
• Medication for depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia.

Besides of the medical conditions, there are certain groups of people which may be at higher risk for developing insomnia:-

• travelers
• shift workers
• elderly
• adolescent or young adult students
• Pregnant lady; and
• Women who are menopause and on menstruation

 Besides of the above there are also other causes of insomnia which are very important :-

• stimulants namely caffeine, cocaine, herbs and nicotine.
• Alcoholics who use alcohol to induce their sleep as a nightcap. Alcohol creates nonrefreshed sleep in the morning.
• A disruptive bed partner with loud snoring or leg movements also may impair cause insomnia to others.
• Insomnia Diagnosis
• If you feel that you have an insomnia, an evaluation will include a physical examination, medical history, and a sleep history. Your sleep patterns, how you feel during the day and etc is very important.

Treatment for Insomnia

Good sleep habits are very important to avoid insomnia. If at the event that initial stage of insomnia will affect your work of the day, few day sleeping pills are essential. Avoid using over-the-counter sleeping pills for insomnia since they may cause side effects and tend to lose their effectiveness over time.

Treatment for chronic insomnia will start from underlying conditions or health problems that cause insomnia. If insomnia persists, your health care provider may suggest behavioral therapy. Techniques such as meditation, relaxation exercises, sleep restriction therapy will be useful.

To be continued with GOOD SLEEP HABITS in Part III.