Health Shelter

THE BENEFITS OF THE SUN-RAYS

If the exposure to sun light is moderate, the benefits outnumber the dangers. First of all sunshine has a good effect upon the mental health and well-being, both due to the visible light and to the warming effect.
The UVA rays in the sunlight stimulates the skin to produce vitamin D. This vitamin is necessary for the normal composition, growth and regeneration of bone tissue. By to low levels of vitamin D in the body, the bones tend to loose calcium and get thinner and weaker. Newer findings suggest that many people do not get enough of this vitamin through the diet or do not absorb enough from the intestines, and need this stimulation to get good enough levels of vitamin D.

Newer findings also suggest that moderate amount of sunshine does not promote the occurence of skin cancer. On the contrary, in moderate amounts, exposure to sunshine seems to help prevent cancers of several types., especially breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer.

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A free-radical is a molecule or atom that is missing an electron. Free-radicals attack healthy cells within your body trying to steal an electron from them. Free-radicals are nothing more than thugs. All cancer is caused by free-radicals and the damage they do to your DNA. Your DNA holds the blue print for every cell that is created. All cancer is caused by mutated DNA. This is how DNA mutation happens; free-radicals attack your DNA trying to steal an electron, this attack continues and changes the blue print within your DNA, now the cells that are being created by your DNA are mutated with this changed blue print. The cells that are produced are cancer cells and the body no longer recognizes them as you; but they are not cancer yet, one more condition is needed to begin the growth of true cancer and that is inflammation. Inflammation appears when there is an injury to our body; even cell injury. Inflammation is there to help heal but it can not heal a mutation so it feeds the cell and within a few years you have some form of cancer.

We can not avoid free-radicals, they are a part of life; they are found in air and water pollution, the processed foods we eat and are caused by trauma and exercise as well as any medication you may take. Medications have a free-radical nature due to laboratory production and doctors call theses free-radicals and the damage they do; side effects.

The only thing that stops free-radicals is antioxidants; they are molecules that have a spare electron. The only place to find antioxidants is in natural sources. Dietary supplements are needed for optimum health and contain some antioxidants, eating natural foods that are un-processed is very important. Processing foods kills the antioxidants and they will not help you. Most plants have around 1,000 to 1,500 antioxidants each, which does not seem like a lot compared to the amount of free-radicals you are taking into your body every single day; about a billion.

With the discovery of a fruit from South East Asia called the Mangosteen, scientists have been in a buzz about the amount of antioxidants this fruit contains. The Mangosteen fruit has an amazing 25,000 antioxidants. This fruit has been studied in Universities and by scientists for the last 20 years; they have proved that this fruit has the most powerful and the largest number of antioxidants in nature to date. You can read all the studies by going to pubmed at dot gov and typing in Mangosteen. The Mangosteen fruit has also been providing thousands of people with pain relief as well as other medicinal benefits, due to super charged antioxidants called Xanthones. Two hundred Xanthones have been identified in nature, 41 are in the Mangosteen fruit alone and you can compare that to the Aloe Vera plant that contains only one Xanthone. One thing about Xanthones you need to know is that they must be consumed in their natural form.

Cancer and other serious illnesses are on the rise in this country. Cancer is a plague; but we have become so accustomed to the word and the disease that we don’t take it as seriously as we should. Cancer destroys not only the body and our cells; it can destroy our families and devastate our financial situation. pubmed at dot gov is a source that can be used as a guide to help in your recovery; there are links to several informational pages, done by doctors and scientists.

Alternative health care is also on the rise due to medications that cause so many side effects because of their free-radical nature that you can end up in worse health than when you first went into see the doctor. Medications on top of medications will break down your immune system and the free-radicals end up on a rampage through your body, causing mayhem and destruction, and then you need more medication. All medications carry a risk of side effects. Alternatives such as fruits and veggies do not carry these types of risks. You can call toll free 1-888-374-4148 and listen to a message about the amazing power of Xanthones.

According to the latest medical theory, chronic inflammation is the root cause of almost every disease suffered by human beings.

That’s right. Many doctors believe persistent, low-level inflammation paves the way for chronic disease, including those we usually experience late in life, e.g. arthritis, heart and kidney disease, and cancer.

As a part of our immune response system, inflammation occurs when the body is fighting germs that enter the body through a variety of ways, e.g. injury or inhalation. When you experience redness, swelling, heat, infection, and pain from a variety of ailments, it’s a sign of inflammation. Normally, the inflammation goes away when the body has conquered the infection or injury, but if the body fails to shut off the inflammation process, a more serious condition can occur.

It is generally recognized that heart attacks occur when the blood vessels become clogged with “plaque” (what we usually refer to as the bad LDL cholesterol) that is deposited on the vessel walls. This bad cholesterol also gets embedded inside arteries and our immune system “attacks” it. Persistent inflammation in the arteries can eventually cause plaque to burst. Now many doctors use a simple blood test for inflammation called CRP (short for C-reactive Protein) to help assess a person’s cardiac risk. CRP is an index of inflammation in the arteries and the CRP increases as inflammation increases. For example, test have shown that middle aged men with high CRP levels in their blood were three times more likely to suffer a heart attack in the next 6 years than men with normal levels. Medical experts say that a CRP of 3.0 mg/L or higher triples your heart attack risk. People with CRP less than 0.5 mg/L rarely have heart attacks.

The good news is that we can do something to reduce the risks of persistent inflammation, including losing weight, exercising regularly, and eating the right foods. According to the Center for Human Nutrition at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, some foods can cause inflammation while others can decrease it. Diets that are rich in fruits and vegetables, and foods that offer lots of Omega-3 fatty acids (such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, and walnuts) are best. Further, a diet of such foods has been shown to be instrumental in weight reduction, and lowering CRP and insulin resistance.

You can also take prescription or over-the-counter NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Vioxx, Celebrex, and Bextra), which reduce inflammation but can have dangerous side effects. While these drugs are effective COX-2 inhibitors, the life-threatening side effects from prolonged uninterrupted use (such as gastro-intestinal hemorrhage and kidney and liver failure) make them both dangerous and controversial. One has only to read the literature produced by the companies manufacturing these drugs to know how dangerous they are. In fact, in the United States in the year 2000, more people died from the complications of NSAIDs than died from AIDS! Further, Vioxx was recently withdrawn from the marketplace because it caused heart attacks.

Inflammation is “one of the bad guys.” You need to get it under control, but don’t jump from the “frying pan into the fire” by treating your condition with a “badder guy.” Eat right, exercise regularly, have your blood work done once a year, and listen to your doctor’s advice. May I also suggest you find a natural food supplement to treat your inflammation, rather than just reaching for the pill bottle?

Bruce Bailey, Ph.D.

Gardasil:
Cervical cancer is caused by a virus many people get in their teens and 20s. Now there is a vaccine available to protect women from the most common cause of cervical cancer: a virus called HPV.
What is HPV?
HPV (human papillomavirus) is a common virus that affects both females and males. There are actually more than 100 types of HPV. Most of them are relatively harmless, like the ones that cause common warts on the hands and feet. For most people, the body’s own defense system will clear the virus. However, there are a few types of HPV you should really know about.
Genital HPV:
About 30 types of HPV affect the genital area.
- Some are “high-risk” types (such as HPV Types 16 and 18) that can cause abnormal cervical cells and cervical cancer
– Others are “low-risk” types (such as HPV Types 6 and 11) that can cause genital warts.
Genital Warts:
Genital warts are usually flesh-colored growths that are most often caused by certain “low-risk” types of HPV. Anyone who has any kind of sexual activity involving genital contact can get HPV and genital warts – intercourse isn’t necessary. And many people with HPV do not have genital warts or any other symptoms, so they can pass the virus without even knowing it. The warts may appear within weeks, months – or sometimes not at all.
More common than you might think:
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 80% of women will have had genital HPV by age 50. It’s estimated that most people get HPV within their first 2 to 3 years of becoming sexually active.
A cancer vaccine?
Gardasil is a vaccine that helps protect against the following diseases (these are diseases caused by the HPV Types in the vaccine (6, 11, 16, and 18)):
- Cervical cancer
- Abnormal and precancerous cervical lesions
- Abnormal and precancerous vaginal lesions
- Genital warts
Gardasil is indicated for girls and women ages 9 through 26. The vaccine is given as a series of three injections at 0, 2, and 6 months. Gardasil is intended to prevent, not treat, the above mentioned diseases. However, you may benefit from Gardasil if you already have HPV. This is because most people are not infected with all four types of HPV contained in the vaccine. In clinical trials, individuals with one or more vaccine-related HPV types prior to vaccination were protected from disease caused by the remaining vaccine HPV types.
What about women of other ages and men?
The main purpose Gardasil is to protect women against the HPV types that cause cervical cancer. Men are obviously not at risk for cervical cancer so, at this time, there are no efforts to vaccinate men. Some men may choose, however, to get the vaccine simply for the partial protection it will give them against contracting genital warts. How effective the vaccine is at protecting men from genital warts has not yet been sufficiently studied.
The age range for women is based on the fact that HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that most women encounter within the first 2 to 3 years of being sexually active.

At first, a chalazion looks and feels like a stye, swollen eyelid, pain, and irritation. The term chalazion refers to a cystic swelling with chronic inflammation in an eyelid. Sometimes the bump on your eyelid is actually a chalazion, which looks similar to a stye. A chalazion is sometimes confused with a stye which also appears as a lump in the eyelid.

In rare cases, cancerous tumors of the eyelid can appear like a stye or chalazion. Do not wear eye makeup or contact lenses until the stye or chalazion heals. Granulomas are inflammatory growths on the inside or outside of the eyelid, and can occur after a stye, or chalazion.

In some cases of staph blepharitis, a red eye may develop or a sty may form. Inflammation of an eyelash follicle with a lump called a sty or hordeolum is usually caused by staph.

If you get styes frequently, see your eye doctor for an examination. Finally, if you suffer from recurring styes, your eye doctor might prescribe a low-dose antibiotic for long-term use. Consult an eye specialist if the inflammation persists for more than 2 weeks, styes recur, or the stye rubs against the eye and irritates it. Bad styes or recurrent styes may need an antibiotic eye ointment as prescribed by your specialist.

Some good prevention method for eye stys are simple things like not sharing make up. Avoid sharing eye makeup, especially if you are prone to recurring styes. Refrain from wearing eye makeup while the stye is active. Although most styes and chalazia are not contagious, best practice should also include not sharing towels, washcloths, or handkerchief.

Your eye doctor may recommend replacing your contact lenses after the stye has healed to prevent recurrence or spread of the infection. If you do not, the infection may spread to the oil glands of the eyelid and cause a stye. Ask an optometrist a question about eye styes when you are purchasing any new contact lenses.

Further study is needed to fully understand relationships between hair dyes and bladder cancer, researchers said. Basically, they found no overall increase in cancer deaths among users of hair dyes. These opinions are concerning the use of permanent hair dyes and bladder cancer in 2005. Because of the widespread use of hair dye, the possibility of a relationship between it and cancer is quite alarming. In this study, the two main criteria were exposure to personal hair dye products and an outcome of cancer at any anatomical site.

“The totality of evidence today is far more reassuring than alarming about any hazards of hair dye use,” Dr. None found evidence of a significant excess among hair dye users overall. A European Commission watchdog has criticized the hair dye industry for failing to provide evidence of the safety of its products. Until definitive evidence come in consumers may want to proceed with caution when selecting a hair dye. A European Commission watchdog criticised the hair dye industry in 2002 for failing to provide evidence of the safety of its products. But there is no strong evidence that hair dyes cause any of these.

Permanent hair dyes, the most popular choice among consumers, come in two categories: oxidation and progressive. Thus it may be concluded that it is hair dye that accidentally spilled over and has taken effect by oxidation. They are called Oxidation hair dyes because they contain Paraphenelenediamine, which is a basic constituent of these dyes.

You might feel good after a chemical hair dye but, if you’re dying your hair in this way frequently, It is belived that you’re killing yourself softly. A chemical free hair dye, use at home hair colour. A compound henna mix is not a chemical free hair dye. Suraiya As with any chemical product, you should always use hair dyes in a well ventilated area. Here are the facts: Hair dye, bleach, perms and relaxing solutions are all absorbed into the bloodstream to some degree.

There are many great aspects to this subject, which we will review carefully so that you may get the most from it.

In today’s world of technology when it comes to our health, it seems that we have grown accustom to pleasing drugs in order to heal our bodies. The terrifying part about this is the verity that drugs themselves can actually be the catalyst to creating even more health problems.

What needs to be talked about more is how we can drop the risk of many diseases nowadays naturally, before they occur.

A research conducted by the, “Archives of inside Medicine” showed that the amount of exercise we have in our daily lives is directly related to years lived without cardiovascular disease.

Do you feel as though you have a firm grasp of the basics of this subject? If so, then you are ready to read the next part.

In fact walking just 30 minutes a day can elongate our life by 1.3 years and add another 1.1 years of life devoid of heart disease. This reflects the study of those with low activity levels to those who walked at least 30 minutes per day.

Walking helps to prevent breast cancer. Walking 30 minutes per day can help to reduce your risk by 30%. Walking 45 minutes per day can help to reduce your risk by 45%.

Walking can help prevent and reduce depressions, diminish the levels of bone loss and in fact, walking is just one of those things that greatly help to decrease the risk of so many diseases, it’s a long list to name them all.

Compare the differences between a river that is flowing at a steady speed to one that is sluggish or barely flowing at all.

The river that has a steady flow is full of life. It is clear and refreshing. The fish, the frogs, and the turtles along with all other creatures living in the water are flourishing as the water is fully aerated and fresh.

The river that is stagnant. Well, you can imagine the smell and the look of the water and the surroundings. A stagnating river is dying, as are all living things inside it. A stagnant river is gradually becoming more and more polluted due to the inability of movement, which over time can cause the river to die.

This is a good illustration of how our bodies work. When we incorporate daily exercise in our lives, we are helping our bodies rid itself of many things that will initiate it to stagnate.

Walking increases our blood flow as our hearts beat faster. This activity promotes a healthful flow of fluids throughout our bodies and increases the ability to eliminate harmful toxins that build up in our bodies and promote disease.

Every day you do not walk, think about the stagnant river. Think of how that river water smells and how the water looks. Think of the dead fish and the decaying plants. Think of how that river is slowing dying.

Perhaps knowing that your river of life is growing stagnant inside you without a daily walk will be a motivating factor in helping you to find the time and energy to add it into your routine.

In the beginning, you may only be able to walk a few minutes per day. Take it slow and add more time to your walks as you build up the strength and staying power to do so.

And please remember to discuss your new walking routine with your physician if you have any doubts as to whether it is something you personally can do.

The next time someone asks you about this topic, you can give a little smile and provide him or her an informative answer.

Written By,

Eric Choong

http://www.health-beauty-care.com/hb_articles.htm

Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of “Love, Medicine and Miracles” was once a distraught surgeon who fretted over his inability to effectively serve his cancer patients. Dr. Siegel’s recognition and growing understanding of the mind-body connection eventually allowed him to serve his patients and himself in a greater capacity.

Bernie writes in his book, “When a doctor reports amazing improvements in a patient’s condition, he or she almost never mentions that person’s beliefs and lifestyle, but when I inquire, I find the patient always has made some drastic change toward a more loving and accepting outlook. The patient seldom tells an unreceptive doctor about this, however.”

When the person’s mind changed, the state of their health changed. Hence, the importance of the mind- body connection.

However, just covering up the surface with positive thinking isn’t necessarily going to help. It’s like cleaning out a house. The dirt and filth has to be removed and the stale air replaced with fresh air. There has to be a fundamental change for real healing to take place. Surface level, ‘positive thinking’ isn’t going to effect this kind of change, just like lightly dusting our homes won’t get the real dirt out.

So what are the dirty and stale things in our minds? Well, they could be things like grudges, prejudices, anger, resentment and hate. One spiritual principle from religion talks about “loving your enemy”. That can’t be done without giving up hate. By giving up something bad, we can make room for something good to come in and may, as a result, see a corresponding change in our bodies.

The problem here is that many of these bad things are buried and hidden and we won’t necessarily see them or recognize them in ourselves. We can be certain that they are there though, it is a virtually inevitable consequence of living in a world that is so focused on selfishness and less concerned with “loving” others.

So in order to find these bad things and eliminate them requires introspection, it requires looking at oneself hard and long. However, there is still a problem. When we are searching within our minds, we have to have a standard to do the comparison with. Otherwise, how will we find anything? How will it stand out?

Let’s look to one of the greatest thinkers of the Western world, Socrates. What did Socrates do with is life? Didn’t he teach others about virtue? Interesting, isn’t it? One of the most influential people in western thinking emphasized virtue to his students. Socrates talked about things like absolute goodness, beauty and truth.

If someone as great, as well loved and respected as Socrates thought these things were important, perhaps therein lies the key to the mind-body connection. To live a truly healthy and worthwhile life, maybe virtuous thoughts like truth and goodness are what our minds should embrace rather than the negative things modern life finds us clinging too.

Remember what Bernie said, “I find the patient always has made some drastic change toward a more loving and accepting outlook.” When we embrace truth and goodness, the beauty of life and this vast universe that we live in becomes evident. That is when we can heal our bodies. Real healing happens in the mind.

This article is for information purposes only, it is not meant to diagnose, prevent or treat any illness or health issue. If you have or think you have a health condition, please visit your primary-care physician immediately.

Cancer cases have been on the rise over the last few years, no doubt, due to the high stress, environmental toxins, and unhealthy lifestyle and eating behavior of people living in the 21st century. Cancer is an illness that is medically defined as a state of abnormality where uncontrolled production of one or more cell populations interferes with the normal functions of the body. This ailment is one of the major causes of deaths around the world. Other than the fear of death, another difficulty faced by cancer patients is the side effects of pain medication.
Also known as the “Big C”, many medical experts believe that the said disease is brought about by factors like the environment, age, lifestyle, and genes of the patient. Generally, cancer affects the elderly more than the other age groups due to its multistage process that may take 15 to 45 years for symptoms to be evident. Some events, activities, or diets may trigger the development of cancer cells over a period of time. Several studies suggest that people can be genetically prone to cancer when enzymes that aid in the prevention of cancer growth are not efficient enough to stop cancer cell development.
While not all cancer patients experience cancer pain, statistics claim that one out of three people undergoing cancer treatment does. And in cases where cancer is in the advanced stage, meaning cancer has spread or recurred, the chance of experiencing cancer pain is even higher.
Cancer pain relief is a common need among cancer patients. In many cases, the pain is caused by a tumor, but there are also times when the source can be anything other than the cancer itself. Cancer pain may vary in intensity. It can be dull, aching, or sharp. It can also be constant, intermittent, mild or even severe. But no matter how painful the condition may become, cancer pain relief is possible.
There are many several ways to get cancer pain relief. Removing the source of the pain through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or some other form of treatment is still the best way to rid of cancer. If these are not applicable, there are pain medications that can help patients to control the pain.

Some medications that are used to alleviate cancer pain may include the follwing:

- Analgesics like aspirin or acetaminophen;
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen;
- Weak opioids like codeine; and
- Strong opioids like morphine, oxycodone, hydromorphone, fentanyl, or methadone.

These drugs are easy to use and can be taken orally. However some medications may be taken intravenously, rectally, or through the patches of the skin. Just like other drugs for pain relief, these medications may bring side effects. Common side effects of pain relievers may include confusion, lethargy, and sleepiness. The severity of these effects varies from person to person and may disappear after stopping medication. Before taking medicines for cancer pain relief, patients are advised to seek the approval doctors and other health specialists to clarify side effects and drug interactions that may occur while using certain drugs. In addition to this, persistent pain that affects performance and lifestyle should be reported to one’s doctor to prevent it from creating more harm to the body. Early diagnosis is important in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.

As summer and the long days of prolonged hot sunshine is upon us once again, the natural instinct to remove items of clothing as the sun comes out is evident. But could your employer be liable if you suffer from skin cancer as a result of removing clothing and not being supplied skin protection cream or sun lotions?

An extensive search for court rulings in which an employer was held responsible for one of their staff contracting skin cancer whilst at work has provider no evidence and no case law provided. However this does not mean that an employer in the future might be found liable if they do not protect their employee’s welfare whilst at work.

The risks created by the suns rays should never be ignored, but what is being said is that you as an employee are not completely responsible for your own skin protection and employers to some extent must take ownership of the associated risks.

Free sun protection creams and guidance information on the risks of sun exposure should be supplied to employees if they are exposed for considerable amounts of time in the sun, as an example lets think about external workers such as builders, external landscapers etc.

A suggestion if you are spending prolonged periods of time in the sun to protect yourself is to when ever possible wear long sleeved, loose fitting clothing. Not only will this protect your skin, it will also help to keep the body temperature down and also minimise the risk of a heat stroke. Your employer could supply light weight clothing which allows the body top breathe in all weathers or prohibit the removing of clothing for their own safety.

Advise on using sun barrier creams could be instigated and the rule to use these for skin protection mandatory whilst exposed to the sun. A sun protection of no less than Sun Protection Factor (SPF) 15 should be used as this will provide adequate protection.

Also advice on breaks that they should be taken in doors or in the shade out of the suns rays is another way protection can be offered. If temperatures are particularly hot then, your employer might want to consider being flexible with break allowances incorporating more frequent short rest breaks out of the sun. This time could be used to apply more protection barrier creams and to re hydrate by drinking more fresh cold drinking water.