Health Explored

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Your Money or Your Health?

Let’sbe honest, the choice is not clear-cut or simple. If you have less cash you will survive if you cut back on the latest gadgets, don’t change your car every two years, and reduce the number of foreign holidays you take.

However, when it’s your health at stake, cutting back, changing and reducing will have significant effects for better or worse depending on what it is that you are cutting, changing and reducing.

Without health the rest of your life will be worse, and maybe a lot worse. Aiming for the best of health lays the foundation for a fruitful and profitable life.

There are exceptions to every rule and it is not always possible to achieve consistently positive outcomes. You must be realistic. But, research confirms that small changes to your current lifestyle can cause significant improvement to your health.

Prevention or Cure?

Not much choice here, either. Some experts espouse the prevention route, others the curative pathway. It doesn’t need to be like that. Picking one in favour of the other doesn’t cover all the bases.

Health

There’s a lot to be said for prevention. You’ll be in better health for longer. Your doctor will forget what you look like. You’ll be able to do the things you want to more often.

Think about it for a moment –

  • Proper balanced diet with judicious top up supplements, and no processed food.
  • Regular exercise at least three times a week.
  • Stress control using relaxation techniques and so on.
  • Restorative sleep up to eight hours a night.
  • Avoiding toxins and limiting negative external influences.
  • Proper work-home balance.

Achieving these ideals is not easy. But if you know how to move towards them, your health will improve.

Prevention is important, but so is finding the right treatment for what ails you. It’s unlikely you will go through life without a health problem of some kind. It could be anything from a cold to life-threatening disease such as cancer.

Treatment becomes the priority. Prevention may limit the severity of symptoms but won’t always prevent the illness. Then you need to focus on how to sort things out.

Conventional or Alternative Therapy?

You don’t need to choose. The Western world has come to favour the conventional system with doctors, surgeons, drugs, radiotherapy and so on. The Eastern countries have used complementary and alternative therapies for centuries – acupuncture, herbs, massage, yoga, etc.

Practitioners in each of these specialities believe their therapy is the best and the others are unsuccessful. That is entirely the wrong way. They choose to ignore the benefits of other therapies. They run down what the others say and do, and see it as competition. All of them have something to offer.

Remember, you are unique. Your genes, temperament, thinking, and beliefs combine to make you different from everyone else. Why is it that we think there is some universal cure that will work for everyone? It stands to reason that no single treatment works for all. Yet, you are surprised that the tablets that helped a colleague did nothing for you. Continue reading →

Enjoy a Healthy Lifestyle as a Non-Smoker

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You have read the adverts. The promises to enable you to quit smoking for good. The promises that empower you to be a non-smoker. Everything is available, from audio books to self-help courses. Hypnotherapy and a Guide to How to Quit Smoking.

There are so many products around it can be a problem when it comes to choosing the one that is right for you. However, you probably think that quitting smoking is going to be hard and that you are going to suffer withdrawal symptoms when you quit smoking. Is quitting smoking really that painful?

Absolutely not! The hardest part of stopping smoking cigarettes or any form of tobacco product is that first decision you make to quit!

However, you have to want to quit to succeed. No amount of hypnotherapy courses, books or meetings are going to help you quit cigarettes unless you want to quit. Really want to quit.

In fact, it is so easy to become a non-smoker today that you wouldn’t believe it. Your mind is stronger and more powerful than you think and in the end you’ll be asking yourself “Addiction? What addiction? I’m not addicted to nicotine.”

Everything about smoking is psychological. The physical aspects of addiction to nicotine are so minimal as to be non-existent. Like many addictions – it’s all in your mind. You believe in cigarettes right now. You believe that they help you relax or relieve stress. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Quitting smoking

Your addiction creates that stress.

What of those withdrawal pangs from cigarettes? These are so minimal that you will barely notice them and because you’ll be free of the need to smoke you will not even care. It is your addiction that causes so many problems that once you become a non-smoker you will not feel any pain or suffering.

Quitting smoking is a personal choice. You and you alone can make the decision. Do not quit for your family or your friends. Only for you.

Once you become a non-smoker you will feel the difference immediately. Your energy levels will increase, your desire for life will improve and you will feel so much better. Regardless of your age you will feel a totally different person with a few days from your last cigarette.

Enjoy a healthier lifestyle today. Become a non-smoker and remember how enjoyable life really is without the drug that hangs around your neck. Feel the energy return to you as your body removes all traces of the nicotine and cigarette drug.

Is double blind drug testing really a ‘gold’ standard?

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Most adults are aware of the placebo effect, where the belief in some medical benefit can enhance that effect. But few know that there are twists to the placebo effect that have a significant impact on drug testing. It is the existing ‘gold standard’ drug trial, as characterised by the following main attributes, which is impacted:

  1. One set of patients receives no treatment.
  2. A second set of patients receives the drug being tested
  3. A third set of patients receives a sugar pill (placebo) that looks like the drug
  4. The trial is double blind – neither the patients nor the administers of pills know who is receiving the drug or the placebo
  5. The trial is randomised – the patients are randomly assigned into these groups

The key to the double blind aspect is that patients should not be able to differentiate between the placebo and the drug. Recent research with anti-depressant drugs showed that this is not always the case. It appears that many patients were able to work out if they were receiving the drug, because they could detect the side-effects of the drug. They could sense that they were taking an active substance as opposed to a placebo pill. Research was carried out to try to cancel this detection process by using an alternative drug instead of an inert placebo tablet. The drug would be one that generates similar side effects to the drug under test, but not any anti-depressant effect. The net effect was that the drug was no longer demonstrably more effective than placebo. Minimising the flaw of drug detection (that had negated the vital double blind aspect of drug testing), showed the drug to be much less effective as an anti-depressant.

placebo effect

To explain this, it appears that by being able to detect that a drug rather than placebo was being administered, the patient’s expectations of healing would be elevated. Conversely, a patient that knew he was taking a placebo would have a reduced expectation, and hence lowered placebo effect. There is a profound conclusion to be drawn from this: that drugs shown in scientific studies to outperform placebo may actually have been operating by virtue of the placebo effect in addition, or in place of any biochemical effect. The existing gold standard drug trial is not as sound as it is made out to be.

There is another twist to reveal, courtesy of ‘New Scientist’ magazine. Researchers discovered that the effect of the anxiety reducing drug Diazepam virtually vanished when it was administered unknowingly. Likewise, it was discovered that morphine could be provided at fairly high levels to patients in pain with no effect on that pain if administered without the patient’s knowledge. This too was a telling discovery. Morphine is an extremely well established and effective treatment for pain, effective in most people. Yet, it seems, a part of this very efficacy is due to the placebo effect. This links in well with the placebo detection problem – anti-depressant drugs being barely any more effective than placebo when the placebo used was indistinguishable from the drug. Continue reading →

Regaining your body after pregnancy

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I’ve heard since my childhood how having children ruins a ladies body, how the weight gain after pregnancy will just not shift, how it is just so unfair and been amazed by the extent to which some ladies will go to lose this extra weight. As a man I never really took into consideration that whole spectrum of changes made during pregnancy, whether it be physical, mental or emotional. Since my career as a health and fitness professional started that has changed a huge amount, not least in my appreciation of the turmoil that having a baby can create.

Being a proud father and step-father, I have seen how pregnancies can be life changing for both the mother and partners concerned. But if I could explode one myth within my career it would be that ‘babies ruin bodies’ because they don’t. Though it is very true that we add maternal body fat to our frame and there are significant physiological changes that are undergone during pregnancy in preparation for the birth, it still remains that babies do not ruin our bodies. The amount of body fat we add is largely dependant on a combination of the following; stress, health, diet, activity and experience.

pregnancy

Many women feel greatly pressured to regain their figures, looks and posture quickly after giving birth. A lot of my clients have said that the most hurtful images are those of scantily clad models in commercials advertising shower gels, body lotion etc and that these feelings are also heightened greatly by the whole phenomena of celebrities reclaiming their pre-pregnancy figures and not only are they getting the bodies back in shape but they are apparently doing it really quickly.

But before you rush out and sign up for the forthcoming ‘celebrity mom workout video’ –you know it must be on its way. There are many things to consider here before leaping on the same wagon as the celebrities. Many of the celebrities can afford and do employ personal trainers and nutritionists like myself to tailor make exercise programs and push them as far as they need to make, quick noticeable progress. Celebrities also employ nannies; so no more nappy changes and night time feeds and most importantly they can afford to take the time out to make real changes to their lives and bodies. So all of these factors should be taken into account before trying to achieve the same weight loss goals in the same ‘supposed’ time frame.

Are breakfast cereal bars as healthy as we think?

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We are constantly bombarded with advertisements for breakfast cereals, breakfast bars, this brand and that. But are they healthy choices? Well I’ve taken the liberty of doing some shopping to find out how health these products are.

Ingredients

Sugar, Glucose syrup, sweetened condensed milk, invert sugar syrup, fructose (fruit sugar), glycerol, sorbitol (artificial sweetener), Lactose (milk sugar) – Would you believe all these sweeteners are in the same bar? They certainly want this bar to taste good, almost addictively good.

Hydrogenated vegetable oil – Cheap steam cleaned, bleached vegetable oil which has hydrogen forced into it at high temperature, rendering all nutritional value null and void. Its make up is more that of a plastic than an oil – totally unknown in nature and of no use to the body. Very harmful to health! Otherwise known as a Trans fat

Nutritional breakdown for a 25g bar.

Calories 103 Kcal
Protein 1.5 g 6%
Carbohydrates 18 g
 - of which sugars 11 g 44%
 - of which starch 7 g 28%
Fat 3 g 12%
 - of which saturates 2 g 8%
Fibre 0.4 g 1.6%

 

As you can see the nutrient content within this bar are pitiful. How can we hope to gain useful nutrition from this? These bars are aimed at children and I’m sure you’ll agree that one of these bars would not satisfy a child – maybe three or four? An alternative to a good breakfast? Depends on how good the breakfast is but on the whole NO.

Conclusion

Very little protein, which will not supply the essential amino acids required by children and adults alike. Huge amount of sugar – just look at the different types included. Are they trying to disguise types? Nearly half of the bar is sugar. Relatively high in fat at 12%. But contains Trans fat, which is very detrimental to health. Did you know that if Hydrogenated vegetable oil was discovered now opposed in the 1940’s the food oil industry would not be allowed to use it.

Middle Age Doctors Are The Safest

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So are you set to have an operation in the not too distant future? If you are, you may want to have a look at your surgeons birth certificate as, according to a study, Middle-aged surgeons in their late 30s and 40s and are the safest.

Although inexperience is an obvious disadvantage, if a surgeon has been in the profession for decades it is not a good thing. The small study, was undertaken by bmj.com. The analysis looked at more than 3,500 operations carried out by 28 surgeons. The link they found between what age a surgeon is and complication rates was irrespective of how complex the operation was.

The study came to the conclusion that patients that has surgery (thyroid gland removal) were more prone to have some sort of complications if either an inexperienced surgeon or a surgeon who had been in the job for more than two decades.

The researchers chose to look thyroidectomy due to the fact that the procedure is, basically, carried out in the same way and has not changed that much over the past 30 years

A surgeon at the end of his career will most likely be undertaking a completely different range of operations than at the beginning of his career taking into account of the pace of change in medical developments.

Many experts in the field have gone on record as saying that the studies are in no means conclusive and further investigation is needed. Factors contributing to poor performance in older and experienced surgeons need to be investigated much further.

Medical negligence professionals encounters loads of cases where patients have been treated by younger healthcare professionals, and errors have occurred. This problem is a symptom of the wider failings of the NHS system.  It is the case that these inexperienced surgeons are not supported properly by senior staff members.

Patients undergoing surgery should not worry if the surgeon is in the “risky” age scale. There are other factors which are more important such as the wider hospital environment, how well it is managed and how well resourced the hospital is.

Full body MRI – Why do it?

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There are a number of reasons why people should at least consider professional health screening tests. With advances in medicine and technology, we have never been closer to the prevention and cure of certain diseases. However, the reality is that one would seek medical help only if there are tangible symptoms of an illness. Unfortunately, there are a number of deadly diseases that can develop without symptoms and are often “picked up” at an advanced stage, when the chances of successful treatment are drastically reduced. Such diseases are commonly called “silent killers” and can cause death if not treated. “Silent killers” include various types of cancer (for instance, renal cell and pancreatic cancer), Hepatitis B and C infections, heart and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and kidney infections to name just a few.

Heart and cardiovascular disease is the number one “silent killer” and it causes over 50,000 premature deaths a year in the UK (Source: BHF). Smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, raised cholesterol or hypertension are some of the main risk factors that contribute to the development of heart disease. (Source: BHF). Approximately one in three adults in England and Scotland are hypertensive and almost half of them are not receiving treatment. Diabetes is yet another “silent killer” that can go unnoticed for most of ones life. The World Health Organisation states that almost 6% of the world’s adult population has diabetes. Many of those affected might not even be aware of it.

Full body MRI

The chances of curing or preventing the development of some of these deadly diseases increase significantly if they are discovered at an early state. Our health screening offer is not only directed towards people who are at risk of developing a certain condition; anyone who is over 40 years of age and is concerned about their health should seriously consider having a professional health check-up. Affordable yet advanced medical check-ups are designed to screen for a number of conditions. Let them help you!

The full body MRI offered in most packages helps to discover the following:

Stages of inflammation in organs
Post-traumatic changes
Early cancer signs
Size and function changes of key organs
Bone changes (that can lead to leukemia, osteoporosis etc)
Unknown birth defects

 

Reducing high blood pressure the natural way!

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For many hypertension suffers, it has been seen that altering their daily eating habits and including different fruit, vegetables, vitamins and minerals into the diet has a very beneficial and significant effect on the blood pressure. So wouldn’t it be great if we could actively lower our blood pressure naturally, reducing the need to take hypertensive drugs.

Now I’m not saying the following list will solve the problem of hypertension or that you will not need the advice of your doctor, but the following foods will definitely have a positive effect on your body and certainly help lower or prevent the early onset of hypertension. They are also natural products which are tasty and healthy, so it would be a shame not to include them within our diet anyway.

Firstly potassium rich foods.

Potassium is well known for its ability to control and prevent blood pressure, so it would be of great benefit to include potassium rich foods within our daily diet.

Apricots Prunes Bananas Orange juice Peaches
Pumpkin Spinach Sweet potatoes Green beans Potatoes
Lean pork Lean veal Flounder Trout Catfish
Milk Yoghurt

Secondly Magnesium rich foods

It has been shown that a large majority of high blood pressure sufferers have magnesium deficiency. And clinical trials have proven that a magnesium deficiency can definitely affect blood pressure adversely.

Beans Okra Spinach Broccoli Chard
Plantain Tofu Soy milk Nuts / Seeds Wholemeal bread
Oysters Scallops Mackerel Sea bass

Thirdly Calcium rich foods

Many studies have shown that those suffering from hypertension would benefit from the added calcium to their diets. Most sufferers tested show that they are low in calcium and consume far less calcium in their diets. Of course many sources of calcium is from dairy products which can have a high fat content. But it is very easy to select the skimmed or low-fat varieties and still maintain a health intake of this important mineral.

Broccoli Turnip greens Spinach
Perch Salmon Mackerel
Cheese Yogurt Milk

Of course one of the many benefits of adding such foods to your diet is that these foods are generally low in calories and will definitely help you lose weight when incorporated into a carefully structured diet. They also add variety which is always a bonus when buy food and planning meals.

Reduce your blood pressure the natural way – Eat right! Exercise right!

The causes of hypertension

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Over 95% of all patients diagnosed with high blood pressure or ‘hypertension’, have ‘essential hypertension’. In other words the cause of the hypertension is not known and is likely that inherited genetic factors as well as environmental factors such your lifestyle, diet and daily exercise play a important role in influencing the symptoms of hypertension.

In each person these factors can have a different affect, and we still have a lot to learn about the genetic factors that cause hypertension, many of which are still being researched. So you can see how it is easy to have the ‘essential hypertension’ label.

As we mentioned earlier some 95% of all hypertensive are ‘essential’ so what about the remaining 5%? Well for these patients there is a specific cause and they are considered to have ‘secondary hypertension’. Such causes of this are kidney failure, hormonal conditions and a narrowing of the arteries to the kidneys. In most cases a G.P can detect these causes or there may be a referral to a nephrologist.

high blood pressure

Are you at greater risk of high blood pressure with age?

Increased systolic blood pressure in more common as we get older.

Is high blood pressure genetic?

There is no single gene that is inherited from our parents that is solely responsible for hypertension. It would be more likely that many different genes are reacting with each other, combined with environmental factors that attribute to hypertension. So you can inherit a greater chance of developing hypertension, but this chance may only increase with the previously mentioned environmental issues.

What is the truth about hypertension and salt?

Many doctors do not believe that salt is the sole cause for many cases of hypertension, but they would all admit that it plays a very important role. It has been seen in cultures where there is a high amount of salt in the populations diet that there are increased numbers of hypertension and cases of heart attacks, strokes etc. But again if you take salt as a major player in the cause of hypertension and then add in the genetic and environmental factors we are already creating a potent recipe for hypertension.

Stress

Your blood pressure can be elevated short term by stress especially emotional stress. So stress can be ruled out as causing hypertension as it doesn’t cause persistent elevation of blood pressure. There are many ways to beat and reduce stress and in-turn reduce the short term affects on your blood pressure. Continue reading →