Monday, February 23, 2009

Hot Tub

In the last decade and a half over 750 deaths have taken place in hot tubs. Of these, a fair amount have been caused by drowning - adults and children.
Even though a hot tub or sauna can be enjoyable places to spend time, please be aware that they can be dangerous appliances. Here are a few things to be particularly aware of:
Long Hair and Hot Tubs
In the last decade and a half over 750 deaths have taken place in hot tubs. Of these, a fair amount have been caused by drowning - adults and children.
Among children one of the main causes drownings is due to a child's hair being sucked into the hot tub's drain cover fittings. When a child with long hair puts his or her head under water, it is possible for their hair to get entangled with the suction drain cover fitting. In many hot tubs, the suction drain cover fitting is on the floor of the hot tub. In the worst case scenario the child's head is pulled beneath the water and before he can disentangle himself, he suffocates. The problem is mainly caused by the placement of these hot tub drain cover fittings. The correct placement of these fitting should be on the wall. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has worked with manufacturers to recall these suction drain cover fittings. Nevertheless, many hot tubs still maintain these older style drain cover fittings.If your child has long hair, an additional safety precaution is to have your child wear a bathing cap to reduce the risk of hair entanglement.

Dangers In Your Hot Tub
Author: Jerry Shearier
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In the last decade and a half over 750 deaths have taken place in hot tubs. Of these, a fair amount have been caused by drowning - adults and children.
Even though a hot tub or sauna can be enjoyable places to spend time, please be aware that they can be dangerous appliances. Here are a few things to be particularly aware of:Long Hair and Hot TubsIn the last decade and a half over 750 deaths have taken place in hot tubs. Of these, a fair amount have been caused by drowning - adults and children. Among children one of the main causes drownings is due to a child's hair being sucked into the hot tub's drain cover fittings. When a child with long hair puts his or her head under water, it is possible for their hair to get entangled with the suction drain cover fitting. In many hot tubs, the suction drain cover fitting is on the floor of the hot tub. In the worst case scenario the child's head is pulled beneath the water and before he can disentangle himself, he suffocates. The problem is mainly caused by the placement of these hot tub drain cover fittings. The correct placement of these fitting should be on the wall. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has worked with manufacturers to recall these suction drain cover fittings. Nevertheless, many hot tubs still maintain these older style drain cover fittings.If your child has long hair, an additional safety precaution is to have your child wear a bathing cap to reduce the risk of hair entanglement.
Alcohol and Hot Tubs
The combination of heat and alcohol can lead to catastrophes. Modern hot tubs can be heated to a maximum of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat expands the blood vessels and increases the body's temperature. Alcohol also expands the blood vessels and increases the body's temperature. The combination may be too much for your body to take, raising your temperature to so high that it results in a stroke or heart attack. An additional danger of alcohol, or course, is that excess drinking can cause drowsiness or even worse a blackout or unconsciousness in which state you can very easily drown For safety's sake, it's best not to drink while in a hot tub.
Prescription Medication and Hot Tubs
Many of the most popular medications cause drowsiness. Aspirin, barbiturates, certain anti-depressants, tranquilizers, many antihistamines, certain cold medications , allergy medications, and many others can be potentially dangerous if they're in your system when you use your hot tub.
Pregnancy and Hot Tubs
If you think you heard that women who are pregnant should not use hot tubs, you're right. This is especially true if the woman is in the first three months of pregnancy where the fetus is at its most vulnerable. If a woman immerses herself in t hot tub with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, she is potentially increasing the likelihood of a miscarriage.
Vascular Diseases and Hot Tubs
If you have hypertension or any blood vessel problems it may be unsafe for you to use a hot tub due to the effect that immersing the body in heated water has on the blood vessels. To be safe, talk to your physician if you have any type of vascular disease before you use a hot tub.Hot tubs are a great means of relaxation and many families get years of enjoyment from them. Just be sure to take commen sense safety precautions when using them.
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Monday, February 2, 2009

Cancer-self exam

One of the most prominent cases of cancer in women, which we hear today, is breast cancer. Cases of breast cancer have increased at an alarming rate and therefore, it is very important that we know the exact signs and symptoms of breast cancer. Women are the worst victims of this breast cancer, but men are also reported to suffer from this deadly disease.
Breast cancer can be cured in cases when women catch that they are having breast cancer in very early stages when the cancer is unable to reach the lymph nodes. In fact, 80% of all the women suffering from breast cancer are fully cured and they enjoy life as a normal person provided they are treated in the early stages of breast cancer.
Catch the Disease at an Early Stage
The best way to survive from cases of breast cancer is to catch it early on. For this, a woman should regularly perform breast self-exam of her breasts. This helps in finding and detecting breast cancer in the early stages ensuring that with proper treatment, it can be cured. A woman should perform self-exam of her breast regularly, so that she knows how her breasts normally feel. She can easily locate, if there is any sort of change in the anatomy of her breasts in future. This helps in improving the chances for her survival and eliminating the risks of breast cancer.
Consult Your Physician Immediately
As soon as you notices change in your breasts by performing self-exam, you should immediately contact your general physician or healthcare provider. Although most lumps or breast changes are found to be non-cancerous, such preventive measures can help you in determining the exact reason behind the abnormality of your breasts
Fix a Time for Self-Exam
Every woman should conduct regular self-exam of her breasts. It is recommended that she does it every month and particularly after a few days before her period ends. This is because during that particular time, a woman’s breast is found to be less swollen or tender. Doctors also say that a woman
Symptoms to Watch Out For
While performing a self-exam of your breasts, you should immediately contact your doctor if you notice any sort of abnormal lump. Again, you should consult them if any of your breasts shows some other symptoms like nipple retraction or skin irritation, skin dimpling & skin irritation, watery discharge from the nipple and redness on the breast skin or nipple.
Benefits of Regular Self-Exam
Regular self-exam ensures that a breast cancer is found early and there are more treatment choices for the affected person. Woman having breast cancer in the early stages have a better chance of recovery, as the cancer is unable to affect the lymph nodes.
I
t is very important that every woman perform regular self-exam of her breasts, so that the breast cancer can be detected and treated as early as possible.
To Your Health!

Relax and Calm

In today’s hustle bustle world, it seems like we are always running around and the stress of our lives seems to permeate every aspect of our life. Sometimes finding time for relaxation seems impossible. Often stress management seems like a concept that you just can’t get under your belt. You have to work, you have a family, the economy is in trouble, there’s not enough time in the day to get everything done that you need to do. When stress takes over your world it is tough to even see outside of your situation. It seems like you’ll never be able to get your stresses under control.
One factor that you need to master is your own personal discipline to manage your stress. Often, part of the reason that we can’t commit to stress reduction is because you don’t have the discipline to commit to eliminating your stress. To do that, you need to spend time determining where your stress is coming from. You’ll also need to spend some time determining how you are going to best be able to deal with your stress. You will also need to have the discipline to stick with the plan that you’ve put in place. Often that means changing your routine, or committing to new relaxation techniques and stress exercises. If you don’t stick to the plan that you’ve set out, you will not succeed in reducing your emotional stress level.
You must also be incredibly focused to eliminate your stress. However, that focus is something that will stick with you after you’ve eliminated your stress from your workplace or personal life. Often when you are dealing with a great deal of stress in your life you will have trouble staying focused on other tasks without letting your stress permeate your thoughts. However, by finding stress relaxation techniques that work for you, you will be able to regain your focus.
There are many different relaxation methods that you can take advantage of. Meditation is an exceptionally effective way to manage the stresses of daily life. You can explore guided meditation, yoga meditation, or deep meditation just to name a few. By practicing daily meditation, you will be sure to give yourself some time to relax and rejuvenate. By taking this time to relax away your daily stresses, you can be sure that your stressful distractions will fade away into the background.
Finding a balance in your life so that your stresses don’t overwhelm you is tough, but you can find your way to a more relaxed state. You have to decide that you are worth it so that you can find the confidence and discipline to set boundaries for yourself. You also need to decide to put your focus onto your mission of getting your stress level under control. Lastly, you need to commit to exploring some relaxation techniques that you might not have tried before. By giving these relaxation exercises a chance, you might find the key to your stress management. With a little effort, you can find your way to a relaxed, calm, and focused life.

Breast cancer effects in women's health

The Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer in women. It is found that breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in women. Though the cause of breast cancer is unknown, genetic and/or hormonal factors are considered as the primary causes for breast cancer. Age, Personal history of breast cancer, Family history, Certain breast changes, Gene changes, Reproductive and menstrual history, Breast density, Being overweight or obese after menopause, Lack of physical activity, Drinking alcohol are some risk factors for breast cancer. Other possible risk factors are under study. A lot of websites and health articles are there for women to learn about breast cancer symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.
Breast cancer is women's number one health worry. Early breast cancer usually does not cause pain. Other health problems may also cause the symptoms such as breast pain. Still, a woman must seek the advice of the general physician about her breast pain or any other symptom that does not go away, so that problems can be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.
When a woman is affected with breast cancer, it affects their physical and mental health disproportionately. Breast cancer, can affect a woman's self-image and self-confidence. When she comes to know that she is a victim of breast cancer, she undergoes emotional stress, besides the physical and mental discomforts. Some women undergoes emotional burden when disclosing their diagnosis to loved ones.
All the treatment for breast cancer including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and vaccine therapy, has their own side effects. But women with breast cancer experience more side effects from chemotherapy. According to reports, some breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy experience congestive heart failure after some months. But the rate of cardiac toxicity is lower with some recently found chemotherapy agents. Women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer may experience side effects such as infections, low blood counts, dehydration, nausea, fever, etc. Some may even require hospitalization or emergency department care.
The emotional aspects of this disease are unavoidable. One way to minimize the psychosocial aspect of women undergoing surgery for breast cancer is breast reconstruction. This also provides the benefits of good body image and self-confidence to those patients.
Women with breast cancer should learn how to cope with the disease and the effects of the treatment. Women affected with this breast cancer must be allowed to talk to other women who have beaten breast cancer. They must be introduced to the doctors and experts who have saved many such women. Positive thinking is very important for the long-term survival of cancer patients. Robin Hershkowitz, program director for women's cancers at CancerCare, a national nonprofit support-service group in New York, says "Hope is helpful, even if it doesn't add a second to your life, because it adds to the quality of your life." Recovery of breast cancer depends on the type of treatment, emotional status of the patient, and other related factors. Now-a-days, the medical advances in testing, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer has relieved many women. The regular breast screening, understanding the prevention options and treatment options are very important for every woman.
Knowledge of breast cancer risk factors makes women undergo mammography for screening, leading to detection of cancers in earlier stages and a resultant improvement in survival rates. The awareness about prevention and early diagnosis of breast cancer makes women more active in their health and in their health decisions. A healthy diet, regular exercise, and a good sleep are also essential for breast cancer patients.

Information about the cancer

Many mothers in the world died of breast cancer at the age of 54. Her cancer was diagnosed after undergoing a surgical breast biopsy when it was already in its late stage. Although she still underwent chemotherapy sessions, doctors gave her a small chance of survival.
Had her cancer been detected when it was still in its early stage, her chance to survive would have been high. She actually discovered a lump in her left breast three or four years before she passed away but she didn’t go to the doctor for a medical examination. She ignored it and hid it from me and my father. When she found out that the lump was growing, she discussed it with my father but she was still not convinced to see a doctor.
She somehow knew that if she went to a doctor, the doctor would recommend her to undergo a breast biopsy and she was afraid of it. In her mind it would be painful if her breast would be cut open to get samples for laboratory examination. She was only convinced to see a doctor when ulcerations appeared in the lump. It was already more than a year after she first found the lump.
Ignorance or misinformation about medical procedures leads to damaging, if not life threatening problems. Because of misinformation, fear gets in the way for certain diseases or disorders to be diagnosed early.
In our family’s case, misinformation about breast cancer and breast biopsy led to loss of a loved one. It may be too late to save my mother, but just recently I’ve started collecting information about breast cancer and the breast biopsy procedure. I would like to be able to share this information with as many women as possible in the hope that lives will be saved (not only for the patients’ sake but for their children as well).
Breast biopsy is a procedure where sample tissues from a breast where a lump or thickening is found are taken. It is done to determine if the lump or growth is benign or malignant.
Contrary to what my mother thought, this procedure is not only done through surgical means (where an incision is made on the skin to scrape off samples for testing). There are other procedures that are not surgical in nature. These non-surgical procedures can be done in a clinic and can be done fast. Confinement is usually not necessary. These non-invasive procedures do not cause scarring because stitches are not done on the skin.
Breast biopsy procedures are generally not painful. Pain is felt only when anesthesia is injected. Whatever pain is felt can be lessened or alleviated by non-prescription or over-the-counter pain relievers. Risk of complications such as bleeding and infection is small especially in non-surgical means.
Results are obtained within a few days after the procedure. When the result is negative of cancer, the doctor may just recommend the patient to go back regularly for check-ups. Other procedures may not be needed. When the result however shows that the lump is malignant or cancerous, further tests may be done - or for some, immediate treatment may be recommended.
Knowing information regarding a certain disorder or disease like breast cancer is very important. Being correctly informed can be one of our best defenses to survive such disorder or disease. So the next time you are faced with the possibility of being seriously sick, drop the drama and go to a doctor to ask about it or click on the internet and read.