Tips For Healthy Life

Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

Wrist pain is a common problem that is found in many people today. Our wrist has a complex structure that consists of eight small bones which are connected to one another with the help of ligaments. Moreover, there are tendons that connect these bones with the wrist muscles. There are several factors that give rise to wrist joint pain. Injuries like sprain, fractures or diseases like arthritis, ganglion cysts are the common causes of wrist pain. Nerve problems like carpal tunnel syndrome or too much of stress on the wrist are the other long term issues that give rise to wrist pain. Wrist pain diagnosis is essential for rectifying any of these problems. You can also refer to ganglion cysts in wrist.

Wrist Pain Symptoms

In wrist sprain, the pain is accompanied by swelling, and both these symptoms get aggravated with the use of the wrist. The symptoms of wrist bone fracture are swelling, difficulty in wrist movements, and paleness of the skin on the wrist area. If any bone is fully broken, then deformity of the wrist can be observed. When the pain is associated with arthritis, it gives a constant dull pain. In case of tendonitis, the pain is sharp, and inflammation of the tendons make the wrist look swollen. The characteristics of carpal tunnel syndrome are wrist arm pain along with a numbness that may get extended up to the fingers.

Wrist Pain Diagnosis

Wrist injury diagnosis is possible by physical examination of the wrist and studying the medical history of the patient. Like the pain due to a fracture will start immediately after the injury and is a severe one. While the pain because of strain is going to make you uncomfortable, but is not that severe in nature. However, for exact diagnosis of the pain, certain diagnosis test has to be conducted. They are as follows:

X-rays: This is the first diagnosis test for wrist injury. It is important for wrist fracture diagnosis. The image obtained with the help of X-ray radiations help to identify the location of the bone fracture and its severity. It can also disclose the condition of osteoarthritis.

Computerized tomography (CT) Scan: In this method, X-rays of the wrist are taken from various angles and are combined to form a clear two dimensional image. Thus, the image of a CT scan provides a more detailed information on the wrist bone injury.

Bone Scan: This is a process where a little radioactive material is injected in the blood in order to highlight the fractured parts of the bone, that look brighter in the images obtained from the scanning of the bones. This process is more commonly used to detect the fractures that result from stress due to repeated use of the wrist.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): This method is used for the purpose of wrist sprain diagnosis. Here, a detailed image of the ligaments and the bones can be obtained with the help of radio waves and magnetic field. The device used to conduct wrist MRI is much smaller in size as compared to the machine which is used to conduct MRI for the whole body.

Arthroscopy: When the imaging tests do not give enough evidence that can suggest the cause behind the wrist pain, then arthoscopy is conducted to get a better idea. The procedure involves insertion of a small pencil sized instrument inside the wrist through a small surgical incision. The device is fitted with light and camera and the images taken by it can be viewed on a monitor.

Nerve Tests: This is known as electromyogram (EMG), and is done for carpal tunnel diagnosis. It consists of a electrode which is as thin as a needle, and is placed into the muscles through an insertion in order to record the electrical impulses of the wrist muscles.

Wrist Pain Treatment

The treatment for the problem of wrist pain involves pain relieving drugs which are given to bring down the pain. When the pain is accompanied by heavy swelling, then corticosteroids is injected to lower the swelling. To cure a fractured bone condition, a cast need to be used to keep the fractured bones in a stable state. For the protection of a wrist sprain during the healing process, splints are mostly used. If the wrist bones are badly fractured, then surgery is required. Even in case the carpal tunnel syndrome turns severe, then also surgery may be required to relieve some amount of pressure from the median nerves of the wrist.

Wrist pain diagnosis should never be delayed, because it can lead to permanent disabilities. Once the reason behind the pain has been detected, make sure you follow the instructions given by your doctor for complete cure of the pain. Or else, the pain will recur and start bothering you all over again in the future.

As you grow older, housing may pose more and more of a concern, especially if your health is failing. If you are worried that you may not be able to take care of your basic needs as you age, such as cleaning, cooking, bathing and maintenance, then looking at your long term health care options is an important choice. Let’s start right away with your options.

In-Home Care

In-home health care is the best option for people who have a higher level of fitness, and want to remain as independent as possible throughout their later years. In this situation, home health care nurses may come and visit you daily, or every couple of days, to take care of your everyday medical needs. Also, a housekeeper may be utilized, as well as a personal health care attendant, who would be responsible for more of the day-to-day living help – such as a companion, driver, cook or the like. In-home health care is quite easy to locate; just contact a nurses’ association or look in the Yellow Pages.

Continuing Care

An intermediary between nursing homes and independent living, continuing care, or retirement communities, offer a wide variety of health benefits and services to their inhabitants. These communities are usually all-inclusive, where dwellers receive lodging, meals, social events, varying levels of health care, and sometimes other perks as well.

Entrance fees for these establishments can be quite high (ranging from $10,000 to over 300,000); added to their monthly fees (ranging from $800-4000), and this option can prove to be expensive health care. However, services are guaranteed for the remainder of your life if you choose this option, and if your health falters, you can always be moved to the nursing home portion of their health care facility.

Because of the all-inclusive nature of this kind of health care, you’ll want to read the fine print carefully in your contract. What are all of the recurring and one-time fees? What exactly is covered with those fees? What health care options are, and are not offered? Do you need to purchase extra health insurance to cover your specific care costs? Also don’t forget to check up with the Better Business Bureau about the status of the facility you are interested in; if you plan on living there the rest of your life, you may want to double check it’s reputation, too.

Nursing Homes

In a very simple sense, nursing homes will take care of your health care needs when you are no longer able to. This may be for a short period of time while you are recovering, or for a longer period of time as you age. Nursing homes are the whole meal deal of health care for the elderly or otherwise incapacitated. If this is an option that you think you may require, there are many things to discuss and consider when looking at your options. Does the home provide the type of care that you will require? Research the history of the nursing home; are there any black spots on their record? Talk to people who have lived there, have used their services, or who are still living there now, if at all possible. Get their viewpoint.
By Peter Lenkefi

I am sure you have memories of your mother telling you to do things because they’re good for you. If you want to stay healthier and live longer, you need to balance everything in your life. Apart from living longer, a changed perspective and healthier lifestyle can really help you look better. What does ‘living a healthy lifestyle’ means? If you are enjoying maximum possible physical, mental and spiritual health, then it means that you are following a healthy lifestyle. Here are some daily healthy living tips which will help you lead a happy and healthy life.

Tips for Living a Healthy Lifestyle

• Follow a Healthy Balanced Diet: You can buy a new car, a luxurious house or designer clothes; but what about your body? Eating natural healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, etc. is essential to lead an active life. Healthy habits like avoiding tobacco, alcohol, fast food, junk food, foods high in sugar, cholesterol, fat, etc. are essential for healthy living.
• Enjoy Social Life: Comfort is more important than fashion. Those who keep their life simple, lead their life happily. Throwing parties, maintaining hobbies, socializing, etc. should be done in moderation. You should try to develop interest in people around you and try to communicate with them. While helping others, never expect anything in return.
• Never Postpone Doctor’s Appointment: Regular medical check-ups and prompt medications for health problems help avoid worsening of the situation. You can always opt for second or even third opinion. These days, loads of information is available on the net. Your body always exhibits some symptoms whenever something goes wrong. Neglecting or overlooking the symptoms is not a sign of a responsible person. Similarly you should not panic or lose hope even during the toughest times in life.
• Exercise Regularly: Regular exercise is a must for kids, youngsters and the elderly. You need to train your muscles through regular exercises. Choose any type of exercise that you like. These days, parents don’t have much time to look after their children and children spend most of their time sitting in front of that idiot box, munching chips. "Engage yourself in sports activities like football, cycling, swimming, etc." is one of the important healthy living tips for kids.
• Drink Plenty of Water: Experts say that drinking at least 7-8 glasses of water per day is necessary to maintain your health. Water helps remove toxins and waste material from your body, improves your digestive health and in turn the overall health too. Water also plays the role of natural appetite suppressor and thus promotes weight loss. Being in the range of normal weight for your age and height is always beneficial. Here, we have the answer to your question "what should I weigh for my age and height". Sufficient intake of water also improves your skin texture and your looks.
• Manage Your Finances Skillfully: You should use your finances thoughtfully. Paying your bills regularly and on time helps you lead a stress free life. Never think of taking a loan if you’re not sure about repayments. There is no need to show how much money you have, by spending on things you don’t need. Learning how to save money helps you lead a well-planned, problem-free life. You can use your money for charity and enjoy immense satisfaction. You need to read newspapers, magazines to know what is going on around you. There are millions of needy people in this world.
• Love All: Your lifestyle determines your life expectancy. Someone has correctly said, "Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live". For living a life to its fullest, you need to exchange smiles with others, you need to laugh out loudly. Laughter influences hormonal flow in the body. Smile or laughter has its origin in love. You should love yourself and also love others from the bottom of your heart. And sometimes you should laugh at yourself too! There is no need to take yourself too seriously.
• Maintain Healthy Relationships: Maintaining healthy relationships helps you lead a stress free life. Effects of stress on health, fitness and behavior due to disturbed relationships is a major cause of concern worldwide. "Realize the boundaries, give enough ‘space’ to others, think positive, put your ego aside for sometime" are some of the important healthy living tips for seniors as well as youngsters. Positive attitude and optimistic thinking are the driving forces of a healthy lifestyle. Tips for healthy living also include "forgetting the bad and replacing it with right healthy input". Bad news and negative people can affect your healthy living lifestyle.
• Learn Relaxation Techniques: Your body and mind always need sufficient rest. Getting enough sleep is important for health. If you always do what you love, you won’t feel tired or stressed. For some, work can be relaxation while for some, reading, gardening, playing a musical instrument, watching movies, trekking, can be the favorite ways of relaxation. Avoid taking on more responsibilities than you can realistically handle. Tips for healthy living like "Learn some breathing techniques like pranayam, meditation techniques, practice yoga" are not meant for seniors alone, these are meant for kids too.
• Control Your Mind: Controlling your mind is a challenging job. Your thoughts significantly affect your physical and mental health. You should train your mind in such a way that it would not allow negative or self-derogatory thoughts and emotions to linger. I know, it requires practice, but it is possible. Those who see the glass half-filled, never blame others for their failures. Never indulge in malicious gossip. Just do what you’re doing, carefully and well. Success will always follow you, if you are honest, ethical, polite, and sincere. "Do not flatter anyone unless you mean it, never lie, manage your time perfectly, concentrate on important tasks, cut down on the inconsequential, neglect unworthy, trivial things, avoid smoking, excessive use of caffeine, alcohol, drugs." are some of the easiest healthy lifestyle tips.

I hope you find these healthy living tips useful. If you realize your strong points and if you can improve on your weaknesses, then nothing can demoralize you. Always try to stay in the company of good friends and think positive. I always remember the world famous serenity prayer, when it comes to healthy living, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." By Leena Palande

Heart disease is one of the leading killers of Americans today. The fact that most of us live very hectic lifestyles with many demands on our time and attention sometimes results in us loosing site of the things that we can do in our lives to help assure that we are taking the best care of our hearts as we can. We are going to examine some healthy living tips that may appear to be common sense but can easily be overlooked.

EAT A HEALTHY AND NUTRITIOUS DIET

Eat 4 to 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables each day. These foods are not only low in calories but they also contain vitamins, minerals and fiber that are essential to a healthy heart. If you feel that your diet leaves you lacking in some essential nutrients consider supplementation as an alternative.

In order to control high blood pressure and cholesterol eat whole grains. These are low in fat and high in fiber and vitamins that will help you do this. The risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity has been shown to be reduced by eating as little as three servings per day. Start your morning off by eating oatmeal (not instant) with whole grain toast. In the afternoon instead of snacking on a bag of chips substitute granola or even air popped popcorn.

Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water each day. This will do two important things to help your heart health. First it helps you keep your weight down. The body will sometimes confuse dehydration with hunger and you will tend to eat more than you should. It is also good for your skin. The second way it helps is that doing this will help prevent your blood from thickening. As your blood gets thicker it puts a strain on your heart because it has to work harder to pump blood to areas of the body where it is needed. By drinking an adequate supply of water your heart has to work less.

EXERCISE REGULARLY

Exercise is a very important component of heart health. Aerobic exercise such as walking, bike riding, dancing or running is the best. Remember that when you are considering an exercise program take a moment and think about what you truly enjoy doing. If you enjoy something it is much easier to stick with it over the long run. Regular exercise will help control blood pressure and cholesterol numbers and make your heart and lungs stronger. Along with reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke exercise will also increase stamina and mood.

GET ENOUGH REST

Many sacrifice sleep in order to make more time in their busy day. By doing this it limits the body’s ability to control blood sugar. People who have diabetes are well aware of this. What this can do is lead to inflammation in the veins and arteries. This can cause scars to form in the arteries and increase the possibility of plaque buildup. This buildup can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Your goal should be to get eight hours of sleep each night in order to protect your heart as well as keep blood sugar levels under control.

QUIT SMOKING

If you are a smoker it is important that you speak to your doctor and find a way to quit. Nicotine increases the amount of blood that is needed by the heart thus reducing the amount that can flow through the veins to other parts of the body where it is needed. Carbon monoxide will also knock oxygen molecules off red blood cells thus limiting the amount of oxygen which the heart receives. It is important to realize that nothing about smoking is good for heart health.
By: John R Bradstreet

Eat your vegetables! is what mom used to tell us all the time, but for some reason, as kids all of us despised them. Fruits, yes, were tolerable, but vegetables always seemed like the enemy. What we didn’t know is that they can do so much for our bodies, that if we would have eaten those vegetables then, we wouldn’t have half the health troubles we have now (and this includes something as minor as dry skin or oily hair). So what is that fruits and vegetables do for us, that everyone touts them as the best preventive measure as well as remedy for so many problems? Let’s find out.

What do Fruits and Vegetables do for you?

When you consume a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, you are taking in a lot of nutrients that help your body maintain its immunity to several diseases, and lead a long healthy life. Here’s a list of the benefits you obtain from consuming these wonder foods.

➾ Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber, which contributes to several health benefits. These include:

• Prevention of constipation
• Weight loss and maintenance
• Prevention of cholesterol and heart problems
• Prevention of diabetes

➾ These popularly termed superfoods are also rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants available from vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin C, that are known to destroy disease-causing free radicals. As such, by consuming these you can:

• Prevent the development of the various types of cancer
• Improve blood circulation
• Prevent mild to severe infections
• Prevent the development of cardiovascular diseases

➾ Other benefits of fruits and vegetables include:

• Detoxification of the body
• Improved metabolism and energy levels
• Great skin and hair quality
• Improved clarity of thought and alertness
• Improved vision (particularly from consumption of carrots)
• Healthy teeth and gums
• Healthy pregnancy and childbirth

All in all, you are in for a very safe and healthy lifestyle if you make these wonder foods a part of your daily diet. Of course, you must take care as to not counter the effects of these foods by consuming foods very high in calories and no nutrition whatsoever. Also ensure you perform regular exercise for best results.

What Fruits and Vegetables should you Consume?

Try to consume as many colorful fruits and vegetables. Almost all vegetables and fruits are safe for consumption, with a few exceptions which can be unhealthy when consumed in excess. These include potatoes, mangoes, and grapes. The more color you have in your plate, the healthier your meal will be. Mix red cabbage, lettuce, peas, beans, carrots, olives, broccoli, and peppers with beans to make a salad. Also enjoy meals that consist of spinach, cabbage, green beans, kale, squash, and the like for maximum benefits. In fruits, enjoy apples, bananas, peaches, a handful of berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries), a handful of grapes, oranges, pears, grapefruits, papayas, and watermelons. Fruits and vegetables that can be consumed with the skin should be consumed like that so that you can get maximum nutrition from them. Some important tips to keep in mind when consuming fruits and vegetables are as follows.

• Always consume fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid canned varieties.
• Cook them lightly if you must. Else, enjoy vegetables roasted, grilled, or steamed. If you wish to boil them, do so in as little water as possible, and try to use that water for other preparations to retain the lost nutrients.
• Try and cut vegetables and fruits just when you are going to eat them, as cutting them and storing can lead to loss of certain nutrients.
• You can also enjoy fresh fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies, though the best benefit is attained by enjoying them in their raw forms.
• You may also consume unsweetened dried fruits as these are as nutritious as the fresh varieties.

How Much Fruits and Vegetables should you Consume?

Experts suggest that you should be consuming 5 portions of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. In fact, people adhere to strict fruit and vegetable diets to avail all the benefits they have to offer. One portion of fruit could be one apple or banana. One portion of vegetables could include a side salad with your lunch. This fruit could be added to your breakfast cereal. The vegetables could make a meal on their own or in conjunction with other foods.

As you can see, the power of fruits and vegetables is only for you to try and experience to believe in it. Speak to any nutritionist or doctor, and they will swear by the benefits these foods offer to the body. Enjoy them five times a day in small portions and you will find yourself feeling fitter, healthier, and refreshed. By:-  Puja Lalwani