Karen’s Free Health and Fitness Tips

After a person has been in a car accident, they are understandably in shock. Car accidents happen quickly, oftentimes before either party had time to react. For those who have been injured in a car accident, most of the trauma often ends up being in the head and neck, although cars with airbags are supposed to protect on impact.

Once the initial shock is over, it is time to get the extent of the injuries checked out via a CT scan. In order to understand what getting a CT scan means, it is important to understand the basic idea behind x-ray technology. Obviously, a doctor cannot look at a person’s bones just on site. Rather, the doctor needs the patient to get an x-ray.

The same thing goes for a CT scan, which is a more advanced form of x-ray technology. While an x-ray can see the bones, a CT scan can see the bones and the tissue in a far more detailed manner. This can be of help to a car accident injury victims, because head traumas can result in brain damage or clots, which this kind of scan can detect.

Acne is a complicated problem to suffer with and the solution can often be difficult to find. Each day more people are resorting to natural acne treatments to help them to get rid of their acne. Many of these treatments can even be made right from your home using all natural ingredients.

This is great because the side effects tend to be less when you use natural ingredients versus products that have harsh chemicals added to them or prescription drugs. Here are a few acne home treatments you can use to help you to reduce or even eliminate your acne.

Carrot Juice:

Making fresh carrot juice could be very effective in reducing your acne. It is rich in skin enhancing nutrients. Make sure that the carrot you consume is freshly made. There are now many fresh fruit juice stores you can go to that will use commercial juicers and make the juices for you fresh right then and there.

Perhaps the best option is to invest in a good quality juicer of your own and make the juices yourself. It is often best to use organic carrots as regular carrots contain many artificial chemicals and pesticides that could make your acne worse.

When you think of hair loss it’s natural to assume that it’s a condition that predominantly affects men. Some experts however suggest that as many as one in four women will experience hair loss at some time in their lives. So why don’t we see and hear more about it? Perhaps the answer has something to do with one or more of the following:

- Women are better at disguising hair loss.

- Women’s hair loss is generally less extensive in terms of severity.

- Women’s hair loss tends to be spread evenly over the head rather than concentrated in one or two spots.

So why do women lose hair - are the causes very different to those that result in male baldness? There are probably three common reasons for hair loss in women:

1. Female pattern baldness - believe it or not, most women affected by hair loss lose it for the same reasons as men. They suffer from androgenetic alopecia which is a reaction to male hormones in the body, specifically the conversion of testosterone into the hair-unfriendly DHT. In the case of women, pattern baldness may start later and the effects may be less extreme due to the influence of female hormones, but the condition is nonetheless the same as that found in male pattern baldness.

Arthritis is, sadly, a very common and very painful condition. It can make working and even basic living extremely difficult. In order for treatment to prove effective in combating the symptoms and to allow the sufferer to live as normal a life as possible, it is essential to correctly diagnose which type of arthritis the patient has. The two most common types of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, are very different in character and require completely different methods of diagnosis, as well as very different methods of treatment.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition that affects as many as one in every hundred people. It is caused by a malfunction in the body’s defence systems and nobody has yet been able to discover why this happens. The genes that are responsible for the problem, have been identified - but the exact means by which the trouble occurs remains unknown. The disease is not hereditary, no increased risk has been found if you have a sufferer in your immediate family. In rheumatoid arthritis extra blood flow causes joints to become swollen and painful and in extreme cases can even permanently damage the joint. It is essential to seek medical help to reduce inflammation, as the damage to joints is permanent and irreversible.

There are more commercials then ever for Depression. I am sure you can remember this line on TV, “Who does Depression hurt? Everyone.” Sadly, the commercial makes a good point, that Depression does hurt everyone. If you or someone you care about is dealing with Depression, then this article is for you.

Realizing that anyone can get Depression, makes this an important topic for anyone to learn more about. According to Depression.com, Whatever its cause, depression is not just a state of mind. It is related to physical changes in the brain, and connected to an imbalance of a type of chemical that carries signals in your brain and nerves. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters.

Other causes may be your family history (Genetics), stress and trauma, negative outlook, serious medical condition, anxiety and other psychological disorders. When something bad happens, most people bounce right back, but there are others who sink into a world of darkness. No energy and just sleeping all the time.

Clinical depression is currently the leading cause of disability in North America as well as other countries, and is expected to become the second leading cause of disability worldwide (after heart disease) by the year 2020, according to the World Health Organization. The odds are not looking too good!

Diabetics know that in order to control this disease, it requires consistent efforts. Eating healthy, exercising regularly and monitoring blood sugar levels are all important aspects in order to prevent serious complications or even death. Diabetes is a chronic and progressive disease. Complications can have a devastating impact on someone’s health as the disease progresses, often resulting in blindness, amputation and lengthy dialysis treatments.

Diabetes is caused primarily by dysfunction of the pancreas and is characterized by impaired carbohydrate metabolism due to inadequate insulin action or secretion. It has become an epidemic in North America. It is increasing in alarming rates much faster than expected. The World Health Organization predicted an increase of only 39% from 2000 to 2030. However, recent results show that nearly one in 10 people have the disease today. As people become more obese through diets high in fat and calories and indulging in a more sedentary lifestyle in front of the TV or computer screen, diabetes will continue to become a major health concern.

Many people mistakenly assume that all their dental needs are covered by their health insurance plans. While many health insurance plans – most notably HMOs – may offer some dental coverage, most of your dental needs won’t be covered by the typical health insurance plan. In fact, you may even find that a dental insurance plan only goes so far in covering your true dental costs. Supplemental dental insurance can help cover your out of pocket expenses, or lower your dental costs with participation in various dental plans.

Supplemental dental insurance is not meant to be your primary dental insurance. Rather, it’s meant to help cover the costs associated with your dental needs which may not be covered by your primary health or dental coverage. There are several varieties of dental insurance supplement plans, but they fall under a few broad categories.

Dental Discount Plans

A dental discount plan is designed to lower dental costs by leveraging the large number of their members to negotiate lower prices for their members. Discount dental plans aren’t actually dental insurance, but they do lower your dental costs by passing the savings on to you. You save money by getting your dental care and serviced provided by their member dentists. When you pay, you present your dental discount plan member card, and are billed at the discounted price for members. A discount dental plan can cost as little as $5 per month per person covered.