Karen’s Free Health and Fitness Tips

Have you heard the term “wellness?” It has two contexts, one in alternative medicine and one in Western medicine.

In the alternative medicine world, wellness means taking care of yourself so you don’t get sick. Let’s find ways to avoid cancer, heart disease, mental illness. We can do this through changing our diet, exercising more, and changing our energy fields.

In Western medicine, we wait until we get one of these diseases, then we rush heroically to “beat the disease.” In Western medicine, the term wellness means “early detection” of disease. If you walk into a “Wellness Center” in a hospital, you’ll see mammogram screening rooms, MRI machines and other tools to scan for the existence of disease.

Is that wellness? To me, it’s not. Wellness is about staying well, it is about avoiding disease in the first place. When a person is told “You have cancer,” it is a major blow to their psyches, and their lives. Why go through that if you don’t have to? Why not do whatever you can to avoid that terrible day?

If you have ever wondered what it’s like to go through a total body detoxification process, there are actually simple steps in which anyone can take that will totally cleanse the organs of the body. These simple steps and processes will leave their body feeling clean and refreshed, just as if they had stepped out of a steaming hot shower. More importantly, though, there are simple detoxification steps that will help strengthen the body’s first line of defenses against invading pathogens and bacterial diseases. These are only some of the benefits from performing a natural cleanse on the body, though. A healthier immune system, heightening of the five senses, and a feeling like no other are some of the other benefits that go along with the detoxification of the body.

Here are some simple solutions to the paths that can lead to all of these natural and great feelings in the body:

Natural Detoxification Remedy #1: Water Infiltration

Centuries ago, women really did not have a say about whether they want to have a baby or not. Nowadays, however, women have the capacity to plan their lives, careers and family with the help of contraceptives, particularly birth control pills — which is considered as a contraceptive that is around 92% to 99.75% effective. Statistics show that this oral contraceptive is still the number one choice of women. However, birth control pills do not work to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, reproductive tract infections and AIDS/HIV.

Although The Pill can be considered as an effective way to control birth, a lot of women are still afraid to use it because of perceived side effects. Moreover, oral contraceptives are not for everyone. Women who are above 35 years old, smokers, and have liver diseases, heart problems, inexplicable vaginal bleeding, history of stroke or heart disease and cancer should not take pills. And of course, women who think that they are pregnant should absolutely not take contraceptive pills.

Side Effects Of Taking Birth Control Pills

As mentioned earlier, there are quite a number of women who are afraid to take oral contraceptives because of side effects. They feel that their protection against unwanted pregnancy does not outweigh possible adverse effects that may be brought about by using The Pill.

Going by the historic formation of Nigeria political system in past and present policy frameworks, the government has deliberately refused giving the needed attention to youth affairs until recently when a directorate of youth affairs and social mobilization in Edo State was created, as part of incumbent agenda to attend to the necessary evils related to Youth Violence in the state. Due to the political antecedent, the problem of drugs and alcohols usage has endangered the youth, thereby giving a statistical draw-back towards the needed atmosphere for sustainable policy implementation.

Understanding what drugs is fundamental to their potential abuses, and it is also a move to create a record how drugs can led to increase in high level of crime and violence in the Niger Delta religion, and all other religious and sectarian prone zones in Nigeria.

Psychologically speaking, psychoactive substance is something that people take to change the way they feel, think or behave. Furthermore, some of these substances are called drugs, and others, like alcohols and tobacco are considered dangerous but are not called drugs. The term drugs also cover a number of substances, which must be used under medical supervision to treat illnesses.

Who could dispute that animals can have a positive effect on emotional well-being? With research being conducted into the field of alternative medicine on an on-going basis, more and more people are beginning to realize the cathartic effects that animals are having on individuals well-being, especially so in those patients suffering with depression.

While some people recover from depression using medications alone, there are many others, who would prefer to use a combination of alternative therapies to try to alleviate the symptoms of depression. One of these treatments being studied is ‘Pet Therapy’, but what is this alternative and how could it help?

Many scientists have spent endless hours looking into the different types of therapy available for treating depression as an illness; ‘Pet Therapy’ has been concluded as one of these therapies. Animals have long been recognized as being a positive force in the healing process.

Dogs notably have a calming and therapeutic effect on people. They can help individuals to cope with the emotional issues related to their illness. They also offer physical contact with another living creature and help to divert a person’s attention from their pressing daily problems. Owning a dog brings about a sense of responsibility. Dogs rely on their owners for feeding, walking, attention and love. What better excuse for a depressed person to get out of bed in the morning?

Herbs hold an obvious appeal for many people because they support the body’s natural healing mechanisms to target the cause of the problem, as opposed to merely tackling the symptoms. It would be wrong to present herbal hair loss remedies as a miracle solution for all sufferers - there is however growing evidence to support the view that some herbal remedies offer real hope to many people.

Let’s examine the case for some of the more popular remedies to determine if they’re worth trying.

Ginkyo biloba - this popular herb is thought to improve blood circulation to the brain and skin. Herbalists believe that the increased flow of blood to the brain area delivers more nutrients to the hair follicle thus promoting hair regrowth. The recommended dose is 120-160mg of dry extract each day spread over three doses.

Green tea (Camellia sinesis) - it is thought that catechins found in green tea may inhibit the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase that converts testosterone into hair-unfriendly DHT. It is therefore believed to be effective in preventing and treating male pattern type baldness. You should drink several cups of green tea each day or take it in capsule form as instructed by the manufacturer.

Itchy scalp and hair loss can be very frustrating and worrying, and there can be a number of factors which cause or aggravate the hair loss. The hair loss caused by itchy scalp problems is not always permanent, and will often grow back once the main itchy scalp problem is sorted out.

In saying this though, it is vital that you take swift action to properly diagnose the problem and search for suitable remedies and treatments in order to avoid long term scarring from the itchy scalp irritation, and thus enable your hair to begin growing back.

Here I’d like to tell you about a few common reasons for itchy scalp hair loss and what you can do to alleviate the problem.

Folliculitis - strong ingredients in shampoos can damage hair follicles and lead to infections such as folliculitis.

Symptoms are normally small, white-headed pimples around one or more hair follicles. Deep folliculitis will often result in larger painful red boils.

If left untreated the folliculitis can significantly injure the hair follicle resulting in localised areas of scarring and bald patches where there are no visible follicles; this is known as “cicatricial alopecia”.

Asthma, a chronic respiratory condition produces symptoms such as cough, breathlessness and wheezing. But in a certain group of asthmatic patients cough is their predominant complaint. This is known as cough-variant asthma, which is a dry, nonproductive cough that is virtually omnipresent without regard to time of day, and worsens any time the patient experiences airway inflammation due to viral infection, inhalation of cold air, exercise.

Cough also tends to be worst through the night, disturbing sleep. Rather than treating the cough in isolation, such patients must seek physician care to establish a diagnosis and to receive appropriate treatment that addresses the totality of the symptomatology. Cough may be the first sign of asthma in children or a warning sign that asthma is worsening or not controlled properly. It is also a warning signal for the asthmatic person that an attack may be on its way. Hence it is good to take measures to prevent a full-blown attack immediately if an asthmatic develops a cough.