What is a Stroke?

What is a Stroke

A stroke is a potentially deadly occurrence that happens when an artery leading to the brain becomes clogged or breaks.

It commonly leaves the victim with either minor or major disabilities because brain cells die and cannot be repaired. The most common type of stroke is called an Ischemic stroke, which means it is caused by a clog in the artery.

Depending on where this occurs in the brain, many different types of damage is potential. There are ways to prevent Ischemic stroke and it is important that you do everything that is necessary so that you do not suffer from life altering disadvantages.

The right and left side of the brain control different parts of you. The two sides control the opposite side of the body so if paralysis occurs it will likely only be to one half of your body.

If you have a stroke that affects the right part of your brain you will be at risk of losing vision. On the other hand, strokes affecting the left side may cause speech problems as a result.

Any brain cells that die will cause memory loss and paralysis that may take over parts or the entire side of your body.

cholestasys helps to reduce high cholesterol levels High cholesterol is a leading cause of stroke because bad cholesterol clogs arteries.

It is also related directly to developing heart disease, which makes you susceptible to heart related problems, which include stroke and heart attack.

Your doctor can test your cholesterol levels at any time in your life, and it is necessary to have this done before it is too late. Being overweight, smoking, poor diet, lack of physical activity, and genetics can all be causes of elevated levels that may cause you harm or a stroke.

Exercise and restrictive diet are the first suggestions that the doctor may give to bring your cholesterol level down to a manageable level.

It may also be necessary to restrict your diet to get rid of sugars and saturated fats because they can cause elevated levels of bad cholesterol.

There are also medications that the doctor may put you on if other methods of cholesterol control are ineffective.

Your best friend when it comes to health is a doctor. Annual physicals and check ups can keep any risk factors in check, which include anything that puts you at risk for stroke.

cholestasys helps to reduce high cholesterol levels High cholesterol is known to be a risk and should be kept under control to prevent heart disease and stroke from happening.

www.ALifeAfterAStroke.com

Tame that mane for glossy locks this summer

Tame that mane for glossy locks this summer
Thoughts of summer may conjure up glorious dreams of natural honey highlights and beautiful surfer chick waves. But in reality, high humidity can cause frizz, and the heat of the summer sun can do irreparable damage to your crowning glory.


To ensure that your hair stays manageable, glossy and healthy this summer, just follow our top tips:

• Give your hair a break. Sunshine can dry out your hair, so try washing it a little less often to avoid stripping out its natural oils. If you can, opt for an easier style that can dry naturally and give your hair a breather from hairdryers, hot curlers and straightening irons.

• Try a hair mask to give parched summer locks a moisture injection. Smooth it over your hair after shampooing and leave for 5-10 minutes for super-silky results. You can get them in most supermarkets, or why not make your own? Mix together 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of honey. Massage it into your hair, wrap it in a towel or shower cap and leave for 15 minutes before shampooing.

• Use a sunscreen on your hair to prevent hair damage and colour fade. Many people don't realise that hair can get sunburned just like the scalp. The only way to deal with severely burnt hair is by trimming away damaged sections. Not ideal for your summer hairstyle! You can buy special sunscreen for your hair, but if you don’t have any to hand, just run your skin sunscreen through your locks and secure with a soft grip, or if it's long, pull it back into a ponytail or chic chignon. Shampoo well afterwards to avoid build-up.

• Quit smoking to rejuvenate your locks*. Cigarette smoke can make your hair look dull, so going smokefree could help give you back a natural, healthy shine. And without smoke, your hair will smell fresher too.

• Wet your hair with tap water before you swim in the sea or in chlorinated water. If your hair is wet before you go in to swim, the less salt water and chlorine it will absorb. Even better, why not wear a retro bathing cap - think how good Keira Knightley looked in 1930s style bathing gear in 'Atonement'.

* If you would like to find out more about going smokefree and the free support that is available, visit the NHS Smokefree website or call one of the freephone helplines:

NHS Smoking Helpline: 0800 169 0 169
NHS Pregnancy Smoking Helpline: 0800 169 9 169

"In time of swine flu, add sanitizer, tissues to school supply lists"

By Elizabeth Landau
CNN
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(CNN) -- Even 6-year-olds at Hamilton Central School in central New York came to school prepared for swine flu. Jessica Poyer, a first-grade teacher, noticed in the spring that kids had begun bringing their own hand sanitizer, tissues and water bottles.
Guidelines on when schools should dismiss the student body because of H1N1 were released Friday.

Guidelines on when schools should dismiss the student body because of H1N1 were released Friday.

Poyer, also the mother of two young children, thinks about swine flu, also known as influenza A H1N1, every day, both at school and at home. She knows that some schools nationwide have had to close because the disease was widespread, and she has mixed feelings about the school closures.

"I hate to close schools, because it interrupts learning, but we leave it up to health professionals," said Poyer, who lives in Deansboro, New York.

Federal health officials, releasing guidelines Friday, suggested that closure of schools this fall be rare. "There are measures we can take to protect the students, protect the staff, and to allow learning to continue," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A key change in the new guidance is that people with H1N1 should stay out of school for 24 hours after their fever is gone, regardless of whether they are taking medication such as Tamiflu. Before, the recommendation was seven days, Frieden said. Video Watch a report on the new recommendations »

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/07/swine.flu.h1n1.schools/index.html

A Life After a Stroke - Facts about a stroke

Facts about a stroke It is true that about every 45 seconds someone in America has a stroke. There is usually someone dying from one every three minutes. There are so many people that are killed each year from this devastating disease. It is the third leading cause of death in the nation at this time and it is the leasing cause of serious long-term disability problems in the United States as well.

A stroke is a type of cardiovascular disease and it will affect the arteries and lead to the brain. A stroke will happen when the blood vessels that take the oxygen and nutrients to the brain are either blocked with a clot or they erupt. When this does happen, part of the brain cannot get the blood it needs for oxygen that it needs to survive.

When part of the brain dies from lack of blood flow the part of the body that it controls is going to be affected. A stroke can cause paralysis and affect language and vision and cause other problems as well. There are treatments that are available to lessen the potentially devastating effects that a stroke may have on them.

There are many risk factors for someone having a stroke.
A person can have a stroke if they are not using a good diet or have bad eating habits. Not getting the right amount of exercise can also lead someone to having a stroke. It is important to eat right and use some form of exercise daily to keep your body motivated and able to continuing running the way that it should with no risk for a stroke.

Smoking is another cause for many to have a stroke. A stroke can happen to anyone for any reason at any moment in the day. There are about 600,000 people that have strokes every year. For many of these years, there was no hope for anyone suffering from a stroke. In the recent years and different breakthroughs, they have found new treatments to help people get through these difficult times and move on to better things ahead of them.

There are many warning signs of a stroke about to come on. You have to make sure that you are aware of them so that you are not putting yourself at risk for more problems later on down the road.

If you think that you may be having symptoms of a stroke, you need to call 911 right away. The warning signs may last a few moments and then disappear but they may signal a serious condition that you have to pay attention to.

You will notice that you are feeling different and that you may have numbness of the face, leg, or arm on one side of the body. You may also notice problems in your vision or a severe headache that comes on all at once.

A Life After a Stroke - Facts about a stroke

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Drinking beetroot juice boosts your stamina

Drinking beetroot juice boosts your stamina and could help you exercise for up to 16% longer.

A University of Exeter led-study shows for the first time how the nitrate contained in beetroot juice leads to a reduction in oxygen uptake, making exercise less tiring.

The study reveals that drinking beetroot juice reduces oxygen uptake to an extent that cannot be achieved by any other known means, including training.

The research team believes that the findings could be of great interest to endurance athletes. They could also be relevant to elderly people or those with cardiovascular, respiratory or metabolic diseases.

The research team conducted their study with eight men aged between 19 and 38. They were given 500ml per day of organic beetroot juice for six consecutive days before completing a series of tests, involving cycling on an exercise bike. On another occasion, they were given a placebo of blackcurrant cordial for six consecutive days before completing the same cycling tests.

After drinking beetroot juice the group was able to cycle for an average of 11.25 minutes, which is 92 seconds longer than when they were given the placebo. This would translate into an approximate 2% reduction in the time taken to cover a set distance. The group that had consumed the beetroot juice also had lower resting blood pressure.

The researchers are not yet sure of the exact mechanism that causes the nitrate in the beetroot juice to boost stamina. However, they suspect it could be a result of the nitrate turning into nitric oxide in the body, reducing the oxygen cost of exercise.

The research was carried out by the University of Exeter and Peninsula Medical School and published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. The research team now hopes to conduct further studies to try to understand in more detail the effects of nitrate-rich foods on exercise physiology.

Corresponding author of the study, Professor Andy Jones of the University of Exeter’s School of Sport and Health Sciences, said: “Our study is the first to show that nitrate-rich food can increase exercise endurance. We were amazed by the effects of beetroot juice on oxygen uptake because these effects cannot be achieved by any other known means, including training. I am sure professional and amateur athletes will be interested in the results of this research. I am also keen to explore the relevance of the findings to those people who suffer from poor fitness and may be able to use dietary supplements to help them go about their daily lives.”

This study follows research by Barts and the London School of Medicine and the Peninsula Medical School (published in February 2008 in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension), which found that beetroot juice reduces blood pressure.

Linguine With Shrimp, Tomatoes, Olives, and Capers - Recipes - Health.com

Linguine With Shrimp, Tomatoes, Olives, and Capers - Recipes - Health.com

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Study: Tamiflu causes nausea and nightmares in children - CNN.com

Study: Tamiflu causes nausea and nightmares in children - CNN.com

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Novartis starts testing swine flu vaccine (AP)

AP - Swiss drugmaker Novartis has begun injecting its swine flu vaccine into people in the company's first human tests, a spokesman said Wednesday. The vaccine is being tested in a yearlong trial of 6,000 people of all ages in Britain, Germany and the United States, Novartis spokesman Eric Althoff told The Associated Press, adding that the vaccine will likely be on the market before the trial finishes.

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Flu Vaccine: Who Needs it?

Flu Vaccine: Who Needs it?

Many people think that flu is nothing more than a cold gone real bad. That is not the truth because unlike common cold, flu is a very serious illness.

In fact, there are some groups of people for whom flu can prove to be fatal. Physicians have confirmed that in recent times the number of flu cases being detected in clinics has gone up. In the face of this it has become clear that flu vaccination is a good thing and should be administered as early as possible.

For example, people over the age of 30 are able to move around and do not suffer much if they are administered the flu vaccine. This is in sharp contrast to younger people (over 30) who do not receive a vaccination and suffer from body pains, high fever, and are often bed ridden for more than a week. The worst part of flu is that you are unable to eat properly thus compounding your weakness.

Without flu vaccination, the patients are likely to feel very bad not only physically but emotional and mentally as well. This condition can last for up to two weeks leaving behind a much-weakened individual. It should be noted that during follow-up these patients were quick to ask as to when they could get their flu shot because no one would want to go through that nightmare experience again.

Seasonal flu can be a very devastating time for someone in good condition. For the elderly or the infirmed, flu can even cause death. There are several categories of people that need to be vaccinated against flu.

These include people in the health care industry, anyone over 50 years of age, children between 6 months and 5 years, pregnant women, and anyone who is residing long-term in a nursing home or other healthcare facility.

Children between 6 months and 18 years of age that are on aspirin therapy also need flu vaccine. Anyone suffering from a chronic condition such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and so on should also be vaccinated. Anyone suffering from immune system disorders or respiratory disorders also needs flu vaccine. The same applies to anyone living with any of the above category of individuals.

Note that the flu vaccine is not a guarantee that you will never catch flu. What the vaccine will do is to lower the problems that arise once you catch it. Flu patients tend to be bedridden and can lose on work time for weeks.

The vaccine can cut down this time to a couple of days. If you are afraid of needles then you can get the nasal spray form of the flu vaccine. A flu vaccine can lower the chances of getting flu by as much as 92%.

Do not use a flu vaccine on yourself if you have had a bad reaction to the same shot or spray earlier, if you have an allergy to eggs, or if you have had Guillain-Barre syndrome in the 6 weeks since your last flu shot.

Paul Cass

www.HealthAndBeautyInformation.com
www.ALifeAfterAStroke.com

What should you do if you think you are having a stroke?

A stroke is a very serious injury to the brain. It is almost life threatening in most cases. There are so many different ways to react to this devastating disease but you have to stay calm and think about what you need to do to keep your body safe from having more problems later on down the road.

A stroke is something that is going to injure the brain. You may not realize that you having a stroke when it happens. However it is something that you will know about later on when it is done. The people that are around you at the time of your stroke may not know that you having it either. You may not be able to call 911 on your own and you might have to rely on someone else to help you with this. Your family and friends think that you are just confused or something else is wrong.

This is the one reason that everyone should know and understand the signs of a stroke and what to do if you think that you or someone that you know is having a stroke. It is important so that you can react fast and get the necessary help there that will save a life. Do not wait, it may be too late.

You should not wait for the symptoms of a stroke to get worse. If you believe that you are having a stroke or someone is having a stroke, you need to call 911 immediately and get them he health care that they need. It is important to make sure that they get to the hospital so that they are in the right hands to take care of them. Making that choice to make the call to 911 can save a life even if it is not a stroke that they are taking it is better to be safe than sorry later on down the road.

Getting regular check ups from your doctor is another thing that will help to save a life. You need to make sure that you and everyone that you know is getting the help that they need to keep them safe. You should see a doctor on a regular basis so that they can find out if you are at risk for a life-threatening stroke and if you should be on medication for things like high blood pressure or heart disease. It is never too early to find out if you are at risk.

When you are prepared and have all the knowledge that you need you will feel better and you will have the tools to make sure that you are around for a long time to come.