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Spending Wisely on Your Health

January 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

An apple a day keeps the doctor away—if it were only that easy. Keeping yourself healthy is more about preventive measures than it is about curing yourself when you are ill. Health is something most people take for granted. When they are feeling well they can’t imagine ever being sick, and when they are sick they can’t remember what it was like to feel fine.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

There are many ways to stay healthy. Many of them are free like simply taking the dog for a walk. There are other important steps to take that may be a small expense today, but will save you huge amounts of money in the future.

Here are five tips to get you started.

Opt for Medical Insurance

 

If you have the option for health insurance from your job, take it. Take dental, too, if you can get it. The minute the amount is deducted from your paycheck each time is nothing compared to the bill you will receive if you have to visit the doctor or hospital without one.

Get Regular Checkups From Your Doctor and Dentist

 

Remember, you want to prevent disease and problems, and not just respond to them. Think about it: two visits a year to the dentist’s office for a check-up and quick cleaning will really make a difference in maintaining excellent oral health. Visiting your family doctor even if you’re not feeling under the weather, most especially if you have a medical history of illness will give you the best care possible.

Participate in Your Company’s Flexible Spending Account

 

This program allows you to put some money from your paycheck, pre-tax, aside to pay for qualified healthcare costs. You can use the money for office co-pays, prescriptions, and often eyeglasses and contacts.

Choose Your Food Wisely

 

Doritos are great, and there is nothing wrong with consuming a bowlful every once in a while. But corn chips shouldn’t be your primary source of vegetables. By getting into the habit of eating fresh and healthier food, you will find a wider variety of options when you eat.

 

With just a few fresh ingredients, all the combinations of meals you can make will amaze you. You will also save money by eliminating frequent trips to restaurants with drive-thru windows.

Buy Items That Will Encourage You to be Healthy

 

It turns out, the treadmill in your bedroom makes a great place to hang your clothes when you iron them, and the cat likes to sleep on the belt. Meanwhile, buying a bicycle means you’ll have to leave your house and get out in the clean fresh air for some exercise.

 

In case of unforeseen events occurring in your life, which may concern your health, do consider making a cash loan. In case of a medical emergency, this will allow you a quick solution to sudden money problem.
Use these tips to keep your body and wallet healthy for years to come.

Filed Under: Health Care Tagged With: , ,

Is Medication a Good Thing?

July 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
AZT (zidovudine), the first medication shown t...

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Our world has allowed the obsession with medication to get a little out of hand. While some people require medicines to function properly, far too often doctors simply prescribe something because they can think of no better way to handle any given problem. Some problems can’t be solved with just a pill or a poultice.

The over-emphasis on drugs can easily lead a person to question whether they are ever a good idea in the first place. When medicines are the main way problems get solved, it’s enough to make it seem like our entire medical ideology might be based on flawed assumptions. In cases such as the treatment of depression, for instance, the general method is simply to throw various treatments against the proverbial wall and see which ones stick. Could you imagine if any industry besides medicine attempted to fix problems in this manner?

Ultimately medicine is going to have to ease up on the use of medication and focus more on long-lasting treatments that do not simply involve ingesting a constant stream of pharmaceuticals. While this may reduce profits in the short term, the long-term benefit to our society will be great. After all, solving problems in the real world implies a lot more than just throwing pills down someone’s throat and hoping for the best. In the vast majority of cases, simply drugging up an individual in an attempt to treat them is a foolish way to go about trying to help them.

 

Filed Under: Health Care, Prevention Tagged With: , ,

Rapid Cycling is Just one Aspect of Bipolar Disorder

June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Axial FLAIR (a, b & c) and T2 weighted (d) Bra... 

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Rapid cycling is a form of bipolar disorder that causes symptoms to range from very low emotional changes to a quick-firing of the emotions that runs the gamut from high moods to low moods. Doctors consider four or more episodes in any 12 month period to be rapid cycling, although the episodes can run the gamut in a day or a week, as well. 

 

The affected person seems to be on an emotional roller coaster and the person feels energy and moods that change on such extreme levels that their life spirals out of control. It can be outright disabling. Severity is uncontrollable and often the person exhibits extremes in irritability, unreasonable outbursts and impulsiveness. 

 

Rapid Cycling is Common 

The very name, rapid cycling, denotes a regular pattern of episodes, but this isn’t always the case, as bipolar episodes rarely follow any pattern. They occur randomly and sometimes go from one extreme to the other within a day (ultra-ultra rapid cycling) or within a month (ultra rapid cycling). 

 

However, a person experiencing rapid cycling is also apt to exhibit longer periods of manic, depressive or even stabilized moods, as the rapid cycling is not usually a permanent condition. Most patients not getting the right medication or the right dose are subject to this disorder, which begins gradually and then eventually returns to longer, less frequent episodes. Rarely, some people get ‘stuck’ in rapid cycling indefinitely. 

 

The longer a person goes without treatment, the more likely it is that they may become resistant to treatment. Half of all people who suffer from bipolar disorder experience rapid cycling at least once during their treatment.

 

 

Filed Under: Stress Relievers Tagged With: , ,

The Benefits and Dangers of Zoloft

May 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Zoloft (photograph)

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If you’re on Zoloft for your depression or anxiety, you may be wondering about the benefits and dangers of the drug. Even though you received information from your doctor, it’s possible you’re looking for more. Here are the basics:

  • For many, it lessens depression considerably depending on how the drug reacts with your body chemistry.
  • Lessens worry about weight gain as compared to other depression/anxiety drugs.
  • Has less cardiovascular side effects. Zoloft is the lowest of any antidepressant.
  • May give you nausea and headaches. You may not be able to sleep at night because of insomnia. You may even have a manic episode.
  • May inhibit your creativity. Some people say that they feel “numb” or “unfeeling” while taking the drug. Others say they are “clearer in thought and expression of self.” The racing of their mind has “slowed.”
  • Helps with Seasonal Affective Disorder, which allows those taking it to more easily get out of bed when it’s cloudy or rainy outside.
  • May make you feel “anxious” or “aggravated.” Others say they are “calmed down” and able to “have fun in life.”

A Los Angeles California personal injury lawyer or other expert lawyer in your city can help you if you’ve already made the Zoloft decision and are finding the complications heavier than you can handle alone.

In the long run, choosing to take Zoloft, or not, comes from trying it out and seeing what it does or doesn’t do for you. After two weeks and no longer than a month, sit down with your own pros and cons list. Decide for yourself if Zoloft works for you.

Filed Under: Common Health Questions Tagged With: , ,

How To Prevent Depression

May 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Depression is becoming more and more common now days. If you do not have depression, there is always the chance that you will, so you will want to know how to prevent this from happening. A great way to keep your spirits up is to keep the lights on or go outside when the sun is out. Light is a great mood enhancer and keeps your body’s internal clock functioning in a normal way.

Exercise is one of the best ways to prevent depression and keep you in a positive mood. When you exercise, your body releases chemicals into your brain that help you feel refreshed and positive. Keeping yourself healthy, eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep are the main things you need to do to prevent depression and other illnesses. Get a hobby and stay busy. Having friends and getting out of the house will keep your mind off the things that upset you.

There are many different types of depression. Some people may get depression that only lasts a few days while others get depression that lasts a lifetime. No matter what kind of depression you have, there is always a way to prevent it. Learn how to control stress. Stress and anxiety can lead to depression. If you feel you may be going into a depression, do not wait until it is unbearable. Seek help right away or change the things in your life that are causing your depression. Staying healthy and getting involved with activities you enjoy are the main things you should focus on.

Filed Under: Prevention Tagged With: , , ,

Does Smoking Cause Impotence?

April 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Impotence, also known as erectile dysfunction, is a growing problem among men of all ages. It is characterized by the inability to sustain an erection for sexual activity, and there can be many attributing factors. Relational stress, low amounts of sleep, or detrimental personal habits may make impotence worse or create additional health problems in relation to it. Many doctors believe that smoking may also cause or worsen impotence in men.

Recently, erectile dysfunction has been linked to smoking because it causes plaque buildup in the blood vessels. Blood vessels are signaled to enlarge by nitric oxide, and smoking interferes with this crucial element. Because erections are based primarily on blood flow to the penis, smaller amounts of nitrous oxide can restrict blood vessels and prevent blood from flowing as it should.

In most cases, treatment and medication are able to correct impotence problems. However, smoking alters the success rate of many of these drugs because of its damage rate to blood vessels and the layer of cells on their interior surfaces. Although people can buy Viagra and other corrective drugs for erectile dysfunction, they may not help people who smoke because the cells are damaged and cannot react to the drug.

Clearly, benefits to smoking cessation are endless. Since smoking is linked to many kinds of health problems and cancer, quitting as soon as possible is the best choice. There are many programs, medications, and forms of support that smokers can rely on to help them become healthier individuals.

Filed Under: Common Health Questions Tagged With: ,

The Cure Assurance: Depression

March 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Hope is a futile thing — this is your bleak certainty, the truth you’ve created. Life can’t be overcome; sorrow can’t be beaten. There is only one assurance for the future: and that is desperation.

These thoughts are too sad and all too common.

Depression — a prolonged state of despair, caused by chemical imbalances in the brain — is often assumed to be permanent. Individuals suffering from it believe they can never find relief, that they will be burdened with an illness for the rest of their days. They consider it an imprisonment (trapping them within their own minds).

But such considerations aren’t needed. Depression can instead be cured.

Simply explained: depression is a disease and, like all diseases, there are established treatments available to counter it. Individuals can be offered prescriptions, counseling, alternative medicine and more — often in a variety of combinations and ratios. Such efforts allow both mind and body to be targeted, with the source of the problem recognized as far more than merely emotional. It’s understood instead as organic and is provided with the essential aid.

And such aid has led 85 percent of all depressive patients to recover completely. This number is remarkable among the medical community — proving that a cure is possible and, more importantly, has been achieved (often).

Never assume that your illness can’t be undone. It can — it simply requires treatment and patience. Don’t let depression control your life. Choose instead to counter it and discover relief.

Healing doesn’t have to be denied. Seek it instead.

Filed Under: Health Care Tagged With: , ,

The Generational Shame: Depression

February 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The years were once defined to secrets — no ailments could be confessed; no worries could be whispered. It was an age of utter silence, with men and women hiding themselves from the world, certain that ignorance was truly bliss. They couldn’t admit their doubts, their indecisions. Such things were to be kept separate; and the dissonance was accepted, assumed to be right.

That assumption hasn’t changed.

The generations that shaped the 1950’s and 1960’s were children of uncertainty. Their disabilities were deemed shameful. Their illnesses were tucked away. And any attempt to draw out an acknowledgment was met with the greatest of fear. And that fear still remains.

As of 2011, those above the age of 50 are three times as likely to refuse to seek help for their concerns — especially depression. This disease is instead deemed common, thought to be an effect of senility (triggered by loss of friends, family and the abilities of youth). Because of this few seniors ask for aid. They instead remain quiet, thinking themselves beyond saving… or, worse, thinking that their problems are too terrible to confess.

It is estimated that five million of the country’s elderly population experience depression (whether major or minor episodes). Of these five million, only 15 percent seek treatment on their own. The rest try to hide their worries — or must instead be forced to find care. Such numbers are staggering, reflecting the effects of the generation gap.

It was once deemed unseemly to ask for help, to admit a mental disability. The stigma cast upon the diseases of the mind was a tragic one — and it has managed to survive throughout the years, has not been undone (despite the efforts of doctors and psychologists). It instead thrives, cemented thoroughly within seniors.

This must change.

Depression is far too serious an illness to be ignored. It must instead be recognized and combated. The elderly must find treatment — or at least be offered it by their loved ones.

There can be no more secrets. There must instead be honesty.

Filed Under: Guidance Tagged With: , ,

The Assumption of Will: Depression

February 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Happiness is a choice — this is the promise you’ve been offered, the affirmation you’ve been told to seek. Contentment can be earned. Satisfaction can be certain. You must merely be willing to offer the necessary time and energy to procure it. All days can be easy if you allow them to be; and the notion of depression is dismissed, thought to reflect a weak mind and a weaker character. You can be secure in your life. You simply must work for it.

And… you try to, wanting to meet the expectations of the public. You give you all you can; you do what you must. But your feelings don’t shape themselves to comforts. They instead remain wilted, burdened by thoughts you don’t dare to admit. No task is easy. No laugh is real. You can’t generate the essential grins. Instead you find yourself overwhelmed.

And that sensation is not going to leave — not while you’re trying to simply ignore it.

There is an unfortunate stigma attached to the idea of depression. The masses believe it to be nothing more than an excuse for laziness, a reason to remain tucked in bed (letting the world and its realities pass by). Many assume it can be undone through simple desire — and they demand that those suffering from it merely shrug it away, cure themselves through willpower.

This will not happen.

Depression is a serious (potentially life-threatening) disease. It is caused through biological and emotional factors — which spark chemical imbalances and deep despair. It cannot be overcome by a smile. It cannot be tamed with simple refusal. It demands treatment and professional care.

Few are willing to accept this, however. The majority assume this to be a futile illness, think it can be challenged with the proper state of mind. Such a state can’t be achieved, though — depression affects all thoughts, leaves the individual unable to respond as he once would. There is no way to overpower this: it steals the opportunity.

Depression demands help and a cure is only possible through support, not mere determination.

Filed Under: Guidance Tagged With: , ,

The Gender Myths: Depression

February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sadness is a woman’s concern. Despair is defined by the fairer sex. This is the assumption of the masses — depression is thought to affect only the female percentage of the population, with men meant to be immune.

Such a belief began long ago: when all women were thought to be hysterical simply by virtue of their lack of a y chromosome. Their troubles were all emotional, it was assured. They were therefore to be pitied, coddled in their madness: while men were to remain strong. This was the certainty. This was the assurance.

And it still exists.

The misconception of depression is that is belongs purely to women. No man is meant to endure dejection. No boy is to feel the strain. It’s meant instead to be offered only to one gender — and all assume this to be true.

It’s not.

While none can deny that women do experience depression at higher percentages than men (often being twice as likely to succumb to it), none can also deny that the number of male patients is greatly underdeveloped. The statistics are skewed; the information is vague. There are no standard estimations. Instead there is merely the cliche of a disease and who it targets.

Men can become depressed — this must be understood. They are not resistant to the illness, will not (miraculously) be able to defend against it. Instead they can experience it just as women do. It is simply impossible to determine precisely how many cases occur throughout the year.

This is due to males being reluctant to admit their problems (guided still by the belief that they should never be sad). It’s thought that the majority do not confess what they’re feeling and this makes estimating their numbers a challenge. It should be noted, however, that men are three times as likely to commit suicide due to this disease — often simply because they didn’t receive treatment.

The notion of a disease being shaped to a gender is absurd. Depression can affect anyone of any age; and this must be recognized by all.

Filed Under: Guidance Tagged With: , ,
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