Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Could Your Job Have Given You Lung Cancer?

Industrialization crept in fast and furious in the 1700s and after that for about 100 years the mineral asbestos was considered to be a miracle which could be used everywhere effectively and relatively cheaply. It became a must-have in all buildings as insulation and came to be used in all products that could be manufactured. But the late 1800s saw asbestos causing lung cancer in many who were exposed to it. But like the fate of most unpalatable reports this one too was ignored till such time as the condition started getting out of control and finally around 1931 the British government took note of the fact that people exposed to asbestos were at a great risk for lung cancer and this was followed by the United States in the early 1970s. Unfortunately this action was too late for those who had already been exposed and now faced the consequences of the disease.Exposure to asbestos has resulted in the development of pleural plaques, asbestosis, lung scarring, lung cancer and a particularly nasty strain called mesothelioma. This strain is exclusive to asbestos and deals with the lining around the lungs called the pleura. It can strike a person even after a short exposure 10 or 20 years ago. If the person is a smoker, then the risk goes up 10 fold or more as compared to a non smoker who has maybe a risk 5 times greater than someone who is not exposed to asbestos. Diagnosis of lung cancers due to exposure to asbestos is carried out through a combination of processes like the medical history, x-rays, MRIs, CAT tissue samples, scans and biopsies. Those with regular exposure must get themselves checked regularly to catch the problem in time as the incubation period is as long as 50 years. Early diagnosis plays its part here too as with all other cancers. Patients diagnosed with mesothelioma have a bad statistic report going as the survival rate is far from satisfactory. Some are even given as little as 8 to 10 weeks, but those who use a multi treatment approach have shown a 40% survival rate for 5 years at least which is as good as that of other cancers. The most responsive treatment for mesothelioma has come to light as being a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy but if the detection happens at a late stage, surgery may not be an option that is open anymore. But the world of medical research does not sleep and there are advancements being made in the field of chemotherapy even as we speak. February of 2004 saw the first medicine approved by the FDA called Alimta produced by Eli Lilly. It was seen in the clinical trials that Alimta in combination with another drug called Cisplatin did a lot to better the life expectancy of the afflicted people. For those who know that death is imminent a hope that their life can be extended by even a few months works wonders and allows them the freedom to hope for a cure.For more information on lung cancer, visit:http://www.lungcancerfaq.com

Monday, June 25, 2007

Bodybuilding For Teens

Bodybuilding can be a very healthy and rewarding activity forteenagers for a number of reasons aside from the obviousphysical benefits. However, due to their youth and the naturalchanges occurring in their bodies, parents often wonder if thetraining regimen of a teenager needs to vary drastically fromthat of an adult? Most of the dangers relating to teenage bodybuilding actuallyhave more to do with the "teenage" portion of the equation. Noone, other than teenagers, would argue with the fact thatteenagers can behave impulsively and can be prone to ignoringthe precautions and rules they find themselves faced with. Obviously, this doesn't apply to all teenagers, but it issomething that needs to be taken into consideration. There has been a longstanding belief that heavy weightliftingcan actually stunt the growth of bones. The basis of thebelief is that heavy weight lifting can speed up growth plateclosure, prematurely stopping the bone growth. This has beensuggested, but not proven, but weight lifting at an early agecertainly hasn't stunted the growth of the many professionalathletes who started young. However, they may be exceptions tothe rule and the jury is technically still out with nodefinitive proof in either camp. Regardless, the danger is only really associated with heavyduty lifting and only occurs prior to a teenager reaching fulldevelopmental maturity. Though it obviously varies fromteenager to teenager, the average age of full developmentalmaturity is 15 and very few teenagers under that age arepumping heavy iron. A teenager shouldn't try to simply emulate the workout routinesof the adults that he or she may see at the gym. The odds arethat any adult worth emulating in the gym has been training foryears and has vast amounts of experience and training, which theteenager is lacking. While trainers are a good idea for everyone, they areespecially important for teenagers. Bad habits in weighttraining can lead to serious injuries and the U.S. ConsumerProduct Safety Commission states 12% of the annual accidentsinvolving weightlifting equipment involved children between theages of 5 and 14, and 35% involved people aged 15 - 24. A good trainer will help a teenager develop the proper form,which is critical to avoiding injury. A trainer can also helpreign in a teen who, in excitement and immature reasoning, maytry to use weights that are simply too heavy. Another danger for teenagers is the disturbing trend towardssupplement overuse. Again, this can attributed to a lack ofintellectual maturity and experience, but teenagers seemespecially prone to sucking into the mythology that supplementsare a magic key to building muscles and looking better. Despite what they may believe about their own thinkingcapacity, teenagers are especially receptive to advertisementsand magazine hype. The fact that a majority of bodybuildingmagazines are owned and published by companies who also producesupplements isn't widely known. Obviously, these companies aregoing to use the magazines they produce to push the productsthey produce.so don't believe everything you read. Realistically, teenagers are under no greater risk than adultswhile working out as long as it is done properly andintelligently. The key to ensuring that it's done this way isadult supervision and guidance.About The Author: Gray Rollins is a featured writer forMuscleProgram. To learn more about teenage bodybuilding, besure to visithttp://www.muscleprogram.com/teenagersandweightlifting-arethereadditionalrisks/and check out our review of Burn The Fat athttp://www.muscleprogram.com/burnthefat/

Saturday, June 16, 2007

25 Tips For Restaurant Dieting

By: Lee Dobbins Eating out is a part of almost everyone life and being on a diet shouldn't prohibit you from enjoying this fun treat. Luckily many restaurants today offer healthy options and some even cater to different diet plans like the Atkins and South Beach Diets.The rules to sticking to your diet while eating out are the same as when you prepare your own food. Fill up on fruits and vegetables and eat lean meats and fish in small portions. Stay away from all those rolls! Whether you're having lunch with the gang, or enjoying a romantic dinner for two, you can enjoy delicious-tasting foods that are low-in calories and good for you, with just a little forethought and planning. Here's some tips that might help you stick to your diet while enjoying restaurant cuisine.1. Think Ahead. Get a menu from the restaurant if you are not familiar with their dishes and select a healthy dish ahead of time. This can save you from ordering something fattening under the duress of hunger pangs at the restaurant.2. Order first. Be the first one in your group to order and you won't be tempted to change your mind and order some deliciously fattening dish that one of your companions has orderd.3. Ask for smaller portions. Don't be afraid to ask for a kids or seniors sized portion. Most restaurants will accommodate you -- and often you'll pay less as well! 4. Ask about the preparation of any dish you plan to order. You want to avoid anything that is cooked in butter and always ask if they have a heart healthy or fat free option.5. Drink a large glass of water before the meal. This will help you digest easier, feel full faster and therefore eat less.6. If everything on the menu is high in fat or calories, ask if the chef could prepare a plate of fresh fruit and vegetables. Many restaurants offer a vegetarian selection, so if you don't see it on the menu, ask. 7. When ordering meat or fish, ask that it be grilled or broiled, and prepared without oil or butter. (When you eat it, use lemon or herbs and spices to give it flavor rather than heavy sauces). 8. Order an appetizer and a salad as your meal. Or a soup and salad. For dessert, choose fresh fruit. 9. When choosing soup, remember that cream-based soups have many more calories than broth-based ones. 10. If you're having a full meal, split the appetizer and desert with your companion. 11. If you decide to order pasta, tomato sauce has fewer calories than cream-based sauces, just like soup. 12. Choose breadsticks over bread, or if you eat bread, don't add butter. Stay away from muffins and croissants, and choose whole grain over white. 13. Choose steamed vegetables instead of baked potatoes or other starches. Again, use lemon and herbs and spices rather than butter to flavor them with. 14. Whenever possible, eat like the Europeans do, and have your biggest meal at lunchtime. Not only will you save money, but you'll cut down on calories at the same time! 15. Take the time to enjoy your meal. Savor the flavors and textures of your food, and enjoy the company you're with. When you eat slowly, you give your body's internal clock the time it needs to know when you've had enough. When you're full, stop eating. Ask your server to remove your plate so you're not tempted to keep eating while you wait for your companion to finish. 16. Ask for salsa on your baked potatoes, rather than sour cream and butter. Not only is salsa much lower in calories, but it adds a "spicy" flavor to potatoes. 17. Order salad dressings and sauces "on the side." This gives you more control of how much to use. Another tip for salad dressing -- rather than pouring the salad dressing on your salad, dip your fork into the dressing first, and then into the salad. You'll get the same amount of flavor, without all the added calories! 18. Choose brown rice over white rice (or french fries), whole grain breads and rolls over white. Not only are they lower in calories, but they are better for you. 19. Stay away from "all you can eat" buffets and salad bars. It's too easy to lose track of the amount of food you're eating, even when it's salads. If that's your only choice, then stay away from the pasta, marinated salads, cheeses and fruit salads with whipped cream. Stick to soups, raw vegetables and fresh fruits. 20. Have your soup first. It will help to fill you up, and most soups have fewer calories. 21. If you're craving something sweet, and don't want fresh fruit, choose sorbet. If you absolutely HAVE to have the chocolate sauce, use the same trick as you did with the salad dressing -- dip your fork into it first, then your dessert. 22. Split your dessert with your companion. You'll still feel like you got to be indulgent, and you'll only have to exercise half as long to burn off the extra calories! 23. When ordering sandwiches, order them with mustard only, rather than mayonnaise. Not only does mustard have almost no calories, but you won't miss the mayo! 24. If the portion you were served is large, only eat half of it. Take the other half home. Not only will you get two meals for the price of one, but you'll cut the calories in half as well! 25. Go for a walk after eating. Stroll along the beach, walk through a park, visit a zoo. You'll burn calories and get your exercise at the same time!Article Source: http://www.nulife-weightloss.com/articlesLee Dobbins is the owner of Low Carb Resource where you can find more about low carb eating, the glycemic index and dieting. Visit the dieting article archives for more dieting tips.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Ways To Get More Exercise: For Those Who Are Active

If you already have a fairly active lifestyle but would like todo more exercise, great! It's likely that your fitness levelsare already quite high. If time is your limiting factor, youcan be creative about working more exercise into your dailyroutine. First, actually scheduling time into you day to do yourexercise is important. Too often, exercise is the firstcasualty in a busy schedule. If you treat your exercise like animportant meeting that cannot be re-scheduled or interrupted,you will get a chance to do it and get into a regular routine.Organizing to meet a friend is a good way to ensure that youactually do the exercise. Knowing that you will let your frienddown if you don't go is often the additional motivation you needto get out there and just do it! Do you drive to work? Chances are that if you work in a cityoffice block, traffic will be congested and you may be able toget to work in a similar time by jogging, walking or ridingyour bike. If doing the school drop off is what's keeping youfrom fitting in your run before work, group together with agroup of other parents and organize a carpool. This way, youwill have one or two more free mornings or afternoons to slotin some time at the gym, or to get out and play sport. If youcatch public transport to work, jump off a few stops early andwalk the rest of the way. Just 15 minutes more each way givesyou your total recommended exercise for the day! If you have children, putting them in a stroller and going fora walk can be a great way of keeping them entertained andgiving you some additional exercise. Getting involved in yourchildren's activities is another way to maximize your exercisetime and also to bond with them. Join them in a game of tag, orjump with them on the trampoline. You'll be having so much funthat you won't even remember that you're exercising! Incorporating more exercise into your day does not have to bedifficult. Small bouts of activity frequently add up to asignificant amount of exercise by the end of the day. You oweit to yourself to exercise and stay healthy.About The Author: Want to be healther? Visithttp://www.gojicapital.com/

Friday, May 25, 2007

Losing Weight The Right Way

Anyone who tells you that you need supplements to lose fat iseither misinformed or is trying to sell them to you. Losingweight does not come from a bottle there is no fat burningpill, drink or powder that has ever being proven to keep it offlong term. In American $30 billion a year is spent on losing weight. Dietprograms and products at first can help you loss some weigh.The only problem most of these millions of people regain thereweight back within the period of 5 years. Many fad diets that claim losing weight the right way such asrapid weight loss are more then likely succeeding short termdue to the expense of muscle loss or water loss or the both ofthem. Water loss and muscle loss should be avoided when losingweight and keep in mind that when it comes to bathroom scalesdo not assume that a scale measures how much weight you havelost if it involves muscle loss or water loss. When it comes to losing weight the right way I recommend you dosome type of physical activity. It can range from walking,walking the dog, aerobics, weight training, social sportsbasically anything that requires you to do some movement.Exercise is not only important to losing weight but youroverall health and well-being. Begin with a daily walk andcouple times a week do a different activity. Do not see it asall to hard to do the more you do something the easier it getsand the results can be very rewarding. Personally after I exercise I feel great at first when youexercise you can feel lethargic but when you get into it youwill be amazed with what you can achieve and how it makes youfeel. When it comes to losing weight anything that promises veryquick weight loss is more then likely trying to get you tospend your hard earn money very quickly by tricking youremotions. People spend a lot of their time and money ongimmicks and diet fads that only get used for a short time withlittle or no result. Losing Weight The Right WayAbout The Author: Tony Pescatore finds and writes helpfulinformation on topics he believes in. To get your Free Fat LossReport Big Fat Lies!! Go to http://burnthefat.com