To make matters worse, health insurance premiums have become very expensive. But the good thing is these diseases may be avoided by opting for healthy daily habits. But how can you work health habits into your daily routine without spending a great deal of time and money?

Here are 5 tips you can use daily to stay healthy:

Drink a lot of water.

Water is vital to our body. More than sixty percent of our body is made up of water. Water is responsible for transporting nutrients and oxygen into cells, helps our metabolism, protects our vital organs, detoxifies, regulates body temperature,  and it helps in the absorption of nutrients.
The human body can last for weeks without food, but only days without water. According to The Institute of Medicine, the ideal amount of water for men should be at least 3 liters or 13 cups of water every day. Women on the other hand should drink 2.2 liters or about 9 cups daily.
By drinking a lot of water every day, we can enjoy a lot of health benefits including:

• weight loss
• relieves headache and back ache
• younger and healthier skin
• keeps brain alert
• better digestion
• reduces cramps and sprains
• reduces the risk of bladder and colon cancer

Eat Fruits and Vegetables.

Include fruits and vegetables in your diet. According to studies, a person who eats fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of cancer, heart diseases and eye problems. Experts suggest eating 9 servings of vegetables per day. Eat a variety of fruits. Fruits and vegetables are a good source of vitamins, fiber and antioxidants.

Bask in the Sun.

Aside from water and food, our bodies need Sunlight. Exposure to the sun produces vitamin D which strengthens our bones, muscles and nerves. But protect yourself from developing skin cancer by applying sunscreen and limiting the time you spend under the sun. Don’t do it between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The sun is at its hottest.
Sunlight also acts as an antidepressant.

Exercise.

You don’t have to go to the gym to exercise. What’s important is that you are physically active. It may be as simple as taking a walk, going biking, cleaning the house, gardening or taking the stairs. What’s important is you do them regularly. Exercise lowers blood pressure, reduces the risk of developing heart disease, improves sleeping habit and keeps your body fit.

Get adequate sleep

. Sleep disorder has become a growing a health concern not just in the U.S. Lack of sleep may result to increased appetite, low-insulin production, weak immune system. Most adults need 8-9 hours of sleep.

Source: Vista Health Solutions. Vista Health Solutions focuses on providing instant, comparative quotes for health insurance plans such as Healthy NY and self-employed health insurance.

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Depression – the blues – is different.  There are some clear indictors of what depression looks like:

• a persistent feeling of sadness, emptiness and feeling worthless
• loss of pleasure in activities that used to be enjoyable
• withdrawing (or wanting to withdraw) from people and activities
• physical pain or discomfort such as aches and pains
• changes in appetite
• changes in sleep patterns
• low libido

It’s important to remember that all these indicators may be present, or maybe most of the them are present – and they have to be present for 10 days or more.  Feeling out-of-sorts for a day or two doesn’t qualify as the blues.

Nobody is immune to a case of the blues, but the good news is that there are strategies and skills that you can develop to help you overcome your blues.

Fact File:

Research has found that getting active is essential in busting your blues.  The blues make us feel lethargic and put us in a place where nothing matters and we may not feel like getting out of bed.  Your ability to be a fully socially functioning person is diminished.

The sense of powerlessness and loss of control can be reversed by regaining some control and getting active.  By taking control, you might save yourself from spiraling further down into the blues.

Busting your blues guidelines – some skills, strategies and techniques

 Step 1:  Tell someone you trust that you want help in getting motivated.  This helps by reminding you that you want to be more motivated and by having the trusted person remind you of your resolve.

Step 2:  Sit down and make a schedule of the things you will do every day.  Make sure these are achievable and as pleasant as possible.

Don’t skimp on detail!

By planning your day, you’ll make sure that you don’t put things off of make excuses to not get active.

Step 3:  Make yourself a long list of pleasant activities.  Because the blues takes away a feeling of pleasure, it’s important to reconnect with pleasurable activities.

Step 4:  Set yourself some goals.  Goals are things we want to achieve for ourselves.

Set daily, weekly and monthly goals.  If you can do so, stretch even further ahead and set yourself three and six-monthly goals.

By setting goals you can feel more in control of your life and you have something to look forward to achieving.

Make sure that you set yourself goals in the following six areas:

• relationships
• family life
• work
• study
• leisure time
• personal growth and development

So, get active and start busting your blues today!

You can read more about skills and strategies for blues-busting in Losing the 21^st Century Blues (http://zitaweber.com/new-releases/losing-the-21st-century-blues)

Did you know….?

That researchers have found that consciously relaxing not only has a de-stressing effect, but also a psychological effect of helping you feel more in control again – and helping your bust your blues.

Why not try some body relaxation and some mindful breathing?

Body relaxation is a 3-step process:

• relaxing your mind
• relaxing your breathing
• relaxing your body

Mindful breathing helps you stay calm and centered and in a place from which you can anticipate your mindful activity and prepare to be active.

A calm mind prepared for purposeful and enjoyable activities is essential to finding your way back to the best social functioning you can achieve.

Bio

Zita Weber, Ph.D. is an author and honorary academic, and has worked as a counselor and therapist with individuals, couples and families.  She has researched and written about communication, relationships, sexuality, depression and loss and grief.  More information about her work and books can be found at:  http://zitaweber.com.

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Reiki

Reiki means ‘Mysterious Atmosphere’ in Japanese but is sometimes understood more as ‘Universal Energy’. It was developed in Japan back in 1922 by a Buddhist named Mikao Usui. The individual conducting Reiki uses their hands to administer Reiki to a patient through the palms of their hands through a process known as Ki (or Qi in Chinese). Ki literally means life-flow or energy-flow and direct translation is breath of life, air, or gas.

Reiki is based on Five Principles:

1. Do Not Be Angry.
2. Do Not Worry.
3. Be Grateful.
4. Work with diligence.
5. Be kind to people.

It is thought that these principles signify the art of being truly happy and through practicing them they will cure all disease.

The West was first exposed to Reiki via Hawaii where the first clinics were set up by Hawayo Takata. The western version of Reiki has more emphasis on healing ailments and the use of chakras is more widespread. Chakras are thought to be wheel like energy spots located in certain areas of the body. Through the application of Ki, Reiki is said to allow self-healing and returns the body’s energy levels to a state of equilibrium, in turn helping to ward off or treat medical ailments. This is the purpose of most ‘energy healing’ practices.

Shamballa

Shamballa is a variant of Reiki. It’s often referred to as Shamballa Reiki or Shamballa Multi Dimensional Healing. The term ‘Shamballa’ originates from an ethereal place, thought to be located in the central Asian area. The city is inhabited by only enlightened individuals and it is said that it can only be reached if that individual has amassed enough positive karma.

The process of Shamballa Reiki is said to lock on to the energy of past enlightened masters and channel this through to another individual. It is thought that the effect of the energy on an individual can bring positive health and well being effects, much like traditional Usui Reiki.

Unlike traditional Reiki, the healing energy comes from what is considered to be a divine source. As a result the positive clearing and healing effects are considered to be greater than those of Usui Reiki. Another difference is that instead of using set hand positions that focus on Chakras to treat a client as in Reiki, in Shamballa Reiki the energy is considered to flow from the practitioner and will target exactly where needs to be treated to help and heal the client.

In recent years ‘Shamballa’ has become a widely recognised term within the fashion industry. Shamballa bracelets which in most cases contain semi-precious stones are a current must-have fashion accessory and can be seen on the wrists of many a celebrity. The semi-precious stones are said to have positive energy related effects on the individual wearing the bracelet. In some cases the bracelet is a symbolic gesture as a gift bringing with it a blessing of happiness and good health. In a variation of this trend you can purchase Rocks Shamballa Crystal watches. Rocks Shamballa Crystal watches are watches that incorporate a watch with Shamballa bracelet.

Citations:

• Image by ShiftFn

iclikd.com have a great selection of Rocks Shamballa Crystal watches available, they can make a perfect gift for either a friend or yourself!

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meditation (Photo credit: HaPe_Gera)

As more and more people discover the joy and tranquility of meditation, it comes as no surprise that the technology surrounding it is being developing at an impressive rate. Nobody who has attempted meditation has found it easy at first, and so millions of newcomers to the meditative realm will be delighted by some of the new methods and helpful techniques which have recently come out to assist people on their path to tranquility. There is no doubt about the fact that people need to meditate more than they ever have before – the world today is a stressful place, filled with paranoia, panic, poor decision making and fears which are blown way out of proportion by our fast paced and skittish modern mentality. Meditation can genuinely help with all of these things – simply by taking half an hour or an hour each day to sit back or lie down and empty your mind, harmonizing your body with your spirit, can produce happier, healthier, calmer and wiser individuals. Now, meditation and the benefits it can bring is easier to attain than ever before with the help of intelligently engineered meditative music, specially designed soundscapes and ambient musical tracks which will coax your body and mind into a state of deep relaxation and detachment.

Don’t struggle to meditate

For most people beginning their journey into an exploration of meditation, achieving this state of deep relaxation and detachment is no easy task. There are simple reasons for this – our modern minds are normally being demanded to make fast decisions, to juggle various options and to general keep our minds as full and alert as possible – exactly the opposite state to that required in meditation. Not only this, but we are incredibly attached to our surroundings, and very easily distracted. We fill our homes with distractions, from telephones to computers and television sets, all of which can interfere easily with our mental state and cause us to lose concentration and be pulled back into the world we are trying to escape from through meditation. This is where meditative music can be a huge help – by wearing headphones and closing your eyes, before letting the calming and intelligently engineered music wash over you and putting you into a state of relaxation, you can easily block out any distractions and focus only on the sound and the vivid visualisations it can produce.

How does it work?

Music for meditation works by firstly ridding you of distraction. The music will flow into your ears and with the intelligent beat patterns and ambient noises, your mind and body will be quickly coaxed into a meditative state. Some meditative music uses ‘binaural beat’ technology, which uses two separate soundwave patterns – one for each ear – which the brain combines and which can produce remarkable meditative effects which often take years of practice to achieve alone without any assistance. Meditative music often uses some sort of subliminal messaging which can produce vivid and relaxing visualizations – again, something which requires a lot of patience and concentration to summon up unaided. If you are looking for a simple, effective and quick way to rid yourself of stress through meditation, then music really is the way forward.

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• Sit and Reach.  Many fall prevention exercises involve the use of a chair. For this exercise sit in a chair and reach as high as you possibly can, focusing on your core strength. Sitting up straight and reaching as high as possible will help you focus on posture. Good posture is crucial in preventing falls in elders.
• Sit and Stand. Using the chair, practicing sitting down and standing back up slowly.  This exercise helps work your hip area and is a great fall prevention exercise if you complete the exercise a couple times a week. Every time you sit down and stand up, you are strengthening your balance.
• One legged balance. Holding on to the chair, lift up your right leg.  After a few seconds, try to let go and balance. The chair will break your fall if you can’t balance for a long period of time.  As you practice balancing, this exercise will become easier for you.
• Heel to toe walking. The heel to toe walk can be done in any location.  Focus on putting one foot in front of the other without falling.  It may be beneficial to do this exercise near a rail or other hard surface so that you can break your fall if something goes wrong.  However, once you get the hang of this exercise, it should be very easy for you to do on a daily basis.
• Chair lean backs. Sitting on the end of the chair, gently lean back. Hold your position for a few second and then lean back forward. Do this exercise in increment of 10, holding your position for at least 5-10 seconds.  Chair lean backs focus on the core muscles of your body.
• Tip toeing. Tip toeing will work your calve muscles. Make this exercise fun by tip toeing around the house with your grandkids. They will think you just having fun with them but in reality you will be exercising. This is a great exercise to help build leg strength to help prevent falls.
• Shifting your weight from side to side. Practice shifting your weight from side to side.  This will help prepare for those times when you may be heading for an accidental fall. It can help you learn to break your fall.
• Walking with a focus on posture. Walking is a great exercise.  During your daily walks, choose to walk swift and focus on your posture.  Standing up straight will help you prevent falls while walking swiftly will help increase your strength.
• Stretching.  Stretching your entire body is crucial in preventing falls.  Stretching will help keep your limbs from stiffening up which is often the main reason why elderly people fall.
• Calf exercises. Holding on to the back of the chair, gently stand up on your tippy toes and then release the calf muscle by standing flat on the ground.  Calf exercises will make your legs stronger and help prevent falls.
• Being active.  If you sit for long periods throughout the day, you may increase the likelihood that you will fall when you get up and walk around. Focus on being active so that you don’t allow your muscles to stiffen up.
• Side leg raise. Holding on to a chair, raise one leg to the side in increments of 10.  Do both legs and begin to see your balance increase. Good balance means that you will be less likely to fall.

The exercises above are exercises that focus on maintaining strength and balance. It is important that elderly people incorporate these exercises into their daily routine in an effort to reduce their risk for falling. These fall prevention exercises will give elderly the peace of mind in knowing they are doing what they can to avoid injury and stay healthy.

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Sodas and carbonated drinks

All carbonated drinks, as well as sports or health drinks contain high acid content and are detrimental to the health of your teeth. If you really feel it necessary to drink these occasionally, do use a straw which reduces contact with the teeth as much as possible.

Candy

Rather than chocolate, it is those innocuous looking pieces of sweet and sticky candy which can cause havoc as the sugar content sticks to your teeth for quite a while after you’ve finished eating them. These also contain some acidic content which wears out your enamel too. Dry Fruits that stick to the teeth have a similar effect, though you can minimize the effects by rinsing out your mouth or drinking water.

Citrus juices

We all know that citrus juices like lime or orange juice provides that much needed Vitamin C for our bodies, but even these are not great to keep around in our mouth for too long, especially when sweetened with sugar too. Sucking a piece of lemon which is suggested in some home remedies is not a very good idea because the acid content in the lemon is continuously working away at your enamel! That does not mean that  hard candies are ok – these stick around in the mouth for a very long time and therefore keep teeth in contact with the sugar and acids for that much longer.

Ice

Did you ever think that what serves as a no-calorie snack for some people could actually be damaging your teeth? Yes, crunching too much on hard foods like ice, or sometimes even popcorn can wreak havoc on your enamel even cracking or chipping your teeth, along with damaging gums!

Tobacco

Chewing it as well as smoking, other than the known impacts on your physical health, also have a visible effect on your teeth. I am not talking just about the stains on your teeth, but the myriad of other problems starting from bad breath, to enamel wearing out, to ultimately bigger problems like periodontal disease if left unchecked.

Alcohol

Most types of alcohol have a high sugar content therefore furthering tooth decay, and also dry out your mouth leaving tooth at higher risk of infection.

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If you are looking for ways to live a healthier lifestyle, or want to lose some weight, it can be difficult to know just which advice to follow. Some diets advocate cutting out whole food groups, others involve using meal replacements and others still involve working out the hyperglycaemic index of this and the calorie count of that… It can all be quite exhausting!

What it is important to bear in mind however, is that healthier eating doesn’t have to be super-complicated and shouldn’t involve spending great amounts of money. It can be as simple as swapping your usual white bread for wholemeal or wheatgerm, for example. It’s simply about knowing which small changes and tweaks to make to your usual routine.

One of the best bits of advice to follow is that eating too much fat will ultimately make you fat. If we’re talking saturated fat, that is. Saturated fat is found in things like cakes, biscuits and fried food and is of very little real nutritional value.

Unsaturated fat, however, is vital for health, and is found in foods such as olives, nuts and avocadoes. Of course, too much of anything will lead to weight gain if you are not doing enough exercise, but cutting down your levels of saturated fat will definitely help.

You can do this in simple and easy ways: by grilling instead of frying; using olive oil or a low calorie cooking spray instead of vegetable fat; swapping cheddar cheese for cottage cheese; and ordering dishes with tomato-based sauces rather than creamy sauces when eating out.

Another good tip for healthy eating and weight loss is to make complex carbohydrates a staple part of your diet. Complex carbohydrates are found in foods such as oats and potatoes and in wholemeal varieties of rice, pasta and bread. The great thing about complex carbohydrates is that they will keep you feeling fuller for longer, as they are packed full of long-lasting energy. So, not only will you be less likely to turn to sugary or fatty snacks such as crisps or chocolate bars, you will be able to exercise more and burn off that fat!

Don’t forget the drinks you consume too, as they can be a well-meaning dieter’s downfall if you are not careful. Fruit juice is fine in moderation (say, one glass a day) but full of calories in the form of natural sugar, so water and herbal teas are better for drinking throughout the day.

When it comes to alcohol, wine, beer and cider are all packed full of calories, so substitute for a spirit such as vodka or gin with a low calorie mixer such as soda water, diet coke or slim-line tonic.

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Knee Joint

Joints are vital structures of the body that facilitate swift movements of the body. The knee joint is more complex than any other joints in the body. Annually, over 1 million patients visit emergency department complaining about soft tissue injuries to the knee. In the United States, more than 2 million primary care visits are reported to be associated with acute knee joint diseases. Hence, understanding the anatomy of the knee joint and emergency conditions related to it becomes vital.

Given that major orthopedic emergencies constitute of knee joint injuries, accurate and timely management of knee injuries is important. Anatomy of the knee joint is a little complex than a simple hinge joint. Knee joint is the connecting joint between the thigh bone and the shin bone. Cartilages are located at the end of each bone to cushion the joints and protect it from deteriorating by rubbing onto each other. Shinbone and thighbone is connected through ligaments that run along the front and sides of the knee.

Ligaments and tendons form vital parts of any joint in the body including the knee joint. Tendons are the cords of tissues that work as an anchor to connect muscles to the bones. Ligaments are the band of tissues that has elasticity and connects bone to bone. Ligaments tissues in a knee joint can have different function such as a few may provide stability and protection to knee joints while a few may facilitate and limit movements of shin bone.

Due to the level of stress that knee joint bears, it is more likely to get hurt and suffer from pain and discomfort. Emergency conditions related to knee joint can include fracture and inflammation. Usually, we do not pay prompt attention to keep the knee joint healthy and neglect it until huge pain is experienced that causes difficulty in walking.

Thus, we are required to take appropriate and prompt care of the knees and help ourselves. Exercise regimes and physiotherapy is the best the knee joint treatment. However, to choose the best solution to a knee problem, understanding its root cause is vital. In rare cases, knee replacement is recommended by an orthopedist.

A treatment plan for a patient is decided after considering the factors such as age, presence of any other injuries, activity level of the patient, and other alternative treatment available. In case of severe inflammation of the knee joint, emergency and non-pharmaceutical treatment may involve cold compressions, rest and elevation of the injured knee.

Knee joint injuries are the most common orthopedic emergencies. The knee joint is amongst the most subtle and vital joints and are complex too. Several emergency conditions relate to the knee joints can be fracture, knee dislocations, anterior cruciate ligament injury, ligament tear, and tendon disorders.

A patient should be rushed to the emergency department to seek treatment for his conditions. Treatments for most of the knee emergencies are individualized. A knee joint injury requires prolonged time to heal and hence, a patient should be given sufficient follow-up treatment for his condition.

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And this means that certain health problems start popping up…such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and certain forms of heart disease just to name a few. And these ailments could potentially become worse and inevitably lead to serious health issues that would have the capacity to destroy your health and cut your life short.

However, there is no reason that this needs to be the case. The most exciting news for anyone in this position is that there are some simple and effective strategies that you can begin to employ to start to take control of your health and feel as though you have stopped the aging process.

First and foremost, if you are about to start out on a program to regain your health you must get a complete physical exam. You have to know from the get-go if you have any ailments now that could adversely affect you as you start out with an exercise program. This will also give you the opportunity to speak with your doctor and receive any recommendations…or restrictions…about what you can or can’t do.

Next, determine your goals and what you wish to accomplish. Are you looking to lose weight, lower your cholesterol, lower your blood sugar? Have an honest heart-to-heart with yourself and determine what your goals are. After all, you can’t hit a target you are not shooting for.

Now come up with a plan. You need to do two things:
• Figure out a time to work out
• Figure out how to work out

Let’s talk about finding the time to work out…after all, this is probably the most difficult aspect of regaining your health when you consider all of your other personal responsibilities. How are you going to come up with 30 uninterrupted minutes daily to do this? Here are a few ideas:

• Turn off the TV. Skip one 30-minute show and you have the time right there.
• Get up 30-minutes earlier in the morning.
• Take a power walk when you get home before dinner.
• Get a partner. When someone else is relying on you it is tougher to skip the commitment.
• Turn your home into a gym. One of the biggest problems is actually getting to the gym. Owning some simple fitness equipment at home, such as resistance bands, could make it far easier to work at home.

And now…as far as the how to work out goes, here are a few ideas as well:

Walking-probably the best overall exercise anyone can do so long as you walk fast enough and long enough to make it effective. You should strive to walk thirty minutes daily, eventually reaching the point where you can walk 2 miles in that time.

This isn’t to say that you start out walking that quickly. But this is a reasonable goal.

Biking-another great aerobic exercise that is also low impact, bicycling will build your endurance and your leg muscles.

Swimming-If you have access to a pool, swimming is a low impact, total-body workout that will also incorporate some aspects of yoga…with all of the stretching you will do.

Strength training-The best way to lose weight is to start burning more calories between your workouts…and strength training is the only exercise that will accomplish that. I am not talking about heavy weights either…just 20 minutes of bodyweight or resistance band exercises are enough to accomplish this task.

And finally, there is one last point that I would like to address, proper hydration. Everyone knows they should be eating right, but very few people truly understand the benefits of proper hydration, especially when it comes to weight loss. For example, studies have shown that by drinking 16 ounces of water before a meal you will consume 15% fewer calories at that meal.

What this amounts to…for most of us at least…is about 300 calories a day! That might not sound like much, until you think it is 9,000 calories a month. And that is almost 3 pounds of fat gone from every month.

So, if you are looking to regain control of your health so you can enjoy the best years of your life, start to follow this approach with your doctor’s approval. You will be glad you did.

About the author:

Tony Rovere became an advocate for senior citizens and senior-health issues after having to deal with the complexities of the Medicaid process following his mother’s heart attack.

He now shared his insights on caregiving and senior issues at his blog, Stuff Seniors Need, which was created to help not only senior citizens but the baby boomers who are now their caregivers.

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Laminectomies are designed to relieve pain related to several forms of degenerative back aliments.  Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal, which can be caused by several different degenerative diseases: bulging discs, injuries, bone spurs, degenerating vertebrae, and swelling of ligaments.  These issues can cause constant dull pain, intense shooting pains, numbness or weakness in the extremities, and problems standing up or walking.

The lamina portion of the vertebra bone has space for the nerves to pass through the vertebra.  Depending on where the nerves are affected, the surgeon will either widen the nerve canal by shaving it down. The surgeon could also remove tissue in this space, opening up more room for the nerves or remove the lamina to reduce irritation. Complete removal of the lamina is rare.

If you are having lower back pain, then you may need a lumbar laminectomy. If you have upper back pain, then a cervical laminectomy may be necessary.

Endoscopic Laminectomy is a minimally invasive surgery where the bone is extracted. The surgeons are able to move the muscle and tissue out of the way reducing surgery pain and recovery time, while typically allowing for less bone removal.  Also the incisions are small, reducing the chance of infection.

With the advancements in endoscopic technology and MRIs and CT scans, surgical preparation time has been reduced significantly.  A pre-op plan can be put into place for the surgeon as opposed to the more traditional cut-and-diagnose approach.

If you are considering a laminectomy, make sure that your doctor goes over a pre-op plan which includes what he will be doing for your specific issues.  There may be issues that the MRIs and CT scans do not reveal. Advancements in endoscopic technology have greatly reduced the guess work.  If you’ve been experiencing back pain and want to find out if a laminectomy will help, talk with your doctor and schedule an MRI or a CT scan.

If there is a need for substantial bone removal, then an additional surgery may be necessary.  If multiple laminas need to be shaved down, opened up, or removed, then a back fusion may in order. This can be diagnosed in the preplanning stages depending on the results of your MRI or CT scan.  A fusion is not an endoscopic surgery and requires more recovery time.

You need to make sure this, or any other surgery, is your last option to address your chronic back pain. Only after you’ve tried physical therapy and other nonsurgical pain treatments recommended by your doctor, should surgery become an option.

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