Sun bath image via Wikipedia

On the one hand, sunlight is considered beneficial for our health. It provide us with vitamin D, and also triggers our skin to naturally produce it ourselves. Vitamin D plays a major role in building and maintaining strong bones. Vitamin D is an essential component of our immune system. It aids T cells in activating and recognizing body’s own cells and reacting to antigens. Lack of vitamin D predisposes people to Multiple Sclerosis. Vitamin D is also known to help regulate magnesium absorption and helps to maintain blood pressure, cellular energy production, and insulin sensitivity. Vitamin D also supports cardiovascular health, promotes optimal cholesterol levels, produces optimal blood pressure levels, supports healthy kidney function, and enhances muscle strength. Safe sun exposure has also been shown to protect against several types of cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

On the other hand, World Health Organization has identified UV radiation as the main factor responsible for skin cancers, including basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and possibly melanoma. 

Understanding Sun’s UV Radiation

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is most intense at the equator and at high elevations. It is divided into three wavelength bands — ultraviolet A (UVA), ultraviolet B (UVB) and ultraviolet C (UVC). Only UVA and UVB rays reach the earth — UVC radiation is completely absorbed by atmospheric ozone. UVA radiations are long- wave solar rays that penetrate skin deeply and are guilty of causing wrinkles.

UVB radiations are short-wave solar rays, which are more intense in summer and at noon time. Being shorter than UVA rays, the UVB radiations reach only the epidermis layer and cause most cases of sunburn. These rays are considered the main cause of basal and squamous cell carcinomas, which make up 95% of all skin cancers but are not serious or life-threatening. UVB can also lead to the more serious melanoma, which accounts for 75% of all skin cancer deaths.

Both UVA and UVB lead to skin cancer, whether it is malignant or benign. Usually, melanoma skin cancer is caused by the UVA rays, as these are longer and can penetrate deeper skin layers. They are also likely to damage melanin-making melanocytes in the deeper layers of the skin, leading to melanoma. 

Sunscreens and Sunscreen Protection Factor (SPF)

According to the FDA, a product’s SPF number tells you how long you can stay in the sun before getting burned. If you can normally stay in the sun 15 minutes before you start turning pink, an SPF 15 product will let you stay in the sun for approximately 15 (min) x 15(SPF) = 225 minutes.

• SPF ratings only apply to UVB protection. To confirm that the sunscreen gives you UVA protection, look for the label ‘broad-spectrum’ and ingredients such as avobenzone, mexoryl, titanium dioxide or zinc oxide.
• People with fair complexion and freckled skin that burns easily are more susceptible to skin cancer. Diets high in antioxidants and low in fats and alcohol can reduce the risk of melanoma by about 50%.

• People with weakened immune systems are at greater risk of many diseases, including skin cancer. Small children should be protected from long sun exposures as their defense system may not be well developed.

• Many cosmetic products destroy the beneficial bacteria in the skin of our bodies and the protective oily layer formed by sebum, secreted by the sebaceous glands in the skin.

Many sunscreens may actually increase cancers by generating free radicals in the body. Some of the sunscreen chemicals have strong estrogenic actions. They can disrupt hormone systems, and build up in the body or the environment. Researchers at the University of Queensland, Australia, found that significant amounts of Oxybenzone, the principal ingredient in most sunscreens, is absorbed by the human skin and subsequently excreted in the urine. Recently there were many reports that some of the chemicals from the sunscreen were killing fish and coral reefs near beach resorts.

Some sunscreens contain the naturally occurring minerals titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, which are credited with working well against deeper-penetrating, cancer-causing UVA rays by physically remaining on the skin and blocking/reflecting the UV rays. However, to get a more appealing non-chalky effect, the minerals are broken into microscopic nano particles. Because of their size, nanoparticles are more readily taken up by the human body and are able to cross membranes and access cells, tissues and organs that larger sized particles normally cannot, and potentially damage the DNA in the cells.

Some of the web sites that present scientific information about various sunscreen ingredients arehttp://www.pureknowhow.com/content/chemicals.php

http://www.skinbiology.com/toxicsunscreens.html

http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org

Sunlight is vital to almost every living organism. Sunlight allows your body to produce natural vitamin D and increased melatonin, both of which are essential for our health. By blocking solar UVB radiation, sunscreens may cut off the vital source of vitamin D. Mid-day summer sun is the best source of UVB, and minimal exposure of 10-15 minutes without sunscreen can generate a day’s worth of vitamin D. Vitamin D protects against cancer by discouraging out-of-control cell reproduction.

• Use of natural methods: Avoid sunburn. Use natural ways to protect yourself from sunburn instead of resorting to the toxic infusions of commercial sunscreens. 

Antioxidants from whole fresh vegetables and fruits like goji berries (not the juice), raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, are far healthier options. Additionally, slathering on some aloe vera gel can also be helpful.

So, the verdict? Be a Nature’s ally. But don’t overdo sunbathing. Moderation is the key. No sunscreen, if you can. Exposures can be just as long as you can keep yourself from the burn zone.

One third of babies born in 2012 in the plains of the United Kingdom, are expected to live to age 100. This prediction isbased on the projected life span of humans in the future.

Data from the UK Office for National Statistics said thenumber of 100-year-old population rose sharply over the last few decades. In the past such as 1961, the number of infantswho lived until after 100 years is only about 600 people. But in2010, the number skyrocketed to 13 thousand inhabitants.

This year alone, the number of people aged a century in England is estimated at 14,500 people. In the upcoming2035, the number is forecast to increase to 100 thousandpeople. Most residents are long-lived women.

“Women have a higher life expectancy than men at every agelevel,” said a researcher from the statistical office as reported by the BBC.

In 2012, a total of 135 thousand boys and 156 thousand baby girls born in the land of Queen Elizabeth. With the BritishHealth Ministry plans to double the research budget forprevention of dementia, one third of all babies are expected to survive to age a century.

The first thing that you have to remember is that if you do not all pull together as a family, then this plan won’t work. If there are still people in the house who are eating and buying junk food, then this will just put temptation in your way which won’t help you very much at all. However, if you all agree not to buy any then there will be nothing in the house. The first thing that you should allow yourself to do is have a treat day every week. I find that this is best done at the weekend because everyone likes to be able to relax then. You can buy foods that you enjoy eating and have them on one day per week, so that you then don’t have to give absolutely everything up at once that you like. One thing that you have to be careful of is that you don’t eat far too much. Give yourself a treat, but don’t go overboard to the extent that you would ruin the good work that you had done during the week.

The next thing that you have to do is make sure that you plan exercise into your week. If there are exercise classes near you, such as spinning or Zumba, you should make sure that you go to these together as they would be a lot of fun and would mean that you would all be working together. You should also make a pact that you should walk instead of taking the car if your journey is just a short one. This means that not only are you going to be losing weight by getting active, but you’re also going to be able to save money at the same time that you would have been spending on the fuel for the car if you’d chosen to drive.

You should all support each other, and do weekly weigh in days together. If you wish to, you could give an incentive to the one who loses the most weight each week. This could be that each family member has to take on one chore for the winner during the course of the week, or you could even provide a cash incentive so that each family member gives the winner £1 each. This means that you will be much more likely to try to lose the weight, and you could always try to raise the cash amount if you feel that it would be helpful for you to do so. 

Joseph Parish

As compassionate humans we often try to extend the best care possible towards taking care of our treasured pets but unfortunately, we frequently tend to over-due that concern. During holidays we treat our pet as an honored guest with its own small dish of turkey, mashed potatoes gravy and vegetables. We see no wrongful thinking here as we are merely being kind to our animals. Regardless of how much we may think of our pet it is simply not in their best interests that they consume human table food. Feeding your family pet that same foodstuff which we as humans enjoy night after night is not only wrong but in particular cases can prove fatal to your loving animal. Some of our favorite human foods can cause sever illnesses and even death if devoured by our pets.

Good examples of these dangerous foods are chocolates, onions and garlic. There are chemical compositions within these foods which although they are safe for us frequently generate deadly problems for pets such as dogs or cats.

Let’s briefly review each of these foods in detail. Chocolate contains a chemical compound called theobromine which is not only a diuretic but a cardiac stimulant as well. When a dog encounters an overdose of chocolate he or she will become excessively excited and appear hyperactive. Due to the diuretic effect of the chocolate your pet may start to produce excessive volumes of urine and appear continually thirsty. Other common symptoms may include vomiting and sudden diarrhea. The compound theobromine acting upon the heart is actually the most dangerous side effect of the chocolate. It will increase your pet’s heart rate as it creates an irregular beat. Upon exercising it is highly possible that death could occur.

Many owners immediately think that after consumption of vast amounts of chocolate that their pet is unaffected but the signs associated with chocolate toxicity and its resulting illness may not become apparent for several hours with potential death within a 24 hour period.

Veterinarians have found that cocoa powder or cooking chocolate represent the most toxic forms of this food ingredient. The pet does not need to consume a large amount of chocolate in order to be affected. A 10 kilogram dog can be affected eating a mere 60 grams of cocoa powder since this form of chocolate contains ten times the theobromine content found in the usual milk chocolate. Even the mere lick of your son or daughters chocolate birthday cake icing can make your pet unwell.

Next in toxicity would be the semi-sweet and dark chocolate forms with milk chocolate representing the low chocolate on the totem pole and being the least dangerous. A dog would need to consume more than 250 gm of milk chocolate to be affected according to the size of the animal. Smaller dogs would naturally need less.

Let’s now discuss onions and garlic type poisoning. Years ago as I was growing up it was common for my father to sprinkle some garlic in our dog’s food incorrectly assuming that it was good for the animal. On the other hand it is far from serving a useful purpose for your pets. Onions and garlic can cause illness in dogs and cats as well as other livestock. The active compound in onions and garlic is the toxic ingredient known as thiosulphate, onions being of higher content than garlic.

When giving these foods to your pet they often develop hemolytic anemia causing the red blood cells to burst as the blood is circulating within the pet’s body. Initial symptoms of a pet suffering from this type of poisoning would be gastroenteritis with continued vomiting and sudden diarrhea. The pet will refuse to eat food and will appear weak. You will readily see the busted red cell pigment in the animal’s urine and it will become difficult for it to breath. This breathlessness develops due to the red blood cells which carry the oxygen to the animals brain starts to drastically reduce in number.

This is not an instant situation and the poison affects will not be noticed for several days after the animal has eaten the food. It is important to remember that onions in all forms can cause this illness whether they are dehydrated, cooked or raw. It doesn’t take much to cause the poisoning. A single ingestion of vast amounts of onions or repeated meals made with small amounts will have equal effect. The anemic condition will improve once the animal has been removed from its meals of onions. While garlic also is composed of the toxic thiosulphate it appears that garlic is less toxic and huge amounts would need to be eaten in order to cause serious issues.

Other foods which one must be careful of giving your pet include apricots, apple cores, macadamia nuts, pear pips, peaches and plum kernels which contain large amounts of cyanogenic glycosides which in short cause cyanide poisoning. Common table foods such as alcohol, broccoli, coffee and tea, potato peelings, rhubarb, tomato leaves and yeast products should be avoided by pets.

Never assume that what is good for us to consume is equally good for your pets. If we think foods such as chocolate taste good our pets will do likewise but as responsible pet owners it is our job to prevent them from eating such dangerous products.

Copyright @2012 Joseph Parish

www.survival-training.info

If you’re not sure whether your friend is wanting to lose weight or not, then it can be hard to know whether you should broach the subject of doing it together or not. A good way would be to say to them that you would like to lose weight, but you’re tyring to find somebody who you could join up with. You could ask them if they knew anyone who is wanting to lose weight as well, as this is the perfect chance for them to say to you that they would like to be the one to join you in your journey.

The next thing that you should do is arrange to exercise together. You could go to the gym, go swimming, or join a fitness class: anything you like. Dance classes can be very fun when you’re attending with a friend, and it can often feel as though it’s fun rather than hard work, and that is what exercise should really feel like when you’re starting to build it into your life in such a way. The more people you can exercise with the better, as this means that even if one of you can’t make it for some reason, the rest of you would still be able to go without having to miss out on an entire week’s worth of exercise. 

Clothes shopping is something that is very fun once you’ve started losing a bit of weight, and this can be great if you are able to do this with a friend. It can mean that you are able to see each other in clothes that you might have never been able to wear before, and this can be amazingly motivating particularly if one of you has lost weight more than the other, as the other one will then want to lose the same amount of weight so that they can look just as good in the new clothes. 

You should weigh in at the same time each week so that you get into the habit. Make it into a routine; you could use a set of scales in a shopping centre, or go to one of your houses (just make sure it’s the same set of scales each time or you might get differences). You could go for a cup of coffee afterwards, and the person who has lost the most weight could get theirs paid for by the others: a good way to get just that extra little bit of motivation. 

• Drink diet coke or water. Drinking things that contain a lot of calories is a waste, because you don’t even notice what you’re drinking a lot of the time. If you drink alcohol, there can sometimes be almost half of your daily calorie goal in one glass, and obviously it is much better if you could avoid this. By sticking to diet soft drinks, this means that you’re not going to be consuming as many calories during the course of the evening, and therefore don’t have to worry quite so much.
• Stick to two courses at the most. If you normally have three courses, then this is point at which you should be cutting back on this. Instead, ask for your first course to be brought out to you at the same time as everyone else’s starter, and then eat slower than them so that it doesn’t feel like you’re not eating as much. I don’t mind simply sitting and having a chat while other people enjoy their other courses, but some people seem to think that it is wrong for you to go out and then not be having anything to eat at the same time. You just have to do whatever you’re comfortable with, because at the end of the day it is you who is trying to lose the weight; not any of your friends.
• Be careful what you order from the menu. There is no need to be boring about what you order, but by following some simple rules you could try to contain the number of calories that you end up consuming. If you would like a burger for example, then you could always try asking for it without the bread. This would save you at least 100 calories, and most people find the bread more of a problem than something that they’re enjoying. If you ask for a side salad then ask for it without dressing, and if your dish comes served with chips, then ask whether you could have a side of vegetables instead. Most places are happy to do things like this for the same price as the item that you would have eaten normally, so it really is no trouble, and this means that there is no reason at all that you shouldn’t be able to just go out and enjoy yourself like everybody else can. 

I was glad that I took the time to go to the shops this morning, because by lunchtime, the heat was absolutely unbearable, and there was no way that I was ever going to be able to do any more exercise in it. So, I chose to do my weights indoors and I might go on my exercise bike a little later as well. My younger brother leaves high school today, and this means that there might be a little bit of celebration later, so I should try to be careful with what food I am going to be eating in advance. 

Yesterday marked the eight week point that I have to be able to get to my overall goal by. It is scary in a way, because I just don’t think that I am going to be able to lose that amount of weight in such a short period of time. But, I am going to try and lose at least a few more pounds so that I will be able to get as close to my goal as I possibly can in the time that I have left. That means that I have to do more exercise than I have ever done before in my life. I have to cut back on the treats completely, and more importantly I have to actually stick to what I am planning to do. There is no room for error now, and absolutely no way that I am letting myself slip up.

So, I need to make a plan. Somehow, I need to work out exactly how many calories I need to burn and eat every day in order to lose two pounds per week. I am betting that it is quite a lot now that my body doesn’t burn as much doing the same exercise as it might have done during the course of the journey so far. But I am prepared to do it, and I know that I have what it takes. I just need to show the world once and for all that I plan to get fit and stay that way for the rest of my life- and I just know that I am going to do whatever it takes in the next eight weeks to be able to get myself into that position. 

One of the things that I love about my job is the fact that I am able to do the work whenever I wish to without having to worry about having to complete it by a certain time. Although I do have a deadline, there is always plenty of time for me to be able to get everything finished and still have time to spare to be able to do everything else that I want to. Because of this, there is no real reason that I shouldn’t be exercising every day, as I am able to build it into my life. Today however, I had to go shopping, and this meant that I couldn’t do any exercise as such. However, shopping burns a lot of calories when you think about it, because you end up doing a lot of walking up and down stairs and around the shops, so it is certainly better than nothing.

Once again, the weather has been absolutely beautiful. I love sitting outside without a care in the world just knowing that the sun is shining and that I am going to be able to sit out here for the next few hours without worrying about the rain falling down on me. I have started taking my laptop outside to work, and this is something that I am really enjoying as it leaves me feeling nice and relaxed; which is important when you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle.

Food wise, today has been good. For the first time since I can remember, I have resisted eating during the course of the evening, and I am hoping that this will mean that I can start losing some weight again, as I seem to have stalled just a little bit at the moment. But I am hoping that this nice weather will be able to give me the motivation that I need to be able to make the final steps towards reading my ultimate goal of being 10 stones and 10 pounds in weight. That is the weight that I have always wanted to be for a long time now, and I know that I am going to be able to reach that if I am careful with what I eat, and also as long as I start doing some proper exercise. I didn’t get the chance to be able to go on a bike ride today because I had to go shopping and then had a lot of work to do during the afternoon, but I am hoping that I will be able to start riding properly soon, as it makes a real difference to my fitness if I am able to do that amount of exercise. 

No matter where in the world you live, there is always somewhere that you could go on a good walk to. Now, using the internet, you can see how far you’re walking at any one time, and a simple calculation will show you how many calories you’re burning from doing the walk of your choice. This means that losing weight is easier than ever. One of the important things that you should do is always plan where you’re going to go for a walk. If you just go out and then don’t think about where you’re going to go, then there is always going to be the chance that you are going to tire and then go home, whereas if you’ve made your plan right at the beginning of the day then you are more likely to stick to it. 

Something that I find helps a lot is setting another goal. For example, when I started walking I decided that I was going to try and walk a marathon every week, which is 26 miles. I worked out a route that I would have to take every day to make sure that I was going to hit my target, and then I crossed the days off the diary as I went. I soon found that I was able to get into it with a goal as good as this, and that means that I was more motivated to stick to it. One of the things that I am wanting to do now is walk to New York, which is several thousands of miles away. Now, I don’t mean that I am going to walk there really, but I am going to do the equal number of miles to what the journey would be if I had really decided to take it. I don’t know yet just how long this is going to take me, but I do know that it is something that i really want to be able to do.

If you don’t want to build walking into your life in such a big way, then you don’t have to. If you take the car on short journeys, then you could try and walk them instead, or at least park a little bit further away from the shops. This means that you’re getting more exercise without really thinking about it, and it is all of these things that are going to make the difference in the long term. When you notice just how much weight you’re managing to lose by using this method, you will start to wonder how you ever coped when you didn’t know about just how amazing walking could be! 

source

An immediate public outcry followed, which resulted in an ethical analysis of the hospital that performed Ashley’s procedure. It was ultimately ruled that Washington law required a court order for a child to have a procedure that would leave her infertile  and that the hospital had violated the law by not having a court order in place .

Since then, it’s believed that as many as 100 children have undergone the Ashley Treatment, but only one other family, Erica’s, has been brave enough to say so publically.

Ashley’s father has blogged extensively about the benefits he believes Ashley has received as a result of the procedure here, but many, rather most, don’t share his positivity about the controversial treatment.

Many disability advocates, medical experts, and parent organizations are calling Ashley Treatment one of the most egregious violations of civil and human rights since the Holocaust. There were questions about both the legality and morality of a child undergoing such irreversible, invasive treatment. The National Disability Rights Network went before Congress in April and have launched state and local campaigns to urge the banning of growth attenuation.

In my opinion:

I have firsthand experience with the toll a totally disabled child can take on the caregiver’s body. I often wonder how I will possibly physically be able to continue lifting, bathing, feeding, clothing, etc.. my child as I get older and weaker and she gets bigger and heavier. I wonder if she has a headache or tummy ache when she’s cranky, as she can’t communicate with me exactly what’s bothering her. I wonder how bad this un-communicated pain will be when she reaches puberty.

Every day of her care is a constant reminder that our life is never just black and white, and that it’s those confusing, boggling grey areas that usually cause the most rise out of those that have never sat in the grey.

I remember when Kaitlynn, my daughter, was about a year old, a lady in the grocery store approached me and told me she was too old to still be in an infant carrier and that I needed to buy her something different. This lady had never sat in the grey area. She had never racked her brain trying to figure out how to get a one-year-old that couldn’t even hold her own head up for two seconds around in the grocery store, only to find that there were no seating solutions for handicapped children this young. I did what I had to do to buy groceries with a child that was physically unable to sit in a buggy and was technically too big for an infant carrier…put her in the carrier anyway!

I had a similar experience with a health dept. nurse that found me to be Lucifer for continuing to give my daughter infant formula at one and one-half years of age. She couldn’t grasp why I couldn’t use the WIC-provided peanut butter, cereal, cheese, and beans for a child that was physically incapable of swallowing such. Again, she’s never lived in the grey area of transition from a handicapped child being too young for Pedisure and too old for infant formula.

I can’t say that I would seek out Ashley Treatment for my child since the long-term health effects are unknown, but, as someone living in the grey area, I certainly understand Ashley’s parent’s decision to do what they feel will directly better their child’s life and, by making their caring easier, indirectly better their child’s life.

Erica’s story, here.

Pillow Angels blog, here

The Telegraph, here