PharmaPassport Health Tips Blog

December 28, 2009

Your Fingernails and Your Health

Filed under: anemia,bronchitis,fingernails,hair loss,heart disease,iron,liver,lung disease,psoriasis,respiratory disease,Uncategorized,vitamins,zinc — Amanda @ 1:52 pm

The state of your fingernails can provide clues about your overall health. Simple things like color and shape can indicate complicated health conditions such as chronic bronchitis. Pay attention to the signs that your nails give you in order to take care of yourself.

Nail Pitting - Tiny indents in the nails are normal for people with psoriasis. These depressions can also result from nail injuries and cause your nails to crumble. Sometimes pitting is associated with things like chronic dermatitis or alopecia areata which causes hair loss.

Nail Curling - Nails that are soft and curl into the shape of spoons could indicate iron deficiency anemia.

Brittle and weak nails - Indicates a lack of vitamin A or an Iron deficiency.

Horizontal Ridges (Beau’s lines) - these deep crevices can indicate circulatory problems, diabetes, or can be caused by an illness such as pneumonia.

Yellow Nails - If you have a yellow discoloration on your nails it could be signs of a respiratory condition. Yellow nails will often grow slowly and thicken. Sometimes, when nails are affected with this condition, they may detach from the nail bed and come off. This is not always a sign of a respiratory illness. Yellow nails are caused when nail growth slows down.

Red Nail bed - At the bottom of the nail is the nail bed. A red nail bed can indicate heart problems.

White Nail bed - A white nail bed can indicate an iron deficiency causing Anemia, or liver problems

White spots - White spots on the nails can indicate a Zinc deficiency.

Darkening Nails - If your nails are becoming darker, you may have insufficient vitamin B12 levels.

Rippling Texture - Rippling of the nail surface can in indicate psoriasis or arthritis.

Clubbed Nails – This occurs when your fingertips become bigger and your nails curve around the fingertips. Low oxygen levels in your blood causes clubbing and can be a sign of lung disease. Clubbing can also be associated with inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease and liver disease.

Hang Nails – The stray pieces of hard skin around your nails can be a sign of a lack of protein, folic acid, or vitamin C.

Loose Nails - a condition know as onycholysis can cause your nails to become loose and detatch from the nail bed. This may also be associated with injury or infection, thyroid disease, drug reactions, reactions to nail hardeners or acrylic nails, or Psoriasis.

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December 21, 2009

5 Health Benefits of Crying

Filed under: bacteria,colds,crying,detox,flu,hormones,immune system,mood,stress,tears,Uncategorized — Amanda @ 1:56 pm

You may be aware that crying helps you release negative emotions and is a natural way for your body to cope with unwanted feelings of distress or fear. What you may not know is that there are several other benefits of crying that can help your mental and physical health.

Stress

– Crying can lower your stress levels. Crying helps to remove some of the chemicals and hormones that are built up in the body from stress. If you compare shedding tears to shedding sweat during exercise, the same process occurs. Exercising relieves stress and removes built up chemicals in the body. However, if you hold back your tears, you can increase your stress levels which can lead to other health issues such as high blood pressure and heart problems.

Mood – Crying is associated with an emotional response. When tears are shed, the endocrine system releases endorphins (“feel-good” hormones) that stabilize the mood. When we cry, we give our bodies the ability to stabilize and become content again.

Prevents Colds and Flus – Tears are natural antibacterial and antiviral solutions that work to fight the germs that we get in our eyes. The fluid lysozyme in tears is capable of killing up to 95% of all bacteria in a matter of minutes. Just like your nose has hair and nasal tunnels to collect bacteria and germs, your eyes have tears to help prevent you from getting sick!

Detox – Tears that are formed out of emotional distress or grief had more toxic byproducts in them than tears of irritation (from itching or onion peeling). This means that emotional tears, tears made of stress, are capable of removing wastes and toxins from our body.

Lubrication – One of the most important things that tears do for us is that they enable us to see. Tears moisten our eyes and prevent dehydration of the membranes surrounding the eyeball. Without tears to lubricate our eyes, we would not be able to see.

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December 18, 2009

How to Help a Friend Quit Smoking

Filed under: nicotine addiction,nicotine patch,quit smoking,smoke-free,smoking,support a friend,Uncategorized — Nicole @ 4:37 pm

Knowing the extreme long term and short term effects of smoking can make it painful to watch a friend or family member smoke a pack of cigarettes. There are thousands of smoke-free success stories proving that quitting is entirely possible, however, smoking is highly addictive and your friend will need your love and support to be able to quit.

How to Support a Friend to Quit:

Communicate
Talking to someone about their nicotine addiction must be done in a positive way. During the conversation, focus on encouraging your loved one to quit as opposed to the dangers and repercussions of their habit, as they likely already realize the negative effects of smoking. Be understanding, because getting angry or frustrated with your friend will only cause them to become stressed, which they will inevitably relieve with another cigarette.

Maintain A Positive and Encouraging Attitude

Withdrawing from any addiction can be difficult, and if your friend is trying to quit smoking, they need you to remain positive. The first week of trying to quit is often the most difficult for smokers and their friends, as the smoker’s body does not react well with the lack of nicotine, which they were previously dependent on. Despite the irritability that your friend may experience, it is important to remain positive and encouraging and remind your friend that they are on the road to recovery.

Don’t Give Up
Evidence suggests that nicotine rivals heroin in addictive nature, so it’s not unnatural for any person who is quitting smoking to have a lapse. If your friend does lapse, remind them of the commitment they have made to quitting and maintain a positive attitude. A negative reaction to lapsing will likely upset your friend, which may cause them to smoke a whole pack as opposed to a single cigarette.

Understand What Your Friend Is Going Through
By reading this article, you are already working toward this. Learning about what your friend is dealing with will help you to sympathize and efficiently support your friend. By knowing some reputable quitting techniques, including the nicotine patch, healthy lifestyle changes, and nicotine gum, you are able to help your friend in taking their first steps towards becoming smoke-free, a journey that you only want them to take once.

Quitting smoking is more than difficult, for some people it take multiple tries, however, by taking these ideas into consideration; you can help your friend to quit smoking, and live a much healthier life.

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December 10, 2009

Weight Loss Surgery – Should I?

Filed under: gastric bypass,losing weight,stomach staple,Uncategorized,weight loss,Weight loss surgery,weight loss tips — Candace @ 4:32 pm

Weight loss surgery, or gastric bypass, involves stapling the abdomomen to make a small stomach pouch. The remainder of the stomach is not removed, but stapled shut. The small stomach is connected to the small intestine so that your large stomach is unused. This makes you less hungry, and fuller by eating smaller portions. Weight loss surgery has many risks and benefits.

Benefits

1. Eat less – An obvious benefit to weight loss surgery is the fact that you are no longer as hungry and so you lose weight. As long as you eat the right foods you should be able to rapidly lose weight. On average a successful patient loses between 70 and 80% of their access weight.

2. Cures other things – With weight loss surgery, some other food related issues can improve or even be resolved completely. Some of these conditions are diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma, urinary stress incontinence, gastro esophageal reflux, dyslipidaemia, and hypertension.

3. Reduce death risk – With weight loss surgery your risk of dying from being obese lessens by up to 895.

Risks

1. Death – The worst risk when it comes to the weight loss surgery, is dying during the operation. This is extremely rare. Statistics say 0% of people die during or soon after weight loss surgery because of its rarity.

2. Lacking Iron and Calcium – Unfortunately with Bariatric surgery the duodenum(the 1st part of the small intestine) is bypassed and results in reduced absorption of iron and calcium into your body. This may consequently increase your chance of getting iron deficiency anemia. Osteoporosis is already a high risk for women after menopause, so women should be warned by the potential for heightened bone calcium loss.

3. “Dumping syndrome” – Dumping Syndrome is another risk in weight loss surgery. This is when the stomach empties its contents into the small intestine too quickly. It is more commonly triggered when either too much sugar or too much food is consumed. Although this is not serious to your health, the symptoms are unpleasant. Some patients cannot eat sugar after the surgery because of “dumping syndrome.”

Although weight loss surgery may seem like a good option, there are a lot of risks to consider which are associated with weight loss surgery. It is important to mull over both the risks and benefits before choosing.

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High salt intake may put you at risk of cardiovascular disease

Filed under: cardiovascular disease,causes of heart disease,causes of stroke,heart disease,prevent heart disease,processed food,salt,stroke,Uncategorized — Amanda @ 4:03 pm

The British Medical journal recently published research which observed the notes of 13 studies from the years 1966 – 2008. The study looks at the relationship between salt intake and stroke and cardiovascular disease affecting the heart. According to the research, a high salt intake is definitely associated with an increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease, However because of the imprecise measurements of salt intake, these effects are most likely underestimated. The result supports the role of a possibly substantial population reduction in salt intake for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. The association was greater in those who consumed a higher amount of salt.

According to Marion Nestle, 80 percent of salt intake comes from processed and ready-made foods, therefore the best way to prevent cardiovascular disease due to high salt intake is to regulate the salt in the food industry. If we want to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, salt levels would need to be reduced throughout the entire board of food production.

One major issue, however, is that because our salt intake from processed foods is so high, the taste of salt depends on how much we eat. If salt levels were reduced in the food industry it would be noticed by consumers.

Considering that over 570,000 Americans die each year due to cardiovascular disease and stroke, the most important concern right now is that we need to educate the public on the issue in order to successfully lower salt intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease. People need to know the danger in eating too much salt, and they need to know how to lower their salt intake. Reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by eating at home. Eating more home-cooked meals is a good place to start if processed foods and restaurant food are the biggest threat for high salt levels.

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December 7, 2009

5 Ways to Treat Arthritis

Filed under: arthritis,exercise,ibuprophen,osteroarthritis,pain relief,posture,Uncategorized — Amanda @ 4:44 pm

20 Million Americans suffer from degenerative Arthritis problems. Arthritis tends to worsen with age, so it is important that you do all that you can do to lessen the spread of your arthritis pain.

1. Exercise - Exercise lightly for 20 to 30 minutes a day. Do not over-exercise as this can cause strain on joints. Avoid anything that produces pain for up to 1 hour after the exercise is over. Sometimes a quick walk will help, but do not try to “walk off” the pain. Stop when it becomes too much.

2. Posture - always maintain good posture. Sit up straight in chairs and stand with your shoulders back. Never lift with your back – lift with your hips and legs. Never carry something you can push or pull behind you. If something is too heavy for you, ask for help

3. Joint Exercises - Practice daily motions or attend physical therapy regularly. Ask your physiotherapist about hydrotherapy – a form of joint therapy which is gentle on the joints and done in water.

4. Protect your joints - Protect your joints by wearing warm clothing. Braces and joint wraps may also help by giving your joint support. Sleep on a firm mattress, make sure you get 8 hours of sleep everyday, and avoid sitting in soft chairs.

5. Pain Relief - talk to your doctor about taking arthritis pain like Aspirin or Aleve. You can also use indomethacin, ibuprophen or naproxen for arthritic pain

MBL

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December 4, 2009

5 Foods to Cut From Your Diet

Filed under: childhood obeseity,healthy diet,healthy food,losing weight,obesity,Uncategorized,weight loss,weight loss tips,worst weight loss foods — Candace @ 5:11 pm

Obesity is a major problem in North America and worldwide. One-third of American adults are obese. There are diet pills and tons of books written on weight loss and solutions. Fortunately small changes like omitting a few foods from your diet can have an immense effect.

1. Avoid white bread
Although something like a sandwich is considerably healthy, it is best if you do not use white bread. White bread has no nutritional value. White bread is equivalent to table sugar. It has high glucose levels and lacks any other important nutrients. A simple whole wheat bread offers much better nutritional value and is a good alternative.

2. Ice cream
Ice cream is tremendously calorie dense. It is full of sugar; one cup of vanilla ice cream has over 360 calories. A solution to this is to buy yogurt, and freeze it. Make sure you mix it before freezing it if it isn’t the premixed kind. It tastes just as good as ice cream, but has less calories and is a better, healthier snack.

3. No Pop!
The average pop can has 10 packets of sugar, which add up to 150 empty calories. Pop has been pegged guilty of association with childhood and adult obesity. A better option to a can of pop are fruit spritzers, or vanilla extract which you can add to plain seltzer water or tonic water.

4. Full fat cheeses
Full fat cheeses can have up to 10 grams of fat per ounce with a lot of saturated fat included. For example, lasagna is filled with cheese and saturated fat, which makes it a bad choice for dieters. A better alternative to full fat cheeses are low fat ricotta cheese. For other dairy products the healthier options include skim milk, plain yogurt (add your own fruit), and cottage cheese.

5. Regular bacon
Although bacon is extremely tempting and delicious, it is fried fat and salt. 2 slices of regular bacon contain 120 calories and 10 grams of fat. Cured meats, including bacon, have been linked to dangerous stomach and colon cancers. A better option would be vegetarian sausage. 2 links of this only have 80 calories and 3 grams of fat. Turkey bacon is another healthy choice, saving you 40 calories, and 7g fat.

Although it seems hard and almost impossible at times to lose weight, certain changes to your diet and lifestyle can greatly contribute to weight loss.

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December 3, 2009

5 Best Acne Medications

Filed under: acne,acne remedy,acne treatment,drugs for acne,pimple solution,solutions for acne,Uncategorized — Candace @ 5:17 pm

Acne is a common problem today, not only amongst adolescents but also with adults. There are various solutions for acne. Some are prescription drugs, some are over the counter drugs, and some are natural solutions.

Prescription drugs -
1. Accutane – It is best to use Accutane for only extreme cases of acne problems. Accutane does have various side effects including birth defects, dry and cracked lips, and liver dysfunction. Accutane comes in two types of pills: 10 mg and 40 mg. Accutane is a strong version of vitamin A. It reduces the oils released by your oil glands, thus clearing your acne.
2. Tretinoin -Tretinoin is used to unclog your pores. Unfortunately the older versions of tretinoin were too strong for patient’s skin. The newer made edition of tretinoin is safer and less irritation. The various side effects are redness, dryness, itching and burning. If any symptoms occur a simple change to the strength or type of tretinoin may help.

Over-the-counter drugs -
1. Benzoyl Peroxide – Most benzoyl peroxide medications are available as over-the-counter medications. It dries and peels the skin, reducing oils and preventing further outbreaks of acne. Examples of over-the-counter creams or other types of medications using benzoyl are Neutrogena On-the-Spot, Clearasil, Persa-Gel, Clear by Design, and Fostex. These can be found at most supermarkets.
2. Proactiv – Everyone has heard of Proactiv. It’s been on infomercials, news stories, magazine articles, and newspaper articles. Prescription grade benzoyl peroxide is the secret ingredient in ProActiv. Proactiv is a 3 step system, including a renewing cleanser, revitalizing toner, and repairing lotion.

Natural Medications -
1. Tea Tree Oil – Tea tree oil has countless uses. One of these uses is to dry out your skin and solve acne. There are creative ways to apply the tea tree oil. For example you can make an acne mask by adding a few drops of tea tree oil to neroli, rosemary or thyme oil, mixed with a small amount of clay. Tea tree oil may not work as well as Benzoyl peroxide, but it does have fewer side effects. It is best to dilute the tea tree oil with a little bit of water before applying it directly to your face.

Acne will bother you, whether it’s a pimple or a severe case. However there are solutions to both severities of acne.

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December 1, 2009

Get Tested Is the Message for This Year’s World AIDS Day

Filed under: Africa,AIDS,cure acne,safe sex,testing,Uncategorized,vaccine,world AIDS day — John @ 3:59 pm

Today, December 1, is Worlds AIDS Day. Extensive research has granted us with treatments for the disease, but there is still no cure.

The spread of the AIDS virus has grown to the monster it is today. In 1990, roughly 8 million people were living with AIDS, but today nearly 33 million have contracted the disease. The majority of those living with the disease come from sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is not only affecting adults, millions of children are suffering from AIDS as well. Often times, these children were born with the disease. They had no chance of avoiding this disease, but are now burdened with it.

Therefore, all health officials in North America ask is to get tested. There are a significant number of people, thousands in the US alone, that are living with AIDS, but are unaware. Get tested regularly even if you don’t think you have the disease. The saying, “better safe than sorry” definitely applies here. Getting tested and using protection regardless of your sexual preference can help prevent transmission of the disease.

AIDS is not something to be taken likely. Always know that there are consequences for your actions. Hopefully we can develop a cure that can be made available to everyone, and hopefully it can be made soon. Too many have already died, and many more will continue to suffer until we can find that cure.

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