Keep Health Up

Archive for April, 2009

The flu is a virus that can make you sick for a week or even longer. Often when you have the flu right diet can help you to regain your health. Obviously flu and diet are not mutually exclusive and if you are not feeling well you should choose the proper diet as well as to learn what foods must be avoided.

It is no secret that healthy eating habits lead to a healthier lifestyle, less prone to illness and disease. Some diseases, however, are so insidious that nearly everyone must suffer through them occasionally, regardless of how carefully they plan their meals. Influenza is one such disease: while a nutritious diet can help lessen the flu’s effects and duration, it cannot usually be avoided entirely. Certain foods, however, can either strengthen the body’s immune system or prolong the unpleasant nausea, fever, aches, and other flu symptoms.

Flu is very unpleasant thing and one should be to the point of seriousness of the problem.
Any junk food with empty calories – candy, soda, etc.
Excessive sweeteners such as sugar.
Alcohol, coffee, or tea – these lead to dehydration.
Fried foods or spicy foods – these can upset the stomach further.
Cheese, milk, butter, and other dairy products – these will thicken the nose and throat mucus, giving the virus a better breeding ground.
Excessive salt – this will also dehydrate the body.
Drink a lot, primary sour and worm drinks
Be in your bed
Don’t forget to consult your family doctor with questions about your individual condition

TWO Scots were in isolation in hospital undergoing tests for swine flu last night as the global health scare spread to the UK,news.scotsman.com reports. The Scottish Government said the couple, believed to be from the Forth Valley area, fell ill shortly after returning from a holiday in Mexico last Tuesday and were immediately taken to Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, for tests.

The world’s governments raced to avoid both a pandemic and global hysteria Sunday as more possible swine flu cases surfaced from Canada to New Zealand and the United States declared a public health emergency. “It’s not a time to panic,” the White House said.

The outbreak’s epicenter Mexico with up to 86 suspected deaths, canceled some church services and closed markets and restaurants. Few people ventured onto the streets, and some wore face masks. Canada became the third country to confirm cases, in six people, including some students who — like some New York City spring-breakers — got mildly ill in Mexico. Countries across Asia promised to quarantine feverish travelers returning from flu-affected areas.

The U.S. declared the health emergency so it could ship roughly 12 million doses of flu-fighting medications from a federal stockpile to states in case they eventually need them — although, with 20 confirmed cases of people recovering easily, they don’t appear to for now.

Make no mistake: There is not a global pandemic — at least not yet. It’s not clear how many people truly have this particular strain, or why all countries but Mexico are seeing mild disease. Nor is it clear if the new virus spreads easily, one milestone that distinguishes a bad flu from a global crisis. But waiting to take protective steps until after a pandemic is declared would be too late.

According to BBC Health News Frank Kinlan lost more than seven stone, having weighed 21 (133kg) but deciding one morning he had to do something.

“One morning I looked in the mirror and thought that I had got to do something, so I picked the phone up and got an assessment with my local health trust.”

Frank was morbidly obese, with a BMI (body mass index) of 42.

I would be out of breath going up the stairs because I was winded carrying the extra weight

Frank Kinlan

“I was massive, with a 46-48 inch waist, and I found it difficult to get clothes to fit,” he said.

Assessors told Frank, aged 49 who is from the Wirral, that he needed to lose weight and exercise more. They signed him up for their initial 12-week course, which used British Heart Foundation guidelines.

But the idea of exercise was an anathema to Frank, who was so worried about the effect of his weight on his health and his extremely high blood pressure, that he was doing nothing.

“I had slowed my life down to an absolute nothing and did nothing. The diet was bad and I was probably on the verge of diabetes and some other problems,” he said

“I would be out of breath going up the stairs because I was winded carrying the extra weight.

“I turned up at the first class and they told me to do 30 minutes of exercise a day, five days a week.”

For 10 years Frank Kinlan’s bike remained unused and gathering dust in his attic.

He piled on the pounds and did no exercise, but refused help to lose weight.

Then one morning, weighing 21 stones (133kg) Frank decided he had to do something.

“One morning I looked in the mirror and thought that I had got to do something, so I picked the phone up and got an assessment with my local health trust.”

Frank was morbidly obese, with a BMI (body mass index) of 42.

I would be out of breath going up the stairs because I was winded carrying the extra weight

Frank Kinlan

“I was massive, with a 46-48 inch waist, and I found it difficult to get clothes to fit,” he said.

Assessors told Frank, aged 49 who is from the Wirral, that he needed to lose weight and exercise more. They signed him up for their initial 12-week course, which used British Heart Foundation guidelines.

But the idea of exercise was an anathema to Frank, who was so worried about the effect of his weight on his health and his extremely high blood pressure, that he was doing nothing.

“I had slowed my life down to an absolute nothing and did nothing. The diet was bad and I was probably on the verge of diabetes and some other problems,” he said

“I would be out of breath going up the stairs because I was winded carrying the extra weight.

“I turned up at the first class and they told me to do 30 minutes of exercise a day, five days a week.”

Rita Levi Montalcini became a Nobel Prize-winning scientist for discovering of growth factors in Physiology/Medicine in 1986. Today she celebrates her 100th birthday. Yeas, she is 100 years old and says that even though she is about to turn 100, her mind is sharper than it was she when she was 20!

So, today she shares with a secret helped her to stay healthy so long.

“Above all, don’t fear difficult moments,” she said. “The best comes from them.”

“I should thank Mussolini for having declared me to be of an inferior race. This led me to the joy of working, not any more unfortunately, in university institutes but in a bedroom,” the scientist said.

Her white hair elegantly coifed and wearing a smart navy blue suit, she raised a glass of sparkling wine in a toast to her long life.

I would like to start from these very interesting comments on the article Career Women at Midlife: Sadder and Sicker published in Bussiness Week as the examples of different suggestions and points of view on the problem of

Catie
 I long ago realized that you can’t have it all. I guess I’m fortunate that Mom. Grandmom, Great Grandmom were all working women. I grew up knowing that work and family drag you in different directions, you can’t be that parent at all the school activities and you sometimes have to tell the office NO. You cannot do everything 100% right all the time. I don’t fool myself into believing I am Superwoman. I understand what I can and cannot do and speak up about it. although there are certainly some problems with the current system, honestly who would want to go back to being a dependent 50′s house frau? I like earning my own money, developing my own career, and not expecting my husband to have to support me.
 

AMP

 I realized a couple of years ago that I can’t do all things well at the same time. In other words, I am a mother, an employee, a wife and a daughter. I can not be 100% at all of these things all of the time. When, I resigned myself to just making sure that in this juggling act ‘none of the balls drop’, I instantly became happier. I realized that I was the one putting on the pressure; not my husband, children, parents, etc. Allowing myself to not be the best at all things all the time has made all the difference for me.
David
Apr 14, 2009 8:24 PM GMT
 Women fell for the myth that somehow the business and career path led to “happiness” and “Fulfillment” that was sold by the media and women’s groups like NOW. How did the briefcase carrying, power suit wearing woman bcome the “ideal”. All they had to do was ask any man: work is a grind that is required to live. That’s all. Too bad it took them 40 years and inumerable hearty attacks and strokes to learn that.
 

polly pearson
Apr 10, 2009 8:48 PM GMT
 Regarding the suggestion to model a fulfilling life at different stages, EMC just produced a book that could help. It contains stories written by about 100 working mothers spanning multiple age, profession, and geography demographics. In one page stories, the women reveal the joys, stress, guilt, demands, and motivation that make up their lives. They also share tips for how they manage. One outcome of this sharing of stories, insights, and tips could be that women and men from around the world gain a greater awareness of the working mother experience, through which productive and fulfilling lives can be better shaped while we all continue to nurture the next generation. Regards, Polly Pearson VP Employment Brand and Strategy Engagement EMC Corporation
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Angela
Apr 7, 2009 4:24 PM GMT
 I always tell young women not to buy into the hype that today’s woman can have it all. The truth is you can try to have it all but you’re going to end up living with a lot of unhealthy guilt. I don’t know if there’s a fix out there for this or if it’s just a reality we have to live with.
Darlene
Apr 7, 2009 2:37 AM GMT
 I think as women are aging and slowing down that we feel guilty that we can’t or are not willing to do everything we use to do. Therefore the guilt is making us sick. When we should embrace ourselves for the excellence career we strived for, the great children we raised & the ex that didn’t help you with the little(or big) things that stressed us out.
lgal
Apr 2, 2009 7:33 PM GMT
 One thing that wasn’t mentioned was the biological aspect(I wonder if it was even explored?) Women start losing testosterone in their early/mid 40′s, losing the drive they once had. It is a mid-life crisis and it is physical as well as psycological.
Serena
Apr 2, 2009 3:46 PM GMT
 Conlin hits the mark for what so many high achieving career women are experiencing. The economic downtown may provide an opportunity for many to re-assess and determine what is best for them in the Career 2.0 life phase. Jason’s comment is absolutely RIDICULOUS! The last thing we need is paternalism. It’s offensive.
KCopas
Apr 2, 2009 12:34 PM GMT
 ’the stuff of glossy-magazine perfection’ is at the heart of problem. the media have perpetuate a plastic world which we blindly strive to achieve. Guess what, plastic world is not the real world. That’s why men and women have mid-life crises. Everything they dreamed of and worked so hard for was an illusion. The difficult bit is hitting that realisation. We need to put health before wealth and keep our egos under control.
 

john
Apr 1, 2009 10:27 PM GMT
 ”here’s the bright spot…girls are trouncing boys”. If true, why is this to be celebrated? if false, why is this to be claimed?