Blood donation has become increasingly important in the world of medicine as advancements in technology have found more and more uses for units of blood. While most of the blood that is donated is used for direct transfusions into an injured person’s body, some blood can even be used to make medications through a process known as fractionation. Because of the nature of blood, many parts of the blood cannot be stored for long periods of time. For that reason, blood centers require a constant supply of blood donation in order to have enough blood on hand in the case of a disaster, or even in the case of a normal, routine transfusion. Unfortunately, the level of awareness of the importance of regularly donating blood is not where it needs to be in many parts of the world and at many times throughout the year. January is an especially poor month for blood donation because the stress of the holidays and travel schedules contribute to make donating blood not even a consideration for many people. National Blood Donor Month is observed in January and the purpose of the designation is to raise awareness of the importance of regularly donating blood.

The process of donating blood starts with unpaid volunteers who give blood in order to contribute to a community supply. Although most cases of blood donation are solely on a charitable basis, other forms of blood donation can be incentivized or rewarded based on the wishes of the blood supply that is seeking donors. Potential donors must be evaluated first to determine whether or not any health conditions will make the blood unusable in a transfusion or if the donor is healthy enough to give blood. Diseases that can be transmitted through a blood transfusion, such as HIV, are screened, and a medical history and short physical examination follow to make sure that everything will go smoothly. A donor can give blood as often as every several days to every couple of months, longer or shorter depending on the health of the donor and the laws in the area in which the donor is trying to give blood. The most common way of obtaining blood is through a vein, and blood obtained in this manner is called whole blood. About 500 milliliters of blood are typically drawn, and then the blood is stored in a plastic bag containing a combination of several chemicals that aid in preserving the blood and preventing it from clotting. After the whole blood is taken from the vein, the plasma can be separated from the rest of the blood in order to perform specific plasma transfusions. The blood in its entirety is more rarely used than the constituent parts of the blood. Whole blood can also be used in fractionation to make medication.

The site from which the blood is taken is then covered with a bandage, which the donor is to keep on for several hours. After donating blood, donors are kept on site for about fifteen minutes to make sure that no adverse reactions occur, and that if they do, they do not occur while the patient is driving home or unable to get any help. Blood centers also provide light refreshments to help the donor recover faster. The rate at which the plasma is replaced in the blood is usually around two or three days, whereas replacing the red blood cells in the blood can take up to eight or nine weeks. Depending on how fast a donor’s body replaces the red blood cells, he or she can donate again in about three weeks or as late as two months. Using a special process, blood centers can take only the plasma from the bloods, leaving the red blood cells, and depending on the laws in one’s country, a donor can give generous amounts of plasma fairly often. American plasma donors can give large amounts of plasma twice a week, leading up to about 80 liters every year, while Japanese plasma donors are only allowed to give about 16 liters per year because of stricter regulations. Similarly, the United States has determined that red blood cell donors should wait at least eight weeks between blood donations, while Australian blood donors must wait twelve weeks.

While blood donation is a fairly simple process for the donor, the importance of regularly donating blood is not completely understood by a large portion of the community. In the United States alone, about 39,000 units of blood are necessary in hospitals and emergency facilities all around the country in order to help save the lives of accident victims and surgery patients. For this reason, the American Association of Blood Banks, or the AABB, designates January as National Blood Donor Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of blood donation. For almost forty years, January has been recognized as National Blood Donor Month, making it a great time to spread the word about blood donation and how it can help people every day. Although the amount of blood donations decreases in January, the need for donating blood always remains constant, with someone requiring a blood transfusion every three seconds in the United States alone.

The pledge to regularly donate blood makes the perfect New Year’s resolution: why not vow to do something that can potentially save another person’s life while only requiring a short amount of your time? If you are at a loss as to where you can actually go about donating blood, you can use this blood donation search engine that will help you locate a blood bank near you. This tool allows you to make a proximity search that will help you locate the closest blood bank. You can also read a list of frequently asked blood donation questions that you, as a donor, may have before heading to the blood bank. If you ever wondered about whether or not you will feel pain during the blood donation, how much time the whole process will take, or a variety of other questions, the FAQ is a good read. You can also go one step further for National Blood Donor Month and print out several campaign materials to place around your workplace or school. A list of printable blood donation materials is available that you can use to find a flier or poster that will help to educate members of your community in the importance of regularly donating blood. Keep in mind that donating blood requires that the donor be 17 years old or older, 110 pounds or heavier, and certain other requirements in order to ensure a healthy and safe donation.

National Blood Donor Month is a time to remind oneself about the great difference that regularly donating blood can have in your community. Should the unfortunate situation arise that a member of your community desperately needs a blood transfusion, one can only hope that there will be enough blood on hand to help save the victim’s life. Donating blood regularly and encouraging others to do so can protect you and your loved ones in the event that an emergency situation occurs, so it is only logical and right to do your part and give blood.

A wonderful place to start on your search for knowledge about health and fitness is About’s section devoted to health. Here you will find a huge amount of links that will take you to sites that are specifically geared towards whatever health concerns you may have. Categories include things like Bones, Joints, & Muscles, Digestive Health, Healthy Living, Heart Health, and Women’s Health. For example, if you are concerned about the risk of heart attacks or if you want to get tips about how to prevent heart disease from occurring in the first place, you can look under the Heart Health category to find the Heart Attacks subcategory, a link that leads you to the heart disease section of about.com. Each section of the website is manned by a expert in the category so you can be sure that the information you find in each of the sections is accurate and helpful.

If you are a man looking to get healthy and fit, then Men’s Health is an excellent place to look for all of your health and fitness needs. This is the kind of website that only a man can enjoy, with all kinds of tips to get you or the man in your life looking and feeling. The home page of the web page contains links to all kinds of articles that contain health and fitness tips, news about the science behind health and fitness, and guides to obtaining the perfect body that you have always dreamed about. There is also a link on the homepage to the Experts section of the webpage where you can navigate through to sections such as Muscle Guy, Weight-Loss Coach, and Nutrition in order to get your back on track and on the way to a fit body.

On the other side of the gender divide, women are certainly concerned with their health and fitness, with losing weight, staying healthy, and reducing the effects of aging all popular concerns among women and potential candidates for the coveted spot of New Year’s resolution. Women’s Health is a great place to look if you are a woman looking to increase your standard of living, as the website contains all sorts of health and fitness tips that will get your body up to where it needs to be. The fitness section of the website has all kinds of articles that are tailor made for women who are looking to lose weight and get fit the healthy way, detailing the workouts you should try and the fitness practices you should definitely avoid. You can also find a variety of new and exotic workouts that are interesting and fun, but most importantly very helpful in shedding the weight. A section on nutrition is just as helpful in determining what foods you should be eating and which you should be avoiding on your quest to have the perfect body at your ideal weight. From healthy and tasty recipes to articles on foods with a variety of health benefits, you can find everything you need to start fueling your body with smart foods. Women’s Health is a great place to go if you are a woman looking to brush up on your health and fitness information.

Both men and women can find plenty of useful information at Fitness Online, an excellent source for any information related to fitness. With a handy search tool, you can type in a question or a topic for which you would like to find information, or you can navigate from the homepage to a variety of useful tools. A great place to get started is the Fitness Calculators section which will allow you to determine such useful statistics as your Body Mass Index, Ideal Weight, the amount of calories burned when you do a certain activity for a certain length of time, and the amount of sleep you should be getting. You can also subscribe to a variety of free newsletters: Fit Pregnancy, Flex, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Natural Health, and Shape. These newsletters contain useful information and are mailed to you regularly, both to keep you in the loop as far as fitness information is concerned and perhaps to remind you to get all of your exercise and fitness goals accomplished each and every day. Right down the middle of the home page are several categories containing interesting and informative articles in the following categories: Lose Weight, Get Fit, Build Muscle, Eat Healthy, Expert Advice, and Pregnancy Fitness. These are great articles to look at if you feel like you are doing everything you can in these fields but still need that extra bit of help or insight in order to do something different and get the results you have been looking for. All in all, Fitness Online is a wonderful website that will serve perfectly as a place to get started on your quest for a fit body that will last you a lifetime.

The internet is a vast place and there are tons of websites that contain nuggets of information that may or may not be helpful to you as you strive to become healthier and fit in order to live longer and enjoy life more. The previously mentioned websites are all great places to start as you learn more about getting healthy and fit the right way, but make sure that your journey to fitness does not begin and end by looking through these websites. Putting the tips contained within these websites to use is a matter of determination and willpower in many cases, and in the spirit of the New Year and the ubiquitous New Year’s resolutions, now is as good a time as any to get started.

The AIDS pandemic has taken the lives of over 25 million people, while about 33 million people continue to live with the disease. In the year of 2007 alone, more than two million people died due to causes related to AIDS, with 330,000 of these people being children. The majority of these deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, but thousands of people die each year in the United States alone due to the disease. Treatments can slow the progression of AIDS, but there is currently no vaccine or cure. As it stands, AIDS is primarily treated using antiretroviral medications that allow AIDS sufferers a better quality of life, but access to these medications is often very difficult due to the fact that they can be very expensive and not every country has a supply of the medications. One of the biggest issues facing many AIDS victims, though, is a lack of understanding on the part of those who do not have AIDS, which is the primary reason for World AIDS Day. On December 1st, World AIDS Day takes place in order to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is primarily responsible for causing AIDS. Although AIDS has been around since the beginning of the 20th century, it was only discovered in 1983 by French scientist Luc Montagnier. The origin of HIV is hotly contested and nobody knows for sure how the virus came to exist, but the consensus in the scientific community is that non-human primates, in some way or another, passed along a form of SIV, simian immunodeficiency virus, which eventually mutated into HIV. Two version of the virus exist: HIV-1 is more virulent, easily spread, and remains the culprit in the majority of AIDS cases across the world, while HIV-2 is less transmissible and is mostly present in West Africa.

Because of the nature of the virus, HIV does not randomly appear in anybody: through various forms of bodily interaction, HIV spreads from one person to the next. The majority of HIV infections are acquired through unprotected sexual intercourse. When one partner is infected with HIV, the virus can pass itself along to the other partner through the secreted bodily fluids, potentially infecting the other partner. Any form of sexual intercourse that involves transmission of bodily fluid can potentially transmit HIV from one partner to the other, which means that using latex condoms is heavily recommended to those involved in sexual practices. Even then, the risk is only reduced by 85%, making abstinence the only way to positively avoid transmitting the virus. A popular misconception remains that only homosexual males are affected by AIDS, but heterosexual intercourse is one of the leading causes of HIV transmission. Regardless of age, gender, or sexual orientation, the risk of becoming infected with HIV during unprotected sexual intercourse is very real, especially if neither partner has been tested for the presence of HIV, or if either partner is aware of having HIV but does not tell the other partner.

When AIDS was discovered in 1983, it had already been around for several decades but scientists were not yet able to classify the disease. Once the cause of AIDS had been determined and the severity of the condition was understood, the next step for those concerned with the disease was to raise global awareness. The concept behind World AIDS Day originated in 1988 at the World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programs for AIDS Prevention. Since then, many governments around the world have championed the cause, providing many opportunities for the general public to learn about the condition and take action within their communities. From the inception of the program to 2004, UNAIDS, or the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and Aids, was responsible for organizing the World AIDS Day events, but since 2005, the responsibility has been that of the World AIDS Campaign. Before the World AIDS Campaign took over, each year had a special World AIDS Day theme, but since 2005, the theme has been “Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise”, a theme that will last until 2010. Every year, a more specific tagline is chosen, but until 2010, the general theme of World AIDS Day is to be aware of AIDS and to not spread it through unknowing sexual transmission.

Those who would like to prepare an event for World AIDS Day are encouraged to visit the World AIDS Campaign’s website. On the front page of the site, there is a list of ideas to help those who are looking to do something for World AIDS Day, including links to World AIDS Day materials for 2008, an International World Aids Day Calendar on which people are invited to mark their events for the day, information on various campaigns around the world, and a summary of World AIDS Days in years past. One of the biggest focuses of World AIDS Day activists is the G8 Summit, which will be hosted in 2009 by Italy. There, several of the world’s most populous and prosperous countries gather in order to discuss issues that are important to the global community, such as global warming. In the context of World AIDS Day, though, the G8 Summit is very important because the more that the global community is aware of AIDS, especially the community of the nations that have the means to do something about the AIDS crisis, the more chance that those suffering from AIDS will see relief. For that reason, the fight against AIDS does not begin with World AIDS Day; rather, the point of World AIDS Day is to bring awareness to the global community so that leaders around the world can help to solve the AIDS crisis.

The World AIDS Campaign’s website also has a section devoted to in-country campaigns all across the world. This is a great way to see what is going on in your country so that if you choose to become involved in the fight against AIDS, you have the chance to do something. For example, people living in the United States can attend the New York City Event at St. Bartholemew’s Church, or any of many events held throughout the country. If there is no event in your area but you are passionate about the cause, there is always the option of downloading the World AIDS Day materials on the World AIDS Campaign’s website in order to spread the word on your own. Since AIDS has spread all across the globe and does not discriminate between age, gender, or sexual orientation, the fight against AIDS is not limited to any part of the world. Even a contaminated blood transfusion can lead to AIDS, something that is completely out of the control of the victim and can potentially occur in anyone receiving a blood transfusion that is not sufficiently checked out. For that reason, those that have AIDS should not be ostracized or scorned as long as we understand how AIDS is transmitted and what we can do to prevent the chance of AIDS spreading. World AIDS Day is a time to dispel the myths about AIDS and to help get something positive accomplished for AIDS sufferers everywhere.

photo credit: debaird

Epilepsy can be defined as a neurological condition that, from time to time, disrupts the normal activity of the brain, producing brief disruptions to the electrical activity of the brain. The human brain functions because of the millions of tiny electrical charges passing between the nerve cells of the body and into the brain. A person affected by epilepsy may have this normal pattern frequently interrupted by bursts of electrical energy that are much more intense than the usual amount of electrical energy, creating a situation in which a person’s consciousness may be affected. In addition to this, muscle spasms can cause bodily movement to become uncontrollable and certain sensations may be dulled or removed for a short period of time. This is referred to as an epileptic seizure and they can vary in severity, frequency, and the time of day in which they occur. Some people may have epileptic seizures once or twice in a lifetime, while others may experience them several times each day, so there is no telling exactly how much a person with epilepsy may or may not actually suffer from epileptic seizures.

While seizures are a form of epilepsy, not all seizures point to the appearance of epilepsy. Drugs, high fevers, severe head injuries, and other disorders can all cause seizures that appear to be epileptic in origin, whereas they actually stem from another source. Sometimes people suffer from a single seizure and no source is ever found due to the elusive nature of seizures and the difficulty in diagnosing an event over which the victim has little control. Common misconceptions about epilepsy abound. Epilepsy does not involve fainting, a condition that is referred to as a narcolepsy and one that is frequently confused with epilepsy. Epilepsy and epileptic seizures are not caused by the holding of breath, and while some children may hold their breath until they pass out, this does not constitute epilepsy. Momentary confusion and forgetfulness, no matter how severe, does not constitute epilepsy either, nor is it catatonia, which is a mental disorder characterized by bizarre movements and stupor. Epilepsy is neither a cause of mental illness, nor is it a mental illness in and of itself, and the presence of epilepsy has no bearing on intelligence.

Epileptic seizures can be sparked by a variety of factors, including: lights that flash at a certain speed, the flicker of television screens or monitors, sudden loud noises or repetitive noises, consumption of alcohol, cigarette smoking, stress, headaches, menstruation, lack of sleep, having a bad day, and even sleep. It is important to note, though, that many people can experience epileptic seizures for seemingly no reason at all. Epilepsy can be life threatening if a person experiences status epilepticus, which is a prolonged seizure in which the person does not regain consciousness in between the seizures. Seizures that last anywhere from five minutes to thirty minutes, from most doctors’ estimates, are potentially life-threatening and should receive emergency medical attention whenever possible. If not immediately treated, these prolonged seizures can cause profound amounts of brain damage or death. Medicine is prescribed to treat epilepsy, not to cure it, and regularly taking this medicine prevents the most serious seizures in most cases. The most severe cases of status epilepticus take place when someone stops taking the medication.

About two million people in the United States suffer from epilepsy, and 75% of these people had their first seizures during childhood. That is why National Epilepsy Awareness Month is important: many parents of children would not know otherwise what their children are experiencing in the case of epileptic seizures, and spreading the word about epilepsy allows these parents to get the appropriate medication to help prevent seizures, especially the most severe cases. One of the things that the Epilepsy Foundation encourages everyone to do is to sign the petition that aims to stop discrimination against epilepsy sufferers and to improve their access to equal healthcare. By signing the petition and getting five friends to sign, each individual contribution paves the way for better healthcare for epilepsy sufferers, more funding for preventative epilepsy research, and other governmental actions that will ultimately improve the lives of over three million Americans, and potentially improve the lives of over 50 million people all across the world suffering from epilepsy.

There are plenty of events taking place all over the country in honor of National Epilepsy Awareness Month. Here you can find events taking place all over the country that will allow you to meet other people coping with epilepsy or to spread the word to the rest of the community if you do not happen to have epilepsy but would like to get involved with the cause. For example, the Epilepsy Foundation of Virginia has a whole host of activities planned throughout the state, ranging from a Family Fun Day in Charlottesville to a Roanoke Epilepsy Awareness Stroll, so there are plenty of opportunities for Virginians to get involved in a good cause. In New York, the Zoey Wade Big Bash for Epilepsy Awareness will take place on November 22, courtesy of the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island, so if you can make it to that event, you are encouraged to attend. Of course, you do not have to wait for an official event to be planned in your area if there is none: feel free to take the initiative and join with millions of epileptics and non-epileptics in raising awareness for a condition that is often overlooked by lawmakers.

November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month in the United States, a great time for everyone to get together for a good cause. While there are certainly plenty of troubles in the world today, one trouble that millions of people continue to face is epilepsy and the lack of attention being paid to the condition by lawmakers and healthcare workers alike. By signing the petition and taking part in educating your community, empowering epilepsy sufferers, and encouraging lawmakers to take action, you are doing millions of your fellow Americans a world of good, something which they would certainly do for you if you were in their shoes.

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Ever since the West Nile virus scare, people have been paying more attention to mosquitoes, the tiny, bloodsucking pests that are so easy to ignore – that is, until you have an unsightly bump that requires constant itching or an application of calamine lotion. Still, there are plenty of people who have never even heard of mosquito control efforts, or about the extent of damage that the pests, armed with the right kinds of viruses and bacteria, can do to an entire community. Mosquito control efforts curb the potential threat that the winged bloodsuckers could cause in the United States, but sadly, that is not the case in other places around the world. Mosquito Control Awareness Week, which is from June 22 to June 28 in 2008, aims to increase public knowledge regarding mosquitoes and mosquito control efforts that every family can undertake.

The word “mosquito” is originally a Spanish word dating back to the early 15th century. If you take the Spanish word for “fly”, the insect, and add the suffix that makes it a diminutive, you are left with something close to the modern-day English word. As insects that undergo complete metamorphosis, they begin life as an egg, hatch to become larvae, growing larger and becoming pupae, and then finally completing the metamorphosis into an adult. This whole process takes about two weeks, but different species and climate conditions can extend or shorten this length of time. From birth to becoming and adult, mosquitoes live in stagnant pools of water, and they cannot breed otherwise. Adult mosquitoes are not strong fliers, and a strong wind can totally relocate them if one arises, and they tend to live in cool, grassy areas, or near water puddles.

credit: jurvetson

As far as the bloodsucking part, only female mosquitoes actually collect blood from mammals. This is because the blood is required for them to produce their eggs. Males and females alike feed on nectar from flowers otherwise. Since females need protein in order to develop their eggs, and nectar has no protein, they must acquire the nutrient from the blood of mammals. They track their unwilling blood donors by scent, able to detect certain elements in carbon dioxide exhalations, sweat, and other types of bodily odor. According to popular belief, they can detect these scents from almost one hundred feet away. Mosquitoes can also detect heat, which allows them to home in on warm-blooded animals once they are within range. Some mammals are less prone to mosquito bites because of the scents they give off. This applies to humans, too, which explains why some people seem to be more desirable to mosquitoes than others.

So far, the idea of mosquitoes sucking blood from us does not seem completely unwarranted. After all, they are only trying to reproduce, and nature has provided them with only one method of acquiring the necessary nutrients to give birth to their offspring. The fact of the matter is that mosquitoes also act as disease carriers, transferring diseases from one group of mammals to another without actually catching the disease themselves. This is the root of the mosquito’s danger. When a mosquito bites, it also injects saliva and a certain substance to make the blood thinner to allow for easier feeding. These may contain disease-causing viruses and parasites that are immensely dangerous to humans.

Because of the vast numbers of mosquitoes that exist in certain places and their absolute singularity of mind when it comes to acquiring blood from mammals, mosquitoes are responsible for transmitting over 700 million diseases annually, resulting in millions of deaths across the world. These are mostly focused in Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico, and many parts of Asia; in other, more developed areas, mosquito bites are mostly a nuisance, but they can still cause deaths under certain circumstances. The first of such diseases to be associated with the insects were yellow fever and malaria, which were common killers during the efforts of creating the Panama Canal. Workers were constantly catching the diseases and there were several attempts to discover the reason until mosquitoes were finally identified as the culprits.

Because of all this, Mosquito Control Awareness Week is very important in order for people to realize the potential threat that mosquitoes pose, both in our country and around the world. When the West Nile virus was accidentally introduced to the United States in 1999, and especially by 2003 when it had spread to almost every state, there came about a bigger national emphasis on the winged pests that, in recent times, had been seen as a nuisance and nothing more. The aim of the week is to have people pursue the necessary means to reduce backyard mosquito populations and stagnant water puddles in order to curb the population of mosquitoes that may carry harmful parasites.

credit: pandemia

According to experts in the field, the most effective way to go about this is to deal directly with stagnant water because it takes away the major breeding ground for mosquitoes. If they cannot breed, then the amount of mosquitoes goes down, and with that, the chance that someone is targeted by a dangerous mosquito. There are also many other ways to reduce the chance to get infected with something like West Nile Virus. These include: avoiding outdoor activity during dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most likely to be feeding; wearing light clothing, long sleeves, and hats when outdoors; using U.S. EPA-registered mosquito repellents; vaccinating horses, mules, and donkeys; removing standing water from flower pots, trash receptacles, and other areas where it can pool; flushing pet food bowls and bird baths regularly; and reporting large areas of standing water to a mosquito control office in your area.

Organized mosquito control efforts exist in order to supplement the individual efforts that anybody can undertake in order to reduce the population of harmful mosquitoes. Their first step is to remove the breeding habitat, so that during their further efforts, they only have to deal with the mosquitoes that have already been adults. Then they modify the habitat so that it is less conducive to their breeding environment, removing standing water receptacles and, on a large scale, adding drainage to spots that tend to collect water. Sometimes, natural predators of mosquitoes are introduced into the habitat, as appropriate, in order to aid in the population reduction. Pesticides are then used to reduce larval and adult populations. This all-encompassing effort provides the maximum amount of coverage, creating the best situation for total mosquito removal.

Unfortunately, no matter what efforts we take in our backyard to curb the mosquito populations, there is not much we can do for the millions of people that suffer from mosquitoes transferring deadly diseases to themselves and their children. As part of Mosquito Control Awareness Week, you can also look on the Internet for reputable charities that aid these parts of the world in their efforts to reduce mosquito-related deaths. For example, www.projectmosquitonet.org donates insecticide-treated bed nets to children and pregnant mothers in Kenya. Although it seems simple, the effect that bed nets have on reducing the danger for those who use them is profound, potentially stopping millions of deaths. Your donation has a hand in distributing these mosquito nets, something which Mosquito Control Awareness Week, dedicated to raising awareness of these winged pests, should surely be recommending.

Photo credit: istockphoto

credit: FARBFROH

Meditation Practices

In meditation, you focus your mind on a particular object, mantra, thought or experience. Through meditation, you can experience a state of awareness, bliss and enlightenment. Though meditation techniques such as yoga, tai chi and others, vary quite a bit, most have the following elements in common:

Quiet Location
Most meditators practice meditation in a quiet location with as little distractions as possible. After years of meditating, some people can actually meditate in crowded public locations. However, this is not the norm – particularly for beginners.

Focus of Attention
In nearly every type of meditation, the meditator must focus his/her attention on specific object, mantra (phrase), the breath, thought or experience.

Open Attitude
During meditation, the meditator must let their thoughts flow freely. If wandering thoughts occur, they shouldn’t be suppressed but rather let them flow through and bring your attention back to the focus.

Health Benefits of Meditation

When your mind focuses on a particular part of the body in meditation, the blood flows to that part and the cells receive more oxygen and nutrients. Studies have shown through regular meditation, many people can reap physical, emotional and mental benefits. Yoga and meditation techniques are implemented to help reduce stress, accelerate learning programs, manage chronic pain and life threatening diseases, reverse some mental illnesses, and maintain overall well being.

Stress Reduction
Meditation has shown to combat stress and many stress related disorders. Most people who begin meditation do so to relieve stress. Stress can result from pressures experienced in all aspects of life. Stress can stem from work, family, illness, or other factors. If stress continues, conditions such as anxiety, depression, hypertension and heart disease may develop. Meditation is even used in hospitals and clinics in cases of chronic or terminal illness to reduce complications associated with increased stress.

Research studies have shown that hormones and other biochemicals in the blood that are indicative of stress decrease during meditation. And with regular meditation sessions, these changes stabilize so that a person is actually becomes less stressed during daily activities.

Pain Management
Those who suffer from chronic pain can oftentimes find no physical cure for their ailments. And though meditation may not completely eliminate pain, it can certainly help some people cope with pain more effectively.

Pain causes anxiety and anxiety decreases the threshold for pain. As you can imagine, a vicious cycle develops where patients begin to feel more and more pain and anxiety. You can break this cycle by practicing meditation. If you can learn to manage your anxiety through relaxation techniques and meditation, you will increase your pain threshold and reduce your anxiety level, resulting in a decrease in chronic pain and improvement in overall quality of life.

For women who are expecting, childbirth classes teach breathing exercises to help minimize the pain and anxiety of labor. This is another case of meditation and relaxation techniques helping with pain management.

High Blood Pressure
Meditation increases blood flow, slows heart rate, improves circulation and helps lower blood pressure. Those with hypertension who can lower their blood pressure significantly will reduce their risk of stroke, heart attack and other circulatory ailments.

Anxiety and Depression
Through meditation, you can develop emotional stability and improve overall quality of life. For those who suffer from anxiety attacks, meditation helps to lower the levels of blood lactate, thus resulting in less frequent attacks. Meditation also helps to increase serotonin production. Low serotonin is commonly associated with depression, insomnia and other physical disoreders.

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Meditation can help ease premenstrual syndrome (PMS), tension headaches and other such health problems. Because stress and anxiety leads to muscle tension, body aches and other PMS complaints, you can use meditation to reduce the stress and anxiety (and thus the symptoms). Though the effect of meditation are not always immediate, practicing meditation once or twice daily can result in a substantial reduction in the problems associated with PMS over a period of time.

Cancer
Dr. Ainslie Meares, an Australian psychiatrist who uses meditation with cancer patients, has written on the success of meditation in her field. “Nearly all such patients can expect significant reduction of anxiety and depression, together with much less discomfort and pain. There is reason to expect a 10 percent chance of quite remarkable slowing of the rate of growth of the tumor, and a 50 percent chance of greatly improved quality of life.” Many doctors agree with Dr. Meares conclusions and find that reducing stress often reduces the growth of cancerous tumors and relieves pain associated with cancer.

Infertility
Couples dealing with infertility issues oftentimes become depressed and anxious. Several doctora suggest meditation to help them cope with the stress, anxiety and depression associated with infertility problems. Women are more likely to get pregnant when they are not stressed out and worried. Additionally, some studies have shown an increase in sperm count and fertility in men who have reduced their stress levels through meditation and relaxation techniques.

Slower Aging
People who practice meditation experience a lowering of their body temperature. Lower body temperature leads to longevity. Also less stress improves the texture and tone of skin and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Concentration
Many professional athletes use meditation methods to help strengthen their mind and concentration. With a stronger mind, they are better able to guide their to execute physical projects. Thus, leading to improved preformance on the playing field. Pro athletes are not the only ones that can benefit mentally and physically from improved concentration. Nearly everyone can use a stronger mind to better their physical and athletic capabilities.

Other Ailments
Research has shown that meditation can also be helpful in combating other ailments and health problems including fibromyalgia, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome and others. Because so many illnesses are related to the effects of stress and anxiety, meditation can help fight all sorts of health problems.

Meditation Made Easy

With such overwhelming evidence about benefits of meditation, everyone should be meditating. Many people think that meditation is difficult or that they need to pay a lot of money for yoga or meditation classes. That simple isn’t the case. There are many different types of meditation that are easy to learn. As long as you have a quiet place to relax and can find just a few minutes a day, you can start meditate.

Books, CDs, classes and websites offer information about the various styles of meditation available. Though many people benefit from group meditation classes, you can actually learn to meditate on your own by looking up information on the Internet or checking out books from your local library about meditation techniques. It doesn’t need to cost you a dime.

Find a meditation method that feels natural and comfortable to you. Soon you will find yourself reaping the mental and physical health benefits of meditation.

According studies, nearly 20% of children are overweight these days. Obviously, that number various by race and country, however there is no doubt a trend that children are not as fit as they used to be a few decades ago. It’s truly becoming an epidemic.

The first step in battling childhood obesity is to understand why it is dangerous. A lot of people see a kid who is carrying extra weight as just a phase that the kid will grow out of over time. Oftentimes, the extra weight isn’t even viewed as a medical concern. But the more we understand childhood obesity and the long-term risk factors involved, the more people are starting to fight childhood obesity.

The origins of childhood obesity can start at any age. Typically, if a child is above the 90th percentile for their age and gender when it comes to body mass index, that child is considered obese. Body mass index, known as BMI, is a measure that uses a calculation based on height and weight to determine how much extra weight a person is carrying.

If your child has a BMI in the 90th percentile or higher, your child is considered to suffer from childhood obesity. To battle the problem, start by understanding why you should fight it. Childhood obesity can cause children to become ill. Type 2 diabetes is an disease that can occur in children who are obese. And while high blood pressure and high cholesterol counts are typically worrisome only for adults, children who suffer from childhood obesity sometimes can develop these problems.

Another ailment that can trouble kids with childhood obesity is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is an ailment that can cause a person to get a lack of oxygen while they sleep. Sleep apnea has been deadly in both adults and in children, the lack of oxygen can do damage to the developing brain. Sleep apnea in children has been linked to learning disorders and trouble with short-term and long-term memory.

Perhaps the worst part of childhood obesity is the fact that over half of those children who are obese will remain obese into adulthood. Obese adults have a shorter life expectancy than fit adults and they are more susceptible to many ailments and diseases. If you don’t help your child battle his or her obesity problem early in life, it is a problem that could haunt your child for the rest of their life. The gift of keeping your kids active and healthy is a gift that keeps on giving.

While it’s possible for genetics to play a role in childhood obesity, it isn’t the major cause. The first major cause is inactivity. Children these days are more inactive than ever. With television, video games and computers, children don’t need to venture out of their house to have fun. Most children can have all the fun they can handle without leaving their chair. For fun, kids used to interact with other kids by playing an outside sport. Now kids can have interact with others by playing multi-player video games. It’s not even really the fault of kids – it’s just a sign of the times.

The other major cause of childhood obesity is eating too much and eating poorly. Food portions have grown over the years. What would have passed as a hearty meal back in 1950 would look like a light snack today. And it’s not only food. Drink sizes continually get bigger and bigger. As the years go on, there’s no evidence that we should expect portion sizes to get smaller in size.

But even more damaging is what children are eating these days. Childhood nutrition is very important. Fast food, snacks and even more breakfast cereals are packed with wasteful calories. A big culprit is the added sugar and corn syrup that has found its way into almost every type of food. Children today consume almost five times as much sugar as they did in 1950. However, it’s not only sugar. Carbohydrates and fats are high in a lot of modern day food options such as fast food and microwavable food. All told, almost every child who suffers from childhood obesity consumes more than the recommended daily amount of calories for their age, height and gender.

While inactivity and poor diet are easily the two biggest reasons why more and more children suffer from childhood obesity, those aren’t the only reasons. Today, children have more pressure on them than ever. That pressure can lead kids to lean on food as a source of comfort when dealing with pressure.

Not only can childhood obesity lead to physical health problems, there are other problems children may face who are overweight. Low-self esteem is common for kids who suffer from childhood obesity. It’s common for overweight children to be picked on and bullied by other kids at school. This can lead to low-self esteem and even depression. Depression, just like the physical health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure, can last well into adulthood.

How can you make sure that your child won’t suffer from childhood obesity? While nothing in life is ever guaranteed, you can greatly help the chances of your child’s chances of becoming obese by taking a few steps as a parent. First of all, you should make sure that your child remains active.

Find an exercise that your child enjoys, such as a particular sport or an activity like riding a bike. If neccesary, you should join your child in their chosen activity. Between ten to fifteen hours a week of physical activity is preferred to help keep your child fit.

Also, as a parent, it’s your responsibility to give your child quality options when it comes to food. Cook healthy meals and have convenient, healthy snacks readily available at home. Avoid food that is high in empty calories. For example, you can replace the donuts and cookies in your house with healthy snacks such as fruits, raw vegetables and nuts. Also remember to keep portion sizes in control.

If you have a child who is already suffering from childhood obesity, while it’s a dangerous condition, it’s definitely treatable. Even though it might be difficult, you have to force your child to become more active and to eat better.

For exercise, an easy way to begin is to just walk around your neighborhood with your child. That can eventually lead to other types of activities. As far as food is concerned, you have to help your child break their bad habits. If you must, track the calories your child eats on a daily basis and make sure it’s within the recommended guidelines. As always, you should consult your doctor if your child is showing any negative signs or ailments that may be associated with their weight.

Overall, a child who is active, eats right and has supportive parents who are aware of the importance of avoiding childhood obesity has the best chance to remain healthy as a child and grow into a healthy adult.

By utilizing the top websites with fitness and weight loss information, you can acquire all the knowledge that you could possibly need. In addition to know-how, you can also find tools to help you along your way. Getting in shape, losing weight and staying fit isn’t easy. However, you can help yourself immensely by understanding what lies ahead.

If you are looking for the best of the best information, there are certain websites that rank higher than others. Here are the top websites for fitness and weight loss information:

Diets
When you are going on a diet, there are so many diet plans to choose from. It can quickly become overwhelming if you don’t know what you are looking for. Should you go on a low carb diet? Should you go on a low fat diet? Is a certain diet a fad diet or a dependable diet?

There are surely a lot of questions you will ask yourself when picking the diet that is right for you. Luckily, eDiets.com can help. Not only does eDiets.com have a huge inventory of diets, you can read about each diet and make an informed decision about which diet is right for you. No longer do you have to make it a guessing game because eDiets.com has all the information you could possibly need.

Healthy Recipes
Once you have picked the diet that is right for you, the next thing you need to do is learn how to prepare the foods that are available in your diet. If you’ve selected a low carb diet, for example, you will need to learn how to cook food without relying on carbs. This is where FoodFit.com comes into play.

At FoodFit.com, you can find a wide assortment of recipes that teach you how to make healthy food. It tells you what you need to make the food and the steps you need to take to prepare the food. A great thing about Food Fit is how the recipes are easy to find on the website.

Nutritional Numbers
Before you put anything in your body, you should understand what exactly it is that you are consuming. At NutritionData.com you can look up and see the nutritional information for virtually any type of food. For example, you can look up to see how many calories an ounce of chicken has. You will also see how much protein, fat and carbs the chicken contains, as well as vitamins and minerals.

NutritionData.com is very easy to use and you can quickly get into the habit of checking what you are eating by going to the website. You will quickly figure out that not everything you think is healthy food is actually healthy for you.

Counting Calories
When starting a diet, it’s never a bad idea to count calories. The number of calories you consume is ultimately a huge determining factor in whether or not your diet will be effective. If you think you are eating less but you are actually consuming a large number of calories a day, chances are you need to adjust your diet.

By using FitDay.com you can quickly and easily count your calories. All you do is enter in the food that you eat each day and it will total the number of calories you consumed. On top of that, it will give you a statistical breakdown of the vitamins and minerals that you got from your food. FitDay.com is a dieter’s best friend!

Fitness Advice
If you are interested in fitness, surf over to FitnessOnline.com to the best fitness advice on the internet. There is loads of information on this site. If it’s related to the world of fitness, you will be able to find it at FitnessOnline.com.

Whether your goals are losing weight, building muscle or anything else regarding fitness, FitnessOnline is the ultimate resource. No longer do you have to waste time searching countless websites!

Weight Loss Support Group
Losing weight is rarely easy. It takes a lot of dedication, sweat and sometimes tears. However, you can make losing weight easier by joining a weight loss support group. A weight loss support group can help you cope with the hard parts of losing weight.

Perhaps the best weight loss support group on the internet is Weight Circles. At WeightCircles.com you can connect with other people who are trying to lose weight just like you. By connecting, you can share tips and tricks you have learned. It will also help stay motivated to attain your weight loss goals.

Find a Gym
A lot of people who are looking to stay fit and lose weight opt to join a gym. With all the health club options available, it can sometimes be difficult picking the right gym for you. That’s where GymTicket.com helps out. At Gym Ticket you can locate gyms in your area and even get a free guest pass to try out a gym of your choice. With over 20,000 gyms in their database, you are almost sure to find a gym near you at GymTicket.com.

Exercise Equipment
If you would rather workout from home than at a gym, you will likely be in the market for exercise equipment. If you want to buy fitness equipment, the best place to look online is WarehouseFitness.com. You can find not only great prices at Warehouse Fitness, but also a huge selection. If a certain piece of exercise equipment is available online, you will be able to find it here.

Weight Training
The art of lifting weights can be hard to master. If you don’t know what you are doing, you could actually do more harm than good. By using the Critical Bench website you can learn the proper techniques to achieve the goals you want to achieve. With a huge amount of information, you want need to go anywhere else besides CriticalBench.com to learn about weight training.

Health Information
As you are getting fit and losing weight, you might come across any number of health concerns. While it’s always best to go to a doctor if you feel that the health concern is serious enough, you can also opt to use WebMD. At WebMD.com you can find a giant database of information that covers virtually everything you could every want to know about health and wellness. If you want to figure out how to treat a sprained ankle, you can find the information on WebMD. If you want to try to diagnose a certain pain you are feeling, WebMD.com can help.

As you begin on your path to getting fit, be sure to read and learn everything before you dive headfirst into it. By using the above websites, you can get the knowledge you need in easy to understand language. Once you are equipped with the knowledge, nothing should stand in your way. All you will need is an equal amount of dedication to match your knowledge and it’ll just be a matter of time before you succeed are reach your fitness and weight loss goals!

How LASIK Works

The cornea of the eye bends and focuses light to create an image on the retina. This works similar to the way a camera lens use light to create an image on film. Because the shape of the cornea and eye are usually not perfect, the image on the retina can be blurred. LASIK removes corneal tissue with a special laser to re-shape the cornea and improve its focus.

The LASIK eye surgeon uses a bladed microkeratome or a special laser to cut a flap in the cornea. Then using a laser beam of light, the doctor removes microscopic pieces of tissue to reshape the cornea. The flap is then laid back in place.

Initial Evaluation for LASIK

Though the actual LASIK procedure takes just minutes, you do need to prepare before undergoing the surgery. You will have an initial evaluation where the doctor performs a thorough eye examination. At the appointment, the doctor and patient will discusses the patient’s medical history and any current conditions to determine candidacy for LASIK eye surgery.

Because contact lenses change the shape of your cornea, it’s necessary to stop wearing lenses and switch to eye glasses BEFORE your initial evaluation.

If you wear soft lenses, stop wearing them for two weeks before the initial evaluation. Toric and rigid gas permeable lens wearers should stop three weeks ahead of time and hard lens wearers should swith to glasses four weeks in advance.

At the initial exam, the doctor will explain the surgical procedure, including its benefits, risks and any alternatives. You will learn about what to expect before, during and after the LASIK procedure.

Before signing the consent form and agreeing to the surgery, be sure that you ask any questions you may have, as well as understand the risks, costs and expectations.

Who is a Good Candidate for LASIK

Though eligibility varies, the surgeon will normally have you fill out a questionnaire and/or will ask you similar questions to these to determine if you are a good candidate for LASIK eye surgery.

Are you under 18 years old? (Young people are not considered good candidates, as their eyesight is still changing.)

Has your lens prescription changed in the last year? (Eyesight needs to be stable to perform LASIK.)

Are you pregnant? (Most surgeons will not perform LASIK on pregnant women.)

Do you suffer from uncontrolled diabetes, autoimmune disease or vascular disease? (Patients afflicted with these diseases are not normally considered good candidates.)

Do you have lazy eye, glaucoma or another eye problem? (This may not rule you out, but is taken into consideration.)

Do you suffer from severe dry eye syndrome? (This problem should be treated before undergoing LASIK.)

The doctor will also perform an eye exam to make sure that there are no other eye problems.

Complications and Risks of LASIK Eye Surgery

Though the risks are low with LASIK surgery, you should be aware that complications and risks do exist.

In very rare cases, some patients lose vision. Other patients develop halos or double vision after the surgery, particularly at night. You could be undertreated and need a second LASIK surgery, or on the contrary, you could be overtreated and need to wear glasses.

Patients can develop infections or severe dry eye syndrome, in which they do not produce enough tears. This condition can be uncomfortable and result in the need to use eye drops regularly.

In some cases, the cornea flap is not placed back properly and does not heal correctly. Wrinkles in the flap and other related complications may occur. Studies indicate that flap complications occur in from 0.3% to 5.7% of LASIK procedures, according to the American Journal of Ophthalmology (April 2006).

Because LASIK is a relatively new procedure (the first laser was approved for LASIK eye surgery in 1998), long-term effectiveness and risks cannot really be determined.

Cost of LASIK Eye Surgery

Though the cost of LASIK eye surgery has decreased in recent years as more surgeons have become trained to perform laser eye surgery, be wary of advertisements claiming “LASIK under $500 per eye” or similar messages. Cheap LASIK procedures often time require additional follow-up surgeries because they are performed with less precise laser equipment.

If the cornea flap is cut with a bladed microkeratome the procedure is less expensive than if the flap is created with a laser (IntraLase).

LASIK eye surgery is generally priced between $1,000 to $2,500 per eye. According to a leading industry analyst report at AllAboutVision.com, the average price for LASIK with bladed microkeratome in 2007 was $1,694, while the average price for Waverfront LASIK with IntraLase was $2,357.

You can read more about the difference in blade vs bladeless LASIK, here at All About Vision.

During LASIK Eye Surgery

You will not feel any pain during the LASIK procedure. You eyes are anesthetized with special eye drops. You will lay down and a retainer is put in place to help keep your eye open.

Using an ink marker, the doctor will mark the cornea before the flap is created. Then, the surgeon creates the flap with either the microkeratome or laser.

Using a computer to adjust the laser to your prescription, the doctor will then use the laser to remove your corneal tissue. During this time, you will need to stare at a target light for a very short time period. The flap is then put back in place.

The doctor will then proceed with your second eye. The whole procedure should take about five minutes.

After LASIK Eye Surgery

After having LASIK eye surgery, your doctor will give you any pain medication (which is usually not necessary) or drops that you may need. After the procedure, someone else must drive you home from the doctor’s office.

It is recommended that you relax for a few hours after the surgery. You may be able to return to work the following day. Most LASIK surgeons recommend you do not exercise for a week after the surgery.

Avoid rubbing your eyes as there is a slight chance you will dislodge the flap or affect the healing of your eyes.

After LASIK, most people achieve 20/20 vision or better. However a number of patients may still need glasses or contact lenses. These patients can also opt for a follow up surgery to enhance the original procedure. Many LASIK eye surgeons currently offer one follow-up surgery as part of the cost of the original LASIK surgery.

LASIK Resources

To learn more about LASIK eye surgery, visit the following websites or contact your local eye doctor.

• FDA – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration offers information about LASIK surgery, including details on FDA-approval, risks, benefits and more.

   

• All About Vision – This comprehensive website includes information on LASIK, contact lenses, eyeglasses, eye diseases and other vision concerns.
• Doc Shop – History, evolution and details about the LASIK technique, its risks and benefits.
• Laser Eye Center – Information about one of the most popular and established LASIK surgery centers in the country.
• Ophthalmology – Resources for ophthalmology, including clinics, journals, institutes and other organizations.

This year, millions of people will resolve to shed their extra pounds. After a month or two of fattening holiday dinners, we could all work MSNBC’s Seven Diet Changes into our new diet resolution.

• Don’t forget your fiber: Most Americans don’t eat the recommended 21 to 38 grams of daily fiber, so make an effort to fill up on one protein and two fiber-rich foods per meal, like yogurt with granola and nuts.
• Eat your veggies: Dark green leafy vegetables, like spinach and romaine lettuce, are rich in beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant. They’re also low in calories and high on taste.
• Fill up on beans: As a high-protein and carbohydrate-rich food, beans also help control regularity and cholesterol, and fill you with folate, potassium, and magnesium. Some beans, like the ever-popular black bean, are also rich in antioxidants that improve brain function and fight inflammation.
• Fresh fish: As a high-protein, low-fat food rich in vitamins and minerals, fish is a delicious, filling and healthy alternative to your usual beef or chicken.
• Stock up on potassium: Found in many whole foods, like bananas and leafy vegetables, potassium helps maintain water balance in your body. Eat 4 1/2 cups of potassium-rich foods a day, and you’ll not only feel full, but healthy too.
• Control your portions: One of the biggest diet pitfalls is eating too much, even of a good thing. Watch your portions and try to readjust your idea of what a full meal is. In time, you’ll eat less and feel just as full.
• Take your time: Don’t try to change your eating habits all in one day. Instead, focus on phasing changes in slowly so that you won’t get frustrated or burned out.

(Photo via flickr cc)