Tuesday, August 26, 2014

You Should Act Fast When Someone Around You is Having A Stroke


Stroke is a medical emergency. It occurs when:

1. the brain is deprived of oxygen supply due to blocked blood vessels and

2. there is internal bleeding due to burst blood vessels.

What to do when someone around you is having a stroke?

You should not waste time. 

Rush that person to the hospital immediately to avoid further damage to the brain. 

If the brain is deprived of oxygen for one minute to one a half minutes it will stop working because the cells have been damaged and if, within 3 hours there is no medical attention given, the patient will experience severe damage that is irreversible.

What are the signs and symptoms that a person is experiencing a stroke?

Remember the letters F-A-S-T. You should act fast and check the 

FACE. Deformed lips, and changes in the shape of the cheeks and eyes 

ARMS.  One arm is hanging because of the damage in a certain part of the brain.

SPEECH. The patient can no longer talk very clearly, his speech is slurred.

TIME. Time is of the essence in this situation. No time should be wasted. The patient should be treated immediately as any delay can mean a lifetime of regret. 

2 Types of Stroke

1. Ischemic. Ischemic stroke happens when there is not enough blood flowing to the brain depriving it of much needed oxygen supply to the brain.
   
2. Hemorrhagic. Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when blood accumulates within the skull area. This is further classified into intra-axial hemorrhage and extra-axial hemorrhage.

I recently read a blog that says there is a new way to tell when a person is having a stroke. The tongue. You need to check the person's tongue. Read it here

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Depression

     
Important facts bout depression:

  • Depression ranks second to schizophrenia in terms of admission to hospitals in the US.
  • Depression has been recognized as a clinical syndrome for over 2,000 years.
  • The chief complaint by depressed people often points to the diagnosis of depression.
  • Depression is considered the leading cause of disability worldwide.
                                                                  
Depression as we know it today has been called "melancholia" since the ancient times. If you are currently suffering from this disorder I want to tell you that up to this day, there is no definite explanation or answers to many questions that you might have regarding the disorder. Even the experts have not found the exact answers to all your questions. For example, some of the questions that might be bugging you are:
  • Is the depression you are experiencing merely your over reaction to a particular mood?
  • Is it a kind of disease or is it merely your reaction to certain stimulus?
  • What could be the most effective treatment for your type of depression?
  • Can this depression you're experiencing be attributed to your biological or psychological condition? 
Some medical experts says that depression is a psychogenic disorder which means that it is caused by emotional and mental stress, some say it is an organic disorder and a third group say it is both.

Regardless what's causing your depression, here are 7 Things That Can Worsen Depression. 
  • Lack of sleep
  • Stress
  • Certain food
  • Memories
  • Negative people
  • Social networks
  • Media 
Try to avoid them and you will be able to properly deal with your sickness.

Friday, April 18, 2014

How Spirulina Keeps You In Good Health


Spirulina comes from a class of bacteria that gets their energy from sunlight. It can be found in many places in land and in water such as lakes, seas and oceans, bare soil and rocks, and moist areas in desert lands.

Spirulina contains the following substances that are good for you:

It contains 60% proteins and all the eight essential amino acids.
It contains a significant amount of beta carotene
It is considered the best source of gamma linoleic acid.
It is a good source of vitamin B, trace elements, chlorophyll, enzymes and minerals.
Spirulina contains vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, and vitamin B9. It is also rich in vitamin A, C, D and vitamin E and a rich source of potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorous, selenium, zinc, chromium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium.

It also contains beta-carotene, in fact 3100% more beta-carotene than carrots, chlorophyll and other types of microscopic algae. It is a rich source of the fatty acids found in fish such as eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid, gamma-linolenic acid, linoleic acid, alpha-linoleic acid, stearidonic acid and arachidonic acid.

Spirulina is an effective chelating agent. It removes toxic minerals and radioactive substances from the body.

It protects the heart against damage caused by chemotherapy, protects against memory loss due to aging, lateral sclerosis and hay fever.

Experiments conducted on laboratory animals show that spirulina does not participate in the body’s metabolism and therefore does not contribute to a person’s weight loss efforts in other words spirulina does not help you lose body fats. 


Some people with business interest in spirulina claim that it is a good source of vitamin B12. However, the American Dietetic Association and the Dietitians of Canada declared that spirulina is actually not a reliable source of vitamin B12 because its content is a pseudovitamin B12 which is not used for human consumption.


Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Virgin Coconut Oil Is Great For Weight Loss



Virgin coconut oil does not make you fat which means this oil is great for those pursuing a weight loss program. If you love to eat macaroons, or certain food cooked in coconut oil or other coconut based food items, you don't have to worry. The fats in the coconut oil does not make you fat because it does not remain in your body which would otherwise have contributed to your weight gain.

The reason for this is the presence of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) in the coconut oil. Medium-chain fatty acids are fats that are easily oxidized and does not remain in the adipose tissues consequently helping you in your weight loss efforts which would result to a lean body free of excess fat and flabs.

Virgin coconut oil contains a combination of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) and medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAS).  MCFAs are easily absorbed and processed in the body even without the aid of the enzyme pancreatic lipase.

LCFAs on the other hand require the presence of the hormone pancreatic lipase for absorption in the intestines. They are carried to the liver by the lymph by systemic circulation where these LCFAs go through conversion to cholesterol, beta oxidation, or produced as triglycerides. LCFAs conversion to cholesterol is one reason why this kind of fatty acid does not help in weight loss.

MCFAs are transported to the liver through its main blood pathway, the hepatic portal vein where they undergo rapid oxidation and are transforme into energy ready to be utilized by the body leaving no chance of remaining in the body as belly fat.

Unlike the LCFAs, MCFAs are not involved in the choletesterol production cycle and therefore do not get to be part of the fats deposited in the body's fatty tissues which ultimately contributes to a person's sucessful weight loss efforts.

Virgin coconut oil (VCO) contains fatty acids, iodine, lauric acid, phenols, triacyglycerols, peroxide, anisidine, free fatty acids, and saponification.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

The Dangers of Folic Acid Deficiency


Our body does not produce Folic acid ( vitamin B9) like the rest of the B vitamins thus we have to get it from our diet.

Only plants, bacteria and fungi have the capacity to produce folic acid.

However, healthy people can store from 500 to 20,000 micrograms of folic acid in the body. When these people lack folic acid in their diet, they will not show the deficiency right away.

Their folic acid stored in their body is able to compensate for the short supply of this vitamin.

Folic acid deficiency is determined by counting the folic acid and vitamin B12 content in the blood.
  • When a pregnant woman lacks folate in her diet, it can affect the baby's ability to produce normal cells which results to neural tube defects in newborn babies. The baby could come out with harelip problems.
Folic acid governs the production of the components of DNA, the chemical substances that breathe life to all cells in the body. The amount of folic acid needed by the body should be equal to the number of cells produced at any given time.

Since cell production is at its peak during pregnancy, the amount of folic acid taken by the mother should be more than enough to fuel the vigorous cell production taking place in her body during that delicate stage in her baby's development.
  • Folic acid deficiency can increase the body's homocysteine level
The increase in the amount of homocysteine can lead to abnormal function of the endothelial cells of the heart.

Homocysteine also interacts with vitamin B12 and B6 and is affected by kidney function and heredity. One way to differentiate folic acid deficiency from vitamin B12 deficiency is by using the methylmalonic acid (MMA) level test. If the MMA level is normal it is folic acid deficiency. If the MMA is high, it is vitamin B12 deficiency.

  • Folic acid deficiency affects the production and repair of damaged DNA which could lead to the formation of cancer cells.
The lack of folic acid in the diet can cause imbalance of DNAcomponents, damage to the chromosomes and the defective union of uracil to DNA. The lack of folic acid can also interfere with the methylation of cytosine in the nucleic acids by decreasing the S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) content in the body which can eentually lead to the activation of cancer genes.
  • Folic acid deficiency affects the production of healthy red blood cells that can lead to megaloblastic anemia.
  • Folic acid deficiency can lead to glossitis, diarrhea, depression, confusion, and anemia.
Persons suffering from depression are low in both folic acid and vitamin B12.

Drinking alcohol makes folic acid deficiency worse.