Have you ever think about quitting smoking? But don’t know how to? Have you ever imagined what will your life be after 10 years from now if you still continue smoking? Well, probably you will have some diseases that might be a problem for you. Did probably know that you can get cancer or other disease from smoking. Some still thinks of ways how to get rid of their addictiveness in smoking. Some doctors say once you start smoking it will take so much time to get rid of it because of the ingredients that cigarette have. Well have you heard about this electric cigarettes? This is made to help you quit your smoking without noticing it in any time. Electronic cigarettes is quickly rising in popularity as more smokers become aware of this healthier smoking alternative. So in this way, you won’t notice that your addictiveness in smoking will be gone in no time. Try to check out their site for more info at smokeelectriccigarettes.info, stop smoking now and live a healthy life…

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  Looking for a health related course? Right now being a  medical assistant is in demand. This is one of those health related courses that you should take in consideration. Medical assistants are healthcare professional that uses administrative and some clinical tasks to be able to keep the offices of doctors, podiatrists, and any other health care practitioners. This type of course  was envisioned to grow much faster than normal which makes it one of the fastest growing jobs over the next ten years. These days, you cannot just take in this type of course at medical school or universities but it is also offered online. One of online schools on which this course is being offered is St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants. Now, you can become one of those medical assistants online at St. Augustine which id nationally accredited and is a certified Medical Assistant Program. Not only that you are assured to have a quality learning but you can also save a bit since this school is more convenient than any other online school that offers the same course. So if you speak about medical assistant course online, just think of St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants.

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There may be a new ray of hope for glaucoma patients striving to preserve their vision. According to a recent study that appears in August’s online issue of BMC Ophthalmology, just ten minutes daily of aerobic exercise may help prevent further vision loss.

 

Researchers from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Department of Anesthesiology at the "G.Papanikolaou" Regional Hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece, sought to explore the effects of exercise on medicated patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG).

Glaucoma is a disease that causes damage to the optic nerve, often resulting in severe vision loss or blindness. It is an irreversible condition that affects roughly 4 million people in the United States, about half of whom are unaware that they have it. Women, persons with diabetes or stroke, and African American men over 40 are at a greater risk.

Although glaucoma is typically seen in the elderly (persons over 60), everyone is at risk. Glaucoma may develop with or without symptoms, and as many as 10 percent of people receiving proper treatment will still experience vision loss. High intraocular pressure (IOP) is one of its many risk factors.

“Since exercise increases systemic fibrinolytic activity (such as dissolving blood clots), one can speculate that exercise decreases intraocular pressure by facilitating (uveoscleral) outflow,” authors of the study wrote.”

Based on this information, researchers gathered data from 145 individuals—100 healthy and 45 with POAG. Prior to testing researchers checked IMP levels using Goldmann’s applanation tonometry, a method of measuring the amount of pressure needed to flatten the cornea.

IMP was measured again hours after receiving medicated eye drops. Participants were then asked to engage in “moderate to sub-maximal” aerobic exercise (on a bicycle) for 10 minutes, after which IOP data was again measured. All participants experienced lower IOP levels, even in the participants who received no medication.

“Regardless of the antiglaucoma medication instilled, they still benefited from the aerobic exercise since they all had a post-exercise reduction of IOP,” the authors wrote in the study. “It is obvious that these patients should be encouraged to perform aerobic exercise.”

 

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We all on the earth have to accept one of most fact of life is “Growing old”. With old age we lose some of our physiological functions that hasten death. This loss occurs primarily within the cells in our brain, heart, kidney, and bones.

We have to aware from signs of aging and the correct way on how to slow them.

Creases, Lines on the Skin a especially with old age at face, called Wrinkles. It’s one of the most Natural Part of Aging.
Most of Young aged people’s skin also affected by this condition, if they are smoker or skin damaged by sun.

Ultraviolet (UV) rays in atmosphere from sunlight, can damage collagen and elastin, which are very helpful our skin smoothness. Collagen is a protein that makes up a large part of your skin.

The toxins in cigarette smoke stop your skin from producing as much new collagen. So we can say that “Smoking also causes wrinkles.”

As you get older, your skin gets thinner, more fragile and less stretchy, so it tends to wrinkle and crease.

Some people wrinkle more than others. This can happen for different reasons.

Wrinkles Symptoms:-
(1) Deeply formed lines.
(2) Skin that is wrinkled may also have a tough, leathery appearance if the person has had a lot of exposure to the sun.
(3) Fine, crinkling crosshatch marks.

Wrinkles Causes:-
Wrinkles are also one of the main causes of skin aging.
Rapid weight loss can also cause wrinkles by reducing the volume of fat cells that cushion the face.
Other environmental factors, including cigarette smoke and pollution, particularly ozone, may hasten ageing by producing oxygen-free radicals. These are particles produced by many of the body's normal chemical processes in excessive amounts, can damage cell membranes and interact with genetic material, possibly contributing to the development of wrinkles and cancer.

Wrinkles Treatment:-
One of most common treatment and we can say Wrinkles Care Tips is,
To minimize skin wrinkling, stay out of the sun as much as possible. When you are outside, wear protective clothing and use sunscreen. If you smoke, stop smoking.
Other effective options of wrinkles are, Chemical peels or laser resurfacing.
Botulinum toxin (Botox) may be used to correct some of the wrinkles associated with overactive facial muscles.
Tretinoin (Retin-A) or creams containing alpha-hydroxy acids may be recommended.

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WASHINGTON – If you're looking for a little help shedding extra pounds after the holidays, the government is warning you to stay away from nearly 30 weight-loss products that contain unlisted and possibly dangerous ingredients.

The pills are advertised as "natural" fat busters and have intriguing names like Imelda Perfect Slim and Zhen de Shou. Some are touted as new versions of "ancient remedies" from Asia.

They may promise an easy fix to weight problems, but the Food and Drug Administration on Monday said the concoctions contain unlisted ingredients, including high doses of a powerful anti-obesity drug, as well as a suspected carcinogen.

"When consumers are buying these products online, we're telling them that if it sounds too good to be true, it is likely to be too good to be true," said Michael Levy, an FDA lawyer who works on enforcement issues.

FDA lab testing found 28 dietary supplements that could land unsuspecting users in the emergency room. Most of the diet pills appear to be coming from China. They are mainly sold on the Internet.

Nearly all of the pills contain sibutramine, a powerful appetite suppressant that's a chemical cousin of amphetamines. It can cause heart attacks, strokes and heart palpitations, especially in people with a history of high blood pressure or heart problems.

Sibutramine is also the chemical ingredient in the prescription drug Meridia, which is used to treat obesity. But FDA testing found that some of the diet pills contain nearly three times the recommended daily dose.

Several of the pills contain phenolphthalein, a chemical long used as a laxative, but which is now being withdrawn from the market because of cancer risks.

None of the supplements lists the dangerous ingredients on the label. "Consumers have no way of knowing that these products contain powerful drugs that can cause serious health consequences," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, head of the FDA's drug evaluation center.

The FDA is considering criminal charges against some of the companies, because they have not responded to requests for recalls.

The products are:

Fatloss Slimming, 2 Day Diet, 3x Slimming Power, 5x Imelda Perfect Slimming, 3 Day Diet Japan Lingzhi, 24 Hours Diet, 7 Diet Day/Night Formula, 7 Day Herbal Slim, 8 Factor Diet, 999 Fitness Essence, Extrim Plus and GMP.

Also:

Imelda Perfect Slim, Lida DaiDaihua, Miaozi Slim Capsules, Perfect Slim, Perfect Slim 5x, Phyto Shape, ProSlim Plus, Royal Slimming Formula, Slim 3 in 1, Slim Express 360, Slimtech, Somotrin, Superslim, TripleSlim, Zhen de Shou, Venom Hyperdrive 3.0

___

On the Net:

FDA warning: http://tinyurl.com/8oufor

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THURSDAY, Nov. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Compared to real acupuncture, placebo acupuncture was associated with significantly higher overall pregnancy rates among women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF), says a University of Hong Kong study.

In real acupuncture, fine needles are inserted into particular points on the body. In placebo acupuncture, blunt needles that look identical to real acupuncture needles retract into the handle of the needle when pressed on the skin, but still give the sensation and appearance of entering the skin.

The researchers gave real or placebo acupuncture to 370 women on the day of embryo transfer and found that 55.1 percent of those who received placebo acupuncture became pregnant, compared to 43.8 percent of those who received real acupuncture. The findings were published in the Nov. 13 issue of Human Reproduction.

"We found a significantly higher overall pregnancy rate following placebo acupuncture when compared with that of real acupuncture," study author Dr. Ernest Hung Yu Ng, an associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, said in a European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology news release. "In addition, there was a trend towards higher rates of clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, live birth and embryo implantation in the placebo acupuncture group, although the differences did not reach statistical significance."

The results suggest that placebo acupuncture may not act as an inert control for real acupuncture and may be having a real effect. That theory is supported by the fact that the researchers noted significant changes in measurements for uterus receptivity and patient stress levels after the women received both the real and placebo acupuncture.

There are two possible explanations for the study results.

"Placebo acupuncture is similar to acupressure and therefore is good enough to improve the pregnancy rate," said Ng, who added it's also possible that real acupuncture may, in some way, reduce the pregnancy rate.

"So far, there is no evidence that real acupuncture would adversely affect IVF outcomes because, in a previous meta-analysis of several acupuncture studies, the pregnancy rate was higher in the acupuncture group than in the control group. However, we cannot draw a firm conclusion about this from our current study, as we did not compare the two groups with a third control group of patients who received neither form of acupuncture. Further studies should be conducted to compare placebo or noninvasive acupuncture and controls without acupuncture," Ng said.

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The Food Standards Agency has today written to all UK ports and local authorities after the European Commission refined the measures it has put in place to test for melamine in food products from China.

Melamine is an industrial chemical that should not be present in food. Milk products containing melamine have been at the centre of a major food incident in China.

The European Commission had originally said that any composite products, like biscuits and cakes, from China containing more that 15% milk products (or where the content could not be established) should be tested for melamine. However, some Member States had been reporting difficulties in establishing the exact milk product content of a number of foods targeted by the original decision.

The new requirements that came into effect today now require the testing of all composite foods from China containing milk products. As before, products found to contain more than 2.5mg/kg melamine have to be withdrawn from the market and destroyed.

UK ports and local authorities are being advised to start implementing this new testing regime. The revised measures continue the prohibition of imports into the European Community of infant formula from China and other composite products containing milk or milk products intended for infant and young children’s nutrition.

Feed and food business operators also need to provide prior notification, to the relevant port, of consignments from China of products covered by the Commission Decision.


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What is melamine? Melamine has been the content of every news that i saw on TV. This news break out is really helpful for all of us. Imagine how dangerous this substance to us, on our body... And this substance is actually present on our foods, mostly milk. Milk that most children drinks, especially the babies, look at those victims that died, those are just babies.... Whose next if this hasn't been broadcasted? What do you know about melamine? Have some information...

Melamine FACTS:

Melamine, traditionally used to create durable dishware and clear resins, has been used in recent years to produce consumable products. The results have been damaging. In September 2008, nearly 53,000 infants in China fell ill after the compound was found in baby formula and milk products.

Investigators in 2007 detected the presence of melamine in pet food sold in North America after owners began complaining their pets were falling ill and unexpectedly dying. Pet food manufacturers later said wheat gluten and rice protein imported from China were spiked with melamine. In the same year, Canadian and U.S. health officials began testing fish samples after finding farmed fish had been given feed bulked up with melamine.

In response to the current tainted milk outbreak, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has implemented a border watch on milk products.

Here we examine the applications and misuses of the compound:

Chinese food safety officers inspect milk at a supermarket after melamine was found in milk products sold in the country. (Associated Press)

What is melamine?

Melamine is a white crystalline substance, sometimes referred to as cyanuramide, consisting of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen. The compound was synthesized in the 1830s by German scientist Justus von Liebig and later used industrially in the manufacture of plastics and laminates.

What products are made with melamine?

Melamine is prized for its durability and during the 1950s was used to produce a wide range of brightly coloured dishware, bowls and containers. The compound is still used to create utensils and dishware and is used to create a resin coating for wood and textiles. Some flame-retardants, fertilizers and dyes also contain melamine.

(when i research for images on melanine, i was surprised that results was more on textiles, plates, containers.... could you really imagine how dangerous this substance is to our bodies??? tsk tsk)

Why has powdered melamine been added to pet food and baby formula?

In 2007, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials speculated melamine was added to the wheat gluten and rice protein used for pet food because it falsely appeared to raise the protein content of the ingredients. In the tainted milk crisis, authorities suggest melamine was used to mask low nutrient levels in watered-down milk.

What are the side-effects of consuming melamine?

The current tainted milk crisis has shown that consuming products tainted with melamine can cause kidney stones and renal failure in infants. In April 2007, University of Guelph researcher Perry Martos said a reaction between melamine and cyanuric acid resulted in pets developing crystals in their kidneys.

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