Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Why men should not be allowed to decide anything about abortion

Men should not be allowed to be involved in the abortion debate. I am sorry to say this, but it has to be said. Men will never have to worry about getting pregnant, having to decide whither or not to have that child or abort it and will never have the responsibility to be a mother. Therefore, men, regardless of their position on abortion, should not have a say in the debate.
I am tired of men, especially white men, trying to decide what women of all races, religions and economic backgrounds should do with their bodies. Every man from the Supreme Court judges to President Bush needs to shut up about the topic. Let it stand where it is and stop trying to overturn it. I am willing to bet that a majority of women want abortion to remain safe and legal.
I saw this video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym3QEAecmTU and then went to the website that promoted it and found the website very informational and helpful.
But in the video, a lot of the pro-life people were men, which got me upset and were the reason for writing this blog. Men will never know the choices that women make, so they need to stop pretending.
Also, a lot of women agree with me that it is a woman’s decision to have the abortion or the baby. Even in the case of rape or incest. Now, in cases like that, I would think an abortion should be conducted, but I will never tell a woman that she should or should not have an abortion anytime.
I recognize that some women regret their abortions but a lot of other women do not. It is true that some women get infections or are later become infertile because of an abortion. But these cases are rare and women always have and always will continue to have abortions, so we as a society need to make sure that if and when they do, they are receiving the safest way to have the procedure done and it should be done by a trained medical professional and not some person with a coat hanger.

Friday, March 23, 2007

States should not automatically outlaw abortions

Mississippi today decided that in the event that Roe v. Wade became overturned, the state would not allow abortions for any reason other than rape or when it endangers the health of the mother. It does not have a provision for rape or incest.
This is so disgusting to see, that states are now writing laws in case the Supreme Court overturns that law. I find it sickening to think that the majority of people in politics who make this decision are men, people who will never have to worry about getting pregnant.
But no matter what the law saws, women are always going to get abortions, legal or not. It was seen in the days before the court decision with women getting abortions with hangers. The dangers of hanging abortions were one reason why the court thought it was safer to have doctors providing abortions.
Well, they are right. If abortions are going to take place, then medical professionals should be overseeing them and not some person on the street who has done one or two of them before.
If women start having backdoor abortions again, then more women are going to start to get infections, get really sick and possibly die from them. States that are outlawing abortions should maybe think about this instead of what they think their “good Christian values,” say to them.

Alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than some illegal drugs

Alcohol is more dangerous than cannabis, LSD and ecstasy and is just as harmful as heroin and tobacco. This is probably not a surprise to some while it may surprise others. But it should not be surprising.
Marijuana was ranked the 11th most dangerous drug, ranked behind alcohol who was fifth. And yet it is alcohol that is legal while pot remains illegal. In fact, tobacco and alcohol are just behind heroin as some of the most dangerous drugs on the planet.
The fact that alcohol and tobacco remain legal is not the problem that I have, it is the fact that these others remain illegal. If the drugs that are illegal became legal, then the government can regulate and tax them, which means they would be safer and the government would make money on them. Plus if the drugs were legal, then crime would go down because the supply would not come from cartels but pharmacies.
The fact that these drugs, especially marijuana, which has the possibility of helping cancer patients with their pain, is still illegal, is beyond belief.

Birth control should be covered under health insurance

Birth control is costing college girls more money because of a complex change to the Medicaid rebate law. This is so such a bad idea because it means that girls who cannot afford birth control while they are in college are going to have more unprotected sex. It is idiotic to think that just because girls do not have birth control, they are not going to have sex. College students have sex, regardless if you think they should or not.
I personally think that it is very mature of these college students to be using birth control and hopefully they are using more than just oral contraceptives. Hopefully they still use condoms and other forms of contraceptives.
But to charge an outrages sum for birth control is a disgrace. First, birth control should be covered by your health insurance provider and not be paid for out of pocket. If it were cheaper and easier to get to, more people would use it and less unwanted pregnancies would happen.
I do not understand why pro-life people are so against birth control. They are idiots. If people have sex with birth control, they will most likely not get pregnant and then not have an abortion. It makes sense, but then those people say that they do not like birth control use either. I just do not understand it.
But I can guarantee that if birth control was covered by Medicare, more people would use it and less unwanted pregnancies would happen.

The importance of a regular check up

The announcement made by 2008 Presidential Candidate John Edwards that his wife’s cancer has returned is troubling. Yes it is horrible for Mrs. Edwards to have, but it also shows that even when people think that they beat cancer, it can come back.
Mrs. Edwards first had breast cancer but thought she was given a clean bill of health in 2006. However, it was revealed today that she now has metastasis and the cancer has spread to her bone and maybe a spot on her lung.
Even though I would never wish this on anyone, it is good to point out to people the dangers of cancer and other diseases have on people. We all thought this woman was cured and had nothing else wrong with her. Well sadly, she does and now it looks like her disease is not unable to be cured.
She is very lucky to be able to afford the treatment that will be required to fight this disease, but not everyone has that kind of funds. What should be remembered is to keep exercising, eating healthy and getting the recommended check ups. To Mrs. Edwards, good luck and I hope you get better.

Exercising with a partner is more productive

There is a new study that is out that says seniors prefer to exercise alone because it helps them with their confidence. They do not want to look at younger people who are either in shape or have a much easier time working out on the machines.
Well I understand that reasoning, studies have shown that people who either work out with a trainer or a buddy experience better results.
Obviously, when you work with a trainer, you will receive a better workout session than if you workout alone. The reason is simple, the trainer is a professional and knows what needs to be done to your body to get it back in shape. The trainer pushed you to workout properly and makes you exercise all the different areas of your body. But he or she also gives you the emotional support that is so important when a person is self-conscious about working out.
This is also why working out with a friend is even more helpful. Granted, they probably do not know as mush about health as a professional trainer does, but they will offer you emotional and physical support to help you work out to your potential. You will most likely not be self-conscious about your work out routine and your body.
Well I think it is helpful to workout alone because you will not spend a lot of time socializing, you will probably not be pushed as hard as you would with a friend of trainer. Therefore, if you want a better workout, then you had better workout

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Weight gain can kill a man's sex drive

Gaining weight is unhealthy on many levels. It hurts your heart, your lungs your arteries, your back and many other things. But now it can harm your sex life.
I read that if a man gains too much weight, it can accelerate the decline in testosterone levels that accompanies again. Not only does the loss of testosterone hurt a man’s sexual drive, it can also contribute to health problems such as diabetes, loss of bone and muscle mass.
A report that I found on the topic said that increasing a man’s bodily mass index or BMI is equivalent to again 10 years.
I believe that weight gain is one of the most dangerous things that our society is facing. Not only does obesity have devastating effects of our children but now we see how it has a tragic effect on adults too.
The loss of sexual activity is a big thing for adults. Sex is more than just sex. It is a great form of exercise, it is very relaxing mentally and physically and if you are in marriage or a long term relationship, sex is needed to stay happy.
This report is just another indication that we as a society are getting too fat and how it is threatening our health.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Playing music makes children smarter

Playing music makes kids smarter, why am I not surprised? Well, one reason is because anything that takes skill and is a challenge will usually make a child smarter. I do not understand why this is such a breaking news story. Playing an instrument has to make a child smarter because it id developing a new skill in them. It forces them to remember certain things and also teaches them patience and learn another language, reading music is a new language.
Now the study did say that learning music increases activity in the brain and sharpen the hearing for all kinds of sounds that includes speech.
I am just surprised that is was actually a study, I thought it was pretty much common sense. We are not surprised that when we force our children to read instead of watching television, we are not surprised that they are smarter are we? Or when our children learn new things, we are not surprised by that, or at least we should not be.
I guess in an age when too many children are put in front of the television for everything, they may not be as smart as they used to be and that is sad. Perhaps in today’s world, we are surprised when a child learns a new skill that does not involve the computer.
Learning music also is a great time for children to be in a social environment, which helps them meet new kids and make new friends. It gets them away from the computer and TV and maybe gets them to lose weight and get exercise.
Learning music is challenging, so when a child learns how to conquer it, they learn many things. They learn time management, they learn a new language and they learn a new skill. A very great thing to learn but not at all surprising that learning it makes them more intelligent. I guess that was common sense.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Euthanasia is a merciful medical practice

There are many medical practices that are followed with a controversy. Abortion, stem cells and cancer treatments are examples of a few. But one that gains attention but not the same amount of attention that those other ones do is euthanasia.
For those of you who do not know what euthanasia is, it is the practice of killing someone in a painless or minimal painless manner. People usually do it when a patient has a disease, such as cancer or AIDS and that there is no hope for survival and the pain that the condition is causing them is too much for them to handle. So a doctor injects them with something that kills them.
There are many different kinds of euthanasia, there is euthanasia by consent. This means that the patient has voluntary expressed that they would like to have this procedure done if they get to a certain point in their disease.
Another kind is physician assisted dying, which is when a doctor provides the family of that person a prescription to hasten their death. The family does not have to give the patient the medication, but can if they want to.
There are other kinds of euthanasia but I believe these two are the most prominent. There are some people who say that euthanasia should not be practiced and that it is up to God when to decide who lives or dies. Well what if those people do not believe in God? Or what if those people think this is the way of God calling them?
I don’t think it should be anyone’s decision but their own or their families to decide if they should die or not. Personally, I would not want to live that like, I would rather be put of my pain and allowed to die peacefully. I could not care less what anyone else said.
People that do not believe in euthanasia are ignorant and should keep their opinions to themselves. If they are put into that situation and do not want to die or let a family member die, fine. It is their decision and I respect that. But do not tell me what I should or should not be allowed to do with my life or the life of a family member. Keep your mouth shut.
Death is really the only thing in life that is truly your own. Birth, you share with your mother. Life you share it with a lot of people. But your death is your own and you should be able to go when you want.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

No Pill Can Stop Your Eyesight From Going Bad

I knew it from the first day that I heard it that a pill that is supposed to help you keep your good eyesight would not work. Why would it? I always think its funny when people think that a pill or a surgery will reverse the clock.
Now that does not mean that I do not think that people should eat healthy, take vitamins and make every attempt to stay healthy as they age, but to think that you can stop the ageing process is laughable. There are fruits and vegetables that help your eyesight stay healthy as well as many other things but they do not stop anything from happening. All they can do is help prevent things.
For example, carrots have long been believed to help keep your good eye-sight because of cartene. So doctors developed a pill that contained cartene in it. But researches have found out that the pill does not work.
A earlier study found that beta carotene, which is taken from certain vitamins and zinc could slow or prevent vision loss but this new study found that there are no benefit for these supplements.
So I suggest that you try to just eat healthy because that is what we know will do the best job to keep you as healthy as possible. Make sure to get exercise and enjoy life. No little pill is going to make you younger, so you might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Red Meat Contributes to Breast Cancer

Not to my surprise, there is another reason to avoid red meat, especially if you are a woman. A new study suggests that women who eat more than three ounces a day of red meat are at greater risk for breast cancer.
The study said that women who reported eating more than one and a half servings of red meat per day almost had twice the risk of developing hormone receptorpositive cancer compared with women who reported eating three servings of red meat per week.
This is just another example if why people should not eat red meat. Not only is it unnecessarily, but now we know it can be dangerous. Eating animals is barbaric and humans should not do it anymore. If people only knew the disgusting conditions that these animals are killed in and then you eat them. The cows are full of hormones to produce more milk and then you eat them and all of the hormones that were injected to them.
The reason that there is a link here is because of fat levels. Higher saturated fat consumption seems to raise levels of insulin, a hormone that promotes the development of breast cancer.
This should be a call to all women to stop or cut down the amount of red meat that they eat. There are many safer and healthier alternatives to get protein. There are beans and soy products that are much better and healthier than red meat.
I have not eaten red meat for years and I have never felt better. I was worried about how I was going to get iron and protein but have found many better alternatives that are also safer. I strongly suggest everyone stops eating red meat. But, it is a free country and people will always eat red meat.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Sleeping Pills are dangerous

Sleeping pills are some of the most dangerous drugs on this planet. Not only are they some of the most physically addicting things that I have ever took, they also make you mentally addicted.
When I say mentally addicted, I mean that I could not even begin to get tired if I did not take some of these pills. I could never fall asleep if I did not take a pill and sometimes, I would get nervous and scared if I did not take these pills because they were making me develop insomnia.
Physically, I mean it is just that I could never sleep if I did not take these pills and even when I did sleep, I would find myself sleepwalking and sometimes losing my memory while I was driving. My co-worker even said that I slept walked to the car one time while we were on a business trip.
I am glad that the FDA has ordered that warnings be put on sleeping pills because everyone should know the side effects that they have. I have also heard that some people have had massive allergic reactions to them.
Also, when you are on sleeping pills, they tell you not to drink or have anything that can make you tired, like turkey for instance. So you have to change your whole way of life if you decide to take sleeping pills.
Getting off them was not easy, I went to a therapist to talk about my problems. They I went to a sleep therapist to learn how to relax and fall asleep. I also began to exercise a lot more in the hopes that it would make me tired.
It took a while, but I did begin to wean myself off the pills and now can sleep a solid eight hours most of the time. If any of you are having sleeping problems, I strongly suggest that you look at all other options beside sleeping pills.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Starvation is not the way to lose weight

When we think of the word binge and we associate it with teens, we think of binge drinking. While that is a major problem for teens and other young adults, it is not the kind of bingeing I am talking about. What I am talking about is binge eating.
When teens and others want to lose weight, they think one of the best ways to do is to not eat or skip meals. While it may seem that would be a good way to lose weight, it is not.
First, it is not healthy. Your body needs a certain amount of food to function properly and to eat is depriving it. It is actually healthier to eat several small meals per day instead of three or less big ones. It keeps your digestive system functioning properly and allows it to spread out breaking down food, instead of all at once.
But secondly, if teens binge eat, they will actually gain weight instead of lose it. When you deprive your body of food, it almost becomes foreign to it and has a tougher time breaking it down and it turns it more quickly into fat, which makes you gain weight. So in reality, it makes you do the exact opposite of what you want.
If teens or anyone wants to lose weight, they should eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, get plenty of exercise and eat five healthy, little meals a day. The worse thing that anyone can do is binge eat.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

A smoking pill is not necessarily a good thing

Exercising now has a new benefit to it, it now can help you fight your tobacco addiction. Even walking for five minutes can help you fight your craving. Seeing this, doctors now are going to try and make a drug that could fight the same craving.
While I agree that this is great health news, I do not understand why you need a drug to help it. Why not just advise smokers to just exercise more, along with their normal alternatives to smoking.
This country and the world are too quick to want to find an easy fix to try and fix a problem. I think some people are a little too scared of a little hard work when trying to fix a problem. I think that is all people, smokers and non-smokers exercise more, then it would be beneficial.
When you get exercise, your body gets a lot of excellent value in it already. Then add the fact that exercising can help you kick your smoking addiction, then why do you need a pill for it? I do not see a reason why you automatically need a pill to just solve all of your problems.
While I do agree that a pill can become helpful to those who desperately need it or do not have the time to exercise, I feel that with the availability of a pill, it will lead to one person going from one drug to another.

Green Tea can help prevent lung cancer

I read a story that said green tea may fight lung cancer and could even help prevent it. I have been saying this for so long that there are so many nutritional benefits in tea, especially green tea.
A couple of years ago, I stopped drinking coffee and caffeine in general. I only drink tea and natural tea that does not have any caffeine in it. Ever since I made that switch, I have not felt better and have never been healthier.
The interesting thing was that about after a month of not drinking coffee, I was actually having an easier time waking up in the morning then when I did drink coffee. I think that once my body stopped its own addiction to the drug, it was ready to go without it. I guess it did its own version of detoxifying itself.
Tea does not give me headaches if I drink too much of it and sometimes it actually relieves headaches. I like to drink a good cup of Chamomile tea before I go to bed and it puts me right to sleep and I get a solid eight hours of sleep.
In the morning, I like a good cup of green tea or a little spicy cinnamon and it helps get my day going. Plus, I am not spending five dollars a day at Starbucks of the Coffee Bean. And now, I know that not only am I getting all of these benefits, but green tea may now fight lung cancer. I never heard any coffee that does all of these things.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Green Tea can help prevent lung cancer

I read a story that said green tea may fight lung cancer and could even help prevent it. I have been saying this for so long that there are so many nutritional benefits in tea, especially green tea.
A couple of years ago, I stopped drinking coffee and caffeine in general. I only drink tea and natural tea that does not have any caffeine in it. Ever since I made that switch, I have not felt better and have never been healthier.
The interesting thing was that about after a month of not drinking coffee, I was actually having an easier time waking up in the morning then when I did drink coffee. I think that once my body stopped its own addiction to the drug, it was ready to go without it. I guess it did its own version of detoxifying itself.
Tea does not give me headaches if I drink too much of it and sometimes it actually relieves headaches. I like to drink a good cup of Chamomile tea before I go to bed and it puts me right to sleep and I get a solid eight hours of sleep.
In the morning, I like a good cup of green tea or a little spicy cinnamon and it helps get my day going. Plus, I am not spending five dollars a day at Starbucks of the Coffee Bean. And now, I know that not only am I getting all of these benefits, but green tea may now fight lung cancer. I never heard any coffee that does all of these things.

Teens should be educated about sex, not scared

Teens and young people have always lived in a casual atmosphere. It may be that being a teen makes you think that you can live through anything that you are invincible but it is important to note that teens go through a lot of different changes.
One of the biggest changes that teens seem to go through is the decision whither to “hook up” or have casual sex. I think that it is not necessarily a bad thing to have this because teens are most likely going to do it anyway. I am not being perverted, just being realistic. But the most important thing that you can teach a young person about sex, whiter it be in a relationship or casual is safe sex.
When I say safe sex, I do not mean just birth control and condoms. Well I do mean those things, I also mean that they should know how to talk about sex with their partners, their parents or at least an adult that they know they can feel confident about talking sex with.
I read an article that said hooking up can hurt young girls in a variety of ways. One is that it can deny their emotional needs. This may be true, the fact that a majority of young girls have a desire to be loved. They can deal with depression problems when they feel used just for sex or when they break up with someone who they were sexually involved with. And the last one is the risk of STD’s.
I agree that all of these dangers lie, but to tell a young girl to a young person to not have sex is not the way to deal with these problems. If you know anything, that over 80 percent of teens to pledge to remain absent from sex till their married do not stick to that pledge. Also, a high number of those teens get pregnant or contract a sexually transmitted disease because they do not really know how to do birth control.
Well there is an inherent danger of teens having sex, there is more value in not hiding the consequences from them and educating them about it. If they are going to make this decision, I just hope it is an educated one.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Pharmacists need to stop refusing women access to the morning-after pill

I am so tired of hearing this and it makes me really disappointed in people who are in the medical field. If women want the morning after pill or Plan B, then you have to give it to them. I do not care what your personal feelings are towards abortion, contraception or the morning after pill. It is not your concern or your responsibility to think what is better for that person, give them the pill.
A company that makes the morning-after pill had to forcefully tell all of its pharmacists to stop refusing to give people this pill. The company had to tell them, not the other way around. I am sure the company also looks at it as loss revenue, but I am sure it does not want to be in the middle of this debate.
If a pharmacist, who is a medical professional refuses to sell this to woman who is eligible to but it, then he or she should be fired. What kind of this example does this set for future medical workers? I do not agree with what you are doing, so no I will not see you this.
In America, we have freedoms and pharmacists are not judges who determine what the law is. They are pharmacists, they fill prescriptions and sell medical products, that is it. If the pill is allowed to be sold to a woman, she should be allowed to buy it without any interference. And if the pill is allowed to be sold to a minor without parental notification, then they should be allowed to buy it, without interference. Leave your personal politics at the door, these are places of business not a political meeting.
I do not care if critics say that having Plan-B will say that it encourages unprotected sex, it is legal, so shut up about it. You know what else causes a lot of unprotected sex? Not being honest or realistic about sex with your children. Maybe if you stopped feeding them that crap about waiting till their married, they will be educated about safe sex when they decide to have it years before they get married.
It is not the pro-choice and the pro- birth control crowd that looks like idiots, it is the other side of the debate.

Flu shots do more damage then good

I still do not know why I do this but I do. I read and watch all the news that is out there and go out and get a flu shot and every time I do, I get sick. Actually, not only do I get sick, my arm hurts and I get really tired and cannot do anything all day.

I am still reasonably young and do not get sick very often, but yet I still hear all the stuff about how this strain of the flu is going to be worse, run out there and get a flu shot and still do not know why.

Sometimes I wonder if the doctors actually give me or a dead strain of the flu because every time I get a shot, I feel terrible.

The last shot I got was in December and it was so bad that I went to my doctor to see if I had an allergic reaction. He said I did not but it took be two days to recover and I developed swelling and a rash on my arm.

With all the news about the bird flu coming out, I am sure more people will be willing to get flu shots, but not me. I am not going to get another flu shot ever again. It seems like the only time I get flu symptoms is when a doctor injects me with a strain of it

Hospitals are more dangerous on weekends

If you have to have a stroke, have it during the week. Not that you can control the time or even the day when you have a stroke, but statistics say that you have a better chance to survive if you have a stroke during the week.
I would think that hospitals would be better staffed during the weekend when most things that require a hospital visit happen. For instance, drunk drivers, shootings and other medical emergencies happen. The research found out that patients admitted to the hospital on the weekend had a 14% higher risk of dying.
Fourteen percent is a huge risk. It is not a one or two percent risk like one would think. That is a huge jump. Almost 20 people out of 100 have this fate.
I could not believe that hospitals have numbers like this. I realize that there are times that are more dangerous to go to the hospital, but the weekend would not be what I thought. I thought that was the time when the best of the best would be there, not the kids out of med school.
Obviously this does not include all hospitals, it is just the average. But if a person has a stroke, heart attack or something else that is life treating, I would hope that the chances of surviving did not depend on the date you were admitted.

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Binge drinking in America

Binge drinking is something that many of us have done in our lives. Many of us did it in college while some of us experienced it in high school. However, there is a serious problem that is happening to today’s youth and that is that too many people are binge drinking.
I saw a story that said that there are over 7 million underage teens who binge drink. That means that there are a lot more teens that consume alcohol too. I am not saying that I am surprised that many teens drink, hell I drank when I was underage too. But I did not binge drink, especially like a lot of people seem to be.
Binge drinking is typically defined as drinking more than five drinks on occasion. And a teen is someone that has probably not experienced the effect of alcohol to know the dangers.
It is well known that alcohol can affect your judgment, but it can do a lot worse. It cam make you physically sick, it can give you headaches. It can make you fat, angry and harms your liver. Basically it can turn you into an alcoholic.
Alcohol also remains the most abused drugs among today’s youth and the fact that it seems to be getting worse is not encouraging. I guess people view drinking as a rite of passage and something that everyone should do. I am not saying that people should not drink, I drink. But teenagers today do not respect the negative consequence that alcohol can have.
I do not think parents should make drinking be a mysterious thing and not automatically forbid them from it. But parents need to be open and honest about it and hopefully that will lead to more responsible drinking. My parents were open and honest about it with me and I feel I have been very responsible about it.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

What to do on your friend's birthday party

One of my best friends was really depressed about having her 30th birthday. It was something that she was not looking forward to and something she almost wanted to avoid. I tried everything to cheer her up. I wanted to take her and some of our friends to dinner and then a bar and she did not want to go. I even mentioned a strip club, just to try something different and she did not want to go.
Then I had a great idea, why don’t I throw her a surprise party, not just with her friends but with all the people that love and care about her. I wanted it to be different and special and her being an American Idol fan, I found the perfect thing.
I hired a karaoke group called Sing Out Loud Karaoke. I saw them once at a karaoke club that I went to in Burbank and they said they would go anywhere in the greater Los Angeles area.
I hired them and they put on a great show. They had more songs than any other DJ then I had ever been to and just to be able to have them sing, let us sing and make my friend smile, it was worth it.
Both of us work in the entertainment industry and have out offices in Hollywood. Ever since that party, we have invited Sing Out Loud Karaoke to our office parties and some of our kid’s birthday parties and religious events.
The great thing about them is they are mobile, they will come to your house or anywhere you want them too. It is not like you have to rent out a place and then they will come. They have reasonable prices and are very fun and nice people(see pics) to be around. I was very impressed and I suggest that if you ever have a party and want karaoke, I suggest www.singoutloudkaraoke.com.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

The Dangers of Stress

I think living in today’s world, we deal with a lot of stress, which leads to a lot of other health problems. When one is stressed, it does a lot to your body. First, it changes your body.
One is that can make you gain weight. Your body produces chemicals naturally that help you maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. But when those chemicals, called adrenaline and cortisol are not right, then you’re not going to digest properly and you will see yourself gaining weight.
It also affects your sleep and your mind. First, you know when you are stressed, you do not sleep as well as you normally would and when you do not sleep, you cannot function throughout the day nor do any of the things you need to get done. Also, stress can lead to more headaches and make you even sick if you are stressed too much.
Then there is the link that one can become depressed and even turn to substances that can have a negative affect on your life. A lot of times, people can become alcoholics as a result of stress.
Stress can also make you develop acne, lose your hair and put certain strains on relationships that you may have.
Stress is not something that should be seen as dealing with because you are an adult and you should be able to handle it. It should be considered something that is a very serious problem and if you do not take care of it, then it can make a bad situation worse.
There are ways of dealing with it, exercising, relaxing or talking with a professional about it. Medical advice does help and it usually can be done without taking a drug to help you. But if you do nothing, something negative probably will happen.

The Atkins Diet is the most effective

The Atkins diet is the most effective diet on the market, it beats out the Zone diet, the Ornish diet and even U.S. Guidelines. Over a year study, overweight women who kept on the Atkins diet lost more weight than those on the Zone diet. They even had better blood pressure and cholesterol than those on the Zone diet too.
I am for one not surprised by this result. I think it is very easy to see that some of the main causes of obesity are caused by carbs, mainly sugar, flour and high-fructose corn syrups.
I have been on the Atkins diet for a lone time and believed that it is the best diet that I have ever been on. It is hard not to eat some good foods that have carbs in them, but the fact that I can still eat a lot helps. I also realize that exercise is a big help with losing weight, especially cardio running but the Atkins diet does help.
I know a lot of people think that it does not and that it is a myth, but every person who really stayed true to the diet and exercised accordingly said they lost weight. I know even some men that went on the diet and had it work for them as well.
But if you go on the diet, you have to be able to stay on it at a very strict level. You cannot take a day off of it and expect the same results, because it will not. But if you stay to form and actually exercise while on it, I promise you good results will come.

Monday, March 5, 2007

Drug testing kids is not a good idea

It is not a fairly new thing to have a child drug tested by the school that they go to or by a medical professional. Parents and schools have been doing drug testing for a long time. I know of schools today that if a child is caught doing drugs, even if they do not do it on campus, the school has the right to drug test them at random.
Now I am not one to tell children to say do drugs, but a new study came out that doctors said that drug testing is a bad idea. For one, the tests are not very accurate and could lead to a lot of false positives. If the student takes certain cold medications or eats poppy seeds, a drug test could turn up positive.
How reliable is a test that cannot determine the difference between cough medication and other drugs. I think it is ridiculous to hold a child’s academic future hostage by a test that unreliable.
Also, lots of illegal drugs are indictable in urine more than 72 hours after use and standard tests do not detect substances like alcohol, Ecstasy and inhalants. In fact, the study suggested that some students may respond to testing by avoiding marijuana, which is one of the easier drugs to test for and go for one of the more dangerous but less-detectable types of drugs. I do not have kids but I can tell you that I would much have rather have them do pot than Ecstasy.
Also, drug testing leads a student to a scenario of mistrust, depression and anger. According to the story, students will have an unhealthy suspicion of authority figures, always wonder why nobody trusts them and begin to be upset with those who are putting them through this, which is not health either.
I think openness and honesty are the most important thing when dealing with a student. I do think that it is good and healthy for a child to experience certain things, just as long as they do it in a safe environment. I do not think constant testing is the way to deal with this.

Child obesity makes girls go into puberty earlier

I read a new story that said child obesity can make girls go into puberty earlier. The study said that a girl who gains weight at the age of six can start to develop breasts by the age of nine. Studies have shown that in the last 30 years, girls are reaching puberty earlier, the same time span when child obesity was increased.
If girls begin to develop earlier, then it is just common sense that they will begin to experience sexually at an earlier age, which then could lead to more sexually transmitted diseases, teenage pregnancy and reproductive cancers.
The article does not go into many reasons as to why girls are gaining more weight, but I sure have some thoughts.
First, all the hormones that we put in out food namely daily products that comes from cows. Cows are so full of hormones that it is disgusting. They are shot with them so that they produce more milk, which then produces more cheese and other dairy products. Then we eat those products that the hormoned cow produces. You do not think that has an effect on your body?
I personally do not eat any dairy products that are not 100% natural, if I eat dairy at all. I would strongly suggest that you do the same and stop drinking milk. The only milk that is health for humans is the breast milk that your mother produces. Drink soy milk or at least natural milk.
Second, children eat less healthy overall which makes them fat and if obesity is causing girls to begin puberty early, this could be a major reason of girls developing early. It is common knowledge that children need to stop eating the crap that is out there and start to eat better.
Also, they do not get nearly enough exercise either. I applaud all schools that do not serve unhealthy food and should make children exercise more. It is not just the schools responsibility, but the parents as well. I know that the majority of parents are either single or most homes have two parents working full-time, which leaves left time for them to cook healthier for their children. However, they still do need to try and make an attempt to do so, for the health of their child.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Exercising is more effective than dieting

I saw an article that said that dieting is just as effective as diet and exercising when someone is trying to lose weight. I could not believe what I was reading. There is no way in hell that just dieting alone is as effective as dieting and exercising when trying to lose weight.
First, exercising is more effective than dieting when trying to lose weight. If it was not, then why do health experts tell us to always go to the gym and get a lot of cardio when doing so? Humans need to burn calories and exercising is one of the most effective ways to do so. Dieting is helpful when trying to lose weight and people should always try to eat healthy, but to so that it is as effective is not true.
I have many friends who do not have the time to exercise as much as they would like and so they diet. While they do lose weight, it is not as much as they would like and always seem to be not in a good mood.
Not only does working out help you lose weight, I think that it allows you to relax and clear your head. It is for some people a chance to get away for a little while. To just put those headphones on and go.
Whereas dieting just makes you upset that you cannot eat certain things while watching others eat them in front of you. Also, I find it a lot harder to keep on my diet than it is to get into a gym routine. I look forward to getting done with work and go to the gym. I do not look forward to eating a meal that I probably am not going to like.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Why Stem cell research should be allowed

This is why stem cell research, all of it, should be allowed.


The following story was taken from this women's blog at www.medsocial.com.

http://medsocial.com/blog.aspx?blogaction=viewblog&show=240


My name is Pat Daniels. I am writing to you in regard to my son Kevin. Kevin was a volunteer firefighter and EMT with the South Boston Fire Department when on the night of August 7, 1998 while responding to a fire call, he had an accident on the way to the call. He was only 19 years old. He sustained a traumatic brain injury that almost claimed his life and has left him a quadrapelic with limited mobility. He is not paralyzed. He’s still an associate member with the department. He was also a firefighter and EMT at the South Boston Speedway the summer he had the accident. Kevin’s father is the maintenance manager at the speedway.

The doctors advised us to terminate life, but for us that wasn’t an option. Kevin is a survivor. He was born at 28 weeks weighing 2lbs 5oz., 15 inches long.

We have researched stem cell therapy for 3-4 years. After sending Kevin’s medical records to a doctor in California, we were told he was a candidate for the umbilical cord blood stem cell therapy, but would have to go to Tijuana, Mexico to have the procedure done. The fire dept. immediately started raising funds for us to go. They raised enough for us to go for one trip. The cost is $5,000.00 per vial of stem cells plus the cost of the procedure is $5,000.00. Then there’s the cost of travel expenses -$6,000.00. We would like to see Kevin get 6-8 vials this time.

On September 25, 2006 we went to Mexico and had the umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant. Since the procedure has been done, we have seen 30 improvements, some being significant. His speech is much better. His medicine for spasticity in his extremities has been reduced to where he is only getting 22% of what he was getting. That is a 78% reduction in 2 months. He now has slight movement in all 5 fingers on his left hand, which he didn’t have before. We knew if the first trip was successful we would need to return every six months until no more improvements are seen. It is wonderful that after 8 years we can still see improvements because of this treatment.

We are now trying to raise the funds to go back. The South Boston Fire Dept. is accepting donations. I’m reaching out to others outside of this area for help. I’ve never reached out to others for help since Kevin’s accident, but the importance of Kevin continuing to receive the stem cell therapy means too much to him for me not to reach out and ask.

I want to push the government and the medical field to research this avenue of treatment for others. I don’t want this just to help my son, but for it to help others as well. This means that Kevin needs to continue this process to prove the success of this procedure.



If you would like to send a donation or know of others that would like to help, please send the donation to:

Kevin Daniels Stem Cell Fund

South Boston Fire Dept.

403 Broad Street

South Boston Va. 24592

You can call Chief William Murray with any questions at 434-575-4292. The dept. is receiving and administering the funds and all donations are tax deductable.

Any donation would be greatly appreciated.

May God bless you and keep you is my prayer.





Pat Daniels

1106 Daniels Trail

Halifax, VA. 24558

434-575-1740

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The best social networking site

With the interest in health that the United States has seen lately, there is no surprise that many websites have opened up to try and explain certain health issues. Like all other websites on the internet, there are good sides and bad ones. I did however, find one health related site that was not only educational but it was entertaining. It was a social networking site and health site rolled into one. It was kind of a “medical MySpace.” That social networking site is called www.medsocial.com
Like other social networking sites, Medsocial has an area where you could e-mail with other people that are apart of the network. It also allows you to have “friends” which are basically those who you talk to most often. And like the other social networking sites, it has blogs and allows you to post pictures.
However, there is one huge difference that Medsocial has over any other social networking site that I have been too. It has a forum section that is absolutely on of the greatest areas on the web. Unlike other social networking sites that have areas where you can be in a group and discuss a wide variety of a certain subject, Medsocials’ forum sections are all health related, but they are divided into certain topics that are then divided into certain topic discussions.
For example, I love exercising and always concerned about the proper ways to exercise, what are different ways to lose weight or what are the proper foods to help keep cholesterol down. Well, with the forum section of Medsocial, there are many topics that involve all of these topics. First, there is a general topic called healthy lifestyle and in that topic, there are several subjects about a healthy lifestyle. The subjects are as follows: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diet and healthy eating, exercise and fitness, weight loss and a general healthy lifestyle discussion. All of these topics are ones that I, as a person with a genuine concern for a healthy living would be interested in.
I appreciate the fact that the topics in the forums are more structured, which I believe keeps people more focused on the discussion at hand. Where as if the topics were more broad, people tend to get off topic, which stops people from either contributing to the topics or joining them at all.
These forums have also enhanced my knowledge about health and medicine related issues because of the topics that are here. The topics range from sexual health and sexuality to healthy aging. Plus there is a general discussion board with a variety of topics that the other subjects do not cover. And as a man, it is nice to read from other men about the topics that are important to men. It is nice to hear something about men’s health that does not always involve Viagra, even though there is an erectile dysfunction discussion board.
I believe Medsocial is a very valuable social networking site for children, students and adults a like. It will help people who are concerned or even curious with everything health related, plus a lot of medical professionals use Medsocial to communicate with each other. I do not even consider it a social networking site anymore, I consider it a tool that can and does come in very valuable in my life and I am convinced it will be valuable if you use it as well.

Smokers should pay more for all

There is no doubt that smokers have rights, they are people and they are citizens of the United States of America but they are also putting themselves and a lot of other people in danger.
First the obvious, they are putting a unhealthy toxin into themselves and into the air without really any regard for the health info or medical info for anyone else.
Not only does smoking pollute the air, but cigarette buds are the number one most littered object in the world. They are a complete eye sore to everyone and yet, smokers continue to think that the earth is their ashtray.
I still find it funny that with all the research that has been done about smoking over the years that smokers continue to ignore the medical information that smoking kills thousands a year and makes millions of year sick just in this country alone. I personally have no problem if smokers want to ignore the health information out there and slowly toxin themselves, but others do not want to be around them.
Another debate to have is the raise of health insurance for everyone and one of the reason being is because of smokers, who regardless if you smoke are not, are influencing your health insurance by raising it. I think what should be done is that if you smoke, which makes your health and your medical info more at risk, then you should pay more. Your credit score can determine if you are smoking then have your credit card companies turn the information over to your health insurance provider, then they can pay more and not make the rest of us pay more.
Why should the ones who don’t smoke, who do pay attention to the health information pay more? I do not think we should and I for one am tired of doing so. It is the smokers fault and they should be held accountable for their actions.

Monday, February 5, 2007

The dangers of children having weight loss surgery

I recently read an article that said a growing number of children are having weight loss surgery known as laparoscopic gastric banding, where an elastic color installed around the stomach limits how much someone can eat. This is something that is very scary to me.
To tell a child that they way to just lose weight is to have an easy way out, which is surgery. What kind of message does that send to children? It says that no matter what you do, the only way to achieve a certain goal is through surgery. There is no mention of the medical information or the health information about the children, just the fact that kids can have this.
The article said that children could not have this surgery many years ago because of the dangers but procedures and doctors now have become much better at performing this surgery. Well I agree that doctors today have become better but not to the point where children should have this procedure.
Now, in rare cases where genetics is the main reason where a child is overweight and no form of exercise will help them, then I can see the surgery being preformed. It is the last option. The doctors have looked at the child’s medical info and said that the surgery is the only option. However, this will not always be the case. Too many kids and too many doctors will want to perform this surgery without looking at the medical info and the health info of every child and will just perform this surgery. For the children, it’s the easy way out and for the doctors, it’s in easy payday.

Saturday, February 3, 2007

The governor making girls get a STD shot in Texas

The governor of Texas signed a bill today that said by 2008, all school girls entering the sixth grade will be required to get vaccinated against an STD that causes cervical cancer.
To some extent, I like this idea. I like the fact that even a more conservative state such as Texas would take the initiative and make the state as safe as possible in the fight against sexually transmitted diseases. The reason I say conservative, and this is not in any way to offend anyone, but usually conservative places are against forms of birth control. And while this is not birth control, it does deal with the reality that children have sex even at that young age and it is there to help protect them.
The problem with this program that I do not like is that the story does not say much about the drug and the health info about it. What is the medical information about the drug? What are the side effects? What of the child’s health information will not make it safe for her to use the drug? I find it sometimes hard to always let the government say something and everyone must follow, but that is a different argument.
I wish it was up to parents of the daughter, who know the daughter and her medical information and her health information who would make her take this shot. But I guess when parents do not always live in reality, it is up to someone else to make sure that the children are as safe as possible.

The "french fries" insurance rise

McDonalds says it will select a new trans-fat free oil for cooking its french fries, or as some of you call it, freedom fries. Now there has been a lot of talk in the news about trans-fat and if cities, such as New York and Chicago should ban the oil.



For me personally, being a medstudent, I do not eat fast food at all because I
know how bad it is for your body and won’t eat it. However, I think that if
people really want to eat this kind of product, then I think they should be
allowed too. Everyone knows the medical information that fast food makes you fat, is bad for all areas of your body
and will hurt you down the line, yet you still want to eat it, that is up to
that person. If you choose to ignore the medical info that proves how bad this is for you then you are ignorant, or
can't read or don't have access to this medical info.



I sometimes feel that people either want to stay healthy or not, but it is up to
that person to do so, not authority figures. However, I do realize that
unhealthy people are causing health insurance prices to raise as well. Perhaps
they should have their credit card information attached to their
medical information. This way when they
go to McDonalds and purchase a quarter pounder and add two pounds onto their
ass, the doctors, insurance companies, and everyone else can just look at their
medical info and
medical records and clearly see that that
person is a useless slob that eats too much fast food.

I think the red-coated commies and civil rights libertarians would have a hay
day with allowing insurance companies and credit card companies share
medical information like this. They
would scream foul and raise a storm about how their civil liberties were being
violated by sharing medical information and
medical info through these means would raise
the ACLU's guard. Those same people would also weight 359 pounds, and
would most likely be less motivated to dispute the claim out of sheer laziness.

Oh well, I'm only lazy enough to write a stupid blog about how to exploit the
overweight through merging medical info and
credit card info

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Cancer Video

I love children and to see them in pain kills me. I am also a computer person and in being one have joined a number of social networking sites. However, my favorite might surprise you. It is not MySpace, but www.medsocial.com. I like it because of the health content that it has on it. However, I saw one of the most hard to watch videos I have ever seen. It was about children that died as a result to cancer. Now I already give my time and money to the charities that it said too, but all I want to do now is give more. Hopefully after watching it, you will want to do the same.