Health Risks In Alcohol Abuse

Drinking alcoholic beverages during social functions is a common practice among adults. Occasional drinking poses no treat to health but sometimes the occasional social drinking can progress over time into alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse has varied effects on our bodies and chronic drinking can pose major health risks.

Alcohol affects the brain and the nervous system by slowing down the drinker's reactions and making him feel tranquilized and relaxed. Alcohol dulls the brain. When someone takes alcohol, his inhibitions are lowered making him more aggressive and hostile. When taken in higher dosage, alcohol can cause mental block out, impairing the person's concentration and ability to judge situations properly. This will also create distorted coordination and emotional reactions.

The liver is one of the primary targets of chronic alcohol abuse. Alcoholic hepatitis results when the liver cells are damaged due to recent heavy drinking. On the other hand, liver cirrhosis is a result of a long-term excessive alcohol use wherein large areas of the liver are destroyed or scarred. Damage to the liver may become extremely serious and life threatening.

The blood vessels found in the skin surface usually widen as a result of alcohol intake because of the alcohol's vasodilator properties. This is the reason why the skin of heavy drinkers appears flushed. Chronic alcohol abuse results in the inability of the blood vessels to shrink back to normal giving the person a permanent reddish look.

Cardiomyopathy is a major health risk alcohol abusers are likely to suffer. Long-term alcohol use creates damage and weakens the heart's muscular tissue resulting in heart failure. Anemia and bleeding disorders can also result from chronic alcohol abuse.

Peptic ulcer disease is likely to develop in heavy drinkers. Alcohol can irritate the stomach lining and prolonged use can cause chronic stomach problems including peptic ulcers.

Alcohol has taken and affected so many lives. This is one of the major causes of traffic fatalities in the U.S. When a person's coordination and judgment are impaired by alcohol, his capacity to drive a motor vehicle is lessened as well. Often, a person under the influence of alcohol believes that he still has the capacity to drive and this sometimes results in vehicular accidents that are fatal. Other types of accidents resulting from the participants being alcohol intoxicated may be fires resulting in injuries and loss of lives, boating accidents, water sports and snowmobiling.

A man's ability to procreate is usually affected by alcohol abuse. The nerves that control erection and ejaculation are dulled by alcohol resulting in impotence. In women on the other hand, chronic alcohol use results in a loss of sexual appetite. Furthermore, alcohol intake during pregnancy can prove harmful and may result in fetal alcohol syndrome - the leading cause of mental retardation. Other ill effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy are low birth weight, slow development and learning problems.

Therefore, alcohol abuse is not only a social deterrent but its accompanying health risks are reasons enough for an alcohol abuser to seek immediate rehabilitation and treatment before everything is lost.

Could Gluten Be Damaging Your Health?

Do you suffer from some or all of these problems: IBS, depression, difficulties with your weight, aches and pains in your bones and joints, chronic fatigue? If so, you may be gluten intolerant.

Gluten is a protein found in cereals, specifically, wheat (the main culprit), barley and rye. A similar protein is also found in oats. These cereals are relatively recent additions to the human diet, on the evolutionary timescale. Basically, our bodies haven't had very long to learn how to deal with gluten - so it's not surprising if a high proportion of us have difficulties digesting it.

During man's evolution, our diet consisted mainly of fruit, berries, nuts and large seeds, plus vegetables, roots and the occasional piece of meat when the hunt went well. It was only about 12,000 years ago that grasses were introduced. There's a theory that this change of diet was what killed off Neanderthal man in favour of Homo sapiens, although many believe that assimilation accounted for this. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

Whatever the case, the fact remains that our ancestors had a very short time to get used to the sudden change in diet. Within 10,000 years bread had become known as "the staff of life" in many parts of the world. Even today people in some places don't eat much of these grains - the area of China where rice is grown, for example.

Wheat flour is consumed in huge quantities in the West - think pies, bread, pasta, pizza... It's very likely that someone who eats a lot of something they can't digest properly will develop health problems. And that is what seems to be happening, although the health profession, as usual, is taking a while to catch up.

You don't have to take my word for it. Surf the net for a little while, looking for the words "gluten intolerance", "gluten and depression", "gluten and health", "gluten and obesity", and so on. There are many studies, stories from sufferers, and a few doctors and other medical types saying it's all a load of rubbish.

(I guess it's understandable that doctors don't want to put a health warning on wheat, barley and rye - after all, they've already warned us off almost everything else - though they do seem to change their minds quite a lot. What would their patients eat?)

It's well known that a deficiency in certain vitamins can result in serious health problems. Because gluten based products form such a high proportion of most people's diets, which many of them can't digest properly, malnourishment is becoming common in the West - even in the chronically obese.

Despite what some in the medical fraternity would have you believe, gluten intolerance is not a fantasy. The most severe form, coeliac disease, is a very nasty disease. If you're happy to accept irritable bowel syndrome, arthritic symptoms and depression in exchange for a bowl of pasta, you're braver than I am! I used to suffer from all these problems, until I cut gluten out of my diet. I wish I had known about it before.

If you do have symptoms like the ones listed at the top of this article, it's important you try and find out the cause. Gluten is a prime culprit. And there is quite a bit of evidence to link gluten to bowel cancer, as well (which has been increasing steadily for years).

How should you go about this? There's little point in going to your doctor, because even if he doesn't laugh at you, the only form of gluten intolerance that can be detected (sometimes) by a blood test is coeliac disease. So you need to do a bit of detective work for yourself to establish whether or not gluten is a problem for you.

The easiest way to check this out is to cut gluten out of your diet for two or three weeks and see how you feel at the end of it. There will most likely be changes, though some symptoms may take quite a while to fade away completely. But at the end of the trial, go and get a pizza or a sticky bun or something, just to see what your body's reaction is (but don't go overboard - it may be a stronger reaction than you expect).

Gluten intolerance is much more common than people realise. Don't be a victim, check it out. You're worth it.

Benefits Of Public Health Education

Public health education can be considered an ambiguous term. It teaches the proper way to improve one's health, and can involve only one or two people, or the population of several countries. Anything that can seriously threaten the physical, mental, or spiritual health of a wide range of people, notably due to their interactions with one another, can be classified as a threat to the community's public health. This is why public health education becomes a necessary tool to aid people against the spread of potential diseases and illnesses. Five of the most important reasons of how public health education can prove beneficial are as follows:

1. People are able to learn how to prevent the spread of communicable diseases through the training and methods being taught in education. People are able to have better access to information regarding general prevention of diseases, including the knowledge of what to do and how to act during epidemics in their area. Certain diseases have their own individual prevention methods that people should be well aware of, and employing these techniques lessens the risk of being infected by possible diseases. Through public health education, even simple things such as wearing a flu mask in particularly affected areas, or knowing when to take vaccines for a particular illness that is prominent at that time of the year, always proves very effective in limiting the number of people affected annually.

2. More people are able to access private and public medical institutions to prevent diseases or medical conditions, or to better treat them. Without the benefits of a public health education, most people may feel healthy enough and not find the need to go for a general check-up. Being aware that it is necessary to see your doctor regularly is one of the important things learned in a good public health education. Most medical hospitals and clinics offer immunization or vaccine shots during the flu seasons, or when a general outbreak of hepatitis is going around, and a public health education ensures that more people know to go to these facilities and avail of the treatment, thereby lessening the amount of ill people.

3. People are able to adopt a healthier behavior to lessen the risk of diseases being spread among themselves. Keeping things cleaner around the house, opting to lessen or quit smoking altogether, or exercising more are just a few of the many different ways taught in public health education to combat sickness and improve one's lifestyle.

4. People become more aware of information relating to the disease, rather than believing in just public perception. Public health education not only deals with how to prevent illnesses, it also provides details of how a disease works, which may dispel some myths and fallacies about it in society. The HIV virus for example, can be spread through unprotected sexual intercourse, but not through activities such as kissing or touching. This also helps change a person's views towards someone infected, promoting more empathy rather than discrimination.

5. People are able to help and contribute to disease prevention by supporting or volunteering at health care facilities. Public health education is more than just spreading information; it also calls people to actively participate in aiding others. To be able to protect one's health, it is also necessary to protect the health of other people around you, and helps foster a more close-knit community and a better sense of camaraderie.

Family Related Health Problems - Inherited Illness

Family related health problems fall into two categories: physical and mental illnesses or syndromes. There are several types of illnesses in both categories that are genetically inherited, often passed down strictly through either the maternal or paternal side of the family genealogy.

One example of a family related disease of a physical nature is that of breast cancer. Generally speaking when a mother experiences breast cancer her daughters should receive regular mammograms in response to their mothers condition. It is a recognized fact in the health community that cancer is indeed inherited through a genetic link.

Sometimes however cancer may skip a generation or even two. A cancer that a grandparent or great-grandparent suffered might not be expressed again until the arrival of grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Unfortunately, one drawback in this case is that early signs of cancer might go unnoticed since cancer in ones ancestors may eventually be forgotten and simply become a part of family history.

Another family related health problem is obesity. It is an undeniable fact that the majority of obese people hail from an obese family genealogy. A conflicting viewpoint is that lifestyle, rather than genetics plays a role in this condition, yet most researchers are undecided on this issue. To be sure lifestyle characteristics are learned from an early age and the sedentary family with poor eating habits is doing a disservice to their children. However, those families who lead a reasonable lifestyle yet continue to suffer weight problems may well express an inherited genetic tendency toward obesity.

Family related mental health problems are also genetically linked. Mood disorders such as Bipolar Disorder and psychoses such as Schizophrenia are typical examples of inherited mental illness. These illnesses too can often skip a generation or two within a family genealogy and therefore go unrecognized and untreated for several years.

Drug and alcohol addictions are yet another family related health problem. The argument again with this issue is whether or not there is an inherited propensity towards addiction or if such a condition is the result of the familial environment. Perhaps there is room for confusion about drug and alcohol addiction as a possible genetic problem since many families may have only one member who suffers from drug dependency. The argument surrounding this phenomenon then is whether or not it is possible that only one family member can inherit a drug or alcohol dependency while others do not.

Finally there is another category entirely of family related health problems. Is it possible to create such an unhappy and dysfunctional environment that family members may become physically and emotionally ill? It would seem that this is very possibly the case, particularly in families experiencing neglect and harsh abuse. In this instance the concept of family related health problems is very literal, as these unfortunate issues are brought about solely by the familial environment and not by an inherited condition.

Health Benefits Of Nettle

The stinging nettle (which is called ortie in France and Brennessel in Germany) was said to be introduced into Britain by Caesar's soldiers. They sowed it along the sides of the great straight roads; both the roads and the nettles survive. At the end of a day's march the cooler climate of England and the weary miles made their legs ache. They would gather the nettles and beat each other with them so warming the affected parts. Really an embrocate for the strong.

Culpeper says wittily that they may be found by feeling on the darkest night! He tells us that the juice with honey is a safe and sure medicine to open the pipes and passages of the lungs.

Today the herbal practitioner has found many uses for the humble nettle. The extract with alcohol is a stimulating hair tonic. Urtication, or beating with nettles, is sometimes used as a counter irritant for rheumatic sufferers. It is given to lessen bleeding in the mouth, in the form of a juice, and the juice will apparently greatly relieve painful piles or haemorrhoids if taken a tablespoonful (l5ml) at a time, three times a day.

The active constituents are many and include 5-hydroxytryptamine, histamine, formic acid and gallic acid, plus much readily assimilable iron. Research by Drs Herrmann and Neumann established that an increased metabolic rate took place over a period which lasted from the sixth to the twenty-second hour after taking a glassful. They said that this was very helpful when used in conjunction with therapies for removing -toxins from the blood, and for rheumatism.

For the same reason, nettle juice is a good addition to any iron therapy for anemia. It helps control diarrhea and is at the same time a diuretic which aids the elimination of uric acid. It is powerful so is usually taken a wineglassful at a time. The part of the plant to pick is the top leaves; you may wear gloves or 'Grasp it like a man of mettle and it soft as silk remains.'

Research by Dr Keeser found that the nettle could reduce the blood sugar level. The juice is often good for nervous eczema. The White Dead Nettle (Lamium album) although similar in appearance belongs to a completely different botanical family, but it acts as an astringent and is also effective for diarrhea.

How Nutrition Affects Your Health And Well-being!

In order to be able to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight, prevent and reduce the risk of diseases, and improve your overall health, it is important to become knowledgeable about WHAT nutrition is, WHY it is important and HOW it influences the foods we eat and the different ways those foods affect our bodies. A nutritious diet will help achieve the above. However, it is essential to be aware of what makes a diet nutritious in the first place.

Nutrition is the study of food. It attempts to explain how food nurtures our bodies and influences our health. It consists of consuming, digesting, metabolizing and storing nutrients, as well as the reasons behind how these nutrients shape our bodies. We are usually aware of the definition of nutrition, though that is never enough. What we are not aware of and what we do not seem to understand are the factors that allow us to achieve the desired health and body weight we want. For instance, the amount of each type of foods we should be eating and the factors that have an effect on our eating patterns.

A nutritious diet results in the maintenance of energy and vitality. What contributes to the overall health of an individual is the proper combination of nutrients and energy. The following are the four characteristics that will make a diet nutritious:

1. Adequacy- Enough energy, nutrients and fiber that is needed to maintain the health
2. Balance- The combination of foods that provide the proper balance of nutrients
3. Moderateness- Eating the right amounts of food to maintain a healthy weight and optimize the metabolic process of body
4. Variety- Eating many different foods each day

Nutrition is one of several factors contributing to health. It is very important to become familiar with other factors that seem less obvious, but actually make a big difference in making your overall health complete. The following are the different branches of health, all of which are essential in order to reach a state of complete physical well-being:

• Occupational health: Includes work that is meaningful, and vacation
• Social health: Includes community, social environment, and family
• Emotional health: Includes positive and optimistic feelings about life and oneself
• Spiritual health: Includes spiritual values and beliefs
• Physical health: Includes physical activity and health

Furthermore, our nutrition is of importance and the first step in attaining results that influence our overall health in a positive way is to become aware of the disciplines behind food and nutrition in general. In addition, a nutritious diet will help you lose fat and the continuance of it will help you achieve and maintain a desirable weight.