Everyone needs sleep. Sleep allows the body to rest and affects both physical and mental health. While scientists are unsure of everything that sleep does for the body, there is no question that sleep is necessary for survival. But, how much sleep does a person really need?
The amount of sleep a person requires is affected by the person’s age. As people age, they tend to need less sleep. Babies need an average of 16 hours of sleep per day and teenagers require approximately nine hours. By the time someone is an adult, they generally need an average of seven to eight hours in order to remain in optimal health. Some people may function effectively on as little as five hours of sleep and others may need as many as ten hours per night in order to feel their best.
Other factors that affect someone’s sleep requirements are the amount of sleep they have had in recent days and their general health. For example, a pregnant woman usually needs additional sleep in her first trimester. Someone who is ill or has a depressed immune system generally needs additional rest as well. When the immune system is depressed, the body produces chemicals to fight infection; these same chemicals induce sleep. Very elderly people often find that they sleep less than when they were younger adults. Read more…
How often do you find yourself saying, “I’m so stressed out!” If you’re like many people, such a statement is a part of our everyday lives. Often we don’t take the time to relax our bodies and minds, refresh our outlook, and give ourselves much needed time away from the pressures we face on a daily basis. Unfortunately, over time, ignoring the buildup of stress can affect both physical and mental health. Along with draining our energy and decreasing our level of performance, stress can also wear down our bodies, contribute to emotional imbalance, high blood pressure, decreased circulation, headaches, depression, and overall poor general health. Below are a few simple strategies you can bring into your life that can help you free your body and mind from tension.
1. Breathing
Breathing right can help improve your posture and lung capacity, as well as your peace of mind. The great thing about utilizing breathing techniques to decrease stress is that you can use them anytime throughout your day: at work, in your car, on the phone, even waiting in line at the supermarket. The first step to breathing properly is to become aware of how you breathe. Awareness is always the first step to making a conscious change. Most of us use our lungs sparingly; our breaths are shallow because they’re surrounded by tension. To try deep breathing, place your hand on your lower abdomen. When you inhale, concentrate on pushing your hand out with your belly first, then filling up the rest of your lungs so your breath comes in bottom to top. In this way, you are using the full capacity of your lungs. Inhale through your nose and exhale out through your mouth and take long, slow breaths. Even after doing this just ten times consecutively, you should feel your shoulders drop a bit, and your neck extend upward. (Note: if you become light-headed while deep-breathing, switch to your regular breathing pattern and resume deep breathing when the feeling has passed.) If you practice this type of deep breathing just once a day for five or ten minutes, you will soon become so familiar with the technique that you can put it to use anytime without even thinking twice. Soon you’ll be going through your day breathing deeply and feeling great. Read more…
Did you know that you can increase good health by making sure that you get enough water? Yes plain water that has
been purified in some way. The water most of us get from the tap is full of chemicals that is bad for our health. Do
not drink tap water, unless you have your own well, which you know is not contaminated.
Drinking water is essential for a healthy body. Water regulates body temperature, lubricates joints, keeps skin youthful and muscles strong.
Water is present in every cell and tissue and involved in so many biological functions: digestion, absorption, circulation and excretion. It helps us with keeping our
hormones balanced and our brain chemistry Relies on water for proper balance. Water gives us energy and strengthens the immune system.
Most people are not drinking enough water and are semi dehydrated. Your body cannot work at optimum level without the water it needs.
What happens when you don’t drink enough water?
I won’t go into all the details, but do want to mention a few things here. All the things mentioned above that water helps keep in balance and lubricated are affected when you don’t drink water. You will not feel as well as you possibly
could, your body does not have what it needs for good health and so your health declines. Read more…
Do doctor visits make you nervous? When you are sitting in the exam room with your health care provider, do you suddenly forget what you wanted to talk about? Try these 3 simple tips to prepare yourself and make the most out of each visit.
- Write down a list of questions or concerns. Sit down and think about what you have been experiencing. Anything unusual like rashes, headaches, bumps or sores that won’t go away, painful areas? Use the list when visiting your health care provider.
- Try bringing a friend, significant other, or caregiver with you. Most clinics or doctor’s offices will let you bring someone. Having this person there may help you stay relaxed. Also, he or she may remember to tell the doctor or nurse something that you might have forgotten.
- Be 100% honest. If questions come up about personal issues like sex, drug and alcohol use, or even how many doses of medication you miss, answer as truthfully as possible. Your health care provider is there to help you, not judge you, and needs to know the facts in order to make the right decisions for your care.
If you have been through most of the anti-HIV drugs out there and are running out of options because they no longer work against the virus, here are a few things to remember: Read more…
This is a subject that has many different facets as to the appropriateness of seeking one style of medicine as compared to the other. Most people will seek a doctor or therapist practicing in accordance with their own particular healing beliefs. What is of most importance is that the client or patient finds a doctor or other health care professional that they like and trust. In general, alternative medicine is considered conservative and leaves more traditional treatment options open. Traditional medicine, also known as allopathic or Western medicine, is more drug and surgery oriented. It is the appropriate choice in life threatening health care situations. It must be remembered that each category of health care has certain limitations and that no one type of doctor has all of the treatment answers. Both allopathic and alternative treatments are valid options and are often complementary.
In general, alternative medicine has focused on a systems approach. What this means is that the doctor of physician tends to look at the whole person when making treatment judgments. They take great pains to figure out how one symptom or body system effects another. Actually, this kind of medicine is really the more traditional form of health care, because it is older. It is usually based on Chinese medicine and the Meridian System. Some of the disciplines of alternative health care are massage, acupuncture, acupressure, chiropractic care, applied kinesiology, touch for health, homeopathy, diet, and herbal medicine. This type of medicine is a medicine of health and focuses on maintaining that health before it reaches the point of dysfunction. Read more…