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As the “baby boom” generation ages and enjoys longer life expectancy, some of their vanity issues become medical and psychological issues. Hair loss, as common among women as men, tops the baby boomers’ list of medical complaints that contribute to depression and low self-esteem. Men naturally associate a full head of hair with peak potency, and women recognize their flowing tresses contribute to their appeal.

Although genetics may predispose some men and women to hair loss, hormonal changes trigger mid-life thinning and balding. Currently, androgenic alopecia or “male pattern baldness” is the most widespread form of hair loss. People suffering from this have significant and progressive thinning of hair, which continues for years before it slows or stops. Because of the hair commonly being lost in an “M” shape; it was called pattern baldness.

Standard Treatments for Hair Loss

According to medical researchers, excessive levels of androgenic hormone called “dihydrotestosterone” or DHT is the major cause of hair loss among men. Similar changes in the balance of androgens and estrogens in women triggers their hair loss. During puberty, DHT plays a vital role in the enhancement of male secondary sex traits. Women must have some DHT in their systems, too, because it contributes to their assertiveness and healthy libido. However, excess production of DHT causes follicular miniaturization: the hair shaft width decreases continuously, so that the hair gets thinner and thinner. DHT also acts on hair follicles, slowing or stopping hair’s growth.

In the last decade, prescription drugs–Finasteride (or Propecia) and Minoxidil—have become the most popular means of reversing or preventing hair loss. Both topical treatments correct male pattern baldness in approximately 90% of cases. In some extreme cases, these androgen-blocking medicines lead to serious side effects–erectile dysfunction, acne, gynecomastia and headache.

Natural Alternatives to Prescription Drugs

Luckily, researchers recently have discovered natural alternatives to Finasteride and Monoxidil. Using plant hormones, isoflavones, the natural remedies work as well as synthetic treatments, and they carry no risk of side effects. In double-blind clinical studies, more than 90% of men and women grew thicker, fuller, healthier hair when they applied plant-based remedies according to their doctors’ instructions. As long as they continued applying the medicines, the benefits persisted

Men Feel the Urgency of Preventing Hair Loss

Hair loss can be caused by stress, vitamin deficiency, thyroid medication goes over- or under- active, poor hair health, and autoimmune diseases. And because of this, it is very much significant for you to consult your doctor when you start seeing hair falling out from your head as it can be an indicative effect of a much worse medical problem. Genetics and biochemistry limit hair restoration treatments’ effectiveness in approximately 10% of men and women over forty. Dermatologists advise, however, proper hair care in your twenties and thirties can minimize your hair loss regardless of your chromosomes and chemicals. Men especially feel the importance of preventing or reversing hair loss, and many psychologists suggest hair restoration not only boosts mature men’s self-esteem and assertiveness but also sustains their potency.

Both men and women can limit their hair loss by eating a diet rich in vitamins, nutrients and fatty acids as these natural nutrients such as vitamin A, B and folic acid, magnesium and zinc, stimulates hair growth. Vitamin deficiencies and biochemical imbalances frequently cause patches of hair loss to appear on your head; left uncorrected, these deficiencies may result in compete baldness. Physicians and dermatologists emphasize that your hair keeps a biochemical record of all you ingest, imbibe, and inhale. A healthy diet in combination with moderate alcohol consumption and ordinary daily vitamins generally minimizes hair loss despite genetic predisposition.

When men and women use all-natural shampoos and conditioners enriched with essential botanticals, they significantly increase their chances of maintaining thick, full, healthy hair. Recent studies have proven Burdock’s and Bergamot’s special effectiveness in stopping and often reversing male-pattern balding. Specialists warn men and women of all ages to avoid soaps and shampoos that contain alcohol and stearates. Although both clean exceptionally well, they also leave hair stripped of its vital nutrients, and few conditioners can repair damage from harsh chemical shampoos

Women’s Styles May Increase Hair Loss

Women’s hair styling frequently takes a heavy toll on their tresses, and dermatologists recognize scalp damage from harsh hair-treatment chemicals accounts for a significant percentage of hair loss among mid-life women. Bleaches, dyes, and curling chemicals also thin and break hair, and they rob it of vital nutrients essential to its continued growth. A large body of mostly anecdotal research indicates “hampoo-in” hair dyes, which do not strip hair before tinting it, seem safest and least likely to contribute to hair loss later in life.

Photo by Dr_Alan_Bauman

Allergic reactions to harsh shampoos account for a significant percentage of women’s hair loss, sometimes burning tender scalp tissue and inflicting permanent damage. Worst among these scenarios, some extreme cases of hair and scalp injury result from men’s and women’s use of alcohol shampoos while they are taking prescription medication to control their alcohol use; the interaction sometimes causes permanent hair loss.

Ironically, some of the most popular hair conditioners make hair appear beautiful in the short term at the expense of its long-term health. One of the most popular products currently on the market is made-up of more than 50% silicone and waxes, both of which coat hair and make it resist both proper cleansing and healthy nourishment. In other words, these conditioners contain exactly the same active agent as the popular lubricant “WD40.”

Stylists also encourage you to shampoo in clean water heated only to lukewarm. Urban tapwater pours in as many chemicals and contaminants as shampoo washes away, so that you should filter your water if you can. If you are washing your hair with very hot water very frequently, it might be another cause of hair loss. It is generally suggested that you wash your hair around three times a week in lukewarm water with gentle shampoo and conditioner. Many stylists encourage their clients to mix their own shampoos and conditioners, suggesting they use pure glycerin cleansers and add lavender, chamomile, and aloe for cleansing and nourishing. The best stylists insist their clients use nothing but all-natural shampoos and conditioners enriched with essential oils to protect and nourish hair.s

Mosquitoes require water to breed. Adult mosquitoes lay eggs the slow moving water. By eliminating the slow water sources from your surroundings, you can stop the new generations of mosquitoes in your area.

You should drill holes in the bottom of recycle bins, not at the sides of the bins. Holes on the sides still allow enough water to accumulate in the bottom for mosquitoes to breed.
Keep gutters clean. Try to cover the holes of gutters. It has been seen many times that open gutters make the environment dirty and dirty environment proves the best place for mosquitoes for their breeding.

Keep swimming pools cleaned and chlorinated, even when not in use. Homeowners who go on vacation without chlorinating their pools may return to a veritable mosquito hatchery.
After the rain you must visit your property and look for areas that are not draining well. Try to fill those areas with sand where water halt for a long.

Ornamental ponds should be aerated to keep water moving and discourage mosquitoes from laying eggs. Alternately, stock the pond with mosquito-eating fish.

Throw the garbage properly in the bins. Dump anything that holds water twice per week if it has rained. Birdbaths, non-chlorinated wading pools, footbaths, garbage can lids, and pottery will all attract breeding mosquitoes. After a week you must wash the bins. Remember to empty the saucers under your flower pots, and don’t leave water in pet bowls for more than two days.

Always keep your environment clean. Don’t throw the garbage on the floor.
Use anti mosquito sprays or insecticides which keep the mosquitoes from you. Check the labels for EPA-approved products registered as effective against adult and larval mosquitoes. A light spray application around building foundations, shrubs, and grasses will keep adults from resting in these areas.

Replace your outdoor lights with yellow lights because it has been observed, mosquitoes don’t like the yellow lights. These lights invade the mosquitoes from your house or yard.
You should fix the net screen on your doors and windows in order to keep away the mosquitoes from you. After some month check the doors and windows.

Adult mosquitoes rest during the day, usually on tall weeds or other vegetation. Make your yard less hospitable to mosquitoes by trimming your lawn regularly, and keep weeds away from your home’s foundation.

Related links

How to Control Mosquitoes

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Drink water more often than any other beverage, and minimize carbonated drinks. Water keeps the body and the skin hydrated, flushes away toxic waste materials from the body, helps in maintaining regular bowel movements, and fills you up so you don’t have to eat more. Aging skin is generally dry skin, and wrinkles are more visible on dry rather than well-moisturized skin. Moreover, when harmful toxins are not properly eliminated from the body, this is potentially harmful for the body’s organs as they have to work extra hard to cope with the effects of the harmful elements retained within.

A diet that is rich in living foods is better that one that is loaded with refined goods, and processed meats. Living foods mean fruits, leafy vegetables that can be eaten as salads and nuts that are a healthy source of essential oils and healthy fats. Red meats are also hard to digest and because the body organs has to work extra hard to process and digest these, this results in a weaker and much aged body. Fiber-rich meals on the other hand are easy to digest and aids in timely elimination of toxins. Skin aging usually results from a faulty diet and the earlier people accept this, the more they will realize that they have to really watch what they eat.

It is also better if smoking and too much alcohol intake must be eliminated for a truly healthy and youthful lifestyle. Smoking dehydrates the skin, weakens the lungs, and affects even the health of those within near vicinity. Too much alcohol moreover parches the skin resulting in an unhealthy complexion and an overworked liver. Ever noticed that hard drinkers and habitual smokers look much older than their health conscious colleagues? This is due to the encouraging effects of alcohol and nicotine in the bodily skin aging process.

Prolonged sun exposure ages the skin more than anything. For a simpler illustration, look at the way the sun reduces the grape into a wrinkled raisin. The grape’s juices are all dried out and all that is left is a wrinkled skin that is coarse and hard to the touch. If you have to stay out on the sun, wear a shielding sunscreen that has protection factor above 15. Furthermore, avoid the sun as much as possible during the hours between 10AM and 3PM. This is when the sun has the most damaging degree and makes skin aging worse. Cover up with a wide hat or a large umbrella when unavoidable.

Finally, apply a skin moisturizer on the face and neck daily even when you are still in your middle twenties. There are several excellent brands that have loads of vitamin A, C, and E and wrinkling prevention compounds. The results definitely won’t be overnight, unlike aesthetic procedures that effect instant consequences. Healthy living generally takes consistent effort done over a considerable amount of time. Skin aging is inevitable, but there a few inexpensive and natural means to help you avoid looking like you’re already twice your age.

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As anyone who has ever broken a bone already knows, broken bones are very painful. Not only are they painful, but they can also be very dangerous depending on where they are located. So, even if you don’t have access to an x-ray machine, there are ways to tell if someone has a broken bone. This way, you can get them the proper medical attention quickly.

1. Look at the injury

Photo by jesse k

First thing you want to do is take a look at the injury. Do you see anything abnormal about the injured part? Usually, if something is broken there is some kind of deformity in the way that the injured part looks.

For example, if it is an arm, it may look as if the person has an extra elbow, or from the wrist to the forearm may zigzag instead of being straight. Another sign of a break is bruising or discoloration in the skin and swelling. Compare the injured part to its counterpart on the other side of the person and see if there are any big differences between the two.

2. Talk to the victim

Talk to the injured person. Not only does this assist you with your assessment but it can also help keep the victim from going into shock. Find out how the injury happened and how far they fell when they injured the part. The further the fall and the greater the impact will help you to determine whether or not this is a broken bone. Also, the amount of pain that the victim is having can also point to a broken bone. Ask the person how badly it hurts, and if they think it is broken.

3. Touch the area gently

Very gently touch the area and see how the person reacts when you touch it. Is there a certain spot on the injured area that is especially painful? Does the area feel unstable? Are there spasms in the muscles surrounding the injured area? Instability and muscle spasms are both indicator of a possible fracture.

So, things to look for when assessing for a fracture:

Pain in the injured part
Discoloration
Swelling
instability
muscle spasms

Once you have assessed the victim and have decided that they do indeed have a fracture, you should avoid moving the victim at all costs unless they are in immediate danger because any movement could injure the person worse.

Even if you aren’t a medical expert, there are things that you can do to keep the personal comfortable until help arrives.

1. Cover the victim

This will help keep them from going into shock.

2. Elevate the injured part

Elevating the injury will help to keep swelling down. Move the part very gently when elevating it so that you do not make the injury worse.

3. Look for other injuries

Check the victim over for other injuries and clean cuts and other open wounds, but do not do anything if the fracture is an open or compound fracture.

4. Do not cover over the injured part

You want to be able to monitor the fractured part, so it’s important to have a clear view of it and be able to tell emergency personnel if there have been any changes to the injury since it happened.

5. Remove tight clothing or jewelry

If you can do it without affecting the injured part of the body, remove any tight clothing or jewelry from the victim. Especially in cases where a fracture is suspected, it’s important to keep the circulation going in the victim’s body.

Above all, remain calm and help to keep the victim calm. An injury and pain is hard on the body, but when they are excited, it makes it even harder on the body.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is something that is more common in women than in men. First and foremost, it should be noted that hypertension should only be diagnosed and treated by a doctor, because there may be other reasons that your blood pressure is high other than those listed below. If you suspect that you have high blood pressure, it’s strongly urged that you see a doctor.

Stress

Photo by Kungfukitten

One of the big contributing factors for people with high blood pressure is stress. Stress is everywhere – at our job, at home, in traffic. Things just seem to make us upset easily, especially as we grow older. So how do you avoid stress? It can’t be avoided completely, but there are some things that you can do to help reduce the amount of stress in your life.

Getting proper sleep is a key factor in helping you cope better with things that may come your way during the day. When our bodies are tired, we tend to blow things out of proportion more than when we have had proper rest. The less rest you have, the more you will become stressed.

Exercise is another good stress reliever. When possible, get yourself away from the stressful situation. Take a walk, go to the gym, and punch a punching bag, all very good stress relievers. Yoga is another relaxing form of exercise that can help to relieve stress.

Another good way to relieve stress is to allow you to cry. It has been said that the stress hormones are released in tears, which is why you feel better after a good cry.

When possible, turn off your cell phone. Give yourself time away from the things that contribute stress.

Inherited high blood pressure

If high blood pressure runs in your family, you have a better chance of having it yourself. Let your doctor know that there is a history of high blood pressure in your family, so that he can monitor you for it.

Photo by cdcnhanes

There’s not much that you can do to avoid getting it but at least he’ll be on the lookout for it and if you do have high blood pressure he can start treatment right away.

Obesity

Being overweight is a major contributing factor to high blood pressure. It’s easy to say to lose weight, but if you are already overweight and have high blood pressure it’s important to stay away from fatty and fried foods, and to watch what you eat. Exercise is also important. There are plenty of things that you can do to exercise – it just doesn’t mean joining a gym. Do you like to swim? Join the YMCA. Do you like to shop? Go and walk in the mall each day.

Photo by Thrift Store Diva

The nice thing about indoor exercise is that you can do it no matter what the weather is like. Buy yourself a stationary bike and ride it while you watch TV. You’ll forget you are even on it. Exercise doesn’t have to be a drag or a chore. Do what you can do to make it fun. That way you’ll look forward to exercising rather than thinking of it as something that you have to do.

Some of the symptoms of hypertension are:

• Feeling as if the world is spinning (vertigo)
• Nausea
• Headaches
• Having a hard time catching your breath after exercise
• Blurred vision
• Nosebleeds
• Having to urinate a lot, especially at night
• Ringing or buzzing in your ears
• Feeling tired, fatigue
• Flushed face
• A feeling like your heart is racing

Just because you have one or more of the above symptoms does not mean that you have high blood pressure. The symptoms above also apply to many other things, and only a doctor can truly diagnose you with high blood pressure. If you are concerned that you might have high blood pressure, make an appointment to see your doctor and have a physical exam. Tell him or her about your symptoms and your concerns. Even if you don’t have high blood pressure, it’s important to let them know how you are feeling. It may not be high blood pressure, it could be nothing, but it always warrants looking into.

Photo by rohicks

If you are at risk for high blood pressure due to family history, it’s always a good idea to take preventative measures. Eat healthy, get plenty of sleep, exercise and try to deal with stressful situations in a calm cool manner.

There are plenty of ‘fad diets on the internet that promise to help you lose weight fast. The problem is that losing weight that way is not healthy, and chances are that you won’t keep it off. There are ways to weight loss fairly quickly and if you continue to keep up the practices that caused you to lose the weight then you will keep it off.

1. Water, water everywhere!

Photo by bobroche

First and foremost, drink plenty of water. Drink it when you get up in the morning, drink it before a meal, and drink it while you are eating. Water is needed to hydrate your body, especially if you are exercising. The other good reason to drink lots of water is that water fills you up. Remember your mother saying to you at a restaurant not to fill up on water because you wouldn’t eat your dinner? Well, forget it.

Drink all the water you want. It has no calories in it and yet has the amazing ability to help us feel full. Another good way to get flavor without a lot of calories is eating things that have a lot of water in them, like watermelon (notice the word water in there?) and tomatoes. They both are 95% water and so they will help you feel full without giving you a lot of calories.

2. Five servings a day!

When you are dieting, getting your fruits and vegetables is especially important. But make certain that you choose fresh fruits and juices, instead of processed fruits. Stay away from the canned and dried fruits. Canned fruits contain less fiber than fresh fruit, and they almost always have sugar added. Same thing we can observe with fruit juices. If you are having strong desire for fruit juice, go for fresh fruit juice and make it yourself when you can.

With vegetables, you can never eat too many. If you can, eat them raw because cooking, even boiling, removes half of the vitamins from them. Your best bet is to have a salad and if you must have dressing, use the low fat, low calorie type. Vegetables are also a great source of fiber, so that is another reason to keep them in your diet.

3. Easy ways to exercise

When people talk about exercising, the things that come to mind are things like walking, running, and hiking, biking, and swimming. There are plenty of ways to exercise and burn calories without really changing your daily routine. Use the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator. Instead of asking someone to bring you something from downstairs, get it yourself. Change the channels on the television manually instead of using a remote control. Give your dog some much needed attention – take him outside for a walk. If you take the bus or subway to work, get off a block before your stop if you are able to. When you are watching television, get up and move around during the commercial breaks. These seem like small things but over time they can make a big difference.

Photo by kreativekell…kelly angard

Exercise doesn’t have to be boring. Crank up the music on the stereo and dance – dancing is exercise too. If you are frustrated, hit your pillow. Don’t keep your cell phone right next to you or on you. Keep it somewhere that you can still hear it, but will have to get up to answer it. Talk while on your cell phone instead of sitting back down.

Choose the least comfortable of available positions. Instead of lying down, sit. Instead of being sitting idle, stand up. Instead of standing in one place, walk. If you can, instead of walking, run. Start out slowly with your exercising. Make it fun, and stop when your body tells you to stop. Don’t get frustrated.

4. Alcohol

If you enjoy wine, stick with the dry wines instead of the sweet wine. Sweet wine, as the name implies, contains more sugar, but with the dry wine, most of it has been removed with the fermentation.

Photo by |.molly.|

5. Meals

Don’t skip your meals. In fact, five to six smaller meals a day instead of three large ones helps keep your metabolism going all day and helps with weight loss. Also, chew all your food thoroughly. Chewing activates the salivary glands and it’s in your saliva that sugar is digested. So chew everything, even if it seems like you don’t need to. It will help.

In conclusion, there is no quick weight loss plan. But by eating healthy and exercising there’s no reason why you can’t be at the weight you want to be and look and feel great besides.