Health


by: Jon Caldwell

Pleurisy, also called pleuritis, is an inflammation of the pleura. Pleurisy can be generated by a variety of infectious and non-infectious causes. Pleurisy is caused by swelling and irritation of the membrane that surrounds the lungs. Certain autoimmune diseases (such as systemic lupus erythematosus) can irritate the pleura. It is usually a symptom of another illness. It is also called Pleuritic Chest Pain. Pleurisy can develop from many things, including bacterial or viral infections of the lungs (such as pneumonia), TB, lupus, chest injury or trauma, a blood clot in the lung, or cancer. Sometimes a cause cannot be found. The effects of pleurisy can often be felt long after the condition has gone away.The hallmark of pleurisy is severe chest pain that starts suddenly.

The pain is often strong or stabbing when you take a deep breath. It usually subsides or disappears between breaths. It's usually felt on one side of the stomach area or lower chest. Deep breathing and coughing often make it worse. Pleurisy causes fluid to collect inside the lung area. Breathing may be rapid and shallow because deep breathing induces pain; the muscles on the painful side move less than those on the other side. When an accumulation of fluids (pleural effusion) is associated with pleurisy, the pain usually disappears because the fluid serves as a lubricant. Treatment depends on what is causing the pleurisy. Bacterial infections are treated with antibiotics.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory form of arthritis that causes joint pain and damage. It affecting more than two million people in the United States. Rheumatoid arthritis attacks the lining of your joints (synovium) causing swelling that can result in aching and throbbing and eventually deformity. Sometimes rheumatoid arthritis symptoms make even the simplest activities

by: Zachary Thompson

Our environment is becoming increasingly unfriendly to our health. Toxins from earth, air and even the foods and water we ingest, assault us on a daily basis. We are getting pollution from so many sources that our bodies are finding it hard to eliminate all the toxins. Many of these are heavy metals.

You might be surprised to know the amount of heavy metal toxins that we accumulate in our bodies. Where does it come from? It is found in the air we breathe, water we drink, and the soil that our food is grown in. Once inside our bodies, these heavy metal toxins combine with our cells and prevent the metals that our bodies need from binding with our cells. This in turn will cause far-reaching problems throughout your body. It is also thought to be a factor in some types of autism.

Added to this is the refinement of foods; this will destroy much of the basic nutrition in our foods. The growing methods we use for our food are also factors. Artificial fertilizers and chemicals used in farming are also harming our food nutrition. These factors have led to us eating less nutritious foods. This has led to the deterioration of our health. Our bodies are showing sighs of strain as we succumb to diseases and ailments that were almost unknown to our ancestors.

Because of this situation there is a growing movement to help our bodies get cleansed and detoxified. More products are being discovered and rediscovered to help us in our battle for survival. Many of these products are actually natural products that have been sitting under our noses for centuries. Especially prevalent are a category of nutritional aids known as diet supplements One of the latest supplements is called Natural Cellular Defense. The main ingredient in this product is Zeolite.

What is Zeolite? It is a precious mineral made from the chemical reaction of sea salt and volcanic ash. For many years it has been used as a substance to help with health and wellbeing. Now Zeolite is being promoted as a nutritional supplement to improve your health and vitality.

What does Zeolite do? Zeolite has a honeycombed structure and has negative charges. This will draw in heavy metals into its structure and cleanse the body of these dangerous toxins. The body in turn gets rid of the Zeolite along with all the toxins it has captured. In this way your body can get rid of these heavy metal toxins more easily. This action will help the body to restore its natural pH levels and improve your immune system.

The advantage of Zeolite is that it is completely natural product. Therefore it is non-toxic and should not produce side effects. This makes it safe to take for a longer period. It is the main substance in the nutritional supplement Natural Cellular Defense. This supplement is offered by a company called Waiora, that specialize in helping people maintain their health by detoxification, and natural anti aging products.

by: Zinn Jeremiah

Risks of overweight to health are pretty well documented by this point. Many if not most people have heard news about the damage that too much weight can cause to the body's functioning. These warnings typically emphasize damage to internal organs however, and don't spend a great deal of time on how overweight can affect the muscular skeletal region of the body. The fact of the matter is however overweight stress can have a profound and immediate impact on how a person is able to function.

When considering internal bodily functions, one of the major risks in being overweight is the development of high cholesterol. The term high cholesterol is actually a bit vague since cholesterol is fairly wide ranging, and not all cholesterol is harmful. In truth, cholesterol is found in the cells of all tissue and cholesterol is required in the building and development of cells. Without cholesterol in some form, the human body wouldn't function or develop normally. When discussing cholesterol that adversely affects health, the term that's really being referred to is a form of cholesterol found in the blood stream.

Lipids, or fat, in the blood stream are made up of cholesterol to a considerable degree. The process itself is a bit complex and medically specific, but in essence blood cholesterol is transported by proteins, and one of those proteins is called LDL, shorthand for low-density lipoproteins. The term bad cholesterol refers to LDL because of LDL's connection to disease of the arteries. The higher the levels of LDL, the higher the chances for circulatory problems including heart disease and stroke. High levels of LDL then is what's really meant by references to high cholesterol.

High LDL levels can be an inherited trait, but are just as likely if not more likely to be brought about by diet. People who eat foods heavy in saturated fats in particular are more inclined to have high LDL levels than people who consume only moderate or small amounts of saturated fats. Though overweight isn't necessarily from diets high in fat, diets high in fat consumed over time have a good chance of adding extra weight to a person's body frame. Irrespective of whether it's caused specifically by diet or by something else, overweight people typically have LDL levels that are higher than people who aren't overweight.

It's clear why one should be concerned about elevated LDL levels: high levels of LDL are strongly associated with heart disease. This is frequently why routine physical examinations include a blood exam that checks for LDL levels. Any person who is overweight and has high LDL levels will almost certainly be recommended to lose weight. The good news is that weight loss is correlated with lower LDL levels. It's one more way that losing weight improves one's health outlook.

by: Zinn Jeremiah

The act of conceiving a child is something most people likely take for granted. The general presumption about having children is that anyone who's reached a certain age can do so, and that it takes virtually no effort at all. Ironically or not, it's almost certainly true that most of the efforts around procreation are geared towards preventing it from occurring. But though the majority of people who wish to have children can do so, there are any number of people who would like to conceive a child but cannot. This inability to conceive a child is often referred to as infertility.

Contrary to what some males may believe, male infertility can and does occur. Male infertility can be especially difficult for a man to cope with from an emotional perspective as general stereotypes of men as vital and vigorous sexual beings often persist. The inability of a male to produce offspring may be viewed as a failure on the male's part to live up to expectations. The term impotent for example typically refers to males, not females, who are unable to conceive children because of a sexual dysfunction. At its root, the word impotent refers to one who lacks potency, or strength. An impotent man then may literally be considered a man who lacks strength. Most men would likely consider it an insult for someone to refer to them as being weak.

There are various causes of male infertility, but typically male infertility comes down to one of two causes: an inability to perform sexual intercourse, or nonfunctional semen. Though it isn't completely necessary, sexual intercourse is the standard method for conceiving children. When a couple is unable to have sexual intercourse at all then, there's obviously going to be problems with conception. While women can have difficulty with intercourse, they may still be sexually functional. A male who isn't functional sexually will find it highly difficult, if not impossible, to have intercourse under any means.

Males may generally take their ability to produce healthy semen for granted, but the male's ability to produce semen that is capable of fertilization can be compromised. There are any number of ways that a man's semen can lose its capacity to fertilize. Having a vasectomy, a sterilization surgery, would be one obvious way. Physical trauma to the testicles can also damage semen output, as can excessive heat in the area of the testicles. Studies suggest that smoking cigarettes can also damage semen and potentially make a male infertile.

While the reasons for male infertility can and do vary, infertility solutions for both men and women do exist. Infertility is enough of a problem that numerous facilities that solely treat infertility are in place. There are infertile men who don't consider their infertility to be an issue. Those men who are infertile and do consider it a problem have treatment options available, and should seek them out.

by: Zinn Jeremiah

Depression is the most common psychological problem in the US. Estimates vary, but it's generally presumed that twenty percent of US adults are depressed. Though it may not sound like a lot when stated as a percentage, as an actual number twenty percent of the US adult population amounts to tens of millions of people. With numbers that high, it wouldn't be a great stretch to refer to depression as an epidemic.

One of the problems with depression is treatment. The reality of the situation is that depression typically responds quite well to treatment, and that depression is often overcome once treatment is initiated. While it's true that some people don't respond to certain types of depression treatments, odds are that at least one form or another of depression treatment will work for the person who needs it. This is meaningful as there are numerous depression treatments to be had, among them talk counseling and treatment with medications.

The problem with depression treatment is that most people with depression don't get any sort of treatment at all. There are certainly a number of different potential reasons for this, including the stigma that still exists about admitting to being depressed. Another reason for lack of treatment for depression however is likely due to a lack of motivation. People tend to think of depression as completely psychological in nature, but the truth of the matter is that depression also has physical characteristics. People who become depressed can become so listless that physical activity may seem almost overwhelming.

There may be a tendency to label the depressed person as being in some sort of funk or even being temporarily lazy, but the frequency of lethargy within depressed people leaves little doubt that physical inertia is in fact a genuine symptom of depression itself, and not something separate. Acknowledging that a lack of motivation and will is a symptom of depression is one thing, but dealing with the reality of such a state is something else entirely. The person who's depressed and is lacking will and energy can frustrate people who care for them, and can frustrate themselves as well. The thinking seems to go that the person who's feeling depressed should just will him or herself into action, and again, even the depressed person can share in this sort of critical thinking.

Frustrating though it may be, it's important to keep in mind that a lack of energy and physical action is a legitimate symptom of depression. While it's true that lethargy in a depressed person can be tough for all parties involved to cope with, the positive news is that energy often comes back in a person with depression once they've initiated treatment for their depressed state.

About The Author
Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance author. Find help for depression by visiting http://www.hubonline.biz/get-better-now.htm or http://www.hubonline.biz/healthy-mood.htm

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