5 Reasons Why Type One Diabetes is on the Rise

A 2009 study in The Lancet found that new cases of type 1 diabetes in kids could double in the next 10 years. Possible reasons for this dramatic rise include:

1. Too big too fast. The “accelerator hypothesis” theorizes that children who are bigger and grow more quickly are more likely to develop type 1 diabetes.
2. Too little sun. The “sunshine hypothesis” comes from data showing that countries situated closer to the equator have lower rates of type 1 diabetes.
3. Too clean. The “hygiene hypothesis” is the notion that cleanliness — lack of exposure to certain germs and parasites — may increase susceptibility to diseases like diabetes.
4. Too much cow’s milk. The “cow’s milk hypothesis” states that exposing babies to infant formula containing cow’s milk in the first six months of life damages their immune systems, and can trigger autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes.
5. Too much pollution. The “POP hypothesis” alleges that being exposed to pollutants increases diabetes risk.

Sources:

U.S. News & World Report April 27, 2010

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your community pharmacist or physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

More TV for Toddlers Means School Trouble Later

Toddlers who watch too much have measurably lower scores in math later in life and get bullied more often than other children. They also weighed more by the time they were 10 and consumed more snacks and soft drinks.

Children who spend all their time watching TV may lose valuable chances to learn social skills.

Reuters reports:

“The researchers started with more than 2,000 children taking part in a larger study ... Every additional weekly hour of television at 29 months corresponded to a 7 percent drop in classroom attention and a 6 percent drop in math skills [by the age of 10] ...”

Sources:

Reuters May 5, 2010

The Best Exercises For Your Facial Muscles To Stay Looking Young

Your facial muscles need exercise just as much as the rest of your body. And facial exercises work just like regular muscle exercises.

Intent.com suggests the following to keep your face looking young:

“1. Raise your eyebrows as high as you can and hold them for five seconds.

2. Open your mouth as wide as possible and stick your tongue out as far as you can and hold for a few seconds.

3. Using your three center fingers, press down on your cheeks and smile as hard as you can to raise your cheek muscles against your fingers.

4. Move your nose as much as you can from side to side.

5. Lift your eyebrows as high as you can, open your eyes as wide as possible and frown at the same time.

6. Pucker your lips out as far as possible into the shape of an "O." Then change your expression into a wide smile. Repeat several times.

7. Sit in a comfortable chair and look up at the ceiling. Pucker your lips and stick your tongue out as far as possible to exercise your neck muscles.”

Sources:
Intent April 27, 2010
http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2010/05/04/the-best-exercises-for-your-facial-muscles-to-stay-looking-young.aspx

May is National Correct Posture Month - check out these 'good posture' exercises!

With May being National Correct Posture Month, it seems only right to think about ways to improve the posture.

Here’s what Dr Greg Thielman, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy at the University of Philadelphia, suggests in the way of tips and exercises…

Evaluate your workstation: A workstation is anywhere that an individual spends a notable amount of time daily and for many of us, our primary workstation is standing or sitting at a desk. “If you’re sitting, don’t drop a ton of money on an ergonomic chair. Instead, position the chair to provide lumbar, shoulder, and if needed, head support.”

Perform daily exercises: Dr. Thielman recommends regularly exercising the large muscles on the front and back of the thigh, the abdominal muscles, and performing three exercises daily:

1. Pelvic Tilt: “While sitting, push your pelvis back into the chair, hold it for three seconds and then relax. This tightens and strengthens your abdominal muscles,” explains Dr. Thielman.
2. Chin Tucks: “Also while sitting, put your pointer finger on your chin and push straight back. Be sure your head isn’t tilted up or down and this exercise will realign your spine and combat forward head position.”
3. Lean Back: “Lastly, most of what we perform at our workstations forces us anterior, so we’re constantly bending forward. To straighten the spine, stand-up, put your hands on your lower back, and lean back. This exercise combats the effects of being in a forward position.”

Invest in supportive shoes: Stiletto heels may look good, but Dr. Thielman warns they don’t do women any favors in the posture department. “There is no such thing as a good high heel shoe.” Shoes that cover the top of the foot are ideal. “Each brand fits differently, but the key is to find one that works for you and that gives the much-needed overall support.”'

***Come into the pharmacy and ask our knowledgeable staff about the shoe support items we offer.***

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Source:

http://blisstree.com/feel/straighten-up-for-national-posture-month/

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your community pharmacist or physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

How many times do you hit the snooze button in the morning? Here are 5 tips for becoming an early riser.

If you’d like to become an early riser, there are some things you should know before you run off to set your alarm clock.

Here are five tips:

Choose to get up before you go to sleep

You’re not very good at making decisions when you’ve just woken up. This is not the time to be making decisions about whether or not you should stay in bed! If you want to be a consistently early riser, try making your decision to rise at a specific time before you go to sleep the night before.

Have a plan for your extra time

Let’s say you’ve actually made it out of bed 2 hours before you normally would. If you don’t have something planned to do with your extra time, you risk falling for the temptation of a “morning nap” that wipes out all the work you put into getting up.

Make rising early a social activity

Wouldn’t it be great to join an early breakfast club, running group, or play chess in the park at 5 AM?

Don’t use an alarm that makes you angry

If we’re all wired differently, why do we all insist on torturing ourselves with the same sort of alarm each morning? Experiment a bit and see what works best for you. Light, sound, smells, temperature, or even some contraption that dumps water on you might be more pleasant than your old alarm clock.

Get your blood flowing right after waking

It doesn’t take much to get your blood flowing and chase the sleep from your head. Just pick something you don’t mind doing and go through the motions until your heart rate is up. Jumping rope, push-ups, crunches, or a few minutes of yoga are typically enough to do the trick.

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Sources:
Lifehack March 22, 2010

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your community pharmacist or physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

6 Effective Ways To De-Junk Your Life

1. Be honest

You don't need lies in your life, and being honest only gets easier with practice.

2. Make a list of just 7 things that are irreplaceable

Once you know what's important to you, you’ll probably get rid of some things that aren't.

3. Make a list of just 5 people who matter the most to you

Once again, keeping in touch with the people who really mean something to you will help you realize your true priorities.

4. Move into a smaller living space

You'll throw out some stuff during the moving process, and a small home means you'll be faced with clutter on a daily basis until you get rid of more.

5. Quit your job

Or just pretend and make some plans. You might be surprised by what you come up with.

6. Train for an endurance race

This can provide an amazing amount of stress relief as well.

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Sources:
Lifehack March 30, 2010


Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your community pharmacist or physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

Health Benefits of Honey - how do you like to use honey?

Honey, a most easily digestible carbohydrate compound, has been used by the mankind over 2500 years and has been known worldwide for its numerous health benefits. It is no wonder that the traditional medicines such has Ayurveda have realized the medicinal values of honey and has made it an essential ingredient in all the medicines. Even in modern medicine, research is going on in analyzing the benefits of honey especially its benefits in healing cuts and wounds.

The fact that it can be consumed very easily makes it so popular. It can be taken directly as raw honey, mixed with juices and beverages instead of sugar, mixed with hot water and can also be consumed as a sweetener with bread or bun. There are number of health benefits of honey and here is a quick brief of the most important health benefits.

Honey is a natural energy booster

Research has proved that a single tablespoon of honey can provide 64 calories in comparison with natural sugar that produces only 50 calories. Unlike natural sugar which needs to undergo an inversion process during digestion, honey has already accomplished this process and hence it more easily digestible than sugar and thus produces more energy in a shorter time. It is because of this special benefit it is consumed by athletes as it helps them maintaining blood sugar levels and muscle recuperation after a hard work out. It contains natural fruit sugars that help in preventing fatigue during exercise. Honey has two varieties of sugar, glucose and fructose. Glucose is more readily assimilated by the body and hence provides instant energy while fructose is assimilated more slowly providing sustainable energy.

Honey and weight loss

Though honey has the capability to provide more calories than sugar, when consumed with hot water, it proves as a good weight loss agent by burning the fat stored in our body. Similarly honey can also be used with lemon juice and cinnamon that will help in reducing weight.

Honey as antioxidant

Honey contains an effective antioxidant named as nutraceuticals. Antioxidants are essential elements that are required to fight the harmful free radicals that cause aging and other health hazards.Thus honey help in removing these free radicals and builds the immunity of our body.

Honey and remedy for ailments

No one can deny the fact that honey has been used as natural medicine to heal cuts and wounds. Right from the early past, people have been using honey to heal wide range of ailments such as yeast infection, athlete foot and arthritis pain. Honey has antiseptic and antimicrobial properties that curbs the growth of certain harmful bacteria and helps to keep external wounds clean and free form any infection. It is also an essential requirement in every first aid kit as it has properties to instantly cure wounds.

Honey for curing sore throats

One of the most important and most popular health benefits of honey is its ability to treat sore throats. It is due to its anti-microbial properties it tends to soothe the throat and also helps in destroying the bacteria that causes the infection.

Honey as a source of vitamins and minerals

Honey undoubtedly is a rich source of vitamins and minerals. The type of mineral and vitamin present in honey depends on the type of flower used for beekeeping.

Thus depending on that it contains rich mineral and vitamins that give honey all its medicinal properties and anti-bacterial properties.Honey is also used in conjunction with milk to keep your skin smooth and young.

Hence consuming milk and honey daily is a common practice followed in many countries for getting a smooth skin.

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Source: http://www.justhealthtips.com/health-benefits-of-honey.html

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your community pharmacist or physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.