Start To Maximize Your Exercise Performance The Right Way

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It is called intra-workout supplementation and is sometimes the most oft ignored component of the workout program that needs to be properly done to maximize your exercise performance.

Intra-workout supplementation is the best way to maximize your exercise performance

Simply put, it is the supplementation that you need to take in during your workout routines, which is anchored on several scientific studies that support it- highly beneficial for accelerating mass gain progress and boost recovery.

Initially intra-workout supplementation started out with water as a hydrating agent and helps cool the body for enhanced performance. But as science evolved, so did the quest to enhance performance and recovery, where water is no longer the ideal solution.

Scientists began to thoroughly research on what the body can use more to gain more, so came carbohydrates which-when added to water- became the workout drink that was more effective than plain water.

Years passed and sports scientists continued to look for more effective minerals and nutritional ingredients to further enhance strength and performance.

The evolution of sports and its challenges

In the early 1990’s, scientists began to focus their attention towards fitness science and theories based on the ell-known premises of the time which included the following;

• The effects of workout and overloading on the muscle’s structural protein components.
• How the muscles are broken down and how it can optimally build back up during recovery.
• Different types of fatigue not caused by the lack of carbohydrates and how it can be best addressed.
• How different training and nutritional needs are taken into consideration during intra-workout plans.
• Carbohydrates may help fuel the body during workouts, but this is not the only solution for supplementation.

The importance of amino acids

While hydration with water is an ideal yet basic supplementation, just a small amount of water lost in your body weight may even have an effect on your training performance.

A 2 to 3 percent drop in the body’s water weight during a high intensity interval training routine could result in a huge drop in performance with reduced repetitions, and higher ratings of exertion, according to research.

In order to avoid this, just make sure to stay hydrated by drinking six to 12 ounces of water every 15 to 20 minutes into your workout programs.

You can then make the most of amino acid supplements where in high concentrations taken during exercise largely increases exercise-induced protein synthesis or muscle building. It also increasing blood flow to working muscles and heightened cellular sensitivity that allows the muscles to absorb substrates and fuel at a faster rate.

It is advised to take amino acid supplements before your workouts to make sure that amino acids are in your blood stream to during your exercise program and still reap the same benefits.

Start to maximize your exercise performance and allow your body to reap the results better and faster.

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Virtual Reality For Elderly To Help Improve Quality Of Life

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Seeing good initial results from several test runs, a move to develop virtual reality for elderly people as a means to help them feel relaxed is currently underway and may soon be made available.

Harnessing the technology of virtual reality for elderly people

She seems to be enjoying it and has already tried it five times. 103 year old Virginia Anderlini used to sit alone in a sofa of her San Francisco elderly-care home, until one day she was introduced to Dr. Sonia Kim who gave her the opportunity to take those virtual reality trips that made her happy.

On this very recent visit by Dr. Kim, Anderlini was really looking forward to her next virtual reality adventure and as expected, Dr. Kim starts to place a virtual reality headset over her eyes.

Anderlini began to giggle as she was transported into another world and this time a sunset view of the horizon of a Hawaiian beach, surrounded by glistening rays of dusk and as she looks up she sees the blades of leaves from towering palm trees.

She beckons to her son, who was seated close by and tells him, “Terry, you’ve got to see this too.”

Feelings of self-pity and low self-esteem

For Kim, being a virtual reality entrepreneur gives her a sense of fulfillment with her hopes of helping improve quality of life for the elderly. She envisions that her VR program – one example of which was the Hawaiian sunset beach environment – called Aloha VR, may be a way to help people relax, instead of spending long hours sitting in front of the TV.

Kim also said that even for unhappy people, virtual reality may be a way to provide them an escape into a world that may somehow allow them to divert their attention from their hurt and pain.

Studies show that many elderly people, especially those cared for in assisted-living homes are often at risk of depression, brought about by feelings of being left alone. Also, because of their limited physical capabilities, they begin to feel sorry for themselves.

This paved the way for Kim to initially establish Once Caring Team back in 2014, where staffers call seniors on the phone to check their status and also take down notes on medication and doctors’ appointments.

So with virtual reality for elderly people, we might soon have the ability to make it available for all.

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Popular Weed Killer Faces Lawsuits From Cancer Patients

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Popular weed killer brand Roundup by agricultural chemical firm Monsanto, was the subject of more than 30 residents seeking justice for those affected by the weed killer formula believed to have caused cancer among users.

Popular weed killer causes cancer

Lawyer Robin Greenwald, from the Weitz and Luxenberg law firm, is representing more than 30 people suing or planning to sue Monsanto after their popular weed killer brand Roundup’s primary ingredient glyphosate was believed to be cancerous.

Greenwald, who is the head of environmental protection if the firm, said that all the complainants were afflicted with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – which is a cancer of cells called lymphocytes and is a vital part of the body’s immune system.

Roundup as the common denominator  

Greenwald said that the complainants all have one thing in common – they were regularly using Roundup as a weed killer as part of their routine activities.

“Some people are landscapers, some people are migrant farm workers, some people are farmers,” says Greenwald. “What everyone has in common is that they all used Roundup and they all have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”

The lawsuit was based on a 2015 report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization, where there were allusions to glyphosate as ‘probably carcinogenic’. The report also claims that glyphosate was responsible for causing cancer in several animal tests and also found the chemical can also damage DNA in human cells.

Glyphosate is safe, according to some scientists

A scientist, Dr. Donna Farmer, who has been studying the chemical at Monsanto for more than two decades, strongly refutes the IARC findings.

“I can tell you glyphosate is safe. The data that they look at, they cherry pick it and then they interpret the studies completely different than research who actually did it,” says Farmer.

To support her claim, Farmer said that glyphosate targets a certain enzyme in plants, but is not present in humans and animals, indicating that numerous long-term studies by Monsanto and independent study groups did not find any evidence linking glyphosate to cancer.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on the other hand, supported Farmer’s claims that glyphosate does not pose any cancer risk to humans, according to toxicologist Dr. David Eastmond who studies agricultural chemicals at the University of California, Riverside.

“IARC focuses on hazard identification and the EPA focuses on risk. Risk is a more involved process in that it involves not only can it cause cancer, but is it likely to cause cancer under specific sorts of conditions,” Eastmond added. “I think that certainly the risk is modest and probably very small.”

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The Discovery Of Liquid Aspirin May Help Treat Cancer

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 This, after scientists found a way in getting medication to the brain in the form of a liquid aspirin for conditions like brain cancer or tumours.

Liquid aspirin can break through the blood brain barrier

 What doctors previously thought was a very complicated process may now be artificially done the easier and natural way. For a very long time, doctors have been at loggerheads in breaking through the blood-brain barrier which has been very effective in protecting the brain that it even blocks essential medicine from entering the brain.

Researchers from the Brain Tumor Research Center of Excellence at the University of Portsmouth together with Innovative Pharmaceuticals, claim that they were able to reformulate a liquid aspirin that increases the ability of drugs or medicines to cross the blood brain barrier.

Resilience of the blood-brain barrier

 While the scientists admit having difficulty at first in treating elderly patients especially those undergoing treatment for brain cancer due to its highly selective permeability. The barrier, which separates blood from the brain fluid and allows only certain molecules in a tight controlled manner like gasses, water , amino acids, glucose and lipid-soluble molecules.

“This is a potential game-changer for research into brain tumours and clearly shows what sustainable research is able to achieve,” says Sue Farrington Smith, Chief Executive of the charity Brain Tumour Research. “It is science like this that will enable us to eventually find a cure for this devastating disease, which kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.”

The revolutionary drug called IPI867B, is a reformulated aspirin combined with 2 other ingredients, as tests have shown that introducing this drug variant successfully improves the body’s transport system to carry much-needed drugs to the brain.

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Moves That Promote Core Strength Through Yoga

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Whether it be muscle building or simply just wanting to stay fit, working to aim for better core strength through yoga cn give you good benefits

Core strength yoga moves for better health and body

Yoga enhances physical flexibility by promoting the use of muscles in new ways, especially in men. Common physical activity involve the feet for running and walking, , hands for playing ball, among others. But with yoga, the movements involve muscles moving in new patterns and ways that would enhance flexibility in movement and form.

Here are some of the reasons why yoga, as an exercise method is beneficial for men.

But what if this is your first time to get into a yoga session? Worry not.

Know what you are getting into. It may seem a bit tasking in taking the time to know what your class is all about or what you are planning to do. With yoga, you may want to do a little research to get to know some terms and history of yoga.

Although yoga may be involved mostly on body movements, it would be helpful to have a headband handy to wear during the yoga sessions as these involve a lot of perspiration that could sometime distract, especially when sweat gets into your eyes. Having a headband prevents this from happening.

For hygiene and sanitary purposes, it’s better to have yours, rather than blame yoga for catching a skin disease due to common-use or unsanitary workout mats.

Focus on the workouts. Yoga is one of the most popular workouts today and admit it, the one working out next to you could be your epitome of an ideal date that could cause you some untoward distractions and let you lose sight of your goals for the day. Clear your mind and focus on the work ahead.

Come in fully rested. Yoga is mostly done through body stretches and limbering exercises that sometimes could stress the muscles, joints and extremities. A stressed body could more likely be hurting instead of conditioning.

The yoga workouts may be exciting, but it does not mean that you have to extend more effort to do extra repetitions than what is prescribed, especially since yoga is more isometric, rather than eccentric or concentric. Extra reps may even be more useless instead of benefitting from it.

Here are core-busting yoga routines to work on.

Rainbow side plank – Assume a plank position with the left forearm flat on the ground, then reach your right arm overhead as you lift the right hip up the ceiling return to main position and repeat 10 times with 3 sets.

Dolphin pose pike ups – Go to a forearm plank with the forearms parallel to each other. Walk your feet towards the hands as far as can be possible. The shoulders should always be directly above the elbows. Repeat 10 times and perform three sets on both sides.

Plank knee drops – Go to a high plank position with the hands twisted slightly until they both point 90 degrees on both sides. Bring the right knee to the right armpit with the foot off-ground. Drop the knee down to the right then back up the right armpit. Do 10 times on each side and complete 3 sets each.

Crescent lunge twists – Go to a lunge position with the left leg forward with the right leg stretched back. Place your weight on the front heel and the other side with the back with the heel of the foot at the back. With hands held like doing a prayer, twist the upper body across the front leg and the right elbow pushed out the left knee. Hold five seconds and repeat 10 times on each side.

Half moon with repeated hip rotation- Stand with feet together but with toes pointed outwards. Tip the upper body forward as you lift the right leg to the ceiling. Rotate the right hip open and upwards with foot flexed and return back. Repeat 10 times on each sides for three sets.

These exercises for core strength through yoga is surely effective and powerful.

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Health Labels Looking To Alter Online Ordering Habits

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From getting a taxi to ordering food, people begin to develop online ordering habits that make it easy for anyone having a smartphone or laptop computer- anywhere and everywhere.

New innovations may further spur online ordering habits

Making good food choices or knowing food nutritional values may be as simple as looking at your phone screens and can even help you count calories. This after the Food and Drug Administration activates the new calorie labeling regulations that will take effect this spring.

The plan is to let people know how much calories they can have with the click of a button on a food item of their fancy, as some companies like Starbucks have already started to join in the calorie count bandwagon.

What you know won’t hurt you

A collaborative study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University reveals that there is a positive effect on people to know how much calories they have in their diet and these are good reasons for inspiring them to eat healthy.

Study lead Eric VanEpps  a graduate student from Carnegie Mellon University says that they wanted to focus on the idea whether people can make healthful online choices for food if the nutrition values inform them about the calorie content of each food item in the menu.

“Calorie labels can be really helpful,” says VanEpps. “We have what we think of as healthy categories like salad. But not every salad is healthier than every sandwich.”

The researchers said they already have an idea about some restaurants devising a visual representation of colour coded labels that help people distinguish food items that are healthful with green, less healthful with yellow and not-so-healthful with red.

High tech online menu study

The researchers teamed up with a health insurance firm based in Kentucky to develop an online meal ordering system for their employees and over the course of six weeks, people were given options to choose their food on a website for pickup, instead of waiting in queue at the cafeteria.

All of the users, numbering close to 250, saw ‘traffic coded’ menus with the exact calorie counts and those without labels.

Their study reveals that users who used the online menus with colour-coded calorie counts ordered 10 percent lower calorie content compared to those who were not provided with the colour coded menus or access to their food’s health information.

The researchers are hopeful that someday, they may be able to see people’s online ordering habits be able to clear the way for more healthful and wise food choices.

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Never Ignore Eye Symptoms, It Can Be Dangerous to Your Health

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Medical experts agree that you should never ignore eye symptoms as it could mean that your body is currently experiencing some sort of health condition that you may not be aware of. You might be occasionally seeing some stars floating in your eyes but simply shrug it off as a momentary episode, but in fact, could be something that could lead up to a debilitating disease.

Never ignore eye symptoms, no matter how little they may be

According to the Center for Disease Control, almost half the population of American adults who are considered to be at risk of mission loss did not visit an ophthalmologist in the past 12 months. There are also 35 percent of adults in the US who avoid visits to their eye doctor because they feel their vision is fine and therefore do not need an eye exam.

In fact, the eyes do not only measure the quality of one’s vision, but it also provides vital information to doctors about your overall health condition. This is true with many ailments like high cholesterol levels, diabetes, high blood pressure, infectious diseases or even an autoimmune disorder, which may people have discovered after having their eyes checked.

They eyes are the windows to the body

“The eyes may be the windows to the soul, but they can also tell us about a lot of systemic diseases, and the severity of those diseases,” says Dr. Suber Huang, chief executive of Retina Center of Ohio in Cleveland and chair of the National Institutes of Health National Eye Health Education Program Steering Committee.

“Anything that is new in terms of a change in your vision could be potentially worrisome,” says Huang, who was also a past president of the American Society of Retina Specialists.

Floaters and flashes

Once you start to see small gnat-like strips with occasional flashes of light, then you need to see an opthalmologist quick, as it could be an indication of posterior vitreous detachment or PVD.

PVD usually comes with age when the gel-like substance in the eye called the vitreous, begins to shrink and pull away from the retina. It does not hurt but can induce anxiety , but this condition, once checked early on, can be addressed with a quick routine in a doctor’s office with a laser apparatus.

Read teary eyes

This could be a symptom of keratitis which is an infection of the cornea. This can be treated once detected early on, but can potentially cause loss of vision when ignored.

Double vision

This is never a good thing which can be a problem with the cornea. Worse, it could also be an indicator for a neurological disorder, an autoimmune disease or a serious organ problem.

Unequal pupil size

Also called anisocoria, should not be ignored as it could be a symptom for a tumour, aneurysm , brain infection or even an early sign of a stroke attack.

Pain in the eyes

Never ignore pain in the eyes like feeling a stab of pain when seeing sudden flashes of light or a feeling of pressure in your eye sockets.

This could be signs of a possible eye injury or even potentially blinding conditions like optic neuropathy or angle-closure glaucoma.

So make sure you never ignore eye symptoms and see your doctor right away.

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New Method Can Wipe Out Cancerous Tumours Fast

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This after scientists from the Department of Biology at University of Texas in San Antonio claims they have developed a method that could wipe out cancerous tumours by killing the cancers cells.

A new method that wipe out cancerous tumours by killing it through suicide

In their study through The Journal of Clinical Oncology, lead researcher and associate professor Matthew Gdovin said that they  patented the method that can tremendously help people with hard-to-reach or inoperable tumours , including young children with cancer.

Gdovin claims that their method involves a chemical compound called nitobenzaldehyde by injecting it in the tumour and allowing it to diffuse into the tissue. Once the chemical is in, they then aim a beam of light at the tissue that causes the cells to become acidic to the point that the cancer cell ‘commits suicide’ and dies.

In a matter of two hours, Gdovin said that up to 95% of the cancer cells die. 

“Even though there are many different types of cancers, the one thing they have in common is their susceptibility to this induced cell suicide,” says Gdovin.

Successful animal testing

According to Gdovin, they initially tested the method against mice against triple negative breast cancer cells, which is one of the most aggressive of all cancer types and one of the most difficult to treat – often met with a poor prognosis for survival.

After only one round of treatment using the method, Gdovin said that they were able to stop the tumour dead in its tracks and doubles the test mice’s chances of survival.

“All forms of cancer attempt to make cells acidic on the outside as a way to attract the attention of a blood vessel, which attempts to get rid of the acid,” says Gdovin. “Instead, the cancer latches onto the blood vessel and uses it to make the tumour larger and larger.”

More precise than chemotherapy

While chemotherapy target all cells in the body and some therapies also involves keeping cancer cells acidic until they die re two of the main reasons why cancer patients start to lose hair and get sick.

This new method, however, aims to become a better alternative as it only targets the cancerous tumour without affecting other healthy cells in the body. It is also non invasive as the light wavelength that is used to activate the chemicals that are made up of nanoparticles that can pass through skin, flesh and bone until it reaches the targeted tumour cells.

Gdovin hopes that this non-invasive technique treat patients with tumours along problematic areas like the aorta, brain stem or spine and wipe out cancerous tumours without the need for surgery.

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How To Permanently Renew Your Body Composition

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Experts believe that most diets out there do not work to lose fat long-term as focus is often shifted to weight reduction. Efforts to renew your body composition often end up leaning towards the easier one which is weight reduction.

Fat loss to renew your body composition long term

When the body stays at a certain point where it maintains a fat level for a long period of time, your body recognizes it as your fat set point. The higher the fat set point, the longer it would take for it to burn permanently.

This is especially true when you want to renew your body composition and qork towards a lean build.

Diet is a very important component in this process so make sure to set your eyes on committing to your diet goals. This will support your quest for you new body composition.

Avoiding excess fat and carbohydrates may be key to this quest, because in just a few weeks, your taste buds will adjust to diet. You begin to lose interest in consuming sugar, fats or salt in your meals.

Here are some good tips to consider for your long-term fat-loss goal.

• List down the things that you eat every day.
• Reduce salt and fat intake radically.
• Train in the morning, as this increases your metabolic rate for the entire day and means more fat to burn and more energy to spend.
• Drink at least two litres of water every day.
• Be patient and don’t underestimate your goals. Permanent changes require more time, so it is best to check your body-fat level at least once a month. You can use the scale weekly. Focus on realistic goals that can be done. A half-pound goal per week can be doable instead of a 1 or two pound target per week.
• Make sure to take in adequate amounts of fibre in your diet.
• Go for heavy meals early in the day and go for the lowest calorie values during dinners.
• When you reach your first goal, establish a new fat-set point.
• Take considerable amounts of protein in your body. This helps in muscle adaptation and weight control. Include a protein powder supplement together with your protein sources from food like meats and eggs.
• Make sure to always plan for low calorie-day, especially during rest days.

The permanent way to renew your body composition my take more time, but it surely can give you the right reasons to follow it through to the end.

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Technology Transforming Healthcare Through Real-Time Communication

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The doctor is just a smartphone, webcam or laptop away from your doctor as you discuss your symptoms and possible treatment, all in the comforts of your own home- thanks to technology transforming healthcare practices.

No need to wait in line at the clinic with technology transforming healthcare

Virtual Care Center, the first fully-operational telemedicine ‘hospital without beds” – is a virtual clinic where at any given day, Doctors Without Borders interact with physicians in Niger and anywhere in the world along its network of 280 medical experts worldwide.

Located in the woods just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, doctors and nurses working around the clock in shifts provide remote support for intensive care units, operating rooms and other medical programs among 38 small hospitals from Oklahoma to North Carolina where most of these hospitals do not have doctors on-site for 24 hours.

Altogether driven by fast internet speeds, electronic gadgets and the need to attend to an emergency situation in less time as possible, health care providers took stock of this new interactive and easily available system to communicate between doctors and their patients.

Revolutionizing telemedicine using the fastest way possible

In one recent example, critical care doctors sit in front of a large monitor screen as they continue to collect patient data from a remote ICU patient and were even able to diagnose signs of imminent trouble and thus prescribe medication.

“It’s almost like being at the bedside—I can’t shock a patient [restart his heart with electrical paddles], but I can give an order to the nurses there,” says Vinaya Sermadevi, a critical-care specialist.

Some health care providers, however, do not all agree whose treatment or medical intervention which may be a life or death situation combined, as well as systems through which they may determine payment or be able to establish a more stringent mechanism to address burgeioning costs.

So if you feel like getting sick, just go online and access their web-links and as soon as you login, you will be connected together with your doctor in seconds

This gives new meaning to the term mobile assessment, as this has made a good improvement on people seeking relief or treatment from diseases that are often plaguing people but fail or refuse to seek advice from doctors.  Doctors are also already working out on means to secure a license inter-state as they are prevented to practice medicine.

With the advent of technology transforming healthcare, it may soon become a smaller place for everyone.

Image Credit:  C.J. BURTON FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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New Discovery Of Bacterial Parasite In Human Saliva Found

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Just very recently, scientists discovered a new form of bacterial parasite in human saliva and it lives inside the mouth, that can only thrive when it infects other bacteria around it.

New form of parasitic bacteria in human saliva exists when infecting other bacteria

Researchers from the University of Washington School of Dentistry made the announcement of this discovery during this year’s annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

“They’re ultra-small bacteria, and live on the surface of other bacteria,” Jeff McLean,  the study lead and an associate professor of periodontics ,told the audience. This bacteria has only 700 genes , which is a low gene count for a bacteria but is similar to a strain of bacteria that infects other bacterial cells, but according to researchers, this one is unique because it is a free living cell that hunts down potential hosts.

The parasitic bacteria called TM7, this did not catch the eyes of prying researchers upon stumbling across a mysterious fragment of RNA, until upon a deeper scrutiny that they found out it was in fact a bacteria.

This parasitic bacterium latches itself into the membrane of the A. odontolyticus bacteria, until this parasitic bacterium sucks out the life of the host bacteria. Which when left alone to thrive, have been found to make gum disease even worse.

Not until this recent discovery, scientists from previous studies have in fact shown that the mouth is a highly diverse ‘community’ of organisms from viruses, fungi, bacteria and protozoa. Majority of these organisms are in fact, bacteria.

The most common diseases that occur in the mouth are tooth decay and gum disease

Image Credit: New Form Of Life In Human Saliva Is A Bacterial Parasite – IFL Science 

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There Are Indeed Secret Government Warehouses

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These secret government warehouses are for preparations in the event of a possible health catastrophe by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called the Strategic National Stockpile, containing almost every available medical supply to address any health issue that may arise.

Medicine and supplies tucked away in secret government warehouses.

These secret government warehouses, however, are strategically situated in different yet secret locations by the US government, for which the supplies found inside these strongholds hold every imaginable medical supplies in the aftermath of a massive chemical, biological or nuclear attack.

“If everybody knows exactly what we have, then you know exactly what you can do to us that we can’t fix,” says Greg Burel a director of the stockpile program. “And we just don’t want that to happen.”

Burel, who was granted the go signal to disclose some general details about the program, pointed out that thousands of citizens may be dependent on these supplies in the event of a catastrophe.

The number of these warehouses, what they contain in detail and their locations are deemed classified, according to Burel, but pointed out that the stockpile inventory is valued over $7 billion.

Foreseeable concerns

Health experts, however, express concerns over how these supplies may be deployed in the event of an emergency.

“The warehouse is fine in terms of the management of stuff in there. What gets in the warehouse and where does it go after the warehouse, and how fast does it go to people, is where we have questions,” says Dr. Irwin Redlener, a director of the Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness.

Very extensive stockpile

Burel also said that the stockpile is very large and can be bigger than two super malls combined. The Strategic National Stockpile was believed to have been started way back in 1999 with a seed budget of $50million. Inventory has thus far been increased to keep up with the times.

“We have the capability, if something bad happens, that we can intervene in a positive way, but then we don’t ever want to have to do that. So it’s kind of a strange place,” says Burel. “But we would be foolish not to prepare for those events that we could predict might happen.”

With a possible man-made or weather catastrophe, these secret government warehouses may soon be the answer. 

Image Credit: Inside A Secret Government Warehouse Prepped For Health Catastrophes – NPR 

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Power Moves To Get Diamond Calves Fast

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To build leg strength and form you may aim to get diamond calves to help train your muscles to be more agile and flexible. Strong enough to ensure extended periods of standing or exercise routines.

Get diamond calves the proven way

The calves respond fairly well to training and a good way to ensure good strength  and here are some calf-busting workouts you need:

D.C Style: This is characterized by a slow three count with a good stretch to the bottom. Do a sudden exploding movement on every third-count as hard as you can.

Steady and controlled: with a similar concentric and eccentric portions, do a full range of motion. Make sure to always focus on feeling the muscles instead of the movements.

Burnout sets: There are good high-repetition finishers done with bodyweight, low weight and calves hitting failure. Training the calves correctly man be painful, but it does have its weight in gold.

Do the routines twice a week for 3 months and see the results right away.

Week 1, Day 1:

• Box Jump:

From a moderate height, do three to four sets of five to six. No max-effort jumps.

• Seated Calf Raise:

Three sets of 15 to 20 reps using the DC protocol.

• Bodyweight Calf Raise (100s):

One set of 100 reps with bent knees

Week 1, Day 2:

• Leg Press Calf Raise:

With knees bent, perform three sets of 12 to 15 reps using  slow and controlled motions.

• Donkey Calf Raise:

Three sets of 12 to 20 reps with knees bent using the DC
protocol.

• Jump Rope Finisher:

Vary between intervals and straight time. Volume will depend on conditioning program and training.

Leg press calf raise.

Load weights on your standard leg-press sled and place the balls of the feet on the bottom sled for maximum stretch and contractions. Bend knees slightly and do not allow the sled to slide off the feet.

Donkey calf raise

Place the balls of your feet on a stable object to allow you to fully stretch the calk. Keeping the legs straight and do not fully lock the knees.

Bodyweight calf raise

Do sets of 100 and vary the movements with knees bent and knees straight.

Box Jumps

Do explosive jumps but make sure to step down and reset before jumping up. Follow up with rebounding box jumps to add additional value to your exercise.

Jump rope

Make sure to combine your jumps with double unders, crossovers and intervals where you bring the knees up to the waist.

With these power moves you may be able to feel some pain in your calves but it will surely get you the desired results you need.

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Is Consuming Too Much Protein Healthy

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Consuming too much protein may result to any or either of the both, especially since the body’s need for protein is dependent on several factors and may not be the same for everyone.

When are we consuming too much protein?

The Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies recommend that 98 percent of the general population may be able to get their average requirement of protein if they eat at least .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily.

That figure is the standard for the RDA, which is the popular textbook guidelines for measuring the nutritional values of food and the ones that are often shown on food labels.

With that standard measurement, it equates to about 54 grams of protein for an average 150-pound woman and 72 pounds of protein for an average man weighing about 200 pounds.

Americans eat more protein than recommended

A 2010 report from the US Department of Agriculture show that the average American actually consumes more protein than the prescribed RDA benchmark, where men were consumed 98 grams daily, while women consumed 68 grams.

There were some adults that had less protein intake among older ones and some teenage girls, but the report would show that many Americans are either meeting level or slightly over it.

Problem over semantics

To say the least, it would be misleading to declare that consuming ‘too much protein’ based on the report may tend to confuse people into believing that going slightly over the recommended values could be generally bad. Instead, the more appropriate tone could be eating ‘more than enough’ protein.

But questions abound with how one conducts daily activities like exercise or workouts compared to a sedentary one. As the RDA suggests it at .36 grams per pound of body weight, it gives one the idea that this is based on an average person’s weight.

Surely, if one goes through a rigid training exercise or workout program, it follows that the person would need more protein in his body. So it would follow that an athlete or a weightlifter can perform well with that average level, then they could perform better with a higher protein intake.

Extra calories from extra protein

You might be surprised to find out that having more than enough protein in the body can end up as calories and add more weight to the body.

You eat protein to get your amino acids and build your own protein- based body parts like the muscles, skin, hair, nails, enzymes and every kind of components that make up the cells. The body, however, only has the capability to convert proteins at a maximum level.

Figure this out, having an extra 100 grams of protein will not make the body decide to build 100 grams of muscle and hair, instead, that protein will just end up as food. For example, you have a 20-galloon gas tank in your truck, what happens when you decide to pump in 30 galloons for gas? It either gets spilled or you store the extra gas in gas containers.

Just like the body burns carbohydrates and fat as fuel, so does protein.

That effect is also a characteristic of bodybuilders and gaining mass. They are healthy, but they have a heavier body weight, thanks to mass gained by the body in the form of bigger muscles. If all proteins consumed by the body gets to be converted, then imagine seeing body builders as huge as elephants or whales, just because all protein consumed gets converted.

In summary, make sure to track your food or protein consumption with your activity going slightly over the protein values based on RDA may not be generally harmful. All that’s needed is an awareness of how you have your proteins, how much you need inside of you and how to burn it with your training workouts to give you the benefits of gaining mass.

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Has A Smartphone Made Someone Momentarily Blind ?

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This, after a woman from England went to see doctors for fear that she was going blind in one eye, without knowing that a smartphone made someone momentarily blind in another part of the country.

Has any smartphone made someone momentarily blind?

The 22- year old British lady began complaining about having occasional blurry visions in one eye that happens at least once or twice a week. But she noticed the condition getting worse when it started happening every night.

Tests and brain scans were conducted, but doctors found no problems.

In another part of the country, a woman was also complaining about losing vision for 20 minutes at length in one eye and fearing that it may be caused by a stroke, landed her in a hospital’s emergency room.

Tests, however, gave no conclusive diagnosis for her condition.

Transient Smartphone Blindness

Researchers from the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London said that the condition is known as transient smartphone blindness, believed to be caused by a habit of gazing at a smartphone before falling to sleep.

The young lady recounts that it has been her habit of checking her cellphone lying in bed and using her right eye. Her left eye is often covered by a pillow or blanket.

The other patients, says that she always checks her cellphone every day before getting up. She said this habit has been going on for more than a year already                                                                                                

“They were looking at their smartphones and they just happened to have one eye covered because they were lying in bed,” says Omar Mahroo,who leads the study.

“The retina is pretty amazing because it can adapt to lots of different light levels, probably better than any camera,” he says. “It can reduce its sensitivity, so that when you’re on the beach or in the bright snow you can still see relatively well,” he says

One eye blind

The retina adjusts the light that enter the eye and can adapt to different variations of lighting and brightness levels. This was what these to ladies may have caused their ‘blindness’ to occur.

Both patients were asked the view their smartphones with only the left eye, followed by only the right eye in some occasions. Both ladies began to realize that the ‘blind’ eye were the ones they often use to gaze at the smartphone screens before sleeping.

Mahroo and his fellow researchers, to prove their point, conducted experiments on themselves where they went into a pitch black room with one eye covered then gazed at a smartphone for 20 minutes before powering it down.

True enough, using a device that gave out bursts of dim light, the exposed eye to the lighted screen took time to adjust to the new light environment.

Although Mahroo believes that it is not conclusive that smartphones may eventually lead to permanent blindness, there is still enough reason to caution that smartphone made temporarily blind is highly plausible and that too much exposure could cause some vision-related conditions.

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Single Neuron Gene May Be The Key To Unlock Mysteries of The Brain

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This, after a team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute of the University of California, San Diego and Illumina Inc., claims their study reveals groundbreaking results in determining how a single neuron gene is responsible for breaking down information from DNA to RNA and even protein production in the body.

Single neuron gene ‘communicates’ with cells

The study recently published in the journal Science, researchers were able to isolate and analyze single neuronal nuclei from the human brain that allows classification of around 16 subtypes in the brain’s cerebral cortex that processes cognition, thought and other mental functions.

“Through a wonderful scientific collaboration, we found an enormous amount of transcriptomic diversity from cell to cell that will be relevant to understanding the normal brain and its diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and depression,” says TSRI Professor and neuroscientist Jerold Chun, who collaborated the study with bioengineers Kun Zhang and Wei Wang of UC San Diego and Jian-Bing Fan of Illumina.

Relatively just the same

Even while parts of the cerebral cortex – also known as the brain’s ‘gray matter’ – look different under a microscope due to its varying shapes and densities that form cortical layers and larger regions- the neurons are all fairly the same.

Understanding the brain is a unique organ the researchers agree that individual brain cells are unique but has the possibility of reflecting distinct transcriptomic differences like the RNA carrying copies of the DNA code structure outside the nucleus to help determine which proteins the cells produce.

Using highly-developed tools to isolate and sequence single cell nuclei, they were able to decipher the microscopic quantities of mRNA in each nucleus that revealed different combinations of the 16 subtypes that make the brain’s regions look and function differently.

They found that the neurons showed similarities, but also exhibited many differences in the transcriptomic profiles revealing that single neurons with shared characteristics would kead to differences in their cellular function.

“Now we can actually point to an enormous amount of molecular heterogeneity in single neurons of the brain,” said Gwendolyn E. Kaeser, a UC San Diego Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program student studying in Chun’s lab at TSRI. 

This groundbreaking discovery on the single neuron gene, according to experts, may soon pave the way for new approaches in the treatment of degenerative diseases and develop better medicines and therapy.

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Effective Exercise Is The Key To Torching Fat

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What’s key to torching fat is to know what to do and what not to. Experts agree that burning fat and staying fit must always be consistent.

Carefully planned exercise is the key to torching fat.

By now you know that no amount of medicines can effectively torch fat without exercise. If there’s one, then it guarantees to last only for the short term and then you get the fat back again.

Myth: Cardio only workout

This is a myth not worth anything, probably just very little. It may do some fat burning, but is an inefficient way of losing it. Experts agree that high intensity interval training is the best way to go at it.

Myth: Use light weights

This is one myth that would only frustrate you. Using weights can in fact help burn fat easier and faster. Using weights increases the metabolic rate due to the process of muscle repair.

Myth: Targetted fat mobilization

This could lead to mascular imbalance and possible injury. Working on a certain area too much like the arms or core and ignoring the back and chest would result to poor muscle mobilization in all areas.

This could result to poor muscle development and recovery.

Myth: Machines only

Do not just limit workouts to machines, but make sure to use free weights as well. Limiting your workouts to machines could result to poor muscle activity and lets you lose more energy without causing an impact on fat and muscle mobilization.

But keeping fit need not take you more than an hour and experts agree that at least 30-minutes of time spent a day for regular cardio training and some simple but effective routines are guaranteed to let you keep a good body frame.

Treadmill

Start putting back that treadmill to good use and plan with it on your next trip to the gym. Do at least 8 to 10 minutes of interval blasts and no more than that.

Start by doing speed intervals, it gives a good cardio at the same time starts letting you burn fat.

Raise the incline once your body adjusts to the each difficulty level.

Work your arms by letting go of the side rails when running. The more you move your arms, the more calories you burn.

Elliptical machine

Make sure to grab the handles when working the machine for a total body workout. Use arm strength to burn calories.

Put the resistance belts to good use when you up the ante on both the arm and leg muscles when you tighten the resistance belts.

Maintain your pace as there is a tendency for you to slow down when the elliptical momentum starts to kick in. Make sure to maintain your pacing between 140 to 160 strides per minute.

Include intervals by alternating your workouts from easy to intense. This will give you a workout momentum that allows you to recover as well in between reps.

Weights

This helps you heat up the muscles, start with bodyweight exercises first, as studies shown that body weight routines have been proven to burn more calories than working out with a good set of dumbbells.

Incorporate high intensity interval training, like the Tabata workout to get you burning calories fast.

Work the body to create instability like standing on a leg while doing bicep curls or workout using an exercise ball as more muscles get to work to help you achieve that balance when working out, thus, maximizing the effect.

Do supersets, as these are good combinations which is also key to torching fat that will allow you to work those muscles better and help you burn fat faster.

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Harmful Medications Prescribed To Canadians Increases Risk of Danger

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A study group from the University of Columbia claims that more than one in three Canadian senior citizens are given a prescription medicine that could be risky for older patients.

Harmful Medications Prescribed To Canadians Do More Harm Than Good

Many of these medications, according to study author Steve Morgan who is also a professor of health policy, are no longer effective for people beyond 65 years old due to changes in metabolism.

Among these medicines are benzodiazepines which are sedative hypnotics and used to treat insomnia and anxiety disorders. These are also costing the aging public no less than $ 400 million every year or an equivalent of $75 dollar for every Canadian aged 65 and up.

The findings were published recently in CMAJ Open and highlighted the effects of these ill-prescribed medicines for the health of geriatrics.

“We can do a better job. We can actually get better health outcomes for less money if we invest in the policies and practices to encourage appropriate prescribing,” says Morgan.

The analysis was based from data and prescription claims for those 65 and older in all Canadian provinces for 2013 with the exception of Quebec.

Their analysis led to findings that 37 percent of older Canadians were also filled one or more prescriptions that have been listed as potentially inappropriate by the Beers Criteria– a standard followed by the American Geriatric’s Society.

The study also found that a high proportion of this population is women at 42 percent and men at 31 percent. Estrogens accounted for most of the prescribed drugs.

“Canada has had some really excellent examples of initiatives that actually do work,” says Morgan. “We haven’t had the sizeable and sustained investments that are necessary to change culture because prescribing appropriateness is much about culture and expectations as it is about the evidence and science of a particular product.”

Morgan and his team believes that a national strategy should integrate programs to monitor an evaluate patterns of prescriptions and health outcomes, as these are crucial in determining what types of medicines the older population actually needs.

The team is believes that with this system getting back into the right track, harmful medications prescribed to Canadians will no longer become a health concern.

Image Credit: Harmful medication prescribing to Canadian seniors costs $419M a year – CBC

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Why Onions Make Us Cry

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Book author and chemist Eric Block has the definitive answer why onions make us cry based on his new book, where he identified the substance as syn-propanethial-S-oxide.

A Mouthful For A Substance That Answers Why Onions Make Us Cry.

This substance, according to Block in his new book Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and The Science, which has evolved through time as a defence mechanism to prevent it from getting eaten.

“See, the onion is a perennial bulb that lives in the ground with lots of critters who are looking for a snack,” says Block. “So it has evolved a chemical defence system.”

A cross-sectional examination of the onion, according to Block, would show us that the onion’s bulb shape is a work of genius. In each cell you will find a glob called a sealed vacuole, that is filled with enzymes. When these cells get torn through teeth bites of knife cuts, the blobs break up to release the enzymes and mix together with other substances of the onion to generate that irritating concoction.

Because these substances are very tine, it gloats in the air and find their way to the eyes or nostrils of the one nearest to the sliced onion.

How to avoid from shedding tears?

Slicing onions with a fan blowing air against it and away from the face would divert the flight of the irritating substances and keep it away from the slicer. Another way is to pop the onions inside the fridge for a few minutes before slicing them, as the substances are less volatile when cold.

Using goggles may not be helpful either, since the molecules could still go up through the mouth and nostrils, eventually leading up to the eyes to cause irritation.

However, don’t try to shun onions away from your diet as the very same irritants are the ones that give onions its tasty flavour.

Before you get too sentimental, try using what Block is recommending and stop focusing too much on why onions make use cry and instead, enjoy the good tasting pleasure that you can get out of it,

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The Future of 3D Printed Hair

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A single strand of hair with all of its characteristics may be fairly complex, but a team of researchers was able to develop a method of creating 3D printed hair in minutes.

3D Printed Hair Is Not As Easy As You Think

Researchers from the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were inspired by animal and human hair, even plants. They tried find ways to mimic these patterns through less resources and time.

It was a pain-staking process not because of the hardware need, but the software programmed to design and recreate the patterns. From this they were able to develop Cillia.

Their work was presented before the Association for Computing Machinery’s CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

What previously took hours to do, now could only take minutes with the Cillia software platform.

More Than Just Wigs Or Toupe.

Designers can now create figures with detailed surface textures like coarse bristles, and paint brushes among others with the use of Cillia.

While the micro-pillar structures are not intended to create wigs, the researchers claim that it may be possible.

“When people hear about 3-D printing hair, the first thing they think about is definitely hair extensions, but the purpose of this project is looking beyond the aesthetic perspective,” says study author Jifei Ou an MIT graduate student. “What kind of new functionality can we bring to the material?”

They studied three main functions like adhesion, sensing and actuation, as they went on creating printed arrays similar to Velcro pads with LED lights. They also even invented hair that has the ability to move objects using a series of vibration movements using the hair structures.

Just like real hair

What made the cillia study unique is that researchers aim to use these materials to detect movements of fluid or air, similar to organic hair that act as sensory receptors.

“We are also looking for more functions that hair structure can provide. For example, thermal protection,” Ou explained.

They hope to someday explore the possibility of making it as real as hair, but the focus of their studies right now are more on its practical uses in industries or machinery. They however, did not close their ideas on it becoming a breakthrough technology in medicine or biology.

With the 3d printed hair already in the picture, it would not be a distant reality that it could become a good mane of hair.

Image Credit: Researchers hope to go beyond wigs with 3-D printed hair – CNN

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Plant Burger Sizzles Like Meat

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This new food item expects to become the new trend in food fashion, as this new plant burger sizzles like meat in a flaming grill, tastes and smells like it, you wouldn’t think it is real meat.

New Plant Burger Sizzles Like Meat And Tastes Like It, Too

This ingenious new product is the brainchild of Patrick Brown, a former Stanford University biochemist along with his research team from Silicon Valley-based start-up Impossible Foods.

Diners from New York, Loa Angles and San Francisco will start to get their hands on this revolutionary food product this summer. This took Brown and his team five years in the making, with much excitement in anticipation of the launch of their new hamburger.

Their mind-blowing product is an un-canning replication of the hamburger patty itself- it sizzles, browns when cooked and oozes out fat when cooked. What’s more, it does not have any animal meat in it- purely a plant-based meat substitute.

“The demand for meat is going through the roof, and the world is not going to be able to satisfy that using animals — there’s just not enough space, not enough water,” says Brown who is also the founder and CEO of Impossible Foods.

Much healthier and costs less

Brown says that their burger will be the answer to addressing the concern of a growing demand for global meat, as well as the need to come up with healthy food alternatives. He says that their burger product is healthier because it is plant-based, less resource-intensive and is relatively cheaper to produce.

Brown took advantage of his career as a biochemist to analyze meat at a molecular level to determine what makes burgers cook, smell and taste the way it does, what makes it squishy when raw, then firms up and browns on a flaming grill.

This knowledge, together with his belief, that everything from fat tissues to muscle cells can be copied using compounds sourced from plants.

After five years of intensive research, Brown finally got his solution from a combination of plant based compounds that replicated the properties of meat.

Scientific transformation from plant source to hamburger meat

It just did not end with the meat itself, Brown says they want their burgers to become a surreal experience in sensory pleasure- just like meat burgers grilling over coals.

They engineered the smell by isolating individual components of a cooked meat aroma and developed their meat scents that they integrated into their burger meat. The same goes with the oozing fat when grilling, where his team used coconut oil that stays solid at room temperature and liquefies when it comes to contact with heat.

Brown believes that their product will not only become a hit for vegans, but may even win over some meat lovers, as people get to experience and for a plant burger sizzles like meat this would not be an impossible idea.

Image Credit: Silicon Valley’s Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes And Sizzles Like Meat – NPR

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Light At Home Recovery Moves To Keep You Going

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So get up people and don’t let your rest days become a day-long slumber in bed but do at home recovery moves to keep the fire burning to inspire you to look forward to your next training days.

Just do light at home recovery moves

As rest is important to your daily or regular workouts, just make sure to do some light movements to keep your momentum going until the next training days.

Foam Roller

Start rolling out the knots in the muscles before the stretching then start digging into the trigger points. Lie across the roller as the arms are open to increase shoulder mobility. Also roll your feet across the roller to work the arches.

A pickle jar can also help do for more a slightly bit more intense pressure to help ease the muscles.

Dowel or PVC Pipe

It works like the ROM apparatus and use it for the shoulder pass throughs to maintain the chest form. With the right hand, hold the dowel from behind then reach across the body with the left hand to grab the lower end of the dowel. Pull it forward and up to stretch the triceps then switch to work the other side.

You can also use a mop, broomstick or a curtain holder for this routine.

Protein cookies

As you rest, you can load up on proteins. The protein cookies are a good alternative so that the body will not crave for sweets as your muscles are at rest and on recovery.

Lacrosse Ball

This could help work along the trigger points that the foam roller would not be able to work on. This could help add pressure on the pectoral muscles and the lats that connect your shoulders. It could also provide good massage effects on the back along the spine and the arch of the feet.

Resistance Bands

Tie one end of the band and slide over the leg. With just the right tension, stand with the feet close together and slowly swing your banded leg to stretch it away. Do not overstretch it, just enough to tighten the glutes then try switching position with the other leg and do the same motion.

Trigger Point Massage Tool

Try to apply pressure to the hip adductors. You can use two tennis balls taped together to form a peanut. You can also use lacrosse balls. Just sit on one side and apply the balls to the hip adductors and gently move to and fro for a soothing massage pressure.

Cold Roller

Applying cold pressure on your aching fascia muscles can help soothe the pain and provide relief. You can use a small jar with water and place in the freezer. Once frozen, use it to apply pressure to your tired fascia muscles to get instant relief.

So make the most of these at home recovery moves and relief hacks to keep you going and to add some variety to your weekday workouts. 

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Unlikely Drug May Block Breast Cancer Found For A Different Disease

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In a new study from the journal Nature Medicine, researchers claim an unlikely drug may block breast cancer in a formula already available in the market to originally treat osteoporosis.

Unlikely Drug May Block Breast Cancer In The Form Of A Formula For Osteoporosis

According to the National Cancer Institute, around 12% of women in the United States develop breast cancer in their lifetime.

About 65% may also develop breast cancer by the age of 70 for women found with a breast cancer gene mutation called BRCA1.

However, a drug already available in the market originally formulated to treat osteoporosis may be the answer to treating breast cancer.

This, after scientists from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia claims that a drug formula called denosumab would stop breast cancer cells in its tracks.

Jane Visvader, a co-author of the study, says that their findings indicate proof that denosumab was able to stop certain mutated breast tissue cells from progressing to cancerous tumours.

Gene mutation may help stop breast cancer tumour growth

“If this is an effective prevention strategy, then our hope is that it will be possible to prevent or delay breast cancer in women with a BRCA1 mutation and possibly other women at high genetic risk,” says Visvader, adding that, “it would be great if this strategy could ‘buy time’ for women considering having mastectomies.”

Their findings were based on analysis of 33 breast tissue samples with no BCRA1 mutations and another 24 mutated samples.

The researchers saw that a molecule called RANK was common among a certain subset of cells with the BCRA1 tissues. These are the same ones likely to develop into tumours.

New promise for breast cancer treatments

“We have now been able to pinpoint the precise culprit cells and were very excited to see that they express the RANK protein,” says Geoff Lindeman a co-author of the research and a clinician-scientist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

“Over the last few years, it has become increasingly clear from the work of several groups that RANK ligand, which switches on RANK, is an important regulator of cell growth in the breast,” says Lindeman.

In their experiment, researchers injected tissue samples with denosumab as an inhibitor as it is known as a treatment for bone loss in cancer patients as it targets RANK ligand. The test was successful in preventing tumour development in mice and tissue samples.

The scientists claim that further studies are still underway to determine the long term effects of this approach. Although this unlikely drug may block breast cancer, it will just be a matter of time before the results would determine if this would become an option for breast cancer patients.

Image Credit: Unlikely drug may block breast cancer in high-risk women – CNN

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The Pros And Cons Of Led Streetlights

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The American Medical Association strongly encourages the use of LED streetlights to minimize health and environment issues.

LED streetlights produce less heat and lasts longer.

This policy statement by AMA gained unanimous approval during their last annual meeting in Chicago, in response to the growing popularity and practical uses of LED lighting indoors and outdoors.

Cities and municipalities are already replacing their streetlights with the more efficient and power saving LED units that are proven to save more energy and require less maintenance.

The AMA, however, points out while the benefits are tremendous, the need to properly design the LED structures must also consider minimizing potential effects to health and the environment.

Specifications for LED streetlights must also be carefully considered.

According to AMA, they recommend that outdoor street lighting must have a colour temperature (CT) threshold of 3000 Kelvin (K). CT is the measurement for spectral content of light with the colours of yellow, red, blue and green. A higher CT rating means greater blue light concentration, which results to more white light.

Many cities like New York and Seattle are retrofitting their street lights with LED CT ratings of 4000K to 5000K. This means a high level of blue light. Other cities are following suit.

Complaints of LED-produced lights

Some quarters, however, express their concerns regarding mounting complaints of vision-affecting glare. One recent example is from Davis, California. Residents were constantly complaining that the LED streetlights lights were harsh to the eyes and needs replacement.

A couple of problems were raised on LED’s ‘white light’ which is glare and discomfort. Since LED light is concentrated and has high blue light, it causes glare that causes papillary constriction. Sufficient levels of blue light can even cause damage to the retina.

Street lighting guidelines for using LED

In order to balance the pros and cons of LED street lighting, AMA gave out three recommendations to serve as a guide for LED streetlights retrofitting

First, to support the proper conversion of community-based LED lighting to reduce energy use and impact to the environment. Second , to encourage measures to minimize and control high levels blue light by reducing glare with the use of filtering shields and avoid affecting sight. Third, to set the bar of 3000K or lower CT for outdoor installations like roads and streets with proper shields to prevent glare, as well as dimming the lights during off-peak hours.

There may not be a perfect solution for LED streetlights yet, according to the AMA, but they hope to see better technologies soon to address these concerns.

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Traditional Herbs To Power Digestion

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Using traditional herbs to power digestion helps the body regulate the process when the system makes it difficult to do so due to lack of proper nutrition or not having good eating habits.

It is safe to use herbs to power digestion

In fact, using traditional herbs to power digestion processes in the body helps our bodies to function optimally, when it sometimes gets affected by a sudden change in eating habits or when the process weakens due to illness.

Symptoms of a poor digestive system ranges from sleep deprivation, lack of energy to irregular bowel movements. It also causes skin problems in several cases.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is known for using traditional herbs to help improve organ processes that are most often associated with body health like the liver, spleen and the stomach linked to the digestive system.

The practice of using natural herbs is traced back thousands of years with the Chinese and has been documented through generations, with most of these herbal medicine practice have been proven effective over years and years of treating conditions and promoting better health.

List of herbs below:

Geng Mi – This is the Chinese term for rice, which TCM claims soothes the digestive system. The substances that give rice its sweetness tone and strengthen the stomach.

This is also the reason explained by TCM that people who have stomach disorders are made to eat congee or rice porridge, mixed with several herbal ingredients and spices to aid in the healing process.

Ji Nei Jin –  Translated as ‘chicken inner golden’  this refers to an herb that looks similar to chicken gizzards and promotes digestion and found to push stagnant food down the belly.

Shan Zha – Also known as the hawthorn berry. It can be brewed like tea to drink after every meal. The sweet sour taste of the extract is good for digesting meats and fats. It has also been known for promoting cardiovascular health.

Mai Ya – The Chinese name for barley, which is high in soluble fiber that helps facilitate the digestion of starches and carbohydrates. It also helps in the breakdown of food and excreting waste from the intestines.

Chen Pi – This is the skin of the orange or tangerine. It has been known to regulate the digestive system and helps prevent stomach cramps or sudden fatigue that indicates a poor digestive process taking place.

Make sure that you consult a TCM practitioner before using traditional herbs to power digestion so they may be able to help you with the right amounts and proper consumption in order to optimize the health effects.

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