Category: Health

The Importance of Children's Eye Health

Pamela Terry

With studies showing that around one in three children have some form of visual trouble, it is important to have regular eye tests. Eye problems in children can develop quickly and can result in permanent loss of vision if left unchecked.

The Northern Laser Vision Centre knows that health care is a top priority for parents but is also very expensive. For this reason, Ophthalmologist Dr Kim Frumar, medical director with over 30 years experience in eye care at the Northern Laser Vision Centre is now offering: FREE eye health checks for students from Kindergarten through to year 12 as well as a $5 donation to your school’s latest project or charity.

The Student Sight Solution Program (SSS) is a community initiative that helps encourage eye testing and raise awareness of the importance of early prevention and detection of eye conditions. It reaches out to students and their parents or guardians in the North Shore Region to protect their eyes and their futures. 670 million people worldwide are vision impaired due to lack of access to eye examinations. The SSS program along with Northern Laser Vision Centre aim to lower or abolish this disheartening statistic. Dr Frumar has visited developing countries such as Cambodia, opening new health care centres and treating young children and families. After seeing the devastation and poor health conditions first hand, he has brought this initiative to Northern Laser Vision Centre.

Brother and sister Alivia and Jake recently had their eyes tested at the Northern Laser Vision …

Healthy Snacks for Kids

Pamela Terry

Healthy snacks that kids can make with little to no supervision will keep them from eating too many sweets. Keep a combination of fruits and vegetables available for them to munch on, make easy snacks and get nutrition from. The more selection they have the easier it will be for them to make good food choices.

Frozen fruit is a good snack that kids can do themselves. The fruit can be either fresh or canned. If using canned be sure to use the no sugar added variety. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place the fruit on it. Set it in the freezer and freeze until firm. Pull the fruit off of the foil and store in zip lock bags. You can also put the entire can of fruit, juice and all in a container and freeze until solid. Grapes work especially well as a frozen fruit snack. They simply need to be removed from the stem, placed into a container and frozen. If they stick together they can easily be separated by gently shaking the container. Eat the frozen fruit as is or make a fruit dip. Add the fruit to plain or vanilla yogurt for a quick and easy treat. Cottage cheese can be mixed with any kind of fruit to make a tasty snack.

Fruity Shake: 1 cup frozen fruit, 1/2 vanilla ice cream, 2 cups milk. Blend until smooth. A fruit dip is easy to make. Simply mix together 8 ounces of soft cream cheese …

Health Care Wishes: Make the Choice Yours

Pamela Terry

Many states have an Advance Health Care Directive, commonly known as an AHCD, that is available for you to complete, have notarized, and file with your medical records and attorney, as well as giving out to all your friends and family. A link to Oregon’s form is here; a link to an English form for California is here, and a Spanish form for Califormia ishere. I suggest ignoring those websites attempting to sell the form, since it can be obtained free and is relatively easy to complete..

Post copies around the house. Carry one in your wallet or purse. Keep one in the glove compartment of the car and motorcycle. If you belong to a gym or social club, present a copy there. If you attend a certain church regularly, ask your pastor if he or she is willing to accept a copy, in the event they are called on your behalf. If your decision is in conflict with church doctrine, you might choose to not make your decision public with church members.

Who should have an AHCD

If you are unable or unwilling to make health care decisions about yourself, and you are age 18 years or older, most state laws allow you to choose someone to make health care decisions on your behalf. Needless to say, the time to make this decision is when you are healthy, clear of mind, and able to assure yourself that the person you choose is comfortable with the duty, and will carry …

Uspca

Pamela Terry

Written by Shirley Parker

USPCA is one of the solidly established personal chef networks. It was founded in 1991 by David and Susan MacKay and has grown to the point where more than 5,500 personal chef businesses incorporate the MacKay's approach to running those businesses. The MacKays' own personal chef business had been founded in 1987 in San Diego, California. Not all innovative ideas come out of California but many do, and creating a support system for personal chefs was one of the best.

USPCA (or the United States Personal Chef Association) publishes Personal Chef magazine in collaboration with the Canadian Personal Chef Association and the Australian Personal Chef Association. Members contribute articles, photographs, recipes, hints, and more, and attend conferences from an increasing number of places around the globe. A sample online issue is available on the website.

If a personal chef is operating a business far from peers, the opportunity to meet with others at a USPCA conference creates friendships, opens up great new ideas, and helps with knotty problems. There's nothing like talking late into the night, then crawling out of bed at dawn, so as not to miss special presentations the next day. If another person can register for the conference with you, they can attend other educational sessions that might conflict with a "have-to." And there's usually lots of literature to bring back home.

Other Benefits of USPCA Membership

Access to a solid liability insurance policy brings peace of mind for those rare occasions when …

Effective Health Promotion in Birds Housed in Aviaries

Pamela Terry

Evidently, there are certain things that must be done to ensure that your pet birds remain healthy and among which include ensuring that they receive ample nutrition and providing them a healthy environment. When it comes to the latter, maintaining aviaries always clean should be done as the physical and mental health of birds are hugely dependent on their environment. On the other hand circumstances promoting illness and the development of disease-causing pathogens include warmth, moisture, decomposing organic matter, congested and worn out or destabilized livestock, darkness and undisturbed gaps and chinks. Each effort must be made to set right these circumstances by implementing appropriate hygienic measures.

It goes to show that you as a pet bird owner has a huge part in promoting health to the birds and thus prevent untimely death of your treasured pets. Apparently, birds are known to be most susceptible to diseases in their early stage of life prior to their feathering. Newly hatch birds are much more prone to disease than mature ones due to underdeveloped immune system. Thus, it is important to regularly clean their aviaries most especially in such stages of their lives.

Without a doubt, the occurrence and transmission of pathogens that eventually cause disease formation in birds will be effectively prevented by maintaining aviaries clean. There are various means of pathogen transmission namely the direct, airborne and by carrier transmission. The direct means of transmission would need physical contact with an infected bird or with its body excretions. Meanwhile, airborne …

Health and medical discoveries: Viruses that can beat brain cancer

Pamela Terry

New medical advances are always exciting and they have plenty of them. One of the breakthroughs that people are working on is embryonic stem cells therapy. This is a controversial topic in America because it's a question of ethics.

The government in America is only funding Adult stem cells research. Adult stem cells research is great but it's limited in some ways whereas embryonic stem cells are not that limiting. However, embryonic stem cells research will provides us with many different types of treatment options for all types of medical conditions. It'll save a lot of people's lives. This is something that the next president has to ponder about.

One really great breakthrough recently is on October, 27, 2008 where they have a new method to battle brain cancer. This is a profound method that you've never heard of before and it's very creative. Once you know about it you will be surprise as to how far medical research can take you.
You begin to question whether the method can be use for treating other diseases as well such as HIV something that we are all desperate for. We want a cure to HIV or a vaccine at least. What if we take some of the methods that have been successful for other medical condition and see if we can apply that toward finding a cure or a vaccine for HIV?

The recent discovery was a method that would nearly cure brain cancer. It's definitely profound. This is a treatment …

The Temperature of The Human Body – an Important Indicator of The Health of The Body

Pamela Terry

Body temperature is a composite indicator of thermal state of the human organism, reflecting the complex relationship between the production of heat from various organs and tissues and heat transfer between them and the external environment.

Body temperature is a composite indicator of thermal state of the human organism, reflecting the complex relationship between the production of heat from various organs and tissues and heat transfer between them and the external environment. 

The average human body temperature usually varies between 36.5 and 37.2 degrees Celsius due to the internal exothermic reactions and the existence of “safety valves” allowing the removal of excess heat sweating. 

“Thermostat” (hypothalamus) is located in the brain and is constantly involved in thermoregulation. During the day body temperature varies – morning and evening it changes by 0.5-1.0 degree C. 

In women, temperature varies depending on the menstrual cycle. If the normal temperature is 37 degrees, it decreased to 36.8 during the first days of the cycle, before ovulation and decreased to 36.6 and then again increased to 37.2 and finally stood at 37 degrees. 

In men, the temperature in the testes is 1.5 degrees lower than the rest of the body and the temperature of other parts of the body depends on physical exercise. 

Critical to man is considered the temperature of 42 degrees, at which the disorder in the metabolism of brain tissue. Human body is better adapted to cold and therefore reducing the temperature to 32 degrees causes tremors, but not a serious risk. …

Basil and Pepperoni Pizza: A Fast Favourite that Tastes Better than Delivery

Pamela Terry

Pizza satisfies a hungry family or a room full of party guests and it is a healthy meal option. So, don’t call for delivery: make a homemade version and be ready for the compliments and requests for another slice. Pizza is a dish that can be easily modified to suit various preferences and any picky eaters. Use a store-bought dough to make this meal even quicker to prepare.

Feel free to experiment with the toppings suggested below and create a new family favourite. Feta cheese, mushrooms, green peppers, cooked Italian sausage, pesto, onions, or sliced ham all make great additions to this basil and pepperoni pizza. If desired, serve a soup such as Basil Minestrone for an appetizer. And for dessert, Strawberry Shortcake makes a nice after-dinner treat. This recipe makes two 12" pizzas.

Basil and Pepperoni Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza Dough:

  • 1-1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast
  • 3-1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar

Pizza Toppings:

  • Olive oil
  • 2/3 cup tomato sauce, 1/3 each per pizza
  • 1/3 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup Pepperoni, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup Basil, fresh, torn into small pieces

Directions

Pizza Dough:

  1. Pour the warm water into a large bowl
  2. Sprinkle the yeast onto the water and let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast is frothy
  3. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes
  4. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar
  5. Knead until the dough
…