natural health

An allergic reaction can be defined as the induction of an abnormal immune response upon contact with an external substance. It is a defensive and harmful response, triggered by the immune system when our body comes in contact with a variety of allergens and this response is exaggerated by the presence of antibodies. The tissues involved in this reaction are the nasal mucous membranes, eyes, bronchi and in some cases the cutaneous apparatus; these tissues become hyperactive and under certain external conditions, such as the presence of pollutants, they become even more sensitive.
Symptoms of allergies
The allergic reactions may be more or less severe and affect the following tissues:
1. Conjunctivitis - it is a health condition in which allergic symptoms can be observed in the eyes;
2. Rhinitis - it is characterized by the inflammation of the mucous membrane and leads to abundant secretion of mucous, watery nose and redness of the eyes;
3. Asthma- it is one of the most severe forms of allergic reaction and is a condition in which the patients experience progressive difficulty in breathing.
4. Pollinosis - this reaction is caused by the presence of pollens in the air and is commonly known as 'hay fever'. It is not a very severe allergic reaction and can be treated by common over the counter drugs;
Apart from the above, there are various other allergic reactions which lead to a variety of skin diseases. The most common allergy symptoms affecting the skin are: hives - it is a condition in which small eruptions appear in the skin accompanied by severe itching; eczema and contact dermatitis - these conditions are triggered when the skin comes in contact with special substances, such as nickel, harmful acids etc. At times, insect bites can also lead to the occurrence of allergic symptoms in our skin.
These reactions occur only in individuals who are sensitive to particular molecules known as antigens, which trigger a specific immune response mediated by immunoglobulin E. These individuals should be treated with vaccines or desensitizing agents so that they do not face any allergic reactions, when they come with contact with the substances they are allergic to. It is a fact that there is no permanent cure for allergy, because of which the patients are advised to avoid any contact with the allergens.
The most common allergens are pollen, especially those produced by wild grasses, olive trees, beech, birch tree, hazel, cypress and herbaceous plants such as ragweed and plantain.

It can happen to anyone, developing a cough and hacking through the night. This is especially difficult when it happens to a child. So we want to do all we can to help relieve the sufferer's coughing fits and make him comfortable so he can get restorative sleep. All-night vigil by a sick child can be tough so when we keep the cough down, everybody sleeps much better.
For those of us who would rather look outside the pharmaceutical medicine box, there are effective, natural and powerful remedies that would help soothe the tickle, loosen out the phlegm and improve respiration. I have used these in combination to achieve extremely good results with my own children.
1) Good old fashion ginger tea.
Ginger has been used medicinally for centuries. It is one of the most studied of all "kitchen cures". The chemicals that give ginger its zesty taste, gingerol and shogaol, have been known to inhibit the body's production of substances that contribute to bronchial constriction and fever. They also act as natural cough suppressants.
Boil pieces of old ginger root in water, simmering for about 5 minutes. Extract the juice of one lemon and mix with a cup of hot ginger tea. Serve hot.
2) Hot feet soak
Soaking your feet in hot water can relieve a head cold, help reduce a fever and relax bronchial muscles. Drawing blood to the feet helps to disperse congestion, increase circulation and even ease asthma symptoms. When my sixteen year old had a severe asthma attack due to an allergic reaction to some strong medication used during a surgical procedure to drain a boil, we decided against going back to the hospital where he would be treated with more powerful drugs. His symptoms were drastically reduced simply by doing several hot feet soaks and drinking ginger tea.
Heat enough water to fill up a basin where both feet can be comfortably immersed. The temperature should be as hot as one can bear without getting scalded. Soak both feet in the water until water cools down substantially.
3) Administer mega dose of vitamin C
Orthomolecular therapy is the use of vitamins to treat diseases and is a safe and effective alternative to conventional therapy with prescriptive drugs. Vitamin C is well-known for its anti-viral, anti-bacteria as well as immunity boosting properties.
As early as the 1940s, Dr Frederick R. Klenner consistently cured chicken pox, measles, mumps, tetanus and polio with the aggressive use of vitamin C. Vitamin C is remarkably safe even in extremely high doses, with virtually no side-effects compared to commonly used prescription drugs. How much vitamin C is an effective therapeutic dose? Dr. Klenner recommends 350mg per kilogram body weight each day.
In Fire Your Doctor - How to be Independently Healthy, Dr Andrew Saul tells how he banished his 4 year old daughter's cough with 4000 mg of vitamin C crystals in water every hour until she was symptoms free.
4) Water Cure
President Ronald Reagan's personal doctor, Ralph Bookman, M.D. has long been promoting hydration as a means of relieving asthma and allergy symptoms. He explained that adequate fluids are necessary to expel bronchial mucous secretions. In an interview, Mr Bookman said, "Liquids make mucus liquid. Liquids are medication."
Ensure optimal hydration. And as a rule of thumb, drink enough water daily to achieve colourless urine.
5) Breathe fresh electrified air
This alone is sufficient to provide significant relief for many people to be able to sleep through the night. Fresh air is nature's proven remedy for a wide range of diseases, particularly respiratory illnesses including cough.
Tricia's cough remedy
One of our customers, Tricia bought a medical air ioniser in the hope of curing her chronic cough. She used to wake up in the morning feeling as if she hadn't "slept a wink". Life-long allergies had made it difficult to sleep soundly or remain asleep for long. Despite taking draconian measures to remove known allergens in the house and keeping the house closed up, she continued to have difficulty sleeping due to post nasal drip. This tickle would wake her up many nights before she could reach the deepest and most refreshing portion of her sleep cycle. She tried everything recommended to help herself, short of sleeping sitting completely upright all night.
Searching for a remedy, Tricia stumbled upon ionization therapy. About a month later, she found that she was not choking or coughing any more as she drifted off to sleep. Later, she found that she could sleep through the night which was quite a development.
The Curative Properties Of Fresh Air
Fresh air has an abundance of naturally occurring, electrically charged air particles, called air ions, that have a biological effect on all living things. Ionization therapy is the use of highly electrified air for medical applications via a medical grade air ioniser.
Air ions destroy disease-causing air borne germs and pollutants, boost the immune system, increase lung capacity, improve respiration and promote relaxation and sleep. Before the days of antibiotics, countless people had reversed their health condition by simply moving to the mountains or to the sea. Sanatoriums were traditionally built for the treatment of tuberculosis in the European Alps and doctors worldwide had advocated a 'change of air' for their patients.
Coughing is generally a symptom of some other problems - allergies and infections being the common culprits. It is wise to eradicate cough by helping the rest of the body to heal. Strengthening the immune system, correcting deficiencies as well as identifying and eliminating allergies can help us to be healthy. Healthy bodies do not cough.
Use in combination, the above therapies provides a sure cure for cough.

Rosalind Tan is the author of the Truth About Air Electricity & Health and the Managing Director of Dorea Pte Ltd, a company that promotes and distributes medical grade air ionizers throughout Asia. She teaches and advocates going "back to nature", for unless we align our ways according to those of nature, we can not attain optimal health and happiness.
http://www.dorealife.com
http://www.truthaboutairelectricity.com

A variety of forces have driven dictation to evolve and improve. More and more hospitals, clinics and private practices are combining clinician voices with new technology to reduce overheads, operate more efficiently and enhance patient service by focusing on care giving and not administration. As medical voice productivity solutions continue to grow and adapt, clinicians can expect even better solutions going forward.
The Current State of Dictation
Legacy Systems
Dictation was once on the cutting edge of technology. When first introduced it revolutionised the way clinicians produced documentation. By utilising their voice to dictate letters or commands they were able to delegate a portion of their administrative tasks and free up time for patient care. Legacy dictation devices utilise analogue tapes which inevitably piled up on desks and were passed from pillar to post until being typed by support staff.
Since medical administrators were constantly interrupted with the more pressing tasks of running clinics and delivering patient care, turnaround of documents and notes that had been dictated was often slow and unreliable. Creating and tracking a reliable workflow was virtually impossible and as machines broke down, tapes degraded, and as word processing skills became more common place, many clinicians lost faith with dictation.
Current Solutions
With the advent of digital dictation, vendors are now able to create workflows, reports and monitoring which streamlines the process. Many clinicians have embraced smartphones and voice recognition software, bringing further savings and efficiencies to traditional dictation. Digital dictation is more accessible, better quality and easier to manage, which has seen an uptake of digital solutions across many hospitals, clinics and private practices.
Once a file or note is dictated it is immediately available to monitor within a workflow. This allows clinicians and administrators to manage volumes, ensure turnaround times and minimise errors within the document production workflow.
Clinicians are also using voice productivity solutions to maximise the time they spend with patients. As well as referral letters and discharge summaries some clinicians also dictate procedure notes, emails and instructions to staff. The time saved here allows them to see more patients and provide better care.
What to Expect in the Future
Looking ahead, software vendors and service providers are producing deeper integrations with other systems. Clinicians and Hospitals can now avail of voice productivity technology that is integrated with all aspects of their IT healthcare ecosystems, including utilising patient demographics in document creation and delivery, clinical notes and direct updating of patient records. Technologies like smartphone apps and telephony are increasing the availability and scope of voice productivity solutions allowing clinicians to do more without intrusive or radical changes to their current practices.
Voice Recognition technologies and on demand medical transcription services mean that patient records and correspondence can now be updated in real time, ensuring more efficient and cost effective patient care.
Some hospitals and practitioners continue to drag their feet, dismissing voice technologies as expensive and unnecessary. But it is clear that with the latest innovations, voice productivity solutions do far more than save clinicians time typing documents. The value of dictation now goes beyond cost and extends to the streamlining of the entire clinical documentation process.
Jonathan Larbey - CEO T-Pro.

Jonathan Larbey is CEO at T-Pro; a leading Irish and UK based medical document workflow specialist. Supplying Digital dictation, system integration, transcription and speach recognition solutions within the healthcare ecosystem.
If you are interested in exploring how digital dictation, transcription or voice recognition can drive efficiency and cost reduction as part of you IT ecosystem visit http://www.tpro.ie or contact us on 00353 1 9696400

As federal and state/provincial governments attempt to trim their budgets, find efficiencies in various departments and impose a series of cutbacks to services, one of the growing issues for countries everywhere is the state of health care, especially for the aging population.
In the United States alone, there are approximately 40 million Americans aged 65 and over and by the year 2030 that number will jump to an estimated 71 million. This means that in a country that is facing an intense budgetary crisis and rising debt levels, it will not have enough adequate resources to take care of the elderly.
The United Nations published the results of a global study that concluded most nations are not prepared enough to look after the growing number of elderly people. It ranked the economic and social (health, education, income, etc.) well-being of old people in 91 countries and it ranked Sweden in first place and Afghanistan was listed last.
According to the Global AgeWatch Index, by the year 2050, seniors older than 60 will outnumber children under the age of 15, which is the first time in history. To compartmentalize it: the globe is not working hard enough to cope with a greyer population.
"We expect the Index to become an important research and analysis framework for practitioners and policy-makers alike, as it will facilitate cross-national comparative research on the quality of life and wellbeing of older people, and help identify data and knowledge gaps on issues of aging," said Professor Zaidi from the University of Southampton in a statement. "We need to give more and more importance to such data gathering work -- in fact, since the lives of older people are at stake, we can't afford not to."
Despite much of the world turning to Sweden as a role model when it comes to health care, even that country is facing tremendous problems that is affecting everyone: a huge bureaucracy, higher tax rates, immense waiting times and a paucity of quality. This can also be found when it comes to health care for seniors.
It isn't just international studies looking at the issue of health care for seniors. Last year, National Research Council (NRC) published a report that essentially stated that the U.S. will have to come to grips with caring for its aging population because it will become a long-term problem. With a longer life expectancy and lower birth rates, there will be budgetary inadequacies - in addition, it was noted that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are on unsustainable paths.
Many have decided to turn to the private sector for elderly home health care and senior assisted living. Although retirement residences still remain an option for a significant percentage, many retirees have decided to stay home due to technological advancements and the large number of senior care assistance businesses.
Some industry professionals say that retirement homes may even become an antiquated model because of the numerous benefits and options that seniors have: tax credits, nutrition counseling, home health care and much more.
The London Guardian even took a look at this and found that private enterprises are facilitating seniors staying home through the adoption of alarms, sensors, helplines, pill dispensers and other forms of technology that more and more seniors are utilizing.
Although some public officials appear to be bleak on the future of senior health care, the private sector is seeing a market and an opportunity to improve the quality of life and standard of living of the aging population.

Better Living Senior Assistance Services in Tampa, Florida is the answer for elderly home health care. Call (813) 449-4271 for more information.

With age, wisdom may come - but so do wrinkles!
Years will certainly take a toll on your skin, no matter how healthy you're trying to live. All of the nutritionists' advice and fitness gurus' following will not save you from losing your looks. Eventually, your young, radiant, dewy skin will live only on your old photographs.
Grim, isn't it? What a cruel joke: just when you are ready to start enjoying the fruits of your hard labor, your own skin will betray you. You may feel better than ever, more calm and secure in yourself and your place in the world, and - why not? - much wiser than before; however your face has definitely changed, but not for the better, unfortunately.
Luckily advancing age does not need to mean unequivocally putting up with wrinkles that are getting more and more deep and pronounced with every year passing by, complimented with sagging folds of skin on your face and body, spider veins, or telltale sun spots and blemishes.
There are many anti-age solutions for younger looking skin, ranging from prescription medication to elective surgery. And, of course, there is anti-age skin care as the most used, and universally favored, solution to return the youthful glow to your skin. With today's advances in skin care technology, skin care products are made to be no less effective than some more complicated, and maybe even invasive, anti-age treatments.
With a little help from anti-age skincare solutions, you can have younger looking, more radiant skin surprisingly quickly.
For instance, Skinception is known for its anti aging skin care solutions containing Argan Oil. While the technology is cutting-age, the oil use as a skin care product itself dates back to Phoenician times. Called "Liquid Gold", this oil will give you young, radiant skin.
Why not steal this ancient beauty secret and use it to your advantage? It will banish forever dull, dry skin and restore skin radiance and youthful glow. Skin firmness and elasticity will be greatly improved because this anti-age skincare solution works from inside to repair deeper skin layers and trap moisture in the skin.
You may have seen this product presented on TV shows such as America's next top model.
You may worry that your skin is already too oily to use this kind of skin care, or that oil in this Skinception product may clog your pores, but you don't have to: it's air-light and absorbs quickly and completely.
After using it for some time the only problem you will have is warding off compliments!

http://www.youngradiantskin.com is a place to discover the ancient beauty secrets that Argan Oil holds as an anti-aging solution for your skin.

Ever wonder what makes up a healthy lifestyle? Well, it's not just one thing, it's a lot things. These are just some of the areas that you can start fixing in your life today. I hope they will help you in your endeavor to live the most productive years possible. Help yourself and enjoy!
1. Get a Good Night's Rest
This is an extremely vital area of your life. Not attaining an adequate amount of sleep will drain your body of the energy it needs to get through the day. And when you deplete it of this time you'll find yourself not being able to live up to your expectations. You'll be sluggish, trying to focus will be a challenge, you will have no motivation, and your attitude will be sour. Watch out, because your attitude alone can change your life. So get a good night's sleep. Your body will thank you with clearness of mind, a great dose of energy, and a positive outlook on life.
2. Watch What You Put In Your Mouth
What you feed your body with is essential in how it will function. You've got to eat right in order to live right. When you do this, your body will perform at its best. So, instead of reaching for that candy bar, make yourself a salad. It starts with the little choices you make and before you know it, it's a lifestyle. Be strong and hang in there. You'll feel better and look better too.
3. Achieve a Proper Amount of Exercise
Exercising works wonders in a person's life. And it doesn't have to be a sixty minute, sweat producing, heart pumping workout. Go out, enjoy nature, and take a walk. The fresh air will make you feel better, clear your mind, and revitalize yourself with energy. You might think that exercising will just drain you. But amazingly it's the other way around. Moving boosts your energy. It will help you not just get through the day, but soar through it. Exercising will be a benefit to you by helping with the daily stresses that you come across and becoming a happier human being.
4. Drink The Vital Liquid of Life: Water
I could not stress this subject enough. Water is the real fountain of youth. Yet, it is so often neglected in a person's lifestyle. When the flow of water is limited, it takes a toll on your body, and probably without you even noticing. But before you know it you feel drained, you look tired, and your body performs below the level it should. Don't harm yourself any longer and start drinking your way to a better day.
5. Set Aside Some Downtime
At an appropriate time of the day, preferably in the evening, slow down and give yourself time to relax. Focus on the moment and relieve yourself of duties. You might read a good book or play a board game with your family. Whatever you do, make sure you take the stress out and put relaxation in.

If you found this article helpful, feel free to visit my website at http://www.exercisesandsolutionsforfatloss.com. Don't regret anything. Take a new hold on your life and change it for the better.

Children all over the country can benefit from having the chance to participate in after school programs. Some kids enjoy the camaraderie of being on a sports team. Others enjoy the inner dialog they can have with themselves while running, swimming, or playing tennis. Then, there are young people that enjoy spending time performing with the drama club or working on the newspaper staff. Any involved parent would probably be happy to find their child has taken up some constructive activity such as the ones described. It shows that the student is developing new skills and seeking the opportunity to become more social.
Sometimes, though, a child will only express an interest in playing video games, surfing the Internet, or roaming aimlessly around the neighborhood with a band of similarly idle youngsters. It is at this point that a parent might want to step in and suggest, if not demand, that their son or daughter get involved in one of the many after school programs that many communities have to offer. If a child likes to remain active, they might want to try karate, gymnastics, tennis, dance, or even horseback riding. Kids that are a little less inclined to sweat can enroll in classes where participants learn to cook, sew, sculpt, or draw. The possibilities are virtually endless. The most important thing is to encourage your son or daughter to develop a passion and to use their time for creative pursuits. This will keep them out of trouble, and it will also help them develop self-esteem.
Are you having a hard time finding out about after school programs in your area? You may want to start at the library or one of the local branches of the YMCA. These places usually host certain activities or have community boards where people post information about things going on in the area. At the very least, you should come back from one of these facilities with some more ideas about where to look.
Does your student interact well with animals or small children? If so, he or she might find it worthwhile to volunteer for a few hours every week. They can walk dogs at the local humane society or help coordinate meetings for a local scout troop. Imagine how many service hours a young person could accumulate if they started early in their academic career. This looks great on a college application, and it also helps them learn responsibility and build relationships with professionals in the area.
If you do ask your son or daughter to join an after school program, let them choose how they'd like to spend their time. They will just grow to resent this obligation if you force a certain activity on them. Just allow them to try out a few different classes or hobbies. It may take a bit of trial and error, but they will surely find something they enjoy after a while.

If you are considering after school programs in Brooklyn, consider the options available at: http://urbandojo.com.