Guide4Living

Nuts about nuts?

Calcium, iron, zinc, B group vitamins, Magnesium, potassium, vitamin E, vitamin A, copper, manganese, selenium…. Now that may sound like a list of minerals and vitamins in a bottle but its not.  That is just a range of vitamins and minerals you can get from snacking on nuts.

If you or someone you know is suffering from High blood pressure (hypertension) why not keep nuts in the house as a healthy snacking option?  Make sure they are raw nuts and not the salted ones though.  High blood pressure directly increases the risk of coronary heart disease which leads to heart attack and stroke.  You may wonder why eating nuts will help.  Well the list of vitamins and mineral you get from eating nuts is high on the list of vitamins and minerals you get from foods to eat to help lower your blood pressure.

It is common knowledge that the biggest dietary change to reduce high blood pressure is to drastically reduce your intake of sodium (salt) but a lot of people don’t look any further than that.  Guide4living has a good guide for you when it comes to changing your diet to reduce blood pressure.  This includes the use of alternative medicines.

A common fallacy about nuts is that they will make you fat.  Well they do have a high fat content and are energy dense but they contain the good fat - the unsaturated fat.  Some large scale studies have shown that people who eat nuts actually have lower body mass index (BMI) and nut eaters tend to weigh less than non nut eaters in general.  Another study found that people were able to lose weight while eating up to 100g of nuts a day as part of their calorie restricted diet.

It is generally recommended that you eat about 30g of nuts 5 days a week to help you stay healthy.  Even if you only eat nuts once a week you will still gain benefits.  Nuts not only contain unsaturated fats, they contain the healthy omega-3 fats and all the vitamins and mineral listed in the beginning of this blog.  They are also a good source of fibre and protein. So if you are nuts about nuts, go for it! If you are not nuts about nuts, why not find a few you like and try to incorporate them into your diet once a week at least.

Tell us your stories, share your experiences with others to help them through the tough times.

Angela

High Blood Pressure signs

Hypertension or High Blood Pressure, is the main cause of heart disease and stroke throughout the world.  For this reason, it is important to try and recognise the symptoms and get treatment straight away.

Usually a consistent blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg (or higher) will mean that you have hypertension or high blood pressure.  Sometimes people only experience high blood pressure when they visit their GP.  If this happens to you then it is best to invest in a blood pressure monitor and take your blood pressure at home.

Be on the look out for these symptoms:
Lightheadedness
Fainting
Dizziness
Headaches
Increased urination

My Dad displayed these symptoms over a six month period before he consulted the GP.  That is not wise.  He is now on medication for the rest of his life.  Try and see a Doctor as soon as you notice these symptoms.  They generally don’t go away but they are sometimes easy to ignore.  Often people don’t get clear enough signals and the disease goes unnoticed for too long. 

You are more at risk of developing high blood pressure if you are overweight.  Obesity is seen as one of the leading causes of hypertension.  Also, people who consume a lot of alcohol and eat excessive amounts of salt are asking for trouble.  When you are young, you don’t think that far down the road but it is worth cutting down on salt, alcohol and eating a good sensible diet.  Moderate, regular exercise and good eating habits should be a part of your life if you want to avoid high blood pressure. 

Has anyone out there got a story to share?  What would you like to see on this blog?

Angela

New research

It has been dubbed ‘The Worlds Biggest Medical Experiment’.  Biobank, which is a UK based company, funded by the government, plans to carry out an experiment using 500,000 people as its sample.

The reason for the experiment: They aim to try and understand how our genes and the environment affect our health.  Amongst the diseases they want to understand better, is Cancer, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Heart disease.

This experiment will be carried out for at least 10 years and the target age group is 40 – 69 years.  Although this experiment has a fair amount of criticism being thrown at it, it will surly be a worth while cause if we can find out more about the interaction and complex links between the environment, our health and our genes?

I’m all for it, but then I am one of millions of people who have been affected by some of the diseases mentioned above.

For more information about this experiment or if you are interested in participating in the experiment, go to their website www.ukbiobank.ac.uk

Give us you views.

Doreen

HIV/AIDS news

With the start of the 16th International HIV/AIDS Conference, there is bound to be some explosive conversations taking place around the table but the most prolific thing for me is the fact that HIV/AIDS has only been around for 20 years (that we know of and have recorded) and it has already claimed the lives of over 25 million people.

 
Bill Gates and his wife have turned their attention and their mega wealth to trying to find a way to stop the spread of HIV.  They have ploughed millions into research and development and at the moment they are hoping that the discovery of an oral prevention drug called Microbicides which blocks the transmission of HIV, will be able slow down the progression of this killer virus.  Microbicides is a gel or a cream that women could use to block the infectious disease. The studies are at a fairly advanced stage and Bill and Melinda Gates are hoping that this new treatment will be the turning point in the AIDS epidemic.

Let there be hope!
 By Doreen

Alcohol - not so innocent!

Alcohol abuse is becoming a major problem in most countries today.  The National Health Service in Wales has recently stated that they expect to loose about 260 people this year as a result of alcohol related conditions (reported by BBC news).

Across England and Scotland the same message is being ‘whispered’ about the serious problems society and health services face because of alcohol.

In New Zealand they reported deaths of around 150 per year in total from alcohol related conditions in 1996.  In 2003 fatal crashes alone caused 124 deaths, thanks to drinking and driving.  Conditions such as liver and heart damage, digestive disorders, cancer and high blood pressure are all on the increase according to the Ministry of Health. When will the alarm bells start to ring I wonder? 

It is estimated that there are several million Japanese with a serious alcohol problem, yet in Japan alcohol is seen as an important part of socialising and winding down and many a business transaction or negotiation is carried out in bars and restaurants under the influence of alcohol.  In fact it is even known that getting drunk in Japan can play an integral part in ones future promotional prospects within an organization.

Addiction to Alcohol seems to be largely ignored in most reports but at least there are people out there trying to make some noise about this drug (yes Alcohol is a drug) that is causing and will continue to cause serious harm to society.

Excessive drinking is not only causing problems relating to anti-social behaviour but it also causes more serious health problems like cirrhosis of the liver, cancer, depression, death and injury on the roads, pancreatitis, family breakdown, drowning, suicide, unwanted pregnancies, babies being damaged by drinking mothers and violence.  I also wonder how much productivity is lost to a country as a result of drinking?

It has taken society so long to make a stand against smoking (also a drug).  We are willing to shout out loud about other drugs like cocaine or cannabis but the one drug society is forgetting about is alcohol!!

Let us not be silent about this killer – lets us kill the silence and scream out loud about alcohol addiction and the fact that alcohol is a drug!!

by Doreen

NEW - Early diagnosis for lung cancer

There is a little bit of good news about lung cancer, according to Reuters and China View. They have both recently run articles about a new blood test that can diagnose the most common lung cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer, long before an X-ray or CT scan.  In fact, apparently blood samples taken from patients correctly predicted lung cancer long before they were diagnosed with lung cancer.  Basically the test involves antibody profiling meaning that the test looks for the body’s own immune response to tumors (Reuters).  If these new blood tests can be confirmed as reliable, it will be an enormous step in the right direction – early detection!!

The saddest part of lung cancer is that it is mostly self inflicted – through smoking. The World Health Organization has predicted that tobacco is likely to kill more than a billion people in the 21st Century.  That’s huge!  No wonder tobacco has now been labeled the modern plague.

Sadly by the time the lung cancer is detected, it is too late for most people, hence the low survival rate.  This new blood tests could be a ray of hope in the fight against cancer. If you can, do your best to quit smoking.  I am desperately hoping that my husband will give it up.

A friend of mine introduced me to a book called, ‘Easy way to stop smoking’ by Allen Carr.  She got half way through the book and quit smoking.  She has still not read the book completely but she has no desire to smoke again. She has not smoked for over 5 months despite being a single parent (widowed a year ago to a brain tumor) of two teenage children who have put her through immense pressures lately. She was a chronic smoker.  If this book contains a powerful enough message to get her to quit smoking, it must be good.  Any treatment or prevention in my opinion is worth the trouble.

She has recommended the book to me for my husband and I have purchased it.  My husband has not yet shown any interest in reading the book.  He is aware of the connection between lung cancer and smoking but is not ready to quit just yet.  I wait with baited breath.

Here are some quick facts about lung cancer:
Did you know that over 80% of lung cancer is caused by smoking?
Did you know that lung cancer is the biggest killer world wide by miles?
Did you know that the most common form of lung cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer, has an average survival rate of only 40%?
Did you know that about 10 million people are diagnosed globally with lung cancer and about half of those people will die within a year of being diagnosed?
Did you know that lung cancer kills more people than breast, colorectal and prostate cancer combined?

By Doreen

Breast Cancer Myths

I have just been reading about some breast cancer myths and thought I might share them with you.  This info comes from the Family Health diary:

Myth: No one in my family has had breast cancer, so I wont get it
Truth: 90 - 95% of people diagnosed with breast cancer don’t have a history of breast cancer in the family.

Myth:  Antiperspirants cause breast cancer (this one is a biggy for me - the main reason for my search on myths and truths about breast cancer)
Truth:  To date there is no scientific or biological evidence to support this claim.  Perspiration is there solely to cool the body down and not to get rid of toxins. The breast tissue is totally separate from the sweat glands and lymph nodes under the arms and armpits.

Myth:  Breast cancer only comes in the form of a lump (this I did sincerely believe).
Truth: A lump is only one indication that cancer might be present.  The other signs to look out for are, dimpling on the surface of the skin , unusual pain, a rash, if the nipples start to invert or if there is discharge from the nipples.

Myth:  Radiation from a mammography is dangerous.
Truth:  Radiation from the equipment used is very low, so the benefits of a mammography outweighs the risks by far.

Myth:  I am a non smoker, don’t drink alcohol and exercise regularly so I wont get cancer.
Truth:  Breast cancer can affect anyone and although a healthy lifestyle is strongly recommended, it does not protect you against cancer.

Myth:  All lumps in the breast are cancerous.
Truth:  9 out of 10 lumps in the breast are not cancerous.  This does not mean you should be complacent.  Visit your doctor immediately if you find a lump.  I know I would!

by Doreen

Breast Cancer

One of the great things I have seen over the last forty years is the huge improvement in the survival rate from breast cancer. I well remeber the “rule of thumb” statistic among doctors that ninety per cent of cases after radical mastectomy had,at best, fifteen more years of life. It appeared that there nearly always was a recurrence.

How things have changed! Not only has technology given us quicker and more accurate diagnosis but Breast Specialists have emerged and my experience that this field attracts particularly caring and sensitive individuals. But, for the professional there has been a slight downside in that the incidence of overdiagnosis is slowly increasing.

Overdiagnosis is the finding and treatment of a growth, or tumour, that would not be expected to be fatal during the course of the persons natural life time. Better radiology, imaging and reading of results is probably at the heart of this. When such densities are seen on mammograms the radiologist has no way of telling whether these are cancerous or benign. Site, size, age, history etc may strongly indicate a non threatening growth but fear of litigitation etc means it can’t be ignored. In many cases these are best just monitored but often there is a patient insistence on surgery “just in case”. This is why a three point check is important - ie: physical exam ( palpation ), imaging and biopsy and cell testing for hormone receptors.

The good news is that all is moving forward and screening programmes, education and lifestyle advice seem to be having an effect. The scene is not as scary as it once was!

Here is a link to a risk assessment tool that you can download, install and run to use.

http://www.oncolink.org/types/article.cfm?c=3&s=5&ss=34&id=7242

Neil

Alzheimers

Ten quick tests that strongly suggest an onset of Alzheimers:–

1. Memory loss that affects job skills
2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks
3. Problems with language
4. Disorientation to time and place
5. Poor or decreased judgment
6. Problems with abstract thinking
7. Misplacing things
8. Changes in mood or behavior
9. Changes in personality
10. Loss of initiative

Neil

Skin Cancer

This seems a good place to tell you that I live in New Zealand and as I write this morning -June 06 - it’s cloudy after some light drizzle, about 18 Celsius as we move into our winter. But, only one month ago our sun was fierce and you may not be aware that we have the highest incidence of melanoma and keratoses from UV in the world. Many visitors and tourists from the northern hemisphere grossly underestimate the damage our sunshine can do. When I was working in a hospital ( 20 years ) we would have several admissions each summer of, mainly British because of their links here, visitors with severe sunburn. They would arrive, go to the beach and not quite realise that, within an hour they could be very severely burnt. Remember also that we have a huge hole in the ozone layer just South of us - over Antarctica.

Skin Cancer is real and life threatening, and the sun has a lot to do with it. So remember, if you are going to visit this lovely country in our summer, listen to radio for UV warnings, slip, slap and slop like a Kiwi ( I should say here that one of the things I admire Shane Warne for is that he liberally uses zinc ointment for sun protection - and I won’t go into his other “attributes”! ) and very gradually increase your daily exposure.

Neil