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Excess of Drinking Water is Dangerous | Self Life Hacks

You would have got numerous advice's about drinking adequate water. Did you ever think whether your body is getting adequate water or you are abusing your body with huge quantity of water? Water is absolutely necessary to survive. But what we don’t often get told is that you can have too much of a good thing, water included.

“We're constantly being told the benefits of regularly drinking water, and more often than not, these benefits stand true

,” Morgan Statt, Health and Safety Investigator at ConsumerSafety.org.

(source)

“From boosting your immune system to clearing your skin, you'd be hard-pressed to find something water doesn't help with. But, unfortunately, it is possible to drink too much water.

” Statt warns against drinking more than 27-33 fluid ounces (about three and a half to four cups) per hour.

 This may cause life threading situation due to hypothermia (less sodium in the body), this is due to when you’re taking in more water than you can pee out a lot. and the sodium content in your body gets washed out from your body leading to hypothermia. Impact of water intake in the prevention of urinary system diseases such as urolithiasis, urinary tract infections, chronic kidney disease (CKD), autosomal dominant polycystic kidney diseases (ADPKD) and bladder cancer were studied recently

(source) 

but many few stress on having impact on your body when excess amount of water is taken.

The dangers of having low sodium content and excess water drinking include (The side effects of excess water drinking includes):

Fatigue,

Vomiting,

Swollen Hands And Feet

Confusion,

Headaches,

Sometimes death.

Are there different types of over-hydration?

There are two main types of over-hydration:

Increased water intake

This occurs when you drink more water than your kidneys can remove in your urine. This can cause too much water to collect in your bloodstream.

Retaining water

This occurs when your body can’t get rid of water properly. Several medical conditions can cause your body to retain water. Both of these types are dangerous because they throw off the balance between water and sodium in your blood.

Here are some signs that you could be drinking too much water or other fluids

1. You’re Peeing A lot :

If you’re peeing more than seven times daily, then you have to keep a note on your water consumption and see if the problem goes away once you have limited your water consumption. Before that one has to rule out other medical causes of increased frequency of peeing like diabetes mellitus, which is associated with increased frequency of maturation.

2. Your pee is clear :

urine has its own particular color due to the pigments present in it. the more darker and yellow your urine and the more colorless your urine, both are said to be bad signs. Your pee should be light yellow color.

3. You are having body pains:

not only the sodium , there are various electrolyte disturbances can occur in your body, if you are taking huge amount of water. like that of loss of potassium, a mineral that helps your body contract and relax your muscles. Decreased amount of potassium may cause easy cramping.

4. You may feel weak:

Since you are stressing your body with lots of water and additional electrolyte disturbance can cause adrenal fatigue, and leads to rise in stress hormones in your body

5. You're Not Thirsty:

Thirst is the best indicator that you need water. One study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that our swallow reflex diminishes once we've had enough to drink. So, lack of thirst likely means you've hydrated enough. If you've over-hydrated, avoiding water and instead having a sports drink, which can replenish your electrolytes.

Long term effects of drinking excess water:

Increased cancer risk:

In various countries, chlorine is used in tap water to disinfect it. According to the experts, excessive drinking of chlorinated water for a longer period of time increases the risk of the bladder as well as testicular cancer. The risk gets more elevated through beverages that are made by the chlorine-induced tap water, according to the experts.

Increased heart at risk:

Drinking excess water may cause additional strain on your heart as well as on blood vessels. This condition is considered fatal as it can cause seizures in some cases. You couldn't drink yourself into pulmonary edema if you had a normal heart and kidneys. It would be virtually impossible. If you have heart failure, however, or kidneys that are not functioning normally, then definitely you can get pulmonary edema from too- a condition where water enters the lungs.

Headaches:

Drinking excess water can also cause headaches, according to the experts as it can negatively impact your brain. Excessive drinking water leads to a decrease in the percentage of electrolytes in the body. This results in the entering of more water in your cells including the cells in your brain area.

Affects The Brain:

Hyponatremia or low sodium in the blood can cause the brain to swell up. And this, in turn, results in speech disability, disorientation, walking instability, psychosis,

Coma:

The brain and visceral organ damage that your body goes through ultimately lead to coma and death. Therefore, you must drink the water carefully. Do not drink too much water within a short window of time.

How much water should you drink each day?

There is no simple answer and it is not easy to answer. There have been a number of studies in past years and shown that the individual water needs depend on many factors, including your health, how active you are and where you live. No single formula fits everyone. But knowing more about your body's need for fluids will help you estimate how much water to drink each day. When you have no enough water in your body, -this can lead to dehydration - which leads to the drain of your energy and you may feel tired. Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you must replenish its water supply by consuming beverages and foods that contain water. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that adequate daily fluid intake is: About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids for men About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women These recommendations cover fluids from water, other beverages, and food. About 20 percent of daily fluid intake usually comes from food and the rest from drinks. You've probably would have been advised, "Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day." That's easy to remember, and it's a reasonable goal.  

Health benefits of water

The human body can last weeks without food, but only days without water. The body is made up of 55-75% water. Mature adults are about 70% water; this drops to about 60% in the elderly and continues to drop into very old age. Water forms the basis of blood, digestive juices, urine, and perspiration. 80% of blood is made up of water 73% of lean muscle and brain tissue is water 25% of fat is water 22% of bones in water.

Water has various functions in our body like

Gets rid of wastes through urination, perspiration and bowel movements

Keeps your temperature normal

Lubricates and cushions joints

Protects sensitive tissues

But water can also be lethal to the body when taken in excess amounts.

Factors that influence water needs

There are several factors that influence the amount of water uptake and about how much amount of water you need:

Exercise.

If you do any activity that makes you sweat, you need to drink extra water to cover the fluid loss. It's important to drink water before, during and after a workout. If exercise is intense and lasts more than an hour, a sports drink can replace minerals in your blood (electrolytes) lost through sweat.

Environment.

Hot or humid weather can make you sweat and requires additional fluid intake. Dehydration also can occur at high altitudes.

Overall health.

Your body loses fluids when you have a fever, vomiting or diarrhea. Drink more water or follow a doctor's recommendation to drink oral rehydration solutions. Other conditions that might require increased fluid intake include bladder infections and urinary tract stones.

Pregnancy or breast-feeding.

Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding need additional fluids to stay hydrated. The Office on Women's Health recommends that pregnant women drink about 10 cups (2.4 liters) of fluids daily and women who breast-feed consume about 13 cups (3.1 liters) of fluids a day.

How can you avoid over-hydration?

At the 2002 Boston Marathon, a study found that 13% of participants demonstrated the symptoms of hypothermia, proving that, while serious results are extremely rare, the issue is still common – especially at sporting events. The steps to avoid reaching the point of over-hydration involve some relatively obvious reversals of normal practice. If you’re monitoring the color of your urine, as some people do, you should be aiming for a light yellow color, rather than shooting for as clear pee as possible – which many people assume means the peak of hydration. Urine shouldn’t be entirely clear and, if it is, you might be drinking more water than you need. Hignett says the ideal shade for most people is “a pale straw color”. People who drink too much water while taking part in marathons, ultra marathons, triathlons, and other long-distance, high-intensity activities are at an increased risk of hypothermia, so if you’re rehydrating after exercise, consider taking it slower than usual. NHS guidance advises that we drink six to eight glasses of fluid a day, although food can also contribute to this total. It makes sense, therefore, that drinking 15 cups of water a day might not be sensible. A safe limit is one liter of liquid per hour, as this is roughly what your kidneys are able to process normally.

Here are a few ways you can stop drinking too much water:

If you have medical conditions like diabetes or kidney problems, talk to your doctor to find out how much water you should consume.

If you exercise regularly, you may drink 2-4 cups of water per hour while exercising. If you need more water, drink sports drinks as they contain electrolytes that help balance the salts in your body.

Endurance athletes should measure their weight before and after a race to determine how much water they lost from the body. The lost water can be replenished without running the risk of over-hydration.

People Prone To Over-hydration

You might end up drinking too much water if you: Run marathons or ultra-marathons. Are you a hiker or a biker. Are a triathlete. Are an elite rower. Are you an endurance cyclist. Are a soccer player. Are in military training

CONCLUSION:

We're constantly being told the benefits of regularly drinking water, and more often than not, these benefits stand true, From boosting your immune system to clearing your skin, you'd be hard-pressed to find something water doesn't help with. But, unfortunately, it is possible to drink too much water. People who drink too much water while taking part in marathons, ultra marathons, triathlons, and other long-distance, high-intensity activities are at an increased risk of hyponatremia (low sodium). The dangers of having low sodium content and excess water drinking include Fatigue, Vomiting, Swollen Hands And Feet Confusion, Headaches, Sometimes death. Educating yourself about how much amount of water you have to take and about monitoring the amount you are taking helps to prevent the condition. As per the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that adequate daily fluid intake is: About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids for men About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women These recommendations cover fluids from water, other beverages, and food. though the amount can be varied in small extent depending on various factors like exercise, pregnancy, etc You've probably would have been advised, "Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day." That's easy to remember, and it's a reasonable goal. Anything exceeding the limit could probably put your body at risk. 

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Person Gone Blind After Wearing Contact Lens in Shower | Self Life Hacks

Person went blind after wearing a contact lens in the shower !

Keeping the contact lenses in while swimming and showering can lead to serious consequences: women who had this habit of doing so had developed a rare eye infection that left her legally blind in one eye, according to a new report of the case. The 41-year-old woman, who lives in the United Kingdom, went to the eye doctor after experiencing blurry vision, eye pain and sensitivity to light in her left eye for two months, according to the report, which was published today (July 17) in The New England Journal of Medicine.

(source)

She told doctors that she has been wearing the disposable, soft contact lenses and that she kept them in while swimming and showering, the report said. After suspected difference in the vision, she got her eyes tested and An eye test showed that her vision was 20/200 in her left eye, the threshold for being

"legally blind"

in the United States.

Fortunately, her right eye was not affected. Doctors after the careful examinations saw a cloudiness or haze in the women's cornea, the eye's transparent outer covering.

They performed various other tests and the eye test that uses a special dye to detect damage to this covering. During this test, any damage to the cornea will appear green when doctors shine a blue light on the eye

, according to the National Institutes of Health. The doctors noticed that a defect in the woman's cornea appeared green during the test. Samples from her eye were taken and were tested positive for Acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare parasitic infection of the cornea.

The infection is known to damage a person's vision and is tied to the use of contact lenses,

according to the report, led by Dr. Lanxing Fu, of the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital in the United Kingdom.

"Acanthamoeba is an amoeba that's commonly found in water, soil and air, and dirty places which are contaminated"

according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Contact lens wearers face a risk of contracting this infection if they engage in certain practices, such as disinfecting lenses with tap water or swimming or showering while wearing lenses

, the CDC said.

Though the woman in the recent case was treated with eye medications that cleared her infection. But she was left with vision loss in her left eye due to a scar on her cornea,

the report said. 

One year later, the woman underwent a partial transplant of her cornea, which replaced part of her damaged corneal tissue with healthy tissue from a deceased donor.

After the surgery, her left eye vision improved slightly but was still impaired, although she had no pain her eye,

the report said. Just last week, after this incident, a man in the United Kingdom said that he contracted Acanthamoeba keratitis after wearing contact lenses in the shower, which also left him blind in one eye. Six years ago a similar story has come into light where Nick Humphreys, a 29-year-old man from the UK, made what he calls an "obvious choice" to start wearing contact lenses. But in 2018, the decision left him blind in one eye, he wrote an essay for the Shropshire Star, where he works as a reporter. 

"On a standard morning I'd wake up, pop my lenses in and head to the gym before work, then I'd jump in the shower before heading to the office

," he said.

"I thought nothing of it at the time. I was never told not to wear contact lenses in the shower, there's no warning on the packaging and my opticians never mentioned a risk."

In the essay entitled

"My fight for sight: Why Star reporter Nick will never wear contact lenses again,"

Humphreys wrote that he first suspected things were not quite right in January 2018 when he experienced dry eyes for a week. At first, he chalked it up to a lack of sleep and attempted to treat it with over-the-counter eye drops. This didn't work, he wrote. Initially, his doctor diagnosed him with an ulcer on his eye. But further testing showed that it was something entirely different. Humphreys was eventually diagnosed with Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) in his right eye, he wrote.

"I couldn't read a page of a newspaper without being in excruciating pain, light sensitivity was so bad I had to keep the curtains drawn at all times," he wrote. "I even had to watch Eurovision with my sunglasses on"

One day, he told suddenly went blind in his right eye.

"I was driving to work and my vision completely went in my right eye. I don't know how I managed not to crash, but it didn't take me long to realize I needed to get back to the hospital,"

he wrote. So far, he told him he has undergone 3 operations to treat the infection and aid with the healing. In August, he will receive a corneal transplant from a donor and will also have cataract surgery, he wrote. A year and a half, Humphreys said he regrets ever wearing contacts. 

"I can honestly say if I'd had the slightest idea that this was even a remote possibility I would never have worn contacts in the first place. It's crucial that people out there know this is a reality and can happen because of something as simple as showering,"

he wrote. The journalist also called for manufacturers to show clearer warnings on contact packaging about AK.

(source)

"I've lost 18 months of my life because of something as simple as showering with contacts in,"

he wrote.

"Now contact lens makers need to put sufficient warnings on the packaging to stop this preventable condition from destroying more lives.

CONCLUSION:

A 2009 study reported there are an estimated 1 to 2 million cases of AK among contact users annually in the US. many people don't know exact precautions about how to use a contact lens and unfortunately, there are no warnings from that of the manufacturing side. Taking bath, or swimming with the contact lens could leave you blind as per many reports. it is better to take careful precautions and know about the health care products before using them. 

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Baby Born Through Womb Transplant | Self Life Hacks

Baby Born from a Dead Donor's Transplanted Womb First in the U.S. !!

You’re probably familiar with the idea of a kidney, liver or heart transplant, but uterine transplant is a rapidly evolving field. A healthy baby girl was born from a transplanted uterus given to the mother from a deceased donor, for the first time ever in North America at Cleveland Clinic and the second time worldwide. While this is the first successful birth in the U.S. involving a uterus from a deceased donor. A Swedish woman was the first to successfully deliver a healthy baby after a uterus transplant from a living donor back in 2014, and the first in the U.S. occurred on Oct. 2017. In Dec. 2017, a woman in Brazil delivered the first baby born from a uterus transplanted from a deceased donor.

Case report, published in the Lancet, researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil removed a uterus from a 45-year-old woman who died from a brain hemorrhage and had three children. The organ was transplanted into a 32-year-old woman who had a disorder that left her without a uterus. Seven months after the transplant, doctors transferred an embryo made via in-vitriol fertilization from the woman’s egg and her husband’s sperm into her womb.

(source)

Experts hope uterus transplants will one day be more widely available for women without uterus's or with damaged organs — or potentially even transgender women — seeking to become pregnant.

Through this research, we aim to make these extraordinary events ordinary for the women who choose this option,"

transplant surgeon Andreas Tzakis said in a statement on the

hospital's website.

"We are grateful to the donor. Their generosity allowed our patient's dream to come true and a new baby to be born."

Since the uterus can only survive away from a blood supply for so long. Transplants from living donors are scheduled and can take place in adjacent operating rooms.

The researchers in Brazil, the transplant has reported that the uterus was ischemic — meaning, of blood supply — for almost eight hours, essentially double the reported time from any of the living donor transplants. It suggested that transplant teams looking for uteruses could broaden the geographic area in which they search for donors. As with other organ recipients, the patient, in this case, was put on immune suppression drugs to reduce the chances of her body rejecting the transplant. Surgeons also performed a hysterectomy — they removed the uterus — during the C-section. Uterine transplants are considered “ephemeral,” meaning they only stay in to allow the recipient to have children and are then removed.

Researchers in Turkey performed a uterine transplant in 2011 from a deceased donor but have not had any successful pregnancies. Flyckt and her colleagues in Cleveland have also performed two transplants from deceased donors. In the first, the uterus had to be removed from the recipient after an infection occurred; Flyckt said she couldn’t say where things stood with the second case other than that the recipient was doing well. Part of the challenge in transplanting a uterus from a deceased donor is that the process — obtaining

(source)

“It was amazing how perfectly normal this delivery was, considering how extraordinary the occasion

,” said Dr. Andreas Tzakis, the Cleveland Clinic’s transplant surgeon The transplant and birth are part of Cleveland Clinic’s continuing clinical trial on uterine transplantation. They have transplanted five uteruses so far — three have been successful, while the other two later required hysterectomies to remove them because they did not take. Two women who had successful transplants are waiting on their embryo transfer for IVF.

The trial, called Uterine Transplantation for the Treatment of Uterine Factor Infertility is aimed at helping the “

estimated 1 in 500 women of childbearing age worldwide”

who are unable to get pregnant because of abnormalities in their uteruses.

“Through this research, we aim to make these extraordinary events, ordinary for the women who choose this option,”

Tzakis continued.

“We are grateful to the donor and her family, their generosity allowed our patient’s dream to come true and a new baby to be born."

Researchers not involved in the study cautioned that, given all the biological constraints, the pool of potential uterus donors is actually quite small, even taking into account deceased donors. But they said that relying on deceased donors could expand the options for women who do not have a friend or family member willing to donate or that would be a good match. Most transplant teams envision one-day using uterus's from both living and deceased donors.

“This is a very important birth for the whole uterus transplant community,”

said Dr. Liza Johannes-son, a uterus transplant surgeon at Baylor who previously worked with the Swedish research team.

“It’s a landmark birth.”

(source)

Conclusion:

Medical research is advancing rapidly, you're probably familiar with the idea of a kidney, liver or heart transplant, but uterine transplant is a rapidly evolving field. Experts hope uterus transplants will one day be more widely available for women without uterus's or with damaged organs — or potentially even transgender women — seeking to become pregnant. Estimated 1 in 500 women of childbearing age worldwide who are unable to get pregnant because of abnormalities in their uterus. This new medical procedure gave promising results.

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Quitting Alcohol May Improve Women's Mental Health | Self Life Hacks

It was said there are lots of health benefits by taking moderate level of alcohol especially for adults who are aged more than 50 years. Moderate drinking was defined as 14 drinks or less per week for men and 7 drinks or less per week for women.

The Benefits of having moderate alcohol as per researchers are

Alcohol as a blood thinner enhances cardio vascular health.

Antioxidants found in alcohol are very important to good health.

Moderate alcohol consumption can lower the incidence of coronary heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, as well as result in an overall reduction in mortality.

Higher bone density in postmenopausal women.

As per other recent research the young are more likely to die from alcohol consumption than they are to die from a lack of drinking, but older people are more likely to experience the health benefits of moderate drinking. But in the recent study, researchers analyzed the drinking habits and self-reported levels of mental health of more than 10,000 people in Hong Kong; In both groups, men and women who were lifetime abstainers — those who didn’t drink any alcohol at all at any point in their lives — reported the highest levels of mental well-being.

In fact, women who stopped drinking approached the highest levels of mental health reported by lifetime abstainers within four years. It has shown that the quitting of the alcohol showed the reversion of the related brain injury and

reduced the stress

among the people who are once drinkers. Trying out the 'sober-curious' movement: A new alcohol-related trend has started to take hold that defies all that: The sober curious movement. In a nutshell, identifying as sober curious means you know from experience that alcohol doesn’t make you feel great and you don’t drink it often, but you’re not willing to put an all-or-nothing label on yourself.

“When people get sober, they a lot of times will feel calmer, their anxiety diminishes and there’s less irritability. They just say, ‘Wow, that’s a better place to be,

’” said Dr. James C. Garbutt, a psychiatry professor at the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina, who was not involved in the study. He said that he has observed the beneficial effects of quitting both in men and women.

Though the alcohol does relieve anxiety at first, it also helps activate systems in the brain that make anxiety worse later, leading to a cycle of, “

I need more alcohol to relieve my anxiety, which makes my anxiety worse, so I need more to relieve it

,” Garbutt added.

Quitting alcohol may improve health-related quality of life for women, especially their mental well-being, according to a study from Hong Kong published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

“

More evidence suggests caution in recommending moderate drinking as part of a healthy diet

,” says Dr. Michael Ni, School of Public Health and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, University of Hong Kong (HKU). The study carried out by Dr. Xiaoxin Yao, Dr. Michael Ni, Dr. Herbert Pang and colleagues at HKU included 10 386 people from the FAMILY Cohort in Hong Kong who were nondrinkers or moderate drinkers (14 drinks or less per week for men and 7 drinks or less per week for women) between 2009 and 2013.

Is it safe for women to drink alcohol?

For women who were moderate drinkers and quit drinking, quitting was linked to a favorable change in mental well-being in both Chinese and American study populations. These results were apparent after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index, smoking status, and other factors.

“Global alcohol consumption is expected to continue to increase unless effective strategies are employed,”

says Dr. Ni.

“Our findings suggest caution in recommendations that moderate drinking could improve health-related quality of life. Instead, quitting drinking may be associated with a more favorable change in mental well-being, approaching the level of lifetime abstainers.”

“Change in moderate alcohol consumption and quality of life: evidence from two population-based cohorts

” is published July 8, 2019.

(source)

According to Naveen Kumar, Consultant Gastroenterology, Narayana Super-specialty Hospital in Gurugram, quitting alcohol even for a month could help in repairing the gut and metabolic system and alleviate its symptoms. It will help in boosting long-term health and can provide a healthier quality of life.

"Abstinence from alcohol is mandatory for a healthier brain and liver, a stronger immune system and heart, especially in women as alcohol effects are more harmfully serious on women, considering their metabolism and estrogen levels,"

Kumar told IANS.In fact, anyone can benefit from sobriety because the potential benefits of alcohol do not outweigh its known harm and risks.

"Alcohol works in a way that may depress our central nervous system and may fluctuate our mood as it lowers the levels of serotonin in our brain. Regular consumption changes the chemistry of the brain and results in the depletion of our mental health,

" Mrinmay Kumar Das, Senior Consultant at Jaypee Hospital in Noida told IANS. "

To increase the brain volume and to deal with all sorts of situations, abstinence is required," he added

. (source)

apart from this Heavy drinking is linked to a range of serious health consequences. These include certain

cancers

, liver and

heart disease

, and damage to

the nervous system,

including the brain.

CONCLUSION:

It has shown that the quitting of the alcohol showed the reversion of the related brain injury and reduced the stress among the people who are once drinkers. past many types of research have proved the health benefit of the alcohol taken in moderate amounts to physical health, but coming to mental health, it has proved to be quite opposite. 

Especially for women who were moderate drinkers and quit drinking, quitting was linked to a favorable change in mental well-being in both Chinese and American study populations. These results were apparent after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, body mass index, smoking status, and other factors. 

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What Is Indoor Air Pollution ?

Indoor air pollution is one of world’s largest environmental problems. 2.6 million people died prematurely in 2016 from the illness attributable to the household air pollution. The Indoor air pollution is caused by inefficient use of the solid fuels for cooking and heating. It is predominantly the women and the young children who are killed by indoor air pollution.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) these deaths are attributable to following diseases:

pneumonia

stroke

ischemic heart disease

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer.

Did you know:

Around 3 billion of people cook and heat their homes using the open fires and the leaky stoves, and burning biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and the coal.

Nearly about 2 million people die prematurely from the illness attributable to the indoor air pollution from the household solid fuel use.

Nearly 50% of the pneumonia deaths among the children under five are due to particulate matter inhaled from the indoor air pollution.

More than about 1 million people a year die from the chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD) that develop due to exposure to such indoor air pollution.

Both the women and men exposed to the heavy indoor smoke are 2-3 times more likely to develop COPD

Common indoor air pollutants include:Carpet Fumes

When new carpet is installed, there’s very good chance it will release the chemicals from its vinyl backing and glue used to hold carpet to the floor. This release of the chemicals is known as off-gassing.

Some of the chemicals have been associated with the headaches, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath (dyspnea), and the asthma-like reactions. Small kids may have particular difficulty, as they spend their time closer to carpet. Kids who suffer from the asthma and allergies may have a particularly rough time depending on sensitivity.

Paint and VOCs

Household paints are full of the volatile organic compounds, also known as VOCs. VOCs can cause the health problems in high enough concentrations, and fresh coat of paint may just do the trick. Most of VOCs released in the fresh paint are gone by the time that paint is dry—but not all.

Some of the VOCs are known carcinogens—meaning they have been linked with cancer production. These chemicals include the methylene chloride and benzene.

Toxins in Nonstick Pots and Pans

People have been buying the non-stick cookware since 1940s. That doesn’t mean it’s safe, though. One of chemicals used in past to make these pots and pans has been linked with the kidney, thyroid, prostate, bladder, and the ovarian cancers.

However, second toxic chemical can be released from the superheating your nonstick cookware. Nonstick cookery releases the toxic fumes when it heats up over 500 F. This can lead to symptoms known as the “Teflon flu,” and it can even kill pet birds.

Be careful not to overheat the nonstick pots and pans. If you need to sear or otherwise superheat your food, use the cookware made of different material such as the cast iron to avoid these problems.

Harmful Household Cleaners and Disinfectants

Chances are you use multiple cleaners, the sanitizers, and the disinfectants when you scrub down your surfaces. When these substances interact in air you breathe, they can form the complex VOCs that have been linked to various health problems.

One study found that risk of asthma and other respiratory problems increases longer someone has spent as a professional cleaner. Similar but limited evidence has been found of these same effects at the home, too.

Dry Cleaning

Most of the dry cleaners rely on chemical known as the perchloroethylene. That’s mouthful, yes. The chemical remains on the clothes to varying degrees, and studies have shown that it causes cancer in animals. Dry cleaners are supposed to the remove most of the chemical by recapturing it for later use. But not all do. If you show up at dry cleaners and find that clothes have strong chemical smell, tell cleaner you won’t accept than until they’ve had time to the properly dry. If it keeps happening, consider the switching cleaners.

Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke is very deadly. Since 1964, the CDC estimates that a quarter of billion nonsmokers have died from the health problems related to the secondhand smoke exposure. It’s hard to avoid, too. the Secondhand smoke can’t be eliminated by filtering it, ventilating it, or separating the smokers from nonsmokers. The health problems this toxin poses to the children is different from adults. Children are prone to the respiratory symptoms and infections, as well as ear infections.

For kids it makes the asthma attacks more frequent and more severe, and it has been associated with greater risk of the sudden infant death syndrome. Adults are more at risk of the heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer when they are exposed to the secondhand smoke. The best strategy for protecting yourself from the secondhand smoke is to avoid smoke altogether. If you smoke, quit.

Gas Stoves

If you live in one of many homes that use natural gas stoves, you’ll really want to pay attention to this. The convenience of the natural gas is countered by noxious gases these appliances emit: the carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and even bit of formaldehyde. One study found that the CO and NO2 levels are substantially higher in the homes with gas ovens, especially in winter when people are less likely to open their windows.

Some people in the colder climates may avoid using theirs since they send warm air up and out of  the home. If you’re reluctant to use ventilator hood, you could also switch to an electric model.

Soot, Smoke, Furnaces, Fireplaces and AC

Using the wood or the charcoal to heat your home may be a quaint way to stay warm, but it also adds the harmful substances to air you breathe. Worldwide nearly half of the people use simple stoves or the open fires to keep warm. And that has led to some of the extremely unfortunate consequences. More than half of the pneumonia deaths in children under 5 are caused by soot. Additionally, more than the 4 million people die premature deaths connected to the cooking using solid fuels

Radon Leak

Radon is radioactive gas that bubbles up from ground as the naturally occurring uranium breaks down. And if your home has the cracks, a basement, or a crawlspace, this odorless gas can find its way in,the raising the risk of the lung cancer in your home. Since this radioactive gas can’t be seen, or smelled, or tasted, it takes special test to know if your home has radon leak.

Air Freshener

The next time you whip out air-freshening candle or spray, consider what else you may be releasing into your air besides the fresh scent. Air fresheners have been found to contain the phthalates, formaldehyde, and other harmful chemicals, and often those chemicals are not listed among product’s ingredients as they may be considered the trade secrets.

Formaldehyde Fumes in Furniture

Pretty much everyone has some amount of the formaldehyde in their homes. Home products with the formaldehyde include the wood furniture such as cabinets and items using the particleboard or plywood, as well as laminate flooring. These products release most of formaldehyde after two years.

Pesticide Pollution

Since the dawn of man, the pests have caused disease, spoiled food, and wreaked havoc in homes. That hasn’t changed. What have changed are methods of the controlling pests.

Copy Machines and Other Office Equipment

The home isn’t only place where you’ll find the indoor air quality problems. Offices have their own hazards. Copying the machines and the printers can harm air quality, too. One study found that workers in the photocopy centers stand at an increased risk of the heart disease, and several studies show a link between the photocopiers and sore throats, skin irritation, asthma, and other health problems. That’s because copy machines emit several of toxic gasses, such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone.

Pet Dander

Pets who shed such as the dogs and cats leave the skin flakes known as the dander in the air. Dander is allergen for many, and can cause the wheezing, irritation, coughing fits and, in extreme cases, the anaphylactic shock. The best remedy is to double down on the housekeeping. Keep floors vacuumed and well mopped.

Damp Buildings and Mold

Sometimes the indoor air contaminants can be living creatures—if by that you mean the mold. Mold in home can lead to some nasty repercussions. Some of health effects include the coughing fits, sneezing, dizziness, fever, and the exhaustion. They can sometimes cause the digestive distress, too, and can trigger asthma attacks.

Number of deaths from indoor air pollution

In visualization we see absolute number of the global deaths attributed to indoor air pollution from 1990 onwards. These deaths have been aggregated by the region. Overall we see  decline in number of the pollution-related deaths since 1990, falling from 2.7 million to 1.6 million in 2017.

Deaths from the air pollution are largely concentrated in Asia and Africa. nearly 70% of all deaths in 2017 were in the Asia, with more than quarter in Africa & the Middle East, and only a couple of percent across Americas and Europe

Annual number of the premature deaths attributed to the household air pollution from use of solid fuels for cooking and heating. Solid fuels includes use of crop wastes, dung, charcoal and the coal for indoor cooking.

Linking indoor air pollution and pollution-related deaths

Indoor air pollution has wide range of the negative health impacts, which can lead to the morbidity but also in many cases, mortality. These health outcomes range from the respiratory infections to the chronic obstruction pulmonary disease (COPD) to lung cancer and have varying effects on population depending on the factors such as age and sex.

There are two potential factors which can merge to influence how the deaths from household air pollution are linked to the income. The first is that – as we have explored earlier in this entry – the poorer households have stronger reliance on solid fuels for cooking. This would suggest that the poorer households would therefore be at the higher risk of the negative health impacts from household air pollution.

The second is that overall health outcomes and life expectancy in poorer countries is typically lower than at middle and high incomes. As a result, the exposure to air pollution overall may have greater health impact on the low-income households.

Preventing Indoor Pollution: Ventilation

Proper ventilation helps reduce large number of the indoor pollutants from your home, school, or office. It’s even been linked to the better school performance and fewer absences at the school and work. This is good solution for many, but there may be some exceptions. Ventilation also lets more outdoor air inside, and places with the high concentrations of the smog (and with it ozone) may be introducing other harmful substances into their air. But ventilation has been shown to reduce the dust mites, mold, and other organisms that contribute to the indoor air pollution. (source) (source)

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Brain Exercises To Improve Your Memory

You’ve probably heard the old adage “use it or lose it.” Many researchers do believe that this maxim applies to the brain health. Brain training is all rage these days, often touted as way to sharpen your mind and even boost the intelligence. While many cognitive scientists suggest that claims surrounding the brain training are both exaggerated and the misleading, there is an abundance of the research suggesting that certain types of the activities can be beneficial for the brain’s health.

The brain’s plasticity allows to adapt and change, even as you grow older. As you learn the new things, you can create and strengthen the neural pathways and networks. This helps make your brain stronger, but it can also help make it more flexible and adaptable to the change.

These benefits can be particularly useful for keeping the our mind sharp as you get older.

One extensive study involved more than about 2,800 participants over age of 65 who each engaged in one of three different forms of the cognitive training. Types of training used included the speed of processing training, the memory training, and the reasoning training.

However, all three groups benefited, experiencing the protection from age-related cognitive declines that lasted at least the five years. Clearly certain the mental activities can have important the brain benefits. Now let’s tackle some of the brain exercises that you can do at home. While the brain games are not designed to make you more intelligent, you might find that you become mentally sharper and cognitively stronger if you do practice them regularly.

One of best ways to strengthen your mind takes bit of commitment, but it is also one of most effective and rewarding. Find out what you need to do to get that brain of yours in the tip-top shape.

Take Care of Your Body to Take Care of Your Mind

If you want to take care of the mind, you need to start by taking care of your body. Research has time again shown that the people who engage in the healthy behaviors such as the exercise and the proper nutrition are less susceptible to the cognitive declines associated with the aging process.

Studies from 2006 even suggest that the exercise can make you smarter and protect your brain from the shrinkage as it ages.

Research on the mice in 2013 has even revealed that the exercise can increase the neurogenesis, or the formation of new brain cells, in brain’s hippocampus. One study published in the 2013 looked at the healthy behaviors in nearly 2,300 men over the course of thirty years. Researchers looked at the participants’ behaviors and the cognitive abilities starting in middle age tracked their progress throughout the old age. The researchers found that the men who practiced certain healthy behaviors were around the 60 percent less likely to experience the cognitive impairment and dementia as they age. These healthy behaviors included not the smoking, maintaining a healthy BMI, regularly exercising, consuming lots of the vegetables and the fruits and consuming a low to moderate amount of the alcohol. So if you want to build better mind, start by working on your physical health first. Go for walk, start incorporating more fresh fruits and the vegetables into your diet and try to give up any bad habits like the excessive alcohol consumption or the tobacco use. Some of these might be more difficult than the others, but your brain will thank you for the years to come.

Draw a Map of Your Town from Memory

While you might feel like you can navigate the streets of your neighborhood with eyes closed, try challenging the brain by actually drawing the map of your town or the neighborhood from memory. No the cheating! Try to include the major streets, major side streets, and the local landmarks. Once you are done, compare your memory map to the real map of the area. How did you do? Are you surprised by some of things that you missed? If you found this activity too easy, try drawing less familiar area from the memory, such as a map of the country.

Navigating your way to supermarket or the doctor’s office might seem simple and almost automatic when you are behind wheel of your car. However, forcing yourself to remember layout of your neighborhood as well as draw and label it helps activate a variety of the areas of your brain.

Learn Something New

This brain exercise requires bit of commitment, but it is also one that just might give you most bang for your buck. Learning something new is one of the way to keep your brain on its toes and continually introduce the new challenges. In one study, the researchers assigned the older adults to learn  variety of the new skills ranging from the digital photography to quilting. They then did the memory tests and compared the experimental groups to the control groups. Those in control groups had engaged in the activities that were fun but not that mentally challenging such as the watching movies and listening to the radio. The researchers found that only those participants who had learned the new skill experienced improvement on the memory tests. They also discovered that the memory improvements were still present when tested again year later.

Some things you might want to try include the learning a new language, learning to play the musical instrument or learning the new hobby. Not only will you be stretching the mind, but you will also be continually learning something new as you keep expanding skills and becoming more accomplished.

Try Using Your Non-Dominant Hand

Up next is an interesting the brain exercise that one neurobiologist suggests might help “keep your brain alive.” In his book which he wrote ” Keep Your Brain Alive: the 83 Neurobic Exercises to Help Prevent Memory Loss and Increase the Mental Fitness”, the neurobiologist Lawrence Katz recommends using your non-dominant hand to strengthen your mind. Because using your opposite hand can be so challenging, it can be great way to increase the brain activity. Try switching the hand while you are eating the dinner or when you are trying to write something down. It will be difficult, but that is exactly point. The most effective the brain activities are those that are not necessarily easy. Up next is the activity that you probably do every day, but you might not realize just how beneficial it might be for the mental strength.

Socialize

Studies from the 2019 suggest that the people who are socially active are also at lower risk of developing the dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Even if you are an inveterate the introvert, seeking the social interactions can be beneficial to your brain in both short and long-term. Some ideas for staying socially engaged to include the signing up for the volunteer opportunities in your community, joining a club, signing up for local walking group, and staying in close touch with friends and family.

Meditate

Up next is brain exercise that has been in use for thousands of years but has recently gained considerable recognition for its effectiveness. One brain exercise you might not have considered might actually be extremely effective – the meditation. Before you say that this ancient Buddhist tradition is too the New Age for you, consider some of the research demonstrating the many benefits of the meditation. Studies from 2007 suggest that the mindfulness meditation can help engage new neural pathways, resulting in improved self-observational skills and increased the mental flexibility. The 2007 research has also shown that the meditation can help improve the attention, focus, empathy, and even the immunity. Studies also suggest that the meditation might even increase capacity of working the memory. Are you ready to try this brain exercise? You can read quick guide to practicing the mindfulness meditation. You can also check out some handy tips for incorporating mindfulness into everyday life. Once you’ve tried some of the brain exercises, you might be left wondering if any of those online “the brain training” websites might also help. Next up, let’s explore

So What About All The Brain Training Games?

Chances are probably pretty good that you’ve at least heard, or even tried, some of many brain training games, the websites, and the apps that are out there. Many of these tools claim that these computerized brain exercises can increase the mental flexibility, keep you the mentally sharper as you age and even make you more intelligent. While there is still plenty of debate about whether or not these claims are the true, there is chance that playing these types of the mental games might is good for your brain. How much exactly is still up for the debate. If you think you would enjoy such games, you can find nice list of brain training resources that you might want to check out. If, however, you already spend too much of the time staring at your computer screen or the smartphone, your time is probably much better well spent going out for stroll, enjoying new hobby or even visiting with the friend. All of these activities can have the major long-term effects on health and vitality of your brain. (source)

Conclusion:

Focusing on the brain health is one of best things you can do to improve the concentration, focus, memory, and the mental agility, no matter what age you are. By incorporating the brain exercises into your everyday life, you’ll get to challenge your mind, sharpen the cognitive skills, and possibly learn something new and enriching along way, too.

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What Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

Irritable bowel syndrome is problem with how bowel works. There is otherwise nothing wrong with bowel.Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may not cause any harm to the body but it sometimes causes lot of discomfort. It isn’t known what causes the IBS. The symptoms can range from the mild to severe. There is no cure for the IBS but some simple lifestyle changes and the treatments usually make symptoms much better.

What is it and who gets it?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is common. It is thought to affect about 1 in 5 people. In IBS, function of the gut is upset, yet all parts of the gut look normal, even when looked at under the microscope. IBS can affect anyone at any age but it most often first develops in the young adults. Women are affected more often than the men.

What are the symptoms of IBS?

The symptoms if the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) vary from the person to person.

They include: Pain and discomfort may occur in different parts of the tummy (abdomen). Pain usually comes and goes. The length and the severity of each bout of pain can vary greatly. The pain often eases when the pass stools (faeces) or wind. Many people with the IBS describe the pain as the spasm or colic. Bloating and swelling of the tummy may develop from time to time. You may pass more the wind than usual.

Changes in the stools: Some people have the bouts of diarrhoea, some have the bouts of the constipation and some get combination of both. The stools may become very small and pellet-like. Sometimes the stools become either watery or more loose. At times,the mucus may be mixed with stools.

There may be feeling of not emptying back passage (rectum) after going to toilet.

Some people have the urgency, which means they have to get to toilet quickly. You may feel an urgent need to go to toilet several times shortly after getting up.Is your poo normal?

Concerns should be raised if bowel habit changes significantly from what is the ‘normal’ for an individual, particularly if frequency increases and stool becomes looser, if there is the blood visible on wiping or mixed in with stool, or if it is associated with the abdominal pain or the weight loss. Other symptoms which sometimes occur – these include:

Feeling sick (nausea).

Headache.

Belching.

Poor appetite.

Tiredness.

Backache.

Muscle pains.

Feeling quickly full after eating.

Heartburn.

Bladder symptoms (an associated irritable bladder). Some the people have occasional mild symptoms. Others have the unpleasant symptoms for long periods. Many people fall somewhere in between, with the flare-ups of symptoms from time to time.

Some doctors group the people with IBS into one of three categories: Those with the abdominal pain or discomfort, and the other symptoms are mainly the bloating and the constipation. Those with the abdominal pain or discomfort, and the other symptoms are mainly urgency to get to toilet, and the diarrhoea. Those who alternate between the constipation and the diarrhea. However, in practice, many people will not fall neatly into any one of the category, and considerable overlap occurs.

What causes IBS?

Exactly what causes the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) isn’t known. It may have something to do with the overactivity of part or parts of gut (bowel). Food is passed along bowel by regular squeezes (contractions) of muscles in wall of the bowel wall. Pain and other symptoms may develop if contractions become abnormal or overactive. The area of the overactivity in gut may determine exactly where you feel pain and whether the constipation or the diarrhoea develops. The cause of the overactivity in parts of gut is not clear. One or more of the following may play a part: Overactivity of nerves or muscles of the gut. It is not known why this may occur. It may have something to do with the overactivity of messages sent from brain to the gut.

Stress or the emotional upset may play a role. About half of people with the IBS can relate start of symptoms to a stressful event in their lives. Symptoms tend to become very worse during times of the stress or anxiety. Intolerance to certain foods may play a part in some of the cases. However, this is thought to be only in small number of cases.

Infection and the germs (bacteria) in gut. IBS is not caused by an ongoing the gut infection. However, in some cases, onset of the symptoms seems to follow a bout of gut infection with diarrhea and being sick (vomiting), called the gastroenteritis. So, perhaps virus or other germ may sensitize or trigger gut in some way to cause the persisting symptoms of IBS.

Oversensitivity to the pain. People with the IBS feel more pain when their gut is expanded (dilated) than those without IBS. They may have the lower threshold for experiencing the pain from the gut.How is IBS diagnosed?

There is no test that confirms diagnosis of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A doctor can usually diagnose the IBS from the typical symptoms. Your doctor will check that there is nothing else going on in you. Usually this will include the examination of your tummy (abdomen) and some of the simple tests. A blood test and the stool (faeces) test are often taken to help rule out the other conditions such as the Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, the coeliac disease, cancer of the ovary, or a gut infection. The symptoms of these other diseases can sometimes be confused with the IBS. The tests that are often considered to rule out with the other conditions include: Full blood count (FBC) – to rule out lack of the iron in blood (anaemia), which is associated with the various gut (bowel) disorders. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) or the C-reactive protein (CRP) – which can show if there is inflammation in the body (which does not occur with IBS). A blood test for the coeliac disease. In women, the blood test to rule out the cancer of the ovary, called the CA 125. A stool test to look for the protein called the faecal calprotectin. This may be present if you have the Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, but is not present in the IBS. A stool test may also be used to check whether you have any of the bleeding from your bowel.

More complicated tests such as the gastroscopy or the colonoscopy (to look into the bowel with the special telescope) are not usually needed. However, they may be done if the symptoms are not typical, or if you develop the symptoms of IBS in later life (over the age of about 50) when the other conditions need to be ruled out.How is IBS treated?

There are many different treatments that may be tried for the IBS. All will have effect on some people, but none will help in every person with the IBS. Many people with the mild irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms don’t need any treatment. No treatment is likely to take away the symptoms completely; however, the treatment can often ease symptoms and improve quality of life.

What lifestyle changes can help?

Exercise. Regular exercise is known to help to ease the symptoms. Managing stress levels. Stress and the emotional factors may trigger symptoms in some people. So, anything that can reduce your level of the stress or the emotional upset may help. Keeping the symptom diary. It may help to keep the food and the lifestyle diary for 2-4 weeks to monitor the symptoms and activities. Note everything that you eat and drink, times that you were stressed, and when you took any the formal exercise. This may identify triggers, such as the food, alcohol, or the emotional stresses, and may show if the exercise helps to ease or to prevent the symptoms.

What dietary changes can help?

Some people with the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) find that certain foods can trigger the symptoms or make symptoms worse. See separate leaflet called the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diet

IBS Management Options

Each treatment option for the IBS has various benefits, risks and consequences. we’ve put together the summary decision aid that encourages the patients and the doctors to discuss and assess what’s available.

Antispasmodic medicines for the tummy (abdominal) pain These are the medicines that relax the muscles in the wall of gut. There are several types of the antispasmodics. For example, the alverine citrate, mebeverine, hyoscine and the peppermint oil. The pain may ease with the medication but may not go away completely.

Treating constipation: Constipation is sometimes main symptom of the IBS. If so, it may help if you increase fibre in your diet. Sometimes the laxatives are advised for the short periods if increasing fibre is not enough to ease troublesome bout of the constipation. It is best to avoid the lactulose if you have IBS. A medicine called the linaclotide works in a completely different way to the other medicines for treating constipation. It has been shown to the reduce pain, bloating and the constipation symptoms.

Treating diarrhea

An antidiarrheal medicine (for example, loperamide) may be useful if the diarrhea is a main symptom. The dose of the loperamide needed to control the diarrhea varies considerably. Eluxadoline -This is an option for the treatment of the irritable bowel syndrome with the diarrhea in adults, only if the condition has not responded to other medicines or they are contraindicated or not tolerated, and it is started by specialist. Eluxadoline should be stopped after four weeks if there is inadequate relief of the symptoms of the irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea. The most common side-effects are the nausea, constipation and the abdominal pain. Treating bloating Peppermint oil may help with the bloating and wind. For some people peppermint oil also helps with the tummy pains and the spasms. Antidepressant medicines A tricyclic antidepressant is sometimes used to treat the IBS. An example is amitriptyline. Tricyclic antidepressants are used in variety of the painful conditions, including IBS. SSRI antidepressant medicines for example, fluoxetine can also be used for the IBS. They may work by affecting the way you feel pain.

Alternative IBS treatments

Psychological therapies Any stressful situation for example, the family problems, work stress, the examinations may trigger the symptoms of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in some people. Examples of the psychological therapies are the cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), the hypnotherapy and the psychotherapy. Psychological therapies can be very effective for some people with the IBS.

Conclusion:

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) usually causes the symptoms long-term and often stays with you for rest of your life. However, symptoms tend to come and go. You may have the long spells without any of the symptoms, or may have only the mild symptoms. Treatment can often help to ease the symptoms when they flare up. IBS often improves with the time and, in some cases, the symptoms clear up for good at some stage. (source)

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Amazing Myths About Pregnancy

If you are pregnant, you might be getting lot of advice’s from well-meaning people. You might be asking whether what they say is true. This article looks at some of the common myths you might hear and provides some answers.

1# Stress during pregnancy is always bad for the fetus

FACT: New research shows that a moderate level of stress is actually good for the fetus: It tones the fetus’s nervous system and accelerates its development. Women who experienced moderate stress during pregnancy have two-week-old infants with brains that work at a faster speed than infants of mothers without the same stress, and two-year old toddlers with higher motor and mental development scores.

2# Pregnant women shouldn’t eat sweets

FACT: There’s a big exception to this rule: chocolate. New studies show that pregnant women who eat chocolate every day during pregnancy have babies who show less fear and smile and laugh more often at six months of age. Another study finds that the women who eat five or more servings of the chocolate each week during their third trimester have 40 percent lower risk of developing dangerous high blood pressure condition known as the preeclampsia.

3# Pregnant women should avoid exercise

FACT: Actually, when a pregnant woman exercises, her fetus gets a beneficial workout, too. Research shows that the fetuses of pregnant women who are physically active have heart rates that are slower and more variable; both signs of cardiovascular health. The babies of exercisers have lower birth weights, and may even become more intelligent adults because of their bigger brains.

4# Pregnant women should stay away from seafood.

FACT: In fact, that by eating lots of the fish high in omega-3 fatty acids and low in the mercury during the pregnancy produces the smarter kids. Children whose mothers ate at least twelve ounces of seafood a week during pregnancy had higher verbal IQ, better social and communication skills, and superior motor skills, according to a study published in a leading journal.

5# There is such a thing as an ideal or perfect pregnancy that women should strive for.

FACT:  Research is revealing that pregnancy is not a generically ideal experience to which one must aspire (and, inevitably, fall short of), but instead highly personal and particular shaping of the fetus for specific world into which it will be welcomed. The mix of influences the encounters in the womb are as individual and idiosyncratic as the pregnant woman herself — and that’s the way nature intended it.

6# Pregnancy is really just a nine-month wait for the big event: birth

FACT:  Scientists are learning that pregnancy is a crucial period in itself: “the staging ground for well-being and disease in later life,” as one researcher puts it. Indeed, the pregnancy is now nothing less than scientific frontier. Obstetrics was once a very sleepy medical specialty, and the research on pregnancy a scientific backwater. Now the nine months of gestation are the focus of intense interest and excitement, and the subject of an exploding number of journal articles, books, and conferences.

7# The fetus is an inert being, a blob of tissue, and the pregnant woman is its passive incubator — or a source of always-imminent harm

FACT:  Fetal research is revealing that the fetus is an active and dynamic creature, responding and even adapting to its surroundings as it readies itself for life in the particular world it will soon enter. Meanwhile, the scientists are learning that the pregnant woman is powerful and often the positive influence on her child even before it’s born.

8# We need to focus on all the things that can go wrong during pregnancy

FACT:  As researchers are now discovering, it is conditions in the womb that make a lot of things go right in later life. The prenatal period, it turns out, is where many of the springs of health and strength and well-being are found, leading scientists to a new and much more positive perspective on pregnancy.

9#  A fetus is sealed away in the uterus, unaffected by what’s going on outside

FACT: Much of what a pregnant woman encounters in her daily life — the air she breathes, the food and drink she consumes, the chemicals she’s exposed to — are shared in some fashion with her fetus. Pregnant women can protect their fetuses by abstaining from alcohol and cigarettes, by purchasing plastic products that are phthalate- and BPA-free, and by not putting plastic containers in the microwave or dishwasher.

10# All women feel happy during pregnancy

FACT: Research shows that pregnant women are just as likely as other women to suffer from mood disorders: Psychiatrists estimate that about 20 percent of pregnant women experience anxiety or depression. Depression during the pregnancy can increase risk of the premature delivery and the low birth weight, so the pregnant women who think they may be depressed should talk to their obstetricians. Therapy or the antidepressant medication can help.

11# Pregnant women don’t need any special help during natural disasters and other emergencies.

FACT: In fact, research indicates the stress of traumatic events can negatively affect the fetus. A study showing earlier births among pregnant women who experienced an earthquake in California and delayed development among children whose pregnant mothers suffered through an ice storm in Canada, is prompting new attention to the care of pregnant women in emergencies. Pregnant women can prepare themselves for such situation by devising emergency plan and by putting together emergency kit, filled with the bottled water, canned food, flashlights, battery-powered radio, and the first-aid kit.

12# Prenatal influences are about enrichment activities like playing Mozart for the fetus.

FACT:  The nine-month-long process of shaping and molding that goes on in the womb is far more important than that: It is a crucial process of preparation for the specific world the baby will enter. What a fetus is absorbing in utero isn’t the music of Mozart, but the answers to questions much more critical to its survival: Will it be born into the world of abundance, or the scarcity? Will it be safe and protected, or will it face the constant dangers and the threats? Will it live long, fruitful life, or short, harried one? The resulting tuning and the tweaking of the fetus’s brain and also the other organs are part of what give the humans their enormous flexibility, their ability to thrive in the varied environments of survival.

13# notion that your month of birth can tell anything about you is just foolish astrology.

FACT: Actually, fetal research is showing that the time of year you were born can have a lasting impact on your mental and physical health. Individuals who were born in late summer or early fall are the taller and have the thicker bones than people born at other times of the year, for example, and the people who were born in the late winter or early spring are 10 percent more likely to develop the schizophrenia.

14# You can tell a baby’s sex from an ultrasound or amniocentesis; all the other methods of prediction you hear about are silly old wives’ tales.

FACT: In fact, fetal research is confirming some of the folklore about how to tell the sex of a baby. Women who have the severe morning sickness really are more likely to have the girls; women who have the big appetite are in fact more likely to be carrying the boys; and women who rely on a dream or a “feeling” have a surprisingly good chance of being right.

15# The development of conditions like obesity and diabetes has to do with the lifestyle choices we make as adults, not with our experience as fetuses.

FACT: Actually, it’s not only our lifestyle as adults that leads to disease, but the lifestyle our mothers practiced when they were pregnant with us. Low birth weight, for example, has an effect on the functioning of the blood vessels in later life that is as great as the effects of smoking.

Each one-kilogram decrease in the birth weight leads to a reduction in capacity of the blood vessels equivalent to the smoking twenty cigarettes day for four and a half years.

16# Children become overweight because of a genetic predisposition or because of family eating habits — not because of anything that happened during pregnancy.

FACT: Women who gain more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy have four times the risk of having an overweight child — a relationship that persists into the offspring’s adolescence. Research shows that of the children born to normal-weight mothers are less likely to be fat and have the bodies that process the fats and the carbohydrates in a healthier way than the brothers and the sisters born to the same mother when she was overweight. (source)

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How To Deal With Epilepsy In Children?

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions affecting people around the world. Characterized by frequent seizures, epilepsy can leave the child paralyzed or even unconscious at any time, making it a serious threat that cannot be ignored.

What Is Epilepsy?

The brain follows a synchronous pattern to send electrical signals to control the different functions and senses of the body. Epilepsy is a neurological condition that affects the transmission of these signals. A person can develop epilepsy at any age. However, the incidence rate is known to be higher in children under 20 years. When the person has epilepsy, the brain signals are disrupted, and an epileptic seizure begins in brain. An epileptic child can experience different types of the seizures affecting the entire body or just particular part. That said, not all seizures are epileptic, which is why it is important to understand what happens to child during seizure and what you can do about it.

Epileptic Seizures

Epilepsy affects the individual physically in the form of seizures also referred to as ‘fits’. These occur when the communication of neurons from and to the brain is disturbed. These seizures can be focal or generalized seizures.

Generalized seizures affect neurons or cells on both sides of the brain, and can manifest in convulsions ranging from barely noticeable to severe fits. They may result in loss or impairment of consciousness sometimes. Generalized seizures can be: Atonic seizures that limp the muscles, causing the patient’s body to crumple down to the floor, often resulting in injuries.

Absence or Petit Mal are fits that occur suddenly, when the patient becomes motionless and stares straight ahead. After the seizure, the person continues to be active as if this time of absence never happened. These are uncommon and last for at least 15 seconds.

Myoclonic fits lead to the increased muscle tone, causing the muscle spasms or the jerks in a particular body part.

Clonic seizures cause the child’s body to spasm and jerk. During this seizure, the legs, the hands and the elbows first fle,x and then relax, slowly at first and then at greater speed.

Tonic seizures stiffen the muscles first and then result in loss of consciousness. The muscles of the head, chest, and the hands contract causing back to arch and the eyes to roll back into head. The person has difficulty of breathing. Tonic-clonic seizures, earlier referred to as Grand Mal seizures, are perhaps the most difficult. They have several phases, starting with the loss of consciousness followed by tonic phase, and then clonic phase.

Focal seizures are partial seizures that affect only a particular part of the brain. These seizures can be the simple focal seizures, which occur in less than the 15% of people with epilepsy, and the dyscognitive focal seizures, which occur in more than the 35% of people having epilepsy. Both the simple and the dyscognitive focal seizures affect only one part of brain. However, the dyscognitive focal seizures cause the confusion, loss of memory and the awareness, while the simple focal seizures do not affect child’s cognitive abilities. Further categorization of the focal seizures is based on where they begin and what they affect.

When child is awake and aware during seizure, it is called focal onset aware seizure. When the child is confused or not entirely awake during episode, it is called the focal onset impaired awareness. If the beginning of seizure is not known or if no one observes seizure, it is called the unknown onset seizure.

Symptoms Of Epilepsy In Children

The symptoms of the epilepsy depend on where seizure had begun and which part of body it has affected, and can be the physical or mental. So, what happens during seizure depends on the type of seizure the child has.

Epileptic seizures are usually characterized by the following:

Motor symptoms

Severe jerking or convulsions of the body

Weakness or numbness of the muscles

Rigid or tensed muscles

Muscle twitching

Epileptic spasms

Repetitive movements such as the clapping hands or the rubbing hands, chewing, running, or the lip smacking indicate the focal seizures

Inability to swallow, drooling

Difficulty talking

Losing control of the urine or the stool suddenly, especially during seizure

Biting of tongue

Non-motor or absence symptoms

Changes in the sensations, the emotions, or the cognition, usually before seizure – these could include the déjà vu (a feeling of having been at a place or experiencing something earlier too, although it didn’t) and jamais vu (a feeling that something is familiar although it isn’t)

Brief twitches

Staring spells (Absence fits), which can be mistaken for daydreaming

Changes in the internal functions such as the gastrointestinal activity, the heat or cold waves, the rapid heartbeat, and the goosebumps

Sweating

Dilation of pupils

What can a parent do to help a child having a fit?

Place the kid gently on the floor, and remove the objects that are around him. Put child in the recovery position, i.e., on the side, with bottom arm up, top arm flexed and the top leg flexed. Slowly turn the child to his side to prevent choking on the vomit or saliva, especially if there is drooling.

Turning the child on the side or keeping the head lower will allow the secretions to run out and not pool in the back of the throat. Do not put any objects or fingers in the mouth in the middle of a seizure; that might cause damage as the jaw often clenches. Loosen the clothing around the neck, such as the collar or necktie. Check if the breathing is fine. Keep track of how long the seizure lasts. Call doctor once the child is in safe position. Once seizure ends, child will probably feel tired or sleepy. Stay with kid throughout seizure and until child wakes up after resting. Make sure that kid gets some rest after episode.

Do not:

Panic

Try to stop the child’s shaking or convulsions. Holding the child will not stop the seizures but will only make them uncomfortable.

Put anything in the child’s mouth.

Give child any food to eat or the drink, medicinal pills, or the tonics during seizure. Wait till child is awake and alert to give the medication.

Put anything in child’s mouth or try open the mouth with your hands when child has tonic seizure. Your child will not swallow his tongue. Forcing teeth apart can cause the injuries and even block his airways.

Call the doctor immediately if:

The seizure lasts for more than five minutes.Has difficulty breathing

The color of skin, lips, or the face turns bluish.

The kid has hit his or her head due to a fall or any other way before seizure The child has seizure when in water

Take child to doctor if he seems very ill or has unusual or concerning symptoms.

Causes Of Epilepsy

The causes of epilepsy vary by age. In some of the people, epilepsy is genetic, but in many others, reason remains very unknown. Some children develop the genetic epilepsy, which is caused by one or more genes in body. How the genes affect brain and how they cause seizures is not clear yet. Developmental disorders such as neurofibromatosis, Down’s syndrome, Angelman’s syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis can also increase the chances of epilepsy. Around 3 to 10% of kids with autism disorder may have seizures from time to time. In 3 to 10% people, epileptic seizures are caused due to changes in the brain structure. Sometimes, children are born with these structural changes, which can lead to seizures, Seizures can also occur due to head injuries, which are common in young adults and children. Fever, the infections, and the brain tumors can also cause the epilepsy. Seizures are common when infection, even though removed by the medication, damages the brain to some extent. Progressive brain diseases can cause seizures in kids.

Diagnosing Epilepsy In Children

Every child who has the seizures or the fits need not necessarily have the epilepsy. Hence, knowing about the different seizures and differentiating between the epileptic and the non-epileptic seizures is not easy. Accurate diagnosis of the epilepsy is imperative to determine right course of treatment. To do that, doctors may recommend: Blood tests to check for any infection in the brain, genetic conditions, or other medical conditions that could trigger a seizure. Neurological tests to check child’s behavior, the motor abilities, the cognitive function, and such to determine type of epilepsy in the child. Electroencephalogram (EEG), which is the most commonly prescribed test to diagnose epilepsy. Electrodes are attached to the scalp to study the brain’s electrical activity. The behavior of the brain waves is examined for abnormalities and presence of epilepsy. Computerized tomography or CT scan to get cross-sectional images of the brain to determine if abnormalities such as bleeding, cysts, or tumors if any, are causing the seizures. Magnetic resonance imaging or MRI to get a detailed view of the brain for abnormalities or lesions in the brain. Functional MRI to detect changes in the blood flow when certain parts of the brain are active or functional. This helps in identifying the specific areas of the brain that are affected and prevents surgeons from damaging critical areas of the brain during surgery. Other tests such as positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) may be needed to detect abnormalities in the active regions of the brain and pinpoint where the seizures are originating.

Treatment Of Epilepsy In Children

The course of the treatment for the epileptic child will depend on type of the epilepsy, and the age of the child, response to the medication, and the other factors such as the child’s overall health. While it is possible that the epilepsy symptoms, including the seizures, may eventually fade away in some cases, it depends on the type and severity of epilepsy. Otherwise, the goal of the epilepsy treatment is to reduce the frequency of the seizures and control them with the medications. The doctor may also consider other treatment options ranging from the simple dietary changes to the brain surgeries to stop the seizures.

Medications

Anti-epileptic drugs are the most commonly used medications to minimize the frequency of seizures and to prevent them if possible. There are several brands of anti-epileptic medicinal products, but not all may be the same.

Your epileptologist will consider your child’s age, the type of seizures and their severity, the frequency, the lifestyle, side-effects of the drug, and other factors before prescribing anti-epileptic drug for child. Usually, only one anti-seizure medication is enough to control the seizures. The medicines are for at least two years, sometimes three or four years after the seizures stop. They are then tapered and eventually discontinued. There may, however, be a chance that the seizures may return, but most of them can be controlled using the medication. That said, 65% of children who have not had a seizure in two years with the help of medication tend to remain seizure-free after the drug is discontinued. Please note that anti-epileptic medications also have certain side-effects such as weight gain, inability to concentrate, inability to reason, and behavioral problems such as hyperactivity and irritability. Talk to your doctor about the medication’s side-effects before starting the treatment.

Dietary change

The doctor may recommend change in the diet depending on child’s age and if epilepsy is medication-resistant. A high fat, low carbohydrate ketogenic diet triggers a state of ‘ketosis’, wherein the body breaks down the fat instead of the carbs. Ketosis can prevent seizures, although it works only for some types of epilepsy in children. Studies show that 50% of epileptic patients on a ketogenic diet have more than 50% improvement in controlling seizures and a 10% more chance of living a seizure-free life. The child may also be free of the seizures after transitioning to normal diet, with help of a trained healthcare specialist. Note that it is not easy for children to adhere to dietary restrictions with little or no carbohydrates in the food. Keeping the child away from carbohydrate rich foods such as bread, rice, sugars, and sweets, may not be easy.

Surgery

Surgery is recommended when seizures are persistent and not responding to the medications or the dietary changes, or when doctors identify brain lesion that is causing the seizures. If the preliminary examination and tests deem that the child is fit for surgery, experts suggest that it should be done as early as possible.

VNS Therapy

Vagus nerve stimulation or VNS therapy uses a pacemaker like device to send electrical impulses to the brain via the vagus nerve, to prevent seizures. The device is implanted under skin near the chest, and is ideal for the epilepsy patients who are not responding to the medications and are not fit for the surgery. While the efficiency of this has been tested extensively on the adults, the effect of the VNS device on the pediatric epilepsy patients is still being studied.

Prevent Epileptic Seizures

Epileptic seizures cannot be stopped using medications. But if you know what kind of seizures the child has and what triggers them, you can prevent situations which lead to the seizures. While the triggers may vary based on the type of epilepsy that the child has, here are a few commonly reported triggers that must be avoided.

Sleep deprivation is a common trigger for seizures. Ensuring that the child gets enough sleep every night can help reduce the chances of a seizure.

Prevent head injuries with protective gear such as helmets while biking or skateboarding.

Teach children to walk and step carefully to avoid the falls, which can cause the head injuries.

Keep the child away from over-stimulants such as bright lights or loud noises to prevent a seizure.

Make sure that the child does not skip the anti-seizure medication, and ensure that he takes it at the same time every day.

Teach child stress-management techniques and create  stress-free environment, as the stress and the strain can also trigger the seizures in some cases.

Follow a healthy diet with more protein and fewer carbohydrates. However, talk to the doctor before making any drastic changes to the kid’s diet.

Conclusion:

Epilepsy is not easy to live with. That said, the epileptic child need not lose out on little pleasures of life. Use of the medications and following seizure-preventive measures, can improve your child’s and your quality of life. Talk to and seek guidance of medical practitioner, preferably epileptologist, to learn more about how you can help epileptic child. (source)

[selflife-hacks-blog]

How To Avoid Teen Pregnancy?

Getting Sexually Active As A Teenager:

As a teenager, you may find it immensely gratifying to receive love and attention from someone of the opposite gender. Getting physically attracted to someone that you admire is natural during the teenage. However, both boys and girls need to understand the importance of contraception and practicing safe sex.

There is a general misconception that contraception and safe sex are just about avoiding pregnancy. While it is true that a teenage pregnancy can lead to severe physical and emotional stress, unsafe sex can also lead to several sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) that can be extremely challenging to cope with in the years to come.

The first thing that you have to understand is that you attain puberty, your body is ready to conceive and reproduce. In girls, the starting of menstruation is a signal to her active reproductive system, which can now produce eggs for fertilization by the sperm. Similarly, for boy, the age of the puberty is defined by change in the voice, the growth of bodily hair, and few other physical changes.

Sexual relations between the teens who have reached the puberty require the contraception to avoid the pregnancy and other complications. The basic aim of the contraception is to prevent the pregnancy. Contraception keeps egg and sperm apart, stops egg production, or prevents the fertilized egg from attaching to the lining of the uterus . In the next section, you will read more about contraception options that are safe for you as well as the pros and cons of each of the method. It is best to consult parents or the doctor before choosing your preferred method of the birth control.

Birth Control Options/ Methods For Teenagers:

Choosing right contraception method is essential if you do not want any complication with your sexual or the reproductive health when you grow older. The fact is that the sex and matters relating to it are still not discussed openly in most of the  families, leaving children (teenagers) in state of the confusion regarding their sexuality and the sexual well-being.

Many parents find it very difficult matter to discuss at the home and hence, the contraception remains a taboo. If you are facing similar issues at the home, a pediatrician can be good source of information. You may feel more comfortable discussing with him than with your parents. The doctor will educate you about right sexual behavior as well as the various methods to prevent STDs. Your doctor will also help you by discussing various contraception methods and prescribe one that he believes is the most suitable for you. Sexually the active teenagers can follow some of these effective birth control measures:

1. Contraceptive Implant:

The thin contraceptive implant, placed inside the skin of the upper arm, generates progestin, a hormone that prevents ovaries from releasing eggs. As flexible plastic piece is for the hormone adjustment, it cannot protect you from the STDs. Hence, the condoms need to be used even after having the implant.

Advantages: Safe long-term birth control option. An effective the birth control method without need for daily, weekly or the monthly routines. You need to replace implant after three years.

Disadvantages: May cause the irregular bleeding. the Weight gain, the headache, and the acne are other common side effects.

2. Intrauterine Device (IUD):

This tiny T-shaped device is placed inside the uterus. This is only contraceptive, and does not protect you against STDs. Two types of the IUD are available as options: Levonorgestrel IUD: contains hormones and needs replacement every three to five years. Copper-T: is hormone-free, and needs to be replaced after ten years.

Advantages: It is a safe and efficient. With the Levonorgestrel IUD, teens can have easy periods with lesser cramping and blood flow.

Disadvantages: There might be some cramping and pain immediately after insertion. The Levonorgestrel IUD may cause irregular bleeding and some spotting initially. With Copper-T, you may experience increased menstrual cramps and heavy bleeding. But this would eventually subside.

3. Progestin Injection:

This is a progesterone hormone shot that stops ovaries from releasing eggs. The effects of it are temporary and last for just about three months. It is not effective against STDs.

Advantages: You need to take shot every three months, and hence, it offers relatively a short-term contraceptive solution. If you have the iron deficiency, the contraception helps you avoid the anemia.It also prevents the endometrial cancer. You may have a lighter period and less menstrual cramping.

Disadvantages: Weight gain. May cause irregular bleeding and light spotting. Once you discontinue this injection, it may take couple of years for your fertility to restore. Might cause the blood clots.

4. Contraceptive Vaginal Ring:

Every month, this ring is placed in your vagina to prevent release of the eggs. The ring is put for about three weeks and removed during the menstrual week. This method also does not provide the protection against STDs.

Advantages: Less menstrual cramps Lighter periods Your acne will improve too

Disadvantages: Requires the ring replacement every month and hence will necessitate regular visit to the doctor. It may cause the tenderness in breasts, nausea and excess vaginal discharge. Might cause blood clots.

5. Contraceptive Patch:

The contraceptive patch, place on your skin, supplies hormones to the body through skin. The hormones prevent release of eggs. In a given month, you need to replace the patch once a week for three weeks, and remove it during the week of your period. The patch doesn’t protect you from STDs.

Advantages: Your menstrual cramps will not be severe. Lighter periods. You will notice your acne improving.

Disadvantages: Since you need to replace patch regularly, you have to visit doctor every week. The patch can be seen by others, if not hidden properly. Might increase blood clots. May cause skin irritation, nausea and tenderness in breasts.

6. Birth Control Pills:

Birth control pills are most common form of contraception method that the adolescent girls and the young women use. The pill comes in the two forms: the combination tablet containing estrogen and the progesterone and the progestin-only pill. You need to take the pill daily, at almost same time for it to prevent the unwanted conception. However, pill is ineffective against STDs.

Advantages: Reduced menstrual cramps. Lighter periods. Improvement in acne. Provides protection against endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, and iron deficiency.

Disadvantages: Increased risk of blood clots Hypertension Migraine attacks You have to take it daily, and hence, it may not be the ideal contraceptive for teenagers, who tend to forget things

7. Male Condoms:

Men like using the condoms because it is an easy method of the contraception. Also, it puts them in control. This thin rubber or the latex cover over penis creates a barrier and prevents the sperm from entering girl’s vagina. Some of the male condoms have spermicides inside and outside to kill the sperms if the semen leaks out of the condom.

Advantages: No prescription needed. Easy to use and inexpensive. Provides protection against STDs.

Disadvantages: Can slip or even break, causing semen to enter the vagina. Hence, it is best to use the male condoms along with other contraceptive methods. These are not for you if you are allergic to late

8. Female Condoms:

This is similar to the male condom but designed for women. Women use it as a pouch inside the vagina. This is only the contraceptive method for the women offering protection against the STDs.

Advantages: No prescription required to get a female condom. Provides protection against STDs.

Disadvantages: Not always easy to use. Costlier than a male condom. May slip off during the act.

Among the various methods of contraception, the most common methods that adolescents use are:

Birth control pills

Birth control shot

vaginal ring Most of the teenage girls use these methods of the contraception, as they are easy to source and use.

Emergency Contraception Method:

There can be times when the regular contraception may not work properly. A condom may break or slip off, or the teen may not be very sure of the proper use of any other contraceptive method. In such cases, the teenage girls can resort to the emergency contraceptive. There are the several brands of the emergency contraceptive pills that you can purchase. Read the instructions carefully before you buy OTC pills, as you have to take pill within a certain number of the hours of having sexual intercourse.

Most Effective Birth Control For Teens:

The most effective birth control method for the teenagers, as prescribed by American Academy of Pediatrics, is the Contraceptive Implants followed by IUD. The academy found that these two approaches are safest and provide the best contraception without many side effects. While it is true that abstinence is the best way to protect yourself from STDs and prevent unwanted teenage pregnancy, the next best method is to use a long-term contraception method, such as an implant or IUD.

The American Academy of Pediatrics prescribes the following methods as effective contraceptives for adolescents in descending order:

Contraceptive Implants

IUD

Progestin Shots

Oral Contraceptive Pills – the combination type pills

Condoms

Reports state that more than the 40% teenagers today are the sexually active. Almost all of them use some  of the birth control method. However, just about one in the 20 uses the right and most effective contraception. This is the main reason for the staggering 82% unplanned teen pregnancies. As per the new guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, IUDs and contraceptive implants are the most effective reversible contraception methods that prevent unplanned teen pregnancies, thereby averting the need for abortion in young girls.

Side Effects Of Birth Control Pills For Teenagers:

Birth control pills are 91% effective when used correctly. However, there are a few drawbacks of using the pill, such as remembering to consume the pills every day at the same time, nausea, and sore breasts. Also, birth control pills don’t provide protection against the STDs.

Can Girls Get Pregnant On Birth Control?

There are about variety of the birth control methods out there. Some methods are better than the others, but the method you choose depends largely on your convenience. The most effective way to prevent unplanned teen pregnancy is to practice abstinence. However, having the information about the birth control options you will help when you become the sexually active. No matter which type of the birth control option you choose, it is important to use it correctly for it to be effective. The Improper use of any of birth control methods can make a girl pregnant. Remember no birth control measure is very100 percent effective.

Birth Control Information For Teenagers:

For every teenager, the boy or the girl, an unplanned pregnancy can bring along lot of emotional and mental stress. It can change course of adolescent’s life. The same can happen if the teen contracts an STD. As mentioned earlier, the best way to prevent pregnancy or STD is to practice abstinence, but that may seem too much to ask, considering the intense peer pressure and self-exploration that makes teens sexually active. It is important to understand that even a single act of unprotected sexual intercourse can lead to pregnancy or an STD.

It is true that it is often overwhelming to discuss the sexuality and the birth control options with your parents, but getting the right information is important. Your friends or Internet is not always trusted source. Hence, you should either talk to your parents or find doctor, who has the time and inclination to the answer your queries and clear your doubts about the birth control. The best birth control options for the teenage girls and the boys are those that are easiest to use besides being convenient. Of course, long-term methods of the birth control, such as implants and IUD, are most effective, but using the condoms is also something you should think of as it protects you from the STDs. It also helps to have an emergency contraception method always on hand .

Are Over-The-Counter Drugs Useful?

There are about 15 different methods of contraception that people use today. However, for teenagers, not all options are right. Teens tend to use the over-the-counter birth control pills since they are very easily available. Also, the emergency contraceptive pills (or the morning-after pills) are normally used by the teenagers. However, for the sexually active adolescents, there is need for a birth control method that is more stable and even regular.

In Conclusion:

Birth control is important for teenage boys and girls alike. Most schools offer sex education to students to ensure they have access to the right information and guidance on sex and birth control. We, as a society, need to promote healthy sexual activity among teenagers, and we can achieve this by ensuring they get the right sex education. This will help the sexually active adolescents to choose right birth control option and stay very much protected. (source)

[selflife-hacks-blog]

11 Fascinating Myths About Menstruation

A menstrual taboo is any social taboo concerned with the menstruation. In some of the societies it involves the menstruation being perceived as very unclean or embarrassing, inhibiting even the mention of menstruation whether in the public or in the private (among their friends, in the household, or with the men). Many traditional religions consider the very process of menstruation is ritually unclean, although the anthropologists point out that the concepts ‘sacred’ and ‘unclean’ may be intimately connected.

Here are few astonishing myths about mensuration still prevail in modern world

Sharks Will Attack Women on Their Periods

While the women may be “riding crimson tide,” there’s no need to worry about the shark attacks if woman wants to actually go in ocean. There’s no data to support the menstruation attracts sharks. So for everyone out there thinking the menstruation attracts sharks, think again before you blame periods.

Period blood is dirty blood

Period blood isn’t rejected the body fluids or body’s way of flushing out toxins. Think of it as evolved the vaginal secretion — there’s little bit of blood, uterine tissue, mucus lining, and bacteria. But it doesn’t change whether or not we can have the sex, and it doesn’t mean conditions are less than ideal down there. the Period blood is very different from the blood that moves continuously through veins. In fact, it’s less concentrated blood. It has the fewer blood cells than ordinary blood.

Women Will Contaminate Food

In parts of the rural India, there is myth that women cannot water plants or cook during period because their “uncleanliness” will spoil food. In  study done in random school in rural India, 55 percent of the girls surveyed believed they could not cook or enter kitchen during and 4 days after menstruation or food would be sour.

Showering Will Cause Infertility

A women in the Kabul goes to doctor to check her health during maternity. Without healthy menstrual cycles, the cleanliness and properly managing the periods women can risk the infections that cause infertility. In Afghanistan, word “gazag” means to become infertile. It’s said (in old Afghan tradition) that during week a woman has her period she cannot wash or even shower. You’re probably thinking this is very gross. It is. And it’s more than that–it’s a major risk for the infection. In many places, including the Afghanistan, it’s common for the women to use the cloth sanitary napkins. The benefit here is that it’s relatively inexpensive and renewable way to manage the periods. The downside is women are often ashamed to hang clean cloth used during the menstruation outside with other laundry. So women hide and wear the sanitary napkins for too long which causes the infections deadly to reproductive health. This can all be fixed if the social taboos over periods are eliminated.

Periods Are Debilitating For Women

Imagine someone telling you to miss the work every month even if you don’t feel sick. Menstrual leave is thing, and this one is more controversial than some. Several countries in the Asia, like South Korea, China, Japan, and Indonesia have the laws providing the women sick leave during their period. The debate here is whether the menstrual leave for women is a form of the discrimination or a medical necessity. Periods taboos are more debilitating than the menstrual cycles themselves. Lack of access to the sanitary napkins, and knowledge on managing the periods for girls and women is debilitating. But, the periods themselves are rarely a cause for necessary sick leave.

Yes, every woman experiences the menstrual cycles differently, but only 20 percent of women report the severe pain during periods. The other 80% of women reported no debilitating symptoms or the pain. With proper supplies and knowledge on how to manage the periods, girls and women can be empowered to accomplish any task any time of month.Girls Cannot Participate in Class

The chaupadi tradition is practice in rural parts of Nepal where the women are literally put in the isolation during their period. Again reason stems back to “being unclean.” Women cannot be in the classrooms with other students while the menstruating. The myth goes back to belief that woman’s uncleanliness will anger Hindu goddesses. Dispelling the traditional myths like the chaupadi where about 16 percent of women in the Nepal are forced from their homes into the isolation is the task that will take effort, the education and the awareness.

Women Can’t Prepare Sushi

According to cultural belief held by some the sushi chefs in Japan, such as Jiro Ono–a famous sushi chef with  the restaurants in the Tokyo, Ginza, and Chūō, the women cannot be the sushi chefs because of the menstrual cycles. The myth here is that menstruation causes an “imbalance in the taste” and therefore the sushi cannot possibly be properly prepared by a woman.

Women Can’t Enter Holy Temples

This myth exists in the parts of the world ranging from the Bali and India to Nepal. Women are believed to be very “unclean” while they are menstruating and are thus not allowed to enter the “clean” and the holy places like the temples. This is a form of the gender inequality that limits the women from same human rights like the freedom to practice religion that the men have access to. the Girls and women menstruating are not unclean. They are normal, natural, and healthy. The myth that the women cannot enter the temples and holy ground is culturally controversial, and sensitive issue. When the women are treated differently because of the naturally occurring body cycle it creates the shame, the taboos, and the humiliation towards the periods that is deeply embedded into our society. And that is the only thing that’s ridiculous.

Women Have “Cooties” That Make Men “Sick”

In the India and parts of the Nepal (in alignment with the chaupadi tradition in Nepal). women cannot interact with or touch the men because the men will become sick by touching an “unclean” woman. Some 20% of girls in the rural India believe they should not talk to male member of the family during menstruation. And 40% of the girls in India learn about the menstruation from their mothers. So, if external education is not provided the traditions will persist.

Menstruation Is a Disease in Iran

Longstanding stigmatization in the Iran has caused a staggering 48% of girls to believe that the menstruation is a disease, according to UNICEF study. But there is the hope. A 2012 study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information revealed that when the young Iranian girls were given the menstrual education, the results showed more than half of them started bathing when they had the periods, while others busted erroneous misconception.

Pads Need To Be Kept the Unseen and Apart From Other Trash, or Could Lead To Cancer

Traditional beliefs in the Bolivia misinform young women and girls that disposal of their menstrual pads with other garbage could lead to the sickness or cancer, according to UNICEF. Because there’s still so much humiliation around topic, many are told to keep their pads far away from rest of the trash and are often led to collecting them in their bags during school day until they get home. The organization investigated about 10 schools in the Bolivia and identified that two main challenges the menstruating girls face include the feelings of the shame and limited access to the private bathrooms. For this reason, UNICEF has implemented the massive menstrual education program in hopes of increasing the access to the proper menstrual products and sanitation facilities.

Conclusion:

Period taboos are not only the crazy and ridiculous but they are huge obstacle holding the women back in many ways. It’s hard to believe these myths still exist all over world today. But they do, and they need to be busted. Awareness and the education, especially for the people in rural and developing countries, is necessary to empower the girls and women everywhere. Together we can create better world where the girls believe periods are powerful not shameful. The good news is there are the people making a difference each day when it comes to eliminating the period taboos. (source)

[selflife-hacks-blog]

Being Single Beats Bad & Neutral Relationships

New research published online in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin shows that such a sentiment may in fact set the bar far too low. On seven different measures of how people were doing, people in romantic relationships were better off than single people in only one way. On the other six measures, people in romantic relationships did better than single people only if they said their relationships were of the very highest quality.

In other words, single people did better than people in bad romantic relationships. But they also did better than people in romantic relationships that were not that bad at all.

The emotional experiences of the people in the romantic relationships when their partner was and was not around. Some of the findings were not at all romantic.

How the Study Was Conducted

Michigan State University conducts a State of the State telephone survey four times a year. Participants who said they were interested in signing up for other studies were sent invitations to take part in this study. The 326 people who answered questions at least two different times were included in the analyses. They ranged in age from 19 to 92; on average, they were 53 years old.

The 307 people categorized as “in a romantic relationship” all said that they were in a committed romantic relationship; 271 were married and 7 were engaged.

The people categorized as “not in a romantic relationship” (refer to them as single) included lifelong single people who were not dating and those who were dating casually. Just about all of the divorced and widowed people said they were not dating or only dating casually.

All participants answered 7 sets of questions about how they were doing

1. Overall positive feelings.

The extent to which the participants generally felt happy and satisfied over the past two weeks.

2. Overall negative feelings.

The extent to which the participants generally felt frustrated, worried, sad, and angry over the past two weeks.

3. Overall sense of meaning.

The extent to which the participants generally felt a sense of meaning over the past two weeks.

4. Positive feelings yesterday.

The extent to which the participants felt happy and satisfied while engaging in various activities the day before.

5. Negative feelings yesterday.

The extent to which the participants generally felt frustrated, worried, sad, and angry while engaging in various activities the day before.

6. Sense of meaning yesterday.

The extent to which the participants generally felt a sense of meaning while engaging in various activities the day before.

7. Life satisfaction.

The extent to which participants were satisfied with their lives, as measured by five items (e.g., “I am satisfied with my life”).

The participants who were in committed romantic relationships also rated the quality of those relationships.

They were asked how much they agreed with 5 statements, such as “My relationship with my partner makes me happy” and “We have a good relationship.” Ratings were recorded on the scale ranging from about 1 (very strongly disagree) to 7 (very strongly agree).

Were People in Romantic Relationships Doing Better Than Single People?

The people in committed romantic relationships did not experience more positive feelings overall or during the previous day than the single people did. They also did not experience fewer negative feelings or any more of a sense of meaning. They were only doing better in one way: they said they were more satisfied with their lives.

It’s possible that they were proud of themselves for being in a romantic relationship, since those relationships are so valued, and perhaps that’s why they were more satisfied with their lives. Compared to single people, though, they did not feel any better emotionally and they did not experience their lives as more meaningful.

One subset of people in romantic relationships were doing better than single people in every way the coupled people who agreed most strongly with every positive statement about their relationship. In every way, they described their relationship in the most positive terms possible—a 7 on the 7-point scale.

As for the coupled people who gave middle-of-the-scale ratings of their relationships for example, they neither agreed nor disagreed that their relationship made them happy—they were worse off in every way (either significantly or nearly so) than the people who were single.

The truism was also true: being single was better than being in a bad relationship.

Were Coupled People Happier When Their Partners Were Around Them?

When the participants were asked about the emotions they experienced during the various activities the day before, they were also asked to indicate who (if anyone) they were with each time. That way, the researchers were able to see whether the people had more positive experiences when they were with their partner than when their partner wasn’t around.

On average, the people in the romantic relationships had more positive feelings and a greater sense of meaning when they were with their partner. However, they did not experience fewer negative feelings when their partner was around.

Again, the quality of the romantic relationships mattered. People who rated their relationship quality as a little better than the neutral (4.4 on the 1-to-7 scale) had more positive feelings when their partner was not present than when their partner was around.

When it came to negative feelings (frustration, worry, sadness, and anger), the results were even more ominous. Even those who rated their romantic relationships as fairly high in quality (5.5 on the 1-to-7 scale) experienced significantly more negative feelings when they were with their partner than when their partner was not around.

Most scholars who study romantic relationships refer to what they are studying as “relationships” rather than “romantic relationships.” The implication seems to be that unless you have a romantic relationship, you don’t have any relationships at all—or at least none that matter. In a truly rare occurrence, the authors of this study offered a more enlightened perspective (source)

Conclusion:

It appears that people who reported anything less than “strongly agreeing” that their relationship was high quality experienced more negative affect while around their partners than when separated from them.” As is always true of studies like this, we cannot know for sure whether relationship status or quality, or the presence of a romantic partner, caused people to feel more positively or negatively, or whether some other psychological dynamics were involved.

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9 Myths About Cheating You Should Stop Believing

Mutual trust is a hallmark feature of committed romantic relationships and is often (not always) tied to confidence that a partner is both romantically and sexually faithful. What if that trust is violated?

Infidelity can wreak havoc on a relationship.

Infidelity is a leading cause for marital divorce and pre-marital break-ups; it can trigger domestic violence; and it is a strong predictor of poor mental health,including depression and anxiety. These adverse consequences might suggest that people go to great lengths to avoid infidelity, efforts reflected in overall rates that suggest infidelity is rare. But this is not the case. By some accounts, the lifetime prevalence of infidelity is approximately 20 to 25 percent of marriages, with men and women cheating at similar rates .

Given that infidelity produces a constellation of adverse personal and relational consequences, yet people are known to cheat, the question becomes: why? Why risk it? What are the motivations that lead to infidelity?

Why Do People Cheat?

A recent investigation asked nearly 500 mostly heterosexual individuals about their past experiences cheating on a romantic partner. Note that having engaged in infidelity was an explicit inclusion criteria for the study, so all participants shared at least one instance of their own infidelity as part of the study. Approximately 95 percent gave examples that included sexual/physical infidelity.

These scholars aren't the first to ask the question of why people cheat, but evidence regarding infidelity motives is surprisingly scarce, suggesting the need for empirical inquiry. In their study, Selterman and colleagues solicited reasons for why people cheated and then focused their analysis on synthesizing the many motives people offered.

Falling out of love. Sometimes a deficit in an existing relationship leads people to have extradyadic affairs. Over three quarters 77 percent of participants indicated that a lack of love for their stable partner, and or greater love for an extra-dyadic partner, was a fairly strong reason they cheated.

For variety. Other times, infidelity is not a response to a problem with an existing relationship; rather, it's a reaction to boredom. For many people 74 percent, a desire for variety factors into their cheating behavior. More men explained their infidelity as tied to this reason than women.

Feeling neglected. Similar to feeling a lack of love, some people engage in infidelity as a response to their partner's lack of attention. Participants 70 percent revealed that feeling neglected was at least moderately tied to their cheating behavior. More women than men recognized this as one of their motives for cheating.

Situational forces. Not every act of infidelity is premeditated and driven by dissatisfaction with a current relationship. Many participants 70 percent noted that factors of the situation were a key reason they cheated. Maybe they were drinking or in some other way thrown into an opportunity they didn't anticipate. More men recognized this motive as a reason for their cheating than women.

To boost self-esteem. It seems counter-intuitive, given that infidelity tends to end with significant personal consequences, but for some people, the act of having an affair can boost their own ego and self-esteem. More than half of participants 57 percent indicated that enhancing their self-esteem was a motive for their cheating.

Out of anger. This was not the most commonly cited reason, but anger played a role in the affairs of many participants 43 percent. In these cases, cheating was seen as a way to punish a partner or enact revenge.

Not feeling committed. Lacking love and lacking commitment to a current romantic partner are both tied to general feelings of relationship dissatisfaction. They may go hand in hand. In terms of commitment, nearly half 41 percent of participants indicated that having low levels of commitment to their romantic partners motivated their cheating.

Because of sexual desire. About one-third of participants 32 percent reported that they were driven to have an affair because of their sexual desire. Maybe in their established relationship, individuals aren't engaging in the frequency of sex, style of sex, or specific sexual behaviors that they want; this can contribute to their reasons to cheat. Men reported this reason more than women

These eight motives for infidelity cover aspects of the self, the existing relationship, and the context. They reveal great variety in the reasons as to why people cheat.

9 myths about cheating you should stop believing

For the record, once a cheater, not always a cheater — and that's probably just one of the many myths about infidelity you've heard.

Because anyone and everyone has the potential to have an affair, there's a lot of information on the subject that isn't exactly concrete, like why someone is unfaithful in the first place. The Boredom, the sexual desire, emotional desire, the loving their partner but relationship is dead, excitement of newness. The reason for the cheating is very different for everyone, and depends on individual's personality, the history, ability to manage the emotional distress, conflict and the communicate emotions. Most people just assume the cheating is about one thing and one thing only: the sex. Clearly, that's not the case

MYTH: Men cheat more often than the women

Infidelity among women is growing. Warner Bros. Pictures Statistics in the past showed men were more likely to cheat than women, but apparently that's not necessarily the case these days. People of all gender identities cheat. According to recent research by the Institute for Family Studies, men are still, in general, slightly more likely to cheat than women, But it's interesting to note that infidelity amongst women has been growing at a rapid pace since the sexual revolution. Among the married adults aged 18 - 29, the women are actually more likely to cheat than the men.

MYTH: Cheaters aren't still in love with significant other.

A lot of times the cheating occurs about because of need of adrenaline. Being in love with someone is different from loving someone, so here's where you'll sometimes catch cheaters on a technicality. the idea that all the cheaters are void of emotion for partner is  fallacy at best. Only 28% of divorces in the US occur as a result of cheating,The key driver for most cheaters is the ability to not get caught. They aren't interested in leaving current set up, they just crave Adrenalin rush that sneaking around gives them.

MYTH: Cheating is only physical.

Cheating can be emotional too. Cheating is subjective, and everyone has their own idea of what it means to be unfaithful. So you might associate cheating with sex, your partner might define the infidelity as developing intimate bond with someone. A recent study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that men tended to believe that sex alone could be defined as cheating, whereas women also perceived cheating to include flirting, dancing, and emotional engagement, . Another study found that women felt more betrayed by their partners forming emotional connections with a third-person, whereas men felt more betrayed if the relationship was sexual in nature. It's important for you and your significant other to be open with one another from the get-go and discuss where you both draw the line. Because while one person might be thinking in terms of physical intimacy, emotional infidelity can be problematic, too.

The term 'micro-cheating' has become popular in the last couple of years where seemingly innocent behaviors could be considered cheating,. Each couple has to define cheating and their expectations around what behaviors are acceptable and which are not.

MYTH: Once a cheater, always a cheater.

It is possible for someone to stop cheating. It's understandable why you'd tread cautiously when getting involved with someone who's cheated in the past, but people do change. If it's possible for someone to be ex-smoker, ex-drinker, or ex-drug user it seems illogical to believe someone who cheated on mate at age 16 is forever doomed to be cheater for rest of his or her life. In other words, if your feelings for this person are strong, it might be worth giving them the benefit of the doubt.

MYTH: Cheater cheat if they are unhappy in current relationship.

Cheaters can be happy with their significant other. As confusing as it sounds, some cheaters are actually quite happy with their significant other. In these cases, cheating is symbolic of something person is lacking in their relationship, or in life. goal of most cheaters is to hold onto all that is 'good' in their primary relationship while addressing their other 'needs' on the side,Whatever they are unhappy with in the relationship does not rise to level of being 'deal breaker' in their eyes. Some cheaters stray because they feel up against wall. In other words, cheating gives them sense of control. Some people will cheat because they feel like trapped and cheating provides them with way to exert some form of control and power over their situation. Feeling trapped in bad relationship isn't healthy for anyone. But, it does make you more vulnerable and seeking empathetic people or counsel which often leads to the affair.

MYTH: Cheat because they aren't having sex with significant other.

Affairs aren't all about sex. In 2018 infidelity survey that was performed by the Trustify, it showed that about 31% of cheaters did admit they were very unfaithful because of the lack of the sexual satisfaction in their primary relationship. However, about 20% also said their affair was meant to fill the void in which their emotional needs were not being met ever, 17% sought the revenge on their partners, and 14% wanted more the attention than their SO was giving them always. It's not just about the ‘sex' always. It's about being very much desired and being wanted, connection, the  intimacy, playfulness, and the sexual expression. If the couples focus only on the sex as the act, they miss the point about why the partner cheated in the first place.

MYTH: Cheaters cheat only to get out of their marriage.

They want affair to compliment with whatever their current relationship is. Most cheaters don't go into affair with intention of getting caught. Very few cheaters are looking to replace relationship with another. Their goal is to complement whatever they already have.

MYTH: Cheating is intentional.

Cheating isn't necessarily planned or thought out. It sounds ridiculous that an affair wasn't on purpose but my clients didn't say, Today's the day I'm going to cheat on my spouse Little by little, they began developing feelings for someone outside of their marriage and maybe rationalized it as ‘It means nothing, we're just good friends.' They start sharing more with this other person than their partner, start making negative comparisons and idealizing this other person, Over time, there's an increase in physical affection and sometimes the affair turns physical.

MYTH: It's the other person's fault.

Blaming the third party shouldn't be a default. Oftentimes people blame the third party, but at the end of the day, it's just a rationalization. You're hurt, and it's very understandable, but keep in mind person your partner cheated with isn't committed to you. The other man/woman may not know that cheater is in a relationship or married to someone else. Even if they do know, it takes two to tango and cheater is the one who is in a relationship and took the step to violate trust and faith that comes with it.In this, it is NOT the other person's fault at all. They are culpable but that's not the same as saying it is their fault.(source) (source)

Conclusions:

One primary reason could drive a person to be unfaithful, it's likely that a combination of factors is at the root of many extra-dyadic affairs. It's also possible that there are motivations that were not fully captured in this study, in part because participants were trying to remember what motivated past behavior. Sometimes, memory isn't on point to what actually motivated the behavior in the first place.

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How To Heal From A Toxic Childhood?

Well first, let’s be sure that you had a toxic parent. Here are 10 signs that you grew up with toxic parents who had an impact on your emotional well-being, according to Healthy Way:

Signs You Were Raised by Toxic Parents

1. Their feelings always came before yours. (You had to quickly learn emotional independence.) 2. They didn’t recognize your boundaries. (Parenting becomes toxic parenting when there’s no respect.) 3. They controlled you using guilt. (And the guilt worked.) 4. They demanded your attention. (A healthy relationship is attentive but not overly attentive.) 5. They didn’t talk to you. (This can be considered parental alienation.) 6. They took away their love. (This is also sometimes considered parental alienation.) 7. They were overly critical. (They expected too much out of you.) 8. They competed with you. (They may have been a narcissistic parent.) 9. They made you responsible for their happiness and well-being. (This is not okay from a family member or anyone else.) 10. You’re still scared of them. (Your parent-child relationship wasn’t healthy, and neither is your parent-to-parent relationship these days).

Let Go !!.

These two very little words — five letters in all — are hugely important, because contrary to the popular opinion, which always tells us that it takes the effort to keep trying and hang in, default position for the humans is persistence. What’s hard is quitting and letting go. The reasons are both complicated and simple.

What letting go isn’t

But letting go doesn’t mean pretending that the past never happened, that you weren’t hurt or affected, or that your parent or parents should be somehow let off the hook and not held responsible. It means learning to discriminate between ways of thinking you must let go of and emotions that need to be tossed aside that keep you stuck, and way’s of thinking and the feeling that will help you move you forward and help you heal.

The fancy name for the kind of letting go I’m talking about is goal disengagement. This isn’t a one-step thing, like the image that comes into your mind when you think of the words “let go” — you’re likely to visualize the string falling free from your grasp and the balloon rising in the air, or the moment your hand slips and what you’re holding falls with a thud — but a process, and a complex one at that.

Goal disengagement

It’s basically a four-step process that involves letting go of the thinking patterns that have maintained the status quo (cognitive disengagement), managing the emotions that accompany giving up or quitting (effective disengagement), giving up on that earlier goal (motivational disengagement), and putting plans into action for a new goal (behavioral disengagement).

Each of these steps requires a slightly different skill set:

Cognitive disengagement requires that you stop thinking about why you didn’t achieve the goal you set and worrying and/or ruminating about it, stop running “what if” scenarios in your head that are likely to convince you that maybe you shouldn’t let go after all.

Effective disengagement requires that you deal with all the emotions that are aroused when you fail to achieve what you set out to do; that includes feeling guilty, beaten down, or blaming yourself.

Motivational disengagement requires you to stop thinking about that goal and start planning new objectives, including where you want to go now and what you want to try. Finally,

Behavioral disengagement requires you to act and start planning how you will change your future.

How this applies to a toxic childhood

In case it sounds too abstract, let me put terms into the context of dealing with toxic childhood.

Your childhood was one in which you felt the unloved, unseen, and the marginalized, and were subject to endless criticism and perhaps the scapegoating. You did what you could to armor yourself, or perhaps you placated others instead; in any case, you did what you could to deal until you finally moved out into your young adult life.

It’s at that moment that you began to make your own choices about where to live, friends, how to support yourself, partners, and lovers, but also how to deal with your family of origin. Most unloved the daughters — relishing the fact that they’re out from under mothers’ direct influence — do little to challenge status quo and do what they can to manage situation.

It’s when their efforts to manage begin to fail — they are still hurt by encounters with their parent or parents or perhaps siblings, are unable to manage the resulting emotions, still feel adrift, and are unable to set healthy boundaries — that they realize they’re stuck and have to disengage and find a new way of relating to their family.

Cognitive disengagement is made difficult, because the cultural tropes about family underscore the importance of staying the course  and because the unloved daughter is likely to mistrust her own judgment after years of being told she’s less than and likely to be prone to second-guessing (“Maybe she’s right, and I am too sensitive,” “She’s done the best she can, and maybe I’m wrong to ask for more”).

Effective disengagement is hard not just because of the past pain, which arouses all manner of the emotions, from anger to the sorrow, as well as the feelings of the guilt, shame, and disloyalty at even the contemplating managing your connection to your family differently. Then, too, is fear that they’re right about you, and you’re just wrong on every level. Add in fact that the children who don’t get attuned attention they need in the infancy and the childhood have trouble regulating the emotion anyway, and you can see why this part of process of letting go is so hard.

Motivational disengagement is thwarted by what I call the “core conflict” — the tension between your recognition that you need to manage your relationship with your mother and family of origin and your continuing need for your mother’s love and support and your hopefulness that it can be won. The conflict effectively keeps a daughter stuck in the status quo.

And as long as the core conflict continues, acting is impossible, so the stage of behavioral disengagement — of setting new goals for your life and relationship — never happens.

Small steps to letting go

If you find yourself stuck, these strategies may help you break the logjam. Working with a gifted therapist is the best route, of course, but there are things you can do to help yourself.

1. Recognize that it’s not your fault.

Self-blame, which is a default position, keeps you stymied, and thinking that there’s some flaw in you that you could fix and things would be fine does too. Realizing that you’re not to blame brings with it the recognition that you cannot fix this on your own; your parent or parents must cooperate.

2. Don’t normalize abusive behavior.

Children normalize the behavior experienced in their families of origin, and it’s not uncommon for them to continue to do so as adults. Don’t excuse or become inured to verbal abuse; register that it’s happening, and react calmly and in a straightforward way. You have the right to set rules about how you wish to be treated, even with a parent or relative.

3. Set boundaries.

You will need to carve out the mental space to figure out how to manage relationship. Do whatever you need to — cutting down the contact or limiting it — to be able to do so.

4. Build your emotional skill set.

Try to identify your emotions as precisely as you can — an important part of emotional intelligence — and see if you can trace the source of your feelings, especially when you think about your relationship with your mother and other family members. Work on distinguishing guilt from shame, for example, as well as negative feelings about yourself as either deserving of poor treatment or undeserving of love.

5. Manage your thoughts.

Rumination and worry can keep you totally stuck. Research on intrusive thoughts shows that trying to suppress thoughts only results in their being more persistent, so you need to try other techniques. Assign yourself a worry time; another is to permit yourself to confront those intrusive thoughts and think about the worse-case scenario if those worries came true, and you had to deal with them.

Letting go is an art that is hard to learn, but can be mastered.​

Conclusion:

The main reason is that most significant individual adaptations to emotional environment happen unconsciously. According to the attachment theory, these are internalized mental models or working the assumptions about how world operates, how people connect or don’t, and basic nature of the relationships.

Evolution has engineered the human infants to survive and part of the survival involves reducing the huge stress; if baby’s emotional needs aren’t being met or are answered unreliably, brain simply adapts rather than feel continued stress of deprivation. This adaptation changes how the child thinks, behaves, and interacts with her primary caretakers, most usually her mother. All of this takes place in first months and years of life, and are carried with unloved child into the adolescence and the adulthood. Science deems these children insecurely attached—not having been able to forge secure and dyadic connection to their primary caretaker. (source) (source) (source)

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Different Ways Your Childhood Shapes You

To realize the influence of our childhoods on the adult we become Like the foundation of a house, our childhood experiences are the foundation on which the rest of our lives are built. And if the foundation is not solid has emotional cracks and wounds these affect the structure of our adult lives.

Each of has a story that we walk out of our childhoods with  about the way our parents always argued, that our brother was abusive, that our sister was supportive, that our grandmother the rock that kept us stable, that school was hell. We fill in the story with memories of that awful argument when our father punched a hole in the wall, that time our bullying brother held us down on the playground until the teacher made him get off, the kind attention of our sister when we lost a toy, the way our grandmother listened when we were upset one Christmas, how we felt lonely when we switched schools in the 6th grade. The memories reinforce the story, and the story reinforces our sense of the story of why we are who we are now.

There are broader impacts of childhood that affect us all.

Birth order

There are decades of research on birth order and its impact on child/adult development. It has suggested, for example, that by and large the oldest children or an only child are likely to grow up and be good leaders, do well in school and be high achievers, be “good” kids, the ones who follow the rules. They can also often be anxious, can walk on eggshells around others, be sensitive to authority, can be self-critical.

Why? Because they bear the full brunt of the parents’ expectations and emotions. They have no siblings to serve as barriers. With this 2 against 1 scenario they adapt, are sensitive to what the parents expect, and to emotionally survive in the family, step up and accommodate.

The second child: Often rebellious pushing the boundaries, questioning authority, bucking the system. But just as the first-born is reacting to the parents and their expectations, the second born is bouncing off the first-born. Their identity comes from being unlike the first the anti-good child and from this stance they are able to grab the parents’ attention.

The middle child: The middle child often described as struggling to grab the parents’ attention at all. They are often labeled the forgotten child, the lost child, the one who gets overlooked in the shuffle between the first and second or the attention heaped on the baby. Where the first-born may leave his childhood sensitive to pleasing others, the second sensitive to power and objecting to rules, the middle child may be sensitive to being overlooked, not being appreciated, not feeling important.

The youngest : The stereotype of the youngest children is that they are spoiled. everyone in the family paid attention to them because they were…the youngest, so cute, etc. Getting used to having so much attention without much effort can lead to them feeling entitled as an adult and angry when they don’t get what they expect. But it can also lead to anxiety because others were always stepping in take care of them, they never were able to build up the strong self-confidence that comes from handling things on their own. As an adult they can get overwhelmed and then instinctively lean on others to bail them out.

Emotional Wounds

Emotional wounds are about what you particularly learned to be sensitive to in growing up. It is usually one or two of 5 things: criticism, micromanaging, feeling neglected, not feeling heard or feeling dismissed, not being appreciated. We all walk out of our childhoods with something.

As a child, your only ways of coping are to get good á la firstborn, get angry, á la second born, or withdraw, á la often the middle born. And like the birth order you bounce off your siblings —my brother is the good one, my sister the angry one, I’m the quiet one. The consequences here are that you bring these coping styles into your adult relationships and when you feel wounded, do what you learned. The problem is that this often triggers the other guy’s wound you withdraw because you feel criticized, the other get angry because he feels neglected and the cycle feeds off each other, with each feeling wounded and operating out a childhood brain.

And if these wounds come from trauma — abuse, severe neglect, grief, and loss — this adds another layer: When we are traumatized we instinctively, though often unconsciously, decide how we need to be in order to protect ourselves from such pain in the future. Here we decide not to get close to others, to not trust, to cling so others don’t leave, to try and be perfect, to put up a wall of anger.

Family climate

This is often the childhood default for growing up in an unsafe environment: your parents arguing all the time or your mother being anxious and yelling; your dad drinking and knowing his moods could change in a nanosecond; there never-ending tension though you could never quite figure out the source. And so your only defense as a child is to always be on guard — to stay on your toes and try and adjust to the emotional weather.

Role models

We usually develop a black and white reaction to our childhood role models. You either identify with the aggressor – I become my mom and can easily yell when I’m stressed or become aggressive like my dad — or I move towards the opposite: I decide sometime in my teen or early adult years not to be like them and instead I never get angry and hold things in, or if my dad drank, I don’t.

The problem here is that your solution is too simple because it is viewed through a child’s eyes. You don’t yell or drink but instead, internalize all your emotions and get self-critical and depressed. Or you don’t drink but instead, act like a dry drunk.

The point here is that all these come together to become the person you are. Your coping styles become your default when you become emotionally triggered, your sensitivities don’t go away and you easily fall back into your childhood feelings and coping styles, your hyper-vigilance doesn’t get turned off and you develop a generalized anxiety disorder, the decision you made to protect yourself from further trauma limits your adult life. You try your best to change your past, but find yourself falling back into the same potholes and behaviors as your parents despite your efforts.

Changing the pull of the past

The foundation that was laid down don’t have to be permanent and can be repaired. The coping styles you developed for a lot of good reasons don’t have to be your defaults now that you are an adult. The challenge for each of us to have ways of redoing and repairing our childhoods, repairing those cracks in the foundation, noticing the triggers, upgrading the software of our brains.

Ways Of Redoing And Repairing Our Childhoods, Repairing Those Cracks

Understand the impact

If you know why and how you became the person you are, you now have an opening to begin to change it. This is self-awareness, the counter to going on auto-pilot — that I do what I do because I do it. If you know you tend to walk on eggshells, can too easily flare up with anger, can withdraw or are sensitive to feeling overlooked or can become passive and feel entitled, you now have a key to unlock that door that is holding you back.

Change your reactions

Psycho-dynamic approaches help you do this by helping you unravel your past and gain insight into the sources of those old wounds. With this, you can begin to consciously separate the past from the present and then now make different and choices in the present. But you can also do this without all the drudging into the past. You can do it in the present, in your current relationships.

Here you notice and focus on your reactions or over-reactions. You use your self-awareness of your triggers, your wounds, and now proactively decide to do something different; this is what cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on. Here you slow down and calm your automatic emotional reactions so that your rational adult brain can step in and help you see other options: that you need to speak up rather than accommodating; that you listen to your wants rather than your shoulds; that instead of being angry and rebellious and angry, you use your anger as information to let others know what you need; you move forward rather than retreating and avoiding, you tackle a problem on your own rather than waiting and expecting for others to take care of it for you.

You move against your grain; you do now what you couldn’t do as a child.

Take baby steps

And it’s important that you go slow; you don’t have to do the one-week makeover. Take small steps to redo your reactions: Start with those who don’t trigger you as strongly, whose reactions you care less about. The situation is not as important as your response. This is about rewiring your brain, stepping outside your comfort zone, building your self-confidence by finding out through experience that what your childhood brain is telling could happen doesn’t.

Decide on who you want to be

Often, we leave our childhoods only aware of negative space, who were don’t want to be: not the yelling mother, the drunk father. Instead go proactive, towards the positive, and as an adult define who you want to become based not on your fears, but your image of what a solid good adult can be. This is about defining your values, rather than just following the should s, about deciding what role models you want to follow or what role model you want to be for your own children, rather than just struggling to avoid becoming your own parents. Rather than thinking about how you need to be to avoid repeating history, instead think about the history you want to create, right here, today, right now.

Our childhoods are a part of us. While we can’t change the past, we can choose to look at it through a different lens; we can move forward in the present in spite of our childhood wounds, and in the process heal them. Step back, look at what you’ve walked out with, see what you’ve learned, decide what to keep and what to ignore (source). (source)

Conclusion:

While the experiences we have in childhood can greatly impact the rest of our lives, human beings are constantly in a process of development and change. If you are not happy with an aspect of your life that may be connected with your childhood, do not despair. Change can be hard, but it is almost always possible.

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B-Complex Can Treat Panic Attacks and Anxiety | Self Life Hacks

How did panic attack look like?

A panic attack (PA) can occur suddenly within minutes to seconds. The mental health condition that can be defined as a panic attack by at least four of the following symptoms:

A feeling of imminent catastrophe or doom, or a need to escape

Feelings of unreality or being detached from oneself

Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

Flushing, chills, or hot flashes

Numbness or tingling sensations

Dizziness or lightheartedness; nausea

Pounding heart or chest pain

Trembling, sweating and shaking

Cause of Panic Attack:

Reduced serotonin level is said to be one of the causes of PA. Serotonin is synthesized from tryptophan. For the synthesis of serotonin, there are two main vitamins that are needed they are the vitamin B6 (Vit B6) and iron play, which have important roles as co-factors. The research-based study was done where 21 PA  patients have compared the values with those from 20 volunteers. We found that their blood levels of both Vit B6 and iron levels were significantly lower in the PA group when compared with the volunteer group.

Though there is a difference between the two vitamins are present but there was no significant difference in the serum levels of vitamins B2 or B12. thereby these results suggest that low serum concentrations of Vit B6 and iron are involved in PA.

VITAMINS TO REDUCE PANIC ATTACK

The exact cause of the panic attack is known by none.

It is one of the fight and flight responses to an unwanted situation or a danger. It is believed that the genetic and hereditary factors play a role in certain cases (people with close relatives who have suffered an attack have four times the risk).

Other theories involve the imbalance in the chemicals in the brain that processes the feelings of fear and overreaction.It is believed as a response to the high carbon dioxide levels in the blood.

 Vitamin B for Anxiety

There is a number of vitamin b types, which are needed by our body for healthy functions. The science has shown all different types of B vitamins. These types of deficiencies are often linked to panic attacks, anxiety and depression are B6, B9, and B12.

Food sources of these B vitamins for anxiety include:

B12:

Wild salmon, halibut and shrimp, grass-fed beef (especially beef liver), eggs and yogurt.

B6 (Pyridoxine):

Chicken, tuna, shrimp, cheese, beans, spinach, carrots, brown rice, and sunflower seeds.

B9 (Folic Acid):

Spinach and other green, leafy vegetables, asparagus, beets, Brussels sprouts, avocadoes, beans, salmon, and orange juice.

How to take B vitamins for anxiety and stress:

B12:

B12 can be given in different forms that are either as an injection (called cyanocobalamin injections) or as a nasal spray by an integrative physician or oral supplementation.

your doctors typically administer injections in doses of 1,000 micro-grams.

Initially, an injection cycle of eight to 10 administrations over the first two to three months is recommended, followed by a decrease in the frequency once you have achieved a therapeutic effect. Oral supplementation with vitamin B12 is safe, efficient, and inexpensive. Most multivitamin pills often contain 100 to 200 micro-grams of the cyanocobalamin form of B12. The actual absorption of B12 is a problem with supplements; therefore, to increase absorption, B12 should be taken along with the other B vitamins.

B6:

Vitamin B6 is also called with the names sold pyridoxal, pyridoxamine, pyridoxine hydrochloride, and pyridoxal-5-phosphate and these are found in oral supplements and liquid drops.

Adults ages 19 to 50 years require 1.3 mg of B6 daily. Women 51 years and older require 1.5 mg daily. Pregnant and breastfeeding women require 1.9 mg daily.

B9: Vitamin B9 also called folic acid works with vitamins B6 and B12 and other nutrients to control blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine.

Adults require 400 micrograms of folic acid per day. Pregnant women require 600 micrograms per day and breastfeeding women require 500 micrograms per day.

Iron for anxiety and stress:

Apart from vitamins, minerals also play a role in the treatment of a panic attack. Iron plays an important role as a co-factor for the synthesis of serotonin. Having low iron levels can lead associated with fatigue, weakness, depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Women aged 19 to 50 require 18 mg of iron daily as iron deficiency is often caused by menstruation.

Post-menopausal women and men require 8 mg of iron daily.

Iron is very essential for various functions in our body and this mineral is one of the tough mineral to be taken in specific quantities. While having too little iron is associated with panic attacks and can lead to anemia, having too much iron in the body can lead to a condition known as hemochromatosis, which can cause diabetes, liver damage, and discoloration of the skin. Unlike other nutrients, excess iron cannot be excreted by the human body. so before taking the iron supplementation's it is always better to take the doctor's consultation along with lab test reports.

Lifestyle changes to reduce panic attack:

Breathing

Breathing exercises are essential and especially helps to focus. If your breathing becomes too shallow, the panic attack may worsen. Take slow deep breaths through the nose for the count of four and then lengthen the exhalation of each breath. Breathing and relaxation exercises can also help you cope with lingering anxiety, helping to prevent attacks happening during the day. There are various theories that show the connection between panic attacks with CO2 sensitivity. The higher the amount of gas in the body the more you can get panic. There’s been some success with breathing training to keep CO2 better regulated.

Cold Water Treatment

Splashing or washing your face with cold water helps to cope with the shock of the panic attack and also, slows down breathing, and reduces the heart rate by up to 25%. The reason behind it is the heart and sensation are linked by the parasympathetic nervous system, unconsciously reacting to various stimuli like temperature and physical sensations. or you can either keep a soaked towel of cold water and place it around the face and neck. If anxiety is severe then you may find submerging your face in the water for a number of seconds even more effective.

Exercise

It can also be a useful tool to help you combat panic attacks; exercise proved to improve physical and mental well being by increasing the happy chemicals in the body called endorphins. Five 30-minute sessions a week can be beneficial against panic and anxiety disorders. Gentle walks not only give you a workout but help take your mind off matters.

Yoga

Researches have proved the after two weeks, participants had fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety by lowering the levels of cortisol. They also had lower levels of ACTH, a hormone responsible for stimulating the release of cortisol. This practice involves breathing techniques to slow the heart rate and reduce nervous energy. It might not seem like it, but it also counts as a gentle form of exercise, with the stretches increasing the blood flow throughout the body. Yoga also involves self-study, which can help to identify any underlying causes of anxiety.

Aromatherapy

Essential oils can offer calming effects that help you to relax and unwind. Try adding a few drops of lavender essential oil or rose water to a handkerchief or oil burner. Aromatherapy can be a great way to help relax and lower your background anxiety and has been tested and proved in a number of stressful settings, such as before painful hospital procedures.

(source)

CONCLUSION:

Panic attacks are a frightening and distressing experience, partly because of the feeling that there’s no way to control them. That is not the case – using these techniques and lifestyle changes, you can help minimize the impact panic can have on your life.

Reduced serotonin level is known as one of the causes of PA. Serotonin is synthesized from tryptophan. For the synthesis of serotonin, vitamin B6 (Vit B6) and iron play important roles as co-factors. Having low iron levels can lead associated with fatigue, weakness, depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Women aged 19 to 50 require 18 mg of iron daily as iron deficiency is often caused by menstruation. There are different ways of supplementing our body with adequate vitamins and minerals, which include natural food sources and artificial supplementation. one has to consult the physician before taking any medication even vitamin supplementation's to avoid overdosage related health issues.

(SOURCE)

For more related articles regarding Mental and physical health:

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Alcohol Is Less Harmful After 50 Years | Self Life Hacks

Alcohol is less harmful after 50 years !

All of us know that alcohol causes various side effects on the body like the beer belly and sagged skin but you have to know which alcohol is good and which is bad for us. There are some your good vs. bad of alcohol. If you think calories are the main picture than you are wrong, there are many more than that. Red wine, of course, is the clear winner when it comes to being the lowest in calories due to its low sugar content. Before we talk about healthy options other than red wine, here's the  news:

Reasons why drinking moderately is a good thing? especially Red wine

Alcohol as a blood thinner enhances cardio vascular health.

Antioxidants found in alcohol are very important to good health.

Moderate alcohol consumption can lower the incidence of coronary heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, as well as result in an overall reduction in mortality.

Higher bone density in postmenopausal women.

Types of alcohol that should be avoided?

Other spirits like vodka, gin, and white rum

These spirits have high in calories and don't have any health benefits at all. if fact they do harm.

Regular beer

It is not advisable to take beer in high quantities as it contains lots of calories (10 to 15 grams of carbs per 5 oz). Though it is a good antioxidant. Avoiding a moderate amount can lead to health hazards.

The sugar-filled cocktails

So much of calories and it is always good to avoid these sugars, remember health comes first! A recent study examines the health impact of consuming alcohol at different ages. The authors conclude that, for people over the age of 50, health risks may be less severe.

Alcohols that are beneficial to health:

Red Wine

It has the lowest sugar content and thus low calories, but it also contains resveratrol, that super antioxidant able to combat cancer and reduce signs of aging amongst other feats.

Wood aged spirits like Whiskey, Brandy, Scotch and Cognac

  Unflavored distilled spirits with zero carb content and plenty of antioxidants.

Berry daiquiris 

When you add alcohol to berries you get a thirty percent hike in antioxidant activity.

white whine

Lower in carbs and low in calories, white wine is a good drink though it has 5 to 10 times less phenol's and antioxidants than red wine.

Disadvantages of heavy drinking

Heavy drinking is linked to a range of serious health consequences. These include certain cancers, liver and heart disease, and damage to the nervous system, including the brain. However, as has been exhaustively covered in the popular press, drinking in moderation might have certain health benefits.

A number of studies have concluded that drinking alcohol at a low level could have a protective effect.

One study, for instance, found that light and moderate drinking protected against all-cause mortality, as well as mortality related to cardiovascular disease. It is no surprise that these stories have been well-received and widely read, but not all researchers agree, and the debate is ongoing. A research recent study led by Dr. Timothy Naimi, of the Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts, adds further fuel to an already rampant blaze. The study was published in the

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

earlier this week. A fresh approach The researchers argue that the way that earlier studies measured alcohol's impact on health might be flawed. Specifically, they note that the studies are generally observational and usually recruit participants over the age of 50. The authors argue that this is problematic because it excludes anyone who might have died due to alcohol before the age of 50. As they dryly point out, "Deceased persons cannot be enrolled in cohort studies." Dr. Naimi first outlined his concerns about this inherent selection bias in a paper published in the journal Addiction in 2017. " Those who have established drinkers at age 50 are 'survivors' of their alcohol consumption who [initially] might have been healthier or have had safer drinking patterns."

Dr. Timothy Naimi

According to the authors, almost 40 percent of deaths due to alcohol consumption occurs before the age of 50.

To re-investigate, the authors dipped into data from the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact Application which is maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the CDC, this application "provides national and state estimates of alcohol-related health impacts, including deaths and years of potential life lost."

  How alcohol hazards are related to age?

The analysis showed that the level of an individual's alcohol-related risk was heavily influenced by age. In total, 35.8 percent of alcohol-related deaths occurred in people aged 20–49. When looking at deaths that were prevented by alcohol consumption, the scientists found only 4.5 percent in this age group.

When they looked at individuals aged 65 or over, it was a different story: Although a similar 35 percent of alcohol-related deaths occurred in this group, the authors found a huge 80 percent of the deaths prevented by alcohol in this demographic.

The 'safest level of drinking is none,' says alcohol study

A worldwide study of alcohol use concludes that the safest level of consumption is zero. They showed that 58.4 percent of the total number of years lost occurred in those aged 20–49. However, this age group only accounted for 14.5 percent of the years of life saved by drinking. Conversely, the over-65 group accounted for 15 percent of the overall years of life lost, but 50 percent of the years of life saved.

(source)

CONCLUSION:

The authors conclude that younger people "are more likely to die from alcohol consumption than they are to die from a lack of drinking," but older people are more likely to experience the health benefits of moderate drinking. Although the conclusions are not explosive, they bring us a more complete understanding of alcohol's impact on health: Moderate drinking may benefit people of a certain age group, but heavy drinking is harmful to all. 

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