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 Being slim or thin does not make one healthy.  But of course, being overweight or obese is not healthy either.  For those who have trouble losing the excess pounds, the use of weight loss pills is the preferred and convenient option.  The said pills are supposed to help a person lose weight by reducing the appetite and preventing the absorption of fat into the body. Weight loss pills are very helpful since not all people have the time and interest to got to the gym regularly.    There are two basic types of weight loss pills available in the market today, prescription pills and the non-prescription pills. Prescription pills are those diet pills that are closely regulated and required by the FDA. These pills have been proven effective through several clinical tests. Such prescription pills include the popular Xenical (Orlistat) and Meridia (Sibutramine).  These drugs must be prescribed by a doctor before a weight watcher can actually purchase and use t...

  And on the days you're not dieting, you eat the same food and in the same amount as you did before you started the diet. With this one day diet you're losing weight fast and easy, actually as much as 20 plus pounds a month.  Here is what you do:  On diet days  You eat nutritional supplements which contain the vitamins, minerals and salt you need for a day.  These supplements are available in pill, powder, liquid or bar form   In addition, you can eat as much as you want of all kinds of raw fruit  Drink water On food days  You must eat what you ate before you started dieting in the same amount.  This mean you can and shall eat nothing but your favourite foods and drinks. It is important that you take in as many calories as your body was used to getting before you started.  Motivation is easy  It is much easier to stay motivated when you can take a break from your weight loss program every other day. As the weeks pass you will ...

 About 20% of adults experience excessive fatigue that impairs their ability to function well at work and at home. Some are able to bounce back after taking a short respite from work or by taking some medication.  But there is a significant number of people whose stressful experiences last longer that usual.  Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) affects at least 800,000 people in the United States. This disabling fatigue usually persists for as long as six months or even longer. The eight common CFS symptoms include muscle pain, joint pain, memory gaps or loss of concentration, sleeplessness, headaches, sore throat, and unusual fatigue after exercise. Many people deal with fatigue and everyday stress by taking vitamin and mineral supplements. Vitamins and minerals are necessary to maintain the many biological processes that take place inside our bodies. Mental alertness, proper digestion, and resistance to bacterial and viral infections are dependent on the proper working of in...

 Many people complain that they always feel too tired despite getting plenty of sleep; little do they know that the mattress they are sleeping on could well be the culprit. Over time your mattress will become worn which can cause spring to losing their support and the bed becoming saggy and lumpy in places. Not only can this mean that you will not sleep properly but can also cause health problems as a result of pressure points. This can lead to stiffness of you neck, back, hips or shoulders. And worse yet it can cause long term back problems. Given all of this information it's still a surprise that so few people spend good money in their mattresses. If you do decide to invest in your health and buy a new mattress then there are several considerations and options. If your mattress is in fairly good condition but you feel you are not quite getting comfortable enough sleep then you could consider a topper mattress. This is a fairly cheap option as you will be able to keep your origina...

 Occasionally in modern medicine, there are still actually “new” diseases.  When a new disease is described, such as AIDS in the 1980’s, it is remarkable how quickly the medical community attacks the problem, learns the cause, and starts to develop treatments. What once took decades, now takes only a few years. For example, the first cases of AIDS were being described in 1981 and by 1987 successful trials of the drug AZT had begun.   A new disease in Dermatology: In 2000 the first report was published describing a new disease in dermatology and a group of fifteen patients who had it.  The disease consisted of a hardening of the skin of the hands and feet in patients who had end-stage renal disease and who were receiving dialysis. The hardening of the skin was progressive in many patients causing loss of mobility of the joints, leaving them in pain and often unable to walk or use their fingers and hands. The cause was not dialysis, because dialysis has been aroun...

 Are you feeling moody? Irritable? Perhaps arguing with your spouse more than you should? Maybe your disorganized closet is to blame. Oddly enough, studies have shown that disorganization can also lend itself to a, shall we say, less than stellar mood. If you wake up in chaos, you’ll tend to feel harried and chaotic most of the day.  If you suspect your miles of piles might be the cause of your foul mood, take a minute to consider your surroundings. Step back and survey the space around you.  Do you have stacks of things getting in your way. A stack of magazines you’ll probably never read, a stack of week-old newspapers you promised yourself you’d get to? Or maybe you’re moods have more to do with the things you can’t see, like your closets, pantry and drawers. They key is that if you already feel overwhelmed, opening up a closet crammed with “stuff” isn’t going to help your mood, in fact it’s going to worsen it.  As you begin to go after these areas and get organize...

 Many  seniors who have signed up for the Medicare Prescription Drug plan are shocked to find out that they are already hitting the dreaded gap in coverage known as the “doughnut hole”.  During this gap in coverage, between $2250 and $5100 in prescription drug spending, Medicare Part D participants lose coverage, must continue to pay their monthly premiums and are 100% responsible for paying for their medications themselves.  Once they hit the doughnut hole, this massive jump in monthly medication expenditures makes it very difficult for some Plan D participants to cope financially. In a recent Business Week article, Bruce Stuart, director of the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy & Aging at the University of Maryland, estimated that about 38% of Medicare beneficiaries are at risk of hitting the doughnut hole this year. This estimation means that 7 million to 10 million participants could hit the doughnut hole and lose coverage for part of this year. “Seniors were...

 People are becoming more and more practical in the way they spend money. We always try to look for ways to save as much money as we can. This is the reason why there are stores coming out left and right selling clothes at discounted prices, fast food chains being set up selling huge servings of food at low prices as compared to home-cooked meals, and most recently drugstores setting up shop on the Internet selling prescription medications at very cheap prices. But are they safe? A lot of people want to know where to buy cheap medicine online. Senior citizens need it because most health care plans do not cover the cost of medication. People who live in tight budget could use the savings to help them with other expenses. In both cases, the extra money saved in the cost of the prescription will help them a lot. But with the thousands of Internet pharmacies currently in operation, how can you distinguish a good online drugstore from a bad one. Here are some things to watch out for: · ...

 Maybe you want to build up your muscles for your health, or maybe you just want to look good - there's nothing wrong with that. Whatever your reason, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it. The truth is, any kind of mass building program is beneficial to your heart as well as to your muscles. But if you're trying to build up your muscles, there are particular muscle building workouts that are designed specifically to help you. In order to increase the size of muscle, the muscle must be stimulated. One way of providing the stimulation your muscles need is to exercise so your muscles will grow in size.A muscle building tip that has helped many to attain their goal is to begin training with free weights. Strength and resistance exercise will also help by motivating your muscles to develop. A workout routine of lifting weights combined with strength training exercises will begin to gradually bulk up your muscles. Muscle building workouts done on a regular basis wil...

 There has been a lot of talk in recent years about the important of cutting out carbohydrates, or carbs, from a normal diet. I cannot tell you how many articles I have read and how many news clips I have watched about the benefits of a low-carb eating plan. Frankly, I'm a little tired of hearing all the reasons that I should alter what I eat. I'm sick of hearing about all of the consequences if I don't make these changes. I do not, therefore, want to attempt to convince anyone reading to make the change to a low-carb diet. I simply want to share that changing to a low-carb diet completely worked for me and my lifestyle. I cannot remember exactly what it was that led me to taking the plunge into the world of low-carb for myself. I think perhaps I was just tired of being overweight and of feeling lethargic all the time. I guess it is true that life has to get really bad and that we have to want to make changes before we actually will. My physical health got bad enough that I...

 If your own efforts to stop snoring do not help, consult your physician or an otolaryngologist -- or a doctor for the ear, nose, and throat. If you choose to try a dental appliance as a snoring treatment, you will need to see a dentist specializing in these devices. Some medical snoring treatments are continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), oral devices (including dental appliances and lower jaw positioners), and surgery.   Continuous Positive Airway Pressure consists of sleeping with an air mask to maintain continuous air pressure in the throat. CPAP is a treatment for sleep apnea, as well as for snoring. A wide range of dental appliances, oral devices, and lower jaw adjusters are available to alleviate snoring. Some people experience significant improvement with these oral appliances, which bring the lower jaw forward during sleep. Most of the products fit inside the mouth, but some products on the market are worn around the head and chin to adjust the position of ...

 Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic disease that affects the musculoskeletal system.  Symptoms vary widely among sufferers, but generally include muscle and joint aches, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, headaches and tenderness in several of eighteen specific areas, or “trigger points” on the body.   Fibromyalgia is often overlooked by sufferers as the inevitable result of a busy schedule and everyday stress.  When patients do seek treatment, doctors often misdiagnose fibromyalgia as rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, or another musculoskeletal condition.  It affects women far more often than men, at a ratio of about ten to one.  While some cases result from a specific trauma, more often the exact cause is unknown.  The first step to fibromyalgia pain relief is being properly diagnosed.  The condition is not completely understood by the medical community, and there is no specific course of treatment.  Most ad...

 If you thought being obese is being the target of fun, it only tells the part of the story about dangers and predicaments obesity exposes you to. Obesity is no more a simple result of overeating-lead-to-overweight case. To quote the American Obesity Association’s words, “It is now recognized that obesity is a serious, chronic disease. No human condition — not race, religion, gender, ethnicity or disease state — compares to obesity in prevalence and prejudice, mortality and morbidity, sickness and stigma.” Obesity is a trojan horse. It brings a battalion of ailments, which are most detrimental to our health. To name a few, following are the complications that could arise out being obese. 1. Hypertension 2. Diabetes (Type-2) 3. Coronary heart disease 4. Stroke 5. Gallbladder disease 6. Osteoarthritis 7. Asthma 8. Sleep apnea and respiratory problems 9. Some cancers (endometrial, breast and colon) 10.High levels of cholesterol This is an unending list, where each of the above ailment...

 Medical billing services cover a wide range of activities but the main goal of any medical biller is to process physician super-bills (treatment description) and file claims with insurance companies to ensure that their clients are paid the proper amount in a timely fashion.   A typical medical billing business, working independently from a hospital or clinic, uses medical billing software to input clients’ new billing data and send it to the appropriate insurer, while also adhering to all the appropriate laws and standards.  Medical billing services also include answering patient and insurance company questions and concerns, and follow-up in the case of overdue payments.  Using the medical billing software at their disposal, medical billing companies often generate reports for their clients so they can see a cash flow analysis and discover what insurance contracts are making them money and which ones are not.   Medical billing services combine the sk...

 Everyone is afraid of something. This is one of those rules of life that can't be avoided, and even people who appear fearless are scared of something. It is often merely a matter of being able to hide just how scared a person is. Fear is something that can be overcome or hidden under normal circumstances. However, some people who cannot seem to overcome their fear are most likely suffering from a  phobia.  A phobia is significantly more difficult to handle than the average encounter with fear because of the psychological nature of it. Unlike fear, it is purely irrational and generates a much stronger reaction, owing largely to faulty thought processes or the recollection of traumatic memories from the formative years. The nature of a phobia and how it forms is such that anything and everything can become a trigger for it, though there are a few common causes. People who are caught in a situation where they are forced into contact with the trigger of their phobia, nearly...

 Have you ever gotten yourself in a situation where you have quitted smoking for perhaps 1, 2 or 3 weeks, sometimes even months or years only to find yourself crawling back to square one as it if it was a snake and ladder board game? You find yourself picking up the cigarette and lighting it away again? I have to admit. I did. That is because I was lacking of something, of which I had to learn the hard way. And maybe this is perhaps why I am sharing my experience with you so you could avoid this mistake in the future.  I’m sure you would know that most of time, smokers use the excuse of “releasing stress” to smoke. For some reason, this “release stress” has become a reality which in fact is not. The only reason you feel relaxed are due to the soothing of the nicotine addiction. The fact is... you do not need cigarettes in your life!  The problem: Many have associated cigarettes can actually release stress that it became the truth.  So after awhile, when a person whic...

 Scoliosis is a medical condition that refers to a lateral or rotational curve and deformities in the spine.  There are different types and causes of scoliosis. A congenital scoliosis is a condition that has developed after birth while an idiopathic scoliosis develops as a secondary symptom of another condition. Scoliosis can affect anyone and serious cases can be physically debilitating.  Scoliosis causes the spine to develop or curve into a C-shape or into other directions.  It is often painful but some conditions during adolescence not cause too much discomfort except for the obvious physical or skeletal imbalance. Celebrities who have been diagnosed with scoliosis include Isabella Rosellini, Renee Russo, Liza Minelli, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. To get proper diagnosis, a person must consult an orthopedist who specializes in spine diseases and bone abnormalities.   The orthopedist will usually ask the patient to undergo the following examinations: Physic...

 How do people call you again? Servants of the Almighty, followers of Christ, disciples of Jesus, Jesus freaks – these and other names are connected to but one cluster of people, Christians. At this juncture, you might be having problems being a person who professes to know and believe in Christ. Just like a soldier who must conform to the ideals of his superior, so you are supposed to be “transformed in likeness of the Master.” Being like Jesus. No more, no less. However, this is where the problem comes in. No matter how rigidly the military presses conformity, no amount of continuous encouragement and persuading could push you to reach your ultimate goal. You have tried it all but no matter how you convince yourself– it's just preposterous. You end up doing nothing because you think it's impossible. Far fetched, even. If you share the same sentiments, well, without a doubt, you are having performance anxiety. This  distressing feeling of fear, worry and apprehension can ...

  Have you ever imagined how visualization can play an important part in gaining weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle?  Gaining muscle can be difficult for many people who don't use their minds to help in the process.  Visualization is a powerful technique that can help you make lasting lifestyle changes. Just by "day dreaming", you can significantly improve your chances in achieving your goals.  Visualization is a great weight gain tool and its as simple as visualizing your body as you want your body to look like. This mental image of yourself is then transferred to your subconscious mind, which in turn starts to work on your body, shaping it in accordance with your mental image.  This means that if you program your subconscious with a mental image of yourself as a more muscular person, through persistence your mind will accept this and aid your body to conform to this mental image. Once your mind is programmed with the proper mental images, it will start...

  Currently, there is no one single medical test that will definitively diagnose audlts with autism. Instead, the diagnosis is made on the basis of observable characteristics of the individual. Here is an overview of some of the different diagnostic standards: I. Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is a clinical diagnostic instrument for assessing autism in children and adults. The ADI-R is a semi-structured instrument for diagnosing autism in children and adults with mental ages of 18 months and above. The instrument has been shown to be reliable and to successfully differentiate young children with autism from those with mental retardation and language impairments. The ADI-R focuses on behavior in three main areas and contains 111 items which specifically focuses on behaviors in three content areas - they are: Quality of social interaction, (e.g., emotional sharing, offering and seeking comfort, social smiling and responding...

 If you want to remedy snoring, you have to find the underlying cause. Snoring is not an affliction like the common cold, where you wake up one morning and you’ve just got it. It is something that normally arrives slowly over time. Most people can’t remember the day and date that their snoring started. It was sometime in my mid 30’s or some such vague description is the normal response to a question on its arrival.  The lifestyle approach to remedy your snoring, doesn’t treat it as a condition or a disease. But rather treats snoring as a symptom, or a warning, that the body is out of balance.  I like to think of snoring like the ground proximity alarm in a modern jet aircraft. (The one that goes “WOOP! WOOP! PULL UP! PULL UP!”, if the aircraft gets too close to the ground when it’s not supposed to). If you are a pilot, you’d prefer not to hear it. But if you did, you would be grateful for the warning before dire consequences arrived. I'm sure the warning siren must be ver...

 Almost 14 million Americans have a history of heart attack or angina. It is now one of the leading causes of death in the United States. More than 1 million Americans have heart attacks each year. A heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), is permanent damage to the heart muscle. “Myo” means muscle, “cardial” refers to the heart and “infarction” means death of tissue due to lack of blood supply. Nutrition and energy are delivered to the entire body by blood from the pumping heart. The heart itself requires constant energy in the form of oxygen and nutrients, which all come from the blood that delivered through the coronary arteries.  A blockage in the coronary arteries prevents blood flow and causes the heart muscle to starve. The medical term for such starvation is ischemia, a condition that  is accompanied by a chest discomfort called angina.  If the blockage is severe, some of the heart muscle actually dies. When heart muscle dies, this is called a heart at...

  Can your mind help your body keep your New Year’s resolutions? Mounting evidence says, *Yes.*  The evolving field of psycho-neuroimmunology, or the study of the mind-body connection - often considered fringe beliefs - could help you keep your resolutions. This intriguing subject of scientific inquiry is still shrouded in mystery.  Just as an experiment, put aside your skepticism, pretend that these ideas could be explained by science, and consider how you could harness their power to promote your health.  Placebo Effect  When new medications are tested, one group gets the new medication and another group gets the *sugar pill* or placebo. Why do this?  Study after study shows that if you think you’re taking real medicine, your body will respond as if it actually did get the active ingredient, even if it’s a sugar pill. Somehow the belief in the power of the medicine creates the desired outcome of lowered blood pressure or heart rate or weight loss in about...

 Good health is easy but being sick is hard. The truth is, maintaining good health is pretty simple although reclaiming it takes patience, consistent actions and smart choices. Your body heals at it's own pace. Your job is to help that process along. There are four important components that determine a person's level of health.  Component One: Is their body being fed what it needs to be healthy? From the point of view of the body, many meals today barely qualify as food. That's why disease care is a trillion dollar business and over 60% of Americans are overweight.An amazing amount of the American diet is packed with calories carrying no real nutrition. Like good health, eating vital, real food is easy, but that is a decision you have to make.  Component Two: Does the person have a cork stuck up their butt? Are they constipated? Can the body eliminate toxins effectively? Other organs get constipated besides the bowels. Most diseases involve the starvation or constriction ...

 If you or someone close to you suffers from diabetes, you know what a life-altering condition it is. Diabetes-the inability of the metabolism to generate the insulin necessary to properly process blood sugar-affects millions of people in the United States alone. If properly diagnosed, diabetes in and by itself is not a fatal condition. However, keeping it under control is essential and that requires proper treatment and constant monitoring. And the more you know about the disease the better your chances of being able to live a normal life with diabetes. There are three forms of diabetes, two of them chronic and one temporary. The chronic ones are Type 1 diabetes where the body simply does not produce insulin (a hormone that causes cells to store glucose), and Type 2 where tissues and cells are not responding to insulin. Pregnant women may develop so called gestational diabetes where certain hormones cause insulin resistance. Gestational diabetes usually disappears once a baby is b...

 Everyone experiences anxiety. In fact, being unable  to do so can be a sign of a serious psychological  problem. In our hazardous world, anxiety is a  strategy the body uses to help the mind recognize  danger and keep well out of its way. As with most  mental illnesses, it's not the presence of anxiety  alone that creates problems. It is more about how  severe it is and how much it gets in one’s way of  life or quality of living.  Most people feel anxious at some time in their lives.  However, only about five per cent of people  experience severe anxiety and rarely seek  professional help. Anxiety is a mixture of physical  and mental symptoms. They are part of what  psychologists call the “fight or flight” response.  When the body is under threat it automatically  prepares either to defend itself or run. Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. It helps one  deal with a tense situation in the offic...

 Different people get bothered for different reasons. A big sports game, an office presentation, deadlines at work, even other people and relationships --- all these can cause us stress. This feeling of mild anxiety can cause different outcomes, even negative consequences. A student can fail his or her exam simply by being stressed out or when he encounters a mental block that prevents effective study or getting the right answers to an exam.    Stress, as a normal human reaction, is the body's reaction to rising challenges and tough situations.  Everyone, in some way or another, encounters stress whenever possible. It is simply inevitable.  People and events tend to clash, therefore resulting in stress. People work, play, study, do things everyday, and it is impossible not to feel stressed at one way or another. At this point, when people do not want to experience any much of this, they turn to medications for anti stress, also associated with anti-anxiety fo...