Patients, doctors and health-care professionals are all finding that laughter may indeed be the best medicine. Finding humor in a situation and laughing freely with others can be a powerful antidote to stress. It is also a very good coping mechanism when you are suffering from deadly diseases such as cancer. Many people find that maintaining a sense of humor at such occasions are useful for good quality of life. Our sense of humor gives us the ability to find delight, experience joy, and to release tension. This can be an effective self-care tool. Scientific evidence on the effectiveness of humor as a therapy is now overwhelming.
For many years medical professionals have recognized that those patients who maintained a positive mental attitude and shared laughter responded better to treatment. Physiological responses to laughter include increased respiration, circulation, hormonal and digestive enzyme secretion, and a leveling of the blood pressure. Many report a general sense of euphoria after vigorous laughter.
Laughter Activates the Immune System
In Berk's study, the physiological response produced by belly laughter was opposite of what is seen in classical stress, supporting the conclusion that mirthful laughter is a eustress state -- a state that produces healthy or positive emotions.
Research results indicate that, after exposure to humor, there is a general increase in activity within the immune system, including:
An increase in the number and activity level of natural killer cells that attack viral infected cells and some types of cancer and tumor cells. An increase in activated T cells (T lymphocytes). There are many T cells that await activation. Laughter appears to tell the immune system to "turn it up a notch." An increase in the antibody IgA (immunoglobulin A), which fights upper respiratory tract insults and infections. An increase in gamma interferon, which tells various components of the immune system to "turn on." An increase in IgB, the immunoglobulin produced in the greatest quantity in body, as well as an increase in Complement 3, which helps antibodies to pierce dysfunctional or infected cells. The increase in both substances was not only present while subjects watched a humor video; there also was a lingering effect that continued to show increased levels the next day.
Laughter Decreases "Stress" Hormones
The results of the study also supported research indicating a general decrease in stress hormones that constrict blood vessels and suppress immune activity. These were shown to decrease in the study group exposed to humor.
For example, levels of epinephrine were lower in the group both in anticipation of humor and after exposure to humor. Epinephrine levels remained down throughout the experiment.
In addition, dopamine levels (as measured by dopac) were also decreased. Dopamine is involved in the "fight or flight response" and is associated with elevated blood pressure.
Laughing is aerobic, providing a workout for the diaphragm and increasing the body's ability to use oxygen.
Laughter brings in positive emotions that can enhance – not replace -- conventional treatments. Hence it is another tool available to help fight the disease.
Experts believe that, when used as an adjunct to conventional care, laughter can reduce pain and aid the healing process. For one thing, laughter offers a powerful distraction from pain.
In a study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing, patients were told one-liners after surgery and before painful medication was administered. Those exposed to humor perceived less pain when compared to patients who didn't get a dose of humor as part of their therapy.
Perhaps, the biggest benefit of laughter is that it is free and has no known negative side effects.
Posted at 2008-11-28 18:56:58 PST(UTC-8H) Comments(0) | Permanent link
Stress doesn’t have to sideline you from life or send you straight to the ice cream tub. Here are some tricks to avoid letting your worries burden -- or bury -- you.
1. ID the source of your stress. Some sources of stress are easy to point the finger at, but are they really what’s bothering you? Lashing out at your kids, for example, may be a reaction not to what your kids just did but to an extra assignment piled on at work. The first step to managing stress: pinpointing the true culprit.
2. Focus on the moment. Being mindful -- really paying attention to the present, not the past or the future -- can help you manage stress. Spend some time every day noticing the things most people tend to ignore -- like breathing, bodily sensations, and emotions.
This "body scan" can help you practice living in the moment:
Lie down.
Close your eyes and notice your posture. Keep your mind on your body -- nothing else.
Focus on the natural flow of your breath as air fills your lungs and leaves your lungs, fills your lungs and leaves your lungs.
Notice your toes -- any tension, tingling, or temperature changes?
Think about your feet, heels, and ankles, and then your knees, thighs, and pelvis. Don’t rush. Take your time.
Continue working your way up your body, finishing with your throat, jaw, tongue, face, and brow.
3. Look after your health.
Stress is much more manageable when the other aspects of your life -- from general health to sleep patterns to eating habits -- are in good order. When you don’t get enough sleep, for instance, your body produces more stress hormones, making you more vulnerable to the damaging effects of stress. Evaluate what areas in your life need attention, and work on fixes.
4. Do the Workout. walk for 30 minutes, stretch, do yoga -- just get up and move! Exercise is one of life’s greatest stress relievers. Try it.
5. Do the opposite. Every emotion has an "urge to act" that goes with it. When we feel afraid or anxious, we avoid things; when we’re depressed or sad, we withdraw; when we’re angry, we’re tempted to lash out or yell. Unfortunately, each of these behaviors actually makes things worse. But if you can do the opposite action, you may make things better. Worried about something? Tackle it instead of ignoring it. Angry at someone? Don’t lash out, be empathetic. Depressed? Go out rather than shutting yourself in.
6. Focus on your muscles. By tensing and relaxing your muscles, you can help relieve some of the physical stress that’s stored in your body. Start at the bottom: Tense the muscles of your feet and then relax them. Tense and relax the different muscle groups of your body one at a time -- your legs, stomach, back, neck, arms, face, and head. And breathe.
Posted at 2008-11-27 17:17:13 PST(UTC-8H) |
Comments(2) | Permanent link
Fighting wrinkles is anything but fighting the inevitable. And at this point, your average five-year-old could probably tell you that the first step is staying out of the sun. So what else can you do? How about rearranging what's on your plate tonight.
Load up on these:
Vegetables
Beans
Olive oil
Nuts
Whole-grain bread
Cut down on these:
Red meat
Butter
Sugary, processed foods
Sure, every health expert says you should eat this way, but skin researchers have found that people who actually do watch what they eat not only have bodies that are physically younger, healthier, and slimmer but also are less likely to get wrinkles. Cool.
Why? Experts suspect it's because the foods in the "load up" category are crammed with antioxidants, those cellular warriors that fight both aging and disease. Specifically, credit for their wrinkle-fighting success is given to five potent antioxidants --zinc, selenium, and vitamins A, C, and E -- which excel at reducing the amount of free radicals that skin cells produce. Free radicals are what do the aging damage in the first place.
Posted at 2008-11-18 12:39:12 PST(UTC-8H) Comments(0) | Permanent link
It’s one of the maddening ironies of aging: Hair gets thinner where we want it -- on our heads -- and starts sprouting up in places we don’t.
Healthy-Hair Diet Eat more salmon. Omega-3 rich foods like salmon and sardines help seal in shine. Distilled fish oils or DHA supplements will work, too.
Be a bran lover. Bran is rich in vitamin B, which may slow hair loss and promote hair growth. Other B-rich victuals include beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, soybeans, nuts, and eggs.
Say yes to avocados. Avocados and avocado oil may prevent some funky stuff that kills hair follicles -- dihydrotestosterone (DHT) -- from getting where it needs to go.
Say no to animal fat -- and red meat -- if you’re losing hair. They can lead to more DHT production and hair-follicle damage.
Stock up on green tea. Brew a strong pot, cool it, then give your head a rinse to help kill off dandruff-causing fungus. Incidentally, if you drink green tea, the caffeine in it may help slow balding, too.
Posted at 2008-11-04 15:05:54 PST(UTC-8H) Comments(0) | Permanent link
For a quick and healthy snack, you can’t go wrong grabbing one of this season’s freshest apples. But put the peeler away.
Because if you pitch the skin, you’re ditching some pretty great things -- like cancer-fighting compounds called triterpenoids. What are those, you ask?
Gotta Get Your Triters Triterpenoids are powerful compounds that have shown strong anticancer potential against breast, liver, and colon cancer. And Red Delicious apples have triters in their peels. The peels also possess most of the apple’s fiber and cell-protective quercetin. So grab one, wash it well, and eat it whole.
Posted at 2008-11-04 14:54:03 PST(UTC-8H) Comments(0) | Permanent link
You don’t have to starve yourself to get that perfect, fat-free frame. In fact, you shouldn’t.
Because even if you lose weight through dieting alone, your body won’t burn fat any easier. To rev up your fat-burning engines, focus less on how often you empty your plate and more on how often you fill your walking shoes.
Fat Burning and More When a group of sedentary and overweight older adults recently tested three weight loss systems -- exercise only (mostly walking), diet only, and exercise plus diet -- there was no question about the results. When it came to fat burning, the walkers won hands down over those who simply watched what they ate. The bodies of the people who strutted their stuff used more fat to fuel their activity.
Posted at 2008-11-04 14:45:42 PST(UTC-8H) Comments(0) | Permanent link
1. Take Your Vitamins Regularly taking vitamin C (1200 mg/day), vitamin E (400 IU/day), calcium (1000-1200 mg/day), vitamin D (400-600 IU/day), folate (400 mcg/day), and vitamin B6 (6 mg/day) can make your real age 6 years younger.
2. Quit Smoking and Avoid Passive Smoke Smoking makes your real age 8 years older.
3. Know Your Blood Pressure A person with low blood pressure (~115/75 mm Hg) is as much as 25 years younger than a person with high blood pressure (greater than 160/90 mm Hg).
4. Reduce Stress In highly stressful times, your age can be as much as 32 years older than your calendar age. By building strong social networks and adopting stress-reduction strategies, you can erase 30 of those 32 years of aging caused by stress.
5. Floss Your Teeth Flossing and brushing daily can make your age 6.4 years younger.
6. Be Active Even a small amount of exercise—two 20-minute walks per day—can make your age nearly 5 years younger.
7. Wear Your Seatbelt Regularly wearing a seat belt and driving within 5 miles per hour of the speed limit can make your real age as much as 3.4 years younger.
8. Fill Up on Fiber Getting 25 grams of fiber per day in your diet can make your real age 2.5 years younger than if you only included 12 grams of fiber per day in your diet. Men may need even more than 25 grams of fiber per day.
9. Monitor Your Health People who are proactive about seeking high-quality medical care and managing chronic conditions can have a real age as much as 12 years younger than their peers who do not.
10. Develop an Age Reduction Plan Over your lifetime, you can make your real age as much as 26 years younger. That means that you will live younger every day, and live longer with as much health and energy as possible.
11. Laugh a Lot Laughter reduces stress, strengthens the immune system, and can make your real age as much as 8 years younger.
12. Become a Lifelong Learner People who remain intellectually involved throughout their lives have a real age as much as 2.5 years younger.
Posted at 2008-10-24 12:20:07 PST(UTC-8H) Comments(0) | Permanent link
Find out how flossing could save more than your smile.By the time we reach adulthood, most of us know that the consequences of not flossing are pretty tough on our teeth. Daily flossing is a vital part of dental care and promotes healthy teeth and gums. Sounds easy enough. But what if you knew that this simple daily ritual not only protects your mouth, but also may protect your heart and arteries? Suddenly, that little white string becomes more like a lifeline.
A blow to your smile When we don't floss regularly, our teeth can really suffer. A soft, sticky, bacterial film begins to accumulate on neglected teeth, especially below the gum line. Eventually the acids in these soft, sticky plaques begin to destroy the outer enamel of teeth. Gums may become irritated and bleed. Breath may start to smell bad. And after a while, these soft, sticky plaques will harden into crusty yellow or brown deposits—called tartar—and make it even easier for more plaque to stick and accumulate on teeth. Eventually, dental diseases that lead to tooth loss can take hold, resulting in a failing smile and possibly even diminished eating function or speech impairment.
As if all of this were not reason enough to floss, now research suggests that regular flossing may have health impacts beyond your mouth. Here are three ways flossing may protect your health: 1. Flossing may protect your heart True, lack of flossing can lead to gingivitis and periodontal diseases, but the consequences of poor dental health may reach beyond your mouth and to your heart. Research has shown a distinct connection between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease. Men under age fifty with advanced periodontal disease were found to be 2.6 times more likely to die prematurely and 3 times more likely to die of heart disease compared to men with healthy teeth and gums.
In one emergency room study, patients who came to the ER with chest pain were found to have a higher rate of recurring gum infections. We are not sure what is behind the connection, but the worrisome data makes the simple task of flossing a no-brainer for optimal health.
2. Flossing may protect your arteries Flossing and clogged arteries also may be related. Research has revealed that the same bacteria in tooth plaque also are found in the deadly fat deposits that obstruct arteries. Inflammation is a crucial link in the causal chain that leads to plaque and arterial obstruction.
The bacteria from the mouth may enter the bloodstream and contribute to inflammation and artery clogging.
3. Flossing may reduce your risk of diabetes and its complications If you already have certain health concerns, flossing may help protect you from any further health complications. For example, periodontal disease appears to make insulin resistance worse. When cells require more insulin to take up blood sugar from the blood stream, blood insulin and eventually blood sugar levels will rise. Increases in blood insulin and blood sugar levels both have undesirable effects, the best known being the development of type 2 diabetes. To the extent that good oral hygiene reduces plaque, gingivitis, periodontal disease, and the accompanying inflammatory processes, proper oral hygiene may in turn improve insulin sensitivity of liver and muscle cells and reduce blood sugar levels and the need for insulin.
Let the string lead the way More and more research is pointing to ties between oral health and overall health. Even when taking into consideration other bad health habits such as smoking or excessive drinking, studies have still shown a strong link between periodontal disease and other diseases. Short of a visit to the dentist, no other single personal oral healthcare habit alone has the same ability to remove plaque between teeth and below your gum line. Avoid relying exclusively on waterpiks for dental hygiene. The current technology is not as effective as traditional brushing and flossing. Being aware of the connection between poor oral health and disease gives you one more opportunity to achieve premium wellness.
The next time you floss, use these tips to get the most out of that little white string: Be sure to slide the floss under your gum line and also to gently curl it around each tooth as you floss. Floss gently, but don't quit because your gums bleed. Eventually they will become stronger and bleed less with regular flossing. Use fresh floss for each tooth juncture. If you find it difficult to manipulate floss with your fingers, purchase dental floss picks or holders that anchor sections of floss for you in a small, U-shaped plastic device.
Posted at 2008-10-23 20:50:01 PST(UTC-8H) Comments(0) | Permanent link
