Healthy Living

You have the four major muscle groups (quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals and erector spinae) to thank for most of your running, jumping, lifting, hitting and throwing ability. The muscles of your hips and upper legs provide the force needed to propel you forward or upward, and the positioning of your hips plays a critical role in how much force you can apply in throwing and hitting.There's also a universal high regard for firm glutes and well-proportioned thighs. Men and women alike admire this portion of the human anatomy, so for aesthetic reasons alone, it's a good idea to invest in a well-rounded ...

Colitis is an inflammation of the colon, or large intestine. Colitis has various causes and may take many different forms. Inflammation of the colon may be acute as a result of food or other poisoning, or it may be of the chronic catarrhal variety.A single or an occasional attack of colitis may be caused by food poisoning, a virus infection of the intestinal tract, or an emotional disturbance. These attacks of colitis usually last only one or two days and do not require special treatment.The latter is associated with chronic constipation and the habitual use (or abuse) of purgative drugs especially ...

Breast lumps probably arouse more concern among women than any other condition. This is because of the fear of cancer in an organ that is so significantly associated with femininity and sexuality. It is important to understand that there are many other causes of lumps in the breast, so if a lump develops - particularly in a young woman — the chances are that it is NOT a cancer. Fewer than one breast lump in ten seen by a doctor proves to be malignant. However, if doctors knew that all breast lumps were benign (non-cancerous) they wouldn't bother about them at all, but it's because there is ...

Bed-wetting is a medical problem that makes businessmen dread overnight trips to a conference, causes marriages to break up, stops teenagers from spending the night at a friend's, and drives the mothers of some children to desperation. The technical medical name for bed-wetting is enuresis. People with this problem are often too embarrassed to see their family doctor about it, but it may cause severe disruption to home life and a career.Normally, urine is retained in the bladder by the contraction of a ring-shaped bundle of muscle that surrounds the bladder opening. When you wish to pass urine, ...

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, not all mothers are capable of breastfeeding. Those who can't should not feel guilty, but should accept that this is a problem that can occur through no fault of theirs, and be grateful that there are excellent feeding formulas available for their child.But for those that can, the advantages of breastfeeding include the obvious convenience of avoiding the need to sterilize bottles and prepare formulas, but more significant are the advantages it gives the child in protecting it from some childhood infections and the stimulation it gives the mothers uterus ...

Mothercraft is not an instinct. It is something which can be taught. The instinctive love which every mother has for her offspring is not sufficient to provide means to overcome difficulties unknown in the natural state.Antenatal clinics are now within the reach of almost every woman, with resulting decrease in the risks of maternity. Many difficulties at the time of labor are due to the fact that advice is not sought early enough for precautions to be taken.Here are ten tips for the first timer whose pregnancy has been just been diagnosed:1. Your First Check UpAt about ten weeks of pregnancy ...

Calcium is the chemical element which enters into the compsition of the bones, teeth and other hard tissues of the human body. Its utilization by the body is dependent upon adequate intake of vitamins A, D and C, and upon the correct functioning of the parathyroid glands. Although cows' milk is very high in calcium, it is only easily absorbed until the age when a child develops the first full set of teeth. After about the age of 7 when the enzyme rennin is no longer present in the body and it is extremely hard for humans to digest fat globules and extract the calcium efficiently. Calves have ...

It does no good to tell an alcoholic to 'pull yourself together' or 'stop drinking before it kills you'. They need professional counseling and treatment. The biggest problem faced by families and doctors is the denial by so many alcoholics that they have a problem. Unfortunately, it is not possible to force these people into treatment centers until they are well down the path of chronic alcoholism and become a danger to themselves and others. At this point, doctors and families (the law varies between states) can certify the person to be an alcoholic and they are then forcibly placed in a treatment ...

The medical effects of alcoholism can be serious to the point where they can significantly alter the quality of life and shorten the life of the alcoholic.The social complications of alcohol are obvious and include the disruption to family life with verbal and physical abuse of children and wife/husband, poor performance at work and repeated loss of jobs or failure to gain promotion, loss of friends and chastisement from relatives, the physical risks of drink-driving and being injured in falls or industrial accidents, and the increased risk of eventual suicide. Cirrhosis is hardening of the ...

Many dental disorders are incurable but preventable:* Dental caries (tooth decay) can be reversed with the use of fluoride in its very early stages before it has become destructive, but later the only recourse is to cut away the diseased section of tooth and replace it with artificial substitutes of one kind or another.* Periodontal disease in some of its manifestations can be reversed in its early stages, but advanced bone loss around teeth cannot be recovered.* Teeth injured by trauma either by accident or on the sporting field are seldom totally restorable, but can be repaired by the usual ...

There are two types of sleep: deep sleep and REM sleep. REM stands for rapid eye movements. Several times a night, the level of sleep lightens, and while the eyelids remain closed, the eyes themselves move around rapidly. It is during this stage of sleep that dreams occur, and it is the more valuable form of sleep. If a volunteer is woken every time he or she starts REM sleep, he or she will remain tired and irritable and obtain little benefit from the sleep.REM sleep does not start until an hour or so after first falling asleep, and long periods of deep sleep occur between each episode. Unfortunately, ...

Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity and covers the abdominal organs. The inflammation may be limited to one area, or it may affect the entire peritoneum. Peritonitis may result from the extension of disease from an abdominal organ. For example, urine from a ruptured bladder or pus from a ruptured appendix may spill into the peritoneal cavity, causing inflammation. Peritonitis may also result from the spread of infection elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream.Peritonitis generally develops rapidly. The symptoms include pain, abdominal ...

Sleepwalking is a condition in which a person, who appears not to be governed by normal will or capable of normal grasp of the environment, walks or performs other motor acts beginning during or immediately after sleep and who does not recall the actions after awakening. The condition is also known as somnambulism. Sleepwalking is much more common in children than in adults, occurring in about 5% of children. Sleeptalking often accompanies sleepwalking.Sleepwalking itself is not indicative of any serious disorder. The phenomenon tends to run in families, is commoner in persons of nervous dispositions, ...

Sleep is a healthy, recurrent state of inertia and reduced responsiveness found among higher vertebrates. It is controlled by the brain and associated with characteristic electrical rhythms in the brain. These electrical impulses may be recorded on a graph known as an electroencephalogram, commonly abbreviated EEG. The bodily features of sleep are understood better than its functions.ClassificationThere are two main types of sleep; nonrapid eye movement (NREM), or orthodox sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM), or paradoxical sleep. The two types of sleep alternate. In man this alternation takes ...

Dengue is an acute, contagious infection caused by a virus that is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same mosquito that spreads yellow fever. Dengue, which is also known as break-bone fever and dandy fever, occurs in epidemic form in the tropics; in temperate zones outbreaks are limited to the warmer months of the year.Typically, the disease is characterized by the sudden onset of fever, headache, and generalized fatigue following an incubation period of 7 to 9 days. About 2 or 3 days after these symptoms appear, the patient develops severe pain in the back and eyes and complains ...