Author: Nitin Chhoda

The Best Shoes for Walking

By Wendy Bumgardner, About.com

Walking shoes are your most important item of gear. Our walking shoe gear guide will help you decide which to buy, where to buy, and reader reviews of shoes.

The Best Shoe

There is no one best shoe. The best shoe for you is the the one that fits you best, the one that gives you the proper support, flexibility, cushioning, and compensates for any stride problems you may have, such as overpronation. Each person’s feet are different. Take all advice with a grain of salt and find a shoe fitting expert to help you find the shoe that is best for your walking distance, speed, style, and surface as well as your weight and stride.

Walking or Running Shoes?

Shoe manufacturers are putting the best design and technology into running shoe styles, while walking shoe styles are being designed primarily for market appeal rather than performance. Follow the tips on the upcoming pages to see whether that walking shoe you are interested really meets your needs, or if you should go with a running shoe design.

Essential Walking Shoe Qualities:

• Flexible: You must be able to bend and twist the shoes. When you take a walking step, your foot will flex as you roll through a step from heel to toe. If the shoe is too stiff, your foot will fight it with each step.
• Flat: Walking shoes should have a relatively flat heel.
• Heel Not Flared: Since walkers strike with the heel first, you do not want a big flared heel. In fact, a slightly undercut heel is preferred.

Boots for Walkers?

Many long distance walkers wear hiking boots. I noted over half of the walkers on half-marathon to marathon distance walks in Europe were wearing boots. However, boots do not provide motion control features that many people need, and may be inflexible and heavy. Walkers may discover that they need a boot for the trail but not for the street.

It may be hard to find time to take care of yourself, but here’s a simple treatment for your tired eyes.

Steep one chamomile tea bag in 1 cup boiling water in a large mug for 5 minutes. Remove the teabag and allow the tea to cool.

Add 1 cup rose water to tea.
Chill in refrigerator.
Soak two cotton pads in the mixture.
Place them on your eyelids and
leave on for 5 minutes.

Try this anytime of the day you get a few minutes or at bedtime. You can purchase rose water in any grocery store.

What is cord blood and what are the benefits of cord blood banking?

• The blood that remains in your baby’s umbilical cord after it has been cut is called cord blood which is rich in stem cells. These valuable cells which are genetically unique to your baby and family, can only be collected in the minutes after your baby’s birth.
• Preserving your newborn’s stem cells is called cord blood banking and allows you to have your baby’s cord blood saved for potential medical uses to treat life-threatening diseases. If you do not choose to bank your baby’s cord blood, it will be discarded after birth.
• You have only one chance to save your baby’s cord blood for your family since it can only be collected immediately after birth.
• Many expectant families choose to bank their baby’s cord blood for peace of mind, knowing that stem cells can be lifesaving to their baby and family.
• Saving your baby’s cord blood is important since using your own family’s cord blood, if needed, has been shown to have significant advantages compared to using cord blood from an unrelated donor.
• Your baby will be a perfect genetic match for the stem cells as will the baby’s mom due to her carrying the child during pregnancy.
• Dad will share at least 50% genetic matching with the baby.
• It is twice as likely that siblings will be able to use each other’s cord blood stem cells compared to each other’s bone marrow.
• First and second degree relatives may also be able to use your newborn’s stem cells if they are a sufficient genetic match.
• Cord blood stem cells have current and emerging uses in medical treatment:
• Today nearly 70 diseases have been treated with cord blood stem cells including leukemia, other cancers and blood disorders.
• Doctors are working to develop stem cell treatments for heart disease, juvenile diabetes, brain injury and more.

“My family does not have a history of diseases, so my doctor did not recommend.”

• Genetic history is only one risk factor for disease, and doesn’t guarantee immunity. Many other things, like environmental factors, can contribute heavily to disease.
• Ultimately we can’t predict what our future health will be and one advantage of saving your own cord blood stem cells it gives you access to a wider range of treatment options in the future should you need it.
• The science of cord blood stem cells is changing very rapidly. In fact, just last month new physician guidelines recognized the value of cord blood stem cells and encouraged health care providers to educate all expectant parents on their options for preserving cord blood stem cells.
• It is fairly typical in healthcare and medicine to see a range of opinions; however we continue to see progress being made in this area
• Your baby will be a perfect genetic match and may use these stem cells to treat nearly 70 diseases including cancers and blood disorders. Doctors are working to develop stem cell treatments for heart disease, juvenile diabetes, brain injury and more.
• Your baby’s biological siblings are twice as likely to be able to use your newborn’s cord blood stem cells for treatment of cancers or genetic diseases versus bone marrow stem cells.
• Mom will be able to use her baby’s stem cells due to a compatibility that occurs during gestation.
• Dad has a 50% genetic match with the newborn.
• First and second degree relatives may also be able to use your newborn’s stem cells if they are a sufficient genetic match.

What provider do you recommend?

• We recommend Cord Blood Registry (CBR) because it is the leader in the industry, the world’s largest and most experienced cord blood bank.
• CBR has significantly more experience in providing samples for transplant than any other family cord blood bank.
• CBR is recommended most by Ob/Gyns and chosen most by expectant families.
• CBR saves more cells for your family with the highest published rate of recovering cells from cord blood (99%) which is important if you ever need them.
• CBR has a highly safe lab and storage location in Tucson, Arizona.
• CBR has a proven track record of financial and long-term stability, and its lab has been processing cord blood since 1992.
• CBR has programs to make cord blood banking affordable:
  • A payment program available that makes the monthly cost less than the average cell phone or utility bill,
  • A Gift Registry program that allows your family and friends to help in providing this gift to your child and
  • The Designated Transplant Program where certain families qualify for free cord blood banking.

Diseases Treated

Doctors and scientists, world wide, are revolutionizing new areas of medicine with stem cells. By banking your newborn’s cord blood, you can provide your baby with exciting new treatment options to:

• Repair nerve cells to heal brain and spinal cord injuries or brain damage caused by stroke.
• Regenerate cells to form new blood vessels: to treat heart and circulatory disease.
• Replace damaged cells to improve recovery from cardiovascular disease, heart attack, or injury.
• Regenerate brain cells to treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

These exciting advances are in addition to nearly 70 diseases already being treated by stem cells, saving kids from leukemia, cancers, and blood disorders right now.

Saving your baby’s cord blood is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To help you make as informed a choice as possible, here are answers to some common uncertainties:

Q: Since we don’t have a family history of disease, is banking cord blood really necessary?

A: Family history is only one risk factor for disease, and doesn’t guarantee immunity. Many other things, like environmental factors, can contribute heavily to disease. And cord blood holds tremendous promise for treating injuries like brain damage, spinal cord repair, and tissue growth – possibilities no one can rule out.

Q: My OB didn’t mention it to me, so can it really be that important?

A: Many states now have legislation that requires OBs share this important information with their pregnant patients. Your state might not have passed this law yet and/or your doctor might not know a lot of details.

Q: We want to bank our baby’s cord blood, but how can we afford it?

A: CBR has three programs to help: payment plans as low as $48 a month; a Gift Registry that lets friends and families contribute to your enrollment; and a Designated Transplant Program where certain families qualify for free cord blood banking.

We asked OBs to answer the top 3 questions pregnant women have about cord blood banking.

Q: Should I bank my baby’s cord blood?

A: Yes, I recommend it. Research shows that cord blood stem cells have the potential to develop into – or repair – almost all types of cells and tissues in the body. So saving your child’s stem cells secures your best treatment options today and tomorrow.

• Dr.Karen Smith, Ob-Gyn and Mom to Emma and Sarah

Q: What are the odds that my family will need to use stem cells?

A: The odds that a family will need to use stem cells have been reported as frequent as 1 in 200, however these odds do not include the anticipated use of stem cells to treat disorders such as heart disease, diabetes, brain injury and other common disorders. As advances in medicine continue to increase, so too will the expected use of stem cells.

• Dr.Brian Bernick, Ob-Gyn

Q: Which family cord blood bank should I use?
A: I recommend CBR to all my patients. They’re the most experienced bank in the world, they recover the most cells, and they’re stable – meaning they’ll be here to protect your family for a lifetime.

- Dr. Kim Powers, Ob-Gyn and Mom to Terrence and Laura

What are Stem Cells?

Stem cells are considered to be the body’s “master” cells because they create all other tissues, organs, and systems in the body. The stem cells found in cord blood are the building blocks of your blood and immune system and most readily reproduce into:

Red Blood Cells - which carry oxygen to all the cells in the body
White Blood Cells - which fight infection
Platelets - which aid in clotting in the event of injury

There are three sources where stem cells are commonly found and they are:

• Bone Marrow
• Peripheral Blood (the blood that circulates through your body)
• Cord Blood

The ability of cord blood stem cells to differentiate, or change into other types of cells in the body is a new discovery that holds significant promise for improving the treatment of some of the most common diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s.

There are many exciting advances happening with stem cells. Right now, doctors are focusing on newborn stem cells and their potential to:

• Regenerate brain cells—to treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease
• Repair nerve cells—to heal brain and spinal cord injuries or brain damage caused by stroke
• Regenerate cells to form new blood vessels—to treat heart and circulatory disease
• Replace damaged cells—to improve recovery from cardiovascular disease, a heart attack, or injury. By saving your newborn’s stem cells, you provide your child with options to benefit from these emerging therapies.

Although they are routinely discarded, newborn stem cells have unique biology that is important in medical treatments. Newborn stem cells are 8-10 times more proliferative than adult cells, and are much more compatible with family members versus adult cells. For example, siblings are twice as likely to be compatible with their newborn cells compared to their same adult stem cells. And unlike adult cells, newborn stem cells are “healthy” in that they have not been exposed to viruses, pollution, or disease in the vast majority of cases.

Cord blood is the blood rich in stem cells that remains in a baby’s umbilical cord and placenta following birth.

Parents have the choice, immediately after the birth of their baby, to preserve their baby’s cord blood for use by their own family, or donate it to a public bank (if available), or to throw it away. Regrettably, this amazing resource is being discarded, its potential benefits lost forever, due to lack of knowledge by parents nationwide.

Since your baby’s stem cells are genetically unique to your child and family, and using cells from a relative is the best source of stem cells in treating diseases, cord blood banking has been called a type of “biological insurance”.

Banking cord blood is an important investment that you can make in your family’s health and helps ensure the best chance of survival when the cells are used. In fact, newborn stem cells from a relative have resulted in more than double the survival rates compared to stem cells from unrelated donors. And your child and family may have significantly better options in medical treatments or cures for cancers as well as common conditions like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.

In addition, they can be immediately available if they are needed which can minimize disease progression. Because the cells found in cord blood are “naive,” or undeveloped, the cells do not have to “match” the patient as closely as bone marrow and therefore can be used by siblings or other relatives in many circumstances where bone marrow stem cells cannot.

Lastly, unlike the adult stem cells in your body, your newborn’s stem cells are “healthy” as they have not been exposed to environmental contamination or viruses.

Considering that nearly 70 diseases are already being successfully treated with stem cells, and the fact that the number will very likely increase in the coming years, cord blood banking is a prudent investment in your family’s health.

Family Banking & Public Donation

Many parents wonder what the differences are between Family Cord Blood Banking and Public Donation of their newborn’s stem cells. The following comparison table provides a brief view of these two important options.

Here’s something you can do for yourself at home that is easy and leaves your skin feeling like silk. It also uses ingredients that you’re likely to have in your own kitchen. Purchase some powdered cosmetic clay (French green, red, or white) to use in this recipe. You can find it at your natural foods store.

Using a clean washcloth, clean your face well with a non-soap facial cleanser and warm water. Rinse your face with cool water and pat dry.

Boil a deep pot of water on the stove. When it comes to a boil, remove it to a table and set it on a hot pad. If you’d like, add 1 or 2 drops of lavender or rose essential oil, or sprinkle in a handful of dried rose petals. Let the water cool until you can comfortably hold your face over the pot, forming a tent with a large towel

Remain as long as it you’re comfortable, taking breaks if needed. The steam will open and cleanse your pores as well as moisturize your tissues. When the water cools completely, pat your face dry with a clean towel.

Mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of cosmetic clay with enough water or egg white to make a paste.

Apply the paste to your face. Sit comfortably with your feet up for at least 10 minutes. If you’d like, sip a cool glass of water with lemon. When the mask feels dry and tight, , rinse it off with warm water and a washcloth. Follow up with a cool water rinse and pat dry.

Combine 2 tablespoons plain yogurt and 1 tablespoon honey. Apply the mixture to your face for 10 to 20 minutes. Rinse it off with warm water and a washcloth, followed by a cool rinse. Pat your skin dry with a clean towel.

In the 1930s, British homeopath and medical doctor, Edward Bach, began to treat the mental and emotional symptoms of his patients with the essences he derived from flowers. The use of flowers in healing has numerous historical precedents, but Bach was the first modern physician to use them. He developed a repertory of 38 remedies from native or naturalized plants in rural England.

Flower remedies are safe and gentle, and can be used during pregnancy. Using them forces you to know yourself, because you have to identify your emotional state to choose the right remedy. There are remedies for feeling overwhelmed, for different kinds of fears, for grief, and for shock.

Two you can try in the second trimester are Aspen, for fears of the unknown, and Walnut, for times of transition. Aspen can help with the inevitable nervous anticipation that accompanies the birth of the first child. Walnut provides resiliency as you go through the various transitions of pregnancy.

Pour about 8 ounces of fresh water into a beautiful glass. Add 3 drops of Aspen and 3 drops of Walnut to the water. Sip slowly during a bath or while you sit quietly.

By Ezilon.com Articles

Good Face Cleansers – Impart Freshness To Your Face

Good face cleansers are items that clean and rinse your face and provide a different freshness to your face. Good face cleansers include mild and natural gels, lotions and creams that provide a soothing softness to your skin. It imparts a certain healthiness that makes you look fresh and good even after a tired day out.

Benefits of good face cleansers

A good face cleanser provides a lot of benefits to people using the items. It helps in gentle removal of dirt and debris, prevents oil secretion in the face, provides a calm and soothing sensation to the skin, eliminates surface bacteria, imparts new and fresh skin texture, and removes excess toxins from the skin. The facial cleansers are made of natural ingredients and provide no side effects. So these cleansers are suitable for any skin type.

The facial cleansers provide quick freshness and softness to your face. This means that you can notice the pleasant changes in your face within a few days after you use the cleansers. If it’s winter, the cleansers stop your facial skin from cracking and if its summer the cleansers prevent your skin from secreting excessive oil. But you have to regularly use the facial cleansers to notice the changes.

Ingredients of face cleansers

A good facial cleanser usually provides good results on all skin for it contains the following natural elements in it:
? Caffeine, Aloe Vera and Sucrose – imparts the anti-irritation quality to the cleanser
? Glycerin – acts as humectants
? Olive fruit and Safflower Seed oils – act as emollients
? Trehalose and Sodium Hyaluronate – moisturizing elements
? Linoleic Acid and Barley Extract – a natural barrier repair complex

These face cleansers gently dissolve away dirt, makeup and debris thereby leaving your skin fresh, soothing, and smooth.

Natural face cleansers

Instead of applying chemical products to your face, you can use natural ingredients that will impart a rich and fresh glow to your face. Natural ingredients include turmeric powder, chickpea powder, cucumber pastes, yogurt mixtures, chamomile and rosemary tops, almond, honey, vitamin A/E and mix them with milk, rosewater, glycerin cleansers and curd to prepare face cleansing pastes. These cleansers are applied twice to thrice a day, and reduce freckles, blemishes, enhance the softness and glow of the face, reduce wrinkles and premature sagging of the skin.

Other advantages of face cleansers

Whether your skin is oily or full of acne, the cleansing cream is unique for all skin types. Whether you have large pores, blackheads, uneven skin, cracking skin or too many wrinkles facial cleansers can cure every type of problem. For people suffering from special cases as mentioned you should use facial cleansers that are rich in ingredients like sodium lauryl, ether sulphate, cocoamidopropyl betaine, hidroviton, sodium citrate, methyl Paraben, polysorbate 20, deionised water, cocamide DEA, propyleneglycol, chamomile extract, EDTA and Fragrances.

Use facial cleansers for deep cleansing of your skin, exfoliating dead surface cells, fighting against pollution, eliminating skin redness and blotchiness in skin.

By Ezilon.com Articles

Millions of years ago the birth of life took place in water. With the pace of time water became a vital part of our life – it is impossible to live without water. Today water also plays the role of a nutrient to build good health of every living creature in this green planet. Though water is plenty on earth but quantity of drinking water is reducing day by day!

We often ignore the importance of this colorless liquid - water. Even you will find many health specialists forget mentioning water in the list of nutrients. This is how the vital nutrient of our life is neglected. We need water to live, to keep us healthy, and to maintain natural fresh look and beauty.

How much water do you need to drink?

The requirement of water depends upon daily activity and health condition. Though it is true that composition of water is available in all types of foods, we still need to drink a certain amount of water – plain water. The intake of water also varies with climate. Researches have found that the minimum requirement of water for an adult is 2 liters per day.

Whenever your body requires water you will feel thirsty. Some common symptoms are:
• Getting headache
• Drying mouth
• Getting thirsty
• Feeling weak

Loosing water from normal perspiration is a common phenomenon. Even when we are taking rest, our body needs water for running necessary metabolic functions. Those who are physically very active needs more water than a normal people.

Soft drink cannot be the substitute of water

Often you will find people taking soft drink instead of plain water, whenever they feel thirsty. But soft drinks, which are available in the market in attractive bottles or packets, cannot be the right substitute of water. These soft drinks contain artificial color, flavors, sugars, calories and even artificial sweetener.

Needs of water for good health

Drinking plain water not only reduces our thirst but also keeps us healthy by maintaining metabolic functions. There are several needs of water for good health:

• Drinking water helps people who are worried about their growing calories. Intake of sufficient water each day can reduce their extra calories. These extra calories are responsible for gaining unwanted weight. Drinking plain water helps them to loose weight.
• There is a chance of getting extra calories for people who drink alcohol. Too much intake of alcohol also affects our kidney. It is important to drink sufficient amount of water. This reduces the chance of getting our kidney affected. Also, intake of water removes those extra calories that we gain while drinking alcohol.
• Today asthma is a growing problem for all age groups. Water plays the role of a medicine for people who are suffering from asthma. Drink plenty of water. This not only helps the secretion of mucous from our body but also protect us from respiratory diseases.

The need of water for good health is not necessary for all. People who are suffering from severe kidney problem or other medical conditions are restricted from drinking water. Therefore, the intake of drinking water depends upon the medical condition of our health. It is always important to drink sufficient amount of water under medical supervision.

The connection between tattoos and hepatitis C virus (HCV) has long been suspected but never completely substantiated.

Tattoos and the connection to the disease were clouded by a perceived propensity to other risk factors, such as injection drug use. “Other studies did not exclude patients with other risk factors for hepatitis C,” explains principal investigator Dr. Edmund Bini, “which made it difficult to assess the association between HCV and tattoos. The strength of that association surprised us.”

Researchers in New York studied 3871 people, approximately half of whom were control subjects. Patients with HCV were more likely to have had one or more tattoos, and this remained so even after adjusting for age, sex and race/ethnicity.

Patients with tattoos but also with traditional risk factors for HCV — injection drug use and drug transfusion prior to 1992 — were excluded from the final analysis of the data of the remaining 1887 patients with tattoos and no other risk factors for HCV, patients with HCV were approximately three times more likely to have had tattoos. This connection was significant even after, once again, adjusting for age, sex, and race/ethnicity.

The researchers concluded that all patients with tattoos should be tested for HCV. “It helps to be able to identify patients early who are eligible for treatment,” said Dr. Bini. This information will be further refined when they complete analysis of assessing the risk of having multiple tattoos, as well as whether the patient received the tattoo in the US or abroad.

By: American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases

According to surveys, the two most visited islands in the US are Maui and Hawaii. You may either take the word of those who have traveled there, or see for yourself by planning your next great vacation in Maui.
As one of the Hawaiian islands, Maui is often called the “Valley Isle” because of it’s location between two volcanoes. It is the second largest of Hawaii’s eight islands and has many tropical rain forests, pristine beaches, clear waters, green pasture and rocky cliffs.
The island is a great place to visit throughout the year, as the weather stays a comfortable 75 to 85 degrees all year round. If you are interested in spending your next vacation here, try booking online or visit your local travel agent. This would certainly be a memorable vacation and be sure to bring back lots of souvenirs and pictures.
Tourists can stay either at the western or eastern side of the island. The western side is the biggest tourist destination and where most of the resorts are located, in the towns of Lahaina, Kaanapali and Kapalua. However, if you want to avoid the crowds, try the east side where you can trek through the rainforest, see waterfalls and cross over land bridges.
How can you start your tour in Maui? Well, you can probably start by hopping on board the Sugar Cane Train in Kaanapali and relax in an open-air coach while visiting the historic town of Lahaina. You could then snorkel at Wailea Beach or relax in its waters and see the black lava formations that mingle with the sand.
For those who don’t want to swim, they can go whale watching; join a fishing cruise or a scenic sightseeing cruise. This will give tourists the chance to learn more about the island and intermingle with others.
In the evening, you can enjoy a dinner cruise with lively music and dancing in the perfect setting for a romantic evening. These boats usually depart on the west side of the island and many of these can be found in Lahaina. These cruises usually last about two and a half hours and it is recommended to arrive early.
When you return to the island, you may have a drink at the one of the open air bars or watch a fire dance. This show will surely amaze you as these individuals are able to perform their demonstration unscathed.
Before returning, you should check out some of the art galleries. Who knows, you may find something here that you would like to buy and display in your home.
A vacation in Maui is not only for families but for couples as well who may be celebrating their honeymoon or anniversary. This provides you the option to stay at a secluded place so as to enjoy each other’s company without disturbances.
This vacation in Maui may be your first, but surely will not be your last. With the breathtaking views and the friendly people, chances are you will return again in years ahead or even recommend this place to family members and friends