[ReprintArticles-Paradise] What Is Good Health
Title: What Is Good Health Author: Loring A. Windblad Word count: 1,936; 65 characters per line Contact e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Category: Health Autoresponder: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://reprintarticles.com/what_is_good_health.php Author URL: http://reprintarticles.com/Loring_Windblad.php Terms for reprint: 1. You must publish the article AS IS. Do not modify, alter or edit it. 2. The author's resource box must accompany the article at all times. 3. The link/s must be active or clickable. 4. Notifying the author is not required, but doing so is appreciated. This article is distributed as part of the ReprintArticles.com Featured Author service at http://reprintarticles.com/featuredauthor.php - What Is Good Health by Loring A. Windblad There is no universally agreed definition of health. Its meaning has changed through the ages and in different cultures. The term derives from the Anglo-Saxon word haelth, meaning safe, sound or whole. In medieval times haelthing meant sharing a few drinks with one's friends, having previously meant hello and holiness. In recent decades, health has been taken to mean the absence of disease. The term disease generally refers to a diagnosable physical abnormality while illness means the personal experience of sickness, or the perceived suffering due to a disease. Changing views of health Since the mid-1900s, medical practice has been dominated by a biomedical model that focuses more on curing than preventing illness, dividing diseases into categories -- for example, targeting a cirrhotic liver or ischemic heart for treatment. This method tends to separate physical from psychological or emotional problems, which are sometimes dismissed as all in the head, not meriting medical attention. However, views of health are undergoing radical changes. The absence-of-disease concept is being supplanted by an image of well being for body, spirit and mind. The emerging bio-psychosocial model regards mind and body as an intertwined unit and suggests that people be treated as whole persons, taking into account economic, social and psychological factors. In 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well being, encompassing the ability to achieve full potential, deal with crises and meet environmental challenges. In other words, health -- or wellness, to use a trendy term -- is the capacity to undertake physical effort, to live within one's own potential and carry out tasks with vigour and alertness, leaving enough energy for unforeseen emergencies. The more recent Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion goes further, suggesting as fundamentals for health: peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, social justice and equity. For example, people can't easily stay healthy if they're starving, if the air is polluted or during wartime. Today's key buzz words are disease prevention and health promotion, rather than trying to treat the symptoms of illnesses (as is practiced by most medical practitioners nowadays) that are largely preventable. Unfortunately, despite lip service, prevention is often a hard sell as it takes both personal and community action. Yet studies show that even a few words of advice from health professionals can often help to prevent disease by motivating people to modify their lifestyle. Many of us are the worried well Although North Americans have an increasing life expectancy, many worry unduly about health. As U.S. physician Dr. Arthur Barsky writes in his book Worried Sick: Our sense of physical well being has not kept pace with improvements in our collective health status...there is a pervasive atmosphere of dis-ease. Many feel constantly out of sorts -- with vague undiagnosable ailments -- worriedly scrutinizing everyday actions for their health effects. For example, foods may be dubbed good (life-prolonging) or bad (health-harming) -- instead of being regarded as enjoyable nourishment. Many are confused, even stressed, by trying to keep up with the latest medical pronouncements -- eat margarine instead of butter (or not); drink red wine (one glass or two?); take antioxidants -- vitamins C and E (or don't); shun coffee, drink decaff (or what?). The main determinants of good health Biology - the genetic make-up (genes inherited from mother and father). Lifestyle habits - such as a nutritious low-fat diet; enough exercise; sufficient, sound sleep; avoiding misuse of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs; motor-vehicle and traffic safety; healthy (safer) sexual practices; and stress-reduction. Emotional balance - good self-esteem, feeling in control and able to forge intimate relationships. Economic and social well being - sufficient income for food and shelter; supportive networks (family, friends, colleagues). A health-promoting environment - e.g., not excessively
[ReprintArticles-Paradise] Help for Diabetes, Gout and More
Title: Help for Diabetes, Gout and More Author: Loring A. Windblad Word count: 1,104; 65 characters per line Contact e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Category: Health Autoresponder: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://reprintarticles.com/help_for_diabetes_gout_and_more.php Author URL: http://reprintarticles.com/Loring_Windblad.php Terms for reprint: 1. You must publish the article AS IS. Do not modify, alter or edit it. 2. The author's resource box must accompany the article at all times. 3. The link/s must be active or clickable. 4. Notifying the author is not required, but doing so is appreciated. This article is distributed as part of the ReprintArticles.com Featured Author service at http://reprintarticles.com/featuredauthor.php - Help for Diabetes, Gout and More by Loring A. Windblad Overview of Gout Gout is a systemic disease caused by the buildup of uric acid in the joints, causing inflammation, swelling, and pain. This condition can develop for two reasons. The liver may produce more uric acid than the body can excrete in the urine, or a diet of rich foods (e.g., red meat, cream sauces, red wine) puts more uric acid into the bloodstream than the kidneys can filter. In both cases, a condition called hyperuricemia results. Over time, the uric acid crystallizes and settles in the joint spaces, most commonly in the first metatarsal phalangeal joint of the big toe or in the ankle joint. Signs and Symptoms The most common symptoms of gout are inflammation, swelling, and tenderness in the joint of the first toe. Touching or moving it is intensely painful and patients often say it hurts to have as much as a bedsheet over the toe. Gout develops quickly and typically occurs in only one joint at a time. Symptoms may develop in two or three joints simultaneously, but this is rare. If widespread symptoms occur, the condition is probably not gout. Diagnosis The most reliable way to diagnose gout is to examine the joint fluid for uric acid crystals. This is done by drawing fluid from the joint with a needle and examining it under a polarized light microscope. Although the test is invasive, the results are definitive, and a positive result facilitates proper treatment and quick relief. Treatment Treatment for gout involves decreasing the amount of uric acid in the joint. If dietary habits are the cause, the patient's lifestyle must be changed to avoid the condition. Gout is readily corrected with patient cooperation, and it is usually not treated unless it occurs frequently. Colchicine is a common medication for treating acute gout attacks. If continuous medication is necessary, the two most common choices are probenecid and allopurinol. Prevention Alcohol and rich foods are primary contributors to excessive uric acid levels. Although some patients have a genetic predisposition to excessive uric acid production, most gout patients have normal kidneys and uncontrolled dietary habits. Prevention is the best defense against the disease. Many patients who suffer from gout continue to indulge, and suffer frequent attacks as a result. Although medication makes it possible to live with gout, the continued accumulation of uric acid in the joints eventually damages them, seriously inhibiting movement. Overview of Diabetes New to diabetes? Learn the basics -- check with your local diabetes clinic or research it on the internet. A key to diabetes management is maintaining a regular exercise program. Its never too late to start -- see below. Sticking to dietary goals while eating out also can be very challenging -- see comments below. 20 million Americans and Canadians have diabetes. Nearly 7 million don't know it. Type 2 diabetes usually develops slowly, and the symptoms often go unnoticed. Our son developed a puffiness to his face which we noticed right away because we saw him only a couple of times a year. He and his wife put it down to simple weight gain. After 2½ years they finally snapped to there being something wrong and when he was finally checked out his diabetes was off the charts. Fortunately, they caught it in time, but it should have been caught over a year earlier. Nearly 90 to 95% of all people with diabetes have type 2. Who gets it? Just about any body. Fat, skinny, regular build, it makes no difference; just about everyone can develop diabetes. Most at risk are people regardless of body build who live on a high intake of junk food. Least at risk are people who eat a regular balanced diet. What you may not know about diabetes -- the truth about insulin resistance. 92% of people with type 2 diabetes have insulin resistance. Get the facts -- go to your local diabetes agency or research it on the internet. Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes. Obesity is not a guarantee you will develop diabetes -- many obese persons never develop it, many slender people do develop it, but persons who are obese have the major
