Can anything be done to prevent acne?
If you believe all the people who write advertising copy, curing acne could not be easier. All you have to do is to use this cleanser, rub in this topical cream and stick your finger in your ear. Never since snakes were first turned into oil have so many promises been made by so many manufacturers to so many people. This is not to say that all the products on the market are useless. But it is to warn you that you have to see through the sales hype designed to part you from your money. There are a few simple things you can do. This does involve you buying “stuff”. But buy with your eyes open. The first step is to understand the reality of your “problem”. The fact that one batch of acne clears up does not mean there will be no more acne. You may have to continue taking some action over a period of a year and more. This will particularly apply if the trigger to your problem is the use of an oral contraceptive. You should liaise with your doctor to change the dosage and, if necessary, the brand of contraceptive you use until the right balance of hormones is achieved.
The good thing about self-help is that it is the cheapest kind of help on the market. Wherever possible, prefer it to any over-the-counter products or prescription medications. So what should you do?
- Wash the areas most affected only twice a day. What does washing do? It removes the dead skin and any excess of sebum oil that has reached the surface. It is best to use a non-perfumed, simple soap and wash gently. If you wash too often or you rub at the skin too violently, you can cause more damage than you prevent.
- Once the skin is clean, avoid touching it. It is easy to transfer natural grease or oil from the fingers. The transfer is worse if you have been eating or using any product that will affect the skin on your face or neck. When the spots come, do not pick at them. Not only do you transfer contamination on to your face, you may also break the surface of the skin and allow more bacteria to enter the lesions. This means you should not “pop” the zits. Let them cycle through and drop off naturally.
- There are some reasonably effective gels and creams for removing excess sebum oil. The best use benzoyl peroxide as the active ingredient, but those with salicylic acid are also worth trying.
- Avoid using any heavy foundation makeup. There is a temptation to try to cover up skin problems. This is counterproductive. Choose a light powder rather than cream-based products. Keep your brushes and applicators clean. Always make sure you completely remove all makeup before you go to bed.
If all self-help and OTC remedies have failed, you can fall back on accutane which is the final line of defense. Make sure you consult with your doctor. There are problems in the use of accutane. Always take the necessary precautions.
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Tags: acne, bacteria, contamination, dead skin, fingers, grease, hormones, lesions, money, oral contraceptive, sales hype, snakes, soap, topical cream
Now the Obama Administration is proposing big changes
Ambition is a wonderful thing when it pays off. How many times have we watched a slugger walk up to the plate, look the pitcher in the eye, and lift an arm to point where the ball is going to land somewhere in the next state, only to strike out? Well, the new President has just stepped up to the plate. We have the TARP bailout plan carried over from the last Administration. The new Stimulus Package has been passed. Now comes the budget. Anyone doing the math will find the number of zeros adding on to the deficit reaching epidemic proportions. It seems the country is proposing to plunge even deeper into debt when it’s already in a recession, fighting two wars - one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan - and facing a meltdown in the banking and car industries. Unemployment is at historic highs and, if the trend continues, the amount of tax collected will fall. Yet, the President is proposing major reform of the health care service. Is he biting off more than he can chew?
According to the latest figures, there are around 306 million people in the US and nearly 15%, that’s about 45 million, do not have any kind of medical insurance. What do they do? Well, when they fall ill, they crowd into the emergency rooms and seek help from the underfunded public hospital system. There are two results. The first is that people wait too long before they go to hospital and, when they get there, receive an inadequate level of care. The second is that it places a serious financial burden on everyone. The emergency room in a conventional hospital has to cover its costs but, when the uninsured patients have no money, the only option is to increase the charges to the insured patients. This burden has been particularly hard on the employers’ health plans and, to offset the increased premiums, employers have been passing some of the cost on to their employees - a forced pay cut. The public hospitals must beg for increased funding from local, state and federal bodies where budgets are already in deficit.
There is a new mood in government to do something about health insurance. In effect, the ideal plan would be to move to a single-payer plan which is the norm in the rest of the world, but that would upset too many vested interests. So the current plan is to go for a major safety net for all currently uninsured. There is already a plan for uninsured children. The Administration is proposing an element in the new budget to move all uninsured adults on to a national plan. If this can pass through into law, which is not certain given the opposition of the Republican party, it will provide a bolt hole for all currently insured. If the premiums on private health insurance continue to rise, more will move on to the national plan which, over time, could produce a single-payer system in the US. Now that would be an interesting social experiment.
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Tags: Health, Health Insurance, Insurance, Medical, medical insurance
The use of painkillers in the US has reached its peak
A recent analysis of the data provided by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has shown that the US citizens today are taking more painkillers like tramadol than ever before throughout the history. The study comprised a ten year period, and since 1997 the was a 90 per cent increase in painkiller medication consumption as reported by hospitals, pharmacies, and individual doctors.
The figures show that in the last year of the study the US population has consumed over 200,000 pounds of such painkillers as codeine, hydrocodone, meperidine, morphine, and oxycodone. If put in per capita perspective that means that every American consumed about 300 milligrams of analgesics.
One of the most used painkillers from that number were those containing oxycodone, which is the active element in the painkiller OxyContin. There was an astronomical increase of 600 per cent in sales in only 8 years of the study. Previously oxycodone was called “hillbilly heroin” because it was primarily traded over the counter in the Appalachia region and used for recreational purposes. However, today it is widely sold in big metropolitan areas from East to West.
Specialists suggest that there is a set of reasons behind such a skyrocketing use of analgesics among US citizens:
- The nation becomes older in age group proportions.
- Drugs have become much wider and more aggressively marketed with almost a triple increase in advertising spendings during the last ten years.
- Painkillers have become the cornerstone of the way the pain is treated and managed nowadays.
The last reason draws up more concerns from the part of professionals. It seems like it’s easier for an individual to take Tramadol pill for example and forget about the pain, rather than address a doctor to see whether there’s a health issue to be concerned with. Not speaking of exercises and improvements in lifestyle. Painkiller pills have become the fast solution for any trouble, but can they stand up with the array of public health issues that may arise in the future due to such tendencies. We’ll see.
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Tags: analgesics, appalachia, appalachia region, codeine, drug enforcement administration, drug enforcement administration dea, Health, health issue, hillbilly heroin, last ten years, meperidine, metropolitan areas, milligrams, morphine, oxycodone, painkiller oxycontin, public health issues, recreational purposes, tramadol, us population
What is erectile dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction (ED) or male impotence as it is usually referred to is a health condition when a man is unable to produce or maintain an erection suitable for successful sexual intercourse. It is not commonly discussed as compared to other health issues, but it is quite common, affecting about 10% of men regardless of age and race.
Common causes of erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction can be caused by a large variety of factors, which may be divided into three main groups:psychological, physical, and pharmaceutical.
1. Psychological factors are the primary cause for ED, and include such conditions as stress, depression, anxiety relationship issues, insomnia, etc. 2. Physical factors causing impotence are connected to the four major health issues:
- Blood flow influencing conditions such as various heart diseases, blood pressure issues, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, etc. (this factor can be significantly reduced by medications like Cialis)
- Nervous system issues, such as spinal diseases, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, tumors, etc.
- Hormonal balance disorders, including hypogonadism, thyroid issues, and Cushing’s syndrome
- Structural deformations in the penile area, such as Peyronie’s disease, and hypospadias
3. Some medications can cause erectile dysfunction as a side-effect. Usually the effect wears off after you stop taking the drug, so don’t rush taking Cialis or other ED medications if that’s the cause. Here are some of the most common medications know to cause male impotence:
- Diuretics - these medications are used to induce urination, and are usually prescribed for treating hear failure, high blood pressure, and kidney disease
- Beta-blockers - these drugs act as anti-hypertension drugs, lowering the blood pressure.
- Fibrates - medications for reducing cholesterol levels
- Antipsychotics - these medications are used to treat severe psychiatric disorders
- Antidepressants - drugs used for treating depression symptoms
- Steroids - an entire class of medications used to treat a variety of health issues such steroid hormone deficiency, Aids and other conditions causing the decrease in muscle mass
- Immunosuppressants - drugs used to reduce the activity of the immune system
- H2-antagonists - medications prescribed for a variety of stomach acid related diseases.
- Anticonvulsants - drugs used in cases of epilepsy and bipolar disorders
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Tags: erection problems, Health, Tips
It’s all in the mind
When you bring everything down to simple plumbing, the whole question of erectile dysfunction gets easier to understand. It’s all to do with pumps and valves. When the arteries dilate, the blood flows into the penis. As it swells, the pressure shuts off the veins that would drain the blood out and, before you can say Jack Robinson (sometimes say it several times), you have an erection. If the problem is with the plumbing, the little blue pill is effective and dilates the right arteries. And, in the majority of cases, the problem is with the plumbing, so it’s easily fixed. Unfortunately, the plumbing system sits in a building and there can be problems with the owner. For the whole thing to work, the owner has to want it to work. He has to want to respond to the sexual stimulation. Erections do not happen by accident. They reflect the mind.
This brings the bad news. If the cause of the erectile dysfunction is psychological, trying to rely on the little blue pill is not only a waste of time, it is also going to add a new layer of performance anxiety to the man’s list of problems. The truth is that if a man is seriously depressed or has gone through an extremely stressful situation, there may be no enthusiasm for sex. Now add in all the other possibilities, like there are religious or cultural reasons why the man might find the idea of sex inappropriate or distasteful, and the likelihood of an erection recedes into the distance. Worse, suppose the man has been sexually abused or his first experiences with a woman left his self-confidence shattered. If the mind and the body cannot work together, sexual relationships are not going to be a success.
For once, it’s actually more appropriate to talk about love rather than sex which tends to be the more mechanical form. When two people are in love, they are more relaxed and the relationship develops more naturally. There is more trust and fewer inhibitions. When the man is depressed, trust in self is lost. The antidepressants often have impotence as a side effect. So therapy rather than drugs is the better route. Once therapy begin to lift the depression and change attitudes towards sex, there will be a time to buy viagra. Self-knowledge and understanding can help someone back into a relationship. Assuming that the partner is still willing, an active sex life can be resumed. In its own right, this decision needs to be planned. Performance anxiety needs to be addressed and viagra is a reliable drug to produce the erection once the mind is willing. Not everyone can recover from a depression and still make the relationship work. But once trust begins to return, the chances are good.
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