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11 Mayıs 2017 Perşembe

Social media and bullying: how to keep young people safe online

For all the benefits to mental health a digital world can bring, such as a sense of belonging and information and support for those with problems, there are also myriad dangers associated with online activity. In the very worst cases, people have live-streamed their suicide and had people cheer them on in the comments section.


Meanwhile, cyberbullying and trolling, along with communities and groups on social media that foster, glamorise or even encourage self-harm are pervasive. Stephen Buckley, head of information at the charity Mind, acknowledges these risks: “It is vital to recognise the huge danger created by any site or social media trend that promotes self-harm, suicide or eating disorders. They can be hugely damaging and possibly dangerous to someone in a crisis.”


This has come to the forefront over the past decade as more and more children use smartphones and tablets. A Young Minds report, Resilience For the Digital World, says half of Europe’s nine- to 16-year-olds now own a smartphone; the vast majority go online at least once a week, and most daily.


Buckley says that people are now used to following their friends on social media and sharing news of a new job, relationship, or a holiday presented in the best possible light. But this can have an impact on individual self-esteem. “While low self-esteem is not a mental health problem in itself, the two are closely linked. If lots of things are affecting your self-esteem for a long time, this may lead to depression or anxiety,” says Buckley.


Pressure on young people may also come from situations where they are being bullied in daily life that then cross over into their digital lives, says Marc Bush, chief policy adviser at Young Minds. “For instance, victimisation in the school playground is replicated on their Facebook pages or their WhatsApp or Snapchat groups, so they relive the distress they’re experiencing in real life on the digital platform.”


So, what’s to be done? Bush says industry has an important role to play. Today, if you search certain hashtags on Instagram, for example, a helpline pops up. He also cites the report from the House of Lords communication committee, Growing Up With the Internet, which calls for a national digital champion who can look at the rights of young people online, educate parents and teachers on how to look out for warning signs, and support young people to understand the consequences of bullying someone online.


The greater part of the solution, though, lies with young people themselves. “Ultimately,” says Bush, “young people are active in the creation, consumption and distribution of these images or forms of behaviour, so they have to be part of the solution.”


Tamanna Miah: ‘I developed severe anxiety after being bullied online.’



Tamanna Miah


Tamanna Miah is now a prominent anti-bullying activist

Tamanna Miah, 23, is a campaigner and public speaker from Kent. She describes how she coped with being bullied on social media and what it has been like to grow up in a digital world.


“I grew up in Sevenoaks, Kent, which is a very conservative, middle-class area. I suffered from severe bullying and racism from primary school to my all-girls secondary school until university. When I went home, the abuse continued online. It happened on my social media networks – Facebook, Bebo and MSN. People would comment on photos, status updates, anything that I was doing. Sometimes it was racist or Islamophobic, or attacking my appearance or the way I acted – anything. People would find a fault and take advantage of the situation.


I was a very shy, quiet child, I couldn’t stand up for myself, or look people in the eye. I would be bullied at school, come home and log on to the laptop and it would continue. You wake up in the morning to check again and it’s never-ending torment and hate. I couldn’t escape. I hated school and my time in education. I was never happy.


I developed severe anxiety and depression as a result. I tried to get support from my school and was unsuccessful. I visited my GP and they dismissed me and didn’t take me seriously. They said nothing was wrong and told me to do some exercise. It wasn’t until university that I was diagnosed.


Now I try and be careful when using social media, but I also use it for networking and meeting people. I’ve been through bullying online and offline, but I’ve also had a wealth of opportunities through social media.


I make sure that my personal activity, photos and comments are restricted, to avoid anyone attacking me publicly or harassing me. I don’t want to experience more abuse so I’d rather keep personal things private. I’d say to others in similar situations to always be careful about what you post and where.


Your online life is always going to be present. Google yourself to see what’s out there so you can check your settings and change them if needed. If someone is bullying you, always tell a responsible person as soon as possible. Make sure you have evidence of everything. Take screenshots or make audio recordings.


Whatever happens, don’t give up – just keep going. We absolutely need to speak about these issues, because if we don’t, who will?”



Social media and bullying: how to keep young people safe online

22 Nisan 2017 Cumartesi

It was taken away to keep you sick

Methylsulfonymethane is marketed lucratively as MSM. The process starts with crystals, which are then turned into powder with anti-caking agents, like silicon dioxide, added to it. This presents a problem for the people that buy it because when the crystals are turned into powder much of its effectiveness is lost. When the anti-caking agents are added to it, the remaining benefits are nullified. To derive the maximum benefits from MSM, it must be in the form of organic crystals and lignin (wood) based or prepared with Food Grade DMSO.


Our organic sulfur crystals are produced as follows:


MSM is made from lignin based DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide), and DMSO is made by processing the waste product of paper making (“pulp and paper industry”)–it is NEVER made by simply processing trees or any other form of plant life (no matter what you might read in some less informed Internet sources), for the sole purpose of extracting DMSO. It COULD be, just as seawater could be used for the sole purpose of extracting gold, but this is totally impractical.


DMSO is extracted from the waste product of papermaking and it is the PAPER MAKING that allows the whole process to be practical. As paper is made, the paper is made of the fibers of wood. But, as trees grow, the fibers of wood are stuck together, in the living tree, by a substance called “lignin.” Lignin is like glue that holds the fibers together. The wood could not be made into paper if all the fibers are still stuck together. So, papermaking must include some process by which the lignin is removed, allowing the wood fibers to be managed into flat paper, etc.


Lignin is removed with something called “pulping chemicals.” These chemicals are sodium sulfite (the majority), sodium sulfide and sodium carbonate). When these chemicals are soaked in a vat with wood chips, the lignin dissolves and the wood fibers can then be removed from the mass. Generally about 50% of the stuff in the vat would be the wood fibers, ready for making into paper, and 50% would be the residue, the waste product, of the original “pulping chemicals” and the lignin that has now been dissolved. That first liquid is called DMS (CH3 – S – CH3), but it quickly and easily further refined into DMSO.


Food Grade DMSO is the main ingredient from which MSM is made by a controlled oxidation process using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and water. There are no other chemicals used, and the H2O2 is turned into water.


It is very important to realize that if you purchase the Organic Sulfur Crystals, then the MSM you receive has been distilled. NO CHEMICALS ARE LEFT BEHIND. It is the purest possible form of the chemical MSM.


Organic sulfur is found in all living organisms. It is also contained in raw plant and animal foods. Organic sulfur is not found in any foods, which have been either stored during shipping, refrigeration, or cooked. Organic sulfur bonds with moisture and is therefore carried away when dehydration occurs – this is why stored, refrigerated or cooked foods no longer contain organic sulfur.


Also, with the introduction of the petro-chemical fertilizers in the 1930’s, the benefits of sulfur were severely diminished and why you must stay hydrated and drink lots of water daily. Also, with the introduction of the petro-chemical fertilizers, which were created to replace manure as fertilizer and to create a cash “crop” for the petro-chemical industry, the oil based fertilizers virtually destroyed the sulfur in the soil. Add to this the obscene over-processing of our food supply, which served only to increase shelf life and profits and which made our food supply completely devoid of sulfur, it’s no wonder that we are a nation of overweight, undernourished, disease-ridden sickos hooked on pharmaceutical drugs.


When, in 1985, Finland became alarmed over the increasing obscene disease rate of its population, they banned all use of chemical fertilizers fearing the levels of cadmium, yet totally unaware of the sulfur connection. Since doing so, they have become the leading supplier of organically grown foods in Europe. They have also seen their disease rates drop to one tenth of their 1985 levels.


Interestingly enough, in 1985, the U.S. was at the same disease level as Finland. So. Why did we not follow suit and ban the chemical fertilizers and put a lid on the highly processed foods? Well, as the theme song to Donald Trump’s TV show began, “Money, Money, Money”!


Do you really think that we would cease our use of profitable chemicals for our soil and our food, which involves commercial agribusiness, medicine, insurance, and genetic and designer foods? We can, however, regenerate our internal sulfur cycle with Organic Sulfur Crystals, provided that this product has not suffered the same indignities of “science” that our food supply has and continues to suffer.


Like sulfur, the cell membrane is another blind spot in medicine. Despite proof that the cellular membranes need sulfur to be utilized and formatted correctly so any cell can function as the basic unit of life, medicine still depends upon synthetic chemicals to treat a symptom.


In the body, ORGANIC SULFUR is used to repair cells, which have been damaged, as well as to promote the growth of healthy new cells by allowing the cells to transport oxygen more effectively. ORGANIC SULFUR also makes cell walls more permeable, thus able to allow more nutrients in and to allow waste materials to pass out of the cells.


Studies have shown that chlorine and fluorine are detrimental to such oxygen transport, yet these elements have been added to the U.S. mainland and our military bases in Hawaii’s water supply to make our teeth “healthier” and our water more “pure”, or free from bacterial infestation.


Fortunately, other than the military bases, Hawaii’s water supply is fluoride-free and I was instrumental in accomplishing that despite an avalanche of industry and Hawaii Dept. of Health executive blatant lies.


These elements are poisonous at higher concentrations and they block the uptake of both oxygen and sulfur. Hook up a charcoal filter to your faucet and it removes the chlorine before you drink it. The small amount of chlorine in the water, however, has not been found to adversely affect the benefits of the sulfur.


Every day the body uses up to 750mg of ORGANIC SULFUR naturally. ORGANIC SULFUR is natural and is actually found in the water we drink, as well as fresh, unstored and uncooked foods. It is found in fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products. Unless you mostly consume organic raw foods, you are likely not receiving enough ORGANIC SULFUR to realize its tremendous health benefits.


Unfortunately, the shelf-life deterioration for sulfur is rapid in cruciferous vegetables, garlic and onions with as much as a 95% loss of sulfur lost after one week of harvest. Adding insult to injury is the fact that cooked or processed foods have no utilizable sulfur. And sadly, most MSM and other sulfur supplements fail to restore cellular levels of sulfur and omega 3s. The reason for this is that anything synthetic that sulfur comes in contact with renders it useless.


What are the benefits of ORGANIC SULFUR?


OS has a cleansing or “detoxifying” effect on the cells within the body. It allows the body to remove toxins that have accumulated in all types of cells, including fat cells. Should you feel like you are getting the flu or other symptoms where you feel like you are getting sick, understand that you are not getting sick. It is the detoxifying process and it will pass. While this is happening DO NOT STOP TAKING THE CRYSTALS.


The suggested usage is 1 teaspoon full twice per day – one in the morning and one in the evening. This can be done in several ways: dissolved in hot water, putting the crystals in your mouth and chewing them, putting a tablespoon in a liter or quart bottle, fill it with water and drink it all day, or add it to orange juice and take it that way. I personally opted for the chewing method and then drinking orange juice. I have never tasted orange juice so sweet.


OS is not a drug or prescription medicine. It is actually a nutrient, or a food that the body can consume.


OS increases enzyme production within the glands in the body, substantially increasing overall resistance to illness.


OS increases flexibility in the tissues within the body, increases blood circulation and aids in lowering high blood pressure.


OS reduces muscle inflammation, promotes healing in the muscles and prevents them from becoming sore. To the degree there is soreness, recovery and return to normality is quickened. Athletes, in particular, benefit from this as the intake of additional OS dramatically increases their recovery time.


OS eliminates so-called “free radicals” in the body. Allergies to pollens and certain foods can be reduced or eliminated by its use.


OS promotes healthy, increased growth of hair and fingernails.


OS has been studied for possible anti-cancer effects. Because of the oxygenation of the cells and tissues, which creates an aerobic environment, cancer cells cannot exist.


OS studies have shown the reversal of osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.


OS aids in healthy skin production and the reduction of “wrinkles”. It is one of the main ingredients in moisturizing creams.


OS can benefit all skin types and ages. It has been shown to be highly effective in the treatment of skin conditions like acne, eczema and psoriasis (bear in mind that these conditions arise from a weak immune system, which the OS helps strengthen), as well as problematic skin and helps keep skin healthy and strong to guard against premature aging and skin damage.


OS helps the body properly regulate insulin production. Adequate OS in the diet can reduce the need for insulin injections.


OS helps in reducing and often eliminating diverticulitis. Parasites living in the colon are unable to remain attached to the colon walls on which OS forms a smooth, resistant coating. Hatching worms, having nothing to grab on to, are flushed out.


OS helps alleviate emphysema. It provides the body with material to manufacture new, healthy cells, on lung walls. Case in point – the asthma I had my whole life after being vaccinated as a child disappeared after taking the sulfur for 3 days and has not returned since it went away in 2007.


OS, because of its ability to make cell walls more permeable, causes the body to rapidly release alcohol “hangover” toxins, removing them as waste from the body. The process happens far more rapidly than it takes to recover from a hangover, often as quickly as 20 minutes.


OS helps alleviate chronic headaches. Increased circulation in the brain cells promotes proper blood circulation within the brain. Less pressure and pain result, reducing tendencies for headaches.


OS reduces hypoglycemia in the body because it has made it easier for the body to introduce blood sugar through more permeable cell walls. Less insulin is demanded for the process, resulting in less overuse of the pancreas. Several months of consistent OS usage can reduce or eliminate hypoglycemia entirely.


OS helps alleviate PMS. Glandular production in enhanced by OS to have more “normal” levels of production. Acid levels, enzyme levels and hormonal levels are more evenly balanced with OS. Cramps, headaches and nausea from the monthly cycle can be reduced or eliminated through its use.


OS helps promote better kidney function more efficiently. Water retention problems due to bad kidney function can be alleviated.


OS can help alleviate eye problems. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of sulfur crystals in 4 ounces of water and us as eye drops as frequently as you like.


OS will deliver essential omega 3s throughout the body and will also allow the body to produce vitamin B-12.


OS has amazingly reversed autism in 32 children that we know about so far.


OS eliminates the need for Viagra or Cialis as it reverses Erectile Dysfunction.


Important: If you take any medication or supplements, there must be a 30 minute gap between the taking of the crystals and the taking of the meds and/or supplements. The synthetic chemicals and the anti-caking agents will nullify the benefits of the sulfur crystals.


Last but not least, there is a simple test you can do to find out if what you got is good. Dissolve a bit in a little hot water, put it somewhere and let it dehydrate. After it dehydrates the crystals should appear larger and more pronounced kind of like snowflakes. If not, get your money back because it will be useless.


Aloha!


Sources:
www.asanediet.com
www.foodmatters.com
www.drjockers.com
www.cancertutor.com



Hesh Goldstein

When I was a kid, if I were told that I’d be writing a book about diet and nutrition when I was older, let alone having been doing a health related radio show for over 36 years, I would’ve thought that whoever told me that was out of their mind. Living in Newark, New Jersey, my parents and I consumed anything and everything that had a face or a mother except for dead, rotting, pig bodies, although we did eat bacon (as if all the other decomposing flesh bodies were somehow miraculously clean). Going through high school and college it was no different. In fact, my dietary change did not come until I was in my 30′s.

Just to put things in perspective, after I graduated from Weequahic High School and before going to Seton Hall University, I had a part-time job working for a butcher. I was the delivery guy and occasionally had to go to the slaughterhouse to pick up products for the store. Needless to say, I had no consciousness nor awareness, as change never came then despite the horrors I witnessed on an almost daily basis.


After graduating with a degree in accounting from Seton Hall, I eventually got married and moved to a town called Livingston. Livingston was basically a yuppie community where everyone was judged by the neighborhood they lived in and their income. To say it was a “plastic” community would be an understatement.


Livingston and the shallowness finally got to me. I told my wife I was fed up and wanted to move. She made it clear she had to be near her friends and New York City. I finally got my act together and split for Colorado.


I was living with a lady in Aspen at the end of 1974, when one day she said, ” let’s become vegetarians”. I have no idea what possessed me to say it, but I said, “okay”! At that point I went to the freezer and took out about $ 100 worth of frozen, dead body parts and gave them to a welfare mother who lived behind us. Well, everything was great for about a week or so, and then the chick split with another guy.


So here I was, a vegetarian for a couple weeks, not really knowing what to do, how to cook, or basically how to prepare anything. For about a month, I was getting by on carrot sticks, celery sticks, and yogurt. Fortunately, when I went vegan in 1990, it was a simple and natural progression. Anyway, as I walked around Aspen town, I noticed a little vegetarian restaurant called, “The Little Kitchen”.


Let me back up just a little bit. It was April of 1975, the snow was melting and the runoff of Ajax Mountain filled the streets full of knee-deep mud. Now, Aspen was great to ski in, but was a bummer to walk in when the snow was melting.


I was ready to call it quits and I needed a warmer place. I’ll elaborate on that in a minute.


But right now, back to “The Little Kitchen”. Knowing that I was going to leave Aspen and basically a new vegetarian, I needed help. So, I cruised into the restaurant and told them my plight and asked them if they would teach me how to cook. I told them in return I would wash dishes and empty their trash. They then asked me what I did for a living and I told them I was an accountant.


The owner said to me, “Let’s make a deal. You do our tax return and we’ll feed you as well”. So for the next couple of weeks I was doing their tax return, washing their dishes, emptying the trash, and learning as much as I could.


But, like I said, the mud was getting to me. So I picked up a travel book written by a guy named Foder. The name of the book was, “Hawaii”. Looking through the book I noticed that in Lahaina, on Maui, there was a little vegetarian restaurant called,” Mr. Natural’s”. I decided right then and there that I would go to Lahaina and work at “Mr. Natural’s.” To make a long story short, that’s exactly what happened.


So, I’m working at “Mr. Natural’s” and learning everything I can about my new dietary lifestyle – it was great. Every afternoon we would close for lunch at about 1 PM and go to the Sheraton Hotel in Ka’anapali and play volleyball, while somebody stayed behind to prepare dinner.


Since I was the new guy, and didn’t really know how to cook, I never thought that I would be asked to stay behind to cook dinner. Well, one afternoon, that’s exactly what happened; it was my turn. That posed a problem for me because I was at the point where I finally knew how to boil water.


I was desperate, clueless and basically up the creek without a paddle. Fortunately, there was a friend of mine sitting in the gazebo at the restaurant and I asked him if he knew how to cook. He said the only thing he knew how to cook was enchiladas. He said that his enchiladas were bean-less and dairy-less. I told him that I had no idea what an enchilada was or what he was talking about, but I needed him to show me because it was my turn to do the evening meal.


Well, the guys came back from playing volleyball and I’m asked what was for dinner. I told them enchiladas; the owner wasn’t thrilled. I told him that mine were bean-less and dairy-less. When he tried the enchilada he said it was incredible. Being the humble guy that I was, I smiled and said, “You expected anything less”? It apparently was so good that it was the only item on the menu that we served twice a week. In fact, after about a week, we were selling five dozen every night we had them on the menu and people would walk around Lahaina broadcasting, ‘enchilada’s at “Natural’s” tonight’. I never had to cook anything else.


A year later the restaurant closed, and somehow I gravitated to a little health food store in Wailuku. I never told anyone I was an accountant and basically relegated myself to being the truck driver. The guys who were running the health food store had friends in similar businesses and farms on many of the islands. I told them that if they could organize and form one company they could probably lock in the State. That’s when they found out I was an accountant and “Down to Earth” was born. “Down to Earth” became the largest natural food store chain in the islands, and I was their Chief Financial Officer and co-manager of their biggest store for 13 years.


In 1981, I started to do a weekly radio show to try and expose people to a vegetarian diet and get them away from killing innocent creatures. I still do that show today. I pay for my own airtime and have no sponsors to not compromise my honesty. One bit of a hassle was the fact that I was forced to get a Masters Degree in Nutrition to shut up all the MD’s that would call in asking for my credentials.


My doing this radio show enabled me, through endless research, to see the corruption that existed within the big food industries, the big pharmaceutical companies, the biotech industries and the government agencies. This information, unconscionable as it is, enabled me to realize how broken our health system is. This will be covered more in depth in the Introduction and throughout the book and when you finish the book you will see this clearly and it will hopefully inspire you to make changes.


I left Down to Earth in 1989, got nationally certified as a sports injury massage therapist and started traveling the world with a bunch of guys that were making a martial arts movie. After doing that for about four years I finally made it back to Honolulu and got a job as a massage therapist at the Honolulu Club, one of Hawaii’s premier fitness clubs. It was there I met the love of my life who I have been with since 1998. She made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. She said,” If you want to be with me you’ve got to stop working on naked women”. So, I went back into accounting and was the Chief Financial Officer of a large construction company for many years.


Going back to my Newark days when I was an infant, I had no idea what a “chicken” or “egg” or “fish” or “pig” or “cow” was. My dietary blueprint was thrust upon me by my parents as theirs was thrust upon them by their parents. It was by the grace of God that I was able to put things in their proper perspective and improve my health and elevate my consciousness.


The road that I started walking down in 1975 has finally led me to the point of writing my book, “A Sane Diet For An Insane World”. Hopefully, the information contained herein will be enlightening, motivating, and inspiring to encourage you to make different choices. Doing what we do out of conditioning is not always the best course to follow. I am hoping that by the grace of the many friends and personalities I have encountered along my path, you will have a better perspective of what road is the best road for you to travel on, not only for your health but your consciousness as well.


Last but not least: after being vaccinated as a kid I developed asthma, which plagued me all of my life. In 2007 I got exposed to the organic sulfur crystals, which got rid of my asthma in 3 days and has not come back in over 10 years. That, being the tip of the iceberg, has helped people reverse stage 4 cancers, autism, joint pain, blood pressure problems, migraine headaches, erectile dysfunction, gingivitis, and more. Also, because of the detoxification effects by the release of oxygen that permeates and heals all the cells in the body, it removes parasites, radiation, fluoride, free radicals, and all the other crap that is thrust upon us in the environment by Big Business.


For more, please view www.healthtalkhawaii.com and www.asanediet.com.


Namaste!





It was taken away to keep you sick

29 Mart 2017 Çarşamba

Joanna Cannon vows to keep working in NHS after £300,000 book deal

A bestselling debut novelist who wrote her book in a hospital car park as stress release from her job as a psychiatrist is to return to the NHS. Her decision comes despite a £300,000 deal for her second book and a contract for two more novels.


Joanna Cannon, whose first book The Trouble With Goats and Sheep has now sold more than 100,000 copies in paperback in the UK and has been optioned for film by the makers of the Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, said she was returning to the health service because she missed her patients.


“I am hoping to go back in a voluntary capacity, helping patients understand their own narrative,” she said. Cannon will work with Arts for Health, a programme run by South Staffordshire Healthcare Foundation, which brings the arts into hospital for patients.


“I made the choice to do this over the last few months after talking with consultants,” the author added. “The most valuable time I had working in wards was spent with patients, and because you can’t work part-time as a [hospital] psychiatrist, this is the perfect solution.”


Cannon’s decision emerged as it was announced that she had signed a deal for two further books with her publisher, the Borough Press, part of HarperCollins. Although she said it was “too early” to discuss books three and four, she revealed that her second would be called Three Things About Elsie. Published in January 2018, it will be about growing old and how elderly people are treated in society.



Cannon will help NHS patients ‘understand their own narrative’


Real voices … Cannon will help NHS patients ‘understand their own narrative’. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

The author began her first novel after finding work on the wards stressful. Having left school at 15 with one GCSE, she went to university in her 30s and qualified as a doctor in her 40s. Inspiration for The Trouble With Goats and Sheep came from the way she saw society treat patients, as well as the case of Christopher Jefferies, a Bristol landlord who was hounded by the press and falsely implicated in the murder of his tenant Joanna Yeates in 2010.


“Working in psychiatry you meet a lot of patients who live at the edge of society, who are not listened to or even noticed unless something goes wrong,” the author said. “There is that prejudice about how people appear, and I wanted to say we are all a little bit different; it’s just that most of us are very good at hiding it.”


The writer, who lives in the Peak District, became a sensation in 2016 after she entered an X Factor-style writing competition at York festival that led to offers of representation by seven agents and a lucrative book deal for her debut.


The decision to divide her time between writing and working in the NHS was motivated, she said, by her love of the service and because she felt it would provide a balance to the “insularity” of the book world. “Anyone who writes needs to get out there and hear real voices,” she added.


While dealing with her newfound literary fame, Cannon admitted she had found it “distressing” to be away from the wards. “Someone said to me at an event that I used to write to relieve the stress of work,” she added. “Now that writing books brings its own stress, I need to go back to the wards.”



Joanna Cannon vows to keep working in NHS after £300,000 book deal

2 Mart 2017 Perşembe

Just keep swimming – through the pee, plasters and human hair | Sally Goble

Look. If you are of a delicate disposition, best not take up swimming. Don’t venture down to your local pool, strip off your clothes, wade through a slightly wet and dirty changing room and immerse yourself into what is, effectively, a communal bath full of the hoi polloi and all their bodily fluids. Just don’t do it.


If you are of a delicate disposition, you won’t end up feeling relaxed, with a sense of wellbeing and a healthy glow. You’ll be too concerned about verrucas, or cross and suffering from “lane rage”. You’ll complain about everything from people peeing in the water – which scientists have found is a frequent occurrence – to the quantity of the pool chemicals needed to counteract the peeing, to the water being too cold (or too hot).


You’ll be unhappy about the plasters and miscellaneous hairs that have sunk to the bottom of the pool. You’ll be irritated by the kids screaming and about swimmers splashing arrogantly; or women slowly breaststroking in twos and chatting while still in full makeup. You’ll feel as if your swim has been ruined.


I’ve swum in many pools – probably more than 100 – and I can tell you that every one has its fair share of annoyances. And they all, undoubtedly, have users who pee in the water. Every pool in the UK (where, for some reason, we don’t require swimmers to wear bathing caps) has great billowing clouds of hair floating around waiting to get caught repulsively between your fingers.


Many pools aren’t as clean as we’d like, but public pools are often underfunded. The staff who work at these places are often poorly paid and on casual shifts. The lifeguards who keep order, and whom we trust to save our lives, if necessary, are often required to do most of the cleaning, and to regulate the chemicals and temperatures of the water. Cut them some slack.


In most pools, just as there are cleanliness issues, there are people issues too. Every leisure centre has a weirdo who spends too much time in the shower. Every swim features a strange encounter with a near-naked stranger.




If you are of a delicate disposition you won’t end up feeling relaxed. You’ll be too concerned about verrucas




Last weekend, as I was doing lengths at my local pool, I noticed a woman standing at the end of the pool, at the deep end. She stood for about five minutes on the pool deck, with her arms folded, staring at the swimmers already in the water. It was disconcerting. Every time I swam up to the deep end, I wondered if she would jump on top of me as I reached the wall to turn.


Instead, after a while, she got into the lane next to me and swam breaststroke – badly – clad in swimwear that left little to the imagination, splendidly displaying much of her bottom as she glided along.


The weekend before, there was a strange man practising “free diving”. This moustachioed fellow would periodically swoop down to the bottom of the pool where he would stay for minutes at a time, staring in a trance at the tiles, barely moving. If you didn’t know what he was doing, you’d think he had drowned. It slightly unnerved me as I swam over the top of him, metres above.


And every week, no matter where I swim, there is always some beefy guy in beach shorts who gets in the same lane as me. This bloke will assume that he can swim faster than me because he’s a bloke and I am a middle-aged woman. So he will wait until I am about to turn at the end of the lane and push off in front of me and then hold me up by swimming more slowly than me. I take great pleasure in overtaking while simultaneously, very deliberately, eyeballing him.


But I don’t get exercised. I don’t complain to the lifeguards. It’s not my pool, I think. It’s there for us all to share. Live and let live. Your swim is just as valid as my swim. I embrace your chattering, your free-diving, your breaststroke screw-kick and your bikinis. I embrace the floating plasters and the overwhelming smell of chlorine. And if your kid (or you) have peed in the water, I don’t really care about that either.


But if the thought of urine, sweat and snot (and worse) appals you, and if you don’t want to swim too close to someone who is almost naked and cooperate with them, then do yourself – and me – a favour. Walk up a deserted mountain instead.



Just keep swimming – through the pee, plasters and human hair | Sally Goble

24 Şubat 2017 Cuma

How can health services keep pace with the rapid growth of cities? | Richard Vize

The relentless growth of urban populations is driving city and national governments to increase access to healthcare while tackling the root causes of poor health.


According to Oxford Economics [pdf], the world’s largest 750 cities will be home to 2.8 billion people by 2030 – more than a third of the global population. They will account for almost a third of the world’s jobs and more than half its consumer spending. More than a dozen cities will have populations greater than 20 million.


Rapid, uncontrolled urbanisation strains many aspects of city life that determine health. Traffic, factories, generators and construction poison the air, meanwhile water supplies can become contaminated, poor housing harms the health of children, and food supply and quality can be compromised.


Unplanned urban growth drives poverty. About 900 million people worldwide live in urban slums, where overcrowding encourages the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, dengue fever and cholera. The United Nations estimates that by 2030, roughly 60% of city inhabitants will be under the age of 18, which puts huge numbers of children at risk from illnesses such as diarrhoea and pneumonia, the leading causes of global childhood death.


Health services, particularly in developing countries, are concentrated in cities. As Mark Britnell notes in his study of global healthcare, many developing countries such as China, Indonesia and India suffer from a chronic shortage of health workers. This creates big disparities in care between cities and the countryside; doctors are reluctant to work in rural areas because pay is poor, career choices are limited, hospital facilities are often inadequate and primary care tends to be underdeveloped.


Meanwhile, in the cities, hospitals become overcrowded because patients know that is where the best doctors, research and technology are found. The dominance of hospital care in cities often means primary care is neglected, which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) [pdf] can lead to unregulated, unsafe and ineffective private services. In some African cities, public primary healthcare has almost disappeared.


Britnell highlights some of the efforts being made to bridge the shortfalls. Brazil has announced new medical schools to train thousands of additional doctors, and training is being extended to include two years working in public service posts. This could add up to 36,000 working students to the system by 2021. Compulsory training in public hospitals was inspired by the NHS.


In addition, Brazil has recruited at least 10,000 doctors from Cuba to work in the poverty-plagued favelas on the peripheries of cities, as well as in remote areas.


The chronic shortage of clinicians is encouraging countries to make better use of volunteers and community workers. India is trying to boost its services in slums through the National Urban Health Mission, which emphasises reproductive health and works with women’s health committees.


Toronto [pdf]has been trying to bring together its primary and hospital services to provide joined-up care for patients with several health conditions. This includes individual care plans, one point of contact, and multidisciplinary teams supporting high-risk patients after they have been discharged from hospital. The city’s Ageing at Home programme aims to make it easier for older people to continue to live at home after illness.


Toronto also provides impressive support for people living on the streets with mental illness. Its Streets to Homes programme includes incentives for private landlords to offer accommodation. Several thousand people have moved into their own home since 2005, and about 80% of them remain there for at least a year.


Yet for many people, access to healthcare depends on the ability to pay, which excludes swathes of the population. Increasingly, countries such as China, Thailand and Indonesia are addressing this problem by pursuing universal healthcare. At present around two in five countries have some form of universal healthcare.


Britnell argues that its expansion is being driven by two opposing forces: capitalism and globalisation have grown a middle-class demanding more from governments, while about 1 billion people lack access to basic healthcare and 100 million are impoverished every year through catastrophic healthcare costs. Providing more equal access to health services strengthens social cohesion and promotes economic growth.


But while developing countries are increasing the proportion of their wealth spent on healthcare, urban populations are expanding so quickly that it is all but impossible to provide the health infrastructure and staff to keep pace.


Faster progress can be made, however, in improving the environment, such as providing cleaner air and water. For this reason, the WHO believes local government – and particularly executive mayors – are central to improving city health.


Beijing and Shanghai, for example, have introduced tough anti-smoking laws. In 2013 Mexico City became the first in the world to levy a tax on sugary drinks, which had been a factor in Mexico having among the world’s highest obesity and diabetes rates. Kuwait City has reduced salt content in bread to tackle high blood pressure. London and Paris were among the first cities to attempt to cut traffic pollution and increase exercise by offering free bicycle use.


Poor road safety takes many urban lives. Fatal traffic accidents [pdf]cost about 21 lives per 100,000 population annually in Brasilia and 18 in Nairobi, compared with 1.3 in Tokyo. Cutting road deaths depends on many factors – higher population density actually reduces deaths compared with sprawling areas. São Paulo (Brazil), Bogotá (Colombia) and Accra (Ghana) are among cities pursuing safer road design.


The health of city populations is becoming a central concern of local and national governments and international institutions. Affordable access to health services is just part of the story. Local government in particular recognises that improving the health of city populations depends on everything from ensuring water quality to designing safe roads and controlling air pollution.


But there is a chasm between cities where growth is controlled and those where the relentless quest to find work is creating polluted, overcrowded slums.


  • Richard Vize provided editorial support to Mark Britnell for his book In Search of the Perfect Health System, which won the health and social care prize at the BMA Medical Book Awards 2016.

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How can health services keep pace with the rapid growth of cities? | Richard Vize

20 Şubat 2017 Pazartesi

NHS admin staff keep services running - but we"re being hit by cuts

Secretaries, waiting list and medical records clerks, clinical audit facilitators, business analysts and IT technicians and other support staff pull together to keep essential lifesaving NHS services running smoothly. To a staff nurse, the help of a ward clerk to retrieve a patient’s medical history can be just as crucial as that of a senior consultant. Data quality officers ensuring patients are properly admitted and discharged on computer systems can have an immeasurable impact on the management of bed capacity.


Yet those of us in NHS support services work in less-than-ideal circumstances. I work in an office that is a converted ward. Save for wheeling out most of the medical equipment, it remains an abandoned clinical area. I’m always wary when manoeuvring around our cramped kitchenette – imagine the embarrassment of accidentally leaning on one of the emergency call buttons and having the rapid response CPR team come crashing in.


Plates and cutlery stand stacked precariously atop the tiny dining table and fridge (kindly donated by another admin department, who were throwing it out). A locked walk-in cupboard adjacent to the kitchen would be ideal for storing these. However, due to budget and staff restrictions, logging a job with estates to get a new Yale lock installed has proven fruitless on several occasions. Jobs deemed non-essential are often cancelled. With a leaking radiator pipe, broken window and an unexplained beep from above the ceiling tiles failing to see a quick response, reporting anything else can make one feel rather hypercritical.


The already cramped office still holds a partly dismantled bed hoist, condemned imaging machines and a box of surgical tubing, seemingly forgotten. We have jokingly discussed eBaying the lot to raise funds to buy desk lamps; dim strip lighting doesn’t quite work in an office.


I was lucky enough to suffer a full-scale-beyond-repair PC meltdown one day, so IT had no choice but to provide me with a reconditioned model from their storeroom. However, some of my colleagues are working on machines so old they take upwards of 20 minutes to boot up in the morning. The high-pitched whine of the struggling fans is maddening. Stretched IT staff struggle to keep up with demand. While problems with direct patient impact understandably take priority, waiting three days for a simple but essential fix is excessive.


For a team dependent on computers for their jobs, this can mean time wasted recording information on paper, only to have to transfer it to a digital source once systems are back up and running. It’s easy to see how this can contribute to huge backlogs and missed deadlines. Panicked managers pleading staff to take budget-stretching overtime is often the result.


Cheap or outdated equipment with a tendency to crash or throw up errors only adds to the problem. False economy reigns supreme, when an inadequate version is eventually replaced with the one we should have had all along. An ancient printer once cost my department half a day of productivity, as IT spent hours searching for a withdrawn ink cartridge so we could run off essential documents.


A friend in another department is responsible for requesting essential office supplies. To ensure he’s not buying luxury items the trust can’t afford, all orders are approved by executive-level staff. A recent attempt to gain a few pencil sharpeners saw 12 members of staff told to share three. Mouse mats are definitely off limits.


Understaffing is not just a problem on the frontline. Although there have been cuts and restrictions to what is made available, access to support and training for admin staff is still admittedly good, and it’s not uncommon to hear of a new recruit using NHS resources to gain experience and qualifications before handing in their notice to take a similar role in the private sector. Vacancies are often not re-advertised. While the wary jump ship, those left behind are expected to absorb the roles of colleagues, often without a wage increase.


I am proud to say I work for the NHS. It means much more to me than private sector benefits like a shiny new Apple Mac to work on or an all-expenses paid Christmas do. I enjoy knowing that I am, albeit in an indirect way, contributing to saving people’s lives. There is a sense of community in the health service I don’t sense in corporate organisations; we still join unions, strike together, are aware of each other’s problems.


Yet, just like the healthcare professionals feeling the stress and strain of the continued NHS cuts, we support staff feel we can do only do our best when we’re comfortable at work and morale is high. Since beginning my NHS career, although I’ve advanced and been promoted, I also feel that things are sliding backwards. While frontline medical staff are still undoubtedly in the most direct line of fire, we feel the impact under the surface too and there’s a definite feeling that things are getting worse.


  • Some details have been altered to protect the identity of the writer

If you would like to write a blogpost for Views from the NHS frontline, read our guidelines and get in touch by emailing sarah.johnson@theguardian.com.


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NHS admin staff keep services running - but we"re being hit by cuts

8 Şubat 2017 Çarşamba

7 Eco-friendly Ways to Keep Away Mosquitoes

As warmer weather approaches and winter ends, we’re all excited to get back to outdoor activities. Whether it’s hiking, backyard barbeques or just sitting on a patio, being outside is a great way to enjoy nature. But there are, of course, annoying things about warmer weather. Mosquitoes top the list of nuisances when it comes to enjoying our time outside. They also carry various harmful diseases. While it’s important to keep them away, using traditional bug spray is also hazardous because of the possible chemical reaction and damage aerosol sprays cause. But here are seven alternative eco-friendly ways to keep those mosquitoes at bay.


1. Eucalyptus and Lemon Oil


This is a great natural way to repel mosquitoes that will be chemical-free and also have a pleasant smell. Both of these oils have antiseptic properties when applied to your skin. By combining the two, you can make a strong repellant for daily use. Be sure to test it on a small area first.


2. Coffee Grounds


Mosquitoes tend to love areas where there is still water. If you can’t dry it up completely, use coffee grounds to stop them from breeding. All you have to do is sprinkle the ground coffee into the water. This will cause any eggs present to rise to the surface. They will dehydrate and be unable to hatch, thus reducing the number of mosquitoes.


3. Garlic


When you eat a lot of garlic, your pores release garlic oil. Your skin becomes protected because the oil acts as a barrier. If you don’t want to eat the garlic, you can make a crushed garlic spray and spritz it.


4. Red Cedar Mulch


Along with other naturally mosquito repellant plants, you can use red cedar mulch. You can boil the mulch chips in water and then spray your garden and exterior areas with this liquid. Because of the wood’s natural repellant chemical properties, this should have a lasting effect on getting rid of the mosquitoes.


5. Mint


Mint is another great natural herbal remedy. Get a bottle of mint extra or oil and leave it unopened for the smell to spread. You can also put it in a spray bottle and spray it around you or even on your skin. If you don’t have access to real mint, you can use mint-flavored mouthwash as a substitute. Just mix it with water in a spray bottle and spray it around your home.


6. Lavender Oil


Because of its relaxing and pleasant smell, lavender oil has many uses. This is also as effective a repellant as any of those chemical sprays but without the off-putting smell or side effects. Spray the oil around the room to keep the mosquitoes away. You can also grow lavender plants and place them around the perimeter of your yard.


7. Add Rosemary to Your Barbeque


One of the most common times that mosquitoes strike is when we’re outside trying to enjoy a nice barbeque. You can actually turn your grill into a mosquito repellant. All you have to do is add a few stalks of rosemary to your grill plate. The heat will cause the scent of the rosemary to spread and keep the mosquitoes away.


All in All


Mosquitoes are annoying insects that can ruin your experience. But there are many natural ways to get rid of mosquitoes so you can enjoy being outdoors. You don’t always need to rely on heavy, smelly chemicals to do so. You have options that can be used around your home or even on your body. By using a few simple, natural tricks, you can eliminate those pests from your home.


Sources:



7 Eco-friendly Ways to Keep Away Mosquitoes

26 Ocak 2017 Perşembe

We are rightly proud that our NHS is free. Let’s keep it that way | Ann Robinson

Imagine you have a big, greasy, warty growth on your back. It’s embarrassing, catches on your clothes and means you avoid swimming or exposing your back on holiday. Your GP confirms that it’s not cancer and says it’s a seborrhoeic wart. That’s great, but you’d like it removed. Your GP says you can’t be referred for removal on the NHS because it’s a cosmetic problem.


So what should you do next? Live with it? Pay a private skin specialist to remove it (likely to be over £120 to have it scraped or frozen off)? Or have a stand-up fight with your GP?


There’s another option being proposed by a group of GPs; let your GP do it, and pay a fee. At the moment, NHS GPs aren’t allowed to charge their registered patients for standard NHS care. But charging for non-NHS extras, like sick certificates for insurance companies, reports for health clubs that you’re fit to exercise, diving certificates and other optional extras, is allowed.


The British Medical Association (BMA) explains that GPs sometimes charge fees because “they are self-employed and they have to cover their costs – staff, buildings, heating, lighting, etc – in the same way as any small business. The NHS covers these costs for NHS work, but for non-NHS work, the fees charged by GPs contribute towards their costs.”


But until now, the permission to charge for non-NHS work has been limited to certificates and administrative tasks. The idea of allowing GPs to charge for clinical work that isn’t available on the NHS is much more challenging. After all, we are rightly proud of the fact that we don’t need to take a credit card or cheque book when we go to the GP. It’s anathema to many that this situation may change.


The controversial proposal has been spelled out by Dr Prit Buttar, chair of Oxfordshire’s local medical committee (LMC), who told Pulse magazine there had been discussions about rolling out the system nationally by the end of 2017. Under the proposed plans, GPs would be able to provide private services to their own patients by working through a third party company, which would take payment from patients and pay GPs for their time.


The plan is to extend the scope of non-NHS services that GPs can offer to patients for a fee. So if you want to see your GP outside of NHS-contracted hours (generally 8am-8pm), you could pay to see him/her privately instead of relying on the out-of-hours services that GPs employ to provide cover from 8pm-8am. At the moment, that wouldn’t be allowed. If you want to see a GP for a routine appointment at 9pm, you can’t. If it’s urgent, there are walk-in centres and NHS 111. If you’re mortally ill or wounded, there’s A&E.


As a GP who starts seeing patients at 7.30am, I can’t imagine why a GP would want to see private patients at 9pm. Or have the strength to work a 12-hour day and then keep going into the night. But, more importantly, I think it will taint the precious patient-doctor relationship that relies on trust that the GP is acting in your best interests, free at the point of delivery and unsullied by any profit motive.


You can see where Dr Buttar and co are coming from; people want choice and convenience in all areas, including healthcare. That includes the freedom to have an ugly wart removed or to see your own doctor late in the evening by mutual consent. GPs want to respond to people’s needs and wishes but are only contracted and paid by the NHS to provide a limited range of services. The NHS can’t fund a limitless range of interventions, because taxpayers don’t want to pay huge taxes so that you can get your wart removed.


So where does this leave us? The NHS restrictions are not sacrosanct and can be challenged; for instance, it’s hard to get varicose veins treated on the NHS – but guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) state that if you have symptoms like pain and aching, you should be referred for assessment and treatment. Your GP is your advocate within the system; helping you to navigate referral pathways and fighting your corner when needed.


What faith can you have that your GP is doing their best for you if they stand to personally gain by offering you a private alternative? It’s a slippery slope all right; the wrong solution to a pressing problem.



We are rightly proud that our NHS is free. Let’s keep it that way | Ann Robinson

13 Ocak 2017 Cuma

Eat Without Gaining Weight – 35 Zero Calorie Foods to Keep You Slim

You don’t want to gain weight, so you are sensitive to know will your foods make you fat. But there are some foods you can eat without worrying, as they will not make you fat.


Yes, there are some foods you can include in your diet, and no you will not need to count their calories. They take more energy to digest and absorb into the system than the energy in themselves. It means that these foods have less calories than the calories you need to process them.


They are negative calorie foods, or zero calorie foods.


Health experts provided the definition for the foods with super low calories:


  • Free foods – 25 calories or less per reasonable serving

  • Almost free foods – 25-60 calories per reasonable serving

Here is a list of zero-calorie foods you can eat without worrying gain weight


  1. Apples

  2. Turnips

  3. Onion

  4. Broccoli

  5. Cabbage

  6. Fennel

  7. Asparagus

  8. Beetroot

  9. Kale

  10. Leek

  11. Lemon

  12. Garlic

  13. Celery

  14. Cauliflower

  15. Apricots

  16. Carrots

  17. Cranberries

  18. Orange

  19. Peppers

  20. Cress

  21. Cucumber

  22. Grapefruit

  23. Lettuce

  24. Mushroom

  25. Zucchini

  26. Brussels sprouts

  27. Watermelon

  28. Green beans

  29. Pineapple

  30. Plum

  31. Raspberries

  32. Spinach

  33. Strawberries

  34. Swede

  35. Tomatoes

Now you know all of the ingredients above are super low in calories so you may want to know how to prepare them to maintain their nutrients best.


7 Best Herbs for Weight Loss


3 Healthy&Simple Ways to Prepare The Amazing Zero-Calorie Foods


Colorful Veggies Salad


You can make a great salad with the any of these vegetables you like. Below is one of my favorite recipes: Mix tomatoes, carrots, red bell pepper and leafy vegetables, pour in some olive oil and unprocessed salt, add black pepper to taste. This salad provides plenty of necessary nutrients, lows in calories and also improves
digestion.


Grilling


Simple enough, but so many people love! Spinach, zucchini, asparagus or any other vegetables listed above grilled with a light coating of extra virgin olive oil make a tasty and nutritional dish.


Steaming


One of the best ways to cook leafy vegetables for retaining all the nutrients. You can steam any green leafy vegetables listed above and add Himalayan salt or other unprocessed salt.


Sources: bembu.com , lifehack.org, blogs.naturalnews.com


RELATED READING:


3 Cooking Rules for Maintaining Nutritional Value in Vegetables



Plant These 10 Perennial Fruits and Vegetables for Years of Delicious Harvests



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Eat Without Gaining Weight – 35 Zero Calorie Foods to Keep You Slim

12 Ocak 2017 Perşembe

Natural Ways to Keep Your Teeth Healthy

When it comes to health, there are many different routes people take to accomplish it, with many people finding the use of natural methods and products to be effective. The same rings true for oral hygiene, and there are many ways people use natural methods in their oral care routines. For some, they find them to be the most effective, some people choose to do so for social or eco reasons, but whatever the case, it’s easy to keep your teeth healthy by taking the natural route.


Drink Water: Essentially as pure and natural as can be, staying hydrated and drinking water keeps your whole body healthy, not just your mouth. Even better, many public water sources have fluoride in their water which helps to keep your teeth strong. Staying hydrated prevents dry mouth, and helps your saliva to wash away any mouth debris from leftover food. It’s also sugar-free, so the bacteria in your mouth have nothing to feast on. Drink up!


Drink Green Tea: While you’re hydrating, add green tea to the rotation. Green tea can control bacteria while lowering the acidity of saliva. These benefits can help to decrease tooth decay. Gum disease is also no match for green tea, due to the anti-inflammatory qualities of green tea. These all lead to improved breath, so when it comes to oral health, green tea is filled with goodness for your mouth.


Choose your Diet Wisely: Acidic foods can be detrimental to your oral hygiene, as it can negatively affect your risk for tooth decay. This is caused because the acid eats through the enamel and allows bacteria to get into the surface of the tooth. Choosing foods that are mineral rich are a great choice for overall health, and foods high in phosphorus and calcium are vital to keeping tooth enamel strong.


No Smoking: Tobacco can be natural, but that doesn’t make it healthy for you. Not using tobacco products is natural, too, and is much better for your oral hygiene. Aside from yellowing your teeth, tobacco products can lead to bad breath, inhibit the production of saliva, and lead to oral cancer. It also takes a toll on your whole body and circulation, so leaving it out of your lifestyle has more benefits than not.


Don’t Crunch on Non-Foods: It’s easy to crush ice with your teeth or chew on nails, or the end of your pen and many people do it absentmindedly. Doing so can cause damage to your enamel, so use your teeth for food only, and you’ll keep them stronger longer.



Natural Ways to Keep Your Teeth Healthy

4 Ocak 2017 Çarşamba

Avian flu: Defra tells owners to keep poultry indoors until spring

Poultry owners across Britain have been told they must keep their chickens, ducks and geese away from wild birds until the start of spring to counter the threat of avian influenza.


Keepers, including people with just a few backyard hens, must place poultry indoors or take other measures to reduce the chances of them coming into contact with wild birds.


The prevention measures were initially imposed on 6 December but keepers had been hoping that birds used to roaming free would be allowed out this month.


On Wednesday, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced that the restrictions would be maintained in England until 28 February. Similar moves were made in Scotland and Wales and there is a Britain-wide ban on poultry shows and gatherings.


It comes a day after the Welsh government said a backyard flock in south-west Wales had been slaughtered after catching avian flu.


The H5N8 strain of avian influenza has been circulating in Europe for several weeks. An outbreak was confirmed in turkeys at a farm in Lincolnshire on 16 December. The disease has also been found in wild birds in Wales, England and Scotland.


Public Health England advises that the risk to public health remains very low and the Food Standards Agency is clear that bird flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.


England’s chief veterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens, said: “Anyone who keeps poultry such as chickens, ducks and geese, even as pets, must take action to stop them coming into contact with wild birds to protect them from avian flu.


“Birds should be moved into a suitable building, or if that isn’t possible owners must take sensible precautions to keep them away from wild birds, like putting up netting to create a temporary enclosure and keeping food and water supplies inside where they cannot be contaminated by wild birds.


“Even when birds are kept indoors a risk of infection remains so keepers must also practice good biosecurity, for example by disinfecting footwear and equipment and washing clothing after contact with birds.”


The chief veterinary officer in Wales, Christianne Glossop, said: “Even when birds are housed, there remains a risk of infection and keepers of poultry and other captive birds should ensure that every effort is made to prevent contact with wild birds.”



Avian flu: Defra tells owners to keep poultry indoors until spring

3 Ocak 2017 Salı

Keep lit: how to lose weight without giving up alcohol | Dean Burnett

Alcohol. Fun, isn’t it, for various reasons. The Christmas holidays are a period of particularly heavy drinking for many of the UK population, so much so that January often feels like one long national hangover. This often combines with the sense of “starting afresh” and the ritual of New Year’s Resolutions and results in a period of abstention. In recent years, it’s become fashionable to swear off alcohol for the whole of January, often (but not always) as part of an overall effort to improve general fitness and lose weight.


But, is this necessary? Or is it possible to have your pint and down it, and lose weight while carrying on indulging in the booze?


On paper, it looks like a big ask. It’s easy to see why people find giving up drinking a bit of a challenge. It has pleasurable effects, it aids social interaction, in the UK at least it’s often expected that you’ll drink at social occasions, and if you’re a regular drinker then you’re brain and body will likely have adapted to expect a regular intake.


But all this comes at a cost to the body. Alcohol is second only to fats in terms of the amount of energy per mass it contains. In plain English, alcohol delivers about 7 calories per gram consumed (fat delivers closer to 9 calories per gram). And that’s just the pure alcohol, the ethanol, in your drink. The stuff around it (the beer, the stout, the cocktail ingredients, the mixers) add substantially more. What’s more, these are “empty” calories. The point of drinking is to get the intoxicating effect, not to nourish the body in some way, so physiologically we’re just pouring pointless calories down our throat.


However, scientific analysis offers some way to potentially “game the system”, and not just lose weight while continuing to drink, but use the effects of alcohol to increase your chances of getting in shape! Here are a few suggestions.



Juice Crawl through New York - like a pub crawl but with juice Green shots


If you stir kale into your shots, it counts as a superfood. Probably. Photograph: Courtesy of Juice Crawl

Pub runs


One of the problems with drinking from a weight-gain perspective is that, as well as pointless calories, it also involves very little physical movement. Sitting down and talking for hours isn’t exactly good cardio. You need to engage in a lot more physical movement if you want to burn off those calories.


So, if you really do fancy a drink, don’t stroll to the local, jog there. In fact, don’t go to your local, pick a pub on the other side of town and jog there instead. Or pick several pubs and sprint from one to the next each time you finish a drink, more of a pub sprint than a pub crawl. This has the added bonus of, at the end of the night, if you arrive at the last pub red-faced, struggling to speak or walk, you’ll fit right in.


You might look at this and decide it’s not worth it just for a drink so opt to stay in. If so, fine. That’s good for your health too. So really, you can’t lose here.


Indulge in impulsivity


One thing alcohol is known to do is make people more impulsive. The complex interaction between alcohol and our brains and genes means our higher-reasoning areas and those that supress impulsivity are often hampered by drink, resulting in us doing and saying things we’d normally shy away from.


You can exploit this effect to improve your health by signing up for fitness classes, marathons, Tough Mudder runs, and things like that. You may have consumed a lot of empty calories but thanks to drink you’re now going to burn those off, and then some.


Obviously, once you sober up, you could just change your mind. It’s harder than you think though, as our brains are reluctant to go back on a decision once it’s made. This is especially true if you made the decision in front of people, who will now think worse of you if you go back on it.


When you wake with a pounding head saying “What the hell did I agree to last night?”, it may well have been good for you in the long run.



alcohol addiction - drunk businessman holding a glass of whiskey on the table


Interesting fact – people often look the same after a heavy workout session as they do after a heavy drinking session Photograph: ronstik/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Embrace the anger


One other unpleasant effect of alcohol, which ties in with greater impulsivity, is an increase in irritability and anger. There are many neuropsychological explanations for this; an inability to correctly work out people’s intentions from their behaviour, a drop in ability to plan actions and predict consequences, releasing pre-existing stresses and issues that you usually supress, and so on.


One consequence of increased anger is an increase in “approach” motivation. The brain seems to have two separate motivations systems, approach and avoidance. Things we want to deal with, we’re motivated to approach. Things we are wary or scared of, we’re motivated to avoid. Anger increases the power of the approach system, meaning we “get stuck in” where we otherwise wouldn’t.


So, if you’re drunkenly tempted to pick a fight with the biggest bruiser in the room, go ahead. The realisation of what you’ve done will soon get through your alcohol-infused brain, triggering an adrenaline-rush fight-or-flight response. You’ll have no choice but to get moving to stay ahead of the enraged beast, burning many calories as he chases you with a pool cue.


Blank the workout


Alcohol, at the right doses, can and does disrupt the ability to form new memories. So, if you have a gym session or exercise routine planned, you could dry quickly getting so drunk beforehand your brain can’t form new memories, but you can still complete your workout before passing out from intoxication. When you eventually wake up, you should have no memory of exercising, so will think you still need to do it. Voila; you get to drink and actually double the exercise you partake in.


It’s a delicate balancing act though, to get the timing and intake just right to hit that narrow window of usefulness. So practice is needed, which may well render the whole thing pointless.



Glasses of red and white wine on a dinner table.


Wine is made from grapes. Grapes are a fruit. Fruit is good for you. So, therefore…

I’ll be honest, I’m really reaching here. Photograph: Thorben Maier / Alamy Stock Phot/Alamy Stock Photo


Try moderation


You may think all these suggestions fall into the category of “terrible” or maybe even “downright hazardous to health, life and liberty”. And you’d be right.


Truth is, alcohol isn’t ever really going to be helpful if you’re trying to lose weight and get in shape. That’s just not how our bodies work. But that doesn’t mean you have to cut it out entirely. Each to their own, and many people just cut down and/or increase their physical activity, or some combination of the two. You need to find what works for you.


Of course, this involves navigating the onslaught of “expert” advice and trendy “diets” we are bombarded with at this time of year. It’s enough to drive you to drink.


Dean Burnett ‘s book The Idiot Brain isavailable now in the UK,USA,Canadaand many other countries.


He is appearing at Dry Humour, an alcohol-free comedy night on Friday the 13th in Cardiff, in aide of Alcohol Concern.



Keep lit: how to lose weight without giving up alcohol | Dean Burnett

22 Aralık 2016 Perşembe

Practices to Keep Your Lungs Healthy

Our lungs are certainly essential parts of our system. Without it, the process of distributing oxygen throughout our bodies is hampered. While others are not shaken by the thought of consuming several sticks of cigarettes in a day, many are still very much concerned with their lung condition. This promising number of health-conscious people should keep you motivated to maintain a good relationship with your lungs as well.


Ways to improve the health of your lungs.


Having severe lung conditions instead of healthy lungs is certainly not a situation we want for ourselves, so if you want to change your lifestyle into a healthier one, here are some of the practices that you can do to keep your lungs healthy:


  • Stop Smoking

As one of the most brutal means to destroy the lungs, smoking is certainly a sure way to send someone hospitalized if not immediately ceased. If done regularly, you might be sending yourself to your grave because this can cause lung cancer, bronchitis, emphysema, and the like. If you don’t smoke, you’re still at risk of secondhand smoking, so be wary by using face masks, handkerchiefs, or your hands to cover your nose or mouth every time someone smokes near you.


Don’t live in areas where air pollution is dense. If you can’t do away with it, find ways to minimize your exposure to it. You can close your windows, cover your nose when you’re outside, or apply air freshener that lessens pollution.


Exercising can greatly increase your endurance. In this way, your lungs become stronger and more efficient in taking in oxygen. The more fit you become, the easier it is for your lungs to supply the oxygen your body needs.


Eating right will not only benefit your lungs, but it will also benefit your whole system too. And there are certain food types that are specifically good for your lungs. Cruciferous vegetables like arugula, broccoli, cabbage, and kale are known to prevent lung cancer if eaten regularly.


  • Test your place for Radon

Radon is a natural gas that can cause lung cancer, and it can seep through the cracks on your walls or the floor. It can’t be seen, smelled, or tasted, so before you settle into a house, get it tested first.


  • Improve Indoor Atmosphere

Your home may look harmless to you and to your lungs right now, but doing the extra mile to keep it pollution-free gives you more protection. To improve your living space, at least have one or two houseplants inside. The plants will not only beautify your place, but it will also act as a natural air cleanser for you. You can use indoor plants like Aloe Vera, Bamboo Palm, Dracaena, English Ivy, Fern, Peace Lily, Spider Plant, and the like.


Final Words


These practices should not be ignored and should be taken with great consideration instead. It will only take these simple ways to keep your lungs healthy. Otherwise, you might end up doing more complicated and more extensive methods to keep your lungs in a good condition especially if problematic symptoms start to persist. Hence, don’t wait before your lungs get impaired and start living healthily now.


Author bio: The article on keeping healthy lungs has been written by Ignacio D. Pena who is a very active blogger and loves to write in the Health niche.



Practices to Keep Your Lungs Healthy