April 11, 2008 at 1:56 am · Filed under Great Health Tips
Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder characterized by episodes of disturbed or interrupted breathing during sleep resulting in recurrent arousals and awakenings.
The symptoms of sleep apnea are loud snoring, hyper somnolence (excessive daytime sleepiness), and restless sleep.
Snoring is a sign of upper-airway obstruction to a critical degree. During snoring the inability to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide upsets the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. The brain senses the low level of oxygen and increased levels of carbon dioxide and sends a signal to resume breathing and cause an arousal. The frequent arousals inhibit the normal sleep cycle and results in fragmented sleep. This makes the patient feel very sleepy during the day and complain of a very unrefreshing sleep at night.
The problem of excessive daytime sleepiness (especially while driving, working or talking) develops slowly over years and often gets noticed by the friends and colleagues of the patient.
In central sleep apnea, the hypoxic and hypercapnic drives can be impaired by brain stem lesions or by exposure to recurrent hypoxia and hypercapnia. The stimulus to breathe instead from the cortex and reticular activating system is lost during sleep and the patient stops breathing, the so-called “Ondine’s curse”.
Other symptoms of sleep apnea include choking/gasping during sleep, morning headaches, daytime fatigue, personality changes, memory impairment, impaired concentration, poor judgment, mood disturbances, recent weight gain, polyurea, and impotence.
The signs and symptoms that can help identify patients at risk for sleep apnea are obesity, senility, stress (including anxiety and depression), hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, hypothyroidism, acromegaly, dislocated temporomandibular joint and neuromuscular disease. In children, tonsillar hypertrophy is the commonest cause for sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea provides detailed information about sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea and more. Sleep Apnea is affiliated with Acupuncture For Endometriosis.
April 6, 2008 at 1:43 pm · Filed under Great Health Tips
Deep breathing means - Adopting a habit of breathing deeply.
From your nostril not from your mouth. That’s it !
Normally most people ( i.e. almost 95 % of all of us) who are leading a sedentary life style and working on jobs that requires ‘using their heads’ all day long, the outcome of a busy, complex and demanding life is somewhat like this:
No energy in the end of the day, mental sluggishness, dilapidated bodies, greater susceptibility to germ and infections, wear-and-tear of the entire body, more work for the heart, irregular blood pressure, tensions in body and nerves etc.
Remember this important fact:
“To function properly, our brain needs three times more oxygen than the rest of our organs; and unless this is provided it will try to appropriate its supply by drawing on the over-all allotment! “
This explains why so many city people, working at sedentary jobs, doing mental work all day long, tend to become dilapidated and have greater susceptibility to germ and infections than persons who lead active outdoor lives. Sedentary individuals are permanently oxygen-starved. Yet this situation can be avoided at will.
Air is nourishment to our bodies just as much as food and drink. Air gives our blood the supply of oxygen it must have in order to feed itself so that it may, in turn, feed the tissues, nerves, glands and vital organs. Without it our skin, bones, teeth and hair could not remain in condition. Our digestion-the process of utilizing the food we eat-fails at once without a proper supply of oxygen to the blood. Even our thinking processes are slowed down without intake and exhalation of fresh air-which is the reason mental sluggishness overtakes us in an ill-ventilated room
In a single day we breath about 23,000 times. The average volumes of air taken in with a single breath is about 20 cubic inches, depending on a person’s size, sex, posture, the nature of the surrounding atmosphere and one’s physical and emotional state. However, with proper attention given to the breathing, this volume may be increased to 100 or even 130 cubic inches per breath.
Breathing is an activity which is indispensable for our existence. Nobody can live without breathing as the oxygen is the life blood of all organisms on earth.
However, most of us breath in a shallow manner. The inhalation and exhalation of air in and out of body occurs on a very superficial level in most of us. People just don’t care to inhale deeply since they don’t find any compulsive urge to do so.
Though not breathing deeply does not harm us directly, it has its own long term negative effects on our body.
Let us understand what happens when we do not adopt correct breathing:
As the average person reaches middle age, lung tissues tend to grow less and less elastic. Years of improper breathing take their toll. The chest itself has a tendency to grow rigid The consequences is an accumulation of uric acid in the blood stream which often leads to those vague syndromes of pain and discomfort that doctors in general diagnose with a shrug as the miseries of aging, which they can cheerfully advise you to learn to live with since nothing can be done about them.
Backaches, headaches, stiffening muscles and joints, neuritis, rheumatism are some of the more common of these complaints. Excess fat is another, for as we begin to grow old and proper circulation is impeded by a sluggish diaphragm or hardening arteries, the red blood corpuscles become distributed unevenly and fat accumulates in spots instead of being burned up.
However, all of these complaints may be avoided, or at least considerably retarded, if only we learn to breath scientifically. Deep breathing (along with Deep Contraction) also has a direct salutary effect on Obesity, Since the cleansing, stimulating action of deep breathing improves metabolism and that, in turn, transforms deposits of fat into body fuel, or added energy.
In other words,
“Careful reorientation of your breathing habits can provide you with 5 times the oxygen and rid you of five times the carbon dioxide, with which you habitually function.”
Just incorporate a habit of deep breathing in your busy, complex and demanding life and all the above negative outcomes of it will vanish like a magic !
Eklavya is a simple student of meditation based in India. He provides knowledge of meditation through his website Meditation is Easy (www.meditationiseasy.com). This website provides knowledge of meditation (& various meditation techniques) to general public in a simple and idiot-friendly language ! On this website you can will also learn two super powerful and extremely easy methods of learning deep breathing. (www.meditationiseasy.com/mCorner/aids/Learn_deep_breathing.htm )
Apart from learning 112 Meditation techniques of all times (for all people of all age, you will also find on this website : a useful collection of various tips for stress-free life www.meditationiseasy.com/tips/index.htm) including workplace tips, health tips and Soul tips ! Have a look !
April 2, 2008 at 1:53 am · Filed under Great Health Tips
Few things show that you care about your life, your happiness, your relationships and ultimately your destiny like good body care. You only have one life to live, so why not live it well. Why not take the time and effort to have good body care and to love yourself.
Good body care is easy and hard all at the same time. It is easy in that it is really possible to have a longer, healthier life if you have good body care habits now. It is hard, however, because it means breaking old habits and working hard to make new habits. Begin any new body care program first by making goals for yourself. Where do you want to be in a year? What kind of life do you want to be living? What kind of health and fitness do you want to have? Starting your body care with goals and then sharing them with someone is one of the most effective ways to make victory possible.
Body care begins with really caring about your body. It sounds simple and redundant even, but it is true. You will never see significant changes in the condition of your body unless you deeply care that your body is healthy and vibrant. I don’t know what it will take for you to be really convinced about the importance of good body care. I can only hope that you have read enough health warnings and perhaps even seen what poor health has done to your family and friends enough to make changes for yourself.
One of the first and easiest ways to improve your body care is to drink water. Replace many of the sugar-filled and caffeine-filled drinks you’re used to with water. You will notice a difference in your energy levels, your skin, and your appetite in a short time. Water is one of the best ways to take good body care.
Another obvious and important element to good body care is getting more active. This doesn’t mean you have to sign up to run the next local marathoon, but it does mean that you have to make time for twenty to thirty minutes of cardio exercise at least every other day. Go for a brisk walk or a jog, play a game of tennis. Do things you enjoy. The important thing for good body care is that you are active. Inactivity is one of the most dangerous ways to live.
A third and final thing in good body care is your diet. Grab a couple of health books and begin learning about the things you should be eating and the things you must avoid. Educate yourself and then begin to implement changes to fit your lifestyle, budget, and goals.
The health of your body is worth any body care program you begin. I promise you.
Martin Stoleman is convinced that good body care is essential for every child and adult. Learn more at www.bodycarehub.info
