Sunday, January 1, 2012
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY...
Ring out the old, ring in the new / Ring, happy bells, across the snow... / Ring out the false, ring in the true. Happy New Year To You All!!
FUN FACTS - AND A GREAT WAY TO MAKE EXTRA INCOME AND LOTS OF IT - AND - CHECK OUT " WWW.MELODY'SHAPPYWORLD.COM " FOR A FREE WAY TO BRING HAPPINESS, LOVE AND HOPE TO THE WORLD WE LIVE IN!!
* Brain scans show that people who view photos of a beloved experience an activation of the caudate - the part of the brain involving cravings. *
* After age 30, the brain shrinks a quarter of a percent (0.25%) in mass each year. *
* 10 seconds is the amount of time until unconsciousness after the loss of blood supply to the brain. *
* The brain can stay alive for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen. After that cells begin to die. *
* A man's beard grows fastest when he anticipates sex. *
* Having sex can make a woman look younger and more attractive due to the release of estrogen and collagen. *
___________________________________________________________________________
* FOR A GREAT WAY TO MAKE EXTRA INCOME AND LOTS OF IT PLEASE GO TO WWW.GOKIVIA.COM - IT IS THE BEST COMPANY TO BE INVOLVED WITH AND THERE ARE FANTASTIC PRODUCTS AND THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD TO WORK WITH!! IT HAS THE BEST MARKETING PLAN THAT I'VE EVER SEEN AND YOU WILL BE VERY HAPPY!! WHAT A GREAT WAY TO MAKE MONEY AND SHOP FOR CHRISTMAS GIFTS AT THE SAME TIME!! I CAN'T BEGIN TO EXPLAIN HOW WONDERFUL THE PRODUCTS ARE, I'VE NEVER USED BETTER!! IF YOUR INTERESTED AND I HOPE YOU'LL TRY IT, CALL ME TO GET INVOLVED AT 310-326-3633 - Home - 310-986-7777 - Cell -, email: HereForYou@sbcglobal.net, THANK YOU AND BEST REGARDS, Catrina DeMicelli *
________________________________________________________________________
WWW.MELODYSHAPPYWORLD.COM - "True happiness is not looking back with regret, but looking forward to the future and creating your own exciting, magnificent destiny and masterpiece, YOUR LIFE!"
MELODY JENSEN IS THE MOST WONDERFUL PERSON AND THE GREATEST HUMANITARIAN I KNOW. CHECK OUT MELODY'S HAPPY WORLD, IT'S FREE!!
ASSOCIATIONS:
WWW.MELODYSSECRET.COM
WWW.MJHLC.COM
* After age 30, the brain shrinks a quarter of a percent (0.25%) in mass each year. *
* 10 seconds is the amount of time until unconsciousness after the loss of blood supply to the brain. *
* The brain can stay alive for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen. After that cells begin to die. *
* A man's beard grows fastest when he anticipates sex. *
* Having sex can make a woman look younger and more attractive due to the release of estrogen and collagen. *
___________________________________________________________________________
* FOR A GREAT WAY TO MAKE EXTRA INCOME AND LOTS OF IT PLEASE GO TO WWW.GOKIVIA.COM - IT IS THE BEST COMPANY TO BE INVOLVED WITH AND THERE ARE FANTASTIC PRODUCTS AND THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD TO WORK WITH!! IT HAS THE BEST MARKETING PLAN THAT I'VE EVER SEEN AND YOU WILL BE VERY HAPPY!! WHAT A GREAT WAY TO MAKE MONEY AND SHOP FOR CHRISTMAS GIFTS AT THE SAME TIME!! I CAN'T BEGIN TO EXPLAIN HOW WONDERFUL THE PRODUCTS ARE, I'VE NEVER USED BETTER!! IF YOUR INTERESTED AND I HOPE YOU'LL TRY IT, CALL ME TO GET INVOLVED AT 310-326-3633 - Home - 310-986-7777 - Cell -, email: HereForYou@sbcglobal.net, THANK YOU AND BEST REGARDS, Catrina DeMicelli *
________________________________________________________________________
WWW.MELODYSHAPPYWORLD.COM - "True happiness is not looking back with regret, but looking forward to the future and creating your own exciting, magnificent destiny and masterpiece, YOUR LIFE!"
MELODY JENSEN IS THE MOST WONDERFUL PERSON AND THE GREATEST HUMANITARIAN I KNOW. CHECK OUT MELODY'S HAPPY WORLD, IT'S FREE!!
ASSOCIATIONS:
WWW.MELODYSSECRET.COM
WWW.MJHLC.COM
6 Reasons Why Women Cheat - Is Your Relationship at Risk?
Hillary Clinton became the symbol of long-suffering married women everywhere when she stood by her man… twice. But now when a woman feels dissatisfied in her relationship, she doesn’t just complain to her friends over cosmopolitans. She gets a private email account, posts a profile at LonelyCheatingWives.com and starts looking for hookups herself. Find out why the stigma is gone with these 6 reasons women cheat...
Accurate stats on women’s infidelity are understandably hard to come by since – no surprise here – ladies aren’t always keen on ’fessing up to their extracurricular activities.
“Affairs are not uncommon,” says clinical psychologist Nancy O’Reilly (aka Dr. Nancy). “Women tend to keep these things to themselves, but there are signs that they’re catching up with the guys.”
It’s guesstimated that 14%-40% of married women have intimately tangoed with someone other than their husbands.
In one unscientific yet telling poll at WomanSavers.com (the self-proclaimed “world’s largest database rating good and bad men”), women were asked if they had ever cheated.
Of the more than 9,400 women who responded, 49% said they had.
Another 26% said that they’d have no problem stepping out on their partners if they knew they could get away with it.
Why?
The easy answer is that women today have the same opportunities to cheat as guys always did, says Dr. Nancy.
Not only do working women have the chance to mix and mingle with would-be lovers (both in the office and on business trips), but the Internet is filled with chat rooms and Web sites like AshleyMadison.com and AffairMatch.com that blatantly court married men and women looking for a little something on the side.
Even so, it takes more than mere opportunity to get a gal to slide between someone else’s sheets.
We asked relationship experts to explain what inclines one woman to drop trou while another keeps her knickers on. Here are the six most common reasons:
1. Familiarity has bred indifference.
The most common justification for infidelity that Dr. Nancy hears from women is that they feel taken for granted.
You discuss what the kids did in school and which bills need to be paid, when the car needs an oil change and whether you should paint the house.
But you haven’t really talked in a while.
You know, about all those things – hopes, dreams, ideals – that you spent hours discussing as you lay in each other’s arms... before you had kids, car payments and a mortgage.
When a woman feels like little more than a household drudge, attention from someone else becomes extremely seductive.
“If there’s a failure to communicate – which is so reinforcing to women in terms of intimacy, emotional satisfaction and relationship satisfaction – then women look outside the relationship for that kind of connection,” says family and marriage therapist Terri Orbuch, host of Detroit’s Love Doctor TV and radio programs.
“This is the most important reason women cheat. When you’re unhappy or dissatisfied in your relationship, you’re more likely to be tempted to look elsewhere.”
And, she adds, you begin to perceive “opportunities” – like Mr. Eager To Fill The Proverbial Void – very differently.
2. You’re leading parallel lives.
You used to travel the same path side by side, but lately your interests have diverged.
Your guy wants to shoot pool with his buddies or watch football during his free time; you’d rather go antiquing or watch British costume dramas.
When you start doing things separately, your odds of connecting with others who share your interests increase.
Soon you may suspect you have more in common with that guy you keep spotting at the Saturday revival showings of The English Patient than with your hubby.
Share a couple of large buttered popcorns, and suddenly he’s Ralph Fiennes and you’re Kristin Scott Thomas, sneaking around on Colin Firth.
3. The passion has fizzled.
“Some women are in pretty good marriages – things are good, the kids are fine, the husband’s OK – but she’s bored and needs some excitement,” Dr. Nancy says.
And a casual affair may put some zing back in her days.
“It’s something new, different and exciting,” adds Stephany Alexander, online dating expert and founder of WomanSavers.com. “A cheating woman seeks the thrill of the chase and to see if she can get away with it.”
4. The fantasy has fizzled.
A corollary to fizzling passion occurs when the romance fades and you realize your guy is not the fantasy man you fell in love with.
Instead, he’s a mass of irksome habits that are starting to get under your skin.
“Women who have false illusions tend to end up cheating because they never really knew the guy to begin with... or hoped he would change,” Alexander says.
“When a woman’s Prince Charming turns out to be a frog, women often cheat in hopes of finding a new prince.”
5. Your ego needs a boost.
You can be in a relationship with a perfectly wonderful, loving man and still need extra affirmation that you’ve got it goin’ on.
Sleeping with someone else is an easy way to remind yourself that you’re desirable.
“Even if your partner is reassuring, for whatever reason, it’s not enough,” Orbuch explains, “and so you look elsewhere, so you can feel like you’re lovable.”
6. It’s payback time.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, as the saying goes.
And when a woman catches her man with his hand in someone else’s cookie jar, she figures she’s got a right to a little indulgence of her own.
“If a woman finds out her significant other has been cheating, she may heal those hurt feelings by having sex with another man,” Alexander says.
So, if women cheat mainly because they no longer feel connected to their man, what makes a guy seek something on the side?
Read 9 Reasons Why Men Cheat to learn what makes guys stray... and what women can do to keep ’em at home.
Will You Cheat? Rate Your Risk
It's estimated that up to 55% of women and 60% of men cheat at some point during their marriages. While you can't always control what your partner does, how likely is it that you'll be the one to do the straying?
Accurate stats on women’s infidelity are understandably hard to come by since – no surprise here – ladies aren’t always keen on ’fessing up to their extracurricular activities.
“Affairs are not uncommon,” says clinical psychologist Nancy O’Reilly (aka Dr. Nancy). “Women tend to keep these things to themselves, but there are signs that they’re catching up with the guys.”
It’s guesstimated that 14%-40% of married women have intimately tangoed with someone other than their husbands.
In one unscientific yet telling poll at WomanSavers.com (the self-proclaimed “world’s largest database rating good and bad men”), women were asked if they had ever cheated.
Of the more than 9,400 women who responded, 49% said they had.
Another 26% said that they’d have no problem stepping out on their partners if they knew they could get away with it.
Why?
The easy answer is that women today have the same opportunities to cheat as guys always did, says Dr. Nancy.
Not only do working women have the chance to mix and mingle with would-be lovers (both in the office and on business trips), but the Internet is filled with chat rooms and Web sites like AshleyMadison.com and AffairMatch.com that blatantly court married men and women looking for a little something on the side.
Even so, it takes more than mere opportunity to get a gal to slide between someone else’s sheets.
We asked relationship experts to explain what inclines one woman to drop trou while another keeps her knickers on. Here are the six most common reasons:
1. Familiarity has bred indifference.
The most common justification for infidelity that Dr. Nancy hears from women is that they feel taken for granted.
You discuss what the kids did in school and which bills need to be paid, when the car needs an oil change and whether you should paint the house.
But you haven’t really talked in a while.
You know, about all those things – hopes, dreams, ideals – that you spent hours discussing as you lay in each other’s arms... before you had kids, car payments and a mortgage.
When a woman feels like little more than a household drudge, attention from someone else becomes extremely seductive.
“If there’s a failure to communicate – which is so reinforcing to women in terms of intimacy, emotional satisfaction and relationship satisfaction – then women look outside the relationship for that kind of connection,” says family and marriage therapist Terri Orbuch, host of Detroit’s Love Doctor TV and radio programs.
“This is the most important reason women cheat. When you’re unhappy or dissatisfied in your relationship, you’re more likely to be tempted to look elsewhere.”
And, she adds, you begin to perceive “opportunities” – like Mr. Eager To Fill The Proverbial Void – very differently.
2. You’re leading parallel lives.
You used to travel the same path side by side, but lately your interests have diverged.
Your guy wants to shoot pool with his buddies or watch football during his free time; you’d rather go antiquing or watch British costume dramas.
When you start doing things separately, your odds of connecting with others who share your interests increase.
Soon you may suspect you have more in common with that guy you keep spotting at the Saturday revival showings of The English Patient than with your hubby.
Share a couple of large buttered popcorns, and suddenly he’s Ralph Fiennes and you’re Kristin Scott Thomas, sneaking around on Colin Firth.
3. The passion has fizzled.
“Some women are in pretty good marriages – things are good, the kids are fine, the husband’s OK – but she’s bored and needs some excitement,” Dr. Nancy says.
And a casual affair may put some zing back in her days.
“It’s something new, different and exciting,” adds Stephany Alexander, online dating expert and founder of WomanSavers.com. “A cheating woman seeks the thrill of the chase and to see if she can get away with it.”
4. The fantasy has fizzled.
A corollary to fizzling passion occurs when the romance fades and you realize your guy is not the fantasy man you fell in love with.
Instead, he’s a mass of irksome habits that are starting to get under your skin.
“Women who have false illusions tend to end up cheating because they never really knew the guy to begin with... or hoped he would change,” Alexander says.
“When a woman’s Prince Charming turns out to be a frog, women often cheat in hopes of finding a new prince.”
5. Your ego needs a boost.
You can be in a relationship with a perfectly wonderful, loving man and still need extra affirmation that you’ve got it goin’ on.
Sleeping with someone else is an easy way to remind yourself that you’re desirable.
“Even if your partner is reassuring, for whatever reason, it’s not enough,” Orbuch explains, “and so you look elsewhere, so you can feel like you’re lovable.”
6. It’s payback time.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, as the saying goes.
And when a woman catches her man with his hand in someone else’s cookie jar, she figures she’s got a right to a little indulgence of her own.
“If a woman finds out her significant other has been cheating, she may heal those hurt feelings by having sex with another man,” Alexander says.
So, if women cheat mainly because they no longer feel connected to their man, what makes a guy seek something on the side?
Read 9 Reasons Why Men Cheat to learn what makes guys stray... and what women can do to keep ’em at home.
Will You Cheat? Rate Your Risk
It's estimated that up to 55% of women and 60% of men cheat at some point during their marriages. While you can't always control what your partner does, how likely is it that you'll be the one to do the straying?
Garlic Is Heart-Healthy
The medicinal value of garlic has been known since antiquity. Many ancient medical manuscripts extolled its value in maintaining vigor, warding off disease, and preventing infection. Recent research has greatly strengthened those early beliefs.
Research has shown that garlic extract is one of the most powerful inhibitors of atherosclerosis. A compound called allicin is thought to be the main beneficial ingredient in raw garlic. When garlic is chopped or crushed, an enzyme called allinase generates this allicin. However, heat destroys the enzyme and prevents the formation of allicin.
Most studies have been conducted using ground (homogenate) raw garlic and aged garlic extract, which is prepared from raw garlic stored in 15 to 20 percent solution of ethanol for 20 months. This process destroys the allicin, but releases newer compounds, such as S-llylmercaptocysteine, allixin, and selenium — all of which are antioxidants and have other beneficial medicinal effects.
Both animal and human studies have shown that garlic is a powerful weapon against atherosclerosis. Most of these studies, using animals prone to developing the condition, demonstrated a 50 percent reduction in the process, far exceeding the effectiveness of statins. (For the latest information on how to protect your heart, see my report "New Heart Revelations.")
Keep in mind that a great number of the studies promoting the use of statin drugs never demonstrated a reduction in the actual condition (atherosclerosis) that causes heart attacks and stroke. Rather, the findings indicate that statins “reduce risk factors.” But, as I have written about many times, these “risk factors” often do not correlate that well with the condition.
Since 1975, there have been more than 46 human studies on the ability of garlic and garlic extract to lower lipids (cholesterol). Most of these studies have been randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies using garlic powder fed over a prolonged period to patients with extremely high cholesterol levels (hyperlipidemia). The studies demonstrated a drop in both cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Garlic also activates the enzyme that dissolves blood clots. This is especially important in the case of diabetics because overactivity of clotting is thought to be the basis for the high incidence of heart attacks and strokes in these individuals.
In addition, garlic extract prevents platelet aggregation — a process that occurs on the surface of unstable atherosclerotic plaque and is responsible for the sudden occurrence of heart attack or stroke. This has been confirmed both in animal studies and human studies. (The basis for much cardiovascular disease is inflammation. For a detailed discussion on inflammation and its role in many diseases, see my newsletter "Inflammation: The Real Cause of Most Diseases.")
Garlic has a number of other beneficial effects on the blood vessels, such as relaxing vasospasm (spasms in the blood vessels) caused by stress, reducing arrhythmias (a leading cause of death in heart attacks), reducing free radicals within arteries, and significantly reducing the amount of heart muscle damage when a heart attack occurs.
Research has shown that garlic extract is one of the most powerful inhibitors of atherosclerosis. A compound called allicin is thought to be the main beneficial ingredient in raw garlic. When garlic is chopped or crushed, an enzyme called allinase generates this allicin. However, heat destroys the enzyme and prevents the formation of allicin.
Most studies have been conducted using ground (homogenate) raw garlic and aged garlic extract, which is prepared from raw garlic stored in 15 to 20 percent solution of ethanol for 20 months. This process destroys the allicin, but releases newer compounds, such as S-llylmercaptocysteine, allixin, and selenium — all of which are antioxidants and have other beneficial medicinal effects.
Both animal and human studies have shown that garlic is a powerful weapon against atherosclerosis. Most of these studies, using animals prone to developing the condition, demonstrated a 50 percent reduction in the process, far exceeding the effectiveness of statins. (For the latest information on how to protect your heart, see my report "New Heart Revelations.")
Keep in mind that a great number of the studies promoting the use of statin drugs never demonstrated a reduction in the actual condition (atherosclerosis) that causes heart attacks and stroke. Rather, the findings indicate that statins “reduce risk factors.” But, as I have written about many times, these “risk factors” often do not correlate that well with the condition.
Since 1975, there have been more than 46 human studies on the ability of garlic and garlic extract to lower lipids (cholesterol). Most of these studies have been randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies using garlic powder fed over a prolonged period to patients with extremely high cholesterol levels (hyperlipidemia). The studies demonstrated a drop in both cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Garlic also activates the enzyme that dissolves blood clots. This is especially important in the case of diabetics because overactivity of clotting is thought to be the basis for the high incidence of heart attacks and strokes in these individuals.
In addition, garlic extract prevents platelet aggregation — a process that occurs on the surface of unstable atherosclerotic plaque and is responsible for the sudden occurrence of heart attack or stroke. This has been confirmed both in animal studies and human studies. (The basis for much cardiovascular disease is inflammation. For a detailed discussion on inflammation and its role in many diseases, see my newsletter "Inflammation: The Real Cause of Most Diseases.")
Garlic has a number of other beneficial effects on the blood vessels, such as relaxing vasospasm (spasms in the blood vessels) caused by stress, reducing arrhythmias (a leading cause of death in heart attacks), reducing free radicals within arteries, and significantly reducing the amount of heart muscle damage when a heart attack occurs.
Preventing Heart Disease in Women - The Cutting-Edge Research About Heart Disease You Need to Know
Do you understand the causes and symptoms of heart disease in women? Probably not – and what you don’t know could hurt you, says renowned cardiologist C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D. In an exclusive interview, she explains that because most heart research has been done on men, you could have a heart attack and not even realize it…
If you had chest pains, you’d probably guess right away you were having a heart attack.
But what if your symptoms were fatigue, jaw pain or even nausea – would you know they might signal a cardiac emergency? Would your doctor?
That’s just one of the major differences in the symptoms of heart disease between men and women.
To get the facts on heart disease in women, we talked with leading cardiologist C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D.
She’s director of the Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, which leads cutting-edge research on gender differences in cardiovascular disease.
In this exclusive interview, Bairey Merz discusses the new realities of heart disease in women, how women’s risk factors have changed over the years, and the best ways to live a heart-healthy lifestyle.
What’s the top myth about heart disease in women?
The biggest myth is that only elderly women get heart disease, and young women are protected. In reality, heart disease kills more young women – even 20- to 25-year-olds – than breast cancer.
It’s also the leading killer of midlife women, ages 45-65, and older women too.
Why is there so much misinformation on the subject?
When heart disease was first studied in the 1950s, it was identified as something that killed middle-aged men … and it’s true that, at that time, more men died than women.
But demographic trends have changed.
Now, more women die than men [because warning signs are not recognized].
Still, medical schools continue to teach that it’s predominantly a male disease.
The other problem is that women often present different heart attack symptoms.
Women themselves will under-recognize signs, just like physicians, because we’re all tutored to [recognize] a male pattern.
What are the differences in symptoms of heart disease?
About two-thirds of men will present with what we call the “Hollywood heart attack” – typically, pain or pressure in the middle of the chest.
It might radiate to the jaw or arm, with some shortness of breath, perhaps some nausea.
Women’s symptoms might just be jaw or elbow pain, stomach upset or indigestion. It might only be some shortness of breath or a sense of overwhelming fatigue.
[These other symptoms] can arise in women at least half the time. Even some men will present [them].
Are these intense sensations?
Not necessarily – that’s what’s unnerving.
You need to [know] what’s typical for you.
If you always get heartburn and indigestion after eating Dodger Dogs, I don’t want to hear about it at 2 a.m., because it’s probably not a heart attack.
But if this isn’t typical, if you don’t have any good reason to be up at 2 a.m. but you’re having indigestion and are a little sweaty – and it doesn’t feel like the flu and you don’t have a fever – go to the emergency room.
It might be a heart attack.
What does the latest research show about symptoms of heart disease in women?
We’ve uncovered something called microvascular coronary dysfunction.
Women present with persistent, sometimes disabling chest discomfort. They have an abnormal stress test, but when they have an angiogram, [it shows] the arteries are open.
We really put this on the radar as something that takes lives – and it’s more prevalent in women.
We’re doing studies on the best ways to diagnose and treat it.
If doctors aren’t aware of this, what should a woman do if her symptoms are being dismissed?
If a woman is told by her physician or cardiologist that it’s “all in her head” – that it must be her gallbladder or stomach, or she’s hysterical – it is possible that she has microvascular coronary dysfunction.
She should seek a health-care provider who’s willing to entertain that thought, or go to a high-quality women’s heart center. [Here’s a list of Women’s Heart Centers around the country.]
What are the major causes of heart disease in women?
There are five traditional risk factors: cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and family history – that is, a close relative who had cardiovascular disease (including heart attack, stroke, angioplasty or bypass) before age 60.
How have women’s risk factors changed over the years?
In the 1950s, it was uncommon for women to smoke cigarettes – and if they did, they didn’t smoke a pack a day.
Now, women smoke just as much as men and it’s just as big a risk factor.
If you smoke cigarettes, expect to have a heart attack or stroke.
The other thing is the aging of America. Heart disease is a chronic disease – most of us will get it if we live long enough.
And women, on average, live 6-8 years longer than men.
If women want to live a heart-healthy lifestyle, what are the most important things they can do?
Follow these guidelines:
1. Avoid smoking and breathing other people’s smoke, which are major causes of heart disease.
Nobody should smoke in your home, particularly if you have children there.
2. Do some physical activity for 30 minutes a day.
It doesn’t have to be a specific aerobic exercise, or huffing and puffing at the gym. You just need to move your body through space.
It also doesn’t have to be done consecutively. It could be intermittent stair-climbing if you work in an office.
3. Eat a heart-healthy diet. Mediterranean-style eating works for women and men – but that doesn’t mean having huge bowls of pasta or drinking a cup of olive oil every day.
It means eating 9-10 servings of fruit or vegetables per day, even though the average American has two servings.
A serving is about what you can hold in your hand.
You also want complex carbohydrates – mostly beans and legumes, along with whole grains. Potatoes are OK, occasionally.
Eat fish once or twice a week – the size of your palm or a deck of cards. When you eat [meat], it should be in condiment portions – don’t sit down and eat one of those massive chicken breasts.
At the very top of the Mediterranean food pyramid is the occasional dessert – not every day.
4. Avoid being obese, which is defined as 20% over your ideal body weight.
Just being overweight doesn’t seem to count for very much [added risk], especially if you exercise every day.
5. Last – and my personal favorite – is a single serving [4-5 ounces] of alcohol with a meal. It’s associated with longevity as well as a lower risk of heart disease.
That doesn’t mean seven drinks on Saturday night, or drinking at the bar while eating nuts.
And, obviously, this isn’t a medical advisement. Check with your own health-care provider about whether it’s reasonable for you.
How much impact do these habits have on cardiovascular risk?
There’s very relevant research on humans demonstrating this is how we should conduct our lives.
Among the populations that have these five health habits – and less than 10% are Americans – there’s an 80% reduced lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease.
How protective is HDL (“good”) cholesterol against the causes of heart disease?
I often hear from patients and even primary-care physicians that women with high HDL could never have a heart attack. They think that they’re protected even if their [total] cholesterol is high, they smoke, they’re overweight and have high blood pressure.
That’s a huge myth. I wish I had $100 for every woman I’ve cared for with high HDL who had a heart attack.
If a woman has heart disease, what medications are most effective?
For the 6 million women in the U.S. who have the traditional obstructive coronary disease, they should follow the same risk-reduction strategies as men.
That includes low-dose aspirin, beta blockers [which diminish stress hormones and lower blood pressure], angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors [ACE inhibitors, which treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure] and a statin, which lowers cholesterol.
We call these medications “the magic pills.”
Barbra Streisand has endowed a fund to help with research and education about heart disease at the Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai. How did she get involved?
She understands that the leading killer of women is cardiovascular disease, and she responded to a call to help.
She has been a magnanimous benefactor and spokesperson, and we’re incredibly grateful for her support.
She has also pledged additional funds – if you donate on the CrowdRise website, she’ll match it.
Myth Vs Fact: How Much Do You Know About Heart Health?
Sure, you know that your heart is the vital organ that pumps blood throughout the body. But can you separate fact from fiction when it comes to heart-smart living?
If you had chest pains, you’d probably guess right away you were having a heart attack.
But what if your symptoms were fatigue, jaw pain or even nausea – would you know they might signal a cardiac emergency? Would your doctor?
That’s just one of the major differences in the symptoms of heart disease between men and women.
To get the facts on heart disease in women, we talked with leading cardiologist C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D.
She’s director of the Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, which leads cutting-edge research on gender differences in cardiovascular disease.
In this exclusive interview, Bairey Merz discusses the new realities of heart disease in women, how women’s risk factors have changed over the years, and the best ways to live a heart-healthy lifestyle.
What’s the top myth about heart disease in women?
The biggest myth is that only elderly women get heart disease, and young women are protected. In reality, heart disease kills more young women – even 20- to 25-year-olds – than breast cancer.
It’s also the leading killer of midlife women, ages 45-65, and older women too.
Why is there so much misinformation on the subject?
When heart disease was first studied in the 1950s, it was identified as something that killed middle-aged men … and it’s true that, at that time, more men died than women.
But demographic trends have changed.
Now, more women die than men [because warning signs are not recognized].
Still, medical schools continue to teach that it’s predominantly a male disease.
The other problem is that women often present different heart attack symptoms.
Women themselves will under-recognize signs, just like physicians, because we’re all tutored to [recognize] a male pattern.
What are the differences in symptoms of heart disease?
About two-thirds of men will present with what we call the “Hollywood heart attack” – typically, pain or pressure in the middle of the chest.
It might radiate to the jaw or arm, with some shortness of breath, perhaps some nausea.
Women’s symptoms might just be jaw or elbow pain, stomach upset or indigestion. It might only be some shortness of breath or a sense of overwhelming fatigue.
[These other symptoms] can arise in women at least half the time. Even some men will present [them].
Are these intense sensations?
Not necessarily – that’s what’s unnerving.
You need to [know] what’s typical for you.
If you always get heartburn and indigestion after eating Dodger Dogs, I don’t want to hear about it at 2 a.m., because it’s probably not a heart attack.
But if this isn’t typical, if you don’t have any good reason to be up at 2 a.m. but you’re having indigestion and are a little sweaty – and it doesn’t feel like the flu and you don’t have a fever – go to the emergency room.
It might be a heart attack.
What does the latest research show about symptoms of heart disease in women?
We’ve uncovered something called microvascular coronary dysfunction.
Women present with persistent, sometimes disabling chest discomfort. They have an abnormal stress test, but when they have an angiogram, [it shows] the arteries are open.
We really put this on the radar as something that takes lives – and it’s more prevalent in women.
We’re doing studies on the best ways to diagnose and treat it.
If doctors aren’t aware of this, what should a woman do if her symptoms are being dismissed?
If a woman is told by her physician or cardiologist that it’s “all in her head” – that it must be her gallbladder or stomach, or she’s hysterical – it is possible that she has microvascular coronary dysfunction.
She should seek a health-care provider who’s willing to entertain that thought, or go to a high-quality women’s heart center. [Here’s a list of Women’s Heart Centers around the country.]
What are the major causes of heart disease in women?
There are five traditional risk factors: cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and family history – that is, a close relative who had cardiovascular disease (including heart attack, stroke, angioplasty or bypass) before age 60.
How have women’s risk factors changed over the years?
In the 1950s, it was uncommon for women to smoke cigarettes – and if they did, they didn’t smoke a pack a day.
Now, women smoke just as much as men and it’s just as big a risk factor.
If you smoke cigarettes, expect to have a heart attack or stroke.
The other thing is the aging of America. Heart disease is a chronic disease – most of us will get it if we live long enough.
And women, on average, live 6-8 years longer than men.
If women want to live a heart-healthy lifestyle, what are the most important things they can do?
Follow these guidelines:
1. Avoid smoking and breathing other people’s smoke, which are major causes of heart disease.
Nobody should smoke in your home, particularly if you have children there.
2. Do some physical activity for 30 minutes a day.
It doesn’t have to be a specific aerobic exercise, or huffing and puffing at the gym. You just need to move your body through space.
It also doesn’t have to be done consecutively. It could be intermittent stair-climbing if you work in an office.
3. Eat a heart-healthy diet. Mediterranean-style eating works for women and men – but that doesn’t mean having huge bowls of pasta or drinking a cup of olive oil every day.
It means eating 9-10 servings of fruit or vegetables per day, even though the average American has two servings.
A serving is about what you can hold in your hand.
You also want complex carbohydrates – mostly beans and legumes, along with whole grains. Potatoes are OK, occasionally.
Eat fish once or twice a week – the size of your palm or a deck of cards. When you eat [meat], it should be in condiment portions – don’t sit down and eat one of those massive chicken breasts.
At the very top of the Mediterranean food pyramid is the occasional dessert – not every day.
4. Avoid being obese, which is defined as 20% over your ideal body weight.
Just being overweight doesn’t seem to count for very much [added risk], especially if you exercise every day.
5. Last – and my personal favorite – is a single serving [4-5 ounces] of alcohol with a meal. It’s associated with longevity as well as a lower risk of heart disease.
That doesn’t mean seven drinks on Saturday night, or drinking at the bar while eating nuts.
And, obviously, this isn’t a medical advisement. Check with your own health-care provider about whether it’s reasonable for you.
How much impact do these habits have on cardiovascular risk?
There’s very relevant research on humans demonstrating this is how we should conduct our lives.
Among the populations that have these five health habits – and less than 10% are Americans – there’s an 80% reduced lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease.
How protective is HDL (“good”) cholesterol against the causes of heart disease?
I often hear from patients and even primary-care physicians that women with high HDL could never have a heart attack. They think that they’re protected even if their [total] cholesterol is high, they smoke, they’re overweight and have high blood pressure.
That’s a huge myth. I wish I had $100 for every woman I’ve cared for with high HDL who had a heart attack.
If a woman has heart disease, what medications are most effective?
For the 6 million women in the U.S. who have the traditional obstructive coronary disease, they should follow the same risk-reduction strategies as men.
That includes low-dose aspirin, beta blockers [which diminish stress hormones and lower blood pressure], angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors [ACE inhibitors, which treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure] and a statin, which lowers cholesterol.
We call these medications “the magic pills.”
Barbra Streisand has endowed a fund to help with research and education about heart disease at the Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai. How did she get involved?
She understands that the leading killer of women is cardiovascular disease, and she responded to a call to help.
She has been a magnanimous benefactor and spokesperson, and we’re incredibly grateful for her support.
She has also pledged additional funds – if you donate on the CrowdRise website, she’ll match it.
Myth Vs Fact: How Much Do You Know About Heart Health?
Sure, you know that your heart is the vital organ that pumps blood throughout the body. But can you separate fact from fiction when it comes to heart-smart living?
How to Heal 7 Common Sports Injuries - If You Only Get Exercise On the Weekends, You're At Risk
Every Saturday, weekend warriors emerge from the 9-to-5 ready to hit the court, course or open trail. Want to greet Monday without common sports injuries? Here’s what you need to know.
If your only weekday exercise is getting up to refill your coffee cup but you’re a jock come Saturday, you could do serious damage to your body. Why? Because you’re not well conditioned.
Still, that’s no excuse for lounging on the couch seven days a week. You simply need to know what you’re up against and the steps to take if you get hurt. Here are some sports injuries common among weekend warriors:
1. Ankle Sprain
If you’ve twisted your ankle, welcome to the club. About 25,000 ankle sprains occur in the U.S. each day, reports the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. One misstep on an uneven surface – or a sudden change in direction on the tennis court – could have you nursing a swollen ankle for days.
Sport injury treatment: Do P.R.I.C.E immediately: protection, rest, ice, compression, elevation.
Protection: Bandage, brace or use crutches for your injury when necessary. Don’t use the brace or bandage as an excuse to keep playing on an injury. This will only increase the time it takes to heal and will weaken the area, making it reliant on braces.
Rest: Get off the injury and stay off. Don’t use the injured limb until swelling is reduced.
Ice: “The sooner you ice, the less swelling and inflammation you’ll experience, and the faster you’ll heal,” says Marilyn Moffat, Ph.D., professor of physical therapy at New York University and co-author of The American Physical Therapy Association's Book of Body Maintenance (Peachtree Publishers). “Ice on and off for 72 hours, 20 minutes at a time,” she advises.
Never apply ice directly to the skin, which can lead to frostbite. Wrapping it in a thin cloth or towel will protect your skin. A bag of frozen peas is a great makeshift ice pack you can use and reuse.
Compression: Wrapping the injury (not too tightly!) in an ACE bandage helps reduce swelling.
Elevation: Whenever possible, keep the injury above heart-level to reduce swelling.
But don’t rest a mild sprain for too long. Once swelling and pain decrease, gradually point and flex your foot to loosen up the joint. Then try turning it inward and outward. When you can bear weight on your ankle, get walking. Doing one-legged balance exercises will strengthen the joint and protect it from future sports injuries.
What NOT to do: Don’t try to walk it off; you may increase damage. You may think a twisted ankle isn’t much to worry about, but you’re wrong.
“Women even as young as 40 may be prone to osteoporosis, so a twisted ankle could result in a fracture,” Moffat says.
2. Achilles Tendinitis
Your Achilles tendon attaches your calf muscles to your heel. It’s a thick, strong band of connective tissue, and if it is stretched or torn – ouch! Blame tight calves from sports involving a lot of jumping or running for this common sports injury.
Sport injury treatment: For a mild sprain or repetitive use injury, follow P.R.I.C.E. If you’re a runner, ease back into the sport and skip the hill work, which will only aggravate a torn tendon. Warm up properly and stretch regularly. Consider custom orthotics, which can help cushion and support the heel.
What NOT to do: Don’t ignore it. A small ache can quickly become a big problem if you don’t take care of it, especially for a muscle that’s necessary for the one thing you do every day: walk.
3. Shin Splints
Many a runner has suffered the dreaded shin splints, also known as periostitis, typically caused by overuse. You’ll feel pain down the front of the tibia (shinbone).
Sport injury treatment: For some common sports injuries like knee pain, rest is the only cure and you’ll have to take time off from running.
To soothe pain and reduce inflammation, try an ice cup: Fill a small paper cup with water and freeze it. Once frozen, peel back a couple inches of paper from the rim. Holding the base, rub the ice up and down your shin for 20 minutes. As it melts, the ice will conform to your shin and provide spot-on relief.
What NOT to do: Don’t try to work through it.
Stay off your legs until the pain is gone. To prevent further injury, don’t go out too hard, too fast. When you’re ready to run again, choose a soft running surface, like a track or grass − no bone-jarring concrete or pavement.
Remember: Walk, jog, then run.
4. Knee Pain
Knee injuries are hard to diagnose, unless you rupture your anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, which is characterized by the dreaded “pop” and buckling of the leg. That’s because many tendons and ligaments cross or attach on or around the knee joint. Here are three major causes of knee pain:
ACL sprain: Many famous athletes - both men (think football’s Tom Brady) and women - suffer this. The ACL is a main supportive connective tissue in the knee. Athletes who pivot suddenly cause the knee joint to twist and yank on the ligament.
Sport injury treatment: If you injure this sucker, you’ll know it from the unnerving pop and intense pain. See a doctor right away.
What NOT to do: An ACL injury is always serious. Don’t ignore it.
5. Runner’s Knee
Patellofemoral pain syndrome or runner’s knee is often caused by repetitive stress to the knee joint, muscle weakness or tightness or dropped arches (flat feet). It’s not confined to runners. Any sport that uses repetitive knee motion (volleyball, basketball, football, cycling, even swimming) can cause it.
What to do: Rest or decrease the intensity of your runs or workouts. Wear shoes with proper arch support and consider getting professionally fitted at your local running store.
What NOT to do: You’ll aggravate it by sitting with knees bent for long periods, running downhill or walking down stairs.
6. IT Band Syndrome (ITBS)
A too-tight iliotibial (IT) band is a common cause of exercise pain in runners' knees; and these sports injuries are common in basketball players and other athletes who jump a lot. The band of connective tissue and muscle runs along the outer upper thigh, down to the knee. When it’s too tight, it pulls painfully on its insertion point near the knee. Sometimes you’ll even feel pain at the band’s attachment point on the upper thigh.
Running, cycling and sports that require repetitive squatting (volleyball, football, etc.) aggravate ITBS, as does sitting with bent knees. Since it’s a repetitive use injury, only rest will give it the time it needs to heal.
Sport injury treatment: Using a foam roller or other device such as The Stick (a rod with spindles that’s rolled over the muscle), can help elongate the tissue and speed recovery. The American Academy of Family Physicians also recommends stretching exercises and massages.
What NOT to do: Avoid repetitive knee movements.
7. Back Pain
You don’t have to be an athlete, gym-rat or weekend warrior to suffer back pain. In fact, if you rarely exercise, you probably have lower back pain. That’s because a weak core contributes to a frail back. Poor posture and lifting techniques make a bad back worse.
Sport injury treatment: Start core-strengthening exercises. Stretch your leg muscles, particularly your hamstrings, regularly after exercise. Use proper lifting techniques and, as your mother always said, stand up straight!
What NOT to do: Never lift with your back; use your legs. Warm up properly before doing any sport that involves your back - which is pretty much everything - especially those that require twisting at the lower spine (golf, baseball, tennis).
You hurt all over…
Whether you just began a new exercise program or you went out too hard and fast, you’re doing more than your body can handle. Slow down! You may have goals for your body, but your body has limits. Take one step at a time. Push it only with proper training.
If you’re a well-conditioned athlete and you’re suddenly experiencing aches, pains and fatigue, you’re probably overtraining. Cut back for a while, consider taking some rest days and fuel up with proper nutrition.
Follow these 5 tips:
1. Get in shape for the sport; don’t use it to get in shape.
“Athletes condition themselves specifically for the sport,” Moffat says. By contrast, weekend warriors use the sport for conditioning, “which can lead to injuries, aches and pains,” she says.
2. Follow the 10% rule.
Don’t ask more of your body than it can handle. When it comes to your workout, never increase intensity, duration or frequency by more than 10%.
For example, if you normally work out for one hour a day, five days a week (five hours total), and you want to do more, you should add only 30 extra minutes of exercise that week.
3. Do a proper warm-up.
“Nobody would literally walk out the door and start sprinting,” Moffat says. “You walk, then jog, then run.”
Five to 10 minutes is usually plenty for a warm-up, depending on the activity. If you’re just doing light weight lifting, you can go slowly and ease into it, she says. But if you’re doing heavier resistance training, you need a longer warm-up.
4. Increase range of motion.
To stretch or not to stretch? To keep normal range of motion and elongate the muscle, stretching is key to prevent common sports injuries, particularly after your workout.
“All of the literature is pointing to stretching after activity,” Moffat says.
But if you’re really tight, she advises stretching before the activity… but after your warm-up. Stretches should be held for no less than 30 seconds each.
5. Don’t forget to cool down.
Tapering off the end of your workout is important for preventing serious injury.
“It prevents pooling of blood in the lower extremities,” Moffat says, which can cause your blood pressure to drop and may even affect normal heart rhythm.
Cooling down post-workout also helps your body remove waste products like lactic acid, which means you’ll start your next workout feeling great, not sore.
How Bad Is Your Back Pain?
So your back hurts? Do you see a doctor or wait it out?
If your only weekday exercise is getting up to refill your coffee cup but you’re a jock come Saturday, you could do serious damage to your body. Why? Because you’re not well conditioned.
Still, that’s no excuse for lounging on the couch seven days a week. You simply need to know what you’re up against and the steps to take if you get hurt. Here are some sports injuries common among weekend warriors:
1. Ankle Sprain
If you’ve twisted your ankle, welcome to the club. About 25,000 ankle sprains occur in the U.S. each day, reports the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. One misstep on an uneven surface – or a sudden change in direction on the tennis court – could have you nursing a swollen ankle for days.
Sport injury treatment: Do P.R.I.C.E immediately: protection, rest, ice, compression, elevation.
Protection: Bandage, brace or use crutches for your injury when necessary. Don’t use the brace or bandage as an excuse to keep playing on an injury. This will only increase the time it takes to heal and will weaken the area, making it reliant on braces.
Rest: Get off the injury and stay off. Don’t use the injured limb until swelling is reduced.
Ice: “The sooner you ice, the less swelling and inflammation you’ll experience, and the faster you’ll heal,” says Marilyn Moffat, Ph.D., professor of physical therapy at New York University and co-author of The American Physical Therapy Association's Book of Body Maintenance (Peachtree Publishers). “Ice on and off for 72 hours, 20 minutes at a time,” she advises.
Never apply ice directly to the skin, which can lead to frostbite. Wrapping it in a thin cloth or towel will protect your skin. A bag of frozen peas is a great makeshift ice pack you can use and reuse.
Compression: Wrapping the injury (not too tightly!) in an ACE bandage helps reduce swelling.
Elevation: Whenever possible, keep the injury above heart-level to reduce swelling.
But don’t rest a mild sprain for too long. Once swelling and pain decrease, gradually point and flex your foot to loosen up the joint. Then try turning it inward and outward. When you can bear weight on your ankle, get walking. Doing one-legged balance exercises will strengthen the joint and protect it from future sports injuries.
What NOT to do: Don’t try to walk it off; you may increase damage. You may think a twisted ankle isn’t much to worry about, but you’re wrong.
“Women even as young as 40 may be prone to osteoporosis, so a twisted ankle could result in a fracture,” Moffat says.
2. Achilles Tendinitis
Your Achilles tendon attaches your calf muscles to your heel. It’s a thick, strong band of connective tissue, and if it is stretched or torn – ouch! Blame tight calves from sports involving a lot of jumping or running for this common sports injury.
Sport injury treatment: For a mild sprain or repetitive use injury, follow P.R.I.C.E. If you’re a runner, ease back into the sport and skip the hill work, which will only aggravate a torn tendon. Warm up properly and stretch regularly. Consider custom orthotics, which can help cushion and support the heel.
What NOT to do: Don’t ignore it. A small ache can quickly become a big problem if you don’t take care of it, especially for a muscle that’s necessary for the one thing you do every day: walk.
3. Shin Splints
Many a runner has suffered the dreaded shin splints, also known as periostitis, typically caused by overuse. You’ll feel pain down the front of the tibia (shinbone).
Sport injury treatment: For some common sports injuries like knee pain, rest is the only cure and you’ll have to take time off from running.
To soothe pain and reduce inflammation, try an ice cup: Fill a small paper cup with water and freeze it. Once frozen, peel back a couple inches of paper from the rim. Holding the base, rub the ice up and down your shin for 20 minutes. As it melts, the ice will conform to your shin and provide spot-on relief.
What NOT to do: Don’t try to work through it.
Stay off your legs until the pain is gone. To prevent further injury, don’t go out too hard, too fast. When you’re ready to run again, choose a soft running surface, like a track or grass − no bone-jarring concrete or pavement.
Remember: Walk, jog, then run.
4. Knee Pain
Knee injuries are hard to diagnose, unless you rupture your anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, which is characterized by the dreaded “pop” and buckling of the leg. That’s because many tendons and ligaments cross or attach on or around the knee joint. Here are three major causes of knee pain:
ACL sprain: Many famous athletes - both men (think football’s Tom Brady) and women - suffer this. The ACL is a main supportive connective tissue in the knee. Athletes who pivot suddenly cause the knee joint to twist and yank on the ligament.
Sport injury treatment: If you injure this sucker, you’ll know it from the unnerving pop and intense pain. See a doctor right away.
What NOT to do: An ACL injury is always serious. Don’t ignore it.
5. Runner’s Knee
Patellofemoral pain syndrome or runner’s knee is often caused by repetitive stress to the knee joint, muscle weakness or tightness or dropped arches (flat feet). It’s not confined to runners. Any sport that uses repetitive knee motion (volleyball, basketball, football, cycling, even swimming) can cause it.
What to do: Rest or decrease the intensity of your runs or workouts. Wear shoes with proper arch support and consider getting professionally fitted at your local running store.
What NOT to do: You’ll aggravate it by sitting with knees bent for long periods, running downhill or walking down stairs.
6. IT Band Syndrome (ITBS)
A too-tight iliotibial (IT) band is a common cause of exercise pain in runners' knees; and these sports injuries are common in basketball players and other athletes who jump a lot. The band of connective tissue and muscle runs along the outer upper thigh, down to the knee. When it’s too tight, it pulls painfully on its insertion point near the knee. Sometimes you’ll even feel pain at the band’s attachment point on the upper thigh.
Running, cycling and sports that require repetitive squatting (volleyball, football, etc.) aggravate ITBS, as does sitting with bent knees. Since it’s a repetitive use injury, only rest will give it the time it needs to heal.
Sport injury treatment: Using a foam roller or other device such as The Stick (a rod with spindles that’s rolled over the muscle), can help elongate the tissue and speed recovery. The American Academy of Family Physicians also recommends stretching exercises and massages.
What NOT to do: Avoid repetitive knee movements.
7. Back Pain
You don’t have to be an athlete, gym-rat or weekend warrior to suffer back pain. In fact, if you rarely exercise, you probably have lower back pain. That’s because a weak core contributes to a frail back. Poor posture and lifting techniques make a bad back worse.
Sport injury treatment: Start core-strengthening exercises. Stretch your leg muscles, particularly your hamstrings, regularly after exercise. Use proper lifting techniques and, as your mother always said, stand up straight!
What NOT to do: Never lift with your back; use your legs. Warm up properly before doing any sport that involves your back - which is pretty much everything - especially those that require twisting at the lower spine (golf, baseball, tennis).
You hurt all over…
Whether you just began a new exercise program or you went out too hard and fast, you’re doing more than your body can handle. Slow down! You may have goals for your body, but your body has limits. Take one step at a time. Push it only with proper training.
If you’re a well-conditioned athlete and you’re suddenly experiencing aches, pains and fatigue, you’re probably overtraining. Cut back for a while, consider taking some rest days and fuel up with proper nutrition.
Follow these 5 tips:
1. Get in shape for the sport; don’t use it to get in shape.
“Athletes condition themselves specifically for the sport,” Moffat says. By contrast, weekend warriors use the sport for conditioning, “which can lead to injuries, aches and pains,” she says.
2. Follow the 10% rule.
Don’t ask more of your body than it can handle. When it comes to your workout, never increase intensity, duration or frequency by more than 10%.
For example, if you normally work out for one hour a day, five days a week (five hours total), and you want to do more, you should add only 30 extra minutes of exercise that week.
3. Do a proper warm-up.
“Nobody would literally walk out the door and start sprinting,” Moffat says. “You walk, then jog, then run.”
Five to 10 minutes is usually plenty for a warm-up, depending on the activity. If you’re just doing light weight lifting, you can go slowly and ease into it, she says. But if you’re doing heavier resistance training, you need a longer warm-up.
4. Increase range of motion.
To stretch or not to stretch? To keep normal range of motion and elongate the muscle, stretching is key to prevent common sports injuries, particularly after your workout.
“All of the literature is pointing to stretching after activity,” Moffat says.
But if you’re really tight, she advises stretching before the activity… but after your warm-up. Stretches should be held for no less than 30 seconds each.
5. Don’t forget to cool down.
Tapering off the end of your workout is important for preventing serious injury.
“It prevents pooling of blood in the lower extremities,” Moffat says, which can cause your blood pressure to drop and may even affect normal heart rhythm.
Cooling down post-workout also helps your body remove waste products like lactic acid, which means you’ll start your next workout feeling great, not sore.
How Bad Is Your Back Pain?
So your back hurts? Do you see a doctor or wait it out?
Parenting Tips You Need To Know - The Top 10 Mistakes Even Smart Moms Make
Whether you’re a new mom or the leader of a pint-sized brigade, it’s hard keeping up with all the do’s and don’ts of motherhood. Here are the 10 biggest mistakes parents make and how to avoid them…
We like to think of ourselves as the best moms – ever. But even when we think we’re doing everything right, we’re not. Here are 10 of the biggest mistakes made by savvy moms and first-time moms alike:
1. Sharing a bed with baby.
Bonding, breast-feeding, or 2 a.m. bottles and diaper changes are much easier when Junior is next to you at night.
But you may be putting your child at risk.
Bed-sharing is becoming more common in the U.S.: The number of babies who cuddle with their parents at night more than doubled (from 5.5% in 1993 to 12.8% in 2000), according to the National Infant Sleep Position Study.
Infants who sleep in their parents’ beds, however, are 40 times more likely to suffocate than those who don’t, according to a 2003 St. Louis University study.
Why? Babies may be smothered by the bedding, a parent rolling on top of them, or getting trapped between the mattress and the wall, headboard and/or footboard.
One way to co-sleep safely (especially during baby’s first year) and be a better parent is to park the crib or bassinet next to your bed. Make sure it has a firm mattress with a fitted sheet but no other bedding. No pillows or stuffed animals – they’re potential hazards.
Don’t allow loose blankets either, because they can easily cover the baby’s face. Instead, use warm sleep sacks, with holes for head and arms.
And of course, always put infants to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
2. Putting your child to bed with milk or juice.
This is the perfect setup — for cavities, says Michael Ignelzi, a Greensboro, N.C., dentist and orthodontist and spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
When kids sip milk or juice all day long or even just at night, cavity-causing bacteria in the mouth convert the beverages’ sugars into tooth-decaying acid.
How serious can it be? Recently, Ignelzi put four crowns into a 23-month-old boy’s mouth. The toddler had been drinking milk every night for his entire life, he says.
“The milk sugars had rotted his top front baby teeth down to the nubs.”
So limit milk and juice to meal or snack times because then “you have a lot of salivary flow, which neutralizes the acid,” Ignelzi explains.
Between meals and at night, there’s not a lot of saliva, and “the acid attacks for hours.”
3. Buying second-hand toys or baby furniture.
In a down economy, who could blame a mom for trying to save a few bucks by picking up gently used items at a garage sale or on Craigslist?
But before you snap up that bargain, check Recalls.gov. This government-based clearinghouse for product recalls can tell you if the toy you’re eyeing is hazardous.
Manufacturers get a dismal return on many recalled children’s products.
“Most recalled products are still out there, and people are unaware that the product their child is using is potentially lethal,” says Gary Smith, M.D., director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
4. Showing your child “smart baby” DVDs.
Do you feel less guilty and maybe even think you're being a better parent by letting your tot watch Brainy Baby and Baby Einstein DVDs? It’s OK, you rationalize, because the programs give kids a leg up on education.
That’s not what research shows.
Instead of boosting Susie’s language skills, the programs seem to hinder them. For every hour babies spent watching such educational DVDs, they knew 6-8 fewer words than babies who didn’t view them, according to a 2007 University of Washington study.
Another 2009 UW study found that when the TV is on, even in the background, parents interact less with their children, which also holds back language development. In fact, for every hour the TV is on, babies hear about 7% fewer words.
So forget the DVDs and turn the boob tube off.
Invest in old-fashioned building blocks instead. Another 2007 UW study found that toddlers who play with blocks have 15% bigger vocabularies than kids who don’t.
5. Putting kids in the basket of a shopping cart.
Supermarket shopping carts don’t look dangerous. But each year about 20,000 kids end up in emergency rooms because they tip over or fall out.
“The basket is absolutely the worst place” for a child to ride, Smith says. “A kid’s center of gravity is up around the chest and when they reach for something on a shelf as you’re passing by, they just go over the top.”
A safer way to shop with your youngster? Choose a bulky, tough-to-steer cart, preferably one with a seating space low to the ground. They’re less likely to topple and a child is closer to the floor in a fall.
6. Sharing utensils with your child.
There isn’t a mom who hasn’t dipped a spoon into hot oatmeal to test the temperature, then used that same spoon to feed her tot.
Or who hasn’t scooped up a dropped pacifier, given it a quick lick to “clean” it and then popped it back in Janie’s mouth?
Not so fast. These are perfect ways to pass the cavity-causing bacteria (and other germs) in your mouth to your baby, says dentist Ignelzi.
A cleaner idea: Taste with one spoon and feed with another. And wash off or use a wipe to clean pacifiers.
7. Delaying or avoiding vaccines.
Some parents — like celebrity Jenny McCarthy — refuse to give their children vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) because they believe they cause autism.
Another trend is ignoring the vaccine schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and using an “alternative” spaced-out timetable instead. The claim? It’s safer.
Actually, it’s a life-threatening mistake.
Delaying vaccines leaves your child open to “serious, preventable diseases at the most vulnerable time in their lives, in infancy,” warns Christopher Tolcher, M.D., an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at UCLA and a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
For starters, skipping the MMR won’t prevent autism, says Paul Offit, M.D., chief of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and author of Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine and the Search for a Cure (Columbia University Press). Studies of thousands of children have shown that they can develop autism whether or not they’re vaccinated.
Second, refusing the MMR vaccination increases the odds that a child will get measles — still a leading killer of kids worldwide — by up to 35 times.
In 2008, when the U.S. experienced its largest measles outbreak in a decade, nearly half the 131 sickened kids were unvaccinated.
Do you worry that giving too many vaccines at once taxes a baby’s still-developing immune system?
That fear isn't supported by science, Tolcher says.
“What babies get in the vaccines pales in comparison to the amount of microorganisms and environmental contaminants that go into their mouths every hour of the day.”
8. Leaving your child alone in the car “just for a minute.”
Your toddler just fell asleep in the car and you have to pick up milk before you go home. You’ll be fast, you think. What’s the harm?
It’s more dangerous than you think. About 36 young children die each year because they were left alone in a hot car. In about 18% of cases, the child was intentionally left behind while the parent ran an errand.
“People don’t realize how quickly a car heats up,” Smith says. Even on a mild day, the temperature inside a parked car can jump 19 degrees above the outside air is — in just 10 minutes.
“Within 20 minutes, it’s like an oven,” he says.
Because their bodies heat up about three to five times faster than adults’, it doesn’t take long for an infant or toddler to get heatstroke. And that can be fatal.
9. Skipping helmets on tricycles rides.
A fall from three to four feet can cause serious injury, even if the child isn’t pedaling.
“Children on wheels above a hard surface need to wear a helmet,” Smith says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s four wheels, three wheels or two wheels.”
Need another reason to insist on the helmet? It can be habit-forming.
Kids who wear helmets when they’re pedaling a trike are more likely to wear them when they’re older and riding bikes or doing tricks on a skateboard or scooter.
“It’s like wearing a seatbelt in the car,” Smith says. “You start early and consistently enforce the behavior.”
10. Leaving your child alone in the bath or shower.
About 100 children under 5 years old drown each year in the bathtub, usually because a parent or babysitter steps away for a few minutes.
“Young children need to have constant supervision in and around water. Period,” Smith says. “You should be able to reach out and touch them.”
Another hazard: slips and falls. New research from Smith’s center shows that more than 43,000 kids get hurt in bathtubs and showers each year.
Are You A Good Mom?
Being a good mom means more than baking cookies and joining the PTA. But sometimes a busy schedule and not enough "me" time gets in the way of being the best mother you can be.
We like to think of ourselves as the best moms – ever. But even when we think we’re doing everything right, we’re not. Here are 10 of the biggest mistakes made by savvy moms and first-time moms alike:
1. Sharing a bed with baby.
Bonding, breast-feeding, or 2 a.m. bottles and diaper changes are much easier when Junior is next to you at night.
But you may be putting your child at risk.
Bed-sharing is becoming more common in the U.S.: The number of babies who cuddle with their parents at night more than doubled (from 5.5% in 1993 to 12.8% in 2000), according to the National Infant Sleep Position Study.
Infants who sleep in their parents’ beds, however, are 40 times more likely to suffocate than those who don’t, according to a 2003 St. Louis University study.
Why? Babies may be smothered by the bedding, a parent rolling on top of them, or getting trapped between the mattress and the wall, headboard and/or footboard.
One way to co-sleep safely (especially during baby’s first year) and be a better parent is to park the crib or bassinet next to your bed. Make sure it has a firm mattress with a fitted sheet but no other bedding. No pillows or stuffed animals – they’re potential hazards.
Don’t allow loose blankets either, because they can easily cover the baby’s face. Instead, use warm sleep sacks, with holes for head and arms.
And of course, always put infants to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
2. Putting your child to bed with milk or juice.
This is the perfect setup — for cavities, says Michael Ignelzi, a Greensboro, N.C., dentist and orthodontist and spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
When kids sip milk or juice all day long or even just at night, cavity-causing bacteria in the mouth convert the beverages’ sugars into tooth-decaying acid.
How serious can it be? Recently, Ignelzi put four crowns into a 23-month-old boy’s mouth. The toddler had been drinking milk every night for his entire life, he says.
“The milk sugars had rotted his top front baby teeth down to the nubs.”
So limit milk and juice to meal or snack times because then “you have a lot of salivary flow, which neutralizes the acid,” Ignelzi explains.
Between meals and at night, there’s not a lot of saliva, and “the acid attacks for hours.”
3. Buying second-hand toys or baby furniture.
In a down economy, who could blame a mom for trying to save a few bucks by picking up gently used items at a garage sale or on Craigslist?
But before you snap up that bargain, check Recalls.gov. This government-based clearinghouse for product recalls can tell you if the toy you’re eyeing is hazardous.
Manufacturers get a dismal return on many recalled children’s products.
“Most recalled products are still out there, and people are unaware that the product their child is using is potentially lethal,” says Gary Smith, M.D., director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
4. Showing your child “smart baby” DVDs.
Do you feel less guilty and maybe even think you're being a better parent by letting your tot watch Brainy Baby and Baby Einstein DVDs? It’s OK, you rationalize, because the programs give kids a leg up on education.
That’s not what research shows.
Instead of boosting Susie’s language skills, the programs seem to hinder them. For every hour babies spent watching such educational DVDs, they knew 6-8 fewer words than babies who didn’t view them, according to a 2007 University of Washington study.
Another 2009 UW study found that when the TV is on, even in the background, parents interact less with their children, which also holds back language development. In fact, for every hour the TV is on, babies hear about 7% fewer words.
So forget the DVDs and turn the boob tube off.
Invest in old-fashioned building blocks instead. Another 2007 UW study found that toddlers who play with blocks have 15% bigger vocabularies than kids who don’t.
5. Putting kids in the basket of a shopping cart.
Supermarket shopping carts don’t look dangerous. But each year about 20,000 kids end up in emergency rooms because they tip over or fall out.
“The basket is absolutely the worst place” for a child to ride, Smith says. “A kid’s center of gravity is up around the chest and when they reach for something on a shelf as you’re passing by, they just go over the top.”
A safer way to shop with your youngster? Choose a bulky, tough-to-steer cart, preferably one with a seating space low to the ground. They’re less likely to topple and a child is closer to the floor in a fall.
6. Sharing utensils with your child.
There isn’t a mom who hasn’t dipped a spoon into hot oatmeal to test the temperature, then used that same spoon to feed her tot.
Or who hasn’t scooped up a dropped pacifier, given it a quick lick to “clean” it and then popped it back in Janie’s mouth?
Not so fast. These are perfect ways to pass the cavity-causing bacteria (and other germs) in your mouth to your baby, says dentist Ignelzi.
A cleaner idea: Taste with one spoon and feed with another. And wash off or use a wipe to clean pacifiers.
7. Delaying or avoiding vaccines.
Some parents — like celebrity Jenny McCarthy — refuse to give their children vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) because they believe they cause autism.
Another trend is ignoring the vaccine schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and using an “alternative” spaced-out timetable instead. The claim? It’s safer.
Actually, it’s a life-threatening mistake.
Delaying vaccines leaves your child open to “serious, preventable diseases at the most vulnerable time in their lives, in infancy,” warns Christopher Tolcher, M.D., an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at UCLA and a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
For starters, skipping the MMR won’t prevent autism, says Paul Offit, M.D., chief of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and author of Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine and the Search for a Cure (Columbia University Press). Studies of thousands of children have shown that they can develop autism whether or not they’re vaccinated.
Second, refusing the MMR vaccination increases the odds that a child will get measles — still a leading killer of kids worldwide — by up to 35 times.
In 2008, when the U.S. experienced its largest measles outbreak in a decade, nearly half the 131 sickened kids were unvaccinated.
Do you worry that giving too many vaccines at once taxes a baby’s still-developing immune system?
That fear isn't supported by science, Tolcher says.
“What babies get in the vaccines pales in comparison to the amount of microorganisms and environmental contaminants that go into their mouths every hour of the day.”
8. Leaving your child alone in the car “just for a minute.”
Your toddler just fell asleep in the car and you have to pick up milk before you go home. You’ll be fast, you think. What’s the harm?
It’s more dangerous than you think. About 36 young children die each year because they were left alone in a hot car. In about 18% of cases, the child was intentionally left behind while the parent ran an errand.
“People don’t realize how quickly a car heats up,” Smith says. Even on a mild day, the temperature inside a parked car can jump 19 degrees above the outside air is — in just 10 minutes.
“Within 20 minutes, it’s like an oven,” he says.
Because their bodies heat up about three to five times faster than adults’, it doesn’t take long for an infant or toddler to get heatstroke. And that can be fatal.
9. Skipping helmets on tricycles rides.
A fall from three to four feet can cause serious injury, even if the child isn’t pedaling.
“Children on wheels above a hard surface need to wear a helmet,” Smith says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s four wheels, three wheels or two wheels.”
Need another reason to insist on the helmet? It can be habit-forming.
Kids who wear helmets when they’re pedaling a trike are more likely to wear them when they’re older and riding bikes or doing tricks on a skateboard or scooter.
“It’s like wearing a seatbelt in the car,” Smith says. “You start early and consistently enforce the behavior.”
10. Leaving your child alone in the bath or shower.
About 100 children under 5 years old drown each year in the bathtub, usually because a parent or babysitter steps away for a few minutes.
“Young children need to have constant supervision in and around water. Period,” Smith says. “You should be able to reach out and touch them.”
Another hazard: slips and falls. New research from Smith’s center shows that more than 43,000 kids get hurt in bathtubs and showers each year.
Are You A Good Mom?
Being a good mom means more than baking cookies and joining the PTA. But sometimes a busy schedule and not enough "me" time gets in the way of being the best mother you can be.
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