Nature Health

Archive for the ‘Health Tips’ Category

There are five important steps to protect your young child’s teeth. Increase your knowledge about why it is important to:

1. Protect Your Baby’s Teeth with Fluoride

Fluoride (said like floor-eyed) protects teeth from tooth decay and helps heal early decay.

• Fluoride is in the drinking water of some towns and cities.

Ask your dentist or doctor if your water has fluoride in it. If it doesn’t, talk to your dentist or doctor about giving you a prescription for fluoride drops for your baby.

2. Check and Clean Your Baby’s Teeth

Check your baby’s teeth: healthy teeth should be all one color. If you see spots or stains on the teeth, take your baby to your dentist.

Clean your baby’s teeth: as soon as they come in with a clean, soft cloth or a baby’s toothbrush. Clean the teeth at least once a day. It’s best to clean them right before bedtime. At about age 2, most of your child’s teeth will be in. Now you can start brushing them with a small drop of fluoride toothpaste. Use a drop of toothpaste about as big as this. As your child gets older let him use his own toothbrush — but you put the toothpaste on the toothbrush until about age 6.

Young children cannot get their teeth clean by themselves. Until they are 7 or 8 years old, you will need to help them brush. Try brushing their teeth first and then letting them finish. And be sure that you put the toothpaste on the brush—-use only a pea-sized amount of toothpaste.

3. Feed Your Baby Healthy Food

Choose foods that do not have a lot of sugar in them. Give your child fruits and vegetables instead of candy and cookies.

4. Prevent Baby Bottle Tooth Decay.

Do no put your baby to bed with a bottle at night or  at nap time. (if you put your baby to bed with a bottle, fill it only on water)

Milk, formula, juices, and other sweet drinks such as soda all have sugar in them. Sucking on a bottle filled with liquids that have sugar in them can cause tooth decay. Decayed teeth can cause pain and can cost a lot to fill.

During the day, do not give your baby a bottle filled with sweet drinks to use like a pacifier. If your baby uses a pacifier, do not dip it in anything sweet like sugar or honey.

Near his first birthday, you should teach your child to drink from a cup instead of a bottle.

5. Take Your Child to the Dentist

Ask your dentist when to bring your child in for his first visit. Usually, the dentist will want to see a child by his first birthday. At this first visit, your dentist can quickly check your child’s teeth.

In 2008, researchers in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that individuals who kept their cell phone against one side of their head for several hours a day were 50 percent more likely to develop parotid tumors.
Unfortunately, like most Americans, she was under the false assumption that cell phones and other household electronics were safe. Now, she knows better. And it is even more crucial to be aware of the danger to children.
In fact, the very electronic and digital innovations that have made modern life more convenient and efficient are also exposing people to thousands of artificial electromagnetic frequencies and wavelengths never before experienced by human beings.
There are simple ways to reduce exposure in the rooms where Americans spend the most time in-the bedroom, family room, and home office:

1. Remove Wi-Fi and cordless phone chargers in the bedrooms
Cordless phone chargers emit radio frequency power even when not in use. The pulsed digital signals are more damaging than the analog signals, and they should not be anywhere near the head of the bed. Baby monitors should not be placed closer than 6 feet to the crib.

2. Walls do not stop magnetic fields
The backs of refrigerators produce large electromagnetic fields which go through walls-so if a family room shares a wall with the refrigerator, the sofa should not be against that wall. It is also recommended to stay out of the kitchen when self-cleaning ovens are operating; these oven settings use very high wattage to burn debris off the oven walls.

3. Don’t cradle your laptop
It may be called a laptop, but pregnant women especially should keep a good distance. Even before birth, children are exposed to electropollution in the womb. Since a fetus spends 40 weeks essentially floating in a sack of water (a well known conductor of electricity), it is particularly vulnerable.

Consumers need to be more aware. San Francisco became the first city in the nation to adopt an ordinance requiring retailers to inform consumers about the radiation levels of mobile phones at point of sale. This and similar measures should be implemented in every retail outlet selling mobile phones (and other electronics) throughout the country.

Everyone’s at risk when it comes to electropollution, the new invisible pollutant. It was once thought cigarettes, lead paint and tanning beds were safe. Electropollution has the potential of being even more deadly for people now, future generations and our planet.

MEDITIATION

Meditation allows us to come home to ourselves, creating a boundary from the outside  world. Meditation teacher and former Tibetan Buddhist nun, Arian Young, says during  meditation we alleviate stress by inducing the “relaxation response”, a term coined by well  known cardiologist, Dr Herbert Benson, the pioneer behind meditation studies at Harvard  Medical School.
Young says: “As the relaxation response switches off the stress response we begin to slow  down excessive thinking, relaxing the body and calming the mind so we take on a state of  being as opposed to a state of doing.
In the hectic 21st century, Young says we can use meditation to get us through our busy  action-packed day. “You can meditate for 30 seconds to one minute to help refresh and  refocus in between tasks and duties, while a 10-minute meditation daily will relax the  body, sooth the nervous system and increase awareness.

HYPNOSIS

Forget the stage shows where people are made to quack like a duck or act like a monkey; hypnosis is a therapeutic technique that can reduce the amount of stress you encounter. During a session a hypnosis therapist will induce trance in their patient and then make hypnotic suggestions designed to change the way the brain interprets experiences.
A recent study at Ohio State University by medical students showed they were able to significantly reduce exam-time stress after learning hypnosis. Blood samples even revealed that the students’ immune systems became stronger the more they practised. Once learnt, hypnosis is an inexpensive and easy technique that can be used to eliminate a wide variety of stressors such as health issues and negative habits.
HOW? You can go to a trained professional for hypnotherapy, invest in a CD for around $30 or learn self-hypnosis techniques.

RESCUE REMEDY

Some fans of Rescue Remedy describe it as “yoga in a bottle”. The homeopathic remedy is helpful in stressful moments to correct emotional imbalances. Dr Edward Bach created this formula from Bach Flower Essences some 80 years ago.
Makers say the remedies contain the energetic signature of the flower, which is transmitted to the user. It is used as an emotional ally for its calming and centering energy and is now relied on by people around the world to provide unconditional support during demanding times.
Rescue Remedy is world famous for quickly restoring inner calm, control and focus, and is becoming a handbag, desk drawer, luggage and glove box essential. The Bach Flower Essences are 100 per cent safe, natural and easy to use.
HOW? You’ll find this little yellow bottle in chemists and health food stores for less than $20. Simply take five drops in the mouth three times a day. If you experience a sudden shock or bout of anxiety, take three doses five minutes apart.

A balanced diet includes nutrient dense foods in the right amounts to help your body stay fit and healthy. Not sure how to get started? This nutrition guide will will show you the way.
1. Calorie Calculator

Calories are how we measure the energy produced from the foods you eat. Whether you want to lose, gain or maintain weight, you need to know how many calories your body needs every day. Calculate your calories.

2. Macronutrients

Your daily calories come from the protein, fat and carbohydrates (or macronutrients) that make up the foods you eat. All three of those macronutrients are important, however you need to have the right balance. Learn more about macronutrients.
3. Vitamins and Minerals

Your body also needs an assortment of vitamins and minerals (the micronutrients) to function properly. While you don’t need large amounts of these nutrients, they’re all crucial for good health. Learn about vitamins and minerals.
4. Food Diary

How do you keep track of all those calories and nutrients? Use a food diary to write down all the foods and beverages you consume every day. You can use your food diary to count your calories and watch your nutrient intake. Make a food diary.
5. Join Calorie Count

Calorie Count is an online community where you can set goals, track your calories by searching through and selecting foods from their large database and share your experience with others. Learn why I love Calorie Count.
6. Shopping Tips

A healthy diet begins in the grocery store when you buy food and ingredients to stock your kitchen. Use a shopping list and learn how to read Nutrient Facts labels on packaged foods. Tips for grocery shopping.
7. Nutrient Density

Choosing which foods to eat shouldn’t be difficult. While we want our foods to taste good, the amount of nutrition they offer is more important. Learn about nutrient density and how to choose nutrient dense foods. Learn more about superfoods and nutrient density.
8. Six Weeks To a Healthier Diet
If you still don’t think your diet is on the right track, this six-week email course will help you take the steps to turn your not-so-healthy diet around. You’ll take this slowly, one step at a time, so that each step becomes a way of life. Sign up for Six Weeks to a Healthier Diet.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), tooth decay is one of the most common chronic infectious diseases among U.S. children. This is a preventable health problem that begins early. 28% of children aged 2–5 years have already had decay in their primary or baby teeth. By the time they reach 11 years of age, approximately half of children have experienced decay. By the age of 19, tooth decay in permanent teeth affects two-thirds or 68% of adolescents. Low-income children have twice as much untreated decay than children in families with higher incomes. Problems such as pain, dysfunction, underweight, and poor appearance can result greatly reducing a child’s capacity to succeed in the educational environment.

A healthy smile is a good indication of a happy child. Oral health experts are all in agreement that developing healthy smiles in children should start in infancy. CDC experts have promoted a set of pediatric oral health tips that if followed will help to prevent any child from suffering the embarrassment of tooth decay.

Pediatric Oral Health Tips

Start early. As soon as the first tooth appears, start with wiping to clean it daily with a clean, damp cloth. When more teeth come in, switch to a small, soft toothbrush. You can start using toothpaste with fluoride when the child is 2 years old and if your doctor recommends it you can use toothpaste with fluoride even earlier. Do not let a child under the age of 6 use fluoride mouth rinse unless the child’s doctor or dentist recommends it.

Check with your child’s doctor or dentist about your child’s specific fluoride needs. After age 2, most children get the right amount of fluoride to help prevent cavities if they drink water that contains fluoride and brush their teeth twice a day with a very small amount of toothpaste with fluoride. When the composition of the drinking water doest not have enough fluoride parents of children 6 months and older should ask about the need for a fluoride supplement.

It was known that fluoride is an important element for the fight against cavities. But for children younger than 6 years old, swallowing too much fluoride may be detrimental to his/her health. Fluoride can cause white spots to appear in the child’s permanent teeth. Always advise your child to use only a small amount of toothpaste (approximately the size of a pea) and tell your child not to swallow but spit out the toothpaste and rinse thoroughly after brushing.

Supervision. Until your child has the ability to handle a toothbrush you should brush the teeth of your child two times daily. After that you should continue to keep a watchful eye to make sure the child is doing a thorough job and using only a small amount of toothpaste.

As a parent be a good role model to your child by practicing good oral health care habits. Visit the dentist regularly for cleanings and checkups.

Always watch for the signs of periodontal disease. Symptoms include bleeding gums, swollen and bright red gums or gums that are receding away from the teeth and bad breath.

Sedation Technique And Sedation Methods

If dentists or the dentist office causes your child anxiety or panic attacks you may consider using a sedation technique in order to relax him/her through the dental procedure.

Ask the doctor which method would be best to help relieve your child’s stress level. There are different types of dental sedation method to choose from. Today there are four such methods used by sedation dentists. They are oral sedatives, nitrous oxide sedation, intravenous (IV) sedation and general anesthesia. All of these methods provide varying degrees of sedation.