Blood Pressure Monitoring with a Wrist Monitor

Your blood pressure read at a clinic provides a somewhat blurry snapshot of this temperamental measure. Worse, many people get white-coat hypertension -- their pressure jumps in a doctor's office! For a clearer picture, you need to take a series of readings -- a must for people with hypertension and those at risk of developing it.

Omron's Ultra Compact Wrist Monitor fits around your wrist and inflates with the push of a button. It makes tracking your blood pressure as easy as telling time. (People with severe circulation problems should check with a doctor first.) The monitor also stores readings so your doctor can look for patterns. It can be used anywhere without a white coat in sight.

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How to Tone Up Your Image

Exercise -- and you are better person. That's what university students thought when they rated characteristics of people they believed worked out. In a recent study, the students read profiles of fictional subjects described as "average looking." Some were supposedly exercisers and some non-exercisers -- but in other ways identical. Exercisers got higher rating for strength, health and attractiveness as well as for confidence, self-control, independence and hard work.

Kathleen Martin, author of the study, thinks the messages in the media and from doctors about physical fitness have got through. "If you're tyring to decide whether to start exercising," says Martin, "this might be an incentive. You don't have to be the world's greatest athlete. Just by virtue of exercising, you'll benefit from a social perspective."

She encourages people to talk about their workouts. "Tell people, definitely. It does make a difference in how they see you." » Continue reading

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Healing power of Music

By the time Debbie Clark took Adam, her autistic three year-old son, to a music therapist, he could barely speak. At the music-therapy clinic at California State University in Northridge, USA, therapists encouraged the autistic child to express himself by playing instruments and beating out rhythms on drums. They put conversations to song in order to get Adam talking.

"In tree months, the change was phenomenal," says Clark. "Before, Adam would never look a stranger in the eye, let alone speak. Now, after his music therapy session, he waves to the therapists and says, "Bye, Jim. Bye, Ron. See you next week." Believe me, that's music to my ears."

Music, researchers around the world are discovering, can help healing in a variety of ways. Burn victims encouraged to sing while having their dressing changed experience less pain. Cancer patients who listen to music and practice improvising on instruments, for example, see their levels of stress hormones drop and their immune systems get stronger. Part of music's power comes from ability to relieve anxiety, which can suppress immune defenses as well as intensify the experience of pain. Music, especially singing, takes a person's mind off the suffering and soothes tension. "By helping patients relax, music eases pain and may even speed recovery," says Richard Fratianne, a noted professor of surgery. The experiences of autistic children like Adam Clark suggest that music's effects reach deeper, even influencing brain development. The therapeutic use of music seems to activate different parts of the brain, including networks associated with motor control, memory, emotion and speech, explains neuroscientist and musician Michael Thaut. In his own work, Thaut is using the close link between music and movement to help people slowed by strokes, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and Parkinson's disease.

Says Northridge music therapist Ron Borczon: "Traditional healers have used songs and drumming for centuries. We're simply rediscovering what they always knew -- that music, through its profound effect on mind and body, can be a potent way to help people get well."

Also read
Healing Power of Laughter
Healing Power of Forgiveness

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Healing Power of Sleep » Continue reading

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Do your kids have dinner with you?

If so, they probably eat better than those who don't dine with their parents. In a recent Harvard study of 16,000 children ages nine to 14, 24% of those who dined daily with their family got the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables, compared with 13% of those who rarely or never shared meals at home. They also ate less fried food, drank less aerated drinks, and consumed more calcium, fibre, iron and vitamins C and E. Says Dr Matthew W. Gillman, lead investigator of the study at Harvard, "There are two possible explanations. When kids eat with their parents, there may be more nutritious food on the table. Or maybe there's a discussion of healthful eating." » Continue reading

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The Bedside Gift Guide

Visiting a friend or relative in the hospital? Here is a list of gifts a patient will love you for.

• Face, lip and body moisturizers, and bottled water. many hospitals are too hot and dry.
  
• Scented candles. You probably won't be allowed to light them, but they'll still help overcome that distinctive medicinal odor.
  
• A newspaper or magazine.
  
• Flowers are lovely, but they die quickly in a warm hospital room. A small plant or orchids will last.
  
• A book. Always take into consideration the taste of the recipient, but steer clear of heavy philosophy.
  
• A good small reading lamp. This tames the pallor of the overhead fluorescent lighting, and if reading is the patient's primary diversion, he or she deserves a great bedside light source.
  
• A portable tape or CD player and a tape or CD of your friend's favorite music.
  
• A notebook or journal to jot down telephone numbers, thoughts and messages.
  
• Tweezers. My sister made me promise that if she was ever in an accident and went into a coma, I'd come in and tweeze her eyebrows.

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Dating not for the young alone

Do you think that dating is just for the young? Think again. The old have the right to be happy, too! In fact in this age when the kids leave their folks alone to fend for themselves once they're on their feet, single parents need company to spend time.

DatingForSeniors.com is a senior dating and senior match making website where senior men and women can chat, meet and find suitable partners to spend the rest of their life with.

Signing up is totally free and it is very simple and easy to use. Like on many other dating sites you can browse through profiles, search for senior singles from your area and start interacting with members, exchange emails and probably meet them in person.

You might ask - Why another dating site just for seniors? Why can't seniors make use of other regular dating sites? To find the answer you might better ask a senior in your vicinity. » Continue reading

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Reading, Writing & Runny Noses

Most schoolchildren tend to get three to six viral illnesses a year -- usually when the seasons change, as with the onset of the monsoon, or of winter. If you and your kids can follow these rules, you'll all have a healthier school year.

1. Soap up. Germs live a hand-to-mouth, -nose, or -eye existence. Keep your kids' hands clean, and they'll stay well. In an American study of 6000 school kids, regular hand washing-cut absenteeism 20 percent. It might seem too simple, but plain soap and water really work!
   
2. Hands off! Back up the frequent-washing plan by reminding your kids to keep their hands off their faces as much as possible.
   
3. Get some fresh air. Encourage your kids to play outside -- even if it's a bit cold. Kids don't "catch cold" from cool weather. Studies suggest even the traditional winter colds may result from people spending more time indoors.
   
4. Get plenty of sleep. Researchers have found that sleep deprivation increases our susceptibility to colds.
   
5. Just say no. If your child's best friend's mum says her son has the sniffles, cancel your child's play time with him.

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