There’s more to circumcision than just a religious ritual. It is actually a cheap, safe and lifelong protection for your newborn boy against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Circumcision can also help prevent penile cancer and various bacterial infections. Based on studies, the removal of foreskin in circumcision provided a fifty percent reduction in HIV transmission, a threefold reduction in human papilloma virus (HPV) infections in female partners of uncircumcised men, and lower rates of syphilis and Chlamydia. These diseases are among the leading causes of sterility among male teenagers. Circumcision among infants is roughly 10 times more likely to prevent urinary tract infections and the high fevers associated with them. Circumcision’s potential role in AIDS prevention is evident in Africa and encouraged the New York City Health Department to consider outreach programs among gay adult men and drug addicts. Historically, the ancient Egyptians practiced circumcision to prevent itch and infections in the foreskin. Jews incorporated the practice as part of their religious rituals. Some fundamentalists even thought that circumcision would be effective in preventing masturbation — an act which is considered a sin in many churches and congregations. However, over the years, circumcision in the U.S. has gained more acceptance as a scientifically proven health procedure. Although it is still perceived by some quarters to be a form of mutilation, the said procedure has come a long way in terms of its acceptability as a form of disease prevention. It’s impossible to prove that circumcision diminishes sexual pleasure since a clipped boy will never know what it would have felt like to have a foreskin. However, those who were circumcised as adults found no difference in their sex lives. Still, many parents in the United States still doubt the need to have their male children circumcised. Even Medicaid won’t pay for circumcision in 16 states. Statistics show a decline in the number of boys circumcised at birth from 65 to 55 percent between 1993 and 2003. The Medicaid coverage and other challenges to circumcision can be attributed at least in part to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) stance in a 1999 position paper that says despite “potential medical benefits” the data were not sufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision. According to Dr. Edgar Schoen, a leading proponent of circumcision and chief of pediatrics at Kaiser-Permanente Healthcare for 24 years, the evidence that circumcision prevents HIV transmission has been solid since the late 1980s. Even Harvard medical anthropologist Daniel Halperin, Ph.D., agreed with Schoen. While the medical community continues to be skeptical, the most convincing studies emerged after the AAP statement. Three trials in which Kenyan and Ugandan men were randomly selected to receive circumcision were halted when it became clear that circumcision helped prevent transmission of HIV. This prompted the United Nations World Health Organization to announce that male circumcision should be added to the list of interventions that can help prevent HIV. Based on the study, the foreskin is susceptible to attack by HIV and often develops cracks or tears that may lead to bacterial infection such as syphilis and chancroid. These bacterial infections are very common in uncircumcised men, providing a gateway for HIV.
Archive for ◊ January, 2009 ◊
Overview: The phrase “weight loss center” returns over 3 million search results in Google. The exponential growth in the number of obese persons or obesity has created a huge demand for weight loss programs, slimming pills, and of course weight-loss centers. Each year people spend over $35 billion for these weight-loss techniques. And as usual, U.S. leads from the front. It will be prime news on CNN if any American city is without its weight loss center. In pure dictionary terms, a weight loss center is meant to provide weight-loss treatment to obese or overweight people. The problem of being overweight is bad for health but excellent for business. Dieting has become a uniquely American “sport,” for which Americans pay billions annually to commercial weight loss centers. This multi-billion dollar industry thrives on our inability to control our weight. Obesity carries enormous health risks and economic costs. It is recognized as a major catalyst for developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and other debilitating conditions. Estimates of the number of deaths attributable to obesity in the United States alone reach up to 350,000 per year. Weight loss surgery may be an alternative if the body mass index (BMI) is 40 or more. Weight loss surgery may also be considered if the BMI is 35, combined with other health problems such as diabetes or arthritis. A surgical weight loss center provides surgical treatment for obesity. Bariatric surgery is increasingly being used to combat obesity. For very severe obesity, or BMI greater than 50 intestinal-bypass weight loss surgery is indicated. In these cases, weight loss surgeries prove to be effective, as the extreme obesity poses many problems. Bariatric surgery, as weight loss surgery is referred, has a controversial history dating back hundreds of years. But the first modern procedure on record was in 1889, performed by Howard A. Kelly. Other type of surgery also known as “cosmetic plastic surgery” is liposuction. In it, layers of fat are removed by performing an operation on those body parts where the fat has accumulated. Though the fat gets reduced for the time being, the factors and the causes remain untouched and therefore liposuction is only a temporary solution, and at best can be called a symptomatic treatment. Weight loss centers help to adopt healthy lifestyle changes to keep the body fit and healthy. A weight loss center offers a relaxing, serene ambience. The experience at the spa equips the individual to follow a balanced eating regimen, increase physical activities and maintain a healthy lifestyle. These centers also offer the company of like-minded people, thereby making the transformation to healthier lifestyle, a pleasant affair. A professional center should offer guidelines for healthy eating habits and exercises. They should also provide counseling, when needed. Whichever weight loss center you pick to resolve your pressing problem of obesity, make sure the people at the center are well-aware of the body system and are sensitive to your needs. They should be able to prescribe a balanced diet, medications if necessary, and ultimately lead you towards a healthy weight loss. Summary: You cannot just walk in a weight loss center expecting to return home shedding all that extra flab. You need to visit the center often to get necessary tips and healthy diets. It is important to select a center with supportive people, who follow you up on your weight loss progress. The precious time you spend at the center should be productive. It makes no sense, if the weight you lose in a month, reappears in a week. It is important to preserve sustainable weight loss. Remember, a weight loss center cannot provide permanent weight loss. However, if you strictly follow their instructions, you can stay slim and keep the lost weight, well lost forever.
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Have you been off work because of your asthma? Does it get worse at certain times of year or under stress? Are you worried that it’s beginning to affect your job and limit your lifestyle? Just one year ago, I found myself in a similar position. Here I was at home (again!) with a bad bout of asthma and concerned for the security of my job as this was my eighth day off with asthma that year. That found me searching the internet for a natural cure for asthma, researching the causes of asthma, how they relate to allergies (which I had as a child) and looking to see what medications and treatments were available. Fed up with taking increasing doses of blue and brown inhalers, that seemed to leave me dependent on medication I read around to see if anyone had found a successful method of controlling their asthma without medication. If you’ve had asthma, you’ll probably relate to the awful feeling when yet another attack comes on and your life is thrown into disarray. You may find that the doctors don’t have time to discuss alternative treatments, but simply prescribe the usual inhalers at each visit, check your breathing and lung capacity and sign you off until the next visit. What I found was both interesting and disturbing. The evidence was that much of our asthma today is induced by our modern world. The most concerning thing was that there is no incentive for the drug companies or the doctors to find a natural cure, as they’re all making a considerable profit from the conventional inhalers. By searching for “natural asthma cure” I found stories of people who had found alternative methods of managing their asthma and who had been able to cut down their medications (under the advice of their doctor, of course). These are stories that don’t hit the headlines, but for the individuals involved are life changing. I decided to give these “new” ideas a try – I had nothing to lose and everything to gain – my job was on the line. The simple regimes involved took less than five minutes per day and within less than a week I could feel the benefits. I’ve managed to cut down but not cut out my asthma medication and feel far fitter and healthier. The best news of all, I can take a long walk with my son without having to take the inhaler with me. If you’re considering an alternative treatment for your asthma, do some research on the internet, check with your doctor or medical practitioner, and be prepared to try more than one idea. Do make sure that you keep your inhaler with you at all times during this trial period. Do try it for more than a day or two, your body may take time to adjust. What works for one person may not work for you, we’re all different. For further tips and ideas for how to manage your asthma, visit Asthma treatment This article was submitted by Jen Carter, writer of this asthma information article.
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I don’t believe that anybody can have a true abundance in ANY area of their life without first feeling immensely confident in themselves. And the main determining factor in any person’s confidence is how they feel about their physical being (or their body); and the shape and health of a person’s body is determined, to a large extent, by certain universal laws that absolutely must be followed each and every day. Here’s an example of just one of those laws…I once heard it said that nearly 70% of all the energy a person uses during the course of a single day (70%) is used simply to digest the foods they eat. Therefore, if it takes 100 grams of energy (bear with me for using such basic terminology here) to digest each and every meal you eat during the day, but by improving the efficiency of your metabolism, we can get your body to digest each meal using only 50 grams of energy, then you could have nearly double the energy to put toward all your normal daily activities. So if one of your main life goals is to make more money, would it beneficial to you if you had more physical energy to do the daily tasks necessary to build your financial streams? What about all the added mental energy that you would have to put towardcreatively designing new ways to handle all the daily challenges that every entrepreneur faces today? Personally, I never had success in my life until I took control of my body. I remember feeling like a failure in everything I did. I remember not even wanting to go out of the house because I didn’t like the way I looked, in fact, I specifically remember not wanting to leave the house even to go to the store to buy food because I hated the way I looked in all of my clothes.
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Yoga is often praised in the mass media as the new fitness-craze promising weight loss, and increased strength and flexibility. However, when one sees a yoga practitioner curled up in a seemingly impossible pose, the natural tendency is to think: “Well this person has been practicing for years, how can Yoga help me lose the weight now?” Through the acclaimed Sun Salutations, that’s how. What are they? These exercises are a combination of Yoga Poses, Breathing Exercises, Sun Bathing and Prayer. They have been practiced for centuries by Yoga Practitioners in India, Martial Artists and African Wrestlers and as a system to rejuvenate the body and soul are beyond compare. It’s been said in the Drugless Healing circles that one round of the Sun Salutations is much better than a week of exercises at the gym! They are very simple to learn and just about anyone, regardless of their fitness or flexibility levels can learn these simple exercises. In actuality, if you are familiar with “burpies” (the calisthenics exercise), they do derive their origin from the Sun Salutations. Here are some of their benefits: -They alleviate disorders of the skin and waist. -Flexibility increases and breathing is corrected, moreover, they mildly exercise the legs and arms, thus increasing the circulation. -They are the best way to burn calories and reduce weight and are often recommended for obesity and depression. -They are an effective way of loosening up, stretching and massaging all joints and internal organs of the body. -They stimulate and balance all the systems of the body including the endocrine, circulatory, reproductive and digestive system. Technique: 1. Stand straight with the palms together as in a prayer position. 2. Inhale and stretch the arms above the head. 3. Exhale and bend forward while touching the toes. 4. Inhale and stretch the right leg away from the body in a big backward step and keep the hands and left foot firmly on the ground. Bending the head backward the left knee should be between the hands. 5. Inhale and hold the breath. Move the left leg from the body and, keeping both feet together and the knees of the floor, rest on the hands (arms straight) and keep the body in a straight line from head to foot. 6. Exhale and lower the body to the floor. In this position, only 8 portions of the body come in contact with the floor: the two feet, two knees, two hands, chest and forehead. 7. Inhale and bend back as much as possible bending the spine to the maximum. 8. Exhale and lift the body of the floor. Keep the feet and heels on the floor. 9. Inhale and bring the right foot along the level of the hands; left foot and knee should touch the ground. Look up, bending the spine slightly (same position as #4) 10. Exhale and bring the left leg forward. Keep the knees straight and bring the head down to the knees as in the third position. 11. Raise the arms overhead and bend backward inhaling. As in Position 2. 12. Exhale and drop the arms and relax. You have now completed one round. Perform as many rounds as possible in multiples of 3. Ideally you want to aim for 6 rounds minimum and up to a maximum of 30. It only takes about 5-10 minutes, depending on your speed and intensity and is best practiced with as little clothing as possible before an open air window first thing in the morning. You could do a search in Yahoo! Images for “Sun Salutations” to see a visual representation of these powerful exercises and be rest assured that with a sensible diet and a wise combination of these exercises-with any other fitness regimen you may choose-you are well on your way to attaining natural weight loss, increased strength and overall fitness with the help of yoga. So don’t get intimidated when you see a seasoned practitioner in a seemingly tough pose. Yoga is for everyone and can help you lose weight.
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Plastic surgery is definitively a medical procedure, but there is also an artistic element to it. This brings us to the subject of tumescent abdominoplasty. Tumescent Abdominoplasty One of the most popular methods of liposuction is tumescent abdominoplasty. It is a cosmetic surgical procedure commonly performed to remove excess fat deposits in localized areas permanently, which are resistant to exercise and traditional diet programs. Tumescent Abdominoplasty is also recommended for patients suffering from morbid obesity. Tumescent abdominoplasty involves the use of advanced techniques to guarantee permanent results by filling and swelling the fatty areas to be removed, thus the name tumescent, literally meaning “to swell”. Tumescent abdominoplasty is performed by filling large volumes of fatty areas with a special solution before the surgical procedure. The solution used by surgeons has the effect of a local anesthetic facilitating the surgery and preventing the use of heavy intravenous sedation or general anesthesia that might be risky for some persons. Additionally, the solution makes adrenalin that constricts the blood vessels, reducing bleeding to negligible amounts in comparison with other liposuction methods. By means of small tubes called cannulas, the patient is connected to a suction syringe or device that extracts the fat in a safe manner that also facilitates a quick recovery. Fatty deposits removed in very specific areas allow the surgeon to sculpt artistically any body into a new shape with the aid of delicate instruments. There is minimal pain involved in tumescent abdominoplasty. Most clinics use natural therapies to relieve it such as listening to sedative music or friendly talking during the application of the solution which is the time when some pain may occur. The removing and sculpting procedure on fatty deposits does not cause pain by in and of itself. Patients who undergo this cosmetic surgery often refer to the procedure as comparable to a deep massage session. Because the procedure is performed under local anesthesia, a patient can cooperate with the surgeon by changing position if necessary to optimize the results. Compared to traditional invasive liposuction, this is a drastic improvement. The anesthetic effect of the solution applied before the procedure generally lasts for nearly 24 hours after which patients may experience light soreness that usually disappears alone after 1 or 2 weeks. From all the abdominoplasty techniques, including dry technique, wet technique, Ultrasonic Assisted Liposuction (UAL), Power Assisted Techniques (PAL), etc, Tumescent Abdominoplasty is safest method of liposuction available today. If you are considering a procedure to address hard to get at areas of fat, tumescent abdominoplasty may be a perfect option. Make sure to discuss the applicability of the procedure to your situation with your plastic surgeon.