Health Topics Web

The discs in your back sit within the spine. The spine is made up of a number of blocks called vertebrae. In between each vertebrae there is a rubbery disc.

The disc is like a shock absorber. Anytime there is a sudden load on the back then the discs are great for absorbing it.

But the problem comes when the disc suffers from wear and tear. Bad posture and incorrect lifting will cause damage to the spine including the discs over time.

Often what happens is that a particularly bad lift will rupture a disc. When this happens, the gooey liquid inside the disc will leak out and get close to the nerves. This will give an incredible shooting pain that many people say is the worst pain that they have ever felt.

The best thing to do if you think you have a slipped disc is to contact your doctor who will refer you to a specialist back doctor.

Do not go to your chiropractor. Chiropractors only manipulate the back to give you some instant relief. A slipped disc is a medical condition that a chiropractor is simply not qualified to deal with.

Back pain is an avoidable “disease”.

Back pain seems to affect most Americans in later life. Chiropractors make a killing out of your pain because everyone seems to get it. This is partly a result of the sedentary lifestyle of working in an office.

Think about it – you sit in a chair all day which is bad for the spine and human skeleton. Men and animals alike were meant to be constantly on the move, not constrained to sit at a desk for most of the day.

Make sure that you have a good chair at work, in fact demand it of your employer. Your bad posture will give you cumulative damage. You might feel alright now but in 20 years time you could regret it.

The other thing is to make sure that you life correctly. Most people lift items in a bad way and even objects that weight just a few pounds can take a cumulative toll on your back.

The best way is to lift as close to the body as possible and keep the back straight. A good way to do this is to look ahead while you are lifting. Think about how those Olympic power lifters do it and you get a good idea of the most efficient and least dangerous way to lift any object.

So how do these drugs work?

First of all, let’s understand that the root of all depression is anxiety. Anxiety is when a person worries either needlessly or irrationally. They lack self confidence and they doubt their own abilities. When they are constantly worrying then depression can set in.

The biggest drug weapon against depression are a new class of drugs called SSRIs. These work to change serotonin levels in the body. They are a very intelligent class of drugs because they work directly on the brain chemistry.

Actually, your brain chemistry is responsible for your moods and your thoughts. Just look at people who have a hot temper or are always in a good mood. You’ll find that their brain chemistry is very different from the next person.

These antidepressant drugs change the brain chemistry but what is the effect on the person? They worry less because they “no longer care”. This is a common phrase used by someone on antidepressants. They just “don’t care anymore”.

Actually, this is a very positive outcome. It is only due to the stresses of modern life and the competition for our time that we develop anxieties and stress. These modern drugs allow us to “care less” in the way that our ancestors approached their daily life.

Weight loss hypnotherapy is one of many methods available to conquer what is fast becoming one of the world’s largest problems.

Unlike fad diets, hyphotherapy seeks to make a person “think” like a person who has no weight problem.

A fit person will eat only when they are hungry and they will not eat for the sole purpose of pleasure. This is the aim of hypnosis - to teach the patient not to abuse their food and to use it as nature intended.

Hypnosis promises to solve a person’s problems by recalibrating their logic and thought processes that are associated with food.

Unfortunately, the success rate for hypnosis is not very high. It is not fully understood why this is so as hypnotherapy does work for other afflictions of the mind.

It is thought that overeating and weight loss are complex and could be caused by a number of factors including disease, genetics, marketing, peer pressure, poor nutrition and food additives and that hypnosis cannot always counteract these other influences.

It is little wonder that dietary supplements to lose weight that work are highly sought after because they provide a potentially convenient way to lose weight. There are currently 2 different types of these pills:

Stimulants

These pills work by increasing the body’s work rate - metabolism and heart rate are elevated and more energy is burned as a result. Assuming the same amount of food is eaten then more fat than usual will be burned. This is normally the case because they often also have appetite supressant properties as well.

Such drugs include ampetamines and ephedrine. Both are controlled substances and not legally available for weight loss in most countries although in some jurisdictions they are allowed.

Herbal Products

There are many different herbal products on the market. Often they contain a variety of different natural ingredients such as ginseng, in fact often they are the same but just in different amounts so to form a unique “cocktail”.

Typically, they will boast of increased metabolism or fat burning mechanisms.

However, the jury is out on which herbal remedies work versus those that don’t and how pronounced the effects are. Very rarely do the manufacturers allow double blind clinical trials of their product to be performed which would allow scientists to evaluate whether there is an true effect or whether the placebo effect accounts for most of the positive results.

There are also a number of drugs in development but none of these are available to the mass market and with minimal side effects.

There are very few people who floss but of those who do, most are doing it wrong.

This is a shame as flossing is a highly recommended activity for good dental care and to prevent gum disease. Not only that but there is some evidence which could suggest that flossing can prevent arterial deposit build up and heart disease.

How To Floss Correctly

The correct way to floss is to tear off a large piece of floss at least half a meter long. Wrap each end around the fingers several times and insert between two teeth.

Most people simply move the floss up and down which serves only to dislodge any food that may be caught between the teeth.

Instead, the floss should be pushed towards the gumline where it can go 2 ways - underneath the gum line and alongside the part of the tooth that is under the gum line.

You should think of each of your teeth becoming narrower until they reach the root - then you can see how the floss is able to take either direction when forced between two teeth. This way the plaque deposits can be dislodged for healthier gums and prevention of disease.

Flossing can be difficult at first, especially to reach the teeth at the back, but with practice this becomes easier over time. Especially when you see or smell the “gunk” that comes out from between the teeth, you will be glad to develop this habit for fresher breath, cleaner teeth and healthier gums.

Hayfever is also known as allergic rhinitis.

It is an allergy to pollen which affects some people mostly between Spring and Autumn.

Different people have allergies to different types of pollen, be it from grass or tree or other plant species.

The symptoms are characterised by sneezing, itching eyes and mouth and sometimes even restriction of the airway.

Most commonly, over the counter antihistamines are used to great effect. Also commonly prescribed are corticosteroid nasal sprays which take longer to take effect but do not cause drowsiness like the antihistamines.

Some people even outgrow hayfever and do not suffer from it again later in life. Other people find that they have never experienced hayfever before and move country to discover this new allergy.

Other good advice is to stay indoors, keep windows closed and frequently change bedding. Sunglasses also work well to restrict the amount of pollen entering the eyes.

Hepatitis B is a virus that is transmitted from the blood or bodily fluids of the infected person.

It is highly prevalent in Africa and Asia and can potentially cause life threatening complications such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Most commonly it is spread by unprotected sex, sharing of needles, blood transfusion or from mother to child. Rarely, it is spread amongst members of the same household. Therefore, as long as not engaging in the above activities, transmission is considered to be of low probability.

Most infected adults clear the infection within a few months, around 95%. However, a few do not clear it, and this is more common with children. They go on to develop chronic Hepatitis B.

They will never clear the infection but can be treated with various antiviral drugs.

In the Western world, Hep B infection is normally associated with immigrants, IV drug users and homosexuals. Hence, many sexual testing clinics will offer Hep B vaccines to gay men due to their higher risk profile.

The vaccine is highly effective and a course is typically delivered over several months or weeks depending on how urgently it is needed.

There are a number of ways to stop premature ejaculation. It is a common complaint and over 50% of Americans have experienced at least one case of premature ejaculation.

Sprays And Anesthetics

Numbing sprays and ointments are popular. The most common aid are a line of condoms by the 2 leading manufacturers, Durex and Trojan. These both contain benzocaine which is a mild topical anesthetic.

Upon contact with human skin, they melt and are absorbed. They are strong enough to delay ejaculation by an average of several minutes but at the same time not too strong so as to remove all pleasurable sensation. Little wonder then that these products have been a hit for both companies.

Anxiety

Whilst the above products address the symptoms of premature ejaculation, other methods concentrate on addressing the causes of this affliction.

It is the generally held opinion of medical professionals and sex therapists that premature ejaculation is caused by performance anxiety. Hence, when men are treated with antidepressants such as SSRIs, they report vastly increased times to ejaculation. This is thought to be because they “care less” about their performance and have less anxiety about it.

Also, premature ejaculation is observed to diminish as a man gains more experience, particularly in long term relationships when compared to casual, short term sexual relationships.

Irritable bowel syndrom, or IBS, is a disease of the digestive system that affects millions of Americans each year.

The typical symptoms of IBS are diarrhea, cramping and feeling bloated.

Closer inspection of stools reveals that even when the faeces are not diarrhea they can be of an irregular texture not normally seen prior to onset of IBS.

No one truly understands what causes IBS. What is known is that it is seen often in the Western world, especially for office workers. It is therefore thought that IBS onset could be related to a combination of poor and changing diets, a sedentary lifestyle, excess weight and modern day stresses.

What Can Be Done To Cure IBS?

Sometimes, dietary changes can make a difference but this differs from person to person both, in whether there will be an effect at all, and in what changes to make. There appears to be no hard and fast rule in these cases.

Secondly, if the person is overweight then it is strongly advised that they lose weight to see what the effect is. Often this has the greatest results and the patient will cease to experience IBS thereafter.