Archive for July, 2009


Talk to Your Doctor About Your Heart Health (No Comments)

A critical first step in dealing with heart disease is to learn to talk to your doctor about your questions and worries. You’re not alone when it comes to difficulties in talking to a medical practitioner about your health concerns. But when it comes to heart wellness no question should be left unanswered.

Sometimes people hope that the answers to their questions will come out in the process of being examined instead of asking them point blank. HMOs and the busy schedules of doctors with waiting rooms full of patients sometimes do not allow the doctor to spend as much time with each patient as they would like. Women particularly need to speak up, because even though they suffer half the deaths from heart disease, doctors hesitate to discuss this subject with them.

Questions that you should ask your doctor include what your blood pressure is recorded as and what is normal for you. Glucose and cholesterol levels need to be checked to see if they’re in an acceptable range. Find out from your physician what tests are recommended for your age group presently and in the years to come.

If medication has been prescribed, do not hesitate to ask if there are side effects, what the drug is supposed to do, and whether you should take other medication, even over the counter, with your prescribed medicine. Also find out if this is a long term medication or temporary. Tests to monitor the effects of the medication you are taking should be conducted at a later date if it is recommended by your doctor. The liver is one organ that most doctors consider testing when a patient is on certain medicines.

If you always get home and remember something that you forgot to ask the doctor, make a “need to know” list and take it with you on your next visit. Do not forget to bring with you the medications that you are presently on as well. If you have more than one health care provider, this is a must.

Add to your list any surgeries or relevant illness that you have had and been treated for in the past few years. This should be in your medical chart so that the doctor can be aware of anything that might cause a problem.

In conclusion, if you think that you may forget what you physician has told you, you can always write it down or record the appointment for later referral. Don’t hesitate to get a second opinion if you’re not comfortable with the advice and treatment recommendations of your doctor.

Selecting Truly Organic Essential Oil (No Comments)

There are a host of different companies that offer ‘organic’ essential oils in their products.There are lots of companies which prove themselves organic on the label but are not certified organic essential oils according to the USDA.There are certain standards of the USDA from which companies have to pass to claim their product as organic.  There are other organizations as well that often have even stricter standards that the USDA for organic products, such as the IFOAM or the CCOF International that will also offer a certification for companies that conform to their requirements.

Certified Organic Essential Oil

When a company makes organic essential oils that are certified to be truly organic, the companies have ensured that the oils are obtained from plants that have not been treated by any chemical products.  This means that chemical pesticides or other products that are commonly used in traditional farming cannot be used on the plants that are used in organic essential oils.Chemicals treatment should not be done on the soil in which the plants are grown.  This meant that the soil cannot have chemical fertilizers or other products used on it, and cannot have had these products used on it for a certain number of years before the organic plants are grown in it, so that there is not any residue.

Instead of using these chemical products, the organic essential oil companies grow their plants with the use of natural pesticides and natural fertilizers to produce rich crops.  In order to create organic essential oils by these means, the process is more expensive, taking more time and energy to use these natural methods of production.  This means that the organic essential oils will be more expensive than traditionally grown essential oils, even those that are stated to be organic but are not certified to be so.

The reason that it is important to buy organic essential oils is that the chemicals that are used in the soil and on the plants can be absorbed into them and thus passed on to the individuals that eat or use the products made from these plants.  The pesticides that are sprayed on the fruit trees from which many of the essential oils are made from are absorbed through the rind of the fruit and contaminate the fruit itself.  The organic essential oils are free from these contaminants since these companies refuse to use the harmful chemicals.

Dealing With High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) (No Comments)

low heart rate high blood pressure

For controlling your symptoms of high blood pressure, there are two effective yoga exercises that helps lower the blood pressure:

Inverted Yoga

The gravity on the body is reversed with Inverted yoga. The biggest changes when performing Inverted Yoga is due to the circulation. In inverted poses, legs and abdomen are placed higher than the heart.

Lengthening up through the legs and keep them very active so your spine opens and the entire body actively involved in the pose.

The cause is simply due to the force of gravity when reversed and venous return is much greater.

Normally, the muscles of the calf and other skeletal muscles in the lower extremities must contract in order to pump unoxygenated blood and waste back to the heart through the veins.

In inverted poses, gravity causes the blood to flow easily back through the veins and this brings the low heart rate high blood pressure in the feet to a minimum. This in effect gives skeletal muscles a chance to rest.

In Inverted poses, drainage of blood and waste from the lower body back to the heart is increased and disorders such as varicose veins and swollen ankles are relieved.

Rhythmic Breathing

We must learn about breathing techniques, as exhaling and inhaing calms the mind and nourishes the body.

Not just any old breathing will do. If you’re like most people, you take shallow breaths, pull in your stomach when you inhale and never empty your lungs of carbon dioxide when you exhale.

Here’s the physiological explanation: Long, slow breaths are more efficient than short, fast ones.

To take in a good breath, your lungs must first be basically empty. Thus the key to efficient breathing lies in exhaling completely. The upper chest begins with a full exhale, then goes to the mid chest area, and leaves off with tightening of the abs.

Only after a good exhalation can you draw in a good lungful of the oxygen-rich air your blood needs for nourishing cells.