Zoraida Sambolin, the CNN host of Early Start, underwent a double mastectomy last month as a preventative measure. The host updated fans and well wishers via Skype, telling everyone that “things are going well.”
‘It’s been a pretty tough process,’ she toldCNN. ‘But my prognosis is good now. What they found in my left breast was breast cancer stage one, grade one invasive, but the good news is my lymph nodes are free and clear, so I’m good.
‘My right breast actually ended up having Lobular Carcinoma two, and was headed in the same direction as my left breast, so I made a good decision, and now everything has been taken care of.’
Last month, Ms Sambolin revealed she was undergoing the same procedure as Angelina Jolie while discussing the Hollywood star on her show.
The host was diagnosed with breast cancer in her left breast, and underwent the double mastectomy on June 4th.
Daphne Carroll went a medspa to buy makeup but said she couldn’t refuse the free consultation for a laser facial. Little did she know that impulsive decision would change her life.
The consultation, which included a free laser treatment for a spider vein in her cheek, convinced Carroll to go for the full facial. But the 42-year-old said she awoke the next morning with second-degree burns to her face.
It was “the most horrible experience of my life,” said Carroll, who five years later still suffers from facial pain and twitching. She said she has seen 13 specialists, including a neurologist, dermatologist and even a plastic surgeon, all of whom agree that the damage is permanent.
The polyphenols present in green tea may help prevent and repair damage from sun exposure by fighting free radicals that damage cells.
This is significant because of the domino effect that starts with UV radiation. UV radiation can damage DNA, which can then cause immune system suppression, which may create a risk for developing skin cancer.
Many studies are producing convincing evidence that the major polyphenol in green tea, EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), can inhibit tumor invasion and angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is a key component in how cancer tumors grow.
Drinking green tea can also reduce the risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer.
This is a result of the rich supply of ECGC in green tea leaves. In addition to green tea, Lycopene is another natural source that can help treat prostate cancer. Lycopene is a natural pigment made by plants and is naturally housed in fruits and vegetables.
One study suggests that drinking tea and upping intakes of vegetables and fruits rich in lycopene (like tomatoes, apricots, and watermelons) has a stronger preventive effect than either one taken separately
In the past few years, the action (or inaction) of sitting for multiple hours a day has received criticism from many sources including the New York Times, personal fitness bloggers, doctors from the Mayo Clinic and several renowned medical journals.
What is it about sitting that causes so much harm (and excitement in the media)? According to studies, sitting for long periods of time, day after day can lead to:
Slower metabolism
Weight gain
Decreased insulin production leading to increased risk of Diabetes type 2
Increased risk of premature death
Possible increased risk of cancer
Additionally, Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise Journal reviewed a study by Louisiana researchers at Pennington Medical Research who found people who sit for the majority of the day increase their risk of having a heart attack by 54%.
According to Dr. Hamilton who extensively researches and studies metabolism and was interviewed for the NY times article, sitting is “lethal”.
He has studied weight gain and loss for years and states that sitting is dangerous because, “your muscles go as silent as a dead horse.” When we sit, the body literally stops working like it normally would.
Even more interesting about Dr. Hamilton’s studies is that a person’s current body weight or exercise routine doesn’t seem to make a difference. Sitting for several hours each day equally harms the person who is 30 pounds overweight and the ultra-trim runner.
This means the 30 minute daily run probably won’t counteract the poor effects of sitting. It is the extended time sitting, not the brief periods of exercise at the beginning of the day that cause the problem.
The good news?
Reversing the lethality of sitting can be just as easy as getting up every 30 minutes or so and taking a stretch, a walk down the stairs, strolling to the water fountain or striking up a tree pose in the cubicle (maybe when no one else is around).
Sounds like a great reason to take a few “stretch” breaks during the day.
Not only will it make you more productive by re-awakening your muscles (and your level of alertness), you’ll live longer.
Melissa AuClair blogs at www.launchyourcreativelife.com. After reading about the extensive harm sitting can cause she integrates activity (and more coffee breaks) into her work day. Follow her on twitter @melissauclair
Researchers at the Kagawa Nutrition University in Japan fed a diet consisting of 5 percent asparagus to rats with high blood pressure. As they report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, published online on May 30, after 10 weeks, the rats on the asparagus diet had lower blood pressure than the ones fed a standard rat diet without asparagus.
The rats on the asparagus diet also had less protein in their urine, a sign of a healthier kidney. And they had less activity of ACE, or angiotensin-converting enzyme. Drugs that reduce the activity of ACE are used to treat hypertension in humans.
The Japanese researchers think a compound found in asparagus called 2″-hydroxynicotianamine is responsible for inhibiting ACE activity in the rats. There’s not a lot of literature on hydroxynicotianamine. It seems to be found in buckwheat sprouts, buckwheat leaves and buckwheat, where it also seems to be an ACE inhibitor.
Of course, it’s far too soon to known whether 2″-hydroxynicotianamine has a similar effect on humans. But if it does, perhaps this could open new vistas in the treatment of hypertension. In fact, for the treatment of high blood pressure, this could be the dawning of the age of asparagus.
A Long Beach doctor said he’s created a weight-loss procedure where a patch of mesh is sewn into the tongue.
Dr. Nicholas Chugay told Medstar Television — a news subscription service that NBC LA subscribes to — that there are only a few physicians who offer this procedure. He charges $1,500, plus $200 a month for a supply of liquid nutrition formula.
First, the tongue is injected with a local anesthetic, then the mesh is sewn into the top front of the tongue.
The patch makes “chewing of solid foods very difficult and painful, limiting the patient to a liquid diet,” according to the doctor’s website.
As of yet, there are no comparative or long-term studies on the procedure, but Chugay claims his patients may lose up to 25 pounds with the patch, which can be removed and then replaced at a later date.
“Your tongue does feel like if you want to chew, it’ll get stuck, so you won’t be able to eat it,” said Erica Renteria.
Renteria, who had the patch in for three weeks, said it helped her shed pounds. She had it removed but plans to have another patch sewn into her tongue in the near future
Before moving to the East Coast a friend told me, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. It’ll change.”
She was right. I’ve never experienced the quick shifts in weather the New England terrain brings. One of the consequences of quick weather changes is the ill effect severe weather can have on our bodies. We can be huddling under an umbrella one day and sweating the next day as temperatures rise 20 degrees.
Dehydration is one of the negative effects of hot weather. Children and older adults are at higher risk of dehydration because their bodies do not communicate their need for hydration as quickly as young and middle aged adults.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, symptoms of dehydration include: fatigue, dizziness, dark colored urine, lack of hunger, flushed skin, intolerance for heat and even a dry cough. Other sources note the presence of irritability is another sign of dehydration (watch for this in children as they can’t always explain their thirst).
Keeping healthy water levels inside our bodies is essential for maintaining our internal temperature, cushioning joints and ligaments and getting rid of internal waste. If there is not enough water inside our bodies, our brains let us know something is wrong through a parched mouth and feeling sluggish, flushed and tired.
Prevent Dehydration with Prevention
How can we tell if we are dehydrated? The rule of thumb most doctors and health professionals go by is, ‘if you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.’
It’s easy to rush outside in the good weather and forget to bring an extra water bottle. However, don’t enjoy the weather at the expense of you and your family’s health: Here are 6 ways to avoid dehydration this summer and continue with summer fun:
Drink 16-20 ounces of water before physical activity outside.
After intense activity, the American College of Sports medicine encourages rehydration instead of consuming large quantities of liquid.
Studies show drinking a lot of water or fluid at once causes one to urinate more; the body cannot distribute a lot of fluid at the same time. However, rehydrating by drinking 6-10 oz. of fluid every 10-15 minutes allows the body to refuel its fluid loss more efficiently.
Be aware of the dehydrating effects of alcohol and caffeinated beverages. Drink water to make up for fluid loss.
Bored with plain water? Try adding slices of different fruit. Try watermelon, lemon, lime, cucumber and sprigs of mint to jazz up water.
Freeze a few water bottles and carry them around on hot days to drink cold water all day.
Fresh fruit such as watermelon, apples and grapes contains water. Encourage kids and adults to snack on fresh fruit instead of dehydrating, salty snacks.
Melissa AuClair is a RN who blogs about freelancing and women in creative businesses at http://www.launchyourcreativelife.com. She enjoys eating watermelon, adding fruit to water and big green salads during the summer as a way to stay hydrated. Follow her on Twitter @Melissauclair
Total time: 45 minutes.Juicy grapefruit and lime brighten up these fresh and light shrimp tacos.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 large grapefruit
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, divided
• 450g large uncooked prawns, peeled, deveined and tails removed
• ½ cup thinly sliced green onions, divided
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 1 avocado, peeled and pitted
• 8 15cm corn tortillas, warmed
INSTRUCTIONS:
ONE : Zest grapefruit and set zest aside in a medium bowl. Segment grapefruit: With a paring knife, slice off ends and remove pith, working from top of fruit to bottom. In a wide shallow bowl, use a knife to make incisions along membranes toward centre of fruit and cut segments free. Cut into bite-size pieces. Reserve juice in bowl and transfer segment pieces to bowl with zest.
TWO : To bowl with juice, add half of garlic, prawns, ¼ cup onions, chilli powder and salt; toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for up to 30 minutes.
THREE : Prepare guacamole: To bowl with segments and zest, add remaining half of garlic and ¼ cup onions. Stir in lime zest and juice, then smash avocado into mixture with a fork or the back of a spoon to form a chunky guacamole. Cover tightly and refrigerate until needed. (Guacamole should be eaten within 2 hours of preparation.)
FOUR : Heat a large frying pan on medium-high. Add prawn mixture and sauté, stirring frequently, until prawns are pink and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Spread guacamole over tortillas and top with shrimp, dividing evenly.
Ladies, if you thought giving up high heels would be necessary to minimize or avoid bunions and other toe problems, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
Kind of.
High heels do not cause bunions or hammertoes after all.
High heels do cause a lot of other problems including strained calf muscles, shortened tendon muscles, posture problems and twisted ankles.
But according to Dr. Marian Hannan, leader of the recently published study, “Blame Your Parents for Bunions,” she argues that bunions and other toe maladies are more genetically inheritable than environmentally caused.
The largest study of its kind, Harvard Medical School looked at over 1,000 men and women with toe problems.
Wearing high heels may exacerbate bunions and hammer toes (the pressure on the arch and toes aggravates pressure and pain), but the fashionable shoes doesn’t cause the problem. The leaders of the study conclude, “Our study is the largest investigation…of common foot problems confirming that bunions and other toe deformities are highly inheritable.”
This news is helpful but it still leaves many women in a quandary: what to do about the pain and irritation bunions and hammertoes cause? Surgical problems are available but results are not guaranteed and recovery time is lengthy.
According to feet experts, the most helpful actions to soothe aching feet and prevent worsening conditions (while still wearing your heels) include:
Soak the feet in warm to hot water and Epsom salts.
Wear heavily padded insoles in heels. These act as a shock absorber.
Act like a runner- stretch out before and after wearing heels.
Put your feet up and give them regular breaks from heels.
If wearing heels is a must, choose to pay a bit more and buy higher quality shoes with a thicker heel.
Many people might argue that giving up high heels would be the most logical approach to the problems of aching feet.
Perhaps it is. But as Marilyn Monroe once said, “Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.” The sentiment is still felt by many women today.
What can we say? Old habits die hard.
Melissa AuClair blogs about freelancing, drinking coffee and working towards a location independent lifestyle at http://www.launchyourcreativelife.com She still wears high heels to her day job.
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