Benefits of Exercise

Exercise and physical activity are a great way to feel better, gain health benefits and have fun. As a general goal, aim for at least 30 Minutes of physical activity every day. If you want to lose weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more.
Exercise controls weight,
Exercise Vernon Hills
Exercise combats health conditions and diseases,
Exercise improves mood,
Exercise boosts energy,
Exercise promotes better sleep,
Exercise can be fun.

Soft Serve Ice Cream for one!

1 frozen Banana (freeze bananas with out their skins)
1/4 cup Almond Milk (or any milk you have!)
1 Dried Fig (that I soaked the day before)/ or honey, sugar, agave...just sweeten to taste.
1/4 tsp Organic Cocoa/or vanilla


Have some fun and add nuts and fruit too!

Throw all in your food processor(or blender) And whirl until it looks like soft serve ice cream!
Enjoy your ice cream right away!

Avocado Nutrition Information

Avocado Nutrition Information

Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. They also act as a "nutrient booster" by enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble nutrients, such as alpha and beta-carotene and lutein, in foods that are eaten with the fruit. You can find detailed avocado nutrition information listed in our Avocado Nutrients section including all of the vitamins and minerals found in avocado.

Avocados and Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, but a healthy diet and exercise plan may help reduce your risk of developing the life-threatening illness.
The American Heart Association (AHA) Dietary Guidelines recommend a diet that has at least five servings of fruits and vegetables, contains up to 30% of calories from fats (primarily unsaturated) and is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, trans fats and sodium while being rich in potassium. Avocados can help you meet the AHA dietary guidelines because they have both monosaturated and polyunsaturated fat and contain potassium.  Source

Top Ten Fruits

How you rank fruit depends upon the reason you're eating the fruit and your individual tastes. The four most valuable nutrients in fruits are fiber, vitamin C, carotenoids (e.g. beta carotene), and phytonutrients (health-building substances). Here are our rankings - an overall "Top Ten Fruits" list and our top choices for fiber and vitamin C.
Our top ten ranking of fruits is based upon their content of these nutrients: vitamin C, fiber, carotenoids, calcium, and folic acid. Availability, safety, and versatility also influenced these choices.

1. California Avocado
2. Papaya
3. Guava
4. Cantaloupe
5. Orange
6. Apricots (dried, unsulfured)
7. Mango
8. Strawberries (organic)
9. Kiwi
10. Grapefruit (pink or red)   Source 

What Is Male Candidiasis (Male Thrush)?

Candidiasis, also known as thrush, candidosis, moniliasis, and oidiomycosis, is a mycosis (fungal infections) caused by Candida albicans, one of the Candida species (all yeast). Candidiasis can occur in various parts of the body, including the male or female genital area. Thrush infections are relatively common in women and men. This article focuses on male thrush (penile yeast infection). Informally, male thrush is known as "jock itch".

Candida naturally exists in several places in the body. When it is normally balanced by good bacteria, the level stays low and causes no problems. However, when this delicate balance is disturbed, the risk of developing a yeast infection rises significantly. The most common yeast infection is vaginal thrush. Male thrush or penile yeast infection is also fairly common. 

A male can become infected with thrush if he has sexual intercourse with an infected sexual partner.

Treatment consists of over-the-counter (OTC) anti-fungal creams and ointments. People with a weak immune system may require closer medical supervision.

There is a small risk of complication among patients with compromised immune systems - thecandidiasis might evolve into a more serious case of persistent infection called invasive candidiasis. Infection passes into the bloodstream and starts to spread throughout the body requiring hospitalization. 

According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary, Thrush fungus is: Read more

How to Get Rid of Blackheads

A blackhead, or open comedo is a wide opening on the skin with a blackened mass of skin debris covering the opening. Despite their name, some blackheads can be yellowish in color. A comedo is a widened hair follicle which is filled with skin debris (keratin squamae), bacteria and oil (sebum).

A closed comedo is a whitehead, while anopen comedo is a blackhead. the plural of "comedo" is comedomes".

Blackheads are said to be the first stage ofacne. They form before bacteria invade the pores of the patient's skin. A blackhead can develop into a pimple, which is also known as a papule or pustule.

Blackheads, and acne in general, usually develop after puberty, when hormone levels surge and reach the skin. The presence of higher levels of hormones in the skin triggers the stimulation of the sebaceous glands, which produce oily substances. The sebaceous glands produce too much oil in the pores, which accumulates and gets stuck. When the occluded oil is exposed to air it becomes black.

Several conditions and circumstances can cause blackheads, or make them worse, such as the use of topical oils and make up. Blackheads can affect people with any type of skin, but are generally more common in those with oily skin. Source

Lung Cancer Screening For Heavy Smokers Recommended

People who have smoked at least a pack-a-day for thirty years should undergo lung cancer screening, the American Cancer Society announced today in its lung cancer screening guidelines.

The American Cancer Society says that doctors with access to high-tech lung cancerscreening equipment, as well as treatment centers, should talk to their healthy patients who have been smoking heavily for at least three decades about having their lungs checked.

The Society added that even ex-smokers who gave up less than 15 years ago and smoked heavily for over thirty years should be advised to undergo screening.

According to the guidelines, doctors should tell their patients what the benefits and known harms linked to lung cancer screening are.

The American Cancer Society says that it came to this conclusion after a panel of experts reviewed a number of cancer screening studies that were published in academic journals over the last few decades.

Guidelines published in JAMA in May 2012 recommended that older, current and former heavy smokers should receive annual low-dose CT screening of their lungs.

What are the benefits and harms of lung cancer screening?

The authors of the latest guidelines say that the NLST (National Lung Screening Trial), which was published last year, strongly influenced their conclusions. The NLST involved 53,454 healthy males and females aged at least 55 years who were deemed at high risk of lung cancer because of their smoking history.

Half of them were assigned to the test group of low-dose spiral CT scan, while the other half, the "control group", underwent the standard single view chest X-ray. They were screened three times over a 24-month period. The researchers then checked to see how many were alive five to seven years later and assessed them.

Among those who had undergone the CT scans there were 356 lung cancer deaths, versus 443 deaths in the X-ray control group. The difference of 87 lives saved is a "statistically significant" number - a 20% drop in lung cancer death risk for those in the CT scan group.

The American Cancer Society wrote "One way of looking at this is: among about 27,000 people screened with a CT scan, 87 lung cancer deaths were prevented, but 356 lung cancer deaths still occurred."

Well designed clinical trials, such as the NLST one, help experts decide whether the benefits of screening outweigh the harms. The authors of the latest guidelines say that among healthy long-term heavy smokers or ex-smokers, the benefits of CT screening definitely outweigh the possible harms.

The experts wrote "A screening recommendation should only be made when the benefit clearly justifies the risk of harm."

What are the harms of screening? - despite the obvious benefits, the harms of screening must not be overlooked. Nearly 27,000 people underwent the 3-CT scans, of whom 40% had abnormal findings. They consequently had additional diagnostic tests, ranging from further CT scans to more invasive bronchoscopy, where a tube is placed down their throat into the lungs (via the mouth). Some of them underwent biopsies of the lung, an even more invasive procedure. The vast majority of the additional tests - 95% of them - did not result in a cancer diagnosis.

Sixteen patients who had received CT screening died within two months after an invasive diagnostic procedure that was carried out after their abnormal finding. Six of these 16 patients who died did not have lung cancer.

Even though nobody knows whether their deaths might have been caused by their invasive diagnostic procedures, the authors say that it reminds us that abnormal screening results can sometimes lead to dangerous diagnostic tests.

The NLST appears to show that for every five to six lives saved from CT-scan lung screening, one was lost because of the additional diagnostic procedures that an abnormal result caused.

Lung cancer screenings should be carried out in centers of excellence with experienced and well trained staff, so that the number of false positive screenings and extra invasive diagnostic tests are kept to a minimum, the Society added.

Lung cancer screening benefit for highest risk people

Lung cancer screening has the most benefit for healthy people at highest risk - those aged 55+ years with a long-term history of heavy smoking.

Lifetime non-smokers, or people with a history of light smoking do have a lung cancer risk, but the risk is not high enough to benefit from routine screening after the age of 55 - for them, the risk of harms from lung cancer screening is greater than the benefits.

The patient needs to make an informed decision

The American Cancer Society says that patients and health care professionals need to know about the benefits, limitations and harms associated with a screening test. Screening tests have limitations and may be linked to possible harms.

Examples of limitations include anxiety, worry, the inconvenience involved in further testing, and the complications and potentially life-threatening risks linked to some diagnostic tests that occur after a false-positive result.

There is concern that modern technology can detect small tumors that are no threat to the patient, even though they are technically cancerous tumors.

"Overdiagnosing" tumors can result in unnecessary procedures and treatments, which themselves raise the risk of complications and pointless discomfort and pain for the patient. In some cases patients' lives may be put at risk.

For doctors and people in the medical profession, keeping these "overdiagnosis" numbers down to a minimum is crucial.

In an online communiqué, the American Cancer Society wrote:

"Still, for the group of people at high risk, the benefit of screening may outweigh the potential risks. If you fall into that group, tell your health care professional about your smoking history so he or she can begin a conversation with you about lung cancer screening." Source

Statins Against Alzheimer’s Disease

As the population ages, it is universally acknowledged that some will succumb to the awful fate of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), a neurological disorder that accounts for 60-80% of all cases of dementia. Characterized by a decline in cognitive and social functions and severe memory loss, AD affects nearly 35% of the population over 85 years of age. Histopathologically, markers of AD include the formation of senile plaques, caused by the extracellular accumulation of amyloid fibrils in the brain, and intraneuronal aggregates of neurofibrillary tangles with lead to progressive brain dysfunction.

Recent figures indicate that as many as 35 million people worldwide have dementia, a value that is projected to almost double within the next two decades. Thus, it is no wonder that medical research is constantly trying to discover the most effective preventative measure to slow progression of the disease. Although the exact cause of AD remains elusive, several risk factors are hypothesized to be involved in its development, including high levels of plasma cholesterol. Indeed, accumulation of cholesterol has been associated with senile plaques and in transgenic models of AD. Taking into account the association between high plasma cholesterol and AD, Tramontine and colleagues recently conducted a study to explore the role of statins — a class of lipid-lowering drugs — in the protection against the disease. Although the positive effects of statins on cardiovascular diseases are well known, their potential neuroprotective effects demand further characterization.

The authors used the experimental intracerebroventricular (ICV) streptozotocin (STZ) animal model to demonstrate metabolic changes that are very similar to those found in the sporadic form of AD. In this model, deficits in learning, memory, and cognitive behavior have been reported. In addition, increased oxidative damage, alterations in glucose utilization and neuronal damage have been described. Molecularly, astrocytes play a fundamental role in glutamate metabolism by regulating extracellular levels of glutamate and intracellular levels of glutamine. They also participate in antioxidant defenses in the production of glutathione, coupled to glutamate metabolism. Changes in neurochemical parameters, such as glutamate uptake, glutamine synthetase activity, and glutathione have been investigated in the disease.

The authors administered 0.1 mL of pravastatin (5 mg/kg) to the animals every two days for four weeks. Serum biochemical measurements, hippocampal tissue samples, glutamine synthetase activity, glutathione levels, and glutamate uptake were examined. It was reported that glutathione content was reduced in the STZ-treated animals about 30% compared with the sham group, indicating the development of oxidative stress. However, administration of pravastatin was able to prevent the effect of STZ on glutathione content. Furthermore, pravastatin was able to prevent the observed decrease in hippocampal glutamine synthetase activity in the STZ treated animals. Finally, STZ-treated rats were found to have reduced total content of glutathione in there hippocampal slices, an effect that was reversed in animal models that were administered with pravastatin.

Glutatmatergic neurotransmission, gluatamate metabolism and antioxidant defense are strongly coupled in the neuroprotection against AD development. The current study suggests that pravastatin can interfere with these parameters by reversing some of the negative effects initiated by the disease. Hopefully with the increasing gains of medical research, future studies will also be able to demonstrate the contribution of statins in reducing cognitive impairment and brain damage in AD patients.

References

Maccioni RB, Muñoz JP, & Barbeito L (2001). The molecular bases of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Archives of medical research, 32 (5), 367-81 PMID: 11578751

Mori T, Paris D, Town T, Rojiani AM, Sparks DL, Delledonne A, Crawford F, Abdullah LI, Humphrey JA, Dickson DW, & Mullan MJ (2001). Cholesterol accumulates in senile plaques of Alzheimer disease patients and in transgenic APP(SW) mice. Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology, 60 (8), 778-85 PMID: 11487052

Tramontina AC, Wartchow KM, Rodrigues L, Biasibetti R, Quincozes-Santos A, Bobermin L, Tramontina F, & Gonçalves CA (2011). The neuroprotective effect of two statins: simvastatin and pravastatin on a streptozotocin-induced model of Alzheimer’s disease in rats. Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996), 118 (11), 1641-9 PM

High Blood Pressure/Hypertension

High blood pressure—also known as hypertension—is a condition that increases the risk for heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, coronary heart disease, and other serious health problems. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the inside walls of arteries. The harder your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries are, the higher your blood pressure rises. Over time, the wear and tear caused by untreated high blood pressure can damage your blood vessels and vital organs.

About one in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Yet, because high blood pressure itself usually has no symptoms, the CDC says 22 percent of those with the condition aren't aware they have it. That's why getting your blood pressure checked periodically is so important, even if you are feeling fine. Otherwise, you may not realize there is a problem until a complication arises—indicating that possible permanent damage may have already been done.

Fortunately, blood pressure is easily measured with a simple, noninvasive test Once you know you have high blood pressure, it can be treated with lifestyle changes and blood-pressure-lowering medication.

Types of High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure can be divided into two broad categories based on its cause.

Primary hypertension

 Also called essential hypertension, primary hypertension has no clear-cut cause, although genetic and lifestyle risk factors increase the odds of developing it. This type of high blood pressure usually develops gradually over many years. From 90 to 95 percent of high blood pressure cases in adults fall into this category.

Secondary hypertension

Secondary hypertension is the direct result of another underlying health condition or a drug side effect. It often develops suddenly, and it sometimes causes higher blood pressure than does primary hypertension. Secondary hypertension accounts for the remaining five to 10 percent of high blood pressure cases in adults as well as most cases in children under ten years old. Secondary hypertension is broken down further into a number of types:

• Renovascular hypertension
• Hypertension secondary to other renal disorders
• Hypertension secondary to endocrine disorders
• Other secondary hypertension
• source

Breast Cancer

Every year, almost 200,000 women in America are diagnosed with breast cancer, making it the most common cancer diagnosed in women aside from skin cancer. Approximately one in every eight females will develop breast cancer at some point in her life. Only lung cancer claims more lives than breast cancer in women overall, but breast cancer serves as the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among some populations, such as Hispanic women.

There are significant differences between breast cancers that occur before and after menopause. Hereditary factors figure prominently in premenopausal breast cancers, while most breast cancers that develop after menopause have far less family history involvement.

Without an inherited predisposition, many women will look at their health behaviors and lifestyle choices as suggestive of their risks. Drinking alcohol, smoking, eating poorly or being obese, and a lack of exercise may contribute to breast cancer occurrence. Some studies have implicated alcohol consumption and obesity for increasing risk; another found that regular exercise can lower the incidence of breast cancer.

Still, scientists have yet to explain how some women with virtually identical risk factors can have such different outcomes, or why women without any risk factors end up developing breast cancer.

Breast cancer mortality rates have declined in recent years thanks primarily to increased awareness and early detection. Medicines continue to improve and treatment options are expanding, but women still need to be vigilant in order to increase their chances of success should they develop breast cancer. 

Types of Breast Cancer

There are a number of different cancers that can occur in the breast, and treatment and prognosis vary according to the type. Generally, breast cancers are grouped according to where they first develop.

Ductal carcinomas

These types of cancer first develop in the milk-producing ducts of the breast. These types of breast cancer are considered the earliest forms of breast cancer and the most common kinds, and they can be either invasive (invasive ductal carcinoma) or noninvasive (ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS). “Invasive” means that the cancer has spread from the original site to nearby breast tissue and/or lymph nodes and other parts of the body.

Lobular carcinomas

 These cancers develop in the cells lining the lobules that produce milk, are the second most common type of breast cancer. These are always considered invasive because they spread to surrounding tissue. (Lobular carcinoma in situ is sometimes referred to as cancer but actually stays confined to the lobules or milk glands. However, this type serves as an indicator that you have a higher chance of developing breast cancer in the future.)

Other breast cancers

Other, rarer types of cancer include:

• Breast sarcomas are cancers that start from connective tissues of the breast, such as muscle, fat, or blood vessels.
• Inflammatory breast cancer blocks the lymphatic vessels in the breast, causing severe inflammation.
• Paget’s Disease of the breast is a rare form of breast cancer where cancer cells gather in or around the nipple.
• Male breast cancer is very rare, but can occur. When it does, it is usually ductal carcinoma  Source