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General Health

Why Do We Develop High Blood Pressure?

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You might wonder why you and everyone else develop high blood pressure. While you might develop it you can easily lower or control it. The best way to prevent developing it is to keep a close eye on it from the beginning.

Older adults may be more prone to developing high blood pressure but if you start at a young age you can prevent it easier. There are a few things you want to watch for that cause high blood pressure. This is why we develop high blood pressure because we are not aware of what is causing it.

Weight plays a major role in developing high blood pressure. Overweight people are more likely to develop high blood pressure but do not be discouraged. Losing as little as ten pounds can help your blood pressure significantly.

Once you lose a measly ten pounds just imagine how much easier it will be to lose even more. A great way to keep losing and maintain a healthy weight is by a healthy diet. Your diet factors in to developing high blood pressure as well.

High amounts of salt and sodium intake can cause high blood pressure. Try to limit your meals on salt and opt for other seasonings instead. There is a wide variety of seasonings available so you are sure to find something you really like.

Also try to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet. Eating more of these will help your blood pressure not to mention you will feel healthier as well.

Do you use tobacco or drink large amounts of alcohol? If so, this could be why you have developed high blood pressure. Both of these can raise your blood pressure so if possible try to quit or at least cut back on your use and consumption. This will significantly help lower or maintain a normal level of blood pressure.

African Americans are more prone to develop high blood pressure. It starts at an early age and can be more severe. African Americans also have a higher death rate from kidney disease and stroke than white Americans. Even so, you can still treat high blood pressure effectively.

Do you exercise regularly? If not you might be at risk for developing high blood pressure than those that do regular exercise. Luckily you can easily fix this by doing physical activity for at least thirty minutes a day. You might say, “I don’t have thirty minutes a day to set aside.” While you may not have thirty minutes all at once to set aside, you could probably find it easier to set aside ten minutes at a time.

If you find yourself stressed very easily over anything and everything you could easily develop high blood pressure. Yes, stress is a factor of high blood pressure. Stress is very common for many people but easily treatable. Is there something you enjoy doing that relaxes you?

Consider picking up a hobby that you find relaxing and lets you de-stress. Do this whenever you feel stressed to the max and do it often. Keeping your stress level low will help keep your blood pressure low as well.

Last but not least, certain medications can cause you to develop high blood pressure. Are you on medications? You might consider talking with your doctor about their side effects and if they cause high blood pressure. Every time you start a new medication you want to ask your doctor about this.

It is never too late to take better care of your health so consider starting today. Keeping control of your blood pressure will help lower your risk of a stroke or heart and kidney disease. Talk with your doctor about any concerns or ask any questions you might have.

Cosmetic Health

Contraindications of Laser Hair Removal

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There are people that should not have laser hair removal because of one or more specific reasons. These reasons are called contraindications, which mean, that it is inadvisable to have the treatment or procedure. The treatment could be dangerous or cause permanent side effects. Other contraindications require special treatment or medication before laser hair removal can be started.

Women that are pregnant should not have laser hair removal. Although there is not significant information regarding laser usage and pregnancy, many physicians and health care providers recommend avoiding laser treatments because of the unknown effects on the on the unborn child.

Anyone that has herpes simplex virus I or II should tell the doctor that is preforming the laser hair removal before treatments have begun. It is necessary to take a prescription antiviral medication for several days both before and after the treatment. If the hair removal is in the area of previous outbreaks, it is possible that the heat from the laser will cause a flare up of the herpes virus. If a herpes outbreak is active, either on the face or genital area, it is important to reschedule the laser hair removal treatment.

An appointment should also be rescheduled if there is any cut, broken, irritated or inflamed skin in the area that is to be treated. Rescheduling is also necessary if there is an active infection anywhere within the body.

Anyone that has the condition of albinism, which is the absence of any color pigment in the hair or skin, should not have laser hair removal. Laser light is drawn to dark pigmentation so it will not work on anyone with this condition. The same holds true for people with very light blonde, red, grey, or white hair.

People that are sunburned or have recently tanned should postpone their treatment until their skin has returned to its normal color which could take several weeks. It is important that skin is its natural color when laser hair removal takes place.

Certain oral and topical medications can cause photosensitivity or photoallergic reactions if used before laser hair removal treatments take place. Accutane should be discontinued three months before treatment begins. Tetracycline and Retin A should be discontinued six weeks before the laser hair removal process.

Anyone that suffers from certain medical conditions, such as lupus, diabetes, or epilepsy, should not have laser hair removal. Any nervous disorders which are present, need to be evaluated before laser treatment begins. If hirsutism is present, the cause should be diagnosed and treated before any laser treatment is started.

If there is a mole in the area to be treated, many people decide to have it removed before treatment. Because of the dark pigmentation of the mole, it may attract to much heat from the laser and cause burning. The same holds true for certain birthmarks and beauty marks.

If there is a history of keloid scarring, it is important to know that there is a higher danger of scarring from the treatments.

The importance of knowing the contraindications of laser hair removal can protect you from a dangerous experience.

Women's Health

Caffeine and Pregnancy: How much is too much

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One of the first things most of us women prepare to say goodbye to once we see those two pink lines on our pregnancy tests is caffeine. Many women will stop their caffeine habit cold turkey out of the sheer fear of doing some sort of damage to the new life growing inside of them. These women will swear off anything that has caffeine in it from coffee, and soda to even chocolate. Then there are some of us who will still drink caffeine but cut back. Instead of drinking five cups of coffee a day, we might cut back to at least one cup of coffee to get us through the day.

Our mothers and grandmothers will probably tell us that they drank the same amount of caffeine pregnant as they did when they were not pregnant and their children turned out fine. However a lot more research has been done since their time and studies are showing that too much caffeine can cause some complications such as preterm labor and/or low birth weight.

So how much caffeine is too much caffeine? Doctors are telling their patients that a moderate amount of caffeine will not harm their babies. Even though caffeine does cross the placenta, anything less than 300 milligrams a day (an 8 ounce cup of strong coffee) will not do any harm. Anything over 300 milligrams puts your baby at risk and studies have also shown that women who drink more than 300 milligrams of caffeine a day during their first trimester have a slightly higher risk of a miscarriage.

Studies have also shown that women who had over 500 milligrams of caffeine a day had babies who had faster heart rates and faster breathing rates. These babies also spent more time awake in their first few days of life rather than peacefully sleeping after their long journey.

There are a number of other reasons why we women might want to cut back on the amount of caffeine we drink during pregnancy. For starters, it has no nutritional value. If there is ever a time for us to be aware of our nutritional needs it is when we are pregnant. Second, caffeine is a stimulant which will increase your heart rate and can cause insomnia and headaches which can put some stress on your growing little one. Third, caffeine can cause heartburn. If you have been pregnant before you know that heartburn can be a burden to begin with, and caffeine just makes it worse. Lastly it is a diuretic which means it can cause you to lose fluids which can put you at a risk of becoming dehydrated.

While it is not necessary for you to give up all caffeine through out the duration of your pregnancy, you should learn how to drink it in moderation or don’t drink it at all. If you can not handle having only one cup of coffee a day, then you might be better off drinking no coffee at all. Stick with caffeine free sodas and even decaf coffee. Remember though that decaf coffee still contains small traces of caffeine so make sure you take that into consideration.

Cosmetic Health

How Surgeons Hide Donor Scars during Hair Transplant Surgery

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Hair transplant procedures leave scars. It is just a fact of life. However, if the surgeries are handled in the proper manner, the scars are barely noticeable. They are thin to the point that they can barely be seen in most cases. Skilled doctors have ways of making the scars practically disappear.

First of all, the surgeon must be very skilled in choosing the site of the path where he harvests the donor tissue for the hair transplant. Its width should be no more than one centimeter in most instances. This allows the scalp to close completely when sutured back into place.

If the hair transplant procedure is done well, the scar will not be noticeable even if the patient likes to wear his hair in a short style. The scar will only become unsightly if the patient is genetically predisposed to keloid scarring. People who have this kind of problem need special treatment.

If a patient is known to suffer from keloid scarring, the first thing a reputable doctor will do before hair transplant surgery is to explain the possibility of unsightly scars. This requires a very honest surgeon, since the patient may decide the procedure is not worth the scarring it will cause.

The next step with such a patient would be to discuss ways the keloid could be covered. It could be camouflaged by wearing the hair just a little longer. Other patients have rubbery skin that stretches too much and so causes wide donor scars. These two groups add up to about 5% of the patients who have hair transplant surgery.

The other 95% of patients have no problems with their tiny scars at all. The hair transplant doctors are able to keep the donor strips very thin. They also use a double layer closure method to help the skin heal properly. As long as the surgeon knows what she is doing, the scars are a minor consideration.

Another aspect of scarring is when doctors go in for multiple hair transplant surgeries. A new strip of donor tissue has to be taken each time to supply the grafts for the new transplant. It would seem that this would lead to a large number of scars on the back and sides of the head.

Actually, there is a hair transplant procedure that keeps the scarring to one thin line. It consists of cutting the new thin donor strip immediately above the original scar. In most cases, the old scar is removed at the same time. When the wound is stitched up, the entire area of both the old scar and the new cut are sewn into one line. If multiple surgeries are done, this procedure is used every time.

Hair transplant surgery leaves scars. That much is certain. If you are one of the unlucky few who scar easily, you might have scars big enough that you have to hide them. Yet, if you are like most people, you will not have scars that anyone will notice at all.