MEDITOLL.COM

Two years of severe hurricane hits along the Gulf Coast and heavy rains and flooding this spring in the Northeast are providing a nationwide breeding ground for indoor mold and mildew growth (some deadly) now that summer heat is here. What is the solution?

The subject is surrounded by controversy. The Centers for Disease Control, Institute of Medicine, as well as scientists and doctors at Harvard University, Mayo Clinic, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and several State Health Agencies have all looked at the problem. There have been several studies conducted by medical researchers over the past few years looking for any linkages between various respiratory and physical ailments and deaths and the presence of molds in our living space. While some say there is a linkage, others say the facts don’t support that.

Here are the facts. Mold is everywhere; inside and outside. Some molds are good (penicillin), some are very toxic and emit gases that can be inhaled (Stachybotrys “black mold”). Although some people apparently aren’t bothered by mold, all varieties have the potential to cause illness. Mold reproduces by generating spores that are released into the air, where they land on moist surfaces. They can grow on any organic surface such as wallpaper, ceiling tiles, carpeting, wallboard and wood. They thrive in dark, warm, moist locations, like under carpets, inside walls and ceilings. They will also contaminate items that come in contact with those surfaces.

Mold can trigger allergic reactions and asthma attacks in many. Complaints of flu-like symptoms, chronic fatigue syndrome, memory impairment, migraines, sick building syndrome, dizziness and nosebleeds are common. These are the mild symptoms. Many researchers claim that mold can attack several main body systems, including the brain, central nervous and immune systems and have been the direct cause of some deaths. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, who wants to smell mold/mildew and inhale spores from household fungus? They can lodge in your lungs (remember dark, warm and moist). Asthmatics, infants and individuals suffering immune system deficiencies are particularly susceptible.

So, what should you do if you think that your home might have a mold/mildew problem? Here’s a suggested 5 step process:

• Mold Inspection- retain a qualified, certified mold inspection firm to evaluate your home and determine cause of mold and severity of infestation.

• Isolation of the Area- if there is a mold problem, you will want to isolate the area carefully to prevent carryover into non infested areas during clean up.

• Clean Up/Remediation- care should be taken to not stir up the mold; if it is severe, or in the walls, a specialized remediation firm (in space suits) may have to be used and materials removed in hazardous waste containers.

• Repair of the Cause- if there is structural damage or leaky plumbing causing a moisture problem, fix it.

• Maintenance/Prevention- an ongoing program to ensure no recurrence of the cause and use of proven purification technology to maintain a clean environment and kill mold growth.

On this last point, emphasis is placed on use of technology that has a proven track record of mold abatement. HEPA filters and electrostatic filters that are called purifiers are not effective on mold/mildew. There is, however, affordable, proprietary and safe technology currently available that has a demonstrated ability to sanitize surfaces from a variety of microbials and to stop mold/mildew growth. This effective technology has become widely accepted since it’s use by the government during the 9/11 Pentagon cleanup, is currently in use in several government facilities and is available to the general public through an authorized dealer network.

Exercise. I know.... I know, that word makes most people cringe, but it doesn't have to be that way. You don't have to join a gym, you can exercise at home. Many people pay high gym membership fee's and never go back!! That's just crazy!!

No, I'm talking about the things we do everyday, like . This is known as low impact exercise and is especially good if you are extra weighty as they will put very little or no stress on the Hip, Knee and Ankle Joint.

Anything that raises our heart rates, gets you slightly out of breath and makes you feel warmer is classed as Exercise, but whatever activity you choose, you should always, always start slowly and build up gradually, even if it's only Walking. Start off by doing 30 minutes and build up from there. If you take on too much, too soon, you could injure yourself by pulling a muscle, then you won't get any Exercise done at all.

I think 30 minutes per day for 5 plus days a week is good enough. Even with a busy schedule, I'm sure most people could fit in 30 minutes per day, even if it just means walking briskly around your house or garden, or going up and down the stairs a few times.

The benefits of exercise are endless. You will be amazed at how much better you will feel after you get into the swing of it. Talking about swing, keeping fit should be fun, so when I do my 30 minutes, I just pop on my favorite CD and dance to my hearts content. "Exercise isn't Exercise when you are enjoying yourself".

Water is essential for your good health and well being, but even more important when you are Exercising, as you will need to replenish what you are losing through sweat.

For healthy exercise, before you start your 30 minutes, it's important to do some warm up stretches, to warm your muscles through and get them ready for action and is equally important to do more stretching at the end. Do this for about 10 minutes each time and it will help prevent any muscle stiffness. So go find yourself a dance partner and Have Fun getting fit.

By Lea Davies

Back pain is a part of our lives and can affect anyone at any point in time. Back pain may occur periodically, remain for a short time, and then quickly disappear. This is known as acute back pain and can be taken care of with medication and rest. The pain would be deemed chronic back pain when it remains for over three months. Many people are on constant medication for back pain.

However, if you are experiencing back pains near the kidney area, its time to pay a visit to the doctor. Kidney infection may cause pain, which is similar to lower back pain. The kidneys are located on either side of the spinal column just above the hip. That is why any kind of pain in that area may be diagnosed as kidney infection. The pain originates in the kidney and radiates to the lower back. This is known as referred pain. Therefore, very often kidney infection is confused with lower back pain.

So how does one distinguish between pain caused by kidney infection and lower back pain? One symptom is that pain due to kidney infection comes on rapidly and disappears once the course of medication is over. With back pain, the pain continues even after the infection has cleared up. The symptoms of kidney infection or kidney stone could be pain during urination, blood in the urine or fever with accompanying chills. If the doctor presses on the kidneys at the time of physical examination, there will be shooting pain in the area. If, on the other hand, you have a stretched, torn or twisted muscle, the pain will be specific to the area. The pain may occur either in the lower back, or between shoulder blades, below the waist or over the spinal column. This type of pain will get worse with movement and ease away while resting. Kidney infection can be safely ruled out in this scenario.

If you happen to suffer from kidney infection, the pain will occur on one side of the back, above the waist but just below the rib cage. The pain may increase as the bladder gets full or it may travel to the genital area. During the time you may have bouts of vomiting, pain while urination, blood in the urine and even fever. Lower back pain could be another symptom of kidney infection. These are general guidelines, which give an idea how to diagnose the pain in the lower back area. If you still are not sure what you are dealing with, any such symptoms call for an urgent visit to the doctor. It is always better to be safe than sorry. If there is an earlier history of kidney infections, then there may be another attack coming on. On the other hand, it may just be a stretched back muscle. Therefore, it is better to visit the doctor so that he can make the proper diagnosis and begin treatment for the pain or kidney infection as the case may be. The kidney infection and resultant back pain will probably clear up with a dose of antibiotics. Lower back pain treatment may call for physiotherapy or medication in the form of pain relievers.

Can You Lose Weight Where You Want?

If you have excess weight only in specific parts of your body, you still must look at yourself as a whole. It's not possible to spot reduce; in other words, you can't dictate that you only want weight to come off one place or another. In most cases your so called "trouble spots" is where the fat will come off last, so be prepared to lose weight in your fingers (rings fall off) and your face (friends may ask if you're feeling all right) first. There is hope for losing that belly fat though.

Work Toward Building Muscle and Reducing Body Fat

If you work toward building muscle and reducing body fat you will eventually tackle those trouble spots though, and develop a better physique in the process. Muscle tissue is active meaning it requires calories to be maintained. If you were stranded without a food supply, eventually your body would turn to its own muscle tissue as a source of nutrition first (muscles are protein) while saving the fat stores for last. Simply put, fat is nature's way of ensuring survival during times of famine. That's why the prevalence of heart failure kills someone who is severely malnourished. By building more muscle you become a more efficient energy burning machine which translates to mean you can eat more food! That to me is a good thing.

The More Active You Are, The More You Get to Eat!

That explains why some people can eat so much more than others yet not gain weight; your efficient energy burning friend simply has a greater proportion of muscle to fat than you. Muscle is more dense than fat. It's often said that a pound of muscle is heavier than a pound of fat, but the truth is a pound is a pound. What they mean is a one pound volume of muscle is a smaller package than a one pound volume of fat, or put another way, fat is billowy and fluffy while muscle is sleek and compact. Lady No. 1 weighs 120 pounds with 30% body fat so she has 84 pounds of lean tissue and 36 pounds of fat, while Lady No. 2 also weighing 120 pounds but at 18% body fat is carrying roughly 98 pounds of muscle and 22 pounds of fat. Would you rather be Lady No. 1 or Lady No. 2? Which do you think takes up more space, 22 or 36 pounds of fat? I'd say 36 pounds of fat would be a lot bigger package than 22 pounds.

How Much You Weigh is Meaningless

That is why body weight as a number by itself is meaningless, but your ratio of fat to muscle is very important and worth working to change. Strive to decrease your body fat and increase your muscle mass and you'll look better, you'll feel stronger and more energetic and you'll simply be healthier.

You can generally have your body fat tested at fitness centers and most gyms so ask about having it done. It's better to know you have 30% body fat and work to reduce it to 29, than not to know and only think in terms of body weight. Most people who think only of how much they weigh tend to do everything to reduce that weight, and it's usually at the expense of losing more valuable muscle.

The best way to increase muscle and decrease fat is through a consistent exercise program. Start at whatever is your beginning, but do start.

Begin with an overall body conditioning type exercise program, doing whatever you enjoy, whether it be a sport, gardening, weight lifting, biking, hiking, or any other activity. Any physical movement you do regularly counts as exercise even if it is doing laundry or taking out the trash. Get as much as you can out of every chore you do, and stop thinking of it as a chore but instead as an opportunity to move your body.

In the early 1900s a washing machine was a new invention. People used to wash their clothes by hand, and hang them outside to dry. Being a housewife was actually a pretty strenuous job. It's no wonder women were thankful for modern conveniences like automatic washers and dryers, but now we've come to where our daily activities are not taking our bodies at all, so unless we want to get fatter and fatter we must do something about it.

Get Fit and Belly Fat Disappears

It doesn't make sense to drive around and around in the parking lot looking for the closest space when you're on your way to run or walk on the treadmill. Why take the elevator five flights every day at work and then pay a monthly fee to do the StairMaster after work? What if we all started to notice that our world is full of exercise equipment.

We could become so much more fit if we'd just start to notice all the opportunities for physical movement we miss in the name of convenience. Look around and see if you can spot some exercise opportunities, and then get busy and get fit.

By Kathryn Martyn, M.NLP

Disturbance in your digestive tract is commonly referred to as constipation. In this disorder, there is an irregular movement of your bowels. Constipation itself is a root to many diseases and disorders. This is because it produces toxins in the blood serum and then those are carried to the other body parts. It can cause other diseases such as rheumatism, appendicitis, arthritis, cataract, high blood pressure and even cancer in some of the rarest cases.

The symptoms of constipation include irregular elimination of faecal matter that is hard in nature. The other symptoms are foul breath, coated tongue, loss of appetite, depression, nausea and dizziness. Ulcers in the mouth can also occur sometimes with varicose veins and heart burn.

The main cause of such a state of disorder is the bad lifestyle patterns that you follow, coupled with improper diet. Insufficient intake of water and excessive use of coffee and tea can also lead to this state. Drinking, irregular eating, insufficient chewing, all together makes the functioning of your bowels poor. Apart from this lack of physical activities and and irregular defecation habits with emotional stress and strain, also lead to constipation.

But you can always cure constipation. If the medicines are doing nothing good to you, then you have the option of home remedial treatments. They are:

1. Pear: It is an effective fruit for the treatment of constipation. Making it a part of your regular diet, can help you a lot.

2. Grapes: Since ages, grapes have proved to be a very effective natural remedy to cure constipation. Grapes contains sugar, cellulose and various organic acids that make them an ideal constipation healer. Besides cleaning your stomach, they also tone up the tissues of your stomach and the intestines.

3. Bael Fruit: It is regarded as the best fruit in curing this disorder. It cleans and tones up your intestinal space.

4. Guava: Guava provides you roughage that is very essential for the proper digestion of food. Roughage helps in the normal evacuation of your bowels.

5. Spinach: Spinach is the most vital food for your entire digestive system. The organic elements that are present in spinach cleanse, reconstruct and help the regeneration of the worn out tissues of your intestinal tract.

A simple diet surely helps you to keep away from constipation as it clears your stomach. A simple diet is one that consists of unrefined foods, like honey, bran, wholegrain cereals, lentils, fruits, green leafy vegetables and various milk products.

Apart from them there are also other home remedies that help in treating constipation. For instance, a glass of hot lime water, with added salt is very effective. It is also said that taking an overnight kept water in a copper container helps you considerably in this direction. Linseed is a useful product as it provides both roughage and lubrication to the stomach.