Pharmaceuticals used to treat male pattern baldness (MPB) like Proscar (finasteride), work by decreasing serum levels dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT has been called the most potent of all androgens (male sex hormones), and is the major factor in MPB.
The current theory is that DHT binds to the hair follicle and prevents ribonucleic acid (RNA) from functioning. RNA is responsible for protein synthesis. In a nut shell, if the RNA doesn’t function, the follicle cannot create protein and stunts hair growth. Decreasing DHT levels will prevent baldness, but is it worth the side effects?
A Study reported in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, conducted standardized interviews with 71 healthy men taking finasteride to prevent baldness. 94% of the participants developed low libido, 92% developed erectile dysfunction, 92% developed decreased arousal, and 69% developed problems with orgasm. So, if you’re willing to give up your sex life to have a full head of hair, go ahead and take Proscar.
Fluoride is poison. Two of the main compounds used for fluoridating the water supply, fluorosilicic acid and sodium fluorosilicate, are both by-products of the manufacture of phosphate-based fertilizer. But what’s really disturbing, is the lack of evidence supporting the benefits of fluoride. This poisonous drug is being forced on millions of people without their consent.
Many do not realize that fluoride is indeed a drug. In fact, if you decided you wanted to take it, you’d have to get a prescription for it. Yet it’s added to municipal water supplies reaching more than 180 million Americans, including infants and the elderly. This is a significant problem, because once you add it to the water supply, you have no way of gauging how much of the drug any particular person will consume on any given day.
Consider this: It is illegal and unethical for a medical doctor to give you a drug without specifying dosage, and to fail to monitor your health for side effects from the drug. Yet, your water authority is not only allowed, but encouraged to add a toxic drug—fluoride—to your drinking water without your consent and without any way of knowing who in your household is drinking it, how much, and the effect it is having.
Read the rest of this informative article at mercola.com
Suppose somebody gave you an automobile the would repair itself, but there were a few simple rules you had to follow. One, you had to drive the car a half an hour a day. Two, you had to use the best fuel possible. Do you think you would follow those rules to have the only car that repaired itself? Of course you would. Jack Lalanne poses the question, “then why don’t you treat your body as well as an automobile that repairs itself?”
1. Don’t Touch the First Floor Elevator Button Everybody touches the 1st floor button and eventually eats their lunch and or picks their teeth without washing their hands. Many germs are found there because everybody returns to the first floor. Let someone else push the buttons so you don’t have, use your elbow, or the back of your knuckle instead of your finger to press the button. 2. Dangerous Shopping Cart Handles Shopping cart handles are prime culprits in the spread of germs. Some supermarkets now offer germ-killing wipes in the cart area. Bring your own if they don’t. Use them to sanitize the cart handle. And never put fresh produce in the cart seat, where diaper-aged children often sit. 3. Watch Those Escalator Handrails Escalator handrails are loaded with germs. Don’t touch them if you can manage without it. 4. Use the First Toilet Research shows that most people use the middle stall in public bathrooms, so avoid those. More use means they’re the dirtiest and have the most germs. 5. Office Coffee Pots Dripping With Disease Your office coffee pot and mug may have been cleaned with a sponge dripping with germs. Hang on to your own mug, and use a dishwasher when it’s time to clean it. Another trick: Keep apple cider vinegar in the office and pour a water-cider solution through the coffee machine weekly. It will help kill bacteria. 6. Kitchen Woes Be aware that kitchen sponges, dishcloths, the kitchen and bathroom sinks, cutting boards, and even the bathroom floor carry more germs than the toilet seat.
New research suggests that if you want to sterilize your sponge, put it in the microwave for two minutes. Research shows this gets rid of 99% of the bacteria. 7. Your Desk Is Dirtier Than the Toilet Who would have guessed the typical office desk area has 400 times the amount of bacteria than the average toilet seat. Worst offenders: The office phone. The desk. Finally, the keyboard. Use a disinfectant wipe to clean the desktop, computer keyboard, and phone. 8. Avoid Hand Shaking, Kissing This may be an impossibility for some, but try to avoid shaking hands or kissing during the flu season. 9. Wash your hands This is the number one way to avoid getting sick. Scrub your hands with warm water and soap (many don’t use soap) for at least 15 to 20 seconds after using the bathroom; eating, working or playing outdoors; playing with pets; or coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose. Anything less than 15 seconds won’t do the job.
Incredibly, 95 percent of people say they wash their hands after using the bathroom, but only 67 percent really do it. Worse, only 33 percent bother to use soap and only 16 percent wash their hands long enough to remove germs. Newsmax.com’s Health Alert
Abercrombie & Fitch, Calvin Klein Eternity, and Britney Spears? Curious, to name a few, contain a dozen or more chemicals not listed on their labels that have not been assessed for safety by the beauty industries self policing review panel. Many of these chemicals cause allergic reactions, disrupt hormones, and could play a role in developing cancer.
A recent study found that out of the 91 ingredients identified, a scant 19 have been reviewed by the beauty industry, and only 27 have been assessed by the international Fragrance association and the Research institute for Fragrance Materials.
For this study, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of health and environmental groups, commissioned tests of 17 fragranced products at an independent laboratory. Campaign partner Environmental Working Group assessed data from the tests and the product labels. The analysis reveals that the 17 products contained, on average:
? Fourteen secret chemicals not listed on labels due to a loophole in federal law that allows companies to claim fragrances as trade secrets. American Eagle Seventy Seven contained 24 hidden chemicals, the highest number of any product in the study.
? Ten sensitizing chemicals associated with allergic reactions such as asthma, wheezing, headaches and contact dermatitis. Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio contained 19 different sensitizing chemicals, more than any other product in the study
? Four hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to a range of health effects including sperm damage, thyroid disruption and cancer. Halle by Halle Berry, Quicksilver and Jennifer Lopez J. Lo Glow each contained seven different chemicals with the potential to disrupt the hormone system.
Unless you’re living in a cave with no contact with other people or the media, you know it’s flu season. And whether or not you plan on getting the flu shot or have received the flu shot, we know it’s not 100% effective. As a matter a fact, despite what you keep hearing in the media, we don’t really know current flu vaccine’s efficacy at all. The key is to not get the virus in the first place.
What can you and your family do to avoid getting the flu?
Wash your hands The most common way a cold or flu virus is obtained is by touching your nose, eyes or mouth after your hands have been contaminated. The importance of washing your hands cannot be overstated and is our number one defense in stopping the spread of infections and illness.
Wash your hands:
Before you eat
Before touching your face
After you use the bathroom
Before and after you prepare food
After touching/petting an animal, a leash, or an animal toy
Before inserting or removing contact lenses
Frequently
Teach your family the proper way to cough and sneeze. Let others know they should turn their heads and cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue or the inside of their elbow and not in their hands.
Avoid close contact. When you?re sick or others around you are sick, try not to expose yourself or others to germs. If you are sick do not go to school, work, or any other places where many people could get exposed.
Practice good lifestyle habits:
Get plenty of sleep
Manage your stress
Eat nutritious food
Drink plenty of liquids
Despite strides in science, disinfectant sprays and anti-bacterial products, our best defense against infectious disease is simply washing your hands with ordinary soap. Unfortunately, many don’t wash their hands enough or if they do, they’re not doing it properly.
Hand Washing 101:
1. Use lukewarm water and lather your hands with ordinary soap. Anti bacterial soap is not necessary and simply rinsing your hands under running water is useless. Cold water is not as effective and avoid hot water because it will dry the skin too much. 2. Rub your hands together making sure to get the entire surface of your hands and fingers. Intertwine your fingers and don’t forget the back of your hands and around your finger nails. 3. Wash your hands properly for at least 20 seconds. 4. Rinse your hands well. try to let the water run from your wrist down off your finger tips. 5. Dry your hands with a clean paper towel or air dry. Use a paper towel to turn the faucet off. Remember you turned it on with dirty hands.
By the time people reach their 20′s, 50% have had dandruff. Believed to be caused by a fungus, the fungi live on your scalp and feed on skin oils. The following is an answer from mercola.com to this embarrassing condition.
First of all, it?s important to keep in mind that everything you slather on your skin or put on your scalp goes into your bloodstream, and can affect your overall health and internal balance. Virtually all of your regular shampoos and conditioners contain harmful chemicals that can create skin irritation, contributing to dry scalp and excessive dandruff.
I recommend buying organic personal-care products that do not contain parabens, sodium laureth or lauryl sulfate. The latter two are known eye and skin irritants, which could worsen your dandruff.
There are many solutions for this condition, but the typical strategy will be some type of medicated shampoo. However, there are safer and more effective ways of using them that do not require repetitive use.
Two shampoos that work well are Selsun Blue and Head & Shoulders. I?ve used both in the past with good results. Selsun Blue contains a form of selenium sulfide, whereas Head & Shoulders has zinc as the active ingredient. Both are toxic to the fungus.
The most effective way to use them is to lather your scalp with the shampoo at night before you go to bed, and keep it on overnight. Wear a shower cap so you don?t ruin your pillow case. Then wash it off in the morning. If needed you can repeat this treatment once a week, but typically you?ll only need one or two treatments to permanently eliminate the fungus. This seems to be a much safer alternative to using the shampoo daily for many years.
Washing your hands is the number one way to prevent the spread of infectious illness. This is especially critical after using the toilet, changing the baby, handling raw foods, working at your desk, or shaking hands. But, are antibacterial soaps better for this than other soaps.
Researchers at U-M’s School of Public Health reviewed 27 studies that examined the effectiveness and safety of antibacterial soaps containing triclosan. Detergents that used the word “antibacterial” on their labels were also included in the studies. Alcohol-based hand gels were excluded.
According to researchers at the University of Michigan, Antibacterial soaps aren’t any better than ordinary soaps for washing away germs. They also warn that antibacterial soaps may have the unwanted side effect of promoting antibiotic resistance in users.
Good dental hygiene can protect your teeth and gums from decay and other serious problems. Left untreated, dental and gum diseases can lead to tooth loss, infection, and damage to bones and nerves.
The American Dental Association offers these guidelines for proper hygiene:
* At least twice a day (and after meals when you can), brush with a fluoride toothpaste.
* Use an antimicrobial mouthwash.
* Floss at least once each day. If possible, floss after every meal to remove food particles from between teeth.
* Get a new toothbrush at least once every three months, or whenever the brush’s bristles become frayed and worn.
* Limit sugary meals, drinks and snacks.
* Visit your dentist twice a year for a cleaning and checkup.
HealthDay.com (HealthDay News)
What this health update does not discuss, is the link between bad oral hygiene and cardiovascular disease. Studies have shown that people with periodontal disease have almost twice the risk of CVD as those without periodontal disease.
Researchers are not exactly sure why periodontal disease is linked to CVD; one possibility is that the bacteria actually damage the artery walls causing clots to form in order to repair the damage which can lead to fatty plaques. When researchers look at the areas where plaque has formed in the arteries they have found damaged tissue caused by viruses and bacteria.
Men?s Fitness.com writes that staph infections are becoming alarmingly common. Use the guide below to avoid getting staph infections when spending time at the gym or pool.
Post-workout showers rock, but as great as they feel on beaten-down muscles, they could have you leaving the locker room with more than a spring in your step. The culprit? Staphylococcus, or staph, is a family of more than 30 different types of bacteria that’s easily transmissible ? especially in warm, overly populated areas like locker rooms. It may already be present in up to 25% to 30% of the population, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. (You may have heard renewed staph talk a few months ago when infections hit the NBA.)
In most cases, the presence of staph on the skin causes relatively few problems. But if you get a cut or damage your flesh in some way, and the bacteria enter your bloodstream, it can cause a wealth of problems ? some of which can turn fatal. Here’s how to protect yourself:
STAY CLEAN
Good personal hygiene is the first step in protecting yourself and staying ahead of a staph infection. Shower daily, wearing flip-flops when in a public location, and wash your hands regularly, especially after leaving the bathroom.
DON’T SHARE
Many people carry staph bacteria without realizing it. When it comes to things like towels and razors, it’s always best to use your own since these things act as vehicles for bacteria.
DISINFECT, DISINFECT, DISINFECT
Keep all wounds clean and properly covered. This will cut down your risk of infection and prevent infected areas from spreading farther.
Abercrombie & Fitch, Calvin Klein Eternity, and Britney Spears? Curious, to name a few, contain a dozen or more chemicals not listed on their labels that have not been assessed for safety by the beauty industries self policing review panel. Many of these chemicals cause allergic reactions, disrupt hormones, and could play a role in developing cancer.
