A Second Option for Quality Care
Medical care and treatment is a necessity for quality living. With the Affordable Care Act, our country has attempted to expand access to healthcare at the expense of quality. A doctor bears the responsibility of understanding the medical needs of the patient and delivering quality health care. However, in certain cases the patient may not be satisfied with the opinion of a physician. In such cases, the patient has the sole right to seek a second medical opinion to ensure that he gets optimum and desired health care up to his satisfaction. Here are some of the reasons where a second medical opinion is genuinely recommended:
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5 Fat-Busting Winter Activities
Winter and snowfall bring with them a sense of peace and tranquil. It can be a lot of fun to keep a calm mind in activities that are physically invigorating. Winter sports not only help keep you warm but also endow innumerable health benefits to the body by strengthening muscles and keeping up its agility. Both of these tend to drop with temperature. [1] While you take up these winter sports be sure to keep to safe terrain, wear ample warm clothing and carry enough safety gear to prevent untoward injuries. So get out your stowed away winter gear and let the snow bring out that hidden talent in you!
Some beckoning winter sports this season are:
1. Cross Country Skiing:
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KNOW YOUR BONES!
We all wish to have strong bones required to lead an active life, but exercising is probably the hardest thing to do. The mantra often is to cut extra calories to the bone and stock your kitchen with some bone-friendly food. This article aims at making you your own dietician so that you can calculate for yourself what food and how much of it your body needs.
First, it’s important to consume an adequate amount of nutrients for strong bones. As recommended by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the daily requirement of calcium for an adult is 1000mg/day and that of vitamin D is 600IU/day. [1] While calcium can be derived from various foods, vitamin D is synthesized by the skin with the help of sunlight. An exposure to sunlight for 5 – 30 minutes from 10a.m. to 5p.m. twice a week can provide enough vitamin D for healthy bones.
The top 5 foods for healthy bones have been listed below,
1. Dairy products
Milk – Easily available in every corner of the world, this wonder food is packed with nutrients. 1 cup or 8 ounces of milk contain 305mg of calcium. So, people who can drink 3 glasses of milk a day can keep broken bones far away. Those who dislike milk can turn it into a fruit smoothie, or opt for yogurt and cheese instead.
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Fight Winter Inactivity with Exercise!
We make hay while the sun shines, but as soon as the temperature falls we dread leaving the cozy, warm indoors. All the health activities that we pursue all year round take a back seat and our bodies get used to the inactivity. Today you have multiple options of staying fit indoors even during the cold winters without falling sick. The only safety precaution is to wear warm clothing in layers and not to overdo any activity. It’s time to get off your couch and begin the calorie burn!
A few simple ways of exercising and maintaining fitness during the winters have been listed below:
1. Walking:
Yes! Walking can be fun even in the snow. In fact, walking in the snow tends to burn double the amount of calories than walking on a plain surface as you need to push harder to pave your way through the snow. Remember to wear the winter clothing in layers so that you can pull them off as you get warmer. [1] And while you are walking in the snow, a little bit of slow running or playing around can increase the fat burning and also increase cardiovascular endurance. Make sure it’s all on snow, never ice!
2. Take the stairs or the street:
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Reducing Knee Replacement Pain
Osteoarthritis is a condition characterized by the degeneration of joint cartilage, most commonly affecting the knees. It results in pain, stiffness, swelling, and restricted mobility. Unrelenting pain and impaired function call for a knee replacement surgery during which the surgeon replaces the damaged parts with metal or plastic prosthesis. More than half the population worldwide is affected by osteoarthritis. This surgery aims at giving a better life to patients, but the procedure itself involves pain as a major problem following surgery. The good news is that better pain relief measures have been discovered that can give a pain-free life immediately after surgery.
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Run a Mile to Keep your Smile!
Researchers have extensively studied the relation between running and arthritis of the knees to conclude that running regularly may not increase the risk of osteoarthritis. In fact, running can prevent arthritis of the knee in runners.
This study contained data from 2600 people who used to perform some form of physical activity in their life. Study age groups were divided into 12-18, 19-34, 35-49 and 50 and older. Finally, 29% of the people were runners at some point of time in their lives.
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Cardiac risks higher in patients with arthritis, psoriasis
A higher cardiac event risk was thought to exist in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, but little was known about the link between psoriatic arthritis and heart disease. Psoriasis is a chronic auto-immune disorder that affects people in middle age worldwide. This disorder has affected more than 7.5 million people as per the data shared by National Psoriasis Foundation.
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X-Ray Imaging and Technology
Each year, the inexorable development of new technologies drives our modern economy. It seems only yesterday the flip phone ruled and few could imagine smart phones dominating the market place. Just as new smart phones constantly roll off assembly lines and vehicles become ever more intelligent, medical technology continually advances. Nowhere clearer is this fact than in the development of x-ray systems.
Running May Not Cause Arthritis
Researchers have extensively studied the relation between running and arthritis of knees to conclude that running regularly may not increase the risk of osteoarthritis. In fact, running can prevent arthritis of the knee in runners.
This study contained data from 2600 people who used to perform some form of physical activity in their life. The age groups were divided into 12-18, 19-34, 35-49 and 50 or older. 29 % of the people were runners at some point of time in their lives.
Physical Activity May Treat Depression
Studies say that today depression is a mental illness which affects about one in ten people. Depression is a condition where a person feels useless, hopeless and extremely sad. This can happen without any apparent reason. The episodes last for long and occur frequently to the point that it affects the daily functioning of the person. Traditional treatment is performed with anti-depressants and psychotherapy.
Recent studies conducted by the University of Bern show that regular physical exercise can help alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Physical activity is known to be beneficial for overall health and prevention of cardiac diseases. The basic cause of depression is the deficiency of a certain chemical known as serotonin. Serotonin is an important chemical in the brain which is responsible for a variety of functions related to mood, sleep and appetite. Thereby, a deficiency of serotonin leads to depression, but what causes this deficiency is yet unknown.
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