Friday, April 30, 2010

Pressure Mounts in US to Restrict Salt Levels in Processed Foods

For years doctors have been telling patients with high blood pressure to cut down on the amount of salt in their diet. Now a prestigious panel of experts from the Institute of Medicine in Washington wants the U.S. government to put limits on how much salt, or sodium, food manufacturers can use.

It is hard to believe that many of us eat this much salt during one meal or even in one day. Doctors and nutritionists advise us not to eat more than a teaspoon of salt daily. That is about 2300 milligrams of sodium.

Entire article at Voanews

Living With Urinary Incontinence? Don’t Let It Be Your Secret

Incontinence is the involuntary discharge of urine or faeces due to a lack of control by the bladder (Urinary Incontinence) or bowel (Faecal Incontinence). The excretory system of urine is called the urinary tract and comprises: the kidneys, the ureters, the bladder and the urethra. Urine is filtered by the kidneys and transported via two tubes (ureters) into the bladder. Several layers of muscle form the wall of the bladder; the thickest is called the detrusor muscle. At the junction of the bladder and the uretha is the sphincter muscle whose function is to control the flow of urine through the urethra. A healthy bladder is capable of expanding to accommodate 300-500 ml of fluid. At 200ml. we get the first urge to urinate. When this occurs, the detrusor muscle contracts, the sphincter muscle relaxes and urine is forced out through the urethra. Once finished, the process is reversed: the bladder relaxes and the sphincter contracts, stopping the flow of urine.

Your ability to control urination requires: a normal anatomy, a normally functioning nervous system and being able to determine and respond to the warning signs of impending urination. Urinary incontinence occurs when you are unable to control the flow, causing leakage or in severe cases an inability to retain urine.

Complete article...

Monday, April 5, 2010

Diabetics Could Benefit From Wireless Health Care

Online communities could easily be used to offer people with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes , wireless healthcare services via mobile phones and the internet. The approach, outlined in the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, would reduce healthcare costs and empower many patients to manage their condition more effectively. Read More....