Leg cramps are the sudden painful involuntary spasms of the muscles. The sudden contractions are brought about by a plethora of reasons, from muscle fatigue, dehydration, over exertion, cold weather, low calcium levels or low blood salts. ‘Charley Horse’ or a leg cramp afflicts us all at some time or the other, sometimes when we least expect it.

Anatomically, leg cramps attack the muscles that crossover two joints. Commonly, the calf muscles, the quadriceps and the hamstrings. Leg cramps are brief spasmodic muscle tensions frequently sneaking up on us at night…that’s why they have a variant referred to as ‘Night cramps’.

When the cramps strike, they literally make us freeze in our tracks. But some simple enough safeguards can help us get off the Charley horse. Read on and shake a leg with these simple tips -

1. Parched muscles don’t give off thirst signals, they just cramp up. Dehydration is one of the main reasons behind leg cramps. Ensure that you keep yourself properly hydrated especially during hot climates. Keep your uptake of water regular throughout the working day.

2. A buffed up body sure looks good in the mirror. But it helps to exercise to one’s capacity. Excessive exertion or pushing weights over and above one’s physical capacity is a surefire welcome mat for cramps. Warm up and build up gradually and let your poor muscles get used to the extra work you are putting them through. Also don’t forget – sweat but replace the sweat with water during workouts.

3. Keep moving and keep your legs in good shape. Long hours spent sitting or standing causes strain on the muscles. Change your posture at regular intervals and loosen the benumbed muscles. The soundest advice, for us working folks behind the desk.

4. Keep your knees at a comfortable angle to the rest of your body when you are sitting in a chair. Knees take the weight of the body and are therefore more prone to soreness.

5. Stretch whenever you feel like it. Frequent stretching loosens the muscles and keeps them ship shape.

6. Have a potassium and calcium rich diet. Daily intake of calcium is around 1000 milligrams a day. Have a glass of milk for the calcium…and a banana for the potassium.

7. Wear the right kind of shoes which cushion your feet and calf muscles during the rigors of walking or exercise.

8. Give your leg muscles a gentle soothing massage after a long walk or a long beat at the office. Immersion in a tub of lukewarm water is often recommended for tired feet.

9. Loose weight and give the muscles a break. This is perhaps the best thing one can do for general health.

10. Get enough sleep. Muscles just like our other body attachments need adequate rest. So take the muscles to bed at the right time.

When the next cramp comes calling – stand up and take a few deep breaths. Massage the area and hopefully the cramp will go away. Then, go over the list once again.

1. Laughter is the best medicine. Apart from regular exercise, laughter is probably the second greatest secret for a long and happy life.
2. Tie the knot…married couples live longer.
3. For the love of marriage. Having a contented married life goes a long way in promoting good health. It has been statistically proven that a good married life increases life expectancy for both partners.
4. Create a home sweet home. People with a happy and peaceful family life tend to live longer. Focus on your relationships and nurture them for they are a major contributor to quality of life.
5. For a good life, get a good sex life. Need I say more as sex reduces stress, leads to greater contentment and better sleep.
6. Get better sleep. Hit the sack at the right time and get up with the clock. Six to seven hours of restful snooze makes you a new person each day.
7. Be positive. Be positively charged about your day. As Kipling said – treat your triumphs and disasters just the same.
8. Challenge your brain. Don’t live in the status quo, always attempt to learn something new. A study from Mayo Clinic found out that even elderly people who took up a hobby late in their lives impacted their general well being.
9. Drop the fag. It’s trite but smoking is the single most avoidable cause of illness and death.
10. Have tea instead. It’s the antioxidants in tea that limit the growth of cancer cells, help with better teeth, prevent osteoporosis and strengthen the heart. One US study showed that heart attack patients who were tea drinkers decreased their risk of death by as much as 44 per cent.
11. Watch your waistline. Obesity is one of the main causes of ageing and increases the risk of heart disease and cancer. A major percentage of coronary heart disease is credited to overeating.
12. Simplify life. Reduce the clutter in your life and you will automatically reduce the stress. Remove the things you can do without for stress is an invisible speed breaker for life. Johns Hopkins University says that stressed people are 20 times more likely to develop heart disease.
13. Leave work at the office. Taking work home with you is a surefire sign of mounting stress.
14. Try meditation. A long standing palliative advice to reduce stress and attune the mind with the body. Go to a quiet nook and relax your mind with this recommended habit.
15. Give life, a bit of it back. Enjoy yourself with your passions. It could be skiing in the Alps or shopping in Amsterdam. Even the much maligned ‘shopaholicism’ is considered as beneficial as any physical exercise.

Beyond this tiny fragmented list we all have our own little nuggets of life’s wisdom. Hopefully life’s shared nuggets increases the richness of our own and those around us.

For both men and women, it is important to watch for changes in weight with advancing age. Weight gain is a direct spin-off from our lifestyle and habits. And if we don’t mind our habits we won’t be able to mind our pounds.

Because of the way we are wired, men and women gain weight in different ways and in different areas. Julie Schwartz, a dietitian at the Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, U.S) explains,

“Most women will really gain weight in their hips and thighs. Men more around the mid-section of their abdomen. Then as women age and their hormones change, the tendency is to start depositing more in the mid-section as well as their hips.”

Weight gain is not only about tipping the scales or worrying about the bum hugging jeans. The portents could be far more serious. A recent study by Harvard University and the National Institutes of Health found that women with larger waists, those measuring 35 inches or more, are at greater risk for cancer or heart disease than women with smaller waists.

For men, the bad number for waist size is 40 inches. According to the researchers, in 2004, more than 50 percent of the U.S. population had an abdominal measurement that was on the other side of the measurement.

So as individuals how do we stop ourselves from breasting the tape?

The guideword for all our cures – Exercise, buy running shoes!

As Julie Schwartz says,

“Cardio is good, but strength training is important. With strength training you are constantly maintaining or maybe even adding a little bit of muscle weight. You are also putting a little bit of stress on your bones which helps aid and maintain bone density.”

This is especially important for women as with advancing age, women tend to lose calcium density more than men. Their momentum towards osteoporosis is swifter.

Men and women can also make some alterations in their eating habits as diet is the second pillar to fight age. Eating smaller meals but spreading them out more often and getting plenty of fluids helps boost metabolism.

Their is no panacea that can do away with our wrinkles and white hairs. Nopes, not even plastic surgeries and magic creams. But at least we can delay the inevitable time when our broad minds and your narrow waist change places.

Claustrophobia – A Phobia or a Disease?
Claustrophobia is among the most ‘popular’ phobias of its kind. It is simply an extreme fear of being enclosed or trapped in small spaces. A person dealing with claustrophobia experiences anxiety and has difficulty breathing in enclosed spaces. He or she may even have a full-fledged panic attack. Many of us may be claustrophobic without knowing it. The good news is that claustrophobia is curable.

The main cause of claustrophobia is often a past traumatic experience involving a temporary or permanent confined environment. Herein, the mind makes a psychological connection that small spaces mean danger. It can lead to a panic attack, and this response becomes data in the brain, establishing an association between being trapped and out of control or experiencing anxiety.

Do you have any of the symptoms?

Breathlessness, excessive sweating, palpitation, nausea or a parched dry mouth, lightheadedness, nausea, fainting, hyper-ventilation and shaking are some symptoms. Other symptoms are a deep-seated fear of dying, losing one’s mind or losing control, being detached from reality or having a full-blown panic attack, and an inability to think or speak clearly. However, like most phobias it can be treated.

Some commonly followed treatments include -

Psycho-education

This involves educating the individual about the meaning and causes of claustrophobia, and clarifying negative emotions such as fear, anxiety and phobia. Deep-seated notions involved in relating fear to cramped spaces are addressed, and the patient is encouraged to talk about the problem. Once the patient realizes what triggered off claustrophobia, remedial measures can be taken.

Past life therapy

This is a new-age technique, wherein the counselor takes the patient into a past life experience to delve into the present condition of claustrophobia. Sometimes, a traumatic experience in a past life can be carried into the present. Once that is addressed, the patient discovers that the cramped phobia is gone forever.

Learn to breathe again

This technique makes the individual change the fast breathing pattern to a slow one. Hyperventilation is sometimes brought about by anxiety triggers. The ensuing event is an increase in anxiety levels beyond normal. This can be tackled by teaching patients a slow breathing technique to face the anxiety-provoking situations effectively.

Cognitive therapy

Our response to situations depends on the way we interpret them. A misjudgment or a wrong perspective can lead to distress. Applying cognitive techniques means to think things through and apply a semblance of logic and rationality to our responses. Cognitive therapy brings about behavioral changes which help us to deal with situations causing psychological suffering.

Stuff out the ignorance

Didn’t Ralph Waldo Emerson say, “Fear always springs from ignorance?” Applying knowledge and being noetic about imaginary fears helps the most in defeating phobias.

Blood pressure (BP) disorder is generally of two types.

Primary BP, also known as primary/essential hypertension, is hereditary. About 89 per cent of BP patients fall under this category.

Secondary BP, also known as secondary hypertension, originates from multiple causes.

- Kidney, endocrine and thyroid disorders.
- Oral contraceptives.
- Certain drugs like stimulants, diet pills and some pills used for cold and allergy symptoms do also raise BP.
- Pregnancy and obesity. If you are 30 per cent or more over your ideal body weight then you are a prime candidate for blood pressure.
- Sodium (salt) sensitivity.
- And of course the oldest reason…physical inactivity. A sedentary lifestyle causes obesity and results in high BP.

The Signs of Blood Pressure

The symptoms range from unexplained and severe headaches, nausea, changes in vision, light-headedness or dizziness, chest pain or shortness of breath on exertion.

But you can control your blood pressure…

Blood pressure can be controlled by a variety of actions steps mostly focusing on diet and exercise. These are just some of the main ones -

Choose foods low in calories and fat.

Cut down on butter, margarine, fatty/red meats, poultry skin, whole milk, cheese, fried foods, ice-cream, cakes, pastries and snacks.

Choose baked, broiled or poached chicken, fish, and lean cuts of meat.

Opt for skimmed milk, low-sodium cheese, fresh/frozen/fruit or vegetables (without butter, cream, cheese sauces), plain rice and pasta.

Walk for at least 35 minutes every day. If you can, do jog for 10 minutes and practice yoga.

Consuming ½–2 tsp of herbs like dandelion, Rauwolfia (Indian snake root) and hawthorn with water, on empty stomach, two or three times a day helps control BP. These herbs are not recommended for kids though.

Here are some specific food-related remedies…

Drink at least 10–12 glasses of water daily. Increase it to 14 glasses in summer. Kids should drink 6–7 glasses generally, increasing it to 9 in summer.

Have lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Include a salad in every meal. Sprouts absorb extra salt from your system.

Green leafy vegetables contain lots of sodium. Leech them before cooking to wash away most of the salt.

Instead of common salt, go for readily available low-sodium salts. Do not consume more than 2 tsp of salt in a day.

Obese persons should cut down on sugar intake to, use maple syrup instead. BP patients should not consume more than 4 tsp in a day.

Avoid canned food, vegetables and soups.

Stay away from fried food, pickles, processed food and baking soda.

Physical medicine therapies using water are very beneficial for BP alleviation. These include hot baths (to promote sweating), constitutional hydrotherapy and foot baths (alternating between hot and cold water).

One of the oldest stress management techniques is to treat yourself periodically to a gentle, full body massage.

One of the best advices I have ever heard to combat this silent stalker had its roots in a quote,

‘One way to get high blood pressure is to go mountain climbing over molehills.’

Remember, blood pressure is a subtle but serious ailment. If you have blood pressure, get it down and keep it down!

Sometimes, a weak immune system or plain bad luck might be to blame. But it’s more likely that we unknowingly have a few chinks that make it easy for a virus and its accompanying misery to spread in our office. So, it’s always beneficial to avoid the downtime with some carefully thought out precautions.

Virus infections ebb and flow with the seasons. During cold weather, number of viruses increase. The normal amount of mucus we carry in our nasal passages also dries up making it easier for viruses to enter through our nasal opening. We also tend to spend more time indoors during the winter months thus increasing our chances of contact with someone who is sick. Modern day work pressures also preclude people from taking sick leave. A day spent in bed could mean a sale lost or a backlog of work the following day.

Did you know that every time a sick person exhales, respiratory viruses come out with the breath extending about three feet in a cloud around the person? The ‘viral aerosol’ is not the only agent. Research at University of Virginia Health System in 2006 showed that people infected with rhinovirus, the cause of half of all colds, can contaminate common objects, such as light switches. This can and does can infect others.

To make matters worse, you have actually been infected a day or two before you actually show the sniffles and the sneezes. In other words, the co-worker who hovered over your desk the other day or borrowed your pen could be sick but not have symptoms yet.

So what can you do to create the armor of immunity around you? Unfortunately, not much. Some precautions are of course well advised.

Keep your desk, your workstation and surroundings clean. Wipe it personally with a disinfecting wipes if need be.
If you eat at your desk, think that the bacteria also might be doing the same.
Wash before you drink from coffee mugs and glasses.
Consider trying the old method of using a paper towel as a protective barrier for your hand when you use door handles especially the ones in the bathrooms.
Keep a hand sanitizer at your desk and use it throughout the day.
Get your annual flu shot.
The more sleep deprived you are, the more vulnerable is your immune system. So get a good night’s sleep.
Be mindful of any allergies you have.
Look after your general health through proper diet and regular exercise and buy vitamins.

If you are sick, don’t go to office…spare the others.

These steps are not meant to turn you into a walking hypochondriac but just to allay some of the most common routes for infection. Of course, no matter how careful you are you won’t be able to ward off every cold that comes calling…but aren’t precautions better than the cure!

Before we can start improving our dexterity skills it’s important to be aware of how the brain works as we use our hands and how it’s possible to take advantage of this information to help us further our skills. Dexterity is determined by a grouped coordination between small muscles, known as Fine Motor Skills. When we are young these skills quickly advance and one’s use of hands, eyes and fingers increase greatly in effectiveness, allowing us to grab and hold things and later on, write and perform more intricate tasks. This refinement of Fine Motor Skills is a form of learning and stimulates the brain to create new pathways.

Now that we know it’s necessary to form new pathways in the brain, we can get started doing just that! Every time you do something new which stimulates your brain and challenges you, your brain is encouraged to build new pathways making things easier the more we do them. So, the trick to building dexterity is to practice using both hands often. In time this will make things a lot easier. Below are a few tricks and activities you can do to help improve your dexterity.

Learn To Play An Instrument
As well as being very satisfying, learning an instrument can help build your dexterity as most require the use of both hands. Drums, Guitar and Piano are probably the most popular dexterity building of all instruments.

Mirror Actions
This sounds very stupid, but try to mirror your hands. So, for example, if you do something with your right hand also do it at the same time with your left hand. This is very good for improving your coordination skills.

Use Your Non-Dominant Hand More
If you’re right handed, try brushing your teeth with your left hand and drinking with your left hand also. Have a single day where you try to use your left hand for everything. Below are a few easy tasks you can try doing with your non-dominant hand every day:

Use your mouse with the other hand
Write with your non-dominant hand
Shave with your other hand, but be careful not to stab yourself in the eye!
Eat and drink using your other hand

Famous People With Ambidextrous Skills
Ambidexterity is a form of cross-dominance and is the status of being equally skilled with both hands but can sometimes refer to other parts of the body such as legs or arms. A few famous people with ambidextrous skills are shown below:

Cricket player, Sachin Tendulker
Queen member, Freddie Mercury
Coldplay lead singer and pianist, Chris Martin

Children’s Hospital Central California has received a $ 1 million donation which will serve as a catalyst to grow an endowment designed to help the Children’s Hospital Heart Center continue to provide world-class care to Central Valley children.

The gift comes from Georgia philanthropist Jane Seddon Willson, and honors her daughter Jane H. Willson, Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Physician Support at Children’s, and her son-in-law Dr. Malcolm J. MacDonald, a pediatric cardiac surgeon at the Heart Center. The center will be named The Jane Seddon Willson Heart Center at Children’s Hospital in appreciation of the gift.

“I’ve been to Children’s Hospital and I think it’s just a wonderful place,” said Mrs. Willson, “They do so many things to help little babies and fix their hearts, and they keep taking care of them until they’re grown. I’m just so impressed with what they do.”

“The Children’s Hospital Heart Center Endowment will provide ongoing support for the needs of the Heart Center at Children’s Hospital,” said William F. Haug, Children’s President and CEO, “We really hope this initial gift will serve as a seed donation to encourage other gifts so the endowment can grow to provide a solid financial foundation for the ongoing care of Heart Center patients and expansion of services.”

The Children’s Hospital Heart Center doctors, nurses, technicians, and administrative staff all work together as a team focused on improving the life and health of our patients. A team approach to family-centered care is a core philosophy at Children’s Hospital Central California. By working in collaboration to care for patients who suffer from serious and life-threatening heart conditions, the Heart Center team routinely produces patient outcomes matching or surpassing nearly every other children’s hospital in the country.

The Heart Center at Children’s is truly a special environment. All our cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists, intensivists and staff are experts in caring for children with heart disease and in special disciplines such as cardiac diagnosis, interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery and critical care. The Heart Center team uses proven, leading-edge technology and techniques combined with compassionate personal attention to heal kids with heart defects.

Children’s offers advanced technology and state-of-the-art therapeutics for both congenital and acquired pediatric cardiovascular disease, all delivered in a comfortable setting. Patients receive high quality treatment in a low key, hometown environment. Whenever possible, the cardiac team utilizes minimally invasive and blood conservation techniques. Using endovascular therapeutics, interventional cardiologists can close a hole in a child’s heart through a 1/8 inch skin puncture. Cardiac surgery in the newborn and in early infancy enables doctors to perform complete repairs of major defects in many cases, and staged repairs in others.????

The Jane Seddon Willson Heart Center at Children’s Hospital includes the cardiac testing center, cardiac catheterization lab, cardiac intensive care and cardiac operating room with pediatric staff who are trained to treat complex cardiac patients. Our cardiovascular surgeons are members of the Stanford University faculty.

Annually, there are over 7,000 visits to the cardiology practice, with over 16,000 non-invasive cardiac tests, such as echocardiograms and EKGs, performed in the cardiac testing center. In the past year, the surgical team performed over 200 operations, over two-thirds of which used cardiopulmonary bypass. In addition, over 120 therapeutic interventional catheterizations were done.

Jane Seddon Willson is President of Sunnyland Farms in Albany, Georgia, founded by Jane and her husband Harry in 1948. The company specializes in selling pecans, candy and nuts. The Willsons have been strong supporters of education and healthcare programs in Georgia.

Children’s Hospital Central California is the 13th largest free-standing children’s hospital in the country and the only one located in a rural area. Our service area encompasses over 45,000 square miles, stretching from Stockton to Bakersfield and the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the largest service areas of any children’s hospital in the nation.

Founded in 1952 by five visionary women as a 42-bed hospital with a staff of 118 physicians, Children’s has grown into a 255-bed pediatric medical center on a 50-acre campus. We now have more than 500 doctors practicing in over 40 pediatric subspecialties with clinics and services throughout the state. From nearly 2,000 patients in 1952, Children’s Hospital now sees more than 12,000 inpatient cases, 50,000 emergency visits, and performs over 9,000 operations each year.

Atlanta, Georgia plastic surgeon, Dr. R. Morgan Davoudi has been given the honor of being named one of the Top Plastic Surgeons by the Consumer Research Council of America for the second year in a row.

?It?s hard to know where to start looking when you begin contemplating having plastic surgery,? says Wendy Jackson, Office Manager, of Atlantic Center for Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery. ?You might research the internet, the phone book or ask your friends and family. Most often you will end up with a few different names of physicians you can consult with. But how do you know which plastic surgeon is right for you??

The Consumer?s Research Council of America evaluates professional services throughout America and has named Dr. R. Morgan Davoudi as Top Plastic Surgeon for the years 2006 and 2007. Dr. Davoudi has also been featured in Accent Gwinnett Magazine as best plastic surgeon in Gwinnett County. Plastic Surgeons were not even listed on the survey that was conducted, yet R. Morgan Davoudi M.D., F.A.C.S. received a number of write-in nominations for best plastic surgeon.

?Plastic Surgery is my passion and it is an honor to be named Top Plastic Surgeon two years in a row,? says Dr. Davoudi.

As an Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery at the prestigious University of Tennessee, Dr. Davoudi began to realize the need for specialty surgeons in the suburbs. Dr. Davoudi now devotes his time to his specialty Plastic Surgery office in Duluth, Georgia, offering unsurpassed plastic surgery.

?Many years ago you had to travel into the city to see all of your specialty physicians,? says Mrs. Jackson. ?Today this is no longer the case. Why travel into the city when great surgeons like Dr. Davoudi are all ready in your neighborhood? After surgery, you will want the ride home to be short and have less distance to travel for follow up appointments.?

R. Morgan Davoudi M.D., F.A.C.S. is double board certified in general surgery and plastic surgery and is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Board of Plastic Surgery, and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Find More Surgeon Press Releases

A new survey shows that more than half (51%) of all Americans regardless of income approve of cosmetic plastic surgery, this is a 3% increase from 2009. According to the February 2011 report, 52% of respondents with an income of under $ 25K approve of cosmetic surgery (48% of respondents with an income between $ 25K-$ 50K approve, 45% of respondents with an income between $ 50K-$ 75K approve, and 56% of respondents with an income above $ 75K approve) and 29% of the respondents who earn under $ 25K would consider cosmetic surgery for themselves.

?As the numbers suggest, people in every income bracket, single or married, male or female, view plastic surgery as a reasonable option today,? said Felmont F. Eaves III, MD, President of The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). ?Taking care of yourself and paying attention to physical appearance is increasingly important to everyone. As both traditional surgical procedures have been improved and refined, and new nonsurgical options have become available, aesthetic plastic surgeons have more to offer to our patients.?

Other key findings of the study include:
53% of women and 49% of men say they approve of cosmetic surgery.
67% of Americans would not be embarrassed if their friends and family knew they had cosmetic surgery.
27% of married Americans and 33% of unmarried Americans would consider cosmetic surgery for themselves, now or in the future.
67% of white Americans and 72% of non-white Americans say they would not be embarrassed about having cosmetic surgery.
Most Americans (71%) said their attitude toward cosmetic surgery had not changed in the last five years, though 20% said it was ?more favorable.?
Out of all age groups, men and women between the ages of 18 and 24 are the most likely to consider plastic surgery for themselves now or in the future (37%).
77% of Americans 65 or older say they would not be embarrassed about having cosmetic surgery.

The study was commissioned by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and conducted by the independent research firm Synovate.

According to 2010 ASAPS Cosmetic Surgery Statistics, almost 9.5 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States last year. Women had nearly 8.6 million cosmetic procedures (92 percent of total) and men had more than 750,000 procedures (8 percent of total). Overall, the number of surgical procedures increased by almost 9 percent and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures decreased 9 percent from 2010. To access the complete 2010 ASAPS Statistics Click Here.

About ASAPS

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), is recognized as the world?s leading organization devoted entirely to aesthetic plastic surgery and cosmetic medicine of the face and body. ASAPS is comprised of over 2,600 Plastic Surgeons; active members are certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (USA) or by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and have extensive training in the complete spectrum of surgical and non-surgical aesthetic procedures. International active members are certified by equivalent boards of their respective countries. All members worldwide adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and must meet stringent membership requirements.