Cross-Country Diseases

Some of the most common illnesses you'll come across while traveling abroad.

You've had a great trip. Saw all the historic landmarks, learned all about the native culture, chatted with some natives, and are ready to return to your home country. As you pack your bags, you suddenly realize you have more to bring back to your home country than you took on the trip. And one of the things you're bringing back is an unwanted traveling companion - a cross-country disease.

If you're planning on traveling overseas, read on to learn about the most common diseases you put yourself at risk for contracting and how to avoid them.

Yellow Fever

In the event you're traveling to an underdeveloped country, you will likely be forced by the government in your home country to undergo immunization against yellow fever. Causing symptoms ranging from fever and chills to liver failure and shock, yellow fever often takes a turn for the worse and is fatal for the sufferer. Therefore, it is obvious that yellow fever is one cross-country disease you want to do your best to avoid. Especially as your country may not allow you to return home until you are completely cured.

Food Poisoning

As other countries may not be as particular about how well meats or other food items are cooked, the food you eat may be overflowing with bacteria that can make you ill. Typically, food poisoning is little more than a nuisance that lasts goes away fairly fast, but it can turn an otherwise wonderful trip into something of a trial. To avoid food poisoning, do your best to make sure all your foods are cooked properly and that there is not cross-contamination occurring between foods. Also, consider bypassing the local water and drink bottled water to avoid water-borne illnesses.

AIDS

You don't have to have unprotected sex or abuse drugs to get the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). All you have to do is wind up ill in a country that doesn't have the resources to use brand new or properly sterilized medical equipment. While you may be getting a shot for something as minor as a rash, the needle being used could have been used by an individual with AIDS, HIV, or other life-threatening diseases. If this is the case, sticking the needle in your body makes it possible for you to contract the same disease. Granted, winding up with AIDS this way is becoming very rare, but it remains a possibility.

Hepatitis

More commonly contracted by travelers than AIDS but with some of the same stigmas, hepatitis can easily be prevented with a series of vaccination shots. Just be sure to begin your regimen well before your trip, as it takes a few visits to your physician to get complete protection. You probably know that hepatitis B can be passed through sexual intercourse and other contact with contaminated blood or bodily fluids, but did you know that hepatitis A can make its way into your body through food and drink? Therefore, it is important to get fully vaccinated before traveling, as you may accidentally come in contact with contaminated food or drink.

Flu

Getting the flu may not be as frightening as hepatitis or typhoid fever, and it probably isn't your primary concern while traveling to distant lands, but the flu could easily keep you from enjoying your time in a new country. Any time you will be spending time in an airplane, bus, or other method of public transportation, protect yourself against the flu by staying up-to-date on your flu shot. Winding up with the flu may not put you in imminent danger, but it could ruin the trip you've been planning for so long.

Healthy Places

Want to travel to a wild and exotic land, but want to be surrounded by healthy people? A few countries you can enjoy in the company of healthy locals include the following:

• China
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Iceland
• Italy
• Japan
• Monaco
• Sweden

First Step Of Food Safety

What you should know about food safety before it hits your plate.

It's a great day. The entire family is out on a picnic at the park, enjoying great conversation, a friendly game of badminton, and some of Uncle James' world-famous potato salad. On the ride home, your cell phone rings and you find out your sister is feeling sick. Two minutes later, another call. Your cousin feels the same way. By the time you get home, you sprint to the bathroom and realize that you, too, fell victim to food poisoning.

While the need for food safety on the grill and on the way to your mouth is often discussed, you may not realize how much danger your food may be in before it ever leaves your house. What can you do to keep your food safe, sound, and ready to be gobbled down safely at the next family outing?

Do This: Refrigerate

Any time you bring a food item into your home that requires refrigeration or freezing, it should be put in the proper place immediately. If you get in a crunch and have cold foods that can't get in cold storage immediately, never allow it to stay out longer than two hours at room temperature. In the event you're in an environment that is much warmer than typical room temperature, get the food refrigerated much faster or prepare to toss the food in the garbage.

Do This: Enjoy

Instead of letting lunchmeats, hot dogs, and other ready-to-eat foods sit in the fridge for weeks and months, eat them today. Allowing them to stay in the refrigerator puts your cold meats at increased risk for carrying dangerous bacteria. So sidestep this unwanted food issue by chowing down as soon as possible.

Do This: Research

In order to get the right foods in the right place, you have to know where they go. If you're unsure where a certain food item should be placed, look at the label. Every food that requires refrigeration or freezing will be labeled appropriately, so figuring out what goes in the fridge, freezer, or pantry is usually no problem. Once you know what belongs in the cold, put it there.

Do This: Trash

Have something in the refrigerator that doesn't quite look right? Smells a little funny? Don't run the risk of food poisoning and other food-related illnesses by eating it to spite your eyes and nose. Instead, take the potentially hazardous food and throw it in the trash. Even if it doesn't make you sick, old food that may have a little mold on it tastes awful.

Do This: Reset

To ensure your foods are kept at the right temperature, it's important to have your refrigerator and freezer set at the right temperature. The ideal temperature for a refrigerator is 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower and the freezer should stay at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. It's a good idea to check the temperature in both every once in a while and adjust the temperature as needed.

Beyond the Fridge

As you probably know, food safety hazards aren't limited to foods that require refrigerating or freezing. The canned goods sitting in your pantry can also be home to some rather nasty little bacteria that can cause you to be on sick leave for quite a while.

Fortunately, avoiding contamination in non-refrigerated foods is relatively easy. Here's what to do.

• Avoid storing foods under your kitchen sink. You may not see any leaks under there, but if there is a small leak, your potatoes, onions, apples, and other foods can grow gross in no time.
• Store food away from dangerous chemicals. Just because rat poison and toilet cleaning liquids have lids on them doesn't mean they won't affect food nearby. To avoid any potential contamination, keep your household cleaning supplies and other potential hazards away from all foods at all times.
• Keep an eye out for damaged canned goods. If you see any kind of damage - whether the can has a visible hole or is dented severely, be food smart and toss it in the garbage.

Get A Second Opinion.

Don't like what your doctor had to say? Ask someone else.

No one likes to be second-guessed. It hurts your feelings and causes you to feel you're not trusted. But when it comes to your health, getting a second opinion at certain times is vital. Here are three answers to your second-opinion questions.

When should I get a second opinion?

Some health maladies call for a second opinion. Any time you are diagnosed with a life-threatening disease or a disease that will require substantial treatment that will interfere with your daily life, you'll want a second opinion. In fact, physicians will often recommend you get a second opinion in order for you to have peace of mind about the diagnosis you've received. They may also recommend you get a second opinion so you'll feel comfortable about the treatment you are being recommended to undergo.

While most second opinions will be to confirm a diagnosis or a treatment choice, second opinions aren't always used for that purpose. Sometimes, your body is telling you that something bad is going on, but your doctor simply doesn't see it. When you feel your doctor may have overlooked a health malady, don't simply go home and worry. Instead, contact another physician to get a second look. If there is indeed something going on inside your body that needs medical attention, getting a second opinion may mean the difference between good or bad health or in rare situations, the difference between life and death.

You are not entitled to an opinion. An opinion is what you have when you don't have any facts. When you have the facts, you don't need an opinion.
- Solomon Short

How do I go about getting a second opinion?

Getting a second opinion is a fairly easy process. One of the fastest ways to get one is to ask your main physician for a recommended doctor to see. You can also ask trusted family and friends for suggestions. This will help you find a physician you feel comfortable with, despite never having met him or her.
In order to get a true second opinion, make sure it is received face to face.

Though you may get good advice on the Internet or on the phone, a second opinion always requires an in person visit with a second physician. This allows the physician to examine you physically, which may help determine if other tests are required or if your first opinion was indeed spot on!

Finally, before scheduling an appointment with a doctor for a second opinion, check with your insurance company to make sure the visit will be covered. Any peace of mind you may receive from a second opinion could be ruined by a hefty medical bill that you are required to cover out of your savings account.

Won't my physician be offended?

Doctors are very accustomed to their patients seeking second opinions. For the most part, doctors encourage second opinions, as physicians understand the value of having well-educated patients. So they should not get offended when they learn you're seeking a second opinion.

If you think your doctor will be offended, don't try to get a second opinion behind his or her back. During the process of getting a second opinion, you'll have to have your medical files sent to the physician you plan to use for a second opinion, so your primary doctor will find out one way or the other. By letting your physician know you plan to get a second opinion, you avoid creating any awkward moments in the future. Regardless of whether your physician also feels awkward, these unwanted feelings may keep you from being as honest with your doctor in the future, which can put your good health at risk.

Eat Less, Feel Fuller

What can you do to slim down your ever-growing waistline?

Nothing drives people crazier than trying to lose weight. Television commercials, radio shows, and advertisements in the newspaper and your favorite magazine make it seem that losing weight is as easy as picking a fad diet out of the air. But if you've ever tried losing weight by eating only cabbage or swallowing everything you can in an hour, you probably realize that those diets only last for so long.

If you want to obtain and maintain a healthy weight, you're going to have to figure out how to eat less. Sound impossible? Prepare to do the impossible in three easy steps!

Step 1: Determine if You Need to Lose Weight

Believe it or not, you may not need to lose weight. Each year, countless Americans take on the world of dieting without consulting anyone or anything except a mirror. However, the mirror doesn't always tell the truth. And neither does the media, which insists that excessively skinny is the norm.

Before getting on a diet, ask your physician if you are at a healthy weight. If your weight isn't a problem but you don't feel confident with your body, you may need to change your exercise routine. Work with a personal trainer to formulate a regiment that will help you meet your personal goals - whether they involve weight loss, body toning, or both. If your health would benefit from losing weight, you should learn to eat less.

Step 2: Take Your Time at the Table

A common mistake made by many people is to eat everything on their plate. Doing this may indicate good manners, but it results in bad eating habits and a larger-than-desired belly. Fortunately, this problem is easily remedied. All you have to do is slow down.

Instead of shoving bite after bite of food into your mouth, take a deep breath and relax during mealtime. After each bite, set your fork down, chew, and swallow. Before taking another bite, say something to a family member or friend who is eating with you. By slowing down your eating process, you allow your brain time to figure out your stomach is full. Otherwise, you may end up eating for up to 15 minutes after your stomach is filled to capacity. Yes, that's why you occasionally feel uncomfortably stuffed beyond your limits.

Step 3: Force Yourself to Eat Less

If slowing down your eating isn't enough to help you eat less food, your best weapon is self-control. Determine how much food you are going to eat, put it on your plate, and don't go back for seconds. When first starting to reduce the amount you eat, cut back your eating by two or three bites. Keep reducing the amount you eat by a bite or two until you find a healthy amount that leaves you feeling content and not hurting due to excessive fullness.

Gradually, as you learn to eat less, your stomach will shrink and will have less room for food. As a result, you feel fuller faster and won't feel the need to eat the final bites of your meal just because it happens to be on your plate.

Staying Balanced

Often, people who are trying to lose weight cut something out of their diet. From carbohydrates to proteins to milk products, diets are available that promise great results if you’ll just give up one food product.

Before you go with the food flow, give thought to your body’s nutritional needs. Carbohydrates, fats, and practically everything else present in food is actually needed for your body to function properly. When you deprive your body of one or more of these essentials, your body is unable to perform at its peak. As a result, you feel weak and tired and have a hard time concentrating.

Instead of cutting a single nutrient out of your diet, reduce the total amount of food you eat on a daily basis, and include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. Doing this will help you maintain a healthy weight and feel much better than any of the deprivation diets on the market.

5 Minutes of Green Can Boost Mood

Just five minutes of exercise a day in the great outdoors can improve mental health, according to a study released on Saturday, and policymakers should encourage more people to spend time in parks and gardens.

Researchers from the University of Essex found that as little as five minutes of a "green activity" such as walking, gardening, cycling or farming can boost mood and self esteem.

"We believe that there would be a large potential benefit to individuals, society and to the costs of the health service if all groups of people were to self-medicate more with green exercise," Barton said in a statement about the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Many studies have shown that outdoor exercise can reduce the risk of mental illness and improve a sense of well-being, but Jules Pretty and Jo Barton, who led this study, said that until now no one knew how much time needed to be spent on green exercise for the benefits to show.

Barton and Pretty looked at data from 1,252 people of different ages, genders and mental health status taken from 10 existing studies in Britain.

They analyzed activities such as walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming.

They found that the greatest health changes occurred in the young and the mentally ill, although people of all ages and social groups benefited. The largest positive effect on self-esteem came from a five-minute dose of "green exercise."

All natural environments were beneficial, including parks in towns or cities, they said, but green areas with water appeared to have a more positive effect.

-MSNBC

Good Health Starts Young

Good nutrition in the early years is vital to a healthy life. So what are you feeding your kids?

Your children are the most precious gifts you'll ever receive, so you should handle them with care. While you worked hard to give them the best breast milk or formula when they were tiny, you may be at a loss once they begin eating solid foods - especially if you have a picky eater on your hands.

To help your little ones have the best jumpstart on a healthy and happy life, it's important that they get the same well-balanced diet that you're getting - with some slight modifications. Here are a few things to keep in mind when feeding your young and hungry little ones.

1. Know the Basics

You know your child needs a solid foundation of healthy foods. What does that mean? It means plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein products. Childhood is the best time to develop a taste for whole and raw foods. With that in mind, give your child plenty of apple slices, carrots, and grapes. When your little one is in her littlest stages, go for applesauce and other baby foods that don't have sugar or other flavor-changing additives. This way, your child learns to develop a taste for food the way nature intended, which just happens to be healthiest.

2. Believe in Your Child

One mistake when feeding your child is expecting him to have the same food preferences as you. So if you didn't like broccoli or pinto beans as a child, you're not going to feed your child those foods, because you don't expect him to like them. However, while your son might have your dimples and sense of humor, he didn't come with your taste buds. Encourage him to try a variety of healthy foods - including the ones you didn't like as a child. Who knows? You may be pleasantly surprised to find out your finicky son likes asparagus.

3. Prepare the Options

Dinnertime should not be a battle zone. If your child simply won't swallow her cherry tomatoes, don't give up. Instead, be ready with another option. Swap a piece of whole grain toast for a cup of yogurt, or offer the choice of a green salad or a carrot salad. And avoid the temptation to force your child to eat every bite of every bit of food on her plate - especially if you know she hates a certain food. On the other hand, if your daughter is resisting a new food she's never tried, it's a good idea to require her to take a bite or two on occasion. And remember - taste buds change over time, so it's okay to have your child taste something she's not eaten in a while.

4. Train with Tricker

Sometimes, your son isn't going to want to eat anything except cookies, butter popcorn, popsicles, and ice cream. You may want to throw your hands up in the air and give up on any hopes you had of having a healthy child. Don't. Just be smarter than your child. How? By taking healthy foods and burying them in what he thinks is unhealthy. Make banana-nut muffin to feed his need for cupcakes, strawberry smoothies to answer his begging for a milkshake, and whole-grain pancakes - minus the whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top.

Helping your children turn into healthy adults starts today, so don't waste any time giving your children the healthy start they deserve!

Resourceful Cooking

You've been cooking whole-wheat pancakes every morning and have made so many batches of ants on a log* that you're starting to feel them crawling up your leg. Now your children are begging for something else to eat and you've run out of ideas. Fortunately, KidsHealth.org is here to save the day!

Loaded with fantastic, kid-friendly recipes, KidsHealth.org is a great place to turn when your cooking energies are depleted. On top of tips for you, there are recipes that your son or daughter can help with.

To get straight to the recipes, visithttp://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/index.html and get ready for some great cooking!

Energy Drinks and Beer Anyone?

A dangerous and even deadly combination.

You've probably heard of diets that force dieters to avoid eating after a certain Combining alcohol and other everyday drinks is nothing new. From soda to tomato juice to lemon juice, there are as many options as there are taste buds. One of the newest combos to hit lips in your town is alcohol and energy drinks.

During the early days of energy drinks, there was some skepticism that they were not safe for regular consumption. As more energy drink companies began promoting their products and regular people began safely drinking them on a regular basis, the public has become less wary. Now, the energy-boosting beverages are treated like ordinary soft drinks. Unfortunately, not handling these caffeinated cans with care can lead to some serious issues. Especially when mixed with alcohol.

A Collegiate Conundrum

College students and college-aged individuals are at the highest risk for chasing energy drinks with alcohol, a phenomenon known as AMED (alcohol mixed with energy drinks). In fact, it has become commonplace for these youngsters to mix energy drinks and alcohol into a caffeinated, alcoholic cocktail. To the drinkers, the mixture seems heaven-sent. The desired alcoholic buzz is achieved, but the energy drink keeps them from growing tired.

What many of these AMED drinkers don't know is that while they're not getting tired, the other effects of alcohol remain the same. That means that while downing an energy drink and a beer may leave the drinker wide awake, the alcohol still results in impaired judgment, lapses in social graces, vision problems, and slowed reflexes. And surprisingly, though the caffeine in energy drinks keeps folks drinking longer and stronger, it actually increases intoxication.

Dangers Abound

When these regular effects of alcohol are ignored and the drinker decides to depend on the energy drink for good judgment and reflexes, the results can be catastrophic. AMED cocktail drinkers are more likely to leave a bar with high levels of alcohol in their system, putting them at risk for serious automobile accidents that result in injury or even death.

During a small study, it was found that people who drank AMED cocktails or who drank energy drinks and alcohol separately consumed more alcohol and drank for longer time periods. But the dangers don't stop there.

Sipping on an AMED also puts you at increased risk for heart problems. As an energy drink and alcoholic beverage each do different things to your heart (one slows it down, while the other speeds it up), these mixed messages confuse the heart and can result in dangerous heart palpitations. These drinks also increased the likelihood of becoming dangerously dehydrated, as alcohol causes dehydration and caffeine is a diuretic - a.k.a. a dehydration-causing factory.

Still considering chasing a few beers with an energy drink? Remember this: those who drink AMED cocktails are more likely to attempt to take advantage of someone else or be taken advantage of in a sexual manner.

A New Confusing Danger

As if there aren't enough problems keeping kids away from alcoholic beverages, some companies have made it even more difficult with new marketing techniques. With the energy drink market firmly established, some alcohol companies are marketing their drinks in packaging that is ridiculously close to that used by energy drink products.

The potential result? Underage children buying alcoholic beverages on purpose or on accident, without anyone being alarmed. In order to prevent this from happening on a large scale, businesses that sell both types of drinks will require extensive and ongoing education on all products available to ensure underage juveniles don't purchase the wrong drink. Parents should also be aware of the differences and be on the lookout for premixed alcohol-energy drink cocktails.