By Kiran Tamada
The word constipation brings up varied experience for different persons. For most of them it means hard stools, difficulty in passing stools or infrequent stools. Medically speaking constipation is defined as lesser than three bowel movements per week and less than one bowel movement, it is classified as severe constipation. Generally speaking there is no reason to have bowel movement daily. It is a common myth people believe that two to three days absence of bowel movements may cause toxic accumulation or prone to cancer, there is no medical evidence proving the same.
The type of constipation is different in each case and treated as for that type of constipation. In Irritable Bowel Syndrome, constipation may alternate with diarrhoea. In fecal impaction, the stool hardens in the rectum and prevents passage of the stool. The most common causative factors for constipation are low fiber diet and dehydration.
Depending on the onset, constipation is categorized into acute and chronic constipation. For acute constipation, immediate risk assessment is necessary and more attention should be paid if accompanied by bleeding, cramps, nausea and loss of weight. Chronic constipation may not require immediate assessment if simple measures provide adequate relief.
Some of the underlying cause for constipation includes; insufficient intake of dietary fiber, dehydration, hypothyroidism, hypokalemia, lead poisoning, stenosis and medications like loperamide.
The diagnosis is made on the basis of patient symptoms. Bowels those are hard to pass, less bowel movements, or pain while passing stools qualify as constipation. Physical examination is done by pressing the abdomen for scybala (palpable lumps of stool), Rectal examination gives an idea about the sphincter tone and presence of stool in the rectum.
Normal Constipation without any medical problems may be treated by taking more fluids and increase the dietary fiber content (vegetables, fruits, wholesome bread). Addition of linseed oil is excellent way to increase dietary fiber. For routine non medical constipation, laxatives should be avoided as it may cause dependency.
Laxative treatment is recommended when the above measures are inappropriate or insufficient. Most of the laxatives are available over the counter. Hydrating agents (lactulose or glycols) are widely available. In severe cases enema or clysters are to be used, in some cases phosphate solutions are introduced as enemas.
The best method is to prevent constipation rather than treating it and this can be achieved by proper diet, exercise and good intake of fiber (fresh vegetables and fruits) and fluids.
About The Author
There are lot of myths and facts regarding constipation. We have written this article to clear the myths surrounding constipation. All readers are welcome to look at our site www.digestivecare.co.uk.co.uk - constipation- symptoms and treatment
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By Jim Brown
For people that like to go camping throughout the year, it is particularly important for them to have a variety of cookware on hand so that they can prepare meals under many different circumstances. Some cookware selections are perfect for cooking in colder climates and other cookware selections will fit quite nicely into campsites that move around a lot.
Many people that backpack through the back woods prefer to carry cookware along that is lightweight and does not take up a lot of room in a backpack. Some bikers have gotten so used to cooking by the roadside on a road trip that they will not carry any pots with them out on the open road. Instead, they will choose to carry portable fireplaces that are just big enough to warm up a can of food at a time.
Some cookware selections that are perfect for the great outdoors are made for campers that prefer to use propane stoves to cook their food on. The outdoor cookware used on these types of stoves is sold in sets and will usually include a frying pan with cover and a pot to boil water in. These cookware sets are compact and come with removable handles that make storage easy as pie.
There are also cookware sets available for people that love to cook outdoors but want the full flavor that fine quality cookware offers. People that have host afternoon cookouts on the back porch favor cookware that is made of highly polished stainless steel because this metal is very beautiful and tends to impress special guests immensely. This type of cookware can be priced higher but is well worth the additional cost because it maintains the flavor of foods for hours after cooking it.
Some cookware is very simple to use and very reasonably priced. Many people that camp out in tents prefer to use cooking containers that are made of aluminum and can be disposed of in the trash when the meal is finished. These cheap cookware alternatives can be used to warm breads when covered with aluminum foil or act as large serving trays to guests. Most of these cookware alternatives are sold in a variety of shapes and sizes and often include a plastic cover for storage use at home.
There are many outdoor cookware selections that make eating fun. There are colorful selections of plastic wrap that can be used to store foods in even if they are cooked in the same container. The best cookware selections for the outdoors are the ones that make clean-up’’s a breeze because there are more things to do in an outdoor environment than to stay at a campsite tidying things up for very long.
About The Author
James Brown writes about Sears.com bargains, GoVacuum deals and PartStore web code
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By Jim Corkern
With the obsession that many households in the United States have with food, one would think that we would remember to keep our refrigerators cleaned a lot more often than we do. Many of us have families to take care of and jobs to tend so, so maybe it is because we just do not have time to take care of this necessary chore like we used to or perhaps we think that the problem is not as bad as we are supposed to think it is.
Most people realize that bacteria and mold can grow in the refrigerator almost as easily as outside it because of the large amount of food we keep inside it and a lot of the time our food is improperly stored, which opens it to contamination even further than normal. To keep a healthy kitchen, you need to clean out your refrigerator often; clean it out completely at least once every three or four months and here is how you can start.
Remove everything from the fridge, including from the doors, and set it aside wherever you are comfortable with leaving it. The best place is on the kitchen or dining room table or just your kitchen counters. If you do not have room, set things on a table somewhere, as leaving them in the floor is not exactly practical, especially if your floor is not clean.
Take every removable part of your fridge out and set them in a sink of hot water. If you are putting glass shelves in it, rinse them with warm water first to make sure the sudden temperature change does not crack the glass. This water should also contain plenty of antibacterial soap. Allow these to soak a few minutes, especially if they have any sticky residue like from jelly or syrup.
Start washing out the inside of the refrigerator with a rag or a sponge. Use a warm bowl of water and a spray bottle of whatever chemical you have chosen for this job. You can use bleach, but do not mix it with other household chemicals that you might have on hand and always wear rubber gloves. Make sure to get any food that is stuck onto the surface of the refrigerator off before you start putting things back.
When you are done cleaning the inside and done washing the removable shelves and racks, start putting them back. Then, go through the items that you took out and throw out anything that is stale, spoiled, or contaminated with mold.
About The Author
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
Dallas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors
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By Sherry Harris
Don”t you think it is about time you left the pot and the bottle alone? Both are highly addictive, and harmful to your health. If you think that I am talking about drugs, you are mistaken. While those are certainly harmful to you, many people do not realize just how bad coffee and soda can be in the long run.
What you have to remember is that coffee and soda contain caffeine, which actually is a drug itself. Caffeine is classified in two different drug categories: a stimulant and a diuretic. So, when you are having trouble falling asleep at night, consider how much of this substance you have consumed. You are most likely in for a night of restlessness and several trips to the bathroom, depending on how much you had to drink.
Many people think that if they do not consume a caffeinated beverage close to bedtime, this will prevent them from experiencing its effects when they are ready to turn in for the night. But, caffeine is much more powerful than that. The effects take awhile to wear off, and when they do, they seem to cause your body to crash and burn.
Drinking too much coffee and soda causes dopamine levels in the brain to rise significantly, and somewhat abnormally. This creates a feeling of excitement, similar to that of amphetamines. This causes a natural high that forces the brain to want to be awake even when the rest of the body says you are tired. This would in turn prevent you from getting adequate rest, because you have to wait until your brain gets the signal to shut down. This signal is further stifled because caffeine tries to look like adenosine to the brain. Adenosine is what aids in helping the nerve cells calm down and relax at bedtime, so this trickery by the enemy caffeine does not make for a restful night.
The bottom line is that drinking too much coffee or soda is not the best way to go about trying to sleep for eight hours a night.
Your body should work like clockwork, and something as disruptive as a stimulant will certainly prevent your body from truly feeling at rest. It will constantly be running like a refrigerator until it can finally unwind from this high.
If you are consuming excessive amounts of caffeine, not only is that damaging in and of itself, but you are preventing another healthy behavior, which is getting adequate sleep. Your organs are already working hard enough to try to rid the body of this stimulant, and if you remain up for all or part of the night, the body is in trouble. It will never have the opportunity to refresh the cells and revitalize the organs, which is naturally done when the body is at rest.
So kick those cans to the curb and stomp those grounds, because your health should not be compromised just for a little caffeine high. Rather than have the body work overtime, picture yourself comfortable, relaxed and ready for bed when YOU say you should be.
About The Author
Sherry Harris helps people get a good night sleep with aromatic sleeping mist fragrances. If you are in need of rejuvenation go to http://www.ScentToSleep.com Why don”t you bookmark the article you are reading right now? You know you will want to find it again soon.
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By Pat Carpenter
For those individuals in Dallas, Houston and elsewhere in Texas who enjoy eating raw seafood such as oysters, the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has a warning for you. Basically, know where you are getting your favorite aphrodisiac from. The FDA is advising that you not eat raw oysters harvested from the southern tip of Hood Canal in Washington State because of a food-borne illness outbreak caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria. This warning follows an earlier outbreak and includes an August 10, 2007 warning about oysters harvested from Hood Canal.
The symptoms of this particular illness — vibriosis — includes watery diarrhea, and most often includes abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills. These symptoms often occur within 24 hours of eating the oysters and should not last more than three days. Severe symptoms are rare and happen mostly in people that suffer from a weakened immune system. Individuals in Texas who believe they have experienced these symptoms after consuming raw oysters should talk to their doctors as well as call the local health department.
The oysters harvested from growing area 5 in Hood Canal, from July 31, 2007 through August 20, 2007, have sickened at least six people in Washington State. Records indicate that raw oysters from that area were distributed to California, Colorado, Idaho, New York, Oregon, Utah, Texas, Washington State, and British Columbia (Canada).
The Washington State Department of Health recently shut down the growing area associated with the illness. It has also asked commercial oyster harvesters and dealers who got oysters from this area to insist on a recall.
Individuals who have recently purchased oysters should check with the place of purchase and ask if they were harvested from the affected growing areas. This recall involves both shucked oysters and oyster in the shell, otherwise known as shell stock oysters.
If you have a weakened immune system, which includes individuals stricken with HIV/AIDS, chronic alcohol abuse, liver, stomach, or blood disorders, cancer, diabetes, or kidney disease, you should not eat raw oysters, no matter where they are harvested.
The FDA advises that individuals can continue to enjoy oysters in Texas and others states as long as the oysters are fully cooked. If purchasing, make sure to only select oysters with the shells closed. Shells that do not open during cooking should not be eaten. Also, remember to never let raw seafood come into contact with cooked food.
Watching what you eat, regardless of how great it tastes, can certainly affect your health, and eventually your wallet as well.
About The Author
Pat Carpenter writes for Precedent Insurance Company. Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at Precedent.com
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By Abhishek Agarwal
Desperately looking for a change to your everyday cooking style: look what dutch oven has in store for you.
A Dutch oven is a thick-walled iron (usually cast iron) cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. It is commonly referred to as a ”camp oven” in the Australian bush, and a ”cocotte” in French, and is similar to the South African ”potjie”.
During the late 1600s the Dutch system of producing these cast metal cooking vessels was more advanced than the English system. The Dutch used dry sand to make their molds, giving their pots a smoother surface.
Over time, the Dutch oven used in the American Colonies began to change. The pot became shallower and legs were added to hold the oven above the coals. A flange was added to the lid to keep the coals on the lid and out of the food. The cast-iron cookware was loved by colonists and settlers because of its versatility and durability.
It could be used for boiling, baking, stews, frying, roasting, and just about any other use. The ovens were so valuable that wills in the 18th and 19th centuries frequently spelled out the desired inheritor of the cast iron cookware.
Types of Dutch ovens:
1. Camping: A camping, cowboy, or chuck wagon Dutch oven has three legs, a wire bale handle, and a slightly convex, rimmed lid so that coals from the cooking fire can be placed on top as well as below. This provides more uniform internal heat and lets the inside act as an oven. These ovens are typically made of bare cast iron, although some are aluminum.
2. Modern Dutch ovens:
Modern Dutch ovens designed for use on the cook top or in the oven are typically smooth-bottomed. Some older styles, such as the unglazed ovens by Lodge, Camp Chef, and Wagner, retain the bale handle, while others, such as the enameled versions by Staub, Sante and le Creuset, have two loop handles.
Modern ovens may also be made of aluminum or ceramic. Le Creuset, a famous maker of enameled Dutch ovens, refers to their ovens as “French ovens”, or in the UK as “casserole dishes”.
Usefulness of dutch oven in cooking:
Dutch ovens are well suited for long, slow cooking, such as in making roasts, stews, and casseroles. When cooking over a campfire, it is possible to use old-style lipped cast iron dutch ovens as true baking ovens, to prepare biscuits, cakes, breads, pizzas and even pies.
A smaller baking pan can be placed inside the ovens, used and replaced with another as the first batch is completed. It is also possible to stack dutch ovens on top of each other, conserving the heat that would
normally rise from the hot coals on the top. These stacks can be as high as 5 or 6 pots.
Seasoning and care:
With care, the surfaces of the Dutch oven will become dark black, very smooth and shiny, and as non-stick as the best Teflon or other non-stick cookware available. When properly cared for, a dutch oven is good for decades or even centuries of use.
Where possible, a Dutch oven should be stored in a clean, dry location with the lid off to promote air circulation and avoid the smell and taste of rancid oil. If the Dutch oven must be stored with the lid on, a paper towel should be placed inside the oven to absorb any moisture.
The lid should also be propped open slightly to allow air to circulate inside the oven.
International Dutch oven society is a non-profit foundation that preserves art of Dutch oven cooking and promotes its use in modern society. If you love cooking Dutch Oven Style or are eager to get started you will be thrilled with the items that this society is offering…
It offers Dutch Oven Cook Books, T-Shirts, Cooking Equipment, Cooking Spices, Culinary Knives, Camping Equipment, etc. Time to cater to your wishes of innovating and adding delight to your ways of cooking switch to Dutch oven and feel the sheer difference yourself.
About The Author
Download Abhishek’’s FREE Cooking Report - “Master Chef Secrets” and learn some amazing Cooking tips and tricks - And save a lot of your time, money and effort!
Click here to visit www.Cooking-Guru.com
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By Kiran Tamada
Many articles have been written about eating disorders in news and media. Eating disorders are fast becoming a common issue with the young nowadays. Many of our young are not shielded by the influence of the media. Eating disorders can cause death. Thus, it is important to find out ways on how to prevent eating disorders.
The media has a major impact on the development of eating disorders. It sets unrealistic expectations on what it considers a beautiful body image to be. With the constant bombardment of ads, the mental development of you or your child gets distorted. Some families do not realize this danger and use the television as a babysitter and as couch potato. This is not wise as children can be quite impressionable. Hence, you can do more to prevent eating disorders from an early age.
The media often prefers to use thin models. However, it is found that the body weight of an average female model used is about 25% less than her ideal weight. Many models strive to achieve a thin look in order to get modeling jobs. They would go for plastic surgery or become anorexic themselves. Even if they are not thin enough, photos of models hat appear on print media such as magazines are usually airbrushed to correct any perceived flaws. In this manner, a beauty standard is set that in reality may be quite unattainable.
An average person is exposed to images at least 400 to 600 times per day. The images come from advertisements from the media. One out of eleven of these advertisements is actually for a beauty product. Hence, one way to prevent eating disorders is to cut down your exposure to these ads.
Your child may be subjected to peer pressure while in school. He or she may be teased about his or her appearance. If your child has a low self esteem, he or she may feel compelled to starve or through developing bulimia.
Statistics indicate that one out of seven college-aged females has a problem with bulimia, and one out of a hundred has a problem with anorexia. Eating disorder sufferers need psychotherapy as the causes are often deeply rooted on a psychological level. If nothing is done to help them, their eating disorders can escalate out of control. The sad truth is that one out of every ten people with an eating disorder eventually dies due to the damage caused to the body.
Preventing eating disorder is clearly an issue that everyone can do more for. The media needs to play a more responsible role with the body images that it portrays as beautiful. In the meantime, as a responsible person, you should not lay all the blame on the media either. You will need to take proactive measures to prevent our future generations from hurting their bodies through eating disorders.
About The Author
Lot of research is being done on various digestive disorders.If you are interested to know more about us, please visit us at www.digestivecare.co.uk - Digestive health irritable bowel syndrome
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