Lifestyle Choices

Good health, which is the basis of a long and happy life, is a state of energy balance. Energy in its undifferentiated state or potential is known by the Chinese as Tao. Tao is manifest in all things through the dynamic interaction of the two polar energy forces, yin and yang. (more…)

Many disease processes involve inflammation, often characterised by swelling, redness, pain and heat.

These include all the `itis’ diseases — arthritis, dermatitis, colitis, nephritis and hepatitis, as well as asthma and others not often associated with inflammation, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in which parts of the brain become inflamed. Inflammation also lies at the root of atherosclerosis, the common cause of thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes. In addition, it is an underlying cause of irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, now suffered by eight million people in Britain. (more…)

When and why did tanning become popular? In the last century, a tan was definitely not considered to be “chic”: only laborers, farmers, and fishermen who worked long hours outdoors had tans. Women of the “upper classes” took particular pride in their porcelain-white, unspotted skins, protecting themselves from the sun with parasols, gloves, and large hats. Female beauty was measured by the translucence and smoothness of the skin. (more…)

If I had an instant solution, and this would be much longer and full of stories about famous people — with glossy pictures where they are pictured as being as thin as a rake, wearing designer outfits and speaking about the joys of being almost invisible.

However, if I am of some use in helping you to see what is happening to you and what not to do, you will hopefully be able to help yourself. Insight remains the most important component of any slimming plan. (more…)

In common with all other life forms, the human body goes through a natural cycle of decay. This normal deterioration is inevitable, but need not necessarily be uncomfortable. Discomfort and a poor quality of life mean that ageing is taking place too quickly. Ageing is a process; being old is a sentence. The ageing process should be like of brandy: the better the ageing process is managed, the better the end product. (more…)

I have only roundabout evidence regarding HRT in breast cancer survivors. For example, we know that younger women who have had breast cancer and then go on to become pregnant, with the associated high levels of estrogen and progesterone, do not have a worse prognosis or earlier relapse of breast cancer than women who do not experience a pregnancy. If estrogen can theoretically stimulate breast cancer growth, why do I see breast cancer appear in older postmenopausal women who are not on HRT? This is a fairly frequent occurrence, and most of these cancers are hormone receptor positive, yet they are growing in an estrogen-poor environment. This seems to counter what we know about the environment that is conducive to breast cancer, but this is just another reminder of how much we do not understand about this disease. (more…)

Skin Photoallergies

A photoallergy is a specific immune reaction that occurs only in certain people after they have been exposed several times to the offending substance and then sunbathed or used a tanning bed. Even a small amount of the substance can cause a red, scaly or blistering eruption when the person sunbathes. The rash usuallybegins over 12 hours after exposure.

A photoallergic reaction is very individual. (more…)

Chemical sunscreens

There are more than 20 different compounds that the American FDA recognizes as safe and effective ingredients of chemical sunscreens. The most common are: 1) para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and PABA derivatives (known as esters, such as padimate-O and padimate-A); 2) cinnamates; 3) salicylates (all three types absorb only UVB); 4) benzophenones (such as oxybenzone which absorbs primarily UVA); and 5) anthranilides, which absorb UVA as well as UVB. (more…)

It should reassure you to know that sunscreens are classified as over-the-counter drugs, not merely cosmetics. That means that all ingredients in each preparation have undergone testing to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness. Each particular sunscreen formulation must also be checked prior to sale to demonstrate its sun protection factor (SPF).

Interestingly, the sunscreen ingredients accepted as effective by regulatory bodies differ a little from country to country. (more…)

The only “safe” tan is the tan obtained from a bottle! Effective self-tanning creams contain the chemical dihydroxyacetone, which reacts with the keratin protein in the outer layers of skin to dye the skin brown. (Be careful! Dihydroxyacetone darkens all keratin protein, including hair and wool.)

This type of self-tanner is perfectly safe and can give the tan you desire if applied properly and uniformly. There are many formulas which give different shades of tan. The consistency of the cream or lotion also varies — self-tanner must be applied evenly to prevent splotchiness. Quite a few products are good, so experiment with several brands until you find one that you prefer. (more…)

Of all smokers who start smoking in adolescence and continue throughout their lives, half will succumb to a fatal tobacco-caused disease before the age of 70, losing, on average, 22 years of their life expectancy!

In the United States, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable, premature death. As more and more women smoke, so their incidence of heart disease and lung cancer has increased — their death rate from lung cancer has increased by a factor of almost seven from 1950 until 1990 (with the death rate from breast cancer showing little change over the same period). Whatever its pleasures, smoking’s consequences are most unpleasant: chronic cough, hoarseness, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and bladder (all of which can be fatal), and increased risk of heart attack and stroke! (more…)

Over the last fifty years, the incidence of Type z diabetes (in which too much insulin is produced) has rocketed, in parallel with the incidence of obesity. This is despite us eating less — often a lot less — than our parents and grandparents. Some scientists believe that the availability of refined foods, particularly the increase in the amount of fat from diet from about 25 per cent to the present 35 per cent, plus the lack of physical activity, causes changes in muscle which are responsible for the development of Type z diabetes and obesity. (more…)

When I was a child growing up in Portsmouth, the naval town on the south coast, and we saw someone who was grossly obese, my mother would say pityingly, in a knowing stage whisper, ‘Trouble with their glands, dear.’ In those days Portsmouth was full of sailors of all nationalities and anyone who was very fat was unusual. Now, when I go back to my home town forty years later, the sailors have all gone and people who are very overweight are so common as to be unremarkable. The attitude to these heavyweights has also changed. They are no longer the subject of pity, but of a kind of loathing. Fat today says greedy, slothful and self-indulgent. As I will show you, hormones and obesity and intimately bound together. Trouble with your glands is indeed part of the obesity equation, including a gland that has only in the last decade been discovered to be secreting hormones — fat itself. (more…)

Anything that increases the sticking of cells to the skin or the secretion of sebum can cause acne. The three main influences are hormones, diet (and medications), and the products you use on your skin.

Hormones

These are those magical chemicals that are secreted by your endocrine glands to regulate your metabolism, your sexuality, your growth, your cycles, your mood and your reaction to stress. The hormones that affect your skin come primarily from your sexual organs and from your adrenal glands, the latter of which become more active when you feel either excitement or anxiety. When the adrenals are stimulated they produce more hormones. (more…)

Acne can very often be effectively treated by special cleansers and topically applied formulations. There are four main non-prescription acne medications which alone or in combination with prescription medications are the mainstay for acne treatment. All of these are also available in stronger prescription form.

Salicylic acid .is one of the most effective topical medications. This is a beta-hydroxy acid that is a peeling agent, because it is “keratolytic” and loosens dead surface cells that stick within pores, thereby curing clogged pores at the very onset. Sulfur and resorcinol are not only keratolytic, but also anti-bacterial. They are often mixed as flesh-tinted lotions to cover blemishes (Longevite Concealer). (more…)

Almost everything can cause an allergy in someone, somewhere! The medical literature is full of reports of strange skin allergies: clarinet players with lip blisters from an allergy to the bamboo reed; drivers with allergic reactions to steering wheels; chefs with allergies to pineapple juice, corn and other moist foods. (more…)

No matter what we stay, car always provides us high performance 4 wheels. It is fast and convenient. But finding a car parking place always limits our driving desire. I remember one of my friend ask me “can you make sure we will also have available parking space before we drive?” (more…)

In a few of the less densely populated countries including Norway, Sweden and Finland there is no law against camping for a short time in the publicly- owned countryside, apart from in certain restricted areas. In other countries, subject to local byelaws, farmers can give permission for you to put up a tent on their private land. But for the most part, ordinary holidaymakers prefer to stay at organised campsites. The advantage of doing so is that a number of important facilities are always provided: a drinking water supply, clean toilets and washrooms, proper garbage disposal and electricity for such things as shavers. Often too there are additional amenities such as a shop, a restaurant_; a children’s playground and a public callbox. (more…)

Everyone is talking about “free radicals“, the very reactive molecules that form from exposure either to the sun or to certain cancer-causing agents in the environment. Excessive free radicals damage connective tissue, cell membranes, and the basic genetic building block DNA itself. On the skin free-radical damage causes premature aging and skin cancer. (more…)

GoreTex is a synthetic material composed of interconnected fibrils of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). You may recognize Gore- Tex as the lightweight fabric used to make insulating ski jackets, but GoreTex fibers are even more interesting as surgical implants. They have been used for almost 30 years as surgical vascular grafts and more recently for implants in the skin.

GoreTex patches can be placed just under the skin of the nose to give a smooth profile to previously unaesthetic indentations, and can be threaded under the deep folds between the nose and the mouth to smooth the grooves. (more…)