Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation

September 25, 2015

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Don’t bring back extra pounds as your token

Healthy living will go along way in keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation and after. We must all embrace changes in our lifestyle if this is to be achieved.

The time to leave behind alarm buzzers, nagging bosses and household chores is here with us and all the plans have been concluded to set off. Unfortunately, one thing just won’t go away that is your worry of packing on some weight in your let lose moments. Doctor Akoury gives a very sincerely comment that “traveling can be very synonymous with ditching your diet willpower and the motivation to exercise, causing you to bring back some unwanted weight gain along with that tan.” This is everyone’s concern during such times and it is what we want to focus on even as we take some time to discuss the essential of keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation. Professionally doctor Dalal Akoury makes emphasis that it is not always a must that when you leave on vacations, then you will be careless to drop all your previous efforts of losing weight progressively. That is not the case because you can actually make this your vacation to be the best and perfect time to keep lean and healthy. Take a moment and reason with yourself comparing this time and other busy times while at work. You will realize that during vacations you are more relaxed, you sleep well and because of being free, you have adequate time to move around exploring your new environment. If you have not noticed then we want to let you know that the additional walk time, comfort sleep and relaxation are very good tools of keeping fit and healthy. In other words you can keep the fire of losing weight burning even during vacation. All you need to do according to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is to balance your usual healthy habits with a bit of extra indulgence. Therefore to keep you on the move, our team of top nutrition and fitness experts shares with you some of the best and most realistic ways to enjoy your getaway without totally wrecking your diet.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Packing with you healthy snacks

To avoid wasting calories on hotel vending machine food or unhealthy airport fare, bring your own nutritious snacks to keep on hand and only chose hotels where fitness expert and trainer are experienced enough to help you continue with your exercise even when away from your home town. Being smart in this area would mean keeping a stash of protein bars in your luggage so that you can resist the temptation of potato chips at the airport snack shops. By bringing food stuff that’s non-perishable like little baggies of nuts and dried fruit or fruit that can last a few days out of the fridge like the bananas and apples you will be ensuring that you are keeping distance with all temptations that may compel you into unhealthy feeding. It is important that you keep such food items within reach like for instance you could stuff them in your bag when you’re at the beach or sightseeing this way you can eat every few hours if not, you’ll wind up starving and may overdo it at your next meal. Another good tip is to stock up only healthy snacks for the day, like a box of whole-grain cereal or fresh fruit, from your hotel breakfast buffet.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Work out at the Airport

Normally you realize that your airline will indicate about 90 minutes before departure time and I want to ask, if you were discipline and followed the directions and got to the airport 90 minutes before your flight what do you do with that free time at the airport? This is a very good opportunity for you to do some mini exercise. Like for instance instead of burying your head on a novel seated in those unhealthy seats, you could use the long hallways to your advantage to speed-walk back and forth around the terminal. While doing this remember the safety of your luggage which you could entrust in the care of your family, and take turns stretching your legs. This may look waste of time but the benefits far-outweigh the inconveniences you may be thinking of. As you continue engaging in the work take a look around the place and if you spot any set of stairs whose destination is not restricted, waste no second, climb those to add some intensity to your mini-workout. The power walk will also help you avoid pigging out on airport snacks and give you an energy boost to start your vacation on a healthy note.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Bring your workout with you

You don’t need to spend hours a day working out, but squeezing in some form of daily exercise gives you a cushion to enjoy that extra appetizer or beachside cocktail. If your vacation spot lacks a good hotel gym or places to get in exercise outdoors, plan ahead and pack equipment you can use in the comfort of your hotel room before you head out for the day or during the downtime between your daily activities and dinner. A jump rope can fit into any suitcase and provides a great power workout for you wherever you will go. Incorporate it as part of the following circuit workout: Alternate a minute of jumping rope after a minute each of crunches, push-ups, and lunges. Repeat a few times for a travel-ready express workout. Exercises DVD’s that can be played on a laptop in your room are another great way to squeeze in a workout whiles you are away.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Take advantage of the hotel’s facilities

When making you hotel bookings it is important that you make enquiries about their gym facilities. It will not be advisable to assume that the hotel gym is going to be inadequate because you may be pleasantly surprised to find state-of-the-art equipment and televisions to help pass the time. Remember that these days most gyms facilities have extended hours and some are even open 24 hours daily meaning that you can work out when it’s most convenient for you. Besides that, doctor Dalal Akoury further recommends calling the hotel before you arrive to see if they have partnerships with local gyms (a great way to experiment with new classes) or can recommend other nearby opportunities, like yoga or Pilate’s studios or hiking or biking paths. There’s also the hotel pool and it is always advisable to do this first thing in the morning before the pool is open for kids. With all these guidelines taken up you are likely to keep healthy, lean and well balanced weight during your vocations.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Don’t bring back extra pounds as your token

Why smokers will grow old very fast

September 1, 2015

Why smokers will grow old very fast: Identifying ways though which smoking ages the body

Why smokers will grow old very fast is all about the nicotine in the tobacco. Therefore if you can run away from cigarette smoke even if it is secondary smoke.

Are you spending heavily on your skin to make it look more youthful even if your age betrays your look? In the current generation, people are very much concern with their facial looks and would do everything within their means to ensure that their skin looks more radiant and well nourished. Nonetheless as they make all these efforts, there are always challenges along the way. One of the biggest challenges is that which is commonly experienced by cigarette smokers. We are all aware that smoking is bad for your body but do we really understand why smokers will grow old very fast in relation to nonsmokers? This is what we want to discuss in this article and with the help of experts from the home of addiction solutions (AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center) under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury we want to unlock certain ways through which smoking negatively impacts on your skin complexion to the point of causing premature aging.

There is no doubt that smoking affects our health negatively by causing serious illnesses in our vital organs like the heart, lungs, brain, and it even ruins our sex life. The problem is most people and especially young people don’t see the dangers and threats of smoking to their health in their youthful stages of life. The teens normally fail to appreciate the cruelty and the effects of smoking in good time. And by the time the come to realize the magnitude of the problem, they are so much entrenched and addicted to the habit that quitting is extremely difficult. This is when the realities of premature aging of their bodies come out in the open for them. Doctor Akoury raises a great concern that, these effects are often irreversible easily unless one quits smoking completely. While we understand the complications and difficulties that are associated with quitting cigarette smoking, it is the best thing that we can do to help ourselves escape these threats of premature aging. Now as we progress into the discussion, lets us now focus our attention on how smoking slowly ages your body.

Why smokers will grow old very fast: Smoking wrinkles and the skin even as it puts dark circles on your eyes

One of the harmful effects of smoking is that it narrows your blood vessels, and as a result, the oxygen supply to your body is blocked. Without the needed oxygen, your skin loses essential nutrients to keep it healthy. Wrinkles are among the most common signs of aging. And if you don’t stop smoking now, it will be your problem sooner than you expect it. Doctor Akoury says that the presence of nicotine and other chemicals in cigarette smoke deprive your skin of oxygen and essential nutrients thereby causing your skin to be depleted of its natural glow. She adds that continuous smoking will also make your skin looks dull and pale and the same is also applicable for the eye bags, because of the lack of oxygen, therefore the skin around your eyes loses its glow, starts to darken and sag as a result dark circles and bags forms under your eyes. The more you inhale cigarette smoke the darker and heavier these bags become.

Why smokers will grow old very fast: Smoking also wrinkles your lips and causes your skin to sag

You often hear people say that if you frown often, you’re making wrinkles. This is also true with smoking. When you smoke, you use particular muscles around your lips. So the more you puff the more these muscles get used to the wrinkling, aside from the fact that chemicals found in cigarettes heightens wrinkling of the skin. It therefore means that continuous smoking destroys the collagen and elastin in your skin. These two essential nutrients are responsible for keeping your skin elastic and without them your skin will definitely sag hence premature aging. Sagging skin is prevalent on your arms and around the neck area and for women, this can also lead to sagging of the breast sooner than it should be.

Why smokers will grow old very fast: Smoking affects your teeth and gum health

Did you know that tar and other chemicals found in tobacco are responsible for staining your teeth and gums? If you dint then get to know that they lingers almost forever in your teeth irrespective of whether you chew tobacco or you smoke it, there is no much different and the effects are the same – yellowish smoking causes bad breathe. Remember that the tobacco scent will stays in your mouth even if you brush your teeth and use different mouth wash. This is the reason why it is easy for non-smokers to tell if you just had a smoke.

Why smokers will grow old very fast: Smoking stimulates hair loss

From the discussion you can now tell how important oxygen is to your body and to your appearance taking note that the restricted circulation of oxygen also affects your hair growth. Doctor Akoury says that the longer you smoke the thinner your hair becomes since essential nutrients and oxygen will not be properly delivered to your scalp which is important to normal hair growth. If you continue smoking, you might be bald as your grandfather by the age of 30.

Finally smoking also leads to early loss of hearing. I want to believe that in your life time you may have come across an elderly person with serious problem of hearing and how inconvenient it is for them to communicate because of that. If you have then doctor Akoury is reporting that if you don’t quit smoking now, this might be your problem too sooner than you can imagine. Smoking is known to affect and obstruct normal hearing. It may cause back pain too and yet again if you can remember, during your grandparent’s visits to your family in the city, you must have heard grandpa complaining about his back due to old age. If you did and you’re still smoking, this might be your problem sooner if you don’t quit smoking now. Take note that smoking generally bad for your health and the sooner you run away from it the better for everyone. We appreciate that being a mental addiction, it may not be very easy to overcome and that is why doctor Akoury a veteran addiction expert is offering her professional advice to those who will call her and schedule for an appointment with her for further professional consultations.

Why smokers will grow old very fast: Identifying ways though which smoking ages the body

Fetal Cells: Enhanced Efficiency And Effectiveness For Wound Healing.

June 4, 2015

Fetal Cells: Enhanced Efficiency And Effectiveness For Wound Healing

“Extensive burns and full thickness skin wounds can be devastating to patients, even when treated. There are an estimated 500,000 burns treated in the United States each year. The overall mortality rate for burn injury was 4.9 % between 1998 and 2007 and medical costs for burn treatments approach $2 billion per year,” Owan TE, Hodge D.O., Herges R.M, et al. (2006).

These statistics could as well be over 11 million injuries per year as claimed by some medical reports. Other than burns, full-thickness chronic wounds also claims a large number of patients and despite technological development of therapeutic approaches, healing rates remain way below 50 % of success.

Patients with the non-healing chronic wounds are as well estimated at about 7 million per year in the US alone. Yearly costs on the other hand continue to rise, the figure is currently approaching $25 billion. Patient survival is reportedly inversely proportional to the amount of time required to recover from such a chronic wound and to stabilize.

wound-healing

Those with severe burns of between or more than 15–20 % total their body surface area are also likely to go into shock without rapid treatment. In addition, without sufficient and or rapid fluid resuscitation, patient conditions deteriorate and mortality rates increase steeply.

Inadequate therapeutic programs often result in long-term patient complications including open wounds, prominent scars, prolonged pain, high temperature sensitivity, loss of feeling to touch and or itching.

Patients who suffer from such burns and or chronic wounds benefit from prompt treatments that result in appropriate closure and or protection of the wounds. Burn patients in particular, who receive delayed treatments, are usually subject to prolonged therapeutic care that has long-term negative physiological side effects.

Recent medical advancements have been made to handle wound healing; however, the generally accepted and practiced treatment approach still remains an autologous split-thickness skin graft. This involves extracting a piece of skin with the goal of removing stem cells from a minor surgical site on the patient’s body, stretching the skin, and re-applying the graft on the burn or chronic wound.

Stem cells are unspecialized cells in the body that majorly bear two specific characteristics. They have the capacity to replicate themselves indefinitely and have the ability to replace and or repair nearly all body tissues as directed.

Stem cells extracted from the amniotic fluid, (AFS) are reportedly a very rich cell source for use in regenerative therapy due to their high proliferation capacity, immune-modulatory activity and multipotency.

AFS also have the capacity to modulate inflammatory responses and secrete therapeutic cytokines. Because of these characteristics, AFS cells have been explored for treatments in wound healing and skin regeneration among similar therapeutic care.

These attempts have over time been backed by relevant scientific studies that increasingly indicate AFS cells are effective in accelerating healing of skin in embryonic environments and more recently in treating wounds in adults. More scientific evidence also points to the fact delivered cells are often temporary, that is, do not permanently integrate into final skin tissue.

Instead, they hide a portfolio of effective growth factors very vital to the skin regeneration and angiogenesis, suggesting a trophic ability of enhancing skin and or wound healing.

These initial pieces of scientific studies suggest delivery of AFS cells have the potential to be an effective cell treatment for enabling wound healing and should be considered for clinical trials and use in treating skin wounds in patients.

While this treatment indicates the ability to yield a reasonably good therapeutic outcome, if the wound is extensive, the number and size of donor sites may be limited, making autographs difficult to use in cases that require rapid and or aggressive measures to save the wounded patient’s life.

Alternatively, allografts may be used but the option suffers a critical need of immuno-suppressive drugs so as to prevent body immune rejection of the graft. This limitation has thus caused the creation of noncellular dermal substitutes, which most often comprises a polymeric scaffold.

They include skin regeneration template and Biobrane among others. Even though such polymeric scaffolds result in improved wound healing, they are costly to produce and more often result in relatively poor temporary outcomes.

Recent developments in tissue engineering have also led to more complex biological skin parallels that may yield more suitable alternative wound care options for patients. These include: cellularized graft-like products such as dermagraft, Apligraf (Organogenesis), and TransCyte, (Advanced BioHealing) among others.

The products are commonly polymer scaffold patches that are planted with human fibroblasts and cultured in vitro prior to their application. Unfortunately, these grafts are also expensive to produce, and as allografts, can suffer from the same immunological setbacks mentioned earlier.

This topic can go on and on. It is actually very interesting but it would not be possible to include everything in one article. However more information can be found at www.awaremednetwork.com. Dr. Dalal Akoury M.D., M.P.H., who is also a family physician and has many years of experience in integrative medicine will be of great assistance.

Also, do not miss an opportunity to learn and interact with various professionals during this year’s Integrative Addiction. For more information about the upcoming conference, visit http://www.integrativeaddiction2015.com. The conference will also deliver unique approaches to telling symptoms of addiction and how to assist patients of addiction.

Fetal Cells: Enhanced Efficiency And Effectiveness For Wound Healing.

Unique Properties of Stem Cells

May 3, 2015

What Are The Unique Properties Of All Stem Cells?

The stem cells have been hailed for their efficacy in treatment of certain diseases especially those that are degenerative in nature like the Parkinson’s disease, osteoarthritis and even the Huntington’s disease. To accomplish all its medicinal capabilities the stem cells must have certain properties that are not present in other body cells. They therefore differ from other cells in the body. The stem cells are available majorly in the bone marrows and the adipose tissues but can also be harvested from placentas after a safe delivery. The stem cells have three general properties regardless of their source. These properties are; they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods; they are unspecialized; and they can give rise to specialized cell types. It is these distinct characteristics of the stem cells that make them effective in treatment of degenerative diseases.

The other cells found in the body like the nerve cells, the muscle cells and the blood cells are not able to replicate themselves unlike the stem cells that are able to proliferate after long periods of time. Typically, a starting population of stem cells that proliferates for many months in the laboratory can yield millions of cells. What is more is that the daughter cells are capable of long term self-renewal giving rise to more unspecialized cells.

Despite the vast research that has been done on the stem cells and their ability to treat certain diseases there are some information that are still required which we can only hope that researchers will one day find an answer to. These questions are as follows:

Scientists are trying to understand two fundamental properties of stem cells that relate to their long-term self-renewal:
Why can embryonic stem cells proliferate for a year or more in the laboratory without differentiating, but most adult stem cells cannot; and
What are the factors in living organisms that normally regulate stem cell proliferation and self-renewal?

When these answers are addressed there will be a valid explanation to how cell proliferation is regulated during normal embryonic development or during the abnormal cell division that leads to cancer. Such information would also enable scientists to grow embryonic and non-embryonic stem cells more efficiently in the laboratory to help in treatment of diseases.

The stem cells are unspecialized

Stem cells remain unspecialized even after long hours in the laboratory after getting harvested. The scientists have spent years of research trying to find out factors that make the stem cells unspecialized and differentiating into different cell types. It took two decades to learn how to grow human embryonic stem cells in the laboratory following the development of conditions for growing mouse stem cells. In a similar manner the scientists must first understand the signals that enable adult stem cell population to proliferate and remain unspecialized before they will be able to grow large numbers of unspecialized adult stem cells in the laboratory for medicinal use.

The stem cells are not specialized and hence are not able to perform specific functions. Unlike heart muscle cells, the stem cells are not able to pump blood through the body, they can neither carry oxygen molecules through the bloodstream like red blood cells nor can they kill pathogens like the white blood cells but they can give rise to more of all these cells; they can form bone, heart muscle cells, blood cells and even nerve cells. So they are then unspecialized cells that have the unique ability to give rise to specialized and more vital functional specialized cells.

The process through which undifferentiated stem cells give rise to specialized cells is known as differentiation. It is through this process of differentiation that the stem cells become even more specialized. Scientists are just beginning to understand the signals inside and outside cells that trigger each step of the differentiation process. The internal signals are controlled by a cell’s genes, which are interspersed across long strands of DNA and carry coded instructions for all cellular structures and functions. In contrast, the external signals for cell differentiation include chemicals secreted by other cells, physical contact with neighboring cells, and certain molecules in the microenvironment. The interaction of signals during differentiation causes the cell’s DNA to acquire epigenetic marks that restrict DNA expression in the cell and can be passed on through cell division giving rise to more specialized cells.

There are however some questions that should be addressed and these may include; Are the internal and external signals for cell differentiation similar for all kinds of stem cells? Can specific sets of signals be identified that promote differentiation into specific cell types? Finding answers to these questions may help scientists to find new ways to control stem cell differentiation in the laboratory, thereby growing cells or tissues that can be used for specific purposes such as cell-based therapies or drug screening.

With these distinct characteristics of the stem cells especially their ability to give rise to different specialized cell types, the stem cells are a cutting edge to treatment of diseases. Degenerative diseases have debilitated many people but it is treatable. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert in integrative medicine and a founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center located at Myrtle Beach South Caroline. Visit her for more information on most lifestyle diseases.

What Are The Unique Properties Of All Stem Cells?

PRP And Stem Cells For Facial Rejuvenation Seekers

March 5, 2015

Stem Cell and PRP Presents a Better Choice for Facial Rejuvenation Seekers

Looks are important part of the general appearance. You can dress modestly but still appear like some old zombie and that may affect your confidence levels greatly. But there are ways through which you can retain your confidence levels above the sea level and still look young even as ages pass. One of the ways through which you can regain or better yet maintain good looks and that young face is through facial rejuvenation. Being a new term to many readers, it is surely necessary to begin with it’s meaning; Facial rejuvenation is a cosmetic treatment or series of cosmetic treatments, which can restore a youthful appearance to the human face. Facial rejuvenation can be achieved through either surgical or non-surgical options and at times a facial rejuvenation may include both surgical and non-surgical procedures. The different types of facial rejuvenation vary in invasiveness and depth of treatment. A person will also have to put in consideration the possible side effects that may emanate from facial rejuvenation procedures that they choose. Surgical procedures can restore facial symmetry through targeted procedures and facial restructuring and skin alterations. Non-surgical procedures can target specific depths of facial structures and treat localized facial concerns such as wrinkles, skin laxity, hyperpigmentation and scars. As we age we lose some of the fine facial features, there might be loss of volume and skin integrity and this may result in such problems as; Dehydrated skin, Lip and frown lines, Deep depressions around the nose and mouth, Overall loss of healthy, youthful skin texture and tone, Volume loss in the cheeks, Sagging around the jaw line and even Crow’s feet. Aging is a natural process during which the face may become longer and rectangular as natural beautiful curves begin to deform. However aging process maybe hastened by genetic factors, facial expressions, poor diet and even smoking. Exposure to sunlight may also cause sunburn among other problems to the face.

Facial Rejuvenation

PRP for facial Rejuvenation

There are myriad ways that doctors have put in use before to try to help in facial rejuvenation. Some of these methods may offer temporary solutions but it is also important not to overlook some potential side effects that may emanate from the use of these methods. It is good to note that your body has the power of regeneration and healing of tissue in all parts of your skin including the face. Stem cells do this every day during your life. As stated in earlier articles, Stem cells are unprogrammed cells in the human body that have the ability to shift shape; they can be turned into different cells and used to replace the damaged cells causing problems. It is the ability of the stem cells to differentiate into other types of cells that have gave them the medicinal qualities that doctors are now using in facial rejuvenation as well as in treatment of other diseases. Through the use of stem cell therapy the face cells that have been exposed to oxidative stress resulting into wrinkles can be replaced with healthy ones restoring the natural aesthetic facial curves.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is very practical approach to facial rejuvenation. It involves rejuvenating the skin with your own blood. the effectiveness of the PRP facial rejuvenation is owed to the healing power which platelet have and growth factors in your blood to stimulate the response of stem cells. The procedure works by simply stimulating healing, growth and regeneration in the entire face region. Naturally, platelets have been known to play a critical role in the healing process. Therefore, their introduction to the damaged region triggers the natural healing process. Furthermore, the platelet-rich plasma that is introduced in the region stimulates the activity of stem cells, another important aspect of natural healing and regeneration. The stem cells assist in the formation of new collagen and blood vessels, regeneration and improvement of damaged skin and thus slow down and reverse the signs of aging.

Unlike surgical facial rejuvenation, Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is an extract of your own blood that contains three to five times more platelets, growth factors, and active proteins for tissue and injury healing. This in itself reduces the chances of them getting fought by antibodies; PRP is also safer than most surgical facial rejuvenation procedures. The medicinal properties of PRP are well known as it has been used for years now to hasten healing of wounds, repair damaged tendons and ligaments, healing diabetic ulcers and even to hasten the growth of muscles and bones. The PRP is introduced into the skin through injection and it initiates a localized stem cell response that results in production of fibroblasts which are collagen producing cells. These fibroblasts replace the damaged tissues through aging with healthy skin that is rejuvenated.

If you are interested in rejuvenating your face, PRP is a good way to go as it is safe and has few side effects that may last only for a week. These side effects may include mild swelling and bruising. Since the PRP is extracted from your own blood, there is no risk of disease transmission, allergic or immune reaction. As with all cosmetic procedures, however, there are certain health conditions, such as autoimmune and blood disorders, that may limit its use. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD), founder of the AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center Located at Myrtle Beach, North Caroline is an expert in the treatment of degenerative diseases. Call on her for help.

Stem Cell and PRP Presents a Better Choice for Facial Rejuvenation Seekers

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