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STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters… S.T.R .

My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call ambulance)
They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.)
She had suffered a stroke at the party. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.
Some don’t die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this…

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke…totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Remember the “3″ steps, STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.
The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions :

S * Ask the individual to SMILE .
T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg “It is sunny out today”).
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

NOTE : Another ’sign’ of a stroke is
1. Ask the person to ’stick’ out their tongue.
2. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke..

Straits Times Oct 10, 2007
Richard Seet Eng Tiong, PHD

Surely, there is a problem with young people today. At 35 they think of slowing down, complain about stress and question “the purpose of their lives and careers”.

I am 58 and still studying all sorts of interesting things – bio-robotics, medical diagnostic imaging systems, telecommunications, electrical power, medical advances and poetry, to name a few and enjoying classical music.

When I was 35, I was being trained in Japan in machine tools. I was also mugging for a first degree, followed by a second and a third, . Even now, I attend conferences all over the world ( from New York to London to Pisa) to keep up with the latest that technology has to offer.

Young people should be showing great interest in emerging events, relishing the surge in available knowledge and developing their scientific curiosity. Slowing down would be disastrous for the global economy, because young people are the driving force with their enthusiasm and youthful strength.

Exercise, both physical and mental, is needed for health. What those in their 30s should enjoy is a healthy lifestyle.

They should think of taking up a hobby, if they have lots of spare time. In this way, they have their minds occupied. If not, idle minds make the heart weary. They soon get weary of their jobs, whereas in their earlier years, their aim was to maximize their chances in the hope of making it good in their careers.

What young people lack is the realization that they still have a long way to go before they can relax

They should not be self-satisfied with their achievements and consider slowing down at age 35, or retire early, resigned to a sedentary lifestyle. That is unhealthy and is the result of seeing laziness being lauded as the trend of the new age.

Instead, there are over more challenges. The young should take up these challenges to enrich their lives. Not only will struggle improve their performance at work, but they will also reap the rewards from year to year with a typical “learn, unlearn, relearn” mindset.

By Naomi Barr

Practitioners tout yoga for its mind-body benefits—flexibility, toned muscles, reduced stress, among others. More recently, scientists have begun to test yoga’s effect on serious medical conditions. The results have been impressive enough that investigators expect yoga will soon become part of the standard treatment for a number of disorders.

Five reasons yoga could change your life!

Depression

Low brain levels of the neurotransmitter GABA are often found in people with depression; SSRIs, electroconvulsive therapy, and now yoga, it seems, can boost GABA. Preliminary research out of the Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard’s McLean Hospital found that healthy subjects who practiced yoga for one hour had a 27 percent increase in levels of GABA compared with a control group that simply sat and read for an hour. This supports a growing body of research that’s proving yoga can significantly improve mood and reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Heart Disease

Several trials have found that yoga can lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and resting heart rates, and help slow the progression of atherosclerosis—all risk factors for heart disease, says Erin Olivo, PhD, director of Columbia University’s Integrative Medicine Program.

While almost any exercise is good for the heart, experts speculate yoga’s meditative component may give it an extra boost by helping to stabilize the endothelium, the lining of the blood vessels that, when irritated, contributes to cardiovascular disease. Since the lining is reactive to stress, and meditation can lower stress hormones, yoga may be causing a cascade of events that could reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Breast Cancer

Research is becoming clear on this: Women who do yoga during and after treatment experience less physical discomfort and stress. Earlier this year Duke University scientists reported results of a pilot study in which women with metastatic breast cancer attended eight weekly yoga sessions. The doctors found that the women had much less pain and felt more energetic and relaxed.

Menopause

A preliminary study at the University of California, San Francisco, found that menopausal women who took two months of a weekly restorative yoga class, which uses props to support the postures, reported a 30 percent decrease in hot flashes. A four-month study at the University of Illinois found that many women who took a 90-minute Iyengar class twice a week boosted both their energy and mood; plus they reported less physical and sexual discomfort, and reduced stress and anxiety.

Chronic Back Pain

When doctors at the HMO Group Health Cooperative in Seattle pitted 12 weekly sessions of yoga against therapeutic exercises and a handbook on self-care, they discovered the yoga group not only showed greater improvement but experienced benefits lasting 14 weeks longer. A note of caution: “While many poses are helpful, seated postures or extreme movement in one direction can make back pain worse,” says Gary Kraftsow, author of Yoga for Wellness, who designed the program for the study.
From Stay Flexible, Stay Well in the October 2007 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine. Subscribe now!

Original Air Date: October 17, 2006

Is it possible to live to be 100 with the vigor and vitality of a 20-something? Dr. Oz explores that question with longtime friend and alternative heath expert Dr. Andrew Weil. Drawing from Eastern medicine and alternative medical practices, Dr. Weil says you can stave-off sickness, improve your health and live longer.

Here are just a few of Dr. Weil’s tips to combat a cold:

- - Wash your hands frequently—it’s still one of the best ways to fight off colds, especially during the cold and flu season.

- Eat plenty of garlic for its natural antiviral and antibacterial properties.

- Add eucalyptus oil, which is naturally antibacterial, into a steam bath to soothe the respiratory passages and prevents secondary bacterial infections when you have a cold.

- Echinacea can be taken at the first sign of a cold to assist with symptoms. - Ginger is excellent for motion sickness, nausea and has beneficial anti-inflammatory effects.

Just a piece of information for everyone….. a truth too many people do
not realize. Please read on…

My husband had ear pain for a very long time, sometimes he would just
visit a private doctor and get some antibiotics and ear drops and after
applying it over a few days, the pain would be gone. He got a habit of
using cotton buds to clean his ear canals everyday after his bath. Just
normal cotton buds that we can purchase at any shop at 3 for $1.

Lately, the problem became quite serious to the fact that he couldn’t
sleep at night and one day, unable to control the pain even after taking
his medicine… he went to see a doctor in the middle of the night and
was referred to the Alexandra Hospital where they prescribed stronger
antibi otics and an appointment to see a specialist. Upon visiting the
specialist, he advised my husband to never use a cotton bud to clean his
ears again, after using a special equipment to remove whatever dirt was
remaining very deep in the ear as a result of using the cotton bud.

The doctor said that cotton bud was never invented to clean ear canals
but to clean superficial items or just surface wounds and to apply
medicine.Small pieces or particles on the cotton bud tend to remain in
the ear canal and that gives opportunity for bacteria to breed and by
using a cotton bud, the dirt in the ear is actually being thrust further
into the ear canal, hindering its self-clearing process. Some people
tend to thrust the cotton bud very deep into the ear and this may result
in the damage of the ear drum and a operation may be needed to correct
the problem.

The doctor’s advised was to use olive oil, just one or two drops into
the ear once a month and the ear will actually cleanse itself,
thereafter to use a tissue paper to clean just the outermost part of the
ear.

My husband has since stopped using cotton buds and has fully recovered.
The above piece of information is given by the specialist at Hospital.
You may check with any doctor to verify the information.

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this “sludge” reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal. A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive. A cardiologist says if everyone who reads this message sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we’ll save at least one life. Read this & Send the link to a friend. It could save a life. So, please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about.