Taliba news

Saskatchewan magre-recruit ng mga health-care worker sa Pilipinas ngayong Nobyembre. Ang health-care recruitment mission ng Saskatchewan sa Pilipinas ay magaganap sa Nobyembre 28 – Disyembre

Keeping Fit

“Physical activity doesn’t have to be very hard to improve your health,” says The Physical Activity Guide, recently released by Health Canada. As reported in

Two Sets of Nerves?

Humans are endowed with a special nervous system to sense love and tenderness, reports the German scientific journal Bild der Wissenschaft. Swedish scientists discovered that

Keeping Fit

“Physical activity doesn’t have to be very hard to improve your health,” says The Physical Activity Guide, recently released by Health Canada. As reported in The Toronto Star, “you can improve your fitness and your heart by doing light activity for 10-minute periods and add them up for an hour’s worth each day.” What are some of the recommended activities? They include walking, stair climbing, gardening, and stretching. Such household chores as vacuuming or mopping also count, and they build flexibility. The guide suggests that the goal of accumulating 60 minutes a day “can be reached by building physical activities into your daily routine.” Says Dr. Francine Lemire, president of the College of Family Physicians of Canada: “If you are inactive, studies show that the health risk could be on par with smoking.”

E-Mail and Social Skills

According to two researchers, employees are just as likely to speak to a coworker working on the same floor via E-mail as they would to counterparts working in different time zones, says Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. Speaking of the effect E-mail can have on social skills, David Crystal, a professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, says: “Simultaneous feedback is a fundamental feature of conversation,” and E-mail does not allow for this because of the time lag between receiving and responding to a message. Moreover, an E-mail writer can monopolize the conversation without being interrupted. “The ability to take turns in conversation,” states the Globe, “is an essential social skill.”

Why the airplane still the safest way to travel?

LYING 35,000 feet [11 km] above the earth can be a scary experience for some. It may seem to violate the laws of nature. As the safety standards and the reliability of air travel have reached new heights, the possible dangers of darting through the atmosphere inside a thin metal tube have become minimal. Once in a while, however, harsh reality reminds us that accidents can happen.
Huge cases of fatal crash has been recorded which makes people more afraid of travelling in planes,  but according to records, planes still remain the safest means of travelling.
Despite that reality, since time immemorial, man has expressed a desire to fly.As has already been shown, Air travel is still considered as the safest way to travel according to recent study – as modern technology has made flying one of the safest modes of transportation.

Navigating With Ease
While security checkpoints provide a necessary service, some travelers—especially those in a hurry—tend to consider them a nuisance. Having in mind the increased security at most airports, you may want to implement the following suggestions for easier passage:
• Arrive early. By planning to have some extra airport time, you can slow down, relax, and avoid the stress that can come with the unexpected or the inconvenient.
• When choosing an airline, look for one that caters to business travelers.  They know the ropes, carry little with them, and want to move fast.
• Before you walk through the metal detector doorway, shed those items you think might set off the alarm. This includes keys, coins, jewelry, and cell phones. Hand them to an attendant as you prepare to step through the doorway.
• Lay bags and other carryons as flat as possible on the conveyor belt; if the person behind the X-ray monitor sess a jumbled image, he may want to unpack
your bag or put it through again.
• Alert the attendant to any unusual items that you anticipate will attract attention, such as that antique silver mandolin from your grandmother. Satisfied by a reasonable explanation for the strange shape on the monitor, the attendant is less likely to insist upon examining it. If you’re really pressed for time, unpack the item ahead of time and ask for a hand inspection.
• If the alarm goes off, be cooperative and provide an explanation immediately. If the attendant knows the alarm was caused by an isolated object and has a partner with a scanning wand, he will wave you on to him.
• One sure way to miss your flight is to joke about a hijacking or a bomb. In addition to undergoing a rigorous search by airport security officials, you may be charged with an offense.

Have a Safe Flight!
No matter what flight you choose, your chances of arriving unharmed are superb. If in doubt, research the safety record of the airline you plan to use. Keep in mind that despite air accidents, flying is still considered one of the safest ways to travel.

The Prostate and Its Problems

DO YOU have prostate problems? If you are a male and over 40, you could very well begin experiencing them. It is estimated that more than half of the North American male population over 60 years of age has prostate enlargement and about 95 percent of those who reach their 80’s will suffer from this trouble. But what is this gland called the prostate? Where is it, and what does it do?
Shaped like an inverted pyramid, the prostate lies in the lower abdomen under the bladder. It is peculiar to the male but related in tissue type to the female breast. At the time of birth, it is not much larger than an almond. However, with the onset of puberty, it grows to be as big as a chestnut.
The prostate is made up of a well-muscled capsule within which are found 30 to 50 saclike glands. These glands produce the prostatic fluid, without which a man would almost certainly be infertile. The tissue within the glands is folded, allowing for expansion and storage as the fluid is produced. After a male reaches puberty, the sacs begin producing a small amount of fluid each day, which is normally voided with the urine if he has no sexual relations.
Not all the prostate’s functions are known, but its primary purpose seems to be to produce the fluid that nourishes millions of sperm cells and provides them with a medium to swim in. Thus, it is vital for a man’s fertility. It can, though, also cause him problems as he gets older. What are the signs of prostate trouble, and is there anything sufferers can do?
Warning Signs
Passing through the prostate is the urethra, the tube that drains the bladder, and herein lies the problem. If the sacs within the prostate gland become infected, inflamed, irritated, or congested with fluid, they may press on the urethra and hinder the elimination of urine. The same is true if the gland itself becomes enlarged.
The early symptoms of this problem usually are almost unnoticed and are much the same regardless of the basic cause. The sufferer may have to get up once or twice during the night to visit the bathroom, something he did not have to do before. Gradually, he has to get up more frequently. Despite feeling an intense need to urinate, the stream is weak and hesitant. He has a feeling of fullness even though he has just been to the bathroom. Now the prostate is making its existence known in a painful, irritating, and sometimes embarrassing way. Understanding why will help men, as well as their wives, to handle the problem.
Prostate Problems
Several different things can cause prostate problems, and we will briefly discuss them one by one:
Prostatitis: This is an inflammation of the prostate gland and may be either infectious or congestive. Bacteria, such as from a venereal disease like gonorrhea or from an infection in another part of the body, could contribute to inflammation in the gland. Such infections occur in any age group after the prostate gland reaches its adult size.
Congestive prostatitis is more perplexing. This condition is linked by some doctors to sexual activity and erotic thought. Dr. Stanley Brosman of the University of California School of Medicine suggests two reasons for this problem: “irregularity of sexual activity” and “inability of the prostate to empty itself during ejaculation.” Why the prostate gland does not clear itself remains a mystery, however.
Enlargement: Strangely, as a man grows older, the prostate gland may start to enlarge. Although numerous studies have been made, doctors are still baffled as to why this happens. Some suggest that it is due to changes in the body’s hormones. Enlargement may pose no problem for some men. However, as the number of elderly males increases, so does the number of cases of prostate enlargement leading to urination problems.
Cancer: Prostate cancer is among the most common cancers in men. The problem here is that it is seldom detected early. The cancer usually grows slowly, and most men die of other causes before prostatic cancer proves fatal. Essential to locating prostate cancer early is a regular, annual checkup by a doctor, including a rectal examination. With a rubber-gloved finger, the doctor can feel part of the gland and determine if there are any hard, buttonlike nodules, which could mean cancer. If any spots are found, further tests will be performed, including a biopsy, to determine if cancer cells are present.
Treatment
Just as there are a number of causes of prostate problems, there are several methods of treatment.
Medicine: If prostatitis is caused by an infection, antibiotic treatment is usually used. The doctor may also recommend a restricted diet. Dr. Harvey Gordon writes: “I do believe that the irritative symptoms in posterior urethritis are indeed aggravated by the ingestion of alcohol and spicy foods. Moreover, I suspect that coffee may be similarly indicted.”
Surgery: Cutting away some of the prostate gland can take the pressure off the urethra. Different surgical procedures are used for this. As long as the nerves behind the prostate are not damaged, a man will remain potent. However, he may be infertile. Why? Surgery on the prostate may damage the sphincter muscle that normally closes at the neck of the bladder. As a result, semen will now follow the course of least resistance into the bladder, where it will be voided with the urine.
Cancer treatment: When cancer is discovered, different forms of treatment are available, depending on the state of growth. No single treatment has proved best, but among those available are hormonal treatment, radiation, and laser or conventional surgery. With surgery the gland is removed, resulting almost invariably in impotence.
Diet: Interestingly, studies have been made that show the prostate to be a major center for the concentration of zinc in the body. When a man’s diet is inadequate in zinc, the prostate gland begins to lose this trace element, and some researchers link this with a variety of prostate problems. Many men claim to have found relief for their troubles with the aid of a dietary supplement of zinc.
In discussing this form of treatment, Dr. Monroe Greenberger, a New York urologist, gives sound advice: “To the man who is reaching the age where prostatic problems are most likely to plague him, good diet is essential . . . Although much of the value of zinc, vitamins, and diet to prostatic health is still in the exploratory stage and the statistics are not conclusive, the evidence is convincing enough for me to sit up and listen carefully, and I think others should do the same. However—and this is important in all self-care—never rely only on diet, vitamins, or minerals for good health. See your doctor regularly.”—What Every Man Should Know About His Prostate.

Two Sets of Nerves?

Humans are endowed with a special nervous system to sense love and tenderness, reports the German scientific journal Bild der Wissenschaft. Swedish scientists discovered that a woman who had lost her main touch receptors still felt a pleasant sensation when stroked with a soft paintbrush. This sense of pleasure, they found, was evoked by a second nerve network in the skin, consisting of slow-conducting fibers called tactile C fibers. The network only responds to a gentle touch and activates those brain areas dealing with emotions. Commenting on why humans might have two different sets of nerves, the International Herald Tribune states: “The slow fibers function from the earliest hours of life, perhaps even in the womb, while the fast fibers develop slowly after birth. Newborns might be able to feel the love in a parent’s touch before they can feel the touch itself.”

Pets – Good for Your Health?

“Puppy love may help keep a person out of the doctor’s office,” says The Toronto Star. Over the past decade, various studies have shown that “companion animals are associated with lower stress, fewer doctors’ visits and even better survival rates after heart attacks. An animal may help stroke victims build strength and psychiatric patients quell anxiety.” Dr. Alan Beck, of Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine in Indiana, U.S.A., believes that “animals relax people. They’re a focus of attention, a focus of touching.” Such effects can occur even if the animal is not a family pet, and this has led to the rise of “animal-assisted therapy.” Some mental-health workers have thus encouraged patients with psychiatric disorders to spend time with a pet, with positive results.