Do you need the bathroom honey?
Do you remember what you were doing at 4:30 am on May 16th 2004? You were probably sleeping.
I remember it vividly. I had a vague recollection of my wife asking me if I needed the bathroom, but it didn’t really sink in because I was staring at my right arm and wondering why it wouldn’t move. I was telling myself ‘of course it will move’ but it didn’t. It just sat there looking at me. In fact it wasn’t even looking at me, it was just there. It didn’t seem like it was a part of me at all.
So I thought I’d better get up. That’s when I realised that I couldn’t move my leg either. I knew I had a serious problem.
I told my wife that something was seriously wrong. Or at least that’s what I tried to do. The words didn’t come out properly.
Now I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV, but I knew what had happened.
At the ripe old age of 49 I’d suffered a stroke.
And I was most definitely NOT happy!
Health and Happiness
Over on Dr Mani’s blog he is talking about how to be happy, and there is absolutely no doubt that health and happiness are related. Being unhappy is definitely bad for your health, it can lead to all kinds of serious health issues including depression and at the worst suicide.
One way to stay happy is by adopting a positive mental attitude, or PMA. Being miserable only makes matters worse, which is why we have the saying ‘misery loves company’.
Have you ever been to the cancer department of a hospital? You might expect people there to be depressed, but they aren’t. They are cheerful and optimistic because they know that being happy and focusing on the positives is the best way to fight illness.
Don’t worry. Be Happy!
High Blood Pressure - Risk Factors for High Blood Pressure
The incidence of high blood pressure is becoming more common in today’s society and it’s not really surprising - high stress environments and poor unhealthy diets make for a pretty lethal combination.
If it’s left uncontrolled, high blood pressure can cause very serious health issues indeed, which is why it’s important for you to know not only how to treat your high blood pressure, but also what steps you can take to prevent yourself from ever having high blood pressure in the first place.
It’s also advisable to be aware of the risk factors associated with high blood pressure.
Here are some of the risk factors for high blood pressure that you can’t do anything about, but that you need to be aware of.
The Dangers of Second Hand Smoke
Complete bans on smoking in restaurants, stores and in some cases entire cities are becoming more and more commonplace these days. The reason for this is that we now know that not only can you die from smoking cigarettes, but you can also die from breathing in smoke in the air around us.
Second hand smoke, whether it’s from the burning end of the cigarette, or from the smokers mouth, can be a serious hazard to your health. Here are just a few of the many problems caused by second hand smoke.
- Second hand smoke contains over 60 chemicals that cause or may cause cancer. Thousands of non-smokers die of lung cancer from second hand smoke every year.
- Some of the toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke are: formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chlorine, arsenic ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide.
- Second hand smoke causes heart disease in non-smokers. These heart disease cases account for tens of thousands of deaths every year.
- Many non-smokers visit the doctor every year for lung related problems caused by second hand smoke. These problems range from coughing to a drop in lung functioning.
- The incidence of breast cancer may be increased by exposure to second hand smoke.
Drink water: 7 reasons why water should be your drink of choice
We are all taught from an early age that water is good for us, but with coffee, tea, soda, juice, energy drinks and a myriad of other drinks so readily available, it’s hard to make the decision to choose water.
Here are seven good reasons why you should drink more water.
Keeps skin looking great.
If your skin looks unhealthy and tired, then so do you. Staying properly hydrated removes all the toxins that build up in you skin, and helps to prevent your skin from drying out. If you have the opposite problem - in other words puffy bloated skin - then it’s likely that a lack of water is again your problem. When skin doesn’t get water, it retains what it already had, which leaves your skin cells full, puffy, and not exactly what you could call attractive. If you want to look beautiful, you should keep yourself hydrated.
It’s cheaper.
Of course, if you buy bottled water, it’s just about as expensive as soda, juice, and coffee are. However, studies have shown that tap water is usually equally as clean and safe as bottled water, and being free costs a whole lot less. If you have a problem with the taste of your tap water and don’t like it, buy a filter pitcher or one that attaches to the faucet. It still costs a lot less.