Stressed parents up asthma risk

Stress can lead to arguments
Stressed parents may play a role in childhood asthma, researchers believe.

They found the children of tense parents who lived in polluted areas were far more likely to have asthma than friends in the same neighbourhood.

The University of California team believe parental anxieties combine with other known risk factors to increase a child's asthma risk.

They told Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences there might be an underlying biological explanation.

Experts have already shown that women who are stressed in pregnancy may raise the risk of their child developing asthma or other allergies.

These results suggest that children from stressful households are more susceptible to the effects of traffic-related pollution and in utero tobacco smoke on the development of asthma

The study authors
And stress is known to trigger asthma attacks.

In the latest study the researchers followed 2,497 healthy primary school children living in Southern California and recorded how many of these developed asthma over a three-year period - 120 in total.

They also gathered information on other known asthma risk factors like exposure to traffic-related air pollution and maternal smoking, as well as parental education, income and stress levels.

Stressful households

As expected, children exposed to more air pollution had a higher risk of asthma, but this risk was further increased if their parents were stressed and described their lives as "unpredictable", "uncontrollable" or "overwhelming".

Maternal smoking and parental stress posed a similar compounded risk.

Professor Rob McConnell and his team speculate that stress increases the inflammatory effects of pollutants in tobacco smoke and traffic fumes on the airways.

Writing in PNAS they said: "These results suggest that children from stressful households are more susceptible to the effects of traffic-related pollution and in utero tobacco smoke on the development of asthma."

Elaine Vickers of Asthma UK said: "This study adds to existing evidence suggesting that a child's environment can impact on their risk of developing asthma.

"For example, smoking during pregnancy, traffic pollution and stress in the home may all have harmful effects.

"We know that smoking during pregnancy significantly increases a baby's risk of having breathing difficulties and that children whose parents smoke are 1.5 times more likely to develop asthma, so Asthma UK strongly advises parents to avoid smoking around children and young people, especially in the home.

"One in 11 children in the UK has asthma so studies like this are vital, as they provide an insight into the factors influencing asthma development and therefore how it might be prevented."


Credit by : BBC.co.uk

You Can Now Find a Doctor Who Takes Medicaid Or Medicare

Author: Bryan Burbank

It is important that if you have Medicaid or Medicare you find a doctor that accepts this form of payment. Going to the doctor can be very expensive and you want to make sure that you start off with getting a doctor that takes your form of payment. If you go and they do not accept Medicaid or Medicare then it can cost you a lot of money. Most people that have this service are on a limited budget to begin with and spending money on doctors visits is not necessary. You're better off to search for a physician that will take one of these forms of payments and this will only allow you to put more money in your own pocket.

Get Free: Doctor Advice Today

When searching for a doctor you want to make sure that you have an open line of communication and feel comfortable with them. Make sure that even though they may accept these forms of payments, you also have to feel good about this doctor. You may find that you have to try several physicians before you find the one you like best. They are going to be the ones that help you with your health and so you need to feel at ease is with them.

How to: Find a Doctor

Remember that when you're searching for a doctor you find one that accepts the form of payment that you have. Many people have Medicare or Medicaid and not all doctors accept this form of payment. It may take you a little time to search and find one that does but it'll be well worth it because you will save money not having to pay doctor visits.

About the Author:

Bryan Burbank is an expert in the field of Doctor. For more information go to: http://www.easydoctors.com/medicare-medicaid.html

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - You Can Now Find a Doctor Who Takes Medicaid Or Medicare

Natural Treatment For Stress

Author: Ian Spencer

You would have definitely heard of yoga, which is one of the hot favorites in the USA today. The Western world is gradually looking into the secrets of youth and health that ancient civilization of the East followed. The Indian civilization is one of the oldest and extremely rich in scientific applications not only in medicine but also in engineering, physics, mathematics, astrology and astronomy among others.

Yoga has four branches that cover the journey of any human being who wishes to attain oneness with the Universe and enlightenment. Walking on this path would also ensure that your body stays free of diseases and human weaknesses without any dependency on food and basic life-supporting comforts. Yoga not only diseases-proofs your body but also tunes your mind to find and understand the Eternal Truth.

1. Kriya yoga or karma yoga - this covers the free will of a human being whereby they make their choices in life and the consequences of these choices on his or her life
2. Bhakti yoga - or attaining liberation through prayer and worship of God
3. Gyana yoga - or enlightenment through learning and acquiring of knowledge, and
4. Raja yoga - or achieving enlightenment with the exclusive help of your mind, ignoring the body completely

You do not need to adopt the austerity of yoga in its complete form. The beauty of yoga is that you can use the exercises this science prescribes without worrying about the rest of the doctrine and still profit from it. Two things are extremely important when you learn yoga:

(i) you need to learn yoga from an accredited and recognized guru or yoga practitioner, and
(ii) you need to do it at the dawn, on an empty stomach, or at bedtime daily - if you want it to really work for you

Yoga can help fight any disease whatsoever that plagues human beings, even cancer. It is excellent for controlling and reversing anxiety. It is also exceptionally potent in treating depression. I am not giving you the asanas (postures) that are prescribed for controlling and treating anxiety and depression because I do not want you to try these exercises on your own. Do not be tempted to buy the much-advertised DVDs from the market unless you have learnt the postures from a guru.

The danger of initiating yoga on your own is that a mistake in getting the right posture might not only be useless, but also might harm you. Every asana is meant to touch, massage and coax into optimal functioning some organ or system in the body. No matter how clear is the DVD or instruction given in a book, you would not be able to see yourself performing the asana; nor would you be able to see whether you are doing it correctly or not. This is where a proficient yoga practitioner and teacher would be able to guide you. Once you learn the asanas correctly and you are confident about it, you can practice it at home alone without anyone's help.

Yoga when combined with meditation can be an exceptional tool to defuse anxiety and depression. It is also extremely beneficial for people who suffer from sleep disorders due to anxiety or depression. You can however, go for yoga without the meditations component and you would be profited nonetheless.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Natural Treatment For Stress

Buddhism and Healthy Longevity

Sometime you may think life is not beautiful as you hope. Maybe this article will be helpful.

Buddhism is more than an Eastern religion: it is a healthy longevity promoter.

Buddhism focuses on the balanced interaction between the mind and the body as a prerequisite for healthy longevity; disease is a result of their imbalance and disharmony. The Buddhist approach to health and wellness is its emphasis on spiritual strength of the mind to overcome illness and disease. Concurring with Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who believed in the innate healing power in humans, Buddha also believed that you could seek cure through a drastic change in lifestyle and healthy attitudes towards the real meaning of life and existence.

Healing begins with the mind first, not the body. The reason is that disease originates from the disharmony of the mind and the spirit, leading to their imbalance with the physical body, resulting in disease. Optimal health for longevity is achieved when the mind and the body are functioning and interacting together as one entity.

One of the most damaging factors to the mind is stress. Nowadays, stress comes in many forms. Stress adversely affects your physical, mental, and spiritual health. In the Buddhist world, there is no stress, and you create your own stress through your ego-self, which is essentially your "no-self" because it simply does not exist, except in your own mind. Buddhism focuses on "emptiness" ' which is not self-denial, but rather the wisdom of knowing the impermanence of materials things and therefore the abandonment of the futile pursuit of these elusive and evasive goals in life. With enlightenment, you will change your perception of what you really are, and more importantly, the insignificance of your attachment to all materials things, including success and love of money. Buddha said, "Craving is the fountainhead of all human miseries." Once your craving ceases, your stress dissipates, and you are filled with composure, which constitutes wellness in your body and mind.

Even if there are remnants of stress, they can be dispelled through Buddhist meditation. According to Buddha, everyone has a "light" within him or her. To find that "light", you need to practice meditation. Through meditation, you are awakened to self-knowledge, which opens the door to ultimate wisdom: you see who you are, and what is important to you in life. In other words, you begin to see the realities of things around you; you begin to prioritize your life; and you begin to perceive the true meaning of your existence.

Natural healing of the mind, body, and spirit begins with a healthy love relationship in which Buddhist compassion and loving kindness naturally thrive. In Chinese, the word "compassion" means "removing suffering and giving happiness." From Buddha's view, true compassion has the power to root out the cause of misery in people's lives and direct them to the true cause of happiness.

Loving kindness, closely connected with compassion, is also a prominent feature of the Buddhist way of live. Compassion and loving kindness complement each other. Extending good will, care and consideration to all beings is critical to mental and spiritual health of an individual.

If you are truly committed to altruistic compassion and loving kindness, you will be armed with inner strength to face any health adversity in your life, thereby instrumental in inspiring hope in others, and by doing so, helping relieve their own suffering. Aging and illness simply provide an opportunity for you to inspire others through your own example.

Healing is a natural blend of science and philosophy of living. Buddhism certainly plays a pivotal role in the philosophy of living for healthy longevity.

Good luch and have happy life^^

Refference : http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/buddhism-and-healthy-longevity-271829.html