(This article is provided by the National Consumer Alliance as part of its mission to enhance the quality of life of its members by providing educational information.)

Home teeth whitening has become a very popular alternative for people who want to get their radiant smiles back. Since in-office whitening can be quite expensive and time-consuming, more and more people have started to recognize why whitening their teeth at home is more practical than undergoing in-office bleaching sessions. It is also more convenient for those who want to keep up with their busy schedules because it allows them to utilize their extra time for do-it-yourself procedures.

If you think that teeth whitening procedures at home are more attractive than in-office dental bleaching, you should know all the ins and outs about home teeth whitening first. Once you have weighed all the pros and cons between these two methods, you will feel more confident about the method that you chose to use.

If your teeth have started to darken during the past years, you should blame nothing else but your diet and your age. Liquids from the beverages you drink are also absorbed by your teeth, which can affect its color. If you love drinking tea, coffee, and carbonated drinks, you are more susceptible to discolored teeth. Of course smoking can lead to yellowish tobacco stains on teeth.

Even if you do not smoke or drink too much coffee, tea, and the likes, you will also need effective home teeth whitening methods at some point in your life. As you continue aging, your teeth’s enamel will become more transparent and look thinner, which will make your teeth look dark and tarnished.

If you have been experiencing problems with your teeth’s color, you should start considering some effective teeth whitening methods that you can do at home. Home teeth whiteners usually work with the help of peroxide, their active ingredient. Peroxide has the capability to stay on your teeth, form some bubbles on enamel, and lift away all the stains that have clung to your precious set of teeth. Once you apply more peroxide into your teeth during your home teeth whitening rituals, your teeth will also become whiter and cleaner.

If you want to get the best results from at-home whitening, you should remember some important things. Here are some of the most important things you should remember in order to maximize every teeth whitening session you perform at your home.

The first thing you should remember is to brush your teeth with toothpaste that contains natural polishing agents and oxygenating toothpaste before bleaching your teeth. This will allow you to counteract the sensitivity your teeth will feel after bleaching them.

Once you have finished bleaching your teeth, do not forget to gargle by using an oxygenating oral rinse. This will enhance the effect of the peroxide you applied on your teeth. Watch the video, below, for more home teeth whitening tips and advice.

(This article is provided by the National Consumer Alliance as part of its mission to enhance the quality of life of its members by providing educational information.)

Stretching both before and after exercise is key to any fitness program. Stretching prior to exercise warms up your body making it less prone to accidents and injuries. Stretching exercises increase joint and muscle flexibility making for a better workout. During the warm-up period, stretches should be held between 15 and 30 seconds.

Stretching following exercise relieves muscle tightness, improves flexibility and cools down the body. After a workout, your body will be able to stretch even further than it did prior to your exercise program. During the cool-down period, stretches should be held between 30 seconds and one minute. It is during these longer stretches that flexibility increases the most.

It is important to breathe normally as you stretch and avoid holding your breath. Concentrate on the stretch itself and on your breathing, relaxing the rest of your body. A mild tension should be felt but no discomfort. Avoid bouncing.

When standing during a stretching exercise, you can hold onto a steady object such as a chair to maintain balance and proper posture. If you prefer not to hold onto anything, keeping your eyes focused on a point of interest such as a painting will help to maintain the proper balance and posture.

One of the great things about stretching is that it can be done anywhere and anytime. Stretching exercises are not limited to exercising alone. They can be done in any environment whether working, shopping or going about your daily routine.

Here are some of the benefits of stretching exercises:

o They are calming and relaxing

o Provides a sense of peace and well-being

o Lengthens your muscles

o Helps to prevent accidents and injuries

o Improves tissue flexibility and elasticity

o Increases blood flow

o Makes muscles more supple

o Helps with balance and coordination

o Improves range of motion

o Improves circulation

o Improves posture

o Reduces stress

Stretching both before and after your fitness program is important in maintaining a healthy body. Stretching at other times of the day is a great way to limber up, relax and reduce stress. For peak fitness, be sure to include stretching in your daily routine.

Sharon B. Gilbert, Ph.D. is an avid researcher and writer particularly interested in the areas of women’s health, meditation, metaphysics, organic foods and cooking, and natural health remedies. For further information or to contact the author, please visit http://www.Healthylifestylesfortoday.com Copyright 2006.

(This article is provided by the National Consumer Alliance as part of its mission to enhance the quality of life of its members by providing educational information.)

Often, we take our eyes for granted and do not take proper care of them as we do our teeth or our skin. Taking care of our eyes is important especially since we use our eyes a lot. When we spend time in the office, use the computer, read documents, and watch TV at home, we put a lot of strain on our eyes and wear them down. Taking care of our eyes is just a matter of developing good habits, as well as visiting your eye doctor in urbane scrubs regularly. Below are some tips for taking care of your eyes and keeping them healthy.

Eating healthy

As with any of your body part, one of the best ways to keep your eyes fit and healthy is to eat nutritious food. Fruits and vegetables and rich in antioxidants that help slow down the process of aging and the deterioration of eyesight. Vitamins that are good for the eyes include vitamin C, A, and E. These three vitamins help decrease the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Most fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins C, A, and E. Beta carotene are also popularly known to help maintain good eye sight. Some of the fruits and vegetables high in beta carotene include carrots, squash, and yellow and red peppers.

Pampering your eyes

Soothe your tired eyes with cold cucumber slices. Gently press the cucumber slices against the eyes and leave there for ten minutes. You can also use a cool towel in place of the cucumber. Just put it above your closed eyes and leave for a few minutes. This will also help get rid of puffiness and eye bags for more beautiful and attractive eyes.

Contact lenses

If you wear contact lenses, as much as possible, do not wear them for more than 12 hours. At all costs, do not wear your contacts when you sleep. Leaving your contacts on for too long may cause permanent damage to your eyesight as well as cause extreme discomfort. If you can help it, do not wear contacts at all and use glasses instead. Not only is this safer, it will also save you a lot of money.

Eye drops

Use eye drops sparingly as some of these may contain powerful ingredients that will only do worse for the eyes. Opt for eye drops that are made of ‘tears,’ which can actually be used more frequently. Avoid those that are made to ‘get the red out’ as these have stronger chemicals. Read the labels of eye drops carefully to know how often you can use them. Chronic daily use of eye drops may just worsen irritation to the eyes. Also take note that when you are wearing contacts, there are many eye drops that you cannot use with them.

Protection from the sun

Exposure to too much sun damages the eyes and accelerates its deterioration and aging. One of the best ways to protect the eyes from the sun is by wearing sunglasses. When choosing sunglasses, get one that has high UV protection and has polarized lenses. Simply getting dark lenses is not enough to protect the eyes as it only makes the pupils dilate and do not anything to stop the UV rays from reaching the eyes.

Brent McNutt enjoys networking with healthcare professionals online.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brent_McNutt

If you’ve ever needed to boost your motivation to eat better, exercise more and peel away that excess poundage, read on.

First and foremost, you should know that being overweight has been directly linked to the leading causes of death in this country today: heart disease, certain types of cancer, stroke and diabetes. In addition, excess weight is tied to a host of other conditions of varying degrees of severity, ranging from varicose veins to sleeplessness.

In short, the statistics are staggeringly in favor of achieving and maintaining your ideal weight if you want to live a long, healthy life.

And while the most significant health problems crop up when a person is clinically obese–that is, 20 percent or more above her ideal weight–it doesn’t take a big weight loss to effect substantial health improvements. If you have high blood pressure, for example, losing just ten pounds can help reduce it, say health officials at the Michigan Department of Public Health.

“Look,” you may well be saying, “I just want to drop a few pounds because I want to fit into that size-eight dress I have my eye on.” That’s fine. But just in case you need further incentive to launch a serious weight-loss and maintenance program, here are some of the main health benefits you’ll reap almost immediately after you start to slim down.

Having a Healthier Heart

Each year, more than 900,000 Americans die of heart disease. Almost half of these victims are women. Every year an additional 1.25 million have a nonfatal heart attack. And nearly one-third of adults suffer from high blood pressure, which can, among other things, lead to heart disease and stroke. A major cause of all of the above problems is overweight. Think about it: The more you exceed your ideal weight, the more your heart has to keep pumping to do its job and the greater the pressure you’re placing on it.

But lose weight and high blood pressure almost inevitably drops. In one study done at the University of Pennsylvania’s Obesity Research Group, people with high blood pressure experienced dramatic reductions in pressure even in the early stages of their weight-loss diet.

The kinds of foods you’re eating will also affect your heart, determining whether your arteries are open and free-flowing or as clogged as a drain begging for Drano. A diet high in fat, particularly the saturated fat that comes from animal sources, causes arteries to plug up with a gooey substance called plaque. Blood has a harder time circulating through plaque-filled arteries. But a diet in which no more than 25 percent of calories come from fat keeps blood flowing smoothly and dramatically cuts your chances of having a heart attack.

Boosting Good Cholesterol

By now you probably know that LDL, or “bad,” artery-clogging cholesterol is affected by the foods we eat–especially the amounts and types of fat. But did you know that you can also increase your HDL, or “good,” artery-cleaning cholesterol, by being at or near your ideal weight? Regular exercise also helps.

“The younger you are and the less fat you carry, the better your chances of reducing your cholesterol levels to well within the desirable range–say, 175 to 195 milligrams total cholesterol per deciliter of blood,” reports Louis J. Aronne, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine at New York HospitalCornell University Medical College in New York City. (An HDL level of 60 milligrams per deciliter of blood or greater is considered good; at less than 35, it’s a risk factor for heart disease. And an LDL reading of under 130 is desirable; it’s risky when it hits 160 or above.)

Happily, you needn’t wait until you reach your goal weight to see good HDL results. “Even rather small weight losses–10 percent of initial weight or so–will result in increased HDL levels,” says F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, M.D., director of the Obesity Research Center at St. Luke’sRoosevelt Hospital Center in New York City.
Your cholesterol may rise as you get older, and while you can’t do much to avoid birthdays, you certainly can start to lower your cholesterol readings by lowering your weight.

Decreasing the Risk of Diabetes

Of all the major diseases, diabetes is the one most clearly linked to overweight. Of the 11 million Americans suffering from the disease, 90 percent have non-insulin-dependent (Type II) diabetes–precisely the type most closely associated with excess weight.

“There’s no question that obesity is a major contributor to the development of diabetes,” says Susan Zelitch Yanovski, M.D., an obesity expert at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. But here again, the news is good. “Even a modest weight loss,” she says, “can significantly reduce risk for the development of diabetes, as well as improve the blood sugar of those who already have it.”

Adds Dr. Pi-Sunyer, “In people with non-insulin-dependent diabetes, blood sugar levels improve within days after starting a weight-loss program, and in some cases medication can be greatly reduced or eliminated.”

Preventing Cancer

While there’s some debate over whether overweight is a factor in breast cancer, there is a distinct relationship between breast cancer and a high-fat diet, which generally leads to overweight as well. In Japan, where until recently fat intake was far lower than ours, the incidence of breast cancer was also far lower.

However, things are changing. As the Japanese eat more fat and their diet begins to resemble the typical high-fat American diet, they are experiencing more breast cancer.

Many experts now believe that limiting dietary fat to no more than 20 percent of calories consumed–a figure substantially lower than the government’s recommended ceiling of 30 percent–is the ideal way to ward off breast cancer. But even if you lean more toward the higher percentage, you’re still dramatically cutting your chances of getting breast cancer, which strikes one in every nine American women.

In addition to breast cancer, overweight women experience greater incidence of other types of cancer, including ovarian and cervical. “Studies have shown that obesity leads to increased levels of estrone, a cancer-promoting hormone,” says Dr. Yanovski. “While not all of the evidence for this is clear right now, it is likely that being at a healthy body weight would help give protection from these forms of cancer.”

In men, high-fat diets have been associated with prostate cancer, and so they, like women, would be wise to limit their dietary fat intake to no more than 25 or 30 percent of calories from fat.

Your Perfect Weight
by Mark Bricklin and Linda Konner – Following the program and tips outlined in this book can do more than help you lose weight- it may well deliver health benefits that you never dreamed were associated with weight loss. This thoroughly tested program, endorsed by editors of the world’s number one health magazine, includes expert advice direct from leading weight-loss doctors, top exercise experts, nutritionists and spa chefs.

(This article is provided by the National Consumer Alliance as part of its mission to enhance the quality of life of its members by providing educational information.)

Look For These Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes:

Many of the signs of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are similar. In both, there is too much glucose1 in the blood and not enough in the cells of your body. High glucose levels in Type I are due to a lack of insulin because the insulin2 producing cells have been destroyed. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body’s cells become resistant to insulin that is being produced. Either way, your cells aren’t getting the glucose that they need, and your body lets you know by giving you these signs and symptoms.

Frequent trips to the bathroom:

Are you visiting the bathroom much more lately? Does it seem like you urinate all day long? Urination becomes more frequent when there is too much glucose in the blood. If insulin is nonexistent or ineffective, the kidneys can’t filter glucose back to the blood. They become overwhelmed and try to draw extra water out of the blood to dilute the glucose. This keeps your bladder full and it keeps you running to the bathroom. 

Unquenchable Thirst:

If it feels like you can’t get enough water and you’re drinking much more than usual, it could be a sign of diabetes, especially if it seems to go hand in hand with frequent urination. If your body is pulling extra water out of your blood and you’re running to the bathroom more, you will become dehydrated and feel the need to drink more to replace the water that you are losing.

Losing Weight Without Trying:

This symptom is more noticeable with Type 1 diabetes. In Type 1, the pancreas stops making insulin, possibly due to a viral attack on pancreas cells or because an autoimmune response makes the body attack the insulin producing cells. The body desperately looks for an energy source because the cells aren’t getting glucose. It starts to break down muscle tissue and fat for energy. Type 2 happens gradually with increasing insulin resistance so weight loss is not as noticeable.

Weakness and Fatigue:

It’s that bad boy glucose again. Glucose from the food we eat travels into the bloodstream where insulin is supposed to help it transition into the cells of our body. The cells use it to produce the energy we need to live. When the insulin isn’t there or if the cells don’t react to it anymore, then the glucose stays outside the cells in the bloodstream. The cells become energy starved and you feel tired and run down.

Tingling or Numbness in Your Hands, Legs or Feet:

This symptom is called neuropathy. It occurs gradually over time as consistently high glucose in the blood damages the nervous system, particularly in the extremities. Type 2 diabetes is a gradual onset, and people are often not aware that they have it. Therefore, blood sugar might have been high for more than a few years before a diagnosis is made. Nerve damage can creep up without our knowledge. Neuropathy6 can very often improve when tighter blood glucose control is achieved.

Other Signs and Symptoms That Can Occur:

Blurred vision, skin that is dry or itchy, frequent infections or cuts and bruises that take a long time to heal are also signs that something is amiss. Again, when these signs are associated with diabetes, they are the result of high glucose levels in the body. If you notice any of the above signs, schedule an appointment with your doctor. He or she will be able to tell you if you have reason to be concerned about a diagnosis of diabetes.

(This article is provided by the National Consumer Alliance as part of its mission to enhance the quality of life of its members by providing educational information.)

Healthnotes Newswire (August 20, 2009)—The debate on what type of diet promotes optimal health has been raging for decades. Is it low-carb, low-fat, or something in between? For preventing breast cancer, the latest research suggests it may be something in between, and that the quality of carbohydrates in the diet may matter more than the quantity.

By the numbers

As part of the long-running Swedish Mammography Cohort study, researchers asked 61,433 women about their eating habits and followed the group to see who got breast cancer. The researchers were particularly interested in how carbohydrates in the diet might influence breast cancer risk.

After about 17 years of follow-up, neither total carbohydrate intake nor glycemic index was strongly related to the risk of most types of breast cancer. However, the researchers found that glycemic load significantly increased risk of a type of breast cancer known as ER+/PR- (estrogen receptor-positive, progesterone receptor-negative).

Women whose diets had the highest glycemic load were 81% more likely to be diagnosed with ER+/PR- breast cancer. Carbohydrate intake was related, less strongly, to risk of this cancer type as well. 

Choosing the right carbs

While glycemic index (GI) has been all the rage in the diet book industry, the lesser-known glycemic load (GL) is a better measure of the quality of carbohydrates. GI provides a way of ranking carbohydrates according to how 50 grams of carbohydrate from that food affects our blood sugar level, but it unfortunately does not take into account the serving size eaten. GL, on the other hand, takes a food’s GI into account and adds an adjustment for the amount of carbohydrates found in a normal serving size. To see why this matters, consider carrots and white pasta.

The GI of carrots is 131, while pasta has a GI of 71 (a higher GI indicates a greater adverse effect on blood sugar levels). From this, we conclude that carrots are an “unhealthy,” high-GI food, and that carrots are worse for our health than a big bowl of pasta. However, one large carrot (a serving) contains just 4 grams of carbohydrate. One serving of pasta, about a cup cooked, provides 40 grams of carbohydrate.

This means that one serving of carrots has a low, healthy GL of 5.2. The GL for a serving of pasta is quite high at 28. In order to have the same GL from carrots as from a serving of pasta, you would have to eat nearly two pounds of carrots! Considering this, along with numerous other studies indicating that diets that put stress on our blood sugar–regulating mechanisms may increase breast cancer risk, it makes sense why this study shows a high-GL diet, but not a high-GI diet, may increase breast cancer risk.

Load up on complex carbs

The following tips will put you on the right track with your carbohydrate choices:

• Go au natural. Generally, the less processed a food is, the lower its GL.
• Pick whole fruit and vegetables instead of fruit juices. The fiber in these foods naturally slows the absorption of their natural sugars, improving blood sugar control in the body.
• Don’t be fooled by GI. More information is available about the glycemic index than the glycemic load of foods, so it’s tempting to use GI as a guide for making healthy choices. Just remember that this can be misleading.
• Combine protein, fat, and carbohydrates together for the healthiest meals and snacks. For example, try a banana with peanut butter or an apple with a handful of almonds for a snack instead of a banana and apple together.

Suzanne Dixon, MPH, MS, RD, an author, speaker, and internationally recognized expert in chronic disease prevention, epidemiology, and nutrition, has taught medical, nursing, public health, and alternative medicine coursework. She has delivered over 150 invited lectures to health professionals and consumers and is the creator of a nutrition website acclaimed by the New York Times and Time magazine. Suzanne received her training in epidemiology and nutrition at the University of Michigan, School of Public Health at Ann Arbor.

(This article is provided by the National Consumer Alliance as part of its mission to enhance the quality of life of its members by providing educational information.)

Healthnotes Newswire (August 13, 2009)—A recent review of studies conducted between 1965 and 2008 regarding diet and prostate cancer risk found some consistent patterns: consuming more fruits and vegetables, fewer calories, and less fat, meat, dairy products, and calcium seems to protect against it. Several risk factors have been identified for this common disease:

• Ethnicity: Black men have the highest risk, while Asian men and Native Americans have the lowest.
• Age: 60% of all cases are diagnosed in men over 70 years old.
• Genetics: Having a first-degree relative with prostate cancer more than doubles the risk.
• Environmental factors, such as diet: Asian men who immigrate to the US develop similar prostate cancer risk as American men within two generations, suggesting that other factors in the Western diet, lifestyle, or environment may influence risk more than race.

The review investigated the contribution of several dietary factors to the risk of developing prostate cancer. Following are the highlights of the findings which were published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. 

Factors that seem to decrease prostate cancer risk
• Increased consumption of plant-based foods, especially tomatoes (cooked tomato products were more protective than fresh) and other lycopene-containing foods (like watermelon), and cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts.
• Increased consumption of soy, vitamin E, and selenium. Tofu, tempeh, and edamame are great ways to get your soy. Whole food sources of vitamin E and selenium are best. Brazil nuts are particularly rich in selenium, and almonds are high in vitamin E. Enjoy nuts raw or roast them lightly at home to preserve their delicate nutrients.

Factors that seem to increase prostate cancer risk
• Meat, especially when grilled or processed (as in lunchmeats and hot dogs), and eaten five or more times per week.
• Dairy, even if it’s low fat.
• Calcium, when taken in excess of 1.5 grams per day.
• Fat, especially animal fats and saturated fats.

No association was found between prostate cancer risk and consumption of fish or omega-3 fats, folic acid, or green tea.
“The dietary recommendations for patients diagnosed with prostate cancer are similar to those for reducing prostate cancer risk,” commented the study’s authors.

While this review helps clear some of the confusion over the best diet to prevent prostate cancer, it should be noted that many of the studies reviewed are preliminary, and therefore not definitive.

Kimberly Beauchamp, ND, earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. She cofounded South County Naturopaths in Wakefield, RI, and now sees patients in East Greenwich and Wakefield. Inspired by her passion for healthful eating and her own young daughters, Dr. Beauchamp is currently writing a book about optimizing children’s health through better nutrition.

(This article is provided by the National Consumer Alliance as part of its mission to enhance the quality of life of its members by providing educational information.)

Congratulations on making a commitment to losing weight. Now, how to choose which diet is right for you? First, seek guidance from your healthcare practitioner. Then decide what kind of diet meshes with your lifestyle and personality. The better the diet fits you, the greater your chances are of reaching your weight-loss goal, so ask some questions before you pick:

Q. How does food fit into my day?
A. Before you jump into a diet program with both feet, consider your lifestyle so that you set yourself up for success:

• Are you a parent who prepares all the meals? Consider diets that aren’t disruptive to your routine. Too many restrictions will sabotage your best intentions. Adapt a diet that won’t have you doing double duty at mealtime.
• Are you a single, active professional? Access and time to exercise at gyms, studios, and nearby parks will be a boon to any diet you choose. Sustain your energy levels by choosing a diet that isn’t too low in calories or fat.
• Do you travel extensively for work? Think ahead to what you can realistically eat on the road. Narrow food choices or nutrient-balancing diets will make eating out an arduous task. Incorporate exercise routines into your daily plans whether it’s booking a hotel with a gym or packing running shoes for each trip. 

Q. How do I best like to eat?
A. Rather than deny your innermost urges, let your personality take center stage when finding the right diet:

• Are you highly organized and detail-oriented? You might lean toward nutrient-balancing (The Zone) or low-fat diets that give you precise guidelines to follow.
• Do you work best with outside motivation? Support group weight-loss programs, such as Weight Watchers, work for many people who succeed when fellow dieters are there to cheer and reinforce their diet goals.
• Are you an avid snacker or a three-meals–a-day person? Diets with prepackaged foods parse meals out in neat, calorie-counted packets; this might work for people who feel their snacking calories add up to too much. Three-squares-a-day people might find that nutrient-balancing diets or low-carb, high-protein diets sustain them between meals.
• Are you a vegetarian? High-protein diets that emphasize meat and dairy rule out the vegetarian crowd, while low-fat, high-fiber diets more closely approximate an herbivore’s eating patterns.

Q. How can I get in enough exercise?
A. Choosing an exercise routine that you enjoy will help you lose weight and keep it off, so try to work in a workout that you can stick to:

• Do you like to work out alone? Try running, cycling, or swimming.
• Do you need the motivation of a gym? Take up weight-lifting, exercise classes, or hire a personal trainer.
• Do you like the camaraderie of team sports? Join a rowing, soccer, or other team.
• Do you crave adventure? Take up kayaking, rock climbing, or other outdoor fun.

Regardless of which diet you choose, aim to lose weight slowly, 1/2 to 2 pounds (0.25 to 0.9 kg) per week. Eat smaller portions and take in fewer calories than you expend. Don’t skip meals in an effort to cut calories. Make eating moderately and sensibly your lifelong diet!

Hearing loss can affect your life in many ways. It can range from missing certain sounds to total loss of hearing. Hearing loss can be serious. You may not hear the sound of your smoke detector alerting you to a fire. You may miss out on talks with friends or family.

Hearing problems can make you feel anxious, upset, and left out. It’s easy to withdraw from people when you can’t follow what is being said at the dinner table or in a restaurant. Friends and family may think you’re confused, uncaring, or difficult when you’re really having trouble hearing.

If you have a problem hearing, there is help. There are many treatments—hearing aids, certain medicines, or surgery.

How Do I Know if I Have a Hearing Loss?

See your doctor if you:

Have trouble hearing over the telephone
Find it hard to follow conversations when two or more people are talking
Often ask people to repeat what they are saying
Need to turn up the TV volume so loud that others complain
Have a problem hearing because of background noise
Think that others seem to mumble
Can’t understand when women and children speak to you 

Types Of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss can have many different causes. Here are two kinds of hearing loss common in older people.

Presbycusis (prez-bee-KYOO-sis) is a common type of hearing loss that comes on slowly as a person ages. It seems to run in families and affects hearing in both ears. The degree of hearing loss varies from person to person. A common sign of early hearing loss is not being able to hear a phone ringing.

Tinnitus (TIH-nih-tuhs or tih-NIE-tuhs) causes a ringing, roaring, or hissing noise in your ear. Tinnitus can go hand-in-hand with many types of hearing loss. It can also be a sign of other health problems, such as high blood pressure or allergies. Often it is unclear what causes tinnitus, which may be permanent, come and go, or go away quickly.

Other Hearing Loss Problems

Loud noise is one of the most common causes of hearing loss. Noise from lawn mowers, snowblowers, motorcycles, firecrackers, or loud music can damage the inner ear. This can result in permanent hearing loss. You can prevent most noise-related hearing loss. Protect yourself by turning down the sound on your stereo, television, or headphones; move away from loud noise; or use earplugs or other ear protection.

Ear wax or fluid build-up can block sounds that are carried from the eardrum to the inner ear. If wax blockage is a problem, try using mild treatments, such as mineral oil, baby oil, glycerin, or commercial ear drops, to soften ear wax. A punctured eardrum can also cause hearing loss. The eardrum can be damaged by infection, pressure, or putting objects in the ear, including cotton-tipped swabs. See your doctor if you have pain or fluid draining from the ear.

Viruses and bacteria, heart condition, stroke, brain injuries, or tumors may affect your hearing. If you have hearing problems caused by a new medication, check with your doctor to see if another medicine can be used.

Sudden deafness is a medical emergency that may be curable if treated in time. See a doctor right away.

Talk To Your Doctor

Your family doctor may be able to diagnose and treat your hearing problem. Or, your doctor may refer you to other clinicians such as an otolaryngologist (oh-toh-layr-ehn-GOL-luh-jist), a doctor who specializes in medical problems of the ear, nose, and throat (also called an ENT doctor), or an audiologist (aw-dee-AH-luh-jist), who is trained to measure hearing and provide services to improve hearing. Audiologists can help select the best hearing aid for you and teach you how to use it.

What Devices Can Help?

There are many hearing devices that can help such as:

Hearing aids. Hearing aids are electronic, battery-run devices that make sounds louder. There are many types of hearing aids available. Before buying a hearing aid, check to find out if your insurance will cover the cost. Ask if you can have a trial period so that you can make sure the device is right for you. An audiologist will teach you how to use your hearing aid.

Hearing aids should fit comfortably in your ear. You may need several visits with the audiologist to get it right. Hearing aids may need repairs, and batteries will have to be changed on a regular basis. Remember, when you buy a hearing aid, you are buying both a product and a service.

Words To Know When Looking For Hearing Aids

Analog hearing aids make certain sounds louder, and lower other sounds so that it’s easier to follow conversations.
Digital hearing aids give you some choice over what sounds are louder or softer. By controlling some background noise, you may hear conversations more easily.
Telecoil refers to a magnetic coil in a hearing aid that helps you to hear when talking on the telephone or in buildings that have special sound systems.
Induction loop systems can help you hear better in some public places such as auditoriums, movie theaters, churches, synagogues, and meeting places where microphones are used. Ask if the place you’re visiting has one.

Assistive devices. There are many products that can help you hear better. For example:
Telephone amplifying devices can make it easier to use the phone.
TV and radio listening systems can let you hear the TV or radio without being bothered by background noise or needing to turn up the volume.
Alert systems can work with doorbells, smoke detectors, and alarm clocks to send you visual signals or vibrations. For example, a flashing light could let you know someone is at the door or the phone is ringing, or a vibrating alarm clock under your pillow could wake you in the morning.

Cochlear implants. These electronic devices are for people with severe hearing loss. Part of the device is surgically implanted under the skin. Another part is visible. You need special training to adjust to an implant. They don’t work for all types of hearing loss.

What Can I Do If I Have Trouble Hearing?

Let people know that you have trouble hearing.
Ask people to face you and to speak more slowly and clearly. Also, ask them to speak without shouting.
Pay attention to what is being said and to facial expressions or gestures.
Let the person talking know if you do not understand.
Ask the person speaking to reword a sentence and try again.

How Can I Help A Person With Hearing Loss?

Here are some tips you can use when talking with someone who has a hearing problem:
Include people with hearing loss in the conversation.
Find a quiet place to talk to help reduce background noise, especially in restaurants and social gatherings.
Stand in good lighting and use facial expressions or gestures to give clues.
Face the person and talk clearly.
Speak a little more loudly than normal, but don’t shout.
Speak at a reasonable speed; do not hide your mouth, eat, or chew gum.
Repeat yourself if necessary, using different words.
Try to make sure only one person talks at a time.
Be patient. Stay positive and relaxed.
Ask how you can help.

Article provided by:
National Institute on Aging
National Institutes of Health
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services

July 2009

by Susan Castrianni

(This article is provided by the National Consumer Alliance as part of its mission to enhance the quality of life of its members by providing educational information.)

Most Americans are struggling to afford health insurance. In just the past few years, the cost of buying health insurance for your family has skyrocketed. I was talking with an insurance agent recently, who told me it’s not unusual at all for his clients to be paying $1,000 to $1,400 per month for their family to be covered.

I don’t know many people who can easily afford those kinds of monthly insurance payments. Most who are paying them are making major sacrifices in other areas. The vast majority of Americans put health coverage very high on their list of priorities, so the other things that get left behind might surprise you. No question, the quality of life is far lower for many people now that they pay so much to be insured.

Meanwhile, many employers are cutting back their employees’ insurance coverage. Professions that once paid all their employees’ health insurance premiums — like teachers and firefighters — are finding the employee footing the bill for larger and larger portions of their insurance.

How are people coping? Many Americans simply don’t have health insurance anymore. That’s a big problem not only for families, who often put off going to the doctor, but also for society in general. People who hesitate buying medicine or seeing a doctor often end up very sick in hospital emergency rooms.

Others are simply reducing the amount of health insurance they have. They pay a larger portion of their doctor visits and prescription medicine costs. If you are a young adult, it may not make a lot of sense to pay huge insurance premiums to be covered for major illnesses that you are very unlikely to experience.

There are a growing number of health insurance plans that let you pick and choose the areas of coverage you want to pay for. While this practice was prohibited in many states, more and more places are seeing the wisdom and necessity of this approach.

Even more pressing than the cost of health insurance is the cost of buying prescription medicines. Many people simply can’t afford the spiraling cost of the medicines they need. Others might insist, willingly lowering their standard of living just to afford overpriced medicine.

The solution to this problem increasingly has nothing to do with insurance. Organizations use their large pool of members to negotiate big discounts on prescription drugs at thousands of chain and independent pharmacies nationwide. Typically you can save up to 60% off generic drugs and up to 15% off name-brand drugs.

This is a big advantage for the elderly, families, businesses, organizations, and anyone who wants to lower their cost of medicine. Additionally, some programs also cover medicine for your pets. If you often care for an ill animal, this can save you a lot of money over time.

Unlike insurance, discount drug programs are often very low cost or free. Pharmacies participate in the discount programs to encourage you to buy from them. It’s a win-win for both you and the medical industry.