Exercise...(0)

posted on  31st January 2012

Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, in addition to nutrition (a balanced diet) and adequate hydration (drinking water).

Most people would think of exercise being an important part of achieving a healthy weight, but the immediate response is often a gym membership or starting running.

Both can lead to injury, frustration and perhaps even abandonment, if not properly instructed, planned and maintained.

But exercise doesn't have to be going to the gym every day, it can and should be part of every day life, and it is better to be varied so that boredom doesn't creep in.

What do you enjoy doing now? What would fit with your lifestyle? What did you used to enjoy doing that has lapsed? What activities do your friends and family enjoy?

Any movement really has to be better than being sat in front of the TV with a large bag of crisps!

Yes exercise does burn off calories, but more importantly it keeps on burning calories over the next 24 hours or so as your metabolic rate increases i.e. you body becomes more efficient a burning the fuel you are taking in in the form of food.

Weight bearing exercise e.g. walking, running improves the strength of bones and is particular important to ward off osteoporosis which Isa thinning of the bones usually seen in older age.

Exercise helps improve the strength of muscles and gives a better form and definition to the body often making you feel better about yourself even if you haven't lost weight as such. If muscles are becoming bigger via strength exercises it is also important to stretch, and warm-up cool-down sessions are needed with all activities to prevent injury.

Exercise helps improve mood and mental health for a number of reasons. Firstly great hormones are secreted when you exercise, the so-called endorphins and have an effect similar to morphine and can help battle stress and depression. Endorphin release also helps in controlling appetite and increases sex-drive. The amount of endorphin release varies from one individual to another.

The benefits of exercise are greatly seen in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease i.e. high blood pressure, heart attacks diabetes and stroke.

How much Exercise?

Well unless you're an endurance athlete, the best amount of exercise for improving your wellness is actually around 30 minutes preferably every day. And that is moderate exercise e.g. a brisk walk, doing the hovering! Anything that makes you slightly breathless. Also the 30 minutes is accumulative i.e. it all adds up during the day and doesn't need to be done all at once. So walking to the shops, taking the stairs instead of the escalator really do help.

Alison Sparkes
Pharmacy Director
Medicine Centre
153 Windsor Rd
Neath
SA11 1NU
www.medicinecentre.co.uk

HEADLICE...(0)

posted on  24th January 2012

Never a nice subject- stop scratching now! But these little fellas -very resilient been around about 5.6 million years simply live on human heads and feed off the blood in our scalp. They’re not particularly fussy, love short hair or long, clean or dirty, blonde or brunette!

However they seem to cause so much aggravation, firstly the stigma side of things and secondly that these days it seems there is a lot of treatment failure with traditional insecticides

But THINK again

It may be that the louse has become resistant to the chemical being used, they haven’t survived over 5 million years without a great capacity to adapt and mutate, but is this really treatment failure-

OR is the treatment being used properly?

• is the whole single application per head?

• are the correct timings being followed around application, drying etc.

• Is the treatment being repeated in 7 days where advised?

WERE lice really present- other scalp conditions can mimic and so can clumpy dandruff. The chemical should only  be used for live crawly adult lice which are about 3mm long as most products do not kill the egg.

A lot of folks don't realise when they see the shiny white capsules which are eggs that the waxy shells are often just debris and not always live eggs.

The female louse can lay 7 days after hatching so timing is everything! and repeating the treatment in a week is advisable for most treatments

The simple and best way to avoid headlice is not to have head to head contact. They can't jump or crawl, just stroll from head to head,  and as they live off blood cannot survive off the scalp for very long.

Nevertheless washing of pillowcases and bed-linen on a hot wash may be advisable and not sharing combs, brushes etc.

When a family member has head-lice, vigilant monitoring of all close contacts is advisable, and a few phone calls may be appreciated! The best way to detect lice is to use a fine tooth-comb and comb from the scalp over a white piece of paper, then look for small lice about 2-3mm in length. Eggs may also be detected close to the scalp and an easy way to distinguish them from dandruff etc. is to pull them gently and see if they slide along the hair-shaft.

Removal of the eggs by tooth-comb is often more cosmetic than anything, but a good wet-combing technique can remove live lice if done properly and thoroughly.

If there is an outbreak at school, parent often want to know the best thing to do. Repellants may be helpful, tea tree has been used widely, but really keeping a close watch is the best approach. Keep a head-lice treatment in your medicine cupboard if you have children of a vulnerable age, at least then action can be taken promptly.

And remember Ask Your Local Pharmacist for advice. Some products may be cheaper online, but advice personally delivered is invaluable!