Tag Archives: health

3 Common Issues Misdiagnosed As IBS

03/01/2019 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS, is a common, long-standing condition that affects the digestive system. Its typical symptoms are abdominal pain as well as irregular patterns of bowel movements. As a result, IBS is perceived as a functional gastrointestinal disorder that can be triggered by a variety of factors. However, it can be often misdiagnosed when a specific pattern of complaints leads to similar symptoms. The bottom line is that if you’re struggling with abdominal pains throughout the day, it might not be IBS. In fact, in our fast-paced environment, there are other causes of acute pain attacks that subside within a day or so.

IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, stress, gastrointestinal, digestion — **Stress, courtesy of flickr**

You’re stressed out

Stress can be a trigger for IBS, but, more often than not, the absence of stress management can lead to the development of a chronic condition. Indeed, stress can affect your digestion and gut health. Your brain controls the gut via the nervous system. When you are going through a hectic time, your gastrointestinal system responds to reactions in your nervous system, which impacts the effective release of enzymes to break down food or the categorization of nutrients. As a result, you can experience indigestion, difficult bowel movements, acid reflux, etc. Managing stress can prevent it from triggering IBS in the future.

You don’t look after your diet

We get it. You’re busy. You don’t have time to think about what you’re eating when you have a family. Consequently, you indulge in food that makes you happy. Your diet is not a top priority. You want food to create pleasure; however, you forget how it can affect your body. Unhealthy food clogs your arteries. Junk food destroys the microbiome in your gut. While you can have a cheat day here and then, you shouldn’t make it a habit!

You’ve got a food intolerance you don’t know about

Most people know about food allergy. However, food intolerance can be left unnoticed if minor cases. For instance, a minor lactose or gluten intolerance can not interfere with your diet in distinct ways. You might experience some abdominal discomfort as your body tries to digest the food, which can be wrongly attributed to IBS. To identify potential triggers, consider reaching out to companies like Advanced Food Intolerance Labs, who can provide tests to pinpoint specific food intolerances, and help you adjust your diet for better health.

How to tackle the issue?

Ultimately, you need to book an appointment with a specialist of gut health, a gastroenterologist, to make sure that your abdominal pains receive the attention they deserve. If you’re worried about a gastrointestinal condition, a specialist will be able to help you understand what is going on. More importantly, they will have the equipment you need to run tests and provide a safe diagnosis. In other words, not every tummy pain is IBS!

What to do before you see a doctor?

However, before you book an appointment, it’s a good idea to keep a health journal that lets you track what you eat, how you feel, and significant elements of your routine. This can be a helpful background to understand the cause of your pain. Additionally, it can highlight patterns you might not have noticed, such as how your meal or emotions affect your gut health.

IBS affects 15% of the population. However, it is often misdiagnosed in individuals who have not expressed abdominal concerns in the past. You can avoid extensive tests by listening to your body and recognizing the signs of stress, unhealthy diet habits, and food intolerance.

Health

Nexxus Aloe Rid Shampoo – Passing Hair Follicle Drug Tests

02/22/2019 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Nexxus, aloe, shampoo, health, drug test

Today, we are constantly faced with all kinds of drug tests, tests which could affect the trajectory of our careers. More and more employers are beginning to demand a drug free environment. The reason for this is simple; companies in the U.S alone lose about $100 billion annually to drug and alcohol abuse. Read more about it here: https://www.verywellmind.com/substance-abuse-in-the-workplace-63807

These are not costs that employers are willing to continue to bear. It therefore makes sense for them to constantly be on the lookout for such cases so they can nip them in the bud and avoid the huge cost to them and their operations. So if you test positive for any of the substances that have been classified as controlled, you may find yourself facing some sanctions or even an outright sack.

There are different types of tests that employers can adopt. These include saliva test, blood test, urine test and hair follicle test. Of all the types of drug tests we have listed above, the hair follicle test can be quite troublesome and we will see why briefly.

What is a Hair Follicle Drug Test?

A hair follicle drug test is a method of testing for drug usage that uses strands of hair to determine drug usage. This type of test can be used to determine usage of drugs such as: amphetamine, methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstasy, PCP, cocaine, and opioids.

When a person uses any drugs, it goes into the blood stream. Each hair follicle has a blood vessel feeding it. The blood vessels carry the blood with the drug into the hair follicle where they can then be detected for a period of time.

We mentioned that hair follicles tests can be quite troublesome because whereas other types of drug tests can discover drug usage from between 1 to 30 days to the date of the test (depending on the drug used and the test method), this type of test can discover drug usage from up to 90 days prior to the date of the test. Of course this will vary depending on the drug used and other factors like frequency and quantity used.

Any employer that really wants to find out if an employee or prospective employee has used any controlled substance in the past three months will simply opt for a hair follicle test.

To carry out a hair follicle drug test, strands of hair of about the thickness of a pencil and measuring at least 1.5inches in length will be required. The hair for the test cannot be taken from a comb as in the case of DNA tests. It has to be taken from the head of the test subject before the test.

Aside from the fact that this type of test can show drug usage from up to 90 days before the day of the test, it is also very non-invasive and reliable. Cheating in this type of test is not easy and the test can be re-conducted with the same hair samples over and over again.

Beating a Hair Follicle Drug Test

If you have read up to this point and you have a hair follicle test in the horizon and you are not absolutely sure you will come out of the test unscathed you may be a bit worried. Yes, we noted that beating this type of test can be difficult. We however did not say it was impossible so you can breathe again.

There is a simple but effective way of beating a hair follicle test. There are detox shampoos that you can use and your hair follicles will be cleansed of any telltale signs of drug usage. One example of such a hair shampoo is the Nexxus Aloe Rid Shampoo.

There is a possibility that some prescription drugs you are taking can contain some substances that are controlled. It is also possible that you live in a state where marijuana is legal but your employer does not like the idea of having people who take it as employees. Whatever your reason for wanting to beat that drug test, this shampoo can get the job done for you.

How Does Nexxus Aloe Rid Shampoo Work?

The Nexxus Aloe Rid Shampoo is a shampoo that uses propylene glycol as its active ingredient. It also includes other ingredients among which are: Water, sodium sulfate, cocamide DEA, cocamidopropyl betadine, aloe barbadensis gel, panthenol, tocopheryl acetate, tetrahexyldecyl, avocado oil, soybean, sodium thiosulfate, and methoxydibenzoylmethane. These ingredients help remove the toxins from the substance you have ingested from your hair follicles.

To effectively use this shampoo it is recommended that you follow a simple guide. To achieve the most optimal result, start using the shampoo some days before the scheduled test. If you can, start using it 3 to 5 days before the day of the test. If you can start earlier, that’s even better. You can learn more about how to use this product here.

To be on the safer side, after using this product for a while, conduct a test by yourself before heading out for your official test. While this product has been severally proven to work, it is best for you to conduct a confirmatory test of your own before heading out for your test. You can get a self-test kit at most reputable pharmacy stores around.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the best way to pass a drug test is to stay totally away from drugs and other controlled substances. That said, should you find yourself in a situation where you need to beat a hair follicle drug test, you can breathe easy knowing there is a product that can help you.

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Parenting

Taking Care of Your Health as a Dad

12/10/2018 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

healthy, dad, fatherhood, tips, advice, healthy living

Image Credit

In this article, we’re going to look at a number of factors that are relevant to taking care of your health as a dad, particularly as you get older.

Men’s health is different to that of women’s health, and men suffer from a variety of issues women don’t – for instance, male pattern baldness is something some men are genetically predisposed to, and whilst it is relatively common in society it is something that can still cause much trauma to the ego of many men.

Similarly, there are issues such as hearing loss and eyesight issues that affect both genders, and of course diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke are also common in both genders. There are specific formulations of vitamin supplements that are known to be good for men, though in the majority of cases, common sense and stable health practices such as ensuring plenty of hydration and reducing fat in your diet.

In this article, we’re going to look at some of the core prophylactic measures you can take to ensure you have optimum health as you grow older. Of course, there are remedial devices such as how a pair of glasses can help correct eyesight deterioration and a hearing enhancer can amplify sound to make it easier to hear… but, prevention is often better than cure, and so in that spirit let’s take a look at some of the aspects of your health you might want to consider taking better care of.

1. DIET

What you eat you become. We’ve all heard this phrase, time and time again, yet we still manage to stuff our faces with food that isn’t good for us. The reason for this is that many people are emotional eaters, meaning they eat to derive pleasure and celebrate or derive comfort and commiserate.

The challenge with this approach to food, however, is that it’s being used as a “drug” rather than a fuel, and in that sense, we aren’t always making the wisest choices for our health – as we are placacting our emotional urges rather than physiological needs.

Consider the food you eat to be like a bank account, in that there are certain things that are “deposits” (e.g. a healthy meal) and there are also withdrawals (e.g. a greasy doughnut that clogs your arteries). This way, you can simply keep track of whether you’re starting to get overdrawn.

2. HYDRATION

Again, we all know that the body (and particularly the brain) is made up mostly of water, yet we often live in a perpetual state of chronic dehydration. This causes headaches, low mood, stress and aches and pains throughout all our muscles.

The simplest solution to improving your health is found in the process of drinking more water. The more water you drink, within reason, the healthier you will become. There are many scientific reasons for this, but in a nutshell, you just need to make sure you are drinking a LOT of water in order to stay in optimum health.

3. CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS

In addition to diet, fitness that raises your heartbeat is a good preventative factor when it comes to fending off heart disease. Now, if you are in a state of poor health the last thing you want to do is start going to the gym and engaging in extremely intense sport, as this is likely to do more harm than good.

The trick is to start off slow, and build up gradually, to ensure you are maintaining a healthy heart. Using a heart rate monitor can be helpful to assess where your heart rate is within a class, and ensure it remains within a safe zone.

4. FLEXIBILITY

Something a lot of guys focus on, when it comes to being fit is building their muscles so that they “look good”, yet this can sometimes be at the detriment to health in longevity. For instance, if you overwork your chest muscles without focusing on your upper back, you are likely to become hunched over which can cause postural problems down the line.

Flexibility is more important than strength when it comes to functional fitness, so getting yourself to a yoga class, or simply following along on YouTube makes a lot of sense to ease common complaints such as back pain.

5. STRESS

Stress is known as one of the biggest killers, in the sense that it’s often the underlying cause for physiological changes in the body that lead to disease. There’s an idea that the mind controls the body and in that sense, you want to remember that your physical health is directly linked to your mental health. Always take note of your mental health and ensure to seek help if necessary. There are plenty of products out there that can help with stress, from chamomile teas to a list of full spectrum oils. You can also reach out to a doctor, therapist, support groups, helplines, friends and family if you are struggling. Remember, you are never alone!