Pregnancy in itself is stressful but excessive stress during pregnancy is linked to child’s development of some physical and mental disorders at birth or later on in life. New research suggests that extreme stress during the first trimester of pregnancy can have harmful effects on baby’s mental health. Schizophrenia, low birth weight, and other birth complications are attributed to stress during pregnancy.
While it is difficult or even impossible to eliminate stress for nine months straight, you can always limit your exposure to stress and lessen your body’s response to stress.
Take a time out – Accept the fact that while you currently can handle pretty well the demanding lifestyle and busy schedules, you may not be able to sustain it as pregnancy progresses. Thus, cut back on task and allow yourself to relax, sleep and rest. The most crucial period in pregnancy is during the first trimester. So if you can, take a leave from work the moment you know that you are pregnant or at least, be conscious of your physical and emotional limits.
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Everyone’s all abuzz with panic nowadays it seems. That’s mostly because after SARS and bird flu, another new strain of virus has managed to rear its head. The H1N1 influenza virus, more popularly known as the swine flu, exploded on to the global scene last April via a large-scale infection in Mexico City.
I think everyone’s seen the images on CNN a thousand time. Surgical-masked Mexicans crowding the hospitals with worrisome shots of full hospital beds.The Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization raised their alert levels in hopes of catching and cutting off the infection at the bud, but it seems that cases have been reported all over the world. It seems that the current fatalities from disease are from Mexico but everyone is just expecting for the other shoe to drop.
To understand all of this panic, you need to have a little background. Influenza, or more popularly known as the flu, is probably one of the most infectious diseases out there. Airborne and highly contagious, it could spread like wildfire all across the world. Now you’re asking what’s the matter with a few people getting a bit of sniffles? That’s because this isn’t your ordinary flu.
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Today, we all enjoy more accessible contact with cultures around the world. As quickly as you can travel thousands of miles, an infectious disease can be your silent companion, landing at your destination and spreading like wildfire. Infectious diseases are on the rise. Bacteria and viruses are mutating quickly these days, as various strains become resistant to more antibiotics.
Diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and polio are now making a comeback. New diseases, such as swine flu, bird flu and mad cow disease are breaking out in unexpected places. These diseases warrant your attention, but there’s not much you can currently do to protect against them. However, there are many more common infectious diseases which you can effectively ward off with a few simple but proactive steps.
Many infectious diseases are spread by a simple lack of good hygiene. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and teach your kids to do this as well. Follow up by washing your hands. This can prevent the whole family from coming down with a cold or flu. Statistics show that the average child comes down with anywhere from six to twelve colds each year. Many are preventable. Kids who sneeze, don’t cover their mouths and go right on playing with toys the next kid picks up, spread colds like wildfire.
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We all know for a fact that the cost of health insurance is continuing to rise. This makes it very hard for individuals to get coverage and really makes a lot of people feel vulnerable. Other people think that they don’t need health insurance at all because they never had any major medical problems. This type of thinking is indeed very risky as you will never know when you will need the money to cover medical expenses, especially major medical expenses.
You need to keep in mind that in today’s rising medical care cost, you need to get health insurance and there are quite a lot of ways for you to get cheaper or more affordable health insurance for yourself as well as for your family.
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‘Man skin care’ would seem like an alien topic to some men. It would have been even more alien a few years back. However, more and more men are now realizing the importance of skin care (and hence you see markets flush with man skin care products). Even though the male skin is very different from that of a female, ‘man skin care’ is very similar to the skin care for women.
Like women’s skin care, men’s skin care also starts with cleansing. Water soluble cleansers are preferred. Cleansing helps remove the dirt, grease and pollutants from the skin and helps in preventing pore clogging. The inherent oily nature of male skin makes cleansing an important part of man skin care procedure. Cleansing should be done at least once every day, even better if it is done twice a day. Using soap on the face is discouraged.
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