The immune system is a body system made up of special cells which defend our body against harmful bacteria, germs and microorganisms. It is a kind of defensive system made up of white blood cells called leukocytes, thymus, lymph, spleen and bone marrow. It protects our body from all attacks caused by foreign bodies, commonly known as antigens, by producing antibodies. Hence, this system is very important for all of us to lead a healthy life. Due to irregular eating habits and fast lifestyle, most of us are facing one or other types of health problems and all this is due to weak immunity system. So it has become very much important to keep a check on our eating habits to prevent different types of immunity-related disorders. Here we are going to discuss a few simple ways to keep your system in order. Adding these habits and foods in our daily life will not only make us less prone to diseases, but will also help us stay healthy.

Take a nutritious diet: Healthy and nutritious food helps a lot in keeping our immune system in order. A healthy diet includes sufficient quantity of proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, and roughage. An ideal meal constitutes all these ingredients in proper quantities. Various foods can be added in our daily life in order to stay healthy and prevent immune system related disorders. Some of them are mentioned as below:

Yogurt contains beneficial bacteria which wards off harmful parasites and germs.
Turmeric has medicinal properties and acts as an antiseptic.
Green Tea helps strengthen immune system.
Ginger & Garlic help get rids of body toxins and protect against illness.
Broccoli contains anti-cancer agents and anti-oxidant compounds.
Lemon & Blueberries equalize the balance of acids & alkali and help stay protected.

Drink plenty of water: Ample intake of water removes body fatigue and help stay active. It helps our body to stay active and function normally. A dehydrated body will never be able to fight diseases, so it is essential to drink at least 5-6 liters of water a day.

Diet Supplements: Certain diet supplements such as multi-vitamins, Vitamin E, fatty acids, minerals and calcium, etc. can taken in the form of capsules or tablets along with regular diet. These supplements help fulfill deficiencies and strengthen immune system. Common lifestyle diseases like fatigue, sickness, aging, body ache etc. can be avoided by proper use of these diet supplements.

Exercise moderately & regularly: Practicing yoga and regular exercises such as aerobics help boost immune system. But proper care shall be taken care while deciding the type and duration of exercise. Moderate amount of exercise strengthens immune system, while intense one suppresses the same. Generally, a 45-minute work-out is enough to cleanse the body system.

Sleep properly: While sleeping, our body's immune system restores itself and cells repair themselves. So, sound sleep of at least 7-8 hours is essential to help immune system work properly and allow proper release of growth hormones.

Wash your hands properly: Last but not the least, wash your hands regularly and properly with antiseptic hand wash. Maintaining good personal hygiene is essential, as it not only helps boost immune system but also helps maintain overall good health.



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Almost a quarter of the American population is afflicted with an irritable bowel disorder such as IBS or Crohn's Disease. The symptoms of Crohn's cannot, unfortunately, be cured. Remission is sometimes possible and where this happens steps can be taken to prevent a relapse. The disease is manageable for many victims, and there are three key steps to take to achieve this.

The first step is to get informed. Your local library will have medical books which are pretty much understandable to the layman so this is a good place to start. The internet will lead you to many many websites concerning medical issues. A search engine such as Google will lead you to the right place, or Wikipedia is a good and usually current source of information. You should also, of course, visit your GP - he or she will be able to give you a lot of information and support.

In fact, the second step is to get support. It is easier to cope with this affliction if you are not alone. It can take a while to seek help as many sufferers go through a phase of denial after being diagnosed (and prior to this as well if the truth be told). Denial is a quite natural initial response to any bad news but the problem needs to be confronted and it is easier to do that with someone by your side. This could be friends or a partner, or you could seek out a local self help group where you can discuss your condition with others who are suffering in a similar way. Again, the internet, the library or your GP can help you to find such a group.

The third step is to take control. The disease can usually be managed - this involves a few lifestyle changes and usually medication is prescribed. (In extreme cases surgery will be necessary however). By making some changes to lifestyle - quitting smoking, adjusting the diet - sufferers will find that their symptoms are reduced and they can live a pretty normal life with the condition. Crohn's disease is an auto immune condition and various companies and institutions around the world are working on producing a cure, with University College London one of the more prominent of these.



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Oftentimes, hemorrhoids will resolve on their own especially when you treat them as soon as possible with home treatments like high-fiber diet, herbal preparations, and water therapy as well as moderate exercise. There are cases, however, when the hemorrhoids are so severe that surgical hemorrhoid cures are necessary.

Before you undergo the surgical hemorrhoid cures, you must thoroughly discuss your options with your physician. This way, you can go under the knife, so to speak, knowing full well the benefits and risks arising from such a surgical procedure.

To help you make a good decision in this regard, you can ask your doctor the following questions:

* What are the surgical options available?
* Why choose a particular surgery over another one?
* What are the benefits and risks associated with each one in terms of post-operative care?
* How much does each procedure cost and will it be covered by insurance?
* How many operations of the kind you will be undergoing have the doctor performed and what is his success rate?

Keep in mind that you will be paying for the surgical hemorrhoid cure, not to mention feeling its post-operative pain, so it is your right to ask questions, no matter how impudent it may seem.

Your doctor will discuss the following surgical hemorrhoid cures during your pre-operation consultations. As much as possible, opt for the less invasive procedure especially in the case of an external hemorrhoid. With an internal hemorrhoid, however, you often will have no choice but to agree to a more invasive procedure.

First, rubber band ligation is ideal for second-degree internal piles. This basically involves tying the base of the hemorrhoid, thus, effectively cutting off its blood supply and allowing it to fall off during normal bowel movements in 2-7 days. Its success rate, which makes it one of the most successful hemorrhoid cures, is 60-80 percent.

Second, sclerotherapy involves injecting medicine into the hemorrhoid, which will then shrink it. Amongst the surgical hemorrhoid cures, this often has more serious complications like visual disturbances and thrombophlebitis, to name a few.

Third, stapled hemorrhoidopexy involves the insertion of a hollow tube inside the anal canal. Its purpose is to push the hemorrhoidal cushions into their normal places while cutting off the inflamed hemorrhoid via a stapling method. This is one of the more radical hemorrhoid cures and, hence, only applicable to severe cases.

Fourth, Doppler ligation involves tying off the artery that feeds the inflamed hemorrhoid, thus, causing it to shrink.

This is one of the quickest surgical hemorrhoid cures. The bleeding immediately stops and you can go home on the same day as the surgery with little post-operative care necessary.

Fifth, hemorrhoidectomy is considered to be the most painful of all surgical hemorrhoid cures. It requires a great degree of post-operative care including prescription-strength painkillers. In fact, don't expect to be in physical shape for up to a month after surgery. Fortunately, doctors reserve this operation for only the most severe hemorrhoids.

These surgical hemorrhoid cures are necessary especially when your quality of life is adversely affected and when home treatments are not doing the job. And it is always important to undergo any of these operations in the hands of a qualified surgeon.

I once even considered having surgical intervention to treat my hemorrhoids. Luckily I didn't and found some simple things to do at home that can prevent and treat hemorrhoids. To read more about my story go here, My Story.




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Do you need a cure for your excessive armpit sweating? After following the guidelines below, you should be well on your way to a sweat free life without ever having to seek professional help.

Use The Right Antiperspirant
Many people do not know that if you use the wrong antiperspirant, you could not help decrease sweating. Some antiperspirants only block odor, which is important but less important than blocking sweat. Look for antiperspirants with aluminum chloride. This ingredient is the active agent that blocks sweat pores. So look for aluminum chloride in antiperspirants if you want to decrease the amount that you sweat.

Using Talcum Powder Along With Antiperspirants
If you do not think that your antiperspirant is strong enough to absorb the sweat along, consider using talcum powder along with your antiperspirant. Talcum powder is a powerful natural solution that specializes in absorbing sweat. So if you use talcum powder along with your antiperspirant, your sweat absorbing power will be doubled. This should help decrease the amount of sweating that comes from your underarms.

Increase Airflow To Your Skin
If you increase airflow to your skin, you will sweat less. How do you do this you ask? Well you can increase airflow to your skin by wearing loose clothing. Tight clothes restrict airflow, which then leads to the body producing sweat to cool itself off. So to stop sweating as much, you should wear loose clothing that allows a lot of air to your skin.

If you want to stop excessive armpit sweating naturally, you should consider using those treatments listed above. However, if you are desperate for a solution to your excessive armpit sweating, I highly recommend you get a stop sweating guide. A stop sweating guide will not only walk you through a full list of all natural remedies that are not found on the internet, but you will learn the quickest way to stop and keep excessive sweating from ever coming back.




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Fiber

More fiber! Plant fiber, like whole grain cereals, seed and nuts, vegetables, and legumes (beans). Dietary fiber comes in two forms: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber is found in apples, oat bran, peas, pears, beans, citrus fruit and, Psyllium.

Insoluble fiber is what is important to hemorrhoid sufferers. Insoluble fiber is found in wheat bran, beans, cabbage, peas, and root vegetables like carrots, and potatoes. Insoluble fiber has the ability of absorb large amounts of water and retain it in the colon. This reduces constipation by producing large, soft stools.

High fiber foods include vegetables like broccoli, carrots, cabbage, and I have found crisp or extra cooked sunflower seeds, when you can eat the shells, work very well. Green leafy vegetables and fruits with good fibrous content may be beneficial.

Fruits that have good fiber content include bananas, papaya, apples, peaches, raisins, pears, plums, figs, melons, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, guavas, prunes, mangos, limes, and cranberries.

Corn, brown rice, kidney beans, peanuts, and lentils are good sources of fiber and are high in proteins.

Water is Great

Drink more water to keep hydrated. The fiber mixes with liquid to make your stools moist and loose creating less straining.

Drinking eight glasses of water throughout the day is beneficial in many ways. This will help your hemorrhoids but also help blood circulation and protect your body from dehydration.

Drinking coffee, tea, and alcoholic beverages dehydrate the body, which make stools harder, increasing strain that causes hemorrhoids. Fruit and vegetable juices are rich in vitamins and minerals.

Exercise is King

Exercise should be a key part of your daily lifestyle. It need not be heavy, hard work, just easy walking, bike riding, or swimming. You should find some form of exercise that you enjoy. Regular exercise strengthens and tones the whole body, lowering your weight and reducing the chance of hemorrhoids.

Exercise also makes you thirsty so you drink more water. This ties into the above section on the benefits of drinking more. Exercise flushes the toxins from your body giving overall improved health.

Sitting or standing for long periods of time can increase pressure on the rectal veins which encourage hemorrhoids. Office jobs, long driving jobs, and jobs where you stand in one place all day are the worst offending jobs when it comes to hemorrhoids. Taking frequent breaks and walking around for a few minutes increases blood circulation and may prevent hemorrhoids.

Exercise reduces obesity and there is a higher incidence of hemorrhoids in obese people. Check with your Doctor before beginning an exercise program that is more strenuous then easy walking or biking.




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There are various reasons why a person at any stage during their lives will develop the condition known as hemorrhoids. During child birth the chances of a woman developing them when pushing to remove the baby from the womb are high. Plus, a person can develop them when their bowel movements are difficult and they have to strain and push to remove waste from their body.

Yet when it comes to treatment for hemorrhoids most people will rely solely on over the counter medications to treat them. What a lot of people who suffer from this medical condition do not realize is that there are other ways hemorrhoids can be treated, and below we take a look at just what some of these are.

1. Over the Counter Medications - These are a very common way of treating hemorrhoids (piles) as they contain certain properties within them that numb the area and reduce the levels of pain that are associated with the swelling. They also shrink the hemorrhoids reducing the irritation they cause and again relieving the pain one feels.

2. Rubber Band Ligation - With this particular treatment for hemorrhoids the doctor is able to carry out the procedure in their own office. What they do is they place two small rubber bands around the base of the hemorrhoid, which prevents blood from being able to flow in to them. As the bands prevent blood from flowing into the hemorrhoids they soon die and fall off.

3. Sclerotherapy - With this particular procedure the doctor injects a collection of chemicals into the area surrounding the hemorrhoids. As with the method mentioned above, these chemicals prevent blood from being able to flow into the hemorrhoids and feed them. However, rather than the hemorrhoids dying and falling off with this treatment, instead they shrink and disappear.

4. Stapling - As with the other two treatments of hemorrhoids we mentioned earlier in this article, this one again prevents blood from being able to flow into the hemorrhoids which is the reason why they swell and become irritating. After the blood supply has been stopped then the hemorrhoids begin to shrink or even fall off. Although this treatment for hemorrhoids is much less painful than the other medical procedures mentioned, there is a greater risk of a person having a prolapsed or a recurrence of the problem.

5. Hemorrhoidectomy - This is the most invasive of all the treatments that can be used for dealing with hemorrhoids and in order for it to be carried out a person needs to be given an anesthetic. Yes, the hemorrhoids will be removed immediately, but there are some complications that may arise following the operation. Some may have problems urinating, which can lead to urinary tract infections. Plus, a great many patients discover that they feel a lot of pain afterward and also that it takes a long time to recover from the procedure.

6. All Natural Home Remedy Treatments - Above we have looked at the common types of treatments that doctors may recommend to patients who suffer from hemorrhoids. However, if you are someone who doesn't have health insurance or doesn't want to use over-the-counter medications which usually only offer temporary relief then you may want to consider a natural treatment. The main advantages of using such natural products is that they not only effectively treat the symptoms, but also the root cause of the condition. Meaning you could permanently eliminate hemorrhoids from your life. Plus, there are usually no side effects of using an all natural Treatment for hemorrhoids.




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I spent last weekend visiting my family in North Carolina... mostly to visit my mom who is in a senior living facility. Myself, and many baby-boomers who may be reading this, have parents who are aging or are already gone.

Seeing the seniors at the facility, I couldn't help but reflect on what will happen to me as I age?

We all want to live a long productive, fulfilling life, have no serious health problems, a sharp mind, and have our death, when it is time, be peaceful and short.

We can't determine our destiny but we can improve our chances for having a better quality of life for a longer time.

Our health should be our number one priority.

While many illnesses, are just bad luck... most leading causes of death are totally preventable by making healthy life style choices.

Healthcare costs would not be skyrocketing and not as many people would be sick if everyone made healthy lifestyle choices.

Those of us who do stay well because of the healthy lifestyle choices we make, are footing the bill for those who choose not to. In fact, we would all be much better off if the US spent more on PREVENTATIVE HEALTH CARE and reforming our food industry rather than our healthcare system.

Let's face it. We are all busy and we are all guilty of taking our own health off of our priority list... not eating what we should, not exercising consistently or indulging in unhealthy habits.

Some of us are busy parents, or busy professionals, or both. Life is moving fast, it gets complicated, you are thinking: How will I get it all done? Where do I find the time? I'm so stressed out!!!

The more you de-prioritize yourself, the more unhappy and unhealthy you will be. It's hard to see the effects day by day like you would see if you stopped watering your garden, but eventually not prioritizing your health could kill you... or you could live with difficulty for a long time.

Everything you do in your life depends on your being in good health and in good physical condition. To take care of your job or your family, you have to take care of yourself.

Having a preventable health problem and doing nothing about it because you are so busy taking care of everything and everybody is what will literally take you down... and our healthcare costs up.

Ask yourself: "What is most important to me in life?" Now ask: "Does any of that really matter if I am too sick, too immobilized to get out of my chair?"

If you know you need to change but are not changing... it is time you take action. Enlist the service of a wellness coach... in fact you can't afford not to.Why not start with a free strategy session? It's just a call, but it's the first step to improving your health.

Lauren Miller is a Professional Life Coach and Certified Personal trainer who specializes in coaching for weight-loss. Her company is Your Partner For Change.

When Lauren made the shift from personal trainer to wellness coach, her clients were more successful... with just a simple regularly scheduled coaching phone call. Why? It's not the exercise or nutrition plan you follow... there are different ways to get your desired result. What is most important is what keeps you motivated to stay on your plan. That's what coaching with Lauren will do for you.




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