Tips On How To Take Care Facial Natural, White and Clean

A collection of how to care for natural face, white and clean - Having a white face and clean is a dream for every person, whether male or female. But not everyone who has a white face, clean, and free of acne. For that in this article I will share interesting information on how to naturally treat the face, specifically for his Fabeluna, that friend's face free of acne and blackheads are disturbing. Want to know how to do?? Let us look at the following article


How can first companions from yourself at home:

- Sebaiklah wash your hands first with clean before touching the skin companions.

- Clean the skin with a facial cleansing routine every morning and evening, or after a friend out of the house.

- Be diligent wash your face every home from traveling.

- In the evening, take a moment to massage the skin with a gentle companions for 2 minutes, to eliminate fatigue and gives the skin a bright color.

- Wear a face mask at least 2 times a week for dirt on the face can be lifted.

- Do not squeeze pimples or blackheads occasionally, because it will cause irritation to the skin.

- Before traveling outside the home should be, use a moisturizer that protects the skin from the sun.

- Expand to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, and diligently taking vitamin E for skin health from the inside.

After learning the first way above, it would be nice companions Fabeluna can also try the following two ways to get healthy skin, clean and natural white.

$ Avocado

Avocados have benefits for moisturizing the skin, making it very suitable for use avocado as a face mask for dry skin.
How:
- Mash avocado flesh
- After that, apply on face for 30 minutes
- Rinse with cotton wool and warm water to clean the mask is on the face.

$ Cucumber

Cucumber has benefits to clean the face of the black spots making skin look more radiant.
How:
- Take 1/2 cucumber, peeled and then to clean
- After that, add 1 tablespoon of nonfat milk
- And also add 1 tablespoon of yogurt
- Blenderlah all the above ingredients until smooth
- Apply on face for 20 minutes and rinse with warm water.

$ Banana

Bananas beneficial to rejuvenate skin and if friend diligent use companions skin will be moist and chewy.
How:
- Take a banana and mash fruit.
- Add olive oil or honey on bananas which had been destroyed earlier
- Oleskanlah on face and leave for 30 minutes
- Clean with cotton wool and warm water.

$ Apples

Apples can help reduce the oil on the face.
How:
- Mash apples using belnder
- Do not add water when blended
- Apply evenly to the face and leave for 30 minutes
- Rinse with clean

How to take care of the face above? Quite easy and efficient is not it?? Now are you waiting for hurry try and feel the benefits for the friend's face. In addition to the above article, friends can also see the article on how to care for the skin and how to lose weight fast. Do not forget to visit yach .. Thank you ..

Characteristics Creams Containing Mercury

Characteristics Creams Containing Mercury

All ladies definitely want to get beautiful skin, but often we do not know that in a cosmetic product containing Dangerous materials, such as:
1. Mercury: It is definitely forbidden, too many damaging effects.
2. Hydroquinone: May digunaakan with max limit of 2% is allowed as a cosmetics-counter (OTC). Above it      should be supervision and prescription.
3. Retinoic acid acid: free must not have the doctor's prescription (not goods OTC).

For the cream of mercury, such as Ms. Rina wrote on the blog that the actual start creams has been good when passing through licensing, but then due to its many active ingredients plus a forged or without notification to the national authorities.

I am trying to help to identify the cream of mercury to the layman, characteristics cream containing Mercuri :
1. Generally facial bleach smell a bit hard (usually quite a bit smelly metal / given a perfume scent but I'll sting) it is suspect.
2. Creamy white-yellow. White for night cream, yellow to cream in the morning. Not all but suspect.
3. Specific traits rather shiny cream color. If we open the lid somewhat shiny surface cream / hologram.
Try dab in front of the mirror noticed there were lightning-flash stick in the face or not, it usually contains mercury. The sleek it: is mercury. Mercury is a metal that is why shiny. Nice creamy white color is not shiny hubcap.
4. Can make white skin in no time.
It is quite varied between 1-4 weeks depending on the number of mercury content in the cream. (The higher the mercury content faster yield of white on the face). Even as a result there is a very white face like (sorry) corpse, aka white.
5. Generally cause extreme itching in the beginning, depending on skin type. Hence some dg include "cream anti-irritant"
6. Skin more sensitive to sunlight, hot when exposed to direct sunlight.
7. Skin redness feels sore, usually 1-2 days early usage (different flavors pangs when wearing Peeling from a doctor).
8. Urinary tract disorders.

Creams containing Mercury Dangers use, namely:
1. Make damage to nerve disorders, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's cases, with the following characteristics: tremor (shaking), Insomnia (difficulty sleeping), disturbance of vision, ataxia (abnormal hand movements) Emotional disorders, senile, Depression, Disorientation space (Confusion & uneasy in the beginning).
2. Can slow fetal growth. Even menyababkan child has Autism.
Mercury that can not be wasted by the kidney, piled on the body, and into the fetus when the mother was pregnant. try googling about mercury and autism connection. Once blamed for immunization For preservative containing mercury, whereas the real mercury in cosmetic creams used the mother.
3. Result in miscarriage (fetal death and Infertility)
4. Black spots on the skin will blanch (though faded) and when use is stopped, spots that can / will arise again and getting worse (landscape).
5. Rebound effect (backlash) is a response against the skin will become dark / dull moment discontinued use cream.
6. For those who had been clean face will eventually arise spots are very severe (wide).
7. Can damage the skin layers below. So kl dg diagnostic lights illuminated, skin creams that use mercury will appear blue under it, because they will be dead skin cells. Furthermore bs cause skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, melanoma malignum, etc.).
8. Damage to the gastrointestinal tract.
9. Damage to the kidneys which can lead to death from kidney failure. Consider water your urine smell after usage mercury cream, the smell of urine will be sharp. People who wear his usual mercury cream ngerasain pain. Because fatigue is not tp Because mercury is a heavy metal that accumulates in the kidney (renal located at the waist). The kidneys filter it is like milk. Mercury is like his batu2 gravel, kidney kl told to loud heavy metals such as mercury, lama2 his kidneys collapsed (kidney failure).

Hopefully it can be common knowledge that women are more thoughtful about cosmetic products. Not merely get instant beauty that makes the skin becomes damaged.

3 Foods to Avoid if You Want to Look Young

Want to keep your complexion smooth and youthful? Take a look at your plate. What you leave off of your plate is sometimes just as important as the food you’re putting on your plate when it comes to nutrients that can affect your complexion. Put your best face forward (and improve your health) by keeping these to a minimum (remember that classic motto... moderation):

tipsbucket.com

Sugar—Sweets and refined carbs raise glucose levels, which increases advanced glycation end products, which in turn interferes with the repair of collagen and elastin, a protein that allows skin to retain its shape.

Saturated Fat—Found in marbled meats and full-fat dairy products, saturated fats may make you look older. Experts say that eating a lot of saturated fat can induce skin-aging inflammation.

Alcohol—With the exception of resveratrol-delivering red wine, alcohol can take a toll on your skin. It dries out skin and when metabolized in the liver, it creates skin’s enemy: free radicals.

Source : http://www.swansonvitamins.com/blog/health-tips-2/3-foods-to-avoid-if-you-want-to-look-young

Spices Can Lose Weight

Choosing rich cuisine spices can be a way to enjoy the hobby without worrying snack foods increased weight. Some types of spices known to have a thermogenic effect, which can increase your metabolism so that calories are burned faster.

Here are some types of herbs that can upload your appetite as well as accelerate metabolism.

Cinnamon
Using cinnamon in cooking is a natural way to get a taste of sweet without using sugar. Several studies have shown cinnamon help weight loss process.

The benefits of preventing obesity cinnamon comes from the ability of these ingredients keep blood sugar levels under control and lower levels of insulin are produced after a meal. As is known, high insulin levels can also lead to excess fat. Cinnamon also will slow in emptying the gut works, so that satiety can be preserved longer.

Cayenne pepper
Content capcaisin in chili is known as a good fat burner. Cayenne pepper has thermogenic effects that increase calorie burning. Moreover, spicy foods can also make you refrain from taking too large portions. In addition, the chili will also increase fat oxidation.

Black pepper
Herbs that are used in a variety of culinary cultures. Not only can flavor dishes, black pepper also contains piperine which can increase your metabolism up to 8 percent. Seasoning is also known to enhance healthy digestion and nutrient absorption.

Mustard seed
Such as cayenne pepper, mustard seeds also have a thermogenic effect. According to the Canadian study, eating spicy foods, including those containing mustard seed, can burn 1000 calories in a day. Adding these ingredients as much as one teaspoon will increase your metabolism up to 25 percent.

Ginger
Spice this one is not only used as a spice but also classified as efficacious medicinal plants. According to the research of the New York Obesity Research Center, put a teaspoon of dried ginger in cooking or drinking a glass of ginger tea at breakfast can burn more calories after a meal.


Source : Fox News

Ginger tea can reduce stress, aid digestion

Packed with antioxidants, the humble ginger has a whole range of health benefits and is a 'must-have' in your kitchen!

Even one sniff of ginger tea can improve your mood, relieve stress and is great for digestion and aiding the absorption of food, experts have claimed.

img : indianexpress.com

Stomach acid is crucial to human digestion and when stressed its production can break down.

Hot water with a slice of lemon and chopped ginger is an excellent way to stimulate digestion, experts believe, the Daily Mail reported.

"Ginger can help as it stimulates the taste buds, triggering digestive secretions," dietician Alice Mackintosh said.

"Ginger contains a potent antioxidant, gingerol, which helps cleanse the harmful chemicals our bodies produce when we're worried, so ginger can help psychological stress too," Mackintosh was quoted as saying by the paper.

Ginger can also impede motion sickness, reduce inflammation, fight common respiratory problems and encourage normal blood circulation.

For ladies, placing a hot towel drenched in ginger tea on stomach provides relief from menstrual cramps, experts have advised.



Source : Indian Express

Adding Milk to Tea Destroys its Antioxidants..??

Next to water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. Chock-full of antioxidants, vitamins and other compounds, tea has been linked in a variety of studies to stronger immune function and reduced cell damage. Some research suggests tea may prevent cavities, improve blood sugar levels and perhaps provide cardiovascular benefits.

en.wikipedia.org

In many parts of the world, the custom is to serve tea with milk. But lately researchers have been surprised to find that adding milk may strip tea of some of its beneficial effects.

In a study published in The European Heart Journal, researchers had 16 healthy adults drink cups of freshly brewed black tea, black tea mixed with a small amount of skim milk, or boiled water. Then the scientists measured the effects on vascular function.

Compared with water, black tea “significantly improved” arterial function, the researchers found, “whereas addition of milk completely blunted the effects of tea.”

The scientists repeated similar tests in mice and found the same results, which they speculated may be a result of proteins in milk binding to and neutralizing antioxidants. “Milk,” the researchers wrote, “counteracts the favorable health effects of tea on vascular function.”

A study published this year looked at whether the effect was limited to dairy products. It was not: Proteins in soy milk had the same effect as regular milk on antioxidants in tea.


Source : New York Times

Air Pollution Linked To Vitamin D Deficiency In Newborns

According to a new study, gestational exposure to ambient urban air pollution, especially late in term, possibly contributes to lower vitamin D levels in children. The study’s authors say that the deficiency could affect the child’s risk of developing disease later in life.

http://www.inquisitr.com

The study, accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM), shows that maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy might have an influence on the development of asthma and other allergic diseases in young offspring. Though a number of factors could have an effect on vitamin D supply in women, exposure to high levels of air pollution is suggested by the authors as a prime factor in vitamin D deficiency in adults and children, reports Medical News Today.

    “We investigated the associations between gestational exposure to urban air pollutants and vitamin D cord blood serum level,” said Nour Baïz, MASc, of Intitut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) in Paris, France who led the study. “Our findings show for the first time, that exposure to ambient air pollution comparable to current World Health Organization standards might contribute to vitamin D deficiency in newborns.”

For the study, researchers looked at the associations between gestational exposure to urban air pollution and 25-hydroxyvitamin D cord blood serum level in 375 mother-child pairs. Maternal exposure to urban levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter less than 10 micro meters during the whole pregnancy was a strong predictor of low vitamin D status in newborns.

The study’s authors found that the association between gestational exposure to air pollutants and vitamin D deficiency in newborns was the strongest in late-term pregnancies.


Source : Inquisitr

Tattoos Can Be Troublesome to Remove

People pondering a tattoo may want to consider the expense and discomfort of having one removed later on, experts say.

Nearly one out of five people with tattoos do think about having them removed later in life, according to dermatologist Dr. Jeffrey Orringer of the University of Michigan Health System.

lasersurgery.com

 

"The most common reason would be to remove a name of someone who is no longer involved in the patient's life," Orringer said in a prepared statement.

According to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, people who want to get a tattoo should choose a licensed facility and a tattoo design that is simple and therefore easy to remove. They also advise people to put tattoos on parts of the body that can be covered by clothing in the workplace. Unusual or sensitive locations are more prone to scarring and are also more difficult for tattoo removal.

According to the Michigan experts, people considering tattoo removal should also be aware that:

• Laser technology can reduce the appearance of tattoos so they are no longer visible, with little or no scarring. 
• It will take more time -- and possibly more money and discomfort -- to remove a tattoo than to get it put on. Often, six to 12 sessions are required to erase all of the ink.
• Avoid areas of the body where it is more difficult to remove a tattoo, such as ankles, hands and fingers.
• Simpler tattoos that contain only a few colors are easier to remove.
• Darker colors are easier to remove than brighter hues. Colors mixed with white are also tough to remove.

Treatment options include lasers, one of the most common of which is the Q-switched, or quality-switched, laser; surgical excision; and dermabrasion, the sanding of the skin.

Laser removal of tattoos creates damage similar to small wounds. There may be crusting or bleeding in the area after treatment, and there are small risks of infection, scarring or discoloration of the skin.


Source : http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=4508023&page=1#.UFn5aK60KSo

Blacks Less Likely to Stick to High Blood Pressure Diet

People who stick with the so-called "DASH diet" achieve significant reductions in blood pressure, but blacks are less likely than whites to adopt the diet, researchers have found.

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet -- which is rich in healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy items, and low in fats and cholesterol -- has been proven to help lower blood pressure.

inquisitr.com

In this study, Duke University Medical Center researchers examined whether adherence to the DASH diet was associated with blood pressure changes and what factors predicted who would stay with the diet.

The study included 144 sedentary, overweight or obese adults who had hypertension (high blood pressure) and were not taking blood-pressure lowering medications. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: DASH diet alone; DASH diet plus weight-loss counseling and aerobic exercise; or no change in diet and exercise habits.

After four months, participants in the DASH diet/counseling/exercise group lost an average of 19 pounds. Weight remained stable in the other two groups, the investigators found.

Participants in both DASH diet groups had significant reductions in blood pressure levels, and those who adhered most closely to the diet had the largest drops in blood pressure. This suggests that following the DASH diet lowers blood pressure, independent of exercise and weight loss.

But the study found that exercise and weight loss in addition to the DASH diet promoted even greater reductions in blood pressure and improved other measures of heart health.

The researchers also discovered that blacks were less likely than whites to adopt the DASH diet. No other factor predicted whether participants would stick with the diet, according to the study published online Sept. 19 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The findings suggest that altering traditional recipes rather than eliminating certain foods altogether might improve black patients' adherence to the DASH diet.

"We need to be aware of cultural differences in dietary preferences in order to help people better adopt a DASH-friendly diet," James Blumenthal, a professor of behavioral medicine, said in a Duke news release. "It is important to take into account traditional food choices and cooking practices when attempting to incorporate more DASH foods into daily meal plans." 


Source : http://www.healthytexas.org//health_lib_content.jsp?chunkiid=797009

Stress At Works 'raises heart risk'

Having a highly demanding job, but little control over it, could be a deadly combination, UK researchers say.

They analysed 13 existing European studies covering nearly 200,000 people and found "job strain" was linked to a 23% increased risk of heart attacks and deaths from coronary heart disease.

Ilustration Stress At Works 'raises heart risk' (annespoor.co.uk)

The risk to the heart was much smaller than for smoking or not exercising, the Lancet medical journal report said.

The British Heart Foundation said how people reacted to work stress was key.

Job strain is a type of stress. The research team at University College London said working in any profession could lead to strain, but it was more common in lower skilled workers.

Doctors who have a lot of decision-making in their jobs would be less likely to have job strain than someone working on a busy factory production line.




Freedom

There has previously been conflicting evidence on the effect of job strain on the heart.

In this paper, the researchers analysed combined data from 13 studies.
Continue reading the main story   
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    The negative effect of workplace strain is much smaller than, for example, the damage caused by smoking or lack of exercise.”

Prof Peter Weissberg British Heart Foundation

At the beginning of each of the studies, people were asked whether they had excessive workloads or insufficient time to do their job as well as questions around how much freedom they had to make decisions.

They were then sorted into people with job strain or not and followed for an average of seven and a half years.

One of the researchers, Prof Mika Kivimaki, from University College London, said: "Our findings indicate that job strain is associated with a small but consistent increased risk of experiencing a first coronary heart disease event, such as a heart attack."

The researchers said eliminating job strain would prevent 3.4% of those cases, whereas there would be a 36% reduction if everyone stopped smoking.


'Unable to change'

Prof Kivimaki said the evidence of a direct effect of job strain on the heart was mixed.

He told the BBC job strain was linked to other lifestyle choices that were bad for the heart: "We know smokers with job strain are more likely to smoke a bit more, active people with job strain are more likely to become inactive and there is a link with obesity.

"If one has high stress at work you can still reduce risk by keeping a healthy lifestyle."

Prof Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "We know that being under stress at work, and being unable to change the situation, could increase your risk of developing heart disease.

"This large study confirms this, but also shows that the negative effect of workplace strain is much smaller than, for example, the damage caused by smoking or lack of exercise.

"Though stresses at work may be unavoidable, how you deal with these pressures is important, and lighting up a cigarette is bad news for your heart. Eating a balanced diet, taking regular exercise and quitting smoking will more than offset any risk associated with your job."

Dr Bo Netterstrom, from Bispebjerg Hospital in Denmark, said other stresses at work such as job insecurity "are likely to be of major importance".

He said job strain was "a measure of only part of a psychosocially damaging work environment".


Source : BBC

Having A "Can Do" Attitude Could Help You Lead A Healthier Lifestyle

Having a positive "can do" attitude can lead to a healthier lifestyle.

The study which was conducted by Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark, Director of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, found individuals who believe their life can be changed by their own actions ate healthier food, exercised more, smoked less and avoided binge drinking. The study used data from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. 

Having A "Can Do" Attitude Could Help You Lead A Healthier Lifestyle
(Photo : Flickr/ Park Avenue of Wayzata)

Researchers analyzed the link between perceived control and the health investments from an economic point of view, rather than a psychological perspective. They used economic models to assess the numerous ways an individual's thoughts influence their health choices.

The study analyzed information regarding more than 7,000 participants' diet, exercise and personality. The results demonstrated men and women hold different views concerning the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Men were more likely to want physical results while women were more interested in the everyday enjoyment of leading a healthier lifestyle.

"Our research shows a direct link between the type of personality a person has and a healthy lifestyle," she said. "What works well for women may not work well for men."

Professor Cobb-Clarke hopes the research will display the need for more targeted policy responses. Policy-initiatives should include having healthy choices as a default, rather than the option. This may increase the convenience of healthy options for individuals. Additionally, she believes there should be more of a focus on gender-specific policy initiatives.

"Gender specific policy initiatives which respond to these objectives may be particularly helpful in promoting healthy lifestyles," Professor Cobb-Clarke said.

Professor Cobb-Clark hopes the study would help inform public health policies on ways to combat obesity.
 


Source : Medical Daily

Omega-3 Supplements Don’t Lower Heart Disease Risk After All

If you want to protect your heart, stick to exercise and a healthy diet, and pass on the fish oil pills, says a new study.

For years, doctors and health experts have recommended taking fish oil supplements, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, to lower the risk of heart disease. But the latest study on the issue — an analysis of previous clinical trials on the effects of omega-3s — shows that the supplements don’t lower users’ risks of heart attack, stroke, sudden death or death from heart disease or any cause. Although the rates of these events were lower among those taking omega-3 supplements compared with those not taking them, the differences were not statistically meaningful, the authors said.

It’s not the first time that the cardiovascular benefits of fish oil have been questioned: another recent analysis of previous research found that the supplements didn’t prevent heart attack or stroke in people with heart disease. (Separately, other research has suggested that that pills have little effect on boosting memory in Alzheimer’s patients, reducing symptoms of the disease or improving thinking and verbal skills compared with placebo.)

In the current analysis, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and led by Dr. Moses Elisaf of the Lipid Disorders Clinic at the University Hospital of Ioannina in Greece, the scientists reviewed 20 studies dating back to 1989 that involved 68,680 participants. Volunteers in the studies, most of whom were heart patients, were randomly assigned to take either 1.5 g of omega-3 supplementation or a placebo every day for about two years. They were followed for heart events, including death, heart attack and stroke.

While the omega-3 users showed a 9% lower rate of heart-related death compared with the controls, and an 11% lower rate of heart attack, these differences were too small to attribute to the omega-3 pills.

The findings may lead to some confusion among people — both heart patients and those who are healthy but trying to avoid heart disease — who may be taking omega-3 supplements daily. While some early studies did show a significant benefit from taking fish oil pills, data from newer clinical trials weakened that effect. That may be because at least one early, important study did not blind participants or researchers, meaning that everyone knew who was taking omega-3s or placebo. Further, inconsistencies between the included trials, such as the dosages of supplement used or preexisting conditions among participants, may have contributed to the discouraging findings.

Much other past data showing benefits of omega-3s also came from studies that did not randomize participants into fish oil and placebo groups, and instead retrospectively compared heart events in people who chose to consume more omega-3 fats than others.

Another reason the current study failed to find a benefit may be that more people are using better treatments for heart disease these days, including cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Elisaf says he wasn’t able to eliminate the potential influence of these medications in lowering rates of heart attack and death from heart disease overall. “We need more data in order to have a clear answer about the role of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in everyday clinical practice,” he says.

The authors acknowledge that additional research may help determine whether omega-3 supplements may still benefit people depending on their individual risk of heart disease, or if their diets are low in foods that are naturally rich in the fatty acids.

Currently the American Heart Association (AHA) advises people with high triglyceride levels to eat more fatty fish — the omega-3s in oily fish help boost good cholesterol and lower triglycerides — but to discuss supplementation with their doctor if they can’t get enough from their diet. The organization does not recommend the pills in general as a way to protect the heart.

Both the AHA and many doctors recommend eating more fish, however: everyone, including healthy people and heart patients, should eat at least two servings of fish per week to benefit from the omega-3 fats. “If people are taking supplements because their physician prescribed them, they should consult with their physician before stopping,” says Dr. Donna Arnett, president of the AHA and professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “But I would tell them they should not stop eating fish. The results of this study are about dietary supplements. So dietary sources of omega-3s may be different than supplements. They should not assume that dietary sources are not useful.”

Which means that the advice you’ve been hearing all along remains the same — eat more fish. It’s good for your heart.

Source : http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/12/omega-3-supplements-dont-lower-heart-disease-risk-after-all/

The Naptime Chef’s Fall Recipe for Foodies Who Are Also Harried Parents

Four years ago, when my first child was born, I started teaching the foodie in me how to be a pragmatic parent. I set out to streamline my husband’s and my favorite recipes so they could be made during naptime or any other precious little downtime I had. I nicknamed myself the Naptime Chef and started blogging about these early attempts at simplifying dishes without sacrificing flavor — attempts that led to me scraping more than my fair share of food into the garbage. But with a little practice, I came up with some great family-friendly recipes and in March published my favorites in my first cookbook. Maybe I’ll whip up a sequel after baby No. 2 arrives in January.

In the meantime, it’s apple season now, my favorite. I do my best to incorporate the fruit into just about every meal possible. From apple pancakes to apple cheddar soup, name your favorite food and I’ll add apples to it.

The beauty of my apple cake is that it is a simple one-bowl affair with only the most basic of stirring required. The preparation fits so perfectly into our hectic daily routine it makes an apple pie look positively arduous. Why bother coring and slicing half a dozen apples when you can get the same amount of flavor from simply chopping up two of them and pouring some batter into a pie plate?

I often whip this cake up before school while my daughter is eating breakfast. It’s delicious and it really can be made whenever you have 10 minutes to spare.

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 apples (Gala or MacIntosh are best), peeled, cored and chopped into 1-inch chunks (about 1 cup)
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-in. pie plate, or baking dish of equal size, and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, add the melted butter and sugar and stir well. Then, stir in the two eggs and the vanilla extract until completely incorporated.

3. While slowly stirring, pour in the flour and kosher salt and stir until the flour is just combined and no longer visible. Do not overmix the batter.

4. Scatter the fruit evenly in the bottom of the buttered baking dish. Pour the batter over the fruit and use a spatula to spread it evenly on top.

5. Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. Before serving, dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar.



Source : http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/12/apple-cake-the-naptime-chefs-fall-recipe-for-foodies-who-are-also-harried-parents/

Five Ways to Ramp Up Your Metabolism

When it comes to your metabolism, age can slow you down, making it easier to gain weight once you hit 40. But if you aim to turn that around, experts offer a few tips to boost your metabolism and shed a few extra pounds.

One way to do so is by altering your diet, exercise,
and sleep habits, suggets Scott Isaacs, M.D.
(img : GWImages/shutterstock.com)

One way to do so is by altering your diet, exercise, and sleep habits, suggets Scott Isaacs, M.D., an endocrinologist in Atlanta and author of Hormonal Balance: How to Lose Weight By Understanding Your Hormones and Metabolism.

"Think of your body as an engine - your metabolism is the rate at which your engine runs," he explained to Health magazine. "By making adjustments to these three elements, you can actually make your engine rev higher."

On September 4, fitness blog FitSugar and Health magazine offer a few expert tips to get your metabolic engine burning -- at any age. The promise? You can drop ten pounds, or 4.5 kilos, in 21 days.

1. Eat early - "Breakfast triggers a process called thermogenesis, where the body signals the brain to activate the metabolic process of turning food into energy," Mark Hyman, M.D., author of The Blood Sugar Solution, told Health magazine.

2. Watch your sugar - "As we get older, it's crucial to pay attention to how much sugar we're consuming," stated Diane Kress, R.D., author of The Metabolism Miracle. "Too much messes with your metabolism by causing your body to store extra calories as fat."

3. Eat often - To optimize your metabolic burn, Hyman recommends eating small meals every three or four hours.

4. Work out, with intensity - "Not only does it affect your metabolism while you're doing it, but research shows you can keep burning calories up to 24 hours after you finish because your metabolism stays elevated," Isaacs stated.

5. Sleep well - Research suggests that people who sleep two-thirds of their usual amount (such as five hours instead of eight) eat an average of 549 extra calories the following day without even noticing. Doing this regularly means a lot of extra weight.

Source : Ny Daily News

Pot Smoking May Leave Mark On Teen Brains

Teenagers who frequently smoke marijuana may be setting themselves up for declines in intelligence and mental function that persist well into adulthood, new research suggests.

In a decades-long study of more than 1,000 New Zealanders, researchers found that adolescents who used marijuana at least four days per week lost an average of eight IQ points between the ages of 13 and 38—a pattern not seen among people who began smoking heavily only in adulthood.

Heavy pot smokers tended to show deficits in memory, concentration, and overall brainpower in relation to their peers, but these problems were more pronounced—and seemingly more lasting—among those who picked up the habit as teens, the study found.

Individuals who smoked heavily in adolescence had consistently lower IQs at age 38, even if they’d cut back in the previous year. By contrast, the IQ of the relative latecomers to marijuana was more closely linked with how much pot they’d smoked recently.

“The effect of persistent cannabis use on intellectual functioning is really confined to adolescents, [which] suggests that adolescents, in particular, are vulnerable to the effect of cannabis,” says lead author Madeline H. Meier, Ph.D., a psychologist and postdoctoral researcher at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina.
Related links:

    Binge Drinking, Pot May Harm Teen Brains
    Does Occasionally Smoking Marijuana Affect Your Health?
    Medical Marijuana, State By State

An eight-point decline in IQ isn’t negligible, the authors say. Previous research suggests a drop in intelligence of that magnitude could, for instance, affect a person’s long-term career prospects, job performance, and income.

It’s reasonable to suspect that still-growing teen brains might be especially sensitive to the cumulative effects of marijuana, says Jeffrey Brosco, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

“In the developing brain, neurons are growing and changing, synapses are forming,” says Brosco, who was not involved in the study. “When there’s a lot of change in any part of the body, particularly the brain, that usually means it’s more vulnerable to environmental influences.”

The new study, which was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doesn’t prove that marijuana use directly impairs intelligence. It does, however, provide some of the strongest evidence to date of a cause-and-effect relationship.

The study participants underwent IQ tests when they were 13—before they’d ever tried marijuana—and again as adults, which provided the researchers a before-and-after snapshot of their intelligence. Earlier studies that found a link between mental ability and pot smoking have generally looked at a single point in time, raising the possibility that low IQ increases the likelihood of marijuana use, rather than vice versa, Meier says.

But Meier and her colleagues weren’t able to entirely rule out alternative explanations for the IQ declines seen in the study. For instance, although they controlled for alcohol and drug use, they focused on full-blown dependence (as opposed to more casual use) and therefore may have underestimated the effects of teen drinking.

“It’s hard to be dependent as a teenager, so you worry about [whether] you can be sure it’s the cannabis,” Brosco says. “Alcohol is well known to be a neurotoxin.”

Only 5% of the study participants began smoking marijuana regularly before age 18, and it’s not clear from the findings whether less-frequent users might experience similar declines in IQ and mental function. More research will be needed to determine the minimum dosage of marijuana associated with these problems, the authors say.

Source : Health

Energy Drinks May Improve Heart Health

Contrary to popular belief, drinking energy drinks containing caffeine and taurine may actually improve health and boost heart function in healthy people, a new study reveals.

 

"With energy drinks containing both caffeine and taurine concerns have been raised of adverse effects on the heart. While caffeine increases blood pressure, studies suggest that taurine may stimulate the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum," Dr. Matteo Cameli, a researcher at the University of Siena in Italy and co- author of the study, said in a statement today.

Italian researchers measured the blood pressure, heart rate and left and right ventricular function of 35 healthy participants with an average age of 25, and found that the function in the left and right ventricles that pump blood to the body increased an hour after drinking an energy drink.

Researchers presenting at the European Society of Cardiology conference in Munich, Germany also found that consuming energy drinks increase diastolic blood pressure by 6 percent, but not heart rate and systolic blood pressure.

Cameli said that the improvement in heart function may be caused by taurine, an amino acid in many energy drinks that is known to stimulate calcium production in muscle.

"Our study was performed in young healthy individuals at rest. Future studies need to focus on whether such benefits persist after long term consumption of energy drinks, and what the effects are of consuming these drinks during physical activity," Cameli said.

"It will also be important to determine which of the effects are induced in patients with cardiac disease to further our understanding of the potential benefits or risks of energy drink consumption," he added.

However other experts warn that too much caffeine can make people sweat and experience heart palpitations.

"People are showing up in the emergency room and doctor's office after having these drinks and not feeling well," said W. Douglas Weaver, former president of the American College of Cardiology, according to Bloomberg. "Now we can see some of the physiological effects."

Source : http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/11761/20120827/energy-drinks-may-improve-heart-health.htm

Diet 33 Ways to Eat Environmentally Friendly

The sustainable food movement is sweeping the country. Farmer’s markets, organic produce, genetically modified foods, cage-free eggs — they’ve all become part of the cultural lingo. While a lot of this conversation focuses around whether organic foods are better for people’s health, let’s not forget that these trends are also good for the planet. Read on to learn about the 33 environmentally friendly eating habits that are making a difference for our bodies and our earth.

At the store:

1. Reuse it. Bring a reusable bag on your next shopping trip, and you’ve already helped out the planet. The U.S. alone uses about 100 billion new plastic bags each year, and (brace yourself) this massive production costs 12 million barrels of oil. Worldwide, only about 1% of plastic bags are recycled — which means that the rest end up in landfills, oceans or elsewhere in the environment. Why does it matter? Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, but light exposure can degrade them enough to release toxic polymer particles — most of which end up in the ocean. Approximately 1 million birds and 100,000 turtles and other sea animals die of starvation each year after ingesting plastic bags, which block their digestive tracts. And public agencies spend millions of dollars on litter clean-up each year. (In case you’re wondering, paper bags aren’t much better. Each year, 14 million trees are cut down to make paper shopping bags via a process that requires even more energy than the making of plastic bags.)

2. Strip down. Look for products with minimal packaging, like unwrapped produce or meat straight from the deli counter or butcher. Excess packaging is often made out of unsustainable materials and contributes to waste that ends up in landfills. Perhaps the worst culprit is polystyrene (a.k.a. Styrofoam), which is a suspected carcinogen and is manufactured through an energy-intensive process that creates hazardous waste and greenhouse gases.

3. Don’t buy the bottle. Millions of tons of plastic are used to produce billions of plastic water bottles each year. Save money and lessen waste by drinking tap water from a reusable water bottle. Worried about your health? Try a water filter, or take courage from the fact that a lot of bottled water is likely no better than what’s on tap.

4. Shop different. Choose to give your money to stores that demonstrate care for the planet, both in their company practices and in the food selections they provide. Look for a selection of local and organic foods as well as store practices that limit waste (think doors on the refrigerated sections so that energy isn’t wasted, minimal and/or recyclable packaging and a store-wide recycling program).

Produce:

5. Go local. Eating locally grown foods is possibly the best way to lower your carbon footprint when it comes to what you eat. Bonus: Eating locally means that food will be fresher — and therefore taste better and perhaps retain more nutrients — than food shipped across the globe.

6. Eat more of it. Eat more produce than any other food category, and you’ve already made an impact for the planet (not to mention your body!).

7. Go organic. The definition of organic can be a little confusing, but food labels can help. Certified organic foods are grown and processed using farming methods that recycle resources and promote biodiversity, without the use of synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes or petroleum- or sewage-sludge-based fertilizers. (Weird. Who wouldn’t want their food grown in sewage sludge?) Though their benefits to the environment have a long-term payoff, organic foods can be pricier — if you’re on a budget, find out which foods are most worth buying organic, and limit your organic purchases to the ones that make the biggest impact.

8. Eat it raw. Chomp down on a raw carrot instead of boiling or sautéing it, and save energy that would otherwise have been used to power cooking appliances.

9. Eat in season. Seasonal nomming allows you to eat locally — and we’ve already covered how important local purchasing is for the environment. Check out what’s growing nearby right now.

10. Preserve it. Want to eat more locally, but love to eat strawberries year-round? Learn how to preserve fruits and vegetables so you can eat locally grown produce all year long (it’s bound to impress Grandma, too).

11. Grow it. You don’t need to live in the wild to grow your own fruits and veggies. Join a community garden, or, if you’re cramped for space, create a vertical garden right inside your window.

12. Get some community support. Not into the idea of growing your own? Consider joining a CSA (short for community supported agriculture), which allows you to reap the benefits of locally grown produce without getting your hands dirty.

Meat:

13. Eat less of it. Industrially farmed meat has the greatest impact of any food product on the environment. In addition to the tips outlined below, consider making meat less of a staple in your diet. Can’t give up the stuff? Try going meat-free for just one day per week (or one meal per week if you’re really attached).

14. You guessed it: buy local. We’ve said it before and we’re saying it again: buying local is a great way to cut down on the environmental impact of your food. Just imagine how much energy it would take to haul a side of beef from, say, New Zealand, in comparison to transporting it from the local butcher shop.

15. Go organic. When it comes to meat, the definition of “organic” changes a little. Obviously, chickens aren’t grown in the soil, nor are they (we hope!) conventionally grown with pesticides. Rather, organic livestock must have access to the outdoors and cannot be supplemented with antibiotics or growth hormones.

16. Be anti-antibiotics. It’s common practice these days to feed growth-producing antibiotics to animals raised for meat, but this results in health risks for the animals — and, by extension, the people who eat them.

17. Go out to pasture. Pasture-raised livestock make less of a negative environmental impact. They’re also treated more humanely than their industrially raised counterparts.

Seafood:

18. Look for the label. Figuring out how to buy sustainable seafood is tough: turns out “wild caught” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s environmentally friendly, after all, while some farmed fish are. The easiest way to sort through all the confusion is to look for the label of the Marine Stewardship Council, which guarantees that a product has successfully met requirements for sustainability.

19. Know your fish. Check out these guides to figure out which fish are least endangered and most likely to be farmed sustainably, and use them to guide your buying decisions.

20. Be a patriot. Buy U.S. caught or farmed fish. It’s as close as you can get to buying “local” when you live in a land-locked state, and it also means that the product has had the chance to be reviewed by the Marine Stewardship Council, so you have a better sense of the conditions under which the fish were caught.

21. Try something new. Instead of eating the ever-popular Alaskan salmon along with everybody else at the restaurant, expand your diet and distribute your impact by trying different varieties of fish. Check out these alternatives to some of our fishy favorites — you might even find a variety that you like more than tuna. In the process, you’ll reduce the risk of endangering key species.

Dairy:

22. Be hormone-free. (Wouldn’t that have made adolescence easier…) Just as livestock raised for consumption are often pumped full of antibiotics, dairy cows are often fed artificial hormones to up their milk production. This has big health impacts for the cows, the people who consume their milk and other dairy products, and the environment (manure lagoons sure don’t sound like a good thing to us). Industrial dairy production is also linked to massive greenhouse gas emissions. Luckily, hormone-free dairy products are readily available.

23. Surprise! Go local. As always when buying local, you’ll be reducing the distance that food must travel — and the energy it takes to do so — on its way to your plate.

24. Go organic. It’s better for the environment and for your body.

25. Cut back. The production of one pound of cheese might produce upwards of 11 lbs. of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas emitted by human activities and a big driver of climate change. As with meat, you can quickly lessen your environmental impact simply by eating less dairy. Bonus: eliminating common staples from your diet one or two days a week is a chance to experiment with fun new recipes.

At a restaurant:

26. Order from the tap. Cut down on packaging; ask for tap water instead of bottled. Likewise, save the beer bottle and order on tap.

27. Eat local. Just because you’re not at the farmer’s market doesn’t mean the market’s bounty isn’t available to you. More and more restaurants are incorporating locally sourced items into their menus.

28. Don’t be afraid to ask. There’s no shame in asking your server or a manager how your food was grown or processed (though it’s probably best not to take it to this extreme).

Eating at home:

29. Reduce waste. Use cloth napkins and real plates, bowls and utensils.

30. Turn waste into a resource. If you’ve got the inclination and a little bit of free time, give composting a try and turn food scraps into a resource that keeps on giving.

31. Revamp leftovers. Instead of dumping leftovers in the trash, turn them into new meals. It’ll reduce waste and also save on the energy it would have taken to cook a different meal the next day.

32. Double your recipes. Leftovers will last twice as long, and you’ll use less energy than you would if you cooked multiple meals.

33. Cook one local meal per week. Challenge yourself to cook one meal a week (or month) that is composed completely of local ingredients. Get some friends in on the action and revel in doing something good for your health and the health of the planet.

Source : http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/24/33-ways-to-eat-environmentally-friendly/

Vitamin C Might Protect Lungs On High-Pollution Days

An antioxidant-rich diet could do your lungs a favor when exposed to air pollution, according to a small new study.

 
Researchers from Imperial College London found that asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients were more likely to be admitted to the hospital on days when there were high particulate matter levels outside, Environmental Health News reported. Particulate matter is a pollutant that causes oxidative stress in the body (raising the risk of health problems like heart attack).

However, the researchers found that people who had higher levels of vitamin C in their blood were less likely than those with low vitamin C levels to go to the hospital on these high-pollution days, MyHealthNewsDaily reported.

The findings add to "a small but growing body of evidence that the effects of air pollution might be modified by antioxidants," Michael Brauer, an environmental health scientist at the University of British Columbia who was not involved in the study, told MyHealthNewsDaily.

The study, published in the journal Epidemiology, included 209 people who were admitted to London hospitals. While researchers did find a link between vitamin C levels and hospital admission, they did not find as strong of a link for uric acid and vitamin E levels. They found no link between vitamin A levels and hospital admission, according to the study.

Previously, Cornell University researchers found that a diet rich in antioxidants could help to preserve lung function, the Cornell Chronicle reported. That study, presented at a meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology in 2008, showed protective benefits of selenium and vitamins C and E in particular.

Plus, in 2001, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers found that vitamin C supplements seemed to protect lungs against ozone, WebMD reported.

And humans aren't the only ones who can benefit from vitamin C. University of California, Riverside, researchers found that even plants can get some help defending against harmful effects of ozone when they are engineered to have increased vitamin C levels in their leaves. 

Source : Huffingtonpost

Mysterious New AIDS-Like Disease Affects Asians

Researchers have identified a mysterious new disease that has left scores of people in Asia and some in the United States with AIDS-like symptoms even though they are not infected with HIV.

 

The patients’ immune systems become damaged, leaving them unable to fend off germs as healthy people do. What triggers this isn’t known, but the disease does not seem to be contagious.

This is another kind of acquired immune deficiency that is not inherited and occurs in adults, but doesn’t spread the way AIDS does through a virus, said Dr. Sarah Browne, a scientist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

She helped lead the study with researchers in Thailand and Taiwan where most of the cases have been found since 2004. Their report is in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

“This is absolutely fascinating. I’ve seen probably at least three patients in the last 10 years or so” who might have had this, said Dr. Dennis Maki, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

It’s still possible that an infection of some sort could trigger the disease, even though the disease itself doesn’t seem to spread person-to-person, he said.

The disease develops around age 50 on average but does not run in families, which makes it unlikely that a single gene is responsible, Browne said. Some patients have died of overwhelming infections, including some Asians now living in the U.S., although Browne could not estimate how many.

Kim Nguyen, 62, a seamstress from Vietnam who has lived in Tennessee since 1975, was gravely ill when she sought help for a persistent fever, infections throughout her bones and other bizarre symptoms in 2009. She had been sick off and on for several years and had visited Vietnam in 1995 and again in early 2009.

“She was wasting away from this systemic infection” that at first seemed like tuberculosis but wasn’t, said Dr. Carlton Hays Jr., a family physician at the Jackson Clinic in Jackson, Tenn. “She’s a small woman to begin with, but when I first saw her, her weight was 91 pounds, and she lost down to 69 pounds.”

Nguyen (pronounced “when”) was referred to specialists at the National Institutes of Health who had been tracking similar cases. She spent nearly a year at an NIH hospital in Bethesda, Md., and is there now for monitoring and further treatment.

“I feel great now,” she said Wednesday. But when she was sick, “I felt dizzy, headaches, almost fell down,” she said. “I could not eat anything.”

AIDS is a specific disease, and it stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. That means the immune system becomes impaired during someone’s lifetime, rather than from inherited gene defects like the “bubble babies” who are born unable to fight off germs.


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Mysterious New AIDS-Like Disease Affects Asians
By Associated Press | August 22, 2012 | 12
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Researchers have identified a mysterious new disease that has left scores of people in Asia and some in the United States with AIDS-like symptoms even though they are not infected with HIV.

The patients’ immune systems become damaged, leaving them unable to fend off germs as healthy people do. What triggers this isn’t known, but the disease does not seem to be contagious.

This is another kind of acquired immune deficiency that is not inherited and occurs in adults, but doesn’t spread the way AIDS does through a virus, said Dr. Sarah Browne, a scientist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

She helped lead the study with researchers in Thailand and Taiwan where most of the cases have been found since 2004. Their report is in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

“This is absolutely fascinating. I’ve seen probably at least three patients in the last 10 years or so” who might have had this, said Dr. Dennis Maki, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

It’s still possible that an infection of some sort could trigger the disease, even though the disease itself doesn’t seem to spread person-to-person, he said.

(MORE: How the Global War on Drugs Drives HIV and AIDS)

The disease develops around age 50 on average but does not run in families, which makes it unlikely that a single gene is responsible, Browne said. Some patients have died of overwhelming infections, including some Asians now living in the U.S., although Browne could not estimate how many.

Kim Nguyen, 62, a seamstress from Vietnam who has lived in Tennessee since 1975, was gravely ill when she sought help for a persistent fever, infections throughout her bones and other bizarre symptoms in 2009. She had been sick off and on for several years and had visited Vietnam in 1995 and again in early 2009.

“She was wasting away from this systemic infection” that at first seemed like tuberculosis but wasn’t, said Dr. Carlton Hays Jr., a family physician at the Jackson Clinic in Jackson, Tenn. “She’s a small woman to begin with, but when I first saw her, her weight was 91 pounds, and she lost down to 69 pounds.”

Nguyen (pronounced “when”) was referred to specialists at the National Institutes of Health who had been tracking similar cases. She spent nearly a year at an NIH hospital in Bethesda, Md., and is there now for monitoring and further treatment.

“I feel great now,” she said Wednesday. But when she was sick, “I felt dizzy, headaches, almost fell down,” she said. “I could not eat anything.”

AIDS is a specific disease, and it stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. That means the immune system becomes impaired during someone’s lifetime, rather than from inherited gene defects like the “bubble babies” who are born unable to fight off germs.

(MORE: H1N1′s Death Toll: 15 Times Higher than Previously Thought)

The virus that causes AIDS — HIV — destroys T-cells, key soldiers of the immune system that fight germs. The new disease doesn’t affect those cells, but causes a different kind of damage. Browne’s study of more than 200 people in Taiwan and Thailand found that most of those with the disease make substances called autoantibodies that block interferon-gamma, a chemical signal that helps the body clear infections.

Blocking that signal leaves people like those with AIDS – vulnerable to viruses, fungal infections and parasites, but especially micobacteria, a group of germs similar to tuberculosis that can cause severe lung damage. Researchers are calling this new disease an “adult-onset” immunodeficiency syndrome because it develops later in life and they don’t know why or how.

“Fundamentally, we do not know what’s causing them to make these antibodies,” Browne said.

Antibiotics aren’t always effective, so doctors have tried a variety of other approaches, including a cancer drug that helps suppress production of antibodies. The disease quiets in some patients once the infections are tamed, but the faulty immune system is likely a chronic condition, researchers believe.

The fact that nearly all the patients so far have been Asian or Asian-born people living elsewhere suggests that genetic factors and something in the environment such as an infection may trigger the disease, researchers conclude.

The first cases turned up in 2004 and Browne’s study enrolled about 100 people in six months.

“We know there are many others out there,” including many cases mistaken as tuberculosis in some countries, she said.

Source : http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/22/mysterious-new-aids-like-disease-affects-in-asians/

How to treat spider bites

Along with the warm days of summer comes the influx of insect bites. Although mosquitoes garnish a lot of attention with their sting, the spider can pack an even meaner bite.

Spiders don't hunt down human flesh for dinner like mosquitoes but the creepy crawly arachnids will bite if provoked or if their nest is disturbed. Read on for spider bite symptoms, types of poisonous spiders and how best to treat a spider bite. 

Spider bite symptoms
Among the 50,000 different species of spiders, most are harmless. However, some do produce venom that is expelled through their hollow fangs and injected into the victim. Fortunately, most spider fangs are too small or not strong enough to penetrate human skin. But, some spider bites will leave a small painful puncture that becomes red, itchy and swollen. The toxin produced by a spider's venom can cause headache, rash, painful joints and muscles, spasms, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills. Although potentially painful, bites from non-venomous spiders are not dangerous. The danger of poisonous spiders depends on the type of spider.

Most common poisonous spiders
The United States is home to three types of poisonous spiders: black widow, brown recluse and tarantula. A black widow spider's venom is classified as a neurotoxin, which means it is poisonous to the nervous system whereas the venom of a brown recluse spider causes necrosis – essentially a breakdown of skin and tissue. The tarantula injects venom into its prey through the hair on its body and legs, causing a severe allergic reaction that sometimes leads to anaphylactic shock.
 

Black widow spider
The black widow spider is easy to identify because of its black shiny body with red- to orange-colored markings visible on its underside. This spider lives in dark places such as trash cans, attics, closets, and woodpiles and is found in parts of California and southern parts of Canada. Black widows have also been known to hitch a ride with shipments of fresh fruit and make an appearance in other states and other Canadian destinations.

Although death via a black widow spider bite is uncommon, its bite can be serious. Once bitten, the victim will notice a painful pale area of skin surrounded by a red ring. Within the first few hours, severe cramping may occur in the shoulders, back, abdomen and thighs. In addition, the spider's bite may cause itching, sweating, headache, weakness, nausea, vomiting, increased blood pressure and breathing difficulties. Although most reactions to a black widow spider bite are not severe, medical attention is paramount if breathing is compromised and muscle cramps develop. Young children, the elderly and individuals with high blood pressure are more prone to develop severe adverse reactions to a black widow bite.

Brown recluse spider
The brown recluse spider is also feared for its painful bite and subsequent physical reactions. This spider is native to Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Mississippi but can surface anywhere thanks to modern transportation. The brown recluse spider prefers dark, quiet surroundings and doesn't venture out into open areas very often. It grows to a half-inch in length and its body is light brown in color. It's often referred to as the violin or fiddleneck spider because the markings on its back resemble a violin. Unlike other spiders, the recluse has six eyes instead of eight and the lower part of its body has no markings.

A brown recluse spider's bite will leave a wound resembling a bull's eye; a red ring with a blister in the center. The blister will break giving way to an ulcer type sore that will scab over. In some cases, the ulcer will get larger and affect the underlying skin and muscle tissue and be accompanied by severe pain. Within 24 to 48 hours, an itchy, red rash will appear and may be accompanied by chills, fever, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting. In some instances, hemolytic anemia, which is a condition where red blood cells are destroyed, may occur.

Tarantula
Tarantulas are native to the southern United States and are noted for their large size and hairy body. Once the victim has been injected with thousands of tiny hairs from the tarantula, redness and localized pain will commence and itchy bumps will surface that can last up to several weeks.

Treatment of spider bites
The first rule to treating a spider bite is to clean the bite, apply ice immediately and elevate the bite area. Bites from any of these three spiders should be evaluated by a medical professional.

If the bite is mild, treatment includes analgesics, antihistamines and antibiotics and Antivenin. A black widow bite may require a muscle relaxant introduced through intravenous or high blood pressure medication to guard against elevated blood pressure caused by the venom.

A brown recluse spider bite may require hospitalization if hemolysis (the destruction of red blood cells leading to the release of hemoglobin into the blood plasma) occurs and the tissue surrounding the bite starts to die. A tarantula's bite can be treated with antihistamines or glucocorticoids to ease the adverse symptoms. With all spider bites, a tetanus shot is recommended.

Take precautions and avoid getting a spider bite
Prevention is the key to avoiding a painful spider bite. Avoid areas in which spiders dwell and if your path crosses a spider's web, be careful not to disturb it or provoke the spider. Be extra cautious when using an outhouse – spiders often find refuge in the lowly outdoor commode.

Source : sheknows.com