Category: Health

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The Sunscreen You Wear May Be Harming the Environment

There are a lot of sunscreens that are claiming to be “reef friendly” these days.

Photo Credit: Public Domain Pictures

A new label on sunscreens allows consumers to see at a glance how safe the product is for ocean life. If you see the words “reef friendly” printed next to an image of a coral, then the sunscreen should be lacking damaging chemicals. Should be…

A couple of years ago, a report about the effects of sunblock use in the oceans was published by the Environmental Contamination Toxicology journal. According to the study, the common sunscreen ingredients octinoxate and oxybenzone are capable of contributing to bleaching in coral reefs.

Since then, Palau, Hawaii and Key West, Florida, have banned consumer use of these sunblock ingredients. Other tropical locations popular with vacationers, like Mexico, advise visitors about the potential of damage.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Out of concern for the reefs, many companies like ThinkSport and All Good Sport offer coral friendly formulas. Other brands, such as Coppertone (for their Water Babies line) and Alba Botanical use minerals as a blocker. Thankfully, these sunscreen alternatives are easy to find.

Everyone should want to keep coral reefs from bleaching because the phenomenon is devastating to ocean health. But before you throw out all your drugstore sunscreen and suntan lotions, something to note: some environmentalists and scientists have come out against the report.

This is because Coral reef damage is caused more by environmental factors, such as climate change and pollution, than beach-goers slathered in sunscreen. Even if octinoxate and oxybenzone were successfully eliminated from the ocean, the damage would continue.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Also, the reef-friendly labeling itself is an issue. As is typical with other kinds of labeling—for example, food sold as all-natural or whole grain—there are no set standards. Consumers may be misled to believe they are using a reef safe sunblock because any manufacturer can make the claim. Consumer Reports also consistently finds mineral based sunscreens as not matching their SPF claims.

But because tropical beaches and diving spots do test for elevated levels of sunscreen, it wouldn’t hurt to use products without octinoxate and oxybenzone. Even if there are larger issues than sunscreen in the decline of the world’s coral reefs, every little stressor adds to the cumulative effect. So using reef-safe sunblock may not solve the issue, but it prevents you from being a direct contributor. Plus, they’re not even that expensive.

From an environmental standpoint, small changes sometimes result in big wins.

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A College Drop-Out Spent 11 Years in Bed Due to Mysterious Illness, Invented a Surgery to Cure Himself

At 21 years of age, Doug Lindsay was forced to drop out of college due to a mysterious condition that doctors were unable to solve for the next 11 years — until he invented his own cure.

Doug spent the years of his illness mostly confined to a hospital bed at home in St. Louis, Missouri. His symptoms included weakness, dizziness, and a racing heartbeat. He couldn’t stand for more than a few minutes at a time.

Doctors were stumped; no treatments seemed to help. The condition was hereditary, however. Doug’s mom suffered from the same thing, as did his aunt.

While at school, Doug had picked up a 2200-page endocrinology textbook, hoping to use it to figure out his mother’s condition. From it, he determined that his illness stemmed from his adrenal glands.

During his many years of bedridden life, he continued to immerse himself in medical research and old medical textbooks. He also consulted with specialists from endocrinology, neurology, internal medicine, and other specialties.

This work eventually led Doug to experiment with a new drug for his condition, which allowed him to be active for short periods of time around the house. In 2006, he came up with a diagnosis: bilateral adrenal medullary hyperplasia. In other words, his adrenal glands were producing too much adrenaline.

This discovery led Doug to invent a surgery to cure the problem, without ever even having obtained a college degree. After finally convincing a surgeon to try his new operation (pioneering a surgery is not at all simple), in 2010 and 2012, he underwent surgeries to remove the medullas from his adrenal glands, curbing his adrenaline production.

Doug still has to take medication for his condition — but he has his life back. He now works as a medical consultant and serves as an inspiration to chronic illness sufferers around the world.

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??… ?

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“I couldn’t be an assistant manager at Trader Joe’s. I don’t have the physical ability for that,” Doug said. “But I can travel and give speeches and go for walks. And I can try to change the world.”

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5 Benefits of Portable Ultrasound Machines

When we think about the world of modern medicine, it is amazing how there are always new things to learn and new technologies being created. When it comes to clinics and doctors’ offices, there are many benefits that an ultrasound machine provides. They can allow physicians to see things the naked eye is not able to see without having to perform any unnecessary and invasive procedures. Ultrasound machines can be costly and most clinics are not able to afford to have one located in each room. This leads to patients having to be transferred to other departments or waiting for

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Dr Barry Marshall was convinced…

Dr Barry Marshall was convinced that H.pylori bacteria causes stomach ulcers, but no one believed him. Since it was illegal to test his theory on humans, he drank the bacteria himself, developed ulcers within days, treated them with antibiotics and went to win a Nobel prize.

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A Woman Leaves Her Boyfriend Sweet Notes to Help His Depression and They Will Make You Feel the Love

It’s so important to be surrounded by positive, compassionate people in your life. And this story perfectly illustrates that fact.

If you or any of your loved ones have ever struggled with depression, you know it can be extremely crippling and can affect your life in a number of negative ways.

A man who suffers from seasonal depression has a lovely girlfriend who helps him through the hard times, even when she can’t be near him. The two are in a long-distance relationship. He lives in North Carolina and she lives in Jamaica. The man shared the series of notes that his girlfriend left him in his apartment to help him work through his depression.

He wrote on Twitter “My gf knows that I suffer from seasonal depression, and in order to help me with it she left me random messages in my apartment to make my smile. It’s been a week since she left and I’m still finding them the most obscure places.”

Here’s the first note he shared on Twitter, and she encouraged him to get out and go to the gym. Always a great idea!

And, of course, some inside jokes were in order.

Some good night notes are always helpful.

She also left some great notes to wake up to in the morning.

Another note included some helpful advice like letting light into his apartment and eating healthy meals.

And he was still finding notes even six days after his girlfriend left.

Her final note looked ahead to a bright future for both of them.

He summed it up pretty good with a final tweet in the thread.

It’s pretty obvious these two love each other a lot, despite the physical distance between them.

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This Is Why You Shouldn’t Drink Coffee Before Breakfast

This is not good news…for me at least…

People love to drink coffee for breakfast, if internet memes and novelty mugs are any indications. But while you may feel like a zombie until you’ve had your morning coffee, you may want to eat a bagel or something first. It’s really not the best idea to drink it on an empty stomach, Reader’s Digest reports.

Coffee has a number of benefits, but it can have negative effects as well, particularly if you drink it before breakfast. First, it can increase your level of stress.

“Drinking coffee on an empty stomach, or early in the morning before you’ve had breakfast, can increase the level of cortisol in your body,” Dr. Nikola Djordjevic told the outlet.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Cortisol is the hormone responsible for regulating your stress response, immune response, and metabolism. Your body begins producing cortisol when you wake up in the morning, and if you drink coffee while your cortisol levels are peaking, you may subject your body to even more stress.

Second, coffee can irritate your stomach and make your gut more acidic overall, and when you have no food in your stomach, there’s nothing to help absorb the coffee. The overproduction of gastric acid leads to other side effects, like heartburn. It can even affect your mental health by causing mood swings, jitters, shaking, and other withdrawal symptoms (if you cut your caffeine). Some studies have even linked gastric acid to anxiety and depression.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

You don’t have to give up your precious morning coffee, though. All of these effects can be curbed by simply eating breakfast before you take your first sip.

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15 Doctors Share What They Wish Patients Knew About Their Bodies

When you go to the doctor, ask as many questions as possible. It’s your body, take charge of it!

In this AskReddit article, doctors share what they wish everyone knew about their bodies.

1. I did not know that!

“Ejaculating blood happens to most people at least once in their lives and in 99% of cases it resolves without taking any action within a week. It doesn’t even warrant a doctor visit.

Peeing blood (for both sexes) is a serious medical emergency and you should immediately go to the ER.

People think it’s the other way around.”

2. Good to know

“This one is more about medication:

Antibiotics only work against bacteria, they are not some kind of wonderpotion that cures anything, and they should not always be given

Please please stick to your prescription the doctor gives you. Even if you already feel better, dont just stop unless the doctor says you can stop. A lot of medication needs to be taken according to the prescription in order for it to be effective, because you build up the dosis to an effective level. Stopping or not sticking to it really decreases effectivity.”

3. Nothing to be embarrassed about

“That there is a wide range of ‘normal’. Don’t be embarrassed by your body. Having said that, if you are concerned about anything, ask your doctor. We have generally heard it all before, and trust me, we have (nearly always) seen it all before. Maybe you have something that has been bothering you for ages, but you were too scared or embarrassed to ask about it … Just ask! It might be ‘nothing’ and you have been stressing about it for no reason. And if not, then you are at least one step closer to getting it fixed. No one can help if they don’t know. There are no stupid questions, so ask away.

I’m always amazed when I have been asked about something that has been bothering a patient for years and years, but they were too embarrassed / scared to bring it up. Most of the time, it is nothing / a completely normal body function / feature. Other times, it is something that should have been discussed right away.

YOU know your body best. So speak up! Don’t wait for the doctor to “ask the right question”.”

4. No narcs

“Tell us what drugs and alcohol you’re on.

We aren’t gonna tell the cops. We aren’t gonna lecture you.

But it might change the anesthesia I give you. Some stuff I give you might kill you. If you drink a 30 pack a day, tell me.”

5. Doesn’t work that way

“Some people seem to think that if you act healthy for a bit, it’ll make up for being a wreck.

There are so many things wrong with this. Just one example – antioxidants are like gas for your car. You can store up a certain amount of vitamins, but your tank can only hold so much. If you binge and overfill your tank, it doesn’t do anything (you excrete it out as waste), and you can’t expect to go the next several months without gas just because you tried to overload it before. You’re going to still need to get gas. Same goes for your fruits and veggies.

Had someone tell me he went vegetarian for a few weeks, which meant he was done for the year. He was dead serious.

Had a patient at risk for heart failure try to insist that if she stayed away from salt entirely for x days/weeks, she should be able to have her fill of McDonald’s fries and ramen.

Had a smoker argue that if he stopped for some time, he should be able to smoke freely for a while. With some digging, “stopping” turned out to mean a couple less cigarettes a day.”

6. Get out there and move!

“You need some kind of exercise. Doesn’t matter how you feel right now, sitting for 12-16 hours a day will have negative consequences.”

7. BS

“Your kidneys and liver cheerfully do all the toxin elimination you’ll ever need. Cleanses and other “detoxifying” products are bullshit woo and a waste of money. The people who sell them are predators who only care about your money becoming theirs.”

8. Very serious

“Type 2 Diabetes is more serious than most people realize. I work as a doctor in hemodialysis and most of them are due to diabetic nephropathy. It also affects your eyes nerves immune system etc. Simple life changes can help you but noone seems to care. I even lost 9 kg myself because I had a family history of diabetes and to be healthy.”

9. Get it checked out

“How to check for skin cancer. If you see any moles or anything that are:

A – asymmetrical B – border (odd borders, like they’re jagged or something) C – Colour (different colours) D – Diameter (grows) E – Evolve (Well, evolves)

Go get it checked out. It might be skin cancer.”

10. Eat healthy

“How to eat healthy. Just because you’re skinny doesn’t mean you’re healthy. Especially the teenagers who I take care of. Sometimes I will ask them what’s a healthy food your doctor wants you to eat? Rarely do I get a right answer. I feel like the internet has so many fad diets, and family members rarely cook, so families don’t know basic nutrition facts.”

11. Some good tips

“-Antibiotics are not some magic cure for every pain in your body, nor for the flu or common cold.

-Never ever boil breast milk (in my country there is a popular belief that breast milk jaundice in newborns can be treated by boiling one’s breast milk – but by doing this you destroy all the nutrients and it basically becomes as nutritious as water is).

-Do not give honey to children below the age of 1.

-Do not rub your child with rubbing alcohol as to lower his fewer.

-Baby wipes don’t substitute daily baths/showers.

Yes, I am a pediatrician.”

12. Know your meds

“This is going to sound really basic, but i wish my patients would know what meds they are on when they come to the hospital. At least once a day comes somebody in who goes ” yeah i take 8 pills in the morning, 3 in the evening, and 4 at lunch but dont ask me which, youre a doctor, you should know”.

I beg of you, before going to a doctor that has never seen you before, write your meds, dosis and all on a piece of paper.”

13. Still might feel normal

“You often will feel normal even with high blood pressure. It’s often found incidentally. So don’t wait until it gives you symptoms you don’t want to go through.”

14. Very complex

“That the immune system is an incredibly complex and nuanced organization of cells that communicates readily to destroy anything deemed hostile within the body. It helps explain why vaccines are supposed to work, why allergies come and go, and why transfusions/transplants are hard to successfully pull off.”

15. The final word

“You only get one body. The way you treat it has a significantly higher impact in how your health will end up in a decade than what sort of interventions we can give you. You really should treat your body like a temple.”

The post 15 Doctors Share What They Wish Patients Knew About Their Bodies appeared first on UberFacts.

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Social Media Influencers Have Been Taking Pics with a Toxic Lake in Russia

So is “social media influencer” like, a job?

It is, unfortunately. And apparently finding the perfect background is an important part of being the best in your field.

Which is why so many influencers have taken a liking to the picturesque lake in the city of Novosibirsk, in Russia.

The waters are as turquoise as a tropical sea, and contrasted against the surrounding Siberian forest, well…there’s really no arguing that the scenery is Instagram-worthy.

Except for one this: It’s not actually a lake, but the containment pond a power plant uses as an ash dump. The Siberian Generating Company, who runs the plant, has put out a warning against swimming in the lake, which gets its beautiful color from  calcium salts and other metal oxides being pumped into the fairly shallow (3-6 feet deep) body of water.

Now, the lake isn’t radioactive or deadly – at least according to the power plant – but the cocktail of substances definitely certainly isn’t something you’d want in your bath water. It could lead to allergic reactions, among other unknown outcomes.

Not only that, but the bottom of the lake is muddy with ash deposits, meaning anyone walking in it could get stuck and require professional help to get out.

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OBSESE RUSKÝCH INSTAGRAMERŮ? #NovosibirskéMaledivy působí na první pohled jako místo, které je ideální pro návštěvu během letní dovolené. Pohádkově modrá voda přímo vybízí ke koupání a ruští instagrameři se u tohoto jezera rádi zvěčňují takovým způsobem, jako kdyby se právě nacházeli na luxusní dovolené. Realita je pak o něco horší. Příčinou azurově modré vody jsou totiž chemikálie a popel, které do vody proudí z nedaleké uhelné továrny. Jakkoliv může místo vybízet ke koupání, lidé by se k němu podle vydaných varování nejlépe neměli vůbec přibližovat, natož v něm plavat, protože tamní voda je zdraví škodlivá. Navzdory tomu místo denně navštěvují houfy lidí, aby si pořídily stylovou fotku… A kam letos pojedete na dovolenou vy? ?#russia #novosibirsk #novosibirskmaldives #lake #instagram #summer #blog #factory #trend #blogger #influencer #photo #blue #water

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Just something to think about before you go wading into random bodies of water, pretty or not.

The post Social Media Influencers Have Been Taking Pics with a Toxic Lake in Russia appeared first on UberFacts.

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Social Media Influencers Have Been Taking Pics with a Toxic Lake in Russia

So is “social media influencer” like, a job?

It is, unfortunately. And apparently finding the perfect background is an important part of being the best in your field.

Which is why so many influencers have taken a liking to the picturesque lake in the city of Novosibirsk, in Russia.

The waters are as turquoise as a tropical sea, and contrasted against the surrounding Siberian forest, well…there’s really no arguing that the scenery is Instagram-worthy.

Except for one this: It’s not actually a lake, but the containment pond a power plant uses as an ash dump. The Siberian Generating Company, who runs the plant, has put out a warning against swimming in the lake, which gets its beautiful color from  calcium salts and other metal oxides being pumped into the fairly shallow (3-6 feet deep) body of water.

Now, the lake isn’t radioactive or deadly – at least according to the power plant – but the cocktail of substances definitely certainly isn’t something you’d want in your bath water. It could lead to allergic reactions, among other unknown outcomes.

Not only that, but the bottom of the lake is muddy with ash deposits, meaning anyone walking in it could get stuck and require professional help to get out.

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OBSESE RUSKÝCH INSTAGRAMERŮ? #NovosibirskéMaledivy působí na první pohled jako místo, které je ideální pro návštěvu během letní dovolené. Pohádkově modrá voda přímo vybízí ke koupání a ruští instagrameři se u tohoto jezera rádi zvěčňují takovým způsobem, jako kdyby se právě nacházeli na luxusní dovolené. Realita je pak o něco horší. Příčinou azurově modré vody jsou totiž chemikálie a popel, které do vody proudí z nedaleké uhelné továrny. Jakkoliv může místo vybízet ke koupání, lidé by se k němu podle vydaných varování nejlépe neměli vůbec přibližovat, natož v něm plavat, protože tamní voda je zdraví škodlivá. Navzdory tomu místo denně navštěvují houfy lidí, aby si pořídily stylovou fotku… A kam letos pojedete na dovolenou vy? ?#russia #novosibirsk #novosibirskmaldives #lake #instagram #summer #blog #factory #trend #blogger #influencer #photo #blue #water

A post shared by Ironická blondýna (@ironickablondyna) on

Just something to think about before you go wading into random bodies of water, pretty or not.

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A Guy Accepted a Dare to Eat a Gecko and He Lost His Life

Bet you never thought you’d see that headline, right?

We all know that games of truth or dare can get out of hand on occasion, but the family of David Dowell – a husband and father of three – never expected his taking a Christmas party dare to eat a gecko might cost him his life.

The healthy 34-year-old ingested the animal on December 1, and by December 3, he was not feeling at all well.

“It was coming out both ends,” his sister Hannah told The Sydney Morning Herald. “He was really sick and the moment he started throwing up it was green. That’s when they rang the ambulance.”

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♡ Betty ♡ She’s like a little boa sometimes ? It was weigh day today and Betty is up at 52g, Penny has gone down to 66g and Archie is at 30g. ??• • I’m going away again and wont be home until friday, so there probably wont be any pictures. #leopardgecko #leopardgeckos #leopardgeckosofinstagram #leopardgeckolove #gecko #geckoleopard #geckoofinstagram #geckos #geckolove #geckoaddict #geckoaddiction #geckoadvise #geckofeeding #leopardgeckofeeding #bhfyp #bhfyp♥ #leopardgeckoshedding #geckoshedding #eublepharismacularius • Reptifam ?? @diego_the_leopardgecko @lillie_leopoard_gecko @leoo_ladies @leopardgecko.mm @tiny_the_leo @acid_the_gecko @mon.and.sienna @emile_et_une_patte @morethanagecko @sakr_the_gecko @reptiles_239

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Brisbane doctors originally believed he had a simple stomach bug, or maybe a hangover, but the family insisted it must be more and begged them not to discharge him. Dowell was admitted and eventually diagnosed with a Salmonella infection – one that began to worsen significantly during his hospital stay.

Little known fact: even though Salmonella is typically acquired by the mishandling of food, according to the CDC reptiles can also transfer the microbe to humans.

“Contact with reptiles can be a source of human Salmonella infections. Reptiles can be carrying Salmonella bacteria but appear healthy and clean and show no signs of illness.”

In fact that’s why turtles under a certain size are banned from being sold as pets – little kids kept getting salmonella.

Though it’s not clear whether David Dowell actually ate the gecko or simply handled it (stories from the party state either as having happened), there was no doubt he was in serious trouble. His mother told the newspaper that “his testicles were swollen up to grapefruits and there was fluid leaking from them. The doctors said that was normal, it was just all all of the fluid in his stomach cavity.”

Salmonella causes illness in around 1.2 million people in the US every year, and while most cases clear up on their own within a week, around 23,000 people are hospitalized and 450 don’t recover.

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Salmonella infection (salmonellosis) is a common bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract. Salmonella bacteria typically live in animal and human intestines and are shed through feaces. Humans become infected most frequently through contaminated water or food.⠀ ⠀ Typically, people with salmonella infection have no symptoms. Others develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps within eight to 72 hours. Most healthy people recover within a few days without specific treatment.⠀ ⠀ In some cases, the diarrhea associated with salmonella infection can be so dehydrating as to require prompt medical attention. Life-threatening complications also may develop if the infection spreads beyond your intestines. The risk of acquiring salmonella infection is higher when travelling to countries with poor sanitation.⠀ ⠀ #DoyenMedicals #MedicalEducation #Salmonella #HealthyLiving #healthylivingjourney

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Sadly, Dowell found himself in the latter category. After spending time in a medically-induced coma, he passed away during emergency surgery 10 days after the incident with the gecko.

Though doctors never said for sure that it was the interaction that cost him his life, his partner, Allira, says “ingestion of a gecko” is what is listed on the “actual death certificate.”

The death of their loved one was sudden and unexpected, and the family is still reeling from the entire episode. Though they’ve opened an inquest into how things were handled at the hospital, they realize they may never have answers.

Allira does have some advice for anyone out there who thinks stunts like the one David pulled are all in good fun: “If you’re thinking of performing a similar stunt, don’t.”

Solid advice, if you ask me.

And one more reason to avoid the local wildlife whenever possible.

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