Health tips

Friday, 28 June 2013

Lifestyle to blame for women's heart diseases

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Consider Your Pet’s Safety While You’re at Work

Any pet owner will tell you that our pets are family. They are our furry, four-legged children, and there are few things with the potential to be quite as nerve-wracking as leaving our children alone and unattended at home. Unfortunately, since bringing our pets to work is rarely an option, we don’t always have a lot of alternatives if we want to make a living. Here we want to equip you with knowledge and solutions so that you understand the hazards your pet faces without you and how you can diffuse them.

Indoors or outdoors?

In general, it’s usually best to have your pet indoors while you’re away and can’t supervise. There are a number of causes for concern:

Where cats are concerned, there are approximately 60 million stray, feral cats in the United States. Cats tend to be territorial and aggressive towards uninvited guests. More troublesome than the scuffles themselves is that many of these stray cats carry very harmful diseases.Parasites such as ticks, intestinal worms, and ringworm.Boredom or anxious digging can open exit routes under fences.Neither dogs nor cats know instinctively to stay away from the street.Unfortunately, the frightening thought of animal cruelty is an equally-frightening reality, especially with cats caught roaming.

Although you may feel like you’re depriving your pet of the opportunity to get some fresh air during the day, they are much safer inside.

Common Dangers:

Bone/Bodily Injuries: This doesn’t apply so much to cats since they’re generally pretty acrobatic and self-aware. Dogs, on the other hand, aren’t quite so graceful, and a jump or a tumble from heights can put them in harm’s way.

Block off access to stairs and tall furniture. Even a jump from the height of a couch can cause a sprain in a small dog; training them to stay off furniture altogether is an effective method of eliminating the risk. If this is difficult, try putting steps and ramps next to the furniture they like to be on.

Urinary Tract Infections: UTIs are common in pets who aren’t able to eliminate with enough frequency. Moreover, the concentration of urine in the bladder of a pet who “holds it” for too long can cause crystallized buildup which eventually leads to a lot of pain and costly vet bills.

Cats will often choose another place to eliminate if they can’t access their litter box, but that doesn’t mean they should have to. Make sure your cat’s litter box is accessible and clean each day before you leave. For your dog, consider puppy training pads if there is simply no way to get them outside during the day. Otherwise, you can try recruiting friends, family, neighbors, or dog-walking services to stop by in the middle of the day.

Boredom: Just like us, when our pets are bored, they go on a search for a source of entertainment. Unfortunately, in our pets’ case, those sources are more often destructive than not. If the property damage itself wasn’t bad enough, chewing can lead to choking or electrocution.

Play with and exercise your pets in the morning. The more energy you take out of them before you leave, the less they have to expend on finding trouble. Before you leave the house, set your pets up with a selection of toys. Try to lean towards toys that are more challenging in nature, such as those that make your dog work to access hidden treats.

French Bulldog at Dog Gate

Separation Anxiety: Both dogs and cats have been known to suffer from acute depression when they are separated from their owners for extended periods of time. In the excitement they show when you get home from work, you may not even be aware that they’ve spent the day exhibiting stress behaviors. These behaviors may be pacing, vomiting and diarrhea, not eating, eliminating indoors, chewing and digging, and in some cases, self-mutilation.

Separation anxiety is a matter of training. Often the training involves leaving your dog alone during short periods of time while you’re at home and reducing the direct attention you give them. Styles and professional opinions vary on exactly how to execute this type of training, but essentially the goal is to help your pets understand that your absence will never be permanent. If you see signs of separation anxiety in your pet, consult your veterinarian for advice and references to local trainers and material.

In all cases, a good way to identify your pets’ situations and needs while you’re away is to take advantage of remote surveillance technologies. Liveline, iWatchLife and McAfee all offer home camera services that allow you to access home surveillance from your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Not only can remote surveillance give you peace of mind when you’re away from your pet, but it can help you recognize dangerous behaviors and plan solutions.

Jay Acker heads up a team of writers at Safety Services company that create safety training kits, safety manuals and other safety products. They can be found on the web at www.safetyservicescmpany.com.

Interested in guest blogging for Trupanion? Send us an e-mail at socialmedia@trupanion.com! Learn more at: http://blog.trupanion.com/guest-blog-for-trupanion/

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What's keeping Gen Y sleepless?

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Wellness Wednesday: Celebrity Fitspiration Heather Graham

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Wellness Wednesday: Celebrity Fitspiration Heather Graham

Today’s Wellness Wednesday Fitspiration is Heather Graham.

Heather has recently shot to fitness fame thanks to her appearance in the Hangover Part 3, but truth be told I’ve been a fan of Heathers since the late 80s/early 90s.

Anyone remember her from License to Drive?

Yeah, I pretty much thought she was the coolest chick ever in that movie haha.

Looks like Heather has only gotten better with age.

heather graham

According to reports Heather tries to avoid alcohol and sugar and stays fit with pilates and yoga.

She recently had this to say about yoga:

“Yoga is my obsession. I love it! I would rather be doing yoga than most other things.”

heather graham

I think Heather makes 43 look amazing and I can only hope that I look that good when I’m her age.

Oh who am I kidding I’d love to look like that now haha.

Best,

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Felling stressed? Don’t ignore it

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I’m guest posting today over at Yogalina.net

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Hey ladies.

No new post here today, because I’m guest posting over at http://yogalina.net/.

Please go and check it out to read about some of my favorite natural beauty products.

Oh and while you’re there be sure to say hello to the amazing owner of the site, Meg.

She’s a total sweetheart.

Best,

Leigh

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Blood test detects colon cancer before it develops

(Blood test detects colon…)

A new blood test is showing very promising results for detecting colon cancer before it develops.

The results of the test that was developed in the Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Lab at Baylor Research Institute, are exciting and promising because this simple blood-based test examines the levels of a single microRNA - a small RNA molecule that can be readily identified in a wide variety of bodily fluids, including blood.

In this seminal study, the investigators studied several hundred patients with colorectal polyps and cancers and reported that measuring levels of miR-21 in the blood can accurately identify up to 92 percent of patients with colorectal cancer.

Even more importantly, not only is this test good for non-invasively identifying patients who already have colorectal cancer, but it can accurately identify up to 82 percent of patients with advanced colonic polyps, which present the highest risk for developing into colorectal cancers several years later in life.

"The development of this biomarker is highly encouraging because high mortality rates associated with colorectal cancer is a consequence of late detection of this disease, underscoring the need for improved early detection, prevention, risk assessment and intervention," said Ajay Goel, PhD, director of Epigenetics and Cancer Prevention at Baylor Research Institute. Early detection of advanced colorectal polyps and cancers is considered the most relevant target for screening strategies and the best approach to improving survival of these patients.

"This blood-based test could be transformative in how we screen patients for colorectal cancer; it would save lives and could result in major savings of health care dollars," said Michael Ramsay, MD, president of Baylor Research Institute.

While more testing needs to be done, the findings were enough to warrant an editorial in the highly regarded Journal by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, associate director for clinical research at the University of Southern California's Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. "MiR-21 may not be just another brick in the wall, but rather may be the keystone leading to a molecularly justified, miRNA-based biomarker era in colorectal cancer," Dr. Lenz said.

The study has been published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.