7 Steps to Protect Yourself from the Winter SunWritten by Roger Carr
What outdoor activities did you do this past summer? Maybe you went on a vacation to beach. Maybe you spent some time playing your favorite sports such as baseball, golf, or tennis. Maybe you went swimming or had a barbeque in backyard with family and friends. Regardless of outdoor activities you did over summer, most likely you were aware that it was important to protect yourself from sun while outdoors.Now winter is approaching. I am turning my attention to putting away my summer items to make room for winter ones; long sleeve shirts for short sleeve ones, corduroy pants for shorts, and boots for sandals. Most of sports equipment I have been using is going to get put away as well. But what about those items I have been using to protect myself from sun? Things like my sunscreens, sunglasses, and sun protective hats and clothing. You may be putting these items away and not using them during winter. The National Council of Skin Cancer Prevention reported in their January 2003 newsletter that research shows only 3 percent of Americans routinely wear sunscreen during fall months, and only 2 percent during winter months. However, you can still get a sunburn and snow blindness during these months. The colder temperatures do not block UV rays and reflections off snow and higher altitudes can make matters even worse. You may be causing yourself significant, long-term damage by not properly protecting yourself. How do you protect yourself from winter sun (or any other season)? Follow these simple sun safety action steps recommended by US Environmental Protection Agency: 1. Limit Time in Midday Sun - The sun's rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Whenever possible, limit exposure to sun during these hours.
| | A Lifestyle Approach to Remedy SnoringWritten by Kevin Meates
If you want to remedy snoring, you have to find underlying cause. Snoring is not an affliction like common cold, where you wake up one morning and you’ve just got it. It is something that normally arrives slowly over time. Most people can’t remember day and date that their snoring started. It was sometime in my mid 30’s or some such vague description is normal response to a question on its arrival. The lifestyle approach to remedy your snoring, doesn’t treat it as a condition or a disease. But rather treats snoring as a symptom, or a warning, that body is out of balance. I like to think of snoring like ground proximity alarm in a modern jet aircraft. (The one that goes “WOOP! WOOP! PULL UP! PULL UP!”, if aircraft gets too close to ground when it’s not supposed to). If you are a pilot, you’d prefer not to hear it. But if you did, you would be grateful for warning before dire consequences arrived. I'm sure warning siren must be very annoying when it is activated but a lot less painful than alternative. Likewise snoring is annoying, but not responding to warning may have more serious consequences. The above example may seem extreme but reality is there has been an enormous amount of research in recent years linking snoring to a range of serious conditions such as hypertension and coronary disease. The human body is a truly amazing machine. It has ability to self regulate a complex array of interacting chemical and electrical processes within fine tolerances. This ability of homeostasis means body can keep internal systems (e.g. blood pressure, body temperature, acid-base balance) in equilibrium despite changes in external environment.
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