Items Tagged With Womens Health

How to get started with an exercise program.
By Dulce Zamora  

You've decided it's time to start exercising. Congratulations! You've taken the first step on your way to a new and improved body and mind

"Exercise is the magic pill," says Michael R. Bracko, EdD, FACSM, chairman of the American College of Sports Medicine's Consumer Information Committee. "Exercise can literally cure diseases like some forms of heart disease. Exercise has been implicated in helping people prevent or recover from some forms of cancer. Exercise helps people with arthritis. Exercise helps people prevent and reverse depression."

And there's no arguing that exercise can help most people lose weight, as well as look more toned and trim.

Of course, there's a catch. You need to get -- and keep -- moving if you want to cash in on the benefits. This doesn't necessarily mean following a strict, time-consuming regimen at the gym -- although that can certainly reap benefits. The truth is you can get rewards from many different types and levels of exercise.

"Any little increment of physical activity is going to be a great boost to weight loss and feeling better," says Rita Redberg, MSc, chairwoman of the American Heart Association's Scientific Advisory Board for the Choose to Move program.

Your exercise options are numerous, including walking, dancing, gardening, biking -- even doing household chores, says Redberg. The important thing is to choose activities you enjoy, she says. That will increase your chances of making it a habit.

And how much exercise should you do? For heart health, the AHA recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as walking, on most days of the week.

Yet "if you're getting less than that, you're still going to see benefits," says Redberg. "It's not like if you can't do 30 minutes, you shouldn't do anything, because you're definitely going to see benefits even at 5 or 10 minutes of moving around."

Ready to get started? Health and fitness experts helped VitaDocs compile this beginner's guide to exercise, including definitions of some common exercise terms, sample workouts, and recommendations on home exercise equipment.

A way to measure the intensity of your exercise is to check you heart rate or pulse during physical activity. These should be within a target range during different levels of intensity.

For example, according to the CDC, for moderate-intensity physical activity, a person's target heart rate should be 50% to 70% of his or her maximum heart rate.

Get Ready

The first step to any workout routine is to evaluate how fit you are for your chosen physical activity. Whenever you begin an exercise program, it's wise to consult a doctor. Anyone with major health risks, males aged 45 and older, and women aged 55 and older should get medical clearance, says Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise.

Birth Control Introduction

The practice of birth control or preventing pregnancy is as old as human existence. For centuries, humans have relied upon their imagination to avoid pregnancy.  

• Egyptian ancient writings dating back to 1850 BC refer to techniques using a device placed in a woman’s vagina made of crocodile dung and fermented dough, which most likely created a hostile environment for sperm. Other items placed in the vagina included plugs of gum, honey, and acacia.
  
  
• During the early second century in Rome, a highly acidic concoction of fruits, nuts, and wool was placed on the cervix as a type of spermicidal barrier.

Today, the voluntary control of fertility is of paramount importance to modern society. From a global perspective, countries currently face the crisis of rapid growth of the human population that has begun to threaten human survival. According to the Population Reference Bureau's 2003 World Population Data Sheet, the world's current growth rate is 1.3%. Based on this growth rate, the population would double in 53.8 years. The less developed world's natural increase rate (births minus deaths, without migration) is 1.6%; therefore, population in these countries would double in 43.8 years. See the Population Reference Bureau's 2003 World Population Data Sheet for more information. The United Nations lists a growth rate of 2.41% for the least developed countries, which would imply that at the current rate, populations in these nations would double in 29 years. See the United Nations Population Database. Keep in mind that doubling time cannot be used to project future population size because it assumes a constant growth rate over decades when growth rates are constantly changing. Nevertheless, these figures do provide a picture of how fast the population is growing at present.

For the individual woman, the effective ability to control when and whether she becomes pregnant affects her ability to achieve her own goals and contribute to her sense of well-being. A woman’s choice of birth control method involves factors such as how easy it is to use, safety, risks, cost, and personal considerations.

This overview discusses the main methods of contraception (birth control) used in the United States and their advantages and disadvantages. 

Behavioral Methods

Continuous abstinence

Continuous abstinence is completely refraining from sexual intercourse. There are no hormonal side effects, and abstinence is endorsed by many religious groups.
 
It is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy, and it also prevents sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Women who are abstinent until their 20s and have few partners are less likely to get STDs, become infertile, or develop cervical cancer. Abstinence costs nothing.
 
Abstinence may be difficult for some couples to maintain. It is important to discuss this decision with your partner before sexual situations arise.

Hagar Scher

Why women love to vent. Plus, how to tell when your griping is healthy and when it's more likely to bring you down.

It started out innocently. I was attending brunch at a friend's house. The aroma of bacon and coffee wafted through the air; our infants napped contentedly. But before long, our chatting turned into moaning and groaning. One friend began complaining about her mother-in-law's behavior at a recent dinner. Another kvetched about his brother's out-of-control toddler. Yet another deplored her boss's ineptitude. Soon I was bad-mouthing my own mother, who had just visited. One small complaint had snowballed into an avalanche of dissatisfaction.

Open your ears and you'll find that complaining is an integral part of most people's daily exchanges. "For example, we use complaints as icebreakers," says Robin Kowalski, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Clemson University. "We start a conversation with a negative observation because we know that will get us a bigger response than saying something positive would."

That's just one of the ways in which griping comes in handy. According to Kowalski, there are two basic categories of complaints: instrumental and expressive. Instrumental complaints are goal oriented, meaning that we verbalize the problem in hopes of bringing about change. You rant to your husband about how messy the bedroom is because you're hoping he'll offer to help clean it up. You tell the hotel manager that the garbage trucks woke you up at 5:00 a.m. because you want a better room.

Expressive complaints have a different mission: to let the speaker get something off her chest. When you call a friend to wail that all three kids have strep at the same time, you're not looking for medical advice. It's acknowledgment and sympathy you're after. "Even complaining about the driver who cut you off can be healthy, provided you feel better once you get it out," says Kowalski. But here's the downside: Some people abuse expressive complaining, grumbling incessantly with no real interest in dialogue, problem solving, or human connection.

WHY WE GRIPE SO MUCH

Michael Cunningham, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Louisville, observes that humans' taste for complaining probably evolved from our ancestors' way of crying out a warning when something threatened the tribe. "We mammals are a squealing species. We talk about things that bother us as a way of getting help or seeking a posse to mount a counterattack," says Cunningham. True, we no longer have to buddy up in the face of menacing saber-toothed tigers, but venting our everyday grievances to receptive listeners (a.k.a. expressive complaining) helps us feel validated and supported. Says my friend Tracy, mother of two daughters: "All the moms in our playgroup complain a lot. Venting helps us to feel less alone and less guilty about our frustrations as our kids go through the terrible twos."

Aphrodisiacs Make Better Flirts and Lovers

By Jennifer Warner
VitaDocs Feature

Forget perfume, the keys to spicing up your sex life may already be in your kitchen.

Researchers say the smell, taste, and even appearance of certain foods can act as potent aphrodisiacs that not only get you in the mood for love, but also may even make you a better flirt and lover. And knowing what foods are appropriate at each stage of the sex and mating process can maximize these effects.

"Different foods have different nutrients and substances that affect the body physiologically in different ways, that's why different foods work for different stages," says clinical sexologist Ava Cadell, PhD. "Some foods lower inhibitions, some get the blood flowing directly to the genitalia, and some foods release happy hormones."

Cadell has grouped aphrodisiacs into three groups based on the physiological effects they have on the body and how those effects can enhance sexual performance at each stage of a person's sex life.

Foods for Flirting

When looking for a potential mate, Cadell says it's important to choose foods that secrete chemicals and hormones that make you happy in order to increase self-confidence, lower inhibitions, and make you a better flirt.

Flirt-friendly foods include:

• Chili peppers. Spicy foods get the heart pumping and induce sweating.
• Bananas. They contain chemicals that reportedly have a mood-lifting effect on the brain and raises self-confidence.
• Carrots. Their phallic appearance and high-fiber content may induce sexual desire.

Foods for Seduction

In the next stage, seduction, aphrodisiacs can help trigger the release of sex hormones, such as testosterone, provide a quick energy boost, and increase blood flow to the genitals to get the body "in the mood" for love.

At this stage, Cadell says it's important to create a visual stimulation with foods that look like the genitalia, such as oysters, fresh figs, or carrots.

"Anything that is visually erotic is automatically going to set your brain in motion," says Cadell. "Second, certain foods release hormones, like testosterone in women that makes them more sexually aggressive and adventurous."

Other foods for seduction include:

• Shrimp. High in iodine, shrimp and other types of seafood are vital to the thyroid gland, which is vital for energy.
• Chocolate. Not only does chocolate provide a jolt of caffeine, the plant has a flower that looks like sex organs.
• Ginger. This root reportedly increases blood flow to the genitals in both men and women.
• Olives. Green ones are believed to make men more virile, while black ones increase women's sex drive.
• Tomatoes. Known as "love apples" by Puritans, they have a reputation as a sexual stimulant.
• Apples. Since Adam and Eve, this fruit has been synonymous with temptation.

"My favorite thing is that when you're with someone is to feed each other with the most seductive foods you can find," says Cadell, "like an asparagus where one person can start at one end and another at the other end and you meet in the middle."

Cadell says not only is asparagus a sexy, long, phallic-looking food, but it's rich in potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and vitamin E that can aid in hormone production and raising energy levels.

Focus More on Your Partner Than Yourself, Study Shows

By Miranda Hitti
VitaDocs Medical News

Feb. 9, 2006 -- Want a better love life that goes beyond Valentine's Day romance? Prize your partner's happiness and well-being above your own, a new survey suggests.

Those feelings -- called altruistic love -- are at the heart of the survey, which included more than 1,300 people, 60% of whom were married.

The findings:

• Married people with lots of altruistic love for their spouse had happier marriages.
• Married or not, altruistic love for a significant other was tied to higher levels of general happiness.

The survey was part of the General Social Survey, directed by Tom W. Smith, PhD, of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

Rate Your Own Altruistic Love

Curious about your own level of altruistic love? Rate how strongly you agree or disagree with these statements:

• I would rather suffer myself than let the one I love suffer.
• I cannot be happy unless I place the one I love's happiness before my own.
• I am usually willing to sacrifice my own wishes to let the one I love achieve his/hers.
• I would endure all things for the sake of the one I love.

By a long shot, the majority of survey participants agreed or strongly agreed with those statements.

Nearly nine in 10 agreed or strongly agreed with the first statement. About seven in 10 agreed or strongly agreed with the second statement. About eight in 10 agreed or strongly agreed with the last two statements.

Happier in Marriage

Married people "that express a high sense of altruistic love toward their significant other turn out to have much happier marriages.

Altruism is usually defined as helping others without getting anything back, Smith notes. "In this case, it turns out there is a positive payback," he says.

Married people get a "significant increase" in marital happiness if they have "this kind of self-sacrificing, put-the-interest-of-the-other-before-my-own-interest perspective on their romantic and close relationships," says Smith.

Altruistic love can create a positive cycle in relationships, he adds.

"I'll say I put my wife's interests ahead of mine," Smith explains. "Well, she appreciates that and she does the same back to me, and it strengthens the relationship and it leads to a happier marriage. So, I think that's the mechanism."

More studies are needed to check that theory, Smith says.

Not Just for Married People

Married people were more likely to rank high in altruistic love than the unmarried. But altruistic love was a boon for everyone -- no wedding band required.

"Having feelings of altruistic love toward the significant other -- a spouse, co-habitating partner, a simple romantic interest, which hasn't gone as far as either of those relationships -- not only leads to greater marital happiness but general increase in general happiness in one's life," Smith says.

Humans are "both self-interested and self-sacrificing," he notes. "I think sometimes we think of us as only in competition and material benefit and whatnot, and there's clearly more to human psychology than that."

Happily Married Couples  Womens Health