Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rate but deadly disease. It is actually a form of cancer in the sac surrounding the lungs. This disease most commonly effects Caucasian males over the age of 50. The disease is rarely diagnosed in its early stages, and therefore, usually the prognosis and life expectancy following a diagnosis of this kind are not good.

The only known cause of this disease is prolonged exposure to asbestos. The disease does not seem to manifest right away, and therefore the effects of the asbestos exposure might not be seen for 20 years or so. In the meantime, you may not realize that you were exposed to asbestos, and even if you do realize that you were exposed, you think you are fine because you feel fine and seem fine. Unfortunately, you could still have this rare deadly form of cancer eating away at your lungs.

Some of the symptoms of this disease are difficulty breathing, night sweats, and chest pain. Symptoms are not always present at the time of diagnosis of this illness. Many people discover that they have Mesothelioma at the time of a routine exam, rather than because they are looking for the deadly disease.

After diagnosis, the prognosis is not good. Most people die within 5 years of their initial diagnosis, and many die within less than a year. It is really frightening to think that you or someone you love could be walking around and seeming to be just fine and yet they could have this deadly illness eating away at their lungs.

So here's what you need to do. Hop online and try to determine the higher risk factors for asbestos exposure. If you have worked in the shipbuilding industry, factory work, manufactured mobile homes, worked construction, or spent a lot of time in old buildings or schools, then you are probably at a much higher risk. If you or a loved one have ever worked in a high risk job with a chance of asbestos exposure, you need to go to your doctor and get a complete physical, and please let your doctor know that you are concerned about your risk of having Mesothelioma, and he can do additional tests to see if you do.

Early diagnosis and treatment are really the only ways to overcome this disease. Please don't wait until you experience symptoms, studies show that by that point it is probably too late.

Tea

I just got back from a pretty cool conference this last week that I was invited to by the department. For the business department we went on a sponsored trip to a conference on tea. I know that it may not sound like the most intriguing way to spend four days of your life, but if you got credit for doing it, wouldn't you? So basically it was this big gathering of wholesale tea manufacturers that are trying to sell their brands to various small and large stores. We decided that as a group we would say that we were opening a small shop in town here and we would need a large foodservice tea provider. I have never spent more time talking about herbal tea in my life. I mean before this week I didn't even know what oolong tea was and now I swear I am addicted to green tea. We got to try all of the newest tea brands and see all of the cool new packaging. I was really surprised at how big they all said the market actually is, and at how fast they all said it is growing. There must have been a total of about a hundred different foodservice iced tea wholesalers there and each one had a whole different campaign or slogan or angle from which they were selling basically the same thing. Some were extremely high scale teas that we couldn't even talk to beyond the taste test and introductions because they only really sold to high scale restaurants and big specialty stores. It was really fun playing the character game because we even got so far as to say we would contact many of them about a foodservice ice tea sale when we got the business to the final stages of construction. What I have taken out of it is not only a full blown tea addiction, but also another perspective on business that I hadn't really thought of. I think this conference really showed me that there are so many people in this world with a huge range of interests they are willing to pay for and that no market is unworthy of attention until it's been properly researched.

marriage counseling

Wow. So it seems like David and Diana are having trouble. It's crazy - they've been together so long that everyone thought that they'd be together forever for sure. Their wedding was amazing - everyone was there and everyone was so happy for them! I know that people have their problems, and that marriage problems are present with every couple, but I guess I somehow never even thought that that could apply to them. Wow. I just hope that they can get through it. It'd be such a pity to see all of their hard work end in a split; they're made for each other, and everyone knows it. I hope that they're getting good advice. I would offer some, but it's not really my place and though I'm close, I don't know if I'm that close. The people around them though, I don't know. They're my friends and all, but none of them have really had relationships that have gone longer than a few months, and none of them have been married so they dont really have the experience to talk from. I guess they have their parents to talk to, but even then... they sort of are biased. Well... yeah, they're definitely going to be biased, haha. I hope that they'll consider getting some marriage counseling at least. I'm pretty sure it'll help, they're certified for a reason. Not only that, they've got the experience and unbiased stance that'll help them deal with their problems. That, and I'm sure they've seen these problems with other couples as well. Sigh. I guess every problem you have seems super unique when it's happening to you, even though it could and probably is happening to other couples. I'm not saying that the problems you have aren't big, but that other people have dealt with them before and so can they. I've seen their relationship grow in the past 5 or 6 years that I've known them, and I know that theirs is legit. There's nothing in the world that could split them apart, and I know that in the end everything will be okay. I guess they just need to take things one step at a time. Maybe I'll call David up and see if he wants to grab a bite to eat. I'm sure he could use a little time out to cool off and maybe I'll bring up the idea of marriage counseling. Let's just hope that they don't think their marriage problems are too much to overcome.

wellness

Employee wellness programs are taking the country by storm, as companies try to halt the skyrocketing costs of healthcare.  As smoking became less socially acceptable, firms began forcing smokers outside with their habit.  The smell of smoke may be disappearing from the landscape of corporate America, but the costs remain, through higher insurance premiums, stifled productivity, and sick days.  Corporate wellness programs are attacking the problem head-on, by giving your empoyees the tools they need to quit.

Wellness Quotes dot com is the world's first provider of multiple quotes from the nation's leading wellness programs.

Educating your employees about the risk is only half the battle.  Getting them to take the plunge and actually quit is a daunting process, but one that is made easier with the help of a wellness program.  There are multiple steps involved in quitting:

• Education
• Support
• Counseling
• Smoking cessation aids

Your wellness program will incorporate the necessary steps to help stamp out the habit.  The cost is minimal and pays off in spades by reducing costs to your company: insurance premiums, health claims, sick days, and reduced productivity.  Your employee wellness program and its effects are more far reaching than that, however.

Battling obesity, diabetes, and heart disease also rank high on the list of diseases that need to be confronted, so they too are included in the list of conditions addressed by your wellness program.  There are fun and inexpensive ways of achieving these goals. Setting aside time for employees to walk and exercise during the workday have a net positive impact on productivity. 

Screenings for diabetes and high blood pressure can educate your employees about the risk of poor diet and exercise practices, and employees are increasingly receptive to the idea of improving their overall health.  As their employer you can help by implementing a common-sense approach to addressing these problems with a wellness program.

You can increase your employee retention rate, improve health, and look like a hero to your workers by implementing an employee wellness program.  Your employees will be more productive and happier with smaller waistlines and clear lungs. 

For more information on implementing an employee wellness program, check out Wellness Quotes dot com

prevageMD

I guess I don't really know what it means to get older yet. Days just sort of seem to keep happening. I was upset by turning twenty, but in a general sort of way because of the idea of it. I don't actually feel old (well, of course not, I'm not old, but I don't feel older, either). I see all of these "Prevent aging!" commercials on television and usually laugh. It's the blessing of good, clear skin: you never think about it.

 

My mom's going through menopause. It doesn't sound like any fun. And for a recovering hippie who never used to even wash her hair more than once every couple of weeks, she's starting to get a little freaked out about how she's looking older. She's been using a device that's something like a Clarisonic and even asked her doctor about Prevage MD. I asked her if she was losing her mind. This is the woman who's worn a t-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap nearly every day of her life, even to work. What does a wrinkle matter? It adds character.

 

But what must it feel like when you're starting so noticeably to look like a different person? My friends and I, we look very different than we did when we were little, but you don't remember what it was like to look in the mirror as a little kid. When you're fifty, do you remember exactly what it was like to look in the mirror at twenty, unwrinkled, ungray? Do you remember what it was like to get out of bed at twenty-five, fairly easily, no aching joints, good circulation? I know we change little by little every day, but I'd like to think we get an ever-deepening sense of who we are, too. Does it eventually happen that you don't recognize yourself anymore?

 

Some older folk are really beautiful. My step-grandma is beautiful. She's calm and sure of herself, great to talk to, with a quiet but firm voice that shakes just a little. Her eyes are always wet and that makes them sparkle. My grandma on the other side is also beautiful: strong, opinionated, loud, funny. I'd like to be beautiful like them when I'm old. I'm sure they recognize themselves when they look in the mirror.

eyelash extensions

The most beautiful man I know and possibly the most beautiful person I know is a drag queen.

 

Sometimes. I mean, he's not a cross-dresser, a trannie. Well, he could be. I guess the definitions aren't too strict. He loves to dress like a woman, and he makes a more gorgeous woman than I ever will. He puts on green or blue eye shadow arching up to his high, high eyebrows, glittery gold eyelash extensions or tinsel-like silver eyelash extensions below that, thick eyeliner to frame it all (his eyes are always the most striking part); he puts tinsel and glitter in his hair, feathers around his neck, a clinging dress on his skeletal form, and frighteningly high heels at the bottom of his unshaven legs. He's the most hideously thin man I've ever seen. It's haunting and beautiful.

 

He dresses this way for costume parties. But he also busts out the false eyelashes and slinky dresses for drag shows. When he lived in my city, he used to perform at the local gay clubs. Apparently some of the other queens could get kind of catty about him. I mentioned the unshaven legs...it's not really orthodox enough for them. When this man dresses up like a woman, he doesn't really look like a woman. He looks like an ethereal creature, an indefinable thing made of tinsel and eyelash adhesive and plastic, a Christmas tree come to life. And the other boys in drag, who have slathered their shaven chests in eyelash adhesive glue to hold up the sagging tops of their evening gowns, breasts stuffed with socks and toilet paper, bat their lash extensions at him in disdain, tap their long fake red nails impatiently on the bartop, and look away when he sings.

 

I think they're missing out. I've seen him in drag and it's breathtaking. I've never seen him perform, but I've heard that's breathtaking, too. He once did a number with a friend of his, who defends him against the purists, that involved one of them ripping into the other's stomach and tearing her guts out onstage. They used a plastic shopping bag filled with Chef Boyardee to create the effect. What kind of person thinks of that?

 

But even when he's not in drag, there's something about him. You see men and women pass him on the street, and every single one does a double take. There's something in him that stirs something in everybody else. That's the core of it.

weightloss

We are coming up on the New Year, and that means that it is time for everyone to dust off the New Years resolutions. I say that because I do not know a single person that does not have a resolution that was on their list the previous year. It really makes you wonder: why do people have the same resolution year after year? Well, I can not answer for the majority of resolutions, but I do know about the one main one. The resolution on more lists than any other is losing weight. It has to be the most common resolution.

                Because weight loss is on my resolution list as well, I did some researching to find out a little more about it. The result is that there are many good websites for this. Many are entirely dedicated to weight loss and how to go about doing it properly. From the most basic fundamentals of why people have issues with their weight and then works out how to resolve each of the basic problems.

                One website features numerous weight loss articles as well as a discussion board to get tips and stories from other people just like you, who have had issues with their weight. I have not yet had a chance to browse through all of the resources that this website offers, just because they are so many. The articles I have looked through have been a great source of information that I should be able to use for the rest of my life.

                The main problem is to tackle  not weight loss itself, but how to lead a lifestyle such that weight loss is not necessary. Of course, that is the goal of everyone. No one wants to keep having to lose weight every year; they want to keep it off permanently. That is why many of the articles focus on lifestyles which will add weight to an otherwise healthy person.

                Hopefully many people will join me in the push for a healthy alternative to repetitive weight loss and be helped doing research on the web which offers such a vast wealth of information on how to keep weight off as well as how to lose it in the first place.