U CUD SAVE A LIFE

You could save a life

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters... S.T.R .


If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a party , a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call ambulance)

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.)


She had suffered a stroke at the party . Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.
Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:


A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the "3" steps,

STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.
The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions :

S * Ask the individual to SMILE

.
T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg " It is sunny out today" ).
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS ..

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.



NOTE : Another 'sign' of a stroke is
1. Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue.
2. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

A prominent cardiologist says if everyone who reads this & sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

….and it could be your own…..

7 TIPS FOR GOOD NIGHT SLEEP

A consistent wind-down routine every day can help you fall asleep more quickly and reliably. Try any or all of the following relaxing behaviors for a restful night.

1. Take a hot bath
Your temperature naturally dips at night, starting two hours before sleep and bottoming out at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. When you soak in a hot tub, your temperature rises—and the rapid cool-down period immediately afterward relaxes you.

Two hours before bed, soak in the tub for 20 or 30 minutes. If you raise your temperature a degree or two with a bath, the steeper drop at bedtime is more likely to put you in a deep sleep. Shower is less effective but can work, as well.

2. Install a dimmer switch
Late in the evening, your body releases the chemical melatonin, which makes you sleepy—but only if it receives the right cues from your environment. "Melatonin is your hormone of darkness—it won't flow with the lights on. You want to transition to dark as early as 9 or 10 o'clock. Sitting in a dimly lit room before getting ready for bed can put you in the right mindset for sleep.

3. Lay out your clothes
You can help your body recognize that bedtime is imminent by setting routines and repeating them every night. Laying out your pajamas, brushing your hair or your teeth—these habits can be very sleep-conducive.

4. Shun p.m. stimulants
Skipping your normal cup of joe—even as early as lunchtime—should help you fall asleep quicker, since caffeine is a stimulant. Having caffeine after noontime is not desired , if you have poor sleep, because it can hang out in the system for a long time.
Nicotine is also a stimulant; smoking to relax before bed can actually do the opposite, revving up your heart rate and keeping your brain alert, says Walsleben.

5. Shut down electronics
You may find it relaxing to catch up on correspondence with friends just before turning in for the night, but the practice may be increasing the amount of time you toss and turn. Lit screens are stimulating (that includes televisions too), so it's best to avoid them. "Before your targeted bedtime, begin slowing down your brain by doing something calming, like reading in a comfy chair—somewhere other than bed," she says. "Stop watching TV and checking email."

6. Wear socks to bed
If cold feet keeping you awake—especially during the winter—warm them up with a soft pair of socks. The extra layer under the covers can help improve circulation in your extremities, which can help you fall asleep more quickly.

7. Limit evening food and drinks
A large meal or spicy snack too close to bedtime can leave your digestive system working overtime while the rest of your body lies awake. And alcohol with dinner—or as a nightcap—may make you drowsy, but it will disrupt your sleep patterns later in the night and keep you from getting the deep sleep you need to feel refreshed.

If you drink a lot of any liquid before bed, for that matter, you may be up throughout the night using the bathroom. "Most adults middle-age and older have to get up at night for this reason, but restricting fluids before bed can help.) If you do get up often, install a dim red bulb in your bathroom; it's less stimulating than bright white light and won't disrupt the flow of melatonin in your brain.

SALMONELLA-TAINTED TOMATO ILLNESSES REACH 228 ( * * * )

WASHINGTON - The toll from salmonella-tainted tomatoes jumped to 228 illnesses Thursday as the government learned of five dozen previously unknown cases and said it is possible the food poisoning contributed to a cancer patient's death.
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Six more states — Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Vermont — reported illnesses related to the outbreak, bringing the number of affected states to 23.

The Food and Drug Administration has not pinpointed the source of the outbreak. With the latest known illness striking on June 1, officials also are not sure if all the tainted tomatoes are off the market.

"As long as we are continuing to see new cases come on board, it is a concern that there are still contaminated tomatoes out there," said the agency's food safety chief, Dr. David Acheson.

Government officials have said all week they were close to cracking the case, but "maybe we were being too optimistic," Acheson acknowledged.

How much longer? "That's impossible to say."

On the do-not-eat list are raw red plum, red Roma or red round tomatoes, unless they were grown in specific states or countries that the FDA has cleared because they were not harvesting when the outbreak began or were not selling their tomatoes in places where people got sick.

The FDA is directing consumers to its Web site — http://www.fda.gov — for updated lists of the safe regions.

Also safe are grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached. That is not because there is anything biologically safer about those with a vine but because the sick have assured investigators that is not the kind of tomato they ate.

What if you did not go to the store armed with a list, or the store or restaurant manager cannot assure that any plum, Roma or round tomatoes came from safe regions?

"If you don't know, don't take the risk," Acheson said.

Cooking also kills salmonella, but the FDA is not formally advising people to cook suspect tomatoes for fear they will not get them heated thoroughly.

Mexico and parts of central Florida, two chief tomato suppliers, are still on FDA's suspect list. But the agency would not say they were top suspects, and in fact, said certain parts of Mexico that were not harvesting when the outbreak began are working to be cleared.

At least 25 people have been hospitalized during the outbreak, caused by a relatively rare strain of salmonella known as Saintpaul.

"At this point, there isn't a lot of data to suggest this is a more virulent strain," said Dr. Ian Williams of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

No deaths have been attributed to the salmonella. But the CDC for the first time Thursday acknowledged that the salmonella may have been a contributing factor in the cancer-caused death of a 67-year-old Texas man.

HONEY: A MAGIC REMEDY FOR COMMON DISEASES

You have been keeping a hawk's eye on your body weight and are a regular at the gym. You also drink lots of water and fiber-rich diet. You even follow experts' advice on taking care of your hair and skin. But what about those eyes? How do you protect them from the stress that is caused by working long hours before the computer? Well, here's an easy answer to that: Take the traditional route add a little honey to your daily diet.

Yes, whether its your grandmother, or the neighbourhood doctor, everybody will agree to this fact that honey not only helps protect the eyes, but also help improve your eyesight. While there are plenty of home remedies from honey, we bring you a few here:

Perry Kharpuri is a researcher based in Shillong, a place well-known for it's large-scale honey production. Perry's advice is , "mix two teaspoons of honey with carrot juice and consume regularly", to improve your eye sight and cure problems such as watering of eyes.

In cold, cough and congested chest, two teaspoons of honey with equal quantity of ginger juice should be consumed frequently. This is one of the oldest and most popular remedies that millions of Indians already follow. The other such popular remedy is to take one spoon of fresh honey mixed with the juice of half a lemon in a glass of lukewarm water in order to get cured of constipation, hyperacidity and obesity.

Now, Swapan Debnath, a homeopath says that honey can help control your BP as well. According to him, two teaspoons of honey should be mixed with one teaspoon of garlic juice and taken on a regular basis.

Maheep Kohli owns a bee farm in Moga, Punjab and she has a few honey-based remedies up her sleep as well. One of them is a mixture of honey, ginger juice and black pepper powder, mixed in equal quantities. When consumed thrice daily helps to relieve symptoms of asthma.

However, here are also a few words of caution from Maheep: Always make sure that the honey you are taking is not heated, avoid taking honey when you are exposed to high temperature.

And last but least, never ever mix honey with hot and spicy foods and fermented beverages like whisky, rum, brandy, etc. Honey includes nectar of various flowers some of which may be poisonous and when it is mixed with hot and spicy foods, the poisonous properties get enhanced, sometimes to the extent of being fatal.

CHEERS TO HEALTHY DRINKING

In Punjab, where a majority of the people prefer a glass full of Lassi, a traditional curd-based drink to beat the heat, several outlets are now offering fresh fruit juice-based health drinks.

One such popular outlet in Chandigarh is 'Bloom'. Many people say that if you are in Chandigarh, you must savour the delicious and healthy food and fruit juices offered at this place.

The Ayurveda-based health boosters have been formulated by a group of highly experienced doctors and is claimed to be 100 per cent organic.

Bloom boosters are a rich source of alkaloids, glycosides, anti-oxidants, vitamins and other essential nutrients and make an ideal substitute for the missing nutrients in our body.

It's the brainchild of Amit Roy Sharma, a non-resident Indian who felt the dire need of a health drink bar in his hometown Chandigarh.

Sharma, CEO of Bloom Juices Private Limited, said: "Each time I came to India, I struggle to find a health drink, snacks and food in the market. So I thought, not just in Punjab, but across the country, there is a real opportunity to serve people healthy and nutritious drinks as well as healthy foods. So, we experimented and researched on that. We found that the market is having appetite, as people are becoming more health conscious. There is nothing parallel to Bloom that offers people something like this in market."

NO SMOKING DAY SPECIAL