Month: March 2012

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Weight Loss Exercise

Migraines and Pregnancy

The link between migraines and pregnancy has been observed for quite some time now. Women without any prior history of migraines can suddenly find themselves experiencing splitting headaches. Migraines and pregnancy can be quite a difficult ailment to deal with. While pregnancy can contribute to migraines, typical headache cures can’t always be used due to the pregnancy.

Learning how migraines and pregnancy are linked can help in preventing these pains from occurring in the first place. If you do experience migraines while pregnant, you’ll also learn how to safely and effectively deal with them.

Linking Migraines and Pregnancy

Saying pregnancy is a drastic change can be quite the understatement. During this time, your body undergoes physical and chemical and hormonal changes. You can become quite sensitive to food or changes which didn’t give you migraines before. Your body will respond to changes differently now. While hormones can be a likely cause of this change, there are other several factors which contribute to migraines while pregnant.

Here are some common causes of migraines during pregnancy:

* Chocolate
* Dairy products (cheese, etc.)
* Coffee
* Dehydration
* Fatigue
* Stress
* Changes in weather

If you find yourself experiencing migraines during pregnancy, it can be helpful to keep track of when these episodes happened and what you were doing at that time. You can then make the connection between these occurrences and your migraines. Keep a diary or log to help you out with this. Check if the items above correspond with migraine attacks or headaches.

Remedies For Migraines And Pregnancy

For migraines and pregnancy, prevention of these headaches is always better than going for medication. Some of the best ways to avoid getting migraines are getting enough rest, eating right and regularly and drinking plenty of fluids. If you’ve kept a log of the likely culprits of migraines, you can also work to avoid these triggers or activities.

When these migraines occur, you should be ready as well to combat them. You can do this without taking medication. If you experience migraines, you should sit or lie down and rest. You may experience relief from applying cold packs to your head or affected areas such as the temples or the back of the neck.

Breathing exercises and relaxation techniques can also help. They can help circulate the blood better to lessen headaches and pains. Light exercise can be good for migraines as well. A soft and relaxing massage can also help, therapeutic or whole body massages however are not always advised.

Aspirin and other NSAID (not steroidal anti ?inflammatory drugs) may have side effects for pregnant women. Try to avoid these as much as possible. Acetaminophen, beta blockers and some anti-depressants are relatively low risk for pregnant women. All medication however should be doctor recommended during pregnancy.

Consult with your doctor for other remedies as well as ask about the therapies you are considering taking. Knowing more about migraines and pregnancy can help you have an easier and safer time during pregnancy.

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Weight Loss Exercise

New Ways to Fight Migraines

If you’ve suffered from splitting headaches before, you may be interested to give new migraine treatment options a try. Migraines can be very debilitative and the pain and nausea associated with them can make you stop right in your tracks. While pain relievers and others analgesics are normally used to treat migraines, they have some side effects and not everyone can take them.

They also can be quite ineffective over time as you may need larger doses to deal with migraines. While these traditional migraine medications still hold their place in dealing with this ailment, developments have been made which show promise in treating migraines. These new migraine treatment options can drastically reduce the occurrence of migraines as well as reduce the pain it causes.

New Migraine Treatment Procedures

Several of the new migraine treatment medications act as preventive medicine. Drugs used as antidepressants, heart medicine, anti-seizure medicine and even cosmetic surgery have all found their use as new migraines treatment options. While they don’t promise to cure migraines, they help prevent them from occurring as frequently.

Botox is a new migraine treatment discovery. Its use is mainly in the field of cosmetic medicine. Botox injections are normally used to tighten the skin and smooth out wrinkles. As a new migraine treatment, it has been shown to be effective in dealing with chronic migraines. It has been FDA approved for use in migraines.

Topiramate, Zonisamide, Levetiracetam are anti-seizure or epilepsy medicine which have been shown to reduce the frequency of migraines. While they have been shown to be effective, some of these drugs do have side effects. It is always best to consult with a doctor regarding prescription and dosage.

Beta blockers such as propanol and calcium channel blockers like verapamil are normally used as cardiovascular drugs. These drugs, along with some anti hypertensive medicine have been shown to reduce the frequency as well as severity of migraines.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a supplement which is naturally produced in the body. It is used mainly to metabolize oxygen and aids in cellular respiration. Because migraines are linked to impaired oxygen metabolism, CoQ10 is believed to be beneficial in reducing migraines.

Antidepressants such as Pamelor, amitriptyline and vivactil have also had good results in dealing with headaches and migraines. They also work even if you aren’t taking them for treatment of depression. They have been quite effective as a preventive measure for migraines.

Biofeedback is a technique which utilizes different equipment and sensors to measure body parameters such as blood flow, heart rate and temperature. This allows you to be aware of how your body is operating in a measurable and visual way. This, coupled with relaxation techniques has had good results in minimizing the intensity of migraines.

Taking a New Migraines Treatment Correctly

It can be noticed that new migraine therapies aren’t directly aimed at curing migraines. Most of them work on side benefits of other drugs. While they can be very helpful, it is always important to take note of possible side effects. Ask your doctor about these medicines before taking them. But with proper medical guidance on dosage and usage you can find that a new migraine treatment may just be the ticket for you.

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Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

What is the Paleo Diet?

I keep getting asked by people, “What is the Paleo Diet?”. The basis of the Paleo diet is that if follows what humans used to eat before the agricultural revolution came about. The Paleo diet encourages dieters to eat natural ingredients including tons of fruits and vegetables. Foods your ancestors used to grow for themselves.

The foods which are recommended for the Paleo Diet are

  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Lean meats
  • Seafood

All of the above foods are high in soluble fibre, antioxidants, phytochemicals, omega 3, monounsaturated fats and foods which have a low glycemic level when it comes to carbohydrate levels.

You can eat these lean protein sources along with unlimited amount of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Paleo diet recommends that you avoid the following foods as much as possible

  • Refined sugars
  • Refined grains
  • Saturated fats
  • Trans fats
  • Salt
  • Processed foods
  • High glycemic carbohydrate foods

What is the Paleo Diet?

What is the Paleo Diet?

All of these foods are known to cause obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular problems. They have also been linked to many other health related diseases.

If we dig back into our history books a little to find out what is the Paleo Diet you will discover that when our ancestor’s reached 60 they suffered from very few diseases. Yes many people did not even make it to 60 but that was due to the high instances of people being killed while out hunting.

Our ancestors ate off the land, they grew their own fruits and vegetables and raised livestock for slaughter. They did not eat breads and processed foods and it was uncommon to see many overweight individuals. Plus of course their lifestyle kept them busy all the time. They were active and very healthy people and this was only 500 generations ago. In our history that is not very long at all!

One concern that many people have when first learning what is the Paleo Diet is the lack of calcium. Everyone thinks that they need to consume tons of dairy each day to promote healthy bones and prevent osteoporosis.

You will still be consuming calcium while on the Paleo diet, you will just be getting your daily amount from different sources. Instead of drinking milk and eating cheese you will be getting calcium from your fruits and vegetables.

Our body needs to balance the amount of calcium it receives daily. All foods are processed through our kidneys and this is where bone demineralization takes place. When you eat foods which produce high amounts of acid in your body, the kidneys force out excess calcium and other alkaline’s.

The acid producing foods which we consume too much of are hard grains, cereals, cheese and salty foods. Acid must balance with alkaline which is found in fruits and vegetables. So when you increase the amount of these good alkaline foods your body will balance its calcium level. What all of this means is that you won’t become calcium deficient.

If you follow the guidelines to the Paleo Diet you will start to lose weight, sleep better and have more energy. So What is the Paleo Diet, lots of good food and none of the empty calories we are used to.

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