Me Tarzan, You Pseudo-Puritanical-Silent-Maid-Who-Slaves-To-My-In satiable-Ego-For-Life

It is very, very tempting to lump the male of our species under a single category – i.e. insecure, self-indulgent imp who boasts a chauvinistic pride based solely on an alphabetical mishap (designated ‘XY’ by geneticists.) But, I shall temporarily lend credence to the postmodernist notion of diversity and resist such a temptation.

Not too long ago, Raza Rumi made a humorous contribution to the issue of gender stereotyping by creating different boxes Pakistani women must inevitably fit into “or else….” I would like to attempt a similar parody – of Pakistani men. I have socio-politico-feminist reasons for doing so. Nothing too personal, rest assured. My meagre understanding and observation of Pakistani men has led to the groupings you find below.

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Reference: http://health.yahoo.com/

MONDAY, June 16 (HealthDay News) — Want to know how much hair you’re losing?

Start counting — the hairs on your comb, not on your head.

In the June issue of Archives of Dermatology, scientists demonstrate that a so-called “60-second hair count” is a simple and reliable away to get a grip on whether you’re balding and, if so, how fast.The procedure, which can be carried out in the convenience of your own home, may reassure the adult male — or not.

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Reference: http://health.yahoo.com/

In the time you spend each morning calibrating your hair gel, you could be doing something more important, with a much better payoff: eating breakfast. Mom was right (and it’s okay to admit it): Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

It keeps you slim: Breakfast eaters are less likely to be overweight than breakfast skippers, and successful dieters are also more likely to be breakfast eaters.

It keeps you healthy: Eating breakfast may reduce your risk of serious illnesses like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer, and it strengthens your immune system so you’re more resistant to common ailments like colds and the flu.

It keeps you sharp: Memory and concentration get a boost from breakfast. A study on children found that kids who eat breakfast score higher on tests and are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and hyperactivity. It should help you at the office, too.

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Reference: http://health.yahoo.com/

The new couple research can save your marriage-before it starts

It’s clear–more than half of us are not only bad at marriage, we’re lousy at divorce. We’re still doing it in record numbers, but we don’t seem to be learning a thing from the experience: 60 percent of second marriages fail as well. After we face the failure, dry the tears, and explain it all to the kids, we still don’t know how to make relationships work.

So if we don’t learn from our failures, is it possible to learn from others’ successes? With this in mind, a number of researchers began a long-term look at marriage to discover what makes the good ones work. They examined every facet of marital interaction, videotaped every revealing nuance of communication, measured physiologic activity from pulse rate to electrical conductance of skin. Their findings provide nothing short of a blueprint for successful marriage.

Charting the marriage map

Twenty years as a marital therapist made it clear to Liberty Kovacs, Ph.D., that relationships unfold through time–a concept curiously absent in most views of marriage. But it was the lack of any guidelines for helping couples in distress that set her off in search of a framework for assessing their problems. Using her own empirical research, she developed a system to chart the marital relationship as it progresses (and always comes close to undoing) to accommodate two people who are themselves evolving as individuals.

Drawing theoretical bravado from group dynamics as well as psychodynamics, theories of adult development, and family systems, Kovacs contends that marriages evolve through six distinct stages toward intimacy and mutuality. Each of these passages poses specific challenges to individual and couple development. Yet while the progress may thus be predictable, says Kovacs, head of the Center for Marriage and Family Therapy in Sacramento, California, it is definitely not smooth.

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Reference: http://health.yahoo.com/

Many details have recently been worked out describing events in any brain exposed to the most common addictive drugs: heroin, morphine, barbiturates, tranquilizers, and alcohol (all depressants that slow down processes in the brain and central nervous system); and cocaine, amphetamines, nicotine, and marijuana (all stimulants that generally excite them).

As the target organ of addiction, brain cells react to stimuli, including substances introduced from outside and hormones and chemicals we make ourselves. Those reactions lead to other chemical reactions and to changes in movement, thought, feelings, and memory. Drugs of abuse abet, or interfere with the chemical messengers, or neurotransmitters. The neurotransmitters that facilitate addiction are released by the 10 billion neurons that deal with information transfer.

Neurotransmitters circulate, collect, and act at specific sites on nearby cell surfaces called receptor proteins, each of which is shaped to fit and receive a particular neurotransmitter and bind it the way a lock “recognizes” a key. Only after a neurotransmitter binds can the signal it carries travel to the next cell. If the cell is flooded with too much neurotransmitter, an elegant “control” system is normally activated so that the cell reabsorbs the excess for later use. This process, called “reuptake,” prevents too many chemical signals from circulating and filling too many receptors, which can lead to over-activity and serious mental and physical problems.

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Reference: http://health.yahoo.com/

You need to know what resilience is so that you can remember that you have it. Resilience is an emotional muscle that can grow with use and practice — or atrophy if ignored.

Everyone can grow this emotional muscle. Everyone needs to.

You are born with some resilience. You have the choice how to apply it throughout your life. To grow resilience you need fuel, you need challenge and you need lots of practice.

Some people believe that resilience is a trait that is inborn; you either have it or you don’t. But that is not quite accurate. You are born with some component characteristics that aid and abet the development of resilience. For example, there is a contribution that temperament makes to the acquisition of resilience; some people are simply born with less reactivity to stress. It makes them more hardy in the face of adversity and better able to draw on their cognitive abilities in situations that throw others off balance.

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Reference: http://health.yahoo.com/

What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a disease that affects your bones. It means you have bones that are thin and brittle, with lots of holes inside them like a sponge. This makes them easy to break. Osteoporosis can lead to broken bones (fractures) in the hip, spine, and wrist. These fractures can be disabling and may make it hard for you to live on your own.

See a picture of healthy bone versus bone weakened by osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis affects millions of older adults. It usually strikes after age 60. It’s most common in women, but men can get it too.

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Reference: http://health.yahoo.com/

What are immunizations?

Immunizations help protect you or your child from disease. They also help reduce the spread of disease to others and prevent epidemics. Most are given as shots. They are sometimes called vaccines, or vaccinations.

In many cases when you get a vaccine, you get a tiny amount of the organism that causes the disease. This amount is not enough to give you the actual disease. But it is enough to cause your immune system to make antibodies that can recognize and attack the organism if you are ever exposed to it.

Sometimes a vaccine does not completely prevent the disease, but it will make the disease much less serious if you do get it.

Some immunizations are given only once. Others require several doses over time.

Why should you get immunized?

• Immunizations protect you or your child from dangerous diseases.
• They help reduce the spread of disease to others.
• Getting immunized costs less than getting treated for the diseases that the shots protect you from.
• Vaccines have very few serious side effects.
• They are often needed for entrance into school or day care.

If you are a woman who is planning to get pregnant, talk to your doctor about what immunizations you have had and what you may need to protect your baby. And if you live with a pregnant woman, make sure that your vaccines are up-to-date.

Traveling to other countries may be another reason to get immunized. Talk with your doctor 6 months before you leave to see if you need any shots.

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(Listening to music in the early stages after a stroke can improve a patient’s recovery, research suggests)

The researchers compared patients who listened to music for a couple of hours a day, with those who listened only to audio books, or nothing at all.

The music group showed better recovery of memory and attention skills, and a more positive general frame of mind.

Writing in journal Brain, the Finnish team who studied 60 patients said music could be a useful addition to therapy.

Lead researcher Teppo Sarkamo, from the University of Helsinki, said music could be particularly valuable for patients not yet ready for other forms of rehabilitation.

It also had the advantage of being cheap and easy-to-conduct.
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Reference: http://health.yahoo.com/

Indigestion can ruin a good time. It may make you regret the spicy or large meal you just ate. Indigestion is a general term that describes discomfort in your upper abdomen — an upset stomach. Indigestion is not a disease, but rather a collection of symptoms you experience, like heartburn, bloating, belching and nausea. How you experience indigestion may differ from how someone else does.

Here’s what causes indigestion symptoms  and how you can prevent them.

Indigestion causes are varied

If you eat too much of any food, you can wind up with an upset stomach, particularly if you overindulge in fatty or spicy foods. Eating too quickly has the same effect. Alcohol and stress also can take a toll.

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