Is Nail Polish Remover Dangerous?

Nail polish remover.... almost everyone has been exposed to it at one point or another throughout life. If you’re a man you've had a sister or mother or wife who’s used this product. If you’re female you've either used if yourself or someone else has. I personally have only used it a couple of times, I’m not really the paint my nails everyday type. My older sister used to use nail polish remover all the time and it would clear the house. That was due to its awful smell. So, is it dangerous? Let's find out.

There are many ingredients in a nail polish remover bottle, here are some of them. Acetone also known as 2- propanone. This is the main ingredient in most nail polish removers. Toluene is a flammable liquid from petroleum. This is used as a solvent in high-octane fuels. Ethyl Acetate is found in all non-acetone nail polish removers. This is a fragrant less colorless flammable liquid. This chemical can be found in perfumes and as a solvent for plastics.

So are these chemicals harmful? Chemical effects have two classifications. The first is local effect which is when a chemical has irritated the skin, eyes, nose or throat. The second classification is systemic effect which are chemicals absorbed into the bloodstream. Systemic effect can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea.

Acetone can irritate and cause redness to eyes, lung congestion, and shortness of breath. These are only temporary effects for average users. However, if you happen to work in a salon and exposed to this chemical repeatedly it can cause chronic bronchitis.

Toluene can cause dizziness, headaches, nausea, confusion and memory loss with minimal exposure. Repeated exposure to this chemical can cause birth defects in children. So if you’re pregnant don't use nail polish remover!

Ethyl acetate which is the substitute for acetone has the same effects as both the above chemicals, so why bother using this? Seems silly.

So after learning about all the risks what can you do about this? Switch to a safer product. There are many types of nail polish remover out there with gentler ingredients. Many of these other nail polish removers contain moisturizing ingredients that can help prevent dry skin. Just remember that nail polish removers are highly flammable so if you use them at home make sure they are stored away from electrical and heating sources.

Website:

Remove Nail Poilsh Saftly

Occupational Hazards (Nail Salons)

Turkey-Day Tips!

Worried about Thanksgiving? Who isn't? Weather your hosting, traveling or just enjoying the holiday stress levels tend to rise up. Here are some helpful tips for the day:

Lets start with the most important the turkey! I hope everyone has a good cook at home because turkey can be tricky and unsafe if it's not cooked properly. So first off is safe thawing. A thawing turkey needs to be kept a safe temperature

re. There is a danger zone which is between 40 - 140 degrees F,

this is the temperature range that foodborne bacteria can multiply rapidly. Three safe ways to thaw turkey is in a refrigerator, cold water, and in a microwave over.

Next is safely preparing the turkey. Bacteria that is present on raw me

at can contaminate your hands, utensils, and work surfaces. If your hands, utensils and work surfaces are not cleaned thoroughly before working with the other foods, bacteria from the raw meat can be transferred to other food, and who wants that! Avoid this by washing your hands and work surfaces thoroughly before working with your other foods.

For safe stuffing of the turkey cook the stuffing outside the turkey. If you place the stuffing inside the turkey, do so before you cook it and make sure you use a thermometer. The center of the stuffing must reach a minimal of 165 degrees F, if not bacteria can survive resulting in foodborne illnesses.

Lastly for the turkey is cooking it safely! Make sure the over is set no lower than 325 degrees F and the turkey is completely thawed out. Place the turkey breast-side up. Check the internal temperature to make sure its at least 165 degrees. Let the turkey stand for 20 minutes before removing all stuffing from cavity and carving the meat.

For your other worries

If your traveling :

• make sure you plan accordingly and expect traffic
  
• Have everything packed and ready the night before
  

If your hosting:

• Get up early
  
• Plan all cooking ahead of time
  
• Get everything set up nice and early
  
• Don't wait until the last minute for anything especially with food
  
• If something goes wrong, don't panic and relax
  

Most importantly remember to just relax and have a great time with friends and family!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Born in Autumn ... you could be more prone to asthma

Babies born closer to the peak cold season have a 30% more risk of asthma! " Children in the Northern hemisphere born in the fall months have the highest rates of asthma, which suggests the winter viruses, like RSV, cause asthma," says Dr. Tina Hartert who is director of the Center fro Asthma Research and Environmental Health at Vanderbilt University of Medicine.

RSV is respiratory syncytial virus is a common infection. Hartert said 70% of US infants will have RSV before their 1st birthday! This doesn't mean all of them will have asthma but, children with more server RSV will have a higher risk of asthma. About 40% infants that are hospitalized for a respiratory virus develop asthma when they get older.

"Asthma, like many other complex diseases, has a genetic background that is importantly affected by the surrounding environment. Different factors, like allergies or maternal/ parental history of asthma

a, when in combination with early life infections by respiratory viruses, seem to increase substantially the rest for asthma, or at least, persistent wheeze" said Dr. Renato Stein

So to avoid risk of infection parents should try to avoid day care before age 3, employ good hygiene, stay away from sick children and most important no matter how old you are wash your hands frequently!

A Video

Respiratory Syncytial Virsus

Some helpful websites:

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Babies Face Higher Risk of Asthma

Autumn Babies face higher risk of Asthma

Improve your smile

No one is ever happy with there smile. Don't deny it people are always thinking, my teeth aren't white enough, there too crooked, look at that huge gap, my front teeth are too big, I have to many cavities and much more. The thing is this day in age we have so much available to us why don't we take care of our teeth better? Were lazy that's why.

So who's ready to take control of there teeth and be proud of that smile? Well it's pretty straight forward when it comes to there crooked or there a gap. Braces. What the problem? It could take multiple years to work, you'll need a retainer and it costs an absurd amount of money. So let’s not dwell on braces.
Most people are concerned about their teeth not being white enough. Well for one thing if you’re a smoker there's your problem. However, if you just got stuck with not overly white teeth you can fix that. These days there are so many options for teeth whitening. First off you can go to the dentist and get them professionally done. A lot of people don't want to pay for that. So what then? Anybody ever hear of crest whitestrips? They've been proven to work, if you need proof read about some success stories here: http://www.whitestrips.com/whitestrips-facts/. Also they only cost you about $20.00, not to bad for a nice new smile. You could also bleach your teeth which is popular.

There is also this thing called bonding. It is a tooth-colored material that is used to change your color or fill in gaps. Its only 1 visit and it lasts for 7 years! Also there are these things called veneers. They are placed over the front of teeth to change color and shape. These are used for the same reason bonding is used. This however requires a little bit more work. The dentist would have to take an impression of your tooth and glue the veneer to it directly. It is also a lot more expensive. The only pro of a veneer over bonding is it has a better life expectancy and the color stays better.

With all these treatments how do you know which one is right for you? Well you have to think it through. How much can you afford to spend on this? How much time do you have to visit the dentist? It’s up to you to choose.


You can have all these options but still there is nothing more affective than brush your teeth 2-3 times daily, flossing and using mouth wash. Good luck!


heres some links:
Improval Oral Hygiene
Whitening
Whitestrips
Youtube
Youtube2

Farting and Gas Pressure?

Everyone Farts ... A lot of people deny it but, It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from everyone farts. Did you ever think that those horrendous smelling farts could control your blood pressure? That smell is a result of hydrogen sulphide which is bacteria that lives within the human gut. Gas can also be produced by an enzyme found in blood vessels. According to researchers from John Hopkins University in Maryland the gas is generated alongside the blood cells by an enzyme called CSE (cystathionine gamma-lyase).

They engineered mice to be deficient in this enzyme and found levels of hydrogen sulphide were quite compared to normal mice. In the study the mice that were deficient in CSE had 20% higher blood pressure than the other mice. After this the scientists dosed the mice with a chemical known as methacholine. This chemical relaxes normal blood vessels. The CSE-lacking mice’s blood vessels showed little change. Researchers concluded that hydrogen sulfide is a significant for regulating blood pressure.

"Dr Solomon Snyder, who led the study, says: We have known the role of hydrogen sulphide in regulating blood pressure, it may become possible to design drug therapies to enhance it production that can be an alternative to current hypertension treatment methods.”

So farting doesn't lower blood pressure but, it does help control it. So next time you have to fart and get embarrassed just say “Hey I'm controlling my blood pressure... are you?"

Websites:

Natural News

Link between farting and blood pressure
Live Science/FartingBloodpressure
MSN

Do you have Asthma?

As of September 2008, 22 million people have asthma; 6 million of them are children. Have you ever been checked for it? Asthma is a chronic disease many people suffer from; a lot of people have it and don't even know. It can affect people of all ages, but often starts during childhood. The difference between a person with asthma to a person without is their airways. The purpose of airways is to pump air in and out of the lungs. When a person has asthma there airway is inflamed and often very sensitive. Since the airway is so sensitive a person with asthma will have a strong reaction to certain stimulus.

Some stimuli can be: poor air quality, cigarette smoke, pollen, food allergies, smog, mould, perfumes, some medicines, hormonal changes, cleaning products, dust, stress and exercise.

So what do you do if you have asthma? Prevention is key. Find out what triggers your asthma and avoid it. For example if cat hair, or cleaning products make you wheeze or cough.... avoid it! Another was to control asthma is by using an inhaler; it helps with the wheezing and coughing.

Websites:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/asthma/article_em.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/asthma1.shtml

Videos:
http://www.blogger.com/Understanding%20Asthma

Mobile Phone Dermatitis???

Ever get a rash on your ear? I haven't, but if you have, it could be due to your cell phone! Never thought of that, did you? It could be due to nickel on the surface of your phone. Nickel is a metallic chemical element which is found on the periodic table. The national skin center isn't sure what causes the allergy, but people who are hairdressers, nurses or bankers are more susceptible to the allergy. It looks like any other rash, red and itchy. Usually people notice this rash if you take off a watch or bracelet of some sort and it’s red due to irritation. That is the first sign of the allergy. The body parts most likely to obtain this rash are face, ears, neck, wrist and hands. The rash can become infected if it is not treated properly.

1 in 10 people obtain rashes from long use on their cell phones due to their nickel allergy. If this happens you need to get a new cell phone! To know if your cell phone has nickel in it or not you need to order a kit and test it! Its simple; all you do is dip a Q tip in the solution provided and, if it turns pink, you have nickel in your phone. If for some reason you can't get a new cell phone you can put something over it, use speaker phone or use the head phones they give you. If you do get the rash, all you need to do is get some hydrocortisone and it'll take it right away. The best thing to do is to prevent it once you know you have the allergy. So, if you get a rash near the ear you use your cell phone the most, don't panic, it's easy to treat and very preventable.

Here are some websites; the last one also has a movie.
http://www.blogger.com/Cell%20phone%20allergy?

http://www.blogger.com/National%20Skin%20Center

http://www.blogger.com/Are%20you%20allergic%20to%20your%20cell%20phone

Having a lazy teen could cause more than obesity

We often talk about how much time teenagers and children spend on the couch. We're mostly concerned about their activity levels in fear of them becoming overweight or even obese. Who knew inactivity could also lead to behavioral issues. Now it’s not saying that every child or teenager who spends time in front of the TV will have behavioral issues, just the ones who don't exercise at all. I must say I myself spend a good deal watching TV and movies when I go home, so why do I not have behavioral issues? Answer for me personally is because I'm a collegiate cross country runner; therefore, exercise is not a problem in the least.

In a recent study of children and teens at ages 9-11 the children in the study were moving around for about an hour a day. At age 15, however, only 31% of those surveyed met the guidelines of the government for moving about an hour a day. Just 17% exercised on weekends! In a study I found of over 7,000 teenagers, boys who reported less than 1 hour of activity a week had more symptoms of anxiety, depression and withdrawal than boys who met the guidelines. Inactive girls also had problems with anxiety and depression. Also inactive girls were more likely than the inactive boys to say they had sleeping issues and rule-breaking issues. Also they found that less active teenagers have more social and attention problems.

So why do teenagers become so lazy when only a couple years earlier they couldn't get enough of running around outside playing kickball? Well, here are a couple reasons they no longer have recess after elementary school, and they don’t have a lot of opportunity for spontaneous exercise, and of course, TV and video games are a huge role in the inactivity of teens.So now the question is how do you fix it? Not so hard to figure out the answer, is it? Get those teens out of the house! Sign them up for after school sports or just get them interested in something!

Newstory
Kids&Health

Second- Hand Smoking

Personally, I find smoking a disgusting addiction however; there are 47 million people out there smoking everyday. What's worse than them hurting themselves is the fact that every time they smoke they're affecting everyone by second-hand smoke.  Second-Hand smoke is a mixture of the smoke that is given off by the burning end of a cigarette,pipe or cigar and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. Thi

s is involuntarily inhaled by non-smokers. 

There are 599 ingredients in a cigarette. I won't bore you by listing all of them. A few key ones are nicotine,tar,carbon monoxide,formaldehyde,ammonia,hydrogen cyanide and arsenic. What makes smoking so hard to give up is the nicotine. Nicotine is highly addictive, it is inhaled directly into your lungs and reaches your brain in only 6 seconds. 

On to second-hand smoke, its the cause of 53,800 deaths in the United States each year. All these deaths per year are people who thought they didn't need to worry about it since they didn't smoke themselves. What they didn't realize is

 just because your not physically putting that cigarette in your mouth, your still inhaling the smoke from smokers. Smoke lingers in the air for hours after the cigarette has been smoked. There are 43 known cancer causing ingredients in a cigarette. This explain why smoking causes 3,400 lung cancer deaths per year. Heart disease is also caused by smoking/second hand smoking, 22,700 - 69,600 deaths occur because of heart disease. 

One of the worst parts of second-hand smoking is when a parent smokes with there child around. I can personally  relate to this because a good number of people on my dad's side of the family are smokers. My dad himself smokes, how

ever he never smoked with myself or my sister anywhere near him. My grandmother however would always smoke in the house with all the windows closed and didn't seem to care. 

In the US 21 million children live in homes where residents.visitor's smoke in the home on a regular basis. As a result, between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections affect infants and children. This results in 7500-15000 hospitalization's and 430 sudden infant death syndromes (SIDS) in the US annually. 

So my advice to you is if someone's smoking anywhere near you get as far away as you can, never inhale it, and if you do smoke stop! 

A website & 2 video's : 
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/secondhandsmoke.html
Secondhand Smoke: Triumphs & Tragedies 

The World 's Most Powerful Commercial : Smoking 

Child obesity and Youth Sports

          Obesity is defined as " The condition of being obese; increased body weight caused by excessive accumulation of fat" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/obesity). 18% of children today are obese. On the other hand most children are involved in some type of youth sport like pop warner, soccer and very recently lacrosse. In 1987 15 million children played town, club or recreation soccer, in 2002 it went up to 17.5 million. Oner the last 15 years pop warner football has doubled from 130,000 to 260,000! Lastly, in 2005 there was a count of 205,000 youth lacrosse players.

What I'm wondering is, with such a rise in youth sport why is there such a large increase in child obesity?  I remember back when I played town soccer it wasn't vigorous or to competitive but, it was a great was to stay active and have fun with kids your own age. If you think about it they have practice 2 - 3 times a week about 1.5 - 2 hours each time. An hour of casual soccer for kids burns between 300 -  350 calories depending how hard the playing is. Playing pop warner football isn't exactly a cake walk itself, about an hour of that can burn more than 400 calories.

So how can kids be obese while burning so much in just an hour? Well first off not all kids participate in youth sports. However why are those who do having such health problems especially with there weight? 

For the most part, I consider parents and video games the biggest suspects. Just like youth sport and obesity video games have become more and more popular over the years. In August 2008 1.08 billion dollers worth of hardware, software and accessories were sold. Of course not all of this is being used by just children. Before the days of video games children used to go outside and play instead of sitting in front of the coach playing games and eating all day. The other reason I think children are obese is because of parents. Not all parents know how to eat properly themselves, so how are they supposed to teach their children to eat correctly. Granted the world isn't one day going to be filled with fit people who eat right and exercise regularly, but hopefully we can at least start with the children and get the statistics back the where they should be. There is no reason 18% of children should be obese.