SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVING IS EASY

BUT NOT FOR OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS!

Did you know that dogs and cats can suffer from the same problems that humans do? These problems include overheating, dehydration and even sunburn.

Here are 14 tips from “The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)” to help keep your pets happy and healthy this summer.

1. A visit to the veterinarian for a spring or early summer check-up is a must; add to that a test for heartworm, if your dog isn’t on year-round preventive medication. Do parasites bug your animal companions? Ask your doctor to recommend a safe, effective flea and tick control program.

2. Never leave your pet alone in a vehicle—hyperthermia can be fatal. Even with the windows open, a parked automobile can quickly become a furnace in no time. Parking in the shade offers little protection, as the sun shifts during the day.

3. Always carry a gallon thermos filled with cold, fresh water when traveling with your pet.

4. The right time for playtime is in the cool of the early morning or evening, but never after a meal or when the weather is humid.

5. Street smarts: When the temperature is very high, don’t let your dog standing on hot asphalt. His or her body can heat up quickly, and sensitive paw pads can burn. Keep walks during these times to a minimum.

6. A day at the beach is a no-no, unless you can guarantee a shaded spot and plenty of fresh water for your companion. Salty dogs should be rinsed off after a dip in the ocean.

7. Provide fresh water and plenty of shade for animals kept outdoors; a properly constructed doghouse serves best. Bring your dog or cat inside during the heat of the day to rest in a cool part of the house.

8. Be especially sensitive to older and overweight animals in hot weather. Brachycephalic or snub-nosed dogs such as bulldogs, pugs, Boston terriers, Lhasa apsos and shih tzus, as well as those with heart or lung diseases, should be kept cool in air-conditioned rooms as much as possible.

9. When walking your dog, steer clear of areas that you suspect have been sprayed with insecticides or other chemicals. And please be alert for coolant or other automotive fluid leaking from your vehicle. Animals are attracted to the sweet taste, and ingesting just a small amount can be fatal. Call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 if you suspect that your animal has been poisoned.

10. Good grooming can stave off summer skin problems, especially for dogs with heavy coats. Shaving the hair to a one-inch length—never down to the skin, please, which robs Rover of protection from the sun—helps prevent overheating. Cats should be brushed often.

11. Do not apply any sunscreen or insect repellent product to your pet that is not labeled specifically for use on animals. Ingestion of sunscreen products can result in drooling, diarrhea, excessive thirst and lethargy. The misuse of insect repellent that contains DEET can lead to neurological problems.

12. Having a backyard barbecue? Always keep matches, lighter fluid, citronella candles and insect coils out of pets’ reach.

13. Please make sure that there are no open, unscreened windows or doors in your home through which animals can fall or jump.

14. Stay alert for signs of overheating in pets, which include excessive panting and drooling and mild weakness, along with an elevated body temperature.

And for further information on how to keep the rest of your family healthy this summer, please see Dr Slagle’s “STAY HYDRATED & HEALTHY THIS SUMMER” newsletter.

ENERGIZING ASPECTS OF NATURE

 Nature can be soothing, healing, energizing and inspiring.  Summer gives you more opportunities to be out & about appreciating the beauties of our universe.

Research has found that spending as little as 20 minutes per day in nature was enough to significantly boost physical and mental strength and energy levels.

Richard M. Ryan, from the University of Rochester conducted a series of five studies to determine the value of being outdoors on subjective vitality (a positive feeling of aliveness and energy).

 

This series involved 537 college students and showed the students consistently felt more energetic when they spent time in natural settings or imagined themselves in such situations.

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SAFELY WARD OFF BUGS & MOSQUITOS

 Bug spray aside, you can help keep mosquitoes from zeroing in on you as their next victim. Considering that they carry diseases, this is one easy way to stay healthy.


Wear lighter clothes. Mosquitoes show a preference towards darker colored clothes.
Go for patterns. Stripes, floral patterns, plaids and other patterned materials are more likely to deter mosquitoes.


Avoid being too sweet. What you eat affects your natural smell. Eating more garlic can help prevent mosquito bites – but too much sugar in your diet and you may be sought after for the sweet taste.


Change the way you smell. Your perfumes, laundry soap, and shampoo might all be contributing to the reasons for mosquitoes being so into you – change things around until you discover the culprit.


Click this link for Homemade Mosquito Repellent: {Recipes}  


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How Many Deaths are Caused by Medications?

The number of medication related deaths is hard to clarify for obvious reasons, including the fact that only a fraction of medical errors are reported.  How many doctors, hospitals, or drug companies want to admit their activities contribute to death statistics?  They have a strong incentive not to identify  drug events.  They have a strong incentive to avoid medical legal consequences.  You can believe the number we actually know about is considerably scaled down.

 There are 2 categories of drug hazards:  Errors in medication dosing

 & adverse drug reactions (ADR’S).  ADR’s cause more problems than medication  dosing errors. The information & statistics vary widely, though all are unsettling.  

 

The 1998 Journal of the American Medical Association reported  106.000 yearly deaths from drug side effects in American hospitals . These deaths  are only in hospitalized patients and represent  a small percentage of those at risk since most fatal medication errors occur at home.  It is easy for medication to not be perceived as the culprit unless an autopsy and toxicological studies are performed.  Without such clarification the cause of death can easily be listed as any other condition from which the patient may have suffered.

 

From 1998-2005, 467,809 known medication related deaths were reported to the FDA.  The FDA only finds out  about such instances when no cover up or avoidance of facts is possible.

 

The National Academics Office of News & Public Information reports medication errors injure 1.5 million Americans yearly.

 

Gary Null, reports in his book, Death by Medicine  that 783,936 Americans die yearly from conventional medicine mistakes. If this is true it would move medication related deaths to the number 1 cause of death in the United States.

 

Will these numbers increase with more people in the United States having access to health care? After all health care in the United States has been more about making drugs available to everyone, than it has been about education, proper diet, lifestyle changes,  exercise and alternative non drug methods of treatment. 

 

Can we expect better from the new Health care bill when we know the pharmaceutical industry controls congress?  For more information on the relationship between the government and drug companies, see the book The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It  by Marcia Angell M.D.

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Health Benefits of Green Tea

An ancient Chinese proverb praises the benefits of Green Tea, saying “It is better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.” Used as a Chinese medicine for over 4000 years, green tea is now believed to be helpful in preventing and treating a variety of maladies from helping to raise levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), rejuvenating aging skin, decreasing gas buildup, promoting digestive health, and maybe even helping green tea drinkers burn more fat by improving metabolism.

 

Green tea is packed with antioxidants that are preserved because of the minimal processing green tea requires. These antioxidants eliminate free radicals that can damage cells and even DNA. Multiple studies have shown green tea’s ability to prevent various types of cancer, and help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Other studies have shown that green tea can help regulate glucose in the body, impeding the development of diabetes and slowing down diabetes after onset.

 

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5 Steps to a Balanced Life

1. Get good quality sleep and enough of it:

The effect that sleep deprivation has on a person is well documented, and sleeping even one less hour than needed per night will decrease your coordination, concentration, and ability to focus. Also, when you are sleep deprived, you are more likely to overeat, falsely looking for food energy to make up for lost sleep.  

 

If adequate sleep is an issue for you, be sure to make transition time in the evening to prepare for sleep by having an unwinding or relaxing ritual, such as several hours of relaxing, calming reading material, music, or other soothing activities.  Do not race up to bedtime with agitating TV shows or other stimulating activities.  Your body needs time to unwind from the busyness of the day and to withdraw from the hyperstimulation of our world.  . And, by the way, sleep needs to happen in the dark. Even a small amount of light can prevent melatonin production in the body. For more information, please read my  melatonin newsletter. 

 

And, if needed to help you achieve a good nights sleep, two of my favorite natural sleep aids are Kavinace & Tryptophan .

 

2. Eat healthy, eat slowly:

 Not only is it important that you eat healthful whole foods and avoid processed foods as often as possible, you should also make time for yourself to make, or procure meals and consume them in leisure.  It is important to eat slowly, chewing each mouthfull of food until it is completely pulverized and liquid, before swallowing it.  This practice alone, will help you with weight control,  help you to extract more nutrients from your food, and decrease indigestion and other gastrointestinal symptoms. 

 

Surprisingly, diet sodas often add to weight gain so better no sodas at all.   Use green tea for your non water drinks when trying to lose weight. Green tea helps to stimulate metabolism.  Use NuNatural NuStevia for your sweetener as is a non bitter stevia product.  Stevia is blood sugar stablizing.

 

If persistent weight problems plague you and nothing seems to help you lose weight, you could havefood allergiesorcandida interfering with your weight loss efforts.

 

If you need to lose more than 20 pounds, you may want to look into using Mediral HCG drops to help with this.  You can find details of the HCG diet by searching the internet.  For more about the details of this weight loss concept see Dr.Simeons discussion about how weight loss works with HCG at

 http://www.thehcgdiet.com/pdf/pounds-and-inches-by-dr-a-t-w-simeons.pdf

 

You may not have time to make three gourmet meals for yourself, but that’s ok. Having a fruit and protein smoothie for one meal is perfectly acceptable, as is preparing foods such as soups, stir-fries, rice and vegetable dishes, etc., to take with you for lunch. Try to consume all cooked foods within 12 to 34 hours of preparing them. Many also do very well with only 2 meals daily.

  

3. Make time for yourself:

It is essential for your well being that there is time in your schedule for you to you devote to yourself. How you use that time is up to you – whether you spend that time pursuing healing therapies, taking long walks in the park, playing games, playing with a child or pet, listening to calming beautiful music, knitting sweaters, reading books, or relaxing in your bathtub, the important thing is that you find the time for yourself….to just be in the moment with whatever is your relaxation.

 

4. Be regularly active:

 Adapt a routine of physical activity that you enjoy. Stress relieving activities such as yoga, swimming, walking, running, dancing , tai chi, a favorite sport,  are to the benefit of everyone. Create a regular schedule, write down when and how you will exercise, just as you schedule other activities in your daily life.  If not, you may  find  at the end of the day you have totally forgotten to treat yourselves to the hoped  for  physical activity.

 

5. Spend time in the company of others whom you enjoy:

If you don’t have as much social time in your life as you would like, find new activities, join new groups, or begin creating more time to spend with your friends. The benefits of friendship and a support system are numerous and include increased longevity and health.

 

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Stay Fit without Breaking the Bank

Getting fit is something on many people’s to-do list, but a similar number of people have money saving goals as well. It can be hard to make the two goals fit when getting fit so often comes in the guise of spending money on gym memberships, personal fitness trainers, special workout gear and clothing, dietary supplements, etc. The following are several ways in which you can focus on your fitness goals without jeopardizing your financial goals:

 

Join gyms when they are running a special. You can also attempt to negotiate a discounted rate. Sometimes you can get discounts through affiliate programs with other groups, or you can find limited memberships available that are good during certain hours only or limit the locations you can visit.

 

Bike to work. You will get in shape and save money on a daily basis. Some companies even offer incentives to their employees who bike to work. If work is too far away, try organizing outings with friends, like bike rides in the park. You get a workout and you won’t be tempted to make plans that involve spending money on food, coffee, or shopping.

 

Make the most of your home gym. You don’t need big fancy equipment or a personal trainer. From resistance bands to Wii Fit to home workout videos, you should be able to find plenty of exercises that never require you to leave your living room.

 

Workout in the name of charity. Entry into charity runs, marathons, triathlons, and similar events can be pricey, but if you coordinate with a nonprofit organization to raise money for them then you can usually enter for minimal cost. Not only will you have a little built-in motivation and a cheering section, but you’ll be able to make a difference by raising money and awareness for your cause.

 

Know when to spend your money and when to save it. A good pair of running shoes, an mp3 player, a portable heart monitor, and cold weather running gear. All of these things can be very valuable things to spend your money on because they help keep you on your path to fitness. Spending some money on your goal will likely be necessary; just make sure that you’re not needlessly shelling out bucks for something you won’t need or use.

 

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