Take Charge of Your Health Care - February 24, 2009

Welcome to the February 24, 2009 edition of take charge of your health care. We have a great selection of good quality blog posts this month which I am sure that you will enjoy reading.

February is heart health month, so I encourage my readers to exercise, quit smoking if they are smokers, and eat a healthy diet. We have some good articles on stress management which will also help with this goal. I must remember the diet , exercise, and stress management advice myself. The weather here in the Northeast U.S. and other cold weather areas should start to improve by our next issue which will encourage more outdoor exercise. If you have any blog posts on family fun and fitness and healthy outdoor activities, please contribute these to next month’s carnival.

In the interest of helping me to get this carnival published in a timely manner, I will accept no more than 2 posts per carnival per author. I hold to this rule strictly with my own posts. If you submit more than 2 articles, I will post the articles most relevant to this carnival. As a reminder, all accepted posts must contain good content and be from an actual blog. Any post that is primarily an advertisement with little or no content will not be published in the Carnival.

Alternative Medicine

Heather Johnson presents 101 Easy Ways to Cut Your Cancer Risk posted at U.S. PharmD, saying, “Because there’s no cure for cancer yet, there’s also no surefire way to see it coming or blame the development of cancer on any specific lifestyle or diet choices. There are, however, studies that show how certain foods, habits and genetics can increase your chances of getting cancer.”

Nancy Miller presents

77 Easy, Painless Tips to Focus & Invite Tranquility In posted at Nursing Assistant Guides. Editor’s note: Some great tips to help you focus, reduce stress, and achieve tranquility.

Brandon Harshe presents

Chiropractic is Much More Than Back Pain and Neck Pain posted at The Atlas of Life. Editor’s note: This is a very informative post about the benefits of Chiropractic.

Brandon Harshe presents The Power of Less: The Chiropractic Version posted at The Atlas of Life, saying, “In our society today, the allopathic model still dominates. Millions and millions of people still think that prescription drugs and needless surgeries will fix the problem. They think first to look to an external source for their cure, instead of realizing the cure lies within and that it flows Above-Down-Inside-Out.”

C. Myers presents Boil, Boil, Toil and Trouble posted at Mind Mart, saying, "Boils are a painful nuisance, but fortunately there are several alternative remedies."

Dr. Davon Jacobson presents Migraine Headache Relief: The Power of a Massage posted at *Health and Nutrition Facts*. Editor’s note: These natural massage techniques are certainly worth a try to alleviate severe headaches.

Tanya Zafino presents Cure Acne With the Zafino Method posted at The Tragedy of the Female Acne Sufferer. Editor’s note: the author presents some good information on acne treatment and suggests that you avoid the usual treatments recommended by dermatologists.

Shamelle presents Is Heavy Thinking Ruining Your Life? posted at Enhance Life, saying, “How do you know, when heavy thinking is gradually ruining your life? The simplest answer is that it paralyzes you in certain functions of your daily lifestyle.”

Ian Richardson presents

Colon health: Natural approach posted at Best Natural Remedies Online. Editor’s note: Some good guidelines to follow for better colon health and regularity.

Astrid Lee presents How God Tells You It’s Time For a Change (Wayne Dyer) posted at World Healing, saying, "Good health starts with a good mind set. This interesting article and video details how to live in peace at times of uncontrollable and unforeseeable change."

Consumer Driven Health Care

Dean Moyer presents

Mysterious Morning Neck Pain posted at The Back Pain Blog, saying, "Most neck pain is not serious and will resolve on its own. However, for times when it doesn't, here's a simple checklist you can use to answer the question, Neck Pain: When to See a Doctor?"

Alvaro Fernandez presents Brain Training: It Works, and It Doesn't Work posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, "In short, if you are considering buying some of these new programs, for yourself, your patients, a loved one...you do need to do a bit of homework."

Patricia Turner presents After a Knee Replacement Surgery posted at Comments on: Top 100 Diet and Fitness Blogs. Editor’s note: The author provides some good advice to follow for those who have had knee surgery.

Patricia Turner presents Epidural or Natural – That is the Question - Pharmacy Technician Certification posted at Pharmacy Technician Certification. Editor’s note: The author provides some good information on the choice of epidural anesthesia for childbirth.

Rachel presents What Causes Dyslexia. posted at Adult Dyslexia, saying, "Dyslexia is a common condition, but its causes are not well understood. Read about some possible causes of dyslexia in this article."

Aparna presents Fashionable Flu masks posted at Beauty and Personality Grooming, saying, "Donning a flu mask is a great way to protect yourself from flu, influenza or pandemics like SARS, Bird Flu/Avian flu. In a world-first clinical trial of the efficacy of masks, researchers found adult mask wearers in the home were four times more likely than non-wearers to be protected against respiratory viruses, including the common cold. Professor MacIntyre says: "There is no effective treatment for the 90 or so common cold viruses that make families sick each winter, but masks could provide simple and effective protection.""

Pregnant Woman presents Identical Triplets - Three Bundles Of Joy posted at Pregnancy, saying, "Triplets occur in one of every eight thousand live births"

Dental Care

dentalheroes presents

Does Mouthwash Cause Oral Cancer? posted at Dental Heroes. Editor’s note: If you use mouthwash, you will want to read this informative post.

Diet & Fitness

Helene Zemel presents GeneWize at the Super Bowl posted at Health Plans Plus, saying, "GeneWize kicked off the official launch of the GeneWize Sports Nutrition program with an exhibit at the Super Bowl. You don’t have to be an athlete to benefit from the GeneWize LifeMap Nutrition program. Now you can have a nutritional supplement specially customized for you and based on a confidential assessment of your DNA."

Cary Anderson presents

How Overweight Are You? Losing Weight Feels Great posted at Simplicity for Weight Loss Success, saying, "Before you can start to lose weight, it's a good idea to have a concept of how overweight you are."

Don Reding presents The modern day lifestyle. Is this why we are so sick? posted at Red Dog's Health Topics, saying, “We are not living a lifestyle that is anywhere near as healthy that it should be.”

Helene Zemel presents Ground Floor Opportunity with GeneWize Life Sciences posted at Work at Home Mom and Dad, saying, "It's all about timing. This is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a revolutionary new health, beauty and wellness company, a subsidiary of a 12 year publicly traded company. At GeneWize, we make a customized nutritional supplement based on an assessment of the customer's DNA."

Health Insurance

Insurance Toolbox presents Does Fido or Whiskers Need Health Insurance? posted at Insurance Toolbox. Editor’s note: If you want to keep your pets healthy, pet insurance can help with unexpected costs.

Insurance Toolbox presents The Ups and Downs of COBRA posted at Insurance Toolbox. Editor’s note: As this blog post points out, COBRA is a mixed blessing. While it is great that you can keep your current coverage, the unemployed person must now pay the full cost of this insurance. This can be extremely difficult after the loss of income from your job.

Matthew Paulson presents Beware the Insurance Sales Pitch posted at American Consumer News. Editor’s note: Always read the fine print on any health plan that you purchase.

Ben presents 7 Things Your Insurance Company or Agent Won't Tell You posted at Money Smart Life, saying, “The insurance companies I worked for put a lot of pressure on you to save them money, and their company policies always favored the best interest of the company rather than the customer.”

Nancy Miller presents Healthcare Information Systems posted at Ultrasound Technician Schools. Editor’s note: This is an informative read about some of the security risks that healthcare information systems pose.

Matthew presents Home Safety Information for Alzheimer’s Disease posted at Fast Medical Information, saying, "If you are caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease then there are many challenges to face in everyday life. This will include the freedom that you provide within your home that will keep them safe and stop you from worrying."

Allison presents How to Buy Health Insurance posted at AfterGraduation, saying, "New graduates who aren't covered by their employers often have no clue how to purchase a policy. This article is for them."

Woman Tribune presents Senate Approves SCHIP Expansion Bill posted at Woman Tribune. Editor’s note: What a difference a new administration makes! Now it is time to do something for the adults stuck in the middle. They are even more likely to need good health care.

mybestme presents

Prescriptions for free? Yes! posted at My Best Me, saying, "Medical care can be costly, but oh so necessary. There is a government incentive program available to help us out in the need of prescriptions."

Beauty

Aparna presents Puff out puffy eyes posted at Beauty and Personality Grooming, saying, "A lot of people get puffy eyes during different phases of their lives. A teenager can wake up with puffy eyes after strenuous hours of studying overnight, an adult due to water retention, too much salt in the diet, improper sleep, consumption of excess liquor, certain medications or improper ventilation. Allergies, skin disorders like dermatitis are also common causes of puffy eyes."

Julena presents Organic Skin Care vs Nanotechnology posted at Organic Makeup and Skin Care, saying, "There is a new technology lurking in our skin care products. Nanotechnology. And it might be linked to cancer."

PK Shukla presents Latest Beauty Tips posted at Fenny Lopez, saying, "We at Latest Beauty Tips look forward to provide you the best. Latest-Beauty-Tips.com is a platform to discuss about beauty tips, fashion, health care, weight loss, cosmetic surgery, makeup trick and lot of similar issues. Please feel free to post all feedback, concerns, comments & suggestions here." Editor’s note: This is actually a forum with good beauty and skin care advice that you can join.

Miscellaneous

Erika presents posted at

Visiting Spanish Speaking Countries, saying, "f you are planning to travel to Spain, you can expect to have quite the culinary experience while you are there."

Erika presents posted at Visiting Spanish Speaking Countries, saying, "Going to Argentina this year? Here's a rundown of some of the more popular festivals."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of take charge of your health care using our

carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: take charge of your health care, blog carnival.