General Physical Health & Well-Being Articles

Article / Updated 08-03-2023

Hearing loss is about clarity not volume. Most people think of hearing loss as simply turning down the volume on a TV, which makes all sounds quieter. But hearing loss is more like turning down the volume on only specific frequencies or pitches of sound so while some sounds are quieter others are just as loud. Many people aren’t a very good judge of their own hearing. In fact, most people tend to believe their hearing is better than it actually is, according to research from our own team at Johns Hopkins University. Why are we such bad judges of our own ability to hear? Barely noticeable changes One answer is that hearing loss happens gradually and slowly over time. The snail-like pace at which our hearing declines may make it difficult to notice any changes. Early signs of hearing loss may be situational. We might miss a word here and there over dinner in a noisy restaurant or have trouble following a conversation with someone soft-spoken. It is easy to shrug off the seemingly isolated early incidents. Everyone else is mumbling! For most people, hearing loss affects their ability to hear high frequencies (whistling or birds chirping) while leaving the ability to hear low frequencies (animal grunts or thunder) relatively untouched. But not all sounds fit neatly into low or high frequencies. Speech has sounds from several frequencies. In fact, a single word can represent multiple frequencies. For example, the word “show” includes “sh” (high-frequency) and “ow” (low-frequency). With the most common types of hearing loss, the “sh” would be difficult to hear while “ow” would be perfectly audible. This results in a phenomenon where you would hear someone talking, but what they’re saying isn’t clear. This is why a common phrase among those with hearing loss is “I can hear you but you’re mumbling!” Hearing some sounds but not others affects clarity, which isn’t always something people think of when they think of hearing loss. Hence, sometimes it’s hard to make that leap to suspecting hearing loss. Compensating until you can’t Our brain plays a big role in making it tough to recognize hearing loss, especially when it first starts. Generally, our brains are great at their job of processing incoming information and can often still make sense of unclear speech. The brain does this by using contextual information like the general topic of conversation to fill in the blanks. This means that as we develop hearing loss, our brains initially do a pretty good job of making up for any hearing loss. But compensating for hearing loss requires a lot of extra energy and effort from our brains. Over time, our hearing tends to worsen and our brain’s ability to compensate lessens until it actually starts to slow down as well from the fatigue of keeping up with all the unclear sound. Don’t know what you’re missing Our brains are good at noticing new auditory information and ignoring common and mundane sound. Think about being in your own home versus visiting a place for the first time. In our own homes, we tend to ignore familiar sounds — the humming of appliances, creaking floorboards, or squeaking doors. But in a new place, our brains are on high alert, and we notice every single new sound. The same concept goes for common environmental sounds when we aren’t specifically listening for them: traffic noise from other cars while driving or chirping birds while walking through the park. When we aren’t specifically listening for a sound, it often becomes forgotten background noise. This makes it difficult to realize what we miss when we have hearing loss. Has your hearing declined? Given how difficult it is for us to judge our own hearing ability, consider having a conversation with those close to you to help you identify any hearing loss. Your hearing loss can impact them, too. In many situations, it is a spouse, child, companion, or other frequent communication partner who first detects signs of hearing loss — from little things like noticing you turn the TV up louder to feeling isolated from you because conversation has become more difficult. The perceptions of those around you is a great way to gauge your own hearing. It is also often helpful to look for clues in how hearing may be affecting your day-to-day life. Consider, for example, any changes in your social activity, communication patterns, and regular activities to help identify any hearing loss. You may be subconsciously avoiding situations or even altering the way you engage with people because of difficulty hearing. Take a minute to ask yourself some of the following questions to get a better feel for whether you may have some hearing loss: Are you asking others to repeat things more often? In follow-up, do you find others saying things like “Never mind, I’ll tell you later” when you ask them to repeat something? This may be a sign that others have begun to notice your hearing difficulties. Are you having trouble following conversations in meetings? Do you find yourself believing many other people mumble too much? Do you have difficulty hearing people when you aren’t looking directly at them when they speak or when they turn away from you during conversation? Have you felt embarrassed to contribute to conversations because you’re unsure of the topic? Do you feel excluded at dinner or other group conversations or unable to keep up? Do you have any difficulty hearing small children? (People with hearing loss often find children’s voices, which are higher pitched, difficult to understand.) Do you turn up the volume on electronics such as the television? Do you avoid talking on the telephone because it’s fatiguing and hard to make out what the other person says? Do others around you complain that the TV is too loud? Do you find yourself avoiding restaurants or social gatherings more than you used to because they’re too noisy? Do you find yourself more tired than usual when engaging in conversation? Are you avoiding activities you used to regularly participate in, such as attending concerts, plays, meetings, or religious services? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, it’s a good idea to get your hearing tested. Read on to find out more. When to get your hearing tested Hearing loss is very common and more than half of all adults over the age of 60 experience hearing loss. It may be a good idea to schedule a hearing test when you turn 60 if you notice any of the signs of hearing loss mentioned above, whichever comes first. Screening, testing, and diagnostics You may see the terms hearing screening or hearing testing thrown around and sometimes you’ll see the term diagnostic hearing test versus self-guided hearing test. Here’s what these mean: Hearing screening refers to any assessment or task that helps identify whether or not you likely have some hearing loss but offers little details. Hearing screenings vary in how they’re performed and could be anything from whether you can hear someone whisper in your ear to a task where you have to identify numbers spoken in the presence of background noise. Hearing testing refers to pure-tone audiometry tests (see Chapter 7) that provides sufficient detail to describe your hearing in each ear using either the hearing number or categories like mild, moderate, severe, or profound. Self-guided hearing testing refers to hearing testing that is performed by you without the help of a professional, such as on a smartphone. Diagnostic hearing testing refers to a full battery of tests performed by a hearing professional, usually an audiologist, for the purpose of diagnosing hearing loss. Establishing a baseline A baseline hearing test simply refers to your first diagnostic hearing test, the results of which become the baseline or reference point for future hearing tests to keep track of any changes in hearing. The baseline test also helps hearing professionals create a custom plan for you based on patterns in changes in your hearing over time. We recommend establishing a baseline as soon as you suspect hearing loss or at least by the time you turn 60, even if you’re not particularly concerned with your hearing at the moment. Making the appointment Here are the details you need to know to make an appointment: Insurance, including Medicare, usually covers at least one diagnostic hearing test a year when ordered by a physician (check with your provider when in doubt). An audiologist will usually perform the diagnostic hearing test. Request a referral from your primary care provider (if required by your insurance company). Search online for a local audiologist near you that accepts your insurance or use websites like HearingTracker.com, which maintains a directory of audiologists from across the country with patient reviews. Curious about testing your own hearing? Try one of numerous smartphone- or web-based hearing tests and screeners such as Mimi Hearing or SonicCloud, which are free and can be found in your smartphone app store. You could also try the AARP at-home hearing screener found at nationalhearingtest.org (free for AARP members!).

Article / Updated 07-31-2023

If you hang around people who exercise, you’re going to hear the word cardio or aerobics pretty often. Someone may say, “I do cardio four days a week,” or, “My gym has awesome cardio exercise equipment.” Aerobics — a term coined in the 1960s by fitness pioneer Dr. Kenneth Cooper — refers to cardiovascular exercise, the kind that strengthens your heart and lungs and burns lots of calories. Sure, people do cardio exercises to lose weight, but there are all kinds of reasons to pursue this sort of exercise — everything from lowering your risk of dementia and diabetes to experiencing the glory of a personal best in a 10k run. This article explains what it takes to reap cardio exercise benefits — in other words, what type of exercise counts as cardio. It introduces you to terms such as aerobic, anaerobic, and target heart-rate zone. Comparing aerobic and anaerobic exercise Aerobic exercise is any continuous, repetitive cardio exercise that you do long enough and hard enough to challenge your heart and lungs. To get this effect, you generally need to use your large muscles, including your butt, legs, back, and chest. Walking, bicycling, swimming, and climbing stairs count as aerobic exercise. Movements that use your smaller muscles, like those leading into your wrists and hands, don’t burn as many calories. Channel surfing with your remote control can certainly be repetitive, sustained, and intense — particularly when performed by certain husbands — but it burns very few calories. Aerobic means “with air.” When you exercise aerobically, your body needs an extra supply of oxygen, which your lungs extract from the air. Think of oxygen as the gasoline in your car: When you’re idling at a stoplight, you don’t need as much fuel as when you’re zooming across Montana on Interstate 90. During your aerobic workouts, your body continuously delivers oxygen to your muscles. However, if you push yourself hard enough, eventually you switch gears into using less oxygen: Your lungs can no longer suck in enough oxygen to keep up with your muscles’ demand for it. But you don’t collapse, at least not in the first three minutes. Instead, you begin to rely on your body’s limited capacity to keep going without oxygen. During this time, your individual muscles are exercising anaerobically, or without air. Anaerobic exercise refers to high-intensity exercise like all-out sprinting or very heavy weight lifting. After about 90 seconds, you begin gasping for air, and you usually can’t sustain this activity for more than three minutes. That’s when your body forces you to stop. You may still use large muscle groups, but you do so for only a short burst of time, and then you need to take a break before starting the next burst. Running a 30-minute loop around the neighborhood is aerobic, whereas doing all-out sprints around the track with a two-minute break between them is anaerobic. Both count as full-body cardio exercises because they challenge your heart and lungs and burn lots of calories. You also may do hybrid activities referred to as “stop-and-go” sports, such as basketball, soccer, and tennis. These activities involve long periods of slow, sustained movement with some short bursts of high-intensity activity mixed in. Warming up and cooling down Automobiles are built to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in mere seconds and to stop practically on a dime if necessary; humans aren’t. With any type of physical activity, whether it’s walking, playing basketball, or cross-country skiing, you need to ease into it with a cardio warm-up exercises and ease out of it with a cool-down. (Weight-training workouts also require a warm-up, although they typically don’t require a cardio cool-down.) Warming up A warm-up simply means three to 15 minutes of an activity performed at a very easy pace. Ideally, a warm-up should be a slower version of the main event so it works the same muscles and gets blood flowing to all the right places. For example, runners may start with a brisk walk or a slow run. If you’re going on a hilly bike ride, you may want to start with at least a few miles on flat terrain. Be aware that stretching is not a good warm-up activity. People who are out of shape need to warm up the longest. Their bodies take longer to get into the exercise groove because their muscles aren’t used to working hard. If you’re a beginner, any exercise is high-intensity exercise. As you get more fit, your body adapts and becomes more efficient, thereby warming up more quickly. Many people skip their warm-up because they’re in a hurry. Cranking up the elliptical machine or hitting the weights right away seems like a more efficient use of time. Bad idea. Skimp on your warm-up, and you’re a lot more likely to injure yourself. Besides, when you ease into your workout, you enjoy it a lot more. A trainer we know says, “If you don’t have time to warm up, you don’t have time to work out!” What exactly does warming up do for you? Well, for one thing, a warm-up warms you up — literally. It increases the temperature in your muscles and in the tissues that connect muscle to bone (tendons) and bone to bone (ligaments). Warmer muscles and joints are more pliable and, therefore, less likely to tear. Warming up also helps redirect your blood flow from places such as your stomach and spleen to the muscles that you’re using to exercise. This blood flow gives you more stamina by providing your muscles with more nutrients and oxygen. In other words, you tire more quickly if you don’t warm up because this redirection of blood flow takes time. Finally, warming up allows your heart rate to increase at a safe, gradual pace. If you don’t warm up, your heart rate will shoot up too quickly, and you’ll have trouble getting your breathing under control. Cooling down After your workout, don’t stop suddenly and make a dash for the shower or plop on the couch. (If you’ve ever done this, you’ve probably exited the shower with a hot red face or dripped sweat all over the couch.) Ease out of your workout just as you eased into it, by walking, jogging, or cycling lightly. If you’ve been using a stationary bike at Level 5 for 20 minutes, you can cool down by dropping to Level 3 for a couple of minutes, then to Level 2, and so on. This cool-down should last five to ten minutes — longer if you’ve done an especially lengthy or hard workout. The purpose of the cool-down is the reverse of the warm-up. At this point, your heart is jumping and blood is pumping furiously through your muscles. You want your body to redirect the blood flow back to normal before you rush back to the office. You also want your body temperature to decrease before you hop into a hot or cold shower; otherwise, you risk fainting. Cooling down prevents your blood from pooling in one place, such as your legs. When you suddenly stop exercising, your blood can quickly collect, which can lead to dizziness, nausea, and fainting. If you’re really out of shape or at high risk for heart disease, skipping a cool-down can place undue stress on your heart. How to gauge your level of effort Whether you're doing cardio exercises at a gym or getting at-home cardio exercise with no equipment, you'll need to know how much effort to put in. The question is: To reap the benefits of cardio exercise, just how much huffing and puffing do you need to do? The answer is not as much as you probably think. Sure, you don’t burn many calories from walking on the treadmill at the same pace that you stroll down the grocery store aisles; they don’t call it working out for nothing. On the other hand, exercising too hard can lead to injury and make you more susceptible to colds and infections; plus, you may get so burned out that you want to set fire to your stationary bike. Also, the faster you go, the less time you can keep up the exercise. Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, you may gain just as much, if not more, from slowing things down and going farther. To get fit and stay healthy, you need to find the middle ground: a moderate, or aerobic, pace. You can find this middle ground in a number of different ways. Some methods of gauging your intensity are extremely simple, and some require a foray into arithmetic. This section looks at the two most basic ways to monitor your intensity. To learn a more precise way to gauge your exertion rate by measuring your heart rate, as well as much more about cardio exercise, check out our book Self-Care All-in-One For Dummies. The talk test The simplest way to monitor how hard you’re working is to talk. You should be able to carry on a conversation while you’re exercising. If you’re so out of breath that you can’t even string together the words “help me, Mommy!” you need to slow down. On the other hand, if you’re able to belt out tunes at the top of your lungs, that’s a pretty big clue you need to pick up the pace. Basically, you should feel like you’re working but not so hard that you feel like your lungs are about to explode. Perceived exertion If you’re the type of person who needs more precision in life than the talk test offers, you may like the so-called perceived exertion method of gauging intensity. This method uses a numerical scale, typically from 1 to 10, that corresponds to how hard you feel you’re working — the rate at which you perceive that you’re exerting yourself. An activity rated 1 on a perceived exertion scale would be something that you feel you could do forever, like sit in bed and watch the Olympics. A 10 represents all-out effort, like the last few feet of an uphill sprint, about 20 seconds before your legs buckle. Your typical workout intensity should fall somewhere between 5 and 8. To decide on a number, pay attention to how hard you’re breathing, how fast your heart is beating, how much you’re sweating, and how tired your legs feel — anything that contributes to the effort of sustaining the exercise. The purpose of putting a numerical value on exercise is not to make your life more complicated but rather to help you maintain a proper workout intensity. For example, suppose you run 2 miles around your neighborhood, and it feels like an 8. If after a few weeks running those 2 miles feels like a 4, you know it’s time to pick up the pace. Initially, you may want to have a perceived exertion chart in front of you. Many gyms post these charts on the walls, and you can easily create one at home. After a few workouts, you can use a mental chart. The following table shows a sample perceived exertion chart. Perceived Exertion Scale Description 10 Maximum effort It’s nearly impossible to continue. You’re completely out of breath, your heart is pounding, you’re sweating profusely, and you’re unable to talk. 9 Very hard effort It’s very challenging, though not impossible, to maintain activity. You’re breathing hard, your heart is pounding, you’re sweating a lot, and you can barely talk. 7–8 Vigorous effort You’re on the edge of your comfort zone. You’re short of breath, your heart is beating hard, and you’re sweating, but you’re able to speak short sentences. 4–6 Moderate effort It feels like you can keep moving for quite a while without having to stop. You can have short conversations even though you’re breathing heavily, your heart is beating fast, and you’re sweating. 2–3 Light effort It feels like you can keep moving with very little effort for a long time. Your heart rate is somewhat elevated and you may be sweating lightly, but you can breathe easily and hold a conversation. 1 Very light effort You’re doing something that requires virtually no physical effort — sedentary activities such as watching TV, riding in a car, or working on a computer.

Article / Updated 01-26-2023

Modern hearing aids are sleek, and many styles are nearly invisible. This is a far cry from early hearing aids that required body-worn accessories (to visualize that, imagine something like the old Discman CD player worn on your belt with wires attached to headphones). It’s also a far cry from the mental image many people have when they picture hearing aids as large and bulky pieces of plastic that stick out from behind the ear connected to huge earpieces sitting in your ear canal. Hearing aids come in several different shapes and sizes to customize the fit to the wearer. This article covers the broad-style categories but always remember that other variants exist and different manufacturers use different names. Generally, there are two main styles of hearing aids: behind-the-ear and in-the-ear. Each has some subtypes. A good hearing aid fit is important to prevent that buzzing sound that is known as feedback. This happens when the amplified sound coming out of the hearing aid speaker is picked up again by the hearing aid microphone and reamplified. Behind-the-ear hearing aids Behind-the-ear hearing aids, often known as BTEs, are the most common style of hearing aid. It sits behind the ear — hence, the name — while a tube runs to the front of the ear where it connects to either an earmold or dome in the wearer’s ear canal, as shown in the figure below. While earmolds are custom made to fit a wearer’s ear, domes are premade mushroom-shaped silicone pieces that come variety of sizes and designs to find the best fit for the wearer’s ear canal. BTEs have evolved into several subtypes, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Earmolds require a custom impression of your ear canal. There are at-home, do-it-yourself earmold impression kits, but we recommend you use these with caution. Improper use can leave silicone material in the ear which requires a professional to remove. When in doubt, see a hearing care professional to make your earmold impressions. Traditional BTEs The traditional BTE (see the figure below) houses all the components of the hearing aid (the microphone, amplifier, processor, and speaker) in a single space that sits behind the ear. It is connected to a custom earmold using flexible, medical-grade plastic tubing. The BTE is a fairly rugged product that provides ample space for more powerful hardware, which can accommodate the needs of any degree of hearing loss. There are even “power” models for profound hearing loss. While the traditional BTE is the most versatile of hearing aid design, it has not always been perceived as the most discrete, so engineers have come up with newer versions of the BTE: slim tube and receiver-in-the-canal BTEs. Slim tube style BTEs Like the traditional BTE, the slim tube BTE (see the figure below) also houses all the components of the hearing aid behind the ear, but it uses much smaller tubing for a more discrete look. Rather than using a larger custom earmold that fills up the ear, slim tube BTEs use a dome or smaller custom earmold that sits deeper in the ear canal. The smaller size limits the slim tube style to mild to moderate hearing losses. In some cases, the slim tube style can work for severe hearing loss, but it is pushing the boundaries of this style’s capabilities. Receiver-in-the-canal style BTEs With a newer receiver-in-the-canal (RIC) BTE (see the figure below), the receiver or speaker sits in the dome or small earmold in the wearer’s ear canal and is connected to the body of the hearing aid behind the ear via a wire. This means that the signal output is being delivered right into the wearer’s ear rather than having to travel through tubing from the hearing aid body sitting behind the ear. This style may result in a clearer, crisper signal and can reduce feedback. Its design is smaller and more discrete. The major drawback to this style is that the receiver and wire are delicate and require regular maintenance and a gentle touch to avoid becoming damaged easily. Open and closed styles Slim tube and RIC styles often use domes rather than custom earmolds for the part that sits in the ear canal. These domes can be open or closed fit, which refers to whether the domes have holes in them (open fit) or not (closed fit). People with milder, high-frequency hearing losses can use open fit domes, which allow for more natural sound to enter the ear canal and allow for the ear canal to breathe. Conversely, closed fit domes are used for more moderate or severe hearing loss as they block outside sound and amplify low-frequency sounds. Open domes help prevent the occlusion effect — that is, when your ears feel plugged up and your voice sounds louder to you with an echo-like quality. You might also refer to this sound quality as “hollow” or “booming.” This happens because when we move our jaw to speak or chew, we create vibrations in the ear canal. When the ear canal is completely blocked with a hearing aid or earmold, those vibrations can’t escape and result in the occlusion effect. People who have better low-frequency hearing and use closed domes, earmolds, or ITE-style hearing aids are more likely to report experiencing the occlusion effect. Should you run into this issue, check with your hearing professional. Fun fact: You can simulate the occlusion effect by repeating words and sentences aloud with and without your fingers plugging up your ear canal (alright, maybe not that fun). In-the-ear hearing aids With in-the-ear hearing aids, also known as ITEs, the entire device sits in the wearer’s ear (see the figure below). These devices are custom made and require an earmold impression to be sent to a manufacturer. Popular smaller variants of the ITE are referred to as completely-in-the-canal (CIC; see the figure below). These styles are even smaller and, as the name implies, sit deeper in the ear canal. In fact, the CIC is essentially invisible and so small it requires an attached removal handle to get it in and out of the ear canal. The primary purpose of the CIC is cosmetic. A major drawback is that the small size comes at the expense of power. These small hearing aids are intended for mild hearing loss and cannot address the needs of more moderate or severe loss. The size of the CIC also limits the features available; CICs often can’t use advanced technology features like directionality. Some users who choose these styles become disappointed in their hearing aids and believe them to be ineffective when, in reality, these people have been fit with a hearing aid that is inappropriate for their level of hearing loss or hearing needs. ITEs are a great option when the user has problems inserting and manipulating behind-the-ear–style hearing aids due to numbness in their fingers or arthritis. The custom shape of the ITE makes it somewhat easier to slip into the ear. Pros and cons of hearing aid styles Picking the right hearing aid for you requires checking out the pros and cons of each style of hearing aid. Take a look at the table below to see which style may be the one for you. Hearing Aid Styles Pros and Cons Type Used For Pros Cons Traditional behind-the-ear All degrees of hearing loss from mild to profound Extremely versatile device with widest range of available features Relatively larger in size and most visible to the eye Slim tube behind-the-ear Mild to moderate hearing loss with some flexibility to fit severe hearing loss depending on the specific device Less visible than traditional BTE and can use open domes for more natural sound Requires enough dexterity to manipulate smaller size than traditional BTE and doesn’t meet the needs of most severe and profound hearing losses Receiver in the canal behind-the-ear Mild to moderate hearing loss Smallest BTE, clear sound from placement of speaker in the ear Most fragile BTE In-the-ear Mild to severe hearing loss Custom fit that is easiest to use when wearer has limited dexterity Smaller size may limit a few features Completely in-the-canal Mild hearing loss Nearly invisible Small size limits power and features like directionality

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-14-2022

It’s well known that you can’t take care of others unless you take care of yourself, and that statement rings even more true today. You can become calmer, more fulfilled, and more grounded with the help of a variety of self-care practices. These practices include mindfulness, self-compassion, resilience, fitness, clean eating, stress management, and reduced online activity.

Article / Updated 12-09-2019

People come in all shapes, but most can be placed into a particular category of body type, mesomorph, ectomorph, or endomorph. These body types have different characteristics, and you should tailor your workout to whichever you belong. Here's the skinny on the different types of bodies: A mesomorph (or meso, for short) can be defined in one word: muscular. If you're a meso, your body type is usually the envy of all gym rats because you can increase your muscle size quickly and easily. The well-developed, rectangular shapes of mesomorphs are representative of their thick bones and muscles. (Before you get too excited about this perfect form, keep in mind that being a meso may also mean you have poor flexibility.) If you are a characteristic mesomorph, you have a well-defined chest and shoulders that are both larger and broader than your waistline. Your abdomen is taut and your hips are generally the same width as your shoulders. Your buttocks, thighs, and calves are all toned and defined. As muscularly defined, athletic-looking individuals, mesomorphs are full of energy, are physically capable of a lot of activity, and tend to be aggressive athletically. (Usually no couch potatoes in this group.) Although mesomorphs generally store fat evenly all over their bodies, they can become overweight if they are sedentary and consume a high-fat and/or high-calorie diet. Cardiovascular disease can be a primary threat to an overweight meso, so if you fit into that category, your best method of prevention is to maintain a healthy diet and a balanced exercise regime. Remember that your heart is a muscle, too, and the best way to keep it fit is to perform cardiovascular activities. Craving physical activity and constantly seeking action, the mesomorph makes a great athlete. As a meso, you excel in sports that require great strength, short bursts of energy, and lots of power. Mesos are always popular in gym class and at the playground, because people want mesos on their teams. If you're scouting for body types at your local gym (and who isn't?), you will most likely find your fellow mesos lifting weights and avoiding the cardio equipment like step machines or treadmills. When you think "mesomorph," think of Sylvester Stallone and Demi Moore. A one-word description for the ectomorph body type (or ecto, for short) is slim. If you're an ecto, mesomorphs and endomorphs usually don't want to stand next to you. It's not that ectomorphs aren't personable, it's just that you're probably a tall, slender individual who has trouble gaining weight (oh darn!). As you may have guessed, the perfect example of an ecto is a fashion model. An ectomorph is relatively linear in shape with a delicate build, narrow hips and pelvis, and long arms and legs. As an ecto, your muscle and bone outlines are usually visible (especially if you are an extremely thin ecto), and you normally have less fat and muscle mass than people with other body types. Remember, though, that you probably don't have all the features of a characteristic endomorph, but a blend of features from more than one body type. Although willowy ectomorphs cover the majority of fashion magazines, nobody's perfect, and ectos do have health concerns. Your primary concern as an ectomorph is your frail stature consisting of small bones and joints that have a tendency to be injured easily during sporting activities. You probably won't be the star of your football team or the next champion gladiator. Don't worry — your body type is naturally suited to perform wonderfully in endurance activities. Just remember: Balancing your activities is the key. Like mesomorphs, ectos have a tendency to stick with what they do best, and ectos excel at cardiovascular training. You find balance in your workouts when you do both aerobic and muscle training. When you think "ectomorph," think of Tom Hanks and Courtney Cox. A one-word description of the endomorph body type (or endo, for short) is curvy. The soft, flowing curves of an endo are similar to that of an hourglass in more ways than one. And wouldn't you know it; the sands of an hourglass tend to settle in its bottom half just like the fat in the body. Comparatively, if you're an endomorph, your body fat may have a tendency to settle into the lower regions of your body, predominantly the lower abdomen, hips, and thighs, rather than being distributed evenly throughout your body. Keep in mind, though, that most endomorphs don't have all the features of characteristic endomorph, but a blend of features from other body types as well. An endomorph body typically has the capacity for high fat storage, and unfortunately puts fat on pretty easily. Although all body types are susceptible to excessive weight gain, as an endomorph, you are more inclined to become obese. The majority of your body weight is either centered in the middle of your body or in your hip and buttocks regions. A metaphor frequently used to describe an endomorph body type is pear-shaped. A pear resembles a body that has more weight in the lower region, like the hips and thighs, than the upper portion of the body. Structurally, as an endo, you have small to medium bones, limbs that are shorter in relation to your trunk, and musculature that is not well defined. Now for the good news. From top to bottom, your soft swelling curves create full, rounded shoulders, limbs, and a full trunk. Voluptuous and sensual are the descriptions given to many endomorph females whose soft body contours and deep curves create an allure like that of Marilyn Monroe. A male endomorph (known as an android) tends to have a different fat distribution pattern from a female endomorph (known as a gynoid). Female endos usually collect fat in their butts, legs, and hips, while most males collect fat in their abdomen (the "spare tire" or "love handle" look). Many research studies have shown that abdominal fat deposition is much more dangerous than fat in the leg and butt area. This is primarily due to the danger of heart disease (see the Heart Disease For Dummies Cheat Sheet) and an increased risk of diabetes, stroke, some cancers, and high blood pressure. The key to taking the bad with the good and finding happiness with your body type is by balancing all aspects of your life. Your first concern is your health, and your major health concern as an endo is maintaining a healthy body weight. Excessive amounts of body fat can place you in jeopardy of cardiovascular disease. Remember that the risk of such disease is increased if the majority of the fat is carried in the center of your body surrounding your heart. This danger can easily be avoided by maintaining a healthy diet and exercising. The joints of your lower body may be another health concern. Because these joints are already highly susceptible to injury, high-impact sports or activities may be damaging to them, especially if you carry excess body weight. When you think "endomorph," think of Robin Williams and Oprah Winfrey. See also: How a Healthy Diet Helps You Live Well Maximizing the Healing Effects of Exercise Using Cardio Exercise for Good Health The Essentials of Weight Training

Article / Updated 06-01-2017

If you are cautious about introducing unnatural chemicals to your body, your pet's body, or your home, you can remove lice quickly, easily, and naturally without unneeded chemical treatments or medications. Let's face it lice and lice eggs (nits) are gross. The nasty little blood suckers once introduced into your home can multiply rapidly if you aren't attentive about removing them quickly. Lice outbreaks are pretty common, but you can get rid of lice with medications, chemical mousses, soaps, and ointments. How to remove body lice naturally Body lice are the hardest to get rid of naturally. The lice don't actually live on your skin or hair but instead live in the seams of clothing and bedding. They usually only infest an area in which too many people are living too closely together. To get rid of body lice, try following these steps: Inspect clothing and bedding for lice and nits.If any lice or eggs are found or if you are in doubt, carefully place the items in a garbage bag and remove them. If you wish to keep contaminated items, you can wash them in very hot water with an all-natural detergent and bake them in the dryer. Repeat the process until you are sure there are no signs of life. Then package the items and put them away for at least 30 days, this will ensure if any nits slipped through your inspection, they will hatch and die quickly without a food source. Vacuum and mop the whole living space.Vacuuming ensures that if any eggs or lice fell off of your clothing or bedding, they won't try to recolonize. Multiple waves of outbreaks are common if you do not clean your house meticulously. In areas without carpet, you can mop with 1 cup apple cider vinegar per every 1 gallon of very hot water. Shower or bathe regularly with your preferred all-natural soap.Body lice only come in contact with human skin when they are feeding. They are larger than other lice and are easy to spot and remove. A quick all-over body scrub with a washcloth or loufa should do the trick. Massage oils on your skin.Massaging oils such as essential oils, coconut oil, or neem oil on your skin will naturally repel louse and also help soothe the itching associated with bites. How to remove head lice naturally Head lice are treated a bit differently from body lice. They only lay eggs on hair shafts and don't travel far from their food source. To get rid of head lice, try following these steps: Quarantine the infected.Have the person who has the head lice wear a shower cap or stay in a small room (preferably a bathroom) while you get prepared for the other steps. The smaller the room the easier it will be to inspect and clean the area after you remove the lice from the host. Wash clothing and bedding to remove stray lice.You don't need to throw away your clothes and bedding since head lice do not usually attach nits to fabric. Washing the items only once in very hot water mixed with an all-natural detergent or 1 cup apple cider vinegar will be more than adequate. Clean items and areas the infected head has touched.Wash hats, boil combs and brushes, and inspect furniture for contamination. Steam clean furniture if necessary. Vacuum and mop as needed. Apply apple cider vinegar to head.Dilute ½ cup apple cider vinegar with ½ cup water and pour it over the hair, making sure to wet the whole scalp. Apple cider vinegar will loosen the nits and irritate the live lice. Comb hair thoroughly with a nit comb.A nit comb is a comb with very dense teeth. If you do not have access to a nit comb, any fine-toothed comb will do. Carefully inspect the scalp as you use the comb to remove lice and nits. Make sure you double check that you got every nit so a second outbreak does not occur. Boil the comb when finished. Massage oils into hair and scalp.Use coconut oil or essential oils like oregano, lavender, tea tree, mint, and thyme oil. You can easily apply oils with a spray bottle to avoid over application. Dilute 3–5 drops of oil with ¼ cup water and spray into your hair while you use the nit comb. Do not shampoo your hair for 2 days and reapply oil as needed. Essential oils not only aide in the removal of nits but are very irritating to lice, naturally repelling them, and can sometimes kill them. If you've tried everything and have nuclear lice that even a bomb won't kill, consider hair removal or, as a last resort, a chemical treatment. How to remove pubic lice naturally Pubic lice, also known as crabs or crab lice, are simple to get rid of. Because they are found in the genital area and behave just like head lice, you can easily throw away undergarments that have come in contact with the lice, wash bedding, and shave or wax the genital and perianal areas of the body completely. Keep in mind, you can follow the same steps to remove pubic lice as you would head lice. Refrain from using public facilities, clean your home bathroom thoroughly, and do not have sexual contact with anyone until you are certain the lice are eradicated. How to remove pet lice naturally Pet lice is most common with dogs and, like with all lice, it is species-specific. Your cat can't get lice from you or your dog and vice versa. Removing lice from pets is no different than removing it from yourself or any other member of your household. The process can be daunting since animals sport so much more hair than you do, but it can be completed if you are willing to put up a fight. Try some or all of the following tips: Quarantine the pet from other pets of the same species. Bathe the pet more regularly. Do not take the pet to pet parks, kennels, or any other pet designated areas. Apply essential oils and brush the pet methodically. Steam clean flooring/carpets and keep pet outside until outbreak is over. Inspect pet and house daily for lice and nits. If your pet's lice do not go away, consult a veterinarian or consider a chemical treatment.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Every year, millions of people enroll in thousands of clinical trials conducted around the world. These research studies are crucial to evaluating the effectiveness and safety of new medical procedures and medications. Maybe you’ve heard the results of various clinical trials in the news and wondered how people are recruited for these studies — or even how you can enroll in one yourself. Understanding your clinical trial options Clinical trials aren’t just for people hoping to find a cure for their particular illness or medical malady. Whether you’re young or old, sick or well, male or female, if you’d like to advance the cause of healthier living, one of these five kinds of clinical trials might be right for you: Diagnostic: Enroll in this type of trial and you’ll help researchers create more effective ways of identifying a certain type of disease. Prevention: Perhaps you’ve watched a close friend or family member struggle with a particular illness and you want to do what you can to find more effective ways to stop disease development in the future. Participate in this kind of study and you’ll help researchers identify preventative lifestyle changes, vitamins, vaccines, or drugs. Quality of life: If you struggle with a chronic, incurable illness, you can assist scientists in finding ways to ease the discomfort caused by your condition. Screening: Advances in early detection have saved countless lives. When you participate in a screening trial, you help doctors figure out faster, more accurate ways to find disease. Treatment: If you suffer from an illness or condition that isn’t being helped by established medical procedures, you may be eligible to participate in a treatment trial. These studies focus on finding new drugs, treatments or surgical procedures. Most clinical trials, no matter what type, focus on a specific medical condition. Once you’ve identified the type of study that’s right for you, you may want to further narrow your options by choosing a specific health problem that you’re affected by or interests you. (This choice will is predetermined if you’re trying to find relief from a particular ailment through a treatment study.) Finding the right research fit Now that you’ve identified a clinical trial type and medical condition, you’re ready to begin searching for a particular trial. One place to begin is your doctor’s office. Tell your doctor the type of trial you’d like to participate in and ask if she knows of any trials seeking participants. If she does, your doctor can contact the study’s participant coordinator on your behalf, or give you the contact information. Whether or not your doctor refers you to a clinical trial, be sure and tell her if you participate in one. She needs to make sure any new drugs you take or medical procedures you undergo as part of your trial enrollment don’t interfere with your current medical treatments. A second resource is the Internet. Both CenterWatch, a private clearinghouse for clinical trials information, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health provide detailed listings of research studies seeking participants. As you search through the descriptions of the various trials, you’ll notice they have specific criteria and guidelines for participation — known as inclusion/exclusion criteria. You must match these criteria exactly to participate in the study. For instance, a clinical trial may be searching for males, between ages 35 and 50 who are non-smokers and have no history of urinary or prostate problems to participate in a prostate cancer prevention study. If you don’t meet these criteria exactly, you won’t be considered for enrollment. Once you’ve found a trial for which you think you’re eligible, you can contact the study organizers via phone or, in most cases, e-mail. If the study organizers think you might meet the criteria, they’ll set up an appointment to meet with you. They will need to make sure your health matches the study criteria, so you may need to undergo a physical exam and perhaps even undergo some tests. They should also explain and provide you with the study’s informed consent document. This document includes all the details of the trial, including How the study will be conducted Specific participant requirements Participation risks and benefits Study duration Cost to you, if any Payment to you, if any Names and phone numbers of key contacts Come to the meeting prepared. Write down any questions you have. Ask a friend or relative to come along and be a second set of ears. Bring a tape recorder so you can replay parts of the conversation you may not remember clearly.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

While the “colon prep,” as it is commonly called, involves an inconvenient 1- or 2-day liquid diet and a bathroom camp out, it's a necessary step toward ensuring your continued colon health. Properly flushing out your large intestine before undergoing a colonoscopy allows your doctor to see your colon clearly and identify any abnormalities, including cancerous polyps. Your doctor will give you detailed prep instructions when you make your colonoscopy appointment but, generally, there are a couple procedures you should expect to follow. Stick to a liquid diet before a colonoscopy Because solid waste material will interfere with the colonoscopy image, you’ll have to confine your diet to liquids for 1 to 3 days before the test. Blue, purple and red beverages aren’t allowed, because they can be confused with blood in your colon. However, you can have Broth Plain tea or coffee (no cream or milk) Popsicles Pulp-free fruit juice Sports drinks Water The closest thing to solid food you’ll be permitted to eat is lemon-, lime-, or orange-flavored gelatin. Some drugs such as aspirin, blood thinners, vitamins containing iron, glucose, and anti-inflammatories can interfere with colonoscopy results. Be sure to tell your doctor about all the medications you’re taking. He may ask you to temporarily adjust your dosage. Flush with a enema or laxative Either the night before or the morning of your test you’ll need to flush out your large intestine to make sure no waste material remains. Your doctor will tell you whether he wants you to use an enema or laxative. He will probably tell you which specific product to buy since some are made for colonoscopy prep. An enema will allow you to flush out your colon by squeezing water up into your large intestine via your anus. You’ll use a special enema bag with a pre-lubricated tip to inject the water. If you’re using a laxative, you’ll either take pills followed by lots of water or you’ll drink a liquid. If you use a liquid laxative, plan on drinking several cups at specific intervals. It doesn’t taste good, but you can make it more palatable by using ice cold water and adding some flavored drink powder. You’re going to swallow large amounts of laxative and it’s going to move through you fairly quickly. Make sure you wear pants you can easily take on and off. Stay very close to, or in, the bathroom. Make yourself at home with some magazines or a portable television. Have some petroleum jelly or some adult wet wipes containing lotion handy to soothe any skin irritation. You’ll be given a mild sedative and pain medication before your colonoscopy begins, which means you won’t be able to drive yourself home after the procedure. Make sure you have a friend or family member with you who will drive you home and plan on taking the day off from work.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

The whole-body CT scan is another weapon in the arsenal of early-detection health screens. Although the number of medical facilities offering this screening is on the rise, the scan’s ability to identify disease is limited. Before you plunk down big money for whole-body CT, make sure you know how the test can and can’t benefit you. Full-body scans use computed tomography (CT) to take a series of X-ray images of a person’s heart, lungs, abdomen, and pelvis. Specifically, the images are very thin, cross-sectional slices of the interior of the body. When these slices are reassembled on a computer they provide doctors with detailed views of bones, organs, and other tissue. The non-invasive procedure takes about 15 minutes. CT scans can make sense of symptoms Generally, a CT scan is most helpful in diagnosing a specific disease or abnormality in people who have symptoms. CT scans can be excellent aids in verifying the existence, size, and location of tumors, and detecting muscle and bone disorders, aneurysms, and other internal injuries. However, there is no scientific evidence demonstrating that CT scans are effective in detecting diseases at a stage that’s early enough to positively impact a person’s survival. Because of this, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved the use of whole-body CT scanning as a general screening tool. One piece of early-detection information a full-body scan can tell you is the amount of calcium in your arteries. It’s important information because doctors know arterial calcifications can indicate cardiovascular disease. However, you don’t need to pay for a whole-body CT to find this out. You can undergo a far less-expensive CT scan called a heart scan or coronary calcium scan. Also, preliminary studies suggest that full-body CT may be effective in detecting early-stage lung and colon cancers, but more research needs to be done. Whole-body CT may miss more than it finds If you think a full CT scan will give you piece of mind by indicating you’re perfectly healthy, or that it’ll uncover all of your health problems, you’re going to be disappointed. Here are just a few of the ways in which a whole-body scan falls short as a screening tool. It can’t tell you if you have some of the most common health problems, including high blood pressure and diabetes. It doesn’t look at your head, legs, or feet, so if you’ve got a problem above or below your torso, the scan won’t find it. It isn’t as reliable as traditional screening techniques in finding breast or cervical cancer. A whole-body scan is usually performed without injecting the patient with contrast dye. While this makes the procedure noninvasive, it also makes the results less reliable. Contrast dye is the stuff that makes it easier to detect abnormalities and differentiate between cancerous and non-cancerous growths. It can give false positive results. The scan may detect growths or lesions that aren’t a danger to your health, such as a bit of scar tissue from a previous lung infection or a benign cyst on your ovary. However, because it can be hard to figure out from a non-contrast CT what’s cancer and what’s not, you may have to suffer through lots of anxiety and follow-up tests before you find out there was no cause for alarm. It can give false negative results. If your whole-body scan comes back clean, that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for health problems. Along with not being able to detect common diseases like hypertension, your non-contrast CT test may miss small cancerous tumors. The radiation you’ll receive from a whole-body CT is larger than that of a traditional X-ray. Radiation is a known carcinogen, so if you’re concerned about radiation exposure, talk with your doctor before being scanned.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

When assessing your level of fitness, it is helpful to determine your body composition — how much of your body is composed of fat and how much is composed of everything else. Your body composition is also called your body-fat percentage. If you score a 25 percent on a body fat test, this means that 25 percent of your weight is composed of fat. You should consider your body-fat percentage in context with other health measures, such as your cholesterol levels, blood pressure, resting heart rate, and other gauges of fitness. Although body fat testing has its limits, your results can give you great insight into how your fat-loss and exercise program is coming along. For example, a body-fat test can tell you that a 7-pound weight loss means that you lost 10 pounds of fat and gained 3 pounds of muscle. Here’s a look at some methods of measuring your body fat: Pinching an inch: This body-fat test uses the skinfold caliper that pinches your skin, pulling your fat away from your muscles and bones. Typically, the tester pinches three to seven different sites on your body, such as your abdomen, the back of your arm, and the back of your shoulder. The thickness of each pinch is plugged into a formula to determine your body-fat percentage. Your tester should pinch each site two or three times to verify the measurement. Credit: "IMG_1624," © 2010 , skamille used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode Taking your measurements: You don’t get a body fat percentage by taking your measurements, but you can use the numbers to keep track of inches lost (or gained, if you’re trying to pack on muscle), which can be motivating in and of itself. If you’re losing inches, chances are, you’re dropping body fat. Some common places to measure include across the middle of your chest, the center of your upper arm, the smallest part of your waist, the widest part of your hips, the widest part of your thigh, and the widest part of your ankle. Getting dunked (underwater weighing): Underwater weighing is the most cumbersome method of body-fat testing, but it’s also the most accurate method that’s anywhere near affordable. You sit on a scale in a tank of warm water about the size of a Jacuzzi. Then you blow all the air out of your lungs and bend forward until you’re completely submerged. You stay submerged for about five seconds while your underwater weight registers on a digital scale. The result is then plugged into a mathematical equation. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA): For this method, you lie on your back while a signal travels from an electrode on your foot to an electrode on your hand. The slower the signal, the more fat you have. This is because fat impedes, or blocks, the signal. The signal travels quickly through muscle because muscle is 70 percent water and water conducts electricity. Fat, on the other hand, is just 5 to 13 percent water. Similar technology is used in body-fat scales and handheld gadgets that are less accurate than BIA. Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA): Not only does this method measure how much fat you have, but it also determines where the fat is located on your body, a more relevant health indicator. Originally developed to scan bone density, DEXA is available at hospitals and in doctors’ offices; it usually requires a physician’s referral. You lie on a bed while low doses of two different X-ray energies scan your body from head to toe.