Health tips for better life

Find Chinese medicine careers in the United States and Canada. With the development of integrative and complementary medicines, Chinese medicine careers are on the rise. Traditional Chinese medicine including Tuina, acupuncture, and herbal medicine make up some of the broad practices that are integrated into Chinese medicine careers.

According to the National Center of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Chinese medicine careers in acupuncture are among the most popular CAM practices in the United States. In a report published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Chinese medicine careers in acupuncture are “being widely practiced by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners – for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions.”1

Chinese medicine careers encompass a vast array of natural healing techniques and modalities, including meridian therapy, Tai Chi, Qi gong, Chinese medical massage (Tuina), acupuncture, herbology, moxibustion (cupping), and related health and wellness methods.

While Chinese medicine careers can be quite lucrative, it is critical to understand that proper training and education is of utmost importance. Today, prospective candidates interested in pursuing Chinese medicine careers must have substantial instruction (and licensure, depending on specific field) in order to practice professionally. If you’re one of many students drawn to this ancient healing art, it is wise to carefully review state educational requirements and regulations regarding Chinese medicine careers. For example, Oriental medicine schools offering Chinese medicine academic programs may vary in length and specialty. Some training programs in Chinese medicine careers range from mere months, up to five years.

Many Chinese medicine careers require a comprehensive education in anatomy, biophysics, Oriental medicine, nutrition, herbology, acupuncture, and needling techniques; this, in addition to clinical experience and prerequisite education from an accredited college or university. Furthermore, Chinese medicine careers often require certification and/or licensure; and depending on the state in which you reside, formal training requirements and internship programs may be different.

If you (or someone you know) are interested in attaining one of several Chinese medicine careers, let education within fast-growing industries like massage therapy, cosmetology, acupuncture, oriental medicine, Reiki, and others get you started! Explore career school programs [http://school.holisticjunction.com/clickcount.php?id=6634739&goto=http://www.holisticjunction.com/search.cfm] near you.

References:Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. CDC Advance Data Report #343. 2004.
Chinese Medicine Careers Today

Well, let’s begin our talk with the gossip and then get serious. It seems Gabourey Sidibe who was recently nominated for an Oscar for her role in Precious, has been approached by a weight loss company. It wants to help her lose weight and, of course, by doing so enhance its own reputation. What makes the story so interesting is the aggressiveness of the approach. Here is a young woman who is obviously not unhappy with the way she looks and is successful as she is. Yet a weight loss company thinks she should want to lose weight. Now we could assume this company is altruistic. It knows being obese significantly increases the risk of diabetes, arthritis, some cancers, a stoke or heart disease. If anyone overweight can lose between 5 and 10% of their body weight, these risks are reduced or completely disappear. So why look for celebrity endorsement? The answer lies in the national statistics.

In 2009, the National Institutes of Health reported obese people in the US represented 34% of the population while the number who were merely overweight represented only 32.7%. For the record, this classifies 72 million people as obese, i.e. their BMI is 30 or higher. In fact, the rate of obesity has doubled over the last thirty years and, being dispassionate about it, this represents a major market for weight loss products and services. Billions of dollars are at stake. Against this background, the San Diego Medical Center has been running a clinical trial on POSE. This is a new approach to bariatric surgery. The increasingly common lap band procedure requires the surgeon to enter the body through the abdomen and this inevitably leaves a scar. POSE is surgery performed using an endoscope. This is a device pushed down the throat and into the stomach without any need for an incision. Once inside the stomach, there are tools operated remotely by the surgeon. This allows the stomach walls to be sutured, reducing available space by about one-third. Thus, the effect is the same as in conventional surgery. Patients begin to feel full minutes after starting to eat. Thus, for those who have vanity issues and want to achieve a “body beautiful”, this form of surgery promotes weight loss without scars.

For the purposes of the trial, only people who have a long history of weight problems are being considered. But, if the trial proves a long-term success, you will probably see this type of procedure heavily advertized for people of all weights. It’s not our policy to argue people should not have surgery. There may come a time when people prove themselves so lacking in will power to diet and exercise that physically preventing them from overeating is the only way of saving their lives. But what does concern us is the notion that surgery should become the normal response to weight problems. As a nation, do we really want to spend millions of dollars every year on surgery when the solution to the problem is a diet, physical exercise and phentermine? Just think for a moment. If you buy Phentermine, you get an effective appetite suppressant. Why do people using it not lose weight in the long term? Because they continue to eat massive portions of unhealthy food. People are unable to prevent themselves from overeating. What does that say about the character of Americans? We have become a nation of food junkies, so addicted to eating, we cannot stop even when we know it’s killing us.

Portable blood glucose meters gave readings averaging as much as 16 percent in error in a study of 102 women with gestational diabetes conducted by Australian researcher Dr. Nimalie Perera, of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. The study appeared in January 2011 in the journal Diabetes Care.

Perera compared test results from six different models with those from laboratory tests. The most precise model, Stat-Strip, erred by an average of 6 percent. The least precise, Optium Exceed, erred by 16 percent. Both are sold in the United States.

Although non-diabetics may consider these errors small, they can be significant because many diabetics use their meters to help them decide when and how much insulin to inject. Close monitoring and accurate dosage are critical to maintaining a diabetic’s health and safety.

The typical allowable error in a blood glucose meter is 20 percent, but many experts argue for tighter standards — especially in gestational diabetes, which can lead to miscarriage or an oversized baby and a difficult delivery.

Commenting on the study, Dr.

David Sacks, director of the clinical chemistry lab at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, told Reuters Health that people for whom accurate readings are critical should be extra careful in performing the tests and, when their results seem atypical, take second readings.

One reason portable glucose meters are prone to error is that they work by a complex electrochemical process not like an electronic calorie counter. Within the test strip, a special chemical reacts with the glucose in the blood to produce an acid. Then another chemical turns the acid into a substance called ferrocyanide. Finally, the meter runs an electric current through the ferrocyanide and derives the glucose level from the change in the current. With so many steps depending on one another, small errors can add up to bigger ones.

Do you enjoy a good steak, a hefty hamburger and a big hotdog? Your arteries, your heart, your eyes, and your immune system may wish you had made other choices. It seems that high intake of red and processed meat can be deadly. 

Red and Processed Meat Intake is linked to higher mortality rates from cancer and cardiovascular disease as well increased risk of age related macular degeneration, retinal damage in the eyes. Chicken seems to be inversely related to macular degeneration, according to a recent Australian study, while eating fish was not associated with macular degeneration.
 
“High meat intake has been associated with higher levels of N-nitroso compounds, heme iron, and advanced glycation end products, which could result in oxidative damage and could be toxic to the retina.” Dr. Elaine W. T. Chong at the University of Melbourne and others, American Journal of Epidemiology, April 1, 2009. High levels of meat consumption may be the cause or perhaps a marker for people who are at risk due to other lifestyle factors.

 
“High intakes of red or processed meat may increase the risk of mortality,” says Rashmi Sinha, PhD, from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues. He is citing results of a large, prospective study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, March 23, 2009.
 
This study, The National Institutes of Health-American Association for Retired People Diet and Health Study, included about half a million men and women, aged 50-72 years at the start. The study began with a food frequency questionnaire to determine how much meat each person was eating as the study began.
 
The food was categorized as follows:
Red meat: beef and pork, including bacon, coldcuts, hamburgers, hotdogs, steaks and meats in pizza, lasagna and stew.
White meat: chicken, turkey, fish, poultry cold cuts, canned tuna, low-fat hotdogs
Processed meats: either red or white sandwich meats, cold cuts, bacon, sausages (red meat and poulty), regular hotdogs and low fat poultry hotdogs

During 10 years of follow-up, 47,976 men and 23,276 women had died. Overall death risks were increased for those who ate the largest amount of red meat. Red and processed meat consumption was associated with modest increased in total mortality, cancer deaths, and cardiovascular disease deaths. On the other hand, high white meat consumption and low-risk meat consumption was associated with a small decrease in total deaths and cancer deaths.