Living Well

Heart surgeons in Toronto perform bypass on Twitter

Twitter followers saw photos, learned about bypasses in real time, but ethical questions remain

Surgeons at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre brought Twitter followers into their operating room today while performing a coronary artery bypass graft on a 57-year-old man to raise awareness about heart issues.

The hospital’s social media team tweeted facts, photos and videos of the coronary artery bypass graft, also known as CABG, on Thursday. They are also provided information about preventing heart disease by quitting smoking, exercising and eating better.

Bypass surgery is done to improve blood flow to the heart, typically after arteries have become blocked with plaque due to coronary artery disease. Surgeons remove a healthy blood vessel — often from the leg —and attach it to the blocked artery.

Sunnybrook likened it to a “road detour” around blocked arteries, with the aim of increasing blood flow to the heart.

The hospital has said the patient has given permission and referred to him by his first name, Lou.

At noon, the hospital said the grafts were complete, the heart had resumed beating successfully and Lou was off bypass. A video showed surgeons placing chest tubes to prevent blood from putting pressure on the heart during recovery. At 1 p.m., they closed his chest to complete the surgery successfully — a birthday gift for him.

Earlier, Lou was connected to a bypass, or “heart-lung,” machine to keep oxygenated blood pumping through his body during the procedure, hospital tweets said.

A surgical photo showed a radial artery harvested from his left arm, one of the patient’s two bypass grafts.

“Obviously we can’t bring the public into the operating room, so it’s nice to be able to broadcast what we do,” Dr. Gideon Cohen, Sunnybrook’s chief of cardiac surgery, said in a post-surgery interview with CBC News. “This is an engaging way of keeping the public informed.”

On Twitter, the surgical team was asked about what they feel like during the four hours at the operating table, where they listened to music on a radio.

“You don’t notice it at the time of the operation, but when you get home you feel pretty wiped,” Cohen said. “So it’s probably that kind of subconscious stress that gets to you at the end of the day.”

Source: cbc

10 Houseplants that Detox Your Home

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air quality is one of the top five risks to public health. This is a result of home products made with toxic chemicals, such as vinyl flooring and air fresheners. If you don’t want to stop using these products and leaving the windows open all the time isn’t an option, there are plants that can help detoxify your indoor air. Here are some of the more effective. –

Aloe vera
You may know this plant as a sunburn soother, but it’s also a wonderful air purifier. Aloe actually absorbs chemicals from cleaning products and even gives you a warning sign by developing brown spots if the chemicals reach a high level.

Purple waffle plant
Researchers at the University of Georgia tested 28 common indoor decorative plants for their ability to remove the top five indoor pollutants. And the purple waffle plant was rated one of the best detoxifiers. This showy, low-maintenance spreading plant is an excellent choice as ground cover in a terrarium or to drape over a cupboard.

Areca palm
This beautiful palm tree pumps out loads of oxygen during the day and was rated by NASA as having the eighth highest removal rate for formaldehyde – a chemical often found in carpeting. Additionally, the Areca palm helps restore moisture to dry winter air at levels comparable to an electric humidifier.

Peace lily

This lily absorbs pollutants such as formaldehyde (found in carpeting) trichloroethylene (found in plastics), benzene (found in paints),and xylene (found in adhesives). The peace lily requires watering once a week and your choice of a bright or shaded home. Even though this is a “peace” lily, which is less toxic than true lilies, it still can pack a toxic punch if consumed by pets.

Rubber plant
The thick, deep green leaves of rubber plants help filter formaldehyde, benzene and ammonia from the air – all while improving the aesthetic of your living space. This somewhat demanding plant requires high light and frequent deep watering, and should also be kept far away from animals or children, as it is poisonous when consumed

Mother-in-law‘s tongue

Complementing the Areca palm’s daytime oxygen production, this plant is an evening oxygen producer – making it an excellent plant choice for the bedroom. To sweeten the deal, this prehistoric-looking plant is perfect for those lacking a green thumb. The Mother-in-Law’s Tongue can withstand any environmental conditions from light to dark, and wet to dry.

Golden pothos
This fast-growing vine absorbs formaldehyde, benzene and xylene. Placing this plant in or near the garage is good choice since engine exhaust is a primary source of formaldehyde.

English ivy
This glossy climbing plant comes in a variety of shades and is typically grown as a hanging plant that will also climb up walls or beams. Relatively easy to grow, English ivy is excellent at removing benzene from the air and also reduces airborne particles of fecal matter

Money plant

This superhero plant is an all-around air purifier that can remove formaldehyde and many other pollutants. It is also believed to bring the owner good luck, good fortune and good health in Chinese culture, where Money plants are often given as gifts on the Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, this type of bonsai tree is toxic to cats and dogs when ingested, and should also be kept out of reach of children.

Red-edged dracaena
Consider this plant if you’d like to add a pop of color to a room. The red-edged leaves are very attractive, and this plant can grow up to 15 feet tall–all while removing airborne chemicals from lacquers, varnishes and gasoline.

Spider plant
This “spider” is tough to kill – but that’s a good thing because unlike its creepy-crawly namesake, you’ll really want this plant to thrive in your home. It has long wispy leaves and tiny white flowers. The spider plant destroys benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and xylene – a solvent found in leather and rubber

Source: Health Central

 

Why city life may be bad for you

When it comes to getting people to be more active, much of the attention is focused on the improving sports facilities, encouraging people to join the gym or lambasting schools for not doing enough PE.

But could another crucial factor be the way neighbourhoods are designed?

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) thinks so.

The organisation has carried out an analysis of the nine major cities in England – Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield – to explore this.

Its researchers looked at housing density and the availability of green spaces.

The least active areas – deprived parts of Birmingham, Newcastle and London – had twice the housing density and 20% less green space than the most active places.

This is important.

Nearly 60% of people living in these cities do not do the recommended levels of activity.

But, crucially, three quarters said they would be happy to walk more and get outside in the fresh air if their local environment was more suitable, according to a poll cited by RIBA.

People cited safer streets and more attractive green spaces as two key factors.

RIBA has published the findings as it wants councils to take note.

Under the shake-up of the NHS last year, local government was given responsibility for public health.

So RIBA president Stephen Hodder said he wanted councils to ensure public health becomes an important part of the planning process.

“It’s vital that planners and developers take the lead and ensure healthier cities,” he added.

To be fair, this is already happening in many places.

Health impact assessments have become a crucial part of the process.

But as always – for councils which have seen their funding cut dramatically in recent years – it comes down to money.

One of the examples of good practice cited by RIBA in its report was the re-development of the Brownfield Estate, an inner-London housing estate.

It under-went a major £7m building programme with money invested from a variety of public and private sources.

The project saw the walk-ways between flats become “green grids” lined with grass and trees, while play areas were created across the site.

Another scheme highlighted was the creation of a natural play area with climbing frames, a water foundation and wetland on a disused field in the former mining town of Huthwaite in north Nottinghamshire.

Once empty, the area is now packed with children (when the weather permits).

But this project was only possible because the area was given over £200,000 of lottery money.

Source: BBC News

8 Tips for Hydrating in Cold Weather

Although we tend to think of it as a summertime concern, dehydration doesn’t disfavor the cooler months.

In fact, the likelihood of dehydration is accelerated when you train in cold weather—and at higher altitudes. In these conditions, the air you breathe is drier, and your lungs have to work harder to humidify that air and warm it up. The harder your body works, the more you need to drink.

Use these tips to stay hydrated this winter.

Wear Layers
Sweat can reduce your body temperature and force your heart to work harder to maintain blood flow and body temperature. Wear layers of clothing that will absorb perspiration.

Replace What You Lose
Water exits the body through exhalation, perspiration, and urination. If your urine is pale and plentiful, you’re well-hydrated. If it’s dark and scant in volume, you need to drink more fluids.

Match Your Drink to the Duration of Your Activity
If you’re exercising for up to 1 hour, you can rehydrate with water alone. However, after an hour, add electrolytes and carbohydrates. If you’re doing a sport at higher altitudes, increase your fluid requirements.

Hydrate With Room-Temperature Beverages
Cold liquids are absorbed quicker. Warmer or room temperature drinks, on the other hand, are better at keeping your internal temperature optimal. Choose the latter when you’re exercising in cold temperatures.

Eat Fruit
Winter fruits are excellent sources of water. To name a few: apples are 84% water; pears are 84% water; and clementines are 87% water. Plus, these fruits contain vitamin C, which helps fight off the flu.

Eat Salty Foods and Soup
Foods that contain salt will help you retain water. And soup, with all its broth and vegetables, is hydrating. Some great winter options: tomato soup, butternut-squash bisque, or minestrone.

Drink Hot Chocolate
You’ve likely heard that chocolate milk is the ideal post-workout recovery drink because of its 4:1 carbohydrates-to-protein ratio. Hot chocolate provides the same benefits—with added warmth.

Limit Alcohol and Caffeine
Caffeine and alcohol have diuretic effects. Save them for after your cold-weather workout.

Source: health

Premature Birth Linked to Asthma in Childhood

A new analysis of existing research suggests that premature babies face a higher risk of developing asthma and wheezing disorders when they’re older.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School, the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland examined 30 studies that included about 1.5 million children.

They found that premature children (born before 37 weeks of gestation) were 46 percent more likely to develop asthma or wheezing problems than kids who weren’t born prematurely. Full-term birth is generally considered about 40 weeks’ gestation.

Very premature children (those born before 32 weeks’ gestation) faced an even higher estimated risk — almost three times that of children born at full term, said Jasper Been, from Maastricht University, and his colleagues.

About 11 percent of children are born prematurely, the study authors said in the report, which was published in the Jan. 28 online edition of the journal PLoS Medicine and these chldren suffer a lot when they go to school. Here are the tips to manage Your Child’s Asthma at School

“The current findings do not support prior suggestions that the association between preterm birth and wheezing disorders becomes less prominent with increasing age,” the researchers wrote in the report. “Instead, the strength of the association was similar across age groups [up to 18 years],” which suggests that the effects of preterm birth on the lungs tend to have life-long consequences.

Although the study found an association between premature birth and respiratory problems such as asthma later in life, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Source: web md

Sibling relationships tied to children’s vocabulary skills

siblingsIn large families, young kids can’t always get a lot of individual attention from parents – but healthy interactions with an older sibling might help compensate for that, a new study suggests.

How older children interact with their siblings is tied to the younger children’s development, Canadian researchers found.

“The idea is that here is this effect of being in a large family where you don’t get that many resources, but if you get an older sibling that’s really attuned to your needs that would be a modifying effect,” Jennifer Jenkins told Reuters Health.

Jenkins is the study’s senior author and the Atkinson Chair of Early Child Development and Education at the University of Toronto.

Previous research had found that children from large families tend to score lower on vocabulary, IQ and other academic tests, compared to those from smaller families.

“That’s been pretty well examined that the larger the family, the less good the child’s skill in language and IQ,” Jenkins said. “It’s really thought of as a resource dilution.”

For example, if a couple has a second child, the attention they spent on their first child will then be split among both kids.

She cautioned that whatever effect a large family may have on a child is small, however.

To see whether an older sibling can possibly fill in for some of that diluted attention, the researchers used data from an existing trial that included families from Toronto with 385 young children who had a sibling at least four years older.

Mothers and older siblings were scored on how they interacted with the younger child.

For example, the researchers scored whether the older sibling or mother were sensitive to the younger sibling’s abilities and gave positive feedback.

The younger sibling’s vocabulary was also tested by having the child point to an object’s picture after its named was said out loud.

The researchers found that children with many siblings tended to score lower on the vocabulary test, compared to those who had smaller families.

Children from large families whose older siblings scored higher during the interaction, however, tended to score higher on the test than those whose older brother or sister scored lower during the interaction.

The association between an older sibling’s so-called cognitive sensitivity and the younger child’s score remained strong even when the researchers also accounted for traits that might have influenced the results, such as gender and age.

While the overall association may be small, Jenkins said many traits that are associated with similar cognitive delays are of a similar size.

“It’s multiple and multiple accumulating influences,” she said. “I think all of these small influences are worth paying attention to.”

Jenkins said the next step would be to develop a trial to test a program that encourages older siblings to have better interactions with their younger brothers and sisters to see if that improves the younger siblings’ cognitive abilities.

That, she said, would also help show that the older sibling’s interactions cause better outcomes in their younger brothers and sisters instead of just showing that the two are somehow linked – as this study does.

The study also has some limitations, including not knowing what kind of interactions the younger children’s other siblings have with each other.

Jenkins and her colleagues write in the journal Pediatrics on Monday that it’s also possible that the association is reversed and that the younger child’s abilities influence the type of interactions their older siblings have with them.

“Siblings really play this very strong role in how kids come out,” Jenkins said. “I’d like people to think about those sibling relationships a little bit more and then how to strengthen them.”

Source: Reuters

 

Helping Smokers Quit, or Not Start in the First Place

“Even 50 years after the first surgeon general’s report on smoking and health, we’re still finding out new ways that tobacco kills and maims people,” Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently told me. “It’s astonishing how bad it is.”

Dr. Frieden and public health specialists everywhere are seeking better ways to help the 44 million Americans who still smoke to quit and to keep young people from getting hooked on cigarettes. “Fewer than 2 percent of doctors smoke. Why can’t we get to that rate in society as a whole?” he wondered.

One reason: Smoking rates are highest among the poor, poorly educated and people with mental illness, populations hard to reach with educational messages and quit-smoking aids.

But when I mentioned to Dr. Frieden, a former New York City health commissioner, that the city’s streets are filled with young adult smokers who appear to be well educated and well dressed, he said television seems to have had an outsize influence.

Focus groups of white girls in New York private schools have suggested a “Sex in the City” effect, he said: Girls think smoking makes them look sexy. In the last two years, middle-aged men, too, have begun smoking in increasing numbers after a half-century decline. Dr. Frieden cited “Mad Men,” the popular TV series featuring admen in the early 1960s, when well over half of American men smoked.

Dr. Frieden said that an antismoking effort begun in 2008 by the World Health Organization “can make a huge difference in curbing smoking, and we should fully implement what we know works.” The program is called Mpower:

M stands for monitoring tobacco use and the effectiveness of prevention programs like antismoking videos on YouTube.

P for protecting people from secondhand smoke. Half the country still lacks laws mandating smoke-free public places. The latest national health survey found that about half of children from nonsmoking households have metabolites of tobacco in their blood, Dr. Frieden said.

O for offering help to the 70 percent of smokers who say they would like to quit. “Tobacco use remains egregiously undertreated in health care settings,” Dr. Helene M. Cole, associate editor of JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and Dr. Michael C. Fiore, a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin, wrote this month in the journal.

Medical aids for quitting smoking, which can triple the likelihood of success, should become available, without a co-pay, to many more people under the Affordable Care Act, Dr. Frieden said.

W for warning about smoking hazards through larger and more graphic messages on cigarette packs and paid advertising on radio and television.

E for enforcing bans on tobacco marketing, advertising, promotion and sponsorships. In bodegas throughout the country, Dr. Frieden said, “tobacco ads are used as wallpaper.” Smoking is freely depicted in movies and popular TV shows.

R for raising taxes, which studies have shown is the single most effective way to reduce smoking in the population, especially among teens.

“A higher cigarette tax is not a regressive tax, because it would help poor people even more than the well-to-do,” Dr. Frieden noted. President Obama has proposed an additional 94-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, which would yield $80 billion to fund universal prekindergarten.

Smokers ready to quit can choose from among a cornucopia of aids as wide-ranging as nicotine substitutes, low-dose antidepressants, hypnosis and acupuncture. While none by itself has a high rate of success, different methods have proved effective for different people. Many former smokers required several attempts before they managed to quit for good.

But quitting smoking does not necessarily require assistance. As two public health specialists, Andrea L. Smith and Simon Chapman at the University of Sydney in Australia, have pointed out, “The vast majority of quitters do so unaided.” A Gallup Poll conducted last year in the United States found that “only 8 percent of ex-smokers attributed their success to [nicotine replacement therapy] patches, gum or prescribed drugs,” these experts noted. “In contrast, 48 percent attributed their success to quitting ‘cold turkey’ and 8 percent to willpower, commitment or ‘mind over matter’.”

They added, “For many smokers, having a reason to quit (a why) was more important than having a method to quit (a how).”

For my husband, who smoked a pack a day for 50 years, the “why” was his distress at seeing two beautiful young nieces smoking; he made a pact with them to quit if they would, and he followed through.

Techniques that can help people trying to quit when troubled by the urge to smoke include waiting 10 minutes and distracting yourself; avoiding situations you associate with smoking, at least until you have become a committed ex-smoker; using stress reducers like physical activity, yoga, deep breathing, muscle relaxation and self-hypnosis; seeking moral support from a nonsmoking friend, family member or online stop-smoking program; and oral distractions like chewing sugarless gum or raw vegetables.

Electronic cigarettes are being promoted by some as a way to resist the real thing. E-cigarettes, invented in 2003 by a Chinese pharmacist, contain liquid nicotine that is heated to produce a vapor, not smoke. More than 200 brands are now on the market; they combine nicotine with flavorings like chocolate and tobacco.

But their contents are not regulated, and their long-term safety has not been established. In one study, 30 percent were found to produce known carcinogens. Dr. Frieden said that while e-cigarettes “have the potential to help some people quit,” the method would backfire “if it gets kids to start smoking, gets smokers who would have quit to continue to smoke, gets ex-smokers to go back to smoking, or re-glamorizes smoking.”

Nearly two million children in American middle and high schools have already used e-cigarettes, Dr. Frieden said. In an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal last year, Dr. Matthew B. Stanbrook, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, suggested that fruit-flavored e-cigarettes and endorsements by movie stars could lure teens who would not otherwise smoke into acquiring a nicotine habit.

A survey in 2011 of 75,643 South Korean youths in grades 7 through 12 by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, revealed that four of five e-cigarette users also smoked tobacco. It could happen here: Stanton A. Glantz, the study’s senior author and a professor of medicine at the university, described e-cigarettes as “a new route to nicotine addiction for kids.”

Source: New York Times

New Child Car Seats May Protect Kids In Side Collisions

The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the first time ever, has announced its proposal on upgrading children’s car seats to survive a side collision, or “T-bone” crash. Under the new rules, child car seats sold in the United States, designed for kids weighing up to 40 lbs., would have to go through a rigorous side-impact test before they are authorized for vehicle use.

“Car seats are an essential tool for keeping young children safe in vehicles and have a proven track record of saving lives,” said NHTSA Acting Administrator David Friedman in the press release. “Today we continue to build on our extensive child seat safety program by adding side-impact crash protection for the first time.”

An NHTSA study has shown that many child death and injuries commonly occur in side-impact crashes. Typically, in these crashes, the car carrying children is stopped at an intersection — usually at a light or stop sign — and when the car begins to go through the intersection, it is struck in the side by a vehicle traveling at a greater speed on the cross street. Unrestrained children are found to be eight times more likely to sustain incapacitating injuries than children restrained in child safety seats. However, the agency believes designing child car seats to withstand side collisions will greatly reduce the number of deaths and injuries per year.

The feds’ proposed test will aim to simulate a T-bone crash where the front of a vehicle traveling 30 mph will strike the side of a small passenger vehicle traveling at 15 mph. The NHTSA chose these speeds because they are known to cover over 90 percent of side collisions seen not only in the U.S., but around the world.

Rather than using actual vehicles, the tests will include sleds because “the aim isn’t to test the crash worthiness of specific vehicles,” NHTSA officials said. The car seat will be positioned on the sled, with another sled ramming the side of the sled with the seat. The tests will use a to-be-developed side-impact 3-year-old child dummy, along with the NHTSA-approved 12-month-old dummy to accurately reflect the age groups of child car seat users.

“As a father of two, I know the peace of mind this proposed test will give parents,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, NBC News reported. “We all want to make sure our children’s car seats are as safe as possible, and today’s proposal will give parents and car-seat makers important new data on how car seats perform in side crashes.”

Installation and proper use of safety seats are vital in protecting children in motor vehicles. The NHTSA fact sheet says they can reduce up to 71 percent of fatalities for infants and 54 percent for toddlers. Acknowledging the importance of child vehicle safety, manufacturers like the Dorel Juvenile Group — the world’s largest car-seat maker — has begun to incorporate small, already-inflated air bags.

Some manufacturers are already taking steps to improve the protection afforded by their car seats in side-impact crashes. The Dorel Juvenile Group, the world’s largest car-seat maker, has been incorporating small, already-inflated air bags into some of their models to protect children’s heads from injury in side-impact crashes since 2009, Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the Columbus, Ind., company told The Associated Press. “Dorel is committed to side-impact protection,” she said.

The NHTSA proposed regulations will be open for the public to comment on for 90 days after they are published this week. These regulations will not be final until the agency reviews comments and answers any important issues that may arise upon discussions. The agency acknowledges this can take months and sometimes years, but they are hopeful the process will move quickly.

Car-seat makers would be given a three-year time frame to make any design changes necessary to pass the side-crash tests and abide to regulations if and when they are passed. The new child car seats could save five lives and prevent 64 injuries each year, the NHTSA estimates.

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests infants and toddlers ride in a rear-facing car seat until age 2 and then moved to a front-facing seat with a harness until at least age 4. They will then have to be placed into a “seatbelt-positioning booster seat until they’ve reached 4 feet, 9 inches tall and are at least 8 years old.” Children who outgrow their booster seats are recommended to continue to ride the back seat until they’re at least 13 years old.

Source: Medical daily

Health Benefits of Laughing

Laughter works wonderfully well in the moment, but it also has some surprising long-term health benefits

What can laughter do?:

  • Lower blood pressure
  • Increase vascular blood flow and oxygenation of the blood
  • Give a workout to the diaphragm and abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles
  • Reduce certain stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline
  • Increase the response of tumor- and disease-killing cells such as Gamma-interferon and T-cells
  • Defend against respiratory infections–even reducing the frequency of colds–by immunoglobulon in saliva.
  • Increase memory and learning; in a study at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, humor during instruction led to increased test scores
  • Improve alertness, creativity, and memory
  • Humor and creativity work in similar ways, says humor guru William Fry, M.D., of Stanford University–by creating relationships between two disconnected items, you engage the whole brain.

Humor works quickly. Less than a half-second after exposure to something funny, and electrical wave moves through the higher brain functions of the cerebral cortex. The left hemisphere analyzes the words and structures of the joke; the right hemisphere “gets” the joke; the visual sensory area of the occipital lobe creates images; the limbic (emotional) system makes you happier; and the motor sections make you smile or laugh.

Source: care2

 

5 Things to Work on to Reduce Anxiety in 2014

Battling anxiety is never easy. Those with generalized anxiety disorder may fight worrying and intrusive thoughts, feeling powerless to stop them. For people with panic disorder, the “not knowing” when panic will strike causes great apprehension and this often brings on a panic attack. No matter what type of anxiety you have, chances are you struggle each day to keep your anxiety at bay.

As we start a new year, many of us take a look at our lives and treatment to determine what is working and what is not. We take stock of where we are and where we want to be. You might start out the year creating a treatment plan or plan of action. You might want to reduce your medication or try a new type of therapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy. You might be considering alternative treatment such as supplements or hypnosis.

As you work to make positive changes in your life, the following are five areas you can work on throughout the year:

Take Care of Yourself

You know that taking care of yourself is important. Your physical health impacts your levels of anxiety. There are some steps you can take to make sure you are in the best possible physical health:

Eat right – While diet may not be a direct cause of anxiety, it can contribute to anxiety levels. When you are under a lot of stress, you may make unhealthy food choices, increasing your anxiety. Some ingredients, such as caffeine, increase feelings of irritability, making your stress levels increase. If you aren’t sure what foods are best, talk with your doctor or a nutritionist to create a balanced and healthy diet.

Get a good night’s sleep – This is obviously easier said than done. Worry and stress cause you to toss and turn all night and the lack of sleep increases feelings of stress and anxiety the next day. If you are having trouble sleeping, use some self-help tips to get to sleep or talk to your doctor about what you can do to get a good night’s sleep.

Exercise – Even small amounts of exercise have been found to reduce levels of anxiety and depression. If you don’t exercise, start by adding 10 minutes of exercise to your daily routine. Increase your exercise, as you feel comfortable. If you have any health issues, make sure to talk with your doctor about how much and the types of exercises that are safe for you.

For Women: Have Your Hormone Levels Tested

Throughout a woman’s life, hormonal fluctuations from PMS, pregnancy, peri-menopause and menopause affect stress levels and your ability to deal with stress. Track your anxiety symptoms to see if they coincide with your monthly cycle or if they are related to changing hormone levels. Let your doctor know if you are experiencing hot flashes, irregular cycles or night sweats as this may signal peri-menopause or menopause. Ask your doctor to test your hormone levels every few years.

Create Support Networks

Some people have built in support networks in the form of family and friends. Others feel they are alone in their battle against anxiety. It helps to have people you can turn to that understand what you are going through. If you don’t have people in your life that provide you with that support, take time this year to reach out to others. Check in your local paper for in-person support groups or contact your doctor or hospital to find out if there are support groups in your area. There are also plenty of online support groups and sites, such as this one, where you can talk to others with anxiety and feel understood and heard.

Learn Relaxation Skills

Strategies such as deep breathing, yoga and meditation help to increase feelings of wellbeing throughout the day, even when practiced once a day for 10 minutes. Learning these techniques also gives you a way to combat anxiety as soon as you feel it starting. When you feel panic beginning to rise, stop and breath deeply for 10 minutes. This often helps to stop or reduce your feelings of panic.

Become More Mindful

Mindfulness is living in the present moment. Practicing mindfulness helps reduce levels of anxiety and stress. This is because anxiety usually involves ruminating over things that have happened in the past or worrying about the future. When you learn to live in the moment, these worries go away. You focus only on what is going on around you. Practice mindfulness skills 10 minutes each morning and evening to increase your sense of calm.

While all of these areas can help reduce your anxiety, remember to choose one to start with. Trying to make changes in many different areas of your life all at once might only increase your anxiety levels. Choose one area and when you are comfortable with the progress you have made, add a second, and then third, etc.

Source: health central