Dynamic Solutions For Women

Something happens to many women’s arms once they reach their thirties. Suddenly, arms cease to be arms and start to become something rather more like bones to hang flab from. ‘Bingo wings’ are the bane of many women’s lives, but the good news is that there are exercises that can tone them up and make them an asset instead of an embarrassment. And as well as looking good, toning your arms will increase your strength and avoids posture-related strains and stresses on your back and neck muscles.

If your overall fitness and fat levels are not up to scratch, then working just on your arms would be a bit pointless (like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic…), and all your lovely new muscles will be hidden under a load of fat, so make sure your overall diet and exercise levels are in line with current recommendations for your height and weight.

Key to moulding arms into things of beauty is adding resistance to your exercise (not along the lines of ‘but I don’t want to…’ – physical resistance, of course). Use weights, tins of beans, cartons of milk, special weight-bands, shopping bags, or choose exercises that use your own body weight to add resistance to your muscles. Don’t be afraid that you’re going to turn into one of those muscle-women who go orange and shiny and enter competitions: you need a lot more than a tin of beans for that.

Here are some examples of exercises that really work those arms:

1. Hold weights (like 2 or 4-litre milk cartons filled with water, or heavy tins), in both hands, with hands by your side. Pull your hands up and then push them up above your head. Do as many repetitions as you can. Aim to do a few more each time.
2. Do some push ups, but start in the ‘up’ position and allow yourself to dip down a little, bending your elbows.
3. Sit on the edge of a chair (be careful!), with your hands gripping the seat at either side of you at the front of the seat. Push your bottom off the seat and lower yourself down until your elbows are bent as far as you can, and back up. Repeat as often as you can.

These are all exercises you can do at home, and they only take a few minutes. Fit them in around your other work and you’ll soon notice a difference in your stamina, meaning that your arms are well on the way to becoming things of beauty.

Only two weeks to go until Christmas and chances are you’ll be snuffling into a tissue and coughing yourself awake most nights as one of the many, seasonal bugs makes themselves at home in your respiratory system.
If you start feeling run-down, you may benefit from taking vitamin supplements to boost your immune system in an effort to make it strong enough to battle those bugs. But there are natural foods that do the same thing, arguably more effectively. They’ll certainly help you get your five-a-day and should give you the boost you need to make you germ-free in time for the Big Day.
Mushrooms
These are a good source of selenium. Whilst it won’t prevent ‘flu, selenium will make any ‘flu you do contract less severe. Button mushrooms also have vitamin B, niacin and riboflavin, which can boost the immune system.
Elderberry
The berries themselves may not taste terribly good, but mixed with a bit of sugary syrup or allowed to ferment and they make rather nice beverages! And even better, they may help you to get over ‘flu if you do contract the virus. They are packed with antioxidants, too.
Acai Berry
This is one of those ‘super-foods’ that were doing the rounds a year or so ago along with blueberries. They are full of antioxidants, which help to maintain a healthy immune system.
Watermelon
Not terribly seasonal, but if you can get hold of it it, too, has the antioxidant glutathione in it, which helps your body fight infection.
Oysters
If you can stomach them, they’re full of zinc, an excellent mineral for boosting immunity and may even ward off viruses, though it’s not known how.
Cabbage
This also has glutathione, and may be easier to come by than watermelon. It’s not to everyone’s taste, so add it to soups or stews.
Grapefruit, Oranges etc.
Citrus fruits are good sources of vitamin C, which everyone knows is helpful for recovering from colds and ‘flu. At this time of year, get some satsumas in!
Low-fat Yoghurt
If you choose ‘live’ yoghurt, you will reduce the risk of catching a cold or ‘flu.
Broccoli
This is an ace immunity booster, full of vitamins A and C, plus the antioxidant glutathione.

This is the time of year when you most want/need to fit into a little black dress, yet have the least amount of money to achieve weight loss (all your spare money seems to go on presents, wrapping paper, turkey, crackers, the little black dress…). Many women wanting to lose a bit of weight before the Christmas party season head off to the gym or maybe even invest in gym equipment for the home (which soon become rather expensive clothes-hangers). Others may sign up to diet clubs that charge a membership fee and weekly subs.

But you don’t need to go to these costly lengths to achieve the shape you want. Here are some ideas to inspire you to work out at home to tone up and look fab this Christmas.

1. Actually Go To The Gym

We’re not being facetious here. You may already have a gym membership, which you may have not taken up for a while because you keep failing to make time for it, or can think of a million other things to do with your time.

If you are lucky enough to have a gym membership that includes use of a personal trainer then book in some sessions! If not, then book time in your diary to go! Make sure your favourite tunes are on your player to motivate you to move.

1. Buy a Workout DVD

All you really need to tone up and lose weight is thirty minutes, five times a week. Switch off Emmerdale and put on a workout DVD instead. Make sure the workout makes you puff a bit (so that conversation is hard) but not so much that you feel out of breath.

1. Try a Basic Workout at Home on Your Own

Try exercises that work on each part of your body and keep working at them. Do them for ten minutes each evening before settling down to get ready for sleep (exercise will wake you up so don’t do it when you’re wanting to go to bed). Try these:

• Sit-ups (don’t try to lift yourself all the way up – they’re much more effective if you lift slightly off the floor feeling your tummy ‘crunch’ with the effort, holding for ten seconds at a time).
• Squats (stand tall, feet apart, arms out forwards and squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground)
• Jumping jacks
• Chair exercises (sit on your hands, arms straight, lift your knees towards your chest, bending slightly – not too much! – to meet them; or hold the edge of your chair and slip your bottom off, using your arms to ‘dip’ your bottom, counting to three on the way down and one on the way up).
• Use tins, or fill empty 4 litre milk cartons with water to act as impromtu weights.
• Check out apps for your mobile that offer exercise-tracking and weight-loss targets.

Whatever you do, it is better than nothing at least! If you stick at it then you will see a difference in your body shape, and if it’s a minor adjustment to your normal routine then it will be easier to keep it up.

The symtoms of cervical cancer are not always 100% obvious, which is why it is
Always extremely important to get regular health check-ups. Especially as some of the symptoms may not appear at all until it is too late!

Screening appointments for a cervical screening test are extremely important and only take a few moments. Those that attend one will receive their test results shortly after. Appointments can be made quite easily and usually take place at your local health clinic.

Many people will receive a reminder asking them to attend such an appointment. This should never be ignored, as cervical cancer is a very important matter which Endsleigh and everybody should take seriously.

Unusual bleeding is one sign to look out for and sometimes occurs after sex. Any bleeding that occurs at any time other than your monthly menopause is considered unusual. If this does occur you should make an appointment at your local health clinic straight away.

Other symptoms may include pain when passing urine, an unpleasant smelling vaginal discharge and also pain in and around your vagina when having sexual intercourse.

If symptoms advance and the disease spreads into your cervix, a variety of other systems can be triggered at this stage.

These could include the likes of constipation, blood in your urine, bone pain, swelling of one of your legs, severe pain elsewhere, tiredness, lack of energy and a loss of appetite.

Vaginal bleeding is very common and can mean a range of other things. It is however wise to seek medical advise to check up on this.

Simply book an appointment with your GP. Explain the systems and he or she will conduct the relevant tests. This won’t take much time out of your day and will in turn give you peace of mind.

Investing in a great health care insurance is also a must and a very sensible option.

Ovarian cancer is sometimes called the ‘Silent Killer’ because its symptoms are often missed until it is at quite an advances stage. Roughly 6,600 women are diagnosed with the disease each year, when their ovary develops cancerous tumour(s). Symptoms are usually mistaken for other things like irritable bowel syndrome, and may be ignored or tolerated for months before medical advice is sought.

Things to look out for include continuous or frequent pain/cramps in the abdomen or back, getting ‘thicker’ round the middle, nausea, feeling full quickly, and general, persistent bloating. Sometimes other symptoms include problems in urinating, severe tiredness/fatigue, abnormal vaginal bleeding and changes in bowel habits. Pain, weight-loss and vomiting are symptoms associated with late-stage ovarian cancer. These symptoms may not occur until the disease is quite far advanced, when the tumour is large enough to interfere with other internal organs or when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

If you have any of the above symptoms, see your GP, and go back again if you’re no better after two weeks.

Smear tests are obviously normally used to detect cervical cancer, but some cases of ovarian cancer have been detected in this way. Other physical examinations can be used by your doctor to look for ovarian cancer, but the disease would normally need to be quite advanced to be spotted in this way as small tumours could not be felt. Otherwise, ultrasound scans are used to detect tumours and these can tell if the growth is a cyst or something else. If it’s solid or has solid parts, it may be cancerous, in which case a CT scan is normally ordered to get more information about the tumour and to see if it has spread.

If it is cancer, surgery is normally the first port of call, when surgeons try to remove as much of the mass as possible and send it to a pathologist. The pathologist can report on whether further surgery is needed and whether the growth has spread (e.g. to the lymph nodes, which may be removed as samples). The stage of the cancer determines how much of the organs must be removed: from just the ovary and fallopian tube to more radical surgery removing the surrounding organs coupled with chemotherapy.

Regular check-ups are necessary after treatment to monitor for re-growth.

Many people have probably heard of the acai berry and its claims that it can aid people in losing weight. Some remain skeptical and simply want to know how this little berry, no larger than a grape can possibly help them with such a difficult task. Acai are small round berries. They have seeds in middle with fleshy pulp surrounding it. Many claim this is one of the healthiest fruits out there and that it provides energy to the human body.

Given its propensity to increase energy levels, many have tried using it as a weight loss supplement. Acai berry works differently than other weight loss supplements that seek to suppress the appetite. Acai berry actually helps to burn additional calories when performing physical activity. When taking an acai berry supplement more calories are burned than if not taking it. As a result, users experience weight loss. Acai berry makes weight loss easy. All one must do is simply follow an appropriate exercise regiment and sensible diet when taking acai berry.

Another helpful property of acai berry is that its effectiveness does not diminish when preserved for later use. This is not the case with many supplements. Acai berry also has high antioxidant properties. These also aid the body in weight loss. Many have found that acai berry not only helps with weight loss but a host of other health concerns. Acai berry can work to lower both cholesterol and blood pressure. It helps people sleep better which is also crucial for weight loss. It improves the effectiveness of the digestion system. This is another aspect that contributes to weight loss. Painful inflammation can be reduced and blood circulation improved. This can help some people who haven’t been able to exercise finally feel comfortable enough to do so. When looking for acai berry supplements, check out the acai at Holland and Barrett.

Winter. A time of comfort eating, excessive shopping, cosy nights in, weight-gain, dry skin and dry hair. Whilst eating less and exercising more will take care of most of these issues (go for a walk and keep walking even if you see a shop), they won’t do that much for your hair.

Think of all those adverts for cat food. The ones that say what amazing things they manage to squeeze inside those dry-looking biscuits that have a miraculous effect on the silkiness of the cats’ fur. Well, the same principle can be applied to your locks, and you don’t even have to eat cat biscuits to achieve it!!

So what do you eat/drink to get glorious hair? Shampoos and conditioners applied externally will give you some gloss, but what goes into your body makes the biggest difference (don’t eat shampoo or conditioner, obviously….). You’ll have to work with what you’ve got, of course – there’s no amount of minerals and vitamins that will give you long, thick, honey-blonde hair if all you’ve ever had is a head full of wispy strands, but by golly eating well can make those wispy strands gleam. Here goes:

1. Green leafy vegetables. Yuck. I know. But it’ll be worth it. Spinach, curly-kale, broccoli – all have high levels of vitamin A and C that you need to make sebum, which is the oily stuff you need for your hair to shine.

2. Salmon. Loads of omega-3 fatty acids which, although they won’t make your brain any bigger despite recent claims to the contrary, plus vitamin B-12 and iron will help your scalp to be nice and healthy and banish flaky bits. If you don’t like or eat fish, try flaxseed on your cereal.

3. Beans. Good for your heart, certainly, and good for your hair, too. Things like kidney beans and lentils – full of protein, iron and zinc, which will all make your hair grow beautifully.

4. Nuts. Brazil nuts contain selenium, which is good for your nails, skin and hair. Walnuts are also good, containing an omega-3 fatty acid and zinc. Also crack open the pecans, almonds and cashews. Great time of year for it, too.

5. Poultry. Again, timing couldn’t be better, since pretty soon you’ll be consuming more turkey than air over the festive season. It’s the protein that helps, banishing brittleness and wishy-washy colour.
6. Eggs. Bonanza of protein, biotin and vitamin B-12.

7. Wholegrains. Oats, wholegrain bread, fortified cereal – good for your heart and full of zinc, B vitamins and iron for healthy hair.

8. Low-fat dairy. Skimmed milk, skinny-yogurts etc. Good for protein and calcium and therefore fab for hair growth and condition.

9. Carrots. Did you know that the whole thing about carrots being good for your eyesight was as a result of a guy in the RAF whose night-bombing record during the Second World War was amazing. He told everyone it was because he ate loads of carrots and it gave him good eyesight in the dark. It made loads of children want to eat carrots, which was a good thing, but was actually rubbish. His bombing record was down to a new radar system that they wanted to keep secret from the Germans. Anyway, there’s a grain of truth in it, because carrots contain Vitamin A, which is good for your eyes but is also good for your scalp.

10. No crash diets. Wanting to lose the pounds for your Christmas party is honourable, of course, but if you get all gorgeous and meet the man of your dreams at the office do, come February you’ll be shedding left, right and centre and filling the plug with hair. Not attractive. Balanced, healthy diet is the only way forward.

The current guidelines by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence state that women should drink no more than 2 or 3 units of alcohol each day. This is currently being reconsidered on the advice of doctors, to reflect that there should be at least three alcohol-free days per week.

However, new research has found that women who drink within the limits currently recommended are still actually putting their health at risk because just one small glass of wine (around 2 units) per day increases the risk of breast cancer.

The research was conducted on a large-scale (over 100,000 women were questioned), over several years (from the late ‘seventies to present) and is highly regarded. Even low levels of alcohol consumption are associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer: around 15% greater risk than is found in women who drank no alcohol, with that percentage rising with greater amounts of alcohol consumed. Women who drank at least two alcoholic drinks per day were found to be 50% more likely to develop the disease. There was no increase in the risk of breast cancer amongst those women who drank one to three drinks per week.

The researchers reported that it might be that alcohol is having an effect on the levels of the female hormone oestrogen, which is known to raise the risk of some types of breast cancer.

At the moment, around a quarter of all births are carried out by caesarian section, usually for medical reasons such as foetal distress, mother’s exhaustion, or position of the baby in the womb. Most of these are classed as emergencies, but many are ‘elective’ if it is known that a vaginal birth may not be feasible (e.g. if the mother has already had three caesarian sections before).
The emphasis from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has historically been that caesarean sections are not a matter of ‘choice’ but are supposed to be only used if necessary for medical reasons. Women cannot simply choose to have a caesarean section – mainly because it is major (and costly) surgery.
Now, though, NICE is preparing a new draft of guidelines, the first since 2004, based on the latest research in this area. The guidelines cover things like when caesarian sections are to offered and what procedures should be followed. The really interesting bit for pregnant women, though, is to whom caesarean sections are to be offered under the new guidelines. The new guidelines say that pregnant women are to be given more evidence about caesarean sections (like why it might be necessary, what are the risks/benefits, what effect they are likely to have on future pregnancies) but crucially also say that the decision about whether or not to offer a caesarean section will have to have taken into consideration the woman’s circumstances, concerns and priorities. In other words, women will have more say over whether they are given a caesarian section.
The guidelines specifically list what procedures should be followed if a pregnant woman requests a caesarean section. These are:
explore the reasons for her choice. If there are no medical reasons, explain the risks and benefits of caesarean sections vs vaginal deliveries;
if the woman’s request is based on her fear of childbirth, counselling should be offered by a therapist with expertise in perinatal mental health to support her. If she still wants a caesarian section after that therapy, she should have one;
if an obstetrician refuses a request by a woman for a caesarean section, they should refer the woman to another obstetrician in the NHS, in the same unit, for them to do the caesarean.
The guidelines also clarify that the following medical conditions warrant a caesarean section:
if the baby is in breech at term and it hasn’t been possible to turn the baby manually;
if the mother is carrying twins where the first baby is in breech;
if the placenta covers the cervix (aka placenta praevia)
if the mother has HIV and/or Hepatitis C;
if the mother has genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) in the third trimester.

So the guidelines stop far short of routinely offering caesarian sections to all women, but they do make it a little easier to get one, and also give the woman a greater voice in her care.
There are guidelines that say which cases shouldn’t be offered a caesarian section. These are:
a premature birth;
twins where the first is presented in the correct position and the pregnancy has been free of complications;
a ‘small’ baby;
the mother has a body mass index over 50
The guidelines are expected to be finalised and released next month (November 2011).

It’s that time of year again – the clocks go back, the heating comes on, it’s impossible to dry your laundry without using the tumble drier … and it’s flu season once more.
And for the second year in a row, pregnant women are being urged to get vaccinated against swine flu because of the risk the disease poses to foetuses and newborns.
Whilst it may go against every instinct you possess (which may be to avoid anything unnatural and unknown entering your bloodstream whilst pregnant, knowing that whatever you ingest or are jabbed with also goes to your baby), you are at five times a greater risk of having a stillbirth if you contract swine flu for which you require hospital treatment; newborns are also four times more likely to die within 28 days of birth if their mothers contracted the virus during pregnancy.
Doctors are using this data to highlight how important it is that pregnant women get the seasonal flu vaccine (which also vaccinates against swine flu). Other ‘high risk’ groups are also advised to get the jab – the elderly, the very young, those with respiratory diseases like asthma.
H1N1 (swine flu) is predicted to be one of the main flu strains that will dominate the flu season of 2011/2012.