Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting over 12 percent of the population. It wears away the cartilage, the tissue in the joints to prevent the bones from rubbing together. As the cartilage wears away it causes both pain and stiffness in the joint. Osteoarthritis most often occurs in the spine, hips, knees and hands. The degree of seriousness ranges from mild to debilitating, making each patient unique.

While there is no way to cure osteoarthritis, there are ways to make living with the disease more manageable as well as methods to prevent getting the disease in the first place. While your doctor may prescribe you medication, there are measures you can take yourself.

There is no better way to make life with osteoarthritis more manageable than staying in shape. Being overweight puts more stress on your already painful joints. Eating a healthier diet and regular exercise will help you attain your ideal weight. Reduce sugar and processed foods. Consult your doctor on how to safely and effectively reach your goal.

Exercise is important not just to reach a healthy weight. It is also vital in maintaining strength and movement in the affected joint or joints, through a combination of aerobics and strength-building. Aerobic exercise - like swimming or walking and other mild cardio - keeps your heart healthy and your cardiovascular system at peak performance. Try to incorporate exercise that works the affected joint, to increase limberness. Activities like weight lifting strengthen the muscles around the affected joints, but be sure not to overexert yourself.

Heat and cold has been long used as an effective pain reliever. Use heat in the mornings or before you go to bed, to increase blood flow, which eases discomfort. Do not apply it to a joint when it is sore though, as it will only exacerbate the problem. Instead, use a cold pack during times of pain, to relieve pain.

Acetaminophen, a mild over the counter pain killer, is enough in some mild cases of osteoarthritis, without your doctor having to prescribe a stronger medication that may induce side effects. If you are prescribed a stronger medication, educate yourself of side effects, and report to your doctor if you experience any. Be sure to talk to your doctor about any medication you are currently taking. As with any illness, be sure to cut out smoking, drinking, and any other habits that negatively impact your health.

Also, try to include more Omega-3 in your diet, which is an anti-inflammatory. The best source of Omega-3 comes from fatty fish and other kinds of seafood, like mussels or salmon. Since most people in North America don't include enough fish in their diet, unlike a Mediterranean diet, try an Omega-3 supplement like Omega Daily.

The best way to prevent osteoarthritis in the first place is to follow many of the same guidelines as those who have the disease already. The key is to stay healthy. Those who are overweight are more likely to develop the disease, as the extra weight puts stress on the joints. Stay in shape, and be aware of any stress to the joints.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune disorder, causing your immune system to attack the joints, causing a painful inflammation. Unlike other forms of arthritis like osteoarthritis, RA also attacks the organs like the heart, eyes and lungs. Of the 100+ forms of arthritis, this is one of the most debilitating varieties.

Rheumatoid Arthritis affects 1 out of 100 North Americans, or 2.1 million people, and women are three times more likely to get the disease than men. The cause of RA is unknown, but a popular theory points to the disease being infectious as those who have close friends or family with the disorder are more likely to develop it themselves. Susceptibility to the disease may also be an inherited trait as well.

Early detection is vital in treating RA because the most damage is done within the first two years, with 75% of the damage occurring within the first five years. While there is no cure or preventative measure for rheumatoid arthritis, there are a number of treatments to alleviate symptoms. Each type of drug includes its own side effects- make sure that you are informed about the medication you are taking, and report any side effects to your doctor.

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, or NSAIDs, reduce the pain and swelling of the joints. Many can be had without a prescription, like acetylsalicylic acid and ibuprofen. In more severe cases your doctor can prescribe a stronger NSAID. Omega-3, found in fatty fish, also works to shorten the period of stiffness in the morning, one of the major symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Add salmon or albacore tuna to your diet, or try an Omega-3 supplement like Omega Daily.

Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs, known as DMARDs, are slow-acting and may take weeks to take effect. While NSAIDs are effective in relieving pain short term, DMARDs are a long term treatment meant to reduce damage to the joint and bone. Methotrexate is the most widely used DMARD.

Biologic Response Modifiers are a third medication for RA sufferers, although it is extremely cost prohibitive, costing upwards of $25,000 a year and is rarely covered by insurance. Biologic Response Modifiers, called Biologics for short, work by decreasing inflammation. They are usually paired with other medication.

There are a number of things you can do yourself to make living with the disease easier. While it is tempting to put as little exertion on your sore joints as possible, keeping active is essential to enjoying life with rheumatoid arthritis. This is for a number of reasons. The first is that regular exercise strengthens the muscles around the joint and increases flexibility. Try low-impact activities, like swimming. Try not to partake in any activities that involve too much exertion, which causes more harm than good.
Use heat and cold to your advantage, easing pain. Heat should be applied only when the joint is not inflamed, and preferably in the form of a bath or hot shower. Use cold packs on the inflamed joint directly or after strenuous use of the joint.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

You've heard about the good fats and the bad fats, saturated fats and unsaturated fats. Can't keep them straight, between what you're supposed to eat and what you can? Unfortunately, many people who are dieting eliminate all fats altogether, which is as unhealthy as what they were previously putting into their body.

We're here to help you make sense of one variety - the Omega-3 fatty acids, which offer immeasurable health benefits. Doctors and scientists are still only scratching the surface of the power of Omega-3. Including more of this essential nutrient in your diet will award you better health. Omega-3 Fatty Acids are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Unsaturated fats are the healthy kind of fat that should be part of your regular diet.

Many of those who suffer from inflammation due to their arthritis, asthma, allergies or a number of other diseases have reaped the benefit of Omega-3 fatty acids, a known anti-inflammatory.

Scientists and doctors are finding new uses for Omega-3 all the time. The American Heart Association recommends eating fatty fish at least twice a week because of the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids for cardiovascular disease. Ongoing research points that Omega-3 may help combat autism, low birth rate and psychological disorders, to name a few.

Other areas of study on the effects of Omega-3 include, but are not limited to:

• Diabetes
  
• Menstrual cramps
  
• Asthma
  
• Burns
  
• High cholesterol
  

Unfortunately our Western diet just doesn't include enough of this essential nutrient. Good sources of this essential fatty acid come primarily from certain kinds of seafood, like salmon, albacore tuna, herring and shellfish. Flax is the next best source of Omega-3, an alternative for vegetarians. While our body can convert flax into these types of acid, seafood is recommended over it. Since scientists and doctors have praised the fatty acid, many different types of foods are now enriched with Omega-3, from bread to yogurt to baby food, to just name a few. Again, while they do contain the nutrient, it's best to take it straight from the source.

Omega Daily is a supplement that offers all the Omega-3 your body needs. Based on a concentrate of New Zealand Green-Lipped Mussel, it takes the guess work out of what to eat and what not to eat.

It is advisable to talk to your physician before taking any supplement.

Controlling Premature Ejaculation

Premature ejaculation or PE is generally acknowledged as one highly feared sexual problem among men. It usually has far-reaching consequences, often affecting to a certain degree the relationship that a man has with his sexual partner.

Medical practitioners, including sex therapists, often give varying premature ejaculation definitions, usually disagreeing on what actually constitutes PE. Nevertheless, the general agreement is that, as a dysfunction, it occurs in men either on a consistent basis or during particular periods of their lives. Either way, when premature ejaculation takes place much too often and begins to severely affect relationships, appropriate solutions need to be explored.

Premature ejaculation simply refers to the act of ejaculating a bit too early, approximately several minutes after sexual intercourse has commenced, and either before there is penile penetration or shortly afterwards. Most men feel that the dysfunction is something that they cannot really control, particularly among younger men who naturally lack sufficient sexual experiences. Older men generally have more control over their ejaculations, but during certain periods in their lives, especially when they encounter problems of every kind, they can also experience premature ejaculations.

The dysfunction is largely treatable, but most men, sometimes even women, are either not aware of it or are simply too shy to bring it out in the open and discuss it with a trained professional for fear that they will be ridiculed or mocked. Having the courage to admit that one has premature ejaculation issues is usually the first important step to treating the dysfunction. From here, the next step is to seek medical help so the causes of the dysfunction can be properly identified and the most appropriate treatment can be recommended.

A number of medical studies reveal that the dysfunction is actually learned or conditioned, often starting among younger men who, because of fears of getting caught, try to speed up the process of sexual intercourse. This causes them to ejaculate much too early, and this behavior tends to persist over time, resulting to consistent premature ejaculations, even as the men grow in age.

If PE then is learned or conditioned, then the general assumption is that it can likewise be unlearned or unconditioned. This is usually the goal of most premature ejaculation treatment programs. By and large, these programs are effective, especially when conducted under the supervision of a trained and certified sex therapist. However, a number of men find the sessions too long at times, not to mention the fact that complete strangers having the same problem are also taking part in the program. When these factors are present, patients usually try to explore other avenues to resolve their PE problems. Preferably, they look for solutions that are quick and easy to follow like using certain sex pills.

Using special pills to address premature ejaculation problems in men is not an entirely new thing. Men have been making use of them for years as they offer faster solutions to their PE concerns. Even certified medical doctors recommend these so-called sex pills to men suffering from a variety of erectile dysfunctions like premature ejaculation simply because they find them to be largely effective. What makes these sex pills such a potent premature ejaculation weapon can be traced to the ingredients that they contain. Many of these have chemical contents, such as those found in medications classified as anti-depressants. Popular brands are collectively called SSRI's or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors.

Largely used in treating cases of depression, SSRI's have recently been found to be effective as well in addressing premature ejaculation concerns, although this particular healing property of the drugs appears to be more of a normal side effect rather than anything else. Nevertheless, various doctors found them to be quite useful and have started prescribing them to affected men.

Other noted sex pills, meanwhile, contain purely herbal ingredients that are known to have sex-enhancing qualities. Herbal ingredients contained in several sex pills have the basic advantage of being pure and natural, and ostensibly carry no adverse side effects, unlike their chemically based counterparts.

Herbal-based sex drugs have recently gained immense popularity as more and more people are beginning to realize the benefits that one can get from taking pure and unadulterated substances. Even the medical world, which previously was hesitant in making use of natural herbs to treat certain human dysfunctions like premature ejaculation, has begun to realize the true value of herbal plants.

Several herbal-based sex drugs are now out in the market, competing for a still generally untapped market, and the leader of the pack is VigRXPlus™. This particular sex-enhancement pill boasts of having all-natural ingredients, basically extracts of various herbal plants that have long been known to help man gain more power sexually and even get rid of common sexual dysfunctions like premature ejaculation.

Specifically, extracts from plants like the Cuscuta seed and the Ginkgo Biloba have been included in every bottle of VigRXPlus™ along with other popular herbal products, making for a truly potent sex pill. Cuscuta seed happens to be particularly effective in addressing premature ejaculation concerns, while the Ginkgo Biloba is said to be capable of increasing blood flow in the vascular region that can ostensibly help improve penile erections.

VigRXPlus™ happens to be just one of many all-natural-based sex enhancing drugs currently trying to attract the attention of concerned men, but it claims to be the safest and the most effective among other similar brands. A visit to its official website, VigRXPlus.com should effectively tell if its claims are true.

Erectile Dysfunction

Defined as the inability to maintain or sustain an erection, Erectile Dysfunction, or ED, may be just temporary or the symptom of something greater. Either way, with so many different ways today to cure the problem there is no longer any need to ignore it, hoping it will go away. The real danger erectile dysfunction poses is to a man's quality of life, affecting his self-esteem and relationships with family, friends, co-workers, and especially sexual partners.

Erectile dysfunction affects most men at one time or another in their life and the chance of occurrence only grows with age. A 1999 survey conducted by the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) reported that 22 out of every 1000 men sought help for ED. That's 2% of the population! And almost 50% of men between the ages of 40 and 70 experience difficulties getting or maintaining an erection.

The first important factor is determining if the dysfunction is caused by physical or emotional issues. The only way to test if the problem is physical or psychological is by excluding physical diseases that may be at fault.

The majority of long-term erection difficulties are caused by some sort of physical ailment. The most common are vascular disease, which is the hardening of arteries, certain kinds of prescription drugs, and fatigue. These are just a few examples though in a long list. In these cases, blood is unable to surge or remain in the penis.

While approximately 70% of ED cases are physiological, the other 30% are caused by psychological factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, stress, depression and loss of self-worth. This sort of dysfunction starts with the brain.

The difficulty may be either long-lasting or temporary. Either way, it's an embarrassing problem that can be easily avoided in the future. There are many different methods to cure erectile dysfunction, both medical and non-medical. It's important to remember that any sort of treatment should be used in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle. Drugs, alcohol and smoking play a part in ED.

Medication prescribed by a doctor is common, either oral or injected directly into the penis. Medications like Viagra have helped thousands of men across the country, but also have adverse side effects including nausea and dizziness and are incompatible with certain medications. They must be taken about an hour before sex is possible. Surgery is another method, but is expensive with a long recuperation period. Surgery involves prosthetic implants, or a pump inserted into the genital area that the male would have to pump before sexual intercourse.

Therapy, penis pumps, and herbal supplements are three non-medical methods of curing ED. Therapy, with a registered sex therapist or other mental health professional, is quite effective in cases of psychological-caused ED, but not in physical cases. Therapy tends to be a long process, and some men are embarrassed to talk at length about their sexual problems. Penis pumps are used by inserting the penis into a tube and using a pump until erection is achieved, at which point a ring is rolled onto the base of the penis to keep the erection hard. It works, but the pump must be used each time before intercourse and doesn't address the real problem, only acting as a temporary fix.

A safe and easy method is herbal supplements, like VigRX Plus™. These supplements are made from organically-produced plants chosen for their aphrodisiacal that have been used for hundreds of years in different parts of the world. Herbal supplements are completely free of side effects and deliver quick results. The user can stop the treatment at any time with no adverse effects. Herbal supplements not only address the physical, but the psychological factors as well, as it increases libido.

It is important to talk to your doctor before undergoing any sort of treatment.