Untreated High BP can Greatly Raise the Risk of 'Bleeding' Stroke

 People with untreated high blood pressure face a much greater risk of a bleeding stroke, but that risk is even higher for blacks and Hispanics, a new study warns.
"The average age for a brain hemorrhage [bleeding stroke] is much younger in minorities, especially in African-Americans, so they may suffer more disability earlier in life than others," study author Dr. Kyle Walsh said in an American Stroke Association news release.
"It's important to be aware of having high blood pressure in the first place, and once diagnosed, to have it treated appropriately," added Walsh, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Cincinnati.

The study included more than 4,600 white, black and Hispanic Americans who were followed for six years. During that time, half of them suffered a bleeding stroke.
Compared to having normal blood pressure, having untreated high blood pressure increased the risk of a bleeding stroke by 11 times in blacks; 9.8 times in Hispanics; and 9.5 times in whites.
Among bleeding stroke patients with a previous diagnosis of high blood pressure, high blood pressure was more likely to be untreated in Hispanics (48 percent) and blacks (43 percent) than in whites (33 percent).
Less access to medical care may be one reason Hispanics and blacks are more likely to have untreated high blood pressure, the researchers suggested.

Even among people with treated high blood pressure, blacks were 75 percent more likely and Hispanics 50 percent more likely than whites to have a bleeding stroke, according to the study findings. They were to be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Stroke Association, in Los Angeles.
Studies presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary, because they have not undergone the scrutiny given to research in published journals.

More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about high blood pressure.
Posted: February 20

See how Sufficient Sleep and Exercise helps to Lower Stroke Risks

Sufficient Sleep, Exercise Linked to Lower Stroke Risk

People who regularly exercise and get a full night's sleep may have a relatively lower risk of suffering a stroke, a large study suggests.
Researchers found that among almost 300,000 U.S. adults, those who routinely slept seven to eight hours a night were 25 percent less likely to have a stroke, compared to people who got either less or more sleep.
The highest stroke risk was seen among "long sleepers," who spent at least eight hours in bed each night. But short sleepers -- those who slept less than seven hours each night -- also showed an elevated risk.
However, the findings don't prove that sufficient sleep can actually prevent strokes, only that there's a link between getting the right amount of sleep and stroke risk.
Still, the researchers said the findings do highlight the potential importance of sleep in stroke risk -- something that has not gotten much attention.

"Some of us look at sleep as the enemy. It gets in our way of doing things," said lead researcher Azizi Seixas, of the Center for Healthful Behavior Change at NYU Langone Medical Center, in New York City.
But, Seixas said, there is growing evidence that when it comes to healthy lifestyle choices, sufficient sleep is the "third pillar," along with a balanced diet and regular exercise.
The research team found that the combination of good sleep habits and regular exercise was related to a substantial drop in stroke risk.

Seixas was scheduled to present the findings Thursday at the American Stroke Association's (ASA) annual meeting, in Los Angeles. Findings presented at meetings are generally viewed as preliminary until they've been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Daniel Lackland, a spokesman for the ASA, said the study backs up the importance of exercise in maintaining good cardiovascular health -- but also reminds us that sleep matters.
"It seems like sufficient sleep and exercise may have a synergistic effect on stroke risk," said Lackland.
"If you get regular exercise, that's good -- and we've known that for a long time," he said. But there are also reasons that sleep may directly affect stroke risk, added Lackland, who's also a professor of neurology at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston.

"I think there may be an important role for blood pressure here," Lackland said. He explained that without sustained, deep sleep -- meaning you're not waking up during the night -- your blood pressure does not have the opportunity to drop to its natural low.

"The kidneys, heart and brain work less during sleep," Lackland said. "If you're not sleeping well, that decrease in workload doesn't happen."
Seixas agreed that a lack of sleep can have direct cardiovascular effects. But what about the fact that "long sleepers" showed an elevated stroke risk?

That may reflect an "indirect" effect, Seixas said. "For example, if you're sleeping a lot, you're probably less active during the day," he noted.
The study findings are based on nearly 289,000 U.S. adults who took part in a government health survey. Seixas and his team used a computer model to estimate the impact of sleep, exercise and other health and lifestyle factors on stroke risk.

Overall, "long sleepers" were 146 percent more likely to have suffered a stroke, versus all other study participants. Short sleepers, meanwhile, showed a 22 percent higher risk, compared with the rest of the group.

Seixas said there was a significantly lower stroke risk among people who got both a healthy amount of sleep and regular vigorous exercise -- meaning 30 to 60 minutes of high-intensity exercise, such as jogging, three to six times a week. In that group, less than 1.2 percent had ever suffered a stroke, versus about 3.1 percent of other adults, Seixas said.

In reality, though, many people may not be able to sustain that level of exercise. Not to worry, both Seixas and Lackland said.

"Focus on what you can do," Lackland advised. "If you're sedentary, start with walking. A walk around the block is better than remaining sedentary."
By the same token, Seixas said, if you cannot regularly get a full night's sleep -- because you're a shift-worker, for instance -- focus on fitting in that daily walk.
If poor sleep plagues you, Lackland suggested talking to your doctor: There may be a treatable disorder, such as sleep apnea, underlying the issue.

More information
The National Sleep Foundation has more on sleep and cardiovascular health.

Some Fascinating Facts About The Moon You Probably May Not Know!

THE MOON The Moon is one of the most popular celestial objects in the sky, graces our night sky like a patch of glowing ball. Lunar is the name of the Earth's only natural satellite called a Moon. She is so important to us that we have a day specially named after it. Monday (Moon day). She is deified as a Goddess to many cultures, one of the determining clock hands of our time measurement and a very fascinating celestial neighbour she is to us. All of us have seen the moon, in fact we have spent countless nights mopping at it and imagining what actually that is, it has been a subject of our imaginations and lores as children.
1. Formation The events leading to the wedlock of our Dear Earth to her Moon was not a peaceful ceremony at all. Not even close to being peaceful. Early in the solar system's formation, the whole system was a battle field of hot high speeding debris, asteroids and meteors crashing into each and other into planets. The earth has gotten a very big share of these celestial bombardments of fire raining meteors of which we have craters testifying to this So the first billion years of the earth was a very violent one of which brought about earth's water delivered from these catastrophic bombardments of celestial bombs. Though a subject of many scientific probings the most widely accepted theory on Moon's formation is a head on collision between the earth and a Mars sized Asteroid named Theia. These two very hot planetary objects in the early stage of the system formation 4.5billion years barely 50million years after the earth's formation collided in a very violent and quaking union. This collision released debris (remnants of the reaction) lead to the moon's formation.. So the moon was a child of a violent wedlock between earth and theia
2. The moon is as bright as Coal We all see glowing ball brightly throwing down silvery rays of a shadowy beam. But in actuality the moon is a very very very Dark object not even brighter than a Coal. The light we get from the moon has nothing to do with the moon, the moon has no light at all but rather acts as a reflective plate for the sunlight it gets from the sun.. You must have noticed that during a crescent or half moon you can see the remaining outline of the full moon but it remains pitch dark, that is because that side is shielded from direct sunlight. Or during an eclipse the moon becomes a fully mean ominous dark opaque object to us. So without light from the sun hitting the moon, it is just one pitch black piece of coal.. Even with as much sunlight as it gets the moon has a very poor reflective ability that it only reflects 12% maximum of all the light it gets from the sun, compare this with Venus that reflects almost 75%. If Venus was as close to us as the moon, our nights would just be like evening because Venus is way too bright no wonder it is called the morning sun, when do we get to sleep if that was the case? The earth is by far brighter than the moon, the earth reflects more than 55% of the sun light it gets.. so the earth is more than 7times brighter than the moon. So the moon is not a light and so doesn't shine it only reflects a very poor amount of sunlight it gets.
3. The Moon Controls Our Ocean Tide Yeah where are the "Avatar the last air-bender's Fans" Come out this is for you... The film clearly states the moon as the first water bender. Well that is so so true because the moon is an important factor in the calibration of ocean tides. The moon is not the factor but just one of many. Others include the Sun, Earth's rotation etc.. As you may have noticed, water is a very cohesive compound, water molecules always sticks together notice if you drop two pinch of water close together they merge into one whole. So the earth's centrifugal force caused by the rotation water molecules are being pulled away from the surface leading to a bulge near the equator than towards the pole If the earth simply rotated on its own axis, then even though there would be this bulge there would be no tide. However, because the moon is very close to the earth, its gravity exerts an effect on the rotational system of the earth, causing it to also rotates in tandem with the moon on a different axis. Because of this additional rotation, there is an additional centrifugal force exerted on the side of the earth that is away from the moon. Thus, the centrifugal force is greatest on the side of the earth that is away from the moon, and there is a greater bulge in the water on that side. That is how the moon's tidal effects manifests on the earth's ocean tides..
4. The Moon is tidally locked to earth  This should be a question that must have been bothering every curious mind we have here who one or two times might have looked up to gaze at the moon. "Why is that we only see one side of the moon all the time? Yes that is true, the moon is tidally locked.. This means that it takes the exact same amount of time for the moon to finish one orbital revolution and also achieve one full axial rotation therefore only one part of it is always faced towards the earth. this is also known as Gravitational locking ... Following this you can now deduct that the reason why we always have one side of the moon facing us is that in the 28 days circle of the moon before another appearance it takes just about that time for it to fully rotate on it's axis so when next it appears on earth we get to see the same side. Moon axial period =28 days earth's axial period =24 hours.. See the difference .... Due to this tidal lock one side of the moon remains perpetually darkened to us (We call this the "Dark side of the moon) and we get to only see just one side ...
5. Shape Judging from what we see at night from the part of moon visible, one can conclude the moon is a perfect sphere and wouldn't be blamed. But the news is, The moon is not a perfect sphere not at all, the moon has a shape known as Oblate Spheroid … This is a kind of sphere where the whole body is not perfectly uniformed but has bulging sides leading to little bit flattened poles. Like a lemon This is caused by by rotation of an ellipse around is smallest axial points.. Jupiter also has an Oblate spheroid shape but due to the fact that one bulging side of the moon is always visible to us we always perceive the moon's shape to be spherical from here...
6. Water On the Moon We know that just few months ago liquid water was announced on Mars but calm down there've always been water on Mars though Frozen we were just surprised to find liquid ones. So back to the moon, Yes there is water on the moon and many planetary bodies in this Solar system though the conditions on these bodies makes it unlikely for water to thrive in liquid state. Earth is the only planet were water exists in liquid form in a large scale, Mars has joined the list but just in a small scale. Over the years there have been speculations of Frozen water lurking in the hidden craters on the moon surface. Not until the most recent man made probe (LRO) to the moon started orbiting the satellite has the picture became ever clearer. From Data curled from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms have been detected just in the Lunar surface showing there is Water Molecules lurking within the Lunar soil. Yes it may not be flowing swimmable water type found on earth but in this regard Water is water. Since has reaffirmed the idea that within some perpetually darkened craters in the lunar world, there may be Frozen water on them. But all in all the LRO has satisfied our taste for that answer as it confirms that water molecules indeed exists on the moon too..
7. Gravity Like "Everything you throw up must surely come down" that too works on the moon contrary to the myth that if you are on the moon you will be floating around because there is no gravity. No, there is gravitational pull on the moon only just drastically lesser than that of the earth. Gravity is as a result of the distortion of space/time by Mass, so the greater the mass the greater the distortion (Gravity). Will like us all to take a little experiment to show how gravity works. Take a sheet of clothing or net and spread (suspend in mid air) it across on all four angles (this represents space/time) then bring a heavy object and place it on the fabrics. You will notice the fabric dents with the weight of the object then bring an object of lesser weight and put within the boundary of the dent you will notice that it will slide down towards the center of the dent.. That is gravity.. So back to the Moon's gravity, the Mass of earth is greater than that of the moon so the distortion of space/time by earth is far more greater. That is why we witness a gravitational pull of about 9.8m/s approximately 10m/s while on the moon is roughly 1.6m/s. So notice the deference.. N.B: The moon has no atmosphere so is almost like a Vacuum, this means there is no air resistance on object thrown upwards.. A kite thrown up would glide with the air on earth but on the moon it would fall back down.. This photo wasn't taken from the moon but a NIKE commercial called the moon jump
8. Size There are officially 181 natural satellites orbitting planets and mini-planets in this solar system (A planet like jupiter and Saturn has up to 67 and 64 moons respectively) Greedy bastards Few of these Moons are massive enough to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium so if they orbited the sun directly and not planets they would have been dubbed planets or mini-planets. With Ganymede topping the list of the largest moon in the solar system, this moon of jupiter is larger than Mercury and Pluto. Our moon comes 5th in the list of largest satellites in the solar system but comes 2nd when the size of the moon is compared with the size of it's host planet with almost 1/4 of the earth's size. with a surface of 37.9 million square kilometers its actually slightly smaller than the continent Asia which is 44million square kilometers..
9. The Moon is drifting Away Yes thats a sad one but very very slowly we are loosing the moon as it drifts further away from us. The Apollo missions saw the installment of Reflectors on the moon's surface and from here we shoot laser beams to the reflectors to determine the distance between us and our moon and datas provided shows it is moving away from us though at a very minute rate of 3.8Cm per year. So billions of years ago in the early history of the earth the moon would have been so close to the earth that it appears so in the sky. with time the moon will continue drifting slowly further away from the earth until the gravitational attraction from the sun on it becomes greater than that of the earth on it and then earth will become a moonless planet just like mecury and venus are moonless. The presence of the moon in the earth's tidal system is slowing the planet down gradually by 2milisecond per century. So the earth's axial period is getting longer every century by 2milisecond, going backward into the earth's history there would be a time the planet is spinning so fast that a day would rarely last 18hours.
10. Visitation Many planetary bodies in the solar system has man made probes orbiting them and taking readings sending back to us a wealth of data for study. Mars and the Moon are the only of these bodies that has man made probing rovers inside on their surface while the moon holds the record for the only celestial body to have ever seen another human. Out of all the planets, moons, asteroids and dwarf-planets man has only being able to to make a trip to the moon which is just a three days ride with the amount of technology at our disposal. There have been 6 manned missions to the moon (The Apollo missions) and another manned mission due for 2023. This time it won't be for few hours but long days of study on the surface of the moon by astronauts. Its no doubt that the future may see a wild range of space exploration starting from our solar system, manned missions to Mars by 2030's the moon is the closest of this frontier and so hopefully will get more visit than any of the planetary bodies around. The Apollo missions showed us there is no limit to what man can achieve as man has left an enduring footprint on the surface of the moon as a mark of his tremendous achievement. Hopefully Mars gets to feel the mark of a live human on it's surface soon enough and in no distant future technologies that can take us beyond our solar system to explore planets in other star systems will be available. With all the knowledge we gain from our study of the heavens, it should humble us and give us a sense of belonging and give us the insight to look at our own earth as a jewel that deserves to be preserved because mankind must put an end to senseless exploitation and violence or we will end up killing the earth and killing the earth is our own end. Look to the stars and heavens but cherish the earth...
	God is indeed wonderful

Yvonne Nelson Shows Off Her Bra, As She Steps Out In Style - Photo

Yvonne Nelson Steps Out In Style See her Outfit

Ladies can you rock this outfit?

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Could a Lung Cancer Drug Work Better With Coke?

Patients with the leading form of lung cancer may be able to look to Coca-Cola Classic to solve a common medicinal challenge, new research suggests.
As the Dutch scientists explain it, the effectiveness of the powerful lung cancer drug Tarceva (erlotinib) depends on the pH level of the stomach. But many people on Tarceva must also take a proton pump inhibitor heartburn medication -- such as Nexium or Prilosec -- which raises stomach pH to more alkaline levels.

That higher pH can lower the absorption rate for Tarceva, cutting its effectiveness in fighting non-small-cell lung cancer, research suggests.
One prior study involving healthy volunteers found the use of Prilosec lowered blood concentrations of Tarceva by 61 percent.
What to do? In the new study, researchers led by Dr. Roelof van Leeuwen, of Erasmus MC Cancer Institute in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, wondered if the solution might be to reverse stomach pH "by taking Tarceva with the acidic beverage cola," namely Coca-Cola Classic.
The study focused on 28 people with non-small-cell lung cancer who were taking Nexium plus Tarceva. For two weeks, half of the patients took about 8 ounces of water with their meds for the first seven days, and then the same amount of Coca-Cola Classic for the next seven days. The following two weeks, the patients took the beverages in the reverse order.
The result? "Cola intake led to a clinically relevant and statistically significant increase" in the absorption of Tarceva for patients taking Nexium, van Leeuwen's team reported online Feb. 8 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The study authors believe that asking patients to drink less than a can of cola may be an "easy-to-implement" way to maximize the effectiveness of Tarceva when a heartburn medicine must also be taken by the patient.
One lung cancer expert agreed that some patients do need a way around the problem.
"Unfortunately, many patients requiring Tarceva also need proton pump inhibitors to decrease stomach acidity caused by gastritis" -- an irritation of the stomach lining -- or by the drugs they are taking, such as certain painkillers, said Dr. Alan Mensch of Northwell Health's Plainview Hospital, in Plainview, N.Y.
"The result is less stomach acid and less absorption of Tarceva, making the drug less effective in treating the cancer," he explained. The use of cola to counteract the effect is interesting, added Mensch, who is chief of pulmonary medicine at the hospital.

"Coca-Cola Classic was chosen because it increased stomach acid temporarily and was more acidic than other beverages, such as orange juice, 7-Up and Dr. Pepper," Mensch noted. The study authors said, however, that more research is needed to see if other types of acidic drinks can work as well as Coca-Cola Classic in this context.
And what did the patients think? "In the current study, 250 milliliters [8.4 ounces] of cola was well-tolerated," van Leeuwen's group wrote.
The researchers also believe that the strategy may work to boost the effectiveness of other, related cancer drugs that also depend on an acidic stomach pH for their "bioavailability."

Those drugs include dasatinib [Sprycel], gefitinib [Iressa] and nilotinib [Tasigna], the team said. However, they stressed that cola's use in boosting the effectiveness of those medicines "remains to be evaluated in future studies."

More information
Find out more about lung cancer treatment at the American Cancer Society.

Ways of Fostering Lovely Affection in Family

Tips for nurturing love and affection among family members.

 

 

Affection and love in the family is quite nature and must to have elements to promote the harmony and positive growth of the family. It is the deep affection that makes parents inclined to the sacrifices of growing up kids, perform household activities and meet the financial requirements. If the affection factor is absent no one would have lived dedicated for the family.

The affection obligates parents to take pain of looking after the kids and similarly, kids to love and obey the parents. Constantly nurturing the affection in the family is essential to keep the bond of love between the members of the family strong. It is the unmatched affection that creates the belongingness in the family life.

The affection expressed within the family is not benevolence but a commitment. Verbal expressions of affection, quality time spend with the family, gifts, mutual services, affectionate touch etc... are the most advised modes of nurturing the affection in the family between the family members.

Expression of Affection

Lavish expression of affection is the best way of fostering it. Verbal expression, physical expression etc., helps the affection to be conveyed to others and also to encourage other members of the family to follow the same. Verbal expression of affection means telling others how you feel about them and how much you love them. Anything said to make them feel loved, or validated can be called the verbal expression of affection.
Appreciating, concealing and complimenting helps others understand the depth of concern you feel for them. Apart from the verbal expression of love, there are certain physical expressions too, to foster the affection between the family members. Hugging them, kissing them etc., are common physical expressions of love and affection.

 

 

 

 

Spending Time Together

Spending quality time together is an obvious method of nurturing the affection among the members of the family. Such occasions are opportunity for every member to know each other, listen to each other and share with them and care for them.
Involving in any family activity with an objective of nurturing the relationship and developing the affection may be helpful to bind the people together in love. Eating together, outdoor games and walks, storytelling, gardening etc., are examples of family activity. Quality time means spending the time effectively so that it will help others feel more affectionate and attached.



 

Mutual Services

Helping each one in family unconditionally is a way of increasing the affection between the members of the family. Helping the kids in study or helping wife in kitchen can arouse a feeling of love. If you want your family to be remained most attached always, then do not miss any opportunity to help them. Even trivial services like helping a child to fasten the lace of the shoes may foster the attachment element.

Many people commit the mistake of helping the family members with certain conditions like 'if you do that to me, then I will help you with this'. This is the wrong way of dealing and behaving with the members of the family. Let the help be unconditional, if you really wish to gain the love and respect of them.


 

Affectionate Touch

Experts say that an affectionate touch nurtures love and attachment among the family members. Physical touch is always positive and it helps transferring the emotion and feelings between the family members. Physical touch, here, doesn't refer to a sexual overtone. When it comes to the aspect of touch between the spouses, sexual touch is essential, but between parents and kids or between siblings the physical touch means a hug, kiss, or just a patting.
Actions like hug, kiss, patting, shake hand etc., directly convey how you feel for them and care them. They are well appreciated ways of expressing affection, especially in the family. Kids get great encouragement and confidence from a proper physical touch of affection. It also conveys a nearness of the dear ones and availability of them in need.

 

 

I Love My Family:

Do You Love Your Family?

How Do You Express The Love In Your Family?

Show Love To Your Family This Season.

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Black Americans Less Likely to Receive HIV Medical Care

CDC: Black Americans With HIV Still Less Likely to Get Ongoing Medical Care

While HIV diagnoses dropped significantly over the past decade in the United States, blacks with HIV are less likely than whites or Hispanics to receive routine, ongoing care, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

From 2005 to 2014, annual HIV diagnoses fell 19 percent in the United States. Infections among black women dropped 42 percent during this period. Despite this progress in the fight against HIV, racial disparities persist, the CDC found. While black people make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for nearly half of all HIV diagnoses in 2014.

"CDC has been working for many years to eliminate the HIV disparities that exist within the black community," Dr. Eugene McCray, director of the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, said in an agency news release. "While we are seeing signs of success, we must continue our focus on prevention strategies that will have the greatest impact on African American communities and the nation overall. A key area of focus is ensuring that people living with HIV are diagnosed early, quickly linked to care and receive consistent care that improves their lives and protects the health of their partners."

In addition to helping people with the virus improve their health, ongoing care can prevent new HIV infections. The CDC pointed out that HIV is most often spread by infected people who are not being treated and those who are unaware that they have the virus.

Dr. Jonathan Mermin is director of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. "Consistent care matters. It enables people with HIV to live longer, healthier lives, and it prevents new infections," he said in the news release. "And closing this gap in care will be essential if we are to see the narrowing racial divide in HIV diagnoses close completely."
From 2011 to 2013, only 38 percent of black HIV patients received consistent treatment. During this period, however, about 50 percent of whites and Hispanics with the virus had continuous care, according to the CDC's Feb. 4 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Black women with HIV fared better than black men, the CDC noted. While 44 percent of black women benefitted from routine care, just 35 percent of black men did the same. Most of the black HIV patients who received ongoing care were infected during heterosexual contact.
Health officials in the United States are striving for a more coordinated response to the HIV epidemic, the CDC said. These efforts include using HIV prevention strategies that target blacks and others at greatest risk to ensure those who are diagnosed receive continuous medical care. State health departments will also receive funding to expand HIV prevention services and treatment to black people, particularly gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

More information
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease provides more information on HIV/AIDS.