Category Archives: Health

When to Change Your Pillows and Mattress: Keep Your Bedroom from Becoming a Breeding Ground for Germs

With many products, it’s quite obvious when to replace them as you can see how much they’ve lost their functionality or have clear signs of wear and tear. But how would you know if it’s time to replace your pillows and mattresses? The signs of wear and tear of pillows and mattresses are often unclear. That’s because a mattress is always hidden beneath the bed cover which is why most of us aren’t aware of its deteriorating condition.

Even several years after having purchased a mattress, most of us think that our mattress is still ‘new’. But actually, it isn’t. Old mattresses provide accommodation for dust mites, allergens, germs, and bedbugs. This can happen to your mattress even if you wash the bed covers regularly. That’s why it’s crucial to know when exactly you should change your mattress as well as pillows.

When to Change Your Pillows

Getting attached to your pillow makes sense, but living with the same pillows can be harmful to your health even if you change your pillowcases regularly. Though sleep experts recommend getting a new pillow every few years, it entirely depends on how your pillow is treating you.

If you’re unsure whether your pillows are still giving you a good night’s sleep, then you should ask yourself the following questions:

Is the batting or foam bumpy or lumpy?
If you’re using a feather pillow, does it need to be fluffed up or pinched for support?
Does your pillow stay static and unfolded when you fold it in half and then let go?
Do your ankles, knees, or neck and back feel sore after waking up?

If your answer to any of these questions is “yes,” it’s time to get a new pillow!

When to Change Your Mattress

You spend approximately eight hours a day sleeping on a mattress. And if you have a comfortable mattress, it can sometimes be the only reason behind your energetic mood and alertness. However, to maintain your energy levels, it’s equally important to replace your mattress as soon as it loses its functionality. Below are the signs that help you identify if your mattress is old and needs a replacement:

If you feel lethargic throughout the day but sleep better in a hotel room, your mattress is interfering with your sleep and health.
If you’ve put on some weight but your mattress doesn’t treat those extra pounds well and you end up waking up dreary with stiff muscles, you need a new mattress.
If you’re able to see a curve in the middle of your mattress while actually feeling the springs through your bed, it’s time to look for a new mattress. Find out more about this at Mattress-Guides.net/best-mattress-review/.
If your mattress is pinging, creaking, or groaning all night, it’s a sign of wear and tear.
If you can see dust mites and bed bugs in your mattress, a fresh, clean mattress deserves your attention.
If your mattress is older than eight years, it has exceeded its expiry date.

Tips to Make Sure Your Bedroom Is Free From Germs

Nobody wants their bedroom to become a breeding ground for germs. So why should you? Keeping your bedroom free from germs doesn’t only let you maintain cleanliness, it also helps you maintain the usability of your mattress. Below are some useful tips to help you get a germs-free bedroom:

To allow cross-ventilation, keep the windows open whenever possible.
Change your mattress every 8 years so that your body can benefit from consistent comfort and support without interacting with harmful microbes.
Of course, it’s impractical to wash a mattress. But you can use a mattress protector to ensure that your mattress isn’t absorbing harmful bacteria.
Wash pillow cases, covers, and sheets with hot water as high temperatures kill dust mites and germs. Besides this, you can use any laundry additive to kill viruses and bacteria.
Inspect if there are any broken slats or loose fittings that create a hurdle in how your mattress fits your bed. Check this every six months.

The Bottom Line

Besides the original quality, there are several factors that determine when you should actually replace your pillows and mattresses. Since your body changes over time, the need for enhanced support increases as well. That’s why it’s wise to examine the level of comfort provided by your pillows and mattress so that you can analyze if you need a replacement of one or both.

If you’ve taken proper care of your pillows and mattress, it’s possible to increase the longevity of these bedroom items while making sure to never let your bedroom become a breeding ground for germs.

Demi Faulkner is a Mom who works part-time as a cleaner. She’s a bit of a neat-freak and enjoys clearing up other people’s clutter, especially as she’s paid for it! She writes in her spare time, coming up with lifestyle article topics.

Child Safety/Recalls, Health

Introduce Your Baby to Peanuts Early with Aralyte

Anne Younger Leave a comment

As a parent, we tend to overthink and worry about everything when it comes to caring for our children. I’ll admit, there are things that were a breeze for me with my first child that weren’t with my fifth, and they all caused me stress over different things.

One thing I always worry about, with all of my children, is there health. Thankfully, we have been lucky in that none of our children have any serious medical conditions nor do they suffer from any allergies.

Over the years, I have noticed that they kids seem to have more and more friends with peanut allergies and I often think, how great would it be if their was a way to decrease the chances of developing a peanut allergy?

15,000 children across the country are rushed to the emergency room each year due to peanut allergies. With nearly 6 million cases of food allergy among children under the age of 18, peanut is the leading cause of anaphylaxis and food allergy-related death.

While recent groundbreaking research has shown that early exposure to peanuts can reduce an infant’s risk of peanut allergy development by as much as 98%, parents are often afraid to try early introduction due to concerns about safety and convenience.

Introducing Aralyte

Aralyte is a safe, structured and data-driven approach to early introduction. As the only doctor-recommended liquid formulation for early peanut introduction on the market, Aralyte is safe for allergic homes and can be administered orally whenever it’s most convenient for families.

Already, leading pediatric physicians and allergists over 200 clinics have chosen to begin using Aralyte as part of their daily practice.

As I mentioned, we have been fortunate to not have a child that has a peanut allergy however I have a friend who is highly allergic that plans on using Aralyte to hopefully prevent their child from developing one too.

Aralyte closely follows the protocol used in the LEAP Study, which showed that early oral introduction of peanuts could prevent allergy development in high-risk infants.

Save 15%

You can save 15% off your purchase of Aralyte when you use the coupon code below. The coupon code is valued at 15% off the cost of the first 3 months, or two weeks, of the Aralyte regimen.

Coupon Code: Aralyte x Megalomaniac

Health

HIV in Women: Spotting the Stealthy Symptoms That Tell You Trouble is Brewing

Anne Younger Leave a comment

Two-thirds of all new HIV cases in women in the U.S. are due to unprotected sex with an infected partner. Another leading cause is sharing needles that are infected for drug use. The worrying thing is, HIV symptoms can often be dismissed as they are mild, and an infected person can be passing the virus on to others, unaware of what they have contracted.

Anyone who thinks they might have been exposed to any STD, including HIV, should visit one of their local STD clinics to get tested. And there are also a number of symptoms to watch out for:

Symptoms in the Early Stages

After being infected with HIV, a lot of women during the early weeks may be asymptomatic. Others may suffer from flu-like symptoms that are mild, such as lack of energy, headache and fever, but these will often go away after a few weeks and can be dismissed as another type of virus.

Sometimes, it can take ten years for the most severe symptoms to start appearing, and during this time the virus can be transmitted to more people.

Skin Sores and Skin Rashes

Skin problems develop in 90 percent of people who are HIV-positive, with rashes being the most common one. Increased sensitivity to sunlight and irritants can occur when someone is suffering from HIV with rashes appearing as flat red patches with small bumps or flaky skin. Lesions or sores may form on the skin of the anus, genitals or mouth and can be difficult to treat. HIV-positive people are also more at risk of shingles and herpes but with the proper medication, the severity of these skin conditions can be lowered.

Swollen Glands

Lymph nodes can be found all over our bodies, including our groin, armpits, back of the head and neck. These lymph nodes are responsible for helping to fight infections as they filter harmful substances and store immune cells. When the HIV infection spreads, the immune system starts to work overtime and because of this, the lymph nodes become enlarged, creating swollen glands. This is often one of the first signs that someone is suffering from HIV and these swollen glands can last for many months.

Infections

Because the immune system is affected by HIV, it makes it harder for it to fight off viruses, germs and so on, which means opportunistic infections can take hold. These include hepatitis C, tuberculosis and pneumonia. Infections of the brain, digestive tract, kidneys, lungs, eyes and skin are also more likely in an HIV-positive person and treating common ailments also becomes more difficult.

Taking HIV medications and carrying out extra precautions, such as hand washing, can help to prevent some of the illnesses described from taking hold and leading to further complications.

Night Sweats and Fever

A low-grade fever may be experienced for long periods of time by people who are infected with HIV. Temperatures between 99.8˚F (37.6˚C) and 100.8˚F (38.2˚C) are what’s classed as a low-grade fever. Fevers are developed in our bodies when something’s wrong but what’s causing this isn’t always clear, and because this is a low-grade fever, those who aren’t aware that they’ve contracted HIV may just ignore this symptom. The fever can also be accompanied by night sweats which can interfere with sleep.

Reproductive Health

Reproductive health can be affected in women who have HIV, including the absence of periods or menstrual cycle changes. Yeast or bacterial infections may also be common and the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections increases. These include gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, chlamydia and human papillomavirus (HPV).

Women who are HIV-positive are also more prone to inflammatory diseases of the pelvis that can resist treatments.

HIV and AIDS – The Advanced Symptoms

Weight loss, vomiting, nausea and diarrhea in bouts are all common symptoms as HIV progresses. Other symptoms include muscle aches, joint pain, severe headache as well as difficulty swallowing, chronic cough and shortness of breath.

Further down the line, HIV can cause comas, mental confusion and short-term memory loss whilst the most advanced stage is called acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). When HIV reaches this stage, the immune system struggles to fight off infections. Furthermore, aggressive cancers that are difficult to treat are something female AIDS suffers are more at risk of.

The risk of HIV can be reduced by using condoms during sex and not sharing needles. HIV is transmitted through bodily fluids so unless you’re certain your partner is HIV-negative, you should always use protection.

Joshua Morton is at medical school and is keen to enter a career in community sexual and reproductive health in the near future. He writes articles on these topics, and hopes that his writings will reach a wide online audience and help answer questions, raise awareness and alleviate any concerns.

Health

Join Us and Take the #YogaPantChallenge with Depend® Active Fit

Anne Younger Leave a comment

After having 5 kids, I find it to be a great accomplishment if I sneeze, cough, or jump without wetting my pants. I also feel pretty darn good about myself if I can make it to the bathroom in the morning without leaving a puddle on the floor.

What am I talking about?

Well, you see….after having 5 kids, my bladder and all of my other muscles down there, they are a little weak. You would think after all the work of carrying babies and pushing them out my muscles would be toned and stronger than ever.

Oh how I wish.

Unfortunately, I’m 37 and I suffer from bladder leakage….and it’s a little embarrassing.

The great thing is knowing that there are discreet products available to help in these cases, products like Depend Silhouette Active Fit.

Depend Silhouette Active Fit offer a new, thin design of lower-rise briefs for complete comfort and they come in black and beige.

What makes the Depend Silhouette Active Fit so great is that no one can even tell that you are wearing them! Here are two pictures, in one, there is a Depend underneath those yoga pants. Can you tell which one it is?

Be sure to leave a comment below and let me know which picture you think features a Depend, the left or the right!

Worried you might be embarrased the next time you do downward dog? Don’t worry, Depend has your back(side) and no one will know!

The thin design of the Depend Silhouette Active Fit has a cotton like fabric that offers complete comfort and they are smooth under clothes, not big and bulky like most people would expect.

It makes me happy to know that there is a product like Depend Silhouette Active Fit available should I need it during those really active moments.

For more information about Depend, be sure to visit Walmart.com.

Win

Enter for your chance to win Depend products below!

Walmart Activewear Gift Sets

Health

Controlling Your Cholesterol Levels

Anne Younger Leave a comment

People have a habit of saying that past time was much better. It is in our nature to remember all the positive things that have happened to us in the past while disregarding all the issues that were burdening us during that period.

However you put it, nowadays, we live in a modern, scientific society where every product or service is at the tip of our fingers. We are able to attain high comfort even though we may have standard economic possibilities. Unfortunately, all of that comes at a price. This high living standard comes together with high physical expectations. We are working all day long, susceptible to stress and having little time for ourselves and our families. At the same time, we don’t have any time to train or take care of our bodies. This can lead to various conditions such as increased cholesterol and ultimately heart attack.

Cholesterol is type of fat which is produced in the liver, but it is also introduced into our system through food. It is important for the synthesis of hormones belonging to corticosteroid group among which are sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone). Besides that, it is necessary for the production of bile salt without which we can’t digest fat properly. It is also necessary for the formation of the cellular membrane. Given all of this, we can easily say that the cholesterol is one of the most important elements of our organism. We find it in our blood and 5.2 mmol\l is the maximum concentration of cholesterol in it.

Increased level of cholesterol is very dangerous for your health and together with diabetes, increased blood pressure and smoking; it is one of the main causes of various heart issues. When we say the concentration of cholesterol in the blood, we usually refer to LDL or low-density cholesterol. This is bad cholesterol, the one that causes all of the fore mentioned problems. Its concentration should be lesser than 3.4 mmol\l. At the same time, HDL is high-density cholesterol and it protects our arteries from LDL and blood clogs. Its concentration should be 1.6 mmol\l or above.

People that have a family history of various heart conditions, strokes, or those that are smokers, should start regularly controlling their cholesterol from the age 20. Even if your cholesterol level is in order, you should continue checking yourself on every three years. Females usually have a smaller risk of heart attack due to the influence of hormones, estrogen in the first place. Unfortunately, this is only true until menopause. After menopause, given that the level of estrogen is lower, they have same chances of heart issues as a man.

Today, you can easily control the level of cholesterol in your body. Have in mind that, in order to reduce the level of cholesterol, you will need to perform various changes in your life style. As you can presume, you should start with diet and avoiding fat and sugar food. Afterward, you will need to start exercising so you can reduce the level of LDL in your blood. Finally, you can use medicine for cholesterol which can be found in any online pharmacy such as YouDrugstore.com.