Universal Health Solutions

Prevent Heart Disease With Everyday Foods

Posted on August 26, 2011

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and has a direct link to diet and exercise. If you are looking for ways to keep your heart and arteries healthy and clear of plaques, here are 5 foods that help promote vascular and overall health and taste great too.

1. Wonderful Fish Oils. Omega-3-fatty acids are found in salmon and other cold water fish, it has natural anti-inflammatory properties. It helps makes the platelets less sticky so they are less likely to clot and from plaques in our arteries. There are many ways to add healthy fish to your diet and even if you don't like fish you can add other sources of omega 3 fatty acids into your diet. You can add ground flax seeds to a fruit smoothie or even sprinkle it in your cereal.

2. Bad breath with a benefit. Garlic is a wonderful seasoning for food, not to mention that it has antimicrobial properties and it also prevents plaque formation and it stimulates the production of nitrous oxide, a chemical made in the body that helps relax blood vessel lining.

3. What's in your salad? Dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard are full of many antioxidants, minerals and vitamins that provide our bodies with the nutrients that it needs to function. They contain vitamin K which is a powerful blood thinner that prevents platelet clumping.

4. A simple cup of green tea.
The chill is in the air, fall is here and tea is a wonderful and healthy way to beat the cold and get your daily dose of antioxidants. Antioxidants in green tea prevent clotting and keep blood vessels healthy. Read more...

AIDS/HIV Information

Posted on July 3, 2011

AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome it causes a destruction of the immune system. It is the most advanced stage of the HIV virus (HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus). AIDS is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the presence of a positive HIV antibody test and one or more of the illnesses known as opportunistic infections.

The HIV virus, type 1 or 2 is widely known to be the cause of AIDS. HIV breaks down and attacks your T cells so your body is unable to defend itself against different infections. The HIV virus also attacks your peripheral nervous system, this causes nerve and muscle pain, especially in the feet, legs, and hands.

HIV is spread through direct contact with semen or blood of an individual that is infected. This can be transferred in many ways the most common is unprotected sexual intercourse. Other means of infection are infected blood transfusions, mother to infant (at time of birth, or through breast milk), sharing needles with an infected person, and rarely a healthcare worker that gets pricked with an infected needle.

Often people who are infected with HIV have few symptoms and in some cases there are none. Other times, symptoms of HIV are confused with other illnesses such as the flu. This may be severe, with swollen glands in the neck and armpits, tiredness, fever and night sweats. This is where as much as 9 out of 10 of the infected individuals will develop AIDS. At this point the person may feel completely healthy and not even know that he/she has the virus. The next stage begins when the immune system starts to break down and the virus becomes more aggressive in damaging white cells. Several glands in the neck and armpits may swell and stay swollen for an extended period of time without any explanation. As this disease progresses boils or warts may spread over the body. They may also feel tremendously tired, night sweats, high fevers, chronic diarrhea, and they may lose a considerable amount of their body weight. Most cases have shown thrush as a symptom as well. At this point the person is in the final stages of HIV--AIDS. Severe chest infections with high fever are common and survival rate is above 70% but decrease with each recurrence. Read more...