Breast cancer is a disease that not only strikes fear in women but in men also.
Each year thousands of women are diagnosed with this disease. While there is
a lot of information available on this type of cancer, many women do not know
the basic facts about it. Performing monthly examinations to detect the early
signs and taking action without delay can be the most critical thing you can
do.

While this sound easy, and it is, you must know what to look for. Here are
several symptoms, not in any particular order, to be aware of.

1. A depression in any area of the breast surface that you did not notice before.
2. Veins that become more prominent on one or both breasts just under the
   skin surface.
3. A lump that is usually small, firm and painless.
4. Nipples that have a change in skin texture, develop a rash, have a discharge
   (other than breast milk) or that becomes inverted.
5. A piece of skin on the breast or underarm that swells or that has an unusual
   appearance.

Women who perform the monthly self breast examination already know that their
breasts have a lumpy texture. However, if you do regular self examinations you
will be able to tell the difference between the normal texture and the development
of a lump. If you are not certain, you should see a medical professional immediately.
It is better to be safe.

Did you know: Breast cancer is not limited to only women. Men, while at a much
lower rate, can also get this form of cancer.

The good news is that overall only a small percentage of lumps found are malignant.
Early discovery allows for a greater chance to take action and beat this awful
disease. Each day, more and more women are taking action and surviving to live
normal, healthy and long lives.

I challenge you to begin a buddy program where you can remind each other and
hold each other accountable to perform your monthly self examination. A few
minutes a month could make all the difference.

One of the leading causes of death n the world is heart disease. Congestive
heart failure patients have about a five-year life span after the onset of heart
failure although researchers are working on finding a cure and better treatments.
They are focusing on disease treatment as well as repair of cells in the heart
that have been damaged.

New medications are also being tested such as the calcium inhibitors and vasodilators
that wouldn’t cause cardiac arrhythmia incidents like some on the current market.

Natural remedies such as meditation and relaxation are used to reduce stress
on the heart. It has been shown that stress impacts the body negatively by increasing
the blood pressure that forces the heart to work harder. Theoretically, maintaining
low stress levels or treating stress will reduce the amount of pressure placed
on the heart, thereby making the hear muscle less likely to weaken.

Holistic medicine and practices have advanced clinical technology to levels
unheard of thirty years ago. Scientists keep identifying genes that are present
in individuals who have congestive heart failure. It is hoped that one day,
these genes can be altered to reverse heart disease. New medicines continue
to hit the market and current medicines continue to be improved.

Stem cell use is also being explored in assisting the body by generating new
cells from the patient’s stem cells to repair heart tissue damaged by heart
disease and stress. Although much of this science is still in the learning stages,
it holds a lot of promise in the future for heart disease and many other conditions
and diseases. The prospect of using embryonic stem cells is controversial yet
adult stem cells cannot produce enough new cells to adequately benefit the anticipated
needs of the heart failure patients. The ultimate goal of scientists is to find
a cure.

More information about developing
a healthy heart

I’ve been interested in cryptic crossword puzzles since the age of 13, when
I accidentally got a clue right in the London Times cryptic crossword (”Greet
Asians in mountainous area (10) “). The answer was ‘Himalayas’-and I thought
they were supposed to be really difficult! Either I was really clever, or they
weren’t that hard after all. I chose the last option, and have been a cryptic
crossword fiend ever since…

Solving crosswords is all worthwhile when you come across great clues (as well
as making you look good on the train). The more artful and topical the clues,
the better, and I expect to see crosswords with the answers ’sub-prime’ and
‘northern rock’ in very soon.

As an occasional complier of crosswords, I also have huge respect for the setter
who builds puzzles where long chains of related words have been linked together
and almost miraculously worked into the grid. So I have absolutely no hesitation
in saying that my all-time favourite answer to a cryptic clue has been:

‘There are holes in the sky where the rain gets in; but they’re ever
so small-that’s why rain is thin’.

… I have no memory of what the clue was, but who cares? Fitting that answer
into a 15 x 15 square grid was a work of genius!

When it comes to clues, some of the ones I’ve loved the most have been because
of the timing - one that really sticks in my memory was published in 1992, a
week or two after a scandal involving the UK’s then Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The clue? “Not a moral man, unfit for public office (6,6)”. The answer? Norman
Lamont. What a great way to be told at that time that the Chancellor Norman
Lamont was an anagram of ‘not a moral man’!

If you have ever viewed some of the more popular websites, such as Myspace,
Facebook or YouTube, then you have experienced a new form of senior dating services.
However, they are not earmarked as a senior dating service.

In fact, the conceptualization of the websites was to bring more people together
to share information, writing and videos. It was a site intended for people
to upload pictures and write about a variety of topics. How then, did an essentially
public forum turn into a site used primarily for dating?

Dedicated senior dating services like eHarmony and DatingForSeniors use different
types of screening services and questionnaires before a person searches or places
personal ads. This, for some websites, is a precaution to ensure that married
individuals looking for an affair are not listed as single. Adult dating personals,
on websites such as Adult Friend Finder, do not worry about this step as they
feel it is up to each individual to make the decision on the status of the person
they are seeking.

Other dating websites use personality tests in order to narrow down the list
of available individuals looking for a date. The number of people using Myspace
can seem overwhelming if you are trying to search for a person with similar
interests, who is also single. You might want to consider this factor before
electing for the free service versus having to pay for a membership.

Dating services such as Yahoo personals and eHarmony.com allows a member to
search through other member`s personal ads. This is the whole thought behind
having a dating service that utilizes ads.

Dating services are a great way to find dates. That is the whole purpose behind
using the Internet. If you use any of the social networks, use them with caution
the same way you would a personal ad. There are no guarantees that the person
is who they say they are. But there are potential matches out there for you.
Be honest in what you are looking for and love will come to you in time.

For the bereaved, dealing with pet loss is like dealing with any other grief.
But other people are not likely to see it that way. It can be hard for others
(especially non pet owners) to see that the loss of a pet can be as upsetting
for us as the loss of a parent or friend. As we get older our emotional reliance
on our pets becomes stronger, especially if we are alone in life.

Children are grown up and usually far away. If we have lost close friends or
our husband or wife, the loss of a pet can plunge us into a very intense grief
that nobody else is likely to understand or share. Our dog or cat may have seen
us through the hardest of times, always been there for us through other griefs
and disappointments, never wavering in their devotion. Often we have had to
make the decision to have the veterinarian end their lives. This can leave us
with a lot of guilt on top of everything else.

The first thing to accept is that however you feel, it’s okay. Even if you’re
more upset about the loss of your pet than you were when your spouse died, it’s
okay. Give yourself permission to feel the way you feel. Some people are going
to have a hard time realizing how badly you feel. But if you say “You know,
this feels even worse than when Joe died … I guess it brings it all back”,
then you’ll probably find most people will be a little more sympathetic.

I don’t want to scare you here, but do take your grief seriously. It can be
very damaging if you do not acknowledge it. Plus if your pet was an active dog
that you walked often, your fitness may soon be headed downhill. If you have
a dog-owning neighbor who is sick or just busy, it could be a good idea to offer
to walk their dog sometimes. And for the emotional side, if you’re in grief
or depressed then seek help for that.

Some people are going to tell you to get another pet. I think that’s a really
bad idea to do that right away. I don’t think that taking on another pet right
away helps in dealing with pet loss - do you?