Archive for September, 2009
September 23rd, 2009 -- Posted in Pregnancy |

When you feel the first symptoms of pregnancy, you naturally head to the drug store to find a good pregnancy test. Have you ever wondered how they work?
Over-the-counter pregnancy tests look for the presence of the “pregnancy hormone” in your urine. The test you receive later in your doctor’s office looks for the same hormone in your blood. The hormone is called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG for short. This hormone begins to build up just a few days after the fertilized egg is implanted in your uterine wall. The hCG will cause your placenta to produce progesterone after the implantation of the embryo, which is necessary to prevent the embryo’s rejection.
Because it takes time for the hormone to build up to detectable levels, most over-the-counter pregnancy tests work best when taken a few days or a week after your missed period. Some brands claim to be accurate sooner, but all women ovulate at different times of their cycles, so this may or may not be true for you.
The most accurate test is done in your doctor’s office. A blood test can detect much lower levels of the pregnancy hormone than urine tests. If you get a negative reading from your drug store pregnancy test, but you still “feel” pregnant, you’ll want to make an appointment with your doctor. Planned Parenthood offices also offer pregnancy tests and exams.
About 25 days after an egg is fertilized the fetus can be seen by transvaginal sonography.
What causes false negative test results?
A false positive result may occur if you take your test too early. The pregnancy hormone hCG does not begin to build up in your system until after the fertilized egg has attached to the uterine wall. This usually occurs within 14 days of fertilization, so a blood test is almost always accurate if it’s done after your next period was supposed to start. Some over-the-counter tests need higher levels of the hormone to be accurate, and so they say you’re not pregnant, even though you are. You can take another test a few days later to be sure.
Can you get a false positive result?
Yes, your test may say you’re pregnant even though you’re not. The most common cause is waiting too long to read the results of the test – the urine will evaporate from the test strip, and the color will change to show a positive result. If you get a positive result but you waited longer than suggested by the test’s instructions, you’ll want to take the test over.
If you’re taking fertility hormones, a home pregnancy test may show a false positive result. Ask your doctor if your injections include the hormone hCG. If so, the hormone will show up on the test, and the reading will be inaccurate.
In very rare instances, a false positive reading is caused by certain unusual forms of cancer.
What about the rabbit?
In your grandmother’s day, there were no over-the-counter pregnancy tests. The doctor would take a urine sample, and inject the urine into a female rabbit. If the rabbit was injected with humane urine that contained the pregnancy hormone, the rabbit’s ovaries would change. It usually took several days for the changes to take place, and the rabbit had to die before the lab technicians could look at her ovaries.
Fortunately, rabbits are no longer necessary for pregnancy tests.
September 16th, 2009 -- Posted in Dieting |

Everybody you know is on the latest weight loss bandwagon: The Low Carb Diet. They’ve seen the astounding results on the scale and have lost 10+ pounds in a short period of time. So you want to join in on this also?
Before You Start Take Time to Look at How the Body Works with Carbs:
It is true that the weight that is lost starting out on the low carb diet is a lot in a short period of time, but most of the weight that is lost is water and carbs that are stored in your body. Carbohydrates are stored in the muscles. Each gram of a carbohydrate that is stored in the muscle is also stored with 3 grams of water. When you cut out carbohydrates your body uses the stored carbohydrates in your muscles for fuel. As these carbs are used up the water that is stored with them is taken out also, so the result is weight loss at the beginning of a low carb diet and some inches lost due to the depletion of carbohydrate stores in your body. As the carbs and water leave the muscles the muscles become depleted and loses volume.
Once carbs are added back into the diet the muscle take up these carbs along with water, so if the carbs are reintroduced into the diet in a couple days time the initial weight that was lost will be regained.
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Your brain requires carbs for energy also. The brain uses 400 calories a day just for the standard thought process of staying alive. So this is 100 grams of carbs a day that is required for one body function. Any movement that you do for longer than 3 minutes requires carbs to be used for energy.
When carbs become scarce your body goes into a state of ketosis, that is the process of the body breaking down fat into ketones for the brain to use as energy because not enough glucose is available for the brain. The results of this can be loss in energy, fatigue, irritability and a slower thought process. Thus affecting your ability at work or school.
Eating Carbs But Not Gaining Weight:
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You can eat carbs and not gain weight. It is in the choice of carbohydrates that you consume that will make the difference. Including more vegetables and whole grains in your diet and eating less simple carbohydrates like sugars that are in soda, candy, processed and refined foods will help you in losing weight. Paying attention to portion sizes will also help. Pasta is an easy trap for eating to much carbohydrates. If you like pasta add vegetable to you dishes, since vegetables are good carbs and have fiber in them they will help fill you up faster. Eat a salad with every meal, but pay attention to what you put on your salad, stick to low fat versions of dressings, like Italian and Vinaigrettes. Creamy dressing when they are low fat can be loaded with sugars to take place of the fat, so it is important to pay attention to the nutritional values of dressings.
Another way of using carbs in your body is weight training. Weight Training requires your body to use carbs for the exercise and to repair muscles after your workout. Finding a requirement in the body for the carbs that you eat is a great way to use the carbs that are consumed. By finding the requirement for use of carbs you do not need to worry so much on how many carbs that you consume but just the types of carbs. Always remember that no matter what sugars in abundance are not good for your body or your weight loss goals.
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September 12th, 2009 -- Posted in Surgery |

Appealing options are now available for low cost dental surgery in India. Dental treatment at Delhi, Mumbai and Goa is being provided by modern dental surgery clinics having modern surgical facilities. Medical tourism is touching the big heights nowadays and is helping abroad patients to get free from dental disorders through dental procedures like dental implants, dentures, dental root canal treatment and dental veneers etc. The patients getting the surgery done from India after completion, enjoy incredible India. The dental surgery in India is available at fraction of cost as compared to abroad.
Dental surgery is a need as well as a routine checkup procedure this is evident as most of the people visit a dental surgeon in every 4-6 months for a formal dental checkup to detect dental infections in advance. Teeth are the most sensitive part of the mouth they are the grinding tools that chew the food material to make them digestable so that the nutrients of the food can be easily absorbed by your body. Teeth are also the beauty devices that help you to display a beautiful smile. But tooth deformities and dental caries often spoil the smile of your face. Dental surgery provides extensive tooth recovery procedures for setting the teeth in a right shape and form. Some dental procedures are used to recover missing teeth and others are used to get a good shine and color preface. dental veneers, dental implants and dental crowns are used to recover missing teeth, dental root canal therapy and dental bridges are used set the teeth in the right shape. On the other hand dental whitening and dental polish are used to make the teeth beautiful with a good shine.
Dental surgery in India at Delhi and Mumbai saves you a lot of money and restores your beautiful smile. Medical treatment in India is making the dreams of many people come true by its efforts of providing less cost health recovery. The medical tourism is now opening a new horizons of medical facilities. The medical facilities available here are of world class. The hospitals here are well equipped with latest techniques which increases the success rate of the medical treatment. India is famous for its myopic views and also the is famous for its culture and heritage. Its very exciting for abroad natives to see the culture of through holiday packages at Indian resorts.
Know more about low cost dental surgery in India at:
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September 12th, 2009 -- Posted in Pregnancy |

Trying to find out if you are pregnant can be a nerve wracking experience, filled with anticipation and the unknown, doubly so if you’re not even sure you can trust the results of a your home pregnancy kit.
Knowing when and how to use home tests can help you get the best chance of an accurate reading, but of course to be 100% sure you should always speak to a medical professional.
When should I use a home testing kit?
Some pregnancy kits claim to be able to accurately determine if you are pregnant from as early as a single day after a missed period but in truth they are only really accurate several days to a week after a missed period. At the start of a pregnancy many women develop pregnancy hormones at different times, and a negative result shortly after you have missed a period does not necessarily mean that you are not pregnant.
Are there any differences between home kits?
Most home pregnancy testing kits are very similar, some are more sensitive than others but generally they all work on the same principle. You either immerse the tip of the tester in your urine stream, or container of collected urine for a certain amount of time, and then there will be some kind of visible change, either a plus/minus sign, change of color or reveal the words positive/negative etc.
Some kits are easier to use than others, if you are not sure you can always try another brand, many women like to do at least 2 tests from two different kits to be on the safe side. Make sure you follow the instructions that came with your kit carefully.
How do home testing kits detect if I am pregnant?
When a fertilized egg attaches to the lining of your uterus your body will begin to produce a specific hormone called “human chorionic gonadotropin” (HCG), the levels of this hormone increase very quickly during the first two weeks of pregnancy and home testing kits work by detecting HCG in your urine.
Home testing kits can reliably detect this after several days to a week depending on their sensitivity. More accurate blood tests can be performed by your doctor which can detect HCG earlier than one week.
How accurate are the results of home kits?
Most home testing kits claim 99% accuracy or better on the first day of a missed period, research and testing suggests that a lot of kits cannot always detect pregnancy this early, but when used one week after a missed period they are very accurate as long as you follow the instructions properly. If you do need to know sooner then you should arrange an appointment with your doctor.
Are false readings common?
False positives are very rare, they can occur if you have traces of protein or blood in your urine. Some prescription drugs can cause false positives so check with your doctor to be sure if you are taking medicines. Using out of date or damaged kits can also give unreliable results.
It is more common to get a false negative, especially if you take the the test very soon after a missed period, or do not follow the instructions and timings properly. False negatives can also occur if you have very diluted urine, the best time to take a test is first thing in the morning.
What to do if my home testing kit says I am pregnant?
If your home pregnancy test shows a positive result then you should book an appointment with your doctor to confirm the results. The sooner it is confirmed the sooner you can begin preparing and start prenatal care.
September 10th, 2009 -- Posted in Pregnancy |

An early pregnancy test can be conducted in two ways: at home through a home testing kit or at the doctor’s. When you go to the doctor, you may request for a blood or urine test. Both these tests are identical in that they look for traces of the pregnancy hormone. This hormone is unique because it is produced in the body only when the woman becomes pregnant.
Blood tests performed at the healthcare center are of two types. The qualitative hCG test is very much like a urine test, and it can simply give you a confirmation of pregnancy. For greater accuracy, it is important to go for a quantitative blood test which measures the exact amount of hormone in the blood. This test, due to its very nature, can pick up even very small traces of the hormone and is therefore very accurate. Blood tests are performed by taking a tube of blood from the vein, which is sent to the laboratory for examination. The analysis may take anywhere from a few hours to a day max.
Blood tests are generally more accurate than urine tests, and they are also quicker in offering you confirmation of pregnancy because traces of hCG appear about a week earlier in the blood than in the urine. While blood tests can determine pregnancy about a week after ovulation, urine tests take 14-16 days to come out with an accurate result. However, these days there are more sensitive urine tests that can give you a confirmation as early as a week after ovulation.
Now-a-days, many women opt for home pregnancy tests, which also test for the presence of this hormone. In this case, a strip is held to a stream of urine for a prescribed amount of time, after which the strip may develop certain color differences or markings in case the test is positive. It is generally recommended that the first urine of the day be used for the test because this is more concentrated.
Home pregnancy test kits are available in pharmacies and you do not require a doctor’s prescription to buy one. On the positive side, these tests are convenient and they ensure that your privacy is protected. On the negative side, early results may be misleading and you need to wait longer or go for an alternative blood test to be completely sure of the results. Sometimes a false negative test may say that you are not pregnant even though you have conceived. Wrong test results from home pregnancy test kits may have various reasons, including human error. In fact, they leave large room for errors caused by human carelessness. If the strip is not dipped properly or if you have not followed instructions properly, you run the risk of getting a false test result.
So it is advisable to take any negative results from a home pregnancy test with a pinch of salt. To be doubly sure, take the test again after a few days when the amount of hormone in your blood has increased, or better still, opt for a blood test.
September 6th, 2009 -- Posted in Dieting |

There are many diets on the market today that call themselves low-carb diets, but which ones are healthy. That is what is important. You may lose weight on all of them, but some of these low-carb diets are also high in fat and that is not necessarily good either. The best kind of low-carb diet is one that is balanced. You are not looking to eliminate all carbs, but you want to stick mostly with the whole and unprocessed carbohydrates.
You should have about 5 servings of carbohydrates per day and if possible, you want get them from foods that are as close to natural as possible. Here are a few suggestions for making healthy choices on a low-carb diet:
1.Legumes-they are a great choice for a carbohydrate serving. Beans, peas and peanuts are all examples of legumes. Legumes are high in protein and fiber. They are also low in fat and very economically priced.
2.Select whole grain foods-this is not always easy, because so many foods today are highly processed. Look for foods that list a whole grain as the first ingredient on the ingredients list. Whole grains are usually high in fiber, low in sugar and they also keep your blood-sugar levels more even.
3.Try to eat more soy products-Unfortunately soy is not known for its taste, but soy products have a lot of nutritional value. Most low-carb diets do not allow soy products, because they do contain carbohydrates. The nutritional value of soy far outweighs any negative impact that its carbs may have. Soy is high in protein and has been known to reduce the risks of cancer and heart disease.
Here are some foods that are normally limited on most low-carb diets, but they are natural and can be eaten within reason:
1.Fruits-they are low in calories and high in vitamins and fiber making them a healthy choice. They have a natural sweetness that can be used to satisfy that craving to eat sugary foods. However, not all fruits are created equal. Some do have more sugar than should be consumed on a low-carb diet.
2.Leafy green and non-starchy vegetables-They are full of vitamins and a healthy choice at any time.
The things that you will want to limit as much as possible are refined sugars and carbohydrates. They add calories to your diet and do not have much nutritional value. These bad carbs come in the form of breads, pastas and starchy vegetables. These food products do not do anything for you nutritionally and they cause your blood sugar levels to be very inconsistent.
Low-carb diets are very healthy as long as you do not load them with high fat protein. Like any other weight loss plan, this one is all about the choices you make and how well you can make it fit into your lifestyle.
September 5th, 2009 -- Posted in Insurance |

Once you’re done comparing health insurance quotes and plans and you’ve settled on employer-based health insurance, it’s good to keep in mind the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) administers a number of laws that cover these health insurance plans.
Here is a list of some of the laws affecting health insurance :
1) The Employee Retirement Income Security Act – This law protects people in retirement, health and other benefit plans through private employers by providing rights to information and a grievance and appeals process for private employer health insurance participants.
2) The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act – This law only applies to special instances, but if you qualify as a former employee, retiree, spouse or dependent child you can purchase a temporary continuation of health insurance at group rates.
3) The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – This law applies to working Americans and families with preexisting medical conditions. Through this act there is a guarantee of individual health insurance policies for eligible people and it prohibits discrimination in health care coverage.
4) The Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act – Just as it sounds, this law offers rules on minimum health insurance coverage on how long the mother and child can stay in the hospital after childbirth.
5) Mental Health Parity Act – This law ensures mental health is given as much emphasis as physical health by requiring annual, or lifetime, limits on mental health benefits to be no lower than limits for medical and surgical benefits provided by a group health insurance plan.
6) Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act – Breast cancer is a frightening diagnosis and treatment runs a wide range of intensity and invasiveness. This law protects breast cancer patients who want to have a breast reconstruction after a mastectomy.
When you are part of an employer – based health insurance plan the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration is a great source of information on subjects such as your rights to information on how your plan works, how to quality benefits available in your plan and how to make claims on your health insurance plan.
Remember EBSA administers these laws that help protect your health insurance when you lose coverage, change jobs or if you suffer from certain special medical conditions. Also remember when choosing employer-based plans to carefully compare your health insurance options to make sure your plan works best for you and your family’s medical needs.
Find out more about EBSA on the web at -www.dol.gov/ebsa.
September 1st, 2009 -- Posted in Pregnancy |

Most of the women who think they are pregnant, but are not sure, use home pregnancy tests. But how many of them know how these tests work and if the result is true or not? Well, first of all a woman should know when the test must be taken and which are the best home pregnancy tests.
So, the first think to know is that these tests detect the pregnancy by measuring the presence of a hormone in the urine. The hormone is called chorionic gonadotropin, and is a telltale hormone. But how can this hormone tell you if you are pregnant or not? Well, this hormone is produced by the placenta. When the egg is fertilized and finds it’ s place in the uterus, this hormone is released into the bloodstream.
This usually happens about six days after the egg has been fertilized. From that point the amount of this hormone in the body is doubled every two days. So in about fifteen days after the fertilization took place, the home pregnancy test should be able to indicate if your are pregnant or not. But it all depends on the test. It is said that most of them are not sensitive enough to detect a pregnancy even at that stage. For better and certain results
it is indicated you should take the test a week after your the day that you were expecting your period.
It was believed that home pregnancy test were very accurate, almost 100 percent, even taken the day when a woman misses her period. Later studies have shown that this belief was misleading. The amount of the telltale hormone in the urine can differ from a woman to another very much. It can be different in any given days after the implantation had taken place. Studies have been made on different groups of women, and reaschers discovered that the home pregnancy tests are not sensitive enough to detect a pregnancy
in the first day that the woman missed her period. It worked for almost 15 % of the tested woman. But the the same home pregnancy tests showed to be very precise when taken seven days after the menstrual period was expected.
Of course when reading this, one would wonder why these tests claim to be so accurate, if they are not? Well the fact is that the ninetynine percent accuracy that this tests pretend to be is because the sensibility of the tests can detect a pregnancy, but not in it’s first days or in the first day of the missed period. The home pregnancy tests can determine a pregnancy, but it matters when this test is taken. To find out how to choose a pregnancy test and use it, be sure to read part two.
For more inforamtion about pregnancy calculator please visit pregnancy test or http://www.pregnancy-1st-guide.com/