What Is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)?

Rheumatoid arthritis is an immune system condition, or “autoimmune disorder,” that causes inflammation of the lining of the joints. It may also affect the skin, eyes, lungs, heart, blood, and nerves. Although RA symptoms can come and go, the disease can worsen over time and may never go away. Early, aggressive treatment is key to slowing or stopping it.

What Are the Symptoms?

Joint inflammation from RA comes with pain, warmth, and swelling. The inflammation is typically symmetrical, occurring on both sides of the body at the same time (such as the wrists, knees, or hands). Other symptoms of RA include joint stiffness, particularly in the morning or after periods of inactivity; ongoing fatigue, and low-grade fever. Symptoms typically develop gradually over years, but they can come on rapidly for some people.

Who Gets It?

It usually strikes between ages 30-60, but younger and older people can get it. About 1% of the U.S. population has the condition, which is two to three times more common in women than in men. You’re more likely to get it if you smoke or if you have a relative who has this disease.

What Causes It?

Scientists don’t know exactly why people get RA. Some people may have a genetic risk for it that gets triggered by a particular infection that experts haven’t yet identified.

How Does It Affect the Joints?

Inflammation of the lining of the joints can destroy cartilage and bone, deforming the affected joints. As the condition progresses, joints can become painful and not work as well.

What Does It Do to the Rest of the Body?

RA can affect organs and areas of the body other than the joints, including:

• Rheumatoid nodules (shown here): firm lumps under the skin and in internal organs 
• Sjogren's syndrome: inflammation and damage of the glands of the eyes and mouth; other parts of the body can also be affected
• Pleuritis: inflammation of the lining of the lungs
• Pericarditis: inflammation of the lining surrounding the heart
• Anemia: not enough healthy red blood cells
• Felty syndrome: not enough white blood cells. Also linked to ah enlarged spleen.
• Vasculitis: blood vessel inflammation, which can hamper blood supply to tissues

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Which Kinds of Juices Have the Most Vitamin C in Them?

Drinking more juice can be one of the quickest ways to up your vitamin C intake. You need plenty of vitamin C for optimal immune health, but it also helps wounds heal and neutralizes free radicals that scavenge through your body. While juice can be a part of your healthy diet, it shouldn't be your only source of vitamin C. You'll wind up drinking a lot of calories, while missing out on all of the fiber found in whole fruits and vegetables.

Citrus Juices

Citrus fruits are near the top of the list for vitamin C-rich foods. Eight ounces of fresh-squeezed orange juice has nearly 125 milligrams of vitamin C. Diluted frozen orange juice from concentrate has a little less -- about 95 milligrams per 8-ounce glass. Raw white or pink grapefruit juice each provide more than 90 milligrams of the vitamin in an 8-ounce serving. You'll get almost 55 milligrams of vitamin C from 8 ounces of sweetened tangerine juice.

Other Fruit Juices

If you're not a fan of citrus juices or looking for an alternative, you'll get plenty of vitamin C from just about any other type of fruit juice. An 8-ounce cup of cranberry juice cocktail contains 90 milligrams of vitamin C, unsweetened pineapple juice offers more than 25 milligrams for the same amount and 8 ounces of prune juice provides 10 milligrams of vitamin C.

Vegetable Juice

Don't forget about vegetable juices when heading down the juice isle. Blended vegetable juice cocktail has more than 65 milligrams of vitamin C in an 8-ounce serving. If you love tomato juice, you'll get lots of vitamin C from your morning beverage, as 8 ounces of tomato juice provides nearly 45 milligrams of the beneficial vitamin. You'll also get vitamin C from carrot juice, roughly 20 milligrams per 8 ounces.

Daily Requirement

Your daily vitamin C requirement varies depending on several factors. Men need more than women -- 90 milligrams versus 75 milligrams per day, respectively, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. If you're pregnant, you'll have to get 85 milligrams each day and then increase your intake to 120 milligrams while breast-feeding. Smoking ups your vitamin C needs because free radicals build up in your system when you smoke. You'll need 35 milligrams above your daily recommendation if you smoke.

Other Considerations

Always opt for unsweetened varieties of fruit juice whenever possible to avoid ingesting unnecessary calories. If you're drinking a vegetable-based juice, make sure it is labeled "low-sodium," so you don't wind up drinking a big chunk of your daily sodium allotment. Leaving the pulp in your juice at home or purchasing unfiltered juice keeps some of the fiber in your beverage, but still not as much as you'd get from the whole piece of produce.

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Is 100 Percent Fruit Juice Healthy?

The average American consumes around 30.3 liters of fruit juice every year. You may think fruit juice is a healthy way to start your day or a convenient method of increasing your consumption of fruits, vegetables, vitamins and minerals. Even though it has some health benefits, 100 percent juice also has drawbacks you may wish to consider before pouring your next glass.

100 Percent Juice

Juice labeled "100 percent" is made purely from the juice of natural fruits. It has no additives, sweeteners or preservatives in it, according to nutritionist Katherine Zeratsky of the Mayo Clinic. The vitamin and mineral content is far higher in 100 percent juice than it is in sweetened juice or fruit juice cocktails, she adds.

Benefits

A high intake of fruits and vegetables is essential for optimal health. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends a minimum of 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fruit per day for women and 2 cups for men, and a cup of 100 percent fruit juice can count as one of your fruit servings. Juice can also be an excellent provider of vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin C. The recommended dietary allowance for vitamin C for men is 90 milligrams and for women 75 milligrams daily. Three-quarters of a cup of orange juice provided 93 milligrams of vitamin C, while the same amount of grapefruit juice has 70 milligrams and tomato juice, 33 milligrams.

Sugar vs. Fiber

While 100 percent juice may be a convenient way to consume extra vitamins and minerals, it can be packed with sugar. Nutritionist Dr. Jonny Bowden recommends eliminating fruit juice from your diet entirely -- it's full of sugar and has none of the fiber that real fruit does. While whole fruit is a source of dietary fiber, fruit juice actually contains little to no fiber. A cup of apple juice, for instance, has 0.2 gram of fiber, while a whole apple contains 3.3 grams. One cup of orange juice has 0.5 gram of fiber while a cup of fresh raw orange has 4.3 grams. Drinking fruit juice before a meal may actually make you hungrier, too -- it not only adds calories, but can cause you to eat more calories in the following meal, according to Medline Plus.

Considerations

The most important aspect to consider when deciding whether to incorporate fruit juice into your diet is whether it fits into your recommended calorie intake. A half-cup of grape juice contains 80 calories; the same serving of apple juice has 60 calories, as does orange juice. If you wish to drink 100 percent juice and monitor your food intake accordingly to accommodate this, it can be a healthy way to increase your consumption of vitamins and minerals. However, juice can be extremely easy to over-consume, which may take you over your recommended daily calorie intake.

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Here's Scientific Evidence That Crying Can Be Therapeutic

Feeling bad? Sometimes having a good cry is all that it takes to lift your spirits. 

New research shows that while shedding a few tears leads to a dip in mood immediately after the crying jag, about 90 minutes later people report feeling even better than they did before they had reason to cry. 

"This is the first study that has demonstrated a clear relation between experimentally induced crying and subsequent, more long-term mood improvement,” wrote lead researcher Asmir Gračanin of Tilburg University in the Netherlands in the paper.

Past research on crying has turned up conflicting results on the issue. Retrospective studies, those that ask people to look back in time and describe a weepy situation, generally find that crying lifted people’s moods. But laboratory studies, which assess people’s moods on a precise scale immediately after crying, have often found that people feel worse after a sob. 

"After the initial deterioration of mood following crying, it takes some time for the mood not only to recover but also to be lifted above the levels at which it had been before the emotional event,” concluded Gračanin in a statement about the research. 

Gračanin points out that crying helps our body physically calm down after a stressful or emotional ordeal by regulating things like body temperature and blood pressure. While he hesitates to say that crying is directly beneficial for us humans — the only animals who have the capacity to shed emotional tears — Gračanin does think that people should not be discouraged from crying, especially in front who care for and support us.

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Reminder: Smoking Hookah For An Hour Is Like Smoking 100 Cigarettes

Unfortunately, a new study suggests young people believe a hookah is safer.

You hopefully wouldn't smoke 100 cigarettes in 60 minutes -- that's five entire packs of so-called cancer sticks.

If you casually dabble with hookah, however, you might not bat an eye at an hour-long smoking session. New research shows lots of young people don't know that 100 cigarettes and an hour of hookah are about equal in terms of the amount of smoke inhaled -- and therefore in the damage they can cause to a person's health, including increased risk for heart disease, cancers, stroke, blood clots and death, to name a few.

How Can It Be?

A 2005 report by the World Health Organization found that hookah smokers typically take 200 puffs during an hour-long smoking session, while people take an average of 8-12 puffs per cigarette. Considering the amount of smoke inhaled per method, the organization wrote, a 60-minute water pipe session may be the same as smoking 100 cigarettes or more.

Yikes. If the parallel is surprising to you, you're not alone. A study just published in the journal Health Education & Behavior found that many young adults believe smoking hookah and cigarette alternatives is a less risky behavior than smoking cigarettes. Researchers analyzed data from 2,871 smoking and non-smoking millennials, roughly 25 percent of whom said they believe hookah is safer than cigarettes. Once again, this is false.

How about E-Cigarettes

For now, there's an ashtray's worth of contradicting information about e-cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes may be less hazardous than cigarettes because they release vapor instead of smoke, and they don't burn. Some experts argue that they are safer -- though not "safe" -- and can help smokers eventually quit their smoking habit altogether. But a recent study revealed that e-cigs can also be a catalyst for conventional smoking: they're a gateway drug. 

While the safety of e-cigarettes continues to be explored, anyone considering picking up the habit should know that they won't be doing themselves any favors. The same goes for smoking hookah: Both hookah and e-cigs can be addictive, and both transfer cancer-causing chemicals into the mouth and lungs of a smoker.

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5 Myths About IUDs You Need To Stop Believing

Intrauterine devices are one of most effective methods of birth control on the market, especially when you account for human error, such as condoms breaking during sex or occasionally forgetting to take a birth control pill. 

Based on typical use, IUDs are 45 times more effective that the pill and 90 times more effective than male condoms, according to the Guttmacher Institute. 

More effective than Birth control pills

The small, T-shaped devices -- we're talking half the size of a tube of Chapstick -- are also long-lasting and easily reversible. After a doctor inserts the IUD into a woman's uterus, the device can prevent pregnancy for between three and 10 years, depending the model she chooses. There are currently four models on the market, including three that release low levels of hormones over time. The hormone-free version has copper coiled around its frame, creating a reaction in the body that makes the uterus toxic to sperm, thereby preventing fertilization. 

Using the IUD can mean a faster return to fertility after it's removed, which is helpful for women who foresee wanting to get pregnant in the near future. "The pill suppresses ovulation more than the IUD," said Amy Bryant, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina. "Some women will return immediately to fertility, but others won’t. And with the IUD, it seems that it’s just a little bit quicker." 

Old method are becoming history

If IUDs are So Great, why don't more Women have Them?

While IUDs are the contraceptive method of choice for female women's health providers -- 40 percent of whom choose the birth control method for themselves -- only 12 percent of contraception-using women in the general population chose the IUD.

This is in part because getting any IUD used to be more expensive, with total costs adding up to as much as $1,000 for women who either didn't have insurance or whose insurance didn't cover birth control. 

Although the risks are low, the IUD does come with a few side effects. One out of 1,000 IUD insertions results in a uterine perforation, a risk that's slightly higher if the woman has just given birth and is still lactating, though it is still rare. Women who choose the non-hormonal ParaGard IUD can experience heavier periods and more intense menstrual cramps, symptoms they might not be accustomed to if they're switching from hormonal birth control. In contrast, women who opt for the hormonal Mirena IUD may find that their period goes away completely. 

uterine perforation

There's also a lot of mythology surrounding IUDs. Some women are under the impression that the device is only for approved for those who have already had children. Others have heard horror stories about IUD insertion and how painful it is.

Horror stories about IUD insertion and how painful it is

Birth control isn't one-size-fit-all -- different women prefer different types of contraception -- but being well-informed about your options, and recognizing which myths are well, myths, will help you make the best selection for you.

Here are Five Myths about IUDs we can Put to Rest for Good:

Myth 1: It's risky to get an IUD before you've had kids.

In fact, it's just opposite. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists both recommend IUDs as the first line of defense for adolescents who are sexually active, primarily because they are safe and incredibly effective. 

"Anybody who is sexually mature, anybody who has gone through puberty, is able to use an IUD," Bryant said.

Myth 2: Having an IUD put in will be the Most Painful Experience of your life.

Every woman has a different pain tolerance, which explains why one of your girlfriends says getting an IUD was "Really effing painful," and another swears it was "No big deal."

While getting an IUD put in is certainly unpleasant, for most women the paint is short-lived. "It feels like a couple of really big menstrual cramps," Bryant said. "For some women, they experience those really, really severely, and for other women it’s really pretty mild."

In any case, Bryant recommends having a discussion with your doctor about your pain tolerance before you get an IUD. "The vast majority of women get them placed without any problem at all," she said. "I like to say it’s five minutes of discomfort for five years of excellent birth control."

Myth 3: Your IUD could Fall Out.

Your body could expel the IUD from your uterus, but it's fairly unlikely. (It happens about 3 to 5 percent of the time, according to Bryant, and is most likely to occur within three months of having the device inserted.) If the device is expelled, you're at risk for unintended pregnancy, which is why doctors recommend that women use a backup contraception method for the first few weeks after getting the device. 

"People just need to be aware of that -- in case it does fall out," Bryant said. "Sometimes they’ll feel a big cramp or they’ll have a big clot, and the IUD will come out with it."

If you're worried that your IUD is longer in place, your doctor can show you how to check the device's strings (a thin nylon thread that sticks out of the cervix into the vagina, making the IUD easy to remove). You can also have your health care provider check the device for you.

Myth 4: IUDs cause Infection and Infertility.

This rumor has some history behind it. "Back in the '70s and the '60s, there was a really bad IUD on the market," Bryant explained. "It caused infertility. It caused women to lose their uterus and some women lost their lives."

The Dalkon Shield was taken off the market, but its nightmarish legacy continues to haunt modern-day IUDs. And doctors are part of the problem. Although 40 years of data show that modern-day IUDs are safe, and don't carry a higher risk of infection, some doctors are passing misinformation on to their patients. A 2012 survey published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology found that 30 percent of obstetricians, gynecologist, family doctors, nurses and physicians assistants thought that IUDs were unsafe for women who had never given birth.

"The IUDs we have today are safe and they don’t cause infertility," Bryant said. "They don’t cause infection. Infection causes infection, but the IUD itself won’t make it worse or better."

Myth 5: Doctors have to induce a Contraction to put the IUD in your Uterus. 

Although the term "contraction" is associated with labor, a contraction and a cramp are essentially the same thing -- a squeezing movement of the uterus and likely a sensation that you've felt before before. "People get contractions or cramping from periods, because their cervix is opening up a little bit to let the blood out," Bryant explained. 

When putting in an IUD, a doctor will open up your cervix slightly, first to measure your uterus, and then to insert the device. Both of those motions stretch the cervix. "It can cause a pretty big cramp," Bryant said. "It’s not like giving a medicine or anything to cause a contraction."

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Truth Behind the Fresh looking Fruits And Vegetables

The Truth behind Fresh Looking Fruits and Vegetables

Recently there are some Shocking video that echoed like on Facebook showing how fruits and vegetables are injected with chemicals to make it seem fresher. The chemical that is shown in the video, erythrosine B, is commonly used in desserts like some candy and gels to decorate cakes. It is also used for the colour of pistachio shells and is full of additives (E127).

Erythrosine

Back in 1990 the FDA launched a partial ban on the use of erythrosine, because, many studies showed that excessive consumption caused cancer in tested rats. In June 2008, the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has asked the FDA to issue a total ban on erythrosine in the United States.

On the other hand, a number of toxicological tests and a review of other published studies experts led to the conclusion that erythrosine is not genotoxic.

The video is attached below, see it for yourself:

Chemicals often used for ripening of fruits and for fresh look of vegetables. These chemicals are dangerous as they harm our health adversely and should be banned.

If you see brinjals that shine, apples that glow and chillies that cause temptation to touch them. You better think twice before you buy them.  They look so fresh that the customers buy them without knowing that there is poison behind the glow and shine of vegetables and fruits, we even pay MORE MONEY to buy them.

Chemicals to make your Tomato look nice

Some farmers themselves are using chemicals to make the vegetables look fresh. We all know that eating vegetables is good but it is causing health problems now. Farmers mainly will use this chemicals called Oxytocin on vegetables. This hormone was given to pregnant woman as a medicine earlier. But this has been banned now. Now it is consumed by everyone in the form of vegetables. If this hormone is consumed for a long duration, it is going to affect the health adversely. 

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This Oxytocin hormone was given to pregnant women for controlling heavy bleeding during delivery, for sufficient production of milk and to improve the chances of getting pregnant one more time. It has been proved that if Oxytocin levels in the body increase, it will affect the nervous system and cause other nerve related problems.

Oxytocin is now available everywhere and easy to obtain in black market. This is injected into the vegetables to look fresh and into the fruits to ripe them quickly. This hormone is given to brinjals, pumpkin and cucumber. Copper Sulphate is used to bring artificial glow to fruits and vegetables. Calcium carbide is used to ripening fruits. This damages the lungs. It causes skin diseases. Ulcers may develop in mouth and throat. Such dangerous chemicals should be banned from using for the health of the people. 

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