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Health and Life Style.

Defence Health.

If you’re looking for a Health Fund to cover yourself and your family, you could look at Defence Health. (See HERE.)

Defence Health, which has been around for more than 60 years, is a not-for-profit organisation which focuses on keeping premiums low. Not-for-profit means member contributions stay in the fund for the benefit of all members.

Anyone who has served in the ADF, as well as their partners and children, is eligible to join Defence Health. You will also be eligible if:

• You work for, or have worked for, the Department of Defence or other Defence-related department as well as your immediate family (mother or father, son or daughter, sister or brother, grandchild or ex-spouse/partner.)

• You have worked for, or you are, a Defence supplier, ie: a company or agency contracted to the DoD and are, or were, involved in the supply of goods and services to DoD.

Defence Health also offers a competitive Travel Insurance.

The Federal Government has a web site which allows you to check prices and benefits offered by various Health Funds. You can find it here.  http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/

Health Assessment.

All former serving ADF personnel can access a health assessment from their general practitioner (GP).

This is a comprehensive health assessment which can help your GP identify and diagnose the early onset of any mental or physical health conditions you may be experiencing. Your GP will then be able to treat you or refer you to other services, as necessary. A Medicare rebate is available for this assessment. To find out more, click HERE.

Talk to your GP, tell them you have served in the ADF and ask them about this health assessment.

Sunglasses.

When you're choosing sunglasses, does UV protection matter? Yes, ultraviolet (UV) eye protection matters. UV radiation from the sun can damage not only the skin of your eyelid but also the cornea, lens and other parts of the eye. UV exposure also contributes to the development of certain types of cataracts, growths on the eye and possibly macular degeneration.

• Block 99 to 100 percent of both UVA and UVB rays.

• Screen out 75 to 90 percent of visible light.

• Have lenses that are perfectly matched in colour and free of distortions and imperfections.

• Have lenses that are grey for proper colour recognition.

The colour and degree of darkness sunglasses provide have nothing to do with the sunglasses' ability to block UV rays. Also, opt for wraparound sunglasses or close-fitting sunglasses with wide lenses that protect your eyes from every angle. Some contact lenses also offer UV protection, but should be worn in combination with sunglasses to maximize protection.

Strength training: Get stronger, leaner, healthier.

Strength training is an important part of an overall fitness program. Here's what strength training can do for you, and how to get started.

Want to reduce body fat, increase lean muscle mass and burn calories more efficiently? Strength training to the rescue! Strength training is a key component of overall health and fitness for everyone.

Use it or lose it.

Lean muscle mass naturally diminishes with age. You'll increase the percentage of fat in your body if you don't do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose over time. Strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass at any age.

Strength training may also help you:

• Develop strong bones. By stressing your bones, strength training can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

• Manage your weight. Strength training can help you manage or lose weight, and it can increase your metabolism to help you burn more calories.

• Enhance your quality of life. Strength training may enhance your quality of life and improve your ability to do everyday activities. Building muscle also can contribute to better balance and may reduce your risk of falls. This can help you maintain independence as you age.

• Manage chronic conditions. Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, such as arthritis, back pain, obesity, heart disease, depression and diabetes.

• Sharpen your thinking skills. Some research suggests that regular strength training and aerobic exercise may help improve thinking and learning skills for older adults.

Consider the options.

Strength training can be done at home or in the gym. Common choices include:

• Body weight. You can do many exercises with little or no equipment. Try pushups, pull-ups, abdominal crunches and leg squats.

• Resistance tubing. Resistance tubing is inexpensive, lightweight tubing that provides resistance when stretched. You can choose from many types of resistance tubes in nearly any sporting goods store.

• Free weights. Barbells and dumbbells are classic strength training tools.

• Weight machines. Most fitness centres offer various resistance machines. You can also invest in weight machines for use at home.

Getting started

If you have a chronic condition, or if you're older than 40 and you haven't been active recently, check with your doctor before beginning a strength training or aerobic fitness program. Before beginning strength training, consider warming up with brisk walking or another aerobic activity for five or 10 minutes. Cold muscles are more prone to injury than are warm muscles.

Choose a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions. When you can easily do more repetitions of a certain exercise, gradually increase the weight or resistance. Research shows that a single set of 12 repetitions with the proper weight can build muscle efficiently in most people and can be as effective as three sets of the same exercise. To give your muscles time to recover, rest one full day between exercising each specific muscle group. Also be careful to listen to your body. If a strength training exercise causes pain, stop the exercise. Consider trying a lower weight or trying it again in a few days.

It's important to use proper technique in strength training to avoid injuries. If you're new to weight training, work with a trainer or other fitness specialist to learn correct form and technique.

When to expect results:

You don't need to spend hours a day lifting weights to benefit from strength training. You can see significant improvement in your strength with just two or three 20 or 30 minute weight training sessions a week. The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends incorporating strength training exercises of all the major muscle groups into a fitness routine at least twice a week. As you incorporate strength training exercises into your fitness routine, you may notice improvement in your strength over time. As your muscle mass increases, you'll likely be able to lift weight more easily and for longer periods of time. If you keep it up, you can continue to increase your strength, even if you're not in shape when you begin.

Click HERE to see some videos on body-weight exercises you can do with little or no equipment..

Does whitening toothpaste actually whiten teeth?

Whitening toothpaste can appear to whiten teeth slightly by removing surface stains, such as those caused by drinking coffee or smoking, however, whitening toothpastes can't change the natural colour of your teeth or lighten a stain that goes deeper than a tooth's surface.

Unlike other tooth-whitening products, whitening toothpastes don't contain peroxide. To remove surface stains, whitening toothpaste typically includes:

• Special abrasives that gently polish the teeth

• Chemicals that help break down or dissolve stains

• Some whitening toothpastes contain the chemical blue covarine which adheres to the surface of the teeth and creates an optical illusion that can make teeth appear less yellow.

When used twice a day, whitening toothpaste can take from two to six weeks to make teeth appear whiter. Whitening toothpastes that contain blue covarine can have an immediate effect. Although whitening toothpastes are typically designed to maximize cleaning and minimize wear on tooth enamel, be careful to follow manufacturer recommendations.

If you're considering using a whitening toothpaste, look for a brand that has a seal of approval from a reputable dental organization. This seal indicates that the toothpaste is safe and effective at removing surface stains. If you're not satisfied with the effect of whitening toothpaste, ask your dentist or dental hygienist about other tooth-whitening options — such as over-the-counter or professional bleaching products. 

Dandruff

Dandruff is a common chronic scalp condition marked by flaking of the skin on your scalp. Although it isn't contagious and is rarely serious, it can be embarrassing and sometimes difficult to treat. The good news is that dandruff usually can be controlled. Mild cases of dandruff may need nothing more than daily shampooing with a gentle cleanser. More stubborn cases of dandruff often respond to medicated shampoos.

For most teens and adults, dandruff symptoms are easy to spot: white, oily looking flakes of dead skin that dot your hair and shoulders, and a possibly itchy, scaly scalp. The condition may worsen during the autumn and winter, when indoor heating can contribute to dry skin.

A type of dandruff called cradle cap can affect babies. This disorder, which causes a scaly, crusty scalp, is most common in newborns, but it can occur anytime during infancy. Although it can be alarming for parents, cradle cap isn't dangerous and usually clears up on its own by the time a baby is 3 years old.

When to see a doctor!

Most cases of dandruff don't require a doctor's care. But if you're still scratching your head after several weeks of experimenting with over-the-counter (OTC) dandruff shampoos, or if your scalp becomes red or swollen, see your doctor or dermatologist. You may have seborrheic dermatitis or another condition that resembles dandruff. Often your doctor can diagnose the problem simply by looking at your hair and scalp.

Dandruff can have several causes, including:

• Dry skin. Simple dry skin is the most common cause of dandruff. Flakes from dry skin are generally smaller and less oily than those from other causes of dandruff, and you'll likely have symptoms and signs of dry skin on other parts of the body, such as your legs and arms.

• Irritated, oily skin (seborrheic dermatitis). This condition, one of the most frequent causes of dandruff, is marked by red, greasy skin covered with flaky white or yellow scales. Seborrheic dermatitis may affect your scalp and other areas rich in oil glands, such as your eyebrows, the sides of your nose and the backs of your ears, your breastbone, your groin area, and sometimes your armpits.

• Not shampooing often enough. If you don't regularly wash your hair, oils and skin cells from your scalp can build up, causing dandruff.

• Other skin conditions. People with skin conditions such as eczema, a chronic, inflammatory skin condition, or psoriasis, a skin condition marked by a rapid build-up of rough, dry, dead skin cells that form thick scales may appear to have dandruff.

• A yeast-like fungus (malassezia). Malassezia lives on the scalps of most adults, but for some, it irritates the scalp. This can irritate your scalp and cause more skin cells to grow. The extra skin cells die and fall off, making them appear white and flaky in your hair or on your clothes. Why malassezia irritates some scalps isn't known.

• Sensitivity to hair care products (contact dermatitis). Sometimes sensitivities to certain ingredients in hair care products or hair dyes, especially paraphenylenediamine, can cause a red, itchy, scaly scalp. Shampooing too often or using too many styling products also may irritate your scalp, causing dandruff.

Almost anyone can have dandruff, but certain factors can make you more susceptible:

• Age. Dandruff usually begins in young adulthood and continues through middle age. That doesn't mean older adults don't get dandruff. For some people, the problem can be lifelong.

• Being male. Because more men have dandruff, some researchers think male hormones may play a role. Men also have larger oil-producing glands on their scalps, which can contribute to dandruff.

• Oily hair and scalp. Malassezia feeds on oils in your scalp. For that reason, having excessively oily skin and hair makes you more prone to dandruff.

• Poor diet. If your diet lacks foods high in zinc, B vitamins or certain types of fats, you may be more likely to have dandruff.

• Certain illnesses. For reasons that aren't clear, adults with neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, are more likely to develop seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. So are people with HIV infection and those recovering from stressful conditions, particularly heart attack and stroke, and those with compromised immune systems.

Dry Skin.

Ordinarily, dry skin isn't serious, but it can be uncomfortable and unsightly, creating fine lines and wrinkles. Serious dry skin conditions, an inherited group of disorders called ichthyosis, can sometimes be disfiguring and upsetting. Fortunately, environmental factors that can be at least partially controlled cause most dry skin. These factors include hot or cold weather, low humidity and soaking in hot water.

Chronic or severe dry skin problems may require evaluation by a doctor who specializes in skin (dermatologist), but first you can do a lot on your own to improve your skin, including using moisturizers and avoiding harsh, drying soaps.

Dry skin is often temporary, you get it only in winter, for example, but it may be a lifelong condition. And although skin is often driest on your arms and lower legs, this varies from person to person. What's more, signs and symptoms of dry skin depend on your age, your health, where you live, time spent outdoors and the cause of the problem.

Dry skin is likely to cause one or more of the following:

• A feeling of skin tightness, especially after showering, bathing or swimming.

• Skin that feels and looks rough.

• Itching (pruritus).

• Slight to severe flaking, scaling or peeling.

• Fine lines or cracks.

• Gray, ashy skin in people with dark skin.

• Redness.

• Deep cracks that may bleed.

When to see a doctor.

Most cases of dry skin respond well to lifestyle and home remedies. See your doctor if:

• Your skin doesn't improve in spite of your best efforts.

• Dry skin is accompanied by redness.

Dryness and itching interfere with sleeping.

• You have open sores or infections from scratching.

• You have large areas of scaling or peeling skin

Dry skin is often temporary but it may be a lifelong condition, and although skin is often driest on your arms and lower legs, this varies from person to person. What's more, signs and symptoms of dry skin depend on your age, your health, where you live, time spent outdoors and the cause of the problem.

Dry skin is likely to cause one or more of the following:

• A feeling of skin tightness, especially after showering, bathing or swimming.

• Skin that feels and looks rough.

• Itching (pruritus).

• Slight to severe flaking, scaling or peeling.

• Fine lines or cracks.

• Gray, ashy skin in people with dark skin.

• Redness.

• Deep cracks that may bleed.

• When to see a doctor.

• Most cases of dry skin respond well to lifestyle and home remedies.

See your doctor if:

• Your skin doesn't improve in spite of your best efforts.

• Dry skin is accompanied by redness.

• Dryness and itching interfere with sleeping.

• You have open sores or infections from scratching.

• You have large areas of scaling or peeling skin.

Although anyone can develop dry skin, you may be more likely to develop the condition if you:

• Are older than age 40.

• Live in dry, cold or low-humidity climates.

• Have a job that requires you to immerse your skin in water, such as nurses and hairstylists.

• Swim frequently in chlorinated pools.

In some people who have a tendency toward eczema, dry skin that's not cared for can lead to:

• Atopic dermatitis (eczema). If you're prone to develop this condition, excessive dryness can lead to activation of the disease, causing redness, cracking and inflammation.

• Infections. Dry skin may crack, allowing bacteria to enter, causing infections.

These complications are most likely to occur when your skin's normal protective mechanisms are severely compromised. For example, severely dry skin can cause deep cracks or fissures, which can open and bleed, providing an avenue for invading bacteria.

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