If you’re overweight, your doctor might have told you to exercise more and cut down on certain types of food. But did your doctor also tell you to get more sleep, drink more water, and reduce stress levels, or how to exercise without causing your body more stress? Too often, doctors and other health professionals focus on treating disease, rather than on preventative health care. The health care system is “crisis-oriented,” meaning that instead of showing patients how to prevent disease, many doctors tend to treat symptoms when they appear – which is partly why many seniors opt for Medicare Part D coverage, which treats the problem through drug therapy, rather than preventative care. And those same doctors often prescribe medication rather than suggesting their patients adopt lifestyle changes that might do the job more effectively and naturally.

About the Institute of Medicine

The Institute of Medicine, one of the country’s most prestigious and well-respected medical groups, hopes to begin to change that, by promoting an approach called “integrative medicine.” This approach focuses less on treating symptoms as they appear, and more on whole-body and mind wellness as a preventative measure.

Integrative medicine goes far beyond disease and symptom treatment to include not only lifestyle changes, but also the mind-body connection, in its assessment and prevention of illness. This approach also helps patients understand the importance of lifestyle changes, and of keeping up with recommended lifestyle changes over the long term.

However, there’s a significant barrier that might prevent such a project from getting off the ground – where will the money come from? According to the Institute of Medicine, preventing disease costs less than treating disease, but initiating an integrative medicine program on a larger scale would require a hefty up-front cash injection.

Even so, many well-respected medical centers are beginning to adopt various types of integrative approaches.

At Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, for example, health coaches have been trained to help patients develop personalized health care plans that complement the treatment prescribed by their doctors.

The High-risk Heart Disease Example

A Medicare-funded study at the medical center focused on 154 people with high risk of heart disease. After ten months, people who received weekly health coaching had kept up an exercise program of three to four days a week and had an average cholesterol reduction of ten points. Wellness doesn’t have to be complicated, and centers such as that at Duke University are definitely proving that. Getting plenty of sleep, good nutrition, and regular stress-busting exercise, for example, can help fight off infection and speed up the pace of healing, all without doctor’s visits or medication.

You have probably seen those men who have little wads of toilet paper stuck to their face. In fact, you may be one of them. Therefore, you know perfectly well that those wads are not the latest fashion statement, designed to complement your tie or handkerchief. Those wads are there because you missed getting that most elusive of worldly things the perfect shave. You just missed it, too, didn’t you? You missed it by a nick. Nicks, scrapes, burns. It may sound like the inventory of an emergency ward, but most men encounter these discomforts on a regular basis in their own bathrooms. So here are some tips on how to avoid turning your morning ritual into a nightmare and keep the toilet paper off your face. (Of course, women who shave their legs are not immune to these discomforts, either. So while this article is primarily geared toward men, the advice can help women get a softer, gentler shave as well.)

Be Prepared : Proper preparation is the key to a good shave, says Gordon Scarbrough, owner of Moler Barber College in Portland, Oregon. That means moistening and softening your face before you even apply the soap. For the best results, do it with a warm, moist towel or washcloth held to your face. At the very least, splash warm tap water on your face. (Women should try soaking in the tub for a few minutes before shaving the legs.)

Follow The Grain : Shave with the grain, that is, move the razor in the direction that the hair grows, advises Andrew Lazar, M.D., assistant professor of clinical dermatology at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago. Generally, that means shaving down on the face and neck and up on the lower neck.

Shave in The Shower : It’s the perfect place to shave, says Scarbrough, because the steam and hot water soften and moisten your skin and beard. Shaving your face as your final shower duty makes good sense for your skin.

Cut up Your Credit Cards : Well, at least don’t use them as a measure of proper shaving. Joseph P. Bark, M.D., chairman of dermatology at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, says men have been trying to live up to an old shaving commercial that showed a credit card being rubbed against a shaved face. “If it made a lot of scraping sounds, you didn’t pass the credit-card test,” says Bark. He says to cash in that tired idea, and instead invest in the notion that shaving less closely will save you a lot of discomfort.

Stop Playing Doubles : “The bad actor in all this is the double-track razor,” says Bark. He says the first blade pulls up the skin around hairs, then the second blade shaves off the nubbin of skin. “It’s like using a nuclear weapon to mow your lawn,” says Bark. Try a single-blade, disposable razor instead.

Froth Your Foam : Many men think that foam out of a can is moist enough to apply directly to dry skin. Wrong, says Scarbrough. You need added moisture, or it will almost be like shaving dry skin. Splash water on your face liberally before adding the foam.

Be Sharp : A dull blade can scrape your skin, so don’t try to get too many shaves out of one razor. Some men’s beards are so coarse that a razor will be effective for only one shave, says Scarbrough.

Try an Electric : Electric razors don’t shave as closely as a double-track razor, so they may be less likely to irritate the skin, says Bark.

Use a Quality Aftershave : Cheaper brands are just plain alcohol, says Scarbrough. “They burn like sin and really don’t do much.” A good after shave should refresh the skin, cleanse it of bacteria, plus heal it from the shaving. He looks for aloe vera or other natural healers as part of the ingredients.

Try a Sunscreen : Bark recommends using a sunscreen as an after shave. “Use a sunscreen as an aftershave every day of your life and you can look younger and not have skin cancer.”

Heal Thyself : While your face is healing from razor burn, use an over the counter hydrocortisone lotion as your after shave, Bark suggests. It will speed the healing.

Quit Shaving : If you need to be clean shaven on the job, how about giving up shaving for the weekend? Bark says growing just a quarter-inch beard will cure razor burn. “Guys lose their razor burn and razor bumps with even the slightest hair growth on their face,” he says. Then, when it’s time to shave again, don’t shave too close.

Say Styptic : Ask for it at the drugstore and keep it handy in the bathroom so you can use it when you nick yourself. You can get a styptic pencil or styptic powder. Dab it on the nick, press down momentarily with your finger, and the bleeding should stop. Alum contained in the pencil or powder draws the skin up to seal the wound, says Scarbrough. Rinse off any residue, and you’re ready to face the world without that snippet of toilet paper.

You’ve heard the joke before. A woman flies off the handle at work or at home and everyone around her chimes in with, “It must be that time of the month again.” The joke, of course, misses the point that women, at times, actually do get upset by their demanding husbands, whiny kids, and stressful jobs. For some women, however, the joke holds more truth than they’d like to believe. For these women, “that time of the month” really is a period of emotional imbalance, anger, depression, and anxiety. Situations that they normally cope well with suddenly become insurmountable. And the energy and health they enjoy most of the time give way to fatigue, achiness, and weight gain almost overnight.

These women have what is known as premen strual syndrome, or PMS, a condition that has no known cause and no complete cure. But research in to the topic has brought about several theories as to what may make some women more vulnerable to PMS. “The two most widely held theories, neither of which has huge support, include an ovarian hormone imbalance of either estrogen or progesterone and a brain hormone change or deficiency,” says Harold Zimmer, M.D., an obstetrician and gynecologist in private practice in Bellevue, Washington. Zimmer stresses that no single cause of PMS has ever been proven and that much of the research is contradictory.

Whatever the cause, the symptoms can include anxiety, irritability, mood swings, and anger; indeed, these symptoms occur in more than 80 percent of women who suffer from PMS. Other symptoms may include sugar cravings, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, shakiness, abdominal bloating, breast tenderness, and overall swelling. Much less common are depression, memory loss, and feelings of isolation. The symptoms, and their severity, vary from woman to woman. “Symptoms are definitely cyclic, and that is one of the main criteria for diagnosing this condition. And the symptoms generally disappear with the onset of the woman’s period,” says Phyllis Frey, A.R.N.P, a nurse practitioner at Bellegrove OB-GYN, Inc., in Bellevue, Washington. “It’s often the emotional symptoms that bring people in to the doctor,” she adds. As for what you can do to relieve the discomfort of PMS, there are several home remedies. And according to Zimmer, the home remedies probably work as well as, or better than, the medical remedies available. Here’s what you can try.

Maintain A Well Balanced Diet : Include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, starches, raw seeds and nuts, fish, poultry, and whole grains. “It is just sort of common sense dietary measures,” says Zimmer.

Go Easy On Sugar : Your cravings for sugar may be strong during this time, but giving in to the sugar craving may make you feel even worse and can intensify your feelings of irritability and anxiety. To make fending off your sugar cravings a little easier, try keeping healthy snacks readily available and keeping sugary foods out of the house or at least out of your reach. If you can’t give up the sweets completely, try eating only small amounts at a time, and opt for things like fruits or apple juice that can help satisfy your sugar craving and provide nutrie

Eat Small, Frequent Meals : You don’t want to go long periods without food because that can potentially intensify your premenstrual symptoms as well, says Zimmer.

Avoid Alcohol : Both Zimmer and Frey stress that alcohol will only make you feel more depressed and fatigued. Alcohol also depletes the body’s stores of B vitamins and minerals and disrupts carbohydrate metabolism. It also disrupts the liver’s ability to metabolize hormones, which can lead to higher than normal estrogen levels. So if you need to be holding a beverage at that party, try a nonalcoholic cocktail, such as mineral water with a twist of lime or lemon or a dash of bitters.

Cut Down on Caffeinated Beverages : These include coffee, tea, and colas. Caffeine can intensify anxiety, irritability, and mood swings. It may also increase breast tenderness. Try substituting water processed decaffeinated coffee, grain-based coffee substitutes such as Pero, Postum, and Caffix; and ginger tea.

Cut The Fat : Eating too much dietary fat can interfere with liver efficiency. And some beef contains small amounts of synthetic estrogens. Too much protein can also increase the body’s demand for minerals. Opt for smaller servings of lean meats, fish or seafood, beans, peas, seeds, and nuts. Use more whole grains, rice, vegetables, and fruits to fill out your meals.

Put Down The Salt Shaker : Table salt and high sodium foods such as bouillon, commercial salad dressings, catsup, and hot dogs can worsen fluid retention, bloating, and breast tenderness.

Practice Stress Management : “Learning to control and reduce your level of stress has a great effect on reducing the symptoms of PMS,” says Zimmer. Try joining a stress management or stress reduction program at your local hospital or community college, learning biofeedback techniques, meditating; exercising; or doing anything that helps you to relax and cope with stress.

Try Not To Plan Big Events During Your PMS Time : “I don’t like to encourage my patients to plan their lives around their menstrual cycle, but if they have the option of planning a big social event at some time other than their PMS time, it would help them out to do so,” says Zimmer. “The increased stress of the event will only make the PMS symptoms worse,” he adds.

Exercise Aerobically : “Besides being a great stress reducer, aerobic exercise triggers the release of endorphins (the natural brain opiates) and produces a ‘runner’s high,’” says Zimmer. “Good forms of aerobic exercise include running, stair-stepping, bicycling, or taking an aerobics class,” he continues. “The social environment of a health club can also make you feel better by encouraging you to interact with other people,” he adds. He also goes on to say that increasing the pelvic circulation can help to rid the body of some of the bloating associated with PMS. Try to exercise for 20 to 30 minutes at least three times a week. If you are too fatigued to exercise during the actual PMS period, don’t. Doing so the rest of the month should help in it self.

Talk it Over : Try to explain to your loved ones and close friends the reason for your erratic behavior. “One of the biggest stresses on a woman during this time is family. And it’s not only the stress of feeling bad when she flies off the handle at someone, but also of having to apologize for her behavior later on,” says Zimmer. He recommends enlisting the aid of your family and close friends by asking them to understand what the problem is and to realize that when you lash out at them you are not as in control as you would like to be. “If your child is really acting out and yelling at you for something during your PMS time, you might remind him that this is not the best time for him to be getting you angry. Hopefully, he’ll see this as his cue to go outside and play,” Zimmer explains. “You have to walk a fine line, though, and not begin using PMS as an excuse to be nasty to people,” he adds. If the emotional symptoms are causing problems in your relationships, consider getting some counseling from a mental health professional. Ask your physician to refer you to someone.

Replace Your Estrogen in Menopause : The hormone estrogen is vital to the maintenance of bone. When estrogen levels decrease after menopause, bone loss is “dramatically accelerated,” says Ettinger. Estrogen replacement therapy can help slow that calcium drain. Estrogen replacement therapy is not for every woman, however, so be sure to discuss it thoroughly with your doctor.

Carefully Consider Calcium Supplements : “Chances are, if you are a candidate for supplements, your diet is not only low in calcium but in other nutrients the body needs,” says Heaney. “Your best bet is to primarily get calcium from the foods you eat.” If your doctor recommends that you take a supplement, never exceed 2,500 milligrams per day, excessive calcium can lead to kidney stones. The supplement should be taken between meals with juice instead of water, says Hust. The reason. The vitamin C in fruit juices helps the body absorb calcium.

Get The Right Amount Of Calcium : Women, especially, need different amounts of calcium at different times of their lives. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for females age 11 to 25 the big bone-building years is 1,200 milligrams. After age 25, the RDA is 800 milligrams, however, the National Institutes of Health recommends 1,000 milligrams after age 25. the RDA for postmenopausal women is 1,500 milligrams, and for pregnant women, it’s 2,000 milligrams daily. Men should increase their calcium intake as they age, from 800 milligrams to 1,000 milligrams a day. For both men and women, consuming close to 3,000 milligrams a day can be toxic, says Bozian, and can interfere with the absorption of the vital minerals copper and zinc.

Following are the home remedies that can play a vital role in Oesteoporosis treatment

Don’t worry about phosphorus : There has been some concern that consuming high levels of phosphorus can influence bone loss and risk of osteoporosis. The Food and Drug Administration addressed the issue, however, and found no evidence to substantiate this worry.

Be wise about protein : For healthy bones, protein is a double-edged sword. “Too much protein in the diet can increase calcium excretion,” says Hust. However, protein is needed to help maintain a component of bone called collagen, which is made up of proteins. It’s not so much a question of eating too much protein, but of not getting enough calcium to balance out the amount of protein in the diet. If you have an adequate calcium intake, you probably don’t need to worry about getting too much protein. However, if you don’t get much calcium in your diet, you’d be wise to avoid consuming an excess amount of protein.

Schedule your fiber intake. “Fiber can decrease calcium absorption by combining with calcium in the intestine, and at the same time, by increasing the rate at which food is passed through the intestinal tract,” explains Hust. But don’t eliminate fiber from your diet altogether. Just try to have calcium-rich foods or calcium supplements between-not during fiber rich meals.

Make Your Own Soup : When preparing stock from bones, add a small amount of vinegar to leach the calcium out of the bones. “The amount of calcium in a single pint of homemade soup is equal to the calcium found in a quart or more of milk,” says Hust.

Say No To Alcohol : Alcohol also interferes with the body’s ability to absorb calcium.

Put Out That Cigarette : “Smoking has been shown to be associated with lower bone mass,” says Johnston, since nicotine interferes with calcium absorption.

Check Your Medicines : Antacids that contain aluminum can interfere with calcium absorption. And some prescription drugs can increase the amount of calcium lost in the urine. For instance, diuretics, which are used to treat hypertension, tetracycline, an antibiotic often used to treat severe cases of acne, and high doses of cortisone drugs or steroids, such as those used to treat arthritis, are a few of the offenders.

Maintain A Healthy Weight : If you are underweight (say, more than ten percent lighter than the average weight for your age and height), you are at higher risk for a deficiency of calcium and other important vitamins and minerals, which can affect your bones’ health. If you are overweight, you may have stronger bones than someone thinner, however, you also may be less active and less likely to follow an exercise routine, which is also important to keeping bones healthy.

Start Drinking Milk Again : Mom was right when she made you drink milk at every meal. In addition to its calcium content, milk is fortified with vitamin D, and “vitamin D facilitates the absorption of calcium,” says Bozian.

Get Some Sun : Rays of sunshine activate the vitamin D in the body. Studies have shown that women in Northern Europe and England, for instance, where the weather can be cold and dreary more often than not, have a higher rate of osteoporosis than women who are from warmer, sunnier climates. That doesn’t mean you should go out and bake yourself in the sun, however. Fifteen minutes of sun exposure on the hands, arms, and face each day may be all that you need and should not be enough to greatly increase your risk of skin cancer. (Sunscreen, by the way, blocks out the light rays that are responsible for activating vitamin D.) On the other hand, if you are at increased risk of getting skin cancer (because you are fair skinned, for example), your best bet may be to keep your skin protected from sunlight (see “Protect Yourself” in sunburn pain for tips on shielding your skin from the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays) and emphasize dietary sources of vitamin D, such as fortified milk, instead.

Cut Down on Caffeine : “Caffeine stimulates the loss of calcium through the urine,” says Bozian. One study found that drinking more than two cups of average brewed coffee or four cups of average brewed tea per day can increase calcium loss.

Pass up the salt shaker : Salt can also increase the amount of calcium lost through the urine. “The more sodium you excrete, the more calcium you excrete,” says Rose Hust, osteoporosis coordinator at the Knoxville Orthopedic Clinic in Tennessee. High-sodium diets may also contribute to osteoporosis in a less direct way, she adds. If you take a diuretic to pull excess salt out of the body, it will also pull out calcium.

Sometimes it may seem like a losing battle. We’re responsible for giving the body all the calcium it needs. When we don’t, it takes the bone-building mineral right from the reserves in the bones, “which leads to the breakdown of the bone structure,” says Robert P Heaney, M.D., John A. Creighton University Professor at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

Osteoporosis, or porous bones, affects many more women than men. There are a number of reasons why this is so. After puberty, males have more bone at most sites than females do, explains Conrad Johnston, M.D., chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. So at peak bone mass, men are at an advantage. What’s more, while both men and women begin to lose bone mass as they age, this loss becomes accelerated in women at menopause, when estrogen levels drop. Bone loss in women eventually levels off to about one percent per year, says Johnston. Men begin to lose bone mass sometime around age 45 or 50, he says, but they lose only about half a percent per year. Why men lose bone mass is unclear. The best prevention building strong bones now to prevent fractures and other complications later. Here’s how to win the war against brittle bones.

Make like Arnold Schwarzenegger : Well, not exactly. But weight lifting is a good way not only to build muscle but bone. “It stimulates the activation of new bone cells,” says Richard C. Bozian, M.D., professor of medicine, assistant professor of biochemistry, and director of the Division of Nutrition at the University of Cincinnati. However, before beginning any weight­lifting program, consult your doctor. In general, always start with lighter weights and progress to heavier ones as you become stronger.

Use Resistance To Make Your Bones More Resistant : “The skeleton is sensitive to mechanical load,” says Johnston. Mechanical load is the amount of force you use against your skeleton, and certain activities that use the body’s own weight as a force against gravity are the best way to “load up.” The result: increased bone-cell production. You can actually see the results of loading in the significantly developed swinging arm of avid tennis and baseball players. “Exercise is one of the most positive things a woman can do to fight osteoporosis,” asserts Bozian. While running is a top bone builder, some people find that it packs too much of a punch for their joints. Walking, besides being less stressful to the body, can be done by almost anyone, almost anywhere, without expensive equipment. And “the motion of walking helps the entire body,” says Victor G. Ettinger, M.D., medical director of Bone Diagnostic Centres in Torrance and Long Beach, California. As for lower-impact activities, such as swimming and bicycling: “These are helpful, too,” says Bozian. No matter which exercise you choose, Johnston recommends that it be performed one hour a day, three days a week for best results. Irony lies in the fact that those who exercise exhaustively, like professional athletes, can suffer from malnutrition. This can lead to a decrease in calcium intake. In women, it can also lead to amenorrhea, or no menstrual cycle, putting them at increased risk for osteoporosis.

Perhaps it’s the 24 hour flu bug, or maybe it was something you ate. Whatever the cause, now you’re feeling queasy and sick. The tips that follow are designed to reduce your discomfort and to help your symptoms go away as quickly as possible. If vomiting is violent or persists for more than 24 hours or if your vomit contains blood, see a physician without delay.

Evaluate The Cause And Treat The Symptoms Accordingly : Nausea and vomiting are two vague symptoms that can be caused by many illnesses, says Albert B. Knapp, M.D., an adjunct assistant attending physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. If you suspect your symptoms are due to an ulcer, a headache, motion sickness, morning sickness, food poisoning, or a hangover, see the corresponding section in this book.

Stick to Clear Liquids : Your stomach probably doesn’t need the added burden of digesting food, says Knapp. He recommends sticking to fluids until you feel a little better. “If you are vomiting, do not start fluids until the vomiting has stopped,” he says. “Then start with warm fluids, since cold ones can irritate the stomach. The fluid should have sugar in it. The sugar helps absorption.” Liquids are easier to digest and are necessary to prevent the dehydration that may occur from vomiting, according to Cornelius P. Dooley, M.D., a gastroenterologist in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He recommends diluted, noncitrus fruit juices.

Let it Run its Course : The best cure for the 24-hour stomach flu is bed rest mixed with a tincture of time, doctors agree. “You’ll feel miserable, but you’ve got to let it run its course,” says Dooley.

Don’t Drink Alcohol : Alcohol can be very irritating to the stomach. The same goes for fatty foods, highly seasoned foods, caffeine, and cigarettes.

Stick To Easy To Digest Foods : When you are ready to start eating again, start with soft foods, such as bread, unbuttered toast, steamed fish, or bananas, says Neville R. Pimstone, M.D., chief of hepatology in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of California at Davis. “Avoid fats, and stick to a low-fiber diet,” he says. What about chicken soup? “Chicken soup probably has too much fat,” Pimstone says. Start with very small amounts of food and slowly build up to larger meals, says Steven C. Fiske, M.D., assistant clinical professor of medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.

Let It Flow : The worst thing you can do for vomiting is to fight it, says Knapp. Trying to hold back the urge can actually cause tears in your esophagus.

Take Pepto Bismol : Over the counter stomach medications that contain bismuth, such as Pepto Bismol, may coat the stomach and relieve discomfort, says Pimstone. However, he advises against taking Alka-Seltzer, which contains aspirin and may irritate the stomach.

Try a Cold Compress : A cold compress on your head can be very comforting when you are vomiting, says Knapp.

Maintain Your Electrolyte Balance : Along with replacing fluids, it is also important to maintain the balance of sodium and potassium (known as electrolytes) in your system, says Fiske. He recommends a sports drink, such as Gatorade, which is easy on the stomach and is designed to replace both fluids and electrolytes.