Nine supposedly 'healthy' habits

9 habits that can do more harm than good

The basics of staying healthy seems to follow fairly simple: Eat well, exercise, get enough sleep, and you should be on the right track, right? Surprisingly, it can be more complicated than that. Often the decisions we can in keeping our health are the same ones that are bad for us long term. Read further to know what unexpected habits like brushing your teeth after  every meal or slip into a comfortable pair of sandals, maybe you have to hurt.
1st Forced confinement with hand sanitizer.
If you are looking for hand sanitizer every time you reach contact with the outside world, you might want to take a break. Unless you are in an area particularly susceptible to germs such as a hospital, soap and water work very well, Richard Gallo, MD, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Dermatology, said at the University of California-San Diego. If you are not near a sink, gels, hand sanitizers can help, but be sure to first read the label. Recent research has shown that those who can triclosan resistance of bacteria and viruses to antimicrobial drugs (antibacterial triclosan soaps for this is to hand) support. Instead, choose brands like Purell, the alcohol content of 60%, 99% of which kill bacteria on contact. Photo: Janine Lamontagne / iStockphoto
9 Discover Health 'rules' that you bend.
2nd Experiment with skin care products.
Who does not try to buy skin creams and serums in the last year promised to throw in your face? Looking for something that works for you is a good idea, the redesign of the routine every few weeks on the search for the fountain of youth is not. "I've always encouraged my patients a daily regimen and keep company with him," says Jody Levine, MD, a dermatologist in New York. "Women get bored easily with her beauty routine, especially if they do not see results immediately. It may be 6-8 weeks to see the changes when you use a product to increase collagen, expect a waiting period of six months to see results "She warns patients often constantly changing products and realizes that adults cause rosacea (a condition that causes a red skin, uneven, and sometimes burning.). "People can make sensitive skin, trying too many different products with a high degree of perfume and other sensitizers," says Dr. Levine. Rather than try something new, what works for you stick, or ask your dermatologist to develop a new routine. And to manage expectations, said Dr. Levine, a coherent system should "keep your skin clear, clean and smooth. Make sure not normally be expected to wonder, especially when it comes to the over-the-counter Anti-aging products go. " Photo: Shutterstock
3rd Wearing flip-flops.
Heel and toe boots up pinching exorbitantly for the freedom of the scale to give your feet a much needed break, right? Not exactly. It turns out, your shoes, you were not favored. After Jordana Szpiro, DPM, podiatrist and foot surgeon in Boston, "Flip-flop sandals and other unfavorable, with no arch support and no structural support for the foot can lead to fractures of your feet are stretched stress when they copied Who to carry too much weight, "she explains. "Extensor or flexor tenosynovitis is a common problem, try that, because, your flip-flips on the muscles at or below your feet overwork in an attempt to take your shoes. Appearance" She also advises against bare feet, even if the pool or in the locker room of the gym are. "Apart from not giving any support your feet, walking barefoot for the people can be prone to infectious diseases of the skin such as athlete's foot and plantar warts, which are easily led to the pool, in difficult pedicure salons and gyms." But that does not mean you spend your summer in closed shoes. Dr. Szpiro recommends comfortable sandals to offer as much support as the styles of the Fit-flops, OrthoHeel and Mephisto. Photo: Stockbyte / Thinkstock See the 10 districts less elegant than $ 75

4th Brush your teeth after every meal.
Rushing immediately brush after every meal like a good way to keep your oral health at bay seems to be, but according to Greg Diamond, DDS, a periodontist in New York City, is it better to stay home. Food can leave the acid on the teeth to weaken the enamel, "and while brushing the enamel is in a weakened state can actually scrub away the enamel." To dislodge food particles that can remain after the meal, he recommends simply rinse your mouth with water, and store the brush in the morning and evening. Then when you brush, you should do it in a circular motion. According to Mr. Diamond, it will improve your chances of removing harmful bacteria between the teeth and gums. Brush up and down or back and forth, on the other hand, the holiday harmful bacteria causing gum disease, while excessive pressure can lead to gum disease. Photo: Shutterstock
5th Just do cardio, if you work.
It is easy to assume that the best way to lose weight to be workout stick to the same cardio, but "if you do cardio, your body is so in to the routine to begin to burn less fat during the time, "Joseph Ciccone, DPT, CSCS, a physical therapist said in sports therapy columbia doctors East Side in New York. In addition, by repeated movements on the treadmill or elliptical cause tension and lead cause injury. The trade with some of your cardio workout for the training circuit, producing a number of different strength exercises with little rest between movements, in order to keep your heart rate, while also working on all of your body that you burn the most calories, without will burn out. They will incorporate strength training into your routine to create muscle mass, helping you burn more calories throughout the day, even when you rest, said Jennifer Butcher, the coach of exercise and diet and owner of Holistic Fitness in San Francisco. He also recommended the overhaul of your cardio routine by mixing in interval training once a week. Try to do 30 seconds of high intensity exercise, when you're on the treadmill, cross trainer or in the pool, followed by 90 seconds recovery at a moderate pace, work your way up to 10 repetitions. The bursts of intensity by the resumption of breathing effectively followed calories and fat. Photo: Shutterstock Discover the truth behind common myths 8th
6th To "save" skipping meals for later.
"Women have the habit to save their calories for the fun stuff later," Danin said Fruge, MD, Associate Medical Director at the Pritikin Longevity Center + Spa in Miami. For example, many women off at noon, so that they can enjoy a few glasses of wine at the end of the day. No problem as long as you spread your calories, right? "Unfortunately, if you can not eat breakfast or lunch, food cravings and irritability that can lead to overeating later in the day to develop," she explains. A smarter approach to eating: fill in the protein-packed meals and snacks rich in nutrients that your happy to keep the whole day, so for lunch or a cocktail rolls around you not into temptation, with your plate with food high in calories and high in fat filling. Photo: Andrey Kuzmin / Thinkstock
7th Drink only bottled water.
Reaching for a bottle of H20 think you can do your body good by avoiding tap water, with who knows-what-may be filled. But this is not the case. "Fluoride does not include bottled water, and we see more and more adults are by a lack of fluoride, which can lead to suffer tooth decay," says Diamond. "Instead, fill the glass with water through a Brita or PUR water filter cleaning system" that keeps the water free of contaminants often found in tap water, but you can reap the benefits of fluoride. Photo: Shutterstock Learn the 8 must know the rules to stay hydrated.
8th Cleaning with disinfectants.
While at the home spotless and germ-free may seem the way of perfect health, a cleaner, antibacterial or disinfectant can have the opposite effect to use praise. "These products have not been proven to be more effective than regular detergent, and there is considerable evidence that chemicals are said in this cleaner disinfectant quaternary ammonium compounds - can lead to asthma," Rebecca Sutton, PhD, senior researcher says the Environmental Working Group. To avoid other chemical cleaning agents are 2-butoxyethanol, holds the Environmental Protection Agency to carcinogenic to humans and has cancer, ethoxylated alkylphenols, hormones and ethanol amines, which can cause asthma can interfere been associated. But because the cleaning companies are not obligated to most of the ingredients on the labels of their products (you can call or go online instead) list, it can be difficult to know what they are buying. However, Seventh Generation, an environmentally friendly, are clearly the ingredients on the label, so the only option. Another, which Dr. Sutton recommends cleaning with a mixture of one part water and one part vinegar or rubbing the surfaces with baking soda, both of which have natural antibacterial properties. She stressed that when it comes to germs eviction, the key is clean thoroughly and often, not blasting any surface with the rehabilitation more difficult than you can find. "Your goal should be cleaned regularly," says Dr. Sutton. "So you can get rid of dirt, so there is no place for bacteria to grow." Photo: Shutterstock
9th Loading up on food supplements
When it comes to vitamins and minerals, more is better, right? Not always, says Christine Rosenbloom, Ph.D., RD, professor emeritus at Georgia State University. "People often take supplements without really understanding what they consume, or whether they really need." Because food is so rich in those days, she noticed that the chances are many of us have no significant nutritional deficiencies. If you have enough of what you need is the best case, that supplements have no effect on you. But there are more serious side effects carelessly pills: Vitamin A can be toxic in large amounts in order to the developing fetus, vitamin C in high doses may cause gastro-intestinal diseases, and with glucose readings for people on medications for diabetes and excess vitamin B6 can cause nerve damage. Since a 2009 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded eating in the absence of a disability, rather than the intake of food supplements should be the primary means to meet the nutritional needs and health benefits are, suggests Dr. Rosenbloom MyPyramidTracker . gov visit, where you can use the food you eat each day and the site will tell you what you need to your diet. If you find that you are for your use of, say, calcium need, "try, calcium-rich foods in your diet, such as a glass of skim milk or a spinach salad to integrate" before you completed a trip to the driveway. If you find that supplements the best choice is to fill a gap, because "USP" means look printed on the label, which means that the pill meets the U.S. Pharmacopoeia regulator. Photo: Shutterstock

An order by the health care crisis

With all the noise going on in the U.S. health system crisis, many are likely to focus problems, and even fewer know how to find the cause of the problems. I am appalled by the tone of the discussion (although I understand the fear people have ---) and a loss that suggests someone who is qualified enough to know better how to best simply to our health care system because they met him, when people who have spent their entire careers studying (and I do not mean the politicians) are not sure what for themselves.
Albert Einstein had a reputation, have said that if it is 1 hour was to save the world he had 55 minutes spent defining the problem and only 5 minutes to solve it. Our health system is much more complex than most people admit that the solutions or recognize, and if we focus most of our efforts on the definition of problems and in-depth understanding of its causes, are all changes we degrade easily expected, since they which are best.
Although I worked in the U.S. healthcare system as a doctor since 1992 and have seven years experience as CEO of PHC, I do not consider myself qualified to properly assess the viability of most proposals I've heard for improving our health care system. But I think I can at least bring into the discussion by describing some of his problems, under reasonable assumptions on the causes, and emphasizing some general principles that apply to try should be to solve them.
The problem of cost
No one disputes that has the cost of healthcare in the United States have increased dramatically. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), health care spending is expected to be $ 8160 per person per year to achieve by the end of 2009 compared to $ 356 per person per year, it was in 1970. This increase occurred at about 2.4% faster than GDP growth over the same period. Although GDP varies from year to year and is an imperfect way to increased health care costs compared to other expenses from one year to judge the other, one can still conclude from these data that in the past 40 years, the percentage of our national income (private, business and government), we have on the health spent nursing increased.
Despite what many suspect, this may or may not be bad. Everything depends on two things: why health care spending had increased as compared to our GDP, and the value for every dollar we spend have received.
Why healthcare is so expensive?
It is a difficult question to answer, as many believe. The rising cost of health care (average 8.1% per annum calculated from 1970 to 2009, from data above) crossed to the rise in inflation (4.4% on average during the same period), so we do not write the rising cost of inflation only. Health expenditures are known to be closely linked to the GDP of a country (the wealthiest nation, the more there for the health care system) associated, but also the United States remains an outlier (Figure 3).
Is it because of health issues for people over 75 (five times what we spend for people aged 25 to 34 years of age)? In a word, no. Studies show that this demographic trend explains only a small percentage of growth in health spending.
If it is because of the monstrous profits of the health insurance rack? Probably not. It is certainly difficult to know with certainty that all insurance companies traded on the stock market and therefore have to check balances for the public. But Aetna, one of the listed health insurers in North America, reported income in the second quarter of 2009 to $ 346.7 million, which, if made of projected an annual profit forecast by about $ 1.3 billion in the roughly 19 million people they insure. If we assume, their profit margin on average in their industry (even if false, it is unlikely orders of magnitude different from the average), the total profit of all companies in the private health insurance in America, the 202 million people (point marked second item) in 2007, would come to around 13 billion € per year. The total expenditure on health care in 2007 were $ 2.2 trillion (see Table 1, page 3), resulting in a profit of private health care to about 0.6% of total health care costs (although this analysis, mixed data from different years, it may be possible that the numbers are not likely any other size).
Is it because of fraud in health care? The estimates of losses due to fraud range as high as 10% of all health spending, but it is difficult to find accurate data on up to the back. Although a certain amount of fraud goes undetected, almost certainly, perhaps the best way to estimate how much money is seen to lose fraud, how the government collects in fact. In 2006 it was $ 2.2 billion, only 0.1% of the $ 2.1 trillion (see Table 1, page 3) in the total expenditure on health care this year.
Is it because of the cost of drugs? In 2006, total spending on prescription drugs, over $ 216 billion (see Table 2, page 4) was. Although this amounted to 10% of the $ 2.1 trillion (see Table 1, page 3) of the total expenditure on health care this year and should be considered significant, it remains only a small percentage of total health care costs.
Is it for administrative costs? In 1999, total administrative costs at $ 294 billion, a full 25% of the $ 1.2 trillion (Table 1) estimated the total expenditure on health care this year. There was a significant percentage in 1999 and it is hard to imagine that it was since a significant degree.
Ultimately, however, which probably contributed to how much to increased health care costs in the U.S. are two things:
1st Technological innovation.
2nd Overuse of resources for health care for patients and healthcare providers themselves.
Technological innovation. The data show the rising cost of health care are is primarily on technological innovation to get surprisingly heavy, but estimates account for the contribution to the increase in medical costs on the technological innovation of 40% to 65% (Table 2, page 8). Although we prefer no empirical evidence to show some examples of the principle. Heart attacks are used to treat with aspirin and prayer. Now they are treated with drugs to the shock, pulmonary edema, and arrhythmias as well as thrombolytic therapy, cardiac catheterization with angioplasty and stent implantation or coronary bypass control. You do not need an economist to understand the scenario that ends up more expensive. We can learn to perform these procedures cost in time (the same way as we figure out how computers have reasonably thought), but since the cost is reduced per procedure, with the total amount of each procedure, because the number of cases rises performed spent. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is 25% below the price of an open cholecystectomy, but the prices of the two increased by 60%. Technological progress is becoming more widely available, they are used more frequently, and one thing that we are very aware, the United States makes the technology available.
Overuse of resources for health care for patients and healthcare providers themselves. We can simply define overfishing as the unnecessary use of healthcare resources. What is not so easy to recognize it. Each year from October to February, the majority of patients who come to the Urgent Care Clinic in my hospital, I think are not so unnecessary. What do they do? Colds. I can support, the certainty that nothing is really wrong, and tips to offer over-the-counter remedies --- but none of these things will make them better more quickly (though I am often able to reduce their level of concern) . In addition, patients have to believe, is to get the key to a correct diagnosis, the collection of history and careful physical examination rather than test the technology-based (not that it is not important - just believe less than the majority of patients - ). How much is overuse of the patient-focused health care system is difficult to define, particularly because we anecdotal evidence above.
In addition, doctors often disagree among themselves about what the consumption of unnecessary health care. In his excellent article, "The Riddle of the costs," Atul argues Gawande, that regional differences in the over-exploitation of resources in health care by the best doctors in the regional differences in Medicare spending per person account. It goes on to say that if doctors could be encouraged overuse curb the high cost areas of the country, it would save enough money to keep Medicare solvent for 50 years.