What happens when you realize your birth control did not do its job?  Where do you go from there?

       Well, many places offer an over the counter drug called Plan B.  Plan B is an emergency contraception that can be taken up to 72 hours after birth control failed. It is available to women over 17 without a prescription and to women under 17 with a prescription.

       The way it works is preventing or delaying ovulation and it can also interfere with the fertilization of an egg.  Being that the sperm and egg never finally make a connection to start a new life. It is also possible that the emergency contraception can alter the lining of the uterus which ultimately does not allow the egg to implant itself into the wall of the uterus.

       Many people are concerned that their use with cell phones can permanently damage them.  This is untrue.   Cell phones only emit a low level of radiofrequency energy (RF) which is not enough to alter genes or DNA. 

       The RF that cell phones emit is on the same level as microwaves.  Though, there is some electromagnetic energy that can be emitted from other things such as X- ray machines.  With those sorts of machines emitting high levels of electromagnetic waves, people have to be concerned about ionizing biological tissue.

       Ionizing biological tissue can cause electrons to be stripped of their normal locations within the atoms and molecules causing damage to DNA and other genetic material.   

        Most people associate having a high testosterone level with being very masculine, maybe aggressive, but mostly just being a manly man.  Though, a new study funded by U.S. National Institutes of Health, suggest that high levels of testosterone in men over 65 can be associated with heart attacks and heart disease.

        The study was based on a community of 700 men.  The level of testosterone was tracked along with heart issues. After four years, the study was followed up on and found that 100 of the men had experienced a heart attack, unstable angina or had angioplasty or bypass surgery to clear clogged arteries. 

       The study did not deal with men who take testosterone supplements, but it is thought that these supplements are putting men in direct risk of experiencing heart troubles.

       A husband of five years is tragically killed in a car accident.  His wife is beside herself, but was thinking quickly.  She decided since they had been trying to have children for the last year and half, she would have a sperm retrieval performed. 

       Sperm retrieval, or a testicular biopsy, is performed in order to gather sperm from the man who has passed away.  From there, the woman can use IVF (in vitro fertilization) in order to get herself pregnant.   The IVF process is the same as any other IVF case. 

       Now, most people would understand, oh okay, a wife wants children with her late husband.  But what if they were just dating?  What if he was only her boyfriend?  What claim does she have to his sperm?

Veins are clearly an important part of our body’s make up.  We need these veins in order to transport blood to and from the heart to the rest of the body.  Sometimes, these veins become unsightly when they become obvious through our skin.

Varicose veins affect about 19% of men and 36% of women.  Now, varicosities are the thickened, twisted or dilated parts of the vein.  When there is a defective or deformed valve, you begin seeing the veins show through your skin and they are not like your normal veins.  They are tiny channels and usually reddish or purple. 

There are some factors that can aggravate a varicose vein such as pregnancy, prolonged standing, obesity, straining, age and perhaps prior stress or trauma from surgery. 

                Looking for a good snack between meals?  Rice might be the perfect substitute for that snack. There are many different kinds of rice, as well as, many different nutritional benefits to eating rice. Rice comes in three different types – long, medium or short-grain and from there, there are different varieties within.    

Rice is a healthy alternative to cookies or chips for a snack because of what it has to offer.  Rice is low in fat, salt, sugar, saturated fats and trans fatty acids.  Furthermore, it has no cholesterol, no gluten and no additives or substitutes.  Basically, rice is all natural.  For that reason, it’s good to put into your body.  It’s also a good thing to add to your diet, whether it be for a snack or for a side with a meal. 

So if you have that mid-afternoon craving for something filling and healthy, rice is just what you’re looking for!

   Since I am not a big milk drinker, I have become a bit concerned about the future of my bones.  Obviously a big concern is osteoporosis.  Recently, I discovered there are factors that can and cannot be controlled, along with measures that can be taken to prevent and repair bone loss.  

   A few factors that cannot be controlled include being a women, having a small body, age, ethnicity and long term use of certain medication, to just name a few.  These are things that are going to happen whether you treat your body properly or not.  They are risk factors that just come with time.

   Along with these uncontrollable factors, we also have things that we can control, for example, smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and exercising.  Taking precautions against these factors can help lower your risk of developing osteoporosis. 

   With school starting back up, let’s remember sharing our eyeliner with our roommate might not be the safest thing to do.  It is fun sharing make up with your girlfriends when getting ready for a fun night out, but it’s important to take safety precautions when applying makeup.  Sharing can lead to infections and other bacterial issues.   

A few simple tips for sharing makeup:

   Want to burn calories and tone your body while not stressing out every joint in your body?  Swimming might be exactly what you are looking for.  Water is about 800 times denser than air, so each kick or push you do in the pool, acts like a little resistance that helps sculpt your muscles. Each area of your body is worked out in the pool – such as your hips, core, arms and legs.

   Swimming helps build lean muscle which is an ignition for your metabolism.  Having your metabolism going from swimming will continue burning calories well after you are done swimming. 

   The benefit to swimming is that a pool is very gentle on your body.  You are not stomping down on hard concrete, rolling ankles in the grass or lifting weights that are most likely too heavy for you.  Simply, you are using your body and swimming through a lot of water.  There is no exercise equipment or extra things you need to use to swim, it’s just your body and the water.  Because of how gentle water is on your body, it is something people can do at any age and typically for life.

   Running is the cheapest and quickest way to get in shape.  Dedicating 30 minutes to running each day will improve your health and body.  Getting started is the only hard part.  Becoming motivated to put those sneakers on and step outside of the house is the only obstacle that has to really be overcome.  Once you get going, the actual action of running is not that bad.

   Of course, there are a few things to be prepared for.  While running, you may feel a sharp pain in your side, but don’t be alarmed – it’s just a stitch.  To cure the pain, slow down or walk and breathe in deeply through your nose and out of your mouth.  Eventually, the stitch with go away and you can get back to your running.  Make sure to not eat heavy before exercising because it can cause the stitch to develop.