New Heart Health Guidelines Focus on Belly Fat, Not Just Body Weight

 

When it comes to assessing your risk for heart disease, you need to think not only about how much you weigh, but where you carry any extra pounds. That’s because people who have what’s considered a healthy weight based on their body mass index (BMI) can still have an increased risk for heart disease if they have extra fat around their midsection, according to guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) published in April 2021 in Circulation.

This means that even if you’re not overweight, your next physical should involve a tape measure around your waist in addition to a check of your height and weight, according to the AHA. That’s because a growing body of evidence suggests that extra belly fat is a sign that you may have too much so-called visceral adipose tissue, a type of fat that wraps around abdominal organs and is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. “Having more visceral adipose tissue is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular disease at all BMI levels,” says Marie-Pierre St-Onge, PhD, senior author of the AHA guidelines and an associate professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.

Foods to Avoid If You Have Sensitive Teeth

 Having sensitive teeth is common: As many as 40 million Americans report having some pain in their teeth when eating or drinking hot, cold, acidic, sticky, or sugary foods, according to the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).  Women and young adults as well as those with receding gum lines reported the most tooth sensitivity in a study of nearly 800 patients at dental practices in the northwestern United States that was published in The Journal of the American Dental Association in March 2013.

While foods that are very hot or very cold can cause tooth pain, avoiding these eight foods in particular may help you find relief:

Tooth Sensitivity

 

Tooth sensitivity occurs when hot, cold, sweet, or acidic substances irritate tooth nerves.

What Causes Sensitive Teeth?

Teeth are covered by a protective substance called enamel. Under the gum line, the protective substance is called cementum. The layer under the enamel and cementum is the dentin. Dentin supports the enamel and protects the tooth pulp and nerve root in the middle of the tooth. A series of small tubes (tubules) runs through the dentin. Erosions in enamel and cementum allow substances to come into contact with tubules, which irritates the tooth nerve and results in pain. Cavities, gum disease, cracks in teeth, and enamel erosion may all contribute to tooth sensitivity.

How to Reduce Tooth Sensitivity

Treatments may include the use of toothpaste or fluoride gel that blocks pain sensation. A dentist may apply a crown or bonding material over the sensitive area. A gum graft may be necessary to cover a sensitive area in which gums have receded.

What Are the Three Most Common Symptoms of Undiagnosed Diabetes?

 

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that happens when blood sugar (glucose) is too high (hyperglycemia). Glucose is the body’s main source of energy, and the pancreas produces the hormone insulin that converts glucose from the food you eat into energy the body uses. When the body doesn’t make enough insulin or doesn’t produce any at all, or the body becomes insulin resistant, glucose doesn’t reach the cells to be used for energy. This results in diabetes. 

Types of diabetes include:

Type 1 diabetes (formerly called juvenile diabetes) is an autoimmune condition in which the body does not produce insulin 

Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, is a condition in which the body does not produce adequate insulin or does not use it efficiently

Gestational diabetes develops in some women during pregnancy and usually goes away after the baby is born

6 crucial steps to a good night’s sleep, according to an insomnia expert

 

• Sleep is defined as a state of unconsciousness from which a person can be aroused, therefore, external stimuli have no effect. In this state, the brain is relatively more responsive to internal stimuli than external stimuli.
• Sleep should be distinguished from coma. Coma is an unconscious state from which a person cannot be aroused.
• Sleep is essential for the normal, healthy functioning of the human body. It is a complicated physiological phenomenon that scientists do not fully understand.
• Historically, sleep was thought to be a passive state. However, sleep is now known to be a dynamic process and our brains are active during sleep.
• Sleep affects our physical and mental health and is essential for the normal functioning of all the systems of our body, including the immune system. The effect of sleep on the immune system affects one's ability to fight disease and endure sickness.
• Brain activity during sleep and wakefulness is a result of different activating and inhibiting forces that are generated within the brain. Neurotransmitters (chemicals involved in nerve signaling) control whether one is asleep or awake by acting on nerve cells (neurons) in different parts of the brain.
• Neurons located in the brainstem cause sleep by inhibiting other parts of the brain that keep a person awake.

The past year has wreaked havoc with our sleeping patterns, you know this already but studies back it up. Yet sleep has a huge impact on our emotional and physical wellbeing, and a chronic lack of it puts you at greater risk of obesity and developing certain conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. If you are one of the many currently struggling with shuteye, help is at hand. Insomnia specialist Kathryn Pinkham, founder of The Insomnia Clinic and a Boots sleep expert, has shared some of her top tips for getting a good night's kip.

Build your 'sleep drive'

“In order to fall asleep quickly and get good quality sleep we need to build up a strong ‘sleep drive,’” Pinkham explains. “This is basically an appetite for sleep – the longer we have been out of bed, the bigger our appetite. “ Our bodies are designed to build up a sleep drive during the day and go to sleep when the drive is highest “to take back the debt we have been building.”  Going to bed early and waking later will mean you struggle to fall asleep or wake throughout the night (or both) as your sleep drive is simply not strong enough, so the best way to strengthen your sleep drive is to shorten the amount of time you spend in bed.“Most poor sleepers tend to go to bed early or lie in in an attempt to get more sleep, but this results in a weak sleep drive. Try going to bed later and setting your alarm earlier, even if it’s only 30 minutes each end of your sleep window; you’re creating a much stronger sleep drive which results in better quality sleep,” she says.

Ryan Giggs appears in the dock to deny assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her younger sister

 

Former Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs is accused of “humiliating and degrading” his ex-girlfriend during a three-year relationship, a court heard today.

The 47-year-old appeared in the dock at Manchester and Salford magistrates court today, facing three criminal charges including alleged attacks on two women.It is said Giggs caused actual bodily harm to his ex-girlfriend, PR executive Kate Greville, 36, at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester on November 1 last year.

He has also been charged with engaging in coercive or controlling behaviour against Ms Greville between December 2017 and November last year. And the former winger is accused of the common assault of Ms Greville’s younger sister Emma during the same incident last November. Appearing in the dock with his hands clasped in front of him, Giggs entered not guilty pleas to the charges. Prosecutor Andrea Griffiths said Giggs’s alleged offending began at the start of their romance.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram sent the case to be tried by a jury, freeing Giggs on bail until a hearing at Manchester crown court on May 26. The former footballer, wearing a suit and black face mask, was greeted by calls of “Giggsy” as he arrived at court today shortly before 10am. He stepped back from his role as Wales manager after reports of his arrest last November, in the wake of a disturbance at his home.

Woman who didn’t return VHS tape for 22 years charged with felony

 

She was on tape delay.

A Texas woman learned earlier this week that she was a wanted felon for not returning a 22-year-old VHS tape. Caron McBride lived in Oklahoma when she rented the copy of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” in 1999, Oklahoma City Fox affiliate KOKH reported. The Norman, Okla., store she rented it from, Movie Place, went out of business in 2008.

In March 2000, McBride was charged with felony embezzlement after the tape was not returned, according to KOKH.

“I had lived with a young man, this was over 20 years ago,” McBride told the station. “He had two kids, daughters that were 8, 10 or 11 years old, and I’m thinking he went and got it and didn’t take it back or something. I have never watched that show in my entire life, just not my cup of tea.”

McBride learned about the charges while trying to change her name on her driver’s license after getting married in Texas, KOKH reported. The local district attorney in Oklahoma dismissed the case Wednesday after reviewing it.

“I mean, I didn’t try to deceive anyone over ‘Samantha the Teenage Witch.’ I swear,” McBride said, getting the title character’s name wrong and indirectly strengthening her case that she never watched the show.

McBride told KOKH she lost multiple jobs over the past 20 years for unexplained reasons. She will have to sue the state of Oklahoma to clear her record.

How to Cure Adrenal Fatigue Fast

Source

Have you been watching the news, and now feel very stressed out? Well, if you've been stressed more than usual lately, you might be experiencing adrenal fatigue. Keep on scrolling down to how to help cure adrenal fatigue effectively. 

What is adrenal fatigue? 

Let's dive into biology 101. Your adrenal glands produce different hormones that are essential to the function of your body. They're about the size of a nickel and sit above your kidneys. One of the hormones that they produce is cortisol, which correlates to stress. Adrenal fatigue happens when you push your body to the point where it is experiencing chronic stress. When this happens, your body stops producing cortisol as it should. Adrenal fatigue causes various symptoms, including body aches, fever, fatigue, nervousness, low energy, and digestive problems. 

Britain is sending a huge naval force through some of the most tense waters in Asia

 

The largest naval flotilla assembled by Britain in recent years will set sail in May on a months' long voyage through the Pacific, the country's Defense Ministry said Monday.

"When our Carrier Strike Group (CSG) sets sail next month, it will be flying the flag for Global Britain -- projecting our influence, signaling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow," UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday.

"The UK is not stepping back but sailing forth to play an active role in shaping the international system of the 21st century," Wallace said.

The strike group will be led by the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, marking its maiden deployment. The ship, one of the UK's two aircraft carriers, is the largest warship the UK has ever sent to sea.

Joining the carrier will be two destroyers, two anti-submarine frigates, a submarine and two auxiliary supply ships, a ministry statement said.

Why is tonight’s full moon called a pink supermoon?

 

If the clouds are accommodating, then tonight’s full “pink moon” will be a little bit bigger in the sky, as our planet’s only satellite is almost as close to us as its orbit allows. But there are a few misconceptions,   says Australian astrophysicist Prof Jonti Horner, about the names some people give to full moons.

Right about now in parts of North America, a native herb known as creeping phlox is coming into its pink bloom. Horner says in the United States, there’s a tendency towards using the names that Native Americans have for full moons. “Last month it was a wolf moon,” says Horner, of the University of Southern Queensland.

The pink moon is named not because it will take on a particular colour, but because of the colour of the flowering phlox. Modern skywatchers term tonight’s phenomenon a “supermoon” – a term coined by an American astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.Technically, we get a supermoon when a full moon occurs around the time our satellite reaches perigee – its closest point to the Earth.

Horner says tonight’s moon “definitely won’t be pink” but if you’re somewhere where there is pollution in the air, then it could take on a more reddish tinge.

Neighborhood surprises retiring mail carrier by filling mailboxes with presents

 

On Brett Wittwer's last day at work before retiring, the tables were turned. Wittwer, 69, spent 35 years as a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier, and was used to handing people packages. 

But on March 26, residents along his mail route were giving him gift bags and boxes filled with goodies. "It was crazy," Wittwer told Good Morning America. "It kind of brings a tear to your eye." Most of his career was spent delivering mail in the Cincinnati area, and when word spread he was going to retire, people along his route used a neighborhood Facebook page to plan a surprise sendoff. 

BMW 4 Series Coupe 2021 CENIPLUG review

You do have to pinch yourself in this job sometimes. First I was lucky enough to be able to run a BMW 420d Coupé, and then the other day a chap with a lorry turned up to swap it for the top ‘non-M’ 4 Series, the M440i xDrive. 

 BMW coupés have historically always felt special, but this one is arguably even more so. Straight-six engines are a dying breed (just look at what Mercedes-Benz is up to with its new C-Class for proof), so it feels like we’re keeping a bit of the heritage going with this particular car. Day-to-day and pottering around, you don’t notice the difference in pace too much between this and the four-cylinder diesel 420d. But just occasionally the road will open up and you can stretch the 440i a bit more, letting that six pull towards its redline, as smoothly as they have done since time began. The 420d wasn’t a slouch, but you could feel it running out of puff more quickly. Having said that, I will miss the 420d’s sensible and effortless ability to eat miles: it was a remarkably composed and comfortable companion. But my heart is definitely keener on this black car. 

Cadillac Lyriq V Will Be A Classy High-Performance EV

A luxury electric crossover with even more power. Increasingly, automakers are keen to slap their most hallowed high-performance badges on new EVs. The message is clear: electric power and exhilarating driving experiences can co-exist. That's why AMG versions of Mercedes' EQ models are on the way and why Audi now has an RS e-tron GT. Cadillac looks to be following the lead of the Germans.

 Coinciding with the reveal of the Cadillac Lyriq this week, the brand said that a high-performance V variant is being considered. So we decided to envision what a Cadillac Lyriq V would look like. Compared with the regular Lyriq, the V version imagined here has unique detailing for the front grille, a unique lower lip, different wheels, and black exterior detailing that replaces some of the chrome on the standard car. The black roof contrasts nicely with the red paint. As with the normal Lyriq, there are some who believe the face is a bit too fussy. 

Understanding The Dynamics of IT Certification & The Importance of an IT certification.

Achieving IT certifications offers several benefits, including personal fulfillment, financial growth, and a boost in confidence. But most of all, they show employers that you can focus and learn and that you take your career seriously.

So, what does it take to climb the ranks of IT?

Information technology (IT) is a highly dynamic field that provides plenty of opportunities for career advancement. In 2019, the IT market exceeded $2.461 billion. Very few markets, if any, are rising as fast as information technology. And as the industry continues to evolve and change, new types of certifications continue to appear on the market.

European Super League chief claims clubs CAN'T leave: Real Madrid boss says the Premier League Big Six have 'binding contracts' and that JP Morgan has NOT pulled £3.5bn backing

Florentino Perez has warned that no club can leave the European Super League after signing binding contracts to participate and denied JP Morgan have pulled their backing to fund the competition. Speaking out yet again after a flurry of clubs withdrew, Perez - who heads the controversial competition - slammed teams for 'manipulating our project' and vowed that the tournament 'still exists' and will go ahead regardless.

 The Premier League 'Big Six' - namely Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham - were the first to pull out of the Super League 48 hours after its official founding, but Real Madrid chief Perez stated earlier this week all 12 clubs involved signed a 'legally binding contract'.

 Speaking to Spanish outlet AS, the 74-year-old has reiterated his point that the plan is only on standby and accused others of 'manipulating' what the Super League project is about to mask fears of what they could lose. When asked what penalties clubs who have withdrawn could face, Perez said: 'I'm not going to explain now what a binding contract is... But the clubs can't leave. 'Some of them, because of pressure, have had to say that they're leaving. But this project or one like it will go forward, and I hope it's soon. 'The Super League still exists, and the members are still in it.