What Should I Know About Hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B remains one of those scary terms that you occasionally hear health care professionals use. You also hear about this somewhat mysterious disease in the media from time to time. But just what is Hepatitis B and what should we know about it?

Hepatitis B is a DNA virus that can be found in the blood. It attacks the liver. A name you may run across is HBV, which is short for Hepatitis B Virus. The term, hepatitis, means inflammation of the liver.

What is important to know when considering how HBV is spread is that, as far as we know, it is transmitted mainly via blood contact. To be a little more specific, infection can occur when the blood from an infected person enters the body. Other body fluids can also contain HBV, but usually in much lower concentrations. It is possible to receive HBV via a bite from an infected person. It is suspected that the sharing of toothbrushes or razors might allow for an infection to be contracted.

HBV is also a sexually transmitted disease. The usual increased risk factors for other sexually transmitted diseases apply here as well. For example, promiscuous and homosexual behavior may increase the chances for infection.

People who are hemophiliacs are also at higher risk as well as those who live with a person who has a chronic HBV infection. Having a job that involves contact with blood can also put you at increased risk for obvious reasons. Drug use is another risk factor.

It is possible for your body to fight off an HBV infection. If that happens you will be free of the virus and you will eventually not even test positive for the HBV surface antigen in your blood. An antigen is simply defined as a substance that causes the production of antibodies. And antibodies are those proteins that are used by your body to get rid of antigens. You might have guessed that a blood test can show if a person is suffering from a HBV infection.

Some peoples’ bodies do not fight the infection off completely and they suffer from chronic hepatitis. The virus remains in the body for the long term. This type of person can infect others. Currently, it is estimated that 1.25 million people in the United States suffer from a chronic Hepatitis B infection.

There are vaccines to help prevent a HBV infection and there are drugs that can be used to fight an infection. Interestingly enough, a vaccine can be useful after a possible HBV infection to help prevent the disease from developing. Check with your doctor to get current recommendations on HBV vaccinations.

Often times a Hepatitis B infection can pass without the person even being aware that they had it. Sometimes there are no symptoms. There can also be symptoms ranging from very minor to very serious. On relatively rare occasions, a Hepatitis B infection can cause death, though this happens to a very small percentage of infected individuals.

This article is for information purposes only and is not meant to diagnose, treat, or prevent any health condition. Seek the advice of a qualified medical professional if you have or think you might have any health condition, including Hepatitis B.

Dave Snape writes for http://tobeinformed.com - a website that explores health, fitness and wellness.

You have permission to reproduce this article electronically or in print so long as the uuthor information and URL stays with the article . If published on the web, the hyperlink must be active.

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I have been using some natural vision improvement techniques for approximately 3 weeks. I don’t have anything concrete to report. But here is my experience with it.

I have an eye chart in my living room that I use to test my vision. Immediately after doing vision improvement exercises, I do notice that I can read further down the chart and the letters appear more clear and sharp than usual. After a while the effect fades and my vision seems to go back to where it was.

I have also beend doing eye-washes daily and drinking bilberry juice or tea, whichever is available. I have to say that the eye washing is very pleasant and I was surprised how much oily or lipid deposits are washed from the eye each time.

I would love to hear from anyone that has any experience whatsoever with natural vision improvement – good, bad or indifferent. I would like very much to hear of your experience or thoughts on the matter of natural vision therapy.

I have opened the comment section below on this post, so feel free to leave your response below. If you don’t see any responses yet, you can be the first! Just click on “no Comment” and scroll to the bottom and you will see where you can leave comments on this post.

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Technorati Tags: natural+vision+improvement, eyes, eye+sight, vision, eyesight, natural+vision+therapy,,

Contact Lens Solution tainted:

Looks like Bausch & Lomb’s Renu with MoistureLoc solution is under suspicion of facilitating an eye fungal infection that causes temporary blindness. The contact lens solution maker has voluntarily stopped shipping this particular lens solution.

If you wear contacts be very careful. I have been using a brand of solution for disinfection that I get at Wal Mart. It is cheaper than the expensive B&L and Alcon solutions and seems to work just fine.

I’ve been wearing contacts since I was 12, so about 25 years now. I’ve recently started washing my eyes with and eyecup, lemon juice and distilled water. I just use a single drop of the lemon juice. Don’t do this yourself, consult with your eye doctor if you are having any eye problems.

I love washing my eyes. I admit it sounds kind of gross, but people used to do it back in the early 1900s. You can get eyewash and an eye cup at just about any drugstore.

After wearing contact lenses all day, my eyes enjoy getting ‘washed’. They feel better. It is nice do do upon waking up too.

Here is a list of Contact Lens Vendors.

Bird Flu

You know it is amazing how much Bird Flu turns up in the NEWS. It seems like everyone is afraid.

I guess if I were to get bird flu, I would jump for colloidal silver at my local drug store. Silver has the ability to kill both bacteria and viruses. But, you’re not likely to hear doctors talk about it. For one, it is available without a prescription.

One of the side effects of too much silver in the body is the skin turning blue. I don’t think anyone wants that.

Honestly though, I haven’t been sick in over 6 years. I ‘ve been practicing Falun Gong exercises and I can’t help but think it has an influence over the health of my body.

Things people have used on Cancer

I have a book on Natural Cancer Treatments. It has over 400 pages and is very informative.

Of course, if you have cancer you should consult with your physician, but it certainly is nice to have additional information at your fingertips!

People have used many methods to combat cancer. And there are many theories out there on cancer causes too. Who is right and what works? That is the question.

Articles about Cancer

Weight Loss

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is the number one downloaded book on Clickbank.

I recently did a post on weight loss, check it out.

Personally, I don’t think it is that hard to lose or control weight. It is a matter of a little bit of knowledge. There are foods that raise metabolism. It is also prudent to avoid high fat and sugar combination foods. Just take a look at the snacks people it and you will discover the great majority of the problem.

Obesity is a big problem in the United States. I’ve recently read that lawmakers are trying to outlaw junk food from schools. It seems that 18% of boys and 16% of girls are overweight. This number is up from 14% previously.

Articles on Weight Loss

ADHD

It appears that the FDA has approved a patch to control Attention Defecit Disorder.
The patch contains methylphenidate. This is what is in Ritalin.

In my humble opinion, too many kids are on this drug. I sometimes wonder if this is about controlling the behavior of kids more than about whether they actually have ADHD or not. And frankly, it scares me.

Anyway, there is an ADHD herbal remedy that I would personally choose if I had ADHD over prescription medications. But that is just me, consult with your physician if you or your loved one suffers from ADHD or ADD.

Drugs

Merck, a pharmaceutical company was ordered to pay 4 Million on a case on Vioxx, a painkiller that may be linked to heart problems.

One thing I learned in school that I will pass on to you is the generalization:
“All drugs have side effects”. Make sure you know what the side effects are for any drugs you are taking. There should be information that comes with your prescription that details the possible side effects of a drug.

Listen to the story on Vioxx

Why not go one further and ask your pharmacist about side effects, before you purchase the prescription.

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When talking about loosing or controlling weight, I can tell you about my personal methods. Please keep in mind that I am not a health care professional and that you should not follow my example, but instead consult with a qualified health care professional on weight loss and before dieting or taking up any form of exercise. This article is for information purposes only.

Quote: I don’t like to follow the mainstream except when the mainstream agrees with my opinion.

What do I think is important for controlling my weight?
First off, I believe that some type of exercise is necessary.

I prefer the exercises of Falun Dafa. The reasons are many. First off, I like to avoid the tired and worn out feeling that comes from ‘traditional’ workouts such as going to the gym or aerobic exercises.(though I certainly concede that both have their advantages.)

I like the Falun Dafa exercises because when I’m done, instead of feeling dragged down, and ready to crash, I feel energized and full of peaceful wholesome energy.

***
Next, it is my opinion that most of the various cultures in the world, including and perhaps especially the United States where I live, inadvertently encourages eating food combinations that promote weight gain.

Considering that the United States has an epidemic of obesity, perhaps my thoughts are not too far off the mark.

So what are unhealthy eating combinations? Well, in my opinion, the primary culprit is mixing fat and sugar together. Why? Well a fat molecule is made up of a fatty acid head and a string of carbohydrates as a long tail. So, when you put that combination of foods in your body, you give your body the ingredients it needs to create fat molecules. And we can’t blame our bodies for doing what they do naturally, can we?

There is actually much more technical rationale for what I believe, but I want to keep this simple. Just keep in mind that I believe that eating sugar and fat together is a bad idea.

I don’t believe in giving up fat, quite the contrary, the right kinds of fat are not only beneficial but absolutely essential to the proper maintenance of the human body.

One of the greatest mistakes a dieter can make is avoiding fat.

And one of the smartest moves in my amateur opinion IS avoiding the combination of Fat and Sugar as I’ve already stated.

What are some common examples of the weight producing combinations? Cookies, ice cream, frappachinos, cake, milk shakes, hamburgers and buns, meat and potatoes, hot dogs on buns, meat and rice (though this is a lot better than meat and potatoes because rice has a metabolism raising effect), pizza, non skinny foo foo drinks such as mochas, are good examples of bad food combinations. If you get these with skim milk it is not as bad.

Oh, and whole, 2%, and 1% milk are natural combinations of fat and sugar. I like to drink skim milk.

You get the idea. There are plenty of examples I’m sure you could think of yourself.

Another thing that is important in keeping my weight controlled as well as keeping some tone is that I know a person needs a protein source approximately every 8 hours. If your body doesn’t get protein (a complete protein that contains all of the essential amino acids) then it will catabolize or ‘rob’ the protein from your muscle tissue, this leads to less muscle tone and may contribute to flabby muscles.

So, what do you do to get a complete protein every 8 hours? My personal favorite is drinking a cup of skim milk. I know some people are lactose intolerant. A little tuna or lean chicken works well. You just need a small amount, you don’t have to eat an entire chicken. Maybe you could cut that chicken up in portions and have a little bit of it once every 8 hours or so until it is gone.

Some people think soy milk is good. In my opinion it is not. First of all, there is speculation that much of the value of protein in soy is greatly reduced by processing. I suspect that soy caused me to actually gain weight when I used it.

Secondly, if you like soy and soy products, you might want to do a google search on ‘the dangers of soy’.

Stay tuned for moreon this subject in the near future.