Vitamin D and Calcium 4 your bone

May be hundreds of times you hear the importance of calcium and vitamin D for bones and teeth strength. Calcium is a mineral that most are in the human body, namely 99 percent is in the skeleton, while the other one percent is in the body tissues and in the fluids that will be widely distributed throughout the body. To avoid having rotten bones in old age, consumption of adequate calcium should be performed since the age of five. Because the bone formation begin in the children time and reached its peak in the age of 35 years. Research also shows calcium can increase the height level of the child. The recommended standard of the world health body (WHO) for calcium consumption, namely 800 mg / day for children under five and 800-1000 mg / day for people aged 15-65 years.
Unfortunately, most people are reluctant to drink milk and eat cheese because no body wants to be fat. It is not surprising prevalence of osteopenia (early osteoporosis) in this country of 41.7 percent. However, many businesses do not do anything to replenish their daily calcium needs. The easiest way to get calcium in a pattern of eating is the day-to-day with consumption of products made from milk, yoghurt, cheese, green vegetables, wheat, and grains.

In order to calcium be able to work well in the body, we also need vitamin D. Without vitamin D, human gut is able to absorb only 10-15 percent of calcium in food. When people have sufficient vitamin D, calcium is able to be up to 30 percent. Various research shows, sun exposure can increase the production of vitamin D in the skin. However, even though we live in a country with the rich sunlight, vitamin D deficiency risk remains high. Style of life in urban communities who leave work and go home the morning after the sunset makes us less exposed to sunlight.

Activities that are largely conducted in a closed room and practice wear that cover most of the body also contribute to prevent entry of ultraviolet radiation rays to the skin. Not to fear, the women of the sunlight that can discolor the skin. Therefore, take some time each day for the "bath" the sun, especially in the morning and afternoon. The sun can also help us to improve mood. When you're glum or angry, try bask in the sun, the heart certainly frisky again.

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A Bigger, Stronger Chest

The Muscles that Make an Impact

Your chest is composed of two muscle groups: the pectoralis major and a smaller, deeper group called the pectoralis minor. Changing the angle of your body during classic chest exercises can challenge different parts of these muscle groups for maximum development. The anterior deltoids--the front of the shoulders--and the triceps assist your pectoral muscles. Strengthen them and you can use heavier weights for even more growth.Goal 1: Impressive Power!

The bench press is typically--though incorrectly--considered the true measure of a man's strength. A powerful chest will give you an impressive answer to the classic question "Whaddaya bench?" And people will think you must be equally strong in other exercises.


Goal 2: A Thinner Waistline!

Building a bigger, stronger chest also adds size to your shoulders and triceps, widening the top of your body. The larger you are on top, the smaller your waistline appears. So if your diet and aerobic plan are lagging, building a larger upper body will create the illusion of a thinner midsection.


Goal 3: More Fat Burning!

Swimming burns an astounding 280 to 400 calories in 30 minutes, depending on the stroke--with little risk of injury. Stronger pectoral and shoulder muscles give you more pulling power with every stroke and can keep your upper body from tiring out before your legs do. So you can stay in the water for a longer workout.


Goal 4: An Edge in Sports!

A strong chest is a big advantage in sports: setting picks in hoops, pushing off in football. Extra muscle packed onto your upper body also protects you against errant elbows and intentional punches. Build a bigger chest and you'll dominate.
Build the Perfect Chest

More Size, Greater Strength

There are two approaches to building an impressive chest. "The classic method is to isolate the pectoral muscles and minimize the involvement of other, secondary muscles," says celebrity trainer Steve Lischin, M.S., NASM, C.P.T. "However, a smarter plan for more strength and power begins with teaching your chest, shoulders, triceps, and other upper-body muscles to work together." Compound exercises that involve your upper body and incorporate functional core strength will get your muscles working together. This plan gives you exercises that isolate your chest muscles for size and exercises that integrate your shoulders and triceps for strength.



The Workout

You'll start the routine with a bench-press superset: a barbell bench press immediately followed by a dumbbell bench press. (The dumbbell press can be performed on a stability ball to develop core strength.) Then you'll follow with exercises from the other four sections of the workout. This mix places your body in various positions to thoroughly train your middle, upper, lower, inner, and outer pectoral muscles, as well as your shoulders. The workout finishes with a power move for your triceps, the weakest of the muscle groups that contribute to chest strength.

Muscles must rest to grow. Perform the workout twice a week, but listen to your body--if you feel sore, do the routine only once a week.

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5 Common Misdiagnoses for Men

The scary truth is that sometimes your M.D. is just plain wrong. Take these five common misdiagnoses for men, some of which could lead to facing the knife unnecessarily. A better plan? Protect yourself with the strategies outlined here, and feel better faster.1. Diagnosis: Allergies
What you might really have: Vasomotor rhinitis

Doctors usually blame congestion, watery eyes, and serious bouts of sneezing on allergies, but unless you recently moved or changed jobs, it's rare to develop allergies in your 20s and 30s. Instead, your symptoms may be the result of vasomotor rhinitis, a condition triggered by nonallergen irritants, such as perfume, smog, and cigarette smoke, that inflame your nasal mucous membranes, says Patricia Wheeler, M.D., an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Louisville. The allergy medicines you're prescribed won't provide relief.

Your strategy: Schedule a skin-prick test to identify any allergies. No dice? Then it's time to go over potential triggers with your doctor.

2. Diagnosis: Torn Meniscus
What you might really have: Iliotibial-band friction syndrome

The average doctor's first step in diagnosing severe knee pain is an MRI. The test is so sensitive that it almost always reveals tears in the meniscus, the cartilage in your knee joint. "Nine times out of 10, it's normal wear and not the source of the pain," says Ronald Grelsamer, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Mt. Sinai Hospital of New York. Surgical treatment "will lead away from the real problem." An MRI won't reveal injuries to your IT band—fibers stretching from your hip to your knee—a source of knee pain that's treated with physical therapy or orthotics.

Your strategy: Request an Ober's test, a physical exam that reveals injuries to the IT band.


3. Diagnosis: Sinus Headache
What you might really have: Migraines

Researchers at the American Headache Society examined 100 people with brain pain and found 86 percent of those who thought they had sinus headaches actually had migraines. "If a doctor hears 'facial pressure,' he'll assume sinus headache," says Craig Schwimmer, M.D., an otolaryngologist in Dallas, Texas. But sinus meds can't defeat the heavyweight of headaches.

Your strategy: Mark every headache you have on your calendar. If they occur regularly for more than 2 weeks, call a neurologist.

4. Diagnosis: Bronchitis
What you might really have: Asthma

If you hack it up hard after each cold you catch, the culprit could be "hidden" asthma, says Sidney S. Braman, M.D., a professor of medicine at Brown University medical school. "You shouldn't develop a nagging cough with every cold," he says. "If so, a bug may be triggering asthma you didn't know you had."

Your strategy: Set up a pulmonary-function test to measure lung strength. Lung capacity lower than 80 percent may signal asthma.

5. Diagnosis: Appendicitis
What you might really have: An inflamed lymph node or stomach virus

Despite advances in diagnostic screening, 16 percent of appendectomies are performed on patients who don't need them, according to a recent University of Washington study. Appendicitis can be deadly, so doctors are quick to remove the 6-centimeter organ before doing a CT scan to confirm the diagnosis. An inflamed lymph node or virus could produce similar symptoms (and not require surgery).

Your strategy: If blood tests reveal that your white-cell count is over 10,000 cells per microliter, ask for a CT scan of your stomach.

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Healing Aids

It's about as thin as a sheet of paper, yet your skin is the first line of defense against everything from thornbushes to steak knives. Something's got to give, and most of the time it's you. Sure, your body's biggest organ can bounce back from injury better than almost any other part of the body. But even after your skin looks sealed on the outside, there's still a lot left to fix underneath.

"A wound that's been closed for 2 weeks is only 5 percent healed," says Hayes Gladstone, M.D., director of the division of dermasurgery at the Stanford University school of medicine. The dermal layer underneath, which provides nutrients and support, is still under construction.
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"Scar remodeling goes on behind the scenes-the fibroblasts and collagen start reworking themselves, strengthening the scaffold and the wound underneath the skin."
The smarter you treat the wound, the better you'll heal. Three high-tech healing aids that can help:

Seal it up Stitches work because they keep the healing surfaces in constant contact. A "second skin" bandage like Johnson & Johnson's Advanced Healing Bandage will do the same thing, keeping the cut sealed against movement in all directions, not just along the fault line. Without this support, "the tension might just stretch the skin enough that it will widen the scar and it will take longer to heal," says Dr. Gladstone.

Get Creamed

Copper peptides in creams such as ProCyte can help your wound heal faster at first, according to recent research by Dr. Gladstone. Amino acids in the cream act like tugboats, steering copper molecules into the skin, where they're thought to boost blood- vessel formation.

Another tip: Wear sunscreen over the wound when you're outdoors. You'll keep the vulnerable exposed edges from being nailed by UV light.

BYO Skin

Patches created from a patient's own skin are being used by doctors in Great Britain to drastically reduce recovery times. The Myskin bandage duplicates a sample of the patient's skin cells hundreds of times, then places these cells on a thin nutrient surface.

Doctors apply the mixture to the wound, releasing the cells and prompting new layers of skin to grow.


By: Matt Bean

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5 Health Tests that Could Save Your Life

There are health tests we need, and those we don't. Pelvic ultrasound? Sounds ultrasuspicious. Occult blood test? Only if it comes with an exorcism. Urinalysis? Great, now I'll be kicked off the tour . . .

It's tough to know which of these are truly essential, especially when they're packaged with dozens of other tests and called an "executive health exam." And yet thousands of men sign up for these screenings—at an out-of-pocket cost of up to $10,000 apiece—based on the sales pitch that a test may uncover a hidden health condition.

Of course, 10 grand might be worth it if all that random screening actually did any good: But a seminal study by the Rand Corporation found that patients who had the most screenings over 5 years were no healthier than those given less medical attention. This isn't to say executive health exams are scams. They can be quite valuable—if you know which of the procedures are worth-while. So we asked our experts to create an a la carte menu to bring to your GP. Think of these as the best tests for a recession.
Cardiac CT Angiography

These colorful 3-D images allow radiologists to calculate one of your most important heart numbers: your coronary artery calcium score, a measure of how much plaque is piling up in your arteries. A 2007 study of over 10,000 people published in the journal Atherosclerosis reported that calcium scores alone can predict heart attacks, while a 2003 study found that a high calcium score is associated with a tenfold increase in heart-disease risk. This is compared with a less-than-twofold increase in risk from traditional risk factors such as diabetes and smoking. The test has one significant downside: The radiation exposure from your average cardiac CT is equal to 600 chest x-rays, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This produces a 1-in-5,000 risk of cancer, another study reveals.

Who needs it: Men with some of the risk factors for heart disease whose physicians may be on the fence about starting treatment. "In these medium-risk cases, cardiac CT scans and calcium scoring can provide the extra level of information that we feel we need," says Gerald Fletcher, M. D., a professor of cardiology at the Mayo Clinic. The lower the calcium score, the lower the risk. If you reach 112, your physician might recommend aspirin or statins.

Cost: $350 to $900. Most insurance companies will reimburse you if you've previously had an abnormal stress test or chest pain.

Tip: Protect your heart and live longer by avoiding these 30 worst foods in America.

Bone Density Scan

Think osteoporosis affects only old ladies? Fact is, men begin losing bone mass at age 30. That's why it's important to assess the state of your skeleton now with a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan, which uses low-radiation x-rays to gauge bone mineral density (it can also measure body fat percentage). "DEXA scans allow us to identify people at high risk for fracture so they can start treatment to strengthen their bones before a fracture occurs," says Murray J. Favus, M. D., director of the bone program at the University of Chicago medical center. Your doctor might suggest adding strengthening workouts to your exercise program and supplementing your daily diet with up to 1,000 milligrams of calcium and up to 400 IU of vitamin D.

Who needs it: Anyone with any osteoporosis risk factors: inactivity, smoking, a family history of the disease.

Cost: $250 to $300. To increase the odds of your insurance covering the scan, make sure your doctor notes any risk factors.

Tip: Lose weight and build a lean, sexy body fast with this tremendous new iPhone app, which guides you through more than 160 exercises and 18 of the most effective fitness plans ever, organized by personal goal.


VO2 Max Test

With the VO 2 max test, you hop on a treadmill or stationary bike and give your maximum effort while wearing a mask that captures your every breath. By analyzing the amount of oxygen you consume, the test determines how efficiently your body extracts and uses oxygen from the air. This makes it the gold standard of fitness markers, as well as a strong indicator of your overall health. "Blood pressure, cholesterol—those are what we call 'remote markers.' The best predictor of your longevity is going to be your fitness," says Walter Bortz, M. D., a longevity researcher at Stanford University.

Who needs it: Anyone who wants their blood to pump. If your score is under 18 ml/kg/min, talk to your doctor about increasing the intensity of your workouts.

Cost: $110 to $160. The test is available at physical therapy, rehab, or cardiopulmonary centers. Insurance providers won't cover it.

Tip: How fit are you? Assess your fitness level with these ten tests.

Virtual Colonoscopy

By definition, something "virtual" usually can't compare to the real thing. But with a virtual colonoscopy, you avoid the two downsides of a traditional colonoscopy—sedation and the risk of a perforated colon—while still benefiting from the one big upside: test results you can stake your life on. "Virtual colonoscopies have the same sensitivity for detecting large polyps, which are the precursor lesions of colon cancer," says Judy Yee, M. D., a professor of radiology at the University of California at San Francisco. Though the CT scanning technology of a virtual colonoscopy can miss some smaller polyps, a University of Wisconsin study found that these are usually benign anyway. And don't sweat the radiation; you'll receive about 5 to 8 millisieverts, an amount that isn't considered dangerous, says Dr. Yee.

Who needs it: People ages 50 and older, especially those on blood thinners, because an "oops" with a regular scope could cause dangerous internal bleeding. The exception: If your family has a history of colon cancer, you should be screened at least 10 years before the age your relative was when he or she was first diagnosed, Dr. Yee says. People who are overweight or inactive, drink or smoke heavily, or have an inflammatory bowel disease should also consider early screening.

Cost: $500 to $1,000. Many health-care plans now recognize the effectiveness of virtual colonoscopies and increasingly cover them.

Tip: Cut back on calories and chemicals by avoiding the 20 unhealthiest drinks in America.


Nutritional Evaluation
While it's not a test per se, putting your diet under the microscope could result in a leaner body and a longer life. "The benefits of meeting with a dietitian are accountability, moral support, and troubleshooting if your progress stalls," says Alan Aragon, M. S., the Men's Health Weight-Loss Coach. In a 2008 Kaiser Permanente study, diabetic patients who received nutritional counseling were nearly twice as likely to lose weight as those who had no guidance. To find a registered dietitian who can see beyond the food pyramid, Aragon recommends going to the American Dietetic Association's Web site (eatright.org)and clicking on "Find a Nutrition Professional." Then call the R. D. and ask how he or she stays up on the latest research, which should include reading journals such as the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition or the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Who needs it: Anyone who should lose weight or simply wants to know how they can eat to beat disease.

Cost: $40 to $75 a session. Your insurance company may reimburse you if you have a condition that can be improved with diet changes. Ask your doctor for a referral.

Tip: Upgrade your health instantly—and eat well for life—with the best foods for your 20s, 30s, and 40s and beyond.

By: Justin Park

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