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What Are Epidural Steroid Injections?

September 25, 2010 by Radical_Dreamers

The epidural steroid injections are long lasting steroid (CORTISONE) injections that are injected into the Epidural space, the area which surrounds the spinal cord and the nerves coming out of it, to relieve the severe back pains, inflammation and/or swelling of nerves in the Epidural space, and to reduce pain, tingling & numbness and other symptoms caused by nerve inflammation / irritation or swelling. The epiduralsteroid injections are sometimes also called spinal injections.

The epidural steroid injections were first used in 1952 to cure low back pain associated with sciatica (pain in the sciatic nerve due to lumbar disc herniation). The epiduralsteroid injections are popular non-surgical treatment for low back pain. The epidural steroid injections are mixture of local anesthetics, such as lidocaine or bupivacaine and the steroid medications triamcinolone – Aristocort® or methylprednisolone – Depo-medrol®, Celestone-Soluspan.
The epidural steroid injections are effective non-surgical treatment for the patients suffering from severe acute or chronic low back pain and/or leg pain caused by the conditions, such as lumbar disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, and lumbar spinal stenosis.

The epidural steroid injections are administered making patient lie flat on x-ray table on their abdomen. Before giving epidural steroid injections, skin is numbed with lidocaine that is similar to the novocaine (anesthetic) that the dentists use. The patients may feel their legs slightly heavy and may be numb after epiduralsteroid injections, and they are monitored for 15 to 20 minutes with EKGs, blood pressure cuffs and blood oxygen monitoring devices.

The immediate effects of epidural steroid injections disappear in a few hours. The epidural steroid injections (cortisone) start working in about 3 to 5 days, and their effect lasts for several days to a few months. If the first injections do not relieve of pain in about a week to two weeks, the patients may be recommended to go for epiduralsteroid injections again. If the second injections also do fail to work, the patients may be recommended to go for the third round of epidural steroid injections, but patients can't be given more than 3 epidural steroid injections in a period of six months.

However, epidural steroid injections are linked with some risks, side effects, and possibility of complications, which include risk of spinal puncture with headaches, infection, bleeding inside the Epidural space with nerve damage, worsening of symptoms etc. The side effects of CORTISONE may include weight gain, increase in blood sugar (mainly in diabetics), water retention, suppression of body's own natural production of cortisone etc.

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Quick Guide To Accepting Payments Online

by Radical_Dreamers

There are many ways of accepting payments online, some are easier, some more expensive, and some which offer ways to take online payments, and pay affiliates without tracking them yourself.

Accepting payments online can be a minefield and as the amount of online payment processors grows, the choice becomes more difficult as to which online payment processor to use. Here we weigh up the pros and cons of 3 of the top online payment processors.

One of the biggest and most widely accepted ways of accepting payment online is to use Paypal. Anyone who has used Ebay is likely to have already come accross Paypal even if they haven't signed up for an account. Paypal allows the online merchant to accept instant payments from customers either directly from the customers Paypal funds or from a credit card. This combined with its high profile, and use by Ebay makes it a useful payment processor to the new marketer online.

Paypal also gives you easy ways to create buttons and sales links to sell your products, and in the case of digital or downloadable products can be set to send a customer straight to the download page so your delivery work is done automatically. The thing to bear in mind is the fees associated with Paypal, as they take a percentage of every sale paid through them. The fees can soon add up and knock a hole in your profits.

Another favourite payment processor with online marketers is ClickBank.com who also accept credit cards on your behalf.

Clickbank is preferred to Paypal by some vendors due to its built in affiliate program which also has many affiliates searching for products to sell for commissions.

Clickbank makes it easy to setup an affiliate program and pays your affiliates for you directly, and can also offer the instant downloads the same as Paypal. As it already has a huge army of affiliates and people making search scripts to find products in the Clickbank marketplace it seems to be the answer to all your online sales needs, but unfortunately Clickbank have made it difficult to sell more than one product, so you need another account each time you want to sell something, or all your products on one page for affiliates to send their potential clients to.

Another thing in Clickbanks favour is that they have recently started allowing payment from Paypal, so that makes the payment options more varied for your customers, and affiliate customers.

Clickbanks one drawback is that you can only sell digital products through its system, so if you want to sell physical products such as books etc. then you need to look elsewhere.

Another option is to use an online credit card processor such as 2 Checkout (AKA 2CO) which offers the user the ability to accept all kinds of credit cards, and is able to be "plugged into" many shopping cart scripts for use on websites. Although it offers no affiliate program itself, 2Checkout doesn't stop you using multi level affiliate scripts, unlike Paypal, and Clickbank which are limited in this respect. Where 2Checkout doesn't compare so favourably is in the fees charged for each transaction, but you do only pay a one off fee to get an account unlike most credit card processors which charge fees and a monthly or yearly membership fee.

These are just some of the choices available to the online marketer who wants to accept payments online, all have pros and cons, but you need to look at what you want to do, and choose one or two of these services to start selling your products online. Use the one which best fits your business model, and budget, you can always look at other ways to accept payment later, but these will get you started.

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Tea: Origins, Flavors and Health Benefits

by Radical_Dreamers

How many times do we just want to drink tea after a heavy meal, but are then bombarded with all the various tea flavours that we get lost. This article answers that need.

What you should always remember is that there are only four types of tea.
1) Black tea
2) Green tea
3) White tea
4) Oolong tea

All these are made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis, also known as the tea plant. Other herbal infusions such as chamomile tea, ginger tea or red tea made of rooibos leaves are disqualified as types of tea since the tea plant is not involved in their making. The difference between the four tea variations lies in the process of making them. In addition, each type of tea has another flavor and various health benefits.

1) Black Tea
The strong flavored burnt Sienna colored hot beverage is the most popular type of tea in the West. Either served with a squeeze of lemon or added milk and a cube of sugar, the cup ofblack tea is part of daily tea ceremonies that take place worldwide. Black tea is made of heavily oxidized Camellia sinensis leaves. When served plain, it contains no calories, carbohydrates, or fats. A cup ofblack tea contains more caffeine than any other types of tea but less than in any cup of coffee.

2) Green Tea
The lightly oxidized tea has been popular in China, Japan and Korea for centuries. Recently, rumors on its health benefits increased its popularity in the West as well. It has been proven that drinking green tea can lower cholesterol, prevent cancer, increase metabolic rates and be helpful in variety of other conditions and illnesses. Thegreen tea is lightly oxidized, dried, but not fermented. It is usually served plain, without sugar or milk. Since some of the green tea variants taste a bit bitter, it should be brewed in lower temperature than the boiling point.

3) White Tea
White tea is rarer and more expensive than the other types of teas mentioned above. Originated in the Fujian province of china, the white tea is made of young Camellia sinensis leaves, which go through a long process of steaming or frying, inactivate fermenting and drying. Since the leaves are harvested while the buds are still covered by white hair, it is called white tea. White tea has the most delicate, sweet taste than the other types of tea. Moreover, it contains the smallest amount of caffeine and the largest amount of antioxidant that help prevent cancer.

4) Oolong Tea
The traditional Chinese tea is the common companion of Chinese foods such as dim sum and chop suey in American Chinese restaurants. The oolong tea, black dragon in Chinese, got its name after its long, dark distinguished leaves that look like wild black dragons when brewed. The unique taste of the oolong tea is achieved by a long process that includes sun drying of the Camellia sinensis leaves, light oxidization, cooling and drying processes. The result is a lighter flavor than the popularblack tea and stronger than the delicate green tea.

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How To Reduce Blood Pressure Symptoms

by Radical_Dreamers

Blood pressure is the pressure exerted on the arteries. Blood pressure can differ from person to person. When your blood pressure is measured it is expressed in two numbers such as 120/80.The figure on the top denotes the pressure when the heart is pumping blood and its muscle is contracted. If your blood pressure is measured as 140/90, then you are a patient of hypertension or high blood pressure and therefore you need to reduce your blood pressure level. However, you should be aware that blood pressure rises with age and so as you grow older you should keep a check on your blood pressure and reduce blood pressure if it is above the normal blood pressure level.

Reducing blood pressure to normal levels helps reduce the risk of serious health problems like heart or kidney disorders. You can reduce blood pressure in several ways. Firstly, if you are overweight, you should aim to reduce your weight to within the guidelines for your height, body structure, and age. BMI, or Body Mass Index, is the best way to decide what is the ideal weight for you. This measure takes into account your height and weight.

However, don't start a crash diet, as this can create further problems for your body. Reduce your weight slowly through eating a sensible diet and doing some form of exercise. Exercise will help you shift unwanted pounds and will also plays a positive role in reducing high blood pressure. Try to incorporate exercise into your daily regime, start easily with walking and build up ton include more aerobic exercises

To further reduce blood pressure, reduce your intake of salty foods and avoid or cut down on alcohol. Including foods rich in calcium and potassium, as well as fish oils and magnesium can help reduce high blood pressure.

You have to maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to control your blood pressure. Some of the important and essential tips are following a healthy diet with low salt and sodium, maintaining healthy weight, and being active physically, limiting alcohol intake and putting a stop to smoking.

It is very important to keep your blood pressure level normal or reduce blood pressure if it rises because high blood pressure can cause severe health problems and damage the body. One of the important revelations in regards to reducing blood pressure is intake of sesame oil. Using sesame oil instead of other edible oil helps in reducing blood pressure or lowering blood pressure. Sesame oil contains approximately 43 percent polyunsaturated fatty acids, which has an impact on the blood pressure and contributes to reducing blood pressure

Although lifestyle changes helps in reducing blood pressure they are not usually enough. It is important to continue taking any medication prescribed by your doctor. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle along with medications can reduce blood pressure.

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How To Improve Your Lousy Writing Skills In The Workplace

by Radical_Dreamers

If there's one important reason why you need to write effectively in the workplace, it is this: the quality of your writing imprints a lasting impression on the reader. This reader may be your boss, a client, or a person who is ready to make a billion dollar business deal with you.

Have you ever read a poorly-written document that made you lose interest right away? It was so poorly-written that you lost trust in the author and asked yourself why the author was wasting your time? How about those junk e-mails that sneak into your junk box like annoying cockroaches? You know the ones I'm referring to: the ones pitching vitamins, software, and sex aids. These e-mails are the biggest showcase of writing blunders, stricken to death with grammar mistakes, misspellings, and sloppy sentences. I doubt these e-mails pull a sale because their poor writing style immediately alienates the reader.

What impression does your writing leave on your boss, clients, or co-workers? Does your writing alienate readers, cause you to lose sales or clients, or cost you job promotions? Or does your writing build streams of loyal readers, increase sales for the company, and help you earn six figures a year at your job?

Whatever type of writing you do in the workplace, always know this reality: readers believe the quality of your writing reflects your skills, work ethics, and integrity as a person. If you write eloquently, clearly, and lively, the reader trusts you and you are able to build rapport quickly. If your writing is sloppy, disorganized, and riddled with errors, the reader assumes the rest of your work is flawed, your work ethics are flawed, and perhaps as a person you are flawed. Why should this reader waste his time reading the rest of your junk or even do business with you?

This article provides fail-safe strategies to help refine your writing and help you to communicate with clarity, simplicity, and impact so you will never write junk again. You will learn five masterful steps to guide you in planning, writing, and refining an article; and you will learn how to avoid common writing mistakes.

AIM! FIRE! FIRE!

To become a superb writer, your first task is to establish your aim.

Yiddish novelist, dramatist and essayist, Sholem Asch, once said, "Writing comes more easily if you have something to say."

What message do you want to convey with your writing?

To establish your aim, ask yourself:

1) "Why am I writing this document?"
2) "What do I want to communicate?"
3) "Do I want to inform, educate, report, persuade, challenge, or entertain?"

Developing your aim will help you to adopt the best writing style for your reader. For example, an educational document will likely be more formal than one written for entertaining.

CONNECT WITH YOUR READERS

To write effectively, you need to connect strongly with your readers. Ask yourself:

1) "For whom am I writing this? Will I be writing for colleagues, my supervisor, my team of employees, or our clients?"

2) "How much information do my readers need?"

3) "How familiar are my readers with the topic?"

4) "How much time do my readers have? Would my readers prefer a short, succinct presentation of facts and statistics, or more narration and exposition?"

Knowing your audience will allow you to write content in a way that appeals to your readers.

SHAPE YOUR DOCUMENT

You know your aim. You know the people who will likely read your document. Now plan your document. What information will it contain? What information will most likely grab the reader and hold their interests? What points do you need to get across? Start with a rough outline of ideas. Then go through the outline and add more information and more detail. An outline will create the structure for your document. Soon enough your writing will come more easily, quickly, and with greater clarity.

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW BEST

At this stage, read over your outline and write the first draft. Establish the main idea of the document and support your argument throughout. If a blank white page glares back at you like headlights, just start writing on whatever topic you know best. According to American novelist Jack London, "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." Don't worry about the sequence if the ideas come to you out of order. You can cut and paste later.

WORDY WEIGHT LOSS

If you have time, step away from the document. Come back to it later with a fresh mind. Now add material where needed. Trim away unnecessary sections. Refine the text to communicate what you want to say. Remember: less is more. Try not to repeat ideas. Repetition, unless necessary, is tiresome for the reader. Keep the piece moving along. Use a lively pace. Progress through your points efficiently.

The following sections address some of the most common writing problems. Use these tips to write more clearly, effectively, and lively.

I.) PUNCTUATION

a) Apostrophes

Do not use an apostrophe in the possessive form of "it."

Incorrect: Our department submitted it's reports for 2005 last week.
Correct: Our department submitted its reports for 2005 last week.

Do not use apostrophes in the possessive forms "his," "hers," and "ours."

Incorrect: The window office is her's.
Correct: The window office is hers.

Do not use apostrophes in plural nouns.

Incorrect: How many new computer's are we getting?
Correct: How many new computers are we getting?

b) Commas

Do not connect two complete sentences with a comma.

Incorrect: The meeting was cancelled, I finished my work early.
Correct: The meeting was cancelled, so I finished my work early.
Correct: Since the meeting was cancelled, I finished my work early.

II.) MECHANICS

a) Split Infinitives

Do not insert words between "to" and the infinitive form of a verb.

Incorrect: I was told we needed to slightly tighten the deadline.

Correct: I was told we needed to tighten the deadline slightly.

III.) SPELLING

a) "A lot" is always two words.

Incorrect: I have alot of work to do.
Correct: I have a lot of work to do.

b) "To" is a function word often used before the infinitive form of a verb (to go).

c) "Too" is an adverb that means "excessively" (too difficult).

d) "Two" denotes the number 2.

Incorrect: This file cabinet is to heavy for me to move.
Correct: This file cabinet is too heavy for me to move.

e) "There" is an adverb indicating a place (over there).

f) "Their" is a possessive word that shows ownership (their computers).

g) "They're" is the contraction form of "they are."

Incorrect: There results for this quarter were excellent.
Correct: Their results for this quarter were excellent.

Incorrect: Their working very hard today.
Correct: They're working very hard today.

IV.) STYLE

a) Sentence Variety

To write more lively, vary sentence structure. Use alternate ways of beginning, and combine short sentences to create different sentence lengths.

Before:

I organized the files for all the new accounts this week. Then I created a more efficient labeling system. I color-coded everything. I made sure all paper files had been documented electronically. I put these files in the emptyfile cabinet.

After:

This week I organized the files for the new accounts and created a more efficient color-coded labeling system. After I documented all paper files electronically, I put these files in the emptyfile cabinet.

V.) ACTIVE VOICE vs. PASSIVE VOICE

The English language has two "voices": active voice (the subject performs an action); and passive voice (the subject is acted upon). In business communication, all good writers write in active voice. Lazy writers write in passive voice. Writing in active voice shortens your sentences and makes your writing sound more direct and formal.

Examples:

PASSIVE: The recipe book is read by her.
ACTIVE: She reads the recipe book.

PASSIVE: The radio announcement should be listened to by everyone.
ACTIVE: Everyone should listen to the radio announcement.

PASSIVE: The photo is being taken by the photographer.
ACTIVE: The photographer is taking the photo.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

To learn more about fixing common writing mistakes, check out The Electronic Writing Course ( http://www.ElectronicWritingCourse.com ). It's a program that teaches the basics of good writing and editing. If you want to check your document against 36,000 style and usage mistakes, check out StyleWriter ( http://www.StyleWriter-USA.com ). It's a style and usage Plain English checker. If you want to write more lively and creatively, check out WhiteSmoke Software ( http://www.WhiteSmokeSoftware.com ). It's a program that fixes and enriches your text.

If you follow these guidelines, you'll stop yourself from writing lousy in the workplace. Your writing will be lively, clear, and concise, and you will build rapport with readers. Perhaps it's now time to e-mail your boss a perfectly-written e-mail requesting a salary raise?

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Treating Scurvy Problem

by Radical_Dreamers

Scurvy occurs when the person suffers from vitamin C deficiency. It is a very common disease that affects people of all ages. The root cause for this disease is lack of vitamin C or ascorbic acid, present in fresh fruits and vegetables mainly citrus fruits. Ascorbic acid is very useful in the formation of collagen and any other deficiency related to tissue synthesis. Importance of Vitamin C is highlighted when affected by such disease because it helps in forming gums, skin, blood vessels, ligaments and tendons. If left untreated it can be fatal.

Common symptoms to be aware of when affected by scurvy are bleeding gums with loosened teeth, soreness and stiffness of the joints, general weakness, anemia, gum disease (gingivitis), skin hemorrhages, slow healing process and many more. It is a nutritional problem and can also result in 'corkscrew hair' along with other gum related problems. Other problems include nausea, tiredness, a troubled feeling, easy bruising, dry skin and hair and bleeding into muscles and joints causing pain.

Smoking and different diseases can also cause a drastic reduction in vitamin C which can be as huge as 50 per cent. People suffering from arthritic pain, ulcers are at the risk of reducing good sources of vitamin C. Staying away from acidic sources (rich vitamin C content) such as oranges and lemons reduces vitamin C. Smoking a pack of cigarettes also cuts down on vitamin C by 50 percent. Using aspirin on daily basis helps in the process of increasing your chances of scurvy or sub-scurvy. Smokers are recommended to have at least 100 milligrams of vitamin C daily.

Home Remedies for Scurvy

Include vitamin C rich diet in the form of fruits and vegetables or vitamin C supplements. This helps in stemming bleeding and also minimizes the pain. Take moderate dose of these fruits and vegetables like oranges, lemons, grapefruits, kiwi fruits, broccoli, green peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, sprouts and sweet potatoes in your diet. You can also add nutritious milk, liver, kidney and fish which contains good amount of vitamin C, even after cooking and preserving.

Being on grape diet is very helpful in treating scurvy. Grape diet can consist of raw grapes as well as grape juice.

Indian gooseberry contains ample vitamin C which can be used to treat scurvy by including it in your diet.

Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.

7 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Coconut Oil

by Radical_Dreamers

It is a common misconception that coconut oil is bad for you. People all over the world are experiencing the healthy benefits of using coconut oil. It is actually one of the healthiest oils you can consume. Here are the top seven reasons why you should use coconut oil as an alternative to other common cooking oils.

1. Coconut oil doesn't turn to fat in your body.

Unlike many other common oils, like soy (vegetable) and corn, coconut oil won't make you fat. Coconut oil contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which are an easy fuel for the body to burn, without turning to fat. Most othercooking oils and fats contain long-chain triglycerides (LCT). LCT's are usually stored as fat. Since coconut oil is a MCT, it is more easily absorbed and converted to energy quicker.

People in the tropics have relied on coconuts as a traditional staple in their diet for centuries. They consume large amounts of coconut oil every day. Instead of getting fatter, it helps them stay healthy, lean and trim. When they switch from coconut oil to our modern oils, they develop obesity and the health problems that our modern society faces.

Some other people who have known this truth for a long time are people who are in the animal feed business. When livestock are fed vegetable oils, they put on weight and produce more fatty meat. When they are fed coconut oil, they become very lean.

2. Coconut oil increases your metabolism.

Not only does coconut oil convert to energy quicker in your body, it increases your metabolism, which promotes weight loss. Because it boosts your metabolism, it helps your body burn fat more effectively.

Coconut oil may triple your calorie burn. Since coconut oil is a MCT, it is converted to energy so quickly that it creates a lot of heat. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, MCT's burn three times more calories for six hours after a meal than LCT's.

The February 15, 2005 issue of Woman's World magazine stated that coconut oil is the "underground high-metabolism secret."

This is great news for people who have thyroid problems, since coconut oil improves sluggish thyroids by stimulating the production of extra thyroid hormones. Most other common oils, like vegetable (soy) and corn have been shown to inhibit thyroid function.

3. Coconut oil has omega 3 fatty acids.

Most cooking oils contain omega 6 fatty acids, something we get way too much of in the United States. Our omega 6 to omega 3 ratio should be 1:1 but it is more like 50:1. We need to drastically cut back our omega 6 oils and consume much more omega 3 oils to be healthy. And coconut oil is filled with these healthy omega 3 fatty acids.

4. Coconut oil gives you energy.

Because of the healthy omega 3 fatty acids and the fact that it increases the metabolism, most people that switch to coconut oil feel a burst of added energy in their daily life.

This is because coconut oil is nature's richest source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT's), which increase metabolic rates and lead toweight loss. MCT's promote thermogenesis, which increases the body's metabolism, producing energy. <

This is because coconut oil is nature's richest source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT's), which increase metabolic rates and lead toweight loss. MCT's promote thermogenesis, which increases the body's metabolism, producing energy. Many people with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia have found that adding coconut and coconut oil to their diet was helpful to them.

5. One of the best things you can use on your skin and hair is coconut oil.

Coconut oil one of the best things you can apply directly on your skin and hair. It gives temporary relief to skin problems like rashes. It aids in healing and restoring skin to a younger appearance. It has also been known to help with people who suffer from yeast infections in the skin, as well as many other skin problems.

Not only does is soften and smooth your skin, coconut oil has antioxidant properties that protect the skin from free radical damage. Coconut oil makes excellent massage oil too.

6. Coconut oil has healthy benefits that most other oils do not.

Evidence is mounting that coconut oil has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral effects when both consumed and used topically on the skin.

Most oils oxidize and turn rancid very quickly causing free radical damage in our bodies. Coconut oil is not easily oxidized and does not cause harmful free radical damage like polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Free radical damage is thought to be responsible for many ailments in our body from arthritis to increased susceptibility to cancers.

Coconut oil also helps our bodies absorb other nutrients more effectively, such as Vitamin E.

7. Coconut oil is one of the best oils you can use for cooking.

It has a higher smoke point than olive oil, which means it can take higher temperatures better. There are several healthy omega 3 oils we can choose to consume, such as flax and olive oil, but they don't do well under the high heat we use for cooking. Coconut oil can be used in higher cooking temperatures.

It is harder for coconut oil to go rancid, unlike other cooking oils, which are usually rancid long before you even bring them home. Rancid oils cause free radical damage in the body, which is a leading cause of cancer. Coconut oil is stable for over a year at room temperature.

Because of the misinformation we have been given for years, we have lost out on the healthy benefits that coconut oil has given the people of the tropics for centuries. But now it has been rediscovered! Coconut oil is so effective, it won't be long before we see coconut oil supplements promoted, but you can get the jump on the popular crowd and start consuming andcooking with coconut oil today!