What Happens To Your Body When you Sleep

A good night's sleep is vital not only for your mood. It also helps reduce the risk of heart attack and obesity.

The Brain - Sleep is vital to give the cerebral cortex (the brain's 'thinking' part) a rest. The brain's plasticity, which helps us learn and process, is maintained by sleep. A lack of sleep makes us feel we are working on autopilot. We feel irritable, less flexible in out thinking and less able to cope with the unexpected.

The Eyes - As we more into deep sleep, rapid eye movement (or REM) occurs, with eyes moving quickly for up to 30 minutes at a time, repeating every 90 minutes. Much of our dreaming happens during REM and despite our eyes moving intensely, our bodies are extremely relaxed - which helps us stay asleep.

The Mouth - During the course of the night, saliva flow is reduced. This results in a dry mouth in the morning. One in 10 adults unconsciously grind their teeth at night, which is known as bruxism. This reaction is thought to be triggered by stress.

Heart and Blood - While sleeping, your heart rate and blood pressure fall by about 10 per cent. People who sleep seven to eight hours a night have the lowest rates of heart disease. a Norwegian study found insomniacs had a 45 per cent higher risk of heart attack.

Hormones - Sleep releases growth hormones, which boost muscle mass and repair cells and tissues. Lack of sleep can lead to obesity because of an imbalance in the hormones that regulate appetite. A good sleep lowers levels of ghrelin, which triggers appetite, and raises the levels of leptin, which tells your body it's full.

Immune System - A lack of quality sleep can disturb the ability of the immune system to fight infection, leaving the body vulnerable to viruses that cause colds and flu. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found having less than seven hours' sleep depletes the body's ability to produce antibodies.

Skin - The fresh face we see after a good night's sleep is sometimes only temporary, and may be caused by water accumulating under the skin. Water flattens out wrinkles, but drains away an hour after we get up, making wrinkles reappear. Sleep also gives the skin a chance to be repaired by nocturnal growth hormones.

9 Ways to Love your Liver

The liver is the largest internal organ in the human body and one of the most hard-working. Dietitian Karen Inge explains how to keep it in tip-top shape.

1. WATCH YOUR WEIGHT - Being overweight is associated with insulin resistance and diabetes, risk factors in developing fatty liver, a build-up of excess fat in the liver cells, which can become inflamed and may cause symptoms such as fatigue, abdominal discomfort, jaundice and fever.

2. DECIDE TO DETOX - The liver acts as a filter and can be badly damaged by excessive alcohol intake. So, if you love your liver, give it a rest with regular alcohol-free days.

3. HAVE A COFFEE FIX - Drinking black coffee to help sober up may have more merit than we first thought. Coffee may counteract the damaging effects of alcohol on the liver and help prevent cirrhosis. Once study of more than 125,000 people showed that one cup of coffee a day reduced the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis by 20 per cent; four cups lowered it by 80 per cent.

4. GO FOR ANTI-OXIDANTS - Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet filled with anti-oxidant-rich colourful fruit and vegetables may help damaged liver cells regenerate to form new healthy liver cells. Keeping the saturated fat content of your diet down, by choosing lean meat, fish and low-fat dairy means less work for your liver.

5. GET STUCK INTO VEGIES - Cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts and cabbage are fabulous for your liver's health. These vegies contain phytochemicals called glucosinolates, which help the liver produce the healthy enzymes needed for cleaning the blood of harmful toxins. The protective components of these vegetables also stimulate the liver to transform the tumour-promoting forms of oestrogen to weaker and safe types, reducing the risk of both breast and cervical cancer.

6. VITAMIN A ALERT - The essential fat-soluble vitamin A, is stored in the liver after absorption. Excessive amounts of this vitamin are toxic to the liver, so it is important we don't have to much.

7. CHOOSE WATER - Your liver needs plenty of water to do its job. Alcohol acts as a diuretic, which means it dehydrates you and forces the liver to divert water from elsewhere.

8. A TWIST OF CITRUS - Powerful compounds found in the peel, membranes, seeds, flesh and juice of citrus fruits can turn on the liver's detoxification processes to rid the body of cancer-causing agents.

9. THINK ZINC - Zinc is vital for the liver function, is involved in every energy reaction in the body and plays a key role in alcohol detoxification. Our richest food source of zinc is oysters, legumes and whole grains are good, but for better zinc absorption, add animal protein, such as yogurt or eggs, at the same meal.

DID YOU KNOW??????????

• EATING APPLE PEEL HELPS PROTECT YOUR BOWELS. IT IS RICH IN POLY PHENOLS, WHICH STOP COLONIC INFLAMMATION.

• 55% PERCENT OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN AGED 50 TO 69 WHO UTILISE THEIR FREE ANNUAL MAMMOGRAM.

• THE REDUCTION IN RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN WOMEN UNDER 50 IS 90% IF THEY EAT OILY FISH ONCE A WEEK.

• 40% OF CANCERS LIFESTYLE RELATED - Almost half of all cancers can be avoided by lifestyle choices such as not smoking, limiting alcohol, eating more fruits and vegetables and exercising more, according to the Cancer Research UK report, which analysed cancer incidence rates in the UK across 14 years. Study authors say even they were surprises by how influential weight and diet were.

• A BIT OF DIP HELPS THE BROCCOLI GO DOWN - About three-quarters of kids have a genetic sensitivity to bitter-tasting foods, which makes them even less fond of green vegies such as broccoli. A new study has shown, though, adding a few spoonfuls of dip to broccoli can boost a sensitive child's consumption of broccoli by as much as 80 per cent.

                                                         

How Much Fluid Do You Need?

Not drinking enough water can affect your saliva production and dental health.

How much fluid do you need per day?

Men: 2.6 litres (about 10 cups)

Women: 2.1 litres (about 8 cups)

Pregnant Women: 2.3 litres (about 9 cups)

Boys 14-18: 1.9 litres (about 8 cups)

Boys 9-13: 1.6 litres (about 6 cups)

Girls 14-18: 1.6 litres (about 6 cups)
Girls 9-13: 1.4 litres (about 5-6 cups)
Children 4-8: 1.2 litres (about 5 cups)
Toddlers 1-3: 1 litres (about 4 cups)


Drinking plenty of water keeps your heart health, boosts brain power and reduces headaches, may lead to weight loss and beats fatigue, just to mention a few.

Source: Australian National Health and Medical Research Council

DO YOU HAVE TYPE 2 DIABETES?

Blacktown Hospital are seeking volunteers to participate in a long-term cardiovascular research study with a new treatment for type 2 diabetes.

To participate in the trial you must:

• Be over 50 years old
• Have type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
• Be able to attend seven visits during the first year of the trial and two annual visits until the end of 2015

Participants receive all study related care and study medication at no cost and will be compensated for travel.

For further information please contact:

Sue Hendon
Blacktown Hospital
02 9851 6031
Susan.Hendon@wsahs.nsw.gov.au

This research project has been approved by the Western Sydney Local Health Network Human Research Ethics Committee (Westmead Campus)

Melanoma - The dark side of summer

As temperatures and UV levels rise towards summer, sunburn and skin cancer climb up our 'worry lists' - and for good reason: excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, melanoma is Australia's fourth most common cancer.

So it comes as good news that recent studies have found four new genes associated with skin cancer which may lead to improved diagnosis and treatment. The studies, conducted by GenoMEL Consortium and Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), also improve the prospect of identifying people at increased risk of developing melanoma so they can take action to minimise their chance of developing it in the first place.

Did you know?

• Off all cancers, melanoma makes up 9.5% of all cancers, with more than 10,300 cases diagnosed annually.
• The risk of being diagnosed by age 85 is 1 in 15 for men and 1 in 24 for women.
• In 2008, there were 1,430 deaths from melanoma.
• Melanoma risk increases with UV exposure - particularly with sunburn, and especially during childhood,
• The chance of getting melanoma rises for people with:

                        - increased numbers of unusual moles
                        - depresses immunity
                        - a first degree relative who's had melanoma
                        - a history of melanoma or non-melanoma skin caner
                        - fair skin, freckles, light eye colouring, light or red hair and burn easily

As well as slip, slop, slapping, it's important to cover ourselves against illnesses like melanoma by having comprehensive trauma insurance. Trauma Insurance offers cover for skin caners like melanoma, making it ideal for the people of this sunburned country.

5 Ways to Ensure Your Website Doesn't Turn Into a Lemon

1. Make sure your website isn't leaking customers

Check your website statistics and look specifically at how many visitors leave shortly after arriving on your homepage. This may mean they do not like what they see and you should consider making changes.

2. Make sure you know exactly how many leads or sales your website is delivering

Your website should have clear business objectives, like delivering leads or online sales. If you don't measure how many calls, enquiries or sales your website is generating you won't know if you need to take action.

3. If you build it (your website) they won't just come

Unlike a physical shop front it is very unlikely that anyone will ever just stumble across your website. It needs to be visible to the major search engines or you can forget about getting new customers. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) are very effective ways you can get your online shop on front of millions of potential customers.

4. Don't let your website be the ugly duckling

Do you wince when you compare your website with competitor sites? Too many business people accept and even acknowledge that their website is ugly and not all what is should be. With advancements in technology over the last few years, in most cases you can now get a brand new website for less than it would normally cost to rebuild your old one.

5. Make sure the information on your website is up-to-date. Shout yourself a CMS!

Remember the days when you had to chase your brother's best friend's uncle just so you could make a small text change to your website? Well, with a content management system (CMS) those days are over. Nearly every new website developed today comes standard with a CMS. This means you can change your website by yourself whenever you want and your website will never be out-of-date.

Need to know more? Visit http://www.webcentral.com.au to request a free 15min website evaluation