Ventral Hernias: An FAQ

Thousands of patients experience ventral (incisional)
hernias every year, and most of these hernias require
hernial repair surgery. Here are some frequently asked
questions about ventral hernia repair.

What is a hernia?

A hernia occurs when an organ begins to protrude or push
through the wall of muscle that surrounds it. What is a
ventral hernia?

A ventral hernia is also known as an incisional hernia.
Ventral hernias occur when a piece of an abdominal organ
such as the intestine or bowel bursts through a weak area
of a patient's abdominal wall where an old surgical scar is
located.

Why do ventral hernias occur?

Post-operative scar tissue can stretch or thin out after
surgery, leading to weak spots in the abdomen. The scar
tissue can then stretch out or thin due to straining during
bowel movements, intense or recurrent coughing, weight
gain, pregnancy, vomiting, or strenuous physical activity
such as weightlifting. These make the abdominal wall more
susceptible to strain and hernia.

Who is at risk for ventral hernias?

Pregnant and obese patients are at especial risks; patients
who have had abdominal surgery in the past are also at risk.

Are ventral hernias dangerous?

Yes. In fact, the United States has the world's highest
mortality rate for ventral hernias. Some ventral hernias
incarcerate, or trap, internal organs and require immediate
surgical intervention.

How do I know if I have a ventral hernia?

You will need a doctor's diagnosis in order to confirm a
suspected ventral hernia. Common symptoms of ventral hernia
include discomfort or tenderness while lifting heavy
objects, coughing or putting other stress on the body;
bulges in the abdominal area, some of which may be pushed
back into place or disappear when laying down;
constipation; vomiting and nausea; or abdominal pain.

If you suspect you have a ventral hernia, visit your
doctor. Your doctor will examine you and possibly ask you
to cough while he presses into your abdominal area in order
to find the potential hernia.

How are ventral hernias treated?

Some ventral hernias are treated with a truss, a special
belt that keeps the hernia from bulging and pushing through
the abdominal wall. Others are treated with a
recommendation that the patient refrain from any strenuous
activity. However, surgery is more common; herniorrhaphy
procedures repair the abdominal wall after pressing the
piece of organ back into its original position.

As medical technology progresses, laparoscopic procedures
are more common. These operations are performed with a
special device that allows the surgeon to view the interior
of the abdomen while performing surgery. This procedure
requires only very tiny incisions and involves less
recovery time than traditional surgical procedures.

Sometimes, doctors insert a mesh hernia patch, such as the
Bard Composix Kugel Mesh Patch, to reinforce the area of
ventral hernia. A small incision is made and the mesh patch
is folded and placed behind the hernia area. The patch then
springs open due to its "memory recoil ring" technology,
which causes it to lay flat in the appropriate area and
reinforce the hernia.

What about the Bard Kugel Mesh Patch recall?

The FDA recently updated a 2005 recall on some larger sizes
of the Bard Composix Kugel Mesh Patch, citing failures in
the "memory recoil rings" that cause the patch to rupture
the bowel or create abnormal organ passageways (intestinal
fistulae). Davol, which manufactures and distributes the
patch, has issued voluntary recalls of the Composix patches
in the past and may do so again; in any case, it faces
lawsuits and legal action related to medical complications
from failed mesh hernia patches.

What should I do if I've been affected by the hernia mesh
recall?

If you have been affected by a hernia patch failure or
would like to learn more about the hernia patch recall,
contact an attorney with medical device experience today.
Your hernia patch lawyer can help assess your case and
assist you with your claim against Bard in relation to its
defective hernia patch. You may even be eligible for
compensation for medical expenses and other related costs.
Speak with an experienced lawyer as soon as possible if you
feel these circumstances apply to you or a loved one.

----------------------------------------------------
For more information about the Kugel Hernia Mesh Recall, or
other legal questions, answers can be found at
http://www.legalview.com/ . LegalView.com is your source
for everything legal on the web. Using LegalView.com's
attorney referral service, visitors can also be put in
touch with a brain injury lawyer or a mesothelioma
attorney. Also, visit
http://composix-hernia-mesh.legalview.com to be put in
touch with a Kugel Mesh recall attorney.

Choosing a Personal Fitness and Nutrition Trainer

A personal fitness and nutrition trainer can help you enter
a race where there's no engraved cup or money award at the
finish line. Unlike the Thoroughbreds racing at the local
park, you will be running for your very life instead.
Fitness and nutrition are the keys to a quality long life.

Racing for Fitness

Almost 60% of people in the United States are overweight or
obese. The consequences of having too much fat on your body
can be severe. Obesity is a major cause of many serious
illnesses including Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart
disease, high blood pressure and even certain forms of
cancer.

It's hard to maintain a fitness routine on your own. On top
of that you are bombarded with advertisements selling
unhealthy food and gadgets and inventions that actually
result in less physical activity. The perfect examples are
kids playing electronic games for hours instead of baseball
or soccer. There are bigger and better computers and TVs
promoting lifestyles with little exercise time included.

Sedentary lifestyles are not good for the body, and neither
is junk food. But everyone lives extremely busy lives and
fitness and nutrition often take a low priority. A personal
fitness and nutrition trainer can help you rearrange your
priorities so you place your health top of the list.

When you are young, it's easy to believe good health is
forever. But as you age, the truth is slowly revealed.
Metabolisms slow naturally. Fat accumulates after years of
eating meals with little nutritional value.

Free radicals form unimpeded because the diet has
consistently lack antioxidants found in fruits and
vegetables. Other diseases eventually take root. For
example, lack of exercise increases the chances of
developing osteoporosis.

Finding Your Stride

A personal fitness and nutrition trainer can assist you in
a number of ways beginning with an assessment of your
current fitness level. A personal trainer will work with to
establish mutual goals including measures of progress such
as weight loss or inches loss.

Personal fitness and nutrition includes the following:

Evaluating current dietary habits and making necessary
changes

Calculating the body mass index (BMI)

Establishing an exercise routine that fits your lifestyle

Develop a strength training program

Tracking progress and making necessary adjustments as you
progress

Using a personal fitness and nutrition trainer can help you
stay motivated as you begin the race for your life. The
quality of your life in your senior years is directly
related to the level of fitness you maintain in your
younger years. It becomes clearer with each medical study
that problems associated with aging are as much a
consequence of poor nutrition as they are of the aging
process itself.

Utilizing the services of a personal fitness and nutrition
trainer only makes sense if you're ready to get serious
about your health. Racing for the grand prize of good
health means finding your "fitness stride".

You don't have to work out 8 hours a day to stay fit and
healthy. You do have to exercise regularly and watch what
you eat. A personal fitness and nutrition trainer can be
the key to your success.

----------------------------------------------------
Hut Allred is the President of New Wave Fitness. Inc.
located in Dallas, TX. His company provides in home
personal fitness coaching throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth
area. His website is
http://www.bestdallaspersonaltrainer.com

Variety is the Spice of Brain Fitness: Part I – EPIQ performance

When it comes to the fitness of your brain (or your body)
variety is key. Your brain health depends on many factors
including: everything you put in your mouth; the physical
and mental activities you choose to do or not to do; the
amount of rest and reflection you allow yourself; and all
the stuff you tell yourself in your own head.

If I had to sum up how to get the healthiest and fittest
brain possible in one word, it would have to be 'variety'.
This applies to all the things I mentioned above, which I
will be getting into in detail over the next several weeks.
These are the cornerstones of your brain fitness and help
to improve the general intelligences of your brain. Yes,
intelligences, plural.

How smart are you?

Many people think of intelligence as your IQ or 'book
smart'. Really, this is only one kind of intelligence.
Other major intelligences are also your emotional
intelligence (EQ) and your physical intelligence (PQ). The
great thing is that you can improve all of your
intelligences with effort.

Your EQ, popularized by Dr. Daniel Goleman, is your ability
to control your own emotions and read the emotions of
others. It is a major factor in your social skills – how
well you interact with other people. Are you responsive or
reactive? If you are sharp as a tack when it comes to
Einstein's theory of relativity but have no idea how to
hold a conversation with another human being, you would
have a high IQ but a low EQ.

Your PQ is your ability to control your own body. This
breaks down into conscious control – coordination,
strength, flexibility and balance, and unconscious control
– how well your internal systems respond when called upon.
How good of a job does your brain do at controlling your
heart rate, disease-fighting immune system, and appropriate
hormone responses to eating, stress, excitement,
challenges, etc. Your physical intelligence is how well
tuned your body machine is.

These are all important factors in leading a successful
life. Your IQ will help you solve life's challenges, your
EQ will help your daily interactions with others and your
PQ will help you stay healthy and fight disease of all
sorts.

EPIQ Performance

Your brain is the master integrator of everything you do,
feel, think and experience and the fitness of your brain
determines your IQ, EQ and PQ. The more you work on the
different aspects of brain fitness the better it all comes
together.

Not only that, but each of these intelligences helps the
others as well. For example, the better your PQ, the better
your hormone stress response system works, the easier it is
to keep your cool and the better your EQ gets. Also,
staying calm in challenging situations gives you a better
chance at clear thinking and problem solving and increases
your IQ.

This is only one example of probably thousands of ways that
your intelligences work together. The more you work on your
brain fitness the better they all get. It all comes back to
variety. Using nutrition, physical and mental activities,
appropriate rest and positive thinking to improve your
brain fitness and improve all of your intelligences.

Over the next several weeks I will be writing about the
roles of all of these brain fitness promoting behaviors in
increasing your intelligences, EQ, PQ and IQ – you can
remember them as EPIQ (pronounced 'EPIC') performance. The
goal is to increase your EPIQ performance in all aspects of
your life as much as possible.

A focus on brain fitness will allow you greater success at
work or business, improved relationships and improved brain
and body health. Improving your brain fitness will help you
move from where you are today to where you want to be.

----------------------------------------------------
Master Brain Fitness techniques for you and your family.
The Brain Code is the key to unlock your maximum potential.
Dr. Simon Evans puts together the right ingredients in
right amount to create the recipe for success. Visit
http://www.thebraincode.com for FREE Brain Fitness
resources.

Optimize Your Health with a pH Balanced Diet (Part 1)

Optimizing your health with a pH balanced diet is the
natural way to obtain the maximum positive health benefit
for the long term. The basic concept of a pH diet is to
maintain the ph balance of nutritional food intake close to
80% alkaline with 20% acidity. The main objective of a pH
diet is to create the equivalent of the pH level in the
bloodstream by introducing alkaline foods into your diet.

Granted for many, the initial idea can be intimidating
because of the foods that have become commonplace in
society are found to be high in acidity. Identifying
readily available sources of alkaline foods is your first
defense in acquiring optimized health. Benefiting the most
from a pH balanced diet can be as simple as becoming aware
of your options when considering your choices of alkaline
foods.

Alkaline foods have an energizing result on the body.
Alkaline foods counteract the acidity we put into our
bloodstream everyday, allowing our bodies to regenerate and
restore damaged cells naturally.

Identifying foods that cause the alkalizing benefit in the
body, you can introduce a healthier diet by complimenting
the pH levels already established in the bloodstream. By
doing so, you have prevented premature aging and illnesses
from developing.

Normal pH balance of the human body is 7.35 to 7.45. Levels
of pH7 and higher are measured as alkaline.

While meats derived from animals are acidic, fresh
vegetables and fruits are considered as stables in a well
thought out pH diet plan.

Vegetables that have a positive effect in your pH diet are
broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, garlic,
green beans, peas, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and peppers,
to state a few. While standing in line for that next
burger, ask if they wouldn't mind; Piling on the veggies.

Vegetables may be acceptable to the adult seeking optimal
health through a balanced pH diet but, our younger
counterparts may think differently. As Mother Nature has
it, she has also provided the perfect remedy. Fruits have
the pH balancing effect on our bodies as well.

Alkaline fruits are: apples, bananas, berries, cantaloupe,
cherries, grapes, lemons, limes, oranges, peaches, pears,
pineapple, raisins, and strawberries to name a few. A
variety of fruits make the perfect snack for any little one
eagerly awaiting for the hand out.

Minerals are also vital to your daily diet. Minerals that
have an alkalizing impact on the body can aid in the
overall balance in your pH diet. These minerals include:
cesium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Because minerals
are essential to your health but, rarely acquired in an
adequate amount through our daily food intake, a balanced
supplement may be in order.

The purpose of a pH balanced diet is to have your alkaline
(fresh vegetables and fruits) diet richer than the acidic
counterpart of your diet. When actively practicing a
suitable pH balanced diet, your body will perform with peak
altitude, giving you the ability to ward off illnesses in a
preventive and natural environment to your body.

----------------------------------------------------
Steven Godlewski is a self-made millionaire and is
currently working with the staff at PillFreeVitamins.com He
has an extensive background in nutrition as well as other
health related fields. For more health-related articles or
2 FREE bottles of Liquid Vitamins see their website at:
http://www.pillfreevitamins.com