The Health Briefs TV Show Wants You to Get Some Rest

Are you tired? Not getting enough sleep? Does your mind keep you awake running thoughts through it a breakneck speed? The Health Briefs TV show wants you to get some rest.

We know how hard it can be to fall asleep and stay asleep sometimes. It is equally hard to function at your best when you are tired. Here’s what you need to know to get some needed sleep:

• A healthy meal of high protein and high fiber foods helps people get to sleep and stay asleep better than a meal with high saturated fats and less fiber. Avoid fatty foods at dinner time. Enjoy some peas, black beans, lentils, broccoli, raspberries, blueberries, avocado and other food like it. Skip caffeinated drinks several hours before bedtime.
• Avoid getting into an argument or heated discussion with someone – both in the physical sense and online.
• Take a walk after dinner to relieve stress and relax and loosen muscles and joints.
• Lower the blinds and the room temperature for a comfortable sleep.
• Get in bed, turn the TV and lights off and get comfortable.
• Think of something happy or positive. Close your eyes and relax thinking of the happy or positive thing. Replay in your mind what made it happy.
• Take conscious breaths. As you breathe slowly, imagine your breath as it enters your nose and mouth, makes its way through your body and goes back out. Focus on each breath and each step. This helps block and stop negative or repetitive thoughts which can keep you awake.
• Health Briefs TV suggests sticking to a regular schedule of when you go to bed and get up every day, even on weekends and vacations.

We admit we do not get enough sleep ourselves. 

Heath Briefs TV with Important Facts about the Measles

The measles virus is spreading rapidly from children who caught it at Disneyland. Children in five states and in Mexico are sick from the disease. And all of this could have been prevented. Health Briefs TV shares important facts about the measles and how to prevent it.

It is infectious. Ninety percent of people who are not vaccinated against the measles will get it from someone who is nearby. Babies are most vulnerable because they are too young for the vaccine.

It can kill people of any age who have not been vaccinated.  Complications from the measles such as pneumonia and encephalitis are two such complications that can take a life.

One dose of the vaccine is 95% effective in the prevention of measles.  Two doses is 99% effective. If it is possible that someone was near a person with measles who has not been vaccinated, get a vaccination now. It reduces the change of developing an infection and is certainly more effective then not getting one. Side effects from the measles-mumps-rubella or MMR vaccine are rare, and are not a valid reason to avoid the vaccine. It is the “scare factor” which prevents parents from getting their children vaccinated. Health Briefs TV asks: which is most important—the very minor possibility of the side effects of the MMR vaccine, or a child fighting for its life in the hospital after getting measles from someone who was sick with it? #measles #vaccination #vaccines #children

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Health Briefs TV on How to Prevent Getting Colds and the Flu

Offices are not the best places to work during cold and flu season. Open work environments and even those with cubicles are the perfect places for cold and flu germs to spread. Health Briefs TV offers some suggestions about how to prevent getting colds and the flu this season.

Wash your hands. The lesson we learned in early childhood still holds true today: wash your hands after using the bathroom and before touching any part of the face. Use warm water, if available, and soap and vigorously rub hands together for 15 seconds. Use a paper towels to dry them.

Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing. Cubicle walls do not stop the germs flying through the air. Ask co-workers to do the same. Keep tissues on your desk also. 

Get a flu shot. It takes two weeks after the injection for immunity to build so now is the best time to visit the pharmacy.  The strain of the flu which is circulating now is particularly dangerous to seniors.

Reduce chronic stress, reduce the amount of sugar consumed, reduce salt intake and quit smoking. All of these will further boost the body’s immune system which fights of the viruses that attack it.

Health Briefs TV also recommends eating a diet that is rich in vitamins, minerals, whole grains, lean meat and fish. Get off the sofa at home and walk around the neighborhood. Clean outdoor air is good for us. Finally, lead a meaningful life. It doesn’t have to be grand. Find something that is important to you and embrace it. All of these also help build stronger bodies which can fight off colds and the flu every year.

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Health Briefs TV with an Update for Flu Season

Last year’s flu epidemic left many people seriously ill for longer than necessary. This year, a new strand of the flu virus is active. Health Briefs TV reminds readers how to lower the chance of catching the flu virus and what to do if one thinks they have it.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control report that only 48% of the flu virus samples taken through last month were related to this year’s North American vaccine. While this may be a little alarming, it is imperative to note that this year’s flu shot still provides some level of protection. It covers several strains of the virus, including H1N1 and several strains of influenza B, which is strong match with current viruses. The Health Briefs TV show encourages readers to get the flu shot.

The medical community provides treatments for people who develop flu symptoms that can reduce the severity of the illness and shorten the length of time one is sick at home. Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir) lower the flu virus’ ability to reproduce and they are effective on almost all strains of the flu. If symptoms are apparent, visit the doctor for advice and prescribed medications. Have a healthier year.

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Health Briefs TV Dispels Common Myths about the Cold and Flu

The cold and flu season runs from October to February and generally peaks January. Roughly 20% of Americans can catch a virus which can cause severe health issues. Despite this, there are some common beliefs about the cold and flu which Health Briefs TV will try to dispel.

The flu shot does not make us sick with the flu. The vaccine is made with dead viral particles so it can’t infect us. The mist which kids use utilizes a crippled version of the virus which cannot make kids sick. It takes two weeks for our bodies for form antibodies to the vaccine to fully protect us.

Young and healthy people do not need the flu shot. While it is true that young, healthy people are less vulnerable than the very young and old, everyone should get the flu shot. At the very least, it prevents the receiver from passing the virus to others. And it prevents the transmission of the virus from infecting us.

Other myths that Health Briefs TV has heard about the flu which are not true:

The shot didn’t work if someone gets the flu. If this is the case, a variant strain of the flu that was not in the shot is at work. Antibiotics can cure the flu which is not true as antibiotics do not work on viruses. What other myths have our readers heard?

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Health Briefs TV Reports on the Respiratory Illness Affecting American Kids

It seems to be mostly affecting children who suffer from mild asthma and those who live in the Midwest. Health Briefs reports on the respiratory illness that is sending kids to the hospital.

It starts off as a cold and quickly turns much more serious when a child cannot breathe and his or her face is turning blue. The human enterovirus 68 starts off mimicking the symptoms of the common cold. But within hours, it can become fatal if parents do not rush kids into the emergency room. It has sent thousands of kids in 10 states to the hospital. Doctors believe that with summer over and school back in session, kids are picking up viruses from other kids and bringing them home to siblings. Symptoms can be the same as the common cold: runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, and some experience wheezing. But when that wheezing becomes more labored, it’s time to get the child to an urgent care center or hospital. Health Briefs TV notes that the CDC recommends basic sanitary practices to avoid spreading germs and the virus such as washing hands often, avoid those who are sick, and covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing. Parents of asthmatic children should be sure inhalers are up to date and kept in a handy place. Caregivers and teachers should know how to handle a child suffering an asthma attach. The key to preventing a serious respiratory illness is knowledge.

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Health Briefs TV Explains the Basic Facts about Ebola

Ebola is a life-threatening disease which is mostly found in countries outside of the U.S. Two American healthcare workers have been infected in West Africa where the disease is widespread. One of these healthcare workers is already back in America and in an isolated hospital unit in the Georgia. The other healthcare worker is due back this week. Health Briefs TV shares the basic facts about Ebola and why it is not a real threat in the United States.

Ebola is a highly-infectious disease which produces flu-like symptoms and is usually fatal. It is contracted through bodily fluids like blood. Its symptoms are: the sudden onset of flu-like symptoms including fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. These are followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and sometimes internal and external bleeding. It takes two weeks from time of infection to the onset of symptoms.

Health Briefs learns that the threat of Ebola being transmitted from the two infected healthcare workers to rest of the population is not very likely.  The staff taking care of these two people is protected from catching it, and the two infected care workers are in heavily isolated spaces.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has issued an alert for all medical professionals to ask patients presenting Ebola-like symptoms about recent travel. In truth, panic spreads faster than the Ebola virus. Have questions? Ask your doctor. 

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