Spotlight on Men's Health

Erica Moss is the community manager for Georgetown University's online MSN degree program. She also enjoys blogging, TV and pop culture.

Maintaining a sound mind and sound body is an ever-present challenge for both men and women, but the lack of awareness around the topic of men's health is a disturbing reality. Maintaining a proper diet and exercise is not an easy task, but a surprising number of men don't have the basic facts about the most common risks to their health, and to change that, we need more education around this important issue.

The Problem

More than half of all premature deaths among men are preventable, according to the infographic below. Causes of preventable death include smoking, obesity, alcohol and drug use, and some types of cancer (such as testicular cancer, which can be treated effectively if detected early). Men are also less likely than women to take advantage of the health care resources that they have access.

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This potentially fatal tendency not to address health problems when the opportunity presents itself might be rooted in ignorance or in the cultural belief that it is unmanly to admit weakness or seek help from others. Either way, it leads to needless complications and, unfortunately, deaths.

Education

The fact that so many men's deaths are preventable can be seen as an enormous opportunity as well as an enormous tragedy. By educating the public about the most common risks to men's health and making health care resources available to everyone, it would be possible to extend the lives of an enormous number of people. Such initiatives could cover things that men can easily do themselves, such as regular testicular self-exams.

They could also make clear the necessity of seeing a doctor regularly and recognizing the early warning signs of heart attacks, which two-thirds of men do not respond to by seeking professional help.

Additional aspects of men's health education could focus on making informed decisions about everyday risk factors, like eating healthy and exercising regularly. It is common sense that men who are aware of the nutritional content of their food are more likely to choose foods that will not put them at risk of diabetes or obesity later in life, but, unfortunately, some men also choose to take risks. Such dangerous and rigid ideas about gender also need to be a part of our national conversation about men's health.

The importance of education on this issue is clear: It saves lives.

Signs of Pregnancy

In the life of every woman at least once had a situation where she asked: "And I'm not pregnant?" The presence of certain signs suggest the probability of a possible addition of the family.

Some women have this hypersensitivity that almost from the moment of conception, are aware of pregnancy. But often times when the future mother learns of his "family way" when the baby starts to move.

So, the following signs of pregnancy:

Lack of regular menstruation. most common, although not completely reliable sign. Often fail menstrual cycle caused by hormonal changes or various diseases. After birth, the restoration of the cycle takes some time. Nursing mothers month absence, which may render them unkind service.

A positive pregnancy test. tests now sold in almost any pharmacy. Using them is easy. You can know the result on the day the alleged period. But ... Sometimes the tests give false results. This can happen if the test was expired, or used incorrectly. Influence the "picture" can some gynecological diseases or hormonal drugs. Because the test results in any case not absolute indicator of the presence or absence of pregnancy.

Tenderness and breast enlargement. Many women on the eve of pregnancy breasts become especially sensitive and increases in size. But if pregnancy occurs the pain is particularly strong, and can be released from the nipple cloudy liquid (colostrum).

Hypersensitive to smells. favorite perfume may suddenly disgusting, the smell of food being prepared can cause nausea and even vomiting, and ride public transportation can become a torture because of the increased "vonyuchesti" passengers.

Morning sickness. This symptom is quite different. Most often manifested toxemia from 7 weeks of pregnancy, but sometimes nausea can annoy and at earlier stages.

Changing eating habits. Increased appetite and absorption of food in incredible combinations, aversion to favorite foods, eating chalk and sand - also one of the possible signs of pregnancy.

Mood changes, irritability, tearfulness. Some women notice this sign of pregnancy as the first. Again, only this character can not be considered reliable. Women are prone to premenstrual syndrome, experience mood swings before each cycle.

Frequent urination. Many women suffer from it as one of the first signs of pregnancy. However, these symptoms may occur in diseases of the urinary tract or bladder compression of the tumor due to diseases of the internal organs.

Drowsiness, fatigue. early pregnancy often complain of fatigue inhuman, placed them on the bed almost half a day. Again, as an independent symptom she can not testify about the "family way."

Make clearly defining the question, "is pregnant or not pregnant" can only visit to the antenatal clinic. Elementary inspection gynecologist can give almost complete answer. Even at 7-day delay in the U.S. can see the presence of the ovum in the uterus. Visit a gynecologist for suspected pregnancy makes sense, if only because, unfortunately, terrible pathology - ectopic pregnancy - has the same symptoms as normal.

5 Reasons You Need Your Sleep, and 5 Reasons You May Not Be Getting It

Fall bustles with the start of school and the continual grind at work. It's easy to skimp on your rest. We've got five reasons for you to make sleep a priority, and five health issues that could be ruining your rest.

1. Plenty of R&R (rest and relaxation) can boost your mood, focus and energy. Conversely, people with poor sleep habits experience higher levels of stress, depression and anxiety.
2. Want your kids to get A's and B's? Make sure they catch their Z's. Well-rested equals alert in the classroom, and a regular sleep routine may boost math and literacy scores. Some schools are even starting later in an effort to help kids improve learning.
3. Reap the benefits of beauty sleep. When the body is sleep-deprived it produces more of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol can cause weight gain and oily skin.
4. Getting your eight hours in could cut your risk for chest pain, heart attack and stroke. A recent study by West Virginia University indicates that people who sleep five hours daily are more than twice as likely to experience these problems.
5. Rest is a responsibility, and apparently so is justice. In a study that appears in SLEEP, Swedish naval officers were more likely to act morally and make moral judgments when fully rested.

Maybe you want to get your shut-eye but can't quite get your eyes to shut? Sleeplessness plagues 60 million Americans. These are just a few health problems that could be keeping you up at night:

1. Your thyroid helps regulate your sleep patterns. An overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) can cause difficulty sleeping, fatigue and irritability.
2. Believe it or not, menstruation can affect your sleep patterns. Two in three women experience menstrual insomnia disturbed sleep due to tossing and turning and general menstrual discomfort.
3. Maybe you do sleep, but continue to experience tiredness regardless of how much sleep you get? If you snore, have a dry throat on waking or regularly become irritable, you may want to talk to your doctor. This could be a symptom of sleep apnea.
4. Your sweetie slumbers soundly while you lay awake at night, so you decide to wake him up. Sound familiar? Ladies, you may have a case of sleep envy. You're not alone, either. Up to 40 percent of women envy the ease with which their darlings doze. Jealous much?
5. Some people toss and turn through the night before finding sleep. If this is caused by painful or irritating tingling or tugging in your lower limbs, you may have a condition known as restless leg syndrome (RLS).

Want to keep up with the latest sleep science? Visit the National Sleep Foundation site or check out the journal SLEEP.