Office Germs: Safe for Work

The Editors of Office Product Reviews at Best Choice Reviews decided to research the topic of:

SAFE FOR WORK?

Keeping clean and healthy in the office may be harder than you think.

• 1 in 3 office workers have witnessed co-workers leaving restrooms without washing their hands.
• 53% of Americans don't wash their hands after exchanging money.
• The average person touches 300 surfaces every 30 minutes, exposing themselves to 840,000 germs.

Diligent washing, wiping and sanitizing can help office professionals reduce their rates of cold and flu by as much as 80%.

• 72% of Americans typically go to work when they are sick.
• 55% of workers say they feel guilty when they call in sick.
• 78% of workers say they wash their hands often.
• 15% of workers avoid shaking hands with people to avoid germs.
• 3% skip meetings where sick people are in attendance.

Just how dirty is my office?

Researchers swabbed about 5,000 surfaces in office buildings, including law firms, insurance companies, healthcare offices, call centers and factories. The swabs were analyzed with a device that measures adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is a molecule found in all animal, vegetable, bacteria, yeast and mold cells.

High ATP levels are present in food or other organic residues left on surfaces. The more ATP found on a surface, the more likely it's flourishing with bacteria and viruses. An ATP reading of over 100 suggests a surface could use a scrub-down. Readings of 300 or higher are considered officially dirty and at high risk for spreading illness.

ATP counts of 300 or higher

• 75% of break room sink faucet handles
• 48% of microwave door handles
• 27% of keyboards
• 26% of refrigerator door handles
• 23% of water fountain buttons
• 21% of vending machine buttons
• ATP counts of 100 or higher
• 91% of break room sink faucet handles
• 80% of microwave door handles
• 69% of keyboards
• 69% of refrigerator door handles
• 53% of water fountain buttons
• 51% of all computer mice
• 51% of all desk phones
• 48% of all coffee pots and dispensers
• 43% of vending machine buttons

Office hygiene tips

• Keep hand sanitizer at your desk and use it immediately after every meeting or conference.
• Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer when you get to work, especially after riding mass transit, such as trains or buses.
• Use disinfectant wipes to clean your desk at least once a day.
• Keep hand sanitizer in the break room to reinforce hand hygiene.

The Benefits of Memory Care

For many people dealing with Alzheimer's or Dementia, the gradual loss of memory can not only be worrisome, but can be downright dangerous. While families try to help loved ones stay as independent as possible, there often comes a time when those suffering with memory loss need more help than loved ones can provide. If you've been trying to decide if assisted living is the right choice for your family, here are five benefits to professional memory care that may help you make your decision:

1.Meals

It's not unusual for those with memory issues to forget to feed themselves. Even if a loved one ensures that the kitchen is stocked, some patients simply forget to eat. On the other hand, some patients forget that they have already eaten, and eat again; often consuming double or triple necessary calories. In either case, eating issues can lead to weight loss or gain, illness and, in the case of weight gain, mobility issues. An assisted living facility will make sure that your loved one is eating three, nutritionally-sound meals each day.

2.Housekeeping

It's an unfortunate occurrence when those with memory care issues live in filth and clutter. Accumulation of dust and dirt can exacerbate respiratory illnesses, and clutter can cause trips and falls. Assisted living facilities have housekeepers on staff that will ensure your loved one's living environment is kept neat and clean. Not only will your loved one's room be kept clean, but their laundry will be washed as well. Having a clean living environment will greatly reduce the risk of illness or injury to your family member.

3.Personal Hygiene

People with memory care issues often neglect their personal hygiene, simply because it doesn't cross their mind to shower. When your loved one moved into an assisted living facility, his or her personal hygiene will never be forgotten. Your family member will receive help with incontinence issues, toileting and bathing. Proper hygiene is essential in maintaining healthy skin, an important part of the overall health of your loved one.

4.Transportation

It can be difficult for even the most dedicated family members to transport a loved one back and forth to scheduled appointments. When your loved one moves into an assisted living facility, he or she will be safely transported to every necessary medical appointment that takes place off-site. Additionally, residents are often transported to field trips of sorts, or scheduled outings designed to keep residents active and involved. In fact, seniors in assisted living facilities are often more active than those who continue to live on their own.

5.Family Support

Caregivers often forget about themselves and their own health when looking after a loved one with memory issues. When your family member moves into an assisted living facility, he or she won't be the only one getting support. Assisted living facilities provide both support and education for family members of residents. If you have questions or need help adjusting, the professional staff will be there for you.

It can be a difficult decision to move your loved one into an assisted living facility. You must ask yourself if your family member, and your family, will benefit more by continued home care or by the transition to assisted living. There's nothing to feel guilty about when considering an assisted living facility for your loved one; the benefits far outweigh any discomfort you're feeling.

Georgia Manor is a freelance writer nationwide. To learn more about safe and fun senior living, check out the several assisted living information sites available on the internet.

Why Home Hygiene is Crucial for Your Health

Today we are far too used to being lax with the hygiene of our homes, often neglecting it out of laziness or boredom. That however has to change we would never or very rarely ignore our own personal hygiene so things should really be no different when it comes to that of our residence. Hygiene goes a lot deeper than just the look, feel and smell of a place there is a lot more than meets the eye if we don't do a thorough job at cleaning and sanitizing the environment of our homes. Proper disinfection and cleaning are vital to keeping diseases and infections away from our homes as well as allergies and the like.

That being said even though hospitals and laboratories have to be perfectly clean and sterile in order to avoid the aforementioned problems our homes should be no different in many ways. Infection prevention is an important aspect of our lives when it comes to health and it is especially important if we have pets around the house. Pet hair, dead skin particles and more constitute a risk for respiratory issues and help provoke them, especially in asthmatics and other similar sufferers. What can be done to avoid that? Instead of sanitizing the entire home when you're done cleaning you should mostly address the high-risk areas around the house. So what can be done to sanitize your home and what should be done exactly?

• Don't put it off for later

Like we mentioned earlier a lot of us would prefer to enjoy a nice quiet weekend rather than clean if the situation doesn't look that bad. That however has to be avoided since without proper motivation you simply won't get the job done right. Find a way and clean up on a regular basis as that way you'll have less to take care of in the long run.

• Sanitation

After you are done cleaning your home there are a few areas that need to be sterilized especially during high risk times such as a flu epidemic or something similar. Begin by doing the following:

• Fill up the kitchen sink with hot water mixed with one cup of bleach. Pick up all the utensils you use frequently and place them in the water for an hour. While that is going on wet a cloth into the mixture and wipe down all the surfaces of your kitchen to sanitize and destroy the germs as much as possible. Once the hour has passed take out all the utensils and wash them with hot water and soap and let them out to dry. Make sure you wash them well as to not have any problems with the bleach mixture later on.
• Remove all covers from the beds and the pillows around the house. When you wash them add a teaspoon of bleach to the water and let it agitate for a bit before you add the covers in. Then use a disinfectant spray to deal with the mattresses and pillows.
• Spray the vacuum filter with a disinfectant and use it to vacuum the carpets and rugs. For the floors you can add a cup of bleach to a bucket of hot water and then mop them up. Remember to open the windows to let some air in since bleach has a powerful scent.
• Disinfect every surface from computer mice to door handles if possible to minimize the risks.

The article has been submitted by: Brixton Cleaning Options.

Just how good is your oral hygiene?

The quality of our oral hygiene is dependent on a number of factors working together, such as:

• Diet
• Oral cleaning
• Professional dental scaling and polishing
• Dental treatments
• Teeth grinding habits
• Lifestyle choices
• Dental check-ups

Diet - The types and combinations of foods we consume daily impact our oral health. For example, foods high in sugar and acid may cause excess plaque build-up and potential tooth decay. Beverages, such as wine, coffee and tea may discolour or stain teeth, not leaving the mouth looking fresh.

Oral cleaning - Whether or not we follow dentist-recommended oral hygiene practices impacts oral hygiene and health. Brushing teeth daily with proper teeth brushing technique after meals, before sleep and on awaking removes debris and plaque build-up from the teeth. Flossing daily after meals removes food that maybe trapped between teeth. Brushing the tongue removes plaque and bacteria from the surface. Proper oral cleaning keeps the mouth hygienic and fresh.

Professional dental scaling and polishing - Three to six-monthly appointments with the dental hygienist ensures debris is removed from oral structures that otherwise is not removed by home oral hygiene practice. Tartar build up may be scaled off and the teeth polished to make it harder for plaque to adhere to the surface.

Dental treatments - Receiving needed dental care prevents decline of oral hygiene and health. Following dentist guidance on how to care for dental braces, dentures and appliances prevents poor oral health.

Teeth grinding habits - Teeth grinding wears down the teeth and may make them harder to clean and more vulnerable to bacteria build-up or infection. By wearing a mouth guard and keeping it clean, oral hygiene is maintained for better oral care.

Lifestyle choices - Choices such as smoking and excess alcohol consumption may not only contribute to poorer oral hygiene, but weaken oral health. Smokers may develop plaque deposits faster, have yellowing teeth and smoker's breath. More regular dental check-ups and appointments with the dental hygienist may be necessary. Selecting to have protected sex may reduce chances of sexually transmitted diseases and infections that may cause decline of oral hygiene and health.

Dental check-ups - Having six-monthly dental check-ups allows the dentist to assess oral hygiene and health and screen for oral diseases, for treatment if necessary. Where dental appliances, such as braces, retainers or dentures, are worn, adjustments may be made and in-clinic cleaning may be provided.

Author Bio – The author is from Manchester, UK and enjoys writing articles on health, beauty and fitness. For more information on oral hygiene and braces, visit braces.org.uk.

By Jonny Webber

Board of Dentistry's relaxation of limits on hygienists is the latest sign of hope in Kentucky's all-too-grim story of oral health

By Al Smith
Kentucky Health News

With nearly a fourth of Kentucky’s 1 million children living in poverty and suffering some of the worst oral health in America, the state Board of Dentistry voted Saturday to develop regulations to permit hygienists to treat children in a public health setting perhaps stemming a near epidemic of tooth decay in the very young.

Hygienists will still be responsible to dentists when working in public-health settings such as schools, where they can apply preventive treatments on their own if the new regulation wins legislative committee approval. It isn’t as far as we want to go in confronting our horrific problems, but it may remove stones in our path that have kept a tight control on the use of hygienists.

In the past, organized dentistry in Kentucky, fearing competition from hygienists, has opposed expanding their scope of practice, but as Kentucky remains stalled near the bottom of state rankings of oral health, younger dentists are accepting the need for change, says Dr. James Cecil, a retired dentistry professor at the University of Kentucky.

Saturday’s action by the Board of Dentistry partly may have been “from desperation, over recent bad publicity as the popular press portrays the profession as unresponsive to the needs of our poor citizens,” Cecil said in an interview. “While dentistry still remains where medicine was 20 years ago,” when many doctors opposed licensing physician assistants and nurse practitioners, Cecil said dentists “will learn they can make more money when their services become more available through greater use of auxiliaries such as the hygienists.”

Cecil, former chief dental officer for the U.S. Navy and distinguished as a national leader in public health, earlier last week participated with Kentucky Youth Advocates in the organization of a new Kentucky Oral Health Coalition, whose startup is funded by a foundation grant to KYA.

This coalition of various organizations, including public health departments, nurses, physicians, insurers, and some dentists, will be independent of dental associations or the state’s two dental colleges, and it will campaign for better programs for general as well as oral health.

In the early months of a year when the Kentucky General Assembly, like the U.S. Congress, has reached little agreement on public issues, the state Department of Public Health, actively supported by Gov. Steve Beshear, seems to be gaining traction on oral-health needs.

Grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission are expected to go to two of 13 new local health coalitions in Eastern Kentucky. The grants will pay for one mobile dental van and equipment to reach out to an area with children whose teeth are so decayed they were one focus of an ABC "20/20" documentary viewed by 11 million people in 2009.

Through funding by the federal government, the oral health program will begin training general dentists in more pediatric care. And with additional funding from ARC, this project focuses on dentists in the ARC counties for participation.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cecil and KYA hope to organize more local dental coalitions in rural Western Kentucky. Coalitions may decide to include ‘senior days’ to help older citizens with appalling dental health needs.

There are now 25 such coalitions in the state. As more are established, the challenge is to expand the reach of the state’s 3,000 hygienists, to assist and encourage the state’s 2,400 active dentists to become more pro-active about solving problems that drag down oral health in Kentucky, and to educate parents to care for their children’s teeth, beginning in their first year of life.

Historically, in a culture with so much poverty, Kentuckians have stoically accepted being toothless in old age as part of the price. First, though, there are awful workforce problems. What starts with neglect in childhood evolves into a workforce of adults with severe tooth loss and poor self-image, plus illnesses associated with dental disease (obesity, diabetes, strokes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s) and last, a distressing cohort of toothless elderly poor, sadly, among the highest in the country.

It's a grim story, but Cecil sees determination in the profession to address the problems. With a new added role for hygienists, he says, “The dam may be broken.”

Journalist Al Smith, Lexington, a former federal cochairman of the ARC, and co-founder of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at UK, is the retired host of KET’s "Comment on Kentucky."

Kentucky Health News is a service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

Shigellosis cases are on the rise in Louisville

There have been 60 confirmed cases of shingellosis in Louisville in the past three months, compared to an average of 62 per year in the area. About half of the new cases are in children who are 3 years old and younger.

"Shingellosis is caused by Shingella bacteria, which leaves the body of an infected person through the stool and enters another person's body when hands, food or objects contaminated with stool are placed in the mouth," reports Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal. Because of the mode of transmission, maintaining personal hygiene is important.

"Hand washing is by far the most effective way to prevent shigellosis," said Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness. "We urge everyone — particularly parents, children, childcare workers and teachers — to wash their hands often."

Symptoms, which can occur one to seven days after exposure, include watery or loose stools, sudden onset of fever, nausea, abdominal cramping or vomiting. (Read more)

Halitosis (Bad Breath odor) Causes and Precautions

Halitosis is caused due to many reasons. Diabetes, Kidney failure, stomach and liver disorders, dental disease, hunger and many other reasons can cause bad breath.

Although simple such as bad breath may herald serious disease, such as in the case of human psychological problems may lead to serious. Also adversely affected the social life of the individual is an incontestable fact.

The name of the medicinal smell of the mouth and "Halitosis" I searched for you, as a term, In this paper, we will share with you ways to prevent bad breath causes and the smell of the mouth.

REASONS:

• Living bacteria in the oral cavity with residues of sulfur compounds causing bad breath. The bacteria are dead or dying reveals sulfur compounds.
• Bacteria and food debris layer deposited on the back of the tongue. A very rough surface structure of the language and has a property suitable for bacteria accumulated in these areas.
• If the tooth surface is cleaned as soon as it becomes convenient to live bacteria.
• Illness, those with severe gum temizleyebilmesi unlikely on its own without the person, are inaccessible areas. in such areas such as deep gum pockets can cause bad breath.
• Especially sinus and lung infections
• Diabetes
• Kidney failure
• Liver failure
• Metabolic disorders
• Fasting, diet, dry mouth, to be fasting (Liquid food deficiency in the body begins to dissolve fat and protein, the metabolic by-products, as reflected in bad breath).
• Garlic, onions, curry, fish, cheese, and some types of breath can convert a toxic structure.
• Sinusitis and nasal discharge
• Reduction in salivary secretion: Saliva prevents the reproduction of bacteria in the mouth and clears debris.
• Oral thrush in the wound and inflammation

Bad Breath Treatment Methods

Treatment of bad breath, the cause depends on the availability. A definite cause is found, it will be tread in eliminating bad breath. Is considered to be related primarily to inflammation of the tonsils if bad applied to drug therapy but is usually a chronic problem in the tonsils, tonsils need to be connected to the mouth smell. Dental and gum problems can be eliminated by providing proper oral hygiene. Brushing the teeth for dental care is not enough. Most people, even brushing teeth is made literally. Dental floss is a very useful method of cleaning. Cleans debris between teeth. Sometimes I long for your teeth cleaned or pockets between the brush occurs. This sometimes requires the withdrawal of the tooth. Mouthwashes for bad breath to be effective on the bacteria make a positive impact.

If conditions such as sinusitis and nasal discharge examination or drug or surgical treatments for films that are applied is determined. Treatments for diseases that reduce the secretion of saliva if they are planned. Drink plenty of water during the day, dry mouth and bad breath can affect positively. Tongue brushing, will smell like garlic and onions avoid, stay away from cigarettes is beneficial. Lung, kidney liver, and odor related to diabetes is less common and usually associated with other symptoms, depending on the actual disease. This disease is suspected, the patients should be directed is suspected, the patients should be directed to the branches.

Warning and precautions against bad breath

• Apple, pear, carrot
• Mint sprouts
• Cinnamon or mint-flavored chewing gum
• Lemon, lemon candies
• Parsley
• Anise, cardamom, coriander, fennel
• Yogurt, such as foods and foods that are helpful in preventing bad breath.

Treatment of bad breath, to pay attention to oral hygiene, teeth and tongue brushing, cleaning between teeth, gum inflammation move based on the principle of treatment. Patients with bad breath, be encouraged to reduce smoking, should stay away from harmful foods, regularly fed, teeth should visit their doctors regularly.