When it comes to your health, strokes are serious business. Even if the symptoms of a stroke are minor, they can turn serious and cause significant long-term problems or even death. That’s why it’s so important to know what a stroke is, how to spot it, and what you can do to prevent strokes or help someone who is having one.

While there are various types of stroke, including heat stroke and ischemic or mini strokes, they are all caused by similar problems. A blockage in the brain blocks blood flow to a certain area and causes that part of the brain to be deprived of oxygen. If the area goes too long without blood flow, there can be permanent damage or even death.

It’s impossible to act when you’re having a stroke if you don’t know you’re having one. It’s therefore important to know the signs and symptoms of a stroke so you can act quickly.

Ignoring serious symptoms is probably the worst thing you can do. The most common indicators of a stroke are:

* Sudden severe headache without cause
* Numbness or weakness
* Dizziness or trouble standing up
* Vision trouble with one or both eyes
* Trouble speaking or understanding speech

The most important thing you can do if you think you or someone else is having any of these symptoms is to seek medical attention. There are new medical advances that can greatly increase the chances of surviving and recovering from a stroke. However, these medicines are only effective if they are given within about three hours of the start of symptoms. The faster you get to a doctor, the better off you are. Once the damage has been done, there is much less medical professionals can do to help.

Whether the person having the stroke is you, a loved one, or even a stranger, its onset can be a very stressful thing. When a stroke strikes, you need to remain calm. If you panic, you will often delay any action and therefore delay any treatment. You can also stress the patient and worsen the situation. Take a deep breath, call 911, and wait calmly until the ambulance crew arrives. When they do, remain calm and let them do their work without interfering.

If you’ve had a stroke, you’ll need to take measures to prevent another one. While some risk factors can’t be controlled (like age and race), there are others that can. Most of the actions you can take to prevent stroke are the same as for prevention of a heart attack and include:

* Eating a healthier diet rich in fiber and nutrients
* Taking steps to lower cholesterol and blood pressure
* Quitting or limiting smoking and alcohol consumption
* Reducing weight
* Relieving stress
* Getting plenty of exercise

These small steps can not only prevent a second stroke, they can also prevent stroke if you’ve never had one.

One of the few rules kids (and some adults) actually like to follow is the five second rule. This rule states that any food that falls on the floor is safe to eat, as long as you pick it back up before you can count to five. Not only does this “rule” just seem gross, it can make your children sick or even give them food poisoning.

It may seem silly, but there have been various studies testing different aspects of the “five second rule”. They’ve studied everything from how many germs stay on surfaces to how long it takes them to transfer onto food. Here are a few things they’ve discovered.

The big issue when it comes to the five second rule is whether floors really are actually dirty. While many floors have visible dirt, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have bacteria on them, and dirt won’t likely make you very sick if there’s no bacteria in it. Tests have been done on public floors which have shown them to be fairly clean; however, tests have also been done which show that dirt dropped on the floor can leave enough biological material on the floor to make you sick, and that it stays there for over 24 hours.

When it comes to getting germs on your food, time does matter. If you leave food sitting on your floor for a minute, it’s going to get more dirt and germs on it than if the food is only sitting on it for a few seconds. But that doesn’t mean that food left for only a few seconds is safe. Studies show that hundreds of bacteria can be transferred onto food in just a few seconds of contact. When certain bacteria only require to be ten in number to make you sick, that’s a good reason to just throw the food away.

When it comes to the five second rule, it depends a lot on what the food is, and what the surface is that it falls on. If dry food (like a chip) falls on a dry, smooth surface (like linoleum), the food will probably not pick up many germs. But if you’re dropping a stickier food or if it falls on a carpet, it’s more likely to pick up germs and make you sick.

So, what if you just washed your floor and it’s sparkling clean? While there may be little dirt on your food, there may be the chemicals you used to clean your floor or other surface. Chemicals used to clean dishes are made to be non-toxic and easily wash away to keep you and your family from getting sick. However, chemicals made to clean floors and sanitize counters don’t follow the same standards and can make your family very sick if they’re ingested.

If you’re concerned about your family’s health, it’s best to forget about the five second rule and just throw away any food that falls on the floor. This means you need to teach your kids the dangers of the five second rule, no matter what their friends tell them.

Product Name:  Yoga for Weight Loss
Rating:  8
Where to Buy: Yoga For Weight Loss - Beginner & Beyond (2007)

Description:  Yoga for Weight Loss explains how to use yoga techniques to help lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Review:  I get so frustrated when it comes to losing weight.  I get even more frustrated with all the books that try to explain to me why I’m not loosing weight and what I should do to rectify that.  I’ve had enough of not eating, eating things that taste just awful and still never reaching my weight goals.  I decided to try something different and that’s where this DVD came into my life.

For years I have heard about Yoga and all the benefits it could place in my life.  It just seemed like Yoga worked for more things than anything else I had ever read about.  So when I was frustrated with my weight loss and feeling almost at my wits end I decided to try it.  What could it hurt I was about to give up anyway.

This book gave me the will power to keep trying. By realizing my weight problem was more of an imbalance in my body I began to see that using such techniques might just be the ticket.  Of course I had the concerns that I would have to become a Yoga believer.  I have a hard time changing my beliefs and not really stressing over this change.  But again this book showed me that Yoga isn’t really a belief.  Its just techniques you use to find a serene balance to your life and the problems you face.

I now have a Yoga technique that is working for me.  Yoga for Weight Loss gave me some straight forward information on these techniques and how to make them work for me.  It also gave me a few tips on my heating habits too.

Most of all, this DVD gave me the strength to continue on my weight loss journey.  I don’t feel pressured nor do I feel like I’m a failure anymore.  Because I know now that by using my attitude in a healthy way I’m losing weight and keeping it off.