Health Tips
Sleep
Good sleep is necessary for optimal health and can affect hormone levels, mood and weight. Sleep problems, including snoring, sleep apnea, insomnia, sleep deprivation, and restless legs syndrome are common.
When To See Your Health Care Practitioner
When seeing any healthcare provider, make sure they understand the details related to your visit. Give them a full understanding of what you are feeling without digressing.
Eating Habits
Healthy eating is more than the foods you eat. It is also about where, when, why and how you eat. Taking time to eat, noticing when you are hungry and when full, cooking more often, planning and preparing meals ahead and eating meals with others are all ways we can eat better and healthy. For further reading, Canada’s Food Guide provides a variety of healthy eating tips and resources.
First Aid
Taking a first-aid course is a great way to protect you and your family if a sudden event threatens your health. Being prepared and knowing the actions to take in a medical first-aid situation can affect the outcome of the situation. For example, if the signs of choking while eating occurs, giving up to 5 blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand, proceeding to the Heimlich Maneuver if the person is not too obese or pregnant, and being trained in CPR and knowing how to administer it, could save a life.
Physicals
Your annual physical will give a superficial indication of your health and allow you and your doctor to discuss any other health-related concerns or questions. Changes in lifestyle, activities, and environment can change the state of your health from year to year. This results in both appropriate antibiotic prescribing, as well as a greater opportunity for antibiotic Education. Your annual physical provides an opportunity to discuss any minor, but chronic, conditions and determine if they could become more serious, or whether treatment is needed.
Exercise
Regular physical activity, specifically cardiovascular exercise, conditions and strengthens muscles. When muscles are not regularly challenged and used, muscular atrophy—the wasting away of muscle—occurs over time. Exercise also has other health-and-wellness benefits: it contributes to your body’s ability to regulate your hypothalamus, which controls hunger, fatigue, and the quality of your sleep. Exercise also has positive effects on body weight, the heart, and many other organs.
Exercise and Fitness
Your heart, your brain – your entire body – benefits from exercise. Regular physical activity conditions and strengthens the muscle. When muscles aren’t used regularly, their can be loss of muscle mass also known as Muscular atrophy. Fitness means being able to perform physical activity. It also means having the energy and strength to feel as good as possible. Getting more fit, even a little bit, can improve your overall health.
