he people I'm connected to on LinkedIn fall into two categories: those who use the professional networking site to discuss ideas, connect with new people, drum up work, and seize opportunities they wouldn't find elsewhere; and those who set up a skeleton profile and never returned.
If you fall into the latter category, it may be time to reevaluate what LinkedIn has to offer so that you can take full advantage of it. You don't need to be a power user to start reaping the benefits, but you should try to log in to the site at least once a month to improve your visibility and reputation to the point where people and opportunities can find you.
And it's not just about finding a full-time job either. If you've ever made a few hundred bucks consulting, you know there's real monetary value in telling other people about your areas of expertise. If you have a business, LinkedIn provides another way for clients and business partners to find you. And if someone in your network has a need that you can fill, whether for payment or for the benefit of building your reputation as a community-oriented person, LinkedIn can facilitate all aspects of the transaction.
Here are five things you can do to instantly make LinkedIn more valuable.
1. Update or completely fill in your profile. When someone enters your full name in an online search, they often expect to find a LinkedIn webpage near the top of the results. If they click through to a page that isn't up to date or is missing swatches of information, it sends a message that you aren't committed to completing things and aren't up to date with the technology. Whether it's true is another story, but that's the first impression.
Complete your profile. Update the resume section with recent achievements. Thoroughly updating your profile should take an hour at most (and you can reuse the same points and highlights to update your offline resume while you're at it). Be sure to include a headshot so people can identify you. There are very few reasons not to use a headshot, but if for some reason you can't, upload some kind of image that relates to something striking about you.
2. Frontload keywords in your profile. If you want people to approach you via LinkedIn for unforeseen opportunities, from consulting work to a media appearance based on your areas of expertise, you need to tell them what it is you do with prominently displayed keywords. These key pieces of information need to come first in your "summary," and be repeated in the "experience" section.
Examples of keywords are contingent on your field of work. Programmers should list the languages they know best. Advertising professionals should name the categories and mediums they've worked in. PhD scholars need to list the subject they studied and the "elevator-pitch" summary of their dissertation. Even if the information is implied elsewhere, like in a department name or your professional title, you want to use keywords so that search engines can find them as well as human beings who are visually scanning your page.
3. Connect with former colleagues—not just people you've met recently. One of LinkedIn's primary functions is as a professional address book. What's great about LinkedIn is you don't have to update anyone's information—your contacts do that part for you (yet another reason to keep your profile current). The reason you should stay connected with former colleagues in particular is that they are well-established connections that you already have. You have history with these people. And if they're "former" colleagues, that implies either you or they (or both) have since moved on and forged new professional relationships with an even wider network. Connect with these people, and your own network will grow overnight.
4. Sync with Twitter. Don't duplicate your efforts. If you're already taking part in discussions that are relevant to your work life on Twitter, sync your LinkedIn profile to republish all the great content you're already posting. You'll find the option for connecting a Twitter account under Profile > Edit Profile. Don't sync with Twitter if the content you post there is only tangentially or unrelated to your professional life. If you keep them separate, potential employers and business partners will treat them as separate entities, too, even when your other accounts are publicly available.
5. Join groups. I am of the opinion that not everyone on LinkedIn needs to join groups, but, in many cases, it helps. If you belong to a community that tends to seek out resources (including suggestions for products, services, consultants, and new hires) from other community members, it may be in your interest to join a select few groups to keep tabs on trends and topics of discussion. However, if you join, you should participate. Joining groups willy-nilly and then not contributing to them will be obvious
Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts
13 Numbers Everyone Should Know about heart health
A long life free of heart disease does not come just from controlling the standard measures like blood pressure and cholesterol. Sure, keeping tabs on these indicators is essential to gauging your heart's health, but a few other numbers—some surprising—can be meaningful as well.
It's awareness worth having. The American Heart Association noted in its annual review for 2010 that while the death rate due to cardiovascular disease in the United States fell between 1996 and 2006, the burden of the disease is still high. More than 1 in 3 deaths was related to heart disease in 2006.
U.S. News consulted with cardiology experts to round up the target numbers you should strive for to keep your ticker in good working condition over the long haul.
1. Alcohol intake
Those fond of tipple may be dismayed, but the science on alcohol as an agent to promote heart health is just not definitive. "If you have heart disease, alcohol plays no role in your medicine cabinet; if [you do] not, alcohol is not the right way to reduce your risk," says Jonathan Whiteson, director of the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Program at New York University Langone Medical Center. Some research has suggested that drinking red wine may increase one's HDL, or "good" cholesterol, but Whiteson notes that the boost is minimal. "Exercise [offers] a better increase in HDL," he says.
While he's not against a drink in a social setting, it's certainly not something folks—especially those with heart disease—should engage in with the idea that it will offer a heart benefit, says Whiteson. In fact, medications' effectiveness can be either hampered or heightened by alcohol, sometimes to a dangerous extent. (Common herbal supplements can interact with heart drugs, too). And drinking too much can lead to high blood pressure or increased blood levels of triglycerides, a type of fat.
Bottom line: The American Heart Association suggests that otherwise healthy individuals who drink should do so in moderation. That is defined as one to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. And be careful with that pour: The AHA defines a drink as one 12-ounce beer, a 4 ounce glass of wine, 1.5 ounce of 80-proof spirits, or 1 ounce of 100-proof spirits.
2. Salt intake
Some experts say that the pervasive use of sodium in the America diet is wreaking havoc on our cardiovascular systems. "Sodium causes retention of fluid within the circulation, and if you're sodium-sensitive, it expands your blood volume and can contribute to high blood pressure, stroke, and other heart disease," explains Clyde Yancy, medical director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and spokesman for the American Heart Association.
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that if Americans reduced daily salt intake by 3 grams, we could significantly lower the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease (by between 60,000 and 120,000), stroke (by 32,000 to 66,000), heart attack (by 54,000 to 99,000), and even the number of deaths from any cause (by 44,000 to 92,000). The paper's authors noted previous research that showed the average American man consumes 10.4 grams of salt daily, while the average American woman gets 7.3 grams.
Bottom line: The AHA recommends Americans limit salt intake to 1.5 grams daily. Be wary: Sodium creeps in via unexpected sources, and it's not so much the salt shaker on our table that's to blame. Research suggests we get as much as 80 percent of our daily salt intake from processed foods.
3. Sugar intake
It's not just the savory flavors that'll get you; sweets, too, can ultimately become a cause for concern, says the American Heart Association. Like salt, sugar creeps into the processed foods that make up much of the American diet, and sweetened beverages—soda, juices, and sports drinks—are especially loaded with the stuff. Here's some disturbing math for you: A 12-ounce can of soda has about 8 teaspoons (or 33 grams) of added sugars, totaling about 130 calories. (A gram of sugar translates into 4 calories.)
A can of Coke or Pepsi, then, basically takes you to the AHA's new upper limit on the recommended amount of added sugar Americans should ingest on a daily basis. The association's primary concern is the number of excess calories that added sugars sneak into our diets and pile onto our waistlines, which can contribute to metabolic changes that increase the chances of developing a host of diseases.
Bottom line: According to the AHA, women should get no more than 100 calories per day of added sugars and men should stop at 150 calories per day.
4. Resting heart rate
How hard does your heart have to work—and how fast does it have to pump—to get oxygen-rich blood throughout your body? A lower number suggests your cardiovascular system is more efficient at doing this. Thus, a highly trained athlete can have a resting heart rate in the 40s, says Whiteson.
And while the research is still emerging on what one's resting heart rate predicts about heart disease risk, a picture is beginning to take shape. "There is certain evidence to support [the idea that] a higher resting heart rate is associated with heart disease," especially ischemic heart disease, he says, which involves reduced blood flow (and oxygen) getting to heart arteries and the heart muscle. This effect seems to be more pronounced in women than in men, but a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggested that in women up to the age of 70, every 10-beats-per-minute increase in resting heart rate boosted the risk of dying from ischemic heart disease by 18 percent. In men, the risk was increased by 10 percent for every extra 10 beats per minute, and age didn't have an impact.
The study also found that women who got high levels of physical activity were able to reduce their risk of death considerably, compared with those who did little or no activity. The same effect was not found in men, but the researchers suggest the results may have been skewed because men tend to overestimate how much exercise they get.
Bottom line: A normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Check yours by finding your wrist's pulse, counting the beats in a 15-second period, then multiplying by four.
5. Hours of sleep per night
An overcaffeinated America seems to perpetually crave more shut-eye. And evidence is cropping up to suggest that a poor night's sleep is not only felt the next day but could have implications for one's heart over the long term. It is well established that sleep apnea, which results in numerous interruptions to breathing while asleep, is associated with stroke and coronary artery disease.
The reason is not clear, says Whiteson, but it's been hypothesized that people with disrupted sleep breathing have higher blood pressure overall because they don't get the restorative sleep that normally allows blood pressure to go down and gives the cardiovascular system a break during slumber. And a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that middle-aged people who got five hours of shut-eye or less a night had a greater risk of developing coronary artery disease than those who got eight hours. The clue was the beginnings of calcium buildup in their arteries, found by CT scanning long before the disease process would normally be picked up.
Bottom line: Get eight hours of sleep per night. Making it happen isn't easy, we know.
6. Exercises
You've heard it a thousand times over, and the message stays the same: Regular, heart-thumping exercise offers a multitude of health benefits, particularly for cardiovascular fitness. Perhaps clinicians (and health writers) keep bashing us over the head with that fact because of the eye-popping number of American adults who reported getting zero vigorous activity in a 2008 Centers of Disease Control and Prevention survey: 59 percent.
Bottom line: For a clean bill of health, the major health associations (including the AHA and the American College of Sports Medicine) suggest a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week—say, brisk walking that boosts your heart rate. This translates into 30 minutes of exercise on five days of the week. Twice-weekly strength training of eight to 10 exercises, up to 12 reps each, is also on their to-do list.
Whiteson at NYU Langone Medical Center suggests that those who don't have heart disease should bump that recommendation up to 60 minutes a day, five days a week of vigorous activity, where you're breathing pretty heavily and sweating. But he offers a concession: "You can break it up" into, say, three 20-minute sessions per day, since "the effect of aerobic exercise is cumulative." He also thinks those without heart disease should do strength training thrice weekly. Individuals with heart disease should always discuss a new exercise regimen with a doctor first, he says.
7. Cigarettes
A 2009 study of Norwegians found that heavy smokers—those who puff at least 20 cigarettes per day—were 2.5 times more likely to die over a 30-year period than nonsmokers. But the cardiovascular risks associated with smoking aren't just seen in chain smokers.
The more nuanced message that doesn't always get across is the risk that the occasional smoker is exposed to. Even 10 minutes of secondhand smoke exposure may affect cardiovascular function. Just because you might not smoke a pack a day or even a week doesn't mean you're in the clear. "There is no safe level of exposure" to tobacco smoke, says Yancy.
Bottom line To protect against heart disease (not to mention cancer, stroke, and reproductive problems), the goal is to smoke exactly zero cigarettes.
8. Blood sugar
Over time, high blood sugar levels associated with diabetes can damage nerves and blood vessels. This can spur the buildup of fat on blood vessel walls, which can impede blood flow and promote atherosclerosis. Having diabetes increases one's risk of cardiovascular disease considerably. Three quarters of those with diabetes die of heart or blood vessel disease.
Your body's ability to use glucose (blood sugar) properly can be tested by getting a fasting blood glucose test, which is a snapshot of your blood sugar at the time, or by getting a hemoglobin A1C test, which measures overall blood glucose over the previous three months. Both can be insightful. "There is data to suggest that there is a significant decrease in the risk of heart and vascular disease with every 1 percent reduction in hemoglobin A1C," says Whiteson.
Bottom line: The more controlled, the better. The normal range for a fasting blood glucose test is typically less than 100 milligrams per deciliter; prediabetes is indicated by a level between 100 and 125 mg/dL and diabetes by a reading of 126 mg/dL or above. A normal hemoglobin A1C level is below 6 percent, and those with diabetes should aim to keep it under 7 percent.
9. C-reactive protein
Inflammation is a process our body uses to fight off an assault, like a cold or injury, in order to heal. But over the long term, chronic inflammation plays a detrimental role to health because the nasty byproducts—inflammatory molecules like cytokines—are believed to be part of several disease processes, including atherosclerosis, obesity, and Alzheimer's disease. In the realm of heart disease, much ado has been made of c-reactive protein, a marker for one's level of inflammation that can be picked up through a blood test called hs-CRP, for high-sensitivity c-reactive protein.
Who should get the test, and what are doctors to do with the results? Those are matters of considerable debate. "We can't treat high [c-reactive protein]," says Whiteson. It's an indicator of potential heart trouble, but medicine doesn't have the tools, via medications or procedures, to bring an elevated c-reactive protein down to normal. It is possible, however, to directly treat other critical risk factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Doing so can bring down the risk of future cardiac events and death. A landmark study from late 2008 found that subjects who did not have heart disease and had normal cholesterol and who took statins had a lower risk of heart attack and stroke and also had fewer angioplasties and bypass surgeries over the course of the study, compared with the group who took a placebo. But too many questions remain about the study to make a blanket statement that folks should be taking statins more liberally.
Bottom line: According to the American Heart Association, a hs-CRP measure of 1 mg/L means you are at low risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a measure between 1 and 3 mg/L means you are at average risk, and levels above 3 mg/L means your risk is high. Getting the test may be helpful, says Yancy, if you are at intermediate risk for heart disease based on other risk factors and your doctors would like another data point to determine treatment. But "there is no need to check CRP if a person already has high risk or truly is in the healthy bracket," he says.
10. Waist circumference
While not a direct measure of heart disease, a high waist circumference tracks with increased risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes—all of which have a direct impact on heart health. And the bigger the belly, the heavier one tends to be. Obesity, of course, is a well-known risk factor for a range of diseases, including heart disease.
Importantly, a higher waist circumference indicates distribution of fat around the abdomen and packing fat around vital organs, which research has indicated is more dangerous than carrying weight in the thighs or buttocks. Be sure you're measuring properly. The correct waist circumference measurement is taken by wrapping a measuring tape around the natural waist at the belly button, not around the hips.
Bottom line: Men should have a waist circumference of less than 40 inches. The figure for women is less than 35 inches.
11. Body mass index
Your weight matters, but it has to be considered in the context of how tall you are. Body mass index takes the two numbers into account. Like waist circumference, BMI is an indirect measure of risk, but a higher measure correlates with greater risk. The catch, however, is that it is not always entirely accurate. A person in excellent condition who has a lot of muscle mass may have a high BMI.
Too much excess weight is associated with diabetes, heart disease and stroke, some cancers, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, fatty liver disease, and complications in pregnancy.
Bottom line: People with BMIs less than 18.5 are underweight. Target BMI range is between 18.5 and 24.9. Overweight is considered between 25 and 30, and a BMI above 30 puts you in the obese category.
12. Blood pressure
This one is critical to heart health. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, 1 in 3 Americans have high blood pressure. When a nurse wraps the cuff around your arm, she's taking a reading of the force on the walls of your arteries, which is subject to fluctuating pressure as the heart beats to push blood through your body. The trouble is, high blood pressure doesn't have any telltale symptoms, so a person might be living with hypertension unknowingly. Over the long haul, elevated blood pressure can damage organs and fuel a cascade of problems.
Action to lower blood pressure can include medications, but diet and exercise can really beat those numbers back into submission. The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)—high in veggies, fruit, fish, and whole grains but low in red meat fat and sugar—has been shown to lower blood pressure significantly. And research has suggested that the DASH diet packs an especially powerful wallop when people simultaneously work to reduce salt intake, a known blood pressure booster.
Bottom line: "The only number that really matters is 120 over 80," which is the cutoff for a normal blood pressure reading, says Yancy. The more one's blood pressure surpasses that level, the more damage to the vascular system, heart, and kidneys. The top number is called systolic blood pressure and is the measure of pressure while the heart beats. The bottom number is called diastolic and is the measure of pressure between heart beats. A reading above 120/80 but below 140/90 is considered prehypertension; anything above that is high blood pressure. Both require attention and steps to bring the blood pressure back under control.
13. Cholesterol
Your cholesterol level is a measure of the fats circulating in your bloodstream. With out-of-whack cholesterol levels comes greater risk for coronary artery disease and stroke. Reducing saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and total fat can help bring down your cholesterol level. And exercise, says Whiteson, "is one pill that treats all ills. It can touch all risk factors for heart disease," including reducing weight, reducing stress, improving blood sugar profiles, bringing down high blood pressure, and lowering total cholesterol, lowering LDL (the "bad" cholesterol), increasing HDL (the "good" cholesterol), and lowering triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood.
Bottom line: You're aiming for total cholesterol below 200 mg/DL; above 240 mg/DL puts you at twice the risk of coronary artery disease as a person within the normal range. HDL should be above 40 mg/DL for men and above 50 mg/DL for women (women tend to have higher HDL before menopause); above 60 mg/DL is categorized as protective to your heart. LDL ideally should be below 100 mg/DL, though up to 129 mg/DL is near optimal. High LDL is considered 160 mg/DL or above. Triglycerides should be below 150 mg/DL; a measure above 200 mg/DL is considered high.
USNews.com
Thu, Feb 03, 2011
It's awareness worth having. The American Heart Association noted in its annual review for 2010 that while the death rate due to cardiovascular disease in the United States fell between 1996 and 2006, the burden of the disease is still high. More than 1 in 3 deaths was related to heart disease in 2006.
U.S. News consulted with cardiology experts to round up the target numbers you should strive for to keep your ticker in good working condition over the long haul.
1. Alcohol intake
Those fond of tipple may be dismayed, but the science on alcohol as an agent to promote heart health is just not definitive. "If you have heart disease, alcohol plays no role in your medicine cabinet; if [you do] not, alcohol is not the right way to reduce your risk," says Jonathan Whiteson, director of the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Program at New York University Langone Medical Center. Some research has suggested that drinking red wine may increase one's HDL, or "good" cholesterol, but Whiteson notes that the boost is minimal. "Exercise [offers] a better increase in HDL," he says.
While he's not against a drink in a social setting, it's certainly not something folks—especially those with heart disease—should engage in with the idea that it will offer a heart benefit, says Whiteson. In fact, medications' effectiveness can be either hampered or heightened by alcohol, sometimes to a dangerous extent. (Common herbal supplements can interact with heart drugs, too). And drinking too much can lead to high blood pressure or increased blood levels of triglycerides, a type of fat.
Bottom line: The American Heart Association suggests that otherwise healthy individuals who drink should do so in moderation. That is defined as one to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. And be careful with that pour: The AHA defines a drink as one 12-ounce beer, a 4 ounce glass of wine, 1.5 ounce of 80-proof spirits, or 1 ounce of 100-proof spirits.
2. Salt intake
Some experts say that the pervasive use of sodium in the America diet is wreaking havoc on our cardiovascular systems. "Sodium causes retention of fluid within the circulation, and if you're sodium-sensitive, it expands your blood volume and can contribute to high blood pressure, stroke, and other heart disease," explains Clyde Yancy, medical director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and spokesman for the American Heart Association.
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that if Americans reduced daily salt intake by 3 grams, we could significantly lower the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease (by between 60,000 and 120,000), stroke (by 32,000 to 66,000), heart attack (by 54,000 to 99,000), and even the number of deaths from any cause (by 44,000 to 92,000). The paper's authors noted previous research that showed the average American man consumes 10.4 grams of salt daily, while the average American woman gets 7.3 grams.
Bottom line: The AHA recommends Americans limit salt intake to 1.5 grams daily. Be wary: Sodium creeps in via unexpected sources, and it's not so much the salt shaker on our table that's to blame. Research suggests we get as much as 80 percent of our daily salt intake from processed foods.
3. Sugar intake
It's not just the savory flavors that'll get you; sweets, too, can ultimately become a cause for concern, says the American Heart Association. Like salt, sugar creeps into the processed foods that make up much of the American diet, and sweetened beverages—soda, juices, and sports drinks—are especially loaded with the stuff. Here's some disturbing math for you: A 12-ounce can of soda has about 8 teaspoons (or 33 grams) of added sugars, totaling about 130 calories. (A gram of sugar translates into 4 calories.)
A can of Coke or Pepsi, then, basically takes you to the AHA's new upper limit on the recommended amount of added sugar Americans should ingest on a daily basis. The association's primary concern is the number of excess calories that added sugars sneak into our diets and pile onto our waistlines, which can contribute to metabolic changes that increase the chances of developing a host of diseases.
Bottom line: According to the AHA, women should get no more than 100 calories per day of added sugars and men should stop at 150 calories per day.
4. Resting heart rate
How hard does your heart have to work—and how fast does it have to pump—to get oxygen-rich blood throughout your body? A lower number suggests your cardiovascular system is more efficient at doing this. Thus, a highly trained athlete can have a resting heart rate in the 40s, says Whiteson.
And while the research is still emerging on what one's resting heart rate predicts about heart disease risk, a picture is beginning to take shape. "There is certain evidence to support [the idea that] a higher resting heart rate is associated with heart disease," especially ischemic heart disease, he says, which involves reduced blood flow (and oxygen) getting to heart arteries and the heart muscle. This effect seems to be more pronounced in women than in men, but a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggested that in women up to the age of 70, every 10-beats-per-minute increase in resting heart rate boosted the risk of dying from ischemic heart disease by 18 percent. In men, the risk was increased by 10 percent for every extra 10 beats per minute, and age didn't have an impact.
The study also found that women who got high levels of physical activity were able to reduce their risk of death considerably, compared with those who did little or no activity. The same effect was not found in men, but the researchers suggest the results may have been skewed because men tend to overestimate how much exercise they get.
Bottom line: A normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Check yours by finding your wrist's pulse, counting the beats in a 15-second period, then multiplying by four.
5. Hours of sleep per night
An overcaffeinated America seems to perpetually crave more shut-eye. And evidence is cropping up to suggest that a poor night's sleep is not only felt the next day but could have implications for one's heart over the long term. It is well established that sleep apnea, which results in numerous interruptions to breathing while asleep, is associated with stroke and coronary artery disease.
The reason is not clear, says Whiteson, but it's been hypothesized that people with disrupted sleep breathing have higher blood pressure overall because they don't get the restorative sleep that normally allows blood pressure to go down and gives the cardiovascular system a break during slumber. And a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that middle-aged people who got five hours of shut-eye or less a night had a greater risk of developing coronary artery disease than those who got eight hours. The clue was the beginnings of calcium buildup in their arteries, found by CT scanning long before the disease process would normally be picked up.
Bottom line: Get eight hours of sleep per night. Making it happen isn't easy, we know.
6. Exercises
You've heard it a thousand times over, and the message stays the same: Regular, heart-thumping exercise offers a multitude of health benefits, particularly for cardiovascular fitness. Perhaps clinicians (and health writers) keep bashing us over the head with that fact because of the eye-popping number of American adults who reported getting zero vigorous activity in a 2008 Centers of Disease Control and Prevention survey: 59 percent.
Bottom line: For a clean bill of health, the major health associations (including the AHA and the American College of Sports Medicine) suggest a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week—say, brisk walking that boosts your heart rate. This translates into 30 minutes of exercise on five days of the week. Twice-weekly strength training of eight to 10 exercises, up to 12 reps each, is also on their to-do list.
Whiteson at NYU Langone Medical Center suggests that those who don't have heart disease should bump that recommendation up to 60 minutes a day, five days a week of vigorous activity, where you're breathing pretty heavily and sweating. But he offers a concession: "You can break it up" into, say, three 20-minute sessions per day, since "the effect of aerobic exercise is cumulative." He also thinks those without heart disease should do strength training thrice weekly. Individuals with heart disease should always discuss a new exercise regimen with a doctor first, he says.
7. Cigarettes
A 2009 study of Norwegians found that heavy smokers—those who puff at least 20 cigarettes per day—were 2.5 times more likely to die over a 30-year period than nonsmokers. But the cardiovascular risks associated with smoking aren't just seen in chain smokers.
The more nuanced message that doesn't always get across is the risk that the occasional smoker is exposed to. Even 10 minutes of secondhand smoke exposure may affect cardiovascular function. Just because you might not smoke a pack a day or even a week doesn't mean you're in the clear. "There is no safe level of exposure" to tobacco smoke, says Yancy.
Bottom line To protect against heart disease (not to mention cancer, stroke, and reproductive problems), the goal is to smoke exactly zero cigarettes.
8. Blood sugar
Over time, high blood sugar levels associated with diabetes can damage nerves and blood vessels. This can spur the buildup of fat on blood vessel walls, which can impede blood flow and promote atherosclerosis. Having diabetes increases one's risk of cardiovascular disease considerably. Three quarters of those with diabetes die of heart or blood vessel disease.
Your body's ability to use glucose (blood sugar) properly can be tested by getting a fasting blood glucose test, which is a snapshot of your blood sugar at the time, or by getting a hemoglobin A1C test, which measures overall blood glucose over the previous three months. Both can be insightful. "There is data to suggest that there is a significant decrease in the risk of heart and vascular disease with every 1 percent reduction in hemoglobin A1C," says Whiteson.
Bottom line: The more controlled, the better. The normal range for a fasting blood glucose test is typically less than 100 milligrams per deciliter; prediabetes is indicated by a level between 100 and 125 mg/dL and diabetes by a reading of 126 mg/dL or above. A normal hemoglobin A1C level is below 6 percent, and those with diabetes should aim to keep it under 7 percent.
9. C-reactive protein
Inflammation is a process our body uses to fight off an assault, like a cold or injury, in order to heal. But over the long term, chronic inflammation plays a detrimental role to health because the nasty byproducts—inflammatory molecules like cytokines—are believed to be part of several disease processes, including atherosclerosis, obesity, and Alzheimer's disease. In the realm of heart disease, much ado has been made of c-reactive protein, a marker for one's level of inflammation that can be picked up through a blood test called hs-CRP, for high-sensitivity c-reactive protein.
Who should get the test, and what are doctors to do with the results? Those are matters of considerable debate. "We can't treat high [c-reactive protein]," says Whiteson. It's an indicator of potential heart trouble, but medicine doesn't have the tools, via medications or procedures, to bring an elevated c-reactive protein down to normal. It is possible, however, to directly treat other critical risk factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Doing so can bring down the risk of future cardiac events and death. A landmark study from late 2008 found that subjects who did not have heart disease and had normal cholesterol and who took statins had a lower risk of heart attack and stroke and also had fewer angioplasties and bypass surgeries over the course of the study, compared with the group who took a placebo. But too many questions remain about the study to make a blanket statement that folks should be taking statins more liberally.
Bottom line: According to the American Heart Association, a hs-CRP measure of 1 mg/L means you are at low risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a measure between 1 and 3 mg/L means you are at average risk, and levels above 3 mg/L means your risk is high. Getting the test may be helpful, says Yancy, if you are at intermediate risk for heart disease based on other risk factors and your doctors would like another data point to determine treatment. But "there is no need to check CRP if a person already has high risk or truly is in the healthy bracket," he says.
10. Waist circumference
While not a direct measure of heart disease, a high waist circumference tracks with increased risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes—all of which have a direct impact on heart health. And the bigger the belly, the heavier one tends to be. Obesity, of course, is a well-known risk factor for a range of diseases, including heart disease.
Importantly, a higher waist circumference indicates distribution of fat around the abdomen and packing fat around vital organs, which research has indicated is more dangerous than carrying weight in the thighs or buttocks. Be sure you're measuring properly. The correct waist circumference measurement is taken by wrapping a measuring tape around the natural waist at the belly button, not around the hips.
Bottom line: Men should have a waist circumference of less than 40 inches. The figure for women is less than 35 inches.
11. Body mass index
Your weight matters, but it has to be considered in the context of how tall you are. Body mass index takes the two numbers into account. Like waist circumference, BMI is an indirect measure of risk, but a higher measure correlates with greater risk. The catch, however, is that it is not always entirely accurate. A person in excellent condition who has a lot of muscle mass may have a high BMI.
Too much excess weight is associated with diabetes, heart disease and stroke, some cancers, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, fatty liver disease, and complications in pregnancy.
Bottom line: People with BMIs less than 18.5 are underweight. Target BMI range is between 18.5 and 24.9. Overweight is considered between 25 and 30, and a BMI above 30 puts you in the obese category.
12. Blood pressure
This one is critical to heart health. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, 1 in 3 Americans have high blood pressure. When a nurse wraps the cuff around your arm, she's taking a reading of the force on the walls of your arteries, which is subject to fluctuating pressure as the heart beats to push blood through your body. The trouble is, high blood pressure doesn't have any telltale symptoms, so a person might be living with hypertension unknowingly. Over the long haul, elevated blood pressure can damage organs and fuel a cascade of problems.
Action to lower blood pressure can include medications, but diet and exercise can really beat those numbers back into submission. The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)—high in veggies, fruit, fish, and whole grains but low in red meat fat and sugar—has been shown to lower blood pressure significantly. And research has suggested that the DASH diet packs an especially powerful wallop when people simultaneously work to reduce salt intake, a known blood pressure booster.
Bottom line: "The only number that really matters is 120 over 80," which is the cutoff for a normal blood pressure reading, says Yancy. The more one's blood pressure surpasses that level, the more damage to the vascular system, heart, and kidneys. The top number is called systolic blood pressure and is the measure of pressure while the heart beats. The bottom number is called diastolic and is the measure of pressure between heart beats. A reading above 120/80 but below 140/90 is considered prehypertension; anything above that is high blood pressure. Both require attention and steps to bring the blood pressure back under control.
13. Cholesterol
Your cholesterol level is a measure of the fats circulating in your bloodstream. With out-of-whack cholesterol levels comes greater risk for coronary artery disease and stroke. Reducing saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and total fat can help bring down your cholesterol level. And exercise, says Whiteson, "is one pill that treats all ills. It can touch all risk factors for heart disease," including reducing weight, reducing stress, improving blood sugar profiles, bringing down high blood pressure, and lowering total cholesterol, lowering LDL (the "bad" cholesterol), increasing HDL (the "good" cholesterol), and lowering triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood.
Bottom line: You're aiming for total cholesterol below 200 mg/DL; above 240 mg/DL puts you at twice the risk of coronary artery disease as a person within the normal range. HDL should be above 40 mg/DL for men and above 50 mg/DL for women (women tend to have higher HDL before menopause); above 60 mg/DL is categorized as protective to your heart. LDL ideally should be below 100 mg/DL, though up to 129 mg/DL is near optimal. High LDL is considered 160 mg/DL or above. Triglycerides should be below 150 mg/DL; a measure above 200 mg/DL is considered high.
USNews.com
Thu, Feb 03, 2011
How to check daily car maintainance and the most common technical problems
Here there are some car maintenance and technical barriers most commonly occur on the motorist. It is better to know it so that we avoid these obstacles:
- How do I take care of everyday machine?
Check the oil stick / controller engine oil, whether the oil is below the bottom line of the indicator. Also check the radiator water and bottled water reserves radiator. Check brake fluid & oil clutch, when dirty air filters can be sprayed with air compressor.
- Every how many miles is the engine oil & oil filter replaced?
Ordinary engine oil was replaced between 4000 km - 5000 km but since the climate is hot and there is a lot of jammed streets, many also encourage consumers to replace the engine oil at 3500 miles. The oil filter should be change 2x in 1x oil filter change.
- Is it true that every time we service / tune up, we have to replace the spark plugs & the fuel filters?
Not really, because the spark plugs use durable enough so that does not need to be replaced, usually cleaned and fix the sprawl only. So is the fuel filter can be cleaned with carburator cleaner.
- Is there anything that causes the overheat temperature?
It can be the not good radiator / radiator circulation or a weak Radiator fan motor / disfunction. The existence of sensors that are not good / termostart. The existence of a leaky hose or it could be from a warped cylinder head / packing head that is damaged.
- What causes sudden death car ignition?
Problem in CDI or a platinum coil is discharged or weak start.
- What causes white smoke out continuously from the exhaust tip?
It can be coused by weak piston rings. There is berets on the wall bearing blocks. There has been a rift between the Bering with piston ring so that the machine should be reduced / overhaul the engine.
- How do I keep the machine which is always normal fuel?
The trick is to keep cleaning and routine maintenance such as keeping the crust within the channel in the the combustion chamber by way of understanding the conditioner tune up / clean carbon. Keeping the air filter to keep it clean and not clogged. Keeping the gas tank and fuel filter to keep it clean so no dirt in the gas tank to go up into the engine.
- What causes the brake pedal suddenly disappear and the brakes do not grip?
One possibility is the master brake already beret so there is no normal pressure (liquid pressure) to the respective brakes.
- What causes the sound in the engine block when it stationare and the voice is growing in the tight gas?
If the sound is louder while we run the machine faster, it is definitely from the worn metal salon.
- Is there anything that causes the slip clutch?
The existence of oil leak from the crankshaft so that the cell becomes wet plate clutch (oil). The causes of high incidence of traffic jams while holding the clutch, and clutch plates that have been worn thin.
How to create a Home Media server with Windows 7
Entertainment has become a necessity of life for everyone, after a weary day they need an entertainment activity that can make them more releks. One of the entertainment is by listening to music or watching movies. When a family or home has multiple computers and game consoles may need to place files such as music, pictures and movies in one place for easy to access.
The place is also called the Home Media Server, Home Media Server itself can created from a device or a computer in a Home Media server. In some places, Home Media server devices is still very rare, it was probably caused by a lack of popularity of these devices or few stores that sell them. Home media server devices are usually sold without a hard disk, because the price becomes the next reason for some people to purchase and they prefer to use the computer as a Home Media Server.
One nice feature in Windows 7 is the ability to stream digital media between computers. You can do a good streaming video, music, pictures or other digital media. Streaming is not only accessible from computers, but also can be accessed from a console game as Playsation and XBOX. So if using a normal computer we can create Home Media Server device, why should you buy one?
To be able to stream video, music or images on windows 7 we need to run Windows Media player. Incidentally version of Windows Media Player that I use in this article is version 12 which is inherited from Windows 7.
Next to streaming follow the steps below:
1. Open Windows Media Player, 'Start' - 'All Programs' - 'Windows Media Player'.
2. Then to enable streaming, click on the icon and select Turn on Stream media streaming with HomeGroup
HomeGroup is a network settings on the allotment for home computer users. If the network settings are generally used to authenticate a user but in this HomeGroup using a password, so to be incorporated in HumeGorup you must know the password first. To find out more HomeGroup network you can visit the following link
3. Then click on ‘What is a network location’
The main requirement of the HomeGroup network is the location network must be Home Network.
4. Then click ‘Home Network’.
5. Then on the Icon Stream click select the option ‘Allow remote of my player’ and Automatically allow devices to play the media ...
6. When Allow remote control window appears select the ‘Allow remote contrel in this network’.
7. Next you can move to another computer to check whether the sharing has been successful.
8. Open ‘Windows Media Player’ on another computer.
9. Look under Other Libraries there is a new Library of Andec, which is a library the results of sharing from the computer server.
10. Next you can go to Videos or music folder and try to run one of the file.
11. You also can run a remote video streaming from a server computer to another computer. But first you must activate the option ’Allow remote of my player’ on the destination computer.
Right click on one of Video then select ‘Play to’ then ‘LAB’.
12. When the Window appears as shown below.
Here you can adjust the ‘volume’, and the ‘Start Pause control’, ‘speed up or slow down’ the video in the destination computer.
13. In the video the destination computer will run.
Note: Windows Media player in the destination computer must be run first.
Taken from PC Plus Tabloid Issued number 377
The place is also called the Home Media Server, Home Media Server itself can created from a device or a computer in a Home Media server. In some places, Home Media server devices is still very rare, it was probably caused by a lack of popularity of these devices or few stores that sell them. Home media server devices are usually sold without a hard disk, because the price becomes the next reason for some people to purchase and they prefer to use the computer as a Home Media Server.
One nice feature in Windows 7 is the ability to stream digital media between computers. You can do a good streaming video, music, pictures or other digital media. Streaming is not only accessible from computers, but also can be accessed from a console game as Playsation and XBOX. So if using a normal computer we can create Home Media Server device, why should you buy one?
To be able to stream video, music or images on windows 7 we need to run Windows Media player. Incidentally version of Windows Media Player that I use in this article is version 12 which is inherited from Windows 7.
Next to streaming follow the steps below:
1. Open Windows Media Player, 'Start' - 'All Programs' - 'Windows Media Player'.
2. Then to enable streaming, click on the icon and select Turn on Stream media streaming with HomeGroup
HomeGroup is a network settings on the allotment for home computer users. If the network settings are generally used to authenticate a user but in this HomeGroup using a password, so to be incorporated in HumeGorup you must know the password first. To find out more HomeGroup network you can visit the following link
The main requirement of the HomeGroup network is the location network must be Home Network.
7. Next you can move to another computer to check whether the sharing has been successful.
8. Open ‘Windows Media Player’ on another computer.
9. Look under Other Libraries there is a new Library of Andec, which is a library the results of sharing from the computer server.
Right click on one of Video then select ‘Play to’ then ‘LAB’.
Here you can adjust the ‘volume’, and the ‘Start Pause control’, ‘speed up or slow down’ the video in the destination computer.
13. In the video the destination computer will run.
Note: Windows Media player in the destination computer must be run first.
Taken from PC Plus Tabloid Issued number 377
How to trick Google search?
1. Search by Site
Ever visited a Web site that had a built-in search function that couldn't find squat? Of course you have. But why bother when Google can search just that site for you? All you need to do is add the "site:_____" command to your Google search.
Google will find every mention of that name at the domain name you picked. What better way to ego surf specific sites? You can even limit yourself to top-level domains (.com, .net, .edu). For example, Google will only search educational institutions if you include "site:edu" in your search string.
Or, you could type the name of a particular online publication first, then the topic you want, and Google can generally find results for you.
2. Find Specific Products
Google Product Search is still in beta, but it might be the fastest way to find a specific item you want to buy. You can also use it to search specific sites, such as Amazon (using the previous "site:" command). The site is meant to replace "Google Shopping" (once called "Froogle"), but you still access it when searching, using Google Web search and selecting the Shopping link at the top of the page.
3. Check the Time and Weather
Want to know the time? Just type "time" and Google Instant will quickly tell you your local time. Type "time in ______" and put in the name of a city and it will tell you the time anywhere on the globe. This is a great way to find out how many time zones away someone is.
The same goes for what's happening outside. Type "weather" in the search box and you'll get a four-day forecast for your local area. "Weather in ______" can reveal the precipitation expectations anywhere there's a forecast. A quick click will transform the temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius or vice versa.
4. Calculate and Convert Almost Anything
Not sure where your old Texas Instruments calculator is? Get the calculation you need by using Google's search box. You don't need to enter any special command, just type something as simple as "2 x 2" (Google will tell you the answer) or you can enter something more complicated and Google will calculate it for you.
Google can tell the difference between 5*5-3 (22) and 5*(5-3) (10). And yes, it can use both an "x" or an "*" to multiply. That's just the start, since the calculator can handle advanced math, such as trigonometric functions.
Google also makes converting measurements a breeze. Ask Google "3 meters in yards" and you'll be told "3 meters = 3.2808399 yards." You can convert volume, distance, area, currency, energy, information (bits and bytes), and, well, just about anything you can measure.
You can also combine conversions with calculations. For example: (3 meters) + (2 feet) = 0.00224290146 miles
(1 hectare) + (2 acres) = 18093.7128 m2
GoogleGuide has a great calculator/converter shortcut table, too, that you'll find invaluable.
5. Learn Your Operators
Commands like "Site:" are handy, but nothing beats knowing which operators to put in front of words to narrow or expand your searches.
For example: Tilde (~) - if placed in front of a word, results will include related words
Plus sign (+) - ensures your searches include that word
Minus sign (-) - that word will not be on any page in your search results
Asterisk (*) - if you're not sure how to end a phrase, use the asterisk as a wild card and Google will fill in the blanks
OR - use this Boolean operator to find results with both terms entered
6. Track Packages
Expecting a delivery from UPS, FedEx, or the U.S. Postal Service? Enter the package's tracking number into the Google search box and it will auto-magically find where your box is and give you a quick link to the shipping company's data.
7. Track Earthquakes
The U.S. Geological Survey tracks all seismic movement the world over. In the wake of the devastation in Haiti and Japan, maybe it's not a bad idea to know what's going on near you, tectonically speaking. Type "earthquakes" into Google and you'll instantly get a list of the most recent quakes in the world, what magnitude they hit on the Richter scale, and links to maps of the epicenters.
8. Pick a Type
If you know you only want to find a certain type of file, then you can ask Google to only look for that file type by using the "filetype:" operator with the file extensions typically used in Windows. This includes Acrobat (PDF), Word (DOC), text (RTF and TXT), Excel (XLS), and PowerPoint presentations (PPT), to name just a few. If you don't specify, Google will include all these file types in the search, but don't expect them to be at the top of most results. If you want to search multiple file types, separate them in the search with the "OR" operator ("free software filetype:PDF OR filetype:DOC").
If you're doing a Google Image search, you can narrow the search by checking the area to the left where you can specify a search for clip part, photographs, or line drawings.
9. Go Beyond the Dictionary
The "define:" search operator does so much more than just go to a dictionary. Sure, you can get the definition of any word you can imagine, but it will search more than just individual words, checking acronyms, phrases, tech terms, and even slang. Results could come from Wikipedia, Wiktionary, WordNet, or just about anywhere that has definitions and encyclopedic knowledge.
10. Google It for Someone
Got someone in your life who acts like they can never find anything online, even though the power of Google's search is practically screaming in their face? Feel free to exacerbate the problem by using Let Me Google That For You (a site not affliated with Google). You type in a query and LMGTFY spits out a tiny URL that you can send to the person. When they click it, they get an animation of just how easy it would have been to type it themselves. The added "Was that so hard?" helps twist the knife. Of course, this works with any of the search queries above, so you can use it to answer questions about calculations, conversions, weather, packages, and more-obnoxiously.
Ever visited a Web site that had a built-in search function that couldn't find squat? Of course you have. But why bother when Google can search just that site for you? All you need to do is add the "site:_____" command to your Google search.
Google will find every mention of that name at the domain name you picked. What better way to ego surf specific sites? You can even limit yourself to top-level domains (.com, .net, .edu). For example, Google will only search educational institutions if you include "site:edu" in your search string.
Or, you could type the name of a particular online publication first, then the topic you want, and Google can generally find results for you.
2. Find Specific Products
Google Product Search is still in beta, but it might be the fastest way to find a specific item you want to buy. You can also use it to search specific sites, such as Amazon (using the previous "site:" command). The site is meant to replace "Google Shopping" (once called "Froogle"), but you still access it when searching, using Google Web search and selecting the Shopping link at the top of the page.
3. Check the Time and Weather
Want to know the time? Just type "time" and Google Instant will quickly tell you your local time. Type "time in ______" and put in the name of a city and it will tell you the time anywhere on the globe. This is a great way to find out how many time zones away someone is.
The same goes for what's happening outside. Type "weather" in the search box and you'll get a four-day forecast for your local area. "Weather in ______" can reveal the precipitation expectations anywhere there's a forecast. A quick click will transform the temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius or vice versa.
4. Calculate and Convert Almost Anything
Not sure where your old Texas Instruments calculator is? Get the calculation you need by using Google's search box. You don't need to enter any special command, just type something as simple as "2 x 2" (Google will tell you the answer) or you can enter something more complicated and Google will calculate it for you.
Google can tell the difference between 5*5-3 (22) and 5*(5-3) (10). And yes, it can use both an "x" or an "*" to multiply. That's just the start, since the calculator can handle advanced math, such as trigonometric functions.
Google also makes converting measurements a breeze. Ask Google "3 meters in yards" and you'll be told "3 meters = 3.2808399 yards." You can convert volume, distance, area, currency, energy, information (bits and bytes), and, well, just about anything you can measure.
You can also combine conversions with calculations. For example: (3 meters) + (2 feet) = 0.00224290146 miles
(1 hectare) + (2 acres) = 18093.7128 m2
GoogleGuide has a great calculator/converter shortcut table, too, that you'll find invaluable.
5. Learn Your Operators
Commands like "Site:" are handy, but nothing beats knowing which operators to put in front of words to narrow or expand your searches.
For example: Tilde (~) - if placed in front of a word, results will include related words
Plus sign (+) - ensures your searches include that word
Minus sign (-) - that word will not be on any page in your search results
Asterisk (*) - if you're not sure how to end a phrase, use the asterisk as a wild card and Google will fill in the blanks
OR - use this Boolean operator to find results with both terms entered
6. Track Packages
Expecting a delivery from UPS, FedEx, or the U.S. Postal Service? Enter the package's tracking number into the Google search box and it will auto-magically find where your box is and give you a quick link to the shipping company's data.
7. Track Earthquakes
The U.S. Geological Survey tracks all seismic movement the world over. In the wake of the devastation in Haiti and Japan, maybe it's not a bad idea to know what's going on near you, tectonically speaking. Type "earthquakes" into Google and you'll instantly get a list of the most recent quakes in the world, what magnitude they hit on the Richter scale, and links to maps of the epicenters.
8. Pick a Type
If you know you only want to find a certain type of file, then you can ask Google to only look for that file type by using the "filetype:" operator with the file extensions typically used in Windows. This includes Acrobat (PDF), Word (DOC), text (RTF and TXT), Excel (XLS), and PowerPoint presentations (PPT), to name just a few. If you don't specify, Google will include all these file types in the search, but don't expect them to be at the top of most results. If you want to search multiple file types, separate them in the search with the "OR" operator ("free software filetype:PDF OR filetype:DOC").
If you're doing a Google Image search, you can narrow the search by checking the area to the left where you can specify a search for clip part, photographs, or line drawings.
9. Go Beyond the Dictionary
The "define:" search operator does so much more than just go to a dictionary. Sure, you can get the definition of any word you can imagine, but it will search more than just individual words, checking acronyms, phrases, tech terms, and even slang. Results could come from Wikipedia, Wiktionary, WordNet, or just about anywhere that has definitions and encyclopedic knowledge.
10. Google It for Someone
Got someone in your life who acts like they can never find anything online, even though the power of Google's search is practically screaming in their face? Feel free to exacerbate the problem by using Let Me Google That For You (a site not affliated with Google). You type in a query and LMGTFY spits out a tiny URL that you can send to the person. When they click it, they get an animation of just how easy it would have been to type it themselves. The added "Was that so hard?" helps twist the knife. Of course, this works with any of the search queries above, so you can use it to answer questions about calculations, conversions, weather, packages, and more-obnoxiously.
How to Download and convert YouTube Video Onto iTunes mp3
, Converting a file from YouTube to an MP3 file is not as difficult as some might think. YouTube files are called flv files. Because they are audio and video files, to save them as mp3 files, the video must be stripped and the audio must be saved. Fortunately, there is a free program online that will do this for you. Here is a tip from eHow.com
- Go to YouTube.com and find the file that you want to convert. The file can be anything from a music video to a lecture in a college classroom. The only prerequisite is that there must be audio. When you have found the right video, click on the address bar and select "Ctrl+C" to copy the URL address.
- Type into your browser the site, www.flvtomp3.com. Wait for the page to load. At the top of the page, make sure the button next to the words "By URL" are selected.
- Paste the website address that you copied in step 1 into the text box on the page. Paste the text by either selecting "Ctrl+V" or by right-clicking and choosing "Paste" from the menu that appears. Click "OK" at the bottom of the page next to "I Accept the Terms."
- Be patient as the next page opens and begins to load. A status bar at the top of the page will show the status of the file being downloaded. Once the status bar says "Status Complete," click on the "Convert" button on the bottom of the page.
- Wait for a window to open that asks you what you want to do with the downloaded file. In this window, click the circle next to "Open File." Then click on the drop box in the window and select iTunes from the list. Click "OK." The iTunes program will open, and the song will begin to play.
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