Back (Spine) care guide in pictures.

Right ways on the left of the spine in the picture, wrong ways to avoid on the right:

Sime Darby Medical Centre Back Care Guide

Sime Darby Medical Centre Back Care Guide recommends that you treat your back (spine) with respect. Avoid bad habits and back strain.

Sime Darby Medical Centre Rehabilitative Services Back Care Guide

Back (spine) care guide

Do's

Bend your legs and not your badt Keep your spine as vertical as possib|e. If necessary, bend your knees. Keep loads close to your body. When load is heavy, seek HELP.

Change standing position often. If you must stand for long periods, use a small footrest to shift your weight. Stand upright with head up and baok straight.

Walk with good posture, chin tucked in, head high and toes pointing forward. Wear comfortable, low heeled shoes.

Sit straight and move car seat forward so that the knees are level with the hips. Support your lower back, use a rolled-up towel or lumbar support.

Support your back's 'lumbar curve' to reduce pressure on the spinal disks using a lumbar support or rolled-up towel. Your seat should be at a height that put your thighs parallel to the floor.

Sleep on a bed with a firm spring mattress and base. When sleeping on your side, bend knees so that they touch
the top of each other or if on your back, place a pillow under your knees.

Don't

Don't bend forward at the waist or twist while lifting heavy loads. Avoid holding load at arm's length. Don't lift load above shoulder level. These positions produce tremendous strain on the spine.

Don't stand too long in one position. Avoid bending over with legs straight. Don't walk slouching forward. Don't wear high heels when walking or standing for long periods.

Don't drive sitting too far back from the wheel. Stretching for the pedals and wheels produces strain.

Don't slump. Avoid sitting too far from your work or on a chair that's too high. Don't lean forward and arch your back.

Avoid sleeping on your stomach as it will cause swayback and back strain. Don't sleep or lounge of soft non-supporting mattresses or cushions.

How to make kefir cheese

Kefir is touted to be a health drink. It can also be made into kefir cheese.

To make kefir cheese, culture kefir with the grains a little longer than usual and until it separates. When it separates into curds and whey, stir it up and strain out the grains. Then let it sit on the counter for up to a week. It should separate again fairly quickly if your house is warm. The longer you leave it, the thicker the curds will get. Then you can use cheesecloth (I use a "nut mylk bag") to strain out more whey until you get the consistency you like.

Okra: Natural remedy for constipation, acid reflux and others

Here is a very good example of food as medicine. From an email forward:

A guy has been suffering from constipation for the past 20 years and recently from acid reflux. He didn't realize that the treatment could be so simple -- OKRA! (or Lady's Finger). He started eating okra within the last 2 months and since then have never taken medication again. All he did was consume 6 pieces of OKRA everyday.

He's now regular and his blood sugar has dropped from 135 to 98, with his cholesterol and acid reflux also under control. Here are some facts on okra (from the research of Ms. Sylvia Zook, PH.D nutrition), University of Illinois.

28 days challenge - tummy reduction

Experts says fats around the tummy (visceral fat) are the most dangerous which can increase one's chances of getting cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, inflammatory diseases and other obesity related diseases.

Here is mine as of 10 April 2012:



and my current weight is 60kg which I want to reduce to 55kg, my weight when I was younger.

They also says that the way to cut down on waist circumference is to reduce weight by burning more calories than we eat. So let me try to cut my waistline my own way while I wait for Dr Mike Dow Diet Rehab book to arrive (and finish reading).

Update 19 April 2012: Weight now 59kg, thus lost 1kg so far just by eating less and normal exercise by doing everyday activities

Update: 2 July 2012: Weight now 57.5kg. So lost 1.5kg since last update. Haven't been exercising much, spending most of the time sitting in front of computer and getting only "finger exercises".

Preventive medicine: close WC lid before flushing

Natural remedies include preventive medicine, steps to take to prevent one from getting sick. Below is a screenshot (video capture) which shows numerous bacteria represented by light blue dots that get spread throughout the bathroom via spray caused by the flushing of the WC (water closet, ie. the toilet bowl) after a pee. These bacteria settles not only on the toilet seat but also your toothbrush and other toiletries. So you should also store your toothbrush and toiletries in a closed cabinet:

Here is the video:

Natural remedy for dementia & memory loss - old films

Here is a no medicine remedy for people with dementia or suffering memory loss, watch old films to jog their memory, particularly those showing everyday activities that patients will have experienced at one time or another in their youth.

This is being tried in a project called Memory Bank by YFA (Yorkshire Film Archive) in an 18-month research project.

Such films prompted conversations with the participants on everything from knitted bathing costumes, free school milk and 1960s fashion mistakes and clocking on at work, claims the organizer of Memory Bank.

YFA director Sue Howard said: "Memory Bank is about opening up our collections to a huge range of old people, many of whom face a number of age-related challenges, and who often have very few opportunities to see and enjoy films such as these. Reminiscence therapy and memory work play an invaluable role in improving a sense of personal identity and well being, and stimulating communication and sociability. Memory Bank is a unique proposition - it uses films taken largely from our home movie collections, which are a fantastic visual record of everyday life over the decades. It is these films that trigger our collective memories."

Injection & Pain: Don't look

It is often inevitable in order to maintain health or to overcome ill health that we have to subject to jabs either for inoculation or to deliver medications. If we are badly injured, we may have to be stitched up to close the wound. This inevitable means pain.

A good tip to reduce the pain is to not look as the needle invade our body. This is confirmed by scientific studies which showed subjects feeling less pain when looking at pleasant images.

In one study, subjects felt less pain when their arms are zapped with electric current while simultaneously looking at happy faces than when looking at sad faces

In another study, subjects also felt less pain when zapped with electric current while simultaneously looking at a screen which showed an arm being jabbed with needle than which showed it being jabbed with cotton bud.

Source: Perceptions 'can make pain worse'