Smoking, Why should You quit?

I found a good article about why so important to quit smoking.

Smoking, Why should You quit?

Your health

Health concerns usually top the list of reasons people give for quitting smoking. This is a very real concern: About half of all smokers who keep smoking will end up dying from a smoking-related illness.

Cancer

Nearly everyone knows that smoking can cause lung cancer, but few people realize it is also a risk factor for many other kinds of cancer too, including cancer of the mouth, voice box (larynx), throat (pharynx), esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach, and some leukemias.

Lung diseases

Pneumonia has been included in the list of diseases known to be caused by smoking since 2004. Smoking also increases your risk of getting lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis. These diseases are grouped together under the term COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). COPD causes chronic illness and disability, and worsens over time -- sometimes becoming fatal. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis can be found in people as young as 40, but are usually found later in life, when the symptoms get much worse. Long-term smokers have the highest risk of developing severe COPD.

Heart attacks, strokes, and blood vessel diseases

Smokers are twice as likely to die from heart attacks as are non-smokers. And smoking is a major risk factor for peripheral vascular disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels that carry blood to the leg and arm muscles. Smoking also affects the walls of the vessels that carry blood to the brain (carotid arteries), which can cause strokes. Men who smoke are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction (impotence) because of blood vessel disease.

Blindness and other problems

Smoking causes an increased risk of macular degeneration, one of the most common causes of blindness in older people. It also causes premature wrinkling of the skin, bad breath, bad-smelling clothes and hair, yellow fingernails.

Special risks to women and babies

Women have some unique risks linked to smoking. Women over 35 who smoke and use birth control pills have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots of the legs. Women who smoke are more likely to miscarry (lose the baby) or have a lower birth-weight baby. And low birth-weight babies are more likely to die, or have learning and physical problems.

Years of life lost due to smoking

Based on data collected in the late 1990s, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that adult male smokers lost an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lost 14.5 years of life because of smoking. And given the diseases that smoking can cause, it can steal your quality of life long before you die. Smoking-related illness can limit your activities by making it harder to breathe, get around, work, or play.

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What's wrong with my computer?

Yesterday, I reached home. I decided to sit behind my computer and go to Youtube to flame some noobs. I turned on my PC, then it asks me do I wish to open it with last working configuration or normally, I tought wtf but I choose with last working. Then it loaded few seconds and when Windows XP loading screen came, then the screen flashed blue for a sec. and then it shuts himself down (WTF!). Soo I turned it on again, but this time I choosed normally, but it does the same thing- it reaches to the Windows XP loading screen, blue screen flashes for a sec. and then it shuts down again.I have tried many times, it just doesn't work!!!!!
Any ideas what I should do to get it work?
OH, and by the way I am behind my other computer soo dont wonder how I am posting this.

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Do You Walk Everyday?

My answer is Yes, at least 10 minutes I spend everyday to walk. I know that it isn't enough if I consider the benefit of walking to my body health.

Some researchres found that walkers have less incidence of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other killer diseases. They live longer and get mental health and spiritual benefits. Find out about the many health benefits of walking.

If you want to live healthier longer, start now with daily walking or exercise. A study in the November 14, 2005 "Archives of Internal Medicine" showed that exercise levels directly related to years lived without cardiovascular disease.
Healthy YearsA moderate level of physical activity, such as walking 30 minutes a day, lengthened life by 1.3 years and added 1.1 more years without cardiovascular disease, compared with those with low activity levels. Those who chose a high physical activity level gained 3.7 years of life and added 3.3 more years without cardiovascular disease.

So friends, keep walking and do it everyday..

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Importance of Healthy Breathing

We know how to breathe. It is something that occurs to us automatically, spontaneously, naturally. We are breathing even when we are not aware of it. So it seems foolish to think that one can be told how to breathe. Yet, one's breathing becomes modified and restricted in various ways, not just momentarily, but habitually. We develop unhealthy habits without being aware of it. We tend to assume positions (slouched positions) that diminishes lung capacities and take shortened breaths. We also live in social conditions that is not good for the health of our respiratory system.

As discussed above, scientists have known for a long time that there exists a strong connection between respiration and mental states. Improper breathing produces diminished mental ability. The corollary is true also. It is known that mental tensions produce restricted breathing.

A normally sedentary person, when confronted with a perplexing problem, tends to lean forward, draw his arms together, and bend his head down. All these body postures results in reduced lung capacity. The more intense the concentration, the more tense the muscles become. The muscles in the arms, neck and chest contract. The muscles that move the thorax and control inhalation and muscular tenseness clamp down and restrict the exhalation. The breaths become shorter and shorter. After an extended period of intense focusing, the whole system seems to be frozen in a certain posture.

We become fatigued from the decreased circulation of the blood and from the decreased availability of oxygen for the blood because we have almost stopped breathing. As our duties, responsibilities and their attendant problems become more demanding, we develop habits of forgetting to breathe.

Try an experiment suggested by Swami Vishnudevananda. Focus attention upon the ticks of a clock placed at a distance of about twelve feet. If you get distracted, try concentrating harder until you experience the ticking with undivided attention. If you fail at first, you should try again and again until you succeed in keeping the ticking clearly in mind for at least a few seconds. What happened? The majority of persons who took part in this experiment reported that they have completely suspended the breath. The others, who had less concentration, reported that they experienced very slow breathing. This experiment shows clearly that where there is concentration of the mind, the breathing becomes very slow or even get suspended temporarily.

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How much water do you need?

Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you must replenish its water supply by consuming beverages and foods that contain water.
Several approaches attempt to approximate water needs for the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate.
Replacement approach. The average urine output for adults is about 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) a day. You lose close to an additional liter of water a day through breathing, sweating and bowel movements. Food usually accounts for 20 percent of your total fluid intake, so if you consume 2 liters of water or other beverages a day (a little more than 8 cups) along with your normal diet, you will typically replace the lost fluids.
Eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Another approach to water intake is the "8 x 8 rule" — drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day (about 1.9 liters). The rule could also be stated, "drink eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid a day," as all fluids count toward the daily total. Though the approach isn't supported by scientific evidence, many people use this basic rule as a guideline for how much water and other fluids to drink.
Dietary recommendations. The Institute of Medicine advises that men consume roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day and women consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.
Even apart from the above approaches, if you drink enough fluid so that you rarely feel thirsty and produce 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) or more of colorless or slightly yellow urine a day, your fluid intake is probably adequate.

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About Barack Obama

Now that President-elect Barack Obama has begun rolling out the particulars of his wide-ranging economic stimulus plan, the punditry is giving it a swift kick in the tires.

After seven years of George Bush's failed presidency, after five years of unnecessary war in Iraq, America is ready to write a new narrative. All candidates favor the now-bromidic slogan: change. Only one candidate truly embraces the yearnings this word represents.

Some people say  stop hoping to him, others say : yes Obama can make change..huh. Time will tell.. lol

Barack Obama starts his administration with broad and bipartisan good will from the American public and a strong base of optimism for his presidency. In a new poll, 66 percent of adults surveyed say they are optimistic that Obama can improve the direction of the country, including 36 percent of Republicans.

But Obama inherits from George W. Bush a nation that remains pessimistic about the current state of affairs. Only 20 percent of adults say they are satisfied with the direction of the country, an improvement from a historic low of 10 percent in 2000 but a figure dramatically lower than the 46 percent that were satisfied at the beginning of George W. Bush's administration.

The poll indicates a resounding call for bipartisanship. Twenty-nine percent of Republicans surveyed said their opinion of Obama has improved since Election Day and 83 percent of adults, including 69 percent of Republicans, say Republicans should find ways to work with Obama on most issues rather than challenging his policies.


As is no surprise, the economy is weighing heavily on the minds of the country Obama is set to lead. More than half, 57 percent, of adults surveyed now say they are in poor or fair financial shape. A substantial minority, 43 percent, say their personal savings are in worse shape today than they were five years ago; 53 percent say the stocks, bonds and other investments they own are down from five years ago and 35 percent say their retirement savings plans have lost value in the past five years.

But the public appears to have strong confidence in Obama's ability to address the financial crunch and other pressing issues facing him. On the economy—Obama warned this week that "things could get worse before they get better"--71 percent of adults say they are somewhat or very confident that Obama can turn things around. Similarly, on a signature Obama campaign issue, 79 percent of adults say they are somewhat or very confident Obama can improve the nation's standing with allies around the world. Meanwhile, 62 percent say they are somewhat or very confident Obama could bring troops home from Iraq without seriously destabilizing the situation there. On Afghanistan, the public displays a bit less optimism; only 48 percent of adults say they are somewhat or very confident Obama can defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban there.

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Guess Book

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Salam

R. Hanifah

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