PROTOZOA - PARASITIC WORMS - FUNGI - Bodily defences

PROTOZOA 

While still microscopic in size, protozoa are much larger than bacteria. Protozoan diseases occur in this country, but they are much more prevalent in the tropics. An amoeba, a particularly dangerous protozoan, causes a severe form of dysentery. Another protozoan causes malaria. The dreaded African sleeping sickness is caused by a protozoan carried by the tsetse fly.

PARASITIC WORMS 

Some of these can be seen by the unaided eye, but others can be identified only with a microscope. The smallest are roughly the size of pin- heads, while a tapeworm can grow to a 30-foot length. Many parasites, including the flukes (one of the two types of flat- worms), are more prevalent in the tropics than here. The other type of flatworm, the tapeworm, is found in this country and is acquired by eating beef, pork, or fish containing the parasite. Inside the intestine, the tapeworm attaches itself to the intestinal wall and proceeds to grow. 

Some roundworms are also common in this country, especially in the South. They include the pinworm, intestinal roundworm, and hookworm. Another roundworm, found in pork, causes trichinosis, a disease in which the parasites eventually get into muscles. 

FUNGI Related to mushrooms, fungi are smaller growths. It is a tiny fungus that produces the green or white mold on stale bread; another causes athlete's foot; others are responsible for various skin disorders; still others pro- duce internal infections. There are many fungal diseases. Fortunately, most are rare in this country. 

Warming And Cooling Off helps Muscles-Heart rhythm- streching-bending-excercises

WARMING UP AND COOLING OFF

Any time you are going to work out hard-when you have reached the stage where that is advisable as well as appealing to you-it is important warm up gradually first. Light warm-up-easy stretching, bending, I wishing, slow running in place-limbers up the muscles, prepares the heart and lung for exertion, and tunes up the nervous system. 

There is some controversy among athletic coaches as to whether warming up ever actually improves athletic performance, but there is evidence that it is valuable as a safety measure, a means of reducing risk of injury. As important as warming up at the beginning of a hard workout is tapering off properly afterward. During active exercising, the heart pumps blood out faster to keep the muscles supplied. And the muscles, HI they contract, produce a kind of pumping action on the veins that helps return blood to the heart and lungs.

 If you stop exercising suddenly, the heart will continue for a while to pump extra blood but the muscles, especially those in the legs, no longer dive, no longer squeeze on the veins. As a result, some pooling of blood may occur in the muscles, causing a temporary shortage elsewhere in the body, making you feel faint. Also, it appears that cramps and stiff- ness are less likely to develop if you taper off. To taper off, just keep moving about, in relaxed fashion. Instead of sitting down, walk about, lazily bend and stretch.

A few minutes of this will suffice. Do not rush into a hot tub or shower immediately after a workout or even after tapering off. Give yourself another 5 to 10 minutes to cool off. You need this time to radiate some of the heat you have worked up. If you jump right into a tub or shower, your body temperature will be above normal and the hot water will impede heat dissipation, so you will come out of the bath still sweating. 

Excercises and blood circulation, Physical activity Vs Excercises

The higher oxygen content of the blood will aid muscle nutrition. As circulation improves in both quality and quantity throughout the body, the total effect is admirable: Muscles are strengthened; so is the whole supporting system. It appears, too, that there may be a double defect on the heart itself: It becomes more efficient in its pumping not only during activity but at other times as well, thus reducing the strain on it at all times; in addition, it appears that activity which builds endurance also stimulates the development of new and extra blood vessel pathways to feed the heart muscle. 

Thus, if there should be trouble in the future, if a coronary artery should become choked by atherosclerosis and a heart attack occurs, that attack is likely to be less severe because of the extra circulation available. Because of the extra circulation, much less damage to the heart muscle is likely to occur, and chances of survival are greatly increased. The best activities for exercising the heart and lungs and for building endurance are those that are continuous in nature-brisk walking, jogging, swimming, for example. The effectiveness of walking is not fully appreciated by most people. It brings many muscles into play.

 It is a continuous activity. It lends itself to putting a healthy progressive load on the body. Start with a relatively easy mile walk. Gradually lengthen the walk and increase the pace. Keep doing this until, for example, you are up to a three-mile walk as fast as you can get your legs to carry you, and you are getting great benefits every step of the way. Jogging, too, has its merits, as a simple and practical aid in developing both muscular strength and endurance. It is inexpensive, requires no special skill, can be done outdoors and, in inclement weather, indoors.

Start with a jog that is only a little faster than a brisk walk. Jog until you begin to puff. Then walk. Then jog again. Your body should be upright, not bent forward. Keep the buttocks in, not protruding; the back straight, not arched; bend the elbows; breathe through nose and mouth. The objective is to start at a comfortable level and gradually exert you more and more. At first, you may jog for 50 yards, walk for 50 yards keep alternating, and cover about a mile. As you keep working till, you will find you can increase the distance, jog more and walk less.

Even perhaps interspersing some sprints, running as fast as for 50 yards, and then dropping back to a jog or walk. Over a period !11(1l1ths, you may progress until you can cover as much as three miles at a good pace, walking very little of the time. Be sure you obtain your doctor's approval before you start jogging as an exercise. 

Exercises time and play, Basic principles of excercises

Exercise should become part of your daily routine. That means setting aside 30 minutes to an hour a day about five times a week. The daily activity period, or periods, should be considered as being as essential a part of your life as eating, sleeping, bathing, and dressing. Pick a time, or times, most suitable for you. If it is convenient for you to carry out much or all of your activity in one period each day, fine; divided periods of activity can also serve the purpose. Some people, early starters, like to exercise before breakfast. For others, this is impossible. Many men find it convenient to exercise late in the afternoon or before lunch. Never perform any exercise sooner than one hour after a meal.

 GADGETS Keep equipment to a minimum It's a good idea to avoid complicated apparatus and overreliance on weights, pulleys, and other devices.

BASIC PRINCIPLES Whatever program of activity you propose to engage in, check with your physician to be certain it is suitable for you. And your physician may.

Have valuable suggestions for activities particularly suited to you. Start slowly. Rush in without preparation and lift 200 pounds over your head-or even try to--and it may be your last act on earth. Take on a routine of mild setting-up exercises and you may feel a bit better, but this is far short of what you can get out of well-planned activity. What is needed is a program that follows certain key principles. Tolerance is one. There should be no sudden demand on your body or burst of tremendous effort.

Excessive straining beyond the level your body is ready for accomplishes nothing and may produce injury. Overload is another. Easy workouts continued endlessly day after day value but it is limited value. You have to push yourself just easily, then gradually begin to work a little harder, working 8 I Building General Health as Preventive Therapy just slightly beyond the first feeling of tiredness, but still within your limits of tolerance. 

Your body has more capacity than it is called upon to use. Give it a bit more load than usual and it can handle it. Progressively, it will become able to handle more. Progression is another important principle. As you maintain' a regular schedule of exercise and your strength and endurance grow, your activities will become easier for you. Continue them at the same level and you will maintain the improvement. To go beyond, you can make the work- outs progressively more strenuous, if your physician indicates this is desirable, until you arrive at a level of fitness you want to achieve. 

Who need excercises? - How muscle activity helps?

DO YOU NEED EXERCISE?

The chances are that, like most of us, you are getting too little daily exercise. If you need specific clues to the fact that you can benefit from more activity, here are some: heart pounding or hard breathing after relatively slight exertion; a long time required for your heartbeat to return to normal after heavy exertion (you can measure the heart rate by the wrist pulse); stiffening of legs and thighs after climbing stairs; aching muscles after such activities as gardening or furniture moving; waking up from sleep as tired as before; frequent restlessness. 

Your physician, as part of his preventive medicine program for you, will be glad to determine with you, on the basis of your specific present condition, daily activities, and other personal factors, whether you need more exercise, how much time you need to devote to it, what kinds of activities would be best suited for you.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTIVITY

Undoubtedly you will benefit from a soundly planned regular exercise schedule, even if it occupies no more than just a few minutes a day- and more on this shortly. Along with such a schedule, you can, and should, find other opportunities for increasing your activity. For one thing, it is possible to find opportunities for physical recreation that can supplement scheduled exercises and provide enjoyment. The list is almost endless: fishing trips, family outings, evenings of dancing, bowling in an office or neighborhood league, walking, etc. 

For another thing, there are opportunities for stepping up daily activities-and little bits of action add up in their good effects. It's a matter of attitude, of recognizing that it is good to use the body As much as possible and of seeking chances to do so.

Walk up a flight Physical Activity in 85 or more of stairs instead of relying entirely upon the elevator; walk part III much or sometimes all the way to the market, to the office. Interrupt sedentary work with little bursts of activity, even if no more than getting lip out of the chair and bending, stretching, moving about, flexing the  squatting, imitating a few golf swings. 

SENSIBLE CHOLESTEROL RECOMMENDATIONS

 SENSIBLE CHOLESTEROL RECOMMENDATIONS 

An unequivocal answer to whether lowering cholesterol levels will reduce heart attacks will require long-term studies involving large numbers of people. But there is enough evidence at hand to make it seem wise, many authorities agree, to encourage changes in the typical American diet, which tends to include excessive amounts of cholesterol and fats. Desirable changes have been recommended by the American Heart Association.

Where the average daily diet in the United States contains about 600 milligrams of cholesterol, the Heart Association recommends that this be cut to less than 300, also called for: a decrease in intake of saturated fats and an increase in intake of polyunsaturated.

 This, the Association is convinced, will lower abnormal concentrations of cholesterol in most people. The ideal quantity of fat needed in the diet is not known, but an intake of less than 40 percent of calories from fat is considered desirable. And of this total, polyunsaturated fats probably should make up twice the quantity of saturated fats. To follow these recommendations, you may have to change some eating habits but you will not have to give up all your favorite dishes.

 To control cholesterol intake, you will need to eat no more than three egg yolks a week, including eggs used in cooking. You will also need to limit your use of shellfish and organ meats. To control the amounts and types of fats:

1. Use fish, chicken, turkey, and veal in most meals for the week. Limit beef, lamb, pork, and ham to five moderate-sized portions a week.

2. Choose lean cuts of meat; trim any visible fat; and discard any fat that cooks out of meat.

3. Avoid deep-fat frying. Instead, use cooking methods that help to remove fats: baking, broiling, boiling, roasting, and stewing.

4. Restrict use of fatty "luncheon" and "variety" meats such as sausages and salami. 

5. Instead of butter and other cooking fats that are solid or completely hydrogenated, use liquid vegetable oils and margarine that are rich in polyunsaturated fats.

 6. Instead of whole milk and cheeses made from whole milk and cream, use skimmed milk and skimmed milk cheeses.