How to Treat Dry Skin

Xeroderma is dry, itchy, flaky skin that is sometimes painful. It is simply caused by a lack of moisture in the skin's cells. The underlying cause of the lack of moisture could be overexposure to the elements, excessive cleansing or poor diet. Here, you will learn about the solutions.

• How the Skin Works to Stay Moist

There are several compounds that work to maintain the skin's moisture balance. You need all of your basic vitamins, minerals and amino acids from proteins to help your body produce the necessary compounds.

Keratin, a structural protein, is one of the things that help to keep the skin moist. It is a major component of all the cells of the skin's outer layers. It has the ability to absorb water from perspiration, from the air or from a shower and hold it inside of the cells.

Hyaluronic acid is another compound that provides moisture to the cells. It also plays a role in the production of new cells. It is composed of amino acids and glucose, a simple sugar.

Sebum is an oily, waxy fat produced by the sebaceous glands within the skin. It is secreted to protect against friction and to help hold moisture in the skin's cells. Even perspiration helps to keep the skin moist and supple.

• What Interferes with the Skin's Ability to Stay Moist

In order for your body to produce perspiration, you must drink enough water. Xeroderma is sometimes a symptom of chronic mild dehydration.

A lack of any nutrient could impede the body's ability to produce keratin, hyaluronic acid and sebum. Cleansers and tap water strip away the skin's sebum, leaving it defenseless.

Medication for Hypertension - Is It Worth The Risk?

Recent studies have shown that thirty-two percent of adults in the United States suffer from hypertension. Hypertension is a condition where the blood pressure in the arteries is elevated above normal levels. High blood pressure in the arteries causes the heart to have to work harder to pump blood through the blood vessels. Hypertension is a major risk factor for serious health complications like stroke, heart disease, aneurysms, and even kidney disease. For some people, simple lifestyle or diet changes can reduce blood pressure to normal levels. Others require medication to achieve a healthy arterial blood pressure. One of the most popular drugs prescribed to treat hypertension is atenolol. The use of atenolol may reduce your blood pressure, but this comes with the chance of several side effects.

Only your doctor can decide if atenolol is the proper treatment for your specific medical situation. The following side effects are provided to give you general information and are not to be relied upon for any specific medical condition.

The most common side effect that you may experience with atenolol is indigestion and constipation. This is generally mild and are more of an annoyance than a serious health risk.

Some patients also experience a dry mouth sensation. Ensure that you are getting an adequate intake of fluids to prevent dehydration and hopefully this sensation will go away.

Hypotension is a serious side effect that is rarely encountered. If you feel as though your blood pressure is too low, contact your doctor or emergency health care professional immediately.

How To Treat Depression - Is There An Easy Way?

If you have recently started to feel depressed and this a new experience for you or you have only had depressive feelings very rarely in the past then there could be an easy way for you to deal with this episode in your life. Let me clarify what exactly I mean by "easy" here, as you are probably aware not many things in life are ever easy but what I am talking about here is that there are things you can try yourself before resorting to a visit to the family doctor and coming away with a prescription for an anti-depressant medication. However if you are in a deep depression and cannot see any way out of it then you do need to visit your doctor now or in an emergency dial 911 (999), whatever your country's emergency number is.

By making some small manageable changes to your lifestyle you can actually make a big difference to the way you may be feeling at the moment. Perhaps it would help if you were to make some daily or weekly goals, things you would like to accomplish that would make you feel good about yourself, it will be very difficult to feel depressed and good about yourself at the same time, try it and see. A word of advice here, make sure you initially keep your goals small and achievable at first, you can move onto bigger goals as you progress. If you aim too high with your goal and fail to reach that height then you will almost certainly take a step back towards depression, who doesn't feel depressed when they fail at something?

Here are a few suggestions you may want to try: