How A Home Water Filter Can Reduce Your Child's Risk Of Learning Disabilities

Lead is one of the most dangerous toxins a person can be exposed to in his lifetime. Besides damage from radioactive or nuclear chemicals, significant exposure to lead can cause some of the most severe and even fatal health effects possible.

It seems to be fairly common knowledge that lead is dangerous and that one should avoid exposure to lead whenever possible. Fewer and fewer paints are lead-based and leaded gasoline has been almost entirely phased out. People all over the world are now making concerted efforts to protect themselves from this dangerous metal.

Without doubt, most, if not all, parents would agree that they would like to protect their children from the damaging effects of lead exposure and ingestion. Most parents would also agree that they are doing an adequate job of protecting their children from lead exposure. Still, these same parents (unknowingly) may be exposing and even encouraging their children to take lead into their bodies each and every day.

So, where does this lead come from and why does nobody seem to know about it? The answer to these questions lies in the water we take into our bodies each day. The seemingly safe tap water of most homes in the United States contains lead. When we drink this water untreated, we are consistently allowing lead to poison the inner workings of our bodies.

In most homes built before 1978, lead from lead-soldered pipes in the plumbing system corrodes into drinking water as that water passes through pipes on its way to faucets. From the pipes to the faucet, lead infiltrates our drinking water and makes its way into our bodies and our childrens bodies. municipal water treatment plants cannot control for this contaminant in water; therefore, lead continues to make its way into our water, with little or no regulation. In order to remove this dangerous contaminant from drinking water, it is absolutely vital to employ a point- of-use water filter.

Clearly, we all know that lead is dangerous and that we should make efforts to avoid it, but what exactly is so very dangerous about lead? It is only a naturally occurring metal, after all, and iron--another naturally occurring metal--is supposed to be good for the body. Lead, however, while dangerous for all people, leads to particularly damaging health and mental problems in babies and young children. Lets first examine the general damaging health effects of lead ingestion and then focus specifically on the results of lead poisoning for babies and small children.

General Health effects of Lead
Short-term exposure to large amounts of lead has been known to cause severe vomiting, cramping, convulsions, coma, and even death. While such exposure is increasingly unlikely in todays world, even relatively low-level exposure to lead can cause some significant health problems. Lead is a leading cause of anemia, a syndrome that affects more than 3.5 million people in the United States. Continued exposure to lead can also affect nervous system functioning, resulting in impairment of mental functioning, difficulty in memory and concentration, and inability to sleep. A lifetime of exposure to lead can adversely affect kidney functioning. Lead poisoning is also a leading cause of high blood pressure, one of the current deadliest conditions for individuals in the United States. Consistently rising numbers of high blood pressure and anemia cases--syndromes that have not traditionally been connected to lead poisoning--should certainly be considered when discussing the role of lead ingestion on the body.

effects of Lead Poisoning on Babies and Young Children
Lead is especially damaging to babies and small children, due to the relative ease at which their bodies absorb the contaminant and the sensitive nature of their developing brains. Concerning the impact of lead poisoning on children, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency recently stated, Childhood lead poisoning remains a major environmental health problem in the U.S.. According to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention, approximately one out of every 22 children has high levels of lead in his blood.

Lead poisoning gives rise to several damaging health conditions in young childrens developing bodies. The younger the child is, the more damaging lead poisoning can be. The long-term effects of exposure to lead for young children include learning disabilities, hyperactivity, depressed growth, hearing impairments, and even brain damage.

For pregnant women, ingestion of lead can result in a host of birth defects and developmental problems for their growing babies. Ingestion of lead is particularly harmful to babies during the critical third trimester of pregnancy. Lead can pass into a babys body through breast-feeding, as well.

Diagnoses of hyperactivity and learning disabilities are growing by leaps and bounds in public schools, perhaps because of so much unknowing exposure to lead and increasing cases of lead poisoning.

What You Can Do
Knowing what we do about lead and its effects on our children and ourselves, what can we do to prevent exposure to this dangerous metal? There are several approaches--all of them important--that you can take now to protect yourself and your family. Firstly, it is important to keep your home clean and dust-free because much of your childs exposure to lead comes from dirt and dust on the floor. It is also incredibly important to have your child tested for lead poisoning if you suspect or notice any of the symptoms. With early treatment, many of these problems can be quickly alleviated.

It is also absolutely vital to begin, or continue using, a home water filtration system. Untreated tap water is likely the culprit of the majority of you and your childs exposure to lead. A simple home water filter can remove lead quickly and easily to ensure that you and your family are protected from the volatile, dangerous nature of this metal.

Every parent wants to give her children every opportunity possible to succeed; taking a few minutes to provide clean, healthy water to drink is one of the best and easiest ways to accomplish this goal.

Vanessa Lausch is a writer for http://www.historyofwaterfilters.com/ - online source for water information.

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Diabetes Symptoms - Who is at the Risk of Diabetes?

Read this Article to know about Symptoms of type 1, type 2 and Gestational diabetes.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disorder in the bodys capability to convert glucose to energy. It is caused due to inadequate production of glucose by the pancreas. In diabetes patients, the production of glucose is impair.

The diabetes symptoms most of the time begin slowly, and difficult to recognize initially. They may include fatigue, sudden weight loss, blurred vision, slow healing of wounds, frequent urination - particularly at night, and excessive thirst.. The loss of fluids persuades extreme thirst, leading to more frequent urination.

doctor believe a patient to have diabetes if he has health troubles linked to diabetes, such as heart disease, changes in vision, deadness in the feet and legs or sores that are slow to heal. These symptoms do not indicate that the person has diabetes, but anyone with these problems should absolutely see a doctor.

A person with diabetes may really show no symptoms. Type 2 diabetes, in particular, develops gradually, even for years before it is diagnosed. When symptoms develop, they differ from person to person.

Symptoms that develop vary for type I and type II diabetes. In Type I diabetes, they generally show up slowly in children or young people over a period of a few days or weeks. In type II diabetes, symptoms develop even more slowly, over a time of years - in adults over the age of forty. Adults often do not understand they have diabetes mellitus.

Type - 1 diabetes Symptoms:

Type 1 diabetes Symptoms often come suddenly. They include:

1) Exceptional thirst (also called polydipsia)

2) Dry mouth

3) Frequent urination (also called polyuria)

4) Weight loss

5) Feeling weak and tired

6) Unclear vision

type - 2 diabetes symptoms:

people with type 2 diabetes mostly don't observe any symptoms.

They include: - blurred vision

1 )Cuts or wounds that heal slowly

2) Itchy skin

3) increased thirst

4) frequent urination

5) leg pain

Gestational diabetes symptoms:

1) increased thirst

2) increased urination

3) weight loss in spite of good appetite

4) fatigue and weakness

5) nausea and vomiting

6 ) frequent infections including those of the bladder, vagina and skin

Other warning symptoms of diabetes mellitus comprise:

1) Flu-like symptoms - like a viral illness, along with tiredness and loss of appetite.

2) Weight gain or loss as the body is trying to recompense for lost fluids and sugar, one tends to eat extra than normal and increase weight. On the other hand, one may also eat more than usual, but still drops weight because the muscle tissues don't get sufficient glucose to generate growth and energy. In fact, most people with type 1 diabetes are at or below their standard weight.

3) Blurred vision - high levels of blood sugar draw out fluid from the tissues in the body comprising the lenses of the eyes. For many people this causes only mild vision troubles. Nevertheless, for others, the effects may be much more severe, even blindness.

4) Nerve damage (neuropathy) excess sugar in blood can lead to loss of feeling in hands and feet. One may also bears burning pain in legs, feet, arms and hands. Many men, above the age of 50 and older with diabetes may experience some level of sexual dysfunction from damage to the nerves that help produce an erection.

5) Swollen and tender gums - diabetes increases the risk of infection in gums and in the bones that grasp teeth in place.

6) Recurrent yeast infections.

7) Smooth dark skin changes of the neck, armpit and groin, called acanthosis nigricans.

8) Impotency

diabetes sometimes goes unidentified early, because people normally consider they are urinating more, simply because they are drinking more. It is better to get oneself checked by a doctor before one begins limiting his fluid intake. If one has any of these symptoms, get in touch with a professional doctor right away to be checked.

The author has an exclusive website on Diabetes Mellitus. To get complete details on Diabetes Symptoms visit http://www.diabetesmellitus-information.com/

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The HD Media Future

The HD media future

Everyone knows that media format wars have historical significance in the world of technology. Remember the most notorious battle between the Beta max and the VHS? The winner of such battles will make millions even billions. Later we had the upgrade of tape to CD, a revolution in music. In 1980 the Philips/Sony compact disc standard was finalized and nobody has looked back for the last 26 years (until mp3's came along).

Well as ever there is a new media battle but who will win again is yet unknown. This modern forest of technological mass has produced a new insurgency: THE HIGH DEFINITION WAR. Blu-ray vs HD-dvd are two competing formats which are eventually going to replace DVD's. As you look around at your local electric retailers you can see changes happening in the broadcast world, not only are we changing from our conventional CRT screens to Flat screen but also to HD ready TV. The impact this has on our lives is not as large as black and white to colour, but nevertheless a change that will definitely be a benchmark for future media.

Why New formats?

The reason we have introduced these new formats is that your traditional dvd can hold a maximum of 9.4 GB (Dual Layer) of information. This is not enough for HD broadcast as the information required is higher, being a resolution of 1920x1080. Blu-ray discs can hold 50 GB (Dual Layer) and HD-dvd 30 GB (Dual Layer).

These new discs cannot be played on normal dvd players but on new HD media players of which examples are Samsung BDP 1000 (Blu-Ray), Sony Playstation 3 (Blu-Ray), Toshiba HDXA1 (HD-DVD). This means spending more money for better resolution.

Price

This is always important especially when new models of media come out; at first it is always expensive as supply out strips demand. The players are expensive, the cheapest being the Playstation 3 supposedly retailing at 549. Blu-Ray media also being expensive; similar to DVD's when they first came out (taking inflation into consideration), blank media costing from 11.99 to 24.99.

To play a Blu-ray Disc on a PC has brought about a price concern. The fact that you have to purchase a HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) Graphic card, along with a HD monitor, not to mention a Blu-ray Drive and media, controversially may bring about decrease in sales. This is presently being contested with new Laptops and PCs that are Blu-ray compatible, look at the New Vaio VGN-AR21S.

The HD players need to be up to scratch on price. The Toshiba HD-dvd player retailing at almost half the price of the Blu-ray Samsung player creates even more competition between the two media. This could encourage sales of HD-dvd over Blu-ray, even though it's rumoured that Toshiba will be making a loss initially.

prices of movies doesn't seem to be as high as anticipated; a Blu-ray movie 'House of flying daggers' from amazon.com will set you back $19.95 (10.68). This may encourage sales. Movies in HD-dvd identical in price, yet Blu-ray is a larger size disc.

Upscaling

Another problem HD may face is that the new dvd players have the upscaling technology ie. dvd is played at 480p but upscalers upgrade the image to 720p or 1080i. This produces a picture which is of high quality to the untrained eye, in fact even the trained eye has difficulty distinguishing between the two. The difference is seen on a 50 inch HD projector and looking right up close. So the question is will 1080p be much different to 1080i? Will people fork out the added expense when they know that a cheaper dvd upscaler will create more or less the same effect?

media backup

Software and Hardware companies have invested a lot of money in subsidising HD media. Samsung, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, LG, Sony, TDK, JVC and Sharp support Blu-ray and Toshiba and microsoft back HD-dvd. Hollywood movie studios Disney, Paramount, Warner, Sony, Eagle rock, Fox and MGM and Lions gate support Blu-ray also. None of these large companies would take such a gamble if they didn't know that this is what the consumer wants.

PlayStation 3

Sony love to bring out their own media whether its Sony Duo Sticks or Sony Mini Discs. Their hunger to dominate the consumer market has always been there and this is nothing different. The Playstation 3 will play Blu-Ray discs, still having the ability to play older media like DVDs and CDs. The success of the predecessor's PS1 and PS2 will give much anticipation to the release of this new console and is what Sony are hoping will convert people to use Blu-Ray. A Sony spokesman has predicted that Blu-Ray will dominate the HD market within 12 months.

The encouraging feature with HD-dvd is the name, everyone's ears will ring with the name and automatically assume that this is a high definition movie. Asking someone in the street what 'Blu-ray' is will bring looks of confusion, along with the fact that both will produce similar quality pictures.

region Coding

region coding with Blu-Ray may put people off; the fact that you may not be able to watch a new release from the states or Japan on your European locked regional player will raise eyebrows.

REGION 1 South America, North America, East Asia (except China)
region 2 Europe and Africa
region 3 China, Russia other Countries

Multiregional configurations on dvd players has encouraged sales worldwide especially with worldwide films from Bollywood, Japan (manga) and South America.

So far the HD-dvd camp has not announced region coding just yet, and if they don't then this will be very advantageous for consumers.

Future Proof

Realistically you only need about 15-20 GB for a feature length film in High definition but who would have known that DVD's could not be able to hold enough for high definition. Theoretically they can with MPEG-4 Compression. In any case media like Blu-ray will hopefully be future proof in years to come.

Conclusion

The timescale and price are the two main issues here, how quick we will universally change to HD and whether this is affordable. From a consumer point of view the necessity for HD doesn't seem imperative, after all VHS was around for 20 odd years twice that of dvd (so far). You could argue that technology is changing exponentially and that changes occur quicker.

As for the battle between the two media there may be compromise ahead. A UK firm has announced a solution to the media war. London-based New Medium Enterprises (NME) has developed a low-cost, multilayer dvd disc that can store Blu-ray content on one layer and HD dvd content on another. This would leave the consumer with the choice of buying either type of player to play the one disc.

The key setback I feel with the looming HD change is the cheaper alternative to a Blu-Ray player or HD-dvd player, the dvd upscaler. Do people want to get rid of those hundreds of DVDs they bought to replace them with an expensive alternative, especially when they might not even notice the difference in picture quality?

However I do feel that HD is encouraged with consoles such as the Playstation 3. Blu-ray is its main format and may revolutionise the games industry.

Jay Jeetley is a writer for the website http://www.Blu-raychoice.com, a resource for Blu-ray news, movies, forums and media.

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Hush Mommy and Daddy - My Ears Are Open!

Dear Parents and guardians, if you could only hear what I hear your child repeating. I'm sure it was unconscious on your part when you first said what you said. But I'd like to say that little children are SPONGES. They absorb everything that you are saying, doing and putting out there.

The sad truth is that they are already beginning to believe harmful words, concepts, and thoughts. They begin coping with words, and thoughts they received from you. Do you want to hear what you, their teachers and others have been saying in your kid's ears?

You won't believe it!! From a four and half year old. I can't stop sucking my thumb because an invisible witch put a curse on me, that's why I can't STOP!! I stopped my children's yoga class to ask her who told her that? My daycare teacher. I then took the time to explain to this beautiful, bewildered, and now frightened little girl that there was no such thing as witches and she sucks her thumb because it feels comfortable. I explained once you don't want to suck your thumb anymore you'll stop.

From a four year old. What were you thinking!!? That was stupid!! When I asked her if she needed help with her knots in her shoe laces.

From a slim and beautiful four year old girl. I'm too fat already. I can't eat too much.

From another three and a half year old who said to another child when she wasn't going alone with his idea. Keep it up!! And I'm going to SMACK YOU from here to infinity!!

From a pair of brother and sister. Our Mom calls us DUMB. I asked them what does she say. That was a very dumb idea!! You're acting dumb!! I told each of them that they were not dumb and sometimes parents make mistakes.

From a tough and beautiful three year old boy as we were saying affirmations such as I love my mouth, I love my nose. He interrupted to tell me he doesn't like his nose because he thinks he has a BIG nose. I told him that everyone has a special and unique nose and that his nose was perfect and beautiful nose.

When I had a group of all girls --one said Hey guys. I think that this is misused and we need to bring in the thought of using the word GIRLS even among ourselves, moms and friends.

Do you want to hear the favorite story of this beautiful four year old girl? The prince comes and rescues the little princess, so that they can get married, and she will be taken to his castle, where she will wait for him to return.

Here are a few humorous things too. When some of the children learned that my name is Yoga Kat. They asked me Yoga Kat, where is your tail

A petite beauty boldly announced that she has a boy! You mean a baby brother? No I have a boy. You mean a boyfriend? She giggled, squealed and nodded her head. How do you know he's your boyfriend? I asked. Her response without hesitation- I kiss him.

From a shy little girl who's hand I was holding when we were about to run in a circle. Yoga Kat, you don't have to hold my hand because I can run as fast as cheetah. With that she proceeded to show me how fast she could run. And it was fast!!

The little children were encircling themselves with the puffy mats and saying they were building houses. But one little girl said, I'm building a garbage can!!

At the end of a class I was saying to each of the children You did a GOOD JOB. And I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH. One of the little girls noticed that there was one girl who had already run to get her shoes before I made my statement. So she escorted me over to where the other girl was sitting and said to me Yoga Kat can you tell so and so that you love her too? With that I said, I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH!!

So remember that you have small ears wide open moms and dads. Think about what you are going to say and about to transmit. It's understood that it's done unconsciously. This is a friendly reminder to become more conscious of your words for your children's sake.

Yoga Kat--aka Katheryn Hoban is a yoga teacher and reiki Master teacher with twelve years experience. She teaches children's yoga ages 3-6, and Adults privately in NJ. She is the author of the book -Masters of ConsciousnessA Guide Book for the Cosmic Traveler. She has created a children's affirmation CD (ages 3-6) and an affirmation CD for adults. Yoga Kat is available for speaking or writing and can be reached at or 201 970-9340 or go to http://www.thecircleofpeace.com and sign up for Yoga Kat's newsletter and See me reading from my book on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDd_JyIActw

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