A bit of this and a bit of that » health

Bring on the anti-histamines

owen — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:12:45 +0000

My hay fever seems to be kicking in again. I’ve never really had too many health problems; I’ve never needed any operations or anything like that, I’ve never needed treatment for eczema and I’ve never really broken anything. So really, suffering from hay fever isn’t really such a big deal. The good thing is that I can take anti-histamines and that keeps the problems away.

I do have some friends who suffer really badly with it; from runny noses, to itchy eyes to all sorts of other allergies. Luckily it’s not so bad for me, so I can weather the “storm”. It’s interesting that it’s a seasonal thing too, it practically disappears in winter, and comes back in summer. Funny stuff huh?

What health service do you have where you live?

owen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:32:43 +0000

One interesting thing about all the people I know online is that they all seem to live in different parts of the world. And it’s interesting when you start speaking to people how they have different perspectives on life, love and everything. One interesting point for example is health services. Here in the UK we have the NHS, which, although lots of people moan about it, providers universal healthcare for all. Things are very different in the US, where health insurance covers medical assistance, and if you don’t have any, well, you’re in trouble. It’s not that we don’t need low cost health insurance here in the UK; after all, there are private services like BUPA, but it’s an optional extra here, not something that’s mandatory.

In Malta again, there’s a universal health care system, which I guess is modelled on the UK one. I guess it does mean that I would have to do some homework if ever we had to move to the US; not that there’s any plans for that to happen anytime soon.

Weight Plateau

owen — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 10:21:31 +0000

Image by amanky via Flickr

Well, I don’t seem to have lost any weight at all over the last 3 weeks. To tell you the truth I wasn’t really expecting to; I’ve had a cough since I was sick a few weeks ago and haven’t really been able to go to the gym at all. Also, I’ve been swallowing medicine, cough syrups and sucking on lozanges and sweets like there’s no tomorrow and I’m sure that’s contributed a few hundred calories a day for me.

It hasn’t been all bad though. I’ve lost 12 kilos since starting the diet, and I haven’t put them on again. I’m hoping I’ll be better next week and can start going to the gym again. Fingers crossed!

Knee Implants

owen — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:24:35 +0000

I don’t have any knee problems, but if I needed any surgery on my knee, I would probably want something like what? ConforMIS offer. They produce knee replacement implants, but their philosophy is very much based around repairing the damage rather than making it worse. They work by building a custom implant that is tailored around the patient’s needs .. rather than producing a standard implant that then requires the bone be cut to fit the implant. Now that’s a philosophy I can relate to

Dealing with stress

owen — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:34:24 +0000

Following the last post, I came across a good post that has some practical advice on how to avoid stress. Here’s what they recommend:

Accept offers of practical help
Do one thing at a time – don’t keep piling stress on stress
Know your own limits – don’t be too competitive or expect too much of yourself
Talk to someone
Let off steam in a way that causes no harm (shout, scream or hit a pillow)
Walk away from stressful situations
Try to spend time with people who are rewarding rather than critical and judgmental
Practise slow breathing using the lower part of the lungs
Use relaxation techniques