Posts Tagged ‘travel’

If you wake up one morning with prickly lumps on your body, you will probably think that you had been bitten by mosquitoes or ants the night before, but there is also a possibility that bedbugs have got at you. If this occurs in your own bed, then you have problems. If you are in a hotel, go and make a complaint to the manager.

You can be certain that most hotel bosses will take complaints about bed bugs very gravely, because it is well known that the numbers of bedbugs are increasing fast and have been since 1995. It is also common knowledge that huge compensation awards have been made against hotels. Some of them were at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Most so-called ‘bed bugs’ will only feed on people if their favourite host, often chickens, are not on hand, but there is one that only feeds on human blood and that species is called Cimex lectularius.

Cimex lectularius was virtually extinct in the developed world by the late 1950′s because of the extensive use of DDT in residences and hotels to eradicate all insects such as ants, bed bugs, silverfish, millipedes and cockroaches.

However, there has been a gigantic revival in the number of bedbugs since 1995. In fact, between 1995 and 2001, one report on bedbugs in London stated that incidents of bedbug call-outs had doubled each year.

The resurgence in bedbug numbers has been attributed to global travel and immigration from Asia and Africa. However, it is also probable that they were never completely wiped out and that they have become resistant to modern pesticides. There is not much you can put down or spray around now that will poison bedbugs.

So, what do bedbugs look like? Well, there are lots of different types of bed bugs, but most of them are brownish, unless they have just fed and then there is a red tint to them. However, they can also be white to yellowish. Occasionally, they look banded because bedbugs are covered with short hairs which reflect light like a striped lawn.

Bedbugs have a beak-like mouth-piece with two tubes. One tube pumps saliva into you and the other sucks blood out. The saliva contains anti-coagulant and a pain-killer, so that you do not know that you have been bitten until long after the bedbug has gone home.

Some people never know, because they are not allergic to the saliva, others get a lump or slight swelling almost right away, but sometimes the swelling can take a week to come out. These bites may or may not be itchy.

If you travel a lot, or if you go to parts of the world that are less involved with hygiene, you must be careful about not taking bedbugs home with you. They will not remain on your body, but they may lay eggs in your clothing or hole up in your suitcase. Therefore, either before you go home or immediately on arrival have your clothes washed at a temperature above 46c and blast your suitcase with a jet of steam or hot air.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently concerned with bed bugs extermination. If you are interested in this, please visit our website now at Picture Of Bed Bugs for more information.

An Eye Mask Induces Melatonin Production and Improves Your Health

An eye mask is really essential for obtaining the most out of your sleep because doing so helps get rid of exposure to surrounding light. The darker your environment when you sleep, the lower the probability that ambient light will get into your eyes and affect the amount of melatonin your system creates at nighttime.

What is the purpose of melatonin?

Melatonin is a hormone that is created by the pineal gland within the brain. The quantity of melatonin that’s produced is contingent on your sleep cycle- the time your body wakes up and goes to bed. Our bodies have an internal clock that creates melatonin based on the quantity of light and darkness you are exposed to.

Do you ever find yourself getting mood swings when you are traveling over multiple timezones? The key reason why we feel those nasty negative effects of jet lag is because our internal clock is out of sync. If you are traveling abroad, you may be getting an excessive amount of day light or not enough. The pineal gland is confused because it relies upon the eyes’ balanced contact of light and the dark as a way to give them an indication of when you should start producing melatonin. Consequently, the ratio of light to darkness is out of balance and the pineal gland will create very low amounts of melatonin.This will cause a major influence on your mood and the quality of your day.

The Risks Associated with Having A Melatonin Deficit

The Pineal Gland secretes melatonin while we sleep at night. This is exactly why it is essential that you stop exposure of light from getting into your eyes while melatonin. The moment your eyes become exposed to light, your body stops making melatonin because it starts to believe that it is day time and that you are prepared to wake up.

Studies have shown that melatonin deficiency is linked to insufficient sleep, insomnia, melancholy, and increased risks to cancer.

If you are melatonin deficient, something you can do is take melatonin supplements which can be purchased over-the-counter from your pharmacy. If you don’t like taking supplements then you should give consideration to using an eye mask routinely. Regardless of which one you prefer, they are both cheap yet effective ways to control melatonin levels and circumvent potential risks to your overall health.

The Most Significant Thing to Keep in Mind Is: Getting sufficient Melatonin is A Vital Element of your Overall Wellness. Using an Eye Mask Can Help You Optimally Produce Melatonin and Boost Your Health

Make a habit from wearing an eye mask. Regular use of it will reprogram your mood and overall wellness. Remember all those restless evenings getting disrupted by a clock glaring its light back at you. Or surrounding street lights beaming down your windowpane. A sleep mask does not just allow you to meet the best possible level of melatonin but you will even get out of bed in a better mood and you will be energized to starting the new day. Take some time to maintain your overall health now and you are guaranteed a better and healthier tomorrow!

Get more information about the eye mask and additional ways to improve your sleep and health by going to our eye mask blog.

There is not much free time in our daily lives, and so often we are multi-tasking throughout each day, that we can lose track of the important things in life. This is why our vacation time is so critical to our well-being and personal growth. Today, there are many vacation options available to meet these requirements.

You can vacation alone, with friends or family, or you can travel with a group. You can also choose to travel with a group of people that have similar backgrounds and interests. Exploring gay spirituality is one choice for gay people.

On gay vacations, that fact that we are gay is one thing we all share. Knowing that we all have at one thing in common adds to our vacation and our time together. We can quickly create bonds within the group because of this commonality.

New acquaintances become fast friends and people with whom we find we can share things. This helps to make gay vacations a unique and wonderful experience. We know we are understood by those around us, at least on some level.

Being understood allows us to open up, relax more and let our guard down. This vulnerability lets more of the vacation into our hearts and minds. The more we feel the vacation, the more we recover from the strains of life at home.

If we take vacations with people that have similar goals for the vacation, we can deepen our experience even more. One such goal can be to connect with the spiritual aspects of the place being visited. Then we share our gay spiritual ideals and our quest for connectedness to our world.

Visiting sacred sites all over the world on gay holidays combined with a desire to grow spiritually can open doors never before seen. With other group members helping us, we can face old fears and become a little freer. And isn’t feeling freer the main goal of a vacation?

Gay tours essay researched by Howie Holben. He operates Spirit Journeys. Spirit Journeys is honored for their spiritual gay tours and gay retreats.

Mike Sinyard, forefather of Specialized Bicycle Components has a quick though insightful quote: “We began Specific for dual chief purposes: First: We cherish the sport. Secondly: We wish to construct items that help people such as you bliss the game just like we do. Period.”

Thus, in 1974, he founded the firm and two years later on sold the first self-made product, a tire designed for the road market. 1981: arrived the StumpJumper – the original mountain bike to be sold to the general public.

Specialized Bikes – or in full, Specialized Bicycle Components Inc happens to be the 4th biggest manufacturer of high end bikes in the US. Specialized is continually doing its best to construct superior bike models. They have set a milepost when it launched the Mountain Bike to the public. The first model, a groundbreaking product now being exhibited at Smithsonian Museum.

Throughout the past twenty nine years, Specialized and Mike did not back away from the company slogan, as shown in the headline: “Innovate Or Die.”

Specialized makes and sells revolutionary components for example the three spoke wheel racer’s dream – the time cutter; bicycle seats which are physician -designed, lightweight helmets, just to name a few.

A devotee to biking, Mike came across a lady who was a friend with Italy’s classic touring as well as racing bicycle makers. These fabricators were set to allow Mike sell their goods back in the US.

Mike was aware that high-end bike parts were not quickly available in the US and could be valued by the real bike riding fans. He used the remnants of his $1500 to buy components, made a directory and unloaded the full supply to local bike shop sellers, a dual-way venture which lasted for ages.

Standby startup money was still a problem but Mike triumphed over it and forged ahead to establish a most prosperous company.

Specialized is still innovating and selling, and for the ‘fair dinkum’ sincerely loyal; bicycle believer; Specialized is your specialist.

The most loved technique to calm down of Doctor Jeremy McFerson is always to attack the hills with one of his Specialized Bikes, the popular Specialized Roubaix for instance. He has quite a few of them and even launched an internet site dedicated to the brand: http://specializedbikes24.com

If you are one of those who love nature, then riding a bicycle will give you lots of joy. Not only is it a good habit to take good care of the environment, but it is also a very healthy lifestyle.

Maybe you have heard others say – stop and smell the roses; and you never even took them seriously. Well, it is a very true statement when it comes to the issues of nature and why it is important to connect to nature.

Riding a bicycle while site seeing is the best way to experience the best of nature. There are some unique sounds, smells from flowers and colors that you only get from nature. This is hardly possible while one is using an automobile.

The situation gets worse if you live in a big city where there is so much activity going on and the sounds and noise so great. It is caused by vehicles as well as other business activities of men. It is the reason guys should actually take off on a holiday to get a bit relaxed. On these occasions, the best thing is to join a bicycle tour of the countryside. Go on camping trips that would make you experience nature, the mountains, the woods and so forth.

Of course going through the mountain roads will be tough but the breeze will also be a bit chilly but beautiful on the face and hair. The best part will happen when you reach the top of the mountain, all the exhaustion will evaporate suddenly when confronted by the breathtaking scene that awaits you up there.

The bicycle tours might seem like cumbersome but if you can keep up with the tour guides and listen to the details they give every now and then as the trip progresses, you will enjoy it more when you get to the beautiful sceneries. You will only want to take more and more photos.

It is believed that the ideas you have picked from reading this information will go a long way towards guiding you on the next bicycle tour you wish to take. At the same time help you arrange an adventure of your own.

The simplest advice is that you will see more and enjoy a great deal of all the beautiful scenes you need to see if you are on a cycling trip.

The author additionally often publishes articles about products including Tacfit Warrior and clean pc.

As the news of influenza is seen everywhere we turn, more and more people are seeking every available means to support their immune system and potentially prevent the infection by any number of serious viral contagions — most notably these days is “Swine Flu”, though there may be more in our future. Historically, essential oils have been used during major plagues as a means to prevent infection. Pictures can be found in natural medicine textbooks of medical practitioners wearing facemasks stuffed with cinnamon, cloves, sage and other botanicals to ward of illness. Today’s leading professional aromatherapists also suggest the most important use of essential oils for humanity will be in the treatment and prevention of such infectious illnesses. Are essential oils a viable option as an alternative therapy for home use? Here’s a look at the scientific research, as well as formulas and practices to make use of aromatic medicines.

Essential Oils’ Antiviral Activity: The Research

Over the last decade, laboratory researchers around the world have found many essential oils are capable of directly eradicating viruses. Further, they may even prevent viruses from moving between cells within the body and limiting the spread of infection. This is not an over-optimistic interpretation of the data by an essential oil proponent, but the actual conclusions of controlled research studies. Abstracts of all the research mentioned here can be found through pubmed.gov, the database maintained by the National Institute of Health and the US National Library of Medicine. If you wish, you can browse these results by entering search terms such as “essential oil virus”, “antiviral essential oil”, and more specifically “laurus nobilis SARS” (Laurus nobilis being Bay Laurel essential oil, and SARS a highly-infectious viral respiratory ailment). While there is not yet data where essential oils have been tested against Swine Flu and Avian Flu specifically, as we’ll see there is every reason to believe the oils will be effective against these virus strains as well.

Looking At The Data: Many Viruses And Many Oils

With more than one hundred published research papers on the subject, a summary is in order. What scientists are finding is that many of the essential oils commonly in use today have antiviral properties. Whether an oil is effective against a particular virus depends upon the natural chemical makeup of the oil and the structure of the virus being studied. The data, without a doubt, is very encouraging. One study performed in Germany this year concluded with the note that Tea Tree was able to “reduce viral infectivity by greater than 96 percent”. The same study went on to clarify that the whole, natural oil, rather than any single chemical synthetically extracted, was up to TEN TIMES more effective as an antiviral agent. The precise reason for this is not known — it is clear that some of the most chemically complex oils exhibit the greatest antiviral effects, and perhaps this mixture of nature’s chemicals attacks the virus AND supports immune function is several ways at once.

Laurus Nobilis and SARS

Many of the studies utilize the Herpes Simplex Virus as a “test subject”, because of the widespread prevalence of infection, along with the relative ease of testing. However, if one digs into the data, many papers present information relevant in in influenza pandemic. SARS ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome’ is caused by the highly infectious SARS-CoV virus that made world-wide news in 2003. A study in the March 2008 Journal of Chemical Biodiversity noted Bay Laurel essential oil to have significant antiviral action against this virus. They’d also noted the natural constituents of this oil, which are also found in a great many other essential oils. This is why you’ll see MANY essential oils noted as antivirals — because many oils share similar natural chemical constituents. So while this next oil is not readily available, the data is very interesting. In 2005, Chinese researchers evaluated the anti-influenza potential of the essential oil from a root used in Chinese medicine, concluding: “In vivo…it prevented influenza virus-induced deaths in a dose-dependent manner”. And the list of oil/virus combinations goes on and on. But this begs the question: how do we derive a formula for Swine Flu prevention?

Selecting Oils For Daily Flu Protection

Here’s where we’ll make the leap from the scientific evidence to relying on many many years of Aroma Medicine practice throughout the world. In the aromatherapy textbooks, the list of antiviral essential oils is long. This corroborates with the scientific findings that a great many essential oils DO in-fact have antiviral activity. Where the help of skilled professional practitioners comes in is that in these texts, oils are prescribed by how effective they are against viruses that produce particular symptoms — respiratory tract infections are treated with cineol-containing oils such as Eucalyptus Radiata and Ravensara Aromatica. Viral infections of the skin are often treated with Melissa and/or Tea Tree. The doctors who have been using essential oils as medicine for years in Europe have developed a solid system, and can be relied upon in defining the appropriate list of oils for us.

A selection of potentially helpful essential oils includes the following: Melissa (also known as Lemon Balm), Eucalyptus Radiata (one of many kinds of Eucalyptus, this one specifically noted for its antiviral effects), Ravensara (similar to Eucalyptus, also a highly regarded antiviral), Lavender (don’t let its flowery aroma trick you — it is also considered antiviral and an immunostimulant), Maleleuca ericifolia (a relative of Tea Tree), Hyssop, Bay Laurel, and Thyme.

An Influenza Prevention Recipe

An example blend including these oils: 2 parts Melissa, 1 part Thyme (Thujanol, Geraniol or Linalool), 4 parts Lavender, 3 parts Ravensara, 4 parts Eucalyptus Radiata (Narrow Leaf), 3 parts Hyssop, 6 parts Rosalina (Melaluca ericifolia) and 3 parts Bay Laurel. A “part” can be anything — a milliliter, a drop, an ounce — just as long as they’re consistently the same volume. For children between 2 and 13, use 4 parts Lavender, 3 parts Rosalina, 1 part Ravensara, 1 part Eucalyptus and 3 parts Bay Laurel. This recipe is excellent as a lower-cost version for adults as well — and has been made more gentle for the young ones (consult Valerie Worwood’s “Aromatherapy for the Healthy Child” for more on using essential oils with kids).

Diffusion: Getting The Oils Into The Air

The best way to use these oils is through diffusion, which is essentially “rapid evaporation”. A nebulizing aromatherapy diffuser will make a fine mist of essential oil which cleanly evaporates in your surroundings. This method allows a low concentration of the oils to be inhaled regularly. The effect is to actually disinfect the air in your home, as well as getting the oils into one’s lungs and bloodstream in small amounts. A feature of oils’ activity is that they are reported to reduce the ability of viruses to penetrate cell walls, so the lungs and sinuses become protected just by breathing the oil-infused air. Be careful not to overdo it though — the aroma should never be overwhelming or irritating, and your body will tell you if you’ve had enough. The oils do their immune-supportive job in subtle ways, which require only the smallest amounts of oil. The casual inhalation of the oils also gets them into circulation throughout the bloodstream, penetrating all the organ systems, and most importantly the lymph system — home to our immune function. A cold air nebulizing diffuser (as opposed to an ‘ultrasonic’, which dilutes the oils with water) would ideally be run 5-10 minutes every hour for this purpose.

Topical Application and Baths

In cases where diffusion is not practical, topical application of the oil formula is the next best thing. This can be done in a couple of ways: either though an aromatherapy bath, or through the ancient practice of reflexology — where the oils are absorbed at the reflex points of the feet. For the bath, mix 4-6 drops of the essential oil recipe in a little carrier oil (or any off-the-shelf bath oil). Swirl this blend into an already drawn bath and soak! For children, lessen the amount of essential oil 2 drops (for ages 2-8) or 4 drops (9-13). The feet and the areas of the body where the lymph nodes are close to the surface are also excellent places to massage in this recipe. The oils readily penetrate the skin and are rapidly absorbed. For adults, make a 5% concentration of the essential oil recipe in any carrier oil (Coconut, with its own antiviral activity may be best — otherwise any one will do). A 5% concentration is simply a 1 to 20 ratio — 1 part essential oil blend to 19 parts carrier (this same concentration is made by adding 44 drops of the formula to each 1 fluid ounce of carrier oil). Lower this concentration for children in a manner similar to the aromatherapy bath. A daily foot massage, and/or massage into the armpits, neck and sternum is an excellent means of treating yourself and your family to these wonderful herbal medicines.

Conclusion: Essential Oils, Infectious Illness and the Future

As noted earlier, the world’s leading aroma-medicine practitioners believe the most important healing potential for essential oils is in the prevention and treatment of infectious illness. Of course, one should evaluate every available means of strengthening their immune system and those of their loved ones — there are many ways health professionals will recommend to do this. Considering the scientific data, essential oils are certainly a very worthy method of providing this support. Given all the contagions, Swine flu, Avian flu, and ones yet to be named, natural medicines have the long-term advantage of not being easily “adapted to” by viruses. The oils are so complex, and have evolved as the defense mechanism of plants over millions of years that they may present a far greater challenge to a virus to become resistant to when compared to synthetic preparations. And they’re such a joy to use — you’re house will be smelling fantastic while you’re keeping healthy; a great many amateur practitioners will concur that think you’ll find essential oils very worthwhile.

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. They are not intended to treat, cure or prevent any disease. The statements included in this document are the opinions of natural health professionals drawing on historical therapeutic practices and relevant scientific data. They are not meant to be a substitute for face-to-face consultations with trained and licensed medical professionals. Essential oils are considered to be supportive of the immune system’s actions my a great many health practitioners; at the same time, it is important to be aware of all the options available to you to make the best choices for your health and the health of your family.

The author is a natural health professional utilizing aromatherapy essential oils and offers wholesale essential oils through her website.