Many Disinfectants Increase Risk of Fatal Lung Disease

disinfectantsArjun Walia – A 30-year study conducted by researchers at Harvard University alongside researchers at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) found that regular use of bleach and other commonly used disinfectants can increase your chances of developing fatal lung disease. The study found that those who used these types of products just once a week had up to a 32% increased chance of developing the condition.

It’s called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Researchers looked at the incidence of the disease for the study in more than 55,000 nurses in the United States. Nurses were used for the study because they use disinfectants to clean surfaces on a regular basis. In this study population, 37 percent of nurses used disinfectants to clean surfaces on a weekly basis and 19 percent used them to clean medical instruments on a weekly basis. Continue reading

The Latest Trend to Hit the Alcohol Industry

Have you ever imagined you and your friends walking into a bar and instead of asking for beers to get drunk, you’d get high with it? Because that’s what’s happening in some places with legalized recreational marijuana like Canada and California.

Large beverage companies are always trying to keep up with trends such as craft beer, flavored seltzer, etc. If you’ve been in the shadows and have not heard of the edibles boom of the 21st century, you can see here how easy it is to infuse any meal with something like coconut oil. In order to keep up with demand, beverage companies are now infusing cannabis compounds such as THC and CBD into their drinks. Continue reading

What You Haven’t Been Told About Alcohol and Your Body

alcohol
Royalty free image – Pexels

Drinking alcohol has become normalized. From teen college movies to adverts on the TV, most individuals drink alcohol without ever considering what it is doing to our bodies.

Whilst the occasional red wine with your favorite meal isn’t a major cause for concern, drinking alcohol frequently or being addicted to alcohol can have many negative impacts on the body.

Disease

Alcohol has been proven to cause many disorders, including heart disease and liver disease. This is because too much of the stuff can damage these vital organs and leave them unable to work as they should. This can have devastating consequences. Alcohol can disrupt your natural blood sugar levels and cause diabetes. Alcohol has also been linked to breast and oral cancer.

Brain

When you drink alcohol, you are interfering with the normal brain pathways. You can feel this yourself, as when you drink alcohol, everything about you can change, from how you walk to how you speak. Although acting out of sorts is one way alcohol impacts the brain, long-term use can damage pathways and lead to many mental health problems, including anxiety and depression.

Heart

The heart is one of the most vital organs we have, therefore we need to look after it as best we can. Excessive alcohol use, or even drinking too much in just one session, can cause short and long-term damage to the heart. Some of the main problems of excessive drinking include high blood pressure and strokes. For more in-depth information on alcohol effects on the body and how you can get help, click the link.

Alcohol & Your Liver

Your liver is responsible for the metabolism of alcohol. If you’re drinking too much this can massively affect the liver. It is thought that the liver takes around 60 minutes to metabolize just one ounce of alcohol. If you’re constantly drinking, your liver has to work overtime to keep up. This leads to  fibrosis (the forming of abnormal amounts of scar tissue) and steatosis  (also known as fatty liver).

Stomach Issues

Too much alcohol can lead to stomach ulcers, bloating and excessive gas. For some, this causes major issues for the whole digestive tract, with problems such as acid reflux. If, after drinking alcohol you get a burning sensation in your stomach or have painful acid that travels up your esophagus, you could be suffering with acid reflux due to excessive alcohol consumption. Without treatment, acid reflux can cause stomach ulcers.

Immune System

When you drink a lot of alcohol the body is so busy dealing with side effects your immune system is weakened. Your entire body can no longer react as it usually would when a virus enters, meaning you are more likely to get ill.

If you or a loved one is suffering from alcohol dependency, don’t suffer alone. Get help before you cause permanent damage to your body.

Shift Frequency © 2019 – Educational material

Should You Stop Drinking and If So—Why?

alcoholAlcohol is a legal substance in the United States, as long as you’re 21 or older and following the rules. However, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. There are a myriad of health problems related to alcohol use, particularly excessive drinking. In fact alcohol is the reason for 88,000 deaths in the United States annually and its use is linked to an increased risk of some of the most deadly forms of cancer.

Alcohol can cause social and legal problems. It’s frequently cited as a reason for divorce, people lose their jobs over, and it can cause people to be arrested for public intoxication, driving under the influence and other charges related to alcohol use.

Even if you’re not at the point where you see significant problems in your life as a result of drinking, is it time to cut down? This is something a lot of people ask themselves, and the following are some things to keep in mind if it’s something you’re weighing. Continue reading