Page 23 - 3-20-15 Friday's Edition

Health
Crossing your legs can cause some negative health effects, such as:
Causes Back & Neck Pain
Sitting with your legs crossed puts your hips in a torqued position, which can lead to the rotation of one of your pelvic bones, she explains. Since your pelvis is the base of support for your spine, it puts unnecessary pressure on your neck and lower and middle back when it’s rotated and unstable. And the longer you sit with your legs crossed, the more pressure you put on your spine, which in- creases the odds you’ll develop an issue.
Linked To Spider Veins
The medical community seems to be divided on the link between crossing your legs and spider veins. While some doc- tors say spider veins are solely caused by genetics, pregnancy, sun exposure, and frequently standing or sitting for long peri- ods of time, Hooman Mady- oon, MD, a cardiologist at Cedars Sinai Medical Center who specializes in the treatment of venous diseases says there is an indirect link between the two. “Crossing your legs in- creases the pressure on your veins that are responsible for re- turning blood back to your heart. The pressure of one leg on top of the other impedes your blood flow, which can weaken or
damage the veins in your legs. If the veins are damaged or weak- ened, the blood can leak into them and collect there, causing spider veins or exacerbating ex- isting ones.”
Elevates Your B. P.
Crossing your legs at the knee can temporarily cause your blood pressure to go up.
Here’s why: The blood in your legs has to be pumped back to your heart against gravity, ex- plains Madyoon. That’s al- ready a tough enough task for your body, but when you cross one leg over the other, it in- creases resistance to the blood flow. As a result, your body has
to increase your blood pressure in order to push your blood back up to your heart.
You usually won’t feel any symptoms when your blood pressure goes up, but repeated, drawn-out increases in blood pressure can cause long-term health issues. So, planning to sit for a long period of time? Don’t keep your legs crossed.
Hurts Nerves In The Feet
Crossing your legs at the knee can cause pressure on your peroneal nerve, the major nerve in your leg that passes just below your knee and along the outside of your leg, explains Richard Graves, a podiatrist who specializes in disorders of the lower extremities. This pres- sure can cause numbness and temporary paralysis of some of the muscles in your foot and leg, preventing you from being able to raise your ankle — what we know as that “pins and needles” sensation.
While the feeling is only temporary, Graves says repeat- edly sitting with your legs crossed in the same position can also cause you to develop long- term numbness in your legs from nerve damage.
While he says uncrossing every two to four minutes can help minimize damage, he rec- ommends you ditch the habit entirely: “The best advice is al- ways not to sit with your legs crossed.”
Blue Bell Ice 5 Age-Fighting
Cream Recall
Vitamins
The Food and Drug Adminis- tration is investigating a potential listeriosis outbreak tied to some Blue Bell Creameries products made at the company’s Brenham, Texas, facility. The product is sus- pected in five cases of listeriosis in Kansas, including three deaths.
Blue Bell has issued a recall on the following affected products (the recall does not include cups, pints, and half-gallons of ice cream):
• Chocolate Chip Country Cookie - SKU # 196.
• Great Divide Bar - SKU #108.
• Sour Pop Green Apple Bar - SKU #221.
• Cotton Candy Bar - SKU #216.
• Scoops - SKU #117.
• Vanilla Stick Slices - SKU #964.
• Almond Bars - SKU #156.
• 6 pack Cotton Candy Bars - SKU #245.
• 6 pack Sour Pop Green Apple Bars - SKU #249.
• 12 pack No Sugar Added Mooo Bars (not including regular Mooo Bars)- SKU #343.
Listeriosis is a form of food- borne illness, caused by the Liste- ria monocytogenes bacteria. It causes symptoms of muscle aches, fever, diarrhea, and chills. For the elderly, people with lowered im- mune systems, pregnant women, and people with other health con- ditions, it can even be deadly.
Here are 5 vitamins to add to your diet to battle aging:
1. Vitamin C - is essential for collagen production, skin repair and also for keeping your bones and teeth strong. Vitamin C can repair the existing damage which results in lines and wrinkles.
2. Vitamin A - is loaded with antioxidant benefits of like Retinol, one of the only FDA-ap- proved wrinkle treatments, which works inside cells, hitting recep- tors which help them function as if they were younger. It also slows the breakdown of collagen, which is important in giving skin its youthful appearance and elastic- ity. It keeps your immune system strong and skin and eyes healthy.
3. Vitamin D - Vitamin D works with calcium to keep your bones strong and dense. The bet- ter your bone health, the better your bone structure is and the more youthful you will appear.
4. Vitamin K - helps keep collagen in your skin intact and keeps your skin thick, reducing the appearance of bruises, veins and, even dark circles.
5. Vitamin E - Vitamin E is great, especially when combined with vitamin C, in keeping your cells healthy. Vitamin E helps fight damaging free radicals on a cellular level, which protects your cells from vulnerability. It's one of the most potent antioxidants out there. It can help provide sun protection to the skin and may have anti-inflammatory benefits.
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-B
Reasons To Stop Sitting With Your Legs Crossed