Erectile dysfunction, which affects an estimated 30 percent Indian and is more prevalent in men over 40, is defined as the inability to achieve or maintain an erection adequate for sexual function. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is common in older men. But it's not a normal part of aging. I recommends getting evaluated for cardiovascular risk if there is a persistent erectile issue that lasts for three months or longer.

Recent research has also shown that ED may be linked to diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, as well as the early stages of heart disease, so encouraging your man to set up a check up with his doctor is a good starting point.

The problem is, there are men who don’t come in because of embarrassment and denial. If a man develops erectile dysfunction, he has a window of opportunity to make some lifestyle changes that may reduce his risk of having a heart attack.

How can you avoid ED? Here's what you can do.

1. Avoid high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

More than 50% of adults with diabetes have high blood pressure or take blood pressure medication. The combination of high blood pressure and diabetes also increases the risk for blood vessel damage, further reducing blood flow. Eventually, this can lead to ED.

Do regular cheack up with your doctor for your cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

2. Maintain a healthy weight.

Being overweight can bring many health problems, including type 2 diabetes, which can cause nerve damage throughout the body. If that affects the nerves affecting the penis, ED can result. Complicating matters further, the more body fat you have, the higher your level of SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). The more testosterone that is bound to SHBG, the less there is available to stimulate desire. So lose a little weight, even 5 kg, can often free up testosterone and almost immediately give a boost to your love life.

3. Watch what you eat.

A diet that's bad for a man's heart is also bad for his ability to have erections.

If you eat a heart-healthy diet, the benefits to your heart will improve the blood flow to other organs in the body. And increasing the blood flow to sexual organs will increase desire and function. The same eating pattern that can cause heart attacks by impeding blood flow in the coronary arteries. Lots of fatty, fried, and processed foods can impede blood flow to and within the penis. That blood flow is needed for the penis to become erect.

Eating the right kinds of foods are just the prescription for a healthier sex life. Anything that is bad for a man's heart is also bad for his penis. Even simple diet modification such as following a low-fat diet and eating lots of fruit and vegetables that help get blood sugar and cholesterol under control can also help turn your sex drive around even if you don't lose weight.

4. Drink alcohol in moderation or not at all.

There is no evidence that mild or even moderate alcohol consumption is bad for erectile function. But chronic heavy drinking can cause liver damage, nerve damage, and other conditions that can lead to ED.
5. Do not take stress.

Psychological stress boosts levels of the hormone adrenaline, which makes blood vessels contract. That can be bad news for an erection. Anything a man can do to ease tension and feel better emotionally is likely to give his sex life a big boost.
6. Keep tabs on testosterone.

Even in healthy men, testosterone levels often begin falling sharply around age 50. Every year after age 50, a man's testosterone level typically falls about 2.0%.

Symptoms like a low sex drive, moodiness, lack of stamina, or trouble making decisions suggest a testosterone deficiency, as do spongy erections.
7. Avoid anabolic steroids.

These drugs, which are often abused by athletes and bodybuilders, can shrink the testicles and sap their ability to make testosterone.
8. If you smoke, stop.

Smoking cigarettes can harm blood vessels and curb blood flow to the penis. And nicotine makes blood vessels contract, which can hamper blood flow to the penis.
9. Steer clear of risky sex.

Some cases of erectile dysfunction stem from penile injuries that occur during sex. To keep your penis from bending painfully, start thrusting only after making sure her vagina is well lubricated. And make sure your penis doesn't slip out of the vagina while thrusting (so you won't accidentally jam your penis against a hard part of her body). If she moves in such a way that hurts your penis -- for instance, by bending it the wrong way -- have her stop at once.

If the woman is on top and comes down hard, and the penis does not enter the vagina, that is the equivalent of a big weight crashing down on the penis. No penis on earth can withstand that.
10. Exercise regularly.
Getting regular physical activity is an easy way to boost your sexual prowess. Adults who exercise regularly not only have increased levels of desire, but also enhanced ability to perform sexually and greater sexual satisfaction, Strong evidence links a sedentary lifestyle to erectile dysfunction. Running, swimming, and other forms of aerobic exercise have been shown to help prevent ED. One exercise for women is the Kegel -- the same exercise gynaecologists recommend to keep the pelvic floor strong during pregnancy. These muscles can increase pleasure sensations during sex. They're the same muscles you use to stop the flow of urine when you're using the bathroom. Just practice tightening them whenever you think about it during the day.

A healthy diet, regular exercise, and a positive attitude are only the beginning. It also helps to get plenty of sleep, quit smoking, and control the stress in your life. Not only will you look better, you'll feel good about yourself -- a real boost in the between-the-sheets department. A dash of positive attitude ties it all together: You have to believe you're hot if you want to make things sizzle in the bedroom. Being sexy and self-confident is just a state of mind.

Remember, a lifestyle that's healthy for you overall will be healthy for your sex life period. Boost your sexual potency naturally with a healthy diet, lots of physical activity, and an attitude that screams, "I'm worth it!"

The degree of accuracy and appropriateness of constitution, laws, rules, other manners of government regulations; regarding the taxes and the manner of expenditure of the taxes collected; decide the extent to which they convince the conscience of people, and their acceptability. This in turn decides the extent of public compliance with the constitution, laws, rules and other ways of government regulations regarding the taxation.

One of the major causes of black money is the bitterness amongst majority of the people that they are being deceived by the unjustified and coercive taxation. Naturally this is followed by manipulations to hide money and evade tax. Private entrepreneurs can often escape from the agony of having to pay (unjustified and coercive?) taxation, where as government servants cannot escape from (unjustified and coercive?) taxation on their regular legitimate income and hence try to earn money by illicit means and hide it.

The tax evasion also takes place due to lack of faith in the way the tax money is “used” by the government.

The ministers, bureaucracy (government agencies) involved in tax collection and police are part of the people and hence can not be expected to have a perception and behavior different from that of the majority of the people.

In such a situation; money earned by cheating, misguiding, swindling, stealing, exploiting, robbing and most importantly through making and twisting laws to suit the vested interests; is really the darkest money! In fact; the tax money laundered ni several government projects and programs (on which tax is evaded) the darkest money!

Besides these two points one point is important.

We the people (from top to bottom) whether in government or in free enterprises; are governed by individualistic and petty ideas. Hence we revere superficiality, glamour, and glitter and material success achieved by any means.

Naturally we get leaders and rulers who thrive on darkest money, supported by black money and not those who can have moral and spiritual sway; without money! We have no interest in having such leaders either. Till such time that we have this mindset; no political parties can not come to power and remain in power without money! Naturally; we can not expect; neither the (desperately and helplessly gathered) black money; but most importantly the darkest money refereed to above; to disappear.

But even amidst all this; NAMASMARAN practiced through centuries; has begun to get expressed in holistic perspective, policies, plans and programs; world over. The universal conscience has begun to arouse and the process of individual and universal blossoming has taken momentum! This sway of NAMASMARAN is bound to purge and cleanse the world of all darkness!

Hence this is the most opportune time to practice, teach, preach, sponsor and do whatever we can; to promote NAMASMARAN and consolidation, and implementation of holistic perspective, policies, plans and programs; so that the governance of pettiness, superficiality, individualism, selfishness and all kind of deception including the black money and “darkest money”; be destroyed!

A new orthodontic straight wire bracket positioning gauge - Ravi Gauge had been developed by Dr.Ravi Kumar, here at Academy of Fixed Orthodontics. I has a vertical positioner which helps in aligning the center line of the bracket to the axial line of the teeth. It also has two prongs which helps to align the bracket horizontally, while the center portion presses the bracket onto the teeth

See the complete article here
http://www.webdental.com/profiles/blogs/new-orthodontic-bracket/

The total body potassium (K+) content in a normal adult is approximately 3,000 to 4,000 meq, 98% of which is intracellular. The normal serum potassium concentration ranges from 3.5 to 5meq/L, whereas that inside the cell is approximately 150 meq/L. Thus, the ECF compartment from which we measure the serum K+ level contains only 2% of the total body potassium. The results therefore are misleading as to the degree of total K+ deficit or excess. With the major effector organ of potassium excretion being the kidney, its balance is regulated primarily by two physiologic stimuli; aldosterone and K+ concentration itself.
Hypokalemia or low serum potassium occurs as a result of three main mechanism a.) A shift of K+ to the ICF, b.) Inappropriate renal wasting and c.) Extrarenal K+ loss. In the critically ill patients these etiologies are of special importance. 1.) Transcellular shift : movement of K+ into cells may transiently decrease the plasma K+ without altering the total body K+ content. The magnitude of the change is relatively small, often <1meq/L, but it may amplify hypokalemia from other causes. Triggers of intracellular shift include alkalemia, insulin and catecholamines( either produced endogenously through the stress response or administered exogenously.) Marked anabolism can also result in K+ translocation into cells. The most common example of this occurs with the refeeding syndrome, when nutritional support is initiated after a long period of starvation. 2) Gastrointestinal K+ loss : In general, gastrointestinal fluids have a significant K+ content and excessive enteral losses may result in hypokalemia. When lower GI tract is the source of the loss, there is a concominant metabolic acidosis from bicarbonate loss. When losses are from the upper GI tract , metabolic alkalosis is usually present. 3.) Renal K+ loss: Urinary K+ wasting may be caused by factors that augment the distal nephron tubular flow rate or by factors that increase the distal tubular fluid [K+]. Augmented distal flow occurs with thiazide and loop diuretic use, osmotic diuresis, hyperaldosteronism of any cause, the urinary excretion of anions which causes coexcretion of cations including K+, hypomagnesemia and amphotericin B. Hypokalemia seen in diabetic ketoacidosis result from glucosuria, volume depletion and intracellular shift due to insulin therapy.
Treatment of hypokalemia consists of rapid correction when symptoms or electrocardiographic changes are present. In these cases when patients are unable to take enteral medications, IV repletion is appropriate. Otherwise it is generally safer to correct hypokalemia via the enteral route bcoz larger doses can be administered orally given the limitations on the rate of IV infusion of K+. KCL is usually the preparation of choice regardless of the route of administration as it promotes more rapid correction of hypokalemia and associated metabolic alkalosis than the other preparations. Potassium citrate or bicarbonate may be useful in correcting hypokalemia and acidosis associated with chronic diarrhea or renal tubular acidosis. Hypomagnesemia should be sought in all hypokalemic patients and corrected prior to, or concurrently with K+ repletion. Without Mg+ repletion, reduced renal K+ absorption in the loop of Henle and collecting duct would result in the prompt loss of administered potassium. Although there are rules to estimate the total K+ deficit present, mechanism of transcellular shift are difficult to predict and the degree of K+ depletion does not correlate well with the serum[K+]. The serum K+ should therefore be monitored closely and frequently during therapy .

When we are trained in mere rote, mechanistic, reductionist and lopsided logical thinking and learning; without evolving internally; then we fail to appreciate the importance of the activity, places and phenomenon of pilgrimage.

We hate, ridicule, humiliate or at best tolerate or consider the pilgrimage sympathetically. Sometimes by virtue of our socio-economic perspective; we offer trivial explanations which undermine the sublime and pivotal role of pilgrimage.

Once some one asked a sage; “What is the meaning of DHARMA?”

The sage replied; “Whatever elevates (evolves) you is DHARMA”!

The places of pilgrimage are the conduits to self realization. These are the places wherefrom we collect the vitality and vigor to ascend to our true SELF.

Hence pilgrimage has to be given maximum importance in terms of making them easily accessible, improving the transport facilities, making their historical and spiritual importance known to the visitors, and maintaining and promoting their cleanliness, habitability and sanctity.

Pilgrimages are centers of civilization and must be treated as such.

Let us understand that pilgrimages are pivotal to our holistic health, total stress management, simultaneous blossoming of one and all; and not meant for expecting mere trivial gains.