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Calm-a-lung for a healthier life this Lung Month

It’s alarming to see that many take their lungs for granted and forget to care for them. Unhealthy habits or wrong lifestyle choices such as smoking can have a grave impact on the health of our lungs.

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Lungs do more than just help us breathe. They work hard to provide the body with oxygen and protect it from harmful substances through coughing or sneezing. By keeping the lungs strong and healthy, we keep the body strong and healthy as well, enabling us to enjoy and live our life to the fullest.

It’s alarming to see that many take their lungs for granted and forget to care for them. Unhealthy habits or wrong lifestyle choices such as smoking can have a grave impact on the health of our lungs. 

Focusing on the risks of stress, when not managed properly, stress can worsen the condition of those suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, two respiratory disorders that are common worldwide and in the Philippines. Stressful situations prompt the body to release hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which cause rapid breathing. This can make breathing even more difficult for a person suffering from COPD or asthma and can cause them to panic. Between managing the symptoms of both conditions and dealing with daily responsibilities and commitments, stress will only exacerbate a patient’s condition.

August is National Lung Month, OMRON Healthcare, one of the most trusted brands for clinically proven medical equipment among Filipinos, hopes to emphasize the importance of taking care of our lungs properly and urge Filipinos to make this an utmost priority. OMRON offers innovative tools to help patients with respiratory diseases rise above COPD and asthma and manage their symptoms better for an improved quality of life.

Breathe with ease at home

COPD, a respiratory disease caused by smoking tobacco, remains the third leading cause of death worldwide, according to the WHO. It currently ranks as the seventh leading cause of poor health worldwide as measured by disability-adjusted life years. In the Philippines, where smoking is prevalent, COPD is among the top 10 causes of mortality.[1]

Asthma is another common health challenge for many Filipinos, affecting approximately 11 million or 1 out of 10 Filipinos, according to the Global Asthma Report. Sadly, 98 percent of Filipino asthma patients do not have access to proper treatment.[2]

Knowing how to manage the symptoms of COPD and asthma makes a positive difference in the quality of life of patients. Lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, eating healthier, staying active, and getting enough sleep will certainly make a significant improvement in one’s health.

Home health management can help a lot. Home nebulization therapy is a safe and effective treatment for patients with COPD or severe asthma. It has the same effect as oral medication but with a much lower and more manageable dosage.[3] Here, the patient inhales the mist and the medicine is then delivered directly to the organ where it is most needed for a much more immediate relief for the patient.[4]

Calm-A-Lung and nebulize at home and on the go

An advocate for accessible health management and solutions, OMRON launches its Calm-A-Lung campaign this National Lung Month to make quality health treatment more accessible to Filipinos who need it most.

Getting respiratory relief in one’s home brings unparalleled comfort and puts the patients’ minds at ease. With the OMRON Compressor Nebulizer or NE-C801, every nebulization experience will feel like a breeze. This compact and lightweight nebulizer is the smallest and most convenient tabletop nebulizer and is designed for easy setup and use. The NE-C801 is powered by CompAir, which provides highly efficient nebulization and administers medication as effectively as other models three times its size. It produces small particles the size of MMAD 3µm so that the medicine can flow smoothly and easily all the way to the user’s lower airway.

Asthma attacks can happen anytime and anywhere. This is what makes the condition so stressful, especially for children and their parents. Whether at home or on the road, unforeseen episodes of asthma attacks take away the fun and happy mood of the day.

With the OMRON NE-U100 or Mesh Nebulizer, patients can take the medication and get the respiratory relief they need anywhere and anytime. This portable nebulizer is also battery-operated so users don’t have to worry about finding a power outlet to use it. With its pocket-sized design, users can take it anywhere and use it in whatever position they are in, even when they’re lying down, without causing any spills.

Nebulizers have unique and specific features designed to address different patients’ needs. That is why it is best to choose the nebulizer that is more suited to the condition of the user and the nature of their ailment or symptoms.

This National Lung Month, let’s start making smarter choices to improve our lung health, including managing our stress and finding the right tools to ease any respiratory challenge. OMRON’s home nebulizers not only make the nebulizing process a little more stress-free and comfortable but also help in effectively managing the symptoms of respiratory diseases, giving our lungs the love and care they deserve.

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5 Tips to upgrade your sleep

Sleep contributes to better brain function, memory, concentration and lower stress. According to the National Institutes of Health, most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep every night to achieve maximum health benefits.

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Good sleep isn’t just about waking up feeling rested and ready for the day. Quality sleep, and plenty of it, is important for your overall health. While you sleep, your body naturally recharges itself, which puts you at lower risk for cardiovascular problems and chronic conditions like diabetes, as well as improving your immune system.

Sleep also contributes to better brain function, memory, concentration and lower stress. According to the National Institutes of Health, most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep every night to achieve maximum health benefits.

If you’re falling short of the recommended amount of sleep, you may be able to make some adjustments that help you reap the health benefits of better rest. Learn what you can do to improve your sleep with these tips from the experts in safer, healthier sleep at Naturepedic.

Reduce Light Exposure
Your body’s natural circadian rhythms are closely aligned with light and dark. When your body senses light, it sends signals to your brain that it’s time to be awake. Light also suppresses your body’s production of melatonin, a hormone linked to sleep. Cutting back on bright lights and avoiding devices at least an hour before bed can tell your body it’s time to wind down, and sleeping in a dark room promotes better rest.

Invest in the Right Mattress
Your mattress plays a major role in your comfort through the night, so making sure it fits your needs is an important step toward getting better rest. Take control of your comfort with a quality mattress such as Naturepedic’s EOS (Ergonomic Organic Sleep) mattress, which is handcrafted and made without polyurethane foam, formaldehyde, flame retardants or fiberglass. The breathable layers of certified organic cotton, wool and GOTS-approved latex ensure better temperature regulation while naturally contouring the body. An added feature is the ability to customize each side of the bed by opening the zippers and adjusting the layered components for the perfect comfort combination.

Find the Right Sheets
Sheets that are too stiff, scratchy or otherwise unpleasant make it nearly impossible to settle in for a good night’s rest. Higher thread counts tend to be softer, higher quality sheets. However, you may need to experiment to find which material suits you best.

Set a Comfortable Temperature
When you’re too hot or cold, your mind tends to focus on those sensations rather than allowing you to slip into a slumber. Set your thermostat at a comfortable temperature, adding fans or adjusting the layers of bedding as necessary to achieve the perfect level of cozy comfort.

Use a Sound Machine
If you’re a light sleeper, noise can wreak havoc on your rest. Many people find sound machines offer two key benefits: They provide a soothing sound, such as rain or ocean waves, that allows you to relax and ease into slumber and constant background noise, so additional sounds are less disruptive.

Find more solutions for achieving better sleep at Naturepedic.com.

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What you should know about IBD

Two common conditions are irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). They’re often confused for one another, but these are actually two different GI disorders.

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It may not be something you like to talk about, but if you have gastrointestinal (GI) problems, your symptoms may be far more common than you think. According to data from the American Gastroenterological Association, 60-70 million people living in the United States have gut health concerns.

Two common conditions are irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). They’re often confused for one another, but these are actually two different GI disorders.

IBS is a syndrome; it is defined by a group of symptoms, does not cause inflammation and rarely requires hospitalization or surgery. IBD, on the other hand, is an umbrella term used to describe disorders that cause chronic inflammation of your GI tract.

The disease is more common than you may realize; a study led by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation found nearly 1 in 100 people living in the U.S. have IBD. The two most common forms of IBD are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Understanding IBD Symptoms
Because it poses serious health risks and can cause permanent damage to your intestines, it’s important to be aware of what IBD is and recognize the symptoms. Your primary care doctor or gastroenterologist can help if you have concerns about these symptoms:

  • Intense, crampy pain that doesn’t go away in a day or two or has been present on and off for weeks or longer
  • A notable change in bowel movement frequency, whether more or less often
  • Frequent diarrhea over several weeks, or loose stools multiple times a day
  • Frequent constipation, or constipation alternating with diarrhea
  • Urgency on a regular basis or inability to hold back the bowel movement before reaching the bathroom
  • Blood with bowel movements
  • Mucus in your stool regularly or paired with pain or other symptoms
  • Always feeling as though you aren’t fully emptying your bowels

Other symptoms that may have a variety of causes but need extra attention especially if you notice them along with any of the symptoms above include pain outside of the gut, fatigue, loss of appetite and weight loss. In addition, children with IBD may have delays in growth and the onset of puberty.

Diagnosing IBD
No single test can confirm a Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis diagnosis. Your medical history and information obtained from diagnostic testing can exclude other potential causes of your symptoms, since gastrointestinal symptoms are common and can have a variety of causes.

Your first tests will likely include blood and stool laboratory tests. Further testing could include imaging studies of your gastrointestinal tract or a look inside your GI tract through an endoscope.

Identifying Treatment Options
Once an IBD diagnosis is confirmed, you can partner with your doctor to manage your disease. Treatment plans are highly personalized, as what works for one person may not for another. Medication and managing your diet and nutrition are two common treatment recommendations. In some cases, surgery can help improve your quality of life.

Clinical trials may also be an option for treating your IBD. Through clinical trials, researchers find new ways to improve treatments and quality of life. In fact, clinical trials represent the final stages of a long and careful research process to make new and improved treatment options for patients available.

However, an important part of clinical trials for IBD is patient participation. Without the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, new treatment options for IBD can be delayed or never become available.

Equally important to this process is having a diverse representation of patients that considers race, age or other categories. This helps researchers develop treatments that meet the needs of a vast IBD patient community.

If you’re interested in participating in a clinical trial, ask your doctor to help you find a trial that is right for you, and visit crohnscolitisfoundation.org to learn more about IBD and treatment options, including clinical trials.

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Unlocking the science of sleep: How rest enhances language learning

Getting eight hours of sleep every night helps the brain to store and learn a new language.

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Sleep is critical for all sorts of reasons, but a team of international scientists has discovered a new incentive for getting eight hours of sleep every night: it helps the brain to store and learn a new language.

A study led by the University of South Australia (UniSA) and published in the Journal of Neuroscience has revealed that the coordination of two electrical events in the sleeping brain significantly improves our ability to remember new words and complex grammatical rules.

In an experiment with 35 native English-speaking adults, researchers tracked the brain activity of participants learning a miniature language called Mini Pinyin that is based on Mandarin but with similar grammatical rules to English.

Half of the participants learned Mini Pinyin in the morning and then returned in the evening to have their memory tested. The other half learned Mini Pinyin in the evening and then slept in the laboratory overnight while their brain activity was recorded. Researchers tested their progress in the morning.

Those who slept performed significantly better compared to those who remained awake.

Lead researcher  Dr Zachariah Cross, who did his PhD at UniSA but is now based at Northwestern University in Chicago, says sleep-based improvements were linked to the coupling of slow oscillations and sleep spindles – brainwave patterns that synchronise during NREM sleep.

“This coupling likely reflects the transfer of learned information from the hippocampus to the cortex, enhancing long-term memory storage,” Dr Cross says.

“Post-sleep neural activity showed unique patterns of theta oscillations associated with cognitive control and memory consolidation, suggesting a strong link between sleep-induced brainwave co-ordination and learning outcomes.”

UniSA researcher Dr Scott Coussens says the study underscores the importance of sleep in learning complex linguistic rules.

“By demonstrating how specific neural processes during sleep support memory consolidation, we provide a new perspective on how sleep disruption impacts language learning,” Dr Coussens says. “Sleep is not just restful; it’s an active, transformative state for the brain.”

The findings could also potentially inform treatments for individuals with language-related impairments, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and aphasia, who experience greater sleep disturbances than other adults.

Research on both animals and humans shows that slow oscillations improve neural plasticity – the brain’s ability to change and adapt in response to experiences and injury.

“From this perspective, slow oscillations could be increased via methods such as transcranial magnetic stimulation to accelerate aphasia-based speech and language therapy,” Dr Cross says.

In future, the researchers plan to explore how sleep and wake dynamics influence the learning of other complex cognitive tasks.

“Understanding how the brain works during sleep has implications beyond language learning. It could revolutionize how we approach education, rehabilitation, and cognitive training.”

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