The short-term results of unprotected exposure to UV rays are sunburn and tanning. Long-term exposure causes prematurely aged skin, wrinkles, loss of elasticity, dark patches and actual skin cancers.

• have numerous or irregular moles
• were previously treated for skin cancer
• work indoors all week and then get a tan on weekends
• have freckles and burn before tanning
• have fair skin; or blond, red, or light brown hair
• have a family history of skin cancer
• live or vacation at high altitudes
• spend a lot of time outdoors
• take certain medications (see prescription information)

ERGONOMICS AND POSTURE

The term “ergonomics” is derived from two Greek words: “ergon”, meaning work and “nomoi”, meaning natural laws. Ergonomists study human capabilities in relationship to work demands.

In recent years, ergonomists have attempted to define postures which minimize unnecessary static work and reduce the forces acting on the body. All of us could significantly reduce our risk of injury if we could adhere to the following ergonomic principles:

• All work activities should permit the worker to adopt several different, but equally healthy and safe postures
• Where muscular force has to be exerted it should be done by the largest appropriate muscle groups available.
• Work activities should be performed with the joints at about mid-point of their range of movement. This applies particularly to the head, trunk, and upper limbs.

Be Ergonomically Correct: Tips for Computer Users

Repetitive and prolonged use of a computer keyboard and/or
mouse can lead to muscle aches and discomfort. Try to incorporate the following tips into your work style to avoid problems.

• Sit all the way back in the chair against the backrest. Keep knees equal to, or lower, than hips with feet supported.
• Keep elbows in open angle with wrists in straight position.
• Avoid overreaching. Keep the mouse and keyboard within close reach.
• Center the monitor in front of you at arm’s length distance and position the top of the monitor 2” to 3” above seated eye level.
• You should be able to view the screen without turning or tilting your head up or down.
• Place source documents on a document folder positioned between your monitor and keyboard or place documents on an elevated surface close to your screen.
• Use good typing technique. Float arms above the keyboard and keep wrist straight when keying. If you use a wrist-rest, use it to support palms when pausing, not while keying.
• Hit the keyboard keys with light force. The average user keys four times harder than necessary.
• Customize computer settings. The screen font, contrast,
  pointer size, speed, and color can be adjusted to maximize comfort and efficiency.
• Reduce glare. Place monitor away from bright lights and windows. Use an optical glass glare filter when necessary.
• Take eye breaks and intermittently refocus on distant objects. Try palming eyes in your hands to reduce eye fatigue.
• Work at a reasonable pace and take frequent stretch breaks. Take 1 or 2 minute breaks every 20-30 minutes, and 5 minute breaks every hour.
• Life style and physical fitness affect how you feel at work.
  Stay in shape by stretching and exercising regularly.

Source: UCLA Ergonomics Website and University of Texas Website

Provided courtesy of www.wellnessproposals.com

Make Yourself Available
Men are taught to hide their feelings as a sign of strength and masculinity. But when it comes to loving and being loved, that belief is a sure fire guarantee of isolation, loneliness, and
depression. Show up, because only what you show is available to be loved.

Honesty is Your Trump Card
Love can be trusted only when you know you are being loved for who you really are—for your excellence and shortcomings, your toughness and tenderness–all of you. Honestly letting your partner know what you think, what you feel, what you want and need opens the way for her to know you and love you. Deceit is a child’s game. Don’t play it.

Genuine Love Requires….
As simple as it may sound, a relationship takes two. Both people must feel seen, heard, appreciated, and valued. If you are the only one that counts, your partner is as good as invisible. And if only your partner counts, what’s the point of being in a relationship? A real life, satisfying relationship grows out of your willingness to work with your partner, especially when she has the better point of view.

Differences are Critical
No matter how much two people have in common, when they enter into a relationship they soon discover all the ways they are different from one another. How you treat those differences will either make or break your relationship. Trying to change your partner leads only to resistance and rejection. Opening to your partner as different from you sets the stage for a love that is real, trustworthy, and secure because she will know that she is being loved for who she is and not for
some idea or image of who you think she’s supposed to be. And that’s the only love that lasts.

Fear is Natural
No one receives any formal training for intimate relationships. So you may expect that loving is going to be trouble- free. But once two people move beyond the bliss at the beginning, their
differences become apparent. Then it’s natural to be anxious and fearful that maybe who you are isn’t going to be enough. That’s normal. Deepening intimacy entails the risk of revealing
yourself, discovering yourself, and allowing your partner to do the same.

Intimacy is not Automatic
You can have attraction, curiosity, and even sexual desire at first sight, but intimacy takes time. Intimacy results when two people share their affection and their fear, their desire and their upset, their willingness to be known and know one another. Be patient with love, it is a garden worth seeding and weeding, watering and pruning for the rest of your life.

Contact:
James Sniechowski, Ph.D.
Co-Author of Be Loved For Who You Really Are
http://www.themagicofdifferences.com
Men’s Health Network, Co-Founder

If you don’t have diabetes, why do you need to think about your blood sugar levels?

It’s simple: Blood sugar problems don’t happen overnight. And, as your blood sugar rises, not only does your risk of developing diabetes increase, but so does your risk of coronary heart disease.

Here’s what everyone needs to know about blood sugar levels:

1. Blood sugar, or glucose, provides vital energy to all our cells. The hormone insulin, produced in the pancreas, helps glucose get into those cells.
2. Blood sugar levels rise and fall to balance your body’s needs: up after eating, down when you need to eat.
3. When blood sugar rises too high, it causes insulin resistance and prevents glucose from
   delivering its energy properly.
4. Insulin resistance increases when you’re overweight, especially if you carry extra weight in your mid-section.
5. Only medical tests can show if you have a healthy blood sugar level. You may be tested
   after not eating (fasting) for a specific amount of time.

• Fasting blood sugar levels:
  · Normal: 70 to 99 mg/dl
  · Prediabetic: 100 to 125 mg/dl
  · Diabetic: 126 mg/dl or above
• You might also drink a sugary drink and then be tested with an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). If your OGTT score is 140 mg/dl to 199 mg/dl you’re prediabetic; above that is diabetes.

1. To achieve or maintain a healthy blood sugar level:

• Lose weight if you are overweight.
• Take a few minutes to walk every day. Work up to 30 minutes a day.
• Eat more fiber from oatmeal, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes to better control blood sugar levels.
• Reduce your use of sugary foods and drinks as well as refined starches, such as white bread, white rice and white pasta.
• Cut total fat intake to less than 30 percent of your daily calorie total, with saturated fat under 10 percent.

*To learn more about how to maintain a healthy blood sugar level, go to the Blood Sugar Awareness Tool Kit from the National Women’s Health Resource Center.

This information was produced with the support of an educational grant from Nutrition 21.

References
Selvin E, Coresh J, Golden SH, et al. "Glycemic Control and Coronary Heart Disease Risk in Persons With and Without Diabetes: The Arteriosclerosis Risk in Communities Study." Archives of Internal Medicine, 165(16): 1910-1916, 2005.

Reprinted with permission from the NWHRC. 1-877-986-9472 (toll-free). On the Web at: www.healthywomen.org.

According to The American Legacy Foundation, despite increased awareness about the dangers of smoking in recent years, 46 million adult Americans still smoke. This widespread use of tobacco is not only having expected long-term effects on the health of smokers but also more immediate effects on America’s children.

Passive exposure to secondhand smoke, also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), puts young people at risk for serious health consequences, including low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, asthma and ear infections. While the health consequences are devastating, the foundation’s report also details the significant economic costs of treating children with smoking-related illnesses.

The foundation found that, in 2001, tobacco’s effects on children included:

• Nearly 300,000 pediatric asthma cases costing the nation more than $236 million
• More than 99,000 cases of ear infections costing the nation nearly $49 million
• More than 26,000 low birth weight births costing the nation more than $300 million
• 263 cases of sudden infant death syndrome

"Smokers know that their addiction is harmful, but they predict that their smoking will hurt only themselves, and they think that will happen years down the road," said the foundation’s President and CEO Cheryl Healton, Dr. PH. "This research shows us that tobacco isn’t just killing years down the road. It is killing today, and its silent, innocent victims are children."

The foundation and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) outlined three immediate steps smokers can take for their children’s health:

· Make your home smoke free

· Keep your car smoke free

· Stop smoking for your children

"Parents need to stop smoking for their children – not only are children who live in smoke-filled environments more likely to get sick but they are also more likely to smoke as an adult than their peers," said Dana Best, MD, MPH, FAAP, AAP Committee on Environmental Health. "An important first step to help parents quit smoking is learning about the smoking cessation resources in their community. The more parents know about the process of quitting the more likely parents are to succeed."

A small reduction in tobacco smoke exposure would spare thousands of children from devastating health problems. In this report the foundation found that if states were to reduce children’s exposure to secondhand smoke by one percentage point, the national outlook would be:

• 2,263 fewer low birth weight births and an associated health care cost savings of nearly $27 million
• 21 fewer smoking-attributable sudden infant death syndrome deaths
• 19,077 fewer cases of asthma and an associated savings of more than $15 million
• 6,755 fewer ear infections cases with savings of more than $3 million

If you need help quitting please call your local QuitLine and you can visit Monarch Health Promotions to learn more about smoking and respiratory related illness.

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We at Monarch Health Promotions want everyone to have a happy, healthy, safe 4th of July!

With that in mind, please consider the fireworks injury statistics and the tips below:

• Fireworks devices were involved in an estimated 9,200 injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms.

• An estimated 6,400 injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms during the one-month period (June 16-July 16) surrounding the Fourth of July.

• Firecrackers accounted for 20% of all injuries followed by rockets (13%), and sparklers (16%).

• Males suffered three times the number of injuries as females.

• Sparklers caused the greatest number of injuries in children 14 and younger, followed by firecrackers and rockets.

Of the 1,000 estimated sparkler injuries,

• 200 were to children age 5 and younger.
• 2,300 of the injuries were to children under age 15.

• 11 people were killed by fireworks in 2006.

Fireworks Free Fun
You can ensure your children’s safety by supervising their activities and their environment. Instead of worrying about what
might be going on in your neighborhood, you can be what’s going on in the neighborhood.

1. Host a Fourth of July party for your kids and their friends.
2. Let the kids decorate T-shirts or hats with paint and decals that glow in the dark. When evening rolls around, their new night-bright clothes will be dry and ready to model.
3. Take the kids to a professional fireworks show. Check your local paper for times and locations of displays in your area.
4. Provide safe sounds and sparkles (see lists below).

Safe Sounds
Part of fireworks’ attraction to children is the big noise that goes with them. Kids love making noise and there are lots of safe ways for them to do this.

• Step or sit on inflated balloons until they pop.

• Inflate small bags (lunch bags are a good size). Popping the bags makes a nice, loud “BANG”.

• Buy noisemakers from a party store. Different brands and types of noisemakers make many unique, and loud sounds.

• Bring out your old pots, pans and pie plates. The kitchen cacophony should be quite satisfying to the noise-making set.

• Horns, whistles, bells and cymbals will also serve as sound fun.

Safe Sparkles
The other attractive part of fireworks is the glitter. Here are some safe, fire-free tips.

• Glo-sticks, glo-ropes and glo-jewelry provide safe and fun ways to brighten an evening.

• Flashlights, plain or with filters made by wrapping the flashlight in colored cellophane, can light the night in fun, safe ways.

• Neon and glow-in-the-dark paint can provide both a fun afternoon project and a special evening display. Kids enjoy watching their art take on a special glow as the sky darkens.

• A jar of fireflies or lightening bugs can provide lots of fun. Nature’s little sparklers provide a fun challenge to young insect
hunters. Just remember to release the bugs before the hunters go to bed!

• Novelty flashlights can be extra fun. You can buy flashlights that have mirrors to bounce the light, and changeable colored filters or optic fibers that look like sparklers but are much safer.

Please remember to celebrate safely. Fireworks are extremely
dangerous. Do not purchase, use or store fireworks of any type.  Attend only authorized public fireworks displays conducted by licensed operators, but be aware that even
professional displays can be dangerous.

Source: Green M.A., Joholske, J., 2006 Fireworks Annual Report: Fireworks-Related Deaths, Emergency Department Treated Injuries, and Enforcement Activities During 2006.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, June, 2007

For more about Fireworks, Call the PBA Vision Health  Resource Center at 1-800-331-2020.

Have you ever caught a glimpse of yourself in a full-length mirror or store window and seen your body slumped with poor posture?

You might quickly pull your head and shoulders back, pull in your stomach and walk on. In a minute or two, when you’ve forgotten about what you saw, your body might start to slump again.

If there were a mirror in front of us all day long, reflecting how we stand, walk and sit, good posture might be more on our minds. Having the right posture is important, and not just for looking good. Correct posture promotes better body movement, keeps bones in healthy alignment, takes strain off muscles and joints, keeps abdominal organs functioning well and helps avoid back pain.

With practice, you can improve your posture. These ideas may help:

1. Take several short stretch breaks throughout the day, especially if you work at a desk or computer. Stretching keeps muscles flexible for good posture.

• Sitting on a chair’s edge, feet flat on floor, place a pillow or soccer-sized ball between your knees. Squeeze gently for a few seconds while lifting your head and pulling your shoulder blades back. Repeat 10 times.
• Stand with your back against a wall, heels about 3 inches from the wall. Put arms down with palms forward and low back close to wall.
• Lift your chest so your shoulders touch the wall.
• Bring head back to wall, chin tucked in.
• Pull up and in with muscles of lower abdomen.
• Hold for 10 seconds while breathing normally. Repeat 3 times.

References
Luebbers P. "Enhancing Your Flexibility." American College of Sports Medicine Fit Society. http://www.acsm.org. Accessed July 11, 2007.
American Physical Therapy Association. "The Secret of Good Posture: A Physical Therapist’s Perspective." http://www.apta.org. Accessed July 9, 2007.
St. Luke’s Iowa Health System. "Three Simple Exercises to Improve Posture." http://www.stlukes.org. Accessed July 11, 2007.
American Academy of Family Physicians. "Vitamin B-12." http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/articles/765.html. Accessed June 20, 2007.
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Reprinted with permission from the NWHRC. 1-877-986-9472 (toll-free). On the Web at: www.healthywomen.org.