How to Conquer Insomnia

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 8:31 pm

As we all know, without the proper amount of rest we tend to become cranky and not feel very well. Various coffee chains have made millions of dollars on their caffeine products which help to keep people awake. However, caffeine is a stimulant, and can definitely cause even more health problems.

There are also people who wish they could sleep, but cannot because they are suffering from insomnia. Specifically, insomnia is a symptom that is associated with an overall sleep disorder. It is characterized by not being able to stay asleep for long periods of time, or not being able to fall asleep at all.

Some people think that one sleepless night means that they automatically have insomnia. That is untrue, because a sleepless night is usually simply caused by stress. The problem becomes insomnia when the person cannot sleep for weeks at a time.

If you are suffering from this annoying symptom, there are a couple of natural things you can do to facilitate sleep. First of all, about an hour before you go to sleep, have a warm drink such as peppermint tea. Peppermint is a natural soothing agent, and sometimes a little comforting tea is enough to allow you to drift off to sleep. Make sure, however, that whatever warm drink you choose has no caffeine in it.

One of the reasons that you are probably having trouble going to sleep is because you are stressed out about something, be it work or something personal. Whatever the issue, it is important to get rest so that you can deal with the stresses you have with a clear mind. That means leaving stress behind as soon as you go to bed.

A way to clear your mind of stress is to listen to soothing music. It doesn’t have to be music with actual lyrics. It can just be natural sounds, like the sounds of waves. If this doesn’t work, consider getting an eye mask that can be heated. Sometimes the warmth is comforting enough to enable a person to fall asleep.

If there are not any natural ways that have been helping you with this problem, it is time to consider medical intervention. The first thing that your doctor might do is tell you to get some behavioral therapy. In this form of treatment, methods like hypnosis techniques are often taught and implemented.

Another option is to get sleep aid medication. Many people who suffer from this sleep disorder symptom actually use this method the most. However, they also have a tendency to become addicted to sleeping pills, which is definitely not a good thing. That being said, there are sleep aid medications that are available which do not have the addictive component in them.

Something that many people in this situation are concerned about is how long the various treatment methods will take. This is a highly varying answer, since it depends on the situation of the person involved It can take anywhere from a few days to a few months. Thus, anyone who is seeking treatment must have patience.

More information on insomnia, snoring causes and treatments and a sleep center in your area is just a click away.





Tuberculosis; Tubercle Bacillus

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 8:09 pm

Tuberculosis is an infection that often can become deadly. Tuberculosis is caused by the bacteria known as mycobacteria. Tuberculosis can attack the lungs, the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints and the skin at times. The specific name of the bacteria that causes tuberculosis is mycobacteria tuberculosis. Symptoms of the disease are a chronic cough, blood in the phlegm, night sweats, fever and unexplained weight loss. Tuberculosis can be spread through the air very easily. People with the disease can send the disease through the air when they cough, spit or sneeze.

There are a variety of tests that doctors need to perform before diagnosing tuberculosis. They include a chest x-ray, tuberculin skin tests, blood tests and a microscopic examination and microbiological cultures of body fluids. Treating tuberculosis is a difficult process for doctors and patients. It entails various antibiotics. Sometimes there are strains of tuberculosis that can be resistant to antibiotics. Preventing tuberculosis involves screenings and getting oneself vaccinated against the disease.

Tuberculosis is a disease that has been affecting not only human beings but also animals for over 18,000 years. Mummies entombed in Egypt have been examined and it has been scientifically proven that some of those mummies, when alive, were infected with the disease as evidenced by remnants of it in their spine. Scientists have also found strains of tuberculosis in the remains of bison that date back to 18,000 years before the present date. The one thing scientists still aren’t sure of is how tuberculosis developed over the past thousands of years. They aren’t sure if it developed from cattle and then spread to humans or if it spread from an ancestor to other humans and then animals.

The very first doctor to identify tuberculosis as a contagious disease was Ibn Sina in the 1020s. He wrote “The Canon of Medicine.” He is also responsible for developing the method of quarantine to avoid the spread of the disease or any other contagious disease. There was thought at one point that tuberculosis would be eradicated across the globe because the number of cases was beginning to drop appreciably. In 1987, cases of tuberculosis in Great Britain numbered 5,000 after numbering 117,000 in 1913. But then in 2000 the number of cases rose again to 6,300 and the number rose again in 2005 to 7,600.

The recent rise in tuberculosis cases, especially in the 1980s, is somewhat credited to the rise in HIV and patients with tuberculosis not finishing their medicine or treatment regimens assigned by a doctor. People would be heading back to the workplace and other public places before being completely healed of the condition and would begin to infect others by coughing, sneezing and spitting the contagious strain into the air around them.

As of right now it looks as if tuberculosis will never be eradicated on a worldwide stage because of the development of drug-resistant strains. This makes it difficult for doctors to treat their patients because antibiotics will not do the trick in curing the disease.

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You Can Beat the Dealer at Blackjack

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 8:06 pm

There are no surefire ways to beat the game of Blackjack on each and every hand. If tips like these existed, Sin City would be out of business in a matter of months. There are, however, a few strategies that can be used to better your chances of going home the winner of the hand.

The first problem the player often has is the need to hit 21 on every hand. This is not the games focus. The game of blackjack will be more profitable to the player if they focus on beating the dealer rather than the odds. The elusive 21 is a great gift from the card Gods, but the dealers hand should be the primary focus.

Now that you are convinced to beat the dealer, the rules of the game can come into play. The dealer will hit on his or her hand if they are showing a 6 or lower as the up card. So, no matter what the bottom card may be, the dealer will have to hit on what is called a soft 17.

If the dealer has a ten or a face card as the bottom card, and the up card is a four, five or six there is a greater chance that the dealer will bust the hand. This is because any card at or above a 7 will cause the bust. Taking all 52 cards into account, the dealer has a 45% chance of drawing a card that will not cause the bust and a 30% chance that the draw card will not be played at all.

If the dealer is showing a 7, 8, 9, 10 or a face card you will instantly know what the face down card value is. If the dealer takes a card the value must be 7 or below. If the dealer does not take a card, he has a hard 17 and you will need to fight or fold. If your hand values a 15 or higher, you must take the loss. If you have is valued at a 14 or lower, hit the hand and hope for a card to beat the dealer.

The dealer may, from time to time, show a 2 or 3 the rules of the game require the dealer to take at least one card. This hand gives the dealer a better chance of hitting a hand from 18 to 21. The chances of the dealer busting or taking a second card are less than 30%. Again, you are in a position with this dealer hand to hit on a 15 or lower.

The only sure way to win at the game of Blackjack is to quit while you are ahead. The cards may run hot for a few hands and you can pocket some winnings. But, rest assured, the house always wins and walking away with that profit makes you the end winner of the round.

Sitting at a table feeling greedy for more money will be the downfall of your hand. There is nothing worse than winning a few hands and then falling off the map. Blackjack is a game of odds and simple math, keeping it simple is a great way to beat the game.

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Advertising; The Backbone of Business

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 7:54 pm

Advertising has been the backbone of the business world since the Egyptian times and possibly even earlier than that. The Egyptians would use papyrus to advertise different political campaigns and there have been advertisements found on the walls of the ruins of Pompeii and ancient Arabia. So, advertising is not an invention of the 20th century but a mere tactic that was developed centuries ago. Advertising is a multi-billion dollar effort to help business owners get their message out about their products and services to consumers locally, nationwide or worldwide.

If it weren’t for advertising, the business world would not be as successful as it is each and every day. Advertisers place ads in hundreds of different places for consumers to see. Ads appear most commonly on television, radio, previews before movies, in magazines, on the sides of buses, on billboards, on business’ vehicles and in the daily newspaper. Advertising is an expensive, yet rewarding venture for a business owner. The most popular day of advertising in the United States is the Super Bowl each year. This is when companies release brand new television commercials that air during the most watched football game of the season. They do pay a pretty penny for the ad time though. Some slots for ads during the game cost around 3 million dollars for a 30 second spot.

Advertising spending will surpass 500 billion dollars worldwide by the year 2010 and will continue to increase as long as the public continues to consume goods. Advertising has gone through different modes of conveying a business owner’s message through the years. Advertising has developed from simple billboard pictures to elaborate television and radio spots that include special effects, famous actors, announcers and other important public figures. Nowadays athletes and actors have become focal points of advertising. These figures are paid a stipulated amount of money to sponsor someone’s product. The most recent example is Derek Jeter and Gatorade’s product G2.

Advertising, like the title says, is the backbone of business. If business owners and major corporations did not use any means of advertising then their product’s information would never reach the public and it wouldn’t sell on the market. This would more than likely put them out of business. If businesses wish to be successful in selling products and goods they must delve into the advertising world to reach their clientele.

There are two ways for advertisers to determine how to market a product on television or on radio. For television, advertisers look at the Nielson Ratings each quarter to see how many people across the country tuned in to a specific station or show. For radio, advertisers look at the Arbitron Ratings to see how many people tuned into a specific time slot or radio station. Both of these forms of ratings measurements are not 100 percent effective though and some times have to be taken with a grain of salt. The ratings systems are based off of a handful of people that record in a booklet what they have watched on television or listened to on the radio and then it is calculated for the remainder of the country.

Advertising is the backbone of business and without advertising the retail market would not be as successful as it is today.

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Bone Marrow

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 7:46 pm

Bone marrow is an important part of human life. It is a flexible tissue that is found in the hollow interior of bones. Bone marrow exists in two forms. There is red bone marrow and yellow bone marrow. Almost 100 percent of bone marrow at birth falls into the red bone marrow category. Red bone marrow consists of myeloid tissue, red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells. Yellow bone marrow consists of fat cells and some white blood cells can develop in yellow bone marrow. Both the red and yellow bone marrows contain various capillaries and blood vessels.

The red bone marrow converts itself to yellow bone marrow over time. The red bone marrow can be found in flat bones. Flat bones are found in the hip, the breast, the skull, the ribs, the shoulder blades and vertebrae. Yellow bone marrow is found in the hollow interior of the middle portion of bones. If there is ever a severe condition of blood loss; the body has the ability to convert the yellow bone marrow back to red bone marrow to increase blood cell production.

There are a couple of different diseases involving one’s bone marrow that anyone can develop. Diseases of the bone marrow can develop from an infection or a malignancy. A malignancy is also known as a cancer. One type of infection found to disease bone marrow is called tuberculosis. Tuberculosis leads to the decrease in production of blood cells and blood platelets. Cancer of the bone marrow in a human being is known as a leukemia. Other problems of the bone marrow are anemias, lymphomas and plasma cell disorders. To diagnose these diseases a doctor usually performs a bone marrow aspiration. This can also be known as a biopsy. The site of the aspiration is usually on the back of the hip bone. During the biopsy the doctors test the sample for different signs of cancer or any other infection of the bone marrow.

One treatment for leukemia is a bone marrow transplant. This can be done if a bone marrow donor matches a leukemia patient. Once the bone marrow from the donor is inserted into the body of the patient, if the match is successful, the newly infused cells will help with the production of blood cells. A bone marrow transplant is usually only used when the situation is extremely severe for a leukemia patient. Some leukemia cases can be treated with chemotherapy and radiation techniques.

Www.marrow.org is the website for bone marrow donors. If you wish to become a bone marrow donor or learn more about donating your bone marrow to a foundation to help leukemia patients you should give this website a look. If you aren’t looking to donate bone marrow you can make a financial donation to the foundation to keep it up and running.

Bone marrow diseases and leukemia cannot be prevented. They are treatable but not preventable. They can be caused by the lack of blood cell production or the overproduction of one type of blood cell over the other.

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Multiple Sclerosis

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 7:45 pm

Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system. It occurs when the immune system attacks the central nervous system, which leads to demyelination. A demyelination disease is a disease of the nervous system when the myelin of the neutrons is damaged. Multiple sclerosis usually develops in young adults but can occur in just about any age group. It is most prominent in women. The very first case of multiple sclerosis was discovered in 1868 by Jean-Martin Charcot.

Multiple sclerosis affects the brain and the spinal cord; specifically the myelin sheath that is wrapped around the nerve fibers. These myelin sheaths electrically insulate the nerve fibers when working properly. Despite being discovered over a century ago, there is no known cause of multiple sclerosis. There are ideas that the disease can be caused genetically, by an infection or even by other environmental factors. There is also no known cure for multiple sclerosis. Treatment is used to restore the body to a somewhat normal state after an attack and is used to possibly help prevent any further attacks. Having multiple sclerosis does not affect the life expectancy of patients. MS patients tend to live just as long as the non-affected population.

There are a variety of symptoms that can appear in a person that might have multiple sclerosis but not all of them will appear at once. These symptoms will appear gradually and from time to time. They are weakness, inability to balance or stand, acute or chronic pain, fatigue, muscle spasms, random eye twitching along with bladder and bowl difficulties.

As mentioned earlier, there are some environmental factors that could play a role in the development of multiple sclerosis. They are extreme stress, a decreased exposure to the sunlight, decreased Vitamin D intake and production and even smoking.

There are treatments available today for patients with multiple sclerosis but there is no known cure for the debilitating disease. The main focus of the treatments is to return the body to a normal functioning state, prevent any future attacks and to prevent any disability to the body. Some alternative treatments not used widely by many doctors is a specific diet tailored to the patient, the use of hyperbaric oxygenation and different types of herbal medication.

The prognosis for people with the disease is promising despite no known cure. Almost 40 percent of patients reach the seventh decade of their life and 15 percent of deaths from the disease are directly related to suicide. Over 50 percent of deaths in multiple sclerosis patients is directly related to the consequences of the disease. The majority of patients with multiple sclerosis loss the ability to walk prior to death but 90 percent of patients are still able to walk 10 years after the disease was diagnosed. More over; the number is at 75 percent for people who have had the disease for 15 years.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease that cannot be entirely prevented nor entirely cured. With proper treatment and excellent care patients with the disease can go about living their lives.

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The History of Medicine

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 7:38 pm

The practice of medicine has been around for centuries. Whether it is used for witchcraft or wizardry or just for the sole purpose of healing; medicine has been a mainstay in the survival of humankind. Medicine is simply defined as the art and science of healing. Practicing medicine involves treating and preventing disease and illness of humans. Medicine treats and prevents disease and illness through medication, surgery and various types of therapy.

The practice of medicine has been going on for hundreds of years. The first medicines were plants, animal parts and minerals. Medicine was practiced early on by shamans, priests and people known as medicine men. The practice of using plants as medicine is known as herbal healing. Herbal healing is still performed today. The Greeks, Egyptians and the Chinese are some of the first civilizations to experiment in the field of medicine.

Medicinal practices have become incredibly advanced over the past hundred years or so. X-rays, MRIs, CT Scans and more testing procedures have been invented. These tests allow doctors and nurses to see the inside of a patient’s body and their organs. Doctors can diagnose an illness such as bronchitis or a disease such as cancer. They can find where a bone is broken or where cartilage is torn and then tailor treatment accordingly.

The advancement of medicine over the years has also helped to save numerous amounts of lives. During the United States Civil War, many soldiers would have a limb or two amputated because of their battlefield injuries. If they survived the surgery, which took place in an open hospital (not in separate rooms), the injury would become infected with gout or other infections. Most of the soldiers that were operated on would die of an infection only days or months later. Medicine was not advanced enough yet to figure out how to successfully perform surgery without causing infection.

Medicinal practices have helped to develop treatments for cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Medicine is still working on cures for diabetes and cancer but with continued research will come close within the next 10 years or so. Doctors are now able to pinpoint the exact location of an illness or a disease and what medicines to use to deter the effects of the illness or disease.

One of the biggest advancements in medicine was the development of penicillin. It was developed in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming of Scotland. Penicillin is used to cure tonsillitis, pharyngitis and some skin infections. It is also used to treat gonorrhea, syphilis and cellulitis.

Millions of people have been saved by the advancements of medicine and will continue to be as more and more developments are made in the field of medicine. These advancements can be minute or they could be larger than life like a cure for cancer. If doctors and scientists hadn’t put their time and effort into developing new kinds of medicine then drugs like penicillin might not have ever been invented. Medicines are used to control heart problems, headaches, stomach diseases and sleep disorders to name a few.

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What is Laryngitis?

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 7:31 pm

Laryngitis is when the larynx becomes inflamed. The voice becomes hoarse and there can possibly be a complete loss of voice because the vocal cords become irritated by the inflammation. Laryngitis can be acute; lasting less than three days or it can be chronic; lasting for more than three weeks.

There are a handful of symptoms for laryngitis:

• Having a dry, sore throat.

• Difficulty swallowing liquids or food.

• Constantly coughing; this ironically can cause laryngitis itself.

• Swelling of the larynx.

• Swollen lymph glands in the throat, face or chest.

• Having a cold or flu-like symptoms; this ironically can also cause laryngitis.

• Suffering from a fever.

When should you see a doctor? If you begin to cough up green or yellow phlegm or even blood; you should consult a doctor immediately. If you have a history of breathing problems, such as having to sit upright while breathing, you should see your doctor as quickly as possible because laryngitis could be a life threatening problem.

There are plenty of causes of laryngitis. They are excessive smoking, coughing, alcohol consumption, an infection from a fungus, inflammation due to overuse of the vocal cords and a viral infection.

There are a variety of different treatments for laryngitis. Some of them are breathing in moist air, resting your voice, drink plenty of fluids, treat the underlying cause of laryngitis and suck on lozenges. You can breath in moist air by sitting in the bathroom with the shower running on hot or putting hot water in a bowl and breathing in the steam. Drinking plenty of fluids helps to prevent dehydration, treating alcoholism or excessive smoking will help rid of laryngitis and sucking on lozenges makes the throat wetter and takes away the dryness and soreness.

Sometimes acid reflux can lead to laryngitis. If so, taking pills to prevent or downplay the symptoms of acid reflux can help against laryngitis. Such pills are Zantac or Prilosec.

With laryngitis, more so young children and older adults, the risk of your throat swelling shut is great. If this occurs get to a hospital as soon as possible. The treatment for a swelled shut throat is a breathing tube being placed in your throat, the patient being placed on a ventilator and the patient will have an IV in them. The IV will be pumping antibiotics and more than likely steroids into the patient’s body.

Laryngitis, like having a cold, is almost impossible to defend against. One precaution most people take is constantly washing their hands before they touch their face or their mouth. Young children should receive the influenza vaccine which can help prevent this sickness which can possibly be deadly for children at a very young age.

If the symptoms of laryngitis do not go away after 2-3 weeks you should consult a doctor again. Why? There is a slim possibility that there could be a tumor in your throat that needs further medical attention before it develops into anything life threatening.

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What is Leukemia?

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 7:24 pm

Leukemia is a form of cancer that develops in the bone marrow of human beings. Leukemia is usually caused by an uncontrolled production of blood cells. Those blood cells that produce at astronomical rates are the white blood cells. There are two forms of leukemia; acute leukemia and chronic leukemia. Acute leukemia makes the bone marrow extremely crowded and prevents the bone marrow from producing healthy blood cells. This type of leukemia occurs mostly in children and long adults. In children, this is an extremely common cause of death and should be treated immediately. If not treated immediately, the malignant cells will spread to other tissues and organs throughout the body.

Chronic leukemia usually takes months or sometimes even years to develop in one’s body and progress to the state of acute leukemia. Chronic leukemia is most common to occur in older adults but there is the possibility of it occurring in any age group. Once detected, treatment isn’t necessarily needed immediately. Sometimes doctors will hold off on treatment to find the best way to handle the disease after they monitor its development.

There is no definitive way to prevent leukemia but avoiding such risk factors as smoking, avoiding exposure to chemicals and avoiding exposure to radiation might help prevent the development of leukemia.

Below are the symptoms of leukemia:

• Dizziness

• Nausea

• Swollen tonsils

• Fever, chills, night sweats and other flu-like symptoms

• Bone pain

• Joint pain

• Unintentional weight loss

• Paleness

• Weakness and fatigue

• Diarrhea

• Malaise

• Swollen or bleeding gums

• Frequent infection

• Enlarged liver and spleen

• Constant headaches

For each different type of leukemia, acute and chronic, there are different types of treatments. For acute leukemia patients are treated by induction chemotherapy. Induction chemotherapy is when doctors use different medicines to bring about new bone marrow remission. Treatments also include eliminating any remaining leukemia cells; which is called consolidation therapy. There is also preventative therapy. Preventative therapy is the process of preventing the cancer from spreading to the brain and the nervous system. If the patient is not responding to any of these treatments then doctors will recommend a bone marrow transplantation procedure. Many cases of acute leukemia can be cured and some of them might not be cured.

For chronic leukemia there is no definite cure. Most treatments are combined with chemotherapy and medicinal shots of prednisone and prednisolone. Despite the lack of a cure for chronic leukemia, these cases can be controlled for long periods of time without any setbacks.

There are four factors in determining how well the body will respond to leukemia treatment. Those four factors are the age of the patient, the percentages of leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow, the degree to which specific systems of the body are affected by the leukemia and if there are any chromosome abnormalities in the leukemia cells.

Leukemia patients can seek counseling and support groups through the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.

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Emphysema; A Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Monday 20 October 2008 @ 7:17 pm

Emphysema is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affecting the lungs of human beings. It is more often then not caused by exposure to toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals does include long term exposure to tobacco smoke. Emphysema happens when the elasticity of the lung tissue is lost. This occurs with the destruction of the alveoli and the capillaries feeding the alveoli. The alveoli is a round structure found within the lung that aids in gas exchange with the blood traveling throughout the body. Symptoms of emphysema include shortness of breath when exercising and when resting, an expanded chest and hyperventilation.

Emphysema is an irreversible condition that causes degeneration of the lungs. The only way to slow the development of emphysema in patients is for the patient to quit smoking immediately and to avoid any tobacco smoke at all costs as well as other toxins harmful to the lungs. Emphysema cannot be cured but it can be prevented. To prevent emphysema people should not smoke, should avoid others who smoke as much as possible and should not inhale any toxins harmful to the lungs. The two types of emphysema are primary and secondary. There are ongoing studies that are currently examining the use of tretinoin, found in Retin-A (an acne medicine), as a possible reversal of emphysema. It has been tested on mice. The mice exhibited a return to elasticity of the lungs. Even though these studies are in their infancy, being conducted by the European Respiratory Journal, there is the possibility that a cure could be developed over time.

Emphysema affects thousands of Americans each and every year and the majority of cases are caused by smoking and other toxins affecting the lungs. Some of the most famous cases of emphysema have come from entertainers, novelists and musicians in the United States.

The most recent emphysema related death from the entertainment industry came in 2005 when late night legend Johnny Carson died from the disease. He passed away on January 23, 2005 from respiratory arrest caused by emphysema. Johnny Carson was the longtime host of “The Tonight Show” and one of the most entertaining comedians of his time. Carson was known for his love of the cigarette. He would constantly light up while filming the show. He appeared a couple of times at public shows with members of the Rat Pack.

Another famous case of emphysema was a member of the aforementioned Rat Pack; Dean Martin. Martin, one of the most soothing voices in the music industry of his time, died on December 25, 1995. He died of acute respiratory failure from emphysema. Martin was also a fan of the cigarette. In all of his movies, TV appearances and night club performances, Dino would always have a cigarette in his hand.

Other famous deaths from emphysema are T.S. Eliot, Richard Yates, Vincent Price, William F. Buckley Jr., Boris Karloff and Fyodor Dostoevsky to name a few. Among them are musicians, novelists, comedians, politicians and civilians. Emphysema cannot be cured but it can be easily prevented by not smoking and avoiding toxic chemicals that harm the lungs.

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