11 Things to Do When You’re Alone in a Quarantine

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There are a lot of things you can do at home even when you are alone during the quarantine instead of just scrolling through social media. Here are some activities homebodies and nerds do to stay sane that will help you get through the quarantine.

Read that book you’re planning to read. If you have a stack of books you hoarded last year, now is the perfect time to read them. If you do not have books, you could still sharpen your mind by getting the e-book or audiobook versions. Remember to get them from legit sources so the writers get compensated for saving your sanity.

Tackle your backlog of games. Remember those cheap games you bought during the holidays? Now you have plenty of time to play them before other new games come out. As long as there is electricity and internet, you will be fine.

Make art. Turn this opportunity into making your masterpiece or just honing your skills. You will also have access to plenty of resources online if you need to improve your techniques. For those without art skills, try the adult coloring books you bought last year.

Practice playing that musical instrument. If it does not bother your neighbors, it is time to start playing that musical instrument again. Or you could try to learn a new one. There are a lot of tutorials you can find online nowadays.

Watch those 3-hours plus movies. Remember those old classics that you have been avoiding because you don’t have enough time? Now that you are stuck at home, you might even be able to watch Lawrence of Arabia, The Ten Commandments, and some Bollywood and experimental films.

Learn a new language. You do not need to enroll for a class to start learning a new language. Put your internet to good use.

Try home workouts. You will still need some physical activities to keep fit during a pandemic, but if going out is not an option, there are home workouts you can try. Yoga, aerobics, and Zumba are some of your options.

Use the solitude to write your masterpiece. Maybe being forced to stay at home is just the inspiration you needed to finally start writing that story.

Find stuff at home to fix. If you have a set of tools at home, you can do minor repairs while in quarantine. This can also be a good workout.

Clean your apartment. Remember when you used to tell yourself you do not have time to clean because you’re busy? Well, now you have time to make your apartment livable.  You do not have to do everything all at once; clean a different room each day.

Try virtual tours. If your trips got cancelled this year, you can still visit some famous tourist spots using the virtual tour.

Separating Myths and Facts About Aging

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Most of modern society is afraid of getting old. People often associate aging with disease, senility, and immobility but that does not mean that the elderly can no longer contribute to society, have fun, learn something new, and stay healthy.

Here are some common myths about aging that we need to correct.

The elderly are sickly

Bad habits can catch up on you even when you are still in your 20s, so that doesn’t mean that if you’re old you will automatically get sick. Not everyone can live up to the age of 60 years even with the advances in healthcare and science, and this is determined mostly by genes and lifestyle. Some seniors who live up to 90 are certainly healthier than the younger people who live stressful, unhealthy lives.

Old people can’t do sports

Not having to worry about going to work everyday actually gives you more time to explore other interests or start a new hobby. Most sports are accessible even to the seniors as long as they have been active and healthy all their life. Some seniors even find new life in learning new activities such as jogging, cycling, trekking, water sports, golf, and martial arts.

Seniors are always moody

Stress will make anyone moody, especially if the person cannot handle day-to-day challenges very well. When you’re a senior, you have fewer problems to worry about because all your children have graduated and are earning for themselves; plus, you don’t need to go to work every day. In fact, the most stressful time of a person’s life is between the ages 20 to 35 when the combined pressures of family, work, and society can be felt at full force.

The elderly can’t learn new tricks

The brain does not shrink as you get older even if your movements and reaction are a lot slower. Seniors can still enjoy the things they love and discover new things. It is also the perfect time to learn a new skill because you have all the time to spare.

Staying at home and wondering when you’re going to expire will not be good for your mental well-being. In fact, staying active after retirement can help stop dementia and other degenerative illnesses from developing.

Old people suffer the effects of aging

There is so much pressure given to people to stay and look young. Just look at all the age-defying beauty products sold in Singapore and the rest of the world. But getting old is not a disease. It’s natural to have bald spots, graying hair, and wrinkled skin.

It is a natural process that everyone must go through at some point, that is, if you’re lucky to even reach 50 years. Instead of feeling like you’re being left out, look at aging as a blessing. The older you get means the more time to spend with family and friends and to enjoy the things you love longer.

Hair Care Myths and Facts

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You will find hundreds of hair care beauty tips on the Internet, but how do you sort the facts from the myths. This list provides you with the most common hair care myths that you should stop believing.

  • Washing your hair daily will not make it dull and dry. If you have dry hair, it’s most likely from applying a lot of chemicals, exposure from heat, and over-styling.
  • Shampooing twice is good for the hair. Well, not really. Wash your hair once daily to keep it clean but doing it more than once can strip it of its natural oils.
  • Exposing your color-treated hair to heat and bleach will change its color. You might want to stay away from the beach, spa, and pools in Singapore during hot days if you want your hair to stay healthy and shiny. If you need to go out, make sure that you apply a sun protector on your hair or wear a hat.
  • It is better to wash and rinse your hair with cold water. Hot showers are divine, but you should opt for cold baths if you love styling your hair. Just like heat and chemicals can damage your hair, so will hot water.
  • Hair doesn’t grow faster if you trim it regularly. Remember that your hair does not have blood vessels, so it would not know the difference if it has been cut or not.
  • Regular brushing does not necessarily make your hair shiny, but brushing is a good way to massage the scalp and bring out the natural oils that protect the hair.
  • Rubbing your hair vigorously with the towel will not necessarily damage it, unless of course you already have damaged hair from too many treatments and hair coloring. Remember, however, that the water in your hair can potentially reduce its tensile strength when friction is applied.
  • There is no remedy for split ends, so save your money instead of buying hair repair products. Regular trimming will make your hair look less damaged, but it will not solve the problem either.
  • Extreme stress can cause hair fall, but alopecia is rare unless you have a genetic predisposition to baldness or your hair is extremely damaged.
  • Pulling out one strand of hair does not mean two strands will grow in its place. Ingrown hair comes from improperly shaving or pulling hair.
  • Coloring your hair while you’re pregnant can have negative side effects on the child, however, the studies are conflicting. Still, most stylists and doctors will advise against it.
  • You do not need to change your shampoo and conditioner regularly if they already work. Your hair does not magically develop an immunity from the chemicals. However, if you have chemically-treated hair, you should switch to sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner to avoid damage.
  • Coloring can cause hair damage. To some extent, yes, it can weaken your hair. But if you want good results, consult a reputable stylist and use only the best products you can afford.

Why is Blood Typing Important?

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Blood typing is important in the hazardous blood transfusion procedure, but what are the blood types and how are these determined?

Blood Types and Genes

Your blood type is determined by your genes, specifically by the combination of the alleles you inherit from your parents. If you can recall from your biology class, alleles are the forms of the gene within one chromosome which are responsible for the codes of enzymes that create the A and B antigen. Possible combinations include, A, AB, B, and O which make up the ABO blood group. You might be surprised, however, that there are at least 20 blood group systems today including the Rh (rhesus) factor blood group, which is characterized by the presence of Rh antigen in the blood. This then makes up a total of 8 blood groups in humans.

Mixing Blood Types

How did people know that using a different blood type on a patient is fatal? You guessed it. Failed experiments in blood transfusion that resulted in deaths happened until 1901 when the human blood groups were finally identified by Karl Landsteiner. Mixing two different blood types will result to agglutination or clumping, causing cracks in the red cells, releasing toxic hemoglobin. The response is triggered by the body’s immune system which produces antibodies against the foreign blood cells. As a result, the blood vessels will clog up and stop circulating.

Finding Your Blood Type

To find out a person’s blood type, a blood sample must be taken to a laboratory and mixed with three reagents of three antibodies for A, B, and Rh. The laboratory technician will then observe what will happen with the mixtures to determine which one has agglutinated and are not compatible for the person’s blood type. The sample that shows no indication of agglutination is considered compatible. People with Rh negative blood can receive donated blood from Rh positive donors, but the next time he/she receives another set of Rh positive blood transfusions, there could be a problem.

Compatibility Issues

Even between a pregnant woman and her fetus, there could be some problems in the blood compatibility, if for example, a father is Rh positive type and a mother is an Rh-negative blood type. Their combination will result in a fetus with a positive Rh antigen. The result could be fatal for the baby and may result in hemolytic disease caused by the mother’s antibodies attacking the fetus’ red blood cells. Thankfully, this can be prevented with injections of Rh immune globulin during pregnancy and after delivery of the newborn.

Blood, Tissue, Organ, and Marrow Donation

Blood transfusion might be recommended in the following cases: severe anemia, bleeding during surgery, injuries and blood loss, cancer, and bleeding disorders, but careful testing is always done. Even when receiving tissue, organ, and bone marrow from a donor, both the recipient and the donor should be tested for compatibility before transplantation. Blood typing and HLA testing are done to ensure that the donor and the recipient match.

Four Easy Ways to Help You Improve Your Posture

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Having great posture goes a longer way than simply staving off a slouch and making you look tired or unconfident: great posture is also about keeping your body, and more importantly, your spine, aligned correctly in order to minimize strain. With proper posture, you will not only experience far lesser pain in your neck, shoulders, and back, but you also help strengthen otherwise weaker muscles, and even improve your overall breathing.

Here are five easy ways that will help you improve your posture:

Lifting

Maintain a straight back when carrying a load. Ideally, you should be lifting items with your core engaged and your heat upright while your knees are bent and taking most of the weight. As you lift the object towards you, position your shoulders and bend only at the hips and knees.

Sleeping

Maintaining proper posture when sleeping is just as important when you’re awake. Whether you’re lying flat on your back or on your sides, keeping your spine straight is a great way to reduce back pain and guarantee more, and better, sleep. To do this, be sure to maintain your spine’s natural posture by keeping only one pillow and let your head rest on it, rather than your shoulders on your neck.

Standing

Slouching when you’re standing not only gives other people the impression that you’re unconfident, but also add more stress to both your feet and your spine. To avoid this, it’s important to keep in mind that standing properly involves positioning your pelvis and your spine to take that stress, rather than the spine and the feet. Aside from wearing flat shoes for better support, be sure to follow these steps in order to stand upright properly:

  • Keep your head upright and center (chin must be parallel to ground)
  • Pull back your shoulders gently
  • Draw in your stomach slightly
  • Unlock your knees
  • Keep your feet shoulder-width
  • Center your weight on your feet

Aside from appearing more confident, which is a definite plus wherever you go, standing straight also gives you the boost of energy that you need to get through the day.

Sitting

When you’re facing a computer screen all day, it can be difficult to maintain proper posture when it’s much easier to simply slouch. However, this has the cost of straining your back muscles and ligaments, as well as adding unnecessary pressure to your spine.

Aside from choosing the right chair that accommodates your height, it’s also important to keep your arms bent to ninety degrees and allow your back to rest on the chair’s lumbar support, which you can do by standing straight.

Additionally, be sure to prevent unneeded neck strain by making sure your computer screen is within eye level.

Five Crucial Ways to Keep Your Blood Pressure in Check

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Unlike other types of health conditions, having a high blood pressure isn’t always something you can see or feel, and you don’t usually know you have it until it’s serious enough to cause significant problems and increase your chances of getting other complications.

However, the good news is that you don’t always need medication in order to improve the symptoms of hypertension. In fact, there are many lifestyle changes you can adopt in order to keep your blood pressure in check, such as the following:  

Decrease your salt intake

Sodium is the easiest way to raise your blood pressure, and if you notice that your heart rate is up after eating a hearty meal, then you need to change your dieting habits. While you can’t eliminate all sources of sodium from your diet (you still need to consume a small amount for your body’s daily needs), you can shift towards a cleaner and healthier diet with more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Watch your waistline

The bigger the number on the weighing scale, the higher the blood pressure also tends to be – but that’s not the only thing you need to be looking out for. Aside from a high blood pressure, having a high body mass index in proportion to your height can lead to conditions such as sleep apnea, which can also further raise your blood pressure. Losing a small amount of weight can be really helpful here, as well as keeping an eye on your waistline.

Take deep breaths

When you have high blood pressure, means that your system is compensating for not having enough oxygen by trying to get it as quickly to your entire body as possible, and this is where deep breathing comes in. The best way to inhale is by imaging your stomach as something like a balloon. Take a deep breath slowly and allow that balloon to inflate, and exhale slowly.

Sleep early, wake up early

Not getting enough sleep is another big factor that contributes to stress, which in turn contributes to higher blood pressure. To make sure you get enough sleep, you can try setting your alarm to make sure you go to bed early at night and early in the morning for a full seven to eight hours of sleep.

Learn effective stress management

The most important thing you need to know when you have high blood pressure is that you not only need to minimize getting into stressful situations, but that you also need to know how to handle them better if you do encounter them.

This includes, but isn’t limited to, balancing work and life in a way that lets you get the most out of both. If you think you’re focusing on work too much, it’s best to allow yourself to take a break to focus on your loved ones and your health.

Adverse Effects of Over-Illumination

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Here in Singapore, the streets come to life at night with the help of artificial lights. Yes, some are unnecessary lighting but it can attract attention, that is important. But do you stop for a while and contemplate about light pollution especially when you see high intensity lighting? Singaporeans should understand light pollution particularly its one type – over-illumination.

Light pollution can have ill effects on humans as well as the ecosystem. Light pollution is actually the result of globalization and development. With this in mind, many people just think that it is inevitable. This kind of thinking will be our downfall. It is time that we are aware of our surroundings and do our part to make it a better place.

Where does over-illumination come in? Over-illumination is actually one type of light pollution. It happens when there is too much light for a particular activity. Before resolving this issue, it is crucial that we know the ill effects of over-illumination. Getting too much artificial light can have ill effects. Here is the list:

• Headaches: Having headaches with over-illumination is not a surprise because you often suffer from this. Over-exposing yourself to artificial light can even trigger migraines. While it is true that headaches or migraines have different factors that trigger it, the bright light can always intensify the pain.

• Hypertension: It is important that lights are turned on and off at appropriate times. If not, it can disrupt circadian rhythms and melatonin production. This will eventually lead to imbalances like high blood pressure and other related health problems.

• Insomnia: The disruption of melatonin production can cause sleepless nights. The disruption is caused by over exposure to artificial lighting. If your brain is overly stimulated because of intense lights, it cannot relax.

• Fatigue: Fatigue is actually stress that is taking over the body. It was mentioned earlier that artificial light can disrupt the body rhythms and it can cause chaos inside the body. Remember that when melatonin and circadian rhythm are off, it will be severe.

Now that you know over-illumination is not as harmless as it seems, you have to act while it is not too late. There are things that you can do to make it better. For example, when lighting a room, make sure that it is just enough and when it is not in use, turn it off. You do not only address over-illumination but also energy consumption.

Just continue to think of things to curb over-illumination. Do not wait for it to strike before taking action.