For many years, October has been synonymous with breast cancer and helping to raise awareness for the thousands of women who are diagnosed each year. It is a known fact that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. And although death rates across the world have been on the decline since 1989, there is still cause for concern. Due largely in part to treatment improvements and early detection methods, there’s new hope for all women who are at risk of breast cancer. This article is meant to highlight early onset symptoms and shine a light on risk factors that all women need to be aware of to avoid ever being diagnosed.

Signs of Breast Cancer

Most times, there are no physical or visible symptoms of breast cancer, which makes regular screenings even more important for women 40 years of age or older. Common symptoms include, but are not limited to:

• Pain or swelling of the breast
• Irritation of the skin
• Pain or redness of the nipple
• Discharge from the nipple (other than milk)

Who is at Risk?

Let’s now focus on what puts women at higher liability for cancer, and more specifically, cancer of the breast. While there are traits that are simply based on an individual’s genetics or family history, there are others related to lifestyle factors. The following are a list of just some of the attributes. If you fit into any of these categories, you should consider visiting with your physician and receive a breast cancer screening.

Age

The risk of developing breast cancer has historically tended to increases with age. Most cases of breast cancers aren’t diagnosed until age 50 and older. As mentioned earlier, any woman age 40 or older should receive screenings annually or biannually to ensure healthy breasts.

Genetics

Nearly 10% of all breast cancer diagnoses are considered hereditary and are a result of genetic mutations, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, which is passed down from a parent. These proteins, which help repair damaged DNA, play a role in ensuring the stability of each cell’s genetic material. When either BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are altered, such that they do not function correctly, DNA damage is not repaired properly. As a result, cells are more likely to develop additional genetic alterations that can lead to cancer.

Lifestyle Factors

Certain behaviors, such as excessive alcohol consumption, tobacco use, and even working late nights may lead to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Late Menopause:

Women who experience menopause later than the average age range have an increased risk due to extended hormone exposure. The average age of U.S. women at the time of menopause is 51 years. The most common age range at which women begin menopause is 48-55 years.

Family History

If a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) has had breast cancer, your risk nearly doubles. If two first-degree relatives have had it, your risk triples.

How can women reduce their risk?

There are no guaranteed behaviors or actions that have been proven to prevent breast cancer entirely. However, there are best practices and preventative measures you can follow to limit your risk.

Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Women who become pregnant at some point in their lives have tended to have a lower rate of breast cancer. Additionally, those that choose to breastfeed their children have also been shown to have a lower risk of the disease.

Surgery

Women with a heightened risk of breast cancer may choose to have their breasts reduced through a prophylactic mastectomy. Having one’s ovaries removed may also decrease the risk of breast cancer by reducing the amount of estrogen in the body. These are both considered very serious surgeries and should be discussed at length with multiple physicians prior to any procedure.

Healthy Lifestyle

Maintaining a healthy diet and weight, avoiding smoking, and limiting your alcohol consumption can reduce your risk of developing the disease.

If this article has shown that you are at an increased risk of breast cancer, it is essential that you receive regularly screenings for the condition which can help to detect even the earliest stages of cancer and prevent it from spreading. Take the time out of your busy schedule as a mom, working professional, or beloved family member to ensure your long-term health. Your family, friends and co-workers depend on you, and similarly, so does your body! Make the choice to get screened and find out your level of risk for breast cancer this October.

The post The Facts All Women Should Know About Breast Cancer appeared first on ZENMED Blog.

1.) Stress Breakouts 

In a stressful state, your body produces high quantities of a stress hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol causes body inflammation. When it is in elevated levels, cortisol suppresses the immune system making your body vulnerable to skin diseases. Furthermore, high cortisol levels cause acne because your body has to get rid of pathogens in other ways when the immune system is suppressed.

Physical exercise is known to reduce stress. Exercise produces endorphins. The brain produces these chemicals. They improve the ability to sleep and consequently reduce stress. Reduced stress means reduced cortisol levels. Low cortisol levels mean a working immune system. A working immune system results in the healing and balancing the body.

2.) Sweat It Out!

It is obvious that during exercise, most of our bodies are bound to sweat. Sweat is a form of temperature regulation. During exercise, your body temperatures increase, which triggers the sweat glands to keep our body temperature stable. The brain’s hypothalamus goes off, triggering the glands to release sweat. Sweat is a salty mixture of sodium chloride and water. As the sweat leaves the skin’s pores, it takes with it body heat as it evaporates. Consequently, body temperature is regulated.

Sweating opens up the skin’s pores, allowing some of the dirt and oil congested in them to escape and wash out. This can help prevent breakouts that may result from clogged pores. However, it is important to ensure that you shower immediately after your exercise to wash away debris left on our skin. Waiting too long can re-clogs your pores increasing your acne rather than reducing it. Wear cotton clothing and this is also the perfect time to apply your acne skincare products.

3.) Circulate to Oxygenate and Rejuvenate.

Exercise causes the blood vessels to dilate which increases blood flow. Since the blood is the main conduit for transportation of nutrients in your body, the more the blood circulates, the more nutrients and oxygen reach your skin cells. Furthermore, blood circulation carries away metabolic wastes, toxins, and pathogens for elimination from the body.

Exercise increases blood circulation which in turn increases detoxification and helps heals the skin of acne.

4.) Excess Weight Wreaks Havoc on the Hormones

Every change in life is associated with hormonal changes. With an influx of hormones, your skin can break out. Exercise regulates your weight and in turn, hormonal side effects can be reduced.

Even with exercise, it is important to maintain proper hygiene and follow a healthy skincare regime. Failing to do so will cause an accumulation of dirt and toxins on your skin’s pores which ultimately allows acne bacteria to flourish.

With these tips to take charge of your health and well-being, you may have found a surefire way to help your acne improve 100%.

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A familiar experience for every woman is where you invest in a pricey vitamin serum or any other skin care product expecting some life-changing magic, which never seems to come. On the contrary, you get a crop of pimples, worse than before. Changing products can be both financially but healthily hectic. New products can cause skin breakouts if:

1.) You don’t follow direction

Every skin care product has its own set of guidelines and directions for use. Sometimes, disregarding these directions can have serious effects on your skin. It is important to follow the instructions given. A gentle application is necessary for the product to reach its target location. Practice a soft touch and use the product as advised by your dermatologist or the manufacturer.

2.) You over/under use a product

Over usage will not clear the breakout as much as you would like it to. You may be tempted to think that a higher dosage will achieve results in the shortest time possible. However, this is a great misconception. On the contrary, over-usage causes more redness and dryness and does not clear the acne.

In other cases, people quickly lose motivation if they do not see quick results. You can’t expect results overnight. You have to be patient with the process. Therefore, clearly follow the medication instructions and do not give up in the second week.  Under treatment fails to treat the breakouts. So can spot treating. It often does not fully treat acne because you have not treated the area next to it. A battle half done is not done at all.

3.) You use too many products

Sometimes, you may be tempted to use multiple products e.g. layering on multiple serums or moisturizers. However, this can be very dangerous. Too many products can counteract each other causing skin irritation. Moreover, the products may not be absorbed properly hence they clog the pores. Inevitably, a breakout is bound to occur. Changing products often because of delayed results will only irritate your skin.

It has been observed that self-treating acne can distress the skin which results in bigger lesions which often heal with spots and scars.   Stick to the product recommended to you by your dermatologist and patiently wait for the results.

4.) You have combination skin

Combination skin is basically co-occurrence of both dry and oily skin whereby your skin is dry in some areas and oily in others. It mostly a hereditary issue. The type of skincare products you use can cause or worsen this problem if they are not designed for this type of skin. The products you use should not contain harsh or skin-aggravating ingredients. These will dry out some areas of your face and simultaneously stimulate the production of oil in other parts. Therefore, the oil accumulates on your pores and clogs them causing a breakout. We can conclude that new products can cause breakouts for combination skin if they are not formulated for such skin.

Painful pimples can be a result of an adjustment to the new skincare products. This is why you should give them time to do their job and also start with a test patch. Remember that acne is both an external and internal condition so it is important to look at your lifestyle and diet as well.

The post Why are you breaking out using new skincare appeared first on ZENMED Blog.

This state wants to ban your face wash to save the environment

Sarah Parvini reports that New York state has made a move to introduce a ban on products containing plastic microbeads that are often used in face wash, soap, and toothpaste. These beads are not biodegradable and are therefore harmful to the environment. No need to worry about ZENMED products, though. Our scrubs contain only fine-milled walnut shells and jojoba beads, which is great for the eco-conscious consumer.

10 crazy body connections: What your skin says about your blood pressure

According to a study published in the Journals of Gerontology, your wrinkles could say something about your blood pressure. When researchers separated people into groups based on cardiac disease risk and analyzed the youthfulness of their skin, those with the fewest wrinkles had lower blood pressure and lower heart disease risk.

Why sit-ups won’t get you a flat stomach

Yuri Elkaim, a registered holistic nutritionist, fitness expert and high-performance health coach, says it plain and simple. Sit-ups alone, just won’t get you those abs you’ve always wanted. In this article, he tells you why and makes some suggestions on how to trim the tummy.

Hair follicles in a dish make for cruelty-free testing

Could this be the future of cruelty-free testing? Rebecca Guenard reports that at the Center for Skin Sciences at the University of Bradford in England, cell biologist Desmond Tobin is extracting hair follicles and using them to replicate human hair growth in a petri dish. Using this method, he is able to test the effectiveness of new products in the lab instead of on animals.

The post Beauty & Wellness Roundup: Banned face wash, wrinkles & blood pressure, flat stomach and cruelty-free appeared first on ZENMED Blog.

Is your beauty worth the lives of 11.5 million innocent animals?

Jessica Ramos writes a great summary piece on the latest study addressing the United States’ Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013. This article was published on January 24th in the peer-reviewed journal, ALTEX, and stated that passage of the SCPCPA will result in a minimum of one million animals being used in new required testing and will cost companies between $1.7-$9 billion to perform these tests, a dramatic increase over current testing costs and numbers of animals used. Read on to learn more.

Drinking in the sun may raise risk of skin cancer

Thinking of that end-of-season sun escape you’ve got planned? Well perhaps you should think twice about that afternoon on-the-beach bevie. Science corespondent, Sarah Knapton, reports on a new study that claims that in the presence of UV radiation, drinking alcohol can alter our body’s ability to produce a normal immune response.

Five scientific studies that show love really is a wonder drug

From boosting our immune systems to calming our heart rate these five studies show that love is — scientifically speaking — good for us.

Diagnosing skin disorders with selfies

It’s called teledermatology and it’s becoming increasingly popular due to the ubiquity of smartphones, says Danielle Krol, M.D.. It involves snapping a photo of that questionable mole and sending it to a doctor for a quick evaluation. He or she will then inform you whether it’s harmless or requires further examination. If you think this might be a questionable way to diagnose skin lesions, think again. In cases where the in-person dermatologist recommended a biopsy of a suspicious lesion, the teledermatologists had agreed with this opinion an average of 95 percent of the time.

The post Beauty & Wellness Roundup: Animal testing, skin cancer, love, and diagnosis by selfie appeared first on ZENMED Blog.

Early research shows link between probiotics and clear skin

Whether as active cultures found in some yogurts or as daily supplements, probiotics are live, “friendly” bacteria that may benefit a person’s health. Now, early research is finding that the benefits of probiotics may extend beyond the digestive tract to the skin. This article explores the science behind these early findings and why those good bacteria may be beneficial for your overall skin health.

Diet soda could be causing you to overeat

In a recent study on diet soda on food consumption, researchers from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health concluded that overweight and obese adults who drink diet beverages consume more calories from food than obese adults who drink regular sodas and other sugary beverages.

Sugar may be linked to wrinkles

What if the secret to flawless skin had to do with the amount of sweets you consumed? A new study points to sugar as a possible cause of unhealthy skin. Click to watch the video and learn about a process called glycation.

The pretty skin diet

We all know that eating healthy plays a crucial role in skin health. In this article, Nicole Avena, PhD, a nutrition expert and author of Why Diets Fail, shares some of the top foods that will solve and prevent some of the main universal skincare concerns.

Is your skin dry or dehydrated?

Did you know that there is a difference between dry and dehydrated skin? According to Shubhra Krishan, having dry skin stems from our genetics. Alternatively, dehydrated skin comes from a poor diet, not drinking enough water or your surrounding climate. The good news, however, it that both of these skin conditions can be treated. Read on to find out how.

The post Beauty & Wellness Roundup: Probiotics, overeating, sugar & wrinkles, and skin health appeared first on ZENMED Blog.

Our estheticians at ZENMED have always been anti-extractions due to the high risk of scarring, infection, and/or permanently damaging the skin. Every time an extraction occurs, the skin is broken on purpose. It must now heal and everybody’s skin heals differently. In Bun Bun’s case, it looks like she is suffering from a chemical reaction of some sort to the herbals used in the products at the spa.

Not for the squeamish: http://bit.ly/11aZ7D3

In other news, a recent medical study discovered the secret to looking young forever: Sunscreen. The Australian government funded a specialized study of 900+ people to gauge the success of using sunscreen on a daily basis opposed to just when required/desired. The results were astonishing. The participants that used the sunscreen on a daily basis showed 24% less skin aging than people who used sunscreen as they normally would. The FDA in the US recently stressed the importance of broad-spectrum sunscreen (UVA and UVB protection) as both rays are known to accelerate phot-aging and cancer. To read more, click here: http://on.wsj.com/12Ba4UJ

And lastly, want to know how using your cellphone is giving you crowsfeet, hyperpigmentation, insomnia, acne, and turkey neck? Yes people, your cellphone could be the reason why you are rushing for Botox before you have even hit 30. Thank us later for bringing this tidbit of wisdom to your attention: http://yhoo.it/13RXOuM

The post Beauty News – June 10th appeared first on ZENMED Blog.

The Hormone Differences

We have all heard that women have estrogen and men have testosterone. The truth is we all have a bit of both. Testosterone is the most common type of hormone called an androgen. Men produce about 15x times more testosterone per day than women. During puberty this hormone is what leads to the typical male characteristics, like thick body hair, more active oil glands, increases in muscle strength, etc. When men work out at the gym, testosterone levels can spike almost 30%. Hence the term of feeling “jacked” is used often post-workout.

The Bad News

Since testosterone is very closely linked to the growth of activity and size of the sebaceous glands, the pores now become more prone to becoming clogged and infected with acne bacteria living under the surface. Body acne can start to occur and cystic acne may appear (those hard nodules under the skin that burn and hurt to the touch). Men that start taking synthetic steroids can get some of the worst acne conceivable and be left with the most debilitating scarring.

The Good News

There are various ways to counter male acne, and the key is to treat it EVERY TIME. Do not think it is not masculine if you do or that it’s just a fact of life to be dealt with. This kind of thinking is what leads to those awful pock marks you see on people, and this leads to a lifetime of self-esteem issues. If your acne is moderate to severe, a dermatologist’s visit is absolutely necessary. Treatment must be taken consistently and exactly the way the doctor prescribes.

Cleansing becomes very important as those overactive pores need to stay unblocked on the surface to prevent breakouts from increasing in severity and spreading. Using a medicated treatment helps control oil levels and keep the skin unwelcome to acne bacteria.

ZENMED created the Botanical Acne Body Wash for this purpose. It is granular, minty-fresh, and medicated. For men, it can be used on the face, shoulders, chest, and back. We recommend it be used 2 times a day.

The Refining Scrub is also created for skin with an oily tendency. It should be used every day in the morning, followed by the Oil-Free Day Lotion.

Natural Treatments

Some things to consider trying:

–  Start taking Omega 3 supplements.

–  Something as simple as changing your pillow case every couple of days to remove bacteria can have huge benefits for your skin.

–  Shaving your face with a clean, sharp razor will reduce irritation. Always use a shaving balm and follow with moisturizer. Do not shave every day unless absolutely necessary, try going 2-3 days in between.

–  Cleansing immediately after sweating prevents clogged pores (the leading cause of acne). Change clothes often during the day if you have body acne, try avoiding synthetic fabrics as well.

–  Try a “cut” for 4 weeks. This means the elimination of all dairy (often linked to androgens), white sugar, refined flour products (pasta, cookies, crackers), fruits and juices, soft drinks, energy drinks. Supplement with the Derma Cleanse Supplement to help with elimination and detoxification.

–  No pimple popping ever.

As a Parent

It is widely known that acne can lead to severe depression and self-esteem issues. It is also reported that when someone is depressed the less likely they are to follow through on treatment and take care of themselves. So if you are a parent of a male teen going through acne, you need to be aware of possible issues. This means keeping an open door of communication and asking the hard questions, like how their social life is and if they are feeling ok (because no one else is going to). It’s important to positively reinforce traits that your teen has while they are going through treatment to encourage continuation and prevent further damage to their self-esteem.

Dear Guy with Acne

Your plight is not ignored by us. If you think that your acne is being noticed more than you are, then something needs to be done. Five minutes a day max and this phase will pass before you know it.

The post Men and Acne – Same Detrimental Effects, Sorely Overlooked. appeared first on ZENMED Blog.

Every pore, every wrinkle, fine line, imperfection, is now magnified for the public to see. Kathie-Lee Gifford once joked that she had bad timing to come back to TV when she was 20 years older. So what are the secrets of those that must have HD perfect skin for the cameras? The chemical peel. It is very common for reporters and commentators to have a peel a day before going in front of the cameras. The skin appears refreshed, pores tightened, plump, glowing, and HD perfect.

Are you still hesitant to try one out? Here is a quick information session on how ZENMED’s simple technique can make your skin perfect and exude healthiness, even if you don’t spend your life in front of a camera.

What is a chemical peel?

For the last decade, the chemical peel has been the go-to treatment for hyperpigmentation, fine lines, rough texture, dull-looking skin, and breakouts in most esthetician and medical skin spas.

How does it work?

It is a very simple process. A chemical solution causes a reaction on the skin to cause dead skin cells to peel off. There are synthetic and natural agents that can cause this effect. ZENMED only uses naturally-based glycolic acid, salicylic, lactic, and vitamin C to achieve peeling results.  These acids belong to the alpha and beta hydroxy acid groups. In recent years, beta hydroxy acids (salicylic) have been discovered to penetrate deeper into the pores than some acids and hence have a better effect on acne and inflammation on the skin (redness).

What are typical results?

The visible results of a peel treatment are usually dramatic. But patience is key as it normally takes multiple sessions to see the full results. The only time we hear “I didn’t see any improvement” is when someone has used the Skin Eraser Kit inconsistently and given up. Give it some time and keep moisturizing.  The reason we recommend the peptide-enriched AVT Cream is because it is neutral and soothing, it will seal the skin and help it regenerate quicker than letting skin dry out.

What is the goal?

Skin will look rejuvenated, more plump, feel smoother, fine lines will look more “filled in”. Ridding the skin of the layer of dead skin cells on the surface is what gives skin the “youthful glow” everyone talks about.

To order The Skin Eraser Kit, click here: http://zenmed.com/skincare/scars/

To order The Complete Skin Eraser Kit that includes moisturizers, cleanser and sunscreen (super discounted), click here: http://zenmed.com/products/scars/Complete-Skin-Eraser-Kit/

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