A Lifesaving At-Home Checkup

    More importance is attached to physical fitness nowadays. However, staying fit can be expensive when going to professional agencies for medical checkups. Here we show you three ways to do medical checkup at home, try them for a rough idea about your health condition.

    1 Balance On One Leg

    Hold for up to 60 seconds. If you fall down early, you may be at higher risk for brain decline. In a Japanese study, 30 percent of older adults who could balance for only 20 seconds or fewer had microbleeds in the brain, an early sign of risk for stroke or dementia(痴呆). These microbleeds can affect balance, memory, and decision making.

    2 Touch Your Toes

    Sit with your back straight, then lean forward and try to touch your toes. Not even close? You might be at risk for heart problems. By using this test, University of North Texas researchers found that some old inflexible folks have to have the heart work harder to provide enough blood, raising the risk of heart attack or stroke.

    3 Sitting To Standing

    Time how long it takes to lift and lower yourself from a chair ten times as fast as you can. Senior adults who did ten repetitions in 21 seconds or fewer were less likely to die over the next 13 years than those who took longer. The test requires muscle strength, balance, and heart fitness; being slow could mean underlying disease before symptoms arise.

    The above are home tests everyone could do to keep you fit and they don't require much time or money. Learn what possible dangers are hiding inside you and how to deal with them.

    George Bernard Shaw, the greatest and funniest British dramatist of the first half of the 20^th century, was born in Dublin, Ireland on July 26^th, 1856. His early life was not happy. His father was a selfish man who drank too much and could not support his family properly. His mother was a disappointed, unhappy woman who found more pleasure in studying music than in her children. Shaw and his two sisters received little love and attention from their mother while they were young. At the age of ten Shaw entered school. At first he was the best student, but soon he was at or near the bottom of his class.

    Although he did not like school, Shaw was a good, bright, curious student. His lifelong interest in everything from music and art to machines and medicine began at school. The interests of this tireless schoolboy were literature and music. He often entertained his classmates with stories he read.

    Early at the age of fifteen, he went to work in an office. He did well as an office clerk, but after five years he decided that he wanted to be a writer. He left Ireland and went to London, where he began to write seriously. Seventy-four years later the great dramatist died.

    About aspirin:

    Aspirin is a commonly used drug which can be taken to relieve discomfort caused by numerous medical problems including headaches, toothache, inflammation and infections. It is also suitable to treat colds and flu-like symptoms, and to reduce a high temperature.

    Who can take aspirin?

    Adults and children over 16 years of age.

    Who should not take aspirin?

    Women who are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant. Aspirin may harm your unborn baby.

    Women who are breast-feeding. Aspirin can pass into your breast milk and may harm your baby.

    People who have any problems with the way the liver works or with the way the kidneys work.

How to take aspirin:

    Take aspirin after meals, with a full glass of water or milk.

    The recommended dose (剂量) ranges from two to three tablets at a time. Never take more than 4g 12 tablets) in any 24 -hour period.

    You must not take these tablets with any other medicine which contains any aspirin or painkiller.

    How to store aspirin:

    Keep all medicines out of the reach and sight of children.

    Store aspirin in a cool, dry place, away from direct heat and light.

    Do not put aspirin in the bathroom because the dampness there can cause it to lose its effectiveness.

    Throw away aspirin that smells strongly of vinegar.

    Possible side effects:

    Feeling sick, increased risk of bleeding, stomach pain, indigestion and heartburn are common. If these effects continue, contact your doctor.

    Ringing in the ears, difficulty breathing, dizziness, and mental confusion are rare. If these occur, stop taking the drug and contact your doctor for further advice.

    Binge-watching is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in quick succession（一连串,连续）". With developments in the speed and connectivity of the internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows streamed directly to their television at their convenience.

    This behavior is nothing new. In fact, " binge-watching" has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes many platforms will display pop-ups with "you might like suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode".

    However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back, almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and one quarter have neglected their household chores. Next we'll be missing work!

    Bingeing has other connections-binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said： "The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move." If people find binge-watching hard to resist, coupled with the fact that it has shown to lead to negligence in many, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction？

    The countless of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning then it becomes a problem. So, what's the answer？ Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, "A little of what you fancy does you good."

    Plastic sludge(污泥)and garbage is a disaster for the world's oceans. A film crew traveled the globe to document the rubbish. And Julie Andersen of the Plastic Oceans Foundation says what we see is just the tip of the problem. “Half of the waste actually sinks to the bottom, and that remains on the surface actually breaks down. ”

    The filmmakers found rubbish in ocean gyres, the circulating currents that trap large concentrations of pollution in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacifc Oceans, home of what some have plastic. What we found was a plastic smog that spread throughout all the water. And in some parts of the oceans, scientists have found more plastic than plant. ”

    The pieces of the plastic garbage infect the food chain, sometimes visibly, and more so at the microscopic level, where the plastic particles interact with other pollutants. “There are heavy metals, medicines, industrial waste in the sea, while it acts like magnets(磁铁). These poisonous substances absorb on the plastic, and then when seafood absorbs the plastics, those poisonous substances enter the fatty tissues. ”To be consumed by other sea life and by people at last.

    China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are the worst plastic polluters. The United States, although a leader in recycling, is one of the world's 20 since it produces and consumes so much plastic. There are efforts around the world to address the problem, including at this newly opened recycling center in Lebanon(黎巴嫩). But Andersen says there is more that people can do. “Cut back on single-use plastics, straws, plastic cups, plastic water bottles, plastic bags and find alternatives like reusable materials.” She says healthy oceans are essential to our survival.

    It was May 23, 2016. Arnot, the 32-year-old mountain guide, reached the top of Everest without the use of oxygen (O2) equipment. It was achieved after seven years, three previous attempts, and fourteen straight hours of climbing.

After 15 minutes at the top, Arnot began her descent (下坡). Eight hours later, she reached the camp at 7, 600 meters and became the first American woman-and only the seventh woman ever—to successfully reach Mount Everest without oxygen equipment.

    "There are so many reasons for her impressive achievement, especially the physical and emotional efforts that she has put forth over the years to make this happen," says the professional climber and photographer Richards, "The mental courage that it requires is something very few people have."

    Arnot didn't start climbing until she was 19 years old. Money was tight in her family, and climbing mountains never occurred in her mind. After graduating from college, Arnot was invited by her friend to climb a mountain. "It totally changed my life," says Arnot. I always know that if you want something, you can achieve it, but knowing what you want is a whole different thing," she says. "I am athletic but not competitive. After my first climbing, I knew immediately that mountains are what I want—as that is where I felt home for the first time in my life."

    After that first climb, she devoted herself to learning how to climb and move through mountain. It was during her second trip to Everest in 2009 that she first set her sights on a no-oxygen attempt. However, while hiking into Everest Base Camp that year, she hurt her leg and wasn't able to climb without oxygen. In 2013 she nearly made it to the top, but was forced to take oxygen at 8,504 meters while helping another climber.

    When Arnot finally stood at the top Everest, she called her best friend, "I reached the top and I'm not using any oxygen." Then, tears began to stream down from her eyes. So much of Arnot's life has been about pushing the limits of her abilities, and in this case, she's also pushed up against the outer limits of the human spirit.