Introduction to Hypoactive Thyroid - Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

When the thyroid gland is not responding to the pituitary gland's release of thyroid stimulating hormone, the result is a hypoactive thyroid, or hypothyroidism, and insufficient levels of thyroid hormone in the blood. This condition affects more women than men, and requires life long treatment to replace the hormones not being produced by the thyroid.

Thyroid hormones

The hormones secreted by the thyroid are: Thyroxine (T4), which contains four atoms of iodine. Triiodothyronine (T3), has three atoms of iodine attached

Thyroxine is turned into Triiodothyronine by the liver, and it is these hormone levels that determine the type of thyroid disease that is present. These hormones work to regulate the rate at which your body burns energy. They affect weight and sleep patterns, menstrual cycle changes in women and erectile dysfunction (ED) in men.

Another hormone involved in this process is thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), manufactured by the pituitary gland. When thyroid hormone levels in the blood are low, the pituitary gland releases TSH, which stimulates the thyroid to produce and secrete more hormone.

Symptoms: Subclinical hypothyroidism is the term that describes the initial symptoms of hypothyroidism that can be overlooked and mimic other conditions. Symptoms include:

Fatigue Intolerance to cold Dry and/or pale skin Hair loss and brittle nails sore muscles, slow movements and weakness Hoarse voice a change in facial expression Depression Memory deficits and difficulty in concentrating Increased weight Constipation fertility problems and increased risk of miscarriage heavy, irregular or prolonged menstrual periods Bradycardia (slow heart rate)

Goiter is a swelling in one or both lobes that site on either side of the thyroid gland, that appears as an enlargement on the lower aspect of the neck.

Causes: Hypothyroidism is more common in older people. Women are more likely to be affected than men. Autoimmune conditions such as diabetes, vitiligo, and Addison's disease. Certain medications, such as lithium carbonate (psychotropic med) and amiodarone (for the heart) Inefficient amount of iodine Autoimmune Hashimoto's thyroiditis Problems with hypothalamus or pituitary gland

Hypothyroidism is diagnosed by testing the blood TSH levels and thyroid hormone levels in the blood. A diagnosis of autoimmune hypothyroidism is usually determined by the presence of certain antibodies in the blood, which show as a problem with autoimmunity.

Treatment: Treatment for Hypothyroidism involves replacing the thyroid hormones that are absent. This is easily accomplished by taking oral levothyroxine. The dosage will need to be adjusted by your physician to get the correct dosage for you. Regular blood testing will be required to check hormone levels. Medication will then be adjusted accordingly. Medication and treatment for underactive hypothyroid will continue for the rest of the patient's life. Once the correct dose of thyroxine replacement has been determined, yearly blood tests will be needed to ensure appropriate hormone levels are maintained.

Fetal thyroid development occurs after the 12th week of pregnancy. Until then the fetus depends on the mother's thyroid hormone levels for nervous system development. The mother can feel safe in taking her thyroid supplements. She needs it for her health, as well as for the health of the developing fetus.

If you are hypothyroid and plan to have children sometime in the future, let your doctor know of your plans so that your health can be in the most optimal condition as possible.

The Early Art of Making Paint From Nature

From his earliest existence man exhibited and acted upon a wide variety of natural inclinations. Hunters developed weapons to enhance their hunting skills. Gathers sought after tools to effectively plant and harvest larger producing crops. So it went. Each generation built upon the knowledge and experience of the past until we have the sophisticated systems that work for us today. The building block process is global - the affect is global touching all levels of cultural strata. Math and science, yes, but no less has it touched the art of making paint from nature.

In the beginnings of civilization its can safely be assumed that color existed only in its most natural form. Sky and water was blue, plants and leaves green, birds, butterflies, insects were arrayed in varies hues; animals sported their colorful finery. As with so many processes we now take for granted, mans' discovery that he could arbitrarily add color to his life was most likely accidental. Imagine first discovering the stains of grass and leaves, of ripe juicy berries or of falling into a puddle of colored mud.

We are told that primitive works of art depicted on the walls of caves and the faces of rocks around the world were created when our ancestors discovered that specific types of stone, when scraped against another, created a mark. Soon, our creative forbearers were seeking colored marking (painting) stones. With painting tools as basic, as simple as rocks and charcoal from long cooled fires, they decorated their dwellings and bodies as well.

Because the essentials of life were so closely attached to the earth, ancestral cultures were deeply rooted in the earth itself. Dependent upon the culture, rock formations, mountains, rivers, animal specials, birds, trees and so on took on the sacred. Belief systems were developed around them. Even ideas about the earth became sacred. Ceremonial rituals sprang up around meaningful events associated with these elements and ideas. In hundreds of recordings of ancient ceremonies, body painting was a common thread. Colored rock, when ground between other rocks, became powdered pigment. Water added to pigment powder made a colored mud. Mud! One of the first forms of making paint from nature!

Pilgrimages and rites of passage were associated with pigment gathering. Australia's aboriginals traveled hundreds of miles to gather sacred rocks: yellow, white, black. They learned that heating the yellow ochre stones caused the iron in the stone to darken the pigment adding a red element to their paint color palette. So important were the painting stones to early cultures that trading them with other tribes and settlements became part of the commerce system as well.

Finding materials to permanently bind the pigment together was the challenge of many generations. Early paint makers mixed pigments with a variety of substances including bees wax, tree resins, seed oils, animal fats, egg, even milk. Then in the mid-20th century plastics were added. Most paints on today's commercial markets incorporate plastic binders. However, making paint from natural elements is not a lost art.

While some paint color pigment is now chemically generated it may be surprising to know that much of the color in modern paint, particularly earth tones, remain powdered rock pigment. Still paint can be homemade for those who are so inclined. A quick web search of powdered pigment reveals dozens of suppliers where pigments and binders can be purchased. Recipes abound for a variety of mixes in quantities both large and small.

Today's quest for the perfect paint color involves a simple pilgrimage to the nearest paint store, art supply store, or online store. The use of paint is universal. We color our world, indoors and out, based on our personal preference rather than only on what's available. Color can be brushed on, sprayed on, baked on or mixed in to nearly everything. Access to brilliant works of art by artists from around the globe are as near as a web search. Street Fairs bombard our senses with an enticing variety of decorative arts. Colored gasses in tubes attract our attentions. Galleries and museums near and far host eclectic collections of artistic works for our entertainment, education and admiration. In an age where color is conveniently available in so many forms we can only wonder what the next generation will add to this colorful tower of building blocks.

Need A Free Job Interview Tip? Six of The Best Right Here

Need a free job interview tip? Contrary to popular belief, there is no big secret to being successful in job interviews. It's not about who you know, or being super enthusiastic, it's just about some clever preparation. Check out these free job interview tips for more details...

Free Job Interview Tip 1

Be ready for more than one kind of interview- standard interviews, behavioural interview, group interviews and roleplays all require different sets of skills to come in to play. None are particularly tricky to master, but it's a good idea to at least be a little prepared for what each one has in store.

Free Job Interview Tip 2

Dress well. The first impression in a job interview carries far more weight than it probably should. If you don't make that all important good first impression, you will already be behind before the whole thing starts! Wear a freshly pressed suit, leave the jewelry at home and go easy on the perfume/cologne/makeup!

Free Job Interview Tip 3

Research research research- The research you do, or lack thereof can make or break your employment aspirations. Who will they employ, the guy who shows up asking about last year's stock price drop, or the guy who asks how long he gets for lunch?

Free Job Interview Tip 4

Learn some terminology. Again, this can create a great impression of you, most employers will be nicely impressed by someone who shows up and is able to speak to the interviewers on their level about their company.

Free Job Interview Tip 5

Focus the interview on the employer. Although they may seem all smiles and handshakes, they really aren't concerned with what the company can do for you. They want to know what you can offer their company, and they want to know that above anything else. If you can illustrate exactly the benefits you will bring, you will be earmarking yourself as one to watch.

Free Job Interview Tip 6

Prepare some things to say. I don't mean write any after dinner speeches or anything, but at some point you will likely be asked some very basic interview questions, so it would be a good idea to prepare for them. As an example, they will probably ask you for a little information about yourself. This can be truly painful-if you don't have anything prepared, you will most likely end up rambling on and on, creating a terrible image of yourself as the nerves of the situation gradually overrun you. Instead, keep it to a few concise sentences and come to a definite stop. This will be much better!

As with many aspects of the job hunting experience, a job interview is nowhere near as terrifying as you first imagine, and hopefully these free job interview tips have helped you realise that!

What I Know And Remember About Baseball - The Sweet Spot

A baseball ball bat sweet spot is the precise point where you can smack the ball as hard as you like and all you feel is the rush of the swing and the sound through your ears. There has been a lot said about exactly where this spot lies on the bat. But truth be known, it's a different location on every bat.

Variations between wood, metal and composites can shift the spot dramatically. Width of the spot can also change. Manufactured materials seem to have a better consistency in the spot where wood can vary wildly from bat to bat; even when turned on the same lath from the same stock.

The importance of not only locating but being able to consistently strike the baseball with that portion of the bat has two basic advantages. 1 when all the parts of the swing are aligned the sweet spot allows the maximum transfer of all that energy your gathered up from your feet through your body. 2 it delivers a nearly painless vibration back through the batters hands.

Not only does mis-striking or being off spot dramatically reduce the energy transfer and subsequently how far the ball will travel, but it really can hurt.

So much thought has gone into the location and exploitation of the spot that even hard core physics gurus continue to study it. http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~cross/baseball.html is just one place where they publish some pretty interesting things. I particularly like the graph of what a bat does during the process of the swing and contact. If you really want to spend a few weeks brushing up on the bio-mechanics of baseball http://webusers.npl.uiuc.edu/~a-nathan/pob/ has a bevy of links and references to keep your eyes blood shot for days.

Back to the matter at hand. How do you find the sweet spot on your baseball bat. T work. Set up a T at a nice level for a comfortable swing. Ditch the batting gloves and with a gentle swing, enough to knock the ball to 2nd or so, start hitting and concentrate on the 'feel' in your hands. It should not take too many strikes to figure out where the zone lies. Striking the ball on the inside or outside of the sweet spot will send vibration down the bat and into your hands. Search for the zone that sends the least vibration to your hands.

Next, mark from the inside to the outside of the spot with wide masking tape. Take a few more knocks to confirm you have the spot. Now, with batting gloves on take full stride and swing at the ball. Take 5 or so then check the tape. Getting the picture. You have already determined where the spot is, now you are confirming what your swing is doing. Are the marks inside, outside or not even scaring the tape at all.

Not only does locating the sweet spot on your bat give you good information on what part of the bat you should be making contact with, but you now have solid information on what is happening when you swing at the perfect pitch.

You can also mark this spot with a permanent marker for later tape application. Remove the tape after each T session. Having glue build up on the baseball bat does nothing but make a mess and you don't want to inadvertently alarm an umpire to thinking something is up.

Types of Lawn Mowers

A lawn mower is great equipment. If you want to save your time and increase efficiency when it comes to taking good care of your lawn, this machine come into picture. Before deciding which machine is good for you it is advisable to first take a look at the available types of machines in the market. Finding about these machines and what kind of features they have will help you to finalize which one to go for.

1) Type #1 - The first type is the "Push Reel Lawn Mower". As the name suggests this has to be pushed manually with a handle attached to a cylinder. The cylinder at the bottom rolls on the lawn cutting the lawn blades. The width of the cylinder with blades on it has a width of about 12 inches to 20 inches. This is a manual lawn mower.

2) Type #2 - The second one is called as the "Rotary Lawn Mower". Unlike a push reel type, this is powered by a gasoline engine, which can generate a power equivalent to 2 to 7 horsepowers.

Many manufacturers have even produced electrically powered rotary mowers. The main advantage of an electric one is reduced noise levels while working. But a gas-powered machine produces much more power than an electric one resulting in finer lawn cuts.

3) Type #3 - The third one is a "Riding Lawn Mower". This machine is largely used when there are large lawn areas to be maintained. If you hate hard work then this lawn mower makes your life much easier, by making it possible to ride on it like a tractor.

The quality this machine produces is excellent. A riding machine has several more arrangements to attach additional fixtures such as snow blowers etc. these machines are expensive as compared to the first two types.

One very popular riding mower is the zero turning radius, which can work in areas where the landscaping design has lots of smaller areas covered with lawn.

This was just a brief introduction of the types of lawn mowers commonly available in the market. Make sure you look for their detailed reviews and rating before you make any final buying decision.

Easy Ways For Sending Fax Via the Internet

The Internet is one of humanity's greatest inventions. It has changed the life of billions of people across the globe, and it has also changed the way we communicate. Faxing is not about machines anymore, now you can use your Internet connections to send faxes with incredible speed and clarity. Sending a fax via Internet is easy, and I'm going to explain you how to do it.

There are two ways to send a fax using the Internet: fax software and Internet fax services. Fax software requires a little bit of knowledge to install and run, and since this article is focusing on easy Internet faxing, I'm going to explain directly the most accessible option: using a fax service.

Fax services work similar to e-mail services such as Hotmail or Gmail, meaning that you need to create an account and login to handle all your faxing online. When you register, you will get a local or toll free fax number to receive faxes. So, when somebody sends you fax, the fax server of these companies, will convert it to a file that will be attached to an e-mail message. That's why this is also called "Fax to E-mail". If you prefer, faxes can be received at the same time by a number of recipients instead of just one.

You can also send faxes in a similar way. You'll need to scan or attach a document in doc or pdf format using the service and attach it to a message. The recipient's number will go to the "To:" field. When you send the message, the server will convert it so it can be received in paper by any fax machine or by mail to other e-mail to fax service.

The monthly cost of these services is pretty low for individuals and small businesses and allow you to send and receive a number of faxes. Companies for sending fax via the Internet also offer free trials for 30 days that you can use to send your faxes and assess the service.