Welcome to Ahwatukeelife Health

What does healthy mean? It's about staying as active physically and mentally as you can. Stretching, strengthening, eating right, finding time to relax and generally striving for balance in your life. It's also about being responsible for our own health and being aware of changes in our bodies or minds and working with professionals to know our options and make informed choices that work best for us.

Ahwatukee has a great variety of services, facilities and most importantly people to help us set and achieve realistic health goals. This section inbcludes everything from tips for eating better to a directory of physicians in the area to help you make those important health decisions. Being healthy is beautiful, but you can also find out where to get a great haircut, have your nails done or get a fantastic massage, because the better you feel, the more beautiful you are. Being healthy is not something to start doing tomorrow or someday, it's how we choose to live everyday and it feels great!

Children and Emergencies
Even though we all hope to never have to worry about an actual emergency, being prepared is the most important step you can take to help. When a medical emergency happens, emergency medical technicians need to gather crucial information quickly. If the emergency involves your children and you are stressed or panicked, you may want to demand that workers help your child and quite asking so many questions. Debra Brady, a Cresco, PA based paramedic and author has written a great new book "How to Save Your Child's Life: What to Do After You Call 911." It is also packed with accident-prevention techniques. To help you be prepared and stay a little calmer, before any emergency happens, have a health fact sheet ready for each child.

DOWNLOAD a Health Fact Sheet here, make sure you have one for each member of your family.

Just preparing this beforehand, and keeping it up to date, can reduce stress and speed treatment.
To purchase or learn more about this book, click here:
How to Save Your Child's Life

Alternative Therapies and Health Information

Knowledge and education can help you make informed decisions about healthcare today whether it is "alternative" or "conventional". The information below can help guide you when trying to make those decisions. Make sure you discuss all your healthcare issues with a professional and do not try to diagnose or treat yourself.

What can you do? The most important thing you can do is to take an active role in maintaining your own health.

Eat Well and Exercise
A healthy diet and adequate exercise are one of the most important steps you can take to avoid or lessen the chances of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer. Eat a wide variety of foods, incorporating whole, fresh foods that you can eat raw or cook at home. Eat as organically as you can. As more and more people eat organically, the more available products will be and the lower the prices. At least make sure your fruits and vegetables are thoroughly washed and peeled, scrubbed or soaked. Exercise will reduce your levels of stress and can boost your immunity.

Keep it Simple
Try to keep your stress levels down. Stress, worry, exhaustion, and unhappiness can make us sick. It can do this by raising blood pressure, lowering immunity and more. Slow down and make time for yourself. This may mean taking a yoga class or doing yoga at home, getting a massage, and cutting out caffeine to get enough rest, aromatherapy or whatever you find that works for you. Try to make it a regular practice.

Be Proactive
Know your body and pay attention to it. Many seemingly small things can alert you to potential problems. Energy levels, weight, breathing, sleeping patterns, heart rate can all indicate changes that you may need to be aware of. If something is bothering you, seek professional medical advice.

Drugs
It's your responsibility to know what your putting in your body and why. Drugs can have minor to serious side effects, and overuse is a serious problem in this country and others. Particularly with antibiotics. Adverse drug reactions are a leading cause of death. If you do decide to take a drug or even a supplement, find out what benefits the product offers and what possible side effects you should be aware of. Everything is a balance of risk/benefit so make sure you weigh them both. Make sure if your using any type of herbal supplements or formulas that you notify your primary care physician. Many interact with prescription medicines and some have serious side effects depending on the individual and the doses.

Hiring Your Doctor
Remember you are the client here! Make sure you have a good understanding of what your physicians healthcare approach is and that it compliments the lifestyle you wish to live. Your physician is a professional, but as with all industries, some are much better than others and it's your responsibility to educate yourself!

Some health care websites:

Mayo Clinic
A comprehensive and trusted source of health information provided by experts at the Mayo Clinic. Information and descriptions of symptoms, treatment options, healthy living, drug searches, ask a specialist and you can create a personal page that automatically updates with information to match your health interests.

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
General information about alternative, complementary and integrative medicine. Has extensive information about known use, safety concerns and the most recent known studies. Alerts and advisories, guidelines for consumers doing research on the Web, sites the reference so it is easy to verify or read the studies yourself.

Web MD
WebMD Health is one of the most well-known leading consumer focused healthcare information Web sites. They strive to be objective, credible and a trusted source of consumer healthcare information in order to help people play an active role in managing their own health. Consumers can access health and wellness news, support communities, interactive health management tools and more.
WebMD hosts an online community with special events that allow consumers to participate in real-time discussions with experts and other individuals who share similar health conditions or concerns. They are also content and service providers to several leading Internet portals and media partners such as AOL and MSN.

Consumer Reports
All products are bought and tested right off the shelf. Consumer Reports accepts no advertising or sponsorship in order to remain unbiased in the product ratings and reviews. Product recalls.
Separate health and beauty sections including free highlights.
Subscribe to the Consumer Reports Health and receive information and expert advice from medical authorities from across the country and around the world: covering nutrition, fitness, medical procedures, herbal remedies, and more.