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Everyone knows the danger and consequences that smoking, drinking alcohol and not having physical activity can have on one’s organism. However, in the last couple of years especially, scientists and health professionals all around the world are paying more attention than ever to health risks that are caused by not so obvious factors. Healthy environment is one of the prerequisites for a healthy lifestyle and one of the reasons why they are not among our list of priorities is because we can’t see them and we can only rely on the information from media and experts. For those living in big cities, the chances of risking your health are getting even higher due to air pollution. The World Health Organization reports that in 2016, 91% of the world population was living in places where the WHO air quality guidelines levels were not met.

Alarming Statistics

Outdoor air pollution represents a major health risk that can affect anyone, regarding their income or birthplace. Even though many are still not aware of the effect it can have on one’s overall health, the statistics are rather worrying – only in 2016, air pollution in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide. Even though most countries suffer from this issue, countries in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions are facing biggest challenges. However, in 2015, Friends of the Earth Netherlands measured air pollution in 59 different Dutch cities and found that in 11 of them, air pollution exceeded the EU limit of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) of 40 µg/m3 a year. These statistics mean immediate action that is, unfortunately, not in the hands of individuals but local, national and regional level policy-makers working in sectors like transport, energy, waste management, urban planning, and agriculture.

A Direct Connection Between Pollution and Health

A 2013 assessment by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), along with numerous trustworthy doctors and modern health centers, concluded that outdoor air pollution is carcinogenic to humans, especially lung cancer. Additionally, research has shown that air pollution influences on occurrence of many other potential health problems such as stroke, heart disease and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma. In fact, in 2016, around 58% of outdoor air pollution-related premature deaths occurred as a result of ischemic heart disease and strokes, while 18% of deaths were due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute lower respiratory infections respectively, and 6% of deaths were due to lung cancer.

Be the Change You Want to See

Still, there are many positive examples around the world showing the different side to the story. In fact, Dutch startup TreeWiFi introduced one of these initiatives in Amsterdam – “the tree” that provides free Wi-Fi internet access will turn off the internet access when air pollution around a treehouse exceeds a predefined limit. Even though this might not prove as the best possible solution, it still shows us that change needs to start from your own community in order to reach global scales and it can at least inspire us to do the same.

According to the newest health monitor by Statistics Netherlands, and health institutes RIVM and GGD, half of the residents of the Netherlands are overweight. This statistic wouldn’t be so alarming if the percentage of obesity among the Dutch hadn’t increased in 25 percent since 2012. However, one of the biggest problems the country is still dealing with is the weight amongst children. In fact, only in 2016, Statistics Netherlands reported a 10 percent increase compared to the year before, with 13.4 percent of kids between the ages of 4 and 20 years being overweight. These circumstances induced Amsterdam healthcare primarily to take immediate action and work closely with modern health centers, trustworthy medical services and professionals to start creating smart and sustainable solutions.

Sugar Consumption Among Highest in the World

A Euromonitor study from 2015 found that Dutch sugar consumption is the third highest in the world, exceeded only by that of the United States and Germany. Unhealthy eating habits, along with poor physical activity, only deepens the problem. Obesity is not a rare problem among adults, but can be especially difficult for children for various reasons: unhealthy lifestyle from a very early age can in great measure influence the overall health of a person even later in life, it causes insecurities and low self-esteem but, more specifically, many obese children later develop health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. There are several ways we can determine for sure if a child is overweight or not but, before consulting with any trustworthy doctor, you can always measure one’s BMI (Body Mass Index) – nowadays, you can even calculate it online through various websites.

Check Your BMI

For measuring the index of obesity, BMI needs one’s weight, height and gender. The BMI calculator then uses a formula that creates a score which tells you whether someone is underweight, a normal weight, overweight, or obese. The BMI of children is age- and sex-specific, also known as the “BMI-for-age.” It uses growth charts created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical professionals, general doctors and healthcare workers use these charts to track a child’s growth. The charts use a number called a percentile to show how one’s BMI compares with the BMI of other children. The main BMI categories for children and teens are healthy weight (5th to 84th percentile), overweight (85th to 94th percentile) and obese (95th percentile or higher). Of course, these results are not 100% correct, but can serve as a good indicator and, depending on the result, can direct you to the doctor or calm you.

Consult Your Doctor

If you are still concerned about your child’s weight, the best possible solution is to visit your doctor or any trustworthy medical clinic and let them check your child’s overall health. Still, there are certain rules that can apply to anyone and be sure to implement them in your everyday life as much as possible: eat healthy, workout and get enough sleep. For everything else, consult your doctor.

If you’re constantly sneezing and can’t seem to catch breath, there is a good chance you have a condition that affects a large number of people all around the world which is called allergic rhinitis or hay fever. However, even though the name may imply it, one doesn’t have to be near hay in order to have symptoms and, despite what you may think, it’s usually not accompanied by fever. The condition, usually connected to allergies and changes in the season, includes symptoms such as a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, itchy, and watery eyes, and swelling around the eyes. However, not only does hay fever occur all year long, it can really influence your everyday life and mood. For many modern general practice professionals, allergic rhinitis can be quite a struggle to treat due to the constant existence of pollen in the air and the obvious impossibility for avoiding their presence. Still, there are many things you can do to protect yourself before visiting a trustworthy doctor.

Skin Test Can Help You in Diagnosis

If you recognized one or several of the symptoms mentioned above, you should go and see your family doctor. If you’re on vacation, there are numerous healthcare professionals specialized in treating tourists. The doctor should direct you towards an allergist, who is specialized in treating conditions that happen as a result of an allergy. Your allergist may recommend a skin test, during which small amounts of suspected allergens are introduced into your skin. Skin testing is the easiest way of identifying allergens and can be done in any modern health center. If the test confirms your doubts, the next step is finding the best treatment for your condition.

Avoidance and Treatment

When it comes to dealing with tricky health issues such as allergies, one should be careful and try avoiding the allergens that trigger symptoms. Some of the advice any trustworthy doctor will give is you is to avoid using window fans that can draw pollens and molds into the house; trying not to rub your eyes since it can irritate them and make your symptoms worse. Also, try reducing exposure to dust mites, especially in the room where you sleep. One of the advices anyone should follow, regarding health condition or not, is to limit exposure to mold, keep the humidity in your home low and make sure you keep the hygiene on a high level at all times. If you are a pet owner, this might aggravate the problem but, no worries, there are still several things you can do so that you stay healthy, one of the crucial ones is to wash your hands immediately after petting animals and wash your clothes after visiting friends with pets.

Ask for Professional Advice

If any of these advices prove not to be useful for you, the best solution is to visit the closest medical clinic in Amsterdam and wait for healthcare professionals to provide you with proper treatment. These mostly include medications that reduce nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing and itching and they are available in many forms — oral tablets, liquid medication, nasal sprays and eye drops. If you recognize any of the symptoms stated above, be sure to schedule a doctor appointment!

A link between music and its positive influence on the overall health of people is not a new idea; in fact, there are numerous scientific researches that prove this notion. Still, we do not need scientists to tell us that we feel better when we listen to some great beats – our body experiences happiness, excitement and almost a feverish feeling that, actually, has nothing to do with the actual fever. But, is there something more to music, aside from its apparent soul-healing and hip-activating effect?

Scientifically Proven

According to psychologist Daniel J. Levitin, PhD, from McGill University in Montreal, considering and understanding music as a cure for physical ailments is a relatively new domain. However, even though a rather fresh perspective, already a number of analyses showed that music does affect our bodies even more than we previously thought. In fact, the meta-analysis of 400 studies that was conducted by Levitin and his postgraduate research fellow Mona Lisa Chanda, PhD, showed that music improves the body’s immune system function and reduces stress. Some even argue that listening to music is even more effective than prescription drugs in lowering anxiety before surgery.

Music as Therapy

As a way of distracting attention, music proved to be extremely successful around children who are about to be exposed to a stressful event or surgery, but music can help adult patients as well. Nowadays, any modern health center should be open to discuss this topic with patients and offer music therapy as an additional or alternative method of medical treatment. For modern general practice, music therapy is one of the best and creative clinical interventions that were established to realize individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by using music. It is considered to be part of expressive therapy, also known as creative arts therapy, where creative arts are used as a form of therapy. Unlike traditional art expression, the process of creation is in focus rather than the final product. Foundation of the expressive therapy is the idea that people can heal through use of imagination and the various forms of creative expression.

Music as Cure in Modern Health Centers

Latest research regarding the role of music in medicine is going even one step further than before – their notion, which was recently supported by the scientific proof, tested groups of patients with Parkinson’s disease. The study conducted at Johns Hopkins came to the conclusion that group singing improved quality of life and voice strength and clarity in patients with Parkinson’s disease. The idea that music proved to be one of the key elements in someone’s wellbeing is not only exciting but also gives hope that there can be space for a lot more surprises from things, feelings and objects that constantly surround us. Let’s hope that we can be the generation that revolutionizes music and gives it a totally different meaning!

There is a generally accepted opinion that music is a cure for the soul, that a beautiful melody can make you at ease, help you relax and serve as a stress relief. However, for those who are producing and creating this melody, music can also be a serious pain stimulus, especially for professional musicians.

The lifestyle of an artist, musicians primarily, carries with it serious health consequences that we can attribute to specific positions they play their instruments in, long hours of practicing and noise they are often surrounded with. For some, professional careers require a serious care and responsibility towards their own health which, in some cases, can lead to health issues that require long breaks from performing or even end of career.

Performance Affecting Health Problems

Modern health centers nowadays are taking this matter seriously and putting extraordinary efforts to help musicians feel at ease when suffering from these disorders, which mainly include musculoskeletal disorders, skin disorders, respiratory disorders, and noise induced hearing impairment. A 1998 survey of symphony orchestras found that 64% to 76% of musicians were experiencing repetitive strain injury (RSI) that affected their performance. RSI, also known as Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, is an injury to the musculoskeletal and nervous systems that can be caused by numerous repetitive actions musicians do on a daily basis – repetitive tasks, forceful exertions, vibrations, mechanical compression, or sustained or awkward positions.

The reasons that cause RSI are numerous, such as misuse or inefficient use of the body, lack of general fitness, chronic muscle tension, undeveloped upper-arm, shoulder and back muscles and many more such as stress. However, there are even more reasons that can lead to the injury sooner than you might expect and, in order to avoid these symptoms, try avoiding awkward or asymmetric postures, sustained or prolonged muscle contraction or deviated wrist positions. Unfortunately, these movements often cannot be avoided, if you are a professional musician but, if these injuries do occur, the most important step is to find a trustworthy doctor or medical clinic.

Preventing Injuries

Once you find a doctor you can trust, supported by a modern general practice, you are one step closer to treating your condition and finding the best exercises for your injury. In fact, any ​trustworthy doctor will advise you to try to prevent injuries in the first place by following the well-established routine and steps. These include always warming up and stretching prior to playing, which can save the musician from placing a huge amount of stress on the hands and the rest of the body.

Another important aspect is the psychological preparation for the activity in front of you – being present in your body and spirit can also influence you overall health even more than you think. Sitting or standing as well as breathing properly before and during the performance is also one of the crucial elements that allows the body to be and feel stress free and, therefore, in smaller risk of getting injured. Finally, as any doctor in Amsterdam will tell you, try releasing the stress, relaxing your body and focus only on the present. These simple, yet powerful advices are routines that should be applied and used on a daily basis and can help us live a better and quality life.